At the old age of 95 surrounded by friends and family, Uchiha Sasuke died.

The man who had once been known as the second strongest being in existence had died to old age. No great battle, no last act of sacrifice, no, Sasuke had not even lifted his sword for the last 20 years. This was a time of peace. With the everyoung 7th Hokage the great Uzumaki Naruto pulling the Elemental Nations into its 80th year of Unity. War was a thing of the past, nowadays it was technology and progress that ruled the nations, it was universities where children flocked too, doctors and scientists mixing chakra and progress to create new and incredible inventions that had made life for all comfortable and pleasant.

That was where Sasuke lay right then, in the great hospital of Konoha where Uchiha Sakura and her assistant, her granddaughter Mika, had done all they could, but in the end even their incredible talents were not enough to keep the shinigami at bay.

Sakura let out a long tired breath. She felt old, despite her appearance of a young women in the peak of her life she felt everyone of her years. Her intense chakra control and constant cycling of medical chakra through her system would gift her a longer than normal life, but even she could not stave off death forever. No one, not even Naruto who had only aged 8 years in the past 80 could keep death forever, besides who would want too.

Hinata's death had almost broken the usually indomitable Hokage and it was only after two months of silence that Sasuke had pulled himself from his bed to visit his friend. The two had spent a long night drinking and talking and when Naruto walked out the next morning he had gone straight into the Hokage's office and picked up the paperwork right where he had left it.

But now Sasuke's life had finally run its course, a long life filled with love and achievements despite the rocky start that had almost been forgotten under the weight of all his achievements, no one remembered Sasuke the avenger, Sasuke the traitor, the Uchiha clan were revived, a full 20 members strong by now and Sasuke was second only to the Hokage in terms of power,respect and admiration.

Uchiha Sasuke had completed all his goals, he'd lead a good life. With a final kiss to his forehead Sakura pushed the eyes of her love closed.

They immediately sprang open.

For the first time in 80 years, Sakura was frozen in the grips of a killing intent strong enough to break even her resolve. With a grunt of exertion she released her full power, feeling the insane full strength of her chakra rush through the body giving her just enough strength to push herself through the almost solid miasma of chakra surrounding her, stepping over the unconscious forms of her family, all too weak to withstand the feeling of hatred and fury that had descended upon them, she forced herself to her husband's side where she could feel the source of the toxic energy.

Sasuke was jerking and twitching, his eyes were wide both having formed the Rinne-Sharingan, they span madly, faster than the human eye could see so that the pinwheels had disappeared into a fully black ring within the purple. The twitching increased and it became clear it wasnt twitching, Sasuke was rising, his entire body held alight by the chakra over him as his form rose from the bed, alight in glowing red and purple chakra that raced around him.

It raced faster now, faster and faster until Sasuke's whole body was hidden from view in the raging inferno of death. Naruto barged into the room. It had been less than two seconds since the start of the outburst. More than enough time for him to reach the hospital from his office across town. With a scream he dove into the flames desperate to control whatever this was, but was denied, thrown back in an explosion of purple flame that sent him crashing through the walls of the room.

And then it was gone. The pressure that had crushed all to the floor disappeared like it had never existed. The flames surrounding Sasuke were gone and he was falling back to his bed like a ragdoll.

"Sasuke!" Rushing to his side Sakura threw herself onto the bed where her husband lay, to find him lying on his back looking straight back at her. She took in his form as he coughed heavily into his fist, lifting his other hand to lift long black hair from his smooth un-wrinkled face. He was 16 again. There was no other way to say it, Sakura simply stared at her resurrected husband who could have just come back from the 4th Shinobi War.

"Sakura" Even his voice had changed, back to the dry dulcet tones of his youth, "I'm back"

Sakura feinted.

Page Break

It was a max power, Rinnegan fueled Izanagi. That was the best guess they had come up with anyway, after the quick scare of possible edo-tensei or possession by Orochimaru, because it's always a possibility, had been squashed they all found they were too happy that he was alive to care why or how.

The next few years were strange for the citizens of Konoha, after Sakura reduced the age of her genjutsu to match Sasuke. The fact that she had a way to escape all the cradle snatcher jokes infuriated sasuke who had been made fun of for 'perving' on his much younger wife for the past 50 years since she figured out Tsunade's old jutsu. The two had gone back to acting like a couple of teenagers, joined by Naruto who was extremely happy to have friends who appeared his age again. Together Konoha suffered under the wrath of a new spree of pranks that at times had the entire village stopped as people tried to sort out the confusion caused by three S near SS rank ninja screwing around.

For Sasuke, he was just enjoying the peak of his life all over again, except this time without a war to fight, a clan to avenge or a best friend to kill, even his right arm was back, a fact that relieved Naruto more than he would ever say, Sasuke knew the blonde had always felt guilty when his had grown back out of nowhere. He lay back against the bench in his family estate watching as children screamed and ran around about him, Sakura lay across his body, head resting in his lap as the two curled up under the blazing heat of the sun. The Uchiha compound was a different place these days, the walls surrounding the district having been torn dorn almost 50 years ago, opening the whole compound up to the outside world, and here in the great park he'd created out of one of the old training grounds, children from every family, civilian and ninja alike ran around playing and laughing, enjoying the glorious weather that only Fire country could provide.

He felt the visitor an age before he saw him, truthfully he was are of almost everyone in the district thanks to his senses honed over 100 years of life, opening one eye slowly he regarded the two men steadily walking towards him. Daichi and Amano were two of the greatest Shinobi of their generation, Daichi, a grandchild to Kiba, was flanked by his two coal black Ninken as usual while Amano, a clanless Ninja who had made waves through Sakura's Practical Science school, seemed to glide across the ground, legs completely hidden beneath the long dragging Kimono he wore.

He feigned sleep as the two stood patiently in front of him, wishing to put off any sort of work for as long as possible, until Sakura elbowed him lightly, evidently as annoyed by their presence as he was. Cracking one eye slowly open, one eye lazily taking the view of the two into focus he casually greeted the two Elite Jounin.

"Ah, Amano-kun, Daichi-chan, so nice to see you two"

"Sasuke-sama" the two greeted in turn, Daichi grinding his teeth at the disrespect shown by one who appeared almost 10 years younger than himself. "Hokage-sama requests your presence in the tower". Your an hour late already, his eyes seemed to shout as he made swirling motions with his hands as if attempting to shoo Sauke from his relaxed position.

"Well if his lordship demands i must go" Gently pushing Sakura from his chest, laying her down on the bench behind him, he rose up, stretching both arms above his head and giving off a lazy yawn as he stood. "Alright then" He spoke as he moved off at a slow stroll, the two Jounin falling into step either side, "lets go see what the Dobe wants". He ignored the squawk of indignation from his left, well used to the sounds of outrage when ever he insulted the 'immortal god of Konoha', it was funny these days no one even understood why Sasuke called him dobe, they would certainly never believe it was actually true once upon a time.

Leading the way down paved sidewalks weaving through an almost constant stream of people milling through the centre of Konoha Sasuke missed the old days, now he could barely see the sky from behind the large buildings and towers that surrounded the central district on all sides, sitting in the middle, almost dwarfed by its neighbours sat the Hokage tower. The same building had stood strong for almost 80 years now, ever since they had rebuilt after Pein an entire lifetime ago, though at some point some mysterious prankster had painted the entire thing orange, and for some reason Naruto had never given the order to fix it. Funny that.

Up the stairs he walked, past the mission office, mostly c rank these days as the need for assassinations and destruction had lessened, in fact there was talk of redoing the grading scale all together, Ninja were more creators than destructors, sealing arrays and creation from nature being far more an essential skill than killing in this new world. Past the offices of tactics and preemption, several Naara lazing around not one even touching their work. Finally he came to the top floor where one large door lay, ignoring the receptionist, who came forward to greet him attempting to press a visitors badge on him, he pushed the wide doors open, walking in to stand before a great oak desk, behind which Naruto lazed in his huge padded chair guzzling down a cup of ramen, three more empty pots strewn about him.

"Dobe" Sasuke greeted, nodding at his friend and ignoring the silent glare from the poorly hidden anbu.

Naruto ignored him, choosing instead to finish his ramen. Only when the last noodle had disappeared down his throat did he put the cup down, finally looking up to Sasuke, "Oh Sasuke glad you could make it, your late though" he half glared through slitted eyes.

"Sorry, I must have got lost on the road of life"

The two stared at each other for a second before, Naruto turned away, one side of his mouth twitching at the private joke. "Ok everyone out, i need to speak to Sasuke in private", waving away the disagreements and arguments from his subordinates he gestured for them to leave, chuckling to himself as they continued to argue even as they slowly backed out the room, sending annoyed looks at Sasuke the entire time.

"Why do you do that?" Sasuke asked in exasperation, "they already hate me because i 'don't respect you', your just needlessly antagonising them even more!"

"Yeah that's mostly the reason why, that and even i need a break you know" Naruto gestured to his desk where the piles of paperwork seemed to be in a constant state of falling and righting themselves.

"Oh don't try to trick me with that, this is the exact same paperwork that you had 8 months ago, all you do in here is eat ramen and write icha icha"

"Heh" Naruto looked away and ran a hand through his long blonde hair that grew past his shoulders in a loose mane, "So you noticed that, yeah no way would i still be here if i had not passed off everything to subordinates, all i approve now now is S-class missions and major political moves. Speaking of which"

Sasuke caught the file thrown across the room at him just before it smacked him in the face, glaring at Naruto he opened it up. "Shinobi University, the inter village training scheme" Sasuke read out from the report, "What the hell is this?"

"Your new task" Naruto quickly followed up before Sasuke could interrupt, "Oh don't give me that i know you and Sakura are bored as hell here, i have it on good authority you haven't left the compound in a week. This will give you the chance for a new start, you'll be the acting head of the school with Sakura taking charge of the Medical wing, by giving you two as teachers there's no way the other villages can complain that we're only providing half the amount of gold as everyone else".

"Oh so thats why your really doing it"

"No but seriously Sasuke" and now Naruto was sitting up in his chair, hands flat on the desk which he was slightly leaning across, "This will be good for you, you've had no responsibilities or job in 30 years, you've got a new life now. Live it".

"Maybe your right Naruto, i guess there really is a first time for everything"

"Oh fuck you Teme" Naruto threw a chopstick at Sasuke, the serious mood gone almost as soon as it arrived.

2 years Later

Sasuke yawned as he rose from his comfortable bed enjoying the bright rays of light that spattered across the room lighting the walls in splashes of yellow light. Next to him his wife lay in continued sleep, it took an explosive tag going off next to her ear to wake her up these days, at the age of 103 even Sakura was beginning to feel the effects of age, no mind the fact she appeared only 35, having scaled her age up after getting sick of students disrespecting her for her apparent youth.

Sasuke however had decedid he enjoyed acting the kid as much as possible, spending almost the first 4 months of his time at the University pretending to be a student, only to reveal himself at the christmas welcome speech on the arm of Sakura after betting a classmate he couldn't score with their hot teacher.

He was still friendly to all his old friends and well respected throughout the school after a few practical demonstrations of his strength to prove his might. Destroying the nearby mountain with a sweep of his hand to make way for the new sports ground might have done the trick.

In fact being so friendly might have caused problems as he was now being bombarded by petitions and requests to be studied for the greater good of science, if the students could recreate his sharingan they said, they could maybe achieve immortality for the entire human race. Sasuke pitied their naivete so simply ignored all requests not willing to confront any in an argument.

Even without getting the chance to study Sasuke the students research progressed in leaps and bounds, the weather was now controlled by a rotating group of water and lightning elementals, together using their powers to spread rain round the nations as it was needed. Suna was seeing the benefits of its new aquaduct, carrying water all the way from the mountains of Tsuchi to the doors of the Shinobi village itself.

Yet the real new age power was of course Spring country, having always been on the forefront of technology and now that the world revolved around Science, Spring had quickly set itself up as a pioneer of all the latest tech. The annual Spring conference, the expo of all the latest releases was to be held outside the country for the first time ever this year, held within Shinobi University as a sign of the free trade of knowledge and the unity of the nations. Sasuke only saw it as another headache he had to deal with but no one listened to him complain, Sakura was far too busy preparing for the expo to listen to his mutterings anyway.

Instead Sasuke simply chose to concentrate on the upcoming event, he might not care for the honor or prestige of the event but he would be damned if his Universities event did not blow every expo before it out of the water. If you can afford to do it; overdo it, was almost the motto of the Uchiha, though admittedly it used to describe how many explosive tags to use in a fight. Nethertheless Sasuke was a true Uchiha so by the time the festival came round he had built a whole new area in the Uni, a large empty warehouse where all the stalls could be set up in a cool room with no pesky outside conditions like sunlight or air, a large seated arena where lectures and ceremonies could be held, and, in fit of pride he had created a large hulking statue to watch over the proceedings, a visage of the god Susanoo himself.

The day of the expo dawned bright and cheerful and Sasuke lead the proceeding off early with a small speech at the entrance gate before cutting the ribbon and letting the thorng of guests into his new centre of learning. He spent the whole day strolling round the exhibits put on by students from round the globe, amazed in the things the new generation was making, televisions less than an inch thick, seals that cheaply made electricity from converting water currents, even a new way of disposing of waste through pocket dimensions.

He took the time to briefly drop by Sakura's stand where she was overseeing some of her students demonstrate organ replacement on some involuntary animal patients. "You really are amazing" he congratulated her, kissing the top of her head as he watched the rabbit coma alive just minutes after having its stomach removed and swapped with another rabbits, that was also already hopping round its pen.

Laughing she pushed him away, admonishing him for the public display of affection. "Go on get out of here your distracting the audience" it was true there were a fair few people staring, more interested at seeing the technically 2nd oldest human alive, though Sakura claimed he didn't count as his body was really only 20, though she might have just been trying to tease him with another thing Naruto was better than him at.

It wasn't till much later in the day that they met up again, once all the booths had packed up for the day and most the crowd was congregated around the arena where a great many stalls and food stands had set up, along with several little bars which plenty of students were enjoying in the way that only students can. It was a veritable party atmosphere going round and when the arena doors opened everyone cheered and slowly made their way inside, stopping first to stock up on snacks and drinks as they prepared for the opening days celebration.

Sasuke stood central stage as he waited for the crowd to settle round, exuding a light pressure when they took longer than he would have liked to quieten.

"Welcome one and all to the 40th Spring Expo!" He announced to huge cheers from the crowd who were in a highly festival mood.

"Every year we are given the chance to celebrate all the extraordinary creations of this year in our community and for the first time we have the chance to hold this at our new University. But let us not forget our founders, please put your hands together to the Spring Committee"

Turning to the the group seated behind him he started a round of claps, getting furious suport from the crowd.

"And now, over to the president Kazahana Riku who has some words for you" Taking one last look around the crowd, Sasuke stept back, giving the stage up to the tall regal looking figure who took the central stage with a mike in hand, either unable or unwilling to use chakra to do so.

"Students, Guests, honored members of the Scientific community, i welcome you to this glorious festival of knowledge" Riku spoke in a calm unwavering voice, her tone melodious and enrapturing, holding the entire audience silent as she spoke.

"The elemental nations was once a barbaric place, the villages warring and scraping with each other, too busy fighting each other too learn more about the world around them, they used great and powerful ninjutsu but did not truly understand their own power or capabilities. But now we have a peaceful land, and our new world is shaped by progression not power, now any can learn and all that have the drive to understand shall."

"But" And she paused, looking around the arena, "there still exists those that think they hold knowledge that is theirs and theirs alone, those who would hold humanity back from progress, these obstacles must be removed" and she turned to look Sasuke directly in the eye, but Sasuke was already moving towards her, quickly making signals to various security around the arena.

"Unfortunately all you here have been deemed too under the thumb of the old order to spare, we thank you for your sacrifice"

Sasuke moved towards her in a blink, this had gone on too long, he was ending it. Now.

"This is all for the greater good"

Riku, and all other members of the committee, exploded.

And Sasuke new no more.

Page Break

The dirt was burning. There was no vegetation. The buildings lay in piles of ruined concrete and metal, all wood, glass and plaster disintegrated into dust. To any other who had been standing there it would have seemed like a barren wasteland, abandoned for centuries, the ruins of an old civilisation. Sasuke saw the true wreckage, he saw the green flames of radioactive flame sweep across the plains, watched as it continued to tear down all before it, stripping away even the remaining concrete layer by layer, he had been watching for two days now.

Standing still in one spot as he watched the flames slowly wear down the diamond in front of him.

The diamond that used to be part of Sakura's wedding ring.

His wife was dead. He had no further thoughts other than that one. He was alone again.

He stood there for a day more, ignoring the pangs of hunger his newly revived 16 year old body gave off as it begged for sustenance, having technically never eaten since its birth. Eventually the last microscopic atom of crystal disintegrated. Sakura was truly gone.

Sasuke turned and started walking, he wasn't sure where he was headed. Away from here seemed a good start.

An hour into his journey he finally saw something new besides the toxic wasteland of the burned out plains, a procession of vehicles were driving towards him. Huge cumbersome lorries each mounted with some sort of field generator, in their wake they left brown, unburnt dirt. Sasuke's eyes could see every molecule as it was sucked into their field and spat out clean, uninfected.

For a second he marveled at the creations and humans ability to counter such evil. Then he saw the side of a truck, the flag of spring country painted across its side.

In a heartbeat he was standing in front of the Truck and it crashed into him with all the force a 3 ton vehicle travelling at 50 mph can have. The truck stopped dead in front of him, its front caved in, the two drivers dead, blood spattering the windscreen from their caved in heads.

Raising a hand he brought down lightning, turning two more vehicles into smouldering wrecks, turning to the last one he let loose with two small bolts, hitting both rear wheels and bringing the vehicle to a halt.

Slowly he walked towards it, watching in interest as a hatch popped open four figures piling out, all clothed in thick rubber suits with reflective glass visors. Not even giving them time to land on the ground he was among them, letting loose with a round of punches that turned the chest cavities of three into a liquid ooze, grabbing the last one he slammed his victim to the ground, tearing the head of the outfit clean off to stare deep into the eyes of a terrorfied young girl.

"What have you done?" His tone was light, a perfect monotone that managed to convey more terror than screaming abuse ever could, "Why did you do this"

The girl was crying in pain, her skin already burning away from the radiation.

"Talk" he spoke, shaking her lightly.

"We, W, we did it to stop you!" And now she was the one staring up, the hatred in her eyes burned as she gazed into red ringed eyes, "You scum thought you ruled the world, the great 5 had always been the best and you couldn't stand the thought of little Spring country being better than you, that was the real reason behind the Shinobi Uni? a way to take the power away from us! Well we didn't stand for it, none of us will. The world has risen up against the great 5, and by the time it's over you'll all be gone. You and your 'immortal' Hokage included".

With that she was gone, the radiation having had enough time to completely burn through her throat. Sasuke dropped her, letting the body tumble to the ground. He couldn't believe it, of all the stupid reasons it had come back to power once more, the cycle of hatred had restarted, or maybe it had never stopped.

Turning towards Konoha, Sasuke started walking. He may not want to live, but he still had family to protect, the Uchiha would not die while he lived.

Page Break

Konoha was burning. But it was not the total devastation of the university, Sasuke was relieved to see.

He was greeted at the gate by a cheering crowd, as dust covered survivors rushed towards him, peppering him with questions. Where had he been? Was he the only survivor? Where was Sakura?

Sasuke ignored it all, instead he turned to an anbu in the crowd, walking up to stand before him, "Report" he stated.

Immediately the Anbu straightened up began to respond. "Sir, the village was attacked by a mixed force of traitors and Ninja from all the minor villages, they were lead by a Moss country Jonin, the head of the space time waste project Ken." Pausing for a second as if unsure how to proceed he started again, this time slower a noticeable stutter.

"They struck without warning, Sir, they had entered earlier that day to discuss the next stage of our new waste plan, they were demonstrating their new technique in the tower and it activated, taking the whole tower with it. I'm sorry sir" and he looked on the verge of tears, looking round everyone was.

"It took the Hokage with it, Sir"

"Naruto is dead"

Sasuke couldn't think. The world was spinning away from him. Sakura was dead, it hurt but he always knew it would happen eventually. His home was destroyed, his students were dead, again he could cope, he would avenge them.

Naruto was dead. That was the last straw that broke him.

He didn't cry, he didn't scream. He didn't even feel sad. All he felt was RAGE.

"They will soon learn the meaning of the Will of Fire"

His voice raised loud over the mutterings of all around him who went silent as he began to speak.

"These fools who think they can take from us, they will soon realise that Konoka does not deal so easily with traitors. We will find those responsible. We will find their allies, their families, all who helped cause this destruction."

The crowd was deathly silent all enraptured by the sight of his eyes, that burnt in righteous fury, red spinning round purple as for the first time in 70 years Sasuke let another see his Rinnegan.

"And we will have our vengeance!"

The crowd roared their approval, this was a peaceful generation, one who had never known suffering, or hunger, or pain. But they were ready to cause it, they felt it deep within them, the animalistic hunger to destroy the enemies who had hurt them.

Sasuke set out into the centre of town, keen to start preparation for the war to come.

The shortest and bloodiest reign of any Kage past or present, had begun.

Page Break

The four Kage sat around the war table. Suna, Konoha, Kumo and Kiri all represented in the great Shinobi alliance once more. Iwa had already been destroyed, it had become one of the biggest economies in this new age, its deep mines and the discovery of uranium deposits under its inhospitable mountains had made it a large provider to many of the new founding industries created in the age of Science. This was also its downfall, a well placed explosion within their processing plant sent radioactive waste exploding across the city, like the University it was wiped clean in burning fire, Spring had been quick to move in with their cleansing machines and were already repurposing the mines to their own advantage.

Suna had also suffered from this defeat, without the water from Iwa they had come to rely on the expanded population could not deal with the sudden lack of resources and the people had fled to Konoha. Kumo and Kiri had come out unscathed, thanks mostly to their relative remoteness, but had sent their main forces out to join the growing army around Konoha, leaving just a defensive guard to keep their own homes safe.

Against them was a union of most of the major villages and countries, Spring, Kusa, and Wave being the main force behind the alliance. Already small skirmishes had started along the border, Sasuke had personally lead a foray into the neighbouring Taki, the village had remained hidden for centuries and even Sasuke couldn't find the way in, which is why he chose to erase the entire village from the earth, turning the mountain the village was supposedly hidden inside to dust. It had been a rude awakening to the enemy forces, all had heard of the power of the Legendary ninja but after so long the stories were believed to be just that, stories.

The people of Konoha were relieved to see their new Kage was just as strong, after almost 80 years with the same leader they could barely even think of having a new one. Sasuke had immediately reinstated the old war protocols, training had been stepped up, and the entirety of the top three years of the academy, where graduation had been changed to 15, had been immediately promoted to genin, putting as many ninja to the ground as possible.

And yet they were losing, Spring had obviously been planning this for a long time, their armies had come from nowhere and taken high priority targets quickly within the first day of the war, hitting the conference had been a masterstroke, wiping out the top minds from every nation while replacing their allies with clones to keep up appearances. Now the great four were stuck in a war with a vastly better equipped enemy who held most of the factories and food stores on the continent.

There was only one thing the enemy had not accounted for, the hidden power of the great five, a power the leaders wanted to unleash.

"This is madness" A, 6th of his name, shouted down the table, "we have the power to crush these upstarts and your not allowing us to use it?" The other two nodded in agreement all three looking towards Sasuke who was looking down in resignation.

"Naruto spent his whole life fighting to reduce tension between the villages, these weapons, these techniques that he hid, he did it to create a better future, i can't destroy his dream now"

If anything this just enraged the muscled Kage even more, "A better future? Iwa has been destroyed! You destroyed Taki! Naruto never knew the power of these new weapons when he hid all the ancient knowledge, these nuclear bombs are more powerful than all but the strongest techniques of the past, if you don't give us something to fight with, we'll be dead within the month" Just admitting it made it all the more real for the three, A sank back into his seat, all the anger and rage was gone, replaced by something more real, desperation.

"Please Sasuke, if this war goes on much longer how long will it be before they bomb my village to make us give up, we have no defences for this, please give us the weapons we need to fight!"

"You think these bombs are strong? You know nothing." Sasuke snapped, finally looking up from the table to speak directly to his comrades.

"These weapons we have locked away have the power to destroy the world! Your worried about your nation being destroyed? I'm thinking about the fate of the whole world!" He slammed his fist down onto the tabletop, the others all flinching as it crashed and broke.

Sasuke was now standing, breathing heavily as he cooled down from his moment of rage. Feeling suddenly guilty at the scared looks from the other leaders, he managed to control himself once more.

"I guess maybe i could show you a few techniques, as long as i get to choose what you use, there are some things we could use"

Looking relieved that he'd calmed down and thankful for getting something out of the discussion the others all quickly agreed.

"Very well, we'll spend a month here preparing while sending small skirmishes out to track the enemy, then, we'll begin out counter!"

Page Break

When the Shinobi Alliance countered, it came out of nowhere. The union had been making rapid advances into Fire country before hitting a literal wall, Konoha had turned the forest surrounding their village into a literal death trap of traps, hidden outposts and killer terrain. From this barricade the advance had been halted and they had instead set a perimeter around the forest and formed a blockade. This was a fine tactic as far as the leaders were concerned, they held all the resources, this stalling only gave them time to create new and stronger weapons, which they could launch at a stationary enemy. The men grew complacent quickly, daily skirmishes turned quickly to border patrols, never quite entering the forest and allowing a brief peace between the sides.

Which was why it was such a shock to them when their entire camp was disintegrated out of nowhere.

The meteor fell out the sky without any sign of its approach on the cloudy night, it hit the camp dead centre taking the entire vanguard command and most of the force out in one hit. Any survivors were quickly dispatched by the flood of ninja that ran from the forest right as the survivors pulled themselves from the wreckage.

By nightfall Fire country was cleansed of any Union presence and the Union were not even aware of it. The next day a backup force was slaughtered as it entered from grass, caught unaware as it brought fresh supplies to the troops on the front line, one survivor managed to get away letting the command know the enemy was on the loose.

A rapid response was made and a crack team of the very best from each village was sent out to contain the attack, they found nothing but the remains of the dead, Fire country was empty once more.

This message was sent back to command immediately through their long range radio unit, they had just enough time to puzzle over this before they received another message from stone, then demon country, then wave and forest. Each message was the same, a Kage is here they seem to be preparing an attack, then silence…

By the 3rd day of the counterattack the number of villages in the union had shrunk to 2.

The decision was made and all troops retreated to Spring, its barriers were strong enough to repel the strike of a god, there they would make their last stand.

Page Break

Sasuke surveyed his army as they settled into their camp surrounding the large village in front of them. The land of Spring had retained its name ever since Sasuke had helped free it from Dotou all those years ago, none of the current occupants would remember that though, and Sasuke would not remind them, he had no time to feel sympathy for those that had brought about the first war in 80 years for no better reason than greed and envy.

He turned to his left to see A approaching, the Raikage had turned into a strong supporter of Sasuke when Sasuke had helped him unlock his thunder shroud, turning him to an S class ninja almost as strong as the legendary 3rd Raikage had been.

"The camp is secure, we have the bastards pinned in on all sides, they won't be escaping any time soon"

"And our back Scouts?" Sasuke questioned.

A spat on the ground, "Back scouts? For what, we have them all trapped within there bubble, there's none left to spring some sneak attack on us"

"Their primary attack came from nowhere and obliterated our major advantages within a day" Sasuke replied, admonishing A as he spoke down to him like a parent to a disobedient child. "Our enemy has shown themselves to be smart and sneaky, the two elements of a good ninja, that asides, this has been far too easy, they retreated without any hesitation" Sasuke trailed off, unwilling to fully reveal his thoughts, that they were walking into a trap.

"Well, if you think so" despite his words A looked like he thoroughly disagreed with the idea "I can post a couple of scouts i guess, means men away from the front lines though"

"I'm sure we can do without 10 men on the front, see it done A" With that Sasuke departed, he had far more to inspect and a whole army to worry over.

He quickly checked in with his chosen strike team, the Mizukage and a host of other water users were assessing the lake bordering the barrier, he had come with the plan himself, and after Sasuke's attempt at death by Meteorite had failed it sounded like the best idea they had. The plan was a continuous wave of water dragons and spears to fire continuously into the wall, the high rate of fire continuously should be enough to overload the entire barrier network, this was to be made doubly effective as the barrier bordered the water, the ninja were currently imbuing the lake with as much chakra as possible over a long period, the prominent seal masters were surrounding the area in a thick layer of suppressors, forming a perimeter round the lake and locking all the chakra in. This meant when the time came to attack the chakra cost would be payed, and as the failed attacks fell, they would land back in the lake, fueling the next round of attacks and losing very little chakra from bleed off as the barrier was chakra negative to stop absorbers just sucking it away. The barrage would continue till the barrier failed, it was a matter of when, not if.

Sasuke started the attack that night, after a long sleep from midday the team woke up fresh and started a rolling wave of attacks that went on constantly for hours, the response was lightning fast and within 22 seconds of the first strike the Grass Jonin Commander was outside watching the deluge land against the barrier, he watched for half an hour as the team continued before leaving, a grim look upon his face.

After 5 hours of attack, Sasuke let the team off for an hours break, determined not to give the barrier time to recharge he lead his only team in a prolonged assault of combination attacks of fire and lightning, rolling teams of 20 off and on every 15 minutes they just managed to keep up the pace of attack, the constant chakra use exhausting all but the most experienced ninja. Just managing to keep it going it was a relief to all when the Kiri team took over again, the Mizukage starting it off with a ice tipped spear of water shooting straight at the lake that punctured the barrier in one, Sasuke's team cheered, even as the barrier regrew once the attack subsided, it was getting weaker.

An hour later the time was close, the barrier was cracking before their eyes, every water dragon pushing it closer to its breaking point, it would not be long before the final battle. Sasuke stood with his refreshed team, he was to be one of a three pronged attack to strike quickly into the heart of the city, massed resistance was expected but Sasuke was confident that the war would be over by today, then he could start to deal with the fallout.

With a roar the Mizukage surged his chakra, physically manifesting it round him in a blue shroud that froze the surface around him as he lifted himself and almost half the lake with him into a swirling bulldozer of water, tipped by his icy platform. At the last second he jumped away, letting his projectile smash straight through the barrier and deep into the earth on the other side. Cracks splintered outwards from the point of contact, but the barrier held.

Sasuke was already moving, coming down from a leap that had taken him to the height of the barrier he came down in a two footed strike, shattering the cracked screen below him. In a chain reaction the splinters on all sides spread more and more, and finally shattered. The barrier was down. The final battle was now.

The counter attack by spring was both instant and devastating. Before the rest of the army had even crossed the boundary of the now non-existent barrier seals lit up on the ground, launching cannistors in high arcs to land among the forces charging in, they detonated in huge plumes of purple gas bringing entire squads to their knees hacking up blood. The rest charged forwards, sparing nary a glance back to their fallen comrades, there was no space for sympathy on the battlefield.

The first line of human defenders was not encountered for a further 200m, before that the army progressed through a death field of traps and long range attacks launched from the distant defenders and the walls of the city itself.

Sasuke met the front line with an electrified punch that hit the first man with such force it sent him flying back to hit three more behind, all four dying to the conclusive discharge that coursed through the first man's body. Sasuke did not stop, he ran straight through the crowd, hands shooting out in lightning fast attacks that dispatched any foolish enough to get in his way. Behind him his squad met the now broken and confused enemy and quickly mopped up the remains before following after Sasuke again, sprinting to even attempt to catch up with him.

Sasuke ran on. Confusingly he did not sense any further defenders ahead, nonchalantly he dodged a couple of kunai launched from wires in a tree and jumped a pitfall before it could trigger, in fact that one squad was the only enemies he could sense at all outside the village and they seemed more like a trap squad caught off guard. This wasn't adding up, reaching the boundary of the forest Sasuke stopped in a branch, looking across the plain to gaze upon the walls of Spring. Rising up from the field it sat inside the village of spring was surrounded by 40ft high gleaming white walls of stone, the battlements at the top packed with ninja and heavy artillery alike, Sasuke recognised Kunai launchers he'd last seen mowing down loyal Spring samurai all those years ago, though the large generator fixed to the back made him think these would pack a lot more of a punch.

He had time for a few more seconds of inspection before he was joined by his squad. 30 Ninja, the remainder of a force of 40, hung just in the shadows of the forest. Activating his radio piece Sasuke checked in.

"Leaders, report"

"All clear in the East" Replied the Kazekage, his smooth voice coming clearly down the line. "No opposition met, 3 losses due to traps"

"Same" Grunted the Raikage, "4 to traps and none of the bastards in sight"

"Move forward towards the village" Sasuke Commanded, "But stay within the forest, i have eyes on the defences and there heavy, I'm going to prepare a strike give me ten"

"Hai" They both replied before going static.

Sasuke crouched on the branch, preparing himself for what would hopefully be his last attack of the war, moving his hands slowly through a set of hand signs he focused chakra to his core, building more and more until the very air was shifting with the flow of his breath as he pulled the surroundings to his will, completing the last sign he raised his hand high filled with chakra, reached out skywards for the connection he sought and pulled.

For a moment nothing. Then slowly the clouds above parted as a meteor carved through them, this one was nothing like the ones before, almost four times the size this one glowed from the heat of it breaking through the atmosphere as it barreled towards the village with unstoppable force.

The defenders on the walls cried out, staring upwards with no time to run or escape from the collision zone they simply stared as their fate travelled down towards them.

It seemed like it was all over, as the meteor fully cleared the cloud so that its full bulk was in view as it continued to fall towards the ground.

Then the sky turned red.

From the 4 axis of the village red lasers shot out into the sky meeting the meteor in a flash of light and sound, the sky disappeared in a haze of dust and debris and many were knocked off their feet by the force of the shockwave that flattened trees and knocked stones from the walls of the city.

The dust cleared to reveal an empty cloud and a glittering rain of crystalised dust falling down. The only remains of the meteor that had been vaporised by the powerful lasers of light.

All was silent, then with a scream the defenders cheered, surprised and shocked they still lived and filled with confidence once more.

"A good attempt Uchiha-san" A hollow voice silenced all cheer upon the walls as a holographic head appeared floating across the village.

"You are strong, i must say, even our combined power and technology struggles to keep up with your force" He sighed, his huge eyes rolling up towards the sky "It is a shame it has come to this, we really did have more to learn from you, it is a shame suck knowledge must die now"

"I wouldn't be so quick to proclaim my death" Sasuke walked forwards from the tree line, eyes spinning and purple chakra swirling round him as the hulking form of Susanoo stood before the village, "I still have far more power than a couple of meteorites at my disposal"

"Haha wonderful" and now a pair of hands materialised in the hologram clapping enthusiastically, "Still you have more to show, you really are strong it is a good thing we prepared for such strength"

One hand disappeared from view briefly, rising back up now holding a small remote.

"You all fought so bravely, your counter truly was impressive, but did you not wonder why you felt no resistance? I'm sorry to say we had rather forgotten about you, we were too busy focusing on the next step of our plan. To start an experiment again you must completely cleanse the area of all outside interference, I'm sorry but that's all the great 5 were, an interference" The smile turned vicious for just a second showing the feelings of victory and satisfaction the hologram tried to hide behind his regal demeanour.

"To one last experiment then, Sasuke, i know not what your latest form is but let's see if it can withstand this."

"Even so you'll be the only one left. Goodbye"

And the world turned white.

Sasuke felt his body engulfed by a stream of chakra and energy that knocked him off his feet, even under the power of Susanoo that kept him aloft. He forced himself to his feet and then pushing chakra to the legs of his construct he leapt into the air.

High above the earth he flew manipulating the very gravity around him to force his way through the deluge that still buffeted his ethereal body. Breaking through the cloud to see the sun above he gasped at the sight below him. The forest, the lake, as far as the eye could see was being swept away under a glowing white fog that was sweeping across the world. He could see neither the start or end of the attack, it just was. And there in front of him, laughing at the sky was the holographic figure laughing towards the heavens.

"Amazing, truly stupendously amazing" It threw its arms skywards as if praying towards the destruction in front of it, "Sasuke you are amazing, all are dead but you still live. You truly are the god among men"

"What have you done you Mad man!"

"Done? I have cleansed!"

"I have wiped clean this world from the filth that populated it, the rundown cities, the cesspits of filth, all but my chosen people kept safe by our barriers of protection."

"We are the chosen survivors of earth!"

Sasuke activated the Rinnegan for the first time this battle allowing himself to see the truth of his situation"

His army was gone. Not dead, not defeated, but gone. The winds had disintegrated them all, even now it tore upon the layers of his protection which he constantly renewed.

He watched with haunted wander as it left all else alive, trees, grass, animals, all were safe from the chakra that roared past them, though it did sweep them off their feet. Yes it was only human chakra was affected.

Sasuke took a moment to comprehend that realisation.

In horror he looked towards the barriers surrounding the village to see it was already too late. They were seconds from breaking.

"Nooo!" He screamed surging forwards in an attempt to do something anything to protect what could soon be the last humans on earth.

Sasuke hated them, he wanted them dead, to tear them apart with his own hands. But even his deep hunger for avenge was taken over by the instinctive need to protect one's own species from extinction.

"The towering figure laughed at what it thought was Sasuke's final attempt at revenge. "Oh Sasuke" It derided, contempt dripping from every syllable, "In the end even the great must break, truly a shame, you will be remembered"

Ignoring it all Sasuke broke down his Susanoo taking the Chakra of its creation and stretching, creating a wide dome of chakra he forced it out in all directions around him, forming a barrier between the attacking force and the village at his back.

"What are you doing Sasuke, the source of the attack isn't here, you can't block it off"

Sasuke screamed in effort pulling the last of his chakra from his exhausted body that just wanted to collapse and die where it stood.

"Commander!" Another voice broke through the speakers, "Commander the barriers! There breaking down their ah-". Silence. The voice spoke no more"

The hologram was frozen, its eyes wide in comprehension as it watched Sasuke scream and convulse below it, the purple barrier rippling and fading as it was continuously plugged by fresh chakra.

"Halt the Attack!" It screamed, panicked rushing viewable in the background, as ninja panicked at the new development.

Sasuke gasped, throat to raw too scream any more, no energy to even open his eyes, not much longer now, he told himself, they'll stop the attack soon.

A minute passed.

Sasuke's reserves passed too.

The barrier dropped.

Sasuke died for the 3rd time.

This was the most painful one he decided in his final moments, his unnatural strength giving him more time than others.

Enough time to feel the barrier around Spring break in a shattering of tiny splinters of light.

Time to feel as one by one the chakra signature inside were extinguished like candles, snuffing out the last of the human race one by one.

Till only Sasuke remained. The last. The survivor.

Sasuke's defences broke, he was engulfed, and he fell.

And came back. Back into a tornado of angry chakra that devoured his newly revived soul as keenly as it had his last.

He died.

He resurrected, clawing out at the world in angry swipes of pure energy leaving great scars through the land and piercing dents into the village walls.

His lungs were shredded and he knew no more.

He stood screaming, that was all he did now. Screamed till his tongue was dissolved into dust, then continued in his mind till that too no longer existed.

His thoughts burned.

Too see was too open his eyes to death. Every living moment was agony. He never lived for long.

He couldn't count how many times he had died, revived, returned to this cursed world that would only cast him out once more.

For what was as age, centuries, years. Yet also just a minute or seconds. Sasuke lived and died, not moving from the metre of ground where his body rose and fell with the breath of his life.

After what could have been a second or a thousand years it finally stopped.

Sasuke fell face forward in the dirt.

He didn't move, Didn't know how.

Who, no what was he? Where was he? What had happened to him?

He blacked out.

He came too.

The sky was blue and bright above him. The birds sang a pleasant song and a gentle breeze wafted over him.

Who was he? He was Sasuke, he was alone.

He lay there, no reason to move, no reason to do anything. He lay there.

A month passed.

He felt hunger, he died for a drink. This was good, these were feelings, these proved he really lived.

The snow piled on him. The cold was another pleasant thought, it bit deep turning his very thoughts slow and slushy.

It melted with bright sunlight. His skin darkened, his shallow cheeks sunk in, his feeble, brittle arms hung loosely by his side. He could not stand if he wanted at this point.

Not that he did.

Sasuke never wanted to do anything again.

He died in his sleep. Even chakra can not fuel a human that long.

He felt different that morning, he had strength once more. This made no difference, he lay there.

.

.

The spike in chakra that tore reality in two was enough to make him sit up.

Chakra? Humans? A survivor?

He rose to his feet, sprinting towards the source of enough to chakra to break the universe asunder.

Landing in the nondescript clearing, lightning still coursing through his body, he watched as a patch of air rippled, and tore.

Space tire with a skreiking crack that burst his ear drums with its inhuman sound.

A gap no taller than Sasuke himself unraveled from the edges, a black backdrop of nothing within the air.

Naruto fell from the split, which snapped shut the second he was through.

Sasuke stared unresponsive. Blood trickled from his ears as he took in the sight of his friend he had long thought dead.

Naruto spasmed and with great effort lifted his face from the ground, seeing Sasuke form the first time.

"Sasuke" Sasuke read from the lips of his friend, his whiskered face grimacing in pain.

"There gone, the biju are dead, I'm alone"

He fainted, the last of his consciousness leaving him.

Sasuke said nothing.

Naruto was wrong, he was not alone, he had Sasuke. Sasuke had Naruto! He was not alone!

He started laughing. Unable to hear himself but not even caring Sasuke's laugh rose and became a maniacal bout of hysteria that rose in volume till it could be heard from miles away.

But no one heard. There was no one to hear, just a lone ball of earth.

And the last two humans on Earth.

Wow that turned out longer than expected. Welcome to my story, as you can tell this and the next couple of chapters are set up and storyplotting and i have them all planned out and half written. I will be trying to stick to a weekly saturday release so watch out for that and please follow along.

If anyone would like to beta please ask! As you have probably seen my writing is quite rushed as i do most of it at work...

Fairy tail elements are coming next chapter so be patient, as you can probably guess the fairy tail world is the distant future of this fic, how did that happen? read to find out.

Until next time! Bye!