Author Note

Hello there and welcome to another Chapter of Full Moon.

I'm sorry to say that one major thing in my planning kind of backfired. The thing is that I was planning five chapters to end it and this would be the fourth one, correct? No actually. This will be the last one. The material for the two last chapters aren't that extensive, so I figured that it would be better if I used one instead of two chapters and take another month to do the last one. I really believe my readers won't be upset with me about this, considering that I'll manage to devote more time to the other in progress stories with this one finished. I believe, though, that after this one, you all will understand why I did this. If not, then I really can't do anything about it.

The chapter is really just a consequence of everything that happened since the beginning of the story with Konoha being the good guy and Iwagakure, the bad one.

Now, before I can proceed with the chapter, let's devote some time to the reviews.

Wyrtha – Oh I believe that he will do something, but nothing related to his granddaughter.

Bowtechsniper – I don't plan on execution, but rather a much worse suffering,

Kmaster – Naruto's transformation occurs only when the full moon is up…hence the title of the story.

To late – Actually, it is, sorry. As I stated earlier, this is the last chapter and Kurenai doesn't even appear much in this story.

Well, that it's it. Here is the chapter.

Chapter 32 – A fool's demise

Beta: Kyuubi123

The day started just like any other in Konoha; cerulean blue sky, gentle winds, and scorching hot.

Compared to the events that transpired three days ago, the village in the morning was an oasis of tranquility with the population enjoying the nice day blessed by the previous Hokages that stood watch through the monument built for them. Ignorant by the events that transpired between ninjas from Konoha and Iwagakure, the village's population proceeded with their current duties. The two heroes that managed to quite possibly save the village from yet another war were currently in their respective peaceful sleep within two hospital rooms, each surrounded by their loved ones. In Naruto's room, were Kushina, Yuugao and little Misao and in Itachi's room was his mother Mikoto. In Naruto's room, the two women and girl were anxiously waiting for Naruto's awakening, which according to Tsunade, would happen any minute now. The two women were already used to these kind of situations, but Misao wasn't and the girl was quite anxious to see her niisan awake once more.

"Misao-chan, could you please stop for a minute. Your brother is alright, he's just sleeping."

The little girl looked down in shame, but nodded. Kushina had to control herself actually not to be anxious as well.

She was used to seeing Minato like this for a long time, but this was her son lying there sleeping for three days already. Misao looked at her mother to see that her eyes and smile were somewhat different from before. She had yet to see her mother like this and it worried her. Yuugao, though, understood. She remembered how relieved she was that her Naruto had returned to her safe and sound. The Anbu was already picturing how she would run to Iwa and kill as many Iwa shinobi as possible if something were to happen to Naruto. As an Anbu, though, she couldn't just skip duty and stay there, but her unit – hence her family – understood her need to be by the man she loved. She was covered for the time being. She had to laugh, though. Even her almost mother in law was willing to back her up in case anyone figured out that she was skipping duty. The Anbu looked at the man that stole her heart there sleeping like a golden angel and she couldn't help but smile since in a few minutes, he would be there once more to keep her heart warmed and filled with joy.

Neither women nor girl were startled when a bright yellow light enveloped the room, before the village leader appeared to check on his eldest son.

"Nothing yet?" Both Kushina and Yuugao confirmed it before looking at Naruto for a while.

"Tsunade said he should wake up any moment now." Kushina said, earning a nod from Minato followed by a sad smile.

"I was hoping to be here when he woke up, but I have a meeting with the Fire Daimyou in a few minutes. He has some urgent news for me. I wonder if it's in relation to either Kumo or Iwagakure."

Minato then left just as he arrived, through his famous technique.

===In Kumo===

Far away from the hidden village in the leaves, another hidden village was in uproar with ninjas from Kumogakure running around frantically throughout the hidden village in the clouds. It was their Raikage's wish that the village got ready to invade the now weakened Konoha. Because of that, the village had to make the necessary provisions, establish security measures in case of retaliations from other villages and assess their weaponry so as to be as ready as they could possibly be and overcome once and for all one of Kumo's worst enemies, Konohagakure. Every shinobi, from chunnin and above, knew how pissed their leader was when he was told that the scroll detailing Konoha's strengths and weaknesses wouldn't be arriving anytime soon. It should be at least expected that without said information, than it would be too risky to attack a village that managed to remain victorious after the invasion of not one, but three hidden villages at the same time.

However, the Raikage wasn't known as cautious, so it came to no surprise that the man was even more adamant than before about attacking.

Currently, he was inside a giant meeting room next to his most trusted jounins, as they conversed about the plan of the invasion. The man's appearance was enough to intimidate anyone, no matter what. His tall and muscular frame was easily bigger than most shinobi out there. He used a loose white kage's robe, which was opened to reveal his highly defined chest muscles and tones abdomen, as well as a belt giving the image of a professional wrestler. Once the meeting started, the village leader got up from his chair, ushering everyone to quiet down as he spoke.

"Alright, let's get this thing started. Even if our plans were ruined, regarding the scroll from Iwa, we still have the advantage in numbers and power. It was damn foolish of me to believe that anything good would come from a lowly rock-nin. Shee, where are we with the village's weaponry?" The man named Shee was at least half the size of the Raikage, if not less. He had short blond hair and wore the Kumo's jounin vest, on top of a full black shirt. Despite his presumably lack of muscle built, he was one of the most trusted jounins under the Raikage's charge. When the Raikage needed to leave the village, Shee was always chosen as one of his personal bodyguards.

"We should be ready by tonight, Raikage-sama. A couple of katanas were still due to be purchased, but the supplier will deliver them in a couple of hours. The rest is all set."

The Raikage nodded and then took a seat with a smile on his face. Soon, the world would know Kumo's strength as Konoha burns to the ground by lightning.

"Okay, then, our army will leave in two days, so everyone must be ready by…" The Raikage suddenly stopped talking as he was disturbed by a man who entered the meeting room, flanked by his samurai division. He had dark skin color and wore glasses. His outfit was extremely familiar as only a select few throughout the elemental nations were allowed to use it. Actually, only one man in each country had the power to use such outfit and each one hold great power over things. The Lightning Country's Daimyou held an aloof expression on his face as he approached near the Raikage's seat. He was probably the only one who was able to shut the Raikage up, which was saying something, despite him being a Daimyou.

"Greetings Raikage-sama, I've received some interesting news upon arriving in your village this morning. An old friend of mine said you were seeking to invade Konohagakure. I do hope he was just telling me a joke as I don't remember any information in this regard coming from you." The man's face still remained aloof as he now waited for the Raikage's response. The other occupants inside the room looked at their leader in question, since they all understood what the Daimyou just implied.

"Because of the recent invasion against Konoha, the village is now weakened and therefore won't be able to resist against an attack from us."

The Daimyou just snorted at the man's hunger for even more power.

"It was by luck that I happen to be here today otherwise you'd proceed without my consent. Lightning Country has a lot of trading agreements with Fire Country that certainly would be terminated once your army crossed the border. Your income comes from missions and I understand that with Konoha gone, you'd be receiving more. But Lightning Country's income comes from its many trading agreements with other countries, which would be seriously endangered if I were to approve your invasion." The Daimyou as well as the others could see the Raikage's muscles trembling in anger, but he was used to the man using violence instead of arguments. He, then, turned his back to the Raikage and turned to leave, but not before finishing the fight with a jab.

"You should sometimes focus on the bigger picture, Raikage. Your short-sized nature would possibly ruin this country."

The jounins that were in the room began to leave the room as they had to communicate the village to abandon everything and resume the village's hired missions.

===Konoha's hospital===

Slowly but surely, Naruto felt the light from outside as he slowly opened his eyes to see the white ceilings once more. Last thing he remembered was doing the hand seals required for summoning the king of wolves, hoping that he had enough chakra for the task. By the looks of things – Konoha was still standing – he assumed that Fenrir came through for him in the end and dealt with the rest of the iwa platoon. He was so engrossed in his thoughts, before the mark on the IV monitor awoke him from his wonderings. Pretty much the same thing happened to all the three girls inside the room, before they all approached the surprised Naruto. Not surprisingly, Misao was the first to greet him by literally jumping on him. His screams echoed throughout the entire Konoha, as his body was aching all over the place. He was covered in bandages after all. Despite everything, though, both Kushina and Yuugao started laughing at the sheepish look on Misao's face after realizing what she had done.

"Thanks for that, Misao-chan." Despite the pain, Naruto smiled upon seeing the three women he most treasured in his life there with him. It would be better if his father was there, but he knew that with a war looming, his father would be extremely busy.

"Are you alright, Naruto-kun?" Kushina asked, earning a nod, albeit painfully, from her son.

"Not really, but I will be. Can anyone fill me in on what's happened? What happened to Itachi and the others?" His eyes landed on his girlfriend, earning a subtle nod as she would explain.

"Kakashi-sempai managed to stop the Iwa-nin from crossing the border and retrieved the scroll. He along with Neji and Gai-san, managed to bring the Iwa-nin as captive. Itachi is alive and well inside the room next to you being treated. You had us all worried, Naruto-kun."

"Sorry for that Yuugao-chan." He smiled, which in turn forced her to do the same. She just couldn't avoid it.

===Fire Country's capital===

It has been two hours since Minato arrived at the meeting with the Fire Daimyou and he was now busy trying to comprehend exactly what the man was telling him. According to the Daimyou, because of Iwa's reiterated actions, the Earth Daimyou ceased all funds to Iwagakure, thus not allowing it to continue as one of the five great hidden villages. The Daimyou appeared to be smiling because of it, as the Earth Daimyou would be passing all his missions to Konoha from now on. He even smiled more upon telling that the Tsushikage committed suicide since he couldn't handle the shame of ruining the village he and his ancestors believed in. Despite the amount of pain Iwa has caused to Minato's family, the Yondaime Hokage wouldn't wish for this to happen. Because of their hatred, not only the ninjas but the population will certainly suffer. No one would be associating with the population from Iwa anymore.

It's quite sad that an entire village was ruined because of what happened almost twenty years ago.

"You don't seem as thrilled with the news as I hope you would be, Minato-kun. I know how much Iwa wanted to kill both you and your son."

Minato lifted his head and locked eyes with the Fire Daimyou.

"For all intents and purposes, it was the Tsushikage who dug his own grave, but I can't help but feel sadness for the innocent part of the population who now has to suffer because of a fool. Forgive me Daimyou-sama."

"You don't need to ask forgiveness, old friend. It's just in your nature to care for others and I happen to respect you for that, considering that you were responsible for most of Iwa's casualties during the war. Iwagakure has been targeting your family for seventeen years now, but still you feel pity for them. It's quite admirable in a way." The Fire Lord, though, evidently, believed in what was best for his country, as he was already picturing the amount of income that Konoha and Fire Country will receive from the Earth Country Daimyou's hired missions. Minato also acknowledged the greedy nature of the man in front of him, but merely nodded in response for his comment.

"Now, if you'll excuse me Daimyou-sama, I have to return to the village in order to prepare for the war against Kumo." The Daimyou nodded and was about to dismiss, when one of his advisors barged inside the office.

"Daimyou-sama, we have just now received a letter from the Lighting Country Daimyou." No sooner had he announced the letter's arrival, the advisor handed it to the Daimyou who started reading in front of Minato, who in turn decided to stay and hear what the letter says. The Daimyou of Fire Country was holding the letter close to his face as he read with severe concentration and a small amount of eagerness. After all, it wasn't common for the Daimyou of Lightning Country to send a letter without someone sending him one first.

"Now I'll be damned. It seems as if heaven is protecting Konoha, Minato-kun." The Yondaime's eyes widened instantly, before he nodded with a smile on his face. "I bet the Lightning Daimyou didn't want to risk the end of our trading agreements, hence why he prohibited this war from happening.

"Whatever the reasons were, I can now relax knowing that the war was averted. However, if the Raikage isn't going to attack Konoha, we both know he'll be aiming for Iwa now that's weakened."

The Daimyou nodded at Minato's cunningness, but the smile on the Hokage's face indicated that what meant more to the guy was the village. Minato, then, stood up and bowed to the Daimyou once more, before turning his back on the fellow ruler of fire country.

"I thank you for your time, Daimyou-sama. Now, I must go home to deliver the splendid news." The Daimyou knew Minato well enough to realize that the Hokage was already in the village before he had the time to blink.

===At the hospital===

The sudden yellow light once more appeared, startling everyone. As Minato saw that his son had awakened smiled, before asking him how he was feeling. He asked his son about the mission and gave the recently promoted jounin the appropriate praise after completing one of the toughest S-ranked missions assigned to shinobi after the last war. Everyone was curious why Minato still maintained his easy going smile after hearing that his son was feeling better. Minato told them everything, at least to those who could grasp what was happening, before seeing the sudden relieved looks on everyone's faces. He knew, though, that Naruto was once more thinking about the level of hatred harbored by Iwa for their family and how it drove them to, after almost twenty years, still seek revenge. Minato did understand now what his son felt all this time and he was also responsible for the situation in Iwagakure, even if none of the confrontations were started by Konoha.

He calmly approached by his son's bed and placed his hand on his shoulder with a smile on his face.

Naruto briefly nodded as he could see in his father's eyes that the two Namikazes were thinking the same thing. Even if Minato had started, it was Naruto who finished it.

In the end, it was unavoidable, though and Naruto learned how to live with it. Surely, he wished things happened differently and somehow Iwagakure learned not to meddle with what happened in the past.

They remained inside the room for a while, before Minato and Yuugao left for their respective duties. Kushina and Misao left as well, in order to purchase some new kunoichi clothes for her. Naruto was alone inside his room as he pondered on what he had to put aside, because of the war that was looming.

'I guess that there are no further reasons to postpone it' Naruto thought as he looked at the window with a smile on his face.

===Konoha's Interrogation Department===

Inside the Anbu Headquarters, there was a private room meant to torture/interrogate every ninja from other villages that were caught conspiring against Konoha. A lot of enemies had met their end being tortured to death by a man everyone in the world came to fear because of his mental torture methods. Special jounin Morino Ibiki. The name alone brought chills even to his fellow jounins as he was considered a sadist by Kakashi and Asuma. Almost every time, Ibiki would make an enemy scream, using both physical and psychological torture. Only those who had the stomach for it, was able to assist him while he performed his job with ruthless efficiency. This last enemy managed to hold her own for a couple of minutes more than the previous records, but it was impossible to keep on for long as Ibiki hardly got tired of doing what he did. There were lots of brutal torture that could be performed without having to kill the interrogated.

Eventually, she had spilled everything he wanted to know, about Iwagakure and every other information she possessed about the ninja world.

Her body was trembling and both her arms were broken and covered with her blood from deep cuts performed by Ibiki's partner Anko. Her fingers were broken one by one and her finger nails were ripped off without mercy each time she did not answer Ibiki's questions. If one thing could be count was granted was the mental state after someone sits on Ibiki's chair. Her trembling eyes were completely visible as she had relived her suffering again and again by the hands of one of Ibiki's most prized genjutsu techniques, similar to Itachi's Genjutsu Tsukyomi. When the man left, another came in and looked at the woman with lack of any form of pity upon seeing her state. He was tasked with the mission of ending the enemy's misery after Ibiki was done with him or her. He grabbed her arm and administered a special type of poison that went straight to the heart. Only one second of pain on her chest and Kurotsuchi stopped breathing instantly.

As a couple of Anbu had taken her body away for analysis, one man stood behind a dark glass, trying as much as he could in controlling his breathing. No matter how much he saw it, Minato couldn't get used to it, but he assumed this to be a blessing.

He sighed once more and wished things could be different somehow. He turned and with his eyes closed, he convinced himself that it was Iwagakure's fault for holding a grudge for so long and sacrificing kami knows how many of their shinobi just for either his or his son's head.

===Epilogue===

Six months had passed ever since the war was averted and things went smoothly for the Namikaze Family and Konoha. Kumogakure, like Minato predicted, did invade Iwagakure, or at least what was left of it. It was no mystery that since the village was no longer being funded by Earth Country, which led to the fool Tsushikage's suicide, the entire village was transformed into chaos. Supplies of any kind was more worthy than money and people, there, would sacrifice anything, including becoming a monster against those who once were called fellow citizens and friends. When Kumo reached the place, there was fire and destruction everywhere. In the end, all they managed to acquire was the weapon's division and some ancient scrolls of earth manipulation and jutsus. Apart from that, though, nothing significant had happened. In Konoha, the sun was shining and people were happily roaming throughout its streets. The many shinobi clan members were at their homes congregating with the other members.

The Namikaze state, though, was rather empty, at least for those who passed by in front of the estate and couldn't see anything unusual.

The garden to which anyone could see from the road was clear, empty. However, if someone were to check it more thoroughly, they would see seals located in four corners around the garden, hiding what appeared to be a congregation of sorts, albeit a small one really. The entire Namikaze family was there as well as Yuugao's mom and dad. Naruto's genin team and Anko were there as well, together with Kurenai, Kakashi, Gai, Itachi, Sasuke and Mikoto. Sarutobi and Hyuuga Clan managed to attend as well as the sannins Jiraiya and Tsunade. The Sandaime then ushered Naruto and Yuugao together from the crowd and urged them to join hands as the occasion was about to get started.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today in order to join Namikaze Naruto and Uzuki Yuugao in matrimony. " As the Sandaime Hokage prepared his speech, everyone that was invited to attend started smiling, with the exception of a few, of course.

Kushina was crying her heart out for her baby.

Minato was busy calming her down, while Misao just laughed at both of them.

Jiraiya was busy taking advantage of the moment and hugged Tsunade from behind.

Tsunade was busy slapping the man real hard.

Both Naruto and Yuugao looked at their friends' antics and smiled as they turned to hear the Sandaime speak once more about the devotion and compromise needed to sustain their relationship. When both looked at each other, images from their previous years passed through as Yuugao remembered how Naruto just kept surprising her each and every time. One thing she knew, though. If someone told her that, when she first lay eyes on Naruto, that she would be marrying him ten to fifteen years later, she would never believe him or her. Looking at the veteran warrior from the special shinobi force, no one would be able to picture her as a bad-ass kunoichi, but a purple-haired goddess with a nice blue kimono that belonged to her mother when she married her father thirty years ago.

After the Sandaime declared them husband and wife, Naruto and Yuugao started a much deep kiss that actually took longer than normal, earning a whistle from Anko followed by 'get a room you two' speech.

Author Note

Well, that's it for Full Moon.

I'd like to thank everyone for reading the story and supporting it with excellent reviews (some bad, but I just ignore those). Now, stick up with me throughout my other in progress stories as I hope to finish my hunter-nin story next (not immediately after this one, but it will be quite soon as well). Now, I want to remember everyone about the challenges placed in my profile. The first two were already taken, but the challenges aren't limited to one author. Also, the third challenge so far remains orphan. Just for the record, though, if no one plans to take it, then I'll do myself a favor and start a new story using the idea. It's something I always planned on doing, but couldn't because of the huge amount of work in updating nine stories. With this one finished and soon the hunter-nin story, I can use the free time for the other ones as well as the third challenge.

Thanks a lot everyone and a special thanks to my beta Kyuubi123 for everything. He has been extremely helpful pointing out some errors and ways to improve my writing.

Yours truly,

Narutoenthusiast