Naruto groaned. A bright light reached his eyes through his closed lids. Upon opening them, he only saw a blurry blob of white light in front of him. When his eyes adjusted, the blob became clearer.

"Who are you?" He asked, squinting slightly. He glanced around, he was in a light purple room. A light purple room without walls. All he could see were unending stretches of nothing on all sides. "Where is this?" He added, turning back to the glowing white figure.

"This is a sperate realm, no longer in the world you know. I have called you here to speak to you." The man said evenly. He was old, a long beard atesting to his age. Deep wrinkles lined his eyes and forehead, his brows were creased and his expression was hard. His eyes were rings of purple, the same shade as the space around them. Two white horns protruded from above his forehead and between them was a third eye, large and red, it held the same rings as the others. It looked similar to Sasuke's sharingan. His hair was white and spiked, his robe was white as well and reminded him of the one his sensei often wore, though his had tomoe lining the collar. The man sat cross legged, beneath his levetating form was nine small black orbs arranged in a circle. Naruto noticed there were also tomoe imprinted around his neck to form another circle. Behind his back was a double sided staff, one that looked oddly familiar.

"Who are you?" He repeated.

The man seemed unimpressed.

"My name is Otsutsuki Hagomoro. Many call me the Sage of Six Paths." He introduced. "I know who you are, Uzumaki Naruto."

The said boy frowned at the mention of his name but did not say a word.

"You are quite familiar with an old friend of mine, Nina."

Naruto's eyes widened.

"What? How do you know sensei?" He questioned, now seeming more interested.

"You will understand later, but first, I must tell you the story of why you are here."

Puzzled, Naruto remained quiet, only giving a small nod to show he was listening.

"Nearly one thousand years ago, my clan settled on Earth. My mother was the head of the clan at that time. They were in search of a special fruit, one that would grant them chakra. My mother was the first to find it as well as the first to gain it's powers. Her name was Otsutsuki Kaguya. Her reign over the clan was prosperous and peaceful, that is, until she gave birth to two sons, my brother and I, who both had inherited chakra. Over time, she became resentful, determined to keep the power to herself. However, she found herself unable to do so for many years and all continued to be at peace.

"From a very young age my bother and I were able to use our chakra, it flowed naturally through us and we were able to do what no one else could. One day, my brother returned home and told me of a girl he had met that day. By chance, I was soon able to meet the same girl. She had overflowing energy and a presence of peace that I had never seen in anyone before or since. The three of us were able to become close and were often around each other. One day, mother saw her and was furious. For reasons I do not understand, she hated her. Pure, unbridled hate.

"My mother began growing restless and, years later, once again attempted to kill my brother and I. She transformed into a terrible beast and rampaged across the village, killing everyone that crossed her path. Together, we were able to stop and seal her, but not without many casualties. Among the hundreds of dead was our friend, who was then a young woman. My brother had taken her death especially poorly and mourned for weeks. After speaking with him, we decided on a way to bring her back. With our combined life forces and chakra, we were able to revive her nearly a month after her death, giving her chakra of her very own. We were both joyful, however, something was different. We had thought she would be delighted; she had always admired our chakra, but she had lost her cheerfulness. She had lost the peace that she once held. Neither of us knew what to do, but with the situation as it was, there was no time to consider what she felt. We acted based on the interests of the clan and soon we relocated to a different place. Most of us."

"Brother, I fear that there will be corruption among the humans. They have gained chakra and we are unable to know which ones will abuse their power." A young man spoke with deep concern in his voice. He had white hair and two horns curved above his forehead.

"I have been considering the same. It would be best to appoint someone to watch over them and keep them in line." The second man's hair was the same as the first. The two looked similar but had fully different auras to them.

"Which man do you suggest, brother?" The first asked, curious as to who would be worthy of such a task.

"No man, but rather woman. What do you think of Nina?"

Surprise crossed the expression of the former.

"Nina? But why?"

"She has a portion of both our chakras, there is none with more potential besides ourselves."

"Then shouldn't one of us bear the task?"

"Corruption is a constant threat, our powers of creation and destruction must not fall into the hands of manipulators. Even we are not immune to others' influence."

"You believe Nina is suitable because her potential is great yet not as great as ours."

"Correct."

"You forget that she, too, is susceptible to corruption."

"We both know that none have greater peace than our dear friend. Her heart is good and I believe her mind will guide her correctly."

A momentary pause settled between the brothers.

"She will need someone to teach her how to use her power." The first man finally agreed, though visibly displeased.

"I will stay and teach her, you must lead the clan in relocation."

Another silence.

"Very well."

Days passed and soon the clan was prepared to leave their home and move to their new one. The older brother stood on one side, a woman of similar age standing next to him. The younger brother stood across from him with the rest of the clan behind him. The two leaders shook hands for what they knew would be the last time.

"Good luck to both of you. We leave this world in your care." The younger brother bowed his head, as did the clansmen behind him.

The older brother and the woman copied their motion.

"Goodbye." The younger smiled sadly as his eyes lingered on the woman.

"Goodbye!"

"Best of luck."

"Please take care."

"We won't forget you!"

All the clan members began fading, fading, fading. Until they were all gone.

A sorrowful silence fell over the empty field where their home once stood.

"Let us begin."

Naruto stared at the ground in front of him, attempting to understand what he had just heard.

"...you mean... Nina-sensei was there when... when you were young?" He knew the Otsutsuki clan were the founders of chakra itself and were hundreds and hundreds of years old. In fact, he thought they wasnt anyone left with that name. Suddenly, he remembered what she had once told him when he asked about her family. She had never said a name but...

"They now reside in a different land, far away from here."

"Where did they go?" Naruto asked, still staring at the ground.

"They had moved to the moon, where the beast's husk was sealed."

The boy couldn't find the right words.

"That's why she was always alone." He mummbled sadly. "She was only focused on protecting everyone..." He suddenly felt very guilty for never noticing before.

"I understood that the task I was giving would force her to lead a difficult life, and I cannot repay her for what she has sacrificed. However, she has proven to be more capable than what even I had imagined."

Naruto's eyes widened, suddenly remembering that there was a war going on and his sensei was in danger.

"I need to get out of here! I have to go help!" His eyes snapped up from the ground and darted around, looking for an exit. The older of the two seemed to understand what he was thinking.

"I will send you back. On one condition." The sage held out his hand, a small, crescent shaped stone lay in his palm. It was crystal clear with something undecipherable carved into it. "Give this to her once the battle is finished, it is my last gift to her. It will bring her peace."

Only half listening, Naruto immediately nodded, taking the stone and dropping it in his pocket.

"Can you bring me back now?" As the last word left his mouth, his vision darkened and he was thrown into a state of numbness.

Suddenly, a pale light appeared and pain spread through every part of his body. His arms and legs ached, his chest was tight, and his stomach was on fire.

"He's breathing!" An voice broke through his confusion.

"Quickly, keep him awake!" Another loud voice spoke before the pain was suddenly suppressed.

He lay motionless for an unknown amount of time before he finally had the strength to open his eyes. Four women dressed in full shinobi attire hovered over him. A light green color coated his vision as he glanced around. There was no one else there. The field was barren and dead.

"W... here... is... e... veryone? He croaked, voice dry and cracking.

"Lord First arrived not long ago and cleared everyone out. We insisted that we would stay and ensure your well-being. We promised to follow the others and escape as soon as you were able to come with us. Please, let's hurry." The woman directed the last part to her comrades.

"W...why... did..." His voice faltered and silenced itself. Suddenly, two figures appeared, though Naruto could only see their shadows as they stood behind him.

"Allow me." A deep but gentle voice spoke. He felt the medics move away and someone else kneel beside him. A hand was placed on his forehead and a wave on energy washed over him, it felt as if a ghost had entered his body and given him new life. He carefully moved his arm, then his neck, then cautiously stood up. Not a single muscle hurt. Amazed, he looked to the man who had healed him and, to his shock, his eyes connected with those of the First Hokage.

"W-! Y-you!" He stammered.

The taller man grinned.

"Nice to meet you too, but we need to get out of here. It's not safe." He stated and motioned for Naruto to come with him.

"W-Wait! What about Madara? And where's sensei?" He asked, frantic and confused.

"Madara is being dealt with and I'm sure your sensei has been evacuated with the others." He said assuringly.

"Is she ok? Is she hurt? She was battling Madara earlier and I don't know if she's alright!" Naruto shouted desperately.

The First only stared at him, eyebrows drawn together as though he was worried about something.

"Your sensei, is her name Nina?" He asked slowly.

Naruto blinked, how did he know?

"Y-Yea! Is she with the rest of the army?"

A long silence confirmed his fears.

"She... she's still fighting him, isn't she?" His voice lowered.

"Nina." Pride coated his voice. "What do you think? Power suited for a King." Madara chuckled.

Nina only glared at him. From her expression he could tell she was getting angrier by the second.

"Finally the task will be completed. Peace is finally within reach." He raised his staff to the sky. "Come, we can rule the new world together. No one will be able to stand up to such great power." He stretched out his left hand, as if expecting her to take it. Instead, she only shot him a poisonous glare.

She lifted her staff an inch off the ground then brought it back down. A thousand cracks formed from where the staff touched the dirt, rocketing out towards Madara. He barely had a moment to react when the ground beneath him split open, a meter wide gap appearing almost instantly.

He managed to narrowly avoid falling into the rift, leaping back and landing on top of a large rock. One of the nine Truth Seeking Balls suspended behind him broke from its position and shot towards Nina. Without so much as lifting a finger, dozens of tiny red orbs flew at the larger black one and molded to form a coat around it. Popping sounds could be heard as the flowing red layer compressed the orb, all the while combating Madara's efforts to save it. Just a second after contact, the black ball had vanished, leaving only the red coat in its place. The liquidous mass broke apart into many smaller spheres which scattered as quickly as they had congregated.

Madara grit his teeth and pressed his palms together. Rock and debris began rising from the ground, gathering around six points of gravity. In a matter of seconds, there were six enormous masses of stone in the air above them. The first crashed down. Then the second. The satellites collided with the earth one after another, all aimed at one spot. Debris was thrown into the air and formed a shroud over the area.

Something leapt out from the fog of dust.

"My turn." A voice from behind him caused Madara to spin around. He felt the attack before he saw it. A red pillar of light hit his stomach, shoving him off the rock and causing him to collide with the side of a cliff. Once the pillar disappeared, he fell to the ground. Managing to push himself up, he glanced at Nina and let out a shallow breath.

"...too much power..." The cloth covering his abdomen had burned away, revealing severely seared skin underneath. For some reason, he was healing much slower than he should have.

Nina stared at the still breathing form of the Uchiha, half irritated, half relieved. She moved her wrist and the rings of her shakujō clanged like wind chimes.

At first, Madara was unsure as to what she was doing, but it quickly became clear when he realized the ground beneath him had bound his ankles. Sending a quick pulse of chakra into the earth, he jumped up and landed ontop of the cliff he had collided with. He would have to be careful moving with such an injury.

For a moment, the two silently stared at each other, too far away to read the other's emotions yet close enough to stir some of their own.

Nina was the first to break eye contact, she shifted her staff and the sky darkened in response. Clouds began forming overhead and blocked out the sun for miles in every direction. From somewhere in the mass of clouds came a spark of electricity. Uncountable sparks appeared throughout the thick blanket of storm clouds and the static soon became so great that the hairs on both shinobi tensed and formed unnatural points.

Boom

Lightning connected with the ground sending shockwaves deep into the earth. Madara recognized this technique. He had come across it once before...

An old man sat hunched over a plethora of scrolls, scanning each one with an unrestrained need for knowledge. Every word offered him greater insight into the identity of the woman he once thought he knew so well.

'The Great Sage is said to have given chakra to many humans after defeating the Ten Tails, though it is thought there was one individual who received this great power long before any other..."

He had gone through much trouble to find and retrieve these scrolls, some of which were hundreds of years old. In fact, there was even one that was theorized to have been written by an Otsutsuki themself.

Many techniques from the great clan have been lost as the whereabouts of the few manuscripts that held such information are unknown. However, the few that have been recovered are listed below...

Madara had never heard of any of those jutsus before, though he assumed that was due to the diminished practice of ninshu in modern times. Among the unimaginably complicated and powerful techniques was one that originally seemed rather unimpressive at the time.

'The user summons fearsome lightning strikes and fills the air with a lethal amount static. He will then use his own chakra to instantly negate the electricity, this will create a vacuum, void of all energy. The inevitable result is a massive draining of chakra, the Earth's attempt at restoring balance to that space. Any individual in the affected range will lose their chakra. Once chakra has been injected into the static, this technique will only conclude when balance has been restored. The user is not immune to this technique.'

So she plans to take herself out with him.

'Foolish woman.'

"Naruto! Please stop!" Hashirama called as he caught up to the boy.

They were running back towards the battlefield. He couldn't let Naruto back there.

"I'm not going to leave sensei alone with him! She could get hurt!" He shouted as he sped up. Almost there!

"She asked me to bring everyone away to keep them safe! We have to trust that she can take care of herself!" Hashirama urged. He heard no response for a long while.

"Look, I don't know what's really happening, but from what I've been told sensei isn't who I thought she was." The look in his eyes showed a cauldron of emotion. Hurt. Confusion. Resolve. "If you're really friends with sensei like you said you were, then please understand that I have to do this. I'm not going to run to safety while she's risking her life."

Hashirama stared at the boy in surprise. Suddenly, he let out a loud laugh.

"Bold words for a kid! But I suppose you're right!" He grinned. That was probably what he would have said when he was younger. "We better hurry if we want to help."

Naruto smiled and nodded firmly. They were only a few minutes away at this point.

Overhead, the puffy white clouds turned dark and heavy.