Powerful gales of wind accompanied every swing of the beast's tails. The sheer force of its chakra warmed the atmosphere, causing the snow to melt into a shower of rain.
To Jiraiya, its overwhelming chakra seemed to be the very embodiment of nature. It was hard to believe this demon was Naruto.
No—he mentally corrected himself. This was the Nine-tails emerging from Naruto. Somehow, the seal had weakened enough for it to physically manifest itself.
The beast turned its hate-filled gaze on Gamabunta. Its tails whipped through the air toward them and Gamabunta braced himself, ready to return the blow—when the tails arched around them and slammed instead into Kakuzu. The missing-nin, who had been on the verge of striking an unsuspecting Jiraiya, bulleted down through the rain and crashed into the wet ground. Torrents of mud flew in every direction as his body continued to bowl through the earth, leaving behind a long, uninterrupted strip in his wake.
Stunned, Jiraiya watched the beast let out a deafening howl that shook the skies.
...
The moment Kakashi felt the Nine-tails' chakra surge through the marshland and blow away the fog, he braced himself for the worst. And yet, nothing could have prepared him for the scene of carnage that met his arrival: At the base of a cliff, bodies with all too familiar faces littered the muddy ground. It was an image that brought back painful memories of the Third World War.
His colleague and fellow veteran, Shirakumo. A crater with a body mangled beyond recognition.
And Rai. His student. His eyes were still open, staring glassily up at the grey sky.
The day he had first met his genin team flashed in his mind:
"You can tell me your likes, dislikes, hobbies, your dreams." When nobody answered, Kakashi sighed and gestured towards a genin with a scar running down his face. "How about you go first?"
The boy scowled. "The name's Hagane Rai. My goal is to become the best weapons specialist in Konoha. And...I hate being ordered around!"
The sound of rain filled his ears. As he watched the droplets hit the boy's still face, Kakashi's heart grew heavy. It seemed like it was only yesterday, when his team had passed the bell test.
The air crackled. A blood-red ball of chakra shot through the sky and slammed into the cliff with a thunderous explosion. Breaking off from the point of impact, giant boulders began sliding down, crashing into the ground.
...
"Gamayudan (Toad Oil Bomb)!"
A mass of murky oil burst through the air, coating the rampaging beast. Jiraiya followed by directing his spiky white hair to wrap itself tightly around the beast, dragging it down to the ground. For a moment it seemed to work—and then with another roaring surge of chakra, it burst out of its bindings. Infuriated, the beast switched its attention from Jiraiya, who was forced to dodge out of the way.
Kakuzu seemed to have had enough, taking this as a window of opportunity to escape. Jiraiya saw out of the corner of his eye as the hulking missing-nin leaped backwards and flickered away in a puff of smoke.
"Jiraiya-sama!" shouted a voice.
A familiar silver-haired ninja appeared, gently setting down three bodies beside a shrub.
Jiraiya did a double-take. "Is that you, Kakashi? Did Sarutobi-sensei send you?"
Kakashi stood, his infamous Sharingan glowing in his left eye. "It's...a long story."
...
It was as though he was viewing everything from a distance, through a red haze. He was in control of his body, and at the same time, he was watching his own body move.
Hidan was dead, or at least crushed beyond repair, and Kakuzu seemed to have disappeared. His enemies were gone and Naruto knew he had already achieved his objective. And yet, it wasn't enough. There was a void deep in his chest that he didn't know how to fill.
He could feel his body thrashing about, itching with the desire to be put into action. To go somewhere—anywhere—and not come back. Only, there was nowhere to go. He had longed to leave Wave country and return to Konoha. But there was nothing for him there anymore.
The marshlands stretched out into infinity behind him while to his front, past the edge of the cliff, he could see a dark sheet of water—it was the sea, disappearing into the horizon. He wondered what lay beyond there.
Pushing back, he readied himself to propel his body forward and –
"Naruto!" a faraway voice shouted.
It took a moment to process that it was his name being called. Naruto blinked—and all of a sudden, Kakashi stood beside him in his mind. His left eye glowed red; he had activated the sharingan. Naruto took an involuntary step back. He had seen Kakashi use it sparingly in battle, but never before like this.
The Nine-tails let out a growl. "You...you're not an Uchiha..."
Ignoring the beast, Kakashi turned towards Naruto. "What's going on here? Where's Mayu?" Naruto didn't respond, and the jōnin's face turned solemn. "Come back, Naruto. This isn't the answer."
"What would you know, sensei?" The part of Naruto that was still rational knew it wasn't Kakashi's fault. But bitter words were coming out of his mouth, like vomit, and he couldn't hold them back. "It's not like you were here when everyone died."
Kakashi drew a sharp breath. "I'm sorry I wasn't here. I came as quickly as I could."
For some reason, the apology only made him angrier. "It doesn't matter anymore. I've failed my mission, my team is gone. There's nothing for me to care about anymore. Do you know how that feels?"
"I do," said Kakashi.
Taken aback despite himself, Naruto stopped.
The jōnin's gaze, while trained on Naruto, seemed to be focused on something far away. "I also lost my team, in the world war. Obito and Rin... They're gone because of my failures."
"Ignore him," the Nine-tails snarled. "He's only trying to confuse you."
It would have been all too easy to do as the Nine-tails said. It was tempting enough that Naruto almost gave into it.
But as he considered Kakashi's words, he could feel his anger seeping away. And in its place, he started to remember things.
He thought of his first day at the Academy, when he had felt like the only person in the world. He thought of the day he first killed as a genin, and fell asleep to the rocking of the wagon.
He thought of his birthday, in which Mayu baked a too sweet cake and Kakashi presented him with a tantō. He thought of the Chūnin exams, looking up at a dark ceiling and Rai asking if he was awake. He thought of Mayu calling down to him in his fight against Fū. He thought of their team, sitting down at Ichiraku's after a hard mission and ordering extra garlic with their ramen.
At the time, these moments had not seemed so precious to him. Only now that they were gone, did he understand.
Something in his chest throbbed, and Naruto clutched it. He could feel the void there, but he couldn't reach it.
"How do you deal with it, sensei?"
"You fool!" howled the Nine-tails.
Kakashi inclined his head. "We endure."
...
The beast that had been bristling suddenly seemed to shrivel up before his eyes. Its baleful eyes dimming, it shrank in size, and finally, as the red demon shroud smoldered away into nothing, Jiraiya jumped forward to catch Naruto's body in midair. The body, as scratched and beaten-up as it was, seemed almost lifeless. However, Jiraiya could feel his heart beating in a steady rhythm, and for that, he was thankful.
As he walked back, he saw Kakashi kneel and close the eyes of the chūnin boy. Standing up, the jōnin bowed his head in prayer.
Jiraiya somberly looked down at Naruto's still face, and then around at their surroundings. At some point in the night, the rain had stopped. The sun was rising, bleaching the sky in its vivid colors.
It was a new day.