Chapter Text
"Hashirama, do you remember what I said to you in front of the Uchiha stone monument?" Madara asks the pinned and immobile Shodaime. He's got those rods sticking out of his back, unable to move, "That it said that when opposing forces cooperate and coexist, happiness can be found. But I also said that there's also another interpretation... That a person who obtained the power of an Uchiha and a Senju can find real happiness. That's another possible meaning, don't you think?"
Naruto frowns, crossing her arms. Well, that explains a lot in her opinion. Madara should have gone about it a different way- his behavior is really unhealthy, "That's not how you handle being rejected, 'ttebayo. Just because the Shodaime didn't want to be with you doesn't mean you should throw an epic tantrum like this,"
The battlefield goes still a moment, everyone staring at her with mouths agape in horrified disbelief. What?
"What?" Madara chokes.
Naruto tilts her head, looking at Sasuke- who has smacked himself in the face and is pretending he doesn't know her- with confusion, "That's how it comes off, right? He's, like, super obsessed with this guy and making the Uchiha and Senju one. Dude, he's just not into you, dattebayo,"
"Shut. Up," Sasuke groans.
Madara slumps, laughing with his face in his hand then cackling outloud, "There's finally someone more stupid than you, Hashirama! No, you idiot girl," He gestures to the face in his torso, "I'm talking about power. The only thing that matters in this shinobi world,"
"I see you've done a lot of nefarious things after leaving the village, Madara," The Shodaime says.
Madara lifts his bare arm to his face, "No... this is something an associate of an underling of my men randomly did," He bites his arm, "He apparently had my same idea..." He flicks his arm, blood splashing against the earth and dripping down his arm, "But coming back to life is something I already had planned,"
Madara forms a seal with his hands, causing Hashirama to lock up further, before rushing toward the mokuton user- blowing Naruto and Sai out of his way- and taking Hashirama by the throat. Naruto feels Hashirama's chakra creep into Madara's body. Seriously? This isn't about Hashirama not being into him?! Naruto will take the chance to enter Sage Mode again at least.
The face on Madara's chest gains Sage markings and Hashirama's Edo Tensei body startles to flake apart a bit, "Things aren't going the order I intended, but oh well..." By the time he's finished absorbing the chakra of Hashirama, the face has full markings, "So this is Senjutsu chakra? The level of it is very disappointing and here I was worrying that I'd have a hard time manipulating it..."
Sasuke rushes in, sword drawn, to attack Madara's back. Madara lets go of Hashirama, turning to take on Sasuke, "This is our chance!" Sasuke shouts. However, despite his blindness, Madara dodges everyone of Sasuke slashes and strikes, "This way we can finally kill you and send you to hell once and for all!"
Naruto groans. And people call her a hot head!
"You'll regret that you're truly alive again!" Sasuke declares, striking forward at the single opening Madara leaves. Sasuke's blade slips through Madara's upper arm, piercing it completely while Madara catches the blade with his other hand, turning the leverage of his body to solidly hold the blade in place. Sasuke cannot further his attack.
Madara chuckles tilting his head toward Sasuke, "I can feel it; your mangekyou sharingan. Straight Tomoe," Madara informs. Honestly, Naruto thought they were shaped like stars, "I can see why you can move so well... Until my rinnegan comes back, I guess I could use your eyes,"
Naruto's stomach lurches with disgust. Now that she's in Sage mode, she gets closer, ready to assist Sasuke. The stealth chain would be useless against Madara, who appears well versed in fighting those of her clan.
"However... it'd be a shame to kill you," Madara hums, "How about... you join me, considering we're the last Uchiha,"
Sasuke scoffs, "I'm only interested in your head,"
"So be it. You're on borrowed time anyway," His chakra flares hotly, preempting a fire release justsu.
Naruto quickly wraps Sasuke, Sai, and herself in chains while signaling to Karin, 'Uzumaki Suiton; Oceanic Quench!' a layer of water wraps around her chains giving them protection from the heat of the jutsu. The protection helps, but the water around the chains flash boils and the force forces Naruto and everyone she's protected with the adamantine chains to be sent backward.
Karin, having been the furthest from ground zero and doubly wrapped with hers and Naruto's quenched chains is the best off, completely uninjured, "Naruto-sama! Go!" Her cousin shouts. Naruto nods, sensing it too. Karin will take care of the injured.
Naruto takes on Kurama's form, bounding over the land toward Madara and the bijuu. Madara is within his susano'o when she arrives with sand all around him on the ground below; evidence of Gaara and Shukaku's attempts, "This is what happens when you allow your pets too much freedom..." Madara states mockingly, "Time to put your back on your leashes,"
Naruto leaps down, slamming the bastard with one of her tails, Kurama growling, "I'd like to see you try!"
"Check your ego, bitch! We're not gonna sit and wag our tails for you!" Naruto shouts in agreement, crushing Madara into the earth. Gyuuki arrives just in time, calling out an apology for taking so long moving the injured.
"Overlap your tails!" Kurama orders to the other bijuu. Nine kind of tails overlaps Naruto and Kurama's on top of Madara, slamming and attacking him with combined force. Kurama smirks at the Ichibi, "That was close, you damn Racoon,"
Shukaku sniffs angril, "Don't give me orders, Stupid Fox!"
Madara bursts from the earth, returning to higher ground. This bastard doesn't know when to quit! His body is full of holes and he's bleeding but there he is, just standing there and cackling like magpie. Why? Why did Obito cast the Ridden Rebirth? Then, she recalls seeing black Zetsu around Obito's body before he became the Juubi Jinchuriki. She'd forgotten, thinking that the creature wasn't a threat anymore and pushing from her mind. It doesn't help that Naruto can only sense the Zetsu when she's in Sage Mode when they're separate from a body they've latched to.
This was his plan all along!
"Stubborn bastard!" Son Goku gripes.
A white Zetsu emerges from the ground next to him, speaking to Madara low enough that Naruto can't here and holding up something in his hand. Madara takes the whole arm, replacing his own with the one he took from the Zetsu and puts the hand of it up to his eye. The hairs on the back of Naruto's neck stand up.
Opening his eye reveals a rinnegan and Madara begins to cackle once more.
His chakra shifts as she runs some of the blood from his wounds onto his palm, causing Kurama to flinch in her belly, "His blood... it's that same awful memory of when he first summoned me..." Kurama growls.
"You gutless fox!" Shukaku taunts, "What could one measly human do to all of us?!"
Naruto knows, so she places her hand on the top of one of Kurama's paws, "You shouldn't underestimate him. That is not a normal human,"
"Hmph! It's not like you to act like that- it's creeping me out!" Shukaku huffs.
Madara runs through the seals of a summoning jutsu. Naruto holds Kurama's fur tighter within her seal space on instinct but what appears instead is the Juubi's husk, the Gedo statue, though missing an arm. Sensing the chakra around it, it feels like Kakashi's. He'd tried to put it in the Kamui dimension and only got a part of it.
The Uchiha's returned gaze returns to the Naruto and the Bijuu, a wicked smirk gracing his face. The chakra he's putting out his putrid, wrong, as it's not entirely natural to him. It's a disgusting splice job that reminds her of the few times she met Shimura Danzo, only, a thousand times worse.
Madara leaps down from the head of the Gedo Statue and there's another flare of chakra.
"He's up to something," Matatabi says, preparing herself, "Be carefuh-!" She grunts as something strikes her in the face. As quick as a blink, everyone's been stricken; including Bee and Gyuuki and Naruto and Kurama. There's an intense amount of chakra pressure, pushing them down. It's familiar but slightly different. Then chains from the statue spring out of its mouth, wrapping around the necks of all the bijuu.
"Kurama!" Naruto cries, feeling a tug on her seal.
Kurama growls, "sh*t!"
Naruto feels Kurama being pulled from her body, fighting ti as hard as she can, "You won't get him! You won't get Kurama!" She shouts, pulling on the tug as hard as she can. The chain around Shukaku is tugging harder and faster, and out of the corner of her eye, Naruto sees Gaara grab the chain with hands of sand.
"You won't take Shukaku either!" Gaara shouts.
"Don't lose, Gaara!" Naruto calls, fighting her own battle. She even uses her chains to wrap around Kurama in the seal space as he's being sucked out. His clawns are digging into the ground of the seal, trying to stay in.
Zetsu shouts from the position near Madara, upset and frustrated, "Sand Brat! Are you really happy to get your lost pet back!" He rages, "You won't even die even if we take it- why are you getting in the way now?!"
Madara attacks Gaara with his susano'o. Naruto grimaces, wishing she had to strength to help but she's trying to keep Kurama with her, however, Shukaku raises his tail, blocking the attack, "My motto is 'absolute defense'! It is my pride as the Ichibi Shukaku!"
"I know..." Gaara replies.
Madara's eyes narrow, "No... you know nothing..." The attack Shukaku blocked spwins out of his tail, cutting through Gaara's sand hands and the chain, then it reconnects immediately before blowing Gaara away.
"Don't overdo it, Gaara," Shukaku says to the young man on the ground.
Gaara sits up, face pained, "I'm not a jinchuriki anymore... Finally, I can stay up late as your equal," The chains become more insistent suddenly, pulling the bijuu harder.Gyuuki removes on of his tentacles and some of his chakra, saving Bee.
Within her seal space, Naruto is screaming and crying, trying to hard to hold Kurama, "No no no no! I won't let you go!" Naruto cries, tightening her chains, "Hold on, Kurama! Don't go, 'ttebayo!"
Kurama's fighting, leaning forward and keeping her attention on him in the seal space while he speaks with Gaara outside, "Naruto...!" He growls, "We've never been good to each other until these last few days, but you were still mine,"
Naruto sobs, pulling even as her chains break one-by-one, "Stop it! I'm not letting you go! You're all I've known! Even when I didn't know you were there, you were still always with me!" Another chain breaks, "Please don't go, Kurama!"
He licks her face, "You got this, Naruto," The final chain snaps and Kurama is pulls sharply from the seal space with a scream from Naruto's real body. She's falling backwards, the shape of Kurama pulled away from her and then there's darkness.
Gaara watches in horror as, one-by-one, the bijuu are all pulled toward the Gedo statue once more starting with Shukaku. The Kyuubi, Kurama, turns his large head toward Gaara as he fights the pull with Naruto pulling as hard as she can, unseeing, within his body, "Kazekage-brat! I have something to ask you!" He roars.
Gaara listens intently, heart breaking in his chest as he realizes what's about to happen. His heart is thundering loudly in his chest, nearly drowning out Kurama's words. There's no Chiyo to bring her back like with him and the Kyuubi wants to speak. Please let it be a way to save her.
"Naruto is an Uzumaki, she won't die right away! Find the Senju woman or one of her apprentices then take her to her father, the Yondaime, and get my other half inside her as fast as you can!" He orders, "Save her! Do you understand, Gaara?!"
Then the tug fully breaks Kurama free from Naruto and the scream she lets out the second her connection to the fox snaps is something that will haunt Gaara for the rest of his days. It's only made worse by the quiet that immediately follows, "Naruto!" Gaara shouts already moving in her direction.
He catches her unconscious body with a cloud of sand, meeting it half way as he pulls it toward him. He turns around when he hears a cry from the Ichibi as its sucked into the mouth of the Gedo, "Shukaku!"
"Don't fail, Kazekage!" The Kyuubi roars at him for the last time before he too is sucked inside the statue last.
Gaara touches Naruto's cheek- it's wet with tears. Her skin is rapidly cooling and her breathing is shallow. He can't let anything happen to her. He loves her and he promised the Kyuubi too. His mind is in a panic as his body moves on autopilot by climbing ontot he sand cloud with Naruto and taking her limp hand as he speeds off, "I won't let you die... I won't!"
Below, as they battle a massive Mokuton construct they know is piloted an unfortunate Yamato both covered in a form of zetsu and under a genjutsu thanks to Karin, Karin screams like she's been stabbed, "Naruto-sama!" Gaara appears soon after, hurrying along with a limp Naruto on a sand cloud with him.
Hinata, Sakura, and Ino's hearts drop into their stomachs as Karin cries and lashes out with chains at the Mokuton construct, holding it down in her rage with surprising strength! "Sakura! Go! You're better at trauma treatment! Please!" Karin sobs, pulling down on her chains and forcing the construct to smash into the ground. Yamato's chakra is being made stable despite the jostling because of the Mokuton mask he's wearing. They have to find a way to break that genjutsu and get that creature off him!
A thick layer of ice clogs up the mouths of the faces too. A young man from Kiri's face is full of fury and wrath, "We won't let you go near Naruto-chan,"
Sakura runs faster than she ever has in her life toward Gaara and Naruto, the Kazekage lowering to pick her up, "What happened?!"
"No time! Hokage, come with us! There's a way to recover her but I need to keep her alive until then!" Gaara pleads, his voice shaking. Temari looks over her shoulder mid-battle and gasps at the pain in her little brother's face, gaze following his to the dead looking Naruto.
Tsunade pants, "I don't have the chakra left for that sort of intense medical jutsu. Take Sakura," She orders.
Sakura is quick to join Gaara on the sand cloud, already assessing Naruto, "What did they do to her?!"
"Let's go!" Gaara raises his voice louder than he ever has before, already taking off into the air.
The two remaining members of the Poison Bouquet left on the battlefield stand shoulder to shoulder, watching their best friends fly off under the care of the Kazekage. Ino and Hinata take each other's hands and then Fight. Like. Hell.
The enemy will remember the sting of the poison flowers.
Sakura pours every bit of chakra she has into keeping Naruto's heart pumping with both hands crossed over her friend's chest and forcing her blood to keep pumping. Gaara's hand hasn't let go of Naruto's as he flies them forward with dewy eyes.
"Hold on! Hold on, Naruto-chan!" Sakura begs, "You won't lose! You're strong! You'll survive! HOLD ON!" Her chakra is running out quickly, the constant flow causing strain. The flow is diminishing quickly. Sakura fights back her tears, she can't cry now because Naruto needs her, but, at this rate... Naruto might really die.
Sakura feels the wisps of the Kyuubi's chakra rapidly leaving her as she presses her ear to Naruto's chest. The healing isn't working, "Why isn't it working?!" Sakura cries after hearing how dangerously slow Naruto's heartbeat is. Her healing didn't even stall it!
Gaara sniffles, "They pulled the Kyuubi out of her!"
"That's..." Sakura gasps in horror.
"Madara did it, but there's a way to save her! We need to get there fast!" Gaara says, hand squeezing Naruto's tightly.
"Where?!" Sakura demands, "Where are we going?!"
"To the Yondaime," Gaara breaths. He tells her exactly what the kyuubi told him, word-for-word, "That's what he told me- I don't know another way to save her! Just keep her holding on please, Sakura-san!"
"How long until we get there?!" She asks, unzipping Naruto's flack vest and starting compressions.
Gaara grimaces, "Still a few kilometers..."
Sakura's face goes hard with concentration, "Don't you dare look over here, Kazekage-sama. Eyes ahead," Sakura orders, focusing what's left of her chakra into two of her fingers for a chakra scalpel while lifting Naruto's shinobi blues, mesh and bra. Gaara's eyes widen, looking away respectfully ahead. Sakura cuts through Naruto's side, and through her ribs before coating her hand in chakra again and putting her bare hand inside to grab her friend's heart, "As long as I'm here, I won't let you die so easily!"
She manually pumps Naruto's heart in her hand, feeling her friend's life in her palm. Sand wraps around she and Naruto's hips, "I'm speeding up!" Gaara warns.
"Good! Push it as fast as you can, Kazekage-sama!" Sakura says before pressing her mouth to Naruto's, giving her CPR. Using her free hand, betweem breaths, Sakura grabs and aplies some of Karin's medical fuuinjutsu tags meant to help with CPR. She places it in the roof of Naruto's mouth, changing the breaths Sakura breaths into her into pure oxygen.
She can't die. They're almost there- she just can't die!
On the ground, they fly over Team Gai, who watch them pass. Gai, Lee, and Tenten watch, puzzled. Neji gaps, voice tortured, "Naruto-hime..." He wheezes like he's wounded.
"Wait, Minato!" Kurama's yin half calls to him in a panic within him, "Change your chakra to a sensing type!"
Puzzled at his attack being stopped, he does so. His heart lurches at what he feels. His little girl is dying. She's dying and on her way to them in the company of Sakura and a young man he's not been introduced to but he arrived with the Kage group.
She can't be dying, "This can't be..."
"We were too distracted by this fight," Kurama says, "My other half has been taken from her,"
Kakashi looks at him confused, still ready to face the black Zetsu that controls Obito's body, "Sensei?! What's wrong?!" Minato can't speak, his heart poudding against his ribs with fear and anxiety despite being dead. His baby...
He turns his head as the chakra arrives, "Kakashi-sensei!" The girl, Sakura, cries. Kakashi is a teacher? His daughter's teacher? How much do his child and student have to continue to suffer?
Kakashi's whole body locks up at the sight of a limp Naruto, "What happened?!"
"They extracted the Kyuubi from her!" The girl's eyes fill with tears, like the dam is on the verge of breaking, "At this rate she'll-!"
The young man with them lowers them down, keeping his eyes very carefully on Minato as he speaks, "I have a message from Naruto's Kyuubi!" He shouts, "Yondaime Hokage, put your half of the Kyuubi into Naruto and she'll be saved!"
Minato nods sharply, ordering of Kakashi, "You handle him,"
"I'll help you, Kakashi-san," He gives Naruto's hand another squeeze then leaves his sand cloud to join Kakashi in facing Zetsu.
Minato is quick to run through hand seals. With only one hands, it's more tricky, but he's determined. Laying there as she is, looking peaceful and so close to death, Minato recalls a conversation with Kushina they had before she was born. He'd just become Hokage and Kushina had only just found out she was pregnant, so she was concerned about letting him out the door.
He'd promised her that he'd protect their baby! He feels like he's failed her... He's failed the two best women in the world. Kushina had known they were going to have a daughter, insisted she was sure because she was Naruto's mother, and exactly how their daughter would be. Kushina was right about everything, as usual. It's why the night they died was the only time he'd ever won an argument with her.
She should have been Hokage instead, he thinks, maybe their baby wouldn't be laying here going cold if she was.
Minato pushes Kurama out of his palm, however, a mass of black blocks the path into Naruto. Zetsu! Minato rages, striking out at the creature with a rasengan. His baby! His girl will die! He's taken Kurama into himself by blocking Minato's transfer.
Zetsu flees, returning under the ground back to Obito's body. Minato chokes.
"How is Naruto?!" Gaara demands.
Matters are made worse by the arrival of Madara... now nearly perfect Juubi jinchuriki. The pressure around him is far more intense than when Obito was in that state.
"Zetsu... you've kept me waiting," He intones, "How long are you going to stick to Obito?"
The black Zetsu leans forward, "Sorry, Madara-sama... but I was able to steal half of the Kyuubi from them,"
"Good. Bring it to me with the left eye,"
Kakashi and Gaara both flinch, "Madara?! How did he get the Rikudou's power?!" Kakashi demands. He's going to tear that tar creature apart. Sakura is doing everything she can to keep Naruto alive, but she's fading fast because Kakashi can't hear her breathing.
The creature begins to peel itself off of Obito, feeling safe at last, "As long as Madara-sama is here, I don't have to fear leaving this body. You can't touch me,"
Gaara and Kakashi begin to move in, rushing to take the creature hostage somehow, but, he stops moving like he's stuck to Obito, "Sh-sh*t!" It groans, moving back onto Obito's body properly, "You- Mada- Stubborn bastard!"
Obito's voice speaks up, weak and feeble, "Not yet. We have to talk, Madara,"
Gaara raises his hand, about to attack with his sand, but Kakashi stops him by grabbing his arm, lowering it, "We need the Kyuubi in him for Naruto- don't be rash," It's something he's telling himself too. To save her, he's got to mind his temper, "We've got to wait for the right time,"
"What am I to you?" Obito asks with his gaze solidly on Madara.
Madara chuckles, looking at Obito like he's foolish, "Don't ask such stupid things. To me you are nothing but Madara," He says in a cool tone, "Madara is the one who denies this world. All the ones who follow his ideals and collaborate on the Infinite Tsukuyomi plan are Madara. Before my awakening, I left everything to you and let you walk before me for my awakening. That's the path I showed you,"
Madara's eye becomes ice cold, "You should have lived as Madara for you whole like to obtain that goal- as the savior of the world. The world made by the Sage of Six Paths failed. Chakra was oringally meant to connect. It was meant to connect people's spiritual energy, so that they would understand each other and pray for each other's safety without uttering a word," He explains, "The Sage taught that Ninshuu to people and attempted to guide them. However, people didn't use that chakra to connect to other people. They combined their physical and spiritual and molded it into a weapon- creating ninjutsu. Hilariously, it went back to the time where Kakuya- the Sage's mother- used chakra was a weapon,"
Sakura's sick of this impromptu history lesson. There's only so much chakra she has left to hold around Naruto's heart that's in her hand to keep it pumping and she's already struggling, "What is this rotten bastard talking about?!"
"Gaara..."
"I know..."
Madara taps his temple, "All he did was expose people's inconsistency. And, even if people did use it to connect their hearts, they'd only find that it's impossible to understand each other. Either way, chakra created conflicts and false hope," He then gestures to Obito, "You and I, in our search for peace, eventually looked just for conflict. In truth, the power of chakra is just endless suffering,"
The Uchiha opens his arms wide, "I'm going to create a new world that goes beyond that! Within the Infinite Tsukuyomi I'll create a world without all that evil chakra! As the last one with the strongest chakra, I will do this!" He points back at Obito, "And you are me! You are not Obito! Uchiha Obito, due to possessing the Uchiha chakra, challenged Hatake Kakashi, wanted to become Hokage, and also wanted Nohara Rin... But, since that power was fake, he lost it all!"
"This is hell! Did you forget?!"
Madara beckons Obito, "Come, Madara! You are still the savior!"
Obito's body takes steps forward triggering Kakashi, Gaara, and Minato into motion. Kakashi uses kamui to try and force Zetsu off of Obito while Gaara puts up a sand wall and Minato aims for Madara himself by flashing in with a rasengan.
Madara cuts off Minato's remaining arm, sending it toward Kakashi while it still holds the rasengan and kicking Minato up and away. Minato barrels into Gaara while Kakashi is almost struck with the rasengan. Luckily, he manages to send the bulk of it away with kamui, but the recoil sends his back regardless. They skid in the same direction, away from Madara and Obito.
Sakura watches with panic. She's running out of chakra!
Obito walks right up to Madara... and puts his right hand right through the man's middle, burying his fingers in his organs, "You..." Madara starts.
"What are you doing?!" Zetsu demands.
Obito's eyes are hard, glaring hard at Madara with disgust, then glancing where Naruto and Sakura are. Sakura's first instinct is too cover Naruto's body with her own, but she can't do that right now- she's got to keep her heart beating.
"A real leader...can let others step over their corpse, but they'll never step over their comrades'," Obito says, surprising the hell out of Sakura. Naruto really does have something truly special about her, always drawing people to her. Zetsu is withdrawing from Obito's hand like he's recoiling from it. It's one of those block orbs from before!
"Why don't we test that out by making you a corpse?" Madara smirks.
"You'll never step over mine," Obito says, "I've finally realized that leaving everything up to someone else and faking one's name is not the same as entrusting something to a comrade. I am not you,"
Obito's Shakujo staff appears again in his hand, "The current me is the one who wanted to be Hokage- Uchiha Obito!"
Kakashi watches Obito, a tiny piece of him healing as he does so. His friend is back... he's back and Kakashi suspects its all thanks to his former student. Ever since the Wave mission he's always suspected that Naruto had some sort of gift or light or maybe its just who she is. She can change people's hearts, communicate with them in a way that no other human being can.
"Obito!" Minato gasps in surprise.
When Madara tries to grab Obito, her uses his eye for force Madara to phase right through, "The original ability of your eye..." He hisses, and Obito strikes him back. Small pieces of two shapes break off of Madara so Obito turns and runs toward Kakashi, "Kakashi! Take Naruto-hime to the Kamui dimension! Now!"
Realizing what Obito plans to do, he scrambles to do as Obito asks, opening his eye wide and absorbing his two female students into the space, then he runs to join Obito's side who has tried and failed to enter the Kamui dimension himself because of Madara's assault.
"The Princess is in the castle!" Kakashi says once he's beside his teammate, "Will she be saved if you manage to jump there too?"
Obito stands with the aid of his shakujo staff, "Yes, leave it to me..." Obito replies softly, "This time I'll take the main role... and you'll be my back-up, Kakashi!"
Kakashi can't help but smile under his mask despite the fear he feels for the young women he just sent away. Sakura must be under a lot of stress and exhausted and Naruto is quickly fading away from life... Still, He'll believe in Obito one more time, "It's been a long time since we've been a team. Don't screw it up, Obito," An old familiar sense of bickering, like they'd never parted.
"Are you ready?"
Kakashi nods, "Yeah, I'm glad... you're with me for one last mission," He can barely manage to finish. It's likely the last time that they'll ever fight alongside each other. Obito is dying too for the same reasons Naruto is and he'll once again have to mourn the man that is Uchiha Obito. Good thing he has a lot of practice.
"...Kakashi... Obito..." Minato whispers softly as he stands with Gaara.
Madara glares harshly at Obito, "Obito, I'll get back everything I left to you, including that left eye,"
Obito stands strong, determined. He won't lose sight of the path again; the one shown to him by a bright little light that he's tried so hard to snuff out, even the day she was born, "Cautious aren't you, Madara?"
Minato watches, awed as his students fight together for what may be the last time. As usual, Obito was late, but he's finally shown up- just as he always had before. There's no Rin to greet him, but he seems okay with it just being Minato and Kakashi now... They don't need her to pull them along anymore even though the gap is felt.
Still, he couldn't be more proud of them.
Minato takes a hiraishin kunai in his mouth just in case. This time... this time he'll be exactly where he needs to be!
His two students use their eyes at the same time, doubling their speed on the transfer. Obito is gone, 'Take care of my daughter, Obito,' Minato thinks.
Sakura gasps as their former(?) enemy appears within the space she holds Naruto, "Obito!" She hisses, covering Naruto with her body as well as she can.
"It's okay... I'll save her," Obito whispers. She looks unnaturally still, something she's never been anytime Obito has met her- not even the first time. He'd been one of the very first people to hold Uzumaki Naruto in the world. It wasn't how it should have been... it wasn't how he'd pictured it. Before... just before, he always imagined if Minato-sensei had a child, he'd get to hold them and make goofy faces to make them laugh.
Instead, he'd held a kunai to her body and stuck paper bombs to her blanket while she wailed her way into the world.
Sakura, the girl glaring up at him, reminds him of Rin. Not her behavior necessarily, no, it's that look in her eyes. That desire to help; to heal, "How can I trust you?!" She wheezes angrily. She's exhausted and running dangerously low on chakra, using every little bit to keep the girl out cold on the ground in this world.
"For a long time now, I've not been able to walk a straight and honest path," Obito says, crouching next to the blonde and placing his hand on her chest, "But thanks to her, I've finally made it back on the right path..." The flare of chakra is bright and intense. The Kyuubi's chakra flowing into the void left by his other half.
Naruto wakes with a gasp, laying in a pool of golden water in a void.
One of the first things she feels is that she doesn't feel anything- no pain or burning sensation from the lack of her friend Kurama. Sure, he's absolutely heartbroken, but there's no physical pain. Another is that she is not alone in this place. The chakra with her is so steady, a constant powerful thrum with no powerful negativity. Is this Heaven? Hell? "Am I... dead?" She breaths confused.
"Why do you think you died?" A voice of an elderly man asks, "Your ethical point of view of death is different then someone of my era. Your spirit and mettle must be quite impressive if you comprehend and adjust to death so readily, Newbie,"
Naruto sits up, looking around for the source of the voice. He's quite close actually, just to her left. He's a funny looking old man with a long long loooong chin beard, horns, and a third eye that's red in color and bears the tomoe of the sharingan. His two naturally placed eyes are rinnegan. His skin's an ashy white color and he wears white robes with magatama around the collar. He's floating cross legged there, above the water she sits in, with a black shakujo monk staff on his back.
"Who are you?" Naruto asks, pulling out the hair tie for her last pigtail, leaving her hair flowing and loose and spreading out in the waters.
The old man inclines his head to the side, "It's a valid inquiry, though I worry that knowing my name will influence and affect you as it had your predecessors," Naruto furrows her brows, narrowing her eyes at the old man as if trying to figure out if she knows him on her own, "I am the creator of Peace, Law, and Order. I am he who is known as Hagoromo,"
Naruto just blinks cluelessly at him. She thinks maybe she's heard the name before. Maybe from one of the toads? Probably mostly in passing if anything. But he's kinda dressed like how Obito looked before they yanked the bijuu out of him.
"Your reaction... Reading signs and omens as I am able to, I somewhat predicted as such," The old man says. She doesn't really get what he's saying. His cadence and intonation reminds her of the Head Sage on Myouboku; Gamamaru. That toad is absolutely ancient.
"Sorry, Old man, but I'm... confused. You've got the rinnegan and you look like the shape the Juubi jinchuriki takes, dattebayo,"
The old man's eyes meet hers, "You possess an observing eye for others," He says, "Perhaps if you were to turn it on yourself, you too would gain a comprehension of your current circ*mstances,"
Naruto frowns, her round face scrunching up in bafflement. What's this old guy saying? She's got things to do- her friends need her and she's got to get Kurama back. This guy isn't an enemy, right? He doesn't feel malicious.
"You have yet to die... This is your inner world- your mind and the inside of your spirit," He explains, confusing her more, "I can understand the need for your sense of urgency, however, in this particular haste we should find ourselves idle. You see..."
Naruto snaps, "Mou! Talk in a shorter way, 'ttebayo! You talk like Old Sage Gamamaru when he gets confused!"
There's a ghost of a smile for only a moment at the mention of the old toad's name, then it's back to talking like he's about a thousand years old, "I am a anachronism. The stream of time has long flowed passed me... cultural traditions and notations, ethics and morals have undergone huge changes," He speaks. It wouldn't be so bad if he'd talk like he was a Kabuki actor, at least then it wouldn't be boring, "I, who have journeyed across time to this era to meet you, clearly have large differences to you in these areas..."
Naruto tugs on her hair with a groan, "I really don't have time! Kurama got taken away and I have to save him! I have to get him back, dattebayo! And all my friends are in trouble because some ego maniac things he's the answer to everything ever!"
"What you pursue are words... but their meanings arevague at best... transcendental... transient... Without mutual comprehension of our values and selves, their definitions are ambiguous and what they stand for lost," He drones. Naruto takes a deep breath through her nose, letting it out of her mouth. It's been a long time since someone has made he feel this stupid and frustrated, "Very well. I will attempt to compensate for my enlightened knowledge and understand to speak plainly..."
Naruto is totally boggled, "Are you an alien or something?" Naruto looks closely at him. He doesn't fully resemble a human so maybe... "You're also, like, real dignified..."
"That's a bit too much, isn't it?" He says with mild amusem*nt, "And alien? Hahaha... Though, that's not too far off!"
The sudden change in tone and intonation startles Naruto. She can understand him! "That! That! I can understand you, 'ttebayo!" Naruto cheers, "Sorry, but you sounded like you were from a reeeeaaally old play and without all the acting out it was hard to follow. All I really got was that your name was Hagoromo... Like the deity scarves? Oh! My name is Uzumaki Naruto, dattebayo!"
"That is indeed my name," He nods, "Though you don't seem to fully recognize my name, you did mention an old friend of mine- Gamamaru. I am pleased to know my friend still lives. I am from the past- already long dead. I am a priest who exists and travels through time as pure chakra to witness what will become of my Ninshuu... I am Hagoromo, The Sage of Six Paths,"
Naruto's eyes widen with recognition at last, "My master and sibling student told me about you!"
"So you do know of me,"
Naruto nods, "Mhm! You created what turned into ninjutsu, right?"
"That would be a summation, yes," He takes his staff off his back, "Though I made Ninshuu to create hope while Ninjutsu creates wars,"
Naruto nods, sorta understanding that to a point, however, "Depending what you use ninjutsu for, I guess... Sometimes I make a breeze for my friend Shikamaru because he complains about being hot while cloud watching... and I dry my nails with wind too... and sometimes I stir my cooking pot with suiton when I'm cooking for a lot of friends..."
Hagaromo smiles, dropping the end of his staff in the water she stands in. A reflection of a young person appears instead of her own. They look a lot like the Sage with her now, "You remind me of my child, Asura... the temper is more his wife, however," He clears his throat, "The time is right and everything is in order. There is something I must entrust you with,"
Naruto frowns, "Eh? Me?"
"Yes, Uzumaki Naruto," Hagoromo nods, "First, I must ask you...no... you must asks me about my mother and my children," He taps the waters again, and the image of an ethereal woman with skin the color of moonlight appears. She's got eyes like the Hyuuga and a space like Hagaromo's where a third eye would be and hair even longer than Naruto's. There's horns standing tall like rabbit ears on her head... she looks wholly alien.
"My mother, Ootsutsuki Kaguya, came to your land from a far away place. She'd come to cultivate and pick the fruit of the divine tree- the very same tree you've seen in this war," Hagaromo says, "She had come for its fruit of chakra. With the power Kaguya gained for eating of the fruit, she was able to rule over this land,"
Naruto hums, looking at the image of the woman in the water, "She was that strong?"
"She was the strongest... The most powerful woman to ever exist," Hagoromo replies, "People used to call my mother 'The Rabbit Goddess' or 'The Demon'. People both feared and worshiped her. Kaguya then gave birth to two sons, myself being one of them. To repent our mother's sins, my brother and I battled against the physical incarnation of the sacred tree, the Juubi, and I sealed it within ourselves. The divine tree frenzied and struggled to get back the fruit it bore. Time went on and I too had two children. The older son I named Indra,"
A young man that bears the furrowed brow of an Uchiha appears in the rippling waters at Naruto's feet.
"And the younger one Asura," The person appears again. Naruto furrows her brows, "I taught them both Ninshuu. There were many differences between my children. Indra had inherited my strong chakra while Asura got my constitution and life force. That is not to say that Asura did not have powerful chakra all their own, just that it was dense and hard to handle while Indra excelled in the easy manipulation of chakra... does this sound familiar to you?"
Naruto crosses her arms, thinking, then shrugs.
"You are a lot like my Asura. In your manner too," He continues, "My children walked very different paths. Since birth, Indra had powerful eyes and unmatched battle sense. He believed with power that anything was possible. Asura, who since childhood struggled learning new skills at first and relied on others to fill in the gaps left by lack of talent in certain areas. They needed a huge amount of effort and the care of others to match their brother's might. And, but training hard and cooperating with others, Asura became strong. Asura understood what it meant to care for others and be cared for and realized that through community, anything was possible,"
The face of that person looks up at Naruto with a small smile but uncomfortable stance of the shoulders.
"In the way my Asura lived, I saw a new expanse of possibilities. I divided up the power of the Juubi into nine parts; giving each of them a name,"
Naruto beams, "Kurama, Gyuuki, Chomei, Saiken, Kokuo, Son Goku, Isobu, Matatabi, and Shukaku!" Naruto lists off. She's pretty proud of herself for remembering them all, as they're pretty difficult names and she learned most of them all at once, "So, you're like their dad too, 'ttebayo!"
The old man smiles, the wrinkles on his face becoming less deep, "I suppose that is true... Watching Asura, I believed that cooperation was the real power, Naruto smiles crossing her arms with a nod, "I made Asura my successor, leaving Ninshuu under their care, and thought that Indra would support his siblings... However, Indra did not accept this and that was the start of a long war... Indra went off and began a clan called the Uchiha with his only son as the first founder, while Asura's only son founded the Senju and their daughter the founder of the Uzumaki. Eventually, my children passed on but their chakra didn't vanish, instead transmigrating over time... endlessly,"
Naruto shivers at the thought, a chill creeping up her back, "S-sounds like being possessed by a ghost," She gulps, "Who are they clinging to now?"
The ancient sage looks directly into Naruto's eyes, "That's not wholly accurate. It is not their full spirit, but the frequency and make-up for their chakra. Their true soul and essence have watched outside of time much like I have but on a different unreachable plane where I cannot go or see. They're waiting there to be set free from their battle by those that hold their chakra one way or another," He explains. Naruto's put a bit at ease, thought its still sounds pretty ghosty. The Sage looks passed her, to the empty space behind her, "Asura holds with you, Uzumaki Naruto. My child's chakra has never felt so at peace within a chakra reincarnation before... I've begun to understand that Asura's troubles partially stemmed from a lack of connection to their body,"
Naruto blows out a breath. Honestly? She's not all that surprised. There's been times where her use of chakra was almost too instinctual for someone whose struggled with control in the past. And then there's the dreams of an endless expanse coupled with the sadness of facing a family member. It would make sense if the parts of her chakra that are Asura were reaching out to that plane the Sage talked about.
"Considering your lack of surprise, you've felt my child's presence before," Naruto wobbles in hands in a so-so motion, "I see... In that case, I assume you know who holds Indra's chakra,"
Naruto closes her eyes, sighing out her nose, before nodding and opening her eyes back up, "It's Sasuke,"
"So you did realize,"
"Who were the ones before us? Who was carrying on the will of Asura and Indra's chakra?" Naruto asks, though, she's got a pretty good idea of who.
The Sage grips his staff, "Asura's will was bound to Senju Hashirama, their direct descendant through their son. Indra's was bound to Uchiha Madara, his own direct descendant. However... Madara meddled with the transmigration by extending his life. He was too obsessed with power and took Hashirama's cells into his body. In other words, he mixed the parts of my children's chakra left in himself and Hashirama, bringing out my chakra. That is how he awakened the rinnegan," Hagoromo sighs, "I did think that it was possible that something like that might happen, so I left a stone warning anyone to reconsider such an action... their meaning was lost over time,"
"So basically, you've been watching your kids fight all this time?" Naruto frowns.
He nods, expression somewhat melancholy, "Yes... In Ninshuu, chakra is the power to connect to one another. I believe that it musn't be used to increase the power of a single individual. My mother Kaguya became too powerful and controlled the world with that power. Her power created a conceit and people began to fear it. If a single person has too much power, they will become obsessed and lose control of themselves... that is happening with Uchiha Madara now. No longer connected to Indra's will he's using the Juubi's power to bring himself closer to me and my mother's power,"
Hagoromo's face becomes grave with memories, "The Infinite Tsukuyomi is not just a genjutsu. While continuously showing people dreams, it uses them as slaves for their power while keeping them alive. If we do not stop Madara, that will be the end of the world. All humans will become part of the divine tree's roots and its source of nourishment until a new fruit grows and by then, all of humanity will have perished from the drain,"
"I know it is a lot to ask, but I want you to stop Madara," Hagoromo says, "You're different from the previous incarnations of Asura's chakra and not only in that you're the first to be a woman or the first not born to the Senju line,"
That's a surprise. A thousand years and not a single woman or Uzumaki has carried Asura's will? Regardless, this old man that's seen the world move constantly forward and probably seen all the wars and bloodshed of the past and present still thinks there's something good to be found, "You've believed in us all this time- Thank you," Naruto bows her head forward.
"... Don't thank me. I don't have that sort of vision," He says after a pause, "The current world is Indra's... no... my mother's desire. If this is the natural flow of the world, then it means that I'm selfishly trying to stop it for my own personal reasons. And looking at the way the bijuu are used, it's clear they are kept as weapons instead of a balancing force of peace. My way of thinking was perhaps naive,"
Naruto shakes her head, "No, you weren't wrong!" Naruto smiles.
"That's right, Old Man!" A familiar voice calls, two massive shapes climbing up out of the water.
Naruto gasps, "You're Shukaku! What are you doing inside me?" Horns appear next, the head of a bull coming out of the parting waters, "Gyuuki too!"
"Obito managed to take a part of our chakra from Madara," Gyuuki explains, "That guy knew which of us you were lacking chakra from,"
Her mouth drops open in surprise, "Obito did?!"
The third shape forms out of the waters, nine dark tails appearing first. As happy as she is to see that other half, and that he's part of a whole, it's not the Kurama she's known and she remembers how much it hurt to have him ripped away, "Kurama..."
"A lot happened," He rumbles, "He even managed to get me into you. Now you have the power of all nine of us... Father, the promised time is here,"
The old sage smiles up at the massive fox, "That's right. Just as Gamamaru predicted; A blue eyed girl would call the names of all nine bijuu and play with them like friends,"
Naruto blinks dumbly. Gamamaru made a prediction like that? Kurama's not mentioned it until now either. Granted, they've not been on friendly speaking terms until extremely recently- literally days- but he's been sharing a lot with her in that time.
Hagoromo turns his gaze back to Naruto, "You seem to have something that draws people to you. I can understand why it would summon me and why Asura's chakra came to you," He calls the names of all Nine bijuu, each of the parts of their chakra manifesting within Naruto's mind all around her, "It's time for the promised child to change the world,"
They're all around her, giving her smiles as much as some of them can convey that sort of expression.
"Uzumaki Naruto, what do you want to do? After this battle is over, what do you seek?" Hagoromo asks, "I want to hear what you think honestly and sincerly,"
Naruto crosses her arms, "I might resemble that Asura person, but I don't really believe in destiny. It doesn't matter if I'm 'destined to win' or 'destined to lose' or even if I'm 'destined to fight'. I know what it's like to be and have a friend and I want to protect them all, so I'll win no matter what, 'ttebayo,"
"Is that your answer?"
She nods, smiling at the old man.
"Before, I couldn't do anything as Indra turned upon Asura after I entrusted everything to him, as both were my precious children, that is why this calamity has begun. Lift your dominant arm, I'll give my power to you, Asura's incanration," He says. It's as if he's speaking to two people and suddenly she knows who is on the side of the other conversation, "From now on, Naruto and Sasuke, what you will do and what will happen depends entirely on you,"
Naruto raises her right hand while continuing to smile, "Sasuke and I aren't blood-related siblings, but I think we can make peace- We're good friends, 'ttebayo!"
Hagoromo smiles, holding his own right hand up.
The power that flows into her is like standing in the sunlight.
Gai's final strike wasn't enough. Kakashi watches as Madara still remains, though heavily injured, while Gai is actively dying on the ground. The others aren't back yet either.
Madara has one of those floating orbs near his would, panting and glaring at the fallen and fading form of Might Gai, one of the greatest men Kakashi's ever known. At least Kakashi can take pleasure in the obvious pain that Madara is in even as he mourns another friend.
The orb fires itself at Gai, none of them would make it in time, only, there's an orange form in the distance. Even as far away as he is from the end of the battle, Kakashi just knows it's Naruto.
Madara ducks as his Gudou Orb is kicked back at him by a flash of gold. Uzumaki Naruto stands alive and oddly different once more. Her hair is loose, flowing and cascading around her. There's none of the pigment around her eyes, nor is she glowing, but the stars of her previous Kyuubi Sage Mode still over take her pupils. She crouches down, placing her right hand on the cracked chest of Madara's opponent.
His eyes widen as the can see the dying embers of the final gate stop and edge back to life and the burned up husk of his body begins to look like a regular severe burn, "Good fight, Bushier Brows,"
"Uzumaki Naruto... something's different about you..." He pants. Damn that Obito! Whatever he's done has healed the girl entirely.
She turns unconcerned eyes onto him, the stars in her eyes showing the threat, "Yeah... I'm surprised myself, 'ttebayo," She says, "I feel like I can do anyting,"
Naruto sees Madara's rapid healing, but damn Bushier Brows did a hell of a number on him. Gai's still badly off, but he's stable for now, leaving her to take care of Madara a little more easily. She leaps toward him and he brings out the Gudou Orb from where she kicked it, shaping it as she attacks. He's too slow, however, and she's already giving him a Toad Kumite body blow, cratering him into the tree.
'Son, lend me some chakra,' Naruto thinks, forming a rasenshuriken with a magma base and sage chakra in her hand. She makes it absolutely massive, holding it above her head as Madara flees in a panic when the blades of it cut into the tree.
The blonde senses something come near her, attempting to harm or stop her, so she moves deftly out of the way despite not seeing it before throwing the burning rasenshuriken directly into Madara. It cuts his middle, pulling him along as it flies into the tree. Now it's time to blow it open. With a hand seal, the flames cut entirely through the tree as she backs off the area.
Naruto flashes over to Gai with the hiraishin, wrapping him gingerly in her chains before flashing to the next hiraishin marker- Gaara. He'll be perfect for defending the incredibly injured Gai especially since Lee is with him.
Upon her arrival, Naruto gently sets Gai down to be fussed over by a crying Lee, "Gai-sensei!"
"He'll live, Bushy Brows," Naruto says.
Lee runs to his teacher's side, kneeling over him while crying, "How?! He opened the Eighth Gate!"
"Not sure why, but I feel like I can do anything," Gaara's own eyes become dewy as he looks at her, chakra buzing with relief. Still, Naruto can't offer him comfort. She turns around and watches the tree be absorbed into Madara.
Damn him.
"Bushy Brows, Gaara, protect Bushier Brows," Naruto orders, her haori billowing as she turns back the way she came.
Gaara steps up, his voice soft, "Naruto... Whne you become Hokage, let's share a cup of sake together," He says. Naruto leans over, pressing a platonic kiss to his cheek with a beaming smile.
"You go it!"
Naruto then flashes to one of her father's hiraishin kunai that's near the base of the tree before taking it and putting it in her mouth. Even now, Naruto can feel Sasuke coming- the other half of the Old Sage's chakra singing to her the closer it gets. Looking up at a recovered Madara, who floats easily above her by the stump, she raises a brow at him.
"What are you looking at? You have no hope of defeating me," Madara states, more confident than ever, "I'm completely immortal- I'll live forever,"
Speaking around the kunai in her mouth with a snort, she tightens her hitai-ate and allowing all the bijuu chakra lead by Kurama to flow through her, "Idiot! I won't be taking you on by myself," The chakra billows easily, Gudou orbs of her own forming around her like a hagoromo scarf- which amuses her to no end. She takes two of the orbs and forms them into silent suzu bells, holding them in hand when Sasuke finally arrives.
Seriously- worse than Kakashi.
"We'll be kicking your ass together, dattebayo!"
Madara looks at them frigidly, "So one of you obtained the Senjutsu of Six Paths and the other obtained the Rinnegan?" He chuckles, "But I am both of those powers in one being!" He claps his hands together into a seal, "This will be our final battle! I'll show you who the more powerful between us is!"
He attacks her and Sasuke with senjutsu lightning attack, sending streaks of black lighting crashing toward each of them with each of his own hands. Naruto flings one of her bells at the attack, absorbing the strike with it. Meanwhile, Sasuke essencially blinks over away from the attack from the corner of Naruto's eye. Ugh! It's faster than her hiraishin whatever it is!
While Madara is distracted by Sasuke's ability, Naruto attacks next, shunshining into the air and whipping down with black chains formed from the Gudou orbs. That sensation returns, meaning there's something unseen stopping her attack. Clicking her tongue, Naruto withdraws the chains and brings up the suzu bells just before ducking out of the way of a lightning style lazy from his mouth.
Sasuke's sword flies between them, embedding itself into the stump of the tree. Naruto can feel his confusion just before she's hit by that thing she can't see but keeps feeling! She catches herself, feet skidding along the ground and chains snapping out to stop, "Sasuke! It went over there! I can't see it myself, but I can feel it!" She calls, "It's hanging around!"
"Really? I can see it clearly!" Sasuke replies, "It's another Madara. It seems physical attacks won't have any effect on that Madara from this side," Naruto nods sharply in agreement.
Madara speaks out loud as if he's finishing a thought as she rushes Sasuke in partciular, "In that case! I'm sure that left eye of yours would fit me nicely!"
When Madara is randomly moved and impaled on Sasuke's sword, Naruto is completely confused. She's got no perception of how Sasuke's new ability works yet, but she's going to need to figure it out so they can combo with it.
"Then try it," Sasuke taunts, walking casually closer to Naruto, "I'm sure you won't be dying so easily, right? It appears your shadow returns to your oringal body after a fixed amount of time,"
Naruto grins meanly at Madara, spinning one of the suzu bells in her hand, "Thanks for the heads up,"
"Naruto! Go ahead and use my chakra with your next one!" Shukaku says, "Let's combine our fuuinjutsu!"
Naruto lifts her hand, forming a rasengan using Shukaku's chakra. If they can bind him with this perfect, if they can't it may be the best chance she has of putting a hiraishin marker on the bastard. The rasengan with Shukaku's chakra has the same patterning on it as his sand body does, it looks sort of pretty on the glowing rasengan. Naruto hears the familiar crackling of the chidori next to her.
It really does sound different than Kakashi's.
She and Sasuke lock eyes, turning toward each other and pushing they attacks at each other. Madara is between them, taking their attacks and Naruto feels the bind take hold on something. Naruto feels the bulk of Madara's chakra slip away, leaving the shade that Sasuke talked about behind. She can at least see it now with all of Shukaku's seal bindings coating it.
Naruto snaps her head to the side, following Madara's chakra as her heart jumps into her throat, "Sasuke! Go after him; I'll take care of this one!" Naruto shouts, "He's going after Kakashi!"
Sasuke takes off after Madara, leaving Naruto to wrap the shadow in black chains, "Six Paths Chain Fuuin; Elemental Lockdown," The chains create a fuuinjutsu array around the shade, locking it in place. It only works because it's a type of chakra... but if it returns to Madara's body he's in for double the surprises as she adds a Hiraishin to it as well.
Naruto feels the return of Sakura's chakra as she finishes up, "That'll hold you, bitch. Stay put unless you want your main body to suff now," Naruto says before turning to a frehsly summoned clone, "Keep an eye on it. Kill it if you can,"
"Right!"
It doesn't take her long to reach the rest of their original team seven. She can smell blood the closer she gets, something she's been smelling constantly over the course of this war, but she knows the smell of this blood really well- he's always letting himself get injured for others.
"Naruto-chan?!" Sakura gasps. Her friend looks like a golden glowing goddess... the Goddess Inari!
"What happened to his shadow?" Sasuke demands.
Naruto grins wickedly, her elongated canines showing prominently, "Bound up tight and under guard by a reinforced clone. If he comes back and takes it back to him like you said, he'd got a few surprises waiting for him, 'ttebayo," Her gaze turns to Kakashi, striding elegantly up to him and taking his face in hand, "'Scuse me, Sakura-chan, but I wanna try something,"
"What-?"
Naruto smiles softly at Kakashi, running her right thumb over his left eye and leaning forward to place a quick peck between his eyebrows. She's still smiling as she pulls away, "Open your eye, Kakashi," No one has to know the second part was unnecessary.
Kakashi does as Naruto tells hime, opening his eye and feeling the air his a functioning and real eyeball. He gapes at her with wide eyes as she smiles down at him, tapping him softly on the cheek once before stepping back. SHe's clearly impressed with herself and Kakashi's beyond impressed himself.
"No way!" Sakura gasps, "How did you do that?!"
Naruto scratches her cheek bashfully, "Well, it's kinda hard to explain... I took a bit of Kakashi and-"
"I told you to be on your guard, Idiot," Sasuke sighs.
Naruto turns to snap, "YOu did not! I just got here, Bastard!"
Kakashi watches as the three devolve into a changed pattern though a familiar feeling. Sakura and Naruto are ganging up on Sasuke, who is more aloof than ever, and Sakura is demanding more answers about what Naruto did for his eye. They've all grown so much. They're not kids anymore- not really- and they certainly don't need him to protect them.
They've come a long way from the kids he first met in Konoha's academy building.
Naruto's already surpassed the previous Hokage in strength and cooperation building. She's widely acknowledged as a hero and she's head of her clan- a powerful jounin that has led small squads to taking the lead of a tattered army. All of that, and she still feels she hasn't reached her goals. She's still impulsive, but it's not longer drivenby the need to prove herself every waking moment to others. She's confident and empathetic.
Then, there's bright and kind Sakura. He reckons her feelings have changed quite a lot of her calling Sasuke names right now is any indication. Her language has certainly grown more colorful the more powerful she's become. She might still love Sasuke, but now she loves herself too much for that love to be a driving force- her other goals have only become that much more important. Still, she's kind. Too kind to be able to cast off feelings for someone she's care for for so long.
And Sasuke... the one that reminded Kakashi of himself the most as a child, if only at first. It turned out that Kakashi wasn't truly able to understand him, not in the way Naruto was able to. Sasuke achieved his dream and regreted it. His current goals are unknown now, but Kakashi can't help but wish the boy happiness- he's been through so much darkness, pain and loss. Kakashi can still relate to the now young man.
"Sasuke," Kakashi starts, "What is your current dream?" The young man looks at him aloofly. Kakashi should have expected that.
"You said 'become Hokage'," Sakura says. That's a surprise. Kakashi was in the kamui dimension when Sasuke first arrived, so he's clueless where that came from, "What's the real meaning behind that?"
Sasuke continues to stay quiet and shoulders stiff. Perhaps he doesn't know the answer himself yet or he may be wavering on the decision. Kakashi closes his eyes with a sigh, "We're all together again for the first time in a while... If you don't want to tell us what you're thinking, Sasuke, that's okay... However, the fact that we were once team seven doesn't change, right?"
Both Naruto and Kakashi go stiff, "He's coming," Kakashi says, "Do you remember your first mission; snatching the bells? You haven't forgotten your lesson, correct?"
"Hn,"
"No way, I'd forget," Sakura nods.
Naruto grins, senses expanding, "Teamwork, 'ttebayo!"
Madara and Obito/Zetsu both appears through the warping area in front of the team. Madara speaks as his feet hit the ground, "In that case... would you consider dying together as a form of 'teamwork'?"
"Madara... you've managed to get back the rinnegan," Kakashi hisses, seeing the form of Obito being possessed by Zetsu.
Naruto, kind girl that she is, calls, "Obito!"
"Obito is no more- I took his body," Zetsu replies in that rasping gravely voice, "Apparently, he wanted to make amends for his past mistakes. Deep inside his heart he was hoping for you all to continue... just like a child. Isn't it selfish? What a spoiled brat,"
Naruto growls, the sound rumbling out of her animalistically.
Sakura cracks her knuckles, activating the seal on her forehead. The pattern spreads over her face and Madara narrows his eyes, "I'll be making a diversion- try and keep up," Sakura states before running in.
"Wait!" Naruto calls. There's more of those shades around Madara now, Naruto can sense them, and there's no way for Sakura to get clone enough to strike Madara with the way those shades are moving. Naruto concetrates on the feeling of the shades, then tries to grab them with chains as Sakura charges in. SHe only managed to snag on, sealing it like she did the other.
Madara pieces her friend through with with one of the stakes made of his own Gudou orbs, but it doesn't slow Sakura down though, as she swings a fist down on Madara. As expected, one of the shades Naruto couldn't get blocks Sakura's strike.
The Uzumaki and Uchiha run in, kicking away the shades still free. Naruto grabs Sakura, retreating with her friend and checking her over. There's amazingly no injury to be seen after Naruto pulls the stake out, "You okay, Sakura-chan?"
"Don't worry- I'm fine, Naruto-chan," Sakura breaths, "But what the hell stopped me?"
Naruto explains the shades to her and how Sasuke can see them and Naruto can feel them. Hopefully, the seals she placed on the shades return to the original Madara when their time runs out.
"Naruto," Sasuke calls.
"I know... There's more of 'em,"
Madara sighs like he's bored, "The time for playing is over now," Then, he's in the air, raising his hand to the sky. The chakra around him is incredibly familiar to Naruto. Chibaku Tensei. Unfortunately, he's left behind his shades. Massive meteors appear in the skies above.
"Don't be distracted by them!" Sasuke says like she's been unaware, "His shadows are here!"
Naruto summons clones to deal with the shades, freeing up herself to take on the meteors. Naruto's clones leap into action, distracting the clones while she jumps high into the air, "Kurama!"
"Go for it!"
For the first time outside of Kurama's form, Naruto creates a bijuudama. With all this power coursing through her, she's able to give it the properties of a rasenshuriken. Blow, she feels the power of Sasuke's susano'o and Sakura's seal. Together the three of them destroy as many of the meteors as possible before they crash down to decimate them and the rest of the shinobi forces elsewhere on the battlefield.
Naruto's just cut through the last one when the light of the moon goes red. Looking up with a gasp, she sees a red rinnegan with tomoe taking up the face of the moon as Madara gazes up at it. Naruto retreats back to the ground using the hiraishin marker on Sakura, "Sasuke!"
Sasuke had already been on his way back down, landing with his susano'o loudly. Naruto wraps the three of them and herself in a thick blanket of adamantine chains empowered with the Sage's chakra while Sasuke susano'o wraps around the chains as well. What she feels outside of their protections is terrible. It's happening- everyone outside is being placed under the Infinite Tsukuyomi. She wants to rush out, protect everyone, but she can't free them if she's trapped by it too.
"What's going on?" Sakura asks.
"We can't go outside of these yet- we'll be caught in the light of the genjutsu," Sasuke says, "My susano'o and Naruto's adamantine chains are the only things stopping all of us from going under too. We'll have to wait for a chance. If Naruto and I die, it's over,"
Sakura stands up, touching the wall of chains, "What's going on outside?"
"Why do you need to know?" Sasuke asks tactlessly, "There's nothing you can do now,"
Sakura turns a glare onto Sasuke, her seal making her face that much more intimidating, "Listen Sasuke-kun, maybe you're okay with everyone dying since it's the only way you'd stand a chance of being Hokage, but the rest of us care actually have people we care about!"
"And that's not issue regardless, Sasuke," Kakashi states, "I want to know too. We want to think of a way-"
Sasuke, apparently being sick of them questioning him, snaps, "Shut up, Kakashi. You're the same as Sakura now- I'm directing,"
Naruto grabs the boy by the front of shirt, "Asshole, we need teamwork, not your egotistical posturing, dattebayo!" She hisses. How dare he speak to Sakura and Kakashi like that. They're two of the strongest ninja left on their side. Not to mention, Naruto's had more experience than him at leading teams by now.
Sakura examines her tools, unbothered, "Let him go Naruto-chan. You know the posturing of a genin shouldn't be given much attention- otherwise they'll never learn," Sakura smiles meanly, "You're a jounin- you should know better,"
Sasuke's looks between them baffled and enraged. Kakashi sighs. The more things change the more they stay the same- those girls still gang up on Sasuke even if the overall dynamic might have shifted, "Indeed, there's nothing I can do right now. If your left eye can see outside of our protections and formulate a strategy, then perhaps you should be the one taking command of team seven,"
Naruto crosses her arms in a pout after letting Sasuke go, "There's no way this guy could come up with a better strategy than you! And Sakura-chan's great at combat analysis! And I can feel outside... Everyone's chakra is being supressed and absorbed..." She finishes morosely. All of her clan... her friends...
Sasuke clicks his tongue, "Anyway; Madara just started his jutsu. We might be the only ones safe,"
Naruto begins to pace, frustrated and impatient. There's absolutely nothing she can do right now besides what's already being done. Will Iruka and Karing be okay? Hinata? Some people were really low on chakra... what if the roots don't let them amke more chakra in time and they're sucked dry like before when Obito was using the tree?
Kakashi takes her hand while she's pacing, stopping the spiral that will lead to a blow of temper and bad calls. She looks at his face, his eyes giving her a warning look. The blonde sags a bit, the balloon of worry in her head deflating a bit. She turns to Sasuke, now a bit more even keel, "How long do we have to wait?"
"People fall into the genjutsu because of the moon light. It's slowly diminishing, but we can't go out as long as it shines. At the rate it's going, I'd say about five minutes," Sasuke replies.
Eventually, Sasuke's susano'o backs off them, alerting Naruto to draw her chains back. Once they're free, Sasuke's susano'o leaves in flames and the black Zetsu stands there unaffected by the ordeal, "How do we wake everyone up?!" Naruto asks.
"A genjutsu created by a rinnegan and sage chakra can probably be broken with another rinnegan and sage chakra," He replies.
Kakashi keeps steady eyes on Zetsu, "So we'll need both of you to break it,"
"I won't let you do that..." Zetsu hisses, "You're the only ones left to get rid of,"
Madara lands with a crash between the four and Zetsu, "I'll do it. I'm the savior of this world," His chakra feels elated... but exhausted. There's also a third eye on his forehead like with Old Hagoromo. Quickly, they're surrounded by his shades.
"Be careful," Sasuke warns for the benefit of the other two. It's so hard to tell he cares sometimes, but he still defended them with her and is giving them warnings, "We're surrounded on four sides by his shadows,"
"I won't let you do anything more," Madara says, standing up to his full height, "I just stopped the fate of this world. I freed people from pain, suffering, and emptiness,"
Naruto grits her teeth, "It's all lies! Every dream isn't reality! It's not fulfilling!"
"Naruto... you're getting in the way of everyone's happiness," Madara states, "Our game ends here. I turned Hell into Heaven. Accept it. Understand it's already over,"There's a shift... Naruto feels something shift.
Then, a hand- black as pitch- is pieced through Madara's heart, reaching out at them through his body and sending blood splattering into the dirt. The utter look of shock on Madara's face would be satisfying if there wasn't this profound sense of dread creeping up Naruto's spine and Kurama growling uneasily in her stomach.
"No, Madara, you are not the savior and it is not over," Zetsu croons, "Why do you think that, unlike Obito, you can use everyone else? A bit presumptuous, don't you think? You are also capable of being used, Madara,"
Madara tries to turn, but finds himself unable, "What are you saying, Black Zetsu?! I'm the one that made you...! You're my will!"
The creature's chuckles is cold and cruel, "That's not true either... My will is..." Black veins begin to creep over Madara's body and there's an intense swirling of chakra.
"My will is Kaguya,"
Naruto's stomach drops.
TBC
