Obito felt his eyes flutter open, the first thing he saw was the worried look on Sakura's face, her hands glowing a light green as he felt his wound slowly heal. He saw a faint purple chakra surrounding them and slowly turned his head and saw Sai and Sayuri looking at something in the distance, the purple chakra seemingly coming off of the female Uchiha.
"Sensei," Sakura shouted in relief and happiness. "Thank god you're okay," Obito felt his body protest as he sat up slowly, the ache of his chest almost being unbearable as he looked over to Naruto and the now unmasked man that he recognized as Sasuke Uchiha, the one who died in Naruto's alternate world.
"That's. . ." He trailed off, his eyes widening as he realized the implications behind the unmasking and his head darted to Sayuri, who was wearing a grim expression. "Is Naruto okay?"
"Knowing him? Probably not." She answered as she glanced back at him, a small glare coming off of her Sharingan eyes. "You knew about the truth about Naruto?" Obito grimaced.
"I suppose the truth was revealed while I was out," He muttered mostly to himself before nodding. "Yes, I knew ever since he tried to kill himself."
"Three years?" Sakura whispered as she glared at Obito. "You knew who Naruto was for three years and never told us? We could have helped him!"
"I was ordered to keep secret," Obito said honestly. "Tsunade-sama didn't want any more slander on Naruto's name after word got out that he put Kurenai in the hospital." He looked at Naruto and Sasuke again. "What are they doing?"
"Well," Sai began. "They yelled at each other that they were going to fight, and yet, all they've done is glare at each other." Obito nodded and slowly stood up, his knees shaking slightly as he straightened up.
"Then that means we have time to get away," He said as he eyes were glued on the pair of godlike shinobi. "With the battle that these two will be waging, I doubt there won't be a piece of land within a mile radius of here that won't be untouched."
"Don't lump me in with you lot," Sayuri said with a snarl. "I'm not weak! I've surpassed you too, Obito!"
"And so has Naruto," Obito retorted. "And so is that Sasuke guy, and not by a small amount either." He met Sayuri's eyes. "Sayuri, I've known you since you were a wrapped bundle in Mikoto-sama's arms. I promised myself that I'd protect you after our clan was slain. And now I'm going to keep that promise," He said as he sighed.
Sayuri's eyes widened as she realized what he was saying. "Don't you dare use-" In an instant, Obito activated his Mangekyou Sharingan and used Kamui, causing Sakura, Sai, Sayuri, and himself to be sucked up and transported into the Kamui dimension, where Sayuri was glaring daggers at the older Uchiha.
"You bastard!"
"It seems that your friends have abandoned you," Sasuke noted as he watched the broken remains of Team 7 get sucked up by Obito's Kamui. "Then again, you're used to being abandoned, aren't you?"
Naruto didn't reply to Sasuke's barb, staring into the man's mismatched Sharingan and Rinnegan eyes. He took a deep breath, Naruto's fingers twitching as he spoke. "When I asked why you were doing this, you said it was because I let Naruto Uzumaki die." Naruto's own Rinnegan glowed. "What exactly did you mean by that?"
Sasuke chuckled. "How like you to want to talk after saying you'd break my bone in my body, no matter, I'll indulge you. I have all the time in this world anyway." He held a single arm out, extending a finger and pointing at Naruto.
"What I meant is exactly what I said. You let Naruto Uzumaki die." He shouted accusingly, wearing the same smirk that he used often back then.
"I'm still alive!" Naruto responded with a shout of his own. Sasuke's amused face turned into one of pure anger, gritting his teeth as his Eternal Mangekyou activated, spinning violently.
"You are not Naruto Uzumaki!" He roared as he took several large steps forward, his outstretched finger shaking with barely restrained rage. "I won't let some fake from this hell dare take the name of Naruto Uzumaki!
"Naruto Uzumaki was a boy filled with hope! He endured endless loneliness and isolation, constantly looked down from the moment he was born! Yet he never cried! He never wavered! His will was absolute! He helped his friends and enemies alike! He had the power to change the heart of any person, no matter how far in the darkness they wandered!"
Sasuke growled at Naruto's shocked expression. "You have none of those thing! You would rather kill than save, deny rather than accept! You bring only darkness wherever you walk, just look at what you've done!" He gestured to the debris around them. "Naruto Uzumaki would have never destroyed an enemy village even if it would cost him the Hidden Leaf! He would have never gone insane with grief or try to kill himself! So don't you dare even think that you're Naruto Uzumaki! You may share the same face, but your souls couldn't be any more different!"
Naruto could do nothing but look at Sasuke. Had he truly changed that much?
"You're not him," She whispered, the marks on her face disappearing back into the curse mark. "You're not Naruto!" She shouted as tears welled up in her eyes. Naruto took a step back, his eyes widening as the killing intent disappeared in an instant.
"W-What?" He looked as if she had just slapped right across the face.
"You're not Naruto!" She shouted again, the tears that had gathered in her eyes spilling as she shook her head and stood up. "You used to be bright! You used to be happy! Even if we fought you had a good heart! Then you changed out of nowhere overnight! You were such a hopeful person, screaming you'd become Hokage and gain the respect of everyone but now you're only tearing things down! You're not Naruto Uzumaki!"
Sayuri's words echoed in Naruto's head again and again as his hands turned into fists unconsciously, his knuckles turning white from the pressure as his fingernails dug into his palm and drawing blood. His eyes closed and his nose curled up as his body began shaking. Sasuke saw Naruto's pathetic form, watching as two streams of tears came from under Naruto's eyelids.
"Are you seriously crying? Pathetic," Sasuke used his Rinnegan to switch places with a broken shard of glass that had been laying on the fire-scorched earth just behind the Uzumaki. "I knew you were dead," The Uchiha's voice said bitterly as Naruto heard the familiar sound of a thousand birds chirping.
As if instantaneous, Naruto twisted around with his arm outstretched before he hit Sasuke right across the cheek with the side of his fist and knocked the Uchiha back several feet before he jumped back, his eyes open. Sasuke frowned, the Chidori disappearing from his right hand as he met Naruto's eyes.
"You're right," Naruto responded, the tears still in his eyes as he looked at his believed-to-be-dead friend. "I did kill Naruto Uzumaki for one reason, to stop Madara Uchiha from destroying the world again. My idealistic ways were flawed, and they ended up getting our world destroyed as well as everyone in it. I wanted peace, yet had no way to achieve it. I needed to get stronger, even if it meant selling my soul to the devil. I convinced myself that my actions were justified, that it didn't matter as long as the world was saved in the end.
"But I was wrong," He whispered, mostly to himself. "I became just like Madara, I became. . ." His eyes widened and Sasuke's grin turned sinister.
"Me!" Sasuke finished. "How funny Naruto, it seems that you do understand what it's like to lose everything. Now I'm going to help you follow my footsteps even further, and CAUSE YOU TO LOSE EVERYTHING AGAIN!" Sasuke's voice cracked from the intensity of his shout the roaring fire incinerating everything it touched as it advanced to Naruto, who enlarged his hand to cover the force of the blow.
The ground beneath Naruto's feet cracked from the pressure of the high-level fireball and he squinted his eyes, the heat and bright light from the flame causing his watery eyes to spill even more. He felt a shift in chakra and knew Sasuke was behind him, a Chidori in hand as he struck Naruto in the face, though it didn't pierce his body.
Naruto flew through the rubble of the Hidden Rain, his mind going a mile a minute as he forced himself to land on all fours, his hands weaving through signs at the speed of light. "Wind Style: Devastating Blast!" Naruto shouted as a white 'X' of pure wind chakra appeared in front of him.
Sasuke only raised an eyebrow. "Such attacks won't work on me," He was enveloped in a full body Susanoo, the purple chakra standing several hundred feet tall and towering over the glowing Uzumaki. "Allow me to show you the true power of the Uchiha!"
"The Uchiha," Naruto repeated as Sasuke rushed forward with his Susanoo, the wings on his back flapping and increasing his momentum as a sword of chakra appeared in the Susanoo's gigantic hand and swung down with all of his might.
Naruto quickly encased himself in Kurama's chakra avatar, it rivaling the size of Sasuke's Susanoo and caught the blade between its two golden paws. The force of the sword strike sent cracks through the earth as the debris around them was swept away into nothingness.
"Die!" Sasuke shouted as a bolt of lightning struck down from overhead, hitting his Susanoo as it began glowing a bright blue, the strength of the sword increasing as Naruto felt the ground beneath his feet start to give away. 'I need more chakra!' He thought. "You're too late!" He heard Sasuke call out and he met his former brother's mismatched eyes glaring at him murderously. "I've won."
"Wha-" And then the sound of his flesh splitting filled his ears and he looked down, seeing a small red blade made of chakra that pierced straight through his abdomen.
"The Totsuka Blade, a gift I received from Itachi upon placing him under my genjutsu." Sasuke spoke as Naruto's glowing form disappeared along with Kurama's avatar. He fell to his knees and looked at Sasuke with wide eyes. "Anything it pierces is sealed away forever, meaning you'll be stuck in limbo for the rest of eternity once I put you away." Sasuke sneered.
Naruto heard the sound of blood trailing down his chin and drop down onto his tattered jacket, his breathing was hoarse and uneven. "Speechless in the end, huh? Don't worry too much, fake," The ribcage of his Susanoo appeared along with a gourd, the Totsuka Blade began to pulsate. Sasuke met Naruto's despair-filled eyes and grinned. "You know what they say. . ."
Naruto felt his soul being pulled away, drained from his body. If he could've spoken, or found his voice, he would've been screaming. It felt as if his blood was boiling in his own veins before being sucked into a tube slowly but surely.
The last words Naruto heard was. . .
"Three times a charm!"
Late. I know. Short, I know. Yes, yes, YES, I SAID YES I KNOW ALREADY SMH!
Lowkey just haven't been feeling this story. I built it up and absolutely fucked the story up the moment the timeskip happened. Oh well, doesn't matter. Read Unshackled.
Til next time my lil demons!