A/N: YES! Finally finished the final chapter and it feels great to finish with the 20th chapter. Sorry about the length of this chapter, but there is just soooo much that needed to be fitted in. Hope you all enjoy. I also apologize for the insane amout of page breaks/pragraph sepraters or what ever they are called...there is just sooooo much to fit in :P

It was midnight and Sakura walked deeper into the forest. She had guessed Naruto had gone that way, but if she found him it was either because he wanted to be found or that she just got lucky.
The woods were huge and surrounded the entire village besides where the road in and out of the village was.

She had left Sai behind to sneak by the two fighting were-wolves in search for Naruto; Sai leaving the other way in search of Hinata.
She needed to end it. It was only right and he knew it had to be done.

She crept through the forest silently knowing just as well that she could walk into any of the shiki rather than Naruto.

Sakura heard movement and froze, pulling a kunai out before her.

Naruto stepped out from behind a tree, looking dark and sad in the darkness of the woods before her. He was a good three meters before her, the moonlight being the only source of light to show his face.

Sakura pulled the kunai higher in a defensive position, ready to strike Naruto.
To finish him off.
To save him from his pain.

She froze for a moment, seeing the glowing red irises appear in Naruto's eyes as he continued to watch her from where he stood.
This was bad.
The only time she had ever seen Naruto's eyes glow red was before he attacked Hinata or fed on Sakura's blood or thought of it.
He took a tentative step closer, never removing his frightful eyes form her.
Another step.

'This is it' she thought to herself as her heart raced with the thought of killing her closest friend, 'It's me or him'

He was so close to her now, His red eyes still glued to her in a sad expression that she didn't completely understand.

She lunged forward with the Kunai, but Naruto caught her fist before she reached him, holding her like that for a brief moment, before applying enough inhuman pressure to cause her to drop the kunai.

'Shit, this is it. He's lost control. He's one of them' she panicked.
She was scared and wished Naruto was with her. The real, alive Naruto, but the only Naruto present was the one before her, holding her fist tightly, with a bloodied shoulder and staring down to her with his demonic eyes.
'Naruto is going to kill me' she thought, seeing Naruto's body prepare for a quick movement and she dared to close her eyes for a moment, preparing to feel Naruto's fangs sink into her neck.

Sakura opened her eyes when she felt Naruto release her fist, instead quickly dropping down to pick up her kunai he had forced her to drop and moving back a couple meters, his eyes returning to their black state so that his eyes looked hollow in the dim light.
He stood there for another moment, both of them staring silently to one another in the night.
Sakura recovered and pulled out another kunai, holding it before her again, putting on a braver, fiercer face.

"Naruto, please let me end this" she pleaded to him, not lowering her guard. But he remained silent, watching Sakura unblinking.

"I guess, Sakura, this will be the last time we see each other" he replied, a small sad smile appearing on his face and he turned to leave, quickly vanishing deeper into the dark woods, before Sakura could speak.

Toshio stood before the mound of shiki corpses as they were lit by the women of the village who would then dispose of the bodies down a naturally formed hole in the earth, not far from the edge of the woods that they used as a mass grave for all the burnt shiki corpses.

The air smelt of burning flesh and would have made anyone be sick, but they had a job to do.
The stench clung to his clothing and followed him even when he escaped to the indoors, but he dealt with it for the time, instead focusing his efforts on helping the men to find the remaining shiki.

Not long ago, Megumi's father had deposited a corpse, wrapped in a white sheet like all the others, but this shiki corpse had caused him enough grief to cry.
Megumi.
She had attempted to escape the village, but was quickly found and dealt with, like many other shiki who had attempted the same.
They couldn't risk any shiki escaping to the outside world or the whole mess would only start again elsewhere.

Toshio took one last drag of his smoke before letting it fall from his lips and crushing it beneath his shoe to extinguish it.

"Toshio" called one of the men from afar, signalling that they were ready to leave for another raid on a shiki hideout.
Toshio put his hand in his now, not-so-white doctors' coat, and left in the direction of the awaiting men.

So far everything as going to plan.
Hinata had successfully 'accidently' encountered two groups of hunting men and successfully led them directly to a shiki hideout where the men had become to occupied with killing the other shiki to remember Hinata.
She disappeared into the darkness between houses and waited for an opportunity to leave.
It was hard not having chakra anymore after having it all her life. Running wasn't the real problem but rather the fact that she could only run as far and as fast as those chasing her and she was surprise how much energy it demanded without the aid of chakra.

Having rested quickly she left the area as her pursuers remained occupied with the slaughter of the hiding shiki. She left at a jogging pace till she was out of the houses and walked back along the path, rather having the humans find her instead of her using the effort to hunt them down among the chaos.
She walked with her head down, confident that her shiki senses would notice the presence of others before her eyes did, especially seeing as she was hungry.
God, she couldn't remember the last time she had any blood.
Probably back when Naruto was still alive that time in the hospital, the last time he was alive, but, no, Tatsumi had given her a chance to feed and she hadn't liked the idea of it but….

The smell of smoke pierced her thoughts and she looked up, turning to face the other side of the village. A fire was spreading through part of the village and even quicker through the trees.

'Naruto!'

"Fire!" cried a man as he raced towards Toshio and the group of hunting men he was with. They all turned to face the man as he struggled for breath as he spoke.
"Toshio, fire…." He stopped for breath and Toshio looked past him to where black smoke filled the night, barely there to see unless you were searching for it.
None of them were at a well enough of a vantage point to see any sign of flames but the puffing man assured them that it was a large fire and was spreading quickly.

Toshio turned back to the group of men he was with.
"The fire will cause neighbouring villages to act," he stopped and turned to speak to several of the men, "Go back to the women and help them discard the bodies quicker" he turned to another selection of men, "you lot, continue hunting the shiki, the rest of you are to help control the fire" he finished and all of the men split into their smaller groups and went to leave.
Toshio turned back to the men leaving to fight the fire, "And have others help you if you meet them on the way. And find the other hunting parties!" he called to them and they waved back in acknowledgment and he turned back to face the men he was left with, nodding to them as he left with them to continue hunting the shiki.

Natsuno jumped back as Tatsumi swiped at him with a clawed hand. Tatsumi was relentless and much more experienced at fighting as a were-wolf, being able to change the form of his nails to claws without changing his whole form. He came at Natsuno again, but he dodged it and created distance between them both again by striding backwards.
Unlike Tatsumi, Natsuno had no experience with fighting and only had the kunai Naruto and Hinata had given him and fighting tips, such as keeping distance and waiting for an opening.
And so Natsuno did. He watched Tatsumi's movements trying to find an opening or habit of Tatsumi's that would give Natsuno a chance to strike back, not that a kunai would do much damage as the shiki's body healed itself almost instantly.
Natsuno only had one shot, one attack. He needed to strike fast and hard, either stabbing his heart or taking off his head.

Tatsumi continued to strike forward, forcing Natsuno to focus more on dodging than looking for an opening or weakness. Every movement Tatsumi made forward, Natsuno would move back.

'Gah, this isn't working' cursed Natsuno to himself, baring his teeth when Tatsumi's claw cut to close and scratched his cheek.
'Time for plan B'

Natsuno turned away from Tatsumi, confusing the blue were-wolf for a brief moment and Natsuno left in the other direction, running behind the houses beside the tree line.
Tatsumi hesitated; his original plan was to go after the blonde headed brat form the Leaf village that had escaped thanks to Natsuno, but he was focused on eliminating Natsuno too now, the second brat, so he snarled to himself and headed off after Natsuno.

Natsuno was ahead and kept his pace. He crossed through the trees, the space between the trees was filling with dark smoke that made it difficult to see, but the were-wolf in Natsuno created a clear image of his path for him and he had the advantage; he had lived in the village longer that Tatsumi.

The smoke grew thicker and it would have been hard for any living person to breathe so again, being dead had its advantages. Natsuno could feel the heat now, coming in waves from the red glow he could see through the smoke.

With several more strides he crossed through the band of fire, the tall wall of flames signing the ends of his hair and clothing but he pushed forward, not paying it any attention. The roar of the flames drowned out the heavy steps of Tatsumi behind and Natsuno dared not to look back to see how far back or close he was to him.
Several more stride before Tatsumi's hand came down on Natsuno's shoulder and threw him back past Tatsumi and into the flames behind.
Natsuno got back to his feet quickly, ignoring the lapping flames as Tatsumi walked towards him looking furious. He came closer to Natsuno and grabbed a hold on his shoulder tightly, just as he had with Naruto earlier in the night, and squeezed tightly, pushing his pointed claw like nails deeper into his flesh and he could hear his own bones being crushed before he registered the pain of it.

This was it, the opening he had been waiting for.
Tatsumi was blinded with his rage and his enjoyment of crushing Natsuno's shoulder.
Natsuno reached into a pocket and pulled out a kunai, taking one quick stab towards Tatsumi's heart, but didn't make it deep enough to do any real damage.
Tatsumi released Natsuno to pull out the kunai that stuck out from his chest, almost letting out a roar as he did so. Natsuno took the opportunity to duck past Tatsumi and continued running through the flames hearing Tatsumi swear after him; his bones starting to heal themselves already.
It wasn't long till Tatsumi was chasing through the flames after him again, but it didn't matter. He was so close to where he was heading, so close now.

Tatsumi called out to him again but his words were distorted by the roar of the surrounding fire.
'Just up ahead' thought Natsuno to himself, trying to force himself forward faster.
Natsuno reached his destination and stopped, turning to face Tatsumi from where he stood.

Tatsumi slowed to a stop a meter from Natsuno and they glared to one another surrounded by the lapping flames.
Tatsumi's mouth moved as he spoke, but he was too quiet to be heard over the flames. Then he charged, coming right at Natsuno. He braced himself for the right moment, waiting till Tatsumi was close enough.
When Tatsumi reached him, with his fist held forward, Natsuno didn't dodge him or counter, he just stood there taking deep calming breaths ready for what he was about to do.

He grabbed a hold of Tatsumi's fist with his own hand, holding him close. When Tatsumi brought his other fist around in a wild swing Natsuno ducked under it and moved to swap positions with Tatsumi. They both exchanged a quick snarl to one another before Natsuno released Tatsumi for the slightest of moment took a step back and threw himself into Tatsumi, forcing them both backwards into the empty expanse in the ground.

Their fall wall cushioned by the many charred remains of the hunted shiki, the area having been evacuated and the rest of the shiki bodies deposited into the large natural forming hole in the earth before the fire had consumed the area.

Both were-wolves were already back to their feet, standing silently as Tatsumi looked up to see the red glow of the fire high above. He returned his gaze back to Natsuno, but surprisingly he didn't look furious or angry about being forced down a deep hole, but Natsuno was sure he was furious behind his sly smile.
"So kid, just you and me now" he said, crossing his arms smugly.

Natsuno made a move and Tatsumi lunged at him, but stopped when he saw what Natsuno was holding.
A bomb.
Tatsumi gave another sly smile, thinking he knew Natsuno better.
"As if you would kill yourself, and for what, me?" he laughed at the smaller purple haired were-wolf.

Natsuno pulled the pin of the bomb and returned his own smug smile to Tatsumi, enjoying the blue were-wolfs expression when he realised it was the end for them both.

The fire was getting out of control. The men and woman of the village had to leave the area, evacuate why the route in and out to the village was still clear.
"This way"
"C'mon" called several of the men that had been hunting the shiki earlier. They were directing the way out of the village.

Sai had been running along the roof tops, having had no luck in finding Hinata, even with many of his painted rats traveling through the village, but still no luck.
He spotted the villagers leaving, walking quickly and orderly down the main road and out of the village.
He spotted Toshio, one of the few men who stood by the side of the road, and encouraged the villagers out. He dropped down from the roof top and landed beside Toshio, who didn't react, as though having a ninja land down beside him was something he was used to by now.

"The fire is too dangerous" stated Toshio, not bothering to wait for Sai to ask, "We are evacuating the villagers" he exhaled a lung full of smoke before turning to face Sai who looked as emotionless as ever.

"Where is Sakura?" asked Sai without any hints of emotion present though Toshio could tell he was worried.

"I haven't seen her" replied Toshio, expressing his own concern and inhaled more of his smoke.

Sai turned to look back in the direction of the spreading fire for a long moment. He then turned back to face Toshio again. They locked eyes for a moment and Toshio nodded to him slightly in understanding, Sai returned the nod before leaping back to the roof tops and heading towards the spreading fire that brightened the night.

Hinata hadn't stopped running. The smoke would give anyone trouble breathing, but it didn't bother her; the only thing it affected was her vision as the smoke was difficult to see through, though her shiki instincts helped guide her.
She had to find Naruto. She stopped to listen over the raging fire every now and again, or to call out his name, but she never got a reply.
The tongues of flames would often burn her skin but she took no notice of it as her skin healed almost instantly.
"Naruto!" she called out again through the flames.
The fire had spread form the trees and had consumed half the village already.
It was possible that Naruto had already left or possibly even died, but if he was to leave he would have looked for her, surely?

"Naruto!" she called out again, cupping her hands around her mouth to project her voice better.
But again, only the flames responded to her call. She was close to giving up and she was tired, not exhausted, but the tired that was brought on by the approaching sun.
She fell to her knees and stared at the ground, tears rolling off her cheeks from desperation. She wanted to find Naruto. She needed to.

A crunch from a charred branch caught her attention and she looked up to see Naruto approaching her through a curtain of flames.
He looked over to her from where he stood, several meters before her, his clothing singed and burnt in patches where the fires had reached him, Hinata had no doubt that her own clothing looked the same.

He didn't smile to her but he looked sad, like he was thinking about something that he didn't wish to.
Hinata got back up to her feet, her tears having stopped now to see that Naruto was fine and she had nothing to fear.

The flames were hot and the smoke was making breathing more difficult the further she went in. Sakura had been trying to follow Naruto, heading in the direction she had last seen him moving in.
She wished they had agreed for Kakashi and Yamato to help them. Kakashi's hounds and his sense of smell would be helpful trying to track down Naruto, but then again, the smoke would have made their noses hopeless.
Sakura feared she had ventured into the smoke too far and the fire continued to spread, only making her task of escaping the flames more of a challenge, but it she kept moving against the flames then it would die down at a faster rate, hopefully.
She was still in the woods, as far as she could tell, but had lost her sense of direction through the smoke several times and now wasn't sure of whether she was close to the village or not.
She decided a change of plans. Sakura leapt into the tree branches above, deciding which branches to put weight on carefully, picking only the least burnt and sturdiest looking of branches to move across.
Her vantage point was better in the trees, but there were times where heat from the flames below caused her to move away quickly or patches of smoke would almost blind and suffocate her.
But Sakura continued on, pinpointing her original direction and continuing on her way, only stopping in her travelling when she spotted two figures among the flames.

The sun would rise in only a few hours' time and both Hinata and Naruto were tired, though Naruto refused to let it show on his features as he stood several meters before her, both of them surrounded by the flickering flames from the fire.

Naruto took a step forward towards Hinata, still looking as though he was deep in thought.
He stopped before her, looking her in her black eyes with his own, his eyes showing sadness in his thoughts.

"N-Naruto?" started Hinata, but she left it as that when Naruto pulled out a kunai and held it between them.
Hinata looked down to the kunai then back up to Naruto who remained staring to her sadly.
She took a step back, shaking her head to Naruto, knowing what he was implying.

He had always been a person of his word.
He remained where he was, still holding the kunai out towards her.
Hinata only wanted to shy away, but she knew he was right. The shiki were all gone besides them both and their hunger would only cause harm to the living around them, creating more shiki.

She stepped closer to Naruto, till the kunai in his outstretched arm pressed against her chest.
Hinata stared at the burnt ground and lifted a hand to direct the kunai to position with her heart.
They both remained silent, Naruto looking sadder now and he waited for Hinata to look to him. She lifted her head slowly, tears streaming down her face and mumbled some words that were only clear for Naruto to hear.
He smiled to her softly at her words and wrapped an arm around her back to pull her into a hug, keeping the kunai pointed to her chest, though pulling his hand back so not to stab her in the hug.

Naruto sat his chin on her shoulder, bending a little to do so and spoke softly, the threat of tears clear in his shaky, yet still confident voice.
"I know" he said still smiling softly and Hinata wept harder, burying her face into Naruto's collar bone and Naruto did what needed to be done.

In one horrid upward movement of his hand, the kunai pierced Hinata's chest without enough of a warning for her to react.
Naruto felt the hot blood from the wound running down his fingers and he released his grip on the kunai , leaving it in Hinata's heart and wrapped both his arms tightly around her, feeling her body relax in his arms and he lowered himself to the ground, silent tears escaping his black eyes as he released her slowly to lay her on the burnt ground, seeing the blood he had caused and his own bloodied hand print on her clothing. He removed the kunai from Hinata's chest and stood up straight, looking down to her sadly, no longer able to conjure a smile of any kind from the sight of her body.

Naruto looked down to the bloodied kunai in his matching bloodied hand. He heard something above that sounded different to the surrounding flames that were dying away like his own soul.
He looked up to a tree close by that still stood after the fire and he saw a familiar pink haired silhouette looking down to him, trying to find reasoning for the sight she was seeing.

Naruto smiled up to her softly and sadly, tears still streaming down his face like miniature waterfalls. He raised to kunai higher against his body, positioning it over his heart as he continued to look up to Sakura in the tree.
"Naruto, don't!" cried Sakura, but she was too late, too far to reach him in time.

Naruto turned back to face Hinata on the burnt earth and in one swift absent movement he forced the kunai into his own heart, too quick to feel any pain. He fell to his knees before falling the rest of the distance to the ground, close to Hinata, seeing her peaceful face in his last moment of consciousness.

Sakura reached the ground only after Naruto had. She ran to her closest friend and shook him to wake him, calling out that he was an idiot for not waking when she demanded it of him.
After a minute or two Sakura realised it was hopeless.
She was capable of healing someone, but not bringing them back from death.

She looked to Hinata, who looked peaceful with her eyes already closed then looked back to Naruto's body. His eyes were still open and Sakura started to cry when she saw that his death had returned his blue eyes to him.
She was happy and knew that Naruto was, in a way, happy too.
He hated what he had become and he was willing from the beginning to end his own life to end his misery of being a monster and Sakura was just happy to see those blue eyes she had missed so much.
She closed Naruto's eyes and then he looked peaceful like Hinata did.
She smiled again, despite her tears and knelt by their bodies, both her friends facing one another in their eternal peaceful slumber.

Sakura heard light footsteps land behind her and she stood to turn and face Sai who observed the bodies of their friends before looking to Sakura.
Without a word, Sai walked past Sakura and knelt down to pick up Naruto's body. Sai then started to walk back the way to the village with Naruto. Sakura watched Sai vanish further into the smoke filled forest and burnt trees, the surrounding fire almost gone, and Sakura turned to lift Hinata's body to follow after Sai.

It was sunrise by the time Sai and Sakura reached Toshio and the villagers again.
Toshio had led the villagers further down the main road and now sat halfway between their own village and the neighbouring one, having stopped for a rest.
They were all surprised that Hinata and Naruto's body hadn't burnt under the sunlight, but it was clear that death had returned them to their original, non-shiki, bodies.

The two Leaf ninja walked the way to the neighbouring village with the villagers, taking the time to send a final report forward to Tsunade, before saying farewell to the villagers they knew and to Toshio before they left towards their own home village with Naruto and Hinata.

Out of the burnt ruins of the village emerged Seishin, carrying a large briefcase. He was limping, having injured himself on his journey down from the abounded church that Sunako enjoyed so much. He looked around the abandoned village for anyone before deciding it was clear and left further down the road, carrying little Sunako sleeping in his briefcase.

A/N: Again, sorry about the length of this chapter and about the last paragraph of this chapter with Seishin and Sunako, I know it may seem odd and out of place or what not but that is what occurs in the end of the shiki anime, so just following the shiki storyline (sorry if that spoils anything) and I apologize for any OOC-ness.
Hope you enjoyed!