Not a Single Moon has Passed

"The tailed beasts," Naruto breathed, "they will listen to you, right, Ai? The same way Kurama was drawn to you on the beach- they cannot disobey you." Ai looked at Naruto, his blue eyes, bright and determined, just like hers, were locked onto the girl's ethereal form.

Ai's gaze swept across the caged beasts, their ancient eyes glowing with recognition and longing. She felt the pull of their chakra, a familial bond as though a part of her soul was somehow outside of her being. The bijū, sensing her attention and affection, shifted in their cages. Shukaku's golden eyes gleamed with a mixture of reverence and mischief, while Matatabi's blue flames flickered with anticipation. Son Gokū rumbled low in his throat, a sound that reverberated through the stone walls like distant thunder. Each beast, in its own way, acknowledged the presence of their creator's incarnation.

"Yes, they will follow me," Ai nodded.

The Kazekage looked around at Ai, Sasuke and Naruto and made up all of their minds. "Then we must break the reanimation jutsu," he declared, his eyes never leaving Ai's face. "Restore full control to those who have been resurrected. Let them join our side. It's our best chance to turn the tide of this war." The Kazekage's words seemed to hang in the air, heavy with implication.

"Madara wants the Ten Tails," Sasuke said, his voice calming like cool water, but Ai could hear the ripples of hurt there, "his first goal will be to kill Ai, to sever her connection to the Bijū."

"We'll protect her!" Naruto exclaimed confidently, throwing his hands together to cast signs and summon a small army of shadow clones.

"We'll protect her!" The clones shouted in unison as they ran forwards, looking like balls of orange and white flames darting around the cave, spreading out to put distance between Ai and the approaching enemy.

As if in response to Naruto's words, a shift in the air sent a shiver through the assembled group. Sasuke and Gaara's eyes darted around the cave, seeing something Ai could not, their bodies tensing as they sensed the approach of friend and foe alike. There was a vibration in the air and in the ground, something that whispered warnings of the impending pandemonium. The air grew thick with the scent of death and the metallic tang of blood, harbingers of the battle to come. In the distance, they could hear the faint echoes of clashing steel and shouted jutsu, a grim reminder of the war raging beyond these stone walls.

"We need to hurry," Sasuke whispered, his hand instinctively moving to the handle of his katana. "They're coming." The urgency in his voice was a stark contrast to his usual cool demeanour. Even the last Uchiha, hardened by years of isolation and vengeance, seemed to call out, lost and alone, for Love.

Her face a mask of ethereal calm despite the storm raging within, Ai nodded almost imperceptibly. "I'll need cover," she murmured.

Gaara, Naruto and Sasuke turned to her and nodded. They all noticed that in the moments before incantation, Ai looked every inch the goddess she was meant to be. Her long dark hair flowed around her like a river of midnight, her blue eyes shimmered with an otherworldly light. The white dress she wore, now stained with the grime and blood of battle, seemed to glow softly in the dim light of the cave. Even her gold jewellery, now dulled and rusted by war, tried to shine in the soft light of the cave. She felt to her knees and removed a sealing tag from her robes.

In an instant, Naruto and his clones moved to flank her, their bodies forming a protective barrier against the encroaching darkness. His golden chakra flared, an aura of power that pushed back against the oppressive atmosphere of the cave. The original Naruto turned, expecting to see Gaara and Sasuke beside him but the two had turned towards Ai before almost bumping into each other.

They had both turned with the same intention to ask Ai what she needed, what they had not thought about, was who she needed. The Kazekage took only a moment to think about it; Sasuke was in love with Ai and Ai returned that affection. The last time she had looked at Gaara that way…it had been years ago, hadn't it? She no longer slept in his arms, did she? She belonged to another man. Silently, the Kazekage nodded to the Uchiha and turned around. He went to join Naruto in keeping guard of Ai, his sand already swirling around them, ready to defend her until some bloody end.

Sasuke could smell the jasmine of her hair in the air as he knelt down beside her. Ai was reading through scrolls, arranging them to perform some ancient magic Sasuke had no idea of. He watched her work for a moment and a small smile of nostalgia played on his lips. A year ago, when they had met, he had tried to train her in the art of war but she had had no talent in any of it. Now, in the middle of battle, he was taking orders from her. Love always surprised him.

"What do you need?" He asked softly, his voice barely audible over the rumble from the throats of the bijū. She did not look up from her papers, her dark hair fell in front of her face, her blue eyes sparkled down at the words she had written moths ago.

"Ah!" Ai jumped and looked up as Sasuke pushed her hair behind her ear.

"What do you need?" He repeated, his eyes softening and Ai cold see, through the hardened, brittle armour of the Uchiha's past, was the vulnerable boy he had once been.

"Chakra," she breathed and watched as Sasuke, his eyes never leaving her face, took her hand and placed it against his chest, between the fabric of where his shirt crossed over itself. Her fingertips brushed his skin, her touch still igniting that familiar spark of want within him. For a heartbeat, he was transported back to their first meeting, to the moment when he realised he had found Love.

That beautiful girl watched his face, as small tears entered his eyes she could hear her heart break. What were they to one another now? In the grand scheme of things? After the Kazekage was the one to bring Love back into the light, Sasuke knew the answer.

"Sasuke-"

"It's fine, Ai," he whispered, blinking away the tears hurriedly, "I always knew." Love leant in and kissed Sasuke on the corner of his mouth. At the same time, without a word she drew upon his power to summon a scroll. "Ah!" Sasuke felt that familiar, strange feeling of Ai using his chakra and buckled a little. The parchment materialised in a swirl of starlight, ancient symbols dancing across its surface. The scroll in her hands seemed to pulse with light, the symbols shifting and rearranging themselves as if alive. It was a remnant of a bygone age, a piece of magic that predated the shinobi world.

"They're here!" Naruto screamed as the cave trembled and walls first to enter were the Kage, bursting through the cave entrance entrance, their chakra pulsing like a storm front. People, friends, warriors, Ai once knew so briefly all coming to her aid. Tsunade's fists crackled with raw power, while the Raikage's body sparked with lightning that illuminated the jagged stalactites above. The Mizukage and the Tsuchikage glided in gracefully. Behind them, Sakura's emerald eyes flashed with determination, her stance mirroring her mentor's. Kakashi moved like a silver shadow, his Sharingan gleaming in the dim light. And, with a sigh of relief from the Kazekage, Temari and Kankuro entered alongside their comrades and moved to flank their brother, fan and puppets at the ready.

What little remained of the Allied Shinobi Forces poured into the cave like a river breaking through a dam, their diverse jutsu painting the air with a kaleidoscope of chakra. They took their positions alongside Gaara, Ai, Naruto, and Sasuke, forming a living barrier against the enemies that followed them. They all held their breath, waiting for the enemy to emerge from the shadows.

It started, undetectable, untraceable, as a small ripple in the form of a stone at the the opposite end of the cavern, before the giant rocks that formed the wall of the gave seemed to warp and twist into a doorway from which hellish visions appeared. Madara emerged, the real Madara, in all his vicious glory, his gunbai gleaming in the light of the cave. Ai's teacher, the man in the orange mask was nowhere to be seen, perhaps he had met his end in the world beyond the cave? Behind Madara, eyes glowing with an unnatural dark light, bodies moving with jerky, puppet-like motions, walked the reanimated shinobi. Family, friends, teachers, lovers, Kage, rivals…all walking on earthly planes because of Love, all brought here for a single purpose, all waiting for Ai to turn the tide of war.

The two sides watched each other for barely a heartbeat before Ai stood, her hands wove intricate patterns in the air, leaving trails of stardust in their wake. Her voice rose above the din a melody that seemed to resonate with the very stones of the earth. The scroll before her pulsed with an otherworldly glow, ancient symbols of the dead language dancing across its surface like living things.

With a final, resounding word that echoed through the cavern like a thunderclap, Ai shattered the clause of control within the reanimation jutsu. The effect was immediate and breathtaking. The reanimated shinobi stumbled, their eyes clearing as if awakening from a long slumber. They flexed their fingers, cracked their wrists, smiled at their loved ones as they were finally able to see clearly.

Chaos erupted in an instant. The cave became a maelstrom of jutsu and clashing steel. The reanimated shinobi were crying out in righteous anger then to righteous anger as they turned on Madara who in turn divided himself into thousands of replicas. Naruto's shadow clones filled the air like a swarm of golden fireflies, each one radiating with the power of the Nine-Tails. The bijū in their cages cried out for Ai like small children lost in a massacre. The ethereal form of Sasuke's Susanoo manifested, filling a large portion of the cave, sword cleaving through Madara's shadow clones with devastating efficiency.

Glittering throughout the battle, swirling through the air, the Kazekage's sand fanned out, shielding allies and crushing enemies with equal precision. All the while he kept an eye on the woman behind him, desperate to keep a hold of her, to protect her. But it seemed she was no longer the girl he knew.

Ai moved with a grace that defied the chaos around her. Her hands danced through the air, summoning weapons that materialised from swirls of starlight. Gaara watched in astonishment, half his attention on his own battle as Ai created a shield of golden light to guard Sakura as she charged through a barrage of fire jutsu, her chakra-enhanced fist connecting with bone-shattering force. Even one of Naruto's clones stopped to watch as Ai provided cover fire, through a rain of spectral arrows, for Kankuro's puppets as they darted in for the kill.

The cave itself was coming alive, responding to the titanic clash of wills within it. Stalactites crashed down like stone spears, while geysers of steam erupted from fissures in the floor. The air crackled and sparked with the intensity of the chakra being unleashed.

Madara stood at the eye of this storm, his Rinnegan gleaming with malevolent purpose. His shadow clones multiplied faster than they could be destroyed, each one a perfect copy of his terrifying skill.

Although the battle looked disorganised, a storm of chaos and confusion, death and violence following one another in an unforgiving cycle, the allied forces moved with a synchronicity and concealed formation. Between Madara and Ai were a series of blockades, preventing the formidable Uchiha from getting to her and ultimately yielding power over the tailed beasts. Naruto's shadow clones, glowing gold, their bright blue eyes hardened in the heat of battle, formed an line a hundred paces from Ai, standing in Madara's path to her. Towering above them all, filling up the cave with its ethereal glow, Sasuke's Susanoo fought with fury at the forefront, yet one translucent wing remained vigilantly curled around Ai, a thin shield of chakra shimmering around her. The Kage, though embroiled in their own fierce battles, maintained a loose formation around the goddess incarnate, their movements a complex dance that always kept one of them between Ai and Madara's relentless advance. Even the very air seemed to conspire in her defense, as gusts of wind - perhaps Temari's doing, perhaps simply the breath of fate itself - subtly altered the trajectory of incoming attacks, steering them just wide of their mark. These layers of protection formed an invisible fortress around Ai, a testament to the unspoken understanding that in her survival lay the key to their salvation. Each of her friends, each of her protectors, worked tirelessly to maintain that crucial distance, a living barrier between Love and oblivion.

In Tengoku (heaven) the gods held their breath and watched with admiration and respect as these mortals fought so bitterly to hold on to peace, onto the world they loved. Their form was enviable; moving together as though one, subconsciously communicating with one another to protect Ai. Only Renai, stood on the edge of a star, saw the crack, the weakness of their defence. They were relying on Ai to follow suit, to stay in the comfortable confines of protection. But Renai knew Ai like she was her reflection; Madara just had to give that girl reason to move and rely on the belief that Love is as reckless as it is beautiful.

"Ai!" Turning to her left, just in time to duck thanks to Gaara's warning cry, Ai narrowly avoided one of Madara's clones as they leapt at her, weapon outstretched. Sand swirled around her, blocking Madara from getting near her. Ai stumbled backwards as the wall of sand became thicker, a solid wall ten feet deep just to capture one of the clones. Ai was, of course, safe in the cover of Susanoo but was grateful for Gaara's help regardless. She turned to the Kazekage.

Renai felt her heart break as she watched Ai's face.

In his determination to safeguard her, the Kazekage had turned towards her, uprooted all of his sand and left himself momentarily exposed. It was a split second, a mere breath in the grand scheme of things, but in the heat of battle, it was all that Madara needed. Love's sapphire eyes widened in horror as she saw a shadow detach itself from the darkness behind Gaara. Time seemed to slow, each second stretching into an eternity as she watched Madara's clone materialise, a black spear of chakra forming in its hand.

In that moment, all of Ai's divine power, all of her celestial heritage, fell away. She forgot why she was there, what she was doing. Seeing the Kazekage an inch from death was enough to make her forget her entire existence.

"Gaara!" Ai screamed, the cracks in her voice echoing throughout the cave which had somehow slowed down until nothing else mattered. Gaara's hair was ruffling gently in the breeze as his eyes widened, a scream forming in his throat as he realised Ai was about to run out of the protection of the barrier they had created for her. But it was too late, without conscious thought, Love moved, her silk slippers pounding on the stone floor, blood and water splattering up around her legs, marking her white dress. Her hand reached out, fingers stretching towards the man who had once been her entire world. Love threw herself between Gaara and the oncoming attack.

She saw the evil, the hatred in Madara's gaze falter for a moment at the vision of Love's sacrifice, as he stared into her eyes, seeing a soul far older than his own. That girl with a beautiful face was willing, fearless, to die for the young Kazekage? With a desperate lunge, Ai attempted to grasp the spear, to halt its deadly trajectory. But to her shock and dismay, her fingers passed through it as if it were made of smoke and shadow.

Ai felt the impact of his spear, a searing, white-hot pain that blossomed in her chest. But even as the spear pierced through her, she looked over her shoulder to see it continue its deadly path, emerging from her back to strike Gaara as well. Time seemed to stand still. The sounds of battle faded away, replaced by the thunderous beating of her own heart. She could feel Gaara's warmth against her back, could sense the moment when the spear found its mark in his flesh.

They fell together. As Madara withdrew his weapon, a look of grim satisfaction on his face, Ai and Gaara collapsed to the ground.

"Ai!" She could hear the heartbroken cries of Sasuke somewhere in the distance but Ai was finding it hard to breathe, her vision was swimming as she looked up to the roof of the cave. She could hear her bijū crying out for her somewhere far away.

Ai's white dress, now stained crimson, spread around her like the petals of a blood-red flower. Gaara's armour, dented and scratched, reflected the dim light in a dull sheen, his hair sticking to his forehead with blood and sweat. Slowly, Ai managed to turn her head to face him. Side by side they lay, their fingertips brushing against each other gently, the warmth of their blood warming each other as the rest of them seemed to turn cold.

Hot, full tears ran down Ai's face as Gaara, his oceanic eyes becoming unfocused as he held on to consciousness, lifted his hand to stroke her face. The most beautiful thing he had ever seen, was finally next to him again. With the blood on his fingers he traced the mark on her forehead he had made years ago.

Ai.

She tried to speak to him, tried to tell him what she had wanted to for so long, but her body was no longer working, the words would not form. The veil between life and death grew thin, the cave turned colder, the embrace of the other side took hold.

Gaara. Not a single moon has passed…

…where I did not love you.

Before you all kill me- no, this is not the end.

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