There was silence throughout the night, and it was no different inside of the Hokage's office. Although, it was no longer called that. Nevertheless, under the light of a full moon there was an almost eerie quality of peace. There weren't so much as bugs chirping or buzzing. It was utterly quiet, even though the room was not empty. There was one person inside of it. What brought them to that room, for what purpose, and what they were doing, surely nobody knew.
That was, until there were rapid footsteps coming from outside of the room. They grew heavier with each second; somebody was approaching. The isolation of the room's occupant was about to be compromised. And as the doorknob twisted clockwise and the door was forced open, there was silence no longer.
"Lord Sixth! Are you there?" Someone shouted, a young shinobi shouted. He was one of the shinobi that was unable to join the 4th war, be it injury or other factors.
He was rather frantic, scanning the room as quickly as his eyes would allow. Finally, his eyes fell upon the desk in front of him, illuminated by the moonlight that shone through the windows behind. There he saw a man's head laying motionlessly against the surface.
"Lord Sixth!" The young Man shouted as he rushed to the body's side. The worst seemed to have occurred; that was what his fear told him.
But before he got too close, he heard something else. A groan, a pained and slightly miffled one at that. It stopped him dead in his tracks, as he looked around and listened for whatever caused the groaning sound. Of course, he was then filled with surprise as a second and identical muffled groan originated from the body of his leader.
The man that sat at the desk lifted his head, opening his heavy eyes reluctantly. He looked around for a moment, seeing that only the young man was present, with the door wide open.
"Hm? It's just you. Well, good night." Said the man as he put his head back on the desk.
"Lord Sixth, please. This is seriously urgent. The meteors in the sky, all nine of them, they're gone!"
"...huh?" He uttered, lifting his head up.
"They didn't just move either. Reports from the recon squad and second sensory unit say the things aren't anywhere on the continent! They're gone completely!" The young man exclaimed.
"Am I… still dreaming?"
"You're not!"
The sitting man sighed, realizing at least to some extent the gravity of the situation. If this boy was being serious about what he was saying, then surely others in the village must have heard as well. The boy in front of him was known as a chatterbox after all. Whatever reason the tailed beasts and their prisons disappeared, he was going to have to be awake for it all.
And so, the sixth official leader of Konoha, Kakashi Hatake, got out of his seat and stood straight.
"Please hurry sir. I think something big is about to happen."
"Just get out so I can wake up properly." Kakashi waved away the shinobi, and he promptly left.
Kakashi didn't know what to think, nor what the news could possibly mean. It was the middle of the night, and everything was pretty quiet, but commotion was sure to start in the morning once the news spread to everyone it could. He had to be prepared for that. Luckily for him though, there were still several hours before anything was likely to happen. Now that the kid was gone, he could get himself a few more hours of sleep. So he sat back down and closed his eyes. Everything else could at least wait for the sun to arrive.
The past couple of weeks were one headache after another, and among others he was forced to deal with them. it started with the apparent disappearance of Naruto. He wasn't brought back by the Sage of Six Paths, as he and the others were. It was hard to believe, hard to accept, but even the veritable God of shinobi as a concept could not bring him before them. Once he and the many souls he'd brought with him disappeared, Sasuke trapped all of the tailed beasts in a powerful genjutsu, and sealed them in newly created Planetary Devestations. With their chakra he was able to free the people trapped under the effects of the Infinite Tsukuyomi, but not before he murdered the five kage that led the nation's to war. Kakashi could but watch powerlessly, restrained as well by Sasuke's ocular prowess. The Raikage, Mizukage, and Tsuchikage were first to go, and then the Kazekage and Tsunade. In the blink of an eye, the kage were gone, and so was the very word itself.
Once the rest of the world was freed, Sasuke had instituted a single rule. There would no longer be kage. The "five great shinobi nations" were no longer. Without their kage and their tailed beasts, they were just shinobi villages that held no more than their greater size compared to other villages. The land of steel and their samurai remained mostly unaffected, of course. Though the position of leader remained, those that sat in the desks at the top of their villages could no longer be called kage. Those that felt bold enough to try, many in number at first, simply disappeared in a flash.
And now, as the sixth head of Konoha, Kakashi was responsible for managing a village whose spirit was all but shattered. The village's former allies were in much of the same situations. Though the successors of the former kage remained, their strength was of little value against the true threat. That was the case for them all. For many, it was uncertain if there would ever be a way to stop Sasuke, or if Shinobi would die off as a culture before he did. Kakashi was, however, not among them.
He was a man who went by his gut, operated on hunches that held no base. Despite everything, he believed that it wasn't over yet. He believed that somewhere, somehow, Naruto was still alive, still fighting, still trying. He was the unpredictable goofball turned hero of the village, and if there was anyone who could overturn this situation at all, it would be him.
And suddenly hearing that the tailed beasts vanished, for seemingly no reason, made his chest tingle with a certain feeling.
I can't go back to sleep. He thought to himself. Whether or not he'd already slept enough, he felt like he had to get up and get himself ready. He always followed his instincts, and they were forewarning him that something was soon to happen. Besides, if that kid knew something was happening, he was sure to get an official report before long.
And it wasn't more than a few minutes later, that some more official looking messengers burst into the room.
Kakashi wasn't alone in this abrupt experience. It occurred across the world, within many villages. Word was being spread. Some kind of thunderstorm was hears across the world, and the symbol of the Hokage's power had vanished from the sky. While the how and the why were unknown, they wouldn't stay that way, because the how and the why were about to reveal themselves as abruptly as possible.
"You really did it, Naruto." The Yang half of Kurama said to his former jinchuriki. It was a congratulations, or as much of one that Kurama could give.
"Yeah, I guess I did… are you all okay?" He asked the tailed beasts.
"Feels good to be able to move again!" Son Goku roared. He raised his fists in the air proudly, as if he was lifting the sky itself.
"What are you going to do now, though?" Gyuki asked Naruto. "You accomplished your goal, though I doubt it's how you wanted to. What's next?"
"Uh, well, I guess return to Konoha. That's really all I can do right?" He said, chuckling dryly. "What about all of you?"
Some of the tailed beasts passed loons between each other, as if trying to decide on their own answers. Gyuki was the first to respond though.
"I'll find Bee first. I separated a piece of my chakra before I was sealed, so he should still be kicking somewhere. I might give him a slap across the head for his awful rapping."
"A place where I can be in peace would be nice." Chomei remarked. Most of the others seemed to agree with that sentiment, except a few.
"What about you, Shukaku?" Naruto asked, noticing his lack of response.
"Hmph, really, I'd love to put a sand bullet in that Uchiha brat's head." The tanuki said, pointing a finger at the unconscious and blind Sasuke. "But right now, I'd rather return to Suna."
"Really? Of all places?" Gyuki asked.
"It's my business, not anyone else's!" Shukaku snapped.
His siblings laughed, and even Naruto felt an amused smile grow across his face.
"Thanks, Shukaku." Naruto said sincerely.
"I said it's my business!" Shukaku exclaimed indignantly.
There weren't many reasons he could have specified Suna of all places. Among them, there was Gaara's wish to lead and protect the village. But only two people there would know that.
"And what about her?" Kurama asked, directing his and everyone else's attention to the woman beside Naruto.
She was silent, letting her eyes drift between them one by one. Her intentions were indiscernible from just that much, and even Naruto waited in anticipation.
"You were all created by my son, out of the chakra he removed from me, weren't you…" Kaguya said plainly. She still made no move to attack or advance on them, merely stating what she was thinking. "To think that masses of pure chakra could have their own minds, biases, desires… my son was quite incredible. Compared to those that came before him, who consumed everything and returned nothing, he raised life where there should have been none. As his mother, I should be quite proud of him."
Kaguya raised herself into the sky, but slowly and avoided any potentially violent reactions. She drifted lazily towards Kurama, and put one of her hands against his head.
"I won't repeat my mistakes. Ignoring my son led me to madness and ceaseless hunger. I've grown beyond that, and there is no need to bring suffering to my son's children. Isn't that right, Naruto?" Kaguya asked as she descended, to the surprise of the boy in question.
He couldn't remember her ever saying his name before. It was rather nice that she wasn't just calling him a reincarnation of Ashura. Did she do that intentionally because of his depressed state?
"I'm curious about your village. You spoke so highly of it before, after all."
"Yeah, you can believe it." Naruto said. Some of his spirit finally seemed to have returned to him.
Naruto noticed something then. The color of the sky was beginning to change. The sun was starting to rise. For some reason, just looking out at the horizon and seeing orange encroaching upon black, just felt good.
The gathering thus disbanded. For most of the tailed beasts, so long as they could be left in peace, they would be content. The others returned to where they felt appropriate. In the worst case scenario, they would always be able to communicate to each other through Naruto and the chakra within him.
Reconnaissance teams from many of the closest villages reached the location soon after, finding little more than evidence of an altercation that left them utterly perplexed. Though their confusion didn't last, and Konoha was the first to learn the truth when three figures appeared at its front gate.
Their arrival was met with a myriad of emotions. Many were afraid of the large nine tailed fox. Even more were ecstatic for the yellow haired hero of the War. All of them were confused by the presence of a white haired woman, save for everyonewthose every shinobi present noticed the imprisoned and restrained Sasuke Uchiha.
Naruto felt his heart lighten many times over, as his eyes met those of his friends and allies. Sakura gave him a hug that threatened to snap him in two. Shikamaru and Choji congratulated him on his as-expected return. Hinata couldn't hold back and drenched Naruto's shoulder with her tears. The entire village celebrated, for Naruto's return and his victory unseen. He could just barely hold himself together in front of the gathered villagers, but did his best.
Not long after, Kakashi took Naruto and his guests behind closed doors. Even without sharingan he knew that the woman who was beside him was the same woman that nearly killed them all. His questions for his former student numbered like the stars in the night; he needed to know If she still was a threat. He was then quite glad, to hear about the current circumstances from Kaguya herself. He wasn't particularly excited about having to explain to the rest of the world, that a goddess was soon to be roaming about, but there was little to be done about it.
Curiously, Kurama requested to be sealed once more in Naruto, which would also unify his chakra that had been divided for 17 years. Although it would take time for them to find someone who could perform the sealing jutsu itself. Some plans were then devised to locate the likes of Orochimaru, who along with Sasuke's old allies, had managed to disappear to places unknown. Until then, Kurama had time to roam freely.
Sasuke himself was a rather complicated matter. With his eyes taken by Kaguya and subsequently stored in a secure location by Konoha, he was placed in a secure holding cell to await final judgment. Obviously, he should have been executed, and surely this was the consensus of the entire world, but Naruto couldn't accept that. Even now, he believed in Sasuke, in what he could be. And so a decision was made.
"You sure this was a good idea?" Kakashi asked his former student. The two of them leaned upon a railing outside the Hokage office, looking down at the village.
"Maybe not, but I can't give up on him." Naruto replied, hanging his head down.
"Well, that's to be expected from you of all people. Still, you're making trouble for me you know. I'm the one who has to tell the other villages about all this."
"Hehe, thanks Kakashi-sensei." Naruto laughed innocently.
"No sympathy huh… You know, maybe I'll find an excuse to retire early and appoint Sakura or Shikamaru as the next Hokage." Kakashi commented.
"What?! No way! Neither of them even want to be Hokage!" Naruto shouted in outrage. "And you're saying that to me? I've wanted to be hokage since I knew what it meant!"
"It's not possible, since you're still just a genin after all."
Naruto stared angrily at Kakashi, who looked as cool and collected as he always did, but after a few seconds, the two started laughing. Naruto couldn't see most of Kakashi's face, but he could tell that he was smiling underneath.
"You always manage to do the impossible, don't you." Kakashi remarked. "Showing up, saving us again, and even bringing that woman with you as an ally."
He glanced down at the street, where Kaguya was being swarmed by eager and curious folk. She could become a problem at any point, one that few could ever hope to handle, but then again, the same could be said about Naruto himself, and Kakashi trusted him completely, as well as his propensity for averting disasters.
"You've grown up a lot from the brat that got tied to a log."
"Don't remind me of something embarrassing like that. But thanks. I'm pretty amazing now, aren't I?" Naruto smiled.
"Just a little bit." Kakashi admitted, and then sighed. "You know, we both have a long day ahead of us."
"Yeah… how about we get food first? I… dont have any money on me though." Naruto suggested.
"I'll pay, so let's go." Kakashi said, gesturing for Naruto to follow him as he jumped off the rooftop.
Their destination, of course, could only be Ichiraku's. Naruto could eat as much as he wanted, deserving that much and plenty more. They sat down on two of the available stools, and were each served a bowl to start with. Teuchi and Ayame were always wwelcoming to Naruto, eager to see him enjoy the food they made.
After two bowls, Both Kakashi and Naruto developed an ominous feeling in their chests, and their instincts directed them to their side, specifically at the roof above the next chair over. A spacetime rift was forming, and after a moment, Kaguya fell through the portal and onto the seat below. Without a word, she exhaustedly laid her hand against the table, groaning.
"Your people's curiosities are infinite." Was all she said, aside from a quiet whine.
Neither had the heart to tell her that they were going to be receiving many guests from the other villages, who no doubt had their own countless inquiries and concerns. For now, all they could do was offer her a share of food and hope for the best. For what it was worth, the offering was in fact accepted. Kaguya, who hadn't actually eaten something with flavor since time immemorial, quickly became addicted to the taste of the noodles and soup, to Naruto's delight.
While they ate, Kakashi found himself staring at the two of them. With their colors and the general atmosphere that surrounded them, he could all but see them as the very sun and moon themselves.