45. Last Stand

I still hadn't fully comprehended the scene before me. The giant creature ahead of us was larger than most buildings and took such a unique form that I couldn't really compare it to anything. It was almost like a large mass that would be on its knees, if it had knees. The ten tails the creature sported were clear enough, and I gathered it was the ten-tailed beast. It appeared to have some kind of shell atop what should be its back and it did have a discernable head, though it wasn't shaped like any head I'd ever seen, and it sported eyes that appeared to be some version of the Sharingan.

The smaller creatures that grew from the monster like tumors before falling off were also strangely shaped, but no less intimidating. These lesser creatures were still massive, able to rival the size of my teammates' summons. Their shapes were at least more describable. They were almost like large lizards that stood on two legs, fangs bared, with large spikes jutting from their backs. And there was a sea of them standing before their creator, denying us a clear path.

The three summons began to follow their masters' instructions. Sakura slug disintegrated into small slugs and slinked off to heal our allies. Naruto's toad jumped forward, its goal to get Naruto to the monster in the very back. Sasuke's snake could not jump over these lesser, yet still dangerous, creatures, and so was forced to move through the mass of bodies.

As we lurched forward, I quickly cemented my feet to the top of the summon's head to keep from falling off. My muscles tensed in anticipation of a fight, but Sasuke's snake simply wove in and out of bodies, avoiding attacks. That was, until a wave of even larger monsters appeared, conjuring walls to block our path. Just like the monsters, the walls were covered in spikes that were sufficient enough to impale me.

"Sasuke-sama…" the snake murmured in warning as we plowed on towards the walls.

"I've got this," I said, already putting handseals together.

I pulled my chakra towards me as I activated my kekki genki. As wind oozed from my skin, I concentrated on molding it, shaping it into a projectile, like an arrow. With a burst of effort, I shot my wind at the walls before us and it sliced through them like a blade through paper, causing the walls to crumble and cutting several monsters behind them in half.

As we passed through the wreckage, Sasuke activated his own jutsu. I was not familiar with it, but I found myself rather impressed. With his chakra, he formed some kind of being, the torso and head of a skeletal-type creature. The Susano'o jutsu I heard him mutter. It held a crossbow, a crossbolt already aimed at the ten-tails. This crossbolt was made from black chakra, rather than the purple chakra the rest of the being was made from.

Naruto was already whipping up his own jutsu; a more powerful version of his Resengan. Naruto called out to Sasuke and, together, they released their jutsus. I watched with bated breath as the Resengan caught onto Sasuke's flaming bolt. The flames enhanced dramatically before slamming into our enemy, causing it to let out a high-pitched squeal. The jutsu struck its flank and back and the flames seemed to latch to it, burning away.

"That big one right there has the bijuus stuffed inside of it," said Naruto's toad in its low, gravely voice.

Naruto shot Sasuke and myself a quick look. "When it's weakened, put out the black flames, then Kurama and I will get the bijuus out."

But no sooner had the words left his mouth did the monster purge the section of his body that was burning.

"Kuso!" Sasuke cursed and I scowled in agreement.

"Boys! You're closest to it!" a familiar voice floated over to us; the First Hokage. "Stop the jutsu of the man standing atop the ten tails immediately!"

Man?

Confused, I peered at the monster again, squinting. To my surprise, there was indeed a man perched atop the ten-tailed monster. Had he been there the whole time and I hadn't noticed? Or had he been controlling the beast from afar and finally decided to make his appearance?

I had absolutely no idea what was going on. Who was this enemy that we were facing? Was it all linked to Madara? Was he here? I couldn't make out any details about the man atop the beast. But in the end, it didn't matter. As long as I knew where to strike, I would put all my power behind it.

At the First's command, Naruto's summon had surged forwards, but a countable moment after Sasuke's. I had to concentrate on remaining on the snake's head as we rocketed towards the target.

"Oi, Sasuke!" I heard Naruto call after us.

But we were already close enough and I could see Sasuke's muscles tense as he readied for action. "Aoda, that's enough. Take Nakao somewhere safe."

"Yes, Sasuke-sama."

"What!?" I sputtered, taken aback. "No!"

"Nakao, this guy is on a whole other level," Sasuke leveled his serious gaze on me.

I felt my face flush with heat as outrage poured through my veins like fire. "And I'm no match for him? I'm not as strong as you or Naruto? I can't believe-!"

"I'm trying to protect you," Sasuke now glared, cutting through my tirade.

His words had the desired effect of silencing me. They caught me so off guard that I had only a second to stare at Sasuke with wide eyes before he leapt off Aoda's head. He performed handseals as he went, activating his Susano'o again. This time, however, he hovered within the skeletal being as it pulled back the string of its crossbow, aiming at our enemy as it advanced.

Alarm shot through me. Sasuke was planning on meeting our opponent head-on. I may not know who stood atop the ten-tailed beast, but with everything that was going on around me, it was no stretch to imagine he was immensely powerful. And so, as Aoda attempted to deposit me on the ground, I took my own leap off of the serpent, landing on one of the ten tails that thrashed about behind the beast.

I wobbled at first and, for a moment, I thought I'd be thrown off. But I concentrated chakra in the soles of my feet and just managed to stay upright as the tail tried to throw me off. Without further delay, I sped up the tail and onto the creature's back.

When I arrived atop the creature's head, I stopped short for a moment to analyze the scene. Our enemy was lying face down, a giant hole blown through his chest cavity, blood leaking out around him. The Fourth Hokage stood at the opponent's head, his face tight. Sasuke stood beside the corpse as well, his attention pulled from it by my arrival.

"Don't you ever listen?" Sasuke asked with a hint of annoyance as I joined him, standing to his right as I peered down at the dead man.

I didn't look at the Uchiha, but I could feel his narrowed gaze. "Where's the fun in that?"

"All that's left to do is seal the un-reborn Madara…" Sasuke said instead of responding, returning his gaze to the prone figure. "…and the war will be over. As well as taking care of this thing."

"What makes you think the war is over, my fellow traitor?" our fallen enemy smirked beneath the blood that coated his face.

I stiffened, and both Sasuke and the Fourth tensed in surprise. No sooner had he said these words, did the ten-tails break free from what bindings the shinobi had managed to put on pieces of it. The creature roared to life and began folding into itself, turning itself into some type of vortex.

The three of us were quick to jump away from the creature, our eyes wide as we watched the scene unfold. But the creature seemed to be creating its own orbit, and I was quick to notice that we were being pulled back towards the creature.

Quickly, I ran through handsigns and let my wind circle around me before spreading out around the Fourth and Sasuke. With a heave of power, I blasted us backwards. We flew for a long moment before something caught us; the head of Naruto's summon. I stumbled but caught myself as the giant toad leapt away from the immediate vicinity.

"What's happening!?" Naruto asked as we watched the beast spin in on itself in a swirl of color.

"Is the ten-tail changing form?" Sasuke asked.

But no one had an answer. We watched as the ten-tails became an orb that hung mid-air like a small moon. I could feel my heart hammering in my chest as a sense of impending doom settled around me. Then, without warning, the orb began to crack like an egg before shattering completely.

A new enemy stood where the orb had been just a moment prior. It was a man, clothed only with a pair or raggedy pants. Half of his toned body appeared scaley but all of his skin was a sickly gray color. His shaggy hair was an unhealthy white. He had two different irises, one was a light purple hue with a spiral pattern, the other eye was the classic Sharingan.

"This was Obito's plan all along," Naruto grimaced. "To become the Jinchuuriki."

"The what?" I questioned, my eyes never leaving our opponent. I didn't even bother asking who Obito was. I presumed it was the name of the man the Fourth had punched a hole through.

"He's merge with the ten-tails," was all Naruto replied. The seriousness in his tone was enough to make a shiver run down my spine.

"How can you tell he's a Jinchuuriki?" Sasuke asked.

"I'm on friendly terms with the tailed beasts now," the blonde replied shortly.

Obito, or Jinchuuriki, or whoever the hell this guy was, settled his attention on the four of us. He descended from the sky, slowly, smoothly, landing on the ground in front of Naruto's summon.

"Stop it, Obito! That's enough!" the Fourth shouted.

Strangely, this seemed to halt our enemy. His mismatched eyes went wide, and he repeated the name as though learning it for the first time. "O…bit…to…?"

From seemingly nowhere, the First, Second and Third Hokage landed between Obito and the four of us. And although their presence was initially comforting, that didn't last long.

"I hate to put it so bluntly, but that guy is stronger than I am," the First Hokage admitted and I felt my heart drop into my chest.

"I might be rude for saying this, but I agree," said the Third.

In the blink of an eye, Obito rushed forwards, ripping the First and Second in half. I sucked in a great breath of air, my eyes shaking as I tried to comprehend this amazing speed. But the battle didn't slow just because my jaw was on the ground.

"Saru! Fourth! Jump!" yelled one half of the Second Hokage, the half that hadn't been obliterated to pieces.

The Third did as told and Naruto's summon leapt back and out of the way as well. It was then that the exploding tags the Second had somehow managed to leave on Obito, exploded. The explosion did nothing to him, but it gave the First time to reform his remaining limps into giant roots. They wrapped around Obito, immobilizing him. The Second threw more exploding tags at Obito, but this time he used a jutsu and the tags replicated, causing one explosion after the other.

My arm flew over my face as the world exploded. Everything around Obito was destroyed; even the ground was stripped away. The resulting shock wave shot over us, threatening to bowl us over where we stood. All of us but Naruto managed to stay on our feet, though I felt Sasuke's hand shoot out and wrap around my wrist.

"Geez! What's going on?!" Naruto waved his arms about, trying to see into the enormous cloud of debris that had been swept towards us as a result of the massive explosions.

"Calm down!" Sasuke said calmly, his eyes attempting to see through the haze of smoke and debris. "Observe the situation."

But when the debris began to clear, all I could see was Obito hovering in the air, unfazed and unscathed. I felt myself pale. The Third summoned a shuriken double the size of himself and with very little effort, flung it towards Obito. It replicated as it sliced through the air, creating a dozen identical shuriken.

Obito, as unfazed as ever, held up a hand. I wasn't sure how to explain his weapon. It looked like a small, black shield attached to his hand, but I could see it churn like it was made from liquid. Whatever it was, it formed itself into a blade and Obito rushed forwards, cutting all the giant shuriken into pieces.

With the barrage of shuriken dealt with, Obito's strange blade elongated and with a thrust, slammed into the Third, obliterating the upper half of his body. I almost screamed, even though I knew he was protected by the Edo Tensei.

It certainly unsettled Naruto and he shot the Fourth a desperate look. "Why didn't you have the Third jump out with your technique as well?"

"Don't make a fuss, Naruto," Sasuke said, and I felt his hand leave my wrist, though his arm remained close by. "The Hokage are all Edo Tensei. They know they won't die, so in order to analyze the enemy's techniques and abilities they plunged right into the fray. While you watch them fight, you should be analyzing rather than worrying."

"You're always such a know-it-all," I said, lightly brushing my arm up against the Uchiha's.

"It does take some time until Edo Tensei is able to regenerate though," the Fourth mused. "I'll go make an opening!"

On cue, Obito turned his attention to us and instantly flew over to us. As he did so, however, his body suddenly bloated and he immediately sank to the ground. I wasn't sure what was happening and why, but no one else seemed to question it. Instead, the Fourth took off at a run towards Obito. My attention was diverted, however, by a sudden presence below me. My gaze snapped downwards just as Naruto yelled a warning to his summon.

"Below you!"

The giant toad drew his giant katana, slamming it down towards the earth. Obito's upper body had managed to tunnel underground, appearing just beneath us. The giant sword was ineffective however and Naruto, Sasuke and I scattered as the large toad was sent flying backwards. At the same time, Obito's legs elongated from his body and plowed into the Fourth, sending him flying away.

With these two threats momentarily dealt with, Obito turned his gaze on Naruto. His strange weapon began to morph into a blade and it shot out straight for the blonde. Sasuke activated a jutsu, forming a skeletal arm made from chakra that slid between Naruto and the oncoming attack, deflecting it.

All three of us landed on the ground opposite Obito. He stared at us momentarily before, faster than I could comprehend, his hands shot outwards, his arms stretching after them. He clutched both Sasuke and Naruto's foreheads and my blood immediately chilled.

The fluid black weapon that I couldn't figure out now resided on the back of Obito's hands. They were currently in spheres, but I knew exactly what was going to happen next. He was going to form those spheres into blades and pierce them straight through my teammates' skulls.

"No!" I felt myself screech, my body reacting before my mind could catch up.

Keitaro wandered over to the large oak desk in the back of the room, me following him. He placed the large tome upon the desk, carefully skimming the text as he flipped through the old pages.

"Keitaro, what is this?" I asked, standing beside him.

"This book contains important information," Keitaro replied, his attention still mostly focused on the book. "Including something I think you should know."

"And that is?" I raised a brow as Keitaro finally found the page he had been looking for.

Keitaro gestured to the page, which was filled with writing and images of handseals and molecular processes. "This is our ultimate technique. I hope you never have to use it…but we are going to war."

My eyes scanned the page. It was, indeed, the furthest our kekki genki could be pushed. Because it was lethal. I just nodded and read on.

My fingers ran through handsigns as I pulled forth all available chakra. Instantly, chakra seeped from my pours, spilling out into the air around me. Like a leech, I felt it latch on to the available water molecules and I felt it feed. Higher and higher I pushed my chakra, mentally picturing it ascending through the sky as I continued to pull on my chakra.

It could only have been seconds, but my body was beginning to feel as though it had been doing this for hours. I felt my body straining, from my muscles to my bones. I felt sweat beading at my hairline and the nape of my neck. But I squeezed my eyes shut against the strain, pushing myself further and further.

I wouldn't do it. I would not stand here and witness the death of two of the most important people in my life. I couldn't watch Sasuke die when I had finally gotten him back. When I had finally felt that final piece of the puzzle click into place. It would not end here, not like this.

Far above my head, the sky began to darken. Dark clouds began to roll through the sky, crowding each other, rubbing against each other as they swelled. Thunder rumbled across the area. I was not sure how far my jutsu would reach, but I estimated that it would only affect the immediate vicinity. The other fighting shinobi should be safe.

My chakra pushed the clouds together, feeding them, swirling them until a funnel cloud formed in the sky. A clap of thunder rang out before a flash of lightning lit up the world around me. A millisecond later, a tornado erupted from the sky, slamming down to the earth hard enough to make the ground tremble. The giant gust of wind that accompanied its arrival was enough to knock Obito back, freeing Sasuke and Naruto.

As soon as the two jumped out of harms way, I set my concentration on controlling the twister. I'd never handled such power. As my teeth grit together harder and harder, I began to worry that I might not be able to handle what I had conjured. But the image of Sasuke trapped and seconds from death kept me focused.

Teeth grinding, skin sweating, I aimed my tornado straight for Obito. My enemy still did not look fazed, but my tornado slammed into him regardless. As soon as impact was made, I set my focus on keeping the force of nature in the same area, trained on Obito.

I didn't know if this would be enough to injure our enemy, let alone beat it. Maybe I could hold him off long enough for the Hokages to come up with a plan. Besides, the jutsu wasn't over yet. Bolts of lightning continued to rain down from the sky. I tried to control them, tried to force them through the tornado to Obito.

At this point, however, my vision was hazy and I realized my breaths were coming out in gasps. I was running out of stamina, out of power, out of water. My focus was waning and-

A clash of thunder, a bright light, and searing pain suddenly shot through my body.

It was pain I'd never quite experienced before. A burning sensation that swept through every inch of my body, like I was being cooked from the inside. My vision flickered and I suddenly realized I was screaming. The rest of the world flickered around me and nothing seemed to matter anymore except the pain. The seemingly never ending pain.

I was on the ground, but that was about all I could decipher. The rest of the world was gone for me. There was so much pain. And that smell.

Obito…Obito…my mind tried to remind me. We were in the middle of a battle. I was on the ground, which meant my jutsu was over. What had happened to Obito? Were my friends safe? Was Sasuke safe?

Footsteps. The sound of running footsteps.

"Nakao…"

That voice. I knew that voice. It felt like using all of my energy, but I succeeded in cracking my eyelids open.

"Sasuke…?"

He wasn't looking at my face, at least initially. His eyes were scanning my body. My eyes almost shut again, but then pain exploded through me again. But I was too weak to scream. Instead, a whimper escaped my lips as the pain coursed through me as Sasuke scooped me into his lap.

"We have to get you to Sakura-"

"No," I was able to utter, eyes closing. "Please…it hurts too much."

I felt Sasuke's grip on me tighten, like a relief through the waves of pain. Pain that was slowly dulling to numbness. And then…cold. I was cold.

Something about this felt very familiar. My mind was able to recognize it before it put it into tangible thought.

I was dying.

I'd felt this in Haku's mirror. The ever-growing numbness to the pain. The cold. The urge to just let go. There was no panic. Perhaps a bit of sadness, but no panic. In fact, were it not for the man who held me, there'd be complete acceptance.

There was so much I wanted to say to him. There was so much I wanted to experience with him. But now I just needed to hope he'd stay alive to experience things by himself. The fact that he was still with me was a good sign, right? That I'd done something to our opponent.

I felt fatigue pull at me. Sleep, my body said. But if I slept I'd never wake up. I couldn't go just yet. I had so much I wanted to say, to tell him. But by the time I opened my eyes, all my energy was spent. And so I quietly took a long moment to stare at him.

His face remained as handsome as ever, even streaked with dirt. But his eyes…they were filled with…grief. That was it. I hated seeing it there. He'd had it in his eyes for long enough already.

I was never going to get to say everything I wanted to. I was never going to get to hold him. But at least he was here now. At least I could tell him what I felt was most important.

A sharp pain shot through my arm as I tried to lift it towards Sasuke's face. I gasped, my hand falling, never making its destination, but Sasuke caught it instead. I tried to smile through the pain but wasn't sure I quiet managed it. But at least I could look into his eyes when I finally told him.

"I love you."

I didn't get to read his expression. I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore. Exhaustion was taking over, settling over me like a warm blanket. It allowed me a few last moments of peace as it pushed away the pain.

The last thing I could smell was early morning forest. The last thing I felt was his forehead resting against mine. The last thing I heard was the voice of the man I loved more than anything in the world.

"I love you, Nakao."

I was allowed one last smile before the world went black.

Author's Note:

I live! Sorry for the delay; I've been moving.

I apologize for the chapter. Honestly, I kind of hate it. Trying to write this thing had my brain pounding. It's such a complicated battle with so much going on and it's not easy to translate into writing. So I hope that you lovely readers at least made it through to the end of the chapter.

I do have plans to post after the ending. I have scenes written in other POVs, including Sasuke's and I have an entire chapter I omitted from the story. They probably won't be out right away, as I have a special delivery due in a few weeks here. But if there's anything you're dying to read, drop me a line and I'll see what I can do.

Hope you're all having a safe 2021!