Chapter 48 - The Choices We Make III

## Senju Compound ##

It was a beautiful day in Konoha, it was warm and sunny all over. The sun was coming up shinning upon Konoha as the merchants were opening their stores to start up a fresh new day. A few sunrays broke through the village's barrier and started waking up people inside the houses. This was the unfortunate event for Naruto.

The room was dark and a few beams passed through the window and hit him right in the eyes waking him up from his slumber. He released a small yawn and tried to shift in bed but realized that he couldn't move. He looked down and smiled at his princess who snuggled next to him resting her head in his shoulder. There was something about having Hinata sleeping on his chest that just felt right.

One of the things he enjoyed most was waking up with Hinata next to him. Feeling her warmth against his body, caressing her soft hair. She noticed that Naruto was looking at her with a warm smile. She returned the smile just before she closed her eyes again and placed her head on his chest, releasing a sigh of bliss and happiness. Naruto had proposed last night and Hinata had accepted and now they would be together forever. It didn't get any better than that.

Although the room itself might disagree. For starters there were clothes everywhere. Naruto's vest and pants were near the door which meant that they were the first to go. Hinata's jacket and bra were also nearby although her pants and underwear were actually near the window. Only kami knows how they got there.

"I'm so happy that I just want to run and jump everywhere" Naruto whispered and Hinata giggled lightly.

"I know the feeling" Hinata replied. "After everything we have been through we are finally together forever" Hinata explained and Naruto gently kissed her forehead.

"I'm the luckiest guy in the world" Naruto said.

"Are you crying?" Hinata asked smiling as she saw his moist eyes.

"Of course not" Naruto quickly replied. "It's just dust that got in my eye" Naruto replied scrubbing his eyes. Hinata knew the truth very well, for someone who never had a family he just got one of his own.

"You know" Hinata started as she looked up. "We are going to need a new bed" Hinata said as Naruto sighed. Last night had been one of commemoration on their engagement and they got a little carried away.

"It was your idea to try doing it while we were on sage mode" Naruto chuckled.

"Like you didn't love it" Hinata teasingly replied kissing his cheek. "Senjutsu empowers all of our senses" Hinata explained blissfully.

"And also our strength and that is why we broke our bed" Naruto said shaking his head and watched as Hinata rose up and straddled him. The sheets fell to the bed revealing Hinata's naked form.

"It's not like it's going to break again" Hinata lustfully said.

"Such a tease" Naruto complained and Hinata giggled.

"Are you going to do something about it?" Hinata asked giggling like a school girl.

"Maybe" Naruto half lied and rose up to meet Hinata's lips. Naruto embraced Hinata, pulling her closer as Hinata ran her hands through Naruto's long spiky hair. Their lips met with fierce passion. Naruto turned her around and gently lowered her on the bed making him stand on top. Hinata hummed in delight as Naruto kissed her neck and gently fondled her breasts.

*Knock Knock*

"Naruto-kun if you don't hurry you will miss breakfast" Kushina said as she knocked on the door just before walking away.

"This sucks" Naruto frowned as he stopped his actions and simply laid on the bed.

"Maybe not" Hinata replied and got up. She started walking to the bathroom swaying her hips in a sexy manner. Naruto could only stare at her and follow her movements.

"Right…we must preserve water" Naruto said in conviction before he got up and quickly followed Hinata into the shower. Water was a precious resource after all…

## Senju Compound – Kitchen ##

The doors to the kitchen opened and everyone in there shifted their attention to the couple approaching. Both of them had huge smiles of their faces and everyone noted how Hinata seemed to be more clingy than usual. They had such happy expression that it was intoxicating.

"Looks like someone had a good night" Jiraiya said wiggling his eyebrows. He was lucky enough that Tsunade wasn't there otherwise he would already be buried on the ground.

"Better than good" Hinata said dreamily and raised her hand to show the purple and silver ring on her finger. "Naruto-kun proposed last night" Hinata happily said and sat down but was quickly surrounded by Kushina and Mito wanting the juicy details.

"About time Naruto" Hashirama said chuckling making Hinata raise an eyebrow in confusion.

"What do you mean?" Hinata asked.

"You don't know what we suffered with him always haunting us for advice. Where to propose, when to propose, what to say. It was a nightmare" Hashirama explained and Naruto groaned, Hinata didn't have to know that.

"Really?" Hinata asked surprised looking at Naruto.

"You should have seen him when he came to me to ask how I proposed to Kushina-chan" Minato chuckled remising of that particular moment. "He began wondering what to say and when to do it. He looked like a headless chicken until he began to hyperventilate and proceeded to pass out falling flat on the ground" Minato said laughing.

"Father" Naruto complained and Minato just chuckled.

"These are the good memories one should remember Naruto" Minato advised rising up. "By the way, good work on the Hyuuga Clan. I'm proud of you" Minato said making Naruto smile.

"It went better than I thought. It's a good thing that the clan is still stable even without the caged bird seal" Tobirama said in afterthought.

"It's good we didn't tell them everything. Can you imagine Hiashi's face if we told them that the byakugan comes from the sharingan?" Naruto chuckled and began eating until he realized that everyone was staring at him including Minato who was about to leave. "Is there something on my face?" Naruto asked confused about the stares.

"Hold on" Tobirama said.

"Back up" Hashirama added.

"What do you mean by the byakugan coming from the sharingan?" Minato asked summarizing everyone's questions.

"Oh yeah, I forgot me and Hinata-chan never told you guys this" Naruto replied scratching the back of his head making everyone else sweat drop. "No one else knew where the byakugan came from because they never had access to both archives. Since I had access to the Uchiha's library and Hinata to the Hyuuga's, we stumbled upon several files and simply cross matched them to find the origin of the byakugan eye" Naruto began.

"According to the files a few hundreds of years ago one lone Uchiha left the clan. It isn't clear if he was a pure blood or a half blood one but it doesn't matter at this point. He travelled the world until he fell in love with a woman he met during his travels. Everything seemed normal unless for the fact that this woman had a genetic near blindness defect" Naruto said.

"They eventually married and had kids. The Sharingan gene got passed on into the kids and did what he do best. Doujutsus grant the user perfect vision regardless of use or age. Combining this with the genetic blindness gave origin to the byakugan. A less powerful doujutsu than the sharingan but far more powerful in vision detail and range" Naruto finished his explanation and everyone simply nodded.

"So that means that the Hyuugas were related to the Uchihas in some way" Minato said and Naruto nodded.

"That stick up their asses had to come from somewhere" Tobirama said making everyone chuckle.

"It's one big coincidence for one Uchiha to fall in love for this particular woman" Jiraiya said in afterthought and Naruto nodded.

"All bloodlines begin somewhere. Either from the mixing of several genes or simply by one mutating into something viable. Survival of the fittest" Naruto replied and everyone resumed their breakfast.

"By the way" Kushina said getting the attention. "Have you two picked a date?" Kushina asked giddy. She couldn't wait for grandchildren to smoother with affection. She just knew that a kid from Naruto and Hinata would utterly adorable.

"Naruto-kun just proposed last night and we didn't talk about it that much. But I do not wish for some big wedding ceremony. I just want our closest friends with Tsunade-sensei proceeding the ceremony" Hinata said and Naruto nodded as well. They didn't wish for some big celebration of their engagement, a simple reunion with their closest friends was far more appealing and the point of it all.

## Otogakure ##

Deep within the Sound Village everything was quiet. It was such silence that one may consider it creepy and unsettling. The streets were completely empty and not even birds were heard. Isn't it strange for a village being named Sound Village when there was no such thing presently?

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO"

A scream echoed through the empty halls of the main building in the village. Crows burst from the trees from the sudden sound spike. Entering the Otokage Tower and proceeding down into the basements one seemed to pick up some sniffling sounds.

Walking down the halls and approaching the origin of the sound we come into a pitch black room. The walls were of brown stone, torches along the walls provided some much necessary light. The whole base seemed to give off some dark and evil aura. The whole ambient seemed taken from some horror movie.

As we approached the room a small trail of blood was seen leaking from the room. It flowed through the floor and into the middle of the hall and it showed no signs of stopping. The blood start polling in the middle of the hall and from the quantity of it, someone was dead.

Peering inside we find a two figures on the room. One simply laid on the ground with her eyes a hollow white and her skin a ghostly white, like it had been drained of all of their blood. Above this figure stood another one kneeling next to the downed one. This figure had a white long-sleeved shirt which was open at the torso. He wore dark blue pants with a blue cloth hanging from halfway up his stomach to his knees. He also wore black arm guards that covered his forearms and stretched up to reach his upper biceps. He also wore a purple rope belt around his waist, tied in a bow.

He was Uchiha Sasuke, a genetic clone that Orochimaru had engineered from the original one. Sasuke was kneeling next to this person as he weakly gripped a sword that was pushed right through the figure's chest, directly through her heart. Blood continued leaking from the wound as it flowed to the hall.

"W-Why Koto-chan?" Sasuke cried as he looked to the dead eyes of his friend. He couldn't understand why she would attack him out of nowhere. She had long black hair, which is in a hime-style cut, and black, pupiless eyes. Attire-wise, she wore a pale green form-fitting vest, with an opening in the center which shows off her cleavage and her stomach, and a camouflage-patterned scarf and skirt.

"I l-loved you" Sasuke said looking away from her when realization hit him. He had just killed the only person he cared for in this village, the only person he loved. He couldn't phantom as to why she attacked him. They were good friends ever since they met a few weeks ago and Sasuke knew he liked her more than simple friend.

"Why?" Sasuke wailed in grief as his sharingan unwillingly flared to life. It was almost a cruel punishment that his sharingan should flare. Punishment as the sharingan would forever remember the scene that laid just before him. The scene with Sasuke driving a sword through his lover's heart and blood pouring everywhere.

Sasuke swiped his cheek with his hands to try clear the tears. Sasuke's chakra spiked and his sharingan flared to life, it had three tomoes. A chunk of chakra was funneled towards his eyes and Sasuke's sharingan started spinning and glowing. In the pitch black room, his sharingan was the thing that definitely stood out. Blood red eyes with pitch marks markings spinning and glowing.

His eyes began to slow down and the three tomoes were completely gone. A whole new pattern was revealed to the world. His eyes were black in the background with three blood red intersecting ellipses. Sasuke's eyes had changed into the all-powerful mangekyou sharingan.

"What's this?" Sasuke wondered out loud looking down. Yet again he could see his own reflection in the blood pooling on the ground. It seemed yet another cruel joke that he had to endure.

"That is the mangekyou Sharingan. The next stage of the Sharingan young Sasuke" Orochimaru said as he stepped into the room and looked at the gruesome display. He couldn't but smirk that his plan worked so flawlessly. He knew that the girl had a crush on young Sasuke and he simply had to play things right for it to work.

"Why?" Sasuke asked and Orochimaru got confused. "Why did she attack me?" Sasuke sadly asked and Orochimaru frowned. It was good that he attained the mangekyou but he never expected Sasuke to bond with the girl to the extent of actually loving her.

"She must have had her reasons" Orochimaru simply replied walking towards Sasuke and kneeling besides him. "Come with me Sasuke-kun" Orochimaru said rising back up and walking towards the door when he noticed that Sasuke hadn't moved yet. Sasuke was still staring at the girl's corpse.

"What will happen to her?" Sasuke asked.

"She will have a proper burial later on" Orochimaru replied and watched as Sasuke rose and began walking towards him. "I will help you forget the pain you are feeling" Orochimaru said and Sasuke only nodded.

"Kabuto" Orochimaru said and Kabuto stepped out from the shadows. "Clean the room. I will proceeded with the ritual" Orochimaru informed him and Kabuto nodded.

Orochimaru and Sasuke walked into another pitch black room with strong wooden doors. The door cringed as it opened to reveal a seemingly empty room. "Come Sasuke-kun" Orochimaru opening the door and motioning Sasuke to enter, which he did without hesitation.

"Do you wish to forget the pain?" Orochimaru asked with his eyes glinting. The goal he fought so hard to achieve was but a few minutes from his grasp.

"Yes" Sasuke simply replied and Orochimaru nodded.

"Then do not fear or fight what is to come" Orochimaru said and opened his mouth to unhuman proportions. From Orochimaru's body came a gigantic white snake composed of smaller white snakes. This was Orochimaru's true form.

"Orochimaru-sama?" Sasuke asked slightly shaken from seeing this big snake slither out of Orochimaru's supposed body.

"Do not fear me child" Orochimaru said as he coiled himself around Sasuke's body, locking eyes with the young Uchiha. "Furō Fushi no Jutsu (Eternal Youth and Immortality Technique)" Orochimaru said and the world started changing. Sasuke and Orochimaru were no longer in the dark room but they were in what seemed to be in vast place. The sky was dark purple and looking down, the ground was nothing but a wall of pink muscles that seemed to spasm at random intervals.

"What's this?" Sasuke asked fearfully.

"With this I will accomplish my goal" Orochimaru said chuckling darkly as the muscles began to crawl up Sasuke's body. Sasuke tried struggling but he was overcome in just seconds. The muscles covered him completely and Orochimaru smirked. After so many struggles and years of waiting he had finally reached his goal, he had finally attained the sharingan.

"Who are you now?" Kabuto asked as he came into the room and noticed that Sasuke was standing frozen. On the ground was a gigantic white snake and by the looks of it, it was obviously dead. Sasuke's sharingan flared into existence and began spinning until it became the mangekyou.

"Kukukuku….Who do you think?"

## With Uchiha Nao ##

Uchiha Nao had just returned from her appointed mission in Konoha. Her objective was to destroy the Academy and kill every single student and teacher inside. All of that was to prove to Naruto that Tobi or as she knew him, Uchiha Fugaku, that he was no prey.

Nao looked down at the crater that hid the Uchiha Clan's hideout. She jumped down arriving near the skeleton what once was a very large animal if the bones where anything to go by. "Where is he?" Nao asked towards the plant like creature that rose from the ground as she entered the hideout.

"In the main hall" the white Zetsu replied. "Although he isn't pleased with you" the black Zetsu added.

"Hn" Nao replied as she ignored Zetsu and continued walking forward. "I'll deal with him" Nao said and went towards Tobi's room. Nao passed through several Uchihas along way and simply gave them a brief nod of acknowledgement. She arrived at Tobi's room and knocked on the door.

Nao was about to reach for the handle when Tobi phased right through the door and her, making her jump back in surprise. Without even giving her a warning, Tobi placed a hand on her shoulder and warped her away with him as well.

They both arrived at another destination. Tobi was the first to arrive and simply dropped Nao to the ground. "What's the meaning of this?" Nao asked gritting her teeth to her leader. Nao looked around to pin point her location and noticed that she was near the border of the land of fire, more specifically she was standing on the Valley of the End.

Tobi jumped away and landed on the statue of Uchiha Madara. Nao rose from the ground and noticed that she was standing on the statue of Senju Hashirama. She looked towards Tobi and noticed that he began to remove his mask and simply dropped it to the ground to reveal the face of Uchiha Fugaku. The Senju DNA in him did a good job as he looked like he aged nothing in seventeen years.

"I'm disappointed with you Nao-chan" Fugaku replied as he sat down as watched as Nao slightly tense before relaxing once again. "You were never one to fail missions to begin with but I never expected for you to fail them on purpose" Fugaku said sighing and looking up. "Care to explain why you decided to forget the mission?" Fugaku asked as he locked eyes with her.

"I may be under your command but I am not your tool to do as you please" Nao snarled at Fugaku. "You asked me to kill some innocent kids which I would never do. I have my standards" Nao explained.

"I see" Fugaku said getting up. "I should have expected this from you. Your lineage was one of softness after all. Your sister did the same thing when I asked something similar" Fugaku explained chuckling and watched as Nao got confused.

"You didn't know did you?" Fugaku mockingly asked. "Your sister was just like you. You, your sister, Mikoto and even that cousin of yours Obito. You were all too soft and kind hearted for the Uchiha Clan. I thought that making an example of your sister would solve that in you but I was mistaken" Fugaku simply explained and watched as Nao tensed.

"What do you mean by making an example of my older sister?" Nao asked narrowing her eyes at Fugaku.

"Exactly like that. She was a soft hearted like many before her and she was influencing you, the strongest of the clan next to me. You looked up at her like anyone would do to their own older sister and I couldn't have that so I took steps. A simple poison in her food to make it look like she died of her eyes not accepting her body" Fugaku explained smiling darkly.

"W-what?" Nao asked in shock. "You killed my sister just because she was kind" Nao mumbled to herself. "Why?" Nao asked although Fugaku had just given her the answer.

"I want soldiers. I don't need anything else but soldiers" Fugaku simply replied. "Your sister became a liability the moment she started refusing the missions I gave her because she couldn't do them, but I had hope for you Nao-chan. You, who were so fond of my son Itachi. I hoped that you would outgrow that kindness that seemed to be instilled in your family and became what you were supposed to be, an Uchiha Clan shinobi" Fugaku said and watched as lone tear ran down her face.

"You killed my sister" Nao simply said looking at the ground. "You killed the only thing I had left of my family" Nao sadly said and suddenly looked up with her mangekyou blazing. "I was a fool to be following you in the first place. I should have stayed by Konoha's side. The Uchiha Clan was the strongest in Konoha, we were respected both for our power and loyalty, that is until you came around" Nao began.

"You are nothing but a greedy man that led our great clan into nothingness and eventually you will kill us all. Itachi-kun was right when he chose to stay by Konoha's side" Nao said as her chakra flared and she took her sword from her waist. "You are nothing more than darkness and I will be the light that shall defeat you" Nao yelled as she pointed her sword towards Fugaku who simply chuckled.

ENTER NARUTO SHIIPPUDEN – MY NAME

"Foolish girl" Fugaku said and watched as Nao jumped from the statue, coming towards him. Nao arrived near Fugaku and made a downward slice, only to phase right through him and hit the ground. Nao quickly repositioned herself, dodging a punch from Fugaku and slashed across Fugaku's chest. Fugaku chuckled as he watched the blade phase through him. Once the blade left his chest, he simply caught the handle and outmaneuvering Nao, he placed her on a chock hold.

"Such naïve girl" Fugaku whispered into her hear as she struggled to get free. "There is no darkness without light" Fugaku replied as he let go of Nao who stumbled forward to regain her breath. Nao looked back and quickly brought her arms to block a powerful kick from Fugaku. Nao was sent flying and collided with Hashirama's statue. A few rocks were set free from the impact and splashed into the water.

Nao coughed but quickly regained her breathing. She looked up to see Fugaku in the same place. "Katon: Goryuka no Jutsu (Great Dragon Fire Technique)" Nao said as she sent a torrent of fire shaped in the form of a dragon towards her enemy.

"Kamui" Fugaku said chuckling as he absorbed the whole fire jutsu into his personal dimension. "Katon: Bakufu Ranbu (Bomb Blast Dance)" Fugaku said as he kneaded chakra inside his body and converted into fire. Using the fire jutsu he absorbed from Nao, he expelled a continuous stream of flames, which spiraled outwards, creating a massive fire vortex.

Nao's eyes widened at the magnitude of the jutsu. Fugaku add used his own jutsu and further increased its power by using her jutsu. Nao's eyes glowed and purple ribcage formed around her. The fire jutsu clashed with her Susanoo shield but didn't even scorch it. Susanoo wasn't her ultimate defense for nothing.

"Yasaka no Magatama (Yasaka Beads)" Nao said as her Susanoo glowed and slightly increased in size. A couple arms sprouted from the ribcage and, as they spread apart, pieces of chakra floated in the air between them. Several dark purple beads were shot towards Fugaku at high speeds.

"When will she learn" Fugaku thought to himself in amusement as the gigantic beads collided with the statue ripping out chunks of stone. Fugaku had simply used his Kamui to escape the attacks and jumped down into the water. Fugaku looked straight forward and narrowed his eyes when he noticed Nao, who had her hands on the water.

"Suiton (Water Style)" Nao said as the lake started shaking and making Fugaku's eyes widen in disbelief. "Sen Sutoraiki (A Thousand Strikes)" Nao shouted as the lake all around her started giving off steam. Right before Fugaku's eyes hundreds upon hundreds of water tentacles started forming out of the water. Nao, who still held her hands on the lake, smirked as the tentacles blurred towards Fugaku who began evasive maneuvers.

Fugaku's was running for dear life. There were so many tentacles that they were even blocking his view of the statues. They were so many that they almost blot out the sun leaving Fugaku to fight in the shadows. Fugaku ducked under a tentacle and used his Kamui to avoid another one.

"Katon: Ryuka no Jutsu (Fire Dragon Technique)" Fugaku said and unleashed a torrent of fire against the water tentacles. He watched with great satisfaction as most of the water whips were vaporized. He quickly lost his smile when he noticed the whips simply reform themselves from the water.

"I can't use my Kamui indefinitely and there are too many whips for me to track" Fugaku thought as he tried to think of a way to end this jutsu. Otherwise he would be forced to evaporate the whole lake which would be impossible. He was shot from his thoughts when a water whip got past his defenses and hit him on the shoulder making him stumble.

"Enough" Fugaku said blurring through hand seals. "Katon: Goenkyu (Great Blaze Ball)" Fugaku exhaled a gigantic sphere of scorching flames that vaporized and destroyed everything in its path. Everything around Fugaku was decimated and only steam remained. Fugaku looked in annoyance as every single water tentacle slowly reformed but he caught a glimpse of Nao who was still in the same position as she was when she began the jutsu.

Fugaku quickly realized this jutsu's weakness. In order for it to work properly, the jutsu caster would need a large body of water nearby but more importantly, this jutsu requires the caster to be stationary and feed chakra continuously so that any destroyed tentacle may be reformed. Fugaku smirked and quickly dashed towards Nao at high speeds.

Several water tentacles tried to block his path but simply phased right through them until he was upon Nao. Fugaku arrived near now and immediately went for a straight punch only for Nao to tilt her head to the side and jump away to safety. Fugaku watched as the water tentacles dispelled back into the river.

"That was one particularly annoying jutsu. To think you had water affinity as well…just like Itachi. It looks like you were made for each other" Fugaku said in a mocking voice. While he was mocking his opponent even he had to admire the potency and beauty of the jutsu.

"You think too high of Itachi-kun. I kicked his ass several times during our shinobi career" Nao said smirking as she had finally understood the timing on Fugaku's Kamui. She knew very well that his mangekyou jutsu was simply stronger than her own, but like everything else, his Kamui had a weakness. And she found it when Fugaku chose to fight the water tentacles instead of simply standing by.

"Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu (Phoenix Fire Technique)" Nao said as she released several fire balls towards Fugaku who simply shook his head in defeat. Fugaku used his kamui and simply absorbed the jutsu into his dimension. Fugaku realized that the jutsu was taking longer to absorb than usual.

"She hid shuriken among the fire balls to delay my absorption, clever girl" Fugaku thought to himself as he noticed Nao reappear next to him in a blur of speed. Fugaku simply stopped absorbing the jutsu and allowed a few fireballs to hit him. Simple fireballs did nothing against him.

Nao swinged her sword horizontally and watched in shock as Tobi easily caught her blade between two fingers. Fugaku used her shock and punched her on the gut making her gasp. "I expected more from you" Fugaku said as he picked Nao up from her neck and simply watched her struggle for air. Nao's eyes started glowing as she made her best efforts to look into Fugaku.

"Petrifying Gaze" Nao said catching Fugaku in her mangekyou's strongest genjutsu. Fugaku was momentarily caught in the genjutsu which allowed Nao to get free from his grasp. Nao jumped back as she nursed her neck and began taking deep breaths. Using the mangekyou always took huge chunks of her chakra.

"Not bad" Fugaku said chuckling as he easily broke the genjutsu. "When will you realize that you can't win?" Fugaku asked looking straight at her.

"You should know better than to underestimate me" Nao snarled at her former leader. Nao took a single kunai and hurled it at the top of her speed towards Fugaku who simply shook his head. He had expected more from her. Fugaku stoically waited for the kunai to reach and simply allowed it to phase right through his left eye.

"I win" Nao said laughing weakly and Fugaku raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" Fugaku suddenly yelled to the heavens and dropped to his knees. He quickly brought his hand to his face to try and stem the blood that was leaking from his left eye. Fugaku stared at the lake and into his own reflection only to see a deep gash on his left eye. He couldn't even identity that it was an eye to begin with.

"Amaterasu" Nao said taking advantage of Fugaku's shock as she enveloped him in a cloak of pitch black flames. She watched with great competent as Fugaku rolled on the water in pain until he began to sink. "I told you not to underestimate me" Nao said smiling and taking deep breaths. She had won the battle with a simple henge and a shadow clone.

*Squelch*

Nao gasped as her chest was suddenly pierced a kunai from behind. She looked down to see the tip of the kunai protruding right from her chest, just above her heart. She coughed a large amount of blood and shakily looked backwards. Fugaku was standing there with a pissed off expression. His clothes and chunks of his skin were completely burned but above all, his left eye was completely destroyed.

Nao pushed forward crying in pain as the blade left her chest. She stumbled forward and fell to her knees as blood started pooling on the water. "I never expected for you to make a shadow clone and transform it into a shuriken that you used as a Trojan horse to get into my personal dimension" Fugaku said gritting his teeth. "I should have not underestimated you. You were my second in command after me after all" Fugaku explained and watched as Nao took deep and ragged breaths.

"It was foolish of you to challenge me Nao-chan" Fugaku said. He would make her pay, she had wounded him but above all else, she had destroyed one of the things he held more precious. She had blinded him on his left eye.

Fugaku raised an eyebrow when he felt a genjutsu wash over the area. He looked in confusion towards Nao and watched as she disappeared into thin air as if she never existed in the first place. Fugaku smirked and looked to his right just in time to see Nao materialized herself. The wound on her chest was completely gone but was replaced with a hollow white right eye.

"So you sacrificed your right eye to survive yet again" Fugaku said chuckling. "You lost your ability to use your genjutsu and your Susanoo. You are pathetically weak now but if you want a battle…I shall give you one" Fugaku said as his chakra spiked and the ground started shaking. The huge lake they were standing own started vibrating as waves were created.

"Mokuton (Wood Style)" Fugaku yelled as he clasped his hands together in the snake seal. "Jukai Kotan (Deep Forest Creation)" Fugaku added as thousands upon thousands of trees suddenly burst from the water. Nao's eyes widened at the sheer magnitude of the jutsu. The trees rose from the water and high into the sky, they pierced the mountains dislocating huge chunks of it. They wrapped themselves around the two statues, tearing them apart.

Nao watched as the trees quickly approached her position and she knew she had to do something quickly. Nao held her sword horizontally in front of her chest. She placed her left hand on the hilt. "Katon: Hinoken Katon (Flaming Sword)" Nao said she ran her hand over the blade and watched as her sword suddenly ignited into whitish flames. She avoided looking directly at the blade due the light being emitted.

Nao disappeared in a burst of speed. "Katon - Kasai Surasshu (Fire Slash)" Nao said as she flicked her blade forward. An arc of fire was released from her blade, cutting right through the incoming trees. Nao smirked as she landed on the tree and started running upwards it, heading right towards to Fugaku. Nao ducked and sliced her way towards the forest that had just grown. While the trees might be numerous and strong they were no match against her heated blade that sliced them down like a hot knife through butter.

"Mokuton: Sashiki no Jutsu (Cutting Sprigs)" Fugaku said as several sharp wooden spikes grew from the trees. Fugaku picked up a couple and, with strength and precision, he hurled them all towards the incoming enemy.

Nao flexed her fiery blade once again. "Katon: Shi o Senkai (Whirling Death)" Nao said as she pointed her blade forward, towards the incoming projectiles. The blade's flames quickly grew in size. Nao flexed her blade and released a vortex of fire that vaporized the wooden spikes.

Nao arrived near Fugaku and did a lightning fast horizontal swipe just above his head. Fugaku ducked under her swing and watched as the blade left a trail of fire behind it. Fugaku jumped backwards and extended his right arm forward. "Mokuton: Daijurin no Jutsu (Great Forest)" Fugaku said as his right arm suddenly transformed into wood. From his arms came out dozens of wooden tentacles that quickly wrapped themselves around Nao.

Nao struggled to get free until she poofed in smoke to reveal single wooden log in her place. There was no shortage of wooden logs around, not since Fugaku was willingly creating them. "You are a coward Fugaku. Fight me like an Uchiha instead of using power that belong to Senju. Where is your pride?" Nao snarled at Fugaku as she blurred through hand seals.

"Katon: Hi o Arekuruu (Raging Fire)" Nao said as she unleashed torrents upon torrents of fire that spread through the whole forest. All around her the fire was consuming the trees that Fugaku had created. The water in the lake did nothing to ease the raging inferno that Nao had set. Chunks of wood snapped from the trees and hit the lake with large splash sounds.

Fugaku jumped away from the falling trees and landed on the nearby branches. He swiped his arm on his forehead to wipe the sweat away from the massive heat that Nao's inferno was creating. All around him steam was being released as the water evaporated. Fugaku looked around for Nao when he heard a whistling sound. He turned around just in time to avoid multiple blazing shurikens that came from his blind spot.

As Fugaku was jumping backwards, Nao materialized right next to him. Fugaku allowed Nao's punch to phase right through him and hit the tree where he was standing. Fugaku moved to block another punch but quickly changing his mind and jumped back when he noticed that Nao's hands had an orange glow in them. Fugaku looked back towards the tree Nao hit and noticed the black spot from her punch.

"This is my Kasai no Ken (Fire Fist)" Nao said as her other arm and legs started getting an orange glow as several flames appeared around them. It looked like Nao had her arms and legs on fire although she didn't seem to be in pain. "I will show you why I was considered the best in the clan in fire ninjutsu" Nao said as she dashed towards Fugaku who braced himself.

"Such a waste of potential" Fugaku thought to himself frowning. The girl held such power and potential even without the sharingan and yet he had to kill her for her incompetence and disrespect. He wasn't feeling any guilt or regret, just pity.

"Hidama (Fire Ball)" Nao said punching straight forward and unleashing a ball of fire directly towards Fugaku who tilted his head to the side to avoid the flames. Nao jumped in the air and spinned around. "Kasai no Nami (Fire Wave)" Nao said as she released a wave of fire towards Fugaku who simply allowed it to phase right through him.

Nao dashed forward and engage Fugaku in clash of fists and kicks. Fugaku used his kamui as much as he could to outmaneuver Nao. Every single strike that Fugaku blocked or parried, he would regret it as he would get a piece of scorched skin as payment. Nao slammed her foot on the ground and flexed her arms forward. Without even a single hand seal, fire sprouted from her palms heading straight towards Fugaku.

"Mokuton: Mokujoheki (Wooden Wall)" Fugaku said slamming both hands on the ground. Several wooden pillars branched out from the trees and surrounded Fugaku, forming a dome around him. The fire wave clashed with the wooden walls. Fugaku activated his kamui and sank into the ground.

Nao stopped her attack once she noticed that behind the wooden dome was no one. She looked around and focused on her senses. Fugaku immediately appeared behind her and proceeded to kick in the back. Nao flew back and collided with one of trees that quickly wrapped itself around her, restraining her movements.

"Katon: Kasai no Tate (Fire Shield)" Nao said as all of her skin started glowing orange. Nao started sweating as her whole erupted in flames, scorching the wood all around her and turning it nothing more than ashes. Nao freed herself from the trees and fell to the ground taking deep breaths. Her chakra stores were nearing empty and she wouldn't last much longer.

"Unbelievable" Fugaku said looking at Nao with shock. "To think you would be this talented. How did you even lose against the Hyuuga girl back in Kiri?" Fugaku asked curious. The amount of control she held of the fire was astonishing.

"That battle opened my eyes. I relied on my sharingan too much back then and my defeat only proved that. I thought myself to be undefeatable and I got a rude awake up call but I get the feeling that even with this I wouldn't be able to defeat her should we ever meet again" Nao said smirking as she looked towards her flaming arms.

"My last jutsu" Nao thought to herself sadly, she was running on fumes. "Amaterasu" Nao said looking towards as arms as they erupted in black flames. Her sharingan deactivated from lack of chakra. Fugaku's eyes widened in disbelief when he saw Nao ignite her own arms in the black flames of Amaterasu.

"She's using the fire on her arms as the target for the Amaterasu flames. As long as she holds her jutsu the black flames won't burn her" Fugaku thought to himself. Nao was really putting everything she could into the fight.

"Come" Nao said as she waited for Fugaku to make his move. She knew that Fugaku would try and avoid engaging in taijutsu as off know. Fugaku might many things but fool wasn't in his description. "If you won't then I will" Nao said as she rushed Fugaku head on intending to go out with a bang.

Nao tried a punch to Fugaku's jaw only for it to phase through him. Fugaku watched as her Amaterasu empowered arm phased right through him. Once Nao's arm had left him, Fugaku brought his knee to her stomach. Nao buckled forward and gasped in pain.

Nao bit back the pain and engaged Fugaku once again in taijutsu. Blow after blow was getting past Nao's defenses and hitting her. Fugaku tilted his body back and slammed his foot as hard as he could into Nao's chest and watched as she tumbled through the trees.

Fugaku smirked as the battle was over. He calmly walked towards Nao as she knelt and took deep breaths. Her hair covered most of her face, sweat was pouring freely from her forehead and her clothes were completely burned from her fire jutsus. Fugaku looked towards her arms and watched as the Amaterasu flames faded away.

Nao watched as Fugaku bent down and picked up her sword. There was nothing she could do about it. She had ran out of chakra, she was tired. All she wanted right now was to die and simply be reunited with her sister and family in the other side. Nao didn't even wince as Fugaku slowly drove her sword through her chest and heart.

Fugaku rose up and brought Nao with him as she stood pierced in the sword like some piece of meat in a wooden stick. Fugaku was completely affronted with her. Even in defeat and death, Nao was smiling. "I hope you keep that smile of yours when you met the rest of your family" Fugaku said and simply flexed the blade letting Nao's body fall to the water. Fugaku didn't waste more time and simply swirled away, he had a sharingan to replace.

Nao was slowly drifting away in the water. She was floating and looking at the beautiful blue sky. She was barely alive at this point but she couldn't help but get a strange feeling that suddenly overcame her. She wanted nothing more than to be reunited with her family but somehow, she felt that it wasn't her time go yet.

"Izanagi" Nao thought to herself using the remains of her chakra and the last of her eye. The wound on her chest healed and her eyes closed from chakra exhaustion. She slowly drifted away, carried away by the current. She didn't know if she would even survive but she felt she had to try.