Chapter 44: Gone

~ Neji POV ~"Ami..." I hug my sister's body tightly in my arms, then lay her down to rest and gently kiss her head after she closes her eyes."Ami!" Sasuke appears suddenly on the battlefield and sees her, running to her side. "No!" He roars out in anguish. "Not you. You weren't supposed to die."I place a hand softly on his shoulder then stand, giving him a moment to mourn my sister privately. She may have never outright said what her feelings were for him, but she and I knew what his were for her. I turn to Naruto, who looks like the fight has gone out of him entirely as the enemy taunts him."Didn't you say you wouldn't let any of your comrades die?!" We heard Obito yell from on top of the beast. "Naruto! Look around you and try to say that again!" He continues trying to taunt Naruto further, and I can watch the depression setting in."Naruto." I say firmly to him, keeping my voice as steady as I can with tears still falling down my face. I wipe them away as I speak. "You cannot let Ami's sacrifice be in vain. My sister just died protecting not only me, but you and all her friends as well. She knows you are needed to win this war, just like Hinata does. Hinata was the first to jump to you, ready to give her life for you. You need to remember, you hold more than one life in your hands now. Ami's life was one of them. Do not let any others fall now."Hinata joins me in supporting him, and giving him more reasons to fight again. Naruto then seems to overcome all doubt, and unlocks a new mode. A chakra coat comes off of him, and passes first to Hinata, but then spreads to every shinobi gathered, myself included. I look and see four new reanimations have joined us as well as Sasuke and a few others."More reanimations?" I ask in disbelief, and then recognize them as the previous Hokage."Yes, however they're on our side." Naruto says confidently, smiling at the Fourth. They all go back into the battle, this time going for Madara and Obito since the beast is trapped. I am about to join, when I look over and see Sasuke and his brother are still over by Ami. I can see a storm brewing in Sasuke's eyes, so I make my way instead to his kneel by his side, knowing it's what Ami would want me to do."What will you do now, Sasuke?" I ask him seriously."She was my whole reason..." He says slowly, rage building, "My whole life. And now she's gone!" He yells, and turns to me. "Why? Why should I fight this battle anymore? All my efforts to help, to keep her safe from afar, all meaningless now!""They are not meaningless!" I say back firmly. "Her constant wish was to keep her friends safe. Her dying breath was used to have me beg you for her forgiveness for leaving too soon!" I yell out, feeling again the prickling in my eyes. "Her last wish to me was that I don't let you fall to darkness. She worked too damn hard to be your light, I will not let her efforts be in vain. You will stand up and remember who you are." I place my fist against his chest, over his heart. "You are Sasuke Uchiha, the last survivor of your clan. You are a genius, like us, who has always been destined to change the world. She changed many people's worlds, yours and mine included! Now it's your turn to change the world, to make it a better place!""Sasuke, you need to listen to him." Itachi says to his brother as I step back up and watch Sasuke to see what he will do. "Ami Hyuga gave me a second chance, I won't waste it now. I will use it to guide you to the light, like she wanted me to do years ago. She once said to me that I should never have taken away your hero and pushed you into darkness. I told her back then she was wrong, but now, I will do as she asked, and guide you back into the light. Sasuke, this battle must be stopped, and you have the power to do so. Fight alongside your comrades, and end this together with them. Do it for her, if no one else.""I never... I never got to tell her I loved her." Sasuke whispers out in anguish."She knew." I tell him firmly. "I know she did. Now show her how much you loved her, and fight this battle for her. You know she's watching over us all right now." I offer him a hand, and he takes it and stands back up. "Don't make her wish she could throw a knife at us for standing around here being sad."He chuckles weakly at this, and wipes his face clean of the tears that have fallen. "Hn. I wouldn't want to suffer her wrath. It's time to end this." He says seriously, and we all run towards our teams. I join Lee and Guy Sensei, who both give me a sad look, then put on a brave face as we join forces to attack again. I can see Sasuke has joined Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi, with Sai aiding them from the sky on his bird. We continue to attack Obito, until eventually he turns himself into a Jinchuriki and fuses with the ten tails beast.Obito, shortly after fusing with the beast, seemingly unleashes it again, only this time the beast takes the form of a giant tree. I watch as the roots spread quickly, trapping our allies in pods in its roots and absorbing their chakra. I call out a warning to everyone to not let the roots touch them, so everyone knew to avoid them.Nearby, I can see that the First Hokage is fighting against Madara while the Second and Third are helping get everyone away from the tree. Sasuke takes over fighting with Madara along with Itachi while the Fourth, Jiraiya, Kakashi and Naruto are fighting Obito in his Jinchuriki state. I see that Sasuke and Itachi are losing against Madara, and I go to join them after deciding that is where my skills are better spent."Three clan geniuses are better than two. Never underestimate the power of the Byakugan!" I call out as I join their fight. We also get joined again by the First Hokage after a little bit of battling, and together, we manage to get Madara captured. Sai jumps in to seal him away, and we watch with bated breath as the tiger drawing bites down on him."What?!" Madara calls out as the sealing is successfully working, "Zetsu!" He calls out, only no one comes to him. We watch as he is sealed into the scroll successfully, and Sai places an additional seal over the scroll for safety."Is it done?" Sasuke asks as we all breath heavily, tired and damaged from the fight against Madara."What about Obito?" I ask them, then turn my eyes to where he was. "I don't believe it." I breath out, seeing the green soul orbs flying out from his location. "It's just like in Konoha after the Pain attack. Quick! We have to get to Ami!" I yell to them, and start to run back to my sister as hope forms in my chest. The souls abruptly stop flying out from where they were after only a short moment.~ Kakashi POV, a few minutes ago ~"Obito... you are no longer a Jinchuriki. And now, you're dying... I'm sorry I couldn't save you before this happened." I tell my friend as he lies on the ground, dying after we removed the ten tails from him forcibly. I place my hand on the sealing scroll Ami and I made together, this is how she described the moment that would be my opening.I listen as Minato Sensei talks to him some more, and watch the moment that Obito puts his hands into the seal for the Rinne Rebirth. I see the black hand of Zetsu appearing, and open the scroll. The only method to seal Black Zetsu is to rip him from his current host with the sage chakra we have stored in the scroll, and then use that chakra to bind him. I place my fingers on the seal, activating the start of the process, and grab the black arm with that hand, pulling back to rip the Black Zetsu from Obito's body."What!?" Zetsu scream out in shock and anger. I then place the arm onto the scroll, using the momentum I had from pulling him from the body. "No!! I am Kaguya's will, I cannot be defeated!" He tries to struggle, but he can't fight the sage chakra completely, though he is making a good effort. I need more sage chakra to complete this."Naruto!" I call out to the boy, who is staring in shock. "Help me, he is still struggling. Use only sage chakra to touch him, and get him into this scroll!" Naruto nods, then comes and helps shove the Zetsu creature into the scroll, sealing him away. "Feel out with your chakra, is he still around anywhere? Any sources of the Black Zetsu anywhere?" I ask him urgently.He closes his eyes to focus or a moment, thankfully not questioning me. "No, there's nothing left. What the heck was that?" He asks me in confusion."Plan B." I tell him plainly, then look to Obito, who is dying rapidly without the Black Zetsu keeping him alive. "Naruto, infuse some of your chakra into Obito, keep him alive for as long as you can!" I order to him."Kakashi, what are you doing?" Jiraiya asks me as I move to aid Obito, Naruto joining me."Not letting his final wish be lost in vain." I say to him grimly, then notice a little energy return to Obito, slowing his death down. "Go ahead, Obito." I add quietly to my old friend."Gedo Art..." Obito breaths out, forming the hand seal again, "Of Rinne Rebirth." He says tiredly, and suddenly we see hundreds of green orbs flying up out of the ground. They keep coming, but I watch as Obito can't hold on any longer, and the use of chakra for the move is too much even for Naruto to handle as he is funneling it into Obito's body as fast as he can."It's not enough." I breath out sadly in realization that it won't last long enough to bring everyone back. Minato Sensei joins in then, understanding what is happening. He tries to give Obito more chakra as well, but the release of souls slows down, and then abruptly stops. We didn't get to him fast enough, and by a guess, maybe only half of the shinobi forces who died today were brought back just now."What just happened?" Minato asks me seriously."We just brought back over half the allied shinobi forces who died in this war. Unfortunately, Obito died before more could be brought back. Zetsu was the only thing keeping him alive after having the ten tails ripped from him. He gave the very last bit of his life to bring back all those lives." I tell him sadly."Bring back... Ami!" Naruto calls out suddenly. "Ami was probably brought back just now, and Ino and Shikamaru's dads, too!""Possibly, though Shikaku and Inoichi may not have actually died. There was a plan in place in case HQ was targeted, it would have transported them to a farther location away from battle and hid their chakra signatures. We will find that out later, for now, we still have work to do." I say firmly. We have to finish the ten tails. The tree is still absorbing chakra from those around, spreading slowly on its own."Right, the ten tails." Naruto says with a nod."What about Madara?" Jiraiya asks, preparing to move out to battle."Defeated and sealed, by the Uchiha brothers and a Hyuga boy, as well as the First Hokage." Minato says to us with a smile. "They are all hurrying back towards us now.""Naruto, go to Sasuke, you two will need to seal the Ten tails tree together." I tell him, and he looks confused."Why?" He asks, which is a valid question. Ami said they both are the descendants of the first shinobi, and the only ones strong enough to seal Kaguya, but technically, she was never revived. I'm not sure if the two will even meet their ancestor anymore since we hanged the story so much. I look blankly at him for a moment, unsure how to answer."Because I said so, now go. You need to.... Fist bump him." I make up an answer on the spot. He grins and nods, then runs to intercept Sasuke."You made that up." Jiraiya says skeptically to me as I stand to go join Naruto again."Maa, it could work." I shrug, not really knowing what to do from here. Maybe Ami will have an idea when we get to her, she should be alive again now because she was one of the last to die.