Cycle of hate !

They were monstrous warriors as impressive as their husbands. And since the confrontation had begun, even if they had had the same idea : that of killing the other to come and reinforce her husband, they were still at the same point. Neither had been able to take the other down.

Sakura caught her breath as she watched Mito as she straightened up. No matter how many tricks and tricks she used to hurt her opponent, her tenant was still healing her. "Damn fox!" thought Sakura. Indeed, the demon chakra allowed Mito's wounds to close quickly.

But as much as the demon chakra could help its host, it could do nothing about the material damage. Indeed, Sakura's latest attacks had reduced the red-haired Kunoichi's armor to nothing. Mito Uzumaki was now wearing a white and blue kimono, except that part of the fabric was missing from his stomach. However, one detail caught Sakura's attention : a seal. And not just any seal : it was the one that contained the fox demon. When she recognized it, Sakura finally had the solution to how to potentially win this battle. But for that she would need to force her opponent to get closer to her.

— "Argh !" Madara let out as he hit the ground hard.

Madara was on the ground and he tried to stand up, to no avail. He was running out of strength but he didn't want to admit defeat. His opponent was in no better shape than he was. A few meters away from Madara, Hashirama was catching his breath, one knee on the ground. All his limbs were shaking and it was obvious to him as well that he was finding it harder and harder to keep up with this endless battle.

But when she heard her husband's pain-filled voice, Sakura looked away from her opponent for a split second. A monumental mistake because Mito took advantage of it to use once again the Kongo Fusa technique in order to pin her opponent to the ground. Mito had this ability to make adamantine chains appear from her back, initially intended to seal the fox demon. But here, she wanted to hinder all the movements of her opponent and even pierce her and thus end their fight. The Uzumaki also covered the chains with demonic chakra in order to increase the chances of mortally wounding Sakura.

Sakura looked back at Mito and saw too late the attack she had in store for her. She still managed to dodge five of the chains, but the sixth one pierced Sakura in the pectoral region, just below her left collarbone, and went to ground behind her. The force of the momentum, mixed with the demonic chakra made it penetrate the pink haired woman's body without any difficulty.

— "Ahhh !" Sakura cried out from the pain that overwhelmed her. Not only was feeling the chain through her flesh naturally painful, but the contact with the Kyûbi's chakra increased the sensation even more. This chakra was the worst corrosive poison in the world and if Sakura didn't do something, she was going to die of chakra poisoning.

But the Daimyô of Ta No Kuni still had a lot left in her. She still managed to ignore the sharp burn that the demonic chakra was causing her. And despite the groans she couldn't hold back, she seized the opportunity she needed : to pull Mito Uzumaki close enough to block all use of the fox chakra.

Sakura grabbed the chakra chain with her full hand despite the burns that instantly formed on her skin from the demonic chakra. She used her enhanced strength to pull on it roughly. Mito could do nothing against the pulling force Sakura was exerting : she found herself propelled forward beyond her ability to resist. The impact with Sakura was inevitable at this speed. What was the pink-haired Kunoichi looking for ?

The answer came to her too late to dodge anything. Sakura had conjured up five Fûinjutsu symbols, one for each finger on her right hand. And once Mito came upon her, Sakura positioned her hand to touch the other woman's belly, right on the seal.

— "Gogyô Fûin !" Sakura shouted as her fingers dug into the Uzumaki's belly, taking her breath away by the force of the impact and the immediate effects of the technique.

Sakura had just applied the same sealing technique that Naruto had twice undergone to contain the fox demon as he lost control of the outpouring of hatred that the Kyûbi was causing.

As soon as Sakura removed her fingers and broke the technique, Mito Uzumaki immediately lost control over his Bijû. All the chakra covering her disappeared as well as her chakra chains. Sakura could finally breathe a sigh of relief at being free of the shackles and the corrosive force that was burning her body.

Sakura crouched quickly, her muscles trembling from the effort they had just made. Mito staggered back, staggering slightly. She was beginning to feel all the fatigue in her body spreading through her. Now that the Kyûbi's chakra was blocked, she felt an enormous weight on her body, which had been put to a great test.

After all, they had been fighting a fierce duel for several hours already, so it was normal that they were both exhausted and out of breath. They both had almost the same symptoms, their muscles were shaking from too much toxin.

However, Sakura had a slight advantage over her opponent. With her knowledge of Iryô Ninjutsu, she was able to regulate her body more quickly and eliminate all the substances that were making her muscles tense. It was for these reasons that Sakura had been so tough since they started the fight.

And seeing Mito's condition without the help of the fox demon's chakra, Sakura had confirmation on a question she had at one point asked herself. She had remembered that Karin Uzumaki had this ability to heal herself. Because of this, she had wondered if Mito also had this same skill. And obviously she did not.

She knew that her body was reaching its limit. She had used far too much chakra as well as the chakra in her forehead seal. But she shouldn't flinch, not now, not this close.

Sakura realized that she finally had the advantage over her opponent. She had to seize this opportunity if she wanted to tip the balance in their favor and help Madara against the Senju.

She once again charged her right arm with chakra to perform her Chakura No Mesu technique. And with the power of her will, she leapt on Mito who was struggling, almost fainting from exhaustion. The red-haired Kunoichi couldn't feel a single part of her aching body. She saw Sakura throwing herself at her, but her body no longer obeyed her. Yet she knew she should move, just shift to avoid the impact. But she was at her wits' end. Strangely, while she knew she could do nothing to defend herself, her thoughts took her to her husband, to the love she felt for him. And it was on that emotion that Mito Uzumaki felt the arm as sharp as a scalpel slice through her body, crushing her heart in the process.

Sakura had not hesitated for a moment, with all her determination and chakra control, she penetrated her opponent's torso in one swift motion as if the flesh were a lump of butter. Sakura recognized the bursting of the other woman's heart as her hand was simply passing through it to continue on its way out the opposite side.

A spray of blood came from the mouth of the red haired woman whose eyes fluttered dangerously. Mito had time to look into Sakura's eyes. In the last few moments of life she had left, the Uzumaki saw that her opponent's eyes were both filled with the hardness of the concentration of the blow she had just dealt, but also with sadness.

Such was the lot of all shinobi, to be led to kill one's opponent when in the end the only reason was that they had differing opinions. After all, they had only fought each other because they were each the wife of a powerful shinobi and they had differing opinions on the meaning of peace.

Indeed, just before she took her last breath of life, Mito saw that Sakura regretted her action. She had only acted out of obligation... out of duty... and out of survival instinct.

— "Gomen," Sakura whispered before removing her bloody arm from the victim's chest. Mito Uzumaki was already dead long before her body toppled backwards and fell with a thud to the ground.

— "NOOOOO !" Hashirama Senju shouted as his wife fell to the ground with a gigantic hole in her chest.

Everything had happened so fast. He had just delivered a powerful blow to Madara who had fallen on his back, struggling to get up. He himself was out of breath and stood on one knee, not taking his eyes off the Uchiha until he felt Kyûbi's chakra rise into the air again. He then turned his gaze to the confrontation of the two women who were still standing despite all those hours of fighting. He recognized the sealing technique of his wife's clan and he had the hope that she would finally overcome her opponent. But it was something else entirely that unfolded before his astonished eyes. How could this be possible ? Seeing the attack that Mito received with full force and especially the result that followed, Hashirama Senju felt a myriad of emotions run through his mind.

Incomprehension mixed with sadness, amplified by despair, provoking anger that turned into hate ! Yes, he now had hatred ! He had just witnessed the death of the most precious being in his eyes : his wife ! The love of his life had just left the world of the living for a world where no one could return. Mito was everything to Hashirama Senju : she was the one who had accompanied him during a large part of his life. She was the only woman he had ever loved. She was the one who had loved him in return, unconditionally. She was the one who had made him a father... she was everything and much more, she was his whole life... the love of his life !

The man finally turned his gaze to Madara's wife who had just removed her blood covered arm from Mito's chest. He screamed all his hatred at the woman : he was going to make her pay for this ignominy ! He was going to gut her, he was going to make her suffer for daring to kill his wife in this way !

— "You will pay for this !" Hashirama shouted before rising to his feet despite his visible exhaustion.

Sakura turned her gaze to the man named Hashirama who was displaying all his killing intent in her direction. It was heavy, oppressive, dangerous, but she couldn't dwell on the first Hokage for very long as a thought crossed her mind : she had just done something stupid.

03H 15M 00S

Sakura's eyes widened as she realized what she had just done. By taking Mito's life, she had just killed a Jinchûriki ! She remembered the consequences of such an act only too late. Nothing was now hindering the Bijû who could easily free himself and pour out all his fury outside this corporal prison.

It started with a spark, then a gargantuan amount of demonic chakra emerged from Mito Uzumaki's body which was shredded and broken in several splashes of blood. Sakura took a few steps back as Hashirama also stopped, aware of what was happening before their eyes.

The Kyûbi's chakra spread over a large area and gradually the nine-tailed fox demon appeared. First his transparent silhouette made of his chakra, before he fully emerged from the body of his former host. Suddenly it shot up to its full height, its tails sweeping the air in anger.

— "ROUUUUARRGGGG !" The Kyûbi roared, stunning all the spectators on the top of the wall. What they had seen during the first Bijûdama Mito had thrown was nothing compared to the presence of this being of pure chakra.

Each of his breaths could be heard from afar, each beat of his tails created a devastating movement of air, each touch of one of his limbs on the ground caused a deafening noise.

He roared across the valley once more, making all who saw and heard him tremble with fear. He had such hatred inside him that he had only one thought : never again would they steal his chakra ! Never again would he be locked in a cage without light ! Never again would he be controlled or subjugated against his will !

Now that he was free he intended to destroy this horrible race that only advocated war and destruction. If it was destruction they sought then he would give it to them ! No matter what his father had demanded of him and his brothers and sisters ! The humans did not deserve to live no matter how much Hagoromo Ôtsutsuki pleaded for them. He, the fox demon, would eradicate them for anything they dared to do against him and his siblings !

His slit blood-red pupils turned to the insect that was right in front of him. His mouth stretched out, revealing all his teeth in a murderous smile. Here was his first victim, the one who would pay first before all the others. And it didn't matter that it was a pink-haired human with a punctured shoulder and blood dripping from it. She obviously had other wounds on her body, but the demon didn't care ! He cocked his paw to tear her apart in one motion. But just as his claw was about to skewer the wretched person, it stopped just a dozen centimeters away from her body.

Sakura had been holding her breath since the moment she witnessed the terrifying nine-tailed demon materialize. And it was as she looked at the creature's pupils that she saw that a Sharingan had taken the place of its blood red pupils. She understood that her husband had just saved her life.

Indeed, Madara still lying on the ground also witnessed the bloody death of Mito Uzumaki and when he immediately saw his body fall lifeless, he knew that the worst was yet to come : the Kyûbi would be freed since no more fetters would hold him prisoner. When he realized that the creature was going to attack Sakura with a paw, the Uchiha drew on his last reserves of chakra to bring the beast under control. He knew he wouldn't last long, but there had to be something he could do to save the woman he loved. He couldn't afford to lose her, not this way !

— "Chibaku Tensei !" Madara uttered, using a Rinnegan ability to hold the beast's body as tightly as possible.

Indeed, stones began to clump around the demon, but as he was soon out of chakra, the locking technique was not complete. Furthermore, the demon's control of his pupils was not stabilized as the fox's eyes could be seen flickering between the Sharingan and his own red pupils.

— "RELEASE ME DAMNED UCHIHA !" Kurama roared loudly at Madara.

Sakura had come to her senses and immediately realized that she wouldn't have much time to stop the Kyûbi from unleashing his hatred on her and everyone else around.

— "Kurama-sama !" Sakura spoke loudly in the direction of the most powerful Bijû.

— "HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT NAME !?" Tthe Kyûbi roared as he struggled against Madara Uchiha's control.

— "You are now free !" Sakura continued in a hurry with the urgency of the situation. "I am an envoy from your father Hagoromo Ôtsutsuki !"

— "Father...," Kurama said so stunned that he stopped struggling with the Uchiha's retention techniques.

The fox demon was known for his malicious, sadistic, and cunning nature. But he hadn't always been like this and when he heard the name of his creator a multitude of memories came flooding back. If this human knew his name and that of his father, she must be telling the truth. Nobody knew the real name of the Bijû and even less that the Rikudô Sennin was their father.

— "You will never be a prisoner again !" Sakura continued, shouting as loud as she could. "You will never again be forced to be in the grip of a Jinchûriki ! Peace is within our reach Kurama-sama ! Some of your brothers and sisters are waiting for you in the north ! No one will attack you anymore !"

Everyone could hear what she had said because for a few seconds, silence reigned in the valley. The Kyûbi itself had stopped wagging its tails and no more sounds of battle emanated from the valley, making one almost forget that a battle had been going on for several hours.

Had his father been right to believe in humanity ? This pink-haired human wasn't lying, her eyes screamed the truth and a spark of hope came over the nine-tailed demon. His gaze then turned to the Uchiha. He was lying on his back, his head turned in their direction, his right arm outstretched and his palm open.

Presumably he was still struggling to hold the fox's paw and keep this woman from dying in its clutches. Why was he doing this ? Who was she to him ? But the demon didn't care about answers : his hatred for Uchiha of all kinds was stronger than knowing more about the motives of this cursed dark-haired man with red pupils !

Kurama continued to watch the man on the ground and the only thing he wanted to do was to reduce him to nothing. And what he saw next caused him to feel an inner rapture : his prayers were answered.

Hashirama Senju had stopped when the demon had materialized and he had witnessed the improbable exchange between this woman and the demon. He understood in the Uchiha's desperate attempt that this Kunoichi meant something to him, as Mito meant something to himself. Then the Senju changed target and while the Kyûbi seemed less inclined to cause chaos, he seized his sword and went to plant it without warning in the heart of his enemy.

The Uchiha didn't understand what was happening because he was so focused on the Bijû. He had forgotten that Hashirama was only a few meters away from him and when he turned his gaze towards his chest, he saw a sword stuck in his heart. At the end of that weapon he saw the hand of Hashirama Senju looking at him with hatred and bitterness. His face was distorted with rage as tears streamed from his eyes.

— "I won't make the same mistake twice Madara ! You're going to die this time... and your bitch wife is going to join you very soon !" Hashirama whispered before twisting his blade into the dark-haired man's bruised heart, causing a small gush of blood to emerge from the Uchiha's mouth.

Because of this overflow of pain, Madara lost all control over the Bijû, who regained his full abilities and especially his freedom of action. With a simple movement of his body, all the rock that covered him shattered and his pupils became blood red again !

Kurama turned his gaze back to Sakura who had not taken his eyes off the fox demon. About ten seconds passed as Kurama gauged the woman in front of him, then he turned north before running to join his siblings.

Sakura sighed in relief before putting her hand to her shoulder to ease the pain that was tugging at her. The demon chakra hadn't been completely eliminated from her body yet and it was still causing her some burning sensations, but she wasn't worried, it would pass.

Time had seemed to stand still during her brief conversation with the demon and Sakura had forgotten that just before, Hashirama was about to unleash his hatred towards her. The pink-haired kunoichi could only think of one person : her husband. He had saved her from certain death and that's why she turned in his direction, a small smile of pride on her face that they had been able to convince the Kyûbi to join his fellows.

But instead of getting a smile in return from the man she loved with all her soul, she made this terrible realization : there he was, on the ground, his head still directed towards her. But his eyes... his onyx orbs were empty... empty of the life that had left his body to return to eternity.

Sakura slowly scanned her husband's body to discover the cause of his death : a blade was stuck in his heart. And her gaze traced the length of the blade until she found Hashirama Senju standing there, holding the sword still firmly embedded in the Uchiha's lifeless body.

A phrase from the Rikudô Sennin came back to him at that moment : "Human beings are born to die one day." Was this the fate of Madara Uchiha ? Was his path on this earth to end today ? Under such circumstances ? Was he only destined to fight against Hashirama Senju ? And was he to perish only by his hand ?

Sakura had no answers to these questions. For the moment she felt herself losing her footing. Again she felt the pain deep in her chest : the wound in her heart had opened once more, but it had grown larger.

— "No... no...," Sakura whispered very softly.

This couldn't be true ! Not him ! Death couldn't take her husband from her ! She had found love, she had found the man of her life ! He had managed to make her life a constant fulfillment and now he was...

— "No... no no ! Madara !" She screamed in despair at the realization that he was no longer of this world, that she would never hear from him again, that he would never be by her side again, and that she would never feel the love he had for her again.

She was in excruciating pain deep inside, more so than when she had sacrificed everything to return to that time, more so than when Hitomi had been murdered. Now her whole world, her equilibrium, was collapsing, and all because of this man : Hashirama Senju.

The latter was waiting calmly and he enjoyed seeing the pain on his opponent's face. He only wanted one thing right now : to make Sakura Uchiha suffer ! A small petty smile stretched across his lips as he had succeeded in doing so, but he wiped it away immediately as their eyes met.

Sakura was in pain, that was obvious, but she showed the Senju a cold, hard, hateful face. They weren't done, far from it. It was just the two of them left.

Two sides ! Two dead and two souls burdened by grief, loss, despair and hatred !

And of the two, only one would remain, and that would surely not be the man she had in front of him. The pink-haired woman activated her frontal seal once more, even if it put her in mortal danger.

Indeed, she had used all of the chakra stored in her Fûinjutsu, but she was going to use one of her secret techniques : a Kinjutsu.

Her seal would allow her to draw on her own physical reserves to recover chakra. All her hours of meditation had not been in vain : quite the contrary ! For it was by understanding the difference between physical and spiritual energy that she developed this technique. She was going to use her own cells to destroy them... and thus recover chakra.

She had nothing left to lose ! She knew her daughter was safe and would be taken care of. She had lost the most precious being in her eyes, and she intended to fulfill their dream : peace !

So, despite the pain, despite the many wounds that formed on her body, Sakura charged towards Hashirama Senju in hopes of killing him. She had to be quick, because even in their state the first Hokage was still a better shinobi than her.

The concerned one made a fluid movement as he saw the Daimyô running in his direction. He quickly withdrew the blade from the dark-haired man's body and held it up to him. This way, if his opponent did not dodge, the weapon would inevitably be planted in the attacker's chest.

Hashirama was already analyzing how Sakura would dodge his attack in order to anticipate her next move. But he hadn't expected the matriarch to perform this action : she didn't dodge at all.

Sakura literally impaled herself on the Senju's sword ! She let the blade pierce her before grabbing the dark-haired man's forearm. The pressure she exerted was such that the armor broke under her fingers followed by the bone.

Hashirama winced in pain as he felt the bone in his limb being completely crushed. He had obviously underestimated this woman and he was paying the price. He was far too exhausted to react properly. Whether it was fatigue, pain in his arm and body, or chakra exhaustion, Hashirama couldn't move and get out of the woman's firm grip.

He didn't even have time to understand what was happening to him when Sakura's opposite fist crashed into his face. The Kunoichi had put all her last bit of strength into this action. Hashirama Senju's head took the brunt of the blow as it was completely buried before being torn halfway off its support with a terrifying crack of bone. At the same time Sakura let go of the forearm so that the man's entire body was propelled a hundred metres backwards from its original position.

Hashirama Senju was no longer of this world.

And so ended the second battle of the shinobi gods.

03H 25M 00S

Sakura watched as her opponent's body came to rest in the dust just before she released her frontal seal. Her own body had run out of strength. She collapsed backwards on the verge of fainting, a sword stuck in either side of her torso.

She lay on the ground, blood pouring from her many wounds. Her chakra was depleted. Much of her Tenketsu was destroyed by the effort of this final battle.

But she had succeeded... she had accomplished her goal... their goal...

The seconds passed slowly. Her breathing became more and more laboured as her body struggled to keep her alive. She knew she couldn't heal herself at all, not a drop of chakra was flowing through her body. She was just going through what was ahead of her.

Sakura struggled not to close her eyes and fall into eternal sleep. Every beat of her heart was painful as the organ was hit by the edge of that deadly blade.

— "Sakura-sama !" Tsunade Senju's voice shouted.

Indeed, from the moment the Daimyô of Ta No Kuni had delivered the final blow to Hashirama Senju and collapsed to the ground, the crowd gathered on the walls caught their breath. Many ninja jumped over the wall to rush to their Daimyô. Among them was Tsunade, who hoped with all her heart that her master would not succumb to her injuries.

Some shinobi ran towards Hashirama's body in order to finish him off in the event that he survived.

Meanwhile, the young Tsunade knelt down and sobbed at her master.

— "Sakura-sama !" Tsunade exclaimed as she saw the extent of the damage.

This was too much, far too much for her. She may have been the apprentice of the legendary Sakura, but she didn't have all the skills necessary to heal all the damage she had suffered.

— "Tsunade...," Sakura whispered as her vision became increasingly blurry, the end was near.

— "Master... what should I do ?" Tsunade pleaded, she didn't want her master to die.

— "Too... late," Sakura managed to say before thinking of her daughter who was being guarded by her two friends, Amaya and Hana.

— "Master..."

— "Tsunade... take care... of Nozumi, I'm going to join the man I love... in peace..."

Born to die, was the last thought she had as she felt all life leave her.

Sakura finally disagreed with this sentence. Sure, death was the end of the cycle of life. But before reaching that stage : there was life ! And she had had a good life despite everything. Also, if you think about it, she had the opportunity to have lived two lives in one.

So yes, men are born to die one day, but before that, they have the opportunity to Live. That was what Sakura hoped the next generation would understand. That even though life was sometimes a real bitch, you had to live it to the fullest to get to that happiness. And Sakura knew that she had managed to find that happiness she had been searching for. She had found peace with Madara and their family.

And it was because of this that Sakura finally understood the phrase spoken by the Rikudô Sennin : * Peace can be achieved in many ways. *

Sakura then took her last breath, letting the life leave her earthly body.

And as Sakura died from her injuries, something appeared and glowed in Madara's palm. It was a small seal of Fûinjutsu that had been placed long ago by the Rikudô Seninn.

Then, in place of the seal, an envelope materialized.