Sasuke's clone still had solid control of Susanoo, prepping another swing as it levitated in the air before the statue. He managed a quick swing, slicing through the statue with what seemed like relative ease. He watched, waiting, just in time to see that the statue was putting itself back together just as easily. Dammit. Sasuke's eyes narrowed, jaws clenched as he grabbed the hilt of his sword, tapping his thumb idly on it in irritation. His eyes moved in quick succession, planning his next move and hoping he could get several steps ahead before the statue could figure out his plan. A roar echoed around him as it held its head up, mouth open to let out the sound.
On a different part of the moon, Sasuke and Hinata had finally hit the ground, Sasuke managing to take the brunt of the impact before she rolled away from him. He gave himself a second to orient himself with what happened before standing. He looked around, noting that they seemed to be in a crater by the looks of things. Looking over at Hinata, she was righting herself as well, then he sensed it. Before he could react, an explosion between them forced him to cover his eyes from the debris, followed by the sound of her crying out. Clicking his tongue in annoyance, he pushed chakra into his hand and used it to push the dust around him out, allowing him to see better without relying purely on his sharingan to see the chakra flow. He instantly looked up, seeing Toneri hovering several feet above him on his bird, holding Hinata by the hair of her head as he did so.
"Hinata belongs to me!" His glare at Sasuke was wild, as if he had become something untamed. Toneri then pulled Hinata up closer to him, her slight grunt of pain something even Sasuke could hear from his position well below them. "You can watch his last moments in there!"
A cage had formed a moment before and Toneri slung her in there, Hinata hitting her back and falling to the floor of the cage just as the door closed, locking her inside. Sasuke watched her, seeing her panic as she wrapped her hands around the bars, the gold a contrast to her black gloves. Looking back at Toneri, eyes shining brightly, he watched the chakra flow and saw them go to his hand moments before the rocks that floated around him began to fly toward Sasuke. He started to run, dodging them easily, pulling his sword out and pushing his chakra into his hand, feeling the heat of the lightning coursing through his chakra network as it began to surround his sword. He took to the side of a crater, continuing to dodge the rocks and get himself into a position to jump, pushing some chakra into his feet in preparation for that moment. One rock came relatively close and flipped sideways, dodging it with an annoyed expression on his face.
"Sasuke!" Hinata cried out, but he ignored it. He had to.
Sasuke then sent his sword flying toward Toneri, watching it flip as it continued on its path, Toneri prepping a jutsu to send it off course or obliterate it. Sasuke knew he had just moments to do this, so activating his rinnegan, he felt his body pulled, being swapped with the sword. Kunai in hand, he watched Toneri's eyes widen as the shock of what happened entered his mind. Just before Toneri could respond to Sasuke's attack, Sasuke was on him, kunai hitting Toneri's arm as he managed to move just in time to avoid it in his chest. Sasuke then grabbed Toneri's attire, ignoring the slight pain radiating from the jutsu that Toneri had surrounding him and they both toppled off the bird toward the ground. Toneri then grabbed Sasuke, flying them both toward the side of the crater, but before the impact could happen, they were both sent flying, hitting the ground hard and skidding across.
"Now, now, Toneri, I can't have you killing him." A voice Sasuke didn't recognize taunted from nearby.
He turned in time to see pale eyes staring back at him. Hyuga eyes. He looked to be nearing his 40's, but Sasuke had a feeling this was the mysterious Hyuga that he was warned about. Standing, he grabbed his sword, but then he sensed it and looked at the man's right arm. Sure enough, a device was strapped to it, barely noticeable, but his sharingan had managed to catch it. He looked toward Hinata who had her byakugan activated, her eyes also trained on the device. Sasuke wondered what more she saw with her own eyes, but he couldn't ask that at the moment.
"Masaru. You were supposed to be home by now. You got what you wanted." Toneri spat, standing and ignoring Sasuke mere feet from him.
"And I would have, but I hear you have something I could benefit from, Toneri. A tenseigan. Now, imagine my surprise to have realized the time frame I am in is in fact when you bring it to life. The good I could do with such a possession in my life would be astounding." Masaru said, his tone continued to be taunting. "I'd like to have your eyes, now."
It was instant, but a ball of fire was formed and launched at Toneri, the speed astounding even to Sasuke. His sharingan could barely keep up with it. He knew this would be technology in his future, probably beyond his lifetime, so he wondered just how well this would go. Toneri barely dodged it, his hand having been burned from the blast. The glare coming off of him was intense as he launched an attack back, something that Masaru dodged as if it had been slow. The speed was astounding, but Sasuke watched intensely. It was then that Toneri was then engulfed in a barrier of some kind, watching him bang against it for a moment before he paused and looked around.
"Sasuke Uchiha." Masaru turned to him then. "I guess it can't hurt to tell you that you are in our history books. Oh yes, the massacre of your clan and you being the only living survivor of such a tragedy after the war. It's funny, though. Your story is so different from the one you're leading now. You see, you would become the Shadow Hokage to one Naruto Uzumaki, who becomes the Seventh Hokage of Konoha. And in reality, you were never married to Hinata Hyuga, but Sakura Haruno. Hinata," Masaru signals to her as she watches on from the cage, eyes wide and chest heaving. "She marries you best friend, Naruto. History books talk about it in detail, because you were praised as heroes. Your daughter, the one you have with Sakura, becomes our Ninth Hokage. The first Uchiha Hokage to ever grace Konoha.
"Your talents at teaching the son of Naruto and Hinata are taught to us in school, you know. Your daughter took pride in your teaching methods, you see." Masaru laughed shrilly, "but unfortunately for you, Mio decided she wanted to change your future. Create an alternate reality if you will. She fears that the Uchiha have documented secrets that could potentially help create a mutation in the byakugan to make it stronger. It's a shame that she wasn't told about the tenseigan. I left out that tiny detail."
"Why would you do this?" Hinata asked, catching their attention. "What do you gain from it?"
"She gave me the information I needed on a cure for an illness passing through my timeline, killing shinobi quickly and efficiently. In exchange, I do her bidding, which was help her locate the document she required and make sure that the union of you two happened. She was aware that this was not meant to happen, but your grandmother couldn't see beyond her need for power." Masaru smirked. "Your family doesn't affect me, even in my own timeline what happens here won't change anything. I've created what you can consider a break in the main timeline, a new reality where the two of you are together.
"However, that also means I was given extensive research on all of you. Sasuke, how do you feel knowing in a little over ten years you'd love your rinnegan to an Otsutsuki?" Masaru smirked more watching Sasuke's eyes widen. "Oh yes, and Naruto losing Kurama to a different one. Both dwindled to nothing in the span of a single fight. Pathetic."
"Then I guess I just need to change things up." Sasuke added, remaining calm.
"Try your best, Uchiha, but you'll die here unless you allow me the tenseigan. Let me walk away and you don't have to worry." Masaru challenged.
A set of feet were heard and they turned to see Hinata had come out of the cage. "No, I can't allow it. I've been tasked with destroying it."
"History books talk about you so little. I believe you were weak, not worth mentioning beyond your title. I don't fear you." Masaru snapped and then launched an attack at her, catching her in the middle and sending her flying several feet.
"Hinata!" Sasuke heard himself yell out her name, watching her land hard on her side, stopping after a moment and not moving.
"Follow her, please." Masaru stated, raising his hand toward Sasuke and sending him up in the air, swinging his arm and Sasuke felt himself fly and land several feet away from Hinata, landing hard on his stomach.
Sasuke made a fist, coughing and focusing on the damage inside his body. Broken rib and his left arm ironically with a dislocated shoulder. Shoving it back in place, he hissed, but was thankful it was the arm he no longer had all of. Looking to his left, Hinata looked lifeless, blood pouring out of her head, Sasuke groaned and crawled his way over to her. He had felt the force behind the push, as if several hands were using extreme force to push him. When Sasuke finally reached her, he grasped her hand, fingers locating her pulse. It was there, weak, but there. The injury on her head didn't look bad, but her hair was in the way and there was no telling how hard she hit it. Sasuke barely knew any healing, which he cursed himself for as he tried to get into a position to put his hand close to her head. A slight green glow emanated from his hand, something he had learned on his travels for at least anything small. He doubted it would do much for something like this.
"Hinata, I need you to wake up." His voice held pain, which annoyed him, but he needed to at least get her up.
She looked deathly pale, nothing shifting or even twitching, just as if she was lifeless. He had seen dead bodies, some of them by his hand, but she was bothering him. Dark hair and pale skin reminded him of his mother and as if to showcase itself, a flash of his mom's dead body entered his mind. Grimacing from the image, he continued pushing healing chakra into her head, hoping for whatever entity he could pray to would answer him. Frustration became evident the more chakra he pushed, the weaker he felt, but he felt determined. Then when he felt nearly at a limit he felt comfortable getting to, her eyes opened wide and she took a breath. Hands shaking as if she was coming out of a nightmare, and maybe she was.
"About fucking time." Sasuke hissed out, rolling over to lay on his back, his chakra lower than he wanted.
"Sasuke?" Hinata looked over at him and then felt her head, feeling the slight damage there. "Did you heal me?"
"More than I wanted to, but you wouldn't fucking wake up." He snarled, staring up at the universe that surrounded them. "We have to get out of here.
"I can't without fulfilling my mission. I won't go back on my word, Sasuke-kun. That's the nindo that I adopted from Naruto." Hinata responded, sitting up a bit.
"I'll worry about it. Find the others and get out of here." Sasuke pushed himself up, knowing he had a few attempts before his chakra would be too depleted to continue on.
"No. I can't leave it to you. I have to do it, and even if that wasn't the case, I would leave you behind." Hinata shook her head. "I heard everything he said, which means that we have a few tricks up our sleeve that he doesn't know about. If we never got together, then I doubt we were ever close at any point, right? So that would mean he doesn't know I can use a version of chidori or a sword."
Sasuke's eyes widened. While Hinata was limited, he had taught her during their training sessions, and she was right. That information wouldn't be in history books because they were not supposed to happen. "Hn. In that case…"
Toneri was flung a good distance, blood seeping out of his mouth as he watched Masaru walk up, nothing showing that he was, in fact, not even breaking a sweat. Breathing heavily, he watched as Masaru paused, looking down at him with that same smirk on his face. "Your eyes, please."
"No, I will destroy the earth and that means you, too." Toneri yelled out, putting a few feet between them and using chakra to push himself into the air. A green orb of chakra in his hand, suddenly turning a bright gold. A large golden stream of chakra flew up into the air. "Golden wheel rebirth Explosion!"
He sent the stream of chakra downward, watching it go through the moon and after a moment, the moon shook and then broke into two, a solid gap formed between the two pieces. Masaru's smirk faltered and he looked at the gap that sat two feet from his right foot. Toneri was unamused that Masaru seemed to dodge it, and by mere feet, as if he meant to do it on purpose to prove a point. Masaru began to chuckle, looking up at Toneri with a look of contentment.
"Your aim is as shitty as that jutsu." Masaru sent another jutsu up toward Toneri, watching it catch him quickly and send him flying.
Sasuke had created a second clone, his chakra depletion being felt, but he knew he had enough for this last attempt. His clone had several kunai and shuriken, enough for a decent distraction, the plan to dodge more than fight. Sasuke knew that with the byakugan, Masaru would be able to see him, but given that he tested his theory on Hinata, Masaru wouldn't be able to see this entire plan. He held up a kunai, a copper one that he had been experimenting with. His eyes softened as he looked at it, seeing his reflection stare back at him from it's gleaming metal.
"When I say the word, you know what to do." He spoke to it, his voice holding firm as he continued to stare into it.
He took off toward the back of Masaru, seeing his clone dodging attacks with seconds to spare, but the speed of those attacks was astounding. Masaru glanced in his direction, "don't think I don't have an idea of what you are planning, Uchiha."
"Let's see." Sasuke responded, grabbing several more kunai, holding the copper one in the middle, he sent the iron ones toward Masaru, then he gathered lightning chakra in his hand. "Get ready."
Like he knew, the copper began to conduct it, glowing somewhat brightly and he felt it vibrate in his hand. "Get set."
He eyed it a final time, feeling the vibration nearly at a point of causing his arm to tense up before shifting his fingers, watching it fly off before the boom could be heard. He counted the very seconds, watching Masaru fight off the slower ones, but his eyes widened at the one that was flying at a much faster rate. Sasuke's sharingan let him see the milliseconds of this attack, watching the movements with ease as he prepared his lips for the final word, the one that was needed to finally end this. Masaru turned just as Sasuke expected, preparing to hit the kunai.
"NOW!"
The kunai popped, smoke billowing from its location to reveal Hinata with Sasuke's sword aimed forward and within a second, the sword went through Masaru, striking him in a perfect spot to cause pain without damaging internal organs. He then watched her hands reach out, fingers glowing as they struck a few areas on Masaru, sending the man crumbling down into a heap on the rock at their feet. Hinata had blocked his chakra points, causing Masaru to be immobile entirely. She landed, skidding a few feet before coming to a stop, turning, her breathing heavy and hard.
"You see, the flaw in your plan was that you helped to force Sasuke and I together. You never considered what that could change for the both of us." Hinata said to Masaru, then looked up at Sasuke. "I doubt the Hinata you read about knew how to wield a sword."
Sasuke smirked at her, feeling a slight amount of pride he would never admit out loud, but was sure that his face gave it away enough that he wouldn't have to. Her own smile in his direction answered that question as he walked over, grabbed his sword from Hinata and heard his shadow clone pop. He then turned to Toneri who was getting up, knowing that his shock before had allowed Hinata to escape the cage, but this time he wouldn't allow her to go back in it. Turning toward her, he nodded, watching her nod in response before grabbing a kunai.
His right hand lit up with lightning, the chidori chirping and overpowering any other noise around them as he gazed at Toneri, eyes moving quickly to figure out the best path to this hitting. He found it, smirking before he took off, Hinata throwing a kunai as well. Toneri focused on him rather than the kunai and prepared another jutsu just as Sasuke had activated his rinnegan a final time, swapping with the kunai and watching it be hit by the attack as he hit Toneri with the chidori. The jutsu sent Toneri flying, watching as he straight into the side of a crater, his sage mode deactivating.
"How…" Toneri then gasped, looking up toward his forehead. "Tenseigan, it's fading!"
And it was at that moment that the remaining clone Sasuke had still been watching the statue pause before it sent him flying yet again. Sasuke watched it curiously, but had a feeling that perhaps Toneri had lost enough chakra that he couldn't control it, or the tenseigan was finally destroyed. He smirked, using his Susanoo to kick the statue and watch it topple over. He stayed that way a while more, seeing that the statue wasn't going to get back up, but something told him to stay in place, and so he did as he waited for what could come.
"You will return Hanabi's eyes now." She snarled, reaching out and gripping them as she ripped them out of his head, hearing Toneri cry in pain as she did so.
Toneri then looked up, eyes dark and soulless without the byakugan inside of them. Then a pink glow could be seen before the byakugan that came from the tenseigan weapon began to envelop Toneri. Sasuke moved himself in front of Hinata, sword drawn and his eyes glowing again in response to this. They were enveloping his entire body, the two of them watching him. Hinata looked to be in shock and Sasuke continued to maintain a calm exterior, the only thing he could do at the moment.
"And now with these eyes, I will end it all." Toneri said to them. "Puppet Rebirth."
It was then that the clone saw the orange chakra as the statue began to come back to life. Sasuke was annoyed at this point, frustrated at this entire situation. He sent the sword as a projectile, watching it explode with lightning into pillars that rammed into the statue, sending it out into space and watching it explode into pieces. He clicked his tongue in annoyance as he watched it disappear, heaving a sigh before he popped, both he and the Susanoo disappearing.
The real Sasuke and Hinata stood, watching Toneri as they heard their friends running up behind them. Sakura, Shikamaru, Neji, and Sai ran up until Sasuke held his hand out behind him, gesturing for them to stop where they were at. They each did, their feet skidding to a halt as they took in the sight. Toneri stood on the other side of the large gap that had torn through the entire moon, leaving two halves that seemed to divide them from him.
"Toneri, you don't have to do this. Please understand that the teachings you have are misguided and wrong. I have no reason to lie as I am willing to admit that we use chakra for battles, but as you just saw, we have a reason. There can never be a perfect world as there will always be others who want to tarnish it." Hinata took a step forward. "What you saw us do was save our friends and family, we helped save you from someone wishing to cause you harm, too. We use our chakra for good. We heal others, even strangers we've never met. Please understand that not all of us are bad or mean to cause harm to others."
"Silence! As the last Otsutsuki, I must fulfill Hamura's Celestial Decree!" Toneri grinned and held his arm out and Hinata turned to see that he was siphoning off Sasuke's chakra, watching as he fell to his knees, grimacing. Hinata turned to see that a green orb was in Toneri's hand, growing as more of the purple chakra was being fed into it.
"And now you feel the power of Hamura, strong enough to move the moon!" Toneri yelled out, a laugh emerging. "Sasuke, you're finished!"
Hinata ran over to his side, leaning down and grasping his hand with her own. He looked up at her and then felt it, her chakra moving through his system. With having so much drained, he could feel it more this time, flowing through his network softly, almost like a song sung to a child. Slow, filled with a sense of hope and promise and as he began to glow just like before, he felt a slight pull toward her that he refused to acknowledge. He stood, noting that their chakra was nearly identical in color, but again something he didn't want to consider given the situation. They had so little time before Masaru was able to move, even if he knew that Neji was watching over him.
"What do you both think you are doing?" Toneri snarled.
"Finishing this." Sasuke stated flatly, gripping her hand, staring at Toneri. "As Hinata has tried to tell you, Hamura's chakra flows through her, too."
They watched the byakugan that were stuck to Toneri begin to move, their voices an echo chamber as they pushed for him to destroy the world and he could see why Toneri wouldn't trust someone like Hinata. Not when those who helped to form the tenseigan would advise him otherwise. They could hear their voices pushing for him to do what he had vowed to do, nudging him in the direction that the others were helping to avoid. He cried out, holding up the orb as if it was sacred to him.
"The Sage's world has fallen into darkness. I'll destroy it with the light of justice!" His arms moved away from each other, the orb glowing as the moon began to shift where it had parted. A rock formation coming from within it's depths, shooting out from within the gap. Sasuke and Hinata's hands let go, in turn he grasped her arm, pushing her behind him as they both continued to watch what was happening before them. Toneri was flung into the space along with several rocks, beyond even the space that the earth took up. Soon the sun shone upon him, the byakugan bright and nearly blinding. Smoke began to come off in waves from him, Hinata gasping as it did so. The byakugan that covered Toneri began to multiple, soon covering areas it hadn't before.
Even from such a large distance, they could hear his cries of pain, Shikamaru was the first to speak out. "His jutsu is absorbing the energy from the sun. It's surpassed his chakra limits."
Hinata turned to Sasuke and he could see the pain in her eyes, the worry. Even after everything, he knew that her mind was that his reason was pushed by something else entirely. He needed help and so he used Susanoo to create a barrier, reaching up in order to help pull Toneri out into the shadows in order to help stop what was happening before he died. Grasping him within the hand, Sasuke used his chakra to pull them both down, hearing the man's cries between pain and appreciation, both merging together.
"Yo, I can't shoot at Naruto's friend!" Killer Bee stated as he powered down the cannon.
"You need to remember what that boy did to you!" The Raikage stated flatly, thinking back to the Uchiha in question. While he was pardoned, that didn't mean he entirely forgot everything that he had done. "Move and I'll fire it."
"Lord Raikage, there is writing on the moon!" Someone yelled out and he turned to look.
"It looks like Sasuke's writing something on the surface of the moon!" He stated, pausing to look back. "They wrote that the mission is complete!"
Soon after, an emergency announcement went out to the entire world, calling out the names of each shinobi who had gone to the moon and helped to bring an end to the destruction of earth. Naruto grinned when Sasuke's name was called out, hearing a few murmurs from those who still held a sense of uncertainty where he was concerned. Crossing his arms over his chest, he caught a few saying that perhaps Sasuke wasn't so bad after all.
"You're damn right he's not and don't you forget that he helped save the world!" Naruto gave them a cheesy grin, turning slightly to acknowledge them.
Kakashi leaned his head down, smirking behind his mask. "Well, my hunches usually do end up correct, after all."
They were each on a bird, flying off back toward the entrance into the cave so that they could head back home. Once they found the stream, they each plummeted into it, swimming their way out back home. Sasuke recalled when they watched Toneri leave, having taken him to the crypt where Hinata had her vision. Toneri's reaction was emotional, but Hinata had attempted to calm him, reassure him that he was welcome to join them. Toneri mentioned atoning and Sasuke felt that in a way he wouldn't have had he not been doing the same. He understood Toneri at that moment as he turned and walked back to his own home. He flexed his left arm, feeling it move to a certain point, recalling that he chose to go on his atonement journey before it was complete. A way to punish himself for what he had done. His journey, to see the world through different eyes. He watched Toneri disappear, knowing that it would be the last time he'd ever see him. Even with Hinata trying to get him to agree to come one day, he refused, promising that the moon will never approach Earth.
They continued on back home, Sasuke's mind reeling as he thought back to how Toneri felt and how much he understood him. It wasn't often he came across those that had managed to understand him in some way. He glanced over at Hinata and recalled how after everything Toneri had done, she had reached out with kindness and hope. She was someone who forgave much faster than he felt anyone should, but then he also considered that maybe it was a good thing. He was someone who understood grudges, understood pain and anger. He didn't know much about her past, never taking the time to learn, but somehow she came out so different than he had. Wanting to use kindness to help others rather than fists and to offer forgiveness to even those who didn't feel deserving. It was a concept he knew he'd never understand, but he also felt that maybe it would also balance the both of them out. He thought in black and white, whereas her world revolved around in the middle, grays of varying shades that she could utilize as she needed to.
Once they had finally reached Earth, feet planted firmly on the ground, he looked at them all. Sai had Masaru and with Shikamaru, they left to take him to Konoha. That left Neji, who was keeping an eye on Hanabi, and Sakura with both he and Hinata as they stood around, taking in the fresh air around them. Birds that Sai had created for them were waiting for their next move, so they quickly got on and went back to Konoha, working to catch up with Shikamaru and Sai. Hanabi had gotten back to normal the moment she was healed and had her eyes back, seeming to be fine once things had settled. Hinata sat behind him, quiet and he found that he had nothing to say and remained quiet. However, when he glanced back, she seemed to be shivering. Rolling his eyes at her attire, he flung his poncho off and managed to get it over her head and watched it cover her.
Her eyes were wide as she registered what had happened. "You looked cold, but given your attire, that would explain why."
"Oh, thank you Sasuke-kun." Her voice was soft, low, but he managed to hear it all the same, grunting in response.
"Next time, remember a jacket. You always had one whenever I recall having seen you."
"I didn't think you had noticed me." She responded, looking at the back of his head as she did so.
"Rarely." Came his short response, but he looked over his shoulder, giving her a teasing smirk that caused her cheeks to deepen in color.
"I suppose I should have expected that response." She giggled. "Thank you for your poncho. It's warm."
Sasuke didn't respond, felt no need to, but he looked forward and thought about what they would need to do with Masaru. Sending him back to the future would be crucial, but there was no guarantee that he wouldn't return. And there wasn't proof that the future was as horrible as he claimed. He had a feeling that Kakashi would take care of it, but he did confirm his suspicions. The Hyuga were hoping to gain access to Uchiha records, and that was something he would never allow happen. And he mentally noted it down that he would make sure that they knew even Hinata wouldn't allow them access. He hadn't forgotten about the aspect of an alternate reality, but glancing back at Hinata, he felt that there was a part of him that wasn't against the idea of changing his future.
A/N: I didn't want this to be sooo long winded and may have had the Masaru thing end abruptly, but I also didn't want him to just outright have too much in the way of power and be a bit too OP. And I was not about to write that cheesy nonsense at the end of The Last. Idk, that part of Naruto and Hinata running together is so weird and awkward for me I wasn't about to even hint at that. May just be a me thing, but there we are. Leaving The Last behind and working on building the romantic side of things along with this now officially being my story without having to watch the movie. Yay! And this time more story and less notes.
I-Love-Trunks1 - Thank you and curious which parts you liked about this one, too! ^^
LaCrazyWriter - Another one I enjoy seeing reviews from, ftr! I'll confirm I'm getting to the romance stuff. Hopefully they are as fulfilling as this ended up being a pretty good slow burn so far. Idk, I know everyone has a different idea of a slow burn, but this feels like one as we focused The Last more than SasuHina, but wanted to do a slow build that seemed realistic for them. Now to start focusing on the two of them.