304Chapter 37: A Cling Between Night & Dawn
"We went down into the silent garden. Dawn is the time when nothing breathes, the hour of silence. Everything is transfixed, only the light moves."
― Leonora Carrington
Naruto & Hinata
Obito draws back his twisted hand, anger growing like a flame.
"You're usually just in time Naruto; not today though it seems. I'm sure you said at one point you wouldn't let any of your friends and fellow comrades die during this war, but those were all just empty promises it seems." He laughs bitterly.
Naruto ignores the iciness in his tone. "Why put people into an illusionary life without any say or choice? How is forcing your will the best option?"
Obito rolls his shoulders, has probably heard variations of this question multiple times throughout his life. "You're too young and naive to understand Naruto what I've seen and experienced. I'm sure you've already made your assumptions about me, but this goes beyond just this endless cycle of wars, fights, and deaths. People are suffering, in pain from the loss of loved ones via red thread connections, in pain of losing wives, husbands, friends, and children to diseases and famine. The Infinite Tsukiyomi will put an end to all of that. Hinata, you've seen it for yourself now and you'll continue to if you still try to hinder my plans."
Hinata stiffens just faintly beside him, lavender eyes misting before recovering, hardening to a stoniness Naruto's usually seen only upon her Father, sister, and...
Neji.
And azure tracks to Neji's slumped body meters away, crimson that spills out from his chest too late to stop from flowing out to the ground below.
"Your words mean little to me knowing the murders you've caused, how far you've gotten away from the dreams you had to bring peace to all the nations." Naruto regards back icily.
A sharp smirk edges up his lips taking in Obito's sustained wound, drops of scarlet trickling down mixing with the surrounding dirt and debris beneath them.
'Neji's earlier attack contained the infected mosquitoes and saliva Kiba and Hana isolated.' He recalls.
Just seeing that injury as a blood blister slowly erupts and blooms across his face means the Aburame and Inuzuka clan's study of insect and animal viruses that can pass to humans is slowly taking affect in his system.
Specifically, those a part of hemorrhagic fevers and lyssa madness infections that will quickly replicate itself in the regions of the major arteries of his heart and the functions of his frontal lobe to brainstem.
That madness will soon start and there will be nothing Obito can do to stop it.
'We just need to bide time for the reincarnation jutsu to be dispersed.' Naruto clicks his teeth.
Obito scoffs while working to minimize the damage to his eye, stepping forward turning his gaze back to Hinata.
"Whatever you think you've done isn't going to stop my or Madara's plans for the Infinite Tsukiyomi. My body has been modified time and again to survive anything you've thrown at me or-"
"Not for a virus. Something so small you wouldn't even notice when you made contact with it or breathed it in. Hence, when Neji jabbed into your eye, he not only damaged your vision however temporarily, but he injected into you enough of the sample viruses we collected that are multiplying even as we speak." Hinata cuts him off.
Obito throws up a hand, not caring to hear anymore from either of them.
"Wood Release: Cutting Technique!"
Hinata channels lightning to her fingers as the wood projectiles lock onto them, presses her fingers to the ground.
'This won't keep him back fully or even all of those wood spikes; Naruto and I need to think of something more to keep biding us time.'
"Lightning Release: Tiger Scissors!"
Electricity crackles and singes through the ground and the air, sharp jagged streaks of white forming a wall and traps along the terrain. Obito upends the earth easily to avoid the blasts of lightning, blows out a blaze of fire cutting through the electric wall before any sparks can get close to him.
Naruto pulls Hinata into his arms, leaps them up and away to a higher spot as Obito crumples the very spot they'd been standing at seconds ago with a mix of wood and fire.
"Really could use my Dad and the other Hokage to help keep him back." Naruto mutters, already hating that they will need to keep delaying and running back from this man who has caused so much damage not to just to him personally, but across the nations for the sake of a warped plan for peace.
"The Fourth Hokage is still with the other previous Kage dealing with Madara." Hinata notes at the 4 trying to create a barrier to hold Madara in place. She can't be sure if the same serum Neji managed to plant into Obito got injected into Madara in some form or fashion.
'All he needs is one scratch.'
Her byakugan pinpoints on what just might be a faint cut to his arm courtesy from one of the Inuzuka clan members, one of the Kage, or one of the Allied Forces slipping it to him via contact with a shuriken or breathing it in with all the overhanging smog and haze.
Though even if it the virus is now in Madara's system, he's still moving with a speed and skill that's giving both the old and new generation of Kage trouble.
Minato, as if having heard them across the battlefield, glances in their direction.
"All of you are weak; pathetic. I'm done wasting my time with you all." Madara grunts, vitriol particularly laced towards Tsunade. How she can be Hashirama's granddaughter and not even have a fraction of his skill is beyond him.
'Just another reason to finish the Eye of The Moon Plan.' He decides, slamming a foot down.
The ground quakes again with the mix of lightning, fire, and earth techniques, barrage of shinobi trying to envelop him pushed away. Once more, the air starts to permeate with the scent of new decaying flesh and blood.
Madara turns his focus solely to Hashirama, smirking at his scowl.
"Hashirama, I'm not going to keep toying with all of these lesser Kage that came after your tenure as the First Hokage! Fight me alone like we did in the old times!" He beckons, blowing back a line a second line of shinobi that try to sneak up on him from behind.
He steps with no regard over their crumpled bodies, cracks and stretches out his neck and arms.
'Shinobi have gotten so much weaker since my death, probably softened by all these short periods of peace. None of them are battle ready or hardened, have no idea how to even hide or mask their chakra signatures properly.' Madara scoffs, kicking a man with a torn shoulder off to the side.
Hashirama glances to him exactly once before ignoring him outright.
"What makes you think I'm going to give you the pleasure of my time and a fight? You're nowhere near your prime state like in our original battles."
Madara unleashes a blaze of fire and wind to keep Tobirama from moving in between them, eyes narrowing. "Are you just all talk or do you actually plan to back up your words?"
Hashirama shakes his head, wood clones gathering in a circle to surround him, gestures then to his nose and ears.
"It wouldn't even be worth it to fight you considering you don't even realize what's happening to your body at this very moment. Even if you stop the Impure Summoning or continue with this Eye of The Moon Plan, the hemorrhaging that's happening internally won't be going away, nor will it stop the affects that are happening on all your major organs. Your death is coming and this time you won't have any further tricks to stop it from being permanent."
Obito meanwhile stops in place at his attempts to go after Naruto and Hinata, throat closing up before he can draw out another burst of flames, fingers twitching. He draws one hand up slowly to his lips and nose, feels a slow trickle leaking out.
He swipes away the first droplets, takes in blood as dark as the night.
"No, what is this?" He mutters under his breath.
The rush of blood doesn't let up, matches the rise in the pulsing of his heartbeat. A stab of ache burrows into his chest as spots fill his vision that everything, all he's built up to for years is starting to crumble right before him.
His gaze turns towards Madara, still unaware, watches in rising dread at the glint of manic in Madara's eyes, attacks turning erratic and disjointed compared to before as a spider web of blacks and reds creeps up along his arms and legs.
'Not for a virus.' He recalls that Hyūga girl's muttering, the assuredness in her tone that this isn't something either he or Madara can easily expel or defeat through normal measures.
If that even if is an option at this point.
"Fire Release: Great Fire Whirlwind!"
Madara fans the flames creating a tornado the colors of orange and reds, blaze skirting across to each division.
He snickers at the screeches and attempts to decrease the flame's strength with a variety of water jutsu, only halting when he notes his body locking up, hands trembling disobeying him.
His fan clatters to the ground out of his hand and each former and previous Kage instantly moves in, Onoki rising his arms up prepared to use Dust release.
"That didn't work on me during our first fight, and it won't work on me now." Madara scowls, cracking through the paralysis enough to blow them back temporarily in another gale of wind.
An ache stabs at the back of his head, shutting his eyes to think.
When opens them, the battlefield is gone, replaced with the greenery of the forests, the light blue of the same river he liked to skip stones at with...
Hashirama.
A Hashirama without the dark sclerae of death peers over him, hair in that same short pattern he had throughout most of their teenage years before he started growing it out in their adulthood.
'What is this? Genjutsu?' He looks around wildly.
He blows out a breath of fire that goes straight through him, Hashirama cocking his head in confusion.
"Geez, what's the matter with you?! I'm not that boring; am I? You fell asleep right in the middle of our important discussion for creating a peaceful village where people and children wouldn't have to live in fear of skirmishes killing their loved one's day after day."
Madara ignores his huffing, roughly pushes past him to the river. His fingers twitch at suddenly being this close to water, throat closing up in a wave of spasms that makes him wheeze unable to even take in a few droplets.
His body is refusing to follow commands with each passing second, gritting his teeth.
Hashirama pats at his back, questions if he's feeling alright only for Madara to shove him away in a huff.
"Is this you and those fledging Kage's doing?! Surely I can't have fallen into a genjutsu, my sharingan and all its forms were never so weak." He snaps at him.
Hashirama blinks, confused by his question. "Err, are you truly feeling alright Madara? Are you feeling sick? There's been some bug going around with my distant cousins-"
"I'm not sick! Unless you or one of the other Kage infected me somehow under my nose! I refuse to believe any member of the Allied Forces played a role in...in whatever it is happening to my body at this moment!"
Hashirama frowns then, arches a brow while crossing his arms. The day slips from afternoon to nightfall so abruptly when he looks to him again, Madara shutting his eyes feeling the world spin beneath him. Even the worst colds and flus he and his brothers got growing up didn't make him feel this weak, this dizzy and listless that something is wrong; off.
"Take a look at yourself again Madara; you really aren't looking well."
Madara scoffs but does as he wants this time.
His reflection in the waters is that of his adult form, pausing noting deep bags of gray beneath his eyes, blood trickling and clumping along the sides of his face and neck.
"Are you starting to see it? You've been infected and this body of yours is dying." Hashirama's voice comes from behind, deeper and no longer child-like.
He wrenches his eyes open back to the battlefield, cacophony of voices surrounding him, toppling over each other.
"-This is our chance! His body is finally slowing-"
"-Don't get too close just yet. In life, he was known for having final tricks up his sleeve." Tobirama's advises from somewhere to his left.
This is different than all other previous attacks he could easily dodge or toss back, gritting his teeth hard enough to crack at an ugly realization. Fine, if he must die again, he'll be taking plenty of shinobi with him along the way.
And it's Tsunade who dares smirk at him now as if the tables have turned, blows out a haughty breath despite her own exhaustion.
"You were saying about me being Hashirama's 'weak and pathetic' granddaughter?"
He cracks his knuckles, ignores her instead going for the one who will inflict the most pain to the Allied Force's morale. Majority of people are given red threads in life and one of the greatest pains one can experience is watching a loved die in front of them even if already dead...
Minato. He can be that for that blond haired brat who holds the Nine Tails.
Madara smirks, readies his body despite the static ringing getting steadily worse in his ears, pain ripples down across his body, a numbness enveloping his arms like a slow growing fire.
'Whatever they've done, I can no longer stop.'
All of his next moves, he will make sure count.
Naruto
Thousands of white lights spill across the battlefield.
All of the deceased.
'Looks like Sasuke and Itachi handled things with Kabuto.' Naruto considers.
"It looks like the others have a handle on things enough for me to slip away for a bit!" A voice chimes to his right and instantly he perks up.
Dad.
Minato ruffles his hair proudly, takes him in up and down.
"We barely even got a chance to talk y'know." Naruto sighs while catching his hand.
A mix of emotions flicker throughout cobalt, upset and frustration at what could've been...
Minato sighs, swallows down a bite of sadness at his height nearly matching his own.
'Naruto went and became an adult without us Kushina.'
"Yes, I suppose I'll have to be quick as well in my speed through of questions. Most importantly since I know Kushina will ask, the girl behind you is...?"
Naruto follows his gaze back to Hinata, keeping any further Zetsu at bay while Mamiko scopes out the area for any necessary long-range attacks.
"Oh, right! I remember telling Mom, but I don't think I told you yet officially that I have a red thread! Hinata Hyūga!"
Naruto grabs onto her hand breaking her focus, sends him a puzzled look.
"Naruto, I'm still trying to watch for Zetsu and-"
"That can all wait y'know, especially with my clones on the lookout! Time for you to meet my Dad!"
Hinata blinks in Minato's direction, reddens and attempts to straightens out her hair and clothes quickly.
There's no getting rid of Neji's blood long soaked into her shinobi vest or the clumps of sweat and dust that cling to her like a second skin.
Naruto chuckles at her antics only making the pink along her cheeks darken.
"Dad doesn't care that you got blood and dirt on you Hinata! After all, he was dead before all this!"
Minato nods helpfully, his son could've said that better maybe Hinata's light wince, but his energy in spite of the situation is so similar to Kushina.
'This is so exciting; Naruto really has a red thread!'
They worried about how he would grow up having the Nine Tails sealed in him, knew about possibilities of his loneliness and being treated with scorn and disregard from most of the village's shinobi and civilian alike.
Before and immediately after his birth, that at least hoped Naruto would eventually be matched with someone who would be able to look past all of that.
"Ah, okay! Right! It's nice to meet you Lord Fourth! Or err should I use Namikaze or Minato alone-"
Minato warmly shakes Hinata's hand, chuckling. "Minato is fine! Though it's brief, I'm happy to see Naruto has someone looking after him! He's eating properly, right? And picking up after himself and going to bed on time-"
"Some reminders are needed especially when it comes to laundry, ramen every day, and vegetables, but yes!" Hinata giggles, Naruto patting at her shoulders.
"Hey, I'm a way better chef now than I was back before I learned you were my thread match, and I fold up all my clothes instead of just dumping them into my closest and dressers like before! And you like my varieties I do with my ramen; even if it's just changing the types of noodles and ingredients!" He counters, poking at her cheek when Hinata hums in return.
"Ramen still isn't good for you!" Hinata counters.
Minato smiles at their banter.
"I'm just glad Naruto has a red thread that can remind him of the little things, to be there for the moments Kushina and I couldn't do. Naruto, you've truly grown up into such a fine young man, I only wish Kushina and I could've been there to go through the milestones with you...
Naruto's grin cracks then at Minato's somber look, tears he thought he kept at bay rising up.
"Why...Why did you choose to do things the way you did that night Dad? There were other options, and don't lie and say there weren't."
Minato sighs, cerulean eyes darkening recalling the Nine Tails Attack.
The day he died.
"You're right, I could've made different choices that would've changed your childhood. I was thinking of the village first, of Kushina at least having a chance to see you later on in life..."
He swallows, bows slightly to them both. "Please forgive me for the decisions I made that night."
Naruto wipes at his eyes.
'I don't fully understand it and I may never, but I've already forgiven you Dad. Please tell Mom not to worry, keep watching over me. And maybe tell Pervy-Sage I didn't throw away his books or the manuscripts he had in progress.'
But he's too tongue tied and instead he squeezes into his side for the last time as his soul departs.
"Take care of each other." Minato advises as he ruffles his hair.
A shuriken whizzes by his ear and Naruto leaps back, Madara pushing an arm forward to him only for wood to pierce through his chest, splinter apart across his torso and down.
Madara curses, half glances back to Hashirama before peering back to Naruto.
His body further cracks apart, skin peeling apart revealing blacks and grays.
"You. Don't think this war is over just because of mine and Obito's deaths. There is still that old friend of yours, if you even still think of him as a friend."
Naruto and Hinata look to each other then, Mamiko emitting a low growl as a figure approaches from northwest with a speed that outmatches the surrounding shinobi that try and fail to slow them.
"He means Sasuke Uchiha I presume."
Naruto grits his teeth, about to step forward only for a barrier of insects to keep him and Hinata back.
A flash of pink hair comes into view.
Sakura flashes the duo a small grin, shakes her head at Naruto's stern look.
"Let me deal with Sasuke, not just as his former teammate, but as his red thread."
Sasuke & Sakura
"If you're that intent on fighting Naruto, then go through me."
She holds up a hand before Naruto can try to further intervene, she poisoned her red thread purposely already and she can do worse if need be.
Will do worse if Sasuke won't back down.
"Get out of my way Sakura." Sasuke orders.
Jade eyes turn to steel, snaps her fingers triggering a storm of black.
"I'm sure you witnessed what happened to Obito and Madara's bodies once they were infected. I can do the same to you. You've already seen what my wasps can do, but you've yet to see what the latest nano-wasps can do to the body in seconds."
Sasuke clicks his tongue. "Fine, I'll force you out of the way then."
Sakura snaps her fingers again and her wasps form a prison around him, Sasuke burning them to a crisp.
But wave after wave come, each group becoming more and more immune to the fire eventually breaking through the barrier of onyx flames. He brushes off the first stings, lightning crackling in his hands to stab straight through her chest.
"Chidori!"
Her body breaks down into only more wasps, insect clones bursting in mini explosions of yellows and greens.
A prickle of pain slams the back of his eyes, a haze overlaying his view.
"Is your vision starting to blur Sasuke? That's what I specifically trained and had these wasps poison to focus in on. An Uchiha without functioning eyes on the battlefield is dangerous." Sakura's voice purrs in his ears.
"This isn't done." Sasuke volleys back, knows from the way his hand throbs that at least some of his lightning and flames landed upon her.
The ground beneath him quakes, opens up into an abyss of black.
"Are you sure?" Sakura asks tightly from below, switches their position for her to be above.
He readies himself to quickly launch himself backwards out of her trap, hears the swoosh of air as Sakura's fist slams into his chest.
Blood gasps out of him, hand grabbing onto her own. He can still paralyze her, keeps her from getting another punch in.
"Lightning Release: Discharge!"
"Earth Release: Rock Pillar Prison!"
Spears of stone and rock imprison them both right as lightning crackles through her, Sakura only pausing for a moment before using her free hand to jab again, going for his stomach.
Verdant to obsidian watch each other, Sakura gathering her voice.
"Yield Sasuke. Yield before I must crack all your ribs and rearrange your intestines."
Sasuke winces at his attempt to move, rocks and buzzing wasps keeping him in place.
Sakura observes his attempts, sighs.
"I know you hate what Konoha's done to your clan, but I, Naruto, and Kakashi-sensei aren't just going to let you destroy the village for that. Be...Be the future Itachi wanted you to have. I'm sure that's possibly one of the reasons why he gave me that crow's feather before his death."
Sasuke coughs up a glob of blood. "You don't understand Sakura...you can't ever understand what I saw or what I learned."
"So help me to understand." Sakura squeezes at his shirt.
Emerald darkens at his lack of response, fingers poised for his neck and head, and he realizes then as self-heals her injuries that she wouldn't mind taking apart and rebuilding his organs and bones if need be, no matter how many times he burns or electrocutes her.
"Don't forget about Naruto and the rest of the Allied Forces if you kill me here and now." She murmurs by his ear.
She presses her index finger into his collarbone, not looking at him anymore as bone sinks and bends.
And Sasuke bites his tongue, holds up a hand.
"I yield." He mutters just high enough for her to hear.
Sakura watches him for a long minute, coughs up a clump of blood before wiping it away with a grin.
She falls onto his chest ignoring his curse at her behavior, nods to her wasps to stand down, but stay close. "Good. I'll...work on fixing our red thread at a later date."
Sasuke shakes his head slowly, shuts his eyes slowly. "No. Save that for last, it will be a reminder."
"They didn't kill each other; did they?" Naruto questions as the haze from upended earth clears.
He squints his eyes, looks to Hinata to confirm.
"They're injured and alive." She voices.
Naruto nods, blows out a breath of relief.
"Seems like things are over." Kurama notes.
Dawn unfurls on the horizon, sky coloring into hues of light pinks and sharper yellow reds. A contrast to all the grays, browns, and blacks scattered across the field; a reminder of what the last hours have consisted of.
War and death go hand in hand, Hinata's shoulders falling.
"Neji. I'm...I'm going back to retrieve his body." Her voice crackles.
Naruto grabs her hand before she can go with Mamiko, feels the thrum of her pulse at her wrist.
His Dad's advice comes to mind, blue boring into lilac.
Tears swim into her eyes he slowly thumbs away.
'Take care of each other.'
"I'll go with you Hinata; no way am I letting you go through any of this alone."
-x-
Happy New Year! Such a difficult chapter for me to write, I know it's not the best, but it's a chore to write the war arc even with making changes.
Guess I'll never be a fan of this part of the show because even rewatching Obito and Madara go through so many power ups didn't give me any ideas really, I just wanted them to be dead and gone so I can write what I actually desired to lol. I based the viruses off of the lyssaviruses known to cause rabies and symptoms of hydrophobia, hallucinations, fever, paralysis, etc.
So, next will be my version of Naruto Gaiden/Epilogue into the Boruto era. I'm thinking maybe 1-2 chapters left depending on how long it takes me to cover everything I had in mind for this story. Hopefully, next update won't take as long.
As for fans of The Sacrifice, I'll be updating it later this week! Hooray! The next chapter is up on pa-tre-on already along with other NaruHina content and my original works! I go by TheLovelyMidnightWriter there!
Check out my Insta by the same name for books reviews, my anime drawings, and travel blog!
Enjoy. Review. Favorite. Follow!