Pushing Through the Limit Chapter 73: Bonds Unbroken

Walking down a corridor in the more secure zone for Konoha’s main hospital, I glanced towards Tsunade who followed me step for step.

A few days had passed since our short stay in Iwa and things were going surprisingly smoothly. Tsunade had managed to repair the damage done to Kitsuchi and Rōshi had been delivered to the village. For the first time in around fifty years, Iwa and Konoha were on the same side. There was, however, one small issue.

Obito’s surprise visit.

He hadn’t managed to do any physical damage to the village, but that didn’t mean that his arrival was pointless. Upon hearing that the so-called ‘Madara’ had been able to effortlessly infiltrate his village and also attempted to attack his granddaughter, Ōnoki had the village locked down and thoroughly searched.

Despite his initial shortsightedness, Obito certainly knew how to play on another’s paranoia.

There were, however, a few details outside of Obito’s coming demise that also needed to be attended to. Others that needed to be killed in order to truly put an end to all of this.

Coming to a stop, I found that we’d arrived at our destination.

“You’re sure you want to go through with this?” Tsunade asked with a hint of worry in her tone. “There’s not harm in backing down now. We’re already more than prepared for the war.”

“I’ve already made all the preparations,” I answered. “There’s no point in stopping when I’ve got everything ready.”

Letting out a soft sigh, Tsunade nodded. “If you’re sure,” She hummed. “We may as well get started then.” Pushing the door open, we both entered the room.

Uchiha Itachi looked far healthier than when I last saw him. In place of his almost emaciated frame, his pale visage and his wounds was a man that appeared to be fully recovered with a healthy coating of muscle.

Although, he wasn’t the only one I was here to see today.

“Hokage-sama,” Itachi greeted respectfully. “And Uzumaki Naruto. It seems that this time we’re meeting as allies rather than enemies.”

Nodding his own greeting, Sasuke eyed the two of us suspiciously. “What’s this about?”

“Just doing a routine checkup before Itachi’s discharged,” Tsunade muttered. “Naruto however has something that he wants to discuss with the two of you.” Grabbing Itachi’s chart, she slowly paged through it, leaving me to deal with the pair of brothers.

Well, there was no time like the present.

“I’ve come to ask for your help,” I sighed. “There’s a Shinobi out there that’s proven difficult to kill and elusive, but I think that you… The both of you, that is, have the skill set to pull it off.”

“Obito,” Itachi began.

I shot a quick glance towards Sasuke who smirked. That saved me some time.

“I was actually talking about Black Zetsu,” I replied. “I’ve already got a plan to deal with Obito, but Zetsu on the other hand…”

He’d taken to avoiding me. In fact, the only time that I’d ever confronted him was when he took control of Nagato. Outside of that, I couldn’t think of a time when I’d ever actually met him.

Since I couldn’t kill Zetsu without him attempting to flee, that left me with a few other options… The best one being to enlist the help of others… Those others being Sasuke and Itachi.

With his Susanoo possessing the Totsuka blade, Itachi was the perfect person to permanently deal with Zetsu, while Sasuke would prove to be more than adequate backup. He just needed something to help put him on Itachi’s level.

“I see,” Itachi muttered. “And his significance?”

“I suppose you could say that he’s a byproduct of the Jubi that aims to resurrect it,” I said, rubbing my chin in thought. It wasn’t technically a lie. “He’s the true mastermind behind everything that’s happened in the last hundred… No… Thousand years.”

Sasuke’s Sharingan flickered on and off as he stared at me. “You’ve never mentioned this before, Naruto.”

“I was planning on killing him before he became an issue,” I replied. “Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be an option anymore.”

Seeing that Sasuke was on the verge of arguing, Itachi held his hand out, stopping him. “Information of this nature is best kept quiet, Sasuke. If what he said is true, then the moment Black Zetsu becomes aware of our intent to kill him, he’ll flee and wait for the next moment to strike.”

“Exactly,” I said, nodding.

“I will lend my assistance, but…” Itachi paused. “I believe it would be better if I went alone.”

“That’s not happening.” Sasuke stated firmly.

“Yeah, I kind of agree with Sasuke on this one,” I said. “This isn’t something that can be trusted to one person. If you’re going to kill Zetsu, you’re going to need help doing it. There’s too much at stake here to let you go off alone.”

Seeing that I was on his side, Sasuke gave a grateful nod.

I didn’t need to be able to sense negative emotions to know that Itachi was worried about Sasuke. Although he might have grown stronger… Strong enough to contend with Jonin, Sasuke wasn’t quite on the same level as the remaining Akatsuki members.

Depending on who he fought, he might be able to stall for time, but he didn’t really have a chance at beating them. Luckily, it was an issue that wouldn’t be too difficult to solve.

“Besides,” I continued. “I may have something that could help the both of you out. I may have a way to awaken Sasuke’s Mangekyou Sharingan without having to kill anyone.”

Well, that last part was a bit of a lie. Someone would end up dying… Two someone’s at that, but it wouldn’t be anyone that Sasuke loved.

…PTL…

After a quick checkup to ensure that Itachi remained in good health, we were ready to begin. Needless to say, I couldn’t exactly have Sasuke awakening his Mangekyou here.

There were just too many things that could go wrong. If it worked and he wasn’t careful, he could end up using his Amaterasu, setting the entire secure wing of the hospital on fire.

So, to ensure that didn’t happen, I brought everyone to a place far enough away that it wouldn’t be too big of an issue if it was set on fire while still technically being in Konoha. One that Sasuke and I were fairly familiar with. The arena where we both fought during the preliminary rounds of the Chunin exams.

It also helped that the odds of anyone stumbling across us here were dramatically lower than anywhere else in the village, save for the Uchiha clan’s secret meeting room and the now abandoned root base that existed deep underground.

“We’re doing this here of all placed,” Sasuke muttered softly. “Just how is this supposed to work?”

“I can’t really get into the details, but I will say that it’s not going to be a pleasant experience… For either of you,” I glanced between the two brothers.

Itachi eyed me curiously, trying to figure out what it was I was going to do while Tsunade sighed, already knowing what it was.

The Mangekyou Sharingan was awakened through extreme emotional turmoil that came from feelings of grief, rage and hatred. Tobirama once stated it it was the eye that reflected the heart and I was inclined to agree with him.

Death was the only known thing to drive an Uchiha to awakening the Mangekyou Sharingan and, in a way, it would be the same thing to force Sasuke to awaken as well. Currently, I had two ideas on how to awaken his Mangekyou and both were viable options… Although, one was fairly darker than the other.

If I recalled correctly, Itachi was still in possession of Shisui’s Mangekyou. It wouldn’t be able to awaken Sasuke’s Mangekyou on its own, but it could be used to convince him that he loved someone just long enough to kill them, forcing his Mangekyou to awaken.

Outside of it being a horrible way to try and awaken Sasuke’s Mangekyou, it also didn’t have a great chance of working. Shisui’s Sharingan did have its limits after all. Sasuke would subconsciously know that none of what happened was real… Well, outside of there being a dead bandit.

My method on the other hand, I believed, had a greater chance of working solely due to the fact that it didn’t rely on tricking him into awakening his Mangekyou. There would be no illusions today, only reality.

“Are you two ready for this?” I asked.

“As ready as we can be without knowing what it is that will happen,” Itachi replied. Glancing around the arena in an attempt at discovering what was going on.

Nodding, I took a breath and cycled through several hand seals. This wasn’t going to be a pleasant, but it would be a necessary.

Clapping my hands together, I took a brief moment to focus my Chakra, before placing a hand on the floor. “Kuchiyose: Edo Tensei.”

The ground shook as a pair of coffins rose out of it. Standing up, I stepped around them and caught sight of Itachi who appeared to realize what I was doing. Sasuke on the other hand had no knowledge of this technique and could only wait to see.

“What is this?” Sasuke muttered softly.

Forming one last seal, the technique became active and a sound came from within the coffins before the lids slowly creaked open.

“Where am I?” A feminine voice that chilled the Uchiha brothers to the bone asked. Stepping out of her coffin, Mikoto’s glanced around the arena. “Tsunade-sama and…” She squinted as she looked at Sasuke and Itachi, before realization struck her and she covered her mouth.”

“Mikoto?” Fugaku asked, glancing at his wife before turning his gaze towards his two sons. “Who are… Sasuke?! Itachi?! What’s going on?”

Eyes burning with rage and his Sharingan spinning madly, Sasuke let out a yell as he charged towards me. Grabbing my neck, he slammed me into the wall under the balcony, cratering it in the process.

Itachi moved to stop him, but was in turn stopped by Tsunade who shook her head, knowing that I wouldn’t want him to interfere. This had been my idea to begin with and I would be the one that dealt with the consequences.

“What the hell is this?!” Sasuke hissed. “You think you can just… Just… Parade my dead parents in front of me and that’ll somehow help? That it’ll do anything beyond angering me beyond reason? If you thought a cheap trick like this would work on me, then you’re sorely mistaken.”

“Sasuke,” Mikoto called out worriedly.

Tightening his grip around my throat, his glare grew harsher. “It didn’t work! End it now!”

Taking a slow breath, I grabbed his hand and slowly removed it from my neck. “It’s not a cheap trick,” I muttered, rubbing my throat as it healed. “The Edo Tensei technique is a true resurrection. Those two… They’re really your parents.”

“Bullshit!” Sasuke snapped. Lightning arced from his hand as he formed a Chidori. “Such a technique doesn’t exist! If it did, I would have found it years ago!”

“Not if it was classified as forbidden and locked away by the Nidaime and Sandaime Hokage’s,” I said calmly. “It’s not a perfect resurrection… They’re still not completely alive, but it is them. It’ll last long enough for you to say what you need to say to them. For you and Itachi both to put your past behind you.”

Compared to someone like Orochimaru, my ability with the Edo Tensei was amateur at best… Not that I needed to master it to begin with. I had no intentions on using it to bring back the dead in order to fight for me.

Hand shaking, Sasuke’s Chidori slowly died down. “How,” He said shakily. “How does it work?”

I closed my eyes and exhaled slowly. “You need a few things,” I answered. “You need to know the Jutsu Shiki, you need a pair of living bodies to sacrifice and you need a DNA sample of the one you’re resurrecting.”

Sasuke’s eyes narrowed in concentration. “They were both cremated, how…” He froze.

I nodded slowly, confirming his theory. “Danzo’s collection of Sharingan.”

With his Sharingan blazing murderously, Sasuke’s fist blurred as he lashed out, smashing the concrete behind me. The arena trembled as large cracks began to form across the wall and a portion of the floor before the balcony area began to crumble.

Cursing angrily, Sasuke pulled his bloodied hand back, revealing its broken form. If I didn’t know any better, I would have said that he’d opened the first gate through sheer rage… Not that it wasn’t warranted.

Even though he’d been dead for nearly two years at this point, the pain that Danzo caused still lingered in those whose lives that he’d ruined… His biggest victims being Sasuke and Itachi themselves.

Although I’d killed him a number of times with Tsunade and Jiraiya’s help and Sasuke delivered the final blow, I still felt that it somehow wasn’t enough. The things that Danzo did… The Uchiha clan… Using Kushina’s body to try and contain me… He deserved to suffer a far worse fate for his crimes.

It almost felt as if he’d gotten off light by dying.

In a way, I almost felt regret at killing him, but at the same time, I realized that it was for the best. It was easy for me to see now why revenge was something that was cautioned against. It wasn’t the act of killing that was the problem, but rather the desire to continue hurting the person that hurt you.

A lack of resolution brought on by a continued wish for revenge. The only way to move past it was to accept what had happened and move forward.

“Sasuke,” I said softly. “This is your chance to tell them how you feel… To let them know how much you love them and say your final goodbye.”

Glaring at nothing in particular Sasuke clenched his eyes shut and tightened his broken fist, before releasing it. A few stray tears streaked down his face, some of which were tinted red with blood.

“How long?” He croaked.

“A few hours… Maybe a day at the most,” I answered. I might have been able to make it so that Mikoto and Fugaku could linger a while longer, but that would have taken time and experimentation and I wasn’t exactly keen on repeatedly bringing the dead back to life.

Nodding slowly, he wiped his face dry and opened his eyes, revealing his bloodshot eyes along with his new Sharingan.

I’d long since wondered why he hadn’t awakened it when he was younger after witnessing his parents' dead bodies. Sure, he hadn’t seen Itachi kill them and he only awakened the Sharingan after Itachi left, but those emotions… That necessary trauma to awaken the Mangekyou Sharingan was still there.

Why it didn’t trigger his Mangekyou back then… I had a few theories. The main one being that his body just wasn’t capable of awakening it due to his young age. By the time he’d finally be able to awaken it, his parents' deaths had long since passed and he’d grown to accept it, or… At the very least, repress it.

Breathing deeply, Sasuke’s shoulders slumped downward as his Sharingan deactivated.

“C’mon,” I muttered. Grabbing his arm, I pulled him towards his family.

Stopping only a few feet away, Sasuke looked between his parents and brother. Opening his mouth to say something, nothing came out. Wordlessly stepping forward, Mikoto gently touched his shoulder before pulling him into a deep hug, being extra careful to avoid hurting his broken hand.

“I…”

“It’s okay, Sasuke,” Mikoto hummed, gently rubbing his back. “This is a shock for me too. I never thought I’d get the chance to see my sons again, let alone see them together after that night.”

Relaxing into Mikoto’s embrace, Sasuke’s arms moved on their own and wrapped around her. For a moment there was only silence and the soft sound of tears hitting the floor.

Looking up at her other son whose face was twisted in an expression of guilt and pain, she held her arm out, gesturing him forward.

Watching as Itachi was pulled into a hug alongside Sasuke, Fugaku closed his eyes and smiled. “It does beg the question of how any of this is possible. I distinctly remember dying. Now I’m standing here alongside my wife, many years later.” His gaze sharpened as he glanced between Tsunade and myself. “You wouldn’t happen to know how this all came about, would you?”

“That would be my doing,” I announced. “I brought Itachi and Sasuke here and I was also the one that brought the two of you back.”

Studying me for a moment, he nodded, accepting my answer. “You’ve come a long way from being that troublemaking brat, Uzumaki Naruto, both as a Shinobi and as a man. You might not have done this out of the kindness of your heart, but regardless of that, I want to thank you for the opportunity to see my sons again.”

“Um, you’re welcome?” I said a little awkwardly.  “Sorry for, you know, ripping you out of the afterlife.”

Eyeing me oddly, Fugaku nodded and turned towards his sons.

Stepping back from the family reunion, I felt Tsunade tugging on my sleeve. Meeting her gaze, she glanced towards the exit and I nodded.

This… This whole meeting was between the Uchiha family and they deserved their privacy.

Following Tsunade out of the arena, I glanced back towards the reunited family once more before turning down a hall.

…PTL…

Leaning against a railing, I stared down on the Forest of Death. The animals that once seemed so dangerous once upon a time, now appeared as threatening as a potted cactus, only dangerous if prodded and even then, it’d only be a scratch.

“The forest’s certainly recovered since you decided to have your little match with Anko here,” Tsunade hummed, leaning next to me. “How’re you doing?”

“I’m fine, it’s just…” I sighed.

“You’re feeling guilty,” Tsunade guessed.

“A little,” I admitted. I had ambushed Sasuke and Itachi with their dead parents after all.

“Makes sense,” Tsunade nodded slowly. “I wouldn’t exactly be pleased with you if you randomly brought my brother back to life. I would appreciate it though… The chance to speak to him one last time.”

“So…” I started.

“Don’t get any funny ideas now that you know how to bring the dead back to life,” Tsunade smirked, bumping shoulders with me. “I’d rather not disturb him. It’s been decades since he died. What I’m trying to say is what’s done is done. There’s no point in moping about it.”

“In other words, keep moving forward,” I nodded. Wrapping an arm around Tsunade’s waist, I pulled her against me. “Thank you.”

“Someone has to talk some sense into you,” She hummed. “And besides, did you forget that you’ve pretty much done the same thing with Jiraiya and Kakashi?”

I raised an eyebrow at that. When had I…

“Back when you unsealed my other half,” Kurama replied. “Or did you forget about your meeting with Minato?”

Right. With so much on my mind, I had kind of forgotten about that… Not the whole unsealing process involving the Shinigami… No, I probably wouldn’t be able to forget that if I tried. What I had forgotten was that Jiraiya and Kakashi were there.

I guess this isn’t the first time I’d done something like this.

“You actually forgot?!” Tsunade stared at me incredulously, before letting out a snort of laughter. “Only you, Naruto,” She muttered, wiping a nonexistent tear from her eye. “You never fail to surprise me.”

“I’m glad I can at least be a little entertaining,” I said, rolling my eyes.

Smirking, Tsunade trailed a finger down my cheek. “What say you and I find a way to entertain each other then?” She asked slyly. “They’re still going to be a while and I do have the rest of the day to myself.”

“Well, when you put it that w–“

“I’m going to have to stop you right there,” Kurama interrupted. “You’re going to have to trust me with this, Naruto. You really don’t want to fool around with Tsunade right now.”

“Wait, what’s going on now?” I asked.

The world dimmed as my surroundings disappeared. Kurama’s form faded into view alongside the familiar surroundings of my mindscape. Looking to my side, I found that Tsunade had been dragged along as well.

“It’s been a while since I was last here,” Tsunade said.

“Yeah,” I muttered. “Any reason for why you decided to drag the both of us here, Kurama?” I asked, staring up at the massive fox.

“Hm, I’ll give you one,” Kurama answered, his voice just as booming as it had ever been. “That should be a good enough reason, don’t you think?” He asked, pointing towards something behind us.

“What–“

“Naruto,” A warm, feminine voice hummed from behind us. “And Tsunade… I’m glad that the two of you could make it.” It sounded a little more strained that time.

Turning around almost mechanically, I froze when I caught sight of her.

“Kushina,” Tsunade muttered softly.

Nodding, she made her way over to us and placed a gentle hand on our shoulders. Smiling softly, her happy demeanor was instantly replaced by one of anger.

“Do you two idiots think you could keep it in your pants for five minutes?!” She roared, shaking us both. “I had this whole touching reunion planned for us and just as I’m about ready to start, you both decide to let your hormones do the talking and ruin it!”

“Sorry,” I apologized, prompting her to release us.

“You better be, mister.” Crossing her arms, Kushina’s scowl slowly softened into a pout before she finally sighed. “I can’t stay mad at you… I literally don’t have the time.” She eyed me momentarily before smiling brightly. “You’ve really grown up.”

“Um… Thank you,” I replied, scratching the back of my head. I wasn’t exactly sure of what to say here. “And you’re, uh… You look nice too?”

Raising a bemused brow, Kushina let out an amused chuckle. “It seems you’ve inherited more from your father than I thought… Although, I’m happy to say you’re a lot more muscular than him. I swear, with a little makeup, people would be called Minako instead.”

Letting out a short laugh at the amusing picture Kushina painted, I found myself oddly relaxed in her presence. It was almost as if we’d known each other for years.

“So, about the whole merging with Naruto thing,” I started.

“You’re still worried about that?” She asked, sounding a little surprised. “I thought you’d moved past it ages ago. Naruto… You’ve already seen some of the things the Uzumaki got up to, reincarnation hardly breaks the top ten strangest things in our clan.”

That was a relief. Meeting Minato for the first time did put a lot of those worries to rest, but there was always a small piece of me that was worried that Kushina would reject me. Now those worries had been laid to rest.

“Whether merged with two people or a hundred others, you will still be my son, Uzumaki Naruto,” Kushina smiled. Stepping forward, she pulled me into a hug. “Don’t ever let anything make you doubt that, you hear me.”

“… Sure thing… Mom,” I said, smirking when I felt her stiffen slightly.

“Good,” She mumbled softly. “I’m proud of you, Naruto.” Time seemed to still, if only for a moment, before Kushina twitched. A golden chain shot out of her side and reeled in Tsunade. Pulling back, she crossed her arms as she stared at the Kage. “And just where do you think you’re going?”

“The two of you seemed to be having a moment, so I just thought that I’d give you two some space,” Tsunade explained, giving Kushina a strained smile.

“You and I need to have a word,” Kushina said, staring Tsunade down. “Tell me, Tsunade, what are your intentions with my son.”

Oh, this was one of those conversations. “You really don’t need to–“

“I want to hear it from you, Tsunade,” Kushina interrupted.

“My intentions…” Tsunade murmured. “Are to do whatever I damn well want. Whatever happens between Naruto and myself is no one else’s business, not even yours. If that doesn’t please you then… You can just go straight to hell.”

Staring directly into Tsunade’s eyes, Kushina smirked. “Good answer. I would have gone with ‘none of your business,’ but that works too. I’m happy to see that Naruto has someone like you at his side. Welcome to the family,” Kushina snorted softly. “Daughter in law. Can’t believe I’m saying that to someone older than me.”

“Heh, you and me both,” Tsunade chuckled. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my time here, it’s that life finds new ways of surprising you.”

“Speaking of life,” Kushina muttered as her form began to slowly fade away. “It seems that my time here is up. Don’t take this the wrong way, but I hope we don’t see each other for a good, long while.”

I swallowed the lump that was growing in my throat. “I’ll be sure to take my time,” I said, choking a little.

Kushina smiled. “Good. You two take care of each other... Oh, and while you’re at it, once you’re done with Obito, be sure to send him my way. I still need to pay him back for everything that he’d done. Big sister Kushina my ass!” She grumbled.

“Haha,” I chuckled, drying my eyes with my sleeve. “Sure… If there’s enough left of him.”

“Good,” She nodded. “Then I guess this is goodbye.”

“One moment,” Kurama interrupted, leaning forward. “I have a few things I’d like to say to you, Kushina.”

“Kyuubi,” Kushina narrowed her eyes.

“Kurama, please,” Kurama hummed, getting a surprised nod from his former host. “I know we’ve had our differences, but there’s something I thought you’d need to hear before you left.”

Why was I suddenly feeling worried?

“Your son calls Tsunade mommy too,” Kurama grinned maliciously, flipping her off. “Enjoy taking that to the afterlife with you! Oh and thanks for the decade of being nailed to a meteor!”

“For the love of god, why?” I yelled, only to be met with Kurama’s mad laughter.

“Naruto! Tsunade!” Kushina squawked, looking between us, her face quickly turning red. “Why would… How would… Is that true?”

“It was only the one time,” Tsunade explained, more than a little mortified. “We were trying out new things and…”

“Stop, I don’t want to know,” Kushina interrupted desperately. Looking down at her still fading hand, she glared. “Fade faster, damn you!” As if following her command, Kushina’s form faded from view and she left with a single relieved sigh.

“Well… Death is ruined,” I muttered softly, shooting a glare towards Kurama’s amused form.