Naruto's eyes shot open and he once again saw the damp sewer-like area that normally housed the Kyuubi's seal. He was shocked (and very concerned) to find the space behind the large cage bars empty.

"Alvis!" he called out. "Alvis, what's going on?!"

"Naruto," the man replied as he materialized. Naruto could tell he seemed much less flippant than their previous meeting.

"Let me guess; using the Monado's power drained my chakra again?"

"Correct," Alvis responded, "but this time, the Kyuubi was able to take hold of your consciousness when you passed out."

"WHAT?!"

"I do not believe the fox intends to harm your comrade," Alvis explained quickly. "I think he merely wanted to stretch his legs a bit."

"'Stretch his legs?'" the boy echoed.

"Yes. It is rather cramped down here. I would wager that the fox has been aching for a bit of free time after being locked in here for twelve years."

"Serves it right," Naruto chided. "He attacked the village and forced the Fourth Hokage to sacrifice himself just so he could seal it away!"

Alvis shook his head with a small smile. "The Nine-Tailed Fox may be a beast of pure destruction, but despite what history texts may say it never attacks without provocation, Naruto."

The blond paused at this. "What are you saying?"

"I fear our time has already run out," Alvis lamented. "Time does seem to work differently inside your mind, so it is somewhat difficult to keep track."

"This chakra, it can't be!"

Kakashi paused. Even though he had been rather young when the Nine-Tailed Fox had attacked the village, he clearly remembered how the foul creature's chakra had felt. It had permeated the air for miles so that even those nowhere near the fox could sense its demonic power.

What he felt now was similar but much more contained. It did not saturate the air as it had twelve years ago, but Kakashi felt his body slow down as if it feared the evil chakra of its own will.

"Could the seal have been broken?"

Kakashi pushed his senses to see past the cloud of mist. He could barely detect three signatures in the direction of Haku's dome. It was difficult to read anything beyond the Fox's chakra, but he could definitely tell that both his and Zabuza's comrades were alive.

Kakashi refocused on the mist around him. He still stood in front of Tazuna, protecting the man from the Demon of the Hidden Mist. His reflexes were being tested. The mist prevented the Sharingan from working to its full potential, and Zabuza wasn't known as a master of silent killing for no reason.

Still, Kakashi had been quite obviously distracted by the surge of chakra and Zabuza had made no attempt on Tazuna then. Kakashi surmised that Zabuza was just as shocked as he had been, if not moreso.

'Time to turn things around then!'

Sasuke stood frozen still as he looked at his possessed teammate. Red chakra filled the air around them. He vaguely noticed the ice mirrors surrounding them beginning to melt. His attention moved to Haku, who seemed to be just as surprised by this turn of events.

Naruto had certainly shown off an impressive power by using the Monado to shield Haku's attack, but this was something different entirely. None of the Monado's previous powers (that Sasuke had seen) had altered Naruto's physical appearance.

No, this seemed like something wholly unrelated. The symbol on the blade read "Kyuubi" and the boy's features had changed to very much resemble the images that Sasuke had seen of the terrifying beast.

And then Naruto spoke.

"Ah, it feels good to be out of there for once."

It was as if Naruto was speaking along with another voice. Two voices left Naruto's mouth; one certainly belonged to the teammate he knew, but the other held what he could only describe as evil. Not evil in the way that Zabuza and Haku could be considered so, but evil in that it did not care. Whatever was to be destroyed by this beast's rampage was simply in the way, as if it had been asking to be destroyed.

Complete indifference coupled with a love of violent destruction. It was a horrifying combination of traits, and it shook Sasuke to his core that he could feel such things from a single voice.

Naruto's red, slitted eyes looked down at the blade in his hand. "Hmph," he grunted, "this thing has more power than I thought. That fool Alvis has been holding out."

'Who is Alvis?' Sasuke immediately wondered.

Naruto's eyes met Sasuke's. "Stay out of this, Uchiha." He spoke the name like a curse. "I'd never hear the end of it from that brat if you got caught up in this."

In that instant, Sasuke suddenly realized that Naruto was not somehow channeling the fox's chakra. No, he had been completely taken over by the beast. Still, he had told him to stay back, presumably to avoid being injured, so Sasuke moved as close to the outer edge of the dome as he could.

Haku had finally regained his composure and was about to move when Naruto appeared in front of him in a blur of red motion. "Make it interesting for me." Naruto showed a malevolent grin complete with elongated canines that put Sasuke on edge.

Haku blurred into motion and Naruto relaxed into a casual stance. The fake hunter once again appeared in all of the mirrors around them. The boy's focus was entirely on Naruto. It was obvious that any distraction, even a moment of hesitation, would cost his life.

The rain of steel began with no preamble. The needles fired from all directions, seemingly at once, but when the deluge ended Naruto had not a single scratch on him. In fact, Sasuke noticed that most of the boy's previous injuries had vanished as well.

"How is it possible?" Haku asked through heavy breathes. "I did not see you move an inch and yet you dodged or blocked every single needle."

"Just because you didn't see it doesn't mean it didn't happen," Naruto explained as he grinned that malevolent grin once more. "Now then, I believe it's my turn."

Naruto disappeared.

There was no blur of motion. No displacement of dust on the ground or the air. No sign that any movement was made, and yet the boy was no longer standing there.

An instant later, all twenty-one mirrors shattered.

Sasuke's eyes were drawn to the glowing red blade of the Monado before he actually sensed his teammate's presence. Haku had been thrown away from what remained of the dome. The boy hit the concrete of the bridge hard before coming to rest against the side railing. The boy's mask had been obliterated, blood flowed freely from his head, and it was clear that his left arm had been broken.

The fight was over.

Bangs echoed through the streets. People knocked on every door they could reach, calling for the inhabitants to answer them.

"This isn't the time to sit by while Gatou takes everything away again! Now is the time to fight back!"

Sakura smiled at the man that appeared in the doorway. "What use is it to fight?" he asked. "Gatou will just execute us like he did Kaiza."

"Gatou's power lies in the fear of the people he reigns over," Sakura explained. "If you stand up to him, if we all stand up together, there's nothing he can do to stop us, to stop all of you."

The man gave a hesitant nod.

"How many is that, Inari-kun?" Sakura asked once she regrouped with the boy.

"Thirty-eight."

"How many more are there?"

"I think there's only ten or so villagers left that would be able to fight."

"It's not much, but the message is more important than the numbers at this point."

"Are you really sure that Naruto-san and the others will be okay until we get there?" Inari asked.

Sakura smiled down at the boy. "Weren't you listening? Nothing bad ever happens to the hero!"

The mist was beginning to clear away. Kakashi could clearly see Zabuza standing in front of him trapped by his summoned ninja dogs. With the man immobilized, Kakashi was free to charge his only original jutsu, the Raikiri.

"You are too dangerous," Kakashi said. "Tazuna-san is this country's courage. The bridge he is building is the country's hope. To try and destroy that is too much. That is not what a shinobi should do."

"I don't give a damn," Zabuza replied. "I fight for my own ideals, and so I shall continue!"

Kakashi paused momentarily. "I'll ask once more. Surrender."

He lowered himself into a running stance.

"Your future is death."

"How disappointing. That wasn't nearly as entertaining as I thought it would be. The brats must've actually tired you out before I got to you."

Naruto stalked forward with the Monado set casually on his shoulder. The blade still glowed red and gave off an unnerving aura that made Sasuke's hair stand on end.

"I suppose I'll have to take what I can get, though," Naruto grumbled as he stopped in front of the downed boy. "I doubt the brat will give me another chance to run around like this for some time."

He poised the blade to slice the boy's head off. A messy death unbefitting a shinobi.

"Naruto, stop!"

Sasuke would later wonder what had caused him to yell out at that moment. Pride as a shinobi? Pride as an Uchiha? Whatever it was, he cursed himself as the possessed Naruto turned to glare at him.

"The brat can't hear you right now, Uchiha," he growled. "And you will not keep me from this kill, not after the time I've waited."

Sasuke glared back. His entire being screamed for him to run away from the beast staring him down, but something made him stand up to it. "The fight is over," he explained calmly. "You've won. Anything beyond that would be humiliation."

"Anything beyond that is what counts!" the fox countered. "What's the point in fighting if no one ends up dead?"

"The point of fighting is to protect others from dying!"

Now Naruto laughed, relaxing the blade away from Haku. "Haha! You are sorely misguided about the way of this world, boy," he said. "Too young to understand it and yet you think you know everything."

"I know more than most!" Sasuke yelled. "I know firsthand that a person's entire life can be ripped away in an instant! That just means it's that much more important to protect what we have now!"

Naruto frowned and turned to face Sasuke. "Misguided and arrogant," he mumbled. "You think because of one little tragedy you understand everything about the world? Just because of that you know how everything works now?!"

"Naruto understands it even better than I do," he replied, calm once more. "And now I understand why. Whereas my life was torn away from me, Naruto never had one to begin with! From birth he had nothing, nothing at all. All because of you! The Nine-Tailed Fox!"

The fox growled. "You are trying my patience, brat. I said I would never hear the end of it if you got killed, but I'm not above obliterating you if you continue to irritate me so."

"You're just upset the world doesn't work the way you think it does anymore. Things have changed; you're just a remnant of the past now."

"UCHIHAAAA!"

The fox in Naruto's body rushed forward at the same instant that Sasuke reactivated his newly-awakened Sharingan. The Monado fell from Naruto's hand and skidded away as it deactivated.

Both boys fell unconscious to the cold concrete.

Alvis looked up at the newcomers.

"This is… most unexpected," he muttered.

Uchiha Sasuke stared at the strangely-dressed man for a moment before taking in his surroundings. The dimly lit sewer seemed very out of place since he had been on the incomplete bridge just a moment ago. He'd been arguing with Naruto who had been somehow possessed by the Nine-Tailed Fox of all things…

That was when Sasuke noticed the massive cage bars at one end of the room. How he hadn't noticed the swirling mass of chakra behind them before was a mystery.

"Sasuke? How the hell did you get here?"

The Uchiha heir turned and saw his teammate standing there, ankle-deep in the murky water. He looked entirely normal; all signs of the fox's possession had disappeared, but that still didn't explain where they were.

"Naruto, where are we?"

The blond flinched and cast a wary glance at the other man as if asking for assistance.

The silver-haired man cleared his throat. "You are no doubt aware that the creature behind those bars is the infamous Kyuubi no Kitsune, yes?" Sasuke cast a glance at the cage bars and noticed the beast behind them attempting to claw through even though no sound came from it. "I have separated us from where the fox can reach us, so do not pay it any mind, young Sasuke."

"Okay," the boy agreed. "But who are you? And once again, where are we?"

"You may call me Alvis. In simple terms, I am the spirit that inhabits the Monado."

Sasuke's eyes shot open at that. It surely explained why the sword had so much power. There were myths surrounding certain blades throughout the world that were said to be sentient. Most of them belonged to the former Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, but there were certainly others.

"As for where we are, this is a conjured representation of the seal which contains the Kyuubi inside Naruto's body."

While surprised by this information, it wasn't as much of a shock as Alvis's identity. The conversation on the bridge along with knowledge of Naruto's early life had given Sasuke enough to piece together the truth about the Kyuubi. Having it confirmed was still a bit of a blow to his addled mind, however.

Naruto seemed very nervous now. "Why did you just up and tell him like that, Alvis?"

The man shrugged with a small smile on his lips. "The Kyuubi had taken over your body just moments ago, and then when I thought you were about to wake up, the fox returns along with Sasuke here," he explained. "I would wager that Sasuke figured out about the fox's seal on his own."

"For the most part," the boy admitted.

Naruto still looked nervous, but seemed to accept Alvis's reasoning. "Okay, so back to my question," he said. "How exactly did they get here?"

"That I do not know," Alvis admitted. "To my knowledge no one should be able to enter this space of your mind from the outside."

"It must have something to do with my Sharingan," Sasuke offered, causing both parties to look at him. "I tried to use the Sharingan as Naruto, I mean the fox, rushed towards me. I've read rumors that Uchiha Madara could control the Nine-Tailed Fox with his Sharingan. I didn't really believe it, but trying was better than dying."

"So your Sharingan has projected an image of your mind into Naruto's in effort to calm the raging demon," Alvis muttered. "Certainly an unexpected occurrence, but not altogether unwanted."

"How do you mean?" Naruto asked.

"Although I had expected you to wake up prior to their arrival, you have remained here," Alvis continued. "It is likely that without Sasuke's interference the fox would have maintained control over your body for some time."

"So is this something that I can do at any time?" Sasuke asked. He was rather curious just what his new Sharingan was capable of. "Just project myself into Naruto's mind like this?"

"No, I do not think so," Alvis answered. "Unfortunately, this was a rather specific circumstance. I would wager that the Kyuubi's involvement along with not being able to fully control your newly-awakened Sharingan led to these events."

Sasuke nodded and Naruto just looked on, rather confused by the discussion.

"I believe, however, that your Sharingan will push back the demon whenever it attempts to control Naruto in the future."

Sasuke's eyebrows moved up a bit. "Can you be absolutely sure of that?"

"No," Alivs replied with a small grimace. "However, there is little alternative at the moment. Once the fox has taken over I have no power to control it, so it is up to Naruto's own willpower or your Sharingan to push back its control."

"Okay then."

Then Sasuke suddenly disappeared from view.

"Sasuke?" Naruto called.

"Oh dear," Alvis whispered. "His mental link must have been cut off."

"What does that mean?"

"Either he woke up naturally or someone disturbed his chakra."

Some minutes earlier…

Haku watched as the two boys fell to the hard concrete. Neither stirred for some time.

The blond's features had returned to normal. Whatever had possessed the boy had receded. The other boy had said something about the Nine-Tailed Fox, but that couldn't possibly be true. There was no way that boy contained chakra from the legendary beast.

Haku gingerly pushed himself up from the railing. His left arm had most assuredly been broken. There were some other injuries as well. He could feel a sharp pain in his chest. Some of his ribs had likely cracked or worse. He could feel blood sliding down his head, but did not feel any of the telltale effects of a concussion.

Once more Haku looked at the two boys. They were clearly unconscious. Neither of them had moved for several minutes now.

He could kill them.

Haku considered the battle he had just been through. The dark-haired boy had proved a much better opponent than anticipated, though he would have fallen to the Demonic Ice Mirrors if not for the blond's interference.

The blond was a mystery that had plagued his mind for a week now. The attack that had freed Kakashi from the water prison, the sudden attack in the forest two days ago, the barrier technique, and the sudden burst of red chakra just a few moments ago followed by the very confusing discussion with the other boy.

The discussion he had held with the blond in the woods was not forgotten either. The boy strived to protect those close to him, as did the black-haired one according to his argument with the possessed blond.

'We have our differences, but their goal is the same as mine.'

Something spiked on the edge of his senses and Haku moved as quickly as he could.

"My future is death? You're wrong again, Kakashi."

Kakashi stared at the two in front of him.

Haku had appeared at the last moment to block the attack. Kakashi was sure the boy had meant to block it entirely, but he'd only been able to reach his arm out to protect his master. The result was Kakashi's attack being diverted to his right, slicing straight through the boy's arm and his master's.

Haku lay on the ground, not even attempting to cradle his lost appendage. The jounin quickly noticed that his left arm had been broken before jumping back to avoid Zabuza's counterattack. The ninja dogs had disappeared once Haku appeared. The boy had managed to fire senbon at them before jumping in front of the lightning blade.

Kakashi landed and took in his opponent's appearance. Zabuza had hardly noticed his missing left arm. He hefted his massive sword with his right arm so that it rested on his shoulder as if it weighed nothing.

"Good job, Haku," the man said.

"Z-zabuza-sama…" the boy could barely speak through his pain.

"What happened to Naruto and Sasuke?" Kakashi asked.

Zabuza laughed. "It should be obvious, right? Even with two of them, they proved no match for-"

"They defeated me outright."

Both men stared at the boy. "The blond unleashed a massive chakra that easily overpowered me," he explained. "He and the other boy argued about whether or not they should kill me and then they both fell unconscious."

"Did you take them out?" Zabuza asked.

"I jumped to protect you before I could," Haku half-lied.

"Very well, I'll just have to finish them after I take out Kakash- urk!"

The jounin's foot planted itself into Zabuza's stomach, knocking the assassin back. 'What was that attack?'

"It's time to stop playing around, Zabuza." Kakashi seemed deathly serious now.

He moved behind the missing nin, poised with two kunai set to pierce the back of his head. Zabuza barely moved in time and the knives lodged into his right arm, rendering it just as useless as his detached left.

"Your right arm is useless now," Kakashi stated. "You couldn't form a hand seal even if you wanted to." Kakashi palmed another kunai from his pouch. "Like I said, playtime is over."

"Actually I think it's about time you all stopped playing around."

Three heads turned to the edge of the bridge where a small man with wild hair and small circular glasses stood with a group of thugs that likely numbered over a hundred.

"Gatou."

Sasuke gasped for air as his eyes shot open.

He could feel the cold concrete of the bridge beneath him, meaning he had returned from wherever he had been before.

'Was all that real?' he wondered. One glance at Naruto's unconscious body, no longer transformed by the kyuubi's influence, answered his question.

Sasuke noticed the Monado lying a few feet away from its owner. He recalled Alvis's words about being the sword's spirit. If the spirit of the sword resided in Naruto's mind, did that mean no one else was capable of using it?

Slowly, Sasuke reached down and grabbed the blade.

He looked up when he sensed a great number of malicious presences toward where Kakashi and Zabuza had been. He glanced down at the blade in his hand. He'd been planning to leave the blade with Naruto, but something was up and he was low on chakra. Even if the blade didn't activate, the large metal weapon would be good as a bludgeoning tool if nothing else.

"The Devil of the Hidden Mist!" Gatou jeered as he took in the man's missing left and broken right arms. "If you ask me, you're just a cute little devil baby!"

"We can easily kill you now!" the thugs roared behind him.

"Kakashi… I'm sorry." The jounin looked up at the blood-covered missing nin. "This fight is over. I have no reason to go after Tazuna and no reason to fight you."

"Ah… you're right."

Gatou moved his attention to the boy still lying on the ground nearby. "And this one here!" he shouted in glee. "I owe this one for breaking my arm!" His foot reared back to kick the defenseless Haku.

"GATOU!"

Every person within earshot froze as an image of a devil formed behind Zabuza. None of the thugs could react in time as the handicapped assassin kicked Gatou with enough force to send him flying into the crowd of his own thugs.

"Zabuza-sama…"

"Haku… Thank you for staying with me all these years. You were more than just a tool. Never let anyone tell you differently."

"Zabuza…sama…"

"Kakashi, I don't want you interfering with this. Gatou is mine."

He moved to argue, but Kakashi realized that nothing more than death awaited Zabuza even if he did assist. "Sure."

"I will take that foul man to hell with me," Zabuza promised. "Live your life so that you do not go there, Haku."

The boy's eyes widened as Zabuza ran forward. Caught by surprise, the first thug he met gave no resistance. Zabuza grabbed the man's kama in his mouth and sliced through his chest with the hooked weapon.

In this fashion Zabuza moved through the sea of attackers. What seemed like dozens of weapons pierced his back as he rushed through them, but he ignored every one. They would not stop him from taking Gatou's life.

Finally he came upon the man, kneeling and heaving in pain from the heavy kick he had received. He quickly looked up at the approaching assassin. "Zabuza, wai-"

"You're not worth my breath."

Zabuza sliced through the man's throat and the crime lord fell to the ground a moment later, a massive pool of his own blood surrounding him.

Zabuza fell a second later, the wounds on his back finally catching up to him.

Kakashi did not look away as Sasuke landed next to him.

"How is Naruto?" he asked simply.

"Unconscious but still alive," the boy replied. "The fox tried to take him over."

Kakashi's eyes widened ever so slightly, but he relaxed a moment later. "Fill me in later," he said. "We have some more to deal with here."

"Zabuza-sama…"

Sasuke looked at Haku, lying there with a missing arm and covered in blood.

"Zabuza-sama…"

He repeated the man's name over and over, as if it were the one thing that grounded him to reality.

"Zabuza-sama!"

The boy's voice grew louder as he somehow pushed himself up from the ground. His remaining arm was still broken, but the shock of watching his mentor die was probably numbing his senses.

Before they could react, Kakashi and Sasuke noticed Haku reappear by Zabuza's discarded blade. Both of them moved to stop him, but their eyes shot open as the boy lifted the massive sword with his injured arm.

"ZABUZA-SAMAAAA!"

Haku disappeared and the sounds of terror and pain drew their attention to the crowd one more. To their great surprise, Haku was obliterating the entire faction of Gatou's hired thugs.

'Impossible!' Kakashi thought. 'That boy's arm was unusable!'

In short time, all of the thugs had been killed and Haku immediately turned his focus to the two Leaf shinobi.

"You! You took Zabuza-sama's arms!" Haku yelled.

He rushed forward, but Sasuke met him halfway.

And sliced through the massive blade with the blue energy from the Monado.

Kakashi's mouth hung open as he watched Haku fall to the ground. His hand still clutched the bottom half of Zabuza's blade. The other half lay some distance away.

Energy crackled around Sasuke's arm in a way that Kakashi had never seen when Naruto used the Monado. In fact, Kakashi quickly reminded himself that Naruto was supposed to be the only one capable of using the Monado, but he'd just seen Sasuke activate it.

Sasuke suddenly dropped the weapon to the ground and pulled his hand away as if the handle had been scorching hot. The boy's hand was twitching and some remnants of the energy coursed through his arm even as the blade deactivated.

"I activated the Monado…" he whispered.

This would be a long debriefing session with the Hokage.

Things were fairly normal around Tazuna's home after that. Kakashi and Sasuke needed to rest in order for their wounds to heal. Pretty much all of Naruto's injuries had healed through the fox's power. Sakura helped Tsunami around the house while Naruto took on guard duty with Tazuna on the bridge, not that anyone ever showed up to attack him after Gatou's death.

Inari and Sakura had arrived to the bridge with the entire village in tow only to find Naruto unconscious and the signs of a rigorous battle. They feared the worst until the boy woke up at Sakura's prodding.

Said prodding involved shaking the boy back and forth and yelling at him with tears in her eyes, but it accomplished the intended result.

The only strange part about life after the bridge attack was the remaining assassin. Haku had been restrained and held in a small building not far from Tazuna's property. They checked up on him every few hours, bringing him food and water. The boy never spoke and his eyes seemed perpetually downcast.

The only time they'd seen him move since the attack was when they tried to take the broken sword away from him. He had thrashed about in his restraints, most likely injuring his arm further, until they agreed to leave the sword propped against the bed he was forced to lie in.

Since then, the boy had said nothing and never moved aside from partaking of the food and water they brought. He had quite an appetite, which removed any concerns that Kakashi had fostered about the boy being suicidal, at least for now.

Still, even with their detainee, things were much happier around the home now. Inari no longer moaned about his deceased father and Tsunami had no need to complain since she now had two helpers in the house. All of Tazuna's workers had returned to the bridge as well since Gatou was no longer a threat.

The dawn of Team 7's final day in the Land of Waves was a strange one. Naruto had been seen rushing over the entire house, trying to find his things to pack up, despite Kakashi's order to pack the night before. Thus their departure had been delayed by several hours.

Naruto and Inari cried as they said good-bye to each other. Sakura was chatting with Tsunami about some recipes and Sasuke seemed to be listening to some stories from the bridge workers.

Kakashi looked at the boy next to him warily. 'I'm not so sure it's a good idea to take him back to the village with us,' he mused, 'but I suppose it was Zabuza's final wish.'

Flashback

"It looks like it's over, Kakashi…"

"Yeah…"

He could tell that Zabuza was barely clinging to life.

"Kakashi, I have a request. I want to see his face before I go."

The jounin slid his headband over his Sharingan and nodded his head. "Sure."

Snow began to fall around them as Kakashi carried Zabuza to where Haku lay unconscious.

"Haku…" the man whispered. "Are you crying?"

Kakashi set him down and backed away to give him some privacy to say his final farewell.

"Haku…" he whispered once more. "You have always been at my side. I want to be by your side now. I want to stay with you now."

Tears streamed from the hardened killer's eyes as he looked at the boy he loved like a son. "If I could, I'd like to stay with you."

A snowflake drifted slowly until it landed in the corner of Haku's eye. The flake melted and slid down the boy's face like a teardrop.

"Kakashi," Zabuza said, loud enough for the jounin to hear. "I want you to take Haku to your village." The man began to protest, but Zabuza cut in. "Nothing awaits him but death otherwise. At least your village may protect him."

Kakashi relaxed and nodded after a moment.

"I asked him to live on …so that he would not go to hell… where I will be." His words were fading fast. "Please… help him… live…"

Life faded from Zabuza's eyes at last.

"I'll help him as much as I can," Kakashi whispered. "And who knows? Maybe he will join you in heaven some day."

End Chapter 8

Wow that's a lot of words!

Thanks for sticking around through all of this! This chapter ended up way longer than I was expecting. I have a couple points I want to explain quickly, but I'd be glad to answer any questions as well.

First: The Monado can channel the Nine Tails' chakra the same way it handles any chakra. As of now, it doesn't really change anything other than possibly being stronger and changing the energy to red.

Second: Sasuke has seen a different side of Naruto so he understands that protecting others is important. This will come into play later (in somewhat obvious ways).

Third: I kinda pulled some bullshit with the mindscape scene. Madara could control the Kyuubi and Sasuke did appear in Naruto's subconscious in Shippuden, but I doubt he'd be able to do that this early on. This was a freak accident that won't happen again (not for a long time, anyway).

Fourth, and probably most important: Sasuke can use the Monado. This is one of the things I've had planned for a while now. It'll be a somewhat major plot point.

Fifth, last and also probably important: Haku is alive! He's short an arm and his other is badly damaged, but he's coming back to the village with Team 7. He'll reappear at some point.

Raikiri – Lightning Blade

Kama – a hooked blade typically meant for reaping crops; occasionally seen as a weapon in the manga