- Imasiqit -
He had heard of a few different methods of torture from Kakashi sensei. There was one where you hurt the body. Tearing off nails, skinning the most sensitive parts of the body, and the one where you cut small pieces of flesh, much like you'd cut an onion. But that was not what he was trying to remember, Because If Naruto remembered correctly, which was a big if, whatever this was must've been the second kind, the psychological torture.
At first, he didn't mind the darkness. He could still walk around and feel things after all. The ground was weirdly soft and strong at the same time. Touching the ground only furthered his worries. He couldn't feel the ground, which was indeed there, because he stood on it, but it had no texture. No worries there, at least there were no mortal dangers around him. At least, as far as he knew.
A whole different problem arose when he heard the sound of flowing liquid. He walked in circles for a few moments, and no matter which way he went the sound of this river, or a small waterfall, stayed the same. If he wasn't blinded and this was indeed just a total darkness, Naruto guessed that this place might also be totally silent as well. So, if the only thing around him that could make a sound was himself, then it was not that impossible to believe that the sound of this flowing water was his own blood circulating in his body. That thought made him tremble.
But what really took him to the depths of despair was the flickering connection to Kurama. At one moment he could almost enter his mindscape, and a moment later he felt a strong pulling sensation that threw him out of there. Imagining himself being upset because he couldn't talk to the Nine-Tailed demon fox was something he never thought he would be doing. Ever.
With his head on his knees and his arms around those knees, at least he could still touch his own body, Naruto sighed and mumbled "If this is what death looks like, I could've imagined a lot… Worse. But I don't see a bar anywhere." Thinking about Madara's last words to his best friend. Was he in this sort of darkness too? Will he get to meet his mother once again? If so, when?
"You are not dead."
"Yeah, right." Answered Naruto to one of his thoughts. A thought that was probably the only hopeful one he had since sitting down. That thought also sounded feminine. He chuckled. He didn't get to kiss a girl, just like that Mizukage boy. Would he laugh at him for that if they met now? It's not like he had much choice in that area of life. Sakura never liked him and Ino liked him even less than Sakura did, which was what..? Minus infinity? Probably. Tenten was always visibly in love with Neji, and a little bit weird too. Temari was scary, and probably crazy, which only made the first attribute worse. And Hinata…
He remembered Hinata's confession and continued to slouch on his knees with a deep sigh. If only he had more time to talk to her about it. It was not like he was desperate to kiss a girl. Not that he would admit it. He just wanted to explain why he avoided talking to her about that moment for so long. But what was there to explain, aside from not having a moment of peace since then.
"She assumed the worst. The terrifying thought that you don't like her in that way. Your avoidance of her just to not hurt her, only strengthened her feelings towards you."
He whimpered after having that thought. The "feminine thought" was now outright optimistic. Naruto did not know how long it had been since he got here but he already missed Hinata's eternally crimson cheeks. He missed others as well… Even though he had known him for a few days, the battle partnership between him and Bee was already legendary. He missed everything, including his terrible rhymes.
"His rhymes are not that bad."
Now that… He couldn't ignore that. That was not a thought he would ever have, not even in death! In fact, now that he thought about it, none of the other "feminine thoughts" were his to begin with. But if not him, then..?
"Are your knees that interesting to look at?"
Naruto focused his eyes and even though the darkness was still the same, he could finally see his own body. He sprang up to his feet and looked around. Aside from his own, he could also see a silhouette of another person not far from where he stood. From what was visible, he assumed it was a frail girl or a feminine-looking boy. He learned not to judge that too early ever since meeting Haku. The black dress and hood covered everything else, which made it harder for him to be decisive. What made him even more fascinated was the fact that her dress was as dark, or rather, devoid of light as his surrounding area, which was as mentioned, not there at all. So the question was, how could he see a silhouette of darkness?
"Hello..?" Was all he could muster. Remembering the question he was asked a moment ago - "Err… No… My knees are not interesting at all, I was just… thinking, that's all." He answered trying to look confident "I didn't see when you got here."
"Yes, I'm sorry, I do have a habit of sneaking up on people." She answered, her face was now almost fully visible, but he had a hard time tearing his eyes away from her smile.
Naruto felt relief with that smile and he smiled in return, slowly gaining back his usual cheerfulness, he said "That's okay, no need to apologize. I'm Naruto, Uzumaki Naruto." He offered his hand. She looked down at his hand, then looked back into his eyes. She did not shake it.
"That time will come later."
"What time?"
"Time for us to shake hands."
"Err… I see." He couldn't see it at all but he still said it to not seem rude. "So… Who are you?"
"A friend." She answered with a giggle. "A friend simply trying to understand things from your perspective." She laughed out loud.
Naruto was baffled. That giggle was terrifyingly soothing and those eyes were all-consuming. Oh yeah, he could see her eyes now, she was definitely a she. "Mhmm… and uh… What do you wanna understand exactly?"
"No, sorry, forget that." She giggled again and then whispered, "For now…"
"I'm so confused…"
"That's right, you, that's why we're here." The lady said as if she was reminded of her line of thought by his single thought. "Uzumaki Naruto, Son of Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina. What is the last thing you remember?" She asked with the kind of eyes he'd only seen in extremely curious children.
"I made a shadow clone while fighting Sasuke…"
"Sasuke?"
"Oh yeah, he's my… friend, at least I hope he still is."
"Why were you fighting?"
"Where do I even begin? We're at war, first with Obito, who we thought was Madara Uchiha, but then real Madara was revived and I thought that was the most challenging time of my life… But at least I was fighting with Sasuke. We could defeat anyone together, or die trying." Naruto paused when he realized that he got too far away from the answer she asked for. "Well, Sasuke thinks that the power of all tailed-beasts should be used as a way to scare everyone into being friendly to each other. You either obey him or you die. Oh, and I die anyway."
"That's why you were fighting him?"
"Well, no, but actually kind of. If I die that's bad, but that's fine if I knew that things would be better after that for the rest of the world." The Lady was still looking at him with her curious eyes, so he continued "We were fighting because I can't let him take the burden of the world alone and I really can't let him take away freedom for everyone else."
"Freedom to kill each other?" Her smile returned.
"I wish that was not the case, but I guess that's included in that. Nobody should get to decide, none of us anyway." She raised her eyebrow at that "I know how that sounds but sometimes… *Sigh* Sometimes I get this sense that there is something more to us than just living as comfortably as possible. Sometimes I think that maybe we were made to fight. You get what I'm saying?"
"No."
"Heh, me neither." Naruto said as he scratched his head and avoided eye contact for a moment.
"Naruto…" She began after a few seconds of silence and he looked back at her "Where do you think you are?"
"I thought it was some sort of torture Genjutsu until you showed up."
"And now?"
"Now I think I am dealing with something… blarghhhh" Naruto almost choked and when he stopped puking, he realized that it was blood. His eyes widened in fear "Err… Someone I've no clue about. Certainly not a human, or a mere human. That's… for certain." Naruto said as carefully as possible.
"Good, cautiousness is going to serve you well in the future." Lady said and visibly stopped herself from giggling. "Now then, I think it's time you understand why you are here."
"Y-you brought me here?" Naruto asked hesitantly.
"Yes, I did." Naruto opened his mouth to speak but "Not because I wanted to hurt you. In fact, I didn't do anything to you, so don't be so scared." Naruto was about to ask "No, I did not make you cough up blood. It was just a coincidence. You did not even cough up blood, you simply spat it back out." Shocked, Naruto tried to speak again "Nope, not your blood. That's not what you need to ask now."
"Then… What should I ask?" Naruto finally managed to speak because the Lady in Black did not answer his unasked question instantly this time.
"You should ask me the question you need the answer to the most." Naruto tried to ask the obvious "No, there is no other way. You have to kill Sasuke to stop the war, because if he survives every single human being will die. With no exceptions."
For the first time during their talk, Naruto saw the Lady in Black move. It was a small step to her right, and she just stopped and stared at the place where she stood before. Naruto full of questions was about to speak up when a great shriek forced him down onto the ground. It did not sound like a man or a woman. It was not from any animal he had ever seen. But he had heard it before, only once, back when…
"Oh no…" Naruto fell to his knees and tears filled his eyes.
The Lady in Black stood still.
"Sasuke… Why..?"
"The Ten-tails is gaining power, the mental power. For other hosts it was easier to control it, but now it has sentience. Taking control over it, without letting it have some part of you, is now impossible. But by giving up a sliver of control, Sasuke lost it all. He is no more. It is entirely his fault that he got into this predicament in the first place, but there is no way for you to save him." She said with a nod. "That's right, if you want humanity to survive you have to kill your friend. Kill him dead the first chance you get."
Naruto looked up at her with blood-red eyes and tried to speak when another Shriek shook Naruto's body. It felt as if every single cell of his being was torn apart and roughly meshed back together. But he did not scream, only cried.
"Why…"
"Why didn't I stop him already?" Lady finished his question for him as he tried to keep himself from screaming "I couldn't care less. Come now, don't be so shocked. Humans, whether normal citizens or powerful ninjas, all of them are the same. Worthless."
"Then why? Why are you helping me? If you don't care about us, then why…"
"I don't care about you, but… I do care about me. You are worthless to me, but I can't change that, only influence it. But if I let things go on like this, if too many of you die, there will come another, like me, who thinks the same about you as I, but can and will do something about you. Someone you already stopped from emerging."
Naruto's eyes widened. "Kaguya..?" She nodded. "But it doesn't make sense… Why do you care if she returns?"
"I would let her do whatever she wants with all of you, If that didn't affect my… Position."
"What position? Who are you?"
"You have a leader for your village, you call them a Hokage. There is also a leader for your country, a Daimyo. Who is the leader of your reality?" Naruto opened his mouth to speak "No, not that. Do I look like a spirit to you?
"Kind of... Yeah?! Then what? Are you a... God?"
"Heh, No, and let's not bring him into this." For the first time Naruto saw the Lady's face turn from amusement to concern and she did not answer his question without it being asked.
"Will you die if Kaguya overthrows you?"
A laugh echoed in the darkness. "That's… One way to put it, yes. If that's all you want to know, just give me a word that you'll do what I tell you to do and then you can go."
"But I can't kill Sasuke… I can't give up on him now! Not after all this time trying to help him." Naruto spoke, hoping for a way to stop the rampage of the Ten-tails and get his friend back.
A sigh of exasperation came out from the Lady in Black, which made Naruto's blood freeze. Aside from laughing, if that could've been called a laugh, she showed almost no other signs of living. Even Hagoromo, the spirit of a dead person was more alive than her. So this simple expression, expressed as if real human was doing it, felt like something that didn't belong here.
"Fine then." She turned around and started walking.
"Wait!" Naruto grabbed her shoulder, which he immediately regretted, but nevertheless didn't let go. "What do I have to do to stop this… All of this?"
The Lady in Black looked back and smiled.
***
- The Valley of the End -
As he managed to dodge an elbow, Sasuke then had to absorb most of the damage caused by the Third Hokage's staff.
Just an hour ago he would obliterate the Raikage with no problems, His world-renowned speed would seem like that of a crawling toddler, but with an ongoing battle between him and the Ten-tails, he barely maneuvered around, let alone take his next target down. On top of those two, he had to be extremely careful not to get caught by the First Hokage. That would be bad, but at least Hashirama couldn't attack head-on, that was the biggest of reliefs in his situation. Even if that meant giving up all but one of his truth-seeking orbs to Lord First's Wood Dragon.
Seeing that things were not going in his favor, he decided to take control of the beast in his mind. Sasuke dashed towards the sky. He took a deep breath and used the time to get a stranglehold on Ten-tails' corrupting chakra. It did not go as well as he'd hoped. The combined rage of nine giant creatures was maddeningly hard to control. How did Madara manage to stay himself when he was in his position? Sasuke questioned.
His movement forced his opponents to regroup. The Third and the First Hokage stood on the opposite ends of the battlefield, East and West respectively, While the Raikage stood directly below him. Sasuke saw this and started flying toward the nearby lake. The same lake that once survived the clash between him and Naruto. Slowly, he realized that the Kages were not following as quickly as they should've. Why were they slacking off? He decided to fly down, floating just ten or so meters above a hill.
Sasuke was not new to sensing his surroundings. He was nowhere near as good as his red-headed teammate for example, but he could easily detect most enemies before they had a chance to surprise him. His Sharingan was almost always at the ready to detect any movement and now his newly acquired Rinnegan gave him extra sensory abilities.
None of that mattered when he heard the crying voice of the most annoying person he had ever met. How could Sakura of all people sneak up on him? What was she even doing here? Was he going insane? Was the tailed beast inside him finally winning their battle for control? Was the deep rumbling voice within his head or was it coming from the outside? Is this how a Jinchuuriki felt when he was in anguish? Was this how Naruto felt all of his life? He could not tell, not because it was hard to guess, but because he was not left with enough time to think.
Just a few hours ago he would have laughed at whoever attempted to slice his throat with a swing that slow. Unfortunately for him, he barely managed to dodge the attack in his current state. If he had enough time he'd theorize that the attack was way too slow for a high-ranking Ninja. If She was not one of the best, would she even dare to attack him with no backup? Did that mean that the backup was nearby? Sasuke did manage to stop the frail-looking tomboy with his only truth-seeking orb in her tracks.
He didn't have time to think about where the First Hokage took his precious weapons because the girl he just supposedly took care of turned into... Cement? and spread on his body as if it was grabbing as much of it as possible. He tried to fly away, pick up speed, and somehow get rid of it but he couldn't. His right leg and part of his torso were fully engulfed with this weird cement when it hardened itself in an instant, and then... it broke apart from the rest of his body.
"Sasukeee..!" was the scream coming from horrified Sakura as she saw the love of her life being broken in half, diagonally.
Sasuke's subsequent scream of pain, did nothing to stop the girl who appeared right in front of him but at a considerably faster speed than before. He barely managed to blink when he felt the blade cutting his throat. Thankfully, he managed to regain his senses just in time to ignite his Chidori on his remaining hand and swing it back toward the attacker. He was sure he managed to land that hit straight where her heart should've been when he saw a small object flying behind the girl at a blinding speed. That was followed by a flash of yellow.
"Naruto..?" Sasuke whispered in shock, his voice barely audible even to himself. At least that's what he thought at the moment.
"WRONG!" he heard coming from a gruff-sounding man he spent the past few minutes trying to avoid. "LARIAT!" was the next word Sasuke heard. His head took a hit that only furthered an already devastating cut on his throat, which was left by the frail tomboy. He was thrown dozens of meters away, down toward the ground. His landing spot became a wide crater in an instant.
Sasuke's body was trying to regenerate but it was not fast enough. He now lost most of his lower body and his head was hanging on by a hair's breadth width of skin to his torso. His pain was only dwarfed by the anger he was feeling.
Even though his regeneration was working at its full power, Sasuke was still losing consciousness, his eyes closing without his approval. He saw the shadow of the Raikage standing tall in front of him.
"Sasuke Uchiha, for your crimes against the world, I, the Fourth Raikage of the Village hidden in the Clouds, sentence you to death. Do you have any last words?"
"Is this how it ends? Is this how I die? Why was I even born? What will become of the world if I leave now? This world can't be allowed to continue as it is!"
Then a voice called out to him. It felt as if the monster was not just roaring, but talking to him. Sasuke would've laughed if his vocal cords were still tied together. How could he accept a bargain with this… beast! But, did he really have much choice?
"To rid this world of monsters, you must become one yourself." That sounded acceptable to him, at least it did in his delirious state. If Sasuke needed to do the terrible things now to prevent them from happening in the future, then he would do it. He would do everything he could and not even death could stop him.
Then for just a second, he saw a smile, a beautiful smile, one he had seen somewhere before. It disappeared as soon as he saw it. Sasuke then looked Raikage straight in the eyes, showing a single tear coming down on his right cheek.
"Tsukuyomi!"
A bright blue light started to emanate from the crater.
"No!!!" Sakura screamed and just barely managed to take the unconscious Raikage out of the Susanoo's grasp, the following swing of its sword was blocked by the wooden dragon that clashed head first into it.
The First Hokage had no other choice but to use the Wood Style and keep the Susanoo in its place. Sakura then saw a black sphere right in front of her head. Sasuke had decided to get rid of the annoyance once and for all. Before she realized what was about to happen the Third Hokage clashed with it and managed to seal the black sphere into his staff, losing his right arm in the process.
Seeing the Third Hokage's opening, Sasuke tagged him with the Reanimation-Release Jutsu. The last thing Sasuke saw from Hiruzen was a simple, warm smile.
Once the dust settled, Sakura and the Raikage were taken away by a wood clone.
With his enemies dwindling by the minute, with his new alliance and full control over the Ten-tails' power, he had nothing to fear.
But the fact that Hashirama, the god of shinobi, the First Hokage, and the founder of the village hidden in the leaves, just smiled at him, was unnerving.
***
- A few moments earlier -
Ay cursed under his breath, they just lost one of their best warriors. His positive outlook, which he rarely showed to anyone, was quickly vanishing. He was at his wit's end, and for the first time in his life, he did not know if he could even continue this battle for much longer. The three-pointed kunai that landed just beside him only slightly alleviated his anger.
"Lord Raikage, are you alright?" Minato asked. He got a small nod in response as the muscled man looked him in the eyes.
"I still can't believe I am fighting side by side with the Fourth Hokage."
"We won't be fighting for much longer if you can throw this" he handed him a three-pointed kunai and pointed his hand towards the sky "in that direction, with as much force as you can muster."
Raikage took the kunai and grinned.
***
- The Allied Shinobi Forces Encampment -
The scream of the Ten-tail's new Jinchuuriki was heard by the advancing Allied Shinobi Forces. They were much closer to the new battlefield when Minato appeared once again. This time carrying the wounded girl.
"Kurotsuchi!" Kitsuchi shouted as he ran toward them. Tsunade and the other high-ranking shinobi quickly gathered around them.
Hearing her father's voice made the girl slowly open her heavy eyelids. Seeing the face of the Fourth Hokage only made her fury return with vengeance. "Let me go you bastard!" she shouted and forced Minato to open his arms. She fell onto the ground and winced in tremendous pain. She started to cry, loudly.
"Lady Tsunade, please there's still time to save her!" Minato said and moved toward his son's unconscious body, and motioned for Shikamaru to approach him as they talked to talk.
"I... D-don't need anything from these Leaf bastards..." Kurotsuchi spat through gritted teeth while trying to hide her pain in vain.
"This is all your fault for charging alone! You could've been killed for your stupidity." Kitsuchi shouted as he grabbed her daughter and forced her to stay still for Tsunade to start cauterizing her chest wound. He then managed to calm himself down as he saw his daughter's relief-filled face, which was once again quickly filled with tears.
In this moment of pain, being held in place without anywhere to go, Kurotsuchi could only bite the piece of wood as hard as she could. These few seconds of pain and relief were enough for her to regain her composure. Then with her voice steady and her demeanor stable, she said "The Tsuchickage is dead!" loudly enough for all of the people nearby to hear.
Hearing this, Kitsuchi held Kurotsuchi close to his chest without uttering a single word. "Grandpa is gone, and it's all their fault." She whispered to her father. Kitsuchi said nothing.
"How did this happen?" Tsunade asked her predecessor as she wiped the sweat off from her forehead.
Minato didn't answer immiadely, electing to finish his talk with Shikamaru, before he spoke "Sasuke somehow managed to counter Lord Tsuchikages attack. Considering the Raikage's reaction, I assume it was not something they couldn't have known would happen." Minato's words were loud and clear. The information quickly spread through the Allied Shinobi Forces. "She managed to severely injure him, but got hit in return." Minato added as he looked at Kurotsuchi "If we're lucky, Sasuke may already be dead." Kitsuchi seemed to be praying as he quietly mourned the death of his father and was listening to every word coming from the Fourth's mouth. "But if it wasn't for Raikage's aim and strength, I would've been too late to bring her here."
"Oh! And how much you'd looove that, wouldn't you?!" Kurotsuchi spat with disgust. "My mother died fighting against you. My Grandfather died to protect that piece of shit lying there... And don't tell me you give a flying fuck about any of our Rock shinobi, let alone the one you probably want to get killed the most."
None of the Konoha shinobi said anything, taking the Fourth Hokage's example. The Rock Shinobi were not quiet. Shikamaru couldn't tell exactly what the sentiment was, but he was sure at least some of them were agreeing with Kurotsuchi. The Shinobi of the Cloud, Wind, and Water, were quiet, almost too quiet. But right now he had worse things to worry about.
Naruto's clone, on the other hand, was having none of it and was about to cut off the process of transferring his chakra into the Mizukage, but before he could do that, Gaara put his hand on his shoulder.
"You are alive, aren't you?" Kazekage said. Kurotsuchi looked up at him and was certainly ready to respond but she couldn't. "Lord Tsuchikage was not only fighting for Naruto's, but also for his own life, and more importantly he was fighting to protect the freedom of every single one of us."
Naruto's clone smiled. If he could appreciate his friend even more than he already did, he would've. Everyone else who heard, seemed like they internalized Gaara's words. It was as if a few words could reignite the fighting spirit inside the exhausted shinobi.
Kurotsuchi's response was stopped by her father with a single stern look. Nobody who knew anything about grief and anger believed that this would stop all of her fury, but for the moment there was no other way. The ground shook and everyone, without exception, knew the reason. Along with the rumbling of the ground, the sound of explosions and clash of giants was easy to make out. Wooden Deity against a translucent Samurai.
If there ever was a thing that would remind you to focus on the task at hand, this was it. Shikamaru saw that his Hokage knew that fact too well and she started to take control of the situation. "How long until the transfer is done?"
"At least five more minutes." Answered Orochimaru while assisting Naruto's clone to overcharge Mizukage's chakra reserves.
"I see. Did everyone hear it? We have to win five more minutes before we can deal the final attack on the enemy. Shikamaru what do you have?" Tsunade asked as she looked at the tactician.
"As the most recent intel suggests, Sasuke is not in full control of the Ten-tails. His main strength is his durability, he will defend himself for as long as it takes him to regain his full power and if that happens… No, when that happens, we are doomed. None of the reanimated Hokage can risk hand-to-hand combat, since Sasuke can take them down with just a touch. Our mission is to attack Sasuke with high speed and precision." Shikamaru looked up at the sky and saw a lonely cloud flying away from the battlefield. Ino approached him and offered her hand to relay the orders directly to every soldier. He whispered something to her first, which visibly shocked her, but after confirming it with her Hokage, she nodded and began transmitting the information. Shikamaru took a deep breath and began talking.
"Darui and his first company will begin the attack. Use any long-range jutsu, no matter how powerful. Attack from the North." Darui motioned for his battalion to follow him and quickly moved toward the battlefield with thirty-eight shinobi.
"The fourth company will attack from the south. Gaara, you use everything you've got to disorient Sasuke." He paused for a moment when he saw the skeptical eyes of the Kazekage "Just... put some dirt in his eyes." Gaara nodded, tapped Naruto's unconscious body one more time, and ordered his soldiers to follow him.
"The rest of you will take defensive positions on the east and west sides. Lord Tsuchikage, until Kakashi sensei returns, we'll need you to lead this division." Shikamaru said as he looked at Kitsuchi. "We'll need strong barriers for both cover and misdirection."
"I am not the new Tsuchikage. She is." Kitsuchi said pointing at his daughter who seemingly did not get any joy from this announcement, which made sense. "But I will lead the new division. Lady Hokage, please keep her here until she's ready to fight again." he asked and when he got a nod from Tsunade, he motioned for his soldiers to follow. He didn't get to go far away from them though.
"Any opposition is pointless." It sounded as if Sasuke was speaking directly in their heads, but somehow, his voice was not the only one speaking. "The Tsuchikage is dust, the Raikage is not far behind. The First, the Second, and the Third Hokage's are gone. This fight is pointless. None of you have enough power to stop me." The more he spoke, the clearer it was to understand what was going on. There was no way Sasuke would be speaking this calmly unless he managed to take control of the Ten-tails. To take control of Ino's mind transfer jutsu from that distance was a perfect demonstration of that.
Sasuke was talking from the sky. All of the Allied Shinobi Forces could see the purple giant flying toward them. It made sense in Shikamaru's mind too, if he's unreachable, what can they do, even if they did have sufficient power? Sasuke was bringing the fight to them. Not bad... he thought.
"This is the last warning to all who can hear. Surrender now and return to your homes. No more bloodshed is necessary. I will not kill any other leaders, as long as they obey my commands."
With every passing second the purple giant was getting closer and closer.
"We have to disperse! Or erect a barrier!" Kiba shouted at the half-paralysed shinobi alliance.
"He would've destroyed us if he wanted to." Shikamaru said pointing out how the Susanoo was not aiming his bow at the encampment.
"That's exactly why we need to act, now!" Kiba shouted again, but this time instead of Shikamaru saying anything, he looked up at Ino, who promptly smacked Kiba's head. Kiba was about to retaliate when he stopped suddenly. "Oh…" was the only thing he said afterward.
Finally, the purple giant reached the Allied Shinobi forces. It stopped just a hundred meters away and kept floating in the air. The Susanoo swung its right hand sending two people flying towards the Fifth Hokage. Chouji and Shino worked in tandem and caught both of them before they hit the ground at high speeds. They descended right beside the Hokage.
The mighty Raikage was unconscious, without any visible injuries. The same wasn't true about Sakura. Both of her legs were broken. Broken in the kind of way that even a normal person could tell. Her face and hair were mostly red and it was hard to figure out how that much blood got there without any open wound on her upper body. Her heart was barely working, but she was still conscious. Her injuries were bad, but not untreatable, not for Tsunade. What was worse than seeing her student in such a state, was the unceasing whispering coming from the girl "Please Sasuke… Come back to me…". Tsunade started treating her with one hand, while she tried to figure out what trouble the Raikage was in. Darui, along with one Cloud medic, quickly approached them. He may not have been of much help, but as the second in command, Darui had to be there.
As the purple giant looked onward, Sasuke could see all of the remaining soldiers, split into four parts. A division to his left, a division to his right, one in front of him, and one just behind that. That last part was what he focused on. At one point he would have been excited to see so many powerful Shinobi standing side by side for a common goal. Except, nope, that would've been his only friend. He would've been excited at the prospect of fighting them one by one, or all at once. But now… it mattered little.
"All of you have a choice. It does not matter what your superior decides, if you want to live, you leave." Now that everyone could hear his voice with their ears, and not directly in their heads, Sasuke began with his new almost buzzing voice. "Gather your fallen and return back to your villages, to your loved ones, to those who matter to you the most. Help those who are in need and keep the peace. I will bring true peace and I want all of you to see this new world with your own eyes. But… You will never see your loved ones again if you decide to fight me. The Choice is yours."
"We can never allow someone like that to hold that much power!" came from one soldier. "How do we even know if he's telling the truth?" was heard from another. "If he even has a small chance of stopping every conflict, I don't see why we can't give it a try…" was the thought said out loud that most of the warriors were afraid to consider.
"And why should we trust you?" Tsunade asked.
"What other choice do you have?" Sasuke began. "Are you still hoping for your Naruto to wake up and fight me?"
Silence was the only answer he got.
Up until one girl, the same one that got closest to taking his life away, stood up and said "I accept your offer. The Shinobi of the Rock, the war is over, we are returning to Iwa."
To say that these words caused an uproar would be an understatement. "Of course, the rock shinobi would betray us the first chance they have…" came from a Sand Shinobi. "She is surrendering to the guy who just killed her predecessor, what a good example of her whole village" was heard from another Cloud ninja. Most of the others were simply baffled by the decision. Even Tsuande, of all people, seemed dumbfounded.
"Are you out of your mind?" Kitsuchi asked.
"There is nothing we can do against him. Why should any more of my people die fighting for that demon brat's life?" Kurotsuchi said and didn't let his father respond as she added "I am the Fourth Tsuchikage. You either follow my orders, or you are no longer part of our village."
"Is this the honor of the Rock Shinobi?" Gaara asked while looking at Kurotsuchi straight in the eyes.
Kurotsuchi did not answer but showed clear disdain in her eyes.
All of the Rock shinobi followed their new leader. Whether they agreed or not, much like Kitsuchi, they had no other choice. Everybody with the Rock symbol on their forehead protector followed the quick footsteps of the Fourth Tsuchikage. Everyone except for two ninjas standing side by side. Their legs were visibly shaking but they did not move from their spots.
"What are you waiting for?" Kitsuchi asked those two "Didn't you hear the orders of your Tsuchikage?"
"The Rock Shinobi code of conduct, chapter five, section three. - If a command forces you to break an oath made in good faith to your comrades, you are required to disobey it. - They" He pointed around himself "are my comrades, sir, I can not leave them behind." Shorter of the two brave soldiers replied.
Kitshuchi's eyes widened when he heard that reply. "But, You do know what that means right?" he said, hoping that they'd change their minds. "You do know that He" he pointed towards the Susanoo "Won't let you live if you fight them, right?!"
They nodded.
Kurotsuchi heard the reply and smiled. "Leave them be, they have no value to us anyway. Our hunter ninjas will take care of them in the future." With that, she turned away and continued walking away. Kitsuchi followed her reluctantly. They went north, to the Susanoo's left side.
Darui approached the two men and placed his hands on their shoulders. "What are your names?"
"Kvicha," One said - "Gocha" replied the other.
"Don't worry. When all of this is over, the whole world will know the names of the two ninjas who kept the honor of the Iwagakure intact." Darui said to them and felt their inner turmoil slowly subside.
"Don't be so sure." Sasuke's buzzing voice said.
This new predicament made more than a few Shinobi hesitant to continue fighting, but all of them were afraid of deserting their villages. And yet the fact that there were barely seven hundred people left in the Allied Shinobi Forces was yet another reason for despair.
"Now is the time for us to return to Sasuke. Are you coming?" Jugo said as he took the opportunity. Karin was hesitant herself, mostly because of the confusion she felt. She looked towards Naruto, the boy she helped just a moment ago. She knew that he would be killed no matter what if Sasuke got what he wanted. She looked toward her only real teacher, even if she hated his guts, and Orochimaru looked back at her. For a moment she thought she saw something in his eyes, something she did not even consider he was capable of… Her confusion only grew when the pale snake sage performed a jutsu lightning fast, a jutsu that… Didn't do anything. At least it did not do anything that she could see right away. Karin did not reply with words, she simply nodded and followed Jugo as they moved towards the purple giant.
"Shouldn't we join them? Lord Orochimaru?" Kabuto asked. Orochimaru looked thoughtful for a moment, and then he shouted "What will happen to me Sasuke? I can't just go back to my village, can I?"
"Every person who has committed crimes before or will commit crimes after this point will be judged and if proven guilty, will be dealt with accordingly." Sasuke's growling voice answered.
"I see." Orochimaru said quietly and Kabuto got his answer.
"By what standard?"
Seeing Naruto stand tall right beside the Fifth Hokage was shocking to Sasuke. Even if he quickly figured out that he was just a clone since he saw his real body not far away from them. He didn't know if clones could stay active while the original was unconscious but if anybody could've found a way to do it, it would've been Naruto.
This line of thinking took quite a while because Naruto's clone had to restate the question to regain his attention. "Did that scardy-cat Kurotsuchi cut your ears off or something?" Sasuke came back to his senses so Naruto asked "By what standard will you judge whether whatever Orochimaru has done is worthy of a punishment, or not?"
"I am not here to argue, but if you insist I shall explain it simply, so that even you can understand it, okay?" Sasuke began with a grin. "Wha…" He stopped in his tracks.
There, on the ground, right beside his only friends shadow clone, stood a person. A person fully clothed in black. Normally, this would not unnerve Sasuke, but this was anything but a normal situation. She appeared there without anyone noticing. She stood there, just a step away from Naruto, looking at him like she looked at him back then, and nobody seemed to notice her. Nobody seemed to acknowledge her in any way whatsoever. Not even Naruto's clone.
That clone was about to respond to Sasuke's sudden hesitancy to speak, but he felt a touch on his right shoulder. For a brief moment, he saw the woman standing right beside him. His eyes lit up for a mere moment, but just as quickly filled with tears. The last thing the clone did before vanishing was one last look at his dad, and then at his best friend.
Sasuke had seen an upset Naruto before. He had seen him crying too and not that long ago. But this was not sadness… Sasuke's fury at the current situation was only trumped by the sense of fear. The woman was still standing there, but now, she was looking at Sasuke. He was frozen, unable to do anything but think.
"What on earth is going on?" Chouji asked under his breath.
"I don't have a clue… But if we are waiting for an opportune moment, this is it!" Shikamaru answered and Ino instantly knew what to do.
Forming a ram hand seal, A string of thought flew upwards from Ino's mind. It reached around the same height as the head of the purple giant. For a second the thought, even though immaterial, managed to reflect the sunlight on Allied shinobi forces. In an instant, the reflection turned black and it looked like a string of Kanji…
On the writing, in the sky, there appeared a small platform of sand, on which there sat a red-haired woman, in a lotus position, with a three-pronged kunai placed on her lap, making the horse seal with her hands.
"Ninja Arts: Two Sage-Ray Formation!" a duet of voices called out from Sasuke's left and right sides.
"And Then, Sage Arts: Sage Art: Gracious Deity Gates!"
Ino's string of thought vanished, and Mei opened her blood-red eyes.
Only when the Lady in black disappeared did Sasuke manage to figure out what was going on. A giant green wall was right in front of him. The Allied Shinobi Forces were retreating away from him, behind the green wall a wall of sand was rising, making it impossible for him to see anything else. Jugo and Karin were standing right in Susanoo's chest. To his left, at one end of the Green wall stood the Fourth Hokage, to his right, at the other end stood the First Hokage with that terrifying smile.
"But how?!" Sasuke thought for just a moment before realizing "He used a wood clone and let me tag him, while he used the nature chakra to make himself invisible. I got careless… Damn it!"
Even then, He was about to laugh and mock the two for such a weak attempt to contain his power, but he couldn't. Unfortunately, right in front of the Susanoos head, just behind the green wall, the red-haired Mizukage was staring right at him. After a moment and a deep breath, The words that came from Mei's mouth were loud and clear and also the beginning of his downfall.
"Lava Style: Pandemonium!"