A/N: Another great chapter, indeed :D I really like how Team 7's got the whole Sannin thing going on. Their teamwork is excellent; they did what they had to without even a word. And uh... poor Sai xD I love him though. It was still great how he tried to strategize and do something while the Juubi was distracted, but of course it's not always that easy...

Also, that part with Hinata is great. I'd like for people to see that although characters might be influenced (severely, sometimes) by other characters, their development is still their own. Things don't always go the way they want it to, and they don't exist purely for the sake of being paired off with anybody. Hinata is Hinata because she is Hinata. She is developing, and continuing to grow as a character. And that's that—nothing more to it.

Whatever happens later is ultimately up to how the characters feel about each other—not by what they've accomplished, what they or anyone else thinks they deserve; love is not a game, which means there is nothing to be won—and it cannot be controlled by simple, immature logic such as "so and so has done enough for him/her, therefore he/she deserves him/her". Because that is complete and utter bullshit.
If any of this sounds foreign to you, you probably need to watch Aladdin again—pay close attention to Jasmine. If you watch carefully, you'll see that she takes shit from no one. So don't fuck with her. She is not a prize to be won; she will not accept your gifts or love or whatever other shit you have to offer unless you both are able to reciprocate mutual feelings.

Anyway, it's all up to Kishimoto, and whatever he chooses is fine with me, as long as it's all done thoroughly, and believably. To suit the story, and not necessarily the fans.

Eh, sorry for the wait on this one, btw, after I'd finally begun to update regularly..

—-

Obito scrunches up his face. "Damn...all these kids are really showing them up."

"Who?"

"The adults. You know, our generation, and above. What the hell is anyone else even doing?" he asked incredulously. He then pointed to three specks far below them. I remember them from before. "Those other two, are they on Hinata's team? The Aburame and Inuzuka." He receives a nod. "Kurenai sure turned out to be a good teacher," he muses.

"Our whole class made jounin...and many wanted to become a jounin-sensei, as well." It was only during those times... Living your youth through war, having the closest adults to you die so early on...made the desire to become a teacher to those younger than them very strong. "And so they did. They were very good. I'm sure you remember Asuma..." he says, gazing at him carefully. Everyone else did fine; but I never did want to teach anyone, knowing my life was full of so many mistakes... He sighs, feeling a certain heaviness come upon him. "Look at this next generation below us, Obito...and see what they have become."

"Man, we might as well be dead," he continues, carefully ignoring the other's intense gaze.

"You will be, once we get out from here."

He is unable to ignore him this time. He turns his head toward him, studying the blood-red eye that Kakashi had harbored for so long. He watches the tiny black tomoe spin relentlessly, tirelessly.

The open portal to the outside world begins to waver, slightly widening and contracting in size.

"Anyway," Kakashi says wearily, "I'm beginning to run low on chakra." He covers his left eye once again, at the same time conveniently hindering his view of the man beside him. "Why don't you take over? You know you're much better at controlling this jutsu than I am. After all, I'm not the one with the Uchiha body or blood running through my veins..."

"..." Obito looks away for a minute, deeply thinking whether or not he should really reopen their view to what was happening outside. In all honesty, he knows that he can't care less about what those kids are up to. He is tired, and confused. He isn't even really sure what he wants anymore. Maybe...he just wants to...

—-

While Madara sits against the rock, he leans his head back in exhaustion. "Pfft..." Watching this fight is becoming boring. Maybe I should have just taken up Hashirama's offer. He watches as the pink-haired kunoichi, his moody descendant, and the bright flaming Uzumaki suddenly bite their thumbs and bend to the ground. Oh! He begins to sit up. This may just get exciting, after all. Let's see what they summon...

A giant slug...frog...and snake. Indeed...

"They really are quite something, aren't they?"

The Uchiha nearly jumps at the voice. "What the hell?" He turns around, looking behind him.

Hashirama walks over to him, and stands behind the large, tall boulder that his friend leans away from. "Miss me?" He cups his face into his chin and rest his elbow onto the rock, looking down at him casually.

Madara scoffs. "Probably another clone..." He turns back around, refusing to look at the Senju.

"Oh, you weren't keeping track of where the real me was? Well, I guess you won't know now, will you?" He chuckles.

"Go away..."

"Wasn't it you who called out—" He makes a gesture of reaching forward, effectively mocking him, "—'W-WAIT!'"

He makes a face, which goes unseen by the man. "What do you want?" He casually waves a hand in front of him from where it rests upon his knee.

Hashirama grins at the disguised invitation, and hops over the boulder, and sits beside him, pulling up a knee near his face, staring out at the battlefield in front of him. He does not notice Madara turn to him and stare at him intensely. "..." Finally, he decides to speak, and there is a slight change in his tone. "...Let's talk."

—-

The area around him remains dark. He cannot see much. He scans his surroundings with his eyes. Still, it is all too blurry. He tries to get his eyes to focus, and it take several minutes to adjust. Finally, he sees something in front of him. "Hhh..." The figure hangs right above him, with his hands sticking out, as if to reach for something that had so cruelly escaped his grasp. ...Sh-Shodai-sama...?

He blinks several times, thinking he must still be in a dream. "Whh..." He finds it hard to speak. What's going on...? He can't remember anything; he wracks his brain for details, but he comes up completely blank each time.

"You are awake, now."

The bland, emotionless voice stirs him. He jerks his head at hearing the sound, and realizes he is stuck. Pain rushes through his body like a poison. He realizes he is partially suspended in the air, but held by something firm, like a wall. Staring once more at the features of the Shodai-hokage, he realizes it is not really him...of course—it is only a clone. A clone? Or something... "Guh..." He closes his eyes as a wave of nausea washes over him. He feels sick to his stomach. Why? What was he doing here? Feeling a sudden frustration at everything in existence, he asks himself, Why can't I remember...?!

Awareness takes the form of alarm as he senses the owner of the voice come creeping near, closer, and closer...

—-

A/N: Let me also start off by saying that if a few chapters later Kakashi suddenly enters the story again by himself, with no explanation...I will be SEVERELY PISSED. I have a feeling we're just going to get a mini flashback or maybe only just a few words of what happened, with it all getting pushed aside again because in reality, Kakashi doesn't like to talk much, he's not the main focus of the story, and everything else will always be far more important. (Please don't die Obito)

So, I suppose in relation to a few of the previous chapters (manga), this one—633— ended pretty okay. I mean, it was epic for them, but I'm not sure it was, for us, since we could kind of see that Sannin thing coming. Still though, not every chapter ending has to be epic! We're just lucky we got what we did so far :P Actually I think I've been way too excited over the latest updates, so this one was refreshingly calm. (otherwise I might have just exploded from my feels) I am intrigued to see some more awesome Team 7 teamwork, and it was great to see the rest of the Konoha's rookies' skills. I have to say that the InoShikaChou tactic worked very well, and the whole concept is fascinating, really.

And I almost missed it, but that part where Hashirama just grows some wood right out of his chest to stop the hand of the Juubi's larger forms... okay, that was just impressive—not surprising—but impressive to look at. And he just did it like it was nothing. Shodai hokage-samaa~! :D

Anyway, let me know what you thought about this chapter! Or the manga. Or both ^^