A/N: That's the end of the Naruto series, I'll be taking a break for a while before I continue the Boruto series. It's been one hell of a ride for me to write so much in such a short time! I hope you've enjoyed this as much as I did, and look forward to the continuation! It'll probably be continuing in this same story, so don't worry.

A/N 2: It's the last chapter for this part, all you have to do is leave a heart and review! It's the last review before we continue a new story! Don't be lazy!

A/N 3: Some of you may have noticed Chapter 19 was posted earlier and deleted, it was because I had to edit some spelling errors and such.

A/N 4: This chapter has been edited to add in Rin! I completely missed her!

IMPORTANT UPDATE AS OF 23 NOVEMBER 2020: Hey guys, I've caught the Covid virus and will not be able to update until I am out the hospital, which should be in a few weeks, I hope that you will continue to await with bated breath on the next chapter... It's currently 50% written, so I'll try my best to finish it ASAP when I'm better!

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The audience leaned closer to get a better look at the screen, as Naruto and Sasuke came into view.

"You both look like crap." Tsunade sighed. "Can you imagine the work the healer medics will have to do to help you both?"

Naruto chuckled as he scratched the back of his head.

"At least the both of you are alive." Minato breathed a sigh of relief.

"Ow…" Sasuke groaned as he awoke.

"You've finally come to, huh." Naruto wheezed.

Sasuke looked at his body as he was lying down, "As you can see, if either of us moves too much, we'll bleed out and die."

Silence passed for a long moment, "Why do you go so far? Why did you do all that just to get in my way?" Sasuke asked.

"I… gained the power to enter darkness and sever all ties." Sasuke coughed, "And naturally, everyone's tried to cut their ties to me too, at some point. Except for you, you've never attempted to cut me off."

Sasuke looked at Naruto in the eyes, "No matter what. Why do you keep involving yourself with me?!"

"Now that your body can't move, your mouth sure is moving a lot." Naruto chuckled.

"Just answer me!"

Minato and Kushina held their breath as they waited.

"Cause you're my friend."

"You've said that before, but what exactly does that mean to you?"

Naruto looked up at the sky, "You ask me to explain it, but honestly it's not like I really understand it either, just that when I see you take on stuff and get all messed up… it kinda… hurts."

Minato wiped tears from his eyes.

Fugaku did the same, not being able to stop himself from shedding a few tears at his son's surprised look at hearing Naruto's words.

"How lonely does Sasuke have to be, that he's shocked when he hears someone say as a friend it hurts to see him go down the wrong path?" Kakashi asked.

"It hurts inside so much; I can't just leave it alone!"

"Though today I'm in a ton of pain everywhere." Naruto laughed as he shivered in aching pain.

Sasuke looked at Naruto once again as he thought back. 'I always knew you were alone too, I felt better knowing that there was someone who was like me out there. I was so happy and wanted to talk to you, be around you.'

'But I never could. Because I was also jealous of you. You were good at everything. You were my rival!'

"He's so conflicted. My poor baby." Mikoto whispered.

"We'll do everything we can to make sure this doesn't come to pass, right Mikoto?" Fugaku gave a small smile.

"We will." Mikoto smiled.

'You were my goal. I had nothing, but I built bonds.'

'And then in our missions as team seven, I kept chasing after you. I wanted to be strong like you, cool like you.'

'It was the opposite, I was the one who was jealous of you, you had a strength that I didn't have… you were always walking in front of me, just like my late brother. And today too…'

"Are you both dead?!" Jiraiya gasped.

Tsuande hit him on the head, "Idiot! Then have we been talking to a ghost this whole time?!"

"M-maybe!" Jiraiya argued.

"I'm glad the both of you were able to do some reflection on both your parts, especially Sasuke." Hiruzen nodded.

Naruto groaned, "Where are we? This isn't heaven, is it?!"

"Looks like we fell asleep and slept all night. We've failed to die again."

"G-gah!" Naruto quivered, "I still can't move my body! I was hoping to clobber you and make you finally, really open your eyes!"

"Heh… heh." Sasuke laughed, "Ha ha!" He burst out laughing.

"Has he finally gone mad?" Obito asked.

"We're all messed up and you still want to fight?"

"Of course! No matter how many times it takes—." Naruto started.

"I admit it…" Sasuke grinned, "that… I've lost."

"Fool! This fight isn't about winning or losing! It's about punching a sulking friend and making him snap out of it!"

"Now you sound like Iruka." Kushina giggled.

"Hey Naruto." Sasuke said, "I've acknowledged you now, if I die here, the long cycle of destiny the Sage of Six Paths mentioned will probably end as well. This is a type of revolution too. You can undo the infinite Tsukuyomi after I'm dead. By transplanting my left eye into Kakashi or someone else."

"Sasuke doesn't die here, right?" Mikoto asked fearfully.

"He doesn't!"

"He's in the final stage of denial, acceptance." Obito joked.

"I… will put an end to myself."

"Don't you dare! You dying ain't gonna solve things!" Naruto shouted, "If you'd go that far, then live and help me instead!"

"What I wanna do is get all the shinobi to cooperate with each other. Including you, of course!"

"Just because you want that doesn't mean others will agree to it."

"Dying is the coward's way out. Not realizing your own crap and just leaving it to others to clean up while you go off to heaven is such a…" Rin shook as she became angry.

"Even Obito didn't do this. He tried his best to clean up his own mess and right his wrongs." Kakashi continued.

"Yeesh! Fine, go ahead, keep sulking and whining, I'll beat you up again!" Naruto glared.

"There's no guarantee I won't stand against you again."

"Then I'll stop you again! Actually, I know you're not gonna do that kinda thing anymore!"

"How can you say that?"

"Don't make me keep repeating myself! Do you still not understand anything?" Naruto sighed, "Now that I think about it, you were always pretty stupid too!"

Mikoto giggled and Fugaku couldn't help the tug of a smile from appearing on his face.

Sasuke sighed and looked to the sky, grinning, "Shut up, you buffoon."

"Now, that's symbolic." Minato chuckled.

The two hands from each statue were locked in a symbol of reconciliation.

"What were the chances of that happening?" Obito laughed.

"So, that's how you lost your hand."

"Well, at least you both lost a hand. Now you guys have another thing in common." Kushina giggled.

The screen changed to show Sakura leaping down to where Sasuke and Naruto were laying down.

"There's your apprentice, Tsunade! Rushing to the rescue!" Jiraiya smiled.

Sakura started healing the wounds on their arms wordlessly, "Sakura… I…"

"Hush for now." She closed her eyes, "I need to focus."

"Sorry." Sasuke said quietly.

"Sorry? For what?" Sakura asked, equally as soft.

"Everything up until now."

"You got that right… yeesh." Sakura let herself cry freely. "It's about freakin' time. You idiot!"

Naruto and Sasuke sat themselves up, smiling to themselves.

Kakashi put his headband over his eye, "It's finally back… to the way it was."

"Uzumaki Naruto." Fugaku stood, "Those times when my son recalled the words you said at the Valley of the End once before, how when you were with him, you wonder if that was what it was like to have a brother."

"That feeling of yours, I think my son finally got what you meant."

Fugaku bowed to Naruto, "Thank you for saving my son."

"Ah! You don't have to bow; I was just doing what I always doing for Sasuke! I'd never give up on him!"

Fugaku stood and laughed before moving back to sit with Mikoto.

Sasuke and Naruto finished the hand-seal that they both did, the effects of the infinite Tsukuyomi becoming undone. All the shinobi that had been trapped in the cocoons were freed and woke up on the battlefield.

The screen fizzled and ended. "It looks like that was all the memories that you have." Inoichi said.

"Looks like that's that then!"

"Now… how about some ramen—?" Naruto asked, but was cut off when his body started to glow faintly.

"Naruto!" Minato stood as he put his hands-on Naruto's shoulders, "What's happening?!"

"He's going back to the future." Kushina said solemnly.

"What?! No way!" Obito yelled.

"It had to happen, kid." Tsunade said, "He's not from this time, and the laws of this world wouldn't have allowed it anyway, even Naruto said there couldn't be two versions of himself running around."

Naruto looked around his body as it cracked and chipped, his entire form slowly turning into chakra.

Kushina looked at her son for a moment, before crying. "You are such a great son."

"Make sure to take care of me when I'm born, yeah know? Make sure I get to eat all the ramen Ichiraku's has!"

"We'll make sure Sasuke doesn't turn into a brooding prick, and you won't have to go through all the trouble of beating him up again!" Obito cheered, "This time, Kakashi and I will be your senseis!"

"Now that, is something I'd wish I could see." Naruto laughed.

"Wait!" Mikoto asked, "What's going to happen to Sasuke after the war?!"

Naruto hmmed for a moment, thinking, "Ah! He'll probably be imprisoned for a while, but his actions should be pardoned because of his help in undoing the infinite Tsukuyomi!"

Mikoto looked a little bit more relieved.

"Sasuke and I…" Naruto looked to the ground, before looking out the window, "We were insignificant little things who used to clash, and now we're able to claim each other's pain."

"It's kind of like a prayer, to keep enduring until it comes to be, no matter what. And to those whom that task falls on, perhaps that's what it means… to be a ninja."

"I hope you don't do anything stupid when you go back!" Kushina pinched his cheeks.

"Hey!" Naruto whined, "In my defense, I was left unsupervised most of the time."

"Wasn't Kakashi with you?" Minato asked.

"In my defense, I was also left unsupervised." Kakashi continued.

Laughing, Naruto motioned to follow before he ran and leapt out of the hokage tower, making his way to the top of the tower, overlooking the entirety of Konoha.

Hiruzen appeared in a whirl of smoke, aside Kushina and Minato. "You have walked through the darkness of this world, that is why you were able to see even a sliver of light, Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto smiled as he looked over Konoha, "Man, I'll really miss the old view of this place."

Minato and Kushina hugged him, "Take care of yourself back in your time."

"I will. Promise!" Naruto gave a thumbs-up before he cracked away, the remaining chakra being carried off to the wind.

"Our son has really become a great person, huh?" Kushina laughed, the wind blowing in her hair.

"He has..." Minato sighed, "This time let's raise him to be even greater."

"Naruto, you idiot!" Sasuke facepalmed, "We couldn't even get a single bell…"

"Hey! I wasn't the one being distracted all the time!"

"D-distracted?!" Sasuke glared, pressing his face to Naruto, who was tied to the fence post. "By what?!"

Naruto smirked and his eyes pointed to Sakura. "D-d-don't be an idiot!"

Sasuke blushed slightly, while Sakura melted into a puddle on the floor, "She was the one who kept trying to get close to me, it gave away my position. She dragged us down."

Sakura twiddled her fingers as she drew a circle in the dirt.

Naruto's stomach grumbled, "C'mon, Sakura! Just a bite!"

"No can do, Naruto. Kakashi sensei and Obito sensei both said we're not allowed to share with the one that lost."

Naruto's stomach growled loudly before Sasuke sighed and put his bento in front of Naruto, "Sasuke!"

"Can't have him being hungry and dragging us back even further." Sasuke laughed softly before taking a pair of chopsticks and taking a piece to Naruto's mouth, "Appreciate this, dumbass, it's never happening again."

But before he could feed Naruto, Obito and Kakashi appeared in front of the trio, "You guys…"

"Oh, crap..." Naruto shivered.

Their faces dark and angry, shifted into ones of happiness, "Pass."

"Congrats!" Rin came up and swooped all three of them into a hug.

"R-Rin sensei!" Naruto and Sasuke blushed slightly.

Kakashi and Obito bumped fists behind their backs, "Take care of her Kakashi, make her happy."

"Thanks for being supportive." Kakashi smiled beneath his mask.

"I'm still a little salty," Obito chuckled, nudging Kakashi in his side, "But I'll always have your back."

Sasuke stretched before he entered his home in the Uchiha estate, "Father, mother, I'm home."

"Welcome back, Sasuke!" Mikoto came up and hugged her son, "How was training with your uncle Obito?"

"Same as usual, looks like a pirate."

"Well, he did give one of his eyes to Kakashi sensei." Sasuke shrugged, "A stupid thing to do, if you ask me."

Mikoto laughed inwardly.

"Brother." Sasuke nodded to Itachi.

"Hello, Sasuke." Itachi said as he put on his ANBU vest, "Sorry, looks like I won't have time to play with you today."

He used two fingers to gently push Sasuke's forehead, "I'm not five anymore." Sasuke glared as he rubbed his forehead. "I don't need you to play with me."

Itachi laughed and Sasuke couldn't help the small grin forming on his face.

"Are you going out for your duties with Shisui?" Fugaku asked.

"Yes, father." Itachi nodded.

"Hm… be careful out there."

"I will, see you later." Itachi smiled.

"Welcome home, Naruto." Minato said as he flew around the kitchen in a pink apron, "Settle down, dinner's ready soon."

"You got it!"

A few years ago, Minato became the fourth hokage while Hiruzen retired, Tsunade had opted to not get in Minato's way and would wait until he either became tired of it or chose to retire as well. Now that there was no Obito to become Tobi, the nine tails never attacked the village, and the threat of Madara was stopped for now.

Kushina came up to hug Naruto as they sat at the table, the comical Minato served food, sitting down while his brightly colored apron was still tied around him.

"Obito really became a splendid ninja, hasn't he?"

"Much better than when he was a homicidal maniac." Kushina whispered back.

"Oh yeah, Obito sensei is great! He's so much nicer than that boring Kakashi sensei." Naruto huffed, "All Kakashi sensei does is read that dirty Make-Out Tactics!"

Minato's face dropped as he facepalmed. "Some things never change."

"Dad!" Naruto held up his chopsticks to Minato, "One day, I'm gonna take your title as hokage and become the best hokage Konoha's ever seen! Believe it!"

The image of the older Naruto was superimposed behind the current Naruto, Minato was surprised for a moment but grinned, "Yes, I know you will."

He ruffled Naruto's hair as they all laughed.

A knock on the door and Kushina was already there, opening it. "Iruka!"

"Hey there, I came to check up on Naruto, got some fruits as well." Iruka smiled, "Am I interrupting?"

"Oh, no! Come on in, you should join us for dinner."

"I'll have to thank you then." Iruka dropped the fruits off as he made his way to join them at the table.

Minato sat in his office, in front of him was the current team seven, with Kakashi and Obito standing behind them.

"Now," Minato held out a scroll, "this is your new mission to the Land of the Waves, I—!"

A blinding light flash in the center of the room, blinding the people in the hokage's office. "What the heck is happening?!"

"Hell, if I know!" Sasuke yelled back.

In a few seconds, the light subsided and in its place was an older Naruto, with a bandaged hand. The hokage's cloak flowing behind him.

Minato's mouth hung open, as did Obito's and as did Kakashi's.

The older Naruto looked around the room, "You gotta be fuc—."