AN: Chapter 27 is here. For reasons unbeknownst to me, is seemingly broken. I cannot upload new chapters through the website (which has been going on for the better part of three chapters at this point) and now I discover that I cannot reply to reviews through PMs anymore. So, at least until that is fixed, I will be replying to reviews in the beginning AN. I won't be replying to all of them, but I will do the ones who seemed to have a good question or a comment. I'll periodically check the site to see if I'll be able to send PMs again, but until then this will be how I reply to them. So, with that said…

Panicrain: Glad you loved the fight. I was worried about how it would be received. As for the cameos, in order of appearance they were: One Piece, Attack on Titan, Cyberpunk 2077: Edgerunners, and a future event from my Naruto fic Making Up for Lost Time. I wanted to do Bleach and Demon Slayer too, but they slipped my mind at the time.

Austinpowers97: Outside of just continuing Making Up for Lost Time, I was considering five potential crossovers. One with Cyberpunk 2077, one with Monster Hunter (primarily based around World and Rise), one with Demon Slayer, another with Street Fighter, and lastly, with the release of the new hero Illari into Overwatch 2 and the origin story they also released for her, I am now considering one with that.

Guest: Shinjutsu are techniques mentioned in Boruto that the Otsutsuki were capable of. Seeing as how Naruto and Sasuke received all that knowledge from Momoshiki and Kinshiki, they of course know what Shinjutsu are and decided to make their own.

Second Fox: Well, they were always going to go back. But We need to be realistic, they were never going to choose Remnant as a whole over their own world. So yeah… I couldn't think of a practical reason they'd stay on Remnant instead of trying to go home when the opportunity presented itself. As for resurrecting everyone? Hmm… Idk about that. Stories need consequences.

Fixing everything often feels as though there was no point to the journey, or the trials people went through. Everything Ruby and Raven have gone through in particular would feel cheapened if I brought Tai back. Let it be known that I'm writing this reply before doing the final bits of work on the chapter, though. If I can actually think of a worthwhile reason to bring Tai back, I might. But it must fit. I won't do it just because.

Saif Omar: The worlds they went to were answered above in the first reply to a review. And yeah, they changed canon. There was no real important change in the One Piece and AoT worlds, but that Cyberpunk one has quite far-reaching ramifications if anyone is familiar with that anime/game.

Discord Server: discord dot gg/kSvA5vftJ9

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Wipe Away the Ink

"This is as terrifying as it is fascinating," said Tsunade. She was once again overseeing Naruto and Sasuke in the hospital. This time, however, it wasn't due to any injuries. The two boys were perfectly fine. They weren't even exhausted in fact. Sasuke was unable to use his chakra, but that wasn't something Tsunade had an issue with in the least. And thankfully, Sasuke didn't care either.

It had already been three days since he and Naruto finished their fight and, in that time, Sasuke had been cooperating without the slightest bit of protest. Naruto had pleaded with the other Kage on Sasuke's behalf, managing to avoid having his rival executed. Sasuke had helped save the world, after all. In a way, Tsunade supposed letting him off the hook was fair enough. Of course, none of the other Kage—except for Gaara, she suspected—knew what she knew. She doubted they would have let Sasuke walk with something as trivial as stripping him of his shinobi status for two years would have flew if they were privy to his plans to kill them after the war.

Tsunade herself was rather reluctant to let the boy live, but if she was being honest with herself, even with his chakra sealed up tight, Sasuke was out of her league. And that was what was both terrifying and fascinating. Chakra suppressed or not, Naruto and Sasuke were still getting stronger both physically and chakra-wise. There was no change in them when in their day to day lives, but whenever they sparred the two of them would grow more powerful as the fight extended. And the most frightening part of it all was that their growth was permanent; they didn't revert to where they'd started. Every battle led to a new peak for them.

Tsunade wondered if there would ever be a stopping point, but this newest development made her think that was unlikely. After all, both boys had unlocked a new Dojutsu today. And they couldn't even do her the courtesy of having it be the same one.

"I think that's my line, Baa-chan. I'm the one with a third eye on his forehead now," Naruto grumbled.

"You can close it and it's not even visible. I think you'll be alright… just make sure you get a handle on it. You're just lucky there was no one in your way when you used it," Tsunade replied sternly as she scowled at him. Naruto put his hands up in surrender.

"I didn't mean to make that whole forest disappear! Cut me some slack!" Naruto whined. Tsunade had no intention of cutting him any slack whatsoever. He should have known better. Who uses a volatile new technique willy-nilly like that? "I think I can put it back though…" Naruto continued.

"Let's hope so. At least Sasuke didn't jump the gun like you," Tsunade huffed. Naruto's shoulders slumped.

"I figured it would be better to train with it in my mindscape," Sasuke shrugged, a smug smirk on his face.

"Shut up, Sasuke!" Naruto growled. Sasuke just smirked wider. Tsunade shook her head at the interaction fondly. She still didn't like Sasuke, but it was nice to see Naruto so unburdened after so long.

"So, that eye of yours can influence the very atomical makeup of what you're looking at. With the forest, you simply broke everything down and then absorbed it all. As for Sasuke, yours sems to let you mentally control whatever is in your line of sight. I imagine you can turn anyone you look at into an unwilling, fully aware puppet. Amongst other things," said Tsunade.

"That's cool… but honestly this is just weird. We just keep getting new abilities. How are we supposed to master what we have if something new always pops up?" Naruto asked, though he wasn't really expecting an answer from anyone.

"We'll just have to refrain from fighting for a while when a new ability makes itself known," said Sasuke. He didn't really think there was any other option for them. Noting else could possibly work. Naruto huffed but said no more. He couldn't argue that.

"Right… anyway, when will we be able to take Yang and the others home? They're getting a little antsy," Naruto asked.

"Tonight. The negotiations with them have gone exceedingly well and the Kage have settled on the agreements. We want to get this alliance set up as soon as possible, so you're being authorized to take them out to Mount Yaksha and return them home from there," Tsunade replied.

"Mount what?" Naruto asked.

"Ah… about that. The Valley of the End is no more, you two saw to that. Instead, it's being renamed to Mount Yaksha."

"Why that name?" Sasuke asked.

"That's the curious thing… about a day and a half after the battle, when I sent some squads of shinobi to try and rebuild the statues of Madara and Hashirama, they found that the once desolate valley was now a lush mountain covered in a sea of trees. Your battle generated so much nature chakra that it saturates the whole area. Flora grew at a rate nearly comparable to my grandfather's mokuton. That last standing cliff of the valley even seemed taller, somehow. And so, the mountain was named after its creators," Tsunade replied.

"Uh… pretty sure we're not Yaksha…" Naruto said after a moment of silence.

"You are now. Congratulations, the two of you are the new founding members of the Yaksha clan. Your abilities are so far removed from anything the other clans in the village can do, after all. Don't worry about the clans you currently belong to, though. Any future children the two of you have will still be known as Uchiha and Uzumaki, but collectively you will be known as Yaksha."

"That's a lot to just throw at us, Baa-chan."

Tsuande gave him an incredulous look, a single brow raised as she contemplated the fact that Naruto of all people had just said that to her. "I'm sure it's no less than dimension hopping, two gods, and transcending humanity being thrown in my face."

"…Right. Sorry," Naruto said.

"Exactly. Now go ahead and get out of here. Don't you have some girls waiting for you?" Tsunade asked. Sasuke smirked as he watched Naruto's face redden before the Uzumaki took his leave as ordered. Sasuke followed him.

The two rivals didn't speak again until they were halfway to the hotel where the Remnant natives were staying. Instead of running to the hotel, they'd chosen to take a leisurely walk through the village. Naruto was the one to break the silence.

"So… what are you going to do for the next two years?"

"Act as an ambassador in Remnant. You won't be seeing me in the village much," Sasuke replied. Naruto frowned and glanced at him. The Uchiha was staring straight ahead, his face impassive.

"I don't think you need to go that far…"

"No. I do. Naruto, I need to take some time to understand people better. And some distance is for the best too, I think. Everyone here is so uncomfortable around me. And I can't blame them. There's no reason for me to create unnecessary tension," Sasuke replied.

"But what about Sakura? Kakashi-sensei?"

"Sakura doesn't want anything to do with me. And Kakashi thinks it's a good idea for me to take some time to reflect on everything I've done," Sasuke replied.

"But—"

"Naruto," Sasuke interrupted, "I chose this. It's fine. Besides, I'll still make sure to protect the village when you're not around. Just let me know and I'll be there."

"Fine… I don't like it, but fine," Naruto sighed. The two once more walked along in silence. This one, however, lasted until they were stepping into the hotel room from the window.

"Welcome back," Yang greeted, pecking Naruto on the lips once he was fully into the room. He smiled down at her and let her lead him to the couch where he sat between her and Weiss, who was reading a book. Hinata was busying herself in the kitchen; making tea based on what he could sense.

"Welcome back, Naruto-kun. How did the checkup with Hokage-sama go?" Hinata said as she stepped from around the corner and walked toward them, a tray with three cups on it.

"Went fine. I do need to go back out to the forest later and fix something I messed up though," Naruto replied, chuckling awkwardly.

"I heard about that," Hinata replied. Naruto's eyes widened.

"Wha—how?"

"Kakashi-sensei mentioned it when he came by to pick up Raven, Winter, Cinder, and Emerald," Hinata replied. Naruto just groaned.

"You didn't really expect him not to say anything about that did you, dobe?" Sasuke asked.

"Shut up, teme," Naruto grumbled, "Oh. You girls should start packing any stuff you wanna take back with you, by the way. We're goin' back to Remnant tonight." Weiss looked up from her book at those words.

"Really? Does Winter know?" Weiss asked.

"She should. I mean, we were just told today after finding out negotiations were finally ending. She had to have known before us. Dunno why she didn't say anything though," said Naruto with a shrug.

"Finally!" Yang exclaimed as she stood, "Don't get me wrong, whiskers, I love it here but it's long past due time I see my sister again. I'm gonna go get ready!" As Yang walked off to their room, Weiss stood before leaning down to place a chaste kiss upon Naruto's lips as well. Her cheeks turned a cute shade of red before she hid them with her book and cleared her throat.

"I suppose I shall also prepare my belongings. Thank you for coming to inform us," Weiss said. Once she was in their room as well, Sasuke spoke.

"The Uzumaki seem as though they'll be rather large as a clan in the future."

Naruto's face went aflame. "Shut up!" Naruto grouched. Sasuke only smirked, and Hinata just looked between the two of them in confusion.

Ruby panted heavily as she slumped against a tree. Rain poured down around her. The leaves above her were wide and thick. Not much water splashed upon her skin, which she found to be a blessing and a curse. On one hand, her skin was hot to the touch from being near Vulcan for the past four hours. The water would have been soothing. On the other hand, however, fighting and rescuing people in wet, heavy clothes was difficult. Then there was the issue of the terrain being more hazardous. A particularly slippery patch of mud could just be the difference between life and death.

"The rain will pass," said Blake. She was sitting next to Ruby and taking deep breaths herself. The two of them weren't tired. No, it was not something so mundane. Vulcan seemed to only be growing stronger as the days went on. All it was capable of in the beginning was the fire and magma. Yet now it could manipulate smoke too. Vulcan used the smoke to devastating effect. Burning all in its path and then choking any survivors to death was a sound plan, most especially when your opposition was already at a disadvantage.

Ruby looked down at her muddy boots and scowled. She knew Blake was right, but the problem was something they had to deal with now. There were still civilians to evacuate. The two of them couldn't afford to just sit back and wait it out. Especially not when Ruby could see the steam cloud from the rain hitting Vulcan's body moving further and further away.

"We don't have time to wait though…"

"We have to. Or do you not want to defeat Salem?" Blake questioned. She watched as Ruby's hands clenched into fists and the younger girl became stone still.

"Of course I do. I want to kill her, Blake. You know I do. But the people in Vulcan's path will die while we're gone! What about them!?" Ruby said, angrily looking at Blake. For her part, Blake could do little more than drop her gaze to the ground as her ears drooped.

"Sometimes… you can't save everyone, Ruby. Being a Huntress isn't like the children's books. Real life is cruel. We can only hope that with our combined efforts and your eyes that we'll be able to defeat Salem and that the brother gods will do something about those nine grimm she created," was Blake's forlorn reply. Ruby grit her teeth as muffled, but frustrated scream tore out of her throat.

Blake leaned into her and after a moment Ruby set her head upon the older girl's shoulder. A wetness on her skin was the only indicator Blake had that Ruby was crying.

"Qrow's only a few minutes out… and then we can put an end to all of this. It'll be over, Ruby," said Blake. But in her mind, she couldn't stop the grim thought that came next.

One way or another…

The bullhead shook fiercely as it flew on, just barely avoiding a hail of sharpened ice. They knew Salem wouldn't leave her domain unguarded, but they hadn't expected the guard to be one of the nine. The grimm of sheer cold, Nix, was what awaited them. It was just as massive as Vulcan, but a white light pulsed beneath its black body. It was a lithe creature, taking the form of a wolf. Its tail was not bushy as one would expect, and instead it was spiked with icy spines. Its limbs were much the same. At the center of its chest was the mask of its human self, stretched into a soundless scream of terror. Melissa Verde had been a kind young woman with the most powerful Ice related semblance of the modern times: Sub-zero.

The human sized mask upon Nix's chest told Ruby exactly how agonizing Melissa's final moments had been. It made her heart clench, wishing that something so terrible hadn't happened to her. Ruby couldn't stop herself from wondering if she'd been alone when she died. Or had she been with the other captured Hunters and Huntresses? Honestly, she couldn't tell what would have been worse.

"Get ready for a crash landing!" called Ironwood. She braced herself just as Blake and Ren stepped up beside her.

"Here we go, Ruby," Blake said. Ruby nodded and Jaune walked ahead of them, his countenance severe. He'd changed a lot since their last time here in the Land of Darkness. The frightened boy was no more. Now there was only confidence and the weight of responsibility. Ruby had wondered what changed him so, but when she'd asked Pyrrha the girl had only gone silent and shook her head. Ruby decided not to pry. She had an idea from Pyrrha's response alone.

"Our plan hinges on you, Ruby. We'll protect you… so give it everything you've got," said Jaune.

"You don't have to worry about that. Not one bit," Ruby replied. Jaune gave her a nod and after everyone grabbed hold of something, their bullhead nose-dived. Their pilot pulled them out of the dive, but not enough to prevent them from crashing into the ground. The bullhead shuddered ferociously as it tore a furrow into the ground. Eventually it came to a stop, but before anyone could pile out an icicle impaled the cockpit and the pilot along with it.

"No!" Ruby shouted, not that it mattered now.

"Everyone out! Now!" Qrow ordered. They all made a mad dash for the door as another icicle barely missed Oscar. Once they were safely out of the bullhead, it sunk in for Ruby and the other Huntsmen in training that this was it. The bullhead was thoroughly impaled. It was little more than a wide tube of contorted metal at this point. There was no turning back even if they wanted to.

"Let's go," Ruby said. She stepped forward, her eyes locked onto the snarling form of Nix. It roared. And then it charged.

"It's… kinda hard to believe our fight caused this, 'ttebayo," Naruto commented as they stood at the foot of Mount Yakasha. Trees towered over them on all sides and Naruto could hear the patter of scurrying paws. As beautiful as this place was, it didn't feel real. Even knowing they were the cause of this, Naruto and Sasuke just couldn't fathom the results of their battle. They had rewritten the maps as their predecessors had done.

"It is rather magnificent," Cinder said as she walked up next to Sasuke. "Of course, I know exactly how magnificent one of you can be," she continued, her voice low and husky. From the corner of her eye she kept Sakura in view, watching for any reaction. Outside of briefly glancing her way the woman had none. Cinder found it quite curious but she supposed it made some degree of sense. She had been rather cross with Sasuke since the battle ended.

"Fall," Sasuke warned.

"Can a girl not have her fun?" she replied, smiling at him. He looked at Naruto and scowled.

"I should have let you fight her. If I knew it was going to be like this… besides, what's one extra girl when you already have three?" Sasuke grunted. Heat quickly rose to Naruto's cheeks and his three girlfriends faired no better.

"I'm good with just three. No more for me!" Naruto replied, shaking his head vigorously. Behind him, the glare from Weiss lessened significantly. It had taken her man a few seconds to reply to his friend's assertion and Weiss was not okay with that. Sure, she'd agreed to enter this odd relationship with him and the others, but she certainly was not interested in expanding their little situation.

"I think this is quite enough banter for one night," Winter cut in, glaring at Naruto and Cinder. Cinder smiled at her, and Naruto could do little more than look offended.

"I had nothing to do with that, 'ttebayo!"

"Now, now. Let's all settle down. Go ahead and open a Yomotsu Hirasaka for us Naruto," said Kakashi. As Naruto nodded and did as he was asked, Kakashi stepped out in front of them all and continued. "Now, just to go over the plan one last time, Hokage-sama is having Sakura, Hinata, and I accompany you all home. We'll be acting as delegates and after taking care of this Salem woman, we'll be entering into negotiations with your world leaders. Aside from providing us with directions, I ask that you all do as we say. From what we've learned of this Salem she sounds like an exceedingly paranoid woman. There is no telling what she's done since discovering forces that can easily outclass her, so it is best if we take lead once we arrive. All clear?"

The Remnant natives gave their assent and with a nod, Kakashi turned to his two students just in time to see Naruto release the binds on Sasuke's chakra. It wasn't so much a visual change he saw. Naruto hardly moved at all. No, it was the sheer amount of power that suddenly exploded from out of Sasuke. He was no sensor nin, but one didn't have to be to notice Sasuke's unchecked power. Not from this close. Despite the tensing of his body, the two boys didn't even spare them a look as they stepped into the rift. The rest of their party followed.

Pyrrha slid beneath an icicle as as she fired a shot into a Beowulf's head. Next to her, Coco unleashed a hail of bullets upon the army of grimm ahead of them. Quickly getting to her feet, she transformed her weapon into its javelin for and flung it at Coco. With a glance, she slightly changed its trajectory, and it shot right past the back of Coco's head and into the skull of an Ursa that had been approaching her. Coco glanced at her and smiled as Pyrrha used her semblance to recall Miló.

Team CFVY being a part of their operation was a humongous boon. They were powerful and experienced, not to mention Coco and Velvet's suppressing fire was the only reason they hadn't been completely overwhelmed. As long as they covered the two of them, they had a foothold against the horde. The only issue was that ammo was not infinite. Eventually, Coco would run out. Pyrrha narrowed her eyes and wondered what they would do when Coco couldn't hold off grimm for them anymore.

Pyrrha shook the thought away. She didn't have any reason to think about that. They'd just have to become victorious before then. Instead of clouding her own mind with doubt, she moved forward. Hours passed in what felt like a blur from there. The only thing Pyrrha could really remember was sweating, burning exhaustion in her limbs, cold, screams, growls, and the shouting voices of her comrades.

The constant battling had paid off though. What was once just a vague structure in the distance was now a towering castle. Pyrrha dropped to a knee as her legs gave out for a moment. The relief of finally laying eyes on their destination sapped her adrenaline. As she breathed raggedly, Qrow stepped up next to her and rested a hand on her shoulder.

"You did good, kid. And I know you're tired, but you gotta get back on your feet. This ain't over yet," Qrow grunted. He hooked his hand under her armpit and helped her up.

"Thank you…" Pyrrha replied. Jaune stepped up to her from her other side and laced his fingers with hers. He gave her hand a squeeze as he used his semblance on her. Her aura was low, so he gave her some of his own despite her protests. Pyrrha felt refreshed afterwards and thanked him, her cheeks reddening at the feel of his hands.

"My my…" Pyrrha's head snapped up at the unimpressed drawl of Salem's voice. She was there, gazing down at them from a window of her castle, her hands clasped behind her back. "Never have I known rats to be so elated strolling into the cat's den."

"You've nowhere left to run, Salem," said Oscar as he stepped forward, Ozpin clearly in control of his body at the moment. "Your grimm of ice is currently suffering from stone limbs, your grimm pools must replenish, and the other eight terrors are too far away to assist you. Please, surrender. You've lost."

"Have I, dear husband? Ozma, I am forever. You cannot kill me. No one can. We shall do battle. You will all fall eventually. One by one as your aura depletes, your blood will flow, your limbs will grow weak, and the light shall leave your eyes at my feet. And then, my grimm shall feast—and feast well."

"Yes… we may not be able to kill you but miss Rose can at least keep you contained. This is the end, Salem." Oscar brandished his cane and the warriors that came with him did the same. Despite her fatigue, Pyrrha did the same. The energy of her comrades gave her strength and steeled her resolve. Salem looked upon all of them for a moment longer. And then her eyes crinkled with mirth.

Pyrrha heard Salem laugh. It was a high, cold thing. It sent chills down her spine. It was unnerving to hear from someone such as her. And Pyrrha knew then, that something was terribly wrong. And by the way she noticed Oscar tighten his grip on his cane, she knew he must have felt it too.

"You are a fool, husband. Did you think you all made it this far under your own power? No. No. I allowed you to reach me. I let Nix's limbs be turned to stone despite her being more than capable of killing you all by herself. I manufactured your encounters with my grimm, providing you just enough resistance to challenge all of you yet allow you to continue to move forward. I invited you here, husband! And look at you… you came.

"You brought everyone who could oppose me. All who even know of me. And when I kill you here, who will you have to fight alongside you upon your next reincarnation, Ozma? No one." Behind them, Pyrrha heard crumbling stone and a howl. Then the ground shook as Nix charged them from behind. Her eyes were trained on Salem, however. Or more accurately, the countless number of grimm that were creeping out from the windows and doors of her castle.

Pyrrha gripped Miló tighter even as her spirits began to drop. They were trapped. This was a trap. And they took the bait like ravenous fish. Salem smiled as if a great burden had finally be removed from her shoulders.

"Now die." At those last words from Salem, her grimm leapt out of the castle.

In her office, Tsunade sat in her chair, her elbow situated on the arm of her chair as her hand held up her head. Her eyes were trained on the papers in her free hand, moving to and fro across the document as she considered its words. Tazuna had sent her the costs for the repairs he was going to be heading in the village. It was going to be quite expensive. Of course, that was partially because he wasn't just going to be doing repairs.

A new clan compound was being built for the Yaksha clan per the Daimyo's orders. Personally, Tsunade didn't think Sasuke deserved this and she was positive Naruto simply wouldn't care, but orders were orders. The Daimyo, powerful as he was politically, was little more than a speck when comparing him to what Naruto and Sasuke were now. Tsunade doubted the man was unaware of this.

The construction of the Yaksha clan compound was a clear attempt to garner favor with the two of them. If the Daimyo could not control them—and he most certainly could not—then his next best course was to make them like him as much as possible. Tsunade set the document down on her desk and considered the Daimyo's plan for just a moment. Tsunade snorted.

It wouldn't work.

"I wonder if they've made it already. Do you think they've dealt with this Salem woman by now?" Shizune asked. Tsunade smiled faintly to herself. Even knowing the two of them had no known equals in the world they'd gone to, she was always a worrier when it came to those she cared about.

"It's only been seven hours, Shizune… and yet I doubt she hasn't been settled. Just relax. Play with Tonton or something. We'll hear from them when they're done," Tsunade replied. And as if speaking it into existence, a blocky, black rift opened in front of her desk. Tsunade tensed up until a crown of blonde spikes appeared from it. Naruto, Sasuke, Hinata, and the rest of Team seven stepped out of the Yomotsu Hirasaka.

"You're back already?" Tsunade asked, a brow raised. Naruto chuckled.

"Well, we kinda stepped into the middle of a fight. That and the clean up didn't take much longer than two and a half ours, I'd say. Honestly, finding and convincing all the heads of the countries over there to believe our story and then convince them we meant no harm is what took up the rest of our time," Naruto replied.

"Of course you did… well, go on. Explain."

Seven hours prior to their return to the Elemental Nations, a Yomotsu Hirasaka expanded from nothingness between Nix and Remnant's force against Salem. Those who had turned to face Nix—primarily Ruby, Blake, Pyrrha, and Qrow—were left wary at the blocky rift before them. Despite having seen such a thing twice before, they'd not gotten a good look at Yomotsu Hirasaka either time. All they could do was hope it wasn't another one of the Nine Terrors.

They watched as a foot touched the ground, then more and more followed. The blocky rift blocked their vision of who had actually exited, but they were at least sure their newest guests were humsn. And that's what lead to Ruby screaming for them to watch out as her eyes began to glow. She ran forward, hoping to slow Nix down with her silver eyes before the Terror could maul the new arrivals.

But Nix had already leapt at them. Ruby began to activate Petal Burst, her visage expressing abject horror at what she was about to witness. And then an earth-shattering explosion threw her onto her butt. Smoke and dust obscured her vision and the sounds of gunfire and shells hitting the ground behind her ceased. The snarling, growls, and roars of the grimm ceased. Everything came to a stop. And though Ruby couldn't see it, Salem's smile dropped.

A great wind blew the dust away. Ruby had to cover her eyes to avoid getting anything in them. When she opened them, her gaze fell upon something that had her dropping Crescent Rose at her feet. Her heart was filled with more joy than she'd felt in her whole life.

Nix was motionless, its front legs angled sideways. The beast could do little more than growl weakly at the group of people standing unharmed before it. And at the back of that group was her sister. Yang had returned.

"Yang!" Ruby screamed as she scrambled to her feet and used her semblance to tackle her sister just as the blonde turned at the sound of her voice. The two of them fell to the dirt with an oof from Yang and tears from Ruby.

"Geez… you didn't have to tackle me so hard, Rubes…" Yang groaned as she patted her sister's head.

"You've been gone for weeks! I didn't—I wasn't—! Yang, I thought I lost you too!" wailed Ruby, her face buried in the crook of Yang's neck. Yang could do little more than gaze upon her sister sympathetically. She'd missed Ruby too; more than anything. But Yang knew Ruby must have felt a million times worse.

"Sorry Ruby… but don't cry anymore, okay? I'm alright… and we'll avenge, dad," Yang said, smiling brightly as her sister looked up into her eyes. "My boyfriend will make sure of that."

"Nix!" Salem screamed, sounding more panicked than she had in weeks. She'd not been this scared since the Otsutsuki came knocking. But from the window of her castle, she could see them. The blonde and the raven haired boys from before. Them being here could only mean one thing. They'd bested the Otsutsuki. They were stronger than the Otsutsuki. Her next command came with a frantic need to preserve her life. "Kill them! Kill them all now!"

Her grimm responded swiftly, craning its neck up to the moon and howling. A thick, wide sword of ice formed in the sky. It was the signature attack of the woman who Nix had once been. Only, the scale was far above anything she'd ever done in her time as a human. The sword plummeted to the ground, spreading chill winds to all of them.

And then Salem bore witness to something fantastical; something impossible. And she could only liken such an act to one thing: Godhood. Naruto gazed upon the falling sword. Standing ahead of everyone aside from Sasuke, no one bore witness to his third eye opening upon his forehead. Golden-orange in color, the pupil was a single pitch black circle in the center of his eyes and the iris was made up of three intercrossing rings that surrounded his pupil, a pitch black sphere seemingly stuck on each ring, moving as they spun around his pupil.

His Dojutsu was only active for a split second, and as he let the eye close, the falling blade was imply no more. It had not been shattered. It had not been melted. It simply had ceased to exist. There was no trace of it anywhere. No matter where you looked. Salem felt dread settle in her stomach.

"You know, just looking at this thing with the Rinnegan, I can tell it's all messed up. A bunch of energies just twisted into a mass… this definitely used to be a person too," Naruto said with a frown. Beside him Sasuke just gave his usual grunt and turned away from Nix, his gaze landing upon Salem. She flinched.

"Make it quick so we can get this over with," Sasuke drawled.

"Yeah. I will," Naruto replied. He examined Nix for a moment longer as the ice-wolf grimm tried to get its broken limbs beneath it again, growling all the while. Naruto lifted a hand, and with a casual wave Nix let out a loud whimper before slumping to the ground heavily. Ever so slowly, the ice upon it receded as the black mist that made up all grimm dissipated.

When all was said and done, lying unconscious on the ground where Nix had once been was a beautiful young woman with ice blue hair. Melissa Verde had been freed from her nightmare. In the window of her castle, Salem could only watch the scene silently. All of my hard work creating the Nine Terrors and that man had just… willed it away…? My works… reduced to nothing with a casual gesture? Salem thought.

Salem could hardly fathom it. But what she could fathom was the feeling she experienced once the blonde man turned to her. Once both men set their gazes upon her. It was like being before the brother gods all over again. Salem saw darkness. She saw light. Salem, for the first time in thousands of years, felt just as small and insignificant as she had when she was once human.

She took a single step back. And then another. Her back impacted against something sturdy yet warm. With a start she turned about. Naruto and Sasuke were there. Salem's head whipped around to where she'd been staring at them only to see that they were gone. I didn't see them move. I was staring right at them the whole time. I didn't blink and yet I didn't—I didn't even perceive them moving.

Fear gripped Salem fully. And it was the last cognitive thought she had.

When Salem next opened her eyes, the first thing she heard was someone speaking.

"—eally sorry, Yang. I wish I could revive your dad, I do. But as powerful as the Rinnegan is, even it has its limits. Under any other circumstance I would do it in a heartbeat, but when I tried, I could feel some power blocking me out of the afterlife. As useless as these gods have been to Remnant all these years, they don't seem too interested in someone meddling with the balance of life and death in their world. I could break past them sure, but that would no doubt lead to conflict. A conflict I'm not sure Remnant could survive," said Naruto.

"But—" Ruby started, only to be interrupted by Sasuke.

"Your gods are not Otsutsuki. We have no comprehension of how their relationship to your world even works. What if we fought them and killed them? Would that somehow kill Remnant as a whole? We don't know enough to go meddling with them."

"He's right," Naruto sighed, "I'm sorry Ruby. But there are too many what-ifs here. I can't bring your dad back and risk your whole world in the process."

Salem heard much crying after that declaration and wanted to scoff at the girl's weakness. She kept her mouth shut, however. And kept her eyes closed. They'd kept her alive for reasons she knew not. Her only hope was that she could use this situation to her advantage.

"Eavesdropping is not very polite," Sasuke said. Salem inhaled sharply. "I see you're awake, witch." Salem opened her eyes and watched as he and Naruto approached. Ozma was right behind them.

"What do you want of me?" Salem questioned, her eyes narrowed.

"Us? Nothin. We'd have sent you off already if not for Oz here," Naruto replied, jutting his thumb at Ozma. Her husband's face was grim, almost sad. It looked peculiar upon such a young face, but she knew better of course. The soul within the child's body was anything but young.

"And what do you want, Ozma?" Salem spat. She watched her husband sigh, his shoulders sagging.

"I… just wanted to say good bye. Despite all the evil you've done to this world. To me… I still love you, Salem. I never stopped. I dearly wished things could have ended differently for us… but that was not to be. This will likely be the last time we see one another as we are now. And so, despite everything, I wanted to gaze upon the face of my wife one last time before the end," Ozma replied. Salem felt her heart pound heavily in her chest. The way Ozma was talking… No! I will not even entertain the thought!

"You speak lies! We are eternal, Ozma! We cannot die! Not even these boys can interfere with the brother gods' punishment upon us! They cannot tamper with the afterlife!" Salem replied hotly; desperately. Ozma merely shook his head.

"No… I speak only the truth. You misunderstand, Salem. They cannot bring the dead back, but the brother gods seem to have no quarrel with the two of them righting the natural order. Technically, humanity stood against you and your grimm at your castle… the brothers are satisfied with that."

Salem's eyes widened. "No," she whispered shakily.

"The two of them will remove our souls from our bodies and set us down the path to reincarnation… true reincarnation. Not the bastardized version of what I've endured all these years. We will be born anew. Different people. No memories of our long and tragic histories."

"No," Salem said again, an edge to her voice now. She was glaring darkly at her husband now. Ozma merely stared back with that same sad smile on his face.

"You should be happy, Salem. The brother gods had considered merely tearing you out of the cycle completely and destroying your very soul. They only decided against it because they determined your folly was ultimately theirs. They are your creators, after all."

"No!" Salem shouted.

"For the last time… good bye, Salem. I love you," said Ozma. Before Salem could respond his eyes glowed. Her heart thudded one last time in her chest heavily and painfully. And then finally, after her many, many, many long years… Salem knew no more.

"And then after we left Sasuke, Winter, and Raven with their world leaders, we decided to head back here to report in. I'm gonna be taking another trip back in a day or two to help them end their grimm problem though," said Naruto. Tsunade just nodded along as he finished and leaned back in her chair.

"Good to hear. Well, congratulations on a job well done. We've some stuff to discuss here too. Like your promotion and your clan compound being built, but I'll let you get some rest first. That can wait. Go get some food or something. You all are dismissed," said Tsunade. She watched as Naruto nodded with a grin stretching his face and turned to the door, only for him to stop with his hand on the handle and whip his head back to her.

"Wait, clan compound!?" Naruto shouted.

Shizune giggled next to her and Tsunade smiled at the boy fondly. Naruto was home and all was right with the world.

~ Fin. ~

XXX

And that's that. For all intents and purposes, Far From Home is finally over. 27 chapters in total, not counting the coming epilogue. And that's all it is, an epilogue. I don't have anything to type for the story that wouldn't just be a glance into the future of Naruto, his ladies, and Sasuke.

Being done is just weird… but I'm glad for it in the end. I think I can finally free up my brain to seriously hunker down and work on other things now. I'm not sure when the next update for this will be, but I can say that you shouldn't expect the epilogue to be a long chapter. Certainly nowhere near this length. This was the longest chapter in the story, after all. I hope this was a fitting end for you all. For me, it's bittersweet.

Anyway… I think I've learned a lot from writing this fic. Looking back on it, if I could do it all over again I think I'd make some changes. I'd have liked to focus on Weiss a bit more and spend more time in Remnant. At some points, I feel as though I lost the finer details in the big picture. I could have fleshed out more characters and interactions. I'm think Naruto and Winter. Sasuke, Cinder, and Emerald. Ruby and Blake. And even Yang, Hinata, and Raven. In the moment though... I just kind of skirted over them. In the future, I think I'll take more time to go back through and add scenes I feel I'm missing in my future stories before posting... but that's enough self critique from me. Feel free to leave your own critiques or opinions.

Only one chapter left. Once again, I'll leave you with the title. For the las time. That felt weird to type. Geeze. Chapter 28 shall be:

Welcome Home

If there are any questions you all have, feel free to leave a review. If you want some sort of more in-depth discussion, then go ahead join the discord. Anyway, that's it. Peace out.

Discord Server: discord dot gg/kSvA5vftJ9