Chapter 10

Important Notice: Just needed to say, one event will happen in every "XXXXX" moment because all of this is happening at the same time but they all connect at the end. So yeah :) final chapter y'all! Let's do this!

And two important

WARNINGS: 1) last chapter was the climax so this is the falling action, so it won't be action packed

2) there is some...how should I put this...strongly suggested 'things' in this chapter. Let's just say I've been reading Aki Sora and leave it at that -_-

Sasuke looked contemptuously at the water blackened by his enemy's blood. He had finally done what he had failed to do in the past. He had finally killed Uzumaki Naruto. The Uchiha hysterically laughed as the memories of Naruto continuously talking about his aspirations played through him mind. He knew the very idea of Naruto actually becoming Hokage was a wild dream at the most, now he stopped him from even having a fighting chance.

"I guess we now know who's the better ninja, Uzumaki Naruto." He began to walk towards his comrades. He assumed they had already finished off his ex teammates. Without even assessing their abilities in combat, he knew they were much stronger than Sakura and Hikaru were.

He watched as the water rippled under his feet. There was always something mesmerizing about the ripple effect to him. The ripples grew larger with each footstep he took. They began stretching over a diameter of thirty feet just on contact.

He paused 'Wait, with my height and weight there is no possible way the ripples would stretch that far...'

The source of the disturbance couldn't have come from anywhere farther from his location because the ripples centered around him. The only place it could come from was beneath him...

He apprehensively looked at the water below him. He saw an orange glow, bigger and a darker shade than the cloak that surrounded Naruto in their battle. But it couldn't be Naruto; no one could survive ten thousand volts of electricity while their body is completely immersed in a pool of water.

The orange cloud grew larger every second Sasuke was wasting time thinking about what it possibly could be. As soon as the rogue jumped back, he saw it emerge. A paw, roughly the size of his body. The orange that surrounded resembled fur being lightly blown by wind. The water that touched the beast's demonic chakura evaporated.

Sasuke stared motionlessly as the creature pulled it's body to the surface. The demon's eyes were blood red stared directly at the young Uchiha. He looked at Sasuke with the eyes of a predator awaiting the taste of its prey's flesh.

Sasuke's size was significantly dwarfed compared the Kyuubi. Its nine tails swung as he bore his claws into the steaming water.

He knew he was greatly out matched. The only one who had ever been able to tame the kyuubi was Uchiha Madara, and Sasuke's mangekyo sharingan was no where near the level of his. Sasuke had never felt fear this great since he faced off against his older brother.

The kyuubi snarled as he looked at the boy's eyes. The very sight of the sharingan disgusted him. He had every intention of devouring Sasuke where he stood.

'If it weren't for me, you'd still have your lungs saturated with water.'

Naruto looked dejectedly down at his sandals. He never liked to be in debt to kyuubi, his prices for his services were even steeper than Manda's.

'All I desire as payment for my services, the body of Uchiha Sasuke.'

The body of the fox began shrinking rapidly. Naruto's body became more visible through the chakura. All of his wounds were completely healed; He had not one scratch on his body. But when he looked at Naruto, something was different. His changed from blue to yellow, his pupils were shaped like a toad's, and the borders of his eyes were pigmented red. The orange chakura cloak that once surrounded him was now focused around his hands in the form of claws. His chakura had exponentially increased. Even though only moments earlier he was on the brink of death, he now stood before Sasuke even stronger than he was before.

"...What the hell are you! I killed you! I watched you die!" Sasuke's cries were out completely out of character for him, but it was completely understandable. Seeing a man rise from the dead would strike fear into the heart of even the strongest shinobi.

"I am Uzumaki Naruto, the one who will end your life, dattebayo!"

Naruto's catchphrase which Sasuke couldn't stand hearing. The very sound of that word made him war to rip his ears out with his own hands.

Normally, Sasuke would have made some crass retort to to Naruto's statement, but he knew all too well that Naruto possessed more than enough power to kill him. The only way Sasuke would have any chance of winning this fight, was to use every last bit of strength that he had.

As Naruto slowly made his way to his ex teammate, Sasuke closed his eyes. With all distractions cut out, he focused his remaining chakura to his eyes.

He heard Naruto's footsteps coming closer.

'Just a few more seconds' he thought as his chakura concentration increased.

With a devious smirk, he knew the time was exactly right for the deviation he was preparing to cause.

The minute his eyes opened, he saw Naruto's body become engulfed in a flurry of black flames. The lake of water they stood on had completely evaporated. Every tree that stood in the area was burned into ash.

Haruna looked as Sakura clung to her last breath while she was trapped in her water prison.

"Please forgive me...this shouldn't take much longer."

Almost as if fate was on a specific mission to prove her wrong, the water had evaporated.

The water that once stood under them was had completely vanished, causing them to fall twelve feet to the ground.

Sakura violently gasped for air. The wanton amounts of air to her oxygen deprived lungs almost pained her. Just breathing made her chest sore.

Haruna was beyond confused. There was no way every last drop of water could have disappeared in one instant. There was no heat source strong enough except for...

"Amaterasu..." she whispered "...I knew the kyuubi boy would be no easy opponent, but resorting to this?" as she tried to lift herself up using her left arm, she felt a slightly sharp pain. She figured that the impact had given her a slight fracture, nothing too serious though.

Using her other arm, she brought herself to her feet, and cleared the mist. Sakura still had yet to recover her breath. Being without a steady air supply for that long would have a crippling effect on anyone.

Haruna had made her way to the girl with short pink hair. She slowly placed her hand on her back. Sakura jumped as she felt her opponent hand pressed against her '...this is it...I'm really gonna die...' she played out every scenario in her mind, trying to think of any way she could possibly make her escape. Every think she thought of, was shot to hell because of her unregulated breathing.

'Naruto...Hikaru...I'm sorry, looks like I won't be coming back with you...'

Tears began to form around her light green eyes. All of her efforts in life, all her dreams for her future were about to be put to waste by this one final blow.

She felt a warm sensation coming from the girl's palm. The warmth felt comforting, soothing, almost as if it was...

"Healing...jutsu?" Sakura managed to say.

Haruna nodded as the light green chakura that surrounded her hand eased the tension on the young girl's lungs.

"I have absolutely no desire to kill you."

This only increased Sakura's confusion "But...why spare me? Wasn't it your mission to end our lives? Won't they kill you for this?"

Though Haruna was slightly relived to hear Sakura's breathing becoming steadier, the girl's words harshly sunk in.

Sakura looked into her sorrowful eyes. Her eyes reminded her of Hikaru's.

"Our mission was to Capture Shibuya Hikaru...there was nothing said about anyone else."

Haruna's eyes closed as she fought back her tears "Even if I didn't spare you, i would have most likely been killed by Orochimaru-sama...Hikaru, my younger brother was set to be my replacement..."

'Younger brother!...So this is Hikaru's sister...the one he lost so long ago.'

Haruna removed her hand from Sakura. There was a look of heart wrenching pain across her face. She thought of her former life with her younger brother. She thought of the times during heavy storms where he would come in her room crying her name. She would always hold him securely in her arms as he slept beside her. She thought of his smile that was always there to greet her on her return from her missions.

When she was resurrected by Orochimaru, he had promised her the safety of her brother. Every mission Orochimaru sent her on, every underhanded coup she helped pull, was all for his protection.

Haruna was deeply ashamed of herself. Not only had she lied to her brother about Orochimaru's intentions with him, she also helped plan an attack against him and his team.

She bit the inside of her lip until the skin was penetrated by her teeth 'I only lied to him...so that I could see him one last time...'

Haruna had been very careful with her planning of the attack. She knew there was a strong possibility of Sasuke being killed by Naruto, which she hoped would happen because of her personal grudge against him. With Kazuharu's promise to try not to hurt Hikaru, there was a small chance he would be killed. The last phase of the plan would be to die by Hikaru's hand. Dying again wasn't something she was excited about, but she felt thus was what she deserved for what she had done.

Haruna began to walk away from Sakura "Our battle is over."

Sakura had no idea what to do in this situation. Part of her felt badly for her. She obviously was deeply troubled by something, but this woman was also the reason why she was almost killed. There was no way she could completely forgive her for that, at least not right at this moment, but the reason she was able to survive was because of her as well. This tug of war within her mind raged on with no clear outcome.

"You'd better check on your teammate. Sasuke isn't someone stops a battle until his opponent is dead."

Sakura knew Sasuke's capacity for hate better than anyone. Defeat was something he wasn't able to take well. In the rare case he was defeated; he would mercilessly assault his opponent, making them regret having ever laid their hands on him.

Sakura wanted to follow Haruna; she had so many other questions she needed ask, but the safety of Naruto more important to her.

She ran in the direction opposite Haruna. The closer she got to their battle ground, the more she found trees sliced trough the center, and craters in the earth below her. The entire field was covered in ash and black flames.

'Please...please be don't die Naruto...'

Though he was badly injured, Hikaru finally had the upper hand in the battle. He had possession of his blade and had impaled Kazuharu's palm. Hikaru pulled the blade out of the sound ninja's palm and recoiled his arm at an attempt to gash his neck.

Just as the tip of the blade was about to tear the easily permeable skin of his jugular artery, the two warring shinobi felt themselves in free fall. The water that once flowed under them had been replaced with a thick cloud of steam.

Hikaru made harsh contact with the ground. He supersede his cries of agony as much as he possibly could. He could feel an extreme pain coming from his left leg and arm. He figured they were completely shattered. He felt his sword in the palm of right his hand. As he went to grasp it, he felt two sharp objects penetrate his lower stomach.

He was very familiar with this type of pain. Though the visibility was absolute zero, he knew two kunai knives had just made their way in.

He knew looking for Kazuharu would be pointless, even if by some miracle the fog lifted and he was able to see him, he could do nothing while he was immobilized.

Almost as soon as the thought left his head, Kazuharu had pulled his sword from Hikaru's palm. He was close enough for Hikaru to see his badly wounded leg, and his still bleeding nose.

"I hate people like you." Kazuharu spat "You always talk so tough, but can never back up what you say." he deviously smiled "And now you're gonna be the 28th kill your sword made."

Hikaru knew there was only one way to end this battle. One ending would be him dying and Kazuharu winning their brawl, which was completely out of the question. The alternative answer was the scrolls. All he needed was a drop of blood from his opponent, which Kazuharu had an ample amount of, and a drop of his own. He would die along with Kazuharu, but it was better than dying alone.

He watched as his enemy lifted his sword to end the his life. Before he had a chance to bring it back down, Hikaru pulled the scrolls from his back quickly unrolling them. Kazuharu's already spilling blood fell in the center of the first, while Hikaru spat some of his blood on the second.

The scroll began to glow a blinding white light. Hikaru closed his eyes as he waited for the end 'I can't say this is the way I wanted to go out, but at least I'm not going alone.' he smiled as he thought of the times he spent with his team. His only regrets were that he wouldn't be able go back to the village with his team, and that he was unable to save his sister from Orochimaru's cold grasp.

The moment Hikaru began to feel his soul being pulled out of his body by the force of the scroll, he heard the sound of paper being sliced. His souls had been implanted back into his body, and the power the flowing scrolls possessed was nonexistent anymore.

Kazuharu scratchy laughter was the only sound that remained "I'm actually impressed, but I shouldn't have expected any less from Shibuya Haruna's brother." he placed the tip of the blade by his neck "Haruna had asked me to go easy on you, and honestly I was. But after all the shit you pulled, you're as good as dead now." he winked "I'll just tell her I tried my best..."

It happened so quickly Hikaru had almost missed it. Two senbon stuck into Kazuharu's jugular vein. As his blood began to clog his trachea, he saw his assailant. He fell to his knees as he looked into the orange eyes furiously staring back into his.

"H...aruna." he managed to groan out as a pool of blood spilled from his mouth.

The peeved kunoichi threw two more senbon right above his collar bone "I told you not to harm my brother. This is what happens when deals are broken."

Kazuharu hopelessly slumped over as his blood continued to choke him.

Haruna began walking toward her critically injured brother. Seeing him in that state was almost too much for her to bear. She had never wanted Hikaru to be hurt. No matter how it was looked at, no matter if it was directly or indirectly, she was the cause of his pain.

Dumbfounded by what he had just seen, Hikaru apprehensively watched as his sister approached him. Seeing her do what she had just done, made him see her as he had seven years ago. The only reason he felt so apprehensive in her presence, was out of fear. The fear that this somehow wasn't her or that she still was following Orochimaru's orders. In either case, he was helpless to do anything against her. All he could do at this point, was hope for the best. Even if she was still an agent of Orochimaru, he would surly die of blood loss before they reached his compound.

When his sister finally approached him, she fell to her knees, cradling her brother's head in her hands.

"Haru nee-chan..." he spoke as he looked into her eyes. They looked on him tenderly as they always had. Her eye glistened as her tears began to form in the corners of her eyes. He had always hated seeing her upset. Ever since he was young, he made a promise not to ever let Haruna cry, her happiness meant too much him.

She closed her eyes, and rested her forehead on top of his as her tears began to spill onto his face.

"I'm so sorry Hikaru...I never meant for anything like this to happen to you..."

At that moment, all suspicion, all discomfort, disappeared as she poured her pain and heart ache onto his cheeks.

With his right arm, he used every last bit of strength he could to hold onto her hand. The moment she felt his trembling hand, she secured it in hers.

Hikaru smiled as e felt the acceptance from Haruna "Nee-chan, close your eyes."

In her mind, she was responsible for everything Hikaru had to go through from the time Sasuke was spying on their team, to right now. How could she have possibly denied his request?

With her forehead still pressed against his, she closed her eyes as Hikaru had asked.

Sasuke and Naruto were still engaged in their battle. The land surrounding the two was completely desolated. All life that sounded the area was reduced to nothing but ash. The demonic chakura that surrounded had protected him from Sasuke's amaterasu, but barely. Each burst grew more powerful, almost eating through every layer of chakura around Naruto.

Sasuke was also close to reaching his limit. His overuse of his sharingan began to weigh on his body. His eyes cried tears blood from the pain.

"It doesn't matter how many times you come back to life! I'll kill you over and over again you fucking demon!"

Naruto wiped the blood from his brow. He knew that even the Kyuubi didn't possess enough chakura to bring him back from the dead twice. If he didn't finish Sasuke before his sage mode wore off, he would have absolutely no chance against him.

Naruto combined his chakura with the Kyuubi's, concentrating it in the palm of his hand. The coarse concentration of chakura turned blacker than the amaterasu. This attack would be his absolute last. All the chakura he had left in his body would be used to cover the forest floor in Uchiha Sasuke's blood.

Sasuke's eyes began to burn to the point where it was almost unbearable. He knew the amaterasu was all that would be effective on Naruto in this state, but it didn't help his stamina at all.

Sasuke closed his eyes. Light was too much for him to take in at this point. He was unable to move, and he figured Naruto had reached that point as well.

With the pain somewhat diminished he opened his eyes. He felt his entire body tense up as he saw the blonde boy had disappeared.

The moment Sasuke shifted his body, he saw it. Only inches away from his face, a swirling ball of black chakura from Naruto's palm. Every second it seemed to expand.

In a final attempt to cling to his life, Sasuke released his amaterasu in one powerful burst.

The flames spread across the ball of concentrated chakura. The power of it kept the tainted rasengan in a stalemate. If Sasuke let his concentration slip even for a slight second, his body would be completely torn apart, but he was running out of chakura quickly.

Naruto's chakura was nearly exhausted as well.

Death stared both of them in the face, as it waited to take one of the warring shinobi its grasp.

Sasuke felt his amaterasu overtaking Naruto's chakura. All he needed was to hold out for a while longer, and he would have successfully claimed the Uzumaki's life.

Naruto felt his hand start to tremble 'Damn it! I need to hold on!'

But it was no use. No matter how much he tried to pour more chakura into the jutsu, nothing happened, and he only felt himself get weaker.

'...There's nothing I can do...I have no more strength left...I'm done..."

Just as he was about to release the jutsu, he felt his legs start to shake. He mentally cursed himself for being so weak, not even being able to accept death without his body trembling.

Suddenly, the ground below Sasuke and Naruto had completely shattered.

Naruto only knew two who would be able to destroy the ground like this.

He smiled as he whispered the name of his savior "Sakura."

This was the perfect opportunity for him. Sasuke's amaterasu had fused with his dark rasengan. Without any second thought, he drove the chakura into the core of his enemy.

Haruna supported Hikaru's weight on her shoulder as his right arm was slung around her neck. She had healed the shattered bones to hairline fractures. The stab wound in his chest had almost completely healed. She had given him two plasma pills to replace the blood he had lost.

They had walked to the clearing where they saw Sakura healing Naruto who was completely out of breath. The skin on his right hand was disintegrated; all that was left were a few pieces of burnt skin. Aside from that, he only had a few minor cuts.

Naruto was more than surprised to see Hikaru's arm slung around the girl he had recognized from Sasuke's squad.

Noticing Naruto harsh gaze on her, Hikaru understood how he felt. This girl, who previously was Sasuke's teammate, now supporting one of his.

Hikaru knew there was no explanation he could think of that would make this look any better.

"Haruna." Naruto called out.

Haruna had faced powerful ninja from every village, seen almost every lethal ninjustsu, but the sound of his voice made her shudder. Naruto had done something she had no chance of doing, he had killed Sasuke with hardly any help. He could easily kill her if he had the drive to. All she could do was hope that he didn't.

"Now wait a fucking minute Naruto!" Hikaru nearly lost his balance "She hasn't done anything to deserve your..."

"Thank you." These words were the last that Hikaru had expected to hear. He knew that any insult would only be out of concern for the lives of his friends, but he never expected words of gratitude.

Everyone knew she had come to end their lives, but it was because of her that there lives were spared. If she had killed Sakura, she never could have broken Sasuke's concentration allowing Naruto to deliver the final blow. Kazuharu would have killed Hikaru if Haruna hadn't struck first. The team owed their lives to the Shibuya girl.

With Naruto healed, he and Sakura stood up from the cracked surface of the burnt earth.

Naruto looked to Naruto and Hikaru "Let's go."

"...where are we going?"

Hikaru grabbed her hand with his right "Home, Nee-chan."

As the four shinobi left back to the village, a man watched them from the trees. His corneas were pigmented black, while his pupils were white. His hair was long and angular, colored jet black.

He began crawling down the trunk on all fours. He smiled, revealing his sharpened teeth "Well, this should be interesting."

The End

Author's note: Okay just for the record, I kinda wasn't that into this chapter. I just needed to end this story in a way that I could set up the next one :) so please, if you liked this story, check out

The Will to Live 2: Destruction of piece (Coming soon)

Also check out my Naruto crossover :) The Good Life

~Happy Murder~