Hello all readers! This is the epic finale of Leader by Fate. I hope to get this done and out by Christmas so let's get started!

Entrance to the ANBU

Hinata and Shino waited quietly. "Naruto has been gone for awhile." Shino commented. Hinata nodded. "You weren't supposed to tell him that we wanted to go with him. We were going to wait until he was far enough ahead and then follow him, Hinata." She frowned. "I know, I'm sorry. I just thought that maybe he would have changed his mind…" Shino sighed and then smiled. "I know, so did I."

They both snapped their eyes back to the opening as they heard fire burning and steel ringing. They prepared for the worst. A blur flashed by them, catching them both off-guard. "Follow me! We have to get to Naruto!" The blur said as it went deeper into the darkness. Hinata and Shino looked at eachother and then followed it without a word.

ANBU Headquarters

The flames enveloped Itachi's body as Naruto's eyes widened. "Itachi." Naruto muttered. "Naruto, this is the power of the Mangekyo Sharingan." Danzo smiled widely as he watched. "Behold, Sussano!" The fire took the shape of an upper torso and arms started to form. A shield of fire appeared in one hand and a sword in the other.

xXxXxXxXxXx Overrated by Three Days Grace xXxXxXxXxXx

Naruto dodged as the enormous weapon slashed through the air. He did a backflip and put his hands together. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Dozens of clones appeared around Naruto. The clones ran at Itachi . With one sweep, the great fire sword destroyed all but two of the Naruto clones. They charged at the fire only to be incinerated by its touch. *Damn.* Naruto thought as he dodged the sword once more.

"Foolish boy." Danzo said as he chuckled. "You see, the flames are so intense that any physical attacks are rendered useless." Danzo smirked as the giant blade crashed into Naruto, sending him flying. Naruto rolled and stood up quickly. He was breathing heavily now. Whatever Itachi did to him in the genjutsu was taking its toll. "I'm sorry Itachi-sensei." Naruto said under his breath. "I have to end this fast."

Naruto dodged another attack and took out his blood scroll. He unsealed it and took out his swords just in time to block the giant fire sword. He struggled to hold it back but Itachi pushed through, breaking Naruto's guard and destroying the blood scroll. Naruto jumped back and slid on the ground. He jumped around looking for a way to get through Itachi's guard. Itachi spun his sword and caught Naruto in mid-air, causing Naruto to fall to the ground.

Naruto struggled to get up but he was too slow. The sword came down and Naruto couldn't move. *Is this the end?* Naruto thought. All of a sudden the gate that Danzo closed crashed open and the fire sword was stopped in its tracks. Naruto looked up to see Hinata, Shino, and suprisingly, Sasuke holding the sword at bay. "What's the matter Naruto?" Sasuke said as he struggled to hold his guard. "Can't stand a little fire?"

Hinata's hands were enveloped in water and she swung at the fire sword. "Engaging Strike!" The sword flew back leaving Itachi vulnerable. "Secret Art: Hive Swarm!" Hundreds of insects flew towards Itachi's body. Some were burnt on contact but others managed to get through and started to drain some of Itachi's chakra. The flaming giant started to get smaller. "Enough!" Fire poured back into Sussano, killing all of the insects and sending the four ninja to the wall.

xXxXxXxXxXx End Song xXxXxXxXxXx

Danzo clapped slowly. "It looks like the rest of your team showed up. Even Sasuke showed to see the fall of Itachi." Danzo smirked. Naruto managed to stand up. "Hey, what are you guys doing here?" He said weakly. "You had your teammates guarding the door instead of helping you, so I brought them in." Sasuke said. "We are here Naruto." Hinata said with a smile. Shino nodded. "We are with you."

Naruto smirked. "I'm sorry, I should have let you two come with me." Naruto looked at Sasuke. "Hey, Itachi is being controlled by a puppet jutsu. If you can cut the strings, we can beat him." Sasuke flinched. "What happened to saving him, Naruto!?" Naruto frowned and tears formed in his eyes. "Itachi pulled me into Tsukuyomi after I broke the jutsu the first time." He paused, dreading his next words.

"Well?" Sasuke said impatiently. "He has a death seal on his back." The three ninja were visably shaken. "A death seal?" Sasuke questioned. Naruto nodded his head. "As soon as we cut the strings, Danzo will kill Itachi." Sasuke grew angry. "What the fuck do we do then!?" Naruto frowned. "All we can do, is free him from Danzo's control."

Sasuke looked away in disgust. "Danzo…" Sasuke was shaking as Naruto regained his strength. "Sasuke, I know it hurts, trust me. But if we don't stop Itachi here…" Sasuke nodded and took a breath. "I know." He looked up at Danzo and then back at his brother. "I'll just have to get answers another way." Sasuke activated his sharingan and prepared to fight.

Hinata and Shino got ready too and Naruto looked at his sensei with determination. "Itachi-sensei, Danzo, this ends now."

xXxXxXxXxXx Carry the Blessed Home by Blind Guardian xXxXxXxXxXx

The giant fire sword swung down on the group and they scattered. Hinata flanked left and Shino flanked right. Sasuke ran forward around the sword as did Naruto. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto's clones surrounded him and scattered, surrounding the titan of flame. With the odds tipped out of his favor, Danzo sent in a few Anbu ninja.

"Shino, Hinata, you two handle the ANBU while Sasuke and I deal with Itachi." Shino and Hinata nodded and went to battle with the ANBU. Sasuke leapt towards Itachi but was stopped when he was hit by the shield. He flew back and skidded to a halt. "Damn, his shield is in the way." Naruto's clones charged the Sussano, looking for an opening whil the real Naruto and Sasuke dodged the flame sword.

"We have to cut the strings." Naruto added. "Easy." Sasuke said with a smirk as he circled around Sussano. He found the chakra threads easily with his sharingan and jumped up to them. He pulled out a kunai and struck the threads. His eyes widened when he saw the kunai snap in half and he was back-handed by Sussano. Sasuke rolled on the ground and stood up again. "How?! How are the threads so strong?" He dodged again as Sussano swung wildly. "Sasuke!" Hinata said as she fought off the ANBU she was fighting. "The threads outside of the fire shell are encased in nearly unbreakable chakra. You have to cut the threads on the inside!"

Hinata dodged and struck the ANBU in the leg, causing him to fall to the ground. Naruto thought of something and picked up his sword Serra. "Sasuke, do you have a stronger weapon?" Sasuke nodded. "It's not at full power, but it is strong." A black cloth sheathe appeared on his back and he pulled out a long sword with a deep purple blade. On one side, it had "Uchiha" etched into it in red.

Naruto rolled again. "Alright, be ready to strike." Naruto poured chakra into his blade and it glowed green. He jumped behind Sussano and swung. "Razor Bomb!" A huge wave of wind crashed into Sussano, forcing the titan to drop to his knees and exposing the inner threads. Sasuke ran and jumped towards the thread. With one swift swipe, he cut the threads, breaking the connection between his brother and Danzo.

xXxXxXxXxXx End Song xXxXxXxXxXx

The flames faded and Itachi fell to the ground. The seal on his back faded as he drew his last breath. Sasuke approached him quickly. "Brother…I'm sorry." Itachi smiled and looked at his younger brother with hollow eyes. He mouthed the words, "find the Hokage". Then he drifted off to the other world.

Sasuke stood up as Naruto, Shino, and Hinata backed towards him. "We have to go." Shino said as he blocked another ninja and had his swarm attack. Sasuke nodded and looked to Naruto. "There will be a time to avenge Itachi-sensei, but it is not now." Naruto said as he made a few more clones.

"You aren't going anywhere." Danzo motioned for dozens of more ANBU to join the fight and the four ran. They dodged incoming kunai as they headed for the exit. "This isn't going to end well Naruto!" Sasuke said as he dodged a shuriken that flew by his head. Naruto turned to look at Shino. "Shino, can you slow them down?"

Shino nodded and insects flew out of his coat as they ran. The insects swarmed the pursuing ninja but had little effect. Naruto made a few clones. "Everyone, split up. We will meet at Tenchi Bridge." Each of them nodded and took off with a Naruto clone. The real Naruto stayed with Hinata.

The two of them jumped from roof to roof towards the Hidden Leaf Village gate. They still had a lot of ANBU on their tail and Naruto was afraid they weren't going to make it. He heard a kunai coming and his instincts kicked in. He pushed Hinata out of the way as the kunai impaled his back. Naruto stumbled on the next roof but was helped up by Hinata.

"Naruto! Are you ok?" Naruto nodded slightly as they continued running on the ground. "I'll be fine. It's just a scratch." When the gate was in sight, Hinata thought she saw someone coming towards them. "Byakugan!" Hinata's heart dropped as she stopped at the gate. Naruto turned to look at her. "Hinata come on! We can't stop here."

Five ANBU landed behind them as Hinata turned to face them. "Hinata, what's wrong?" Naruto asked. "Your journey ends here Naruto." One of ANBU stepped forward holding a long sword in one hand. Naruto prepared himself for a fight and threw a kunai of his own. The leader of the ANBU blocked it and ran at Hinata. He swung his sword but was blocked at the last second.

"What the hell are you doing attacking my daughter!?" Naruto froze as he saw Hiashi parry the ninja and knock him away. "Mr. Hyuuga..." Hiashi did not turn and in an instant Neji was next to him. "What happened?" Neji asked as he activated his byakugan. "These ANBU are after Hinata and Naruto." Hiashi looked over his shoulder at Naruto. "Care to explain why?"

Before Naruto could say anything, Hinata explained. "It's a long story father…" Hiashi didn't look amused. "Then make it short." Hinata gulped and the ANBU stood back up. "Danzo of the ANBU kidnapped Itachi, Naruto's sensei, and told Naruto to turn himself in or Itachi would die. He wanted to break Itachi out by himself, but Shino and I offered to help."

Hiashi kept his cool but inside he was furious. "Why would you do something as foolish as that? The ANBU are elite ninja, you could have been killed." Hinata shook her head. "But we weren't. We had to save Itachi." Hiashi let his fury show now. "WHY! Why is he so important!?—"

"—What if it was you?!" Hinata said back, yelling at her father for the first time in her life. She was on the verge of tears. Hiashi loosened up. "Itachi was like a father to Naruto! If they had taken you, would you have me stay home and do nothing!" Hinata was crying now as tears freely flowed from her eyes. Hiashi took a deep breath and said nothing for a minute.

"No…I'm proud of you, Hinata. Even though it may sound half-hearted now, I'm sure I will feel that way later." Hinata wiped her tears away and sniffed. Naruto stood in awe at how 'calm' Hiashi was being. "Hiashi Hyuuga, if you do not move out of the way, then you will be in the same boat as them." The ANBU threatened.

Hiashi nodded, showing that he understood. "Just give me one moment with my daughter." The ANBU hesitated. "That isn't a request." Hiashi said as he glared at him. Hiashi turned to Hinata and Naruto. "Where will you go now? You can't stay in the village." Naruto nodded. "Sir, we were headed for Adomai Village, in the Land of Wind."

Hiashi nodded. Hinata was about to cry again. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I didn't tell you sooner." Hiashi smiled a little. "It's alright." He said in a soothing tone. "If you had told me sooner, I wouldn't do this…" Hiashi turned around and took a fighting stance. "Uncle Hiashi, what are you doing?" Neji said with disbelief.

"Neji, go home. I don't want you to get caught up in this. Naruto, take care of Hinata. Now go!" Hinata couldn't believe what she was hearing and Naruto grabbed her arm. He pulled her away and started to run. One of the ANBU charged and Hiashi punched the air. "Eight Trigrams: Air Palm." A wave of air flew at the ninja, throwing him back. And then, Naruto and Hinata were too far away to see anything.

Tenchi Bridge

Shino was the first to arrive. He was annoyed and grateful that he attracted the least amount of ANBU. Once they were far enough away from the others, he easily lost them. The Naruto clone dissappeared and a few minutes later, Sasuke showed up. "Were you followed?" Shino asked calmly." Sasuke shook his head. "No. Have Naruto and Hinata arrived yet?" Shino shook his head in response and they waited.

About an hour later, they saw Naruto approching with Hinata. "About time." Shino joked. Naruto smiled slightly as did Hinata. Sasuke smirked and stopped leaning on a tree. "That was one hell of a breakout." Sasuke commented. Naruto nodded slowly. The night had been a long one. Even after Hiashi had stepped in, more ANBU followed them. They were lucky.

"Sasuke, thank you for your help." Naruto was breathing heavily as he talked. Sasuke nodded. "You probably would have died if I didn't get Hinata and Shino to follow me." Naruto chuckled a little. "Yea. I owe you one." He sat on the ground to take a rest. The sun was rising. "It's time for me to go. But I'll come back for that favor." Naruto nodded and Sasuke left.

Naruto sat for a few minutes to catch his breath and Hinata sat beside him. Shino took a deep breath and sat down too. "Did everything go well? Something must have happened for you to be so late." Hinata nodded, letting Naruto recover. "My father crossed our path at the village gate." Shino didn't look shocked. "He took our side…" She frowned and Naruto grabbed her hand.

"He made a choice Hinata." Naruto said as his breathing returned to normal. "He wanted to protect you, just like I do." Hinata smiled a little and the sun started to shine over the horizon. "Naruto." Shino said as he stared at Naruto. "Your eyes, the irises are splitting!" Naruto was confused and Hinata moved Naruto's head so that she could see.

"It looks familiar." Hinata said. "Byakugan." Her veins pulsed as she looked into Naruto's eyes. "It looks similar to…the sharingan?" Naruto blinked as his irises split into three tomoe. "But," Hinata added, "the irises are blue. And they look like stars." Shino put his hand on his chin. "But no one outside the Uchiha clan can have the sharingan. It's unheard of."

Naruto closed his eyes and when he opened them, the irises were rotating. "They are rotating the wrong way too. The sharingan rotates clockwise but yours is rotating counterclockwise." Shino was stumped. "Well, when I was with Itachi in the Tsukuyomi realm, he did something to me. He placed a lot of seals on me and then chakra just came from nowhere." Naruto rubbed his head. *Itachi-sensei, was this your final gift?*

Alright, that marks the end of Leader by Fate! Thanks for sticking with it through to the end everyone! I have just a few comments. No, Naruto does not have the real sharingan and no they have not just suddenly forgotten about what just happened to Itachi. You have to read the next ark to learn more about it. Sasuke will find answers another way and he had certain reasons for coming to Naruto's aid. I might be adding Sasuke's story line to this ark so that his character makes more sense. I will leave a link to the next ark as soon as I finish chapter one, just check back later. I will not be putting music suggestions in the next ark (unless it is requested). Lastly, leave a review and stick around for ark 2: Leader by Power.

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