Chapter Seventeen

"Five hours until they blow us all to hell!" The migraine headache assaulted Shikamaru's skull like a prisoner with a shiv. Red mist circled his head; they had come so far and were so close. Now, they were all going to die within a few hours. "Shit!" the words escaped his mouth, followed by a wellspring of obscenity flowing freely as the levee broke, "Shit…shit… shit… shit…" fury began building behind his frustration, "Shit! SHIT! SHIT!"

"We get the point bonehead," the sassy tone of his wife's voice did little other than rile him up more, "got anything else?"

Shikamaru slapped his hands against his temples in frustration, "Fine, FUCK! Fuck! Fuck and fuck! FUCK! Fuck and Bugger! Bugger! BUGGER! Buggity, FUCK! FUCK ASS!"

"ENOUGH ALREADY!" Kushina growled, shaking him out of his personal hell. "Shikamaru!" She rolled up her sleeves, "Goddammit, having a mental breakdown is not going to help anything right now! THINK!"

The wheels in Shikamaru's head ground against one another, lacking the lubricant of sleep, caffeine, or the chance to retreat mentally. Nevertheless, he adopted an improvised meditation state. Can't go to pieces now! There is a way out, you just have to think! Sort it out and put it together!

"All right," he nodded, "Temari, you and I are going flying in a sec!"

"Last date before the end of the world, a romantic moonlight flight," she teased.

"Hardly romantic – the moon and sun here are artificial. Toneri flew right for the moon and vanished with Naruto. My guess is they conceal some kind of doorway – a passage to his sanctum!" He let the words sink in. "If we have to, we'll go without Hinata."

"Without her and this," Sai approached the clearing holding the Hyūga family blade, "I don't know how much of a chance we'll stand against him, especially if he has Naruto under some kind of control."

"We'll cross that bridge if we have to," Shikamaru nodded then turned to Sakura. "Sakura, absolute minimum amount of time we have to get Hinata fighting shape, even if not a hundred percent?"

Sakura bit her lip and looked down at Hinata, "Eight hours, twelve preferable," she turned back to Shikamaru, "and it carries a significant risk that one or both of us won't be useful for much."

"Damn, that's too long!"

"Boss, there may be a solution," Sai spoke up.

"Well, out with it!" Shikamaru demanded.

"Before we left, Ino said she'd try and keep mental tabs on me."

"We're well outside the range for her to pick you up," Shikamaru said, "even with the moon closer to the earth."

"Maybe not," Sakura spoke up. Everyone stared as the girl continued to shunt her chakra toward Hinata. "Sai, you and Ino have bonded on some emotional level."

"How does that help?" Temari asked, unconvinced.

"Ino once told me that sensor telepaths are significantly better able to detect the thoughts of someone they are close to, even at extreme ranges!" She turned her attention to Sai, "If you focus your thoughts on her, it might give us the reach we need!"

"What am I supposed to ask?!" Sai demanded.

"At this point," Shikamaru looked down at the watch ticking time to the end of the world, "Twenty-Four hours' delay would be nice."

"That does mean the chakra cannon will be blowing the moon up too close to the earth to save it, most likely," Temari added.

"Do you want to die?" he asked his wife.

"I'd much rather live," Temari shrugged, "but I just want to be sure you're thinking objectively," she nodded somberly.

"Twenty-four hours," Shikamaru turned back to Sai, "then tell them to blow us up if they don't have further contact!"


The imposing castle was of a design Naruto would have expected in a fairytale book. The architecture was not of any design in the Shinobi world, or any style he knew of in the real world – highly angular, tall towers flanking a central keep of immense height. Around the castle, long, sharp tendrils or spikes rose like animal quills meant to deter predators. How we holding up, Nine-Tails?

"Keeping this damn thing inside you is becoming a major drain on our chakra supply," the fox growled with efforted. "We're not going to be able to keep up the façade much longer! I'm going to have to kick it out or you're going to be a zombie like he thinks you are!"

Akane, Hanabi, and this Tenseigan thing have to be here somewhere! Naruto discretely eyed Toneri, careful not to draw attention to himself. As far as Toneri knew, Naruto was a puppet on a string. In reality, the graft of Hashirama's cells on Naruto's heart began to reject the orb within seconds of Toneri implanting it. It was a gamble playing along, having Nine-Tails sequester the blasted thing. At least, he can't fully drop the moon with Hinata still inside it, right?

The thought of Hinata, seeing what Toneri did to her, tugged at Naruto's heart. Not knowing what Toneri could or could not sense with the Byakugan he'd stolen, Naruto refrained from reaching out to Hinata via their Tailed-Beast Chakra or using his own Byakugan. She's alive, and the rest of the team are. Focus and you'll be back with them in a few hours!

The platform landed at the castle's forecourt, and Naruto sensed the impetus to follow from the orb still in his chest. He obeyed, careful to maintain a steady pace behind Toneri. Warm beads of sweat tickled down from Naruto's armpits and his back, and it took supreme effort not to react. Just like you learned at Mount Myoboku – mind clear as water, body still as stone.

As they approached the gatehouse, the urge to follow stopped as Toneri hunched forward and clutched his eyes, "AHHH!" Naruto risked the momentary exposure of activating his Byakugan. The chakra energy around Hanabi's Byakugan swirled turbulent as a laundry machine with a seriously unbalanced load. So, he can't control it.

Naruto deactivated his Byakugan. A slight weight came off his shoulders – Toneri was not invulnerable. "Take him…" Toneri spoke, pained, "… to the others! I need to rest!" Toneri staggered off, moving like a wounded animal. Wounded animals are sometimes the most dangerous animals. The puppets began marching one way and Naruto followed, trying to keep his movement as mechanical as possible.

"You're telling me!" Nine-Tails groaned, "How the hell much longer?"

Just until we get to wherever Hanabi and Akane are. Once we get there, we'll have to move fast!

"I may not be able to help you, kiddo, I'm burning up a lotta chakra doing this!" Naruto knew of the green orbs and their ability to drain and suppress chakra, but he hadn't anticipated going into this with Nine-Tails already spent. As Naruto followed the puppets, he activated his Byakugan, searching desperately. Thankfully, Akane and Hanabi were just up the hallway.

The puppets escorted him to the room without incident, closed the door, and left. Now time to be rid of this thing! Nine-Tails let go of the orb, and Lord Hashirama's cells ejected the orb out of Naruto's chest, and he crushed it in his hand. Have to move quickly! Can't be sure if he can sense me off the chain! "Hanabi!" Naruto whispered as he ran to the large bed where the girl lay in her clothes from several days ago. She was blindfolded and cradling Akane. While Akane looked none the worse for wear, she needed to be changed like nobody's business.

"N-Naruto-kun?!" Hanabi whimpered hoarse, and Akane began crying aloud. "Big Brother?!"

"Shhhh, not so loud! Hanabi are either of you hurt?!" he made a quick check of both of them.

"H-he took my Byakugan!" Hanabi cried.

"Hanabi, I need you to stay quiet," he cautioned. "I'm going to get them back, but is there anything else he did to hurt you?"

"I-I tried…" she whimpered, "… taking care of us as best as I could…" she heaved, "… can't… see! Having hard time!"

Naruto eyed a table with what looked like a spread of fresh fruit, a pitcher of water with drinking glasses, and a stack of fresh diapers. Judging by scattered detritus around the table, Hanabi had tried as best as she could to feed them both and change Akane. Bastard either doesn't know or, more likely, doesn't care if these two die because they can't care for themselves. "Okay, hang on!" Naruto ran to the table, grabbed a fresh diaper, and then ran to what was the washroom. Naruto wet a few hand towels and hurried back to the girls. "Okay, I'm going to clean Akane first," he took his still crying sister and began to change her, "Do you need to clean up?"

"I need water," she croaked, "couldn't find any! I'm parched!"

Naruto raced through changing his sister, disposed of the diaper in the washroom, and cleaned his hands. As he reentered the room, he grabbed a few apples, a bundle of grape, and the pitcher of water and a glass. "Drink slowly," Naruto poured and guided a glass to Hanabi's lips. "Okay, who is hungry?" Naruto pulled his Kunai and cut several grapes in half for Akane; the red-haired baby cooed in delight.

"You're so good with children, big brother," Hanabi said, sounding less distressed. "I'm jealous, really."

"Well, you pick this stuff up when you're a part-time nanny," he grinned.

"Naruto, when are you and Hinata going to… tie the knot again?" Hanabi choked over her still dry throat.

"Short version, the second we get out of here," he cut up an apple and fed several small pieces to Hanabi and his sister.

"Konohamaru?" she asked, her less-parched voice despondent.

"He was stable when I left, but I am guessing he has a long road to recovery," Naruto shook his head, hoping his little brother was okay. "And before you say anything," he cut off her words, "It was not your fault, and I need you to hold it together for a bit longer."

"You're leaving us?" Hanabi shivered.

"Hanabi, whatever Toneri is using to drop the moon is here. I have to disable or destroy it or there won't be a home to go back to!" Naruto softened his tone, "I need you to be a good little sister and look after Akane until I get back!"

"Just… come back… please…" Hanabi whimpered as he handed Akane back to her.

"I will, I promise," he said. "Akane, I want you to be extra-good for Aunt Hanabi, okay? She's had a very rough few days."

"Nar-to!" Akane cooed, reaching for him.

"Akane, I need you to be a good girl, just a little longer; then we can all go home and see mommy!"

"M-mommy!" Akane cheered.

"That's right, now you have to be a good girl of your Aunt Hanabi; can you do that?" His baby sister nodded. Naruto activated his Byakugan, pressing outward. He saw what looked like a massive vessel in the center of a gyro on display in some grand hallway near the center of the castle; however, Naruto could see none of the chakra or other cosmic energy he'd expect to see from something so powerful. A decoy, where are you hiding the real thing?! Naruto noticed a particular void caused by whatever distortion effect Toneri used to block Byakugan some distance away from the castle, among floating islands of rock. Smart to hide it, but clumsy execution. "All right," he walked to the room's window, finding it easy to open, "I'll be back quick as I can!" Naruto jumped down to the battlements below and locked onto the distortion.


"WAAAAAAAHHHH!" Shikamaru's screams filled Temari's head as they flew through the air.

"HA! CRYBABY!" Temari taunted as they rolled and banked through the predawn sky. Temari had taken him up to examine the spot where Toneri had taken Naruto and vansished. Indeed, Shikamaru had been right; there was a dimensional distortion to somewhere else right where he predicted. Unfortunately, Toneri had left some kind of winged puppets to guard the area, and they were now in hot pursuit

"FASTER! FASTER!" he shouted, death-gripping his hands around her waist as she channeled more wind-style chakra through her fan. The fan's wood and fabric construction shook and buffeted as she pushed the fan to its absolute limit. Even still, their quarry was catching up. Can't outrun them, but that isn't our goal, is it?

"Damn backseat driver!" Temari dove, gaining a sense of weightlessness as the ground approached, and Shikamaru's arms tightened around her even further, his left hand grazing the underside of her right breast. "Watch those hands, mister!" she shouted as she leveled them out, heading for a series of rock outcrops, "And get ready to toss an explosive tag or two!" she called back.

His right hand came loose, he fumbled, and shouted, "Ready!"

Temari flew past the outcrop toward a narrow canyon below, "All right here we go!" She zipped them along toward the narrowest section, "NOW!" Shikamaru shifted, and there was a loud bang followed by a shockwave as she peeled them away upward. Temari banked and looked over her shoulder, seeing their pursuers being buried by falling debris from the canyon walls. She rolled them back toward the camp, "So, what's the plan, genius?" Temari grinned, basking in the afterglow of victory – almost as pleasant as the afterglow of sex.

"We know where the distortion is; we need to get everyone who can up here and save the fucking day as quickly as possible!" He shouted over the winds.

"Too bad we don't have time for a quick frolic," she teased, "Nothing gets me hotter than a good fight!"

"I should know!" he replied with a sour tone.

"Afraid I might ruin you again?" she quipped. Temari smirked with the memory of the wild, salacious night she'd first made love with Shikamaru.

"Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that."

"About fucking?"

"About having a baby, sex-fiend!"

"What brought this up?" she slowed their flight considerably as they glided to just outside the campsite.

"Naruto and I were talking…" he spoke, scratching his head.

"Already a bad sign," she chuckled as she interrupted.

"… and he asked me if we wanted to try having children at the same time," he finished. "I was curious what you thought?"

"Wait a…" she paused, cocking up an eyebrow and a smirk, "… you and your best friend made a pregnancy pact?!" Temari snorted as she failed to stifle a laugh.

Shikamaru, as expected, crossed his arms and looked as if he'd bit into a lemon, "It most certainly is not a pregnancy pact!"

"And what brought on this not pregnancy pact?" she continued to chuckle.

"I guess," he explained, "well, Naruto and I have been friends pretty much our whole lives. He and Hinata kind of have to be pregnant not too long after their wedding. He thought it would be a good idea, being that you want to have a baby soon, if we had them close together. You know, so they could grow up friends like Naruto and I did."

Something about Shikamaru's naïve, even innocent, suggestion hit Temari somewhere she hadn't expected. She had grown up mostly without friends – even when Mom was alive. Gaara had grown up much the same. Worse than father's neglect and sometimes hostility, the sheer emptiness of palace life had taken its toll on the three of them. "And when was he thinking of this all happening?"

"About a year and a half, give or take," Shikamaru shrugged.

Shikamaru had just handed Temari the answer to most of her concerns on a silver platter, and he didn't know it. "All right, but now I need to talk to you about a few things."

"Wait, that's it? You're in?" The shock on his face suggested he didn't expect it to go so smoothly.

"Yes, I'm in, but you need to know everything," she swallowed, "Shikamaru… I'm deathly afraid of having another miscarriage, or worse, dying in birth like my mom did."

"Temari…"

"Let me finish," she raised a hand to stop him, "I went to Akemi Hyūga for further evaluation, and she was optimistic, but also concerned. She wants to see both of us."

"Both of us?" he raised an eyebrow, "What for?"

Come one boy, now is not the time to get shy! "She said she needs to evaluate both potential parents for issues; she needs to examine you, too." Her cheeks burned at the thought of what Akemi examining Shikamaru's manhood entailed.

"Examine? As in…"

"Yes, she's probably going to palpate your man-parts and ask you to jerk off in a cup!" Temari raised a fist as she shouted.

"Oh," Shikamaru said, nonchalant.

"Oh?!" Temari began heating up, indignant from his lack of emotion.

"I was worried this was going to involve a prostate exam," he turned red, "I mean, you know what happens when they do that!"

"That can be arranged!" she growled. Temari softened her tone slightly, "You mean you're on board with it?"

"Yeah," he raised his hands in surrender. "It's just… awkward!"

"Listen," her tone dropped, "there is another issue."

"There's a switch," he walked up and put his hands on her shoulders, "Tell me."

"Shika… there is a reason we had to stay at the Oasis and not in the Village Hidden in the Sands."

"I know, someone had it in for me."

"Do you know why?" she asked, surprised he knew.

"Yeah," he placed a hand under her chin, "our baby would be the heir to the title of Kazekage if Gaara doesn't have a child to pass it along to."

"You knew?!" her jaw dropped.

"I do know Sunan culture a lot better since living there for over a year!" he laughed. "I assumed that was why you were trying to get pregnant so quickly after recovery!"

"I wasn't trying to get pregnant!"

"Then why all the sexy outfits, and walking around without underwear?" he asked, puzzled.

IQ of two hundred, but he still doesn't know a lick about relationships! "Shikamaru!" she grabbed him by the collar and brought him nose to nose with her, "There are certain species that indulge in intercourse for pleasure, not just procreation! Last time I checked, humans are one of them!"

"You were… just looking for a good time?!" he balked.

"I hadn't stopped birth control for that very reason, dolt! After a year of pretty much no sex, I was a bit hungry!"

"Bhahahaha!" Shikamaru cackled like an idiot. In fact, he laughed so much he started to tear up.

"What the hell is so, funny, jerk!" She pulled his still grinning face to hers.

"I can't believe I didn't see it!" he laughed. "You love me! That was it all along!"

Despite her annoyance, Temari began a low chortle that built into laughter, "Yes, it was, smartass!" She pulled his mouth to hers, burying her tongue in his mouth. As she pulled back, she heaved, "And when we get back," she pulled his ear to her mouth, "I'm going to tie you down and fuck your brains out like I did our first time!" She bit his lower ear playfully, licking it as she pulled back. "Now come on! We've got work to do!"


Kushina knelt beside Hinata, kicking herself in the ass for never becoming a full medical-nin. Between the war, the events that followed, and her difficulty with academics, she'd never moved beyond being a medical-nin's assistant. Sakura had been at it with Hinata over an hour now, channeling dangerous levels of her own chakra into the healing Jutsu as Sakura held one hand on Hinata's chest and the other on her forehead. "How is she?" Kushina asked for what felt the thousandth time.

"Stable," Sakura groaned, blood was slowly dripping from the pink-haired girl's nose. "But I can tell you we're fucked with we don't think of something soon!" Sakura grit her teeth, I'm about out of chakra to spare, and whatever Toneri hit her with nearly did the same to her."

"How long in your estimate?" Kushina asked, weighing the danger of what she was considering.

"At this rate," Sakura broke contact, bracing herself on the ground, "I think we're going to need Shikamaru to take the team and try a rescue without us." She shook her head, "I'm exhausted, and she's half-dead."

Kushina bit her lip and looked down at the watch. The Kages are going to blow the moon in only three hours! It's your duty as a mother and a Hokage to die for your children and your village if necessary! "Sakura, I'm going to directly infuse my chakra into Hinata!"

"What?!" The exhausted girl's eyes shot wide open again.

"The Uzumaki Clan used to do it all the time; we could sometimes quickly heal wounds that were otherwise fatal… but…"

"But what?!" Sakura demanded.

"I've never done this," Kushina shook her head, "no one has since the Land of Whirlpools was destroyed. I was instructed never to try this while I was carrying Nine-Tails because of the strain it would have put on me and my seal." She shook her head, "I could end up healing her rapidly, I could end up exhausting myself without doing any good, or…" Kushina again bit down her lip.

"Or what?" Sakura insisted.

"… Or I could seriously injure Hinata in the process!"

"Kushina," Sakura stared with tired, baggy, eyes, "It's all or nothing, now. If we don't think of something, and fast, we're all going to die."

Kushina stared down at Hinata, running her fingers through the girl's hair. I held you the day you were born. Please tell me I won't be holding you the day you die. "You're right," Kushina placed one hand over Hinata's heart and another over the girl's forehead. "Here goes nothing!" Kushina began focusing her chakra and let it flow into Hinata without the filter of a healing jutsu.


"Father, one more chance, please!" Ino begged her father, Inoichi, to let her try reaching the rescue team one last time before the moon was destroyed.

"Ino, I know they're your friends, but we're out of time! We need you with the rest of Sensor Division to track incoming fragments."

"Dad, PLEASE!" she started tearing up. "Five minutes, just FIVE MINUTES!" she begged.

"Ino, I know you're in love with him, but there is nothing more we can do," Father protested.

"Yes, I love Sai, but that isn't why I'm asking for this! What if they're about to rescue everyone and we instead kill everyone! What if instead of saving the world we devastate it!"

Father turned away, hunching forward before turning back. "Five minutes, not a second longer!"

Ino ran past her father and sat beneath the telepath enhancer. She'd used a field version of the device once before during Operation: Red Bloom when the teams raided the Red Kitsune nightclub. At that time, Ino had severe nosebleeds and headaches after the fact. No time to be squeamish! She sat under the device's headpiece and pulled the headpiece down. Everything went dark and all sound was blocked out. Ino closed her eyes and began to concentrate with her mind and chakra.

Her physical form slipped away, and she was surrounded by billions of whispers, each a mind.

Where is the Lord Fifth! How could she leave us!

Mommy, I scared.

If we go out, lets not go out as virgins!

Ino…. INO! The voice reached out through the void.


Sai sat crossed-legged on his bedroll, focusing his thoughts on Ino as much as he could, but it was hopeless. No matter how loud he was in his head, he couldn't hear her echo in reply. You're assuming she's even trying to listen at this point.

He pushed the unpleasant thought of abandonment away, tears following. He didn't want to die. He didn't want to leave this world without telling Ino that he was in love with her, had been since the first time she'd let him paint her. He wanted to hold her, wanted to kiss her again, and wanted to learn with her how everything he'd been reading in Make Out Tactics worked. Ino, please!

Still, nothing. Dammit, it's hopeless! Sai buried his face in his hands. Tears leaked from his eyes; for a moment, he thought he heard her whisper. Heightened emotional states tend to make one more visible to a telepath! SHIT! The irony of Sai's predicament made the situation all the worse. Having been trained from youth to be emotionless, he now couldn't summon emotion.

As despair almost took him, Sai's eyes wandered to his bag and a canvas within. Sai's brain flooded with the memory of his racing heart and the goosebumps on his forearms as he'd painted Ino – nude and clothed. "Sai!"

He clawed his bag and dug out his paint. It wouldn't be an impressive artwork, but it would work. Sai dabbed his brush in ink, spread out the canvas, and closed his eyes. Sai's arm and hand moved from memory, every curve of her body, the sweet, nervous smile she gave him and him alone, and her gorgeous hair. Ino… He stroked furiously, determined to finish this if nothing else. INO!

"Sai!" her reply was audible in his head. He opened his eyes to find himself in a starry void, and Ino was standing mere meters from him "Sai!"

"Ino!" he ran to embrace her, "Tell me this is you, not my imagination!"

"Sai!" Ino stared with wide, teal eyes. "Sai, tell me please that you all found something, anything!" she pleaded.

"Ino," he traced her hair, "Ino, we found where he's hiding, but we need more time!"

"The Kages intend to blow the moon in one hour!" Ino screeched, shivering.

"Ino, do what every you have to, stop them!" Sai said. If you don't hear from us in twenty-four hours, then we've failed!"

"Sai!" her voice became distorted, and she was gone.

"INO!" he'd shouted. He looked down, seeing an impressive figure painting of the gorgeous blonde on the canvas before him. It's up to her now!


"Hinata… Hinata…" the male voice coaxed Hinata awake. Not recognizing it as Naruto, she froze, fearing Toneri. "Hinata, please open your eyes!" The voice was familiar; thought subtly distorted.

She opened her eyes to see her father kneeling beside her. "Father?!"

"Close," the man laughed, shaking his head. "You're off by about twenty minutes."

"Uncle Hizashi!" Hinata recognized her father's twin. He nodded to confirm. He's dead! Oh god! Did I die, too!

As if he could hear her thoughts, Hizashi shook his head, "No Hinata, you aren't dead."

"Where… how?!" Hinata's words floated without direction.

"We are somewhere between life and death," her uncle explained. "As for how, I cannot explain. A young shinobi and his girlfriend told me I would be needed here, and I was strangely here."

"Why?" the question spilled from her mouth.

"I'm not sure," he shook his head, "but I have a feeling it has to do with that young rogue you've been hanging out with." Hizashi's smirk was uncanny. The man almost never smiled in life, not that Hinata had ever seen.

"Naruto!" the flood hit her – the encounter with Toneri, being savagely beaten down, and watching as he took Naruto away.

"I once charged him with the responsibility of protecting you and telling you that I was sorry," Hizashi began to fade, "Now, it is your turn to protect him."

"HINATA!" the sound of Naruto screaming in her head shook her around in the void that followed.

Naruto! Hinata pushed back toward the scream.

"Hinata! Help!" his exhausted voice returned with an image flashing before her of Naruto, chains extending from his back, forming a protective barrier over him, Akane, and Hanabi. Over them was what looked like a modified version of the Tensegan Altar she had seen in Hamura's warning. In the background, still wearing his malevolent grin and glowing eyes, stood Toneri. As he stared at the group in peril, Toneri's grin taunted her, daring her to come save her loved ones, daring her come to him.

Hinata began burning all over, and she jerked upright, screaming. Her Byakugan activated, but something had changed. Everything was coated in a silvery, opalescent glow. "Hinata!" Kushina's familiar voice slowed Hinata's racing heart. "Hinata," Kushina was breathless, voice deep with concern.

She deactivated her Byakugan. While she could feel chakra flowing through her, the weary fatigue of sleep deprivation ground in the back of her head. "How… how long?"

"About eight hours," Kushina said, "guessing by the fact that we're not yet pulverized, I'm guessing Ino was able to convince the Kages to give us a few more hours."

Hinata gasped, remembering the contingency – they should be dead right now, all of them. And if you fail now, everyone on earth dies because people had faith in you. Her eyes sank, but another hand rested on her shoulder. Hinata looked up to see a weary-eyed Sakura staring at her. "Sakura?!"

"Lord Fifth and I spent considerable chakra trying to revive you," her friend explained. "When it wasn't enough, Lord Fifth decided to infuse you with her chakra directly."

"You what?!" Hinata turned to Kushina in shock.

"There was no other way, Hinata," Kushina shook her head, "We needed you back, and we were out of time."

Hinata felt deep within herself, indeed, Kushina's chakra was now part of her. The act of infusing raw chakra from one person to another was beyond intimate by almost all Shinobi. Kushina had essentially taken part of her very being and implanted it in Hinata. "I'm part Uzumaki now," Hinata's hand came to rest over her heart.

"I'm sorry, Hinata," Kushina spoke, "for not waiting for permission, but you had sustained a severe chakra injury."

"He almost killed me," Hinata spoke disconnected, matter of fact, as she got up to her feet. I'm standing after something like that!

"You didn't think a normal person would have endured carrying me twelve years with a damaged chakra network, did you?" Kyuubi spoke in her head.

"I'm part of you, now," Hinata offered a hand to Kushina, helping her stand. "Then again, I was always a little part of you, Mom." She continued to hold Kushina's hand.

"Ladies, I love a chick-flick moment the same as the rest," Sakura groaned, getting to her feet. "But we're in serious shit if we don't stop the moon falling in the next few hours!"

"Naruto won't last that long," Hinata let go of Kushina's hands. "Toneri has him, Akane, and Hanabi under the Tenseigan Altar!" Sakura and Kushina balked, eyes opening wide and mouths dropping. And it's all my fault!

Hinata's hands shook with fear, but something primal clenched them closed into tight fists. She couldn't give into despair; it was exactly what Toneri wanted. Hinata walked to her pack and rummaged through, finding her ANBU gear. Completely devoid of her usual modesty, Hinata tore off the skimpy field gear and donned the black bodysuit and the maroon flak vest. She held a hair tie in her mouth as she focused on getting her hair up into a ponytail, "If the rotten bastard wants me so badly," she took the tie and tied her hair in place, "he's about to get all of me he can stand – like when I put my foot up his ass!" Hinata grabbed her ANBU mask and pulled it down over her face.

"I think that personality of yours definitely rubbed off," Sakura chuckled to Kushina. Sakura popped a packet of emergency soldier ration pills. "So, what's the deal, Hinata?"

"Storm the castle, save the prince," Hinata moved to her belongings, retrieving her family's blade, "rescue my sister and your baby," she withdrew the blade from the scabbard, causing the blade to glow a pale, cerulean blue. "And make Toneri wear his ass as a hat!" Hinata activated her Byakugan, seeing the strange energy Naruto must have been referring to earlier. If he and Kushina carried Hagomoro's Chakra and my family is carrying Hamura's… That's why Naruto's Byakugan is so different! Hinata reached into her pocket for a small mirror she carried with her. Indeed, her Byakugan's normally purple glow was now a deep cerulean.


Naruto leapfrogged from one floating boulder to another as he neared the distortion hiding his target. Had the world not been ending, the effect of bouncing near weightless would have been fun, and the castle would have been a marvel of engineering worth exploring. You can admire it all you like after you stop this mess and save Hanabi and Akane!

Naruto arrived on the floating island, walking through the visual distortion to find a staircase going down into the center of the island. Carved stone! It has to be here! Naruto raced down the stairs until he arrived in a cavernous chamber. At the center of the massive chamber was an equally massive structure an atom seated atop a raised dais. At the nucleus was what looked like a gargantuan Byakugan. As Naruto activated his own Byakugan, he realized it wasn't a massive Byakugan, but easily millions of Byakugan, pulsing with chakra and cosmic energy binding them together. Quit jizzing in your pants! Destroy the damn thing!

Naruto leaped to approach the massive orb at the center. As he landed on one of the orbits surrounding the energy vessel, something familiar overcame Naruto, overwhelming him with a sense of déjà vu. Naruto summoned the chakra of Hagomoro and Nine-Tails, activating Tailed-Beast Sage Mode. However, the foreboding sense of having seen this thing before stopped him from attacking for a few moments. This thing… it isn't of the earth, and it's not an Ōtsutsuki construct, either! A cold chill filled Naruto as he stood transfixed – Hinata had mentioned something about the ones who came before. This thing was holding more power than Ten-Tails, and it was even older than Ten-Tails or Kaguya. "Impossible…" Naruto whispered.

The clatter of footsteps broke his focus. Shit! Now! Naruto began channeling his chakra into a Rasenshuriken. By now, he saw the array of guard puppets approaching. Naruto charged at the center of the vessel, ramming his Rasenshuriken into it. The chakra burst sent him cartwheeling backwards; although, he kept his motion better than the many puppets that had tried bearing down on him. Naruto came to a stop as the various ragdolls flew past – the energy vessel didn't even show any sign of damage.

Oh, crap! Naruto began gathering energy to build a large Rasengan, but he knew the outcome would be the same. He rammed the chakra mass into the orb, only to have it detonate harmlessly. Lord Hamura came to Hinata, not you! "If you want it so badly," a condescending voice came from behind, and Naruto was flying through the air before he could turn. As he was rammed into the orb, Naruto's chakra began to abandon him. Seriously not good! The pressure eased, "then have it!" Toneri again rammed him into the orb with relenting force.

Again, Naruto's chakra began draining away as he was pressed against the orb with unrelenting force. Naruto pressed back, remembering even Pain could only maintain such an attack for a few seconds. The force gave way, and Naruto began falling toward the base on which the massive structure sat. "Impossible!" Toneri shouted. "You should be dead right now!" Toneri's eyes glowed similar to Naruto's. "YOU!" he pointed a finger accusingly, "you carry the gift! THIEF!"

Naruto limped to his feet, "It was gifted to me, from a man who made me swear to protect Hinata with it," Naruto heaved as he recovered from being rammed into the orb. Something about the Byakugan must be protective against it sucking you dry!

"Interesting," Toneri's face cracked with a shark's grin, "will you use it to protect them, too?" He waved his hand, and Hanabi and Akane flew through the air toward Toneri.

"NARUTO!" Hanabi cried along with Akane.

"You son of a bitch!" Naruto growled as he charged up his chakra. "Put so much as one hair out of place on either of them and I'll gladly skin you alive, inch by inch!"

Toneri's eyes surged with their glow, and the alter roses several meters, "Then pay for them with your life!" Toneri waved a hand, and the girls were tossed underneath the base of the vessel. Holy SHIT!

Naruto didn't wait for Toneri to release the cosmic force holding the damned thing up; he moved with the speed of lighting. Unfortunately, he already knew it wouldn't be fast enough to save anyone – Toneri either intended to kill all three of them or didn't care if there was a real chance in saving them. Can't get them clear in time! The shadow of the foundation stone grew as Naruto reached Hanabi and his baby sister, throwing himself over both of them like a shield.

Adamantine chains sprang from Naruto's back, and Naruto summoned a chakra barrier around his chains. Miraculously, the barrier held.

"Amusing, but you're just delaying the inevitable!" Toneri taunted.

Naruto grinned; glad Mom had insisted he learned this shortly after Akane was born. Toneri wasn't in the supreme position he thought he was. "You can't let go without letting your precious Tenseigan Alter tumble over," Naruto stared the man in the eyes. "It's your will against mine, and you will lose!"

"We'll see about that!" Toneri intensified his force downward but soon relented. Naruto noted the chakra around the stolen Byakugan was becoming turbulent. He can't do anything else but hold it steady! Locked in a battle of wills, Naruto began to grimace with the level of chakra holding the barrier was taking. He soon sat, using all his discipline learned with the Toad Sages, Grandpa, and Dad to steady his chakra flow. Even still, he had serious doubts that he could outlast Toneri at this rate.

"Dammit kid, now would be a good time to call for help!" Nine-Tails called out.

Naruto took a moment or two of focus, but it dawned on him to reach out to Hinata through their linked Chakra. "Hinata…" he moaned as a he focused his thoughts. There was no response. Worth the risk, do it! Naruto pressed harder with their shared chakra, "HINATA!"

"Naruto!" She called back weak through the void.

The crushing weight of supporting the alert set in, as did the effort of maintaining the chakra link through a dimensional void. Naruto whimpered through the effort. "Hinata! Help!" Naruto sent what he could see of his surroundings, hoping it would help Hinata and the others find him as the chakra link ended. Naruto closed his eyes and began to clear his mind, praying help would come in time.


Author's notes: Hi everyone, and thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed. The next chapter will feature a showdown with Toneri with a few surprises along the way. Until then, I need your help. I posted a poll to my FFN profile regarding what happens to Konohamaru and his strained relationship with his parents going forward. I'd greatly appreciate your feedback. Otherwise, thank you again for reading, and I hope to see you next chapter. Stay healthy and stay safe wherever you are in the world!

PS. yes, if anyone is wondering, Shikamaru's tirade at the beginnin was a nod to a scene in The King's Speech.