This piece is a collaboration with (*nekoni)

Thank you for the fantastic coloring job on this! We both worked hours upon hours on the creation of this piece (about 30+ hours), and in the end, it paid off beautifully. Please, if you haven’t already done so, check out ’s (*nekoni’s) gallery. She’s incredibly talented, and this piece would not be nearly as magical without her diligent and awe-inspiring touch.

The story on which this drawing is based is somewhat archaic at this point, since the line art was drawn back in early August, right after Kishimoto first introduced Pein, though I will fill you guys in with the plot and theory on which this picture is based:

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The decimated glade was a mess of stray and broken weapons, cracked trees, and the smell of fires still burning around the edges of the clearing. The battered Konoha ninjas were scattered across the remains of the forest, mostly bloodied, injured, and unconscious. After their run-in with several Akatsuki members including their leader, Pein himself in all his forms, the ninjas were beaten down. Even after Naruto grew his fifth tail and demolished the countryside, injuring both ally and foe alike, the Akatsuki still managed to beat him down and capture him; and after the battle, all anyone could do was watch as Kisame casually walked off with the Akatsuki group, with his unconscious captive bound and bloodied, balanced over his Samehada sword.

By the time Uchiha Sasuke arrived with his group to the scene, it was already too late. Among the Konoha shinobi trying to pick themselves up from the battle, Sakura grabbed Sasuke’s legs, kneeling before him in tears mixed with both blood and dirt, crying to him to " Please save Naruto! Please, Sasuke…. Please save Naruto!” And Sasuke, keeping a stoic expression on his face, looked to her and the Konoha ninjas around, and without a word, gestured to his group, Hebi, and they moved out to hunt down the Akatsuki group who kidnapped the last of the tailed beasts.

However, the Akatsuki group was not easy to find; there was little to no evidence to lead Sasuke’s group to the hideout, so they had to try every potential location, losing time trying to find the location of the Kyuubi’s extraction. Time was essential to save Naruto, and the only constraints keeping the Akatsuki members from finally achieving their goal was the fact that their surviving members were few, and Naruto had an unfathomable reserve of chakra to extract.

By the time Sasuke finally found the hideout, Naruto had already been drained for almost a week. With his chakra so low, and half of the Kyuubi’s soul divided from his physical form, Naruto was unable to awaken when Sasuke finally caught the Akatsuki members by surprise, and freed his former teammate from his chakra prison.

Suddenly, standing before the Akatsuki leader himself, Sasuke once again felt the spark of protectiveness he felt for his former friend and ally. Suddenly, his ambition wasn’t about power anymore. Sasuke wasn’t out for competition; his rivalry with Naruto was nonexistent – it wasn’t even the remotest factor. For the first time since he was twelve years old and defended Naruto from their formidable Hidden Mist enemy, Sasuke’s body moved on its own and held Naruto against himself protectively. He was determined, then, as his eyes flashed into Sharingan, that he would never let Akatsuki reach their final goal. He would defend his former friend with his power and his life, and nobody would touch Naruto; anyone who tried would have to go through him first, and would be a dead man walking.

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Edit: Yes, Tobi/Madara is there too, but he's on one of the thumbs, so you cant see him