A/N: I rather enjoyed writing this chapter so it is my hope that you enjoyed reading it! :)
In the ragged cliffs of the Land of Lightning lay the shattered remains of a sealing gourd, all while splinters of lightning flashed in the distance. Fallen bodies of Hi no Ishi members and regime-backed ANBU were splattered throughout the place, with blood dripping through the crevices and bleeding the mountain ranges red. The sun was setting, fashioning a crimson sky: a fitting backdrop for this blood bath.
Kiba heaved and huffed, facing his opponents in front of him with his loyal companion Akamaru. They've been through hell and back – they're not giving up when they've already come this far. Yet in spite of their unrelenting, unwavering will, the present situation does not bode well for success. They were cornered, exhausted, depleted, sustained only by sheer determination. Their opponents, though incurring significant losses as well, still outnumbered them.
And reinforcements were coming from the enemy's side.
"Just give up," the woman in the tiger mask taunted. "You've lost. You're friends are dead. You're nowhere near to retrieving the Nibi. You're gourd – you're means of capturing the Nibi – is broken. Surrender now."
Kiba shut his eyes, still panting. Taking a moment to rub Akamaru's blood-coated pelt affectionately, he steadied himself. His life flashed before him, careening across his mental stratosphere before vanishing into the wide oblivion. His first memory of playing with his sister's dogs as a toddler. Him receiving Akamaru from his parents on his fifth's birth day. His mischievous days at the Academy (though still not as terrible as Naruto Uzumaki's antics and what a guy that Naruto was.) His mild crush on Hinata Hyuuga and shattering heart break upon learning about the news of her death - she had refused to depart Konoha and her family and join the resistance, choosing to take her life instead and be with the love of her life. The Fourth Shinobi World War and its aftermath, where his initial dreams and hopes of a better world – like many others - were dashed as the continent descended into a repressive tyranny. His life as a rebel: freeing, temporarily, villages from the thralls of the regime and relocating survivors into Mount Myoboku and surviving mission after mission. No, this won't be his last one. It can't be.
"Never," came Kiba's husky and defiant voice. He was, he noted, severely dehydrated. "We'll never give up."
A better world may have eluded his generation, but it will not escape the next.
"A pity," the woman remarked.
Kiba took a deep breath and, with in the split of a second, charged at the half a dozen of ANBUs.
He would go out in a blaze of glory.
This Konohmaru, Mitsuki concluded, was still a bubbly lad. Previously, the serious circumstances of their encounters made Mitsuki question this attribute. Yes, this Konohamaru was capable of extreme solemnness, no doubt a side effect of this unhappy world, but he was also capable of being absurdly cheerful. This Mitsuki noticed after spending hours and hours with Konohamaru. The man simply could not stop with all the small talk as they headed towards an island near the coast of the continent.
"How are you Takuo? How is your daughter doing? I heard she just learnt how to speak? That's amazing!" Konohamaru beamed as he addressed one of their companions. "When she learns how to control chakra, you can totally bring her to me!"
"Thank you, Konohamaru," Takuo said, smiling politely.
"And Mito! Don't forget – we're making chocolate cake for everyone once this is all done! We'll need tons of sugar to make up for all the toil!" Konohamaru approached a kunoichi with purple-hair, rather conspicuously named after the Shodai Hokage's wife.
Then again, thought Mitsuki, Konohamaru's unbridled amiability may just be what everyone needs in times like this. Perhaps, Mitsuki wondered, Konohamaru was putting on a deliberate act to ensure a semblance of normality. That is all rebel outcasts can hope for.
"And you Mitsuki, how is… err… life like? You know, back where you lived?" Konohamaru tried to strike a conversation.
"Pretty good," Mitsuki nodded, not really sure what to respond him with.
"How am I like there? A well-known lady-killer?" The man asked, winking.
"Not that I'm aware of," Mitsuki said, trying to be as polite and inoffensive as possible. "You were an excellent sensei though – you led a team that consisted of me, Boruto and Sarada."
Konohamaru blinked and then beamed: "That's great to know!"
"You also taught Boruto the rasengan. I remember him telling me how he woke you up at four in the morning about it," Mitsuki described with a light-hearted snicker.
"Ah, yes… The rasengan. How's Boruto like?" Konohamaru inquired with curiosity.
"A prankster and very talkative. And very talented and brave. He'd go through hell and back for his friends," Mitsuki remarked. Just talking about Boruto made him miss his friend.
"Sounds like his dad…" Konohamaru sighed. He suddenly appeared tired. His shoulders slouched if only for half a second.
Kakashi whipped away his sealing scroll triumphantly.
They did it.
The Sanbi was within the possession of Hi no Ishi.
They were one-step closer to challenging the regime.
As they stopped by Kirigakure – a once large and mighty shinobi village now a shadow of its former self – they decided to eat in a seafood ramen store, which was owned by a Hi no Ishi sympathiser.
"How are you, Matsuo?" Kakashi inquired the old lady serving the ramen.
"Still hale and hearty," she joked before lowering her voice, "Did you guys succeed?"
"Yes," Kakashi whispered back.
She gave a grateful smile, clearly uplifted by this information.
"We've still got a long way to go, though," Kakashi remarked.
"I'm not worried about that, young man. I've seen tyrannies come and go. When the Fourth Mizukage was still around, no one could envision a future beyond the Bloody Mist. No one thought his repression would end. But it did," she noted. "All tyrannies end, eventually. What matters is what replaces it."
There was a coffin in the middle of the chamber. Chains ran through it.
Chakra chains, Sarada mentally noted.
But the sarcophagus, coated with esoteric symbols that she could not comprehend, was calling for her, beckoning her towards it. It exuded a strange magnetic pull.
Slowly, Sarada felt her feet shift towards it.
One step. Two steps. Three Steps. Five. Ten. Twelve. Fifteen. Twenty.
She was an inch away from it.
Touch me, it seemed to say. Free me.
Her resistance was melting away. It felt so sad, so lonely.
"Sarada, no!" Sakura yelled.
It was too late.
Sarada's palm traced the symbol of the nine-tailed fox, mapping its angry shape.
The whole place shook.
He was nowhere.
He was then somewhere.
He was on a battlefield.
The Valley of the End, Boruto realised.
The ruined status of the Shodai Hokage and Madara Uchiha lay around him. Broken. Scattered.
The world around him was silent. Not a soul budged.
There were birds chirping.
No – not birds. Something else.
Chidori.
Boruto rushed towards the source of the sound, travelling at the speed of light.
He froze upon the sight of it all.
His younger father – no, not his father, but another Naruto lay dead in the arms of another man that could only be Sasuke. A hole was punctured in his chest, ripping apart and obliterating a fist-sized segment of where the heart would have otherwise been. His clear blue eyes were lifeless, devoid of warmth.
And the man beside Naruto was weeping. Tears rained like torrents down Sasuke's face as he caused and witnessed the death of his only friend in this world.
The only bond he still had.
"Naruto…" Sasuke said, still gulping from the tears. "I'm sorry. This had to be done. You were getting in my way, the only way. You were my best friend. No. You were something more: you were like a brother to me. I cared about you."
What on earth is going on, Boruto's senses were muted by shock.
"Like me, the last Uchiha, you were always alone. At first, I thought you were just a weakling playing around. Silly, unworthy, a joke. You acted like an idiot so people would notice you, Naruto. Then, for some reason, I started keeping my eyes on you. Seeing you getting scolded all the time and getting right back at it relieved me. I can't say why. And then we were put in the same team. You were so annoying back then. But as we survived together, grew stronger together, I felt invisible bonds tying us together. When you felt pain… I started hurting too. I then began viewing you as a worthwhile opponent. I wanted to compete with you, spar with you, beat you. But you had something I never had Naruto – above all, I envied you."
Sasuke paused before laughing, laughing hysterically into the sky. The tears were gone. The sound of his guffaw reverberated through the whole valley. It lasted second after second. It seemed never-ending.
"Goodbye Naruto," he whispered. "I won't forget you."
I won't forget you.
I won't forget you. I won't forget you. I won't forget you. I won't forget you. These words rang through Boruto's head as he absorbed the spectacle before him. These words started hurting his head. The pain was accelerating. It was sharp, unbearable.
He needed to leave this place.
Now.
The whole room was, without warning, suffused in bright orange light.
The coffin shattered and the shards flew across the room. Sarada dodged one just in time.
"Sakura..." Sarada said, trembling. "This chakra it's –"
"-Naruto's."
He was in some cave underground.
His vision sharpened. He could see a young man with dark hair and an older man with disturbing serpentine characteristics interacting. He walked closer of them and they did not budge at his presence.
"You can revive him using Edo Tensei?" Boruto heard the young man ask with incredulity.
"Indeed," hissed the older one. "So long as you have... his remains."
"I do."
"Good, good," the older one cooed.
"Do it now," the young one ordered with little patience.
His vision fragmented again and he was whirled away.
Naruto stood in front of them. No. Not Naruto as he would be in Sarada's world, but still Naruto nevertheless. His eyes had grey scleras and there was something missing from them. He was unnaturally youthful – his age seemed artificially suspended or plucked from a certain moment in time and kept that way. Flakes of paper surrounded his figure.
"Naruto!" Sakura gasped, her eyes wide open. "Can you hear me?"
He turned his face to hers and gave no emotion, no indication whatsoever.
"Sakura," Sarada whispered to her companion, "I don't think he's in control of himself. Be careful."
And with that, a bright paw shaped out of chakra emerged from Naruto and lashed itself at the two, sending them flying backwards.
Sarada hit the wall with a thud. She took a moment to steady herself. No serious damages, she noted as she looked around to find Sakura, who was also struggling to get up.
"Uh… Looks like the Kyuubi is inside of him… We'll need to find a way to subdue this guy, seal him and then extract it," Sakura analyzed as she got up.
"Great," Sarada muttered. This will be difficult, immensely so.
He was submerged in a sea of red and when he looked above to the heavens, only two large spinning wheels remained. They spun and spun and spun, lulling him back to sleep.
He was back in the Hokage's office.
The curtains were shut. There was no one there.
Boruto proceeded towards the central desk. It was stacked with paperwork.
Details about the construction of a new interrogation centre, food supplies to Kirigakure, roads in the Land of Lightning and newly gathered data on Hi no Ishi.
This was Sasuke's desk,
Out of the blue, the door creaked open. In came Sasuke in his early twenties, gloomy and impenetrable. His eyes were underlined by baggy purple sacks – one would have mistaken them from bruises if they did not know better.
Boruto stood up and found Sasuke standing right in front of him.
For a moment, the two locked eyes.
Then, Sasuke, sensing something but seeing nothing, blinked and blinked again before shrugging and proceeding to his chair.
Boruto quickly scuttled out of the room.
They were going to lose, Sarada was sure of it as Sakura threw her green glowing fists at the reanimated Naruto, now coated in Kyuubi chakra, who deflected the attack and hurled Sakura right back at the wall.
They dodged attack after attack deftly, but could never manage to land a significant blow. Their opponent was simply too powerful – not to mention, being a reanimated zombie, not easily destroyed.
"Naruto!" Sakura yelled. "Snap out of it!"
They needed a different strategy.
All of a sudden, Sarada recalled a mundane lesson in the academy, where the class learnt about the three great dojutsu. Good times. Shino sensei had mentioned something about the Sharingan being able to tame the Kyuubi. Yes. She needed to try that.
"I got it!" Sarada called to Sakura. "Lure him towards me!"
Sakura looked puzzled and then worried, not entirely certain about this proposal: "You could get hur-"
"Just do it!"
Sarada wasn't sure whether this would work and found herself shivering in trepidation. No, she told herself, I have to give this a go.
She focused her eyes on the man coming towards her, prowling through his exteriors and into his chakra veins. Being a reanimated man, his system was obviously different, grotesquely modified. His chakra was unlimited. But centre to everything was a bright orange-yellow flame lodged near where his belly would be.
Sarada realised it was the Kyuubi.
She had to get inside him.
Fast.
"Sarada – do you want me to lure him away slightly to give you more time?" Sakura called to her.
"Yes," she replied swiftly before lapsing back into concentration.
She was in him.
She was in a dark area, where water covered her ankles. Eerie green light, almost sickly, illuminated through the chamber. There was a fence – no, a cage, a cage with a seal on it. In it, a beast was slumbering.
"Kurama," Sarada whispered, emphasising the Kyuubi's name.
It stirred. Just a little.
"Kurama," Sarada said, this time a little louder.
It stirred even more.
"Kurama – wake up!" Sarada yelled on top of her lungs.
Kurama opened his eyelids sleepily; he appeared confused.
"If you're Sasuke, don't bother talking to me, brat. Fuck off," he said in a drawl and then collapsed back into sleep.
"No! It's me! I'm Sarada!" She shouted.
Kurama looked up, saw her and frowned, growling: "So that brat has a daughter?"
"No! Okay – it's complicated," Sarada admitted. "But just trust me."
"Why should I?" He snorted.
"Because – because I've come to save you!" Sarada declared desperately.
"Oh?!" Kurama gasped with feigned surprise. "From your daddy?"
"Okay, fine, yes! I'll explain things later. Just tell me how to undo the seal and free you," Sarada said with an acute awareness that time is rushing by.
"You see the seal right up there?" Kurama gestured towards it using his right paw. "Break it."
"All right," Sarada nodded. "I'll do my best."
Sakura summoned all the might she had and shoved Naruto into the wall, punching his face repeatedly. They were only a few inches away from Sarada, who looked semi-conscious. Her eyes were ominously all white, being rolled towards the ceiling.
Sakura activated her Byakugou seal. It was time to use the Strength of Hundred. Purples laces spread from her forehead seal, extending themselves throughout her body, imbuing her cells with awesome regenerative abilities. A wound on her abdomen by the Kyuubi's offensive chakra healed instantaneously.
I have to keep this up, Sakura thought. I have to buy more time for Sarada.
"Damn!" Kurama shouted as Sarada's chidori-laced kunai failed to break the seal again. It clanked off and fell into the water. "Is there nothing better you can do?!"
"I'm trying!" Sarada said frantically.
"You'll need to pierce through the thing yourself!" Kurama suggested. "It's quite the jump and you have to maintain your jutsu for a long time…"
"I'll do it! Don't worry!" Sarada said, trying to assure both Kurama and herself.
She backed away from the cage and began sprinting towards it, weaving the necessary hand signs to create a concentrated ball of lightning in her right hand. She leapt within a meter's distance away and struck the seal.
At first, her hand only graced the cover, but determined not to giver up, Sarada fixed her feet firmly on the bars of the cage and continued channeling chakra into her hand.
"Not bad, brat!" Kurama quipped. "So, who are you exactly?"
"Sarada…" she said while trying to concentrate.
"All right, my bad. Won't disturb you now."
"Thanks," she remarked gratefully.
The first cracks started to appear. She was a little more than a centimeter's distance into the seal, but she felt her chakra flow weakening.
"Uh! I might not have enough chakra!" Sarada shouted, frustrated.
"You can do this!" Kurama said, deciding to cheer her on and lend whatever moral support he could muster. Her determination reminded him awfully of Naruto, his dear friend.
Deciding to risk it all, Sarada continued. More cracks. She made some more progress.
"ARGHHHHHHHH!" Sakura screamed as she disregarded all her wounds and thrust the reanimated Naruto into another corner. "Get. Away. From. Her."
"Well someone's feeling over-excited."
No. Sakura's heart froze. Not him. Not now.
"What's the matter, Sakura? Trying to steal the Kyuubi?"
"Leave!" She screamed, punching the floor
Sasuke side-stepped her attack easily.
"Oh be careful. He's going after her now," Sasuke said, taunting the woman who once loved him, pointing towards Naruto.
"How dare you do this?! How dare you do this to him?!" Sakura ignored his words and threw her fists at him.
"It… prevents similar alien entities from intruding upon our world," Sasuke explained.
"He was our teammate! He was our friend!"
"I don't need teammates or friends."
"How dare-"
"Leave this place now, Sakura, and take her with you," Sasuke said sternly.
"And why should I?!"
"You will die. And so will she. And so will… Boruto," Sasuke threatened as his eyes morphed into a ringed Rinnegan and an eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. He weaved a few summoning signs and, with a puff, emerged the figure of an unconscious Boruto Uzumaki.
"The hell?!"
"You heard me. Leave now," Sasuke uttered forcefully. He brandished a kunai and placed it right at the tip of Boruto's throat.
"Go ahead," declared Sakura bitterly. "You won't stop us from ending your rule."
"You're perfectly content with me slitting his throat?" Sasuke asked skeptically. He had not expected this.
"Yes. It is unfortunate, but he was a dead boy the moment you captured him."
"Well, who's the insensitive killer now?"
"You'll be dead soon. Enjoy your sadistic hobbies while they last."
"Oh I don't think so, Sakura… Hmmm…. perhaps I should switch a target?" Sasuke pondered as he drew closer to Sarada. "Her?"
"Get away from her you sick bastard!"
"Oh so now you care…"
"Leave her alone!" Sakura tried punching him in the face. He dodged it, albeit just.
Taking a moment, Sasuke waved his hand and the reanimated Naruto immediately stopped attacking and slouched. Like a hung corpse.
"Well, looks like you've left me with no choice. Boruto's dead meat. Sarada's next," Sasuke announced. He looked at his kunai and then at Boruto and then back again.
Meanwhile, Sakura gazed at the despicable man in front of her with slight incredulity. For such a prolific mass murderer, he sure was taking his time.
"Hang on a second, Sakura. I'll need to take care of something else first," Sasuke said, tearing his eyes away from the boy.
It was still not enough. There were cracks here and there and a few shattered shards fell from the seal onto the floor, but no substantial damage had been done.
And Sarada was exhausted; she felt drained.
"No…" she muttered. "Kurama – I will get you out of this place!"
She tried harder. Her chakra was running out. She had less than a minute to sustain.
Out of the blue, she felt a hand grab her and hurl her across the internal chambers.
"You!" Kurama gasped with bitter venom.
Her world went black.
Sakura cried out in horror as Sarada collapsed onto the floor.
"Now, back to business," Sasuke declared nonchalantly. "Are you sure you don't want to save his life?"
Sakura was too distraught to reply.
"Very well," Sasuke said with a sigh as he took out his kunai again. A clean, quick death this will be. He took a deep breath. This boy, Boruto, looked awfully similar to Naruto. They were almost carbon copies of each other. Father and son in another world. He had already killed the father; finishing off the son was the only logical conclusion. Right?
Bizzarely, Sakura thought she saw Sasuke's hands trembling. He couldn't do it, she realised. He couldn't kill Boruto. Focusing her view on his visage, she realised – with disbelief – that his eyes were, if only slightly, shell-shocked.
He was shaking even harder. He moved his hand and, with it the kunai, away from Boruto's throat.
She, in all honesty, didn't really know what to do. Had she attacked him now, he would have relapsed into his usual level or alertness and danger. Had she tried to grab Sarada and run, the same would have happened. But, as of now, the man in front of her looked so terrified, so incapacitated. She remembered a side of the Sasuke she used to know very well.
He dropped the kunai. It fell to the stone hard floor, clanging.
"Just… leave," he finally spoke.
Sakura was still in a state of stunned stupor.
"Looks like I'll have to make you then," Sasuke said, his eyes narrowing. He coated himself (and Boruto) with a half-done Susanoo. It swung a powerful blade at both Sakura and Sarada, sending them flying out of the cave and beyond the secret temples, all the way through the forest. Out of sight, out of mind.
He was now all alone again.
Almost.
A/N: Aaaaaannnddd so concludes perhaps the most dramatic chapter yet! Sakura's firmly on the side of good but she's not perfect either, that's what I hoped to convey. And Sasuke, well, his mind is a confused clusterfuck. But the mission to retrieve the tailed beasts encountered serious, perhaps even fatal, setbacks. Some have succeeded. Some have failed.
I've got the final ending of this story planned and there will be some more shocking twists on the way ;P It'll be somewhat bittersweet, I suppose. Do send in any recommendations and predictions though - I may not adhere to them but reading them is, doubtless, very entertaining.
Moreover, this just so happens to be the longest chapter I've written 0.0 And the whole story (so far) would now occupy 115 pages on a word document. Damn. I've never written anything this long.
I'd also like to take a moment to thank everyone that has reviewed, followed or favourited this story up until now. You guys make my day.
Do leave your thoughts and comments in the reviews! They have been a pleasure to read :)