It's been a long haul, folks. And this story has finally reached the climax. To those who have followed me from the beginning, thanks and sorry for the long waits near the end. I switched schools and majors after a mid-college-life crisis. I'm much happier now, if you care to know, but I haven't had the time to write recently. Or update, for that matter, because fan-fiction is no longer accessible from my computer.

Sorry for the wait, again.

If you want more of my stories I have some finished one shots online, two of which I like a lot, one which I should alter the organization of to make it more understandable. I have Chaos, which I will be updating soon. Harry Potter is discontinued because I don't like the Harry Hermione shipping anymore, more a Harry/Luna now. I'll take it down when I have time. Zelda and Star Wars will also be updating, now that I have two more chapters for each written. Alright, that sums it up pretty well.

I am happy to say I loved every minute of this story's production and was proud to be its author, but I don't own anything. I don't think a sequel is going to be made, so get your fill by reading it all over again. I know I have. Now, on to the final chapter.

Final Chapter: The Legend

Within every generation of humans there will always be a select few, a hundred or so, that will stand above the rest. More successful and famous then any around them. They are called famous. Every hundred years or so a smaller amount, maybe ten, will become figures of world renown. Rising above the rest of humanity before and after them in such a way as to never be forgotten. They are called heroes and heroines.

But then there is even a rarer occurrence.

Every thousand years or so a man or woman will rise above the rest, even above humanity itself.

More then a figure of world renown.

And become more than a human.

Once in a thousand years a man becomes a legend.

"Hokage-sama, the scouts have returned. The forces of Iwa and Kumo are starting to stir. They predicted only a few minutes before they are ready for a full on attack."

"Sound the signal."

The city of Konoha stood like a fortress in the sea of trees in the Land of Fire. And, like most fortresses, it was heavily guarded. Ninja stood on every wall, eyes pealed for their enemy that they knew would come. The interior stood almost empty, with only a few places having any signs of life at all. Suddenly the calm of the early morning was shattered. A warning siren blared over the town, instantly alerting every able bodied ninja that the enemy was on the move.

The Northern wall was coated in ninja, all with a vendetta against the village of the Iwa ninja. The Aburame clan swirled with insects, each as emotionless and strong as the very walls they stood on. In the early morning shadows of the walls the Nara clan waited in ambush, each ready to use their body and shadow to enact harsh judgment on the invaders. Akimichi clan members quickly ate nutrition bars, saving their soldier pills for the fight to come and storing as much energy as possible. The few members of the Yamanaka clan that were ninja stood with them, ready to tear their opponent's minds apart. Ninja of all names and families filled the wall as well, each ready to fight their hardest.

Every one ready to perish for their city.

The West wall was less guarded, only having a spattering of ninja ready to defend. In the middle of the wall stood the man many thought of as the second greatest ninja to come from the city. Jiraiya, the toad sage and sannin of Konoha, stood ready to end the war. In one way or another.

The East wall was similarly guarded, only a few ninja and one special ninja were ready to meet the invaders. Tsunade, the Hokage of Konoha, stood with her arms across her ample chest, her body ready for what might be her final fight.

The Southern wall was covered in glassy eyed ninja, many with veins bulging from their enhanced bloodline. The Hyuga clan stood at attention, each one ready to use their eyes against the eyes of their most hated enemies. This wall was as heavily guarded as the North wall, the ninja dogs of the Inuzuka clan guarding with the Hyuga. The last remaining Uchiha stood as well, ready to meet and defeat death with his bride-to-be at his side. Rock Lee stood next to his one time eternal rival, Neji Hyuga. He was jumping in place to get his muscles warmed up, while Neji merely stared into the trees with all seeing eyes.

"Naruto…"

"They come…"

"Hai…"

The second coming of the yellow flash stood with his flame trimmed coat on the very edge of the wall that was wide enough for twenty to walk abroad on. His face showed none of the mirth commonly found on it. His own orders had made it possible to stand on this wall instead of the North wall, the wall facing Iwa's forces. On one side of him stood his adopted father, Hiashi Hyuga, the leader of the Hyuga and master of the Juken. On his other side stood the woman that would be his wife.

If they made it though this.

The Hyuga on the line tensed, the ninja dogs immediately growled, realizing the same thing. A giant hound growled before letting out a bark that reverberated down the line. Ninja drew weapons and began hand signs. A whistling of the wind in the trees. A sudden brushing of foreign material on plant. Then, before someone could say a word, the battle was joined.

Naruto had already tossed his weights by the time the alarm had rang. He was now free to move. And move he did.

The first second of the fight had nearly a hundred of the cursed monsters jumping completely over the southern wall in one leap. It only took instants for the killing to start. One of the monsters had a fire jutsu already prepared and incinerated two Hyuga in its first attack, but soon found its head removed from its shoulders by a katana wielded by Ten-ten. She was nearly killed instants later by a second monster using its clawed hand as a sword, but its arm fell to the ground only moments before its entire body collapsed. Sasuke stood above the carcass. If there was one thing Konoha had over her opponents it was teamwork.

The North wall was facing the same initial onslaught. Hundreds of monsters poured over the walls causing massive casualties. One would jump up and use its wings to block incoming weapons and, when it landed, would literally split people in half with one massive swing of its webbed wings. But Konoha fought back. Naruto had killed the first monster near his position before it had cleared the wall, after which he immediately jumped directly into another monster that was trying to jump over the wall and, after impaling its heart on his kunai, jumping off of it while still in midair, to the next monster. The one he launched from collided in mid air with another, the explosive tag left on his chest destroying them both.

The Aburame were enjoying a hard earned feast. The monsters had no previous experience of chakra consuming bugs, and most either didn't notice or didn't take the time to care about the small insects that would cover them in swarms. Either way, the area guarded by the Aburame clan was the most successful in the early stages of the fight. It was only moments, though, before Iwa's forces brought up their own insect users. Chakra devouring insects mixed with wasps, bees, and hornets, each side taking a serious toll on the other in insect deaths. Some Aburame would find themselves completely without insects after a time and would resort to rusty weapons techniques. They didn't last long.

Near inhuman speed was necessary to fight in close combat with the monsters that still poured over the walls. Many ninja found out the hard way that they were just not quick enough, and found an arm protruding through their chest instants after that realization. Some though, like Might Gai and Rock Lee, showed exactly how strong a normal human could be. Rock Lee had his massive weights in his hand and was using them to literally blast monsters out of the air as they dropped to the wall. One hit from his weapon generally caused the entire torso of the cursed being to collapse, or a few limbs to be taken off. Might Gai, on the other hand, literally ran circles around monsters before crushing their skulls into the ground with a kick.

The Hyugas were doing quite poorly against the monsters, being that their style of fighting required close quarters and over powering speed. Most Hyuga couldn't even comprehend the speed of the monsters facing them, and the only thing they could do was either die or do a weak kaiten. Some, luckily, were standing near Hiashi and Hinata. They were witness to one of the greatest father daughter teams in Konoha history. Hinata would use her Shugohakke Rokujuyon Sho to sever limbs, heads, wings, and various other important body parts from monsters while her father finished them off with juken. When ever a monster came too close to Hinata, Hiashi would activate his 64 palms and the monster would find itself very, very dead. Only a few actually noticed that both pairs of eyes had Byakugan activated.

The East and West walls were under almost no assault at all. The few monsters that dared step on the top were soon killed by the jonin, special jonin, and sannin.

But their victories mattered little as the North and South began to be overwhelmed.

Monsters poured over the walls endlessly, each monster being taken out, but the toll was being taken on Konoha's forces. Each monster could take out at least one ninja before it was destroyed, and the numbers were just getting worse for Konoha.

Luckily, though, numbers don't matter as much in ninja wars.

A sweeping lightning katana cut through two monsters, spilling their blood and insides to the top of the wall, and two more were taken out with senbon straight through their eyes into their brains. Sasuke and Ten-ten were ready. They had fought these monsters before and had gotten used to their movements more then others had. They traveled the lines of the South wall slaughtering monsters getting the upper hand over Konoha ninja. Rock Lee did the same. Ninja dogs and their masters caused great gapping wounds in the monsters before getting killed or wounded by the retribution of the cursed ones that could barely feel the pain. One monster was seen taking a massive chuck of a man's neck out with its teeth even when both of its arms had been ripped from its body. Another looked like it should have died ages ago, with its ribs showing from massive cuts, but it fought on long enough to break the knee of another ninja.

The North wall was doing only slightly better. The monsters had quickly learned that the insects and their users were threats, and soon targeted the Aburame with fire and wind jutsu, wiping whole species of bugs from the world. Shino's father, the head of the clan, died instantly from a Ryuuka no jutsu, and many other members of his clan were finding themselves defenseless.

Shino himself was wondering when Naruto would put the next phase of the plan into effect.

Hopefully before it was too late.

Then it happened.

A massive firework blew over the city, the signal for a retreat into the city. At that moment Naruto Uzumaki used Hiraishin along the entire South wall to clear monsters from the immediate area to allow his troops to retreat towards the reinforced areas. At the same time Neji Hyuga set off hundreds of explosive notes he had hidden under a layer of wood on the outside of the wall. All the monsters coming up the wall at that moment were shredded by pieces of wood the size of their arms. The second the last Konoha ninja was off the wall another set of explosives was set off, incendiary notes that caught the top of the wall on fire instantly.

The walls of Konoha had been taken.

The East and West walls had been instantly abandoned and before the enemy could send another wave most of the ninja were in their positions for the second phase of their defense.

Then the gate blew.

A massive power surge, though not caused by explosive, came from the North gate instants before it was not only blown off its hinges, but over a hundred meters into the city crushing builings as it went. An impressive distance for such heavy doors. The forces of Iwa came pouring forward, mostly consisting of humans now that the monsters had been used taking the walls. The Southern gate was similarly destroyed, but instead of flying off its hinges, it was cut into hundreds of pieces in seconds. The forces of Kumo poured through the broken gate.

Only to have the entire first wave of over a hundred ninja run straight into a dust covered boiling pit of mud where they met horrible slow deaths of drowning and burning in the near molten mud.

The forces of Iwa soon found themselves in a similar problem, when their first wave fell into a series of pits that had diamond hard spikes at the bottom. Many ninja lived for hours stuck on the pointed sand at the bottom before dieing of blood loss. The Iwa forces stalled for only a moment to regroup and prepare for traps.

Those few seconds were all that Gaara needed.

A massive power surge came from in front of the advancing forces of Iwa. They had just enough time to see a huge glow of chakra surrounding a person before a massive wall of sand blocked him from view and began advancing on them at a rate way to fast for sand, similar to a wave of water. The very walls that had Iwa had taken moments ago were there undoing as nearly a thousand Iwa ninja and monsters were crushed against the walls of Konoha.

On the South, a similar trap was sprung by the water and electric jutsu experts of Konoha. Hundreds of water jutsus fueled by the stores of water collected the day before burst from hidden reservoirs and towards the advancing Iwa. Almost the instant they were on their way multiple electric jutsu hit the huge amount of water.

Instant high explosives.

The wave of electrifying water hit the oncoming ninja, only a few dodging or blocking, but none were able to escape unscathed when a lone fireball lit the entire area up using the concentrated oxygen created from the electrifying water.

Sadly, many Konoha ninja were also caught in the explosion.

The wave crashed into the walls of Konoha with hundreds of charred corpses floating with it.

The near limitless amount of enemies burst from the now lifeless water as it drained from the gate and they continued to advance.

The North side of Konoha had become a battle ground of both ninja and summons. Frogs and Slugs, as the Hokage had joined the Northern front, fought side by side with Konoha ninja against Iwa ninja, cursed beings, and the occasional snake summon. Acid and oil fried the enemies of Konoha while poison took its toll on her allies. The Southern front was filled with ninja of all kinds, fighting and dieing for their goals. All of the ninja were fighting their hardest, many to just be instantly killed from behind when a enemy would get a chance to be behind them, and not live to see the very one that killed them die moments later in a similar state of unknowing.

And Konoha was losing ground.

Slowly Konoha forces were pushed back as many fell in battle. A chunin would die making hand signs for a jutsu. A jonin would die from poisoned kunai. An ANBU would be cut in half from a massive blade. A genin would be distracted by his teammate's head being removed and find his legs following the same path. Despite the toll the ninja of the leaf were imposing on their enemies, they were being pushed back and killed by the hundreds. With enemy death tolls unknown, Konoha was down over a thousand ninja, nearly two.

Less then two thousand remained alive, and many were injured or running low on chakra.

Kumo, most of their monsters dead, fought with fresh ninja that just entered the battle. Though they might have not been as strong as a Konoha ninja, they were going against tired and battle weary ninja.

Konoha was being pushed back.

Towards the tower.

And the Monument.

The dead littered the streets as the battle moved towards the center of the city. Ninja from both sides were left for dead, mostly from Kumo and Iwa, and corpses cried out in pain not comprehending their own deaths.

Konoha was being pushed back.

Then, faster then the enemy could comprehend, the tide turned again. The wave of sand that had covered most of the Northern city started to move again. The meters of sand that coated the entire Northern battle field was filled with movement. In only a moment hundreds of Iwa ninja that had been engaged in fighting Konoha ninja fell to the ninja of Suna. Hidden safely in Gaara's jutsu they had waited patiently for a signal. When it had come they had picked their targets and dragged them down into the sand.

The sand was soon soaked with the blood of Iwa.

From the sand came hundreds of Suna ninja, each with a jutsu being yelled from their lungs. A massive scything wind blew over the sand, cutting many ninja in half where they stood. Several puppets were seen doing a dance of death with their puppeteers in the shadows of ruined buildings or some under the sand. The sand itself would drag enemies down by the dozens to crush their legs to a bloody pulp.

Iwa's advance was stalled for the moment.

Kumo, on the other hand, kept pressing forward. They had thwarted the traps set for them, pushed through choke points that had been meant to hold them, and killed all who stood in their way.

A single ninja led them, a ninja with a sword that cut through the masses of Konoha ninja like they were academy students.

His forces were coming up to an area of the city that had been prepared with no traps or tricks. What had once been a lively market area was now an empty paved circular area hundreds of feet across.

It was a battle ground, designed into the battle plan for one purpose.

It was here that Naruto Uzumaki would take a stand.

The army of Kumo sprinted at full speed behind their kage and along the roof tops behind, surprised at the lack of resistance for the last hundred or so yards. Many could see the nearly empty square up ahead, and were about to jump into it and secure the area when their leader stopped instantly and made the motion for them too as well.

The Raikage stepped into the massive ring with his sword in his hand.

Naruto Uzumaki stood on the other side of the circle, a single kunai in his hand.

"Well, well, well… if it isn't the yellow flash. Reborn."

The insanity in the Raikage's voice was clear to Naruto. His eyes were very similar to Gaara's before his demon had been sealed. But this man contained no demon, the insanity was entirely his. Naruto had neither the time or patience to try to change him as he had changed Gaara, and he doubted that it had any chance of working. This would be a fight to the death and nothing less then his opponents life being ended would be acceptabe.

"Uzumaki Naruto is my name."

"I assume you want to fight me… boy." The Raikage smiled insanely, and his hideous chuckle was all Naruto needed to know his lack of a name was intentional.

But Naruto only nodded, determined to not be phased. Anger induced distractions would not help him. Even so, The deranged smile on the kage of Kumo, coupled with the power he felt radiating off of him, was giving him the shivers. He wasn't human, and yet it had to be. He sensed no demonic presense at all.

The man has enough chakra to match me with one or two tails…

"Well then, let's begin. I'll even order my ninja to stay out of it."

Naruto only nodded again, but inwardly smiled.

Fool.

Their muscles tensed in unison, and instantly they had crossed the distance to each other, the kunai colliding with the metal of the sword. The extra long katana forced the kunai down and nicked Naruto's shoulder before he pushed the sword back. Little did he know that if he had used any other blade he owned he would have merely impaled himself on the sword of the kage. As it was, the sword was made of the same material his special kunai from Hinata had been made of. It would have cleaved through his other kunai instantly, and his bones quicker.

He had been distracted by those eyes again. The enemy he was facing showed no signs of sanity at all. His smile has large and creepy and his eyes were too far open to be natural.

Before he had time to think the kage had already charged his fist with lightning and punched him back across the field. The pain was excruciating.

But Naruto had precedent.

One tail emerged from his back instantly before he appeared directly above the kage in mid jump with his kunai in a reverse grip to stab into the man's neck.

Blocked.

The kage's face was only inches from Naruto and Naruto's kunai was hovering only millimeters from the man's face, held back by the sheath of the katana.

The sheath.

Naruto quickly dropped, letting go of his kunai, just in time to miss a sweep of the blade that could have easily cut him in half. He caught the kunai before it fell and swept his own blade at the kage's legs, only to watch them leap out of range.

Perfect.

Naruto jumped after him, their blades colliding in mid air. Naruto drew his blade back and attacked again, faster. The kage merely smiled and blocked. Again, blocked. Again, blocked. To the on lookers it appeared as if the two rising ninja were moving their arms and weapons too fast to see. Finally their blades locked and Naruto was able to land and unsuspected punch into the kage's face, throwing him into a building's side.

Two tails.

Naruto didn't even have time to land before he was forced to block a stab from the sword. The force of the block pushed him back, not even allowing him to land as he blocked more and more attacks. Soon he was against a wall feet in the air, blocking for his life before he managed to kick the side of his opponents blade and throw his kunai at the man's chest.

Blocked.

The kunai went spinning behind the kage as the man drew his blade back for one more attack.

And stabbed it hilt deep into the wall.

Naruto was behind him and kicking him in his side, throwing him across the battlefield again, this time without his sword.

Naruto didn't have time for celebration. Out of the rubble of the hole where his opponent landed came a massive water dragon, twice the size of a normal Suiryudan no Jutsu, that he was forced to quickly block with his strongest earth wall. It nearly collapsed, and when the dragon had finished its attack, the kage was drawing his sword from the wall he had buried it in and wiping a trickle of blood from his mouth.

Three tails.

"That…"

Naruto wouldn't give him a chance to speak. The kage was forced to block as a Naruto, faster then before, attacked with even more ferocity.

Through his deranged brain, the kage was still able to notice that there was a more feral edge to Naruto's attack then before. His stance was lower, his attacks were more like the sweeps of an animal's claws then a ninja's kunai. And his eyes…

Oh, how he loved those eyes.

Like looking in a mirror.

But the kage kept up, he was, after all, the leader of Kumo for good reason. His blade was sharper and stronger than any other in the ninja world, and he was the fastest with a katana as well. That made him a deadly combo of skill and equipment.

Naruto's vision was slowly hazing over red as the battle went on, as it usually did when he used demonic chakra. He fought with instinct at this point. His kunai was holding its own against the katana master, and their speeds seemed evenly matched.

It was all down to who was the better ninja, now.

The kage took a few jumps to get a fair distance from Naruto, but was surprised when Naruto followed on all fours, his elongated nails digging into the ground and propelling him forward faster then even the kage could run. Naruto swept his open fist at his landing opponent's neck and missed, but the chakra surrounding his hand still threw the ninja through the air. Naruto noticed that the ninja that had been cheering for their leader were now silent and watching in nervousness. It was likely that no one had ever seen their kage even get hit.

Naruto smirked, his now pointed teeth giving him a ferocious grin.

The kage came out of his spin through the air on his feet, but his smile was gone and a small line of blood ran from his scalp down his face. Before Naruto had a moment to grasp the kage's change in attitude he was facing a second water dragon, which he blocked in the same way.

"Gotcha."

Naruto was still holding his wall against the dragon when he heard those whispered words in his ear.

Behind me!

Instantly Naruto was spinning around, but even the chakra shroud around him couldn't slow the katana down enough for it to not hit him at all. The sword went clean though Naruto's left shoulder. In retaliation Naruto threw a slew of kunai and shurikin at the kage, and in his surprise at not having killed the jinchuriki he was hit by one. Naruto kicked the man back and punched him in the face before jumping back a ways.

The kage, though bleeding, had the smile on his face again. His sword was lodged in Naruto's shoulder blade and causing a whole lot of pain, and Naruto's blade had only barely pierced his flak jacket.

"Looks like the end for you, boy. If Konoha has any real ninja to fight, they should send them now. I mean, its not like you're anything but a bastard demon container. Of course you would be strong. But you couldn't stand up to a real ninja…"

"Those were some pathetic last words."

The kage smirked and pulled Naruto's kunai out of his jacket and held it in his hand.

It was Naruto's time to smirk.

And act.

There was a flash of light and everyone watching the fight couldn't see exactly what happened, but the aftermath was all one needed to see.

Naruto was directly in front of the kage, the kunai he had been holding the entire time was lodged in the Raikage's gut, the kunai he had hit the kage with was lodged in the kage's forehead. And the Raikage's sword was stuck completely through his own heart.

"I am more than a demon container."

Naruto turned to see the army of Kumo watching and preparing to attack. With a snap of his fingers the early morning shadows on the Konoha side of the open area were suddenly filled with ninja, each ready to continue the attack. Naruto had bought them enough time. Jiraiya stood at the head of the group of ninja, as his toads were intermittently spread out throughout the battle group.

Four tails.

Naruto roared. No shout of charge or cry of battle. Naruto let out a roar that seemed to crack the very pavement around him. Konoha charged.

The battle in the South was joined again.

On the North wall of Konoha, almost half a mile from the battle front, stood two figures. One was obviously the Tsuchikage, but the other was less recognizable.

"So… he died."

"Fool."

"It was inevitable. I had planned on it. It did happen much sooner then I would have guessed. The battle is not going as well as I would have it."

"…"

"I will assist my ninja in their assault. Someone needs to be able to kill the superior ninja of the enemy."

"Fine. I will wait."

The Tsuchikage disappeared, his partner left brooding on the wall.

The time is almost upon us. Soon Konoha will be crushed under my foot. Soon…

Shikamaru stood nearly hidden in the shadows of a broken building taking out every ninja that came within the shadow of his building.

"Shadow Sewing."

Another Iwa ninja fell pierced through the heart. Across the street he could see his best friend, Choji, using oversized fists to pound enemies to a pulp. Behind him, he knew, his girlfriend and her village's ninja laid in wait. Another trap. They were getting dangerously close to the entrances of the underground catacombs and the makeshift hospital set inside and near the entrance of it. Many of his friends and family were there already, and he was determined, more so then ever in his life, to not let Iwa reach his friends.

The Suna ninja had been forced to retreat earlier then planned when the last of the monsters and various other ninja started using fire jutsu on the sand.

Shikamaru shuddered at the thought of the clean-up. Some unlucky worker from the winning village would find a Suna ninja half charred to death suspended in glass. More then a few, actually.

He only had a moment to reflect on this before a steel plated glove came from nowhere and backhanded him across the street and into Choji and unconsciousness.

Gaara, standing only a few meters away, saw the blur that had quite nearly broken his sister's significant other's neck and instantly had sand at the man's feet.

And was shocked to find that the man broke free.

He only barely registered the fist coming towards his head, and only then because he had trained for three years with Naruto. Rock hard sand came up and blocked the punch, and another to the back of his head.

Gaara instinctively went into a sand cocoon. He hadn't fought a ninja at that speed in years.

But it was only a man he was facing.

Gaara started absorbing some of his demon's power and channeling it into the massive quantities of sand around him, within moments he could see everything around him as if he had fifty eyes.

Which he did.

The ninja attacking him was old, older then he had ever seen a ninja except maybe the Third Hokage. And fast. And strong. The uniform would imply at least an ANBU ranking. Gaara knew within a moment that he was looking at the Tsuchikage.

He smiled.

Tendrils of sand shot from his cocoon faster than any kunai could ever had and infinitely more unpredictable. The man seemed to flicker as he dodged the hardened spikes coming at him from all directions, the sand he walked on and the sand of Gaara's orb. Soon Gaara was wondering if the man was a mind reader, as he couldn't seem to get a hit, even when he was sending deadly projectiles from nearly every square inch of the hundred so meters around him. Dozens of Iwa ninja passing by were cut to shreds instantly by his barrage, but the kage was not even breathing hard.

Gaara drew more chakra from his reserves and his demon.

Soon the very sand that comprised the battlefield rose up and shifted around before closing in on the kage surrounding him completely. But as it closed over him, he was gone and on the other side of the area, safe and sound. A fire jutsu came from his mouth, but was blocked by a sand wall that turned to glass moments later. Gaara was getting nowhere quickly and the kage just smiled like he was toying with him.

Gaara smiled back, through the impenetrable cocoon.

His eyes were begining to glow yellow.

His barrage stopped. And with it, the kage stopped as well.

Gaara was starting to sweat but on the outside of his cocoon there was no change. The kage, on the other hand, was feeling the increase in chakra. He got ready to finish the brat as soon as the sand demon ran out of chakra.

The Tsuchikage was the most experienced ninja in all of the elemental countries. He was a veteran of countless battles, missions, and at least three ninja wars. In his old age, over fifty, he fought off over three hundred young ninja attempting to usurp his leadership. Not once has he lost. Not once has he been grievously injured. His speed and perception are superhuman, better than any ninja except for maybe one Uchiha.

But in all of his experiences he had never fought Gaara.

The Tsuchikage noticed something was wrong when his vision started to get less clear than usual. He blinked. Twice.

No change.

His mouth started getting dry. He swallowed.

The air around him was starting to feel… heavy.

The lord of earth was too late to figure it out.

It only took a moment for his vision to cloud even more, and in seconds he couldn't keep them open any longer. The air around him was his enemy and his captor. Tons of tiny grains of sand filled the air, thrown and controlled by Gaara. They were forcing themselves down his throat and his nose. They were in his ears and eyes. He jumped, but was dragged down by the tentacles of sand that had grabbed him in his blindness. Clinging to him and forcing him to his knees.

His eyes and feet were taken away and his reign was put to an end.

Sand poured over him completely, leaving no trace of him but a lump in the sand. Gaara in his cocoon clenched a fist.

The sand around the kage of stone clenched with it.

Good.

Gaara's cocoon collapsed moments later, his chakra spent.

A few ninja were there to catch him, having seen the Tsuchikage fall. Matsuri and Kankuro helped him back towards the hospital as Temari and Choji helped Shikamaru the same way.

Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Naruto all stood atop the Hokage's tower watching the battle play out. Naruto had calmed down and the counter assault on Kumo was going very well while Iwa was being held off much better.

It looked like a route in Konoha's favor.

Both kage's of the attackers had been killed and Orochimaru hadn't even bothered to show his disgusting head, and Naruto was quite pleased with the progression of the battle. His own forces covered the streets, still thousands strong, while his enemies were dwindling. The amount of ninja was almost even, and if the kill ration stayed true to the end then Konoha would come out utterly victorious.

"It was a good plan, Naruto."

"Mostly Shikamaru and Jiraiya, but I did do a little of it. It really helped with the mind link, I was able to go wherever I was most needed instantly. I'm glad I created it."

"Yeah, yeah. Don't get so cocky. Lets get back out there. Jiraiya, you have the Kumo front. I'll get Iwa."

"And I'll get…"

Suddenly, out of seemingly nowhere, an explosion the size of a city block blew the entire Iwa front apart. Allies and enemies and buildings went flying everywhere. The three ninja froze as the eruption fried hundreds of ninja from both sides.

"I'll go there. Keep everyone away."

Naruto already had thrown a kunai and was at the scene in instants. Smoke filled the air and bodies, lifeless and some dieing littered the ground. Naruto saw no one he noticed, suddenly felt a strange and horrible presence.

Orochimaru!

Behind me!

Naruto spun quickly, but not quick enough.

A clawed hand pierced his side, going clear through before pulling out at a speed that sent Naruto spinning to the ground. Instant blinding pain. The gash in his side started to heal, but a clawed foot came from nowhere and kicked him high into the air and out of the smoke, each claw piercing him again. Naruto tried to gain some control, enough to Hiraishin to one of the main kunai strew about the battlefield, but then he glimpsed his opponent.

Following him out of the smoke was a glassy eyed beast over three meters tall. Its hand-like wings stretched twice the length other monsters did and each clawed tip dripped with black puss that just screamed poison. Its claws, both hands and feet, were covered in his own blood and his mouth was dripping with someone else's.

But the eyes… besides being Byakugan eyes… seemed to have a single slit down the middle. Or it was just his imagination, but those eyes were wihtout a doubt the eyes of Orochimaru.

Naruto managed to spin in midair and block the attack coming from the monster, only to feel his bones crack from the overhand chop the beast did. Naruto was flung into the pavement below, still unable to retaliate. And then he heard it speak.

"Fool. You thought you could defeat my invasion! My invasion has only begun! And it's an invasion of ONE!"

The beast grabbed Naruto out of the hole in the road he had made. Naruto gave it a kick to its ribs that would have shattered a normal ninja's ribs, but Naruto just ended up possibly breaking his foot.

"You know why I went with the Raikage and Tsuchikage? Because they had power and wealth. Enough for me to accomplish my goals. I started this war knowing they would die, and who better to assume their roles then me?"

Naruto pulled his special kunai from his pouch and stabbed it into the arm of the beast. Orochimaru let out an unearthly roar before throwing Naruto into a building. His side still bled, his upper arm was broken, and his foot was wounded, and Naruto couldn't move.

"And now my life long goal is finally within my reach. Soon I'll have all of the elemental nation's wealth, resources, and people to use for gaining immortality. I really have you to thank, Naruto."

Naruto tried to get up from the rubble he was in, but he couldn't even move. He felt his bones mending and his side sewing shut, but he still couldn't get up. A shadow appeared in the smoke above him.

"You see, Naruto. If it wasn't for your destruction of my Lighting Base, they would have never let me start the other installations all over Rock and Lightning. And my army wouldn't have been ready for years to come. Now I have the ultimate body, and once you are gone I will finally wipe this pathetic little town off the map. Even if my entire army dies, I won't. Not one ninja can match me here. Not even you. Now that your top ninja have wasted their precious, limited, chakra on summons and fighting the late kages I will slaughter them all without trouble."

Naruto felt his head get palmed by an enormous clawed hand and watched the claws come over his face and the edge of the massive palm cover his eyes. He knew he had to move, but he couldn't. The claws dug into the lower part of his neck, and Naruto couldn't understand how he could go completely numb and be so full of pain at the same time.

"It's no use, Naruto-kun. The poison this body naturally secretes on its claws guarantees temporary paralysis, but not painlessness. Perfect for torture. But don't worry. This is not the body I will use as this world's lord. In this entire village the only one I will grant that honor to is you, Naruto-kun."

The beasts head suddenly came foreward, chakra visibly gathering in its teeth, and prepared to mark Naruto as his own.

"No!"

A loud clear voice pierced through the smoke and heat left by Orochimaru's original attack. Orochimaru, so focused on Naruto, had released his Byakugan.

And his attacker had not.

Orochimaru screamed and threw Naruto again, but less controlled this time. Naruto landed on his side with his face towards his enemy and his savior.

Hinata Hyuga stood in her own style's ready stance, prepared to attack the monster twice her height. She had already struck his arm by the way he was carrying it.

"How DARE you! Water Style: Boiling Geyser Jutsu!"

Naruto was surprised that the words were coming from Hinata's mouth and not Orochimaru's. He wanted to shout to her to stay back, to get away, that he was too much for her or anyone.

But he couldn't move.

Instead he watched her attack hit the monster directly. The earth cracked open and an enormous amount of water came boiling forth, completely surrounding Orochimaru and blocking him from view. The Geyser kept up as Hinata kept her hands to the ground. She held the jutsu for over ten seconds before she broke it off while panting.

Nothing was left.

Just a hole where the water had come from.

Until the winged beast flying out of the same hole. Steaming but unharmed in any way.

Kyuubi! Get me moving!

This poison is strong! What do you want me to do? Magic?

Yes, damn it! Do something! Hinata's going to…

Shut up, baka! I'm working on it...

Naruto could only watch as Hinata and Orochimaru went at it. Her speed was impressive, even to Naruto, but it didn't come close to the speed of the cursed seal enhanced Orochimaru. All her attacks weren't just blocked, but blocked so that not even the chakra that she used in her altered juken hit. He was playing with her. She would send a strike faster then Naruto could see and he would catch her hand by the wrist, divert it, and then let it go again.

"Shugohakke Rokujuyon Sho!"

Hinata went into her personal defensive attack, but Orochimaru just appeared to stand there as he dodged her attacks like they were traveling slower then snails, not faster then the eye could possibly follow and invisible to everyone except the Byakugan.

Naruto suddenly felt chakra flooding his system. The demon inside of him was trying to get out.

Baka kitsune! What are you doing?

Saving our ass! Give me control!

Naruto had no other choice. He felt in the chakra that this was not the ordinary five or six tails. Hinata was about to lose.

Kyuubi was going to go all out.

And Naruto had no idea what that would do. He didn't have a chance to postulate, though, as the moment he conceded to the demon inside his mind went blank.

Orochimaru stood in front of the panting Hyuga laughing maniacally. She had almost no chakra left after holding that move for only a few moments. He had no idea that she had been using it for hours of the battle, but that mattered little now.

He was about to finish her off when he felt a presence he hadn't felt in years from behind him.

Not possible…

Orochimaru spun to see Naruto Uzumaki standing up, his hands now clawed, his whisker marks now defined, and his eyes now red and slit down the middle. And power in its most raw form bursting out of him, throwing his cloak around and even debris away from him. The ground around him was cracking and pieces of earth the size of fists began raising into the air. All around the city every battle had stopped. Lower level ninja couldn't even move. Killing intent greater then any human could possibly muster was coming from somewhere close. Some enemy ninja just retreated and ran away, as did some Konoha ninja.

But no one fought on.

"Orochimaru. It's been a long time. Sixteen years nearly to the day, actually. Its good to see the man who's idea brought me to this world again."

Though his words were calm, his voice was not. The hatred and anger coming off of Naruto, combined with the chakra that had now formed four tails and was increasing in darkness, showed the complete sarcasm in his words. Anyone who knew Naruto realized that it was not his voice at all coming from his body. The chakra distorted the sound so much it sounded two octaves lower. Orochimaru couldn't even respond. The chakra shroud was growing and it was soon twice the size of Orochimaru. It was soon completely red and opaque, and was becoming even more fox-like.

Orochimaru was too stunned to speak, but he could act. The ever enlarging chakra swept out in the shape of a massive claw, but Orochimaru dodged it easily at the speed it traveled.

The ground it touched turned molten.

Orochimaru pulled a blade from his mouth before jumping at the fox.

It merely slid from the chakra hide.

He jumped back a few paces to prepare a jutsu.

"I know what you want to say. You want to tell me that it was Madara, not you, who summoned me. But I knew it was your idea. Your plan to eventually wipe out all of the elemental nations in a bloodbath so you might gain immortality. I know… and now I get to finally destroy the one who is truely responsible for trapping me in this body!"

The fox, for that is what it now was, was the roughly half the size of the original Kyuubi. It was solid chakra with only Naruto at its core, not even visible. The massive fox head lifted itself into the air and shouted to the whole city.

"You FOOLS! You thought I was you enemy, the one who slaughtered your families and friends. But the true enemy was in your walls, deceiving you as you watched in naïve silence! You blamed my container for your troubles and, in your ignorance, you let the one who is to blame for the deaths of your loved ones go on for years without blame. I… no... Naruto will end it now. And end this blight on the world."

Eight tails were now plainly visible behind the massive fox. They swayed to and fro, each appearing as if it was about to sweep down and eliminate Orochimaru once and for all. The monster that had once been a man bit its thumb and started to summon. But stopped.

The fox had started to shrink.

Collapse was more the correct word, as the entire body of the fox was sucked into itself and, instants after it started, into a black ball spinning in the palm of Naruto Uzumaki. Similar in size and shape to a rasengan.

But, oh, so different.

Orochimaru nearly laughed. The brat's eyes had even gone back to normal. A demon he could not hope to win against, but a boy with a ball that must weigh as much as a small mountain was as easy to dodge as…

"Gotcha…"

Naruto Uzumaki had one hand on the kunai still imbedded in Orochimaru's bicep and the other placed on his chest.

The black ball was inside his chest.

Orochimaru only had time to change his expression from confidence to horror. He had just enough time to comprehend his mistake. Just enough time to realize he had lost. Naruto only had time to appear at Hinata's side and throw his kunai as far as he could.

Then it happened.

A shock wave came first, blowing the whole section of the city apart and creating a shallow crater hundreds of meters wide. The energy of eight demonic tails of chakra flowed out and through Orochimaru's body much like a rasengan would have.

A rasengan the size of Konoha.

No heat or wind came after. Some say it was a complete destabilization of reality, that chakra was never meant to exist in such a way and that it distorted the time space continuum. Others say it was just really fast and no one could tell what happened. Most choose to ignore that it ever happened, just agreeing that Orochimaru had died in the battle.

In an instant Orochimaru and everything around him was gone.

Not blown apart.

Just gone.

For twenty meters in all directions there was a vacuum and in the blink of an eye the last body and the soul of Orochimaru was gone. Not one atom existed in that space for almost a second. A loud boom followed the death of the sannin. The air had filled the vacuum and had caused ears all over the battlefield to pop from the change in atmospheric pressure. But none of that mattered.

The battle was over.

Konoha had won.

"Naruto!"

"Naruto."

"Hinata-sama!"

The standing ninja of Konoha walked through the remains of Konoha. The once proud city demolished and burned to points beyond recognition. Shino, Jiraiya, Neji, and Hiashi all jumped through the ruble in the crater created by the enormous energy surge that nearly ended the battle. The only thing left to do was kill and capture the remaining enemies. Now, after a few hours of hearing nothing from the only two Konoha ninja that had been left alive in that area, a search for Naruto and Hinata had begun.

After all, clean-up goes so much faster with kage bunshin no jutsu.

That, and everyone was worried that their future Hokage and his fiancé had died.

"Byakugan!"

Once again, the two Hyuga's activated their advanced bloodline. Once again they viewed everything around them for signs of chakra. And once again, they saw nothing through the chakra thick air. The battle, most notably the last attack, had caused the air to be nearly impossible to see through with either byakugan or regular vision.

Shino, on the other hand, had replenished his insects at his clan house from his secondary hives and now had insect scouts all over the city.

"Still nothing."

"Hiashi-sama… I think we might have to accept that they were eliminated in that chakra singularity."

"No, Neji. I will not rest until we have their bodies or they themselves back with us."

Shino held up a hand and the group of four stopped. A single small bug flew over to him where it landed on his hand. Shino conversed silently with it, having not the same bond he had had with his original hive, and soon addressed the team.

"They're alive."

"What?"

"Where are they?"

"What happened?"

Shino just stared at the group before walking away. He was surprised he had missed their presence back at his clan grounds. The insect reported seeing the blond haired ninja asleep and leaning against an indigo haired ninja, also asleep. Both alive and recovering from chakra exhaustion.

They deserved a break, Shino thought.

"They'll be back soon."

And with that Shino walked away to inform the Hokage her replacement had been found.

In a secluded area of forest, hardly touched by the war, the two ninja in question sat in a field of flowers, their backs against each other and smiles on their faces.

The perfect setting for a happy ending.

Or a joyful beginning.

You would have to be blind not to see.

Epilogue

The city of Konoha took months of rebuilding before it was fully functional and back up to its regular speed. Thousands of ninja and citizens were homeless from the battle, some for weeks, but as a community they strove forward. The Konoha-Suna alliance won the war when Suna sent its reserve ninja into Iwa and Kumo and took control of their hidden villages. With next to no ninja defenders at home, Iwa and Kumo were taken over and shut down.

Permanently.

Kiri managed to make a come back and eventually joined the Suna-Konoha alliance when they had enough ninja to be called a hidden village again.

Sakura Haruno was given a medal for her work in the final battle. She saved over two dozen critically injured ninja working in the hospital, and when a single enemy ninja entered her area and tried to finish off one of her patients, she threw herself in the way of the weapon, critically wounding herself for her patients.

The ninja was promptly killed.

Rock Lee was one of the few ninja to come out almost unscathed. He was forced to replace his leg weights, though, after breaking them during the fight. Some say Rock Lee had one of the highest kill totals of all Konoha, but nothing was ever proven as the body parts from people he hit were hard to find and put together.

It would be years before either of them would have the courage to break past the walls they had thrown up between each other and actually date. And when they did, it was only for a few months before they were engaged and wed. Rock Lee was ecstatic and Sakura Haruno had never been happier in her life.

Sasuke Uchiha and Ten-ten survived the battle, barely. Ten-ten had been nearly killed by a stray fire jutsu and Sasuke had used his own body to block half and put the fire on her out in his hurry. Both suffered from serious burns, and shrapnel wounds from explosions that occurred while they were unconscious. But they both survived, and after weeks in the hospital they announced their engagement to the city. And no one disagreed. The only pureblood fanatics that wanted Sasuke to marry another bloodline carrier were soon silenced by Sasuke himself. They were wed less then a year later and retired from being ninja. They run a weapons shop that is the most successful in the city.

Shikamaru was nearly killed by the combination of the Tsuchikage's and Orochimaru's final assaults, but a combination of loving care from his girlfriend and best friend and the cushiony landing he had had on Choji's stomach caused him to survive. The genius was crippled, and was never able to walk right again, but lived. He now hobbles around the city of Suna, followed by little blond haired children that call him father and try to beat him in shoji. Sometimes they do. Temari is expecting a fifth as well.

Choji also survived, and with much less serious injuries. He recovered from his injuries quickly and his fiancé of one day almost demanded that he give up being a ninja for her sake.

He didn't.

She was pissed.

But they came to an understanding.

Ino and Choji were married before Sasuke and Ten-ten. Tsunade was quoted as having never seen such a couple. The groom was twice the height and five times the weight of the bride. But it didn't matter to them, obviously, as they had the largest smiles one could see on their faces.

Kiba Inuzuka also survived, though his loyal friend and partner, Akamaru, did not. The dog took a massive claw for his master, and in return earned his own spot on the Konoha memorial. Kiba's sister and the heir to his clan died in the final battle, leaving him as the sole leader of the Inuzuka clan. He took the job and instantly he changed from a jokester to a business man. Kiba Inuzuka was said to be one of the best clan heads of the Inuzuka clan since its founding.

Shino Aburame took control of his own clan, what was left of it, and started rebuilding. It took years, decades even, but Shino rebuilt the clan's insect hives to their highest population ever and they were constantly growing. He found a strange girl from the village who wasn't grossed out at all by his many holes in his body. In fact, she found the insects to be nice. She was quoted as saying they made love making very interesting, and no one allowed her to go any farther then that. Shino led his clan from the depths of near death to a rebirth, and was rewarded for it with much joy and happiness.

Neji Hyuga became one of the best ninja in the Hyuga clan, becoming ANBU and captain of the Konoha ninja forces before he was twenty. He married a wonderful Hyuga woman and every one of their children was seal free thanks to the first and last decree of the Hyuga clan head.

Gaara of the sand was wed to Matsuri of the sand nearly immediately after the final battle, to no one's surprise. His group's victorious return to Suna sparked a change in the populace towards him and it wasn't long after that when he was appointed as the sixth Kazekage of Suna. He led his city with all the care he had for his wife and their three children. He made sure that his children never thought for a moment that they were unloved. Matsuri turned out to be a wonderful diplomat and accompanied Gaara everywhere. The people of Suna never had a chance to see the demon in Gaara again, only the loving couple that led their city.

Iruka Umino and Anko Mitarashi both survived through the final battle, one on the front lines and the other with the rest of the wounded. They were married soon after, and thereby creating the weirdest couple in Konoha. But they fit so well together that no one ever complained.

And if they did, one or the other would silence them.

Kakashi and Kurenai announced their engagement around the same time Sasuke and Ten-ten did. Much to Jiraiya's dismay, Kakashi had given up his novels for what he called "the real thing". The two became one of the most effective two person ninja team to ever come out of Konoha for years, and even when they both retired to raise their children they still held the records for most top ranking missions completed with a two ninja team.

Jiraiya, the toad sage, left Konoha soon after the final battle. He said it was to travel the world some more, maybe head as far West as he could. Many thought he had died after a few years of not seeing him, but the Paradise novels kept coming out so no one bothered to check. He never returned to Konoha, but kept in close contact with certain people. It was fifteen more years since the final battle when toad summons delivered the summoning scroll of the toads to Naruto, passing on the legacy of the hermit. They said he died peacefully, with a notepad in his hand and a hot springs to spy on.

Tsunade was not as fortunate. She had wanted to travel the world, but was kept in Konoha for years for the training of the next Hokage. When her successor took over, she was given a seat on the elder counsel.

She refused.

Tsunade disappeared over night without a goodbye to anyone except her successor and his wife. They granted her request to leave, reluctantly, and so she left. The legendary sucker traveled as far as the nearest gambling establishment. And the next day she returned to Konoha.

Determined to be the adopted grandmother of her successor's first child.

Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze and Hinata Hyuga married in December in a ceremony that the entire village attended. Immediately after the marriage Naruto was named the Hokage of Konoha, a surprise to no one except him. He was to be trained, but the title was his. He officially took the name of his father on the same day, reestablishing the Namikaze clan name. Hinata Hyuga became Hinata Namikaze on that day, and not one person had ever seen a person be happier.

Naruto became the youngest kage in history, three years before his father. And it was two years after that, also three years before his father, that he first found out that his wife was pregnant with his first child. The same child that had kept Tsunade in the city.

A boy, nearly identical to his father but with his mother's personality.

And then a girl, nearly identical to her mother, except with the energy and openness of her father.

The Namikaze family grew and grew over the years, and eventually Naruto and Hinata were the parents of eight children. Some adopted and some their own.

Naruto, despite his young age, was one of the most respected kage's in all of the elemental nations. The fire and wind nations under the rule of the lords with the backing of their hidden villages brought peace to the elemental nations. Ninjas no longer fought against other villages, but only against bandits and missing ninja. The great ninja wars ended with the death of Orochimaru. The nations prospered in the peace and the world was better for it. And Naruto Namikaze never had to use Hiraishin again.

Except to get home to his wife.

The mental scaring caused by his past battles faded into history as a bright new future rose on his horizon.

Fin

AN: The End. I don't think a sequel would work, so don't ask. So... what did you think? Are you going to go back and read it all over again.

I did.

A few times.

It really is good to go back and look at your past work and see how you've developed. I think I have improved as a writer throughout this story and, despite the mistakes, will continue to improve.

So thanks for reading and I hope to see your reviews in my next fics.

Tazaki4