Adventures of the Equestrian Ninja

by hussbek

Fallen Sky Pt 2

Naruto was leaping through the trees with his Aura Sight active in order to locate the villagers that were missing from the village which was burnt down in hopes that they had taken refuge somewhere. He landed at the edge of lake which was engulfed in mist and saw something in the distance which caught his attention.

Hearing someone land close to him, Naruto turned to see that it was Sakura who approached him "Hey Sakura, what are you doing here? I thought you were searching with Hinata?"

Sakura replied "We decided to split up so we can cover more ground, what brings you here?"

"Look over there…," Naruto pointed across the lake for Sakura to peer through the mist and see dark silhouettes of what seems to resemble buildings "Those must be the ruins that old man Shinnou told us about. We could check the place out since the villagers might use it as refuge,"

"Sure, it's much better than searching other areas randomly,"

The duo began making their way across the lake towards the ruins. While on the move, Sakura decided to strike up a conversation with Naruto about something.

"By the way, Naruto. Aren't you going to meet with Sasuke?" asked Sakura curiously.

Naruto sighed, knowing that this question would come up sooner or later "Sakura, it's not that easy to just go and see him. Not after how things ended up as a result in our last encounter,"

"I know, but you were able to stop him from going to Orochimaru and kept your promise, you stopped him from making a grave mistake,"

"And paid for it with my life, you don't understand what happened between us that day. Truths were revealed in that fight which changed everything, it made me realize that things will never go back to the way they were whether I lived or not. Am I wrong?"

Sakura couldn't look at Naruto when he mentioned that, things had definitely changed when Kakashi brought Sasuke back along with Naruto's body. All of the rookies treated Sasuke with disdain, holding him responsible for Naruto's death and even Ino was disgusted. Kakashi wiped his hands clean off Sasuke and never stopped blaming himself for playing part to Naruto's death. Tsunade stripped him of his status as a ninja and had detained him for the foreseeable future which effectively fractured Team 7 beyond any form of repair. Even Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi were hateful of her and the others for taking Naruto away from them. Needless to say; without Naruto, Konoha felt lifeless.

"No, you're not wrong…," said Sakura sadly.

Naruto looked at Sakura "I figured as much," then there was silence between them.

They finally arrived at the ruins and began looking around the area in search of the missing villagers albeit the mist wasn't making things easier for them. They continued to search around when they saw someone approaching them, the unknown person got close enough for them to see who it is and were shocked.

"Amaru, what are you doing here?" Sakura was about to approach but Naruto stopped her with an outstretched arm "Naruto?"

"Something's wrong with Amaru," said Naruto sternly, looking at 'Amaru' with a frown.

'Amaru' raised her head to look at Naruto and Sakura with glowing red eyes and a dark aura began to leak out from her body which made the duo even more wary of her.

"I am the Zero Tails; when conflicts rages in the world and human hearts are filled with darkness, I am born anew," said 'Amaru' in a dead voice unlike her normal self.

"Zero Tails, what are you talking about?" asked Sakura confusedly.

"Sounds like some sort of entity is controlling Amaru," said Naruto, a hand held close to the handle of his glaive.

'Amaru' continued to speak as the dark aura increased in intensity "I consume the darkness of men's souls, rise up and grow gathering limitless strength. So that this world will be ruled by darkness,"

She was engulfed in the dark aura which then transformed into what appears to be giant dark-purple leech with a serpentine body, on its face is a white Noh mask that has a kanji for 'zero' on it, and also five red hairlike strands with four sprouting from the top of the mask and one at the bottom of it. Naruto and Sakura shivered upon seeing it somehow distort its mask to grin widely and reveal large molars.

"Watch out, it's about to attack!" Naruto drew out his sword and stood at the ready while Sakura nodded in affirmation and took a combat stance.

Back at the lagoon, Shikamaru along with Kakashi and Sai were standing at the shore and were surrounded by the defeated forms of the Sky Ninjas on the beach along with the shattered pieces of their flying equipment as they were looking at the aircraft carriers ahead of them.

"It seems that they're not sending out any more of their forces to attack us, my guess is that they're catching on to our plans since we're not directly attacking the aircraft carriers," said Kakashi.

"Perhaps it was because I took them out too fast? I did say that I'm not so good at holding back," said Sai with a small frown.

Shikamaru shook his head in disagreement "There's no need to blame yourself and besides…," he saw bubbles in the water "I think we've distracted them long enough,"

Someone emerged from the water and approached the group, revealing to be none other than Shino who was soaking wet but is as stoic as ever with his hands in his pockets.

"There's no need to worry about them for much longer. Why you ask? Because there's no way that I failed…,"

*BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM*

No sooner Shino said those words that chains of massive explosions occured throughout all three of the aircraft carriers, screams of panic and confusion could be heard all the way from where they're standing as they watched the carriers break down completely, leaving the Sky Ninjas utterly defeated.

Shino pushed up his glasses with a calculative gaze "It would appear that the crystals that Naruto gave to us are far more powerful than any explosive tag we know. I didn't even need to use my insects for this,"

Shikamaru chuckled nervously "Shino, sometimes you scare me with how logical you can be,"

"Intimidation is a tactic most often used against enemies,"

Kakashi shrugged his shoulders "He's not wrong,"

Music Start: Naruto OST; Orochimaru -Fight-

"Darn, and here I thought snakes were creepy!" Naruto dashed as fast as he could to evade the tendrils which were shooting out of the main body of the Zero Tails which were trying to grab him and he retaliated while still on the move "Chakra Bullet: Rapid Fire!" he stretched out a hand as a white rune appeared in front of it before releasing a barrage of small white orbs at the dark entity which pierced through its body. However, he saw the holes quickly closing up quickly.

Sakura ran over to a boulder and pulled it out from the ground and took aim "Cha, take this!" she flung it with great speed at the Zero Tails.

But the dark entity had sensed the incoming attack and launched an arm from its body to shatter the boulder with a single punch and continued to shoot towards Sakura who tried to jump away but it caught onto one of her legs then it proceeded to swing her around before slamming her strongly to ground and effectively knocking her unconscious.

"Sakura!" Naruto was alarmed upon seeing what happened then he saw Zero Tails attack with more arms to finish her off "Oh no you don't!" he thrust a hand forward to launch a chakra arm which managed to grab Sakura in time and pull her towards him before the arms struck where she was. Naruto created a Shadow Clone to carry Sakura away to safety which left him to face the dark being alone.

He saw the arms coming his way and jumped backwards whilst speeding through a set of handsigns "Wind Style: Air Bullets!" Naruto took in a deep breath then opened his mouth to launch compressed spheres of air which tore through the arms but the Zero Tails evaded the incoming projectiles.

"Hmmmm, how curious…," said the Zero Tails thoughtfully.

Naruto frowned at it "What do you want?"

"Every single mortal I've encountered has darkness deep within them and yet you have no darkness or rather…it is separate from you,"

Naruto was taken aback from what the Zero Tails said and recalled when Discord brought his dark side out to fight him. But he thought he had defeated it, surely it wasn't trying to tell him that it still exists? A mocking laugh echoed in the back of his mind which made him shake his head to clear it.

Naruto snapped himself back into focus "I don't know what you're talking about and I don't care, I'm get rid of you to free Amaru!"

The blonde ninja dashed forward towards the Zero Tails that launched multiple tendrils to attack him, he swiftly sliced the incoming tendrils with the Kosei no Ha whilst darting around the ones that he wasn't able to cut "Shadow Clone jutsu!" he created several copies of himself to work in coordination with as they proceeded to intercept the attacks of the Zero Tails who seems to react negatively whenever they cut its tendrils.

Naruto frowned at this and thought "Strange, it didn't so much as flinch when I attacked it with my chakra bullets or wind jutsu but started freaking out when I cut it with my glaive. Hang on…Kami said that the Kosei no Ha emits pure energy and the Zero Tails feeds on the darkness of people's souls. So that means…,"

"Boss, watch out!" one of the clones yelled in alert.

However, the warning came too late as something burst out from the ground beneath Naruto's feet which were tendrils that wrapped around his body, forcing him to drop his sword. The Zero Tails proceeded to lift the blonde ninja and fling him about, constantly slamming him into the ground and the surrounding ruins before constricting his body tightly while at the same time destroying the shadow clones before they could rescue the original.

"Fool, you lack the power to protect anyone, even yourself," the Zero Tails taunted arrogantly.

Gritting his teeth in path, Naruto glared back in defiance "When have I ever taken the criticisms of people like you into account?"

Something suddenly sliced the tendrils constraining Naruto, freeing him and making the Zero Tails reel back in agony. The thing hovered before Naruto, revealing to be the Kosei no Ha in its chakram form. Turns out he sent a mental command to the glaive to transform and free him from the tendrils even when he wasn't holding it, a trick he discovered when he was doing some training in Ponyville.

"As I thought, the pure energy that Kosei no Ha emits is poison to you who feasts on dark energy and that's why you tried to separate me from it," said Naruto confidently but then thought "Even so, there's gotta be a way to save Amaru from this thing.

The Kosei no Ha having reverted to its glaive form glowed a bit and sent information into his mind which confused him at first but then realized what it was trying to tell him "I didn't know you can do that but then again, I'm your very first wielder. Let's give it a shot,"

Gripping the glaive with both hands and positioning to one side with the tip pointing diagonally towards the ground, Naruto's eyes narrowed in absolute focus. The swirling energy at the center of the sword surged then enshrouded the blade with white fiery aura which then covered Naruto's body.

Sensing something threatening, the Zero Tails launched multiple arms and tendrils in an attempt to stop Naruto who suddenly darted forward, his eyes cleared locked onto his target with no hesitation or doubt in his eyes. The adrenaline pumped into his body, making him see and react more sharply than before as he avoided all of the attack until he was finally close enough to deal a critical strike.

"Karmic Punisher!" Naruto attacked with a downward diagonal slash right through the Zero Tails which was then engulfed in a white pillar of energy and shrieks of agony could be heard within it before going silent. The energy dissipated to reveal Amaru lying unconscious on the ground but completely unscathed.

Music End

"Amaru!" Naruto held her in his arms and lightly tapped her cheeks "Come on, wake up,"

"…mmm," Amaru slowly opened her eyes and looked up "Naruto…?"

"Are you okay?"

"I think so, the last thing I remember was…," her eyes suddenly widen upon recalling what had happened and felt ashamed "I'm so sorry, I don't know what came over me!"

Naruto responded in a placating manner "It's okay, I know it's not your fault. Whatever that thing was, it took advantage of your grief and I made sure to teach it a lesson,"

"But how?" asked Amaru confusedly.

"It would be thanks to my sword," Naruto gestured to the glaive latched on to his back like always "It produces pure energy which seems to be very effective against it, so I used the energy to purge it from your body without hurting you,"

"Thank you for saving me,"

"No problem," said Naruto with a foxy grin, then he flinched a bit.

"Naruto!" everyone turned to see Sakura running towards them, having regained consciousness "You're all okay!"

"Yeah, we're fine," Naruto frowned a bit "But did you have to hit my shadow clone?"

Sakura looked away sheepishly "Sorry, it's just that your clone was looking at me all funny and it freaked me out,"

Naruto's frown deepened, recalling the memory of his clone who did nothing offensive whatsoever "That's no excuse for you to do what you did, I thought you grew out of that habit,"

Sakura flinched at that, realizing that Naruto no longer tolerates her tendency to hit him for any reason anymore. She was about to apologize when the ground began to shake violently all around them.

"What's going on?!" asked Sakura in a panic.

"I don't know, but I'm sure it has something to do with the ruins," Naruto stood up while helping Amaru to her feet "Listen Sakura, I need you to find Hinata and head back to the Leaf village with Amaru to get reinforcements. I suspect that things are about to get very serious,"

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" asked Sakura.

Naruto nodded in affirmation "I'll be okay, trust me,"

"Okay then, let's go Amaru,"

Amaru stood there silently but then refused "No, I'm going with Naruto to the ruins,"

"What, but why?"

"I have to honor master Shinnou's teachings, I have to save my people!"

Naruto looked into her eyes and saw that her mind is set "Alright then, you can come along,"

Sakura was surprised to hear this "But Naruto…,"

"I can tell that her mind is made up. Now that I think about it, the villagers inside the ruins might be hurt for her to treat and you'll be able to reach the village quicker as well," Naruto explained then he turned to Amaru "Come on, let's go,"

Amaru nodded in affirmation "Right!"

They both began making their way into the ruins before Sakura could protest further then she let out a sigh and smiled a bit.

"At least that part of him hasn't changed after all this time," Sakura turned and started running "Now to meet up with Hinata and return to the village to gather reinforcement so we ca-,"

The ground to shake yet again but this time more intensely than before much to Sakura's confusion which was soon replaced by shock when she witnessed numerous buildings burst out from the ground but it didn't stop there as the buildings came together as one then actually ascended into the air and finally revealing its entirety to be a giant flying temple.

Sakura was shocked to see the flying temple but then she recalled another thing…Naruto and Amaru are in that very temple!

Speaking of the aforementioned two, they were inside and had been taken by surprise when they felt the supposed ruins suddenly start to move and actually fly into the air. There's also the fact that they had seen Sky Ninjas patrolling the place earlier

Amaru turned to Naruto "I can't believe that the ruins is flying, I mean this is nuts,"

"I know, I doubt anyone was expecting this which is what worries me. I'm not sure that the Leaf village or any other village for that matter has any countermeasures for something like this," Naruto replied.

"Well, if this thing was built by humans, then there has to be someone who knows how to control it,"

"I see where, you're going with this: find the pilot and have him deactivate this flying fortress, and while we're at it…," Naruto created multiple Shadow Clones "I'll have my clones take out the patrols and locate the villagers who are no doubt kept prisoners here,"

With that said, they all set out with their assigned objectives. Naruto and Amaru continued running through the corridors all the while taking out any Sky ninjas they came across. The duo eventually found themselves exiting out of the winding corridors into a large circular room which seems to be the control room given the large tree-looking thing at the center and a throne in front of it. On the throne, they saw someone sitting on it…someone whom they weren't expecting to see at all.

"I'm so very proud of you two," said the person.

Amaru gasped in shock and disbelief upon seeing who the person is "…Dr Shinnou," she ran towards the man with tears in her eyes as she embraced him "I knew it, I knew you were still alive! I knew you wouldn't leave me!"

As much as Naruto wanted to be happy to see that the doctor is alive, he couldn't help but feel that there's something off about all this "I've got a lot of questions, old man. One of them being what's going on with all this," he gestured around himself, asking about the flying fortress.

Shinnou hummed nonchalantly "Well, that's a tricky question. The most suitable answer would be that we're inside a flying fortress called Ancor Vantian. It may look like ruins but has been painstakingly developed and constructed over many decades by the people of the Land of Sky. It's the ultimate weapon of destruction,"

Naruto frowned at how Dr Shinnou was explaining so calmly which only made him more suspicious "Here's another question, how are you still alive? Last I checked, both Hinata and Sakura confirmed your death and there's no way they made a mistake as they're certified medics trained by Grandma Tsunade herself,"

Shinnou chuckled in amusement "Oh yes, it was child's play for me to convince the likes of Sakura and Hinata by simply slowing the rate of my heartbeat to a crawl," Amaru was shocked to hear this as he continued to speak "And all I needed to do was revive my damaged organs with my Body Activation jutsu,"

"So, this whole time; you have been deceiving us. The whole rescuing the villagers was nothing more than a ploy to activate this flying fortress. You're with those Sky Ninjas that attacked the Leaf village,"

Amaru raised her head to look at her master but didn't see the kind expression he always had but that of a cruel person as he grabbed her by the head and lifted her a foot above the ground, alarming Naruto.

"Hey, let her go!" Naruto dashed forward to intervene but Shinnou tossed her aside that he quickly used a chakra arm to catch her and pull towards him. He noticed that Amaru's bandanna was missing then heard ripping sounds and looked to see Shinnou tearing the bandanna into pieces and Amaru watched in horror as it was being torn by the very person who gifted it to her as sign of their bond.

"Fourteen years ago, I posed as a doctor and travelled the world all the while gathering knowledge on how to control the Zero Tails. Eventually I found the scroll to awaken the beast in the Hidden Leaf village,"

Naruto's eyes widened in realization "It was you…you ordered the attack on the village just so you could get the scroll during the chaos!"

Shinnou smirked evilly "Quite smart of you to figure out. With help of the scroll, I finally mastered the use of Dark Chakra!"

"This can't be you, doctor. There must be something that's making you act this way; you must be sick! Maybe we can cure you somehow," Naruto could see the denial in Amaru's eyes and couldn't bring himself to make her realize the cold truth before them.

Shinnou shook his head in amusement as he tossed the pieces of the bandanna away "Wrong diagnosis, I'm afraid. You're sorely mistaken if you think that I've lost my mind. My mind as never been clearer, the strange thing would be how I had been acting up until now. When darkness is present in people's hearts, the Zero Tails can take a hold of them and turn the darkness in their hearts into chakra. Once I learnt about that, things became quite simple and it took me fourteen years to figure it out,"

"At that time when Amaru was grieving over Shinnou's supposed death, the Zero Tails possessed her body. It must have used her negative emotions to do so," thought Naruto with a frown.

"People are overcome by despair. When sadness washes over them, people focus great anger and hatred towards the source of their misery and in doing so, creates the darkest of chakra. I ordered the attack of the village so the Zero Tails would possess you, Amaru,"

Amaru quivered, not wanting to believe his words "No…you're lying…aren't you, doctor?!"

Shinnou sneered cruelly "Hehehehehe, master? Apprentice? Who cares about such titles? You were nothing more than a pawn to use to accomplish my goals!"

Those words were the final blow, the ultimate truth was too much for Amaru to bear as she broke down in tears with Naruto holding her in his arms and a growing rage building up within him.

"When you save a person's life, they will never doubt anything you say at all,"

Naruto tried to speak to Amaru "Amaru, you gotta snap out of it, please!" but his words failed to reach the distraught girl.

Shinnou's body began to radiate a dark aura, something he had been expecting all this time "I can feel it…the power of the dark chakra coursing through my body. It feels so good!" he began laughing evilly.

Naruto covered Amaru's ears, wanting to block out the laughter which tortures her very soul. He glares at Shinnou with his teeth gritted in anger "I'm gonna make you pay for this, there's no forgiveness for someone like you!"

The blonde reluctantly stood away from Amaru then dashed towards Shinnou with every intent to beat the mad man to a pulp for his actions which he clearly has no remorse for. But the next thing he knew was that he was suddenly sent flying backwards and slammed into a wall before dropping to the floor. Naruto looked up to see Shinnou with his hand thrusted outwards, revealing to be the one who attacked him.

Music Start: Naruto OST; Heavy Violence

"Dark chakra can't only be used to awaken the Zero Tails; it has other uses as well. For example, it can do this…!" Shinnou began to concentrate a massive amount of Dark Chakra which caused his body to change, gaining mass and it tore of his upper clothes to reveal a muscular figure and even his hair had changed color from white to black.

Naruto was shocked to see this "What the…?"

Shinnou chuckled darkly "That was the Body Activation jutsu. With this colossal body, I can open up all of the 8 Inner Chakra Gates including the Gate of Death,"

Naruto rose to his feet "Like Bushy Brows and Bushier Brows-sensei but without the negative side effects, even so…," he dashed forward and created a small squad of shadow clones in an attempt rush the enemy from different angles.

However, Shinnou suddenly moved with unbelievable speed and began taking down the clones at a rapid rate, dispelling them one by one then he attacked Naruto by punching him in the stomach with such force that he nearly folded and spat out saliva from the impact.

"Are you now starting to understand what this body born from the Body Activation can do?" Shinnou pulled back his fist then drove an elbow onto Naruto's back, slamming him to the ground "My apologies, I'm still having trouble getting used to this incredible strength," he casually kicked Naruto, sending him flying across the room and crashing into the wall yet again.

Shinnou went to sit at the throne and marveled at it "Now I see, this must have been designed to fit someone with the ultimate body. It is a fine throne, fit for someone powerful enough to be called king,"

Naruto got back to his feet, a hand on his stomach which was no doubt bruised from the punch earlier but still capable of fighting "I beg to differ…," he sped through a set of handsigns "Wind Style: Air Bullets!" Naruto took in a deep breath while ignoring the ache in his stomach and opened his mouth to launch a barrage of compressed spheres of air towards his target.

Shinnou simply rose from his throne and with a casual wave of an arm, launched a large wave of Dark Chakra that clashed with the wind jutsu and canceled it out. He then something in the air and saw what appears to be a crystal with seals etched into it, the crystal suddenly released a bright flash of light which caused him to instinctively close his eyes. At that very moment, he felt something grab his entire head and pull him off his feet before himself in the grip of Naruto via his chakra arm which came from his back.

"You think you're a king?!" Naruto channeled chakra into his arms before proceeding to pummel his body with fierce punches "I think you're nothing!" he then used the chakra arm holding Shinnou to slam him to the ground left and right with great force many times before holding in front of him again and began to from a large sphere of chakra "I won't let you have your way anymore, Chakra Cannon!" Naruto launched the attack at pointblank, blasting Shinnou away and crashing into the wall across the room. He calmed down a bit and turned to check on Amaru.

"In the human body, a muscle is strengthened through the process of damage and recovery. Therefore, I need only to apply the basics of medical ninjutsu," Naruto turned and was alarmed to see Shinnou back on his feet, the damage inflicted on his body healing before his eyes and appearing like nothing had happened earlier "Through just this process alone, my body can become massively powerful…capable of anything,"

"What a monster…," Naruto prepared himself for an attack but felt a shiver crawl up his spine when he heard Shinnou literally whispering into his ear from behind.

"And when my ultimate body releases chakra, it also unleashes its supreme attack…," in Shinnou's open palm, a small sphere of Dark Chakra takes form before he closes his fingers around "Super Activation Fist!"

Naruto tried to do-

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

The blonde ninja was sent flying yet again, tumbling across the floor like a thrown stone skipping along the surface of a river before skidding to a stop, his body hurt all over from the attack.

Shinnou however was frowning as his attack didn't go like he intended, the reason for that to be the shield which was floating in the air close to Naruto. Right before his attack connected, that strange sword transformed into the shield and got in between them to protect its wielder albeit the impact had still sent him flying.

"According to the Zero Tails, that sword was capable of actually damaging it. I'll need to be careful and make sure that he doesn't use it against me," thought Shinnou.

The mad man appeared behind Naruto who was still rising to his feet and raised a leg to stomp on his back with the intent to break his spine. However, a large chakra arm emerged from Naruto's back and grabbed Shinnou before flinging him away and crashing into the throne, damaging it.

"Stellar Gear change: Chakram!" the shield transformed into the Chakram that Naruto quickly grabbed and threw at Shinnou who dodged it in a burst of speed and appeared before Naruto with a first reared back to punch him "Protect!" a domed barrier appeared around the blonde ninja to defend him but was already beginning to break from the punch.

"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!" Naruto unleashed a powerful gust of wind to knock Shinnou away from him before running after him in pursuit whilst forming a large chakra arm with his left hand then he punched him hard to the ground.

Even so, Shinnou rose to his feet once more and was already recovering from the wounds inflicted on him much to Naruto's growing frustration.

"Why won't you go down already?!" Naruto demanded angrily.

Shinnou scoffed in response "It's rather simple, I am a god who is beyond human unlike you,"

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Humans are weak, possessing no fangs or claws with their only unique skill being crying. And yet somehow, they were able to conquer the entire world. Do you know why?"

Shinnou rushed to stand in front of Naruto "Because out of all the living creatures in the world, humans…," with a crazed grin, Shinnou pummeled Naruto's chest with punches "ARE THE MOST CRUEL!"

"Stellar Gear Change: Armor!" Naruto quickly had the Kosei no Ha transform into samurai-style armor wear in time to block what would have been a lethal strike as he redirected the kinetic energy absorbed from the impact to his right fist and punched Shinnou in the chest, knocking him "That was too close, my bracelet hadn't recharged in time to use it again,"

Flinching from the counterattack, Shinnou still acted nonchalant "How persistent, then again humanity is always a stubborn race. Capable of achieving higher status by joining together. And what power did they use to achieve it? It certainly wasn't the power of love!"

Naruto glared at the mad doctor for making such a statement as he stepped forward "Just because you got some messed up jutsu that gives you puffed up muscles doesn't mean you get to act all high and mighty," he continued to advance forward with no hesitation

"I know I'm gonna sound cheesy here, but…all of my friends both in my new home and old one. I never said it out loud for them to hear but…I love them, you hear me? I LOVE EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM WITH ALL MY HEART!"

"Okay okay, I get it. What was I thinking? Expecting you to understand anything?" Shinnou glanced at Amaru and smirked evilly "Love? Then answer me this: where did Amaru's so called love get you? In the end, that's what created this whole mess!"

Sensing Amaru's negative emotions, Naruto's anger surged as he dashed at Shinnou "Shut your mouth or I'll shut it for you!" both combatants exchanged blows but Naruto received more hits than what he dealt. One major flaw of the Armor is that its main function is defense which also means that his attack power is severely low and he can't use it for much longer either.

Amaru watched the ongoing fight, feelings of self-loathing growing stronger as she watched "It's all my fault, because of me…I caused all this. I don't deserve to live…," she slowly reached for the scalpel, holding it with both hands with the blade aimed towards her neck and moved to stab, closing her eyes in resignation.

Music End

There was the sound of something piercing through flesh, but Amaru noticed that she wasn't feeling any pain. She opened her eyes only to be shocked seeing Naruto having unequipped his armor and had embraced her from behind while using a forearm to intercept the scalpel with its blade stabbing it.

Naruto spoke in a gentle voice "Please don't do that, don't do something so sad…it's not your fault, not at all. You don't hear me blaming you, do you?"

Amaru shook her head timidly "…N-No,"

"You deserve to live just like everybody else, and that's why…you need to say goodbye,"

"…,"

"You never got to say goodbye, the chance to tell him how you feel? I think now is a good time to do so,"

Amaru cried before nodding, Naruto began to pull away but she grabbed his arm and started tearing the sleeve then he realized what she wanted to do and allowed it.

"The first time I was praised, he was the one who praised me. The first time I was taught, he was the one who taught me, the first person to guide me…,"

Naruto nodded as Amaru was now wrapped his forearm with bandages "Keep going,"

"The first time I wondered if I was pretty and the first time when I wondered how someone thought of me," Shinnou watched all this with clear indifference and not caring at all "He was my world, all I could think about was the doctor! It was my first time wanting someone's heart to be solely focused on me! I wanted to be loved! The truth is…I'VE ALWAYS LOVED YOU, DOCTOR!"

Shinnou was about to laugh in mockery of Amaru's feelings when he was interrupted by a sudden flash of light which seems to coming from the Kosei no Ha which was shining brightly as it underwent a new transformation.

Music Start: Naruto OST; Strong and Strike

Now attached to Naruto's forearms are a pair of blue-and-white spiral patterned gauntlets with a metallic spiral pattern on the back of the hands which seem to glow faintly every now and then, and also white metallic finger guards (an; Jin Kazama's gauntlets from Tekken 4)

Feeling the weapon telling Naruto what I can do, he stood up to his feet "Wait here, Amaru. I'll be right back…,"

"…okay,"

Seeing Naruto approach, Shinnou began to mock him "Still wishing to fight? Why can't you learn th-,"

*WHAM*

"SHUT UP, YOU DIRTBAG!" Naruto yelled as he dealt a powerful punch to the mad doctor's face and he was shocked to discover that he REALLY felt the pain from the punch, he didn't get a chance to gather his thoughts as Naruto repeatedly punched him in the face, chest and stomach "I'm sick and tired of you talking like you hold all the answers in the world!"

*POW* *WHAM* *BIFF*

Naruto continued to attack with fierce punches which were proving effective as the gauntlets were actually pure energy to attack Shinnou whose body is heavily reliant on Dark Chakra with it having a serious effect on him. Naruto rushed forward and launched both of them high into the air with a powerful rising uppercut.

"You claim that a person's love leads to darkness, but you couldn't be any more wrong! How would YOU know about love when you never loved anything, not even yourself!" Naruto raised both hands above his head and interlinked them before swinging down to send Shinnou crashing to the ground.

"This can't be happening; I cannot lose to this little brat!" Shinnou rushed at Naruto and attacked with a wild haymaker punch. But the blonde ninja suddenly disappeared from his sight, then the next thing he knew was that he felt a powerful kick to the side of his face from behind which knocked him down once more. The mad doctor got up and saw that Naruto was behind him, however he noticed that he wasn't wearing the gauntlets but rather a pair of blue-and-white spiral patterned leg greaves with a metallic spiral pattern on the shin guards.

"Why you little…!" Shinnou rushed to attack Naruto only to find his fist going through the ninja and disappeared from his sight. The next thing that happened was the sight of afterimages darting around him followed by an assault of powerful kicks from various directions around him before Naruto rushed in and attacked with a flying dropkick to the face for a knockback.

"The reason why I fight so hard, why I refuse to let myself lose is to protect the ones I love from scumbags like you!" the greaves glowed brightly then transformed into the gauntlets on his arms. He thrust a hand forward to launch a chakra tendril to wrap around Shinnou's neck and pulled over.

Naruto gripped his opponent's shoulder tightly with one hand and used the other to repeatedly punch him viciously in the face, forcing him to his knees before delivering a deadly uppercut to knock him into the air. However, the blonde ninja was far from done as he took a stance with a fist reared which conjured a massive chakra arm, waiting for Shinnou to drop back to the ground then made his move.

*WHAM*

He sent Shinnou flying and ironically smashing through the throne he once sat on and crashing into the wall, forming a large crater upon impact.

Shinnou tried to recover but his body can't seem to be able to keep up, Naruto had been inflicting massive amounts of damage faster than he could recover. Not to mention that the pure energy from his weapon has been affecting him greatly "M-My chakra is getting…," hearing a sound, he looked up to see Naruto preparing a Rasengan which was being fused with pure energy, showing his clear intention to end the fight once and for all.

"Remember what I said before…?" Naruto looked over his shoulder at Amaru before turning back to him "That there's no forgiveness for someone like you,"

He began to rush forward when something appeared at the corner of his eye, forcing him to cancel his attack and jump away as something struck at where he once stood which turned out to be metallic scalpels, then a familiar voice spoke up throughout the room.

Music End

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that," someone stepped into the room for all to see.

Naruto glared upon recognizing the person "Kabuto…,"

Aforementioned person smiled whilst looking at Naruto through his glasses "Long time no see, I've heard rumors that you were dead since you had been killed by Sasuke. It would seem that the rumors were greatly exaggerated,"

"What are you doing here?" Naruto inquired warily in case that the righthand man of Orochimaru tries to attack him.

"Actually, I am here on business for Lord Orochimaru for some assistance from our fellow doctor," Kabuto explained, turning to face Shinnou.

"Oh, is that the case? And what if I should resist you?" asked Shinnou arrogantly.

"My lord never specified how I should bring you back to him, whether being unscathed…," a dangerous look appeared on Kabuto's eyes "…or barely alive,"

Shinnou laughed aloud at the notion "Don't be so arrogant, if you think that I've run out of Dark Chakra then think again!"

"If so, then show me. I won't stop you,"

"This idiot, he has no idea what he's doing!" Naruto prepared to intervene.

Shinnou began gathering Dark Chakra into his body like before…but something seemed to have gone wrong which is evident when he suddenly collapsed to his knees and vomited blood, majority of his hair fell off with the remainder turning gray, his muscular physique becoming shriveled and lean with a pale complexion.

"Doctor…," both Amaru and Naruto were shocked to witness what just happened before them.

Shinnou looked at Kabuto, suspecting him to be the one responsible "What…did you do to me?"

Kabuto pushed up his glasses with a sly smile "I've been watching the entire fight, studying the mechanics of your body when it's using the Dark Chakra. It would seem that you didn't notice my recently created chakra needles,"

"Chakra needles? But when did you…," Shinnou's eyes widened, recalling that there were times during the fight when he suddenly felt nicks in certain parts of his body but had shrugged it off to be nothing important.

Kabuto sneered "I suspected that you might prove uncooperative, so I had to take countermeasures to negate that,"

Shinnou scoffed while he stood up weakly "Hmph, I seriously doubt it's me whom Orochimaru wants…," he weakly walked towards the treelike structure in the center of the room and activated a hidden switch which opened up a small compartment containing a scroll "This is what he's after, I stole this scroll from the Leaf village,"

Right as he tossed the scroll over to Kabuto, Shinnou suddenly pulled a hidden lever which opened up a trapdoor underneath his feet for him to drop through, all the while laughing madly "I'm not done yet, nothing is finished!"

Kabuto pocketed the scroll with indifference and began to walk away "My job here is finished, have fun you two,"

"So, you're just gonna leave like that?" asked Naruto.

"What goes on here is none of my business, hope to see you again…if you survive that is…," said Kabuto in amusement then he disappeared in a puff of smoke,"

Naruto glared at where he once stood "It won't be anytime soon…," he turned to look for Shinnou but stopped upon seeing Amaru then he went to her

"I'm going to look for him, in the meantime you need to go and help the villagers imprisoned here," Naruto took off the bracelet from his wrist and gave it to her "This will protect you while I'll have a shadow clone take you to where they are,"

Amaru took the bracelet in her hands and looked up to Naruto who smiled. To think that this is the same boy whom she was bickering with on the boat today and look at him now. Steeling herself, she looked at him with eyes full of focus "Leave it to me, I'll definitely save them,"

Naruto nodded in approval "That's what I wanna hear! Let's do this," he created a shadow clone to guide Amaru as they went their separate paths.

Using his Aura Sight, Naruto located a fake wall and smashed it down to reveal a hidden passage which he went through till he reached the end which opened up into a massive room which was even bigger than the previous one. There he saw the Zero Tails which was enwrapped in a pale yellowish organic see-through cocoon and it seems to be serving as a power source for the entire flying fortress, there he saw Shinnou standing in front of the Zero Tails.

Music Start: Naruto Shippuden OST; Akatsuki

Shinnou cackled madly upon seeing Naruto "You actually followed me down here? How stupid can you be?!"

Naruto frowned in response "And what makes you think that?"

"This place absorbs chakra collected by the Zero Tails and converts it into power. With you here, any chakra you release will be absorbed by the Zero Tails as more fuel for Ancor Vantian which means you can't do a thing!"

"You think that will discourage me?" Naruto dropped down to the ground to face him "If I can't use my chakra then you can't use your Dark Chakra either, considering the fact that Kabuto messed up your body to restrict that,"

Shinnou sneered "I didn't bring you to the core of Ancor Vantian to shut off your puny chakra…BEHOLD!" he began releasing Dark Chakra from his body for it to be absorbed by the Zero Tails which squirmed in reaction, then yellowish tendrils emerged from the cocoon to wrap around him and pull towards it.

Naruto was surprised to see this "What are you doing?!"

"Did you really think that Ancor Vantian was some sort of fancy flying fortress and that I would meddle with something as dangerous as the Zero Tails just for that? It is far more than that, it is equipped with the ultimate weapon capable of destroying the five great nations!"

Naruto's eyes widened realization of what the madman could possibly be implying "A weapon of mass destruction?!"

Shinnou grinned while he was being fully absorbed into the Zero Tails "Indeed, now bear witness to the might of the Land of Sky!" the cocoon suddenly glowed brightly along with the hieroglyphics in the room much to Naruto's confusion.

Outside of the fortress, a part of it began gathering energy at one point before firing a massive yellow beam of energy which destroyed a nearby mountain and travelled across the land at highspeed and ended up wiping out what was left of the aircraft carriers of the Sky Ninjas. Kakashi, Shino, Sai and Shikamaru were absolutely shocked upon witnessing what had just happened right in front of their eyes.

"Wh-What just happened?" thought Shikamaru in disbelief, trying to make sense of what had occurred.

Back in the flying fortress, Naruto heard and felt the blast, Shinnou cackled gleefully at the exhibition of his power.

"And once I've destroyed each of the five great nations, I will become emperor over a vast Sky Empire!" Shinnou declared insanely.

Naruto held out the Kosei no Ha in its sword form "You're crazy, don't go thinking that I'm gonna stand by and watch you do that!" he dashed forward to attack head-on as he created several shadow clones but felt his chakra being drained greatly "Need to end this quickly,"

"What a fool!"

Shinnou manipulated the Zero Tails to attack Naruto and the clones by launching a multitude of tendrils from the cocoon in the shape of hands. The blonde ninja and his copies slashed at the incoming tendrils the best they could, any attempt to use the chakra arms resulted in their chakra being absorbed by the Zero Tails. Unfortunately, they were overwhelmed by the sheer number of the Zero Tails' tendrils and Naruto got captured.

"Darn it!" Naruto struggled to break free and was feeling his chakra being drain "This isn't good,"

Shinnou sneered, having finally captured Naruto "I'm going to take great pleasure killing you,"

Amaru and a copy of Naruto ran through the corridor towards where the prisoners were held when the latter suddenly flinched which she noticed with concern.

"What's the matter?" asked Amaru.

"Something's wrong, we need to hurry and free the villagers before I get dispelled," said C-Naruto urgently.

"O-Okay," Amaru wanted to inquire further but knew that there isn't enough time to do so.

They continued on their way, past the unconscious Sky ninjas that were knocked out by the clones from earlier but were dispelled when the original started to fight Shinnou before they could do anything. They soon reached the cells and Naruto called out to Hinata who was with them.

"Hinata, how's everyone doing?" asked C-Naruto worriedly.

Hinata weakly raised her head to respond "Naruto, you need to hurry…our chakra is being absorbed. At this rate, the villagers will…,"

"Say no more, I'm getting you out of there. Amaru, get ready to help everyone out,"

Amaru nodded in affirmation "Right!"

C-Naruto brought out Kosei no Ha and swiftly sliced through the bars like knife through butter, effectively freeing everyone and also disrupting the chakra absorption effect.

"Now, let's get everyone ou-,"

*Poof*

C-Naruto suddenly disappeared in a puff of smoke, alarming everyone.

"Naruto?" Amaru and Hinata became worried about what could have happened to the blonde ninja.

Naruto continued to struggle to free himself as Shinnou laughed in amusement at the futility of it all.

"What's the matter? Can't fight back without your chakra? You're nothing more than a puny brat!"

Naruto smirked in response "Oh yeah, well it was this puny brat who has been knocking you around like a ball inside a pinball machine. It took you to turning into an overgrown monster just so you can match up to me! You're nothing but talk!"

Shinnou was enraged to hear this "Why you little…time to shut you up!" he attacked with a barrage of tendrils to silence Naruto "Now just shut up and die quietly, you have no hope against the might of the Sky Emperor!"

Naruto glared back in defiance "Ain't no way I'm gonna call it quits…I'll never give up, I'll never back down. That's my Nindo; My Ninja Way!"

"Hmph, nice to see that part of you hasn't changed after all these years," a deep voice spoke within the confines of Naruto's mind.

Naruto was startled upon hearing the familiar voice "This voice…,"

"And it seems like you're in a serious pinch, just when I thought I would use our link to say hello to you,"

"Kurama, is that you?"

The now revealed nine-tailed fox chuckled in amusement "Long time no see, you look like you could use some help and against that leeching Zero Tails no less,"

Naruto chuckled in response "I wouldn't mind lending me your chakra, for old times' sake,"

"Hmhmhmhmhm, indeed. We'll talk later after you rip that worm a new one!"

"Thanks man,"

Naruto felt the familiar sensation of Kurama's chakra coursing through his body which then exploded outwards. Like always, the Zero Tails absorbed the chakra and grew larger but then it began to shriek loudly in pain due to the red chakra it was absorbing was now shooting out of its body.

Shinnou was shocked by what was happening "What's going on?! This chakra…it's more than what the Zero Tails can absorb?!"

Music Change: Naruto Shippuden OST; Denkousekka

Naruto formed his signature handsign "Multi Shadow Clone jutsu!" there was a large burst of smoke which dissipated to reveal a massive army of clones "Let's get him guys!"

"Yeah!" the clones replied in chorus then they charged forward to attack.

"How dare you!?" Shinnou fought back in defiance with multitudes of tendrils as the clones fought back and were gaining ground regardless of some being dispelled "DIE! DIE! DIE!"

He suddenly felt a surge of energy and looked up only to be horrified upon seeing Naruto high in the air and he held the Kosei no Ha above his head with both hands, pure energy coursing through the blade that it looks like a giant beam of light shooting out of it. He recognized it to be the same attack from before but appears to be more powerful compared to the previous.

"This is the end for you! Karmic…," Naruto reared back to attack "…PUNISHER!"

He swung down to launch a massive vertical wave of light in the direction of his target, Shinnou tried to defend himself by creating a reinforced wall from the cocoon but to no avail because the attack easily broke the wall, sending him smashing through the stone tablet behind him then was embedded into the wall.

Music End

Naruto landed on the ground, panting and he felt Kurama's chakra leave his body "Thanks for the help, Kurama,"

"Heh, just like old times. But it appears that you're not done yet though," said Kurama.

Naruto was about to ask what the fox meant when he heard coughing and turned to see Shinnou emerge from the Zero Tails' unmoving body which frustrated him.

"I didn't think it would come to this, but I refuse to die no matter what!" Shinnou declared.

"Just what does it take to make you go down already?!" asked Naruto in annoyance.

"You really have no idea what you've just done, have you?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Destroying that stone base releases the Zero Tails and its accumulated chakra from any sort of control which goes to show just how you're just a brat who doesn't have any idea of what you're doing. Now I'll have no idea what will happen next,"

No sooner he said those words, numerous tendrils burst out of the Zero Tails' body and began going on a rampage and destroying anything and everything.

Naruto was alarmed at this "This place is about to go down; I better get everyone outta here before the fortress comes crashing down to the earth!" he quickly ran out of the room while avoiding the tendrils bursting through the corridors.

Outside the fortress, Hinata and Amaru were helping the villagers get on board on of the large flying lifeboats for them to escape in.

Ensuring that everyone was on board, Amaru turned to Hinata "Okay, everyone's in. how do we launch it?"

"Pulling that lever over there will launch the lifeboat!" Hinata pointed over to the aforementioned lever a small distance from where they are.

"Got it!" Amaru ran towards the lever but was obstructed by the falling debris, that's when she heard a familiar voice.

"Hurry up and get on, Amaru!" she looked up to see Naruto with his hand on the release lever "Hurry so I can pull the lever!"

"Naruto, you're okay," Hinata was happy to see that Naruto was still alive after what had happened to his shadow clone.

"Naruto…what happened to the doctor?" asked Amaru.

"…," Naruto didn't say anything or he needn't to as his silence said everything "Amaru, you need to get on,"

"…but what are you going do? Can you fly?" asked Amaru after a moment of silence.

"In ways I can, but I'm staying behind to take care of things. Just go with the villagers,"

Amaru shook her head in disagreement "No! if you're staying then I am too!"

Naruto frowned "You can forget about that!"

"I don't care what you say, I'm staying here no matter wh-whoa!" Amaru was suddenly grabbed by Naruto's chakra arm and forcefully put into the lifeboat.

"I'll be okay, I promise!" Naruto pulled the release lever to activate the deployment for the lifeboat. however, tendrils of the Zero Tails appeared on the runway and was about to attack the lifeboat "I don't think so! Stellar Gear Change: Chakram!" he threw the transformed glaive to slice the tendrils into pieces, allowing for the lifeboat to take off safely.

Seeing them leave with no danger towards them, Naruto leaned against the wall and was panting, his body was seriously fatigued from what had happened but he still needs to do one more thing.

"Get a hold of yourself, Naruto. You still need to bring this thing down," Naruto closed his eyes for a moment and saw the images everyone both from Konoha and Equestria.

"Is this is really Naruto? The one who can keep on going without a break?" Kakashi teased.

Shikamaru smiled tiredly "Hope you're not trying to be as lazy as I am, that would be a drag,"

"You must have not eaten if you're this tired," Chouji munched on a bag of chips.

"Do your best, Naruto," Hinata cheered shyly.

"By the way, how beautiful are the ladies in your new place?" asked Jiraiya with a pervy smile only to be smacked in the head by Tsunade.

"Get up already, you can take a break afterwards!" said Rainbow Dash

"Come on pardner, no time to dillydally!" said Applejack.

"Your clothes are a mess, do return soon so I can improve on the material," said Rarity.

Fluttershy smiled shyly "Please come back soon,"

Pinkie Pie bounced happily "Come on back, I've got a victory party planned!"

"Go for it, Big Bro!" Scootaloo cheered along with Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom.

"We await your safe return," Luna spoke fondly.

Twilight smiled "Remember Naruto, friendship is magic,"

Music Start: Naruto Shippuden OST; Douten

Naruto smiled as he opened his eyes and stood up "That's right, I've no time to rest. Let's get to it!" he created a lot of shadow clones and stood before them "Alright you guys, time for some demolition!"

"Yeah!" the clones replied in chorus then they scattered about.

Some of the clones equipped themselves with the gauntlets or greaves forms of the Kosei no Ha in order to smash down the walls and pillars all around them. Another group of shadow clones went for heavy duty by using large chakra arms to literally rip up the floors that they stand on or tear down the walls and pillars by large chunks

"Let's see what these bad boys can do!" Naruto held a handful of Explosive Crystals which he tossed at certain parts of the fortress and made sure that he stood a safe distance away from them then he yelled out "Detonate!"

*BOOM*

The crystals exploded which demolished a large section of the fortress, sending it falling down to the sea below, encouraging Naruto to use more of the crystals for he's determined to destroy it to the point it can never be used to hurt anyone ever again.

"He's not gonna stop, is he?" asked Shikamaru lazily, he watched the flying fortress break apart piece by piece along with the others from the beachside.

"Given what we know of him, the obvious answer is no he won't," Kakashi replied.

Sai smiled "He really is an interesting person,"

Shino noted something and brought the others' attention "the falling debris seems to be coming this way,"

"We should probably run for it," Shikamaru suggested, not at all feeling worried.

Kakashi shrugged his shoulders and even brought out his favorite book "Hmmm, probably,"

"Giant Rasengan!" one of the clones plowed through multiple walls with the jutsu "Chakra Cannon!" another was just blasting away at anything which is intact before moving on to the next area.

"Hah!" few of the clones resorted to wielding the Kosei no Ha to cut down the supports in order to undermine the overall structure of the fortress.

Sakura had finally returned with backup who were Neji, Chouji and Yamato. They stopped at the cliff bordering the sea and saw the fortress crumbling apart.

"Neji, can you see what going on there?" asked Yamato.

"Don't go wasting your Byakugan for this one," Shikamaru suggested while they were relaxing on a ledge below them.

"Oh yeah," Kakashi turned a page on his book and continued to read without a care in the world.

"Boss, the Explosive Crystals have been set and ready to blow!" some of the clones called out to inform the original.

Naruto nodded in affirmation "Alright then, time to abandon this sinking ship!" he dispelled the clones and started running while he yelled out "Detonate!" a series of explosions began occurring throughout the fortress while he continued to run towards the edge before jumping off right before it exploded entirely.

"Chakra Wings!" a pair of birdlike wings made of chakra emerged from his back then he took flight and glided towards the ground.

"Naruto!"

He turned to see the flying lifeboat with Amaru and Hinata waving at him, so he flew towards them and landed on the deck with the wings dissipating as he took a seat with a slump then Hinata and Amaru went to check on him.

"Naruto, are you okay?" Amaru checked on him to see the injuries which he would have.

"I'll live, just gonna take a small nap. Kami above knows that I deserve it," Naruto laid down with his eyes closed and a smile on his face with everyone looking at him with gratitude for everything he has done to save them from that mad man.

Music End

Opening his eyes, Naruto noticed that he was in his mindscape and was lying in the shade of the large tree.

"About time that you woke up," Naruto turned to see Kurama approaching him albeit smaller than his normal size "Was wondering how much longer you were gonna sleep,"

"Hey Kurama, how's life been for you now that you're free and back in the makai world?" asked Naruto fondly.

Kurama grinned "Never been better, no worries about getting caged and I have all the elbow room than I need. I gotta thank you for that,"

"It's cool, and the Akatsuki aren't bothering you, are they?"

"Considering that they think you're dead and expecting me to revive several years later, they're gonna be waiting for a long time to the point of dying of old age," Kurama grinned at the thought of it "By the way, what's been going in your new life? I'm rather curious,"

"Take a seat and I'll tell you all about it…,"

Inside of a dark cell within a prison, we find Sasuke Uchiha seated and was mediating when he felt a presence standing at the entrance leading to his cell which was a cloaked figure with the hood concealing their identity.

Sasuke scoffed as he spoke "I was wondering when you were going to show up…,"

"Believe me, I was rather hesitant to see you after what happened last time," the person pulled down the hood to reveal that it was Naruto "It's been a long time, Sasuke,"

"Indeed it has, I was skeptical that you were alive after what happened until I got that letter from you,"

"Yeah, Sakura told me what had happened when I was gone…,"

Sasuke scoffed "Of course, why am I not surprised that you heard it from her? She always pokes her nose in places that don't concern her. Coming here many times to pester me, begging for me to change so things could go back to the way they were before. How naïve of her,"

Naruto frowned at how Sasuke spoke ill of Sakura but tried to stay on track "Listen, there's something I wanted to ask you relating to that day,"

"What is it?"

"When we had that clash, when your attack struck. Was it truly your intention kill me or any accident? I need to know if you at least regretted what happened that day?"

Sasuke looked at Naruto and chuckled in amusement "After all these years, you're still trying to figure that out? The fact that I burned you alive, broke your neck and struck you twice in the chest with the Chidori hasn't nailed the fact that I was trying to kill you into your head. My only regrets are that I didn't make sure to kill you more effectively the first three times and being unable to go to Orochimaru to gain the power I needed to kill Itachi. You and this damn village robbed me of my purpose!"

"Rob you of your purpose? You were about to go to the very same guy who killed Old Man Hokage and he wanted to take over your body!" Naruto protested.

"That only shows how I could have been strong enough to kill my brother if he could kill a Kage,"

"You mean to tell me that you would be willing to do anything to achieve your vengeance?"

Sasuke looked at Naruto straight in the eyes and spoke with no hesitation "Even if the price was to destroy this damn village to gain power…I'd pay it gladly,"

Naruto took a step back, shocked to the core by what Sasuke just said and knows that he means his words with no doubt and no second guessing. He closed his eyes and turned away from his former teammate.

"Then it's for the best that you remain here for the rest of your days, where no one innocent will die because of your selfish vendetta,"

Sasuke shot to his feet with a scowl "It's not selfish, you wouldn't understand when you have been alone since the day you were born, you don't know the feeling of losing something precious to you!"

"I lost my life to you, a life that my parents sacrificed theirs to protect. Thanks for tarnishing that sacrifice, hope we never see each other again," Naruto pulled up his hood and began walking away.

"Come back here, Naruto! I'm not done with you!" said Sasuke angrily.

"Well, I'm done with YOU, it's pretty clear that anything outside your own self-satisfaction means nothing to you. Goodbye Sasuke, I wish you well…,"

"Don't you dare turn your back on me, Naruto! NARUTO!" Sasuke's shouts echoed throughout the prison corridor but they were ignored in the end.

"Do you really have to go, boss? You can stay here with us," Konohamaru pleaded with teary eyes along with Udon and Moegi.

A few days had passed and it was time for Naruto to return to Equestria as everyone was at a small forest clearing behind the Hokage Rock to see him off albeit reluctantly.

Naruto smiled softly "Sorry bud, it's just how it is and I can't change that, besides I'll be visiting every now and then with some souvenirs,"

Konohamaru nodded sadly "Okay…,"

Jiraiya stepped forward with several scrolls in a bag "Here are the scrolls for advanced Fuinjutsu that you wanted and also some training instructions for your wind ninjutsu,"

"Thanks, these will help me with some of my projects," Naruto took the bag and sealed it into his medallion. Then he turned to Amaru "I guess you'll be staying here in the village?"

Amaru nodded in affirmation "Yeah, turns out that there's a lot I can learn here if I want to become the best doctor who can help others,"

"I know you can do it, you already got a head start,"

Amaru smiled in response "Thanks, Naruto,"

"Be sure to visit us more often, things just haven't been the same without you," said Tsunade.

"I will,"

"Take care, Naruto," said Hinata shyly albeit sad that he was leaving again. The rest also gave their farewells in their own way

"Alright then, I'm off. Chakra Wings!" Naruto activated his wings and took flight then utilized the Camouflage Crystal to conceal himself as he flew towards where Dr. Whooves and the TARDIS is located in order to return home to Equestria.