AN: As always special thanks to GJMEGA for his amazing beta work!

Chapter 71: War's End

Tezuka Yotsuki knew the end was upon Kumo. The last hope of the village had been for Kirigakure to ally with them against Konoha. Even that may not have been enough, but it would have given them some hope. Terumi had not only shattered their hope by refusing to agree to an alliance, she had buried the shards of it underneath the cruel waves of Kiri. They had allied with Konoha.

They had been quick to prove their allegiance. By sea the fresh Kiri nin came and conquered. The Raikage had ordered his shinobi to retreat into Kumogakure leaving Kaminari no Kuni (Land of Lightning) to fend for itself. Armed soldiers, typically peasants with spears and bows could not withstand shinobi. After the first few massacres all resistance ended.

He was not a man to accept defeat gracefully. He knew there was no hope but he would not surrender even should they offer terms. He would rather die on the battlefield. Tezuka had so few jōnin left that all that remained were his guards and one or two clan leaders, but he would not roll over for Konoha and Kiri.

And so he gathered his shinobi, the thousands of genin and chūnin ready to die in the face of an unstoppable foe. He still outnumbered the Kiri invasion force by a sizeable margin, at least in numbers if not in quality. Mei had come herself but she did not seem interested in taking Kumo with just her forces.

Konoha was on the march.

'The final insult from Jiraiya. Only one hundred shinobi; and with that he wants to eradicate my village.'

That many shinobi would not be a threat if it wasn't for the fact that it fielded the Konoha monsters. Team Seven; Namikaze, Haruno and Uchiha. It was not just them either; the Hokage would spit on Kumogakure's grave personally. As would the Hyūga clan head, Hinata, the would-be kidnap victim from fourteen years ago. It was another deliberate and added slight. Yotsuki took those personally.

His plan had been to make them come to him, to fight street by street and house by house in order to inflict as many casualties as possible. Plans changed. He didn't care about bleeding Konoha, he cared about killing the Hokage. He would lead the assault himself; he would take all of his thousands of weak and half trained shinobi and strike out at Jiraiya's hundred before they could rendezvous with the Kiri shinobi.

'My village is doomed, but I'll take you down with me Hokage.'

***BREAK***

Shinobi moved quickly and the pace the Konoha forces kept was substantial, but for the likes of Team Seven and the Hokage it did not even cause a quickening of their breath.

"I don't understand why you are willing to give them such generous terms Hokage-sama." Sasuke respectfully commented.

"If we create onerous terms we will alienate the land for generations. Requiring that they give up their kinjutsu secrets, changing a few lines on the border and having the Raikage step down will cause anger but not long-term frustration." Jiraiya retorted.

"We will allow them to grow strong again. They are weak because they lack elites, not because they lack shinobi. If we give them even 10 years they will be a threat again."

"You underestimate just how strong you three are." Jiraiya shook his head.

"It is still a risk. Do you think they would hold back if they had succeeded in their invasion of our village?"

"I don't and that is why we have war after war after war. It is time to do something different." Jiraiya replied, his tone firm.

"As the head of the Uchiha Clan I strongly urge you to confer with the clan leaders here before offering terms. What makes Kumo anymore deserving of mercy compared to Moyagakure (Village Hidden in the Haze)?"

"My decision is final Sasuke."

The Uchiha nodded and slowed his pace. Jiraiya saw Naruto watching and motioned him over.

"And what are your thoughts Naruto?"

Naruto's frog like eyes did not show much emotion. As they traveled he had stayed in Sage Mode constantly. Between that and Sasuke's eyes there was no possibility of ambush. It also made him that much harder to read, an already difficult task thanks to Kakashi's training.

"Sasuke only cares about his comrades and his clan. What he is proposing will make his comrades and his clan safer. That is a narrow view and he is fine with it. However I believe people are important be they from our village or another. I don't want to massacre them. Still, terms that are too generous can be seen as a sign of weakness. Kirigakure will also not have the privilege of looting the wealth of this land, which they are surely expecting as recompense for assisting in the war."

Jiraiya frowned. "They will be paid with the return of their bijū." Naruto didn't give any outward sign of surprise, but despite that Jiraiya knew he had shocked his successor.

"I won't make the mistake the Shodai did and give every village their bijū back, but those who have proved loyal like Takigakure and Kirigakure will be rewarded. That should be more than ample payment for Mei's assistance."

"True." Naruto conceded.

"It may be arrogant Naruto, but the way you three fight, it is beyond anything I have ever seen. My own team was considered legendary, but we fall well short compared to you. Save for my excellent penmanship and stunning good looks you have surpassed me. Sasuke would annihilate Orochimaru if the old snake was still alive. Tsunade has greater chakra reserves and better close combat capability compared to Sakura, however your girl has eclipsed me in fuinjutsu and her genjutsu frightens me." He shuddered, only half in jest.

"No one in the Elemental Nations can beat you. I am not worried about Kumo regaining their strength as long as you three live."

Naruto nodded and then his senses picked up the threat.

"There are thousands of shinobi heading for us. Either our intelligence was significantly off or they've left their village defenseless." Naruto stated.

Jiraiya cursed. He couldn't very well ask for a parley, Kumo's stratagem was clear. Defeat the smaller invasion force before the two groups linked. It was not a bold move, it was a desperate one.

"I'm going to join you in Sage Mode. Show them your team's power Naruto, but find the Raikage. Let him know my terms and get him to surrender."

"I'll do what I can." Naruto replied and joined his team.

***BREAK***

The Raikage had sent hundreds of genin in first. Konoha had proven their ability to deal wide scale death. He sent out hundreds to the right and the left to circle around very wide in hopes of enveloping Jiraiya and his forces.

Chakra gathered overhead, the oppressive presence of it could only herald a single jutsu. Futon: Sora Tonkachi (Wind Release: Sky Hammer) came screaming down onto the Kumo shinobi who had no defense against it.

Only this time the attack was not just the weight of air magnified to a ridiculous degree. With it flecks of black flame came and when the jutsu smashed into the ground it sent the black flames of Amaterasu billowing out in all directions. The main force of Konoha shinobi were well away from it but that was not the case for the charging Kumo forces. The genin were annihilated and the charge came to a crashing halt as the flames required his forces to spread out thinly.

It was not yet over.

The black flames were than fanned into the Kumo shinobi by a half a dozen Namikaze clones who were letting loose with overcharged Futon: Daitoppa (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough) jutsu. The fires could not be put out by Suiton jutsu, they could only be dodged. Tezuka called for a halt.

"We'll wait for our forces to surround them before pressing on." He ordered and the courier nin quickly went about signaling and reaching the various field commanders.

Several minutes passed by and then the proud Raikage could only watch in horror as the hundreds of shinobi on the leftmost flank were annihilated by the strange jutsu of Sasuke Uchiha. The legendary Susanoo carved into the mix of chūnin and genin. They met the construct with Raiton jutsu, kunai and explosive tags that barely inflicted scratches and in return they were met with death.

Thinking quickly Tezuka ordered his shinobi to charge. The Uchiha could only be in one place at a time and it would take even him some time to fully decimate hundreds of shinobi. They leapt over the still burning black flames or went around them. Before they could close any further Naruto appeared in an orange flash.

Tezuka only had a moment to prepare himself and then he and his elite bodyguard were under attack. A wind chakra covered blade sliced straight through one jōnin's blade and bifurcated him. Another of his guard couldn't even get his blade up in time before being skewered by the same blade. The Raikage could barely keep up with the pace and what he saw was perfection, there was not a single flaw in Naruto's blade work. Combined with his vastly superior speed and strength he knew he only had seconds before death claimed him.

He struck out with a genjutsu that would disorient his opponent's senses and allow time for a strike. His chakra pushed into his foe's chakra network and was instantly dispelled. In a blur Naruto was on him and he dodged to the left to avoid a strike, Naruto sped past and slew his two remaining jōnin guards. One died from a vicious kick that shattered her spine and the other from losing his head.

"Tezuka Yotsuki, Godaime Raikage of Kumogakure. Our Hokage is prepared to allow your surrender with generous terms, stop this madness and see your people live."

Tezuka spat on the ground. "Kami take you and your Hokage. I will not surrender; I will not be paraded about like a trophy."

The man, no, the monster before him shook his head. "Don't be a fool. You don't stand a chance and your people need not suffer. You'll need to step down as Raikage but you won't be paraded around anywhere."

"LIAR! DIE!"

Tezuka had nothing left to lose, he had planned on using the kinjutsu on Jiraiya but his apprentice would have to do.

"Raiton: Denkou Supīdo!" (Lightning Release: Lightning Speed).

The kinjutsu flared and the Raikage moved faster than he had ever moved before in his life. He was a master in kenjutsu and now had speed that, for the short time his body could sustain it, could match the Namikaze.

His opponent didn't seem surprised or troubled by the attack. He parried smoothly and then struck back. Tezuka's own blade hummed with chakra and he prevented the cutting Futon covered katana from slicing through. However, while the Raikage could match speed he could not match strength. Naruto's blow bowled him over with contemptuous ease. Tezuka felt his skin rip as he plowed through the ground. He flipped up ready for an attack that never came.

"Last chance." Naruto warned.

With an inarticulate cry of rage that belied the stately carriage he had always held himself he blazed forward, intent on killing Naruto with a single blow. Naruto easily parried two strikes and countered with an overhand strike that would smash through the Raikage's guard. Instead of parrying Tezuka dodged to the right. Naruto used a one handed parry and with his other hand launched kunai from his palm using his Fuinjutsu suit. Only inches away, the kunai burst through the Raikage's chest.

Naruto saw that the Kumo shinobi were still fighting and were converging on his position.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" (Summoning Technique)

The magenta colored Gamaken appeared in a flash of smoke.

"Hello Naruto-san. Pardon my clumsiness."

Naruto let a ghost of a grin touch his features. Of all the great battle toads Gamaken was his favorite, and for all his supposed clumsiness he was quite the deadly fighter. He directed Gamaken forward as he paused to sense how the rest of the battle was going.

Jiraiya had entered Senjutsu mode and between him and Sakura they were dealing with the threat on the flank opposite of Sasuke.

'I gave it a try Jiraiya, but these shinobi don't look like they want to surrender despite certain death. It would be inspiring if it wasn't so pointless.'

***BREAK***

Konohamaru stood ready and at attention. The fuinjutsu suit he wore was custom made for him and as the heir of the Sarutobi clan Sakura had made specific modifications. Not that it appeared that the protections would at all be necessary.

Hanabi must have had similar thoughts. "Do you think they will even reach us here?"

Enma, the Monkey King, shook his head. "Unlikely, young one. The enemy is already in disarray, the pink one has addled many minds. They fight amongst themselves even as the Hokage draws near."

Konohamaru huffed a bit. He was good, he knew it. His taijutsu and bōjutsu were formidable and he had substantial chakra reserves that would allow him to use Kage Bunshin and Katon ninjutsu very well. Well, if it wasn't for the fact he had to use a huge chunk of his chakra in summoning Enma.

That really was the heart of his frustration, the sheer power and presence of the Monkey King was his primary contribution in any fight. Enma fought better than most A ranked jōnin. It rankled his young heart because he too wanted to fight at the center of danger like Naruto did. How was he to learn if he was always being sheltered by his summon?

Enma's prediction proved accurate. Perhaps if there were more powerful or experienced opponents they would have more easily seen through the layered genjutsu Sakura had placed over them, however that was not the case. When the Hokage entered the battlefield with his area of effect jutsu the last vestiges of organized resistance ended.

Hanabi looked a little green; unlike Konohamaru she could see everything in perfect detail. How friend slew friend thanks to genjutsu, how the super heated flames of Jiraiya-sama melted flesh and bone and how the few who had broken out of the genjutsu had faces slack with disbelief and utter despair. The last images were what would haunt her, the soulless look of helplessness and futility.

"Konohamaru-kun, even though we may not be needed in these wars I will continue to train. These shinobi had no chance against our forces and I will never let myself be that helpless."

The young Sarutobi heir was in perfect agreement.

***BREAK***

Talia, the foremost Suiton user in Kirigakure completed her reported to the Godaime Mizukage.

"Kumogakure has almost no defenders left in the village proper. A massive army led by their Raikage is bringing nearly overwhelming numbers to attack the Konoha forces."

Her bodyguard, Chojuro looked pensive. "We need to help them. They'll be overwhelmed; they didn't bring that many shinobi with them."

Ao scoffed, "Have you not paid attention boy? Konoha doesn't lose. If the Hokage really is with them you know he'll have brought his elites. We should strike now and prove our loyalty to Konoha by invading Kumogakure. We have the numbers now and likely the Raikage has his best with him."

Mei could see the logic behind it. It also had the benefit of preventing any unnecessary misunderstandings. Konoha would likely be wary of another village after what happened with Suna at Amegakure. Tezuka was also renowned for his genjutsu; it would not take much for a genjutsu to lead to infighting between Konoha and Kiri that would have disastrous consequences.

"We will attack immediately. I will break any defense they have with Yōton (Lava Release). Inform the rest of shinobi."

Ao had a wolfish grin as he looked out with his stolen Byakugan. He had been itching for a real fight for years now. The Kiri shinobi advanced on the doomed village.

***BREAK***

Jiraiya looked at the devastation around him. Not a single Konoha shinobi had fallen, most hadn't even fought. It had literally been Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke as well as himself that had annihilated the enemy shinobi. It had been a slaughter. In the end some had fled but most had chosen to die.

'Foolish pride. This wasn't necessary!'

Sasuke, no doubt, would be happy he thought grimly. He didn't doubt Naruto had given his terms to the Raikage, he trusted Naruto to follow his orders. Kami, he trusted him to lead the village! Jiraiya reformed his shinobi and continued his march onto Kumogakure only to see smoke rising in the distance.

'Mei must have attacked while most of their shinobi were here.'

The three remaining Team Seven members converged on his location.

"Naruto, Sasuke, run ahead and see if you can put a stop to the slaughter. Don't start a fight with Kiri, however."

The two nodded and they were off. Sakura frowned in his direction.

"Those two are faster and you know it. Unless they tangle with Mei and her elite there is nothing left that Kumo has to throw at them."

Sakura nodded. Her speed and strength were tremendous, borderline S rank in some cases; however her physical abilities paled compared to her genjutsu and fuinjutsu specialties. She knew Jiraiya wanted to preserve life and even if it was just slightly, she would slow them down.

"What is going to happen after this Hokage-sama?"

"I'll probably hang up my hat soon. Naruto is stronger, faster and has more knowledge thanks to his blatant abuse of Kage Bunshin. I and the council have decided that in Hi no Kuni there will be no separation between Daimyo and Hokage. It will be one position that will unify the country. The one village being part of one nation but not ruling the nation was attempted and while not the cause of the Shinobi wars, it did not help matters. This is not the way I would have sought peace and it may or may not work. We'll have to see."

Sakura suddenly remembered the mission to the Land of Waves. She remembered the conversation she had with Kakashi-sensei all those years ago.

They camped at night. Kakashi personally set a number of traps as well as cast a genjutsu over them to hide their presence. That done they also set up watches. On the first watch Sakura talked with Kakashi. "Kakashi-Sensei… does it get easier? Kakashi looked at her, his gaze steady with a hint of compassion in his single visible eye.

"Yes. Killing is something that gets easier over time. You will always remember your first kill but if you have a long and successful career as a shinobi it will become second nature." Sakura was chilled at the thought of being used to killing people.

"You kill for a reason, to finish the mission. Ultimately the mission is the security of Konoha. For your parents, you're future children, your teammates, fellow shinobi and those who cannot protect themselves. By killing your enemies you keep your village safe, you save lives."

Sakura looked like she wanted to say something but Kakashi continued. "Sakura, make no mistake, the demon brothers were destined to die the minute they attacked us. The one we left behind for ANBU to pick up will be interrogated and then executed. If you hadn't killed him someone else would have. If you choose to quit the team and stop being a shinobi someone else will fill that role and blood will still be spilled."

The copy-nin's gaze took on a harsher appearance. "A refusal to kill, to not be a shinobi does not lessen killing in the world. It only passes the burden on to someone else. Your squeamishness was a risk for Team Seven and you will emerge from this stronger. You are strong enough to bear the burden so someone else doesn't need to. Take pride in that, you bear the sacrifice of the bloody hand so someone else doesn't need to."

Sakura thought about her sensei's words. His remarks were perfectly logical and they made sense. But some part of her soul fled from the cold logic that justified the dealing of death. The no longer innocent girl bowed her head, "There has to be a better way sensei." Kakashi sighed, "I wish there was Sakura but we live in a flawed world."

Kakashi then grinned despite of the somber mood. "But maybe when your teammate is Hokage he can bring the naive dream that is peace to reality. After all, he is the number one unpredictable ninja; maybe he'll just surprise us all." Kakashi's grin slowly vanished (not that anyone could really see it behind his mask) and his tone hardened. "Until that day comes I expect you to be a shinobi and kill as you are ordered to."

"Hai Kakashi-Sensei," Sakura responded.

'I'll be there for my team. I'll kill when I'm instructed. But there is a better way and this team is going to find it!' Sakura promised herself and when her watch came to an end she closed her eyes and went into a dreamless sleep.

It had been several long years with dozens of battles since that time. That naive dream could finally become a reality. Her eyes stung just a bit, thinking about the fact that Kakashi-sensei wouldn't be there to see his student become Hokage.

"It will work Jiraiya-sama, Naruto will make it work." She stated it with utter conviction and Jiraiya felt a sense of peace wash over him. A confidence sprang up, that despite today's tragedy it would birth a better tomorrow.

***BREAK***

Naruto and Sasuke streaked into the village. They moved around the fighting quite easily, Naruto with Sage Mode and Sasuke with his Sharingan allowing them to avoid pockets of fighting. There really wasn't much fighting, what looked like the old and infirm along with Academy aged shinobi were being slaughtered. They located Mei and rushed to her side.

Naturally they were challenged by Kiri nin as they approached several hundred feet from her. They came to a sudden stop and identified themselves. The shinobi were skeptical of their claim.

"What proof do you want?" Sasuke placidly stared at them, his Sharingan clearly active.

More Kiri shinobi were approaching as was Mei herself. Ao called out, "They are who they say they are." At that Mei moved to approach but her bodyguards closed ranks and she shot them irritated looks.

"I doubt they are here to assassinate me, we are allies." She told her shinobi sharply. Chojuro lowered his blade sheepishly while Ao and Talia kept their guard up.

"If we were here to kill you there is little they could do to stop us." Sasuke stated with his typical arrogance.

Naruto whacked him on the shoulder. "This is a meeting between friends." He turned toward the Mizukage. "Mei-sama I bring a message from the Hokage. Kumogakure is finished and he would like the loss of life to stop. Withdraw your shinobi and end the fighting."

"I don't have a true quarrel with Kumo, I merely acted to show the seriousness with which I take the friendship between our two villages" She replied looking Naruto in the eyes.

He graciously smiled. "Hai, I understand. Konohagakure appreciates your efforts and will do everything we can to ensure a long and fruitful friendship between our two villages."

Mei gave her orders to her shinobi and the Kirigakure forces raced to obey. Naruto could sense that many of the Kiri shinobi were frightened. Mei on the other hand was completely unflappable, she was worthy of the title Mizukage. His gut told him that she would be happy with a lasting peace and alliance between their two villages. It was an auspicious start. The minor villages were already behind Konoha; with the relatively strong Kiri village also with them Naruto could not see where any nation could realistically threaten them.

'Now we just have to figure out what we want to do about Suna...'

***BREAK***

Kankurō was quite nervous about meeting the Konoha shinobi. Last time he was face to face with them he had been trying to kill them. It hadn't ended well.

'It isn't a good idea for the Kazekage to be as nervous as a genin, get it together.'

He was worried about his own life of course. Now as the Kage of his village he had even more of a burden on his shoulders. Only a small guard was with him in order to better show their intention of coming peacefully. Altogether they were a little over a half dozen shinobi, all of them laden with the jutsu of the village. Secrets that no shinobi outside of their village had ever learned, now to be given freely to Konoha.

If it had only been that Kankurō would have been a happy man. Sadly it was not, his sensei, Baki, had felt a greater gesture needed to be made. Apparently that traitor, Yūra, had not been acting on orders from Suna. Kankurō had been grateful that his sister and former sensei had not gone off the deep end when it came to Konoha, but fixing the mess Yūra had caused was going to be a monumental undertaking.

"They are here." One of his guards told him.

Kankurō felt the chakra around him and a dozen masked shinobi in the Konoha fuinjutsu suits appeared around his small party. Jiraiya himself arrived shortly afterward. As had been discussed previously Kankurō and all of his guards dropped to their knees and completed the Dogeza.

Kankurō lifted his face from the ground and held out the box he had been carrying. "We have failed to honor our alliance properly. It was the act of traitors and yet we still carry the burden. To make up for our failure we are giving you our entire library of jutsu as well as this final gift representing how critical we view the friendship between our villages to be."

Jiraiya took the box and opened it. He revealed the head of Baki, the former Kazekage of Sunagakure.

His brow furrowed. "We would not have asked this of your village."

Kankurō didn't move a muscle other than to speak. "Baki-sensei did not want to take any chances. I've seen your power. Your village could obliterate ours and there would be nothing we could do about it. He died hoping that his act would make amends for our failures."

Jiraiya exhaled heavily. "Stand up. You are friends and allies, not servants and supplicants. Return to your village, there will be no retaliation from us Kankurō. I will not be Hokage for much longer but my student is of like mind. May you rule with wisdom Kazekage."

With that three of ANBU masked fuinjutsu wearing leaf nin and the Hokage himself disappeared in a cloud of smoke. They had all been using Kage Bunshin. The remaining ANBU masked individual were likely also clones but they did not disappear as they carried the secrets of Suna with them. Kankurō breathed a sigh of relief. Konoha didn't trust them but they were willing to let bygones be bygones. His village and his people would survive.

He had not been grandstanding or making baseless flattery. He had seen the monsters of Team Seven fight. Naruto, the future Hokage had even more power than his younger brother had ever wielded, but unlike Gaara he wasn't insane. Kankurō would always be wary of Konoha and would do everything in his power to make sure Sunagakure would always stay on their good side.

AN: That ties up most of the loose ends of the story. I always intended the battle with Madara to be the climax of the story, there simply isn't anyone left to challenge Naruto and company. The last chapter will be an epilogue that shows how Konoha has been doing after a bit of a time skip.

On a person note I just got back from A-kon 27, loved all the Naruto cosplay out there! They had a huge photo shoot that had every member of the Akatsuki there. They recreated several scenes including the death of Rin and the death of Asuma, some amazing stuff. Even had a sexy jutsu Naruto! I really hope the Naruto community (both the fan fiction side and the cosplay side) continue to stay strong despite the ending of the series.