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Never Surrender

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All of a sudden, a loud rumble came from the Hokage house.

Both Sasuke and Misa simultaneously turned their heads. Tsunade reacted the same way about Kakashi because Katsuyu spiritually delivered a message to her master.

"I hope Naruto will be back." The dark-haired kunoichi has so many concerns that she is close to losing her mind. She misses her optimistic friend because it has been weeks. Misa also wonders how he'll react to the tragedy.

"We all know that he wouldn't turn on our backs. Unless he is too much of a coward." Sasuke frowned. He will hate that Uzumaki if he doesn't show up before things get worse. Misa shakes her head, "No. I believe in Naruto's courage. He knows what to do and make things right." She has a hard time with positivity, but there is some left.

Sasuke sighs, "The typical heroic behavior is not so surprising." He said, and Misa laughed a little. She turns her head to notice his newly activated Sharingan. They looked like a pair of flowers.

Unexpectedly, he began to unzip his top to transform into his other self. Misa couldn't contain her blushing because he had a beautifully crafted body. She watches the flame-like marks overlap his body and change his appearance. Misa was starstruck by how Sasuke was not in pain like back then.

"Are you not scared?" He asked a bit worrisomely.

Misa shakes her head in denial, "It's still you but very dragon-y." She couldn't help but giggle. Sasuke rolled his eyes. How can she be so bubbly at a time like this? Misa is strange, but he loves it. "We should get to Tsunade." The boy suggested. His lover didn't hesitate to agree with his next plan. Side-by-side, the couple make their way to the Hokage house.

"Where's Itachi?" Misa suddenly asked Sasuke.

It has been over two hours since they separated. The only thing Sasuke last saw was Itachi's smile. His smile holds a lot of meaning. As a response, "He is trying his hardest to keep himself out of sight. I guess the Akatsuki are willing to get to him without mercy. But I don't want any trouble." Sasuke hopes and prays for his brother. Misa turns her head to see the heavy emotions in his ruby gaze. His love for his brother is so significant and beautiful.

"Hey. Your brother is strong and knows what he is doing. We'll see him again." Misa did her best to cheer Sasuke up. She would feel the same way for Koichi.

The younger Uchiha shifts his head to meet his favorite garnet eyes. "You know, you don't have to be sappy all the time. But I do appreciate it." Sasuke immediately veers his head to look forward. He doesn't know if his altered self can show the blush on his cheeks.

Misa just smiles because Sasuke is a little softie.

After running from place to place, the lovers arrived and guarded Tsunade and the other Anbu members. In front of them is a man with a menacing aura, Rinnegan in both eyes, who stares deep into everyone's soul.

"An Uchiha and an Akiyama. I didn't expect a love story to continue."

Pain stated that Sasuke and Misa were confused. Tsunade's eyes widened; she instantly knew what he meant by looking at the pair. She remembers, at a very young age, her grandfather's companion and his lover. It was unfortunate that Madara and Yukari had to accept their fate.

Not to mention, Tsunade could feel a slight warmth over her chest at her student's new appearance.

Sasuke scoffs, "I don't know what you are referring to, but I hope it doesn't involve me fighting you." He grips the handle of his most prized possession.

Misa could sense his rage creeping up. Instead of letting Sasuke do his thing, she asks the Akatsuki leader questions. "What is your purpose in taking Uzumaki Naruto? And is Itachi your enemy now?" There was a pause for a short moment.

Pain replies, "We want to awaken the Ten-Tailed Beasts as our extraordinary weapon. As for Itachi, he gets dropped from the Akatsuki because of his deception. Anything else that you want to ask?" He ended his sentence with a hint of sass.

Both Sasuke and Misa stayed silent for a second. Suddenly, they felt their world shake when the creatures created by the Six Paths of Pain kept attacking the shinobis. They looked around briefly at the chaos and massive destruction. Then out of the blue, Pain tells the group,

"Mount Myoboku. That is the hidden village of the toads. Well, lingering here is useless."

Everyone becomes staggered, and one of the Anbu members questions out loud how he knows where Naruto has been for the entire time. With no choice, Tsunade allowed the Akatsuki leader and members to retreat. However, Pain is not stopping there.

He jabs on about them, countering his jutsus by putting chakra onto the soles of their feet. They must be smart enough to figure out his true abilities. "Both sides suffer death, injury, and pain." The Rinnegan man tries to prove a point about the realism of the world. Tsunade refuses to accept his statement because she claims that the Great Nations share the same pain and that there is no difference.

Pain had his back facing them, and in the corner of his right eye, there was a glint. "That is laughable," He said.

"Feel pain. Contemplate pain," His feet levitate off the ground. "Accept pain. Know pain! One who does not know pain cannot possibly understand true peace!" The vain man keeps flying into the sky with his arms spread out. Like a fallen angel getting sent back to heaven.

Misa swiftly turns around to face Tsunade. "We have to get to him! He will never stop!" An enemy won't give up. They desire to win and not leave anything behind. Everyone obeyed Misa's demand and chased after him.

"What is this bastard intending?!" Sasuke growls in frustration as he stays close to Misa.

"Whatever it is, we should brace for what's coming." The girl has a bad feeling.

High up in the clouds, Pain raises his arms above his head and sees the whole view of Konoha. "And now, this world shall know pain. Shinra Tensei!" In a powerful voice like a god, a bright light flashes upon the people.

Sasuke and Misa stopped running and gasped in shock. Then a disperse happens when the land rises and destroys the village's entirety. He didn't think before doing it. Sasuke quickly envelopes his arms around Misa and holds her in a tight grip. She even hugs him for her dear life.

To their luck, Katsuyu shields the two of them. After everything settles, the slug removes herself. The lovers pulled away to see their home had turned into a pile of dirt. Misa covered her mouth with her hand, and tears filled her eyes. "Konoha is gone." She sobs.

Sasuke hates hearing his love cry because it breaks his heart. He embraces Misa from behind as she cries out her soul. It has them thinking,

Can there be any hope left?

His Sharingan looks around the catastrophe. How can one person do all of this?

But out of nowhere, an intense chakra is sensed in a pit where the couple is sitting. What stands there is a boy that keeps his promise and looks extra fresh. Not to mention, he is standing on top of giant toads with his arms crossed.

Uzumaki Naruto has returned.

✧: *.☽ .* ✧

"Oi! Usuratonkachi! Don't be standing there like everything is all good!"

Sasuke shouts at his friend, who grunts and sends a blazing glare. "Of course not, teme!" Naruto yells back with a vein popping out from his temple. Misa sniffles and gently removes Sasuke's arms to run her legs.

The girl left the negative emotions behind to focus on her favorite person in the whole wide world.

"Naruto!" Misa yells at the top of her lungs. She couldn't stop the tears from falling. As she gets closer, she leaps herself like an angel. Naruto opens his arms to have her in a big bear hug. "I missed you," Misa confessed after waiting so long that it felt like an eternity.

The Jinchuriki nuzzles his nose onto the crown of her head. "I am not going anywhere until our home is at peace." He stated wholeheartedly.

Along with that, Sasuke flies over to them. Naruto and Misa break the hug to face the raven-haired boy. "It's nice to see you again, loser." His lips created a smile. Naruto smirks, "Likewise. I guess you opened up your mind." He depicts that his friend decided to stay with the ones in his life. Sasuke puts a hand on his shoulder. "There's no time to chit-chat because we have a destruction in a human body." He dabbles with some humor but speaks the truth.

The Uzumaki nodded—he would do anything.

"Naruto! Misa! Sasuke!"

A feminine voice calls out to the trio. Naruto, Misa, and Sasuke turned their heads and spotted a glimpse of pink and a painted bird coming their way. Misa gasped in shock, "Sakura! Sai!" She waves her arms in the air. The other kunoichi smiles and has tears falling in her emerald eyes. As soon as the bird lands on Gamakichi, she jumps and brings her little friend into her arms.

"Let's stick together from now on," Sakura tells Misa. The minor relief made her nerves calm down. The Akiyama hugs her back, "Of course!" She giggles dreamily. Once the girls pulled away, they could see the boys have content expressions. They're all here together.

Despite looking different, Sakura and Sai can tell their friends are the same.

But suddenly, Naruto couldn't sense a chakra signature.

"Where's Kakashi sensei?"

The question that caused Sasuke's and Misa's blood to run cold. "I haven't seen him since this morning." Sakura is curious as well. Sai then says that Kakashi was helping Choji and his father but had no clue afterward.

The lovers looked at each other for a second because someone needed to speak up. Misa looks down at her feet with her hands into fists. She felt Sasuke's hand over one; to indicate that he'll be the one.

"Kakashi is no longer here. Misa and I tried saving him, but he couldn't catch another breath." Sasuke swallowed the lump in his throat—trying not to shed more tears. He and everyone else are tired. He still prays to see his brother.

Sai, Sakura, and Naruto can feel their hearts breaking into millions of pieces. Misa does her best to assure them. "Sensei would disagree that we give up now. We need to remain strong." She lifts her head to show a look of determination.

Her friends and lover have the urge to spill their love for her. It's unbelievable for a human to have such a bright spirit. Naruto grins, "We should start fighting back." He said.

From the insides of the dark clouds, two spirits are watching the moment from above. The son grows amazed by his students.

"Your students are wonderful people. Even in death, Kakashi, they can never forget about you." The older man delivers a proud smile.

A deep chuckle echoes the darkness, "I can't lie that I love them." Kakashi wished he'd said that again.

✧: *.☽ .* ✧

At that moment, a loud noise made the four flinch.

The dust around them was slowly disappearing, yet they could sense Tsunade, who was face-to-face with Pain. The dangerous man can see the fury in her brown eyes.

"I am the Fifth Hokage!" Tsunade exclaimed. She continues, "You trampled on the jewel, the dreams of my predecessors. I will not forgive you! I will settle this as the Hokage!" Her vexation speaks louder than anything else. The woman has had enough of playing nice. Pain wanted to smirk because she finally understood the agony.

Team 7 could her robust voice echoing in the pit. Naruto frowns deeply; he now knows his opponent.

Pain speaks, "My attention is not with you." After saying that, one of the Six Paths of Pain instantly lunges at Tsunade. She could see her life flashing before her eyes.

"With me!"

Naruto quickly demolishes the clone with one hit. His rage caused him to attack without thinking. His golden eyes look up at Pain's Rinnegan. It's that time to end all of it.

Misa grows stunned because she has never seen this side of Naruto before.

Tsunade can also see Minato and Jiraiya in Naruto.

The boy takes a deep breath and turns his hands into fists. "Let's settle this!" He yells out to Pain. Everyone could feel the adrenaline rush.

Sasuke frowns, "Naruto! Are you sure you can do this on your own?" He becomes a bit worried. Naruto turns his head to look over at his left shoulder, "Don't worry about me. I want you all to stay back." He delivers a genuine smile at his loved ones.

Then he turns his head back to his enemy. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, and I will be Konoha's hero! Dattebayo!"

Misa shifts her head to look at her lover. He is legit concerned about Naruto. Sasuke has such a caring heart that it makes her want to erase his suffering. The girl goes over to him and hugs his waist. She buries her face into his chest, "As he said, believe in him." Her voice spoke softly.

Sasuke sighs because he knows he has to give his friend a chance. In response, he hugs her back. "Let's just hope we can get out of this alive." The Uchiha has some positivity left in him.

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Author's Note
Naruto is back and i am back!! eee!! 😭🔥 i understand that many of you have been dying to read more of this story and i really do appreciate it. i guess i had the time and energy to get return on the platform and continue what i enjoy doing. i am very happy tho 🥺💕 there will updates here and there in the future so look out for those 😉 so yea tysm for your patience and i am excited to see what this year is going to be like ✌🏼 also let me know what'd you think about this chapter 💗