Chapter 39: Suffering Pain – Naruto

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I ran out of witty comments and snide remarks... for now

Naruto found the false tree and jumped through the tear in it, finding the last scene he ever expected to find.

A female member of Akatsuki and a man who looked like he was two steps away from being a corpse. The man was gaunt, pale and tired looking. He had red hair and, from Naruto could see, the same Rinnegan that 'Pain' had. A sort of mechanical walking platform served as the man's legs, which seemed to be as crippled as the rest of him, given his appearance.

"Are you Pain's real body?" Naruto asked.

The man nodded. "I am Nagato. Beside me is Konan."

"I feel that we would be allies under different circumstances," Naruto said. It was just a feeling he had.

"Naruto-kun, we aren't trying to start wars, but end them. Men and women have sacrificed their lives for petty reasons over the years, never the right ones. If you, Naruto-kun, were to come with us and allow us to extract Kyūbi, we can finally end the wars that plague the shinobi world," Konan stated.

"No matter what you are planning to do with the bijū, the price is far too high. Peace cannot be forced, only through understanding will peace exist," Naruto countered. Jiraiya had told him that once and it stuck in his head.

Nagato frowned. "That isn't peace that you speak of boy, it is just tension between wars. Only through fear can man lay his arms down, for a while at least. With the bijū and their unfathomable chakra, I will create a jutsu so powerful that it will wipe out a whole country, scaring the world into peace. When war breaks out again, another will use the jutsu and peace will rise again. That is the only path to peace that exists: shared pain and fear."

Naruto glared at the man. "What is the matter with you? You claim that this is for peace, but you're talking like some warmonger!"

"I know war far better than you ever will, boy. Ame was the site of so many wars that it is a small wonder our tiny country exists to this day. I was originally going to use the jutsu on Konoha, making an example of them, but you proved to be annoyingly skilled at evading or destroying those I sent after you," Nagato said.

"Nagato, let me handle this. You need to rest," Konan said.

"I am not entirely without defense. I can handle this boy if it comes to a fight," Nagato insisted, making his mechanical throne take a step forward. "Naruto, you were Jiraiya's disciple as well, what do you think of his dream of peace?"

"As well?" Naruto asked.

"Jiraiya found us after his team fought Hanzō the Salamander. He stayed with us, taught us ninjutsu and passed on his dream of peace," Konan said.

"But it was weak and impossible. I tried different methods and failed, losing so much more than before. It was through my pain that I came to understand that true peace is nothing more than a lie, a delusion of fools. I will enlighten the world, just as I was enlightened," Nagato explained.

Naruto lowered his eyes, angry that such a person had been trained by Jiraiya as well. When his gaze dropped enough, he noticed the blood on the ground. "Who did you kill here?" Naruto asked.

"Kazeneko Yue. She was too blinded by her rage and hunger for revenge to see that I was right," Nagato stated, "seeing Konoha crushed, hearing that I killed that pink haired girl, it all set her off and she tried to kill me, but I got to her first."

Naruto grit his teeth, remembering how Pain had stabbed Sakura with that black knife. "You..."

"Even now, you are becoming part of the never ending cycle of hatred and war that I am trying to stop. Rather than following Jiraiya's teachings, you are the op-"

"You are nothing more than a monster! Justify it all you want, but you're no better than those who crushed your village beneath their heels during war! You're no god, you're just a petty bastard out for revenge as well, Nagato!" Naruto snapped.

Nagato narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?"

"Jiraiya told me about you, Konan and Yahiko, even showed me pictures of you three. I heard that Konoha ninja were the ones who killed your parents too. Since you chose to crush Konoha, the village that took your parents away from you, to draw me out, that means that you're no better than anyone else," Naruto explained.

Nagato remained silent for a few moments, then sighed. "It is pointless speaking to you. I will just defeat you here and make you an unwilling martyr for this world."

"What do you-?!" Naruto started, then flinched when a pitch black blade appeared in front of his face. He jumped back, but his forehead protector's band was cut, making it fall to the ground. "Who the..." Naruto's eyes widened in mid sentence. "Y-Yue?!"

"She resisted, but she died in the end. She is my Deva Path, for now," Nagato said as he kept his eyes locked on the ninja before him.

"But how?" Naruto asked, then saw the two bloody black spikes coming out of Yue's stomach. "You're using those rods to control her body..."

Nagato made Yue lift the chakra disrupting sword he had made her. "Yes," he said.

"I am Pain," Yue, no, Pain said, her sharingan locked on Naruto over one edge of her new weapon. With that, she rushed forward and started swinging, coming within a hair's breadth of cutting Naruto open quite a few times as he moved back.

Naruto managed to stop Pain's sword arm and then he tossed her aside. "You coward! Let her go!"

Pain landed, then rushed to stand between Nagato and Naruto, lifting her blade up again. "I am just the start. I am the Deva Path, but I'd be more suitable as the Preta Path, because this body already possesses chakra draining abilities. I may leave these eyes alone, since they bear quite a bit of power already and I'd probably just weaken this body by replacing them with Rinnegan."

"I won't let you take her or restock your bodies! You will fall here!" Naruto shouted, throwing a number of kunai at the new Deva Path.

Pain deflected all the small blades, then staked her sword into the ground and held her hands in a familiar seal. "Kage bunshin no jutsu," she said as four more copies of her appeared, who all held their hands in a basic seal. "Henge."

The original body's clothes changed, becoming regular Akatsuki robes. She had small chakra receiver piercings in her cat ears and a few in her forearms from what Naruto could see. The one to her left had changed into Kiba, who was also wearing an Akatsuki robe and had a number of piercings in his face and neck. The one on the other side of the original was Sakura, her piercings similar in nature to that of the Animal Path girl. Beside Kiba was Kankurō, who bore more faces and an all around mechanical appearance. An Ino clone was present as well, bearing piercings in her ears and forearms. All but the original had Rinnegan, who had her still bandaged left eye exposed by the henge, both eyes being mangekyō.

"What is this?" Naruto asked, taking a step back.

"The future faces of Pain. I chose the original bodies based on Jiraiya's past, using friends and foes to torment him. My new Paths will be your despair," Nagato said.

Pain swung her blade into a basic one handed stance. "The Preta Path."

"The Naraka Path," Sakura said while tapping her knuckles against each other.

"Animal Path," Kiba said as he crouched low.

"Asura Path," Kankurō stated with all his faces at once, using his grinning face as the main one.

Ino brushed her hand through her bangs and then placed it on her hip, a smirk on her face. "The Human Path."

"And I think your body will be the perfect Deva Path. You look so much like Yahiko did in the past, and I think it is time I let my old friend rest in peace," all of them said at once, still using the voices the bodies belonged to.

"I won't let you kill my friends for a stupid jutsu!" Naruto shouted as he rushed forward.

Pain and her transformed copies rushed forward and literally beat Naruto back. Worst of all, all of them used their own fighting style, aside from Kankurō, who fought basically, and Kiba, who used a wilder version of Yue's combat style. Naruto faltered every time a face he recognized came into view. He knew they weren't the real deals, aside from Yue's body, but the image was more than enough. The Six Paths of Paim technique was fearsome due to the psychological shock it delivered, even if it was just a simulated version using shadow clones and transformation.

After a few minutes of getting beat on, Naruto slumped to the ground, defeated more by his own frustration rather than the hanyō and her clones.

"It is time to give in and come with us, Naruto," Nagato said as he made Pain heft her blade to her shoulder and held her other hand out, offering Naruto relief from his existence as a jinchūriki.

Naruto shoved the hand aside and smashed the henged Kankurō clone, dispersing it. With that opening, Naruto escaped the other false Paths and flicked out a pair of kunai. "If you want Kyūbi, you'll have to cripple me!" Naruto challenged.

"Easily done," Nagato said.

"Chire!" Pain commanded as she and the remaining clones shot forward, blitzing Naruto with a dizzying barrage of strikes from all angles. He was shocked when a new Kankurō henged clone grabbed him and threw him up into the air. Before Naruto could react, Pain caught him and drove him into the ground, then stood and pointed her blade at his heart after the Kiba clone tossed it to her. "Give up. You cannot defeat us," she coldly stated.

Naruto swung his leg, tripping Pain. He backed off slightly, then created a few shadow clones of his own. "They may look like they have rinnegan, but they don't work!"

All of the shadow clone's right eyes changed into Yue's mangekyō. "Amaterasu!" they all shouted, black flames pouring forth like a tidal wave of destruction surging at Naruto.

Naruto used his clones to throw him over the fire, but winced as they were all instantly incinerated. He landed and promptly destroyed the Kiba and Kankurō copies with shuriken, then charged the Sakura and Ino clones. Sakura shot forward and swung her fist into Naruto's face, hitting him quite hard and knocking him back. He didn't notice the follow up until Ino landed on his hips with her feet, one hand gripping his head a moment, then she back flipped off and smashed her foot into his face, making him slam into the ground.

"Hmm. Seems that the Inuzuka and Suna puppet user may be poor choices. Maybe I'll use that weapon mistress for the Asura. Kakashi would be a perfect Animal Path instead of the Inuzuka," Nagato reasoned to himself.

Pain rushed forward, the chakra disruption sword leaving a trail of sparks as it tore a shallow gash in the ground. Naruto rolled in time to avoid losing an arm, then threw a pair of kunai at the two female clones, but they deflected with kunai of their own, then threw them at Naruto, who jumped aside. Pain appeared behind him in a crouch while he was in midair, her blade held back over her left shoulder.

Slice!

Naruto screamed as his legs were cut off in a single slash. He hit the ground and cried out one last time, right before he exploded into a very large cloud of expended chakra.

The two clones and Pain kept their stances, waiting for Naruto to show his face. They figured out where he was when they heard a gasp. Pain and her transformed clones shot out of the dust cloud and found Naruto behind Konan, a kunai to her neck.

"A hostage...How petty," Nagato muttered as the dust cleared.

Pain lifted her sword to point at Naruto. "Release her or I will do more than break your back, I will cut off your legs and arms."

"No. You make Yue release her clones and that disgusting henge, then cut your connection to her body and face me yourself," Naruto said, making sure the kunai was right under Konan's chin.

Pain lowered her blade, but kept a level gaze on Naruto. "Konan... Are you ready?" she asked.

Konan nodded. "I've always been ready."

"Wait! What are you going on about?" Naruto asked.

Pain hefted the blade up and took aim, the tip of the sword clearly aiming for one of Naruto's lungs through Konan's body. She rushed forward, her blade lunging straight at Konan's chest.

Naruto and Konan were pierced, Naruto grunting while Konan didn't react at all. Naruto found out why when the woman turned into a cloud of fluttering paper, reforming next to Nagato, completely free of injury. Naruto had shifted himself just enough to avoid having the blade punch through his lung, but it still hurt to have his shoulder pierced.

Pain ripped the blade out of Naruto with a calculated tug, kicked him down and spun her sword into a classical downward stabbing position, the blade hovering over Naruto's stomach, ready to pierce the seal that held Kyūbi in him.

"No!" Naruto shouted, but the blade still came down and pierced into him slightly, just enough for Nagato to attempt controlling him. Kyūbi didn't like the idea of sharing and, for lack of a better term, roared Nagato out of Naruto's head, and then some. With the connection between Nagato, Yue and her clones disrupted for a moment, Naruto shoved Yue back and flung a pair of shuriken at the clones, lightly cutting their arms and dispersing them.

Yue's body jerked as the connection was reestablished a moment later. Nagato's mechanical throne opened up at the front, a type of cannon inside it firing off a chakra disruption katana to stick into the ground near Pain, who rushed over to it and took hold of it with her left hand. When she tried to pull it up and rush forward, the girl almost fell back into it. Pain tried to yank it out of the ground once more, then released the henge and looked at the bandaged arm, frowning.

Nagato narrowed his eyes. "Her left arm is ruined... I'll fix that later." It still troubled him that she had been able to function and hide such a debilitating injury.

"Kage bunshin no jutsu!" Naruto shouted as a dozen or so of his clones jumped Pain, forcing her back and pinning her to the ground. She still managed to destroy a number of them with her sword, but was stilled soon after.

With his last defenses down, Naruto stared Nagato down, thinking of all the man had done. He was more than a monster because he had done so much in the name of his twisted 'peace.' The man clearly didn't understand one thing and Naruto was about to change that.

"About what you said with the Deva Path. I still don't have an answer, but I know that your way of achieving peace is wrong!" Naruto shouted.

"With no answer, you can do nothing other than watch as this world is eaten alive by hatred. Given enough time, a new Pain will rise: you," Nagato said.

"My answer is to not use violence! You talk about this chain that you want to break, but you are becoming the first link in that chain! How many people did you just kill, how many of their family will want revenge on you for what you did? You have the WRONG answer!" Naruto shouted.

"This coming from the child who said that killing me would bring peace," Nagato admonished.

Naruto glared at the Rinnegan bearer. "I don't want to hear that from a man who resorts to mass genocide to bring about peace. Talk about becoming a new Salamander."

"Talking with you is becoming tiresome. Either give me a way that you, a mere mortal and jinchūriki, can bring about peace that I, a god, am unable to achieve without force and death," Nagato commanded.

Naruto thought for a moment. "I want to know what twisted you like this. If you tell me how you came to believe that you are a god and that peace can only be achieved through fear, then I'll understand you better and tell you where you went wrong. I might even think of a way to do it, since I'm not all that smart."

Nagato decided to oblige the boy, since the tale of his rise would make the boy realize he was right. After silencing Konan's protests, he began telling him of himself, his parents and the three children who Jiraiya would come to call the Ame Orphans. He spoke of being betrayed by Hanzō, of Danzō being there with 'ANBU.'

After hearing everything, Naruto made his decision. "So we're the same..."

"What?" Nagato asked.

"My whole life has been filled with pain. Because I'm a jinchūriki, adults saw fit to take their children away, to bad mouth me to their children so I'd always be alone. I was seriously thinking that it would be better if I gained power and slaughtered the whole village, to wipe out people who chose to hate a child for no reason at all," Naruto said, "but that changed, even if it was slightly. Like you, I found someone to accept me: Iruka-sensei. I guess you could say that he is sort of like Yahiko, always cheering me up, always trying to make me see the positive things in my life."

Nagato had to agree with that.

Naruto scratched at the back of his head. "I guess that... Yeah, Yue is sort of like Konan was. Yue always tried to help me out, teaching me little things every once in a while, acting as a distraction when I got into trouble." He chuckled a bit. "After we first became friends, she stuck me with a HUGE ramen bill. After we brought her back properly, she paid off my entire outstanding bill and gave them enough money that I'll eat for free at Ramen Ichiraku for almost a half year."

"Where is the pain you spoke of?" Nagato asked.

Naruto wilted slightly. "Team 7, the rest of them. To Kakashi-sensei, I was an idiot who only had one good jutsu. Sakura-chan treated me like I was a punching bag. Sasuke...Sasuke was like Hanzo I guess: kind one moment, stabbing a chidori through my shoulder the next, killing my good friend for the first time soon after that," he said, looking at Yue's still controlled body.

Nagato released control of Yue's body, seeing as how the strain it brought on wasn't worth it, not at the moment anyway. He saw Naruto relax slightly when her head fell forward, her eye closing.

"In spite of being treated so badly for so long, even by those I consider family, I'm going to believe that everyone can exist in harmony, because me, Kakashi-sensei, Sakura-chan, Yue and Sasuke were able to come together and become a family in spite of how different we were from everybody else and each other. Understanding takes time, and that leads to peace," Naruto said, smiling slightly.

"Me, Yahiko, Konan and Jiraiya came together as a type of family as well, but it didn't stop me or Konan from attacking Jiraiya," Nagato said. He glared at Naruto. "Peace cannot be waited for, it must be forced upon this world or there will be nothing left. Waiting is a fool's game. Only those who die wait for anything at all!"

"I will lift this curse of hatred that blankets this world. If any chance for peace, even the smallest glimmer of a chance appears, I will seize upon it and never let go. I will never stop, quit or die til the world is at peace," Naruto said.

Nagato's eyes widened. "Those...words..."

"What is it?" Konan asked, confused.

"How did you know those words?" Nagato asked.

Naruto held a book in his hands. "Ero-sennin's first and greatest novel. He decided to try and change people with his words, his books. The back has a dedication to a certain pupil of his that inspired him to write the novel and gave him the main character's greatest line: Nagato of Ame."

"No... That's...That's not possible..." Nagato muttered.

"The name of the protagonist, you've said it numerous times today, and it sounds kind of like your name too," Naruto pointed out.

Nagato remembered how he said that same line Naruto had recited. Jiraiya had been stumped, sitting in front of a blank notepad when Nagato told the man of his nindō. He had remembered how Jiraiya had started to laugh, praising him and thanking him for a good idea, then got real quiet after looking at his meal, ramen, when trying to come up with the main character's name. He remembered how Jiraiya left them, leaving behind a first edition print of his worst selling novel. Finding his own words inside that book, seeing the protagonist as himself, it was surreal. It was like seeing the future. That protagonist was named...

"Naruto!" Naruto shouted. "He gave me this name through his book! It is also a gift from you as well, because his dream, your dream, my dream, they are all the same! I will become Hokage and stop these senseless wars, for everyone, without shedding any blood unless it is my own or the blood of the truly evil!"

Nagato lowered his head. "I said that having the same master would make understanding me easier. That was sarcasm. In the end, you knew me better than myself... Kami... Who am I kidding, only man doesn't know himself."

"You are more mortal than any human I've met," Sin's words echoed in Nagato's mind. How ironic that such a monstrous woman would see through him in moments. In a way, Naruto was just as monstrous, his clear view piercing Nagato and exposing the scared, confused child that had once begged for food before he was found by Konan.

"You are like myself when I was younger, but you mastered your anger, not using it as fuel for his own revenge..." Nagato sighed as he removed the restraints on his arms.

"Nagato? What are you doing?" Konan asked.

"Naruto. Jiraiya-sensei couldn't think of a path to peace. I failed miserably in spite of my great power. I'm leaving it to you and your friends, including Yue," the Rinnegan user said.

Naruto blinked. "What? But she's..."

"Pull the receivers out of her body. After I use this jutsu, get her to Konoha as soon as possible for immediate medical treatment," Nagato commanded.

"No need," a small slug said as it crawled onto the girl's body, going over the wounds as much as she could, "I can keep her stable as well as heal her body, though I cannot heal death."

Nagato formed a single seal. "I can't either, but I can give her, all of Konoha life again."

"H-How?" Naruto shakily asked, thinking of Sakura and all the others who lost their lives today.

"Gedō: Rinne Tensei no Jutsu," Nagato answered.

"Don't! You won't survive it!" Konan shouted, scared. Nagato didn't have Sin's viral chakra this time, meaning it would sap his chakra and life force, and with how many people died in Konoha...

"This is my only way to atone for my actions, to avoid falling to the lowest level of Hell, if it possible any more. Naruto and Yue were both right: trying to become Kami and show the world the pain that war brought on, I became nothing more than another tyrant out to control the world through fear. I wonder why I never saw this myself until now..." Nagato muttered to himself at the end.

"What is this jutsu? Is it like the Edo Tensei?" Naruto asked.

Konan told Naruto of the jutsu and its function, how it was a proper, pure version of the Edo Tensei. It restored life to the body, bringing the targets back to life as if they never died in the first place, but at the cost of the jutsu user's life. Naruto realized it was a mass version of the jutsu Chiyo had used on Gaara.

"Uzumaki Naruto, I may leave bringing this world peace to you, but I cannot entrust you with Akatsuki. My group has lost almost all of its power, and its way, but I know there is another who can fill the void I leave behind," Nagato said.

"Who?" Naruto asked.

Nagato looked to Konan. "When you retrieve Yahiko's body, I want you to give the ring to Yue, and I want you and Itachi to follow her."

"What?" Naruto half shouted.

"Akatsuki is as bloody as the clouds on our robes. We are enforcers, warriors, those who destroy evil with our darkness, spilling vile blood to save the innocent. I cannot leave such a blood covered group in the hands of you, who will bring peace through non-violent means. Yue, who hunts those who seek to keep this world wrapped in war, in darkness, is the only one I can entrust Akatsuki to. She will bring about a new dawn for the organization, and beside you, spread a light that will banish hatred's shadow," Nagato explained. He smiled a bit, realizing he had just made a small joke.

Konan lowered her head slightly. "I will follow her, Nagato."

Nagato smiled a bit. "Thank you for staying with me all this time, Konan, in spite of losing my way."

"You never lost your way, you just got a bit confused and walked backwards," Konan said, smiling a sad smile.

Nagato remembered how Yahiko had said that a few times, mostly referring to himself. "I'll go and wait with Yahiko now, I just hope this is enough, that I can save enough people today so that we will all be reunited later."

Naruto pulled the chakra receiver stakes out of Yue's back, grimacing at the neat holes, at least they were until blood started to slowly flow out both side of them. Mini-Katsuyu crawled onto the dead girl.

"Gedō: Rinne Tensei no Jutsu," Nagato said, a head appearing nearby and spitting out tons of glowing lights, one of which shot into the tree and circled around Yue's body. Back at Konoha, the dead were struck by blue or white light and the people sat up, all of them wondering what had just happened to them. Kakashi said his goodbyes to his father as he started to come back to life, promising to see him and his mother later on after he became an old man. Even the toads came back to life, much to the delight of a few others. Sakura suddenly sat up, wondering where Naruto and Pain were in spite of the hole in her shirt and the blood caked on it.

The purple and blue light that circled Yue shot into her chest, the girl gasping as she took a deep breath, her mangekyō glowing so bright that the design was nearly unable to be seen, a green flame wrapping about her right arm, then the glow of her eyes and the flame faded til both were gone. Yue coughed hard, then groaned as blood started to leak from her mouth and wounds at a quicker pace. The slug got to work, doing its best to keep the mortally wounded girl alive.

"Thank you," Naruto said, standing before Nagato again, who looked like a true living corpse now.

Nagato gave Naruto his last words, telling the boy what he had learned the hard way. He tried his best to impress upon Naruto that losses closest to you would probably happen and were the ones nobody could accept and move on from. He warned Naruto, a person who didn't know war, that there was no meaning behind any of the fighting aside from hatred, something that took most of Nagato's life for him to realize. He figured that by passing on what he knew already, Naruto would be able to figure things out long before he started to slip into the same rut that Nagato had fallen into. For the first time in a long time, maybe the first time ever, Nagato figured that Kami had Her hand in all of this, to help him redeem himself before it was all too late.

With those final words, Nagato died peacefully with a small smile.

"You're taking him too?" Naruto asked as Konan used her paper to wrap up the Deva Path. He had no trouble holding Yue up on his left shoulder, her claws hooked into his jacket due to her weakness and injury.

Konan nodded. "Yahiko was a dear friend to us and it might have been Nagato's way of remembering him, using him for the Deva Path."

Now that he wasn't trying to avoid getting killed by him, Naruto saw how Yahiko did sort of resemble him a bit.

Konan looked at the ring that had been on Yahiko's body, a ring far too large for Yue's slim fingers. She took the necklace off Yahiko and put the ring on it, then presented it to Yue.

Yue took it, slumping slightly due to the still closing holes in her torso. "This is..."

"Nagato and Yahiko would have given it to you. Akatsuki and their goals are now in your hands. You are the Void of Akatsuki, its leader," Konan said.

Yue looked at the necklace, then reached behind her neck, unclasping something as Naruto acted as a post for her to lean back against. With her bad hand, Yue fished out a pair of necklaces from under her clothes. One greatly resembled the one Yahiko had been wearing, but this one was made from an iron cord and some polished crimson stones. The other necklace had four small crystal blades on it, all different colors. She pocketed the two necklaces and pulled out a small pouch, a series of rings that matched the one that now resided on Yahiko's necklace clinking into her hand. She threaded the five rings onto a steel cord she had, attaching it to her jacket, then she put the necklace on, though she almost dropped it a few times due to her weakness and injuries.

"I can't refuse that, not that I would in the first place..." Yue became silent for a few moments. "Konan, I don't like having...subordinates..."

Konan was a bit confused. "What are you saying?"

Yue looked at the wrapped bundles that were Yahiko and Nagato's bodies. "I'd rather have family. I have two sisters already, one official, one unofficial. I don't mind having another older sister..."

Konan realized what Yue was trying to say. "I think I wouldn't make a great older sister, but I think I might be a good aunt. Just don't bring up my age or I'll seal your mouth shut."

"Are you two going back to Akatsuki?" Naruto asked.

Konan looked to Yue, who shook her head. "Ame is where Akatsuki was born, but Akatsuki is here now, with just me and Konan. I'll ask Itachi if he'll follow me. If he says he's done with Akatsuki, I'll just take his ring and find someone else to fill his spot. No more random people, you bear our goal or you don't get a ring. That reminds me, we need to retrieve Kisame, Zetsu and Tobi's rings," Yue said, already sounding a bit like a leader.

"Nagato and Yahiko were all I ever cared about in Akatsuki, and their wills were given to both of you, so I will believe as well. Amegakure will also try its best to realize their dreams, alongside Konoha's future Hokage and Akatsuki's new leader," Konan said.

"My name, the courage that comes with it and my dream, they were given to me by both Jiraiya-sensei and his pupil, Nagato. I won't give up until their dream is reality," Naruto vowed.

Konan formed a bouquet of flowers with her paper, holding it out to Naruto. "Take this, and help both peace and hope bloom around you like a garden."

"Konan, come back to Konoha with us, at least until I'm fully healed," Yue said tiredly, "I need to get my stuff and I have some things I need to do, a person or two who have to die a painful death."

"But Nagato and Yahiko..." Konan muttered, looking back to the wrapped bodies.

"I want to be there then they are put to rest, so I can tell them to leave everything to me. I still don't know my way to Amegakure, and not through the barrier jutsu either, so it'd be best to have a guide who does," Yue said.

Konan thought about it, then nodded. "You do heal fast, and it would be right for you to be there. I can wait a bit."

"With Konoha's medics, it will be even faster," Yue said.

The three started to head back, Konan focusing on keeping her two friends' bodies aloft, Yue on not becoming intimate with the dirt, Naruto just wanting to get back home before he passed out from exhaustion and his already healed injuries. Well, at least all the wounds he didn't receive in the cave were healed.

Naruto was ahead of the two women and it was a good thing too, since he started to fall, only to be caught by Kakashi. "As always, you pulled through and won in the end," the man said, eye smiling.

"Kakashi...sensei..." Naruto muttered, half out of it.

"Just hold on, we'll be home soon," Kakashi promised as he started to walk with the genin on his back.

Naruto was extremely shocked to see the entire village gathered, all of them relieved and happy to see him. They practically showered him with praise, calling him a hero, thanking him, welcoming him home. He was absolutely stunned, mostly since this was the first time so many people were happy to see him.

Kakashi congratulated Naruto on getting the respect he deserved as he set the boy on his feet again, standing a bit behind him to avoid the crowd that was now rushing them.

"I told them everything," the slug healing Yue's stomach said.

Naruto was gently mauled by the people, who were beyond happy. They were asking for details on what he had done, seeing if he was injured, or just plain old congratulating him. A few asked about Yue and Konan as well, but the looks the woman and newly appointed Akatsuki leader were getting were kind of dark.

"Lay off a bit!" Naruto whined as someone tightly gripped his hand, making the healed spot hurt a bit, and another pushed on his stomach, agitating the wound there. "Konan and Yue are on our side!" he shouted, hoping to divert some of the animosity that was being directed at the two Akatsuki women.

Hinata thanked Kami and everything else she knew of for helping Naruto make it through the fight he had been in.

"Where's Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, worried about how she had been killed as well as getting some medical attention for himself and Yue.

Sakura shot out of the crowd, and whacked Naruto over the head, hard. "Baka! BAKA! BAKA! Why do you always go so far? BAKA!" she cried, smacking him over the head with almost every word, then hugged him tightly. "Thanks for saving us, and coming back," she quietly said.

Next thing Naruto knew, people were throwing him into the air! What the hell? Who tossed an injured person? It felt kind of nice, but the wound on his stomach still hurt!

Yue sighed, figuring she wouldn't be getting any medical attention anytime soon, but then felt the familiar warmth of a healing jutsu flowing into her stomach wounds. She looked, expecting to see Rin, but it was Ino that was healing her.

"This is for trying to save Asuma-sensei from that bastard," Ino said, trying to sound tough and angry. Her chakra said differently though. Yue could feel worry and unease ebbing out of the girl's chakra, relief flooding it as it worked on sealing the wounds.

Yue knew that things would happen soon and she'd need to do a few things before she left Konoha again. After Ino managed to stop the bleeding from one of the holes, Yue fell back, unconscious. Naruto joined her a minute later, because he was damn tired and hurt!

[A few weeks later]

Three Kumo-nin stood outside of the remains of Konoha, one freaking out because she thought she destroyed Konoha when she threw a rock at her idiotic teammate, causing a chain of impossible events that led to the enormous crater that resided in the spot a map declared was Konoha.

While Danzō did his best to snatch up the title of Hokage and Naruto was with Tsunade, Yue was with Ino and Rin, her wounds healed up and walking about after being given an okay to do so. Konan had left a while ago, but one of Yue's clones was with her. According to Yue, the clone could travel far from her and remain independent without worry, meaning it wasn't Yuriko or a regular shadow clone.

"Yue-sama, why are we here?" Rin asked.

Ino wondered the same thing, but didn't want to really say anything to Yue after all that had happened.

Behind a stack of wood nearby were Ruuko Urami and his son, Kai. They had seen Yue and were trying to find a good time to step out, apologize to her and fully welcome her back to the Ruuko clan, or maybe just welcome her to it for the first time. Chances didn't present themselves because Yue was almost always with someone else, helping with her umbra clones or just talking with a few people. They saw the young woman talk to the young Hyūga, Hanabi, a few times as well. First time, Hanabi gentle fisted her not so gently in the gut, twice, then delivered a no holds barred jūken powered bitch slap to her left cheek. That red hand print lasted on her face far longer than any bruise she had ever suffered. Whoever named that style of combat 'gentle fist' was either a comedian, a person who loved irony or an asshole.

Yue had long since switched to a new outfit, black torn off short shorts, bandages wrapped from her feet up to mid thigh, a gold trimmed crop top with no sleeves and her old, worn out Akatsuki jacket with the rings she carried visible to all on her necklace and the metal cord on her hip. She made it no secret that she was the new leader of Akatsuki, also pointing out numerous times that only she, Itachi and Konan were true members and that all others were fakes they would hunt down later.

Yue reached into a pocket of her jacket and produced a red tomoe beaded necklace. It was just a thick cord, maybe coiled metal, with those polished beads on it and a twist clasp on the back. She held it out to Rin. "I want you to hold onto this for me," she said.

"B-But this is from your mother..." Rin stammered, holding a hand out to refuse it.

Yue's weak left hand seized Rin's and placed the necklace in her palm, then closed her fingers over it. "I will take it back later, when I know it won't be destroyed during a fight. I'd rather it be around your neck than in a box somewhere," Yue insisted.

Rin accepted it and put it on, gently running her thumb over the beads. She knew that, out of everything Yue had, this was one of the few things the hanyō treasured that wasn't a weapon or person. "I'll keep it safe until you ask for it back," Rin said, putting emphasis on the last part.

Ino looked away, trying to look angry. "Why am I here for this?" she asked, trying to look for a reason to leave.

Jingle...

Ino turned her gaze forward and her jaw nearly dropped. Before her was a necklace with four beautiful gems carved into the shapes of tiny swords. It had to be worth a small fortune, something you wouldn't expect to find a ninja walking around with. "What...is this?" Ino slowly asked.

"Something from my father. I can't hold on to this. I'm the complete opposite of both my parents, so I don't deserve these necklaces," Yue said, her left hand rising to rest below the Akatsuki necklace she wore, "this one suits me just fine."

Ino gently took the blade necklace. "But this... It belongs to you."

"Not right now, maybe it never did. I have no right to wear it, so you will take it for me until I am worthy of it, if I ever am," Yue said.

Urami nearly screamed, not in rage, but in shock. Did Yue have a single clue as to what she was doing right now?! Probably not, and that was his fault! And that Yamanaka, she should study other clans more! Who gave a damn about the Uchiha, the Ruuko were a bit more...unusual at times, like right now!

Ino looked at the necklace, then nodded slightly as she put it on. "Fine, I'll hold onto it, for now! You are taking it back one of these days!" she warned, using the same tone she had used on Shikamaru many times before when he was lazy.

Yue smiled wanly. "Hai, hime-sama," she chirped, smirking deviously.

Ino blushed a bit. "H-Hey! Quit it!"

Rin stifled a chuckle. It was kind of cute, seeing Ino repeatedly try to make Yue accept the blonde's acceptance as it being grudgingly given, Yue hinting at her knowing it was wholehearted.

Urami couldn't believe what just happened here. He had to talk to Yue, the ex-jinchūriki and the Yamanaka to let them all know what just happened.

"Dad, what are you freaking out over?" Kai asked.

'My son too,' Urami thought with a quiet sigh. His son would be easiest, Yue or the Yamanaka the hardest. Either way, he had work to do.

Nobody noticed it, but Yue suddenly looked off towards where the council was, her senses having seized upon something. 'A sharingan genjutsu? Who other than me, Itachi and Kakashi have sharingan... Sasuke? But he's nowhere near here right now... Who...' Her head hurt, a name and face wanting to rise to the surface, but something blocked it. She needed to remember who else she knew that had a sharingan, it was important, but she just couldn't bring the damned memory up. It had something to do with Jin's death, something that she needed to remember, but... Her head hurt more and more with each passing moment!

Yue shook her head, figuring she was just remembering something from the past. She was no sensor, so she couldn't have possibly felt a chakra pulse from a sharingan she had never seen before. If it was one she was familiar with, then she would understand sensing it. Whatever, Yue turned back to the girls, getting a lecture from Ino on paying attention when someone was talking to you. Yue chuckled a bit, wishing she could get used to this kind of thing.

The moment Yue had looked away from the girl she loved and her female confidant, Danzō had used Shisui's sharingan to make the daimyo, who seemed to be thinking things over, name Danzō the Rokudaime Hokage.

Recovery from the attack was fast, especially since Yue had given Yamato the wood release reimyo buki, Bokutō, to enhance his wood releases to a new level. Normally, he would only be able to raise half a dozen or so houses at once, then he'd be badly winded, but the wooden blade greatly lessened the strain on him, allowing him to raise at least thirty or so with each use of the jutsu. He didn't know what effect other people using her weapons had on Yue, other than her healing factor slowing. For all he knew, it would be dispelled and Yue would be laid out next to Tsunade, another victim of extreme chakra exhaustion related coma, or worse. She assured him that it wouldn't drain her, but he was still careful with how often he used the weapon to bolster his powers.

Naruto and Sakura were talking by some construction materials, quietly talking that is. The events during Nagato's attack made the usually outspoken (aka extremely loud) duo quite the opposite.

Sakura was doing her best to keep the threat of a blush from coloring her cheeks. Why had she said that back then? Why hadn't she said some of those things sooner? She had once boasted about being the smartest person to graduate from the academy in Konoha's history, but now that she thought of it, she wasn't all that smart beyond what she read in books or was taught.

[Flashback, Naruto/Deva Path battlefield]

"Naruto, almost four years ago during the Chūnin Exams, when Ibiki-san told us that we'd be stuck as genin for the rest of our lives, I decided that I would do anything I could to help you become Hokage, even if it meant us giving up to protect your dream. Even to this day, I want to help you as best as I can," Sakura said, staring the man down, fists ready to break his arm rather than dislocate it this time around.

"S-Sakura...chan..." Naruto muttered, stunned at her words, "why?"

Sakura bit her lip. "I...I don't know. Your dream, after everything I had seen up to that point and now as well, I just know that you'll make it, but you need help to get there. I wanted to be the one right beside you, supporting you the whole way." Had Rin been present, she would have cried, because this scene was a mirror image of what she had been like around her deceased friend, Obito, near the end.

The Deva Path remained silent. The time to crush the boy's spirit was nearing.

Sakura was shivering slightly now, not from fear, but from nervousness. "N-Naruto.Y-You're... special to me..." she managed, happy that Naruto only saw her back because her face had to be fifty shades of red at that moment.

Naruto's eyes widened in mild shock. Before anything more could be said, a black blade pushed out Sakura's back as the Deva Path appeared before her.

"Sakura-chan!" he roared as his pupils slit and his irides turned blood red.

[Present]

'Did she really mean that? I know it isn't the same way it was with Sasuke, but...maybe it is sort of how I see Iruka-sensei, like she sees me as a sibling,' Naruto thought to himself. He had long since come to the belief that he'd be, at most, Sakura's best male friend, aside from whoever she came to marry in the future, that person most likely being Sasuke. It was kind of painful to think of that, but he wanted her to be happy, even if it wasn't him that she shared her life with.

Sakura's thoughts would have shocked Naruto if he could hear them.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

'Calm down, heart! At this rate, I'll suffer a stroke before I can stammer something out like Hinata does, though I hope I don't faint. Naruto would think I was weird too if I did that,' Sakura thought to herself. She had always thought that, down the road, Naruto would be the one she could confide anything in, that he'd be the best friend she had always thought would be another girl. Ino was a good friend, but with her gossiping, anything she was told would probably be all over the world in less than a month. Well, Sakura's vision of the future had changed and it was doing its best to make her face match her clothes.

Her, Naruto, a cute kid running beside them, the left hands of the two members of Team Kakashi being adorned with matching rings on their ring fingers.

Sakura did her best to fight the blood that was rushing to her face. Her heart didn't help matters much.

'Have I been hiding it from myself? Did it just happen when I thought I might lose him forever, or was it a long time ago? Could it have been when he came back from his training trip? Was it during Orochimaru's attack? Or was it in the Forest of Death? Before that? Wave? When did I start to fall in love with Naruto?' the usually smart girl wondered. She felt extremely stupid right now and she wondered if Naruto would accept her stuttering confession, or would he reject her in a less cold manner than Sasuke did? That was part of what kept her mouth shut right now: the fear of rejection. She wouldn't blame him, considering how she had treated him in the past. Heck, she ruined his first date by making it all about Sasuke, not him. To make matters worse, Naruto had only asked her on one date, and hadn't confessed to her once since he returned from his training trip. Maybe he wasn't interested in her any mo- NO! She couldn't think like that! She had to move or she'd fall in line with Hinata!

"U-Um/Um," Sakura and Naruto started, respectfully.

"You first," Naruto blurted out.

"N-No, you first," Sakura managed.

Naruto wondered if Sakura was sick or something, because she was all fidgety and her face was quite red too. She sort of reminded him of Hinata right now. He hoped she didn't faint, that would be kind of strange.

Neither one was paying too much attention or they would have noticed Yue, Ino, Rin, Tazuna and Inari hiding a small distance away, watching them. Yue and Rin had led the others here a few moments ago, Yue's cat ears having picked up on two rapidly beating hearts. She would never admit it, but she honestly thought she'd peek around the corner and see a scene out of Icha Icha involving Naruto and Sakura, but she just found the pair of teens sitting there, both as nervous as if they were buck naked in front of the whole village.

"Is Sakura-nee-chan going to confess to Naruto-nii-chan?" Inari asked.

Once, Ino would have said no, but she wasn't so sure anymore. Sakura had showed up and faced an opponent she knew she couldn't harm just to protect Naruto. The girl's behavior at this moment was sending out a clear signal: the young blond beside the pink haired medic was about to receive a love confession. It brought a small smile to the mind walker's lips, not because it meant that a rival was gone, since her own feelings for Sasuke were almost all gone, it was because she felt that they were a good match for each other: loud, annoying and brash!

Rin, a sucker for a good romance story, was watching the two young ninja and eagerly awaiting what was just around the corner.

Tazuna was smiling a bit. 'Go for it, hero.'

Yue was also smiling. These two were just like how Hiruzen had described Naruto's parents: Minato being a guy with his head filled with dreams of becoming a peace bringing Hokage and Kushina being the one who smacked him around. Up until a certain point, Kushina had apparently been Minato's conscience, then she had just gotten angry on occasion and became the Red Hot-blooded Habanero again, scaring the life out of anyone in range of her bonking-Minato-over-the-head intent.

"I...I like...you..."

Naruto's eyes widened dramatically, like he had suddenly been struck dead from behind. Did who he think he heard say those words?

Sakura sheepishly looked at Naruto, eagerly waiting for the frozen boy to answer her.

"H-Huh?" was Naruto's brilliant response.

Sakura gave Naruto something between an upset pout and an annoyed one. "I said that I l-like you, baka."

"As a friend though, right?" Naruto asked, hoping she'd say no.

Sakura didn't answer, just blushed harder.

Naruto realized that she liked him as more than a friend. His voice was now a million miles away.

"D-Do you still...like me?" Sakura timidly asked, worried that he'd say he didn't.

"Always!" Naruto half shouted, "I never stopped liking you, ever!"

Sakura felt relieved, but nervous as well. When Naruto didn't say anything, she sighed. "Baka, this is the part where you confess and then gently kiss me."

Naruto seemed to flinch, then he gently held her shoulders. "I li- love you, Sakura-chan" he said, then leaned forward slowly.

Sakura met him halfway and the two were lightly kissing each other.

'That's my boy!' Tazuna thought as pride swelled within him. He kinda forgot that Naruto wasn't his son.

Inari resisted the urge to shout encouragement at the person he admired, for yet another reason now.

Rin was happy and wished she had writing talent. This scene was golden!

Ino couldn't help but smile, wondering if her future boyfriend would be half as nervous.

'Finally!' Yue thought, having seen growing friendly affection for Naruto in Sakura's eyes since Wave. She didn't know when it changed to romantic affection, maybe during the two and a half years Sakura couldn't see Naruto, maybe some other time, but it had happened. It shocked even Yue to see the depth of the warmth in Sakura's eyes when it concerned Naruto.

A moment later, Rin fell on top of Yue because Tazuna and Inari popped out of hiding, congratulating the two ninja on their relationship. (Ino quietly slipped away during all of this) They decided to make their presence known when Kakashi walked up. Unlike the other members of Team 7, the mention of Sasuke caused the scars on Yue's chest and eye to flare up in pain, something Inari noticed when she placed her hand over the covered eye. Naruto quickly lied up a storm about a fight and Sasuke cooling off somewhere, like a training trip or something.

After the two Wave workers returned to work, Naruto thought of everything that had happened between him and Sasuke. He said he had no chance before at the valley because he was only able to understand Sasuke now.

Yue sighed. "You never needed to understand him Naruto, ever."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Naruto asked.

Yue knew that Ino had long since left, so she partially uncovered the left side of her face, trying her best to not notice when the others recoiled slightly at the sight of it. "Harmony and friendship isn't a one way street. You couldn't bring Sasuke back because he refused to see things from your perspective. If anyone was at fault for those events, it was Sasuke himself. Refusing to see anything from any angle besides your own is a sign that you are immature and purposely ignorant," the young woman explained as she wrapped the bandages around her head again, hiding her scars from sight.

Nobody could argue with her on that one. Naruto at least tried to see if his loneliness was similar to Sasuke's, but Sasuke had refused to see anyone other than himself as a victim of pain or think that Naruto had suffered horribly in his own way, not until the end anyway. Even with Yue, who had a past similar to both Naruto and Sasuke's, the Uchiha had refused to see her as someone who suffered as much or worse than him. To Sasuke, he was the one who suffered the most in this world, nobody else came close. To him, losing an entire family was so great that being an outcast for being a living prison or hated by both of your parents' races were barely irritations in comparison.

It was at this moment that Kiba showed up with horrible news: Shimura Danzō was the Rokudaime Hokage, and his first order was to have Sasuke listed in the bingo book as an S-rank missing-nin with a kill on sight order.

A/N~

I feel like I need to explain myself a bit. See, I don't hate the NaruHina pairing, I just hate that we had absolutely zero build up to it. To me, it felt rushed and forced, like an arranged marriage, and that stupid movie didn't help at all, especially since it is non-canon due to many, MANY factors. In fact, the only pairing that had any build up at all was the Shikamaru/Temari pairing, and nobody can argue that. Had Kishimoto actually had dozens of scenes of Naruto and Hinata hanging out, training and all that, I wouldn't hate the ending half as much as I do. Then again, he went as old school as he could, since Hinata was the first clearly defined girl, which is something that has been done to death and then some in the manga community. (The formula is: first girl shown is the one who gets the guy) He achieved his shock ending though, we were all shocked at how stupid about ninety percent of it was. (personal joke of mine)

Another thing that pissed me off was Kaguya. In reality, Madara was a much deadlier foe than her. For knowing 'all ninjutsu,' how many did she use? Three? Four? Madara used twice that in half the chapters she appeared in, and showed that he was far deadlier than her when drastically weakened, both as an edo tensei and as a blind mortal. In all honesty, Kaguya was extremely underwhelming for the final boss and quite stupid as well. It was more like Zetsu was the brains and she was a powerful moron following his orders. She also didn't utilize the power of her two dōjutsu, the byakugan and the Rinne Sharingan, both of which would have made the fight much better had she used them. All in all, she was incredibly disappointing. Hell, she basically spent most of her time floating around while Team 7 came up with strategies to defeat her or disassembled her skills.

Another thing that bugs me is, aside from Kurotsuchi and Tenten, it seems like every single kunoichi has retired. As one person pointed out in his/her fic, Sakura did NOT go through all that training just to become a mere housewife, and neither did Hinata or Karui! It is like Kishimoto wanted to spit all over the hard work all the female characters went through, making it seem like it was all just a waste of time for them. Then again, it could just be his usual way of doing things, making characters and then tossing them aside when they've served their purpose, never to be seen or heard from again even if they are in Konoha.

The final thing that irks me about the ending is that Naruto would NEVER, EVER let his children suffer even a tenth of what he went through growing up. He would not make it so that his son acted out the way he does. Making Naruto do that makes him a hypocrite and an asshole, like in the Last. At the very least, Naruto could send a shadow clone to spend time with his son. And don't go saying he's busy and can't do it. The Sandaime had to work with Danzō, a whiny council, possible war on the horizon, heavy reliance on bird messengers and the dreaded hydra of the Naruto world: paperwork, and he STILL had time to go eat ramen with Naruto or walk about the village to talk with people or visit the academy to see how things were going. Naruto is a peace time Hokage, with vastly superior technology that would make his job easier and quicker, so making him a virtually absentee father was just a way to make it so Boruto (STUPID ASS NAME) wound up a moody little shit who went Konohamaru on his father, and it is a piss poor excuse as well. He could have done the same thing without Naruto being away from his family all the time, he should have just made it so that, like his father, Boruto figured he could do a better job than his father in spite of his youth. THAT would be infinitely better than the shit we got. The little brat was basically Sasuke for Kami's sake!

God, reading the gaiden, or whatever you want to call it, is like reading a bad, broken fanfic written by a pothead who is experimenting with bad acid after having a partial labotomy. Sharingan having rinnegan abilities, new Uchiha coming out of nowhere, Kamui becoming a move any sharingan user can use, stupid characters with overly exaggerated character flaws, all of it feels like a really bad attempt to milk a dying cow. I only read it to complete the now fallen series. That and I want to see how badly mutilated Naruto's character has become. So far, its like he's been taken over by someone else. Anyone can agree that the writing has gone stale, and Kishimoto's even DBZ-ing things now and tossing various things from the past into the grinder. It's like Kishimoto doesn't even remember his own canon anymore.

Whatever, I'm not letting this ship sink. Kishi and the chapters after 698 can go fuck themselves sideways. From what I've seen lately, Kishi's washed up.

I know this meme is overdone, but I'm HELICARRYING NARUSAKU! AND NARUHAREM!

Updated with fixes, since changed things so my usual line breaks don't work anymore.

Omake-

Uchiha Sasuke, heir to the Bastard King throne?

Sasuke threw his kunai, impaling the woman's right hand so it was pinned to the ground. He did nothing to hide the smirk as the woman screamed in pain as her blood flowed from the wound.

The silver haired woman stopped screaming, looking at Sasuke with pleading eyes as she held up her left hand. "You...You've won… I can heal you! I won't-"

Her eyes widened as Sasuke was replaced with a rock, then she was treated to the sight and pain of a second kunai, this one impaling her left hand. Before she could scream, Sasuke's foot impacted her hand and slammed it down, pinning her free hand to the ground as well. She screamed as the pain shot through her body. As if that wasn't enough, Sasuke kicked her in the chest, the woman screaming again as her hands were torn from the middle of the hands and out between her knuckles.

"Sasuke! What are you going?" Naruto demanded, fist clenched tightly.

Sasuke drew his sword with his right hand, briefly lamenting on how slow he had become with only one arm, but shot a glare at his former team. "I'm ending this," he coldly stated.

"She can't fight anymore! It's only a matter of time before-" Naruto started.

Sasuke pointed his sword at Naruto, a sheen of lightning running down the blade. "Don't think that this thing's appearance has changed anything. I will kill her, you and the Kage, then set this world upon the right path as the true Hokage."

Naruto paid no heed to the weapon, dodging around it and throwing Sasuke away from the wounded woman. "I won't let you kill anyone!" he declared as Sakura stood beside him, Kakashi nearby with a few shuriken ready.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "My revolution will not be stopped."

Sakura's eyes widened as Sasuke appeared before her, right as pain bloomed from her torso. She looked down, seeing Sasuke's sword driven into her body just below the ribs. He yanked the sword free, pushing her over with his left shoulder so she landed on her back next to the silver haired woman.

"Sasuke, what-" Naruto started, only to dodge the Avenger's blade.

-Balancing Section-

Dōjutsu-

Sharingan: Tracking is directly related to user's own speed. This is actually canon, since Sasuke wasn't able to predict Lee's taijutsu at first because he was too slow to react to it anyway. Later, Kishi went and broke the sharingan by making it so it could predict movement even if the foe is massively faster than the user. (Sasuke VS A, Sasuke VS Madara) I unbroke it slightly by making it so that you need to have the speed to dodge an attack to be able to see it coming with the sharingan. The closer the image is to the actually attack, the lower your chances of dodging it. This tracking also applies to hand seals and, sadly, the entire series of hand seals for a jutsu must be witnessed for copying. If the original user can cut down on the hand seals needed for a jutsu, the sharingan user cannot copy the jutsu.

Mangekyō: Anyone can resist genjutsu from this dōjutsu, it is just damn difficult, and extremely tiring. Still not a good idea to lock eyes with the user though. The bloody tears that are forced out when mangekyō jutsu aren't from inexperience or using too much power...

-Jutsu-

Amaterasu

Temperature: The sun, on the surface, is fifteen million degrees Celsius, twenty-seven million degrees Fahrenheit for Americans and others who go by it. Cremation flames, which reduces a human body to ash within two hours, are between fourteen to eighteen hundred degrees Fahrenheit, or seven hundred sixty to nine hundred two degrees Celsius to people like me. If Amaterasu really was as hot as the surface of the sun, being within a hundred feet of it would reduce you to dust in a blink of an eye. I decided that Amaterasu flames are actually quite cool, around two hundred Celsius, three hundred thirty-two degrees Fahrenheit. This, combined with a slow spread, is why they burn for seven days and nights or until the target is ash.

Effects: Amaterasu cannot be extinguished by anything aside from its user's will. All sharingan users who awaken the power of Amaterasu have the ability to weaken or extinguish the flames, and only the user can control their own flames. Of course, if someone were to try and put it out themselves, it could go very bad. Stop, drop and roll will just spread the flames across the ground, and possibly you if you're dumb enough to roll back over them.

Blaze Release: Unlike the dampening or extinguishing of the black flames of Amaterasu that any mangekyō user with said technique can do, the blaze release takes it several steps further. Blaze release manipulates the chakra within the flames to control its movements or increase its size by feeding it more chakra through the user's gaze. This makes the blaze release one of the few advanced chakra natures that has only a single basic nature within it.

Sasuke's chidori sword: As we all know by now, chidori is wholly dependent upon two things: the user's speed and the thrusting motion of their arm. This, by definition, invalidates Sasuke's chidori sword. A STABBING jutsu cannot enhance the CUTTING force of a sword. Quite simply, all Sasuke does is run lightning down the sword's edge to increase its cutting power and lessen the strain on the sword, he just attaches 'chidori' to it because he likes the name. Now if it was based on Raikiri, it would make sense, but Sasuke can't use raikiri.

Mangekyō awakening: Extreme feelings of guilt are what trigger the awakening of the mangekyō. This information has been corrupted by unknown sources (Zetsu/Madara) over the years to make the Uchiha think that killing their 'best friend' was the only method of attaining this power. There is an incredibly rare phenomenon where one can awaken mangekyō through intense feelings of any kind. There is one rumor that says an Uchiha man awoke them because...well, he got some with the love of his life.

Rinnegan awakening: DATA CORRUPTED

Demons: The term demons has many uses in the Naruto world, but is often used incorrectly to refer to the bijū or the jinchūriki. The real demons are nature aligned creatures that, when civilized, can attain a form to appear almost entirely human, only bearing a few features hereditary to their origin, such as an Oni's horn or a Tengu's long nose. They bear a power similar in nature to chakra, but is also an opposite to it, being formed from their physical and energy derived from their emotions. Demons possess no spiritual power of any kind, meaning no demon can use chakra.

The most notable thing humans know about demons, other than their greater abilities, is their long life span. Demons can easily live a few hundred years, as opposed to a human who can live for only about ninety or so years. It is of odd note that there is much genetic similarity between humans and demons, allowing crossbreeding and human medicine to function in a demon's system, albeit with less effectiveness. Demons are also mostly immune to human diseases, barring a scant few, and can contract diseases that have no effect on humans. As one would expect, humans cannot contract demon diseases.

Hanyō: The half demon, half human children born from a human and demon's pairing. Hanyō often receive a mix of their parents abilities, though it is, until recently, unheard of that a hanyō gains access to chakra. Most hanyō tend to take after their demonic parent far more than their human one, due to the stronger genetic material.

Kazeneko Yue is the only noted exception to this. In fact, many speculate that she is a one in a million fluke or a genetic freak, for lack of a better term, because she bears both demonic energy and chakra, two powers that shouldn't be able to exist within the same body at the same time.

Final Boss of KTD: Not Kaguya, because she's damn weak.