Chapter One: Death of a Utterly Gutsy Shinobi

What would you do if you had a choice that could save the world? Would you run and hide hoping someone else would be brave enough to make the choice you couldn't, or would you stand and face the consequences of your decision?

In the middle of a war stricken nation, there stood a single man and his demon against another more powerful demon and a man who could be considered a demon in his own right. Out of the nine demons that had once been captured inside human hosts, two remained but only one was able to continue fighting.

Naruto faced Madara Uchiha and the Juubi with only Kurama, the Nine-Tails Kyuubi, for back-up. Kakashi-sensi and Guy-sensi had had to retreat due to burn injuries from the Juubi's Beast Ball attacks. They had known that the end of the battle was near and had left Naruto to finish Madara once and for all.

The only problem was that Naruto was low on chakra and Kurama was weaker than the Juubi by a lot, even though it wasn't at its full strength yet. Madara was harder to beat now as Obito Uchiha had been forced to bring Madara back to life by using his Rinnegan. This full strength Madara was harder to beatMadara's plan was nearing completion and there was no time for mistakes to be made. Naruto turned to Kurama and Kurama saw the hopelessness of the situation echoed in his partner's eyes.

They wouldn't be coming out of this battle in one piece. If at all.

Madara had ordered the Juubi to hold off Kurama from helping Naruto who was currently trying to hold off Madara's seemingly unshakable attack. There looked to be little hope left for the pair. Nothing was working and the situation was dire.

"Is there anything we can do, Kurama?" Naruto asked in their mindscape. The cage that once held the Nine-Tails was wide open and Kurama was lying in the cage with his head out of the open door. Any time spent in the mindscape equalled a miniscule amount of time in real life.

"There is one thing we can do, little one. But there is the price of the jutsu to consider. There is a chance that it won't work and even if it does then we would still end up dying. Would you be able to give it all up for them?" Kurama looked in the eyes of his jailer and saw only the desperate need to save his friends. Some people would never change, no matter what happens to them.

"If they are safe because I do this, then I will do whatever it takes," Naruto smiled sadly at his friend, "for that is my nindo, my ninja way." There was no enthusiasm in his voice now, only sadness and pain. He would be the last casualty in this war. He would make sure of it.

"Is there a way to contact the others battling, Kurama even though Headquarters has been destroyed? I don't want them to worry and I would like to say goodbye at least..." Naruto whispered as a tear escaped from his eye involuntarily. This might just be the last time he could speak with people from his village before they did this jutsu.

"We have given some of my charkra to most of the shinobi, if not all of them. If I were to connect them all we could pull them into the mindscape. For you kit, I will do this." Kurama focused his chakra to the surrounding areas. He paused every battle and entered every single mind. Kyuubi pulled on the minds of the allies adding them to the mindscape joining Naruto.

Naruto was sitting on one of Kurama's tails and everyone paused in confusion and shock of the sudden change of scenery. Why they were in this strange place and why the Nine-Tails was here and loose instead of being in its seal cage? Naruto's friends from the leaf stepped forward at the sight of Naruto and the infamous Nine-Tails. As of yet no-one had seen the sad expression on Naruto's face or the tear track down his cheek.

"Where are we?" A voice in the crowd of shinobi spoke out and murmurs of agreement from others came forth from the shinobi.

"This is my mindscape." Naruto spoke quietly and the others looked shocked. "All jinchuuriki have a place where they can communicate with their sealed beast. This is where the Kyuubi was jailed... We brought you here to tell you something very important."

"What would that be?" Tsunade spoke from the middle of the crowd which seemed to split for her and the other Kage. They, the Kage, all walked forward and stood in front of Kurama and Naruto. As Tsunade got closer she noticed the tear tracks down Naruto's face. "...Why are you crying Naruto?" She whispered confused as she looked at the teenager who she viewed as her own family.

Naruto's friends looked at him and also saw the tears starting to flow down his face and the Nine-Tails lifting a tail to wipe away the tears. Naruto gave the fox a small sad smile. If everyone was surprised by the Kyuubi being kind, then they were even more so surprised when the Kyuubi spoke aloud to everyone.

"Tell them kit. We need to do it soon." Kurama spoke in a calm and less demonic voice than usual. Some people were freaking out just a little about the loose Tailed Beast, but others were surprised about how normal the demon sounded and acted.

"Naruto what are you planning?" Sakura said to her teammate. She had lost Sasuke and now she had the feeling that she would be losing Naruto as well. Sasuke had fallen earlier in battle right in front of her eyes. She couldn't take losing another friend.

"The Juubi is loose and Madara is too strong for us..." Naruto told them finally after a pregnant pause. He looked at Kurama and the Kyuubi just nodded. The people around them looked shocked at the news that the demon was too strong for the Nine-Tails and his partner.

"What will we do then?" Tsunade spoke out to the young man in front of her. He had grown so much in this war from the child who used to pull pranks for fun to the young man who fought for his friends.

"We, Kurama and me, have a plan..." People started to cheer and shout in relief that Madara and the war may be over, until the Kages ordered silence. Tsunade was looking at Naruto's face and trying to find out what his plan was. But it was Gaara that stepped forward to speak.

"There is more, isn't there?" Gaara spoke in his raspy, emotionless voice, for the first time since entering the mindscape. Kurama looked curiously at the ex-jinchuuriki of the One-Tails.

"So this is the last jinchuuriki of Shukaku..." Kurama said with a slight chuckle. Gaara nodded and bowed slightly to the Nine-Tails.

"We can destroy both the Juubi and Madara but the cost is high... so we called you all here to tell youthe plan... but ultimately... to say... to say goodbye..." Naruto's voice trailed off into a whisper and he looked down to the floor to hide his now crying face.

Naruto's friends had many reactions to his statement of his plan. Shikamaru had, being the genius he is, guessed Naruto's plan and was upset that this troublesome plan would take one of his best friends from him. Kiba was comforting a teary eyed Hinata who was in shock and barely able to register what was occurring around her, whilst Akamaru nuzzled her side with his tail down. Shino and Sai were expressionless as always. But Sakura just stood there staring at Naruto with floods of tears down her face.

"There must be another way-" Tsunade started but was interrupted by Naruto shaking his head.

"I'm sorry Baa-chan but we have no more options left. I am about to run out of chakra and Kurama can't last against the Juubi much longer. Madara's plan is about to be completed. There is no time for another plan. This is it. At least this way the war will be over." Naruto gave her a small smile which she returned through her tears.

Naruto stepped down off of Kurama's tail and walked towards the Kage. As soon as he was close enough, he hugged Tsunade. Everyone was watching them now and as soon as Naruto released Tsunade, he went and hugged all his other friends in a group hug. Kurama just smiled a fox smile filled with mischief and a hidden sadness.

Naruto released his friends and walked back over to Kurama.

"You should tell them kit. They should all know who your parents really were." Kurama said as a tail nudged Naruto back to face the crowd. Naruto turned straight towards Tsunade.

"One question Tsunade. How did you know my father was Yondaime Hokage, Minato Namikaze?" Everyone gasped at the new information. Tsunade nodded almost to herself and smiled widely despite herself.

"You look exactly like he did at your age, except you act like your mother, Kushina."

"I remember Kushina." Kurama rumbled with a wide smile. This surprised everyone that the demon had known the Fourth Hokage's wife. "Never before have I met a woman like her. She kept me pinned on a rock for years until I escaped." Some people gasped but others who had known Kushina just smiled knowing that she and Naruto were difinately related.

"Nice to know." Naruto smiled at the fox. The fox smiled back. Naruto turned to the shinobi and said, "All enemy will be trapped in a genjutsu when you leave. It will only last for a minute so kill them all quickly."

With that final word, all the shinobi and the Kage gathered faded. Naruto watched as his friends faded from his view. This could be the last time he saw them ever, but at least he managed to say goodbye to them. It was more than some had got to do when they had died in this inferenal war.

"Time to end this." Naruto said before he also faded from the mindscape.

Once again they were back on the battle field. Madara quickly recalled the Juubi to his side and Naruto started the handsigns required for the first jutsu, his hands moving at unimaginable speeds that even the Uchiha in front could not see the signs. His hands ended in the last sign and he yelled out.

"Bijuu Art: Seeking Evil Intent Jutsu!" Naruto yelled. A blinding light appeared and when Naruto opened his eyes next he saw both the Juubi and Madara surrounded by a black and red aura meaning that they were held in place by the jutsu. If anyone else had been watching at that point they would've saw a gold aura around both him and Kurama.

"Step one complete kit." Kurama announced with hints of emotions leeking into his voice.

Over on the other battlefield, every enemy shinobi had been eradicated leaving only their carcasses. The genjutsu cast by the Nine-Tails had saved so many from close encounters with Shinigami and Kami herself. The Kage saw that everyone was fine and the injured were being seen to. They knew that the last battle was still being fought just a few miles away. All of a sudden a blinding white light shone from the approximate place where Naruto was fighting Madara.

Naruto's friends had already ran off in the vague direction of where Naruto was fighting the Juubi and Madara. Tsunade, along with the other Kage and shinobi from other villages that weren't injured, all ran after them. They all ran as fast as they could. The only question was whether or not they would get there in time.

As people approached, they saw the mass devastation that Killer Bee had caused in the of the battle beginning and when the Juubi was released. The destruction from Tailed Beast Balls lay everywhere and had caused massive wreckage to the surrounding forest.

The next thing they saw was Madara, Naruto and both the Tailed Beasts standing completely still in a slight mist. They had these weird auras around them, gold for Naruto and Kyuubi, but red and black for Madara and Juubi. Nobody had seen a jutsu like this before so they stood away and watched as Naruto started to weave more handsigns at that blinding speed.

"Bijuu Art: Evil Cancelation Seal!" Naruto yelled and as he performed the last handsign, chains of long runes and locking mechanisms for the seal appeared around the pair. The auras of the four started to combine and cancel each other out until they just formed into one single aura as the seal formed between the group in mid air.

What was happening was that just as Naruto had had to fight Kyuubi for his chakra in a tug-of-war, now Naruto and Kurama were using their aura to cancel out Madara's and Juubi's auras. When all of an aura was neutralised, then the person with no aura left would die. It was a battle of yin and yang, good and evil and it would all be decided at this moment.

The crowd of Kages, shinobi as well as Naruto's friends watched as the battle reached its end point. They were equally matched but just as Naruto was about to collapse, something happened. If it had been only a few seconds more, then Naruto would've lost but as he started to fail and his life-force started to run out, Madara and the Juubi instantaneously collapsed.

The final battle of the utterly gutsy shinobi had ended for once and for all. However, as everyone started to celebrate, Naruto felt the energy leave his body causing him to collapse in a heap on the ground. Tsunade and Sakura raced forward to perform any medicinal help they could to Naruto, but as soon as they tried to heal him, they were pushed gently away by Kurama. The Kyuubi lay down next to his host and lay a single tail over Naruto. Naruto slowly opened his bleary eyes, obviously struggling to see, and looked towards Tsunade and Sakura.

"Sakura-chan, Baa-chan… There is nothing that can save us now." Naruto said, his voice a like a soft summer breeze. His face had lost its entire colour and the three whisker marks on each of his cheeks seemed to grow darken in comparison. His eyes that were once so bright and full of joy and mischief lay dull and hollow in their sockets as the end came closer and closer to them both. "We are paying the cost of the last jutsu we cast on Madara."

"What was that jutsu by the way Naruto? Never before have I seen it used in a battle or anywhere else for a matter of fact. Did Jiraiya teach you it?" Tsunade asked gently to the dying teenager in front of her.

"No, Jiraiya-sensi didn't teach me this. It can only be used by jinchuuriki and even then it is only available for the Nine-Tails jinchuuriki. Dunno why though." The confession of the sealing power he had used had drained him. It was taking his chakra and energy from both him and Kurama. They would both die in the end and no amount of help could save them.

Tsunade waved forward the ninja that had raced from their battles to this battlefield, including most of Naruto's friends from the leaf. They approached their dying friend who still lay on the ground. Kurama gently picked up Naruto's limp form and sat him up against one of his own tails. A small but extremely sad smile shined on his face as he watched what would be his last host, die.

"Arigato Kurama." Naruto whispered to the tailed beast who wrapped a tail around Naruto's small form. "Nice to see you guys one last time…" Naruto's words were cut off by him coughing violently. A small stream of blood trickled out of the side of his mouth. The damage was starting to shut down his organs and cause internal bleeding in any and all major organs.

"You ended the war Naruto. Not even Minato could do what you did today." Tsunade spoke from her position kneeling beside Naruto's left hand side with Sakura not far behind her. Sakura was holding Naruto's hand, which Naruto was grasping so tight that his skin looked as white as freshly fallen snow.

"I guess that… that is as close… to Hokage as I… will get now…" Naruto was struggling to speak now and as he forced the words past his mouth, a traitorous tear slipped down his face. As one fell, it opened the gate to all the other tears that he had held in.

"You surpass every Hokage." The fact made everyone smile, no matter where they came from or which Hidden Village, no matter what their allegiances', everyone knew the teenager in front of them to be the Sixth Hokage no matter what others may say.

"We go out together kit." The Kyuubi said gently squeezing the little one with the tail that was wrapped around him. "I will die with you… Arigato Naruto."

"Together."Naruto said raising his fist as an invitation to the fox demon. Kurama raised his paw and they held their fists together. "At least… there is no… tug-of-war this time…" Naruto laughed shakily before coughing some more and more blood dripping from his mouth.

"We should tell our story kit. We could change how they treat the jinchuuriki… or what is left of them, in the future." Kurama spoke softly to Naruto, who nodded in agreement.

"You talk… for me please. Take them to... the mindscape... first though." Kurama nodded. Everyone appeared in the mindscape and saw the Kyuubi and Naruto in exactly the same position they had been in on the battlefield.

"There were nine tailed beasts." Kyuubi started speaking in a normal voice. It seemed he was going to tell a story and instantly everyone's attention was on the demon. "We did not start out as evil beings; we were just so confused and eventually we were corrupted by the humans around us. People sought to own us, to control us. They managed to seal us away, taking our freedom and forcing us to become tools." Kurama's voice was calm but betrayed hints of anger at sections.

"You took everything from us- even our names. We were all so full of hate for you. Until one came who changed us all. You did everything to Naruto, I was watching as you beat him and called him names. I listened to him cry at night and to him asking the Third Hokage who his parents were, only to get no answer. He went through so much and I still hated him even though he didn't know a thing about me."

Kurama looked down at Naruto. He was still holding on but by the time the story ended or just after, he would've slipped into a deep sleep that he would never arise from. Kurama would last a bit longer being a tailed beast and all, but not by very much.

"All he knew of the world was hate, fear, anger and abuse. That is the story of all jinchuuriki's. You hold something against them that they themselves have no control over. Gaara knows so much of Naruto, as deep down they are the same." Shinobi turned to the Kazekage and saw the tears shining in his eyes whilst he looked down at his first true friend. Naruto Uzumaki, the one who changed it all around.

"Two sides of the same coin. One became aggressive and violent against the people, whereas the other learnt to brush it aside and pull up a mask of pranks and jokes. The One-Tail was sealed incorrectly causing him to lose his mind, and with his mind part of Gaara's as well. Naruto managed to show Gaara that you are never as alone as you seem and all you need is someone to start you on the right path…" Naruto coughed again but this time it was more like clearing his throat and less like coughing up the blood in his internal organs.

"Iruka-sensi…" Naruto whispered not saying any more or any less. He was fading and quickly.

"Just like Iruka was there for Naruto, Naruto started the path for Gaara, to make friends and live for your dream. We may be demons sealed inside these humans but they are still humans in all aspects but that. If you treat a human like they are a demon, then someday there is a chance that the demon will come out. But what if you treat a demon like a human? Will they become more human but still stay a demon?"

"When I met Naruto first, he wasn't scared or fearful of me. He just greeted me as a human would. I was treated as a human for the first time since the Sage of Six Paths spoke to us. As I observed Naruto, I saw someone who could change the person in front of them. He helped so many and you all started to see the hero who had been right in front of you the whole time. He managed to change me, a demon."

"When Killer Bee helped Naruto face me, the first task he had to do was face the demon deep within his own heart. He saw himself, but so full of anger and revenge at the Leaf for abusing him when he was little. Naruto just comforted his broken self and told him that he would never be betrayed like that. Naruto then went on to face me. He released the seal within himself and tried to grab my chakra."Kurama laughed gently and Naruto smiled at the beast.

"This seal that holds me is special. Before when Naruto lost control, Minato used his chakra that was hidden in the seal to reseal me and hold back my power once again. This time when I was fighting Naruto for control of my chakra, Kushina's chakra took hold and helped Naruto to gain control of my chakra."

"I got to meet… my parents once… in my life… I got to finally… speak with them… I found out the… the truth." Naruto smiled and a hint of his old mischief came back into his eyes.

"We Bijuu are stubborn beings and we can hold grudges for lifetimes. I held a grudge against Naruto for his parents doings. However I came to realise that if I didn't open up, we both would die. Seems we will die either way." He muttered to himself, but everyone heard him. "As we can't pass the legacy of the Bijuu names on. We will just show you."

After images of all the Bijuu and the last host appeared in a line. They were in order of the number of tails they had. Everyone stared at the beasts, some in awe and others in fear. Gaara walked over to stand by the One-Tail, Shukaku. Killer Bee was currently unconscious so he was also an image as was the Eight-Tails.

"One-Tail, Ichibi, Shukaku. His last host was Gaara, your current Kazekage."

"Two-Tails, Nibi, Matatabi. Last host was Yugito Nii."

"Three-Tails, Sanbi, Isobu. The last Mizukage, Yagura was his host."

"Four-Tails, Yonbi, Son Goku and his host Roushi."

"Five-Tails, Gobi, Kokuo and host Han."

"Six-Tails, Rokubi, Saiken and Utakata."

"Seven-Tails, Nanabi, Chomei and her host Fuu."

"Eight-Tails, Hanchibi, Gyuki and you all know who Killer Bee is."

"And me Nine-Tails, Kyuubi also known as Kurama. Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze will be my last host. You know our names, our most prized possession." Kurama paused and looked at Naruto as if sensing something.

Everyone knew what was happening now. The mindscape started to fade in areas and Naruto, who had stayed in his position against Kurama, was breathing less and less. Everyone faded out of the mindscape and reappeared back on the battleground. As they all came back to the physical world, Naruto left it.

Please Comment on whether or not I should continue this or if you find any mistakes... Thanks