a few weeks had passed.
after the invasion, Konoha stood, beaten but strong.
Hiruzen, after getting over the shock of being brought back from death, passed the title of hokage onto his student, Tsunade.
but right now, Naruto didn't care about that. as he sat in the hospital waiting room, only one person was on his mind.
'Hinata.'
it was then, Shizune appeared.
Naruto looked at her.
"Hinata is now available."
"thank you, Shizune-san."
Naruto quickly made it to Hinata's room.
upon entering, the Hyūga princess stared at the blonde "Naruto-kun."
Naruto quickly ran up and hugged her "THANK KAMI, YOU'RE OKAY! I DON'T KNOW WHAT I WOULD DO WITHOUT YOU!"
Hinata blushed "Naruto-kun."
Naruto then let go.
silence filled the room. as both sides waited for the other to bring up a certain topic that was crossing both their minds.
Naruto was the one who broke the silence.
"so... you love me?"
both of their hearts started beating.
"yes. ever since you fended off those bullies, I've always admired you, your smile despite all the hate you receive, your determination to never give up, no matter the odds against you, everything. and the admiration, eventually turned to love." she said while blushing.
"Naruto-kun, I love you."
Naruto stood there in silence, hating on how he never noticed.
"I'm going to be honest, at first. I didn't think of you as a love interest." he said.
Hinata smile turned to a small frown.
"but."
she looked back at him.
"after you were brought back to life, I had some time to think about it."
Naruto then looked at Hinata.
"Hinata-chan, I love you too."
tears formed in the lavender eyed girl "you have" she sniffled "no idea, how happy I am to hear those words."
the two then embraced in a kiss.
"here's the place. you'll find him eventually."
"thank you, goodbye, don't worry. I will uphold my part of the deal."
Kabuto cursed.
he had no idea what to do now that Orochimaru was dead.
he couldn't go back to either Sasori or Danzo, the latter was also dead and the former would likely kill him for now being useless.
"dammit, what the hell am I going to do now, I'm just a nobody who doesn't even remember who he truly is."
he had hid under so many masks, that he couldn't remember who he truly was, if he was ever someone to begin with.
it was then, Kabuto looked into a mirror.
slowly, Kabuto found out what he was going to do.
"yes, I see it now."
he smiled "I shall do what my master couldn't. master all jutsu, discover what I can, and truly become immortal."
he chuckled.
"hm, I think I will try getting Sasuke first."
"oh really?"
Kabuto turned around and went wide-eyed.
there standing in behind the door frame was Uchiha Itachi.
Itachi slowly walked up to Kabuto.
Kabuto in a panic threw a kunai.
Itachi effortlessly blocked it with his and continued walking.
Kabuto backed himself into a wall "wait-" before he could say anything else, Itachi grabbed him by the throat "shut."
Itachi then picked up and slammed the sannin's former assistant into the wall.
Itachi then flashed his sharingan "now you listen and you listen good, because I will not waste my time repeating myself, I will just kill you. understood?"
Kabuto, who was sweating bullets and breathing heavily, nodded in fear.
"good. now look, now that Orochimaru is dead, I don't care what you do. it's not my concern. however, I'm going to leave you a warning that I should have given to your master."
Itachi then pulled his face closer to Kabuto's "stay. the hell. away from my brother. cause if you or any oto nin come near him. I will find you and you will suffer for three days straight. do I make myself clear? if yes, then tell me what I said."
"stay away from Sasuke, or suffer the consequences." Kabuto said quickly.
"good." Itachi then slammed him into the wall and let go.
Kabuto gasped. as he held his throat, breathing heavily.
"one more thing."
Kabuto's fear quickly returned.
he quickly looked up at Itachi.
"that Uzumaki, Karin. you are to release her and send her to Konoha."
"yes. I understand. I promise, she'll be on her way as soon as I contact her."
"she better be."
Itachi then walked off.
Kabuto stood there in fear of what had transpired.
a knock had awoken a red haired girl.
the knocking continued and clearly wouldn't stop unless it was answered.
she sighed, first Orochimaru dies then this headache.
the knocking continued.
she put on her glasses "I'm coming."
the knocking persisted.
she grew a tick mark.
she then finally opened the door, surprised to see who it was.
Kabuto looked at the Uzumaki, fear visible in his eyes.
"Kabuto-senpai? what are-"
"get out."
she went wide-eyed "huh?"
"get the hell out of here and never come back."
"what? why?"
"JUST FUCKING LEAVE!"
"but... but where will I-"
"KONOHA! YOU WILL GO TO KONOHA AND ONLY KONOHA. GO ANYWHERE ELSE AND SO HELP ME, I'LL FUCKING END YOU!"
Karin stared at Kabuto in confusion and disbelief "Kabuto what's-"
"did I say stay? no, I said go. pack your crap, leave, go to Konoha, stay there, and NEVER come back."
Karin stood there in silence.
"you have one hour, if you don't have everything, tough shit." the grey haired boy said before walking off.
Karin stood silent, before deciding to follow what he said.
as she packed, one thing was on her mind.
'what the hell has gotten into him?'
as Tayuya stood there, a good distance away from the front entrance of the village hidden in the leaves, she took off and stared at her oto headband one last time.
she then started to remember all the time with Orochimaru and oto. none of it good.
she smirked and quickly tossed the headband at a nearby bush.
"goodbye Orochimaru, goodbye oto, goodbye snakes in my showers, goodbye horrible room, goodbye whatever horrible shit I forgot."
she then looked at the entrance with the biggest smile on her face.
"and hell-fucking-o Konoha and Uzumaki's future."
she then walked towards the entrance, happy to finally have a place to restore her clan, with the clan heir nonetheless.
meanwhile, within the confines of a deep dark cave, a masked man was currently gripping his throne in anger.
he then got up and flipped over a nearby table "DAMMIT ALL!"
the white half of Zetsu spoke "Obito, you need to calm down-"
"SHUT UP ZETSU, BEFORE I KILL YOU!"
"eep."
"and calm down? do you know how much our plan has been fucked?"
white Zetsu said nothing, and black Zetsu decided to let Obito vent.
"the capturing has failed, the bijū brat has grown more powerful than we could imagine, the Akatsuki has pretty much disbanded, with everyone leaving and going back into hiding. and you're telling me to calm down?"
silence filled the room.
"regardless, we now have to reshape our plan."
Obito sighed "you're right, we just need to think around the current situation and plan accordingly. failure is not an option."
"so what will we do?" the white half asked.
Obito sighed again "for now? nothing, we will sit and wait. you two will continue spying."
both Zetsus nodded.
as soon as Zetsu left, Obito sat back on the throne.
"just stay calm. the eye of moon plan will succeed, and the shinobi world, along with war and suffering, will end."
and that's all, leave a review and tell me what you think.
anyways, this is where the story, for now at least, ends.
don't worry, we'll get into shippuden one day.
thank you all for the support and reading this far.
I am glad that this story has done as well as it has.
goodbye, and keep a look out for my next story, the end at the valley.