When there is an end--
There is always another beginning.
~~~
2 Months Later...
Naruto's reign was short live; but his actions remained engraved into the hearts of many. To them, he was much more fearing than someone like Madara.
A ruthless man with great intelligence.
And the world started to spin once more. The people who inhabited had no choice but to move forward with the memories of the fiery flames that raged on.
Those who died had stayed dead, their corpses found and buried underneath the Earth. As tears fled their eyes, the sadness wash over them.
Move on.
That's what they had to do.
Forward.
That was their only choice.
And, as time went on, today arrived arrived. Two months after Naruto's death, the world - the collective of humanity - had arrived at one spot.
Konoha.
With the newly formed 5 Kage, everyone smiled and cried as they remembered once again what had happened not too long ago.
"Hokage-dono, may you take the podium?" Gaara asked Kakashi, who nodded his head. Due to the death of 4 out of the 5 Kage, new replacements for them were made.
Kakashi was the newly-found Hokage; but everything will change once again.
Because the moment that they all had been preparing for was now hovering over the 5 Kage. As speakers were positioned perfectly, Kakashi took the podium.
His eyes swept over the crowd.
He was no longer blind due to Naruto's removal of Chakra.
"Everyone... two months ago, we faced a great tragedy far greater than everything we had known. The tyrannical man known as Uchiha Naruto had died after taking down force after force, person after person." To be truthful, Kakashi did not prepare for such a speech.
He was simply winging it.
"We couldn't win, but the resurgence of Uchiha Madara had given us a miracle. As eyes were glued on the screen as they battled, we saw both of them die by each other's hands." As he injected his words into the mic, his words rang across the entire crowd.
Millions of people listened attentively as their hearts were moved by such a simple speech.
"And, let us not forget about the removal of our use of Chakra. Due to Naruto's power, he was able to rid of our ability to wield the fundamentals of our lives. Even after it continues to swirl around us, our usage will forever be lost." They remembered the moment clearly.
Once they heard Naruto say that he had removed their ability to use chakra, they had tried using it; but to their surprise-
It failed.
He truly had rid of their ability to wield their incredible abilities.
"Some may see this as a downside, but all I see is an opportunity." Their ears perked up upon hearing Kakashi's words once more.
"The causes of our conflict - the wars, defected Shinobi, and everything above; they were the problems that were caused by Chakra - no, it's better to say that it was the cause of the Shinobi System and our ability to wield Chakra."
This was the fabled truth that hid behind the veil of their incredible powers that could once level a continent.
And later, a multitude of planets.
"So, do not be sadden, see this as a window of opportunity. As a collective, we can all move together. With no bloodshed, no conflict between villages." As Kakashi smiled under his mask, his two eyes curled upwards.
"We can all become one." And, as his words moved the citizens, Kakashi moved on to his last act - his last announcement.
"For a long time, the Shinobi System existed and we were under its palm. So, after a long talk between the 5 Kage and I, we have came to a decision." As his voice boomed to the sky, he said his last few words.
"That the Shinobi System shall be severed; and it will be let go and will become a forgotten past to the future of our world."
Kakashi sighed in relief, the pressure finally released from his body. He looked up, his eyes piercing through the skies.
Can you see this, everyone? As he smiled under his mask, he felt the cheers of the citizens reach his ears.
It was pleasant, he thought.
~~~
"How's everything?" Sakura asked as she and Shikamaru leaned against a wall. The cheers of he citizens reached their ears, making them slightly smile.
"I'm holding out fine." His eyes swept over the crowd.
"Is that so?" Sakura soon silenced herself, smelling the air and the delicious aroma that entered her nose. Things were going finely.
Shikamaru decided to break the ice.
"Everyone is still in pain. You can still see it in their eyes, can you? Even with the hatred that they bore against Naruto, their fear outgrew that hatred, forever ingraining itself into everyone." Sakura nodded at Shikamaru's words.
"I see it as well," she responded.
The people have yet to move on completely. They were still grieving their losses during the havoc that Naruto and his company had created.
"Hey... do you still think everyone can live as it is now?" Sakura asked Shikamaru, not knowing if there was a conceivable future that lies ahead of everyone.
"Hm? Most definitely. Some people may not notice it, but they have a certain look on their faces that I can tell - they do want to move on. Desperately so." He sighed.
Sakura let Shikamaru continue.
"It's kinda a drag to explain. But the way things are now... I think... is a good start. With the demolishing of the Shinobi System, and the unity of the entire world. We'll live with no Kage, no Daimyo, no type of ruler. I think that's the best start we could get."
They could start over from scratch.
"And, maybe in 50 or so years, we'll all be living in one Kingdom of sorts. Well, that can only happen once we create a village large enough to harbour millions of people." And maybe it'll take even longer than that.
"But, I truly believe that once everything is done and settled, the world can rest once more."
They wouldn't admit it, but Naruto had given them a blessing in disguise.
A chance to start over.
"Maybe Naruto truly did achieve peace. One that could last forever."
~~~
A figure looked from a mountain that was close to Konoha. As her raven hair flowed through the night, she bore sad eyes as she looked yonder.
"Do you see it Naruto? Everything had gone to plan," Satsuki spoke with a glimmer of emptiness. She had read through the book that he had given her, and she learned the full truth.
As her legs gave out, her knees hit the ground.
"Why... why did... you have to... leave me." She respected his wishes, and now she came to regret respecting his wishes.
As she cried, she remembered the remnants of the book.
"Danzo had once talked about self-sacrifice. He had said that it - as a Shinobi - was the greatest virtue that existed for people like us.
It was hard not to believe him.
Not that he was persuasive.
But I already knew such a thing from the start.
We exist not to be good, but to be tools for conflict. Not tools for others, but tools to our own selves. We enslave ourselves to our ideals, and that leads to conflict between one another."
"Satsuki has been a good girl. Her abilities are progressing quite finely; and she has talent to become one of the strongest. It's fun hanging out with her."
"When you look up the word 'Grace', you get something along the lines of: simple elegance or refinement of movement.
That is the kind of peace that I want.
A peace that was elegant and fluid.
I think a type of peace such as that would be something to awe at.
And I'll do whatever it takes to obtain it."
"As I saw the piles of dead bodies that riddled the ground, I had a thought that crossed my mind when I saw such a sight.
That the world wasn't wrong.
What was wrong was us.
As humans, we use Chakra to destroy and create."
"As I stared into her eyes, I could see the happiness that swelled inside of her once she saw me. I did not understand such a feeling as I gravitated toward her, but I did know what it was.
I was happy as well.
But I knew that this happiness wouldn't be able to last forever.
As long as I pursue this path of mine, only sadness will be left."
"The house that I had used to live with my grandparents hadn't changed a bit. But I did notice a sight tamper on the dirt that was covering Madara and Yukari.
Madara was gone alongside Yukari.
Zetsu was probably holding both of them for the future of Madara's resurrection."
"Satsuki and I had a cup of coffee in the house. It was a pleasant experience to say the least. It had been so long since I had been with her that I had almost forgotten something.
How beautiful she was.
How corny, but I say it's the truth."
These words had made her cry and over and over, but what made her bawl her eyes out completely as at the first page of the entire journal of his.
Where she learned the entire truth.
And the contents of his 'Grace'.
"Our world is confined by the words: 'conflict' and 'talent' and 'talentless' - that's all we truly know. Our abilities can be sometimes be decided once birth.
But there are times where we can overcome such obstacles.
But enough with such introduction.
What exactly is Grace to me?
To me, it's something along the lines of perfection. I don't believe in things like that, but I do know, that, if perfection is possible-
Grace is that perfection.
A perfect peace to my liking.
Peace can be obtained by things like lost of pain and things that relate to such. It's effective, but that pain can always die off if one doesn't have a catalyst to carry out such pain.
But fear and hatred are different.
Even if the catalyst is no longer there, the feeling of fear and hatred will forever burn inside their minds.
So, let me pose a question.
What would happen if a person were to become that catalyst, destroying everyone and everything in its path?
The fear and hatred would become so potent that people will never be able to forget such an event. Sure, people may forgive, but forgetting?
Never.
But who'll become that catalyst?
I will.
I will become the tyrant.
I will become the villain of the world.
I will be its enemy.
I will shoulder the burden of the fear and hatred that everyone will bear for me for my single conquest.
A conquest that I must seek and acquire alone.
And, only when it's acquired, will I die.
They will unite because of my death, and peace will be created; but there is still one components left.
Peace can't continue on without a incentivize to continue said peace. But that incentivize is already as simple as existing.
Removing chakra and the dangerous creatures that they will no longer be able to fight off nce chakra is gne will be the incentivize.
Removing it will give people reason to continue with the peace that I had created without their knowledge.
But I did not have a way to remove it.
I will find away.
And once I do, everything will be complete.
I only hope that Satsuki can live on without me. I'm sure she'll be sad once I do die. Well, that is if we do get together.
She read those words over and over again. From the very beginning, Naruto had full intention of dying to Madara while also killing him in the process.
Naruto thirsted for victory, but he thirsted for his conquest even more than that feeling of his. In this journal of his, gave the word 'Naruto' a meaning.
This journal revealed everything.
I did not die for the world. I do not regret killing those in my way during my conquest. It was must for me to achieve it.
I regret none of that.
Because I didn't do this for them.
I did it solely for myself.
Because I was a selfish human being.
The most selfish indeed.
But the only thing I will regret will be leaving Satsuki all on her on.
Satsuki got up from her defeated position and wiped the tears off her face as she sniffled all alone. She didn't know whether her wounds would mend.
But she did know one thing.
Her story was over.
She turned around and walked away.
As her body was engulfed by the emptiness of the wood, she only had one thought in her mind as she went back towards the cabin that Naruto once lived in with his grandparents.
The man known as 'Uchiha Naruto' was dead.
And only Grace lived on.
~~~
50 Years Later in Osaka, Japan.
"Hey, kid." I looked over, my eyes peering into a lady that was about in her mid-twenties. She bore a large grin as she kneeled down towards me.
"Wanna be my little brother?" She held out her hand towards me. I looked back and forth between her hand and her.
I could tell she was decently powerful.
"Why?" I questioned.
"Hm? 'Cause you seem an interesting kid! How'd you even get your hands on books about the Aufbau Principle, the Theory of Relativity, and Particle Physics? Aren't you too young for that?" I could see that she amused.
"Hm? If that's what you wish to think, then so be it." I didn't care about entertaining her idea of me being too young to learn things that were supposedly difficult for kids my age to understand.
"Then how about it? You agree to be my younger brother and I'll get you out of this place so you can see the world of beyond these walls?" Her grin turned into a small smile.
It was a rather infectious one.
I had to urge to smile back.
"My name is Aoki Aoi." I was rather bewildered. Everything about seems to scream that she like blue. With her first name literally meaning blue, and her surname correlating to a blue true.
And she had midnight-blue hair that reached all the way down to her waist. I looked back down toward her hand.
"What's yours?" She nudged it forward.
I sighed as I reached forward.
"Uzumaki Naruto."
I didn't know why I was here, but I did know that - no matter what I thought - my story was still unfinished. So, I'll take this as a blessing.
No, I think it was Grace who thought our story was still unfinished.
I used to be Uchiha Naruto.
Now, once again hiding my identity, I was Uzumaki Naruto. An orphan that was left at the front of this orphanage's step in city filled with nightlife.
What an unorthodox place.
I shook her hand.
"What a cool name, fishcake."
But I did know one thing. Whether it was now or then, an opportunity was rising from the depths of the sea.
A second chance.
A second tragedy.
A Second Time.
~~~
Done. This concludes Grace. Ending this off with 131 chapters (132 if you conclude he christmas special.) What a long fanfic that I had wrote.
I started Grace during the end of December of 2020, and is ending during August of 2022. So about a year and a half. What a surreal feeling completing a fanfic.
But, even though Grace ends, Naruto's story is still not done yet. I had planned for Grace to end and that would be it, but decided to create a continuation that... will be longer than Grace LMFAO.
I had planned Grace for an ending like this one, but had decided to create a continuation about 2 months or so ago.
Maybe even longer than that.
Just a way to make Naruto suffer just a tiny bit more.
I wrote Grace thinking nothing much. Didn't think it turned out like this when I strung the story together as I moved along the story.
Next fanfic will come by sooner than you think.
September 1 or a bit before that. A sequel will come out during that time period.
A Second Time.
Anyway, this is it for now.
CYA!