Wake Up!

The world was whirling with objects adapting strange distortions, but Sasuke didn't care. He was going to summon his own world, even if it meant conjuring a demon. Obito retreated back a few steps as he reveled the sight of the technique only a handful of Uchiha in history have ever achieved.

Every cell in Sasuke's body was ringing with pain as he poured cascading amounts of chakra into activating Susanoo with his newfound Mangekyou Sharingan.

Although it wasn't the full body Complete Susanoo, it was Susanoo nonetheless. Howsoever the child managed to perform this special ability after just unlocking the highest stage of Sharingan moments ago, impressed Obito. Sasuke must've truly loved his second family. The impact of losing them was so great that he advanced in leaps right before his eyes.

On the other end, Sasuke was viewed as enough of a threat for Obtio to summon his own Susanoo.

However, every second of keeping Susasnoo alive, was impossibly torturous moment. His beaten body screamed in pain at the sudden overexertion while a continuous scorching heat seared his lungs and eyes.

[This must be how Naruto feels each time the fox's chakra seeps out from under his skin.]

The pain. The excruciating pain that coursed through his veins. It hurt to be alive. But Sasuke knew that for every second the pain intensified, it was another second he was still fighting.

If Susanoo caused him so much pain, he could only imagine how much it was eating out of Madara who had summoned a more complete body of Susanoo. That gave him a somewhat slight satisfaction.

But then something changed—his body began shaking uncontrollably. The world suddenly started turning on and off, black then white, real then unreal…

"Sasuke!"

Sasuke looked at Obito who was still attacking him. Luckily, he scrambled back on his feet right in time to dodge a life threatening blow.

Who was calling his name?

Itachi wasn't here.

Who could it be?

"Sasukee!"

It wasn't his imagination.

"SASUKE UCHIHA-UZUMAKI!" a loud rambunctious voice finally broke through.

The befuddled Uchiha managed to stop his head from spinning for a moment and recognized his brother being the source of the strange earthquake-like vibrations.

"WAKE UP!" Naruto yelled frantically as he anxiously watched his brother's eyes warp through different shapes and phases of the Sharingan.

Honestly, he never knew that the Sharingan could be so unnerving—changing shapes at such incredible speeds. But what scared him the most was the blood leaking out of Sasuke's eyes.

"SASUKEEE!"

Taken aback by everything, Sasuke grabbed on to Naruto's outstretched arm for support.

"Naruto?" the Uchiha called out to the open.

"SASUke?" Naruto asked more sensitively as he slowly came to the horrific understanding that his brother couldn't see him.

Sasuke was looking at some other direction even though Naruto was standing right in front of him.

"Naruto?"

"Brother…I'm right here…" Naruto stuttered, holding back tears that his brother was practically blind.

"You're alive?" Sasuke asked in hopeful excitement. And when he calmed down and confirmed, he said more confidently, "You're alive."

If Naruto was alive…then Mother…

"Mother?" Sasuke inquired, still holding onto Naruto's arm. "Where is she?"

"Still trapped," Naruto replied, turning angrily at a laid-back Kabuto.

Sasuke's grip tightened. "Where's Obito?"

Naruto was actually excited to answer that question.

"Obito is standing in the corner. I think he's still trapped in your genjutsu."

Sasuke didn't need to see to feel the radiance of Naruto's signature grin. "You win this round," Naruto congratulated.

It took him a few seconds to process.

The entire scene from earlier…materialized from his own imagination? Rin resurrecting…Mother dying…Naruto dying…

…was all fake.

All made up. From his own mind.

And it was so real that even the great Madara Uchiha, well precisely speaking, his successor Obito Uchiha, was drawn in to the entire illusion and still trapped.

Had it been under different circumstances, Sasuke would've spent it rejoicing, but he decided bragging it to Mother after saving her would be much more satisfying.

"I think Obito is going to be trapped for only a few more minutes. We need to get Mother out of here at once."

Sasuke's leveled head always brought comfort to Naruto, something he needed at the moment.

"Attacking the force field with chakra from all sides will disrupt the flow. If we rescue her in time before the barrier regains balance, we can force our way out," Naruto explained.

"Good thinking," Sasuke praised. But then wondered. His brother, of anyone, could handle this easily. Why didn't he break that barricade down yet?

A little chuckle from the sidelines clarified things.

"Who's in the corner?" Sasuke questioned, senses heightened as ever.

"Kabuto from the chunin exams." Naruto grimaced. "He said if we force Mother out, she'd be stuck in a vegetative state or a coma at best."

Sasuke growled internally. If he could, he'd send Kabuto into infinite Tsukiyomi. But his chakra tank was already running on its last few drops. He couldn't afford to jeopardize his situation any more.

Naruto bit down on his lip. "Brother…You kept Obito immobilized as you promised…but I…I failed you…"

"Hey Naruto…I believe in you."

----------------------------

[Kakashi was on the other side, lightning blade ready, prepared to attack if the jinchuriki couldn't contain his beast. His Sharingan steadily analyzed his prized student, internally praying that Naruto was strong enough to endure the pain and uncertainty that came with the burden of playing anchor of a tailed monster.

If Naruto couldn't…he would have to kill him. That was the last thing he wanted to do. But he'd do it if he needed to. And things weren't looking too well.

Naruto, who was beast at the moment, was running rampant after successfully breaking out of Captain Yamato's wood technique restraint.

Captain Yamato raced through more hand signs to rebuild the wood prison. This was the worse he'd ever seen the Nine-tails evolve. Truly horrifying.

If this broke loose in Konoha…

After a long pause, Yamato nodded at Kakashi who suddenly raised the intensity of the lighting in his arm.

The masked shinobi motioned for Sasuke to activate his chidori. The Uchiha reluctantly obeyed.

Just when the two jonins were calculating the right moment to attack, an unexpected arrival interrupted everything.

"Mio! Get out of the way!" Captain Yamato scolded as he tried his best to keep calm.

The beast was this close to breaking out of the wooden grasp he managed to lock around its ankles. And Mio's sudden appearance only disrupted his concentration.

The fox sensed this lost of focus and retaliated with even more power.

"Out of the way Mio!" Kakashi yelled, fearing for his childhood friend's unsettling proximity to the Nine-tails.

"Naruto!" Mother's voice cried, tears overflowing from her eyes from seeing her son roaring in sorrow.

Yamato found it extremely difficult to hold the beast down, but still managed to relay, "It's not Naruto anymore. He can't hear you!"

Yamato took a step back as the beast became a little closer to breaking free.

And then, it did.

In horror, Sasuke immediately retracted his lightning as he sprinted to defend his reckless mother.

Because really, that crazy woman didn't know when to stand down.

But she held her ground. Even when the beast broke out and began charging, she stood still—not in fear, but in lack of it.

"NARUTO UCHIHA-UZUMAKI WAKE UP! Mother's high pitched, yet confident voice demanded.

And miraculously to those around her, but not at all to herself, Naruto listened.]

----------------------------

All around him, Sasuke could hear Naruto clones readying themselves to throw the Rasengan party of their lives.

"If you're planning the same thing, the results are going to be the same," Kabuto commented as he pushed the rim of glasses. "That's the foreseen outcome."

It was Sasuke who snorted this time. Nothing ever stays as planned with his family.

And he was immensely proud of that.

"Alright, one last time," Naruto said confidently. "On the count of three."

Sasuke adjusted a stronger stance, readying himself for the certain explosion.

"One."

All the clones had a Rasengan in hand, some even with the larger more powerful Rasengan shurikens.

"Two."

Footsteps already filled the entire room.

"Three!"

Orange chakra clashed with blue as both sides stubbornly battled it out, energy rays spilling throughout the room.

It was tiring, to supply so much energy without losing control, but Naruto could do it.

Uchiha-Uzumaki Naruto could do anything. He already won his battle.

"MOTHER!" both Naruto and Sasuke cried in complete unison as the gusts of wind from the explosion reached its peak.

And finally, the invisible partition shattered.