Indra

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/39294225.

Rating: Explicit
Archive Warning: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Category: F/F, F/M, Multi
Fandom: Naruto
Character: Uzumaki Naruto, Sarutobi Hiruzen, Uchiha Sasuke, Yamanaka Ino,
Haruno Sakura, Hyuuga Neji, Orochimaru (Naruto), Karin (Naruto),
Nagato | Pain, Hatake Kakashi, Hyuuga Hanabi, Mitarashi Anko,
Original Uchiha Character(s)
Additional Tags: The Author Regrets Nothing, Mostly Written Day by Day, The Kishimoto
Way
Language: English
Stats: Published: 2022-05-29 Updated: 2022-10-08 Chapters: 138/? Words:
436276

Indra
by stroke6

Summary

A switch at birth ends up with one more person surviving the Night of the Sealing. With the
Fourth and his family dead, and the Nine Tails seemingly gone as well, Naruto grows up
with very different ambitions.

Notes
 Anatomy of a Disaster

The Hokage’s room was eerily silent.

Two men flanked the Fire Shadow, and his face was hidden under the heavy hat.

The jinchūriki stood facing him, the length of the room seeming impossibly long.

His eyes were crimson, as they were most of the time, now. His face was blank, even though many
contradictory emotions meant his stomach felt as if it were on fire.

The beast inside of him was laughing. He’d have to do something about that, too. Later.

The Hokage stared at him.

“You’ve heard the news, I presume?” He simply asked.

“Why? Why did you do it?” The two of them had been friends, once. And his students, too.

The younger man nodded, not letting anything show.

“Then, you know what must be done.”

He did.

“For the murder of Hatake Kakashi, as well as the theft of his Sharingan eye, Uzumaki Naruto,
now an S-rank missing-nin, must die. Will you do the job…?”

Uchiha Sasuke nodded.

On October 10th, hours after the Nine Tails attacked, the citizens of Konoha mourned their fallen
leader.

Days later, when the news reached the other hidden villages and the initial wave of skepticism
faded away, there were just as many — more, maybe — people celebrating, particularly in Iwa.

Young, bright and charismatic, he was as feared by his foes as he was loved by his friends. The
fact that he was cut in his prime, well before reaching his full potential was bad enough.

But the announcement Sarutobi Hiruzen made the day after revealed a real tragedy.

The Fourth’s pregnant wife, Kushina of the now gone Uzumaki clan, had died during the attack,
along with their child, Naruto.

And if their late Hokage managed to take the Nine Tails with him in death, the way he had
managed to do it would remain a secret.

With their leader gone, and many of their best ninja dead, there were many who expected Sarutobi
to step up and take the hat once more.

Though it pained him to do so, he didn’t, opting to take care of his injured wife, Biwako instead.
He appointed someone else, a Third War hero, and stepped off.

Somehow, everything changed.

 Sarutobi Naruto

Twenty children were born the night the Nine Tails attacked.

Several of them were premature, their delivery hastened by the stress brought on by the event.

Of course, this meant many of them lost a parent that night, sometimes both. Some to the
devastation the Nine Tails caused in its wake, some to childbirth.

Orphans were not a new concept to a ninja village by any stretch, but this new influx so soon after
the end of the latest war pushed Konoha’s support system to its limit.

Faced with a difficult decision, the Third chose what he felt was the best one, for both the Fourth’s
son… and the village.

The Nine Tails was gone in a blink, just as he had appeared.

He found Biwako in the cave Kushina was supposed to give birth in, still alive, but the sole
survivor of the attack.

In between pained breaths, she recounted the events of that night, of a masked man with a single
Sharingan eye.

Despite his worry for his wife, he left his ANBU with her, assured she would pull through and
rushed to join the Fourth, hoping he could help.

He, and he alone, came to the place where Minato and his wife had died.

The Nine Tails was nowhere to be seen, and both Minato and Kushina’s bodies were still warm.

He pushed past his grief at the death of two people he had loved, and found a wailing newborn
tucked between them.

The seal on his belly told him the whole story of what had happened.

And he knew that with a man after the Nine Tails, likely still alive, and several rival Nations who
would see this child dead before his first birthday, something drastic needed to be done.

Even then, he hesitated.

“Minato, Kushina… please forgive me.”

It would be one of his last acts as Hokage.

The Professor weaved through the twenty one hand-signs the technique required.

He then cut his palm open and used the blood as the catalyst for his jutsu.

He drew the seal on the child’s — young Naruto, he knew — forehead, hesitated again… and
activated it.

Naruto’s hair darkened from bright blond to mousy brown, his whisker marks disappeared, and
Sarutobi knew his eyes had turned to dark brown as well.
Like most Sarutobi.

He wrote a short word to his ANBU — who would no doubt follow him here — about pursuing
the attacker, hid Naruto in a bundle of cloth and hurried towards the Sarutobi compound under the
cover of a camouflage technique.

He would need to hide the Nine Tails presence deeper in the next few days, and make sure to cover
his tracks as well.

Biwako was the only witness and she would understand the need to keep some of the events that
transpired that night a secret.

The story would go like this.

When the morning came, Namikaze Naruto would be another tragic victim, dying as a hostage to
the outsider with the Sharingan eye who summoned the Nine Tails to the village.

To become the unnamed, orphan son of Sarutobi Ren, disgraced chūnin who had survived the
Third War only to find death in a bar fight and a prostitute who died in the attack was not was the
son of the Fourth deserved, Hiruzen felt.

But it was the only way that would allow him to survive and grow strong, hidden away where no
one would bother to look.

When the morning came, Sarutobi Naruto, named in honor of the Fourth’s dead son, would be yet
another orphan in a ninja village.

When Sarutobi Hiruzen called in an emergency meeting right after the Fourth died, no one batted
an eye.

The assembled clan heads found Biwako telling them about Kushina’s status as a container — an
open secret, at this point — and her and Minato’s plan to deliver the baby in a secluded location.

She told them of the masked man with a Sharingan as well.

Danzo looked both vindicated and furious at the same time, and Uchiha Fugaku seemed to become
even more tense than he already was.

“I am certain of one thing.” She said before either could speak. “The intruder is not anybody from
the village. Nor is it anybody whose chakra I ever felt before.”

She knew that this foul chakra, fire mixed with something that reminds her of the forest, with a
tainted feeling thrown in the mix is not something she would ever forget.

“What makes you so sure?” Tsume, the new head for the Inuzuka clan since Otsuru died in the
attack, just hours before, asked.

“I am a sensor.” Her tone left no room for discussion. “Besides, there is something more. This
man… identified himself as Uchiha Madara.”

There was silence in the room.

Then all hell broke loose.

“Is this a joke?” Danzo asked flatly to Hiruzen, after he announced his choice of a successor.

“I assure you, I am entirely serious.” The Third replied, just as blunt.

“A man, likely from the Uchiha clan, claims to be Madara, long since dead, releases the Nine Tails
from its prison and kills both Namikaze and our Jinchūriki.” Danzo, who usually prided himself on
his control, was fuming.

He marked a pause, but when he realized Hiruzen was simply waiting for him to continue, went on.

“… And he manages to escape. Now, instead of taking back the reins or nominating someone who
can clean up the mess Namikaze and his wife left us… You pick him?!” He stressed the last word,
disgust evident.

On the other side of the room, if he hadn’t been so surprised himself, Uchiha Fugaku probably
would have had some scathing words to throw back at him.

Instead, he just stood there, stunned.

Hiruzen lit his pipe, breathed in and answered slowly.

“It is not a suggestion.” He breathed smoke out. “With Minato dead, I’m the acting leader of this
village. Fugaku has proven to be a more than competent leader many, many times in the last war.”

There was no village who hadn’t heard of Wicked Eye Fugaku, and if Minato was stronger than
him, along with the Sanin, well… They were the only ones.

Danzo can see people mulling it over. To his dismay, some seem to agree.

“Besides…” Hiruzen continued, a bit of amusement seeping in his tone. “I already have the
Daimyo’s approval.”

Fugaku thought. It was a way to bridge the gap that could grow between the village and the Uchiha
clan, he knew.

Looking at Sarutobi, he also knew that the man believed him to be their best choice.

Despite himself, he felt a bit moved.

“I accept.” Fugaku says, simply.

“It is settled, then.” Sarutobi concluded. “From now on, Uchiha Fugaku is the Fifth Hokage of
Konoha.”

He was the first to bow to him, after handing him the hat.

It felt surreal to Fugaku, seeing the man he had looked up to as the pillar of the village for most of
his life bow to him. He wondered if this was how Minato had felt.

Danzo bowed last, and as shortly as propriety allowed.

“I won’t forget this.” He thought.

Judging by his wary face, Hiruzen knew it too.

Over the course of a bit more than twenty five years, Sarutobi Ren, Naruto’s new, dead father had
acquired quite a reputation for himself.

A cross between a womanizer and a whoremonger.

A very average ninja, despite being of the famed Sarutobi clan.

An insufferable drunk, who got by coasting on his powerful relatives, who never hesitated to use
them to get out of trouble.

Until he didn’t.

He died after provoking the wrong person one too many times.

The Sarutobi clan was not particularly sad to hear about it, even though they would not show it
publicly.

Nor were they too pleased to hear he managed to reproduce, even though they were not really
surprised.

Still, the Sarutobi took care of their own, so they took him in.

In the end, just like Sarutobi Konohamaru would because of his busy ANBU parents three years
later, Naruto was mostly raised by Biwako.

She knew who he was, and partly because of this, and partly because she also happened to be a
stern matron — as Kushina herself would have attested.

Though she cared about him, she kept distance between the two of them.

He was cared for, well-fed and Biwako taught him how to read early on.

Later on, he’d know that compared to what could have happened, and what did happen to many
orphans… He got pretty lucky.

Still, there are moments he couldn’t help but want for more.

When Naruto was five, Sarutobi Hiruzen taught him about chakra.

He couldn’t afford to show him too much blatant favoritism, and he knew that some clan members
were already whispering about him spending too much time with the bastard son of his late
nephew.

The kid was lonely though, he saw. There were only a few Sarutobi children around his age, and he
was not close to any of them.

Some parents took pity on him, but that was it.

Maybe he would get some friends in the academy, he hoped.

Not that there was any choice, in the end. It might have been sad, but Minato and Kushina’s son,
and a Jinchūriki to boot, if a secret one, would never live a civilian life.

The old man didn’t expect him to learn how to access it right away, especially considering the fact
he had needed to tighten the seal more to hide the Nine Tails deeper, but Naruto was a surprisingly
fast learner, it seemed.

Two weeks later, he was able to reach for his chakra at will, if in a blunt and unrefined way.

He asked for more from Hiruzen, of course. Which he refused, telling him he would learn
everything he needed if he only joined the ninja academy.

Naruto didn’t particularly want to join the academy, but he also wanted to learn more about the
strange energy.

And he didn’t want to disappoint the old man, who was one of the few people he felt didn’t want
him to be someone else’s son.

In his spare time, he read a lot, and reached for his chakra as often as he could.

He was hooked.

The Academy was pretty bland, Naruto felt.

He did not know much about ninjas yet, though he could guess that the kind of “games” they
played, such as throwing wooden weapons at a vaguely man shaped target were a hint about what
they actually did.

Other than this, he kept on hearing the same mottos about the Will of Fire, and the importance of
bonds.

Which he found kind of funny, kind of sad, since his standoffish nature, which he developed after
not interacting much with other kids his age meant he was mostly alone.

Nobody was particularly mean to him, but nobody was particularly interested in him either, he
thought.

He tried to not take it too personally, but it kinda stung. At first.

As a reaction to this perceived feeling, he started keeping his own distance as well.

Besides, he really did not understand the other children, who were so… emotional, compared to the
adults he was more used to.

He had the old man and Biwako, anyway.

Most of the lectures he spent daydreaming, trying to make something happen with his chakra.

At home, he pestered the old man for more guidance. He knew he’d end up accepting, if he kept at
it everyday.

He was nothing but stubborn.

Five years after the Nine Tails attacked Konoha, the Fourth Raikage found himself considering his
options.

The Fifth Hokage, Wicked Eye Fugaku, had offered a peace treaty. They had stopped fighting
directly after the last war, but there were still some border skirmishes going on, with some
casualties here and there.

While he wasn’t particularly worried about Konoha, with Namikaze gone, the village was still one
of the strongest — likely the second, right after them, the Fourth had torn his way through Iwa.

This also meant Suna would not try anything foolish.

It was not a bad deal, he mused.

He scanned over the conditions once more, noting with some amusement that the Hokage offered
to set up intense trading routes, likely with the intention of reducing the likelihood of conflict down
the line.

After all, as long as both of their villages were gaining from it, why ruin a good thing?

This was more along the lines of Sarutobi than Namikaze, the Raikage knew.

The Fourth Hokage had never bothered trading too extensively with his enemies.

It didn’t start out by his choice, of course, but as long as he had been alive, no sane village was
willing to let anything that could potentially bear his Hiraishin mark inside their walls.

He likely knew this was the reason, so never pushed the issue during his short reign. Whatever
solution he would have found, nobody knew.

For a minute, the Raikage considered using this opportunity to get inside Konoha’s walls.

There were many bloodlines worth stealing in there, and many ways to get at them, too. Hyūga,
Uchiha, Akimichi, just to name a few.

It would be so easy, so tempting and -

He ended up deciding against it.

Maybe if it had been Sarutobi, he’d have tried his luck. He knew the man had become a peace-
seeker in his old age. Konoha’s Bloody Ape had become known as the Professor, instead.

If Namikaze was still at the helm, well… He would not have signed the paper, likely, their old —
one-sided — rivalry demanded as much.

The Fourth Raikage agreed to peace with Konoha.

“Dog… Ram.. Boar..?” Shiba Michio, a second-year student, asked their academy sensei,
hesitantly.

“Close. Dog, Boar, then Ram” The teacher stressed the order, kind but firm, while going through
the signs himself to make sure the child understood.

From his spot behind a nearby tree, Sarutobi Naruto pretended to be busy reading a comic book
during his lunch break.

He went over the signs mentally himself, making sure to visualise them in as much detail as he
could.

Dog: Left hand flat on right fist.

Boar: Knuckles facing down, joined together.

Ram: Left thumb on top, hands together vertically.

He still wasn’t sure about their purpose, and what about made this specific combination in this
specific order allowed one to use the Transformation technique, but he knew he had it memorized.

Now, to practice.

He still wasn’t too fond of the idea of becoming a ninja, but had to admit the techniques were pretty
nice.

Plus, he figured he could always drop out later.

With this in mind, he reached deep inside himself, let his chakra flow flow from his navel to every
part of his body, focused around his body, pictured himself as the old man and -

Found himself stuck to the floor.

“Huh..?” He thought. Was this supposed to happen?

He looked at his hand. Still smooth, unblemished. Probably didn’t work then.

He tried to stand up, to no avail.

“This is pretty embarrassing.” Naruto thought, as he spent the rest of his lunch break waiting for
this new chakra-adherence to fade away.

In the end, he figured out how to turn it off.

“Watch this, Sarutobi-sama.” Naruto said, three days later, once his confidence with the
Transformation technique grew.

Dog, Boar, then Ram.

“Transformation technique!”

Hiruzen wondered with some amusement what it was that made young ninjas scream the name of
the technique they were about to use.

“But…” He couldn’t deny being a little impressed. Naruto’s transformation was perfect, and in
front of him stood his perfect replica.

“Not bad heh? What do you think?” Naruto laughed. It was pretty strange, hearing a child’s timbre
coming out of his own face.

“This is pretty good. You must have practiced a lot.”

“That’s right! And I’ll be able to do much more when you teach me!”

“Oh?” Hiruzen was amused. “And who said anything about another jutsu?”

Though excited at the non-outright refusal, Naruto kept his face from showing too much
enthusiasm.

“Well, nobody, but everybody knows you know a ton of secret techniques.” He thought on it, and
added. “The teacher said so!”

“Hmm…” Sarutobi pretended to think. “It is true that I know a few… But why should I?”

“Come on, old m-… Sarutobi-sama! You’re the best ninja in town, everybody knows!” He tried
buttering him up.

Hiruzen wondered what the Fifth would think of this, amused.

“Please, please please!”

He sighed.

“Oh well. I guess one technique couldn’t hurt.”

Umino Iruka didn’t know what to think of Sarutobi Naruto.

He had been tentatively hopeful that the reclusive — but not very shy at all — child would open up
to some of his classmates, but so far, in the two years since he had started the Academy, he had
mostly kept to himself.

It was a pretty strange attitude to see in a seven-years old, he felt.

Not that there were no fair amount of loners in school, far from it, but they usually were more
temperamental.

Sarutobi was perfectly polite, had no particular problem working with others, but seemed more at
ease being alone.

Iruka had tried nudging a few of his classmates to interact more with him, but the child seemed to
have a knack for shutting conversations down.

And disappearing after class.

He sighed. He couldn’t exactly force the kid to make friends, could he?

Besides, he was doing fine, staying somewhere near the top of the class. Who was he to say
anything?

The “jutsu” Sarutobi-sama ended up teaching him was not much of one yet, Naruto thought.

He had just given him some vague instructions about trying to “mold his chakra in the shape of a
tool and project it outside his body”.
When Naruto asked for something more specific, Hiruzen had just looked away, told him
something like “chains, swords, whatever. Anything you feel any affinity towards should work,
really.”

Naruto had the feeling the old man was being vague on purpose.

And that once he’d manage to do it, he’d just give him this annoying, knowing look that told
Naruto that this was exactly what he had expected.

Which is how he had spent the better part of the last two years trying to create some tools out of
chakra.

Worst part was, anytime he had asked other people about it, they just seemed skeptical about the
whole thing.

“Sounds more like a bloodline thing to me, kid.”

“You’re wasting your time. Go back to school.”

“Summoning weapons? Like, from a scroll?”

He’d read of a few people from the now-gone Uzumaki clan that had the ability to project chakra
chains, but this had apparently been attributed to their special clan abilities.

Really, if it weren’t for Sarutobi-sama insisting that for some mysterious reason, he was likely to
have an ability for it, he would have moved on to something else a long time ago.

“-tobi.”

He tried to picture a weapon in his mind.

The first thing that came to him was a sword, naturally. Why naturally?

Well, as mature as he tried to be, Naruto was still a child. Nothing really seemed to represent a
ninja tool more than an elegant, shiny sword.

First came the scabba-

“SARUTOBI!”

“Yes, sensei!”

His class was looking at him expectantly. He looked around.

An Uchiha — Sasuke, or maybe Toru, he wasn’t sure which one was who — was standing in the
middle of the arena, waiting. Iruka stood with his hands on his hips, his nostrils flared.

“Oh, it’s my turn already?” Naruto thought.

He had mostly forgotten about the Taijutsu practice, lost as he was in thought.

He stepped in the ring hurriedly, bowed and joined his fingers in the seal of Reconciliation with his
soon-to-be opponent.

They both stepped back and circled each other.

They were both looking for an opening.

Sasuke — Toru? — moved first.

He was fast, likely faster than Naruto. His left hand came out, a fist aimed at Naruto’s face, which
he deviated with his right hand.

He retaliated with a spinning kick, and Sasuke jumped over it. The next second, he threw a swift
kick at Naruto’s ribs.

He choked on his breath and threw some distance between them.

God. Why did he want to become a ninja, again? This sucked.

Naruto ran back towards Sasuke, and threw a haymaker at him, which he dodged.

He also flipped over his following roundhouse kick, using his shoulders as a spring. Frustrated,
Naruto managed to elbow him in the face.

Sasuke fell in a heap, without much of his usual grace.

“That’s not fair! You fight dirty!” He shouted.

Naruto didn’t say anything, opting to try to kick him in the belly instead. Sasuke rolled away from
him.

Then kicked him in the shin. Naruto yelped and tried to pull his hair.

Iruka slapped a hand over his face. What was the point of teaching them katas if they just reverted
to brawling whenever they got frustrated?

“This is taijutsu practice, boys!”

“He started it!””It’s his fault, sensei!” They shouted simultaneously.

“I don’t care, keep it together or it’s scrubbing floorboards for both of you!”

Sasuke seemed to remember where he was and reverted to his usual Uchiha taijutsu style. He came
at Naruto.

A fist was blocked. A palm slapped away his left leg.

Punch from the left.

Haymaker.

A knee aimed to Naruto’s face.

Another flip followed by a kick.

Somehow, Naruto was starting to see a rhythm to this. And some part of him was enjoying it, even.

He threw a kick that Sasuke parried.

The dance resumed.

After almost a minute of this, they were both panting.

Sasuke — he was pretty sure it was his name — was faster, for sure, but Naruto seemed to have
more stamina, overall. Which meant that at this point of the fight, the speed advantage was pretty
much negligible.

When he came running at him, fist cocked back, Naruto did the same, aiming at his face.

He planned to wait until the last moment, and then duck under Sasuke’s punch, catching him with a
rising kick. It would look very impressive, he was sure.

One step. He heard his own heavy breathing.

Two steps.

Three steps. Anytime now.

Four steps. Was he imagining the outline of a man standing behind Sasuke?

Five steps. Naruto met Sasuke’s eyes.

A voice boomed in his head, jubilant and full of resentment at the same time. He saw Sasuke’s
eyes widen at the same time as his own did.

“I finally found you, Asura!”

Six steps. Sasuke’s punch connected, and Naruto saw stars.

 Burning of the Midnight Flame

The temple’s steps shook when a piece of the wall fell.

The night sky lay indifferent, as full of stars as it had been on the night of their wedding.

The temple burned by his hand, and had he managed to bring back his distant mind to the horrible
reality of what he had just done, he would have had to hear his wife’s screams as the fire consumed
her.

He was Indra.

This was who he was. Who he was meant to be, his dreams told him as much.

Except, he knew, this was not the full truth. He was born as Asahi, from no clan.

He was a simple farmer, and had never known his father.

Whenever he had asked his mother about him, back when she was still alive, she had just told him
he was a strong ninja from a powerful clan, and someday he’d come back for them.

He never had.

When he had married Yukie, who was the daughter of a rich merchant, he thought that luck was
finally smiling upon him.

The dreams had started a long time ago.

Of fires, wars and strife.

Of blood and kinship.

Of a cycle that would not break.

Until he had found Yukie in bed with his own half-brother, he had been ignoring them just fine.

Pain brought him back to himself.

His eyes seemed to be on fire, and he tried to rub at them.

He opened them.

Asahi screamed. It was a scream that came from deep within, something he could not stop.

Liquid fire seemed to course through his veins. His eyes were dripping blood.

And yet he saw more clearly than he ever did.

His eyes fell on the temple.

When he saw the charred body resting upon the altar, and his awakened eyes recognised the
burned remains of the necklace he had once offered his wife, his scream made the previous one
sound like a whimper.

The air seemed to be set ablaze. The trees burned.

A purple shape rose around him, in the form of a skull.

He was Indra.

Naruto woke up on the floor of the ring.

Iruka-sensei seemed worried, judging by his face. So was Sasuke, behind him.

“Are you alright…?”

“Whazzat?” He answered coherently.

“You got knocked out.”

“Wasn’t.” Why were his thoughts so jumbled up?

“You were.” Sasuke said. His own cheek was bruised.

“Wasn’t.”

“How do you explain waking up on the floor then?”

“I was taking a nap.”

“Enough, boys. This is the end for today’s practice. Naruto, please stop by the infirmary before
you leave.” Iruka-sensei said, firmly.

They mumbled their agreement and formed the seal.

It was strange, Sarutobi Hiruzen thought.

Something about Naruto seemed different, since he came back with his face swollen after the
academy, weeks ago.

Something seemed to be on his mind.

He hoped this was not about the Adamantine Chains. Sure, he had a hunch that Naruto might have
the potential for them, and they would definitely serve him well if such was the case, but there was
no certainty here.

Just because Kushina had had them did not mean her son would be able to use them.

But he had figured there would be no harm in trying, as it would help the boy become more
familiar with his chakra, and the process to shape it.

Sarutobi sighed.

It was probably the reason Naruto was down.

He decided to try to cheer him up by getting him started with elemental manipulation.

This ought to cheer him up.

“Lightning?” He thought. This made no sense.

Minato had been civilian born, and purely Wind natured, and Kushina had an affinity for both
Wind and Water.

Chakra natures very rarely appeared out of nowhere, and certainly not this strong.

It was not unheard of for a weak affinity to pop up in ninja families after a couple generations,
sure.

But a Lightning nature this strong had not been seen outside of Kumo since Uchiha Madara.

He had expected Naruto to be Wind natured, with Water as a possible secondary.

Instead, the boy showed a very strong Lightning affinity, as well as a Wind affinity as strong as his
parents.

“Is this good, old m-… Sarutobi-sama?” Naruto asked, anxious but excited.

“This is good, yes.” Sarutobi recovered. “Both Lightning and Wind are very useful for battle.”

Naruto made a face. “And besides this? Is there anything cool I can do with them?”

Sarutobi laughed.

“Yes, they are both very versatile. You could learn to use lightning to move extremely fast, to
immobilize someone, augment your reaction time, or shield yourself.”

Naruto was interested in most of these. They had started learning what being a ninja really meant in
the academy recently.

He could not say he was very fond of the idea of killing people.

His father had been killed, apparently.

He didn’t like the idea of doing it to someone else.

If learning how to use Lightning meant he’d become strong enough not to have to kill people…

Then he’d become as good with it as he could.

“What about wind? Is it useful?”

“Definitely. First, you could…”

Three years had passed since Naruto had entered the academy.

It was just as boring as it always had been.

He had made a lot of progress in the last year, since he had learned about his chakra natures.

The main reason he was still there, and never bothered to try to pass the exam early was that he
still wasn’t sure if he wanted to bother about actually becoming a ninja.
It seemed there were lots of restrictions that came with being one.

Such as basically never being allowed to resign without a valid reason.

Or leaving the village for good. Something about village secrets, he thought.

So he toyed with the idea of dropping out. Sure, Sarutobi-sama would be disappointed, but maybe
he wouldn’t mind that much…?

His mind was wandering again.

Sarutobi-sama had told him time and again that this lack of focus was the reason he was having
trouble with his elemental training.

Well, Sarutobi-sama was great, but he was old school.

Sitting fully still was something he found difficult. Some days especially, there was a restless
energy about him, and he wanted to run, run fast.

So he did.

Wind still eluded him, but he was getting very close to being able to use Lightning Release…

Some.

He could produce sparks if he tried hard enough and that was about it, for now.

He ran.

Naruto did speed drills most days, now. Ever since Sarutobi-sama had told him that even if
Lightning Release could make him faster, this didn’t mean much if his base speed was not high
enough.

He was pretty fast, by now.

Probably faster than most genin, but that was just his own humble estimation.

He was daydreaming again. He didn’t stop it this time.

Lightning was supposed to be used by converting your chakra to electricity.

The old man had told him the basics of it.

Some sort of electric… cells jumped from particle to particle in some specific material.

This was how he tried to see Lightning today.

A jump from one end to the other.

The pressure he applied on himself to jump would hopefully determine his speed.

He continued to run, and let his chakra flow inside him.

He cycled it. Once. Twice.

He forced himself to go faster.

He pictured himself as the electricity carrier, lightning dancing across his skin.

He imagined himself moving from one point to the other, just like an electric charge through a
conductive material.

Naruto ran as hard as he could, now.

He felt his chakra pricking, tingling around him and the smell of ozone in the air.

His chakra tensed in a way he’d never experienced before. He pushed.

The world blurred around Naruto as he jumped forward at a speed he would never have thought
possible before this day.

His eyes couldn’t follow, and his body seemed to cramp at the height of his jump, but as he fell
back towards the ground…

The only thing he felt was an exhilarating freedom.

He would make this his. This, he promised.

Sitting there in his yukata and smiling blandly for their guests, Naruto realized there were a few of
the Sarutobi traditions that he did mind.

Their reputation as generalists meant that he probably spent more time making sure he was well-
rounded than most of his classmates, but it wasn’t too bad.

The old man always said that balance was necessary, and this was the reason he had to learn how
to play a musical instrument — he had picked the koto.

The heavy emphasis they put on the Will of Fire was more annoying, he found. He had his own
doubts about it but kept this to himself.

Now, the yearly joint parties with the Akimichi, Nara and Yamanaka clans…

This, he did mind.

Not that he had anything against Chōji or Shikamaru, he did not mind spending some time with
them…

Or even Ino, for the matter, if in smaller doses.

Teasing Asuma about his girlfriend was fun, too. He was surprisingly shy, for a bear.

But spending the whole day here? That was way too long. He could have used the time to practice,
to read, to draw… Anything.

Truth be told, he just had trouble with large groups of people, which tended to exhaust him.

Somebody clapped their hands, way too close to his ears.

“Ah! I finally found you, Naruto!”

Apparently, Ino had been looking for him.

“Good evening, Ino-san.” He said, nodding.

“Always so stiff… Boring.” Ino sighed. “Let’s go!”

“Go where?”

“Anywhere!”

Further down the garden, Yamanaka Inoichi shot him a commiserating look. Apparently, he was
used to his daughter’s bossy ways.

“Why don’t you go with Chōji… or Shikamaru even?”

“Pfft.” She made a face. “They’re the laziest guys ever. I’m sure they’re watching the clouds
somewhere or eating chips.”

This was true. “Why not both?” He asked flatly.

She giggled. “See? You can be funny, too.”

“Thanks.”

“So?” She waited for his answer, hands on her hips.

“Why me?” There were plenty of clan kids around their age today, and Ino was a popular girl, he
figured.

“Eh? Because we’re friends, stupid.”

Oh. He had never gotten the notice.

Well, this wasn’t too bad, anyways. He followed her without really knowing why.

It seemed some of the weight had left his shoulders.

Being Ino’s friend meant knowing Sakura.

It also meant hearing in on much more gossip than he’d signed for.

Sasuke had not seemed to know what to make of him since their bout, one year ago. Sometimes he
would steal glances at him, wondering what their temporary connection was about.

Naruto did not know either. So they settled for nodding at each other, and sometimes sitting
together, silently.

Chōji and Shikamaru would sometimes hang out around him, too.

It also meant Naruto was never really alone anymore.

Two months had passed. Naruto hadn’t managed to replicate his feat of performing a Lightning-
enhanced jump.

It seemed this had been a stroke of luck.

Progress was scarce, and he was a bit frustrated.

He had wanted to show Sarutobi-sama, who hadn’t seemed too surprised by either thing.

“Well…”He said, puffing at his pipe. The old man was really smoking very freely, these days.
“Just because it happened once doesn’t mean you achieved mastery.”

Naruto deflated.

“But it does mean something. You can learn how to do it on command. It’s just going to-”

“Take more practice, I know, I know.” He grumbled. It seemed that he was spending all of his time
practicing something, some days.

“Exactly.”

When Sarutobi left, Naruto practiced his Transformation technique instead, frustrated beyond
measure.

Transforming into an animal could be helpful some day, so he spent the afternoon bird-watching.

Not because he wanted some rest.

In front of the classroom stood the Fifth Hokage.

He was wearing a pure white cloak over traditional Uchiha fatigues, and the red and white hat sat
upon his head.

He gave the impression of a powerful man, if one who didn’t sleep enough.

Stern but kind.

Loving but unbending.

He occupied both the role of the Fire Shadow, as well as the head of the Uchiha clan.

Uchiha Fugaku had come to encourage the students before the exam.

It seemed to be working, Naruto thought, looking around him and seeing the hopeful face of his
classmates.

Well, probably not on him. He had learned something that there stood an obstacle in his “drop out
of the academy and learn about chakra by himself” plan.

There was simply no way to resign from the Academy this late.

He had tried asking the teachers politely, and less politely too.

You either got out before the end of the first year or you were on your way to join the corps.

Which meant he’d only have one option. Sabotage himself. He’d fail the exam and force the
teacher’s hand.

Which might look suspicious since he usually was a top three student.
“What do you mean, you failed?!” Ino screeched. “This makes no sense at all, you know all three
of the academy techniques, I’ve seen you use them!”

Naruto winced at her volume. Ino really was emotional. At least Biwako would likely not be so
loud.

He shrugged. “Guess I must have panicked.”

“You’re about as anxious as Shikamaru.” So not very much.

“You never know when nerves will get you.”

“What are you going to do with your life?” She threw her hands in the air.

“Ino-san, I’m eleven.”

“…Still.”

“Why do you care so much?”

“Well, I thought that maybe… We could have been on a team together, with Sakura. Wouldn’t it
have been nice?” She seemed shyer than usual, somehow. He wondered why.

“Nah, I think the teachers…” He thought. “Or maybe the Hokage, I don’t know who makes the
teams. Well, someone had already decided that you’d be on a team with Shikamaru and Chōji.
With Asuma as your teacher.”

“Pfft.” She frowned. “Now it doesn’t seem like I have a choice, with you out of the game.”

Naruto held back a smile. Now he could finally focus on learning more about chakra, without this
pesky ninja thing in the way.

“Don’t worry, Ino-san. We’ll always be friends.”

She blushed and looked away.

“I know, stupid. Who else would want to hang out with someone so stiff anyways?”

“What do you mean, the genin reserve corps?!” Naruto screeched.

Hiruzen winced at his volume. Naruto really was emotional, sometimes.

He continued working on his painting, as if unbothered.

“Well, that’s where the people who still manage to fail the exam after six years in the academy
go.” He shrugged.

“B-but…”

“Wouldn’t want to waste all this ninja training, right?” Sarutobi-sama, the traitor, had the audacity
to wink at him.

“But I failed. How can I be a ninja if I don’t know the basics.”

Sarutobi laughed. “Don’t think you’re the first person trying to bend the rules. Once you enter the
academy, you’re in.”

Seeing Naruto’s face, he sobered.

“But I understand your dilemma. Being a ninja is hard, and requires a lot of sacrifices.”

Naruto looked up, surprised.

Sarutobi was looking through the window, melancholic.

“We live in a pretty messed up world, don’t we. You either remain powerless, at the mercy of
anyone stronger…”

Naruto was hanging on to his words. This had been his dilemma.

He had long since realized that no matter what he thought about ninjas, he would have to get
stronger if he wanted to be free.

Laws and rules were nice, but they meant nothing in the face of a man with enough power to bend
a whole village.

And there were many such people.

“… Or you learn how to protect yourself and the people you hold dear.”

Sarutobi-sama was thinking of something else.

“My father was a great ninja. Sarutobi Sasuke, I believe one of your classmates was named after
him. But he knew what being a shinobi also meant. The loss of innocence, and the certainty of
becoming a killer.”

“Why did he let you become a ninja then?” Naruto blurted.

“Because he knew that no one can protect everyone. And while he’d prefer to shelter me from the
cruelty of this world forever… It was not his choice. But mine.”

He patted his biceps, still strong, even in his old age.

“So he trained me the best he could, before he died. And he made sure I never forgot why I was
doing it, either.”

This was part of the tragedy of Konoha, and of the ninja system. As long as you had people you
cared for, chances were you would take up the headband yourself.

“I know you don’t seem to think the Will of Fire is something very… tangible.”

Naruto blushed. Sarutobi-sama laughed.

He looked at him, his brown eyes shining with compassion.

“If you want to renounce the shinobi life, you probably will be able to, in a few years, four years or
so depending on the contract.” This was the only lie he had told him today. A jinchūriki would
never be allowed not to fight, but neither he nor the village knew about it yet.

“But the time will come where we might find ourselves at war again. And your friends will be in
danger.”

Naruto thought of Ino, of Sakura, little Konohamaru. Shikamaru and Chōji.

Even Sasuke, for some reason.

He sighed.

“I get it. I’ll be a ninja, old ma-… Sarutobi-sama.”

“Well great! Now get back to train some more!” He exclaimed, jovially.

“Wait what?!” Naruto shouted in anger.

“Well, yes…” Sarutobi looked at him slyly. “We wouldn’t want the worst ninja to get promoted —
on a technicality, at that — to get too far behind!”

“Y-You old…” Naruto fumed.

“Especially one who hasn’t managed proper elemental manipulation at what…? Eleven? At your
age I was already working on my third.” He laughed loudly. Truth be told, it was the second.

Naruto screamed, and left, slamming the door.

He sighed when Naruto was gone.

This was no attempt at manipulating the boy, but even if he had tried, he didn’t think he could have
done better.

And to think he was not even the Hokage anymore.

It seemed like nobody could really retire from the job alive.
 Training for the Job

In the end, Naruto becomes a genin at twelve, like most of his class.

Well, reserve genin. Which mostly meant getting the chance to do lower-ranked missions and
possibly being sent to the frontline if a war ever broke again.

Today, he got a job as a laborer on a construction site. It could have been decent, if not for the
token crazy guy who wouldn’t calm down about the dangers of a worksite, yada, yada.

Honestly, shuriken practice around the academy second years had been way more dangerous.

But this guy, who had, according to his endless bluster, been working in the field for more than
thirty years, kept telling him how dangerous and corrosive cement was.

It probably had to do his poker face, too, he figured, but the man decided to do a demonstration.

Konoha was very hot in the summer.

The man stuck his sweaty arm up to the shoulder in dry cement. And then spent the whole day
working with his arm covered in lime to show him just how much damage it could do to your skin.

After a few hours, Naruto could tell he was getting very itchy.

When Naruto came back the next day to wrap up his contract, the older man came to work with
rubber gloves on, his hands duct taped.

“I swear, Sakura-san! I was giggling like Ami anytime I heard his hands squish!”

He was meeting Sakura for lunch. She laughed while slurping her noodles, in the careless way she
did when she didn’t feel the need to pretend to be polite.

Ino was put on a team with Shikamaru and Chōji, with Asuma as her teacher, to no one’s surprise.

Sakura was put on a team with Sasuke and Toru, both from the Uchiha clan.

“Wait, so Sasuke and Toru are definitely not the same person, then, right?” He asked her.

She threw him a weird look. “Of course not, why would they be?”

“Uh. Nah, never mind, I just thought… They kinda look the same you know?” He said sheepishly.

Sakura huffed. “That’s kinda offensive, not all Uchiha look alike.”

“That’s not what I said though, just them.”

“They’re cousins, Toru has a half-brother who’s a very strong Jōnin, actually.” She explained. “But
Shisui-san is very busy, so Toru was a bit disappointed. Kurenai-sensei is great though, she’s
almost as good at Genjutsu as Shisui-san is.” She added quickly, never wanting to be caught
talking down her own teacher.

Naruto’s mind tended to glaze over when he heard anything about Genjutsu, so he just nodded.
Fūinjutsu practice was hard enough, so he had managed to convince Sarutobi-sama that even as a
generalist, studying Genjutsu on top of everything else was going to be too much.

The old man had agreed, on the condition that he made sure to clean the dojo floorboards twice a
week, which was a pain in the ass.

Oh, and that he’d still learn how to dispel them, which he’d test by trapping him in a few illusions,
“from time to time.”

Still beat having to practice Genjutsu.

For some reason, despite having decent chakra control, especially considering he apparently had
reserves much larger than anybody else his age, the illusory arts had never agreed with him too
much.

Fūinjutsu was pretty hard too, but he at least enjoyed working on it, and had a few projects he was
currently working on.

If only he didn’t keep getting distracted by the reserve corps thing. Speaking of…

“And how’s the remedial training going, Naruto?”

“It’s not remedial training.”

“Whatever you want to call it, then.” She held her tongue out, laughing. Everybody in their class
knew that for whatever reason, he had thrown the last exam.

It had seemed like a brilliant idea at the time, too.

He sighed. “It’s not great, but still better than the academy. I’ve got short lessons starting early in
the morning for two hours and-”

“What sort?” Ever the academic.

“It’s more practical, in general, I feel. I don’t think Konoha wants to spend too much resources on
us.” He laughed, and she shook her head in consternation. For some reason, he seemed to find
humor in the whole situation.

He continued. “Then they let us go for the rest of the morning and we’re free to pick a mission or
two for the day. Like the construction job today.” He mimed bloody, duct taped hands, and she
laughed, playfully swatting his shoulder. “Nothing more than D-rank, obviously.”

“Eh? So you’re always on your own?”

“Sure. I mean we can also team up if we want to, but the pay is split in three, then. It’s rarely worth
it for us, as contractors. We get paid a little less than regular Genin, too.”

“D-ranks go from… 5,000 ryō to 50,000 for us, I think it was? I mean it’s split between us and our
sensei, of course, but it’s not too bad overall.”

“Yeah, it’s about half that for us if we complete them alone, which takes a bit more time. So
something like 2,500 ryō minimum.”

“That’s not bad at all! I mean, you can’t do the job as fast as three people, but still…” She smiled.

He grunted in vague approval.

Not that he really enjoyed babysitting all that much, or all the odd jobs that took a few days at a
time, but money was money. And he needed supplies for his projects.

They lapsed into comfortable silence, and he bid her goodbye as she left for her own mission,
something about finding a lost cat.

He had some groceries to deliver, so he commiserated.

Something about what Sakura had said was stuck in his mind.

Morishige Daichi’s punch in his face pulled him out of his reverie and set a teeth loose.

Damn, but he really couldn’t focus in here. He absentmindedly parried the incoming elbow, dodged
under his vertical kick and delivered three fast jabs in his chest.

Daichi folded and their chūnin overseer called the match.

If he was being honest with himself, this was a real waste of time, as he was ahead of them, when it
came to fighting.

He had only made small improvements when it came to Lightning manipulation, but even without
it, he was faster, and more enduring.

He lifted Daichi up, gave him a polite smile and half-listened as they moved on to meditation.

It was a practiced routine by now.

Then he left for an upscale inn he signed a mission for.

He thought it was going to be a decent job, at least; maybe he’d learn how to handle employee
problems, the workings of the business and well… useful things.

They dressed him up in a pressed white shirt, jacked, and formal shoes.

And sent him to the backroom instead. Turned out the inn hadn’t filed anything for the last year
and they would hire a genin for cheap to do the filing for them.

Sweating over the files in the Konoha swelter sucked. Better than killing people, he mumbled to
himself.

He got a month’s worth of paper cuts in the week it took him to alphabetise all files.

It took him three more days to read over the sexual harassment complaints, the drunken idiocies
and everything in between.

They must have loved the work he did, because they offered to take him on a permanent basis.

“-but we’d have to renegotiate the contract as we definitely can’t afford to pay as much as your
genin cut, but you’d get many other benefits and-”

Nah.

The only thing he got from this was a new found respect for housekeepers.
He politely refused and left.

He had three kids to babysit and a few dogs to get out before the sun set.

Damn it.

After a month and a half of this, he had saved up enough money to start living in a small but private
apartment within the Sarutobi compound.

He was mostly alone anyways since the time he had been eight, Biwako being busy at the running
the clan medical center most days, and he felt he was taking advantage of her kindness, so he
moved out.

Well, five minutes away walking, less than a minute jumping on the rooftops.

Still, it was his own place.

The floor was covered in sealing supplies, books on chakra theory and ninjutsu.

Well, fantasy, romance novels as well, and a fair amount of comics, but the old man had always
been preaching about balance in all things, so…

At six in the morning, bleary-eyed, as he was still not a morning person, he set out for the daily
“training”.

The chūnin yawned at them, asked them to start sparring, “or something.” Then he pulled a tattered
book out and started reading.

“Anything more specific?” Naruto grumbled back.

“Just do whatever you were supposed to learn at the academy, kid.” He went back to his book.

Something snapped inside him.

He left without saying his goodbyes.

The chūnin lifted one eyebrow, and then continued reading.

“Old man! I can’t bear this anymore!”

He had gone back to the compound, forsaking the mission office for the day.

“Oh?” Hiruzen looked at him upside down, as he was currently laying in his garden, lazing under
the sun. “Bear what, exactly?”

Next to him, a monkey gave him the same unimpressed expression. The old man had taken to
summoning them for more and more frivolous reasons, these days.

“Everything!”

“Don’t get depressed on me, now.” The Third reached for his pipe, which the monkey had tried to
grab while he was distracted.
“You know exactly what I mean. The useless training, the endless steam of D-ranks.”

“Well…” He tried to avoid smirking. “You kind of brought it upon yourself, what with the whole
failing the exam thing…?”

Naruto harrumphed.

“Look, I got it. Now how do I get out of this?”

“Pass the test, become a genin.”

“No way.”

“Enjoy your D-ranks, then.” He went back to eating the grapes one monkey was feeding him,
uninterested.

Naruto hesitated.

Sarutobi opened an eye, sensing weakness.

“Teach me the Kage Bunshin. Please.”

Huh. This was more interesting.

“Now… Why would I do this?” Hiruzen asked.

“I’ll use it to complete missions more efficiently.” He answered, hoping Sarutobi-sama wouldn’t
probe him. “And I’ll also clean your office every week.” He threw in the mix.

“Wouldn’t this be encouraging some of your worst habits?” The old man was just provoking him.
Naruto knew he had him.

“You do exactly the same to get out of work.”

“Lies, and slander too. That’s not really the way to convince a poor old man.”

“Oh yeah, then why did I see you in the office when I came here?”

“I’m still faster than you, probably.” Truth be told, there was a clone of his doing his work for him.

Well, there was no question Naruto had the reserves for it. Maybe he’d teach him a trick or two
about the technique, too.

The boy was progressing fast, by any standards. And he had trained Orochimaru, so he knew a
thing or two about outliers.

But was it fast enough for the kind of trouble that was likely to come his way, as his parents’ son…
and a Jinchūriki?

He wasn’t about to force him to do more than this… yet. There would come a time he would need
to be trained, but Naruto was already doing as much as he could without burning himself out, when
it came to training.

And if the boy ever noticed that a few of the chakra theory, physical training scrolls he found on
the floor of his room were written by Hiruzen’s own hand…
Naruto never said anything.

He mulled the idea over, then stood up.

“What’s my name?”

“Sarutobi-sensei.”

“That will do.”

“The best part of this… is that there really isn’t much to teach.”

“So it’s just this one hand-seal…?”

“Yup. Well, a Tiger or Horse seal will do too, actually.”

“What’s the point of them, then?” Naruto asked, a bit dumbfounded.

Hiruzen shrugged. “It helps you focus, mostly. I don’t always bother, but I know some people
might need them.”

Now this was a pretty open lie, as it was much, much easier to use at least some hand seals for
jutsu.

But Naruto seemed to run a bit further when he gave him the adequate incentive. Mostly pride,
really. It was kind of cute, watching him try to do the impossible just because he had said it was
pretty easy to him.

It reminded him of Konohamaru, really.

Naruto grunted and put his hands in the shape of the Clone seal.

Hiruzen yawned, sat down in front of him. A perfect replica of the old man appeared seamlessly
next to him, standing.

One moment he was one. The next he was two.

Naruto’s nostrils flared.

The clone threw a book at his head. He didn’t manage to dodge.

“...Aren’t you supposed to be a ninja?”

He managed to learn the Kage Bunshin in a few hours, with the old man sporadically trying to
distract him.

He had gotten the basics of the technique from him.

It was way better than what he had expected, too.

For most ninjas, the minimum amount a clone would take to form was a lot of chakra, which is
why they would almost never bother making more than two. Three would likely drain too much
chakra to be of any use, and four would probably mean a trip to the hospital.
For some reason, this didn’t seem to apply to him.

You could put more or less chakra in a clone, and their durability would be directly correlated to
the amount.

They likely wouldn’t be very durable when it came to being hit, since this was affected more by
the quality of the chakra you used to form the technique, according to Sarutobi-sensei.

Quality seemed to be a fancy word for something that derived from control, and it took experience.

For now, Naruto would settle for four clones for daily use.

Any more and the accumulated exhaustion they would feed back to him when they dispelled
themselves would likely be too much to be sustainable long term.

And Hiruzen wasn’t sure what prolonged use of the technique would do on a developing mind
anyway, so he preferred to take it slow.

This also had the advantage of leaving Naruto with more than enough chakra to go through his
day…

And for his clones to take care of menial work.

Like D-ranks.

Now, he needed to plan how to put this to good use.

 Training for the Job II

Naruto woke up at dawn, bleary-eyed.

He formed the clone seal, and his replica appeared in a puff of smoke next to him, with about a
third of his chakra.

The clone grumbled a bit, just as tired as he was but didn't complain as he set out for the training
fields.

The original Naruto considered going back to bed once the clone had left, but decided against it.
That'd just be proving the old man right.

Instead, he created three other clones by using half his remaining chakra.

The clones would pop up with around a tenth of his full chakra reserves and would not be as
durable as the first one he had created, but they didn't need to be.

There was a pretty basic Fūinjutsu project he had been waiting to complete, and four pairs of hands,
when they were his, were better than one.

The thing with sealing was that once you knew exactly what you were going for, you could skip on
many of the details. Four written seals could be compacted into one, as long as you had a very clear
vision of what you were going for.

He'd read about the Fourth Hokage's ability to apply his Hiraishin tag by a simple touch.

If this kind of thing was possible, he would learn it.

But he wasn't there yet, so he painstakingly wrote down every single symbol anytime he needed
something done. He knew what he was going for though, and in about two hours, he and his clones
had completed the job.

They high-fived and he dispelled them. Their memories returned to him, as Sarutobi-sama had said
they would, with as much clarity as if he had been the one writing their part.

He could definitely use this.

He was a bit tired, though, as if he had spent the whole day doing this, which in a way, he had. Two
hours of focused work multiplied by four added up pretty quickly.

The other downside was that his chakra levels only started to recover once the clones were
dispelled. The chakra he gave them at creation stayed with them, and they could only replenish it
at a much slower rate for themselves.

Which meant he would have to dispel clones on a daily basis, at most, to be efficient.

He formed a few seals.

Bird, Dog, Rat.

He held Rat, and focused his chakra through the central seal. The other symbols retraced, fusing
with them to form the seal's compact version.
He held up the white piece of fabric the seal was written on. He wrapped it around his arm, at the
end of his short-sleeved navy tee-shirt.

It was a basic seal, one that would turn colors, going from light blue to dark the more chakra it
picked up. This was the simplest way he had found out to be able to identify which clone was
which if they met under a Transformation technique in town.

He had a few ideas in mind.

It also made it much easier for them to organize themselves without shouting over each other. He
only made use of up to ten clones, but it never hurt to be prepared, anyways.

He ate lunch and meditated for a hour.

His last remaining clone had dispelled a while ago, and now he was almost back at full capacity.

He left through the window, like cool people always did.

At the mission/service office, he browsed through the options, and settled for a few. The clerk gave
him a dubious look when he walked out with four in tow, but he wasn't breaking any rule, so he let
him be.

He reviewed them again, and thought about the best way to go at it.

Uni student, need moving fast!

URGENT Help Needed for Painting Fence

Announcement: Looking for YOUTHFUL Training Partner for the day :D

BIRD AND FARM ANIMAL RESCUE

Definitely not the most interesting pick he had gotten, but hey, beggars couldn't be choosers.

Just to be sure nobody would give him trouble, he waited until he was out of the building. Then, he
used about half his chakra to create a few clones, one with one eight of his chakra, who would
spend the day painting fences, and two others with the rest of the spent chakra divided among
them.

He was pleased to notice the armbands were working as intended, with the weaker clone's being a
very pale shade of blue, and the two others' being a bit darker. His own was still dark blue, if
lighter than before.

He handed each clone their scroll, which he hadn't bothered cloning. They split off, knowing they
needed to make sure not to dispel themselves accidentally.

If they did… well, he'd have to figure it out.

In retrospect, maybe it had been risky to head out on a mission he knew next to nothing about.

He leaned to the side to avoid the punch Rock Lee had thrown at him, narrowly missed it, and tried
to to send a kick back. He'd been practicing hand to hand combat for a while, and had never
slacked off, but the older kid was definitely better than him, by a wide margin.
It was not just the fact that he had one more year of experience on him, but his movements were
fluid, practiced. Fast and strong.

Lee grabbed his leg, and in a move Naruto thought shouldn't have been possible, threw him one-
handedly.

His back hit a tree and he tasted blood.

Lee's teammates, a Hyūga named Neji, and a girl who said she was Tenten, both winced in
sympathy.

Naruto conceded, and Lee brought him up on his feet with a dazzling smile.

"That was a great fight, Naruto-san!" He exclaimed.

"…Yeah. Sure, thanks for having me." Naruto was out of breath, which was pretty uncommon for
him, unless Sarutobi-sama was feeling particularly dickish when he improvised his training
schedule.

"Let's have another round!"

Cold sweat poured down his forehead. Neji saw his trouble and intervened.

"Lee, let Naruto-san have some rest. He's exhausted, I don't need my eyes to see that."

"Oh, sorry, my bad, Naruto-san!" Lee said sheepishly

Naruto threw Neji a look so full of gratitude that he had to chuckle.

Lee went to talk with his sensei, a man who looked exactly like him… or was it the opposite,
technically?

Neji handed him a can of water, and both of them sat down with Tenten.

"Lee is a great guy, really -" Tenten started.

"But he can really get carried away." Neji finished, amused.

"Tell me about it." Naruto said, dryly.

"How did you even meet him?" Tenten queried.

"I saw a job posting for a D-rank and here I am." He gestured at himself self-deprecatingly.

"Ah. Yes, Lee is always looking for different sparring partners. He's a bit too used to fighting only
with us, and we know each other's tricks." Neji shrugged.

"Do you guys specialize in anything?"

Neji pointed at his eyes with a wry look. Likely gentle fist, then.

"Erm, yes. What about you, Tenten?"

"Mostly weapons. Long-range, short-range… Anything, really." She shrugged. "I heard the
Sarutobi clan tends to focus on Fire Style and short-range, is it true?"

"Eh. Yes, usually." He said, sheepishly. "But Sarutobi-sama is training me to be more of a

generalist. And my affinity is Lightning anyways. I still train with weapons, though." He added,
with a bit of distaste.

Neji picked up on it. "You don't like this." He stated more than he asked.

"Well, I enjoy the practice but I don't really want to hurt… kill people. If I'm being honest."

Tenten nodded. "I get that. Shinobi life can be… rough sometimes." She said with a distant look.

All three genin of Team Gai had already killed. It was inevitable in their line of work, and they
knew it.

"There are some practices in this village that I abhor." Neji said with a dark look. "If it were up to
me…" He shook his head. "But it's not. Some traditions…" He stopped himself, as if he realized he
had said too much.

Naruto nodded.

There was not that much to add, really. He felt the same.

After bidding his goodbyes to Team Gai, promising to meet again, — for free this time, they joked
— he crawled back home.

It was already four in the evening. The clones were done with their day, but he had instructed them
— himself, maybe? — not to dispel before all of them were home.

So the four of them were a bit cramped, in his tiny apartment.

He had promised Ino and Sakura to meet them for dinner later.

He counted the money he had made today, which amounted to around 17,000 ryō. Not bad for one
day's work he felt.

Looking at the clones, he saw their armbands were now getting pretty pale. They agreed to dispel
themselves.

He passed out.

He woke up on the floor at around four in the morning.

He had a light headache, and remembered living four different days, too, which was a bit strange.

Ah, shit. He missed the dinner and knew Ino would be pissed about it.

"I might need to practice this one a bit." He mumbled.

He summoned a clone to attend practice, crawled to his bed and finished his night.

The clone woke him up at noon, and he decided on sending only two, each with a third of his
chakra to the mission office for today.

He found Ino's team eating lunch at their usual joint with their sensei, after training.

Asuma winked at him, and mimed getting his head cut off.
Ino was definitely looking petulant and she made a point of ignoring him even after he apologized,
so he shrugged and hung out with Shikamaru and Chōji instead.

This seemed to do the trick, as she didn't particularly enjoy being left alone herself.

Over the next week, he perfected his routine.

He'd stay in during the morning and send a clone to practice.

Then when this one came back, he'd create three clones, keeping a third of his chakra to himself to
run odd jobs.

One of them would pick up three missions and meet the others to divide them among them. They
focused on easy jobs that ran no real risk of dispelling them.

If the guy at the mission office noticed, he didn't say anything.

The clients were happy, and the missions got completed on time, he figured.

Hiruzen knew exactly what he was doing, if his knowing smile was any indication.

Still, he took a more active role in training him during the day, his own clone taking care of the
busywork. Or the reverse, on some days.

Speed drills, katas, weapons training and Lightning manipulation made up most of his days.

He settled into his routine, and the accumulated mental exhaustion he got from his clones
dispelling became less and less.

After three weeks, he felt confident enough to send a fourth clone to run missions, which was a
nice productivity increase.

He saved most of his money up, and what he didn't, he used to buy supplies and books.

Another month passed, and he became able to leave two low-chakra clones at home, doing his
reading for him, which freed even more time.

At some point he realized he had completed more than a hundred fifty D-ranks, when most of his
classmates had done less than half that.

He was probably the wealthiest of them, clan funds not withstanding. It was kinda strange to him,
as he was probably the least interested in actually being a ninja.

Property was still cheap in Konoha. Maybe it was the war, maybe it was the Nine-Tails. Maybe it
was because it was still relatively new, as far as towns went.

In three, four more months of this, on top of the money from his orphan pension he had saved over
the years, he would have had enough money saved up to outright buy the apartment he was renting,
he hoped.

It took a a little bit longer, so six months and a half later, around the time he turned twelve, he tried
to do exactly that.

His clones were running through the usual routine, and Sarutobi Kimiko, the clan's real estate
manager, agreed to meet him. She was an older woman, with her brown hair in a tight knot whose
stern demeanor reminded him of Biwako.

"I admit that I am very surprised, Naruto-san." She began. "You managed to save up quite a lot of
money in a very short amount of time. As a reserve genin, on top of it. How did you manage…?"

"Uh. I have my ways." He waved off.

"Did Sarutobi-sama help you, maybe?" She asked, trying to keep judgment out of her voice.
Everybody knew the Third had a soft spot for his grand nephew.

"No." He said, a bit more harshly than he intended. He amended himself. "Kimiko-san, Sarutobi-
sama did not give me money. He taught me much, but he's never one for handouts."

She probably knew this, because she nodded after thinking for a few seconds.

"As for your request. The place you're looking to buy is valued at around 820,000 ryō."

He nodded as he knew as much.

"As you have the amount saved up, this is not the problem. However…" She continued.

"Uh oh." He wondered what this was about.

"This is clan property." She added.

He nodded. "Yes. I know." She looked at him blankly. "…So?"

"Well, you're not a civilian. As an enrolled shinobi, you're not allowed to buy clan property before
you reach Jōnin rank." Kimiko said, as if this were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Wait, really?"

"Yes, really." She saw his disappointed face, and softened a bit. "You're not the first to face this
problem. Most people who intend to buy property are older, but this has happened before."

"But… why?"

"Mostly for historical reasons, I'm afraid."

The truth was, giving individual ninjas their own land before they had strong ties to their clan
and/or village now was a big risk.

It would have given them income independent from their duty.

This was the reason why they usually lived in clan compounds, where property was seldom sold
out to individual families.

Houses tended to be rented out to them instead, and orphans would get stipends, depending on clan
rules.

This would also have the benefit of creating bustling mini-cities inside clan domains.

"So there's no way for me to buy..?"

"Technically, you could ask somebody of Jōnin rank to buy in their name and hold it for you." She
shrugged. There was nothing out of the ordinary here, and many people used this workaround.

It would likely mean paying somebody more than he intended, or fanning the flames of the rumors
of favoritism he was already subject to.

She caught his expression and nodded. She had thought as much.

"The other solution would be to move out of the compound. You wouldn't be the first one, either."

He realized this was true. While he had lived here his whole life, there was nothing preventing him
from moving out.

A long silence stretched out.

"You could also wait until you're a Jōnin, of course."

"I'll uh… Think about it." He answered.

In the end, moving out is what he ended up doing.

He had a few things he intended to do in the future that would involve privacy, so maybe this was
just moving a bit faster than he intended.

He visited ten properties before settling on one.

There was a tiny house in one of Konoha's numerous civilian residential areas that was
undervalued.

The reason was obvious, it was in dire need of repairs.

The windows were broken, the grass was overgrown, and there was a roof in the ceiling.

The water ran brown, and there was no electricity to be seen.

The seller seemed to be surprised he actually wanted it, so they worked out a price that satisfied
both of them.

He took the next week off from work — well, his clones did, technically — and started doing
whatever he knew he could.

Naruto had learned a few things by now, working odd jobs, so cutting down the grass only took the
better part of one day, with clones.

On Tuesday, they picked up the rotting leaves from both in and out the house, as well as the debris
laying around.

He fixed the walls and the flooring over the next three days, and took care of the windows after
that.

The more technical parts, he knew he'd have to get some help with.

Once that was done, he would seal his few possessions, mostly tools in a scroll and bring
everything over. Then he could get started with the part that he needed the privacy for.

"Might hire a reserve genin to do the job." He snorted.

His domestic routine came to an end the day he was recruited by a pair of Chūnin to join them on a
backup mission.

It was a C-rank technically, but his little track record had started being noticed and somebody must
have spread the word.

So when Hagane Kotetsu and Kamizuki Izumo, usually on guard duty knocked at his door, along
with two older genin, explaining that the person they were supposed to go with had gotten injured
while training this very morning and was thus unable to join them.

For some reason, he let himself be convinced.

Once he got ready and they left the village, they briefed him about the specifics.

"Who are we backing up, exactly?" Naruto asked, as they leapt from one branch to the next.

"Team Five, I think?" One of the genin asked.

"No, it's Team Six." Kotetsu corrected.

"Isn't this… Team Kurenai?" Naruto asked, as something cold settled in his pit.

Sakura was on Team Kurenai. They usually met every week, and now that he thought of it,
she had said she'd be leaving soon. That was more than a week ago.

"Yup, that's them." Izumo nodded. "Kurenai and her team were sent on a spying mission along the
Rain borders and she requested backup. She's an amazing ninja, but she only got promoted to Jōnin
recently, and I think she's a bit worried."

Seeing Naruto's expression, he added.

"…But don't worry, Sarutobi-san. It should just be a routine backup mission."

 Monsoon

Long before the Uchiha clan was born, Raijin walked the earth.

He was a gentle child, and despite growing during a famine, he never let his circumstances define
him.

He was beautiful and strong, the pride of his family. His features were sharp, his hair pure black
and his eyes piercing.

But before he had been any of these things, he was clever.

As he grows into his power, the people around him trust him with more and more responsibilities.

He was a storm of lightning and flame on the battlefield, and he trampled over the people who
dared attack his tribe.

It wasn’t long before he commanded an army of two-hundred men.

But he was still very young.

When their most hated foe offered them a peace treaty, despite everybody else’s pleas, he accepted.

“What is the use of learning about the past.” He said. “If we can’t move on from it?”

He knew of the rumors surrounding the Hell Lake Clan, but if he couldn’t rise above this sort of
thing as a leader, nobody would.

He went with his father and twenty of his best men, in neutral territory.

It turned out to be a trap, of course.

His father and friends were killed in front of him, and he ended up being the only survivor.

Later, when he finds his way back to their compound, he only finds ruin.

When they send him his mother’s head back, he breaks.

Until then, he had never known failure.

Everybody he held dear was dead, and it was his fault.

Later on, when he becomes his era’s most terrifying figure, he remembers this moment as the start.

Naruto woke up with a gasp.

“Where am I?” He was sleeping in a tent, it seemed. He heard insects buzzing and saw the light of
a campfire through the opening flap. “Oh, right.”

They had met up with Kurenai’s team after close to five days, including breaks.

He had tried his best to ignore the last dream.

He had pretended that the voice he had heard more than a year ago had been something brought on
by exhaustion.
Looking at his shaky hands, he knew that no matter what it was exactly, he couldn’t keep his head
in the sand.

But where did you go exactly from there? Naruto wasn’t sure what they did with mentally
disturbed genin — reserve genin — exactly, and wasn’t sure he cared to find out.

He went out of his tent, as he couldn’t sleep anyways.

There was a woman with jet-black, curly hair sitting on a log near the campfire. Yūhi Kurenai,
Team Six’s sensei, and Asuma’s more or less secret girlfriend.

“Can’t sleep, I take it?” She asked.

“No. Had some strange dreams.”

“Sorry to hear that. If you’d like, I could put you to sleep.” She shrugged.

“You can do that…?”

She smirked. “Genjutsu has a lot of applications. It would be child’s play to help someone willing
to fall back into sleep.”

“Huh. I didn’t know that.”

“Well… It’s the only way some career ninjas manage to sleep. Besides pills, I mean.”

He winced and they lapsed into silence.

“You’re a close friend of Sakura, aren’t you?”

He had never really stopped to consider their closeness, in truth.

She continued. “She talks about you often, just like she talks about Ino, so the rest was easy to
figure out.”

“Yes. I think we are.” He decided, feeling some warmth in his stomach he hadn’t expected.

She smiled, and it lit her eyes. She was beautiful, he thought. “Good. Friends are crucial in our line
of work… more than anything else.”

“How is Sakura-san?”

Kurenai was proud, it was clear as day. “She’s growing stronger each day.” She mused. “I never
met anyone with such fine control over their chakra. And such a willingness to learn too. Truth be
told, she’s like the perfect student for me!” She laughed.

“I’m glad.”

“Not that Sasuke and Toru are bad, far from it.” Kurenai amended. “Both of them are very
competitive, in a friendly way.”

Naruto snorted. He definitely had noticed an intense competitive streak in both of them, the few
times he had seen them train.

“And I think that with brothers such as Itachi and Shisui, they probably feel like they have a long
shadow to get out of.” She thought. “Well, maybe I shouldn’t be saying that out loud.”
Shisui, he knew of. Some hot-shot Jōnin, who was back in the public eye after what most people
assumed to be a years-long stint in the ANBU.

He was less familiar with Itachi, though.

“Itachi?”

“Sasuke’s older brother, and the future Uchiha clan leader. He can be a bit more… discreet than
Shisui.” She laughed.

“That isn’t that hard, though.” Naruto smiled, too. There was nobody in the village who didn’t
know exactly who Uchiha Shisui was. He had made sure of it.

“True. But between the two of them, you’d be hard pressed to find who’s the most talented. Itachi
is not even twenty yet, but he’s already reached S-rank classification in each of the Four other
nations’ books.”

Both of them were younger than her, too. There was something scary about these young prodigies.

“S-rank?” He whistled. “These are kind of monsters, right?”

“You could say that. We only have about a dozen in Konoha, and that’s counting the Hokage.
Three of them are from the Uchiha clan, which makes it the strongest clan, in a sense.”

“That’s a lot.”

It probably showed on his face, as she smiled.

“I’ve heard from… Someone. That you joined the reserve corps?” She asked curiously. It was not
common for somebody of his apparent skill.

To Naruto, there was no question who the someone who talked about him was.

“How are you and Asuma doing, anyway?” He turned the question back on her.

She blushed. “Never mind. Let me put you back to sleep, then.”

The town of Nadami, close to the border of the Land of Rain, was a pretty bleak one.

There was still some forest, but it was getting sparser and sparser. The weather was, well, rainy.

It was hot and humid, and you always felt like thunder was just waiting to strike.

Nadami itself was rather small, compared to Konoha. The sun had risen already, for the little
difference it made. It was still dark, and the sky was still gray.

“Not a bad place, huh?” Toru asked him, wiggling his eyebrows, when he saw his reaction.

Naruto snorted. “Could be worse, I guess.”

It was a bit peculiar to see such an expressive face, combined with the Sharingan’s glaring red. He
was more used to seeing it on stern police officers, or the Fifth himself, who was pretty… stoic.

“Toru… Please turn your Sharingan off. You’re wasting your chakra.” Kurenai sighed.
“It’s good practice, though.” He shrugged, the single tomoe in each of his eyes spinning lazily.
“That’s what my brother says, at least.”

“Well, Itachi says that it’s also good not to depend on it all the time, too.” Sasuke interjected.

“You’re obviously jealous you don’t have one yet, though.”

“That’s not true!” Sasuke said hotly. “Besides, I know I’ll get it very soon. I hope.” He muttered.

“Boys, that’s not the time.” Sakura sighed. Her teammates were great, but they could really bicker
like kids, sometimes.

Naruto stood there amused, with the two other genin, Mikami and Asai.

Izumo and Kotetsu had left to scout ahead for Kurenai.

There had been rumors of military forces getting too close to the Land of Fire’s borders, so
Kurenai’s team, as infiltration and Genjutsu specialists, had been sent to investigate.

Being less combat-focused, she had asked for backup, just to make sure.

She wouldn’t say it out loud, but she also had a bad feeling. Something here wasn’t right.

Ninjas didn’t survive in their line of work without developing a strong gut feeling when things
were out of place, but it wasn’t enough to just rely on it.

Kurenai had been fishing for information in the village, under two different Transformations.

Unfortunately, the villagers were pretty closed off, and she hadn’t gotten anything she didn’t know.

This called for heavier methods.

She observed several villagers, until she found one who fit her needs.

She stalked her prey for most of the day, learning his mannerisms and habits.

At the same time night fell, she sneaked in the house of a local fisherman, who lived alone.

A minor genjutsu later, and the man would be sleeping for the next half-day. He’d wake up
believing he had gotten too drunk, and would likely never realize.

His name was Yamashita Iwami, and there really was nothing about him that stood out of the
ordinary.

He left for work in the mornings, took a nap at around three when he came back, and went out to
drink at night. Sometimes alone, sometimes with friends.

If there had been a Yamanaka on the team, she might have been able to glean more information,
but this would do.

She locked his house from the inside, and left through the window.

The night was dark. There was nothing much to do in this kind of smaller village on the outskirts of
the country, so people drank.

Inside the Blue Ridge, ten men were doing just that.

They drank silently, with this strange pace that was somewhere between resignation and
determination.

They made sure to avoid any serious topics, and bad news.

The innkeeper was telling whoever wanted to listen some half-finished stories, and a few men at
the counter pretended to care while they downed their rice alcohol.

Iwashi was one of them tonight, and he was not saying much. “Bad news.” He had grumbled, not
wanting to elaborate.

They had shrugged, not wanting to push him, and not particularly interested either.

Under the disguise, Kurenai was paying attention.

The first two hours had proven unfruitful, so maybe she would need to be less subtle in her
prodding.

She cycled her chakra carefully, making sure to keep her alcohol levels low enough to not be
problematic, but high enough that she wouldn’t look too sober, either.

Luckily, she didn’t have to wait much.

Hideaki spoke, darkly. “I would give anything to get these Iwa bastards out of here.”

“Who wouldn’t?” Old Atsuchi snorted. He took a long sip.

“From their tone, this is common knowledge here.”

It was the first time she heard of Iwa presence in this area.

Nadami, despite being culturally closer to the Land of Rain, was still part of the Land of Fire.

If Iwa was moving troops around here, and they didn’t report it to the Daimyo, then it meant they
were compromised.

She spoke, thinking about the person she was impersonating’s likely answer. “They’ve been here
for too long. There are folks out there that would have gotten us rid of them for some coin.” She
drank.

One of the men laughed. “Sure, but why would you want to bring these Akatsuki bastards in the
mix? Whenever they get involved, shit turns south fast. They wiped a whole village, last time.”

“Akatsuki? Who are they talking about?”

They moved on to other topics, and didn’t want to tell more tonight.

She left when they did, with more questions than answers.

“Sure, Lighting is cool and all, but using Fire Release is still much cooler, I have to say.” Toru
insisted.

“Yeah, sure must be nice… All these possibilities, like fireballs and… bigger fireballs?” Naruto
mimed reading a cue card.

“It’s much more than this, have you never been to the Uchiha festivals?” Sasuke folded his arms
over his chest.

“Why would I? My own clan’s events are boring enough as is.” He quipped back.

“That’s only the Sarutobi.” Sasuke pouted. “What do you guys even do? It’s the same Fire stuff as
us, but less fun…”

“Eh, not only. According to Shimura Tetsuo, we also fuck monkeys.” Naruto shrugged, but his
expression betrayed his amusement.

Toru spat his tea, laughing, and Sasuke made a strangled noise.

“You’re lucky Sakura is not here to hear this.” Toru said.

“Why? She definitely heard Tetsuo say it before.”

Kurenai appeared in a soft jump on the floor.

Her serious face had them standing at attention right away. They gathered the rest of the team, and
they waited until the nine of them were assembled.

Kurenai told the rest of the group what she had learned.

“According to the local people, there’s a strong Iwa presence in this area.”

Izumo and Kotetsu’s ears both perked up. They were old enough to remember the last war, too.

Iwa gathering forces anywhere near their country was always bad news.

She continued. “That’s why we need to verify the information before doing anything. A
detachment as big as they’ve mentioned can’t hide very efficiently. They need a place to eat,
sleep. Considering this is the only village around, somebody must be coming here to buy food for
the troops.”

“So are we looking for caves..?” Sakura asked.

Izumo spoke. “When it comes to Iwa-nin, things are complicated. They are masters of Earth
Release, and crafting an underground shelter is like second nature to them.”

“They can move around pretty easily too, but the one thing they can’t keep around in a seal for long
is food. If as many soldiers are in this area as the people said… Then they are not relying on sealed
supplies.” Kurenai finished.

“What do we do, then?” Naruto asked.

“I was told you were good with the Kage Bunshin. How is your transformation?” Kurenai asked
with a sharp smile.
The next day, ten clones transformed into small birds were posted in different spots in and out the
city. It was the only Henge he felt truly comfortable with, so maybe the time spent bird-watching
had been worth it.

Sure, he could transform into a bird at will, but he had never thought of transforming his clones for
spying purposes. This opened a world of possibilities, and he knew he’d get Kurenai a nice gift
whenever she and Asuma got married.

Sakura had layered a somewhat complex genjutsu on his clones, to make them less noticeable.

“People won’t want to pay attention to them.” She had said.

She really was making strides, just like Kurenai had said.

In the parts of the village he couldn’t cover, every member of the team was gathering information
the way they could.

So mostly asking innocent questions under Transformation techniques.

Toru was observing the people with his Sharingan, hidden away under dark glasses.

So they waited.

After two days, at sunset, they got what they were looking for.

“What the hell?”

Naruto hadn’t realized one of his clones had been dispelled until he noticed he wasn’t supposed to
remember seeing two Iwa Jōnin laying dead two kilometers from their position.

“They’re gone.” He said.

“Who’s gone?” Kurenai asked.

“There were Iwa-nin here, but they’re dead. Two of them are, at least.”

She almost jumped. This was bad news.

“What happened?”

“I have no idea. They’re about two kilometers, down this direction.” He pointed.

“Let’s gather the others and go. Quickly. Something strange is happening here.”

It was a gamble, she figured.

But she knew Iwa would not risk a war by killing nine Konoha ninjas. The last war had been worse
for them than it had been for Konoha, after all, and they were still recovering their strength.

They reached the clearing in a few minutes.

Izumo and Kotetsu set up a defensive barrier around the area that would warn them of any arrival.

The Iwa ninjas were very much dead. And from their temperature, had been killed early in the day,
even.

“A wind jutsu did this.” She said out loud. “This is pretty rare in this part of the country.”

She checked their equipment.

Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary here.

Their jackets were torn up anyway, so she dug in, and fished out a bloody Iwa bingo book.

“Well, that’s not a bingo book.” She amended, with a dark expression. “This is a black book.”

Izumo stiffened and Kotetsu shot him a knowing look.

“What does it mean?” Sakura asked, not liking their expressions.

Sasuke spoke, quietly. “This means bad news. Iwa is not amassing forces here, at all.”

Kurenai added. “One of the dead guys is Azuma Kotsubaki, an A-rank Jōnin. His partner, I don’t
know, but I assume him to have been around the same level.”

Sakura was shivering a bit. “And that means there are more of them, aren’t there…?”

Toru nodded, his face somber, and his Sharingan active. “There are many footsteps around here.
I’d estimate there were from six to eight people in this area. Most of them went in one direction,
and one of them split off.”

“Two are dead, what about the rest?”

“They’re hunting someone.” Kurenai finished. “But they seem to have fled from the fight.”

If there was something that could send the Iwa Hunting-Corps running…

Kurenai gave up on the mission right away. Their objective had been completed anyway.

Troops had been amassed near Nadami. The surprising part was that it turned out to be a smaller
squad.

Ten Jōnin, and especially when they specialized in hunting, were more than enough to eliminate
any opponent who wasn’t a Kage.

She shuddered.

Their one and only priority was surviving now.

Team Six and the temporary Chūnin squad were running on lack of sleep, but in some
circumstances, this didn’t matter.

These were some of them. She had split soldier pills and urged them to leave now. At full speed.

She had weaved several distracting illusions during their escape, and asked Naruto to leave a few
clones behind to set up some basic traps.
Kotetsu and Izumo kept up a small detection field around them, while running.

None of them had been triggered, so there was a good sign.

This meant that in a few hours, they likely would be out of the hole.

She had never missed the village — and Asuma’s casual manner — more than now.

When she got home, they would stop hiding.

She would-

Something brushed against her arm, and there was the sound of thunder striking the ground, right
in the middle of them.

They had made one mistake.

Or rather, they had miscalculated.

The kind of barriers and traps they had would have worked, too…

If they hadn’t been dealing with somebody who could simply notice and avoid all of the traps, and
then appear in their midst faster than they could react.

When Kurenai opened her eyes, just a few seconds later…

Izumo was a charred corpse, and there was nothing left of Kotetsu.

A man with long red hair, was standing in front of her genin, an amused expression on his face.

His chakra was heavy and powerful, and she knew she had no chance of getting out of here alive.
 Her Last Stand

There are two ways for a ninja to make their presence known.

The more traditional approach, of course, would be to not reveal yourself before striking. The
target would see nothing, and their lives cut short without warning.

You could make a grandiose approach as well, and not bother with hiding at all. There were many
powerful, egoistical ninjas who favored this approach.

Or you could do both of these at the same time.

Truth be told, this was more akin to a cat playing with food.

Looking at the red-haired man, Kurenai readied herself.

Asai and Mikami were the most experienced of the genin here, and they were the first to react.

A smokescreen was thrown on the floor, and Mikami leaped to the trees with a shell-shocked
Sakura.

Several kunai flew, courtesy of Mikami. He reached for the tantō he was carrying, swiftly.

Sasuke and Toru flew through identical hand seals, letting loose two roaring fireballs.

Naruto summoned three clones from within the smokescreen and had them transform in himself,
Sakura and Mikami, and they pretended to flee the battle as well, in the opposite direction. He
summoned as much Lightning between his palms as he could safely, ready to try to shoot the
enemy down.

Kurenai cycled her chakra within her. She tensed, compartmentalizing several processes, and
weaved four different illusions at the same time. This was her limit.

The first technique would disturb the man’s vision lightly, by making him perceive the genin’s
position as two meters closer to him than they actually were, giving them a chance to avoid his
first counter attack.

The second layer was meant to be noticed and dispelled. It was an obvious trigger, which would
chain into the third one when he did.

The third Genjutsu technique was a bind that activated with any chakra surge in the recipient. It
was meant to be used in conjunction with another jutsu, and would lead the victim to believe they
had broken out of number two. In truth, they’d be paralysed until they halted their flow completely.

And if he did so, the fourth jutsu she had layered would make sure to take hold of his five senses.

There was a moment of anticipation.

Kurenai was no sensor, but even she had enough chakra sense to feel the man’s spike.

When the three ninjutsu techniques hit him, he slammed the earth with his foot and earthen walls
rose to shield him.
He then proceeded to kick his way out of it, hands up in mock surrender.

“He hasn’t even bothered to remove my jutsu.” She thought.

This was bad. He definitely would have noticed at least the third layer. If he was this confident in
his ability to take on all of them even with it…

She needed to cover for the kids.

She moved through hand seals faster than she ever had in her life.

He frowned and before she could react, she felt something heavy slam into the back of her head.

Kurenai hit the floor with a thud. A foot pressed on her back, with a terrible strength.

“That’s pretty naive of you.” He said, evenly. “I expected better from Konoha, really. I can’t
believe the old fuck was afraid of you guys, if that’s what you’re like.”

She tried to weave hand signs with her left hand.

A blade of wind chopped three of her fingers off.

She screamed and thrashed. The man above her sighed.

He waited ten seconds.

From the ground, she could see her precious genin, as well as the backup team rush into the ruined
clearing.

“Why haven’t you run…? Fools!” She thought, but knew they wouldn’t have managed to escape
anyway. Her poor, sweet kids.

“This is all my fault.”

Sasuke and Toru were both shaking, in anger as well as fear. Sakura put on her brave face, but her
hand was white around her kunai.

“The second any of you move, I kill her.” The man said, lazily.

Naruto deflated and let go of his chakra.

“Was this it?” He wondered. Were they really going to die at twelve on a needless mission?

“What do you want?” He asked with a voice more steady than he felt.

“Nothing much, really. I got a few questions for you, though.”

There was a moment of silence.

“What do you mean?” Mikami asked.

“Not for you. I have no interest in you both… the girl or the Uchiha.” He muttered.

“So he is talking about Naruto.” Kurenai thought, teeth clenched.

He nodded towards Naruto. “Kid, where are you from?”

“Me? From Konoha. Sarutobi clan.” He managed.

“There’s something weird about your chakra.”

“…What do you mean?”

“Nothing. Could have been me.” He shrugged.

Kurenai understood.

“A sensor. He’s a sensor.” Of course her Genjutsu hadn’t taken, he had noticed right away, and
didn’t need his five senses to feel exactly where they were.

“Sarutobi, huh…?” He seemed to consider something. “Well, the face and the hair don’t really
match anyway.” He muttered, and only Kurenai caught it.

“Well, I’m pretty disappointed. ” He considered. “Who wants to live? Kill the rest, and I’ll let you
go.”

“Is this a game to you…?” Kurenai growled under his boot.

He kicked her face instead.

“Sensei!” She wasn’t sure who had screamed.

Asai chose that moment to attack. He had hidden his chakra as much as he could and aimed for the
man’s neck, staying low to the ground.

“You fool!”

The red-head moved, and Asai dropped like a fly, his throat ripped open.

Mikami heaved, but didn’t try anything. The others froze.

Then the man looked to his left, sighed and used a Body Flicker.

He reappeared on top of a branch, holding Kurenai by her hair. One second later, the ground where
he had been standing exploded.

Three dark green blurs flashed inside the clearing, their swords glinting in the moonlight.

“Iwa.”

The red haired man released Kurenai, and she fell to the ground. He grinned, and moved under the
blade that now flew over his head.

The second Iwa hunter, for this was what they were, leaped with a vertical slash.

His sword broke on a stone that seemed to appear in its path.

The last Iwa-nin caught him in a clay prison.

“Dodai Ryūjin!” He proclaimed. “For the crime of defection, murder as well as violating Article 33
of Iwa’s Criminal Law, you are sentenced to death. To be carried immediately.”

The man laughed. “It’s Uzumaki, now. Has Ōnoki not heard the news yet?”
The next few moments were confusing.

The iwa-nin formed a tiger seal and detonated the clay.

The red-head, who apparently went by Ryūjin, hardened his skin.

Kurenai ensnared all three Iwa-nin in an illusion that would make them more liable to let them go
without trouble.

The two other ninjas slammed two rock dragons into Ryūjin.

Naruto managed to catch Kurenai. Sakura anchored a Genjutsu to the clearing, making it look as if
she had set up several explosives traps.

Sasuke managed to slow down Naruto and Kurenai’s descent and all six of the genin turned to flee.

There was a grotesque sound as a fist made of hardened stone went right through one of the Iwa-
nin’s ribcage.

One of them narrowly avoided getting sheared by the following wind blade.

Ryūjin smiled thinly and stepped down from the tree. He made a single hand-seal.

As he rocketed down, his chakra cycled. One layer of wind covered his body.

Kurenai screamed.

One layer of water covered the layer of wind.

He touched down and he let his chakra fly. The entire clearing seemed to explode.

Kurenai shielded her genin with her body.

She felt blades of wind and water combined lacerate through her light armor.

It hurt.

Their vision returned.

“How touching.” Ryūjin said. “But what are you hoping to do here?”

“We have no hope.” Kurenai knew. It didn’t mean she wasn’t going to try still.

The man walked towards her slowly. She breathed heavily, blood dripping down her face.

He shrugged. “Well, I guess the effort is more important.”

“Kurenai-sensei, go!” Sasuke jumped, followed by Toru, whose Sharingan allowed him to be
perfectly synchronized with him. A wire bound Ryūjin’s right arm and neck, and the flame Toru
set along it flowed down its length.

Naruto summoned three clones and they let Lightning fly.

Sakura weaved through hand seals, but never finished her technique.

The man waved his hand almost lazily and a blade of air cut right through her left arm and eye.
Naruto saw it in what felt like slow-motion.

One moment she was trying to shield herself, the next she was down on her knees, her left hand
laying down in front of her, uselessly.

“SAKURA!” He screamed.

Her right eye was wide with panic, and she looked as if she couldn’t believe the stump that now
was where her arm used to be was actually hers.

Toru managed to avoid dying thanks to his Sharingan. He rushed to move Sakura away.

Naruto came to her.

His hands were shaking.

“What do I know about medical ninjutsu? What did I read? Useless. Useless. It was for nothing.”

Sakura was breathing fast, and Naruto knew she was likely to reach shock.

“Toru. Sasuke… Sakura.”

Kurenai’s voice came out raspy. Her eyes were almost dull.

“Prevent excessive blood flow. Cauterize the wound.” Naruto remembered. They’d need too much
time.

“I’m sorry.” She spared a look to a wide-eyed Sakura, especially.

“Could I have done more?” She wondered.

“Kurenai-sensei!”

“Asuma…”

Yūhi Kurenai stood proud, like these Konoha heroes you’d read about in history books. She
weaved an illusion for the last time.

In a fraction of a second, Sasuke understood what she was about to do.

“Oh no!” Time seemed to slow, and he could see the chakra building up in her head. Wait, he could
see it?

Kurenai’s forbidden technique, the Hell-Binding, linked Ryūjin’s chakra network to hers, for a
short instant.

At the cost of her mind. She felt a blinding pain inside her head.

For the first time since he had appeared, the man seemed taken aback.

They were both left chakraless for a second, and that’s when the explosive tags she had set up on
herself detonated.

They stood in silence as Naruto tried to bind Sakura’s stump as much as he could to prevent her
from losing too much blood.
Mikami’s hand was glowing pale green, his Mystical Palm too unreliable to be of use.

Sakura’s voice was small. “Sensei…? I-is she?”

Naruto closed his eyes painfully. What would he tell Asuma, if he couldn’t even tell her student?

Toru and Sasuke huddled together, their faces pale and lost.

He would need one of them to cauterize the stump.

Naruto’s hands tightened as he looked over to where Kurenai had been.

There was only a hole in the ground, still smoking. He looked away, his eyes burning.

“That’s a devious little trap you had here, little Leaf. I’m impressed.”

Ryūjin, covered in heavy burns, crawled from the ground, meters away from where Kurenai had
detonated herself.

His voice carried easily over the distance. He had a vicious smile on his face. His left arm was in
bad shape, dangling motionless from his shoulder.

He twisted it experimentally, winced and decided to leave it alone.

Toru’s eyes noticed a strange-looking seal on his shoulder, gleaming with chakra.

“It’s this. This is how he survived and Sense-” He cut off this train of thought. He was horrified,
angry, terrified at the same time.

He held Sasuke back, there was no way they’d be able to do anything.

“Your eyes…” He blinked.

Sasuke’s eyes were red with the Sharingan, and staring at the seal on the Uzumaki’s shoulder. He
didn’t seem to notice him. His eyes were wide, and he didn’t seem to know whether to listen to his
fight.. or flight instinct.

“This sure came in handy, huh?” Ryūjin muttered when he noticed what the Uchiha were looking
at. “I call it Ground-Eater seal. Helps navigate underground even when I’m low on chakra.
Surprised a few Leafs with it in the past.”

Step.

“Time we finish it, now, boys.”

After fighting off almost nearly ten Jōnin, and getting a nasty little surprise by the last one, he just
wanted to move on with this.

He sighed and felt his chakra come back to him slowly. Better not be wasteful now. He formed
Tiger, Dog, Snake.

“Wind Style: Drilling Air Bullet.”

Both Uchiha saw the attack coming but couldn’t do anything but watch in perfect clarity as a
compact bullet of air went through Mikami’s head.

He fell next to Sakura and Naruto, stiff.

“Stop it.” Naruto heard himself say, his right hand still laying on a half-conscious Sakura.

Step.

“Stop.” He unconsciously grasped for his chakra.

Step.

“Stop it.” Sakura’s chakra was reacting to his own.

Step.

“I said, stop it!” He felt the weight of something in his hand, and he pulled.

In a flash of lightning, a spectral gauntlet appeared around Sakura’s hand, settling around her
forearm.

A chain appeared in between Naruto and Sakura, linking them.

Both faded out, flowing back into her.

I need a weapon.

He was carried by instinct only, now. Chakra built up in his hands, flashed like thunder, and where
there was nothing stood a dagger.

The man stopped in his tracks.

“I knew it!” Ryūjin exclaimed, a terrifying grin stretched too wide on his face.

Somehow, this was the scariest thing Naruto had seen until now.

If he was about to die, he would at least die fighting, like Kurenai did.

He nodded at Sasuke and Toru, and felt their identical resolve.

Kinship here, out of all places.

The red-haired man threw his head back and laughed.

He wiped a tear from his eye.

“You boys can stop right here, I got more than bargained. The boss is going to be real happy about
this.”

“Now then. Make sure to stay alive until next time, all right?” He asked.

He started walking away.

“Where do you think you’re going?!” Sasuke screamed, adrenaline rushing through his body. Toru
pulled a short blade out as well.

Naruto focused Lightning in his legs, ready to try to blindside him.

He turned back to look at them.

“I said. You boys can stop.”

They read murder in his eyes, his power pinning them down.

What had they been thinking?

The wave of killing intent abated.

The murderer of Kurenai-sensei whistled a jaunty tune as he left by walking.

The tension stayed. They still had to close Sakura’s wound.

Sasuke and Toru did just that, searing the wound with fire, without a word. Theirs was the kind of
single-minded focus that came when you were desperately avoiding thinking about a specific
thing.

She screamed herself hoarse, in a half-conscious daze, before passing out.

The boys all huddled around her, not saying a word, their eyes wild.

They broke down in nervous tears while the sun rose.

 Life after Death

They made their way home in silence that was almost constant.

None of them minded, being too shell-shocked to want anything else.

Sakura didn’t dare looking at Sasuke nor Toru with her only working eye. Anytime she did, she
would remember the feverish terror she had felt looking at their red eyes while they burned her
stump close, and the smell of burned meat, all the while Naruto held her.

She knew they had done what was needed, of course, but she didn’t think this was about
rationality.

Somehow, they understood as much and didn’t push. Her boys had always been respectful.

Unbeknownst to them, similar thoughts were running through all of their minds:

Had they been stronger, could this have been avoided?

Was his refusal to learn killing techniques the reason why Kurenai had died?

Would his older brother have done better? How would he have saved everyone?

What would happen now?

The mission report was long and difficult.

Naruto took it upon himself to do most of it, as he had been less close to Kurenai.

“…And when we arrived at the village, we came straight to you to report, Hokage-sama.” He
finished.

“…I see.” The Fifth sighed. “Thank you, Sarutobi-kun.”

He looked at them, sorrow in his expression. “It is always sad to hear of the passing of any Konoha
defender. Yūhi Kurenai will be remembered as a hero, who sacrificed her life to give you a
chance.”

He stood up. “For what it’s worth, I’m truly sorry for your loss and what you had to endure. I had
hoped that you would have had the chance to grow up in a time without war and such hardships.”

“Sarutobi-kun, Haruno-kun. Could you please leave us alone for the time being? Pass by the
hospital, we shall speak later.” He dismissed them, and they bowed before taking their leave.

Fugaku put his hands on Sasuke and Toru’s shoulders. He spoke quietly.

“I’m glad you’re here.”

Tears were frowned upon in public in the Uchiha clan. He said nothing as they both shook, though,
staying with them silently.

Kurenai’s funeral was a sad affair.

Naruto stood with Ino and Konohamaru. Sakura was next to them, along with Sasuke and Toru,
both in black slacks.

Many shinobi attended, as well as some of her rare civilian friends. Shinobi usually made friends
among other ninjas, who understood what their profession entailed exactly.

Naruto noticed Asuma, his face devoid of expression. He had misbuttoned. His beard was sticking
out, uncombed and tangled, as was his hair.

He had talked to him earlier, assuring him none of them should feel responsible for what had
happened, and this was the reality of their line of work. He had tried to light a cigarette but was
trembling too much, and had given up before leaving.

The picture that was displayed was an enlargement of one Maito Gai had insisted Asuma and her
take on a sunny day. She was smiling softly at the camera.

“She looked happy”, Naruto thought.

The Third and his wife were standing next to Asuma, his eyes closed in sorrow for his son.

They would talk in private later, leaving their son to grieve in peace.

Asuma’s brother was notably missing, along with his own wife, away on a mission.

The Fifth held a speech in her honor.

As people were leaving, Naruto noticed a man that looked very much like Toru, talking to a tall
figure.

He was pretty noticeable. A face mask covered half his face, and his left eye was shut entirely,
bisected by a faded scar. He had a stern looking face, and the only eye that was exposed sized him
up so fast Naruto thought he had imagined it.

Konohamaru went home with Biwako.

Sasuke and Toru both disappeared somewhere after the funeral, so Naruto went to eat with Sakura
and Ino.

Sakura had some news to share, which she did, trying to keep a strong face, but she was struggling
to eat with only one hand. Ino took mercy on her.

“I won’t be able to be a ninja anymore.” Sakura said, not meeting their eyes.

“What do you mean?” Naruto asked. If she had decided that this was not the line of work for her,
he would understand and support the decision completely.

“I spoke with Hokage-sama. He was kind about it, but…” She trembled some.

Ino rubbed her back lightly.

“He told me that putting injured genin back on the field was too much of a liability. Especially
with the extent of my injuries.” She sniffled, pointing at her single eye and arm.

“But… You…” “were going to be a strong kunoichi, Kurenai said so” went unsaid. “What are you
planning to do?”

“Civilian school starts in a few months… Maybe.” She tried not to look too pessimistic about it. “I
guess I could do that, I’ve always been good at studying.”

She shrugged, trying to look casual about it, but failed.

“I’ve been discharged from the corps. anyway. Hokage-sama said I’d get a pension, so now I just
have to figure out what I want from my life, I guess.”

Ino was quiet, for once.

“Besides.” Sakura continued. “Most people don’t really get to retire from being a ninja. Guess I got
lucky, haha.”

She really didn’t look as if she were laughing, Naruto thought.

“Twelve and already a cripple, huh.” She said after a pause. “Look at me, no wonder my parents
are mad.”

“Don’t say things like this.” Ino said, firmly.

“But that’s the truth!” Sakura’s voice got louder. “That’s why… That’s what I am, now.” She
started sobbing.

Naruto hugged her and she stiffened. Ino joined too and they held her as she broke down.

“You’ve been injured, but you’re more than just this.” He said, simply.”

“Yeah, plus we all know you’re going to adapt in no time. Haruno Sakura-chan won’t be stopped
by just something like a missing arm or eye!” Ino harrumphed.

“This is… so stupid.” Sakura cried-laughed but relaxed in her best friends’ embrace.

“Thanks for this. Sorry for ruining your shirt, Ino.” Sakura said, embarrassed.

“This old thing? Eh, don’t worry about it. It’s the kind of thing that belongs more in your wardrobe
anyways, big head.” She winked.

“Pig.” Sakura shot back.

“Billboard.”

They walked Sakura back to her parents.

“I don’t really want to go back home.” She said.

“You can always come to mine.” Ino proposed.

“Or mine, if you enjoy having no electricity or running water, I guess.” Naruto added.

She laughed. “No thanks. Appreciate the offer, though. I don’t think my parents would approve of
me staying with a guy, anyways, even if it’s you. I think I’ll face them.”

“Fine by me.” He shrugged.

“By the way.” She said, not looking at them.

“Yes?”

“I don’t think I’m ready to give up on some aspects of being a ninja, yet.” She made it a point not
to look at their faces. “Do you guys mind sharing a few of the things you’re going to learn? Just
because I’m going to be a civilian doesn’t mean I…”

Naruto understood. Once he had experienced the freedom chakra offered, he had trouble seeing
how he would be ready to give it up.

“Sure thing, Sakura-san, I’ll bring you a ton of reading material, then.” He shot her a thumbs up,
then realized she wasn’t even looking.

“And I might teach you a few tricks… From time to time. Well, if you’re nice anyways.” Ino
joked.

“Thanks, guys.” She finished, voice wobbly.

“I didn’t want to ask Sakura too many questions, Naruto. But this mission… it was bad bad, wasn’t
it?” Ino queried.

Naruto nodded. “Yes.”

He saw Ino’s face, and knew that while she was curious, she wasn’t push for more. Somehow, this
is what made him talk.

“I’ve never been this terrified in my whole life.” He said lightly, but feeling a bit tense. “A single
man slaughtered ten Jōnin. In a blink, two chūnin were. We never had a chance.”

He was talking faster.

“Kurenai-san was strong. Stronger than I think I will ever be. And she could do nothing to him.
What kind of monster is that? And we were just here, unable to even make him react. Asai.
Mikami. Both dead. Sasuke and Torū were the best of us. They could do nothing. I could do
nothing. Sakura got injured. What am I even-”

Ino grabbed his hand.

“I’m sure Biwako-sama talked to you already. It was not your fault.”

He stayed silent.

“Reverse the roles. Would you think any differently if I was in your shoes?”

“What do you mean?”

“If Asuma-sensei…” She paused. “If Asuma-sensei had died on a mission, would you think I was
responsible?”

“Of course not!” He said vehemently. “What could a genin even-”

She just stared at him, smirking.

“Oh. Yeah, I think I get it.” He sighed. “I just… Wish I could have been stronger. Or faster. Maybe
if I had a jutsu. Anything. Fuck. I don’t know.”

“Dad says you can’t save everyone.” She shrugged. “I think I get what he says, but it’s probably
very different when it happens.”

Yamanaka all studied psychology, of course. And they understood the difference between knowing
something on a theoretical basis and experiencing it.

“You’re right.” He grabbed her head and she jumped. She didn’t look at his face. “Thank you, Ino-
chan.”

“…Since when is it Ino-chan?”

“Today, I think.”

“Pfft.”

They reached Ino’s clan compound.

“I’ll extend the same invitation I did to Sakura-san. If you ever want to sleep at home, I have some
very comfortable sleeping mattresses. And a tent, too, actually.” He offered graciously, with an
exaggerated flourish.

She laughed.

“I’d love to, but daddy would kill you.”

“Fair enough.”

Naruto resumed his previous routine after spending the first two days moping.

It seemed pretty pointless, and he felt that he was stagnating.

But he did need the money, having spent nearly all of it on his tiny house.

While his clones were doing the busywork and putting the bread on the table, he studied a way to
find a solution to his latest problem.

Despite the circumstances, he had taken notice of what the Uzumaki had called his Ground-Eater
seal.

He himself had no affinity for earth, so using it the same way was likely not an option.

But he was trying to work something along the same lines.

“Well…” He amended. “It’s not really the same at all.”

One weird peculiarity about the houses in Konoha was that they lacked foundations.

There was no need for them, since it was easier to just build a rough outline of stone, wood or
metal, depending, and then anchor it to the ground itself. It would be just as stable.

And when it came to building them, much quicker too.

The First Hokage had built many of the clan compounds half a century in just a few weeks, by
himself.
They were still used to this day.

A good Earth Release user could do something similar with stone.

A single day was enough to raise a house.

Civilians did it slower, but tended to make use of shinobi to keep it all stable as well.

This was the main reason land was the more expensive part, compared to the house itself.

Naruto had a tiny house, sure, but the land itself wasn’t much bigger. Grass grew around it, but
there was no garden.

What he did have — if only technically — was verticality.

He could build up, sure. But he knew people would likely be on his ass soon. Most buildings in
Konoha didn’t go too high up, besides the Tower.

Could be accidental, could be on purpose.

He wasn’t trying to find out, anyway.

Now… He wasn’t exactly a seal master, yet.

The best thing he could manage when trying to reproduce the Ground-Eater was something that
dug a slow hole in the dirt as long as he had the chakra for it.

He was crafty enough, so he’d manage. Plus, the house was getting really cramped with five clones
in it at all times.

He needed some privacy, even from himself. He snorted at the thought. Weird problem to have.

He beckoned one of his clones to come closer.

“Me?” He asked dumbly.

“I don’t care which one, just help me remove some of the dirt.” He grumbled, a bit on edge after
having spent most of the last days indoors.

He held the homemade Ground-Eater seal against the floor.

He pictured a circular man-hole. The seal activated with a steady drain on his chakra.

The ground was lifted through the seal, until there was a thirty centimeter deep hole in his house.
He’d have to hide this. Luckily, he had already gotten electricity set up.

The clone passed the dirt to another, who threw it outside.

Naruto threw him a dirty look, to which he shrugged.

After a bit of deliberation, they figured they would do it the assembly line way.

The original would dig, the clones would carry the dirt around, and two of them would dispose of it
in a landfill.

They decided on digging a rectangular room under the house. Two clones were sent to the public
library to figure out how to keep the underground room livable.
They got to work.

After three days, they had something decent going on.

Naruto hadn’t bothered sending clones to the mission office, electing to work on this first.

Stone was dirt cheap — hah — and some could be gotten for free, too.

They had made a wall of it and cemented it.

The jutsu to hold everything in place were quickly learned and applied.

He felt pretty proud of himself, to be honest.

Except…

“Boss… We don’t really want to spend the whole day in a dungeon.”

“You’re me, technically, so I know this already.” He grumbled.

The air smelled well… like being underground. It was a bit dark, too.

He sighed.

He… They’d need to find a solution for this too.

It seemed like whenever he solved a problem, two more arose.

Some fiddling with the seals that were used with surveillance cameras gave him a workable idea.

Applying it to the ceiling of his house as well as the roof of the underground level made it look
brighter, like a moving painting of the sky.

It definitely didn’t look real, but the clones complained a lot less, so there was that.

Sticking and hiding a long air duct pipe through his whole house was a bit more difficult.

This allowed him to recirculate the air, and mostly prevented the cave smell.

Well, it still smelled of sweat after a while, but since the clones spent the full day there, they didn’t
really notice.

Probably.

Since nobody had given him shit about his clone trick, he was kind of surprised when the tall man
from the funeral knocked on his door.

Hatake Kakashi, the Copy Ninja, was a lean figure. His posture was mostly relaxed, but he
somehow commanded attention all the same.

His lone dark gray eye was fixed on him, in a falsely casual manner.

He cut through the chase.

“You’re wasting your talents.” The man said, simply.

“… I beg your pardon?”

“You’ve got potential, why not put it to good use?” He asked.

“Is this about the D-ranks?”

“Yes.”

“I do need the money, though.” He countered.

“Become a full-fledged genin and you’ll have access to better opportunities. Even more so when
you get promoted, and I know you will.”

Naruto sighed. “Thanks, but I want no part of the killing.” He bowed politely. “Thanks for the
show of faith in my skills, but I’m afraid I will have to refuse.”

He was about to close the door.

The man spoke, his voice clear. “You have nightmares at night. You wonder if maybe… if you
had been faster. If you had been stronger. If you had picked a different mission. Then maybe things
would have been different.”

Naruto paused, his face pale.

The man continued. “So you train. Alone, because you feel that this is on you. If there’s a next
time, you will do everything in your power to help. And maybe taking on missions solo will
prevent anyone else from dying.”

“…How do you know this?”

“Take a guess.”

“You too.” Naruto breathed.

“I don’t want to waste time talking too much about the past, but I lost my team. And several of my
teammates, colleagues and friends.” He stared at him. “I know I will lose more. That’s why I’m
trying to be as strong as I can be. If I can protect just one more person, well that’s a start.”

“…Why are you here?” Naruto asked, hesitant.

“A former colleague asked me for a favor. Training his little brother and his cousin.” Toru’s
brother, Shisui, then. He had seen them talk at the funeral.

“What does it have to do with me?”

“Well, they’re down a member, as you know.” Kakashi said flatly.

Naruto’s lips were set in a flat line. “Yes.”

“I think you could be a nice addition to the team. I’ll get all three of you up to speed. If you don’t
want to kill… that’s on you.” He shrugged. “Just make sure your decision doesn’t hurt anyone on
our side.”

“…”
“I’ll teach you Lightning manipulation. Without wanting to brag, I’m probably better at it than
anyone in the village.” He thought for a second. “Including the Third, with all due respect.”

“…I’ll need to think about it.”

Kakashi shrugged again, as if to say “Suit yourself.”

“But then again, people tend to die around me, so I won’t force your hand.” He said casually, as if
this were just a fact of life.

Then, he left.

Naruto thought about it, forgetting to sleep.

The next day, he requested a formal test.

He blazed through the genin exam.

Three days later, he was officially part of the new Team Six.
 Hatake Kakashi's Cruel Tutelage

“Then there’s Advanced Chakra Theory and Applications… Oh, right, you can also read The New
Five-Point Elemental Model, maybe in this order.”

Naruto slammed the stack of tomes on Sakura’s desk.

She felt a pang of fear. When had he found the time to read all of these? They were thick enough to
double as bricks, and the contents were pretty dry, too. She might have underestimated Naruto’s
motivation levels.

Still, she was very thankful.

“Well, this should keep me occupied for a while.” She laughed, a pained sound.

“Yeah, it took me two weeks to read these ten. Plus the old ma… Sarutobi-sama had me running
chores. He’s such a slavedriver sometimes, you wouldn’t know looking at him, ha!”

Sakura’s mother was glaring daggers at both of them, likely because despite being shinobi
themselves, — maybe because of it — they had never approved of Sakura’s choice to become a
ninja.

Her daughter’s resolve to keep learning about the shinobi arts was probably rubbing salt in the
wound.

Well, Naruto didn’t care much for her opinion. She was Sakura’s mother, sure.

But she wasn’t Sakura.

“So Ram becomes… this. Boar looks like this.” Sakura muttered, twisting her fingers in the
corresponding positions.

She knew that there were ninjas who used specific techniques with only one handed seals.

What was preventing her from learning how to do so? She knew she had decent… no, excellent
control.

It was time to put her money where her mouth was.

“So you’re our third member?” Sasuke asked, somewhat pleased.

“Seems like it. Your sensei convinced me, let’s say.” Naruto answered, shrugging. He had no
intention to elaborate.

“Welcome aboard.” Toru nodded, a small smile on his face. “Did the man tell you anything?”

“Nah, just to meet you guys at the training grounds, and to work on some basic combinations with
you.”

“Sure.” Sasuke shrugged. “Tell us more about your fighting style, we saw a bit… last time.”
Ah, there it was. The elephant in the room. An awkward silence stretched.

“I use Kage Bunshin, Transformation and Lightning Release, mostly. I’m pretty fast, too. Oh, I’ve
learned to use a few weapons.” Blame the old man.

“Such as?”

“Let me remember. I’m good with a few swords, but don’t really like to use them. Katanas, glaives,
halberds, bows. Axes, kunai, daggers, naginata… I prefer the staff, though.”

“Uh. Okay. That’s quite a lot, actually.” Sasuke mumbled. Toru whistled.

“Really? I don’t know. Sarutobi-sama said he had mastered twice as many by the time he was nine,
so I feel I’m kinda late.”

Sasuke and Toru shared a look.

“Are there even this many weapons/Is this likely?” Was the question they communicated to the
other. They shrugged.

“I think we can work with that.” Toru said. “Here’s what I think could work…”

“By the way, what about your dagger trick from last time?” Sasuke asked.

“What dagger trick?”

Toru mimed. It was a pretty bad imitation, when it came to clarifying. “The thing where you make
sparks and summon a dagger out of nowhere!”

“What are you guys even talking about.”

“Last time! What you did against that Uzumaki guy.”

Huh. Now that they mentioned, he did remember something along these lines.

There was just one little problem.

“…I have no idea how I did. Really.”

“Uh huh.” Sasuke nodded slowly, not looking like he believed him at all.

“All right then. Keep your secrets.”

“Guys, I’m serious!”

As they practiced their first clumsy combinations, the air seemed to change.

Not by anything like the “power of friendship” or anything like it, mind you.

The boys’ hair was standing on end, and felt tingly.

They stopped their practice, sweat running down their foreheads.

Sasuke tasted metal.

Naruto smelled ozone in the air.

Toru heard crackling and wondered if he was about to get electrocuted. “One in five-hundred
thousand,” he reminded himself.

There was a flash of blue light and something hit the floor in front of them.

Hatake Kakashi stood up from the crater he had created.

He was wreathed in lightning, sparks dancing around him in an unpredictable pattern.

A tantō was strapped to his back. The Hatake clan sigil shone proudly on his shoulder.

All in all, he looked like a warlord of old. Or an angry god, maybe, Toru felt.

“I see you guys are ready, so let’s start with some light training to see where you are at.”

He thought a bit more, and deactivated the Lightning Cloak.

There’d be time to turn it back on, if they were actually good.

“First step. Let’s see your reflexes.”

He unsealed a dull wooden blade.

Then disappeared.

This had been the most brutal beatdown of Naruto’s entire life.

Hearing Toru moan in pain from somewhere around gave him the impression he wasn’t alone.
Kinship.

Sasuke flew at a high speed and landed head-first in the lake. “The water must have been cold,
then.” Naruto thought, hearing him let out a high-pitched scream.

“Well… My first thought is… I’m very disappointed.” Kakashi said, arms folded.

“What kind of Jōnin beats children up for fun…? This is sick! Sick!” Toru whined.

Kakashi snorted. “This was nothing but love taps. You guys are pretty weak for twelve years old.
When I was your age, I was already a Jōnin.”

Wisely, Naruto refrained from saying anything about what good that did him. He still wanted to
learn how to use Lightning Release, and this man was his best bet.

“Mah. I’ll just have to remake you into something better, then.” He shrugged. “We’re done here.”

“Really?” Toru perked up.

“Yup.” He eye-smiled, and it was a cruel sight. “Time to move on the speed drills. You guys ever
did hill sprints? They’re great fun.”
“Biwako-sama. Can you teach me medical ninjutsu? …Please.”

“Of course. What do you know already?”

“Nice work on the weighted pull-ups, Sasuke. Let’s add some more weight, alright?” Kakashi
encouraged.

“Biwako-sama. What’s the nature of a man? Why do we live, just to suffer…?”

She rolled her eyes. “Don’t be dramatic. Hatake is a strong Jōnin, I’m sure he has his reasons.”

“Your core is overtrained in comparison to your back, Toru. Ever heard of erector spinae… or does
it not look as impressive to girls in the summer?”

“…I really hate you, sensei.”

“I see you’re gaining a bit of muscle, Naruto. Kakashi must be going hard on you. Mind you, I had
much lower body-fat, while having more muscle mass, at your age. You can ask Biwako about it,
this is likely why she couldn’t resist me.”

“Alright, I’m going solo on a mission for the week. Don’t worry, I found you a trainer. He’s got
some genin around your age, too.”

Sasuke blessed the heavens.

Toru whooped.

Naruto knew Gai and Kakashi were somehow friends, so he just cringed.

“Where did you get such nice legs?!” Ino asked. She wasn’t jealous of Naruto… of course. But she
would train her own harder. Just for fun.

“Don’t ask.”

“Did you miss me yet?”

“Almost.” This week with Gai had been hell.

“Yes.” Toru admitted.

“Great. Let’s do some strength training.”

“I don’t think you will ever get the control needed for the Mystical Palm.”

Naruto winced. Biwako-sama was always very blunt. It was a blessing and a curse.

“So…? What do I do?”

“Well, we’re going to have to find another way. The First was said to have been a great healer, and
I’m sure he never learned what the Mystical Palm even was.”

“Reflexes training!”

“So by using my own… strong chakra and harmonizing with somebody else’s, I should be able to
accelerate their healing?” Naruto asked.

“Yes.” Biwako confirmed. Then thought some more. “… Or maybe give them cancer.”

“Two against one. Toru and Naruto on one side. Sasuke, get ready.”

He groaned.

Kurenai was dead, and the world moved on, in the end.

The sun still rose and fell every day, and the village was still standing.

Families were still together, and friends still friends.

It never got easier, but all of the living learned to live with it.

Ninjas endure.

Sakura laughed in delight.

She had finally managed to make the switch to one-handed seals for the three Academy basic
techniques.

“Thank you, thank you!”

She jumped on Naruto, hugging him with all her might. Ino, in her infinite generosity, pretended
not to react.

“Survival training, I’ll see you guys in three days!” Kakashi said cheerfully.
“…Three days in the Forest of DEATH?” Toru shouted. “It’s in the name! Death!”

“Oh, can’t believe I forgot to take your supplies.” Kakashi slapped his forehead. “Wouldn’t be
much of a survival training if you had all of your fancy equipment.”

“Well, this is very rough, as far as medical jutsu go. Keep practicing.”

“But it might work?”

“It might.” Biwako stressed.

“Mah, your bodies are a bit stronger, now. Let’s train your chakra reserves, now.”

“Damn it.”

“Well, yeah. I kinda neglected this for years, myself. I don’t want to scare you kids, but the reason
is… this is going to suck.”

“And I told Shikamaru that if he was going to be such an ass about it… Then I’d tell his mother
about it. Should’ve seen his face!” Ino laughed.

“Jokes aside, he’s lucky to have both of you.” Naruto smiled.

“Damn right.” She stuck her chin out proudly. Her best friend always had her back, as she had his.

“Deep meditation is to train your Yin side.”

The boys ignored him, as they finally had a reason for it.

“Also, if you suddenly feel yourself turning to stone partially, please feel free to stretch your legs.
It’s not worth it.”

What.

“Do I really have to do this, Biwako-sama?”

“Tailoring your clothes is very important. It’s the difference between looking like a destitute son
and a respectable young man. Hiruzen always made sure to look sharp.”

“All right, all right.”

“How long can you keep your eyes up, Hyūga?” Sasuke asked, his own eyes red.

He was getting tired, but wouldn’t show it. The Hyūga was, too, he could see it.
“Longer than you, Uchiha.” Neji replied, veins popping.

He was tired, sure, but wouldn’t show it. The Uchiha was getting worn out as well, his eyes could
perceive it.

Toru cheered Sasuke on. Naruto sighed.

“I see you’re hanging with girls, Naruto.” Sarutobi-sama nodded wisely. “It is that time, indeed.”

“..What are you even talking about?” Naruto asked.

“When I was around your age, I remember quite a few-” He interrupted himself.

Biwako was looking at him, squinting her eyes.

“Err… Let’s move outside, Naruto.”

“We just got in, though.”

“Don’t question me.”

“So the Third never bothered teaching you the difference between internal and external
release…?” Kakashi asked, skeptical.

“Nah, didn’t even know it was a thing.” Naruto shrugged.

“…Okay? Well, to put it simply, internal release involves using chakra inside the body, generally
to enhance a specific body function, or as protection.”

“Got you.”

“External is everything outside the close proximity of your body. Medium, long distance jutsu and
all.”

“Okay.”

“I’m kinda surprised Sarutobi-sama never taught you this. Every clan child knows this, usually.
Especially when talking about elemental affinities.”

“Sometimes, I get the feeling he prefers his students to figure their limits themselves.” He saw
Kakashi look curious. “He would probably say something about “the more walls one perceives
around them, the sturdier the prison they build”, or some weird platitude.”

“…Yeah, that sounds like him.” Kakashi admitted. The Third could be a bit of a dick, sometimes.
He probably took his weird sense of humor from his summons.

Not that he was one to talk.

“Personally, I’m way better at using external techniques.”

“What about your electric mantle technique?”

“It’s Lightning Cloak.”

“Yeah, that one.”

“…You’re trying to piss me off, aren’t you?” Kakashi asked.

Naruto tried to look innocent.

Kakashi continued. “I copied it years ago with my eye. And even then, it took me a while to be
able to use it. And it takes so much chakra that I just use it for smaller bursts of speed.”

“Would it work for me?”

“Eh, it wouldn’t be the same. My eye allows me to see attacks before they come, and then I can
turn my cloak for the minimal amount of time I need it for.”

Naruto squinted. “So when you came here with it on, a month or so ago…”

“This counted as a very important occasion.”

“Uh huh.”

“Well, this likely won’t do anyone much good, but I guess it could help someone survive until an
actual medic makes it to the field.” Biwako huffed.

“I’ll take it.”

Lightning crackled, dancing in Kakashi’s hand.

This was his masterpiece, his ultimate jutsu. His magnum opus.

His Raikiri, and with it, legend said he had cut through thunder itself.

“Sensei… there’s something I don’t get.” Naruto asked.

“Tell me.” His Raikiri never failed to awe people. He held back a smug grin.

“How does this qualify as an assassination technique, again?”

“It’s an instant kill.”

“But it’s so… loud and flashy. This is more of a combat technique.”

“You’d be hard pressed to find people who can avoid my full speed.”

“But… if it requires you going full speed, you’re also wide open to counter-attacks…?”

“Yup. That’s why I have this.” He thumbed at his Sharingan eye.

“I don’t have one. And if it requires going so fast, it’s not practical either, there’s plenty of jutsu
that don’t.” Naruto reminded him.

“…”

“Wouldn’t I just get myself killed, trying to use it?”

“I mean, sure. There’s a risk.” Minato-sensei had helpfully pointed it out too, long ago,
embarrassing him in front of Obito and Rin.

Now his student was trying to do the same. Toru held back laughter. Sasuke pretended to practice
his katas. Kakashi felt his cheeks burn, under the mask.

“Wouldn’t anything else be more useful to me, then?”

“Keep being a smart-ass and I won’t teach it to you.” He huffed.

“I don’t even think I can use it without a Sharingan, and this is just used for murder, anyway.”

Naruto asked Toru about the girl with the pale eyes that Sasuke was sometimes talking with, when
nobody was looking.

“Oh, Hinata?” His grin turned conspiratorial. “Find her cute?”

“Nah, I don’t mean it like this.”

Toru sighed. “You’re really no fun, sometimes.”

“Isn’t she the Hyūga heir or something?” She had been in his class, but was usually pretty
withdrawn.

It had been a surprise to see her giggle openly when Sasuke gestured wildly, probably painting a
wild tale of their latest torture session under Kakashi’s tutelage.

“Yeah, she is.” Toru actually looked serious, for once. “Some of the higher-ups in the clan don’t
really like it when we hang with Hyūga.”

“Why?”

“I’m not sure, probably some old clan stuff, I was never too good at this. Plus the clan head is a bit
mad that Fugaku-sama became Hokage, according to him.”

“Ah.” Pointless conflict between clans was a bit of a shame.

“Well, I’m not super close with the Hyūga anyway. Hinata’s cool and her little sister Hanabi’s got
the right spirit, though.” He laughed.” But Neji’s kind of a dick. Sooo stuffy.”

“That’s not true. He only reacts this way around you because you keep on provoking him.”

“But he does look girly.” He whined. “Nothing wrong about that, mind you.”

Naruto didn’t deny it. He had thought Neji was a girl, at first.

After some preliminary testing, Kakashi had reached his conclusion.

“You’re much better suited for internal release, it seems.”

“Is that good?”

“For close combat, sure. Enhancing your body or weapons with elemental chakra should be
decently easy for you. Long-distance ninjutsu might be a bit more difficult, though.”

“Eh, I can work with that.”

“Wanna learn Raikiri?” Kakashi asked, trying to sound indifferent to the answer.

“No, thanks. The spark jacket jutsu thing seems nice, though.”

He sighed. “Let’s get you started on it, then. In a few years you should be able to make some use
of it.”

The summer festival was nice.

He spent the early hours with Sasuke and Toru, who had become good friends. They later left to
join their families, and he went to meet Ino and Sakura.

They looked adorable in their yukata.

They watched the fireworks together, and all three of them wished life could always be as nice as
this summer evening.

“Wanna try for the chūnin exams?”

“Risk dying, do my best not to have to kill anyone, possibly fight friends, humiliate somebody or
myself in front of the village and my clan…?”

He was not too interested in a promotion, as they were taking a fair amount of C-ranks with his
team.

The money was pretty good, even if he didn’t have the time or energy to also run D-ranks solo. He
wasn’t even sure if he was still allowed to, being part of a team.

At the same time, he knew Ino was going, and she’d never let him forget she was a rank over him,
and technically his superior.

It was important to Sasuke and Toru both, who felt they had something to prove to the Hokage
and/or their older brother.

Without him, they’d have to go with somebody they had never worked with, and would face more
risk.

Naruto sighed.

“Sure, let’s go.”

 Into the Forest...!

The exams were to be held in Konoha in October.

That left them about three months to prepare. Kakashi seemed to think it was more than enough.

Or at least, that's what Naruto thought he got from the man. It was kind of hard to read a lone eye.
And the man liked to fuck with their minds anyway.

"Okay, maybe I have no idea what he thinks."

Training was going great, though. Sure, he had almost no free time, the sessions were painful, he
was running low on chakra all the time since he had clones doing more theoretical work, and he
was actually tired most of the time.

Sure, there was all that. He didn't care, as long as Kakashi trained them all to their limit, which he
was doing with surprising zeal.

He hadn't known what to expect of the stern looking man, but he turned out to be a somewhat
quirky, generally casual sort.

All in all, he liked him. Well, at the end of the day, at least.

Not when he made them do mud runs in the early mornings.

Not when he made them eat as much protein as they could fit in their daily lunches.

Not when he had them stretch until Naruto felt they were ready to become contortionists.

Not when he laughed while they failed at water walking.

But yeah, the rest of the time.

He was having them do so much practical work that it felt as though he was running them through
ANBU bootcamp. Or that's what Sasuke had said. He himself had no idea what ANBU meant,
besides shady murders.

Luckily, he had his clones doing most of the reading for him.

He would get around mentioning them to Kakashi, but... not yet.

He was kinda terrified of what sort of devilish routine he'd concoct if he knew about them.

Speaking of.

When Sakura had asked how he managed to read this much, he had explained his clone trick,
without mentioning the basement full of them.

It was the first time he saw such envy on her face, and he wasn't sure how he could help, since she
didn't have the reserve to maintain even a single one for long.

Sometimes he wondered if she felt lonely.

Ino and him were likely the only ones she had regular contact with, and she had decided against
going to civilian school, choosing to learn on her own.

Sasuke -- and Toru, to a lesser extent -- would likely spend more time with her, but...

Sakura had gotten used to the change in depth perception that came with only having one working
eye somewhat easily, but the arm was more difficult to deal with.

She still remembered the way her arm had cooked, and felt a bit strange around both Uchiha.

Maybe therapy would help, but unlike the physical aspects, they didn't come for free for shinobi.

To Naruto, there was something to be said about it. The village would keep a ninja in working
shape, but nothing would be done to help them cope with the... unique aspects of their profession,
such as the widespread trauma, and detachment that usually came with it.

No wonder some of the shinobi were so screwed up.

A more traitorous part of him wondered if this was done on purpose, even.

There were some questions he didn't feel ready to ask Sarutobi-sama.

Same thing went for his dreams.

As for Sakura... well, Naruto would make sure to check on her.

Especially now that Ino was busy preparing for the exams as well. He was glad that Asuma
seemed to be doing well enough to resume his duties to his team, considering they were going to
risk their lives soon.

"So yeah, that's how to use the Lightning Palm. I think you got it down."

"Thanks." Naruto said, actually feeling grateful. "Having a few non-lethal jutsu helps a lot, sensei."

"I mean, it can be lethal, if you want." Kakashi shrugged. "Just overcharge it."

"I'll keep it in mind." Naruto waved off.

"Next one is a very handy one when traveling, as you can use it to recharge electronics. Make sure
to get the voltage right, though, you don't want to fry your things."

Across the training grounds, two of Kakashi's clones were teaching Sasuke and Toru some Fire
Release jutsu.

"Also, make sure to actually name your techniques, at least in your mind. It sounds goofy on paper,
but it makes the difference, when it comes to your ability to visualize it."

"Do we have to scream their names?" Toru asked. The theatricals were the best part of the whole
thing.

"Only if you want to."

They managed to cram a whole lot of last minute training in these three months, in the end.

Gaara of the Desert looked up as the door to the theoretical first exam opened.

Strange. There was nothing that really stood out about the mousy brown haired Konoha shinobi.

His teammates were Uchiha, for sure, and stood with easy confidence, scanning the room with
sharp eyes.

He himself was of medium height, and lightly muscled. Probably a close-range specialist, even
though he couldn't see any weapon on him. Likely sealed, then.

But there was something about him that screamed familiarity.

Had Gaara been anyone else, this would have been a reason enough for him to engage in light
conversation, and see why he felt that way.

Gaara decided he'd introduce himself later. Then he'd crush him to death.

Karin (no clan) felt him enter the room as well.

The boy, who was apparently from the Sarutobi clan, according to the markings on his traditional -
- even kinda outdated -- black ninja gear, had one of the strongest presences in the room.

Well, the largest chakra source was the girl with lime green hair, by far, followed by the terrifying
red-head carrying a gourd.

Sarutobi came third, but at least his chakra didn't feel as... oppressive and non-human as the others.

She didn't like being here. She hated feeling so weak, compared to the many powerful signatures
she could feel in the room. She hated being weak.

In truth, she hated a lot of things about her life, in general.

She had wanted to be a shinobi, to become powerful, and free.

The higher-ups had just made her a tool for others, instead.

She hated Kusa, she hated Konoha too. She dreamed of being alone, close to the sea.

Karin had been forced to participate, in order to make sure her teammates survived.

Her own fate didn't seem to matter much, other than this.

Ino had winked at Naruto when she caught him staring at her team.

He nodded, wishing her good luck silently once more. They had talked the night before, in any
case. He didn't want her to be associated with him too much, in case the exam turned south.

He smiled at Neji, who smiled back. He wasn't worried much about him, since the teams facing
Gai's students were likely to be the ones to pity, instead.
Hinata grabbed Sasuke's sleeve, whispering him good luck in a quiet tone, before leaving.

Besides a redhead who stared at him with murder in his eyes, nothing was too out of place. You
could get used to anything.

The exam started without much fanfare, a quiet affair.

There were some mental games being played, it seemed.

So the exam was likely not about simply answering the questions.

What were the required qualities for a chūnin again...?

"Leadership...? Nah, makes no sense here. Preparation? Yeah, that must be it."

Always be prepared.

Well, he had done the required reading beforehand, so the exam was pretty straightforward.

He couldn't help but notice a ton of people cheating, but well, if they hadn't wanted to read the dry
books, he couldn't blame them much.

The ability to improvise was almost as important as preparation for a ninja.

When he turned to look at Toru, he saw him staring at him somewhat sheepishly, Sharingan on.

He mouthed. "What?"

Toru mimed writing and waited.

"Oh." Now he got it.

He snorted.

Well, if his teammate needed to copy off his paper, who was he to deny him?

The tenth question was another test meant to see who was too weak-willed to pass, likely. So he
waited.

Plus, no one in this room had the pull to force them to remain genin, even less so when it came to
the people from outside Konoha.

"Well. Maybe Kakashi or the old man could."

And they'd be dickish enough to do it, too.

The second exam was taking place in the Forest of Death.

"How nostalgic..." Toru whispered. Sasuke tried to fight back a smile.

"Now it's time for you children to sign these waivers, in case you were to die. We don't want
Konoha to be responsible, of course." A man with short cropped green hair laughed.

To pass, they only had to make sure to arrive at the Tower in the middle of the forest with a scroll
of Heaven, and a scroll of Earth.

Easy enough. Plus they kinda knew the layout, by now.

"Toru. Sasuke."

They turned to face him.

"We should be able to manage just fine, right?" They nodded. Kakashi was a dick, but he knew
what he was doing. If he felt they were ready, they likely had been for months. Or that's what they
figured, at least."Well, I have a favor to ask."

"Shoot." "Do tell."

"Can we make sure that everyone from the Academy makes it out alive? I don't care about them
passing, just that." Naruto asked.

They looked at each other, then at him with identical smirks.

"Well of course, we were planning on it anyway." Sasuke shrugged.

Toru continued. "But... Is there someone in particular you want to keep an eye on?"

For some reason, Naruto felt vaguely embarrassed, as well as annoyed.

"Of course not."

It didn't seem to convince them.

They went into the forest after around half the people had gone in.

They were the last Konoha team to go in.

Naruto nodded to his teammates, and summoned three clones, using around a fourth of his chakra.
A hefty cost, but he'd manage.

He weaved.

Dragon, Ox, Tiger, Snake.

"Lightning Release: Starlight"

A ball of light, smaller than a fist appeared in his hand.

The Sharingan could see in the dark, sure...

But he couldn't. And this was more chakra-efficient anyway. It also had the advantage of bringing
greedy enemy teams straight to them. Part of him wondered if this wasn't being overconfident.

His clones split, tailing the other Leaf teams.

He would have sent one to after Neji's team too, but he could be very competitive and he knew the
older boy would likely burst his clone the moment he saw it, no matter how good his intention had
been.

Hinata was likely to notice him anyway, so he would have to make sure to stay more than a
hundred meters away.

He sent it after Team Four, the one team he wasn't very familiar with.

They were still Konoha ninjas, so comrades, technically.

Team Six leaped into the trees. The exam was on the moment they had entered.

Uchiha Shishui groaned as he let himself fall back. On the other side of the training ground,
Uchiha Itachi sat down on a stump with a bit more grace.

"Are you worried?" Shisui asked.

"...Just a little tense."

A tense Itachi looked pretty much like a regular Itachi to most people, mostly because he was a
master of the poker face. Shisui knew him a bit better than that, though. "Because of the exam?"

"Not the exam itself." Itachi sighed. "It's more about who they sent this year."

"Anybody interesting?"

Itachi threw him a side-look. "You could say that. Waterfall sent their jinchūriki. Not much is
known about her though."

"The Seven-Tails, then? I hope Sasuke and Toru are careful, then."

Suna became much weaker as a village when they lost possession of Nanabi, it was no secret.

"There's more. Ever heard of Gaara of the Desert?"

Shisui frowned. "The Sand's unstable jinchūriki? They actually sent him?"

Itachi nodded.

"God, I hate this creepy little fucker."

Itachi blinked. "You met him?"

"I had the chance to, yes. When I was sent to Suna for three weeks, two years ago."

"I remember."

"Well, the Kazekage has about as much control over his son than the kid does over his Bijū."
Shisui snorted.

"Not much, then?"

"None."
Team Eight had learned a few things about tracking under Hyūga Kō's leadership.

Rule number one: The tracker sets the pace.

Kiba's nose having the furthest range, he was the one currently leading.

They had easily managed to steal an Earth scroll from one of the weaker Sand teams.

Kiba stiffened and held up a hand, motioning Shino and Hinata to stop.

"I smell blood. And I think I heard something." Being an Inuzuka, all of his senses were sharp,
even though his smell was by war the strongest.

"Where from?" Hinata asked.

"Down, I think. To the east."

She held up her hands in the Ram seal.

"Byakugan."

Her sight expanded. Even after years of using it, it felt strange. She couldn't tell which part was
weirder, the near perfect field of vision the Hyūga dōjutsu provided... or seeing the world in the
restrictive way the way people did normally.

She located the source of the noise Kiba had heard easily.

Under the remains of a broken tree was a Rain ninja.

"I see someone, Kiba, Shino. They're alone, and injured, too. I don't think it is a trap." She said.

They consulted each other, before deciding to go.

A teenager, three or so years older than them lay there, bleeding from a leg injury. It didn't look
particularly dangerous, but he had already lost a lot of blood, according to the trail he had left.

He noticed them quickly.

"What the hell?" He grimaced and tried to reach for a weapon. "No, no, no..."

Shino spoke. "We're not here to fight you, we already have a scroll."

"Why should I trust you?"

"You can't know that." Hinata said, acknowledging the truth. "But I assure you, we just came to
see if we could help."

"Don't come any closer!"

"Come on man, we're not trying to trick you." Kiba held up both scrolls. "See? Got what we need
already."

"That's not the problem!"

"What is?" Shino asked.

Hinata saw something else. "Kiba, wait. Don't approach him. There's something weird about his
leg."

He halted, looking at her curiously. They had never been close in the academy, but ever since they
had been put on the same team, he had learned that while she was not the very talkative type, she
usually had something important to say when she did speak.

She activated the Byakugan again.

"Oh no."

"What is it, Hinata?"

"It's in me...? Is it in me?!" The genin started getting more agitated. "Please, no. Please!"

"There's foreign chakra in his leg. It's spreading through his body at a slow rate."

"What is it doing to him?" Shino asked.

"I don't know yet. We shouldn't get any closer, though." Hinata decided.

Kiba sighed. "Sorry, you've heard her."

The teenager said nothing, but he was getting frantic. He was muttering something... What was
that?

"A demon?" Kiba asked, his curiosity now piqued.

"There's a demon in the forest! It killed my teammates! It... It... really killed them. Both." There
were angry tears in his eyes. "Now it's going to kill me too."

"Oh no." Hinata said, feeling miserable for him.

"Look, I'm sorry, man." Kiba said. "I think I see who you're talking about, though. The short, red-
haired guy from Sand, right? We did well to avoid him then, guys."

Shino's insects started buzzing heavily.

Hinata's byakugan noticed a heavy chakra approaching. No.

It wasn't approaching. It had been close to them the whole time.

It had been hidden from the Byakugan. Hidden from Kiba and Shino, as well.

All three of them tensed.

A girly laugh echoed in the forest. The injured ninja shivered.

"What does Suna have to do with this?!" The Rain genin was now shouting. "I'm talking about this
monster girl from Waterfall!"
 Team Eight

It was strange, the way the human mind could seemingly ignore something in the background.

It was even stranger, the way the human mind would still notice its absence, when this something
was not there anymore.

One moment the insects in the forest were singing. Cicadas, crickets, grasshoppers and katydids…
As well as more exotic species native to the Forest of Death, that Shino could mostly name.

The next instant, they stopped.

Inside Shino’s body, his insects did the exact same. For the first time since he had been grafted
with them, he could not feel their call. It scared him.

It was not the fear that they felt when there was a bigger predator. Most of the insects living in the
Forest of Death did not really have this sort of instinct.

Those that did were long since gone, thriving in easier environments.

No, the reason they stopped was another instinct altogether.

The biggest fish of them all had entered the pond. They waited on its orders.

Fū whistled a jaunty tone as she stepped out of the shadow.

She saw Team Eight, proceeded to ignore them and skipped to the Rain ninja, who stood,
paralyzed by fear.

Shino stood frozen in place as well, not sure what to make of the situation. Akamaru whimpered
and Kiba knew right away they were in trouble.

She looked at him, contemplative, and then smiled.

Fū continued skipping until she stood in front of the downed teenager.

“There you are!” She laughed merrily. “I’ve been looking for you all over this forest.”

“Please, no!”

“Aw, come on! I promised you we’d play, didn’t I?” She smiled.

“I don’t want to die, please, please I-”

“Didn’t I?” Her face turned blank.

“Don’t kill me like you did them, please, I’ll do whatever you want.” He begged for his life.

Kiba stepped in, face hard.

“Look, I don’t know who you are, and what you did to him exactly, but I don’t think he wants
anything to do with you. And I can’t blame him.”
She threw Kiba an innocent look, her head tilted.

“But… He promised. Aren’t promises made to be upheld?” There was a strange light in her orange
eyes. Something not quite human, and not even really animalistic either.

“I don’t think this one should be.” Kiba gritted out.

“Well, then, alright!” She cheered.

“…You will let me go?” The unnamed rain ninja let out, not daring to hope.

“Well… No. If you remember… I also promised that I’d eat all three of you rain ninjas, didn’t I?”

“No, please!”

“There’s only one of you left, now!” She pointed a finger at him, laughing. “Say ‘bye bye’!”

Hinata saw it in slow motion.

The greenish chakra that seemed to ooze through the rain ninja’s wound seemed to wake up. It
spread through his body in an instant, making his limbs move the way Fū wanted them to.

Then his legs twisted on themselves, breaking and squishing in a way the members of Team Eight
wished they could forget. They never did.

His arms rotated out of his shoulders’ sockets, while Fū laughed loudly, holding her belly.

He only stopped screaming when his neck finally bent too far.

She played with his body, making him dance a bit longer, but then seemed to get bored.

“Time to eat!” She opened her mouth wide, fangs jutting out of her face and took a large bite of his
neck.

Blood sprayed her, and some of it hit Kiba and Akamaru, who was whimpering inside his master’s
jacket.

She chewed a bit, didn’t seem to enjoy the taste of it, and spat out a mangled fleshy part.

She then turned to face Hinata and her team. Her face was covered in blood, not all of it fresh.

“Do you guys want to play with me?”

She smiled.

This qualified as the urgent kind of situation he had been created for.

Naruto’s Kage Bunshin dispelled, warning the original immediately.

“Well, damn.” Shisui said. “I wish I had known about this earlier.”

Itachi nodded. “I know. But not even my father knows exactly which ninjas are going to be sent
before the exam actually starts.”
Shisui snorted. “I know it’s supposed to be about fairness, but which part of this strikes you as fair?
I taught some basic Sharingan genjutsu to my little brother, but…”

“Nothing prepares you to face a Bijū... except facing one." Jiraiya of the Sannin had said, once.

Shisui didn’t quote him, but he definitely thought of it.

“Hopefully, this will be enough to get them out of trouble, if they are to face either jinchūriki.”
Itachi hoped.

“Yeah… Who’s their last team member, again?”

“A Sarutobi. Naruto, I think.”

“Oh, I think I saw him at Kurenai’s funeral, then. Pretty ripped for his age, serious fella?” Shisui
asked.

“That would be him, yes.”

“Well, I hope he’s learned a thing or two from Lord Third, then. Could come in handy.”

“…I don’t think ‘facing an out-of-control jinchūriki’ is on anybody’s training schedule.”

“Let me hope.”

“Of course.”

Shisui shrugged. “Only thing I can do, before the exam’s over.” He tried to relax. “These jinchūriki
sure are something else. Poor guys.”

“They do tend to live a hard life.” Itachi agreed.

“Well, Konoha doesn’t even have one anymore, so guess at least someone’s avoiding that fate.”

“I guess so.”

“Toru, Sasuke!” Naruto stopped.

“Hm?”

“Team Eight’s in danger! As in, real danger.”

They turned serious right away.

“Lead us there.”

Fū laughed, and as she did, breathed out a golden powder that had a greenish tint to it.

She bounced, spinning in the air at a dizzying speed.

The powder spread independently, seeking somebody — or something to infect.

“Don’t let the powder touch you, Kiba.” Shino said, leaping away from Fū.
“You think I don’t know this?!” Kiba shouted back, feeding Akamaru a red pill.

“Watch out!” Hinata screamed.

Fū had completed her rotation, and came down at full speed, her leg wreathed in sick orange
chakra.

Kiba barely dodged her, and still got hit by the debris she created as she hit the tree where he was
standing one second ago.

She laughed and leaped to the sky again, spinning.

She came down even faster.

Shino seemed to explode when Fū hit the ground, and for a terrifying moment, Kiba thought that
was it.

But his teammate had managed to replace himself with a log and came out unharmed.

A bead of sweat ran down his face. Seeing his normally composed teammate look worried was not
good for morale, Kiba thought.

“My insects are not answering me.” He said, lost.

“Shit!”

“We need to run, Kiba.”

“We can’t stay on the defensive!” Kiba screamed. “She’s only toying with us!”

“Silly, I can hear you!” Fu laughed. All the same, she started spinning in the air again.

“Akamaru!”

His dog barked in agreement, and both of them transformed into a feral-looking version of Kiba.

“Inuzuka Secret Art: Fang Passing Fang!”

Kiba and Akamaru started rotating as well. They dashed off the ground in a tornado of claws, going
straight after the girl from Waterfall.

Fū stopped spinning.

With a mad grin on her face, she caught one of the Kibas by the collar of his jacket and pulled. She
hurled him straight into the other, leading to him getting hit by the Tsuga head on.

The one who had hit him screamed, a scream that sounded more like a dog howling than a man.
But...

“That was Kiba-kun.” Hinata realized.

She jumped to catch him as he fell.

Above her, Fū grew wings, and as they beat with a buzzing sound, she hung in midair.

“Secret Art: Scale Pulse!”

She let out a scream that was more chakra than sound. Both Hinata, Kiba, and Akamaru were sent
flying, their ears ringing.

They hit the ground with a dull thud. Hinata coughed, and she spat some blood.

“That’s bad. What do we do?” She wondered.

Above her, flying ten meters above the floor, Fū looked at them the same way a cruel child would
observe an insect, wondering what would happen if she were to rip its wings off.

Where was Shino…? She was too dizzy to focus her Byakugan.

Hinata would admit without sort of shame that he was the strongest fighter on their team, overall.
But right now, he was crippled by the fact he could not use any of his clan techniques.

She saw Shino again. He was up in threes, and had used the distraction they had provided to sneak
up behind Fū, a flat-edged blade in hand.

He wasted no time, jumping silently at her, aiming to take off her head in a single strike.

She casually ducked under his attack. Then she proceeded to catch his arm, holding him up in the
air in a very uncomfortable looking position, suspended by an arm that threatened to break.

“Silly, I could feel you the whole time.”

Shino grunted from the strain, but there was nothing he could do.

“Shino-kun!” Hinata cried out. She focused on Fū's wrist, focused her chakra in her right hand and
let loose a high-speed palm thrust. “Eight Trigrams: Vacuum Palm.”

Fū saw it coming, of course. She let herself drop down one meter and when she caught herself,
Shino’s arm broke.

He screamed. Hinata stopped moving and breathing altogether.

“What can I do…?” She would not risk Shino’s life by attacking. Kiba was knocked out, and
Akamaru would be of no use without his partner.

With her Byakugan active, she could read Fū's lips easily.

“You have insects inside you?” Fū cheered, talking to Shino. He didn’t answer, settling for trying
to free himself instead. “That’s so cool! Me too!”

Hinata wasn’t sure what she meant, but it had to have something to do with the seal she saw on her
back, where the orange chakra was leaking from.

“Well… It’s just Chōmei and I, anyway.” She laughed, then pouted. “He wants to be free, but I
don’t know how to do it. I hope to find a way, someday.”

Hinata didn’t know who or what Chōmei was for sure, but she could guess something had been
sealed within the girl.

“I think your insects want to be free, too.” She cheered. “I think I can help you!”

Some of the noxious chakra escaped from her wings, and entered Shino’s mouth, who turned stiff.
Hinata watched in horror as the insects he had been holding within his body crawled away from
him, unbidden. The process looked more painful than it usually was, and they left large, weeping
sores on his body.

The insects gravitated around Fu’s chakra, buzzing excitedly in the poison cloud that was her life-
energy.

“Here! It’s all done.” Fū said, with the satisfaction of a job well-done. “You guys are kinda boring,
though… I wonder what I should do with you.”

Her orange eyes drifted lazily over Hinata, Kiba… and finally Shino.

“Eh, guess you won’t need him anyway. Now that he can’t be of any use.” She shrugged.

“No! Please, don’t!” Hinata screamed.

“That’s what the villages do, anyway.” Her voice turned serious. “Squeeze you dry… And then
throw you away once they’re done.” Poison laced her tone.

“This is not true. I beg of you, let Shino-kun go!”

“How cute of you. I wish somebody had… No, nevermind.” Fū corrected. “I’m just doing you a
favor, really. You’ll see.”

Hinata focused chakra to her feet, and jumped. Maybe she’d reach in time.

Fū slapped her away with a casual backhand, and she landed on a large branch, almost missing her
landing.

“Well, time to move on.” Fū declared.

Then she broke Shino’s neck, and threw the body like a ragdoll.

There was a high-pitched noise.

“I should find my team. Maybe. Wonder if they have a scroll…” She hummed. “Well, I should
have gotten one myself.” Fū laughed.

She then flew away, as if nothing of interest had happened here. Or more precisely, something else
had caught her interest, so she just went there instead.

The noise kept ringing, even though Fū was gone already.

A few minutes later, Sasuke arrived with his team — the Sarutobi boy she had seen in the academy
and his cousin Toru.

Hinata only realized that she had been screaming once her voice had gone hoarse.

They ended up burying Shino in the Forest. Kiba absentmindedly told them this was the way
Aburame bodies were disposed of, feeding the earth and its living creatures.

Kiba, Akamaru and Naruto ended up digging the hole.

Hinata sobbed the whole time, and Sasuke stood next to her, not knowing what to say.
Naruto resented the feeling of being so useless. Shino had only been twelve.

Dying was always a risk for ninjas.

But was it really worth it..?

Toru stood guard, his demeanor subdued.

Team Eight was obviously disqualified, — not that it mattered much compared to Shino’s death —
but they would still have to reach the safety of the towers.

They didn’t have time to stick around, in case Fū decided to come back to finish the job.

The only thing Naruto was glad for was that none of his other clones had dispelled. The other
teams were safe.

Making it to the tower had been easy enough, once they started focusing solely on it.

Team Eight — its two living members — gave them both of their scrolls, so they didn’t even end
up having to fight people for it.

They set up camp near the base, waiting to make sure everybody else from Konoha made it.

Once this was done, Team Six, plus Kiba, Akamaru and Hinata went inside.

They were among the last to enter, and probably the most affected.

Kiba and Hinata accepted their disqualification with a nod.

Their sensei, Hyūga Kō, took notice of Shino’s absence right away, and led them away from the
room, a forlorn expression on his face.

Without more fanfare, Team Eight was out of the Chūnin exams.

Hinata wondered what she could have done. And once more, if being a shinobi was really a good
fit for her. Not that she would really have a choice, as the Hyūga heiress.

Kiba had been unconscious when Shino had died. They didn’t always see eye to eye, but he had
considered him one of his pack. He would mourn him.

Kō would have to talk to Shino’s clan, as he had been responsible for him.

A very subdued Team Eight left the Tower.

It was strange, Naruto felt, the way everybody moved on to the next exam without any care.

“People have died in here.”

“Shino was twelve.”

“What’s the point of this?”

Would he ever become like this too?

He listened with one ear as the proctor announced there would be preliminary matches to cull off
the herd, as too many people had passed.

It would take place now. Then, one month later, they would hold the final exam, and select the
new chūnin.

Naruto almost wanted to laugh. What did he really care about being a chūnin himself…?

If it hadn’t been for Sasuke, Toru, and Ino, he’d likely not have stepped foot in this place.

Ino was fine, too, if looking a bit beaten up. Her team and her had arrived somewhat late,
preferring to play it safe.

Team Four from Konoha had arrived, too.

Team Gai were here early, of course.

There were 27 people left in the competition.

Four teams from Konoha, which was not much of a surprise. They had entered more teams, being
the host Nation.

Mist had refused to enter. So did Iwa, of course.

One team from Suna. Two teams from Kumo. One team from Waterfall. One team from Kusa.

The first match was announced.

Ino blanched, and Chōji started eating nervously. He had faith in his friend, but this…

Nara Shikamaru vs. Gaara of the Desert.

“Would the two contestants please step in the ring?”

“Damn, that’s bad.” Naruto thought.

“Troublesome.” Shikamaru breathed out.

But he looked very worried.

 The Boy from Suna...!

“Damn it. Maybe I should just withdraw.”

Sure, Shikamaru would have been the first to do so, but that Gaara guy seemed dangerous
dangerous.

He’d heard of what happened to several teams in the forest, and that Shino had died, too. It made
what they were doing seem a bit too real for him.

“That kid from Sand is bad news. He’s got a strange look in his eyes. Be very careful, Shikamaru.”
Asuma said, looking entirely serious.

That really didn’t settle his worries.

Asuma noticed it. “Don’t worry, if it gets bad, I’ll jump in and stop the fight. The Hokage’s here
too, and he’s a firm believer of avoiding unnecessary killing.”

“You hear that, Shikamaru?” Ino asked, trying to look confident for him. Heh, it really didn’t work.

“I hope Shikamaru will be alright.” Chōji thought, but he wasn’t about to stop his best friend from
actually trying.

Gaara used a Shunshin to appear in the arena. Sand flicked around him lazily.

“Here goes nothing.” Shikamaru muttered.

Naruto held the railing tightly and wished him good luck, looking serious.

“Man… This really looks bad, huh.”

The only advantage he really had was that his opponent likely didn’t know how his technique
worked.

And there was the problem.

He didn’t know how Gaara fought, either.

The proctor, a man named Genma, called the start of the fight.

Gaara uncorked his gourd and stood, waiting.

So did Shikamaru, ready to jump, or dispel whatever technique the genin from sand was about to
use.

“From the way sand flows around him, this is likely the way he’s going to attack.” He thought.
What kind of attack, though?

Seeing as the guy wasn’t going to attack, he decided to try his luck.

He threw a single kunai.

Sand moved to catch it.

He started moving in circles around his opponent, sending a weapon here and there to see how the
sand moved.

“Too fast. I can’t risk going in close quarters, who knows what this sand could do to me.”

He wrapped an explosive tag around a few kunai, and threw two of them at the same time.

They detonated, making a massive amount of smoke and debris fly.

When it cleared, Gaara was standing here unharmed, and more sand was outside of his gourd.

“Man… this is really going to suck.”

“This gourd is full of sand?” Naruto asked, more to himself than anything.

“It’s a peculiar technique.” Kakashi nodded. “The current Kazekage can do something similar,
manipulating gold dust.”

“How do you fight something like this?” Sasuke asked.

Naruto wondered about the same, he was pretty sure none of his techniques packed much more
punch than two explosive tags.

Kakashi threw Naruto a side-look. “I’m sure Raikiri would manage.” He said evenly.

Naruto snorted. It might, actually, but he had never seen it in action. Plus, provoking Kakashi was
always nice.

“Yeah, an unmoving enemy might be the only target your jutsu actually works on.”

Kakashi actually looked offended.

“This sand moves fast, doesn’t it, Lee?” Tenten asked.

“Yes! And he’s not even moving a muscle, so he’s conserving stamina, while being protected.
What an incredible jutsu, I’d love to test my taijutsu against him!”

“This is probably the worst sort of opponent for Lee, short of genjutsu users.” Neji thought. Who
knew how fast the sand could actually go.

He spoke. “The sand is heavily infused with his chakra. He’s also wearing a layer of it over his
body. It would take being faster than the sand, and strong enough to break the armor, too.”

“That’s exactly what makes it exciting!”

Gai nodded in approval.

Neji laughed. Only Lee.

The sand rushed after Shikamaru.

He actually had to make an effort to avoid getting caught up in it.

Wave after wave came after him.

“Oh boy. I can’t keep this up for long.” The guy from Suna was just standing there, looking bored.

He threw a smoke screen, followed by a flashbang, set to detonate a few instants later.

That turned out to be useless, too, as Gaara closed his eyes.

His sand just swept more ground, blindly, and it seemed to take no more effort on his part.

“This bores me.” Gaara said. “If you’re not afraid, fight me, now.”

“I’m trying.” Shikamaru quipped back, but he was getting frustrated. He couldn’t get close enough
to use his shadow jutsu, and there was his sand in the way anyway.

The sand at Gaara’s feet began to fire small pieces in every direction, forcing Shikamaru to waste
more stamina.

“Poison could work.” Unfortunately, he didn’t have any supplies on him, and no time to brew
something with whatever he did have.

The only thing he could do was to catch him with his shadow.

But even then… He was pretty sure the sand moved on Gaara’s thoughts, which meant he didn’t
know if the Shadow Possession would be enough. He would have to knock him before his sand
could grab him.

Troublesome.

He started formulating a plan-

“I have had enough.” Gaara made a motion with his hand, the first of the match.

The sand leapt out, twice as fast and grabbed Shikamaru, covering him. He tried to move.

“I forfeit.” Were the words he wanted to say, but sand was already in his mouth.

Was this how he died?

He thought he heard a man speak.

“That will be quite enough, Gaara of the Desert.”

The Fifth Hokage’s voice carried over easily. His red eyes were focused on Gaara, who stared
back.

Despite his wishes, he couldn’t crush the boy the way he had intended to. The sand was slowly
falling off Shikamaru — who was spitting out sand, looking terrified —, and crawling back to him.

It was as if his mastery over it, that he had had for his whole life, had suddenly been replaced by
fumbling hesitation.

“How…?” Gaara thought.

It was the eyes, he realized. The red eyes had somehow prevented him from crushing his opponent.

“Proctor, this match is over.”

“Yes, Hokage-sama.” The man bowed. “Winner: Gaara of the Desert. Both of you, please regain
your teams.”

Shikamaru almost ran off, cold sweat running down his back.

Gaara stared for a few more instants, and the Hokage looked back disinterestedly.

He wouldn’t forget this.

He would remember the Uchiha’s name.

“Are you okay?” Chōji and Ino rushed him as soon as he came.

“…Yeah. Yeah, I am.” He answered. “But I really thought…”

Asuma nodded. He had been about to rush in, as he had promised.

“Hokage-sama had it under control.” He said with confidence. Just like Minato had been, Fugaku
was the best of his generation. “But you never really get used to these close brushes to death.”

Shikamaru looked at him, tried to put on a wry smile. It looked a bit shaky. “I guess this is part of
being a shinobi, huh?”

“Damn, your dad’s awesome!” Toru shouted.

Sasuke just nodded proudly, his nose in the air.

He then pointed at the screen, when it flashed. Toru leapt into the arena with a flip.

Kakashi snorted. “Show-off.”

Temari of the Desert vs. Uchiha Toru

“Hey there, beautiful.” Toru winked at her.

She looked at him , and proceeded to ignore him, waiting for the proctor’s call.

“Time to shine!” Toru shouted, a fist in the air.

Temari rolled her eyes, and opened her fan up completely.

Against an Uchiha, she would not waste any time. His fire jutsu would just get more dangerous
against her Wind Style.

She filled the entire arena with violent winds.

When it settled down, Toru was left alive, but severely wounded.
She snorted. “Serves the little imbecile right.”

The match got called.

“Winner: Temari of the Desert.”

She flew off.

And then in.

“Hey there, beautiful.” Toru winked at her.

She looked at him , and proceeded to ignore him, waiting for the proctor’s call.

“Time to shine!” Toru shouted, a fist in the air.

Temari rolled her eyes, and opened her fan up completely.

Against an Uchiha, she would not waste any time. His fire jutsu would just get more dangerous
against her Wind Style.

She filled the entire arena with violent winds.

When it settled down, Toru was left alive, but severely wounded.

She snorted. “Serves the little imbecile...” Wait.

Something wasn’t right.

The match got called.

“Winner: Temari of the Desert.”

“Hey there, beautiful.” Toru winked at her.

She looked at him , and proceeded to ignore him, waiting for the proctor’s call.

“Time to shine!” Toru shouted, a fist in the air.

Temari rolled her eyes, and opened her fan up completely.

Against an Uchiha, she would not waste any time. His fire jutsu would just get more dangerous
against her Wind Style.

She filled the entire arena with violent winds.

When it settled down, Toru was left alive, but severely wounded.

She snorted. “What the hell am I doing?!”

She screamed on the inside.

The match got called.

“Winner: Temari-”

She lost consciousness as the blunt end of a kunai slammed against the back of her head.
“Winner: Uchiha Toru”

“Man, this really feels dirty.” Toru sighed sheepishly. He had caught her in a Sharingan genjutsu
the moment he had winked at her.

His team was cheering, though, so he didn’t feel too bad.

The next matches went.

Naruto watched, focused.

A genin from Kumo beat up a genin from Konoha’s Team Four handily.

Neji destroyed the second genin from Team Four, in just a few seconds. He tried not to make it too
humiliating, but well…

Kankurō from Suna beat the last member of the team, catching him within his puppet.

“Man, they really have bad luck.”

“Karin, from Kusa vs. Mazui, from Kumo”

Seemed like they didn’t have family names in their villages…? That was mildly interesting.

The Kumo ninja was better, this much was obvious.

And he apparently knew it, from the way he was toying with the girl from Kusa.

He would feint attacks with his sword, making her get ready to parry with a kunai, and then just not
do anything.

He was just making her tense on purpose.

“This is unneeded.”

Something happened after a few minutes of this, when the people started to jeer.

Down in the arena, Karina couldn’t tell whether they were booing her… him… or the whole match.

At first, she got self-conscious. Then sad.

But after a while, she just got mad.

The more the guy from Kumo taunted her, the more parallels she drew to her life in Kusa.

Did they all think she was a joke…?

She’d show them.

The Sarutobi from the first exam seemed to notice her change in disposition, and gave her a thumbs
up.
Somehow, just seeing one person encouraging her — her teammates never did, of course — was
enough.

She pretented to miss her dodge, and tripped.

When the Kumo nin went to finish her with an electrified hand chop at the back of her neck…

She grabbed his wrist.

There was the smell of burned flesh, and the pain registered, of course.

But she was just too angry.

She saw red.

Her right hook broke a few teeth, and now her good hand hurt.

The Kumo nin fell. She fell on top of him.

The real beating only started then.

“Holy shit.” Naruto muttered under his breath. “I almost feel sorry for cheering her on, now.”

Sasuke cringed, and turned his Sharingan off. There was no point in seeing this guy get beat up so
badly.

“Okay, okay, okay. You can stop. Winner: Karin, from Kusa.”

“Huh…? Oh yeah, the match.” She got up. One of the teammates of the Kumo ninja looked angry.
The girl was crying.

Their sensei just shrugged. Mazui definitely needed a good beating by someone their age. Teeth
were easily replaced, anyway.

She threw a beaming smile at the Sarutobi, who just answered with a hesitant one.

“Man, you’re so screwed now. She noticed you.” Toru whispered.

Ino was glaring daggers at him,too.

“Damn.”

“It was kind of cool, though.” He thought.

Tenten easily beat up one of Fū’s teammates.

The lightning jutsu the Kumo nin was throwing around didn’t even slow Chōji down as he rolled
over him.
The girl from the Kumo team won against another guy from her village.

Uchiha Sasuke vs. Kirei, from Kumo

Sasuke moved to the area calmly.

His dad was watching, and while it made him nervous, he knew he could win. Kakashi-sensei had
trained them, and he was about as good as Toru, or Naruto.

He had no doubt either would win their matches, so he focused on that notion.

He believed in Toru especially, and that meant he could believe in himself.

He turned his Sharingan on, initiated with a few shuriken.

Kirei ducked under them, but that helped him notice the shuriken hidden in the shadow of the first
volley.

He jumped up to avoid both of them, and Sasuke pulled on the wire he had attached to both. At the
same time, he weaved three hand seals.

“Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique.” He thought, leaving the theatrics to Toru or Kakashi.

“All right, now he’s likely going to use some mobility jutsu to avoid these. I’ll use my Sharingan to
predict which way and catch him in a hold, coming from the angle where he can’t see me.” He
focused chakra to his feet, ready to spring.

That’s what Kakashi would do. But then again, Kakashi knew better than to leap in the air with no
visibility.

Instead, the Kumo genin fell from the air, having been hit by both the technique and the four
shuriken.

He was currently trying to put out the flames.

“I yield! Please! Put it out!”

The proctor did, and called for a medic nin. “Winner: Uchiha Sasuke!”

His father nodded with a small, proud smile, and Sasuke beamed.

There were a few more matches.

Ino won against a girl from Kusa by tricking her and taking control of her body once she was
immobilized.

Naruto paid less attention after this.

Rock Lee destroyed the genin from Waterfall.

Naruto saw the display.

“Ah, fuck.”

Fū from Taki vs. Sarutobi Naruto

Sasuke cringed, and Toru stayed quiet. Kakashi gave him a serious look.

“Forfeiting is also an option.” Was what he tried to convey.

He thought about it. His teammates were already in. What was he still doing here…?

He smiled.

Turned out this was the moment Naruto found out he had some fighting spirit.
 Pest Control

“You don’t seem too worried.” Ino said.

“Well, I might not look like it.” Naruto shot back, wrapping some armor the old man had given him
a long time ago around his forearms. “Plus, you look nervous enough for two.”

“Of course I am!” She folded her arms. “It’s like you don’t know… She’s dangerous.”

“Yes.” He said dryly. “Now… who told you that?”

She looked away. It had been him, of course.

“The Hokage’s here anyway. Nothing happened to Shikamaru.” He assured her.

“Yes… but still.”

“Oh, and there’s Kakashi-sensei. I guess.” He joked, teasing a short laugh out of her.

He heard an offended “hey” coming from him.

“Congrats on your win by the way, you deserved it.” He smiled, easily disarming her.

“Ah… Yes, thank you!” She looked so shy whenever he gave her a compliment.

“Well…” He checked his equipment again, and cracked his neck, to Ino’s disgust. “I think I’m as
ready as I ever will be, then.”

She hesitated. “…Be careful, alright?”

He nodded and jumped into the arena.

“Give her hell!” Toru shouted.

Sasuke said nothing — most likely because his dad was there — but the fire in his eyes told him
enough.

Kakashi had his Sharingan eye open, and for some reason, this was enough reassurance that he’d at
least survive this fight, should the worst happen.

“Last fight. Begin!” The proctor opened the match.

Fū smiled.

Her wings unfolded behind her, and she flew straight at him.

She’s fast.

She hit his chin with a rising elbow and he felt his head snap back.

I hope this didn’t give me whiplash.

He parried her left hook, but took her right knee in the belly. She then spun, and kicked with her
left leg.

The blow hit him in the temple and he was sent flying.

And she hits like a wagon, too.

He skidded across the floor before he recovered. He wiped the blood that was getting in his eyes,
and cycled some chakra through his head to clear the impending dizziness.

She was already almost on him, her two elbows in front of her face, aiming for his chest. He
ducked out of the way at the last moment, and managed to land his first hit, a rising kick that
combined with her speed, led to her hitting the wall at full speed.

It broke.

Fū came out of the hole laughing, clearing dust and debris off of her.

“That’s nice!” Her eyes shone. “Let’s take it a bit faster!”

Orange chakra spread around her like a miasma.

Somewhere in the stands, Gaara looked more interested than he had been in a while.

This was somebody like him, he was certain of it.

He would make sure to kill her himself.

And then he would crush Sarutobi. Or maybe in reverse order.

Fū inhaled, and blew towards Naruto.

More of the scale dust came out, hurling towards him at a high speed.

This looks like bad news.

He started spreading chakra through his body, enhancing his speed and reflexes. It didn’t seem like
he could afford not to fight at his best, even if it drained his stamina faster.

According to Hinata and Kiba, this allowed her to take control of her opponent’s limbs.

Better not to get anywhere close to it, until I’m sure how to finish this.

Fū appeared through the scales, dashing with her leg out.

She missed him narrowly, and then rose up toward the ceiling.

What now? He wondered.

She started spinning vertically, gaining speed at each turn. She then folded her wings, and started
falling towards him.

Chakra gathered along her leg, so much that Naruto could see it.

With a cry, she finished with a forceful heel kick.

This time, only the Lightning chakra he had been cycling through his body allowed him to dash
away, as the floor exploded where he had been one second ago.
Fū rose up again and started spinning once more.

Like hell I’m going to wait.

Naruto threw a smokescreen to the ground.

When the smoke went away, there were six of him. Each of them holding his battle staff.

Fū laughed in delight. “More of you to play with!”

She fell down again, diving for one of the Narutos in sight.

He tried to catch her with the staff but she was too strong.

He dispelled.

The other Narutos held the Snake seal, for Lightning release.

Now was his chance.

“Lightning Release: Flash Step.”

For some reason, he said it out loud. He was sure Toru would be proud.

Both the real Naruto and the clones moved at a much higher speed than before towards Fū, who
was still stuck in the ground.

Lightning flashed around their feet, and they didn’t hesitate when they got in range.

Five staffs blurred through the air and smashed with incredible force against the downed Fū.

She shrieked.

“Nice! I see you taught him how to use Lightning Style!” Gai exclaimed, teeth bright.

Kakashi pretended not to hear it. “…Did you say something?”

Well, this was his chance to finish it quickly. Hopefully that was enough.

Shame he hadn’t bothered learning the Raikiri.

Fū let out a high-pitched scream, and the resulting shockwave dispelled all of Naruto’s clones.

It also sent him flying back, his ears ringing.

“That hurt!” She wasn’t laughing anymore. Her injuries were pretty light, and she was already
healing - how? - but something told Naruto she wasn’t used to getting wounds that were not self-
inflicted.

Instead of showing his worry, he provoked her. “I’ll do better next time!”

“There won’t be a next time.” She said placidly.

“Wait and see.” He unsealed an explosive tag, let his chakra englobe it, and created three more
Kage Bunshin, who appeared with the same tag in hand.

He put the tag away.

His clones stood between him and Fū, legs wreathed in small amounts of Lightning, ready to
intercept her.

They moved, putting distance between themselves and the miasma cloud that was still following
them.

She halted.

“She only uses rushdown attacks, besides the cloud thing.” Sasuke had noted earlier. “Seems like
Naruto picked it up, too.”

“Yeah, he’s good.” Toru smiled. “No wonder he’s like the third... fourth best on this Uchiha team.

“I’m not Uchiha.” Kakashi corrected.

“Aren’t you called Kakashi of the Sharingan?” Toru asked.

“..Yes.” He smelled a trap here.

“Itachi has the same nickname. That’s as Uchiha as it gets.”

“I’ll take it.” Who could refute this kind of circular logic?

Naruto summoned more clones.

His chakra was starting to dwindle, but he had no better option.

They were made with smaller amounts of chakra, as their armbands attested.

That was the whole point, keeping as much as he could, while throwing in distractions for Fū.

He did the same signs as his clones did.

“Lightning Style: Lightning Clone Technique.”

The C-ranked version of the A-Rank Lightning Shadow Clone Technique might prove its worth
today.

The clones the technique created were more basic. They could think on a very rudimentary level,
and carry out attacks.

Jutsus, on the other hand, were something they couldn’t do.

Fū, deciding they were of no real danger, compared to the Shadow Clones, decided to dash through
one of them.

It dispelled, shocking her with a spark of electricity.

The nearest clone used this opportunity to smash her face with his staff, putting all of his weight in
it.

When she fell down, another was already upon her.

She dispelled both, but in the meantime, Naruto had summoned more of them.

She floated to the ceiling.

Naruto hesitated, but then nodded to his clones. He created even more Shadow clones, who stayed
on the ground.

The others focused some chakra in their legs, and jumped up to the ceiling, hanging upside down.

The lightning clones were waiting down.

Naruto was starting to be a bit lightheaded, and he wasn’t sure if it was from the chakra he was
spending… or hanging upside down.

Probably both.

He made a sign to his clones, and they started pulling out wires.

The D-ranked Lightning Style: Static Wire technique was applied to them, and he attached them to
kunai.

He handed some of them to his Lightning Clones as well.

Whenever Fū came close to any of them, they would use the wires to deliver smaller electric
shocks onto her.

And as she had only one pair of eyes, she couldn’t keep track of the constantly moving wires, held
by the clones running both on the ceiling and the ground.

If this wasn’t annoying enough, they managed to sneak in a few staff hits whenever one of them
could.

And they abused the Starlight technique to blind her as often as possible.

The Kakashi Method: Annoy Them Until They Make A Mistake.

Kakashi mimed wiping a proud tear from his eye.

Fū was starting to get frustrated.

No, scratch that. She was mad as shit.

This game of cat was not fun anymore.

She wanted to kill him.

Fū was fast, she knew it.

But the shitty Konoha monkey was pretty fast himself.

She had hoped he’d get tired soon, as she could see him getting winded.

But then he popped a soldier pill, shouting he could “ keep it up all day long if needed ”.

And then he started using bladed weapons as well.

The feeling of steel biting her ankles, and one that narrowly missed her eye was already too much.

This annoying, weak little ant…

She didn’t know any jutsu, as nobody in the village would risk teaching her until she had “proved
her loyalty”.

What kind of stupid bullshit was this?!

She hated the village, of course she could not pretend to be loyal!

Had she been thinking clearly, she probably would just have chosen to expand Chōmei’s Scale
Breath technique until it covered the whole arena.

But one of the clones slapped a Lightning Palm against her eye.

She saw red.

One moment the fight was going decently.

Well, semi-decently, maybe. She didn’t seem to get any tired, and there were only so many soldier
pills he could swallow before overdosing on them.

The fact she was getting angrier and sloppier had seemed like good news, at first.

But the more it went, the more chakra seemed to gather around her.

He tried not to think too much of it. No ninja actually got more chakra because of their emotions,
that made no sense. Sure, you could use more of it, but it would just fry you quicker.

He held back a laugh when a clone hit her with the Lightning Palm. He knew how bad this shit
hurt.

He stopped laughing when a malevolent aura of orange-green chakra exploded from her, nuking
his clones and making him fall from the ceiling.

As he fell, a huge — around three meters large — insectoid shape, with human-ish skin that looked
like it had been set on fire was upon him.

Kinda looks like a rhinoceros beetle…

Multiple blades of wind raged around the creature as it let out a high-pitched shriek.

What felt like a thousand cuts opened all over his body, before a high pressure scale blast hit him
straight on.

He smashed against the two-finger statue and drifted in and out of consciousness as he fell.
Kakashi leaped, full speed ahead, a pair of seals in his left hand.

The Hokage had already caught Naruto.

Gai distracted the Seven-Tails with a more overt attack, the kind that you could not afford to
ignore.

The seals were applied, and just as quickly as she had entered her version two mode, Fū reverted to
normal.

Asuma caught her, making sure to keep one wind-enhanced trench knife on her jugular.

The Waterfall jōnin said nothing. He already knew Fū was unstable. He just hoped the
consequences for himself and his two students would not be too dire.

If it were up to him, he would have gotten rid of the little monster a long time ago.

The match was over.

Fū was left alone with the Hokage, a stern looking man with burning eyes that belied his
composure.

The rush of battle had long left her body.

“This is against every treaty we have in place.” The Hokage said simply.

Fū bit her lip. This much, she knew.

“As you know, this leaves me no other option but to disqualify you.”

“No!”

“These are the rules.” The Fifth said, stonily.

“I beg you, please, not this!” I don’t want to get back to my team went unsaid.

The Hokage was already walking away.

She felt a pulse of hot, burning rage within her.

She forced it down when she felt his hard red eyes on her again.

This was the leader of a village, he was way stronger than her, she could tell.

And… her inability to ignore her impulses had led her to this situation in the first place, didn’t it?

Instead, she did the thing she had promised herself not to do anymore.

She melted, and started crying hot, ugly tears of frustration and disappointment.

In the arena, the proctor announced the result.

“Winner: Sarutobi Naruto”

His body bleeding and hurting from almost every angle, Naruto heard the verdict.

Ino was running towards him, followed by his team. He felt a bit warm, but could not move
without a wince, so he let them come.

Damn, but this is definitely my shittiest victory yet. The old man would definitely be proud.
 Interlude

Nobody liked her.

From the moment she was born, Ishikari knew she was the eighth. The eighth of what, she didn’t
know.

What she knew was that the people around her, especially women around her age, never liked her.

They never told her that, of course. But she could tell from the way they treated her.

Walking past her like she wasn’t there at all.

Talking about her in hushed tones.

She had tried building something with them, of course.

She had tried interacting with them, learning about what girls her age found interesting. She had
read all of the romance novels, learned about the most eligible bachelors. She had studied all of
this for hours.

But when the moment came… she couldn’t.

Her confidence blew like a candle in the wind.

No one smiled at her, told her they found her interesting.

She ended up giving up, over time.

Watching people live their lives, laugh, smile, and love.

The longing was even stronger then.

Why couldn’t she be like them?

The wish warped with time.

Soon enough, instead of punishing herself for being so weak…

She made up her mind.

If everybody seemed to believe something was wrong with her in the first place…

Well, she would give them a reason.

“This shit again?” Naruto wondered when he woke up.

His head was throbbing, and it was night. Apparently, he was in the hospital again.
His injuries had been more on the reasonable side, but nonetheless, he was to stay a few days.

Somebody had left him flowers while he was sleeping — which was for most of the day. “Ino.” He
thought with a smile.

There was also a book about Fūinjutsu, courtesy of his sensei… and a handwritten note, half of
which was written in smooth cursive, the other in messy, inky blots. Sasuke and Toru, then.

In the note, they explained that since he had "managed to stumble his way into the last round of
exams”, he read with a laugh, he would have the rest of the month to prepare for it.

Both Toru and Sasuke went to train with their clan.

Well, considering he himself was facing Sasuke in the first round, it was probably better to train
separately anyway.

That likely left him alone with Kakashi.

Truth be told, he liked the man and his casual way. Now knowing he could trust him to have his
back for sure was a relief.

“I think it’s time we started using your Kage Bunshin to speed up your training.” Kakashi had
declared.

“Huh?” Naruto said, more in surprise than anything else.

“Oh. I guess you never realized about the Kage Bunshin trick” Kakashi continued smugly, both
eyes closed. “Well, it’s no wonder, if you use it more for combat… Well, originally, the jutsu was
used for intell-”

Naruto laughed and held a hand up. “No, no. I know all this. I have a few clones doing some
reading for me right now, actually.”

“…” Kakashi folded his arms. “When were you planning on telling me..?”

“Uh.”

The older man sighed. “Well, no matter. Let’s get on with it.” Then he realized something. “Wait,
you said a few…?”

Kakashi had meant to use a single clone to focus on book-learning while the real Naruto trained
with him.

“Yeah, why?”

“…How many?”

“Around five today, I think.” He then added. “I can do more, though.”

That… shouldn’t be possible. Two would be pushing it, and the only way most people could make
it work is by having the clones sit almost entirely still, for only up to a few hours a day.

The human body was not meant to accommodate for the stress of living three days into a single
one.
And he was using five, everyday?

There was something here that didn’t add up.

“Oh, and I had four of them running missions for me, before.”

“Wait. That wasn’t just you speed-running your way through them?”

“Nah, clones.” Damn.

“Is this even legal?”

“No law against it.”

“Yet.”

“Yeah, yet. I used them to help me draw up some seals faster, too.”

Kakashi understood that either something about Sarutobi Naruto was very out of the ordinary, or he
was using a different technique altogether. He’d have to check with the Third.

He decided to pretend nothing was strange, here.

“What about elemental training?”

“Uh… I didn’t really think it would work, honestly. Wouldn’t it be doing the same thing over and
over again? I thought it’d be better to have them do different things.

“Nothing’s preventing you from decomposing the elemental training in several aspects, you know
this, right?”

Naruto said nothing. Truth be told, he hadn’t really considered this.

“And what about physical training?” If exhaustion was not really a problem…

God, the possibilities. He was jealous. Now, it was time to figure out the limits of this.

“Well… Clones can’t train my body.” Naruto said cautiously, already expecting his sensei to try to
make him look like a punk. That was the basis of their relationship, really.

“No, they can’t.” He admitted. “But muscle memory is a thing.”

“…Isn’t this a… muscle thing?”

“Nah, it’s procedural memory. Repeat it enough times, and you can do it with almost no conscious
effort.” He paused. “This would free you up to focus on other things in combat. Plus… even if it
really were a muscle thing, the principle would still hold.”

Naruto could see many ways this could be useful. Weapons training, katas, reflexes training, as
well as some aspects of speed training. “I see.”

“I’m glad your poor old sensei can still teach you a trick or two.”

“…Yeah. Thanks.”

“Thanks who..?”
“Thanks, sensei.” He managed between clenched teeth.

“That’s better.”

“So… Wind as a second affinity?” Kakashi asked, later.

“Yeah. Don’t know much about it, though.”

Kakashi thought. “Hmm… Sasuke is going to be a tough opponent and Wind definitely won’t help
against him. It’s your choice, of course, but I think you might be better off just focusing on
Lightning Style.”

“Sure thing.”

It was pretty rare for a genin to have two affinities, but he wasn’t about to let the little shit know.

During the day, he had a few clones doing more theory work, each of them created with the lowest
amount of chakra he could spare.

A few more were practicing Bōjutsu under the sporadic guidance of Hiruzen.

Well, it was mostly the old man telling him his footwork was sloppy, and how much better he had
been when he had been a child himself, yada, yada.

The tips were actually helpful, though.

Karin was walking through the village on a warm autumn night. Somehow, she had managed to get
herself in the last round of exams, when both of her teammates hadn’t.

They were a bit resentful, even though they said nothing about it directly. Wouldn’t want her to
feel she had something over them.

The fact they were now stuck in Konoha for a full month, just so the teammate they only saw as a
healing bank could compete added insult to the injury.

Her sensei trained her some, but she was starting to have the feeling that he was not doing a very
good job at it.

Maybe it was because he saw no use in training what was basically a walking medicine bag, maybe
it was because he was just plainly bad at it. Sure, he was a strong Jōnin, — wouldn’t want her
powers to be lost to the village entirely if she were to die — but a good sensei he wasn’t.

She had had so much trouble convincing the village leader to let her enter the academy. All for
what… this?

Kusa had pretty limited resources on shinobi training, outside of direct training. In this aspect,
Konoha was much better.

The only problem was that as a shinobi from Kusa — on decent terms with Konoha, but not a
trusted ally like Suna or Kumo, progressively —, she could only access very few of them.
She sighed. And now she was getting hungry on top of it.

Karin picked a food stall at random.

People were chatting loudly in it, some of them inebriated already. They seemed to be having fun.

There were some civilian teenagers as well, gesturing loudly, talking about their coming holiday.

Well, there was no hiding it. She was lonely.

She came closer to the counter to order.

Ramen, Sakura Rolls, Udon…

She wasn’t sure what to eat.

Somebody was talking. Karin continued reading, almost drooling.

Wait, were they talking to her?

“The sushi’s good. We ordered too much, actually, so if you want, come sit with us, we can share”.

That was the Sarutobi boy who had gotten absolutely destroyed by the insect girl.

He had also encouraged her, when no one would.

She said nothing, too surprised to react.

Sarutobi shrugged. “Take a seat. It’s cheaper if you eat at the counter itself, so…”

“Cheapskate. Didn’t you do like a ton of missions before the exams? What are you doing with the
money, even?” The pretty blonde girl asked, snorting.

“I was planning on buying your house and building a bar on top of it, actually.” He answered with a
straight face, not breaking eye contact with Karin. He did have very nice eyes.

“Pfft.” The girl, likely a Yamanaka, snorted.

There was another girl, with very long pink hair held in a low ponytail. She looked casual enough,
but nobody could miss the long scar that bisected her left eye. Or the way her left arm ended after
her biceps.

The girl threw her a friendly-enough look, so she just nodded in greeting.

Sarutobi patted the chair next to him. She felt a bit shy still, but took a seat.

“Hello.” She said, a bit nervously.

“Hi.”

“I’m Karin, I’m from Kusa. Pleased to meet you.” She introduced herself, not forgetting her
manners.

“Sarutobi Naruto. That’s Yamanaka Ino, and Haruno Sakura.” He returned.

Ino stared at Naruto. “Aren’t you such a big sociable guy, now, huh.”
“What do you mean?” He asked innocently.

“…Never mind.”

“Is it about making introductions for you?”

Ino ignored him and turned to Karin.

“You had… quite a show in the preliminaries.” She said with a small smile.

Oh. That.

Karin blushed. She kinda had… lost control back then.

“Ah. Uh. Sorry if it was unseemly.”

“Not at all.” Ino laughed easily. “The guy seemed to be a real asshole.”

“Still…”

“It’s a shinobi fight. You did perfectly fine.” Ino reassured.

“Losing control is always a bit…”

“Don’t tell me you regret it.” Ino sighed. The girl seemed a bit reserved, maybe she’d have to tease
some reaction out of her.

“What? No!” Karin huffed, before she could think. “I didn’t say that. I just wish I could have
sneaked a couple more punches in, ‘yaknow.” She said, palming her fist.

The Sarutobi’s eyes widened a bit when he heard her.

Ah shit. Here she went again. She felt herself blush up to her roots.

The three Konoha ninjas — or likely former ninja, in the Haruno girl’s case — paused. For a
second, Karin thought she had said something she shouldn’t have.

Then they started laughing.

“I think we’ll get along just fine.” Ino snorted.

“Mah. This sure is weird, preparing one of your precious students to face the other.”

“…”

“I wonder how much I should say, and still remain fair to both Sasuke and you.” He sighed. “And
what happens if any of you manage to win your matches and end up facing poor Toru…?
Questions, questions. Any thoughts?”

No answer.

“What about your little Yamanaka friend? Could you fight her at full capacity? I heard you were
close. And the tiny red-head I sometimes see you with?”

“…”
“You’re not very talkative today, are you, Naruto?”

Naruto exploded. “You’re standing on my back!”

Kakashi kept on increasing the weights he used, and when Naruto conveniently “forgot” about
them, he had decided to improvise.

“Ah yes. True. You can stay silent.”

“I mean it, Kakashi’s a real dick, sometimes. And don’t get me started on the old man, he’s the
worst! Can you believe he actually had me believe he had some sort of Dōjutsu called the “Wise
Monkey Eye” when I was a kid?” Naruto grumbled.

Karin stifled a laugh, next to him.

“You actually believed it?” She asked softly.

“I was five! FIVE!” He shouted. “How could I know better?”

“I should have known he was making it up…” He put his finger on his forehead, and pretended to
focus. He took on his best old man voice. “ This eye is a powerful one… It allows me to make
children who don’t make their bed… disappear in the Shadow Monkey Realm. Forever.”

She let out a big belly laugh before catching herself, blushing.

“I kinda wish I had that.” She said, wistfully.

Ah. True. She was an orphan, too.

“Well, no worries, I’ll bring you to meet the old man, then.” He said, with more cheer than he felt
at the reminder she was alone. “He can probably teach you a trick or two.”

She tried not to allow herself to feel hopeful. “You think so?”

“Definitely. Just ignore his… eccentricities.”

Naruto met Fū by accident on the day the team from Taki was leaving.

For once, she was not smiling anymore.

He felt some sort of vindictive glee at that.

It didn’t make up for what she had done to Shino, not even close.

She threw a murderous look at him, and he knew that if they met outside of the village, all bets
were likely off.

He shot her a placid smile in return, and left before he could see her reaction.

The month was over pretty fast.

He trained with Kakashi during the day, left some clones to practice with weapons, two more to do
the reading.

Biwako took a liking to Karin, telling the old man she reminded her of Kushina — whoever that
was. The old man did well on his promise, and gave her some helpful instruction.

Nothing too specific, of course, Kusa was still a tentative ally. A few rare books went a long way,
though.

Naruto met with his friends whenever they all had free time, which became rarer and rarer as the
month went.

He saw Karin more often, overall, and he enjoyed the redhead’s company. Something about her
felt very familiar, in a way.

Citizens from Suna and Kumo arrived in the days before the finals.

Naruto watched them come, with a few of his friends.

There was only one participant from Kusa, and nobody came to Karin.

A large group of Kumo ninjas arrived. Most of them had dark skin, and imposing physiques.

At their helm was a man that was even larger, with slicked back pale blond hair. That was A, the
fourth Raikage. He looked like the surly type.

Suna’s delegation came, puppets in tow, and part of their faces obscured by veils.

The Kazekage was a man who looked like an older version of Gaara, and just as friendly.

Both of the Kage made the Fifth Hokage look approachable, which was saying something.

The three of them met at the gate, and they exchanged greetings that were more or less genuine.

There was some tension in the air, especially between the Kazekage and the Raikage.

He’d have to ask the old man about that, at some point.

The day after, the exams started in the morning.

 Leaves, Dancing

The arena was packed.

As far as Naruto could remember, this was the first time he had seen so many people in one place.
He had been too young to remember the Fifth’s inauguration and the impressive fireworks
displays, and the yearly village events were either more spread out in terms of space, or simply
involved less people.

He brought Konohamaru, who was grinning like the little fool he was, — very endearing, though
— to Biwako, who wished him good luck with a slight smile.

He passed in front of the Hyuuga clan, where a man who looked like an older Neji, as well as his
identical copy gave him an indifferent glance.

Hinata saluted him, with a polite smile and her little sister, who was two years younger — if he
remembered right from the academy — stuck her tongue out of him, eliciting a gasp from her
sister.

“Hanabi!”

“Nah, I don’t mind, really.” He smiled amused.

When Hinata looked away, he mouthed “Little shit” to the younger girl, who seemed shocked.

Served her right.

Uchiha Shisui was the proctor of the last exam.

Naruto wasn’t sure how they had managed to get one of Konoha’s shining stars to work on one of
his few days off, but they had done it.

The two foreign Kage were sitting in the lodge, along with the Third, who was there as an
esteemed guest.

The Godaime announced the start of the finals.

“Esteemed ladies and gentlemen.” He started. “Welcome! All of you have our thanks for gathering
here in Konoha for the Chūnin selection.”

The crowd roared in delight as several Uchiha clan members set off intricate fire jutsu towards the
sky.

“We will now begin the matches of the final round between our fourteen candidates.”

Fugaku waved a hand. “Sit back and enjoy the show!”

He sat down and sighed, once he was sure nobody was looking.

“Are you embarrassed?” The Third asked.

“…I never really liked this sort of spectacle.” Fugaku answered, cheeks looking a bit red.
The Kazekage hid a snort and the Raikage let out a booming laugh.

“That’s the best part, though, Hokage-dono!”

“Alright, you guys ready? Face the audience, they’re here for you, after all.” Shisui said casually.

“Rules are simple. Fight until defeat, or until the moment I declare a clear winner.”

He let his eyes roam over them, and even without having activated the Sharingan, they felt his
sharp gaze.

“One more thing.” He said, tone serious. “Let’s avoid the killing. I’ll intervene if needed.”

His eyes stayed on Gaara for a touch longer than anybody else, — besides Toru, but then he looked
amused — to make his point clear.

“Now, there are more Konoha ninjas than last time, but yeah, let’s say it’s because the exam is
taking place at home.” He winked at them.

Some of them didn’t seem particularly amused.

“Let’s start. First match: Hyuuga Neji and Takai, from Kumo. The rest of you, go to the waiting
room.”

Watching Neji fight was always a bit worrying, Sasuke felt.

The Kumo ninja, having watched him before, decided to keep some distance between them.

He attacked with a few far-reaching Lightning Style ninjutsu.

The problem he soon faced was that he had based his whole strategy on the basis that Neji was a
close-range fighter.

Ignoring one major aspect, that being that Neji knew exactly how most people would approach a
fight against him.

He weaved through the lightning bolts, conserving his stamina. He had practiced fighting against
Tenten hundreds of times.

So what if the weapons were replaced by Raiton techniques? It was all the same to him, and he
also had the added advantage of seeing exactly how his opponent was going to use his chakra, by
the way he focused it.

Once he saw the three different attack patterns the Kumo ninja used, the game was set.

He waited until Takai used his Electric Needle technique again, and from his obscured position in
the dust cloud it created, he struck.

A vacuum palm caught the Kumo ninja in the chest, and Neji was upon him the next instant.
The Raikage palmed his face.

“Did nobody tell him the Hyuuga have had long-range attacks as well?” He grumbled.

The Third laughed. “Well, the crowd seems to have loved it, anyway.”

It was true, they were roaring their approval.

“Kankurō from Suna, and Karin, from Kusa.” Shisui called.

Ino cheered for her, and Naruto accompanied her to the gate.

“Be careful with him. He’s not his brother, but he’s strong, too.” He said.

“Yes. We’ve worked on a plan, anyway.” Karin said, with more confidence than she felt.

He nodded. He hoped she would be alright.

Karin swallowed nervously as she looked into Kankurō’s eyes.

“Try you best.” He said, with a confident smirk.

“Kugutsu no Jutsu: Art of the Puppet Master.”

The bands around his puppet unpeeled, revealing its four-armed, grotesque shape.

Up so close, Karin could see the thin threads of chakra he was using to control it.

Without further ceremony, he sent his puppet flying after her.

She dashed in and to the left, rather than away. There was no point putting more distance between
them, as he had the reach advantage anyway.

The puppet’s blade whistled, and she noticed they were coated in poison, from their gleam.

She had to fall back with a yelp, as the puppet opened its mouth, throwing several darts towards
her.

“He’s definitely trying to keep me at a distance.” She thought. Good. She had been afraid of him
actually being good at close-range fighting.

Karin was not sure how many hidden weapons the puppet had, and it was hard to predict its moves,
compared to a human opponent. She could not see any chakra buildup, and thus was forced to rely
on her other senses more.

And she didn’t trust her eyes too much.

A smoke bomb was released by the puppet. She rolled, making sure to keep the smoke screen in
between her and Kankurō.

Then, as the smoke cleared, she felt it.

“Huh.”
His chakra signature had moved. She could definitely see Kankurō in front of her, where he had
been, but this was not his real body anymore.

He was hiding in the trees, maneuvering his puppet from there, while having left an illusory clone
in his place.

Not bad, and it would likely have worked on someone else. But Karin could pinpoint his actual
location.

“Now, while he thinks he’s safe is my best opportunity.”

She pretended to fall for his trap and went after the illusion.

“Damn, she fell for the clone trick.” Sasuke noted with a wince.

“She didn’t.” Naruto assured.

She let herself move according to the puppet’s attacks, slowly coming closer to Kankurō's hiding
place, without making it too obvious.

“Okay, I should be in range, now. Let’s not fumble this one up.”

She dug into her pocket quickly, and got her water pouch out.

Gallons of water exploded from the seal once she activated it.

Ox, Tiger, Dog, Bird, Dog.

“Water Style: Water Fang Technique”

The B-rank jutsu, that she had practiced over the last month, shaped the mass of water into a jagged
looking maw. Then the compacted water started spinning, adding to its maiming power.

Kankurō noticed too late where it was headed.

“Oh, shit.” He let out.

“Nice one, Karin!” Ino shouted her support.

“Where did she learn that?” Toru asked. He was pretty sure that she hadn’t known Water style one
month ago.

Naruto shrugged. This was between the Third and her.

The tree bark had exploded when the water jutsu smashed through it.

It had also protected Kankurō from most of the impact. Instead of laying down with his body
gouged, he was still able to move, if breathing hard.
“…Okay. I’m done playing.” He managed, blood running down his face.

His puppet opened its second layer quickly.

“What is this?” Karin thought.

The puppet’s arsenal exploded, and thin needles flew in every direction, as the puppet spun.

Several of these needles hit Karin, and Kankurō as well.

He uncorked a vial and downed it quickly.

“You’ve lost.” He said, simply. The blood-loss was getting to him.

Karin said nothing, preparing her next jutsu.

Ox, Tiger, Dragon… Wait, what was it again?

“Why do I feel so… shluggish?” She asked, slurring. She needed to… heal… bite… something?

Wait, why would she bite herself…? She laughed. Silly.

“This is my fastest acting concoction. Give up, now, girl.”

She couldn’t think.

Everything was spinning.

Where was she?

What was she doing..?

What was she?

She didn’t even realize the puppet caught her inside its belly, until Kankurō gave her the antidote.

“Winner: Kankurō of Suna!” Shisui announced.

The crowd clapped. It had been a nice match, as far as ninja deception tricks went.

“Damn, I lost already.” Karin thought glumly.

It had been going well, too. If only she hadn’t gotten careless, maybe…

Why did she always mess things up?

“Great match, Karin, really thought you had him!” Ino cheered.

Naruto smiled at her. “Told you the old monk-… Sarutobi-sama had a few tricks to teach. This
water technique was amazing. And the way you made him drop his guard, too!”

She smiled, hesitantly at first, then for real. Maybe this wasn’t all that bad, then.
“Wish me luck!” Ino said, bossy as always.

“Good Luck, Ino-san” Karin said with a smile.

Naruto mumbled something.

“What was that?” Ino said, cupping her ear in an exaggerated motion. “Can’t hear depressing
people.”

He rolled his eyes.

“You can give me a good luck kiss, instead.” Ino said, batting her eyebrow exaggeratedly.

Naruto looked at her, pretending to consider it.

She blushed and ran away, telling him she had changed her mind.

Toru gave him a knowing look, — and too much eyebrow wiggling — to which he shrugged.

“That’s Ino, she likes joking a lot.” He simply said.

“Tenten, from Konoha, against Yamanaka Ino, also from Konoha. Begin.” Shisui declared.

“She’s a Yamanaka, trained under a Sarutobi, with Nara and Akimichi teammates.” Tenten
thought. “Her whole plan probably is to trap me somehow and then take control of my body. I
should avoid anything she leaves on the ground, no matter what it is."

Tenten saw Ino weave hand-signs, likely for a genjutsu technique. She flicked her wrist, and in one
fluid motion, an explosive kunai — milder in power, of course, this was a fellow Konoha ninja —
was sent flying from the tag she had wrapped around it.

Ino was forced to abort her technique, and take cover quickly.

Tenten felt a minor genjutsu take hold of her. She didn’t know what it was for, but was not
planning to discover it.

The usual dispel didn’t work, and her reality was starting to blur, especially her sense of hearing,
which seemed to echo more and more. This had the added effect of making her lose her balance
and affecting her sight, as well.

Well… She smirked.

Team Gai had their own methods for dispelling genjutsu.

“This is going to hurt.”

She punched herself right in the face.

“Gai…” Kakashi sighed.

Gai laughed, a bit sheepishly. “I had no other option. With Lee on the team, I had to make sure
everybody had a reliable way to get out of illusions.”
He shrugged. “Plus it’s working.”

Tenten spat a bloody tooth.

“Alright, time to end it before she can try anything else.”

She dug for her orange scroll. She had planned to keep it for later, but Ino was wily. She knew the
match could be over quickly.

“Manipulated Tools: Firestorm”

She unfurled the scroll around her in a twirl. Bombs were ejected at high velocity, covering the
floor of the arena.

Ino yelped.

The floor of the arena shook from the repeated explosions.

Ino fell to the ground, propelled by one of them. She was only covered in light burns, as she had
already started to run when Tenten got the explosives out.

She rushed Ino down. Before she could stand up, Tenten’s naginata was unsealed and on her throat.

She looked downright pissed, but yielded.

Kakashi threw a side-look at Asuma.

He winced. “That one’s on me. Ino, Shikamaru and Chōji were trained more as a team unit than
solo fighters.”

Gai looked offended. “Don’t downplay the power of Tenten’s hard work!”

Asuma threw his hands up in the air. “No, not at all. She’s a strong ninja, and a very bad match-up
for Ino, on top of it.”

Gai nodded. “That’s better.”

“Aaaaaaaaahhhhhh! I can’t believe I LOST!” Ino screamed, covered in bandages. “In the first
round! To someone from the village!” She looked around, and added. “No disrespect, Tenten.”

Tenten laughed. “No offense taken.”

“I’ve lost in the first round, too.” Karin said, a little amused. “It’s not that bad, you said.”

“I know, I know.” Ino sighed. “Still…”

“Hypocrite.” Naruto whispered. Karin stifled a laugh.

“What was that?!”

“I said “good that you quit”. Wouldn’t want you to get injured for real.” Ino glared at him, not
believing him. “You’ll win next time, Ino-chan. Nothing can keep you down.” He put a hand on
her shoulder, rubbing it.

Ino huffed, cheeks a little red. “Damn right, I will.”

Chōji looked on, baffled, as his bossy teammate actually seemed relaxed.

“I think it’s time.” Sasuke smiled.

“Yeah.” Naruto answered, simply.

“Let’s do our best, then.” He held out his fist, and Naruto bumped it.

They both jumped into the arena, to Toru’s cheers.

Ino shouted Naruto good luck, dragging a shyer Karin in it.

Neji’s sharp eyes noticed his cousin, far away, stare at the Uchiha, with a small smile. “Huh.
Interesting.” He was a bit amused.

“So, which one are you betting on?” Asuma asked, taking a drag of his cigarette.

“I’m their teacher, I don’t bet on them.”

“Senpai, with all due respect… I don’t believe you.” A new voice called.

Uchiha Itachi had sneaked his way into the Jōnin’s tribune, without most of them noticing. That
was par the course, for him.

He was wearing a casual black outfit, and was snacking on some dango.

Hard to believe this was likely one of the strongest ninjas in the entire world.

If Itachi noticed some of the Suna ninjas take a step away — and he likely did —, he didn’t say
anything.

Kakashi shrugged. “Even if I did bet on them, I wouldn’t tell you.”

“Fair enough.” Itachi smiled. “But my little brother is still going to win this.”

“Uchiha Sasuke, from Konoha.” The village cheered for its leader’s second son.

“Sarutobi Naruto, also from Konoha.” The legendary Third Hokage’s grandson in all but name.
They cheered just as hard.

“Begin.”
 Spellbound

Naruto didn’t really want to be a ninja.

The only thing he wanted was to learn about chakra and get strong enough to live his life in peace.
And the way the village worked, this meant becoming a shinobi.

He didn’t really believe in all the Will of Fire ideology, either. That was his honest truth.

Konoha was a nice place to live in, but he was sure he would say the same thing if he was born
in… let’s say, Iwa, Suna, or Kumo.

They probably had their own form of patriotic “truth”. Wish of Sand, Will of Stone, Cloud’s Edict
or something…

He snorted.

He had people he loved in here, and he wanted to keep them safe. Just like many others, he was
sure. This was the best way to bring people in the fold, after all.

Even more so when most of the people you were close to as a ninja… were also ninjas.

The loop was almost perfect, really.

Truth be told, if he knew of a safe way to get out of the shinobi corps, he’d take the time to learn
everything he could, and then get out.

But if there was a way out, he didn’t know of it yet.

So he would do the seven years he had signed for — and man, he really should have read the fine
print, but well, he had been six at the time — and then retire.

“Nineteen-years old retiree.” Had a nice ring to it.

So yeah. He didn’t really want to be a ninja.

But, if this were entirely true…

Why was his blood boiling?

Why was he so excited to test himself against Sasuke?

Despite himself, he grinned.

He felt something deep within him stir.

“Father is watching”. Sasuke thought . Mother was here too, sitting with the rest of the clan.
“Wait… Is this..?”

He squinted his eyes, then remembered he had the Sharingan.

That was Itachi, indeed, leaning against the railing, in the Jōnin lodge.
“He managed to come!”

Despite himself, he felt giddy. He would show all of them how much he had improved.

“Here we go.”

He slipped in the Uchiha loose Taijutsu stance.

Gaara watched attentively.

He would face one of them later on, and he was getting very eager.

His brother stepped a bit further away from him.

Sasuke threw a fistful of shuriken.

Both Naruto and he knew they couldn’t drag the fight for too long, considering this was only the
first match.

They would try to settle this quickly.

Naruto dodged to the right, mindful of the fact he had probably hidden a second volley within their
shadows. Possibly ninja wire, too. So he rushed him.

They exchanged blows.

The only reason Naruto was able to keep up with Sasuke’s speed was because of sporadic
Lightning Release use — this was the best he could manage for the moment.

He tried the Electric Palm, which Sasuke dodged easily.

The Uchiha’s fist scuffed his chin in retaliation.

All the while, he was trying to make eye contact.

“Avoid his eyes.” Kakashi had said.

Sasuke might have been pretty average at Genjutsu, — for an Uchiha — but he decided not to take
the risk.

His teammate was faster than him, when he was not using Lightning Release.

He had stronger mid to long range techniques and could also predict his moves when he came into
melee range.

Overall, the odds were against him.

Luckily, he had had a full month to prepare. He put some distance between the two of them.

Sasuke let him do it, knowing he had more techniques he could make use of at this range anyway.

Naruto put his fingers in the cross shape he had become familiar with.
“Kage Bunshin no Jutsu.”

Toru groaned. He hated the Shadow Clone technique.

“Not this again.”

Two clones appeared, each packed with a third of his chakra.

This should allow them to take a few hits. He hoped. Otherwise, this was a lot of chakra expanded
for nothing.

Each of them unhooked their staff. This should help prevent Sasuke from just bursting them with
Taijutsu or weapons.

“Lightning Style: Flash Step.”

Their legs wreathed in electricity, the clones dashed to form a triangle against Sasuke, negating
some of the advantage his Sharingan gave him.

If that wasn’t enough, the flashbangs they carried on hand and were ready to throw down at a
moment’s notice should help.

Even if the two other Narutos were blinded, the one who made use of it could prepare adequately.

“Not bad.” Gai said. “Goot footwork on young Naruto, too. Did you teach him this, Kakashi?”

“Eh.” It had mostly been the Sandaime.

“What’s your brother gonna do, Itachi-kun?” Asuma asked, curious.

He shrugged. “Wait and see.” His Sharingan eyes were spinning lazily, but the interest in his eyes
was real.

The crowd roared in approval.

Flashy jutsu, clones. Add some fire, explosions, and this was everything the civilians liked about
shinobi fights, Sasuke thought.

Sasuke’s eyes roamed over him and his clones, understanding that he would have to keep his guard
high.

He also noticed that all three Narutos kept their eyes on his upper body, making sure to dodge eye
contact. What’s more, he could see that the clones had bound their hands with copper wire, and a
thin wire linked all three of them.

Naruto and his doubles stayed unmoving. Sasuke would see them dash before they did.

The Uchiha threw six kunai, so fast that most of the audience missed the moment he got them out.
Three were headed straight at the clones, and three to the wires.

He then leaped in between two of them, intent on getting out the triangle.

When a clone of Naruto jumped up to intercept him, Sasuke had already weaved the signs for the
Flame Bullet technique.

He prepared to let loose-

And felt a wire dig into his left shin, pulling him to the ground. The next instant, a powerful
electrical shock went through his body.

This made him release his hold on his technique early, and miss the clone entirely.

He cursed as he was brought back to the ground. He tried to cut the wire, but it was a bit thicker
than he thought.

Also, he had trouble mustering enough strength, when he was getting lighting shocks every half
second.

He reached for his chakra.

The clones rushed to get him.

One of them smashed his staff into his ribcage, making him lose his breath. The second came at
him with the electric palm, with the intent of ending it right away.

Sasuke saw it coming though and dodged it easily enough.

He got another electric shock for his trouble.

He grunted, and transformed the chakra he had been cycling into Fire.

Sasuke grabbed a firm hold of the wire, and the flame went along its length quickly.

One of the Narutos yelped as he got burned, before bursting in smoke.

“Finally.”

Sasuke leapt away at full speed. The wire had left burn marks around his shin.

“Two people can play this game, you idiot!” He called out, not sure what came over him.

Whenever he and Naruto fought seriously, something overcame him. He had the feeling that he
became a different person. One that was way more hot-headed.

“Still so confident, Itachi?” Kakashi asked neutrally.

“Yes.”

The two clones gave up on the copper wire. His own improvised version of the superior Lightning
Transmission worked well enough, but he wasn’t about to risk getting himself set on fire if he
could avoid it.
Ox. Tiger. Horse. Snake.

He focused his chakra in his hand and held it.

Sasuke watched curiously as nothing happened. He could see his hand shining brightly, as Naruto
came towards him, and probably figured it was a melee attack.

Naruto’s clone threw a smoke bomb, forcing Sasuke to leap back, keeping his eyes on the cloud.

“Fūinjutsu: Smoke Absorption Technique.” “Lighting Release: Blinding Flash.”

Naruto and his clone had their eyes closed in the smoke so they avoided the worst of it. Even then,
particles danced behind his eyelids.

Sasuke, well… Got the worst of it.

“Aaahhh, my eyes! Shit, it burns!” He jumped back, blindly.

Naruto and his clone didn’t hesitate, sending Sasuke flying away with two coordinated, Lightning-
enhanced staff attacks. They jumped after him.

“That was… pretty nice.” Itachi admitted.

“Keeping Sasuke’s eyes on the flashbangs so that he would get blinded by the jutsu he didn’t see
coming.” Gai nodded.

“Naruto is a crafty little bastard.” Kakashi admitted easily.

He got weird looks for it.

“Fire Style: Fire Wall”

Naruto only barely managed to avoid getting roasted on the two-meters high jutsu.

His clone didn’t.

Combined with the chakra he had recovered — and expanded, too —, he was at a bit less than half
his full capacity.

Sasuke glared at him, cornea red from having rubbed his eyes.

Naruto answered by throwing an explosive kunai at him.

He saw Sasuke’s eyes widen.

Then he waited.

He didn’t see Sasuke come out of the smoke.

“Uh. Did he dodge, or…?”

A fist hit him in the back of the head, making him eat dirt.
Sasuke stood behind him, fist extended.

“How did he move so fast…? Did he learn the Body Flicker?”

He didn’t think too hard about it. This was unimportant. Focus on Sasuke.

He cycled his chakra.

He led with a straightforward staff attack, which Sasuke redirected. He twirled around, trying to
knock his legs off the ground, and the Uchiha jumped.

Sasuke came down with a vertical kick, and Naruto let go of his staff, to his surprise. He caught it
with his left forearm.

Lightning transformation.

The electricity that went through his right arm enhanced his speed and strength.

Sasuke only had the time to widen his eyes before the Lighting Strike technique hit him.

“This should definitely knock him out.”

Naruto had used most of his remaining chakra in the blow, confident in his ability to hit him just
once, with the effect of surprise.

His fist caught Sasuke in the plexus. A perfect hit.

Then it went through, like butter.

“What-”

Sasuke exploded in flames.

“Your son sure is something, Hokage-dono!” The Raikage said in approval. He was entertained.

“Yes. He is.” The proud father admitted.

Naruto groaned, covered in burns. His shinobi gear was mostly ruined too, especially the fabric
parts.

He stood up slowly, removing the remnants of his shirt.

…Did he hear somebody whistle or was he just out of it?

“I’ve been stupid.”

The real Sasuke got out from the smoke, similar burns covering his skin.

“You… took an explosive note head-on?” Naruto asked, dumbfounded.

“Of course not.” He snorted. “Just had to make you believe I did. It was a close call, anyway.”

Ah. He had caught his eyes, hadn’t he…?

The Genjutsu Sasuke had placed on him faded.

No wonder he wasn’t thinking too hard on how Sasuke had moved. He had been under the effect of
Sasuke’s suggestion.

Average at Genjutsu for an Uchiha still meant heads above almost any ninja.

He could see that Sasuke was getting tired, too. He would try to end this. He weaved through hand
signs quickly, ending on Tiger.

“Fire Release: Ember Clone Technique.” A double of Sasuke appeared.

“Oh, that’s what I hit, then.”

“You’re not the only one who knows how to make clones, Naruto.” Sasuke said with a half-smile.
He was getting really tired, now.

“Eh. At this point, I don’t think I can even make any.”

They settled for a Taijutsu match.

A weaponless Naruto weaved under a fist. A knee hit him in the nose. “Ow.”

He dodged the kick aimed at his back. Not the elbow in his liver.

“God. I hate close combat with Uchihas.”

At this rate, he’d get knocked out in two minutes, at most.

“Time to improvise”.

He smiled a bloody grin.

When both Sasuke and his clone’s attacks reached him, he let his chakra engulf him.

“Lighting Style: Depth Charge.”

The fire clone exploded, engulfing both him and a surprised, very real Sasuke in flames.

“Uh. That doesn’t look very safe.” Karin winced.

“He… probably knows what he’s doing…?” Ino said, tentatively. She was worried, though.

“Why the hell did you do this?!” Sasuke shouted, his own hair singed. His arms were raw. He
wasn’t sure he was going to be able to go on.

Naruto grinned, a bit shaky on his feet.

“I’m not going to let you win easily, ‘yaknow.”

It was time to end it. He’d go in with a Flash Step and…

Yup, anytime now.

Why was everything so blurry?

“God, I’m so exh-”

Naruto fell on his back.

“… You know what. I’m good. You won this one, Sasuke.” He managed.

“Wait, what?” Sasuke said, in confusion.

“Winner: Uchiha Sasuke!” Shisui declared.

The crowd roared.

“Welcome to the club.” Ino said, hiding her own worry, after Toru and Karin had left the infirmary.

“What club…?”

“Losers’.”

Naruto snorted. He was covered in ointments and bandages. Everything hurt.

“At least I gave my opponent some trouble.”

“What did you say?!”

Kakashi laughed. Naruto seemed in decent spirits, at least.

Rock Lee’s match against Akimichi Chōji was a short affair.

The Akimichi was stronger physically, for sure, but Lee was so much faster that there was not
much he could do.

“Uchiha Toru, from Konoha, against Gaara, from Suna.”

Shisui observed his brother a bit longer than needed.

Toru nodded.

“Begin.”

“You’re going to die.” Gaara said, flatly.

“I’ve heard this one before.”

Sand exploded from Gaara’s gourd. This was not the person he really wanted to kill, the Sarutobi.
But he had likely overestimated that one, if he had lost already.

Disappointing.

By crushing this one, he could also reach the Hokage’s son next. Gaara wondered what the man
would think when he killed his son.

The corks’ stopper exploded, and sand rushed out.

Toru initiated with a fire jutsu.

“Uchiha Clan Hidden Art: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique.” He shouted.

For the audience.

“Why must he always be like this…?” Shisui groaned, hiding his eyes.

Itachi, who had come down the stairs to join him, just threw a side-look.

You tended to get the brother you raised.

The seven fireballs halted against Gaara’s sand.

“Hmm. No damage, then.”

Sand came to him in a line of vertical spikes.

Sharingan on, he sprinted to the right.

He drew his tantō, full speed ahead, and went for Gaara’s neck. He came from a clan of ninjas, and
had no particular qualms with killing.

Especially when it came to somebody like Gaara, who definitely didn’t, either.

He struck.

“Ah, shit.” His sword was stuck in the sand. He somersaulted away, rather than try to catch his
sword. “It’s yours, now.”

Gaara crushed it.

“I see it’s going to take more firepower, then.”

He quickly figured explosive tags did nothing, either.

Gaara was getting a bit antsy, it seemed. Probably didn’t like having trouble catching him.

He still was only decent with the Body Flicker, compared to Shisui, but that was enough to stay
away from the sand.

His Sharingan also would allow him to spot any possible trap the Sand ninja could set up.

There was no point in waiting. If this technique didn’t work… He’d have to improvise.

He started weaving the hand signs for his most powerful fire jutsu.

Bird, Dog, Bird, Ox, Horse, Ram, Snake, Monkey, Rat, Horse, Ox, Dragon, Monkey, Snake,
Monkey, Horse, Rat, Dragon, Hare, Tiger.
“Uchiha Clan Hidden Art: Dragon’s Piercing Hellstrike.” He called out, as loud as he could.

The Raikage asked. “Hokage-dono. I’m getting curious. Are these really Uchiha clan
techniques…?”

Fugaku just sighed.

Next to him, the Third said nothing.

“This is worse than Minato. At least, he invented his own techniques instead of renaming existing
ones.” He thought.

Toru’s cheeks bulged, and his face was sweating from the strain.

Gaara watched on, curiously.

He almost missed it.

A thin spear of compressed flame and heat shot through his automatic defense, turning part of it to
glass.

For a second, Gaara’s heart stopped beating.

He couldn’t see anything.

When he got his breathing under control, he realized that the same thing had happened with his
second layer of armor, the one he wore over his entire body.

With a grunt, he peeled off the crystallized layer that had protected him from the beam.

…What was that feeling?

Something was in his eyes.

He wiped them and his forehead with a hand.

Blood. He was bleeding.

“Ah. Well.” Shisui said to Itachi.

“Yes. The sand was too much for him, it seems.”

“Lightning would have done the trick, I think. Too bad he doesn’t have any affinity for it.”

Toru walked toward Gaara, breathing a bit harder.

“Ah. Well.” He scratched his head. “Fire Style has never been my strong suit. Don’t know what I
was thinking here.”

“…What did you do?” Gaara asked.

“Oh, wow. It actually scratched you?” He said, surprised.

“I will kill you.”

Toru said nothing. He had said it before already, but the air around him seemed heavier this time.
Better not to provoke him too much.

Well…

His strongest elemental attack had failed him.

He had no way of getting through the sand, he knew as much now.

Luckily, he had one last weapon. If this failed too, he would give up as well.

“What is he going to do?” Naruto, who had managed to crawl his way to the stands again, —
sneaking past a nurse — asked.

“Nothing good, most likely.” Sasuke answered. He knew this expression.

Gaara let his chakra flow freely. The earth reacted accordingly, and sand rose from it.

He would take his time.

No. He would do it in an instant. Crush him before the proctor, who definitely was related to him,
reacted…

First came the wave-

“Will you forfeit, Gaara of the Desert?” Toru asked.

“What.” He thought.

He said nothing.

“I said.” Toru repeated. “Will you forfeit, Gaara of the Desert?”

“What kind of empty threat is this.” Gaara ground out.

Toru shrugged. “No threat here. Just asking.”

“Die instead.”

Sand projectiles forced Toru to run.

Gaara started using his hands, making them go even faster. Some of them nicked him.

He wouldn’t be able to keep it up for long.

Toru asked again, breath ragged. “Will you forfeit, Gaara of the Desert?”

Gaara snorted.

He knew what he had planned to answer. “Why would I forfeit , when you’re about to die?”

What came out instead was “I forfeit.”

Gaara blinked. “What had just-?”

Toru beamed. “Great!”

“Winner: Uchiha Toru!”

The crowd was too confused to know how to react.

There were a few timid claps, from people who had guessed this was some ninja technique, and
some jeers, even.

Toru took it in stride, waved at the audience and left the arena sprinting, before Gaara could
understand what had just happened.

When he did, the Kazekage had to step into the arena to calm him down from his rage.

In the end, only the presence of the two other Kage — one with the threat of a fully matured
Sharingan — prevented an international accident.

“Um.” Naruto blinked.

“What happened here…?” Ino asked, just as confused.

“You mean, why Gaara gave up, I guess?” Toru asked.

They nodded.

“Well…” He looked at them very seriously.

“Yes.” They were hanging on to his lips.

“…is a family secret!” He laughed.

“You little-” Ino started, her temper already flaring. Toru was only laughing harder.

“Trigger.” Sasuke said.

“What did you say?” Naruto asked.

“He used a trigger?” Karin asked.

Sasuke nodded. “Yes. My brother showed me how it worked.” He rubbed his head, bashful. “I’m
pretty bad at it though. Not like Itachi. He taught you, didn’t he?”

Toru pouted. “Why do you always have to ruin it?”

Sasuke ignored him. “I assume the trigger was a word. “Forfeit”, right?”

He nodded. “Yeah, I practiced this specific trigger during most of last month. I still kinda messed
the execution up, I guess.”

“Oh, that’s why you repeated the same question over and over again?” Naruto asked.

“Yeah. After he heard the trigger, the next sentence he would try to make with the word in it was
supposed to come out as “I forfeit”. I forgot to take into account that this was a bit too specific.”

He shrugged, before continuing. “Anyway, according to the rules, a forfeit is a forfeit. The
genjutsu was pretty light, in the end. It was the only way to make sure he didn’t notice I had cast
my jutsu on him. And it would only work one time.”

“…So. When did you cast it?”

Toru grinned but didn’t elaborate.

“Before the match, then?” There was no explicit rule here, which in ninja terms basically meant it
was allowed.

“I’m a ninja.”

That was all the answer Naruto needed.

The proctor called for a hour-long break, for the contestants to rest and heal up by their own
means.

Then the second round would begin.

 Their Eyes

There was some discussion between the Kage.

After some back and forth, the Kazekage decided to leave with Gaara, along with his escort.

While it was highly unusual to leave this early, the Hokage had no qualms about it. Gaara was
obviously unstable, — and getting angrier every minute since his forfeit — so if the Kazekage
wanted to deal with the problem on its own, that was on him.

He offered to have his son, Itachi, escort them part of the way, with the promise that he could tame
a Tailed Beast, should it come to it.

The Kazekage just glared at him in answer, assuring him he was more than capable of handling his
village matters.

More power to him.

Kankurō just made a disgusted noise, resentment building up inside him.

Now he’d be staying for his match with only their sensei, Baki, and Temari left behind. Their father
could obviously not be bothered.

Gaara had always ruined everything for him.

Toru let out a sigh of relief.

“Whew. I really thought he’d try to kill me today.”

“I don’t think he would try anything outside of a match.” Sasuke said. “He’d get into too much
trouble.”

Naruto just threw him a dubious look. Gaara didn’t seem like the sort of person who would care
about petty things like laws.

“Yasui, from Kumo against Hyūga Neji, from Konoha."

The Hyūga clan was pretty quiet, when it came to cheering. There were some that were unhappy
about the only member of their clan to reach the finals being from the branch house.

Nonetheless, there was a general sense of confidence. Neji was the most talented ninja the clan had
produced this generation, just like his dad had been before him.

Hinata was strong, and so was Hanabi, no one would dare say the opposite.

But Neji was a true prodigy.

When he had come into the arena, facing the strongest genin Kumo had sent into the exams, Takai,
he had felt nothing.

Well, besides the usual contempt he had for the way his clan did things.

Neji believed in strength. That’s why he had trained so hard his whole life.

He loved Hinata like a sister, too.

But then again…

His dad still loved his brother. It never prevented some resentment from building up. Neji was
afraid that someday, when Hinata took the leadership of the clan, he would feel the same.

It was a big cage, the one he was in, but it was a cage all the same.

He slipped into the basic Gentle Fist stance.

Neji would remind the main branch and the elders that birth meant nothing on its own.

Yasui had known that the match would be difficult.

Takai, who had been defeated by Neji two hours earlier, had been his teammate. He had been the
team’s best close-range fighter.

The fact he had decided to forgo melee combat, opting for keeping distance between him and Neji
was bad news.

Yasui was worse than Takai at ninjutsu. He specialized in Genjutsu, and had counted on Neji being
defeated in the first round.

His backup plan had been to fall back on thrown weapons, but he had seen how fast the Hyūga
was.

This was confirmed when he just deflected any weapon Takai had thrown at him.

Genjutsu didn’t work on him at all, it seemed. Not the visual ones, not the auditory ones either.

A single Gentle Fist strike to the chest, and he had to give up, his chakra out of reach.

“Winner: Hyūga Neji.”

The Raikage sighed.

He didn’t think Tsuyoi had much of a chance against the Uchiha, either. Kumo might as well be out
of the exam already.

So much for showing their might.

Kankurō’s match against Tenten was a sad affair.

The Sand genin had been angry, and he had opted for a brutal rushdown instead of his usual
reliance on deception.

Tenten had barely had the time to get her scrolls out before she was caught in the razor sharp arms
of Karasu.

She gave up once she realized that just like his needles, they were also covered in poison.

Just like the Raikage had predicted, Sasuke was faster, smarter and stronger than Tsuyoi.

The girl from Kumo took a fireball head on, and was sent to the infirmary right away.

“Rock Lee vs. Uchiha Toru, both from Konoha. Begin!”

Toru had tried to get Lee to look him in the eye the whole time, but the older genin had made it a
point not to even look in his general direction.

He was no Shisui, and no Itachi — yet, he thought — so trapping him in an illusion by simply
using a finger was out of his reach.

He’d have to settle this one the usual way.

Lee sent him a thumbs up, staring at his feet resolutely.

Bemused, he gave him one back.

Lee removed the ankle weights he had been wearing right away.

When they hit the floor in a plume of smoke, the crowd roared.

“Wait, has he been wearing this the whole time?”

Before the smoke cleared, Toru rushed through three hand signs, releasing the fastest Fire
technique he knew. He didn’t have time to play here, it seemed.

“Fire Release: Burst Flare”

A compact ball of heat and flame exploded from his mouth, aimed at the cloud. It went right
through.

Lee was already gone.

Even with his Sharingan on, he barely dodged the kick aimed at his head. He managed to duck, but
the following punch that he parried rattled his whole wrist.

He quickly used the Body Flicker, putting some distance between the two of them.

Thrown weapons would be useless here, because Lee was simply too fast. Too bad his tantō had
been crushed.

There was no way he’d manage to trap him with wire, as he was also stronger than him.

He would likely have to catch Lee in a Genjutsu, then.

Toru released a Fire Style: Smoke Screen technique without calling its name. Behind its cover he
weaved another technique, and held it.

He threw a few shuriken as a quick distraction, and jumped back.

When Lee appeared next to him, he released it.

“Heaven and Earth Reversal” was a genjutsu that worked on a simple premise.

The direction of “down” became “up”, and inversely.

Lee tripped and realized immediately he was trapped, but this momentary distraction allowed Toru
to catch his eye.

“Saiminjutsu: Nirvana.”

“No-” Lee tried. The genjutsu took hold, and he struggled to keep his eyes open.

Toru breathed hard. This had taken a lot of chakra from him.

It was a technique that forced the victim into a deep sleep, tied directly to their chakra network. It
usually took the help of somebody else to wake them up.

Shisui had gotten a lot of mileage from that one, over the years. It prevented a lot of unnecessary
killing.

He slowly walked away, keeping an eye on Lee, who was swaying.

He was mumbling something, and with his Sharingan on, Toru could read his lips clearly.

“I will not…”

How the hell was he still standing?

Something weird was happening with his chakra. It had… disappeared?

No.

Most of it had gathered around Lee’s brain.

Ah. This was bad.

“Gai… You taught him how to use the Gates? At his age?” Kakashi asked, reproachful.

Gai nodded, looking uncharacteristically serious. “Taijutsu is all Lee has. It was his decision to
learn how to open them, and I would NOT stand in between him and his dream.”

“Still. The Gates… You know they take a heavy toll on the user.” Asuma said.

Gai nodded. He would know.

Lee’s chakra rose in intensity.

It moved to the right side of his brain. Toru could see it all with too much clarity, and he didn’t
need the Byakugan for that.

It then went down to his spinal cord. Lee’s eyes opened, entirely white.

The bulging veins all over his body and his red skin made him look like a freaky version of a
Hyūga.

He was still struggling with the Genjutsu, Toru could see. That was his only hope.

Whatever Lee was preparing would be too much for him.

“I will not… LOSE!”

“Aw, come on!”

“Gate of Pain… OPEN!”

Lee’s chakra started overflowing from his body, and his nose bled.

The illusion shattered.

“I giv-”

Lee crossed the distance between them in a fraction of an instant, and his Sharingan saw it in more
detail than he would care to remember later.

His fist smashed into his stomach and he flew straight into the arena wall.

Shisui called the match right away.

“Winner: Rock Lee!”

Damn.

Due to his exhaustion — he could barely stand after this show —, Lee was forced by the medic
team to give up on the next match.

Despite his vocal protests, Gai agreed that it might be the safest option.

Lee looked betrayed at first, which looked pretty comical on his expressive face, but the
explanation of just what sort of permanent damage he would risk even if he didn’t use any more
Gates today ended up convincing him.

He sulked a bit, but he could fight Neji another day. His teammate had promised they would.

“Even if it’s at the Jōnin exams.” Neji had joked. That had been very… nice of him.

Neji stepped in the arena for the third time today, facing Kankurō from Suna.

He was not feeling tired at all. If anything, his excitement at the idea of possibly reaching the finals
kept him more awake than he had felt in a while.
The teenager from Suna looked angry.

Likely something to do with what had happened with Gaara, then. Probably his father as well.

Even if Neji hadn’t known that the Sand trio were the Kazekage’s children, the resemblance was
so obvious he would have picked it up easily.

Neji would not blame a guy for complicated familial relationships.

He had his own issues with his own father, too. And that was not even going into how he felt about
the main branch.

Despite his resentment, and hatred for the way the Hyūga clan worked, Hizashi had still chosen to
live as a slave to the main branch.

Neji had promised himself that he would not do the same, no matter what it cost.

When he would finally have the strength for it, he would choose freedom.

Kankurō initiated with a volley of needles, sent from his puppet, Karasu.

Neji took notice of the hidden mechanism. He would remember that this one released the poison
needles.

His eyes scanned over the arsenal of weapons hidden within the puppet.

Blades, needles, arrows, an opening, smoke bombs, detachable head, removable arms. More
blades.

A lot of these seemed to be covered in poison.

Kankurō was also carrying a short blade on himself, strapped to his wrist.

Three kunai, seven shuriken in his pouch. A smoke bomb, a flashlight as well.

This was no problem for Neji.

He could close his eyes and see through his own eyelids as clearly as if they were open.

Such tricks only worked on the Uchiha.

In the stands, Sasuke clenched his fist.

“I don’t like Neji.”

“Huh…?” Ino asked. “You guys never really got along, did you? That’s nothing new.”

“I felt the need to say it out loud.”

“O…kay?”

Naruto patted his shoulder. It was an Uchiha thing, he guessed.

The Suna ninja was getting frustrated with the way the match was going.

His movements were becoming more jerky, as his arsenal of weapons depleted.

He didn’t dare send his puppet into melee range, fearing that the Neji would just smash right
through it with some unknown gentle fist technique.

Neji was amused. He was worried for the wrong reasons.

The Hyūga left his guard open on purpose, wanting to move things along.

Kankurō seized it. He triggered yet another mechanism inside his puppet. The arms fell out of their
sockets, and the chest opened.

The seal inside let a cast iron ball roll into the opening.

“Ah, so it was cannon, then.”

The powder erupted and with a bang, and the ball flew toward Neji.

The chakra he had gathered as a layer over his skin became visible to the naked eye.

His feet dug into the ground.

“Heavenly Rotation.”

He spun.

The audience roared.

“He can… do the Rotation too?” Hinata wondered out loud. She had only learned it very recently,
after the debacle of the Forest of Death.

Hizashi looked on with pride, not looking entirely surprised. He himself had never learned it, but
he knew how Neji could be about these things. He would make this personal.

Her father said nothing.

The cannonball had just exploded harmlessly against the spinning chakra dome the Konoha genin
had created.

That was… a bad surprise. He had to attack now, while he was recovering from the spin.

Karasu moved.

Neji stepped aside and severed the chakra strings. Kankurō panicked.

He could easily create new threads, but he had not expected this to happen right now.

Neji was too close.

He would have to-

A palm hit him in the plexus.

His control over his chakra faded.

There was no particular emotion in the pupilless white eyes of his opponent.

How he hated him, at that moment.

“Winner: Hyūga Neji.”

Lee now being out of the competition, Neji would face Sasuke after a half-hour break.

The Raikage sighed again. “I know the exam being held in your village tends to favor your own
ninja… But, this really feels like I’m just here to watch the next Leaf prodigies showcase.”

Fugaku threw him a wry smile. “I thought this was the whole point, Raikage-dono.”

The Raikage’s eyebrows shot up. Then he laughed a booming laugh, slapping a heavy arm on the
Hokage’s back. “True enough! Kumo will definitely win next time, though.”

Fugaku winced. The “friendly” slap felt like it had shuffled a rib or two around.

He wondered if it had been on purpose.

“It’s time to prove you’re stronger than Neji, now.” Toru said, nodding wisely.

“He means, if you actually are.” Naruto added, helpfully.

Sasuke snorted. “Well, I guess we’ll see.” He then added. “I at least know I’m stronger than you,
Naruto.”

“For now, maybe.” Naruto nodded, magnanimous.

“Yeah, Naruto will win next time.” Ino nodded, her arms crossed.

Karin smiled at their antics.

“Good luck, Neji. Your hard work will pay off!” Gai encouraged.

“Thank you.”

Tenten smiled. Neji was the strongest of the Leaf genin, there was nothing more to say.

Lee and Neji exchanged a look of understanding. Next time, it would be both of them.

“For the final match. Hyūga Neji and Uchiha Sasuke.”

The crowd echoed their approval. It had been a great show, and they were counting on both
members of the two strongest clans in Konoha to provide a good finale.

“Begin.”
 Chuunin Exams Conclude

Neji observed his opponent, and reviewed what he already knew.

Sasuke was fast, comparable to Lee’s when he took his weights off. Neji was faster, and had been
fighting — and winning — against Lee for years.

The Sharingan would allow Sasuke to keep up with him. Somewhat.

He wasn’t sure what each tomoe meant, but he knew that Sasuke’s Sharingan was not fully
matured yet.

Lee was stronger physically, and had more stamina than the Uchiha.

Genjutsu wouldn’t work on him, not even with the Sharingan.

The only possible trouble might come from his fire jutsu, then.

He’d go for close-range combat. Not that the Hyūga really favored anything other than up close
and personal.

“You think he has a plan?” Naruto asked Toru.

“Huh? Of course he does. I think. Why do you ask?”

“I don’t know, he really seems to have something against Neji. He doesn’t show it too much, but
he can be pretty… emotional sometimes.”

“Pfft. Don’t sweat it. He won’t let pettiness cloud his mind.”

Sasuke observed his opponent, and tried to formulate a plan.

Neji was faster, and a good close-range fighter. Not Uchiha good, of course, he thought, but close.

His eyes were decent against Genjutsu, too. Not as good as the Sharingan, but really decent,
overall.

He’d have to rely on his Fire jutsu, then.

Then maybe he’d get close and beat the shit out of the arrogant Hyūga.

Neji bobbed and weaved through the Phoenix Fire jutsu that Sasuke initiated with. He could also
see the shuriken hidden in the fireballs, as well as the wire the Uchiha held.

His Vacuum Palm slammed into his face, making him flip backwards, and he barely caught
himself.

Neji saw Sasuke shake his head clear. This probably didn’t feel too good.
He gave him no time to recover, dashing off with a blast of chakra.

Sasuke’s Sharingan predicted his trajectory, and through the feint Neji was leading with.

He was able to deflect the strikes, as well as notice what Neji was aiming for.

Sasuke held a one-handed tiger seal.

Neji’s eyes widened. He hadn’t known that he was able to do this.

“Fire Release: Veil!” He clapped his hand on the floor, and a white flash erupted.

“Gah!” Neji closed his eyes too late. He was temporarily blinded.

Sure, the Byakugan allowed him to see through his eyelids, but that was only useful if he saw the
attack coming. A flashbang, he could predict.

A fire jutsu he had never seen was more problematic.

Sasuke made sure to kick him as strong as he could in the face.

“This guy…”

Sasuke weaved signs that Neji could not see very clearly in his state.

Two fire clones appeared, and sprinted toward him.

Behind them, Sasuke weaved hand signs again.

“Fire Style: Cranium Carver.”

The clones jumped high up in the sky, dodging the small ball of fire Sasuke had created. When it
came in contact with the ground, it spread at a very fast rate, covering a huge area.

There was no way Neji could jump in the sky, where the clones were awaiting him.

He dug into the floor once more. He hoped there was nothing else he had missed, while half blind.

“Kaiten.”

Neji spun, and while the flames crashed against his protection, they just went around him.

“Damn, that’s a nice jutsu.” Naruto said. “Why did he never show us before?”

“I think he might have learned it only recently.” Toru shrugged. It was a B-rank he had seen some
older clan members use in the past.

Neji slowed down once he was sure the flames were at a lower intensity.

He had dipped too much into his reserves by maintaining such a long rotation.

Well, Sasuke’s technique probably had taken a lot from him as well. He could see him breathing
hard already.
The clones were behind him, he’d have to avoid them-

When had this wire wrapped around his torso?

Ah, damn.

Flame went down the length of the ninja wire, courtesy of the clone holding it, who had detonated
himself.

Neji could only shield himself by using the first step of the Kaiten.

Without the rotation part, it was a pretty bad shield, admittedly.

“This Rotation thing really is sweet. I wonder if I can learn it.”

“Do you have good chakra control?” Karin asked.

“Nah. Why?”

“It looks like he’s pushing chakra out of every node from his body… I think. It would require a lot
of finesse.” She said, observing Neji.

“Eh, forget it, then.”

It hurt to move.

His shirt was mostly burned, and his hair was singed. Burns littered his arms too, as he had used
them to shield his face while he rolled himself on the floor to smother the flames.

The worst part was that the Uchiha seemed at least a little bit amused by his situation.

He could see his chakra levels, though. He was almost running empty.

Neji, on the other hand, was still in combat shape, even though this wouldn’t last for long.

Neji pushed his chakra out, giving him enough slack to slip out of the wire, surprising Sasuke, who
had thought him as good as gone.

He threw a Shuriken at him, which Neji dodged. The clone behind him threw himself on them.

The resulting explosion burned his back and more of his hair.

He didn’t slow down.

Sasuke winced, as he probably realized there was no way he’d outrun him. Neji read his emotions
on his face.

There was surprise the clone trick hadn’t worked.

The consternation at seeing Neji in a better shape than he was.

The frustration at coming so far, only to lose in the finals, in front of his clan.
The resignation to the fact that he could not beat him in a Taijutsu match.

Then… acceptance? How strange.

He settled in a familiar stance.

“Wait…”

This… This… Uchiha bastard.

He had copied his Gentle Fist stance.

After all the hard work he had put into learning the forms. The endless hours of toiling, of sweat
and blood.

Uchiha Sasuke took them for himself in an instant.

Sasuke closed his eyes for a second, let out a long breath. He fell into an almost meditative trance.

His eyes opened, Sharingan spinning wildly.

He rushed at Neji, his movements perfectly symmetrical to his.

“Uh… Okay. That’s pretty risky.” Shisui said to Itachi.

“I had nothing to do with this. This is all him.” Itachi muttered.

“Yeah, I kinda figured.”

“Hizashi.” The Hyūga clan head asked, deadly serious. “Did you teach him this…? Did he learn
how to do the sixty-four palms from you?”

Hizashi snorted, arms folded. “How could I have, when I don’t know it in the first place? I know
my place. Hiashi-sama.”

The same old resentment. Hiashi closed his eyes.

“Then Neji might be even more of an anomaly than we thought.”

He then frowned. “But to see it mimicked by an Uchiha… Maybe I need to speak with our
Hokage.”

Neji fell into the stance he had practiced over and over again.

He envisioned himself within the center of an Eight Trigrams circle.

In front of him, Sasuke did the same, likely without even knowing what the mental process was
supposed to be like.

Neji held back his anger at him. It would just help the Uchiha.
“Eight Trigrams: Sixty-Four Palms.” He announced, voice clear.

This was the secret taijutsu of the Hyūga main branch.

In a mockery of it, Sasuke announced the same.

“Eight Trigrams… Sixty-Four Palms.”

He probably didn’t even understand how offensive that was to the Hyūga as a whole.

Part of him, the one that wanted to be free, would have found this amusing.

But mostly, he was too angry to find the humor in the situation.

Neji leapt forward, just as Sasuke did.

“Two Palms.” “Two Palms.”

His fingers hit Sasuke’s, who were covered in chakra, in a very crude gentle fist imitation.

“Four Palms.” “Four Palms.”

Two more strikes. None reached his target, as Sasuke was a perfect mirror.

“Eight Palms.” “Eight Palms.”

Four more strikes canceled each other.

Neji stopped announcing them. Hearing the faker mimic him was too much to bear.

Eight more consecutive strikes. One of them hit Sasuke’s wrist tenketsu.

He didn’t falter.

Sixteen consecutive attacks. A total of thirty-two. He touched Sasuke’s chest tenketsu, as well as
his right shoulder.

He screamed. Thirty-two consecutive strikes.

Sixty-four palms.

Two more attacks reached Sasuke, who grunted in pain.

The last attacks canceled each other again, leaving both of their hands shaky.

Sasuke was breathing hard, but he was still standing.

The audience roared its approval.

The Hokage palmed his face.

He’d likely have to play diplomat with the Hyūga again. Was Itachi this much trouble…?

No. Probably not.

The Raikage laughed.

“This is even better than the time that Konoha genin dressed up like the Yellow Flash during the
Iwa chūnin exams!”

Fugaku winced. That particular event had likely set back the Konoha-Iwa relationship a year or
two.

“Wait, he can do that?!” Ino asked. “Is this allowed?”

“Uh… I guess.” Toru said, dumbfounded. “We never really had a rulebook for this stuff.”

Neji saw the displeasure on his clan’s faces. Well, the main branch.

Whether it was because he had taught himself one of their most precious techniques… or because
an Uchiha had used it as well, he couldn’t tell.

Speaking of said Uchiha…

Neji couldn’t help but wonder how much he had copied in this fight. He had used most of his
strongest techniques, and his opponent’s Sharingan had been on.

He could also see a third tomoe had formed into one of his eyes.

“You will regret doing this.” He said, simply.

“Make me.”

Neji scoffed. “So you can steal more of my techniques?”

“If you wish, sure.”

“You’re acting pretty confident for somebody who’s already out of chakra.”

“You’re being very talkative for somebody who won’t even beat me up properly.”

Neji couldn’t help it. He let out a short laugh.

“Well, you asked for it. Try to copy this one, I don’t care any more.”

And he really didn’t.

“Eight Trigrams: One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms”

“What did he say?!” The Hyūga Elder asked, outraged.

“… I think we’ve heard the same thing as you did, Father.” Hiashi muttered, eyes hard. How had
Neji managed to hide that he had learned these techniques?

Hizashi said nothing, but there was unmistakable pride in his eyes.
Sasuke groaned.

‘Why did I even goad him into this?’

He stepped up all the same.

It went badly.

He managed to follow the first thirty-two strikes.

He fumbled before the sixty-fourth.

And got hit by most of the second half.

Apparently, the strikes did more than just close off your chakra network. He could barely stand, or
keep the Sharingan active.

He sighed.

“…I think there’s no way for me to go on.”

Neji looked at him, almost surprised he’d admit as much.

“I give up.”

“In that case.” Shisui said, appearing in the arena in a flash. “Hyūga Neji is the winner of this
edition of the Chūnin exams!"

The audience started to clap, and Neji basked in it.

“Man, I really thought you had him.” Toru said, once Sasuke had come back from the infirmary..
“What was your plan like?”

“Winning, mostly.” Sasuke answered, half-amused.

“Thought so.” Naruto muttered.

“Hey, I tried keeping him away from me.” Sasuke said, immediately on the defensive. “How do
you fight someone faster than you, who has some annoying eye technique?”

“Should have asked me, I’ve got plenty of experience.” Naruto snorted.

Sasuke laughed.

All Neji got from the main branch were terse nods, besides Hiashi, who acknowledged his talent,
and promised to shield him from angry main house member’s possible actions.

…And Hinata, who was visibly happy for him.

He’d celebrate with the branch house.

He hadn’t expected much more, to be honest.

The Fifth closed off the exams with a short speech, thanking the audience for their presence again,
and the candidates for participating.

The promotions would be decided in a week’s time, after some deliberation.

Sasuke and Toru left to meet their clan. Naruto noticed a spring in Sasuke’s step once he saw his
brother waiting for him with a smile.

He left with Ino and Karin to meet Sakura.

Two days later, Karin was set to leave for Kusa.

“Well… I guess it’s farewell.” She said, quietly.

Sakura stared at her. “Farewell? It’s just for some time. You’ll come back, right?”

“Y-Yes!” She perked up. “Definitely. I’d love to.”

“You can stay with me, next time.” Ino said, before Naruto could propose the same thing. “We’ve
got the room.”

“So do we.” Sakura added.

“Thanks, Ino, Sakura.” Karin smiled, eyes a bit misty. “And thanks, Naruto… For everything.”

“It wasn’t much, really. You’re always welcome here.” He shrugged.

Ino got all of them into a hug, somehow.

“Let’s keep in touch, in the meantime, I’ll give you my address.” Naruto finished.

“Sure!” She said, happily.

Neither of them knew that they would never be able to meet up like this in Konoha again.

With the exams over, Naruto settled into his routine of training and sparring once more.

Reading, too, but since he left this to the clones, he didn’t really count it as something he did
himself.

He focused on improving his chakra control, for now.

Everything else seemed like it would benefit from it directly.

Lighting Release, speed, stamina… Hell, even strength and reflexes.

Once you became good enough at it, you could just keep everything on autopilot.

Ninjas were stronger, faster, and thought faster than civilians, due to the benefits of having chakra
circulating through their bodies, even passively.

Improving your mastery over it would make this difference even more pronounced.

He would still train his body with his team, but there was only so much he could do to improve
before puberty hit.

Sasuke and Neji had the advantage of centuries of eugenics, with the goal of making the Hyūga
and Uchiha with faster, more limber bodies.

On the other side of the spectrum, you had the Akimichi, who favored raw strength and fat storage.

Sure, you could get the odd thin(ner) Akimichi and larger Uchiha, but it usually took a lot more
effort than leaning into their innate advantages.

Sarutobi were somewhat diverse, as they had never really focused on a specific type of
conditioning.

Hiruzen was short and limber, — well, had been — his first son was tall and slender, and Asuma
was basically closer to a bear than a man.

Naruto was kind of curious where he’d fit. Sarutobi Ren had been pretty unremarkable in this
sense, and he knew nothing about his late mother, since nobody else really did.

Oh, and he was learning what he could about Fūinjutsu. It really was a long process.

Naruto had been called to the Tower.

He arrived early.

The Hokage nodded to him, ever cordial, and told him to wait until everyone else was here.

Neji, Sasuke and Toru filed in.

“I thought it was about the Chūnin exams, but well… Even Naruto is here.” Toru whispered to
Sasuke, who stifled a laugh.

Naruto kicked his shin. He yelped.

Neji threw them a dark look.

The Fifth cleared his throat.

“Congratulations are in order.”

‘Ah, so it was about the exams then.’

They nodded in respect.

“Good job, all of you.”

His eyes lasted upon Toru and Sasuke a bit longer, pride shining through.

He let out a short laugh.

“Some things could definitely have gone… smoother, for sure.”

Sasuke blushed. He knew this was about the finals.

“But politics — and a few rash moves — aside, all four of you have proved your strength in the
exams. The former Team Eight members have reported your intervention in the Forest of Death,
too. There are not that many people ready to face a Jinchūriki to help your comrades.”

‘…What’s a Jinchūriki?’

The Hokage continued. “I know that time will smooth out all your rougher edges.”

He unsealed four jackets.

“All four of you are Chūnin. Grow strong, and serve the village, and your clans well.”

There really wasn’t that much difference between being a reserve genin and being a chūnin.

Sure, he could now pull status over Ino when she was particularly pushy, and it didn’t seem to get
old.

But he could now take on C-ranks alone, and the pay was worth it, ranging from between 30,000
and 100,000 ryō.

He couldn’t send clones to do them for him… yet.

He’d get there some day.

After a month of this new routine of training with Kakashi, — they were still his team, technically,
even though he didn’t have to train them anymore — the Hokage assigned Sasuke a diplomatic C-
rank mission in the Land of Wind.

He could go with a team of his choice, with one or two teammates.

He chose to ask Toru and Naruto, of course.

It had seemed simple enough, on paper.

Oversee the construction of a well, built with Konoha funds, near an oasis that had suffered from
drought.

Naruto prepared supplies for a long trip.

The old man slipped him a scroll containing a “couple things, just in case,” too.

Biwako gave him a first aid kit, and some reading about medical jutsu.

Konohamaru, the big baby, gave him a tearful hug, and he made him promise to prank the old man
for him.
“So, when are you coming back?” Ino asked, worrying her lower lip.

He really had done it, this time, getting promoted without waiting for her.

And now he was leaving for far-away places, too?

She’d show him. Next time, she’d become a Chūnin herself. Then he’d have no choice but to…

To…

She blushed. To what, exactly..?

Naruto shrugged. Sakura had been more casual about saying bye, and he wondered why Ino was
like this about it.

“It won’t be more than a month, at most.”

“…That’s pretty long. Will you write to me?”

“Can’t promise. I don’t know if we’re going to have access to anything like post or… well, water.”

“Oh.” She looked disappointed.

“Don’t worry, Ino-chan. When I get back, I’ll invite you to this nice tea place that just opened up!”

“Like a date?” She perked up, cheeks red.

“Uh… I guess?” ‘What was the difference, even?’

“Then it’s a date! Don’t meet any cute Wind girl there, okay!”

She kissed his cheek and left running before he could react.

‘What was that about…?’ He wondered, bemused.

Sasuke greeted him with a smile and a fist bump at the gate.

Toru arrived late, having gotten in trouble for trying to set his bakery tab on his older brother.

Kakashi saw them off with a wink.

A month later, only two of them would return to Konoha.

One would have stronger eyes, and they would bleed anytime he made use of them.
 The Forlorn Oasis

The trek to the desert took a bit over four days.

The landscape changed quickly.

From lush trees, to less trees, to no trees at all.

Sand started, and there was the border to the Land of Wind.

Then they had to go through an ancient mine to reach their destination, passing through rocky
mountains.

"The desert is divided into several regions." Sasuke said.

"Since when are you a geography expert?" Naruto teased.

"Ever since Kakashi tried to lead us to Tanzaku as a practical joke, I'd guess." Toru tried. The huge
scroll he was lugging for this mission was making him sweat bullets.

Sasuke ignored them. "The massive peaks to the south are what separates us from Suna. The center
is the hottest part, and Suna is located a bit more to the East."

"Why the hell would they build a village near the hottest, driest part of the world…?" Toru
wondered.

"It's a good place to defend, because basically no one wants to endure the trip with an entire army.
And there's not that many resources in this desert, either. Once they set up some farmlands, they
were mostly self-sustaining. They only set up trade routes later on." Sasuke answered.

Naruto nodded. Hiruzen had said something similar.

"Sarutobi-sama said that was how the village of Whirlpool was founded, too. Far away, in an
unattractive location. Until they became a real threat, everybody left them alone."

Naruto sometimes wondered why he looked so wistful when talking about the now gone village,
but had never asked.

Maybe when he came back.

The desert was extremely hot during the day. The sun set, turning the sky red.

Then it got almost as cold during the night. The three new Chūnin huddled around the campfire.

Sasuke promised himself he'd learn some Fire technique to avoid feeling this cold ever again.

As soon as he got back.

The village of Isago, more than fifty kilometers away from Suna had been built near an oasis.

It must have been beautiful before the drought.

By picturing what the now rotten palm trees must have looked like, the patches of yellowed, dry
grass, it was easy to see why it had once been called the Jewel of the Desert.

The stone architecture was still holding up well, and was apparently typical for this region.

It was the first time either of the boys saw this type of stone block buildings. It looked very
different from Konoha in every way.

A man greeted them at the village's entrance.

He gave them water and led them to their accommodation for the coming weeks.

The man, named Kanjiro, gave them a briefing on the general situation.

Suna had removed its troops from the village when the drought came, preferring to focus on more
"important" locations.

Such as the mining towns to the south of Suna, or protecting the caravan routes from more
opportunistic bands of thieves.

Isago had had a trade route set with Konoha once, and they had leveraged this relationship. In
exchange for funding the construction of an advanced well, they would sell their products, animal
skins and wool, fruit and oil at discounted prices over the next ten years.

It was a deal Konoha was happy to accept.

"My Fat-… The Hokage also instructed us to deliver this to you, Kanjiro-san." Sasuke said,
handing him an expensive-looking scroll.

"Thank you, shinobi-san. May I ask what…?"

"Plans for building an aquifer on your own, should you need to do so again. As well as emergency
water reserves. It is not that much, but if used sparingly, it should cover the village's needs for the
next three weeks, and by then, the aquifer should hopefully be done." He motioned to Toru, who
unclasped the big one he had been carrying.

Kanjiro looked up in gratitude.

"This must be a gift from the providence. I thank you humbly, and your Hokage as well." He said,
bowing deeply.

As they left, Toru muttered something about this having nothing to do with spirituality. He had to
carry this huge scroll for days.. Sasuke elbowed him.

The aquifer's construction was well underway.

It would still take more than two months, at the rate they were going.

Time Sasuke didn't think they had, the alloted time for the mission had been a single month.

And, if he were completely honest with himself, he would admit that he didn't particularly want to
spend two months in the desert heat.

They had done some construction work in the past, and they knew how to follow a plan well
enough. Naruto had his clones, too.
He thought about it for a night, and figured there was nothing else they could really do.

And that's how he roped his team into building an aquifer.

"These kids sure work hard, don't they?"

"At this rate, we'll have water again in no time!"

"…I think the short black-haired one winked at me. And why is he wearing no shirt..? He's going
to get heat exhaustion."

"Maaaaan… This takes forever." Toru whined. His shirt was nowhere to be found. He had gotten
sunburned in the first days, but by now he was getting used to it somewhat, sporting a healthy tan.

Sasuke ignored him, digging deeper with his pickaxe.

One Naruto brought him his refilled water gourd, from which he drank greedily. He never was sure
whether this one was the original, or if he was bringing more stone down.

They used a system of ropes to move the stones in and out.

When they came without anything in hand, they would just walk up and down the walls.

There were about ten people digging at any point in time, most of them civilians. The village had
no real ninjas, or people trained in the shinobi arts.

Sometimes, during evening time, Naruto and Toru took turns explaining some basics about chakra.

It would likely not change their lives, — their kids, maybe, though, they were young enough — but
just knowing how to use it could speed up their recovery, and grant them greater strength, vitality.

Plus, they seemed interested, so it was not much of a pain.

The people were very friendly, once you got past their cold exterior, and most nights, they were
invited to eat at their homes.

Now, Sasuke just hoped Toru would not manage to get them in trouble by flirting with the wrong
person.

Why the hell was he like this, even? He was even younger than Naruto, by almost a full year, there
was no chance he had reached puberty already.

…God, what would he even be like in three… four years?

He snorted. It seemed like Toru's time training with Itachi had just made him even more excitable.

He could understand it, somewhat. Itachi was a bit too reserved.

They trained as they could.

While digging, they refined their chakra control, and built up their strength, as well as their
stamina.

During lunch break, they shared whatever interesting tidbit they had heard or read. Some stupid
jokes as well. Both Toru and Naruto found that provoking Sasuke brought joy to their lives.

They sparred during the evening, before eating.

Then they basically passed out.

After around two weeks and a half, they reached water. A missive was sent to Suna, confirming the
completion of the well.

The joy the villagers felt was contagious and an improvised party was thrown.

Toru danced with a cute girl with tanned skin, and would not shut up about her for the next few
days.

They spent the last days making sure everything was running as it should, and that aquifer was up
to standard.

"Again, I cannot thank you young ones enough." Kanjiro said, bowing for what felt like the
millionth time.

"It's fine, really." Sasuke said, a bit embarrassed.

"It's not much, but please take this." He handed them three vertical silver bar pendants. "This is
something our artisans made for you."

Sasuke took all three, surprised. "I… Thank you very much, Kanjiro-san. We'll treasure them."

He never had cared much for jewelry, but this was a nice gift. He would make an exception. He
handed the two others to his team.

The three of them bowed at once.

They left at sunset.

There was something strange about the desert.

Something that sounded like a distant roar in the night. They had already started hearing it when
they were in Isago, during the last days, but the villagers had just told them it happened, from time
to time.

The sand felt like it moved toward the south. That was Suna's direction, Sasuke thought uneasily.

Naruto proposed to keep on going, apparently just as disturbed as he was. All three of them agreed,
and they dashed across the dunes, using their chakra to stay above the sand, and gliding down once
they reached their tops.

The sound seemed to be getting louder. Then it stopped entirely.

The sand didn't stop moving, though.

Two hours later, they felt chakra so ominous and thick they could almost see it.

Something was coming toward them, from the sky.

They accelerated. It wasn't enough.

Something dropped in front of them, almost soundlessly.

The sand parted, revealing what was hidden behind it.

Toru paled. "Oh, fuck no." He whispered.

"I've finally found YOU!"

Sweat ran down the boy's entire face, and he was shaking. A manic grin, complete with bloodshot
eyes made sure he painted a terrifying picture.

Gaara of the Desert had been looking for them ever since Suna got the message that the aquifer had
been completed.

He had scoured the desert for days.

Ever since he had come back from Konoha, his emotions had let mother able to… influence him
more than usual.

When he had heard about who exactly was less than fifty kilometers away from him, he sneaked
out of his village, headed to Isago.

Mother was so close to the surface he had to stop a few times to let her out, if only partially.

Then he learned he had come a bit too late. The Konoha shinobi had left.

Unfortunately, his rage at learning this led him to lose control of himself close to the village of
Isago.

A few people had likely been killed by the resulting sandstorm Mother had created when he let her
out.

But neither he nor she cared about this place.

A few hours later, she had calmed enough that he was able to regain control.

He was Gaara of the Desert. He breathed, now in one of his colder, more murderous moods.
Finding someone who had left just hours ago would be child's play, for him.

The desert answered his call

He was seeking three specific people.

The Hokage's son.

The Sarutobi he hadn't had the chance to kill yet.

And… the Uchiha boy who had tricked him, preventing him from having the fight he had craved.

He would fix this…

Right now.
"I think all the rules are off." Sasuke said.

Naruto hesitated, considered pulling his sword out, but settled for his staff.

Cruel monster or not… Gaara was still a boy their age.

Both Uchiha activated their Sharingan. Naruto called forth Lightning chakra, focusing it into his
legs.

Gaara laughed a high-pitched laugh.

"You three… I haven't forgotten about you."

Gaara's chakra became even more oppressive, thick and heavy.

A sandstorm started.

Gaara roared and two things happened.

The desert seemed to lift up.

No. It was trying to climb up their legs.

They jumped to avoid getting pulled down.

The blades of wind Gaara had summoned slash at them, tearing through their arms and legs.

"Since when can he do that too?" Naruto shouted, in pain, over the sounds of the raging storm.

"He's a jinchūriki!" Sasuke screamed back. "All bets are off, when it comes to their abilities."

'So that's a jinchūriki?!'

What a bad time to figure that out.

"Toru!" Naruto screamed.

His teammate understood at once. He tried to meet Gaara's eyes. Gaara screamed, in delirious
laughter.

"No more illusions this time!"

The sand covered his eyes, and three eyes made out of sand appeared, focusing on each of them.

"Damn it!" Toru let out. There went their best bet. "Gaara!" He shouted.

Toru continued. "You're weakened! I can see your chakra levels! Compared to how you were in the
exam, you're dead on your feet!"

It was true. Gaara was drenched in sweat, and half-delirious.

His chakra was still heavy, and he was still stronger than them, though. They were in the desert.

No answer came.

He tried again. "If it's me you want… Then let them leave!"
This time, he reacted. "I will crush all THREE of you! Not one! Not two!"

Toru gave up.

Sasuke met their eyes. He caught Naruto in an illusion.

'What the fuck is he doing..?' Then he realized.

Sasuke was talking to him through the Genjutsu. It was very short sentences, and he could not
answer back, but he got the gist of it.

'Bind Him We Burn Then'

He dug some trusty ninja wire out, while Toru and Sasuke spat fireballs at Gaara.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."

Four clones appeared next to him, one hand bound in wire, the other holding a staff.

They disappeared in a burst of Lightning. With their Sharingan, both Toru and Sasuke could stay
out of their way.

The clones passed Gaara, and Naruto focused chakra into the wires, making them stronger.

Lightning passed through, and he channeled some into his hand to avoid getting electrocuted.

Lightning was strong against Earth, as Gaara figured too late.

The wires cut right through his sand and before he knew it, Gaara was bound.

"Fire Style: Cranium Carver"

"Fire Style: Dragon Flame"

The sky burned orange from the glow of the superheated flames that the two Uchiha rained down
on Gaara.

He screamed in pain as he was roasted alive, his sand incapacitated by the Lightning still coursing
through him.

It had been a combination they had practiced before with Kakashi.

It also had been overkill for most situations they had faced. Not today.

'Guess that makes us murderers…' Naruto thought.

"Was this enough..?" Toru breathed hard. Fire Style had always been a bit more taxing on him than
most Uchiha.

"I can't see through the smoke, there's too much chakra in the air. I can't see him, either." Sasuke
answered, scanning.

"There's no way anyone could surviv-"

"SAND TSUNAMI" a muffled voice roared.

This time, the desert actually lifted off.

Naruto almost got swallowed, but Sasuke managed to pull him out with the help of his own wire.

"I can't believe it." Toru muttered. "We might actually die here."

"Keep on running!"

Behind them, Gaara was shifting. His burned flesh rippled, and peeled off in a grotesque show.

The sandstorm increased in intensity.

Gaara transformed into a creature that seemed to be made of sand entirely. He became more than
two meters tall, his arms long and heavy.

He let out a burst of wind that shot through the sand avalanche, turning Sasuke's left arm to a mass
of bloody flesh.

"Sasuke!" Toru screamed. He tried Genjutsu again, but none affected the monstrous Gaara.

The only clone who had survived appeared behind Gaara, staff wreathed in Lightning, a technique
he always had trouble maintaining.

It cut the sand mass in two horizontally. Gaara let out a gurgle.

He then finally relinquished his hold on his chakra.

The desert fed into its body, and the monster that Gaara had become… doubled its size.

"He's got even more?!"

Then it doubled again.

"We can't wait! This is the One-Tailed Beast! We won't be able to fight it if he transforms fully!"

Its size doubled again. He was now almost ten meters tall, and almost as wide.

But what scared both Sasuke and Toru was that they could feel the chakra building up.

By a rough estimate, Gaara, or the One-Tail rather, was only at about a fifth of its size… and its
full power.

They had no chance.

Feeling so hopeless brought back terrible memories of the mission where Kurenai had died, and
Sakura had lost both an eye and an arm.

All three of them had sworn never to let something like that happen again.

So how did it come to this…?

"Are we really going to die here…? In the desert?" Toru asked, voice small.

No way.

Sasuke seemed resigned too, his eyes focused on the ever-growing monster.
'Why did I become a ninja?'

Naruto wondered. It had been because he had wanted to learn more about chakra.

Because he had wanted to become stronger.

Because he had wanted to protect the people he cared about.

This included both Sasuke and Toru.

He also had made promises to both Karin and Ino.

His chakra raged within him.

With it, something ancient awoke inside him. It had been the same feeling as when they had faced
the Uzumaki. When trying to protect Sakura.

He put a hand on Sasuke's shoulder. Naruto pulled .

In a flash of lightning, a spectral blade near Sasuke's mangled hand. A second one followed, this
one a little bit smaller. A daishō.

A chain appeared, linking Naruto and Sasuke. Toru saw it all happen with his Sharingan.

Naruto took hold of the longer sword.

It became physical, a black katana.

This time, Naruto felt conscious of what was happening.

"This one conducts chakra." He said aloud, somehow knowing what it was for.

Lightning sparked along its length.

"Help me out here." Naruto looked at both of them, eyes looking purple in the night. "Your chakra.
We.. We're going to kill Gaara."

The words felt bitter on his tongue.

This was the moment he always had known would come. Where he'd compromise the only
principle he really had.

Sasuke just nodded, and Toru followed.

Fire chakra flowed along the blade, and at the same time, Lightning sparked.

The beast had become even larger.

Naruto felt exhausted. Manifesting the blade, and channeling chakra into the sword had taken all
he had.

"Sasuke."

"Yes."

"Take it. It's yours. Take him out, please."

He just nodded.

Sharingan spinning, he hurled himself toward the beast. He knew exactly where its weakest point
was.

Its head, where Gaara was cocooned in sand.

Uchiha Sasuke flew, a point of red and blue light in the night sky.

With a sound like a tearing, burning and sparking altogether, he went right through Gaara,
bisecting him horizontally.

Gaara's body fell and the beast halted its formation.

The sand crumbled.

"…Did it work?" Toru asked, feeling absolutely useless.

"I hope so, I don't have much more in me." Naruto's chakra recovered fast, for sure, but this was
just too much at the same time.

They went toward Sasuke, who they could see standing over the two pieces that had been Gaara.

"…How the hell is he still alive..?"

The redhead screamed, fearful. "I won't die!"

"…" Naruto approached him.

"I won't cease to exist! I refuse!" Gaara continued to yell.

Naruto stood next to Sasuke, who was looking at the downed boy, something like pity in his eyes.

"Is he dying?" He asked Sasuke.

He seemed hesitant. "He's a jinchūriki. I think if anyone might survive being cut in half, it might be
him."

Naruto moved towards him, Toru in tow.

"Don't come near me!"

"If we let you go… Would you stop?" Naruto asked, feeling emptier than ever. "Will you ever stop
killing?"

Gaara said nothing.

"Will you?!"

"…Yes. Yes! I swear so!" Gaara screamed, eyes manic. A hint of a crazed smile started to shine
through.

"…Naruto." Toru looked at him, eyes still Sharingan red. "He's not telling the truth." He said
simply.

"Thought so." Naruto stepped closer. Lightning coursed along his staff.
"No! Pleas-"

The staff smashed right through his face, splattering blood, bone and brain matter around Gaara's
downed form.

Toru didn't look away. Nor did Sasuke.

Naruto's hand shook. Why did he feel like crying?

"…It was the only way." Sasuke said, looking just as empty as he did.

The trouble had only started.

"Why did he come here if he was almost out of it?" Sasuke wondered aloud.

"…" Naruto said nothing. He was lost in thought.

"Either he was relying on this transformation… or he was even crazier than we thought." Toru
mumbled.

Sasuke stayed silent, eyes frightened.

"Cousin..?"

"…Guys, do you see this?" He asked, pointing at Gaara's body.

On his right shoulder, a seal was gleaming red.

Naruto could approximate one reading of it.

It was not the full seal, as it had been compacted, but his blood froze.

Living Host. Wind. Container.

These were the main elements that composed it. He could take a guess at the rest, but he could see
that they would have something more immediate to deal with.

"Guys. The seal. It only works as long as the host is alive." His voice cracked. "It's breaking."

"Oh, please. No." Sasuke closed his eyes.

"What? What?!" Toru asked, eyes wild.

"The Tailed Beast of Wind is about to break free."

 Kaleidoscope

Panic made people react in strange ways.

In this case, Toru froze completely. This night had simply been too much.

Naruto tried to figure out if there was a way they could escape. He came up short. Gaara, even
when less than half-transformed, had had the reach to prevent them from leaving.

Sasuke thought. Fast.

"We need to seal it." He said, as if this were the simplest thing in the world.

"What do you mean? We have nothing that could contain it. This is a Tailed Beast, like the Nine-
Tails that attacked Konoha!" Naruto shot back.

"Then seal it within me."

"The hell are you talking about?" Naruto asked. "This is the dumbest thing I've heard!"

Sasuke smiled a mirthless grin. "I don't think we really have a choice, actually." He looked at
Gaara's seal. "Besides, I can't do it myself, you're the seals guy."

"I can't seal a fucking Tailed Beast!"

"Why not?"

Goddamn it.

He was even considering it.

Gaara's seal was unraveling already, and it would be easy enough to figure out how to copy it if he
forced it open completely.

"You want to seal a Tailed Beast within yourself?!" Toru asked. "Are you completely mad?"

"I have the Sharingan. I think Itachi could teach me how to control the Beast." Sasuke added.
"That's the only option.. There's only desert for the next few hundred kilometers. The Beast had
control over sand. I don't think we're going to make it anywhere."

Toru said nothing. Which was as good as agreement, when it came to him.

Naruto palmed his face. He let out a long scream.

Then he popped a soldier's pill. He spoke, so nervous he felt almost calm again.

"Let's seal a Tailed Beast, then."

"This seal is faulty." Naruto said.

"What do you mean?"

"I think it was meant to let the host access the Bijū's chakra, but it's… shoddy. It lets the Tailed
Beast through almost entirely. I think the only reason this holds is because the One-Tail is
supposed to be the weakest of the Nine."

"Oh." Sasuke thought. "Can you fix it?"

"No way, this is way beyond me."

"Is there anybody who could?" Toru asked.

"The old man could, probably. If not, one of his former students is apparently a seal master."

"That's good enough for me." Sasuke nodded.

"…Sasuke, it could be days before we reach the village. That is… If we manage."

"Any better idea?" Sasuke snarked.

No answer.

"That's what I thought, too."

The seal, having been forced open by Naruto to copy it, was unraveling faster.

Beige chakra was leaking from Gaara's broken body.

Naruto and three of his clones sat around it, sealing matrix already drawn.

Sweat was pouring down their faces.

Sasuke stood in the middle of a hastily drawn sealing matrix. On his left shoulder, the same seal
that had been drawn on Gaara's shoulder stood, burning red.

The matrix on the ground would be compacted into it once the transfer was over. The chakra
leaking from Gaara was transferred at a steady rate into the seal on Sasuke's shoulder.

His only job was to open his tenketsu as wide as he could, to accommodate for the foreign nature of
the creature that would soon be part of him… And pull the chakra inside him.

Toru was overseeing the chakra transfer, not heeding the strain his eyes were under.

They had started shortly before dawn had come.

Now… The sun had set again.

None of them could tell for sure for long they had been there.

But if they lost their focus, if only for an instant, death would ensue.

"Guys."

"…"

"Guys!"
Toru lifted bleary eyes towards him. His Sharingan was still on, and he had consumed more soldier
pills than what was normally allowed.

Sasuke kept his eyes closed but answered him.

"…Is it done?"

"Yes. I think so. Gaara's seal is dull again, and there's no more chakra in the air."

Sasuke opened his eyes. They were still black, but Naruto could see a hint of something golden,
and very inhuman within them.

'It must have worked, then.'

Sasuke stared at Gaara, and turned his Sharingan on. There were three tomoe spinning in each eye,
now, and the red of it seemed brighter somehow, leaving a hazy red halo in the air.

"You're right. Gaara's seal is completely dead. There's nothing inside it."

"I think we did it…?"

Toru fell on his back.

"Oh, god. Oh god."

Naruto started to relax, as well. Maybe they could sleep. How long had they been up, again…?

Sasuke's instincts screamed.

"SOMEBODY'S HERE!"

A cold, low voice answered.

"My… what a warm welcome."

Two men had appeared out of nowhere.

A red-haired man with hair in a ponytail.

A man wearing an orange mask.

Both wearing black robes with red clouds.

'This is the worst night of my life.' Naruto thought.

Uzumaki Ryūjin was apparently back for them. And he had brought company.

The orange mask seemed familiar, somehow, but he couldn't figure out why.

His lone eye stopped on him.

"A sharingan?!" he averted his eyes, but it was too late. He had already been caught.

His body froze entirely.

"So… Little Sarutobi is more than what meets the eye, then?" The masked man asked, in dark
amusement.

The Uzumaki laughed. "Apparently, yes. And it seems the three of them are moving up in the
world. Killing a jinchūriki… If an unstable one, at the age of thirteen?"

He whistled. "And then sealing it immediately thereafter. It's a good thing we're not leaving you to
your own devices, I guess. Who knows what you could have done with more time."

"Enough talking, Uzumaki. We're here for a single reason. The Fourth's legacy. We'll come for the
other one later, he shall be the last."

He started moving toward Naruto.

Toru stood up on shaky legs.

He stood there defiantly, just like Kurenai-sensei had done.

Sasuke wanted to scream, but found himself so low on energy that he just managed to fall forward.

What he wanted to say, he didn't know.

'Leave us?'

'Protect us?'

Nothing would help here.

The masked man moved so fast that Naruto thought he had dreamed it.

His kunai cut through Toru's throat smoothly. He then disposed of it by letting it fall in the
bloodied sand.

Toru choked on his blood, eyes wide.

He died like this.

Naruto felt Sasuke's chakra spike, but the Uzumaki did something to him. Sasuke stayed on the
floor, silent tears running down his face.

Naruto was sure the same thing was happening to him.

Then the red-head picked him up, carrying him on his shoulder as if he weighed nothing. He was
still unable to move, or even see Sasuke.

"I'm kinda sorry for you, little Uchiha." Uzumaki said. "This one is about to die, too." He said,
pointing at Naruto, who felt his insides turn cold.

The man with the Sharingan shrugged.

Uzumaki continued. "Maybe it would be a mercy to kill you too."

"No." The other man declared.

"… And why not take him now, boss?"

The masked man laughed, it was a sinister sound.

"I just don't feel like killing any more family tonight. Let him live for now. We'll be back for him."

The Uzumaki snorted, and disappeared with Naruto's body in the vortex.

The Uchiha traitor stared at Sasuke.

"I will see you around, little Uchiha."

He then disappeared.

Sasuke would not forget this rogue Uchiha.

Sasuke thought of Naruto. Captured. Soon to be dead, for reasons he didn't understand.

He thought of Toru. Dead at thirteen. His own cousin, who had been his brother in all but blood.

Both dead.

By his fault.

If he hadn't brought them here…

If he had been stronger…

If they had left earlier…

The Bijū inside him laughed. It was a shrill sound, full of the same madness Sasuke was feeling
echoing within him.

He felt like screaming.

His emotions burned.

The Tailed Beast mirrored him, roaring at the world.

His eyes bled.

He felt them change, get stronger, darker.

Sasuke was ready to let the world burn. His chakra manifested his will, and even sand was set
ablaze.

Except…

Somebody was calling him.

He knew this voice. He called the flames back, wrestling for control.

It took everything he had.

He lifted his tired eyes, not believing what he was seeing.

Toru, alive. And crying.

He had survived…?

Where was the wound that had killed him…? There was nothing there but a small nick along his
throat.

One of his eyes was entirely blank. Without even asking, Sasuke knew this one was blind.

Toru said nothing. He just put both of his arms around him, holding onto him for dear life.

Sasuke did, too.

They cried.

Of Naruto, there was nothing left but his bloody necklace.

No… That was not it.

He could not explain how, but Sasuke felt the blades that Naruto had summoned rest inside him.

Sure enough, he could manifest them both, by using his chakra.

This was all that was left of their teammate. He had died because they were not strong enough.

Two times had been enough.

Sasuke had learned his lesson.

He would have to become the strongest ninja of this era.

Then he would not have to lose anyone else.

Sasuke had given him the shortest sword, separating the daishō in two.

How that worked exactly, neither of them knew for sure, but in exchange for a very slight chakra
drain, Toru could keep the wakizashi manifested.

If he stopped feeding it chakra, it went back to Sasuke.

That was Naruto's.

He had no chakra to spare right now, but he would change that soon.

He would get strong enough to keep it close, as a memento.

And strong enough to never again feel as useless as he did today.

Once they swirled out of the vortex, Naruto was dumped unceremoniously on the floor.

"Tobi. Suijin. I see you've succeeded." A man said, his voice raspy and tired.

'Suijin..?'
So the man who had carried him here was not the same as last time?

His chakra felt just as powerful, befitting an S-rank ninja… but it did have a slightly different
feeling to it..

"Yes." The man named Tobi replied.

"Bring him to me. I will extract the Nine-Tails right away."

He felt himself get picked up again.

Naruto couldn't speak.

'Nine-Tails…? What the hell were they talking about?'

Naruto could see some of the people in the room.

Besides the man carrying him, there were two other people with the same shade of red hair.

One was definitely Ryūjin. Now that he saw the face he hated so much, — and saw him wink —
he wondered how he could have mixed Kurenai's killer, the one who had maimed Sakura, with the
guy currently carrying him.

They looked similar enough, but the differences were there.

Brothers. Twins, maybe.

And then there was the other red-head.

This one was so emaciated he looked like a corpse.

His chakra was terrifying, though. It dwarfed Gaara's… even Fū's in intensity.

His purple, ringed eyes stared at him the whole time.

Naruto was afraid.

The man — someone had called him Nagato — completed a long series of hand signs.

A statue rose up from the ground.

"It is time." Nagato said.

Other people sat in a circle around Naruto's body.

"Sarutobi almost fooled us, but this is undeniably the boy. The Nine-Tails is ours, now. ."

Naruto felt something pull from deep behind his navel.

He felt indescribable pain, and lost consciousness soon enough.

Naruto was floating in what seemed to be space.

There was something that seemed to be light, but he knew it really wasn't.

He felt as if he were falling.

He felt as if were rising.

He was in pain.

He felt free.

Then the incoherent jumble of feelings stopped abruptly.

He woke up in the water.

Where he was, he could not say.

There was something calling to him.

He was stuck in a maze. A maze of sewers.

He walked along the path, entirely dazed.

After what seemed like minutes, he reached a gate.

There had been a seal on it, but it had been ripped.

There seemed to be nothing inside the cage but darkness.

He moved closer.

"Naruto."

Naruto stopped moving. Somebody was here with him.

A man with blond hair. A white coat.

He had seen this face before on the mountain.

"Lord… Fourth?" Naruto asked, in wonder.

The man nodded. "I worked this failsafe into the seal in case the Nine-Tails ever got close to
freedom. It seems the time has come."

"What..?"

"And I was looking forward to seeing my son, even if now seems like a bad moment."

"…What the hell are you talking about?!"

Nagato nodded in satisfaction.

By his estimations, they had extracted around seven tails of the Nine-Tails chakra. It had taken
close to two entire days, with all of them here, but they were close.

They'd be done soon.

The Fourth seemed surprised.

"You are my son, Naruto. I'm the one who named you."
"That's impossible!" He said vehemently.

"…Why would that be impossible?"

"Because I'm a Sarutobi!"

"…What?"

"My Father, Sarutobi Ren died before I was born. My mother died giving birth to me."

"…Well the second part is true enough, I guess. But Sarutobi Ren..? What are you talking about?"

Namikaze Minato knew of Ren, but he couldn't figure why his son was convinced the man who's
biggest claim to fame was his high alcohol tolerance had anything to do with him.

"That's right, the clan told me about him. And they told me my mother was a whore. What does it
even matter?"

Minato stood there, dumbfounded.

A quiet chuckle reverberated from the back of the cage.

One single opened, as big as a man. Teeth that could break through a house gleamed in the dark.

"This is probably the most amusing thing I have heard in years."

Minato ignored him.

"…Who told you all of this? Is Hiruzen still alive?"

"Of course he is. HE told me about it."

Minato looked as if he had been punched in the face.

The creature in the cage laughed, harder and harder.

"This is what tends to happen when you trust humans, little Hokage."

Why had the Third done this…?

Even in his mindscape, Naruto had brown hair and eyes. That was how he saw himself.

Adopting his son, he would have understood.

But hiding… everything from him and having him grow up as the son of a prostitute and a
drunkard?

Was Hiruzen trying to make his son dependent on him…?

It was not unheard of for the village leader to make sure the Jinchūriki were loyal solely to them.

The same thing had been done to people with strong abilities, if in a different way.

Iwa, for one, after having participated in the sacking of Uzushio, had stolen some of the children,
and had them grow up in specific homes, erasing all traces of their heritage. They would grow up
loyal to their new clan… and their village.
Brainwashing them, basically.

He had never expected the same to happen to his son.

"Set me free, little Hokage. Your son will die soon enough, anyway. This way, I will avenge
both of you. You have my promise."

He ignored the Nine-Tails.

Minato felt terrible about what had happened with his son. He wished he had more time.

He wished he could explain everything.

But he did not have the time. Not if he wanted his son to live.

Maybe if Kushina managed to speak to him, she could do it.

"Hear me out, Nine-Tails. I will strike a bargain with you."

"Hear me out, Nine-Tails. I will strike a bargain with you."

So the creature behind the bars was definitely the Nine-Tails, then.

The creature quieted, his eyes bright with intelligence. This was nothing like the One-Tail had
been.

The Fourth turned to face him.

"The Third lied to you about many things. He also hid who you truly were. Why, I don't know for
sure, I can only surmise."

"…"

"But I can assure you of one thing." He said, his blue eyes staring deep into his. "Just as sure as I
am Namikaze Minato, you were born as Namikaze Naruto. Though me and my wife, Uzumaki
Kushina, considered having you take the Uzumaki surname."

"…"

'I don't think he's lying.'

It felt like his whole world was turned upside down.

He was the son of the Fourth Hokage, not a Sarutobi.

He was an Uzumaki, not related to the Third at all.

He was a Jinchūriki. The jailer of the Nine-Tails.

He wondered who knew. He wondered who else had lied to him.

And he wondered why.

Naruto felt anger brewing inside him. He would find out the truth.

The Fourth continued. "Somebody tightened the Nine Tails' seal. It is burrowed deeper inside you.
That's likely why you were never able to access its chakra, like you were supposed to."

"…"

"The people who captured you are almost done extracting the Nine-Tails from you."

"…What do I do?"

Minato smiled painfully. "Let me help you. Saving you is the least I can do for my son."

"Speak your terms, Fourth Hokage."

"I know you're fading out. What will happen to your consciousness once their plan comes through,
I do not know."

"…"

"If you help us… Then I will help you."

The Nine-Tails snorted.

"Bah. There's nothing you can do. You've been dead for years now."

"Lend us your remaining power. With it, I can free Naruto. He will get you out of here, as soon as
he can."

The Nine-Tails paused.

Then it started laughing.

"Insolent human. Were it not for this cage, I would devour you."

Minato stood still, waiting.

The Beast stared at him for almost a minute.

"…There is no guarantee the child will survive."

"No." Minato said, closing his eyes. "Maybe he won't."

"So why should I even bother listening to you?"

Naruto stood with bated breath.

The Fourth answered. "Because if you do nothing, you're guaranteed to stay trapped in this statue
until these people are done with you. With this way, you at least have a chance."

"…"

"So…. What will it be? Do you prefer being trapped with your nine tails for the rest of your
existence..."

The Nine-Tails closed its eyes.

"Or will you take a chance on us…? Seven tails of your power is already more than you know what
to do with. You would only sacrifice about a fifth of your power. For a chance at freedom."
"This is why I hate you humans so much."

"Do we have a bargain, Nine-Tails?"

"I have one condition."

"Tell us."

"I want my freedom. When your son frees me… And he will have no choice but to, as he
needs my chakra to survive… I want him to let me go."

"No. That will kill him."

"Then I won't agree to your terms."

"Then you will die."

"So will he."

They stared at each other, neither budging.

"…Upon his death. Upon his death, he will set you free. You won't be trapped into any other
human, you have my promise."

The Nine-Tails stared at him.

"On the condition that you never harm any other human."

The Beast grunted.

"No. There is a certain human I plan on devouring. And I won't stand still if humans ever
come looking for me again. I know they will."

Minato let out a sigh. This was likely true.

"Then leave them alone, as long as they leave you alone. Besides that masked man with the
Sharingan - and that's him, I assume." His smile was hard. "This one you can have. If my son
doesn't get him first."

The Nine-Tails grunted in vague approval. "Then I'll leave them mostly alone. I want nothing to
do with your kind anyway."

Minato nodded.

"And there is another matter at hand. You have sealed half my power away. I want it back."

"This is beyond me. It is sealed in the Shinigami's belly, and I am dead."

"Then have your son find a way."

"I can't promise you this."

"You're not the one I was asking."

Minato sighed. This was a hard bargain. And who knew what breaking a contract with a Bijū
entailed.

This was the best he would negotiate today. He looked toward his son.

"Naruto, do you agree?"

"Tell us your answer, human."

Naruto closed his eyes. "I've managed my whole life without the Nine-Tails' power. I'll just have to
figure out how to reach this Shinigami thing, then."

He opened them.

"Yes."

Nagato noticed the flow of chakra stopped, a bit earlier than expected. The Jinchūriki was dead
then.

The statue was seemingly full.

Such a rich chakra that was, too.

Konan helped him walk up to it. He felt Tobi's eyes on him.

He wasn't sure what was going through the man's mind, but whatever it was, he didn't try to stop
him.

Nagato summoned the Preta Path.

He reached with his hand to the statue and started taking in the Nine-Tails's mighty chakra.

A few instants later, and he looked like a man decades younger.

More importantly, his legs, just like the rest of his body, had healed entirely.

Power flowed through his body, more than he had felt in years.

He was whole again.

 The Boy who Leapt Through Space and Time
Chapter Summary

Second chapter added today -- there's one before this one

Namikaze Minato opened his eyes to the world of the living for the first time in thirteen years.

For him, it had only been an instant.

It was strange, knowing the “real” him was dead, his soul trapped in the Shinigami’s belly.
Nothing he could do about it now, not using his son’s body.

The Nine-Tails had left enough of its chakra before his soul had departed for the statue for Minato
to use what little he had left to do this.

Nobody was in the room with him. They had likely just left him here, intent on picking him later.

Sloppy of them, but he assumed that they didn’t bother doing the cleanup themselves. Somebody
else would come for him.

He didn’t intend to wait.

He closed his eyes, and focused on sensing chakra. It was strange how different the ability felt in
his son’s untrained body.

Muted, somehow.

There were around a dozen strong chakra signatures in the floors around him.

S-rank, all of them.

He was likely in a tower.

Somebody had taken Naruto’s equipment, when he had arrived. What Minato was interested in was
the Fūinjutsu scroll Kakashi had given to Naruto just one month ago.

He had felt a very familiar chakra signature, and after quizzing his son, had figured why.

This had been his own scroll. And he had stamped a Hiraishin tag on it, long ago.

He breathed in, and out.

Somebody was coming in his general direction. There was no time to waste.

There!

He felt the scroll’s position.

Now, for the trickier part.

‘Remember this feeling, Naruto.’ He thought.

‘I’m watching.’ His son answered.

Wherever the tag was…

That was where he currently was. Not where his body was. The universe could catch up.

He pulsed his chakra once, telling the world the way it was going to be.

He appeared in a flash in a study room.

The man with long hair in a ponytail, who had brought him here, turned around as quickly as you’d
expect from an S-rank ninja.

There was one thing, though.

Minato was faster.

His hand was already on the man’s head before he could reach for his chakra.

The Rasengan formed inside his skull, turning its insides to mush silently.

The man died, just like this.

Suijin’s face was frozen in a terrible rictus, blood pouring from his ears and nose.

Minato flew through a few hand seals, and stored the body in a nearby notepad.

Naruto could likely use the bounty.

He packed everything he could find in the room, heedless of who it belonged to.

Dead men had no use for research notes.

He quickly drafted a seal on the back of his hand, storing everything in it. Not the best practice, but
better than risking losing it.

The room he was in was connected to a main room where three other ninja were currently sitting.

Any other day, he would feel confident enough to face them.

Not today. He didn’t know how much time he had left.

He summoned a blade of wind to his hand and cut through the heavy window directly. He set it on
the floor silently, and twisted his body so that he could crawl through.

Icy rain hit his face.

He saw clouds. Just how high were they?

…Something was strange with the rain.

Chakra. It was saturated in chakra. Meaning that somebody had probably noticed there was an
intruder in the tower.
The door slammed open.

A man released a burst of searing flame toward him.

‘I have no time left. Fighting is not an option here.’

He jumped through the window.

He located his closest Hiraishin tag.

That was a long jump but he could make-

He lost control over Naruto’s body.

Back into the mindscape, where outside time stood still, Naruto cursed.

“My time is over, Naruto.”

“Yeah. I noticed. What the fuck do I do?”

“Language.”

Naruto laughed at the absurdity of it. “You just jumped out of a building so high I can’t even see
ground level! Who cares about profanity.”

Minato looked sheepish. “I’m sorry. You’re going to have to use the Hiraishin.”

“Do I look like I know how to?!”

“Well… No, but you saw me do it. Try to reproduce it.”

“That’s all the advice you could come up with?”

“It’s a pretty simple jutsu. Not easy, but simple. The tag helps you chakra sensing ability through it
over longer distances than usual, and the rest is just convincing yourself that’s where you are,
using your chakra.”

“Oh! Just that!” Naruto snarked.

“Yes, exactly!” Minato nodded, glad his son saw it was not all that bad.

“What happens if I mess it up?”

“…Don’t think about this now.”

“Damn it!”

Minato started fading. “Naruto… I think it’s time for me.”

“…Yeah. I see that.” He was not looking at him, unsure of how to feel about the man.

“There are some scrolls in my old safehouse I want you to find. You will find it, once you master
your sensor ability. They will help you, I’m sure.”

“…I will do that.”

“Whatever you decide to do from now on is up to you. Whether you choose to go back to Konoha
or not…” Naruto stiffened. Minato smiled “I would understand, considering the circumstances. I’m
proud of you.”

“…” Naruto didn’t trust his voice.

“If you manage to do something about the Shinigami seal, maybe we will be able to speak again.
Be careful with your promise to the Nine-Tail, don’t break it. Take care of yourself.”

“…I will.

“Eat, and grow strong. Survive. Please.”

Naruto nodded stiffly.

Minato continued. “And for what it’s worth… I’m sorry.”

“…Yeah, I get that. Me too. That we’d meet like this.”

Naruto’s shoulders shook.

Minato disappeared with a sad smile.

The last thing the Nine-Tails had done before fading into the strange statue was leave Naruto its
remaining power, which was almost two tails.

The Fourth — his dad, then — had locked it behind a modified version of the seal he apparently
had carried his whole life.

He should be able to access the Beast’s chakra, now.

But it would likely be better if he didn’t, because if he ever exhausted the reserve, he would die.

He did not know if this counted as breaking his promise to the Nine-Tails, but he was not going to
try to find out.

Even now, with the creature gone, he could feel its consciousness somewhere far away. Maybe he
could even reach for it, if he tried.

There were tons of different thoughts running through his mind.

He chose to push them aside for now, remembering everything he knew about the Hiraishin.

He spent what felt like an hour inside his mindscape, unsure if he would even be able to come back
here again.

Once he felt ready, or rather as ready as he could ever be, he focused on his exterior awareness.

Falling from this high was a strange sensation.

Past the first few seconds, the sensation of being pulled to the ground faded away.

After this, it was very quiet.

He went through a cloud, real or artificial, he didn’t know.

Naruto focused on the sense he had felt Minato stretch before.

The sort of awareness that always warned him when a ninja, or any creature with strong chakra,
was somewhere around.

Most shinobi had some ability to feel others, whether they called it a danger sense or something
else.

He breathed out, and his breath misted.

He could see the ground, now. He closed his eyes, this would not help him, at all.

Feeling for a tag.

Wait, how did this work, where would all the velocity he had accumulated go..?

Would he just kill himself on arrival..?

No. Not the time.

Where was this tag…?

He couldn’t feel any sign of a tag. His sensor ability was simply not developed enough. Maybe the
Fourth… Maybe his dad would have managed.

But he couldn’t.

He quickly decided to do things differently.

He focused on the sensation of teleportation, instead.

Naruto couldn’t find locate any specific tags. That was one thing.

He would just go to a tag. Any would do.

This might be a stupid decision, but he had nothing better.

Wherever the tag was…

That was where he currently was.

Not where his body was. The universe was just a bit late.

He pulsed his chakra once, telling the world the way it was going to be.

He vanished.

His pursuer, a missing-nin from Waterfall, named Kakuzu cursed when the boy disappeared.

Nagato had likely felt it too.

What had happened? And where was the boy?

Sasuke and Toru reached the village gates more than five days after they had departed.

Sasuke’s arm had entirely healed, courtesy of the Tailed Beast he was now hosting. Some of its
chakra was leaking through his own, and some people blanched when they felt it.

He and Toru went straight for the Tower.

The last message the Hokage had received had been from Suna itself, confirming the completion of
the aquifer.

So when his son came into his office, clothes in tatters, and distinctly non-human chakra pouring
out of him, followed by his cousin, who only had one eye open…

To say he was surprised would be an understatement.

He called for Jiraiya to be recalled immediately.

Then sent for Shisui and the Third. Itachi was out of the village, at the moment.

The report could wait. Their teammate was gone, too.

Fugaku cursed when his son revealed that his eyes had changed.

He had thought Toru dead. And then Naruto had gotten kidnapped to an unknown place.

“…They said he would die in the next two days.”

“…” The Third said nothing. “When was this?” He struggled to get out.

“…Five days ago.”

The Third closed his eyes, in visible pain.

“…Hokage-sama, if you will excuse me. I… will come back in an hour. The seal will hold, I can
promise you this much. Jiraiya will arrive in a few days.”

Fugaku nodded. He knew the man had been close to his grand-nephew.

The Third excused himself from the room, hiding his eyes.

“So it worked…?” Shisui asked, tone dead serious.

“The jutsu you told me about…?” Toru asked, voice dead. “Yes, it did. And as you told me, it took
my eye.”

Shisui nodded.
Toru continued. “I couldn’t do anything about Naruto, though. When I came back to myself, he
was already gone, and Sasuke was…” He sniffled.

Shisui grabbed him in a hug.

“I’m glad you lived.”

“…” He hugged his older brother.

“The eyes that you now possess are called Mangekyō Sharingan. They awaken by suffering
trauma. They will grant you powerful abilities, but it comes with a price. Over time, your vision
will deteriorate.”

“..Why did I never hear of it?”

“The price to activate it is very high. Only a few people awakened it.”

“And how do you know about this?” Sasuke had a suspicion.

Fugaku closed his eyes. “I had a dear friend, once.” He opened his eyes, and his Sharingan swirled
into a form Sasuke had never seen before.

Sasuke said nothing.

“I’m not the only one. Itachi… and Shisui have awakened it too. We will help you to learn how to
control its power. So that if you ever need it…” He left the sentence unfinished.

“…Thank you.”

Fugaku sighed, looking weary. “I wish I could have done more, Sasuke.”

He ruffled Sasuke’s hair, who tried hard not to cry again.

The Third wept openly, once he was alone.

He had made a terrible mistake. Once more.

And he would need to tell a few things to Fugaku.

Ino had asked Toru, who was now wearing a black eye-patch over his right eye, having refused to
take Shisui’s eye, as the village and the clan needed him more, where Naruto was.

“Is he hiding from me again?” Ino made it a point not to ask him about what happened to his eye.

Toru paled, and let out a long sigh.

“Ino…”

Ino knelt down. She couldn’t speak.

Toru embraced her.

The pain in her heart was too much for her. She let the tears flow.

He had seemed larger than life, the kind of person who’d end up there with Konoha’s heroes,
despite his reluctance.

And now… she was supposed to believe he was dead, before even becoming an adult…?

Before she could even muster the courage to tell him how she felt…?

She let out a heart-wrenching scream.

When he told her, Sakura thanked him for telling her, shakily, and then ran back inside.

Toru sighed.

Sasuke had enough on his plate, what with the Bijū within him, and his new eyes. So he had taken
it upon himself to tell Naruto’s closest friends about his… demise.

Konohamaru took it hard, Biwako with the quiet dignity of someone who had already lost too
many. He had thought this would be the worst of it.

But Ino and Sakura were his friends, too.

Seeing Ino looking so lost, and Sakura so quiet… felt like someone was rubbing salt in his own
wound.

And now he would have to find a way to get in touch with Karin, too.

Jiraiya arrived without his usual fanfare one day after that.

He took a look at the seal and cursed.

“This really is Suna’s work, isn’t it…?”

“…Naruto copied it off the last Jinchūriki they had, yes. He said it was shoddy.”

Jiraiya barked a laugh. “‘Shoddy’ at best. It’s like they wanted to make it shitty. I know they have
a few alright sealmasters.”

Sasuke said nothing.

Jiraiya stared at him, very seriously. “Kid, how much do you hear the demon’s voice?”

“…It has never stopped since we sealed it.”

“What does it say?”

“It has tried almost anything, really. It’s always looking for an angle.”
“Anything…?”

“Anything. My fears, my hopes… My weaknesses.”

Jiraiya frowned. “Well, that’s not good. I can’t remake the seal entirely. But I can definitely make
it better.”

“…I would appreciate it.” Sasuke paused. “Will it prevent me from using the demon’s power?”

Jiraiya stared. “It might interfere, yes.”

“Then I can’t agree.”

“Kid, you can’t be serious.”

“We will need its strength.” He stared at Jiraiya. “What is Suna saying?”

The toad sage winced. “They’re angry, to say the least. They know just how unstable Gaara was,
which is the only reason they’re not up in arms… Yet. Even then, they accused us of poaching
their Beast.”

“…That’s what I thought. We might need its strength, then.”

Jiraiya sighed. “We might.”

“…And I won’t allow something like this to happen to anyone else. I need to become stronger,
much stronger.”

“You can’t save everyone, kid.” He said, bitterly. “Believe me, I tried.”

“I’m not pretending I can.” Sasuke’s stare was intense. “But I will do my best.”

Jiraiya smiled. He had heard similar words from another young prodigy he had trained.

“…Are you sure?”

“I will train with my clan, to learn how to use my eyes. I should be able to control the Beast, then.”

“And what of before that…? It could take you a while.”

“…”

“Look. Here’s what we can do. I’ll tighten the seal temporarily, as well as improve what I can for
good. Once you learn whatever Sharingan trick helps you control it, I’ll open it again. Sounds
good?”

Sasuke bowed. “This is more than I could ask for. I humbly thank you, Jiraiya-sama.”

He laughed. “Ah come on, don’t be so formal. Call me sensei, instead. As soon as you get your
fancy eyes under control, we’re leaving the village for a training trip. Pack for… Let’s say a few
years.”

Sasuke stumbled.

“What?”

He snorted. “Can’t let you learn how to control a Tailed Beast on your own, now. Can I?”
“…Guess not.”

He got his sealing supplies out.

“As of now, you’re the Legendary Jiraiya’s Esteemed Pupil. Now, let’s work on your seal,
Sasuke.”

Fugaku was in the Hokage’s office, where he was spending more and more time.

There was trouble. Suna had tried to force him to send them his son, wanting to get back the power
of their Tailed Beast, as well as the Sharingan.

He had refused, of course. He would never hand over his own family. The relation between the
two villages had gone cold, even if war wasn’t necessarily on the horizon. At least for now.

Namikaze Minato’s son had survived his birth, only to die thirteen years later.

That would at least explain Sasuke’s teammate’s seemingly natural talent in a few fields.

And just like the Uchiha, there had never been a Sarutobi without at least a passing Fire affinity,
before.

Knowing he had been made the host of the Nine-Tails, though… That was something else.

What the hell had Sarutobi been thinking?

Raising the boy in his clan, he could at least somewhat understand. But hiding the truth about the
village’s Jinchūriki to everyone… including the Hokage?

If that was him trying to protect Naruto… He was going about it in a very twisted way.

And now they had lost both Namikaze’s son and the power of the Nine-Tails.

He cursed the Third.

Fugaku got back to work. There was a lot he would have to do in the coming years.

Naruto appeared in a yellow flash in a small fishing harbor, the sudden bright light of the day
blinding him.

When he had vanished from the nation of Rain, — and he was pretty sure that’s where he had been
— it had been the middle of the night.

He had a sick feeling in the bottom of his stomach.

‘Flying Thunder God is a space-time ninjutsu.’

That’s what his father had explained to him, just a few minutes ago.

Most people overlooked the “time” factor.

Naruto didn’t. Not today.

Not when the sun was shining so bright and hot. The desert was one thing.

But it simply wasn’t supposed to be this warm near the sea at this time of the year.

Something was wrong. Really wrong.

‘How much time has it been?’

He was scared of the answer.

 No Place To Call Home
Chapter Summary

Third chapter today -- there are two more before this one

The first thing Naruto did…

Well, no. The first thing he did was hole himself up in a seaside inn, and sleep until the next
morning.

That was the only way he could process the last few days.

Toru was dead.

He somehow couldn’t wrap his head around this sentence.

Toru was dead.

How many times had he rolled his eyes, complained about the younger Uchiha? Too many to
count.

The stupid jokes, the endless nagging and prodding…

The easy friendship, the unwavering loyalty.

He was crying for his friend.

Sasuke was likely alive, but… his closest friend had been killed in front of him, and there was a
Tailed Beast inside him, now.

He had killed someone.

It had been very deliberate, too.

He had felt he had no other choice, at the time. But was it true…?

He wasn’t so sure.

That was how he fell asleep.

Once more, he had been too weak. Now, he was also a murderer.

Naruto slipped out at the first crack of dawn.

He bought a newspaper that he kept carefully folded.

He ate something light for breakfast, then sat down on a ridge overlooking the sea.

The sea was tumultuous today, he noted absentmindedly.

There, with trembling hands, he opened the paper, looking for the date.

Three years, and some.

He had somehow managed to jump more than three years in the future.

“That’s the present now.” He corrected himself, hysterically.

He felt himself panic.

“Three fucking years?!”

That meant he had been born sixteen years ago… even though he was only thirteen.

Toru… No, Toru was dead.

Sasuke, Ino, Sakura… Karin, too. They were sixteen and something, now…?

Holy shit, Konohamaru was almost his age.

Then something scarier occurred to him.

“Is everyone even still alive?”

Three years was a lot of time. In just one year, several of his classmates had died already.

And that had been when they were just regular genin.

Naruto stared at the sea, unsure of how to proceed.

He tried to catch up on the world’s events.

Relationships between Leaf and Sand were tense.

Hidden Mist and Cloud had territorial skirmishes going on, particularly on Red Island, fighting for
its territory.

It hadn’t erupted in a full war, but the seeds were there.

Stone had a tentative alliance going on with Mist, so if it came to that…

The Elemental Nations would likely tear themselves apart, once more.

He informed himself of the major Village’s leaders. Nothing had changed too much here.

Uchiha Fugaku was still the Hokage.

The man named A, fourth of the name, was still in power as well.

The leader of Suna was still Rasa, but there were rumors that a woman puppeteer, named Chigusa,
might take over soon.

Mist was headed by Yagura, who had gotten rid of his major opponents in a terrible purge of his
government.

Ōnoki still wasn’t ready to relinquish his station.

The land of Rivers was gaining traction under a leader named Tao.

And the nation of Rain, headed by the man named Nagato, — he had recognized the name — was
becoming very powerful, too fast, according to the other villages.

He was somewhere up north, in the Land of Hot Springs.

It was a long way down to Konoha, which would take him a week in his weakened state, he
estimated. He didn’t know the way, so it might be a bit longer, even.

He needed to get back. Then he’d get answers from Sarutobi and…

…And what?

Three years had gone by.

Everyone likely thought him dead.

Sasuke had probably become strong, so much stronger, with Kakashi training him. He would get
over it, and he had his family.

The old man… Sarutobi. If he was still alive, had a lot to answer to, but he didn’t really feel like
seeing him.

Biwako would definitely manage.

Sakura was in civilian school, likely. What was it called, high school..? She probably had distanced
herself some from shinobi life.

He never even had the time to write to Karin. What did she think…?

Konohamaru? He was young, he would bounce back, too.

Kakashi was a veteran, and had weathered more losses than anybody under thirty should. He
would likely be fine.

Did he even need to come back…?

Ino.

What about Ino?

He knew there was the possibility she might have liked him. And well… he might have started to
feel something himself, even though he hadn’t known what to make of it.

But… She had been thirteen, then. She was almost seventeen now, and had thought him dead for
more than three years.

He was still thirteen.

What hope did he have there? This was ridiculous.

He stopped walking. His heart ached.

Coming home might be a bad idea, even.

And there was the fact that for the first time since he had joined the Academy… he was free.

Entirely free. Why did it scare him so? He had wanted this, didn't he?

He counted the money he had on himself.

It didn’t amount to much. About 5,000 ryō. Not even enough to survive a full month out there.

He sighed.

He would not go to Konoha. At least not now. He knew he would have to access the Fourth’s
safehouse at some point.

Maybe he’d reconsider, but he didn’t think this would be anytime soon.

He needed to figure out a few things. Notably how to survive entirely on his own.

He’d stay a few days… maybe longer in this fishing village. It looked like a safe place.

While he was near the sea, fishing to eat would be easy enough.

He’d need money to get somewhere to sleep. Sleeping in a tent was sometimes a necessity for
shinobi out in the wild, but that was not very restful sleep. If he actually wanted to get stronger…

And he needed to. Then he would need a decent place to sleep. What else did people with a
Shinobi background do for money…?

Oh. Most of them became mercenaries for hire. Killing a single person had been more than enough
for him. He’d figure something less lethal. Maybe there would be some tracking missions… or
capturing rogue shinobi..?

He could sell some seals. Nothing too dangerous, but basic supplies shouldn’t take him too much
time to figure out. They could go for decent amounts of money, especially if they required low
amounts of maintenance.

Maybe he could teach some general chakra manipulation… or even Taijutsu for a decent price?

Then he figured it out. Why had he gotten stuck on such a narrow world-view?

He didn’t have to rely solely on his shinobi skills.

He posted an ad a few hours later.

Odd Job Agency:

No job too small. None too big. Need a shelf brought up, help on a construction site, one more
fisherman…?
Fair rates.

Friendly and Experienced Service.

Leave a message in Postal Box Number 11, Fishing District for a quote.

Naruto pinned it wherever he was allowed to.

‘That should do.’ He nodded to himself.

The first jobs came fast.

A single day after he had put up his flyers, he had three different messages left in the post box he
had rented.

They were pretty small jobs, for sure. But they would also allow him to keep himself alive for the
time being.

Once he had confirmed all three of them, he rented a small wooden house for two weeks, in the
most remote district, by paying for a full month upfront… Leaving him with just enough for a few
days of eating.

He took a look at the contracts.

Landscaping job, painting job, and… insect feeding?

Well, it seemed like none of these would be too physical for a trio of clones.

He created three clones, and gave them random names, from the top of his head.

Then no jobs came for several days.

He had grossly overestimated the demand in this little town. There were only so many jobs a
random “agency” that popped up out of nowhere would be able to receive.

What an idiot he had been. It had been easy enough in Konoha, with an endless supply of jobs,
demands, and offers. The small village of Umi-o-miorosu was not Konoha, far from it.

He sighed. Where to go from here?

Naruto spent the next few days in a funk.

A dead friend, nowhere to go… No real plan.

And he was spending too much time alone. He had started having conversations with his clones.

One of them was ranting about what was wrong with the shinobi world. Naruto tuned him out, he
knew exactly what the clone was saying… It was him, after all.

“We need to move.” He ended up saying.

One of the clones, currently nose deep in a book about sealing, lifted an eyebrow.

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Where?”

“What’s the closest town we can get a bounty for the dead Uzumaki?” Naruto asked.

“Legally?”

“Uh, yeah. Sure. I don’t really like it, but the guy’s dead anyway, so…”

Another clone confirmed what he already knew. “Probably the Land of Rice. The Land of Hot
Springs wants to stay neutral, they don’t really do bounties.”

“Can one of you guys look it up?”

A clone nodded. He thumbed through his book, finding the local map. “…There is the town of
Haraji, it’s close to the border. There would definitely be some demand for shinobi skills, too. Or
just demand in general.”

“How far is it?”

“Two days, I’d say.”

“…Let’s pack up, then. We’re leaving tomorrow.”

“What about this place? We rented it for one more week.”

“Fuck this place.”

The clone shrugged and started packing.

Ever since the Nine-Tails had been extracted, he had felt different.

His own chakra seemed to be… more abundant, for one. Likely because it wasn’t used to hold
back the Nine-Tails… and hide the seal itself. He couldn’t estimate it very precisely, but it felt as if
he were working with about double the amount he previously was able to use.

That was without taking in account the chakra the Nine-Tails had left behind.

Naruto could feel the deep well of power within him. He had never tried to use it, knowing what it
was exactly, but it was there.

But the changes that he could not get used to were the physical ones.

The seal that Sarutobi had likely put on him years ago had faded.

His face had changed shape, ever so slightly, and so had his eyes. His skin was tanner, too.

His hair was getting lighter by the day, and his eyes were now a strange shade of purple. And there
were some marks on his cheeks that looked like… whiskers?
He assumed this had something to with the Nine-Tails, too

Naruto would likely get used to the changes, but it was very disconcerting to look in the mirror and
have trouble recognizing your own face.

He never gave his own name anymore.

Sarutobi was a clan that only existed in one village… And he didn’t feel as if he belonged there
anyway.

And his own first name felt too distinctive.

He would just use random names when needed.

The trek to Haraji was uneventful, as running hidden in the forest was something every Konoha
ninja learned early.

Haraji…

Was not what he had expected.

First, it was very crowded. And chaotic. All the time. It was easy to get lost because the streets
were so narrow.

There seemed to be some sort of theme to most of these streets, Naruto thought, because he passed
around ten very similar shops in a row, one after the other.

It was hot here, very hot.

The town itself felt old, and there was something of older Land of Fire architecture in some
buildings. He wasn’t sure about the city’s — and by extension, the land’s — history, but he
wouldn’t be too surprised to learn settlers had come from down south.

Compared to Konoha, most buildings were pretty low, never exceeding three-four floors.

He asked several people for directions, until he found the Bounty Collection Office.

“So, who’s the stiff?” The man in charge asked him.

“..Huh?”

The man sighed. “Is this your first time..? Who’s the bounty on?”

“Oh!” He understood, now. “It’s an Uzumaki missing-ninja.”

They might have been somewhat related, now that he stopped to think about it.

The man’s eyberows rose. “Uzumaki, eh? Thought most of them were gone, now.”

“They are, yes.”

“First name? There’s almost no Uzumaki left in the book either, we assumed most were dead.”

“Suijin, I think.”

The man frowned. “We don’t have it.”

“..What? Really.”

“Nope. Where was he from?”

“Iwa, I guess. That’s where his brother was from.”

“…There’s no Uzumaki from Iwa.” The man frowned. Was the kid wasting his time…?

“No Uzumaki Ryūjin either…?” Was there just no bounty on them? That had been most of his
plan.

“…” The man hesitated. “There was a man named Ryūjin, but he came from the Dodai clan. He
has a bounty on him for killing a few people and defecting, years ago. I remember that one.”

“Yes. I think that’s the guy. But he called himself Uzumaki.”

“He might have had ties with the clan. Definitely looked like one.” He paused, a weird expression
on his face. “So… Wait. Let me get this right.”

“Yes?”

“The stiff you have in this scroll is Dodai Suijin?” He pointed at him, hesitant.

“Yeah. I guess so.”

“…”

“What’s the deal?”

“He was one of Iwa’s sealing experts. I wasn’t aware he had left the village either, before today.”
He checked his book. “But you’re right. We have a bounty on this guy. S-rank missing ninja, too.
He stole several village secrets when he escaped. I assume he joined his… brother, then. The
corpse will go to Iwa, and they’ll pay us. We’ll give you the money right now, though, of course.”

“S-rank?” Naruto wondered.

“…You didn’t know?”

“Not at the time, no.”

There were some ridiculous things, when it came to the ninja world. But hearing this child had
defeated one of Iwa’s best almost topped the list.

But a stiff was a stiff.

“Very well. Let me make sure the stiff is who you say he is, and I’ll get you the money. The
amount is 30 million ryō.”

Naruto’s eyes widened.

‘THIRTY MILLIONS?!’
That was more money than he’d ever seen in his life. This would change everything.

Not trusting his voice, he nodded.

He handed the man the scroll, who unsealed the corpse on the table.

The dead man looked very similar to his brother.

And what a terrible face he had made in his last moments.

Naruto looked away while the man examined the corpse.

“It’s still warm.” The man said.

“…I sealed the corpse as soon as the guy died.” Well, the Fourth had, technically.

The man nodded. He left the guy on the table and went into one of the back-rooms.

He came back with a briefcase, handing him the promised money in cash. Most bounty hunters
wanted a money trail leading to them.

Naruto bowed, sealing the case immediately inside the seal he had on his hand.

Bad practice or not, he was not about to walk around with millions in cash.

He left the corpse on the table, and exited the building.

He had a lot to think about.

Despite what the bondsman had said, the corpse wouldn’t be sent to Iwa.

He had a call to make, instead.

Somebody had been very interested in a few specific corpses, and had asked to be warned if one of
them passed the doors of the office.

He was sure the man in question had asked the same request of most bounty offices in the
Elemental Nations.

If somebody had the money, as well as the influence to do this kind of thing, it was that man.

The man in question arrived the next day, his aura as chilling as ever.

He laughed, paid the bondsman the sum he had promised without blinking and left with the corpse
sealed in a scroll he had brought for this specific purpose.

He went straight into Haraji’s streets. There was someone he had to find.

Naruto was staying in a pretty unremarkable hotel.

Now that his money troubles were seemingly over for… well, the next decade, it seemed, he was
wondering where to go.

He could quite literally go anywhere he pleased. For the first time in more than a week, he felt
optimistic.

Maybe he could go around the world, learn more about chakra for a few years…

He could become stronger, build a new life somewhere when he was done with that. Then he
would have to sneak into Konoha, find the scrolls he had promised his father he would find.

“Yeah. Sounds like a plan.” He said, to himself.

It would be his first taste of freedom.

It was exhilarating, just as it was scary.

Now… which country first? Which one was safe, and still at peace…?

Somebody knocked at his door, softly.

He stiffened, looking toward the window. Did he have time to escape?

No, wait, it was not necessarily an enemy. There was no one after him, now.

He relaxed a bit. It was likely the hotel’s personnel.

He still sealed everything important within himself. He’d have to find a better solution, as it was
considered kinda risky.

He opened the door and froze.

A pale-faced man loomed over him. Naruto couldn’t feel his chakra.

This was not a civilian, though, far from it. If he focused, Naruto could feel a bottomless well of
energy coiled within the man.

It reminded him of a snake.

The man’s golden eyes stared at him, shining with interest.

“Kukukuku. What do we have here…? A little Uzumaki. Or is it Namikaze, perhaps?”

 Snake's Bargain

As soon as Naruto heard the words, he paled.

Channeling Lightning chakra to his legs was almost second nature, by now. He bounced off the
floor, arms held in front of his face. He would escape through the window, going straight through
it.

Something grabbed his ankle, slamming him against the floor. It held him there and it hissed.

'A snake?'

"Ow…"

The man laughed. "Such bad manners, little Namikaze. Did sensei teach you nothing?"

"Sensei? …Are you a student of the old man?"

"Poor manners indeed." The man smiled, revealing too perfect teeth. "Sarutobi-sensei must have
become too lax, over time."

Sarutobi had taken very few students in his life.

'He's clearly not Tsunade, nor Jiraiya.' He had never met either, but he knew they summoned slugs
and toads, respectively.

That left…

"You're Orochimaru, aren't you?"

He laughed in delight. "That is who I am."

Orochimaru's golden eyes seemed as if they were piercing him. He spoke, his voice carrying the
tone of someone who was used to people obeying him without question.

"Would you care to join me for a walk?"

They walked in the crowded streets of Haraji.

Orochimaru seemed to glide through a crowd, never touching people, and never slowing down.
Naruto struggled to follow him.

"The Land of Rice once was part of the same empire that became the Land of Fire. This is the
reason you may have seen a few similarities." The man said.

Naruto said nothing. He was not sure why he was making conversation, nor what he wanted
exactly.

Orochimaru shrugged. "Have it your way. I had hoped that fresh air might make you more
amenable."

"…What do you want?" Naruto grit out.

Orochimaru tilted his head. "That's a very broad question. There are so, so many things I desire."

"Enough with the riddles. If you're here to bring me back to the village, there's nothing I can do…
If you want to kill me, then go ahead."

The man sighed. "You really have no patience, do you?"

"What is this about? I have lost the Nine-Tails! Konoha can afford to let me go."

"I figured as much."

Naruto stopped in his tracks. There was something he was missing here.

"How do you know?.." His first instinct was to palm a kunai, or channel Lightning, but it would be
of no use here.

"I have my sources."

"…Are you even with Konoha?" He thought he was, as he had seen his name on the active lists,
but he had never seen the man. And three years was a long time.

"Now that's a more interesting question." Orochimaru laughed. He considered. "You could say that
I am. In a way."

"I don't think ninja villages work this way. Yes or no?" Naruto gritted out.

"Well, my case might be a bit peculiar. Sensei always had a soft spot for all three of us."

"Do you mean the Legendary Three?"

"Of course. Jiraiya is the only one really active by now, and even he spends most of his time
outside the village. Knowing him, I cannot assure you that this time is entirely productive.
Tsunade…" He sighed. "Tsunade is running away, and has been doing so for a while."

"What about you?"

Sarutobi didn't say much about his students in general, and even less when it came to Orochimaru.

The man bowed in a dramatic fashion. "You could say that I am more of a free agent. While I am
still technically on the books, only a war at Konoha's doorstep would force me back home."

"…The Fifth allows this?"

"Of course he does!" He laughed. " He's the one who set this arrangement up in the first place. I
am a researcher, first and foremost. As long as I get the village some useful findings, they will
simply let me be."

"Useful findings..? Are you going to send me back?" Naruto asked, defensive.

Orochimaru looked at him. "That will depend on you. Catch my interest… and I might let you do
as you want. You have the look of someone who doesn't want to go back all that much."

"I don't."

He laughed. "Did you not enjoy the shinobi life?"

"There are some aspects I do hate." He said, distaste obvious. Killing was one. "And blind,
undying loyalty to people who lie to me is not something I can stand."

Orochimaru looked at him, a little more seriously. "Then we may have this much in common."

Somehow, Naruto relaxed enough to take a sip of his cup.

They were sitting in the back of a tea shop, where Orochimaru, with a simple glance, had gotten
them a private room.

The comparison to a snake den was all too easy to make.

"You seem to value truth. I do, as well." Orochimaru said, finally stopping to talk in circles. "There
is a time for lies, as any Shinobi knows. But you have something of value to me. For this reason, I
won't bother lying to you. I will ask you to do the same."

Naruto licked his dry lips.

"What do you want then, Orochimaru-san?"

The man smiled. He looked pretty unamused. "Information about Akatsuki and their plans."

"Who is Akatsuki?"

"Not a person, I can assure you." Orochimaru said dryly. "The organization who kidnapped you.
Three years ago, if memory serves."

Naruto's head whipped up. "They are an organization?"

He nodded. "Likely based in the Land of Rain, though I can't confirm. They are very secretive."

"A man with a Sharingan teleported me to a hideout. It was raining, and we were high up in the
sky." Naruto supplied.

Orochimaru nodded again. This likely confirmed his suspicions, then. "This would be Amegakure,
yes. What else did you see?"

"…I was unconscious during the entire Nine-Tail extraction. I felt around a dozen people's chakra,
and I'm sure they are the ones who pulled the Beast out of me."

"You felt their chakra?"

He nodded. "I apparently have some very… rudimentary chakra sensing abilities."

Orochimaru's eyes lit with interest. "…Would you be able to recognize these chakra signatures you
encountered there?"

Naruto hesitated. "If they were close enough, yes."

"That's not enough."

"If I trained my ability, yes."

"Then, if you don't mind… You will be spending a bit more time with me, I'm afraid. There's
someone who can help you train your sensing ability."
"Why do you need to find them in the first place?"

Orochimaru sighed.

"Akatsuki is dangerous to me and my own ambitions. I am still unsure about the specifics, but
Nagato, its leader, is… Well, a madman. He would destroy half the world, if it meant cowing the
other half."

He shrugged. "Not that I would care all that much, but ever since I refused his offer to join him…
I've been on his bad side. Once he attains the power he craves, he will stop at nothing to destroy
me. And while it pains me to admit it… I'm no match for him as things stand. So I want to prevent
that."

"…I see."

"Did you see any of their faces?"

"Just three of them. There were two Uzumaki and… No, maybe three."

"Elaborate."

"Uzumaki Ryūjin and Suijin were there, for sure. There was a man in a machine."

"That would be Nagato, then. Ryūjin and Suijin, then?" He chuckled. "This brings me back."

"You met them?"

"You could say that. We fought in the Third War. Though they went by Dodai, back then."

Naruto saw a chance to get some explanations.

"What is this all about? The Dodai thing."

Orochimaru looked curious. "So you didn't know? Back in the Second War, the village of Uzushio,
Konoha's ally, and where your mother's clan originated from, was destroyed."

"I think the teachers mentioned this, back at the academy. It was pretty vague though."

"I don't think Konoha is going to go about this one in detail." Orochimaru shrugged.

"Why not?"

"I'll get to it. When Uzushio was destroyed, Iwa stole some of its children, and raised them as its
own. Kiri did the same. The Dodai clan was one of the clans that took in two children. Twins, in
fact."

Naruto had a sick feeling.

"They… took them in?"

"Technically, they shifted their memories around until their only loyalty was to Iwa, but yes, you
could say that."

"But that's brainwashing!"

"Sure." Orochimaru said, casually. "It's also somewhat common in the shinobi world."
"…Does Konoha do the same?"

"Well." Orochimaru smiled a mirthless grin. "Isn't this pretty similar to what sensei did to you?"

"…" Naruto had realized. He had simply preferred not to mention it.

"And well, somehow, the Uzumaki twins must have found out, realized the truth and escaped, if at
different times."

"That's horrible."

"The shinobi world often is."

"Why didn't they… or any other survivor come to Konoha? There was never an Uzumaki clan in
Konoha, was there..?"

"Simply put, the survivors didn't trust Konoha. They scattered, settled somewhere else, giving up
their name… or became mercenaries, for most of them."

"But… why?"

"Well, that would be because Sarutobi-sensei, who was Hokage at the time, stood by and did
nothing to help Uzushio when Iwa and Kiri attacked."

"You'll have to ask him for the details, he never told me more. Knowing him, he probably
considers it one of his greatest failures."

Naruto said nothing. Despite his faults, he really looked up to the old man, even now, after all the
lies.

He would have to ask him the day he got back to Konoha. It didn't seem like he could avoid it
forever. Less and less.

He changed topics.

"…What does the organization… Akatsuki, you said. What do they want with the Tailed Beasts?
They said they would come for the One-Tail, as well."

"Ah. Uchiha Sasuke. I've heard of him." Naruto sighed in relief. He was likely alive, then. "This is
something I'm not sure about. I have a few theories, though."

"Tell me, please."

"Nagato is likely aiming for world domination. He will probably use the Bijū's power for that.
Either by making himself, or somebody loyal, a Jinchūriki. Or he plans on making a weapon. Or he
needed the Nine-Tails' life-force to restore his body." Seeing Naruto's face he continued. "He has
the Rinnegan, a mystical eye, which has not been seen since the Sage of Six Paths."

"The Sage of Six Paths? I thought this was a fairytale."

Orochimaru shrugged. "Maybe it is. But that's what his eyes seem to be. Its powers fit some of the
legends. Control over gravity, chakra absorption, mastery over all five elements and apparently,
even more."

"…That's a lot to take in."

"It is."

"So you want to stop him?"

"If necessary. First, I will need to find who is involved and what they plan on doing. If it turns out
to be nothing of concern to me, I'll stay out of it."

"What is it you're even after, in the first place?"

Orochimaru laughed and said simply. "Immortality."

He continued.

"When I heard from my informant in Rain that some of the higher-ups were beside themselves
because a prisoner had managed to escape from the top of the tower, stealing Uzumaki Suijin's
research… and made the man disappear at the same time... Well, I became curious."

Naruto stiffened. He had not forgotten what kind of man was sitting in front of him, no matter how
affable he might pretend to be.

"This was more than three years ago, though. I bribed some people to warn me of any development
concerning anybody I knew had previously been affiliated with Akatsuki. Including those who
worked with bounty hunters. You never know when a precious body might appear."

Orochimaru continued. "The prisoner, who apparently was just a boy, vanished off the face of the
earth in a flash, mid-fall. There is only one technique I know of that can do this."

Naruto stayed silent.

"Senju Tobirama, and later Namikaze Minato's Hiraishin." He enunciated. "The rest was putting
pieces together. A Sarutobi boy, who didn't really seem very Sarutobi at all, born on the day the
Fourth Hokage made the most powerful of the Beasts disappear. Sensei must have lost his edge."

"I do wonder how you managed to learn the jutsu when men twice your age couldn't do it, though."

"I didn't. Not really."

"I see. Well, you can tell me about this, and the reason you still look thirteen, later. There's
something else I'm more interested in."

Orochimaru's eyes turned hungry.

"Now… Little Namikaze. Do you still have Uzumaki Suijin's research?"

Naruto thought fast.

"…I have it."

"Then I will buy it from you. For a fair price."

He steeled himself. "I'm not interested in selling."

Orochimaru looked amused. "Oh, no?"

"I want to learn from it. We can both use it, alternating."
"I'm sure we can find some sort of agreement."

"There's more that I want. You're looking for immortality, aren't you? The Nine-Tails might help
you with that. You said it had a life-force strong to restore someone's body."

Orochimaru nodded. "Certainly. It is also currently sealed in the highest tower of Rain." He
shrugged.

"Not all of it."

"..What?"

He was taking a big gamble here. "The Nine-Tails and I struck a deal. It left me two tails worth of
its power. It is a limited amount, so I cannot offer you much of it, but you can study it."

"…You are telling the truth." Orochimaru licked his lips.

"Yes. On top of that, I am also descended from the Uzumaki clan. And I have carried the strongest
Beast for years."

"Yes, this is true… Your cells might prove to be very valuable."

Naruto waited.

Orochimaru spoke. "So… You want the information contained within his research, too. An interest
in Fūinjutsu, I assume."

"Yes."

"And… Something else. Name your price."

"I will give you access to my blood… and my cells. As well as what I can spare of the Nine-
Tails…"

Naruto hesitated again. He closed his eyes.

"In return… I will ask for your guidance and training. I need strength, the kind I won't be able to
reach on my own. Make me your apprentice."

Orochimaru laughed. It was a real, full laugh this time.

"I accept your bargain."

 Under the Moon's Glare

“Meet me in two weeks, in the town named Mukage.”

That’s what Orochimaru had said.

During the first week on his own, his money troubles being nothing more than a memory now,
Naruto realized how much he had overestimated his ability to progress on his own.

The more he practiced, the more he felt he was running in circles… inside a square room.

There was only so much you could learn by practicing the same drills over and over again. Jutsu
creation was still beyond him, but maybe the Snake Sage could help him there.

The only thing he felt he was making some real progress in was Fūinjutsu, courtesy of Uzumaki
Suijin’s scroll. And even then, some of it was simply too advanced for him as of yet.

He still wasn’t sure what the man had been rambling about when his research went into some sort
of flesh carving and sealing thing.

All of these reasons made him leave for Mukage earlier than needed, with three days to spare.

It was very different from Haraji.

Where one had been a crowded — overcrowded, even — city… The other was a quiet little town.

In a word, it was unremarkable.

There were several people he had seen around town that he was sure had been shinobi in the past.
The way they carried themselves, reacted sharply to noise said as much.

Still, for some reason, he felt safe here.

Orochimaru met him in another tea shop — he really must love tea, Naruto thought — at noon.

He was wearing a dark yukata, and tomoe earrings. Despite looking entirely casual, Naruto was
almost certain he had enough weapons on him to make any ninja pale.

…Not that the man seemed to need weapons.

The people seemed to know him, judging from their cheerful smiles when they saw him.
Orochimaru simply nodded politely in return.

“Naruto-kun.”
“Orochimaru… Sensei?” He tried out.

The man laughed. “That will do. Come with me.”

They left the tea shop, and Orochimaru led him to the forest.

It was strange, the way there seemed to be no way to orient yourself in there. The trees all looked
the same, and sun was hard to pinpoint in the sky-

Orochimaru pulsed his chakra.

The illusion dissipated.

Where there had only been a forest now stood a door leading underground.

“After you.” Orochimaru said.

“Is this an underground bunker…?”

The man snorted. “Of course not, but we need to pass through this underground passage to reach it.
Who would want to live underground? I am the Snake Sage, not the Rat one.”

“…Who indeed.”

A woman greeted them as she passed them.

“Naruto-kun, meet Mitarashi Anko, my first apprentice. You will be her junior, in a way.”

Naruto hesitated. What name was he supposed to give? Orochimaru noticed his hesitation.

“I trust every single person here. You should do the same.”

Well, then. “I am Uzumaki Naruto. Pleased to meet you.” He bowed.

Anko grinned. “What a polite boy! Are you the Namikaze, then?”

“… I am also the Namikaze, yes.”

Orochimaru gave him a questioning look.

“Uzumaki seemed to fit better, somehow.”

“Suit yourself.”

Naruto was given a small tour of Orochimaru’s base of operations.

True to his word, it was an above ground structure, mostly built out of fireproof wood.
There was one flat, circular main level, with no real ceiling. The sun shone brightly, illuminating
the whole place.

On the outside perimeter of the main level, wooden stairs climbed up the rocks and trees the base
was built in the middle of. Wooden balconies overlooking the main level, too.

The central area was a hub, with a notice board full of stickied papers. People were walking
around, pretty casually.

Somebody was roasting meat over a fire, and Naruto heard a smith work on a weapon somewhere.

All in all, it was way more cozy than he had expected from the man.

“Don’t be fooled by appearances.” Orochimaru said, leading him to the second floor, where small
wooden buildings stood, separate from each other. “There are enough seals and protections over
this place to keep unwanted guests out. It might look open… vulnerable even, but it is far from it.”

Orochimaru gestured to one of the empty wooden buildings.

“These shall be your new living quarters. Do what you want with them, as long as you don’t disturb
the other residents. This is the way we operate here.”

Naruto nodded, grateful.

“Now, I shall retrieve your mentor from where I had her stationed. She and I will start your training
when I come back here.”

“Very well. Thank you, Orochimaru-sensei.”

The man left.

Naruto opened the door to the room. There was no key.

He had the feeling Orochimaru was either encouraging him to learn how to insure his room was
private on his own… or did simply not care about his privacy.

The room was pretty bare, with a bed, a table and a chest as its only furniture. He would do
something about it, if he was going to stay here for a while. It was much larger than he had thought
though, bigger on the inside than it was from the outside. He wondered how it had been done.

It was a bit early, but he had woken up early this morning, afraid to miss the Snake Sage.

He laid down on his bed and fell asleep soon enough.

He is the grandson of the first son.

Asuka doesn’t know of this before he is grown.

His father doesn’t talk much about his own father, only referring to him as “that Traitor”.

It’s no wonder, either. His grandfather left a bloody legacy in his wake.
People don’t get too close to them.

‘We are only a means to an end for them.’

This is what Asuka knows the people think.

Sometimes, looking at his own father’s eyes, smoldering with an emotion he is not sure he wants to
recognize, he thinks they might be right.

But he never turns on his family, his sons.

On the battlefield, his father is like a raging fire. The greatest warrior of his time, some call him.

To his frustration, he is compared to the Traitor. Often.

In Asuka, the envy, the jealousy grows. He has not inherited his father’s talent.

He covets it.

His father is like the flame…

That day, Asuka was like lightning.

And just like lightning, he strikes when his father suspects it the least.

When he turns to him, his precious eyes wide with betrayal, not even his strong chakra can save
him.

Asuka feels his eyes bleed before he takes his father’s as his own.

He becomes much worse than anybody had feared.

Soon enough, his sons take a name of their own, wanting to put distance between them and their
monstrous father.

They call themselves the Uchiha.

The fan that feeds the flames.

“I almost forgot about these.” Naruto grumbled when he woke up. It was the middle of the night.
Again.

Once he was sure he could trust Orochimaru, he would ask him about it.

…This might take a while, though.

The man had a peculiar way of doing things. A sort of casual detachment from most things, until it
affected him directly. Naruto didn’t quite know what to think of it.

Where did that man draw the line? Killing was obviously nothing to someone who had been a
shinobi for decades.
Naruto splashed some cold water on his face. He went out of his quarters.

There was a large campfire in the central area. There were some people talking on the balconies,
but he didn’t care about them.

Sitting next to the fire, there was a shade of hair he would recognize anywhere.

His breath caught.

‘Could it be…?’

He went down.

His hunch had been right. Same red eyes, same red hair… same glasses.

She was grown now, though, closer to an adult than a child.

“I had a feeling it was you.” Karin said quietly.

“Karin…?”

She nodded, hesitant. “Your chakra is different, but it’s you…”

“I can’t believe it.”

“Me neither. I was told you were dead, years ago.” She rubbed her eyes. “And then I felt your
chakra, today. I couldn’t sleep.”

“Karin, I’m so sorry.”

“I get the impression it’s not your fault.” She looked him up and down. “You look exactly the same
as the last time we met. Well, besides the hair…” She looked closer. “The eyes. Even the face, too.
Not so close, then. What happened?”

“A space-time technique went wrong. Very wrong.”

“Ino said you had gotten captured.”

“That’s when it happened, yes. Let me tell you.”

He skipped over the reason they had gotten him, just mentioning a powerful chakra, unique to him.

“So they’re Akatsuki, then. Orochimaru-sama has been looking for information about them.”

“So he told me.” Naruto said.

They lapsed into comfortable silence.

The fire roared.

“Everyone’s asleep. This place looks so peaceful like this.”

“Yeah. Even though the rest of the world seems ready to eat itself.”

It always seemed like war, or another threat, was looming in the background.

Karin nodded. “I agree. But even if one Nation won over the others… The problems still wouldn’t
go away.”

“I doubt it, too.”

“I’m Uzumaki. That’s what Orochimaru told me.”

Naruto looked at her in surprise. “You… are?”

‘Seems like everybody is Uzumaki, now. I might as well ask Sakura, at this point.’

He didn’t voice this out.

She nodded.

“He offered to take me out of Kusa. I still don’t know what he said to the higher-ups, but when he
was done, they let me go without saying anything.”

“…”

“To this day, I still don’t know if it’s because I was Uzumaki… or just because my mother was a
foreigner… But I always stood out.”

Her hand gripped the railing.

“The people of Kusa treated me like a tool.” She laughed wryly when she saw Naruto’s face. “No,
more than the usual shinobi. Even for an Uzumaki, I have a strong life-force. By consuming my
chakra, I can heal others… or myself.”

She showed him her arm, which was covered in bite marks.

“Karin…”

“I think people despise what they can’t understand. This is likely why Bloodlines were as revered
as they were feared. And why so many Jinchūriki end up the way they are. Who could blame them
for wanting revenge?”

Naruto nodded.

“I used to resent my abilities.”

“I can understand.”

“Now, I think that everything a person has might be important in some way.”

Naruto smiled. “And your abilities are part of what makes you you.”

“Yeah. I have them because they’re needed. We’re all needed. It’s the same for everything else.
My power. Yours. Everything we inherited from our parents.”
“…I think you’re right, Karin.”

Karin smiled at him. She was beautiful. “Now I know that it’s okay… Just to be alive, ‘yaknow?”

It felt like a great weight was lifted from his shoulders.

He had been blaming his father for burdening him with the Nine-Tails.

He had been blaming Sarutobi for hiding so much from him.

He still was.

But it didn’t change who he was.

Sarutobi, Namikaze, Uzumaki. That didn’t matter.

The dreams didn’t matter.

He was himself, and that should be enough.

She had opened up to him. Somehow, he felt he could do the same. There was also the fact that he
had known her before, but they were basically strangers again, now.

“There’s something wrong with me, Karin.”

“What do you mean?”

“There were times… I heard a voice. I know it comes from within me. I know it’s not the Nine-
Tails. And there are the nightmares, too. They’re not just dreams.”

“…What do you think this is about? A bloodline thing? What are they about?”

“I don’t think so. Or at least, it’s not related to either of my parents. They seem to be centered
around the Uchiha, and their ancestors. They usually end up… in a terrible way. I think they’re
about people that may or may not have existed… and turned bad.”

Karin seemed deep in thought.

“Chakra can leave strange imprints. This might be something like that. I will look into it, Naruto.”

“You really don’t have to.”

She smiled. “Sure, but I want to.”

He decided to tell her everything.

“Karin… Can you feel the second source of chakra inside me?”

She nodded. “Yes. It doesn’t feel like your own. There’s something…”

She paused. “It’s not human, is it..? It’s too big, too… different.”
He nodded. “Thirtee- No, sixteen years ago, my father sealed something inside me.”

He told her about the Sealing, about growing up in a lie.

He told her about the Nine-Tails, and why Akatsuki had captured him in the first place. About his
father.

Karin rubbed her glasses.

“…That’s quite a lot.”

He nodded.

“And you’re Uzumaki as well, then?” Karin asked.

“From my mother’s side, yes.”

She laughed. “No wonder your head is so thick.”

“I could say the same about you. Remember when you beat that guy to a bloody pulp?”

She blushed. “…You remember that?”

“For me, it was a few months ago.”

“Yeah. True.”

They spent most of the night talking, reminiscing.

Karin asked. “So… What are you doing with Orochimaru-sama, exactly?”

“He promised to train me.”

She looked surprised. “He… actually did?”

“Yeah.”

“I don’t think he took a student since Anko.”

“Is she any good?” He asked.

“She’s the second strongest ninja here. You must have offered him something of value, didn’t
you…?”

He shrugged. “Some scrolls that I found and my help with his experiments for… longevity?”

“Immortality.”
“Yes, that.”

“Well… This is a very rare privilege. Make the most of it. Orochimaru-sama is probably the most
knowledgeable man in a few different fields.”

Oh. So he was that good. Maybe this was going to be worth his time, then. And worth dealing with
the man.

Karin stood up. “This was very nice. I would suggest you eat something light, we’ll get started
soon.”

“Huh?”

She looked at him curiously.

He got it. “Wait… You’re my chakra sensing mentor?”

Karin laughed. “Of course. That’s why Orochimaru-sama brought me back.”

She looked at the sun. “Training starts in two hours. Hope you got some rest.”

He groaned.
 Of Ancient Gods

"Come sit next to me." Karin said.

Naruto did.

"Closer."

"…"

He could smell her perfume.

She laughed a bit when she noticed his discomfort. If she had been thirteen, she would definitely
have felt the same awkwardness. But she was sixteen, and he still looked like a child, so… Not
really.

"And now?"

"Can you feel my chakra?"

"Yup."

"Okay, so you do have the most rudimentary part down already. Continue."

He waited. Then waited some more.

"…Are you doing anything?"

"Yes. I was pulsing my chakra. Pretty low intensity, though. I will go a bit higher." She said.
"Now?"

"Still can't feel anything."

"And now?"

"No."

"Now?"

"Nope. Ah, I think I feel something!"

"Good." She nodded. "Can you estimate people's chakra capacity?"

"Only when they are very strong, for now."

"That's what I expected. No wonder your space-time jutsu went sideways."

He shrugged. "It still worked."

"Because you had the Hokage give you a shortcut. Would you use it again?"

"Fuck no. I don't want to end up in the next century."

Karin snorted. "Thought so."

"How did you learn about your sensing abilities, even? Is this an Uzumaki thing?"

"Eh, not particularly. I mean, I don't think so. I always had some ability with it, to be honest. My
eyes are pretty bad, so I guess that's how I navigated things before I got my first pair of glasses."

"How come you never mentioned it, back then?"

She shrugged. "I thought everybody could do the same."

He laughed.

Orochimaru observed Naruto.

The boy looked strong for his age, and healthy too.

He had potential, for sure. Maybe in time, he could really get rid of some of his enemies for him.

"Very well." He said. "Let us see what you can do as of now. I suggest you give your best."

Naruto nodded.

"The exercise ends when I say so… or when you draw first blood. Use any means necessary."

Naruto unsealed one of his swords. There was no chance of accidentally killing this man.

He summoned two clones, and a Lightning one.

They reached for sharp wire. Static crackled in the air.

Orochimaru smiled as they leapt.

"Let's end this here." Orochimaru said, voice even.

Naruto was breathing hard. He fell over, trying to get his heart to settle down. They have been at it
for the last two hours.

'The boy is good.' Orochimaru mused.

He wasn't about to go all out against a child, of course. But he actually had had to pay attention, so
he was pleasantly surprised.

'Yet… This is not going to be enough. Not even close.'

Someday, he would be strong.

But, as Naruto told him, he was planning on facing the Akatsuki to free the Nine-Tails and uphold
his promise…

He could not afford to wait.

And training the boy to face Nagato and his motley crew for him was safer for himself,
Orochimaru knew.

So he would give him the best education he could. The boy would get rid of his enemies for him.
He would make sure he would not turn against him, too.
It wouldn't do to replace his Uzumaki problem with another one.

Speaking of the boy, there was some real potential.

Namikaze and Uzumaki. The Nine-Tails' chakra. On top of this, he was a natural at the shinobi
arts, despite his obvious reluctance.

Something that Orochimaru didn't like to admit to himself was that he had trouble communicating
— and so, teaching — with people who were average.

The prodigies, geniuses, he would make shine.

But he was too far from normal to help regular shinobi.

Naruto would do perfectly, then.

"Eat and rest. We will meet again at three in the afternoon." Orochimaru said, before disappearing.
He had a corpse to dissect. Eating could wait.

Naruto panted an answer and drags himself to the hub.

There were only five people currently eating. Karin was one of them, so he sat next to her.

He asked her if she had any news from Konoha.

"Ah, you mean from your friends…?" She asked, understanding in her eyes.

"I haven't heard anything about them."

"Well…" Karin thought. "I did not write to any of them in more than a few months, now."

"Oh." Naruto said, disappointed.

She smiled. "But I can tell you what I know."

"Please."

"Ino is doing good, she's been a Chūnin for some time now."

"Really?" He smiled in relief. "That's… good. How is she?"

"I think she's doing fine… now. She took your apparent death pretty hard, though."

"Ah…" He said nothing more. What was there to say?

"Sasuke has been out of the village for a while, but he came back a few times with his sensei."

"Kakashi?"

"No, Jiraiya."

"…The Sannin?"

"That's him. Orochimaru-sama complains about him a lot, but I think they're good friends. He
doesn't really mention people he doesn't think about."
"How is he?"

"He's built quite the reputation, outside of the village, actually. I don't know how strong he is, but
after years with one of the Sanin, you can assume he can at least hold his own against most ninjas.
He's a master of Fire Release, supposedly."

"That's Sasuke." He hadn't expected anything less.

"Toru is fine too, he…"

Naruto's heart skipped a beat.

"…Say that again?"

"Toru is fine? There are rumors he's going to become a Jōnin soon, actually."

"Toru is alive…?" Naruto asked, his voice tight.

"Well, yeah. I mean he's missing an eye, but that's been the case for long." She looked at his pale
face. "…Did something happen during the mission?"

"Yeah. I saw someone cut his throat open."

Karin gasped.

"…Nevermind, if he's alive. I'm…" He sighed in relief. "I'm very glad to hear it. Not sure how he
fixed that, but…"

He wiped his eyes.

"That's great." He smiled. "What about Sakura?" He asked, and Karin winced.

"Well… that's the thing. Nobody knows where Sakura is."

So, Sakura had apparently left the village, leaving only a note behind.

Karin had gotten the info from Ino, who didn't know much more about it. Her parents had been
tight-lipped about it, so she assumed it had something to do with them.

But no matter how she pushed, — and Ino was good at pushing and prodding — they would not
say much more, only confirming that she had left willingly.

Since she had been discharged honorably, just like any civilian, she was free to leave.

Naruto was worried.

But there was no way he was going to find her without more information, so he just hoped she
knew what she was doing.

'It is Sakura. She probably planned everything out.'

He had to tell himself that a few more times.

"Lightning Release, then. I can help you with that." Orochimaru nodded. "But you're at a decent
level already. I can teach you jutsu, but when it comes to progressing your master over it… You're
going to have to keep on practicing."

Naruto nodded. He had thought so.

Orochimaru continued. "Chakra quality is built over time. You cannot refine yours much more
right now, because your chakra has not matured enough yet."

"Is there a way to accelerate the process?"

"Same as building bigger reserves. Use it until you're running low, and then let it refill. Over and
over again."

"I see. Thank you."

"It might be wiser to focus your efforts on Wind Release, for the time being. You are in luck, for
this is my main affinity. Let's not waste any time."

By the time he went back to bed, he was wondering how he was going to survive this.

Orochimaru seemed to make sure to push him to his exact limit… and then a bit more.

He almost had a sixth sense for it.

"You're a fast learner." Orochimaru said, the next morning. "And your clone learning trick is pretty
interesting."

Naruto panted. "Thanks… I try."

"Is this going to be enough, though?"

"…What do you mean?"

"For your goals. You want to free the Nine-Tails. And Akatsuki will come after you, once they
learn about you."

"…"

"At this rate, you would be Jōnin material in two, maybe three years. No doubt."

Naruto said nothing.

"Will this be enough…?"

"…No."

"Can you afford to progress at this rate?"

"No."

Orochimaru smiled.

"We both know that Akatsuki might move faster. I do not know what they're planning right now.
The organization did not do anything openly in the last years. Capturing you was their boldest
move yet. And even then, they kept their association with Rain hidden."
"I wasn't supposed to survive, as far as I know."

"Exactly. What happens to you if the Nine-Tails disappears… or else?"

"…I will die, most likely. Maybe lose my chakra." To him, both options were basically as bad.

The way the Nine-Tails had looked at him when they sealed their bargain didn't really imply
anything good, should he fail to uphold his part.

"That's what I thought." Orochimaru nodded. "Then you are living on borrowed time."

Naruto sighed. He already knew this, deep down. He had just wanted to keep his head in the sand a
bit longer.

It was obvious that the man was trying to lead him to some option he might not want to consider if
the circumstances were not so dire, too.

"What do you propose, then? I assume you have something that might work."

Orochimaru's eyes gleamed.

"As a matter of fact, I do."

The dissection room was a pretty morbid place, of course.

It was somewhat cold too, even if the corpses were kept cold mostly thanks to seals made for this
express purpose.

"What are we here for?" Naruto asked.

Knowing that dissecting corpses was something every village did was one thing.

Seeing it was another.

He didn't like the experience much.

"You're seeing it."

They were standing in front of Uzumaki Suijin's naked corpse.

"You could have covered him."

Orochimaru laughed. "What use does a corpse have for modesty? Besides, what is all over his body
is what we are here for. Take a closer look."

Scars rippled over the corpse's skin. There were patterns in there, and ink mixed with them.

"What is this…? Seals?"

"Close enough. It's his life's work, a modern twist on an old ritual... with mystical ties. Something
that likely worked for those of the Uzumaki bloodline."

Naruto looked at him, now intrigued, despite the dead body in the room with them.

"They are specific seals carved with intent into his body, linked to his mind and soul… meant to
re-purpose his chakra to enhance his capabilities." Orochimaru said with delight.
"He still died like any other man."

"Of course, of course." Orochimaru waved away. "The Fourth specialized in this kind of instant
assassination. You'll find that most people, when unprepared, cannot do much about their brains
being turned to mush."

"Hm."

"It's an ancient art, one that was practiced long ago, when the Uzumaki were at war. Later on, it
evolved into the sealing style used to create Jinchūriki."

"What does it have to do with us?" Naruto said, cutting through his long-winded tirade. The man
talked too much.

"Isn't it obvious?" Orochimaru was ecstatic. "We're going to steal his expertise and use it on you,
using the Nine-Tails to circumvent most of the drawbacks."

Naruto said nothing for a while.

"…Is there a reason it fell out of favor?"

Orochimaru shrugged. "Sure. The art was constantly evolving, so of course… there could be some
unintended side effects. It had a pretty high mortality rate, even for the Uzumaki clan."

'Figures.'

"And that's why you decided… This was our best bet?"

"Most Uzumaki didn't have a Bijū's chakra floating around in their gut. Its chakra is as close to
divine as it gets. That should cover you, as far as mysticism goes."

"…"

"And most Uzumaki didn't have me, either."

That had been a week ago.

Training resumed normally. Karin taught him how to use his sensor abilities. Orochimaru made
him a bit stronger, faster and better every day.

But he could see the limits.

His body could only grow so fast. His mind could only take so much.

The Nine-Tails' chakra was floating around inside him, uselessly.

Naruto didn't know how much time he had.

In the end, Orochimaru had known what he would choose from the start. That's probably why he
had spent even more time studying the corpse, as well as his research.

Bastard.

"For what it's worth, I think you made the right choice." Orochimaru said, two weeks later.
"…I hope so." Naruto answered.

"And doing them all before your puberty is over will allow you to make the most out of them. I
shall keep you safe while you recover."

They had been making preparations, this whole time, training falling off a little bit.

If this worked, they would be able to catch up on this easily.

If.

Naruto said nothing.

He had learned a lot about how this would work.

First there were the drawbacks. For a period of up to two years after completing the seals, his
chakra network would be working at less than full capacity.

So he'd risk being much weaker for a while.

For a ninja, that could mean death.

The main seals would have to be carved into his skin. It was the only kind of sacrifice that would
result in an intent strong enough for it to take.

Once a main seal was drawn, the supporting seals could be drawn in ink, and be compacted into the
scar. He'd then be free to cover the scar with ink, if he so desired.

Now…

Seals were different from Ninjutsu on a fundamental level.

You could twist a jutsu to do different things.

Seals were made to do exactly one thing.

This clarity in intent was what made them work in the first place. The symbols themselves were
here as a guideline, of sorts.

Then there was the risk of overlapping seals.

If they had similar purposes, but worked in too different ways, there was always the chance they
would disturb the other's function. Which would be bad, at best.

Orochimaru was confident in what they had come up with, though.

They picked seals that had similar enough functions, and assumed nothing too bad would happen.

Naruto wished he felt the same.

They needed to start, now.

Another drawback was that Naruto had to do it himself. The intent would not be sufficient,
otherwise.

The older man would just be here to make sure he actually survived the process.
Orochimaru had worked out what the symbols meant by cross-referencing Suijin's research and the
actual carvings on his body.

Most ended up being simplified versions, — you still had to carve them into your body, in the end
— symbols of what they were referencing.

Usually divinities that had been worshiped by the old world.

The first seal to carve would be the Magatama, above his navel, as a part of the seal that was
already there, and visible ever since the Nine-Tails had been extracted.

Long ago, in the Elemental Nations, it had been a symbol of power and strength.

It also meant birth, and fertility, as well the soul and the power of the spirit.

Orochimaru had prepared a knife for this express purpose.

Now, sitting on the floor, mostly naked, and surrounded by candles, with the supporting seals
drawn around him, he realized it wouldn't do.

He knew what he needed.

Just like he had only been able to do under high duress, he reached inwards, for the ancient feeling
he had mostly been ignoring.

Lightning sparked in his hand, and a small knife appeared, made out of chakra. Orochimaru looked
on without saying a word, surprise in his expression.

Naruto hesitated once more.

It was too late for regrets.

Naruto plunged the knife in his belly. He kept his hands steady, as blood poured out.

He focused on the symbol in his mind.

Health.

Strength.

Stamina.

Fertility.

Soul.

Moon.

It was like something else took control for a moment. He relinquished control.

Chakra. He was chakra.

Magatama. Life.

Magatama. Power.

He carved the seal.

He could feel something reaching for him from within. He let it.

His chakra pooled into the seal, as he had expected.

The Nine-Tails' chakra, that he had almost forgotten about, reached for it too.

This part was unexpected.

His soul burned.

Working with the Nine-Tails chakra came with one unexpected drawback.

Bijū chakra was very different from human chakra.

Chakra quality came over time… And the Bijū had lived for centuries.

Their very own physical form was shaped out of raw chakra.

The Nine-Tails was the most powerful of them all, and even at half capacity, only the Eight-Tails
came anywhere close.

Using the Beast's to power a very human seal, meant for human chakra…

Well, that was comparable to using a sledgehammer to kill an ant.

Too much. Way too much.

Naruto let out a grunt. His jaw was clenched so hard it felt as if he were about to break his teeth
altogether.

He felt tears run down his face.

Naruto managed to pull the supporting seals within the Magatama seal. They settled, covering the
wound in black ink.

The first one was complete, and it was burning with power. He didn't feel any weaker, either. Was
this supposed to happen…?

If anything, he felt as if he were more awake than he had ever been before.

Still, he had two more to carve tonight.

"Ryu" was next.

He drew the corresponding supporting symbols on the floor, Orochimaru overseeing his work. He
took that time to catch his breath. His navel was still on fire.

This one would go over his left shoulder.

The Dragon had been a big part of the Uzumaki clan's iconography.

"Ryu."

Wisdom, Strength, Masculinity. Luck, Glory, Hidden Knowledge.

It wasn't any easier to carve the corresponding seal. But he knew what to expect, now. Blood, pain,
fire.

For power.

For freedom.

For his life.

The Dragon symbol was complete.

This time, he screamed when both chakra sources within him filled the seal. He pulled on the
sealing marks surrounding him, taking them in, as well.

He panted. One more to go. He could barely lift his left arm.

He drew the last supporting symbols.

Naruto breathed in, hard.

He plunged the dagger for the last time.

"Tengu".

Sky. War. Disruption. Combat. Chaos. Swordsmanship.

That was the last one, is what he kept repeating to himself.

He pulled on the seals, taking them in.

Naruto screamed, his voice breaking.

His chakra flowed into it. The Nine-Tails' did as well.

The Tengu seal stood on his right shoulder proudly.

All three seals burned. But this, he felt he could manage.

He stood up. Orochimaru watched him carefully.

He took a few steps, with bare feet, leaving bloody marks on the floor.

Then he collapsed.

Orochimaru caught him.

"You did well."

Naruto was sick for the next three days.

Coming in and out of a fever when he could have been training — or doing anything else, really —
sucked.

Naruto never got sick.

He hoped this was just temporary. If he had managed to fuck himself up completely…
Well, he'd have time to think about this later.

Karin brought him food during these days, and stayed to chat a bit.

That was the decent part.

He didn't even have the strength to do much reading.

He thought he felt a bit better at night, though.

"The Nine-Tails' chakra has interfered in ways we didn't expect, I assume." It was the first thing
Orochimaru said to him, once he had managed to leave his quarters.

"Yeah, I think so. You thought it could happen?" Naruto sniffled. He was still feeling a bit off.

Orochimaru shrugged. "It was a possibility, it's very… alien in every way. I knew that even if it
came to this, it probably wouldn't kill you, though." Seeing Naruto's face, he added. "I was right,
wasn't I?"

"I guess so."

"Do you feel anything different?"

"It's a bit too early to tell. I feel a bit… antsy though."

"You've been bedridden for a while."

"I've been bedridden before. This is a bit different. It's like… a craving? For fighting. Maybe."

Orochimaru nodded. "By any chance, do you also feel a sudden… desire to prove your strength.
Maybe through fighting, too?"

"…And how do you know this?"

He shrugged. "Well, these are some of the main characteristics of the seals, of the creatures we
used. You cannot expect to simply reap the benefits without getting none of the flaws, can you
now?"

"…What? You didn't say anything about this."

"Well, a Jinchūriki might take on some of its Bijū's traits, right."

Naruto nodded.

"You just carved seals dedicated to ancient myths into your skin. Two of them, in fact."

"Don't you think I would have liked to know about this earlier?" Naruto tried to remain calm, but
his blood was boiling.

Wait, why was he so angry…? He was very slow to anger, usually. Orochimaru playing around
with dangerous tools was nothing out of the ordinary. Was this from the seals…?

He stopped to breathe.

Orochimaru looked a bit amused. "It won't change you on a fundamental level, though. It's still
going to be you."
"What else can I expect?"

Orochimaru seemed to hesitate for a second. Hesitate!

He never did that.

"Well, this set should be manageable, but we need to speed up your maturity, if you plan on getting
powerful anytime soon."

Naruto closed his eyes in consternation.

"…And this sort of seal might influence you a bit more."

 The Blade Itself

He wields the flame in one hand.

He carries lightning in the other.

His crimson eyes see beyond what even his legendary father has seen.

If there is such a thing as peace, he will find it.

No matter the cost.

No matter how many times it took him.

At this point, what Naruto considered a good night of sleep was any night he was not dreaming of
flames, lightning or corruption.

One month had passed since he had completed his first set of seals. Soon, he’d have to move on to
the next.

He was starting to notice a difference. He had carved two different seals with “Strength” as a
component.

Orochimaru had him do a lot of strength training, insisting that as Lightning user, — soon to be
also Wind — the usual drawbacks of carrying too much muscle mass wouldn’t really apply to him.

With his natural leaning toward Yang chakra, he was likely going to be able to grow very strong
physically. He might as well make good use of it.

The snake sage had him eat so much food that he had been queasy about the amounts, in the
beginning. Like most things, he got used to it.

Something he hadn’t really counted on was his puberty being kick-started by his seals.

There were not so many girls around the camp, but he noticed a few of them.

Anko was a beautiful woman, if a scary one.

Karin was his closest friend here, and even though he was aware she was attractive, he was not
about to do something stupid.

There was another cute red-head with a foul mouth. She didn’t seem very approachable, though, so
he steered clear.

Still, he was feeling a lot of tension inside himself.

Nobody had told him being a teenager would suck this much.

His Wind Release training was going decently, at least.

Naruto was definitely not going to use this one in combat yet, but he was able to cut small objects
he held in between his two hands.

He could also blow a wind stream from his mouth to dispel dust clouds. That was about it for the
practical side of things.

What he did notice was that he did have a bit less chakra to use than before the first carving.
Compared to what he had read, though, this was more than manageable.

His best guess was that it had been due to the leftover Nine-Tails’ chakra interfering.

With Orochimaru watching attentively, — better than the way he sometimes looked at things as if
he were about to eat them — Naruto started drawing symbols on the floor.

He settled in the middle.

“Choho.” The butterfly.

Spirit. Adulthood. Joy. Longevity. Metamorphosis. Transformation.

He summoned a dagger, easier than last time.

The symbol, which looked like two larger lines representing wings, and a thinner one for the body,
went on his upper back, along his spine.

He let his chakra fill it, blinking a couple tears away.

Naruto sighed and drew the preparations for the next one, which he would carve twice. He braced
himself.

“Omoikane.”

Wisdom. Pondering. Intelligence. Reflection. Self-Mastery.

As his only mind-focused seal, and the only one he felt brave enough to try out, he took his time.

He carved it onto his left temple, where hair would hide it, once it grew back.

It gave him a pretty rough headache, too.

“Omoikane.”

Wisdom. Pondering. Intelligence. Reflection. Beyond the Human Mind.

He carved his right temple now.

The headache got much worse. He felt that it would be safer not to add anything when it came to
his mind.

For some stupid reason, he continued.

“Inari.”

Life Force. Growth. Fertility … Fertility?

His head was pounding.

‘Shit. What was it again…? Something about foxes..? I can’t think.’

Too late. He couldn’t afford to mess it up. He carved it just under the seal that used to host the
Nine-Tails.

He activated it.

In retrospect, that had been dumb.

He would not realize it right away, but later on, when he actually had to deal with its consequences
on a daily basis…

He’d curse his past self for not having been a little more patient.

Oh, and Orochimaru, too. But this was a daily thing, anyway.

When he awoke, despite the pounding headache, his thoughts were clearer than ever.

Some of the distractions, the intrusive thoughts, worries, had just… faded away, for lack of a better
term.

Some hazy memories sharpened, as well. Some wanted… some less so.

He was sick again, so he took the time he spent in his bed to sort through them.

He managed to practice some chakra sensing after just two days of rest, this time.

His chakra levels had been more noticeably affected this time. Overall, he estimated he’d lost about
a quarter of his maximum capacity with all the seals he had carved into his flesh.

It would take some time before he was back at full strength, then.

The scars were not so visible, in the end, being mostly covered by the ink he had used to draw the
supporting symbols.

Over the next two months, in which he didn’t dare continue carving seals into his body, he noticed
he was growing.

Fast. Very fast, even.

Some people in Orochimaru’s base did double takes when they saw him again after a long period.

When he had come here, just a few months ago, he had been one meter fifty-two.

A bit on the lower side, but nothing to really worry about.

Now, a few months shy of fourteen, — he had trouble counting, considering the time displacement
thing — he was standing at one meter sixty five.

Which meant he was a bit taller than Karin, now. It was… a relief, somehow.

He was also filling out pretty nicely. The combination of Uzumaki genetics, a Bijū’s chakra in your
belly, and a few seals to speed up your growth were truly a sight to behold.
He weighed around seventy kilos, by now, and he was still growing.

“This is likely going to be the last set of seals I’m going to be carving. I don’t want to risk more.”

“As you wish.” Orochimaru nodded, but didn’t push.

“Fūjin.” Wind God.

Tempests. Typhoons. Protection. Battle. Trickster. Vitality.

It went under his left collarbone.

This one hurt when it activated.

Naruto had to wait a half hour before resuming.

“Raijin” Thunder God.

Lightning. Thunder. Storms. Aggression. Fierceness. Stamina.

He tried not to think too hard on what the other symbols would likely bring him. He could not
afford it.

Right collarbone.

It activated.

Something was wrong. He could feel it. The seals were opposing each other’s inner workings.

They had expected this to happen.

He gasped, motioned for Orochimaru to let him be.

He would need to finish this set right away, otherwise…

No need to think about it now.

He drew the last seals with a shaky hand.

“Kannon.” Goddess of Mercy.

Harmony. Fertility. Fearlessness. Balance. Healing.

He carved her symbol along his spine, under Choho.

He felt her pull.

Fūjin and Raijin settled enough for him to feel he was not going to die.

Still, everything ached.

He asked for water but passed out before he was able to drink any.

Later on, when Karin comes to his room to bring him some food, she doesn’t understand why he
insists she doesn’t come too close.

He looks so nervous — red in the face, too — that she doesn’t insist, though.

“Orochimaru-sensei, I think we may have a problem on our hands.”

“What is it?” He asked, golden eyes curious.

“…The fertility symbols. I thought it was just puberty at first, but…”

“…Hm?”

“I think we may have used too many of them.” Naruto said, not meeting his eyes.

“It was the best way to speed up your growth, when combined with the others.”

“Yes, I understand this.” Naruto said, frustrated. “But they also do weird things to… my thoughts. I
keep getting distracted.”

“Oh. I see.” Orochimaru said, amused. “Why don’t you find yourself a nice girlfriend or two,
then?”

Naruto reddened and left huffing.

‘He made it sound so easy.’

‘Maybe Orochimaru had a point.’

Despite feeling himself improve at a much faster rate, and despite his increased mental acuity… it
was hard for him to focus, sometimes. Same thing went for his clones, and he knew he was
missing out on some productive hours.

Simply put, he was a growing boy.

And there were no girls his age in camp. What kind of woman would be interested in a fourteen
year old…? He shuddered to think of it.

To Naruto’s surprise, Wind came a to him a bit easier in the weeks after. Before long, he was able
to summon it to slow down his fall or enhance his throws.

It also seemed to work better with blunt weapons than lightning. He could use it to make each
attack a bit faster, and thus, stronger.

This morning, Orochimaru motioned for him to stop.

“Why do you insist on using a staff, when you seem to be better with a sword…?” He asked.

Naruto doesn’t answer right away, a bit hesitant.

“Ah. I see.” Orochimaru says, looking serious. “Your aversion to killing. Mercy, then.”

“What of it?” Naruto asks, defensive.

“Nothing wrong about it per se.” The man calms him down. “But there’s something here you’re
ignoring.”

“…”

“Mercy is a luxury only the strong can afford.” Orochimaru says, wistful.

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve been a shinobi for around fifty years. I know how unusual that is. Most of us tend to die well
before that.”

It was true. The average life expectancy for a shinobi was at around twenty-seven.

Not including the permanently disabled veterans. Naruto forced himself not to wonder about
Sakura’s whereabouts.

“What is your point?” Naruto asked.

“What do you think is the main reason I got there?”

Naruto thought about it.

“…Talent and diligence?” Was this the answer he was looking for?

Orochimaru snorted. “Without wanting to brag, I know I’m a prodigy. But that’s not it. There have
been two dozens of people with just as much, or even more innate talent than me born in Konoha
after me.”

Out of all of them, Namikaze had been the most prodigious. Born to a civilian family, no particular
bloodline and still…

Naruto let him continue.

“Out of all of them, do you know how many are alive now?”

He hesitated.

Orochimaru finished. “Three. Hatake Kakashi. Uchiha Itachi and Shisui. Their brothers, we’ll have
to see about, in the future.”

“…Only three?”

“The rest died, yes. Most of them, on the battlefield.”

“…”

“It’s not that I was more talented than them. It’s not that I was working much harder than them,
either. It’s not even because Sarutobi-sensei nurtured our talents, even though this is also what
allowed us to at least grow through a period of almost constant warfare. He could not protect us
from everything, no matter how strong he had been.”

Naruto didn’t like where this was going.

“I won’t hide it from you, the biggest reason I’m still here… is simple, dumb luck.” He shrugged.
He had accepted his place in a seemingly random, seemingly cruel universe.
“The second reason is that I don’t hesitate to force my luck. I put all the chances on my side, no
matter what it takes. Killing, experimenting, cheating… You name it. Sarutobi-sensei did not
always approve.” It had been the major reason he had been passed over for the role of Hokage in
favor of Minato, back when he still cared about it.

He had been bitter at the time. Now he saw it as the best choice Sarutobi had made, both for them
and the village. The fact that Minato had died after less than five years on the job was just more
proof that he would not have been able to make the necessary sacrifices. He continued.

“Jiraiya and Tsunade used to be too merciful, too. They’ve learned better. Despite their aversion to
killing, they realized the same thing I did… When all three of our lives were put at risk because of
the mercy they extended to people they shouldn’t have.”

Orochimaru looked wistful. “People you spare will come back again. If not the next day, then the
next week. If not next week, then in the next war. And in our world, there will always be conflict.”

“It doesn’t mean killing indiscriminately is right.”

“No. It doesn’t. But what happens when someone you spared kills one of your allies? Your
friends?”

Gaara would definitely have.

“Well…”

“Because that is what will happen in a war. Mercy is more likely to see your friends dead. Me and
my teammates long decided that we’d rather bloody our hands instead.”

Naruto said nothing.

“I’m not saying you should kill every time you fight.” Orochimaru’s eyes hardened. “But there are
times you will need to. And some people you just can’t afford to let live. I would suggest you
prepare for this eventuality.”

Despite his feelings on the matter, Naruto could not deny the man’s words had an impact on him.

He had always shied away from learning techniques more suited from murder.

If a situation rose where he had to choose between killing again… or letting an ally die…

Were his morals worth the lives of the people he cared for?

What was a man’s life worth..?

Who was he to decide an Iwa ninja’s life needed to end because he was a threat?

And who was that very same man, to do the same?

He had a lot of soul-searching to do.

Naruto wasn’t sure what to make of it, but he started training with his bow and sword again.

Orochimaru had a point. If the need rose at some point…

Well, he would need to be prepared.

“Why do you use this sword in particular?” Orochimaru asked again.

It seemed like the man was intent on making him question a lot of things.

“Huh?” This was a sword the old man had given him long ago.

“I don’t mean that there’s anything wrong with it. It seems like a good quality one, even.”

“So…?”

“Why don’t you use your summoned weapons?” Orochimaru asked.

‘Oh.’

“Like the dagger I used to carve these seals into my skin?” He repressed a little shiver at the
memories.

“Exactly.”

“Well… I…” Actually, he didn’t know. “It’s only become possible for me to summon them at will
very recently.”

Curiosity shone in Orochimaru’s eyes. “Elaborate.”

“Well, the first few times it happened, we were in danger.”

“Who is ‘we’? And what happened, exactly?”

Ah. The same calculating glint in his eyes. Could be good news, could be bad.

Naruto focused on the memory. Since he had completed both memory seals, things were much
clearer.

“Well, the first time, I was holding Sakura — a friend of mine — and that Uzumaki man was
threatening us. I felt some sort of… pull, maybe? Some link between us. Sasuke told me something
like a gauntlet appeared around Sakura’s hand, too.”

“A gauntlet?”

He nodded. “Something half physical. Same thing happened with Sasuke, on a later mission. The
one where I got myself captured, actually.”

“You summoned another gauntlet? Specify.”

“No. It was a pair of swords this time.”

Orochimaru muttered to himself. “Fascinating.”

“I guess.”

“So the weapon summoned depends on the person you… ‘Link’ with?”

“I never really thought about it. But… yes, I would say so.”

“Could you summon the very same weapons right now?”

“Let me try.”

Naruto focused.

In a crack of Lightning, a gauntlet appeared around his arm.

“Is this the one?” Orochimaru asked.

Naruto observed it carefully. “…No. I don’t think so.”

“Do it again, then.”

He pictured the gauntlet receding, and it faded away in a show of blue light.

“Maybe picturing the link itself would work better. Emotions and intent are connected often
enough.” His master supplied.

He nodded.

Sakura.

Kind. Resilient. Smart.

Nothing happened. Maybe that was too vague.

He took a moment to think. He knew her better than this.

She was strong willed. Even after what had happened to her, she would not settle for less than what
she wanted.

Level headed. Barring one specific situation where they were facing death for the first time, she
always pulled through with good rational decisions.

Caring. She was kind to everyone. But more than this, she liked helping.

She was a hopeless romantic. He had seen her cry over the cheesiest romance novel ever. Of
course, he had to read it too, after that.

She was emotional. Because she was empathic.

She was self-reliant. To some degree, he was not surprised she had left the village.

She was Sakura. She would be fine.

He felt the link.

Somehow, he knew she was alive, somewhere.

He hoped she would feel it too.

Naruto pulled, then he pushed.

The gauntlet appeared in a flash of light.

Somehow, he knew this was a replica, and Sakura still held the original one. He also knew he
could always summon his own, from now on.
It was black and gold, and covered his forearm and half of his hand.

“Fascinating.” The same gleam was back in Orochimaru’s eyes.

Orochimaru had known a few Uzumaki.

He knew about their chains, a Bloodline Limit that appeared in some of them. Uzumaki Kushina
had been one. Karin looked like she had the potential for them too.

But this… This was not the Uzumaki technique.

There was something of it in there. But it was too different. He wondered what had happened to
Naruto for him to manifest such a strange technique.

Ever since he had seen him summon a dagger for the first time he had been curious.

This gauntlet was not a weapon. It stopped before the fingers, had no blade or spikes.

Armor, maybe? Something told him no.

Now…

Manifesting physical tools had been an Uzumaki thing.

Shaping chakra as weapons and shields that were both solid… and not. That was closer to the
higher levels of Uchiha dōjutsu.

This had something of both.

It was not Namikaze’s blood. It was not from Uzumaki Kushina either.

Just what were they dealing with?

Orochimaru enjoyed a good riddle.

“So, what does it do exactly?”

“Huh?”

“What is its use?” Orochimaru repeated.

Naruto stared. He had never thought of it.

Orochimaru continued. “The chains summoned by the Uzumaki had the ability to be controlled by
their users. They were durable, could bind targets, and nullify their chakra. This worked even on
Bijū.”

“Okay.”

“And they were used for sealing, in a myriad of ways.”

“Is this something similar, then?”

Orochimaru shrugged. “I guess we’ll have to try it out to find out.”
 The Songbird
Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

“Not the same thing as these chains you mentioned, then.” Naruto admitted defeat.

The summoned gauntlet definitely didn’t nullify or absorb chakra. It could be used as protection,
but a simple pair of plates would do the same job.

“What about its sealing ability?” Orochimaru asked, still curious, despite his initial disappointment.
There was likely something useful in there, they just had to dig.

“I don’t think it has one. Can’t use it to pull anything in, at least.”

“What about the other way?”

“It seems like I can put down some sort of mark. I’m not sure what it is for, but it feels like
Lightning chakra… somewhat.”

“Show me.”

Naruto did. He put a hand on the ground, focused his chakra and a golden mark appeared.

Orochimaru took a look. It was not any kind of sealing language he knew. He called for Karin.

“Lightning… No, this feels closer to Thunder than Lightning.” Karin said.

Naruto frowned. “Is there a difference?”

“It’s more of a nuance.” She shrugged. “Is this a seal, then?”

“That’s the thing. We’re not sure.” Naruto answered.

“Hmm… Let me take a closer look.”

She whistled a soft tune while she did.

Orochimaru asked him. “What about the other one you summoned before? Any particularity?”

“The weapon I made for Sasuke could conduct and emit chakra.” He hesitated, then. “Both of the
blades, I think.”

“So their power depends on the person you create a link with, then.”

But when Naruto summoned their replicas, earlier this morning… They only conducted chakra as
much as a regular pair of chakra-conductive swords.

Not much compared to the original. He said as much to Orochimaru.

“Then it stands to reason that the copies you can summon have a similar ability, but either lesser…
or simply different, only time will tell.”
“Maybe that’s it.”

“We’ll have to do more extensive testing, then.”

“I think I got it!” Karin said, interrupting them. “This has the same feeling as a location seal.”

“Like the ones used for direction?”

“Yes, exactly. The ones without a range limit.” The snake sage finished.

Orochimaru had tried to understand the Second and Fourth Hokage’s space-time jutsu for months,
before putting it aside. As far as he understood, their techniques were based on a similar seal, as
there was no distance limit.

If he understood it right, — if — then the only factor was the user’s sensing ability. As long as you
could locate the tag, you could jump there.

This was confirmed by Naruto’s failed use of it, making him leap from Rain all the way to the
Land of Hot Springs, without being able to sense the tag that had been left there, or any tag at all.

Naruto asked, his brow furrowing. “So Thunder, and Location?”

“Seems so.” Karin smiled.

“I’m still not sure about its use. What do you think this could be?”

“I don’t know.” Karin admitted. “Maybe summoning a thunder strike where you put a mark? Try
it.”

He did.

Nothing happened.

“Maybe not.” She said, looking sheepish.

In the end, they didn’t manage to figure out what this was for.

Karin asked Naruto if it was possible for him to create more of the weapons. He tried to create a
link with Orochimaru, who showed a bit of disappointment when nothing happened.

He couldn’t manage with Karin either, but he felt that he was closer, at least.

Orochimaru said he would look into it later. He still was not done with Suijin’s research, despite
spending most of his time over it.

They resumed training, instead. It was hellish.

The same training ritual played out day after day.

Naruto showed up to outdoor practice two hours after he met up with Karin. He endured a few
hours of extreme pain.

He went to eat.

Then he went back for more, in the strange, expanded training room Orochimaru had built in what
looked like a regular-size stone house from the outside.

The room was way bigger than it should be, by a factor of three or four. The walls absorbed most
jutsu and techniques, which made it possible to train indoors in the first place.

As for the afternoon training…

It wasn’t easy. He sometimes felt as if he were surfing on a wave of adrenaline for half the session.

His legs felt as if they were strapped down with weight. His arms, he had trouble lifting.

He dug deep within himself, taking more and more every day.

Then he staggered back to his quarters and slumped into his bed, where he’d be lucky to be tired
enough to avoid the dreams.

When his teacher saw that his growth was exceeding his previsions… he pushed him even more.

It wasn’t long before Naruto reached a bit too deep, touching the ancient well of power he
pretended was not here most days.

That night, he passed out more than he went to sleep.

Naruto blinked. His quarters were gone, and he was standing in the darkness.

The air was heavy, and smelled of smoke.

He was walking out of a building. Torches littered the path in front of him.

He looked at his hands, noticing they looked different. More callused, older, somehow.

There were people there, wearing white robes. They bowed to him, foreheads touching the floor.

He saw himself ignore them, walking without a sound.

He reached another man, who bowed as well, not as low.

“The preparations are over, my lord.” He said.

“Very well.” Naruto felt himself nod. “Then we shall depart in an hour. My brother shall breathe
his last tonight.”

He walked away from them, reaching a large dark room. His left hand moved and a flame surged.
Three candles were lit. Naruto saw himself approach the mirror.
He took a look.

Long, curly brown hair fell over his back. Red eyes stared back, three tomoe swirling in them
lazily.

But it was the expression that took him by surprise. He had seen the very same on a different face,
most mornings. His own.

Without knowing where the knowledge came from, he knew who he was. No, who the man was.

The First son of the first son. Former heir to the Sage of Six Paths.

In time, he would take the world.

Something changed in his eyes. The tomoe swirled together, forming a different shape altogether.
His eyes widened, a mad shine into them, and the face he was seeing shifted into amusement.

“I SEE YOU, LITTLE UZUMAKI.”

Naruto screamed. The nightmare stopped.

He was still screaming when he woke up, drenched in sweat.

Somebody came. The door opened, and Orochimaru stood there, an inscrutable emotion on his
face.

“I think it’s time you tell me what it is that is going on, exactly.”

He followed Orochimaru to the highest platform.

The man waited for him to start.

“I don’t think these are regular nightmares. Not anymore.” He said.

Orochimaru nodded. “Karin has told me that there was a strange chakra coming from your rooms,
on some nights. I assume today is one of these nights.”

“Most likely. I seem to have a… different chakra within me. I only became fully aware of it
recently, when I learned how to sense chakra. I thought it was the Nine-Tails, at first.”

“So it’s not, then?”

“No.” Naruto gripped the railing. “I think it’s the source of these strange weapon abilities. No, not
all of it. But I think they are so different from the Uzumaki bloodline because of his presence.”

“His? Do you know who this chakra belongs to?”

Naruto breathed. “Yes. I thought he only existed in legends. A man that’s been dead for long, too.
But… I don’t think this is entirely true, either. I know who he is, at least.”

Orochimaru stared at him, eyes squinted. “Who is he?”

“Ōtsutsuki Indra.”

Orochimaru said nothing, folding his arms.

He sighed. “So, some legends are real. I had a feeling, what with Nagato and his eyes…”

“Can you tell me more?” Naruto asked, desperate for something to… Just something.

“Legends says the Sage of Six Paths, the ancestor of shinobi, and the founder of what became
ninjutsu… had two sons. Knowing he could not achieve true peace in his lifetime, he entrusted his
dream to both of them.”

Orochimaru paused. “Well, he ended chosing only one. Indra, the prodigious elder brother, was
passed over, in favor of Asura, the younger one.”

“…I’ve heard this name before. The voice… Indra called Sasuke by that name.”

“…Uchiha Sasuke, then? How peculiar.”

“Why is that?”

“The Senju and Uzumaki clans are said to be descendants of Asura. And the Uchiha, from Indra. It
seems as though things have gotten mixed up, somewhere.”

“…”

“No matter. According to the legend, Indra never accepted being passed over. Overcome by
bitterness, he swore to fight a war against Asura that would last through the ages.”

“Do you think it is true…? That he could be speaking to me somehow?”

“As true as your dreams, I would assume. The only way to know for sure would be trying to
communicate with him.”

It was easier said than done.

No matter how much he tried to reach for the ancient chakra, nothing seemed to happen.

The dreams had stopped, too.

Months and months… and months passed.

Knowing what the dreams had been about turned out to be a huge relief, somehow.

From then on, he was able to stop thinking about them as much.

A legend told him there was a chance that some dead guy’s chakra was coursing through his vein?

Great. He’d deal with him the day he would show his face. That was how he dealt with things.

In the meantime, he still had to get up and go after it every single morning. This was more
concrete.

His tolerance for punishment rose and rose, until even Orochimaru seemed surprised.

Six in the morning became five.

Five become four in the morning.

It sometimes meant running through the forest without using his chakra before his lesson with
Karin.

Sometimes it was more speed drill carrying weights up and down the local hills.

Sometimes it was more muscle training, becoming stronger with each passing day. Pull-ups, push-
ups, squats, and a myriad of variants.

Overtraining? Maybe at first.

Orochimaru’s training was rigorous, but he knew what he was doing. There was no time for
comfort; no settling for mediocrity.

Naruto adapted. His body was changing, and not just on a superficial level.

Things he had assumed to be impossible were now within reach.

He learned Wind jutsu. He learned Lightning jutsu.

He practiced with the bow. He practiced with the sword.

He had so many clones out at any given moment he couldn’t tell them when he had made them in
the first place. Or when they were Transformed… that they were him.

He became familiar with some of the residents of Orochimaru’s little haven.

Most of them were only around from time to time, being busy with the outside world.

Karin and Anko were exceptions, working directly with Orochimaru.

Many were not too interested in making acquaintances.

“Mind if I sit here?” He asked the foul-mouthed girl he had seen around, when he came, what felt
long ago.
“Yeah. I mind. Go find somewhere else to eat, fuckhead.”

“Orochimaru-sensei said you were his first student.”

“Hell yeah, I was. The man’s got his hands full with you now, and all. I’m still the best, though.”
Anko answered, her feet on the table.

“Care to teach me a few tricks, student to student?”

“Bet. Whatcha wanna know?” She grinned.

“I’ll take anything you think might be interesting, really.”

“Nah, you got something specific in mind. Tell me.”

“How do I flirt?”

She let out a cackle.

“Mind if I sit here?” He asked the foul-mouthed girl again. She was playing music, and it had been
too long since he had. It got him curious

“Yeah. I’m practicing the flute. Go away, kid.”

“You play the flute?”

“The fuck does it look like I’m doing…? Shoo.”

“Huh…? Didn’t I see you sitting in the library, five minutes ago?” A huge teenager with orange
hair asked.

“I’m just really fast.”

The guy looked at Naruto, doubtful. Naruto laughed. “Sorry, stupid joke an old man used to play
on me. It was likely a clone. I’m Naruto.”

“Call me Jūgo, then.” The giant said smiled, extending his hand.

“Mind if I sit here?” He asked again, three days later.

“Holy shit. How many times…” She rolled her eyes, and then saw what he was carrying. “…You
play the koto?”

“The fuck does it look like?” He answered with a stupid smile.

She snorted a laugh. “Okay smartass. Let’s hear it.”

The red-head — it was closer to pink, from up close — actually listened to him play, without
saying anything.

“Yeah, maybe you play. Too bad it sounds like shit.”

“I’m out of practice. Help me out?” He tried with a smile.

“Is this a cheesy pickup line?”

“Do you want it to be?”

She snorted. “You been hanging out with that fucktard Sakon or what? Try this shit again and I’ll
rip your little balls off.”

“Sure thing. So are we going to play music or what?”

“…Damn, so you were serious then.”

“Yeah.”

“Well, fuck it then. Let’s play some music.”

“…Did somebody pay for musicians?” Shimizu Naoki asked, confused, a few days later.

“Nah, apparently Orochimaru’s latest apprentice knows a few songs, though.” His drinking
companion nodded.

True to his words, near the campfire, the blond teenager — though he was starting to really look
more like a young adult, strangely enough — was sitting next to…

“…Is this Tayuya?”

“Seems so. I was pretty shocked, too. She can be… difficult.”

Naoki snorted. That was a bit of an understatement.

Then he paused. He knew that song!

His friend asked him what this was about.

“Ah, it’s nothing… Just a bit nostalgic, is all. It’s something from where I’m from.”

The camp stilled a bit, and the blond continued to play, his fingers strumming the koto’s strings
softly.

The music came out of him, just like singing. The girl, Tayuya, started playing as well, her flute,
like a second voice.

On the choruses, the koto and the flute mixed.

Naoki was only dimly aware of the audience, or of the musicians themselves.

The only thing he could think about was growing up in the North of the Land of Fire, just him and
his mother.

He could remember the taste of the sweet rice she served so often. Oh, how he had complained, at
times.

Now, he’d give anything to taste it again.

A little tear rolled down his face and he wiped it before his friend could see it.

That had been years ago. A different life.

Still, he clapped hard when their impromptu performance was over.

The applause roared, like thunder.

“Uh. I don’t think this is such a great idea, Tayuya-san.” Naruto said, a couple hours later.

She snorted. “Are you always this formal with people you’re not too familiar with?”

“I guess so… I never really thought about it.” He definitely was.

“Well, if you don’t want to drink, I guess that’s more for me, then.” She took a big gulp of the
bottle of sake.

“…You know what, let me have some.” With how high his metabolism seemed to be these days,
chances were he would purge the alcohol quickly enough.

“Oooooh. So you’re not that much of a fucking square, then? What would poor Orochimaru-sensei
think?”

“Not much, I presume. His former teammates were pretty big on the bottle, apparently. According
to him.”

He took a huge gulp, like she had.

“Guh… This burns!” He wanted to scrape his tongue. His throat felt as though it were on fire.

“Well, it’s sake. What did you expect?” She rolled her eyes.

“How should I know? I never drank before.”

“…Really? Fucking square. How old are you even…?”

“You guess.”

“…Hm.” She thought, looking him over. I would say Eighteen… maybe seventeen? So a bit
younger than me.”

He raised an eyebrow. Physically speaking, that was probably where he was. Apparently, he really
would have been a late bloomer, growing taller only late — he still was. Maybe some Uzumaki
quirk. When did he come here again…?

Mentally, with all his clones running around, living parallel lives since he had been twelve or so…
It was hard for him to say. Likely around her age.

She continued. “But I saw you when you first came, you looked much, much younger. What the
fuck was that about, by the way..? I don’t think people are supposed to grow this much in such a
short amount of time.”

“Maybe I’m just a late bloomer.”

Tayuya snorted. “Right.”

They lapsed into comfortable silence.

“You played pretty well down there. Decent, I mean.” She said.
“So did you.” He nodded, starting to feel a bit lightheaded from the alcohol.

“Hey, I was thinking…”

“Yeah?”

“Couldn’t you use your clone thing to be like… a one-man band or something?”

“…I guess? I can only play the koto though.”

“Well, learn some other shit.”

“It would take a while.

“Not necessarily. There’s always…” She perked up. “Wait, wait! I got a joke for you.”

“All right? Go ahead.”

She snorted a laugh, amused herself. “What do you call someone who likes getting drunk and
hanging around musicians?”

He thought. No answer came. Looking at her face, all puffed up and red, trying to contain her
laughter was making him start to laugh too.

“A drummer!” She finished, before starting to cackle. She cracked up at her own joke, it was a real
belly laugh.

He laughed too, despite himself.

They spent the night talking about random topics, from music to future plans.

“You’re from Konoha?” She asked, in surprise.

“Yeah. Though I don’t particularly want this info to get back at them.” He said, wryly.

She smirked. “I won’t tell if you won’t. I ran away from a town south of the Land of Rice. Parents
wanted to marry me off to some shitty noble.”

He winced.

“Eh, it’s a long time ago already. We’ve all got our own shit, anyway.” She smiled. She really was
cute, he thought.

“I think the sun’s rising. Maybe we should go to bed.” He said, one minute later.

Sunrises truly were nice in the Land of Rice.

The sky turned blue at first. Then red and purple patches would appear. The orange glow would
come after, until everything was painted gold.

Tayuya watched the sun rise for a while, and seemed to think about something.

The next instant, she was pressing her lips against his own.

Naruto seemed to short-circuit.

“Yeah. Maybe we should.” She looked at him straight.

He wasn’t very experienced in these matters, but even he could understand an invitation this blunt.

‘Damn. So this is really happening, then?’

“You really are shy, then?” She asked.

“I don’t think so.” He shrugged, trying to look casual. “I’m a virgin, though?”

“For real?” She said, eyebrows rising. “…How?”

“Never had sex, I mean.”

“I get that.” She smacked his chest. “But why? You are pretty good-looking.”

At his cheesy grin, she added “…For a Leaf ninja, I mean.”

He pretended to frown. “Take the lead, then? Mistress.”

She knew he was joking. Still, her imagination and the alcohol helping, she felt herself react.
There was something about the idea of teaching such an eager volunteer. And she hadn’t been
lying, he was pretty easy on the eyes, if a bit young-looking.

“Well, if you insist…” She just said, instead, before kissing him. “Take my clothes off.”

Naruto almost ripped her shirt off, and she laughed at his enthusiasm. He kissed her, somewhat
clumsily. It wasn’t bad, though, she felt.

She bit back a chuckle as she felt him struggle with her bra.

She looked pretty tired, Naruto thought, as she was riding him, a while later.

It seemed she had forgotten any pretense of teaching him anything.

Not that he was complaining.

“Don’t come anywhere near me with that.” She moaned tiredly, dragging her sweaty body under
the covers. “I’d love to help you out, but I’m dead. Finished.”

Since she passed out right after, he thought she was probably telling the truth.

The sun was high up in the sky, now.

Maybe his stamina could be a bit of a problem, then. He’d have to find a way around that.

The only thing he was thinking about, though…

It seemed all the shit Kakashi had made him read actually had some decent advice in it.

He muttered a silent thanks to the author, “The Gallant Hermit”, whoever he was.

And Orochimaru. In his roundabout way, he may have been onto something when he told him to
get laid.
 He fell asleep.

At ten in the morning, about an hour later, Karin knocked on his door.

He woke up, staring blearily at the door, a light headache — not too bad considering what they had
drunk the day before, overall — and lack of sleep contributing to his general incomprehension.

The smell of the room hit Karin, who made a face. She took in Tayuya, who was snoring, and his
half naked form.

She didn’t seem particularly impressed.

“Whazzat?”

“I think…” She said, taking a second to fight some amusement. “You might have overslept. Get
your clothes, we’re going to practice. Now.”

‘Ah… True.’

He had hoped that what little sleep he got would be enough.

Now, as he steadied himself, he took a look at Karin, who looked half-amused, half-annoyed.

It was going to be another long day, then.

Chapter End Notes

if anybody's a drummer, we still love you guys

 Ghost Hand

“Tayuya? Really? You sure are changing fast, huh” Karin said once they had gotten started. “Oh,
well. I suppose she is nice enough.”

Today’s exercise was a new one.

Karin would create mud balls that she would then throw at him. His eyes were closed. He was to
use chakra sensing to locate their position, honing in on the energy that held the balls together.
Then he’d dodge them.

Thwack.

Another mud ball hit him in the chest. Well, he was supposed to dodge them. Didn’t mean he was
able to.

Thwak.

Another caught him in the face.

He felt the next one coming.

He yelped, jumping over one that would have hit in the privates.

“Karin. Karin! What the fuck?!”

“It’s training.” She said in return.

She did seem to take a bit too much pleasure in it, though.

Orochimaru seemed to know everything that was happening around the base.

So it was no wonder that he was already chuckling when he saw him coming. Well, it could also
have been his long face, who knew.

“You surprise me sometimes, Naruto-kun.”

“I aim to impress.” He managed to snark.

“Oh?” Orochimaru lifted an eyebrow, definitely amused now. “Go on, then. As far as I remember,
your Silent Walk technique is still shaky, at best.”

Naruto winced. He definitely couldn’t make good use of it yet. It was a jutsu that was supposed to
muffle the sound one’s feet made. In his hands, it almost did the opposite, with the wind whistling
and pushing things away.

It was especially bad that day.

Orochimaru was in an amused mood, so it could have gone worse, but still. He probably wouldn’t
drink again for a long time. It wasn’t worth it, if this was the kind of decision that seemed like a
good idea at the time.
Like most days, he crawled back to his rooms, where clones were undoubtedly practicing as well.

He passed Tayuya on the way.

For a moment, he wondered what to say. Hello? Want to go eat something? …Thanks?

Would things be awkward? He didn’t know her that much, but she was pretty nice to be around.

She spared him the overthinking.

“Hey there, fucktard.” She had a little smile on, though. “Want to play some music?”

He smiled too. “Sure.”

Once he stopped worrying about things changing between them, he found that he was feeling
pretty great, actually.

Life in the camp was pretty nice. It felt like home, even.

He had a few friends, and probably the best teacher he could find for his goals — one that had the
skills and willingness to bend the rules to get him there.

The occasional meeting with Tayuya was a nice bonus, of course. He found out that he could focus
again, now.

Two weeks later, Orochimaru surprised him by announcing he would be leaving for the
Mountain’s Graveyard.

“…Why, though? There is nothing in that region besides a few mining towns, isn’t there?”

“I have reason to believe this could help you with your little ancestor problem. Call it a hunch.”
Orochimaru said simply. “Did you make any progress on that front?”

“No, not really.” He admitted. Seemed like he was going to follow his teacher’s gut feeling. Once
more.

Orochimaru knew he had won. “Then make your preparations, and be on your way. Find the
Ootsutsuki ruins there and try to see if that works. Consider this part of your training.”

“How is this training?”

“At some point, you’re going to have to get back to the outside world. You’ll need to keep your
identity under wraps.”

“Do you think I am ready?”

“For this much, yes. Still, you will go with Anko. In case any real trouble arises, the kind that even
she could not handle, she knows how to Reverse Summon me there.”

“I see. Thank you.” He hesitated. “May I ask for Karin to join us?”

“Do as you wish.”

“So you didn’t even consider taking me with you, then, fucktard?” Tayuya asked, getting in his
face.

“Uh, I…”

“I’m kidding!” She laughed. “Damn, you’re still such a fucking square.”

He sighed. “Yeah, well… I’m going tomorrow anyway.”

She nodded. “Alright.”

“Want to give me a proper goodbye?” He gave her his best roguish grin.

What they had was very casual. Pretty nice, too.

“Damn, who died and made you boss?”

Still, she followed him to his quarters.

When he arrived the next morning, only Anko was ready.

“You’ve got a hickey on your neck.” She grinned. “Not that much of a kid anymore, then? Must be
my advice.”

He pulled his collar higher and did his best to ignore her teasing.

Karin arrived later. Naruto stared.

She was wearing body armor over standard infantry clothing, complete with arm guards and
bandages around her ankles.

“You know this is just a standard journey, right…?” Naruto asked. “We’re just supposed to find
some ruins.”

“Yeah. Right. I’m not taking any chances. Half your missions seem to turn out more complicated
than expected.” Karin huffed.

Anko snorted a laugh.

Naruto gave Karin the side eye. “Sorry to drag you into this, by the way, Orochimaru… Sensei.
Seems to think this is really important. And I couldn’t think of anyone other than you.” He smiled.

Karin put her nose up in the air. “And don’t you forget it.”

Mountain’s Graveyard was an unclaimed territory standing between the Land of Waterfalls and the
Land of Rice.

It was a land of dense forests, where the bones of gigantic creatures were found all over.

Not many people ventured there, of course. Call it either superstition…

Or the remnants of some older human instincts, screaming to stay away from here at all costs.

The trio set up camp for the night at the edge of the Land of Rice, after covering a lot of distance
during the day.
A few clones stayed out in the field for the night, keeping watch for them. His stamina had grown
enough that maintaining clones that stood still was child’s play to him, now.

The next morning, they crossed the border into the Mountain’s Graveyard.

Ninja rarely traveled through here. It was a land of no rules, besides local law, since there was no
central government.

The trees were shaped in a way that was very different from those in the Land of Fire, Naruto
noticed. It seemed they had a tendency to spiral out of control, growing crooked and busy. Their
branches looked withered, and brittle at the same time.

Traversal was slow, since they had to stay on the ground most of the time.

Another thing was there were almost no remains of human settlements.

The first town they came across was a mining town, near the more rocky parts of the country.

They settled in an inn there for the evening.

The town was in a pretty bad state, and half of it was basically in ruins.

The other half was just desolate, and people had wary looks on their faces.

Karin did a cursory scan of the surrounding area, and concluded there was no threat, as far as
shinobi were concerned.

Anko nodded, heading out on her own. She waved at them, telling them she’d find them if there
was trouble.

They shared a look before heading out on their own. They would split and ask for information
about any Ōtsutsuki.

“Mind if I sit here?” Karin asked in overly shy tones. This was one of the three bars of the town.

Gathering information was a subtle art, one that she was well-versed in. She would have to slowly
thread the needle, and ask about what she was actually curious about in a way that would make it
seem as if this was just a natural evolution of the conversation.

The man grumbled a vague answer, then turned around. He did a double-take at the beautiful red-
head.

“No… No… Not at all.”

“Thanks.” She smiled. “I’m just passing through this country, I have to meet my brother in the
Land of Rice.”

“Really? Are you traveling on your own? In here.”

She laughed playfully. “No… Of course not. I have found two strong shinobi to protect me.”

“Ah. I see.” He nodded. “This is good. You never know what kind of things you’re going to find
around here. It can get very dangerous.”
“Dangerous?” She made a show of widening her eyes. “Is there something we should keep an eye
on?”

“Well…” He hesitated. “There is a rumor that the mercenary, Ghost Hand, has been spotted around
here, just a few days ago.”

“Ghost Hand..?” She put a hand over her mouth, looking scared.

“Yes.” He leaned forward, looking and spoke in hushed tones. “Rumor has it the red armor he
wears was originally white.”

Karin held back a snort. This was obviously an urban tale. What kind of mercenary would wear
white armor?

“Oh my…” She tried to look as earnest as she could “Thank you for warning me, kind sir. Is there
anything else I should know?”

“Well…”

In another bar, Naruto sat down at the counter. The man gave him a brief look, nodded, and went
back to his drink.

Naruto spoke. “You know where some of the Ōtsutsuki ruins thing are?”

The man’s eyebrow rose a bit. “Sure. Don’t know why anyone would be interested in this old shit,
though. Here’s how to get there…”

‘Well, that was easy enough.’

Night had barely fallen.

Apparently, there was one old temple that was supposed to have been used by people to worship
the ancient clan, just five kilometers north.

He hesitated. It was still early.

Waiting until morning, only to find out this was nothing of interest would prove frustrating.

He was sure Anko and Karin had found some useful information of their own, so he might as well
get a head-start.

Also… he had a few mobility techniques he wouldn’t be able to use if they were traveling with
three people.

He looked around. What was the clearest place here?

There was one building that was taller than the rest, and it would do perfectly. He walked up the
side of it, until he was standing on its rooftop.

The stars shone in the night sky. The North Star was easy enough to find for any Leaf ninja.

“North… should be there, then.”

He channeled Wind chakra through his body to make himself a little bit lighter. Not too much, as
he would need to be able to focus on the next step.

While keeping the wind chakra coursing, he took a deep breath. This was something he had only
been able to manage a few months after carving the Fūjin and Raijin symbols into his body.

Lightning crackled around his legs. It was a strange thing, keeping two elements running at the
same time. A very conflicted sort of feeling.

It took some compartmentalization.

He opened his eyes.

Naruto squatted down, flexing his quadriceps. He pushed off the floor, managing not to damage it.

He leaped toward the sky like a cannonball.

It was exhilarating, this feeling of shooting off, unconstrained by gravity for a moment.

Then it reasserted itself slowly, as he reached the apex of his jump.

He smiled, held the Ram seal and transformed into an eagle.

In this form, it would be easy to glide down until he reached his destination. His sharper eyesight
would also help, of course.

Karin felt Naruto leave town at very high-speed.

‘Oh, this stupid mother-’

She excused herself, and left the man in the bar, thanking him for his time. He smiled and raised
his glass at her.

Surprisingly enough, the building was mostly intact. Well, besides the roof, which had crumbled
ago.

Naruto, despite not being half the sensor Karin was, — yet — could sense some trace of a very old
chakra.

It had the same feeling as the one he had felt within himself. And strangely enough, it reminded
him of the Nine-Tails, as well.

There were a couple snakes, large ones at that. But they seemed to have some degree of
consciousness, as once they took a whiff of his smell, they just left him alone.

‘Is this something related to Orochimaru?’

It was hard to tell what the man was actually doing or planning, most days.

He didn’t exclude the snake sage having given him some sort of immunity against snakes, even
though he hadn’t made him sign the contract yet.

Considering the number of times he had drawn his blood, he could just as easily have slipped him
something.
He sighed. He wasn’t even sure why he still trusted the man. Somewhat.

‘Well… There’s nothing here besides that altar…’

Might as well try to meditate and reach for it.

He sat down in full lotus and did so.

Nothing really happened. He sank deeper into the trance, just keeping enough spatial awareness to
feel out for any possible threat.

Naruto still wasn’t sure if this was a sensor ability, or something the Nine-Tails had left to him, but
there was no denying it was useful.

Prodding at the leftover chakra was taking too long. Meditating had never been his favorite thing
in the world.

He felt a chakra he knew above him. Within him, maybe? No threat.

‘Is this working? Is this some Ōtsutsuki ghost?’

A hand grabbed his shoulder, fingers pointing at his jugular.

“I finally found you.” A gravelly voice said.

Ghost Hand, the mercenary, kept their hand on the cultist.

Any kind of sudden move, and they would summon a chakra blade, hopefully ending the man’s
life in one surgical cut.

The man had the gall to look surprised, actually.

He spoke, not seeming too worried. “Who are you, then? Ōtsutsuki?”

The Ghost scoffed from behind their helmet. “That’s the best you could come with?”

The man moved, surprisingly fast, and in a crack of lighting, he was suddenly standing two meters
away.

The man turned around. No, man was pushing it, as he looked like a teenager, eighteen, maybe. He
frowned. “Look, I know you have no ill intentions, I can feel it-”

They rolled their eyes behind the helmet. What would he know? It had been a long day, so if the
blond wanted a fight, then a fight he would get.

“Okay, maybe you do, now. Have it your wa- Wooow.”

The spectral hand had extended from their left side, and the man-, teenager had dodged it at the last
moment, too surprised.

‘He’s fast, even without using his Lightning Release.’

“What the hell was that?” He asked in wonder.

The man in the armor gave no answer, of course. Only Orochimaru cared enough about bragging
during a fight to explain how his techniques worked.

Naruto summoned a sword, not too unlike the one he had crafted for Sasuke. The man was wearing
armor, and he was good enough not to kill anyone by accident.

He weaved hand seals around the grip of his sword — he really should practice more one-handed
seals, he knew — and channeled wind chakra. He was better at mid-range techniques with it than
he was with Lightning

“Wind Release: Air Slash”

Sharp blades of wind surrounded the shorter man, aiming at dismantling his armor.

He made a single seal. Dog, using one hand, only. Naruto raised an eyebrow. The man was good.

“Water Style: Water Wall.”

The man spat water through an opening through his helmet, which rose around him, and shielded
him from the wind blades.

‘Alright, then.’

Naruto weaved more signs while the man was distracted. This one took more chakra.

“Wind Style: Wind Lance.”

A greenish, almost invisible horizontal arc appeared in front of him, soaring to his target. When
he’d jump, he’d blitz with a Lightning Dash, and then he’d force him to submit.

Except the armored man didn’t jump. Naruto squinted his eyes, seeing something blue flash at his
opponent’s feet, before he simply disappeared.

‘…What?’

This was a teleportation technique. His chakra sensing ability had been on, and confirmed the man
had simply disappeared, reappearing fifteen meters away. There was a very slight chakra mark on
the floor, almost invisible to the naked eye.

Another mark was where the man had appeared again.

Naruto jumped on top of the ruins, and saw him from afar.

“That’s a nice trick. Care to share how this works?”

No answer.

“We can still stop this, you know.” He tried again.

The man in the helmet scoffed. He started weaving one-handed signs again.

‘I wonder why he insists on these. Does he have no other choice?’

His chakra senses showed him an imprint of a figure with two arms, so what was this about…?

He dodged a high-pressured water jet that would likely have left a nice hole in his head.

‘Well, okay then. Let’s see about it.’

Naruto unsealed his favorite bow.

He crafted an arrow from chakra, focusing on the link he had with Sasuke. A blade made out of
conductive material shifted its shape until it became an arrow.

He nocked it.

Wind.

Chakra surrounded him, and he focused it inside the arrow. Adding Lightning would be overkill,
and he wasn’t confident enough in his ability to keep it stable until it reached.

He let go.

The arrow streaked through the sky, its green light illuminating the night.

Fast.

The man let go of whatever technique he was holding, in a rush to avoid the arrow. He disappeared
again.

‘There.’

In the background, the arrow exploded in a cyclone of wind blades, devastating part of the forest.

He moved, appearing next to where the man had first used his technique, a blade pointing at his
neck.

‘Nice reflexes on him…’

The man had formed a sort of triangular blade out of pure chakra, and was holding it close to
Naruto’s gut.

‘Now wha-’

“The fuck are you guys doing?” He heard Karin scream.

“Karin?” “Karin…?”

Naruto looked at the masked man — he definitely had only one hand, in the end. He stared back,
just as confused.

Karin sighed.

He went out of sight for twenty minutes and got himself in a fight right away.

She saw both them look at each other, confused, she held back a laugh.

“You know him?” They both said, before glaring at each other.

‘Oh yeah, I shouldn’t call him by his name.’ She hoped he had picked something already.

She started talking to the person in the armor.

“Yeah. I came with him. He left town, so I followed. I recognized your chakra once I was in range,
so I had to make sure you didn’t kill each other.”
“I… see.” The seal-distorted voice said. The chakra blade faded away.

After some hesitation, Naruto did too.

“Guess we’re not fighting anymore, then?” He asked. “He threatened me first, though.”

“…He?”

“Well, yes.” He hesitated, focusing his sense on the person with more precision. “She’s… a
woman?”

Karin let out a long-suffering sigh. He could be so smart, yet so frustrating, sometimes.

“That’s Sakura, I mean my friend Sakura, you numbskull!”

‘Wait… WHAT?!’

He didn’t voice out his surprise. He wasn’t supposed to know her.

True to Karin’s words, the person removed their helmet.

Pink hair held in a ponytail fell as she shook her head.

Green eye, scar. The expression was more severe, but there was no doubt who this was.

… Even the gauntlet that she was wearing was the one he had summoned years ago.

His mind blanked over.

She sighed. Her voice had changed too, and she sounded more confident than in his memories.

“Well. My bad, then. I got caught into something else. I’m Sakura, a… wanderer. Who might you
be..?”

Ah, yeah, that.

He went with the first natural answer.

“I am Indra.”

Karin slapped her forehead.

Sakura squinted her good eye, frowning. “Indra, huh… Are you sure you’re not part of this
Ōtsutsuki cult?”
 The Elder Son

“So you both are from this Uzumaki clan, then?”

Karin glared at him, daring him to say anything.

“Yes, we are. This is… Uzumaki Indra. We’re pretty distantly related.”

Naruto didn’t like lying to Sakura, and he got the feeling Karin didn’t either, so they’d try to keep it
as vague as possible.

Sakura just nodded. “I see.”

“But more importantly.” Karin adjusted her glasses. “Where the hell have you been?! Everybody in
the village is super worried, ‘yaknow.”

Sakura winced. “Ah. That.”

Karin waited, arms folded. “You didn’t write or tell… anyone. Even Ino.”

Sakura sighed. “Yeah. Sorry. It’s a lot of things, but the gist of it is that I took a chance to get out of
the village… And here I am.”

Karin looked so unsatisfied by the answer that Sakura let out a small laugh.

“Look, I’ll tell you… Later.” She gave Naruto a side-look.

The meaning was clear. She didn’t know or trust the newcomer, even if he was her family. Karin
saw him put his best poker face, trying not to look as if he took it personally. She held back a
laugh.

Karin relaxed somewhat.

“Well, the least you could tell us is what you’re doing here, then.”

“Sure.” Sakura nodded. “I’ve gotten hired to take care of a little problem.”

“A problem?” Naruto asked. “Like finding something?”

“Yeah, sort of.” Sakura smiled dryly. “There are a few cultists I’m going to murder.”

‘Ah. Okay.’

He didn’t know why he was this taken aback. Both of them were mercenaries, if in an apparently
different way.

Still, what he remembered of innocent Sakura and this more jaded version had him feeling
conflicted.

Well. It wasn’t his business anyway.

“Care to tell us more?”

She looked at him. He stared back.

“Apparently, there are some people in this region who got involved in some sort of ritualistic
murder.” She ended up saying. “Kidnapping and killing kids, all sorts of grimy things.”

“A cult dedicated to the Ōtsutsuki, then?” Karin asked.

She hesitated. “That’s the part where it gets a bit confusing. My client is from the Land of
Waterfalls, where some of them started doing the same. Rumors had it that they came from here,
so I came to investigate. The only cult I heard about was this one, so I thought…” Sakura sighed.
“Well, there doesn’t seem to be any sort of Ōtsutsuki cult still going on. At least, not in the
southern part of the country. This is the first time I see somebody in these ruins.”

She looked at Karin, with a half-smile. “Definitely didn’t expect to meet an old friend, though.”

Karin smiled back. This was still Sakura, in the end, even if she was very different.

“So what are you going to do, now?” Karin asked. “You can come with us, we’re looking for some
ruins.”

Sakura laughed. “Sounds nice. I can’t come right away, though. There’s another point of interest I
need to check out before the sun comes up. Apparently these rituals take place during the night,
so… Can’t rest now.” She gave them — but mostly Karin — an apologetic smile.

She nodded. “I understand. I’ll try to track you in a few days, if you’re still around here.”

“There’s a good chance I will. Are you a tracker now?” Sakura asked.

“Once I feel someone’s chakra, I will always recognize it. And if I focus on a specific one, my
range is several dozen kilometers.”

Sakura’s eyebrow rose to her hairline. She whistled. “That’s… something. I’ll count on you to find
me, then-”

Karin took her into a big hug, to her surprise. Still, he hugged her back.

“Take care of yourself, Sakura.”

“Of course.” She nodded. Sakura gave a brief salute to Naruto.

“Indra-san. See you next time.”

“Before you leave… Can I ask you something? What is this gauntlet you’re wearing?”

She looked at him, hesitant. Him being with Karin must have been enough for her, in the end.

“This?” She flexed her hand. “I’m still not sure. Once, I kinda… summoned it? I have no real
explanation. It sure came in handy a few times, though.”

“Does it do anything in particular?” Naruto asked. Maybe he’d finally get some clue about his
own, which he had baptized Thunder Gauntlet. In a very literal way.

She squinted her eye. Maybe that had been too much.

“Sorry, but I don’t feel like telling you yet.”

Naruto thought and went off his hunch. “Is this how you teleport around?”
She stiffened. He nodded. That had been it.

“How do you…?” She sighed. “Well. I guess the cat’s out of the bag. Yes, that’s how I move
around.”

“Between the marks you put?”

She definitely didn’t like being quizzed. “Something like this, yeah.”

“And from the way you used it, I would assume you can only have a certain amount at the time?”
Two was his guess.

She glared at him. “Look, if you really want to talk about this, maybe next time. Maybe. I’m going,
now.” Her tone was frosty.

She left. On foot.

He likely had been right, then.

Karin looked at him strangely.

“What?” He asked.

“I think you could have waited a bit more. No reason to antagonize her.”

He was ready to retort. Then realized she was right.

“…Yeah. My bad. I got too curious.”

“Anyway, let’s get back before Anko uproots the whole town looking for us.”

“Sure.”

Anko had been sleeping soundly, it turned out.

Naruto was not very impressed, but well, if she trusted them enough to let them go, he was not
about to do anything to change that.

They fell asleep quickly.

There was nothing holding them in the small town, so they left at sunrise.

As they went closer to the North, Karin started to feel uneasy.

“What is it?” Naruto asked, seeing her discomfort.

“I… Don’t know. Something feels weird.”

“Let’s stop here, and make sure you’re okay, then.” Anko said.

“No. No need. It’s nothing physical. Let’s continue.”

She insisted and so they went on.

The feeling only worsened, the more they went.

The land itself was becoming stranger and stranger, the sky of a strange color and birds that looked
like they belonged to a different era altogether flying around, making squeaky noises.

There were more of the gigantic corpses, and they were bigger, too.

Karin shivered.

“There’s something wrong with this region. Some weird feeling in the air. I… can’t explain it.”

“Maybe there is something to the superstition, then.” Naruto said.

“If you want to head back, give me the word and we’ll leave right away.” Anko said,
uncharacteristically serious.

“There’s a strong lingering chakra in the air. About fifty kilometers away.”

“You can feel it from here?” Naruto asked, surprised. This was way over her usual range.

She continued, tight-lipped. “There’s nothing normal about this.”

“What do you mean?”

Karin hesitated. “It feels like… Tailed Beast chakra. Nine-Tails, in particular.”

They were at the source of it in less than two hours.

“Are you sure it’s in here?” Anko asked, tapping two fingers on the rocky mountain in between
them and the lingering chakra.

“Absolutely. It’s in front, and down.” Karin confirmed.

“Yeah… I think I can feel it too. There is something of the Nine-Tails, for sure.”

“Anybody inside?” Anko asked.

Karin held a Ram seal and focused. She let out a cry, stumbling back.

“Karin! Are you alright?”

“Yes… Yes. There’s no one alive in there. But there was something huge, at some point.”

“Is it safe to go in?” Naruto asked.

Anko thought.

She decided. “Let’s go, then.”

“How will we get in?” Naruto asked. No Ground-Eater seal would be enough, unless they had
days.

She bit her thumb and summoned a large snake with a rock-like pattern.

“Well, then… Get in!”

Anko motioned at the snake, who opened its mouth wide.

Karin and Naruto looked at each other, hesitating. Anko was already inside the snake, so they
followed her in.

It sank into the rock as if it were water.

“I’m going to repress this memory, just so you know.”

Anko laughed.

“This is just the Tunnel-Snake. It’s not that bad, really, just takes a bit of getting used to.”

Karin preferred not to ask what would qualify as bad to her.

They moved through the ground.

The snake came to a halt a few instants later, and spit them out. It sat there, waiting for them to be
done.

They were standing in a cavern, where some sort of mostly rotten roots covered half the floor.

Chakra residue was still in the air. Something of the Nine-Tails had definitely been here.

‘But a while ago, then.’

There was nothing useful here, and Naruto sagged in disappointment. His senses picked up
something else.

There stood a throne-like wooden chair in the middle of the room.

To Naruto, it might as well have been a beacon. He got closer.

It was saturated in chakra. One that he knew very well.

Indra.

It felt as though it was calling to him. He reached it and touched it.

Everything in the room disappeared.

He heard Karin scream something he couldn’t hear.

He was standing in a dark room. The same mirror as the one he had seen last time hung against the
wall.

It had been a real place, he was sure. He looked at his hands. They were his.

“So, you’ve come.”

Naruto’s head whipped around.

A man in his prime, dressed in fine clothes. He would have been handsome, if not for the
oppressing power he let out, making it impossible to focus on anything else.

His red and black eyes stared at Naruto directly. For a moment, they seemed to become openings to
something else.

Thunder, crashing with a deafening sound. Roaring flames.

Naruto tried to escape. There was no way out.

“Is this another dream?” He asked, trying to force himself to wake up.

“Dream? Is this what you think this is?” The man asked, amused.

“Who are you?” He knew exactly who he was.

“You know exactly who I am.” He said, as though he were reading his thoughts.

“Ōtsutsuki Indra.”

“Do not say that accursed name in front of me.” The void opened once more behind his eyes.

Naruto froze.

“I am Indra.” The man said simply. His eyes met his own again. “Are you to become mine then?”

“Yours…?”

“Call it however you want to call it. In the end, you will be consumed. Just like the others.” The
man said, indifferent.

Naruto stared, his teeth gritted. “You are a dead man. Don’t meddle with the living.”

“Dead? Is that what you wish to believe?” He stood up, amused. “I live, yet again.”

He stepped closer to him, taller and stronger.

“I won’t use your power.” Naruto said, panting.

“My power is your power. Your power is my power. There is nothing you can do. You will
become host to my will, whether you choose to fight… or not.”

He smiled, his eyes wide.

“I will take you. And once you die… I shall take the next one. Over and over again, until our war
is settled for good.”

Their noses touched.

“Or until the end of time, whichever comes first.”

“I won’t let you do as you please.”

Indra laughed. “Fool, I already am.”

Naruto fell back and found himself in the cavern, once more. He took a big shuddering breath.

Karin held him, while Anko looked on, worriedly.

“I think we should get back. There’s nothing else for us here.” He managed.
“What was this about?” Karin asked.

“I’ll tell you once we’re out of here. Please.”

They nodded and left.

A man with the Sharingan swirled in the room, minutes after they were gone.

His alarms had gone off. There was nothing of interest in this place anymore, they had moved
everything to a more defensible shortly after having captured the Nine-Tails, for obvious safety
reasons.

There were still traces of Chakra in the air, and a few small pieces of snake-skin on the ground, that
he found after inspecting the entire cavern.

There was only one person who’d come here on purpose, using snakes.

“Orochimaru, then? …Well, I guess it’s about time we take care of loose ends.”
 The Snake Sage

"I managed to speak with Indra.” He finally said, once they were settled around a campfire.

Karin let out a gasp. “…For real?!”

“I… Think he intends to possess me. Or corrupt me. I don’t know. He says it’s inevitable. He
might be right. I don’t feel any of his chakra within me anymore. It could already be part of me. Or
I could be part of him. I don’t know.”

“Naruto…” Karin said worriedly.

“This is bad.” Anko said. “I think I’ll need to speak with Sensei, then.”

Naruto nodded. “Maybe he has some answers. He always seems to know a bit too much.” He let
out a small laugh.

Anko smiled. “By the way, did you-”

She disappeared in a puff of smoke.

“What…?” Naruto asked, in confusion. Had she been a clone?

Karin looked nervous. “I think she has been reverse-summoned.”

“Find out if…? What the fuck is happening?” She gasped.

Anko had appeared at base camp. Flames ravaged through it. There were several dead people, too,
she noticed, including Jūgo and Kazumi. She felt sadness and dread well up, but there would be no
time for that.

Orochimaru was here, his left arm bleeding. She rushed to him.

“Keep your eyes on them, Anko!” He hissed, never looking at her.

She followed his gaze.

There were three men in nondescript black robes. Another was dead, lying at Orochimaru’s feet.

“They’re Akatsuki.” He explained shortly. “They came for me. Nagato won’t come by himself,
then?” Orochimaru asked the last part loudly.

The man with the mask said nothing.

“Of course you won’t say anything. He needs to keep his hands clean, at least on the surface.”
Orochimaru chuckled.

“I have had enough of your meddling, Snake.” The man just said in answer. A fireball erupted from
his mouth, and the man next to him used wind style to amplify it right away. The other one weaved
a few hand seals, and the techniques seemed to combine into a reddish fire.

Despite its new color, the air around it seemed to shimmer.

Orochimaru gave a quick nod to Anko. They bit their thumb at the same time, before calling their
technique together.

“Summoning: Triple Rashōmon!”

Three menacing gates appeared in between them and the flames.

They stood behind, as the fireball blew through the first and second gates, only stopping at the last.
The heat was still scorching.

Orochimaru gave Anko a pained smile. “Sorry for bringing you into this, little Anko.”

She gave him a bright smile, trying to look confident. “Isn’t this what apprentices are for?”

He chuckled. “Maybe.”

Orochimaru summoned the sword of Kusanagi, tossing it at Anko, who caught it before leaping to
the air, still under the cover of the gates.

“Cover me a second, will you?” He asked.

She summoned Manda, who hissed at the world.

“Aaaaah.” His tongue tasted the air. “You finally call me again… Orochimaru.”

“I was the one who called you.” Anko declared.

“…You? The disciple. How dare you?”

“I have a few worthy sacrifices for you.”

“Three…? Three measly humans?!” He tasted the air again. “An Uchiha…? Hoshio… and Kisu,
too.”

“Will this be enough for you, Manda-sama?”

“Certainly not. Prepare sacrifices for the next time, wench.”

“…It shall be done.” She just wouldn’t summon him again. How she hated dealing with the snake.

Manda chuckled, leaping mouth wide open towards the three Akatsuki, who had to leap away to
dodge him. He dug into the mountain in the same move, twirling his gigantic body to come back
from underground.

Tobi observed the gigantic snake.

There was nothing it could do to him, in truth, but the same thing could not be said for his allies. S-
rank missing ninja were a rarity, and those whose loyalty could be either bought or subverted were
even more of an oddity.

Which meant he would have to keep them from dying.

The snake sage was dangerous. The dead Yuki had been proof enough. His Ice bloodline did
nothing to prevent Orochimaru’s deadly poisons from suffocating him.

The snake was moving again, but Anko was gone. Tobi’s sharingan saw the attack coming.

She appeared behind him in a whirl of motion, the sword of Kusanagi going right through his
chest.

Actually going through, without causing any damage. Anko, unbalanced, fell forward in surprise.

He let her fall through him, smashing into her back with a chakra-enhanced kick.

‘Ah, a last-minute replacement.’

The Anko in front of him melted into a dozen snakes. The real one appeared above him, releasing a
Great Inferno. She looked pretty confident, he thought.

Tobi let himself stroll through the flames, unharmed.

More snakes erupted from the ground. They passed through him.

Now he saw through her. The reason she was so confident was because she was not trying to kill
him.

She was stalling. But for what? His teammates were taking care of Orochima-

He was Kisu Akane flying… through a building.

Orochimaru followed her.

‘Ah. This might be a problem.’

Tobi’s eyes could easily see the scaly patterns on Orochimaru’s face, as well as the two horns
jutting from his head.

The Sage Mode enhanced Wind Jutsu that followed tore through the mountain.

Anko was upon him again, flowing through the motions of the Snake school. She was keeping him
at a distance from which he couldn’t grab her without exposing himself.

He realized that while she hadn’t figured the exact limits of his ability, she knew he couldn’t attack
and defend at the same time, not at this range.

And she was making sure not to look him in the eye, of course.

Tobi sighed. Anko apparently had become strong since the academy.

She would be more than a match for either of his teammates, so it was a good thing that she was
fighting him, instead.

But if he left Orochimaru alone with them, there was no guarantee they would survive. Manda was
keeping them busy enough as it was, the Hoshio man could barely keep up.
He dropped a pair of explosive tags, fading his body through the explosion. Anko had to leap
away.

The Fire Tracking Bomb jutsu he released after her forced her to shield herself.

He teleported behind Orochimaru, as he was about to deal a killing blow with a wind blade to the
Kisu woman.

Being in Sage Mode, he felt him come and dodged the strike that would have taken his neck.

The Snake Sage didn’t say a word. He released the Wind Blade at Tobi, forcing him to
dematerialize. He then attacked with a Gentle Palm strike, the instant he had to release the Kamui.

Tobi dodged, and Orochimaru’s hand missed his face by only an inch.

The wave of natural energy that smashed into his mask didn’t.

‘Guh’. He forgot about this part.

Orochimaru was already weaving the signs for a Partial Body Expansion technique, intending to
smash Hoshio with his fist.

Tobi appeared there in a vortex, carrying him out.

In the meantime, Orochimaru had created four clones. Without more than a single seal each, they
spat a combined wave of fire, wind and lightning at him.

The resulting combination was kept up for a while, forcing him to stay intangible for longer than
he would prefer. It was eating through his chakra.

Further away, he could see Anko taking on Kisu… And gaining the upper hand.

Another Orochimaru he hadn’t seen turned the floor under him to flammable mud. That was
Jiraiya’s technique, he recognized.

He had to allow himself to catch fire to use his teleportation technique.

“You are as much of a pest as ever.” Tobi grunted, ripping away his burned cloak from his singed
arm.

Orochimaru just gave him a dry smile. Anko appeared at his side.

Kisu and Hoshio were still good to go. He motioned to them to move on to their alternate
formation.

First, he would have to get rid of the disciple, so that they could focus on Orochimaru, who was
the real threat.

Kisu’s Combination Bloodline should allow them to do this easily enough.

He folded his arms, and started talking, winning his allies a bit more time to catch their breath.

“You can’t win against me, Orochimaru. None of your prized jutsu can reach me.”

To his surprise and confusion…

Orochimaru’s Sage Mode faded away.

“That is the truth, yes. Unfortunately, I wasn’t trying to win.” Orochimaru said. “The survivors
escaped. We shall meet again.”

He likely wouldn’t have waited for them if he had been at a real risk, Tobi knew.

Tobi spoke. “You wretched-

Orochimaru chuckled, as he and Anko were reverse-summoned away.

Tobi cursed. They were back to square zero. They had known about Orochimaru’s particular
location for a month now, but it wasn’t until the intrusion in Madara’s former hideout that he had
decided to do something about him.

Now he would have to find him again.

And the snake could be very elusive.

Orochimaru and Anko appeared in Ryūchi Cave.

He thanked the Summoner Snake.

This had been one of his contingency plans. Whenever he summoned one specific snake, before
sending him back right away…

That was a signal to revere-summon him.

He had the same code in place with a different snake that stood for reverse-summoning him and
Anko.

It definitely had come in handy.

Orochimaru allowed himself a quick thought for the people who had died. Then he moved on.
Behind him, Anko let out a frustrated scream.

They had an apprentice to find.

“What should we do?” Karin asked, panicked.

Naruto thought hard.

“If Anko’s been summoned, it must have been an emergency. Orochimaru-sama never does this if
it’s not important.” Karin continued.

“Do we even know if it’s Orochimaru? Couldn’t it have been the snakes themselves?”
Karin paused to think. “Now that you mention it… Yeah. Yeah. It could have been.”

“…Do you think we should go back to the camp?” He asked.

Karin was about to say this was the only logical answer, then stopped herself. “…I don’t know. If
Anko has been called for… an emergency, there’s no way we’re going to reach there in time.”

He nodded. “That’s what I think, too.”

“Maybe we should wait in the mining village.”

Naruto hesitated. “Yeah. Maybe that’s our best option.”

“I’ll locate Sakura while we wait for them, then.”

In the end, they waited three days at the inn, boredom mingling with worry.

Sakura came back drenched in blood. Karin invited her up to their room.

“Blood’s not mine.” She muttered, exhausted, when she saw their faces. “This guy’s.”

She pulled out a bloody bag, from which muffled sounds were coming.

Karin and Naru-… Indra shared a look.

“Open it.” Sakura said, dark amusement in her tired eye.

Karin did and yelped when something tried to bite her finger.

“-ucking whore! Once I get out of here, I’m going to make you regret the day you decided to cross
me.”

“My, you’re very talkative, aren’t you…” Sakura smiled at…

The disembodied, talking head.

“What the fuck is that?” Naruto asked.

“That…” Sakura started proudly. “Is the head of the local cult I managed to locate. Name’s Hidan.
He’s the biggest piece of shit I’ve never had the pleasure to kill.”

“Wait, so he’s immortal?” Naruto asked.

“Seems so.” Sakura shrugged. “Or at least I didn’t find a way to kill him for good. And believe me,
I tried.” She said with a wry grin.

Hidan was making a muffled sound, Sakura having shoved a bundle of dirty rags into his mouth.
Karin didn’t seem to know what to think of the whole situation.

“…I really hope the room is soundproof. And this guy has a peculiar chakra.” She said faintly.

“So now that you got this guy, the cult thing is over..?” Naruto asked.

“Well… It is over, yes. But there were plenty of wannabe immortals with him. I had to get rid of
them.”

Naruto winced.

“I wouldn’t worry too much, Indra-san. Bunch of child killers, all of them. You don’t want to hear
about the things they did.” She said, disgust evident in her voice.

“…I see.”

Naruto paused.

“Sakura-san. Will you need his head to fulfill your contract?”

She answered cautiously. “…No. Why are you asking?”

“In this case, I have a big favor to ask.”

Hidan screamed something through his gag.

After some deliberation, Sakura decided to remove it.

“Not Orochimaru! Don’t give me to fucking Orochimaru!”

Sakura looked at him, then at Naruto. “…You know of Konoha’s Snake Sage?”

“You know about Konoha’s Snake Sage..?” Hidan mimicked a high-pitched voice. “Fuck yeah I
know about Konoha’s Snake Sage!” He actually looked worried. “Don’t let this maniac touch me!”

“Oh, so you know he reaaally cares about finding a way to immortality…?” Karin asked, now
amused.

“Look, I’ll stop with the murders even bu-”

“He’s lying.” Karin said simply to the others. “I can feel his chakra flow.

“You fucking ugly red-haired s-”

Sakura put the gag back on, then she threw him in the bigger bag. “You convinced me.”

“Thanks for the shower, Karin, Indra-san. I will stay in town for the two next days. If the Snake
Sage doesn’t come… I’ll leave.”

Something about being called Indra by Sakura didn’t sit right with him, right now. Maybe it was
because he was still very worried about his meeting with the man…

Or maybe it was because it was Sakura.

Karin knew what he was going to do before he did.

“I don’t know if-”

“Sakura-san.” She looked at him, gaze indifferent. “Are you planning on going back to Konoha?”

“It’s where I was born.” She saw his face deflate. “Doesn’t mean much to me, besides that. My
parents are there, and some friends, too. That’s it. The village itself…”

She shrugged. Naruto hesitated.

“Good enough for me.” he said.

“I am… Or rather, I was. I mean, my name...”

It had seemed easier in his head. Sakura stared at him, curious.

Karin looked at him, exasperated.

Sakura sighed. “Look, if it’s a love confession…”

Karin laughed. “Nah. It’s not. Give my …far-removed cousin some time, though.”

Naruto glared at her. He sighed, looking back at Sakura again.

“I grew up in Konoha, as Sarutobi Naruto.”

Sakura’s face changed. Her fist smashed against the table, and her eye turned frosty.

“I don’t know why Karin told you about him, but I really… really don’t care for this joke. I’m
leaving. Thank you again, but I don’t think I’m going to wait for your master. Or give him
anything, for that matter.”

She stood up to leave.

“I was there on the mission where Kurenai died.”

She paused, glare intensifying.

“…Did Karin tell you about this, too?”

Karin was just wincing at how this was going. She shook her head.

Naruto continued. “I was the one who summoned the gauntlet you’re using in the first place.”
He summoned his own Thunder Gauntlet as added proof. Sakura said nothing.

“Besides, Karin was not there. Only Sasuke and Toru saw it, and I don’t think they ever said a
word to anyone.”

Sakura hesitated, unsure what to think… or feel.

“Do you remember how much time we spent on these dusty tomes the old man gave to me,
pretending not to know I would just give them to you?”

“…Karin was not there, either. And I never told her that.” Sakura’s face was starting to show real
doubt.

“Or that time at your mother’s house where you told me-”

She turned bright red. “Okay! Okay! Stop! Stop! Please.”

He smiled.

She looked at him. Really looked at him.

The face might be different. The hair and eye color might be wrong — and his hair was getting
very long, too. The strange whiskers might be new.

But this smile…

Karin just nodded.

“Then… It is really… you?” Her eye quivered, and she actually sniffled. She reached to touch his
face. “Why do you look so different?”

He laughed. “It’s a long story. Let me tell you, then.”

Something else came over her. Rage.

Sakura started poking his chest. Repeatedly. Hard.

“Ow, ow ow! Sakura-chan, please!”

“You… blond motherfucker! I even cried over you!”

She then fell into his hug, where she proceeded to cry again.

She mumbled, through tears. “Ino is going to kill you, when she learns about it, so I don’t really
feel the need to do it myself.” Even then, she sounded as though a great weight had been lifted
from her shoulders.

Naruto winced.

“…So that’s what happened, then?”

“To sum it up, yes.”

“Don’t you think Toru and Sasuke should know, at least..? They took it pretty hard. Really hard.”

He winced again. “They’re too loyal to the Hokage. I can’t tell them anything, at least right now,
otherwise I’m going to get pulled back into the corps.”

“Would that be so bad?” Sakura asked, but she knew the answer.

“Would you come back as a Konoha ninja?” Karin asked. “I wouldn’t go back to Kusa.”

She winced. Probably not. There were things she wanted to do that she couldn’t as an enlisted Leaf
ninja. Just like him, then.

“Point taken.”

“It’s been years, too. Same for Ino, they must have gotten over it, at this point.”

She looked at him as though he were an idiot. Karin barked a laugh.

“…What?”

“How’s everyone, by the way?” He asked.

“Maybe you should go and see for yourself. I haven’t been there in a while, either.” Sakura said,
still a bit sour.

“Alriiight… Everybody keep your cool.” Karin sighed.

“Ah, so you’re still curious about that.”

“I mean, I litterately made it in the first place, of course I’m curious.” He joked.

“Could you have made it on your own?” She asked.

“Well… No.”

“Then WE made it.” She said dryly. “Don’t take all the credit. You don’t even know how to use
it.”

Naruto grumbled.

“It’s easy enough. Mine works as a gateway, of sorts.”

Sakura summoned her gauntlet. Now that he looked closer, the golden parts were blue on hers. She
caught him staring.

“I guess it’s related to your affinity. Mine’s water.”

Sakura tapped the floor, and a blue mark flashed for a second, before becoming almost entirely
invisible.

She then stood up and tapped the wall. A burnt orange mark appeared, and then faded as well.

Sakura pushed her arm through the blue mark, and a rift opened.

Naruto jumped.

Sakura’s arm was going through the floor, and coming out of the wall. She then put her entire head
in it.

He could see the back of her head on the floor, and her face inside the wall.

Then she crawled out of it.

“And here you go. That’s how it works.”

“That’s… Damn.” Karin said.

“There’s no distance limit, either.” Sakura said, somewhat smugly. “If I have a portal in Suna, I
could go through it and come out in Kumo.”

“…Only if you had put the portals there previously, right?” Naruto asked.

“…Yeah. I do have to put them by hand.” She admitted.

“Is there a limit on how many you can use?”

“…Only two at the same time.” Sakura grumbled.

“Do you need to use the gauntlet?”

“I don’t need to get it out fully, no. But it seems like the gauntlet is always here, waiting to be
summoned, anyway.”

“Ah. I see. Thank you, Sakura-chan. This really helps me out.” He shot her a bright smile.

She seemed a bit flustered. “Yeah, no worries.”

He tried it out. Failed.

Then sighed. “Nah, mine doesn’t work like this at all.”

“Maybe it’s the reverse?” Sakura asked.

“Guys.” Karin said.

“…Isn’t the reverse of a portal still a portal?”

She pouted. “I’m trying to help!”

“Guys.” Karin said, louder. “Orochimaru-sama and Anko are less than twenty kilometers away
from here.”
Orochimaru made a few seals, summoning a few privacy jutsu. Then he applied the same over the
muffled Hidan, once he got some clarity about what he was.

It was very interesting, but he had no time for it right away. He’d need a safe place to take him
apart.

Anko let herself fall on the couch with a long-suffering sigh.

The man spoke, tone serious. “We arrived here from Ryūchi Cave. We will need a new hideout.”

“What..? Why?” Karin asked.

Anko answered, staring blankly at the ceiling. “Akatsuki attacked. It’s on me, they must have
linked our intrusion in the Graveyard to Sensei.”

“What?!” Naruto asked. Sakura stayed silent, having no idea what they were talking about.

“Several people died. Jūgo, among those you know.” Orochimaru said bluntly.

“Wha…? Jūgo is… dead?”

He had known the gentle giant for what seemed like a while, now. To hear he was just gone… like
this.

Orochimaru continued, his tone clipped. “Yes. Most people there at the time managed to escape. I
don’t know where. We will need to find them and regroup. I won’t dare go back to Mukage, it’s
probably being watched, if loosely. Better to let the survivors see for themselves what happened
and find them later.”

Anko, Naruto and Karin nodded at the same time, Sakura noted with some very light amusement.

“These Akatsuki bastards…” Karin grunted out.

“We should make them pay.” Naruto said, voice hard. Sakura lifted an eyebrow. He was not one
for vengeance, usually. Or at least, had not been, years ago.

Orochimaru sighed. “It’s not that easy. Even if I were to tell the Hokage about it… They left no
real evidence that they are linked to Rain. Konoha can’t storm their village just like this.”

“…What if I just told Konoha everything? Including who I am.”

“Same problem. Rain is allied to Mist and Stone. Suna is likely negotiating something with them
too. It would likely degenerate into a full-on war. Even if we could prove our motives afterwards…
I don’t think it would slow the war machine down, by then.”

Naruto clenched his fist. “What can we do, then…?!”

Orochimaru stared at him, thinking.

“There’s only one workable way.”

“Tell me.”

“Build an independent army strong enough to oppose both Rain… and the rest of the world if
needed.”

“What…?”

“I will help you, of course. At this point, I know Nagato will never leave me alone.”

“What are you suggesting?”

“Isn’t it obvious? …A bigger base. A new village.”

 The Thunder Gates

"..Are you serious?" Naruto asked. This was a pretty drastic solution, even for Orochimaru.

"Entirely."

"This is madness."

"I am entirely sane, I assure you." Orochimaru said dryly. "There are many people I could
convince to join us, even at this very moment. Promise them a safe location... and persuading them
becomes easy enough."

Anko said nothing, only twitching when she heard safe.

"Where would we even start?" Karin asked.

"By finding a safe place." Anko said, still pretty quiet.

Naruto felt weird seeing her like this. It hadn't been her fault, far from it. They had decided to go,
all three of them. Now was not the time to tell her that, though, as she would likely blow up on him.
Later, he'd try talking to her.

"But the camp was safe." Naruto tried.

"Obviously not to somebody who can just warp in." Orochimaru drawled.

"That's what happened? What can we even do against that, then?"

"I'm still going over our options. Here's what I figured" Orochimaru mused. "First. The man who
appeared can't go where he has never been at all. Otherwise, the organization would already have
captured the other Jinchūriki long ago."

"Second thing." Anko said, finally looking at them. "He can't become intangible and teleport at the
same time."

"What are you talking about…? Teleportation, intangibility..?" Karin asked.

"Can you tell us what happened, first?" Naruto added.

"…Starting from what Akatsuki is, please." Sakura concluded.

They brought her up to speed.

"In that case…" She wondered aloud. "What if you guys went somewhere he wouldn't think to
look..? Somewhere he would have trouble bringing a large number of people, maybe? It would at
least buy you time, while you worked on something to prevent him from teleporting in."

Anko stared. "…This might work, yes."

"Where could we go, though? The Elemental Nations are only so big. Any good sensor could
locate a village by its chakra concentration." Karin said. She would know.

"The Byakugan …and maybe Nagato's Rinnegan might even make it easier." Orochimaru added.
"They have a maximal range, though. Don't they?" Sakura asked.

"Yes. But nothing is safe on the continent."

"And outside of the Elemental Nations?" Sakura continued.

"There are islands, but nobody lives there, it's simply too far." Anko said.

Earth was a large place, and there were a fair amount of islands stranded in the middle of the wide
oceans.

Orochimaru nodded. "There are likely only wild animals there, if that. It could be just big pieces of
land, too. And coming back would be at least as difficult as the initial journey to get there."

"I… could get you there and back. I can move people, not just me. Instantaneously. I just have to
go to the place to put the mark." Sakura said.

Orochimaru and Anko stared.

She showed them her portal jutsu.

"This is fascinating." He murmured. "This might just work. And there's no distance limit, then?"

"No, but..." She winced. "Nevermind. It's not workable. I can only make two portals in total. So
there would only be a single way in and out. And no way for me to make more… or use it
otherwise."

Karin shook her head. "That's too risky."

Orochimaru looked at Naruto again. "Does your own gauntlet allow for something similar?"

"I… don't know." He admitted.

"Find out, then. I need to locate where our people went. Tell me as soon as you know." Orochimaru
left the room.

Silence stretched in the room. Anko was back to staring blankly.

"Look, guys." Sakura said. "I'd like to stay, but I still have a contract to fulfill. It's already been long
enough."

"Do you have any other assignment?" Karin asked."

Sakura shook her head. "Just this one."

"Will you come back?" She asked."

Sakura hesitated. "I…"

"Please. At least temporarily." Naruto finished. "You can decide for yourself if you want to get
more involved or not later. We'll be staying here for some days."

Sakura sighed. "Still as push as ever, huh. Alright. Just… Just for a while, though."

After having been on her own for a few years, she was not sure what to think about the idea of
joining someone's group for real.
She gave them a hesitant smile. "It's… good to see you. Both."

"You too." Karin said, smiling brightly.

She left one gate opening in their room before leaving.

Anko left without saying a word, as well.

Naruto looked at Karin.

"Wanna help me test it out?"

"Sure thing." She adjusted her glasses. "You might need the help."

"Okay, my gauntlet definitely opens no portals."

By now, he had tried enough times to say it with complete certainty.

"Go on." Karin said, taking notes. "Try other shapes."

"I did."

"Picture a walkway?"

"Done, too."

"A passage?"

"Yup.

"It's not based on light, either." Karin nodded, striking through one of the items on her notepad.

Trying it out in different types of lighting had been tedious, but progress tended to be.

"We can get rid of the lamp, then." Naruto said, still shielding his eyes from it.

"Sure."

"I don't think it needed to be so powerful."

Karin shrugged.

"Not an exchange of matter, then."

Karin nodded. This had been one of her ideas.

The apple stood on the desk, intact. So did the rocks they had picked up, closer to Naruto in
weight.

"Let's put this away."

"And if you try to… recreate yourself in a different place?" Anko asked.
"Re…Create?"

"Look, I'm no fucking scientist." She gestured rudely. "Making yourself anew. Whatever!"

Anko left the room.

She was probably looking for something to take her mind off what had happened in base camp.

A few days later, Sakura came back in casual clothes.

"Hey, guys." Sakura said, walking out of her gateway. "…Are you still trying to figure out how this
gauntlet works?"

"YES!" "Obviously!"

"Why do they even call you… Ghost Hand? Did you pick it up for yourself?"

"Ah." Sakura seemed embarrassed. "I followed a Suna itinerant puppeteer for a while. That's where
I learned how to use chakra to summon an … arm, let's say. The name stuck after a while so I
decided to go with it."

She demonstrated. It was less an arm than a dozen chakra threads that extended from her stump.

"I can summon more and it kinda acts like an arm. Longer reach, too. Can't use jutsu with it,
though." Sakura said.

"Ah… That's how you fooled my chakra senses." Naruto sighed.

Karin laughed. "Anything would fool your chakra senses."

"Not everybody is stumbling through life blind as a bat." He huffed.

"Technically, teleportation involves breaking yourself down to the atomic level and reassembling
yourself somewhere else. Warping would be more correct." Orochimaru chided.

Naruto stared. "I'm still going to call it teleportation." He grumbled.

Orochimaru sighed. Why didn't he get somebody more science-inclined?

"Shouting the words doesn't help. Good to know." Karin said.

"We tried, at least." Naruto squeezed out, his throat raw.

"How's this Lightning Armor thing going?" Karin asked, looking for a distraction from their
endless tries.

Naruto shrugged. "Pretty badly. Take a look."

Lightning shrouded him entirely.

"Wow! That looks like it's working though, doesn't it?"

"Nah. I can just manage to make a light show. It doesn't make me faster, or more durable. I can
only manage to do that by focusing more. So just legs or arms for now. Not at the same time,
even."

"Ah. Too bad."

Karin felt some chakra build up in the room.

"Naruto… Wait. It's the tag. It's reacting." She came to take a closer look.

It was shining. This was new.

He stopped channeling Lightning chakra. The tag faded.

"Ah, come on." He grumbled.

"No no no wait. Keep this Lightning thing going." Karin said, bubbling with anxious excitement.

"Okay…?"

He channeled Lightning to cover his body again. The mark lit up again.

"That's it. That's it!"

"I mean, it's shining, but besides that…"

"Try focusing on it."

"Which one? There are two in the room."

"Either."

He did.

Something built up within him. He focused on the feeling of lightning shielding him envelopping
him.

Nothing happened.

Some instinct told him to go one step further.

He pictured himself becoming Thunder.

Ten seconds passed, during which he focused on keeping the feeling in mind.

The next instant, he was on the other side of the room, with a loud booming sound.

Both he and Karin were too surprised to react.

They stayed here in silence. Then they started cackling and laughing. Harder and harder.

It felt as though a dam had burst, and soon they were rolling on the floor, wiping tears from their
eyes.

That's how Sakura found them again, coming back from outside.
"So no matter what, I teleport to the marker I put first." Naruto said. "I can remove it, though."

"I see." Sakura nodded. "How do you trigger it?"

"I picture myself becoming Lightning for around ten seconds. Or Thunder, whichever is more
correct."

"It's like a relay, then. It's not the same as Sakura's. Not better, not worse." Karin said. "Okay. So…
no matter to which mark you want to go, you have to go through the first gate. Let's call it the Main
one."

"I want to call them Thunder Gates." Naruto said, stubborn. "It's mine to name. What did you name
yours, Sakura?"

"…I didn't name them."

"How childish of you."

"Let's see how bloody this child can beat you, then." She snarked.

"Hmm? Did you say something? Beat me?" He mimicked being hard of hearing. "I think I heard
you yelp when you had to dodge my Great Wind Arrow."

"Oh, please, guys." Karin rolled her eyes. Why had she ever thought Sakura was the mature one?
She was just as bad.

"Come back at me when you make your own jutsu, Karin." Naruto put his nose up in the air.

"…Nevermind, I'm going to help her beat the shit out of you."

"So yeah, I can come back and forth from any marks. I still have to go through the main Thunder
Gate, so that's the one I need to put in a safe location-"

"It's not really suited for battle. It stills takes him almost ten seconds to jump. " Sakura interjected,
staring at her fingernails innocently. Naruto glared at her.

"To Thunder Leap."

"…What was that?" Karin asked.

"Thunder Leap is the verb." He said, crossing his arms.

"This one is too goofy, change it please." She decided.

"…Fuck you. Maybe I will."

Thunder-Gate himself? To Thunder-gate…?

"What about other people?" Orochimaru butted in, unwilling to assist to yet another squabble. Hard
to believe they were in their late teens.

Then again, Jiraiya and him still did the same, even now.

"I can definitely bring people with me." He nodded. "I don't know if there's a way I can get people
to use the jutsu. To let them use the Gates on their own."
"Ah." Orochimaru said, thinking fast. "I can help you there. This might just work, then."

"The last time I saw this expression, you played mad scientist with my body and brain."

Sakura looked at him curiously. "What…?"

Karin and Anko just shared a look.

Orochimaru shrugged. It had worked. His latest apprentice could be pretty narrow-minded,
sometimes.

"Let's take a few more days with your gauntlet." Orochimaru said. "We'll tinker with it and come
up with something."

"Sure thing, sensei. You're still the brains. For now." Naruto nodded, magnanimous.

Orochimaru snorted. "The brawn as well. Come again when you get your first what… B-rank, A-
rank page in the bingo book."

"…I'm the heart, then." Naruto frowned.

"That's Karin." Sakura supplied helpfully.

"Oh, fuck off."

Orochimaru sighed.

Three days later, he was hunched over the gauntled Naruto had lent him, and that he was still
sustaining with his chakra.

It was going to take them a bit longer than expected, most likely. The way the jutsu worked was
something he was not familiar with.

He started to draw a rough model of what could understand.

Anko unfolded a world map on the table. She had come back after two days away.

"Do you see this?" She asked, looking more like her normal self.

Karin squinted her eyes. Anko was pointing at… the middle of the sea?

"…There's nothing."

"Exactly what it looks like, right?" She said, smugly. "Except there should be islands there.
Supposedly. Sensei confirmed, at least."

"Where exactly?" Naruto asked.

Anko hesitated. "..Somewhere in a circle of a diameter of around a hundred kilometers."

Naruto blinked. "Uh. Okay."

Anko grumbled. "Look, if we can't find it on any map, then this Tobi guy won't either."

Karin nodded. "True… But…"

"I picked it at random." She said, as if this were a good thing. "It's completely out of range of…
anything."

Naruto had a bad feeling. "…How far is it, and how do we get there?"

Anko looked sheepish. "Ah. Well. With a boat. It's something like ten thousand kilometers, I
guess."

Somebody gasped.

"You were planning to send us sailing there..?"

"No, of course not. Well. Not the whole way, at least. Just put one of your fancy teleport marks on
a boat and let's let it drift..?"

"I can't put my mark on something that moves that much. And there's no way a bot is going to drift
thousands of kilometers in the right direction." Naruto frowned.

They had tried to find out the limitations.

Sakura shook her head. "Me neither."

"Ugh." Anko winced.

She tried to look upbeat.

"So… Anybody wants to go sailing across the world?"

Orochimaru looked thoughtful.

"The idea could work. But you'll need to hire somebody to get you there, and this could be a loose
link. Unless you kill the man after you're done, of course." He shrugged.

Naruto frowned. "We're not doing that."

"I assumed you would refuse, yes." Orochimaru said dryly. "Do you know how to maintain a
boat?"

"Nope."

"Have you ever been out at sea before?"

"Nah."

Orochimaru sighed. "I'm not done working on a way to move people in and out with your jutsu. I'm
confident that it will just take me a month, maybe two."

"That's a bit less than the time we'd take to get there. If it's workable." Naruto thought. "If I hire a
small crew, is there any way you could… maybe erase the exact location from their memories
once we're done?"

Sakura gave him a somewhat concerned look.

"How cold of you." Orochimaru said, amused.

"Well, considering you'd kill them, otherwise…"

The Snake sage shrugged. "I should be able to, yes."

"Then I'll pay for it." The bounty from Suijin's corpse had been a lot of money. "I'll leave a mark
here, in case anything goes wrong, since distance apparently means nothing."

He had tried, of course.

"Will Sakura join you?" Orochimaru asked. Having the extra layer of safety might come in handy.
If Naruto managed to find himself stranded...

Naruto laughed. "If you pay her, sure."

They made preparations. Two more days were spent planning a possible itinerary.

The easiest way would likely be to leave from the north of Land and Rice, to head to the north of
the Land of Earth, where they could take a bigger sailing vessel.

It would be needed to handle ocean waves and unpredictable weather, without being too big.

A crew of three people — without including Naruto, Karin and Sakura — would be best.

They would have to find the crew there… and convince them to go into uncharted waters with no
clear objective but to find a suitable island.

Orochimaru had given him a scroll filled with cash in order to make sure they'd manage to get
there.

Sakura had accepted to come. Naruto didn't dare ask Orochimaru for the amount. The expedition
could last as long as three months.

Three months… At sea. He felt a bit queasy.

Sakura had left one portal close to the mining town, as precaution. Naruto did too, erasing the other
ones remotely. For the time being, this one would be the Main gate. He'd switch it around once he
got there.

"Well. This is goodbye for now, then." Orochimaru said.

"Have a safe trip." Anko grinned.

"Thanks. We'll see you once we reach the island." Naruto added.

"Take care, Orochimaru-sama, Anko."

Sakura just bowed to her latest client.

They departed for the harbor.

'Should be easy enough.'

Naruto puked over the side of the medium-sized boat they were taking to reach Iwa's northernmost
port city.
"…Can you stop?" Karin asked, looking sick herself. "I'm gonna throw up myself if you keep this
up."

"Mhsorry, can't help it."

Sakura just looked away. Was this their first time on a boat… at all?

They had a few days of this, so hopefully they'd get used to it soon

The city of Naita was a major port for the Elemental Nations. It was also the fifth biggest city in
the Land of Earth.

The Nation of Earth was so big that by foot, it would take several days for a ninja to reach it,
starting from Iwa.

The city itself lay on the North Ocean. It had a long history, having started as a fishing village
centuries ago.

With the advent of long sea routes to Lightning Country, the Daimyō of the Land of Earth had a
strong reason to invest in Naita's development.

Before the end of that century, Naita was the third merchant city of the country.

Even today, its economy was still based entirely on shipping.

That's why it had two ports. One port lied at the heart of the Reed district for the river one, and
directly on the North Ocean for the second one.

"Su let me-a get dhees streeht. Um de hur de hur de hur."

Naruto stared at the man.

"Yuoo vunt me-a tu seeel veet yuoo und yuoor tvu vumee tu zee mee-a oof noohere."

He squinted his eyes, sweat dripping from his forehead in concentration.

"Un yuoo cun ifee tehl as vhere-a... oor vhy?"

The man started laughing.

Naruto turned around, looking at Sakura in despair. "I don't think I get this language." He
whispered.

"…I think it's just his accent."

"Do you get him?" He asked.

"I think he told us to get lost." Karin added, hesitant.

He sighed. That was the tenth person today.

"You try, Karin." He was giving up.

"I guess it just took a little more… tact." She said, trying not to look too smug. Karin had found the
three men she needed, in less than two hours.

"And more than one million ryō. And they don't even have a boat." He muttered, in between his
teeth.

The three men were ex-sailors, now working odd jobs. A helpful officer had recommended them to
him, saying that they could definitely use a job.

"What was that…?" She said, frowning.

"I said thanks, Karin."

Shinjiro.

Takaya.

Heizo.

These were the names of the three men they would be sailing with. Naruto didn't bother
remembering their family names.

They would be spending three months in pretty close quarters with them, so there was no big point
in keeping things too formal, he felt.

Speaking of…

They were looking for a boat to buy.

Apparently, the crew they hired had been a bit down on their luck. They had come from Lightning
Country, years ago, and had been part of a shipping company that traded solely with Earth Country.

With rising tensions between the nations, it was deemed unprofitable to keep as many boats
running and their company investors had basically cut down on every corner they could.

This was why Naruto went with Shinjiro, looking for a boat to buy. Today. Sakura and Karin were
doing the same with the remaining crew members.

"So. What kind of boat do we even need…?"

"Well, boat size doesn't really impact its bluewater abilities, but we're a crew of six people total,
so…" He thought. "Bigger is gonna be faster, too, and less affected by the waves."

Naruto remembered how he felt on the small boat.

"Yeah. You know what, let's get the best, biggest boat we can get for six."

Shinjiro hesitated. "Are you sure…? This can get more expensive quickly."

"Like?"

"Up to two millions."

"Well, that's a lot, sure." Naruto winced. "But I'm not gonna spend the next three months sick.
Where can I find one?"

The sailor shrugged. "I know a guy who knows someone."

When the sun set, they found their means of transportation.

It was a large, modified, ocean-going junk ship with a dragon hull pattern and red battened sails.

Its name was Kujira.

 Long Way North

"So are we ready to go soon..?" Karin asked Naruto, who was tinkering with the interior rooms.

"Sure… Sure… Give me a bit more time." He muttered absentmindedly, buried nose-deep in
scrolls.

Karin threw her hands up in the air and got out.

Naruto snorted. She should be glad he wasn't planning on modifying the interior rooms while they
were on the sea. If anything went wrong then… Eh.

They could likely teleport back, — unless things went very wrong — but what a waste it would be.

Long ago, he had managed to goad Orochimaru into explaining how the room-expanding thing
worked. That was how he had built some of the training grounds in the old base. Rooms bigger on
the inside than the outside.

He was glad for that. Fitting more room in a boat that was less than seventy meters long would go
a long way, when it came to privacy.

Now, he just had to make sure that in case a hole blew through the wall, the water wouldn't drown
them instantly because it decided to shift size to match the room as well.

And well, since he actually had to buy the damn ship outright, he might as well make the most of
it.

"All right, this should do." Naruto nodded to himself, pretty proud of his work.

"Welcome aboard." Takaya smiled at the girls when they boarded. "Your friend, Naruto-san, has
taken care of arranging the cabins, as he says. We found it very, very impressive."

The captain, Shinjiro, called from the bow. "Everybody aboard? Propeller seal loaded?"

"Aye, sir." Heizo replied from the bridge. He was a taciturn sort.

"Ahead, then." Shinjiro called.

Just like that, they departed. The propeller seal glowed, next to the ship's wheel. It used chakra to
turn the boat's propeller, making the boat move forward.

The Kujira left the city of Naita in silence, at around midnight, at the end of May.

It went along the Earth country coast, at first full of big stone houses. Slowly, the space between
them grew, until the only light Naruto could discern was Naita's lighthouse, kilometers away… and
their own.

When three in the morning came, he yawned and told the girls he was going to sleep. They came
with him.

"You… did this?" Sakura asked in wonder, seeing their cabin, now three times as large.
"That's right." He managed to sound humble, he thought.

"I have to say that's pretty impressive." Karin added.

"Thought you'd like it. We'll build some separators for privacy. Tomorrow, though. I'm dead."

He passed out in his futon.

Shinjiro was a good captain, and an experienced seaman.

Naruto realized they had lucked out by finding him and his men. He took this contract with all the
seriousness you'd find in a ninja going on an A-rank infiltration mission.

Three young, unknown people wanted to go explore a specific spot, thousands of kilometers away,
in the open sea… and they could only tell them where that was exactly once they were on the
sea…?

Sure thing. Just give me the general direction and I'll head towards that, until we're on our way.
We'll adjust then. It was a simple application of enough money to not raise too many questions.

Heizo and Takaya trusted the man's word without any question, and everything seemed to move
smoothly.

They had a supply of freshwater sealed in a jar, as well as a boiling plant to desalinate seawater.

Food reserves were kept in a large scroll, but for most of the journey, they would fish to eat, and
ration their rice, fruits and vegetables.

Near the middle of the day, bored of staring at the open sea, Naruto went to the third cabin he had
expanded.

If they were to spend two to three months on a boat, they'd need a training room. He'd teach the
sailors some basics if they were interested, too.

The walls were not reinforced yet, so he'd stick to Taijutsu and weapons. He created a clone using
half his chakra, ensuring that he could take a few hits.

Naruto summoned a weapon, basing it upon Sasuke's. He focused on creating a blade as dull as he
could, then handed it to the clone.

He'd practice dodging and blocking today.

"Poems?" Karin asked, looking over Sakura's shoulder.

She looked back at her, tilting her head back. "Sure. I like some of Kamei's works. Well, the more
recent ones. The man used to be too long-winded."

Karin took a seat next to her, on the deck. The boat rocked slowly, steadily.

"You're a big reader, aren't you?" She asked.

Sakura nodded. "I used to read more as a kid, though. I've got less time now, since I have to stay
sharp. Actually…" She thought. "I think it's the first time in a long while I don't have to sleep with
my guard up. I feel my body… relaxing."
"Damn."

"Yeah." She nodded. "I still wouldn't go back to Konoha, though."

"What made you leave, in the end…?" Then she added hurriedly. "You don't have to answer, if you
don't want to."

Sakura shook her head. "No. It's fine. Well, you met after I got… 'crippled'. Being a shinobi was all
I knew, and to be honest… All I wanted."

Karin nodded.

She continued. "But once Konoha discharged me, they wouldn't take me back in the corps. No
matter how much I insisted. And I couldn't get anybody to train me. Not that my parents would
have paid for it, they insisted that I go to civilian school."

"Ah."

Sakura made a face. "It's not that it's bad on its own… But the more I thought about what kind of
future awaited me… The more I wanted to go back to being a ninja. Which I couldn't. I became…
very hard to deal with, I guess. My parents and I ended up having a big fight… And I decided I
couldn't stand it anymore. I left soon after, with a merchant troupe. There was an old shinobi in the
group, escorting them, and I guess he took mercy on me."

"Ooooh, that's where you learned this triangular chakra blade thing?"

Sakura laughed. "Nah, this I figured on my own, because I needed a weapon I could carry
anywhere, even in an onsen."

"…That's specific."

"Don't ask." She shrugged. "But anyway. The man taught me many things, including how to be
self-reliant. Kiyoshi was a mercenary, and that's basically how I became one, too."

"Is he…?"

"Yeah." Sakura nodded. "He died a while ago, apparently. I heard a few months later."

"Sorry to hear that."

"What's done is done. The year I spent with him was worth more than he would ever know, and
that's my only regret." Sakura smiled.

She thought for a second. "Well, I wish he could see me beat the shit out of Naruto, too."

Karin laughed.

The next day, Karin joined Naruto for his physical training.

She specialized in hand-to-hand combat, while he specialized in weapons and elemental style jutsu.

As long as they kept to Taijutsu, without using chakra to enhance their strikes, or Lightning to
enhance his speed, they were on a similar level.

Naruto was way stronger, but their base speed was comparable.
Naruto parried her right-hand chop, and deviated her following punch. He countered with a rising
kick, forcing her to step back.

He threw a flat palm attack at her face, making her lean back until she was in a reverse bridge
position. Instead of standing back up, she put her hands behind her head.

She moved into a handstand, then did a split. Karin started spinning her legs extremely fast,
kicking at him while moving forward.

He parried the strikes, but she was spinning fast enough that he could not grab her.

He leaped back.

"What the fuck was that?" He laughed.

She smirked, jumped back on her beet and delivered a barrage of kicks aimed at his face.

He dodged all of them, a few coming close. He threw a punch toward her torso and she weaved to
the side. It only grazed her shoulder.

Naruto was about to go on the offensive again, but then noticed that she was bleeding from where
his fist had grazed her.

"Ah, sorry, Karin. You're bleeding."

"It's practice, don't sweat it." She laughed. "Break?"

He nodded. "Sure, clean that up too."

Karin took off her over-shirt, only now noticing how sweaty she was, and started cleaning the
wound on her shoulder.

She noticed Naruto's eyes on her tank top, and the way the fabric stuck to her breasts. She felt
slightly self-conscious. Her hard nipples were clearly visible through it.

He averted his eyes.

"Wanna go for round two?" Naruto asked, going back to more familiar territory.

"Sure", she said quickly, glad for it.

"Wow. You ever seen this kind of fish before, Shinjiro?" Karin whistled.

He looked at her, amused. "Yes, several times. They're native to this part of the North Sea."

Around the Kujira were schools of fish with oblong bodies, skin that looked like scales, and green
eyes. Around them, red and white fishes with flat bodies undulated.

It seemed like the fish stuck to the boat for a few hours, with no clear reason.

Karin felt all of their small chakra.

The ocean truly was full of life, and she realized for the first time what it meant.

"Still looking for ways to improve the boat, I see." Sakura said, when she came into the room, the
next day. They still haven't put any kind of separators, and the futons are basically on top of each
other.

He grumbled, still reading the scrolls Orochimaru had left him. "Might as well, considering how
much it cost me."

Sakura laughed. "As far as I remember, you always loved hoarding money."

He looked at her. "I needed it back then, Ino would always take us to fancy restaurants."

And she had forgotten her wallet a few more times than he cared to remember.

"Yeah… Remember that little ice cream cafe, near Wakui's house?"

"Definitely. Why would I pay the price of a full-meal for two mochi..?"

"It's all Ino's fault."

"Yup. That's probably why I had to become a one-man team back then. To afford ice cream."

"I guess doing all these construction missions will finally come in handy, once we find an island to
build something on." Sakura joked.

"If it doesn't, I'll still have a decent career to fall back on." He winked.

They had stopped the boat, and started fishing.

Well, the fishing part was pretty easy. Naruto focused Lightning into his hand and put it into the
sea, and they just had to pick the dead fish that floated up afterward.

So they were mostly taking a break, since it was a nice day, sunny, but not too warm.

Sakura came out of the water with a smile, squeezing the water out of her hair.

Naruto stared at her, his eyes slowly trailing down. His cheeks reddened a bit and he looked away.

She caught it but said nothing. Karin did, too.

Sakura can't help but take a look herself.

Naruto… grew up very nicely. Tall, — and still growing, somehow — with long, thick blond hair.

His abs are thick, flat and defined. His chest is full, and his shoulders and back look powerful.
There's some light blond hair on his torso, and surprisingly for a ninja, he's got no scars at all.

Once, he said he had a few that had taken a long time to fade away, but even these had, in the end.
She's not sure what he's talking about.

And scars are not supposed to always fade out, but he's an oddity.

There are many seals covering his body, though, all of them composed of only a few bold lines —
he told her he would tell her about them, at some point.

She finds them pretty interesting.

And… he's got very nice legs. Very, very nice legs.

From an objective point of view, she thinks… He's attractive.

But she sees him as Ino's. She won't interfere in that.

After a full week on the sea, Naruto felt like it was never going to end.

When they saw an island, thousands of kilometers away from their destination still, he asked
Shinjiro if they could stop for a second.

The man shrugged and called for Heizo to stop at the island.

Naruto asked for an estimation of their position on the world map. They had done a tenth of the
way.

A tenth.

He jumped on the water in frustration and ran to the island. There was nothing here.

It was just a stray piece of desert land in the middle of nowhere.

He still walked in the sand, just glad for the distraction. And for being able to step on stable ground
for the first time in a while.

Deep down, he worried if they would even find a suitable island where they were going.

What if settling closer was a better idea, in the end?

The risk of being found out was bigger, though…

He decided against it.

It was not long before Sakura and Karin joined him, and they play-fought in the sand.

They were back on the boat, and Naruto noticed that he could not remember the last time they had
seen human life.

For several days their awake hours were spent on training, reading, talking and experimenting.
Seals, jutsu, ideas for their pet projects…

How to start a village. How to recruit people.

None of them knew the first thing about it, so they would likely have to leave the operating part to
Orochimaru.

By early June, a hazy mist floated over the water. There were heavy clouds up in the sky, and
nothing to see.

The only reason Naruto wasn't worried about it — too much — was because the sailors didn't seem
to care much. They ran the boat efficiently, always keeping two people in charge of navigation,
while the last one either rested or ran maintenance checks on the boat.

They were in a strange area the day after that, too, with luminous animals shining brightly.
It was very strange weather.

Humid and heavy while it looked as though it should feel cold.

The sea was illuminated, while the sky was so dark you couldn't see the stars.

The crew spent three entire days in this environment.

"You know, there are some days I want to curse Orochimaru." Naruto said.

"Don't like our little trip? I'm hurt." Sakura chuckled.

"I've spent the last forty hours trying to understand what the hell his notes on natural energy's
influence on the human body meant. It's sooo dry."

"So you're bored?"

"Hell yeah I'm bored."

"Want to let off some steam with me?" Sakura asked, looking him in the eye.

…And his newfound sex drive was acting up. These damn seals.

"…Sure." He said hesitantly. This was Sakura. Was she…?

"Aight. Pure Taijutsu or chakra allowed?" She asked, stretching her arms.

"…Eh. Let's go with chakra, I reinforced the walls some." Naruto sighed.

"Damn, but you're really fast." Naruto commented, seeing Sakura practice moving on the water.

Dashing, weaving. Stopping.

"Thanks. Turns out having great chakra control really helps with speed. I may not have fancy
Lightning or Wind tricks like some… But I manage."

"Any cool tricks you picked up?" Naruto asked.

She smiled.

"I thought you'd never ask. Watch this." Sakura said, leaping over a wave.

She caught the back of it, gliding down on its surface. She picked speed as she surfed, until it
looked as though she were flying.

Naruto tried not to look too jealous. He didn't have the control for this, and likely never would.

She smirked, noticing his envy. He cleared his throat.

"That's pretty neat. You probably don't even need a boat, then. Should have gone to the islands on
your own, big girl."

"Yeah… And where would I sleep…? I'm not exactly a fish." She said, rolling her eyes.

"Smell like it, thou-"

He choked on the water jet she hit him in the face with.

"Why do I feel so depressed?" Karin asked, laying on her back, staring at nothing.

Naruto chuckled. "You've read the same books as I did. It's the lack of sun."

"Yeah, yeah. Still though."

"…Wanna fight?"

"Taijutsu again?"

"Nah, wrestle me."

Naruto's eyebrows rose.

"Do you even know how to?"

"I'll learn." She said, confidently.

"You sure…?"

"Are you afraid of me?" Karin smirked.

He shrugged.

She pulled on his arm, pretty uselessly. He didn't hesitate, slipping in the opening she left, pinning
her arms down at her sides and trapping her against him.

She squirmed, trying to loosen his hold. Naruto just grabbed her tighter.

Her legs were free, but once she tried to use them to kick him, he just used his own to block her.

It was probably the first time she really got how much stronger than her he was.

"Concede?" Naruto asked, close to her ear.

"I can still move." She managed to get out.

"Suit yourself."

She started squirming against him again. He could smell her, now. Not the perfume, but her natural
scent.

She got one leg out, and used it to push herself back, surprising him. They rolled and tumbled in a
mess of limbs.

She fell on top of him, landing her hands on both sides of his face.

Sitting on his belly, Karin was breathing hard, her face flushed. She was smiling proudly, though.

"See? I got out."

"Sure. You forgot you were supposed to try to win, though." He smirked, pulling her down to the
floor again.
She yelped.

It was six in the evening, and the sky was starting to turn gray and heavy. The wind picked up a bit
too, and soon it was raining heavily.

Heizo triggered the release seal and soon enough, pillars extended from the floor, allowing them to
pull the wooden roof over it.

Naruto stayed to watch the rain under its protection.

An angry wind raged, the ocean was rough, and thunder was striking.

Karin came to sit next to him, their legs touching, without a word.

They stayed there to watch the thunderstorm, some of their worries fading away.
 Sea Change

"So… How many people did you do it with?" Karin asked.

"...What?" Naruto asked, dumbly.

"How does this link thing of yours work?"

"Ah." Naruto answered. "Still not sure, the two times I pulled it off, I wasn't really thinking very
hard on it. Or thinking at all."

"It's only Sasuke and Sakura. If you remember, I tried with Orochimaru, but nothing happened."

"Ah. I see." Karin said. "It… sounds really useful."

"Sure." He nodded. "I would have loved being able to teleport earlier. We… We could have
avoided many things."

Karin stayed silent for a while.

"Do you think we could try it again?" She asked hesitantly.

"You and I?" He paused. An amused grin spread on his face. "Why is that? You want yourself
some flashy weapon, don't you?"

She avoided looking at his face. "…Yes. That's it. I'm curious."

"Sure, let's try it out, then."

The first attempt failed.

Karin looked disappointed, but ready to stop there.

"Nah, wait a second."

"…You want to try again?" She asked, hesitant.

"Yeah. Let me try to focus on what made it work in the first place."

He kept a hand over Karin's, sitting at the small table they built in their room.

What made it work with Sakura?

What had made it work with Sasuke?

What was different here…?

They had been in danger, in both situations. Was that it…? It could be, but then he wouldn't be able
to reproduce it.

Danger… danger… danger.

There had been a need for a weapon. A weapon, not just to kill, but to protect.
To protect people he cared for.

And there had been trust. He trusted Sakura.

He trusted Sasuke.

And he trusted Karin.

He wanted her to live. To grow, and have a chance to be happy.

She was Karin, and he would do everything in his power to ensure that.

Naruto felt the same feeling again. His chakra and Karin's… connecting. Similar, but different.

He pulled.

In a flash of thunder, a pair of gold bands appeared around her upper arms. Karin's presence settled
somewhere in his unconscious mind.

Naruto felt exhausted. Karin's smile was blinding.

She tackled him into a hug, making both of them fall on the floor.

Middle of June came.

The heat started to rise. Naruto gave up on wearing shirts, trusting his chakra to protect him from
the worst of the sun rays.

The sailors were slowly learning how to channel it, and soon enough, they joined him in that. The
girls settled for bikini tops.

If Naruto had to describe the ocean today…

'Empty'.

'Nothing in sight.'

At all.

Before, there had been the occasional rocky mountain island… Some flat deserted ones, even some
with trees.

Right now, there was nothing. No waves. Nothing on the horizon.

And of course, it had been weeks since they had last seen another ship. Naruto wondered what the
sailors were thinking. He had told them about his ability and that they were not truly at risk of not
coming back…

But he had the feeling they would be just as stoic if he didn't have it.

The sea was beautiful, though, shining bright blue, looking almost flat.

Karin and Sakura were passing around a sphere of pure water and chakra, trying to keep it stable
with every throw.

Takaya was sipping on some rice beer, — he had brought liters of it in a seal-jar — looking
entirely at ease.

Naruto was sitting next to him, in comfortable silence. They had been weeks in each other's
presence for weeks, and there was no point in constantly talking.

He had a question, though. "How deep is the ocean floor?"

"Ah, that would depend. We are in the North Ocean, so… Hm, I think the average depth should be
at around four kilometers."

"How deep is this?"

"Well… No human ever managed to get deeper than five-hundred meters, and that's using chakra.
Let's ignore that. After two kilometers, you would start feeling very cold. I mean, your eardrums,
lungs, likely your ribs would have been crushed long ago, but yeah."

"Ah. I see. Are there creatures living down there?"

Takaya snorted. "Creatures is the right word here, son. These things often look like they're from
another planet."

Karin was experimenting with the gold bands.

Without wanting to brag, she had a knack for experimenting. So she figured out what they did
faster than Naruto would have on his own.

Simply put, it seemed they made anything chakra made 'permanent.' Things slid in place, and a
chakra construct became... natural, for lack of a better word. As though it were part of the world
already.

A seal, a construct…

Using the bands on these made them rely on natural energy instead of human chakra. There were
still limits, in the sense that a seal would need to replenish if it pulled too much energy, but…

This could change everything.

Naruto dubbed the ability "Natural Order".

It wasn't as egregiously bad as some of the other names he had come up with before, so Karin
ended up using it.

First thing they did was use it on the propeller, so that they could keep it on permanently, as the
amount of energy it required was pretty low.

It also had the added bonus of making it stronger, more effective. They would make good use of it.

That should likely cut the travel time by a large amount. Half, maybe.

Because it seemed the wind had something against them, most of the time.

Naruto went back to tinkering with seals with redoubled fervor, after that.
It seemed he could use a fraction of the ability himself, but in his case, it worked better with his
own seals or the weapons he summoned personally. Karin didn't really seem to have this limitation.

The first thing he did was reinforce the walls of the training room, and strengthen the fireproofing
seals. Not having to recharge them every night would be a blessing, too. This should reduce the
risk of destroying anything on their boat.

He still had built no separators between the rooms, but all three of them had taken to late-night
planning in their futon, ending up sleeping in what looked more like a pile of bodies, once the
morning came.

He'd get around to doing that. At some point.

The hull could use stronger maintenance seals…

He could likely copy the propeller seal and build a second one, since they had left with a lot of raw
materials.

Maybe a location seal could be used to pinpoint their approximate position…

And then he could synchronize it with the paper map, maybe?

Soundproofing the boat could work, too. Inside, outside as well?

Something to keep the temperature more constant?

And…

What if he enhanced clothing and equipment with sealing?

Sakura was already sleeping.

He brainstormed with Karin, who endured it with a fond smile, taking notes, and coming up with
twists on the ideas, as well as new ones… until the later hours of the night.

Then they passed out on the floor.

When Karin woke up, it was late morning. Sakura was gone.

She let out a muffled noise when she realized Naruto was spooning her, his warm body pressed
against her. He was deep asleep.

He had a tendency to move a lot during the night, so she assumed he was the one who had rolled
over.

Then she realized something else. Naruto was hard. Very hard.

She blushed bright red, his erection poking into her ass. Karin felt heat between her legs, her
traitorous body responding.

She…

Karin moved away.

He mumbled something in his sleep and got closer again. Karin felt his breath down her neck, and
a strong arm wrapped around her. His length was prodding her ass again.

She ignored the ache between her legs, waited until he rolled away, still asleep.

Karin didn't enjoy the sudden absence as much as she thought she would.

She went for a very cold shower.

When he was not testing out new sealing methods with his clones, — where his copy of Suijin's
notes really came in handy — Naruto practiced chakra control.

He understood how Sakura glided across the water, but he could not replicate it. The best he could
do was propel himself loudly.

He wanted to get to the point where he could apply a seal without ink on any surface. Writing seals
by hand every time simply took too much time.

Naruto was progressing, having cut down the numbers of supporting symbols that he needed to
write down for a given seal by half on average.

The "Laundry Seal" he had created in the last few days was pretty helpful, as you just had to write
it on a barrel, connect it to a source of water, — could be another seal barrel — a soap or cleaning
agent, throw your clothes in it and they would get cleaned in less than ten minutes.

It wasn't going to change his world, but he could likely earn some decent money with it. He just
had to make them permanent and sell them after.

He would put the finishing touches on his diving suit, soon.

Making a map turned out to be pretty straightforward, too, if a bit lacking in terms of precision.
One location seal was put on the front of the boat, and another at the back. Both working with
natural energy.

It was easy enough to extract data about your current position from a location seal. Then all he had
to do would be to make a copy of the world map, split it into a grid, and synchronize the boat's
position on it.

And since it worked for a boat, there was no reason it wouldn't work on a personal scale, by
attaching the seals to a pocket watch, or anything a person could carry, that could also fit a paper
map.

Easy enough.

They were moving much faster with two propellers.

According to the map, they would be at around the midpoint, and they were only nearing the end
of June.

The sailors had a more precise idea of where they were going now, since Naruto actually had to tell
them that at some point.

He would likely offer to teleport them back, once he was done, sparing them another two months
trip.
The boat could stay here, as it might come in handy when it came to navigating this oceanic part of
the world.

They still had a month, then, Naruto thought.

One month without any probable danger in sight… At least not in the form of stronger enemy
shinobi.

He had wanted to stop, but the appeal of enhancing his growth, at a time where he felt he was not
seeing too much of it…

Well, it was starting to sound more and more appealing.

Orochimaru was not here, but they had established what kind of ancient seals would be a decent fit.

Maybe now was the time to complete another set.

"So yeah, that's what my… tattoos are."

"…You've been carving your body up with a dagger in order to force your body to grow…?" Karin
asked, horrified. She had known he and Orochimaru were experimenting with something that led to
Naruto recovering for days on end, of course, but none of them had given her more detail.

Sakura said nothing. She had wondered what the sort of minimalist symbols on his body were for.

"I mean, anything sounds bad when you put it like this." He said.

"Anything? Give me another example, then."

Nothing.

"Could it work for me, too?" Sakura asked quietly.

He stopped to think about it, then winced.

"I'm not sure. It's an Uzumaki clan art, and let's say that their most defining characteristic was a
strong Yang chakra, and resilient bodies. I… wouldn't risk it." He said, scratching the back of his
head.

"I see." She said, not too disappointed.

"…What about me?" Karin asked.

"Ah." Naruto thought about it, hesitant. "It… might work. Just… The process is a bit rough."

"How rough?"

He sighed. "Look, I'll let both of you see what it's like next time."

"…Next time?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah. Now seems like a good time to do it. Apparently, their effect might be stronger during
puberty." Or so Orochimaru had said, but none of them were certain of that. "But still, you should
really think about it longer. It might also fuck with your mind a bit."

"…Like?"
"Well…" They made him a bit easier to anger, more eager to fight… and hornier apparently. "They
will enhance certain aspects of your personality."

"You said 'enhance' though, not change." Sakura said.

"…Yeah. That's true. And you need time to recover from it. It can be up to a full year… maybe two
years, with less chakra capacity."

"…It's not something Uzumaki are lacking, though." Karin said, folding her arms.

"No, but-" Did Karin think he was trying to play some reverse psychology trick on her… or was
she doing it on her own?

"And both you and Orochimaru-sama are probably going to get into more trouble, won't you?"

He pursed his lips.

"Then, I want in. Show me how to do it." Karin finished.

He gave up.

'Okay. Maybe I'll steer away from anything Fertility related this time. I'm on a boat with Karin and
Sakura. I don't want to end up fucking things up.'

He was sitting in front of Sakura and Karin, wearing only a towel.

Karin was definitely staring at him, likely trying to understand how his seals worked. It was good
that she was being proactive about it. He nodded in approval. She looked away.

There were three important seals he wanted to complete before they might lose in potency.

He was still growing for now, but he knew it wouldn't last for long.

"All right, watch closely then."

The girls nodded. He drew most of the symbols in ink on the floorboards.

Then he summoned a ceremonial crystal dagger.

"Takemikazuchi."

Another Raijin.

God of Thunder. God of Swords. Conquest. War. Power.

He carved the seal right below his left shoulder, opposing Raijin, on his right shoulder. With
almost no sound.

He pulled the symbols on the floor into the new shining mark. He felt a bit more unbalanced.

Naruto drew the next set on the floor, patiently. Sakura and Karin watched in silence.

"Takeminakata."

God of Wind. God of Hunting. War. Strength… Ah, it was Fertility too.
He winced. There really was no escaping it, then.

Naruto absorbed the seals on the floor once more. According to old legends, Takemikazuchi and
Takeminakata were gods who fought each other.

He could almost believe it, right now.

Both marks were burning, more painful than the rest were.

He must have been looking pretty rough, because both Sakura and Karin were starting to look
kinda worried.

"I'm fine. I'm fine."

Why was his voice so rough…?

Alright. Another one to knock down. He drew the seals very carefully.

"Susanoo-no-Mikoto."

God of Seas. God of Storms. Thunder and Lightning. Wildness. Moral Ambivalence.

This should allow him to rein in the other wind and thunder kami, who are supposed to serve under
him, according to legend.

If this holds in reality, he will have to see.

Susanoo fits along his spine as well. When he pulled it in, he barely managed to suppress a scream.

"…Is it over?" Karin asked, ready to rush in.

"Almost." Naruto wheezed.

"Tomoe." He carved one into the left side of his lower back.

"…Tomoe." He carved another one on the right side of his lower back.

"Tomoe." Last one went along his spine, too.

"I'm done." He rasped.

They were the most basic of the ancient seals, not requiring any surrounding seals, as the intent for
it was one thing, and one thing only.

Amplify the others seals.

He felt very sleepy, all of a sudden. There was a lot of blood on the ground. Somebody caught him.

The next few days were spent in a daze.

It had never felt so rough before. Sakura was reading a book next to his bed.

"We told Shinjiro and the crew that you were feeling a bit under the weather, it should only last a
few days." She said, keeping a careful eye on him.

"Thank you." He said, weakly.

"It's nothing."

They lapsed into silence. She turned a page.

"I think I'm gonna pass on the seal carving thing." Sakura ended up saying.

He laughed, before coughing. "I don't blame you."

"If it puts you in this sort of state, while being both Uzumaki and a Jinchūriki… I don't really want
to know what it's going to do to me. Or my chakra levels."

"Fair enough."

"Karin still wants to do it, though."

"…Really?"

"She can be kind of stubborn."

"Understatement of the century."

"Is it me, or is the room freezing?" Naruto asked, shivering, in the middle of the night.

Karin looked around in confusion. "No, at all. It's actually very warm."

"Ah. Then I might be a bit sicker than I thought."

"Is there anything I can do for you?"

"No… No, I don't think so. I'm not done with the temperature seals. Maybe they would have
helped."

Karin huffed. "Look, this can wait. Plus, it's not actually cold out there. Your body temperature is
lower, though, I imagine."

"Ah, shit. Can you get me one more cover?"

"I don't think it's going to change much." She answered.

He kept shivering, not saying anything. This was going to be a long night.

"I…" He heard her hesitate. "I'm going to help you, okay? Don't turn around, please."

He heard the sound of clothes being removed and felt himself panic. What was she doing…?

Karin lifted the covers of his futon and slipped in.

"Karin… Don't. I'm not wearing any-"

She embraces him, her arms around him, pulling herself tight against him.

Apparently, she's not wearing anything either.

"…I know you'd do the same. Let's sleep, then."

In the end, he couldn't really sleep or even turn around.

He did feel warmer though, inside and outside.

Naruto did feel that it was worth it, once he recovered. It seemed as though his body was just…
working better, all over.

Including things like faster recovery, less need for sleep and senses that were sharper. Not
expected, but apparently, the Tomoe seal was much more potent than he had thought.

Two more hours awake every day was probably one of the most significant changes.

Over the course of fifty years, it was the equivalent of five more conscious years.

Now, he just had to put it to good use.

"Thanks for last time, Karin."

She didn't meet his eyes. "Don't worry about it."

Naruto's chakra reserves definitely felt smaller than normal.

Well, he wouldn't need a lot of it for the foreseeable future, and it was still more than double what
most elite shinobi worked with, so he wouldn't complain too much.

In the meantime, he buried himself in other projects.

 Close Quarters

"You're still sure you want to go through with it?" Naruto asked Karin, one more time.

They had gone over the possible combinations, and settled on something that would make sense
for her.

"Entirely." She answered, a bit afraid but resolute.

"All three of them?"

"Yes."

"You have them firmly in mind, then?"

"Yes."

"…I guess we can get started, then."

It was her turn to sit on her floor, now. Naruto drew the supporting seals, as only the actual carving
had to be done by her hand.

"Dagger, please." She asked.

He summoned a crystal dagger and handed it to her, wordlessly.

"Magatama." He heard her say.

He remembered the meanings as though it were yesterday.

Health. Strength. Stamina. Fertility. Soul. Moon.

She plunged the dagger in her belly and he was tempted to look away.

Karin doesn't make a sound, pulling the surrounding seals in.

She gasped then, before motioning for him to continue.

"Mokumokuren."

Karin carved the circular symbol on her forehead.

The "Many Eyes." A creature supposed to be capable of haunting houses, and seeing everywhere.

Another legend, more specific to Uzushio, talked about a spirit able to see everything, the "All-
Seeing Eye." That's the interpretation Karin focused on.

She compacted the many symbols around her into the seal, until all that was left was a single
purple dot in the middle of her forehead.

Last one.

"Amaterasu."

This one went to the middle of her back, along her spine.
Goddess of the Sun. Purity and Order. Divine Right. Vitality. Fertility.

Karin stiffened, her jaws locked.

She let out a scream once it was done. Naruto caught her.

Karin spent the following four days in bed.

Naruto kept a clone with her at all times, while he worked on finally separating the room in three
parts.

It really didn't take long, as they had plenty of raw material. Two walls were set up relatively
quickly. Making them hold with Natural Order was even easier than using regular construction
binding jutsu.

Then he soundproofed every room. Now they'd have some privacy.

He nodded. That was good.

Karin was looking better. She was not looking so pale anymore, and he felt himself relax a bit.

"…Naruto?"

"Oh. You're awake?" He came closer.

"Yes. A bit… dazed, though. It's very warm, too."

He winced. "Ah… I still haven't managed to do anything about that. Sorry."

She chuckled. "No, don't worry about it. It's alright."

"Do you want something to eat… to read, maybe?"

"No, no thanks." Karin hesitated. "Come… Keep me company, maybe?"

"Sure thing. I'm here." He grinned.

"No… I mean come closer. I'm cold."

"Huh? But you just said you felt too warm."

"…That was before. I changed my mind." She let out a shiver. It looked… kinda exaggerated?

Well, if she was cold, she was cold.

"All right, then." He nodded resolutely. "I won't let you freeze. You helped me, too. I'll do the
same."

"Yes please." She said, nodding fast.

He removed his clothes right away and she let out a small whimper.

"Oh, sorry." He said sheepishly. "I guess I should have warned you. Well, you can close your
eyes."

"Yes. Yes, thanks." She nodded, red in the face. He really should have warned her, he thought.
He removed his underwear, and she didn't close her eyes at all.

'...She's a strange one'.

Well, that was Karin, he guessed.

"Scoot over." He said.

He would have felt a bit more… tense normally, but this was only about helping his closest friend.

He took her in his arms, letting her head rest against his chest. She moaned.

He nodded. He knew how it felt to be this cold.

It must have been very relieving to feel human warmth.

Karin was having a very pleasant dream.

It was a …strangely intense erotic dream.

She moaned and let herself relax.

More…

Just a bit more…

There. She was so close.

She let out a small cry as she came.

Karin woke up. She was straddling Naruto, who was fast asleep. There was something hard… and
very wet grinding against her lower lips. She put a hand to her mouth to avoid whimpering, and
looked down.

She had been wrong, nothing was grinding against her.

Instead, she was the one grinding herself on his length. She avoided staring too much, averting her
yes. She felt heat rush to her face.

As for why it was so wet… well, she could see it was also her.

…What the hell was she doing?

'Did this ritualistic shit just give me sexsomnia...?'

No wonder Naruto was restless. She slowly lifted herself away from him, stifling a little gasp.

She needed a shower… She really needed a cold shower.

She needed…

He's fast asleep. She's painfully horny. Wake him up…? Then what?

A shower.

Two minutes later, she was in the shower. There are two fingers buried up to their second knuckle
inside her drenched folds.

Naruto was not sure why Karin looked so… guilty — he thought that's what it was — the days
after.

What he knew for sure was that her vision — deemed incurable even by medical ninja — was
getting better day after day. It wasn't long before she got rid of the glasses her late mother had
given her, sealing them within the necklace she was always wearing.

She said her chakra sensing ability was slowly getting better too, whether it was in terms of range
or precision.

As expected, she felt her chakra has taken on a quality it didn't have before, even if her reserves
will be a fair bit smaller for the foreseeable future.

That means that even her healing ability is amplified. It wasn't long before the scars on her body,
all of them, started fading away.

It was one of the only times Naruto saw her cry.

He took her in his arms, and he could feel her squirming a bit.

Later on, she helped him build a third… and even a fourth propeller.

When the wind is blowing in the right direction and all propellers are running, it feels as though
they are flying.

The sailors had trouble believing it too, it seemed.

They were getting close to the area they were aiming for. Just a few more weeks.

...A few more weeks.

The waves were more tumultuous in this part of the world, Naruto noticed. Whenever they stopped
to fish, or just to take a break, the boat was swinging from side to side.

Seeing Karin's face, Sakura used a Water jutsu to make the zone directly around their boat a bit
more stable for a few minutes.

She nodded thankfully.

"Tell me, Karin." Naruto asked.

"Yes..?" She whipped her head.

"Am I wrong... or are there stronger chakra signatures in the water?"

She nodded. "There are. I'm not sure what is the cause, but there must be some pretty large fish
swimming in here."

"Does that mean we're getting closer, Shinjiro?"

The man shrugged. "Well, we are pretty close." Seeing Naruto's unimpressed face, he continued,
laughing. "I don't know about the fish, but I would say it's more likely to mean that the bigger
predators moved to this part of the ocean, where there's probably more food for them. Strange that
they are so concentrated, though."

"Anything to be worried about?"

"Well, likely not. Either there's no big predator around here at all… or we passed it already."

"Couldn't it still be ahead of us?"

"Sure. That's also possible." The man shrugged.

Regular training was also a decent way to relieve some tension. Which could have been a real
problem, otherwise.

Naruto won a spar against Sakura. He held a hand to her, picked her up and avoided staring at her
glistening body.

He'd gotten decent at that, by now.

The seals were definitely a stronger influence, now that he had reinforced them with several
Tomoe. He could manage, but mostly because he didn't want to ruin his friendship with either
Sakura or Karin. Also, he was somewhat used to it, at this point.

Sakura left the room, which was starting to feel like an oven.

Karin initiated with a high kick. He slipped under, his palm strike finding her in the stomach.

She grunted, moving away. They exchanged a pair of kicks, then she parried his punches.

Still, he could tell she was distracted. He caught her in a headlock, but she managed to slip an
elbow in his choke.

She had gotten stronger with the daily training, and he can't help but notice she looked stronger,
firmer than she used to. And the way sweat drips down her neck. Her flushed face.

He heard her gasp. He could guess the reason, feeling a bit embarrassed.

She raised her hips until her ass pressed against him firmly.

'Oh, no. That's not good.'

She was flushed, looking as though she were in a trance. Karin rubbed herself against him. She let
out a strange little noise.

Naruto let her go.

"Sorry, Karin." He let out.

"No… No. It's me." She said, just as embarrassed.

"Ah. No big deal. I guess it happens." He laughed, trying to break the tension. "We've been stuck
on a boat for a while, and the seals are definitely not helping."

"Yes. Yes. The seals." She nodded frenetically.

"I…"
"Yes..?" Karin looked at him intensely. Almost… expectantly?

"I'm… I'm going to get some fresh air."

"Ah."

He headed for the showers.

Naruto spent most of his day doing… anything but thinking about the training session.

Karin did the exact same, staying mostly on the deck.

Then they slept and proceeded to be slightly more awkward than usual around each other the next
morning.

None of them worried, they knew it was just a very temporary thing. They were too good friends
for anything like that to last.

'Is it night already…?'

He had spent a lot of time indoors that day, and hadn't been paying a lot of attention to what was
happening outdoors.

It was pitch black outside. By now, it was a sight he had seen what felt like a hundred of times.

Still, there was something strange about it. No stars were shining in the sky.

He felt a bit uneasy.

He could barely see the stairs he was about to climb to get to the deck, so he made a single-handed
seal.

"Lightning Release: Starlight."

He had made sure the ball of energy would be more bright than usual. Even then, it barely
illuminated his way. That was… definitely not normal.

Naruto went up the stairs carefully.

'Where is everyone?'

Why was there no one?

He was starting to wonder if this was another dream… meeting with the Sage's son.

Naruto was on the deck now.

At any point, he was expecting these accursed red eyes to stare him down.

There.

He saw a light.

'Ah.'
That was coming from the quarterdeck. He went there, keeping himself anchored to the boat with
chakra, and knocked at the door.

Karin opened the door, motioning for him to come in, silently.

She closed the door behind him, and the soundproofing seal came back up.

Everybody was here.

For the first time since the beginning of the trip, Shinjiro looked uneasy. Strange how worried that
made him feel.

"What's happening?" He asked.

"That's the thing." Heizo answered. "We're not sure yet."

"And how late is it…?"

Shinjiro cracked a mirthless smile. "Middle of the afternoon."

Something cold settled in Naruto's gut.

Takaya muttered, nervously. "I think there might be a reason why nobody comes in this part of the
world."

"I don't know what it means… but there's almost no signs of life around here. Barely any fish, only
a few chakra signatures." Karin said, biting her fingernails.

"I used an echolocation jutsu in the water, and… these fish don't seem to be fish." Sakura added.

Naruto thought for a second.

"Well, I've made a diving suit. It's very basic, just a closed off helmet with a supply of air sealed
into it. I won't be able to go very deep, but this should let us see if there's something in the water
causing the articifial night."

"You can't be serious." Karin said. "You want to dive in this shit?"

"I don't see a better option. Relax, it's just going to be like a night dive."

"That's too dangerous." She folded her arms.

"Why don't you send a clone?" Sakura asked.

He blinked.

'Ah, yes.'

Naruto's clone hesitated for a second, before jumping in the water.

It was freezing. That made no sense, as the water had been pretty warm just a few hours ago.

His helmet was working, he could breathe and see as though he were outside of the water.

There was nothing besides dark water around him, and a few red fluorescent lights, that he hoped
were plankton.

He sent chakra through his body to keep himself warm and swim faster.

Then he dove deeper.

Pitch black.

Even deeper. His chakra senses could feel something.

It was…

A sunken vessel.

It was resting on an underwater mountain, the kind that were supposed not to exist in this part of
the world. Should he go in…?

He did.

He opened the door and something drew a labored breath next to him.

It was the same sound a half-strangled person would make when taking a deep breath of much-
needed air.

He panicked.

Then suddenly he was on his back, staring at the surface, everything appearing in shades of
darkness.

How did he get in this position? Why was he here?

There was a shadow coming toward him.

It let out a blood-curdling scream. So did Naruto.

He shielded himself with chakra and let out a bolt of Lightning.

It had been a fish. Only a fish, if a freaky looking one.

He looked around himself.

These were definitely piles of human bones in front of the hole in the hull.

One of them emitted bubbles and started moving. Naruto froze.

His senses were picking up something irregular.

The bubbles were not coming from the bone piles, but from behin-

He was suddenly grabbed and drug downwards, pulled at a speed he could not understand.

He was being pulled to the bottom of the sea. He pulsed his chakra one last time, forming a mental
image of what had grabbed him.

Then he detonated himself, hoping to at least dissuade the... thing to come after them.
The real Naruto gasped for air when he received the memories.

"Holy fuck."

"Are you okay?" Sakura asked. "What was that?"

"…There's a boat carcass down there."

"A boat...? In this part of the world?" Shinjiro asked.

"Yes, and I would say it was a pretty old one, from the style of it. The kind you see in old books
about the Age of Sail. There were bones, skeletons in it."

"...That can't be." Shinjiro said, somewhat tense.

"I know what I saw." Naruto said, arms folded.

"You're sure the boat is that old?"

"I'd say so. Why? What's the big deal?"

"Well… Bones can't last long in sea water."

"…How long?"

"Five years, or so, at most."

Naruto said nothing. The boat down there was much older. And had been here for centuries, he
was sure.

A mystery to file for later. Not for when they were still on this god-forsaken sea.

"And there's the creature that grabbed me… My clone, I mean. I don't know what it was exactly,
but it was huge. Like a monstrous sea dragon. It had several shiny beads… or eyes, I couldn't see
much. I don't know. And a large chakra signature."

"What do you think we should do?"

"Isn't it obvious? We put more distance between us and this god-forsaken place. The creature lives
deep, and probably won't come up... unless it feels we are worth the effort to eat. Let's hope it can't
catch us."

"Very well, then. Full speed ahead."

Nobody went to bed.

And if Naruto kept everybody close together, in case he had to try to teleport all of them back on
the continent… Nobody said anything about it.

Hours passed.

The sky turned from pitch black to a normal night sky all of a sudden.

Karin even felt the exact moment they crossed the boundary field that cast the starless night.
"It was some sort of illusion." She said, finally sitting down. "Probably the creature's."

Naruto focused on the chakra he could feel fading away in the distance.

"Yeah, it feels like it's its chakra. I had never thought..."

Takaya muttered a prayer.

"That must have been a sea god." He said. "An ocean-dwelling one, maybe a sea dragon."

Naruto didn't really believe in gods. There was something big underwater, though.

Later. They'd deal with it later. They had islands to find.

"Whatever that was, it was sentient enough to have this... field of night around itself."

The bright side of it was that they would know when they were in its territory. That was
somewhat… reassuring.

"Well…" Naruto said."This was pretty fucking horrible. I'm going to try to forget all about
tonight... This afternoon, I mean. I'm going to sleep now."

Heizo went too, leaving the two others to lead the ship.

When Naruto reached his room, Sakura and Karin were in front of it, each holding her futon.

"Wanna have a sleepover?" Sakura asked.

He chuckled a bit, feeling a bit less on edge. "Sure, why not."

Naruto woke up sleeping on his side, Sakura spooning him, and Karin spooning her.

If they're awake, they're not saying anything.

They stayed like this for a while.

Yesterday was bad.

Over the next few days, they travel at maximum speed, aiming to cover the remaining distance as
fast as they could.

When Shinjiro knocked at their door, a week after that episode, it was with a smile and a full tea-
pot.

"I can see the first islands on the horizon. The search won't be too long, I think. They seem livable
on the southern side already. We're almost there."
 The Place Under the Sun

What Shinjiro had said was true.

They passed a few islands. Low islands, for most of them, and a few volcanic ones.

Naruto still didn't know if Anko had suggested this area randomly or not, but he couldn't deny that
they ended up passing a few places zone that could work. They were far enough that they could
just pick the first island that really fit all the conditions they had agreed on.

Compared to the open North Sea, this part of the world was filled with unpredictable waves. If
there had been more ships around this area, — and if they had managed to pass the sea monster,
too — Naruto knew that a fair amount of them would be littering the sea floor.

The wind was blowing from the south, pushing them along. The waves were swelling, surging,
making their ship jerk. Nobody was staying on the deck, either staying in the cabin, puking, —
Karin — or staying in the quarterdeck — the others.

Even there, the waves rose high, smashing against the windows.

Naruto went to join Karin, rather than leaving her entirely alone. Definitely not because he felt like
throwing up himself.

Sakura looked at the sea in bewilderment.

It felt as though the ship were trying to fight an angry god. With no hope. The wind was coming
from the opposite direction, now.

A hard wind, too, so they had put the sails away and were relying only on the propeller system, for
now.

Then the conditions somehow got worse. The wind increased in intensity, and the waves became
steeper. She couldn't see anything past one kilometer... at most.

If there had been somewhere they could stop, she knew that they would have done so.

She gripped the rail so hard her hand turned white. They were only hundreds of kilometers away-

She heard the wave before she saw it, and it was a sound she would likely not forget.

The wave roared like a hungry predator, a wall of water. She turned her head as it hit.

Suddenly, she was underwater. Up was down, and down was up.

Did a window break…?

The Kujira had turned over. The sailors were yelling something. They were sinking, then.

She was not sure what she felt, but she knew she had to do something. She cleared her mind as
much as she could in this situation..

She anchored herself to the boat with chakra, close to the hole in the wall of the quarterdeck.
Rat. Ox. Dragon. Ram. Hare. Ox. Dog. Monkey. Boar. Ox. Rat. Ox. Horse. Bird. Dog. Dog.

"Water Style: Repulsion Wave."

She poured all she had in the technique.

The ship turned underwater, a full rotation. It righted itself and broke the surface again.

She used a second jutsu to guide most of the water outside of the quarterdeck. The sailors looked
on in amazement, as she sat down, exhausted.

"We're not going down!" Takaya let out.

The sails had been damaged due to the turn, even though they had been put away, and they would
be useless for a while... but the boat was running.

Five minutes later, once it was safer to move, Naruto arrived, a white-faced Karin in tow.

Karin blocked the windows entirely, before resuming puking in a bag.

Naruto looked thoroughly shaken.

Sakura was too, but somebody had to look after the rest of them.

Waves crashed, and they kept on going. There was no other way.

The sea calmed down progressively.

Islands became more numerous.

They ran at full speed for the next forty hours, ignoring most of them.

There was a huge archipelago, composed of nine volcanic islands, to the North-East.

Naruto stared. It was about six hundred kilometers wide.

It looked very green, wild even. The climate was mild to warm, subtropical.

Their boat was damaged, sure… But this was better than he had even hoped.

Naruto knew this was the place.

They anchored the boat on the southernmost sand beach.

All of them set foot on the sand. Naruto expected to feel relief at the feeling of solid ground.

Instead, he felt sicker than he had in months. He had gotten used to the constant rolling and
churning of the ocean.

Having it disappear suddenly… He vomited.

Karin used an Earth jutsu to raise stone from the ground. She shaped it into something that could
pass for a house. Then she created a second one.
She could've made it permanent, but there was no point to that right now.

They slept there. Tomorrow, they'd explore the archipelago.

Eight clones were summoned to explore, each was attributed an island.

They dispelled hours later and the crew of six established a rough map. The islands were very close
together, with less than twenty kilometers in between most of them.

They were surrounded by mountain ranges, the highest summit reaching more than two thousand
meters above sea level.

It was a beautiful place.

The central island was the largest, so that's where they would start building the main hub.

"So…" Naruto asked.

"What's the name?" Karin finished. They smiled at each other.

"Who's going to name it?" Heizo wondered.

"Well, all of us, let's agree on something." Sakura shrugged.

"We will be starting a… village here." Naruto said. "We've got somebody helping us with it, and I
think we might be able to pull it off with him involved."

"A village… For real?" Shinjiro asked. "I thought... Nevermind."

He nodded. "Yeah, we've got a way to move from here to the mainland in a blink."

Considering they were supposed to wipe their memories anyway… It didn't matter how much he
told them, he figured.

But the more he thought about the idea… the more unpalatable it seemed to him.

They had spent months together, and the only reason they had made it here was because of the
sailor crew.

This wouldn't do.

Maybe Orochimaru would complain about his moral weakness, but he couldn't abide by that. If
they agreed to it… the most he would accept would be wiping the exact position of the islands
from their memories. If that.

Instead…

"What would you guys think about moving here permanently?" He asked. "We'd have a need for
guys like you, lots of things we need to do."

The three of them looked at each other.

"It's a bit early for us to say that, but… We will think about it. I mean, I will, at least. Can't speak
for them." Shinjiro said.

There was not much keeping them on the mainland at this point, though, and all of them knew it.
"Well, no matter what, that makes you the first citizens of this land. It's not much, right now, for
sure." Naruto laughed, gesturing at the empty land. "But you're free to come at any time and help
us decide on a name."

In the end, they settled on a name.

Umigakure, the Village Hidden in the Sea.

Karin built a circle of stones on the main Island, using Earth jutsu. She made it a permanent fixture.

"Well I think it's time to go. Are you sure your portal is going to work, Sakura?" Naruto asked.

She nodded, marking the floor. A portal to the Mountain's Graveyard's small town appeared.

Naruto drew his own marks back.

Then he set the first Thunder Gate in the center of the stone circle. He and Karin set it to become
permanent.

"I think we can go, then." Sakura said.

Just like that, they walked through the portal, and back to the Mainland.

The first thing Naruto did when coming back was put a permanent mark somewhere close to the
village. It wouldn't do to stay trapped on the island because he forgot.

Somehow, Orochimaru knew they arrived.

One single day later, he came to meet all six of them, Anko in tow. He took a look at their satisfied
faces.

"So you've managed." He laughed with delight.

"We did." Naruto answered.

"Did everything go smoothly?"

"Eh. There were a couple… difficulties on the trip, let's say. It was a bit rougher than expected.
But... We found a good choice for an island."

"Very good. Now then…" Orochimaru turned to the sailors, who took a step back. "Shall I proceed
to erase their memories?"

"Wait."

Orochimaru turned to him, only somewhat surprised. "I had a feeling this would happen."

"They agreed to get rid of their memories of the exact position, and the general direction."

Orochimaru sighed. This would be way more complicated to manage.

"I see. You did well on getting there, so I'm willing to compromise."

"So did you manage to find a way for people to use the Thunder Gates, in the end?"
Orochimaru answered wryly. "Well, of course. I did tell you that I would, didn't I?"

"Is it workable...? And working."

The man shrugged. "Yes. There are drawbacks, though. I came up with a design that allows one to
make use of the entire Relay. Meaning that once applied, they can use all of your marks. I didn't
find a way around that."

Naruto thought. This was a bit annoying, but not too problematic. He had never been planning
on marking anything personal anyway.

"What else?"

"It also takes a lot of chakra to power. It's especially problematic in the case of civilians, who
simply won't be able to make any use of it."

"Ah. This could be a problem."

"Yes. We shall start only with shinobi until I find a way around that."

Naruto thought.

"…Would using Natural energy work?"

"Yes, it would." Orochimaru nodded, before shrugging. "I have worked on a way to use it in a seal,
with Jūgo, back then."

Naruto winced at the reminder. Once more, he wondered if Tayuya was alive. Well, Orochimaru
had said nothing about her, so likely she was-

Another time.

The man continued. "But it was somewhat unstable and came with many other problems."

"And if I told you we have a reliable way to convert a seal using human chakra to work with
external, natural energy instead?"

Orochimaru stared at him a bit too intensely for him to feel at ease. Creep.

"Well. Then I would tell you we have our solution."

Anko volunteered to try it out first.

They waited with bated breath as Orochimaru applied his seal, and motioned for Naruto to put
the mark on her.

"This will complete the seal. The way I structured it, it won't make her a 'destination', which
doesn't work on moving objects anyway. Instead, it will make her able to tap into the network of
Gates."

Naruto did so. The golden mark appeared on her shoulder.

Anko winked at them, focused... before disappearing in a crack of thunder.

They waited.
Did anything go wrong…?

She appeared again, with another cracking sound.

"Did I scare you guys?" She laughed.

"It's working." Naruto said, mouth hanging.

"Yes." Orochimaru nodded, as he had expected it.

"Ah, there's one thing." Anko said. "The seal only stores a certain amount immediately. After two
jumps, it needs to be refilled, and it seems to take way longer."

Orochimaru measured the rate, with Karin. They made a few quick calculations.

"About two jumps per day is the current maximum." Is their final conclusion.

"Well, if you guys are ready, we'll mark all of you. There are no drawbacks." Naruto said to the
sailors, who still seem wary of Orochimaru. "Nothing we can do to you with these seals. Well,
you'll have a golden tattoo somewhere on your body, but that's it."

He went for it first. He didn't really need it, but if it allowed him to save a little bit of chakra at no
cost…

Plus it seemed to help convince the sailors.

The seal worked for them too, they discovered. Something else that Naruto would only realize later
is that only people with the mark — or carried by him, and him only — could reach here. Bringing
outsiders in wouldn't work for anybody other than him.

A back and forth trip later to try it out, and they made their goodbyes. They would likely come to
the island at some point, — Naruto thought, at least — but there were things they needed to do
first, no matter what.

Naruto, Sakura and Karin bowed to them, thanking them for their help.

Once everybody was marked, they jumped to the island.

Orochimaru took a long glance around, no doubt planning what could go where, the best way to
work the land, and establish defensive barriers…

He looked back at the trio, satisfied.

"Good job, all three of you." He nodded.

Naruto smiled, proud of what they had already managed.

"Sakura-san, your contract is now over." He handed her a scroll, which likely contained the rest of
the money. "You've been a great help, so I won't propose to erase your memories." Orochimaru
laughed at the look Naruto gave him. "Let us keep in contact, in the future, I may need someone
with your... unique skills."

Sakura nodded. She then took a look at Naruto, Karin, then the island.

"Actually… If none of you minds…" She started, a bit hesitant. "I would love to settle here. Or
just keep a small roo-"

Naruto laughed, pulling her into a one-armed hug.

"Ah. I guess that's fine then." She laughed, trying to get rid of him.

They started building as soon as they decided on a few things.

The easiest way to get around would be to mark all nine islands. It turned out that a single leap
could take you to any point, but you would necessarily pass through the main gate first.

It made no real difference in practical terms, as it was only a few seconds more anyway.

Space was no problem here, so they decided to start by constructing the first two buildings away
from the main island, settling around a crater lake on the eastern island, at around five-hundred
meters of altitude.

The vegetation was pretty dense, and the crater was covered in some forest. Between the crater
wall and the lake was a sandy beach.

Small birds flew around it, settling in trees.

On the northern side of the lake, Orochimaru slowly crafted a spire of stone, with Anko's help.

Nobody was very surprised. He seemed the type to build a tower.

Naruto shrugged, looking at Karin and Sakura.

"So… you guys want to build something together, all three of us?"

"Sure." Sakura shrugged, looking too casual.

"I'd love to." Karin grinned.

They got started.

Naruto couldn't use Earth Release, so it was mostly Karin taking care of summoning a stone house.
Sakura did have a slight affinity for Earth, so she took care of shaping it more intricately.

Naruto summoned several clones and started to work on the seals they would need to make this
livable.

And considering they were on an island, thousands of kilometers away from the rest of the world,
there would be many things. Luckily, he had gotten a little bit of practice over the years.

After one full day of work, their three-floor house actually looked… like a house. At least from the
outside.

On the other side of the lake, Orochimaru's smooth, massive spire looked… too grandiose.

They were pretty happy about the result, so they called it a day and went to sleep.

Ah. They didn't have any sort of bedding.

Sleeping bags it would be, then.

Naruto could use the Thunder Gates several times a day, without too much trouble. Part of it was
that they were based on his chakra, part of it was he was just working with much more than most
people.

So the next day, he jumped straight to the mainland, arriving back at Mountain's Graveyard. He
definitely would need to put more marks around the continent, there was... nothing here.

Waterfall and Rice were at about the same distance. He decided on heading to Rice first, maybe for
nostalgia's sake.

He focused his chakra, Wind first, then Lightning, pushing off in a burst of speed. He noticed just
how natural the jutsu felt, by now. Using two nature changes at the same time used to feel difficult,
but now…

He wondered if this was about his seals, or if he was just getting more and more used to it.

All the while, he was ascending at a high speed, a blur of blue energy.

The episode with the sea creature had reminded him there was no need for him to risk his own life
unnecessarily. And Akatsuki might be keeping watch of Orochimaru's old hideout.

He created three Shadow Clones. They would disguise themselves when close.

Then all of them transformed into birds, gliding toward the Land of Rice. The clones would fly
down to Mukage, while he continued toward Haraji.

The city was as crowded as ever.

After months of being in close quarters with a grand total of five others, he felt a bit grumpy, when
he had to move around others.

There were a few things he and his new roommates would need.

"So… gallons of paint, ceramic tiles, glass windows, and furniture for three people living in a
three-story house, as well as two tons of wood?"

"That's right."

"…Are you sure you can afford it?"

Naruto sighed. "Yeah."

"Well… Can you tell me more about the layout of the house, at least?"

"Sure."

He put a permanent mark close to the city, up in the mountains before leaving, a few scrolls worth
of material on him.

He appeared straight near their house, passing through the main gate.

Orochimaru had started building more houses, it seemed. They were on the main island, in a
segmented circle that spread around the main Gate.
'So Orochimaru actually knows urban planning…?' He chuckled.

He was not fully surprised. The man seemed to have dabbled with every single thing that caught
his interest.

Naruto appeared in the stone circle in the middle of the lake, dashing off toward his home.

There, Sakura and Karin were sitting on the sand, feet in the water. They waved hello to him.

He settled down.

"Brought you some food." Naruto said, unsealing one of the scrolls.

"I could kiss you." Sakura said.

"Next time on you, instead?"

She snorted a laugh.

They ate, joked around, and generally did not progress much when it came to working on the
house.

Later on, when they actually started to, was the time Orochimaru chose to pop in, already thinking
ahead.

He spoke.

"There's tension on the horizon. It is time we do some recruiting. I have a few people in mind."
 The Village Hidden in the Sea

"My, you really always have something for us…" Naruto muttered. "And here I had hoped to take
some time off."

Orochimaru waved it off. "Sure, you could. Akatsuki won't kill itself, though."

Naruto sighed. What a killjoy.

"Right. You got any leads?"

The man looked smug. "Yes. I have, indeed. They are ready to come as is. All that's left to do is for
us to mark them. I will continue to do so from the shadows, until your own reputation grows to the
point where you can do it yourself."

"You've been busy, then."

"Did you doubt it?" Orochimaru asked, amused.

"I thought you'd be too busy taking this Hidan guy apart."

"Not yet, no. He's currently in my dungeon."

"…You have a dungeon?"

"Why else would I have built this spire?" He said, pointing at the tower.

"…Because you're a megalomaniac?"

Orochimaru threw his head back and laughed.

"Oh my… Ever the funny one, aren't you?"

Naruto sighed.

"Let's get started, then."

He looked at Karin and Sakura, who do their best to look busy. He sighed again.

"Well, take care of building the house, then."

"Sure." "Will do."

The way the relay of Gates worked was pretty straightforward. Once a mark was placed, every
single person connected to the Relay felt where its approximate position was, and could jump to it,
no matter if they had been there before or not.

Naruto and Orochimaru appeared in the Land of Rice.

"Where is Anko?" Naruto asked, only now noticing he hadn't seen her.

"Doing the exact same thing we're doing."

"Ah, recruiting, then." He said with a nod.

"There are plenty of roles we need to fill. We have no economy, right now. Nothing we produce,
nothing to export, either."

"True. There are a few seal designs I could start selling. Any jobs we need in particular?"

"Anything. From embroidery, textile weaving, sewing, ceramics… construction workers,

engineers, farmers, food producers, restaurants, administration, medics, researchers."

"So… Everything?"

"Plus ninja. We'll start there."

"Is this where we meet them, then?" Naruto asked.

"I found that hiding in plain sight was the easiest solution, this time."

The duo was standing in front of a crowded tea-shop.

"Hello!" A woman, around twenty, greeted them at the door. "Would you like a seat?"

Orochimaru smiled a soft, kind smile. It looked so out of place on his face that Naruto wanted to
laugh.

"Yes, thank you, my dear. We are meeting a few friends of ours… They could be here already."

"Of course. Do you know which table they booked?" She asked, smiling as well.

"I think... Could it be the Reed table?" He pretended not to remember.

"Oh! Then they are here already!"

"Could you guide us there?" He smiled, once more, eyes crinkling.

"Absolutely." She turned around to go.

Naruto just gave Orochimaru a very flat look.

'What is this about?' He mouthed.

'Politeness.' Is what he gets back.

He rolled his eyes. That was probably the way the Snake sage got his kicks.

The table in the upper-left corner was crowded. Sixteen people were waiting, all of them observing
Orochimaru as he came up the stairs. Naruto recognized a few of them.

Once the waitress was gone, a few of them bowed.

"Orochimaru-sama."

"I'm glad to see you all alive." He simply said, by way of greeting.

"Not all of us escaped." A bald man with a scar over his right eye said.

"I know already, Jigumo."

A man sighed. "We knew the risks, though." That was Arashi, if Naruto remembered well.

"We won't let this happen again. We are building a new, safer base of operations." Orochimaru
answered.

"What's preventing that teleporting man from doing the exact same thing?" A girl with orange hair
asked.

"He won't be able to find us." Naruto said.

"Who are you to say this? You're just Orochimaru's disciple." Someone else said, arms folded.

"It's in a remote place. A very remote island. Nobody ever went there before. And we'll hide it even
better."

No one said anything. They were all natives to the Land of Rice. Most of them came from the
Shiin, Fūma or Nagai clan.

But it seemed like the world was about to turn upon itself once more.

The Third War had been terrible for the Land of Rice, as they had been in between three warring
Nations, and endured a lot of collateral damage.

"We won't involve the people in the other Nation's wars." Naruto continued. "But if you chose to,
that's your personal choice, we won't prevent you from doing so either. I will fight, myself."

"What about that masked man?" Another woman, with dark brown hair, frowned. "He killed
several of us."

"We have reason to believe he's with Akatsuki, an organization that works for the current leader of
Rain, from the shadows. These people, we're willing to fight against."

"Good." She nodded. Most of them seemed to agree.

Orochimaru smiled.

"Come with us, and we'll bring you there."

Orochimaru seemed to be in a good mood, Naruto noticed, once they had sent the first group to
Umi. Like the people who would come after them, they would be expected to keep Naruto's
identity a secret to village outsiders.

"Happy? It seems it went pretty smoothly inside there." He said.

"Nothing is ever as easy as convincing someone who already wants what you're offering." He
simply said. "These people want respite from the other Nations' warring games… and revenge
from the man who killed some of their family members and friends. We're giving them exactly
that."

Naruto grimaced. "You always make anything sound pretty cynical."

Orochimaru laughed. "Certainly. And what's more, is that they will bring their own clans and
friends in. Most clans in the Land of Rice are entirely independent from the Daimyō, for historical
reasons."
"Ah. So that's how you intend to kickstart an economy." Naruto realized.

"That's the way Konoha and the villages that followed its example did at first, yes."

"Speaking of Konoha, aren't you worried…?"

"Worried? What about? It's been years since I last depended on Konoha for anything. There are
people I care for there, certainly. But they don't need me, they're strong enough on their own."
Orochimaru shrugged. "Besides, I don't think the Hokage will do anything, at all."

"Why not?"

"Konoha, just like any village, always had somebody take the fall for the things they could not
afford to do openly. By taking care of Akatsuki, we're removing a big thorn from Konoha — and
the world's — foot. It just so happens our interests are aligned."

Naruto laughed. "Nice way of putting it."

Recruiting civilians seemed to come naturally to Orochimaru, and Naruto learned a few things
about persuasion.

But most of the time, the simple promise of less taxes, less meddling and administration seemed to
be enough to entice them. Dangling the carrot that they would be among the first arrived, when
land was still dirt cheap, and the competition low… It almost felt unfair.

"Well, that was a productive day."

Orochimaru chuckled. "Indeed. At this rate, and with a few jutsu to help crops grow faster, we
should be self-sufficient in no time."

"Good. I'll start producing and selling a few seals I devised to other countries. Nothing that could
come back to bite us in the ass, of course."

"Why just the seals?"

"Huh?"

"Working with artisans, you could sell the completed product with higher margins."

"…That's true." He never had thought of it. "Between clones and actual people, we should be able
to get some decent returns."

"Very nice to see such entrepreneurial spirit." Orochimaru laughed.

"We can't all spend most of our time dissecting corpses in our wizard tower." He said with a bit of
distaste.

Orochimaru shrugged. "Dead people are dead. They might as well be of some use for us. I know
it's not for everyone though, it takes some… moral flexibility."

Naruto snorted. "Since when do you make jokes?"

"Since when do you understand them?" Orochimaru quipped back.

He couldn't help but laugh. Orochimaru smiled, too.

"You did all this… Today?" Naruto asked, blinking in surprise.

Where there had been an admittedly pretty bare bones house before… stood a minimalistic,
dignified and beautiful structure.

A curvy, elongated, green roof covered each floor, protecting the windows from the rain.

Indoors, sliding doors made of wood and rice paper allowed light to shine through. The stone floor
was covered by tatami made of rice straw with cloth edges. A pleasant smell wafted in the air.

Outside, the engawa — a veranda that resembled a porch — were found on every level, bringing
together the inside of the house with the outside.

Sakura tried not to look too smug, staring at her fingernails. "Oh, so you like it, then?"

"Yeah. I do."

Karin grinned. "Knew it."

"We still need to do something about the humidity indoors. Stone was easier to use, since we can
just use Earth jutsu, but it's not as good as wood for ventilation and-"

"I'll take care of it." Naruto waved off. "Great job, both of you."

Sakura looked away, flustered. "Well, if I'm going to be living there…"

Karin grinned. "Aw, she's being shy!"

"…Fuck off, Karin." There was no heat in her words, though. Karin laughed.

"There are people starting to settle on the main island. I'm going there. You guys wanna help, too,
or… had enough?"

They looked at each other, and stood up.

"It was a nice warm-up." Karin said. "Let's see what we can do."

Shinjiro was among the people who came that day.

"Shinjiro!" Naruto called. "I didn't expect you to come back so soon."

The man laughed, before shrugging. "Me neither to be fair. But I don't have any family, no real ties
to the Land of Earth… So I figured I'd join up. Besides, the pay's good, according to that creepy
Snake man."

Naruto laughed. "He's a strange man, for sure. Welcome to your new home, then." He looked
around. "You…don't have a home yet, do you?"

"Nah."

"Well, pick a place and we'll get you a place to sleep by tonight."

The man raised his eyebrows. "You mean… like an inn? Or something like that?"

Naruto laughed. "No, not exactly."

Shinjiro's face when the three of them create a bare-bone house near the sea out of stone in less
than a hour is worth a thousand pictures.

"…And it's mine?"

"Yeah." Naruto nodded.

"For free…?"

"Well, you'll pay a tax on your income and a tax for living there."

"…That's it?"

"For the first settlers... I think so, yeah. But Orochimaru only takes in people who he thinks will be
useful for Umi anyway." Naruto shrugged. "You're a great sailor, and a good cook, too. I don't
think you'll have any trouble."

"I see. Okay."

"You can decorate your house however you see fit, that's on you, though."

Shinjiro laughed. "I wouldn't expect anything else. I'll need to talk to Takaya and Heizo about
this."

"I don't have any mark in Iwa as of now, though."

Shinjiro shrugged. "I'll send a letter, the old-fashioned way. Plus they can also come here on their
own, now."

"Yup."

"Did you guys get the Kujira back?"

"Kujira… Ah, the boat? No." Naruto said sheepishly. "We kinda forgot about it, what with the
preparations and all. It's still on the southern island."

The man sighed, amused. "Ah, well. I'll start by fixing it up by tomorrow, then."

"Sure thing."

"How do I get there?"

"Teleport or run across the wa-" Naruto thought. "Ah, yes, either might not be too convenient for a
civilian."

"Well, I think I have a business idea, then." Shinjiro laughed.

Naruto woke up during the night. There was somebody at his door. By now, he's decent enough at
sensing to know that it's Karin, despite not seeing her face.

"…Do you mind if I sleep with you tonight?" She asked.

He blinked. They had separate rooms, now. All of them soundproof and furnished and-

Well… Who was he to refuse his best friend?

"I don't mind." He smiled. "Come here."

He felt her smile.

"Uh. Let me get a pair of pants, though." He added. She said nothing.

He put them on, feeling a pair of eyes on him. If it were anybody other than Karin, he would
probably think she was interested.

There's no denying that Karin is beautiful, smart, kind and…

Luckily, they knew better than to risk their friendship just because they're attracted to each other.

Since he woke up before Sakura and Karin, as he usually did now that he needed less sleep, he
went outside.

Orochimaru was somewhere else this morning, no doubt either recruiting people… or recruiting
people to recruit people.

He was as slick of a manipulator as he had ever seen, if he were honest with himself. And the worst
part was that he never really bothered to lie.

Just told people the truth about his plans, likely the part that they wanted to hear, and let them
convince themselves that his way was the best way to get what they truly desired.

Impressive. Truly impressive.

He knew that some of it was starting to rub off on him, too. And he had the feeling that was the
man's goal. He didn't seem like someone who'd constantly want to be running things, preferring to
experiment, study and dissect the world around him.

He sighed. When had he started to actually like this immoral snake…?

Naruto really enjoyed the early mornings, by now, something that he remembered he used to hate,
in the past.

The orange skies behind the mountains, the smell of the sea…

It almost made him nostalgic, for something he was sure he had never experienced himself.

It was time to practice.

The westernmost island was pretty bare, being covered in nothing but rocks and sand. Nobody
lived there. That was where he would be going.

He could have teleported, sure, but he enjoyed the feeling of taking to the skies more.

Lightning and Wind coursed through his body at the same time. He didn't even bother summoning
them one after the other, by now.

He pushed himself off the ground.

It wasn't an impression, it really came to him easier and easier every time. This time, at the peak of
his jump, he didn't release the technique.
Lightning is frenetic energy, wanting to strike something, but it would settle for someone too.

Wind is freedom, going around any obstacles it meets, to go wherever it feels like.

Lightning is strength. It is pure power, and can be used to destroy… or to protect.

Wind is freedom. Detachment from worldly problems and concerns.

But all the same…

Lightning, when forcibly contained with pure strength, and given no free will, will not spark at all.

Wind, when channeled with complete freedom, no control, will tear a man apart before it resumes
its course.

Naruto understood it. Really understood it for the first time.

He let go. He took control.

It was all the same, in the end.

Naruto felt Kannon burn, along his spine.

Susanoo-no-Mikoto did too.

For an instant, he can almost feel their two spirits, the way they are described in Uzumaki Suijin's
scrolls.

Kannon, full of mercy. Harmony.

Susanoo. A raging storm. Good. Evil.

Both Lightning and Wind flashed purple around him, and instead of falling, he was accelerating
through the sky, almost horizontally.

From below, he must likely look like a purple, human-sized comet, he thought.

Naruto overshot his first destination, the central island. He also overshot the western island by
almost two kilometers, managing to land himself into the sea.

If he had to describe this landing, "smashing into a brick wall" would fit.

Once he figured which way was up, and which way was down, he managed to get himself to the
surface using wind — harder to reach in the ocean, apparently — to propel himself.

He limped back to the desert island and sat down to gather his jumbled thoughts.

'Kumo has people who use Lightning and Water together, as Storm release. But...'

Despite the seals he felt lighting up, especially Susanoo-no-Mikoto…

This was not Storm release. There were definitely no energy beams, no blinding blue light. No
Water element involved.

No, this was something else. And if he were honest… Not something he could afford to use right
now. The only reason he was even alive was that whatever this combination was, it shielded him
from the impact.
Water at this height would have killed a normal person. If it had been solid ground, he didn't think
he would have survived.

For once, he didn't feel like giving it a name, or experimenting with it more.

His control over Wind and Lightning was still lacking. He would have to master both of them, first.

He summoned an army of clones and got back to practice.

Orochimaru was multitasking.

Not in the classical sense, as he knew it would be a waste. Different tasks could be done more
efficiently if he just did them one after the other.

But considering he had a few clones on the mainland, scouring the Land of Rice and neighboring
countries for information about the whereabouts of the people who had been living in the camp
with them over the last years…

A few more clones taking care of the more administrative parts of handling a new village — and
he couldn't wait to find someone else to handle these parts…

And two others were building, refining buildings and planning an efficient city…

All the while his real body kept up with his training. Akatsuki would strike, at some point.

Well, considering all of that, he thought it was fair to call this multitasking.

Once the sun was up, Sakura was up too.

Now that they had completed their first objective, — reaching the island — they would need to
prepare.

The Akatsuki would come after Naruto. It would come after Sasuke. Between the two, strangely
enough, Naruto was the one in the safest place. They didn't know he was alive, and even if they
did, they wouldn't know where to find him…

As long as he didn't get himself into trouble, leading to his capture on the mainland. Which she
knew could happen. There were still so many reasons for him to go back.

He would go to Konoha, she knew. He apparently had to locate something in his late father's
safehouse. He would want answers from the Third. He would likely want to see some of his old
friends, even if they didn't know who he was.

And he would likely want to see Ino, even if he never said so explicitly.

Also, there was also the simple fact that he was the only one able to put more Gates through the
mainland. For this reason alone, he would have to walk the world.

She wasn't about to let him go alone.

And maybe… just maybe, she could convince her stubborn parents that Konoha was likely going
to get involved in another war soon. That they could come with her. It would not be the same, there
was too much water under this particular bridge, but they would at least live.
On top of the villages… there was the possibility that Akatsuki was planning for world
domination.

How many top-level members did they have within their ranks…? Ten…? Twenty…? Thirty?

Nobody knew exactly. But all of them would be around S-rank.

She was likely getting close to A-rank by now. At most.

But she relied mostly on the effect of surprise. Between her ability to mask her chakra, decent skill
with Genjutsu despite her lacking a teacher for years, her speed, and the deadly chakra blade she
could extend from her hand, she was a good assassin. And her portals made for the perfect escape
plan.

In a straight battle, against monsters who could throw around ninjutsu — the kind that would leave
her winded after a single use — all day long… That was not enough.

Her biggest strength was her chakra control. Her reserves would likely never become something
out of the ordinary. It only made sense for her to focus on what she could use.

After all, hard work and incredibly fine chakra control had been the two reasons the Fourth
Hokage had been able to become the legend he was. Hiraishin was just the cherry on top, one that
he would not have been able to use without the two aforementioned attributes.

If speed and chakra control had been enough for him, it would be enough for her.

Day after day, she refined her edge.

 The Relay

Karin stared at the ceiling. Things hadn't been so confusing for a long, long time.

In Kusa, things had been terrible, but simple. Let people bite you, heal them. They had never seen
her more than a tool. And she knew she had been lucky enough to leave before puberty, because
they would not have hesitated to abuse her in more ways than they did when she was a mere child.

With Orochimaru, she had been given purpose. Assisting him in his research with immortality, as
well as whatever tasks he could delegate to her.

She wasn't stupid, or naive. Orochimaru, while not being the complete monster he was known as
outside of Fire Nation, was pretty far from being a morally upstanding citizen. He saw her as
useful, and so treated her well, protected her, and she had never minded the rest.

Besides… a rigid hierarchy was the only thing she knew from life. Kusa had taught her that people
lower on the totem pole were treated worse than those above. It only made sense to climb.

As cynical as it was, the ninja world as a whole was no different. Leaf could hide it, but she had
seen the poorer districts, and it was a far cry from the clan compounds.

And while Karin knew that finding your worth through being useful to other people was a terrible
idea, she was still learning how that worked, exactly.

Even now, she was trying to find goals of her own. Something that wasn't just helping other people
accomplishing their own.

She would have to get stronger, in order to help with the Akatsuki situation, of course. They would
come after her best friend. And they would kill Sasuke, too, who was someone she cared about,
even though it had been years.

But after this…? She would need to find something. If they didn't mind, she would love to continue
traveling the world with Naruto and Sakura.

It had been dangerous, certainly. It would probably be even more so in the future. But it had been
the best time in her short life, as of yet.

And Naruto…

Naruto was different. She had no doubt that even he would come to understand that some form of
hierarchy was needed, considering his goals, but she knew it would be tempered by his nature.

But here was someone her age, that she could talk with, was kind to her and was not expecting
anything from her. The same thing had happened for her with Sakura.

She hoped he would not change too much from whatever the world would throw at them. Because
she was afraid that she would stay at his side, even then.

She had been lonely before she met him. And she had been lonely when she met him again, even
though it had been less obvious.

She cared about him. Probably more than he understood.

And… he cared about her. So much that she had trouble wrapping her head around it.
She was attracted to him, of course, but physical attraction was just one thing. Now that the seals
were amplifying the desire that was already there… It was becoming hard to believe she only saw
him the way she saw Sakura.

So, sure, she cared about him, and sure she found him very attractive, and sure she wanted to stay
by his side, but…

Ah. Shit.

She was in love with Naruto, wasn't she?

It was easy to forget that Orochimaru was one of the strongest shinobi in the world.

The man was so sure of his ability that he rarely had to remind people of it. And his reputation did
most of the heavy lifting on its own.

But here was a man who had mastered all five basic nature transformations, along with Yin and
Yang Release... was extremely skilled in fūinjutsu, kinjutsu, and senjutsu.

He apparently had a silver tongue, a talent for politics when he bothered and his sharp mind was
obvious to anybody who spoke with him.

For these reasons, Naruto sometimes forgot that he was a master of kenjutsu.

Sarutobi was great at it. He had taught him the basics, and brought him to a very solid level.

Orochimaru was simply better. He had pushed Naruto beyond what he thought was possible with a
sword, a staff, a spear, a naginata… or even a bow.

He probably was the man with the greatest, widest arsenal of jutsu and knowledge alive, equaling
or having overtaken Sarutobi.

So usually, when he spoke, Naruto listened.

"…A marker near every major city?" He asked.

Orochimaru nodded, as if he hadn't asked him to walk around the entire Elemental Countries.

"Ah, come on. I just settled from the most painful boat trip of my life."

The man shrugged. "I know. I would do it myself if I could. But you're the only one who can
actually add more marks to the network."

That was true. Naruto said nothing.

"Besides, you have the chakra capacity to go back and forth easily. There's no reason you can't
come back here every night."

How he hated the reasonable arguments he made.

"What will you be doing meanwhile?"

Orochimaru seemed amused. He knew he had him. "Oh, simply making sure our little village
grows in the right direction. By the way, we'll mark more people to join in a few days. I will tell
you when."
Naruto grumbled. He knew it just made perfect sense for him, since he was the only one who could
mark places… or people.

"I'll ask Sakura to come with me." Naruto decided. "We'll be able to cover more ground with her
portals."

Orochimaru sighed. "You just want me to pay the girl, don't you…? Very well, it will be done."

Naruto grinned. "That's just a bonus. And I might as well take Karin, too, while we're at it. She's
not on your personal bankroll anyway."

"Do as you please. Both of you are strong enough, by now."

Naruto gave him a nod, and turned to walk away.

"Oh, by the way." Orochimaru said.

'I have a feeling I won't like it.'

"…Yes?"

"Could you deliver this to the Hokage?" He handed him a scroll.

"…I wasn't intending on setting foot in Konoha."

Conflicted feelings rose within him.

"Well, now you are. Another matter is settled."

"Sarutobi... would know who I am for sure."

"If he didn't tell anybody about your identity before, including me, I don't think he is ever going to.
That would open another can of worms he probably doesn't want to deal with."

Naruto sighed. "Do you really need me to do this?"

"Yes." Orochimaru looked at him seriously. "You will find out why it has to be you when you give
it to him."

Konoha.

Ino. Sasuke. Toru. Kakashi.

Konohamaru. Biwako.

Sarutobi.

There were many things he wanted answers to. Some he didn't.

At least he had the benefit of not being recognizable - to most people.

"Very well. I accept."

"Thank you."

Naruto found the two young women sparring again. Looking at the lakeside house, he found that he
could get used to living here like that.

"Sorry to interrupt, girls. Prepare your travel packs, we're leaving for the continent tomorrow
morning."

"Huh? Why?" Karin asked, scrunching her face.

"To put Gates everywhere, basically. Apparently Orochimaru has a few people he wants us to get,
too."

"Is he going to pay me?" Sakura asked.

He threw her a scroll, which she caught and unfurled. She whistled.

"Alright, I'm coming."

"…And you call me greedy."

"What was that?" She put a hand to her ear. "Can't hear you over the sounds of my pockets lining
up with fine gold."

"Does he need all of us for that?" Karin asked.

"Well, no. You don't have to come, actually. I just kinda wanted you to." Naruto said sheepishly.
Karin looked surprised. "Okay, can you take care of our little house, then? We'll probably drop by
to sleep here most nights."

"No no. I'm coming."

"But you said-"

"I'm coming. That's what I said." She nodded quickly.

He shrugged. "Aight. I still need to prepare a few seals for mass production before anything, so see
you later tonight."

The next morning, Naruto grabbed each girls' shoulder. There was no point in having them use
natural energy, when his own chakra would refill faster anyway.

They appeared in the south of the Land of Rice, close to the border with the Land of Iron — which
was south of Mountain's Graveyard.

There was only one major city in Rice they hadn't marked yet, so... The plan was simple.

"Okay, so once you get there…" Naruto said, addressing Sakura. "Open a gate, then jump to our
position once I drop a mark. Open the second gate there, and I will come with you to put a
permanent Gate there."

"Simple enough." She nodded. "After that, I'll be heading to the Land of Hot Water, before going
up north, to Frost. Then Lightning."

Naruto nodded. "We're going West, to Waterfall, before going into the Land of Earth."

"Probably better to do it as fast as possible, rumor has it the tensions are growing between Iwa and
Konoha." Karin added.
"Sounds like a plan. Same thing goes for Mist and Wind, though, doesn't it?" Sakura thought
aloud.

"Yeah." Naruto nodded. "Maybe we can do Lightning later, then."

"All right."

"Be careful, Sakura."

She laughed. "I will. See you guys later today."

Sakura left with a wink.

Naruto turned to Karin. "Now that Sakura's gone…"

"Y…Yes?" She said, nervous for some reason.

"Do you know any mobility techniques?"

"Ah. Okay. No, I don't." She sighed.

"Put me dooooownnnnnn!" Karin screamed, as they soared above the trees, Naruto's legs shrouded
in Lightning.

"…Are you sure right now is a good moment?" He shouted back, looking over his shoulder, where
Karin was currently grabbing onto his neck for dear life. He was… amused?!

"Nononono aaaaaaaaaah!" She screamed again as they started falling.

What the hell had she been thinking, accepting his offer to give her a piggyback ride? She had
thought it could be a nice, cute moment.

Instead they were falling to their death.

'Oh please no oh please no no no no non-.'

Naruto focused more Wind chakra under his feet, slowing down their fall at the latest possible
moment. They touched the floor slowly, and she dared hope for a moment-

Lightning crackled and they were ascending again.

"Aaaah!" Karin screamed again, as they leaped even higher.

She only started to accept her fate after the fourth jump.

"Never again." Karin said, once they stopped.

"You don't like being up in the sky?" Naruto asked, actually surprised. He had thought it was just
the surprise of the first jump.

"Hell no! I love the sea, and solid ground even more." She said, leaning against a tree for balance.

"Ah. Sorry, then." He said, contrite.

"No! I mean. Don't be." She said, trying to look strong. "I'm a big girl, I can take it!"
He shot her a doubtful look. "…Okay. You don't have to pretend because you're afraid of slowing
me down."

She deflated.

"I can always make time for you." He smiled, and she grinned too.

"Let's go with the Body Flicker, then? We're close to the Land of Canyons. Waterfall is not too far
away now."

"Sure thing." He grinned. "Catch me if you can." Naruto blurred away.

"Oh, you ass-"

She hurried after him, but she couldn't stop herself from grinning too.

As the name indicated, the Land of Canyons was well… mostly made out of canyons.

There were gorges too, of course, deep ravines with water flowing through it, and many without
any river at all. These steep cliffs were formed by frequent erosion at the plateau level.

These big empty rocky fields made for the perfect terrain for shinobi to jump around. Even if they
missed a jump, these platforms were so wide that they could simply grab on the cliff-side and
climb back up.

There was only one major city in the Land of Canyons, besides Waterfall, and it would be their
second destination.

Naruto and Karin raced to get to the village of Waterfall, full speed ahead.

They slowed down once they got closer, not willing to risk being seen as enemies.

It was pretty easy to find, even for Naruto's pretty average sensing skills. They just had to locate
the plateau with waterfalls coming out of it… and then look for the waterfall standing between
them and a high chakra concentration.

He arrived at the cliff overlooking the plateau before she did. It was a nice warm-up. She arrived
entirely out of breath.

"Guh…"

"You alright? You look a little red in the face." He laughed.

"Just… need… to catch… my breath." Karin panted.

"Sure, we're close enough. I'll put a mark right here."

He did so, before sitting down in full lotus. Now they just had to wait for Sakura to open a gate.

She arrived a little while later, no doubt having felt another permanent Gate being created.

"Did I miss something?" She asked.

"Just me destroying Karin." Naruto laughed.

Karin said nothing, just focusing on recovering chakra as quickly as she could.

"Ready to go?" He asked Sakura.

"Me?" She laughed. "I just need you to go, I'm staying here with Karin."

He grumbled something vaguely rude in return.

It was a quick affair, he went in through the gate, dropped a mark, made it stick, and went back
through.

The immediate change in landscape and altitude was a bit disconcerting, though, he had to say.

"Alright, let's eat something."

"Here?" Karin asked.

"Well, yes. It's a nice landscape." It was true, they had a prime seat over the canyon. "I know you
girls are pretty hungry-" They protested vehemently, and he chuckled. "So I made a few more
bentō."

"…Wait. You're the one making them every time?" Sakura asked, surprised.

"Huh? Who else…? I've been cooking since I was… What, nine, ten?" He grumbled. "Biwako
taught me. I think she was trying to get out of doing it herself. The old bat."

Karin and Sakura shared a look.

"Well, here I thought you bought us food from time to time…" Karin said. "That's even better.
Thank you." She grinned.

"Thank you." Sakura said, in earnest.

"Ah… Come on… It's nothing." He said, blushing a bit. "I'm sure you're both great cooks
yourself."

"Not really." Karin admitted.

"I just buy meat and roast it." Sakura shrugged.

"…Well. Okay. I'll do the cooking, then." He paused to think. "With double beef for meatgirl."

Sakura made a rude gesture at him.

He added. "Don't count on me to scrub floorboards, though. I've got something… personal against
them."

Sakura left again.

Karin having recovered, they headed north. One more mark to set in the Land of Canyons today,
one more in Hot Water, and they'd go home.

"Are you planning on going to Konoha?" Karin asked, as they used the Body Flicker at the same
time to reach for the next rocky plateau.

Naruto looked at her, a wry smile on his face. "Heh, you saw right through me."
"Well, it did look like something was on your mind the whole time. Considering you seemed pretty
relaxed yesterday before you told us we were going to the continent…" She shrugged.

"You should become a detective." He grinned.

"Only if you become my assistant." She joked back.

"You just want me under you." Naruto laughed. He heard no answer, and turned around. "Wooow,
be careful there. You almost missed your jump, Karin."

"…Yeah, sorry I was thinking of something else."

"Bad time for it." He chuckled.

They focused their chakra for a longer Body Flicker and crossed an entire canyon with the next
jump.

"Nice one, Karin."

"It's easier when I'm not running after you!"

He laughed. "You should get faster, then! We'd avoid the whole dilemma."

She scoffed. "I don't have fancy Lightning jutsu to make myself run faster… or Wind to catch
myself if I fall."

He's deep in thought. "I think… Water could work. For catching yourself I mean."

"…I never tried, to be honest."

"My dear sensei would scold you for lacking creativity." Naruto tutted.

"Lucky he's just the man I work for, and not my teacher, then."

"For sure!"

"Naruto. Stop right here."

"Huh?" He questioned, but listened right away.

"You can try to hide your chakra all you want!" Karin yelled. "It is way too foul for that."

Karin waited. Naruto stood next to her, ready to spring.

One woman emerged, behind a lower spire. Naruto gritted his teeth. She was older, taller, and
definitely more muscular, but there was no hiding who she was.

That mint colored hair was too unique for that. And so were the alien, orange eyes.

"Aw." She said, a sharp grin on her tanned face. "And here I hoped to surprise you guys!"

Naruto focused on his link with Sasuke, summoning a dark blade. Karin started to mold Water-
natured chakra.

"Don't hesitate, Karin. She won't." Naruto said.

 Lucky Seven

This brought Naruto back.

It would be almost nostalgic, if it weren't for the fact that the last time they had fought had ended
up with him almost dying. And the fact that she had killed Shino.

At least she wasn't incoherent with rage like she had been last time. Probably because she didn't
recognize him.

"Are you the girl from the exams in Konoha?" Fū chirped. "I remember you. You beat that guy up
good." She laughed.

"…That was me, yes." Karin said, tightly.

"And you…" She turned her eyes to Naruto. "There's something familiar about you."

He said nothing. If she figured it out, well, that was a guaranteed fight. He started to channel
chakra, preparing an emergency jump to a Gate, any of them. They could always come back
another time.

"Ah, I know!" Fū exclaimed. "Chōmei says there's… Kurama's chakra within you! Who's
Kurama?" She tilted her head, which would have been cute, on someone who was not a
cannibalistic murderer.

He continued to channel. Ten more seconds should be enough. Karin understood, and was ready to
come to him.

"Oh! You're like me, then!" Fū laughed. "It has been a long time since I met another. And one of
the Nine died, apparently. The boy from Suna." She made a sad face.

"So it seems. Did you know him?"

'Keep her talking. Seven seconds left.'

She stared at him, squinting her orange eyes. "I know you're trying to stall for time. Chōmei tells
me so. He also told me that Kurama is an ass, but he doesn't deserve to be trapped, either."

"…I don't hold the Nine-Tails anymore, if that's what you mean."

'Three seconds'.

She laughed. "Silly, Chōmei can feel its chakra inside you."

Fū then turned serious. "I'll free him, then. Prepare to die."

Noxious orange and green chakra surrounded her and she rushed him, at full speed.

'Damn it!' He thought. Fighting it was, then.

Karin threw herself away from Naruto, the instant she felt the chakra build up within the girl. From
the amount of it, she was either trying to use a long range jutsu or… No, she was flying straight at
him.
That's what she did, going straight through the rock, with no sign of slowing down. Naruto used
Lightning chakra to augment his legs and arms. He waited until the last moment to move forward,
his back to Fū…

And then he whirled around, two hands around his sword, in a deadly half-turn whose aim was to
take her head in one single motion. He didn't seem to have his usual qualms about killing, going
straight for the head. Naruto would rather deal with his own moral issues than put Karin in danger.

Lightning crackled, as his sword glinted blue.

Instead of cutting through skin and bone, as he had been ready to do… The sword hit something
hard. Fū was sent flying to the ground, bouncing off the rock and recovering in midair.

There was some sort of armor on her neck, seemingly made of chitin.

Fū smiled, but she didn't seem amused. "Chōmei protects me. You won't get rid of me so easily. I-
"

Karin appeared behind her with a Body Flicker, arms encased in rock. She hit Fū head on, with a
diving punch to the face.

Blunt strikes seemed to work decently well.

"Gah!" Fū let out as both of them fell to the ground. A following spinning kick, courtesy of Karin,
smashed her face into the floor, where it bounced.

Naruto started to weave hand signs. Karin got the signal, and leaped away, readying a technique as
well. They didn't to communicate verbally to understand what kind of fight this would be… The
kind where you threw everything you had, as soon as there was an opening.

"Lightning Style: Thunder Lance!"

A spear made of lightning formed in his left hand, buzzing with enerergy. He jumped up, spun it
three times, focusing more chakra within it, which made it grow. Once. Twice. Thrice.

Once he could barely hold on to it, he hurled it at Fū, causing it to explode violently once it hit her,
multiple times.

"Earth Style: Iron Hand Prison!"

Karin slammed both hands to the ground, raising a dome of sharp rocks around Fū.

"Ha!" She sent a second wave of chakra at it, making the walls tighten. The thunder lance
continued to crackle inside it, and the dome shook from its barely contained power.

Naruto unsealed his bow. He closed his eyes, focusing on the calm state of mind that he needed to
safely use two elements.

He forced his katana to change, twisting and pulling, until he was holding a gleaming black arrow.

Wind.

He focused the green energy within the arrow. A hiss rose.

Lightning.
The blue light shone, barely able to stay in one place. There was the smell of ozone in the air, and a
crackling sound.

He nocked the arrow, feeling his fingertips bleed from the strain. Karin leaped away, releasing the
dome.

The point of blinding light left his bow with a hiss.

Karin closed her eyes. She had only seen him use this jutsu once before, and it had left an
unpleasant spot in her vision.

From the amount of chakra they were throwing around, everything was as clear as if she were
seeing it, anyway.

The arrow pierced the dome, and Fū's stomach as well. Karin hastily erected a stone wall, and
Naruto hid behind it as well.

The arrow detonated.

It turned into a shower of blue sparks that folded inwards. A miniature dome of blue and green
energy roared, then exploded, expanding vertically.

The sphere of rocks Fū had still been trapped inside went up with it, where it exploded a second
time, raining thunder and destructive wind blades down the plateau.

Karin knew no normal shinobi would likely survive this combination attack, unless they had a
trump card. Unfortunately, Fū had this exact sort of thing.

"I still feel her chakra!" Karin said, starting to panic. She had taken this jutsu head on, and was still
alive.

"Yeah." Naruto gritted out. "I kinda expected this. She will probably transform again."

The exact moment he said this, a wave of noxious orange and green chakra turned the sky dark.

Fū was hovering in midair, insect wings buzzing angrily. A cloak of chakra bubbled around her,
five more tails twisting and turning. She was covered in wounds, but they were closing already.

"…Now you made me angry."

She inhaled. A ball of scale powder, covered in the same red chakra bursts out of her mouth.
Naruto and Karin both jumped. Behind them, the wide plateau they had been standing on exploded.

Naruto, only reaching the apex of his jump, realized that Fū was not anywhere to be seen. He
closed his eyes, trusting his chakra senses.

'She's going for Karin!'

He panicked. Karin was strong, but this was a transformed Jinchūriki. And... Ah, shit.

He might need to use some of the Nine-Tails chakra himself.

He created a shadow clone in the air. The clone caught his feet, helping him stabilize himself.
Naruto gathered Wind and Lightning chakra in his feet, as fast as he could, before he pushed off at
full speed, dispelling the clone.
While he was streaking through the skies, he unsealed a short-range weapon. He was not even sure
which one that was, he just needed any.

He smashed into Fū, halting her charge toward Karin at the last moment.

But Fū had seen him coming. She caught his staff between both hands, and held it there, her Bijū-
enhanced strength preventing Naruto from getting it free.

The corrosive chakra ate through the staff in a matter of seconds.

'My… staff!'

This one had been given to him by Sarutobi, long ago. It was something he had used so often it felt
like an extension of his body. And it had just crumbled away. Like that.

That was also a good enough reason to avoid getting touched by Fū in this state.

He created two blades of wind, and hurled them at Fū while he leaped backwards. It smashed
harmlessly against her powerful shield, but it gave Karin enough time to get her feet back on the
ground again.

She was cycling a lot of chakra.

Meanwhile, Naruto's lightning enhanced kick just tilted Fū's head back, while she laughed. His
boot melted away.

"Earth Release: Fissure!" Karin exclaimed.

A huge chasm opened, starting from Karin's position, extending in a line until it broke open the
ground under Fū. She fell for a single second, before opening her wings, which allowed her to
glide.

That was enough for Naruto to attempt something else. He closed the distance between Fū and
himself, right hand extended.

Raijin, on his right collarbone, burned.

"Lightning. Divine Streak."

It was as unrefined a technique as it went, something he had designed as a close range attack.
Lightning focused in his right arm.

It could not even qualify as a jutsu. Naruto fired a stream of golden and blue lightning from his
right hand, burning through most of his upper body clothing in seconds, and leaving his hand
shaking.

Fū actually had to shield herself with her chitin, this time.

She let out a roar, as she began to transform further. Her skin burned, blood and chakra coalescing
to form a living armor around her.

"Naruto! Jump!" He heard Karin say, over the drum of his own heartbeat. He did.

She slammed the rift shut.

"It won't hold her!" He shouted.

"I know! We don't have much time! If we let her transform, it's over!"

Naruto nodded, reaching inwards to the pool of the Nine-Tails' energy. Before he could do
anything with it, the ground exploded.

He saw it in slow motion. Scale powder burst into every direction. Thin, razor-like pieces of dust.
Karin had no time to react. Her clothes and her body were shredded in what seemed like a hundred
places, and she fell forward.

"Karin!" He screamed.

Karin felt herself tilt forward, suddenly sapped of her strength.

Blood was pumping out of her pretty fast.

'Must have nicked.. A vein.'

She tried to examine herself for injuries, by doing a body scan. A puddle started to form under her.
Her pants were turning red, and so was the shirt she was wearing under her armor.

There was no way she could apply pressure, there were just too many wounds. Even adrenaline
was not enough to let her move. A wave of dizziness and nausea hit her.

She wanted to puke. She wanted to sleep. Or just make the pain stop.

It felt as thought she had been awake for days. She was tired...

So tired. So so tired.

Her vision got blurry and her ears started to ring. She had to strain just to stay awake.

It would be so easy to close her eyes. Just a second. Maybe not even that. She-

Naruto… Naruto was still fighting. Like a demon. A blade in each hand, Wind coursing through
his left arm, Lightning in his right. With one hand he deflected, with the other he parried, pushed
back.

Fū's attacks with her bladed wing-tails broke his swords every time they hit. He never relented, just
summoning one more each time it happened. He roared.

And he was keeping up, somehow. He got injured several times, but never cut too deeply. No
matter the amount of chakra he burned just to stay on his feet, it didn't seem to slow him down or
make him hesitate. And somehow, the jinchūriki woman could not finish him.

He kept attacking, never giving her enough time to prepare an attack strong enough to kill him. His
chakra was agitated, screaming almost. Whether it was in pleasure, pain, or anger, Karin could not
say.

Despite all that, he seemed clear-headed.

That was not Fū's case. Fū was not as determined. Her frustration was costing her, her attacks less
and less precise with every passing second. And her emotions were confused. Maybe she was
afraid.

Looking at Naruto's eyes, it was not hard to see why. He seemed like a man possessed, lost in the
battle, his purple eyes almost glowing. And was she dreaming... or was there a faint violet sheen to
his body...?

Something was building up inside of him. Some of his carved seals were gleaming.

Was he trying to use the Nine-Tails' chakra…? Something within her told her it was a mistake.
That he would burn himself from the inside.

Just for… a win against this mad woman?

No. This wouldn't do at all.

She had promised herself not to be a burden to anyone. It was time to prove to herself that she could
help them, too.

With an effort that left her even more dizzy, she brought her wrist to her mouth. She bit. Hard.

In this moment, Naruto felt no fear. Even though he knew he should be afraid.

There was no pain, even though he knew he was injured.

Everything had slowed down. Either his mind was entirely clear… or he had completely lost it.

Fū's attacks seemed to become slower. Or at least, she could not reach him anymore. In shinobi
battles, usually, there was a rhythm. A pulse. Something unspoken that went beyond simple
fighting.

Maybe this was a form of understanding.

When Fū broke one of his swords with a kick, he knew she was about to strike with her third wing-
tail.

When he cut a wound into her leg, he could almost see how lonely she had been, growing up in
Taki.

When her claw reached his chest, cutting a burning wound into it, a blade made out of Lightning
crashed against her face.

He knew he would not win this. Not without the Nine-Tails' chakra.

Naruto was almost reaching for it, but some hesitation still held him back. It felt as though he
would be doing something permanent to himself, if he did.

Left foot. Right hand.

Second Tail. Weave.

Claw. Deflect.

His own chakra was starting to dwindle. Keeping both Lightning and Wind harmonious enough not
to fry him was taxing. Especially after a long day.

Naruto found he didn't care. He ducked, narrowly avoiding another burst of scale. His wind blade
cut a cleft into Fū's chin.
She was reaching for more power. Like a cornered animal. She had never gotten formal training,
this much was obvious. How much stronger would she be, if she had… He didn't want to think
about it.

Another chakra flared up. Karin. That was Karin. How she was standing again, he wasn't sure,
either.

Fū started to shift into something bigger, stronger. Something he stood no chance against.

Karin stared at him. Something passed between them, close to understanding.

She extended her hand, wincing. He knew this was not something she had mastered yet.

It would have to be enough.

Chains burst from her hand, wrapping around the transforming Beast. It looked around in
confusion, its chakra weakened for an instant. It wouldn't last.

Except for the glowing red seal on its back. That one was still burning.

Naruto weaved hand signs. He dashed forward, in a last effort, ethereal flames on his fingertips.

The Beast that was also Fū looked on in horror as he slammed his hand into its back, almost
digging into the armored skin.

"Five Elements Seal!"

The effect of the jutsu Orochimaru had taught him was immediate. The armor disappeared, and Fū
returned to her normal state, wrapped in golden chains that dissipated almost right away, as Karin
fell on her knees.

"My chakra! No, Chōmei! Where are you? Chōmei!" Fū started to panic. For the first time in her
life, she was entirely alone. The presence she had always felt in the back of her mind was gone.

She was sitting on her ass, looking as lost as a lamb.

Naruto approached her, yet another blade in his hand.

That would be his second murder. Another jinchūriki.

Another one that had been like him. What kind of person did that make him?

"You're going to kill me…?" Fū asked, eyes empty. She had likely done the exact same thing to so
many people.

"Yes."

"…Do it then." She accepted her fate, as though she had always known that it would happen.

His blade rested against her jugular. Karin looked on, unreadable.

It would be so easy. Fū had no access to her Tailed Beast. No healing. No armor.

Just a single move, and he'd remove a thorn in everyone's spine. There was nobody who cared
about Fū.
Nobody.

A single strike. It would be painless, too. He had felt her emotions, he knew what kind of hell she
was living in.

Killing her would be a relief.

He should kill her. He really should. She would be no end of trouble in the future. She would kill
again, this much was obvious.

He saw the lonely girl, crying when nobody was looking. Naruto sighed.

He let his blade fade away.

"…What are you doing?"

"Leave."

"…What?"

"I'm not going to be responsible for risking a war with Taki and its allies." He let out another sigh.
"Leave."

"...Are you stupid?"

"I must be, yes. Get out of here."

Fū looked at him. She then cackled.

She laughed louder, and louder, a shrill sound full of conflicted emotions he didn't care to try to
understand.

Then she stopped abruptly. She lifted strangely lucid orange eyes toward him.

"What do you think you're doing, exactly? Think you won? Two against one! Do you think this
proves anything?! That you're better than me for showing mercy?! Nothing! You won
NOTHING!"

Naruto said nothing.

"Nobody gave me any sort of real training! Out of all Nine, I am the weakest. Alone, even there!"
He just stared at her. Somehow that made her even angrier. "Say something!"

Somehow, Naruto had known. But even a victory against the weakest of the jinchūriki was a
victory against a jinchūriki.

He ignored her again. She clenched her fists, hot angry tears rolling down her face.

"You're… You're… How dare you humiliate me like this! Both of you!"

"We're shinobi." Karin said, her exhaustion apparent.

"Fuck you! I will make you both regret this. I will-"

Naruto turned cold purple eyes on her.

"If you come for me or my friends again, make no mistake. There won't be any second chances.
There won't be any mercy like today." He gripped his sword so tight his hand started to drip blood.
"Come after me, or anybody I hold dear… And I will end you."

It was her turn to stay silent, shaking in anger. She gave them a last look full of burning emotions.

She spat on the ground before leaving, dropping to the ground instead of flying.

Naruto made sure to wait until her chakra was gone.

He then dropped on his ass, letting out the most relieved sigh of his life.

"…She really is gone." Karin confirmed, dragging herself next to him.

"Seems so."

"Damn it. And this day started out so nice."

He laughed. Then he started to cough. "I hope Sakura is doing better than us, at least."

"Can't be much worse."

"I'll drop a mark here." He proceeded to do just that. "We can continue tomorrow. I'm not staying
here any longer. As soon as Sakura comes, I'm bringing us back home."

Karin nodded, before she fell asleep.

Sakura arrived soon after.

She saw the ruined plateaus, and the fact that they were still far away from their destination.

"…Rough day, I take it."

Naruto snorted. "You can say that again."

He grabbed both of them and they left in a flash of thunder.

 Realizations

Apparently, Naruto had nothing in his arsenal that could hurt a transformed Jinchūriki.

He had always had more interest in what he could actually do with chakra, otherwise relying more
on his superior speed, strength and Elemental enhancements to keep ahead of his enemies.

…And to be fair, it had mostly worked out, overall.

But when dealing with the strongest shinobi around, there would be people as durable as Fuu.
Some, even more.

There would be people faster than him. There would be people stronger than him. Naruto had
known this, of course. But seeing it was a different thing altogether.

He had a fair amount of battle experience, but this had been his first real fight in… in… How many
years?

He wasn't sure, honestly, but his birthday had passed a little while ago. He was eighteen on the
paper, physically and mentally. It always got so confusing, trying to keep track of this.

What did people even do, when they lacked firepower…?

His late father had apparently created the Rasengan, but Naruto knew it would not do much against
a transformed Jinchūriki.

Orochimaru had his Sage Mode, but Naruto would rather not sign a contract with the snakes, as it
came with a few too many conditions that he would rather not abide by.

The Nine-Tails' chakra… Instinct told him it would be a real last resort option. As in, something
that might well kill him.

His most destructive technique at the moment might be his ability to use two elements together.
There were a variety of jutsu he could modify to work that way, he thought.

The looming threat of having to fight real monsters drove him forward.

The three of them were still on a mission technically, so the morning after, he went back with
Sakura to put the second out of three permanent marks in the Land of Hot Water, before splitting up
once more.

Karin was recovering, in the meantime.

Naruto put on a permanent mark near the north of the Land of Canyons, erasing the temporary one
they had left yesterday.

Then he jumped to the skies, a blur of blue light bouncing toward the Land of Earth.

Once he was close enough to Iwa, he slowed down, sticking to flying as an eagle, before he glided
down.

Then he walked, almost casually, making sure not to be seen as a thread. Because they likely had
some sort of scouts, sensors.
He put down a permanent mark a few kilometers away, making sure it wasn't noticeable.

Sakura joined him, and they went to complete their job in the Land of Hot Water.

Night had already fallen.

Tomorrow he'd have to go back to mark the North of the Land of Earth. The rest could wait,
according to Orochimaru.

His next priority, and Karin's by extent, would be getting to Konoha. Naruto wasn't entirely sure of
how he felt about that.

He was currently walking with Sakura, headed toward the easternmost port of the Land of Hot
Water, where she would have to take a boat toward the Land of Water.

"Did you miss it?" Naruto asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Being on a boat."

She snorted. "Not really, last time was enough for me. Well, at least, I can take it."

"You're just talking shit, now… I got better."

"Well, I've heard the Eastern sea was a fair bit rougher than the Northern part, so…" She shrugged.
"Might not be so good for you."

"…Yeah. I mean… We don't need two people on the boat, right?" He let out weakly.

She clicked her tongue, amused. "No, I will be enough."

"…Be careful, alright?" He asked.

"Of course. Worst case, I can just retreat to Umi, now."

That was true, but as he had figured when fighting Fū, there were some limits to the ability, mainly
the time of uninterrupted focus it took. In times of danger, ten seconds was too much.

He let out a weak smile. "Yeah. I guess."

She laughed, taking him into an embrace. She was so much shorter than him, now, he noticed.

"I'll be fine, promise! Who else will bully you and keep your ego in check, otherwise?" She
grinned sharply at him.

"I'm sure you'd still find a way." He said wryly.

He still took her into a closer embrace.

"Midget." He whispered in her ear.

"Asshole." She murmured back.

They smiled at each other.

He watched her boat depart from the harbor.

He covered the Northern part of the Land of Earth over the next two days.

Despite how boring it was doing it alone, he was free to run at full speed the whole time, and the
only breaks he took were for eating.

He called it a day, and jumped back home, passing through the main gate.

Naruto hadn't heard from Sakura since she had left, which was not surprising, considering that…
she was on a boat. Still, he was a bit worried.

The village was growing at a fast pace, which surprised him, even though he had been the one to
allow every settler to come here in the first place.

There were around forty people living on the islands by now, as they had marked a few more in
gatherings similar to the first one they had in Haraji.

Which meant around twenty-five houses on the central island, and some very quick-growing rice
fields and sweet potato crops on another one. Somebody was herding young calves and chickens,
according to what Naruto had heard.

Tomorrow, he and Orochimaru would mark more people. To help the proceedings, the man had
taught him how to affix the mark on people by himself, which should help, should he recruit more
on the way.

'Damn, but Orochimaru really believes people ready to leave their countries grow on trees.'

"Hey, I'm back." He called, entirely casual after his three days absence.

Karin's apple red head popped through a window on the first floor.

"Where have you been?" She asked, looking pretty worried. Still, she jumped from the engawa,
landing gracefully on top of the sand.

He noticed she was wearing her training garb, and was covered in sweat.

"Oh, you've been training, I see." He smiled, happy she had recovered some.

"Hmph. Only lightly, I'm still not good enough to go. Don't ignore my question, though." She
puffed her cheeks, making him want to pinch them.

"Were you worried?" He asked, lightly pulling on her cheek.

"Why would I be worried about you?" She countered, but she was looking away.

"You so were!" He laughed, picking her up easily by her waist.

"Put me down! God, you're such a child!" She said, but she was grinning, too, her cheeks red.

"Oh, am I?" He asked, his voice low, but playful.

Karin inhaled a sharp breath, flustered. "Yes. Absolutely."

"Would a child…" He started. She saw in his eyes what he intended to do.
"Don't you dare throw me in-"

"Do thi- Whoa."

He almost managed to throw her in the lake, but she wrapped her legs around his waist, tipping
both of them forward. They fell in the sand, laughing.

"Whyyyy?" Karin whined. "Why did you have to do this?"

"You provoked me, obviously. I couldn't let that go." He said, trying to muster some dignity.

"Oh no…?" She panted.

When did she get so close…? They were laying in the sand, his body pressed flush against hers.
Karin didn't shy away from it, the opposite even. Her hands rested around his shoulders, caressing
his neck.

She was looking at him with a look he had seen before.

She was looking at him as if…

It hit him like a brick wall.

'I'm so stupid. How could I not see it before…?'

Maybe he had not wanted to see it, preferring to believe they were just close friends. But then
again… maybe close friends didn't sleep together in the nude. Maybe close friends didn't have the
kind of… slip-ups they had.

Maybe he could blame the seals somewhat. Then again, they never made you feel in a way that
wasn't there from the beginning.

Karin was attracted to him, at the very least. He wanted to slap his own forehead. And from the
way she had acted around him… she might well have developed some romantic feelings as well.

'Ah. That might complicate things a bit.'

…What did he feel toward Karin?

He realized he had never tried to put a name on it. Or maybe he just was bad at understanding his
own feelings, when it came to romantic ones.

His relationship with Tayuya had been simple. They were casual friends who played music
together… and had sex sometimes. Simple enough. It was something he knew they would likely
resume whenever she joined them on the island.

Ino… He had't figured it out at the time. Which he now realized might have been a mistake.
Sakura… Same thing. He had deluded himself into thinking being attracted to her had just been a
passing thing.

Now, Karin. She was the one he had been around the most in the recent years. He cared for her, a
whole lot. And he definitely was attracted to her, he could finally admit.

But this wasn't something that was as clear cut as it had been with Tayuya. You couldn't just start
fucking your friends like that and expect that nothing would change. That was common wisdom for
a reason, and even Anko had made sure to stress it, when he had asked her for help.
And he definitely wasn't looking for commitment.

Some part of him, the one that had grown starved for maternal affection, was simply too afraid to
get this kind of intimacy… with a single person. There were just too many ways it could go wrong,
especially in his case.

He had never vocalized it, but he had known that his desire to see everything as simple friendship
had come from somewhere.

If it hadn't been for this… Damn. He knew Karin could have been it.

She seemed to notice he was lost in his thoughts.

"Hey, are you okay?" Karin asked. "You seem… thoughtful."

"I…" He hesitated.

How did you even start a conversation like this…?

"Yes." She wondered.

"Karin, what do you think of me?"

"What I think of you…? Ah." She inhaled sharply, cheeks flushed. "I… Uh… I care about you…
Ah…"

God. He was such a coward. Why was he putting her into such a position?

"No. Scratch that."

"…What?"

Naruto took a breath.

"It's unfair of me to ask this. Do you… Want to know what I think of you?" He said instead, taking
the bull by the horns.

She seemed even more taken aback.

"Yes. Yes, I would love to, Naruto." She said quietly.

"Look… Karin." He grabbed her by the hand, bringing both of them to a seated position. She was
hanging on to his lips.

His own felt very dry as he continued. "You are a beautiful, kind, strong woman."

Her mouth hung open a bit, and her eyes were wide.

"You're smart, you're talented, you're… Shit I admire you, really."

"You… really?" She said with a small voice.

"I do." He nodded. "And I am really… really attracted to you."

The cat was out of the bag, now. He felt a bit vulnerable, but it turned out to have been way harder,
scarier in his own head.
…Damn, she actually gasped.

"And unless I really misread things… I know you are attracted to me, too." She didn't bother
denying it, just nodding once. "I'll skip you the whole speech about us not ruining our friendship,
since I now know I care for you in a way that's not just… friendly. Hell, if I felt this way for
Sasuke, I think I would have noticed way earl-"

Ah, he was losing direction. She was smiling, though. But she also looked pretty worried.

"…I lost track. Here's the thing. As things stand now, I can't offer anyone a committed relationship.
Not you, not anyone. I know how unfair that is. I'm putting you in enough danger as is, now. There
are people out to kill me, and I can't afford to drag you into this mess even more. They will use
you, and then they will kill you as well. I'm afraid of what looms on the horizon. And… I'm afraid
of real intimacy. Of commitment to one person. I… don't think I can do that."

He was surprised it even came out so honestly out of him.

"And the worst part… is that I know I'm being a hypocrite here. Even knowing all of the things I
just said to you… Even though you're my closest friend… I would not have been strong enough to
reject you if you had tried anything direct during all these nights we slept together or the times
we… slipped up." He gave her a guilty smile. "And now, either. I'm afraid that if anything like this
happens again… I will accept. But even then… I still can't give you much more. It won't be the
kind of relationship I expect most people to have in mind, when they think of the word. Probably
never will be."

He stood up, pulling her with his hand, and then let out a sigh.

"With that being said… I care deeply about you. No matter what happens, this much won't change.
And I'll always be with you."

He grinned at her, and she did too, after some hesitation. Naruto left toward the house.

Karin said nothing. She just stared at the lake, thinking.

Well… This could have been worse, Naruto thought.

He did feel like the world's shittiest friend, but the way he saw it… Honesty always beat deception,
when it came to the people you cared about. Even if it could hurt them.

Naruto had had enough lies in his life, he felt. There was no good reason for him to continue with
the cycle. Lying to enemies was another thing entirely, but he would avoid it with the people he
cared for.

He joined Orochimaru near his spire, — which was looking even more imposing up close, he did
wonder how Hidan was faring — and together they left to pick up more people in Hot Water.

When they came back, late at night, with thirty more people in tow, Karin was already fast asleep.

Tomorrow, he'd have to go to Konoha.

Naruto left very early in the morning, as this might turn out to be a long day.

Scratch this, he knew it would be a long day.

The closest Gate he could leap to was in the South of the Land of Rice, so he started his journey
there. Leaping high in the sky, wrapped in Wind and Lightning was second nature by now,
something that came to him without any real effort.

People close by would notice, no doubt, but they wouldn't try to stop him… if they even could.

It was a practiced routine. He would jump around at extremely high speeds until he got close to a
city, where he would transform into a bird and glide down slowly. Then he'd put a mark.

Once he was far enough from the city, he would start again.

He tried to see it as a form of training, building stamina, chakra reserves and learning how to avoid
tunnel vision. And he was learning how to be more efficient, be it in ways of maximizing his speed,
or his use of chakra.

The downside was that he didn't see much of the cities… or even the landscapes, sometimes. But
he'd have all the time in the world once he was done with this.

He had passed some statues of the First Hokage and Uchiha Madara earlier on. Strange.

Naruto was starting to recognize some of the forests, if that was even possible. He was getting
close. In about two hours, he'd be in Konoha, likely.

He was feeling his heart pounding, and he knew it was not just from blitzing around for the entire
morning.

When noon came, he was gliding down as an eagle, high up in the sky. Seven hours, or so. Not
bad, considering the same trip would likely have taken three to four times as long for most
experienced shinobi.

Naruto dropped, five to ten kilometers away from the village, close to a small waterfall, putting a
permanent mark here. He might have been able to come closer, but he knew Konoha had a
permanent sensor team securing the area, which included Hyūga too. His marks were supposed to
be almost invisible, but he was not about to tempt the devil.

Well, he was covered in sweat. Orochimaru had mentioned something about setting the right
impression, giving him a white coat, a pair of pants and some — unnecessary — jewelry.

He sighed and undressed, going down into the water.

Less than an hour later, the man named Indra entered the Village Hidden in the Leaf.
 The Village Hidden in the Leaf

Maybe five years was simply not enough time for things to change much.

That’s what Naruto thought as he entered through the main gate, simply offering one of the scrolls
Orochimaru had given him as proof of identification. The Sanin’s name apparently carried even
more weight here than Naruto had thought. Just like that, he was back in the place in which he had
grown up.

It felt pretty nostalgic, he had to admit. High on the rocky cliff, the five faces of the Kage looked
toward the village. In front of it, the red tower stood proudly, the highest building in town.

Merchants came in and out of the village… no, the city with carts dragged by horses, mules, or
people. Just like it always had in his life, business in Konoha was booming. People seemed at ease,
for the most part.

But Naruto had grown here.

He could feel the undercurrent of tension in the air, even without his slight ability to feel people’s
negative emotions. Still, it confirmed what he was thinking already.

He walked leisurely toward the Tower.

In truth, he was looking around, part of him hoping to recognize a familiar face. Konoha was a big
place, though, so he had no luck here.

There was still this sense of familiarity that he felt toward the village, but that was it. No longing,
no desire to stay here longer than he needed to.

Once in the Tower, saying he was sent here to deliver a message from Orochimaru of the Sanin got
him a meeting with the Hokage in less than an hour.

The process was fairly different as a non-Konoha ninja, as there were a few security screenings, in
which he also had to relinquish all weapons he was carrying on himself.

Not that it mattered a lot, when he could just summon more with a thought.

A man he was fairly sure was a Yamanaka behind his ANBU mask took a brief scan of his surface
thoughts with a glance.

‘That’s… pretty thorough. Invasive, even.’

Either things had always been like this, or something had the Hokage on guard.

He was led into the man’s office.

He bowed politely, as this was the Leader of the strongest Village in the world. The last five years
must have been rough on Sasuke’s father, Naruto thought.

Dark wrinkles lined his eyes, and there were a few gray hairs in what had been the typical Uchiha
jet black last time he had seen him.

“Indra, then?” The Hokage said, his thoughts about the young man wearing the Uchiha’s infamous
ancestor carefully veiled.

Naruto despised the man he had seen in his visions, of this, there was no doubt. He had never been
great at deception, though, which was something he admitted pretty openly, by now. This was the
only name that really came to him naturally, for reasons he did not like to dwell on.

“Yes.” He nodded, simply.

“No family name?”

“None, Hokage-sama.”

The man raised an eyebrow, his dark eyes slowing on his whisker marks. Naruto understood.

“This is something that I apparently got from my parents.” He said, tracing them, with some dark
amusement. “I never got to meet them in person, though.”

This was true… if you discounted meeting his father’s chakra imprint.

The Hokage seemed to nod in acknowledgment. “There were two men, hailing from Kumo, who
bore similar markings. They were marked by the Nine-Tails’ chakra, long ago. Maybe you descend
from them, then.”

“Maybe.” Naruto nodded. Better to let the man assume these things.

“You said you were bearing a scroll from Orochimaru?” Fugaku asked.

“Yes, Hokage-sama.”

“May I see it?”

“Certainly.”

He handed him the scroll. Fugaku opened it, eyes bleeding red as he read through it. Several
emotions passed on his face, so carefully hidden that Naruto only noticed because of how familiar
he was with Sasuke’s own poker face — when he managed to remember how it worked.

The Hokage then sighed.

“That man…” He smiled a tired smile. “He’s never going to stop giving me headaches, this…
teacher of yours, then?”

“I assume not, Hokage-sama.”

The smile turned somewhat amused.

“Are you familiar with the contents of the missive?”

“Not at all. He just instructed me to deliver it to you.”

“Yes, I thought so.” The Hokage tapped his finger on the desk, ordering his ANBU to leave the
room.

He wanted complete privacy, then.

“Just between you and me, then.” The Hokage smiled thinly. “You should probably know that in
his message, he declares you as the sole leader of Umigakure, a village set in the international
waters, that does not depend on any state’s jurisdiction.”

“..What?!” Naruto exclaimed.

Fugaku laughed, a short bark, and Naruto realized he had never heard Sasuke’s father laugh before.
Not even the few times he and Toru had brought him to the compound.

He continued. “I assumed as much. Well, he listed himself, Mitarashi Anko, Uzumaki Karin and…
Haruno Sakura.” He paused on her name, before shrugging. She did not have any obligation to her
village, having been relieved of her position years ago. “And he declared you, as well the two
latter, citizens of Umigakure, too. Him and Mitarashi Anko as partial-time residents, only.”

Naruto fumed inward.

‘That’s such an Orochimaru move. Don’t say much, let the others deal with the fallout.’ Worst part
being that he knew the man would have told him the contents of the scroll, if he had only asked.

Naruto sighed.

The Hokage continued, seriously. “He has told me about Akatsuki.”

Naruto kept quiet, he didn’t know how much the man knew.

“That they are apparently after the Bijuu. We lost a promising young shinobi to them, years ago.”
The Hokage looked away, wistful.

Naruto doubled down on his silence.

“And if my hunch is right, and you are related to the Gold and Silver brothers, they could be
interested in your latent abilities.”

“That’s an ‘if’, though.” Naruto nodded.

“Yes.” Fugaku said, curtly. “And my youngest son is the host of the One-Tail.”

“…Isn’t this supposed to be a secret?”

Fugaku snorted. “Oh, please. At this point, I don’t think there’s any village that hasn’t heard of
Sasuke of the Living Flame.” He said in a mix of exasperated fondness and pride. “I blame his
teacher for this kind of dramatics. Hopefully he didn’t pick up on his worst habits, otherwise I
think the Hyuuga clan might give me even more trouble over the next few years.”

Naruto filed this information for later, wondering what this was about.

The Hokage continued. “But I digress. Orochimaru reported that they are very likely based in Rain.
However, as things stand, we won’t be able to prove anything, unless they start acting more
overtly. I assume Orochimaru didn’t help you build a whole new village solely to be able to get
away with his own worst habits.”

“Ah, the whole human experimenting thing.” Naruto said, distaste obvious. The only reason he
could tolerate it — as long as he didn’t hear too much detail about it — was because Orochimaru
restricted himself to the scum of the scum.

“Yes, indeed.” Fugaku said dryly.

“You’re right. The main reason is that he says Akatsuki’s probable leader, Nagato…” Fugaku
didn’t flinch at the name, but one of his hands tightened around his bicep. “Is likely going to hunt
him down — they already tried something, in fact — because they feel he knows too much about
them, plus refusing to join their ranks.”

“…He refused?” Fugaku hadn’t known about the invitation. And knowing Orochimaru, he had
likely thought about it in depth. He was pleased to hear of it, though. Having to face the Snake
Sage in battle was not a very pleasant prospect, no matter how problematic the man was, even on
Konoha’s side.

“So he did, yes.” Naruto nodded. He knew the man well by now, and it would only have made too
much sense for him to join the organization of criminals. That he didn’t was a good sign. “The
main purpose of the village is to recruit allies against Akatsuki-”

“As well as give Konoha plausible deniability, then.” Fugaku smiled thinly. He knew just how
important these kinds of under-the-table operations were, for a ninja village. He kept his mind on
the conversation, preferring not to dwell on some necessary, but more… unpalatable organizations
within his own village. Danzo was brewing something, he knew it.

Of course, it was clear that Orochimaru would probably not disband his latest project once he was
done — if he could manage — with Akatsuki. But Fugaku figured that if the man had decided to
turn against the village, he probably had been in a better place to do so in the past. Leaving the man
a bigger leash could prove to be a boon in the future, as long as he had his loyalty.

Naruto let the Hokage mull it over.

The man then spoke. “Very well. For obvious reasons, I won’t be able to extend an official alliance
to you. Orochimaru’s continuous affiliation with Umi might already give us enough trouble as is.”
he sighed.

“I figured as much.” Naruto confirmed.

“But… You must have had a long trip. You are free to stay in the village for a little while,
provided you find and take care of your accommodation.”

Naruto bowed. “This is more than I could ask for already, Hokage-sama.”

Fugaku shrugged. “I guess we’re on an equal footing. Even though it’s mostly due to Orochimaru’s
meddling. Hokage-dono is more than fine.”

“Very well… Hokage-dono.”

“You may go, if you wish. It is still early, and the village is particularly pleasant in this season.”

“I will do so.”

“I shall send someone to show you around. They will find you, so there’s no need to worry about
the specifics.”

And probably make sure to keep him in check, in case.

“Thank you.”

Naruto was about to leave.

“One last thing.”

The man’s eyes met his. He didn’t need the Sharingan for them to look piercing.

“It might seem obvious… but I expect you to be on your best behavior. I don’t know how both you
and Orochimaru run the village of Umi, but I will ask you to abide by Konoha law.”

Naruto nodded. “Certainly.”

To anybody who didn’t know what to look for, Naruto was wandering the streets aimlessly. As a
newcomer to Konoha, this was no surprise. The spring was beautiful, and there were people who
came here from afar, just to witness the sakura trees blossom in person.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t really here for sightseeing. He likely only had a limited amount of time to
spend in the village, despite the Hokage’s word.

His father, the Fourth, had told him to find his old safehouse. How he was supposed to find it with
no more information, he wondered.

‘Hey guys, I was just wondering if you knew where your dead leader used to leave before..? What,
why? Just curiosity, haha’

Yeah. Asking was likely not an option. There was no registry he had access to, especially as a
foreigner, so this was out as well.

If he remembered well, his father had said something about using his sensory abilities. That was
what Naruto was currently doing, pulsing it periodically, trying to see if there was something out
there that felt similar to his own chakra, or what he remembered of the Fourth’s.

In a city such as Konoha, there were many overlapping chakras at any given time. People walking
around, ninja running on rooftops, seals being used for a great variety of purposes… Karin was
much better at this than he was.

Naruto felt a familiar chakra moving extremely fast. He cycled some chakra through his legs,
ready to jump away if needed. Still, he felt no bad intention coming from the newcomer.

The person landed behind him. It was a man, Naruto knew. He spoke. His voice was deeper… but
the cadence was still the same.

“Ah. And here I had hoped it would be a cute girl…”

Naruto closed his eyes in consternation. Out of all available ninja in town, did the Hokage really
have to send this particular one?

“My name is Uchiha Toru, and I’ll be your guide. You can just call me Toru-sempai.”

He could almost feel his grin.

Toru was having a pretty decent day, overall.

The last Hunting Corps mission he had gone on had paid pretty well, so he had decided to take the
entire week off. This had been the first time in more than two years, so he felt he deserved it.

The constant back and forth between training one on one with Kakashi, looking for clues about the
latest person the Leaf — or the Military Police — wanted him to catch, finding/killing the same
person before going for more training…

Well, it could get exhausting. Shisui and Itachi never seemed to complain about this kind of things,
— at least not when he was around — but then again, he sometimes had trouble seeing things the
way they did.

Oh, he was a good little dog when he needed to be, for sure. But there was more to life than just
duty. And yet, it felt as though his service to the village was taking up most of his life.

For God’s sake, he might need a hobby. Sporadic bursts of hedonism were all fine and all… but he
felt as though he was stuck in a rut that no amount of casual dating could fill.

Get stronger. Gain more recognition. Get rid of Konoha’s enemies. Get your own enemies. Have to
train to be stronger.

Shit, maybe some of the older Uchiha were right. Maybe he needed to find himself a real girlfriend,
instead of playing the field. But with the reputation… came the temptation.

God, Sasuke really had it good. A cool girl who loved him, a sensei who lived life fully, and took
him across the world, — no offense to Kakashi, but he too needed a hobby — and he seemed to
pick only the most adventurous/dangerous missions, whenever he bothered to come back.

Maybe he could find where the Two-Tailed Beast was and seal it within himself? That ought to get
Jiraiya interested.

Where was Sasuke right now, again…? The land of Rivers? Was it the land of Claws?

Probably learning some super secret jutsu that he couldn’t tell anybody about, meeting the cutest
girls in the land who would undoubtedly fall for the unattainable, committed, romantic, brooding
Uchiha.

Toru wanted to groan. Damn, maybe Sasuke really had been onto something when he had asked
Naruto to seal that Bijuu into his body.

Ah. Naruto.

That was somebody that he thought about pretty often. It had gotten less painful over time, but the
details burned into his memory thanks to the Sharingan.

He would never forget his friend’s face, when he had been captured, thinking him dead. Even now,
he was still carrying his wakizashi, even though it constantly drained his chakra.

Well, if Kakashi could manage a Sharingan, he could surely manage a pesky short sword. Just like
the older man, he saw it as his tribute to a friend who had been ready to die for him.

…And there went his good mood.

Well, not really, if he was good at one thing, it was definitely bouncing back. Plus, Fugaku-sama
had decided that his day off was the perfect opportunity to have him play ambassador to some guy
who had apparently started his own village.

Indra. No clan name.

His parents really had not given a shit, it seemed. In Uchiha culture, Indra was just a short step
short of Madara, when it came to general dickishness. Mostly because it was so much older that
people were not even sure about the veracity of the story.

Well, they said it in way more words, but they all knew what it meant.

Sasuke had told him of the tales written within the Nakano shrine, once. Toru was not very
impressed, he had to say.

Kill your friends for more power… Against killing your brother to take his eyes for your own gain.

He’d keep his one regular Sharingan, thank you very much.

So, yeah. He’d show this Indra guy around. Maybe he’d have some nice stories to share. What kind
of guy decided to just build their own village…? Not a regular one, that was for sure.

‘Found him.’

He locked in on the man’s chakra signature. Not that it was a hard task, far from it, as the guy
shone like a beacon to his Sharingan.

Toru dashed there, appearing silently a few steps behind him. The guy didn’t move, but he had
definitely noticed him.

Toru greeted him, as was custom. Well, the way he used to do things, to be more precise. Fugaku-
sama had sent him, so there was no real chance of causing a diplomatic incident by being too
casual. Probably.

Shit… that came out a bit too casual. Even for him.

So, that was Indra, then?

Well, Toru had to say that if the man had wanted to look like his namesake, or a powerful foreign
leader… He had the part down, despite being around his age.

A long, pristine white coat, with sleeves so long that his hands were almost hidden. A golden
necklace hung around his neck, and tomoe earrings dangled from his ears.

Long, thick blond hair, barely held by a red band that matched his pants.

To complete the picture, he of course had to be very muscular. And Toru had to look up to meet his
gaze.

Purple eyes that seemed to glow, and some peculiar whisker marks on his cheeks.

‘Damn, this guy must be beating girls off with a stick.’

How unfair.
 A Conversation With an Old Friend

Naruto didn't let any of his conflicting feelings show on his face.

Toru… hadn't changed that much, overall. Sure, he was fairly tall now — looking very much like
his half-brother Shisui, with his curly dark hair — and had the typical Uchiha physique, being
lithely built. He was wearing a black eye-patch over his right eye.

Naruto found his throat pretty dry.

"Toru, then? I'm Indra, nice to meet you." He bowed politely.

"Ah c'mon, don't be so polite, otherwise I'm going to feel I have to be, too. You're like a village
leader, right?"

Naruto sighed. "Something like that."

Fucking Orochimaru.

They walked through the village.

"Are you familiar with Konoha's history, Indra?" Toru asked him. He would at least try his best to
be polite. Man, they really should have asked Itach-… Nah, nevermind, his cousin was a bit too
stiff.

Indra shrugged. "Just call me Indra. Also… Somewhat, yes. I know it was founded by Senju
Hashirama and Uchiha Madara, about half a century ago."

"Well, that's true." Toru conceded. "Madara left pretty soon after, though, and he's kinda infamous,
especially in our clan."

"Because he left…?"

"Well, that and he tried to come back with the Nine-Tails to destroy it."

Indra suppressed a minute twitch of his lips. So the man had a sense of humor, if a dark one. "Ah,
yes. That would likely do the trick."

"And he was pretty… difficult to deal with in general, according to our elders."

"Bad temper?"

"The worst."

"What happened to him, after that whole Nine-Tails thing?" Indra asked.

"He died fighting Senju Hashirama, our First Hokage."

Indra nodded. "That's the man on the mountain?" He pointed at the cliff.

"One of them, yes. The one on the left. We carved all five of our Hokage's faces into it, as a
memorial."
"The Fifth is alive, though."

"…A living memorial." Toru amended.

"Kinda tacky."

Toru snorted. "Right?! But well, the clan's pretty happy that an Uchiha's finally Hokage, anyway."

"Why? Who were the others?"

"In order… After Senju Hashirama, we have his brother, Senju Tobirama, this one's student,
Sarutobi Hiruzen, and his… grand-student, I guess..? Well, the student of his student."

"Sounds a lot like nepotism to me." Indra shrugged.

"Well… There's a reason our clan was a bit sour about it."

"So is the Fifth the Fourth's student or something…?"

Toru laughed. "No… No, he's actually a bit older than the Fourth, and they didn't have any
particular relationship, I think."

"A little break in tradition, then?"

"Sure. There were some people who weren't too happy about it, at the time."

"They changed their minds?"

"Well, I sure hope so, since apparently even the Hokage can't get rid of the old guard so easily."

He let the sentence hang in the air. There was plenty to say about some of the elders, but Indra was
an outsider. Toru continued.

"Aight, since we're already talking about ninja shi-… things, and the Kage, let me show you the
memorial. It's not so gloomy, promise."

'It is, though. I remember going there for Kurenai's funeral.'

Indra just nodded. "Very well. Lead the way, Toru."

"Ah, there's just a little something I need to do before I go. Do you mind?"

"Not at all."

Indra followed him, probably wondering where he was leading him.

"Do you like living in Konoha, Toru?" Naruto asked.

Toru paused. "…You know, I'm not exactly an expert at this diplomacy thing, but even I know that
saying no is a bad move here."

Naruto shrugged. "That's true, but you seem like the type of person who'd prefer speaking openly.
I'm not trying to fish for village secrets here. Call it curiosity."

At least, that was the Toru he remembered.

He actually took the time to think. "Overall, I'd say yes. But that's a question that's hard to answer,
anyway. If I were born in Iwa… Suna… Taki… Who's to say I wouldn't believe these places to be
the best in the world, instead?"

Naruto nodded. He had thought the exact same thing. Still did, actually.

"Look, I know we live in a pretty… complicated era. I don't know if things were better in the past -
well, before the whole clan wars thing… or even if they're going to get better in the future. Konoha
is a good place, but it suffers from the same problems as every other village."

"Become strong or be at the mercy of the people who are?"

"Exactly." Toru nodded, not surprised the man would get his point. He had felt some sort of
kinship there. "I don't know how civilians do it. It's more of a world problem than just a village
one, though."

"Didn't want to be a ninja, then?" Naruto asked.

They had never actually talked about this, back then. Maybe there was something about him being
a stranger to Toru that just encouraged the young man to talk.

"…To be blunt. No, not really. I wanted to…" Toru scratched his head. "Nah, it's stupid. I come
from a clan of ninja, and I had some talent. Anything that's not related to the shinobi arts becomes a
hobby, at most."

Naruto was curious, now. "I didn't want to become a shinobi, either. What did you want to be?"

Toru stared at him with his only eye. Was he… embarrassed?

"I… wanted to be a comic artist."

"Really?" Naruto blinked.

"Well, yeah. I used to love reading them as a kid, the foreign ones especially. Hot Water had some
good stuff." He was looking away, now. "I started drawing my own, too, but then my clan kinda
made me focus more on shinobi stuff."

"There's nothing to be ashamed of."

"No… Of course not. I'm not…" Toru tried. "Not ashamed. It's just… I don't know."

"Feels weird saying it out loud?"

"Yeah. Exactly that."

"I get that." Naruto thought. Did he ever mention his childhood ambition to Toru, in the past?
Likely not. But Toru had told him now, so he felt it was fair to do the same.

"As for me… I learned how to use chakra when I was pretty young. You could say I fell in love at
first sight. But people took notice, and I became a shinobi before I fully understood the
implications."

A pretty vague explanation, but a true one.

"Ah." Toru said quietly. "I had a friend like this, back then."
"…" Maybe he had, then.

"He'd complain pretty often about some of the fucked up… Well. The more fucked up parts of
being a shinobi. Of signing your life away when you were a kid. Killing people that may or may
not have deserved it. Following orders, you may not agree with. Corruption. I didn't always agree,
back then." Toru's face turned dark. "The more I grow up, the more I realize he had been right."

Naruto still said nothing. He was pretty sure Toru was talking about him.

Toru continued, a bit subdued. "I think you guys would have gotten along pretty well."

Man. This was going to be a bit harder than Naruto had thought.

'Why am I being so gloomy…? This is not like me.'

Toru thought. There was something about this guy that made him open up a bit too easily. He had
checked for a jutsu discreetly, the kind he himself would use, to no avail. That was all him.

He tried to switch topics.

"Do you have any family, Indra?"

If Indra was surprised at the change in subject, he didn't let it show on his face. "If you mean blood
family… No, I don't. Not anymore."

Toru winced. That was a risky question for a shinobi, maybe not his best move. Why didn't the
Hokage wait for Shisui, instead…?

Indra noticed his discomfort. He chuckled. "Sorry for putting it so bluntly. It's not so bad, now. It
happened years ago, I never met my parents, and I don't think I have any direct family either. What
about you?"

Toru grabbed onto the extended lifeline. "Yeah, I do have a half-brother, we're very close." He
glanced at Indra's face. "His name is Uchiha Shisui, you might have heard of him…?"

Indra seemed to think for a second. "Nah, never heard of him."

"…Really? Nothing about Shisui of the Body Flicker?"

"Nope."

"Shisui the Teleporter?"

"Nah."

"…Shisui of the Sharingan?"

"Nuh uh." He seemed amused.

Toru was mostly confused. Where was the man coming from, exactly…? It seemed as
though everybody knew who Shisui was, usually.

Which came with its fair share of good and bad sides.

"Uh, yeah. Okay. Maybe you heard about my cousins, then?"

"What are their names?"

"Uchiha Itachi?"

"Nope."

"…Uchiha Sasuke?"

"Still no."

"…Never heard of the Living Flame?"

"Who's that? This Sasuke guy?"

"…Yeah. He's kinda making waves around the world right now. I mean, you're Orochimaru's
apprentice, right? He's like… your counterpart."

"Ah. Nice, nice."

"Damn, man. Have you been living under a rock?"

Indra seemed to think. "No, technically, it was above it."

"Ah!" Toru started to laugh, punching the man in the shoulder. "You're fucking with me! I'm too
gullible, really."

Indra kept his poker face on, but Toru saw his amusement. The blond started speaking.

"Oh, but I heard of you, though."

"…Oh yeah?! Really?…" Toru cleared his voice, trying not to seem too eager. "I mean. What did
you hear?"

"That you're an up and coming A-rank shinobi. Uchiha Toru, the Mirage Blade, I think it was…?"

Toru rubbed his nose. He started nodding quickly. "That's me!"

"You use your blade as a focus to cast wide area Genjutsu, have been taught tracking by Hatake
Kakashi, and use Fire jutsu, too."

"…Oookay, how do you know this?"

"I have my sources."

"It's kinda unfair that you know this much about me, while I know nothing about you, though."

Indra shrugged. "Should've done the research."

Not that there was anything about him to find.

"…Wanna go for a friendly spar?" Toru asked.

Indra snorted. "As if. I'm not dumb enough to get into a fight with a Konoha ninja who can copy
my techniques with a glance. On my first day here, on top of it."

Naruto dodged under the flat side of the gleaming blade at the last second, striking Toru with a
Gale Palm to the chest.

Toru disappeared, fading into nothing but air and wisps of chakra. As he had expected.

Naruto felt the Uchiha's chakra reappear on the edge of his awareness, and he put his left hand in
the Bird seal, focusing another Wind jutsu.

"Wind Style: Cross Blade."

His chakra shaped the air into two razor-sharp blades that leaped toward Toru. None of the two
were using their techniques to their fullest extent, as this was just a light spar. No one wanted to
main anyone.

So apparently… yes. He was dumb enough.

A few minutes of friendly ribbing from Toru and he had followed him to the training grounds,
figuring that as long as he didn't use Lightning Style, he wouldn't get recognized.

Still stupid.

Toru got hit by the technique, falling backwards. Having drawn the first blood, Naruto was the
winner of the match.

Except he knew Toru better than this. The slight touch of Toru's chakra was hard to discern within
his own network, but he knew what to look for. Also, he could feel Toru's chakra signature behind
him.

Ah. Also inside him.

There. Around his optic nerve.

He dispelled the illusion, kicking back and up in a spinning motion, enshrouded in Wind. Toru
managed to dodge again. At the top of his jump, Naruto made a kicking motion, sending yet
another blade of wind toward him.

Toru weaved three hand seals.

"Fire Style: Scatterflame."

He unloaded a wide blast of fire in a cone. Naruto created a Wind Clone in the air, and both of
them used the Gale Palm on each other's hand to get out of range, and back on the ground again.

Naruto was about to dash in again, but then he felt it.

'Damn. Another illusion…?'

It was a constant barrage of light, heavy, optical, auditory illusions. Any ninja who wasn't very
familiar with the feeling of their own chakra would likely waste a ton more chakra dispelling
illusions that were not even there.

Toru was using that time to prepare another jutsu.

Naruto was about to get a Fire Seal out of his pouch, when he felt another chakra enter the area.

"Hey!" A girl's voice shouted. "What are you doing on our dedicated training grounds?! Uchiha…
Toru?! Again!"
"Ah, shit." Toru mumbled.

"What?" Naruto asked. "I thought these were Uchiha grounds!" He said accusingly.

"Ah." Toru said sheepishly. "No, they're not. But the Hyuuga rarely come here usually, really."

"What…?" The girl came into view, angry. She was not a girl, but a young woman, it turned out.
Long brown hair, about their age, a swastika tattoo — a seal, not a tattoo, Naruto corrected — on
her forehead. White eyes with a hint of lilac.

"I come here every day." She raged.

'Hinata's little sister? Hanako... or something? Isn't she part of the main branch?'

He couldn't remember much about her.

"Sorry, Hyuuga-san." Naruto started. "I didn't know."

"He definitely did." She said, arms folded.

"…" Toru said nothing.

"I suggest you go before I warn my father." Suggesting he'd be less nice about it.

Toru was already gone. Naruto gave her a short bow in apology, and left after him.

"Phew. She can be such a pain in the ass, this one." Toru laughed.

"…So you did know she would come." Indra said. He was trying to hide it, but Toru could see the
hint of a smile pulling at his lip.

"…Yeah."

"Are you trying to get me in trouble or is it just coincidence until now?"

Toru laughed again. "It's a bit more complicated. Somebody has to pull her out of the funk she's
in." At Indra's questioning look, Toru continued. "She's my cousin's girlfriend's sister."

"Cousin's girlfriend's sister." Indra was trying to make sense of the convoluted phrasing. "Itachi, if
I remember well?"

Toru snorted. "Nah, Sasuke. Itachi doesn't really bother with relationships."

Anymore. Not after Izumi.

"All right, then."

"The girl we just met… Hanabi. She used to be a real firecracker, before. Now it only comes out if
you provoke her a bit. So I do, from time to time."

"Something happened, then." Indra said.

Toru's face darkened. "You could say that. Long story, though, and it's not my place to tell."

Indra didn't question him any further.

"Ah, we're there." Toru said. They were on the way to the memorial, and had stopped at the place
Toru had intended to go, before.

Indra stiffened suddenly. "I… think I'm going to wait for you outside." He said.

"Sure thing." Toru replied easily.

Maybe the man felt he was too macho for flowers? …Nah, he seemed too thoughtful for that.

Toru entered Yamanaka Flowers.

"Hey Ino."
 A Really Good Friend

Just his luck.

Out of all places in the village, why did they have to come here…?

Even when they had been children, Ino had occasionally helped her mother out in the shop. Things
hadn't changed too much, apparently.

Now that he was more attentive, he could feel the chakra he deduced was Ino's.

Warm, bright, open, with an undercurrent of sadness and disillusion.

Did something happen?

Naruto waited outside the flower shop, arms folded, tapping his foot. He was feeling restless.

He could hear Ino's voice inside. Toru joked around some, and she laughed. They continued to
talk, and the conversation grew more subdued.

They were probably finishing up, then. Good.

"All right, I'll leave it to you, then. Later!" Ino said.

Ah, Toru was coming out with flowers, now-

Then Ino came out of the shop as well, carrying chrysanthemums.

Naruto closed his eyes in consternation.

They walked in silence.

Not so much the comfortable kind, but closer to the sort you'd get when you put a few strangers in
the waiting room.

Toru considered breaking it. He took a breath, lifted a finger… Then decided against it.

Indra had seemed to freeze up when Ino came out. She was acting a bit strange, too.

Damn… it must have been love at first sight, then.

He couldn't blame either, Ino was pretty hot. And he could grudgingly accept that Indra made him
look pretty bland in comparison, what with being a handsome, musclebound giant.

A great fighter, too. He hadn't expected that or his speed, considering his size. Now he hoped they
could have a proper match soon.

Thinking about it… Maybe meeting a guy would do Ino some good.

Okay, time to play matchmaker, then. He wasn't the best wingman in town, the title belonging to
Chōji, surprisingly. Kiba could attest to it. Anybody who could make dog-breath get an actual
girlfriend likely had powers bordering on the supernatural.

How did he do it…?

Ino spoke first. "What is your name?"

"Mine?" Indra asked.

"Well, yes. I know Toru already." She rolled her eyes.

"I am Indra." He said simply.

She frowned, a shadow passing over her eyes. "Indra, huh. Like the Sage's son from legend?"

"Exactly like that, yes."

"That's a loaded name."

"I guess so." Indra shrugged. "What's yours?"

"…Ino. Yamanaka Ino. Pleased to meet you, Indra-san."

"Pleasure's mine. Just call me Indra… Ino."

"Indra's here as an ambassador, of sorts." Toru added conspiratorially.

"Oh yeah, for which village… or city?" Ino asked.

"His own." Toru said, as if this were a big secret.

Indra gave him a flat look. Damn, didn't he get he was trying to help him out…?

"What does Toru mean?" Ino asked Indra directly.

Indra pursed his lips. "…We built a village. Had a lot of help though." He added, seeing her
surprised face. "Orochimaru, from your village, is my teacher. He lives there, for the most part.
Though I'm not sure if I'm supposed to say it out loud. Can you keep a secret..?"

Ino smiled lightly. "That's basically my job."

"Thank you." Indra bowed. "Umi is a very recent village, so we're still recruiting heavily."

"Umi's the name?" Toru asked.

"Yes."

"As in a village in the sea?" Ino asked.

"Either this, or we just want people to believe that. It's still a Hidden village, after all." Indra
winked at her.

Then he seemed to regret being so familiar with her already. Ino seemed to pick up on it.

"Oooh, are you flirting with me, by any chance?" She asked, somewhat amused.

Indra recovered well, flashing her a childish grin. "Absolutely."

She snorted a laugh, blushing a bit despite herself. Toru approved.

"And what are you doing here, in Konoha, today?" Ino asked. "Or is it some super secret thing?"
"Well, if it were… I don't think I should even admit it. But no, I had a message to deliver to your
Hokage, from Orochimaru."

"I've only heard about that man in passing. What is… he like?"

Indra snorted. "He's a strange man, and a harsh teacher. I don't think he cares for morality too
much, either."

"Must be a Sannin thing, then." Ino added, eyes dark.

"What do you mean?"

"The other male one, Jiraiya, — a friend's teacher — is frequently seen peeping on our hot
springs."

"Ugh." What did you say to that?

Ino nodded. "I'm afraid of finding out what Tsunade-sama is like, at this point. She was my hero
when I was a kid."

"Never meet your heroes." Indra quoted. He himself had definitely put Sarutobi on a pedestal.

They continued to walk.

"Are you headed toward the memorial as well, then?" Naruto asked, once they passed the gate.
Chrysanthemums were for the dead, usually, so he had assumed so.

Ino nodded. "Yes. These are for my father."

Naruto barely held back a gasp. '…Inoichi died?'

He had never been particularly close to the man, but he remembered him from all the yearly parties
the Sarutobi clan used to host. A pleasant man, who also seemed to be very detached from most
things, aside from his close friends and his family.

"I see." Naruto nodded. "I'm sorry if this was insensitive."

Ino shrugged, trying to sound casual. Her voice wobbled, if only a little. "Don't be. He died more
than a year ago, on a mission. We bring flowers to his grave pretty often."

Naruto nodded.

Shortly after, she bid them goodbye, splitting from them to go to her father's resting place.

That... had been very awkward. Naruto hoped that would be their only meeting. How were you
even supposed to pretend to be complete strangers with people you had known for years...?

"I have some flowers to leave, too. I will join you at the shrine right after." Toru said.

"Very well."

He saw Toru head toward the area where he knew Kurenai had been buried. In the distance, he
could see some flowers had already been left there.

'They still come here, then…'

It was strange, coming back to the Fourth's shrine. He had already been there as a kid, with
Sarutobi. At the time though, he hadn't known that the man had been his father.

Or that Sarutobi actually knew that fact.

He stared at the picture that had been set on the altar, unsure of how he felt, exactly.

In the end, he settled for offering a prayer to his father.

As well as a promise to the wind.

He would do his best to allow his father's soul to rest, free from the Shinigami.

He never found his mother's grave.

Naruto had asked around. Instead, Uzumaki Kushina's name was apparently somewhere on the
memorial stone.

Strange. The First Hokage's wife had been buried with him — if they actually buried the corpses,
and did not just burn them, because that was hard to tell.

And she had been Uzumaki as well. What had changed?

Did Konoha want to let any remaining ties to Uzu slowly fade out… because of their role in their
former allies being wiped out?

It wouldn't surprise Naruto.

And it only solidified his resolve to ask Sarutobi a few questions.

About an hour later, Toru let out a long yawn. The sun was starting to set.

Naruto took this as an opportunity to do a few things he wouldn't be able to do with him around.

"So you have the accommodation part sorted out already?" Toru asked doubtfully.

Naruto nodded once more. "Yes. I found a nice inn that I already booked for the night. Thank you
for your concern, Toru." He smiled.

"Ah. Well, okay then. If you're good…"

"I am. Thank you for showing me around the village."

"Don't sweat it." Toru shrugged. "Though if you really want to thank me… I'll find you in a couple
days to finish our spar."

Naruto hesitated. "Well… I guess I'll still be here."

"Great! I'll find you then, then." Toru concluded. He left making a victory sign, his Body Flicker
leaving a fading remnant behind him.

'Showoff.'

Naruto continued to walk. Night in Konoha was still pretty pleasant.

People walked along the streets, unhurried. The streetlamps and the food stalls lit up the whole
city. The air was full of smells, most of them pleasant.

There was one thing he still had to do tonight.

Even five years later, and despite not fully remembering all of the smaller streets, he found his way
back to his old home, almost automatically.

The only real difference was that he now had to sneak around to get in, since he didn't want to be
seen around here. Luckily, it was a civilian neighborhood, so this was pretty easy.

It… looked close to the way it had when he had first bought it.

Overgrown grass, a few damaged windows, likely no electricity or running water. No one had sold
it or moved in.

Whether this was because Sarutobi Naruto was reported as M.I.A . rather than killed or because
there simply wasn't that much interest in it, when Konoha still had a ton of land available, he didn't
know. Or maybe it was whatever protective seals he had cooked up at the time.

…Which, now that he had more practical experience, really seemed amateurish.

Well, as they said… Miagawa, one of the largest cities in ancient history, wasn't built in a day.

Naruto slipped past his own defenses, feeling almost nostalgic once he was inside the bare-bones
home.

'Damn, I really lived like this?'

It seemed like the kind of place a monk would stay in. White paint on most walls, no personal
decorations of any sort. Old scrolls he could remember having been in the middle of reading
around five years ago.

The basement actually didn't smell musty at all, which he was very thankful for. He had enough
memories of that for a lifetime.

Now that he was alone in the privacy of his home — well, some missing/dead guy named Sarutobi
Naruto, technically…

He summoned three Kage Bunshin. They quickly set up a few more seals, soundproofing the
rooms, and putting some rudimentary alarms. Then he went back to the basement.

There, he placed a permanent Thunder Gate.

He appeared in the middle of Umi's lake, in the stone circle.

Naruto let out a long sigh. What a long day this had turned out to be. It was the middle of the night
already. He had seen some light in the central hub, likely people gathering in the first bar that had
opened in Umi.

Despite the amount of trouble he'd probably get in the next months, what with being the official
founder of it… He had no regrets. He had already come to consider this place home.

With one Body Flicker, he crossed the lake, appearing next to their house.
Karin was probably sleeping. It was probably better to let her think about yesterday's discussion,
anyway.

Then the door slammed open.

Karin grinned at him.

"Hey there, stupid!"

He couldn't help but smile back. "Hey there, dumbass."

"Did everything go well?"

"Well, I'm here, alive and all." He laughed. "Everything went well, yes." He grabbed her in a hug
that she returned.

They went inside, where they sat down.

"Naruto…" She started hesitantly.

"Yes?"

"I've… thought a lot about what you told me yesterday."

"Oh. Okay." He turned a bit more serious.

"So…"

Silence stretched for a few seconds.

"I don't think this is going to work." Karin sighed.

Naruto nodded. He hadn't expected anything in particular to happen. When he had told her that he'd
be with her no matter what… he had meant it.

He grinned at her. "That's alright, Karin. More than enough for me. You're my best friend… No
matter how sexy I think you are."

She blushed a bit and gave him a very fond smile, her eyes crinkling. "Friends, then?" She held her
hand.

"Friends. Always." He shook it.

Then she tackled him, pushing both of them to the ground once more. She tried to get him in a
body lock.

"Ah, you coward!" Naruto laughed... then he stopped.

She was sitting on top of him. He could smell her soap, and he felt her long red hair spool around
his face. Her breath on his throat, her lips caressing his neck.

Her chest pressed against his. Only now, he realized how little she was wearing tonight, her bare
legs around him. And the way her flushed face gleamed under the moonlight that filtered in the
house.

Maybe this 'keeping things platonic' thing was going to be harder than he had thought.
"You can give up already!" She laughed, grabbing a hold of his wrists, her soft ass rubbing against
his stomach.

"Never." He shot back, rolling from under her. Now, the roles were reversed. He held her own
wrists together, pressed against the floorboards, with a single hand.

He was on his knees, Karin in front of him, facing down, her legs still locked around his.

Naruto was pretty sure his blood was not only pumping in between his ears, right now.

He noticed Karin's curves. Her short shorts weren't hiding much, pale flesh peeking out from under
them. He had never seen that she had tan lines before.

He watched her ass bounce as she tried to free herself, mesmerized. What were they doing…?

She laughed. "Is that the best you can do?" Karin threw a mocking glance over her shoulder. "You
barely-"

Naruto couldn't resist. He gave her backside a firm slap. She let out a moan, as he stood there,
watching her cheeks jiggle.

"…Yield?" He rasped out.

"Certainly not!" She looked back at him, face red, her eyes half-lidded in pleasure. "You're barely
even trying." Karin bit her lip.

"God… You…"

"I'm not giving up so easily." She said, her voice hoarse.

She stuck her ass out even more, not bothering to look at him anymore.

They shouldn't-

He put both hands on her strong thighs. She definitely had gained some muscle over the last
months. Karin panted.

Naruto's hands slowly moved up along her legs.

They slid under her shorts. Karin almost thrust her ass into his palms, breathlessly. He grabbed her
thick ass, marveling at the shape of it, the way his fingers seemed to sink into her flesh. Naruto
squeezed, his thumbs going around in circles.

Karin was definitely not wearing anything under these shorts. His cock felt constrained by his
pants.

"Remove them." Karin moaned, head thrown back.

"…Which ones?" He panted.

"Mine… Yours. Either. Both."

He didn't have to be told twice.

Karin's firm, soft ass was exposed. He let out a groan, feeling whatever was left of his rationality
leave him. One of his thumbs rubbed around his best friend's cute asshole.
"More…" She squirmed.

"…Raise your hips for me." He managed.

Karin obeyed, and he spread her legs, staring at her. She was already dripping.

"Inside… Your fingers. Please." Karin moaned.

Naruto wasn't about to deny her. His fingers ran across her lips, sinking them shallowly in and out
of her with a wet sound.

She let out a long moan.

"Karin…" He grunted.

"Aaah…yes..?"

"You had no intention of simply remaining friends, did you…?"

She half-laughed, half-moaned. "Nooo… I just wanted to see if you… ah. If you meant what you
said aaah… yesterday. About… keeping things as they were."

He snorted. "How… devious of you. You really are a good little shinobi, huh?"

"Mm yeah… I guess I am." She moaned, feeling his fingers making a come-hither motion inside
her.

"…What did you really want?" He grunted out.

"Ah…. I think you know." She gave him a dirty smile that made his stomach flutter.

"…What do you mean?" He said, innocently. "My fingers, then…?"

"No… Not enough." Karin groaned. Despite her words, she was still rubbing herself on his fingers.

He continued to finger Karin, her pussy clasping around his digits. With the other hand, he caressed
her mound, playing with her pubic hair — red, too, he was sure.

She was soaked. Every time she thrust her hips back, Naruto could hear squelching sounds. And
she couldn't care less, apparently.

"Tell me what it is you want, then." Naruto said, his voice low.

She let out a shuddering breath.

"Want you… inside me, Naruto. Please." She gasped. "Your cock."

"That's it. Here…" How he had waited so long, he couldn't tell. He lined himself with her quivering
cunt, slowly sinking himself in, thumbing her asshole with his other hand.

Karin was making a mess on the ground. She apparently didn't feel like waiting. She pushed back,
moaning wantonly, as he filled her.

"Ah…" Karin breathed. "You're inside me. Finally..."

Naruto groaned as Karin moved her hips back and forth, her cunt clenching around his cock, warm
and wet.
Slow, shallow strokes at first. Then deeper… and deeper, until he could feel every ridge, every
bump of her pussy.

God, she was a natural at this. He was supposed to be the one with experience — not even that
much, to be honest —, but right now… she was driving him crazy.

"You're filling me…entirely." She panted.

"Karin… I love the way you feel."

"Only for you." She moaned.

She was going to come, he felt it. Her thighs were shaking. Her walls tightened around him.

"Karin, I'm… Ah." He moaned.

"Me too." She whined in pleasure as she felt his cock clench.

"Need to… pull out."

"Don't." Karin grunted as he pounded her. "Give it to me."

They came at the same time. She spasmed as he filled her, holding on to her hips tightly.

"Ah… Karin." Naruto let out, staying inside her, feeling her pussy clench. Karin said nothing, lost
in rapturous joy.

He pulled himself out of her, leaving her cunt wide open, full of his cum and her own wetness. She
was a sweaty mess, and still shaking. Naruto stood there, watching it, fascinated.

Karin slowly started to come out of her trance, watching him with the most satisfied expression he
had seen on her face.

He gave her ass another slap. She yelped.

Karin glared at him. "You love my ass, don't you…?"

Naruto grinned. "And you love my cock, don't you?"

She grinned too, cheeks red. "Sure thing."

Karin turned around to face him. She finally removed her shirt, letting her tits fall free. Naruto
could see her in her full naked glory.

She was beautiful, dripping his cum down.

"Again." She half-ordered, a hungry gleam in her eyes.

His cock sprang back to life.

"You're such a horny little thing, Karin." He grinned.

"It's your fault." She glared at him. "Now… come fuck me again, Naruto." She said, with a small
grin… and hooded eyes that told him that she definitely had felt the same tension he had over the
last months.

His cock twitched in approval.

"And I know you're the same." Karin scoffed.

"Maybe I am. Now… I have one question."

Naruto paused, and she looked at him curiously.

"…Friends?" He asked her, extending his hand again.

She let out a belly laugh. "The best, even."

Karin shook his hand.

 The Divide

For the first time in a while, Naruto woke up somewhat late.

Karin's head lay on his chest, still asleep. He really didn't feel like leaving the bed right now. He
slowly woke Karin up.

She really wasn't a morning person, tending to babble incoherently for her first moments awake.
Nevertheless, she grinned once she realized what she was laying on.

"I could get used to this." She said.

"Same here." Naruto answered. "But I should get going. I'm still supposed to be in Konoha."

"…Are you in a real rush?" Karin asked, staring into his eyes. What she was asking for was pretty
obvious.

Naruto hesitated. "Aren't you supposed to be recovering…?"

She scoffed. "I'm good enought for this, in case you couldn't tell yesterday. A bit too late to join
you in Konoha without raising suspicion, though."

"Definitely." He deadpanned.

"So…? Leaving so soon?" Karin asked again.

"…Yes. But I'll be back tonight."

"Good."

He grinned at her, pulling her into a kiss.

"Don't tease me, then!" She said, cheeks red. Still, her smile reached her eyes.

The Council concluded their meeting in the Tower.

Danzō stayed.

"I have stood still while Hiruzen's foolish optimism poisoned Konoha's well for decades." Danzō
said. "I won't stand for this, too."

Fugaku didn't bother hiding his distaste for the man. How many times had he wished he could
simply replace him with Itachi and be done with it?

Somebody that would take the actions Konoha needed from the shadows was needed, there was no
doubt about it. Unfortunately, Danzō was the one most qualified to run the ROOT program, as of
yet. Itachi was rising through the ranks, but if Fugaku were entirely honest, he wasn't ready yet.

There was still too much compassion in his heart. He could harden himself when needed, but he
would still favor peace, which in the times they were living in might be too problematic a choice.

"Orochimaru is one of my trusted ninja." Fugaku said simply. "If he puts his trust in this young
man, I shall do the same."
"He is building up power for his own ambitions. How can you trust him… either of them to be
loyal?" Danzō said, squinting his good eye. "There has been nothing holding Orochimaru to
Konoha for years."

"He still holds this place dear and his loyalty is not in question." Fugaku closed his eyes. "He cares
for its people, too, if in a… pragmatic sort of way."

"Sarutobi has not been able to keep him in check for more than a decade. Tsunade is lost, drinking
and gambling her life away. Jiraiya might be his only real link to the village, and while he is one of
our greatest assets… He is almost never here."

Fugaku said nothing.

"And you think this will keep Orochimaru loyal…?" Danzō spat.

"I trust him." Fugaku glared at him. "When has he ever given us reason not to?"

"He is a loose end." Danzō shot back. "One we can ill afford. I suggest we rein him in… or get rid
of him altogether."

"…Are you suggesting killing one of our strongest ninja?" Fugaku's eyes were cold. "Out of fear?"

"Fear?" Danzō stared back. "This has nothing to do with fear. Indra is an unknown, one that you let
loose in our village."

"He's being watched."

"Uchiha Toru is no Shisui." Danzō spat.

"And he doesn't need to be."

They stared at each other, antipathy obvious.

"Orochimaru is a rabid dog. He will turn on us. I suspect he already is."

Fugaku sighed. Danzō would not move, this much was obvious.

"No. I consider this discussion over. You may leave."

Danzō tightened his hand around his cane.

"You must act now. I won't stand for it!" He said, voice hard.

"…You won't stand for it…?" Fugaku's eyes turned red. "Do not overstep your bounds."

Danzō glared at him. Fugaku continued.

"Your fears, your constant paranoia are not pragmatism, Danzō. They would have us surrounded by
enemies in no time, make no mistake."

"And what would you know of it..?" Danzō said, quietly. "An Uchiha." He spat the word as if it
were a curse, showing his true feelings on the matter.

"Corrupted by Hiruzen's foolish idea of keeping peace at any cost. Had I known how poor of a
Hokage you'd be from the start, I would have opposed your nomination."
Fugaku's patience had reached its limit for today.

"There is a reason Lord Second picked Hiruzen to be Hokage, instead of you. Do not forget that."
Fugaku said, tone hard.

Danzō's eye widened. For him, this was as close as he'd get to a true display of fury.

"And do not forget you had no choice in the matter of me becoming the Hokage. No matter how
much you may hate me… or my clan, for that matter — as any fool would notice…"

Fugaku glared at him, before finishing.

"…You are nothing more than a man who dwells in the shadows. Hiruzen knew it as well, and
whatever else he saw in you, I cannot say. Do not presume you can interfere in matters beyond
that."

Danzō's face went entirely blank.

"…Get out." Fugaku sighed.

Both of them had lost their tempers, here. Danzō… was Danzō, of course. But he expected better
of himself.

It was not the first time they fought, either.

Danzō shot him a last unreadable glance before leaving through the door, his cane echoing in the
empty hallway.

Naruto appeared in his old basement.

As far as he knew, Konoha's sensory unit focused more on the people coming in and out of the
village by passing through the barrier they had set up in a dome around it.

Hopefully, that would mean his entry hadn't been noticed, since he had teleported himself right in.

Well, if they did, he'd have to give a few explanations he wasn't really looking forward to. He
summoned a few clones, expending the least amount of chakra he could.

All twenty of them disguised themselves. They would sneak out of the house over the next few
hours. The Summer Festival would be starting in a few days, so they probably wouldn't be too
noticeable.

His only real goal in Konoha was finding the Fourth's safehouse. For this, he'd need to cover a lot
of ground. He likely had only a few days, the Hokage's invitation to stay being a temporary thing.

So there he was, walking the Leaf's streets alone, once more.

Hours later, he hadn't made any progress.

Naruto had searched for hours on end, with no real clue as to where he should go next. One by one,
his clones faded out as well, until no more remained.

The sun was setting, and there was a sweet floral scent in the air. Naruto was waiting by a bridge
over water, one that was mostly out of view. He heard footsteps behind him.
Naruto steeled himself. He set a short-range soundproof barrier.

"You know, old man… I was expecting you to show up a bit earlier." He said.

Sarutobi Hiruzen spoke. "I had trouble believing it was you at first. But your chakra, your true
chakra… Biwako and I must be the only people in the world, aside from that masked man, to have
felt it... before you disappeared."

Naruto turned to face him.

"…How you've grown, Naruto." Sarutobi said, his voice thick with emotion.

"And you've gotten much older… Sarutobi."

Hiruzen sighed. "This is not going to be a heartwarming family reunion, then?"

"You got that right."

Ever since Fugaku had told him about Orochimaru's latest project, Hiruzen had felt that things were
about to change.

Oh, there was a storm on the horizon already, and finely refined instincts told him that it wouldn't
be long before a Fourth Great War started.

What he didn't expect was to see someone rise from the dead.

Five years.

It had been more than five years already.

He and Biwako had weathered the loss with the resigned acceptance that life-long shinobi tended
to develop. Those who managed to cope, at least.

When people died, they took a lot of hopes, dreams and love with them. Despite himself, and his
reservations, he had started to put his faith in Naruto, back then.

Konohamaru had been inconsolable, and Hiruzen had to focus on the living, so he had pushed his
own grief aside to take care of his recently orphaned grandson.

Years had gone by in the blink of an eye.

And then, one day, Biwako had come to him, pale-faced, muttering something about having felt
Naruto's chakra in Konoha.

Not Sarutobi Naruto's, which was different in feeling, and intensity… but the one he had been born
with, as the son of Minato and Kushina. Touched by something otherworldly.

He had to know for sure.

But now...

Seeing him so strong and healthy brought all these feelings of loss back.

He didn't look like the boy that had been raised in the Sarutobi compound. The face was too
different, the hair long and blond, too. The whiskers he had been born with were once again visible.
And the purple eyes were a change.

So was the height, — he stood at a bit more than one meter ninety — as neither Minato nor
Kushina had been anywhere this tall… or broad.

The gigantic chakra presence, dwarfing his own, reminded him of his own sensei. His confidence,
his garments… This was Orochimaru's handiwork.

Naruto was a young man, now. A strong one, at that. Hiruzen felt emotion well up inside him,
again.

"It's good… to see you. Alive and well." Hiruzen began.

"No thanks to you." Naruto said flatly. "Your convoluted plans would have had me dead at
thirteen."

Hiruzen winced.

Naruto continued. Hiruzen could see that he was seemingly calm. "Now… Is it the time where you
tell me that everything you did was for my benefit… or for the benefit of the village?"

"It might not seem so…" The old man started. "But everything I did was what I thought was the
best choice, at the time. In hindsight… I have been wrong about many things."

Naruto snorted. "Oh? I thought this was the shinobi way. Lie, steal, kidnap, blackmail… kill.
There's only one of them that doesn't apply to what you did."

"Naruto…" He grimaced.

"And to some extent, I died for the village already." He shrugged. "Well, considering that's what I
signed for when I was… what? Six years old? It was probably deserved, wasn't it? I gave my
written consent, after all. Paid in blood."

"…"

"And even then, you pushed me, roped me into it, when all I wanted was to study in peace. Back
when I was too blind to even realize it. But then again… that was your way of ensuring both the
village and you accomplished their goals, wasn't it? A jinchūriki loyal to you… and the village, by
proxy."

Hiruzen said nothing.

Naruto interrupted him. "I have one question for you. Well, several, but... I find it very hard to
recall what I wanted to say in the first place."

He could understand that. Things could go haywire, no matter how prepared you were, when
emotions got involved.

"What is it?" Sarutobi asked, full of dread.

"Did you ever plan on telling me? About my parents. The real ones. Not the whore… not the
drunk. Not the ones I cried for at night, while you and your wife played distant grand-parents."
Naruto gritted out.

Hiruzen closed his eyes.

"At some point." He admitted.

"Once you were sure I was truly loyal, then."

There was no denying that. He nodded once.

"Do you remember how the clan used to see me, before they found out I actually had some talent,
some use? They felt I'd amount to nothing. Just like my 'father'."

"It's not…"

"I admired you. You used it to make me a willing servant to the village. What sort of loyalty do I
owe them?" Naruto continued.

"I..."

"You're going to say you raised me, trained me." Naruto folded his arms. "It is true, and
I am grateful for it. But... you gave me the bare minimum. I was a child. I craved parents, the
occasional hug... Some approval, from time to time. Not just a distant matron like Biwako's idea of
parenting. Not just a grandpa who mostly interacted with me to train me."

Naruto sighed, looking surprised that it had come out himself.

"Are you telling me that with all the power you had, you couldn't even find a single couple willing
to take me in...?" Naruto asked. "Or was there a more sinister reason for that? Did you need me to
be grateful, loyal to you specifically...?"

No answer came.

"That's what I thought. But... Never mind that. You did raise me." He admitted. "I wished things
had been different, but..."

"But they weren't." Hiruzen nodded. "I wish the same thing, too. And your feelings are valid. We
have failed you, in this."

They stared at each other in complete silence.

"I was never the greatest parent." Hiruzen admitted. He had been... and still was too much of a
shinobi for that. "There's a reason Asuma is rarely around. Biwako and I made all of you strong,
but..."

Decades of being the leader of a shinobi village had definitely not helped. The greater good of the
village always trumped personal feelings.

"I was better at raising soldiers than children."

"Yes. And that's what you did with me. Everything was made to make me consider only one
possibility. Becoming a shinobi. Did you want me to become a stronger weapon? Like Gaara… or
any other jinchuuriki?"

Naruto breathed out, before continuing.

"It's a perfect little loop you have here. Protect your friends. Your team. The people you care about.
All of them just so happen to be shinobi too."

Hiruzen said nothing. It was the truth, if put in the worst possible way. Naruto, being who he was,
would have to become strong. His fate had been sealed at birth.

"Did you plan on telling me about the Nine-Tails sealed within me? Or did you plan to wait until I
was eating out of your palm, as well?"

"Naruto…" Hiruzen said quietly. "I understand your feelings, but…"

Naruto had to restrain himself, keeping his voice down. "What about the fact about the fact that I
would have had someone to actually take care of me… If you didn't let them all die. What about
my mother's family?"

Hiruzen paled.

"…Who told you..? Orochimaru did." He sighed. "Of course he would."

"Oh, don't get me wrong. I know you probably didn't do it out of pure cruelty. I think I know what
you're going to tell me, even. That there was a war going on. You couldn't spare the troops, likely.
Is that it?"

"I… I had heard the rumors of forces gathering." Hiruzen admitted. "I decided it wasn't enough.
Uzu had defended itself for so long, it could likely manage. So when they asked for help
formally... it was too late."

"And Whirlpool died because of you. I get it. But hey, at least, Konoha didn't waste any troops.
Who cares about their allies of a half-century..?" Naruto shrugged. "The short-term good of the
village is more important."

"There's not a day that goes by where I don't feel regret over it." Hiruzen said, quietly.

"Doesn't look like it, considering what happened to the survivors… and how nothing is taught
about it in Konoha."

"That's…"

"For the good of the village, huh. As always. I expect that." Naruto nodded. "Ever the Kage."

"…If it's apologies you want, I will give them to you." Hiruzen bowed low, his head close to the
ground. "I did many terrible things, over the course of my life. As a Kage, as a man. For all I did to
you, the lies, the deceit, I apologize, Naruto. I am terribly sorry."

"Please get up, old man." Naruto said, looking directly in his eyes, a conflicted expression in his
eyes. He didn't want to see this. "I… have forgiven you already."

"…You did?"

"I won't deny it, I'm still… angry about it." Naruto gritted out. "Scratch that. I'm furious about it,
even after I had a long time to think it over."

Hiruzen waited for him to continue.

"But... You protected me, and you shielded me from some of the world's dangers. I lived to see
another day. And I wasn't alone, in the end. I wouldn't be who I am today… I wouldn't have met
the people I did… I wouldn't have been able to get out of here if you hadn't taken the decisions you
took... no matter how much I might hate it."

Naruto bowed to him.

"And for this… I thank you."

"Naruto…" Hiruzen said quietly. He probably looked like the frail old man he actually was. But
for once, he didn't feel like taking part in any sort of verbal jousting.

"I did not come here to lay blame." Naruto continued.

"…What did you come here for, then?"

Naruto thought about it.

"There's something I'm looking for." He settled for this.

"From me?"

"Answers, truth. Can you promise to answer honestly?"

He saw the old man hesitate. In the end, he let out a sigh and nodded. It was likely sentimentality.

"Yes. Ask me whatever it is you want to know."

"This is a matter of the utmost importance. More than just my own life is at stake here. It's about
stopping Akatsuki, as well." Naruto said, his face tight, noticing Sarutobi's eyes narrow as well.

"The masked man with the Sharingan...?" Sarutobi asked, surprising him. "Orochimaru mentioned
him. If he really is the same man... He's very likely to be the one who's responsible for your
parents's death, as he released the Nine-Tails. He claimed to be Uchiha Madara, but this could well
be a lie, after all."

Naruto said nothing, taking some time to think about it. He had been called Tobi, and that's how he
saw him anyway. Madara or not.

"I see." He nodded. "I... I never knew my parents, so it's hard for me to think about this clearly...
but this changes nothing. Unless you have something more specific to tell me about him. We will
take care of him anyway. That's a promise."

Sarutobi nodded slowly. He had nothing more to tell, then.

"That's not your question, is it...?" He asked.

"No." Naruto's eyes turned hard. "Where is the Fourth's safe-house?"

He saw Sarutobi recoil. "You know about it? How?"

"It doesn't matter, right now. Will you answer?"

Sarutobi hesitated again.

"…They've been destroyed. Both of them." Seeing Naruto's face darken, he continued. "I have
recovered anything we could salvage, including Minato's research and most of his scrolls."

"I see. Will you give them to me, then?"

"Are you planning on harming Konoha?"

"No. I want them to leave me alone, so that I can live my own life in peace."
"They might come after you anyway once they discover you are Minato's son." Sarutobi admitted.

"And I will tell them to fuck off, when the time comes. Respectfully." Naruto said, arms folded. "I
want nothing to do with Konoha. I have given my life for the village once, already. That's more
than enough."

"It might not stop them if they find out." Hiruzen warned.

"Who's going to tell them? You…?"

Sarutobi paused. He sighed. "…No. I won't tell. Fugaku knows about who you really are. He
thinks you are dead, though. But he's a smart man, he might realize soon."

"That's another reason why I don't intend on staying here for long." Naruto shot back. "Now…
Will you give my father's legacy?"

"…The techniques Minato was studying were dangerous ones. It's yours, but… The information
within these scrolls…."

"I don't care. What will you decide? Will you give them to me or not?"

Unbeknownst to them, there was a man listening in on them, his chakra entirely hidden, as they
concluded their conversation.

Sound didn't carry outside of their bubble, of course… But reading lips was something any spy
worth its salt had mastered.

There were a few things he would need to report to his true master.

And he would have to feed a different version of it to the man who thought he worked for him.
 The Gray Zone

Sarutobi had agreed to give Naruto what he had asked for.

In two days, somebody he trusted would come to deliver the scrolls to him. In the meantime, he
should keep a low profile.

Once night had fallen, he sneaked away back to his home in Umi.

Karin was sitting over the water. She noticed his expression.

"…Difficult day?"

He let out a pained noise. "You can say that, yes."

He felt emotionally exhausted.

Naruto told her everything. She just held his hand, nodding when it was appropriate.

"Once I get my father's scrolls, I'm out of this place. It's… It feels too strange, being there." He
said, starting at the lake.

She squeezed his hand. "I know."

The sat in silence.

He broke it. "Is Sakura here already…?"

"Not yet, not. Should be a few more days, still." Karin answered. "Why?"

Naruto paused. "Want to come inside?"

She grinned. "I was hoping you'd say that."

They didn't get much sleep that night.

Naruto only remembered he had promised to spar with Toru when the guy found him as he was
eating lunch in a small shop.

"I was about to ask if you were ready… but considering how much food you ordered… It might be
a while before you're good to go." Toru pointed at the three plates of food lined up in front of
Naruto. "Are you waiting for someone?"

"Nah. I'm hungry, that's all."

"…Man, that's worse than an Akimichi."

"I'm a growing boy."

"Are you…?" He was already gigantic.

"Eh. I think I might be done by now, actually." Naruto shrugged.

Toru's stomach grumbled. All this food had reminded him he had not eaten yet. "And I'll sit down
with you, if you don't mind."

Naruto laughed a bit, remembering the boy from his childhood. "As long as you get your own
food."

They headed toward the training grounds, after that.

"Tell me, Toru…" Indra started.

"…Yup?"

He frowned. "Are these Hyūga grounds…?"

Toru looked at him in surprise. "No. Why would they be?"

Indra pointed his finger toward the north-east. "The same girl as last time is right behind this patch
of trees."

"No way."

"You again?!" Hanabi screamed, flying through the trees. "What are you doing on my team's
grounds?"

"Aw c'mon." Toru groaned. This time, he was actually innocent. Which she likely wouldn't
believe, of course.

Indra tried. "Hyūga-san, I think this is an honest mistake."

She glared at him. "I don't even know who you are in the first place."

He shrugged. "I'm just here for a few days."

Toru tried to jump on the opportunity. "Yup. Exactly. Let us use the grounds today and then we'll
be on our way."

A vein throbbed on Hanabi's forehead. Damn. How could she be sweet Hinata's sister…?

She took a deep breath, trying to calm down. "Why don't you go see your cousin, anyway? He
should be almost there, at this hour, my sister tells me."

"Sasuke's back…?" Toru said, suddenly excited. "Well, shit. Indra! Mind if we have our spar
later..? Actually, why don't you come with me? My cousin's a bit of a square, but maybe you'd get
along."

Toru vanished with a Body Flicker, breaking a branch. Behind him, Indra's face turned carefully
blank, before he shrugged.

He jumped after him.

Hanabi screamed some obscenities after Toru.

Uchiha Sasuke went through the village gates.

Jiraiya was not with him at the moment. They had split just a few hours ago, the Sanin apparently
going on ahead to Suna for negotiations.

He let out a long sigh. It had been a six-months long mission, and he had missed home.

Sasuke's eyes scanned the crowd. His Sharingan was on most of the time, by now, the Bijū's
chakra and healing preventing him from feeling any real strain.

'There.'

Hinata was waiting for him, with a dazzling smile.

"Sasuke-kun."

Both of them being their respective clan leader's children, things such as showing affection in
public were supposed to be beneath them.

Today, after six months away, Sasuke ignored all that, choosing to take her into his arms instead.
She let out a cute little noise when he gave her a deep kiss, but reciprocated. Somebody whistled.

Hearing that snapped him out of his trance. Standing on the rooftops were Toru, as well as a huge
blond man he knew he had never seen before.

They both jumped down.

"Is this a bad moment?" Toru asked, laughing.

Sasuke sighed, with a fond smile. "I didn't really expect anything else, honestly."

Hinata laughed.

Naruto met Sasuke for the first time in years.

The first thing he noticed was how powerful… dense his chakra was.

Toru was strong, and had chakra reserves that put most Uchiha's to shame, including Shisui and
Itachi — though that was according to him, so...

Sasuke's dwarfed Toru's. And they were even larger than his own, which didn't happen all too
often. His chakra had a strange quality to it, though.

There was no real separation between his own… and the One-Tail's chakra. It wasn't entirely
human, and it wasn't really a Bijū's either. It stood somewhere in the middle, calm and furious at
the same time, wind and fire.

He had grown tall, and compared to when he had still been a child, there was no doubt about
his own ability in his eyes. His was the look of a man who had proven his worth, his strength… to
himself and the world.

Toru seemed to still be struggling some with being compared to his own prodigious brother, from
what little Naruto had gleaned.

Sasuke, on the other hand, wasn't running after his brother's shadow anymore.

It made Naruto happy.

And to some degree, walking casually down the streets to the Hokage Tower, with Toru and
Sasuke, — as well as his fiance, apparently — felt like the old days.

Of course, a part of him, more cynical, told him this wouldn't last.

"Umi, then?" Hinata asked.

"Yes. I'll be leaving in about two days." Indra confirmed.

"I don't think I've ever heard of it before. No offense meant, Indra." Sasuke thought aloud.

"None taken. It's a new village."

"Did you come here for business, then?" Sasuke asked.

"Nah, not exactly."

"He came to copy our fancy Fire jutsu." Toru grinned.

"…Aren't you guys the clan of copycats?"

Toru pretended to look offended. "I would never dare."

Hinata laughed softly. Sasuke grumbled something.

"What did you say?" Indra asked.

"We can't just copy techniques like this anymore. There was an… incident a few years ago."
Sasuke repeated.

"…Are you blushing?" Indra asked, squinting his eyes.

"He really is!" Toru grinned.

"Something you did, then?" Indra continued.

Sasuke didn't elaborate. Hinata did, instead.

"My clan and his had something of… a rivalry going on."

"Even now, actually." Toru interjected.

She nodded gracefully. "This is true. So when Sasuke here copied and used some of our clan's most
prized techniques against my cousin, in the Chūnin exams, five years ago…"

"He got into trouble with both clans." Toru laughed. Sasuke wisely said nothing, looking
elsewhere. "It took him years to muster the courage to announce that he and Hinata were dating."

Sasuke groaned. "Neji — her cousin — used to be insufferable after the exams. He'd have done
his best to convince her father that I was about the worst person Hinata could choose. Not that he
needed much convincing."

"My father is not that bad." Hinata defended.

Sasuke just gave her a flat look. She looked away, amused.
Indra asked. "What happened to this Neji guy?"

Hinata stiffened.

"…That's a story for another time, I believe." Sasuke said.

"A complete success, then?" Fugaku asked.

"I would say so, Father." Sasuke nodded.

Fugaku chuckled. "I didn't expect anything else from my son. This should appease tensions with
Iwa for the foreseeable future. You did well, Sasuke."

Sasuke smiled. When he had been a child, he had always craved his father's approval, and in the
last few years, he had gotten it. He didn't feel the same need for it, but it always felt good to be
acknowledged.

"Thank you, Father."

"You are dismissed."

"Will you be home for dinner? Mother's making Katsudon. Itachi's here, too."

There was a lot Fugaku needed to do and-

"…Yes. I will be."

"Good."

Sasuke smiled and left.

Despite how familiar everything felt, when he was around his graduation class… things were
entirely different. The fact that they wouldn't tell him about what happened with Neji exactly was a
reminder that he was an outsider.

Well, this would be over soon, anyway.

Naruto was eating ramen in a small stall he could remember from his childhood. Tomorrow, he'd
be free to leave.

"Mind if I sit here?" Naruto heard someone ask.

He almost choked on his noodles, when he picked her chakra up. Instead, he played it cool.

"Sure, go ahead, Ino."

"You remember my name, then?" She asked, sitting on the stool next to his.

"You're easy to remember."

"So you are a flirt. Probably say this to every girl, don't you?"

"Only on Tuesdays."

She snorted. "Never heard this one before."

"I like to think I came up with it, yes." Naruto deadpanned.

Ino ordered some ramen, as well.

"Tell me." He started. "What brings you here tonight?"

"Oh…?" She smirked. "So you're not all muscles and brawn?"

He gave her a flat look. "Nah. I like to think I have a decent brain, too. Glad you noticed the huge
muscles, though. That's definitely what they're here for."

Ino laughed, almost punching his shoulder, before deciding against it, seemingly perplexed as to
why she would in the first place.

Naruto continued. "Assuming you're not here to keep watch on me… Likely not interested in
joining my village…" He gave her a little smirk. "Not here for my beautiful eyes either."

"Go on." She said. "I'm sure you can figure it out."

"Trying to get some free food, definitely."

She paused, blinking. Then a chuckle escaped her. Followed by another, until she's full-on
laughing.

"My god, you're such an ass."

"Thank you."

"I take it your awful sense of humor is why he's interested in you."

"Sarutobi? Yeah, we're just sharing bad jokes."

Ino snorted. "Right."

"I didn't expect you to be the person he'd send to me."

"Because I'm a woman?" She said innocently.

Naruto snorted. "What does this even have to do with it?"

She shrugged. "You'd never guess what some people believe."

"And you would?"

"Well… I kinda am a mind-reader."

"If you're so good… What am I thinking now?" He asked.

She rolled her eyes. "With only eye contact, I can only skim surface thoughts."

"That should be enough." He grinned.

She hesitated. "Look, if you're going to show me something perverted, forget about it."

"It won't be." He assured.

"…This is so stupid."
Still, she stared into his eyes.

Then, she abruptly stopped with a disgusted noise.

"God my eyes! Whyyyy?" She mimed puking. "What the hell is wrong with you…?"

Naruto was laughing. This time, she punched his shoulder.

"I just wanted to try if it actually worked, that's all." He apologized.

"Ugh. Why Sarutobi, though…?" She groaned.

Naruto just shrugged.

"First guy that came to mind."

"I don't think your mind is a place I want to be in."

"Shame."

He let her start to eat. She started chuckling. Then she was laughing so hard she had to stop, and
some people were noticing.

"See? You find it funny, too." He grinned.

Ino was red-faced, trying to get the picture out of her head.

"Yeah. I guess. Might be worth erasing my own memories, though."

"Up to you."

They resume eating, in comfortable silence.

"Tomorrow." She said, breaking it.

"Huh?"

"Tomorrow, I'll get you the scrolls you requested from Sarutobi."

"Ah. Very well. Thank you, Ino."

"It's not really on me. I'm just the delivery woman."

"Still."

She nodded graciously. "The Hokage has to approve of their content, before anything, apparently.
…You're not smuggling anything illegal…?" Ino asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

Sarutobi hadn't said anything like that before. Hopefully, this wouldn't be any trouble.

"Well, if it were… I wouldn't tell you, would I?" He asked, staring into her eyes. "Plus the
Hokage is gonna take a look, anyway."

"…I guess so."

"Well… In that case, I will meet you tomorrow. Any specific place?"
Ino nodded. "Sure, let me tell you…"

Naruto went back to Umi that night.

No matter how casual he tried to be about the whole being in Konoha thing, he was shaken. Seeing
everybody was making him feel unbalanced.

Sakura apparently wasn't here yet, either.

Karin seemed to notice how he felt. They sparred until the middle of the night.

Sleep didn't come easy, so instead of wasting time turning in bed, he started tinkering with a few
ideas he had wanted to try out, but never found the time for.

Including some that were a bit more abstract, such as emotion-driven barriers, which turned out to
be a royal pain in the ass to even get started with.

Karin, being the patient woman that she was, stayed up to help, until they both passed out.

There would not be any wasting time, tomorrow. He'd get out of the village as soon as possible.

Yamanaka Ino went to meet Sarutobi Hiruzen.

"Show this one to Fugaku, Ino." The Third said, handing her a blue scroll.

She bowed. "I will, Sarutobi-sama."

"And this one…" He added, handing her a purple one. "This one, you shall give to Indra directly."

Ino hesitated. This was a breach of protocol, she was pretty sure. Sarutobi looked her in the eye.

"I won't lie to you, Ino, as you have proven to be more apt at mind reading than anybody since
Hisagi died…"

She took the compliment for what it was. The truth. Her own father had been better, when it came
to disrupting, controlling and destroying people's minds.

But she had already surpassed him when it came to the softer side of things. Sometimes, she
wondered if he'd be proud. Well, no. Knowing him, he would have been.

But knowing it was not the same thing. She missed her father, his reassuring presence. Every day.
And she knew her mother did, as well.

But she was a shinobi, and her mother was strong. They would manage.

The Third continued. "These scrolls need to reach Indra. Particularly the latter one. This… could
be about more than Konoha itself."

What was all this about?

"And Ino… I have one question for you."

"Ask me anything."

"Did Indra… harbor any ill will toward Konoha at all?" Sarutobi asked, face unreadable.
She wasn't surprised by the question at all. This sort of cursory scan was one of the reasons the
Yamanaka were considered one of the most important clans in Konoha.

And it was part of the reason she had been acting so casually with the man. That was not to say that
she hadn't enjoyed the banter.

"…I didn't do much more than skim his thoughts yesterday." She mused. "But… No. No, I don't
think so. Or rather, if he does, it is not strong enough to reach the forefront of his mind."

Sarutobi let out a long sigh. "Good. That's… very good. Thank you, Ino. I knew you were the right
choice for this."

"I wish I could tell you more, but it would require more overt techniques… or him being asleep."

"I don't believe this will be needed." Sarutobi packed and lit his pipe with deft hands that betrayed
his age. "This is all I can ask of you. And of him." He muttered.

Ino didn't ask anything. She wanted to, though.

Sarutobi blew smoke. "The Hokage would understand the need for this, but there are too many
things at play here. Too many eyes, too. Secrecy is needed. You don't have to accept, though."

Ino hesitated.

In the end, her trust in Sarutobi won.

"I will make sure that they reach him."

Ino stood in front of the Hokage.

The blue scroll was open in front of him, his red eyes scanning over its content in a fraction of the
time it would normally take for a person to read it.

Despite herself, Ino felt guilty. She was deceiving someone who was, by all accounts, a fair man.

"I see." He said. "Some of the contents are a bit… on the dangerous side of things, but if Hiruzen
trusts this Indra… I shall trust him too."

Yes. She definitely felt guilty.

"You may deliver the scroll to him, Yamanaka-san."

"Yes. I shall do so, Hokage-sama."

As she turned to leave, the Hokage took another sip of his tea, and he let out a choked cough soon
after.

Was he okay? She took a look at him. He motioned for her to go on.

She left the room.

The Hokage stood in front of his Council, in the same room.

Danzo, Koharu, Homura. As well as Nara Shikaku, Jōnin Commander.

"The Iwa border situation is under control, then. Thanks to Sasuke." Koharu said.

Fugaku nodded, not trusting his voice.

Homura added. "Now, with Jiraiya re-negotiating trade agreements with Suna, we should likely be
able to keep a tentative peace with them, as well."

"I don't trust Suna." Danzo spoke. "Ever since they lost their unstable Container, they've been
pushing, prodding for compensation."

Fugaku let out a cough. When all eyes turned upon him, he waved them off. Danzo glared at him,
as if he had done it on purpose.

"Konoha is stronger than Suna. We should use this to our advantage." The old man continued.

"This would worsen relationships with Kiri." Shikaku began. "Their alliance is a recent one, but it
seems to hold strong."

"Kumo would not mind crushing them, if it came to it." Danzo shot back.

Cough.

This was strange. Had he fallen ill…?

"Iwa would not stand by idly, if we just started asserting our power in such an overt way. They
would fear being the next." Homura's voice rose a bit.

"And what can Iwa do, with no strong ties to their allies?" Danzo questioned. "Konoha has never
been as strong as it is today. Kumo would follow our lead."

Fugaku let out a rattling cough.

"Hokage-sama…?" Koharu asked.

Blood. Huh. This was not good. He coughed again. And again.

"Call a medic. Now." Shikaku said, urgently.

Was he looking that bad..?

He was feeling kinda weak.

Another cough. More blood. Way more blood. His hands shook.

He tried to call upon his Sharingan. More out of habit than anything else. He couldn't.

The Council members rushed to him, all of them.

He just wanted them to give him some space.

Fugaku couldn't breathe.

He thought of his family. Of his friends. Those that were alive. Those that had died.

His parents.

Asahi. Setsuna. Saburo.

Itachi. Sasuke.

Miko-

"Somebody call… someone! The Hokage was just murdered!"

 To Kill a Shadow

As soon as he was warned, the Daimyo called an emergency meeting.

It would take place the next day, and in the meantime, the news would have to be contained.

To date, no Hokage had ever been assassinated in cold blood.

The First had people trying, of course. The latest being a young man from Taki. All of them had
failed.

The Second had died during the war, taking down some of Kumo's best and brightest with him,
crippling its military.

The Third was the only living Hokage. Living proof that the job did not necessarily have to end up
in death.

The Fourth had cemented his place in Konoha's legend as a bright, self-sacrificing hero who had
taken a mythical monster down.

And now, this. The Fifth, a man who had tried his best to mend so many different bridges…

Murdered in his own home.

Nobody in the village knew about it yet, but the Uchiha clan had undoubtedly noticed their
Hokage had not come home last night.

"What a fucking mess." Nara Shikaku sighed, echoing what most people in the room were
thinking, even though formality meant they would not say it in present company.

The Daimyo sat alone on his side of the table.

On his right side was his committee of advisors.

On his left, the Konoha Council, as well as an ANBU representative and Nara Shikaku.

Utatane Koharu had an expression of distaste on her face, either resenting the bind they found
themselves in… or the Nara's crude wording. "Lord Daimyo… The situation is grim. With Fugaku
dead, our enemies won't hesitate to take advantage of our momentary bout of weakness."

"Can we not simply ask Hiruzen to step back in?" The Daimyo asked, fanning his face. "He has
been doing a good job of things, hasn't he?"

"Hiruzen was a great Hokage." Homura spoke, willing to concede as much. "But his time has
passed. Not because of his age, mind you, but because he has already stepped down twice. I fear
asking him once more might lead Konoha to a worse situation than the one we're facing now. A
reluctant leader is the last thing we need."

"I see, I see…" The Daimyo said, nodding slowly. "What about Jiraiya… or even Orochimaru?"

Danzō stood up. "Jiraiya is one of our best field agents. But he is unfit to rule. His teachings, and
by proxy… the Third's teachings, are what led the Fourth to die after putting personal feelings
above the village's needs. Orochimaru…" He paused. "Once, he would have made a strong
Hokage. This time, too, has passed. His loyalty is uncertain, and his personal ambitions might lead
to him using the village as a stepping stone. He is not a viable candidate either."

Shikaku frowned. "I nominate Uchiha Shisui."

"Oh!" The Daimyo let out a surprised little noise. "He is an interesting one, isn't he? I like him very
much."

Danzō squinted. 'Imbecile.'

"He's strong. Well-known and an upstanding man." One of the advisors said.

"He's too young." Danzō said. "There is no doubt that in the future, he might be a worthy
candidate, but he doesn't have the experience needed to lead us through the conflict that is coming
our way."

Praising him felt as though he had bitten something sour, but if this were what was needed, Danzō
would not hesitate. Shikaku took a long look at him.

He continued, Koharu nodding in approval. "For the same reasons, as well as the fact that both of
them are too soft, plagued by too much unneeded compassion… Hatake Kakashi, and yes, even
Uchiha Itachi are not viable options."

"These three are the best options we have, aside from the two Sanin." Shikaku argued. "Not yet in
their physical prime, leadership, strength and willingness. If their youth proves to be too much…
Since Jiraiya-sama refused last time, Orochimaru-sama might be the best option."

The Daimyo, fickle as ever, seemed to be swayed by Shikaku.

"Besides, there's no one else-"

"Let's hear Danzō finish, Shikaku." Homura interrupted.

"The sort of Hokage needed in such times is someone who can lead Konoha to come out victorious
in the coming war!" When the Daimyo paused, he continued. "Because a war is what is coming, I
guarantee you this much. Fugaku might have tried to ignore it, but I won't stand here and hide the
truth from all of you."

"A war, you say?" The Daimyo muttered. "That is a pretty big thing to say."

"It is, indeed, Lord Daimyo." Homura nodded. "But I fear Danzō might be right. Our enemies are
growing stronger each day."

"It won't be long before the Suna-Kiri coalition… and even Iwa, too." Koharu finished. "Oppose us
more directly. Someone who has been through several wars already is our best option."

'Ah, so that's what they've been planning.' Shikaku thought.

"Lord Daimyo-" He started.

"Let Danzō finish, Shikaku." The Daimyo waved off. "Who do you propose, then?"

"To make Konoha even greater… and stay this way. Somebody who knows how to fight a real war
is needed." Danzō paused. "After living through two of them, I believe I am the best suited person.
The Hokage… should be me!"

"That is not our w-" Shikaku contested.

"Yes… I have decided." The Daimyo nodded, proud of his choice.

'No way.'

"I name Danzō Sixth Hokage."

Danzō nodded gracefully, hiding his triumph.

"I thank you for your faith in me, Lord Daimyo."

"As my first act as Hokage, I will find justice for Fugaku." Danzō declared, once the Daimyo was
gone.

Homura and Koharu nodded.

Shikaku shot a hard look at Danzō. The Daimyo was a fickle fool, as all five of them knew. But he
was the most openly powerful man in the land.

Now, Danzō was only second to him. It only took a few minutes for the village to take a sharp turn.

What was he planning now…?

"I have many men and women investigating his murder, as we speak. With the right tools,
people… and corpses can speak… even beyond the grave." Danzō said, his lone eye dark.

To Shikaku… This meant nothing, since as Hokage, Danzō could have whoever he wanted sent to
investigate. And he knew firsthand how devious Danzō could be.

"How did this happen in the first place?" Shikaku asked. "There are ANBU whose sole role is to
prevent this. Where were they?"

"They did their role, and they tasted his food, his drinks." Danzō said. "They found nothing."

"Then… how?"

"I have asked them already. Fugaku dismissed them at some point. That's the only window of
opportunity the assassin had."

Shikaku frowned.

'If only Inoichi were alive.'

Not only because he had been incredible at digging into dead people's brains.

They had been teammates for decades, and he could use his friend's support. He would have to
speak with Chōza soon, too, despite the orders not to share the news.

"Are there any suspects?" He asked, despite the thousands of other things he truly wanted to
scream.

Danzō nodded. "As a matter of fact, yes. The poison that was used is a rare, immediate one."

The ANBU in the room nodded. "We found traces of it in Fugaku-sama's tea… and his body. The
amount in the cup would have been more than enough to incapacitate and kill a man of his size. It
inhibits brain functions, as well, and he probably didn't even realize what was happening."
Danzō continued. "Yesterday, according to his schedule, there was only one person who had access
to the cup he drank. That would be the last person he met before all of us. As Shikaku can attest,
Fugaku was already drinking from the cup when we arrived."

Shikaku nodded. He had noticed the steaming cup when he had arrived, and had thought nothing of
it, since Fugaku had his own habits. Tea was preferable to Hiruzen's tobacco, as far as keeping in
fighting shape went, anyway.

Well, until yesterday.

"Well…" Danzō concluded. "There is only one person that could have done it. We are
interrogating her, as we speak."

'Her?'

Shikaku wondered.

Yesterday.

"Yamanaka Ino. Come with us." The four ANBU said, cutting off any escape route.

"…With you guys?" She tried to laugh. "I assume it's important, then."

Had they somehow found out about the scrolls? Was this about something else?

One of the ANBU restrained her.

"Ouch! Hey, knock it off!"

Shit. And she had not even managed to deliver either.

On the other side of the village, the man named Indra waited. And waited.

As a Yamanaka, Ino had tortured people. Pushed them until they broke. When it had been needed,
she had killed them afterward.

Any shinobi would understand this: No village was good.

Shinobi could be heroes to some. And still, they would be monsters to others.

From what she understood, the Fifth had been assassinated, and she was the prime suspect. Which,
she was sure, she'd feel terrible about — this was Sasuke's dad, before anything… if she hadn't
spent the last twenty hours being interrogated.

Her stay in the holding cells was even more unpleasant than expected.

Being subject to mind-reading had been bad enough, but she had been trained against it, so this was
not a first. One of the men was a Yamanaka, then.

She had expected it to end here, since she had willingly let them access these specific memories, in
the naive hope they would let her go once they realized she had nothing to do with it.

It wasn't enough, apparently. There were things she had to keep hidden, the most recent one being
the scrolls she had been tasked to deliver.
Her refusal to give them complete access to her mind gave them enough reason to go on.

In return, she told them nothing but the truth. That she had nothing to do with the assassination.
They felt she was lying, withholding something important… or they simply didn't care.

Either way, she wasn't going to talk.

Which didn't mean she was going to enjoy the beatings, of course.

If her hunch was right, — and it probably was, as she knew Konoha's interrogation methods pretty
well, by now — they would likely bind her soon, and start suffocating her, see if physical torture
would help.

At the very least, it would lower, if not break her mental defenses. She would be in real trouble,
then.

Maybe Asuma-sensei, Shikamaru, Chōji… or any of their families would be able to do something?

Leveraging their political power might accomplish something… or it might not. Konoha wasn't
fucking around, when it came to assassinations in their own village.

Especially not a Kage.

Whoever the new person in charge was, he wasn't taking any chances.

Who was it likely to be…? She would try to figure it out over the next few days. It would at least
give her something to focus on… rather than the torture.

A purpose was a decent way to keep your mind through tough times, her father had said.

Once more, she wished he was still alive.

Uchiha Sasuke marched toward the Hokage's desk room, tears rolling down his face.

The ANBU in front of the door hesitated. One of them tried to grab his shoulder, but flames burned
his hand, once he got too close.

"Let him through." A voice came from inside.

'Danzō…' He thought, and it felt as though even his mind were distant from him.

When Itachi had come this morning, his face heavy with sorrow, to announce that their father had
been murdered, their mother had fallen to the floor.

Sasuke's first reaction, besides taking her in his arms, absently noting that Itachi did as well…

Well, his first reaction had been denial. Their father was one of the strongest, wisest men in the
village. He was… He was…

He was not supposed to die. Not now. They just had dinner, had laughed together, as the close
family they were, the evening before.

As he started walking to the tower, just a few hours later, he felt… empty.

There was an unbearable hole in his heart. With it came the realization that his father was just a
mortal man, after all. Everything ended here. There would be no more happy memories to be made,
no proud smiles to be seen.

His father wouldn't take walks with his sons in the evenings, or have tea with his wife in the
mornings. He wouldn't teach him anything, ever again.

The tears started rolling.

'Uchiha don't cry where others can see.'

Sasuke found he didn't care.

But by the time he reached the Tower, anger started burning. He knew his eyes had likely shifted
in their most advanced form, from the scared looks the people he passed gave him.

Now that he was standing in front of Danzō, a man that had hated his father even more than his
father had hated him in turn…

(Not that his father ever said much about it, but knowing the man as well as he did, it was
obvious.)

A man that had taken his father's position before his body was even laid to rest…

A man who likely rejoiced from it, too…

And a man who could even have been the one to orchestrate the whole thing in the first place, no
matter how far out this seemed.

"Uchiha Sasuke." The impostor in the Hokage's hat… his father's hat said.

Instead of throwing accusations around, the way he really wanted to, he gritted out. "What
happened…?"

Danzō closed his eyes, in what looked like mourning - determination - duty - anger, even to his
Sharingan. If he were faking it, he was one of the best actors Sasuke had seen.

"It is exactly as you've heard. Your father, Uchiha Fugaku has been assassinated."

"…Who did it?" Sasuke muttered.

"We have found traces of a rare poison within his blood stream. And the same was found within
the tea he had drunk." Danzō sighed. "There is only one village that has the knowledge of how to
prepare it."

"I said. Who…?"

The demon inside him stirred some, reacting to his strong emotions.

"I am getting to it, Sasuke." Danzō allowed what sounded like sympathy to bleed in his tone. "The
poison is one that Suna has used to murder our people in the past."

"Suna…? This makes no sense. Jiraiya-sensei is right there, as we speak! Negotiating!"

Danzō nodded. "And one of our spies there confirmed that some of the highly-controlled
ingredients were stolen just a few days ago. Jiraiya is back on his way as we speak, and the
agreements are canceled. Entirely."
"There's… No way." Sasuke breathed out. "Do you expect me to believe this? That doesn't prove
anything in regards to… my… to…"

"I didn't want to, either. Despite my distrust of Suna… And my complicated relationship with your
father." He acknowledged with a wince. Sasuke glared at him. That was an understatement. "I
won't pretend we were good friends, but we shared love for this village, and we chose that it
mattered more than our petty conflicts. And… Yesterday, the ANBU found proof that one of our
own has been compromised. This person entered contact with a foreign agent that delivered the
poison to her. Both are still in the village."

"A foreign agent…?" There was one person that immediately jumped to his mind. But there was no
way that…

"We don't know how involved in the plot this person is yet, nor Suna's part in it… but one thing is
for sure." Danzō continued. "I had a neutral party review the suspect's memories. There is no
doubt. The suspect is the one who killed the Fifth, likely under a foreign village's orders."

Danzō's next words seemed distant, as Sasuke tried to wrap his mind around the words he had just
uttered.

"We are still trying to get her to break, but… she has been too well trained." He sighed. "I will get
the answers out of her, anyway. No matter the cost."

"I will only believe something like this if there's proof. Where is this person?" Sasuke gritted out.
With his Sharingan, he could get to the truth.

"You'll be able to talk to her as soon as we're done with her." Danzō nodded. "Prudence is good in a
shinobi, Sasuke. And despite what you may think… I'm sorry about your father."

His patience spent, Sasuke left the tower. To where, he was not sure himself.

But anywhere would be better than facing Danzō right now. It wouldn't do to attack the… new
Hokage on the first day.

Later that night, inside the Tower, Danzō made plans for the future of Konoha.
 The Underbelly

Naruto had been waiting for Ino for a while.

Knowing Sarutobi as well as he did, the man had likely been telling the truth, when he had said that
he was going to give him what he had asked for.

Well, he hoped so, at least. Otherwise, things were going to become a bit more complicated.

There was something happening in the village, something big. There had been a flurry of activity
around the Tower, with a few agitated chakra signatures coming in and out of it.

Whatever Fugaku was doing, he wasn't sure. Nobody was allowed in the Tower, according to what
he had heard some people say. Not that he was about to get in there again.

He'd have to stay in the village, in case Ino was planning on meeting him at night. But finely honed
instincts told him something was off.

So he created a Shadow Clone, who would sleep in an inn, while he hid himself in his old house.

Another would walk through the village under a disguise, looking for more intel.

That's how Naruto spent his night. Meditating. Waiting.

The Uchiha clan waited too.

Despite the terrible news not supposed to be out in the open, any clan member held in high esteem
knew that the Hokage had been killed already.

They would mourn silently for now, waiting for the time they could celebrate Uchiha Fugaku's life
and times properly... And for the assassin to be revealed, so that they could get their revenge.

In the meantime, several of the families gathered in quiet houses, sharing a meal in the company of
the living.

Fugaku's funeral would be a grandiose event.

Uchiha were born in fire, and in the fire they departed.

During the night, Naruto's clone pretended to sleep.

What he was actually doing was extend his sensory abilities, waiting for Ino… or something to
happen.

In the middle of the night, this something happened, in the form of four masked men who entered
his room silently. They were good, the clone figured.

Even their chakra signatures were so dampened that he could barely notice them. If he truly had
been sleeping, he wouldn't have noticed anything.

Curious as to what their goal was, he let them apply several tags to his body with a feather's touch.
Huh.
His chakra was out of reach. Binding seals, then. If they had been a touch stronger, he might even
have dispelled entirely.

They bound him with a strong rope after that, to which he couldn't pretend to be asleep anymore.

"Hey! What the hell is this?! Who are you?" He shouted.

To no effect, as they also had applied a seal that prevented him from speaking. And they covered
his eyes of course. Something was done to his smell and hearing, too.

The masked men didn't bother answering his confusion. Instead, the strongest looking of the bunch
threw him over his shoulder, leaving through the window.

A kidnapping, then? If they didn't try to kill him, they likely needed him alive. Was this about
Orochimaru…? He wouldn't be too surprised if the man just so happened to have done a few things
that warranted more attention from the village.

Konoha had likely decided they wanted to torture him for whatever information they thought he
had.

Strangely enough, he was not particularly worried.

The most obvious reason, of course, being that he was only a clone.

Then there was the fact that he didn't intend to stay in Konoha for long. As long as he managed to
get the scrolls from Ino, the rest — including his relationship with the village — did not matter.

Finally…

This was the exact kind of thing he had come to expect from a ninja village. What was next,
torture? Followed by a mind-wipe to make him forget it had happened in the first place?

He was almost curious.

So he made a mental map of Konoha, and used chakra sensing — still workable under restraints, if
harder — to figure out where they were bringing him.

Under the cover of the night, they moved toward what Naruto knew was not Konoha's Intelligence
Division.

Were they playing some sort of waiting game?

They had dumped him in a dark holding cell for the entire night… as well as the whole morning.

There was somebody, in a remote room, yelling periodically. Even with his impaired hearing, he
could hear as much. He could not reach far enough with his sensing ability to figure much more.

Part of him wanted to dispel himself to warn the original, but he found out the hard way that he
could not even do that much. Maybe if he bit his tongue hard enough...

So he waited.

In the meantime, he was focusing what chakra he could spare into the seals, learning their inner
workings... and undoing them slowly.
Sarutobi Hiruzen was smoking like a chimney.

A bad habit of his, he knew, and one that both of his sons had picked up over time. One that got
worse when his nerves were frazzled.

It was something he had unfortunately gotten in the habit of doing back when he first became
Hokage.

His father, Sarutobi Sasuke, had been smoking for as long as he could remember.

When he died, during the First Great War, Hiruzen had tried it out, out of curiosity… and wanting
something to remember his father by.

It had been a thoroughly unpleasant experience, so he had decided not to repeat it.

The stress of the Hokage position made him change his tune quickly.

And now… Fugaku was dead.

He felt sorrow, for yet another Hokage he saw dying during his lifetime.

It felt as though he had condemned him himself by offering him the position.

Would he have been the one to die instead if he had chosen to step back up?

Would things have been better?

He had left this kind of politics behind, choosing not to take the spot he had earned himself on the
Council.

He had made too many mistakes already. Whenever Fugaku had asked for his advice, he had come
through. But that was where he had drawn the line.

And now, Danzō was Hokage.

Danzō, who had helped him as faithfully as Koharu or Homura did since the very beginning.

Danzō, who despite his flaws, his fears… Because they were fears, Hiruzen knew his old friend as
well as anyone could claim to. In spite of them, he loved and wanted to protect Konoha as much as
Hiruzen himself did.

Danzō, who had adopted an even more ruthless version of Tobirama-sensei's teachings.

Danzō, who was more suited for the shadows than the light.

And there stood the crux of the problem.

At this point in time, Danzō and underhanded methods seemed to be the world's oldest friends.

What would he do when he was in power…? Hiruzen found that he was somewhat worried.

Fugaku had been assassinated.

And some part of Hiruzen, no matter how much he still trusted his friend, told him that if Danzō
had believed this to be in Konoha's best interest… He wouldn't have thought twice before killing
him, no matter the fact he was the Kage. That also meant he would blame someone… or
something.

As far as powerful ninja went, Fugaku had already been overtaken by both of his sons, as well as
Shisui, of course. And that was no big deal.

His leadership had been one focused on maintaining peace.

And he had done pretty good on that. But through events that were not of his own doing, war was
at their door.

Danzō was right about that much.

And as loathe as Hiruzen was to admit it… Danzō was likely to be a better war-time Hokage.

Even then, Hiruzen worried.

He had learned about Fugaku's death from Itachi, who was not supposed to tell him in the first
place.

The less people knew, the more time Konoha would have to prepare for the coming storm.

He hadn't heard from Ino, or even Naruto.

He hoped everything had gone smoothly.

Ah, Naruto…

His handling of the situation was something else weighing him down.

Hiruzen took another puff of his pipe, thinking about and mourning for another younger man that
he had led to his death.

As far as being imprisoned went, this was a bit different from what he had expected, Naruto's clone
thought.

There was no torture, and whatever guards he could notice through sensing were doing a great job
of ignoring him.

He was making some progress with the limiters placed on him. The one on his sight was the first
one to go. Which was not that helpful, considering he was still blindfolded.

The amount of chakra he could access was a bit larger, though, which was the main reason he had
taken the time to undo it.

Which meant his chakra sensing ability told him something that he would need to investigate.
Why?

Because Ino was somewhere in here.

Where exactly was hard to pinpoint, since he was still limited.

Whether she was a friend or a foe, he did not know. She could be working with them, for all he
knew.

But she had the scrolls that might mean life or death to him. Naruto was not about to leave without
them. Hopefully, this was not a setup by Sarutobi, either.

He still had his hands bound behind him, but it was time to apply something Sarutobi had taught
him, years ago.

Kage Bunshin was based on several principles. One of them was the following.

"Even if you split up and disperse your chakra, as long as you keep even a little bit there, your
original body can link itself and resonate with your clones."

That's what Sarutobi had said, long ago.

But if a link existed… that meant the clones could also communicate with the original, without
necessarily having to dispel right away. Now, the clone focused on trying to find that link, trying to
send a signal of some sort.

The chakra pathway system transported chakra the way veins and arteries did for blood. The same
way, every cell in the body was connected to this pathway.

And that's the way the clone tried to see himself as. A part of a whole.

He let his awareness flow inwards. Unraveling along the thin thread that started from around his
navel, he found the way through.

He pulsed his intention through it.

The second night Naruto spent in Konoha, the clone managed to reach through.

During the day, he - the real Naruto - didn't even manage to feel Ino's chakra signature.

Meeting the Third was too risky, as even last time had been too visible.

What was happening in the village…?

And there was one rumor that grew among some of the wary shinobi. That something had
happened to the Hokage, and that was why nobody had been allowed inside the Tower for the last
two days.

So when the clone he hadn't heard anything from finally sent him a signal, he knew it would likely
be important.

Ino.

Naruto got out of the house, his chakra as compressed upon itself as he could make it.

He disguised himself the old-fashioned way, using dye, braiding his hair, and putting on contact
lenses he was keeping sealed inside his pouch. The clothes, he exchanged for nondescript black
shinobi fatigues.

His clone kept pulsing a low-intensity signal, and Naruto used it as a compass.

There were more ANBU patrolling the village than usual, but it seemed none of them saw anything
out of the ordinary as he walked around casually.

The signal led pointed underground, apparently. It was a bit muddled up, once he got close, for
some reason. The closest building that could fit the bill was one belonging to the Foundation, —
also called ROOT — a branch of Konoha's Black Ops that took care of operations the village
didn't want to be out in the open.

(According to what Sarutobi had said, there had been talks about possibly getting rid of the
program altogether at some point.)

It was a huge four-sided brick building, one that was not much higher than most tended to be in
Konoha.

Naruto guessed that ROOT was still active, then. The building held many chakra signatures.

Around twenty decently strong ones, as well as something obscuring the underground
levels. Whatever they were hiding must be important, then.

He observed the layout and made preparations over the next hour.

ROOT Anbu Kanoe was standing guard with Hinoto that night.

There were three different teams on watch, right now.

One duo was on the first floor, one trio was guarding the only entrance to the underground level.
The last duo — theirs — was keeping watch in front of the main gate.

And there was a last man behind the locked door, in case something happened to the two in front
of it. This man was the only person could open it, because the code changed every night.

The rest of the ANBU inside the building were either resting or in charge of the cells, which was
not much, in terms of pure effort.

The building they were guarding was one used to hold prisoners temporarily, before they were
transferred to the more secure ROOT Headquarters. Obviously, the building had no windows.

The only way in was human error.

"Kanoe." His teammate called.

Kanoe lifted his head toward the rooftop.

"Yo."

Hatake Kakashi was crouching on the roof.

Kanoe felt somewhat nervous. Hatake was an ANBU legend, no matter if you were ROOT or
not. Seemingly casual at all times… And yet, he was one of Konoha's greatest, most prolific
killers.

As far as he was concerned, Kanoe prefered to stay wary.

Kakashi pushed something forward. It fell to the street with a thud… and a grunt?

"I think you guys might have lost this one. This was some pretty shoddy seal-work, so it's no
wonder." Kakashi eye-smiled.
"Is this… the man we brought in…?" Hinoto asked him.

Kanoe stayed silent.

"I made sure he wouldn't be able to escape this time. He's locked extra tight." Kakashi added, his
eye deceptively lazy.

Kanoe knew that this was just something the ANBU captain used to disarm friends and foes alike.

Was it a threat?

Then Hatake winked and disappeared with a Body Flicker.

The shape on the floor groaned in pain. He could barely move, likely from the fall… or the
combination of seal-bindings and wire that bound him.

Kanoe motioned for Jizo, the man behind the door to ask for confirmation.

He went to speak with the underground team.

The underground team went to speak with the cell guards, who confirmed that the cell was empty.

The man, Indra, had somehow managed to escape. Because this was undoubtedly the man they had
captured the night before. How he had managed to slip out, with his chakra bound, Kanoe didn't
know.

But Danzō-sama definitely wouldn't have been too happy about it.

He and Hinoto picked the man up, and signaled for Jizo to open the door.

"Well." Kanoe said, observing Kakashi's handiwork. "There's no risk of him getting loose this time.
These seals are very fine work. I guess we can't expect anything less from Hatake Kakashi."

Indra grunted something. Hinoto kicked him in the ribs for good measure. He had almost cost them
some very rough disciplining.

They handed the prisoner to the underground team, who guided him to another cell, in case he had
done something to the previous one during his escape.

There, they would hold him until Danzō-sama decided what to make of the murderer's accomplice.
 The Spider's Nest

He was to be the future clan leader.

The eldest of five children, he grew up as a child of war.

Three of his brothers died before they even reached puberty , and so did several of his cousins.

His mother's health declined as well, and soon, it's just him, his brother and their father.

He promised himself he would become strong enough to protect them.

In just a few years, he becomes the second most powerful man in the land.

His enemies feared him. His allies, even what little family he had left, started to adulate him.

But he knew he was no god.

And that people that were put on a pedestal could fall from blinding heights.

Still, despite his fearsome reputation, he dreamed of peace.

But dreams were not enough.

His father died soon after and he rose to take his mantle.

And too early, way too early, his brother also joined their family in death.

Something in him broke, never to be mended again.

When a tentative peace settled over the land, brokered by the one man he could still find in him to
trust…

It was too late.

Fear, anger and hatred at the state of the world led to him trying to destroy the very same peace he
had helped bring.

It would not last, anyway.

All he did after that, he did in the name of something intangible.

He was Uchiha Madara, and he would make his ambition a reality.

Naruto's real body was trapped, this time.

He was also unsure if he had lost consciousness… Or if he were dreaming while awake. But there
were more pressing matters.

His hands and feet were shackled to the wall, his chakra bound. There was a guard who kept an eye
on him.

And they were obviousbly confident in their ability to restrain him.

All in all, it looked pretty bad.

'Good.'

He had gotten in.

As far as Naruto was concerned, this ROOT… This ANBU offshoot had started this fight.

The seals he had willingly put on himself were based on the designs that the clone who had been
captured had been able to relay.

Standard chakra-binding seals, Konoha style, sensory-deprivation ones, also in their typical
fashion. Easy enough for him to reproduce, as Konoha was the place he had learned from, after all.
Steel wire to bind him, too.

Of course, at this point, for him, it was pretty easy to slip in a failsafe into the designs, one
triggered by his very own chakra.

Now... Imitating a man he had spent months around…? That might well have been the easiest part.

Pretend you're a man who tries his best not to get too close to people. Add in some internal conflict
about the fact that you still wanted to get close to people.

Pretend you don't.

Pretend you're one of the strongest ninja in the village. Except now you may also want
to pretend to be a lazy, detached asshole who didn't care about anything, really.

You can? Good.

Now have a Shadow Clone do just that, standing far enough to avoid too close scrutiny.

There you go.

You were in.

Once Naruto felt that it would seem believable that he had fallen asleep, he reached inward.

He unbound some of the limiters, as discreetly as he could. Then he kept his chakra compressed
upon itself.

More of the energy started flowing through his body again. Meaning he could use it outside of
himself again. It was a smaller amount for sure, but it was refilling at a pace that was close to
normal.

Naruto almost let out a sigh of pleasure.

But his chakra flowing outward again meant that he could use his sensing ability again. And he
could finally confirm what he had felt.

That was Ino, no doubt about it.

He was not as good as Karin at figuring things out from a signature, so he could not tell much
more, other than there was somebody else in the room she was in.

The same questions questions that had gone through his clone's mind, the ones that he had
discarded as something to worry about later… came back.

Was she working with this ANBU Root division?

It wasn't unheard of for Yamanaka to join ANBU, far from it. And there were many, many of them
in the Torture and Interrogation Force.

Or… was she a prisoner, too? If she had been caught because of him…

Well, there was no way he was going to leave her in here.

He would figure out how to maintain his cover later.

That was the way he did things when he could not afford to ignore his own heart, after all.

And Ino had been his friend.

The least he owed her was checking, no matter if it were more risky.

He focused on his link with Sakura, summoning a Thunder gate under his body, hoping it would
not emit too much light.

And he really hoped that nobody would jump in here right now.

Then he summoned a short dagger, also under his body, his focus on avoiding the usual light show
that came with the technique.

He cut the wire that bound him, wrapping it around his wrist.

There were three guards in the corridor.

Two too many.

The room was closed off, the only way to see out of it being a small tinted window that was here to
help the guards check on him.

Leaving the prison would be easy enough. Focus on a Gate. Jump.

The guards could not be allowed to see it, of course, but he could find a way around that.

But that's not what he was here for.

His mind started working out possible solutions.

If Ino was detained: Get Ino out without killing anyone.

If Ino was compromised: Figure out how to get the scrolls. Get out without killing anyone.

Sounded simple enough.

Now… How the hell did he make this work?

There was a tiny, tiny hole for air in the upper right corner of his cell, one that he had almost
missed.

If the guards were paying attention, and he knew they were… He would have to take care of the
three of them at the same time.
One way of doing that would be to suffocate them using Wind Style. The rooms were too big,
though, and it would take him way too much time and energy to pull off.

And… He would likely suffocate himself and Ino at the same time.

Lightning would be a safer bet, then. He'd have to find a way to deliver it to them.

Naruto took a look at his right wrist, where the steel wire was currently wrapped.

It was chakra-conductive wire.

Maybe… Just maybe this could work.

Sakura had finally gotten to set a gateway close to Mist, after days on a boat.

The Land of Water had been… uneventful. A gray, drab place, for the most part, still reeling from
a bloody regime. Some islands were said to be richer, but she didn't even get to see any of that.

She came back to Umi, tired, boatsick — she still fared better than Naruto or Karin would have…
and did she mention tired..?

Karin was there, trying to channel elemental chakra through a chain that extended from her left
hand. All the while, she was reading through Umi's latest sales reports.

She greeted her with the usual Karin grin. And a big hug, of course.

"You're finally back, then?"

"Yeah. This trip was a pain in the ass… and even more. I think I'm going to have a bath and then
pass out."

"Right. There's some food left, if you're hungry. I worked something out for water temperature, it
should be easy to adjust.."

"You're a life-saver, Karin." Sakura laughed, squeezing her shoulder as she passed her.

"I'm trying to figure a few things we can sell that won't come to bite us in the ass." Karin shrugged.
"I think we could work something out to adjust weather conditions in specific areas, actually."

"Uh huh." Sakura nodded. "Can't help you much with that." She shrugged.

Karin just smiled, going back to her book.

Naruto tried something.

Once he had run through a few ideas and was almost certain one of them would work, he released
another limiter seal.

Now, he had to be careful. If he expended too much chakra, any guard who was even remotely
chakra-sensitive might be able to feel it.

Alright. He probably got the hang of it.

Any time now.

Yep.

He closed his eyes, focusing on his link with Karin.

Holding the wire in his right hand, he pictured golden bands in his mind.

Naruto summoned them inside the wire, in a shapeless, in-between state. Physical, but not really.

The material shifted, stretched, pushed.

In his mind, he saw its shifting state as its normal.

There were no bands. There was no wire.

Both were molded into something in between, shifting and shifting as long as his chakra coursed
through the structure.

A thin, thin… Thin line of chakra-conductive metal twisted like a serpent.

Its length was way more than enough to do what he needed it for.

He guided it through the air vent, slowly. Then he made it snake around the corridor, silently.

The guards were unmoving, mostly. He used chakra sensing to estimate their positions, guiding the
steel-wire into a wide loop around them.

They twisted a bit more, lifting off the ground.

Just a little bit more…

There. Now was the moment.

He stopped holding his still-limited chakra back. As he had expected, one of the guards' chakra
expressed something that Naruto guessed to be 'surprise'. Maybe 'fear'?

He squeezed in his mind, and the wire tightened around them, brittle, easy to break.

He let Lightning fly across its length, as strong as he could make it in his limited state.

He heard three thuds.

And then he felt fatigue cloud his mind.

He lifted the remaining limiters. The other teams of guards would likely notice in less than a half-
hour. The fatigue abated.

He summoned a blade, enhanced it with Lightning until it started visibly falling apart, and cut a
hole into the wall.

Naruto stole the unconscious ROOT's clothing, mask included, and put the outfit on.

He hid the three ANBU, putting the limiters on them instead of himself, before binding them.
Properly.

By extending his chakra senses, he figured that Ino was the one being detained.

Under his disguise, he walked to the end of the corridor and knocked on the heavy door in a
specific pattern, for the guard to open the door.

The only problem was that he didn't know it this was the correct pattern, as he could only use what
he had heard on the other floor.

Apparently… That was the wrong one.

The guard inside stiffened.

'Ah shit.'

He raised the alarm. Naruto sighed. He could not afford any more time.

'Wind. Lightning.'

He used wind to shape a Vacuum Blade around his hand, leaving enough room for lightning to
enhance its cutting power even more. His hand bled, wounds opening all over it.

The door barely slowed him down.

And then he saw Ino.

Later on, he would remember this as a pivotal moment, one that he would call the first spark,
setting everything else in motion.
 Jailbreak

As a kid, Naruto had been a fan of a wide range of books.

Even after he had become a ninja, horror novels had been something that offered him a form of
catharsis.

Sarutobi had told him that people tended to gravitate toward the morbid when times were tough,
during wars for example. Maybe as a way to hear about something even more terrible than their
actual lives.

Because they could simply put the books away. It gave them control.

Ever the teacher, he had then explained that there were, in a way, only three different types of
horror stories and myths.

One was the kind that played on people's phobias. These were individual-specific, like fear of
spiders… or ghosts. They could even be political, psychological… or societal. It was the fear of the
unnatural, as well.

One example Sarutobi cited was The Last Village on Earth.

There was the second type. Revulsion. A ripped off leg being the only thing that remained of
someone the story made you care about. The smell of a human burning alive.

My Time with Kujou had been pretty gross, and Naruto had thought that being a ninja, he didn't
need to read about people being stuffed into wells. There were enough opportunities for trauma
already.

Then there was the last one. Terror. Isolation, feeling trapped, or a simple lack of light. The
unknown. The realization that something was very, very wrong, without being able to tell exactly
how bad things were.

Sarutobi had just given him a book about modern politics with a wink.

It had been a fond memory, even though Naruto held conflicted feelings toward the old man by
now.

Today, or rather tonight, Naruto found out true horror, something that combined all three factors,
was not something he cared to ever experience again.

"I..no?"

This couldn't be.

There was a guard in the room, who stood entirely frozen, despite his training.

Naruto walked toward Ino's still body. From there, he could see that she was alive, at least.

He didn't bother trying to keep himself grounded, since he was feeling so distant from himself right
now that he might as well not have been there at all.

Ino's face was pale, bruised purple, bloated and bloody. Her eyes were blank, staring without
seeing.

His eyes went down. Her arm and leg tendons had been cut, and her fingers were broken. Likely so
that she couldn't run… or use her jutsu. There were burn marks and black scabs on what skin he
could see that was not already bruised. Her hair was still wet. Water torture, of course.

Her chakra was weak, he could now see it.

Weak, resigned, empty, helpless.

That's how he could read her emotions.

Her physical injuries were bad enough, career-ending for any ninja. Even if she had gotten out, she
likely would never have been able to walk unassisted.

He had thought Konoha to be above this sort of torture, somehow. That they had enough experts on
the human mind to afford it. But thinking about it, this also meant that the mental part… might
have been even worse.

And despite himself, he had wanted to hold on to the delusion that Konoha was a different place
than the other villages.

Not anymore. Not if this was the sort of things they did to their loyal ninja.

To see Ino, who had been one of the most headstrong people he had ever met, be so despondent,
hopeless… Naruto stared.

What had they done to her?

This was her own village. Were they so willing to turn on their own?

And what for? He still couldn't tell. Ino had only been here for two days.

"Don't move a single inch." He called to the guard, stepping past him. The man didn't move.

He crouched next to Ino, who raised her head slowly, to look at him.

Her eyes looked vacant, but some of the usual lucidity returned.

"…Took you guys long enough to go for genjutsu." She muttered, half to herself.

"Ino. It's me."

Stupid. He might know her, but in the current circumstances, he might as well be a stranger to her.

"…Yeah, sure. I noticed." She blinked, trying to understand what was happening, likely.

"It's not a trap. I promise."

"…At this point, I don't care anymore. I have nothing to say to Danzō. Nothing he wants."

Danzō…? He knew the name from somewhere.

"I'm not working for him."

She groaned, not believing it. "Great. Free me, then."

The guard protested, starting to say something. Naruto's eyes shut him right up.

He broke her shackles, and removed the seals binding her. She looked at him with some surprise in
her distrustful eyes.

"I'm not an imposter." He reassured her again.

"…An imposter would say the same thing, though. Could be a long-winded trap." She muttered,
trying to move her legs. She winced when she realized she wouldn't be able to stand.

Naruto tried healing her, in the blunt and unrefined way that was the only way he knew.

She let him do it, her eyes wet and distrustful, and her breathing wheezy.

There were footsteps.

"That's as far as you go, tonight." Someone said.

Naruto turned around.

There were masked people in the room.

Men, women. Some tall, some small.

There was no way he'd be able to heal Ino with them here. Not that he was even sure he could do
much in the first place. They needed to leave. To Umi. Unfortunately, the ANBU in the room
didn't seem as though they were sold on the idea.

It was one of these moments where time seemed to slow down.

As though the very colors faded away, only to leave behind a startling clarity. The sort of moment
he had seen in his dreams already, where you could name a before and an after.

It also felt as though someone were laughing.

Naruto's heart was beating. Too loudly.

The ANBU drew their blades, all of them flat instead of pointed.

"Out of my way." Naruto heard himself say, almost hissing.

The ANBU didn't move, and more rushed into the corridor.

"Get out. Of my way." He repeated, his chakra surging.

They moved into position, surrounding him and a shivering Ino.

"Please." He almost begged.

The ROOT moved. Directive I: Neutralize Target.

Naruto closed his eyes, in anticipation for what he knew he was about to do.

'I'm sorry…'

Nothing.
'I'm sorry.'

Nothing.

'I'm sorry.'

Something.

For the first time in battle, he let his control over his warring chakra natures go entirely.

The instincts of a natural killer were no longer held in check.

The Moon called. So did both sets of Raijin and Fūjin seals. His chakra burned, begging to be
released.

So he did. Purple energy exploding around him.

Wind and Lightning, working together in complete harmony.

Two blades appeared in his hands, wreathed in purple lightning, sharp winds that glinted with the
same color distorting the air around them.

He swept his left blade in a wide arc.

The ROOT ninja's tanto didn't even slow his blade, and as he swung, he went right through him,
with a terrible crackling sound.

A second ninja was bisected, his guts leaking out, before he could even realize his teammate was
dead.

The others stepped back. This moment of hesitation cost them, because Naruto definitely didn't
think twice this time.

His right sword blurred through the air in a vertical arc, and one woman fell, in two pieces. Her
organs littered the floor.

Holding both of his swords up, he crossed them in front of him, before throwing them at neck level.

While the twin blades flew, seemingly changing trajectories according to his will, another set of
weapons was summoned in his hands, and he moved through the crowd after the flying swords,
spinning, weaving…

And tearing through people, armors and walls alike.

Blood flew, covering him and the room.

The ANBU didn't stand a chance. Somebody begged for mercy. He didn't listen.

The Lightning that tore through them also shielded him from most attacks, and his weapons cut
through their armor.

There was no hesitation, no second-guessing, and no mercy to be seen, either. That time had
passed.

It was not the graceful, if deadly, dance of shinobi. It was a massacre.

A few moments later, Naruto was the only person standing, his eyes glowing purple.

He stepped through the fast pooling blood, dispelling his weapons.

The guard was dead too, his head laying somewhere away from his body, he noted
absentmindedly.

There were other people jailed here. He probably didn't have the time to figure out who
he should help or not.

When he stepped close to Ino, she whimpered.

Naruto recoiled, as though he had been stabbed. Was she afraid... of him?

He let the chakra fade away.

More people were coming. He could feel them, even through the murky barrier that permeated the
basement.

"Ino."

She looked at him, unsure what to do… or think.

"We need to go." He urged, as gently as he could, extending his hand again. "Somewhere safe."

"They will hunt you… and me, too." She whispered. This was… No, this had been her home.

His eyes turned hard. "They will try."

"You can't stop them." Her head shook.

"I will protect you."

She hesitated again. "How can I trust you…?"

He closed his eyes. "I think you're going to have to."

"You already abandoned me once."

His heart skipped a beat.

"Ino… You knew…" Looking into her eyes, there was no doubt. "Since when?"

"From the very beginning." She muttered. "And even if I hadn't, you would have given yourself
away, right now. Sarutobi's interest in you confirmed it."

"I…"

She just looked at him, at the people he had murdered. Unsure what to think of this man who might
as well be a stranger. In her eyes, he must have seemed very different from the boy she knew.

He decided.

"Ino." He looked her in the eye. "We will have all the time in the world to speak about it. Once we
leave."

"You don't know what you're asking for. This would mean leaving my village. The one dad died
for."

Naruto noticed she didn't include him, using 'my' instead. And she was right. He wanted nothing to
do with a village that would sacrifice their own so easily.

"My mother is still here. And my clan, too. My friends. I had hoped… to find a way." She
continued. "I can't leave."

"They left you before. Some of the higher-ups intended to kill you, or use you as a bargaining
chip."

Ino closed her eyes. She knew this was the truth.

Naruto continued. "I don't think they would risk you revealing anything compromising. They
would rather kill you. You're not safe here."

"…"

"Come with me. Please."

Tears rolling down her face, she tried to grab his hand.

Her hand felt so stiff, the tendons cut, that he had to grab her shoulder instead. He noticed, and his
expression turned blank, hiding the raw fury lurking behind. Someone would pay for this.

By the time the ROOT Anbu arrived, they were already gone.

Naruto appeared in Umi, in the middle of the lake.

One clone went to Orochimaru right away. He dashed toward Karin's signature, wreathed in the
same purple energy. He noted that Sakura was back, too.

He landed on the first floor's balcony, waking both Karin and Sakura.

"Help me heal her. Please."

Karin took a look at the bloody Ino, snapped out of her stupor and pulled her sleeve back.

"Bite her." Naruto explained to her.

Ino, looking even weaker in the light of the living room, did so without questioning him. At this
point, whatever it was they intended to do to her, there was nothing she could do.

Sakura looked as though she had a thousand questions, but she knew the time to ask them would
only come later. She went to get some pillows for her to lay on.

Ino had definitely recognized them, too.

"What… are you guys doing here…?" She rasped out.

"Ino… Hush. They need to focus." Sakura told her, caressing her hair. "We will talk once this is
done."

"Since… when… did you become so bossy… forehead?" Ino laughed weakly.

"Ino…" A tear rolled down Sakura's face.

Ino was asleep in the room that belonged to Karin.

The guilt of having killed so many people in a single night hadn't really reached him yet, it seemed.

Orochimaru was sipping tea in their living room, looking all too casual for this kind of night. As
always.

"I see…" He said, lifting his steaming cup. "So that's what happened."

"…That's it?" Naruto asked, arms folded. "You know as well as I do what this means. As soon as
tomorrow, I'm going to be Konoha's latest enemy. All of us."

"…So?" Orochimaru asked, lifting an eyebrow, and motioning for Karin to serve him more tea. "I
thought you wanted nothing more to do with the village."

"…" Naruto's teeth ground together.

"Unless that was just posturing, of course. My bad if I misunderstood." Orochimaru shrugged.

"No." Naruto managed. "I meant what I said. But there's a drastic difference between on neutral
ground… and what we have now."

"Don't I know this." Orochimaru drawled.

"I… killed several of their men on my way out." Both Karin and Sakura shared a look.

"I kinda figured you went the lethal route when your clone came to find me covered in blood, yes."

"…Is everything just a game to you…?"

"No." Orochimaru shook his head. "But I knew the day would come where I wouldn't be in
Konoha's good graces anymore. Everything is fleeting in this world, anyway."

"I messed up. This is on me."

"You saved your friend… didn't you?" Orochimaru asked rhetorically. "Besides, a Yamanaka is
always welcome, if she's ready to work with us."

"…You have people you care about in Konoha, don't you..?"

"Anko is here with me." He shrugged. "Most of my friends are dead already, and that's the sad
truth. Sarutobi and Jiraiya likely won't come after me directly if they can avoid it. They're
sentimental like that." He chuckled. "And Tsunade is… wherever she is. So no. The way things
happened doesn't really worry me."

He looked at Naruto's face, pretending to be thinking. "It might make recruiting people from
Konoha a bit more complicated, though."

Naruto couldn't help it. He snorted, before breaking into nervous laughter. Karin was close to him,
her hand near his.

"Now…" Orochimaru continued. "I know what's likely on your mind."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Being hunted? Something about being the strongest village's latest
public enemy?"
"Oh please." Orochimaru chuckled. "That would be me. You're just my latest grunt… Disciple, I
mean."

Naruto didn't rise to the bait. Outwardly.

"I mean about the Yamanaka." Orochimaru sobered up, and Naruto followed. "Inoichi's daughter, I
assume."

"That's her."

"She could be useful. I might be able to heal her." Orochimaru dropped the bomb, as casual as
ever.

"…What?" Naruto breathed out.

"I was Tsunade's teammate for decades, I picked up some knowledge, here and there. You might
be a pretty… rough medic, but this is the kind of injury I can fix. Besides you gave me enough of
your cells for me to figure a few things out. I'm still pretty far from the answers I really want,
though." Orochimaru shrugged, only somewhat frustrated.

Naruto said nothing.

"You can see it as a reward to my ever faithful apprentice." Orochimaru finished.

Despite the terrible things that happened, that was… very relieving. If Naruto's eyes seemed a little
wet, nobody said anything.

"Oh? Did Anko do something?" Naruto asked as innocently as he could, voice a bit rough.

Orochimaru cackled. "Very funny."

"I try."

"Now… Healing her might still take a bit of time. And…" He turned srious. "I will ask you to
ensure she's loyal. If not to us, at least to you. She is in possession of some risky intel. Wiping a
Yamanaka's memories might prove to be… tricky."

"I will see what I can do." Naruto nodded. He would not agree to erasing Ino's memories, anyway.

"If she decides to join us…" Orochimaru continued. "She might prove to be a very useful ally."

"That's up to her."

"Never said it wasn't." He shrugged.

"You always do this." Naruto grunted in frustration. The day had been way too long. "Keeping
things vague, implying something else. Why don't you make simpler sentences. No double
negations, for once."

"Make me." Orochimaru took another sip of tea.

"Not sleeping with me tonight? Your room is taken, isn't it?" Naruto asked. "Not that you have to,
of course. Just curious." He amended himself.

Karin looked surprised.

"Well… No. Ino is back." She stared at him.

"What does this have to do with anything…?" He wondered aloud.

"Well, I just assumed…" Karin started.

"Assumed what…?"

"Don't make me spell it out loud." She groaned. But she looked both a bit sad and… envious. Or at
least that's what he thought it was.

"Please."

She let out a long sigh. When she spoke again, she did not meet his eyes. "Well… You and Ino
always had something back then. Now that she's back…"

Ah. Now he got it.

"You… assumed that as soon as I found somebody else… I'd get rid of you?" He asked, unsure if
he got it right.

"Well, you put it quite… bluntly." She winced. "But yes. Essentially."

She shrugged, trying — and failing — to look casual. "I understand, though. And I'd like us to
remain friends."

Then he did something that surprised him. He snorted. Karin glared at him.

"That's not really funny."

"No. You're right. It's not." He said. "But you misunderstood me."

"…What? Why?" She asked, and he almost felt bad about seeing her look so hopeful… and
vulnerable.

"I meant what I said. I don't know what to call… what we have."

"I thought it was just a really healthy friendship." Karin tried to joke.

He laughed. "It is, then. But whatever it is… This is not something I want to be temporary. At all."

"So… You mean...?" She started to smile.

"For sure. I want this for… a long time." He really meant forever but didn't dare say it. "If you're
willing, I mean. You're free to go… or do anything you want, in the meantime. I know that you
will find somebody at some point, somebody that could give you a proper commitment and-"

"Oh, shut up, stupid." She laughed.

"…Huh?"

"I don't think I even want that." Karin replied.

"…No? What do you want?"

"Take a guess, stupid." She stared at him.

"Ah." Maybe he got it. "Isn't this… a bit too unconventional?"

"…Maybe I'm just kinda fucked up, who knows." She shrugged.

He frowned. "You're not fucked up because of Kusa, don't joke about that."

"Eh. Fact is, growing up there probably left me with a fair bit of trauma."

"That's kinda fucked up."

Karin shrugged again. "I know I am. That's Kusa for you."

"I don't mean you're fucked up." He groaned.

"I don't mind, either way." She laughed. "And I don't mind whatever it is… or whoever it is you
want to do. As long as there's a spot for good ol' Karin."

She gave him a pointed look.

"…Always. Although that does sound pretty strange." He admitted.

"You should be glad for the opportunity." She folded her arms, sniffing. "Men have killed for less."

"They weren't me, though."

"You're a real prince charming, huh."

"Sure am." He retorted. "I assume you just want a spot by my side for when... I finally become the
emperor of these beautiful islands…"

"Oh? Will you be?" She pretended to swoon.

"Well, once Orochimaru gets bored and fucks off to space… or wherever it is he's going to next."

"…What if I do? Everybody knows it's the hot concubine who wields the power behind the
scene… Not the foolish man that's being dragged around by his cock." She laughed.

"Take it back, you little shit." He jumped on her.

"Never~" She grabbed his hair, mashing her lips against his.

He grabbed her by her hips, pulling her onto his lap. They stayed like this.

"Thanks, Karin." He ended up saying.

"For being so great?" She laughed.

"…Yeah, I guess. You cheered me up."

She shrugged. "Somebody had to. Probably wasn't going to be Orochimaru."

He chuckled.

"Besides…" She added, switching back to another topic. "Sakura is kinda hot, isn't she? She's
definitely my type."

"…I don't know what you mean."

"Ah come on, I saw how you were looking at her on the boat. Must be an Uzumaki thing."

"…Whatever happened on the boat… happened on the boat. That's where it stays." He looked
away.

"Admit it… You scaredy cat."

"Did you call me a pussy?"

"Nah. That would be misogynistic." But her eyes were bright.

"I'll show you a pussy." He grunted.

"Oh, please… Do so." She breathed out, in mock rapture. Little shit.

Why did he have to be so attracted to her…? He wondered, as he got rid of her pesky clothes.
 The Latest Missing Ninja

In the end, the guilt didn't take too long to catch up with Naruto.

Waking up with Karin drooling on his chest, his first instinct is to bring her close.

But whenever he looked at his hands, all he could see was blood. He had despised all the killing
that went with being a shinobi. And now… As soon as he got angry enough…

Well, it turned out he was exactly as bad as other shinobi. There was no moral high ground to be
had here.

Realistically speaking, he knew nobody whose opinion he cared about would blame him.
Orochimaru, Anko and Sakura likely had high body counts already. Ino… Well, he couldn't
pretend to know Ino at the moment.

Karin wouldn't care too much, as long as he himself was fine with it

But he wasn't. All he could think about was how easy it had been to get rid of Konoha's ANBU.

How much easier it had been than to use his bo staff in life or death battles, while being mindful of
not crushing his foes' skulls.

And worse. The fact that in the moment, he had been fine with the feeling of steel biting, cutting
flesh.

No. If he were honest, it was more than this.

He had enjoyed it, even.

The guilt only came much, much later, once his morals kicked in.

How he wished he had someone… something to blame for it. The seals he had carved into his skin.
Indra himself. The situation itself. His rage at seeing Ino.

Deep down, though. Deep down, he wondered if maybe… This was just who he really was.

Another murderer.

Sakura had planned to ask Naruto to help her with the Mist thing.

Seeing his pale face in the morning, she decided that maybe a bit of exercise could distract him
some. He still had some pretty strong objections about killing, and as far as she knew, had killed a
grand total of one person before yesterday night.

He was probably feeling very conflicted, then.

It showed, as even his control over Lightning was a bit wonky, today.

Sakura dodged under his spinning kick, hitting the back of his leg with a hand chop. She
cartwheeled, wrapping her legs around his neck in a chokehold.

"…I yield." He tapped out.

"Well. Damn, if you fight like this outside, you're in trouble." She said, quite bluntly.

Naruto let out a sheepish sigh. "Yeah. I know."

"You're shaken up."

"God damn, you're really laying into me today, huh…"

"Somebody has to. Orochimaru won't give a shit about politeness, so better if we get this out of the
way."

Naruto winced. He knew the Sanin's blunt words would likely bruise either his ego or his feelings,
as usual.

"Yeah. Don't sugarcoat it." He nodded.

"The way I see it, you won't always have a choice. You will have to kill people, no matter what you
think about it."

"Ah. Thanks. I'm already feeling much better." Naruto snarked.

"Fuck off." She rolled her eyes. "For most ninja, the first few kills lead to a road of introspection.
Some continue being ninja… some try to find a way out. It's not an easy decision, either way."

"…"

"It's going to be messy sometimes, too, as what probably happened yesterday." She said and Naruto
looked away. "Don't feel bad about it, I killed my first victim by slipping an explosive tag inside
their shirt. They managed to survive the initial blast. It was… bad. Body parts everywhere."

"Ugh." He winced.

She shrugged. "They were my target. Simple as that. I don't know them. Most of them were bad
people. Some probably just had offended the wrong person. I don't know if they had a family,
friends. And that's not really my problem."

He knew this was something of a lie, because she did try her best not to kill people who didn't
deserve it, usually. Still...

"That's too cold." He decided. "There should still be room for some mercy, shouldn't it?"

"Naruto. We're mercenaries. Been trained as such since we were kids."

"I know this, but still…"

"And to tell you the truth…" She winced. "This is probably going to sound very nihilistic."

"Hit me."

"In times of peace, the value of life is just overestimated."

He couldn't help himself. "Careful with that edge, Sakura, you might cut yourself."

"Hey, I warned you this was going to sound goofy." She laughed. "But we've trained to prepare for
war, even though it sounded so remote back then. That's what we learned from the very beginning.
The most efficient ways to kill people. Just because we're a bit better at thinking than most animals
— not the animal clans, obviously — doesn't mean our life has much more value."

"Have you been reading Orochimaru's philosophy books recently…?"

She cackled. "I'm serious, though. Why would I care about people who have no personal value to
me… Or even somebody that I just met?"

"With this kind of logic, I don't think we're going to see peace anytime soon. And I don't agree.
Respectfully."

"Eh. Peace is something only somebody strong enough can decide. We've got the strongest village
after you, now. I don't think you will be able to keep things as neutral as you wish."

"And Akatsuki, too."

"And Akatsuki too, at the very least." Sakura nodded. "Who knows what Kumo might decide."

"Any ideas on what to do? Kinda desperate over here." He sighed.

"You can prepare to conquer the entire world, I guess." She joked. "Because you might just need to
become that strong."

"Ah. Cool. Thanks."

She punched his arm. "The way I see it, you saved Ino's life and your own by doing what you did.
So you saved two of my friends."

"I could have done it differently… I-"

"And are you sure you could have protected both of you and gotten out safely?" She asked, looking
at him squarely.

"…I don't know."

"Then you did the right thing. And it might sound weird, but I'm glad that you did."

"…Thanks, Sakura. We have different opinions on the matter… But thanks." He rasped out.

It had helped, somewhat. He would need more time to process it, though.

Orochimaru dropped by, casually, a bit later.

"Here's yours, Naruto. Page 303. I'm on 210 myself. They update them so fast." He said, also
leaving the pastries he had bought on the table.

'A bingo book. From Konoha.'

With a sinking feeling, Naruto opened it on page 210. A picture of his teacher's face, as well as his
profile, lay in front of him. He looked terrifying in both pictures.

Orochimaru

Age: 57

Rank: Jōnin
Classification: S-Rank

Bounty: 150 million ryō

There was a description about his abilities, but this was nothing Naruto hadn't seen by himself, and
a bit outdated, to boot.

"They really didn't get my best angle." The man declared. "And not even a 'flee on sight' to be seen.
Anko's in here, too. S-rank, by the way. She really is my best disciple."

Naruto ignored him, and skipped to page 303, fingers shaking.

There was no picture, only a decent sketch of his face.

Indra

Age: ~20

Rank: N/A

Classification: A-Rank: Kill on sight

Bounty: 10 million ryō

Well, that confirmed it. He was wanted for being an accomplice in…

"What the fuck?!" He breathed out.

"Apparently, Fugaku died, yes." Orochimaru nodded. "And you're wanted for helping your friend
murder him. I'm as surprised as you are, truly." He sipped on his tea.

His heart almost beating out of his chest, Naruto skipped to the end of the book.

Yamanaka Ino

Age: 18

Rank: Jōnin

Classification: A-Rank

Bounty: 50 million ryō

A mind-reader, genjutsu specialist who had… assassinated the previous Hokage?

Naruto let out a groan, palming his face.

He was almost certain that Ino had been framed for it. But yeah, this would complicate things a bit.

Orochimaru served him a cup of tea, as well.

He went back for a second spar with Sakura.

Somehow, he had wrestled back some control over his chakra natures again.

"Rising Dragon."
Naruto spun, in an anti-clockwise kick, sparks flying after him.

Sakura focused her chakra in a makeshift shield over her arm, taking the brunt of the attack.

She was in the air, now, where he had much more control.

"Wind Style: Whirlwind Sweep."

Naruto delivered a powerful horizontal sweep with his hand — normally, he'd use a weapon, but
this was a spar.

The wind followed, aiming to throw Sakura off her trajectory, and straight to the ground.

At the latest moment, she did something that took him by surprise entirely.

What looked like a thin platform of water concentrated under her feet, in an intricate glyph. Sakura
stepped on it, jumping a second time while she was airborne.

"What the fuck-"

She laughed as she fell on him.

"I think I win this one, too." Sakura said, once they hit the floor.

Her hand was near his throat, which counted as a win.

Losing twice in a day was pretty bad, by his standards, but he took it fairly graciously.

He sat down in the sand, feeling wiped out from the morning sun.

"So… I'm a wanted man in the Land of Fire." He started.

"Konoha or the Land of Fire?"

"…Both, I guess. But Konoha for sure."

"I see." Sakura nodded. "Sorry to hear that."

Naruto snorted. "You're awfully calm about this. Orochimaru, too, but that's a given. It's going to
make going around a bit trickier."

"Maybe, yes." Sakura shrugged. "Use disguises."

"They don't have anything about you, though."

"Good, I'd hate to have to wear disguises everywhere. Anything interesting…?"

"Ino's got a pretty high bounty." Naruto noted dully. "Five times mine, actually."

"Jealous much?" Sakura snarked.

"…She's in even more trouble than I am."

"Did she actually kill the man?"

"What…? Of course not." He thought. "I mean, we can ask her, but… I really doubt it. That's Ino."
Sakura shrugged. "I don't think so either, just asking. Disguises for both of you, it is, then."

"Orochimaru and Anko are both considered S-rank missing ninja, too."

"As expected, yeah. What are you, then… C-rank?" She cackled.

"Fuck off, I'm worth at least an A-rank, by now."

"Not this morning."

He grumbled something rude before continuint. "Did you know Orochimaru's actually fifty-
seven…?"

"Huh." She didn't. "Guess he moisturizes a lot."

"That or the lack of sun in the dungeons."

She chuckled. Then she stood up, holding a hand out to him.

"Well, I see you're feeling better about yesterday's mass murder."

He frowned at her.

"…Too soon?"

"Yeah."

"My bad." She didn't look really sorry, though.

He sighed. "Orochimaru really picked the wrong disciple."

"Absolutely. Ready to hit the Mist islands?"

"Will we be back for lunch?"

"Don't feel like eating some semi-decent island soup?"

"Eh. I guess we got a bit of time."

The Land of Water was composed of many islands, that was no secret.

Many were so small most mapmakers didn't bother with drawing them.

The biggest one, the one the village of Mist was built on, was too secure for anyone to go through
without the proper authorization.

Most people didn't, and a fishing boat departing from the Land of Hot Water definitely didn't
qualify.

The trade routes passed through a nearby island, where everything would be checked, double-
checked… sometimes triple-checked for… well, anything.

Yagura's paranoia wouldn't allow for anything else.

Sakura had considered taking a smaller boat to Kiri, but decided against it.
Tales of people who had tried to sneak their way in had dissuaded her.

For the same reason — that being warships, sentries and archers ready to shoot down anything that
wasn't going through the proper channels…

Walking on the sea to cross wasn't a real option. Never mind the fact that the distance would be
problematic on its own.

"So yeah, that's why we're here." Sakura explained.

"Do you think Mist itself is this… misty?"

"I guess so. But then again, maybe they found a way to ward it off inside the village."

They could barely see ten meters in front of them.

"That's the most depressing place I've ever seen." He decided.

"Worse than the Mountain's Graveyard?"

"I'd say so."

"Worse than the empty, bleak patch of sea we spent days in on the boat?"

"Likely, yeah."

"Worse than your old house?"

"Have a bit of respect for your oldest friend."

"That's Ino."

"…Keep this up, and you're going to have to find a new second oldest."

"Technically, that would be the person that was the previous third." She snorted. "You're pretty
good at this logic thing."

"I'm a man of action. I feel… I don't bother complicating things with… logic."

"So you don't think?"

"Nah. That's good for nerds." He shrugged.

"Says the book rat."

"I read good books. Not just typical bad boy romance." He gave her a pointed look.

She blushed. "I was young, then."

"What about Under Night? I found it in the living room, and it sure as hell isn't Karin's."

"Shut your dirty mouth before I make you."

Naruto made a silent sign. Sakura understood.

They continued to bicker.

The air whistled, and both Naruto and Sakura ducked under a pale grey… thing that would likely
have chopped their heads off.

Thunder flashed, and a sword was in Naruto's hand. With his other, he threw twin daggers
enhanced with Lightning.

Sakura put a mark on the floor, unseen. Then she shot a highly compressed stream of water where
she could see a dark shadow in the mist.

"There are five of them." Naruto said, knowing she couldn't feel their signatures like he did.

Mist ninja knew how to fight in the mist, obviously, relying more on their other senses.

Sakura was at a big disadvantage here, he knew. He would have to attack, while she stayed on the
defensive.

They exploded in motion.

Naruto's feet left a mark in the humid floor ground when he dashed forward, sword alight.

One of the men revealed himself. Long brown hair worn in braids, mad eyes, and two dots on the
forehead.

He was thin… thin. Ribs jutted out of his chest, under his loose pink yukata.

Naruto's palm strike hit him head on in the plexus. The Lightning Strike, at this intensity, would
make most men lose consciousness.

Apparently, this one was built differently.

He gave a mad, bloodthirsty grin. Naruto met his eyes, then looked down. The man's ribs jutted
out. Not just because he was thin, no.

They actually went out of his chest, in haphazard spikes of razor sharp bones. And right through
Naruto's left hand.

Naruto leaped back, already applying his messy healing technique to it. He motioned for Sakura to
follow him, as he put some distance between them.

Naruto knew exactly where they were, so this was not too tricky.

"What the hell is this…?" He muttered out. "Sakura, be careful, one of these guys can use his bones
as a weapon."

She nodded, speaking in hushed tones. "They're Kaguya, then. Some of them can pull their bones
out."

"Anything to know?"

"They're very durable, apparently. Their bones are hard to cut through, for almost all of them. It
could be easier to knock them out."

"Blunt force? Lightning shock didn't work."

"Ah, that's bad. Maybe using it to cut through could work, then. The ones that came at me used
Earth release." Which was good against Water.
Naruto hesitated.

"I know what you think about it, but this might be a pretty bad matchup for me." Sakura said. "I
can grab them, but they're super heavy. And I can't get through their skulls with water jutsu, or my
chakra blade."

The mist was full of chakra here, which was almost suffocating to Naruto's senses.

He wasn't sure where they were headed to, now. Naruto heard something.

"Naruto, jump!"

He did, avoiding a close brush with a heavy broadsword, that cut right through a large tree, only
stopping once it hit a second.

A man appeared on top of it, wearing a long, nondescript black cloak.

Bandages covered the lower half of his face, in something that reminded him of a rough-looking
Kakashi.

The eyebrow-less eyes definitely looked more threatening, though.

The Kaguya band came to a halt once they saw him.

The man on top of the sword grinned. He was definitely expecting violence.

'Are they afraid?' Naruto thought.

"Ah. Kaguya, huh? This sure brings me back."

"Momochi Zabuza… is it?" The Kaguya who had the ability to use his ribs as spikes stilled.

They paused, the silence thick.

Then the Kaguya men started grinning like loons, pulling weapons out. In the case of their obvious
leader, his left wrist started shaking. A bone slid out of his elbow, and he pulled it out with a noise
that made Naruto cringe.

Zabuza grinned too. "Come at me, then, Kaguya. Your thick skull will make for a fine drinking
cup!"

The leader attacked with another of his men. The three others went for Naruto and Sakura. She had
been weaving hand seals, knowing that shit would turn bad quick.

The air was too full of water, Naruto had thought. It turned out that Sakura could make use of it.

Some of the mist dissipated around their enemies.

A sphere of water encased the thinner Kaguya clan member's head.

She kept her hand up in the Dog sign.

Naruto understood that was how she maintained the sphere, so he would have to protect her in the
meantime, to allow her to focus.

He unsealed his bow, summoning two blades at once, that turned into arrows.
He focused Wind into one. Lightning in the other.

Shooting two arrows at the same time was not something he bothered with, usually.

He had learned it as a party trick, to be entirely honest.

It would serve as a helpful diversion for Sakura to finish the guy off. He hoped for a non-lethal
takedown, but it was not the time to wonder about these things.

Both arrows flew, and one of them struck true. The Lightning one, as Sakura had said.

It went right through the smaller Kaguya's leg, leaving behind a large burn hole.

The man groaned in pain.

Neither of them halted their mad rush, rusty blades extended in front of them.

Nothing short of death would stop this kind of bloodlust.

His left hand was still too stiff for motions more precise than pulling the string of his bow. He
would need to finish healing himself for anything more.

Behind him, Sakura's eyes were closed in focus, a vein throbbing on her forehead. She summoned
two more spheres of water, one around each man's head. They stumbled, but continued to move
forward, aiming at Sakura instead.

Naruto let his bow fall.

Before it hit the ground, he was in the middle of the two men still standing.

Lightning chakra coursed through both of his arms. He grabbed both of them by their necks, and
with a grunt of exertion, he lifted them off the ground.

It was… messy.

The electricity coursed through the water, amplified.

He could hear their screams as they gurgled, looking for breath at the same time they were
electrocuted.

Naruto held on. So did Sakura.

When he was sure they were unconscious, he let them go.

Sakura held the spheres up.

"Sakura."

"I'm not taking any chances."

"They won't be able to do anything else."

"Can you say this for sure? What if they can?" Sakura insisted.

"…"

"What if they attack people who can't stop them? This kind of bastard won't give a shit who they
kill, as long as they get something out of it."

Some traitorous part of Naruto wanted to argue that it was not so different from her.

Some part of him knew she was right. Killing, raping… Might as well be a pastime for this kind of
person. He had felt their chakra... and their intentions.

Truly, pacifism seemed to be the best way to get yourself killed in this world.

What would it take to change this…? Imposing your will…?

That kinda seemed to defeat the purpose.

He watched on, feeling as though his morals were crumbling in front of him, as Sakura made sure
to slit their throats.

It was messy, and she had to press very hard to get through the bone.

She didn't say anything about his reluctance to do it himself.

Deep down, he thought that maybe actions made more sense than his. He was just a hypocrite,
waiting for her to do the job.

Naruto said nothing.

"Can we leave a mark here and go…?" Sakura asked. "This is not exactly the fun trip I expected."

"…No. It's too dangerous. If there are more of these Kaguya guys around, it's just asking for
trouble. We'll come back at some point."

"Then we need to go deeper. Before the others come back here."

He nodded, more than ready to leave.

A head rolled in front of them.

"I didn't expect anything more than killing some easy targets, today. But it seems I lucked out."

A rough voice called out.

"So, tell me. Where do you think you're going… Little Nine-Tails?" Momochi Zabuza asked,
appearing out of the mist, his blade dripping blood.

Naruto froze.
 Remnants of the Bloody Mist

Nobody — outside of a select few people — was supposed to know about who Naruto was.

And yet, this man, who he was certain he had never met — because how could you even forget
that kind of monster?

Something was wrong here.

And not just the rolling mist, full of the man's chakra, that prevented him from seeing anything.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He said, instead of any of the thoughts that were
currently warring inside his mind.

Was he even a Mist ninja?

The man snorted. "Oh, please. Spare me the bullshit."

"Sakura." He whispered. "Got any way out?"

"No." She muttered back. "I set both portals down here during the last fight."

"Ah." There was no time to channel for ten uninterrupted seconds. They'd likely have to fight, then.

"Is he alone?"

"I can't sense anything in this mist." He replied. "I think-"

Zabuza disappeared in the mist.

"From above! Watch out!" Sakura screamed.

Naruto rolled to the side, and managed to avoid being cleaved in two by the huge block of steel the
man called a sword.

How could she tell…?

Zabuza continued his onslaught, spinning his blade as though it weighed nothing.

Sakura was somewhere close by, which would prevent him from using Lightning style to turn the
mist in a static trap, as he had originally planned.

He summoned a sword, conducted Lightning through it to parry Zabuza's sweeping strike.

Naruto grunted. Zabuza's sword pushed him back some. Then he had to block an overhead blow.

And another. And another.

God. Was he trying to club him to death? Wasn't this guy supposed to be a swordsman or
something?

His blade was not holding up too well, even though it was enhanced by his chakra nature.
Lightning was better suited for offense, in this case.

He had to act.
Lightning focused through his leg, and he delivered a sharp knee strike to the man's hip, hearing a
satisfying crack.

A hand made of chakra appeared out of the floor, trying to wrap itself around Zabuza's leg.

The man stomped his foot, and water slapped both Naruto and Sakura's chakra hand away. While
he was leaping backwards, Naruto summoned three daggers that he threw, once he was done
channeling Wind chakra in them.

Zabuza ducked under them, weaving through hand seals quickly.

"Water Style: Raging Pillars."

Sakura was not the only one who could put the humid atmosphere to good use, apparently. Four
columns of water formed and rose around Naruto. He decided to stay in the middle of them,
instead.

'Ah. Shit. That's the trap.' He realized a bit too late.

A fifth — larger — pillar of water exploded up from under him, shredding his clothing and lifting
him up in the air.

He stepped on the water, and pushed off, going through another column rather than risk getting
shredded in the main one.

Zabuza probably didn't expect that, from his surprised face. Naruto rushed him, with a diagonal
wind slash that bisected him.

Then Zabuza melted into water.

Naruto dodged the falling sword by rolling to the left again.

Before he could even regain his footing, Zabuza kicked at him.

Naruto grabbed his foot, shocked him with a burst of unfocused Lightning, before delivering a
shallow sword slash across his torso.

This one, too, melted into water.

'God damn. No wonder everybody hates fighting my clones.'

Zabuza tried to catch him with some water prison technique.

Well, no. He did. And with his other hand, he readied himself to cut Naruto in two.

Naruto gave him the most unimpressed look he could manage.

Then he let Lightning chakra flow through his body, at the maximum intensity he himself could
tolerate in the water.

Zabuza cursed, leaping back with an arm that seemed half-fried. Served him right.

This should at least make it a bit harder for him to use Water techniques. Hopefully. Maybe the
man realized this, because he went right back into melee range, with an upward swing.

Naruto summoned a new blade, the previous one having been damaged by the butcher's blade
smashing into it repeatedly.

He parried Zabuza's blade. With his other hand, he grabbed on to the dull side of the sword,
holding it into place. He was stronger physically than the man.

Zabuza grunted. He couldn't channel water through his sword because he'd fry himself, as he had
finally noticed.

Sakura appeared from nowhere, eyes cold, a chakra blade already formed around her fingers, aimed
at Zabuza's neck.

He had to let go of his sword to dodge, and Sakura's blade ripped through some of the bandages he
had around his face instead of his throat.

Zabuza kicked at Sakura's ribs, and Naruto winced as she flew away.

He wasn't about to let the man hide in the mist again. Naruto weaved several hand signs, before
slapping his hand on the floor.

"Wind Style: Path Clearer."

A dome of chakra built around him, before expanding in every direction, clearing the mist
away. He could see Zabuza clearly, and Sakura too, who was wincing. Maybe the kick had broken
a rib, then.

There was no way he was allowing the man to recover this blade. He dug for a sealing scroll, and
proceeded to store the sword in it. He wouldn't use it himself, of course, but it removed a
dangerous variable from the fight.

'Ah.'

Maybe that had not been the best thing to do. The man looked downright furious. The sharp teeth
really brought out his angry eyes, Naruto mused.

"Give it back." He grunted.

"Ah, come on, this is just a fucking sword." He complained. "Get another one."

Zabuza held the Dog sign in answer.

The mist returned, thicker than before, and even wind jutsu only chased it away for a few
instants. The humidity was too much, and Zabuza was likely not expending much chakra to keep
the mist up.

Naruto created four clones, and each of them left in different directions.

One of them was dispelled almost instantly, allowing Naruto to pinpoint Zabuza's position. He and
the rest of his clones rushed there.

Apparently, Zabuza wouldn't fall for this kind of straightforward trick, because he was already
gone by the time Naruto got there.

Or maybe he was also good with ranged weapons, as well. He couldn't sense him anywhere close
anymore, so he ran toward the last place he had seen Sakura.

Damn, but he really hated fighting blind. And he had never been as good with long-distance jutsu
as he was with close-range. Maybe he'd have to do something about that. It was not the first time
he experienced something just like this. Not that it would be really useful now, with Sakura so
close by.

Naruto ran for what felt like hours, when he knew it had not even been minutes. The mist seemed
never-ending.

At least, he knew Sakura would likely be safe, since she apparently could feel when Zabuza was
close. And she had her portals, too.

Another of his clones got attacked, this time in melee range, and Zabuza got slashed across the
chest by a blade made out of water for his troubles. Sakura, then.

He and his clones headed there. One of the clones started using Wind chakra, drawing Zabuza's
attention away.

Naruto picked a limping Sakura up.

There was a shift in the mist, and she opened a portal right under them, shifting them in
space. They reappeared further away, in a place where the mist was just a bit lighter.

"Can we just leave?" Sakura asked.

"I think he's going to notice and stop us before we manage to finish the jump."

His mist might help him sense chakra building up, so he wouldn't try it this close.

Sakura was exhausted, Naruto noticed. There was no way she would be able to fight on for much
longer.

He started healing her, keeping his chakra output as low as he could, in case Zabuza could find
them this way.

His remaining clones dispelled, hit by something unseen. That was weird. As far as he knew,
Zabuza was not this fast.

"I guess I will take Kubikuribocho off your corpse, then." The mist echoed.

"The fuck is a Kubikuribocho in the first place?" Naruto whispered.

Zabuza was trying to find them, by goading them into talking.

"The sword. It's one of Mist's Legendary Swords." Sakura answered.

"This big butcher knife…? Is there even anything peculiar about it…?" Naruto snorted. Even then,
he was focusing on healing her.

"I'm not sure." She whispered back. "Thanks for the healing." Sakura nodded in gratitude.

"Ah, come on. This is nothing." He mumbled back. "You'd do the same for me."

"Except I don't know shit about this. I'm better at killing, anyway." She said, amused.

He said nothing.

"Can you stand?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah… Somewhat. Fighting might still be a bit difficult, though."

"Escape, then?"

"I think it's for the best." She nodded.

Zabuza's voice echoed in the mist again, and they both ignored it.

"He's close." Sakura said.

"How can you tell?"

She chuckled. She didn't seem really amused, though. "He's spreading his own water chakra in the
air to keep the mist so dense. I don't need to be a sensor to notice the difference in feeling.
Wherever the mist is too… off for me to use… That's where he is."

Naruto nodded.

"Ready to go?" He mouthed.

She nodded too.

Zabuza appeared. Sakura released a high-pressure water stream from her mouth, twisting her head
around, and forcing him to dodge.

Naruto's subsequent Wind Cutter did more to temporarily lift the mist than anything else.

He noticed that Zabuza was now using a regular long sword, that he must have gotten out a some
point when Naruto couldn't see him.

Zabuza came to a halt.

The Kaguya band's leader leaped out of the mist, bone-sword in hand, flying after Zabuza.

"Die, die, die!" He screamed, jubilant.

"You're way worse at this than Kimimaro! Come on, then!" Zabuza shot back.

They clashed swords, both of them grinning with sharp teeth, as though this were just a spar.

"These Mist guys really have a fucking problem." Naruto said. "Let's go. Now."

Sakura nodded at him. "You're faster than I am, right?"

Naruto nodded. "Got it."

He picked her up, bridal style, and dashed off, while Zabuza and the other man were both
distracted. In one leap, he covered as much distance as he could with Sakura in his arms. The wind
rushed to their ears.

Naruto heard Zabuza shout something.

He was almost out of the mist-

Something hit him in his side, at full speed. He barely managed to shield Sakura from the fall.

"What was that…?" Naruto grunted, slowly standing up from the ground.
Sakura groaned, trying to sit up. She couldn't recover as quickly as he usually did.

"How did they manage to attack us through the chakra mist…?" Naruto wondered.

The only way he could manage to even navigate in the chakra dense parts of it was his sense of
hearing. Which he was not so good with.

There was someone standing in front of them, in a yukata.

Man, woman, Sakura couldn't say for sure. Their face was hidden entirely behind a white mask,
and they had long, black hair worn loose.

A man, most likely, they were a bit too tall, and the shoulders a bit too broad. How many more
surprises did this day have for them in reserve?

She was a bit out of it, by now. Her stamina had never been the greatest, so extended battle against
strong ninja was the exact kind of situation she tended to avoid.

Using portals for offense was a double-edged sword. If it succeeded, she had a good chance of
ending a battle in one single move, using the effect of surprise.

If she missed her chance… Well, in that case, she didn't have any way to escape anymore.

She knew herself to be decently strong, but that was it, to her.

Monsters like Naruto aside, and even Karin, to a lesser degree, it was highly abnormal to rise to
Elite Jōnin level in such a short amount of time.

Zabuza, on his own, they could likely manage just fine. Naruto could even pull a win off by
himself, she thought. But two people at around this level… When she was already on the ropes…?

Fuck no.

This kind of shinobi were the kind of monsters you needed to be wary of.

You knew it when you saw them. You knew it when you saw them. You knew it when you felt
them.

They simply filled the space wherever they went. When they fought, you didn't really bother
drawing comparisons to usual shinobi battles.

These were the outliers.

The kind that would kill you with a single look, follow you around the world with a single touch.
Cripple your body or mind before you even noticed anything was wrong.

The Kage were some of these people.

Orochimaru was one of them. Anko, despite her casual manner, was one of them.

Naruto was getting there. Zabuza was one of them. This guy likely was, too.

Sakura was feeling hopelessly outclassed here. What could she even do…?

She felt again like the little girl, daughter to two very average shinobi, doing her best to keep up
with the clan kids.

She-

"Alright. If it's a fight you want… Bring it, asshole!" Naruto shouted, thunder shifting into a sword
in his hand.

Sakura stifled a laugh. What was she doing, moping around? They had a fight to win.

Okay.

Maybe that had been easier said than done. They were lucky Zabuza was busy with the lunatic,
because this masked ninja was a real pain in the ass to fight.

He could seemingly locate her as though there was no mist at all, and he threw his weapon with
deadly accuracy. He was at least as good with Water jutsu as she was, and he could counter any of
her moves.

The masked man was not getting in close-range, either, satisfied to keep them away from himself.
Was he afraid of getting up close and personal… or?

She had the hunch he was leading them somewhere. Likely to Zabuza… or another ally.

"Naruto." She whispered.

"Yeah?" He asked, looking around in the mist for any sign of the man.

"I think he might be trying to trap us."

"Ah." He nodded. "I was wondering. It seems as though we're going toward the South-West, more
and more."

"Yes. No matter why that is, we should probably avoid doing that."

"Unless he's trying to make us do exactly that. He was somewhat obvious about it." Naruto
countered.

Sakura hesitated.

"He might be trying to goad me into fighting him in melee range, too." Naruto continued.
"Unfortunately, that's what I'm best at, anyway." He shrugged.

"So… let's go in?" She asked, and he nodded. "I'll run straight at him, cover me." Sakura finished.
The reverse combination might be more dangerous to both of them.

Plus they had mostly practiced it this way.

Blue lightning covered his legs and arms. A pair of swords appeared in his hands.

Sakura dashed forward, headed straight to where the man had last been.

Soon enough, a volley of kunai flew at her, from a spot that was more to her right than she had
expected.

She grunted, her spectral hand blinking into existence, and she used it to grab a tree branch to
propel her up and forward even faster. She was almost flying, by now.

She threw her chakra hand forward.

More weapons came at her, wreathed in a watery serrated edge. It was not something she had really
seen before, but she would remember this.

They came at her too fast for her to dodge, aimed at her face.

She ignored them, continuing to extend her spectral hand, trying to grab the man. He dodged,
moving as little as he needed to.

The thrown weapons came closer and closer to her face.

Naruto appeared, fast as lightning, his swords a mere blur to her. He deflected the weapons in the
instant he passed her.

Sakura held on to the ground with her ghost hand. With the other, she created a water platform,
facing forward, just behind Naruto.

She could almost feel the masked man's surprise.

Naruto summoned wind chakra to his legs, lightening himself. He pushed against the water glyph,
and rocketed forward like a cannonball.

Despite his aversion to killing, the cross slash he aimed at their opponent's face definitely did not
feel as though he was just trying to knock him out.

Instead of the man dropping dead, something else happened.

Yellow lightning chakra exploded out of his tenketsu, and he managed to dodge the attack.

Mostly.

His mask fell off, cut in four. There was surprise — likely that he actually had gotten hit — on his
face.

Surprise that was also mirrored on her own, she was sure.

Naruto only paused. He definitely had become better at hiding his emotions than most people gave
him credit for.

"That's… Neji…?" She wondered out loud. He apparently had been a sore subject to Hinata. No
wonder.

And now that he stood still, she finally noticed the red ring he was wearing around his finger.
Something Naruto had told her meant one single thing.

Hyūga Neji was apparently a member of Akatsuki's top brass.

 Slaves

"Hello, Sakura-san."

Neji nodded, his face as impassible as ever, voice almost gentle. It clashed terribly with the angry,
bulging veins around his eyes.

Sakura felt like screaming. 'Why the hell are you so calm?' 'What the fuck are you doing with
Akatsuki?'

"Just what… What are you doing here?" Came out, instead.

"Isn't it obvious?" He shrugged. "Finishing the job." He pointed at Naruto.

"What do you want from him..?"

"The rest of the Nine-Tails. Indra-san has it, apparently. We didn't expect this sort of meeting
today, but it would be foolish to ignore the opportunity presented to us."

Naruto said nothing, staring at him, unmoving, instead.

"You don't have to get involved, of course." Neji continued. "Let me take care of our jinchūriki
problem, and you're free to go. As an old Konoha comrade."

"You left Konoha." She said, realizing how hypocritical that was.

"A few years ago, yes." Neji acknowledged. His eyes hardened. "Would you stay in a place that
allowed your own family to enslave you? For that matter, would you stay with this kind
of... family?" He stressed the word.

Of course she wouldn't.

"I'm not blaming you. I left even before, and I didn't have it half as rough." She said.

Neji nodded. "I'm glad you feel that way. Just because I disagree with… village and clan
politics…" He said with distaste. "Doesn't mean I have anything against you. We were all slaves, if
in a different way."

Naruto said nothing at this. She knew he agreed.

"No matter. I can't let you take Indra." She said, remembering to use whatever name Neji thought
was his real identity.

"Step aside, Sakura-san. I'd rather not hurt you, but I will, if I have to." Neji said, indifferent.

"Oh…? You won't hurt me?" She shot back, voice hard. "I'd like to see you try."

Neji sighed.

It happened so fast that she would have missed it if she had blinked. Neji blurred forward,
wreathed in yellow lightning. Naruto intercepted him, clad in blue.

The only difference was that Neji's aura covered him entirely, while Naruto could only manage his
legs and something else at the same time. Which meant that he had to choose between enhancing
his weapons… or his arms.

Either meant that right now… he didn't have enough cutting power to even go through Neji's
shield. And if he did the opposite... he wouldn't be fast enough to reach him.

Water was weak against Lightning, so most of her jutsu were out of the question.

She sent her spectral hand through the ground, and it came out under Neji's feet to anchor him in
place. The electricity went through, of course, and Sakura winced.

"Naruto!" She shouted.

"I'm on it."

Wind-natured chakra coursed through his blade. This was his way around the problem. His second
blade aimed to cut Neji diagonally.

Neji's arm seemed to disappear.

"Eight Trigrams: Lightning Palm"

A wave of air and electricity slammed into Sakura, paralyzing her. She couldn't move at all, her
every limb stiffening. The spectral arm faded into nothing, and Neji stepped away from Naruto.

He reappeared ten meters away, turning his Lightning aura down.

'He's saving chakra.' Sakura realized.

Naruto moved right next to her, defending her while she slowly recovered her mobility. She put a
hand to the ground, marking it.

"He doesn't have the reserves to keep it up at all times." She said to Naruto.

He gave her a somewhat amused glance, despite the situation. "You'll find that most people don't. I
can afford to, but I'm a bit of a special case."

"Don't let it go to your head." She grunted, her eye on Neji.

"Eh. He's better at using it than I am, anyway." He shrugged. "Are you alright?"

"…I'll manage."

"Cause I might need your help. This guy might be as good as Zabuza."

Neji slowly walked toward them.

"Surrender. There is no way out for you, Indra-san."

"Oh…? Why not?" Naruto shot back.

"You can't escape my eyes."

Naruto cackled. Sakura cracked an hesitant grin.

"Is this something you find amusing?" Neji raised an eyebrow.

"Nah. It's just I've heard this from every fancy eyes clan, by now." Naruto said. "In this sense,
you're very… Hyūga."

This… might not have been the best thing to say. Neji frowned. On a Hyūga, this might as well
mean fury.

"Be as it may, you won't-"

"Escape my fate, yeah, yeah, got it. Big talk." Naruto mocked.

"…What are you doing?" She whispered to him. This might not be the best time to pull a Kakashi.

Naruto ignored her, continuing. "Maybe you could give me a few tips about running away from my
inescapable destiny, please. What did they offer you...? A way to remove the thing on your
forehead?"

Neji disappeared again.

Naruto was ready this time. Wind rushed around him and into his swords, making him lighter and
faster. The Lightning nature, he focused through his legs entirely.

"Gentle Step: Lightning Roar!"

The yellow chakra focused around Neji's hands changed shape, turning into tiger-shaped shrouds.

Naruto's hands went even faster, and he blocked them. Sakura saw surprise flash across his face,
and he leaped away, swords showing no sign of the wind energy he had poured into them.

"These things absorb chakra…?" He groaned.

"Hm. Even someone like you can tell that much, then?" Neji taunted.

"I didn't think you even knew how to shit talk." Naruto poured more chakra into his swords.

"I usually don't bother speaking with dead men."

"Same here. Why don't you come and back up your claims, then?" Naruto rushed forward.

Neji's eyes could be everywhere at the same time, but it required a different level of focus. The
very real threat of Naruto meant his focus was likely on him… and her current position.

Before Neji's shroud reappeared, Sakura created a second portal where she was.

It was likely the first time Neji really saw her use it, if the surprise on his face was any indication.
She appeared behind him, slashing through his back diagonally.

The damned shroud appeared again, but a bit too late, as she had managed to wound him lightly.
She disappeared again into the portal, and he used Lightning to cauterize his wound.

This wouldn't work again, most likely.

Naruto opted to throw his Wind-enhanced swords, in another move that took Neji by surprise.
Then he jumped, bow unsealing, and three arrows of wind flew.

Neji deflected all of the projectiles, but the wind arrows opened wounds along his arms, despite his
armor. He grunted.
Then the homemade — well, made by Karin — tag Sakura had slipped through the portal exploded
behind him. He came out of the smoke at a high-speed, but not entirely unscathed.

Naruto punched him in the face, with a solid, wind-powered right hook. Before Neji could recover,
he summoned a sword out of thin air.

The slash missed him, and he let the sword fall, coming up with a rising vertical spinning kick. The
wind howled, and Neji had to use his wrists to shield himself from its hungry blades.

He deactivated his shroud again, since Lightning was weak to Wind and would only result in him
getting more injured.

Sakura's spectral hand went through the portal, holding Neji in place. 'This should prevent him
from using the Kaiten.'

Well, she hoped.

Then she went through it herself and grabbed one of Naruto's discarded swords. The chakra-
conductive blade answered her. Instead of using Water, which she was more comfortable with, she
focused on her weaker affinity with Earth.

It was better suited for blunt attacks, since her sword wouldn't penetrate his armor anyway.

She slammed the sword in the ground, burying it up to the hilt. Then she pulled it out, covered with
rocks.

Neji was fighting Naruto and two of his clones, who prevented him from leaving the spot they
were fighting in. That and the ghost hand wrapped around his ankle.

The Hyūga was also trying to gather his chakra around his right arm, in something that was starting
to look like three floating claws made out of pure yellow electricity. Naruto never gave him enough
time to complete them, keeping him on the ropes with Wind attacks.

Neji parried Naruto's strike, and answered it with a palm strike to the gut that he barely managed to
deflect, by slapping his hand away.

Naruto held a Bird sign with his other hand.

"Wind Style: Quickening."

It was not aimed at himself, as Neji had thought, but at Sakura.

She felt herself become lighter, the wind carrying her along. It felt like gliding over the floor, to
some degree.

Sakura's blunt rock sword-hammer had a longer reach, and she managed to slam it against Neji's
wrist. He winced, but managed to turn on his shroud again, avoiding it getting broken. That was
what Naruto had been waiting on. Sakura could see a bright light coming from under his
collarbone.

"Wind. Gale Blitz."

Raw wind-natured chakra swirled around Neji, her spectral hand keeping him there. Then it started
to swirl around him, destroying the clones and cutting into Neji's armor easily.

Too easily for Neji, apparently, since he turned his shroud off, once more. Sakura could not
maintain her ghost hand in the cutting winds either, and she had to dispel it. Chakra poured out of
all of Neji's tenketsu, and he started spinning.

His Kaiten had only grown more powerful, the rotation shielding him from the wind tornado
altogether.

Naruto breathed hard, but he was somewhat amused. He continued to pour more chakra in the
hurricane.

"He won't be able to stop spinning if he doesn't want to get shredded." He said. Then he stiffened.
"But I think Zabuza is coming, and you're injured. We need to go. Now. He's not nearly as fast as
Neji."

She nodded. She wasn't sure she could even fight against Neji, right now. They definitely wouldn't
be able to manage fighting both at the same time.

Naruto created three clones. All four of them started channeling more Wind chakra in the tornado,
forcing Neji to keep his rotation up.

Then the real Naruto picked her up, channeling whatever Wind chakra he still could mold after
that, before adding Lightning to it.

He dashed off when Zabuza arrived into the clearing, howling.

Naruto leaped from tree to tree, branches exploding in his wake, flying to where the mist was
thinner, too fast for Zabuza to follow.

He was getting somewhat low on chakra at this point, and carrying Sakura only added more to his
exhaustion. But she was just as exhausted, he knew.

She looked a bit pale, and for the first time, he realized how small she felt in his arms.

Zabuza slammed a fist into a tree.

Neji made short work of the remaining clones, before dusting himself off. "They got away, then."
He said, simply. "Next time."

Zabuza grunted. "I will make sure to cut a leg or two on the blond."

"Do as you wish. But later."

"Oh…? Since when do you presume you can order me around?" Zabuza glared at the younger
man.

"We still have a mission to finish." Neji stared back. "Your sword can wait."

They glared at each other.

"Let's get going, then." Zabuza gritted out. "We still have a few more islands left."

Neji nodded. He didn't always like working with the man, but he could at least keep his priorities
straight.
Once they had put several kilometers between themselves and the Akatsuki duo, — or rather, when
Naruto was running so low on stamina that he had to — Naruto warped back to Umi.

Sakura carried both of them across the water, and he leaned on her.

They fell in the sand, breathing hard. That had been way too close to a disaster.

"Sasuke was right." Naruto broke the silence.

Sakura looked at him, too tired to even answer.

"…Neji's a fucking dick."

Sakura snorted.

They went back to the house, dragging their feet in doing so.

"Next time we go back to Mist…" Sakura started.

"You really want to go back?" He asked. "Maybe the mark we have there already is enough."

"It's too far away." She shook her head. "We'll go again… in a few days. I feel like dying, right
now."

"I can help, if you want." He grinned.

"Fuck off." She grunted.

"Karin. Karin?" Naruto called. He knew she was likely not there, since he could not feel her
chakra, but he tried anyway.

Someone called — with a weak voice — from up the stairs. He knew who it was, of course. He
closed his eyes.

"Prepare for a long discussion." He whispered to Sakura. She squeezed his hand for support.

They climbed up. It was time to meet with Ino.

Ino was staring at Naruto, still unsure what to think.

She had not lied to him, she had figured who he was early on. Still, seeing the boy she had only
known as Sarutobi Naruto… As this hulking blond man was disconcerting, to say the least.

And not just because physically, he looked nothing like the thirteen-year old she remembered,
aside from his expression.

Both he and Sakura's clothes were torn, multiple healed wounds covering their bodies. Even though
she was in the room, her mind kept looping back to one of the worst days in her life — the worst
being, of course, Shikaku telling her the news about her dad.

The torture had been… bad. Worse than she expected, by far. Danzō — and she was almost sure it
was him, since he was the one in charge of ROOT, unless he too had been killed — had left
nothing to chance. She shivered.

She had spent around two days in his tender care, she estimated. More than enough to break any
lesser person.

She knew she could expect some form of post-traumatic stress disorder. Many shinobi dealt with it,
and as a Yamanaka, she was as well-equipped to manage as anyone was, if it ever came to it.

They had tried to break her, after all.

She hadn't said anything.

Unfortunately, this didn't make the torture hut any less or made her more capable of enduring the
trauma. Nobody was impervious to torture. It just meant she was way harder to break than most
people.

There were a few ways she had used to hold on.

Shutting her mind off was one. Removing her psyche from her physical body. Yamanaka were
trained in this. They were hypnotized by their clan elders, who imprinted a psyche into their minds
that manifested itself when a specific mode of stimulation was applied.

For example, pain inflicted on their body: their mind swapped to a separate persona to endure the
torture. A bit like applied schizophrenia. Then they'd revert back to the original when the torture
ended.

Hopefully.

Another way was shutting off their senses by focusing the pain elsewhere. Focusing on a mantra,
recounting a story over and over again. As a Yamanaka, everything was about the mind… and how
little anybody truly knew of it. So this had helped with the physical part. And she had known they
needed her alive, that they wouldn't kill her. At least not before they had found something. She just
had to hold.

Until what or when, she didn't know for sure.

But physical torture had mental effects. The whole idea of it was to elicit, train a behavior that
wasn't there. Confuse, remove hope from the target.

The sleep deprivation, and water-boarding at random intervals had gotten to her, though. To her,
this had been way worse than the more physical sort.

Struggling for every breath. Being choked by water, being allowed to breathe, being choked with
water. Again and again. You couldn't even take complete breaths, as the imbalance between carbon
dioxide and oxygen meant you reached oxygen starvation easily enough.

You were being drowned. Except it didn't end up in the usual 'blissful' coma.

Over time, you were looking at damage to the lungs, heart and brain.

Mentally… You were fucked. PTSD, severe mental distress, paranoia, suicidal tendencies, self-
harm, dissociation and numerous other effects could appear in some people.

And…

Ah, she was definitely lost in thought.

She knew all of this from the get go and had been as prepared as she could. Hopefully that would
prove to be enough.
Ino could still not move on her own, her tendons having been cut. Which would have been
something she would have felt even more hopelessness about, but Karin — this godsend— had
assured her that they would be able to heal her.

So…

Back to the room. She tried to put on her confident face.

It probably looked bad. Naruto seemed like he barely held back a wince, and Sakura's hand was
tapping nervously on the floorboards, a childhood habit she apparently had never managed to get
rid of.

Naruto… had likely gotten her in this mess in the first place. Not willingly, of course. She wasn't
sure if Danzō had orchestrated the whole thing, but she wouldn't put it past him. Her timing had
been terrible, if so.

In the wrong place, at the wrong moment.

She still couldn't figure what Naruto had been doing in the holding cells, either. Wait, was Naruto
even his name…? She knew nothing about him.

Things had changed very quickly, once he had appeared in the village. Sarutobi was dealing under
the table, the Hokage was dead, Danzō was likely in charge.

And apparently she was a wanted criminal. She had felt like crying, when Karin told her.

But Naruto… — or Indra, whoever he was now — had also pulled her out of this mess, even
though he had done so in the most brutal way she could think of.

What had happened to the sweet boy who refused to kill…?

Realistically, she knew she couldn't have gone back to the village anyway. One reason was that she
would never trust anybody who let Danzō pull this sort of shit to anybody under suspicion.

The second one being that no matter what she had known, she probably would have gotten killed.
Villages didn't like loose ends, no matter how talented or useful.

Naruto had gotten her involved, by no real fault of his own. He had also saved her.

She sighed. Things had been pretty easy, once: Yamanaka Ino, 13 years-old, loved Sarutobi
Naruto.

Ino broke the silence, her voice raspy but firm. She tried to look strong, so that they would not
notice how close to the edge she really was.

"Tell me what happened. All of it. No more secrets."

 No Way Back

Naruto nodded, holding back a sigh.

"Sure. It might be a bit long, though."

"It's the least you owe me." Ino added. She didn't even have to try to guilt-trip him, since well… he
already felt guilty. And she was right, he owed her this much.

He sent a clone to go prepare some tea.

"Where do I even start…?" He scratched the back of his head. Ino noticed, and a flash of
recognition passed through her eyes. Did he do this often? He wondered.

"Why don't you start at the moment you disappeared? She doesn't know anything, right now."
Sakura tried.

"Yeah, you might remember this as the moment you left a few people who cared about you in the
dark." Ino supplied helpfully. "And a girl who was waiting for you, too, if you can remember that
much."

He winced.

"Ah… I'll get the tea, guys." Sakura said.

"I've got a clone on it." He begged her to stay with his eyes.

"Nonsense! Let me take care of it." She insisted.

'Fucking traitor.'

You could trust her with your life. Not so much with private matters, apparently. She ran out of the
room. He felt her dispel his clone with a swift kick.

Ino stared at him, still, some dark amusement well hidden in her baby blue eyes.

"So?" She asked, voice still weak, belying the fire in her gaze.

"You… look pretty calm." He said lamely.

She snorted. "I have had all the time in the world to curse your name in the past few days. Even
more in these sewers they call holding cells." She rasped out.

"If we had this discussion a few days ago… Yes, I'd probably be... angry. More than now." She
glared at him. "I think I'm ready for a civil discussion now. Also, I think the painkillers are
mellowing me out. I'll decide how I feel after your tale, so make it a good one. Water, please."

He held the straw in front of her mouth. She nodded in thanks. How polite of her.

"I think I get it." Naruto said.

"Good. Stop wasting time, then."

"Did Toru or Sasuke say something about what happened in the Land of Wind?"
"Toru… told me you died." She said simply. "And getting Sasuke to speak about this one is like
trying to get info from a wall. One that hates to talk about it." She snorted.

"Ah. Well." He cleared his voice. "The mission in the desert went… well." He finished lamely.

"Uh huh." Ino was not impressed.

"Then we got ambushed by Gaara. We… beat him, and I killed him."

Ino frowned. "You did? What happened to the no-killing thing?"

Well, she didn't mention the night in the holding cells, at least.

"He was already dying, I think, so I finished him. Crushed his face with my staff. I thought it was
the safest option at the time. For all of us."

"…I see."

"Then the Bijū inside him broke free. Well, it was about to. We sealed it within Sasuke, instead.
That too, seemed like the best course of action."

"You're the one who did it, then." Sasuke had never said much about it, and Toru followed.

"I just copied the former seal and…" He interrupted himself. "Did he ever have any trouble with
it?"

"Not past the first months. Jiraiya-sama… Jiraiya helped him at first, and then he did something to
it with his Sharingan."

"Good. Good." Naruto nodded in relief.

"And then?"

"Then I had my first meeting with Akatsuki."

"Tea's ready, guys." Sakura entered, carrying a tray, and sitting next to Ino, who likely wouldn't be
able to drink it on her own.

Naruto shot her an unimpressed look. Sakura at least had the grace to look sheepish.

"So, they extracted the Nine-Tails from you — the Nine fucking Tails! It was supposed to be
dead… But - let me get this right - they didn't get it out fully. Then Lord Fourth, who turns out to
be your father…" She closed her eyes in consternation. "...Talked to you from inside your belly,
possessed you, killed some S-rank guy, before jumping out of the Yahiko Tower…?" Ino asked,
eyebrows raised so high they looked as though they were trying to leave her face entirely.

"Yea."

She glanced at Sakura for confirmation, and she nodded.

"Huh. That's… wild." She motioned for Sakura to hold the teacup to her lips. "Thanks, Sakura."

"I guess so. It felt pretty surreal at the time, and I didn't have much time to think during." Naruto
admitted. His life had been pretty weird, overall.
"As strange as that whole day must have been… It doesn't really explain where you went after
that."

"I uh tried to use the Hiraishin, because I saw my father use it just before. Also, I was falling to my
death, and didn't know any other option."

"…Why didn't you just transform into a bird or something?" Ino asked, frowning. "You've done it
before."

"…There was somebody after me, they would have killed me, I'm sure."

Also… He just hadn't thought of it at the time. Panic apparently had made him get tunnel vision.

"Okay. So where did you land… that prevented you from coming back?"

"…Three years and some into the future."

She laughed. Then she saw his serious face.

"…For real?" She gaped at him.

"It's a space-time jutsu." He shrugged, as though this explained everything. "I fucked up several
aspects at the same time. Especially the time part. Actually, maybe I'm not the only one. Did
nobody ever bother trying to recreate Hiraishin…?"

"One guy in Iwa came close, years ago, apparently." Sakura supplied. "But… there's nothing else
mentioned about him."

"Maybe he'll appear out of nowhere in a few decades, who knows." Naruto tried to joke. It fell flat.
Rough audience. "Or maybe he just died. Don't know which one is the most likely option."

"…You could still have come back." Ino said, eyes hard, but looking a bit less angry. "Three
years… It's bad, but better than five years."

"…I didn't plan on coming back." He admitted with a wince. "There was one thing I needed to do,
but nobody needed to see me for it."

"…"

"I figured that all of you guys… kinda moved on. Coming back, when I had no intention of staying
felt even more cruel."

"..." Ino muttered something he didn't get.

"What is it?"

"You're such a bastard." Ino ground out.

Sakura chose this moment to slowly fade away through a portal.

"I'm sorry…?"

"I said you're a bastard." She repeated, before coughing. "A selfish one. There were plenty of ways
you could have told us you had survived, at least."

"It was too risky." He retorted hotly. "Konoha has ways of forcing people back into servitude. Ask
any Hyūga about it. As a jinchūriki, even one with less than one ninth of the full Nine-Tails' power,
they would have forced me to fight for them. A slave in all but name, an unwilling 'protector' and-"

"Isn't this what you're doing now anyway? Killing… fighting, and who knows what else." Ino shot
back.

That was… a low blow.

"I'm fighting for my own freedom! Fighting and… killing, still, that much is true." He gritted out.
"But not for someone else's goals. The only thing I want is to be left to lead my life in peace,
without madmen trying to destroy me, the people I care about… and the world!" Naruto said, a bit
more vehemently than he had hoped.

"What about the people you cared about in Konoha, huh?!" Her voice raised in volume as well.
"What about us? What about me? What did we matter to you…?"

"…All of you moved on." He tried. "This was the best I could offer you."

"I mourned you! I swore that I would never… That I would never…"

"That you would never what... exactly?" He said, eyes closed. "We were thirteen back then. I never
expected anything to-"

"And when I found out you lived… I hated you for leaving. So fucking much." She gritted out,
looking as though she still wanted to punch him, at least.

Then she sniffled. When he looked at her face, she was blinking some tears away, angrily.

Maybe that got through to him.

He...

He understood her pain — maybe he always had — to some degree. And she was right.

There were plenty of ways he could have told her, at least. She would never have told the Hokage,
knowing how he felt about things. Or even Toru. Maybe Sasuke, too.

He… Ah. Shit.

Maybe he really had been wrong.

"Ino..." He interrupted.

"Go fuck yourself." She sniffled, and then tried to hide it from him.

"I am truly sorry." He said.

Then, he surprised her, bowing until his head touched the ground.

"You are right. I was… afraid. Afraid of coming back. And I… hated the village, the system.
Because of the reasons I told you. And so… I wasn't willing to take any chances. Even if it meant
that you would all suffer for it. For this, I am sorry."

"Stop… Please, stop." She said. "Don't try this shit with me." But her voice was wobbling.

"I meant every word I said." He answered, slowly rising back to his knees. "If I had to do it again, I
would still not come back to the village."

He saw her face darken, and continued before she could say anything.

"…But I would have found a way to tell you. So you could at least have some closure." He
concluded.

"…You never cared, did you? About me?" She asked. "You just disappeared. I thought you
were dead for years!"

"No. That's just not true. I cared about you. And I still do, actually. Never stopped." He said,
looking into her eyes.

"Why…?" She asked.

"…Why what?"

"Why… Why didn't you take me with you?!"

Then she seemed to realize what she had said, looking mortified, before the tears started to flow.

'Oh no.'

He definitely wasn't great with crying people. A crying Ino, even less.

"I… I loved you. I would have done anything for you." She finally admitted, crying.

"Ino…"

He took her into his arms, unsure what to say. She stiffened, but let him hold her.

Sakura came back to Ino leaning against Naruto's frame, as he was serving her tea. They were both
looking somewhat tense, though.

"…You guys are done?" She asked, with only her head visible in the doorway. "I expected
something more… violent."

Ino lifted her lame hands. "Even if I wanted to… I don't think I can."

Sakura winced. "Fair enough." She definitely had been crying, too. Sakura was glad they had at
least found some neutral ground. And that she didn't have to deal with a crying Ino.

"Thanks for the support there, Sakura." Naruto said, dryly.

"Ah. No need to thank me." She waved off. "Are we all good?"

Ino glared at her. "Naruto did something fucking stupid, but I can somewhat understand his
reasons."

"Ah… Yeah." Sakura nodded weakly.

"What about you, though? Couldn't even send a few letters?" Ino shot.

Sakura looked toward Naruto for help, who just looked away.

'Bastard.'
"So you had a fight with your parents and you decided to leave?" Ino frowned, her arms crossed.
She looked pretty intimidating, but her sitting in between Naruto's legs, who dwarfed her, kinda
ruined the effect.

Sakura closed her eyes in consternation.

"It was more than just a disagreement." She muttered. "Being a shinobi was all I wanted to do.
What I trained for. A missing arm or an eye wasn't going to stop me. What would you have done, if
your parents forced you to do… anything?"

"I would have bullied them into giving me what I wanted, of course. Or persuaded them." Ino
shrugged.

"Well, I didn't manage. And I had no way of doing it on my own in Konoha. So I left when I found
the opportunity."

"…Did you realize how dangerous that was?" Ino asked.

"Of course, I did." Sakura shot back. "Well…" She amended. "I figured most of that out later,
anyway. It was kind of a... rushed decision."

"Uh huh." Ino said, unimpressed.

"I... uh had a mentor."

"Someone who can protect you from what…?" Ino pretended to look at cue cards. "Oh. The whole
shinobi world."

"Fuck you, pig." Sakura muttered, looking away.

"Who was that guy, anyway?"

"A man called Kiyoshi, from Suna. He taught me almost everything I know… and how to learn the
rest... and train on my own."

"…Kiyoshi? As in… An old man from Suna? Using puppets?"

"Yeah, he was from there." Sakura nodded.

"Do you know how lucky you got…?" Ino rasped out.

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.

"Are you fucking kidding me? I thought you read about this kind of stuff. That's one of the guys
who made Suna's puppetry the danger it is now, with Chibo... Chiyo? Something like that."

"…Oh? I thought he was just a sweet old man who used to be a ninja back then."
Though sweet and ninja didn't really belong together. Especially not for older shinobi.

"He taught Sasori of the Red Sands, and Chigusa — Hundred Hands."

"…"

"The former is suspected of having killed their former Kage… and the latter might well become
their next one."
"…He didn't want to teach puppeteering to anyone." Sakura said, remembering the man. "And he
only taught me how to use the chakra threads shortly before he died."

"Considering what Sasori did, maybe he had a good reason for that." Ino guessed. "If he still taught
you that much… Well, he must have seen something in you."

"…Kiyoshi-sensei." Sakura whispered, feeling as though the wound had reopened.

Ino picked up on it. She sighed.

"Look. I'll give you shit about your disappearance another time, then. Not when you make that
face."

"Very kind of you, Ino." Naruto said dryly.

"You shut up. I haven't forgiven you either." She shot back, now angry again.

"What? But I thought-"

"Shh."

He glared at her.

Ino thought she probably looked more or less fine.

Well, she felt pretty tense, almost electric in fact, alight with nervous energy. Never a good sign.

But considering she just got out of a basement after a couple relaxing days of crippling torture…
She thought she was doing okay. Then again, she only had a bit of time to process everything. The
worst would come later, she knew.

Keeping her mind on something else was the best way she knew to cope, filling the silence with
chit-chat if she felt anxious. So she fell back on these patterns.

Even if it meant blurting out a few things she really hadn't wanted to say out loud to him. Not now.

Otherwise, she would think about all the things she didn't want to think about right now. Being a
wanted criminal, likely not seeing her friends and family again-

Ah, there she went.

"What happened after this whole time jump thing?" She asked, trying not to show how fragile her
grip on her sanity felt.

Plus, Naruto's story was interesting, so there was that. It was a good distraction from her thoughts.

"…And that's how I met Orochimaru." Naruto concluded.

"It's like he wants people to think he's creepy." Ino said.

She looked somewhat calm, but he knew her better than this. He knew she was likely still very,
very angry. He couldn't blame her, though.

"You have no idea how many times I thought the same." He snorted. "In the two or so years after
that, I trained mostly. Karin was working with him, and we met Sakura on a random mission."

"Really?"

"Yeah, she was cosplaying as a vagrant samurai or something."

"It wasn't like that!" Sakura said hotly, cheeks red.

"No?" He teased easily.

"No. It's safer as a man, and the helmet allows me to disguise my voice." She retorted.

"I'm going to pretend it has nothing to do with you reading samurai romance as a kid."

"S-Shut ut up!" She said hotly.

"Did you have a crush on handsome Tatsuya from The Forbidden Daisho?" Naruto pushed more.

"…I'm so going to beat your ass again tomorrow." She muttered, between her teeth.

"I think you were telling a story." Ino said, somewhat amused, despite herself.

"Yeah, yeah. Then we got on a boat-"

"A boat? I've never been on a boat." Ino mused.

"What does this have to do with my story?" He grunted.

"I want to do a boat trip too, then." Ino decided, glaring at him.

He grunted again. He really didn't enjoy boats at all, and wasn't she mad at them anyway?

"That's how we settled on this archipelago. Long trip, a few… hiccups on the way, too." He
continued.

Ino wasn't paying attention, likely distracted by idea of seeing the world on a boat.

"…And that's how we got here. Now we're putting marks around the world, to travel back and forth
if needed."

"Oh, so you could… go back to Konoha, for example?" She asked, trying not to sound too hopeful.

He thought.

"In theory, yes. It would be way too dangerous, but you could likely meet someone elsewhere in
the Land of Fire."

Naruto assumed she was thinking about her family. They'd have to sort out a few security…
concerns first, though. Right now, Ino looked so relieved that he didn't feel like spoiling her cheer.

"How does that work, even?" Ino asked.

"The teleporting thing?" He could almost hear Orochimaru correcting him. Warping. Well, he
wasn't there.

"Yeah."
"We put a sort of seal on people and they use natural energy to jump around on the network I
made."

"Natural energy…?"

"I'll tell you the details later, if you want."

"What happens to the network if you… die for example?" She asked.

"…Look, you really shouldn't be trying to kill me already." She didn't laugh, so he moved on.
"Anyway, the network is basically out of my hands by now. Once a mark is permanent… well it is
permanent. I'm the only one who can create new ones, though."

Ino nodded.

"We were trying to do exactly that in Mist, today." Sakura added.

"Met Akatsuki there, though."

"What…? For real?"

Ino had heard a few things about the criminal organization before today, but had learned more
about what they actually did in five minutes of conversation than she had in years, back in Konoha.

"A man named Zabuza… and Hyūga Neji." Naruto concluded.

"Neji…?" Ino breathed out. "So that's where he went."

"What happened to him, exactly?" He asked.

"Do you remember the exams, years ago? Where Sasuke stole some high-level Hyūga
techniques?" Seeing both of them nod, she continued. "Both of them got in trouble for this, but Neji
especially."

"But… why?" Sakura asked.

"Because Hyūga have a… tradition." Naruto said with distaste. "You can call it slavery. The Main
house lives as… the masters… and the Branch house as their servants, basically. They are branded
with a seal on the forehead, that the Main house can use to punish... or kill them."

"Yes. And Neji comes from the branch house. The techniques he used... and lost to Sasuke, -
meaning to the Uchiha as a whole - were supposed to be a main house secret. I don't know what he
went through, living with them, after that…"

Ino continued, shivering.

"But it probably was pretty bad, since he left the Land of Fire with a red-haired man, after
knocking out both of his teammates. That was years ago."
 Far From Her Home

"Konoha's Sixth Hokage, Shimura Danzō, declares martial law following ongoing clashes with
Suna forces." Ino read out loud, cursing, one week later.

The news came from one of the Land of Lightning's trustworthy newspapers.

In Umi, which was far removed from the rest of the world, there were a few people in charge of
acquiring information about continental matters. Not just through espionage, even though
Orochimaru came with an extensive spy network.

By the time every newspaper was talking about worldly events… What had just been rumors
before could not be ignored anymore.

Whether this was just a way for Danzō to enforce his rule over the village, or a true state of
emergency would be confirmed over the coming weeks.

Most likely, it was both.

"This… This is bad, isn't it?" She let out weakly. "I guess I'm not coming back to the Land of Fire
at all, then. Danzō would probably have me executed before I can even set foot close to the
village."

"Ino…" Naruto winced.

"No… No. It's okay." She clumsily wiped a tear from her eye. "My mother will be fine, anyway.
She's a civilian."

He squeezed her shoulder in support, and she let him.

"The others… Well, it's not as though I could protect them, even if I were there." She said.

"That doesn't mean you have to be fine with it." He said, looking at her. "I'm sorry to hear it, too."

She trembled.

"I… Yeah."

"It's okay to cry, if you feel like it." He said. "That's what you used to say, right?"

"…Yeah." She sniffled. "But I…"

He embraced her. Soon after, she was wailing against his chest.

"Sorry. It feels as though the only thing I'm doing is crying, these days." Ino said.

"Who would blame you for that?"

Just ten days ago, she had been in ROOT's tender care. Naruto knew that if it had been him, he
would be in a way worse mental shape. He had spent a lot of time with her over the last week,
wanting to make sure she was alright.

Besides a few moments of burning anger and rage, and some days where she just turned… very
cold, she really was doing incredibly well.

Naruto didn't push her to talk, letting her do it on her own, and asking questions he hoped were
not too insensitive.

She had been talking with Anko a lot, who apparently had self-appointed herself as a therapist. It
seemed to be helping. No matter how talented Ino was in regards to the human mind, she could not
exactly do this on her own.

Even Orochimaru himself had spent some time to speak with Ino, which had
surprised… almost everybody.

Besides Naruto, because he knew that the man saw the use in having a Yamanaka around,
especially one as talented as Ino was. And he seemed to know many, many things about trauma.
Which Naruto didn't really feel like dwelling on too much.

In time, Ino would be fine, Naruto knew.

The physical part would take a while to heal too, which could take from one to two months, even
with Orochimaru and Karin's help.

Knowing Ino as well as he did, he knew she was bored out of her mind, being confined to this
room, and only being allowed to walk around with casts around her feet. Fine motor control was
also out, for the time being.

As if she could sense what he was thinking, Ino broke the silence.

"Can you help me get out?" She asked hesitantly.

"Out where?"

"I've not been out of this house for more than a week." Ino grunted.

"Uh… I don't know if you're supposed to."

"Please. I'm getting crazy over here."

He sighed. "All right. I'll carry you, then."

Naruto walked around with Ino, carrying her piggyback style.

"This place is huge…" She said, her eyes taking in the sights around them. They were currently
climbing a mountain path at a steady pace. Well, Naruto was walking at a steady pace, technically.

Not that it was very hard, even with Ino on his back, she was pretty light.

It was still morning, at around ten. Blue skies, filled with sparse, lazy clouds, stood above them.
The path they were on was overlooking the lake… and Orochimaru's spire, which seemed even
taller from here.

"Wait until you see the rest, this is not even the biggest island." He grinned.

"…There are others?"

"Well, it's an archipelago, after all."

To be fair, the place was a true wonder. It offered endless opportunities to be amazed, and Naruto
— though he knew to be biased — considered it one of the prettiest places he had ever seen.

And then, they were standing on a hill, facing the open ocean.

"It's beautiful." Ino said.

Naruto moved them closer.

From this side of the island, there was nothing but peaceful blue seas, stretching on seemingly
forever.

"It's… the ocean, Naruto."

"Huh?" He wondered. "Yes, it is."

"I've never been close to it before." She admitted.

"Really?"

"I've seen lakes before, but… I've mostly been within the Land of Fire's borders… and never too
deep south or north."

"Ah… I see. Most Konoha ninja won't get this far out, it's true." He said. "The wind feels great,
doesn't it?"

"Yes." She nodded. "I've seen pictures of the ocean before… but they really don't do it justice."

"When we travel around, there are plenty of other things to see. The Land of Canyons is a sight, for
one. It's very different from Fire, despite being fairly close. There are jungles somewhere to the
west, too."

"…You said 'when'." Ino remarked dryly.

"Huh?"

"Not 'if.'"

"Ah, did I?"

"You sound awfully confident that I'm going to come with you guys, don't you?"

He grinned. "Well, I wouldn't want you to miss out on the good parts."

In the end, Naruto gave Ino the full tour of the lake island… as well as the main one.

"This is incredible." She said, taking in the sight of the small village standing in the middle of the
green island.

"It's pretty great, isn't it?" He nodded. "This area was pretty flat, but this island is normally
mountainous, and covered in ravines… or trees. That's because of the humidity here. On top of the
sea, there are three lakes just on this island."

"Aren't you getting devoured by mosquitoes…?" Ino asked.

"Nah, Karin an I came up with a few seals to keep them away."

Ino felt vaguely annoyed, for some reason. "You guys did? I thought you would stop studying
Fūinjutsu, since it was mostly Sarutobi-sama forcing you, back then."

He laughed. "I might have, but the art is actually pretty fascinating, it turns out. Did you know that
originally, the man who came up with the idea of double-layered matrix..."

Ino let him ramble on and on about the intricacies of sealing, a fond smile on her face, despite
herself.

"There's something I don't get, though." Ino said, once they were sitting in one of the main city's
three restaurants.

Naruto turned to look at her, attacking his third bowl of noodles. He had helped Ino eat her own
before.

"What is it about? The reason some people still call me Indra here, too? Habit, I guess. I told you
my real name already, don't mind them. Same for the sama thing, some people are just being
overly polite."

A kid passed by, grinning at him. Naruto smiled back.

She rolled her eyes. "Not this."

"Go on, then."

"You said you started building this village months ago." She said, staring at him.

"Uh huh." He nodded, lifting an eyebrow. "I think we arrived in… late June…? Early July, at the
latest."

"That's what I'm saying!" Ino said, eyes hard. "It makes no sense. Why would you lie about that?"

"…Huh?"

"It's been only two, maybe three months!"

"Yeah, what's your point?" He asked, more and more confused.

"Are you trying…" She said, punctuating every word as if she were speaking to somebody
particularly slow. "To make me believe… That this village was built in less than ninety days?" Her
frustration was building.

"Well… Yeah." He frowned.

Why would he… Ino took a good look at him.

She could usually tell when somebody was lying. So either he was a greater liar than most Jōnin…
Or he was telling the truth.

Naruto continued. "We're not that many people, actually… Somewhere between a hundred to…
two or three hundred? No, maybe closer to a hundred…? I don't know, people are in transit all the
time. You'd have to ask Orochimaru, I don't really check the registry. But there are a couple reasons
we've been able to do it so quickly, though. I'll show you later."

"Nothing really makes sense around you." Ino sighed. "That much hasn't changed."
"We really built it one house at a time. It takes us less than a hour to set something basic up, by
now." He laughed. "Then we taught the others, and got more help when people came in and-"

He stood up abruptly, slapping his forehead. Ino stiffened.

"Is everything alright?" She asked.

"Yes. Yes." He said absentmindedly. "How could I forget…?"

"What are you even talking about?"

"The Shadow Clone technique. A big part of what we did to build this place up was made possible
thanks to Karin's abilities… and Shadow Clones."

"Are you talking about Lord Second's technique…?"

"Yeah. That one. I've been using it for years and it's probably my most versatile technique. I just
realized only Orochimaru and I learned it."

Karin, in particular, would find it useful, being Uzumaki and all.

"It's more than time I taught you guys how to use it."

He created two clones to go find Karin and Sakura, and tell them to meet up in a few hours at the
house.

"We'll meet with them later this afternoon. In the meantime, I'll show you around, there are a few
people I'd love for you to meet."

They met up with Shinjiro and Takaya during the afternoon.

Ino laughed, delighted with their stories of sailing across the world… and worried after they
recounted the tale of how they came to the Umi archipelago.

Naruto and Sakura hadn't told her much about the trip… the mists, shadows, almost drowning…
and a sea dragon. She could almost feel jealous. While they were out having what seemed to be
grand adventures, she was stuck with… Shikamaru and Choji. Or torturing people.

Maybe she could welcome the change of pace, even though being around them seemed to be about
twice as dangerous.

Naruto ended up telling her a lot more, after they left Takaya's home, where he lived alone — the
man and Shinjiro were good friends, sure, but they were not about to spend even more time in close
quarters than they already did.

Tales about old Uzumaki legends, a topic about which Orochimaru had given him some scrolls to
read, months ago.

Of living in the Land of Rice, what little he had managed to see from the world.

Learning about Orochimaru's more dubious sort of research… and using himself as a guinea pig in
some ritualistic mutilation… that he had repeated a couple times, to Ino's horror.

In return, she told him about the latest Konoha news. Of the things that were different… and those
that stayed the exact same.
She could see some fondness in his eyes for the village he was born in. At the same time, it was
clear he had no further interest in the place. He was home.

She… was in a strange in-between. The village of Umi could become a home in time, but the fact
was…

Ino didn't really have a choice in the matter. Her family was still in Konoha, and most of her
friends were, too.

Ino knew things could have been way worse. She really enjoyed spending time with them and she
was very grateful.

Still, for the coming weeks, she would cry herself to sleep on most nights.

Karin came back at around five in the afternoon from a long day with the local craftsmen.

Someone had to make sure their sealing projects were viable, and since Naruto had been busy most
of the time, she had slipped into the role herself.

They had something they could sell very easily. Seals that required no chakra input, and would
work on seemingly forever. They only had a few people working on exporting them, but it turned
out to be more than enough.

Theirs was the kind of product that would spread by word of mouth, until Rasenjō, the official
company name they were working under on the mainland, became a household name.

They were already raising the prices they were selling their products at… and people were happily
lining up to buy more.

The world of business was even stranger than the shinobi world. That's what Karin thought after
enough time hunching over sales reports, margins and costs. It wasn't unpleasant, though… Maybe
she could continue doing so a while longer.

Especially now that she had a new tool to tinker with.

Shadow Clones were really, really great… and Karin now wished she had learned about all the
things she could do with them earlier on.

Learning the technique had been surprisingly easy, too, and she had picked it up before Sakura did.
But Karin knew she likely wouldn't take too long either.

Ino didn't count, since she could not really use her hands for precise motions at the time.

They spent the rest of the evening lazing on the beach, passing around a bottle of rice wine Sakura
had stashed away.

Life was good.

Naruto entered the bathroom silently.

They had solved the issue of setting up running water pretty easily. Using seals to extract moisture
from the air was nothing new, and the only real problem was the amounts of chakra it usually took.

This was another thing that using natural energy solved. A sealed-off barrel kept refilling with
water until it was full, and pipes brought it to the shower-head or the faucet. It had the added
benefit of making the atmosphere a bit drier, too.

There were more things involved in making the system sustainable, but tinkering was not what he
had come here for.

Ino didn't have her own room, so she and Sakura were sharing for the time being. He assumed both
of them were sleeping.

"Karin." He called.

"There's no need for that." She grinned, cheeks flushed, either from pleasure or alcohol. "I felt you
coming."

He removed his clothes under her heated gaze, before slipping behind her, his lips trailing down
her neck. She moaned, her hands grabbing his hair over her shoulder.

His own arms sneaked around her waist, pulling her close against him.

Sakura didn't look them in the eye, the morning after.

Karin and Naruto shared a look. "Something up?" She asked.

"Still mad I got us out of trouble yesterday… while your fancy portals were of no help?" Naruto
teased, sitting down next to her.

She snorted. "Nah, I don't care about that. You should count yourself lucky I was here to prevent
you getting finger-poked straight to your death."

"Finger-poked…?" Karin asked, missing the point.

Sakura grinned.

Then she stood up, and put on an indifferent expression. She slipped into a loose — she only had a
single hand, so she felt it was decent — imitation of the Gentle Fist stance. Naruto caught on, stood
up and did the same.

He stood there, arms folded, eyes closed.

"Fool." Sakura started, voice low. "You can't escape these eyes."

"Hmph." Naruto let out a disdainful snort. "Against my inborn superiority… There is simply
nothing you can do."

"…Is this supposed to be Sasuke?" Karin hesitated. Sakura let out a cackle.

Naruto shot her a betrayed look. "It's Neji. Of course it's fucking Neji. Can't you tell…?"

Sakura jabbed him with her fingers. Two times. Four times.

"Drop dead." She turned away from him. "This is the power of the Haruno clan."

Naruto fell to the floor. "Oh noo… My chakra points are all clogged." He mimed spasming.

"Hmph. As expected from a commoner." Sakura muttered.

Karin laughed.

"That's very funny and all… But why did you look so sour before?"

"Ah." Sakura blushed. "That."

Naruto nodded from his position on the floor.

"You remember when you told us you soundproofed the rooms?" Sakura asked, not looking at
either of them.

Ah. He had a feeling he knew. Whether he felt embarrassed or amused, he wasn't sure.

"Yes?" Karin asked.

"You… kinda forgot to do the shower."

 The Calm Before the Storm

The atmosphere at breakfast was… strange.

Karin was acting normal, if a bit amused. Sakura was acting too cheerful, and Ino was glaring at
him. Actually… that was probably why Sakura was doing it in the first place.

"…So yeah, I imagine he wasn't too pleased to learn what this meant about him." Sakura finished
her story.

Naruto laughed. It was pretty funny, admittedly. Now… Ino, though, didn't seem to react.

"Uh huh." Ino nodded, never taking her stern eyes off of him.

"Ino… If you have something to say to me, please do so." Naruto said, bringing the cup of tea to
his mouth.

"I have nothing to say to you." She grunted.

"Alright, then." She definitely was pissed about something, but he really wasn't feeling like playing
this game right now. She'd speak when she felt like it. Probably.

Karin looked at him as though he were stupid. He frowned at her. Naruto could almost read her
face. He knew she could do the same.

'Do something about this.' She seemed to say.

'How is this my fault?' He tried to convey.

'Isn't this obvious?' She rolled her eyes.

"So… any plans for today? Karin tried.

"I can't walk." Ino said flatly.

"Have to train." Naruto said.

"Need to plan." Sakura declared.

Karin sighed. This was going to be a pleasant morning.

Of course, that's the moment Orochimaru decided to drop by, Anko in tow.

"So Akatsuki knows, then." Anko summed up.

"I don't know how, but yeah." Naruto nodded. "They called me Indra, though, so-"

"Does it matter?" Orochimaru interrupted. "Nagato and some of the others know who you are
exactly. I'm not sure why they didn't bother informing every member, but that's secondary."

"They have the Byakugan, too." Anko nodded. "I was right in picking this place."

Karin lifted an eyebrow. "…Oh…?" She was mildly annoyed, this much was obvious. "Did you
forget how we came here in the first place…?"
"Of course, not, but without my precious guidance…" Anko waved off.

"You just pointed an empty spot on a map." Karin retorted hotly.

"Don't let her rile you up, Karin." Sakura said.

"Yeah, don't let her rile you up… Karin." Ino repeated.

Karin glared at both of them instead.

Orochimaru sighed.

"I'm not sure what Akatsuki was doing so close to Mist, but what matters is that they are active
again. This is the first time I've heard of them moving in the open in a while. Momochi Zabuza and
Hyūga Neji, then?"

"Yes." Naruto nodded. "Which means we now know a few of their members. I'm just going to
assume that they didn't switch any of them out in the last few years."

He counted off. "Uzumaki Nagato. The masked Uchiha — Tobi, they called him. Uzumaki Ryūjin.
Momochi Zabuza. Hyūga Neji."

"Rumor has it that Hoshigaki Kisame could be one of them. Since Nagato, who is the current
leader of Rain, is involved, then his right-hand, Konan, probably is as well." Orochimaru added.

Anko nodded. "Whatever they were doing near Mist, they dropped it to come after you. Which
likely means they are ready to hunt Bijū… Or that they will continue to hunt you, at least."

"We don't know how many members there are, but it's safe to say they've been recruiting over the
years, with Rain becoming about as strong as one the Five Great Villages." Sakura said.

Which was something the Great Five probably would have loved to do something about, if the
situation hadn't been so tense between them.

"And there's war at the corner, of course." Karin concluded. "Which will likely be their best chance
of poaching Jinchūriki out in the open, and blaming other countries for it."

"There's something strange, though. Assuming this Tobi guy can simply teleport in and out of a
village… Why didn't he do so?" Naruto wondered.

"They could have been waiting for something." Sakura said. What something was… Was unclear.

"Maybe he couldn't pass the barriers?" Anko shrugged.

"It could be that the Jinchūriki were hidden away?" Sakura asked.

"I don't know how Kumo… Iwa and Kiri do it…" Naruto said. "But Fū and Gaara were doing their
own thing, most of the time."

"Sasuke, too." Ino interjected. "Then again, his missions are highly confidential, and he's either
within Konoha or with Jiraiya-sama most of the time, so… Not the easiest target." She amended.

Orochimaru was thinking.

"If Akatsuki is moving openly…" He started.

"Now's our best time to take them out, one by one. While they're split." Naruto finished.
Orochimaru raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

"…Yes. This is the gist of what I was about to say." He accepted. "For this, I would suggest all of
you-"

"Wait!" Ino shouted.

"What is it?" Naruto wondered.

"…What the hell are you guys involved into?!" She continued. "Take them out? You want to get
rid of Akatsuki?!"

"Yes." "Yeah." "Fuck them.""Sure."

Orochimaru nodded in conclusion. "Quite simply."

"Is this a bad joke?"

Ino looked at their faces. Sakura looked indifferent. Karin, resolute.

Naruto was calm. Orochimaru and Anko were… amused?

"Nagato… and Akatsuki by proxy." Naruto began. "They are after at at least three of us. And
Konoha wants most of us dead, too. As far as I'm concerned, this is a preemptive strike."

He then frowned, his tone turning cold.

"I thought a lot about this." He said. "I would… prefer not to kill. But… If it comes to it. If it's a
choice between our lives and theirs, I won't hesitate, you have my promise."

Nobody seemed fully surprised, — she had seen him butcher a dozen elite shinobi herself — but
Ino felt a pang of sadness at seeing what felt like the last of his idealism crumble away.

Ino put her face in her palms.

"What did I get myself into…?" She groaned.

Sakura looked sympathetic. "Ino… You don't have to get involved. Stay here, as long as you want,
and hopefully, when this blows over-"

"Like hell." Ino shot back.

"…What?"

Orochimaru and Naruto shared a look. That had probably been the exact thing to say to push Ino in
the other direction. The Snake Sage nodded in pride. They really turned out to be pretty good at
manipulating people, despite their very vocal protests about it. Naruto likely knew what he was
thinking, because he glared at him.

"I want in." Ino confirmed. She saw Naruto's face and shot him a dark look. "It's not because of
what Sakura just said."

"Uh huh." He said politely.

"I'm not going to stand by while all of you do your best to get rid of a criminal organization."
"Uh, Ino… I think we're also criminals, technically." Naruto added helpfully.

She waved it off. "Exactly. It's not like I can get back to Konoha, anyway."

"…I guess that's one way to see it."

Naruto looked somewhat worried, and so did Sakura.

Was this because they doubted her…?

Ah. Right. Her injuries. Hopefully this wouldn't take too long. Same thing went for the trauma, or
course, but what sort of shinobi didn't have their own baggage…?

A new one.

"So it's settled. As soon as I recover, I'm joining you guys!" She nodded, proud of her decision.

This sure beat missions with Shikamaru and Chōji.

"Very well." Orochimaru smiled. "As of today, you're a full citizen, shinobi of Umi. Stand proud."

"Welcome aboard, fellow criminal." Anko grinned.

They would go as separate teams, once Ino got settled.

Orochimaru would go with Anko.

Naruto, Karin, Sakura and Ino would band together.

There apparently were two other teams of five people each, but Ino was not familiar with any of the
people composing them.

A war was brewing, but it would likely be weeks… or even months before people would call it so.
In the meantime, they would have plenty of things to do. Find information about Akatsuki's plans,
finish setting marks all around the world…

Building real defenses around the archipelago was urgent too. They were already starting to make
enemies, and even though they had a Yamanaka around now, just relying on cursory mind-reading
was too risky. There was only one of her. Intent-based barriers would work better.

And of course… they needed to recruit more people. A total of less than thirty ninja
was really cutting it short. It was less than ten, when you only counted the ones that could actually
survive in a five against Akatsuki.

But more than this, it was likely going to be the last time Orochimaru — and Anko — could afford
to train all four of them directly… for a while.

They would take the next month to prepare.

Umi's day to day operations needed to be delegated to other people entirely. Not that it would stop
Orochimaru from leaving a clone around, when he could afford to. He was too careful not to.

So they would cram in as much last minute practice as they could.

"So yeah, that's why making a clone more durable drained much more chakra, meaning you could
only maintain it for a shorter period. On top of that, if you made clones that were really durable,
nearly as much as a real person… They tended to become more unstable, prone to bursting on their
own after a period. That's why I tend to aim for a compromise… or no more durability than two-
three good hits. As long as they have enough chakra to sustain them, they seem to last… I didn't
find a limit yet. " Naruto explained.

He, Sakura and Karin were experimenting. A few copies of Karin stood on the water, next to them.
Sakura still couldn't get the jutsu to work, for the moment.

"So… As long as clones can find a source of chakra… They can last forever?" Karin asked, unsure
if she got it right.

"Yeah. I'd say so. Or at least a really long time, but no clone ever showed signs of getting closer to
bursting."

"And all you'd need is chakra…?" She asked again. "Any source?"

Naruto blinked.

"You mean… Making clones rely on natural energy?" He asked.

She shrugged. "It could be an idea, at least. I don't know if there are drawbacks."

"Doesn't Orochimaru's seal — the base for the relay mark — work on the same principle anyway?
Converting natural energy to usable chakra?" Sakura wondered.

"So in theory, we should already be able to do it, you mean…?" Karin realized.

"I think so, yeah. It only stores a small amount, I guess to prevent people from… What did he say
could happen? Turning to stone?"

"Yeah, something like it." Naruto said. That's what Kakashi had said too.

"So if we learn how to draw directly from the seal… Our clones should be able to do the same,
right?" Karin asked again, for confirmation. "Which would mean they'd be able to sustain
themselves for longer."

"Well, let's find out, then."

They'd have to tell Ino, too. This, she could get a head start on.

"...What do you mean? You can use other elements than your main affinities…?" Naruto asked
Sakura, confused.

She blinked.

"Well… it is way harder and costs more chakra, but in theory, with enough time, you can learn
how to use them. My affinity is water, with a weaker one for earth. Look…"

To prove her point, she focused for a while, and spat out a small tongue of fire, that likely wouldn't
even be enough to light a fire. Naruto looked on, confused.

"Did Sarutobi not teach you that?"

He frowned. "Well… I mean, he can use all five… and so did Orochimaru, but I assumed they just
had an affinity for all of them."

"…But nobody has an affinity for five, that would defeat the purpose."

"I mean, I could gather some water chakra as a kid, but I can't anymore. I assumed this was part of
growing up."

"Wait, so you mean to tell me you could use water before…" She asked and he nodded. "But you
can't anymore…?"

"Yup, that's it. I never really learned water jutsu, though. Seems as though I can't do it at all, right
now. Only Wind and Lightning."

Sakura frowned. "You know… that's not normal at all. It's not supposed to happen, ever."

"Can you teach me how to use natural energy?" Naruto asked Orochimaru.

"I could teach you how to use Sage Mode, yes." He said, looking straight at him. "But you would
have to sign the Snake summoning contract. I'm bound not to, otherwise." And Orochimaru really
wasn't too fond of this part of the contract. He valued his freedom too much for that.

Naruto winced. That was what he had feared.

"I don't trust Manda… or his underlings."

"I understand that quite well." Orochimaru said dryly. There was a reason he himself only
summoned him during wartime. "That's not it. They won't teach you the secrets of Sage Mode just
like that. It took me years and years until I had their trust. It would be the same for you."

Naruto sighed.

"Unfortunately, learning from Konoha's greatest summons is the only way I know to use natural
energy in that way. There was Jūgo's clan, of course, but you won't be able to use it like them,
since it's a bloodline ability. The jutsu formula — I am aware you call everything a seal — we
created, for people to use the Relay, is the closest you will get to learning from their ways."

"Ah, well. Good to know, I guess, thanks."

He was about to leave, when he remembered what they had discussed with Karin and Sakura
earlier.

"I got some other idea to run by you, actually."

"Do tell your old sensei."

"I didn't know how to ask you earlier on, but… Did you manage to get the scrolls Sarutobi gave
you out of Konoha?" Naruto asked Ino, once only the two of them were awake.

She snorted. "And here I thought I could just have a nice relaxing evening."

He winced. "Sorry, but I have to ask."

Ino sighed. "Relax, I'm joking. I do have them."

Naruto felt some tension he had not even been aware of leave him. "Ah, that's …good. Thank you
again and-"

"Please, don't give me any more apologies or I'm going to feel like hitting you."

"Alright, forget I was about to say anything."

"Faster."

Karin panted, almost at the end of her rope.

"Faster!"

So close. She was so close.

"Faster!"

"Gah!" Karin grunted, falling to her knees in exhaustion. Her chains hadn't managed to catch
Sakura once. They dispelled, with a rattling sound. She dragged herself to a sitting position, above
the water.

"Huh. And here I thought your stamina was almost infinite." Sakura laughed, sitting down next to
her.

"I… Would… Like to… See you try." Karin panted. These chains took a lot of chakra to maintain.

"I'd love to, but that's not really up my alley." Sakura shrugged. "I wouldn't mind learning this
Earth Spike technique from the other day, though."

"Ah? This old thing? Sure thing. Let me recover some, first."

They were working on Karin's speed, in every way they could think of. She didn't have Naruto's
Lighting or Wind affinity, both suited to enhancing speed… nor Sakura's incredible chakra control,
that allowed her to do the same. Which left her in an awkward spot, relying mostly on shorter
bursts of speed, like the Body Flicker.

It would have been enough for most people. Unfortunately, they were going to face monsters
among monsters, so she couldn't afford to leave it at that.

"Alright." She stood up. "Let's go again."

"I was hoping you'd say that." Sakura grinned.

"Slowly, slowly." Naruto said, his hand on Ino's back.

He had been with her more than she had ever expected him to be, even if it had been a clone at
times. He and Karin had helped Orochimaru with healing her, doing whatever they could.

"Yeah, yeah." She muttered, focused on her first step.

Ino felt a bit unstable on her own feet, and not just because of the cast, but she could manage. A
second step followed. Then a third.

She turned around with a grin, just in time to see Naruto wipe a tear away.
"Are you crying…?" Ino asked.

"…No."

"Liar, you so are." Ino smiled. Did he care that much? She felt something.

He sniffled, looking away. "Nah. Not crying. You are, though." Naruto said, pointing at her face.

She realized he was right. They shared a dumb look, before starting to laugh.

"You can walk again!" He exclaimed, pulling her into his arms.

"Careful, you big lunk." She laughed, more tears rolling down her face.

"So, are you going to be living with us?" Karin asked Ino, one evening.

Ino's recovery was going well, and she was able to start practicing again, albeit lightly.

"…Does that bother you?" The Yamanaka asked in return.

"No, far from it." Karin tried to appease her. Considering the… circumstances, she could
understand Ino might feel a bit frustrated, so she gave her a bit more leeway than she would with
anyone else. "Just to know if we should expand the house… or at least the rooms."

"Does it really matter…? You sleep with Naruto on most nights, anyway." Then realizing how
petulant she sounded. "Sorry, didn't mean it like that." She sighed.

Karin laughed. "No offense taken. It's true, too. I'll stay with him, then. You can take my room, I
don't have much in it."

Maybe that had been the wrong thing to say. Ino didn't look much happier.

There was no denying it, at this point.

He had tried to distract himself through training and studying the scrolls Ino had given him — and
the material the Fourth had been working on/with was incredible, the kind that would keep
Orochimaru and him busy for a while.

It was not enough. He couldn't ignore the truth.

The rituals had definitely changed Naruto. It wasn't just something as straightforward as he had
thought it was. The increased sex drive was somewhat problematic at times, but he could manage.
Enjoyment during battle could be useful, even, at times.

No, that was not the problem.

He had dabbled in the realm of Gods. More and more, he was realizing that what he had thought to
be cute Uzumaki folklore… might turn out to be very… very real.

At night, he could almost feel the pull of the Moon.

And not just the physical one, that he could see in the sky, either. It felt as though the Night itself
was calling to him. Bolstering his desires and caressing his soul.
It was a cold presence, one he was getting more and more comfortable with.

It was not the only one either, as both Fūjin carvings called out to him, bringing with them the
sound of the Wind, more and more often.

The two Raijin were the same, and the crack of Thunder was something he heard even when the
world stood silent.

And since more recently… Susanoo-no-Mikoto had kept the others' call at bay. Somewhere where
their intensity was not any lesser, but more… controlled.

But its allure might well be the strongest of them all.

It reminded him of Indra, if he had to compare it to something else. There at all times, in a way that
permeated everything. As though it were already part of him… or him part of it.

He saw, heard, smelled and felt the purple storms even in his dreams.

And the most worrying part?

Naruto wasn't sure what it would do to him in the future. How he would continue to change.

And worse… he had never felt a rush like that.

Even now, he still felt the desire to complete another set of carvings.

"Happy birthday, Ino!" Three grinning people greeted her when she came back from her first walk
alone.

Ino must have looked terribly surprised, because Naruto turned skeptical.

"What, did you think we'd forget?" Naruto laughed.

"Well…" Actually, she had.

"Unless we're not the twenty-third of September…?" Naruto asked, now wondering. He didn't
really keep track of time.

"No, no. We are." She said with a fond smile. "Thanks, guys!"

"Actually, we got you a few gifts, since we all …missed a few of your birthdays." Sakura said.

"You… Really?" Ino's voice sounded pretty small, even to herself. "You didn't have to-"

"Nonsense." Naruto cut through, smiling.

Karin offered her an iron hairband shaped like a flower. There was a permanent seal — or jutsu
shiki, Naruto and Orochimaru debated a lot on the topic, so she still wasn't clear on that — that was
designed to keep her long hair in place, and out of her face.

"Thank you…" Ino said, genuinely moved. She was ashamed to say that even now, she felt envy
toward Karin. The feeling was there, even though she cared for the Uzumaki a lot.

"Ah, don't sweat it." She grinned. "I tested it out before, and it should work just fine. Might sell
some of them at some point, even."
"You mean… you made this?" Ino asked, baffled.

"Yup."

Okay, she was definitively envious of her skills as well, now.

Sakura gave her…

"Battle armor?" Ino asked.

Sakura nodded. "It's stylish and easy to wear. That's what I wear most days."

Ino almost laughed. What had happened to the girly girl she remembered from childhood...?

Nevertheless, it was of great quality, and she would definitely want some kind of protection in the
coming days.

"Thank you, Sakura!"

"You're welcome."

Naruto handed her some fabric that was… somewhere between dark and… translucent?

Ino blinked. What was that?

"This is something I completed yesterday. It cost me a fair amount of sleep, so I hope it's useful."

"I've never seen anything like this. What…?"

"I call it my Cloak of Thun-"

"Don't." Sakura warned.

"…" Naruto grumbled. "It's a chakra-conductive cloak. Try using it as a focus for your Genjutsu, it
should respond to you only."

Now that she had it in her hands, she noticed how easily her chakra flowed through it. She weaved
a few hand signs, pictured the cloak becoming mirror-like, and to her surprise… it shifted to
something eerily similar to what she had pictured.

Naruto continued. "I managed to work in the same principles as chakra-conductive metal. It's pretty
durable too. Of course, we won't start selling this, because I'm kinda worried about what kind of
horrors the villages would start making with them. I also can't really use it like you do, because I'm
terrible at genjutsu, this is just a focus. It works with ambient energy, so don't worry about chakra
consumption. It switches to using your chakra if the natural energy runs empty, too. Casting an
illusion to make it look like something else should work, in theory. Or changing colors. Hmm…
Now that I think of it, I could make something similar for us. If I just made a cloak designed to
change colors by writing a seal for-"

"Okay, okay." She interrupted his sealing babble. "Thank you, Naruto. I love it already."

She fit the cloak around herself, and felt it turn purple. It fit her right away, and it was clearly high-
quality.

To be honest, she felt like kissing him. Platonically, of course.

"I'm glad, then." He smiled.

He seemed to think for a second, and continued, something glinting in his eyes.

"There's another reason I got you this, Ino." Naruto stared at her.

Despite herself, she felt her traitorous heart skip a beat.

"…O-Oh yeah?" She asked, cheeks a bit red.

He nodded.

"Otherwise, people from the mainland would think we're flat broke in Umi… Since you kept
running around in bandages. It would make recruiting harder than it is already, as criminals."
Naruto laughed.

"Narutoooo!"

The rest of the month passed quickly, spent training, researching and talking. Lots of new ideas
were thrown around, some workable… some not so much.

A few days after Naruto's own nineteenth birthday, Ino had recovered fully.

They were ready to go.

All four of them came out of their house wearing similar seal-enhanced outfits.

"Alright." Naruto smiled, pushing his own worries away. "Time to head out. To the world."

They disappeared in a crack of thunder.

 Long Live Konoha

It didn't happen right away.

Both Danzō, Sixth Hokage, and Rasa, Fourth Kazekage, had seen the writing on the wall, though.

Skirmishes along the border at first.

Reports of shinobi from either village disappearing in the other's Land.

And then, the same thing happened to the Kazekage's daughter, on neutral ground, where Konoha
troops had been sighted.

The Hokage refuted the allegations.

Old tensions, such as Suna accusing Konoha of poaching their only Bijū - decades after Taki had
gotten their hands on the Seven-Tails - had been brewing for a while, too. Add to that the fact that
Konoha had also gone back to their standard practice of poaching missions from Wind, missions
that would normally go to Suna.

When the Kazekage called back most of his troops to Suna, no one was truly surprised.

The man was getting increasingly paranoid. Rumor in the Land of Wind had it that Konoha was
planning to deal a crushing blow to Suna.

As a last try, — if you could call it that — the Kazekage extended a proposal for new trade rules to
Konoha, which would prove their good faith. They were harsh terms, to no one's surprise.

Shimura Danzō refused.

As far as Suna was concerned, this was when the war started.

Sarutobi Biwako watched, as the village of Konoha prepared for war, once more.

There were many more shinobi within the village than usual.

Three times the usual number at the gates, and that was just when counting the ones that stood in
plain sight.

When Muremaru, her firstborn, had died along with his wife on a mission to the Land of Earth that
had gone wrong… She had wanted to blame Fugaku for leaving young Konohamaru an orphan.

It had been his decision to send them on a mission that he knew they had a low chance of coming
back from. They had been ANBU, of course, and Biwako knew better than most how risky the
position was.

In time, she had come to accept that Hiruzen would have taken the same decision. This was just the
kind of sacrifice that came with being Hokage.

Even then… she still wondered if there had not been another alternative.

And this was how she felt about Danzō's decision to bring them to war with Suna.
Sure, he didn't declare war openly, not at first, but he knew better than anyone what would happen
if he kept on driving Suna into a corner.

Some part of her, the part that remembered growing with Danzō… That had seen Hiruzen's best
friend change after their sensei died… after years and years of bloody war and shady operations
and self-imposed isolation…

Well, that part of her wondered if this had been his intention all along.

And whether or not he was responsible for the disappearance of young Temari of the Desert. He
was the type of man to see enemies in every shadow, and would only feel justified in striking first
at a perceived enemy.

She stood on top of the Hokage Tower with Hiruzen, close to a pale-faced Uchiha Mikoto. The
Councilors were right next to them as well, followed by the clan leaders, including the newly
instated Uchiha clan head, Itachi.

Danzō stood in front of all of them, overlooking the crowd, in his formal Hokage robes.

The village was silent. Most people knew what was coming.

Biwako herself could remember standing amidst a similar crowd, half a century ago, anxiously
waiting for Lord Second to speak.

She remembered watching Senju Tobirama's own council, the war-hungry clan heads that had
seemed so far away from the village's citizens, back then.

And now… she was on the other side.

Looking through the crowd, she knew that there were young ninja thinking exactly the same thing
she had been thinking, fifty years ago.

They would blame them for it. And maybe they would be right.

She closed her eyes.

Danzō spoke.

"Citizens of Konoha." He started his address. "Weeks ago… On September 6, a day which will be
remembered, Konoha was suddenly and viciously targeted by those we once thought to be our
allies. Suna."

Biwako frowned. The poison had been a Suna secret, but that was all they could confirm. Hiruzen
closed his eyes, next to her. He knew Danzō too well.

Something strange was going on, and even though she knew that everything incriminated her…
Biwako could not believe that Yamanaka Ino was responsible. Neither could Hiruzen, of course.

It didn't matter how many times Danzō insisted she had been radicalized by agents working in
coalition with Suna… including the man from Umi — Naruto.

Another person she really couldn't not afford to think about right now, when she was supposed to
help show a united front.

It didn't matter that Hiruzen was clearly hiding something from her, something that was related to
Ino's disappearance. He had said that it was safer for her, this way. Which meant they were playing
a dangerous game.

And it was not just because Inoichi had been her student, along with Shikaku and Chōza. Not just
because of her carefully hidden fondness for his daughter.

Not just because she knew she wouldn't have done it.

Rather, because she knew Ino would not have been caught.

"The Land of Fire was at peace with Suna's Nation, Wind, and up until recently, we were still in
conversation with Suna's council and their Kage, as Jiraiya here can attest."

A stone-faced Jiraiya stood somewhere next to Danzō. He said nothing.

She could not help but notice how lonely he seemed, standing here without either of his teammates,
her husband's sole dedicated student.

"Suna forces are responsible for poisoning Uchiha Fugaku, our Fifth Hokage." Danzō said, over
the murmuring crowd. "This attack came after a long period of diplomatic negotiations, where no
hint of war or armed attack had been made. It is a cowardly act."

The crowd started to become more agitated. Angry, too. That was where Danzō wanted them.

"It is now obvious to us that the attack was deliberately planned. The poison has been brought in
by foreign agents… and administered by one of our own. A traitor."

Louder and louder.

"The attack on the Hokage is an attack on Konoha as a whole. It has caused severe damage to us,
as a village. I regret to tell you that this was just a start. Suna will not stop here. Already, they are
pushing for more, accusing the entirety of Konoha of terrible acts, and stealing our resources… and
what is rightfully ours. And if this were not enough… They have recently started to murder our
very own citizens. Our protectors. Our shinobi!"

"Suna has undertaken a surprise, cowardly offensive on us. The facts speak for themselves. Most of
our people… The people of Konoha have already understood the implications for the safety and
the well-being of our Nation. I know you all do."

Danzō let the crowd roar. He smiled at them benevolently.

"I am Shimura Danzō, your Sixth Hokage." They started to cheer. "I will not let this offense go
unpunished."

Konoha's youth was burning. Theirs was the desire to fight the injustice that had been done, to
avenge their fallen leader, and it was stoked by the fires of imagined heroism and glory.

The older generation, of course, was more subdued. But even they did not object… or show fear
for what was to come.

"Our whole Nation will always remember the nature of the attack against us. No matter how long it
may take us to overcome the enemy, the people of Konoha will hold on! As we have always
done!"

A bright flame lit up above the Hokage Tower.

"To war we go!" Danzō shouted, seemingly overcome by emotion. Biwako knew better.
The crowd chanted back.

"TO WAR!"

"Long live Konoha!"

"LONG LIVE KONOHA!"

 Down the Rift

The rising sun started to lift the fog.

His Sharingan had allowed him to see through it before, but now the rest of his troops could see the
target as well. A flat rocky expanse. And further down in the rift, the city of Kin, home to some of
the Land of Wind's biggest gold mines.

Hatake Kakashi was, to many people, the pinnacle of shinobi.

Strong, clever, and loyal to a fault.

There were times such as these though, where he wondered about his actions. Morals, good and
evil… Were things that shinobi had to contend with, almost on a daily basis.

But this… This brought back some of his worst memories.

Nara Shokkou appeared next to him. Kakashi nodded at him. He nodded back.

Shinobi leaped down the face of the cliff, sliding down it as fast as they could afford to.

Wind blades came at them from down the rift, courtesy of the shinobi guarding the village. Arrows
flew at them, too, propelled by large siege crossbows.

The wave of ninja coming down the cliffs were just a distraction, most of them simple illusions
woven by their five Genjutsu masters.

As for the ones that weren't illusions…

Four Akimichi expanded in size, before rolling down the hill, picking up more and more speed and
power and fury.

They were not as good with body expansion as Chōza was, — few were, really — but they had
something else, that was more suited for this sort of situation. Flaming arrows flew, aimed at them.

A shell made of earth hardened around the Akimichi, making them almost impervious to damage.

"Earth Release: Rolling Death."

He heard Akimichi Chōjiro shout, his voice carrying through the ravine.

The four boulders of death slammed into the village's walls, breaking them open, and crushing
down a few houses at the same time.

There really were no winners in war, and civilians paid a heavy price all too often.

As Kakashi sank into the floor of the cliff, moving through the earth, part of the second wave of
attack, he reminded himself that this was the cost of peace.

He could almost believe it.

Inuzuka Kiba growled as he tore through a Suna kunoichi's throat with his claws.
The woman died painfully, choking on her own blood. Kiba spat out a piece of flesh with a wince.

"Akamaru!" He called. The hound answered his call, and rushed to come to his side. Akamaru
barked something.

"To the east, you say?" Kiba managed to grunt out, having some trouble speaking clearly with his
now elongated fangs.

While they ran, howling, they made sure to tear the siege weapons apart.

The men operating them, many of them non-shinobi, ran away screaming. "Konoha! Konoha!"

Most of them, Kiba let go. There was no real point in killing them, after all. He enjoyed the rush of
battle, the feeling of dominating another trained shinobi, not massacring people who could not
even fight back.

He wanted to make the Suna bastards pay.

He would-

The ground opened under him, — and only him, he saw Akamaru's dumb expression — and
suddenly he was falling.

'No. Oh hell no.'

A hand caught him before he fell on the spikes he could see gleaming. Kakashi pulled him up.

"Careful there." The man eye-smiled.

"Sorry… Got carried away."

"I'd assumed so." Kakashi said dryly. "I think Shinzō is not in the city anymore. If he ever was."

"What…?" Kiba asked, dumbstruck. This was the leader of the shinobi forces stationed in Kin that
they had come here to assassinate. He was one of Suna's strongest Jōnin. "But I can still smell-"

"We were led to a trap." Kakashi's voice cut him off.

"But-"

"There were less shinobi than usual, and it was mostly civilians operating the siege weapons."
Kakashi sighed. "They had expected us, and set a few traps to thin our numbers out."

Kiba took a look around, and realized the man might well be right. After a mere hour, it seemed as
though the fighting had stopped already.

That… didn't happen. Not for a city as important as Kin was to the Land of Wind as a whole.

And… Kiba could see something moving on top of the cliffs. People. People wearing Suna's
colors, it seemed. Hyūga Kō, his former sensei, confirmed.

"Ah. Fuck." He cursed.

They were trapped down the rift, and Suna had encircled them. Kiba could hardly believe they
were ready to sacrifice an entire city just for a chance to kill one of Konoha's striking forces.
Unless they had somehow known Hatake Kakashi would be among them. Then Kiba would not be
entirely surprised.

There were only a few S-rank shinobi in Konoha, and here was one who had already experienced
war, and that had a list of achievements so long it seemed as though it had been made up.

"I sent a signal to Jiraiya-sama." Kakashi said. "Let us hope it will be fast enough."

Projectiles started hailing on them.

"Kiba, follow my lead." Kakashi weaved seven hand seals, settling on Snake. "Earth Style: Earth
Dome."

A half-sphere of compacted dirt rose from the ground around them. Kiba followed, and a second
layer appeared around it.

They hastily raised some more earth walls around the city center to defend their precarious
position.

Suna ninja started coming down the cliff, as fast as they could.

How ironic.

Aki stood near the edge of the cliff with Midori, his second-in-command, close to some Konoha
shinobi's corpses.

"How many men left?" He asked her.

She put her left hand up, the other held in a half Bird sign. The wind carried back, along with the
information. This was the specialty of the Shiba clan, one of Suna's most noble.

"It is a strike force of… twenty-two ninja. Among them, sixteen are men, and five are women. I
think there might be a wolf… or a hound, as well."

"Thank you, Midori." Aki nodded. "Is Hatake Kakashi with them?"

"I would say he is. The man's chakra feels like Lightning… touched with something else, that feels
like Fire and Illusions."

"That's him, no doubt. Thank you, Midori. Take some rest, please."

"I can go on! Please."

He shook his head. "We're gonna need you later. Please, you've done more than enough." He
smiled. "Let us take care of the rest."

"Yes sir!" She smiled sadly. He had always worried too much about his troops.

They had around a hundred men. Around fifty up. Around fifty down. Most were Chunin, but
many were competent Jōnin. He knew of the Copy Ninja, of course, but this would be enough, he
was confident.

"Calm down, Kiseki." Aki said to a young man, who seemed to be all too eager to join the fray.
"Show some patience. They're not going anywhere."
"…You're right, Aki-sama. I'm sorry."

"Relax." Aki laughed easily. "See?" He pointed at the catapults. "If we had rushed in, they
wouldn't have gotten rid of them for us."

"Yes, I see it now." Kiseki nodded. "Cornered rats are at their most dangerous. And what a rat we
have gotten ourselves here."

"This isn't too bad, as far as wounds go." Kakashi said. "It is deep, sure, but better a deep and clean
wound than a torn and shallow one."

He called Fire chakra to his fingertips, cauterizing the younger ninja's wound, who held back a
grunt.

"There." He patted his arm, and sat down again.

Kakashi was in a tight spot.

Several of his men were dead already, and none of those remaining were ready for an extended
battle.

He could see people — citizens from Kin — trying to escape the city, trapped by the Suna ninja,
just like they were. Suna wasn't taking any chances, too afraid of any Konoha ninja escaping by
disguising themselves as some of them, he thought.

Still, Suna was taking extra precaution to avoid injuring or killing the civilians. Good on them.

For a moment, he considered taking hostages, then discarded the idea. He knew Suna would not
hesitate to get rid of a few civilians if it meant getting rid of him.

Because it was getting clearer and clearer that they had expected someone — not
necessarily him — important to be leading Konoha's strike force.

He sighed, calling for someone to reinforce the southern part of the earth wall.

Before they could do that, the eastern wall fell entirely, struck down by a powerful Lightning
attack.

Kakashi got to his feet, ignoring the worried shinobi, and opened his Sharingan eye.

Chakra rippled through the dusty air like waves. Over time, he had learned not to get too distracted
by the sudden overload of information the eye brought.

It wouldn't do to get distracted in battle because he had focused on counting each individual droplet
of water he could see forming whenever anyone used a Water jutsu.

"Chōjiro!" He shouted.

The earth rumbled as the Akimichi rolled through the now open dome. He struck the first wave of
Suna ninja waiting outside of it head on.

Kakashi weaved hand seals. "Earth Style: Stalagmite."

A pillar of stone appeared right under the rolling Chōjiro, launching him into the air. When he fell
back to the ground… It felt as though the entire rift shook.
Kakashi channeled Lightning. He channeled Earth.

He used both at the same time, without being able to combine them. He didn't need to. With the
Sharingan's help, he weaved one jutsu on auto-pilot, freeing him to weave another with his other
hand.

He had never seen any Uchiha do the same thing, and it was something he had only managed very,
very recently.

"Earth Style: Deep Well." "Lightning Style: Spark Bite"

He released both jutsu at the same time, creating a medium-sized hole in the ground to his left, and
a sphere of moving electricity to his right. Leaving only a straight path in... or out the open dome.
Controlling the terrain was key.

He heard screams of pain. If Suna thought they would wait for death patiently, they had a few
surprises coming. Now… It wouldn't do to leave Chōza's nephew alone in the midst of an army.

Behind him, his fellow Konoha ninja started weaving Fire jutsu.

There were plenty of techniques he knew he could use, but only one that would really be helpful in
this specific situation.

Kakashi then channeled Lightning chakra throughout his entire body. The Lightning Cloak rose to
life around him. He disappeared.

The Sharingan really shone here. His surroundings stood out clearly to him, even though he was
moving at speeds he was almost certain the human body was not really meant for.

How did Minato-sensei pull it off…?

His tantō caught a Suna ninja in the back of the neck, cutting through flesh and bone as though it
were butter. Behind him, he knew his team was coming out of the half dome, weapons drawn.

The Suna ninja dropped dead.

'That's one.'

"Hatake has been sighted." The messenger brought the news back to Aki.

"Good. Let's go with the second phase of the plan, then."

Aki closed his eyes, mourning the soldiers that had needed to die for Hatake to reveal himself.

The trick to cornering somebody was to let them have the illusion of a way out. Otherwise… they
would fight like they never did before.

Hatake would fight to the death, there was no doubt about it. And even against a hundred men… It
was better not to leave anything to chance.

The man was S-rank for a reason.

Luckily, he had one glaring weakness they could exploit.

'That's eighteen.'

He was managing his stamina decently, but having to also make sure to keep the number of dying
shinobi on his side low... was really putting him into a delicate position.

Their team had been built for one task. Distracting the shinobi forces guarding the city while he
and/or Kiba assassinated Shinzo. Then getting away.

Taking control of the city would have been another team's job.

And fighting in the center of it, defending from enemies who had the high ground had
definitely not been in the plan.

Because this was not what most of his team was suited for, far from it.

Another hail of arrows fell on them again, and he had to push a kunoichi out of their way.

By now, he was pretty sure that their Genjutsu users, that had remained on the cliffs, had been
killed already.

There were twenty enemy archers above, he counted.

And… He recognized the man leading the Suna troops. Tall, with pale skin and auburn hair.

Aki, the Iron Son.

A sarcastic nickname for a distant relative of Suna's Third Kazekage, who had shown a weak
affinity for the Iron Sand technique. Despite that - or because of it - he had still managed to
become a competent general, who had suffered few losses.

The man focused his chakra, enhancing his voice.

"The entire city is rigged with explosives. Stop now, Hatake, and let us avoid senseless
massacre."

Kakashi squinted. This could be a bluff.

Aki motioned for something with his hand.

Down the rift, the enemy ninja halted their assault, stepping back carefully.

Then several of them pulled off their flak jackets, revealing explosive tags.

"They're linked together." One of the Suna ninja said, pulling a dead man's jacket down, revealing
the exact same thing. "There are more inside the city itself. Way more."

The Sharingan showed no lie. The man was telling the truth. Or thought he was, at least — it
wouldn't be the first time somebody tried that.

Kakashi tensed. With this amount of explosives, he feared he had no way of getting everyone out
safely.

He was maybe fast enough to get away using his Lightning Cloak at full potential. Maybe.

His team would be left in the hands of Suna. Dead… or worse.

The same thing went for the civilians he could see cowering and crying. They clearly didn't get the
memo beforehand.

Kakashi sighed.

"What do you want?" He shouted back.

Aki smiled. He created a small platform of Iron Sand, and floated down a bit closer.

Not close enough for Kakashi to attack him, but close enough that the blast of the explosion would
kill him for sure.

"All of my men are ready to die." He said simply. "And I am, too."

"So are most shinobi." Kakashi answered tersely.

The fighting had stopped entirely. What would be the point, when they all knew one sign was all it
took to reduce the entire city to rubble?

"If you want your men… and the citizens of Kin to live, come with us."

"You're after the Sharingan, then?" Kakashi asked back.

Aki shrugged. "There's no point in hiding it. This and the secrets your body holds will serve Suna
well."

Kakashi thought fast.

He was not afraid of dying, and had not been for a long time. If it meant saving the hundreds of
innocent people that had lived there, as well as his men… He would do it gladly.

But this would mean giving away the Sharingan to Suna.

How much of a deal that was was hard to estimate. Mist had managed to get their hands on a
Byakugan, according to rumor.

The eye on its own was worth a lot. The Sharingan often deactivated upon death, which made it
even harder to get, as non-Uchiha could not make any use of it, as far as Kakashi knew.

So when it came to the eye… He was sure that Suna would get a lot of mileage out of it.

Its secrets… This was less certain.

Konoha had been trying to study both eyes for a while, with only a few useful results. Besides,
once he was certain his men were safe, he could still try to destroy Obito's eye. But Suna probably
expected that.

The truth was… Compared to having access to a full-bodied Uchiha or Hyuga clan member, the
eye was worth way less.

But still…

His men's lives were on the line. Somehow, he could not help but think of his father, put in front of
an impossible choice.

In the end, he knew what he would do before the thought had been fully formed.
'Obito, Dad… You really rubbed off on me, huh…'

"I ...accept your terms." He said simply, throwing his tanto down.

He heard protests coming from his team. Kakashi gave them an eye-smile. Aki came closer.

"Sorry, guys. It's for the best, really." Kakashi said.

Aki sighed. "I had hoped you'd say that. For what it's worth, I'm sorry."

'Wha-'

Kakashi turned his Lightning Cloak on. Only to find himself trapped in a cubic barrier of purple
flames with Aki.

Four ninja he hadn't really any particular attention to, all of them standing in seemingly random
positions, held the barrier up. They had been ready to spring it around them as soon as Aki got
down, then.

"I'm sorry for the deception. And I admire your sense of honor." Aki said. "We never cared about
getting your eye. But I had to get close to you, somehow."

"Is this how Suna does things…?" Kakashi spat.

Aki smiled sadly. "It is the way of shinobi."

Kakashi understood that the remaining men had never planned on detonating themselves in the
first place. They just had to make him believe they did. Still…

"You sacrificed more than twenty of your Jonin… as well as your own life… to kill a single man?
Because, make no mistake… I might die... but I won't let you leave here alive either."

"I think you know that the trade-off is worth it. That's what I believe, at least. My life, the life of a
worthless imitation… for the life of the Copy Ninja?"

Aki shrugged, removing his flak jacket. He too was covered in tags. Powerful ones, at that.

"That's a choice I'd make any day. For Suna!"

On the cliff, Kiseki and Midori watched on.

He put a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't cry, Midori-sama. This is what he chose."

"I know." She said, wiping a tear away. "It doesn't make it less painful."

"This is one less enemy for Suna." Kiseki tried to convince himself. "There's no reason for us to be
sad."

She gave him a mirthless smile. "Then why are you trembling?"

He had no answer to give her.

The explosion shook the barrier.

When the smoke cleared…

The Suna ninja cried in horror.

Hatake Kakashi was still standing, his clothes in tatters, and his body covered in burn wounds. His
hand was extended, and around him, a shield made of several layers of Lightning was shining so
brightly that it hurt to watch. He was breathing heavily.

Silence reigned into the rift.

The barrier still stood, but weakened. Hatake would definitely be able to break it, now. And then…

He'd kill all of them.

"Forget about the barrier!" Someone shouted. "Kill Hatake! Kill them all! For Suna!"

The barrier fell. At the same moment, every single explosive tag in the ravine activated.

The resulting explosion forced the remaining Suna forces on top of the cliff to move away.

Unbeknownst to them, a small toad had appeared into the ravine with a puff of smoke.

Kakashi drifted in and out of consciousness.

There was a tall man in front of him, facing away.

"I'm too late." The man said grimly. "I came as soon as I could… but I'm too late. We're the only
survivors. The civilians are gone, too."

Everybody was dead, then, besides him. Never him. This was the worst failure Kakashi could have
suffered.

The flames didn't reach the man, parting around him, their heat flowing upwards.

'Ah. You're here. That's…'

He passed out.

"Kakashi…" Uchiha Sasuke said, sadly. "You really have the shittiest luck."
 The Living Flame

"It is done." Midori said, breathless. "Nobody could have survived that explosion. Not even
Hatake."

"I... can't believe they ended up using the tags... They were supposed to-" Kiseki muttered. "This is
terrible, so... awful. I don't-"

"Don't." She said, shivering. "Don't go there. War is war. This is all for Suna. People will live here
again, in time. And the mines are further away, as well."

"Our men knew what they signed for." Kiseki repeated, more for himself. "It is for the good of
Suna."

The civilians, on the other hand, did not know anything. And they certainly didn't sign up for this,
when they accepted Suna's troops within their walls.

"Yes… Yes it is." Midori nodded sadly. "Still, I can't believe they're all… gone. We'll have to
blame Konoha, too."

The army was waiting for the smoke to recede, so that they could go down the cliff to confirm the
kills. Then, Midori stiffened.

"What is it?" Kiseki asked.

"…There's someone else down the cliff. And I… felt a similar chakra before."

"What do you mean?" He asked again, starting to get worried.

"God, I hope I'm wrong." She paled, looking down the cliff, remembering a small, thin, red-headed
boy who had become one of her worst fears.

Flames were starting to rise high up in the air, way too high to be coming from the wrecked
buildings.

"Oh no… Please no." She whispered.

"What is it?!" Kiseki repeated.

There was a keening sound, growing louder and louder.

"That's the One-Tail's chakra! And it feels even stronger than it did before!" She shouted.

He paled. "Then that means… It's Uchiha Sasuke!"

"Retreat! Fall back!"

A pillar of flame exploded upwards.

Seto was a war veteran.

He had been a Jōnin for years, decades even, and as such, was among the oldest, most experienced
people sent to Kin today.
It was hard, coming back from war and trying to adjust to 'regular' shinobi missions. And talking to
the younger generation felt as though the divide between them was almost physical. They were on
the same side, but they might as well have been born into two different worlds.

Aki was young, certainly, but over time, he had come to trust him. Here was a man who understood
what it took to bring victory to their home.

Hatake was strong, and terrifyingly enough, still growing. At this rate, he would soon eclipse even
his father, the White Fang. The man who had torn through Suna like the famine had, generations
before. And him alive, there was no way he'd allow that. They had to cut him down.

Seto had volunteered to be among the troops that went down, but Aki had refused. They needed
someone like him to lead the new generations in case the worst happened, not a "youth like him",
he had grinned. He probably had known that the possibilty they might have to bomb the entire city
was high.

He had deferred to his commander, of course. There was some truth to the sentiment.

Now… As a war veteran…

Seto had fought Uchiha before. The thrice damned clan had stolen several of his precious
techniques, of course. And to add salt to the injury, one of them had also given him some raw
burns — that still felt painful sometimes — on his face and right arm.

He had taken his revenge when the opportunity had come, and Uchiha Izuru had died, his precious
fire techniques doing nothing to save him when cold steel found its way into his lungs.

So when it came to fighting Uchiha…

Seto was more than ready.

Now, there was just one problem here. Despite his name, there was nothing even remotely Uchiha
about this man's fighting style.

How long had it been…?

Seto was sweating, and not just from the heat.

How long had it been since he had felt the weight of facing a giant?

The chakra pressing down on them did not feel human. And it didn't really feel like the One-Tail's
either, despite what Midori said.

The heat was rising, the air turning shimmery around them.

Uchiha Sasuke rose from the ravine, standing atop a pillar of flame. In his right hand, he held a
sword that was covered by pale fire, almost swallowed by it. His red eyes were glowing, shining an
eerie light... which almost seemed to be golden, as well.

"Draw your weapons." The Uchiha said. "You said you were ready to die. You wouldn't want to do
so without putting up a fight, would you?"

"Wind…?" Jiraiya asked, lost in thought. "You told me your affinity was Fire, didn't you? It's a bit
early to go for a second, I'd say."
They were in the Land of Lightning, up in the mountains, where the air was thin. Sasuke's training
was going well. Almost too well, actually. It reminded him of teaching Nagato.

Not just because both had legendary eyes, though they didn't hurt. But the way they picked up on
things, almost instinctively. Minato had been the same way, too. For a man that prided himself on
training underdogs, he really got a lot of prodigies… didn't he?

"It is." Sasuke said, simply. "But… No, let me show you."

Sasuke's eyes turned red, just as his chakra turned even more corrosive. Beige chakra rose in wisps
around him. He held his hand in front of him, face screwed in concentration. There was a high-
pitched, screechy sound.

The wind howled, forming a miniature tornado around his hand.

"Oooh?" Jiraiya asked. "So you can use some of the One-Tail's abilities, after all?"

Sasuke had shown almost no ability to use the sand itself, which had frustrated him some. He had
resorted to using the Bijū as a power source… Which was working out decently well.

He grunted in answer. "Wait."

"There's more, then?"

Sasuke's eyes strained, reaching their Mangekyō form. Then Sasuke channeled Fire chakra into his
hand.

The very air seemed to set itself on fire, a whitish flame covering his hand up to his elbow.

"Sasu-"

"It won't hurt me. Not with my eyes." Sasuke gritted out, sweat pouring down his brow.

Jiraiya could feel the intensity of the flame. The Bijū's chakra lent itself to Wind naturally. And it
seemed this wind in particular fed the flames extremely well.

Sasuke dispelled the flames, and once it was done, his Sharingan as well. He gasped for air. Blood
was coming from both of his eyes.

"Hey, are you okay?!" Jiraiya asked, reaching for him.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. The One-Tail's chakra heals me… and my eyes anyway." He grunted out.

"What was that…?"

"That." Sasuke said, still panting. "Is the reason I'm asking if you can teach me how to channel
Wind chakra safely."

Sasuke flew toward the enemy, a ball of compressed flame.

He landed in their midst in an explosion, flames licking the earth.

Kakashi was safe.

On the other hand, every other Konoha shinobi was dead.

That included Kiba, one of Hinata's best friends, and someone Sasuke had grown to care about,
despite their wildly different personalities.

That included Kō, her former sensei.

And it meant that Sasuke would have to bring her the terrible news that she now was the last
survivor of her genin team. And she was only about to turn nineteen.

For all of their posturing about emotional restraint, — or because of it — Uchiha's emotions fed
into their strength all too easily.

And feeding emotions into strength was exactly what Sasuke did.

He remembered the feeling of seeing Toru die. Of the emptiness when Naruto had disappeared
forever, seconds after that.

He thought of Hinata crying after Shino's death. How she would have to mourn the rest of her
team.

He thought of the ever stoic Itachi, crying for their father. Of his mother breaking down, when she
thought nobody could see.

He thought of his father, murdered in his own home.

Flames erupted in a pillar around him, burning the unlucky shinobi next to him and turning the
archers' projectiles to liquid steel.

The inferno raged around him, a wall of almost solid fire, whose heat and anger didn't burn him.
Even when the flames licked him, it was only a comforting glow.

"Water jutsu! Hurry!" Midori screamed, her throat dry and her lips chapped.

Unfortunately, there were only a few ninja in Suna that were truly good at using Water Style, and
none of them were here. The three that could use it at all still tried.

"Water Style: Cutting Edge"

"Water Style: Violent Water Wave"

"Water Release: Water Whip"

Of course, using water style in an area as dry as the cliffs around Kin were was already very
difficult to begin with.

Now, add to that the flames burning away what moisture still remained in the atmosphere.

The three jutsu that flew at the man standing in the middle of the blaze were weakened to start
with. Two of them just disappeared before even reaching him.

The Violent Water Wave hit a wall of flame, one that almost appeared to be solid. The jutsu
steamed away as well.

'What's up with that?' She thought.

They didn't behave like actual flames. If anything, it reminded her more of Sand's previous
jinchūriki, Gaara, and his sand shield.

The Uchiha swung his sword, and a hiss followed. Several of her men died, burned to a crisp by
the wave of flame that followed.

Two more rushed in, trying to attack him in melee range.

"Fools! Don't!" She tried.

They died too, and only ashes remained.

Some tried to fall back on the initial plan. Running away.

The Uchiha closed his eyes in focus, and some of the flames around him faded away.

Midori could feel the chakra build up.

'His sword. That's where the flames are produced.'

She wanted to scream the warning to her troops, but knew it didn't matter in the slightest.

Malevolent wind chakra spread from the Uchiha. The next instant, a ring of fire extended,
following the trail the Wind had left.

A ring of fire prevented them from leaving. One man crashed into it, dead before his charred body
even emerged from the other side.

"Fight him then! For Aki! For Suna!" She shouted. Death was nothing to Suna shinobi.

Death was nothing to Suna shinobi.

Death was nothing-

They attacked, sweeping in from all sides. There were less flames to shield him now, since he was
using them to maintain the ring of fire.

The only flames that remained around him were covering his arms and his sword.

Uchiha Sasuke dodged a steel sword, moving only an inch. His sword cut through a man.

He blocked another stab by grabbing the woman's wrist, throwing her over his shoulder before
stabbing down through her throat.

Midori was not a very strong fighter. That's why she froze.

Suna ninja did not fear death.

The Uchiha maneuvered, ducking, weaving, dodging. Cutting.

Burning.

Even the arrows, he saw coming, no matter which side they came from. Flames extended the
length of his sword, until it was as tall as he was. The Suna ninja advanced again, explosive tags
raining down, the sound of explosions almost deafening.

Nothing. He stood there, unscathed. He swung his sword. The screams were horrifying.
Wind Style was out of the question. They would just fan his flames.

Uchiha dropped three other men.

"Stop it, please." Somebody whimpered.

…Was it her?

"Please. Let us retreat." She heard herself say.

Uchiha Sasuke gave her a cold look.

"Did you give our men mercy?"

"I…"

"What about your own citizens?" He asked again, cutting through another man.

"Please. Mercy." She repeated, voice dry.

"You showed none. Not for my father, either."

"…We… Didn't." She rasped out. "Please."

"That's right." He snorted. "Nobody did. Not Suna… Not Yamanaka Ino either."

He steeled himself, even more chakra pouring into the air. His face strained.

"I guess that's what war is like, then." Uchiha said.

'We didn't kill him.' Was what she had meant to say.

Flames erupted from his sword, and he swung one last time. Her world became fire. She wondered
if Aki-

Uchiha Sasuke stood on the edge of the cliff, hours later, Kakashi next to him, after the man had
recovered some.

He started at the burnt remains of the city. And he avoided looking at the pile of burned Suna ninja
corpses another time. He had already had plenty of time to do that already.

"I'm sorry, Kakashi." He said.

"Don't." He said, his mask off, and a far away look into his eyes. "You did as well as you could
have. I owe you my life."

"If I had come earlier… If I had just managed…"

"Don't go there." He looked at him. "Over the years, I have lost many, many people. Sometimes by
my fault, sometimes not. Today's not on you."

Sasuke snorted. "I could have saved them. Just a few seconds earlier and I-"

"You were on the other side of the Land of Wind. That you came so quickly is a testament to your
ability, and the Toads'."
"I…" Sasuke hesitated.

"I fell for their trap." Kakashi said, eyes blank. "If it's anyone's fault, it's mine. I didn't expect Suna
to start the war so harshly."

"They will blame Konoha for the destruction." Sasuke said. "Won't they?"

Kakashi nodded. "They will, undoubtedly."

"What do we do?"

"We start by picking the corpses up. Ours first."

"Their remains…?"

Most Suna ninja were burned beyond recognition. A good chunk of the others had detonated
themselves, too, and not much was left of them. Same thing went for the Konoha ninja.

Kakashi closed his eyes.

"Yes. Let us start sealing them away. It's going to be some time before the next Konoha team
arrives."

Kakashi walked away, but said nothing when he didn't follow right away.

If anybody could understand… Well, Kakashi would. He really hoped the man didn't blame
himself too harshly, but didn't know what to say.

Sasuke stared at nothing. Many thoughts warred inside his head, now that he was away from the
fighting.

His father's murder. Ino's involvement. The foreigner.

He didn't let himself fall to the blind rage that threatened to follow, as it always did. His time with
Jiraiya, and the need to keep the One-Tail quiet had made him able to take some distance from
unwanted emotions.

Sasuke would find them. Then he'd get his answers.

And he kept thinking about today's battle.

He could still hear the screams of the dying men and women.

Even when he closed his eyes, his Sharingan showed him their deaths in perfect clarity. Forever.

This was the real curse of the Uchiha.

 Tales From the Front

As usual, the reasons behind war were a bit more muddled than what every country would tell its
citizens.

Most of the complexity came from the intertwined alliances - and the complicated history -
between each of the Great Villages.

Suna had recently built a tentative alliance with Kiri. Kiri skirmished with Kumo. Kumo and
Konoha had been allies for more than a decade, now.

Iwa was apparently trying to stay out of it as much as possible, despite having trade agreements
with Suna. They were allied with Ame, though, which meant that the fighting between Suna and
Konoha would have to take place outside of Rain Nation's borders.

They clearly had learned their lesson well from the Second War, which had ruined the country of
Rain.

Instead, the fighting would have to be contained in either the Land of Wind, the Land of Fire… or
the Land of Rivers, whose only ally was Taki, north of Konoha.

The fighting between Kumo and Kiri was getting worse by the day. In an effort to keep the battles
somewhat restrained, — but mostly to avoid kick-starting the Fourth Great War — Konoha and
Kumo had agreed to let the other fight their own battles.

Now… There were a few complications.

Because of old tensions, — and a real bloodbath — Konoha and Iwa were likely never going to get
along. This was one of the main reasons Ōnoki had sought an alliance with Nagato, the leader of
Rain. Because if there ever was a Nation who had a reason not to want Konoha to grow too strong,
it would be their non-ally neighbor.

In a way… both of these two countries wanted to keep the current balance of power in the
Elemental Lands, because if no country became dominant…

Then they wouldn't have the might to challenge Iwa.

Then they wouldn't be able to prevent Rain from amassing more power.

When the Fifth Hokage was assassinated… Konoha demanded heavy reparations from Suna.
Because the poison that had been used had obviously come from there.

Suna didn't accept, proposing their own trade terms, which were judged greedy by the top Konoha
brass.

Konoha declared war. Rumor had it that Suna would have done it themselves otherwise, their
Kazekage's daughter having been kidnapped. They blamed Konoha for the deed.

Just as they blamed them for destroying the city of Kin, along with hundreds of civilians, days
later. Konoha's Copy Ninja, as well as Konoha's Living Flame, were accused.

Konoha refuted the accusations, blaming Suna instead.

Suna called it preposterous. It had been one of their most important cities.
Nevertheless, a jinchūriki had made use of its Bijū's power. Whether this was done in retaliation or
not… The conflict would escalate quickly.

Kiri mobilized part of their army to show support for Suna. They didn't mobilize fully, of course,
trying to avoid a full-on war with Kumo.

Of course, Kumo being Kumo, and seeing Kiri mobilize an army… declared war on them anyway.

The Land of Hot Water, being their unfortunate neighbor, — and an easier place for Kiri troops to
reach, compared to the Land of Lightning's extensive defensive line along the coasts — got
dragged into the conflict right away, because Kiri declared war on them.

Many people didn't realize what that meant right away, until the results were right in front of them.

Thus did the Fourth Great War begin.

He was Uchiha Itachi, fifty-fourth head of the Uchiha Clan.

And it was a role that had been thrust upon him, not one he had wanted.

He excelled at the shinobi arts, not diplomacy. Oh, he could understand the game just fine, but…

Sorting the chaos, keeping everything under control, making peace with his father's old enemies,
keeping the alliances with the other clans up and running… building new ones.

At the very least, this wasn't Sasuke's cross to bear. He hid a smile, thinking of his strong, smart…
impulsive younger brother.

No. He was the Clan Head. Because there was no one else.

Still, sitting through every meeting, placating to the angry whims of people twice older than he
was…

Leading the very traditional clan to a more progressive future…

Going through the motions, while making sure that the clan loved him about as much as they had
loved his father…

He sighed.

He would rather be on the field. Just like Shisui was. Just like Toru was. Just like Sasuke was, as
well.

Somehow, things were more straightforward there.

Unfortunately, clan heads were seldom sent away, their main role being, of course, leading the
clan.

Itachi wondered what his father would have done.

The Land of Wind was prettier than Shisui remembered.

Sure, when people thought of beautiful environments, many of them — and even more so if they
happened to be from Konoha — thought of lush trees, shrubs… rivers and other greenery.
But anybody who had wandered around a little bit more was likely to come to enjoy the different
kinds of beauties and wonders the world had to offer.

This was even more true for a shinobi. Just keeping in mind the fact that there was still so much
beauty out there... was enough to keep a man going for a bit longer.

The Sharingan made sure you never forgot anything you saw. This was the reason Shisui — and of
course, Toru, then — liked to also take in some nice sights, to balance it out.

The desert tended to be overlooked, its true beauty unseen.

But there were some awe inspiring sights one could see in the desert.

A vast expanse, a timeless space of wonder and longing. The dry heat, the shimmery orange nature
of it.

Some beautiful flowers could be found only in the desert. And any flower that could grow in this
kind of place was said to be strong.

So yeah… Shisui liked the desert.

"Check it out, check it out."

Yeah… he liked the deser-

"Bro, come on… Look."

A red hot flame burst out of his brother's mouth. Straight into the open crater.

It started to burn, red, looking like a gateway to hell.

"Damn, did you know even the desert could burn like this?" Toru asked.

Shisui let out a pained laugh. Leave it to Toru to break a solemn moment.

"It's a flammable pocket of gas." He said, doing his best Itachi impression. "I think."

"Ah, yeah that would explain it. It seems to burn forever, doesn't it?"

Shisui scoffed. "What, with this kind of half-assed flame? Maybe if we poured some oil on it."

"Oh yeah?" Toru laughed. "Let's see you do better, then. Oh, sorry, I forgot. Shisui-sama
has responsibilities, now. Can't be seen setting things on fire anymore."

"You little twerp-"

"Do it. I know you want to."

He sighed, checking if there was anybody around, besides their team — and they were already
giving them bemused looks. There wasn't anybody else.

He held one of his hands in the Tiger seal, and blew out a flame that easily dwarfed Toru's.

"Niiiice." Toru said, eyes bright.

"And that's how you do it." Shisui rubbed his nose.

Toru… really brought the worst out of him.

Then again, he knew that Toru was also doing it to keep from worrying too much about what was
coming. And what had happened already.

Fugaku-sama's death, Yamanaka Ino and the foreigner's involvement in it. The coming fights.

The flames roared blue for a second, before settling back to orange-red.

Uchiha were pyromaniacs, according to rumor.

Maybe there was some truth to it.

Anyways, their mission had been completed already, and the few Suna scouts had sent ahead in
this region, already done with.

It had been a simple evacuation mission, getting people from the villages across the frontier to the
Land of Rivers to move away.

Konoha would take care of sheltering them. And there'd be a heavy financial incentive for… useful
people to remain.

He was not sure why he was needed here exactly, when he could be out there fighting like Kakashi
was, but he figured that his reputation was likely to keep smaller Suna forces away from here, for
the time being.

Or maybe Danzō just wanted to keep him away from the village — and from him. He had this
feeling sometimes.

Well, in the meantime, before he got assigned something more dangerous, he'd enjoy spending
some time with Toru.

Even if the rest of their team gave them weird looks.

Shikamaru sighed. He never thought he'd miss Ino… but he did.

Not that Sai was lacking, when it came to combat ability. They didn't have as good coordination
between them as they did with Ino, but even then… His ninjutsu was useful, and he was as trained
as any member of Danzō's own ANBU section — ROOT. He was smart, efficient, and focused on
the mission; The problem?

Sai was just… annoying.

Not in the same bossy way Ino had been, though. And boy, she really had been, when trying to
become a Jōnin before she turned eighteen.

She had missed the mark by a few months, but now all three of them were elite ninja, thanks to her
pushing, prodding… And her drive to become stronger.

Shikamaru was pretty sure that half of it came from seeing Sarutobi Naruto, one of his generation's
most talented, die so suddenly at thirteen. Toru and Sasuke had seemed to react in similar ways,
focusing more and more on the shinobi arts.

Kakashi… Well, he had seemed to take it as more unwanted confirmation that he was a walking
curse. He had trained Toru one on one, but never got too close to his last student. That time had
passed.

According to Toru's whining, at least.

And now, Ino was… accused of killing the Hokage. Or at least, administering the deadly poison.

Neither he, Chōji or Asuma believed it, frankly. Not just because it came out of nowhere, — that
was basically any good assassination — but she stood to gain nothing from it, and had no particular
reason to do it, either.

The Sixth had tried to get information from her, apparently, and found nothing. Of course, he knew
as well as anyone that trying to get information from a Yamanaka was akin to pulling teeth.
Especially one as stubborn as Ino.

Then again, the fact that she hadn't been willing to reveal what had happened in the Hokage's room
— according to Danzō, at least — meant that there was something she didn't want to tell.

Danzō had taken this as confirmation she had been responsible for the murder.

Shikamaru, on the other hand, thought it was more likely something to do with the foreigner. Indra.

The fact that both of them appeared in the Bingo Book, the day after they both disappeared from
the village was only confirmation.

Now… What did Ino have to do with him?

While he believed that she was not the one to murder the Hokage — he and his team had fought to
defend her.

Well, there was no denying that she was hiding something. Something important, if she was
willing to become the village's enemy for it.

The only way for him, Chōji and Asuma to know… would be talking to her. Which would be
easier if anybody had seen Ino in the last month. Or this Indra guy.

Next to him, in a dark alley, Chōji — his face hidden under a nondescript peasant's cowl —
motioned to him.

"I think we've been spotted." Chōji said.

How they did it… Neither of them knew, as it was already dark out.

Shikamaru gave him a flat look. "I told you so."

Their third member, Sai, just gave them a blank — and utterly false — smile.

"Let's go, then, fatso, deadbeat." He said, starting to draw cat-like creatures on his scroll. The
seven beasts leaped from the paper, growing to life-size, and ran toward the enemy.

Around them, the citizens scrambled away in panic.

"What did you call me?!" Chōji's eyes bulged. Sai ignored him.

"Chōji! Keep your anger for the enemy!" Shikamaru said.

Chōji grumbled but seemed to agree anyway. He ripped his disguise away, revealing typical
Akimichi armor.

They were in the middle of a small city in the Land of Rivers, called Nawaki, looking for Suna
ninja. They did so easily enough, but hadn't realized how many were there in the first place.

Being inside of a city also meant Chōji wouldn't be able to use his most powerful techniques.

His hand expanded in size, several times over.

"Empty Crash!"

He slammed it down in the middle of the street. The resulting shockwave made some of the Suna
ninja lose their footing.

At the same time, Shikamaru weaved a couple hand-seals.

"Shadow Possession Technique."

His shadow stretched out of the alley, meeting Sai's tigers'. He didn't bother restricting their
movements, simply using them as stepping stones to reach the enemy.

"Completed. Sai, kill them."

Sai said nothing, already moving. His animated creatures leaped away, keeping other Suna ninja
busy. His tanto flashed into his hand, and with four clean jugular strikes, the number of enemies
they were facing suddenly dropped.

Shikamaru winced, releasing his Shadow Possession technique a bit too late not to get the feedback
of having his throat slashed open.

Beyond the town's fountain, he could hear the sounds of fighting. Flames rising, explosions,
screams. That was where some of the other Konoha ninja were.

Sai whirled around. "Behind!"

Shikamaru dodged under a blade, his shadow strangling a young woman from Suna who had
thought she could sneak from behind them. He held the bind until he was sure she was dead.

He nodded in thanks to Sai.

There were more Suna ninja pouring in the streets. Most civilians had left, it seemed.

Good.

"Chōji! Coast's clear!" He shouted.

The Akimichi nodded. "Multi-Size Technique!"

He jumped high, then became gigantic. When he hit the floor, the entire city shook. The city's
fountain exploded, water spilling everywhere. They would likely run into a lot of trouble with the
Land of Rivers, once this war was over.

Chōji would manage, Shikamaru reassured himself. At this size, it was true that he was a bigger
target. But what was also true was most attacks would barely register, and he would force the
enemy to focus on him.
Which left Shikamaru, Sai… and Asuma free to get rid of them. Speaking of…

'Where is Asuma?'

He had come here with them, but they hadn't seen him in a while. Did he run into some trouble?

A house fell, two blocks away. That was where Asuma had gone.

"Sai, I'm going to check it out!"

He nodded, focused on summoning more of his ink creatures.

Shikamaru ran.

Rising from the building, covered from head to toe by dust, and surrounded by corpses, Asuma
threw his ruined flak jacket away.

"Shikamaru." He simply said, breathing hard.

"Sensei!" Shikamaru called; old habits die hard. "Are you okay?"

The man chuckled. "I've had better days." He turned serious. "But… I think you guys should leave.
Right now."

"What?"

"This is above your pay-grade… Mine too, honestly." He let out a weak chuckle.

A woman came out of the rubble, a small fan in hand, a half mask covering the top of her face.
Behind her, ten Suna ninja, all of them armed to the teeth, swarmed.

She chuckled, and bowed theatrically to Shikamaru. Then she motioned for her men to stop.

"Who is she?" Shikamaru asked. Behind him, Chōji and Sai killed the last few ninja in the town
center.

"Bad news." Asuma said, simply.

"Welcome. I hope you'll enjoy the show." She laughed.

The woman's fan disappeared in the knot that held her obi. Her hands extended in front of her.
Chōji and Sai were running toward them.

Shikamaru looked around. Black threads seemed to fly around in the corners of his vision. The
threads disappeared under the rubble, and behind dead bodies.

He heard a cracking sound. Then a popping.

A corpse stiffened. Then another. And another.

They stood up slowly, rigidly, in positions that looked like they would belong more on wooden
dolls than dead people. More corpses joined, as the woman hummed.

The Suna ninja waited behind her, their faces carefully blank.

"What… What the hell is this?" Chōji asked, disgusted. Sai frowned.
"That's Hundred Hands Chigusa." Asuma gritted out, and Shikamaru's eyes sharpened in
recognition. "But she's not much more than a grave robber, really."
 River Escape Plan

The corpses started moving, eyes glassy.

They were fast. Shikamaru barely managed to dodge under their twisted arms. And hard to predict,
too, since they bent in ways the human body simply wasn't meant to.

The woman, Chigusa, was barely moving, with only her fingers twitching.

Asuma was breathing hard. He was likely at the end of his stamina. Definitely not a fight they
wanted to take, then, that much was clear.

Shikamaru blurred into motion, his hands weaving signs fast, faster than he had even thought he
could.

"Shadow Art: Shimmering Darkness."

The shadows around him seemed to flash for a second, before interlocking together. Everything in
a radius of fifteen meters was trapped. He released Asuma, who blew a cloud of flammable smoke
right away, and then his teammates.

Shikamaru grunted in exertion. "Move away now, sensei, Sai."

No matter how he tried, he couldn't use the chakra threads she had likely woven to catch her too.
Something about her technique was different from most Suna puppeteers.

On the other side of the cloud, Chigusa laughed. "Oh, a Nara, then? It's been a long while! It will
make for a delightful show. You can have some of my puppets."

Asuma nodded toward Shikamaru, taking the opportunity to turn tail. Sai did as well.

"Chōji!"

"On it!" He grew his hair around himself, a defense doubling as an offense. "Spiked Human
Bullet!"

He rolled forward, the wind blades thrown around so freely by the Suna ninja not even slowing
down his destructive attack.

"Shadow Art: Shadow Passage."

Shikamaru sunk into the shadows, reappearing a few seconds later inside a small house full of dark
corners, just a few meters away.

Hopefully, nobody had been able to follow him. He carefully hid his chakra signature, and released
a long breath. He had never had the best stamina to begin with, but the Shadow Passage was
especially bad for him. Sweat poured down his forehead. He swallowed a soldier's pill.

Chōji continued his assault, rolling back and forth through the city… and its buildings.

Yeah… they were definitely going to have some trouble with the Land of Rivers.

Chigusa laughed merrily.

Shikamaru felt a hand on his shoulder. He whipped around, a shadow shaped like a spike following
his hand.

He stopped.

"It's me." Asuma whispered.

"Sensei…?" His eyes hardened. Could be anybody. "When dawn fades into day…?"

"All that is left is the harsh burn of man's will." Asuma nodded. "Sure, sure. It's me."

Shikamaru let out a breath.

"How the hell do we get out of here?" He muttered.

Asuma laughed sheepishly. "I wanted to ask you that, actually."

Shikamaru sighed. Time to think.

There were a few things he could use here. A ninja he had seen this morning... and Ino's gossip.

"…Okay, it seems as though they don't have sensors, considering they haven't found us yet. Let's
exploit what I know. Here's what I think could work…"

Sai was hiding behind a ruined house, not so far away from Shikamaru and Asuma.

He drew a few snakes, two small birds and a large bear. He waited before using any of them, but
kept the scroll on hand, in case he needed them right away.

He checked his remaining equipment. Four kunai in his pouch, five shuriken and a flashbang. Only
the flashbang might come in handy, if only thanks to Shikamaru.

Far away, Chōji was still rolling, twisting and turning. The young man might have been stupidly
soft-hearted for a shinobi his age… But there was no denying he was a useful ally to have. And an
useful distraction.

Now… How to get them out of here…?

Sure, he could likely leave on his own, but Danzō-sama would likely be very, very unhappy about
losing such assets as them. Besides, leaving was only possible if they had a distraction such as
Chōji, one that forced the enemy to pay attention.

He let two of his snakes slink into the shadows. Maybe he could thin their numbers, at least.

In front of him, the shadows seemed to twist in strange ways.

'…What is this?'

He stared blankly. They seemed to twist into… kanji? Oh. That was Shikamaru trying to
communicate, then.

Sai read the missive and winced. This might prove a bit more complicated than the Nara made it
seem.
Rain started to fall.

It was never as bad as within the Land of Rain's borders, of course, but Rivers had frequent bouts
of drizzle. That was how it came to be known for its overflowing rivers, after all.

Two of these surrounded the city, in fact.

Kankurō hated rain.

Maybe it was because Suna was about as dry as it got.

Maybe it was because the day he rushed to the place where Temari had last been sighted, close to
the Land of Fire's borders, it had rained too.

And now, they were at war. Wherever she was, — and he didn't want to even admit the possibility
of anything else but her being detained in these Leaf bastards high-security prisons — he hoped she
was well.

In a way, she had been his only sibling.

Gaara… Gaara was a complicated story. He had been a shy child, long, long ago. One that was
desperate for affection. Kankurō had tried, maybe not as much as Temari did… but he had tried.

But… he had only been a child himself. What was he supposed to think of a kid that might or might
not injure or kill everybody around him if he ever lost his temper…? He had seen it happen,
multiple times, in fact.

So sure, Gaara had been a victim of their father's attempts at gaining more power.

He had also been someone to be wary of. And that was before the Yashamaru incident. After this,
even Temari grew more distant. Gaara before was unstable, but well-meaning.

Gaara after… was a complete lunatic.

Truth be told, he had let out a sigh of relief when he had heard he was dead, no matter how cruel
that might sound to anybody who hadn't known the boy. Temari had blamed him for it, he knew.
What else was he supposed to do…? Being around Gaara was like having your head on the
chopping block, waiting around the whims of a cruel executioner.

Their father… Rasa had raged… and raged when he had heard the news.

Not because his son was dead, of course. But because these Leaf bastards and this damned
Hokage's son had made him, — and Suna by proxy — a laughing stock.

Stealing the Bijū, weakening Suna, denying doing it willingly in the first place… and then showing
off their almost perfect jinchūriki, when Suna couldn't manage to even get a half-decent one,
trained by one of the world's most competent sealmasters…

It was no wonder that Rasa hated Uchiha Fugaku.

Kankurō wasn't surprised Konoha blamed them for the murder. Truth be told, he thought his father
had done it himself, even though he had never bothered answering the question.

And now, they were at war.

The only time Gaara could have done something useful for them, and joyfully at that… And he
was dead. It was pretty ironic. Not very funny, though, Kankurō thought. More and more, he was
prone to making dark jokes.

They were scouring the village, looking for the last four Leaf ninja. He had managed to kill two of
them today already, and he kept their headbands in his stash.

The fat bastard, an Akimichi, had stopped spinning and gone into hiding as well, apparently.

The city was eerily silent.

The dead people creeping around, courtesy of Chigusa-sama, really did not help. Kankurō held
back a shiver.

A while later, a ninja of his platoon, — Jirō — called to him.

"Found one."

"One of the Konoha rats?" Kankurō asked, even though it was the only thing that could possibly
fit.

"Yes. The tracks lead to a house. We have it surrounded already."

"Good." Kankurō approved. "Lead us there."

Once he made it there, he realized that 'house' was a bit misleading. The whole area looked as
though it had been flattened. No building was left standing, except for this ruined thing.

Jirō had been right, there were four different sets of feet in the dust, all of them leading to the
house. The four leaf ninja were in.

He double-checked the tracks, in case any of them had decided to use them as a trap.

"…The weight, as well as the way the dust has moved around seems to fit." Kankurō nodded.
"They didn't backtrack over their steps."

It wouldn't be the first time Leaf ninja did it, far from it.

"Good job, Jirō."

"Thank you." He nodded.

"Send in the puppets, in case they have trapped the place."

"Yes sir."

Five wooden dolls came out of scrolls, with a puff of smoke. Chakra threads spun in the air,
attaching to the many joints of the puppets, including the seals that allowed them to see through its
'eyes', in a rudimentary way.

Kankurō motioned for them to go in.

One puppet blocked the northern part of the house, its master hiding in the window of the house
behind.

One to the south.

Three went through the only door, to the west. More Suna ninja waited to the east, in case.

Karasu, Kankurō's puppet, walked in slowly, silently.

Nobody was on the first floor of the small house, the only thing that remained there were bloodied
tracks. One of them had been wounded, then.

Karasu motioned 'up' to the two other puppets.

It had been night when the battle had started. Now, Kankurō could see the dawn rising, even
through his puppet's eye. The first rays of sun came through the broken window upstairs, as Karasu
slowly climbed, with the only sound being its creaky joints.

"There! First floor!"

The four Konoha ninja were huddled up, around a… black and white… thing. Was it a bird…?

The puppets rushed to them, poisoned blades drawn.

The bird leaped through the window of the attic, and Kankurō heard the glass shatter before
Sarutobi released a fire jutsu. An explosion consumed the house.

The four Konoha ninja flew away, as fast as the strange creature would allow, straight to the sky.
Karasu, as well as three of the puppets were turned into ash, as the fire raged.

"To the skies! They're on the bird!"

But they were flying too high, too fast for them to reach.

Where was Chigusa-sama?

Kankurō ran, letting somebody else take care of their wounded. He was following the bird, who
was getting higher and higher. He had no projectiles that could reach that far up-

"What are you doing?!" Chigusa called from afar. "Up there, you fool."

'I'm trying!'

Chigusa extended her hands, black threads of chakra twisting and turning. She made a swiping
motion toward the bird. Kankurō didn't see what happened exactly, but one of its wings started to
fall off.

"There. That should slow them-"

"Chigusa-sama!"

A man appeared, in Suna's garb, complete with a facemask. Kankurō thought he had seen him
yesterday afternoon, before the fight started. He seemed exhausted, his pale face drawn, sweat
running down from his forehead.

"…Don't you see I'm busy catching some rats?" She asked, tone harsh. That was… dangerous.

"I'm sorry to interrupt but-" The man continued.

"Go on. Spit it out!"

The man hesitated. "Sasori of the Red Sands has been spotted leaving through the Eastern Gate."

Kankurō froze.

Compared to Chigusa's reaction… That was nothing.

"What did you say…?" Every word came out clipped. If anybody had any reason to hate Sasori…
Chigusa was pretty high on the list, Kankurō knew.

"Sasori has been sp-"

"Are you certain of what you're saying?" She asked again. Fury bled into her voice. "If you're
wrong, it's your life."

"…Certain, Chigusa-sama. That's him, undoubtedly." The man nodded, afraid but resolute.

"Lead the way."

"Certainly."

"Kankurō!" Chigusa shouted. "You and Jirō take care of the four Leaf shinobi with your team."

"…Sarutobi Asuma is with them." Jirō hesitated.

Chigusa snorted. Who cared about that…?

"He's weakened. Even you fools should be able to handle him!"

She left at that, following after the masked man. Sasori was way more important than their former
Hokage's son.

Sasori and her had been students under the same master, a long time ago. They had been friends,
even though Sasori had always been… off in a way.

Nobody had known how bad, at the time, though.

It only really came to light when he betrayed the village, becoming a missing ninja before he was
even eighteen.
And then…

Then he came back. To kill their Kazekage.

Oh, nobody could confirm, but she knew his methods. Poison the victim and make the body
disappear. She had tried telling people about it, but there was no conclusive evidence, of course.

Kiyoshi-sensei had left soon after that himself. Leaving her to fend for herself, her training
incomplete.

Putting her in the tricky position of being closely affiliated with Suna's worst traitor… and a man
who abandoned his village in its darkest hour, instead of helping it grow, as he should have.

She had to try twice as hard as anyone else to rise through the ranks.

Everything she had, she had earned through sweat and blood and tears.

Kiyoshi was dead now. She had nothing more to say to him, anyway.
And Sasori… Well, she would do him the honors of killing him herself.

She noticed the masked man slow down.

"Chigusa-sama." He breathed hard. "I can't go on, I'm sorry-"

"Point me toward him, then, you fucking weakling!" She shouted, her control over her nerves
frayed. She was not amused anymore. At all.

The man did what she asked him to do, before falling against a building to catch his breath.

The bird flew clumsily with only one wing.

Well, it was losing altitude every second. Even then, it managed to get out of the city.

Kankurō and his team rushed to follow after it, weapons flying... and occasionally striking true.

The bird crashed down into one of the two rivers that flowed around the city, before dispelling into
a pool of black ink.

The four Konoha ninja disappeared under the rapids. Kankurō cursed, as they were forced to go
around the waterfall. They were losing so much time.

Almost a half hour later, they caught on to them, when some branches prevented them from
swimming further away.

Well, their uniforms, to be more precise.

"…What?" Kankurō approached, suspicion rising.

He went through the first jacket. Nothing in it.

"No fucking way…"

His men did the same.

Nothing.

"Nothing of value inside the pants either, sir."

A sandal dangled from a branch, the current making it wobble, bob up and down. Almost
tauntingly.

There was no way the Leaf bastards would take the time to remove their valuables from their
clothes… if they planned on leaving with them.

There was no way any of them would bother removing their clothes while being carried away by
the cold river's rapids. Simply no way.

But something… or someone had been wearing these clothes. This was no clone, either. They
would have dispelled a while ago, considering the amount of damage they took during their short
flight.

Something had been disguised to look like the Konoha ninja. And this something had disappeared
already, leaving only clothes behind.
Toward the Eastern Gate, the man wearing the Suna garb, as well as their facemask, slumped down
against a wall.

He removed the mask, revealing Nara Shikamaru. Cold sweat had run down his face… and his
back. He let out a sigh.

This had been way more risky than the sort of plans he tended to favor. But he had to get Chigusa
out of the way. Asuma and Chōji were too recognizable, and Sai was not really suited for what this
required. Worst case, he would have tried a close-range Shadow Binding, buying the others some
time to run… or try one last time to kill her.

Because with her around, they would have died, no doubt about it.

Shikamaru had a pretty decent memory, he knew as much. So when he had heard the woman's
name, it jumbled a memory about her old teacher… and her teammate, whose name he actually
could remember. Suna's big traitor. The rest was mostly assuming, but he had been confident in his
guess.

"Thanks, Ino." He muttered.

Who'd have thought that this sort of useless information would come in handy? Not him, that was
for sure.

The plan was simple. Lead Chigusa away with the lure of Sasori being around — which of course,
he wasn't. Who the hell knew where that guy was now… or if he were even alive in the first place?

Leading the rest of the Suna troops on a merry chase had been workable too. Asuma's monkey
summons came in handy, since they could use jutsu. Sai's jutsu worked to disguise their faces, and
they had given them their own uniforms to wear.

Speaking of…

He had no time to waste.

He removed his Suna uniform, sealed it inside his pouch, revealing the clothes he had stolen from a
civilian house. He muttered a quick apology, and started running silently toward the northern gate,
where he knew there was no Suna ninja currently. The rest of his team was likely doing the same,
right now.

Shikamaru hoped the summons were alright, too, but he was pretty confident. The monkeys could
take a damn beating, - or give one - as he knew very well, by now.

"This mission was a fucking pain in the ass." He complained to no one.

Well, they were all alive and had survived another day. This, he would not complain about.

…Not today.
 The Frozen Land

"Don't. Please, don't." Ino begged, as if her life were on the line. "Haven't you done enough?"

"I'm sorry. It has to be done." Sakura said, her eye hard. A cruel little smirk threatened to break out,
though.

Karin said nothing, closing her eyes. "Do what you must."

Naruto waited in anticipation, arms folded.

Sakura slammed her winning hand on the table, cackling madly.

She and Naruto exchanged a high-five. They had won again.

"No fucking way." Ino stood up, throwing her cards in a huff. "You guys cheated! Again!"

"We didn't." Naruto assured her. "Sakura has promised not to do it again. Isn't that right, Sakura?"
He looked at her.

"I felt her surface thoughts! She stole an Ace!" Ino accused again.

She stared at Ino, face blank. "…Right, Sakura?" He repeated.

"I'm a ninja." She said simply. Naruto groaned.

"You fiveheaded b-" Ino dove over the table, trying to choke Sakura.

"Whoa! Calm down, girls!" Naruto tried, to no avail. He had to physically pull Ino away from
Sakura… who still held her tongue out, pulling down her lower eyelid.

"Let me go, Naruto!" Ino screamed. "I'm gonna show her what I think of cheaters!"

"Yeah, let her go, Na-ru-to." Sakura laughed.

Karin sighed. "I'm not sure we should continue playing card games. At least not as teams."

That had been days ago.

The group had decided to spend the night close to a small village in the Land of Frost — a smaller
country nestled in between the Land of Hot Water and the Land of Lightning.

Naruto hadn't had the chance to put a marker down around here — or the Land of Lightning — yet,
so they were doing things the usual way.

They had spent the last day trekking to Shimogakure, the hidden village of Frost, home to a small
population of what used to be nomads.

"Why the hell would people decide to move here…?" Ino bristled, her teeth chattering.

"I think you're looking at the reason." Karin said, her voice muffled by the scarf she was wearing.

"What…? Another 'people move to a challenging place because it keeps them safe from other
people'?" Ino grunted. "They still have to actually live here. How is this worth it?!"
"I guess they really, really didn't care for people." Sakura suggested. "Lightning country used to be
more aggressive-"

"Even more aggressive." Naruto interjected. Truth be told, he wasn't feeling really cold, himself.
"They still are."

Well, he was almost twice the weight of Ino, so no wonder.

"Yes, same thing." Sakura shrugged. "But it makes sense people would rather leave to the icy
desert than face their angry neighbor's-"

"Dick swinging contests." Naruto finished.

"Yes. That." She said, amused.

"…How are you guys warm enough for these shitty jokes?" Ino managed to let out, her mouth
feeling sluggish.

Naruto shrugged. "Uzumaki thing, maybe? I got it from my mother."

"Nah, that's not it." Karin said dryly. "I'm also freezing."

"I keep cycling chakra." Sakura said.

"What do you think I'm doing…?" Ino replied.

"I might just be better at it than you. It would just be yet another thing on a long list." Sakura said,
humbly. "See…? I'm helping. The anger will keep you warm."

"If it's about chakra control, I don't think I would manage." Naruto decided to interrupt. "I feel fine,
though."

He could go on for a while. He turned to look at them.

All right. Maybe not, then. Ino seemed like she was on the verge of falling down, and Karin was
not looking too good, either.

"Okay, girls. Let's set up camp here."

"…Camp? In the middle of the desert? Do you want us to die?" Ino asked.

"Heh." Naruto laughed. "I just remembered you never saw us camp outside of inns."

Which they really should be wary about, since half of them were wanted people, even though it
was just in the Land of Fire for now.
Thinking about it, maybe people in Iwa would offer them drinks…? No Hokage had ever been
liked by Iwa and… Nah, bad idea.

"Karin… Show her, please." Sakura said.

"Sure." She rubbed her hands together. "Let me warm my fingers, though. It feels like they're going
to fall off."

Yeah. Maybe a break was a good idea. They didn't have to reach Shimo today.

As for the reason they were heading there… Rumor had it that Mist was currently sending their
Jinchūriki, — the host of the Six-Tails, not Yagura himself — to the Land of Hot Water.

Naruto had heard about the First Hokage's idea of mutually assured destruction. Well, he didn't call
it this way, but that's what it was, in the end.

It turned out handing out Bijū had just made conflict more destructive in the end.

And Kumo was not going to let Kiri's jinchūriki rampage their way through their shinobi.

Now… Mist had many ways they could go around the islands to bring the Six-Tails to the
battlefield.

Lightning, on the other hand, was very likely to go through the Land of Frost, and have their
jinchūriki spend a night in Shimo. If Naruto knew this, — through Orochimaru's spies — then
Akatsuki knew it too.

If they resumed their poaching, the Two-Tails was a great place to start. For the same reasons,
Orochimaru and Anko would try to keep an eye on the Six-Tails.

Fu, apparently, was now locked inside Taki. Which meant they would likely not go for her now.

They had people tracking the others, but they were mostly behind village walls as wells.

Of course, a lot of this was based on assumptions, but that's all they had to go by.

The Three-Tails and the Eight-Tails were too precious to risk on the battlefield right away. They
would not come out without a good reason.

The One-Tails, held by Uchiha Sasuke… was seen around Jiraiya more often than not, and was
more than able to defend himself on top of that. Not the easiest of targets, all in all.

So that was the broad outline: Track the jinchūriki likely to get stolen away, wait for Akatsuki,
track Akatsuki, kill — or capture, if possible — Akatsuki.

Easy enough.

To Karin, recognizing a jinchūriki would be child's play, no matter if they were trying to hide.
Same went for S-rank ninja. If they were fighting, she would be able track them from dozens of
kilometers.

And she would remember them, forever. Like he did. But better.

While Naruto was musing, Karin got ready.

Snake. Rat. Ox. Ram. Snake.

"Earth Release: Stone Pillar House."

Ino blinked. The snow rumbled, falling away, as the ground seemed to rise. No, that was wrong.
The minerals of the earth were forced together, blended into a large, square stone pillar. Some of
the rocks fell away, until it revealed a single story house with no windows — it was too cold to
bother.

It wouldn't win any awards, but… it looked livable, especially in this barren land.

"Ah… That's how Umi grew so fast." Ino breathed out, as a crude door opening appeared.
"Now you get it." Karin grinned from the top of the house.

Heating a stone house was a bit different than heating wood, of course.

Stone provided thermal mass, not insulation. Meaning it was slow to change temperature. Once it
was warm though, it could stay warm for a while.

"…and that's why we're going to use Fire nature to warm it up quickly." Naruto declared, once he
had finished placing seals for soundproofing, hiding most of their chakra presence and allowing for
decent air circulation.

"Don't we need… Someone with a fire affinity for that?" Ino asked, staring at him.

"Yes, absolutely." Naruto nodded. "That's why we need your Fire style here, Ino."

He looked at her expectantly.

Silence stretched. Ino stared back, as though he were the world's biggest idiot.

"…Why do you think I can use Fire style?"

"Uh. Don't half the people in Konoha know Fire release?" He asked, now unsure. "Sasuke could…
I mean, out of four people… Sakura, do you know it?"

"Nah."

"…Karin?"

"I'm not even from the Land of Fire. Also, no."

"…Ino, you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure!"

"Didn't Asuma train you?" He asked again. "He's good at Fire-style… things."

"Didn't the Third train you?" She shot back. "He's good at… everything. Including Fire-style."

"…"

"…"

"Don't you need two affinities to become a Jōnin? I thought you were a Jōnin!" He accused.

"Not necessarily." She rolled her eyes. "Also, I'm good enough with Yin chakra that it counts, as
well as earth."

"Damn." He grumbled.

"I'm good with Yin." Sakura mimed. "Why don't you use your fancy illusions to make
us believe the fire's burning, huh?"

Ino growled. "Oh…? As far as I know, you don't know Fire style either."

"Uh… We'll find a way." Naruto said, weakly.

"Look… Someday, we're gonna look back on this and laugh." Naruto tried.

"If we don't die of hypothermia tonight." Ino grumbled.

"Think of it as extra practice." He encouraged, grinning.

He had made a small fire by striking firewood - that they kept sealed away in scrolls - with
Lightning, absorbing the smoke in another open scroll. It was warm enough to sleep, since Karin
and Sakura were both passed out on the same futon.

Meanwhile, Ino was practicing transforming her chakra into Fire nature, her clone doing the exact
same, next to her.

Ino couldn't help it… She laughed.

"I guess that's on me, asking for adventure. Things are really ridiculous around you."

"That's what the old man said, sometimes." He mused. "Remember that time we tried to smoke his
tobacco…?"

She cackled. "How could we have known this specific one was not supposed to be smoked in a
wooden pipe, exactly…?"

"Exactly." He nodded sagely. Sarutobi had been pretty grumpy, when he had to put out the fire
they had caused.

Naruto started humming a tune, going back to working on a new cloak design.

"Didn't think you were any good at sewing." Ino — or her clone? — said.

He snorted. "I'm not. I can just put things together. But I'm decent at sealing… or jutsu shiki. Same
thing, really, despite what Orochimaru says."

She raised an eyebrow. "The guy's good at what he does. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to take some
inspiration from him."

"You wound me." He chuckled.

"But you could ask him, he tends to be decent at explaining things. It would go much faster. We'd
have heating, too." Ino continued to nag.

"I know how heating works, though." Naruto shrugged.

"Oh?" She challenged him. "Didn't seem so."

He sighed. "There are a few ways to transmit heat. It's just energy, honestly. When you heat
something… you make its molecules jiggle faster."

"Uh huh." She hadn't gone to civilian school, but she had a decent understanding of basic physics.
"Could've said that myself."

"I don't see a fire between your hands yet, though." He continued before she could retort. "There's
conduction. When you touch a warm object, the… jiggly atoms of the object… jiggle your atoms,
which you then feel as heat."

Ino didn't say anything.

"Next's convection. The warmer parts of a fluid are more buoyant than its colder parts. Hot air
rises, cold air drops."

"…Aight."

"Then there's radiation. Every object, no matter its amount of heat, naturally radiates it. This type
of heating isn't direct like the other two. This heat energy is instead radiated as specific
wavelengths of light — infrared and microwave mostly. Then it is converted back into heat when it
contacts matter. Yeah?" Naruto asked.

"…Yeah." She said, blinking at the impromptu science lesson.

"Cool, cool." He nodded, going back to his cloak.

"Wait a minute."

"Huh?" He smiled a bit.

"Why do you know this, exactly…?"

"Take a guess." He chuckled.

"…You have a seal for heating things already, don't you…?" Ino asked, glaring.

"Yes, so…?" Naruto grinned. "You could use the training, and I want to experiment with Fire. "

She cursed. "Oh, you-"

"I thought you told me to take some inspiration from Orochimaru's methods. That's classic him."

"My seal only works for rooms, as of now, not on clothing." Naruto explained, once she had
calmed down.

She had settled for glaring at him.

"Ah, come on…" He smiled. "Don't be like that. You're going to be happy, once you learn Fire
style. Plus we don't have anyone who can use it, yet."

"Why don't you do it yourself?" She gritted out.

"Because I can't. At all. Nor Earth or Water." He shrugged. "I think it's something I might have
done to myself."

"Ah." She said with some distaste. "The experimental body carving thing."

"Yeah, most likely. Eh, it's too late for regrets anyway." He laughed. "Plus, Lightning and Wind
are cooler, anyway."

"Why do you need me to do it now, then?"

He stared at her, seriously. "Because I have faith in your ability to learn it fast."

"…You. Really?" She said, somewhat shyly.

"Sure." He shrugged, likely ruining the moment. "Then we can study it together and isolate Fire
chakra's heating nature to make our clothing able to self-regulate, by transforming a small amount
of nature chakra into it, and some into Wind or Water for cooling."

"Ah."

"That's why I'm paying attention to how it feels."

"You're sewing."

"I'm also paying attention, sensing your changes in chakra and all."

"Oh." Then she realized. "Did you do the same with Wind chakra? The way the cloak shifts out of
our way when we move is not natural, is it?"

He laughed. "That's what I did, yes. Wouldn't want the cloak to get in our way, would we?"

"…That's kinda impressive." She said.

"I guess so. The fabric was kinda expensive, so I didn't want it to get cut any time I had to use my
swords."

"…You really didn't change that much, deep down, did you?" She said with barely hidden
fondness.

"Why would I…?"

She shrugged. "The shinobi world has a way of forcing people to do just that."

"Eh."

Truth be told, he didn't believe this was entirely true. He had changed, and was continuing to do so.
And he was somewhat afraid of it.

"…Wanna hear about what I plan to do with the cloaks?" He asked instead.

"Sure." Ino laughed.

"I want to do the same thing with clothing, but I'm not sure about the material yet." He mused out
loud. "Anyway… Lightning, I don't know what to do with it. Earth chakra transformation could
make the cloak harden, so we could use it as armor, in theory. Water element has some innate…
flexibility, so I could make a cloak that shifts its length and-"

Ino listened with rapt attention, hanging on to his every word.

'Man, she must really love clothing, if she's this interested.'

"Uh… You guys alright?" Sakura asked.

Ino looked like a zombie, apparently. Well, that's how she felt, at least.

"…Did you try to sleep on the same schedule as Naruto..?" Karin understood.

"Yeah. That and the clone's exhaustion feeding back to me. I feel like a corpse."

"I feel pretty refreshed, honestly. We had like six hours of sleep." Naruto shrugged.

"That's not enough." Ino grumbled.

"For you." He teased.

She balled her hands into fists. "Well excuse me, mister skin-carver."

"If it works, it works."

Behind them, once Sakura collected their possessions from inside the house, Karin collapsed it.

"Ready to go?" She asked.

They were.

On the way, Sakura had to ask.

"So… did you make any progress with Fire?"

Instead of answering, Ino decided to show her. She snapped her finger, creating a small spark.

"…I guess that's a start." Sakura said with a pained smile.

"Say it."

"…Say what?"

"That it wasn't worth losing sleep over."

"Didn't even think it." Sakura said innocently.

"Fuck you, fivehead."

"She's trying to provoke you." Karin supplied helpfully. "This is very fast, by any standard."

"…Thanks, Karin."

"And if you can channel Fire-nature, you should be able to heat yourself by cycling it, I think. You
could try, we have a few hours before reaching Shimo." Karin continued.

Ino did. "Like this?" She grunted.

Karin felt for her chakra, to get a better idea of what she was doing. "Hmm… I'd say lower the
intensity, you're not trying to set yourself on fire." She laughed.

"All right."

"A bit higher, I think. From what I remember, it's a bit more-"

"Now?"

"Fifteen… Twenty percent lower."

"Hng."

"Yeah, that should be close to it."

"…Hey, it seems to be working."

"Told ya." Karin grinned.

"Damn, this is more useful than the Byukugan."

"I thought this was because half of the Hyūga clan were ' unhelpful dicks' — quoting Naruto here."

"…I was quoting Sasuke, actually." Naruto butted in.

"Same thing, really. I think Hyūga and Uchiha are mad at each other because they're two sides of
the same coin." Ino said.

Naruto wisely didn't say anything about her and Sakura.

"I can feel your thoughts, Naruto!" Ino shouted.

"Ah, yeah, true." He winced. "Out of my head, please."

They got inside Shimo very easily, surprisingly.

The disguises and false identities had likely helped. Nothing too fancy, as they preferred to keep
things simple. Switching hair colors around among themselves, random colored contacts, different
hairdos and/or wigs… This sort of thing.

But maybe Ino's genjutsu did most of the heavy lifting. Hard to say.

As for Naruto's whisker marks, he just hid them with some makeup and/or decals, the traditional
way.

"Damn, they really eat this… for breakfast?" Ino asked, once they found a place to eat.

"What's wrong with fatty pancakes and whipped cream?" Naruto asked, arms folded.

"They're probably high-energy foods to warm them up for winter." Sakura supplied.

"I'll have double the usual portion, please." Naruto called to the waitress, a cute girl with a round
face.

He couldn't help but notice people were shorter than they were in the Land of Fire, with smaller
hands, and flatter faces. Did it help with losing less heat? Well, he was no scientist, so he'd rather
not make any wonky theories.

"…For yourself?" She asked, hesitant. "It's a bit much for…" She didn't say foreigner. "People
who are not used to it."

"I'm hungry." He shrugged before digging in. She nodded.

"How are you not the size of a house, by now?" Ino wondered.

"Great genetics." He answered.

"Uzumaki heritage." Karin shrugged.

"Body fuckery and human experimentation." Sakura said. "…What? You guys know I'm right."

"Jealous. As always." Naruto ignored her. "I'll take more bread and soup, too, please." He called to
the waitress.

Ino watched on, bewildered. She had struggled to finish her own plate.
Karin's head lifted suddenly. "I think the Kumo ninja are on their way here. It's going to be a while
before they arrive, though."

"Oh?" Naruto asked. "Great. Is their jinchūriki with them? I can't feel anything that far."

"Yes. The woman holds the Two-Tails."

"On their way to the frontlines?"

"I think they're headed toward here, in Shimo. Otherwise, we'll have to meet them in the snow-
plains."

Ino grumbled, and got back to practicing with her fire nature.
 Winter Springs

Nii Yugito usually traveled alone.

At this point, she was one of the most powerful ninja in Kumo.

Sure, Killer B and the Raikage were still far beyond her, and Darui and a couple others might be
better shinobi overall still… but that was a pretty short list.

That was to be expected, from an almost perfect jinchūriki. Killer B still had better control… and
greater power too, but well… B was the strongest jinchūriki in the entire world.

With the war now raging, B was to be deployed only in the direst situations. And only with a
strong backup, which would likely mean the Raikage himself.

Fighting Kiri's jinchūriki didn't qualify as dire enough, apparently, so Yugito - as the more
expendable one - had been sent, along with her one-man escort.

He too was more than enough to go on missions solo, usually.

War changed things a bit, so the Raikage preferred to send two of his best men (woman) together.
"Safer this way", he had grunted.

"We'll be in Shimo in less than an hour." Darui said, as casual as ever.

Yugito nodded. "That's what I figured. You have seniority here." She smiled. "Are you fine with
spending the night there?"

"Yeah." He nodded once. "Just one night and then we go, though. Not wasting too much time is
about as important as saving our energy, so-"

"So one night will be enough, right?"

"Right."

"Fine by me, too, Darui."

Yeah, he was really easy to get along with.

"They arrived." Karin confirmed, once they settled into a hotel room — booked by Sakura, under a
disguise, with the rest of them sneaking in.

"Do you need to get closer to get a better feel for her chakra?" Naruto asked.

She shook her head. "Nah, it's recognizable enough."

"Well, that's that, then." Sakura said, falling back on her bed. "Are they staying?"

"Yeah. Nobody who's not staying would bother going inside Shimo." She shrugged.

Karin continued. "So what do we-"

"I heard there were hot springs in town." Sakura supplied.

"…Hot springs? Now? Really?" Naruto asked, dubious.

"Got any better ideas? The night's still young." Sakura shrugged.

They shared a look.

"Eh, why not?" Karin shrugged.

Ino joined in too, and then it was them against him. To the hot springs, then.

What was the worst that could happen…?

"…That's strange." Yugito said. She sniffed the air again.

"What is?" Darui asked, opposite her in the tea room of the small hotel they were staying in.

Yugito was not answering, likely talking to the Nibi.

"Yeah. Now I gotta check this out." She muttered to herself. "Darui, I'm heading out."

"Will you be fine on your own?" He asked.

"You know me." She grinned.

"All right, then." Darui shrugged, not particularly worried.

If anything happened, all he'd have to do was follow the trail of flame and destruction… and the
gigantic creature made out of ethereal blue flames, too.

"…What the hell does it mean?" Ino asked, hands on her hips.

Karin laughed.

"Well…" Sakura, who had been hesitant herself after reading the sign, now gave Ino a half-amused
look. Classic. "I think it's what it says on the paper. 'Mixed and nude sauna/hot spring.'"

"I can read, thank you very much." Ino fumed. "But… I can't believe this! What's a sauna, even?"

"I've heard that's a steam thing they did in some colder countries." Naruto shrugged. Truth be told,
he didn't really care that much. "Being naked is probably better than feeling sticky in swimwear."

"…Why would we even be sticky if we're going into the water?" Ino asked.

"A sauna is basically a heated room to make you sweat."

"…But what's the point, even?" Ino persisted.

"Dunno. Ask the guys at the reception, maybe." Naruto stretched his arms over his head, his
midriff showing. Ino was staring.

Right. She noticed this shirt was a bit too short, too.

"…But that's… disgusting." Ino continued.

"…You really don't have to come." Karin said, amused.

"I just don't want other men to see me naked!" Ino shot back heatedly.

Sakura chuckled, mouthing 'other' to Ino, who turned red.

"Don't get angry." Naruto said, seeing Ino's face. "But… That's fair. See you guys later then. Me,
I'm going."

"Same here." Sakura said. "That's what I came here for."

"Me too." Karin joined in.

"…" Ino hesitated.

"You can probably wear a towel, if you want." Naruto supplied helpfully.

"Maybe I will!" She grunted, going ahead of them.

Naruto blinked. What was her problem, even…?

The first thing Ino noticed was that the changing rooms were mixed, too.

She cursed Shimo, before realizing there were cubicles available, too.

No big problem here.

She went to the baths.

It was the middle of the week, and there weren't so many people. Almost none, in fact.

Well, she amended, Shimo was a small village, overall. Some of her confidence returned.

Towel wrapped around her tightly, she ignored every bath where she could see even a single male.
There would be no peeping today, thank you very much.

There was an empty one.

Ino checked around her. Then checked again. No one was around there, the coast was clear.

She checked one last time, before figuring the steam would hide her anyway. She slipped out of her
towel, which she laid on a bench, before slipping just as quickly inside the water.

Too quickly, in fact. She cursed again as she felt her skin scream bloody murder when she dove
inside the scalding water.

"Ouch. Ouch ouch." She hissed, before figuring chakra could help.

Ino channeled it around herself, like a cloak, sighing in relief when the temperature suddenly
became something way more pleasant.

Okay, she could get used to this.

She let out a groan of pleasure, wetting her braided hair — dyed red, today.

After about five minutes, she was feeling absolutely great. Why had she thought this would be a
bad idea, again…? Being naked was way more pleasant, anyway.
Who cared if Naruto…? If Naruto…?

She wondered what he looked like, under his clothes. What would he think of her, once he saw her-

She slapped her cheeks. Okay, maybe that had been why she had been feeling anxious about it.
And… she was nervous again.

She floated around awkwardly, wondering if it was too late to back out. Her heart began to race
faster and faster, until she almost felt lightheaded.

She could hear voices coming close. Feet smacked against the floor. Three people, she guessed.

Someone laughed. A male laugh that she knew.

That was definitely Naruto.

She took a deep breath and turned around. Might as well face it. Of course, there was some less
than innocent curiosity mixed in, too.

Sakura was walking next to them, her body language a bit awkward. No wonder, since she was
walking around entirely naked, towel around her neck.

Ino couldn't help but notice how nice her body was. Fit, trim and strong, with muscle and fat in all
the right places. The stump didn't change anything, she was beautiful, Ino noted.

Karin was coming too, and Ino realized, not for the first time, how much she had changed from the
shy little girl they had met years ago. She was taller than Sakura, and stronger looking, too, without
sacrificing softness. She noticed the firm contours of her hips, her curves. Her confidence, standing
next to Naruto.

Naruto… She finally took a look at him.

Ino blinked. And then blinked again.

…This was Naruto?

'No. Fucking. Way.'

This was the first time she saw him without his shirt, — and pants, but that went without saying —
having spent most of the last month far from the water, focusing on her recovery.

Well… She had known he looked great — loose clothing could only hide so much. But this was
something else.

She was pretty sure her mouth was hanging open.

Naruto strolled in confidently, his long hair flowing freely.

"Hey Ino." He smiled.

"…"

Karin and Sakura exchanged a look, amused.

Ino didn't really see them, trying to stare and not stare at the same time.
She had never seen thighs like this, rippling with muscle. Nor a man with an ass this tight.

She could see every line of his body, from his taut abs to his powerful shoulders… his v-shaped
torso. And the muscle was so dense, so lean that he somehow still managed to look graceful.

He was cut like a marble statue. Not like a ninja. Most people either wouldn't… or
plainly couldn't pull off this kind of build.

And when she dared look down-

'Don't go there.' Some instinct told her. She blinked the thoughts away.

He was more than just attractive. And the muscle wasn't just for show. He was looking incredibly
strong. Powerful. Real.

She suddenly felt very thirsty.

Before she could process how she was feeling exactly, the three of them were already in the water.

Wait, why was he so close?

"…You alright, Ino? You kinda spaced out." Naruto asked, face scrunched with a bit of worry.

"Y-Yes! Good! Great, even!" She managed.

Sakura — that bitch — chuckled.

"Yeah, I guess you're feeling kinda hot. Might've spent too much time in the water."

Still, Ino noticed that she was pointedly avoiding looking at Naruto herself.

Unlike Karin, who seemed entirely too comfortable. Fucking Karin... she couldn't even resent the
Uzumaki woman properly, she was just too nice. She groaned, as she went under the water herself.

Naruto… Naruto kept his beautiful eyes on their faces, never dropping lower. Ino couldn't tell if
she was relieved or disappointed.

She tried to relax.

Ino was tense.

It didn't take being a mind-reader to notice — which Sakura was not anyway. She could guess at
the reason easily.

Classic Ino. Getting distracted by an amaz-

By a decently fit body.

Sakura rolled her good eye. It wouldn't do to have Ino acting all awkward the entire time they spent
here.

'When in doubt… go with your gut instinct.'

Sakura twirled some water around her finger, shaping it. Then she flicked it straight into Ino's eyes.

"Aah! You-" Ino hissed, angry as a wet cat.

"Sorry, missed my target." Sakura said, as insincere as she could get. "Then again, you looked
really thirsty, so maybe that helped, still."

Sakura cackled.

Three seconds later, Ino was trying — with a solid effort — to drown her.

Well, at least she wasn't trying to fade in the background anymore.

"You know… Sometimes, I think they really bring the worst out of each other." Karin said.

"…Only sometimes?" Naruto grinned.

"I was only being polite." Karin smiled. "They're like siblings. Terrible ones. Or an old couple, I
don't know."

In the background, both Ino and Sakura managed to fall into the water, splashing it everywhere.

"Well… At least there's nobody around to be bothered."

"Hmm…" Karin hummed, looking further away, but not saying anything.

A few minutes later, the two of them had calmed down.

Somehow, Ino seemed more at ease.

"Hey Ino, do you think you can help me out?" Naruto asked.

"…Y-Yeah. Sure." She answered, still not looking him in the eye. Weirdo. Nudity just meant
wearing no clothes.

"I'm not too familiar with fire chakra. What happens if you use it underwater?" Orochimaru tended
to work the same way as Sarutobi did, leaving him to experiment in order to find a way to make
things work. Except Naruto couldn't use Fire at all.

"…I don't know, honestly. Let me try."

Ino did, focusing elemental chakra between her hands. No flame appeared, which didn't really
surprise him.

"Can I see?" He asked, before moving closer to her. His thigh touched hers. "Oh, sorry."

Ino was not saying anything, for once. He stood up, half of his body out of the water, reached
between her hands, trying to figure if the temperature was changing or not.

"This is kinda hard to say." Naruto mused. "What do you think, Ino?"

"…"

"Yeah, can't tell either." He chuckled.

She started again.

"Continue." He said, voice low. "Just like that."

Ino lost control over her chakra.

"..."

"Ah! My bad." Naruto apologized. "I need silence to really focus, too. I'll shut up."

"Naruto." Karin whispered, voice entirely serious.

"Hmm?"

"She's close. I sense no ill intentions, though. She's not here to fight." She continued, in low tones.

"What are you talking about..?" He asked, not sensing anything dangerous himself. He had a feel
for it, usually.

Karin went back to acting entirely too casual.

Naruto frowned, getting back to observing a red-faced Ino, who was still trying to summon an
underwater flame.

A minute went by, where nothing happened.

"You're going to need way more intensity to feel a difference, in a pool of water this large." A
woman said, sliding into the water.

Naruto turned to face her, now trying to look as casual as Karin was.

He had felt someone approaching before, but had thought nothing of it. There were plenty of
kunoichi in the village, so what if some of them actually came to enjoy the baths?

Now that she was sitting close, he could feel that she was as far from an average kunoichi… As
Orochimaru was from normality, decency and upstanding morals.

"I hope you don't mind." The blond woman said, looking entirely at ease.

"Nah, it's a public place." Naruto shrugged. "Say, did we ever meet…? You look kind of familiar."

"Is this a pickup line…?" The woman half-smiled.

"…Are you hitting on me?" Naruto squinted his eyes.

She laughed. "No."

"So, what was that about the flame?" He asked.

"You won't be able to warm the pool with a flame this weak." The woman said again.

Of course, Ino being Ino, that was enough to trigger her.

"Well, why don't you show me how it's done, then?"

The woman grinned. Naruto was reminded of a cat.

"Sure, why not." She stood up on the pool's stairs, uncaring of her state of nudity.

A red flame grew in her palm.

"This should be anywhere from 500°C… to 1000°C." She said.

The flame turned orange.

"More than a thousand degrees, now, then." Naruto noted.

The woman chuckled. "That's right. Now…" The flame turned hotter, changing to a bright white.
"Up to 1500°C."

It finally turned blue.

"And that's as hot as it goes. Roughly 2500°C to 3000°C."

Naruto could feel the heat coming from it.

Still, for good measure, she dunked it into the water.

It didn't stop burning.

Some of the water started evaporating, and the temperature of the pool quickly rose.

"I think you made your point." Naruto said. "I'd rather not get boiled alive."

The woman laughed again. "I understand that."

She dispelled the flame.

"Now… This was very impressive and all." He said, noticing Ino's face. "But you're not really here
to talk, are you? You want something from us."

He stared at her, purple eyes meeting black.

His voice turned cold. "So, what is it…?"

"You're wrong." She said simply. "Well, partly. I'm not interested in all of you, despite how rare it
is to see Uzumaki ninja."

Uzumaki…?

Ah, true. They had all dyed their hair the typical Uzumaki color today, a shade darker than Karin's
natural hair. Maybe that had been a bad idea, even though it had sounded kinda fun at the time.

It was a bit conspicuous.

Instead of showing any reaction, Naruto just shrugged. It beat being recognized as 'accomplice to
the Hokage's murderer.'

"So, I'll cut to the chase." She said. "Why do you carry the Nine-Tails' chakra… and its smell?"

Of course the Two-Tails' jinchūriki would notice. He almost felt like rolling his eyes.

"It's a long story." He tried to dodge.

"I've got plenty of time tonight." She retorted.

Naruto sighed, took a look at his friends, in various states of distrust toward the woman.
There was an opportunity here, even though they might not see it. He'd do it alone.

Besides, he was curious about what she was like as a person.

"Alright then. See you later, Karin, Sakura, Ino."

Oh, the look on their faces was worth a picture. He turned away, rose from the water and got his
towel back.

"Let's talk about it over some evening tea, miss Two-Tails."

She didn't seem too surprised that he knew.

"Yugito."

"Well, I'm Uzumaki, as you know." A last name for a first. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise."
 Midnight Cat Eyes

These hot springs really were something special.

Naruto felt relaxed, even as he and the Two Tails' jinchūriki strolled down the street, after night
had already fallen. Too relaxed considering the circumstances, even.

They went to a tea shop that she knew.

"You do come here often, then?" Naruto asked, settling down.

"I guess you could say that…" She mused. "It's one of the only cities in between Lightning Country
and Hot Water. If I'm not going there by boat, I usually stop around here. It's easier than traveling
for days on end, with no break, in the snowy fields."

She really was confident in her abilities, if she was willing to tell that much.

"How do you manage, by the way?" He asked. "My friends almost froze on the way here."

"What do you think?" She asked, amused.

"Well, if your fire-nature is as strong as it seems to be…" He shrugged.

"Got it in one."

She ordered a pot of roasted green tea, called Hojicha, since it was already pretty late.

Naruto ordered food for himself. A lot of it.

She stared. "How are you this hungry…? The baths...? Did you eat nothing at all in the last few
days?"

"Huh?" Naruto asked. He had thought this was the standard for jinchūriki. And he definitely had
eaten a lot today already.

Now that he thought about it… Why did he even assume that? He had never really known another
jinchūriki.

Huh.

Naruto shrugged. "Something like that."

"Very mysterious, mister Nine." She hummed.

"Sorry." Naruto simply said. "There are plenty of things I won't be able to tell you. I prefer not
lying when I can avoid it, so if you're fine with that…" He let the sentence hang.

She thought about it.

"What if I'm not?" She asked.

"Then I leave, simple as that." He shrugged.

"Well. I guess that's fine by me." Yugito nodded. "I expect most shinobi to lie at some point,
anyway. You included. If you're serious about what you said, I'll take it."
It was strange, but something about her told him she would be able to tell, even if he had tried to
lie.

"Good." Naruto paused. Where did he even start? There were too many things that he probably
shouldn't say out loud. Instead…

"What did you want to know?"

She cut right to the chase. "The Fourth Hokage never managed to kill the Nine-Tails, did he?"

Naruto sighed. Well, he had asked for it.

"The nerve of him!" Ino raged. "Leaving us here just to go… fraternize with the enemy."

"She's not our enemy." Karin looked more thoughtful than worried. "And I could feel her
intentions. I think he'll be fine."

Ino shot her a betrayed look.

"What? It's true." Karin defended. "He's the strongest of us right now. Besides, I didn't feel any ill
intent coming from her."

"Give her five minutes with Naruto, and we'll have to see about that." Sakura quipped.

The two chuckled.

"Why are you two so calm about this?!" Ino insisted.

"Well, even if Naruto ends up saying too much…" Sakura began, before interrupting herself. There
was a high chance it would happen, honestly. "I don't think he'll put us in trouble. Not really."

"Hello? …I'm still accused or murdering a village leader... by an entire country." Ino glared. "One
that's allied to the home village of the woman he's currently chatting with."

"I know, I know." Sakura placated. "But he won't do anything stupid like going 'Hey, I'm Indra, by
the way. You might have heard of me if you follow the news.'"

Ino stared at her. Sakura stared back.

"Well…" Karin said. "He probably won't."

Ino groaned.

"You're well informed." Naruto said simply, electing to taste the tea at least. If shit turned south, at
least there'd be that. "Or is that a lucky guess…?"

Well, she didn't say anything about him belonging to the village, so he was still in the clear.

"Kumo may not have sealmasters on the level of Konoha's Fourth Hokage, but… we dabble."
Yugito said.

Which meant she knew killing the Nine-Tails was basically impossible.

Naruto snorted. "Yeah, right, play humble. I've heard the tales about Kumo's two perfect jinchūriki
already."

"They're mostly talking about B. I'm getting there, but I wouldn't say I'm at 'perfect' level yet." She
smiled a bit. "Where are you from, exactly?"

"Can't tell you that." He grinned.

"I suspected so. It was worth a try, though." She took a sip. "Well… Is there anything useful that
you're willing to tell me at all?"

"There is." Naruto nodded. He knew how he could make his point. "What I can tell you is that the
Nine-Tails was split in two by Konoha's Fourth Hokage."

"In two…?" Yugito repeated. "Well, Kumo never managed to seal the Nine-Tails, so… I guess that
would be one way to do it."

Half of the Nine-Tails… well that was still half of the strongest known living being.

"His full power might have been too much to handle. So Konoha's Fourth… Well. One half he took
with him in death. That much is true."

He didn't mention the fact that he was actively looking for a way to reach the man's — his father's
— soul, and that it was one of his main goals, besides killing an entire organization of S-rank
missing ninja.

A bright future, indeed.

"…And the other half?" She asked, her black eyes boring into his own.

It was obvious she thought he had it.

He sighed. "Long story short, the Nation of Rain has most of it."

"…What?" She blinked. "If you expect me to believe this-"

"It's the truth." He interrupted her. "And it is also true that I have a small fraction of the Nine-Tails'
power. But it is only that. A small piece of it."

Yugito was glaring at him.

"…Ask the Two-Tails, it will likely confirm." He tried.

Yugito closed her eyes for a second. She looked back at him. Then she did a double take.

"…It's… true." She blinked. "Matatabi says she doesn't feel Kurama's mind. Just some of its
chakra."

"It feels like every jinchūriki knows more about that fox than I do, at this point." Naruto said, half-
amused.

"You met some of the others?"

"Yeah. The previous One-Tails' jinchūriki… as well as the new one, in passing."

"The Uchiha?" She asked. "He's a strong one."

"I'd assumed so." He said dryly. "And the Seven-Tails' jinchūriki too." He added with some
distaste.

"Not fond of them?"

"Not her. She's… difficult, to say the least."

"You'll find many jinchūriki are." She said dryly. "It's not the easiest sort of life, as you might
know."

"I wouldn't know."

"And why not?" She looked at him with some confusion. Did he grow up in a different sort of
place? Or was this about him carrying only a small piece of the Nine-Tails?

"Because I didn't know I was one until I was a teenager." He admitted.

"…How is this even possible?" She asked, in complete disbelief.

He didn't answer right away.

"Nobody told me." And he left it at this.

"Alright, then. Don't say anything." Yugito nodded, a bit sourly. "Back to Ame."

"Thank you." He was grateful that she was not pushing, really. He knew he would have. "The
leader of Ame — and of Rain Nation — also leads an undercover operation called Akatsuki."

She said nothing. Undercover operations were something every village did.

"I know what you're thinking." He chuckled. "His is a bit peculiar, though."

"Why is that? And what is your relationship with Rain, then, if you have a piece of the Nine-Tails
within you?" She asked, suspicion obvious in her voice.

"Relationship? I wouldn't call it that. It's a simple one." He took a sip. "They are after me. After
you, too."

"Why is that?" She asked again, with mounting dread. Deep down, she knew.

"Because Akatsuki intends to capture every single Bijū. Including the small piece of the Nine-Tails
inside me."

The women had gone back to the place they were staying at.

"Well, that was pretty nice." Sakura stretched.

Ino wouldn't say it, but she had enjoyed it too. It had been relaxing, especially once Naruto had left.
Which she wouldn't admit out loud, because of the clear implication.

She could be stubborn like that.

"I'll stay awake for a while, in case anything happens with the Two-Tails woman." Karin declared.

"I'll wait with you." Ino said.

"Wouldn't it be smarter to take turns, though?" Sakura asked.

"Nah, I'm waiting." Ino folded her arms.

"Suit yourself." Sakura shrugged and slid into bed. She'd wake up early and relieve them, even
though they might not agree with it.

"Are you being serious, right now?" Yugito asked again.

"Entirely." Naruto nodded.

"You could be lying."

Except she didn't really smell any of the usual tells. And his soul didn't waver.

"I could… but I'm not."

"Any proof of what you're saying?"

"No, not really. Only my word" He admitted with a shrug. "But his organization, the one called
Akatsuki — I'll give you a list of the members we know later… They are very likely to come after
the jinchūriki who are out in the open. As in, I'm almost sure of it. That means you, and that guy
from Kiri, the man who holds the Six-Tails."

She scoffed. "Ame has gotten much stronger in the last few years, it's true. But supposing there's
any truth to what you're saying… What kind of man thinks he's going to be able to take
on every single Bijū?"

"One with the Rinnegan, I'd say." Naruto shrugged.

"…The Rinnegan's only a legend."

Naruto said nothing.

"Isn't it…?" She repeated.

"…No. It's very real." His face turned somber.

She could feel Matatabi rumble something in displeased agreement.

"…For real?" Yugito breathed out.

"That's how they got the Nine-Tails already."

'That's how they got the Nine-Tails from me already.'

"No fucking way."

"They will target you for extraction."

"Well." Her eyes turned hard. "I won't let them do as they please."

"I'm sure." Naruto nodded. "Careful. Your chakra is leaking." He then added.

It felt like a raging fire, and something otherworldly that made him think of the day he…
The day he was born…?

"…My bad." Yugito nodded and wrestled it under her control again.

"That's not it for the bad news." Naruto continued. "The organization is made up of S-rank missing
ninja."

Yugito closed her eyes.

"They seem to travel in groups of at least two people, from what I know."

"…Any known members?"

He handed her a copy of a scroll that contained the relevant information.

She said nothing at first.

"So yeah, if you got a few S-rank missing ninja in your ranks… you might want to consider the
possibility they might have joined up. Because the Akatsuki probably reached out to them."

"We'll definitely check. Thanks for that." She said, pocketing the scroll.

Naruto shrugged.

"Well, that's most of what I can tell you, I think." He said sheepishly. "Wish I could tell you more."

"…What are you guys even doing here?" She asked, looking at him seriously.

"Ah." He laughed. "We're trying to track them so-"

"So you figured the best way was to follow me around." She completed, somewhat amused. Only
because he really didn't seem to be a threat, though.

"Yup." Naruto said, unashamed.

"Very pragmatic of you." She hummed.

"Thanks, I try."

They sipped some tea in peaceful silence.

"Now, speaking of pragmatism… Why don't you go to the villages directly?"

Naruto barely held back a wince. He had hoped she wouldn't realize it now. He went with the truth.

"Some of the villages might suspect it already. As for me… There are a few reasons that prevent
me from doing that. And since I have no proof, anyway…" He shrugged. "Though… If the
message comes from you, Kumo might listen."

"...You're acting pretty shady, right now. And that's assuming I believe you in the first place." She
said, taking a long sip of tea.

"But you-"

"Relax." She chuckled. "I didn't say I didn't believe you, either."

"…"
"The way I see it, you don't have much of a reason to make me believe this. There's not much you
could gain from it. Unless I'm missing something crucial here."

"Eh." Naruto thought. "Maybe I thought I'd win a potential ally against Akatsuki." He felt the need
to add.

"Not necessarily." She laughed. "I'm not about to go on a crusade against Rain Nation on a
stranger's word, fellow jinchūriki or not. I'd have to see if this is true, first."

"I figured as much."

"Heh."

"Before…" Naruto hesitated.

She looked at him expectantly.

There was no reason she'd tell him, since he himself had avoided many questions.

He would still try. "You said that jinchūriki led hard lives. I've seen that in the few I met."

She looked at him, wondering what his point was.

"…But I never experienced it myself. Could you… Tell me more about how it was, growing up…?
I saw the consequences of it on two of them, but…"

"You want to know what it's really like." She finished for him.

"I do." Naruto nodded.

 Jinchuuriki

Fū and Gaara might not have made the best first impression on him, Naruto had realized, long ago.

Which was why he felt compelled to ask in the first place.

Yugito paused.

"You're asking for a lot, considering you won't tell much of... anything."

"I realize that." Naruto scratched his head. "Uh. I didn't have that difficult of a childhood, myself.
Or, rather, it was not aggressively bad, at least."

There a few issues that stemmed from it, though, but that was another topic.

Yugito didn't say anything, so he continued.

"My birth parents both died, so a couple more or less took me in — never formally, though. They
probably felt like they owed this to my parents."

Was he still skirting the line…? Or was he already giving too much information away…?

"The woman did most of the child-rearing, especially when I was very young. There was not much
maternal affection from her, to be entirely honest. I don't think she did it on purpose, either. Maybe
she's just like that."

Thinking of Muremaru or Asuma's relationship with her, maybe that was a her problem. He took a
second to think.

"The man… trained me and taught me many things, and acted like a grandfather would, some of
the time. But even he kept me at a distance. I think he was more interested in training me to
become a strong shinobi than playing parent, to be fair. Both of them were nice to me, though, so
compared to how rough many orphans had it — or people with shitty parents… I can't complain,
frankly."

"…"

"Some people from where I grew up had something against my… parents." By this, he meant
Sarutobi Naruto's parents. "But even that faded in the background, over time. I was a bit lonely, but
most of that was on me. I made some good friends, anyway."

"I see…" Yugito hummed.

"I wish I could tell you more, honestly, but that would put some people I care about in danger."

"Like your… family?" She asked, stressing the last word.

"Like them, yes."

"Did you know that for… family, you guys have very different smells?" Yugito gave him a sharp
look. "Same for the hair dyes. Pick a few that don't have a smell to them, next time."

"Oh, that. Figures you'd have a good nose." Naruto thought about it, then shrugged.
A good nose. That was an understatement, as even someone like Kiba would have had trouble
noticing anything. He guessed the Nibi came with a few different boons.

"Well, I never said we were. If you were going to make assumptions, more power to you. As for
hair color… Eh. Who cares." Naruto said.

"Hm." She scoffed, somewhat amused. "Fair enough."

They drank some more. She said nothing.

Naruto thought this was it, and was ready to call it a night.

"When I was a kid, I was alone." Yugito said, out of nowhere.

Blinking, Naruto remained silent.

"It's not something that people did on purpose. But… incredible power breeds fear… and many
other negative emotions. Resentment, for one. But compared to B, who came just before me…
Matatabi never killed as many Kumo citizens as Gyuki did."

"Gyuki…? The Eight-Tails?"

"Yes." She nodded. "I was made a jinchūriki when I was two, so I can't remember a time where I
wasn't with Matatabi." Yugito said, wistful. "Jinchūriki don't really get a choice in the matter,
because they exist solely to protect the village."

Naruto nodded. That much, he knew already.

"But even then…" She continued, looking away. "The villagers feared us, shunned us, back then.
This went on for years."

It had been the same for Gaara and Fū. And both had apparently suffered assassination attempts…
from the village that sealed the Beasts inside them in the first place.

Thinking about Gaara always came with a lot of resentment, as well as some guilt, usually. Fū...
For her, there was mostly dislike.

But hearing someone else say what he already knew… There was a lot of pity, too. Or compassion,
maybe. It was hard to tell, really.

Naruto didn't approve of what they had ended up becoming. But at the same time, it really was no
wonder. If there was someone to blame… Once more, it would be the villages themselves.

"I could have become… meeker, or submissive… I guess. Or angry, too." Yugito continued. "I
think I became more assertive instead. I know who I am… and what I want. And it might sound
bad, but in this world… What you want sometimes matters more than other people's desires."

Naruto blinked. Orochimaru had said something similar, once. Which made for a strange
comparison.

"What do you mean?"

"The willingness to fight for things you don't want to compromise on, the idea that you have
something to offer to people… Being willing to value your opinion more than other people's... All
of that is part of it."
"…I think I agree with you, then." Naruto nodded. He would have worded it differently, but that
was basically what he had figured for himself over the years.

"I decided to stop caring so much about what people thought of me. Strangely enough, it's made
people like me a lot more."

Naruto smiled at her.

"And in the end…" Yugito looked at him, a small smile on her own lips. "Things changed over
time. Kumo's people came to trust, respect… and yes, even love us."

"I… I'm glad to hear that." Naruto said.

He wondered if Gaara would have been able to have that, someday. Or if he had been too far gone
already. And if Fū could still find something like that for herself.

"It was hard. But even if I could... I wouldn't change anything." Yugito said, wiping a tear from the
corner of her eye. She grinned. "Well, look at me. Getting all emotional over this old stuff!"

Naruto smiled back. "No shame in that. We're people who happen to be shinobi… not machines."

Now if only he could take his own advice.

"It's true. Too easy to forget, what with the war raging." Yugito nodded.

"You'll be fighting soon, then, won't you?" Naruto asked.

"Definitely."

"I probably will, too. Not for the villages, though."

"…Wanna have a last drink before the front lines? Between jinchūriki." She asked. "I know a nice
place."

"Only if you promise not to poison me." He smiled.

She grinned. "Why would I even need poison when I got fire and these sweet claws?"

"This is pretty good." Uzumaki said, swallowing yet another mouthful of a drink with a name he
apparently couldn't remember, only looking slightly inebriated.

"People tend to drink more alcohol in colder climates. It's not too surprising that they'd have decent
stuff." Yugito supplied, her own cheeks only slightly red.

It definitely was a jinchūriki thing. Most people would likely be sleeping on the floor by now. Or
throwing up.

"Because… there's nothing to do?" He asked, only half-serious.

She chuckled. "Mostly because it helps with staying warm, but maybe that, too."

"I like it." He shrugged.

"I had the impression, yes." She said wryly.

"And I like what you did with your hair." He said, switching topics suddenly.
"…Uh." She blinked. "My hair?"

"Yes." He smiled. "The whole 'ponytail wrapped in bandages' thing looks pretty cool." He thought
for a second. "Don't tell my friend I said anything positive about bandages, though."

"Ah." Yugito touched her hair lightly. "Thank you."

Where did this come from?

It wasn't… unpleasant, though. Most people in Kumo respected her, her power and status too much
to really go for this kind of compliments. That was a nice change of pace.

"You've got great hair yourself, though." She noted.

"This mess?" He laughed. "I can barely keep it looking somewhat ordered using seals. You should
see it in the morning."

"Well, I like it." She smiled, her hand coming down to caress it. He didn't mind.

"Yeah?"

"Yes."

He grinned at her, and she grinned back.

Somehow, they wound up talking about many things that night.

Random topics, even touchy subjects, as well... omitting some of the specifics, of course. And
warming up to each other.

It was past midnight, and they were facing each other on their seats, seated closer than they had
been before.

He leaned toward her, his breath hot. He got closer and closer…

She closed her eyes. Her lips rose to meet his and-

Uzumaki avoided hers completely, instead opting to whisper into her ear.

"Are you cold?" His voice was low, and he sounded amused.

"No. Why do you…?" She looked down at herself. She blushed lightly when she noticed her
nipples were poking through her shirt.

She slapped his shoulder, laughing a bit, and put a hand over her chest. "You really have no sense
of decency, do you?"

"Not really." He shrugged. "Alright, I think I'm going to order a last one-"

"Even more…?" She laughed, her cheeks still flushed red.

"Just for me." He grinned. "Then it's time we head back."

Yugito hesitated for a second.

"…You said you played the koto?" It was her turn to switch topics abruptly.
"I know a few songs, yeah." That was probably him trying to be humble.

"Do you have it with you?"

"Sure, in a scroll I carry on me." He nodded.

"Why don't you show me?" She asked, leaning into him.

"Sure." He reached for his pouch.

She ran a finger along his shoulder. "Not here."

"…Alright. Lead the way."

There's something exciting, something hot about the idea of bringing this handsome stranger,
whose first name she still doesn't know, back to her room. And Yugito trusted her instincts, she
wasn't in danger with him.

They chatted idly along the way, his arm around her waist, and her own around his, laughing.

He ended up playing a full song and a half for her. Enough for her to realize that he's a very
talented musician… and that she'd rather listen to it at another moment.

She almost pounced on him once he was done, dropping any pretense of this being about music.
He didn't seem to mind, far from it.

He kissed her, a hand holding her close against him, the other deftly opening her braid in one single
motion. Her own hand found his hairband, pulled it off.

She chuckled.

"Alright…" She laughed. "Maybe you weren't exaggerating, about your hair."

The sheer volume of it was… impressive, to say the least.

"Told ya." He grinned.

"Can't wait to see it in the morning." She licked her lips.

He let out a grunt in answer, eyes hooded, while removing her top. He bit down on her neck,
licking, teasing and suckling her soft flesh. His left hand unclasped her bra before she even realized
he was doing it.

She was moaning under his ministrations, and it wasn't long before the rest of their clothes fell to
the floor as well.

Yugito hid her face into his shoulder, feeling his strangely soft hands cup her breasts.

"Stop… teasing me."

"I don't see what you mean."

She could almost feel him grin.

"You've been doing it ever since we got to the bar." She almost whined; Kumo's strongest
kunoichi.
"Oh? My bad, then."

His hands went lower… and lower, grabbing her thighs… her ass. She felt so light, as though he
could carry her one-handed.

"I love your ass, you know." He grunted. "I might have been staring, earlier on."

"So it was not my imagination…?" She chuckled.

"Probably not." He laughed.

"You're pretty good at looking innocent, though. I really thought I was imagining it."

"Guess I am." He had learned from the best, growing up with perverts like Sarutobi around. And he
thanked the man for insisting he learn the koto. Once more.

He kissed Yugito again, and a wave of arousal flushed through her.

Oh god, why was she so turned on…? She wondered, as she could feel herself dripping over him.
He noticed, too.

"Beautiful."

He actually-

Oh. What the hell…?

He lifted her with his bare hands, as though she weighed nothing at all, and held her up there, his
hands under her ass. It should have been uncomfortable, but it wasn't, not for her. She felt his eyes
on her slick cunt.

"Enough… teasing." She tried again.

"Fuck that."

He dove in, his tongue running across her lips. She gasped. It was almost too much. Yet her
traitorous body was responding, and she felt herself become more and more aroused. The sounds
she made, from both ends, were almost embarrassing.

She squeezed his head with her thighs, her back arching in a way that would seem painful to
anyone who wasn't as flexible as she was.

That was how she came, screaming, held up in the air by two hands stronger than they had any
right to be.

He put her down on the bed.

"You really are a cat in heat." Uzumaki laughed.

He was standing over her, this giant of a man, his beautiful body glistening. Yugito noticed he
was very aroused, too. The next instant, his erection brushed against her nether lips.

Then he was halfway inside her, stretching her beautifully. She gasped, legs shaking. How big was
he…?

He stopped himself there, looking at her directly.

"More… more…" She was moaning pitifully, and somehow, she didn't mind at all.

Uzumaki obliged.

Soon, his greedy hands were grabbing her thighs roughly, burying himself deeper and deeper
inside her with each slow thrust.

Until he sank into her completely… until she was entirely breathless. He kissed her again.

His body was flush against hers, and her sharp nails dug into his back. He continued to thrust, and
she could only moan, arch her back and meet his rhythm.

It was hot. It was fast. It was almost angry.

They went on for a long while like this.

It was incredible.

And… she could feel his chakra… and hers. Similar, yet so different.

"Your chakra…" She moaned. "Mine."

Somehow, he understood what she wanted.

His chakra reached out to meet hers midway.

Wind-Lightning-Storm met Fire-Soul.

For a moment, she saw him. Really saw, understood him. There were no words, no names, but she
understood the sort of man he was. And she knew he saw her, as well.

Her cry of pleasure took her by surprise. They came together, as intense and beautiful as it could
be.

He stayed inside her.

That was… something.

They said nothing for a while, laying in each other's arms.

She broke the silence.

"That… was amazing."

"Yeah. It really was." He grinned, and gave her a soft kiss.

She could almost see through him, right now. He was worried.

Whatever it was that just happened, she could now tell that something about it was on his mind. A
few minutes later, he confirmed it.

"As nice as that was… I really think I'd better go now. I know my friends were waiting for me.
And they might be worried, by now." He said, looking hesitant for a change.

"Alright." She smiled. "Shame I won't get to see your bed-hair, then."
"Why do you think I'm leaving?" He joked and she chuckled.

Naruto got dressed.

"I will see you around, then, since you and your friends will likely be hanging somewhere in the
background… waiting for danger to strike. How... heroic." Yugito said playfully.

If she weren't so damn certain he didn't mean any harm, and that he had meant every word he had
said... she would find it far less funny.

"Yes." Uzumaki smiled. Then he turned more serious. "We will be around. So that neither of us has
to keep running away."

Knowing him as she now did… she knew he didn't just mean the Akatsuki. But what was he
running from, then?

He kissed her goodbye, with the promise of coming to see her again, whenever the opportunity
came. Then he faded into the night.

In the back of her mind, his presence settled.

Further away, she could almost feel what seemed to be three other shining points, all of them
interconnected, in a way that she could not really understand.

Naruto got back to the hotel room late, very late.

Sakura was already sleeping.

Karin was as well, but Naruto knew she would have wanted to make sure he was safe first. Once
she realized that he was going with Yugito willingly, she probably considered that task done.

Ino, though… Ino was awake. And her expression…

Already, Naruto felt an incoming headache.

One that was not only due to the link that had sprung into existence with Yugito.

Because this one had settled into place already, next to the three others.
 Snowstorm

"…Where have you been?" Ino asked, her tone accusatory, despite her best efforts.

"Out and about." Naruto said vaguely, sensing a long discussion coming otherwise.

"That's not an answer."

"…Is this going to be an interrogation?" He asked, feeling his head throb.

"Well, if you're going to put yourself into danger, it might just be." She said, disapproval obvious
in her tone.

"Yugito's not the enemy."

"…No." Ino admitted, feeling a bit sour at him addressing her so familiarly. "But this is still putting
all of us at risk."

"I didn't say anything that could compromise you, if that's what you're asking."

"I… yeah. Okay." She conceded.

"Well, if that was all, I'm going to sleep. Long night." He yawned. Even for him, tonight had been
pretty taxing, for some reason. Ino realized the same thing.

"…Why is that? You're almost never tired." Ino stiffened.

Of course, he knew what she was asking. He contained his irritation at her acting like a jealous
partner. What was it to her, even…?

"We fucked, if you really want to know." He sighed. "Not that it's really your business."

Huh. Apparently that cut Ino right off.

Naruto continued walking.

Ah. Nevermind. She was blocking his path.

"That's…!" She yelled in frustration. "How could you?! You shouldn't ...sleep with the first
promiscuous woman that you meet! You don't… don't even know her!"

'Promiscuous.'

Naruto rolled his eyes. Promiscuous... because… they had sex? Ino didn't even know her… Okay,
maybe he himself barely did, but still.

How old-fashioned of Ino. Both the word, and the meaning. After a few months with Orochimaru,
Anko and their band of misfits with peculiar morals, things such as who people fucked… seemed
to become a bit unimportant.

"We didn't sleep much, though. And maybe I like… promiscuous women. What's so wrong with
that?"

Maybe sarcasm wasn't the best option here. But he was getting a bit angry himself.
She turned red in the face. Anger, though, not embarrassment. "You're such a-!"

"A what?" He asked, not that interested in the answer. "I'll do whatever the hell I want, Ino. That
includes fucking people if I feel like it. Same as any of you can."

"And what about Karin?!" She snapped back.

"Karin…?" He furrowed his brow.

"Yes, the girl you are with!" Ino redoubled, confident she had found some workable angle.

Ah. She was worried about her friend. Well, he could somewhat understand where she was coming
from, then.

"Karin and I are not like that. We're great friends, we fuck, and that's about it." He shrugged.
"Besides, she tends to know exactly what I'm doing, since she can feel from kilometers away. Did
she look pissed, to you, when she went to bed?"

"…No." Ino gritted out. She already had realized they weren't together together, then. Maybe Karin
told her, even.

"Then she's fine, too."

"And what about-"

"I'm going to bed, Ino." Naruto moved her aside delicately.

"Fine!" Ino raged tearfully. "Keep doing whatever the fuck you want! Fuck whoever you want,
then!"

"I will." He sighed. "I don't know what you're so angry about, but good night, Ino. Thanks for
waiting for me, too."

There was no door for her to slam, but he knew she wanted to.

He had been too tired to think last night, but when he woke up in the morning, Naruto realized that
his new bond could be a problem.

The fact it had come unwanted was his first worry.

It had never happened before either. Not with Tayuya, not with that girl from Haraji he could
barely remember… not with Karin, either.

They had joined their chakra while both had been entirely open. Naruto had felt her own, that felt
like Fire and… Soul?

There were some rumors that said that the Nibi was very similar to a nekomata. A creature with a
split tail that spoke human languages, summoned fireballs and had necromantic powers.

But Yugito's chakra didn't feel like Death, so maybe there was an actual difference here.
The Fire part had been obvious from the start. The increased flexibility and coordination… he had
definitely noticed.

The Soul part was definitely something he'd have to research. Naruto didn't know if Yugito knew
much about it, but he'd ask.
Because… what had that been? It had felt as though their souls had connected, for an instant. He
was almost certain this was not a jinchūriki thing, too. The idea of trying this with Fū… or Sasuke
made him choke a laugh, though.

He had seen her, felt her emotions. The loneliness she had grown up with and still plagued her at
times, the worries that held her back, the doubt, the love she had for her people, her pride and
conviction in doing what she thought was right.

And he knew she had peered into him all the same. Honestly, Naruto didn't really enjoy the fact
that his soul, his mind… had been so vulnerable. Knowing her as well as he unwillingly did, he
knew she wouldn't have done this on purpose, either. For similar reasons.

Naruto was almost sure that they had influenced each other, in a way he could not fully
comprehend yet.

Well… maybe Orochimaru would know something about it. He'd have to ask the man.

As he was about to head out, Naruto wondered. A link was a link, wasn't it…?

Maybe…

He tried to focus on the bond with Yugito. Reaching deep, he visualized the confident, courageous,
proud… and wise kunoichi. Decisive, firm, loyal…

He pulled.

Nothing happened though.

'Ah, well. Didn't expect much'.

He sighed. Of course there was no shortcut here.

"Oh boy, here he comes." Karin whispered to Sakura.

They both turned to stare at Naruto. Karin seemed pretty much normal, so he was relieved. Despite
his assurance the previous night, he had been a little worried about how she would react. Just
because someone said they were fine with something… didn't mean they were. Case in point, Ino.

Sakura…

"Ah! The man, the myth, the legend! The Uzumaki heartthrob, in the flesh!" She laughed,
undoubtedly trying to rile him up.

Ino left the room, slamming the door behind her this time.

Naruto let out a tired, amused sigh. "Was this really necessary, Sakura? I can understand that Ino
feels as though I'm… betraying Karin by having sex with foreign ninja but-"

"Wait!" Sakura blinked. "You actually… slept with her?"

"Told ya." Karin whispered, not particularly surprised.

"We didn't sleep together, there's a nuance."

"Oh?" Sakura raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "Same thing, anyway. Well… Maybe I shouldn't have
done that, then. I'm going to find Ino." She winced, taking a large swig of water.

"Why does she care that much about what I do with other people…?" Naruto wondered out loud.

Sakura and Karin shared the same blank expression. They looked at each other. Karin let out a
nervous chuckle. Sakura choked on her water.

"Are we ready to leave, now?" Ino grumbled, once they were all outside of the inn. "Since we got a
feel for that… woman's chakra track… in detail." She was glaring at him.

"Yes." Karin nodded. "We're ready to go. They went already, so let's follow and keep some
distance between us."

Naruto noticed that Ino was not wearing the cloak he had gifted her, opting for something she had
probably just bought in Shimo instead.

Shame. The cloak didn't do anything to her.

Also, she was making a point of not looking at him, apparently. He rolled his eyes.

"Let's go, then." Naruto nodded.

They left Shimo, heading back to the southern part of the country, through the Frozen Waste. He
left a permanent mark five minutes away from the village, behind a a snow dune.

An hour later, the group realized something. The weather conditions were even worse today.

Icy wind screamed over the daylight, filled with swirling white. Even Naruto felt the cold's bite. It
was hard to see where they were going, too, the howling wind forcing them to squint their eyes.

There were streams, rivers maybe, running. Which meant they could be over a large body of water,
without knowing it.

"Stay ready to walk over water, the ground might shatter at any time!" Karin called.

"I will tell you, if there's anything that feels like a lake close by." Sakura assured them.

"Okay, that won't do." Naruto said. Luckily, he had some time to think about a workable design.
"Let me try something."

He channeled Wind chakra, gathering it around them as a dome that covered all of them, if they
stayed close.

"This should help against the wind." He nodded. "Ino, if you could…?"

She glared at him. "Could what?"

"Use your fire chakra to warm us. I'll try to trap the heat within the dome. It shouldn't cost us too
much chakra."

Ino did so with no complaint. It wasn't much, but the air grew warmer around them.

"Alright. This should do." Naruto nodded.

He pulled a scroll out, thought a few more seconds, and wrote down several characters. He bound
them to two smaller kanji, which stood for the main components of the seal… shiki. They
were Fire and Wind, of course, with smaller characters indicating the shape (Spherical), and the
range (Diameter:5m). Or rather, it did, for anybody who knew how to read seals.

"Seal!" He called, pulling the dome inside the scroll. "Karin, if you would."

The gold bands appeared around her upper arms, and she made the seal rely on natural energy
instead.

"Alright, this is still a bit unstable, since I'm not too good at making use of Fire, right now." Naruto
laughed self-consciously, stepping a bit further away from them, scroll in hand. "Let's hope it
doesn't blow up in our faces."

"Wha-" Ino started.

"Kidding. It will work or it won't. I put in some safety checks."

That was something he had learned the hard way.

He activated the seal.

The heat dome spread around him, warmer and brighter than before.

"Ah… the wonders of the natural world!" Naruto laughed, seeing their dumbfounded faces. "Let's
get going, I don't know how long this is gonna last before it needs to refill!"

They didn't have to wait that long.

It turned out that trouble was already on the horizon.

"There are three new chakra signatures, about ten kilometers south." Karin declared.

"What can you tell us about them?" Sakura asked, putting an exit portal down, in case.

"One's almost pure Yang, one's Water and Wind, possibly something else… and the last one doesn't
feel human at all." Karin said worriedly.

"Hostile?" Naruto asked.

Karin hesitated. "Hard to tell from this far, they're about to meet with the Kumo ninja."

"Hmm." Naruto grunted.

This could be bad. If it really were Akatsuki, a few instants could be enough to make the
difference, especially with three of them here.

If not… Well he'd probably look like a love-struck fool, rushing after a woman he'd known for a
few hours. He cringed a bit, but well, this was not important.

"I'm going to go ahead, then. In case." He said.

"That's way too dangerous, you're one of the targets." Sakura tried to reason with him.

"So is she, so at least I've got two allies already." He said, resolute. "Take the heating scroll… and
well… see you there."
He threw it to Ino, Lightning and Wind already coursing through his legs. He bent his legs, and
focused.

"Don't-" Ino tried.

He didn't figure what she was about to say, because that was the moment he exploded forward,
with a sharp cracking sound.

A bit more than one minute later, Naruto appeared on the battlefield, with a mighty crash.

They were fighting already, and they all came to a halt when he arrived.

On one side, Yugito, covered in fiery blue chakra, along with a dark-skinned, muscular man with
shaggy pale hair.

On the other side, a man with pale skin, long white-hair and two pale dots on his forehead that
identified him as Kaguya. Another man, more androgynous, with black hair, wielding senbon.

And… a gigantic thing, vaguely shaped like a man, hunched over, a bandana covering half his
face.

"…Uzumaki-kun?" Yugito called in disbelief.

The dark-skinned man gave her a curious glance. She sounded surprisingly relieved about this
stranger popping in, considering the amount of shit they were in.

"I came as soon as I could." He nodded to Yugito, giving her a small smile that she returned.

"I'm glad for that. We could use the help." She said.

"… I assume you know the guy, then. Well… Let's try to make this work, then. I am Darui." The
man nodded to Naruto.

The hunched-over creature spared him the trouble of answering that.

"An Uzumaki… dressing up as an Uzumaki…? How curious." He chuckled, a mechanic sound that
barely qualified as a laugh.

"If it works, it works." Naruto shrugged. Red hair didn't look too bad on him, either.

"Be as it may, Uzumaki Naruto." The thing said, making him stiffen. "I believe you have
something that belongs to us."

"The part of the Nine-Tails you didn't manage to get last time…?" Naruto called, summoning a pair
of chakra-conductive blades to his hands. "Sure. Come and get it."

Lightning cloaked his right-hand sword, and Wind the other.

"…So, Naruto, it is, then?" Yugito asked, somewhat amused. "I see you've been doing a great job
at keeping your name a secret."

He sighed. "We have history, Akatsuki and I. Not the pleasant kind."

"Well…" She shrugged. "You can tell me all this later. I'll take care of ice-man over there!"
Yugito roared, more of the flaming blue chakra covering her. Her claws extended, and she dropped
on all fours. The snow melted around her, steam rising. She looked dangerous.

Naruto blinked. 'I hope this doesn't awaken anything in me.' He shook his head.

The man named Darui stood in front of the creature, who watched him with blank eyes.

That left him with… The Kaguya guy.

Good. He had some experience against them already-

"You're fast. I'll have to catch you, then."

The guy ripped his spine out.

"Faster! They're fighting already." Karin said. Sakura was ahead of us, barely waiting for them.

"I'd like to see you try! Barely a month ago, I couldn't even walk at all! It's a miracle I'm here at
all." Ino grunted.

"Hmpf. It's like you forgot who healed you in the first place." Karin smirked.

"Of course not!" Ino shot back.

"But I get your point. Let's just hope Naruto knows what he's doing."

Ino said nothing.

'Well..' Naruto amended himself.

This was nothing like fighting the other Kaguya men.

Where was the bloodlust, the madness that had permeated his fellow clansmen…? This guy
seemed entirely indifferent as to what was happening, even as he took Lightning-enhanced kicks
that would have made the average Jounin cry for their mother.

What the hell was he made of?

And he was fast, too, if slower than Naruto himself. This combined with his durability made him a
pain in the ass to fight.

The only good part was… against somebody this durable, — not to mention him being part of
Akatsuki — Naruto felt no qualm about actually doing his best to kill him. Anything else would be
a mistake.

Naruto ducked under the bone-whip, which whistled above his head as it sliced through the air.
There were spikes all along its length… and a large one at the end of it, too, so if a limb got
caught… Well, that would be bad.

The Kaguya stomped his foot on the ground, a row of spiked bones erupting from the earth.
Moving to avoid them, Naruto opened himself wide.

The white-haired man struck, his ulna and radius sharpening as twin spikes in the blink of an eye,
and going straight through Naruto's lungs.
Except it didn't, as the Naruto in front of him faded away, splitting into strands of wind, his sword
falling to the ground.

The real one reappeared above the Kaguya, Lightning buzzing, aiming to perform a strong
downward strike.

"Wind Style: Mirage."

It struck true, slashing through his face, but didn't go through the bone, in spite of the Lightning
coursing through it. Naruto disappeared again, blurring away to a spot five meters away.

"…How did this not cut you?" He wondered aloud.

"Oh, but it did. Don't you see it?" True to the Kaguya's words, the slash had split his face in two,
going from his hairline to his chin, passing through his now ruined eye and flapping cheek.

All of which started twisting, rippling and sewing back together.

"…That's pretty gruesome, man."

Kaguya shrugged. "You did this, didn't you? It was a nice trick, using the Wind chakra you had
focused through your left sword to create a clone seamlessly. I fell for it. It won't happen again."

"Thanks, I guess. Came up with it myself." Naruto shrugged. "…What's your name? Since you
know mine already."

"I am Kaguya Kimimaro. It is nice to meet you." He bowed.

Naruto did too, by force of habit, then realized there was no point bowing to the enemy.

"Well… Let's go back to trying to kill each other, then. No need for politeness."

The cold had dissipated, even though Naruto knew they were in the thick of the storm.

He and Kimimaro stood still for a moment.

They blurred into motion the next. Kimimaro shifted the bone-whip-morningstar hybrid to his left
hand, ripping his humerus with his right. It sharpened into a pointed weapon that Naruto knew
only looked brittle.

The sword Naruto was still holding shifted into an arrow, and his latest bow — that he had taken
the time to enhance with a few choice seals — was unsealed.

The whip was already flying, so Naruto jumped, as low as he could make it, right above the whip.

Lightning.

He didn't have more time than this. So he let the arrow fly, aimed at Kimimaro.

The man had been surprised by the shifting sword, but he reacted well, dodging by a hair's breadth,
and only taking a shallow wound to his torso, instead of getting pierced.

A duplicate of the sword that had shifted appeared into Naruto's hand again, extended.

"Revolving Thunder."
The arrow that he had dodged speared through his right lung, attracted by the identical sword's
pull.

"Gah…" Kimimaro spat blood. He could recover from this, but he'd need a bit of time.

Naruto was not going to allow him that much. A shadow clone appeared next to him, and Naruto
summoned two more swords, that the clone seized.

They blurred forward, surrounding Kimimaro.

"Revolving Thunder: Blade Dance."

The clone threw a blade toward Kimimaro's… foot?

He barely managed to dodge by side-stepping, as the blade dug into the snowy field.

Then the sword spun away quickly, slashing at his thigh, flying toward the other Naruto's two
swords…

No, there was only one in his hand.

The Kaguya stepped back, dodging another blade that cut some of his hair off.

Another blade was already flying low. He had to jump.

The first one spun back diagonally now.

Naruto summoned another blade that he threw in the mix.

Then another.

Two blades were constantly spinning around Kimimaro, cutting shallow wounds into his tough
skin, but mostly keeping him in place.

One of the Naruto suddenly blurred, and was promptly replaced by one more shadow clone.

The real one reappeared behind Kimimaro. Bones sprouted from every angle he could reach for,
blocking the flying swords…

But not reaching the real Naruto, who had only feinted going forward.

"Void Sword."

He started slashing his sword rapidly in every direction, creating a rush of strikes with such speed
that it was hard to tell if the real danger came from the strikes themselves… or the dangerous
winds that followed each of them.

Kimimaro grunted in pain. He hadn't even gotten the time to recover from his lung wound yet. It
was slowing him down.

The clones chose this very moment to impale him from both directions, with Lightning-enhanced
weapons.

"Cross Thrust!"

The Kaguya couldn't move. He spat blood.

To finish him off, Naruto spun, wind and thunder blurring his sword to the eye, a whirlwind of
motion. He was aiming for the head.

Kimimaro realized he might not be able to dodge this strike at all. He would try to shield
himself. He reached deeper-

A mirror of ice appeared in between the two of them, and the Uzumaki was kicked away, his
momentum carrying him far.

He skidded and slided on the ground, before leaping closer to Yugito.

"I think yours ran off." He called to her, somewhat frustrated. That had felt so close. Now, the
Kaguya had time to recover and would know a bit too much about his fighting style.

"Yeah, sorry." She winced. "These mirrors of his are a real pain in the ass."

"That's how he moves around, right?"

"Right." Yugito confirmed. "Time to step it up."

More chakra bubbled around her, forming the outline of two tails of spectral flame.

"I'm going to transform for real soon, so give me some space, alright?!" She gritted out, voice
lower.

He nodded. In the background, he could feel three presences approaching. Good.

Darui was more or less managing, but whoever that hunchback was, he was apparently too strong
for him, this much was clear. He'd need the help.

"Uzu… Naruto!" Yugito called.

"Yeah?" He answered, ready to get back into the fray.

"You're strong!" She smiled, glad that he could more than keep up.

"Heh, thanks." He laughed.

"Very strong, even. I think it's time you show them how strong you are with your Bijū!" Yugito
smiled encouragingly. "They won't be able to stop you. Show them the might of the Nine-Tails!"

"Ah… About that…" Naruto winced.

Sakura, Karin and Ino chose this moment to appear.

"Forget about it." Ino said, still looking as though she had bitten something sour. Maybe even more
so than before.

'Probably from seeing someone who's actually decent at Fire style.' Naruto thought.

"Yeah." Karin chuckled, despite how serious she was taking this. "If you're counting on a Bijū
transformation… You got the wrong man."

"By the way… We're standing over a lake, girls, don't mean to worry you." Sakura interrupted.

They all shot her weird looks.

"It's frozen, though. Shouldn't be a problem."

She saw Ino kick the ground, likely testing out its thickness. She shrugged.

"Let's kill some Akatsuki, then." Sakura said, with as much bravado as she could muster.
 Snowstorm II

Sakura and Karin split from the group, joining Darui against Sasori.

"Well…" The hunchback said. "In that case, I suppose I will add a few souls to my collection."

His cloak ripped, revealing an inhuman body. A large mask covered his back, its tongue emerging
as a scorpion stinger. His left arm was rigged with a projectile launcher.

"This body is just a puppet." Darui said. "This man is Sasori of the Red Sand. I think he might be
controlling it from the inside."

"A puppet…?" Sakura asked. "This huge thing?"

"I can feel a chakra source inside, but… it's not really human." Karin said tersely.

"Hm…?" Sasori hummed. "A sensor, then? How rare. Let's see if I can make some use of your
ability. First… I'll pull out your entrails. Then, I'll skin your body… drain you of blood…"

"Enough talking." Darui interrupted, weaving hand seals. "Gale Style: Laser Circus."

He created several beams that shot toward Sasori, emitting a bright light that was almost blinding.
The beams twisted in the air, aiming to hit him from every angle.

A thin layer of chakra extended from within the puppet's back, where the large mouth was located.
It spread around him like a protective dome.

It resulted in a blue explosion.

"…I don't think that did it either." Darui muttered.

"How does that guy fight?" Sakura asked.

"He has fitted plenty of weapons inside that puppet body. The tail itself, senbon, more senbon… It
also doubles as armor. And according to his reputation… he probably coated most of them with a
strong poison." Darui declared.

"So basically, don't get hit, not even a single time…?" Karin made sure.

"…Basically. A scratch could be fatal."

"Alright." Sakura muttered. "Sounds easy enough."

Darui chuckled. "Tell me about your fighting style, and we'll try to make something work."

Ino stood with Naruto, and the woman, who was bubbling with oppressive, fiery blue chakra.

The last time she had seen a jinchūriki fight using their Bijuu's chakra had been when Fuu had
snapped during the chūnin exams… And Naruto had almost died.

Seeing it up close… And to think this was 'only' the Two-Tails… Well, that was about as
humbling as it was scary.
How did people even contain this? She felt her skin prickle, every instinct telling her to run. At the
same time though, her legs were trembling.

How-

"Ino." Naruto called.

She snapped out of it. What had she been thinking…? Freezing in the first real battle they had to
fight…? No fucking way.

"I'm good." She rasped out. "…Thanks."

"As I said." The woman — Yugito, she remembered — almost growled, the demonic chakra
clearly affecting her. "I'll take care of the ice user."

She pushed off the ground, leaving only a burning mark where she had been.

"That leaves us with the Kaguya, then." Ino remarked.

"I know I can manage, honestly." Naruto said. "If you want to go and help the others, that's fine by
me. That big guy's stronger, anyway."

"Shut up." Ino growled. "I'm kinda pissed right now, so this will do just fine as stress-relief."

"Suit yourself." Naruto shrugged, creating a weak shadow clone in the same breath. "Pick my mind
apart so you know what we're facing."

"Don't need to remind me." Ino grunted. They had practiced this several times. She extended her
palm to the clone's head, sifting through his memories.

In the meantime, Naruto re-engaged in the fight.

Kimimaro had apparently recovered, his wounds already closed. With a horrific cracking sound,
both of his femurs broke out of his thighs.

"Sycamore Dance." He called. The bones twisted into two single-edged curved blades. "Since you
insist on fighting with dual swords, I shall do the same."

They leaped forward and clashed swords. Even with Lightning coursing through both of his,
Naruto didn't manage to cut through. He was stronger though, and he could see Kimimaro
struggling to prevent his swords from advancing.

He apparently realized that as well, since he shot a knee cap by bending his leg in a bizarre way. It
was a blunt attack that hit Naruto straight in the stomach.

"Gah!" He had to back off, to dodge Kimimaro's cross slash.

Naruto came back with an upward slash with his left sword. The Kaguya was about as flexible as
Yugito had been the night before, and he bent backward in a way that just wasn't anatomically
possible for most people.

Naruto let Lightning fade from his left sword, switching to Wind. He performed a flurry of rapid
thrusts, all of which Kimimaro weaved around. Then he had to parry the bone user's counterattack,
which came with such swiftness that both their hands shook.

The Kaguya was strong. Much stronger than he had thought at first. He really wished he had
managed to finish him earlier on.

He threw his left sword at him.

Kimimaro dodged, moving out of position to avoid the return attack. Naruto had thought he would,
so he was already weaving hand signs.

"Lightning Style: Faded Thunder."

He brought his left hand to his right wrist, his sword hand, focusing the chakra through his
extended middle finger. A point of light shone in front of it before disappearing.

Kimimaro grunted and moved, a burned hole appearing through his chest, the concentrated bolt of
lightning having moved fast enough that he could not see it. Naruto winced. He had been aiming at
his head.

Naruto moved again, Wind and Lightning both channeled inside his only blade, in a highly
unstable mix.

'The head, always the head.' There was no time for hesitation.

Kimimaro exploded into what looked like a particularly sharp pile of bones, one that covered
every part of his body, causing Naruto to skewer himself. And considering how fast he had been
going, he did a lot of damage to himself.

"Dance of the Larch: Bloom."

Naruto stepped back, slowed down. Blood was pouring from his mouth.

"Did you think the same trick would work twice?" The Kaguya asked. "I let myself get hit by your
first jutsu so that you would get close."

Then he appeared in front of Naruto, long bones still protruding from his hands, shoulders, elbows
and knees.

He started spinning, every turn coming with unpredictable attack patterns that Naruto was hard
pressed to counter, especially in his wounded state. His sword was on the edge of shattering, too.

'I'm going to need to heal. Quickly.'

But the Kaguya wasn't going to give him the chance, apparently.

If he blinded him, he could probably-

The Kaguya froze for a second.

"Nice going, Ino!" He shouted, seeing her hands extended in one of her clan's techniques.

"Quick. I can't hold him for long." She shot back, straining. "I'm too far and he's too strong."

"It's more than enough!"

Wind. Lightning.

Naruto channeled both of them in his hand, summoning another unstable blade from their fires.
"Thunder Blade!"

He aimed for the soft part of the Kaguya — if there really was such a thing. In between two ribs.

Naruto saw it in slow motion. The blade penetrated, but before it could puncture his heart…

Kimimaro regained control of his body. His ribs shifted, slamming shut and trapping the blade in
between them. He grunted from the effort it took.

Naruto continued to push. The grinding sound of ribs against sword was terrible.

He saw Kimimaro's hand flashing and knew he was about to get stabbed again. Instead, he let go
of the sword, of his control over the clashing elements; kicked the discarded sword sharply and
leaped away with a backflip.

"…Boom." He let out a small grin.

The unstable sword imploded, turning into a shower of bright blue electric sparks. Raging winds
cut and tore through Kimimaro's ribcage, exposing part of his beating heart.

Naruto took the opportunity to step back next to Ino and kick-start his healing process.

"Are you fine?" She asked, actually worried. If it were anyone else… these wounds probably
would mean seeing a medic… right away.

"I'll survive." Naruto grunted. He was a fair bit more durable than the average person.

Kimimaro was moving again, and Ino weaved some hand seals. Nothing happened

Kimimaro paused, thought about his wounds, deciding to take more time to rest, instead. The
Uzumaki could not fight at full capacity… but neither could he, right now.

"…Did you do something to him?" Naruto asked.

"Focus on healing. Please. This is not the kind of guy I can fight head-on." Ino replied, focused on
something else.

"I know that." Naruto grunted. "He specializes in Taijutsu, and I don't think most shinobi have
anything to prevent from coming into melee range."

"And you do...?"

"Eh."

"Sounds bad." Ino nodded. "Your lightning can cut him, though, can't it?"

He hesitated. "When I use Wind with it… maybe. But even then-"

She stared at him. "What about what you did last time? Back in the holding cells…? That purple
lightning thing."

He remembered and winced.

"I… I'm not fully sure how to use it. At least not without losing control."

But he had the feeling that he knew exactly how to trigger it, by now.
Ino sighed. "Alright. Well, we're going to need to find a way, then. Quickly."

"Yeah. I see he has recovered some. Let's go before he finishes."

And true to his word, the Kaguya's chest was mostly closed again, even if the skin still looked raw
and bloody.

"You go in front, then." Ino said. "I'll cover you."

He sprinted forward, his cloak not much more than a patchy mess. Blood still covered his face,
and he definitely didn't feel as though he were at full strength. He didn't let that slow him down.

Naruto smashed into Kimimaro.

This time, his sword did not manage to go past his bones, which seemed to have
gotten even denser.

It wasn't just an impression, he realized soon, because the Kaguya's bones had somehow become
harder to cut through, and heavier when they struck.

They exchanged sword strikes, and Naruto noticed Kimimaro was starting to miss more than usual.

Kaguya Kimimaro swiped his fingers, short bones extended into something that looked like claws.
One of them cut into the Nine-Tail's face, forcing him to back away again.

A clone cut into Kimimaro's neck from behind, with a Lightning-enhanced strike that he had not
seen coming in time to reinforce himself.

'What…?'

It had been one of the discarded swords from earlier, one that had stayed on the ground. Or rather,
a clone that had transformed into a sword, and had waited for the best moment to strike. He made
short work of the clone.

Only his cervical spine's density had prevented him from dying.

The Kaguya realized how close this had been. Where was his partner, the red-haired - dyed, most
likely, according to Sasori - woman? He tensed. He would have to finish this-

What was he thinking…? He had the advantage, in this fight, no matter the fact that they were
two. He didn't have to rush into anything. He relaxed some.

Uzumaki Naruto was on him again, all of his elemental chakra focused into his sword. Which
meant he was moving slower than before, just to have a chance at cutting him.

Kimimaro struck back, aiming at his eyes, but somehow… missed.

He hadn't recovered entirely, then. How frustrating. And how frustrating it was, to fight somebody
he actually had trouble catching. Usually, was faster, swifter than his opponents.

In theory, all they had to do was take the Two-Tails. The Frozen Waste was the best place to fight
it, where its fire techniques would be weakened, and where Haku's Ice Release would be enhanced.

And then the former Nine-Tails had shown up as well. Now… he had to deal with the most
frustrating sort of opponent — besides ranged fighters. Someone that was at least as fast as him…
and very durable.

Why couldn't they understand what Akatsuki were doing…? This world was such a painful,
miserable place.

They would bring true peace, even if it took them their lives. And for the same reason, he couldn't
understand why these jinchūriki were so unwilling to give up their own wretched lives.

Did they actually want to keep the status quo? This constant state of tension, war, famine, followed
by more conflict?

For some reason, this made him pretty… angry. And he was very slow to anger, usually.

He sprinted toward the Uzumaki again, aiming to finish this fight quickly.

He could see that he had been preparing something. The Uzumaki summoned three sword-arrows
out of thin air. Lightning crackled. He wrapped something around them. What-

No, it was probably explosive tags, nothing to worry about.

The Uzumaki's bow appeared in his hand, and he shot the first one, a streak of blue light.

Kimimaro dodged it. Why was he acting so rashly…?

Second arrow.

Duck under. Did it matter? …No. Not when he was about to kill him. And her.

Third arrow.

This one seemed to miss him entirely. Did his injuries get to the Uzumaki, too?

Then Kimimaro stiffened, a strong electrical current pulsing through his body. He couldn't move
his limbs.

The static trap had worked, set up by the three arrows.

At first, Naruto had wondered why the Kaguya was beginning to fight so strangely.

He had chalked it to the bloodloss. Even though he might have looked fine, that didn't say much
about his mental state.

A few missed attacks here and there could easily have been caused by his injuries.

But after a while, he noticed that he could almost see emotion flash behind the man's eyes, when he
had been so blank before… Before Ino had come.

That was when he understood.

This whole time, she had been forcing emotions into the Kaguya's head. No, maybe not forcing.
More like influencing, stoking what was already there.

Making him more prone to rash decisions when it could give Naruto an opening… making him
calmer, so that he'd decide to rest for a bit longer, when he could likely have pushed his advantage.
Making him overconfident.
And some of the misses were likely her doing, too, then.

'Ino…'

He realized how difficult that was. Reading your opponent's emotions while the fight was ongoing,
deciding what was useful and what wasn't. Then amplifying that… or putting it to the back of his
mind.

What a terrifying technique.

He let out a breath.

Far in the background, only visible because of its gigantic size, the Two-Tails raged on, pillars of
flame surrounding it.

Right. They still had two other opponents. They could not afford to waste time.

"Ino… Thanks."

"…It was nothing." She muttered, not meeting his eyes. It had taken its toll on her, he could see her
tremble slightly.

"We need to finish him now. It won't hold him for long."

"I know." She breathed out.

"Can you channel fire…?"

She hesitated. "…On a basic level, I think so."

"Good, that's all I'll need. Lightning alone doesn't cut it, here. Let's burn him down." Naruto said,
eyes hard.

He summoned two more arrows.

The first one, he summoned a specific sort of Wind chakra around. Then he shot it at Kimimaro's
feet. Nothing seemed to happen.

The second, he gave to Ino.

"I'm counting on you." He said, simply.

She was about to retort something rather rude… But then she realized how pale he was starting to
look. He likely had lost a lot of blood during the fight. He was shivering a bit, too.

No. There was no need to put more of the burden on him, she realized.

She just nodded.

Fire.

Everybody had a different way of channeling the elements, she knew.

To Ino, Fire came from the realm of inner power. It was not just about raw emotion, despite what
some people might say.
And it was not about detachment from the world either.

No, strangely as it might seem, to her, Fire was about balance.

Just like Water was, in a way.

Inner calm and fiery passion.

Raging anger and emotional stability.

One to create the fire in the first place, the other to shield yourself from it.

She reached deep down inside, in the churning mess of emotions.

Rage-Anxiety-Disappointment-Regret-Fear-Nostalgia-Confusion-Disgust-Jealousy-Pain-
Tenderness-Envy-Hurt-Insecurity

She felt them all, feeling the flame grow.

But… Ino was not just her thoughts.

Just like sounds, perceptions, feelings, and ideas… They were just objects of the mind.

Nothing but passing clouds, carried by wind, to disappear on the horizon of some unseen place.

This would pass.

She opened her eyes.

The flame grew in her mind. And it burned around the sword.

Naruto grinned. "I knew you could do it."

Somehow, she felt a thin smile stretch on her own face.

'And now…'

Naruto channeled Lightning around the Fire. This was about as unstable as the Lightning and Wind
combination.

Except he had less experience with it.

He felt his fingers burn around the tips, and barely held back a grunt of pain.

The flame was flickering too. Should he add Wind here too? No, three was one too many-

Ino put her hand on the arrow. She wasn't looking at him, eyes fixed on their target. The flame
stabilized.

"Thank you, Ino." Naruto let out.

The arrow flew toward the flammable wind jutsu Naruto had set up earlier, a combination of
crackling blue and blazing orange.

"…What is this…?" Sakura asked, passing through a gate she had been forced to open, reappearing
next to Karin, who was hiding from Sasori's projectile onslaught behind a wall of solid earth. "Is
this… the jinchūriki woman?"

A huge fiery explosion shook the ground.

Even Sasori paused to stare at it.

Karin didn't need to look at it. "No." She smiled. "I guess Naruto and Ino managed to resolve their
little differences."

"…Have you met Ino?" Sakura asked, disbelieving. "That's just the beginning!"

Karin chuckled.

They had a battle to win, too, and this Sasori guy was definitely not making it easy on them.

"That should have done it." Ino said, letting out a long breath.

Naruto said nothing. He just shook his head.

"…What? Seriously…?"

"I can still feel him."

The smoke rose slowly.

And with it, a horrific vision came to life.

Kimimaro was still standing in the flames.

Well… something, that had once been Kaguya Kimimaro, was still standing, at least.

His hair had been burned off entirely, likely the first thing to go, along with his clothing and eyes.
The flesh had been roasted almost entirely, only a few stubborn pieces of fat and muscle and gum
hanging on to the almost intact bone.

His eyes and tongue started forming again.

He was weakened. Ino weaved hand signs quickly, diving into his half-lucid mind.

She sifted through his best moments, worst fears, his most terrible memories in just a few seconds.

Growing up alone, isolated by a clan of madmen that also feared him.

The very real possibility that he would never find a place to belong.

Meeting the purple-eyed man that had healed him and given him a purpose.

Ino saw it all.

She then projected it back to him, in a terrible illusion she had crafted with the expertise of
someone who was all too used to it.

He was too far gone, at this point, because it didn't even seem to make him react. The constant pain
he was in prevented the jutsu from really taking.
Instead, he realized what had been happening to him.

"So it was your doing…?" Kimimaro asked, his words garbled by his lack of lips… and half-
formed tongue. It was a grim picture.

None of them answered.

"A Yamanaka, then… Monsters... I get that now. How could I not realize… Hair dye… It all
makes sense… I shall kill you first." He finished, bones starting to harden again. "And then-"

"No."

A sharp sound echoed through the snow-covered fields.

An Lightning arrow struck halfway through his impossibly tough spine, not managing to reach
through, but going deep enough... and emitting enough Lightning chakra to prevent him from
moving.

"You'll die here, alone." Naruto said, his voice low.

Naruto had run away from what he knew he would need to do for too long.

"Mercy is a luxury only the strong can afford."

He remembered Orochimaru's words. He could almost feel them beat inside his head.

Would he risk everybody's life… because of what he felt like doing?

Did Akatsuki… Did Nagato's ambition have more value than his friends' life? And his own, as
well?

Because that's what it boiled to, in the end.

To him… the answer was clear as day.

He reached deep inside.

'I will protect them…'

No response.

'I will do what is needed…'

Nothing.

'I will do what is needed to protect those I care about.'

An answer.

On his left shoulder, Ryu called, the Dragon begging to be released.

So he did just that.

Purple energy exploding around him, gathering around his left arm and forcing his tattered cloak
and shirt to finally fall apart entirely.

The carving on his left shoulder seemed to burn. It was stretching, shifting… until a circling blue
and green dragon pattern covered his left arm. Naruto howled.

Wind and Lightning, working together in complete harmony.

He called a single blade to his left hand, both his arm and the sword wreathed in purple lightning.

Sharp winds cut through the air. The thunder roared between his ears.

He moved, as fast as he could go, spinning, blue light shrouding the rest of him, a blur that
reappeared behind the Kaguya.

His sword faded away, then, and so did the purple glow around his arm. He dropped to a knee,
breathless.

Kimimaro's skull fell to the charred grounds.

Only a second later, his skeleton collapsed, like a puppet whose strings had been cut.
 Snowstorm III

The purple energy left almost as soon as it had come.

Naruto had to sit down for a moment. Behind him, both battles still raged on.

He could feel Yugito's chakra rising, higher and higher, and see blue fire burning the snow away.

"So... you managed." Ino said, sitting somewhere close to him, just as tired.

"I guess so." He said, breathless. On his left arm, the dragon tattoo circled, its colors bright, almost
alive. "What the hell is this…?"

"Is it not supposed to happen, then?" She let out.

"I…" He thought about it. "I don't know, really. There are less than five people alive who know
about this in the first place."

He started to shiver. Ino pulled the heating scroll out and activated it again. She then set fire to the
tattered remnants of what once was his shirt.

"Hey!"

"Did you plan on wearing that?" She dared him to contest.

"Probably not." He admitted. "…Thanks."

"Don't sweat it. I'm only doing this because I'm cold, too."

"I'm sure." He grinned.

"What was that...?" She asked dangerously.

"Nothing. We need to get back to the fighting."

"Yeah." Ino paused. "Can you fight?" She took a good look at him, his pale face, and his still
recovering chakra levels.

"…Yeah." He nodded.

She threw a punch at him. He barely managed to block it.

"What the fuck, Ino?"

"If you have trouble with this… you're not in fighting shape."

"That's a shitty argument! Am I supposed to expect you to punch me?"

"Are you going to expect every trick they will pull on you?"

"…" Naruto shut up. He settled for glaring at her.

"Don't look at me like this." She growled.

"That's rich, coming from you." He chuckled.

"I'm not very happy about… your decisions." She finally admitted.

"Oh, no…? I didn't notice."

She glared at him.

"I will protect you, though." Ino said with conviction. "With my life."

That got him... right in the feelings.

"Ino…"

"So take five minutes to rest, because after that, we're going back in. And I might need you."

"...All right."

They sat there in silence.

"The jutsu you used on Kimimaro…"

"Yeah?"

"It's the first time I see it."

"What of it?" She said defensively.

He said nothing, too surprised by her tone. She took his pause as something it wasn't.

"I know what you're wondering." Ino said, staring at him angrily. " Has she ever done it to me?"
She tightened her fist. "No. I never have fucked with your emotions, your mind, never wi-"

"I didn't think about that. Not for a second." Naruto said, looking at her seriously. "I know you
didn't."

"I don't… Oh." Ino sort of deflated. "Sorry."

"That's not what I meant."

"…What did you mean, then?" Ino knew him pretty well.

He probably thought it was messed up, cruel, invasive… or anything along these lines. And she
couldn't blame him, because it was, in a way. But they were shino-

"It was really impressive." He just said, smiling softly. "I know you're mad at me, too. I think I get
it. But I don't know how things would have gone without you here. So thank you, Ino. For being
there."

Ino's face turned away from him so quickly he was afraid she got whiplash.

"...Take this." She said, removing her Shimo bought cloak. Then she handed it to him.

She pulled back the cloak he had given her a month ago around her shoulders.

He smiled at her.

"…Don't worry about it. I don't want you to get a cold… or anything." She muttered. "Idiot…"
"Gale Style: Air Raid"

Darui called the name of his jutsu, raining down a parade of smaller beams on Sasori's hulking
body.

Once more, this damned chakra shield blocked him.

Except... they had been trying to do just that. Darui retreated quickly, hiding behind the mud wall
Karin had erected.

"Yeah. That's what we thought." Karin confirmed. "It's not something you'd see with your eyes,
but... Wherever he deploys this shield… the opposite side is left much weaker.

'Good.' Darui nodded. "Then I guess we have a workable plan. It's either that or having Yugito
firebomb him."

"I think we got this." Sakura grinned. "I'll go left. You can take the right."

Darui was the senior officer here, but since this had been what he was about to suggest, he didn't
really contest it.

"On my sign- Oh shit!"

The mud wall exploded, likely from something Sasori had thrown at them, forcing them to go with
their plan a bit earlier than they would have preferred.

"I expected a bit more from one of Kumo's strongest." Sasori said, his metallic voice rattling.

"Sorry to disappoint, then." Darui said, not rising to the bait.

The Kumo ninja threw a steel ball, covered in explosive tags, once he was close enough.

It suddenly caught and stopped in midair, before being thrown back at him.

'Shit! He can use chakra threads from inside, too!'

He hadn't done so, until then, so Darui had thought they were safe. Wrong assumptions could kill
in a battle. Unless...

Shit, that was likely how he controlled the tail, too, then.

Darui quickly focused chakra in an unrefined Lightning blast, detonating the bomb before it could
reach him.

Sakura dashed around the field, dodging the continuous flow of senbon.

At the same time, Sasori unfurled two scrolls.

"Red Secret Technique: Ten Clay Soldiers."

Puppets rose from the scroll, so lightly built that they could float in midair like ghosts.

You could almost forget the flesh-like material that stretched over their bodies and faces.

They moved seamlessly, attacking and defending at the same time. Sakura thought about her
options, and then realized backing now would only mean she would have to get inside his
guard again at a later point.

Nah. Now was as good as ever.

Instead of backing, she dove in, slipping in between the sharp arms of two puppets.

One of them was coming toward her. She created a chakra arm.

'The threads should be… right here!'

With her spectral hand, she grasped the threads in a fist. Then she pulled down, hard. The puppet
crashed to the floor. It likely wouldn't have worked if it had been done with a human arm, but her
technique was based on the same principles as his threads.

More puppets came at her. That meant she could create an opening, now. Three hand seals.

"Water Style: Guardian Field."

A blue circle appeared under her foot, and she slammed it down, pushing the closer puppets away
from her.

Now, she just had to…

Dog. Rat. Tiger. Ram. Dragon. Dog.

Her little tribute to Neji.

"Water Style: Serrated Edge."

Water swirled around her hand, extending in a long cleaver with sharp, wicked teeth.

She turned around, spinning, intending on making good use of centrifugal force.

Sasori's shield appeared in front of his Hiruko puppet, deflecting her arm, and letting her attack
pass him harmlessly.

'That's the first step.'

She heard Darui before she saw him.

"Gale Style: Storm Chaser!"

A blue orb appeared above Sasori.

He sighed. "Again…?"

A single beam of concentrated, combined lightning and water struck down.

It hit the shield barely an instant after Sakura's attack. Which meant that all of it was focused in
front of him… and above him.

'That's step two.'

Sakura put a portal down on the ground.

"Now, Karin!" She screamed.

Karin was already here, her jutsu ready to be unleashed.

"Ah, that's-" Sasori barely had the time to say.

"Earth Release: Fissure"

A thin chasm opened Sasori's feet, full of Karin's chakra along its length. Karin never stopped
weaving signs.

She completed the second technique.

"Earth Release: Hell Glaive."

A pointed spike of rock came up from the split ground, followed by four others. All of them
slammed into Sasori's now unprotected underside with violence…

Shattering it into pieces.

What she assumed to be Sasori's real form jumped out the hulking puppet, landing several meters
away from them.

"Hmpf." He hummed. "I may have underestimated you."

He was a young man, barely out of his teenage years.

Sakura blinked, pointing at him. "I thought he was supposed to be in his late thirties. He looks
younger than me."

Darui said nothing. He couldn't understand either. Was this some sort of jutsu…?

"Don't be fooled." Karin said. "This guy… is not human. All of his chakra comes from a single
core in his chest. I think he might be a puppet himself…! Or something in between."

"Oh…?" Sasori wondered. "You can tell that much from here?"

"Yes, that's it." She breathed out. "I don't know how he did it, but he embedded his chakra core into
a puppet. If we destroy it… then we might be able to kill him."

"That is an incredible sensory prowess. I will definitely find a way to use it for myself. And her
teleportation technique." He pointed at Sakura. "And his Gale Style, of course." Pointing at Darui.

This was apparently enough talk for Darui, because the next moment, a flash of black lightning
was flying toward Sasori.

His hands shot up like whips.

Once the smoke cleared, a dark substance floated around him in a dome, shielding him with a very
slight buzzing sound.

Sakura groaned. "He's got more shields. Of course he does."

A puppet with black hair floated in mid-air, emitting a grainy black substance. This had been his
shield.

"What is this…?" Darui asked, something like recognition flashing behind his eyes.
"This…" Sasori began, in a grandiose, proud way that he tried to mask behind false detachment. He
clearly enjoyed the fact that somebody recognized the meaning behind his creation. "Is my
masterpiece. It is-"

"Oh, who cares about who you killed!" Karin shouted over him. "We can all see that it controls this
black sand thing."

"My most advanced puppet." Sasori continued, unimpeded. "I am very fond of-"

"Yeah!" Sakura interrupted. "I'm sure it's covered in poison, too?"

"…" Sasori said nothing. "I wouldn't expect country bumpkins like you to understand anything
about art, anyway. Let's finish this."

Nine of the Ten Clay Puppets rose again as well.

With his right hand, Sasori directed his latest puppet. With his left, he managed the remaining
nine.

The ten puppets flew forward.

Then an half-formed Ice mirror appeared next to Sasori, and a burning figure came crashing out of
it.

The battle screeched to a halt.

Then Sakura started cackling.

The young man that had come out of the mirror rolled himself in the snow to put out the fire. He
spoke, his black hair singed; painful looking burns covering his exposed skin.

"I'm sorry, Sasori-san." He bowed, contrite. "It seems as though the jinchuuriki is too much for me
to handle alone."

Sasori remained detached, as though he had expected that to happen. Or didn't care about the
outcome, either way.

"I see. Even with Kimimaro?"

The ice user winced. "He's dead."

Silence stretched.

Except for Sakura, who seemeed to believe this was the funniest thing she had heard in a while.
Karin threw her a worried look.

"…How?" Sasori asked, now surprised. He was as good as any other Akatsuki member.

"The Uzumaki and his woman friend… They killed him. Uzumaki cut his head off."

Sakura continued to laugh, harder and harder.

Sasori blinked. How did you even decapitate a Kaguya as strong as Kimimaro?

He sighed. They still had a job to do here.

"Very well. Let us handle them together, then, Haku." The puppet user said.

Haku nodded and moved closer to him.

Sakura slowly trailed off with one last chuckle.

A real snow storm was beginning, by now.

An arrow flew, aimed at Haku's head. He dodged, moving only by an inch, and losing some hair in
the process.

Three more people appeared near them.

"Round two!" Naruto called, his bow disappearing into a scroll again.

Ino was standing to his left, Yugito to his right, arms covered in blue fire.

Sasori sighed again.

'You were never as well served as when you served yourself.'

Why did he bother taking two of the youngest members with him, again?

Ah, yes. The Kaguya's corpse might prove useful, at least.

Same thing went for Haku, if it came to that.

Apparently, all S-ranked ninja were not on the same level, Naruto figured, a bit late.

The Kaguya had been terrifyingly strong, and durable too.

The Yuki — Haku, he thought — was around that level, too, or even stronger. It was hard to say so
early.

Apparently, he and Ino together were a bit over that level.

Sasori…

Yeah. This guy was so far above the low-end of S-rank it wasn't funny.

It felt like fighting Orochimaru — without his Sage Mode, of course. Except… that was an
Orochimaru who was trying to kill almost all of them.

Scratch that, he was fighting as though he wanted to kill all of them. He must have figured that the
jinchuuriki would survive his poison, so he had no qualms about fighting them at full strength.

Yugito couldn't transform, because that would just make her a huge, easy target for the poisoned
weapons. And even in Bijuu form, there was only so much of it she could take.

And then, there was the Yuki man, too, who was definitely problematic too. Because he was fast.

A hundred tiny senbon formed out of water, forcing Naruto to put himself out of position by
dodging. Then he had to bend backwards so low to dodge a horizontal slicing attack from a puppet
that he thought his pants would give out on him.

Behind him, Darui was in the same bind, apparently.

"Are you managing?" He called, shouting, to the Kumo ninja.

"Fine, fine." He just replied vaguely, using his blocky sword to counter another puppet.

There were only around ten of them in total, — plus Sasori, but that was another problem
altogether — but it felt as though they were fighting an army.

Sakura flew between them, sliding on her back over the snow using water style. She pushed herself
back up with a water jet, propelling herself into a somersault, aimed straight at Haku.

He caught her hand, and twisted it behind her back, slamming her into the ground.

She touched the floor with her feet, marking it, and both of them fell into the portal.

On the other side, Karin hit Haku straight in the face with a rock-enhanced fist.

Haku slipped away, forcing himself and Sakura through a mirror.

Well, only him, really.

She hit its surface of it with a blunt sound and a moan; he went right through, reappearing
elsewhere.

Naruto was pretty sure he saw his mirror image coughing a tooth or two out. He almost winced in
sympathy. Karin could hit pretty hard.

Ino pulled him by his waist, and a roaring blue fireball passed a bit too close to where his head had
been, just one second earlier.

"Sorry, Ino. Got distracted."

She just grunted something rude in answer.

The fireball smashed against Sasori's black sand shield harmlessly.

The same buzzing sound hung around in the air.

It was familiar. Way too familiar.

Naruto realized something.

"It's magnetic!"

"What do you mean?!" Ino screamed, trying to stay alive in melee range.

"The sand is made out of metal! It's magnetic! I can hear it." He repeated.

Darui stared at him, kicking a puppet away.

"You can hear magnetism?"

"You guys don't?" He pushed Ino and himself to the ground, away from iron sand needles. "There's
always this weird buzzing sound in the air."

"What good does that do us?" Ino asked, turning some of the ground to mud, tripping one of the
puppets.
Seh closed the hole. The puppet drowned right away, and Sasori pulled another one to replace it
instantly.

"Can we stop it somehow?" Darui asked. "Lightning Release: Black Bolt."

A simple bolt of black lightning jumped from Darui's hand, aimed at the puppet's torso. It
exploded right away.

And was replaced by two more.

"No, you can't stop magnetism, it's-" He saw the impatience on Darui's face. "We can redirect it, so
it doesn't reach properly, that should disturb his technique."

"Okay, how?"

"…If we somehow fit enough steel between the puppet and the sand, we can stop the magnetic
field from reaching." Naruto proposed. "Of course, if we're using a steel wall to prevent two
magnets — the iron sand is one — from attracting each other, we'll still have to deal with how they
want to attract to the wall!"

Darui paused and threw a glance at Ino. "Is this guy always like this?"

She just laughed. "A steel wall, really? Where are you going to find it?"

"Yeah, maybe that's not really workable." Naruto grunted. "Any better idea?"

"Not really, no." Darui shouted back.

"We also try to disrupt his magnetic field by creating our own. You use Lightning, right?" Naruto
asked.

"That's right." Darui deadpanned. "...and I saw that you did, too."

"Yes! Let's make a coil, then!"

"Don't know what that is, but sure!" Darui shot back.

Haku appeared through another mirror, behind the red-haired woman, that he had heard the others
call 'Ino'.

Three senbon flew, hitting two pressure points in her leg, forcing her down.

Then he was forced to back away again, reappearing close to Karin.

These two were the slowest of their enemies, so he would make sure to disable them as fast as he
could.

He had seen what had happened to Kimimaro, and could guess the Yamanaka had something to do
with it.

And the Uzumaki woman's punch had almost shattered his jaw, so he wasn't willing to spend a lot
of time close to either of them.

The problem was not the Two-Tails, since she could not use her most destructive jutsu so close to
her allies, nor the Kumo shinobi named Darui, who simply had his hands too full right now - and
was not fast enough to catch Haku like that.

It was not even Uzumaki Naruto, who would likely be a big pain to fight, if he was fast enough to
keep up with Kimimaro… and strong enough to actually kill him.

No, these three were being kept too busy by Sasori, who was taking this very seriously. He was
using around ten puppets, which meant he was keeping his focus on micro-managing them.

And he was a ridiculously good puppeteer, so this usually meant death for an enemy.

No, surprisingly enough, the problem was the girl called Sakura - whose jutsu he hadn't figured out
entirely yet, since she kept obscuring her movements.

Sometimes she would appear out of seemingly nowhere, and sometimes she would just sprint to
him.

But her techniques were basically canceling the biggest advantage his own mirrors usually offered
him.

Mobility.

Because they were extremely similar.

"Earth Style: Mud Wall!"

He heard Karin call, and he had to stop his charge to avoid hitting the wall head on.

Sakura cartwheeled next to him, kicking at him. He dodged, and then weaved under the water edge
around her hand. She leaped back, pressed her hand on the wall, before she leaped over it.

She stood on top of it, focusing chakra in her legs.

'What is she doing…?'

Then she jumped high, very high in the sky.

When she started to slow down, she flipped upside down, creating a sort of… water platform above
her feet?

Whatever it was, she pushed against it, propelling herself straight down, head first.

Was she trying to kill herself…?

She was going so fast he thought he saw an after image.

At the latest moment, he realized she had not been aiming at the ground at all.

Rather, her target was a small portal he hadn't seen.

'Oh no.'

She passed right through the opening, reappearing through the earthen wall… right in front of him.

And she had kept her momentum.

He heard her roar something, and only his mirror saved him from being bisected by her water
blade.
Haku appeared further away from the fighting, bleeding out.

He looked down.

'Ah. That's bad.'

His right flank seemed to be hanging out by a thread.

And his vision was starting to swim.

Unfortunately, he had a mission to complete. And Sasori was still there, fighting.

He plunged a hand into his flank, howling in pain.

"Ice. Ice. Ice."

His bloodline, the one he had resented before Zabuza had picked him from the streets, came
through once more.

He froze his entire midsection, numbing it almost entirely.

It was not the first time he did this, so he knew it would hold.

Kakuzu would stitch him up later… or Nagato would have to fix him up entirely.

He winced when he stood up. God, that had been close. a bit more to the left… and it'd be a
miracle if he could still walk.

Haku took a deep breath.

The ice storm was raging. He could do this. His friend was dead, but he himself could still be of
some use.

He reappeared through a mirror, at an equal distance from Sasori and the enemy.

The puppeteer understood what he was about to do right away. He forced the enemy to move
closer by showering the entire perimeter of the area with Iron Sand.

The area was saturated in water. And they were standing over a large body of water.

One that was already half frozen.

He pulled some water there. The rest, he pulled from the atmosphere. Haku grunted in exertion.
Time seemed to halt.

A dome of ice formed around all of them.

Haku panted. They wouldn't be able to break this so easily. The Two-Tails could, but she knew
that transforming here was a death sentence.

The whole area was now his domain.

Haku disappeared through the surface of the lake.

 Snowstorm IV

"That's bad news." Darui admitted, simply.

Yugito could tell he was worried by his tone, though.

Sasori continued to keep them on the ropes, never relenting, and never tiring. The Umi and Kumo
shinobi couldn't say the same.

"Can you break us out of here, Yugito?"

Instead of answering, she summoned her strongest fireball in human form, a white flame. She held
it in between her hands, not saying anything, even when Naruto added Wind to amplify its power
and speed. Darui lifted an eyebrow.

She threw the flame toward what would be the weakest part of the dome, its ceiling.

The fireball turned blue in an instant, and orange red before it was halfway there.

Then it faded out harmlessly before doing any damage to the dome.

Same thing happened with the walls.

"Sorry. I think this dome suppresses my flames." Yugito muttered. "Maybe I could try in Bijuu
form, but... then there are Sasori's poisons."

Darui cursed.

"Guess we've got no way out of here, besides getting rid of this guy."

"Back to the coil plan, then." Naruto said.

"Yeah."

"He's under!" Sakura shouted, pushing herself and Karin out of the way.

Haku came out of the ground at a blinding speed, missing them narrowly, and then disappearing in
the ceiling.

He did it again, forcing Naruto to dodge this time.

None of them managed to touch Haku. And his speed was still increasing.

"It's like his mirrors from before, but way worse." Sakura said. "And… I think I might have given
him an idea about using momentum. Sorry, guys."

"…I think I can drag him away." Ino said.

"…How?"

"Well." Ino chuckled. But it didn't sound amused. "I can… persuade him to attack only the three of
us, if you give me a bit of time."

"You can barely walk." Sakura shot back. Karin had started to heal her, but it would take more time
for her to be fully recovered.
"I'll manage. It's not as though I could avoid him, even if my leg was good."

Karin paused. "…I'll cover you."

"Thanks." Ino nodded.

"…Are you guys sure?" Sakura asked.

They both nodded.

Sakura then took a closer look at Naruto. His arm, more specifically.

"…Since when are you into tattoos?" She chuckled.

He grunted. "Later."

"Suit yourself."

It turned out to be way more difficult than either of the women had planned.

Haku was simply moving too fast for them to catch.

He stayed prudent, though, never attacking too directly, in case they had something up their sleeve.

But no matter how small, light injuries still were injuries, and they piled up easily.

And when the opportunity would arise, Haku would strike.

"Gale Style: Laser Tornado"

Seven beams left from Darui's hands, tracking Sasori. They started spinning then, encircling and
his Kazekage puppet — because that's what it was.

"So that's Gale style, then, not Storm." Naruto muttered.

It was pretty different from what he had thought it was.

Darui nodded, keeping his beams spinning around Sasori, never hitting him, but prodding for a
weakness, while Naruto defended them from the other puppets.

"Why don't you use it to enhance your weapons?" He asked. "It seems like it packs a lot of power."

Darui shot him a strange look. "Where would I find a weapon that can hold two elements at the
same time…? And even then, it's too unstable to maintain."

Naruto frowned. "But I ca-"

He interrupted himself.

It was true only the summoned swords created through the still existing link with Sasuke had been
able to handle more than one. The rest tended to break down quickly.

"You don't see many Wood style… Lava, or even Ice-enhanced weapons, do you?" Darui asked
rhetorically. "It's the domain of bloodlines, and anything outside of their user fares pretty badly
trying to handle chakra intended to destroy things."
"...I see."

They hadn't been sitting idle.

While Darui and Yugito pressured Sasori, obscuring his view of what they were doing exactly, he
had wrapped a copper wire around his right wrist, a strange mirror to the dragon mark that now
adorned his left arm.

Whevener he and Darui came close to each other, they channeled chakra throught it, getting closer
and closer to the intended effect.

After a few rounds of this, Naruto thought he had it.

"Alright." He called. "I think I'm ready. This guy will learn not to play with his food."

Darui nodded, finally releasing his jutsu. Sweat poured down his brow. Had he expanded that
much chakra?

"Yugito!" He called.

"On it". She growled, transforming into her Version Two form quickly.

"You better make this one count, man." Darui said. "Cause I'm going to be running low after this
one."

Naruto just nodded.

Darui weaved hand seals expertly.

"Gale Style: Overture Ray."

He fired off a continuous powerful blue beam that forced Sasori to focus his defense in front of
him.

Naruto breathed in. He breathed out.

Usually, he didn't really manage to split his elements this way.

Lightning and Wind at the same time, he was very familiar with. Enhancing his speed or his
weapons, he could do.

Doubling that, enhancing both his speed and his weapons with both elements at the same time…
not so much.

The only time he had been able to manage had been when the purple Lightning/Wind hybrid had
surged from within him. The one that he was getting very tempted to call Storm Release.

And he couldn't say he really had been in control. At least not the first time.

But… Naruto didn't need that, right now. He channeled Wind and Lightning into his legs.

Then he compartmentalized several things. His emotions, his fears and doubts, he pushed
somewhere aside. Why bother with them now…? The nature of the chakra coursing through his
legs was something he knew very well; Wind and Lightning, together.
Wind and Lightning.

He understood it. He understood it. He didn't need to focus on it now, just to keep it as it was,
running in the background. He pushed it away. It held.

Breathe.

He fell back on the most basic mantras Sarutobi had taught him as a child. One for each element.

'I am Wind, nature's whimsical child. My heart you cannot tame.'

Currents twisted around his right arm.

Hold it.

'I am Lightning, the thunder that guides through the night. My strength you cannot halt."

The familiar smell of ozone again.

Blue light crackled.

Hold it.

It held. He moved the lightning along his arm, back and forward. It traveled up and down the
copper wire.

There. The buzzing sound was the same as the one he had heard before, only louder.

He nodded to Yugito.

Sasori's puppets kept moving around them, but he himself was immobile, too busy keeping his Iron
shield up, and making sure Yugito didn't burn him to a crisp. Naruto blurred forward, severing a
puppet's body on his way out.

The same hum filled the air as he got closer to the Iron Sand. Echoing.

He appeared next to the Kazekage puppet. Sasori reacted startlingly fast. Spikes of iron sand rose
diagonally, aiming to impale him before he could reach.

He pushed more chakra into his right arm, and the coil shone brightly. The buzzing sound became
almost strident to him. His hand almost touched the Iron Sand, now.

The moment of truth. Would it work...?

The sand was repelled by his right arm.

"What?" Sasori muttered, face still blank. This was likely as surprised as he could get.

Naruto's sword went straight through the Kazekage's chest compartment, which he had noticed to
be the place the chakra was being emitted from. He blasted more wind chakra into his weapon,
until the strange state of equilibrium between both elements inside was broken entirely.

Then he dashed away.

The sword exploded from within, destructive winds and electricity turning the puppet to nothing
but shrapnel.
At the same instant, Yugito appeared behind Sasori, who moved to dodge blazingly fast.

"Hellfire Claw."

Five diamond-sharp, burning claws cut through Sasori's right arm, setting his cloak on fire.

Less than a hundred meters away, covered with a layer of ice that obscured his chakra presence in
the dome that was full of his essence, Haku was wearing claws himself.

These were made of sharp ice, though, and three of them went right through Karin's gut.

Sakura screamed.

Haku pulled his arm, ready to move to his next target. Except… he was stuck.

"It's fine, it's fine." Karin gritted out, between bloody teeth. "Got him where I wanted. He was too
fast to catch otherwise."

Sakura only noticed the fact that her stomach was now covered by a layer of Earth chakra,
preventing Haku from getting free.

Earth was strong against Water. Against Ice, composed of Water and Wind, it worked at least well
enough for Karin to attempt this.

Ino's jutsu locked Haku into place. Karin's chains wrapped around him for an extra layer of safety.

Sakura felt a tired grin spread across her face. They had gotten him, after all.

It had taken a long, drawn-out battle, but they had him.

She came walking toward them, at a brisk pace. A serrated water blade formed around her hand.
Naruto would hesitate to kill him, outside of the heat of battle, but she had no such qualms.

"Wait, that's not-" Karin started, realizing something.

Then Haku exploded into a shower of ice, forcing Karin to stumble back shakily.

The ice was starting to turn red under her feet.

"My father died like this, years ago." A disembodied voice said.

Ice shards erupted from the ground, impaling Ino.

"INO!" Sakura screeched.

This was the sort of wound that would make even Karin or Naruto stumble. Ino… didn't have their
constitution. If she didn't get help soon… She would die.

Which meant that she and Karin had to finish this right away.

Haku rose from the ice, slowly.

"I was saved by a man who saw value in me." He continued, a jagged ice blade forming around his
arm. "That's why I can't let him down, even if it means doing things I hate."

His arm rose.

Sakura was too far, and Karin was too wounded to throw her chains fast enough.

She cursed.

And then-

Haku was frozen in place.

"Did… you… Think I… was done?" Ino rasped out, one of her hands set into her signature jutsu's
hand seal.

But Sakura could see it was not a full lock. Ino had been too weak to even attempt a Body
Possession.

Haku was fighting back, his body shaking from the warring inputs it was receiving.

Sakura was already in motion.

Her ghost arm stretched before her, split in the middle into two smaller hands, wrapping around
Haku's neck and chin at the same time.

She twisted in opposite directions.

Too late. Haku's ice had already frozen the spectral fingers. Ino's jutsu broke, and he disappeared
under the ice again, his only wounds being two purple bruises around his neck.

Sakura cursed. A bit more and she would have managed.

Karin was basically immobile, and Ino was quickly bleeding out.

Sakura cursed her weakness.

She cursed their arrogance in coming here.

She cursed the Akatsuki.

'Sakura.'

A voice called out in her head.

'Was that you, Ino?!'

'Who else.' She managed to make a thought sound sarcastic.

'Are you okay?'

'...Not really, no. But I've had the time to sow some seeds.'

'What the hell are you talking about?'

Ino showed her.

'This might just work…' Sakura realized.

'You girls take over, I can't even move.'

Sakura nodded. 'Warn Karin. Tell her we're going to finish this with one move, she knows the one.'
'Heh, alright.'

Haku was starting to feel lightheaded. White spots danced across his vision. Even then, he
continued his onslaught, appearing for only fractions of a second to slash at his enemies.

The dome was taking a lot out of him to maintain.

He hoped Sasori was almost done. He could see that the male Kumo ninja was starting to slow
down. He probably had gotten poisoned, then. You could only dodge so many projectiles during a
long battle.

He would wrap things here, too.

The entire dome and its ice was his domain. He could feel the girl, Sakura's marks in two different
places.

Haku now knew that as long as he could avoid them, she wouldn't be able to do much.

Faster. Faster!

He moved toward the Uzumaki woman, forcing Sakura to get closer. Her mistake. She was
isolated now, her marks leading to nowhere useful.

Haku struck. He had already accumulated momentum, and he reappeared from one of the walls,
flying horizontally, claws of ice ready to rip her apart.

In the corner of his vision, he noticed that the Uzumaki woman was channeling chakra to her hand.
A lot of it, a faint blue glow growing in her palm.

Haku ignored it. No projectile she could throw would be fast enough to reach him.

He was close to Sakura, who-

Turned to face him, looking grim. Her good hand rose in the air, summoning a watery platform
that faced him.

Haku's eyes widened.

The platform became solid water, and Sakura opened a gateway there. Haku could still feel two
other marks, so how…?

Ino's illusion dissipated. So did the other portals Haku had thought were real.

It was too late for him to change directions, his momentum carried him too far, too fast. He went
through the portal, reappearing next to Karin, who was prepared.

In her already extended hand, Haku saw a small sphere of violent chakra. It spun, bright and blue,
and Haku knew he needed to avoid it.

Unfortunately, it was also too late for him to dodge. He tried to reinforce his shield.

The jutsu hit him straight in the face, and he felt the layers of ice armor covering him break. The
sphere of chakra seemed to detonate.

"Here's what you get!" She screamed.

He was sent flying, spinning.

Haku skidded to a stop next to Sasori. He stood up. His Ice had protected him.

Blood ran down his face. A lot of it, in fact. He'd have to close that, first.

He would-

His legs wobbled.

'Ah. I think she got me goo-'

Haku fell to the ground, defeated. The dome crumbled.

So Haku was out of the fight too…?

Staring at his own ruined right arm and its destroyed flamethrower, Sasori calculated the chances
he could take both jinchuuriki alive in a fight.

At least one of the other three women was still in fighting shape, too. But they wouldn't be much of
a problem. If they messed up, even once, they were as good as dead.

'Hm. The odds are pretty bad.'

He could switch bodies, use his Hundred Puppets, but when it came to taking people alive, there
were better options… Killing someone was way easier than taking them alive, jinchuuriki or not.

In front of him, the Kumo ninja, Darui, was starting to look unsteady on his feet.

"Are you starting to feel its effects?" Sasori asked, his bladed metal wings twisting lazily behind
him. His puppets still glided in the air, ready to throw more weapons at them, directed by his
chakra core, instead of his arms.

"What… did you…?" Darui asked, sluggishly. He then fell to the ground.

"Darui!" Yugito shouted.

"My poison will kill him soon, without any intervention." Sasori said. "I realize I might not be able
to capture you today, not alone." He pointed at Haku's downed form, dragging him toward him
using chakra threads. He picked him up.

Kimimaro's body, he had already sealed in a scroll through one of his puppets, when his enemies
had been too busy to notice. The boss would likely be angry if two members died on a single
mission.

More than if he only failed to bring back the jinchuuriki they had been sent after. There would be
plenty of other occasions, whether the villages prepared against it or not. You couldn't exactly keep
a tool of war hidden away for the entirety of it. That had been the crux of their plan.

"So you poisoned him…?" Naruto asked, still ready to fight.

"Well, two of you have a monstrous constitution. Why would I bother poisoning you, when there's
a very… human target right next to you… One that I can use as leverage to get away?"

Naruto said nothing. Yugito ran to the fallen Darui.

"Now, which will it be?" Sasori asked. "Will you try to fight me? Your friends will die. All of
them. that much is a promise. You better be certain you can kill me, after that. And I still have a
few tricks up my sleeve. That is my art, after all."

Naruto's fist tightened.

"Heh. That's what I figured as well." Sasori chuckled. "We'll see each other again… Uzumaki
Naruto, Nii Yugito."

He left in a blink, disappearing into the snowstorm with the two others.

"Ino will be fine." Sakura confirmed, pointing at the sleeping blond. "Karin healed her. But she's
going to need some rest. Well, both of them, really."

Naruto nodded, letting out a relieved breath. They were sitting around a raging fire Yugito had
summoned, that melted the snow away, leaving only muddy earth.

Karin was tending to Darui, who lay sweating on blankets, and she looked more exhausted than he
could remember seeing her in a long time.

Yugito was staring off into the distance, either trying to figure out if the enemy was going to come
back… or what to do about Darui.

She turned to face him.

"I believe you. About Akatsuki. How could I not... after this?" She gave him a mirthless smile.

Naruto just nodded.

"Did you know about either of them?" She asked.

"No. Sakura and I fought some Kaguya before, but they had nothing on him. The two others... I
never met before, either."

"I see." She paused. "Will Darui be fine…?"

"…I don't know. We're not exactly medic ninja."

And poisons were more Orochimaru's specialty, anyway. Orochimaru, who was… somewhere he
didn't know.

Yugito winced. "I see. Then I'm going to have to bring Darui to the front with me. Hopefully, there
will be someone competent enough to heal him."

"…That's a risky plan." Something told him that Sasori's poison was nothing to sneeze at.

"What would you have me do? There are medics in Kumo that could save him, likely, but… I can't
take him there, if the Six-Tails jinchuuriki is heading to the front right now. Countless Kumo
shinobi will die." She retorted hotly.

"And you won't let him die, either. I understand." Naruto nodded.

"Exactly." She nodded resolutely.

He could respect that.

"I can't even begin to thank you for the help." Yugito continued, a smile slowly stretching across
her face. "I hope we can meet again, once all of this is over."

She pulled him into a close embrace, whispering something into his ear. Naruto chuckled.

Yugito stood up, thanking Karin as well, before slinging a mostly conscious Darui over her
shoulders, carrying him as though he weighed nothing.

"Wait." Naruto interrupted.

'Oh boy, I think I might regret this.' He tought.

Yugito gave him a curious look.

"He might not make it, if you take him to the front." Seeing Yugito frown, he continued. "Let me
take him to Kumo, instead. I'm the fastest here, and so… the best chance he's got."

Everybody paused.

"I'll find you after that." Naruto finished.

'Now... to find a way to survive going there.' He thought.

 Beneath the Clouds

Silence stretched over the camp.

"You don't even know where Kumo is." Yugito said. "…Do you?" She squinted her eyes.

Naruto shrugged. "I don't. But how hard can it be to find a huge concentration of chakra high up in
the mountains?"

"…Look, if you're unlucky enough, that's exactly how you're going to stumble upon Killer B."
Yugito retorted. "Are you sure about this?"

"Yes." Naruto nodded. "He helped us, I'm not just going to let him die, if we can avoid it."

"…"

"…The poison is an advanced one. Can you guarantee that there will be someone good enough to
prepare an antidote on the front lines?" Karin stressed.

"…No, I can't." Yugito admitted.

"How far are the front lines?" She asked.

"Further away than we are from Kumo." Yugito winced.

"Then I think you know which option is the better one." Naruto said, wishing they had gotten
around to putting a Gate near Kumo. It had seemed risky, at the time. Now...

Yugito sighed. She let out a small, hesitant smile. Maybe she should have expected that.

"Alright. Here's how to get to Kumo..."

Naruto made sure to check if Orochimaru was around Umi. He wasn't, and there was no clone left
behind, so he had no way of contacting him.

Before leaving for Kumo, with Darui slung on his shoulder, Naruto realized something.

"I might have trouble getting inside Kumo." He said sheepishly. "Or anywhere close, really."

"What do you mean?" Yugito asked.

Karin and Sakura were both recovering, after having erected a stone house.

The now awake Ino shot him a flat look. Seeing the conflict on his face, she sighed.

"I guess I might as well come out with it, since there's no way Kumo won't figure it out." She said.
"I am Yamanaka Ino… and I did not kill the Hokage."

Yugito stiffened. She knew her name, of course. Kumo might not have put either of them in their
bingo book for the moment, but there had never been any doubt that someone as important as
Yugito would not know about it.

"That means that-"

Naruto sighed. "Yeah, I'm... that Indra guy."

Yugito's claws came out. "Then you managed to lie to me." She said, actually sounding hurt.

"No." Naruto said. "The hair might not fit — it's blond, really… And these…" He applied chakra to
his cheeks, removing the decals and revealing his whiskers. "I might have hidden because they're
too easily identifiable, but I am Uzumaki… Uzumaki Naruto. Indra is just a name I use to get
around."

Yugito didn't move.

"As I told you last night, I'm sorry for having to hide so much from you." He bowed lightly, which
was pretty hard with Darui slung over his shoulder. The man was pretty heavy. "But everything I
said was the truth. And we didn't kill Sasuke's dad... the Hokage, I mean."

Yugito stared into his eyes. Her own changed colors, the right turning yellow, and the left shifting
to green.

She was warring with herself, because her training as a kunoichi told her not to believe him.

Her instincts, on the other hand, the ones that had never let her down, the ones that came with
being able to feel people's souls… Told her he was being truthful. And so did Matatabi's eyes.

"…Who did, then?" She asked.

"We don't know." Ino admitted. "But I was blamed… and tortured for it." She finished with dark
eyes. "Naruto got me out of the village."

"But… What is true is that I killed several ANBU. Or ROOT Anbu, I guess." Naruto admitted.
"They came after me, intending to kill me, and I… Well, I fought back. I can't deny that."

Yugito said nothing.

This was pretty bad, still.

However, it was not anywhere close to Konoha's official version, and killing in self-defense was a
whole other thing, especially for shinobi. She could see they were telling the truth, too. Their souls
didn't waver, not even once.

She sighed, retracting her claws. "Then you've made an enemy out of Konoha. You do realize that
Kumo won't be too happy about that, either?"

"I assumed as much." Naruto said. "I'll have a clone deliver Darui, once I'm close enough. I'll be far
away, by the time they react."

Yugito hesitated. "You were right before, about getting close to the village. There are many
sentries across the path… and around Kumo itself. It won't be that easy."

"Eh. I'll manage, I think." Naruto shrugged.

"You sound awfully confident."

"I have to." He smiled.

"…"
Yugito started to laugh. This whole situation was all too strange.

"You really are something, huh? Well… Be careful on your way there. The Raikage can be…
difficult, especially when it comes to the people he cares about. Darui is one of them."

"…Good to know, I guess. I'm not intending to meet the guy, anyway."

Yugito pulled the scroll he had given her, the one containing the info about all Akatsuki members.
She scribbled some notes, and some of the new info they had gotten from the latest fight, before
scribbling something he could not make sense of. Then she handed the scroll to him.

"I can't guarantee you that he's going to be willing to listen… but here you go anyway. Give this to
the Raikage." She said.

"Very well." He nodded and took the scroll. Yugito came closer.

Then she pulled him into a deep kiss. Ino made a strangled noise and looked away.

"…What was that for?" Naruto asked, surprised.

"For luck. But… I'm sure you'll manage, somehow." She smiled fondly. He almost blushed.

Ino made a disgusted sound in the background.

Most of the time, when Naruto was covering long distances, he had to be mindful of terrain.
Forcing him to jump over trees, rocks or to climb over mountains.

For most of the way, until he got close to Kumo, it would only be flat ground.

Today, he just ran.

It would take around two days for a ninja to reach Kumo, starting from Shimo.

He intended to be there in six hours.

Wind made his steps lighter, and Darui's weight almost unnoticeable. Lightning made him fast,
faster than most ninja thought a human could go. The world blurred around him.

He wasn't sure how much time Darui had, so he didn't bother taking breaks.

Slowly but surely, he could feel a slight incline. Which meant he was getting closer to the Land of
Lightning.

"Indra, huh…?" A weak voice rasped out.

"You're awake?" Naruto asked in surprise.

"Heh. It was an interesting story you told them. Was it the truth, though, I wonder.?"

"All of it was true."

"Good." Darui nodded. "I would hate to have to kill you."

"Do you really think you could…?" Naruto chuckled. "Especially in this state?"

"You're close enough."

"For your Gale style thing? Give me your best shot, then. Good luck with surviving, though."

Darui said nothing for a while. "…Nah. I think I believe you, for some reason. And Yugito does,
anyway." He said, as though that was a sufficient explanation.

"…Thanks, I guess."

"You got a decent thing for Lightning, by the way. For a foreigner. " Darui said. "Kumo could use
a few more guys like that. Well, besides the whole situation with Konoha."

"Oh?" Naruto lifted an eyebrow. "Well, yours is not too bad either. I mean… for someone who has
to settle for using Water instead of Wind. Pretty good, even."

Darui chuckled a bit.

Then he fell asleep again.

Naruto continued to focus on the road.

"So."

"So…?"

"Yeah."

"Right."

Yugito sat close to the fire. In front of her, Karin, Sakura and Ino were staring at her with various
levels of intensity. Ranging from casual to curious to distrustful.

"Why did you stay?" Ino asked. "We'd be fine on our own."

"I didn't imply anything like that." Yugito said, shrugging. "I need some rest, too. Bijū
transformation takes a lot out of me."

"Don't think this makes us frien-" Ino was interrupted by Sakura.

"Don't bother with Ino, she's a bit cranky." She said. "As far as I'm concerned, we're allies. Pretty
much."

Yugito nodded. "Yeah, I think I can guess at why she would feel that way."

Jealousy was pretty obvious, usually.

Predictably, Ino got mad. "What are you trying to say?"

"Well, it's obvious that you-" Yugito started.

She never got to finish her sentence, because Sakura interrupted.

"Well… I'm going to uh... go hunt for some meat."

"We already have reserves of food, though." Karin frowned.

"It's better when it's fresh."

"There are no land animals in a snowstorm."

"…I'll fish for something, then." Sakura's eyes were fixed on the door. "You can come."

"I don't think it's neede-" Karin looked at the fuming Ino and the calm Yugito. "On second
thought… Yeah, I'm coming." She'd let them deal with their issues on their own. Hopefully no one
would die.

They both left.

Yugito hummed a song, reading through a scroll.

"Can you please stop it?" Ino asked.

"What? Humming? Sure, if it bothers you." Yugito looked at her.

"Thanks."

After another moment of silence...

"Why don't you ask me what you actually want to know?" Yugito asked.

"What I want to know?" Ino said, with a hard edge. "There's nothing you can tell me that I don't
know already."

"You're a Yamanaka, aren't you?" She shrugged. "I'm sure you're somewhat aware of why you're
feeling this way."

Apparently, this had been the wrong thing to say.

"The hell would you know about this?!" She fumed.

"Not much, it's true."

"Exactly! So stop asking!"

Yugito shrugged again.

Ino stared at her for a long while.

"…Do you love him?"

Yugito's eyebrows rose in confusion. "Who? Uzu-... Naruto?"

"Of course I'm talking about him! Who else?"

"That's a strange question." Yugito shrugged.

"Why? I know he was… with you yesterday night."

"I'm not sure I get your point."

"I'm sure you do." Ino growled.

"…Are all Konoha ninja this romantic?"

"I beg your pardon?" Ino asked, blinking.

"Never mind. It's nothing so complicated. He's an attractive man... and I wanted him."

"And that's it?" She couldn't believe how nonchalant the older woman was about this.

"Well, basically, yes. He seems like an interesting person, too." Yugito gave her a wry look. "And
I'm sure you're not that surprised somebody else could find him attractive, considering how you
acted around him, back in the hot springs. Like a blushing virgin."

Ino just clenched her fists.

"…Are you planning on doing it again?" She demanded.

"What… Fucking him?" Yugito tilted her head in curiosity. "Sure, why wouldn't I? He's great at it."

"Stop." Ino growled.

"What? You asked." Yugito shrugged. "I'm not doing this to be cruel."

"I said stop." She repeated.

"I'm not the only one, either. Nor the last, I'd venture." Yugito continued, unimpeded. "I'm sure you
know that Karin smells like him."

"Stop it." Ino said, weakly.

"Are you angry at her for that?" Yugito asked.

Ino said nothing at first. Then she shook her head.

"You have been, then. Where did that anger go? Are you angry at him… or at yourself, by now?"

"…"

"You need to figure out what you want… because he might not be able to give you that."

Yugito had seen as much when their souls had met. If there ever was a guy who was trying to
avoid committing to a single person...

"I know this much." Ino ended up saying, sounding defeated.

"Ah." Yugito finally realized. "You're actually… in love love with him, then?" She said,
sympathetically.

Ino said nothing.

"I'm sorry for being so blunt, then."

"No, you're… you're right." Ino said, wiping an unwanted tear away. "I've been seeing things as I
wanted them to be… not as they were."

Yugito waited. Ino continued, chuckling self-deprecatingly.

"Well, I guess that's me. My dad always used to call me an overly romantic goof."

Yugito stared at her, mulling something over.

"…Mine used to call me an 'airheaded little fool'." She offered, as though extending an olive
branch. "I'm still alive and kicking, though. He can't say the same."

Ino chuckled a bit. Then the tears started to fall.

Yugito didn't say anything, but she did move a bit closer. She knew the Yamanaka's pride was
fragile, right now.

"I'm sorry, for before." Ino blubbered. "It's nothing you did."

"I know, I know."

"It's not even something he did, because I never even told him. It's just… I hoped things would
pick up where we left them, maybe… I don't know, really. And sometimes, it feels that all three of
them are all that I've got left."

Loneliness.

"…That's something I can understand." Yugito said softly.

"Think we can go back?" Sakura asked.

Karin looked at the stone house. She paused.

"…You think they killed each other?" Sakura asked again.

"Nothing seems to be burning. Their chakra seem to be calm, too." Karin declared.

"Probably no murder, then. Or Ino hid the body... maybe."

"Let's wait a bit longer to be safe."

"Sure, why not."

"So… What do you know about ice fishing?"

"…Not much, you?"

"Same. You got something to fish with, at least?" Karin asked.

"Nah."

"Nice."

Being out in the cold still beat dealing with a raging Ino.

It was getting late.

The road that led to the mountaintops was a long and winding one, and Naruto went back to leaping
around. If he had had more time, he would have appreciated the crisp cold air.

He saw a few mountain villages, passed more caves and people dressed in clothes he had never
seen before.

In the distance, spires of stones stretched to dizzying heights, and a series of mountain peaks rose
so high that they seemed to pierce the clouds, some of them snow-covered.

He was getting closer to Kumo, he could feel it.

There was a huge chakra presence close, somewhere to the North.

Was this it?

He started going there.

"Not… This way." Darui let out.

"Huh?"

"Not the village. B…" He managed.

"What did you say?"

Darui was out cold again.

Well, he got the general message. He continued more to the East, instead.

"Look at this."

"…What?" Sakura turned around. She then gave a pretty unimpressed look, seeing the stone rod
that Karin had decided was now completed.

"Don't give me that!" Karin said. "I'll have you know this is the best thing we're gonna get today."

"Uh huh."

"This baby is two meters fifty five long, carved from the best quality iron ore you can extract from
the ground, and with these seals along its length…" Karin pointed at the seals she had inscribed in
the stone. "It almost feels as bendy as wood."

Sakura stared.

"I wrapped a high-quality leather handle around it, and it feels like an extension of your body.
Look!"

Karin insisted, so Sakura felt forced to observe it from closer.

It… did look pretty nice.

"This is the most perfect fishing rod you can make by yourself." Karin boasted.

"I… see."

"Take it! Fish for us, Sakura."

Was this sort of obsession an Uzumaki thing…?

Sakura's head popped in the doorway.

She blinked in surprise.

"They're… talking?" She asked Karin.

"Seems like it." She shrugged and went in as well.

Both Yugito and Ino looked up.

"So…" Ino gave them a snide look. "You guys found some fish?"

Sakura hmphed. She knew Ino thought they had gone out to avoid a painful discussion. How…
naive of her.

"As a matter of fact, we did. Catch." She threw her something.

"If you're throwing a fucking fish at me-" Ino realized it was a scroll, and caught it.

"There's more than enough for all of us inside." Karin nodded.

"Well done." Yugito smiled.

"Are you going to cook, Ino? Since we did our part." Sakura asked.

She chuckled. "I don't feel like eating ash tonight, so I might as well."

"…That was one time." Sakura retorted, arms folded.

"I'll help." Yugito cut in.

The food was excellent, Yugito had to admit.

Which might sound out a bit arrogant, since she had helped prepare it in the first place. Tomorrow,
she'd be going to the front-lines, so she indulged in rice beer. By morning, she'd be entirely fresh
anyway.

The others didn't really have any particular qualms about it, and they joined in. They all seemed a
little buzzed, actually.

The very same buzz seemed to melt away like the snow had around her transformed state,
yesterday, when Yugito asked an innocent question.

Karin and Sakura stared at each other, a strange look in their eyes.

"What do you mean, you can 'feel the link'?" Karin demanded.

Yugito blinked. Was this supposed to be a secret? Ino was staring at her.

"Well, yeah." She just said. "Since I'm apparently part of it, now."

And that had been a pretty big surprise. Not necessarily an unwelcome one, since she didn't really
know what it meant in the first place, but a surprise nonetheless.

"You're part of it…?" Ino asked slowly. Almost carefully.

"I don't know what you call it, but apparently yeah. It's like a web, with Naruto at the center."
Yugito nodded. "I couldn't figure it out before, but now that we're close, I can feel that both Sakura
and Karin are part of it. And there's a third one, but it feels more remote."
Yugito paused. "Is this like a weird sex cult or something...?"

"No!" Sakura almost shouted.

"Okay, okay. Just asking."

Karin was taken aback. "That's… not possible, should it? How can you be part of the link?"

"…Did Naruto do something, maybe?" Sakura asked, already wanting to roll her eyes.

Yugito thought about it. And she remembered Naruto's worried face, that she was almost certain
had been because of it.

"…Maybe, but I don't think it's something he did on purpose."

"What happened, were you in danger?" Sakura asked. It had been the case for her… and Sasuke,
apparently.

"No, we were-" Yugito took a look at Ino's face and interrupted herself. "Ah."

Ino continued to frown. She frowned... harder?

"It was… like a joining of souls?" Yugito tried.

Ino's face tightened. She muttered. "It's 'nothing so complicated', huh?"

Yugito winced.

"But that still makes no sense!" Karin said. "And I can't feel you, or any of you, like that."

"Me neither." Sakura added. "And I'm sure the ...last person can't, either."

"I don't know how that works either, but Matatabi — the Two-Tails — has strong ties with souls.
Could be that." Yugito offered.

Nobody said anything for a little while.

"There's still something missing, though." Sakura said.

She summoned her gauntlet. Karin did the same, summoning her own bands.

"Did anything like this happen, since then?" She asked.

"…How did you do this?" Yugito asked, taking a closer look at the semi-physical weapons.

"It comes with the link you mentioned-" Sakura tried.

"I just focus on the bond." Karin shrugged.

Yugito tried as well, focusing on what she knew of Uzumaki Naruto… Which turned out to be
surprisingly easy, since she had seen his soul.

"I don't think-" Ino began.

A hakama flashed into existence, loose pants completed by a divided skirt, with armor sewn into
the cloth.
"Oh, boy."

"This fucking Naruto."

"…Something like this?" Yugito asked, unsure.

 Above the Clouds

"That's… not supposed to happen." Karin said, examining the chakra signature of the hakama.

There was no doubt, it was too similar to their own artifacts to be anything else. She frowned.

"Anything you can do with it?" Sakura asked.

Yugito tilted her head, and her catlike nature was obvious. "What are you talking about?"

Ino just pursed her lips, electing to say nothing. To Karin, what she was thinking was pretty clear.
She had been in her shoes, once.

As Karin spaced out, trying to figure how this had happened… and what it meant, Sakura launched
into a pretty helpful explanation.

Ino was listening very intently, of course.

"Are we close to Kumo?" Naruto asked Darui.

He opened a bleary eye, checking his surroundings, before answering.

"Yes… Continue to… North, now." He let out, before coughing a bit.

Naruto did just that. He was a bit out of breath, but he still had plenty of energy.

Uchiha Toru had heard of the horrors of war in passing.

But books and stories had nothing on what was now his reality.

There was no real room for heroism, despite what the commanding officers would rather have
them believe.

Hiding behind the same dug-out wall as other ninja, seeing another pretending to be wounded so
that he wouldn't have to fight anymore.

Seeing a city he had once been to, back when it was full of life, a scattering of people from every
corner of the continent… turned to nothing more than rubble.

He had seen brutality before, as any shinobi had, really.

But never so pointless, in both scale and horror. Civilians, Suna troops, Konoha ninja… all of them
just kept dying and dying, the body count piling up on every side.

They had no time for burials, of course, so as an Uchiha, he was one of the people in charge of
cremating the bodies.

The smell he had come to associate with burning human meat made him sick to his stomach. Like
fatty pork mixed with beef in a frying pan. He felt his bile rise.

Ironically, it had been a sunny day, too, and the wind had played with his hair the same way it had
always done. As though petty human conflicts meant nothing at all, in the grand scheme of the
earth.

It was the most macabre of dances.

Suna's Wind techniques would fly, pounding on the walls they kept erecting. The anticipation was
just as bad.

Nara Kaji had been one of the first to fall, today. His stomach had been sliced open during one of
Suna's pushes, and they had to leave him here in the open.

He hadn't died right away, as the enemy had believed him dead.

But because he had been driven half-mad because of the pain of his wound, he had called for help.

That's when he had been killed.

There was nobody to blame. War was war. He would have done the same to a Suna ninja.

And the young ninja that were with them… they knew nothing of long battles. They would get
killed simply because they didn't realize what was a diversion and what was a real offensive.

Their pitiful, dirty faces, their hope and dreams of getting back, their despair. All of this, he would
remember forever, his eye made sure of it.

Attack. Defend. Counter-attack. Fall back.

And this was just the early days.

What was even the meaning of this all…?

This whole city would soon be nothing more than a crater, anyway.

Darui was speaking more often.

Whether that was because he was feeling better… or because he knew he needed to guide him from
here on, Naruto couldn't tell. But his voice was becoming weaker.

They were somewhere above the clouds, and he felt the weight of the long day.

"…You can drop me… you know." Darui said. "A little… pause won't kill… me."

Naruto just threw a strange look at him.

"Since when do you care about me being exhausted?" We're getting close anyway."

"Wouldn't… do… for you… to lose control." He grunted. "Over… Lightning."

"Hmpf." Naruto chuckled. "I'll be fine. And we don't have that much time. Who knows how long
this poison takes to work in the first place."

"Suit… yourself."

The air was thinner here, which gave Naruto a slight headache. He wasn't sure how high they were,
but he would guess over three thousand meters, for sure.

Naruto stopped on a cliff overlooking a vast expanse of clouds. In the distance, he could see a
shape that he knew to be the village of Kumo. He dropped a mark here.

"Is that it?" He asked Darui.

"Yeah." He grunted. "Rare for… foreigner… to come here… Enjoy."

Naruto wondered. "Is it safe for me to go with you… or should I send you with a clone?"

"No difference… We're… Spotted… Already." Darui breathed a bit heavily, before letting out a
rattling cough. "They… Will… Come."

"Very well." Naruto said. "I sure hope this won't get me in another shitty situation."

"No." Darui chuckled, his throat raw. "I… Will vouch… for you. Raikage… trusts me..."

"Well… I don't think we're going to have a choice, anyway." Naruto answered.

There was a huge chakra signature coming at him.

Alone.

"Alright, I don't think I understand this one." Karin finally said, after having run a battery of tests.
This damned Naruto, doing whatever he felt like doing and letting them deal with the
consequences. That was classic him.

She still wasn't sure how this had happened, in the first place. Didn't the bonds require a degree of
trust one nice evening and some fucking would simply not be enough for?

Yugito let the hakama fade away. "The color clashed with the rest of my clothing, anyway."

Sakura chuckled. "You don't have to actually have them out to use their ability."

"No?" Yugito asked. "It sounds pretty nifty. I hope it's something as useful as teleportation."

"You could always join Umi." Karin shrugged. "Heard they were recruiting and the weather was
nice." She stared at her fingernails.

Yugito laughed. "No, thank you. I'm a loyal Kumo ninja. But you can come visit us, once we get
this little… Hokage murder situation sorted out."

"If." Ino corrected. "I want nothing more than this, but…"

"We'll find a way." Yugito said. "I promise."

Ino let out a hesitant smile. She wasn't so sure, but she wasn't about to let her own worries bring
everybody down with her. And she wanted to trust the slightly older woman.

So, that was the Raikage.

He remembered him from the Chūnin Exams, of course. It wasn't that hard to remember the huge,
surly man with slicked back blond hair.

He hadn't had the chance to feel his gigantic chakra presence last time… or to see the Cloak of
Lightning covering him, that made Kakashi's look shoddy by comparison.
Still, there was something strange here. His instincts told him to look deeper.

On his back, Darui struggled to shift to something that looked somewhat dignified.

"Boss." He saluted.

"Darui." The Raikage greeted, tense. "What happened?"

"Yugito and I… got ambushed." Darui coughed. "Got poisoned. Yugito's fine. She's … still
going… to the front."

"Sasori of the Red Sands, who's part of the Akatsuki, poisoned him." Naruto confirmed. "He will
need immediate hel-"

"This man." The Raikage pointed straight at Naruto. "You know who he is, don't you? He helped
kill the previous Hokage. Now... we have to deal with Danzō." He spat the last word like a curse.

Naruto tensed, ready to leap.

Darui let out a weak chuckle. "Don't… Worry. He didn't... do it. Yugito… confirmed."

"…Are you sure of it?" A asked.

"She is... Certain." Darui nodded. "The soul… doesn't… lie."

The Raikage stared at Naruto, seemingly weighing him.

Naruto stayed where he was, unmoving. He wasn't sure he'd be able to do much in his state of
exhaustion, if it came to it. He had to hope Darui's word was enough.

Apparently… it was.

The Raikage sighed, folding his arms in a neutral stance. His Cloak faded.

Naruto breathed out.

"Ah." The Raikage grunted out. "This is going to be a pain in the ass to deal with... with Konoha.
And that old bastard, on top of that."

Darui chuckled. "Sorry, boss."

Naruto pulled out the scroll Yugito had given him.

"Yugito told me to give this to you." He said simply. The Raikage analyzed the scroll, making no
move to unfold it.

"What is it?" He asked.

"Intel on Akatsuki's movements." Naruto nodded. "They're going to move to get the jinchūriki
soon."

"…"

A opened the scroll, reading through it.

Meanwhile, Naruto was focusing his chakra senses on the man. There was something about his
chakra, something hidden deeper, that he knew he would not have noticed if it weren't so damn
familiar.

He stretched his awareness even more.

Naruto had felt this very same chakra before, he was almost sure of it. But where…?

He had trained with Karin for a long time, now, and he fell back on her advice, racking his brains
until he could remember something useful.

"Ah. I see." The Raikage said, nodding. "This is some good intel."

Chakra flared to his hand, and the scroll burned away, turning to dust.

"…What the hell are you doing?" Naruto asked, Lightning flashing to his legs right away.

"…Boss?" Darui asked, entirely confused.

"Unfortunately, I can't have you spreading this kind of information around." A said.

"Boss, he's… Telling the… truth!" Darui insisted.

The Raikage nodded grimly. "I know damn well. That's why he can't leave here."

Darui was feeling entirely off.

Not just because the poison was still coursing through his veins. Though it felt terrible. He let out
another cough.

"Boss… What…Are you?"

"Uzumaki Naruto is a danger to peace." A repeated. Naruto stiffened at the use of his full name.

"…I know where I felt this chakra." Uzumaki said, his teeth gritted. "The masked man. The one
called Tobi."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." The Raikage grumbled, full of conviction. His Cloak
came back on.

"Boss… Please!" Darui pleaded. "He… saved us."

Cough.

Something was wrong with him. And something was truly wrong with the Raikage.

Darui let out another rattling cough. He would have to help Uzumaki, at least until the Raikage
decided to be reasonable again.

He tried to call upon his chakra. He wasn't sure what for yet.

Darui couldn't.

He couldn't breathe. His hand came up to his throat.

No way.

Not now, not like this. There were so many things he still needed to-
"…Darui?" Naruto called, having sensed his chakra build up…

And then fade away, entirely.

The Raikage paused, too. Whatever Tobi had done to him couldn't prevent true shock from
showing upon his face.

Naruto laid Darui down. There was blood running down his mouth, and his eyes were wide open.
There was no doubt, even as he checked for a pulse. He was dead already.

It happened as soon as he had tried to reach for his chakra. He had been alive before that.

He had heard of something similar… For chakra-triggered Genjutsu. How could this have been
worked into a poison…? He felt a shiver of fear run down his spine. Any of them could have died,
after that fight. Without even realizing how immediate the danger really was.

Naruto closed Darui's eyes.

He turned to face the Raikage, who was…

Unnervingly silent.

He stood there for a moment, just staring at Darui's body. His Cloak was gone.

Naruto stood there, trying to gather enough focus to jump to a mark. Any of them would do.

He couldn't manage, too many thoughts racing through his mind.

A flicker of lightning escaped the Raikage's body.

When he looked at him again… He was furious.

As though Darui's death was on Naruto.

"I can't guarantee you will survive." The Raikage said, his voice scarily clear, Lightning flashing
around him. "Nine-Tails or not."

His right hand was dead.

The man he had chosen to succeed him in the future was dead.

There was a red haze permeating A's every thought.

Darui had been poisoned. By Sasori of the Red Sands, who apparently was still alive.

And now… Darui was dead.

And one of the Hokage's likely assassins, no matter what Yugito had said, one of the two people
that had led them to this entire predicament… was in front of him. Standing above Darui's body, as
though he had any right.

This bastard Sasori… Akatsuki, even… Their time would come, but…

They could wait.

They were no real threat to Kumo right now.

This way, the other Nations would be weakened. B would be fine, he would make sure of it.

That was why he had destroyed the scroll.

Akatsuki didn't matter.

Deep down, there was something that didn't sit right with him. As though he were contradicting
himself and his principles. As though he were dreaming awake, and a part of him was screaming
and screaming, endlessly, but there was no one to hear it.

A's first attack came at him straight, the man apparently not bothering with subterfuge.

Naruto expelled Wind chakra from his mouth, pushing his head backwards, and under the
Raikage's massive fist.

He slashed with his right hand, a sword flashing into his hand.

The Wind-enhanced strike only hit thin air. The next instant, an elbow slammed into his back. He
let out a grunt of pain, spun, and struck back with a diagonal sword swing.

Nothing.

A fist slammed into his cheek, and he was sent flying. He let go of his sword.

'There's no way I can fight this guy right now.'

He had been exhausted before the battle had even begun.

While flying, he summoned his bow, letting his Lightning enhancements fall for a second. Naruto
sent three Lightning and Wind arrows flying at the same time, adjusting their trajectories by
magnetizing them. They flew toward the sword he had left behind.

The Raikage dodged by moving the least amount he possibly could.

Naruto summoned another sword and recalled one of the arrows, which struck right under the
Raikage's ribs, from behind. The man caught it with his hand before it could go through him, in an
impressive display of reflexes and flexibility. At the same time, Naruto was weaving hand seals
with his other hand.

A grunted. "Tricky little bastard."

Naruto winced. This would probably not work twice.

Wind.

He finished weaving his hand seals, going for a mid-range jutsu.

"Wind Release: Vacuum Tear"

A rift in the air opened around the Raikage, slashing at him from every angle, but mostly holding
him in place.

Lightning.
He weaved another technique, before holding it and channeling the chakra inside a newly formed
arrow.

"Lightning Style: Dragon Arrow"

He felt his left arm burn.

The wind technique had been a setup. Naruto shot the arrow, and it cleared the night sky.

When it came in contact with the Vacuum Tear, it became a whirling vortex of wind and electricity.
It took the shape of a dragon's head, swirling around the Raikage.

Hands starting to shake from all the chakra he was expanding, his vision blurring, Naruto weaved a
third and last jutsu, classified as S-rank.

"Wind Release: God's Breath"

Naruto raised his hand above his head and produced a spear of wind that he shot to the heavens,
creating a few dense dark clouds.

From their midst, a pillar of immense atmospheric pressure struck down the earth, with a sound
like tearing.

Naruto could barely stand. He huffed a breath, sweat pouring down his eyes. He had given the
jutsu all that he had.

It would have been overkill for almost anyone.

And yet… he could still feel the Raikage's immense chakra, barely affected.

The smoke cleared, and the Raikage was still standing. Cuts littered his body, but he did not heed
them.

"You won't get out of here alive, Uzumaki Naruto."

He started walking toward him.

"I will admit it." He began. "You're strong. But you're also at the end of your rope."

Naruto saw the way the Raikage used his Cloak. He thought he could understand how to get his
own to the next step.

So that's what he did. He reached inwards, dredging up the last drops of his power.

He called Lightning to bolster him.

Not to his legs, like he would usually. But he let it spread from his core, reaching every part of his
body at the same time, thrumming with each heigtened heart beat, a pulsating wave of electricity
that made the world seem brigther… and slower. He held back a wince of pain at the feeling. Was
this how the Raikage did it? It was entirely different from Kakashi's version, relying on
sheer power of chakra, rather than finesse. Wind, he was not confident enough to add to the already
dangerous ability.

The Raikage moved, his cloak reaching its ultimate stage. His hair stood up on his head.

The attack was fast, faster than anything Naruto could remember seeing.
Naruto still dodged under his fist. A looked surprised, but his following kick caught him in the gut.
In retaliation, Naruto punched him in the face, as fast as he could.

Then he jumped away.

A was upon him. His right hand smashed into his stomach, followed by a left uppercut to his chin.

The Raikage spoke, now angry. "And compared to Darui… your mastery of Lightning is
amateurish!"

Right hook, left jab. Naruto spat blood. He managed to kick the Raikage back.

Naruto didn't care much about his opinion. And that was just plain exaggeration, anyway.

Three more hits to the face. Blood ran down his face.

He stood up on shaky legs. How could he escape… or win this?

The Dragon called to him. Just like it had before. He had still been afraid. Why…?

There had to be a way to win this. There had to be.

I can't-

Naruto fell forward, his chakra entirely spent.

 That Look

"This is strange." Sakura said, the morning after.

"What is?" Yugito asked, preparing to go to the Land of Hot Water.

"I would have thought that Naruto would be back by now." She muttered.

"Do you think he ran into trouble?"

"Trouble usually sticks to him like bees to honey." Karin butted in.

"He dropped a mark way up North, though. I assume he arrived in Kumo." Ino said.

"Then he should be fine." Yugito reassured them. "The Raikage might be a bit… rough, but he's a
fair man. Darui's with him, and he's got the scroll I gave him, which A-sama will recognize as
mine."

Sakura nodded slowly.

"Plus, I don't think anybody short of a Kage-level shinobi can really catch this guy. You worry over
nothing." Yugito laughed.

Ino said nothing… but that was exactly the problem. Naruto had Kage-level shinobi after him.

"Yeah… Maybe you're right." Sakura smiled. "I'm still going to check tonight."

"Sure." Yugito grinned.

She was ready to go. The house was back to being part of the ground, too. "Well, this has been very
nice, meeting all of you. I know we… may have gotten off a… rough start." She pointedly avoided
looking at Ino, who blushed.

Sakura chuckled, prompting Ino to kick her shin. She cursed.

"Well, I hope we can meet again."

"Same here."

"Where are you headed to, by the way?" Sakura asked.

"To the southern part of Hot Water, not too far from Bamboo Village." Yugito said simply. "That's
where our troops are. It should be a couple days of travel, at most."

The three women from Umi looked at each other. They were going to have to wait, and they still
had to make sure nothing had happened with Akatsuki. Orochimaru might be somewhere around
there, too, if the Six-Tails was around.

"We can take you." Karin nodded, holding her hand out.

"What do you mean?" Yugito asked, now curious.

She still took it, trusting her instincts. Ten seconds later, they disappeared.
Morikawa Seiji, Kiri jōnin, swam for his life.

He had done so since dawn, diving under the raging waves, and using chakra to create a breathable
bubble around himself.

Right after a man and a woman had appeared, both of them dressed in black, with their faces
obscured. He didn't know who the two people who had come after them - and destroyed the ship
they had been sleeping on with a single combination jutsu - were… or what they wanted. But he
knew he had to get away from there, fast.

Nobuyuki, their platoon leader, and their only water sensor as well, had been killed by a wind jutsu,
so it's not like anybody would even know Seiji had survived.

He swam, going deeper and deeper, until the water was dark.

Something caught his leg, and he let out a terrified howl that echoed through the water. The thing
pulled him up and away at an incredible speed, before throwing him once he broke the surface.

Someone grabbed him, holding him into the air.

"Kukukuku." An amused voice laughed. "Will you be the one to talk, I wonder…?"

Seiji turned to face him. He felt the man's powerful aura, monstrous violet, and felt the strength in
the hand that held him up. He could see slitted, golden eyes under the cowl.

Seiji woke up bound from head to toe in steel wire.

A woman bent over him, until their eyes met. He kept silent for a while, his eyes flitting around.
The woman said nothing, just waiting for him to speak out.

It didn't take too long.

"Who are you?" He let out.

"Never mind that." She said, not revealing her face. "I'm looking for information. Are you willing
to talk?"

"Yes, yes! Absolutely." Seiji said.

The woman looked at him. Then she sighed. "You're lying, aren't you? You're going to try to feed
me lies, now."

How had she known?

"A little bee told me." She grinned behind the cowl. "I guess we're going to do things the hard way,
then."

She weaved hand seals.

The Genjutsu took, and his hell began.

"I'll talk. I'll talk." He sobbed, his voice hoarse, after a half hour of it.

"Great." She nodded, offering him some water. "I'm good at it, but I don't really like doing this
torture thing, honestly. Maybe in another life."

"What… what do you even want to know?" He took the offered water. If it was poison… Well, still
better than the illusions. He was sure the nightmares, the ones he had managed to stave off for
months now, would be back soon.

Her eyes turned hard. "Where is Utakata? Where is the Six-Tails' jinchūriki?"

"I… I don't know." He said.

Her eyes turned threatening, ready to weave more horrific visions.

"No, nonono. I swear! I really don't know! I thought he was supposed to come with us, but I have
no idea where he is now!"

She stared into his eyes. "I believe you."

His tormentor lifted her hand, and Seiji closed his eyes, waiting for her to deal the final blow.

"Go. Leave your village… and this war behind. Then I won't come after you."

"What… I can't just leave Kiri like that! Where would I go?" He yelped.

"I don't give a shit. But would you rather die now?" She asked, her murderous intent obvious.

He ended up accepting her offer.

Anko went back to the Land of Hot Water's southernmost beach, where Orochimaru was waiting
for her, a few men lying at his feet.

"He didn't know anything else, then?" He asked, not really suprised.

"No. He knew nothing." Anko replied.

"I see. Time is running out." Orochimaru mused.

They had been looking for any indication the Six-Tails was around, but until now, they had found
nothing at all.

"I think Kiri might have leaked some false information to the lower ranks." Orochimaru ended up
saying.

"You mean…?"

"Yes. They never planned on sending the Six-Tails out at all."

If Kumo had acted on the rumors, they likely had sent the Two-Tails ahead. He would have to wait
on Naruto's team's report.

Now, he had to figure out who exactly had done so, and for what purposes.

Orochimaru had a few suspicions, and he liked none of them.

"That's something you don't see every day." Yugito said, trying to sound casual about having been
teleported hundreds of kilometers away in the blink of an eye.
"Hopefully not, it's an Umi thing." Karin laughed.

"I can do it on my own, actually." Sakura contested.

"Yes, yes, we all know by now." Ino rolled her eyes. "Are we close to your destination, Yugito?"

She nodded. "A few dozens of kilometers away. I'll be there quickly."

"I guess it's goodbye for now, then." Ino said.

"Unless you guys plan on following me around some more, yeah." Yugito joked.

"…Probably not today." Sakura said.

"Well… It has been a pleasure."

They exchanged goodbyes and Yugito left, headed west.

"You know… I-" Karin started.

"Got a bad feeling about this?" Ino asked. "Yeah, me too."

Sakura said nothing, just watching Yugito go. She would likely be fine, as she was stronger than
them by a fairly large margin… and she would be with shinobi from her own village.

Still, something rubbed her the wrong way here. And she'd have to check up on Naruto today still.
She realized they really needed to finish working on a direct line of communication, as fast as
possible.

"Orochimaru should be around." Ino said. "Let's go after him?"

"Sure." Karin said, getting ready to track the elusive man down.

Days passed.

Hyūga Hanabi was sent to the western front.

It hadn't really come as a surprise. Since Neji had disappeared, — and she had a lot to say about
that — the role of Hinata's protectress had fallen to her, as a branch house member. But then, she
was only a branch member, now, and they were sent to the front lines more often than the main
house.

Her father might have protested at first, but Hinata being more or less confined to less risky
missions meant that he didn't really have a leg to stand on. Konoha needed a Hyūga near their
jinchūriki.

Better than ever, she understood Neji's ambivalence toward the main house, that she had
previously been a part of.

She loved Hinata, and she loved her Father.

Yet… the resentment that she had seen in Neji's eyes… and in his father's eyes as well, when he
thought nobody was looking...
She could see the same emotion in her own eyes, when she looked into the mirror. Right under her
covered forehead, where the Caged Bird seal lay. How she hated to look at it.

As she and her platoon got closer and closer to the front lines, she saw more and more burned
villages. There were no people in sight. She preferred not to think of what had happened to them
all.

She could not even tell where they were anymore just by sight. Land of Rivers… Land of Wind…
All she saw was ruins. It was impossible to tell where the border was.

Had Suna done this… or had it been Konoha?

The only thing that she was almost sure of was that Uchiha Sasuke had passed through here. Some
of the stones had been melted entirely, with a flame that was simply too hot to have come from
anyone else on Konoha's side.

Defeat? Victory?

She wanted to laugh.

What did it matter? She was going to be someone's slave, either way.

She just wanted things to go back to normal, whatever that meant now... for the world to start
making sense again.

And she had the feeling it wouldn't.

Hanabi sat in a dark corner of the Konoha camp, not feeling like talking to anybody.

In her lap lay a book that she probably would not admit to reading in public.

"Hanabi."

Her head almost snapped up. She had been too distracted to notice him coming, then. She stood up
to meet him.

"Sasuke." She said, her voice clear.

The Uchiha gave her a thin, tired smile. His Sharingan spun at a slow pace, as it always did.

"Reading anything good?"

"...Not really." She said, kicking the book under a tree stump. If he noticed her embarrassment, he
said nothing. Well, that was Sasuke. Her sister's soon-to-be husband could have some social
graces. Unlike his cousin.

He also knew better than to speak of Hinata right now, apparently. Hanabi and he were not
particularly close, but she could appreciate his company.

"I'm glad you got here safely." He said.

"There wasn't that much danger, honestly." She retorted. "All the fighting was already over."

Sasuke looked away, somber. "Don't worry about that, there will be plenty of that tomorrow."
"…"

He held back a yawn. "I could really use some coffee."

With the alliance with Suna now broken, coffee beans had become an expensive thing again. A
delicacy you would not find on the front lines.

Hanabi snorted. "I think you're shit out of luck, then."

Hyūga didn't curse much, usually, their very strict sense of propriety forbidding it. Hinata
definitely didn't, both of them knew.

Sasuke just laughed.

Naruto woke up to darkness again, his hands bound above his head.

Pain was the first thing his conscious mind registered. His chakra senses were out of reach.

There was the smell of sweat, blood… and something he now knew was to be fear. Strange how
you could get… used to that. And the general sense of violence and hopelessness that permeated
Kumo's underground. Well, Naruto assumed it was the underground, at least. Thinking about it, it
might be a tower, instead.

The fear... was not coming from him.

Which meant he had been moved somewhere else, then.

Naruto knew it had been a few days since he had gotten to the prison. He hadn't particularly
enjoyed Kumo's specific brand of torture until now, and he had the feeling it was about to get
worse.

There was something covering his eyes, and his chest was bare.

Next to him, he could hear someone moaning in pain. He had a cell-mate, then.

"Tell us!"

A smacking sound. Likely a fist hitting flesh.

A man screamed.

"Who killed Hosoi?"

Another fist hit the man.

"You'd better start talking."

Another fist. A scream.

"Who's responsible for his death?!"

The sound of Lightning channeling. The cracking sound of it, the shaky sounds the other detainee
made when it collided with him.

"I don't know anything 'bout that!" A man tried, desperately. Suna accent, Naruto noted, as he
noted... anything by now. There wasn't that much to do here but listen.
"You lie!"

More Lightning being channeled. How Naruto wished he could call upon it to free himself.

With a high-pitched sound, the jailer hit the prisoner again.

No sound came.

"…You might have killed him, man." Someone else said.

"Fuck!" The first man cursed. He then sighed. "Bah. He didn't know anything in the first place."

'Then what was the point of that…?' Naruto thought. 'Are they just blowing off steam again?'

There were sounds of flesh hitting flesh. The first man laughed. No more shouts of pain came.

The Suna prisoner was already dead, after all.

'Bastards.'

"Let's see if this one proves to be more entertaining." The torturer chuckled.

Naruto thought they were talking about him at first.

Even after a few days, he wasn't ready… no one ever was, for torture. But he knew there were only
two outcomes.

Either he lived… or he died.

Talking, putting his friends in danger never was an option. He hoped they didn't run into trouble.
They could handle themselves, he knew. But with the kind of monsters they were already facing…
and those that would come…

No. He shook his head. He couldn't worry about them. It wouldn't help them, anyway.

The torturer didn't go to him.

The beatings resumed, targeting another prisoner.

"Let's start, then. What is your target?"

Punch.

"Is it Kumo's bloodlines?"

Punch.

"Is it our jinchuuriki? Are you trying to kill B-sama?!"

Punch. A scream came.

"Did you plant something within the village?"

Punch.

What the hell were they doing…? The man would never even get the chance to talk, if they kept at
it.
"How did you get in?"

Punch. Punch.

"Talk, you Suna bastard. Once we're done with Kiri, we're gonna crush your home, too." Another
Suna ninja, then. What were they doing here?

The man just moaned in pain, spitting something on the floor.

Punch.

"Who let you in Kumo?"

Punch. Punch. Another scream.

"You're a tough one, aren't you."

The Suna ninja just grunted, never saying anything.

"Suit yourself." The torturer laughed. "We have time. Take him away."

Somebody came to pick the other man.

Cold water splashed Naruto.

"I've heard from Raikage-sama you're a budding Lightning user, huh." The man said. "Let's see
how much that helps you here."

Naruto knew what they were going to do before they started. He braced himself for the electric
shock, trying to call upon his chakra. No answer came, of course.

He knew it already, but old habits die hard.

There was a flash of blue light so strong that he saw it through his blindfold.

"I'm going to enjoy this much more than you, I'm sure."

Five lightning bolts hit his naked torso. He screamed. The man held it for a few seconds.

The smell of smoke rose, coming from himself.

"What did you do to Darui?!"

"Sasori killed him." Naruto grunted.

The other man in the room laughed. "Raikage-sama told us you'd say this. Sasori of the Red Sands
is long dead."

Another arc of electricity hit Naruto. He grunted, feeling as though his teeth were going to break.

"You're the one who did it, aren't you?"

No answer. More Lightning struck him.

None of the questions even made sense. Did they know and just didn't care…? Or were they just
pushing him into taking the blame?
He knew that after a long enough time, most people would be ready to 'confess' anything.

"Tell us!"

Lightning went through his body, stronger than before.

It was a clenching of muscles, entirely unwilling, and he clearly felt the course of the current as it
made its way through his body.

It cut off. He only stopped grunting then.

"Did you kill Darui?" The man whispered softly.

"No."

"Did you kill him?!"

"No."

This time, he was screaming as soon as the lightning left the man's hands.

It felt as though every atom in his body was being shaken as hard and fast as he could imagine…
and more. He couldn't tell how long it lasted.

The pain was absolute, and he couldn't move at all. As though his entire mind were scrambled,
forcing him to jerk and jolt around randomly.

He was seeing weird colors, and something that looked like vibrations.

His heart was pounding, like it was about to explode.

Naruto's teeth were sore from clicking. His throat was raw.

The jutsu cut off.

Ino had explained to him the trick behind not breaking.

He couldn't remember any of it, for the life of him.

Naruto stared at the man, who paused.

"Don't." The man growled.

Naruto blinked. 'Don't what?'

"Don't you dare give me that fucking look."

Naruto continued to stare.

An electric fist smashed into his stomach again.

His nerves were so fried that it felt as though his mind had retreated somewhere else.

Another lightning strike.

It seemed as though they'd go on for a while.

He knew himself, it would take a long while before he came close to breaking.

But every man had his limits.

Oh, he would never betray his friends. There were other things he worried about, though.

On his right shoulder, the Tengu seal was calling to him, despite him having no real access to his
chakra.

Whispering of chaos and conflict.

Waiting for him to accept his fate.

Tempting him.
 Two of These Days

The next morning.

Konoha was waiting for the Suna troops, less than two kilometers away, to engage.

"There's something wrong." Hanabi said, focusing her Byakugan.

Hinata had always had better range than most Hyūga - including Neji back then - extending to
around ten kilometers, if she narrowed it to telescopic vision. And she had the stamina to wield it
for longer.

And Neji had been better at using its panoramic vision, able to make use of multiple insights at the
same time, at a range of up to two kilometers, which was something Hinata simply couldn't do.
And he could focus it to perceive almost anything in a range up to two hundred meters around him
by using the Byakugan's panoramic, telescopic and penetrating vision at the same time.

Hanabi, on the other hand… didn't have Hinata's range. She didn't have Neji's skill with multiple
insights.

What she did have, on the other hand, was the clearest Byakugan in the clan.

Besides walls made of dense chakra, obstacles meant nothing to her eyes.

That included skin, and she could see through a human body with more clarity than even Neji.
Tenketsu that might as well have been invisible to most Hyūga appeared to her in full detail. Which
would have made her a great medic, as well.

But she had always preferred the rush of adrenaline that came with a fight, the feeling of flesh
hitting flesh, testing her mettle, and relishing in a hard victory. Everything else fell to the wayside.

But right now…

Her talents mostly meant that the army that was slowly moving toward their position, hidden deep
in the earth, was entirely visible to her.

"Why the fuck are there Iwa troops so close?!" She asked Sasuke, her team leader, who was
standing next to her. "They're a bit more than five kilometers away, coming from the north east.
We're in Wind, which means they had to cross the whole Land of Rain!"

Sasuke grimaced, looking toward the heavens. They didn't answer his question, whatever it was
that he had asked.

"Call for backup." He said to the nearest scout. "Now."

He turned to Hanabi. "Thank you. We wouldn't have seen them coming without you."

She shrugged.

"As the only Hyūga around, it's my job, isn't it? I'm sure Iwa didn't expect any of us to come
around these parts." She said, without too much bitterness. Sasuke didn't mention it.

"Is a retreat feasible?" He asked, looking as though he already knew the answer.
"No." She shook her head. "There are too many Suna troops around, too. As soon as they'd notice
us leaving, especially if it's an all-out rout, they would have an excellent opportunity of…
maximizing casualties. And it would be even worse if we started fleeing now, because they could
take us down before we got a chance to reform."

Sasuke grunted. He had been afraid of that.

"A fight it is, then. Kojiro!" He called. "Tell everybody to get in the third defensive formation. And
no mud walls, this time. Iwa's on us!"

Which would mean they would have to rely on the forest much more. It was somewhat lucky they
were not too deep in the Land of Wind territory, because there would only be desert to be found
there.

"Ah, and Sasuke…?" Hanabi asked again, just before going to her own position, further away.

"Yes." He answered, putting on his battle armor. He definitely looked like Uchiha Madara's
statues. Which she would never tell him, of course.

"Does Earth have any lava users?"

He paused. "That depends what you mean by lave... but yes." Sasuke hesitated. "Which type are
you referring to? Volcanic ash, quicklime… acid?"

"No." She said, focusing her Byakugan once more to make sure. "Lava lava. There's a guy coming,
his legs wrapped in it."

"…Fuck."

Yugito realized the Six-Tails' jinchūriki was not around Hot Water.

And after a few days, she wasn't certain if he were going to come here at all.

She hadn't seen Naruto's friends since the time they had split, but her sensitive nose had picked up
on Karin's scent recently. She had apparently been headed toward the south. And she wasn't certain
of it, but she thought she could pick up some worry in her scent.

It was hard to tell from this distance, anyway, so she pushed it aside.

There were more pressing concerns. Such as the fight against Kiri ninja, who despite their lack of
jinchūriki, were managing pretty well, so close to the sea.

Oh, her flames would still burn, of course, but she was expanding more of her stamina.

And jinchūriki or not, no one could fight day and night.

The binding seals had been applied upon his back. He could not see how they worked on his own.
Which meant he couldn't undo them.

Naruto had long ago realized that despite what he used to believe before he got some - unwanted -
personal experience with them... chakra-suppressing seals only really stopped the external use of it.

The ones applied on him now still prevented things like elemental manipulation or strengthening,
of course, since these had been some of the main concerns. But these features had to be slapped on
top of the seals, because a pure chakra-suppressing seal wouldn't do that.

Halting the true internal process or chakra production, especially without killing the person who'd
wear the seals, was much more complicated.

The best they could do was slow the chakra flow, and its regeneration rate.

Naruto had more than enough of both, in normal circumstances. Which meant that with a little
pushing and prodding, his wounds — both physical and mental — healed almost as fast as normal.

To his warden's delight.

Here was a prisoner who could take almost any sort of beating, and would be fine in the morning.

He wondered if the man had taken it as a challenge. Because it definitely felt like it.

No, he was not concerned with this aspect in particular, despite how more painful it was making
his life, right now.

The chakra having nowhere to flow but inward, it was feeding into his seals. More than usual.

Pushing them beyond whatever restrictions they still had.

Which meant the process had been happening before, too, even though he had not noticed it. It was
no wonder the Dragon had shifted, in the end. It had just reached its final stage.

It was the same for Magatama, close to his navel, though he had never noticed its appeareance
shifting.

Because how could it still be the same... when it had been the first seal he had painstakingly carved
into himself, the start of everything? There was no way.

And he felt its effects, now. He had thought he was going crazy, at first.

Even from here, he could feel when night fell.

Or rather, he could feel the Moon rise.

Not just the physical moon, the one that hung in the sky, that had a distinctly human-like chakra to
it, strong enough that he could feel it sometimes.

But the Moon, the Night itself.

By now, he knew that the Uzumaki clan had seen something he had previously thought to be mere
superstition. There was something most people could not perceive, behind the curtain.

Or maybe he really was losing his mind.

Whenever the sun faded, Amaterasu receding, he could feel Tsukuyomi's presence make itself
known again. The Night came and the moon and the stars, and all the lights in the sky shone bright.

For a moment, time stopped trickling.

It was beautiful. And humbling.

He had seen something beyond the veil. What could petty human conflict, on such a grand scale,
be worth spilling so much blood, causing so much pain over…?

Naruto already knew that he could not limit himself to seeing the world as most ninja did. It was
just so easy to fall to hatred, the way things were.

Dehumanizing the other guy, the other village, the other Nation. Seeing them as nothing more than
a bag of blood that needed to be destroyed.

And at the same time...

He had finally accepted that there would be people that he would need to kill. Not just Akatsuki.

He'd do his best to minimize the number of victims, of course, but he knew there would simply be
no way around it. Some of them would need to go.

And he would need to keep himself grounded, to not fall into the same pitfalls that other people
who had started with similar intentions had ended up falling into.

Because that's just how rotten the shinobi world really was.

People being murdered was just routine.

Men and women, whose only real ideological difference was that they had been born a few
hundred kilometers away from each other… torturing, raping and killing each other in the most
brutal ways they could think of.

Or maybe they survived, only to be beaten to death during a joke of an interrogation, despite the
official 'regulations' in place. This one, he knew pretty well, by now.

Villages killing their own people, throwing them away once they were of no more use to them… or
it simply was more convenient. Ino.

This was the status quo.

They lived in an era of tension and war. Nothing would make people listen, other than power.

The only difference was how to achieve it, how well you did that… and how history would
remember you. Winners… Losers.

Uchiha Madara, who was considered a betrayer and a madman by today's standards, had known it.

Senju Hashirama, who was considered a peaceful idealist by today's standards, had known it.

Switch a few things around, and the reverse could easily have been true.

As his perspective expanded, he realized that maybe… just maybe, he could do something about
the state of the world, no matter how presumptuous, how arrogant it seemed.

...No.

He would do something about it.

Even if it took some drastic action to do so.

Hanabi, as their team's only Hyūga, fell into more of a support role.
She would prefer being in the thick of it, honestly, but just because she wanted to fight didn't mean
it was the best idea for the rest of them.

Both the Suna and Iwa platoons had stopped moving for a moment, likely smelling something was
off. They still hadn't seen her, but they knew that something had made Konoha change their
strategy.

Iwa would wait until Suna attacked, then.

The stand-off was tense. She could see how nervous some of the Konoha's ninja looked, and
wondered if she was as pale as they were.

It started suddenly. Suna started moving some of their troops, trying to flank them. They didn't
notice the Iwa ninja, apparently. Or they had known all along.

Konoha counter-attacked, a fourth of their numbers going straight for the Suna troops on the side
away from Iwa. Sasuke... split from them, heading straight for Iwa.

Suna's wind jutsu were vicious. Not all of them used Wind as a sharp tool, like the few Konoha
ninja who could use the element did. Why would they, when blunt force worked just as well to
smash into their defenses? A ball of compressed wind shattered against a wall.

Hanabi ducked low, avoiding the worst of the debris.

There were Iwa ninja under them. Good.

"Down under!" She shouted in warning, like they had planned.

Five Konoha ninja weaved hand signs, slamming down their hands on the muddy earth at the same
time.

"Earth Release: Dark Swamp"

The ground beneath them turned into mud suddenly, forcing some of the unlucky Iwa shinobi to
inhale it, instead of the air they normally extracted from the earth with their jutsu.

Konoha was ready for it, and they stood over the mud as if it were water.

"Fire in the hole!" Someone screamed, and they all leaped away. Behind herself, Hanabi could see
the reinforcements had arrived.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball!" Several men shouted at the same time.

One shout came louder over the others.

"Fire Style: Piercing Hellstrike!"

The mud turned into a raging fire pit, and the screams of the people trapped in it echoed in the
forest.

'Oh god, why does it have to be him…?'

Still, she was relieved the help had come so quickly, even though it was only twenty shinobi.
Including…

"Uchiha Toru has finally arrived!"

She hoped this was some sort of weird strategy to draw the enemy's attention on him.

Then he turned serious. "Let's go then, men, women. We have a position to defend."

A burning boulder the size of a carriage hurtled through the air, smashing into the clearing Sasuke
was standing in, alone.

His eyes flashed, and its heat dissipated easily, until only rock remained.

Then came an older man, walking confidently, his chakra reminding Sasuke of his own.

Within him, the One-Tail was silent. As he was most of the time, since he kept it that way with his
Sharingan. Silent and sleeping. Forever waiting. Only strong emotions could stir it from its sleep.

It had the downside of leaving him unaware when another jinchūriki was coming close, but by
now, Sasuke knew damn well the One-Tails was not going to help him with that anyway.

Also, the man's burning chakra was a story in itself, and he didn't need the Beast inside his gut to
tell him that he was dealing with someone like him.

Sasuke nodded in greeting. Enemy or not, this was somebody whose strength he could at least
respect.

"Uchiha Sasuke." He said.

The older man nodded in return. "I'm Rōshi."

Ah, he knew that name. That meant he held the Four-Tails. He wouldn't have figured on his own,
— well, no, he would have, there were only two jinchūriki in Iwa — as he never had been that
great at sensing chakra. If Rōshi wasn't being so obvious about it… he was pretty sure he wouldn't
even have noticed he was a jinchūriki in the first place.

"Came here alone?"

Rōshi guffawed. "Well, I heard about your fighting style before."

"I've heard of yours, too." Sasuke nodded.

"Wouldn't want our poor allies to get caught in the crossfire, huh?"

"No." Sasuke said, smiling slightly. "We really wouldn't want that."

"So." Rōshi continued. "I've been wondering. Which of your flames… or my lava burns the
brightest?"

Molten rock encased his fists, the heat that emanated from it making the air shimmer around him.

Sasuke held his hand out. A dark blade appeared into it, in a wave of flames. Wind screeched
around him, and the next instant, he was covered head to toe in bright flames that didn't burn him.

Rōshi grinned. "It's been a while since I got to let loose. I hope you won't disappoint, Leaf boy."

"Same goes to you, old rock-head." Sasuke slipped into the Uchiha kenjutsu stance, his Sharingan
spinning.
The forest was starting to burn around them.

None of them paid it any mind, their focus staying on their opponent.

They moved.

The Konoha platoon had a Hyūga among them.

'Shit.' Muto Kiyoko cursed. 'A fucking Hyūga.'

No wonder they had known they were coming. What the hell was Suna's intel good for, if they
couldn't pick up on something like this?

They were so fucking unreliable. If this were Iwa, something like this would never have happened.

And their backup had already come, too. Nobody had told them there was another Konoha platoon
close by. Her hand balled into a fist, so tight that she thought she was about to draw blood.

"Don't worry, Muto-san." Okuma cut into her internal monologue, with a reassuring grin. "We
have him, after all. And her too, I guess. Not just this old ape."

She breathed in. Then out. Slowly.

"Yeah." She nodded. "You're right. Sorry, I lost my cool."

The battle had already started.

Rōshi had split from them, going alone against the One-Tail jinchūriki. Well, she didn't worry
much about him. Nor did she care.

He was an old bastard, but a crafty one. He'd do just fine against the much younger Uchiha.

Speaking of Uchiha…

Among several masked men that she knew belonged to Konoha's ROOT division... and from the
side. She spotted the telltale black hair and red eye that meant Uchiha.

His hair was slightly curly, and he was using a short sword. For a short and terrifying moment, she
thought it might be Uchiha Shisui. Which would mean they were all as good as dead.

Kiyoko calmed her beating heart.

'No.' She repeated to herself. 'There is no way Konoha would bother sending him here.'

The man turned fully and she saw an eye-patch, which almost made her sigh in relief. It was likely
the Mirage Blade, then.

Bad, yes. But nowhere near as terrible.

Okuma was already in the thick of the fight and she joined in as well.

The Uchiha's sword flashed, dancing around him. She almost snorted. This level of swordplay was
good… but compared to Okuma's proficiency with twin daggers, he wouldn't last long.

She weaved an Earth technique, shaping a half dome around the Uchiha.
He was trapped, she knew.

And as she expected, Okuma made short work of him, coming out of the dome, his face covered in
blood just a few moments later.

"You got him?" She asked, coming close to him.

"Yes." He nodded, wiping some blood off his forehead. "Let's go. This is only the start."

She took a look at the dead Uchiha. Maybe they could bring the corpse back? There were always
ways they could-

Cold steel bit her neck and she fell to her knees, her ruined throat spilling rivers of blood.

The illusion shattered.

Okuma was dead already.

The last thing she saw was one single red eye, staring at her with a bit of… sadness?

'I don't want your pity, you Leaf-'

Nothing.

Toru… was strong. Really strong. She had never realized. Maybe, just maybe, everything would be
fine.

Then he saw her and grinned. She could see the shadows behind his eyes, though. "Ah, you're here
too, little Hanabi?"

"We're the same age, you… you…" She shook with anger.

How had she thought his coming here could have been good news…?

"Yes…" He nodded sagely. "Let it all out, your anger, your passion!"
 Firepit

A fist encased in burning lava smashed into Sasuke's ribs like a cannonball.

Sending him hurtling toward the pool of liquid fire that already covered what had once been a
forest.

He grunted, and stood up on top of it, his Mangekyō the only thing keeping the heat off of him.

It was obvious both of them intended to finish this fast, striking fast and hard, each blow meant to
either end the battle... or hide the actual finishing move.

Sasuke coughed, cracked his neck and hoped his bruised rib would heal fast.

Standing close and walking toward him was Rōshi, his hands still smoking. He disappeared.

Sasuke dodged under Rōshi's leaping knee strike, pushed forward by a small explosion. His
Sharingan had seen him coming. There was no time for hesitation. Not against an opponent like
this.

Rōshi was too close for a strong sword strike. Sasuke whirled around, lunging forward with a
flaming straight punch.

It connected with Rōshi's back, and Sasuke caught him by his surprisingly durable kimono. He
threw him to the ground violently, his sword flashing into his left hand.

He stabbed down, aiming for the throat.

Rōshi deflected the strike and his katana plunged into the earth instead, turning it to crumbled ash.

Rōshi laughed with bloodied teeth. "Not bad, Leaf boy." The blood in his mouth sizzled. "Not bad
at ALL!"

He spat burning lava right at Sasuke, who leaped away.

Rōshi was upon him, driving him back relentlessly. Just as Sasuke himself was, he seemed to be
immune to the heat of his flames. Or rather, seeing Rōshi's damaged, lava encased fists, he was
too used to it.

But that meant the man wasn't immune to Fire either, despite his bravado.

Sasuke parried with his sword, hoping to cut through the hardened magma. It didn't work, and
parrying Rōshi's extremely heavy strikes were making his forearms shake with each blow.

He slid back, placing the sword next to his hip. He unsheated it again in a flash, and delivered a
flurry of quick wind slashes. The blades of wind crashed harmlessly against Rōshi's arms, which he
used to shield himself. It was a setup, though.

Sasuke cut vertically with his blade, and the very air around Rōshi exploded in a pillar of orange
light.

In the corner of his vision, he saw a shadow leaping.

Of course someone would try to use the opportunity to kill him. His sword flashed again, cutting
through the man's chest like butter. He put his attention back on the fight.

Rōshi leaped at him, covered in already dying flames, a mad grin on his face, both of his legs now
encased in hardened lava.

He was surprisingly agile for an older man, reminding him of a monkey.

Rōshi spun through the air, flipping forward and smashing into the earth with a heavy kick.

Sasuke was already gone.

He had tried Genjutsu earlier, but to no avail. He wasn't as good as Shisui, Itachi… or even Toru, -
which he could admit when his cousin wasn't around - but it should have been enough. Except for
the fact that Rōshi was apparently in constant pain, which meant that most illusions didn't really
hold him.

If he were any better with Genjutsu, maybe he would try to weave this very same pain in an
illusion, but as things stood now, he didn't get much time to think about how he would even go
about it.

Sasuke hadn't spent that much time training his illusion skills with Jiraiya, as his teacher readily
admitted he wasn't all that great with them in the first place.

He crashed into Rōshi again, his drawn sword halting against the rock that encased his midsection.
Sasuke grunted, and pushed him away.

His blood was starting to thunder, and he could feel the Bijū inside his gut begin to stir. A shrill
sound.

"There ain't anything like a good scrap, is there, boy?" Rōshi cackled. He was likely feeling the
same excitation.

The man slammed his hands together and four pillars of lava erupted around them, covering the
entire area in liquid fire. Rōshi stood above it, as though it were nothing but water, volcanic rock
shaping like an armor around him.

"Let's have a go at it again, Leaf boy!" He screamed.

The Lava answered his will, shooting in jets toward Sasuke.

He dashed in, rather than back, trusting his eyes to keep him safe.

Sasuke ran, blade covered in flaming wind chakra. Rōshi grunted in exertion.

The entire pool of lava rose around them. Rōshi was trying to enclose them into a sphere of it.
Sasuke may have the ability to take away the heat of it, but he'd rather not take a swim
into actual lava, jinchūriki or not.

Besides, focusing on not burning away in the lava would mean that he was open to other sorts of
attacks.

For the same reason, he didn't bother trying to escape it, as the sphere was already formed around
him, anyway. He continued sprinting toward Rōshi. Their eyes met, but he didn't bother with any
Sharingan genjutsu.

Time slowed.
Rōshi was wide open.

Sasuke was, too.

Who'd give up first? He knew he was faster than the lava was. He aimed toward Rōshi's eyes,
which were unprotected.

Rōshi realized that, and slammed his foot down, growling. The lava fell away and he dodged to his
left… but that was not it. He had done something.

Jaws made of flaming earth rose and snapped shut around Sasuke, dragging him under the lava.

Ah, it had been a setup from the start.

"Hmm." Rōshi mused.

He knew the attack would not be enough to get rid of the Uchiha. Maybe it would have worked
against that girl from Taki... and even then, he wasn't so sure how tough she really was. There was
probably more to her than what the intel said.

'Ah. There it comes.'

Chakra built up in huge amounts down in the magma pit. There was a sound like screeching.

The lava rose up, forming a dome… before bursting completely, throwing gouts of liquid fire all
around them.

Sasuke rose from it, covered with a beige chakra cloak, flaming sword held aloft. There were no
other flames to be seen, which Rōshi thought could be bad news. There were blue marks covering
the Uchiha's skin, too.

"So we're done with the warm-up, eh?" He chuckled.

Rōshi let his own chakra loose. A red cloak bubbled into existence around him, just as rock mixed
with magma to create another layer of armor. He felt two of his teeth change into long fangs, and
he knew from experience his eyes had turned to blank orange.

Just as the Uchiha's eyes seemed to shimmer between red and gold, in a superposition that was
closer to orange than either color.

Rōshi dropped lower, not dropping on all fours fully, but not wanting to deal with the hassle of
precise motions anymore.

They faced each other, staring.

No shinobi would want to stand anywhere near them. The heat was scorching.

"Let's see you get out of this one, boy."

Rōshi dashed, fist cocked back, his Bijū's fury obvious on his face. He punched Sasuke's face with
all his might, a shattering blow.

His hand had been… stopped?

A wall of flame had sprung to existence between Rōshi and his opponent, blocking his punch
entirely. Sasuke's counterattack came right away, his sword coming down with violence, smashing
into his volcanic armor, cracking it.

Flames... that had weight? Rōshi reared back, focusing chakra through his legs.

Then more of it. And more.

He charged forward, smashing his entire mass into the Uchiha. The flame shield didn't break, but
they were both sent flying, the flames shimmering between them.

Sasuke kicked him in the face. Several times. Rōshi barely reacted, he was much stronger than the
younger man, physically. The Uchiha managed to throw himself off in midair, hitting the lava floor
with a grunt. He sent a burst of flames after him, obscuring his position.

Rōshi extended lava in a pillar around him, catching the Uchiha anyway.

A fist smashed into his face, making him step back a bit. So the boy could pack a punch, then. He
smashed his own fist back, feeling his knuckles reach through the flame shield, sending the Uchiha
hurtling.

Rōshi gathered chakra, jumping into the air. He let loose a burst of pure lava from his mouth,
aiming at melting the brat alive. The Uchiha smashed into the pit, instantly melting what was left
of earth under it. A pillar of smoke rose.

A single blade of cursed wind came out of it, cutting through his armor lightly. The wound
immediately cauterized.

"That's it?" Rōshi guffawed.

"I had to see how fast your regeneration was." The Uchiha spoke for the first time since he had
transformed, his voice lower, stronger. The short swim in the lava hadn't done him any favor, and
his regeneration was the only thing holding his burned skin together.

The smoke cleared entirely, and three copies of the Uchiha were standing next to him.

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough" Two of them weaved.

"Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire" The rest of them finished.

'So he can still use jutsu in this form?' Rōshi thought.

Both jutsu combined into a true wall of pale fire. Rōshi channeled more rock in front of him. Even
the reinforced rock melted away. He grunted, but his bubbling chakra cloak protected him.

"Flames won't cut it, boy. Time to admit i-"

The Uchiha reappeared behind him, sword extended, aiming for his heart.

"They kept you busy, didn't they?" Sasuke shot back.

Rōshi deflected the blade with a rising punch. Then he grabbed the Uchiha's sword hand with his
left, smashing his face with his right hand.

The flame shield shimmered into place again.

Sasuke waved his hand and two of the flames… sharpened?

'What?!'

That was what they did, stabbing into both of the man's eyes. He screamed in raw anger, and
released the Uchiha.

Something slammed into Rōshi's back. A sword, he realized. It hadn't managed to cut through,
though. He thrashed blindly, and hit something that faded into flames.

A clone, then.

"You're a crafty little bastard, aren't you?!"

His only answer was a whirring sound, which reminded him of the previous war.

Rōshi's eyes reformed. He blinked, getting used to his vision returning. Then he blinked again.

The Uchiha had created what looked to be a miniature sun and held it above his head. It radiated so
much heat that the younger man's battle armor, that had mostly held until now, was melting.

There was so much Bijū chakra in it that Rōshi actually felt somewhat worried. Rōshi only noticed
now that the orb was made out of whirling Fire chakra, constantly spilling.

He channeled Lava chakra throughout his entire body, roaring.

'No. That won't cut it.' He thought.

Whatever the boy was preparing was packing a lot of power.

Rōshi drew even more chakra. If he had been able to transform entirely without losing control, he
would have done so.

"Let's see which one is stronger, then. Your little sun or my Lava Pillar."

The sun's color turned darker. Sasuke threw it, keeping his hand extended to guide it.

"Fire Style: Spiralling Sun." The Uchiha called.

Rōshi roared, letting his chakra explode outward, shielding him.

The orb came in contact with the pillar with a terrible sound.

"Guhh!" Rōshi groaned, pushing more against it.

On the other side, the Uchiha was grunting too, straining to keep the orb advancing.

But in terms of raw power, the Four-Tails was in another class, compared to the One-Tail. Rōshi
smiled a bloody grin. For once, he was happy to be carrying the his burden.

He grunted, pushing even more chakra out of his pores. He knew the Uchiha couldn't pull more, as
he was already at his maximal output.

Rōshi wasn't.

He howled in pure fury, the pillar growing larger and larger, the outside of it closer to fire than
actual lava. He'd show the young upstart what being a jinchūriki truly meant.

The orb started to be pushed back, and he grinned.

The Uchiha winced, and Rōshi tasted victory. Then the young man… smiled?

Yes. There was no doubt. He was smiling.

"Finally."

"What?!" Rōshi howled. "How?"

The orb seemed to slip in and it crashed into him, forcing him out of the pillar. He had expanded
too much chakra in the last jutsu, and could feel himself burning, if slower than he should have, if
he had been anybody else. Most of his chakra cloak was consumed, mitigating the damage.

"You overextended." The Uchiha called, letting the Bijū chakra fade. He let out a long breath.
"You focused the Lava chakra in your immediate vicinity, at first. When you went for more...
What was left around you… was closer to flames… Fire chakra. Enough for me to weaken it."

He lifted his eyes, as Rōshi was dragged away by the spinning orb entirely. This was no normal
Sharingan, he knew as much.

"My eyes allow me to control flames. Their heat and their density." He chuckled. "That means
your fires, as well."

"This isn't over, Uchiha Sasukeeeee!"

The orb carried him away, far away from where they had fought.

There, in the sky, it exploded, a raging inferno.

Sasuke's sharp eyes saw Rōshi's form crash down from the sky.

He wasn't sure whether he was alive or not, and for a moment, he considered going there to finish
him. He hesitated.

No, his team was fighting. Their lives were more important.

He started running again, despite the state of exhaustion he was in. That Fire Rasengan had taken a
lot out of him. Forming it, pushing it to its most destructive form, keeping it stable and then
throwing it and holding it together, splitting Rōshi's flames apart…

It had taken all of his skill… as well as both eyes' power. He couldn't remember the last time he
had been so hard-pressed. Sasuke sat down, recovering as much as he could.

'Well…' He chuckled to himself. 'It worked.'

Rōshi crashed down to the floor.

He coughed, spitting out bloody saliva to the ground. He had managed to survive, thanks to his
Bijū's chakra. He took the moment to reflect.

Then he stood up, staring out somewhere in the horizon.

He let out a primal scream of rage.

Then he fell back on his ass, entirely spent. The Uchiha could wait, he had no more strength today.

He heard footsteps close to him and whirled around. How the hell had they sneaked up on him?

There were two men. One had long black hair, and the typical Hyūga eyes.

The other was shorter, and wore an orange mask. Behind it, he could see a Sharingan spinning.

"Ah, come the fuck on! Can't a man catch a break?!"

Close by, Anko cursed and backed away.

She had come herself to speak with Kaede, who was keeping track of Uchiha Sasuke's
whereabouts. Instead, she had found much more. Too much for her, in fact.

Tobi was stronger than her, she had had the time to realize that since last time's fight. And there
was Neji, too. The Hyuuga had likely seen her, too, but for some reason, he had said nothing of it
to his companion.

There was nothing she could do here, short of killing the Four-Tails jinchuuriki to prevent
Akatsuki from getting the Beast out. And die afterwards, likely.

She would keep an eye on the Uchiha from afar — they had a Hyuuga with them too — instead.
That was the best she could do now.

At the same time, it was still night in Kumo.

After yet another enjoyable session of Lightning therapy, the Kumo ninja had moved on to
Genjutsu.

Naruto had mostly lost track of the days, anyway.

For hours on end, Naruto had the distinct pleasure of being submitted to whatever mind-breaking
jutsu the two torturers could come up with.

They had asked for many different things. His role in the Hokage's murder, and Darui's, at first.
Then they moved on to other things. What the seals over his body were for, what he and
Orochimaru were really planning.

He had said nothing. And he wasn't going to.

He still wasn't sure what the Raikage had in mind for him, even now. Taking the Nine-Tails for
Kumo, since he knew about that? He seemed like the type.

Nobody had asked him anything about the Nine-Tails, though.

And what was the point of the torture, here…? Did they have no reliable extraction method?

By now, he knew that the masked man had the Raikage under a genjutsu. But if this were the
case… why wasn't he already in an Akatsuki holding cell? Was the man simply too... stubborn?

The Raikage's actions were erratic.

What was happening...? If this really was a Genjutsu… what was it making the man do, exactly?

Was the man fighting back… or was the Akatsuki busy with something else… that took
precedence over getting his little piece of the Nine-Tails?

Or was someone on their way, someone that simply wasn't as quick as Tobi was?

This was definitely worrying.

And he tried, as he had done so many times already, to push his worry for Karin, Sakura and Ino
away. And Yugito, too. How far under Tobi's spell was the Raikage already? Would he sacrifice
his own…?

He would need to get out of here. Quickly. He wasn't sure how much time he had spent here
already, but it had been too long already.

How could he do that, though?

This time, he had no access to his chakra at all.

The only thing he could feel calling to him was the Tengu seal, begging for a full awakening. But
he had the feeling that this wasn't going to be something he could just do without any
consequences.

Two hours.

He would meditate on it for the next two hours.

Then, if he couldn't find any other option… He would do it, consequences be damned.

The door creaked open.

Naruto's head jolted up.

"Come back for more?" He grunted out, voice hoarse. "I've got a bit of time to spare and
I'm really starting to enjoy our sessions together."

The guard was coming toward him, but… froze? His eyes roamed over him, a horrified expression
over his face.

'What's this about…?'

The man shook his head, steeling himself for whichever brand of fuckery they were about to pull
out on him. The guard came close to him. Naruto stared.

"I've prepared an escape route for us." The guard said. "Go through the Eastern Gate and go south
after that."

Naruto blinked. A trap?

"…You're-"

"Of course it's me… you fool." Ino said, from behind the guard's face, with sad eyes. "Who else
would want to risk so much for someone so stiff anyway?"
 Dawnbreaker

"So, it's really you, then?" Naruto asked, rubbing his sore wrists, once he had gotten down.

"Yes." She said. "I'm sorry I couldn't manage to come in earlier."

"What are you saying?" Naruto gave her a tired grin. "You have no idea how grateful I am that you
came at all."

She took him into her arms, which definitely felt weird, considering she was using the body of
some Kumo guy he didn't even know. He grunted. She realized and let go of him.

Ino gave him a wobbly smile. "It was difficult, honestly."

"How did you get in in the first place…?"

She sighed. "A very long chain of possession techniques."

He gave her a curious look. She continued.

"We had some… insider knowledge of how Kumo's barrier team worked." Ino said. Orochimaru,
of course. "They have sensors constantly on the lookout for non-registered chakra inside the
village's perimeter… and further away, too. And the barriers are good, too, so that's where most of
the security effort goes. Which meant I had to make my chakra - and the link to my body, too -
invisible."

Narutonodded.

"I started from far away, with animals, and slowly switched bodies until I got here. It still took me
the better part of a day." Ino paused, blinking. "Wait, it's night now, right…? Sorry, my mind is a
bit... confused, by now. Karin and Sakura are watching over my body, as we speak, feeding my real
body enough chakra to keep the link open even at this distance. Well, mostly Karin."

"That's… pretty amazing." Naruto breathed out. He hadn't even known this was possible in the first
place.

"We had to work out the specifics, yeah. Do you know how difficult it is to combine the mind arts
with the sealing arts?" Ino asked.

It had taken some complicated designs Ino didn't really understand at all, among other things.

Naruto chuckled. "Yeah, I can only imagine." Ah, yes. "Can you help me remove these seals?" He
asked, pointing at the binding seals that had been applied upon his back, where he could not reach
on his own. Smart move from Kumo, he had to admit.

Ino froze. "There's a small problem…I can't use any chakra right now. Only the possession
technique, and a shoddy memory wipe when switching. That was the limit. We bound the rest
away to avoid detection and save on chakra, too. And that's how I got in."

"Ah..." Naruto winced.

"The jutsu is going to break soon, too, I can feel it." Ino muttered. "So we're going to have to
prepare your escape."
Ino took a closer look at Naruto.

For someone who had spent close to a week in Kumo's tender care… He seemed
normal. Too normal, in fact. Something here was wrong, Nine-Tails healing his body and mind or
not.

While Konoha had some regulations concerning prisoners' treatment, — well, no, Danzō was in
power now, so that was likely to change — Kumo had no big rules when it came to that. Iwa was
even worse, according to rumors.

'If the rock-heads get you, death will be a relief, girl.' Her aunt had told her, getting into too much
detail, years ago.

Besides his raw voice, — a sign that he had been screaming a lot — he looked as though nothing
had happened at all.

Even now, Ino knew she had not recovered fully, when it came to the mental trauma that had
followed her stay in Konoha's cells. So sure, he could be hiding it… but from what she could feel
of his thoughts, almost nothing of the torture was on his mind.

Well… She amended herself. Maybe he was just very goal-focused right now, and he would only
feel the effects later. Maybe.

But that was just the mind part.

Looking at him, it was no wonder something about his body had seemed strange. She could see it,
even now, after a week of eating next to nothing.

The way his body almost seemed to stay within the realm of plausibility, but instinct told her that
muscle — when it wasn't trained for show — just wasn't supposed to look so dense. Not in humans.
And even now, he looked the exact same as he did when he was eating enough food for three
people, already fading wounds notwithstanding.

Whatever it was that he had done to himself by carving runes into himself had changed more than
just his body.

When he had found her in Konoha, she had been close to unresponsive.

On the other hand, right now, Naruto... had an almost uncaring look on his face. He was just
thinking about how to escape.

She had been wrong. He had changed.

And either he had never realized the change was happening at all… which she didn't believe for
one second. Naruto was way too observant for that.

Or he didn't care. Not anymore.

Kumo's detection system was a marvel.

A mix of technology, chakra sensing and sealing arts, it allowed the village to track any
noteworthy form of chakra within a huge range, spanning further than the village itself.

Prisoners were registered into the system, and as such… The moment their chakra was detected
outside of where they were supposed to be, — rotting in a cell — the nearest Kumo shinobi would
be notified of it. But the prison's security was tight, with only one real way out, anyway.

Again, the system was a marvel.

Which meant they relied too much on it. And somebody willing to bind their chakra entirely
could theoretically slip in or out.

"So tell me, Ino." Naruto asked, as she helped put him back in a position that would look as though
he were detained, but that would allow him to break free easily.

"Yes?"

"What happened while I was asleep?" He asked, not expecting much.

She froze.

"Damn. It's true, you haven't heard. Iwa has joined the war."

"Ah… Fuck."

That about summed it up.

"Yeah…"

"Against Konoha and Kumo, I guess." He was just making sure.

"Yeah. They still have some trade agreements with Suna, too, so… I guess you could call both of
them allies."

"I guess it's the start of a Great War again…?"

"I would say so." Ino muttered.

They said nothing for a while.

"The jutsu will break soon." Ino winced.

"…I see."

"I'm sorry I couldn't bring you any sort of weapon. They're forbidden down there, and I couldn't
sneak anything in."

"I'll manage." He chuckled. 'Probably.'

"Do you remember where to go?"

"You've only told me three times, by now."

She hesitated. "Then I'll see you there."

"Only you?"

"Sneaking a single person so close to Kumo is going to be bad enough." She chuckled.

"Alright. And Ino…" He started.

"…Yes?"

"Be careful, please."

She touched his cheek lightly.

"When have I not been?"

He could think of a few examples, but let it go.

Ino had left before the jutsu broke entirely. He knew that the next time he'd see the guard she had
possessed, the man would not have any memories of this.

She had tried describing what the seals on his back looked like, but she was pretty… bad at the
sealing arts, and they didn't have much time anyway, so he was pretty much screwed, when it came
to undoing them.

Well, if Kumo relied on chakra sensing as much as she had said, maybe this was a blessing in
disguise. She had told him there were not that many guards around the prison, since it was late at
night. Kumo was that confident in their holding system.

Well, no wonder. Without a little help from the inside, there was almost no way of getting out. And
considering how serious Kumo took traitors, and as a result, how loyal their forces tended to be…
there was no reason for them not to feel safe.

Naruto rubbed his sore wrists, stretched his limbs. He waited.

If his intuition was right, someone would come to wake him up soon enough. Sleep deprivation
was pretty effective in getting someone to break, and it had been more than a hour and a half since
the last time the guy had come.

The door slammed open. The time had come, then.

Naruto kept his hands above his head, pretending to still be shackled. The man chuckled. He then
threw ice cold water at him.

"Wakey wakey!"

The freezing water ran down Naruto's body, and he held back a shiver. He kept his eyes closed.

"I said wake up!" The man threw more water at him.

Naruto muttered something rude in answer.

"What was that?" The guard asked, delighted. There was his opportunity to blow off some steam.

Naruto muttered something rude, involving a pack of dogs and his mother. The man blinked,
before turning both angry… and excited. He came closer.

"I think… I didn't get to hear what you said. Care to repeat?" He chuckled, putting his face close to
Naruto's.

His purple eyes snapped open, startling the man. Naruto's hands flashed, fast even without his
chakra. He grabbed his head and twisted. Hard.
The man barely had time to let out a single noise.

Naruto looked down at the corpse, unsure what he was supposed to feel. This guy had been
particularly cruel, needlessly so, even for a torturer the few times he had encountered him. He had
killed a prisoner on Naruto's third day here. Takagi, from Kiri. He had dragged a woman away,
never to be seen again. No name.

Well. Naruto had meant it. Some people needed to go. There probably wouldn't be anyone to miss
him, anyway.

It was surprisingly easy, too easy in fact, to justify this sort of cold-blooded murder as necessary.
He would have to be careful.

He pushed the corpse to a dark corner of a cell, before figuring there was a better way. He took the
man's clothes, loose enough to fit him, and dressed the corpse with his own rags. Then he shackled
the guy's wrists, the way he himself had been positioned before.

He checked the pockets, and unfortunately, there was nothing of use there, besides bandages, as
Ino had said. Nothing really sharp. And she had also said something more worrying. They only
opened the doors to the building after thoroughly checking the identity of the person who was
entering or leaving.

'Alright. How to do this…?'

His first idea had been to free the other prisoners and cause some sort of riot. He dismissed it
quickly.

Twenty unarmed, weakened ninja who didn't even have access to their chakra, against one of the
strongest villages? Yeah, no, this would never work.

He would free them if he could, but they were on their own after that.

If the timings were the same as usual, he would have a bit of time before anybody else came. He
would use this respite to plan and get out.

After checking the other cells and realizing there was nobody else on this floor at the moment,
Naruto realized he had to continue.

There was a sink, with no mirror. He used it to clean himself quickly, face and hands. The rest
were hidden behind the Kumo uniform anyway. Hopefully he didn't smell too bad. He knew his
hair was so grimy it looked mousy brown again.

He considered the bandages, and wrapped his hair the same way Yugito had done hers, which took
him a few tries, and a whole lot of effort. Then he wrapped the bandages around his face loosely,
hiding his whiskers.

Then he went down the stairs at the end of the corridor, silently. There were footsteps coming, so
he flattened himself against the wall, hoping his scent didn't carry that far. He crouched in the
shadows.

A man passed by, whistling.

Naruto bent over, and saw there was a chair and a desk at the end of the corridor, facing the length
of it.
'If that guy sits there… I'm done.'

Before he could think it through, he started walking along the corridor, making no sound as he
went. He didn't dare turn around, because it felt as though if he hesitated a single second, he would
get caught.

Naruto almost froze.

There was a man behind one of the cells' bars, staring at him with lucid blue eyes. He swallowed a
curse. If that guy said anything… anything at all…

The man looked at him straight on. Naruto stared back, still walking. It was obvious that he was
trying to sneak out, anybody who saw him like this could tell.

Something like understanding passed between them.

The man retreated in his cell, an amused grin stretching his dry lips.

Naruto's heart started beating again. He disappeared in the staircase just as the guard sat down at
his desk.

There was no time to rest. He went down several floors, without meeting anybody.

Then it hit him.

He knew exactly how to get out here. He had already done it once, after all. Why had he tried so
hard to make up a convoluted plan on the spot?

And how did Kumo dispose of corpses, again…?

The next floor was full of people. Some eating, some chatting. There would be no avoiding them.

But he had something working in his favor. He had seen these people before. And if they had seen
him coming in, they probably saw a blond man being dragged off by a guard or two. The Raikage
would not bother coming here by himself, likely. Again, he had enough smeared blood through his
hair that it looked brown… if they didn't bother looking too close.

God, if Ino ever learned how brazen this was going to be, she would kill him. He could almost hear
it. 'I went through all this trouble… and you pull this sort of stunt?!'.

He couldn't blame her.

Well, if this didn't work, he had one last bluff up his sleeve.

He reminded himself that he knew a whole lot more about them than they did about him. Then he
practiced his Kumo accent, muttering to himself. They had an accent, despite what Yugito kept
insisting on.

Naruto steeled himself. Then he walked into the room, looking as if he belonged here.

A few conversations stopped, and he felt several pairs of eyes set on him. He ignored them. Just
like he ignored the voice in the back of his head, the one that told him this was going to be the
dumbest mistake he had ever made in his short life.

Naruto walked with purpose, face thunderous.

He went to the first person he could see, and asked him, loud enough to be heard by about half of
them, "You! Tell me. Who the hell killed that Suna bastard?"

Naruto thought he sounded pretty convincing.

"Which one?" Somebody asked, sounding bored.

"You know exactly the one." Naruto shot back.

Someone else answered, "I think Warui did, my man."

Good. This man, Warui, he knew already. He could bluff his way through this and find where they
put the corpses.

The first man he had asked groaned. "What, for real…? Again?"

"Well, tell this Warui that this shit won't fly!" Naruto roared.

"The fuck, man? Why are you yelling at me?! Say this shit to him yourself!" He shot back.

"I would, if he was around! I've been looking for a while now." He pretended to calm down some.
"But you're right. It's not on you… my man. When will he come in?"

"Seven." Somebody told him, cutting through the tension. "But… he tends to come closer to nine,
really."

Naruto let out a long-suffering sigh. "That's hours away. You guys know where the body's stashed
now?"

"Why do you even care that much?" The first guy asked, suspicious. He was pretty sure he had
never seen him around. Sure, there were lots of shinobi he didn't know here, and the prison was a
pretty big complex overall, but he had been working here for a while… and this guy was pretty
noticeable.

"Look… Sorry. What's your name?" Naruto asked, and the man answered. "Sorry, Mendoi. I lost
my temper here. It's just…" He scratched his head. "I helped bring this guy in and he had some
precious intel. To hear he was killed like that…"

"Just bring him to the forensics." A man grunted. "They probably won't be able to do much, this
bunch of lazy corpse-fiddlers, but who knows, eh? Maybe they'll earn their wages, for once."

"Yeah." Naruto sighed again. "That's my best bet, I guess. Corpse's on the lower floor?" He
hazarded a guess.

"No, still on this one, lower one's full." Pretty terrible implication there. "Suzuru's watching over
the room today, I think. Ask him. But be quick about it, I think Taro and Sakuma wanted to throw
the stiff in the Yubari. Something about the dune-dwellers not even deserving to be burned. Can't
say I disagree." The man chuckled lowly.

Naruto tried to guess what the Yubari was. The river flowing down the mountain, he was pretty
sure. This might be even better than expected.

"I see. I'll have to get there before they do, then. Wouldn't want the intel to spill down a river."

The man nodded, which confirmed what he had thought.

"Better go now, they won't want to waste any time."

Naruto nodded, giving them short thanks. To the first man…

"Sorry again." He said, turning to leave.

"Just fucking go." Mendoi said, feeling tense.

Naruto let out a long shuddering breath once he was outside.

His hands were shaking. But he couldn't afford to be seen like that. He hurried toward the
makeshift morgue, only giving terse nods to the guys he passed on the way.

This could work. He would have settled for going through an incinerator, provided the chimney
was large enough to climb out of - if there even was one -, or being buried in a mass grave. He was
strong enough to crawl his way out of that, he knew.

But throwing the body in the river, then? That was perfect.

A man was guarding the entrance of what could only be the morgue. Suzuru, then. No one else
was around right now. Naruto improvised, channeling his inner Orochimaru, faking emotion once
more. Well, no. Orochimaru would call this whole plan a harebrained scheme.

"Suzuru-san! There you are." He said, in fake relief, sprinkled with some tired frustration.

"Huh…?"

"Dodai-sama was looking for you." Naruto said, falling back on the name of somebody important
he had overheard during a particularly lengthy session of torture.

"What, really?" The man looked nervous. That was a good sign.

"Yes. And he looked pretty mad about it, too. He sent me here to tell you to get there
immediately."

The man cursed. "Fuck. Do you know what this is about?"

"No idea. But I think you'd better hurry. I'll cover for you in the meantime."

The man hesitated.

"He told you to do so..?"

"Yeah." Naruto nodded. "And he also told me to relay this message to you."

"What is it?"

"'I'll demote this lazy fucker down from the morgue to the sewers if I have to.'" Naruto shrugged.

Suzuru cursed again, and left running down the stairs. So the exit was even further down, then?
Well, he wasn't going there anyway.

He entered the morgue, made sure no one was around once more, and located the corpse of the
Suna ninja. He was already wrapped inside a thick sack, so he had to waddle through several of
those that were crudely marked as "Suna" to find him.
He removed the corpse from the sack, bundled it with a smaller one — that he'd rather not dwell on
too much — and took his place. He went in, head first, closing the bag from the inside.

Naruto waited, trying to keep his beating heart under control and his breathing silent.

"Goddamn!" Sakuma groaned, picking the suna ninja's corpse and throwing it over his shoulder.
His knees almost gave out on him, and he had to use his chakra to stay up.

"What is it?" Taro asked in confusion, the corpse of a Kiri woman slung over his back like a sack
of potatoes.

"What the fuck do these Suna guys eat?"

"This guy heavy?"

"Man, you have no idea." He grunted. "I didn't even know people in Suna had regular access to
food."

They started walking down the stairs and toward the exit.

The guards at the entrance confirmed their identities, and they went out of the building. They
passed Suzuru on the way, who was rushing back in, looking worried.

Taro laughed, "This guy seems terrified. What do you think happened?"

"That's Suzuru. Probably got caught fucking corpses." Sakuma grunted. "Wouldn't surprise me
from this dumb bastard."

They carried the corpses through the Northern Gate. There, at the edge of the cliff, they set both of
them down.

They took the woman by her hands and feet, and swung her back and forth, before letting her go
with a chakra-enhanced throw. She fell into the rapids and disappeared there, going to the east.
Maybe the currents were strong enough to carry her close to the Land of Water.

It would serve these assholes well. She had been someone important in life, apparently.

They bent down again. "Holy shit, you weren't kidding. Fucker's made of stone."

"Told ya. Can't blame him. I'd eat lead myself, if I was born in this god-forsaken desert." Sakuma
grunted.

Back. And forth.

Back. There it went! It had almost hit the cliff, because the guy was too damn heavy.

Still, the Suna ninja's corpse fell into the cold waters down below. Already, they could see it being
carried off.

Sakuma threw the stiff a last mock salute.

"Alright." Taro said. "Let's get back to the actual work."

Sakuma grunted in answer, both corpses already forgotten.

 Morningstar

It turned out that Toru and Hanabi made for a decent team, surprisingly.

Her Taijutsu was swift and devastating, which made any diversions he could provide with his
Genjutsu deadly.

He himself was no slouch in close-quarter combat, and with the Sharingan's ability, it was easy for
him to weave through her strikes, which led to more than a few enemies to get hit by a Gentle Fist
strike they had not even seen coming.

And the fact that her eyes cut through all of his area-affecting Genjutsu meant that he could fight
without feeling restrained. That meant that the two of them fought away form the rest of their
platoon, which had the added bonus of splitting the Suna and Iwa forces in two.

Toru's thrown kunai found its way into the eye of a Suna ninja, just as Hanabi killed a woman from
Iwa with a strike to the heart.

"You're pretty good." He smiled darkly, her back pressed against his, as they spun in a deadly
dance.

"Shut it." Hanabi shot back, keeping track of the growing number of ninja coming toward them.

They wouldn't be able to go on like this, and she relayed the information to Toru.

"Alright." He said. "I can do something about that. How is our platoon faring?"

"They're doing well, now. Suna is backing away, there. Iwa, as well."

"Good."

Toru cast a fire jutsu, obscuring the enemy's view of them. And theirs, as well, but their eyes could
see things beyond that.

"Duck." Hanabi called sharply. Toru hit the deck, taking her word for it. The Air Palm smashed
into a Suna ninja's throat, leaving him to choke on the ground. Toru nodded to her in thanks. He
had seen him coming, but was still glad for the help.

His blade plunged through the man's throat, granting him a quick death, at least. Toru moved,
projecting the illusion that he was going left around him. At the same time, he tricked one
unsuspecting woman into believing she had managed to kill the Hyūga with a crushing blow to the
forehead. Hopefully they wouldn't stop for a dead branch Hyūga with ruined eyes.

Instead of doing just that, he stepped back, taking cover behind a wall. Hanabi did just that, as well.

The moment after, an Iwa ninja's earth jutsu collapsed the whole area he had been standing on.

Toru weaved a suggestion, staring into the eyes of a man who had known where he really was. One
of Iwa's earth sensors, then. He relayed inaccurate information to his commander, which he relayed
in turn. The Iwa ninja went away in the wrong direction.

He, Hanabi and the other survivors waited. And waited a bit longer.

Toru let out a long sigh. Only Konoha was left.

"Why aren't we going after them?" Hanabi asked harshly. "The back of their formation is
unprotected."

"And then what…?" Toru muttered. "There are way too many of them, and… not so many of us
anymore." He motioned to all the dead Konoha ninja, who lay around the area.

"Still, we should do something!" She insisted.

Toru sighed. This was why he hated dealing with people who just arrived at the front. "This is not
a good idea." He said simply. "Our goal is not extermination, it is to defend this position."

"And killing them would accomplish just that."

"It would also accomplish killing the last fifteen of us." He retorted, trying to keep his annoyance
out of his tone.

"You're-"

"Tell me where they're going." He said, staring at her with his single eye.

She held back a shiver. It was strange, seeing this man, who she had always seen as an unreliable
fool, look so serious.

So she listened, activating her Byakugan. "They're headed to the fortress the Suna ninja used to
occupy before the first Konoha platoon came and firebombed them. Three kilometers to the west."

Toru nodded. They probably intended to occupy it themselves. Well, Konoha would show them
why this was a bad idea. "What of Suna?"

"The Iwa platoon leader is talking to the Suna woman who led the Suna troops since their
commander fell."

"Of course." He muttered.

Toru stood up.

"Where are you going?" Hanabi asked.

"Well, we can't exactly let them have the fortress, can we now?" He just asked.

"But you said-"

Toru faced his platoon and started speaking, his voice carrying easily to the troops.

"Alright. Iwa is headed toward Bansai Fortress. If they take it… it's going to be a pain in the ass to
kick them out. They're not as… flammable as Suna was, in the same position, let's say." A few
scattered laughs. "And we don't want Suna to retake it either, do we?"

They stomped their feet. "No!"

Toru nodded. "That's what I thought. So let's regroup. We're going to take the fortress ourselves,
kick Iwa back to their neutral country, and continue our push through Wind. Sounds good?"

"Yes!"

'Damn, I could be home, having a fun date if it weren't for meddling old men.' Toru thought.
Sasuke came to their camp soon after, his clothes torn.

Toru whistled. "Show-off. You never miss a single opportunity to show some chest, do you?"

Sasuke gave him a blank look. "That's something you would do."

"You wound me, cousin."

Sasuke gave him a tired smile.

"Is the Iwa jinchūriki alive?" Toru asked.

"Yeah, I'd say so. That old man was too tough to die after a fire rasengan, I'd say. I came back as
soon as I could… Too late, though."

Toru gave him a strange look. "Even after a Fire Rasengan…? How…? Is that guy built out of
reinforced diamond or something?"

Sasuke snorted.

"Did you hear from Shisui?" Toru asked, tone hesitant. "Ever since we got split…"

"No." Sasuke shook his head. "I haven't."

"Anybody else…?"

Sasuke thought about it. "Kiyoko, Tetsuya and Masato — Yoshikawa, not Ishida — are dead." He
said bluntly.

Toru winced, saying nothing.

"…Kaji, too." He ended up saying.

"Ah. I see…"

"It's…"

"Yeah?"

"So fucking pointless, all of it. Isn't it?" Toru asked, not really looking for an answer.

"…Yeah." Sasuke nodded. "I'm not sure what's the end-goal here, either. And with Iwa thrown in
the mix, too…"

They had sent a messenger bird as early as they could, of course.

"It feels like the world's ripping at the seems." Toru said, his lone eye dark.

"…"

They said nothing for a while. They knew each other well enough not to need more words to
express what they felt.

Toru snorted suddenly, breaking the tense atmosphere.

"What is it?" Sasuke asked, now curious.

"Remember that time, back when we were kids, we stole from Shisui's money jar?" He said
through his chuckles.

Sasuke did. A guilty smile stretched over his lips. "Yeah. We blew it all on candy."

It had been before they had graduated the academy and neither Sasuke's parents nor Toru's aunt
had wanted to give them any money for it. The last straw had been Shisui taunting them about it,
so of course… they had ended up going through his wallet.

After eating enough candy to get themselves sick, they walked around Konoha's shopping district,
people watching and window shopping. They had made stories about the people passing by,
creating little narratives about their lives.

The people who looked angry, those who tried too hard. After that, they went looking for drawing
supplies for Toru. Of course, Shisui had found them easily, and had been somewhat unamused.

Seeing their now guilty faces, — neither could remember if they actually felt guilty at the time,
though — he had ended up buying the supplies himself, and a few tomatoes for Sasuke. Rewarding
bad behavior, he had called it.

It had become a fond memory, by now.

Both of them turned at the same time. Someone was running at them. It was Hanabi, who
looked… scared?

"There is something falling down on us." She screamed. "Right now!"

Both of them looked toward the sky. She had been right, a large white… thing was silently coming
straight at them.

"How much chakra is packed into this shit…?" Toru asked. If he could see it from this distance…

"If it is what I think it is… Too much to run now." Sasuke said. "Gather the people, now!"

Just a few moments later, two things happened. A pink spectral shroud flashed around them.

And the world exploded.

"Your art is not so bad, for a Suna kunoichi, yeah." Deidara nodded in appreciation. In Iwa, they
rarely got to enjoy such fine things, so this war was a dream come true for him. Finally, an
opportunity to practice.

"It would cost you nothing to keep your thoughts to yourself." His companion said. She was a
woman with dark green hair — with orange tips — tied up in a bun. "But yes, it makes for a strong
combination." Pakura admitted.

"Indeed." Deidara nodded, grinning. "By the way, what are you doing la- Whooaa!"

He threw his bird to the right, doing a barrel roll to avoid the pillar of flame that suddenly rose
from the earth.

Deidara chuckled. "So this is not going to be as boring as expected, yeah?"

"Focus on the objective, please." Pakura grunted.

"I can do both easily."

Pieces of desiccated clay rained down from the sky.

They seemed to rumble, before shifting into humanoid figures.

Sasuke's large, tanuki-shaped Susanoo faded away, until only pink wisps of chakra remained.

Kazuki and Sadao were about to attack when Sasuke held a hand up.

"Don't." He said. "They're made of the same explosive material. Leave this to us, there's a fortress
to take. Sadao will take the lead of the platoon."

"Yes, sir." He nodded. "You've heard him, men, women!"

Toru moved close, unsheathing his wakizashi again. "That includes you, Hanabi." He said,
addressing the Hyūga who was definitely not moving.

"What?!" She shot back. "I'm more than-"

"Get out of here." Toru said, looking at her seriously. "This is out of your league and I won't have
you die for nothing."

"Don't-"

"You're going to kill us all, if you stay here." He said, not even looking at her.

She screamed something. Sasuke cut her off by erecting a wall of flame between them.

"Hanabi." Sasuke gave Hinata's sister a long look. "Go with our men. The objective comes first.
We'll handle these guys."

With a last heated glare, she left with the troops.

"Domestic trouble?" Pakura laughed, coming down to the earth on an orb of red flame.

"Not exactly." Toru answered slowly. "It's just-"

He saw Sasuke move before he did, his eyes detonating the orb the Suna woman was standing on.
They both moved as one person, weaving through the clay figures without touching them, never
getting caught in the blast whenever Deidara detonated them.

Sasuke's blade went high, blazing, and Toru's own went low, cutting the woman in three pieces.

"It's a clone." Sasuke said, right before she detonated and he had to contain the strange flames she
produced. He noticed they still dried his hand out, and so did Toru.

"Yeah, I knew that already."

"So… Which one do you want to take on?"

Toru just grinned in answer.

Uchiha Toru came out of the smoke first, leaping over a platform of flame Sasuke had likely
created, reaching for the skies in a Body Flicker that left a remnant of flames behind him.

Deidara had learned how to fight Uchiha from Ōnoki himself. Against this particular one, he knew
he had to avoid looking at the eye… or the sword too much.

"Reaching for me directly, yeah?" Deidara laughed, opening his arms wide, letting a dozen of clay
birds fly free. Toru weaved hand seals, releasing a flurry of smaller flames in answer.

"Fire Stye: Scatter Flame."

The birds detonated in a plume of smoke. Deidara flew higher and Toru missed him entirely. Then
he stopped in midair. Over a platform made out of solid flame.

'What?!' Deidara thought. He looked down, where he could see Uchiha Sasuke battling Pakura, his
hand extended toward the skies. 'Shit, they're really used to fighting together, huh?'

Steel bit into his flesh and Deidara had to pull off a last-minute substitution, before detonating the
clay he had switched with. Toru pushed off from it when he noticed, managing to avoid the worst
of the explosion.

'How…? He was too close to the blast, wasn't he?'

"Scorch Release: Scorching Wave."

Pakura called the name of her technique, three orbs of red flame dancing around her like miniature
suns. She had realized a few things during their short fight.

"Your eyes can't control my Scorch release directly, can they?"

Uchiha Sasuke said nothing. It was obvious he was still reeling from a previous fight today. Maybe
she'd get to kill the bastard who had stolen from Suna, then. And eyes that could apparently control
fire or not, he was definitely not using the ability much right now.

"And your chakra is already running low." She smirked.

He still said nothing, opting to run at her, his dark sword extended. She threw the orbs around him,
forcing him to dance around them. She had him where she wanted.

Sweating and sweating, until he'd be sucked dry.

"And finally… The heat is affecting you. You can't afford to summon more fire now, because
you're already losing too much water."

Pakura weaved hand signs. More orbs joined the previous ones. Uchiha Sasuke continued to weave
around them, but it was a losing battle. It was clear to her he was all too used to fighting using his
Fire shield. This was what made her a terrible opponent for him.

"Yeah that's true." He admitted. "You're trying to mummify me, aren't you?"

"There's no 'trying' here, I can assure you." She said, amused, making sure not to meet his eyes.
"The moment you use Fire, you're a dead man, jinchūriki or not."

"I see…"

Still, she could see chakra pooling through his dark blade. He apparently didn't believe her.
"Don't say I didn't warn you." She laughed, adding more chakra to her jutsu. The heat became
unbearable, even to her. She could see the Uchiha looking weary, too. He mumbled something.

"What was that?" She asked. "Is your throat getting dry, maybe?"

"I said…" Uchiha Sasuke repeated, forcing her eyes to stay on the sword. She was transfixed.
Something was wrong with her, she could feel it. The orbs escaped her control, dissipating into the
air. How was he doing this…?

"That it's lucky I'm not really that fond of using Fire style, then, huh?"

The first illusion fell away, revealing a battle-worn Uchiha Toru.

"What?!"

His katana was replaced by a wakizashi, too. Pakura still couldn't move, and he forced her to meet
his eye.

"You really talk too much." He paused. "Well… me too."

The blade struck, piercing through her skull in a direct hit.

"Genjutsu sure feels anticlimactic." Toru muttered over her dead body. "I really should have
focused on something flashier."

Still, he closed her eyes before sealing her away. Maybe there was something they could learn
from her corpse, as unpleasant as the idea still was.

"Ah shit." Deidara muttered, flying high up in the sky again to avoid the pillar of flame Sasuke had
summoned once their deception was revealed.

How had the Suna kunoichi managed to get herself killed so quickly…? Wasn't that other Uchiha
guy supposed to be mid jonin level at best…?

If he had to deal with the jinchūriki and another Uchiha whose actual skill level was unknown…
Well, maybe he could pull it off, he wasn't one of Iwa's best and brightest for nothing.

But he'd really prefer not to. There would be plenty of better opportunities to get rid of the Uchiha
than a two on one battle.

He rolled away again, narrowly missing getting by the Uchiha, who seemed to have turned himself
into a fiery comet of sorts.

In the background, he could see the Iwa and Suna troops pulling away from Bansai fortress. Yeah,
no fuck that, he was not going against an entire platoon. He could likely try dropping a bomb, but
he didn't think either of the Uchiha were going to let him pull out anything that might actually do
some real damage. And there was this pink shield thing, anyway.

He'd come back with the Demolition Corps to destroy the fortress the Leaf ninja had apparently
taken over. The old Tsuchikage would understand.

Maybe.

Sasuke and Toru headed to the fortress next, once they were certain Deidara was not about to bomb
anything else today.

"Man, this trick works all the time." Toru chuckled. It was not the first time they switched during a
battle, and it had come in handy before. Sasuke smiled lightly, now truly spent. He would crash
down once this was over, he was sure of it.

"Let's not rely on it too much." He said. "If the word gets out, there won't be much of a point to it
anymore."

"Sure, sure." Toru waved off. "You're just mad you couldn't get your own opponent."

"Mad…? Me?" Sasuke asked. "I don't care if the guy fled, it's just less trouble."

"I don't care at all, I'm Uchiha Sasuke and I'm so fucking cool." Toru mimicked, in a baritone
voice.

"I don't talk like that." Sasuke said hotly.

"I don't talk like tha-" Toru ducked to avoid a weak fireball.

"You guys… already took the castle?" Toru blinked.

Sadao answered, grim pride in his voice. "We did, with minimal trouble, too. Suna and Iwa are
backing away entirely, Hyuuga Hanabi confirmed there was no trickery here. Nobody died, but
Subaru's leg got injured, Ki-"

"Come with me." Sasuke interrupted. He needed to sit. "You can give me the full debrief over
something warm to drink."

It had been a long, long day. Sadao accepted easily, grateful for the chance to sit down for a bit.

Toru went to sit down in between Eiji and a shell-shocked Katsuro. He wrapped an arm around the
man's shoulders, not saying much.

'Ah.'

He noticed Hanabi sitting in a corner alone. He would have gone to apologize right away, but the
glare she was sending him dissuaded him. Yeah, she probably hadn't liked being dismissed like
that too much.

Tomorrow, then.

In the fortress, shortly after, while the rest of the Konoha troops celebrated their victory, Hanabi
stiffened.

Not because of the woman she had seen, camping alone in the forest. Whoever she was, she was
staying away from them.

There was something else.

A few kilometers away, someone, who she had only noticed now, was staring at her, his Byakugan
active, with a casual expression. That was Neji, no doubt.

She stood up abruptly.

"Something wrong?" Sasuke asked, tone deceptively light. He looked like he needed to sleep for
three days.

"No." She walked away from the festivities. "I need some fresh air, that's all. Don't worry about
me."

Toru's eye was on her, unreadable.

A bit earlier.

The Four-Tails jinchūriki was done for.

Tobi slung him over his shoulder, waiting for Neji to come closer so that he could warp them to
Rain. Neji, who was strangely silent.

"What are you waiting for, exactly?" Tobi asked, his voice low.

"…There's something I need to do." He just said in answer.

Tobi gave him a hard look. "We already have the Four-Tails. Don't try anything with the One-Tail
now. Our whole plan is going to become much more complicated to execute if we can't blame
Konoha for this one disappearing."

"Don't worry about it, I won't approach him at all." Neji retorted.

Tobi stared a bit longer, before disappearing entirely with their target in tow.

Neji started walking closer to the fortress, until he was sure he was within Hanabi's range. He
stood there waiting, staring at her.

There. She noticed him.

As he had expected, Hanabi was now running toward him at full speed, anger obvious on her face.
Alone.

Neji chuckled to himself. "No, I don't think the Uchiha will even notice I was here at all."
 Twisted Horizon

"Neji!" Hanabi called. She was almost shouting already.

He hadn't changed all that much in the years since he had left Konoha. He was taller and broader,
sure, but his face, his expressions... They were the exact same as before, except for something she
could not put her finger on.

"Hanabi." Neji nodded politely.

There would be no politeness, no "Hanabi-sama", of course. He had left Konoha for reasons that
were very clear to anybody who knew him. And besides… his departure had put her into his
former position.

"What are you doing here?!" She asked, feeling the tension within her belly grow.

"Isn't this obvious to you?" He asked casually. "I came here to talk to you."

"You… what now?" Hanabi tried to keep hold of her rising fury, she really did. "You have
some fucking nerve to show your face here!"

"Why is that?"

"Because of what you did!"

"Leaving Konoha…?" Neji scoffed. "Oh please, I'm sure you understand exactly why I did that."
He pointed at her forehead, where hidden behind her headband, lay the Hyūga's cursed seal.

"Fuck you!" She roared. "Why do you think I got it in the first place?!"

And Hanabi had noticed right away that his own forehead was bare, of course. How could she not?

"I wouldn't know about that." Neji chuckled. "Being born in the wrong position… I assume?"

That was too much. Hearing Neji, a Leaf traitor who was directly — or indirectly, that tended to
depend on her mood, admittedly — responsible for her plight, be so sarcastic about the whole
ordeal was simply too much.

Hanabi attacked.

She was good, equally talented as Hinata was, with less hesitation when it actually came to striking
hard and fast.

Neji was better. And always had been, really.

He deflected the strike aimed at his heart with an almost casual move, and then closed three
tenketsu in her right arm, including the largest one, located in her shoulder.

In the same movement, he grabbed her, and before she even understood what he had done, or how
he had done it in the first place, she was laying on her back, gasping for air.

"I wasn't lying." Neji said evenly. "I really came here to talk."
Neji checked if they really were alone, just like he was sure Hanabi had done before coming.

There was no one around, beside the forest animals, which included an impressive number of
sparrows.

Good. The last thing he needed was Konoha interfering.

"Talk, then." Hanabi gritted out, humiliated.

Neji held back a sigh. She had always been a prideful girl — just like he had been, really — and he
had hoped time would tone that down. Maybe showing her the widened difference in their skill
levels had been the wrong way to go about it. He had hoped she could see how much being in the
branch house held her back, but instead he had just made her angry, it seemed.

Well, she probably knew it already, anyway.

He cut right to the chase.

"Take this." Neji unfurled a scroll. She made no move to take it or even read it. He snorted.

"…What is this?" She asked, full of mistrust.

"A first step."

"I am not taking anything from you." Hanabi growled out. "A scroll, even less so."

He laughed. "I assumed as much."

Neji put the scroll down and stood up, not bothering to extend his hand to help her up, and then he
got ready to leave. Neji turned to look at her one last time. He withheld a small smile. She was
well, then.

"But I assume you will change your mind once you know what's inside."

This got to her. He could see she seemed almost afraid of asking her next question, so he finished.

"Inside this scroll, you'll find the way to remove the Main house's damnable seal. That's the
way I was freed, after all."

Neji disappeared.

Long after Neji was gone, Hanabi sat in the forest, hunched over the scroll.

The handwriting, she recognized, was not Neji's. It was way too messy for that. But the
instructions had been addressed to him, it seemed, and signed by a person named 'R.'.

Whoever the person who had written this was, — man, she guessed, as the size and shape of the
letters suggested a larger hand — Neji hadn't trusted him fully. It was clear from the
way somebody else's note filled the margins with comments. Neji had trusted the man enough to
accept the scroll and its instructions, yes, but not enough to take it at face value.

And so he had someone else check the work over. There were not that many sealmasters around, so
if he had needed to find someone half as good as this R. person was, he likely had spent a fair
amount of time and money on it.
As far as Hanabi knew, when he had left, he had worn the Caged Bird Seal. So whatever had
happened, he had become confident enough in the idea that it would work to desert the village
while on a mission.

(With a red haired man, according to his teammate Lee, who had not quite been knocked out at the
time.)

And connecting the dots, if he had left everything behind to join that man, he was likely the one
who had written the letter in the first place. And Neji had trusted in him.

So… That was interesting, but… What was she going to do now…?

It was clear that just removing the seal was not going to be an easy option. The Clan… and by
extension the village — since branch members were the bulk of the active Hyūga ninja…
would never accept that.

And that made this scroll very dangerous. As well as the instructions that she had memorized
almost unwillingly.

She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't even notice Toru was here before he caught the
scroll from her hands deftly.

"Give me that!" She screamed, reaching for it. Toru blurred, reappearing ten meters away, the
scroll open in front of him.

"…What do you intend to do with that?" Toru asked, once his Sharingan had read over its content.
There was no hint of humor in his tone.

Hanabi stiffened.

"How did you even know I…?" She let out, before realizing. "The sparrows. They're your
summons." She had noticed many of them on her way to meet Neji, but had never thought…

He nodded, just once.

"So…?"

"That's none of your business." She shot back. "Give it to me."

Surprisingly, he did so. "You're right. It's not." He paused. "Or rather, it shouldn't be."

"…"

"Do you think Neji can be trusted?" He asked.

She blinked. What about all the other implications of it…? Did he not know the trouble it would
bring… or did he not care?

"…I don't know." She admitted.

"Then let's make sure this thing works as it should." He smiled thinly.

"You…? Do you even know what this would mean?"

Toru paused.
"I'm not sure how that would work in practical terms, honestly." He mused. "I was never that good
at politics, but I'd assume the Hyūga wouldn't want a revolution on their hands."

"The Main house wouldn't like it, no." She said darkly.

Hanabi kept her guard up, in case he was trying to get her to relax.

"Well." He decided. "They should have done away with their stupid traditions before today, then!"
He grinned. "Plus that's something for later, we're not in Konoha yet."

"Toru…"

"Ah, man, I kinda wish we had somebody decent with sealing around." Toru said, in a wistful tone.
"The things you can do with it…" He trailed off.

Two men were waiting. She knew Toru was on good terms with both of them.

"Huh." Toru said, eye carefully blank, even as a smile stretched on his face. "Eiji. Kei. You guys
are not celebrating with everyone else?" He laughed and she realized his fake laugh sounded
entirely different from what she was used to.

Hanabi also knew both of these guys were from ROOT. And something about its operatives
creeped her out.

"No… We saw the both of you leave, so we had to make sure everything was fine." Eiji said.

"Ah, I see, I see." Toru said. "Let's get back, then."

"Sure." Kei nodded. "But first…"

"Hand over the scroll, please." Eiji finished.

Toru sighed. "Of course you guys heard, then."

Hanabi clutched it. "No."

"...You've heard her guys." Toru tried to diffuse the tense atmosphere. "Let's discuss this with
Sasuke around, alright?"

"I'm sorry, Toru, but we can't do that." Eiji said.

"Why not?"

"We have explicit directives from Danzo-sama concerning this type of situation."

Hanabi wondered what he meant by type. Were there other things Danzo had planned contingency
plans for? She didn't know that much about the current Hokage, who was a very private person,
but he had the reputation of being ready to do whatever it took to preserve Konoha's strength.

And the Hyūga were one of Konoha's strongest clans. There was no doubt that he would not allow
losing their strength because of an inner conflict. Which meant that he would not hesitate to get rid
of anything… or anyone threatening the precarious balance that kept everything running.

"I get that, I get that." Toru said, hands up in the air. "But I've read the scroll already."

Hanabi didn't say anything, feeling breathless. Was he taking the responsibility for this?
"You…did?" Kei asked.

"Yup."

"…Will you swear a binding oath not to use or reveal its contents?" He pressed. "That's the only
way we can let you go."

"You? Let me go? That's funny." Toru said, now amused. "Also… No, I can't promise that."

"Toru…" Eiji said carefully. "Please think about what you're saying."

"Already did. Will you arrest me if I won't?"

"Not right now. We are at war and we need you." Eiji said, a trace of true regret in his voice. "But
once we get back to the village…"

"I see, I see." He smiled. "I guess that's a problem for later. Let's go eat?"

"…No." Kei continued. "We still need the scroll."

He stared at Hanabi harshly. "Have you read its contents?"

For the first time in a while, her expression betrayed her.

Both Kei and Eiji pulled out weapons.

"…What do you think you're doing, exactly?" Toru asked, unfolding his arms.

"I'm sorry, Toru." Eiji said. "Any Hyūga branch member who knows how to undo the seal must be
dealt with."

There was no question what dealt with meant here.

"By order of Danzo, I assume?" Toru asked, voice entirely cold.

"No." Hanabi said, feeling far away from her own body. "By a decree my grandfather passed,
decades ago."

And her own father had never even tried to repeal it. Why would he, when he had a decently strong
heiress and had never cared that much about the worst aspects of the clan he was heading?

'Ah, fuck.' Toru thought.

This was a pretty shitty situation to be in.

When Danzo had become Hokage, he bestowed his ROOT cell a special status. Just like Konoha's
military police, that the Uchiha led, any ROOT operative could enforce the law, when it came
down to it. There had been some outcry, especially from the Uchiha who felt the obvious slight
against them, but the ROOT members had never abused their new privilege — at least not openly
— so it had died down slowly.

ROOT would apply the law harshly, for sure, but they would apply the law.

Some citizens had even started to prefer their almost invisible presence to the Uchiha police's
more… obvious, overbearing one.
ROOT's status also meant that injuring or killing them was as good as a prison or death sentence.
Obstruction in any way, as well. No matter who you were. They were Danzo's hands and eyes,
after all.

Which meant that as far as any Konoha citizen was concerned, they could lay down the law inside
and outside of the village.

There would be no getting out of here easily.

"Don't do this." Toru said, trying to buy them enough time to figure out what to do. Next to him,
Hanabi assumed a fighting stance, the scroll folded away.

"It is the law." Kei grunted. "Will you greet your judgment peacefully, Hyūga Hanabi?"

She said nothing in answer. Toru could see that she was trembling, despite her resolute face.

"We can find another way." Toru tried again.

"The laws have to be applied or they're not laws." Eiji said, sympathetic, but he would not be
swayed. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry."

Both of them were strong shinobi, Hanabi would not manage alone.

"Step aside, Toru." Kei said in a harsh tone.

"I don't think I can do that." He said.

"Are you going to oppose clan law… as well as our Hokage's decree?"

"…I" Toru hesitated. He seemed to deflate. "No. You're right."

Hanabi turned a frightened gaze toward him.

"Thank you." Eiji seemed to be relieved. "It will be quick, Hyūga-san, we can promise you that
much."

Kei and Eiji moved as one man, swords drawn.

Toru was better, faster. And they were focused on Hanabi. His sharingan spun, catching Eiji's eyes,
and his blade ensnared Kei.

"You bastard!" Kei spat out. "I should have known that-"

Eiji had the gall to shoot him a betrayed look.

Toru sighed. "What would you have me do, exactly…?"

Hanabi stood there, unsure what was happening exactly.

"Please think about it, Toru." Eiji tried. "You're making an enemy of the-"

"Entire village, yeah, yeah." Toru sighed. "All over an angry girl. Damn, I must be even dumber
than I thought."

And he did not even care about her in any romantic way to top it off.

"When Danzo-sama hears about this-" Kei raged.

Toru knew exactly what would happen. He'd be sent to jail, at a minimum. His continued survival
would be used as leverage against Shisui, who Danzo actually seemed to fear. There was a reason
why there had been so many ROOT shinobi in both Toru and his brother's platoons.

"He won't." Toru said. "Because I'm going to make you forget all about this, right now."

Kei shot him a dangerous smile. Toru felt his stomach clench.

"What do you think was the first thing I did when we heard your little conversation?"

Toru winced, closing his eye. He had hoped that maybe…

"…You relayed the message to your great-uncle through your Baku summons." He growled out.

"That's exactly what I did." He shot him a dark grin. "When he learns about this-"

"Oh, shut up and sleep." Toru knocked him out with a blunt strike to the neck. "I fucking hate your
uncle." He grumbled.

"Toru, you're making the wrong choice here." Eiji said. "I will keep the secret of what you did if
you just relea-"

Toru smiled a bit sadly. "You're lying. And you gave me nothing but wrong choices. Sleep, you
too." He used his Sharingan to force him to do so.

There was no point in erasing their memories. By the time morning came, he'd be Konoha's latest
traitor. Oh, and Hanabi, too.

Hanabi, who was now crying somewhere behind him.

"Well, shit." Toru muttered. "I guess there's really no going back after that."
 His Lives and Times

The man watched his son read, fondly. He had always been such a curious boy.

"Father." He turned back, looking over his shoulder. "What does ambiguous mean?"

"Well… That's open to interpretation." He chuckled, particularly proud of his pun. They were one
of his favorite things about being a dad, especially when his wife would give him a fond,
exasperated look.

His son stared, not sure what to make of his answer. "…Is this another of your jokes?" He frowned.
"If so, I'm not sure I get it."

The father laughed. "It's the meaning of the word, too. That's what ambiguous means."

"Ah." The boy nodded fast. "I get it."

"Do you really?"

"Of course I do." His boy stood up, trying to look tall. "I'm almost six! I'm not a baby anymore."

"You'll always be my baby, though." His father laughed.

"Father!" His son roared with indignation as he ruffled his thick hair, so similar to his own.

The boy didn't stay mad for long. He laughed, grabbing his much bigger hand. "Can you teach me
how to create fire today?"

"That's a bit dangerous, isn't it?" He pretended to muse. Truth be told, he had promised.

"Father! Please, please, please!"

"Hmmm… I wonder." He rubbed his beard, looking deep in thought. "Very well."

"Yes!" His boy cheered. "I'll make one in no time, that's a promise!"

He laughed. "Well, I guess we'll see if you can make it true, then, Indra."

"Ouch!" He screamed in pain, as his big cousin, Ayaka, tugged his roots too hard.

She chuckled. "If you don't want to take care of it, maybe you shouldn't let it grow so long."

"But I want to!" He shot back.

"Why?" She hummed. "Most boys your age cut their hair short, don't they? Won't they think you're
strange?" She knew how stupid kids his age could be about this sort of things.

"I don't care." He folded his arms, looking away sullenly.

She paused. He seemed a bit sensitive about this. Well, she amended herself, he always was,
despite how serious he tried to be. Her cute little brother. Well, cousin, technically, but everybody
knew how close they were.
"…Is there a reason you insist on keeping it so long?"

He grumbled something in answer.

"Didn't hear you~." She hummed.

"…I want to wear it like you." He grunted. "I want everybody to know I think you're the best!"

Oh. Ayaka felt something in her stomach. He turned back at this moment, of course.

"Why are your eyes wet?" He asked, blinking.

"…My allergies are acting up again." She lied smoothly.

He nodded very seriously and she chuckled. As if he understood what an allergy was in the first
place. Her precious little brother.

When Uchiha Ayaka dies, killed in a Senju attack, less than two months later, Madara cuts his hair
short for the first and last time of his life.

The Sharingan didn't feel like victory, despite what his clan said.

It felt like death, like blood in the back of the throat. It felt like shaky hands, like a friend lying
dead, staring at him almost accusingly.

The smoke is thick in the air, and buildings crumble to nothing. He roars, howls his rage, his anger
and his pain at the world, leaping into the fray. When he kills, it is not to defend his brothers in
arms, not to protect their home. No, all of this is spurred on by hatred.

To him, the Sharingan felt like raw fury.

Any time he thought he could forget, the memories would flash through his mind, just as vivid and
clear as always.

They called him the hope of the Uchiha. If this was what hope looked like, they were doomed, all
of them.

But he was Uchiha, still. There was no relief from this, besides death.

Uzumaki Naruto was happy after he married Hinata.

He had accomplished everything he had set out to do. He had become Hokage and brought peace to
the Five Nations. They had two beautiful children, and many, many friends they considered family.

He had grown up in a village that hated him, and he had made them see him, his worth. He and
Kurama had become Konoha's greatest protectors.

Time passed. Managing a village was still a strenuous job, even in times of peace.

Naruto barely seemed to age. Oh, he still did, definitely, but... much slower than his friends did. It
was probably due to Kurama, he figured.

When he woke up one morning next to Hinata's cold body, despite her advancing age, he still
found himself surprised. He stood for long hours by her grave.
Years and years later, when his own children die of old age, and he is barely looking sixty, he
decides it's time to go.

The peace he had brokered, so long ago, is finally starting to crumble, as his strength slowly starts
to fade and the shinobi world comes up with newer, more creative ways to kill each other.

Let the world deal with the cycle of war on their own. He had tried.

He bade farewell to a solemn Kurama, broke what little was left of the seal on his belly and let
death take him.

A voice spoke from far away. He thought of Sasuke, for some reason.

"Didn't I tell you how it would end, Asura?"

Sarutobi Naruto cried when his wife Ino died, less than a year after they had married.

The old man tried to console him of course. But nothing, no platitudes, long-winded speeches
could change anything to that very simple fact. Ino was dead. The woman he had loved was buried
under the earth.

There was nowhere he could go to escape that. Still, the old man convinces Fugaku-sama to let him
leave the village for a little while, to see the world.

Naruto met a strange man named Orochimaru in the Land of Rice, who apparently had been
Sarutobi's student, long ago. The misanthropic man warned him that a storm was on the horizon,
and told him such eerily accurate things that Naruto became scared.

The younger woman he was traveling with, the one with red hair which made him feel something,
gave him a strange, contemplative look but ended up deciding she must have imagined whatever
she had seen.

Naruto left soon after, thoroughly creeped out by the man.

He wandered over the world, setting foot into old nations, into new lands, until it all became
similar to him. He came back to Konoha world-weary.

Rain, which had quietly been amassing power over decades, attacked.

Naruto led an army of close to a thousand men, as one of Konoha's strongest shinobi. He fought
and fought, until Rain was forced back. The Nine-Tailed Fox's power was not entirely his, but he
could tame it well enough to defend his village.

Six men with orange hair, and a seventh wearing an orange mask, came for him, after that.

The Fox's power came to him during the battle which shattered the Land of Fire. He was Lightning
and he was Wind, ravaging the earth and breaking the skies.

But in the end, he was only one man, and he too was left broken.

As men in black cloaks seize him, another ethereal voice spoke, from far away, sadly.

"I'm sorry, Indra. I didn't want this to happen, even to you."

"Do you love me, Naruto?" Sakura asked, her tone deceivingly light.

Uzumaki Naruto could feel her emotions, though. She was opening up to him fully, in a way he
had never expected from his somewhat distant, last living friend.

For she was the last of them, and soon they would face the last of their enemies. She was so strong,
yet so vulnerable, in this moment. Her single eye gleamed under the moonlight.

He could say yes, and it would be the truth. She would follow him to the depths of hell, and had
made this clear, time and time again. And then she…

She would die. Like Karin had died. Like Ino had died. Like his friends had died.

"I don't." He says instead, wishing he could not feel her heart shatter in a thousand pieces through
their bond. Soon enough, she leaves him. At least she will live, he thinks.

Even without the Nine-Tails, long since gone, Naruto becomes the strongest man since the Sage of
Six Paths.

Years and years go by, and he's killing each and every Akatsuki member, as well as their families,
destroying the villages one by one to replace them with less centralized states.

Naruto wins.

He wasn't afraid. There was nothing he could lose. Not now, not anymore.

He has brought the world to its knees. The peace will last until long after he dies, he knows already.

Because when he dies, entirely alone, no one even realizes it. They fear he is immortal, and still
watching.

Inside him, a voice laughed, satisfied.

"I win this one, too, Asura."

In all of the lives he sees, past, present and future, there is a common thread.

He grows to become a fighter. Whether they call him a shinobi, a samurai, a demon, a warlord, an
emperor or a rotten bastard doesn't change that.

Whether he starts as the heir of his clan, the pride and joy of his farmer parents, a dirty secret that
the village would rather get rid of, the son of a living god or a wretch doesn't change that.

Battle is in his blood, sings to him, calls to him. No matter what, he ends up fighting.

Whether he is Indra, Raijin, Asuka, Shigeo, Tadashi, Ishikari, Asahi, Goro, Dai, Madara, Naruto,
Osamu, Hajime, or any of the numerous others doesn't change that.

Ōtsutsuki, Uchiha, Uyemura. Uzumaki. Sarutobi. Namikaze.

Sharingan. No Sharingan.

He married Ino. Hinata married him. Karin. Sakura. Noriko. Masumi. Kaori. Rie. Yori. Michiko.
All of them, and many more, he has loved at some point.
He loves one woman. His indecision costs him all of them. He kills his love. His love stabs him
through the heart. He brings peace to the world. He destroys it. The world ignores him entirely. He
dies as a baby.

Sometimes he was Asura and faced Indra.

Sometimes he faced Asura, as Indra.

It was all too confusing.

The brothers' game is never-ending, all-encompassing, treading over the lives of many, all for
what…? A sibling rivalry that time did nothing to settle?

He wins. He loses.

A thousand lives.

A voice within him laughs. A voice within him rages.

Somebody else wins. Somebody else loses.

What did it even matter…? It would never end any-

"The fuck am I moping for?" Naruto shook his head, muttering to no one in particular. Himself,
maybe. He ripped through the tapestry of possible pasts and futures. "I'll find a way to stop this.
That's the way I do things, 'ttebayo."

Ah shit, the verbal tic had returned. Sarutobi had mostly managed to curb it.

One arm rose out of the cold waters.

It grabbed on to a rock on the shore with a strong grip. Naruto pulled himself to the stony riverside,
shaking the water off of his finally clean hair.

"What the fuck was that…?"

He was close to the Eastern Gate, and he could see Kumo way up, higher on the cliff. The sun was
not even up yet.

Naruto huffed, feeling as though he had spent years in… Whatever that was…? Purgatory? It was
way too sharp, too real to be a simple hallucination caused by the freezing waters.

More meddling by Indra, then? He wouldn't be too surprised, normally. But that didn't feel like
him.

Everything he has seen will become more vague soon, he knew, nothing remaining of it. The same
way he felt after waking up from a dream. Already, he couldn't remember the memories as clearly
— no human mind was meant for that — and it felt as though he had seen a thousand movies, all of
them crammed into a single moment, the detail of it lost in something that was beyond him, beyond
the earth and beyond this side of existence.

He breathed in.

He wouldn't let the memories go. So he focused on the two seals carved into his temples.
They were internal processes and he knew they would work. He knew it... because he had done the
exact same thing already.

That's how he had remembered more things about Kumo's latest happenings than he would ever
really need, during his stay in jail, after all.

'Omoikane.' He called, focusing his chakra there, the supercharged rune enhancing his mind
beyond its human limits for an instant.

He felt a pounding in his head, but what was left of the clarity remained. Perfect.

Because this… This could help him.

There were plenty of mistakes he had already made, would have made; plenty more he would make
on the way, he was sure. But he now knew of a few ways that wouldn't work.

And he knew what it would take to make his newfound ambition a reality.

Because he had seen what happened otherwise. An endless cycle of short-lived peace, followed by
conflict, until something broke.

'That won't do.' He thought. 'It won't do at all.'

 Purple Noon

Apparently, Kumo had not called the alarm.

At least, not yet. Naruto realized that, running without chakra through the gorge. Nobody seemed
to be coming after him.

If he had to bet on a reason why, it would be that the guard he had tricked into leaving his post was
not willing to admit what he had done. Not before things became critical. Which would be when
they found the corpse on the floor Naruto had been detained on. Which could still be hours away,
depending on who else was supposed to come in today.

He still had a bit of trouble believing it had actually worked, because he really had been running on
sheer balls during most of the run.

To think he could have died. And worse… it would not have been because he had improvised
something so risky it gave him shivers now.

But simply because he had been too heavy to be thrown properly. He was pretty sure he had felt
something brush against him during his fall. Something that must have been the cliff.

Well… He couldn't really be too mad about that. The rituals had changed his bone density entirely,
as well as the amount of muscle mass he could put on his wide frame. He had weighed himself
once, in the last few months, for curiosity's sake.

His weight had come out to a bit over a hundred and seventy kilos. Close to three times as heavy as
the average human. Orochimaru had actually blinked that day.

A shinobi could carry him, sure, but they'd better use chakra for the task. And he himself always
made sure to keep himself balanced, or he used wind to make himself lighter when there was a risk
of crushing someone smaller or weaker.

He carried his weight well, his body more than strong enough to carry him easily, even without
using his chakra.

Naruto continued to run until he came close to a fishing town. He had gone south… so he assumed
this was the place.

There were Kumo ninja patrolling, of course. From their lack of care, he assumed this place was
not that important, compared to Kumo's main port. And he assumed there was a chakra barrier
around the harbor as well, which would explain their carelessness. They relied on it too much. Did
they forget that civilians could also carry covert operations?

Well, he wouldn't register as anything over a small animal, considering his bindings. And their
carelessness meant they still were not on high alarm.

Naruto sneaked in the boring way.

He got down to the floor and waited until the soldiers were distracted. Then he crawled under a
small house. He had always been one of the best of his graduating class at sneaking, but he was not
exactly the same size as he had been when he was still a kid.

Despite that, things still went smoothly.

He was in the town.

Nobody was paying much attention, so he got out in the open, dusting himself and acting as
casually as he could, considering the circumstances. He was palming a sharp rock he had found on
the way here.

The place was not that big, so if Ino really was here, she should likely be easy enough to find.

He walked through the streets, passing a bent-over old woman with curious eyes, keeping his own
open.

Alright.

Maybe she wasn't there yet, then.

He would still go for a third walk around the place, but he was afraid it was starting to look
somewhat suspicious.

There was nobody that really fit Ino's general size. And he assumed she had used an old-fashioned
disguise, considering what she had told him about Kumo's security.

Ah. The old crone was still staring at him, muttering gibberish. The way her back bent made him
cringe.

Naruto dug through the warden's pockets and found some crumpled up bills. He got himself some
food, happy not to be eating prison slop anymore.

"You're not from here, are you?" The old crone asked, her accent thick with Southern Lightning
drawl. Naruto pretended not to stiffen. He had not noticed her get so close. He didn't let her see
that, either.

"Parents were from abroad." He grumbled in answer, trying to match her own accent.

"It shows." She muttered back, still staring at him. He looked back, vaguely annoyed.

Dirty brown hair, leathery skin that made her face look like melted wax. Her eyes, he noticed were
baby blue, looking greenish under the right angle-

Naruto couldn't hold back a chuckle.

"…Ino? Is that you?" He muttered lowly, so that no one would overhear. Not that anyone was
paying any attention to the grimy shinobi talking to the half-mad old crone. Which was kinda the
point.

"Who else?" She whispered back, in her normal voice. "Took you long enough."

He started to laugh. Apparently, it was contagious, because she did so as well.

Ino wiped her eyes quickly. "You… managed."

She guided him to an obscured alley smoothly.

"Yeah. I hope they kept track, because this sort of escape should go straight into their record
books." He chuckled.
"I'm sure there are a few other smelly animals who managed to stumble their way out of Kumo
before, so let's not get too wild here."

"Who are you calling an animal?" He grunted.

"Take a guess." Ino laughed.

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "…These are not even my clothes."

"Ew!" She tried to get away from him, laughing. "Don't! Somebody's going to notice."

Still, she didn't push him away.

They found refuge behind one of the many waterfalls that fell close to the village.

Ino removed her disguise, the complexity of which gave him another reason to be impressed by her
skill.

From deepening the crow's feet around her eyes, to sculpting enlarged earlobes, to painting broken
veins, adding wrinkles in spots that would look natural, creating jowls using rubber prosthetics,
creating texture and elongating pores. Then adding another layer of decay, making the nose and ear
larger… and making it all fit together.

Ino removed it all with a sigh of pleasure. Then she did the same with her hands, where she had
used the same process. Naruto said nothing.

She blinked, looking at him in confusion. "What is it…? Feeling creeped ou-"

He took Ino into a hug, a real one this time. Her arms wrapped around his neck to keep him close,
hugging him fiercely and laughing.

"You have no idea how hard it was to sneak things inside here." Ino said, later, when they settled
down on the floor. "The crone disguise helped, of course — you can sneak many things under a
wide robe. But pretending you're part of the background into a village that small? Heh."

Naruto smiled, happy to see her in decent spirits. She stood up and hiked her robe up, exposing her
legs. He tried to keep his eyes somewhere else.

"Anyway, I got you a few weapons." She said, pulling twin daggers, complete with scabbards, out.
There was a short tanto for her too. How the hell did she even sneak weapons in…? "Since we
won't be able to use chakra."

True to her words, she still had her own chakra bound. Naruto frowned.

"Why don't we just go now? You remove your seal, help me break mine and we leap away. Or just
yours, even."

"I don't think you get it." She said slowly.

"What do you mean?"

"It's not just that the village and the harbor are covered with chakra detecting fields." Ino
complained. "It's the fact that the whole domain is. You got this far because they can't notice
someone with no real chakra signature."
"…Meaning?"

"Meaning that they will feel us the moment we remove the seals, especially if we build up chakra
for a two-people leap. And after having our chakra bound for some long, it's going to take a little
while. I think it's a bit too risky, if there are shinobi close." Ino paused. "…Meaning we have to get
at least ten kilometers further away from Kumo to be safe."

"…Fuck." He just said.

"Yeah, basically. I have a plan, though, but first tell me about… how you got caught, please." Ino
asked.

He did.

"So you think this Uchiha Madara… or Tobi, whatever, guy is controlling the Raikage?" She
asked, horrified. The implications were… bad.

"I'm sure that he is influencing him, in some way. And considering it's Akatsuki we're talking
about… It's nothing good, this much I'm sure of."

"Do you think he could be doing to other people at the same time?"

Naruto winced. "I don't know, honestly. Maybe. Let's assume he is."

Their half-formed idea of sending similar scrolls, containing info about Akatsuki, to the other
villages already had sounded like it probably wouldn't accomplish much, but this complicated
things even more. They had thought that they would at best have spies in high places, not… this.

"…Is everyone fine, at least?" Naruto asked.

"Yes." Ino nodded. "Sakura and Karin are staying somewhere close to Yugito, right now, in case
anything happens. Sakura's the one who warned us that you had disappeared, and Karin confirmed
you fought someone close to Kumo. We were not sure what the situation was with Kumo, so
we…"

"Didn't say anything to her." He finished, nodding in understanding. "Yeah, I get it. I'll explain
things to her myself. And about Darui… too."

"Yes." She nodded somberly.

"Did you hear anything about an alarm?" He asked.

"No." Ino shook her head. "I don't know how you did it, but they don't even seem to be looking
after you."

"Trust me." He laughed. "You don't want to know."

"It's another of your crackpot ideas, wasn't it…?" Ino asked dryly.

He just smiled and she sighed. It had worked.

"Well, you're lucky you've got us to make sure you don't actually kill yourself."

"Yeah. I'm lucky to have you, Ino." He stared at her.

She froze.
"Naruto…" Ino gave him a long, searching look. He just smiled and looked away.

"…Can I ask you something, Ino?"

"…Anything."

He stood up, and removed his Kumo flak jacket, and then his shirt. Ino took in a sharp breath, eyes
wide.

"Ah… Uh. I…?" Her face looked red from the cave's strange light. "…Now? Are… you sure?"

"Yes." Naruto nodded, and after some inner deliberation, Ino came closer, if a bit shakily. "I know
we can't remove them now, but if you could describe the seals to me, it would allow me to remove
them as quickly as possible, if we ever ran into trouble."

Ino paused. "Oh. Yeah. Right, that… makes sense. The seals."

Naruto nodded encouragingly. "I don't know which sealing style they used, but there's only one
way to figure it out. I'm counting on you, Ino."

She sighed. "Right, of course."

Ino sat down closer to him, her eyes roaming over the seals on his back, he knew.

"Can you describe them out loud?" He asked, amused.

"Oh, yeah." She chuckled awkwardly. "Sure. Uh… There's about a dozen of them, all with
different patterns."

"Describe them."

"Uh… One of them looks like two big lines… and a thinner one under."

Not very precise. And that… sounded like his Choho seal.

"Can you trace it with your finger?"

"…Yeah. Right. Sure." She did, hesitantly at first, as though his skin were on fire.

"Nah, this one's mine."

"Oh. My bad."

"It's on me." He laughed. "Let me point out which ones are mine, then."

He did so, stretching his arms into a few uncomfortable positions.

"…And that means all the rest are the Kumo ones."

"Ah. I think I get it now." Ino nodded. She hesitated. "So… Are these the ones you carved into
your skin? Why is there no scar?"

"I heal fast, I guess. There's only the ink left, at this point."

"Alright." She pointed at the seals that she now knew were not his, one by one. "There are five of
them, then. It's always the same pattern. A kanji for "limit", surrounded by four smaller
components that… Let me show you."
She traced her nail along them, and Naruto focused on getting a mental representation of it, as
precisely as possible.

"Ah. The Four Points sealing style, then." He nodded. Not his favorite style. Too blunt, and no real
room for creativity. "I think I can write a release counterpoint, that I could trigger physically when
needed, so that I could remain mostly invisible in the meantime."

He looked at her.

"What is it…?" She asked.

"You got any ink on you?"

"There's no fucking way I'm carving seals into your back with a knife!" Ino said hotly.

He frowned. What was so strange about that…?

"We don't have any ink, though, you said." He retorted.

"I don't care!" She folded her arms.

Naruto knew that she would fold if he really stressed what they were risking if they got caught.

"Okay. We can do it another way. It's just going to require one tiny, itty-bitty knife slash."

Ino hesitated. "Well… One quick wound is a bit more acceptable than spending an hour carving
you up."

"I knew you'd see the light." He laughed.

"Alright." She sighed. "Guide me before I lose the will to do so."

So he did. One quick slash through a smaller component of one of the five seals.

"Are you sure this won't get us noticed?" She stressed.

"It won't." He assured her. "The amount of chakra I can now use from this… is the difference
between one and two rats together, at most. I'm sure Kumo has better things to do than tracking
rats. It's still far from large enough to register as human."

Civilians emitted more chakra than both of them did, covered in seals.

"If you say so." She said dubiously. "What was the point of this?"

He smiled proudly. "You remember the Fourth— my father's scrolls?"

"Of course." And how could she forget? She had left the village over this whole thing. Not that she
blamed him, honestly.

"…Yeah, right." He winced. "Well, I reverse-engineered something very useful from his research.
And I had... a lot of time to think about some concepts, when I was in Kumo's best hotel."

This time, she winced.

"So here goes."

He didn't need to bother with ink anymore. He drew the counterpoint in his mind, every aspect of
it.

Focusing the lightest touch of chakra through his finger, one that he knew would never be
detected, he applied the seal with a single touch, close to the spot where Ino was pointing with her
own finger.

"You-" Ino began.

"Yeah, I guess that's one step forward." He smiled proudly.

Namikaze Minato's ability to put seals — and/or shiki, he could almost hear Orochimaru's voice
say — down with a single touch had complemented his incredible speed and talent with the sealing
arts… extremely well.

Naruto couldn't pretend to be anywhere this level — yet — but this opened a world of possibilities,
in and out of battle.

He repeated the same process four times. Then he placed the trigger seal on the back of his hand.

"All I'm going to have to do to open all of them up is slash through this one." He confirmed it to
Ino. "Will you need something similar?"

"Actually… Sure." She then hesitated. "But, ah… The seal is in the middle of my back, though. I
don't know if-"

"Sure, take your shirt off." He said casually.

"…"

"Something up?" Naruto tilted his head. Maybe she wanted more privacy?

"Never mind." She gritted out, thunder written all over her face. She likely had taken this as a
provocation.

'Ah, shit. I know this expression.'

He forgot she was bashful sometimes, considering how brash she could be-

Ino removed her top entirely, staring at him angrily the whole time, her breasts falling free.

Naruto blinked, his throat suddenly dry.

Ino seemed to realize what she had done, something like panic flashing across her face, and her
hands flew up, covering the pink of her areola that Naruto couldn't help but notice.

"Alright. Turn around." He said, voice thick.

Ino did so, worrying her lower lip nervously. Naruto's fingers traced along the seal written close to
her spine, and she let out a strange little sound. Naruto recognized Karin's work, even though he
had trouble remembering much about the peculiarities of it, right now.

He focused, before applying a similar counterpoint seal.

"Can you give me your hand?" Naruto then asked. Ino said nothing, just raising her hand to his
slowly.
He pressed his thumb down on the back of it, applying the trigger seal.

"There. It's done." He said.

"…Thank you, Naruto." She stared at him, one hand still covering her breasts, her eyes so full
of… something that scared him.

She was telling him a thousand words, without even speaking.

Naruto... can't help but feel his mind being dragged back to the river.

To the lives he has spent — or rather, would have, could have spent — by her side. He knows it
wasn't a dream, because he is sure that some part of him has already seen her give him the very
same look.

And she didn't even realize the way she was looking at him, he was sure of it. For all of her skill
and strength and beauty, self-doubt ate at her like… Like…

Like it did him.

Seeing Ino sit here, in front of him, her soul almost bared to him, all that Naruto felt was abject
terror.

Terror that he would screw up. Break his own heart, break Ino's. Break Karin's. Terror that he'd
make a mess of the already complicated situation. That he'd destroy everything that he held dear.

Terror of what lay ahead. That he wouldn't be strong enough to survive what would come.

Terror that his bid for freedom would kill them all.

He has seen it happen and knows it's not only a far-off possibility. It is a very, very real one.

And he-

He has also seen what happens if he pushes her... pushes them away. And he won't have this,
either.

Unsure of what to think, or what to do, Naruto acts on instinct, as always.

He pulled Ino on his lap, his head buried in her hair. He could feel her breasts pressing against his
chest, as her hands held on to him for dear life, breathing hard.

And he knows just how nervous she is, her heart beating so fast that he's afraid she is going to faint.

Naruto doesn't do anything else, content to just hold Ino close.

 Leaves, Falling

Of course, things became somewhat awkward when they realized they still had to escape.

Ino turned around, getting dressed again quickly. He knew her well, she'd likely not mention
anything about the last five minutes for a while.

"So." He finally asked. "What's the escape plan?"

"Ah." She blinked, finally facing him. "True. I never told you. Now… where did I stash them,
again…?"

Ino rummaged through the little cave, digging behind some rocks with her arm, wincing when she
had to reach farther inside it. She said nothing for a while, her face scrunched in concentration. She
looked pretty cute, Naruto had to admit.

"Aha!" She exclaimed. "Got them!"

Ino threw some clothes as well as some supplies down. Then she held up two wooden passports.

"With this…" Ino continued, proudly. "We'll be able to pass through the checking station and leave
with a boat, no trouble."

"…Why a boat?"

"The controls are much tighter through the land exits, I can assure you. There have been plenty of
people leaving the Land of Lightning since the start of the war, particularly to the Land of
Tornadoes, the island to the East. Kumo doesn't particularly care about them, so the security is a
bit more lax when it comes to leaving through there."

Naruto took a closer look at the passports.

"…Kusumoto Akira and Kusumoto Chiyo? From Rironobe, in the Land of Tornadoes?" He said
with some amusement. The fakes were very well-made, and he wondered where she had gotten
them.

"It's just easier to pretend we're married!" Ino defended herself. "Kumo will overlook a couple of
farmers easier, because they tend to marry young."

"Were you just looking for a reason to roleplay?" He wiggled his eyebrows.

"I'm going to fucking kill you." She muttered, teeth clenched.

"I'm joking, Ino."

"…"

"Now come here and kiss your darling husband." He laughed, before catching the wooden passport
she threw at his face in between his teeth.

"This is the last time I'm helping you break out from jail, you… you…" Ino raged.

She paused, blinking, before starting to chuckle.

"I'm not even sure why I still get triggered so easily." She admitted.

"It wouldn't be you otherwise." Naruto smiled.

Ino disguised both of them as farmers, which might well be the only way his build might make
sense.

She had clearly planned around it, and got him clothes about his size, that downplayed his obvious
strength as much as possible.

"Once we board the ferryboat…" Ino said, applying reddish brown dye to his long hair. "After an
hour or so, we should be far enough to jump."

There was no real point in waiting until they were at sea, of course.

"…Do we really have to blacken our teeth…?" He asked hesitantly.

"That's what they do in this area of Tornadoes, so yeah." She said, rubbing them with the wax. He
followed soon after.

Ino blended some dyes together, before applying the resulting mix to his face, neck, arms and legs.
She added more pale yellow, and did the same to herself.

"…For real? A fake beard?" He asked. "Won't that be even more suspicious?"

"Well it's real hair, so…" She laughed when he grunted in answer, not too happy about that
specific piece of information.

She checked him over.

"There you go!" She smiled in satisfaction. "How's your Tornado accent?"

"…What did you say?" Naruto asked, squinting his eyes in concentration.

"…Nevermind. Just answer by yes and no when asked, and I'll do the talking." She gave him a
weak smile.

They bought two overpriced fare tickets to the land of Tornadoes, not intending to complete their
journey.

Moving to the checking point, Ino took their passports out of their bag — she had bought one on
their way there, because a couple of farmers would likely use one, instead of relying on sealing
scrolls.

Finally, they were at the front of the line. The Kumo officer behind the booth looked at them
sharply. He was about twice Ino's size, with an almost shiny bald head.

"Next." He grumbled.

"Hullo." Ino said with a thick accent.

"Hello. Identification, please."

Ino put the wooden passports on the counter. Naruto hoped they looked convincing. They did to
him, but what did he know about this…? Not much.

The officer looked at it for a moment, raising one eyebrow. He looked at Ino, passing her over,
then at Naruto. Then down at the passport.

"…You're kinda big for a farmer, aren't you?" The mans's brows furrowed.

Naruto blinked, staring at him dumbly, as Ino had instructed him.

"What's wrong with him…?" The officer asked.

"He's not very social." Ino apologized for him, waving it off.

"Sociable." The man corrected with a grunt. He stared some more.

"Whatever you say, boss." Ino chirped happily.

"…What sort of farmers are you, exactly?"

Naruto grunted in answer. "I make thangs grow. Animals, too."

The officer mumbled something rude about country hicks, rolling his eyes, but handing them their
passports back.

"Yeah, okay. You guys go through, then." He waved them off. "Next!"

They managed to get aboard the boat with no trouble.

People were packed on the small vessel like sardines. Some of them were obviously fleeing for
their lives, some held hope that the Land of Tornadoes would be spared from the ongoing war,
some saw better opportunity there. It was strange for a liminal space, a contradiction of hope and
despair, of misery and relief.

There were a few Kumo shinobi onboard, which meant they had to keep a low profile, huddling
next to a few other people, all of them going for the full trip as well.

"I heard you talk with the checking officer and I couldn't help but wonder…"

Naruto heard someone say, noticing Ino was making a point of not looking at the person in
question.

"You guys are not from the Land of Tornadoes at all, are you?" The woman asked, in a quiet voice.

Naruto knew Ino well, which was the only reason he noticed her stiffening. Instead of showing that
she had been rattled, she turned around with an amused expression.

"And why would you say something like that?" She said, the accent just as heavy as before.

"Mostly because I've been around there recently, and I know that there are no farmers left in
Rironobe, since the drought and saltwater intrusion."

"It's something we used to do, before." Ino said, with just the right amount of wistfulness and
longing and offense in her tone. Naruto was impressed, as he definitely was not a very good actor.
"Don't think nobody from Kumo ought ta know."
"And did you know this accent you're using was only found in the southern part of Tornadoes?"
The woman asked.

"That's where my family was originally from." Ino lied easily.

"All of them?"

"Yeah."

"Ah, alright, then." She nodded.

Ino looked somewhere else, thinking this was it. The woman continued.

"That's amusing, because I was lying. This is an eastern accent. And going from Rironobe, which
is to the west, crossing through the no man's lands that is the middle of the country to go to the
east…" The woman paused. "Yeah, that's pretty unlikely. What's more likely is-"

"I think we get your point." Naruto whispered evenly, not even bothering with the charade.

She raised her arms up in the air. "I don't mean anything by it. Everybody has their own reasons for
leaving."

Ino shot her a distrustful look. "Who are you?"

"Nobody important, really."

"If you're going to be blackmailing us, I think you've got a decent angle, right here." Naruto
shrugged, fingering his dagger. "Get on with it."

The longer they could keep her talking, the closer they'd get to actually escaping.

"And who said anything about that?" She looked amused. "I'm only looking forward to meeting
fellow refugees."

"I'm sure." Naruto nodded, keeping his face even.

"Can't I simply be curious?" She asked.

"You could be."

The woman seemed to look for something in his eyes. She seemed to find it, because she nodded in
satisfaction, a strange light burning into her own. The worst part was the fact that he was almost
certain he had seen her somewhere before.

Naruto stayed on edge the whole time, ready to break his seals.

"Yes." The woman muttered. "Yes, I could be."

Ino stared at the strange woman, with long flowing white hair — despite not looking a day over
thirty — and golden eyes that made her seem much older than the hair itself did.

Her fancy clothes did not fit at all in a boat full of people trying to escape Lightning. The woman
had resumed staring at the river shore. Honestly, if she were trying to look like a mysterious
outsider, she had the part down to a tee. They would reach the delta soon, Ino knew.
Hopefully, this weirdo would leave them alone.

Just for curiosity's sake, she tried to get a surface reading of her thoughts. It was tricky, considering
the extremely limited amount of chakra she could make use of right now, but she was not
considered — had been considered — the most talented Yamanaka of her generation for nothing.

Though she didn't show it, she was greatly disturbed by what she found there. The only thing she
really felt was a lazy detachment for… well everything. No, she amended herself.
For almost everything.

There was something that burned brightly within her, eclipsing everything else, that made all of it
seem irrelevant in the grand scheme of things.

She could pretend to be a curious passerby as much as she wanted, the mind would not lie. Ino
didn't dare reach deeper, because she knew she would get caught in the process.

Whoever that woman was, she was not as average as she said she was, far from it. Not that Ino had
believed it.

Ino remained wary, almost itching for a fight.

No good opportunity to leave smoothly presented itself, with the Kumo shinobi staying too close,
and soon they were down in the delta, switching to a bigger ship.

The woman spoke to them again.

"You know, if you're trying to make a break for it, now might be your best chance." She said with
knowing eyes.

Naruto just stared, trying to figure out where he could possibly have seen her.

"Why don't you just mind your own business?" Ino said harshly.

Bansai Fortress, at around the same time.

"Sasuke." Toru called.

His tone made Sasuke pause from reading the report that had been given to him. He stood up and
followed him silently.

Once they were out of sight from the rest of the Konoha camp, he stared at Toru, now worried.

"You disappeared for the last few hours. What's happening?"

Toru seemed to think about it for a second. "I think I need to leave the village."

Sasuke stared for another moment. There was no question about what he meant. "You wish to
become a missing ninja?" He asked with a flat voice.

"I don't want to. I need to."

"Is this about the war?" Sasuke asked, thinking fast. The war took its toll on all of them, no matter
how much his cousin and he tried to put on a strong face. "Look, I understand. We can probably
find you someth-"
"I knocked two ROOT agents out and left them in the forest. Danzō is going to know, for sure.
They sent a messenger already."

Sasuke breathed out.

"That's… Why did you do that?" He stressed out the last part. As an Uchiha, that would put Toru
in a complicated position. And Danzō didn't fuck around. Ever. "Look… I'll speak with Itachi as
soon as possible, I think we can probably work something out, instead of jail and-"

"Nah." Toru interrupted. "It was a Culling operation. I stopped them from killing someone marked
as a target."

"Fuck." Sasuke said darkly. "...Who was it? And what happened?"

"Eiji and Kei. Hanabi is in possession of a way to get rid of the Caged Bird seal."

"…" Sasuke knew exactly what that meant. And this was Hinata's sister they were talking about.

"Yeah." Toru nodded. "Pretty bad."

"Who gave it to her?" Sasuke asked, suspicion obvious in his tone.

"Neji, of course." Toru said with some dark amusement.

"Should've known it." He cursed. Of course it was fucking Neji causing trouble again. He wasn't
even in the damn village.

Toru continued, unimpeded. "So yeah, while Danzō's in power, at the very least… I need to get out.
Hanabi too."

"That's still-" Sasuke stopped himself. Madness? No, madness would be staying. "Where would
you even go?"

"Out and about." Toru shrugged.

"Toru." Sasuke growled. He clearly had no plan.

"You can help me by arranging a pardon in the coming years, though." Toru chuckled. "I was
getting sick of this war business, anyway."

"Is there no way I can get you to reconsider?"

"Of course not. I never back down from my promises." Toru paused. "Well, except when they're
not to my advantage anymore, of course."

Sasuke closed his eyes in consternation. "…Will you manage out there?"

"Of course, of course." Toru waved off.

"Is there anything I can do to help, at least? Besides the pardon."

"Sure, sure. Name your first born after me if it's a boy." He laughed. "Nah, wait he'll be a
Hyūga…? Maybe not, then. I don't-"

Sasuke cut him off by pulling him tight into a hug. Surprised by the fact Sasuke, his emotionally
stunted cousin, — well no, he was actually very expressive for an Uchiha — who usually wasn't
too big on public displays of affection actually hugged him, it took him a while to return it.

He patted him on his back, before releasing him. Then he realized something was going on.

"Ah, fuck." Toru said, wiping his eye. "I've got terrible allergies. They're making water run down
my face."

Sasuke's own eyes were a bit shiny. "Yeah." He sniffed, too. "Mine, too."

An old Uchiha inside joke. They shared a laugh and Sasuke pressed a pouch into Toru's hands.
"Take this, at least. There's enough cash to keep you afloat for a while."

"War bounty?"

"I'm afraid I can't answer this." Sasuke chuckled.

"I'll take it, then."

"And please." Sasuke finally let out. "Please. Be careful out there."

"Aww. Of course, bro." Toru grinned. "You know me."

"...Exactly."

"I'll find a way to contact you that doesn't drag you into my shit, then." Toru continued. "And well,
see you… whenever the old fart dies, then. Hopefully you don't have grandkids, by then."

Sasuke took a long breath. "Yeah." He said weakly. "See you then. I'll get your pardon. Please, no
crimes against humanity in the meantime."

All he got in answer was a wink.

Toru turned to leave, and Sasuke didn't need the Sharingan for the image to stay with him.

"Ah." Toru hesitated. "Say goodbye to my brother for me. He… will understand. And to Itachi,
too. Tell him thanks for everything."

Sasuke's voice was thick. "I will."

Anko's snakes relayed the information to her.

"An Uchiha and a Hyūga, out of Konoha and on their own, then?" She muttered to herself.

They likely would get into a world of trouble as soon as the word got out. There was no village that
would not try to either sway them, or kidnap them outright.

Thing was…

That was as good an opportunity as it got. Sensei would definitely give her shit if she didn't at least
try her hardest to get them to come aboard.

'Well.' She thought. 'Time to bring out some good ol' Anko charm.'

They just so happened to have a few great seal-masters on hand. Naruto would only be too happy
to help screw with Konoha — if the younger women had managed to get him out of jail already.
That ought to make the deal a sweet one, indeed.

She stood up, and moved to meet Uchiha Toru and Hyūga Hanabi, ready to make good use of her
first-mover advantage. Oh, sure, there was the whole "Hokage murder" thing, but she could
explain that one away. Hopefully.

Anyways, she was sure most people liked islands more than cut-throat politics.
 Snake's Disciples

With no better option, and Kumo shinobi's close presence, Naruto and Ino went on the sea-faring
ship.

One of the Kumo shinobi came to stand right next to Naruto. He was tall and wore heavy Kumo-
style armor, as well as a large sword. Another man, this one bald, came next to Ino. This one
started talking.

"Are you Kusumoto Akira and Chiyo?"

"We are." Ino nodded, accent back on.

The shinobi close to Naruto smiled thinly. "I was hoping we might be able to speak."

"Sure." Naruto nodded. "What 'bout?"

"Where're your manners, Akira?" Ino hit his shoulder. "Please have a seat."

Naruto grunted something that sounded like assent.

"I hope you don't mind our intrusion." One of them said.

"Not at all." Ino laughed.

"You have a lovely wife." The other said, his eyes roaming over her. Naruto noticed Ino stiffening.

"Thank ya." He said curtly, his eyes never leaving the shinobi's. "I'm lucky."

"You definitely are."

They sat down next to them.

"Let's cut straight to the case." Bald one said.

"Beg yer pardon?" Naruto asked, somewhat rudely.

"…What did you say?" Tall one asked dangerously. Naruto could almost feel Ino telling him to
backtrack.

"Didn't understand what that meant." He grunted. "The expression."

"Oh." Something like condescension flashed across tall one's eyes. "True. You're from… far away,
aren't you?"

"Near Riro, yeah."

"Sure." Bald one gave him a bland smile. "We will not waste your time is what I said."

"Ah." Naruto nodded. "Good."

"Are you aware of who we are?" He continued.

Ino nodded. "Yes."

"Please, tell us what you know already."

"You two are shinobi from Kumo, aintcha?"

"Good. So you can tell that much. And are you aware of what our specific role is?"

"Not really, no." She shook her head.

"Please clarify for her, then." Tall one said.

"Sure." Bald one answered.

One of Naruto's hands was fingering his dagger, ready for anything to happen.

Bald one leaned over to Ino, close, too close to her. He could see the worried look in her eyes.
Something hot and angry flashed through Naruto's mind.

"We find rats." Bald one finished.

For a moment, Naruto could smell the familiar scent of blood in the air, picturing his dagger
slipping through the man's neck faster than he could react. Something thrummed inside his head,
and it was not only the very familiar call of the storm.

"Rats?" Ino blinked owlishly. "Are there really rats on this boat?"

Tall one chuckled darkly. "More than you'd expect."

"Yer... rodent problem doesn't really have much to do with us." Naruto grunted.

"I'm sure." Bald one nodded. "We just prefer to be thorough." He paused. "Do I need to explain
what thorough means, maybe?" He asked snidely.

"Sure, why don'tcha?" Naruto nodded, his eyes not leaving his. Could he break his seal fast enough
not to get Ino and himself killed?

The man ignored him. "I... doubt this has anything to do with you, but we have something of a
situation, today."

"Really?" Ino asked. "What happened? Nothing bad, I hope."

"There are a few people who are not supposed to be on this boat… who managed to get onboard.
We're trying to find them."

"Oh." Ino managed to look contrite. "I see."

"And that's not it."

"What else?" Naruto asked gruffly.

"We had an… unwanted guest leave Kumo, today."

"What kind of guest are we talking about?" Ino asked.

"The prisoner sort." Tall one finished. "One of them escaped."

"Isn't Kumo's s'pposed to be secure?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow.

Tall one smacked him across the face, splitting his lip open. Ino screamed. Some passengers
definitely had noticed what was happening, but they pretended not to.

Naruto held a hand in front of her, the other bringing up his fingers to his lips. His thumb brushed
his bleeding lip. He stared at the tall one again, not saying anything. Right now, he hoped his
emotions didn't show on his face. Murder was never a good look.

"This is your only warning." The man spat.

"Sure, sure. I think I gotcha." Naruto replied easily, not blinking.

"The rumors are…" Bald one continued, not paying them any mind. "The man named Uzumaki
Naruto might still be around. Maybe on this very boat. Maybe you've heard something about that?"

A pause.

"Dunno no guy with the name, no." Naruto shrugged. "When'd he leave? And why? Isn't Kumo
nice this season?"

"Will you shut the hell up?" Tall one seemed ready to hit him again.

"Please, stop." Ino said, looking defeated. "He won't say anything to anger ya no more."

Bald one stopped his fellow Kumo shinobi. "You heard her."

"Funny thing is…" Tall one said, now paying close attention to Naruto. "He's a large man.
Strangely enough… He's about… your size."

He looked as though he didn't care about this at all, but it would give him a decent enough reason
to kill Naruto, at least.

"So…?" Naruto grunted.

The Kumo shinobi's hand went to his sword. Naruto's hand stood ready to break his seals open. He
would kill them both and escape. Ino understood it in that moment, and she prepared as well.

"Shinobi-san! Shinobi-san." The woman from before came running, breathless. "We found the
man you were asking about earlier!"

"Can't you see we're busy? Which man?" The tall one asked rudely.

"Uzumaki Naruto."

Everybody halted.

"What do you mean?" Bald one asked, blinking.

"Uzumaki Naruto." She said. "He has been found hiding in a crate."

The woman led one of the shinobi down. The other, the tall one, stayed to keep an eye on Naruto
and Ino.

"Don't think this means you're out of trouble, you country hick." He muttered.

Naruto frowned. "Look, I still don't know what the hell ya guys are rambling 'bout, but I'm waiting
too, believe me."

Ino rubbed circles on the back of his hand, as a reminder not to do anything rash. "They'll get it
sorted out, dear."

The Kumo shinobi tightened his hand around his bicep, waiting.

His partner came back, white-faced. "We have to go." The woman followed behind him, looking
terrified.

"Go where?!" The tall one answered. "What are you talking about?"

"Uzumaki Naruto escaped the boat." He said. "He killed Shigeru by slitting his throat and was seen
diving into the water."

"What?!"

"We have to go. Now. He can't be far!"

The tall one hesitated, shooting a dark look at Naruto. Who gave him his best "I told you so" smug
expression. The Kumo ninja's hand twitched, but he ended up leaving, after kicking him in the
stomach one last time.

The two Kumo shinobi left, leaping onto the water. The terror suddenly dropped from the woman's
face.

"…Who the hell are you?" Naruto asked her, dropping all pretense of not being… himself. "And
how did you know?"

She just gave him a mysterious smile. "Not even a thank you, then? Color me surprised."

Naruto's hand twitched. For some reason, he felt more in danger now than he had been when the
two Kumo shinobi were around. This woman was a complete unknown. And she was clearly
trained in the shinobi arts.

"Well, it has been nice meeting you." The woman nodded to him, before sending an unreadable
look to Ino.

"…Who are you?" Naruto asked again.

She gave him a long searching look. "You can call me Shachi." And with that said, she disappeared
around the corner. Naruto had the feeling this wasn't the end of it.

They were likely not under suspicion anymore. In just a few minutes, they'd be able to slip away.
Both Naruto and Ino seemed to deflate.

"Look." She finally said.

"…Yeah?" Naruto asked.

"Next time we go up on a boat…" She started. "Yeah. Next time… Let's make it a nice and
relaxing trip. With no stakes, all right?" Ino breathed out at last.

Naruto could only let out a weak chuckle.

"Hey there." Anko grinned, dropping casually in front of Toru and Hanabi.

His blade flashed from its sheath, glinting under the moonlight. Snakes shot out of Anko's sleeve,
wrapping around Toru's hand and keeping the wakizashi in its scabbard.

Hanabi went for Anko's unprotected back, but a swift knee strike to her gut left her reeling. Snakes
wrapped around her entirely, keeping her immobilized.

"Don't." Anko said to Toru, whose other hand was already weaving hand seals. "I'm not going to
hurt either of you."

"Sure doesn't feel like it." He said evenly, racking his brains for a way to get them out of this sticky
situation. It had barely been an hour since they had left Sasuke. Were they this bad at being
missing ninja?

Anko laughed. "Yeah, sorry about that. I'd get why you're on guard, though, what with being
missing ninja and all."

"Oh, I'm sure you understand the feeling quite well." He raised an eyebrow. The fact she knew this
already was a bad sign. Very bad one. "How's Ino, by the way…?" Toru asked, keeping his tone
even despite his complicated feelings on the issue.

"So you do recognize me!" Anko grinned sharply.

"Of course. I'm in the Hunting corps, after all. I mean, I was." He muttered. "Orochimaru, Ino…
and that Indra guy. You've all become pretty popular, lately."

"We sure did, didn't we?"

"Sure, sure." He nodded calmly, but his grip on his sword's grip was tightening, until his knuckles
turned white entirely. Anko noticed it, even though she knew she had to avoid staring at the blade
itself. "Tends to happen when killing a Kage."

"You can turn your Sharingan off." She said, ready for a fight as well. "I know you layered an
illusion to make it look like it is off already, but I won't fall for it."

"I'm afraid I can't do this." He said, tone hard.

"Oh…? And why is that?"

"Your lot killed my cousins' father." He now growled.

"We didn't." Anko said, shaking her head.

Toru snorted. "Of course not." His eye suddenly turned to a point beyond Anko's shoulder.
"Hanabi, now!" He shouted.

Anko turned around, whirling-

Only to realize that Hanabi was exactly where she had left her, still trapped by her snakes. 'Ah
fuck.' She had fallen for the oldest trick in the book, and she'd have to convince both of them to
keep silent about it if she wanted to keep her credibility. If she managed to convince them, of
course.

Anko's hand went up to parry Toru's kick. Internally, she nodded in approval at the way he had
bent and stretched himself to attack despite her tight hold on him. A good fit for Snake style.
She ducked under the second kick that followed, smashing the handle of a kunai inside his gut,
with enough force to send him flying up in the air.

He tried to use that to his advantage by wrapping his hand around the sword's sheath to free it.
Anko had known he would do something like this, though, and the snakes twisted, keeping the
sword in its scabbard.

He released a fireball at her, one that she dodged, all the while maintaining the snakes coming out
of her sleeves. God, this was going to be annoying.

"Stop." Anko ordered, tightening her hold over him and getting a little bit frustrated. "You're trying
my patience."

"And why should I?" Toru asked.

She sighed and created a Shadow Clone who replaced her in holding Hanabi. Toru, she kept bound
herself, moving behind him and forcing his head up.

"Your Sharingan is still on, isn't it?" Anko asked in return, not waiting for an answer. "Good. Don't
try anything funny. Then I want you to take a good look at my clone, so that you know I'm not
lying. You can do that by reading my body language, can't you?"

"I don't have much of a choice, do I?" Toru grunted in answer, letting the illusion that hid his
Sharingan fall away. There was not much of a point in that anymore. He would try to snare the
clone into an illusion to make it attack its master, once her guard was down.

"Not really, no." She said, shrugging. "You, there. Hyūga. Do the same thing."

Hanabi was still bound, her mouth as well, but after shooting her a terrible glare — one that might
have seemed more impressive if she wasn't so… harmless right now — she did as Anko had told
her.

"First things first…" Her clone started. "As I said before. We had nothing to do with Fugaku's
death."

"Fuck off." Toru growled. "I still don't believe that."

"Don't you trust your eyes… I mean your eye?"

"You could still be lying."

"My name is Orochimaru." The clone said with utter conviction in her voice.

Even then, Toru still noticed it was a lie.

"So? Could you tell or not? It would definitely make my life much easier if you did." Anko
continued.

"…It was a lie, yeah." Toru gritted out, hating the fact he could tell.

"What do you say, Hyūga?"

Hanabi's terse nod confirmed it.

"Good." Anko nodded. "Do you need another test?"

"No. You're either able to fool both of us, in which case it won't matter… or you're telling the truth.
I don't know which option I hate the most, honestly."

Anko snorted. "Fair enough, but you both should count yourselves lucky you at least have these
fancy eyes. Most shinobi can only rely on intuition."

Toru said nothing. Which Anko was almost certain was pretty rare for him.

"Orochimaru-sensei, Yamanaka Ino, and the man you know as Indra…" The clone continued,
making sure to word it in a way that was truthful. "…had nothing to do with the Fifth's murder
either."

Toru said nothing, simply staring at her silently. Trying to figure if she was just wording things to
her advantage.

"…That complicates things a bit." He finally let out.

She gave him some time.

"…I've always wondered about it." He finally admitted. "Well, my cousin and I did, but well… it
was his father, so he could be a bit angrier about the whole thing."

Anko nodded, loosening his bindings in a slight show of trust. He nodded gratefully, and Hanabi
mostly glared at her when she did the same.

"It's… Ah." Toru muttered. "I don't know what to think of it. I'll have to tell Sasuke soon. If it's
true."

"You can, yeah." Anko nodded.

"Oh, I can? Thank you for your infinite generosity." Toru snarked.

"Do you want to be bound again?" She asked, raising an impeccable eyebrow.

"…Nah, I'm good."

"Good boy."

"Why did you tell us this?" Toru asked Anko. "And why did you come to meet us for that matter?"

"Can't you guess?" Anko grinned.

"…Oh, hell no!" Hanabi growled. "I'm not joining up your band of criminals. Not coming to Umi.
And he isn't either!"

Why was she speaking in his name...?

"We might well be a bunch of criminals." Anko nodded. "Well, some of us. But so is every village.
They just so happen to be the ones declaring what's law and what's not. Morally, I'd say we still
have the high ground."

Toru, on the other hand, was not as quick as Hanabi to say anything.

"Don't tell me you're actually considering it!" Hanabi said, glaring at him.
"You know, Hanabi-chan… If we really were negotiating right now, you'd just have done the
equivalent of stabbing my foot with a rusty kunai." Toru said dryly.

Hanabi turned red in her anger. "Who gives a damn about that?! They're a pack of vipers and
traitors and-"

"And murderers and power-hungry bastards, yeah yeah. I've heard it all." Anko finished, staring at
her with a mocking smile. "I'm sure you'll fit right in."

Toru laughed and Hanabi tried to lunge at him. Anko prevented it.

"What… would you ask of us?" Toru asked.

"Don't!" Hanabi tried once more.

"I'm curious, that's all!" He retorted, hands up in the air.

"You should listen to him a bit more." Anko said. "He seems to understand what life as a missing
ninja means."

"Of course I do." Toru chuckled darkly. "I've been catching some of these guys for years. It's a
miserable existence."

"We don't care about what the villages are up to." Anko started. "And if any of us has trouble with
them, we won't force you to take part in that. That includes Konoha. Because of Umi's particular
location, we will never be forced to do so."

"You know, if something sounds too good to be true…" Toru muttered.

"Yeah. Got you." Anko chuckled. "I can't promise you we — as a whole, will never kill Konoha
shinobi. If the circumstances call for it… well, we will. And uh… Indra has killed several ROOT
shinobi when rescuing Ino, that part is true."

"…I see." Toru grimaced. He had hoped this particular part might be wrong as well.

"And every village or organization you're likely to find out there has killed and will kill Konoha
shinobi." Anko finished, shrugging.

"I know this already, yeah." Toru said. "Still… They are... no, were my comrades in arms."

"Were they?" Anko asked with a dry smile. "I was originally from Konoha, too. So was
Orochimaru. That's why we still have some sympathy for the place and try to stay away from it."

Toru said nothing.

He let out a long breath. "...Can't say I care that much about ROOT myself, though. Not now."

Anko paused. She had expected more pushback.

"What do you know of Akatsuki?" She finally asked.

"Not much. Some criminal band?"

"You could say that." Anko deadpanned. "S-class, all of them. We're going to kill them. Are you
in?"
"Uh…" Toru hesitated. "Look, I kinda want to live."

"Yeah, no guarantee about that." Anko shrugged.

"Nothing against you guys, but this sounds like even more dangerous than staying on our own. I
think I'm going to have to refuse." Toru shrugged.

Hanabi looked reassured.

Anko nodded. "Fair enough."

Toru continued, for curiosity's sake. "…What do you guys have to offer? I guess there's no
generous retirement plan either?"

Anko thought about it. "No back-stabbing each other, since we tend to stay away from lying,
access to some very… unique seal-enhanced equipment, uh… the ability to warp all over the world
- don't say it to too many people, I'm not supposed to tell you before you're in - and for both of you,
a free house on a tropical islan-"

"Alright, I'm in." Toru nodded eagerly.

"You can't be fucking serious!" Hanabi raged, getting into his face and pushing him. "What even
goes through this thick skull of yours?!"

Toru blinked at her vehemence. "You've heard the lady-" Anko glared at him. "The amazing
young woman. It's a sweet deal."

"How does dying against the worst monsters the shinobi world has to offer sound like a sweet
deal?!"

"I'm a hunter ninja. These Akatsuki bounties must be sky-high." He turned to Anko. "They are,
aren't they?"

"Yup. Money's pretty good on the island, anyway. It's a booming village, expanding fast." She
nodded.

"See?" He shrugged.

"What about Konoha?! We won't be able to get back if we ally with the people who kill-… who
are accused of killing the previous Hokage!"

"Uh, we're kinda traitors already." Toru shrugged. "It's all or nothing. There doesn't seem to be a
better way we could protect our Konoha friends than with these guys. They care more about this
Akatsuki thing."

"…"

"You guys could also join another village, technically." Anko chuckled. "Though Kumo might not
be able to accept you openly, since they're allied to Konoha… and the other villages are fighting…
or will be fighting against your old home."

"…" Hanabi stayed silent.

"Or you could even go with Akatsuki, I guess. If you're hell-bent on ruining the entire world, it's a
nice place to be, I've heard. The people are pretty sociopathic though, even for our standards."
Toru nodded wisely, as if he knew anything about it.

"Also… we could get your seal removed." Anko finally told her, making Hanabi take a sharp
breath. "We got some excellent seal-masters on hand. One of them is kinda… busy right now…" In
prison. "… But uh he'll be back soon."

Hanabi said nothing.

Toru knew what she was about to say, though. She would accept, after mulling it over a bit longer.
Her mind was already set on it, she just had to justify it to herself.

"And that means we have business with your cousin." Anko added.

"…What about Neji…?" Hanabi finally asked. "Oh. He's part of it, isn't he?."

"Yes. We'll capture or kill Hyuuga Neji." Anko answered easily.

Hanabi's pale lavender eyes were on Anko, seeking for a sign, any sign that would mean a lie.

"Promise you aren't planning to turn on us." She said quietly.

"I promise." Anko nodded. "The only thing we want is your help with Akatsuki and our village.
We won't raise our hand against you, unless you do it first, of course. There won't be any eye-
stealing either, if that's what you're worried about. Which is something Kumo can't promise, I'd
say."

Toru was paying attention, too. Hanabi's eyes were unmoving, taking in… everything.

"…Okay." She finally said.

"What do you mean, okay?" Anko asked.

"I mean let's go, then." Hanabi said, quietly. "To Umi, or whatever your village is. I'm in, too."

Toru and Anko shared a look, and she shrugged.

"Sure, let's go."

Anko seemed to think about something. "Ah, yeah, there's one more thing."

"…What is it?" Toru asked.

"I'm not sure where to start, so if you're still willing to come with me, you'll have to ask him
yourself, but…"

"What are you talking about?" Toru tilted his head.

"Mmmh, how do I even say this?"

"Get on with it." Hanabi grunted.

"Sarutobi Naruto is alive, he's the one you know as Indra." Anko dropped the bombshell with all
the bluntness her sensei had once tried to help her get rid of.
 Changes

Toru said nothing.

Hanabi recognized the name, but she had never been particularly close to Sarutobi Naruto anyway.

"And that's the truth." Anko nodded again.

Toru was still silent.

"…Are you okay?" Hanabi asked.

Still no answer.

"Uh. Sorry." Anko muttered. "I guess you guys were close, then?" Naruto had never said too much
about the whole living in Konoha thing.

Silence.

"Did I... break him?" Anko asked, waving her hand in front of his face.

"Yes." Hanabi said dryly.

Toru muttered something.

"What was that?"

"…Sasuke and I have been blaming ourselves for his death for years… and it turns out he's alive
and hanging out on an island?" Toru gritted out.

"I mean, you framed it in a bad way, but…" Anko tried.

"Yeah. Okay. All right. I think I need to speak with him." Toru finished.

"Sure, we just need to get him out of somewhere — he got into a bit of trouble with Kumo, you
see… Shouldn't be long." Orochimaru would go bail him out himself, if Karin's group didn't
manage, Anko knew. Whenever he'd come back.

"I see. I can wait there... in Umi." Toru said, very dryly.

'Why do I feel like I should have written a pitch down instead of winging it…?' Anko thought.

"Alright. Take my hands, both of you, then. We're going to the most amazing place in the world."
Her sleeve pulled back a bit, revealing a gauntlet. "Hopefully this works here, too." Anko muttered
to herself.

"It's not the Howabe Cartoon Conve-" Toru started, before they all disappeared.

Somewhere on the sea, between Lightning and Tornadoes

Once they were sure they were not under immediate scrutiny anymore, Naruto and Ino slipped
away to their sleeping quarters.
Well, 'sleeping quarters' was pushing it, kinda. It was a cramped berth with a one person bed.

"Damn, that's pretty rough." Naruto said.

"Well, I'm not intending on sticking around to find out how comfy it really is." Ino replied. "Ready
to go?"

"Never been more ready. How do we do this?"

"I think it might be better if I break through mine and take both of us there. Your chakra is too
noticeable." She said. "And after days in captivity, your control is probably shot, so…"

"Yeah, that makes sense."

Ino broke through her bindings, letting out a relieved sigh as her chakra started flowing outwards
again.

"I'll keep an eye on the door, just in case." Naruto said.

"Sure."

She started channeling chakra, getting a feel for it again, and he took her hand.

A few stressful minutes later, they disappeared with a loud crack of thunder.

Strangely enough, Naruto had never realized just how at ease he felt in Umi before today.

Well, his latest stay in Kumo's fanciest hotel had probably helped. No real food, no drinks, and
getting beaten up for fun was not exactly his idea of a great time.

The first thing he did when he arrived into the lake's stone circle was release his bindings, of
course.

Chakra pushed through his body at his normal rate again. It was both a relief… and painful at the
same time, since his network had gotten used to working with a limited amount. He let out a grunt,
feeling the lake's gentle breeze on his skin.

"Let's go, Ino. I need a shower, badly."

"Careful. I don't think your control is back to normal."

Naruto snorted, ready to walk over the water. "True, but I'm sure I can manage that-"

He fell right through the surface of the water.

Ino dove in after him, not minding the fact that she was going to get herself entirely wet as well. It
turned out to be unneeded, because he came back to the surface after just a few moments,
sputtering and spitting water out.

"I mean, I tried to tell you." Ino chuckled.

He laughed too, sheepishly. "Yeah, my bad."

"Well, let's swim there, then." Ino offered. She definitely wasn't going to carry him.

"Sure."
It turned out to be much slower than walking over the water, of course.

The shower's water poured over him, turning reddish brown at his feet as Naruto scrubbed himself
clean. He stayed there for a while, content to let his thoughts run free, without having to bother
thinking about the best way to make it out of a dark cell with his life.

He got out then, using the mirror to finally remove the seals still written over his back and hand.
Then he shaved, getting rid of the scruff that had started to grow on his face. How many days did
he spend there, again…? He felt so tired.

Naruto stared at his reflection.

He looked entirely fine. No bags under his eyes, no scars, nothing.

For some reason, though, he felt like smashing his fist through the mirror.

Neither Karin nor Sakura were around the house.

Naruto helped Ino remove the seal Karin had applied on her, and the one he had written on her
hand himself . After that, they were mostly lounging on the couch, in half-dazed exhaustion.

They passed out in a heap before long.

Naruto woke up before dawn, when Ino's foot almost kicked him in the face. He stood up,
grumbling, having to remind himself where he was exactly. Ino was still laying down, snoring. He
chuckled and went outside.

There he limbered up, stretching, punching, kicking and dashing for over an hour.

His chakra answered him again, just as strong as ever, thrumming, humming
and pulsing underneath his skin. Lightning, Wind... were his once more.

"You know, Ino, you don't actually have to keep an eye on me." Naruto said, noticing she had been
observing him for a little while, now. He wiped some sweat off his brow.

"Someone has to make sure you're okay, though. Because you definitely won't." She just said in
answer.

He grunted something vaguely rude in answer, dodging under the slipper she threw at him.

"Wanna go for breakfast?" She asked, instead of the hundreds of questions running through her
mind. "I'll go and buy us something."

That's how they spent the morning, eating, talking, and mostly resting.

Which confirmed what Ino had been thinking, despite how good he was at pretending everything
was normal. Something was different about him.

And it was not just about his stay in Kumo, which would have explained a great many things. It
was not only about the seals carved into his skin either, Ino realized. Far from it.

She knew him well. He was closer to how he was when planning something. The way he seemed
fine one minute, smiling, grinning. And the next instant he was so quiet he seemed barely there at
all, lost in something else.

As long as he was talking, he was energetic, awake… There. But when he thought she was not
looking, he was entirely still.

And despite that, there was something entirely restless about him.

Some kind of bubbling underneath the skin, that felt like the air did, the moment just before
thunder struck.

So whatever it was that he intended to do, Naruto was planning to do something big.

They were sitting on one of the cliffs that overlooked the ocean.

"I'm fine, really, Ino." He said, laughing. It didn't seem to reach his eyes.

She tried to push her worries away, she really did. But this cemented them.

"I know you're not." She said, simply. "And if you don't want to talk about it, I understand
completely. You never pushed either, after you rescued me."

The fake smile slipped off his face. He seemed pensive.

"But if you ever want to talk, I'm here. Always." She said, her hand on his shoulder.

He grasped it, saying nothing at first, content to stare at the wide ocean.

"It's not what you think." He ended up saying. "It's not about the torture, or anything like that. The
worst thing that did... was giving me too much time alone with my thoughts."

"How can you be so sure?"

"I just know it. Physical pain, I know I heal from quickly. And as for the mental part…" He
chuckled, low and unamused. "It's nothing worse than what my dreams usually are, really. And for
the mental side as well... I heal faster than normal."

"We still don't know anything about the way the Nine-Tails chakra heals the mind, though." Ino
interjected.

"Which can go either way." Naruto stressed.

Ino let out a sigh. She was not about to dive into his mind, never without his permission, but his
surface thoughts seemed to confirm what he was saying. The conditions of his stay in Kumo didn't
really seem to come up much. Which was very unusual.

"What is it about, then?" She finally asked.

He chuckled darkly. "The same shit as always. I don't want to bore you with it."

"You won't." She insisted.

He looked at her, and for the first time, she realized he really was Orochimaru's student. For good
and for bad.

Alhough Ino couldn't read them, there were many thoughts running through Naruto's mind. And
the memories he has gained, the visions he has seen of past, present and future only confirmed
what he had been thinking. No matter how things were, the villages would always find a new way
to fuck each other over.

"The shinobi world is rotten to the core." Is what he ended up saying.

Ino hesitated. The same thoughts had been on her own mind, more than a few times.

"Always has been." He continued.

"It is." She acknowledged.

"There's no saving bastards like Danzō, Ōnoki, A, Yagura… Nagato."

Naruto distantly saw futures where things worked out decently for a while, when everybody else
was cowed by a powerful enough individual or organization. No matter how many times he
thought about it, that was the only way to ensure peace. Both Indra and Asura knew it, too.

The world-scale equivalent of wrestling your opponent into submission. Because the world was
who the opponent was.

"They won't change. They won't budge. They became what they had to become. Remorseless,
cold, uncaring."

And Danzō probably was the worst offender, here, according to what Naruto remembered. The
others at least could at least say that they were doing their best to help the village grow. Or that
they had been hypnotized into it.

Or some of them, at least. Danzō seemed to be ready to actively harm his own village, if it meant
gaining more personal power. And he had done so in other possible futures.

Well. He amended himself. The others likely were not much better, if at all. And in all of his lives,
Konoha remained the village he tended to grow up in, so it was no wonder that he had seen more of
it.

"Because the first thing the shinobi world takes from you is your empathy."

And he knew about it. Just how easy killing was becoming, every time he did so. Ino stayed silent.

"Guilt, regret, empathy for your enemy, they all lead to hesitation. And that will get you killed…
or caught… or get the people you care about killed. That's why shinobi kill these feelings first. Or
the villages do it for them, if they keep at it long enough."

Because seeing your enemies as humans would make you hesitate.

Ino knew this. "It's true. But how could this change? As long as there are humans, and as long as
there's chakra… This is almost guaranteed to happen."

Peaceful Nations never really lasted long. The length of time for which they existed… usually
lasted from their birth to the moment their neighbors decided to militarize.

"There's only one thing that would make the villages listen. Power." He shrugged. "Enough power
to tear the world down."

"…That's what Akatsuki is doing, isn't it…?" She said, unsure where he was going with that. And
afraid, too.
He answered slowly. "They might have started with the right idea."

Ino held her breath, hoping he wasn't-

He continued. "I don't know how they lost it on the way. Inciting wars, causing such bloodshed,
controlling people from the shadows, only to have them do their bidding… Building a weapon of
mass destruction or whatever it is they are doing… That's not the solution."

Ino breathed out, just now realizing how tense she had been.

"No." He said, looking at her very, very seriously. His purple eyes almost shone. "I'm trying to find
a better way."

Ino did not know what to say exactly. She thought, long and hard.

"You can't change the world alone."

"No. But I'm not alone. I have you." He said simply.

Whether he noticed that her heart skipped a beat or not, he didn't show.

And she knew that by 'you', he meant 'all of them'… but just for a moment, she pushed that aside.

"Yes. You do." She said, coming closer to him.

"We'll find a way. I know it." He smiled, pulling her in.

"Which reminds me…" He said, a bit later, after thinking about it some more.

She gave him a questioning look. "Yeah?" It wasn't like him to be so hesitant.

"Of course, you really don't need to feel like you have to… But do you want us to... link?" Naruto
finally asked.

Ino looked at him, not saying anything.

"Again, you don't have to." He repeated.

"…I thought you'd never ask." She said with a quiet voice.

"Huh?" He blinked. "Oh. I thought it was asking too much from you, considering… well,
everything. And even now, I still don't know what it means exactly, or if it's going to influence you,
or me… or anyone."

Maybe the right decision was to not bother with it at all, he thought. There were plenty of ways
they could-

"I think I'll be fine." Ino decided. "Let's do it."

"You sure sure?"

"I am." She repeated.

"…Okay, then. Let's do it."

"…Uh." Ino's cheeks turned red. "What do we have to do exactly…?"

She seemed… nervous? Excited?

"Don't worry, it's not much, really." He reassured her. "Hold my hand."

"Oh. That's it…?"

He took her hand.

"Alright, I have you." He whispered.

He was so familiar with Ino that he barely had to try.

Naruto reached out to Ino. Her chakra touched his, and they met midway. Wind-Lightning-
Storm and Yin-Earth.

A tendril of chakra formed into a bond.

He saw her and she saw him, wordlessly.

Naruto pulled.

"Um. How do I look?" Probably ridiculous, she felt.

Ino stood, a tengu mask over her face, complete with a flowing white material that looked like hair
coming out of its back.

"You'd look good in just about anything." Naruto chuckled.

"…Thanks." She muttered, glad her face was hidden away. "So, what does it do…?"

"Uh… I really have no idea yet."

Anko and Toru were walking through Umi's center.

"…and yeah, I'm sorry for us having such a rough start. Kinda." Anko said, by way of apology.
Hanabi had gone away to find some place where she could study the scroll some more, in peace.

"Eh. I like spirited women." Toru shot back, his lone eye taking in the developing village. Yeah.
He could get used to this kind of place.

She snorted. "You've got balls for somebody who's… what? Sixteen?"

"What?!" He shouted in outrage. "I'm eighteen, and I look like it."

"Uh huh. I'm not really interested in kids." She said dryly.

"You said really." Toru pointed out.

"I meant to put it at the end of the sentence."

"But you didn't-"

Toru suddenly froze mid-sentence. Anko looked at whatever it was that he had seen.

'Ah, yeah, that would do it.'

Uzumaki Naruto was apparently back in Umi, and he and Ino were currently discussing the merits
of mangoes, compared to those of pineapples. Heatedly.

Naruto noticed them. "Anko!" Then he saw Toru and froze too.

Toru looked at him, really looked at him.

"It's really you…" Toru breathed out.

Naruto shot a worried look at Anko, unsure what to make of the situation. 'How did you bring
them?' he seemed to mouth.

"I… guess?" Naruto let out, a hand scratching the back of his head.

The expressions, now that he knew about Naruto's actual identity, Toru could recognize.

"You… I thought you were dead." He just said.

"Yeah…" Naruto winced. "Sorry."

"It's…"

Toru stepped forward, holding his arms out, eye shiny. Naruto let him come, feeling a bit
emotional himself, opening his arms for a hesitant hug. They walked closer to each other and Anko
let out a somewhat fond smile, that she would later swear was just amusement at what she would
pretend she had known was coming.

Because Toru punched Naruto in the ear. Hard.

"You fucking…!" Naruto grunted in pain. He was walking around in circles, swearing and
moaning. "Why the ear…? Fuck!"

Toru gave a long glance to Ino, but decided she really was not responsible for the shit that had
happened, so he settled for a nod that she returned hesitantly. He focused back on Naruto.

"You still owe me a spar, don't you…?" Toru growled. "Let's have it now."

Naruto let out a long suffering sigh, his head still ringing.

"Yeah, okay. Let's do that."

 Bonds

Naruto stood on one side of the dirt field, shaking his limbs, stretching.

The last time they had fought, Naruto had only been able to use Wind style, in order not to show
who he really was. This time, he didn't have this limitation.

On the other side of the field, Toru was still glaring at him, looking as though he
was really looking forward to it.

Ino and Anko were both watching from the sidelines. Hopefully it wouldn't get too out of hand.

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry I left like I did." Naruto said. "Or rather... That I didn't tell you."

"Oh, shut up! If that was the case, you had six years to fix it." Toru shot back.

Naruto dispelled the illusion Toru had cast while he was speaking. He shook his head. "More than
three had gone by in a blink."

"I have no idea what you mean by this, but you'll have all the time in the world to grovel once I
kick your ass!"

"Are you sure about this?" Naruto asked again.

"Kicking your ass?" He lifted an eyebrow.

"The fight itself."

"Of course I am." Toru snorted.

"You're really serious, then." Naruto nodded.

Toru pulled his sword out and Naruto summoned one out of thin air.

"…"

Toru said nothing, lost in the memory of the time he had seen this particular technique before. If he
still had been looking for confirmation, there was no doubt anymore. This was the same Naruto, no
matter if he looked nothing like the boy he had been.

"Are you two serious?" Ino asked, now worried. "Can't you just use your fists or something?"

"Leave them be." Anko waved off. "They'll be fine." That was how she settled her own conflicts,
and she had turned out just fine.

Toru was staring at him, which Naruto knew, even though he was avoiding direct eye contact. His
gaze was hard, as if he were staring at an enemy.

He knew how Toru tended to operate, and would not risk using any sort of Clone technique, as he
would likely turn them against him anyway.

Naruto thought he was faster, but Toru had the Sharingan and his illusions. He could not afford to
take this lightly.
Once more, he extended his chakra senses and checked for any trace of illusion, dispelling the
auditive one he hadn't noticed. Toru was channeling more chakra toward his eye, too.

Their swords drawn, both of them were ready for anything.

'It's strange. I feel very… relaxed. Excited, almost.'

Something about the idea of testing himself in battle against Toru appealed to him, and he could
not pretend it didn't.

Toru was strong.

A few months ago, they had been close to the same level of strength, Naruto had estimated. No, he
likely had had a slight edge over the Uchiha.

Both of them had been through a lot since then, he was sure. Konoha was involved in a war, and
Toru had been sent to fight. Naruto, on the other hand, had spent all his free time training to kill
some of the strongest men and women in the world.

They both knew they were trying to figure out where they stood on the ladder.

Toru likely knew Naruto was faster than him, since he knew about his Lightning Style.

Naruto... knew that Toru would try to ensnare him from the start. If he hadn't managed to do so
already with an illusion he had not noticed. There was only one way to play this out. He started
channeling Elemental chakra from his core to his entire body.

The way he had visualized it for endless hours, after having observed the Raikage.

They stood there, unmoving, their eyes poised and their spirit indomitable.

'This time, he will use Lightning.' Toru knew. 'I can't parry his strikes, then, and he's stronger
than me physically anyway.'

Which meant he would have to go all out from the beginning. The instant before he moved, he
would predict Naruto's attack, dodge his blade, and force him into a triple-layered illusion. The
order of which didn't matter, and one of them would-have to be chakra-triggered, since he was able
to notice when he was into a Genjutsu.

That was the best way to beat him now.

The wind rustled.

Toru could see the Lightning chakra build up within Naruto's body, so much of it.

It spread from his core to his entire body, in a way that was not what he remembered from the
former Sarutobi.

Toru saw Naruto's next move and got ready to deflect the strike once they met.

The Sarutobi... No, the Uzumaki was going for the straightest attack. He intended to move close to
Toru, sword aimed at his throat. A textbook attack, and one Toru had countered many, many times
before.

He would do the same today. He used chakra to enhance his reflexes, Sharingan spinning wildly.
Toru was ready, the first two illusions ready to be set. One through his blade, one through his eye.
He would win this. He would-

Naruto moved like a demon.

There was no other word for it. Before Toru could even understand that the battle was already
over, and long before he could wonder who would win, between Sasuke and Naruto.

Naruto was upon him, his sword close to his neck, the strike as straightforward as his Sharingan
had seen... his eyes almost blue with electricity.

Toru then heard his own sword clatter to the ground, freed from his hand, after that.

"Your speed…" Toru muttered. "Incredible."

Naruto's eyes were strong, fixed on his own, unafraid. As though Toru's Sharingan was not staring
back. Or as though he was confident in his ability to prevent the illusion from taking, even at this
distance. Or maybe he just knew Toru would not try anything after this.

"I think this one is over." Naruto just said, the true Lightning Cloak fading away, and his eyes
turning softer again.

Toru couldn't help it.

He started chuckling.

"Yeah." He finally said. "I think I lost this one."

"You're still paying for lunch, though." Toru said, once he, Ino and Naruto were seated in one of
Umi's restaurants, one serving seafood.

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "And why should I? I won, fair and square. Lunch should be on you, if
anything."

"That's not why."

"Then why?"

"For being a fucking dick, mostly."

Ino choked on her laughter. Naruto glared at her.

"He's right, you know." She just said, shrugging. "Pretending you were dead for years was a bit of
a dick move."

Truth be told, she was very glad to see Toru again. He had always been her favorite, honestly.
Sasuke was great and all, but he was, well… too intense about everything. Also, he would not have
taken Anko's word that they were innocent so easily, Sharingan 'proving' it or not.

Naruto sighed and got his wallet out, while Toru made a whipping sound. Naruto paused.

"…Do you want to listen to the story… or do I need to beat you up again?" He asked, glaring at
Toru.

"When did I ever lose…?" Toru frowned and Naruto rolled his eyes.
He launched into the tale of his continued survival once more, wondering if there was no way Ino
could just help him show his memories or something to the same effect.

"I was born as Uzumaki Naruto, the son of…"

"So these two guys with the red clouds robes were from an actual organization?" Toru cut in.

"Yeah." Naruto nodded, somewhat annoyed at being cut off. "They didn't say much at the time, did
they?"

"Nope. Never saw them after, either."

"Well, they're called Akatsuki, and they're after the Bijū, not just me… or not just Sasuke."

"What do they even want to do with them…?" Toru frowned. Bijū were forces of nature, and the
most likely explanation was about accumulating power.

"Not entirely sure, but considering the shit they're pulling from the shadows — I'll get back to
that… Nothing good."

"Yeah, right. Jumped into the future, you say?" Toru chuckled, slapping his back. "You crack me
up, man."

Ino shrugged and Naruto said nothing, just raising his eyebrow. Toru trailed off awkwardly.

"Oh, you were serious, then. My bad. Go on."

"Wait, Karin and Sakura are here too?" Toru blinked.

"Sure." Ino nodded.

"Is this like a missing ninja convention? Wait…" He frowned. "I came here with Hanabi. Please
tell me Neji's not around. Ah, no wait. He's Akatsuki, right? He gave that scroll to her."

"Yeah."

"I'm almost glad. Hate the guy."

"And a fucking Kage is being Sharingan hypnotized?" Toru almost shouted.

"At least one. That we know of." Naruto corrected, wincing at his volume.

"Why don't you warn the other villa-" Toru realized mid-sentence. "Yeah, okay. Missing ninja and
all."

Ino winced.

"…I'll at least tell Sasuke, Itachi and my brother. About all that stuff." He decided.

Naruto blinked. "That's… a good idea. They will believe you though, won't they?"

"Of course, I just have to find a way to get in touch with them, which might be a bit of a pain, but I
mean… we can teleport around, can't we?"
"Yeah". Naruto nodded.

"I don't think it's that easy to mail the front-lines or… a clan head, when there's a war going on."
Ino deadpanned.

"Sure, sure." Toru waved off. "I'll find a way."

"And yeah, I would say that was most of it." Naruto finished, his throat parched. He greedily
finished his glass of water.

"That's kind of a lot to take in." Toru muttered.

"I know."

"Mind if I take some time to think about it… and speak with Hanabi about all that?" She would
need to be kept in the loop.

"Of course not. Take all the time you need." Naruto shook his head. "Here's how to find us,
anyway. Eastern island, around the crater lake. The house that's not a spire."

"A spire…?"

"Orochimaru." Ino butted in, as though this explained everything.

"Ah. Okay...?" Toru nodded, filing the info somewhere with the rest of the island trivia.

"And ask Hideki about help with building a house, whenever you feel like it. Pick a place, tell him
I sent you." Naruto finished.

"Okay, can you hear me?" Ino asked out loud, facing away from Naruto.

"Nope."

"Hmmm… Can you hear me now?"

"Still no."

"Damn." She cursed. "Maybe by focusing on the bond itself…?"

Naruto waited. Then he waited some more.

He and Ino — but mostly Ino, he was more of a guinea pig — were trying to figure out a way to
use her telepathic abilities through the link. It was not the same thing as simply using one of her
clan jutsu to communicate with somebody within her line of sight, since the bond would not be
affected by distance.

Something came through the link. Several incomplete thoughts were streaming from her to him.

'llo?'

'no?-'

'hear-'

'hear.'
"Did you hear this?" Ino asked excitedly.

"Yes." Naruto nodded.

"You're smiling."

"How do you know? You're not looking at me."

"You sent... the emotion, I think." Naruto could tell her face was scrunched in concentration.

"How?"

"Not sure. Try… opening the bond more to let things go through?" Ino asked. "I'll start."

He could definitely feel some of her emotions, now.

Pride-Eagerness-Affection-Passion-Insecurity-Worry-Envy-Confusion

That's what Ino was broadcasting, right now, at least the emotions he could read. And she wanted
him to do the same thing…?

Naruto barely held back a wince. There were more than a few reasons why he probably shouldn't
do that.

But then again... she probably had her own reasons not to want to do it either. And she still did it. It
would only be fair that he did the same.

Naruto reached for the connection to her mind — or maybe it was her soul, whatever that meant,
really — and opened the link wide.

Ino stiffened, just looking at him — through their connected minds — with a wide-eyed
expression.

She said nothing for a long, long while, and Naruto was starting to get worried.

'You feel like this… all the time?' Ino asked. Naruto could picture her in his mind, and she
looked sad-worried-moved-nervous-tender-excited-horrified.

A… peculiar, complicated mix. It was strange, being able to tell that much.

'I'm not sure what you're talking about exactly, and I don't know if I really want to.' He sent back.

'It's… a bit of everything.' Ino started.

Naruto was pretty sure she also got too much information about the way he thought about her... and
more unpleasant things like his sex drive. There was no way she was going to ask him about it,
though.

'Like…?' Naruto wasn't sure how much she had seen.

'The… entities calling to you. This… thrill of battle. The Moon. Wind. Lightning. The... Storm.'

And something that wanted to break the world, too.

'Ah… This.' He thought with a wince. 'Yeah, it's been with me for a while now. It's louder
sometimes, but I think I'll manage. I hope so. Ah. I didn't mean to send that. Or this.'
'I imagine. I'm better at compartmentalizing, but it took me years. It's no wonder you're
broadcasting everything.'

'Ah. My bad.'

'Don't be. In a way, it's the first time you're being so open.'

'Way to make me feel good about it.' He paused. 'Too open, I guess?'

'I… No. But it's a lot to take in.'

Ino was pretty sure she now understood what Yugito had meant, the last time they had talked.
He really wasn't very comfortable with the idea of committing to a single person. There would be
no idyllic romance there, likely.

And that was just the tip of the iceberg.

The constant calls of the world around him, that he heard at all times. How was he
not absolutely insane already?

There was no doubt that Ino, as a Yamanaka, was fascinated by the human mind. And Naruto was
one of the most peculiar minds she had ever seen, this much was getting clearer by the day. For
good… and for bad.

It was sometimes hard to believe this used to be the grumpy, standoffish boy who had been a
Sarutobi.

And she had been wrong, when she had thought he hadn't changed that much.

Growing up had made him a very different person. Many of his quirks were still the same, and he
would always be Naruto to her…

But the crushing weight of responsibility, pressure, compromising his personal ethics, post-
traumatic stress disorder — even for ninja standards — would have made most people give up
already.

That was before even mentioning Indra's apparent mind games, before even mentioning
the entities calling to him.

No, it was no wonder that Naruto had changed.

But… she found she could accept him as he was now, anyway.

And that made him a lucky man. Because he would need her — them, really — to keep him in line,
and she wanted to be by his side.

'Okay.' She sent, instead, not feeling ready to be quite so open as to tell him this. 'I think I got the
hang of it. Let me try to go through to Sakura.'

While Ino did exactly that, Naruto tried to figure out a few different things.

The fact that Toru and Hanabi had been brought in by Anko had reminded him of a glaring security
issue. The intent-based barriers were working, as far as they knew, but if people from outside of
Umi ever learned about them, they could be trained to hide that, likely. Even from themselves.
Which meant that they would need to bring people who intended to join the island to another place
first, to make sure they were non-hostile, at least. This would not be that hard to manage, as they
could just find another island, even just a few hundred kilometers away, to act as a temporary
checking point.

He'd have to ask Ino how she felt about taking a boat trip, whenever they had some free time.
Probably soon, then, because they would need to get back to the mainland.

Naruto had a little theory, one that he had no way to prove right now, one that concerned the bonds.

The... soul artifacts that had come during a time of need… were directly linked to that particular
need. Which meant that desire and intent had influenced them.

Sakura had been half-unconscious at the time, but he was almost certain that her strongest desire at
the time they had manifested the link had been escaping. At least, that was what his own had been.
Her power could be a reflection of that.

Sasuke had wanted a way to win against Gaara, and so had Naruto. More than escaping, they had
been looking for a weapon, for strength. And they had gotten a strong weapon in return, in the
form of two swords. One of them, the short one, Sasuke had gifted to Toru, years ago. And Toru
had managed to keep it manifested for the entire time, it seemed. Anko and Sakura had figured out
how to do the same thing, apparently.

Karin was where things got a bit more muddled. There had been no true need. And Naruto was
almost sure that because of it, the artifact that had come out as a result had been linked to her own
unique abilities. Water and Earth were her affinities, after all. And they were, according to a few
books on the topic, closer to Nature than the other three main elements. For the same reason, Wood
Style was supposed to be the easiest to blend with natural energy.

Which meant that Yugito, as Fire and Soul, and with no express need at the time they had
somehow bonded, likely would have an artifact do with her nature. It came in the form of a
hakama, Ino had said.

Ino who would be linked to Yin, he was almost sure.

Though how to make sense of it all, Naruto didn't know.

 Baptism by Fire

An undisclosed meeting room.

"Do you know what you're asking…?" She asked, voice hoarse.

"I know exactly what I'm asking, I assure you." He answered, voice even. "And I think of it as a
favor I'm doing you."

"A favor…?" The last man in the room growled. "You call this a favor?"

"Yes, considering the circumstances. If it were up to me, only… Death would be my recourse."

They were trapped, and they knew it. "…You are speaking about his free will."

"No. I am speaking of doing what is needed. You understood it, once."

Umigakure, in the morning

Five of Naruto's clones were sitting around the house, close to Ino. Each of them was studying one
fifth of a copy of Hanabi's scroll.

The young Hyūga woman was... somewhat unpleasant to deal with, but Ino would cut her some
slack for the time being, considering the complicated position she had been put into. If she still was
like this in a few weeks… they'd see then.

Ino was in the house as well, sitting seiza-style, trying to figure out how to reach Sakura or Karin.
Neither of them were around, and the only thing she had seen of either was one of Sakura's portals,
left around Umi. That she only noticed because she knew exactly what to look for - and because
they had not been masked.

Well, Ino would settle for reaching Yugito, even.

She could feel their presence somewhere on the periphery of her awareness, but no matter how
much she tried, she could not establish the sort of mental link needed for that. Maybe it would take
getting close to them physically at first. Sasuke seemed even harder to reach, as if the link itself
was atrophied.

Nevertheless, Ino could be thick-headed. She was not going to give up until she figured out how to
do it… or she deemed it truly impossible.

Naruto was sitting on the edge of the lake.

Summoning the hakama had been easy enough, once he knew what to look for. Figuring out how
something linked to Fire and Soul that could work... was much harder. He had tried summoning a
flame first, but nothing had happened.

At some point, Toru came to sit next to him, entirely silent. His Sharingan was spinning lazily in
his eye, belying his apparent disinterest.

With a deep inhale, Naruto reached for the link with Yugito. Fire and Soul were became an
extension of his body and he-

He didn't understand. Naruto fell back. He breathed out. Not this time either.

"I heard you killed a few Konoha shinobi." Toru started, casually.

Naruto groaned.

"What a great way to start a conversation."

Toru just shrugged, his eye fixed on him. Whatever he was thinking... he was keeping to himself.

"You used to be very much against killing, back then."

"Yeah." Naruto paused, searching for words. Not that there was anything he could say that would
really change the events of that day. He went with the truth. "They tortured Ino. It was bad. I…
kinda lost control."

A pause.

"I mean… Not really judging, then." Toru finally said, some of the tension releasing. Despite
appearances, he was a shinobi who had seen war. And he was mostly at their mercy, honestly.
"Things are… complicated, in the village."

"Because of Danzō?" Naruto asked. Ino had explained a few things about the man, and he had seen
some... things, back in the river.

Toru scowled at the mention of his name. "Also, but not only. He is a symbol of many things that
are wrong with the village, but he's just a man. Somebody else would replace him, if he weren't
there. He's a bastard, but at least he seems to know what he's doing."

"I figured as much. Every village has their own Danzō. Most of them you'll never even notice.
Which might be worse. At least he has some accountability."

"The upper echelons are not much better." Toru shook his head. "For every Kakashi, every
Shisui… there are twice as many Hiashis, Tsutomus and Mitsuomis. It didn't take a war to make
me see it... but it sure as hell is not helping their constant power grabs."

"Not sure I know these people." Naruto shrugged.

"Eh. Bastards, all of them. For different reasons."

Silence stretched for a while.

"I don't want to talk about this." Toru suddenly decided. "I'm not even in Konoha anymore."

"As you wish. I'm not exactly the biggest fan of Konoha anyway." Naruto shrugged.

"Yeah, you kinda had that vibe, even back then." Toru chuckled.

"Most people I care about are here, anyway."

"Sure seems so. Bring Kakashi and Sasuke in the fold... and I assume you basically have all of
them." Toru carefully avoided any mention of Sarutobi. Wisely.

Naruto snorted. "Kakashi hides it well, but he cares more about Konoha than almost any person I
can remember. He would never leave. Even with Danzō at the helm."

"Sure, sure… But you never know what the future brings."

"True enough." Naruto admitted.

"Tell me, Toru, as the local pyromaniac…"

"That's only a rumor." Toru waved off. "We Uchiha don't care that much about burning things."

"I saw you set fire to Training Ground Thirteen when we were ten." Naruto deadpanned.

"…I grew out of it."

"I'm sure." Naruto nodded slowly.

"What was your question?"

"What would you use a fire for?"

"Me personally?"

"Also, but in general."

"Uh…" Toru seemed to think. "You want an exhaustive list?"

"Sure. I'll write them down."

Toru thought some more.

"For heat first." He said. Naruto wrote it down on the ground with a single touch.

"That's one."

"…Since when can you do that?" Toru asked, dumbfounded.

"Write, you mean?" Naruto asked, keeping his grin off from his face.

Toru grunted. "Since when can you put ink - or whatever that is - down by touching things?"

"Recently, but it's mostly for seals, really." Naruto shrugged.

"…Okay."

"Go on."

"Uh… Fire is useful...For hunting, cooking, as a source of light." He paused. "For manufacturing,
woodworking, electricity, repelling insects, purifying water…"

"Okay, these are pretty good." Naruto nodded.

"Creating a romantic atmosphere or ...for fun."

Naruto gave him a quizzical look. "I really don't know if you mean burning things for fun or
fucking."
"Does it matter?" Toru grinned.

"…Guess not."

Naruto stared at the list… and found nothing that he thought would work.

"When you think of Soul… what do you think about?"

"Uh…" Toru blinked. "Are we getting philosophical…? I'd say to me, at least, it is what makes
you "you". Same for an object, I guess."

"That's… interesting." Naruto said. "I would have said it's a notion about our feelings, memories
and beliefs being an invisible, separate thing from our bodies. Hypothetically, since it's hard to
prove or disprove it."

Naruto paused. "For example, I met my father's remnant, but it's something that he sealed within
me. So if that's a soul, what does it mean…? Did he put a part of it inside me…? Was his soul split
in two…? Or was it a chakra imprint that he left behind that acted, remembered and thought like
him? How do you tell the difference?"

"…I have no idea, either." Toru said.

"I believe in it, though. The soul thing, I mean." The whole Indra possession or whatever that was...
was enough to make him believe that there was something more than just a human body.

"Same."

"Can you think of anything that would combine both? Fire and Soul?"

Toru sighed. "Man, I'm not your sounding board. I came here to get some sun."

He still got to thinking.

"Aight, how about this?" Toru proposed.

"Go ahead." Naruto nodded, eager to see what he had come up with.

"The Firesoul." Toru made a grandiose gestures with his hand, breathing the word out.

"…I like the name. What's the concept?"

"A way to set your soul on fire, — metaphorically speaking — letting your passion burn through
you."

"…Okay, Gai-sensei. You can say this with a straight face?" Naruto asked.

"Hell yeah I can."

Naruto sighed and tried to see if there was anything to it. There wasn't.

"Aight, not this one, then." Toru admitted. "The Spirit Heat? Like, the ability to see people's souls
from afar, nothing can hide from your eyes."

"That's closer to chakra sensing, doesn't seem very useful."

"Try it."
It didn't work either.

"Alright, I think I got it." Toru continued. "Ghostflame. Picture it. A fire that never stops burning."

"Damn, I really thought the Loveburn was it." Toru complained, sounding very petulant.

"…Which part of 'emotional flames' didn't sound like a reach to you?"

"Eh, anything sounds stupid if you say it so sarcastically."

"Anything sounds stupid if you say it so sarcastically." Naruto repeated, in a higher pitched voice.

"I don't sound anything like this." Toru said hotly.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night."

"Fire in Uchiha culture?" Toru asked, making sure he understood the question.

"Yeah."

"Well… Fire represents the energetic, moving things in the world. Change, in a way, too. It
represents drive and passion."

"I see." Naruto nodded. "And Soul would be closer to the nature of an item."

"I'd say so."

"So combine both…"

Toru got it. "Something to change the nature of an item?"

"I sure hope so." Naruto laughed. "Otherwise I think I'm giving up for today. I'm sure the clones
are going to give me a big headache already."

"Let's try, then. Turn this kunai into… I don't know, a two-pronged one." Toru held the weapon out
to Naruto.

He closed his eyes, pressing his hand against the handle of the kunai.

Naruto inhaled slowly.

Fire-Soul-Change

Change.

This was a regular kunai. He wanted it to be a two-pronged kunai.

The soul of metal did not want to change.

Naruto linked his own soul to the kunai. His soul wanted the metal to change. The metal still didn't
seem to feel like it.

Part of the blade became his and part of his became part of the blade.

He saw the blade, the way he wanted it to be in his mind.

A purple, ethereal flame started to burn around the kunai. It didn't burn burn, but both he and Toru
could feel it emitted a strange sort of heat.

The metal became mostly liquid, shifting and stretching.

Naruto guided it, his focus entirely on the process that he was part of. The bond between him and
the metal... the metal and him... would not allow for anything less.

After what felt like hours to Naruto, but was closer to a minute in truth... he released himself from
the link.

He looked upon his work.

Just as he had expected, the kunai was now two-pronged. That was...

That was likely the least efficient thing he could have done, considering how sweaty he now felt.
The process was very chakra-consuming.

But it had worked. Toru was silent, for once.

What could he work into the nature of an item? What were the limits of the ability…? What could
he-

"Alright. I've decided. This is the Soulflame. The flame that doesn't burn." Toru nodded in
satisfaction.

"…I kinda like it." Naruto admitted. "Let's go with that."

They both went back to the lakeside house, Toru carrying a scroll.

"Look." Naruto said, holding the kunai out to Ino. His clones were not paying any attention, too
engrossed in their reading.

"…Yes, that's a pretty fucked up kunai." She nodded.

"I made this." He nodded proudly.

"He made this." Toru nodded proudly.

"Uh… great?"

"It has two prongs." Naruto continued.

"And it's still perfectly balanced." Toru finished.

"…What good do two prongs even bring on a weapon made for cutting and stabbing?" Ino
frowned.

"It looks sick." Toru nodded again.

"I don't think she understands." Naruto folded his arms. "Maybe if I had added another one she
would. Well, practice makes perfect."

"We're going to build a forge in the backyard." Toru added.

"…What are you guys even talking about? Toru doesn't even live here."
"I'm going to become a blacksmith." Naruto nodded.

"You don't know anything about blacksmithing, do you?"

Naruto shot her a defiant glare. "I can learn."

"He only needs the very basics, anyway." Toru interjected. "It's not a forge forge. More like a place
to isolate a material from outside interferences."

"I'm not sure I quite follow."

"I'll be doing some... soulsmithing." Naruto told her.

"Please stop making up buzzwords, I still don't know what a Sealing A/B Split-Test is." Ino
growled. "Or if it even means anything."

Naruto kept a straight face. "I'll have you know this is very serious work, and I can't have you
downplay it."

"We're going to be using the Soulflame for it." Toru added helpfully.

Ino clenched her fists. One student of Kakashi was bad enough. Was it too late to put Naruto back
in prison…?

"So… working with metal, anyway, then?" She asked, instead of kicking them both in the stomach.

"Nah, not only." Toru looked at Naruto for an answer. "It's not a forge forge."

"Fabrics are fine too. So… Tailoring should be possible, now that I think about it?" Naruto mused.
He hadn't particularly enjoyed sewing things.

"Oh?" Ino asked, now interested. "Are you going to be making things like that cloak you got me for
my birthday?"

"Eh. Something like it." Naruto shrugged.

"Aight, I'm in." Ino stood up. "Where are we building your… forge?"

"Soulforge." Toru corrected.

'I'm going to kill them.'

The process of actually building it was slower, without Karin around.

Pulling stones out of storage, cutting them and finally shaping them with the Soulflame was way
more taxing, — and wasteful too — but it worked.

Naruto had figured out the best way to change the properties of an item was to reduce it to its most
basic shape, and then weave in the desired effect during its transformation.

He was more familiar with seals, so that's what he went with, using them as the base model for any
intended property. Weaving the seal in his mind, and blending it into the 'soul' of the item during
the forging. There might have been a better way, but that was the one he knew. And he knew it
well.
Then he made the furnace a closed loop, weaving the stone itself to repel chakra. Along with him
guiding the flame, it would keep most of the strange fire and heat where Naruto needed it to be. All
that, in order to make it as isolating as possible.

Then once he was done, he went to take a nap.

A realm between Time and Space

Naruto found himself sitting on a wooden chair, in a dark room.

The air was cold, much too cold to be anywhere close to Umi and he knew where he was instantly.

'Wake up.' He thought, focusing on Umi, on his couch.

He was still at the table. There was a mirror in the room and Naruto felt its pull. Despite himself,
he moved to stand in front of it. He stared into it directly.

As he had expected, he could see Indra. Or was it really himself? The features were almost blurred,
as though he would need to squint to tell who was really in there.

Then, just as though he had imagined it all, it was only himself into the mirror.

He let out a long sigh of relief.

"It has been a while, hasn't it?"

Naruto whirled around, a sword flashing into his hand. Indra's own hand moved, and his sword
broke like a toy.

The man came closer to him, walking out of the shadows with long, flowing white robes. Thunder
seemed to follow him, and the air burned. Eyes that seemed older than the world itself fixed into
Naruto's.

"Indra." Naruto breathed.

"So you have finally learned to call people by their chosen name, by now." Indra laughed.

"What is it you want?"

Indra ignored him, walking slowly around the mirror.

"You have grown, little Uzumaki. Have you seen?"

The way he said it, there was only one thing that really fit the bill.

"...I've seen you and your father." Naruto finally let out. Indra paused. "The Sage."

"So you did." The man said, evenly.

"Back when you were a child, and back before your father's rejection drove you insane."

"Be still now, little Uzumaki. I did not allow you to speak beyond 'yes' or 'no'." Indra's voice was
restrained, but it was the same unwelcome silence as the one that came before thunder.

Naruto quieted down, seeing the fire inside his eyes.

"Do not forget this. You are mine, heart and soul. Marked for collection."

"You lie." Naruto managed after a long silence.

"How... odd." Indra mused. "I thought I told you not to speak."

"If you could just have me do your bidding, why didn't you do so already? There is nothing you
can do to-"

A wave of ancient chakra, so far beyond what Naruto had ever known, slammed into him, freezing
him in place.

"You are never out of my reach." Indra said, his eyes shining with dark amusement. "You have
seen the threads of Fate, haven't you? Do you really believe that simply because you are not
Uchiha this time around…" Indra began, coming closer to him.

"Simply because your eyes do not perceive the world with the clarity that my own do…"

Naruto could feel the man's cold breath upon his face, now.

"Simply because you have muddied my gift with your own inferior bloodline…"

Then, his eyes went to his collarbones, to his navel, and to his shoulders. To the blue and green
dragon circling around his left arm.

"Simply because you have dabbled with forces beyond your comprehension, like a child would…"

His eyes were dark, and Naruto felt as though he were staring into the abyss itself.

"Simply because you have found a few weaklings to follow you, that you dare call friends to their
face…"

Indra laughed, like the raging thunder.

"Simply because of that… You think you have strayed away from my path?"

The air was thick around them, as though the entire world was confined to this dark room.

"I won't let you control me." Naruto gritted out.

"Control you…?" Indra laughed, louder and louder. "But I am you."

Thunder and flame exploded from his body, burning everything around him to ash.

Pain consumed Naruto, as he saw his very own body burn away, starting from his hands. The last
thing to go was his very soul.

Naruto woke up on the couch in the evening, covered in sweat.

Ino was sleeping on the floor, somewhere close. His own clones had dispelled already, and he had
five sets of memories mixing with his own, telling him how to get rid of the Caged Bird Seal.

He went to walk outside, but he was so tense that he summoned a sword to his hip, almost
automatically.
Just in case-

'…What the hell am I doing?' He wondered, right after, dispelling it.

Naruto walked along the mountain path, settling on the cliff overlooking the ocean, where he had
come so many times already.

He felt a presence. Toru.

"Did you know your presence is like a beacon to the Sharingan?" He asked, walking next to him.

"Never really thought of it, I have to admit." Naruto said, not turning to face him.

"So you still have the nightmares, I take it?" Toru asked.

"…You knew, back then?"

"Well, it was hard to miss you thrashing and turning in your sleeping bag once a week." Toru said
evenly.

"…"

"I have some bad dreams, too." Toru offered. "Mind if I sit here?"

Naruto thought about it.

"I don't mind." He said, with a small smile.

Toru sat down.

 Unveilings

"Ino says that we're traumatized, both of us. Sasuke… Sakura, too." Toru shrugged. "She keeps
files on all of us, apparently."

Naruto gave him a dry look. "I swear... If that's the way you usually start conversations..."

In a way, there was something very Uchiha about his bluntness. Well, not that he really had any
right to complain about somebody else being so plain-spoken. He was not any better.

"I'm not even sure what she means by it, we're ninja." Toru continued.

Naruto stayed silent for a while. "…What did she say exactly?"

"Uh… That seeing Kurenai-sensei die, being so helpless, led to severe trauma, and the only way
we could make sense of the world was through finding strength."

"…" He had never really taken the time to think about this particular event. Better to move it aside
and push through to the other side.

"And it was even worse for you, she said. That since you've been thrown out into the world — a
world that seemed to want you dead — at thirteen… probably led to-"

"I think I get it. She told me something similar. Same for my lack of a real maternal… or even
paternal figure." Naruto interrupted, sighing. "It might be true, too, but there's not much I can do
about it."

"Parental figures, huh."

Silence stretched for a while.

"That day…" Toru began. "Was a warm summer day. It felt just like today."

"What are you talking about…?"

Something about Toru's tone made him a bit worried.

"Eh, just a story about the past."

"Go ahead, then."

"I never told you about my parents, did I?" Toru asked rhetorically.

"You didn't."

"Thought so." Toru nodded. "Again, it was a warm day, I spent it playing outside with Sasuke."
Toru continued. "When I came home…"

He stared at some point into the distance.

"There was red everywhere." Toru said, with a vacant expression.

"…" Naruto took a sharp breath.

"She was murdered. By my father."

"Toru…"

"She wasn't dead yet when I came. She told me to come closer. So I did, shaking." He chuckled.
"You know what she told me, with her last words?"

"I…"

"'You shouldn't have been born at all.'"

"That's… horrible." Naruto whispered.

"I guess so. Her marriage with my father wasn't one of love, and she had loved someone else. But
when Shisui's mother died, mine was married off to our father by the clan. My brother is a prodigy
- there's no other word for it - and the elders decided that it would be a waste not to try and see if
our father could just… make another." He paused. "Instead… they got me." Toru chuckled darkly.

Naruto said nothing, unwilling to interrupt.

"Oh, the clan realized soon after that I was no Shisui, no Itachi either, so they more or less left me
alone. What they didn't account for… was our father losing his mind."

"Toru…"

"Yeah. One day, he simply didn't recognize my mother anymore… and well, when he noticed
an intruder in his home… he did what he did best as a shinobi. He fell on old reflexes. And the
worst part was he didn't even realize what he had done. When he talked to me, later that evening…
he was acting so casually. As if his wife weren't lying nearby in a puddle of her own blood." Toru
smiled grimly.

Naruto said nothing.

"Anyways, maybe I'm wrong... He may have noticed something was wrong, because he died a few
months later. We never really told him what he had done, and the clan just isolated him
somewhere, instead of putting a crazy man in jail."

Another pause.

"Don't get me wrong." Toru chuckled a bit. "I'm not saying this one-up you, it's not a pain
competition."

Naruto snorted. "I didn't think you did."

"It's the first time I really tell somebody... outside of the clan about it, though." Toru scratched his
neck. "I'm not sure what came over me."

"Thanks... for your trust, then." Naruto smiled a bit.

Silence.

"She was wrong, though." Naruto said.

"Huh?"

"Your mother was wrong." Naruto said. "None of this was your fault."
"Isn't it?" Toru chuckled. "If it weren't for me being born, she wouldn't have been there at all. She'd
be alive, too." He tried to shrug. "Anyway, the event unlocked my Sharingan, and from that
moment on, I had no more choice anymore. My clan suddenly was very interested in me."

"They made sure you'd become a ninja." Naruto finished.

"I didn't want to be a shinobi either, Naruto." Toru said. "I spent most of my life wishing I could
run away from it. I'm fine with it, by now, though."

"I… I understand that." Naruto nodded.

"I knew you would." Toru chuckled.

"You never said anything. About this."

"Oh?" He raised an eyebrow. "Should I have…? Back then?"

Naruto just sighed.

"...You know, even now, I'm sorry for putting all this on you. I don't know why I told you in the
first place." Toru said. "It's just… I used to think things would have been better if I…"

"If you…?"

"If I'd never been born." Toru shrugged.

Naruto paused. "…You're wrong."

"Am I, though?"

"Yes." Naruto simply said. "I… may have thought the same way as you did, in the past. That I was
unwanted. But… we've got people who love us, who care about us."

And he had seen just how bad his childhood could possibly have been, in different circumstances,
too.

"Hey, I'm not saying I think that way now." Toru corrected.

"Even then. Just because your mother blamed you wrongly for the events that happened… Doesn't
mean you have to do it too."

Toru chuckled. "That's such a simplistic way to see things."

"The truth can be this simple. It probably doesn't change the rawness of her absence, but…
She was wrong."

"…"

"And you're not to blame for anything that happened then." Naruto assured him.

"…How can you be so sure?" Toru let out, his voice barely loud enough to be heard.

"Because you had absolutely no choice in the matter. Not in being born… Not in your mother's
death." Naruto shook his head. "You were a kid back then."

"So what if I was…? It still-"

"The idea that you were somehow responsible for everything is something you came up with as a
kid."

"…"

"Do you really think that back then, as a traumatized kid… you had everything figured out?"
Naruto asked.

"…No. Probably not." Toru mumbled.

"Then why do you still believe it…?"

Toru stared at him.

Then he breathed out. "Yeah… Yeah. You're right."

After a pause, Naruto spoke again. "I wouldn't want you to be gone, either."

"Oh, really…?" Toru chuckled. "You're going to make me cry." He mocked lightly.

"No, I mean it. I missed you." Naruto said with a half-smile. "I'm glad you're alive… and I'm glad
you're here, too."

"…thanks." Toru said hoarsely.

After some inner debate, Naruto told him about his little situation.

"I am your great-great-something-grandfather's reincarnation."

"I don't quite get the punchline, I have to admit." Toru said wryly.

"I'm afraid of losing my mind, because there's — quite literally — a man who says my soul
belongs to him, and that I am him."

"What the hell are you rambling about, now? Did you smoke something from Kagari's stash?" He
had met the guy yesterday, and was not particularly impressed.

"I see Ōtsutsuki Indra in my nightmares and there's some of his chakra in my soul." Naruto tried
again. More literally.

Silence stretched.

"What." Toru blinked. "…Did you talk to Ino about this?"

"Yes. She's not so familiar with reincarnation either… surprisingly."

"Uh, that's… rough, man."

"Yeah, you can say that again."

Toru said nothing for a while.

"...Do you at least get some fancy eye powers? Sage eyes… Sharingan, Byakugan or I don't
know…?"

"Nope."
"Uh. Any particular desire to set things on fire?"

"No. Why are you asking?"

"No reason. Why don't you ask the woman… What's her name? The catgirl that Ino mentioned?"

Naruto stared at him. Yugito. Why didn't he think of it?

"That's… an idea." He nodded. "Yeah, I'll do just that, very soon."

"You're welcome."

A comfortable silence stretched over the cliff.

"Does my ancestor watch you at all times, though?" Toru broke it. "Like when you're-"

"Sure hope not."

There were times Naruto wondered if his ability to feel emotions the normal way was damaged.

Even after such a heavy conversation, and confessing many of his own issues... he felt ready to
move on to the next thing.

It was as though his mind just bounced back from whatever got thrown at it, for bad and for good.
And it was jarring, very jarring.

He could go from feeling terrible to… normal again, way too soon. At least compared to what he
saw in other people.

The upside…? It meant his mood was already much better now, but Naruto still didn't feel like
going to sleep.

The first thing he did was create a few clones to plan for some things. He'd have to do the actual
work himself tomorrow, but sharpening the axe was always the most important part for this kind of
project.

The second thing...

'Are you up?' He tried to send a thought to Ino, not really expecting much.

Naruto was walking along the coast, alone, feeling very much awake.

'…You don't need to broadcast so loud, it's like you're screaming into my head.' Ino sent back.

'My bad.'

'It's fine, really. You're new at this.'

'Thanks.'

'Anyways, yeah. I'm awake. Did you want something?'

'Wanna go on a night boat trip? Right now.'

There's no answer for a little while. Then he felt some excitement that he knew was not coming
from him. For an instant, he thought he saw Ino lying on the couch, her long hair strewn across the
pillow, a smile on her face.

'Do you even know how to sail?'

'Shinjiro taught me.'

'Is it safe?'

'The sea is calm tonight. Besides, we're ninja. We'll be fine.'

A pause.

'Okay.'

'Meet me on the southernmost island, then. We'll be back by morning.'

Naruto felt a smile come to his face when Ino finally arrived with a cracking sound.

She was wearing a purple sundress, her hair in a high ponytail.

"Have you waited for long?" She greeted him.

"Not really." Naruto shook his head. "Just making sure everything was in order with the boat."
With a flourish, he pointed at the large boat, whose previous red sails had been sealed away, for
the time being. The propellers would be enough.

"That's… a huge boat." Ino whistled. "Are you sure we'll be fine handling it? And by 'we'… let's be
honest, I mean 'you', mostly."

Naruto laughed and summoned a clone.

"…Yeah, true." Ino chuckled. "There is that."

"After you." Naruto gave an exaggerated bow.

"Oh me, oh my." Ino laughed. "A woman could get used to this."

Ino stared at the vast expanse of the ocean.

The scent of it drew her attention. This was the first time she really was in the thick of it - without
danger looming over her head. The sun was setting over the horizon, its fiery red burning itself into
her mind.

However, the sea wasn't the only thing that took her breath away. Close to her, wearing an open
shirt that revealed entirely too much skin, Naruto looked entirely at ease, a carefree expression
upon his face.

The wind blew through his long blond hair, billowing through the linen of his shirt. Ino admired his
build in ways she knew she probably shouldn't.

He looked at her, and she made sure she wasn't broadcasting her thoughts again.

"Enjoying the sea?" He asked with an easy grin.

"Very much."
"I had the feeling you would." He laughed.

Naruto looked somewhere to the left of the ship.

"Oh. Careful there." He said easily. Before she knew what he meant, and before the entire boat
shook, he pulled her close to him with one heavy arm. "Waves."

His frame was hard against her back, and warm too. She could feel every breath he took. There was
no way she'd turn around to face him, with her face so red and two peaks in the fabric of her dress.

The boat rocked under their feet, with a groan, at a slow, languid pace.

Naruto didn't seem in any hurry to remove his arm, either. Instead, she felt his chakra mingling
with hers slowly. Ino didn't know whether he was doing it on purpose or not.

In any case, it did feel very comfortable, and soon she was reaching for his chakra too.

Naruto was tall, tall enough to block out whatever sun was still up in the air. Ino was in the shade,
but she didn't feel cool.

And the worst part was… she knew he could hear some of her traitorous thoughts. Just like she
could feel some of his… and something pressing against her ass.

Mouth dry, she hoped he couldn't feel how warm she felt. She was ready to blame it all on Fire
users being warmer on average — or something equally false — nevermind the fact that she barely
qualified as one.

"What about you…?" She asked, voice thick.

"Hmm?"

"Do you… like the ocean?"

He scratched the back of his head. "Sure. It feels peaceful. Sometimes it's silent, sometimes it's
loud… but all of it feels… familiar."

Ino felt him grin, and for a second she wanted to turn around, consequences be damned, just to see
it. To kiss him, maybe.

"Want to see something…?"

"Yes." She managed to make it sound casual, too.

Standing behind her, he reached for her hands, focusing.

"I'm not sure how to do this exactly, but…"

She felt it right away.

As a Yamanaka, her sensing ability is based on different principles than the Mind's Eye of the
Kagura, which was what Karin basically taught Naruto. Well, a watered-down version.

When their abilities combined, showing them the underwater world with eye-piercing color — but
in truth were two different ways of perceiving chakra textures and signatures blending together —
a sense of wonder tugged at Ino's throat.
The whole world seemed so much bigger.

A laugh bubbled up within Ino.

"It's amazing." She said.

"It is, isn't?" Naruto smiled.

Maybe Naruto had been wrong, earlier on, thinking that he couldn't feel emotions the usual way.

The way he felt right now was not that different from the way he now knew Ino did.

They were sitting on the deck, sharing a bottle and laughing.

Her hair was now piled messily on top of her head, her eyes were bright, her lips parted… and her
thoughts were getting more and more open to him. It was almost enough to make him blush.

'He's gorgeous - I'm in trouble.'

Naruto drank straight from the bottle. He still felt thirsty, despite having drank way more than Ino
had.

Sake burned down Naruto's throat. He set the bottle down.

Maybe he should have gone for something else, in the end. In front of him, Ino drank the last of it
and grimaced as well.

"I should have gone for water." She said, once she noticed that he saw her reaction.

He laughed easily. "Maybe we both should have."

She set the bottle down, not really paying attention to it. It fell and started rolling away from her.

"Ah, shit." She laughed, a bit drunkenly, turned around and reached out to grab it.

In doing so, she gave Naruto a full view of what she was wearing under her sundress. Or rather…
what she was not wearing.

His brain froze for a second. He stared at her long legs, her thick ass, and the pink of her sex,
uncomprehending.

Naruto was still staring, open-mouthed, when she sat up again.

"My god!" She laughed. "This must have looked so goofy." Ino took a look at him. "Are… you
okay?"

"…Yeah. Yeah."

"What is…" She probably felt his thoughts, because one second later, she understood exactly what
he had seen. "Ah!"

She blushed bright red, hiding her face in her hands.

"This is… Noooo."

"…Sorry, I saw everything." He tried to look sorry. "Maybe… it's a bit risky, wearing no panties
out in public."

She groaned. "I'm not doing this usually, don't be stupid."

Ino then realized what she had said, and proceeded to palm her face in her hand.

"You…?" Naruto asked dumbly.

Then she pointed her finger at him accusingly. "You told me you liked promiscuous women! I
just… thought that…"

Ah, that clumsy word again. He could remember something of the conversation in Shimo.

"You came here like this… for me? Over a dumb joke I made…?"

"You were joking..?" She stared at him, as if she didn't believe what she was hearing.

"Well, yes. Of course! Who the hell still calls people promiscuous. It's so… old-fashioned. Just call
me a slut, or something, if you really feel like it." Naruto tried to joke.

"I don't care about that. You should have told me about it earlier!"

"Wha-? How..? None of this makes any sense at all." He groaned.

"No sense?" Ino almost growled. "I did it for you because I thought this was what you'd like!"

"I…" Naruto deflated. This was the kind of logic that only made sense when you took in account
the fact that she was... Ino. "Look, you don't have to do anything like this for me."

She was looking away, her eyes a bit wet from frustration.

"It was stupid anyway." She admitted. "I know how you see things. I can't be your… mistress. Or
your fuck friend, whatever you call it." She added, noticing he was bout to say something.

Naruto shook his head, trying to get some clarity. "I would never ask you to be. Nor anything you
don't want."

"Then what do you want from me?!" She said, finally at end of her rope. "We've been playing this
stupid game for a while, now. I know it's not just friendship."

She could feel most of his thoughts, now. No wonder she had finally acted.

Naruto thought.

"I… want to be with you." He finally admitted, both to her and himself. "In a way you're fine
with."

Ino looked at him, with an almost pleading look.

"Then be with me, and with me only."

"Ino…" Naruto sounded pained.

"It used to be a silly dream I had when I was a kid, but I…"

'I never changed my mind, even when I thought you were dead. When did you?'
Ouch.

His stomach dropped.

"I care about you, Ino. I really do. But I can't be with you the way you want me to be."

"I only want you." She said, nearing tears. "Why can't I be enough?"

"It's not about you." Naruto shook his head. "I… don't want to commit to anyone this way. I can't
depend on a single person like that. It's… something I just can't do."

'The last time I tried looking for love was during my childhood.'

And as Konohamaru, Muremaru, Asuma... Hell, even Ren. As all of them could attest; Biwako…
and Hiruzen were the wrong people for that. They were consummate shinobi.

They would raise strong soldiers… all of them with a troubled relationship with the two of them.
Just because you could joke around with Hiruzen, or ask Biwako for advice from time to time...
didn't mean much.

Again, they were shinobi.

It was hard to say where the mask stopped, and where the honesty began. No 'kind old man' act
would hide the steel behind Hiruzen's eyes. No polite smiles would hide the purposeful distance
Biwako kept between herself and people.

And well… There were so many secrets they had kept between them, and Naruto could only guess
at what sort of trouble the leftover ones spelled for him.

He knew Ino could hear his inner monologue, and he felt her wince.

A pause.

"I…" Ino hesitated.

"Yes…?"

Naruto tried not to hear her thoughts. He really did. She was thinking hard about something,
debating whether to do it or not-

"I'm in love with you." Ino said bluntly.

Naruto thought he misheard her. Her thoughts said the same, though. She noticed his confusion, his
surprise.

"I really, really love you." Ino repeated.

 Moonlighter

"…Why?"

Naruto asked, not trusting his voice.

"You usually don't get to choose that." Ino said dryly. "...I would know."

Naruto paused.

'Ah, fuck.'

His eyebrows furrowed. He had wondered, of course, and he had felt her emotions during the entire
day. But what the hell was love in the first place? What did he know about it?

...Did he even love her?

Lust was easy; and desire, he was able to handle.

The one thing he was sure about was that he wanted Ino to stay. As selfish as that might be. And he
cared about her, too. Was this love, though? How should he know that?

He had no reference point.

Weren't you supposed to know when you felt it?

Once more, he wondered how people managed to be in touch with their own emotions. Did
somebody give them a briefing at some point…? That's love, and that's envy and that's just desire.
Most of the time, he went through life feeling pretty balanced, nothing more, nothing less, besides
his ambitions.

Right now, though…

He could see Ino's pain, and the way he was hurting her.

"I…" He started, unsure where he was going with this.

"You don't." She finished for him, eyes carefully blank.

Naruto hesitated, and then shook his head.

"That's not it, either. I care about you. A lot." He shook his head. "I'm not rejecting you. I can't
be… I won't be with anyone like that."

"Not Karin, either…?"

Just now, Ino realized that she had been willing to put herself before her, and she felt some shame.
Despite what Karin said their relationship was, Ino was well aware of her feelings for Naruto. Was
it selfish of her?

"No. Not for Karin, either." Naruto admitted.

"…"
"That's not something I'm willing to compromise on. I'm sorry."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"…Is it so you can continue to sleep with other women?" Ino spat, challenge written all over her
face.

She expected him to backtrack or try to rationalize it.

"Yes." He admitted easily, shrugging; taking the wind out of her sails.

"Wha-"

"I don't believe in shackling myself that way." Naruto said without blinking. "Sex is just that to me.
Sex."

"Bullshit!" She called angrily. "You're afraid."

"That's not it anymore." He said, shaking his head, and he honestly believed it.

"You say you care about me." She began, almost furious by now.

"I do."

"Would you be fine if we were together… your way and I slept with some random man?" Ino spat.

She thought she finally got him with that. He shrugged again, instead.

"Sure. I'm not into it myself, but more power to you. It won't change my opinion of you."

"That's not… I don't even want to do it in the first place." Ino shook her head. She loved who she
loved, even if that guy could be an insensitive jerk. "How can you even think this way?!"

"I…" Naruto thought about it. "I'd say it started out as fear of relying on one person. Now there is
some fear for them, too. But by now… I just don't think this is something for me. And it's fine if
what I want is not okay with you. I understand that."

That was about as clear as it got.

Take it or leave it.

She wasn't sure why she had expected anything else. He already had Karin, and… whatever that
bond was with Yugito. As well as no particular intention on stopping there.

Ino was a romantic at heart, and despite herself, she had let herself hope when she had understood
he felt something for her through their bond.

She remembered the conversation with Yugito.

"You need to figure out what you want… because he might not be able to give you that."

Why had she decided to ignore it…?

"I… Is it just that you're unsentimental in general…?" Ino whispered. "Or is it really about me?"
"Ino…" Naruto winced. He had answered it earlier, but feelings didn't really abide by logic.

"If you don't… love me." Ino managed. "Or even like me that way… please just tell me so. It
would be easier for me."

Naruto paused, taking the time to ponder something.

"…That's not it." He shook his head.

"What is it, then?!"

"…Damn, I'm terrible at this."

Ino watched his inner conflict in silence.

"…I want you to see me." Naruto decided. "Enter my mind."

Ino froze. "What…? What for?"

"I think it's easier if we do it this way."

"…What do you want me to see?"

There was only one answer here.

"Everything. I won't hide anything from you."

The bond only made it easier for Ino to sift through his memories.

They had known it since the beginning. If she had wanted to, she would have been able to do this
at any moment.

He allowed her to see through his eyes. His memories, the secrets he had buried within himself, his
bare soul, he let Ino see. His forgotten desire for true parental affection. Every shame, every
victory, every failure.

The way he thought, the reason why he did so, his fears, his dreams, his trauma, his feelings. He
held nothing back.

Karin. Sakura. Ino.

Being kidnapped at thirteen. Meeting the people that would become his home. His stay in Kumo.

The river; the threads of fate and time.

The strange visions they brought.

Growing up in a myriad of different ways, a hero or a pariah; or just another face in the crowd.

Living, dying. The different turns of it.

Ino came back to her own body with a gasp.

Tears were running down her cheeks.

"What…" Ino asked. "What am I supposed to make of all this?"

"I wish I knew, myself." Naruto let out, his voice a bit hoarse. It had felt as though he were
reliving everything.

And there were plenty of memories he would rather not have relived again.

Naruto's heart ached.

"I don't… Are you… supposed to destroy the world… save it? Subjugate it?" Ino asked, not
knowing why she suddenly felt a scary need to laugh.

"I don't know." Naruto said stiffly. "I meant what I said the other day. Power will be needed either
way..."

He stared off in the distance.

"But that's hypocritical of me. Very much so. That's how the villages started. That's how Akatsuki
started, too."

She continued to cry.

Through the bond he felt her emotions feeding back into his own, and for the first time in a long
while, he felt the same need to cry.

Ino had seen the way things could unfold, the never-ending cycle of death and rebirth, and the
meaninglessness of it all.

In front of all of this, she felt as though she couldn't entirely blame him for feeling so distant
from… everything, romance included.

"…We were together, in a few of these." She finally said, between the last of her tears.

"More than just a few." Naruto acknowledged. "We married and lived happy lives, many times
over." He knew he had only seen a few dozens, hundreds of possible turns, and even that much had
felt like too many.

They loved each other. And then his world ended with her death, or hers with his own death.

Then life started again for him. Maybe he got lucky and never remembered. Maybe he didn't, and
he could pretend to ignore the pull of fate for a while.

Because no matter what, something within him tells him that he's just burying his head in the sand.

And no matter what, he ends up alone.

Or maybe he remembered, and he ended up warring between his desire to isolate himself from the
world… and his desire for companionship. Just like he was doing in this life.

And then… what did a half-century committed to a single person mean, in the face of eons of the
same game?

Everything was so transient.

Unfortunately for Ino, this time around, Naruto knew of the brothers' never-ending fight. Ino
understood that.

Still, at the same time…

"Would it be so bad…? Being with me. Even if it's just for a while." Ino tried.

"No, it wouldn't." Naruto shook his head. "It wouldn't be bad at all." He said wistfully.

At first, she didn't dare say anything else. Then…

"I…" She hesitated. Then she continued, as though she had read his thoughts. "I think I get your
reasons."

"I knew you would." Naruto nodded, looking like an empty husk. "You can leave, and I would
understand entirely."

"I know. I could. But no matter what…"

"…"

"It's going to sound selfish. Or pathetic, even." She said, shaking her head. "But no matter what
you decide… I feel... No." She decided. "I know I'm… still going to be there. Waiting. And I'm not
the only one."

Naruto frowned. Did she mean Karin?

"It will pass." He said, not meeting her eyes. "You'll move on."

She snorted. "It's been ten years, and counting. I sure hoped it would."

"Ino…"

"Nothing has changed for me." Ino shook her head. "And how do you think I'm going to feel,
knowing that you're going to willingly go through all this… alone? And doing it over and over
again?"

"…"

"What about Karin…? Or Sakura — that foreheaded rat — for that matter?" Ino asked, arms
folded. "Isn't it still better to love, rather than avoid it all because it's going to end and you're still
going to be there?"

He was about to speak. She interrupted.

"Still, I can't say I fully understand what you're going through." Ino admitted. "I wish I could… but
I don't. Not fully. I'm willing to try, though."

There were memories that were his and weren't truly his. He didn't know if he could see the
entirety of it, because he was afraid of losing himself.

Ino understood him better, now.

There were so many things he had talked about superficially. Things that turned out to
be important, in the end.
And many things she had thought important at the time… truly were insignificant, from his point
of view. She could recognize that.

He needed to give her an answer.

Naruto paused. He closed his eyes, thinking. Minutes passed. The Moon was high up in the sky.

"…Maybe you're right." He finally said. "And I'm an idiot."

Ino stared at him. "You are. But what… do you mean?"

"Ino." Naruto said, looking at her strangely. "There are a few things I could never admit."

"What do you mean?"

"Emotions. I have..." He started. "I have always been a pretty repressed person, as far as I can
remember."

"You can say stiff, yes." Ino muttered.

"You've always been there for me, since I met you. You, Karin, Sakura."

"Where are you going with this...?"

"You three understood me, and never tried to change me. And I could not have asked for anyone
else."

"Are you saying...?"

Of course, he answered with his usual bluntness, taking the wind out of her sails.

"I love you. I love Karin, too. And… I think Sakura, as well."

"What…? You… love me…? Us?" Ino repeated, weakly.

"Yes." Naruto nodded, as though this were the easiest thing in the world to say out loud, once he
had finally realized. "I love all three of you. And I have loved you for years, Ino."

Ino said nothing for a while.

Honestly, she wanted to punch him in the nose.

What he said was the truth, she knew. She had seen as much through his memories, in the end.

"You…" She shook her head angrily. "You really… are the greediest person I've met. And such
a fucking idiot, thinking this is fine in any way. That either of us would be fine with it."

Naruto nodded.

"That is who I am, then. A greedy fool."

Ino glared at Naruto, who just met her eyes steadily.

"And you think you can be with the three of us?" Ino almost growled. "Three women, when you
can't even show yourself fully to a single one."
That was the truth.

"…I don't think so." Naruto said, shaking his head.

Ino stared at him, eyes hard. Naruto finished.

"I know it." He said, his eyes deep into hers.

Ino glared at him, ready to leave the boat. She could leave Umi, for a start, and him, as well. Then
she'd figure out what to do.

Times would be rough, of course, but she would manage, she knew. And instead...

Instead, she was chuckling. Angrily.

"Sometimes… I really, really hate you. You know that?"

But the open link could not hide much.

She could see he meant it. That he was willing to lose all of them over this rather than be dishonest
with all three.

"I won't ask for anything you're not willing to give." Naruto said. "And I won't hide."

"You should be afraid, not proud." Ino grunted.

"I fear losing all of you, it is true." Naruto admitted. "But I won't lie to the women I love. Not to
you, Ino."

A few tears rolled down Ino's face.

"You're such a bastard." She gritted out.

"Maybe I am." He nodded.

A long silence stretched out.

If he were anybody else, he would probably have folded here, if not before.

"You better take care of all three of us, then." Ino grunted. "All of us. Whatever it is you do — who
you do — besides that… That's your business."

Naruto stared at her with burning eyes, something possessive in them. No bland look, no careful
disinterest, no veil.

It was the most honest she ever saw him. There was no need for them to talk. Not with their bond.

Ino would be fine with that.

'You're mine, then.'

'Hmpf. You're mine. …Ours. Don't get it mixed up, bastard.'

He grinned. Lowering his head, he moved closer to her. She pulled him to her, his mouth on hers
before she even knew it.
"Please." One of them groaned into the kiss, the link making it hard to tell who it was.

"Yes."

It was intoxicating, forceful and soft at the same time.

Her hands are into his hair, pulling him closer, and his own are on her hips. Ino wrapped her thighs
around his hips, drawing on instinct alone. One that she didn't even know she had in the first place.

She might be confident outwardly, but just from his thoughts alone, he knew just how new,
intimidating all of this was to her.

To her, his lips were tender but firm, his skill obvious. Her own are more clumsy, but it did
nothing to stop her.

Their mouths tangled again, and it felt like she was pushing him back for control. She couldn't get
enough, and there was a hungry emotion burning in the back of her mind. Hers, or his.

She loves him, and he loves her.

Maybe they had known for a while, too. The feeling, echoed through their bond, makes them feel
drunker than the bottle of rice alcohol had. And the look she gave him…

"You're beautiful." He let out.

"…You make me feel as though I am." Ino whispered, cheeks red, despite herself.

Naruto felt almost suffocated by desire, his own and hers blending in together seamlessly.

"Are you sure you want this…?" He said, voice rough. One time, one last time... He could still
manage to ask.

"What do you think?" She shot back, a slender leg rubbing the back of his own. "I want you."

Even then, Naruto hesitated. There would be no going back after this. He knew this. Ino, though…
Ino almost sounded desperate.

'I want this. I need you now. Please. Fuck me.'

The unexpected brashness of the thought, coming from Ino, usually so… careful about anything
sex-related made him feel like his heart was going to beat out of his chest, love and lust mixing
inside his brain.

Naruto's mouth moved along her neck, breathing hotly. His hands settled on her firm ass.

"Naruto…" His name slipped from her lips easily, and he knew — and would have, even without
the memories of Ino playing with herself that came with it — that it wasn't the first time she
moaned it out like this.

She arched upward, pressing herself against him. His lips slid along her throat, suckling, kissing,
and teasing her. Her fingers twitched in his hair, and her toes curled in pleasure. His cock ached,
trapped in the confines of his pants.

Eyes glazed, she stared at him, throwing the sundress over her head.

Her hands are already on his belt, undoing it clumsily.

Naruto could only stare at the gorgeous woman beneath him, entranced. Without taking his eyes
off her, he removed his own shirt, throwing it somewhere carelessly.

He saw her hungry eyes roaming over his body in delight, unadulterated lust shining through.
Naruto let her unbuckle his pants with quivering hands.

Naruto snagged her mouth again in a lush kiss. Her hands came up around his neck again. He stood
up with her easily, carrying her one-handedly. With the other, he decided to help her along a bit,
freeing his cock from his garments, and stepping out of them.

He was naked too now, holding her hot body flush against his. They tumbled down to the floor
again. Ino was staring at him openly, making wanton little noises. He was dripping, and he saw her
flushed, transfixed face.

"Please." She whispered, spreading her legs for him, with the mix of confidence and hesitation that
could only belong to Ino. A natural-born temptress.

"You're already so wet for me, Ino." He smiled.

"Ah…" She moaned, hiding her face behind her hands, feeling it burn. He grabbed her hands
gently, removing them, making her stare into his eyes. Their shared lust is almost solid in the air.

"Aren't you, Ino?"

"…I am." She managed.

"Tell me what you want."

Ino was spreading her legs wider, unconsciously. "I'm dying for you, Naruto."

He almost came right then. Instead of entering her, he rubbed his cock against her drenched folds.
The deck filled with obscene wet sounds as well as Ino's moans.

Her thighs shook.

"Naruto, Naruto… Oh…" She was fisting his hair roughly, her hips bucking, the writhe of her
pussy against his throbbing cock driving her mad.

She was spasming, her head thrown back. Ino let out a long, hoarse moan as she rode her orgasm,
thighs slick with her arousal.

That was when Naruto entered her eager cunt.

Not even fully… and Ino still could swear she saw stars when he did. Was she still screaming…?
Oh, yes, that was her. These lewd sounds were all her.

He waited for her to stop shaking before going in deeper, slowly. She took his full length, eyes
glazed over.

Ino buried her face into his hair, feeling too shy to show him the scandalous faces she was making.
Though, she realized later, with the bond stretched so wide open, it didn't matter in the slightest, he
could see her anyway.

"Is this what you wanted, Ino?" He grunted out.

"Yes. Yes." She moaned.

"My… You should hear the way you're sounding, right now." Naruto smiled.

He started to pull back a bit, before entering her fully, languidly. She let out a soundless scream.
"Yes. It's ah… your fault. You made me." His woman said.

It took Naruto every ounce of restraint he still had — which was not that much at this point — not
to come.

He leaned in and took her mouth again, enjoying the way she was starting to move, hesitantly at
first, gaining more confidence each minute.

'Mine.' She thought.

"Look what you did to me, Ino." Naruto growled out, slamming into her.

"Ah…" She just moaned, not trusting her ability to make a coherent sentence.

"Do you feel it?" His raging emotions, through the bond.

"Y-Yes." Her eyes landed into his, pools of lust and love.

"My beautiful Ino."

Ino was untamed. She gave a strangled sound, her sweaty body coming closer to his, her legs
wrapped around his hips. Ino took him into a bruising kiss. She mumbled something into the kiss.

"What was that?" He asked, as though he hadn't heard it.

"I love you." She repeated.

His hips began to slap down against her ass, in and out her quivering cunt. Both of them were
desperate for relief, on the edge of the precipice. His mouth found hers, fucking her into a fever.

Her screams are incoherent, now, the sheer passion on her face driving him higher.

"And you call me greedy." He grunted.

"Too much, it's too much." Ino moaned, still not relenting. Her hips bucked again, and he knew she
was close.

His chakra reached to meet hers midway. He felt her clench around him, their very different
natures blending together. For a moment, so did their souls.

"I love you too, Ino."

Her screams echoed in his ear, and he came inside her, shuddering with the strength of their shared
climax. Something of his soul stayed with her, and something of hers stayed with him.

They didn't say anything for several minutes.

She lay on his chest, at first panting for breath, then just enjoying the afterglow, lying on the boat's
deck, staring at the moon and the stars and the entire night sky.

"This… was…" Ino finally started.

"Pretty nice?" Naruto said, amused.

She huffed, smacking the back of her hand on his chest.

"I could get used to this." She said after a pause.

Naruto just smiled at her, bringing her close. "You will."

Naruto felt Ino's thoughts.

Why was she thinking about Orochimaru's research, though…

That was beyond him entirely.

"I've decided." Ino said quietly.

"What did you decide…?" Naruto asked her.

"I won't let you go through this cycle alone."

A pause.

"…What do you intend to do?"

She shrugged. "I have no idea." Ino admitted. "But if these two guys… Indra, Asura, whatever…
managed to have their chakra hang around forever… there must be a way to do something about it,
too."

'Or a way to do the exact same thing they did.' She thought. Of course, he heard it.

"Ino…" He said, feeling her love for him. Why did he feel so unguarded, right now...?

"And besides…" She laughed. "What would other women, and passing… dalliances matter,
compared to this?"

'You'd do that… for me? After all the shit I-'

Because that's what she was offering. Finding a way to stay with him. And she made it sound so
simple, too.

"Only until I get bored with eternity." Ino laughed. "Then, I'm out of here."

'That must have been a hell of a good fuck.' Naruto mused with a grin.

"I heard that!" Ino said hotly, cheeks red.

 Liminal Space

The morning after, Ino was going through the motions.

She kept replaying last night.

It felt as though she was watching herself through somebody else's eyes. How many times had
they...? She buried her face in her hands, moaning in embarrassment. She really outdid herself, this
time.

There were so many reasons this could go wrong. And the wanton way she had acted… Ino
groaned again. So, this was sex…?

What did she just willingly put herself into…? She was sure it wasn't the alcohol, at least. But
sharing a man…?

The worst part was that anytime she remembered the night… she could not find it in herself to
regret it. Instead, she felt the very same arousal, and her desire to go back for more.

Ino snorted. As if she were going to do something like this just because she was a little bit turned
on.

Twenty minutes pass, and she's riding the man she loves again, cursing her own weakness and her
easily discarded principles altogether.

"Alright." Naruto said, once the boat came close to a remote island.

"Was this supposed to be our destination?" Ino asked, bemused, her hair a complete mess. "There
doesn't seem to be anything here."

"Yes." Naruto nodded. "That's the point."

Naruto could see his clone — the one steering the boat — glaring at him. There was no doubt as to
the reason, since he had spent the entire evening and night hearing the original do… whatever.
While he was stuck behind the rudder for an entire night. Ino noticed him, too, and she looked
away. It was Naruto's clone, sure, but… yeah.

Naruto jumped onto the island. Ino followed shortly after, her legs a bit shaky.

He checked the size of it, and nodded to himself. "Yeah, we'll make this a temporary place for
newcomers to transit to Umi."

Ino just lifted an eyebrow.

"Where the hell is he?" Hanabi raged.

Toru shrugged, not caring that much about the Hyuuga being angry again. He just assumed it was
her default expression, by now. Not that was judging, considering how eager she was to get her
seal removed.

"No idea, really."

"Are you sure this is the right place?"

"Well, yeah, that's his house, yes."

"Any idea what he could be doing-"

With a crack of thunder, two people appeared in the lake's stone circle. Even in the distance, he
could see two blond heads. They crossed over the lake with a Body Flicker.

Toru raised an eyebrow at Ino's disheveled state… as well as the fact she wasn't looking them in
the eye.

'More like who he was doing, then.' Toru thought. 'Lucky bastard.' He had known there was
something when they had met-

Ah no, true, that was likely because Ino had figured it out way before he himself did.

"Something up?" Naruto asked them, without pausing, once he noticed Hanabi was here too. He
could guess at it easily.

"I was brought here…" Hanabi started. "To Umi. On the condition that-"

"Yeah, okay… Your seal, then." Naruto nodded. "Sure. Let's get this done, then."

Naruto inspected Hanabi's seal critically.

From a moral standpoint, he hated this seal. And he felt a strong dislike for the people in power
who had let this fester for generations. Damnable clan traditions or not, letting people enslave other
people really rubbed him the wrong way. Hiruzen, as well as his late father, were more than
capable of abolishing and/or removing the seal. Jiraiya could have done it, and for a man who —
vices aside — preached about humans understanding each other… he definitely hadn't done much
about it.

Orochimaru could have, but well, the man was not exactly a shining beacon of… anything, really.
He probably had been too busy stealing clan secrets to bother. And he'd probably say something
about the will to power, and that anybody unwilling to break their own shackles deserved them, all
that. Because that's what he had done, rising from an orphan nobody to who he was. He could be
lacking in empathy there — more than usual. And… why was he even making excuses for the
man…?

Konoha really could be shitty, Naruto mused, once more.

Now, from a purely academic standpoint… this seal was pretty impressive. Tying the heart, brain,
eyes with the chakra network, frying them all once the first two were disabled, that was pretty
clever.

Naruto assumed that the seal had originally been intended for the whole Hyuuga clan, but some
particularly twisted person - or group, likely - had found a way to modify the seal to respond to a
specific signal, to trigger it partially.

Damaging the brain, and possibly the heart, depending on the user's mood.

"What are you doing?" Hanabi asked, covering herself with her hands, despite the fact she was
already wearing a towel he had given her for that specific purpose. Had he ever been so bashful…?
"I'm checking on the seal, hold your horses." Naruto waved off with complete disinterest. Which
seemed to anger her, too.

She glared at him and he rolled his eyes. Were the people born in the branch house even half as
dickish? Neji hadn't been that bad, before... Before joining up a terrorist group.

"Well, let's start then."

"How is it going to work…?" She had read the scroll over and over again, but most of the technical
stuff went over her head.

"There were some missing elements in the scroll you gave me." Naruto said.

"…What?"

"Yeah. I'm assuming the guy who wrote this…" And he had had some idea who that was, exactly.
"Didn't need to bother with some of the details."

"What do you mean?"

"He wrote about the theoretical way to remove the seal, but didn't actually provide the solution."
Naruto shrugged. "Just to prove that he could, likely."

"…What?!" She had thought the scroll was enough on its own.

"Wait. I'm not done."

"…"

"I assume the Akatsuki leader, the man with the Rinnegan, had access to a better way to remove it.
I'm still not sure how, though."

"So you mean to tell me there's no way-"

"Come on." He sighed. "Let me finish, at least. The theory provided is sound."

Naruto walked around her.

He moved faster than she could react, applying his index and middle finger to her forehead. A seal
formed there. Then a second one.

"And the solution provided was pretty graceful. I just had to fil in the holes. In simple terms... we
simply need to 'trick' the seal here into believing you're dead."

"…Won't that trigger the seal... destroying my eyes…?" Hanabi asked, fearfully.

"Only if we don't isolate these parts." Naruto shrugged.

He applied another seal on her neck, one to bind her chakra. She fell forward with a gasp, only
barely managing to catch herself on her hands.

"Okay. Three more." Naruto said. "Lower your towel a bit, I'll need to apply a seal over your
heart."

She did so hesitantly, which made him want to roll his eyes. He applied two different seals there.
"Now, your eyes, both of them. This could be complicated, using the normal way, since this one
works better when put directly on them. Luckily, we're not using a brush. Hold them open."

It was not particularly pleasant for her, having someone else put their finger on her eye, and then
feeling the burn of a seal engraving itself upon it.

Naruto did the same for her other eye.

"All right." He nodded. "This should work."

"…Should?"

"This will work." He amended himself. "Let's do it."

He activated the seals, and Hanabi fell down, stiffening.

It was no wonder, considering he had just stopped her heart and brain. He caught her.

Naruto waited for a little while, trying to feel as confident as he had been when he had to make sure
she wouldn't panic.

Okay, this should be enough.

He activated the two other seals resting upon her heart and forehead.

These ones would isolate the signals they sent to the Caged Bird Seal - the central one. Then he
sent a pulse of Lightning to her heart, hopefully starting it again.

Nothing seemed to happen.

'Oh, fuck.'

If he had managed to kill her…

Naruto went down, slowly, not daring to breathe. He put his head to her heart, looking for a
heartbeat.

He was so nervous that he could only hear his own heartbeat.

He waited, stilling himself.

There.

It was slow, but her heart was beating. He let out a long sigh of relief.

She was alive. He waited for her to wake up, or the seal to recede.

Well. The seal did so first, in the end, slowly fading away, while she was still passed out. Naruto
let out another relieved sigh. While she was asleep, he removed the other seals he had put on her,
and moved her to somewhere a bit more comfortable than the floor.

He printed a short message for her on a sheet of paper with a single touch, and let her sleep.

Naruto left the house.

"…and that's why no self-respecting Uchiha would set foot on a boat." Toru concluded, nodding to
himself. That sounded convincing, he thought.

"Uh huh." Ino said, unimpressed.

"Yeah."

"Are you sure it's not because-"

"We're not afraid of water." Toru interrupted. "I know the Hyūga love to spread these sorts of
rumors, but they are lies."

"So it's not true that most Uchiha never learn how to swim, either…?" Ino held back a grin.

"Ah. Some of the older generations… maybe didn't bother." Toru huffed. "I can, though."

"Right." Ino nodded politely. "Right..."

She had almost managed to forget the kind of mental gymnastics he tended to do to convince
himself. Well, at least he was helping her figure out a way to make sense of the tengu helmet.

Meanwhile, Naruto was busy at the 'forge'.

As nice as the last day and a half had been, he would have to get back to work soon. He still didn't
know where Karin and Sakura were… and even Anko had no idea what the hell Orochimaru was
doing this time. Hopefully nothing with too many consequences for them.

Well, he'd think about that later, he had a bow to make.

He had decided to disregard traditional wisdom and go with metal as a material.

Now, metal usually was not an ideal material for a bow. Not for the reasons most people would
give, though. Forged steel was plenty elastic, and would not shatter.

Naruto knew that the Land of Iron had used steel crossbows in the past, and they had no particular
drawbacks.

The actual problem with metal… was weight.

It was not that they were too hard to hold up, not for shinobi. But the weight reduced the bow's
velocity. Velocity that depended on the draw weight, and the weight to be accelerated.

As with any projectile weapon, the lighter the projectile was, the higher the velocity would be,
given the same force applied to it. That was just inertia.

It meant that a lighter arrow would go faster than a heavier one, of course. But the arrow was not
the only thing that needed to be accelerated. The ends of the bow needed to be accelerated as well.

A bow made lighter would also be able to achieve a higher velocity with the same draw weight
and arrow.

For this reason, aluminium worked better than steel. But even aluminium was needlessly heavy.

The advantage of being able to alter the property of the material itself… meant that Naruto didn't
really have that problem.
Sweat running down his brow, he twisted carbon, as small as he could make it, into strong fibers,
and then blended them together with steel that he had made lighter by weaving specific Wind
attributes into its properties.

Alright. That was one step. He breathed.

Hatake Kakashi spun around, blade whistling as it cut through the air.

He was training, harder than he had in years, pushing his body beyond its limits. Again. He was in
the village, and was supposed to be still recovering, but he had no time to waste.

Usually, he would train with Itachi, who was about the only person who matched him who was in
the village right now.

Tonight, he was training alone, because even Itachi would not agree to what he was pushing his
body through. He would call it punishment, and maybe he would be right. Still…

Not enough. It's not enough.

How many lives had been lost in the rift? Could he have saved them, if he hadn't made such a
critical mistake?

They were all dead. Dead because of him. They had trusted him with their lives. He did not know
whether he wanted to cry or laugh madly. No matter which one he did, he knew he wouldn't be able
to stop.

'If I'd been faster, stronger… smarter.'

He drew a deep breath.

Mercy was a mistake for shinobi. He knew it. Had always known it. And still, he had let the
enemy come closer. If he had just struck first, maybe they would still be alive. Maybe the Suna
ninja would not have found the resolve to bomb the entire city.

Never again. Even if it cost him his soul, he would not hesitate next time. The only affordable
casualty… was him.

Because what Gai, Asuma, Itachi and the others said did not matter.

It had been his fault.

And of course, he was still alive. Always.

Nara Shokkou, Akimichi Chōjiro, Inuzuka Kiba, Matsuda Yuriko and Mizuno Reiko had been his
friends. All of them… Dead because of him.

Thirty one men and women. Dead because of him.

That was not what Obito had died for. He would have found a way, Kakashi knew. And Kakashi
should have been the one to die.

As a shinobi, he was no stranger to death, and he was one of Konoha's most prolific killers, on top
of it. The only way he could cope with how much blood he had on his hands had been the fact that
he could at least protect his own.
Not anymore. He did not trust himself with this kind of responsibility anymore. How could he, if
this was the result?

Kakashi thought he might go back to assassination missions, once more. He was sure Danzo would
not refuse.

There were some people muttering in the village already. Not many, not after the first real blemish
on his career in a while… but there were some.

'Just like his father' was the sentiment.

He thought he could understand how he had felt, now.

Kakashi would not kill himself, though. He still had things he needed to do. A village to protect.
Enemies to kill.

And someone would need to undertake the most dangerous missions. He still was one of the
village's strongest ninja. It was time he became of some use to Konoha.

His former students were grown. Sasuke... had Jiraiya and had no need for him anymore. Toru…
Maybe Toru could use his help, Kakashi admitted, but he was strong in his own right, now. No
matter how much he second-guessed himself.

They were both on the front lines, too, now. Kakashi hoped that things were fine for them. War
was hell, and nobody came out unscathed.

Hopefully, they'd pull through.

A few hours after he started, Naruto stepped away from the forge.

The evening sky was awash with shades of orange. His arms were shaking a bit, and a headache
was building up within his head. It turned out mixing materials into something else and shaping the
product was the easiest part.

On its own, without any deeper knowledge of the nature of chakra as well as some creativity — so
for most shinobi… the Soulflame would only be useful to make sharp tools. Very pointy tools,
sure, but basic all the same.

Because adding specific properties to the item, making the resulting blend's very soul - for lack of
a better word - believe that the way Naruto wanted it to become was the way it was supposed to
be…

That was the hard part.

And something that couldn't be done by someone who didn't know how to do it without using the
flame.

Just wishing for something to change to something else without knowing what the change took,
and how it worked… wouldn't do anything.

In a way, it had some similarities to Natural Order's workings, except there was nothing quite so
smooth about the process of making the resulting product stable. It felt like a battle of wills of
sorts… Which Naruto felt ridiculous about, since he was facing what amounted to a rock.
It was also costly, in terms of chakra, but maybe he just had been particularly wasteful today, too.

Hopefully it was worth it.

He took a look at the bow he was holding, of a lightweight — but just as durable as any sword's
steel, and able to withstand melee combat just as easily — carbon and steel alloy, enhanced by
Wind again to be even lighter than it should have been.

The bow itself could conduct chakra and had a draw weight that could go from regular… to much
higher than any longbow usually went. The kind of draw that would only work for someone with
enhanced strength, and would make the best use of it.

The bow itself was a beautiful thing, since changing its shape had been the easy part. Silver with a
purple sheen, and a few patterns woven into it. There was no string on it.

He grasped it, dashing to the mountains in a single Lightning Step. He absentmindedly noted that
the Lightning carried to his bow easily, just like it would have if it had been one of his own chakra-
conductive swords.

This was the difference between regular seal-enhanced weapons and something that was forged
that way, the very same principles worked into the soul of an item. A gap that normally seemed
unbridgeable.

Naruto was facing the ocean.

No one would come there, of this, he had no doubt.

He channeled Lightning and Wind, feeling the weapon draw upon it smoothly, like an extension
of his own body. Some of the chakra went through the ends of the bow, which shaped it into a
dense string.

Naruto summoned a blade, shaped it into an arrow, and nocked it.

The bow itself directed the chakra to the arrow, supercharging it. Naruto focused more of it
through the weapon himself, feeling it respond, the chakra string becoming harder and harder to
hold the more chakra poured into the bow.

The air was almost blue with electrical energy; furious winds blurred the rest of the world.

Naruto let the arrow fly through the night sky. A streak of light flashed, disappearing over the
horizon.

There he stood, under the empty expanse of the sky, watching the dark clouds roll by, hearing the
tranquil sea move and feeling the soft wind breathe.
 Bad Omens

Konoha.

With Yamanaka Ino becoming a missing ninja, the headship of the clan fell to Yamanaka Yukio,
who was Inoichi's nephew.

And who definitely had wanted nothing to do with the title. Somebody like his great cousin
Yamanaka Fū would have been more suited, he felt. Or even Kaede, who seemed to
actually enjoy politics, debating and all the aspects that made Yukio such a bad fit for the position,
really.

But well, she came from one of the lesser families, and as talented as Kaede was, — more than
him, but less than Ino — blood trumped desire. Which was a shame, because Yukio himself would
rather be doing anything else than being the clan's public face.

Most of all, he hated the feeling of being surrounded by people he felt - which was as good
as knowing, for a Yamanaka - were constantly prodding for weakness. Or a way to further their
own agenda.

And speaking of it… he was currently headed to the meeting room.

The ANBU let him in after a cursory scan.

There were a couple of dozen other people in the room.

Every other clan head was here, besides the Senju, of course. But Tsunade had not set foot in the
village in decades, at this point, and none of the few remaining members had challenged her claim
to it, likely out of respect for the legend she had been.

Hell, even Hatake Kakashi was here today.

The Sixth Hokage, Shimura Danzo, sat in front of the clan heads, his lone eye severe, as it was
most of the time. The red and white hat sat on top of his head, obscuring his face.

There were only so many shinobi who lived that long, and the number of them who did
so while being considered one of the most dangerous men in the world… could be counted on one
hand. And two of them were in Konoha.

What a scary man.

"Yamanaka Yukio." The Hokage nodded, his voice even.

Yukio bowed deeply, taking a seat at the table, in between Hyuuga Hiashi, who ignored him, and
Nara Shikaku, who gave him a commiserating glance.

"We shall get to the point directly." Danzo said. "We have received word from the Suna front line,
as well as from Kumo."

Ah. Whenever Danzo spoke like this, bad news was bound to follow. What would it be, this
time…?

"Iwa has joined the war."

Yukio had expected a moment of shock, people frozen in their seats. Instead…

There was no real surprise there. If anything, he picked on more 'resignation', 'anger' than any
other emotion.

No wonder. With Kumo sending their jinchūriki to the Kiri front, the conflict had escalated.
According to the Raikage, they had been misled, acting under the belief that Kiri had planned to
send their own.

Whether that was true or not, it had likely influenced Iwa's decision. Or maybe they had planned it
since the beginning, hard to tell with the rock-heads.

"With Suna, then." Uchiha Itachi started. He was one of the youngest clan heads, barely older than
Yukio himself, at twenty-four.

Then why did the room seem to be centered upon him whenever he spoke? Was this simply
because he was one of the strongest ninja the Uchiha clan had ever produced?

He continued, his dark eyes soft and hard at the same time. "Does that mean we can expect them to
go for Taki?"

Long ago, the village of Taki had stolen the Seven-Tails away from Suna. Of course, Suna had
never forgiven them for that. If there was ever an opportunity for them to poach the Beast back…
war would be it.

Yukio understood that now, once someone else brought it up.

"This is only conjecture..." Nara Shikaku's voice rumbled, next to him. "But it is possible. It might
have been one of the terms for their alliance. The Land of Earth and the Land of Canyons share a
land border. Wind doesn't have that."

Yukio knew that Konoha and Suna were the only two Great Villages not to have two jinchūriki
anymore. But while they had Uchiha Sasuke… Suna had nothing. Whatever Iwa had asked for in
return, it seemed Sand had accepted to pay the price.

It had been a while since the balance of power had been so precarious. And it had been broken for
a long time, too, in a way.

"Indeed." Danzo said coldly, closing the discussion. "Which is why I have already sent troops to
Taki. There is no guarantee they shall reach in time, though."

No other question rose. Yukio felt someone's treacherous thought. 'Plausible deniability.'

"What of Kumo?" Inuzuka Tsume asked, her eyes dark and angry.

To Yukio, the Inuzuka were dogs.

This was no insult, because the Inuzuka were proud of it. They were fierce, loyal and pack-minded.

Which meant that when they lost one of their own, they would mourn openly. Kiba had been her
son, and instead of lethargy, depression… Tsume had gone the other way. Wakefulness and anger.

She seemed to be itching for a fight. He was almost certain she had pushed and prodded, in the
hope of being sent to the front line. He could almost hear her thoughts.

'What good could I do here, when I could be out there, ripping these sand people's throats?'
There would be no mercy found in Tsume, not today… and not in the coming war, likely. She
could carry a grudge for a long, long time.

"The Fourth Hokage's legacy… Namikaze Minato's son survived."

What…?

There were voices raising already. Danzo cut through the noise.

"He was one of the Fifth Hokage's murderers. The Raikage caught him after he killed one of his
strongest ninja, Darui of the Dark Thunder."

Over the rising incredulity, Yukio saw Hatake Kakashi turn pale. That was the first time he had
seen such an honest reaction from the man.

Danzo thundered. "He escaped Kumo. Just like he escaped us."

He finished, over the angry exclamations. "For he is a man that was let into our village."

Realization spread through the room. With it came a heavy silence.

"He is the one that is known as Indra. But his real identity is Uzumaki Naruto. And he holds
the Nine-Tails."

Yukio grimaced as everybody started shouting over each other.

Kakashi blinked.

He was lost in memories. Sensei.

He remembered the beast's red eyes, the shivers it sent down his spine. Monstrous chakra, heat,
fire gathering into a sphere of pure destruction. He remembered Minato-sensei appearing out of
nowhere, dismissing it.

He had seemed invincible in that moment, as he always had. The Nine-Tails was a beast of
unfathomable power, but if there was someone who could manage to do what the legendary First
had done…

It would be sensei.

And then Kakahi remembered seeing the impossible.

Minato-sensei lying down next to his wife, never to stand back up again.

No emotions. A ninja mustn't-

He remembered a funeral. Rain, falling down in cold droplets, soaking what seemed to be the
whole village, coming to honor their fallen leader.

He remembered standing in front of the heroes' monument later that day, facing the wet stone,
thinking of his father, Obito, Rin. His sensei.

Training sessions with his only kin. People spitting and cursing his name. Blood on floorboards.

One-sided rivalry. Hidden laughter. Sacrifice. A new eye. Blood under rocks.
A silly crush. Friendship. Healed wounds. A pierced heart. Blood on his hand.

Training sessions with his new kin. Hope. A will to impress. Fire. Broken hope. Blood on the earth.

Kakashi knew he must be shaking. He blinked and he was back in the meeting room.

Sarutobi Biwako sent him a miserable look. She had been with Kushina that night, he knew. She
probably felt the exact same pain, the same burden that he felt.

Danzō shot both of them an unreadable look.

Minato-sensei's son was alive. And a dangerous enemy of Konoha, apparently.

Yukio couldn't help but notice how pale Sarutobi Biwako looked, and wondered where the Third
was. There were more than a few times his presence at the meetings could have been helpful. Not
as the clan head, since that was Biwako, but as the only retired Kage.

He had done so when the Fourth had been in power, apparently, but had all but disappeared from
politics after the man had died.

No, that was not what Yukio was thinking about right now. Sarutobi Hiruzen seemingly was not in
the village at all, and nobody knew… or was willing to tell him where he was.

Which likely meant something shady was going on.

"How did this happen?" Aburame Shibi asked. He was a man of few words.

"On the tenth of October, nineteen years ago… Uzumaki Naruto's body was never found." Danzo
said, his eye closed. "At the time, we had assumed — wrongly — that he had died. Uzumaki
Kushina's body had been speared by the Nine-Tails' claw."

Hatake Kakashi's face was entirely blank now, his open eye staring at things that didn't seem to be
there.

"We can only assume that this man… Uchiha Madara took him with him."

Sarutobi Biwako was just as ashen as Kakashi was. It was no wonder, Yukio thought, considering
the fact she had thought the Fourth and Uzumaki Kushina's son was dead for close to twenty years.

Uchiha Itachi stared at Danzo with unblinking eyes. "We still have no proof that he truly is who he
claims to be, Hokage-sama."

Danzo nodded. "That much is true. But no matter who he really is, there is no doubt that he intends
to harm the village. As he tried already, twenty years ago."

"What of the Namikaze… The Uzumaki?" Hyūga Hiashi asked, his face showing nothing.

"He has undoubtedly been raised — or turned — against Konoha, as his actions have proved
already."

"What do you propose, then…?" Nara Shikaku asked, looking conflicted. Ino had likely been
pulled into this mess by that man. When had they entered contact…? "We can't let him roam free,
that much is for certain. Konoha is still at war."

Hatake Kakashi hesitated. "Hokage-sama… Are we sure he really is Minato's son…?"

"Yes." Danzo nodded. "Kumo tested and confirmed it. And he is the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki, too."

Kakashi just swallowed.

"I... see." He just said, sounding defeated.

Danzō, for once, showed what looked like a bit of pity, for a short moment, so quick that Yukio
thought he had imagined it.

"Shall we kill him, then?" Uchiha Itachi asked, lifting one eyebrow. "It seems like the most
reasonable course of action."

Sarutobi Biwako closed her eyes.

Danzo shook his head. "Unfortunately, he holds the Nine-Tails. We have no knowledge of the seal
Minato used, and what it would mean for the Beast. And we might need the Nine-Tails, still."

Yukio thought he understood where the Hokage was going. There was a long silence.

"No. We won't kill Uzumaki Naruto. Instead, we will make him loyal to Konoha, whether he wants
it… or not."
 Cascades

Konoha.

Of course, as luck would have it, the bad news didn't stop here.

Hyūga Hanabi and Uchiha Toru, among a few other deserters, were now missing ninja.

Desertions during war were nothing new, of course, and considering they had been in the thick of
the fight, stuck between Suna and Iwa, there were some that would likely say that it was to be
expected, considering their relative lack of experience.

The actual reasons for it came as a surprise.

Criminal possession of clan secrets, with intent of disclosure.

Both Uchiha Itachi and Hyūga Hiashi took the news with grave expressions. Anyone could see that
they were affected, though, Yamanaka Yukio felt.

For Hatake Kakashi, his last — and only, in a way — student leaving… seemed to be the last in a
long list of unpleasant events. He simply left as soon as the meeting was over, without saying a
single word.

Uchiha Itachi tried to talk to him, but he just shook his head, disappearing.

Umi.

"Toru…?"

Toru slowly opened his eyes, trying to remember… anything. He was home. His own home, and
the notion was still a bit strange. Who gave out houses away for free…?

"Whazzat…?"

Toru heard Naruto call him from downstairs. He groaned, his head throbbing. Nothing a few
minutes of cycling chakra and sweating it out couldn't fix, though.

Huh... Who did this long, tanned leg belong to...?

There was a naked woman lying next to him. He knew her, of course. Akemi, a cute civilian
woman who worked in one of Umi's tea houses. Huh. She had always seemed so cold, usually.

Toru thought he could remember going out to drink with Naruto and Ino… but besides that…

He stood up, making his way down the stairs.

"I'm coming, I'm coming." He grunted in answer. Damn, he really could have enjoyed the whole
thing a bit more if he had drunk a bit less.

"Brought you food." Naruto said, chuckling from somewhere down. "I had the feeling alcohol
would affect you a bit more than it does me. Ino's pretty out of it, this morning."

"Food…?" Right now, the whole idea made him want to puke, but he knew that it would likely
help. "Thanks, man."

Toru finally got down the stairs, smiling at Naruto.

Naruto winced, letting out a long moan of disgust and closing his eyes. "...Meet me at my house a
bit later, instead. With some clothes. And… You can put that lipstick away."

They were sitting around the table of Naruto and Ino's home.

There were a few people around. Ino, who seemed amused. Naruto, who just shuddered when he
saw him again. And Hanabi, who just seemed disgusted.

Toru still noticed she was less tense than she had been previously. As if a great weight had been
lifted off from her shoulders. And looking at her bare forehead, he could understand why.

Well, maybe it had been worth it, he smiled.

"Got something to smile about?" Ino laughed, almost carefree for the first time in…

Damn, since her father had died. Toru could see one of Naruto's hands resting on her thigh, and
knew it likely had to do with him. Good on them.

Toru's smile widened.

"You could say that." Toru nodded. The only Hyūga in the room misinterpreted, of course.

"Disgusting." Hanabi muttered. "Such boorish behavior."

"Wha-" Toru was incensed right away. "I was just happy that-"

Naruto cut in. "Alright, alright. No fighting this early in the morning."

Hanabi seemed to think twice before saying anything, likely out of respect for the fact that
he had managed to remove the seal. Which Toru was still curious about. Was it that easy, if a guy
who was not even twenty yet could manage…? Or was he just that good already?

"Yeah, yeah." Toru grunted. She was such an ungrateful little bastard. Typical Hyūga.

"Eat up." Naruto said. "And here are hangover pills I got from the mainland." He said, putting a
small pouch on the table.

"Damn." Toru laughed, taking a long sip of coffee. God, it had been months since he had some.
"You're prepared for war, it seems."

"You could say that, I guess. My clone just dispelled. Anko told him a few things apparently."
Naruto nodded, suddenly serious. "We're going to kill a guy who survived a failed assassination
attempt on the first Hokage."

In his surprise, Toru spat his coffee on Hanabi. She lunged at him over the table.

Naruto explained a few things over breakfast, hurriedly.

Anko had dropped by just a few minutes ago, a few dozens of Land of Canyons natives in tow. She
had gathered them the day before, apparently, but it had taken her way longer to make sure they
weren't obvious threats to Umi. Once she did that, she brought all of them through a portal.

The fact that she was still wearing Sakura's gauntlet gave Naruto a few questions.

Not about the amount of chakra it took for Anko to keep it up. If Toru could manage to keep
Sasuke's sword manifested, Anko would have no real trouble doing the same with Sakura's artifact.

And it was the only way to bring outside people in without marking them directly, or having
Naruto take them himself. He updated Anko on the new security measures at the same time.

So no… that was not his question. Rather… Where was Sakura, exactly…?

Likely not fighting, otherwise she would have recalled the gauntlet for her own use.

Anko didn't know either, as she hadn't seen her in a few days, apparently.

Disappearing without explaining anything sounded like a Sakura thing — according to Ino, anyway
— so he would wait before worrying too much. Not that there was that much he could do.

Naruto and Ino would set up the mind-connecting channel when they saw her, but that was likely
for another time.

No, they had a more immediate concern.

Iwa was about to attack Taki directly. And if they were willing to invade their direct neighbor, that
meant they were confident in their chances. They hadn't done so in a long, long while.

It would also send a clear message to the Land of Earth's other neighboring countries, like the Land
of Forests — where Kusa lay — and the Nation of Rain.

Well, it seemed as though Ame and Iwa were in cahoots, so maybe only Kusa was at risk.

In all honesty, Naruto didn't think Taki could be saved. And there was nothing the four of them
could do against an army, anyway.

That was the crux of the power problem. The only way to even survive as a village was to build a
formidable army of your own… or join a more powerful one. And Taki didn't want to bend to Iwa,
that much was clear.

So, yeah. Taki was almost sure to fall today. They all knew it, including the village itself.

But well… That was a prime opportunity for anyone willing to steal a Bijū. For Suna or for
Akatsuki. Which meant they had to go.

And the only high-profile missing ninja from Taki, one who knew its secrets… was Kakuzu the
Immortal. It was almost a given that he'd be around.

Anko had spent the entire day trying to convince people in Taki to leave. It seemed as though most
of them were too proud to go. Or maybe they trusted in the fact that Konoha — or the Land of Fire,
technically, which was the same thing, in a way — would react to the very real threat of suddenly
having to share a border with Iwa.

Whatever the reason was, less than a hundred people had come, she had said.

Naruto, on the other hand, found it terribly impressive already. But there was no time to waste.
He marked Toru and he marked Hanabi - which he was sure he found somewhat ironic.

Then he gave each of them a mask, complete with a hood. One mask had no openings at all, the
other had one for the left eye, mirroring Tobi's.

"I made this yesterday." Naruto said, by way of explanation. "Didn't expect we'd go in such a rush,
or I'd have made something a bit more fancy. They will work though, won't slip off your face or
else."

Thinking of it, he really should have made more of them.

"Are you trying to remove my pretty face from the equation…?" Toru asked.

Naruto snorted. "More like hiding your fancy eyeballs, if we're being honest. Unless the enemy
pays close attention to you, it should work. Toru, you need eye contact, so I kept yours somewhat
open. Hanak-… bi." He corrected himself. Toru had to stifle a chuckle. "You can see through
yours, since your Dojutsu is actually good for something." Naruto ignored Toru's angry protests.
"So it's entirely closed."

"Thank you, Naruto-san." She nodded politely.

"Yeah, thanks a lot."

Naruto shrugged, feeling a bit uneasy. "Don't thank me yet, the day hasn't even started."

"So…" Toru started.

"Yeah?"

"Is there no big ceremony, no ritual, no… nothing?" Toru asked.

"What do you mean?"

"We just became Umi ninja, didn't we…? Where's the rousing, patriotic speech about growing
strong and protecting your home…?" Toru grinned.

Naruto grinned too. He cleared his throat. "My sincerest apologies, young ones. I was so eager to
see you become real ninja… I couldn't concentrate on the preparations for the ceremony." He
nodded seriously, twice. "Now that you're full-fledged shinobi, things will only become more
difficult."

"I can't believe I finally graduated." Toru chuckled.

"Grow strong and wise, young seashells… and never forget Umi's motto."

"Protecting your friends…?" Ino asked, face solemn.

"Please remind me, Umikage-sama. I'm afraid I have forgotten again." Toru kneeled.

"If anything ever goes wrong… Blame Orochimaru. It's probably his fault anyway."

Toru threw his head back and laughed. A small - but real - smile was twitching on Hanabi's lips.

They put their masks on.

"Time to go, then." Naruto turned serious again. "Focus on what I'm doing with my chakra so you
can do it on your own next time... and I'll take us there, just so we don't actually lose you on the
way."

Before he could do so, Ino pulled him in a deep kiss, and gave him a look so obviously full of
emotion that Toru had to look away.

"Disgusting… Have you people no shame…?" He grunted. "I might just puke."

Ah, pre-battle bravado.

Close to Taki.

"So what's the situation like?" Naruto asked Anko, once they were settled high up, close to the
village of Taki.

They would not be allowed to get closer now. The village had been locked entirely hours ago. And
Taki's barrier was strong. Nobody would get in or out before Iwa managed to breach it.

Many Taki shinobi were standing near the cliff, with even more of them hiding behind the trees.
Watching.

The very fact that she had been allowed to enter yesterday - after thorough checks - was a sign that
the higher-ups were not entirely convinced in their ability to drive Iwa back this time. Better that a
few people unwilling or unable to fight left, rather than having everyone die, risking a mutiny at
the same time.

"Konoha's not anywhere near here yet. Iwa troops are stationed close, already in formed ranks."
She muttered, never taking her eyes off the distance. "Taki sent a messenger to negotiate with Iwa."

And using the pair of binoculars Anko gave him, Naruto could see that the man was walking
toward the swarm of Iwa shinobi.

Swarm was the right term in general, because in terms of sheer numbers, Iwa had the most shinobi
out of any village, bar Konoha.

"Ino." Toru said. "Let us see, please."

It was hard to say if it was because of the mask or his tone, but he sounded pretty quiet.

Iwa had sent a man to meet Taki's messenger.

They would try negotiating one last time.

Kurotsuchi, next in line for the seat of Tsuchikage - according to herself, at least -, and leader of
the Iwa forces gathered in front of Taki, observed the meeting taking place.

There were some in the village that believed that she had been favored, as Ōnoki's granddaughter.
Her only answer to that was usually a snort and a rude gesture.

Anybody who even knew the grumpy old man knew that if anything… that made him less likely to
want her to succeed him. Part of it was that he was harsher on his granddaughter, just like he had
been on his children before.

Well, she'd prove herself to her grandfather.

The war had come with some surprise to her. She had grown up used to the constant state of
tension, of course, but an actual war? That was something she associated with the old stories, with
legends; heroes like Isamu, the Abyssal Giant… or butchers like Konoha's Yellow Flash, who had
torn through Iwa like he had torn through her family tree.

She really wasn't looking forward to the senseless slaughter that was sure to come. Iwa might not
have as many truly exceptional shinobi as Konoha did… but they more than made up for it with
their sheer number of strong ones.

War was a proving ground. Iwa would prove that it was the strongest village, and they'd bring
down their might upon their enemies. Peace was sure to follow.

And she'd prove that she had what it took to lead a nation today.

Even if she had to harden her heart.

She had given a specific order to the messenger. No matter what Taki's answer was.

Hanabi was relaying the information to them.

Well, technically… Ino was relaying it, but it was Hanabi's eyes doing the seeing.

"That's a pretty nifty trick." Anko nodded in approval. "Sure beats binoculars."

"It's mostly giving me a headache." Toru complained.

"You're not used to the clarity brought by the Byakugan." Hanabi muttered. "No wonder you have
trouble seeing things as they are."

"You can take that back, I have the Sharingan."

"Yes. Did I stutter…?" She shot back.

"I mean… You are blind in one eye." Naruto shrugged.

"…Fuck you guys." Toru grunted.

Ino was not saying much, too focused on keeping the jutsu up.

The atmosphere down there seemed tense.

The Umi group quieted down too.

Five minutes passed.

The messenger from Taki got closer. He greeted the one from Iwa.

Spears made of solid ground stabbed through the man's body, by way of answer.

"No…!" Naruto grunted.

Toru closed his eye in resignation. It didn't stop the pictures from coming.

The Iwa messenger cut his Taki counterpart's head with an entirely uneven rock blade. It was
messy, to say the least.
He hoisted it up on a spike. Iwa cheered behind him.

The Taki soldiers screamed in fury, getting ready to defend their home.

"Where's Fū…?" Naruto asked, trying to keep his personal feelings about her - and this entire
situation - out of his voice.

This was supposed to be a cease-fire.

"Where's the jinchūriki?" He repeated.

"I… can't see her." Hanabi admitted. She's not outside, and I can't see through the barrier from that
war, it's too dense. If I were closer."

"No." Naruto shook his head. "That's enough confirmation. She's inside the village, then."

Now, as to why…?

Why wouldn't they send Fū to fight? A lack of trust, still…?

But without her, even with Taki's vaunted barrier, that was supposed to be near unbreachable from
the outside… there was no way the few hundreds of shinobi gathered outside could manage.

Iwa outnumbered them by a factor of five, at the very least.

Naruto extended his chakra senses, as far as he could from here.

Taki's barrier was preventing him from getting as clear of a picture as he should have been able to
— just like Hanabi…

But there were three chakra sources that were monstrous enough to give off a slight trace. And he
knew them already. How to get in, if it was in lockdown…? Smash through…?

Was it even possible…?

There was a flash of orange-green chakra, and a pillar of energy rose from the dark forest.

Slamming into the barrier… and leaving an opening behind.

Everybody had seen it, he was sure, because it had burst a hole through the plateau and the forest
itself. His dilemma was solved.

That was where Taki was, then.

He wasted no time with talking, relaying a clear picture of what he was going to do, of where he
was going to Ino.

He trusted her entirely, she'd figure the best course of action from here.

Naruto gathered his chakra, Wind and Lightning through his legs, preparing for a long jump.

"Naru-" Toru began.

"I'll drop a mark. Meet me there."

The rock exploded under Naruto's sharp push.

Naruto was almost flying through the air.

In the distance, he saw hundreds of waterfalls, and could almost hear the sound of rushing water.

A huge lake sat under the village itself, and in the distance… a tree that dwarfed any of Konoha's,
even its legendary Mito tree, said to have been raised by the First Hokage.

The village must have been a beautiful place.

Right now, he couldn't see too much life. People were hiding, likely.

No lights, and almost no strong chakra presences, besides the three that he was following.

He landed inside the village with a grunt, less than a kilometer away from the enemy. There, he
dropped a mark.

Hopefully, that would be enough to avoid revealing they way the moved around to the enemy.

He dashed off once more, passing several corpses.

Here, The streets seemed to be littered with blood.

More corpses.

He landed somewhere close to the three. And close to the Tree.

They turned to face him.

"You." The beast that was Fū — or something of her, at least — said. It was mostly the Bijū, at
this point.

Naruto ignored it — her.

Hopefully there was still enough lucidity inside the creature to know which enemies to focus on.

Like the two Akatsuki members standing in front of them.

A man with pupilless green eyes, and tanned skin, hardly visible behind his facemask.

And a woman with blue hair, whose body was still finishing recomposing itself, from what seemed
to be paper.

He had felt both of their chakra, six years ago.

"Nine-Tails." The woman said, her voice so cold that he knew she wasn't all too happy about his
escape, back then.

"I didn't catch you last time you fled, jumping out of the tower…" The man's voice rumbled. "It
won't happen today."

Naruto noticed his headband. Formerly of Taki.

"Kakuzu the Immortal?" Naruto asked.

"In the flesh." He chuckled.

"Good." Naruto nodded.

"Why is that...?" The man sounded amused. "Feeling brave, brat?"

"Well…" Naruto started. "I already have someone who overstayed their welcome in this life to get
rid of. You'll be good practice."

Lightning spread from his core to the rest of his body, crackling angrily.
 The Great Fire

"Uzumaki Naruto, then…?" Kakuzu thought aloud.

Naruto said nothing, just waiting, his chakra coiled upon itself. He folded it, pressed it down. One
time.

"Yes." Kakuzu nodded to himself. "Your head will fetch a nice bounty once we're done with the
Nine-Tails."

Naruto still waited, ready to spring. He folded his chakra once more. Two times.

"Did you know that Konoha just put a higher price on y-"

There.

Naruto summoned a sword to his right hand.

He had felt the rest of the Umi group appear close to his current position. Next to him, Fū was
pushing her transformation all the way, becoming bigger and bigger, and the toxicity of the chakra
in the air continued to increase.

He pushed forward as his chakra burst through him, releasing like a coiled spring.

Kakuzu expected a thrusting or slashing movement, and a layer of wind covered his body, offering
a small measure of protection against lightning.

Too bad for him, then. Naruto hadn't planned on using any sort of sword attack. The sword
dispelled, its role as a distraction complete.

He summoned Wind around his own left hand, grabbing Kakuzu's clothing tightly. The man
growled, but his feet were already off the floor.

Naruto's speed carried them far away from the Great Tree.

With his right hand, he applied the strongest explosive tag he could manage upon Kakuzu's
clothes. He tried to put a chakra-binding one. Kakuzu twisted his chakra, rejecting Naruto's, and
managed to wrestle his hand away from him. Then Naruto pushed off of him, kicking him to the
ground.

Once he was sure he was far away enough, he detonated the tag.

Toru stared, his hands shaking slightly.

Seeing the Bijū up so close, feeling its noxious chakra wash over him… hit a bit too close to home.
They had come so close to dying last time. And that had only been a fraction of the weakest Bijū.
The one that still made his hair raise on his arms whenever Sasuke pushed himself.

Fucking up here… likely meant a painful death. But then again… the same was true for any sort of
war.

What difference did it make if they were facing monsters in human flesh; or monsters in monster
flesh, instead…?
They were not here to fight Fū anyway. Hopefully the girl had enough brains left in this state to
realize. The paper woman stood, extending her arms.

Toru started talking himself through his fear, muttering.

Ino was not looking very reassured herself. But she held on.

Hanabi… was not faring much better than him. She was breathing hard, her eyes wide in fright.

Somehow, that was what allowed him to push through his own fear.

"Come on, little Hanabi." He tried to go for a confident grin, despite how shaky it felt to him. "Are
you afraid of the mean woman?"

She shouted something very rude in return. But well, she seemed ready to fight, so he considered it
a win.

"You've improved a lot." Kakuzu grunted. "I should have killed you when I had the chance."

"Maybe you should have, yes." Naruto said evenly.

Kakuzu chuckled. "I'll fix it soon. Then I'll wipe my tears with the fat bills I'll get for your head."

"And here I thought you guys wanted me alive."

"Oh, don't worry." Kakuzu shook his head. "You will survive. You're a jinchūriki, after all. And we
really want the rest of the Nine-Tails."

"Oh?" Naruto raised an amused eyebrow. "Didn't you get your money's worth, last time?"

"About half of it, if you really must know." Kakuzu's voice rumbled with dark promise.

'…Half?'

Naruto showed none of his confusion. Were they looking for him… because they thought he had
the other half…?

The one that his father had taken with him into the Shinigami's belly?

Oh, now that was pretty funny. He wouldn't tell them, of course, — that would just be dumb —
considering they were still going to come after what little he still held.

"Oh. I see, I see." Naruto nodded, as if in deep thought. "Why don't you come and get it, old
man…?"

"It's always the same with you jinchūriki." Kakuzu shook his head, sighing. "No wonder almost
none of you grow old. All raw power and brashness. The best way to die young."

"And here I thought it was because of old men's power plays."

"There is that, too. Well, I think it's about time I chop your legs off, brat. You'll be easier to carry
that way."

"What happened to old man strength…? Can't carry one measly jinchūriki…?"
Naruto made sure to be as limber as he could, jumping in place to warm up.

Kakuzu snorted. "It's going to take longer, and time is precious."

"And Ino calls me greedy." Naruto shook his head.

"Fire Style: Zukkoku"

Naruto felt that the way the man used his chakra was a bit peculiar. It gathered from his core, like
anyone else, and then gathered into a chakra structure on his back, before the same structure…
moved?

He could see a mask-like creature ripping itself from Kakuzu's back, launching a small fireball.

It traveled along the ground and covered a much wider area than Naruto had thought.

He dashed away and in, the Lightning Cloak covering him.

Naruto wasted no time, a blade appeared in his hand and he stabbed through Kakuzu's throat.

Kakuzu grunted, blood flowing from his mouth.

"Your speed… Not bad."

Naruto squinted. Something here wasn't right.

"Too bad you're still so foolish." Kakuzu grinned. Tendrils wrapped around Naruto's wrist.

The Wind mask blasted Naruto head on, while he was channeling Lightning.

He fell to the ground, cut to ribbons, a dumb expression of surprise on his face.

"And that's why experience beats you-"

Naruto exploded in smoke. A clone. The very real seal written upon his back detonated, and a flash
of light went off. Blinding Kakuzu.

"Do you really think you're the only one who can use deception…? That was the first thing we
learned as shinobi." The real Naruto shot back from somewhere behind him.

Kakuzu couldn't see anything. He heard the sound of Lightning coming from two different
directions.

Then two swords cut through his neck, separating his head from his body.

Anko was still on the cliff, hidden from sight.

Both armies had seen Naruto's short flight, but none of them had done anything about it.

For Iwa, it was because he was inside the forest behind the enemy line they were trying to breach.

For Taki, it was because they had a bigger problem than a suicidal man. Like an army in front of
their home.

Taki would die today, most likely.

There was not that much to be done about that.

A village founded more than a hundred years ago, one which had never been invaded successfully
before. And how long would it take to destroy all that…?

One day, two days…? Three?

No, less, probably. With Akatsuki involved, she doubted that there was anyone with power left
inside the village with their free will — or their life — intact.

If any of them were still alive… They probably regretted keeping Fū around. No power, no
promise of defending against foreign threats — if that was even true at all, in the young woman's
case — was likely worth much, if her very presence had contributed directly to the village's
destruction.

Well, she had tried to get as many people out of here as possible.

Even getting the leader, Masuyo, to listen to her words had taken her the better part of a day.

After some — a lot of — back and forth, he had let some civilians leave with her, on the honor-
bound condition that they come back once Taki pushed the Iwa forces away, like it had done many
times before.

Masuyo had insisted he didn't fear this 'Akatsuki'. Or Kakuzu.

No one could breach Taki's defense, he had said. Not even him, he had said.

Famous last words. Anko wasn't sure how, but Akatsuki had gotten in. The man was probably dead
by now… or someone else's puppet. Or watching the collapse.

And the Bijū transformation had broken through Taki's barrier entirely. The only thing that stood
between Iwa and the village's heart were the shinobi outside.

Naruto and Ino would manage. She could only hope that the same was true of Toru and Hanabi.

Anko had another thing to do, right now. Buying them time, first of all.

And she had found just the way to do that.

Konan's body split into thousands of paper sheets.

Hanabi was not fooled by their seemingly flimsy material. Each of them had to be razor sharp. Ino
was grazed by a few of them, which confirmed what she had thought.

And it seemed very painful, too. Paper was thin enough to cut skin, but not sharp enough to do so
cleanly, like a blade would. Its rough edge tore instead of cutting.

Toru's left hand blurred, weaving what seemed to be the obvious solution.

"Fire Style: Piercing Hellstrike."

A thin spear of compressed flame and heat shot flew through the air, striking through Konan's
chest, and setting her on fire at the same moment.

For someone who just had been run through, Konan looked very calm.
It was no wonder, since the paper that had been set on fire just detached itself from her easily, and
the hole in her chest was just replaced by more of it.

"Do you really think I never saw the need to protect myself against Fire…?" Konan asked flatly.

"Eh, it was worth a try." Toru's sword glinted, but nothing happened. He looked down in surprise,
winced and went into melee range instead.

The paper surrounded him, like a wave of angry blades, and he was forced to defend himself. He
danced through it all, only his Sharingan preventing him from getting cut.

Hanabi was behind Konan already, the heel of her chakra imbued palm striking true in the
woman's back. She felt some of the paper turn limp, and she let out a small smile-

Hanabi went through Konan entirely. Well, almost entirely. The paper reformed around her legs,
extended like a whip and she felt herself being lifted up, before she was smashed into the earth.

She grunted in pain, seeing stars, and saw Konan form a paper blade.

Ino had been weaving a series of hand signs, ending in one of her clan's signature ones.

"Mind Body Disturbance Technique."

Konan's body seemed to freeze, before dissolving into an impossible number of paper structures.
Toru pulled Hanabi out of there.

Konan took control of the paper again, splitting herself in two identical clones.

"Her jutsu…!" Ino called, before transmitting the rest of the information through thought.

'She has no real body, or so to speak. Or at least, not right now.'

'So we were working with the wrong assumption?' Hanabi sent back. 'Her chakra is flowing
through all of it, I can see it.'

'You're right.' Ino nodded. 'That means that there is no central consciousness, then. It's like a…'

'Multitude of smaller ones.' Toru finished. 'That's why my Genjutsu didn't take.' And he had tried.

'You would need to affect all of it.' Hanabi said. 'Even a single one remaining unaffected would be
enough for her to realize she's under one.'

'And who knows just how much paper she has stashed away.' Toru nodded grimly. 'What an
annoying jutsu.'

Naruto was standing over Kakuzu's corpse.

He let the Lightning Cloak fade away, as it drained a lot of chakra, even for him. He moved closer,
ready to seal the corpse away.

Finely honed instincts warned him, and he only had the time to widen his violet eyes before
hundreds of tendrils shot through from the head and body.

He didn't have the time to turn his Cloak back on before they pierced him slightly.
He did manage to get away, though. Before these threads managed to do whatever Kakuzu had
intended to do.

Naruto was bleeding from many wounds, that he forced to close, burning through his chakra even
faster.

Kakuzu cackled, his head and body sewing themselves back together.

"'First lesson', eh, brat?"

"What the hell is your body made of…?" Naruto grunted.

"Now that would be telling."

Naruto focused his chakra senses. The regular chakra beat that he associated with a heart also beat
from Kakuzu's head. And from his back.

A total of six times.

"Six of them…? You… hid a heart inside your fucking skull…?" Naruto grunted.

Kakuzu chuckled. "They used to call me heartless, back then. I just wanted to fix it. I got… carried
away."

From the well of negative emotions coming from the undying man, Naruto could feel a lot of
pride. And anger. This could be used. He filed the information for later.

Kakuzu gathered his chakra, old, ancient and refined.

Fire and Wind and Lightning were channeled through three masks.

"Earth Grudge Fear: Raging Flame"

In a flash, a blast of intense fire and thunder and wind combined, destroyed the entire area.

The Great Tree started burning.

"Uh. That's bad." Toru said.

Not the fight itself. Konan was a strong opponent, but so were they, he knew. And there were three
of them.

It would be a difficult battle, for sure, but Toru was almost certain they'd manage.

The Bijuu itself seemed to be aware enough to focus most of its power on Konan, too. Not that its
ability to take over living creatures like insects really helped here.

The attack Kakuzu had launched had set a raging fire to the remains of the city… as well as Taki's
legendary tree. What was Naruto doing…?

"That fool." Konan cursed, bitterly. "I told him to minimize the destruction."

"You should have kept your dog on a tighter leash, then." Toru shrugged.

"There won't be anything left of Taki, soon." Ino said bitterly. "Hope capturing this madwoman
was worth it."

"Maybe bringing Kakuzu here was a mistake." She admitted. "But… If Taki's ruin is the cost of
peace, then so be it." Konan closed her eyes. "I am willing to accept that."

"I don't think all the people who died today are fine with it, though." Ino shot back, angry.

"Then it might be a blessing in disguise that they have no way to voice their opinions anymore."

The fight came to a halt, suddenly.

Ino felt something build up.

She turned her head toward the Seven-Tails, which had been mostly content to pulse noxious
chakra, almost aimlessly. Until now.

The Seven-Tails — or Fū, maybe — was staring at the burning Tree, with something unreadable in
its eyes.

It was not a human emotion, but the closest she could name would be… Dismay?

One of the creature's eyes was red, the other orange. No matter who was in control right now, there
were some strange feelings they felt toward the Tree.

Was it Fū? Did she grow up around here, hiding in the gigantic tree for solace, when the world
around her became too much to bear?

Was it the Seven-Tails itself? Did it have any particular attachment to the tree, which was said to
have been grown by the Sage itself, in remembrance of someone, whose identity had been lost
through the passing of time?

No matter what the answer was, the Beast roared its loss, its pain…

Its rage.

The pressure in the air increased, until it was barely tolerable.

Ino, Toru and Hanabi backed away.

The opportunity she had been looking for came to Anko.

Toxic chakra exploded through the air again, even more intense than last time.

The Tailed Beast.

Both armies looked up to the growing Seven-Tails.

Anko's clone, face hooded, seemed to come out of nowhere, surprising both Iwa and Taki.

They made the mistake of focusing on it. The real Anko leaped from her hiding place silently,
quick and deadly. Unseen until it was too late.

She struck, like a viper.

Like what Sensei had taught her, so long ago. The snake style was based on debilitating strikes.
Any distraction was to be used against the enemy. Two of them usually did the trick.

She stabbed right through the heart, her blade coated in poison.

Anko saw the dumbstruck expression, the realization and then the fear. She could almost picture
broken dreams, and the certainty that this was it.

The body fell, and Anko confirmed the kill before dashing away, far from the screams of rage and
the hail of kunai and bombs and spears of broken earth.

Kurotsuchi of Iwa died so, snuffed out by Mitarashi Anko before she ever got to prove anything at
all to the village she loved.
 Crucible

Naruto winced when he saw the destruction that Kakuzu's attack had wrought.

And then he noticed the Seven-Tails slowly breaking free.

He could not use any sort of water jutsu to stop the flames. And even if he had been able to, he
doubted they would have been enough to stop a fire that had resulted from three different elements
being used together. That was not a true combination, nothing like a bloodline limit... but the
potential for destruction was still sky-high.

Looking at Kakuzu's satisfied face, Naruto realized something.

"This attack… was not meant for me, was it? At least not only."

He knew he was fast, and could avoid most attacks. Which meant that Kakuzu, who seemed to be a
pragmatic fighter by any accounts — besides his glaring temper issue — knew it as well.

Why would the man waste that much chakra to-

Naruto blinked. He felt the negative emotions churning in Kakuzu's gut. They were not aimed at
him. And Naruto knew exactly what they were. He had felt similar feelings, on a much weaker
scale, before.

"…You really hate this place, don't you…?" Naruto asked.

Kakuzu looked at him, his strange green eyes looking somewhat surprised.

"What makes you think that?" He asked evenly.

"Your feelings don't lie." Naruto chuckled. "Even now, after… How much time? More than
seventy years?"

Kakuzu said nothing.

"You still hate this place so strongly?"

"…I don't think you'll ever understand." Kakuzu growled out.

"I don't care to find out how you think." Naruto shook his head. "I didn't before, and I don't now,
either. You just put all of us in even deeper shit."

Kakuzu prepared to resume the fight.

"…I can take a guess, though." Naruto shot him a dark grin. "You failed your impossible mission
to kill Konoha's First Hokage. And then you got punished for messing up. Harshly."

Kakuzu scoffed. "This is well-known."

"Oh, I know." Naruto nodded. "You left the village — or got exiled — and killed elders, stole
village secrets and all that. From what you keep on saying… You came to trust money only. This,
at least, wouldn't betray you."

"Interesting." The man grunted. "Is this supposed to be the part where your monologue gets me to
regret all of my life choices, converting me to the asceticism of a monk…?"

Kakashi's First Iron Rule of Getting Under Someone's Skin (or Into Their Bed): Never admit what
you're doing before the conclusion .

Naruto laughed. "No. I didn't think you were the type at all. But…" He said, meeting Kakuzu's
eyes. "Then again, I don't think you're the type to want to live. And you've got nothing to look
forward to. You're just afraid of dying."

Kakuzu stayed silent for a while. Naruto continued.

"I know a man who wants immortality, too. I thought it was just about fear. Well… No, I think it
might have been about fear, at first. But…" He chuckled. "He wants to learn all there is to learn,
read all the books there are to find, see the entirety of this world and the next. To understand the
human mind fully, seek a way to evolve further and further. And to enjoy the process. And life,
too."

Naruto paused. "At least, that's what I think he wants. Maybe that's what I would do with
immortality."

Kakuzu still said nothing.

Naruto chuckled. "Anyways. You have a form of immortality. A disgusting one, sure, relying on
taking other people's hearts — don't think I didn't notice the different chakra signatures that come
from the masks." He said with distaste. "But a form of it, nonetheless."

"What's your point, fox?" Getting kind of long-winded here."

"…And what do you do with this immortality…?" Naruto asked, starting to laugh. "You
hoard money for the sake of… money itself."

Kakuzu gave him a dangerous look.

"What a fucking waste. I'm sure the old Taki elders would have preferred giving out the secret of
the technique you stole to Senju Hashirama himself, rather than a short-sighted imbecile like you.
I've met dogs with more ambition." Naruto chuckled.

Alright. Hopefully he had managed to finally get under his skin, now.

More silence. Did he overestimate his anger…? Wrong trigger points, maybe?

Kakuzu growled, and five masks appeared behind him.

It probably had worked, then. Great.

Konan took to the skies with wings made out of paper.

None of Ino's jutsu could reach her from there, and she was moving too fast anyway.

She extended her hands, and thousands upon thousands of white squares flew, some of them
covered in tags, covering the Seven-Tails, starting from the head. This was the way they would
have kept the entire operation a secret. Except Kakuzu had screwed up in his rage.

The first thing she did was to cover its eyes, in case Toru could somehow subjugate it. Not that he
seemed too confident in his ability to do so.

The sheets of paper were doing something to the creature. Not restraining it, not really. But making
it more sluggish, making its tail swipes less precise.

Whatever it was that Konan intended to do with it, there was no way Ino would let her do so.

Before she could convince herself it was a terrible idea — the sort that she would insult Naruto for
coming up with — Ino jumped, grabbing on to the Seven-Tails stinger-like tail. Its six wing-tails
fluttered, buzzing angrily behind its back.

"Oh, god." She heard Toru mutter from behind her. Even then, he followed without hesitation, and
after some deliberation — and a few curses that would have made Shinjiro himself blush — so did
Hanabi.

They started to climb, holding on to the Beast for dear life.

The Seven-Tails tried to free itself from Konan, going higher and higher up. It would need to get
rid of the woman, before eating the man who had burned Father's Tree.

The Seven-Tails fled through the skies… and Konan followed.

Anko looked on in morbid curiosity, as the Seven-Tails flew away from Taki.

She had managed to kill a general and get away with it, it seemed. Sensei would be proud.

"I think we can forget diplomatic relationships with Taki. Whatever's going to be left of it, by
tomorrow." She muttered to herself.

There was only a slight problem. She saw a woman that could only be Konan following the Beast.

And Ino, Toru and Hanabi climbing its back.

She groaned, before summoning a flight-capable snake. Nanashi.

"…Are you sure about this, Anko-chan?" Nanashi asked dubiously, staring at the monstrous
creature in the sky.

"Not really, no." She said dryly. "But let's go anyway."

"As you wish." The snake nodded, waiting for her to jump on its back.

They soared toward the skies as well.

Kakuzu, still more angry than he had been in a while, chuckled when he saw the Seven-Tails as
close to full release as it got.

Naruto winced.

"I see you've got a good handle on the situation, Uzumaki Naruto." The immortal man chuckled.

Naruto grunted. "Things tend to get fucked sideways pretty often for us."

He couldn't drag this fight for too long. Not with a Bijū on the run.
"Like the way this fight is going for you, then?" Kakuzu goaded him.

Naruto ignored him. The man was obviously a bit sour about not managing to kill someone who
wasn't even twenty yet. And his wide area ninjutsu were making it very hard for Naruto to even
make use of his speed. The upside was that Kakuzu didn't manage to reach him either.

Kakuzu had split himself into some twisted abomination.

A deformed, quadrupedal creature made out of threads, somewhere between a horse and a human,
one whose skin had mostly peeled off and was hanging down from its back. Naruto could see the
five masks shift along the surface of the threads, disappearing and reappearing at random intervals.

Kakuzu was only bringing them out to attack him, by now. He didn't dare risk them otherwise.
Naruto dashed away, chased by a firestorm intent on burning him to a crisp.

It was only a diversion, though.

Threads broke free from the earth, aiming at binding him in place. Naruto's sword flashed with
Lightning, cutting them before they came close. He leaped with a backflip, avoiding the bolt of
thunder that struck the spot where Kakuzu had tried to keep him grounded.

Naruto felt the chakra build up in the air.

Wind and Water, he could tell. They prickled at his skin, raising the hairs on his arms.

"Wave of Mutilation."

Kakuzu released a surge of cutting waters around him, pushing horizontally.

Naruto jumped over it, summoning a single sword to his hand.

Kakuzu grinned. Or at least, Naruto thought that's what it was, it was hard to tell on his monstrous,
equine face.

The Wind lifted the water up in deadly spires, all of them aimed at the airborne Naruto.

He cursed, throwing his Lightning-enhanced sword as hard as he could and summoning a new one
in the same beat.

Kakuzu split his threads around the sword, letting it pass harmlessly, and the blade buried itself
into the broken earth, slamming into it with enough strength to remain stuck there.

The water spires were almost upon him.

Perfect.

Naruto let out a scream. Which Kakuzu probably thought was one of fear. Which it was not.
Instead, Naruto summoned his Lightning Cloak at full power around himself.

"Revolving Thunder: Grounding."

Instead of pulling the buried sword to himself…

Naruto pulled himself to the sword.

His electrified mass went straight through an unsuspecting Kakuzu, who could only scream in
rage, as Naruto tore through his tendrils as well as his Earth mask.

Naruto didn't stop there, and the moment he touched the earth again was also the moment he
whirled around, two swords in hand.

He blurred away, dodging a blast of pure Wind that Kakuzu sent at him.

"Roaring Gale."

He was under Kakuzu, now. Naruto went up spinning, cutting winds and lightning following him.

He went back down, slamming both swords against another of Kakuzu's masks, in a crash of air
and thunder. Before Kakuzu even managed to react.

He got the Lightning one, this time.

Kakuzu raged, tendrils swirling around him like a miniature hurricane, and Naruto backed away.

"Each of these hearts took me a while to get." Kakuzu said, voice rattling.

"Very sorry to hear that."

Kakuzu felt his rage boil… and he chuckled. "Still trying to provoke me, I see."

"So you did figure it out."

"No matter. My limit is six hearts, and two are missing. The Earth one was a backup anyway. The
other, the Lightning one… This one I shall replace with yours. I haven't seen such a strong
Lightning Style since…" Kakuzu seemed to pause. "…Huh."

"I aim to impress." Naruto said dryly.

"You jest… But I am impressed." Kakuzu admitted. "I already was when you escaped our clutches
years ago. If it weren't for the Beast you hold… you'd be a decent fit for Akatsuki, I'm sure."

It hadn't been him escaping, but…

"…Am I supposed to feel glad for that?" Naruto asked incredulously.

"Eh. Forget that." Kakuzu chuckled, his voice rumbling. "You're way too annoying anyway. I'd kill
you too quickly."

His massive body split into something more human like again. He had realized that this huge,
lumbering form was probably the worst thing he could do, against somebody so fast.

"Though I have to give you some cr-"

Naruto attacked while he was talking, with a sweeping horizontal slash that cut through Kakuzu's
midsection, instead of the heart that he had been aiming for, which had moved out of the way.

Kakuzu chuckled. "Attacking while I'm-"

Naruto continued his onslaught, moving at full speed. He was so much faster than Kakuzu that the
only thing that allowed the man to stay in the fight was his near immortality, and his ability to
move his hearts out of the way.
In a seamless transition, a clone of Naruto appeared behind Kakuzu, aiming for his brain with
a Wind slash.

Kakuzu grunted and his skin hardened.

The wind-enhanced blade crashed against him, not managing to hurt him. The real Naruto used that
opportunity to stab through his eye with a Lightning strike.

Kakuzu roared, three elements mixing into a wall of death.

Naruto had already retreated, though. He had sensed the chakra build up before. Which made all of
Kakuzu's terrifying ninjutsu somewhat predictable.

Despite the mortal danger he was in — or rather because of it — his soul felt as though it were on
fire. He felt ecstatic.

The Lightning chakra coursing through him, making his nerves work faster, was just part of it.

This was what he was born f-

What the hell was he thinking…? What was wrong with him?

"Wind Style: Aggai."

Kakuzu released a compressed sphere of wind, forcing Naruto to dodge. He could sense the
amount of chakra poured into it, and just as he had thought, it hit a massive range when it
exploded, sending debris everywhere.

Naruto dashed him again, weaving under tendrils, and avoiding a water jet that would have cut his
leg off at thigh level.

Kakuzu disappeared into the ground. Naruto jumped far away from him. He followed his chakra,
constantly thwarting Kakuzu's attempts at getting under him.

The man reappeared around a minute later. His frustration was starting to become obvious. No
jutsu could reach Naruto from afar, and in melee range, he was taking way more damage than he
was giving.

"I'm starting to tire of this." Kakuzu growled.

"Give up, then. " Naruto shot back, unwilling to show that he was starting to be winded.

"Give up…?" Kakuzu snorted. "You're about seventy years too young to be throwing such words
around."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Oh please, age has nothing to do with it. If you just realized
there's nothing you can do to me… Great. Let's call it a day."

Not that Naruto was willing to let him go.

"…Nothing I can do?" Kakuzu chuckled darkly.

"Yeah." Naruto nodded, injecting as much apathy in his voice as he could. "This is boring. And
compared to let's say… Sasori… You're really not that good. No finesse, no skill… Just this. So
predictable. And the guy's what…? Less than half your age..?"
Kakuzu said nothing, but Naruto could feel his anger simmering.

"I even know what you're about to say next." Naruto muttered. "Brat, if only you knew what I could
do to you if I were allowed to kill you."

"Brat, if you-" Kakuzu cut himself off.

"What a shame you're not allowed to, huh. The great bounty hunter, Kakuzu the Immortal… is not
even the master of his own fate. Not even with all the money in the world. What's the point…?"
Naruto shook his head. "And that's supposed to be Taki's best…? No wonder the First Hokage let
you leave with your life. You simply were of no consequence."

A vein seemed to burst on Kakuzu's forehead.

'Fucking finally.' Naruto thought.

He dashed away, putting some distance between the two of them.

As far as he could remember, he hadn't shown the one long-distance jutsu he really knew to any
Akatsuki member. This one wouldn't live to tell the tale.

"You know what…?" Kakuzu started suddenly. "Screw this. I'm going to blast you away, Nine-
Tails or not. If you manage to survive this… That's on you."

The man laughed maniacally.

"You have speed and stamina." Kakuzu growled. "And strength. Probably courtesy of the Beast
you're carrying. But you're clearly lacking in firepower, for a jinchūriki."

Wind, Water and Fire gathered in the air.

'Perfect.' Naruto thought. There was nothing here that could overpower his Great Arrow.

Three elements or not, the potency of the chakra in the air was still inferior to what Naruto knew he
could put out if he really gave it his all.

Now… Kakuzu was right, in a way. Up until recently, he had nothing in his arsenal that would
have done the trick. His previous bow would not have been able to handle the levels of power he
needed here.

Naruto would have had to whittle Kakuzu down, heart after heart, all the while hoping he didn't get
caught by a man who had had a century to learn the shinobi arts.

Luckily for Naruto, Kakuzu also had a hair-trigger temper.

He just had had to make him want to crush him badly enough to forgo subtlety.

"Let's see how you fare against this, Uzumaki Naruto!"

Naruto said nothing in return.

He opened a scroll, unsealing his forged bow, the metal gleaming from the light of the flames
around them.

'I need an arrow.'

He reached deep inside.

Chakra exploded around Naruto's body, both Lightning and Wind.

The bow seemed to feed on it, absorbing it greedily.

Something called.

On his right shoulder, he felt Tengu burn, begging to be released.

Whispering of the coming chaos, conflict, taking to the skies.

Naruto didn't need it to win, he was sure of it.

He didn't need it. Kakuzu was as good as dead, and he already had a plan, if the arrow wasn't
enough.

He had refused to answer Tengu's call for a while now, he would continue to do so.

He didn't need-

He answered its call. Why would he take any chances?

Purple energy exploded around him, gathering around both of his arms.

The carving on his right shoulder burned. The tengu mark stretched, shifted… until a red and gold,
humanoid Tengu stood — facing the heavens — on his entire right arm.

Naruto howled in primal rage.

Wind and Lightning, transformed.

In his right hand, the bow was surrounded by a raging violet storm.

He extended his left arm, and the purple light shaped itself into a spear-like arrow of pure violet
chakra.

He nocked it on a string of equally strong chakra.

The storm called for its child; thunder and wind and change on the horizon.

Kakuzu released his jutsu, laughing maniacally. "Earth Grudge Fear: Ifrit."

He and his threads melted together into a ghostlike wraith, made out of fire, threads, steam and
blood. The energy he had accumulated gathered in its belly, and he shot a beam of superheated
steam, rage and flame straight at Naruto.

The earth exploded in the path of the attack.

Naruto let the arrow fly.

Chakra met chakra, and the resulting blast was seen for kilometers around.

When the smoke cleared, two men were standing.

One of them had an expression of disbelief at his most powerful attack having been countered. He
looked down at the gigantic hole in his chest.

Kakuzu had no more hearts.

"This jutsu… How…? Sasori didn't… You shitty… brat." He groaned, before falling forward. His
chakra slowly faded away. "How could I-"

Death finally found Kakuzu the Immortal.

Naruto let out a long shuddering breath, let the arrow's string disappear, and let the bow disappear
as well. Only then did he start healing his bloodied, damaged fingers.

That was another Akatsuki down.

 Flight of Fancy

The wind rushed loudly, bringing tears to Ino's eyes.

The Seven-Tails was flying higher and higher. The air was cold up here, and she wished she had
something heavier to wear. Like the cloak she had sealed away in a scroll she was carrying.

She wasn't going to risk falling off the Beast, though, so she kept both hands and feet against its
slippery carapace, using chakra to stick to it.

They were surrounded by wind and rain. The water soaked all three of them, making it hard to see
up.

Looking down, the plateau Taki had been standing on looked so small. She could not see much of
the fighting anymore, either.

She shot a sorry look at Toru and Hanabi. He shouted something she couldn't hear over the gale.

She established a mental link again.

'What was that?'

'Konan. We need to force Konan to back down or the Beast is going to keep on going up.' Toru
said.

'He's right. The Seven-Tails is panicking. Or angry.' Hanabi confirmed.

'Let's climb faster, then. There's nothing we can do from here.'

And so they resumed their ascension of the Beast.

Naruto saw the Seven-Tails up in the sky and cursed.

There was no way he could reach that far up, even transformed into a bird of prey. He tried to
estimate his remaining chakra reserves, which were close to a third.

Naruto winced, and realized that even if he did manage to join them, he'd basically be a sitting
duck. He reached for the bond.

'Ino.'

She took a moment to answer.

'Are you okay?!'

'I'm fine. Killed Kakuzu and sealed the body away. Are you-'

He felt her relief at this, even as she cut him off.

'We're okay. Need to focus.'

He nodded, pushing his worry away. 'All right. Be careful, please.'

'Which part of this sounds careful?' She smiled, cutting the connection for the time being.

Naruto sighed.

He looked around himself and his relief just crumbled away.

The village of Taki was dying. There was no other word for it.

The fires rage and he noticed that there were many survivors, all of them trapped inside a village
that would be no more by the time the sun set.

Trapped in between an army... and a raging Bijū.

The sacking of Taki would be terrible, too, if the rumors about Iwa ninja were true.

Naruto cursed, and summoned as many clones as he could manage and still have some chakra left
over, in case anything happened.

They set out to gather the survivors.

A burst of roaring flames bathed the clouds in orange light.

"Missed us?" Uchiha Toru grinned, landing with a front flip on top of the Seven-Tails' head. His
sword was out, set aflame. If illusions didn't work... Maybe an old-fashioned flaming sword would
do the trick.

"You, again." Konan sighed. So, they hadn't fallen off, yet. She lifted her arm and… froze.

The paper around her started to fall away, out of her control. Which meant the Yamanaka was not
far away. Yet Konan could not see her, at all.

Meanwhile, the Hyūga girl was dashing around, her hands flowing, slapping the paper tags around
the Seven-Tails' eyes, and they reverted to normal paper entirely.

The Beast's eyes - red, both of them - fixed themselves upon Konan again.

Orange and green chakra escaped from its helmet-like skull, headed for Konan. Mostly.

It also broke Toru's focus, and the area-wide Genjutsu he had cast dispelled, revealing Ino, who
had to break her own jutsu when Konan sent a wave of razor-sharp paper after her.

Hanabi's Vacuum Palm clipped one of her wings, separating it in two, and Konan had to waste
more of her chakra to recreate another.

The trail of noxious chakra was still following her.

Instead of continuing to dodge the Seven-Tails' homing attack…

Konan dropped on top of its head, out of its sight, where the Bijū couldn't really direct it.

She waved her hands, and they broke into a thousand sharp blades, shooting off at a rattling pace
toward the three of them.

Ino weaved hand signs, extending her hands, and the paper just fell away harmlessly, in a five
meter radius around her.
Konan stopped. As long as she had enough chakra to split her consciousness into two, the Uchiha
would not be able to trap her.

The Hyūga was annoying and would be hard to get rid of, since her Gentle Fist meant that she
could disable her jutsu, although that was done at a somewhat slow pace.

Which meant the Yamanaka was more problematic, right now.

But she was also the slowest of the three.

You could compare the situation to a board game. Instead of bothering to play with the rules of the
game, Konan did the equivalent of flipping the table over.

Konan saw the Uchiha's eye widen, as he saw what she was about to do before she did. He tried to
shout a warning. Too late.

She formed a paper sword and stabbed down, into the Seven-Tails' eye.

It roared and a wave of chakra detonated, throwing all of them off its head.

Konan nodded in satisfaction. What was the point in making such a simple thing more complicated
than it needed to be?

As the three Umi ninja plummeted to the ground below, screaming, Konan opened her wings and
started subduing the Beast once more.

Kiri Camp, Red Island, Land of Water

"You really are a lonely fellow, aren't you?" Hozuki Suigetsu asked, sharp teeth bared into
something that might or might not look like a friendly grin.

Years ago, when he had been a child, Kiri went through a strange, short period of segregation and
discrimination against bloodline limit users.

Even now, nobody really dared to speak too openly about it, and officially… it had never happened
at all.

Suigetsu knew about the worst rumors, of course, of an entire clan of dissenters being wiped out
seemingly overnight, for mentioning a government-sanctioned purge going on.

The official reason behind their disappearance had apparently been 'sedition.'

Now, whether that meant they had actually planned to turn around and plan a coup or not… That
was something only the Mizukage and his council could say.

Because the formerly strong Terumi clan definitely had no one left to speak for them.

A similar thing had happened to Karatachi Yagura's former council, in an event that still took Kiri's
citizens by surprise.

Funnily enough, when Suigetsu had been younger, he had thought that Kiri's people would never
tolerate anything like the regime of terror that had slowly come through.

It turned out to be false, because as things got worse and worse, people simply became too numb to
care.
Because… Where would they even go, in the end?

The Kiri hunter-nin took their job very seriously.

Now, back to the present moment, and the man Suigetsu was currently speaking to.

The other man grinned, the eye-patch over his bisected eye, as well as his equally sharp teeth
probably would have made him look pretty intimidating to anybody who was not from Kiri.

"Well, you're wrong about one thing. I'm not lonely."

Suigetsu chuckled. "Of course, of course. You kinda seem like the type to prefer being alone."

"Which could make one wonder why you still decided that we needed to talk." The man grunted,
going back to sharpening his sword.

"I've heard you're pretty good with that one."

The man looked up. "And where did you hear that, exactly?"

Suigetsu ignored the question. "Would you be willing to spar with me… Shinji?"

Shinji continued to stare. "Do I look like I want to spar?"

"Well, if you put it like that… I guess not." Suigetsu grunted.

Above Taki, Land of Canyons

They were high, high up in the sky, falling toward the ground far below.

And neither of them could transform into anything that could fly, as far as Ino knew.

The shock of suddenly falling meant that Ino couldn't reach the state of mind needed to Leap.

"I can't!" Ino panicked.

"You can't… what?!" Toru screamed back, trying to calm his own nerves. Hanabi, a bit higher up
above them, didn't look so good either, her pale eyes wide in fright.

"I can't use the Gates! I can't focus!" Ino screamed.

"Me neither! Stop screaming!" Toru screamed.

"-the Gates?" Hanabi shouted over the raging winds.

"What did you say?!" Toru tried.

"WHY USE THE GATES?!" Hanabi repeated, her voice shrill.

"My summons are too small!"

"WHY USE THE SWALLOWS?!"

"What else?!"

"MAKE A PARACHUTE!"
Toru blinked.

Shit, that could work.

He took a few gasping breaths, trying to center himself.

Toru motioned for Hanabi to come closer, which she did by diving headfirst. They reached Ino,
who was still tumbling through the air, grabbing her to make her somewhat stable.

"Ino-san! Get your cloak out!" Hanabi shouted.

"What?!"

"Any will do! No, wait, the thickest fabric you have!"

Seeing Ino's fumbling hands, Toru made sure she didn't let go of the scroll she had just grabbed.

The cloak Naruto had given her not so long ago — but felt so far away already — would do just
fine.

Toru stuck to her, wrapping his legs around her, using chakra.

"What the hell are you doing?! Get away from m-"

"Shut up! Stop moving!" He complained. "Hanabi, come closer!"

She made a noise of disgust, but did so anyway, sticking to him like a particularly angry backpack.

Hanabi unfolded the cloak above them, nearly managing to break her own arms when it caught the
wind.

"It's not working!" Toru shouted.

"Of course it's not working, dumbass! We're too heavy!" Hanabi raged. "If you weren't eating so
much fucking food-"

"Me?! How dare you!"

"…Fire!" Ino suddenly realized. "Use Fire with me!"

"I don't want to become a fucking meteor, Ino!"

"No! Through your sword! The hot air should help us slow down!"

Toru blinked. "Whatever!"

He pulled his weapon out and the both of them started channeling Fire, while Hanabi kept the
cloak open above their heads.

The heat emanating through the chakra-conductive, superheated weapon went up.

Slowly, they started slowing down.

"I can't believe this is working!" Toru said.

"Keep your focus on it!" Hanabi screamed. "If you fuck up, we're dead! And then I'll kill you!"
They glided down, at a fast pace, but one that they knew wouldn't kill them.

"I think I can take us away." Ino finally said. "Leaping, I mean."

"To go where?!" Toru asked. "The Seven-Tails is still so far up. I thought you wanted to prevent
that!"

"I would love to but-"

"Something is approaching!" Hanabi said, activating her Byakugan without hand seals. "It's…
Anko-san?"

"What…?"

"She's coming to us." Hanabi confirmed. "On a… snake?"

Sure enough, less than a minute later, the flying snake hovered in the air next to them. Anko
grinned when she saw them.

"Well… This is a sight for sore eyes!" She laughed. "You guys look… absolutely ridiculous!
I wish I could take a picture."

"Please help us come up." Ino groaned. Anko would never let them forget.

It was so much worse than Naruto had thought.

The fire continued to rage, unstoppable to the very few Taki ninja that still remained alive inside
the village itself; trying to stop it. They ignored him, knowing he had fought against Kakuzu.
Some buildings had been crushed as well, maybe courtesy of Fū's wild rampage before he had
come.

Time seemed to slow down, as he tried to stay in control. The death toll was not so high,
apparently, but… There were people… children under ruined buildings, and he couldn't tell if
Kakuzu had caused this during their battle, or when he had first come. He didn't dare ask.

He knew he was angry, and he knew that if he hadn't killed the man himself, he would have wanted
to find him, to destroy him. But Kakuzu was gone. And if everything went well, Konan would be
gone, too. Who else was there to blame, besides himself?

Iwa, too.

Could he have stopped this, if he had been stronger…?

Taki was a strong village in its own right, and they were supposed to have the might of a Bijū.
Compared to something as new as Umi…

No. This wouldn't happen to Umi. He wouldn't let it happen to Umi.

But one thing was clear. The power of the Beasts, the peace brokered through mutually assured
destruction... didn't hold up anymore. Whether it was because Fū was unstable, or because the
concept had been flawed from the very beginning, he couldn't tell. A perfect jinchuuriki might have
changed things today. Or not.

The only way to stop something like this from happening was to become strong. Stronger than a
jinchuuriki. Stronger than Akatsuki.
Maybe he was just latching on to something... anything to prevent himself from screaming his
rage, his frustration at the state of things. But he knew that in this world, this was the truth.

Power controlled everything.

He didn't know it yet, but this was the second spark. A more insidious one, but one that would
decide his future, nonetheless. And the future of the world.

Kiri Camp, Red Island, Land of Water

The alcohol was flowing around the camp.

It was as secure as it got, as they had plenty of sentries along the way, and a veritable army
stationed on the island.

"There's something strange about the guy from Yoimizu." Suigetsu said, a bit later.

An older woman, whose name was Kame, answered. "Well, you just said he was from Yoimizu.
Every single person from there is a bit fucked up."

Most of the Kiri ninja gathered chuckled, downing rice beer.

"I would know." Kame finished, laughing. "I'm from there."

"No way!" Hiroki cackled. "I would never have guessed."

"Oh, yeah?" Kame asked, staring at him dangerously. "What would you have said…?"

"Uh…" The man hesitated.

Kame snorted. "I'm joking, you fool."

Arata cackled. Hiroki let out a tired sigh. Scary woman, that one.

"Anyways…" Kame continued. "Normally, I'd agree with you. That this Shinji guy is pretty
strange. But… he just had a son."

"What?!" Satoshi exclaimed. "This guy…? No fucking way."

"Yes, way." Kame said dryly. "Oh, and I'd be careful, he's coming this way, right now."

"Kame-san." Shinji greeted her, not bothering to sit at the table.

"Shinji." Kame smiled warmly. Then, addressing the table. "This man became a father just a few
days ago, we received news from Kiri."

They congratulated him, some more warmly than others.

"How will you name him… once he reaches his first birthday?" Satoshi asked, looking somewhat
sheepish, now that he actually had to face the man.

"Ah." Shinji said, a bit embarrassed. He finally sat down.

"You don't have a name in mind, then?" Suigetsu asked, willing to at least give the strange man
another chance.
"Come on, guys." Kame sighed. "Don't push him, he clearly hasn't picked anything yet."

"He's got a year, anyway." Suigetsu shrugged. "No big deal."

"No…" Shinji said.

"Huh?"

"I have a name in mind."

"What is it, then?" Satoshi smiled.

"It's just… uh. My wife doesn't agree." Shinji smiled a bit, which looked odd on his hard, scarred
face.

"Oh, man." Suigetsu laughed. "Did you plan on naming him fucking Kisame, by any chance…?"

Satoshi almost choked on his beer, and Hiroki laughed about either the joke… or Satoshi's
misfortune.

Shinji smiled a bit self-consciously. "No. Nothing quite as bad as that. Still pretty out there,
though."

"Now, I think you got all of us pretty curious." Kame ended up admitting.

"It's… in honor of someone who's a bit... uh. A bit controversial." Shinji said. "Let's say."

"…Who?"

"Utakata."

Hiroki winced, and Satoshi just gave him a blank look.

"Yeah…" He finally said. "That would definitely do it."

Hiroki didn't think the Six-Tails lad had been particularly bad… but seeing how Yagura, who had
been just as pleasant in the past had turned out… He was a bit wary, to say the least. And so were
many people.

Maybe it was Bijū madness, or something like it? Holding a beast of monstrous power within your
soul was likely not going to do anyone's mental state any favor.

Kame was silent.

Then… "Why him?"

"We grew up together… and I kinda lost sight of what happened to him a long while ago." Shinji
said, looking a bit guilty. "It was long after he… well, became a host."

"I see…" The woman nodded.

"…" Satoshi said nothing.

"What is it?" Kame prodded.

"I know what happened to him." He admitted.

Shinji gave him a troubled look. "What happened… to him?"

"Yeah."

"Oh god." Shinji looked very worried, now. It actually made him seem more relatable. "Is he…?"

Satoshi gave them all a careful look, and then shook his head. "It's supposed to be something of a
secret, actually. So if anybody asks… Miwa told you."

Akamine Miwa, who was well known for spilling information a bit too easily once she got alcohol
into her system. A few drops would do the trick.

Satoshi met Kame's eyes for an instant.

Then Shinji nodded solemnly. He wanted to know. No, he needed to know. His lone green eye
conveying so much honest emotion that Satoshi felt bad for even doubting him.

He said, in conspiratorial tones. "Right after the war started… Utakata just disappeared. The
higher ups are trying to suppress the information, but rumor has it he was kidnapped." He took a
swig. "Well, it's probably just a dumb rumor, the kid is fucking strong."

"Damn." Hiroki said. "Even a jinchūriki…"

"Hey, I said it's just a rumor." Satoshi stressed.

"No worries, I'm never going to tell it was you." He grinned.

"Good... good." Satoshi nodded, a bit relieved.

Kame and Shinji shared a look, before looking back at him. They really looked as though they
came from the same district. Not their appearances… but their mannerisms were similar.

"Now…" Kame said, her eyes glinting strangely in the light, looking almost golden. "What did you
just say about the jinchūriki…?"
 Paper Idols

Above Taki, Land of Canyons

Anko's summon was flying toward the Seven-Tails.

It would take a while to reach it, so the three others took the opportunity to recover some chakra.

The only upside was that the creature was more or less subdued already. Which was also the
downside.

Anko mulled the situation over, considered how to play this one out. Konan was likely expending a
lot of chakra.

The others, little fools that they were… were chatting idly, trying to ignore the elephant in the
room. She used the time to think.

"Naruto is fine." Ino said. "He killed Kakuzu."

"…For real?" Toru blinked.

"Not everyone's stuck at your skill level." Hanabi snarked.

Toru gave her the side-eye. "You wish you could get up to my level. My charts don't lie."

Blocking Hanabi's hand from grabbing Toru's hair, Ino asked. "Your… charts?"

"Ah." Toru waved off awkwardly. "Just a hobby of mine. Let's focus on the mission."

"It's some nerdy shit he's doing… Ino-san." Hanabi nodded demurely.

Ino barely held back a chuckle at the difference in politeness, depending on who the Hyūga was
addressing.

"How do you even know about it?" Ino asked.

"He leaves the damn things everywhere in the house."

"…You guys live together…?" Ino blinked. Just… why?

"Me and Little Hanabi are great friends."

"You shut your whore mouth!" The younger woman shot back.

"Whoa, now that's very uncalled for." Toru chuckled.

Ino shook her head, bemused. Even the looming form of the Beast, far away in the distance didn't
seem to deter them from acting like… this.

"You have to show us. Your... sheets, I mean." Ino decided. "If… I mean when we get back there."

"Ah." Toru nodded. "Sure."

Ino realized she was still holding the cloak Naruto had given her. She put it away, absent-
mindedly.
Toru blinked. "How did you do that…?"

Ino lifted an eyebrow.

"...Do what?"

"You just made the cloak disappear…? Is it something it does?"

"No, I just put it away. In a scroll."

"You didn't get a scroll out, though."

"But I did-" Ino paused. She looked down and just as Toru had said, her scroll was still where she
had left it, deep in her pouch.

How had she made the cloak disappear, then…? And where was it?

Just before Toru said the exact thing she was thinking about, she remembered the helmet.

Ino reached for the link.

And just like that, she knew she could get the cloak again. It felt like reaching deep into a pouch,
of which you could not see the bottom, but simply knew what was in.

The cloak manifested into her hands again, as she willed it.

Or rather, a perfect copy of it. She could feel the original was still there, waiting in this sort of...
pocket space. And she knew she could retrieve it as well, if she needed to.

She dispelled the cloak, noticing the chakra cost to manifest it or make it disappear was
not that steep.

"Huh. That's… pretty useful." Ino could think of a few applications already. "It's the artifact's
power. It's a… way to store things, I think? That's the gist of it. Uh, I'll find out about its workings
later."

She slipped a few chakra-binding tags Naruto had given her into it. As well as some steel wire. It
could always come in handy.

Meanwhile, Anko… had decided.

Well, she also wanted them to shut up.

"Toru. Hanabi." She said.

"Yeah?" He asked.

"Leave the rest to Ino and I. Go to Naruto." Anko finished. "And make sure you all get out of there
alive."

Hanabi just nodded, a heavy piece of fabric in hand, ready to jump from the snake.

"Use the gate!" Toru said, preventing her from doing so.

"Oh…" She blinked. "Well, yeah. Of course. That's what I was about to do."

He gave her a dry look.

Hanabi continued. "Although… I'll let you bring us down, this time."

"You… don't know how to do it, don't you?" He asked wryly.

"…No." She was looking away.

"I knew it." Toru grinned.

The two of them sobered up as soon as they reached the inside of Taki.

The village was still burning. The fire that had been started by Kakuzu attacking the Great Tree
had turned it into a desolate sight.

The way Naruto and his army of clones were digging through the rubble, gathering people, — his
eyes seeming almost as heavy as theirs — you could easily believe he had been the one to start the
fire.

Hanabi scanned the whole area with her Byakugan and started getting the people out as well.

Toru followed one of the clones, — or the real one, you could never really tell with this sort of
amount — having decided to rely on Naruto's chakra sensing.

Looking into his eyes, he decided.

"…You did it for me." Toru started.

"..."

"So I'm going to do it now. Don't believe I'm just doing this because of it, though."

The clone said nothing.

"It's not your fault." Toru shook his head.

"...How would you know that?" Naruto said, his expression neutral, but his voice thick. "And even
if it were… I thought this was… part of it? Rising to power, I mean. Orochimaru said that
collateral was to be expected."

"None of the people who died did so because of you."

"People died because of the Great Tree burning." Naruto countered. "Just because Kakuzu had
been aiming for revenge all along. And I couldn't stop him."

"So... what?" Toru asked.

"So what… what?" Naruto repeated, not looking at him.

"Did you toy with him? Did you extend the battle for fun?"

"…No." Naruto admitted. "But if I had been-"

"Do you think you could have killed him earlier?"

"…Not really, no. Or at least not without taking more risks."

Even then… He still had gotten carried away. He had enjoyed the battle. More than he used to in
the past. He had wanted to prove to himself that he could overcome himself, his demons… and his
enemy.

Instead, it seemed he had found there was even more trouble down the well.

"Then why…?" Toru asked, shrugging.

Naruto said nothing for a while. Toru continued.

"People were going to die today. Or maybe, and that's a big maybe… get absorbed by Iwa — which
I doubt they would accept, considering their relationship with the Land of Earth. Any dissenters…"

Would be killed right away. Iwa didn't fuck around.

"…Taki could have managed... without Kakuzu here." Naruto growled. "They did so for decades.
He knew their secrets, — some they might even have forgotten over time — how to get in. He
killed Taki's leadership, cut its head off."

Toru let him continue.

"Akatsuki came here for one reason. Fū." He spat the name like a curse.

"I don't see how that makes you responsible." Toru folded his arms.

"I had the chance to kill her, months ago. I let her go, instead."

"…So?" Toru asked. "Do you have a god complex?"

Naruto blinked. "…What?"

"Do you think you're responsible for everything that happens to the world?"

"The hell…?" Naruto asked, frowning. "Of course not."

"Do you think you never make a mistake, that you're the best at what you do…?"

"No." Naruto grunted. "Far from it. I fuck up all the time."

"Okay, cool." Toru nodded. "Just asking."

Naruto felt a sudden desire to beat him up. Or thank him, maybe.

"All right, all right." Naruto grunted. He then let out a long sigh. "I think I get your point,
somewhat."

"Also. Do you really think Iwa would have ignored the smaller village right next to them.
One without the threat of the third strongest Bijū?"

Naruto shook his head. "No. Taki would have been wiped out in the two days following the
announcement. Possibly by Konoha, even."

"Exactly." Toru nodded with a slight wince. "But I think I get how you feel. Kinda."

"Do you?"

Toru gave him a dry look. "I fought in the war. Having someone entrusted to you — no matter if
they're older… younger — die… It's one of the worst feelings in the world."
Naruto paused.

Toru continued. "You second guess every decision you made — or didn't make. What you could
have done to change that. Most of the time… There's no answer. It's something beyond your
control."

Toru gave him a sad little smile. "It doesn't matter. You still lie awake at night and question
everything."

"…"

"It will happen to you, too." Toru shrugged. "I'd love for it not to be true… but we both know there
are risks."

"I thought I made peace with that already." Naruto said.

Toru chuckled. "I tried, too. I don't think anyone can, really."

"…You're right." Naruto nodded. "And… thanks for that."

"You're welcome, I guess." Toru went back to checking houses for human life.

Maybe it was a good thing that Naruto had someone like Toru around to curb some of his worst
tendencies — although some of them he exacerbated, to be fair.

Naruto really had missed-

"Actually, scratch that." Toru chuckled. "If you have a complex, it might be closer to a Messiah
complex."

"Toru…" Naruto growled.

"Why won't you just leave…?" Konan growled, now getting seriously annoyed.

Anko blinked, as though this simply had not occurred to her. "Oh, that's true, why don't I?"

Ino was flying nearby, on a smaller snake that Anko had summoned for her. She kept disrupting
Konan's ability to use her paper, forcing her to rely on simpler transformations and forms.

Anko, hanging upside down from the twisting Seven-Tails, rushed at Konan again. Snakes flew
out of her left sleeve, each of them carrying flaming blades.

"You can act as though flames don't work on you, but all I see is bravado." Anko laughed. "You
don't have an unlimited supply of chakra."

Konan, also upside down, dodged the attack, her tongue letting slip a single razor thin needle of
paper, aimed at Anko's eye.

Ino managed to disrupt it by aiming for its general area.

Anko nodded in thanks, and hurled a kunai wrapped with an explosive tab at Konan. More and
more paper was falling off the Seven-Tails, her control slipping.

Anko weaved hand seals.

"Summoning Technique"

A thin, blue-white snake appeared around Anko's left hand.

Konan could feel something strange in the air. As if it got… drier.

Ino's techniques had forced the Akatsuki woman to split her attention between one real body and
the paper wrapped around the Seven-Tails.

"I don't understand you." Konan finally said, in between two strikes.

"You don't understand what, exactly?"

"You're Orochimaru's student." Konan spat, remembering the man who had offered to kill them
as mercy, before Jiraiya had found them.

"You're goddamn right, I am." Anko smiled proudly. It was a sharp smile, one that reminded
Konan a bit too much of the man himself.

"Don't you see how much of a monster he is?"

"Now that's fucking rich, coming from someone who used to pretend she was an actual angel."
Anko laughed. "You have as much blood on your hands as Sensei and I do. Except we don't shy
away from it."

"While regrettable, all of this is necessary, in the name of peace." Konan said, no hint of remorse in
her tone.

Anko summoned a sword that she promptly set on fire. Ino went flying around the Seven-Tails,
wrestling large swathes of paper away from Konan's control.

"Blah blah blah. It's so fucking typical. I'm almost surprised you're not trying to recruit me, right
now."

Konan snorted, dodging under the "Why would I even bother? I think we know what to expect
from Orochimaru or you. I tried to get Nagato to listen, back then, but he still saw some value in
this horrible man."

"That was before." Anko grinned. "Then you tried to kill him."

"If we can't get to the man himself right now…" Konan started. "I can at least take out his
disciple."

"Aren't we basically cousins, as students of men who were teammates…?" Anko snorted. "Oh
well. It's all in the name of peace, right?"

"In the name of peace, yes." Konan said, dark amusement obvious in her eyes.

Both of them could admit the hypocrisy at play.

Kiri Camp, Red Island, Land of Water

Kame and Shinji were talking, once everyone else was asleep.

Both of them had tight expressions. It would look and sound like a normal discussion between
comrades, the oldest of the two had made sure of it.

"The Six-Tails is gone, then." Kame said.

"So it seems." Shinji grunted.

"It's time you go back to Umi, then. I'll tell the others you joined up with Kenta's scouting group on
his request." She smiled.

"Will you stay here?"

"Just a bit longer. I'm starting to wonder if the Mizukage is even alive at this point."

"Very well. I'll go as soon as I can, then. See you there." Shinji disappeared silently into the
shadows... and into a gateway.

Kame nodded. She had known the silent version of the warping ability would be very useful. She
had an eye for talent, after all. And Shinji... Well, Sakura definitely was a diamond in the rough.

Above Taki, Land of Canyons

"Okay, this is clearly not working." Anko said, after taking one too many papercuts.

While Konan was no close combat specialist, she was more than able to manage. One... two
opponents. It was the same thing, to her.

And her incessant barrage of dagger-like paper was a huge problem. Only Ino's ability had saved
Anko from getting shredded.

The problem was… Konan was even more dangerous at mid or long range.

Anko felt Sakura's gauntlet disappear. The young woman had recalled it, then. Hopefully, nothing
too bad was happening.

Well, she could worry about that later. Right now, she had a fight to win. Anko's hand summoned
another snake, aimed at Konan, who dodged it.

She then used the snake as a grappling hook, pulling herself close to the Ame ninja again. Her
flaming sword caught Konan's paper one, setting it on fire, and forcing the woman to replace the
outer layer of it.

They traded blows, and Konan started to shift more of her body to paper again.

That was the moment Ino chose to appear, her Mind Body Disturbance technique forcing Konan to
abort her jutsu, grinding her teeth.

Anko's sword cut through her cheek, burning the left side of her face in the process.

"So you can get hit." She grinned.

Konan kicked her in the face with her shin by way of answer. Anko spat out a bloody tooth,
cracked it with her left hand and threw the sharp part of it at Konan.

Anko came in melee range again, where Ino's less precise jutsu would affect both equally. The
Yamanaka flew away instead, resuming her task of untangling the Beast from its paper bind.
Konan was starting to realize she was breathing hard.

Too hard.

"You… You did something." She said.

"Of course I did." Anko chuckled. "But why would I tell you what it was exactly?"

"Poison…?" Konan wondered.

Anko didn't answer, sticking close to her.

She was better than Konan with a sword, this much was obvious. If given enough time, there was
no doubt who of the two would win. Still, she was also getting exhausted by the constant assault of
paper weapons.

'She's staying in close range.' Konan wondered. 'Why…? Is it only because she believes she's at her
strongest here…?'

Then she realized.

"The snake around your wrist." She gritted out, putting distance between them. "It absorbs chakra,
doesn't it…? Both mine… and yours."

"Got it in one." Anko grinned sharply. Sweat was running down her forehead. "Nobody ever really
bothers with him, but Arita is a strong one. He takes whatever he can. Greedy little fucker, that
one."

"That's a risky strategy." Konan said, almost quietly. "Do you really think it's going to pay off?"

"Sure. I didn't expect to need anything else against you, honestly." Anko said. "...But I don't think I
can push it any further, either."

She dispelled the snake, to Konan's surprise.

"So I'm going to make this my last move."

Anko pulled her left sleeve back, revealing a summoning tattoo that she smeared with blood. Then
she started weaving hand signs. Anko focused her chakra in her left hand.

"Fire Style: Man-Devouring Serpent"

The air turned dry and heavy. In a different way.

Smoke and fire combined with the half-physical hatchling Anko had just summoned. It became a
large, snake-shaped, roaring fire. One that Anko barely held back with a wince. Her arm was
burning, too.

The serpent seemed to keep on growing.

"I didn't know much about your techniques, other than the fact that you used paper… But that was
enough for me." Anko managed to grin. "After all, we prepared for many situations."

She extended her hand and the snake followed her motion, extending at a speed Konan had not
expected from it.
The snake's head barely missed her, still setting fire to some of her paper-like skin. She split off
from it.

'That's bad.' Konan thought. She had lost a bit too much chakra already. She let whatever was left
of her control of the Seven-Tails fall away.

Set free once more, the Seven-Tails roared.

Its burning chakra covered its shell, and Konan had to jump away. So did Anko, following her
through the skies on her snake.

The fire serpent grazed Konan again. She let herself fall. She wouldn't be fast enough using her
wings to keep on avoiding it.

She pushed off of a paper platform, jumping sideways to dodge the next move.

'She's good. I underestimated her.' Konan thought. Of course Orochimaru wouldn't let any of his
students be average.

Konan dodged the next attack at the last moment. She needed to plan a counterattack. Right now.

Her body froze. Just for a second.

Which might as well have been eternity, right now.

The damned Yamanaka was back. How had she forgotten about her opponent in the middle of a
fight…?

And why were her chakra reserves so much lower than she had thought they were…?

Something was wrong here. But there was no time to even think.

The serpent hit Konan head on, and she screamed. It consumed itself, and ate through her defenses
at the same time.

Abover her, Anko was panting. She likely didn't have much more in reserve.

Counterattack…? What had she been thinking? She needed to flee. Now.

She regained control of her body.

Konan split from the burning paper one last time. She was out of chakra, forced back into her very
vulnerable physical body. She needed to split agai-

"Finally." The Yamanaka shot her a dangerous smile. "Mind Body Switch."

Ino took over her body, landing Konan on the snake, next to her.

'-out! -get out!' Konan raged. 'GET OUT OF ME!'

They were supposed to bring peace-Nagato needed her-they were so close-Yahiko…

Her inner voice didn't reach.

Ino bound Konan's body and chakra with the seals she got out from her pocket space. As well as
some trusty wire, right after.

She went back to her original body.

Then Ino slit Konan's throat, watching as life drained from her eyes to make sure there were no
more tricks.

And there were none.

"You did great, Ino." Anko said proudly. Both of them looked at the end of their rope.

"Heh. You weren't too bad yourself." Ino said with a tired smile. "Now… What do we do
about this?"

Anko followed her finger.

'Ah, yeah… The Bijū.'

"Honestly…" Anko began. "I have no idea."

She brought Nanashi closer to Ino's snake, where the Akatsuki member's corpse was lying,
unseeing eyes facing the sky it had once belonged in.

"Goodbye, then, cousin-in-training. It was a short-lived relationship. If an intense one." Anko

grunted, bending to seal Konan's body away.

"Oh boy. Nagato's not going to be too happy about that."

And he really, really would not be.

 Just This Once

Unseen, Zetsu slunk away in the shadows. Nagato would want to know this.

The Umi ninja walked away from Taki's still burning corpse, and its people followed.

Toru and Hanabi walked next to Naruto.

"You know… guiding an exodus is not exactly how I pictured this day ending." Toru said.

"What did you expect, then?" Naruto asked, the ghost of a smile upon his lips.

"Probably being dead, lying at some Akatsuki's feet." Hanabi quipped.

"…The thought crossed my mind. Yours too, I'm sure." He shot back.

"Never."

They continued to walk. Some people had opted to stay of course. There were a dozen shinobi who
had gone out to fight, too.

'Better to die under the waterfall than die a coward.'

Yeah. Naruto didn't really get this level of patriotism, frankly. Still, they'd have to make sure none
of the people coming with them would be problematic. He winced. Ino would likely have a few
long days ahead of her.

Speaking of Ino…

'Are you guys okay?' He sent to her. The answer came quickly.

'Yes. We killed Konan.'

'That's... incredible.'

'I can feel your relief.' Ino laughed.

'Of course I'm relieved.'

'That's talk for later. How's the situation down there?'

'…Could have been worse. We have a few hundred people to bring to Umi, though. I'm trying to
figure out the best way to do so.'

'…Damn. To bring...? Well… Sakura might be back in Umi, according to Anko. She can help.'

'That would be great.' Naruto allowed himself to hope. 'The Seven-Tails…'

'Is still up in the sky, raging. We had to get away from it.'

'Yeah. I can still feel its chakra.'

If Karin was around... No. He had to find another solution.

"Hanabi." He called. "Go to Umi, look for Sakura. If she is there, please bring her back."

She just nodded and went.

"…Does she think you're our leader or something?" Toru asked dubiously. "She would never listen
to me like that."

Naruto gave him a wry look. "Am I not…?"

Toru raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "We both know Ino has you wrapped around her finger."

Naruto grunted, amused. "Let's not exaggerate, now."

They continued to walk. Anko and Ino were coming down.

"I'm telling you I'm okay." Ino laughed, pushing a frowning Naruto away.

He nodded with a smile. "Alright, but we'll check on you later. I'm glad you're alright."

"Same here." Ino smiled.

"…I'm glad for the worry." Anko deadpanned.

"…Were you here too, Anko…?" Naruto smiled and the woman threw her head back, laughing.

"You've become such a shit over the years. I couldn't be prouder." She mimed wiping a tear away.

Naruto chuckled, before turning serious. He cleared his throat.

"…There's still something we need to do." Naruto said, looking toward the sky. The clouds were
painted in shades of orange and green, courtesy of the Seven-Tails.

"But how…?" Ino asked.

"There's only one way we can do it right now." Naruto said, exhaustion apparent in his eyes,
despite his confident smile. "If it doesn't work, I guess we might as well let Iwa... handle the
matter."

Which would be bad, likely.

Resulting in either Suna or Iwa gaining a Bijū… or unprecedented destruction, that he didn't wish
on anyone, not even Iwa.

Anko looked at him. She had guessed, likely. Ino did, too, but considering she could read his
thoughts whenever she felt like it…

"Yeah, I'm leaving it all to you." Naruto said.

He turned toward Toru. Who just stood there, with a dumb expression.

"No way." He muttered. "No fucking way."

"Don't be so surprised." Naruto said, letting out a chuckle.

"…Me? Stop a Bijū…?"

"Yes." Naruto nodded. "The Seven-Tails has not broken the seal. And even if it had, I don't think I
could seal it as easily as we did the One-Tail."

"…"

"That means that you're our best bet. Plus we did it when we were... what? Thirteen? You'll
manage."

"Do it, Toru." Naruto repeated. "Stop the Beast."

"I… can't." He shook his head. To Naruto, his self-doubt must have been obvious.

"You're wrong." Naruto shook his head.

"You're saying this because of Sasuke." Toru shot back. "Or Shisui, even."

"I barely even know who the fuck Shisui is." The blond said, waiting expectantly.

Naruto just looked at him, with eyes that seemed to know a bit too much about Toru's inner
monologue.

"Don't!" Toru spat. "I'm not my brother! And I'm not either of my cousins." Toru said hotly.

"Nobody's asking you to be. You're you."

Toru paused, and gave him a long look.

"…Even then."

"Are you afraid? Because of last time?" Naruto asked, with sharp eyes. There was understanding
there, too.

Toru shook his head. "That's part of it, but mostly I…"

"You really don't think you can do it." Naruto finished.

Toru sighed. "…Yeah."

There was a moment of silence.

"…Do you trust my judgment?" Naruto asked him.

"Hmpf." Toru snorted. "Most of the time, I'd say so." Toru answered. "Why?"

"Because I think you'll do just fine. Scratch that." Naruto said, with a smile. "I know it."

He stared at him, with complete faith in him.

'Man, what a fool… Why...?' Toru thought.

"…Because I'm Shisui's brother?" Toru asked him again, and you could almost feel his need for
the answer to be something else. Anything else.

Naruto shrugged. "Nah." He shook his head. "No, because I believe in you. That's it."

"…" Toru didn't trust his voice.

"I know what you can do. Sharingan or not. Fancy Mangekyō or not."

A small smile began to grow on Toru's face. And there was something else.

"Ah, man, my fucking allergies are always acting up this season." Toru looked away, wiping his
eye quickly.

"Do you believe in me?" Naruto asked again, with a cocky smile.

"...Yeah." There were no jokes for once.

"Then believe in yourself." Naruto grinned.

Toru paused.

"…You're goddamn right I will."

"You really know what to say to people now, don't you…?" Ino asked him, once Toru flew away
on Anko's summon. She shot him a half-glare. "Such… a smooth talker you've become."

Naruto shook his head. "I meant every word of what I said. He can do it."

"Naruto…" Ino said, taken aback.

"But yeah, my sweet-talking abilities definitely worked on you." He grinned.

"Oh, fuck off."

How did you stop a Tailed Beast?

The creature was roaring in the sky, its voice carrying the promise of retribution.

For the second time of his life, Toru mulled this question over. Last time had gone… almost
decently, considering the circumstances, really. Not counting the shit with the Akatsuki right after.

He hadn't found the answer since then, and to be honest, had preferred not to think of that night.
Never mind the fact his Sharingan would never let him forget.

His dead eye sometimes seemed to be stuck permanently there, if the flashes that came to him
during his dreams were anything to go by.

He could feel the same fear deep in his stomach.

That he wouldn't be enough. That someone else could do better. That he'd fuck it up for everyone,
and that his friends would die because of him and that-

Except there was no one else.

Toru took a long breath, and continued to come closer to the raging Bijū.

So. How did you stop a Tailed Beast?

For Toru, the answer started with facing it, man to rampaging chakra being… And staring it in the
eye, telling it it was time to take a little break.
And there he was, up in the sky, facing the third strongest creature on earth.

His sword was held in his right hand, and his Sharingan was spinning.

There was no time for doubt. The slightest hesitation meant death. And likely, not just his own.

When Toru spoke, his chakra was almost burning, but his voice was cold.

"Back off."

The Bijū's crushing presence receded.

The tomoe of the Sharingan appeared behind the helmet-like shell, swirling.

The Seven-Tails turned into Fū, once more.

Toru caught her.

Haruno Sakura was suddenly there, her hair sticking in every direction.

Her lone green eye still looked halfway into a nap, and she looked grumpy by any account.

Naruto had rarely been this happy at seeing someone.

Sakura, though, froze when she saw him. And she avoided meeting his eyes.

'...Why?'

Naruto thought about it. He knew her well, and the only thing he could think of-

'Oh.' Naruto wanted to roll his eyes.

Sakura likely felt responsible for not having managed to get him out of Kumo right away. Because
she hadn't realized how to 'lend' her gauntlet to someone else earlier - like she had lent it to Anko
once she had realized that she could, more recently.

The same way Sasuke had lent Toru his sword... so long ago that Naruto had almost forgotten that
the blade Toru was carrying was not actually his.

That she hadn't been able to realize that if it were possible for one artifact, it could be possible for
all of them.

Never mind the fact that he himself had managed to get caught and imprisoned in Kumo in the first
place. He had messed up.

So she felt guilty...? She blamed herself..? For something like this... or an equally stupid reason?

Nah, it wouldn't do. And it's not like it would have made it any easier to get inside Kumo's walls.

Sakura took a look around. "I guess we're taking everyone back-"

Naruto wrapped an arm around her and she tried to squirm away, laughing.

"Ah come on, I got sent to Kumo hell, got out safely... and I'm not even getting a hug?" He
chuckled.
"...Shouldn't have gotten caught, then." She laughed, accepting the unneeded, unspoken
forgiveness. There was nothing but relief in her voice.

They resumed moving away from the village.

"Naruto." Anko called.

He turned to look at her, still walking. "What is it?"

"I didn't ask earlier, but… Is there really a way for us to accomodate so many people, all of a
sudden…?" She asked.

Naruto nodded, before looking away. "They are less than five hundred. We'll manage."

"You don't know that."

"…Four hundred and eighty four people." Naruto said. "That's how many."

She paused.

Naruto went on. "Assuming a minimum of 4,000 ryō needed per person per month, and a maximum
of 10,000… That's between…" Naruto estimated roughly. "Two million and five million ryō
needed for one month to maintain them afloat. And we will find something for them to do."

He had paid similar amounts for a boat, out of all things. They had the funds for it, and he wouldn't
mind paying out of his own pocket anyway. Despite what Ino loved to say, he was no money-
hoarding dragon.

"So you thought this through, then…?" Anko asked, a little smile pulling at the corner of her lips.

"I had to. So I'll take them all with us. If they want to return to live on the mainland, I'll drop them
off later, with no memories of ever getting close to Umi." Naruto gave her a tired smile. "We can't
just let them die… or whatever Iwa's planning to do with them. So I gave them a choice."

"Ah. I think I can guess."

"Come with me, or stay. Not much of a choice, I have to admit."

"To the island, then?" Sakura asked, ready to open a gateway.

Naruto shook his head. "We chose an empty island as a temporary… waiting place, to make sure
nobody's hostile."

Sakura raised an eyebrow. He shrugged. "Security reasons. Once we determine — Ino determines
— it's safe, we bring them in."

Ino sighed. "Aren't the intent barriers enough…?"

"Better to be redundant. And sorry for the amount of work it's going to be, Ino."

She shrugged. "I guess I signed up for this, anyway."

Sakura went back to close to Umi to set everything up and they got started.

The people started leaving the broken, burning wreck that had once housed them and their
families... for generations.

"The woman… Konan said something about the man you fought before." Ino said. "About how
she should not have brought him here."

Naruto nodded. "Kakuzu was exiled from here, decades ago. He never forgot it."

"…I see."

"So when he came back, he did the same thing he did last time. He cut off Taki's head."

"…"

"Except he didn't stop here, this time." Naruto grunted. "He killed as many people as he could.
Locking the village in entirely, killing civilians and ninja alike on his way to Fū."

Ino said nothing. What was there to say…?

"So yeah, you could say it was personal." He shrugged, but his frustration was obvious.

In front of them, Taki's people were walking through the gateway, led by Hanabi.

After a few minutes of this, there were no people left except the Umi group.

Toru flew down, a half-conscious Fū in tow. Naruto felt his hand stiffen.

"So… What do we do with her?" Sakura asked.

Anko mulled it over. Ino and her started discussing it, and soon the three women were weighing
their options.

Naruto went to meet Toru alone.

The Uchiha gave him a tired grin and a thumbs up. Naruto couldn't help but grin back.

"That must have been some amazing Genjutsu work." He said.

"Eh." Toru shrugged, hiding some obvious pride. "It was more or less done in an instant."

Naruto shook his head, bemused. Then he nodded resolutely, putting his hand on Toru's shoulder.

"You did more than enough, Toru. I'll handle the rest."

"What do you mean…?"

Naruto gave him a strange look. "You know it already, don't you…? I'll kill her."

Fū looked up with bleary eyes.

"I'll do it myself." Naruto continued. A sword appeared in his hand.

He stepped forward.

"…Wait." Toru grabbed his hand. "Don't do it."

"…What?"
"Don't kill her."

"What?" Naruto frowned. "Why shouldn't I? There is no other solution."

"Let's bring her to Umi."

Naruto snorted. "That's pretty funny."

Toru said nothing and Naruto realized he was not joking.

"Have you lost your mind…?!"

"No, I'm serious. We can't let her go, obviously." Toru accepted. "But what of the Bijū itself? It
will reform."

"Killing her now will prevent the Bijū from reforming for a while. It won't be anything like
Gaara." Naruto insisted.

"That will just delay the problem. The Bijū will be back. Out in the world. And we don't
know when or where."

Naruto knew he had a point. It could be months, years… or just weeks. Days, even, for all he
knew. And he had no idea if they'd be able to get rid of Akatsuki in the meantime.

"Better to trust in our own ability to restrain her." Toru said.

"What is this about…?" Naruto asked, shaking his head in disbelief. "You've been at war. Is this
about showing mercy…?"

"No." Toru snorted. "I don't think she really deserves mercy anyway. None of it. And I don't mean
bringing her there on vacation. She'd be a prisoner in all but name, restrained."

Besides Naruto's dislike of the idea of taking prisoners, there were a few obvious reasons why this
was a terrible idea.

"Toru." Naruto stressed his name. "We're bringing people from Taki over. They all know about
her. If there are already people blaming us for the destruction of Taki… what do you think they're
going to say about her?"

"Doesn't matter. We'll just make sure they don't kill her." Toru shook his head.

"The same situation is going to repeat itself if we leave her alive. I'm not willing to risk our lives
for her." Naruto folded his arms. "What if the Beast breaks free…?"

Fū glared at him, daring him to do slit her throat. Naruto really considered giving her what she was
asking for.

"You're one of the best sealmasters I know, and I have the Sharingan. You just made me use it to
subdue it." Toru snorted. "I did it once. I'm sure I can do it again. We'll manage."

"Keeping her alive is dangerous!"

"Killing her is riskier."

"Everybody will be better off with her dead." Naruto insisted.

"...That's not like you at all." Toru frowned.

"That's not like the 'me' from when I was a child. And even then… I did the exact same thing for
Gaara. A mercy kill. She's a monster." Naruto retorded, now angry. "A product of her environment,
sure, but a monster nonetheless. I empathize, really… But I think killing her is the better way."

"Slitting her throat and calling it a day?"

"…You're a shinobi, too. She may look defenseless now…" Naruto started, trying to keep his voice
down. "She killed Shino. She ate people, Toru. Can't you remember that?"

"Oh, believe me, I do." Toru said dryly. "And I know she would kill us too, if she had the chance."

Fū finally spoke up, her voice full of malice. "You're right on that, one-eye."

Toru ignored her.

"I would start with your throat first." She laughed. "And then-"

"Shut the hell up or I'm putting you under my spell entirely!" Toru warned.

"Do you think you can?" She cackled. "You're nothing comp-"

Toru's Sharingan shut her up. Her mouth moved, but no word came out.

"See? That's what you get. Dumbass." Toru shook his head.

"You're really sure about this, then." Naruo realized.

"I think it's the only way to protect all of us, strange as it might sound." Toru nodded.

"Toru… This is a terrible idea." Naruto tried again.

"It is also the best way we have now. And it will force Akatsuki to come to us at some point."

Naruto snorted. "I don't think we're at the point where we actually want that. But at the same
time... it doesn't change much, they're already after us."

Toru shrugged. Naruto continued.

"But how do you think the other villages are going to react if we just happen to steal a Bijū…?"

"Badly, I know." Toru winced. "But they won't know for sure. They'll accuse us of it, sure. But if
we keep her in Umi, they'll never be able to prove it. Only the people we're bringing will know. If
that."

Iwa had seen the Beast disappear, for sure.

"That's asking for a lot of trouble."

"It is." Toru admitted. "But can you say with certainty that killing her will lead to a better
outcome…?"

Naruto was about to say so.

But doubt niggled at his mind. He could not guarantee killing her would guarantee them a long
respite.
And as loathe as he was to admit, between himself, Orochimaru, Karin and Toru, they could handle
the Seven-Tails, if it came to it.

A darker part of his mind, one that he ignored, told him they could also use its power in the future.

There were too many reasons not to-

"…Do you trust my judgment?" Toru asked him with a small grin.

"Hmpf." Naruto snorted. "Most of the time, I'd say no."

He closed his eyes, with a small smile.

"But let's say I do, just this once."

 An Island Unto Himself

"We're taking her with us. To Umi." Naruto declared.

The three women looked both surprised… and not that much, at the same time.

"Toru convinced me, so blame him." Naruto pointed out. He was carrying the now unconscious Fū
over his shoulders.

Anko looked ready to protest. So she did.

"It's not worth it. Let's kill her and be done with it."

"What do you think Orochimaru would say about passing over the chance to steal — and hide — a
Bijū…?" Naruto simply asked.

"…" Just like that, Anko folded.

"Look, we'll discuss it at length once we're there." Naruto sighed. "I was not too fond of the idea,
myself, so if most of us disagree, we can still… get rid of her. One way or the other."

"…It might be better to keep her alive, then." Ino frowned. "But-"

"Once we're there. Please." Naruto let out.

Ino relented. All of them were exhausted. They had to manage the whole refugee situation. Fū
could wait.

"All right." Naruto called to the gathered people from Taki, on the transition island.

"Taki is no more." He started, before wincing.

That… might have been too much. Some people were crying.

"If any of you want to back out, now's the moment. We'll bring you back to the mainland." With
your memories wiped.

A few mutters rose, but no one said anything.

"This is not a trap." He repeated. Gods. Maybe he should have written down a speech. "If you want
to start over your lives there again, I don't care. You are free to go."

Mutters.

"If not… You may join us in Umi."

Someone started to speak. Naruto couldn't hear it.

"Let that man speak!" He shouted over the noise.

"What if we don't want to fight for you?" The man asked. A shinobi, then.

"What kind of dumb question… Then you don't." Naruto grunted. "I couldn't care less about that.
I'm not asking you to throw your lives away for us. We are after the very same people who came
for Taki's jinchuuriki."

Some of them started speaking.

"Shut up!"

Naruto waited some more.

"If you want to help with that, you're more than welcome. Otherwise, as long as you're of some use,
any sort for a growing city… You may join us as civilians, too."

They started shouting over each other again. He flared his chakra, Lightning cracking in the air.
He really wanted to sleep.

Silence again.

Naruto paused. "If you do, step to the right, and we'll make sure you're actually telling the truth.
Any ill-intent toward Umi, and we'll send you back to the mainland."

He heard a couple protests and rolled his eyes.

"I don't care about your precious memories, we're not checking that."

There were only a couple dozen people who ended up leaving, in the end.

"I can't believe you're here." Sakura said to Toru.

He snorted. "I can't believe I'm here either."

They stared at each other, somewhat awkwardly.

"Uh… You're still not too big on hugs, right?" Toru asked, holding his arms out.

She laughed and accepted the hug, if a bit stiffly. "I'll make an exception for today."

"Man…" He grinned. "Naruto is going to be so jealous."

"He won't." Sakura laughed. "You've got to tell me all about the last few years."

"So do you." He nodded with a smile. "Now, for me… I don't mean to brag, but it all started with a
girl…"

The day after, Umi

"Never again." Ino groaned, her head still throbbing.

She and Toru had done the most work in checking people for ill intentions. There had been less
than ten, and of this number, only half with overt intentions.

"Sorry, Ino." Naruto winced, massaging her temples. "Can't guarantee you it's the last time, either."

"Don't tell me we're going to become some sort of small village protectors."

Naruto chuckled. "No. But if there's ever a situation where we can help…"
"I know, I know." Ino smiled. "I was only joking."

She looked up at him.

"You know… you actually have a pretty soft heart, underneath all that-"

"Muscle?" He grinned.

"Oh, yeah. That's totally what I was going for." She deadpanned.

Not that she minded the very tight black turtleneck he was wearing. Her eyes roamed down-

"Oh please!" Sakura groaned, reading a book on the other side of the room. "This is
the living room, go make eyes at each other somewhere else."

Naruto just chuckled.

"…Weren't you sleeping, one second ago?" Ino asked.

"It's called a power nap." Sakura shot back. "What's the point of a long one… if it makes me sleep
until tomorrow?"

'Long-faced rat. Why doesn't she go and get laid… somewhere…?' Ino thought.

'…You realize I have to hear your thoughts now? The turtleneck comment was enough.' Sakura
thought-grunted. 'And I'm not even going to pretend I understand why you guys are… having sex,
now.'

Ino had set the link up. And promptly forgot to close it off mostly — not that she would admit it.
There was no way any of them wanted a constantly open link.

Sakura and she needed to practice with it, anyway. Might as well get it out of the way now.

'…Then you know exactly what I think.' Ino shot back.

Sakura rolled her eyes. 'Gets laid once and then promptly proceeds to make a mountain out of it.
That's classic Ino.'

Naruto didn't necessarily get why Ino jumped Sakura, or where she even found the strength,
considering the state she had been, one minute ago.

Naruto and Toru headed to another remote island, the one where they had left Fū the day before.

They would have Marked it, too… but the risk of someone coming across an openly hostile
jinchuuriki, even if she were restrained, was too high.

They passed the city, where both of them had Kage Bunshin running about, helping move supplies
around, since neither of them could use Earth Release.

"I have to say…" Naruto started.

"Hmm…?"

"I really hope you didn't bring Fū along just because you're really into tanned girls." Naruto
deadpanned. "Because I don't think this is wise, if so."
"What…? Where did you get the idea?" Toru asked, looking outraged.

Naruto snorted. "You have a type. Akemi, recently. Saki… Chieko too, back in Konoha, according
to Ino. That girl you said you were dating, once, as well, forgot her name. And I remember that
time in Isago, that girl you danced with. You didn't shut up about her for a while."

"I was twelve. Twelve!" Toru said hotly, cheeks red.

"Yeah, exactly." Naruto nodded sagely. "It probably started there."

"Can I ask you something unrelated?" Naruto asked again, once Toru was done ranting about the
price of art supplies on the mainland.

"Go ahead."

"Why do you doubt yourself so much?"

"…And you call me blunt, huh." Toru grunted.

Naruto shrugged. What was the point of dancing around the topic here?

"So?"

"Man, I think you'd doubt yourself too, if you grew up surrounded by people who made becoming
a Chūnin at twelve seem late." Toru said dryly.

Naruto had expected something like it.

"The old man said he had become a Jōnin at nine, so I get the feeling, somewhat." Naruto said,
nodding.

Toru blinked. He paused.

"At… nine?"

"Yeah."

"Uh… I think he might have lied."

"…What? Why?" Naruto frowned.

"Well, the youngest Jōnin Konoha ever saw was…" Toru started. "Well, my brother, at eleven.
Followed by Kakashi-sensei, at twelve."

Naruto stared off in the distance.

Then he started cursing.

They reached the chain of tropical islands after a while.

They didn't have to look for Fū for long, since she was currently trying to fish with her bare hands.
Her mostly sealed chakra network was likely not doing her any favor.

She turned to look at them, once her now less sensitive ears picked up on the sound of their feet on
the sand.
"You…" She growled. "Come to gloat?"

"Nah." Toru shook his head. "Just the thought of you having to take a shit in the woods is enough
to keep me happy."

She glared at him.

"To finish the job, then?" She spat. "Go ahead. I don't care. I'll do it myself." She said with a mad
grin.

"You're trying to bait us into finishing the job." Toru remarked. "…No, that's not it."

"Besides, we're not here to kill you… nor to discuss your delusional ramblings, today." Naruto said,
staring at her.

"Then what is it going to be?" Fū spat. "Have you come for Chōmei? I won't let you take him."

"Hmm?" Naruto almost smiled. "So you have something you care about."

"…" She grunted, feeling as though she had been had.

"And since you're not entirely sure what's going to happen to it when you die, you won't actually
kill yourself either." Toru said. He finally thought he had it. "But you would still prefer this to it
being extracted, then."

Fū's hands tightened. "What the hell would you know about it?!"

Naruto tried his next few words carefully. "If there was a way to free it, would you do it?"

"Of course!" She shouted.

"Even for your life…?"

"If it meant setting him free, I don't care. But people like you will never let him be."

Naruto sighed.

Part of him had hoped she would give him a good reason to get rid of her.

"In that case, I'll find a way to do that. To let it stay free, I mean, not just taking it out. Free, out of
people's hands."

He wanted the same thing for himself, after all.

"What…?" Fū stared at him.

Naruto dropped a few things on the beach. She made no move to come closer to it.

"Until that moment, you will remain here. It is the best I can offer you, some peace of mind, away
from humans." Naruto shrugged. "You'll have your Beast for company, anyway. I get the feeling
you don't like people that much." He finished, dryly.

She said nothing.

"I can't unbind your chakra, for obvious reasons." He said.

"Like the fact you're a complete psychopath." Toru continued. He looked around. "Other than this,
you're free to do whatever you want around here. Not that there is… that much to do, on a deserted
island. But no one will come to bother you, and there is some animal life around, soil for
cultivation-"

She gave him a strange look.

"Yeah, we kinda figured you'd have no idea how that works." Toru chuckled. "That's what the
books in the scroll are for. Some useful knowledge. For the rest, trial and error should work.
You're a settler, now."

"Well, that's about it. Good luck. I hope we never meet again." Naruto turned to leave.

She spat on the ground in their direction.

The last thing Naruto did before leaving was putting several seals on the archipelago.

Their purpose was simple. Masking her chakra presence — what little you could still feel coming
from her — and alerting him if anybody breached its perimeter.

"You sure this was the best option?" Toru asked.

"Any better ideas? I can't exactly keep the Bijū itself roaming free here."

"Do you think we should have extracted the Bijū…? To-"

"Fuck that." Naruto shook his head. Maybe Orochimaru would want to do something about it, but
they'd cross that bridge when they got to it. "Sealing one Bijū was enough for a lifetime. We'll find
other forms of power."

Naruto barely held back a frown. He had not meant to say this. Where did this come from…?

Toru didn't notice.

"Suit yourself."

Naruto still had no idea where Karin was.

Likely with Yugito still, but warping near the south of Hot Water hadn't given him more
information. She was somewhere further away.

According to Sakura, Orochimaru was still somewhere deep in the land of Water. The Six-Tails
was gone, too.

In the meantime, he and the others trained, mostly. When they were not helping building the
village up.

And he was forging a few items in preparation.

Speaking of.

"My, my…" Ino exclaimed. "You really have an eye for fashion. That's impressive for someone
who hates mirrors so much."

Naruto's smile froze for a second, and Ino noticed it.

'There's a reason for that.' He thought, somewhat bitterly.

"I… don't think I get it." Sakura said dubiously. "What's so special about this? It's just a pair of
pants."

Naruto wanted to roll his eyes. What were they doing here around the forge, exactly…?

"I didn't expect a country bumpkin like you to get it." Ino snorted.

"…We come from the same place." Sakura retorted.

"…It's a state of mind." Ino amended herself.

Hanabi cut in — and Naruto was pretty surprised to see the lonesome Hyūga around, but she was
actually seeking their company, from time to time.

"The material itself is a good indication of quality. This is all high-quality, thick and soft at the
same time, my eyes can tell. The colors are incredible — which is probably due to the fact that they
are actually changing to whatever he decides to weave in. The weave is perfect too, — for the
same reason — consistent, smooth and comfortable. And so are the patterns, clear cut, no fuzz.
The cut is great too — though I'd have to wonder why he knows all of our proportions, your
deviant sex group aside, this I think I understand in more detail than I care about — and the clothes
fit perfectly. No need for hems, seams and stitching either, perfect patterns when he weaves them
in — it looks like one piece. The finish… the bells and whistles, so to say… are well made, too,
even though there's always room for improvement. He was clearly taught by someone who cared
about fashion a great deal. And the ability to weave seals in, unique properties… opens a world of
possibilities, not only for reinforcing war equipment. And to think it works with any sort of
material… I am impressed… and will likely require your services, Naruto-san. I'm willing to pay
good money for it."

Silence stretched. Even Naruto had stopped what he was doing. He and Toru shared a weirded out
look.

'Hyūga are weird.' The Uchiha mouthed silently.

Ino blinked. That was the most she had heard her speak in… ever. "You… care about fashion?"

Hanabi shrugged. "I'm Hyūga." As if that explained anything.

Sakura mumbled. "It's only pants…"

Toru said something rude about loonies and got kicked for his troubles.

"Would you guys shut the fuck up…?" Naruto grunted. "Also, I don't want your money and
please… just call me Naruto. 'Naruto-san' makes me feel like I'm back in the Sarutobi compound."

"Ah, true. Formality was required, back then, when you were Sarutobi. Like that time you called
me a 'little shit.'" Hanabi said, with a polite, bland smile.

"…You remember this?" Naruto asked, wincing.

"I have a good memory." She nodded demurely.

The only thing Toru heard… "You take custom orders?"

"So yeah…" Ino nodded to him. "I guess that's how my… artifact works."

In front of her, Naruto looked as though he were spacing out. Which he was, likely.

So it was like a personal pocket realm then. Clearly didn't work for storing people though — and
they had tried, as stupid as it sounded. As far as Naruto could tell, his own version of it worked
exactly the same way as Ino's.

Items stored into it could be pulled out. Or rather, a copy — one at a time — of the item could be
pulled out, for an upfront chakra cost. The item itself would remain there, untouched.

It felt similar to the way he could summon chakra-conductive swords, in a way.

Sakura's gauntlet could not be put away into it, so they just assumed artifacts were out.

Forged items on the other hand, could be stored away. Which he definitely was going to use and
abuse.

Now, for a more important question…

'A name. Thundervoid? Void Gate…? Thunder pocket? No, maybe not that one.'

"I can almost feel your thoughts, you know." Ino deadpanned.

"Oh? Help me find a name, then." He shot back.

"Sure." Then she paused. "Do you think we can share this… with the others, somehow?"

He thought about it. "…Maybe."

Most of the other artifact's abilities were a bit too abstract to be shared, but he knew sealing well,
and had a working model to start from, considering they — mostly Orochimaru — had done it for
the Thunder Gates already.

Naruto nodded. "I'll have a few clones see if they can figure out a seal to connect to it. In the
meantime, we'll have to figure out how it works exactly, and if mine's different in any way."

The only reason he still managed to avoid the migraines — that would normally be unavoidable,
considering the number of clones he had running around at any given time — was because he had
made sure his clones only dispelled while he was already asleep.

Hokage Tower, Konoha

"We arrived too late to provide any support to Taki." Hyūga Nobuo reported to Danzō.

The Hokage nodded slowly.

"Any survivors?" Danzō asked, his lone eye upon Nobuo.

"Not from Taki. There were no people alive there, by the time we reached. The techniques used
were Iwa's, we are sure of it."

"You found Iwa ninja, then?"

Nobuo nodded. "Yes. Down the canyon, two men were alive, although badly wounded. Yamanaka
Kaede went through both of their brains. We terminated them afterwards."

"What did you find?"

Nobuo hesitated, and Danzō's unwavering eye made him swallow his reservations.

"The Seven-Tails broke free."

Danzō lifted an eyebrow.

"It didn't fight… not really." Nobuo continued. "Except against a small number of people, that we
didn't manage to identify, for most of them."

"And as for the people you did identify?" Danzō

"There was a blond man, who appeared shortly when the Beast broke out, shrouded in a cloak of
chakra. It's probably…"

"Uzumaki Naruto." Danzō nodded. "Who else?"

"That's the only one we managed to see for sure. The men's memories were already starting to lack
clarity."

"Is there more to it…?"

"Yes." Nobuo nodded. "The Beast came closer to attacking Iwa troops, shortly after. A masked
man came close to the Beast's head and subdued it. He was with Uzumaki Naruto, no doubt about
it, because once the Seven-Tails was gone, he retreated down, close to where Taki used to be."

Danzō paused for a while. Longer than he usually did.

"A masked man with the Sharingan, then..?"

"We… don't know if the Sharingan was involved in any way, sir."

"There are only a few known ways to subdue a Bijū." Danzō chided. "And the only one that would
require getting close to its head would be the Sharingan, to allow for eye contact."

Danzō thought some more.

"Anything else…?"

"No, Hokage-sama."

"Then you're dismissed."

Once he was alone, Danzō mulled the news over.

The Tsuchikage's granddaughter having been killed was good news. Hopefully it would lead to
Ōnoki acting more rashly.

The fact that the blame would likely not be laid on Konoha, — unlike the Four-Tails'
disappearance, for which Iwa was very unhappy, despite Uchiha Sasuke's claims on the matter —
but rather on Taki… Umi, or the suddenly more active Akatsuki… was even better.

But this masked Uchiha matter…?

This… complicated things. Because there was almost no way that the masked man with the
Sharingan was the one who claimed to be Uchiha Madara. Unless he had severely misread the
situation.

Unless his intel was wrong. Despite what he had said to the face of the Council, there
was almost no way that Uchiha Madara and Uzumaki Naruto were working together.

But there was another Uchiha suddenly roaming around. If this really was Shisui's half-brother…
Danzō let the thought die.

He would have to wait a bit more, as the confirmation would come soon.

And if so, he had a contingency plan in the works.

He would need to recall Yamanaka Kazuhiro to the village. It was time to make use of the skills he
himself had cultivated.

Madara… Toru… Tobi…

This changed nothing.

In Iwagakure, an old man howled his grief.

In Amegakure, another man was grieving.

Once, there were three of them.

A meeting of fate that gave birth to the dream that would save this rotten world.

Once, there were two of them.

A twist of fate that left the survivors broken, their dream corrupted by grief.

Once, there was one.

And as their last, there was no one to prevent him from doing what needed to be done.

Up in the tower named after his childhood friend, a broken man made preparations.

Nagato would not act rashly.

 Bonds II

Umi.

Besides building more and more houses, there was nothing urgent to do for Umi, Naruto thought.

(And the fact that it seemed less than urgent said something in itself.)

In exchange for having the others do most of the island work, Naruto forged a few items for them.
And right now, he was questioning whether this had been the right idea or not.

"Well, if Hanabi got a fancy dress, I see no reason you wouldn't help out your oldest friend." Toru
laughed.

"…That's Ino, though."

"Sure, sure." Toru waved off. "Doesn't matter."

Naruto sighed. "What do you want?"

"Can you make...?" Toru seemed to think for a second.

"What is it?" Naruto asked, impatiently.

"Can you make me a black leather trench-coat and some steel-toed boots to go with it, please?
Women all over the world are waiting for it. I can't do that to them."

Naruto groaned in disgust.

"I'm not making you a fucking leather trench-coat. Nor steel-toed boots. That's... Hell, I'm not
even sure which one is the worst offender."

Biwako and Orochimaru had drilled into him the importance of fashion. By now, he at least knew
what not to do. And this ranked pretty high on the list of crimes he simply wouldn't commit.

"Why not? They make kicks more powerful." Toru said, face blank.

"No they don't. Where did you get this idea in the first place…?"

Toru frowned.

"Fine… Fine. I'll settle for a long white coat with the kanji for 'power' and 'speed demon' written
on its back. Or 'Toru', maybe." Toru nodded in satisfaction.

Naruto groaned again.

Was he seriously going to have to work on this shit…? Then he only noticed the mischievous glint
in Toru's eye.

"You were fucking with me, weren't you…?"

"Of course I was." Toru cackled. "I'd love some decent battle armor, though. Like Sakura's new
one."
He had thought that Sakura, at least, wouldn't ask for complicated things. Naruto had been wrong.

"So, lightweight, reinforced armor that shifts around your movements as to not hinder them,
appears or seals itself away on command, with three increasing levels of armor coverage… and
matches Umi's official grey, beige and red colors…?"

"Yeah, that's the one." Toru nodded frenetically.

"Oh, thank you. This should be easy." Naruto said sarcastically. "…Anything else?"

"Nah, that's good enough for me."

Toru turned to leave. Then he shot a look over his shoulder.

"…On second thought, the trench coat and steel-cap boots still sound like a great idea. You sure I
can't convince you?" Toru asked, with a straight face.

A vein almost burst on Naruto's forehead.

Two days later

"Behold!" Naruto called, later in the morning.

He was holding out a heavy-looking, nondescript cloak that seemed to be made out of many
different fabrics.

"That's a nice one!" Sakura cheered. "I love what you did with it."

Naruto held back a sigh. Such lack of taste. "That's the base form, it's not supposed to be anything
special yet."

"Oh." Sakura deflated.

Ino choked back some laughter.

"So what is this?" Hanabi asked.

"I call it…" Naruto started. "The Cloak of Shifting."

"Ah, I think I got it!" Toru beamed. "It helps you dodge attacks. I want one, please."

"That's not it." Naruto said, shaking his head.

"Does it allow you to transform into animals…?" Sakura asked.

"…No."

"Humans, then?"

"No." He frowned.

"Ah! You can teleport with it?" Ino tried. "No wait, that makes no sense."

"None at all."

"Is it …a cloak that can change style, color and design?" Hanabi asked, trying not to sound too
interested.

"Uh, that's actually pretty close. It can do that, but its main purpose is to shift to five programmed
outfits embedded into it. You can change what they are at any point, and it's self-cleaning, too,
though you may wash it if you feel too grimy about that. I made this by weaving most fabrics I
could find together, so there's no big limit on what it can shift into. The unused fabrics will seal
themselves away inside the cloak for the time being. So... Yeah. Be creative, feel free to
experiment with it. It might be a bit clunky to program the outfits... so tell me how to improve that,
later." Naruto explained, seeing their dumbstruck faces — particularly Hanabi's.

He continued.

"Oh, it's a bit more solid than a cloak normally is, but I wouldn't use this to replace armor still. For
this there's… well, the actual armor. No particular properties, besides that. Any questions?"

"Did you make this because Toru spilled the secrets of where he got his clothes to Haru…?"
Hanabi asked.

"Shut your dirty mouth." Toru shot back. "I didn't know she would talk to other people about it!"

Of course he did. Haru couldn't keep a secret, everyone knew it.

"...Something like this, yeah." Naruto said. "Also, cause you guys got too greedy with asking for
equipment. This at least, I can make easily make in large amounts."

Hanabi blinked. "…Why is that?"

Naruto shrugged. "I just bundle a ton of the fabrics, weave the properties in, and then cut some
cloaks out of the huge cloth, cutting each individual cloak's link to the rest of them. So that they
each become singular items, rather than just a big part of a whole."

"Huh." Hanabi just said numbly. "Okay."

"Anyways…" Naruto pretended to yawn. "All this work made me a bit sleepy. I'm going to take a
nap."

He threw the cloak in their general direction, as if it were worth nothing to him.

"Whoever wants the first one can have it." He declared, hiding his grin. He knew exactly what
would happen.

And just as he had predicted, all of them lunged toward the item that suddenly seemed to be the
most precious thing they could get their hands on.

He laughed all the way to his bed, hearing them fight over it.

"Behold!" Toru called, a bit later.

He put several cards down on the table.

"Uh, sorry, Toru." Sakura said, wincing. "We don't play cards anymore. Karin's orders."

"This is not a card game. It is a true, authentic ninja tool." Toru grinned.

"Cards...? This sounds… familiar." Ino said. "Did you get the idea from someone else?"
Toru winced. "…Maybe. Mine are better, though. Nobody cares about things like mission records
and all that. That's nerdy shit."

Hanabi lifted an eyebrow.

"So what's on them, then…?" Sakura asked.

Toru started to chuckle, lowly. Mysteriously.

"The most important thing for a shinobi." He declared grandiosely.

"…A sharp knife?" Naruto deadpanned.

"Nah."

"A even sharper mind?" Ino asked.

"...No."

"Eyes that can see reality." Hanabi declared.

"No."

"Figures you wouldn't value that, considering you're half-blind." She chuckled.

He glared at her. "I'm talking strength. I'm talking might. I'm talking skill."

He slammed a specific card down on the table, and they all huddled together around it.

"That's why you had me figure out a way to read your messy handwriting, convert it to data, and
how to send it to something else…?" Naruto grunted. What a waste of time.

Toru nodded proudly. "That's right. Here's our example."

There was a drawing — pretty cartoony — of the person the card was about. It read like this.

Sarutobi Asuma - cool beard and attitude

Ninjutsu: 4.5
Taijutsu: 4.5
Genjutsu: 3.5
Intelligence: 4.5
Strength: 4
Speed: 4.5
Stamina: 3.5
Hand-Seals: 3.5
Total Score: 32.5

"Is this accurate in any way…?" Ino asked. "And I guess it's based on a maximum of… five points
per category…?"

"That's right." Toru nodded. "And they're as accurate as it gets, since I made them."

"You mean to say they're going to be entirely biased, then." Hanabi said dryly. She looked at the
others. "I tried to warn you."
"What's the use of it? Ninja are more than just numbers on paper. Just because you have
higher... stats than someone else doesn't mean anything at all. You'll still lose if you meet someone
whose strength is your weakness." Naruto grunted, standing up to leave. There were other things he
could be doing.

"Don't you want to see yours…?" Toru asked, a mischievous smile on his face.

"…On second thought, I can wait here for a bit." Naruto sat back down.

Toru just shot him a mocking smile.

"Now, of course, I can only speak for people I've seen fight. That's why you'll help me complete
my collection, of course. Let's start with…"

Akimichi Chōji - greatest wingman

Ninjutsu: 4
Taijutsu: 4
Genjutsu: 1
Intelligence: 2
Strength: 5
Speed: 2.5
Stamina: 4
Hand-Seals: 1.5
Total Score: 24

"Man…" Naruto started. "Intelligence… Two? I thought he was your friend."

Toru shrugged. "The cards don't lie." Was his excuse.

"How much is… a ninja dog on your intelligence scale?" Hanabi asked.

"Hmm… One and a half points, I'd say." Toru shrugged again. "Why…?"

"Just asking." She said demurely. Sakura tried to hide a chuckle.

Ino shook her head, bemused. "The worst part is… this kinda makes sense. Asuma-sensei's card,
too."

"Told ya. I may make them, but they're as unbiased as it gets. Next one."

Konan — Hot Akatsuki Woman We Just Fought :(

Ninjutsu: 5
Taijutsu: 3.5
Genjutsu: 3
Intelligence: 5
Strength: 3
Speed: 4
Stamina: 4
Hand-Seals: 5
Total Score: 32.5
"…I think you forgot to remove some of your notes and comments." Naruto said, amused.

"What do you mea- Oh, shit, my bad." Toru blushed. "Well, she's dead, anyway, now."

Sakura threw him a truly weirded out look.

"She didn't seem that smart, honestly. She fell for our tricks." Ino shrugged. "Does that make me
higher than her-"

"No." Toru said, slamming down a card.

Yamanaka Ino - bad temper but second favorite Yamanaka; might be in love with me

Ninjutsu: 4.5
Taijutsu: 3
Genjutsu: 5
Intelligence: 4
Strength: 2.5
Speed: 3.5
Stamina: 3
Hand-Seals: 3
Total Score: 28.5

"…Bad temper..? In love with you…?" Ino read out loud, eyebrows reaching her hairline.
"And dumber than that woman…?!"

Toru shrugged. "I don't make the rules. And you're kinda proving my point. Uh, the card's point."

"It sure sounds like you do make the rules, though." She said dryly.

Naruto nodded sadly. "I'm sorry Ino, but his cards say so. You love Toru."

"Don't touch me." She grunted.

"Next." Toru called, ignoring her. And Naruto, too. He could notice sarcasm when he heard it.

Haruno Sakura - strong confident woman; probably has a crush on me

Ninjutsu: 4
Taijutsu: 4
Genjutsu: 2
Intelligence: 4.5
Strength: 2.5
Speed: 4.5
Stamina: 3
Hand-Seals: 5
Total Score: 29.5

Ino blinked. "Why is she above me…?"

"I don't make the rules." Sakura said, pretending to look at her fingernails, satisfied. She was pretty
cool. And maybe she had neglected Genjutsu, ever since Kurenai-sensei had… Yeah.
A crush, though? On Toru? She almost cackled. As far as Uchiha went, Itachi or Sasuke would
have been closer to her type. Cool and composed, — not spastic like Toru was — just like...

"What do hand seals even mean…?" Ino asked.

"The ability to weave them fast or do them one-handed, this sort of thing." Toru shrugged, waving
it off. "Next."

Hyūga Hanabi - twin sticks up her ass; probably in love with me, unrequited

Ninjutsu: 3
Taijutsu: 4.5
Genjutsu: 3
Intelligence: 3.5
Strength: 2.5
Speed: 4.5
Stamina: 3.5
Hand-Seals: 3
Total Score: 27.5

"…" Hanabi said nothing.

Her rage was simmering, though.

"Uh, yeah, let's go for the next one." Toru called, wisely.

Mitarashi Anko - mommy ❤

Ninjutsu: 4.5
Taijutsu: 4.5
Genjutsu: 4.5
Intelligence: 4
Strength: 3
Speed: 4
Stamina: 4
Hand-Seals: 4
Total Score: 32.5

"…Any particular fetishes we should be worried about…?" Ino asked dryly.

"...Nothing I'm willing to admit, and you're all too young to hear it anyway. Let's… uh… move
on." Toru winced.

"...I'm starting to think you left these comments on purpose." Naruto said, looking unimpressed.

Toru just gave him a short, amused glance. "Now, now... Why would I do that...?"

Uchiha Sasuke - the fun cousin

Ninjutsu: 5
Taijutsu: 4.5
Genjutsu: 3
Intelligence: 4
Strength: 3.5
Speed: 4
Stamina: 5
Hand-Seals: 4
Total Score: 33

"Huh." Naruto said. "That makes him pretty strong, right?"

Toru laughed. "You could say that. He's one of the best in the village. Want to see yours?"

"Well, I thought you kept it for later to keep me hooked, but sure." Naruto said.

"But you are hooked already."

Uzumaki Naruto - thinks he's very cool; rarely is

Ninjutsu: 5
Taijutsu: 4.5
Genjutsu: 2
Intelligence: 4
Strength: 4.5
Speed: 5
Stamina: 4.5
Hand-Seals: 4
Total Score: 33.5

Naruto rubbed his finger under his nose.

"Well, I did train pretty hard." He smiled, pleased.

"Don't let his stupid cards get to your head." Ino rolled her eyes.

"Sasuke is stronger than you when he uses his Bijuu." Toru corrected.

"…" Naruto grunted. Ino patted his shoulder mockingly.

"Next one?" Toru proposed.

Hatake Kakashi - a real stud

Ninjutsu: 5
Taijutsu: 4.5
Genjutsu: 4
Intelligence: 5
Strength: 4
Speed: 5
Stamina: 3
Hand-Seals: 5
Total Score: 35.5

"Damn." Sakura let out.

"Yeah, I think I really did him justice with my drawing." Toru boasted.
"That's not-"

He slammed another card down on the table.

Uchiha Itachi - the other cousin

Ninjutsu: 5
Taijutsu: 4.5
Genjutsu: 5
Intelligence: 5
Strength: 3
Speed: 5
Stamina: 3
Hand-Seals: 5
Total Score: 35.5

"Which one's the strongest, between him and-"

"I got you."

Uchiha Shisui - used to have a lisp but pretends he didn't; usiha sisui

Ninjutsu: 4.5
Taijutsu: 5
Genjutsu: 5
Intelligence: 5
Strength: 3.5
Speed: 5
Stamina: 3.5
Hand-Seals: 4
Total Score: 35.5

"So… more or less balanced?" Sakura asked.

"Depends on the day, and the fight." Toru shrugged.

"But see, that's the problem with this." Naruto pointed out.

"...What is?"

"How are you supposed to say what a five is worth...? Does it mean your brother and Kakashi are
exactly as fast?" Naruto asked.

"..."

"And if there's a cap at five... Does it mean that's it, you're done, you've reached the top?"

"It's just a hobby of mine." Toru shrugged. "Don't take your relative lack of power too personally."

"That's not-"

"What's the card that's face down?" Hanabi asked, reaching for it.

Toru shrugged. She turned it around.

Uchiha Toru - Me

Ninjutsu: 5
Taijutsu: 4.5
Genjutsu: 5
Intelligence: 5
Strength: 5
Speed: 5
Stamina: 5
Hand-Seals: 4.5
Total Score: 39

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"Yeah, my hand seals are not the best." Toru nodded. He could admit as much.

Two days later.

"Behold." Ino said, hands on her hips.

Sakura squinted. "…Am I supposed to be able to see something in particular…?"

"No. Not really." Ino shrugged. "But me and Naruto-"

"Naruto and I." Sakura corrected.

"Me and Naruto finished working on the Mindspace seal."

"The what now?" Sakura frowned. She had no idea what Ino was talking about right now.

"She means the Spirit Room." Naruto piped up. Ino glared at him.

"Ah!" Sakura nodded. "The thing where you pull your clothes and armor from?"

Hanabi's ears perked up.

Ino sighed. "It's way more than this. But yeah, the thing where I pull my clothes and armor from.
Well, a fresh copy of them every time, technically."

"Are you saying you managed to make this usable for anyone…?" Sakura asked dubiously.

Ino snorted. "No, of course not. This is way beyond us, for now. But as long as you're part of the
link, you should be able to access mine or Naruto's, if you are marked with the seal we came up
with. Just give us your stuff, and we'll store it."

"…Another seal?" Hanabi asked. Then she shrugged. "It requires being part of the link anyway, so
I'll skip."
"Understandable." Ino shrugged. "The seal fits inside the Thunder Gate matrix seal, anyway, you
won't see much of it on your body."

Toru sounded interested, though.

"Let's link up, then." He nodded.

"…You sure? Just like that…?" Naruto asked.

"Well yeah, sure." Toru shrugged. Then he paused. "Uh… Wait. Does the seal make you want to
do strange… things?"

He looked around himself, Ino… then Sakura.

"Like what?" Naruto asked.

"Does it make you strangely attracted to hulking blond men?"

Naruto paused. Then a small smile threatened to pull his mouth up. Sakura glared at both of them.

"It didn't for Sasuke, at least, but no guarantee here." Naruto shrugged, hiding his smile. "I
wasn't that big nor blond, back then."

Ino groaned.

"How long has it been since you got your ass beat this badly?" Toru asked.

Naruto dodged under a kick, ignoring the nonsensical comment. Of course he was eating hits, he
was not using any chakra enhancements, while Toru had no such restrictions.

Well, no, he did not use chakra. But he was still using his Sharingan.

Naruto got hit by a fast haymaker. He retaliated with a spinning kick that Toru blocked.

The Uchiha flipped him over, making him land in the sand, on his back.

Naruto let out a long sigh. "Is there really a point to this…?"

"Of course." Toru looked offended. "That's how Kakashi used to train me."

"Oh, but I remember Kakashi's training methods." Naruto groaned. "Can't say I'm really fond of
them. Like that blinded-"

"That's a great idea!" Toru beamed. "I can't believe I forgot about the blind training. It's supposed
to be super good to help you not to rely on sight too much."

Naruto sighed. Well, he did need to keep up his chakra sensing training, anyway.

'-man this girl really had lot of things to say and oh there's a crack in the wall behind the tiny
crack in the table. How did it get there? Why is it there? I want to know more, so I'm staring at it
and staring at it, but that doesn't do anything, so I'm doing it with more intensity. Why? I want to
know more. Then I realize that I completely forgot what we talking about with Akemi and don't
know what I'm talking about anymore. It fucks things up sometimes. I remember that one time
when-'
'Toru, can you please turn your volume down?' Naruto asked through the mind-link, rubbing his
temples.

'What are you talking about? Can you hear me?' Toru answered even louder, through the link.
He accidentally sent a picture of where he was, too. A small coffee shop.

'You don't have to scream!' Ino said, almost as loud. She and Naruto had finally managed to find
some privacy, and the Uchiha had ruined the mood.

'I'm not screaming!' Toru screamed.

'Gods, will you two shut the fuck up?' Sakura asked. She had been meditating on the lake,
apparently.

'You don't need to broadcast your thoughts all the time, Toru.' Ino tried a calmer approach. 'I know
we're practicing with the group link, but most your thoughts will stream across anyway, so you
don't have to force it through.'

'I'm glad you really like this girl, though.' Sakura said.

'What makes you say that?' Toru asked.

'You've been talki-… thinking about her for the last ten minutes straight.'

'We're talking, of course I am!'

'What do you think about when you talk with me?' Naruto asked.

'Anything but you, but that's different. She's cute, at least.'

'Uh huh.'

Orochimaru arrived in Umi after close to a month away entirely.

One day he was away, pretending to be a Kiri ninja, and the next… he was sitting at Naruto's table.

Drinking his tea.

"…Yeah, that's never a good sign." Naruto sighed. "Let me gather the others."

Orochimaru just nodded with a slight smile.

Anko, Hanabi and Toru arrived pretty quickly.

Sakura and Ino were here already.

"How bad is it?" Sakura asked.

"Akatsuki placed a puppet ruler in the hidden Mist. Yagura has been gone for a while, and the
same goes for the Six-Tails' jinchuuriki. There are only five Beasts left, if the Seven-Tails truly is
free, like rumor has it." Orochimaru declared.

"...Fuck."
"Anko and I killed Konan." Ino said, somewhat proudly. "So at least we have that."

Orochimaru paled.
The Unfortunate Consequences of Letting Others Handle Your Reputation

Orochimaru said nothing for a long while.

"Well, it had to happen at some point." He closed his eyes.

"...Isn't that good news?" Ino asked, now worried. "Should we have captured her, instead…? Did
she have some intel?"

"It would have been better to capture her as leverage, yes. But… that's on me. I never expected her
to get out of the village herself. The intel is not my real concern." Orochimaru said. "We can use
her corpse to recover some of it, anyway."

"Then what is…?"

"Nagato was close to her." He explained, regaining some of his countenance. As if that explained
everything.

Naruto sat silently. That was the first time he had seen the man react like this. Which wasn't putting
him at ease.

"Nagato didn't act yet. Do you think he might not know yet?"

Orochimaru chuckled. "No. He definitely knows. Which means he's planning."

"Is that bad?"

He lifted an eyebrow, not even bothering to address the question.

"It's time to prepare for the worst. Find Karin first."

'So… This is Orochimaru..?' Toru thought.

Jiraiya might have been much taller, broader… but he also looked way more approachable.

This man had an enormous and commanding presence, as if he were too used to being obeyed
without any qualms — not that Toru felt like contradicting him. And he had sharp eyes that made
Toru feel as though he were being dissected whenever they lingered upon him.

"You're responsible for the Seven-Tails, then." Orochimaru nodded, thinking. "I had the
impression, but no rumors were enough to confirm."

"Yeah." Naruto nodded. Anko was looking between the two of them, somewhat amused.

You did this, now it's time to take some responsibility, she seemed to say.

"What did you do with her…?" Orochimaru asked, his golden eyes set upon Naruto's purple ones,
glinting.

"Toru and I left her on a deserted island, with her chakra bound." He simply said. Toru was very
careful about saying nothing. He shot Naruto a dark look for involving him.

"We should use the Beast's power, instead. We will need something." Orochimaru said, the sharp
edge of displeasure obvious in his voice. Toru winced.

"The only thing Fū can really do is let the Bijū rampage." Naruto waved off, entirely too casual.

"Free the Seven-Tails, then. Use the Sharingan to control it." Orochimaru fixed his eyes on Toru's
single one, and he looked away.

"It's too risky. They have Tobi, and he has more experience, when it comes to subduing a Beast."
Naruto frowned and suddenly the air smelled of ozone.

Orochimaru's lips thinned, and the pressure in the air intensified. "Then we can extract it. We shall
confine it until we find a suitable host."

"And put it into whom, exactly?" Naruto crossed his arms.

Orochimaru's eyes narrowed but he didn't say anything.

Naruto continued, shaking his head. "There is no feasible way to do that. You know how long it
takes to train a jinchūriki. And none of us could manage to hold it, either." Naruto amended
himself. "Well, almost none of us. But even Karin would be a long shot, and that's not even
factoring in the time it would take for her to learn to harness its power."

Orochimaru continued to stare at Naruto, his face unreadable.

"Is this about mere sentiment?" He asked, with distaste.

"No." Naruto snorted. "I'd rather have Fū killed, honestly. But as long as she lives, well, that's one
Bijū that Akatsuki can't reach. Better than sealing it in a jar or whatever else."

The Sanin leaned back, his fingers drumming idly on the table. The pressure in the air didn't abate,
and only Naruto and Anko seemed unaffected.

Toru only realized now how silent everybody was.

"I hope, Naruto…" His golden eyes pinned Naruto down. "That you are sure of what you're
proposing." He almost hissed.

Toru felt as though he were choking on his breath. His eye jumped from one to the other.

"Entirely." Naruto nodded, the words slipping from his lips.

Orochimaru paused.

And then, just like that, the tension broke. The man almost smiled.

"Good. We'll need this kind of resolve in the future." Orochimaru nodded. "I will make sure the
jinchūriki is as secure as possible, then. And that we keep close track of the ones that are still free."

He stood up to leave. Anko moved with him, like a shadow.

"And after this… Tell me what happened while I was away." He addressed Naruto. "We shall
resume training, as well."

"Sure." Naruto simply nodded. "I'll be looking forward to it."

"You won't, believe me." The man chuckled.

Orochimaru turned to the newcomers.

"Uchiha Toru, and Hyūga Hanabi, was it…?" Orochimaru asked.

Both of them stiffened, bowing lower than what was usually considered polite by way of greeting.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Orochimaru-sama." They echoed.

The man laughed. "No need for such formality. We are among friends here."

'Uh huh.' Toru thought.

Orochimaru and Anko left.

"I didn't hear many of your arguments or wisecracks in there, Toru." Naruto said dryly.

"Me?!" Toru exclaimed. "You should have told me he was this scary! From the way you talked
about him, I thought he was like a quirky uncle - or something."

"…You found him scary today?" Naruto blinked.

The day after.

Orochimaru was frustrated.

And angry, too, which was the first time in a while. And worst of all, he was actually worried.

He had used his extensive network of informants, in the hope of hearing something that might give
him an idea of what Nagato was planning.

Nothing. He got nothing. Which meant that he had either gotten rid of most of the people
Orochimaru had in place, or that he was being very secretive, suddenly.

He had expected hot anger. Instead all he got was radio silence. Something bad was brewing. It felt
like a strange lapse of peace before chaos.

How did you prepare a group of what in truth were less than ten people to fight against the
strongest in the world...?

Orochimaru didn't have the answer, for once.

But he would try. And he had a few people he needed to get back in contact with.

In the meantime, he told Naruto and his group to not forget to enjoy life, as well.

Which… probably had terrified most of them.

Naruto was worried too. There was no other word for it.

Maybe 'scared shitless'. Depending on how much he was willing to admit.

Which was why he kept himself busy. He had the feeling he wasn't the only one feeling restless,
because there was definitely some fear in the air. And his friends were acting too casual, which
was always a good sign, too. Well, if humor helped all of them keep their minds on getting as
strong as they could...

Then so be it. He'd help them.

Then the hard part of the training would start. Nothing like what they had been doing recently.

"You faced Kakuzu?" Orochimaru asked Naruto, sitting in full lotus.

"Ever heard of the guy?" Naruto grunted, pulling himself up with a single hand again. Around his
ankles, the adjustable weights felt almost constricting.

"Of course I did." Orochimaru laughed. "Among missing ninja, Kakuzu is something of a myth…
or a boogeyman. How many missing ninja do you think live for more than half a century, while
being in the limelight…?"

"Oh. I thought Taki just gave up on him or forgot he existed." Naruto tried to shrug, but he was still
hanging from a bar.

Funny how Orochimaru insisted on the importance of physical training, but never seemed to be
doing it himself.

"Kukuku. No. They were definitely still trying to get rid of him."

"Why didn't the other villages intervene at some point? This guy was killing strong ninja, wasn't
he?"

"Yes, but he makes sure to keep a sort of balance, never killing too many important people from
any village in a row. Well, besides Taki. He's probably as responsible for Taki never becoming a
Great Village than Iwa is."

"Fascinating." Naruto grunted. "He must have been really strong, then."

"Why do you keep using past tense?" Orochimaru sighed. Did Sarutobi not bother to teach him the
importance of using the right words anymore…? The man wondered.

"Cause the man's dead." Naruto dropped to the earth, wincing because he forgot to turn the weight
seals off before he did so. Then he threw a scroll to Orochimaru. "Killed him. Body's inside the
scroll. We're keeping the head for now, though. Ino's not done."

"You… killed Kakuzu…?" Orochimaru asked, looking surprised.

Naruto hid a grin. Fucking finally. He had managed to get some emotion from him. That was twice
in two days.

"Yep."

"How?"

"I shot him with my bow."

"With a bow…?" Orochimaru hissed. "…He is… was rumored to be immortal."

"Well, not to my bow, he wasn't." Naruto chuckled.

"…"
"Come on, don't be sad, I'm sure you'll find a better form of immortality than he did." Naruto
laughed. "You've got his body now, after all."

Naruto paused. "For a while, at least, I'm still going to cash it in later."

The blindfold was pulled off his eyes again.

His eyes adjusted to light again. Ah. His jailer was back. And whistling. In a good mood, then.
These were the worst.

"We're having great weather today, aren't we?"

"Please…" Hidan's disembodied head rasped out. "Kill me."

Orochimaru laughed. "Why would I? You and your new friend will be very useful to me."

He unsealed a corpse that Hidan didn't recognize.

"Now… Let's see how his body and your head fit together." He chuckled.

"I've had enough." Hidan tried again. "I… I have seen the light. I regre-"

"Oh, come on now." Orochimaru laughed. "Do not try to fool me, you do not care about your
actions at all. And besides…"

The golden eyes were fixed upon him. Gleaming.

"Even if you did, is regret supposed to suddenly make you deserving of forgiveness…?"

"You still wear earrings, right?" Ino asked Naruto, hesitantly.

Naruto had told her of his intention of finding Yugito — and hopefully Karin, too — the day
before. Orochimaru asking for the same thing just sped things up.

Sakura gave her a long look that Naruto didn't really understand, before she slammed her book
shut, finding an excuse to leave.

"From time to time, yeah." Naruto shrugged. Orochimaru had somehow converted him, a long time
ago, and Naruto found he didn't mind them too much.

"Here." She said, thrusting something in his hands. Earrings, obviously, Naruto figured.

"Are you gifting me earrings?" Naruto wondered. "Thanks, they're very nice."

And it was the truth. Silver magatama, that Naruto knew he'd find a way to prevent from
distracting him in battle, through soulforging.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, he could remember some clan tradition the Sarutobi had with
the Nara-Yamanaka-Akimichi trio. Except the old man had never explained very clearly. There was
one about a Sarutobi mentoring three of the other clans, but aside from that…?

Ino just nodded, mumbling something.

"What is it?" He chuckled. "Speak up if you want to say something."

She turned red. "No, it's nothing. Just… keep them, okay?"

Ino gave him a deep kiss and ran off.

'That feels… familiar.' He mused.

It was more than time for Naruto to find Karin again.

Especially now that Orochimaru was here, and that they had the possibility of setting up a direct
line of communication with her.

With this in mind, he and Hanabi left for the land of Hot Water, their faces hidden behind similar
hoods and masks.

They reached a place close to Bamboo Village.

"That's where she was last, according to Sakura and Ino." Naruto nodded. "But that was weeks
ago."

"I see." Hanabi nodded. She turned her Byakugan on.

Naruto let her sit, scanning the entire area. Meanwhile, he was trying to extend his own sensing
range.

There was nothing here for him to sense.

"You said she was traveling with the Two-Tails jinchūriki, right?" Hanabi finally asked.

"She may have been, at least at some point, yes." Naruto nodded. "Found something?"

"You could say that." Hanabi smiled mirthlessly. "An entire part of the forest has been burned
down, five kilometers to the southwest."

Naruto hesitated. "Is this enough to determine it was her…?"

"Well, I'd say so, because the earth has melted." Hanabi confirmed.

"Aren't you supposed to tell him what the earrings mean, at least?" Sakura laughed.

"Shut it." Ino grumbled. "I'll do it later."

"To think you'd stake your claim so obviously… My, my. It's like a dog marking its territory."

Ino rolled her eyes. "I'm not staking anything. I'm not trying to stop him from…" She hesitated.

"Fucking Karin and…or Yugito?" Sakura supplied helpfully.

"…"

"…Too much? Sorry." Sakura winced.

To her surprise, Ino shook her head slowly. "Not really. It is the way it is, and I'm mostly fine with
it." She said wryly.

"Mostly."
"I've seen how he thinks, how he feels. I think I'll manage." Ino shrugged.

"Because you know the two of them already?" Sakura prodded.

"…" Ino thought about it.

"What if he meets a new, cute, stout, dark-haired girl with-"

"It's time you learn when to shut your mouth!" Ino raged.

Sakura laughed.

"Bring it on, pig, it's about time you practice your Taijutsu!"

"I've been told of your prowess with Genjutsu."

A voice Toru had hoped not to hear again for a little while longer said.

"…Ah? O-oh yeah?" Toru asked. Confidently. Which traitor had talked…?

"But of course." Orochimaru said. "The Mirage Blade, one of Konoha's — well formerly Konoha's
— rising talents."

"Uh. Yeah. I guess so." Toru said, noncommittally. "It's not that much compared to Shisui, Itachi…
Kurenai-sensei."

Orochimaru looked at him quizzically.

"I think you're downplaying it. I knew Kurenai. Well, Anko did." He said.

Toru stiffened.

"She was a strong kunoichi, and I'm sure she taught you well. But as far as talent with illusion
goes… You're beyond her, now."

Toru stayed silent for a while. "…Because of this. Only because of this." He pointed at his
Sharingan. "And this sword, maybe."

Orochimaru shrugged. "Maybe. It is one the world's strongest bloodlines. And there was a time
where I envied the Uchiha clan's Dojutsu."

"…Not anymore?" Toru asked, not sure whether he would like the answer or not. Suna was
probably recruiting too, he thought.

"No." Orochimaru shook his head, done with this topic. "Be as it may, you have the Sharingan.
While you should obviously not rely solely on it, it would be a waste not to acknowledge the fact
it's yours."

"Yeah. I guess so." Toru finally nodded.

"Now, here are a few things that could help you…"

Orochimaru instructed Sakura, too.

She had done pretty well in the Land of Water, as Kuramoto Shinji. And whenever Orochimaru
saw talent, he saw the potential for change. The one wheel driving the universe forward.

"No." He shook his head. "Less… imperious. It is closer to the sort of detached relationship with
power having been wielded for too long… than it is to this sort of overt posturing."

Sakura nodded and took it in stride.

"That's a bit closer, but there's more humor to it. A bit less vigor, though, the man's not twenty
anymore, with his entire life in front of him."

The best part was she didn't really question why this disguise in particular. But Orochimaru knew it
would come in handy, at some point.

The Byakugan made tracking child's play.

Or at least, Hanabi's. Naruto had no idea if others were half as good with it. He told her as much.

"This is nothing." She muttered back. "Hinata would have found them already. Maybe. Neji…"

She shut up. Sore subject, still.

"Both Karin and Yugito have huge chakra reserves." Naruto said instead. "I don't know if this
makes a big difference to the Byakugan or not."

"Some, yes." Hanabi said tersely. They had passed the area of the fight a while ago, now relying
on Kumo's tendency to expand to the south. Without Hanabi's eyes, most of it would be conjecture.

With her around, they could find caves that had been inhabited recently, and by whom they had
been. Kumo or Iwa… or neither of them.

And traces of earth that been compacted and raised, then shaped and put back down again.

This was Karin's handiwork, for sure.

In Umi, a few people read through the latest worldly 'news'.

The Umi Menace: What Else Are They Planning in The Shadows?
by Sasaki Haruko

Silent War! THE UNTOLD TRUTH Behind the Taki Massacre

by Ohara Toshiko

"BIJŪ-STEALERS"!
by Kayo Juba

Uzumaki Naruto STILL at Large: What Is Earth Country NOT Telling Us?
by Hatanaka Seiichi
 Taki's Great Fire
by Sunda Bunko

Should Konoha Be Held Responsible For Umi's Actions?

by Takata Shou

INDRA
by Taniguchi Naoko

The World-Eaters: A Small "Shadowy" Faction Might Just Want to See the World Burn…
Like What Happened in Taki!
by Matsuda Kentaro

Toru heard Ino groan. She threw the newspapers — from different countries — away and palmed
her face. She then let out a frustrated scream.

There were more and more each week, the titles getting more and more sensationalist.

"See the bright side…" Toru tried. "At least your face is not everywhere. Not like Naruto's."

And it was somewhat amusing, seeing how threatening the pictures they tended to use made him
look. Whoever had snapped these pictures of him during his short visit in Konoha had definitely
caught him in a bad, bad mood.

Or maybe, Toru thought, maybe he just didn't like being in Konoha at all.

"How can trash like this even be published…?" Ino groaned. "They're just pushing eye-grabbing
headlines, and then justifying the fact they can write it through a vague article, never going over
this… imaginary line, because if they did, they would have to prove whatever it is they're
claiming."

"Some of it is fucking hilarious though." Toru contested. "Did you know one of these calls
Naruto… the Most Dangerous Man Alive? Shit, if I wasn't so… straight, I'd be so curious. It's like
the ultimate bad boy appeal."

"Toru…" She said, glaring at him.

"What? Somebody somewhere is bound to think the same." He laughed.

He read through more of them and then turned serious.

"Huh, the Tsuchikage's granddaughter was killed, too, apparently."

"The general. Was she really…?" Ino frowned. "…Wait. Anko said something about creating a
diversion, didn't she…?"

"Do you think she could have…?"

They looked at each other. It was Anko.

Both of them started laughing nervously. Yeah, she would.

"Well…" Orochimaru thought aloud. "This might make things a bit more complicated on the
international scene."

No matter. He would tell Jiraiya… or Sarutobi what he knew and let them decide what they would
do with the knowledge. If they were still willing to listen, considering everything.

"So… Which one is your favorite?" Anko asked eagerly.

Orochimaru shrugged. "Why don't you show me yours, first?"

"Let's go at the same time, then? As usual? I got two."

"Two for two, then." Her sensei nodded.

Uzumaki Naruto Suspected Of Infiltrating ALL Great Villages!

TAKI'S INVISIBLE GENERAL KILLER STRIKES AGAIN

"These are my picks." Anko grinned. "The second one especially. Apparently some hotshot died in
Kiri, and they're putting the blame on me."

"Hmm…" Orochimaru mused, trying to prevent a smile from forming on his lips. "Not bad, not
bad."

He set his own on the table.

Gold and Silver Brothers' Heir: Kumo's Dirty Little Secret?

EVERYTHING About The Criminal Mastermind Who Seduced a Clan Heiress Into Killing
a World-Leader

Anko guffawed.

"Ah, fuck." She said, in between peals of laughter. "These are much better. You win this one."

"I didn't expect anything else." Orochimaru chuckled.

Naruto never really seemed to enjoy it as much as they did, so they'd have to keep the worst of it
away from him.

Maybe ninja tended to develop a pretty fucked up sense of humor, over time, Orochimaru mused,
not for the first time.

"Uh…" Naruto started.

"Yeah. Hanabi nodded. "That's the Kumo camp."

"It's way bigger than I thought."

"Kumo is highly militarized." Hanabi nodded. "It makes sense that they'd have such a large one."

Behind a long, long military curtain stood the Kumo… stronghold? Did they build it recently, or
were they just occupying it?

No matter what, it was practically full of people. Hanabi gave him a very rough estimate,
numbering it at around a thousand people… or more.

"And Karin is supposed to be in there…?" He asked dubiously. He knew she didn't currently have
a bounty on her head, but that would be pushing it a bit.

"I don't know." Hanabi shook her head. "I never even met her."

"…True."

"The Two-Tails jinchūriki is here, though."

"Sure about that?"

"Yes."

"Well… Let's see if I can manage to talk to her. Kage Bunshin was made for situations like this. I'll
disguise it, and hopefully, she'll pick up on my chakra. If anything dangerous happens… We
leave."

"Sure."

One hour later

"You know… Part of me is wondering why the hell I even bother listening to your shit again."

"Hanabi — the young woman who's standing guard — and I have been looking for you, Yugito."
Naruto said, sitting in a clearing, far from the Kumo stronghold, in front of Yugito, who
had somehow agreed to meet with him after meeting his clone.

With Darui gone, she had been put in charge of the entire operation. And it definitely seemed as
though it weighed on her. Naruto had never seen a jinchūriki look so tired before. Dark eye bags
lined her face.

"So?" She asked testily. "You've managed to make an enemy of both Konoha… Kumo, and even
Iwa, now, apparently. Meeting you is… dangerous, to say the least."

"I've heard so, yes." Naruto said dryly. "You still came here, though."

"Why are you here?" She cut him off, her dark eyes staring into his own.

"There's information I need to give you. And a few questions I want to ask."

She lifted an eyebrow. "And why should I bother with your information?"

Naruto closed his eyes.

"I'm sorry about Darui." Yugito took a sharp breath. "I tried my best, but he still died. From the
poison."
She stared at him and her eyes shifted into Matatabi's.

"Care to repeat that?"

"Darui died from Sasori's poison, which activated once he tried to use his chakra."

A truth. Or part of it, at least. She had hoped so, but to hear it…

"…Why did he try to use his chakra?" Yugito asked, feeling the same dread she had felt when he
had heard the news crawl up.

"Because the Raikage, under the Sharingan's influence, attacked me. Darui… tried to help me."
 Best Intentions

"Lies!" Yugito hissed. "How dare you!"

This time, she didn't believe her eyes, apparently. Naruto didn't feel like playing a game of cat and
mouse. There was still Karin to be found. He went for broke.

"Read into my soul. You will find this is the truth." Naruto said, baring himself.

Yellow and green met purple.

Lighting-Wind-Storm met Fire-Soul again.

A long silence stretched.

"No." She said, unwilling to see it. "No…"

Just like Ino had taught him, he pushed a memory at the forefront of his mind.

Darui and he meeting the Raikage. The prison. Escaping.

"No…" She said lowly. "Please. Tell me it's a lie... A fabrication. Anything but that."

Naruto winced, feeling terrible for her. He had just come around, looking for someone else, and
like an afterthought, he had put her in an impossible situation.

"I'm sorry, but it is the truth. I haven't had my memory tempered with in any way. And I'm way too
bad at Genjutsu to project a false memory." Maybe Toru could, though. Maybe.

Truth. Yugito saw it.

"Ino or my friend could have done it." Naruto admitted. "But we simply wouldn't have wanted to
do it. Either of us."

Truth.

Naruto continued. "Did you speak to the Raikage directly… recently?"

Yugito shook her head, vaguely feeling as though she were falling backwards in a never-ending
hole.

"I didn't, no."

"If you need to, be careful. The chakra inside his brain was Tobi's." Naruto thought about it." But...
Maybe you could help figure out what it's making him do, exactly."

"He sent word to me." Yugito said, low and angry. "Of your capture, and your killing of Darui."

Naruto shook his head.

"Why would I bring him all the way to Kumo, only to kill him then…?" Naruto asked dryly.

"That's not… quite how the Raikage presented it at the time. But… I realize there were a few
things about what he told me that didn't make complete sense." Yugito admitted.
"Did you really think I did it…?" Naruto frowned.

"We are shinobi." Yugito shrugged uneasily. "Things change."

Naruto nodded. "I don't blame you. It was your Kage's word… against, well… mine."

She grimaced.

"There are rumors saying you used the Seven-Tails to destroy Taki."

"We didn't." Naruto winced. "We tried to prevent Akatsuki from getting it, and the resulting fight
damaged what was left of the village. The Tree burned because of me in a way, though. So some of
the deaths are probably my responsibility."

Not many, but there likely had been a few.

"We took the survivors to our home. To Umi." Naruto finished.

"I see."

She was deep in thought. What were you supposed to say in this sort of situation…? Your village
leader was under the thrall of the very people who wanted you dead. Not only was your life at
risk… everyone else's was.

"...I think I know what you're going to say already, but if you want to join us, the offer is still on
the table." Naruto offered.

She let out a small chuckle. "And I'm thanking you again, but no. Kumo is my home. I won't
leave, especially now."

"…I understand." Naruto smiled, only slightly disappointed.

"I don't know where all this leaves me." Yugito admitted.

Naruto paused.

"…There's more, actually."

"Like what...?" Yugito asked.

"Kiri is under Akatsuki's control. Yagura and Utakata have been gone for a while. That's why the
Six-Tails never came on the frontlines." Naruto continued, bluntly. "You're fighting an empty
war."

Yugito hid her face in her hands. She recovered quickly, her eyes turning steely.

"There's something else, isn't there?" Yugito asked.

Naruto hesitated. "After Taki's destruction, we hid the Seven-Tails jinchūriki away. Far from
people, exiled."

Yugito's expression turned thunderous. "Do you mean... you did capture her? After everything you
said? After Akatsuki was foiled… you did the exact same thing?"

"We stopped Akatsuki." He said hotly. "There's nothing so passive about that. And we hid her. So
that nobody else took her to make a weapon out of her!"

"It's the same damn thing! Why didn't you let her go, then?"

"She's a remorseless killer. One whose village was just destroyed. There's nowhere for her to go!
And there are people waiting to capture her."

She continued to glare at him.

"You could have hidden her identity. Like yours was when you were a child. I'm sure
you could have managed to treat her like anyone else."

He snorted. "If she were anyone else, any of us would have slit her throat already."

"Is this the way Umi does things?" Yugito asked, now angry.

"She kills indiscriminately. Ninja, civilian… children. Tell me, what would you do with a flight
risk like her running around?"

Yugito pursed her lips, but had no answer. Naruto sighed.

"You don't know her. That's why you're so quick to defend her." He shook his head, wishing she
could understand. "She's too far gone. Maybe years ago, we could have done something about it,
but now… she hates people. Gods, she eats people! If you had heard the former Taki citizen's
stories about her… She makes Gaara look tame."

Silence stretched.

"…I can see that you really think you did the best thing you coould, so I won't press you on this.
It's not my business, in truth... and maybe you're right about her." Yugito shook her head, letting
out a long sigh. She looked at him, seeing him. "But… Be careful, Naruto. You know what they
say about good intentions, don't you…?"

Naruto said nothing in answer.

"Deciding what's best for other people is what led you away from your birth village, isn't it?"
Yugito asked.

Naruto stiffened. "I am nothing like the Third."

"And the jinchūriki is nothing like you either, I assume." Yugito looked at him wryly. "My point
still stands."

It was Naruto's turn to purse his lips. He let out a long, frustrated sigh.

"…I think I get your point. In Fuu's case, I don't think there's anything I can do, but I... I will keep
your words in mind."

"That's all I'm asking for."

He told her about Indra.

And he asked her to tell him what she could about his soul.
"As far as I can tell, there's nothing linking your soul to anyone else, besides what you know is
already there. And besides this tenuous connection to the Nine-Tails. Your soul is your own."

Naruto felt frustration bubble up. It could be a good… or a bad thing.

"But…" Yugito continued, a bit hesitant. "Matatabi is saying that your soul is eerily similar to the
Sage's First Son. Well, she says it less politely."

"I didn't really expect anything else." Naruto let out.

"She's a bit wary of you, too."

Naruto just nodded. That was it, then.

He was still himself. But as Indra himself had said, he was also him, in a way. He didn't know how
to feel about it. Was this as far as it got...? Was he going to change?

No matter what, there would be no further answers about this topic tonight.

"…And you call it soulforging?" Yugito asked dubiously, once he showed her what he could do
with the ethereal flame.

"Yes. Have you used it already?"

She shook her head. "…Not much. I thought it was only good to make sharp weapons. To be
honest, I mostly forgot about it. I had other things to do."

Like spearheading a war.

"Yeah. I get that." He let out a small smile. "I can show you how to weave seals in, but you're
going to have to learn about sealing on your own."

Yugito gave him a hesitant smile in return.

"I think I'd like that.

The atmosphere seemed to warm up a bit, despite their obvious concerns.

To ninja, grim topics could easily something to share a short laugh about.

"— and there are people in Kumo that believe you don't even exist. That you're something the top
brass made up in order to scare them into going to the front lines. And they even go above this."
She cleared her throat, before speaking one octave lower. "'If this Uzumaki really is strong enough
to escape Kumo and control the mighty Beasts, who's to say he won't just find us on the front,
huh?'"

"…The hell is wrong with people?" Naruto shook his head, with a small grin. "You escape one
shitty jail and suddenly people think you're the devil in the flesh."

"The way you did it didn't help." Yugito chuckled. "They say that the only reason you'd have to
discard subtlety... is because you didn't need it in the first place. And that you could have released
the Nine-Tails to nuke the entire village. That we got lucky."

Naruto laughed, but he wondered. Was there a similar reason as to why he hadn't been sent to Ame
again…?

Maybe Nagato wasn't willing to take the risk of the Beast — what was left of it — breaking free
inside his village, now that he thought Naruto was more familiar with its power — wrongly. Or
maybe it really was the Raikage being power-hungry enough to keep him there. Hard to say.

"Wait…" Naruto said.

"What is it?"

"You didn't tell the Raikage that I can't really use the Nine-Tails like this?" He asked.

She scoffed. "…And what should I say when they inevitably ask me more questions…? I spent a
night with the enemy-"

"…and it was the best night of my life?" He finished for her, amused.

"That's definitely not where I was going with that one." She glared at him.

"You didn't complain, either."

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, yes… Mister Nine, you and your devilish cock changed my whole
outlook on life~"

Naruto nodded sagely. "I'm glad you can finally admit it."

She laughed.

"Were it any other day, I'd ask you to prove your claim. I'm… quite pent-up." She admitted. "It
would be a nice relief from... all this..." She let the sentence hang in the air.

Not that Naruto would have taken her up on that offer today. He had Karin to find, and she had
given him a few important things to think about. And so… for once, he didn't feel like it.

Hanabi keeping an eye on them was not helping matters, of course.

"I don't think it's a good moment, anyway. You look like you're at the end of your rope. Please
get some sleep." he said instead.

"…Are you rejecting me? By sending me off to bed, like a disobedient child…?" She joked. "After
all the trouble I went through to come here alone?"

"No." He smiled. "My friend is kinda watching us, too."

"Ah." Yugito sighed. "Mood's not exactly the best for it."

"Another time, then?"

"I'd love to." She smiled a bit.

Yugito shook her head.

"I don't know where Karin is, either." Yugito admitted.

Naruto groaned.
"It's on me." Yugito said. "We kinda had a small… falling out, regarding the Raikage situation. I'll
have to apologize."

She turned a bit somber. She still didn't know what to do about it, of course.

"Well, I guess we're going to have to find her ourselves, then." Naruto shrugged.

"It shouldn't be too hard." Yugito smiled slightly. "I think she's staying close enough to keep an eye
on me."

Naruto lifted an eyebrow. Considering this was Karin, this could be a lot of distance to cover. Well,
no matter. He had Hanabi with him.

"Alright." He nodded. "Before I leave… I know you're not looking to join our village, but we have
a way to stay in contact through the link."

"...Sure, let's do that, then." She nodded, knowing where he was going with it. Having someone
who she could speak freely with about the whole situation would be very welcome.

Killer B… would be complicated. He only really listened to his brother.

"I assume it's something Ino came up with."

"You could say that." Naruto smiled. "So I'll just need to put a seal on you — no underhanded
tricks, I promise…"

"I assume Karin-san was not around, then." Hanabi said.

Naruto shook his head. "No. But she's in sensing range."

"How much is that?"

Naruto winced. "For Karin… Uh. Several dozens of kilometers of ground to cover."

To her credit, Hanabi didn't show any overt reaction.

"Well, let's get started right away, then. We'll have to stay away from Kumo patrols, as well."

"…Thanks, Hanabi."

She gave him a dubious look. "What for…?"

Umi

Toru had tried to contact his family.

Unfortunately, he didn't know where Sasuke or Shisui was. When it came to Itachi…
getting something inside the village was next to impossible, during war time. Especially to a clan
head. Everything was double, triple-checked.

Same went for Mikoto, or anybody who'd even take the time to listen to what they'd believe to be a
missing ninja's ramblings.

His swallows had scoured over the land, but had never managed to get close to either. Even if they
did, they would never manage to reach Sasuke, as well protected as he usually was.

He sighed. What was the point of having all this information, if nobody was going to use — or
believe them — anyway…?

Well, this made him want to double down on his idea.

"Alright." Toru said. "I'm calling a council meeting."

"A full one…?" Ino asked, amused.

"Ah." Toru hesitated. "No… I don't think we really need Orochimaru around today."

"Oh…? That's a surprise." Sakura grinned.

Toru scowled at both, and started speaking before they could continue.

"All this trash they pass as news gave me an idea." Toru said.

'Oh no.' Both Ino and Sakura thought at the same time. This never ended well.

Toru continued, ignoring their matching expressions.

"So I tried contacting some of the newspapers willing to listen. About Umi, the truth, all that."

"What came out of it?" Sakura asked.

He put one crumpled piece of paper on the table, unfolding it.

"SEA MURDER VILLAGE PUTS THE BLAME ON TAKI'S "IMMORTAL" - BUT VERY
MUCH UNSEEN - BOOGEYMAN"

Ino winced.

"Yeah." Toru nodded. "Nothing good. The quality goes way down during the war usually, with the
propaganda machine going at full speed, but hell… even the smaller newspapers don't give a shit,
apparently. Most just rejected my offer. Same when I mentioned the fact that we had many Taki
survivors here, willing to tell their story."

Sakura looked at him. "…What are you proposing, exactly?"

"Well, the obvious." He grinned. "We publish our own. Having something to do instead of just
training, training... and training some more will do us some good, I promise."

"Uh. Yeah okay, but it's going to be shut down in... about the time it takes for them to reach the
mainland." Ino frowned.

"Of course, of course." Toru waved off. "The controversy is going to be part of it. Just imagine.
A clandestine press..."

Ino and Sakura shared a look.

Toru finished. "Counter-propaganda." He waggled his fingers.

"…You know, this doesn't sound like a half-bad idea." Sakura finally admitted.
"Which makes me wonder why it came from you in the first place." Ino laughed.

Toru smiled too. "Hey, now. I may fuck around when we're not on mission, but this is important,
too. Besides, I'll need to find a way to bring more cute girls to Umi. Can't do that if the entire world
thinks we're responsible for the birth of the Uzumaki devil himself."

Ino snorted. "Lots of bravado, coming from someone who spends half of his free time in the same
coffee shop."

Toru clammed up. Sakura chuckled. "I'll be looking forward to getting to know Akemi in the
future."

"It's not like that." Toru looked away.

Ino held back laughter at his expense. "How would we do this?"

"Hmm… newspapers, leaflets, broadsheets, brochures… posters, too." Toru started to enumerate.
"I'm sure there are some former Taki citizens who can help with that."

"How do we distribute them? I can't imagine newspaper sellers will want to touch them with a ten-
foot pole. Not in the Great Villages, at least." Sakura mused.

"…That's fair." Toru admitted. "Let's not start with the villages, then. If it gets popular, people
who want to get their hands on it will find a way."

"No." Ino shook her head. "We can still distribute them there, too, from the very start. Bribing a
few people to carry them inside the villages should do the trick... If they manage, which I'm not so
sure about."

"What are we putting in?" Sakura asked.

"Actual news, less stupidity, the truth — nothing that compromises us, of course… Testimonies…"

"Uh, yeah, okay. But how do we make it stand out, then? I don't think just promising to tell the
truth to readers is going to do much."

"Let's find a gimmick, then." Ino shrugged.

Toru thought about it.

"You know what…? I'm going to write a few comics for it, then. For practice's sake." Toru
shrugged. "That's going to be the gimmick."

"Comics?" Sakura asked dubiously.

"Yup. The comics themselves won't be about the war going on, though. There's enough of that.
People might want to read something else." Toru said, with some steel in his voice. "So…
Something funny, I guess. Or mildly amusing, at least."

It would help with fixing Umi's growing infamy. And again, give them something to do, aside
from the endless training.

And who knows… Maybe the comics themselves would gather some attention, too?

The next day. Close to the Land of Water's Border.

Tracking down Karin was harder than expected.

She was aware of most villages' tracking techniques, whether it was Konoha's hound tracking,
Byakugan or insects… Suna's reliance on wind to carry chakra… Iwa's ability to locate chakra
through the earth...

And of course, as one of the best chakra sensors alive, she knew how to hide her chakra so
effectively that Naruto was basically a sitting duck here.

Hanabi and he searched in five kilometers radiuses, moving along the entire area, and then moving
on to the next.

They stopped to rest. Hanabi turned off her Byakugan.

"This is going to take forever, isn't it?" Naruto asked.

"Tracking can be." Hanabi said, simply. "But if she is around, we will find her."

Naruto smiled. "Thanks, Hanabi."

She went to sleep soon after his clones set up a warding perimeter.

One of his clones soon came back, sitting next to him.

"Aren't you supposed to keep watch?" Naruto asked him, lightly amused. He had put enough
protections around the place they were sleeping in, as well as an intent-barrier, so he wasn't overly
worried.

"I guess I was." The clone said, shrugging. His voice sounded a little bit off, something about the
cadence reminded him of someone else.

A sword appeared in Naruto's hand.

"Whoa, easy there." The clone laughed, holding his hands up.

"You're not who you say you are."

"No shit." The clone's transformation dispelled, revealing Karin.

She released her hold on her chakra, a powerful, golden light. That was her, all right.

"Aren't you supposed to keep up with your sensing training?" Karin asked him, amused.
 Lay Your Hearts

Taki's People Live On

by Chino Megumi, Umishinbun

"I did keep up with my training!" Naruto said, feeling vaguely offended.

"Ah, I guess I was just always better than you at these things." She grinned. "Anyways, I- Oof."

His bearlike hug took her by surprise.

"Easy there." She laughed. "You're breaking my ribs."

"Well… I missed you, you goofball."

"…Ah." Karin let out, feeling pleased. She hoped her cheeks didn't look too red. "…Me too,
stupid."

She hugged him back, pressing herself against him.

"It's good to be back."

"Welcome back, then."

Once more, he launched into the story of the last weeks.

"…Gods." Karin finally said.

His stay in Kumo had been rougher than she had expected. Well, it still beat being captured by
Akatsuki, because even with someone like Orochimaru, she wasn't sure they would have been able
to break him out of Ame itself.

Naruto misunderstood her silence. "Yeah, Toru found his way to Umi. Can you believe that?"

She shook her head, amused. "…I can, actually."

"What about your side?" He asked.

Karin shrugged.

"Not that much happened here... Fighting. War. Bad, but... yeah. I stayed here at all times to keep
an eye on Yugito. I was kind of cut off from the entire world, besides that. Which gave me the time
to try out a few ideas… as you might have noticed already when I sneaked up on you." She
grinned.

He huffed. "If it fools my chakra senses, it would fool almost anyone's."

"Almost being the key word here." Karin laughed.

"Something else…?" Naruto asked, trying to get away from the topic of his chakra sensing
prowess.
"A few things, yeah. I had too much time on my hands. Mostly for hiding, this sort of thing. And
this." She lifted her left hand.

Around each of Karin's fingers stood a golden ring.

"What's this?" He asked, taking her hand delicately.

"I just figured out a few things, yaknow. The fight with Sasori gave me some ideas."

Naruto urged her to go on.

"Why would I bother using a jutsu for things like healing, making stabby things… When I could
simply work some seals into an item and channel chakra through it?"

Now he was definitely curious. "Show me."

Karin extended four chains through her hand.

Each of them glowed with a different color; all of them had a golden glow to them. Blue, pure gold,
green, brown.

"The first one…" Karin said, waving the chain that started from her index. "…Is the most
straightforward. It stabs things." She laughed.

"The green one, the one from your ring finger… Is it for healing, then?"

She nodded. "That's right. It was kinda tricky to figure out, so I went with what I knew. My own
healing chakra."

"And the last two?"

Karin explained.

"You know…" He mused. "I could bind these seals to the metal directly."

Karin lifted an eyebrow. "Found a new workable method?"

He chuckled. "You could say that. Let's go."

"Go where?"

"Well." He grinned. "To Umi, of course."

"Eh…?" Karin asked, scrunching her face. "What about Yugito?"

"We have a way of contacting her directly, now."

"…Is this going to be enough?"

"I put a mark close by, too. And it's more efficient than just having one person staying here." He
shrugged.

"What about-"

"Do you actually want to stay here…?"

She snorted. "Of course not. Let me get a few of my things, and let's be on our way, then."
He woke up Hanabi, explained the whole situation to her.

"That's very… anticlimactic." She said, rubbing the sleep from her eyes."

He shrugged, as if to say 'what can I say?'

"Pleased to meet you, Hanabi." Karin grinned.

"Likewise, Karin-san." She nodded.

They followed Karin inside a dark cave.

"Don't tell me you lived here." Naruto chuckled.

"Of course not. I'm not a bandit." Karin scoffed.

"It's strange…" Hanabi said. "I can see there is something down there, now that I'm closer, but I
can't see what it is exactly."

"It's the same way neither of you noticed my chakra before I did yours. I stayed down there." Karin
smiled. "Nothing so complicated in theory, but putting it into practice was a pain."

Naruto gave her a curious glance. "So you are a cave-dweller?"

She continued, ignoring him.

"Well… To begin, the room is expanded from the inside. The original size of it was about human-
sized. Then… A wall of dense chakra — natural energy, obviously, I'm not going to be pumping
chakra in it every day, thank you very much — as a first layer. A chakra containing-sealing matrix
over it, not rigged to work with natural energy. It gets messy otherwise - something about the
energy not blending in properly. Then a wall of rock, to make the whole thing look as natural as
possible. Learning how to sense things through all that was a pain in the ass."

Naruto thought about it. "That would work. But… why such specific precautions?"

"Kiri has a Byakugan-wielder, apparently." Karin shrugged. "I'd rather not meet them, really."

Hanabi felt some offense at that, no matter the fact she wasn't part of the Hyūga clan anymore.

"…They do have the Byagukan?" She asked.

"Yeah. But I guess Konoha doesn't really like speaking of it too much." Karin just said. "Follow
me down the ladder."

They crawled in. She hadn't exaggerated, this was as narrow as it got.

Down the ladder, they reached a large room with a ceiling and walls whose colors had been
modified — how Karin had done it without Yugito's ability, Naruto didn't know — to look like the
sky.

"…How the hell did you manage to build this under here?" Naruto asked.

Karin grinned. "I got a little creative."

"Karin…"
"I'll explain once we're in Umi, don't get your panties in a twist." She waved off.

Karin got her things, collapsed the room after waving it a cheery goodbye, and before they knew it,
they were back in Umi in a blink.

And then, in front of their shared house. The lights were on, and voices came from inside.

"-telling you. It's no good!" Toru shrieked.

Karin paused. She looked at Hanabi, who just sighed.

"Let me see them, at least." Ino shot back.

There was the sound of a table being upended.

"Catch him!" Sakura roared.

"No way!" Toru said, leaping through the window. He landed in front of the group, his arms full of
crumpled up pages.

"…Karin?" Toru asked in amazement.

Ino and Sakura used his momentary break to jump on him, wrestling the papers away from his
hands.

They brought Karin back into the fold, celebrating her return warmly.

No alcohol involved, since they were training most days.

"You're drawing comics again?" Naruto asked, amused.

Toru shrugged. He was still somewhat sour about his work — that he still deemed unfit — being
read by the others.

"We're going to be pushing our own newspapers." Ino said, still reading through Toru's sketches.
Toru glared at her, and she ignored him. "You can stay angry, but it was your idea in the first
place."

"It's not our fault that you're self-conscious about your work." Sakura laughed.

"You can keep your mouth shut!" He shot back. "Nobody ever saw the book you're writing. I'm
starting to doubt it even exists."

Sakura reddened. "…It's just not ready yet. I'm working on my editorial skills, that's why."

"Why the hell do you think I don't want you guys to read it now?!" Toru squeaked.

"Because-"

"Those are great." Ino cut Sakura off. Karin watched the whole thing, bemused.

"You…" Toru blinked. "Really…? This… piece of shit?"

"Ah come on, now." She laughed. "I'm not saying they're perfect. You can definitely work on some
things. But I like it!"
Toru looked away, scratching the back of his head. "Haha. I'm glad, then."

Naruto slipped an arm around his shoulders. "Ah, the young one is feeling shy." He laughed.

"No way." Toru grumbled.

Hanabi looked over Ino's shoulder, looking thoughtful. "…You know, I expected worse from you."

"That's probably the best compliment you're going to get from her." Sakura grinned.

"Oh… But thank you, Hanabi-tan." Toru said, very dryly.

"Can I ask you something…?" Karin asked a bit hesitantly.

It was only the two of them, as the others were still inside. Naruto and Karin were standing near the
forge.

"Sure." Naruto shrugged. "Is it about this?"

"No." Karin chuckled. "Though crafting items with ethereal fire sure is something."

"Soulforging."

"Huh?"

"The word you're looking for is soulforging." Naruto grinned. He was mostly fucking with her,
because he called it whatever he felt like, usually. Sometimes he mixed up the names by accident,
too.

Karin laughed. "I almost missed the terrible names. But no, that's not it."

"Really? Does it have anything to do with spending a month alone and horny?"

"Fuck off." She laughed. Then she quieted down a bit. "Not really, but there is something."

"Ask away."

"Something changed between Ino and you, didn't it?" Karin asked, somewhat hesitantly.

"You could say that." Naruto laughed.

"Are you…?" She asked.

"Together?" Karin asked. He thought about it. "Yes."

"Oh." Karin deflated. "Together together…? Or is there-"

"Any room for good ol' Karin?" Naruto joked.

"…Yeah." She said, voice a bit thick.

"Take a guess." He chuckled.

"Don't be a dick." She sounded mad, this time. "This is not the kind of thing to joke about."

"Sorry." He apologized. "I really thought you understood what I meant, last time."
Karin paused.

"I haven't changed my mind." Naruto chuckled.

He pulled her close, kissing her in a way that made her heart race.

Karin went back inside and Naruto stayed for a little while longer.

Right after he was done with Karin's first ring, - he just wanted to get one of them out of the way,
really - Toru appeared, coming out of the house.

"Hey, there." Naruto greeted him with a smile. Toru seemed in a hurry, though. "Didn't expect you
to leave the little part-"

Toru's punch caught his straight in the jaw.

"What the fuck?!"

Again?

"You're such a fucking asshole!" Toru screamed, grabbing him by his lapels.

"What…?"

"I'm talking about Ino! You—!"

"What is wrong with Ino?" Naruto asked, wiping blood off his lips, something cold settling in his
stomach.

"What is wrong with Ino?!" Toru screamed, ready to punch him again. "What is wrong with Ino is
that you're two-timing her!"

Naruto's expression turned entirely confused for a second. Then he started to laugh. Toru went to
punch him again, but Naruto caught it easily, this time.

"You find this funny, you dumb fucking-"

"I think." Naruto laughed. "I think you've got the wrong impression, here, Toru."

Naruto explained.

"…What?" Toru asked again, blinking. "And she's… fine with it? They're fine with it?"

"Yup." Naruto shrugged. The he thought about it some more. "Well, they say so, at least. We'll see
how it goes. I wouldn't blame them if it became too much."

"So… Ino… and… Karin?" Toru asked.

Naruto felt it was better not to mention Yugito, no matter how casual that was.

"...Sure." He just said, instead.

"So… is this… somewhat serious?" Toru asked awkwardly.

"I love them. Ino loves me." Naruto shrugged. "Don't know about Karin."
"…"

"I'll... forgive you for that punch." Naruto laughed. "Don't do it again."

Toru's look seemed somewhere between anger, frustration and admiration.

"I knew I shouldn't have listened to Kakashi!" Toru cursed, pulling at his hair. "'Muscles don't
matter' or whatever he said about looks. It clearly does!"

"You think they're with me because of… my muscles?" Naruto asked, amused.

"Of course! What else would it be?" Toru shouted. "Your charming personality?! Hell no!"

"…Why do you have dried blood on your face…?" Ino asked, sitting next to Karin.

"It's nothing." He laughed. "Toru forgot to read the room."

She gave him a dubious look. "…Okaaay."

Naruto shrugged.

Instead of answering, he just showed her the memory, just as blunt and careless as he could
sometimes be. Ino stiffened, passing through many emotions.

Part of her definitely felt jealous. But well, ever since the moment she had come back, Karin and
Naruto had been involved with each other. So this wasn't that different. Except for the fact that she
knew he loved her… and Karin, too. Loving the same man usually meant trouble... and it
was Naruto, on top of it.

It was a strange mix of emotions. But she would manage, she knew.

So for now, Ino settled for palming her face, groaning in embarrassment.

Hanabi and Toru left — how these two were living together was still a mystery to the rest of them.

Honestly, things would make a lot more sense if they were actually fucking. But there didn't seem
to be any sort of romantic interest for the other, in either. Toru had called it 'incestuous' — my
cousin's wife's sister? guhhh. Hanabi had just laughed at the idea, and then laughed some more, as
if this were the stupidest thing she had ever heard. She could be a bit of a dick, honestly.

Sakura took a look at the three of them, realized the looming situation, and disappeared into her
room, suddenly very tired. And yawning.

She left them alone in the room.

'Fuck. This is awkward.' Naruto thought. And he had thought he was impermeable to awkwardness
in general.

Silence stretched. All three of them were somewhat aware of what the other two were thinking.

"…Yeaaah." Naruto said, eloquently.

More silence.
"…Why did Toru look at you like this when he left?" Karin asked.

Naruto sighed. Might as well start there.

"I told him about us."

"Us… two… or us three…?" Karin asked.

"Both." Ino finished for him, not meeting anyone's eyes.

"Oh." Karin just said, suddenly nervous. Despite her early bluster, now… she had to actually face
the reality of it. "That."

Naruto closed his eyes again. It had seemed like such a great idea, before.

…No, still now, actually.

"Look…" He started, feeling his resolve coming close to crumbling once both of them turned to
look at him. His traitorous throat was pretty dry, now.

Karin and Ino wore identical questioning expressions. He would have laughed, but he had
something to finish here.

"I love both of you." Nice and to the point. He was almost proud of himself.

Karin stiffened. "…Wha-"

"You already told me, yes." Ino said, her face sligthly red.

"He… did?" Karin asked her, whirling around.

"…He didn't tell you before tonight?" Ino asked. Karin shook her head. "That he loved you or…
us?"

"Neither." Karin shrugged, looking lost for words.

It was Ino's turn to whirl around, an angry expression upon her face.

"What the fuck?!" She got in his face.

Naruto deflated like a balloon — one that suddenly found itself in a particularly messy situation.

"I didn't... understand, back then." He said weakly.

"Still!" Ino roared.

"…Yeah." Naruto rubbed his temples, groaning.

"You… love me?" Karin asked, her voice so small that Ino suddenly quieted down as well.

Naruto looked at her. Her red eyes were fixed into his, looking for something. And also showing
him just how vulnerable she felt. There was no way he could leave her hanging like this.

Naruto nodded. "I'm in love with you, Karin."

Her mouth hung open again.

"B-but…" She tried. "I… thought."

"Hey." Naruto smiled easily. "It's fine if you don't, really. I told you already. And the same goes for
you, Ino, if you're not okay with any of this..."

Ino huffed. "I don't back down."

"I had the feeling, by now." He said fondly. "So yeah… That's it."

"You never said…" Karin muttered.

"Yeah. I'm… somewhat bad with feelings."

Ino mouthed 'somewhat' back at him. He glared at her.

Karin whispered something.

"What was that?" Naruto asked. Ino groaned. It was so obvious, why couldn't he see?

"I said I love you, too." Karin said again, more confidently.

Ino felt something like a squeal rising inside her chest. This… was precious. She could-

Karin broke the moment.

"And Ino is pretty hot, too." She finished, looking her up and down. "I don't mind sharing, if it's
with her."

"…What?!"

"Oh, come on." Karin teased, some of her confidence returning, now that they were back into more
familiar territory. "Do you really think I didn't expect you and Naruto to get involved at some
point?"

"That's not-"

"You've been looking like you want to-"

Ino grabbed her lips between her fingers, face flushed red. "I get it, I get it. You can shut up."

"I'm still here, you know." Naruto chuckled.

"So what. Who are you, even…?" Ino glared at him. "You got us in this mess in the first place.
Take some responsibility."

"You're right." Naruto nodded, with a dumb smile upon his face. "I love you girls. Now, why don't
you both come closer…?"

Karin did so first, nestling herself against his larger frame happily.

"I missed this, y'know." She said.

He laughed. "Me too."

"Aren't you coming, Ino?" Karin asked.

Ino hesitated. If there was a time to back off, now was probably the time. They would understand,
both of them, she was sure. Maybe there would be some awkward moments later on,
considering everything, but she was sure they would move past it. She could-

'Gods. Who the hell am I kidding…?' She thought, and the feeling went through their shared bond.

She was theirs, just as they were hers.

Ino threw caution to the wind.

 Training for the Job III

The Reasons Behind Uzushiogakure's Destruction

by Okuda Masanori, Umishinbun

Sleeping arrangements had been a bit complicated to figure out.

Ino had been sleeping with Naruto for the whole time Karin had been gone, and she wasn't feeling
ready to sleep with both of them. That's why she went back to her own — Karin's, technically —
room to sleep.

…Is what she would have liked to say, for pride's sake.

Instead, she passed out sandwiched in between Karin and Naruto. And that's where she woke up
too, groaning.

At the very least, they didn't have sex. This would have been too much for Ino. Too… sinful,
maybe.

Well, she tried to convince herself… It wasn't that different from a sleepover, then. Except for the
nudity. But they had seen each other naked already, all of them. It wasn't so different.

Yeah, that was about the same thing, Ino decided. She went back to sleep.

Toru went to meet Naruto.

They were supposed to start training in a little while, and for once, he had woken up early.

He leaped upon Naruto's balcony, expecting him to be up, as usual.

Toru froze.

Was his eye playing tricks on him…?

He turned his Sharingan on, not because he was into voyeurism, mind you, but because he needed
to make sure this was real. There seemed to be one too many people there. Blond, blond, red.

…No, this was no illusion. And that meant Naruto had been serious, the night before. He had
thought it was a joke in very bad taste, the sort that… Yeah, the sort that he himself would have
played, never admitting the truth, likely.

Apparently not.

"This fucker." He cursed Naruto's name. Whispering. Feeling some vicarious pride. Why did some
people seem to be born with all the luck?

He went out silently, and pretended to ring the doorbell.

Orochimaru was currently busy with his own research.

Which meant he sent a clone to train the women in a few specific things, and told Toru to help
Naruto with another.

"I'm not sure why you need training against the Sharingan, really." He said, arms folded.

"Are you afraid of losing your breadwinner?" Naruto asked wryly.

"Hell no." Toru shook his head. "But it's like he's preparing us to fight against…"

"Konoha." Naruto finished. "Nah. Or not really, at least. But considering we might be in situations
where your clan members are around, being prepared will help. It could mean the difference
between a non-lethal takedown and…"

He stopped himself, but Toru was already grimacing.

"Yeah." Toru said, his voice a bit rough. "I get that. But why you specifically, if we're doing it at
all? Wouldn't everyone benefit from it?"

"I think he believes I'm more likely to have someone try it on me. Because of the Nine-Tails."
Naruto shrugged. "Tobi, likely. We'll train with the others later."

Toru gave him a long look, before he nodded.

"Well." He sighed. "Let's get started, then. Damn, this really goes against everything I was taught
about growing up."

"…Weren't you already the black sheep of the family?"

"Oh, fuck off. Anyway… here's how the basic genjutsu works-"

"I know about this one already. Eye contact, suggesting thoughts and actions, making you act a
particular way…"

"Yeah." Toru said dryly. "That's the basic one. It can possibly work on Bijuu, as you might have
seen recently… Ah. Also, the more people you take control of at the same time, the easier it is for
them to escape."

Naruto nodded. He had known about all this.

"Now, I assume you've heard a few things about the Mangekyo, too…?"

"Some."

"Well, forget most of it. Nobody in the village knows what they're talking about."

"You don't have it either, though."

"And I thank the gods for that. I'd be blind as shit by now."

"…Blind?"

"It comes with different abilities for most people. But using them blinds its user. Except Sasuke,
apparently, but the guy has a Beast in his belly, so yeah. Pick your poison."

"I see…"

Toru hesitated.
"Look, I really hope we never fight against either of them, but there are three Mangekyo users in
the clan now. Sasuke, Itachi and my brother." Toru said, slowly.

Naruto said nothing. He could understand the position Toru was in.

"Orochimaru said that Tobi has it, too. Some intangibility ability." Naruto said.

'Kamui'. The voice named the ability, and Naruto ignored it.

"Oh."

"Does Kakashi have it?"

"How could I forget…? He does. It's something he calls Kamui." Toru started. Naruto winced. "I
don't know what it does, because… I never asked."

Some intangibility, too? And should he really trust this voice...? Probably not. Naruto stayed silent.

"And… the others…?" He still asked.

Toru sighed.

"Look…" Naruto said. "I get you're in a weird spot right now, so if you don't want to talk about
it… don't. We'll figure it out."

"It's not that…" Toru hesitated. "It's just… they are… were my teacher… my family. And…"

He stared off into the distance.

"…Then again, I'm an Umi ninja, now. I hope to be able to set foot in Konoha someday, but…"

Toru turned resolute.

"Itachi has two abilities. Hinokagutsuchi, which allows him to create black flames close to him,
and Tsukuyomi, one of the most powerful genjutsu that exists. Basically, if he makes eye contact,
you're dead. Otherwise, he's probably going to kill you with his flames in close range."

"One of the most powerful…?" Naruto asked. That didn't sound too good.

"I'm getting there." Toru continued, now on a roll. "Sasuke's is pretty straightforward. Kōjin, which
allows him to control the flames' heat and power… and Kajin, which allows him to shape them.
Basically, even if you don't make eye contact, you're dead. It has an incredible range. Oh! He
summons them through his sword, amplified by Wind."

Naruto paused.

"Yeah." Toru nodded. "That's-"

"I kinda want to fight him." Naruto said.

"…Man, you're fucked up."

"What about your brother?"

Toru sighed. "This might be the most dangerous, in a way. With the others, you at
least know something happened. Shisui… has an ability called Kotoamatsukami. In both eyes.
However, the ability is a bit different in each of them. It places the victim under mind control."

Naruto blinked. "…Without knowing it even happened…?"

"Yes."

"So for example, could you be under its effects now?"

"Yeah. You or I." Toru nodded.

"…For real?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah. But if it reassures you, Shisui didn't use it for a while — he says there's a long delay
between uses. That's what he told me, at least."

"Do you trust him?"

"Yes." Toru just nodded. "He's been sent away, recently, too. I think he's supposed to use it on one
of the enemy leaders. Probably Iwa."

Naruto said nothing. The very idea of it terrified him, honestly.

"…Go on. You said there were two versions of it." He said.

"One version is actually dispellable. That is… if you notice, which is not as easy as it sounds. It
implants a suggestion inside its victim, and does not require eye contact."

Toru paused.

"The second version, the more powerful one, requires eye contact. It goes to the brain directly. This
one is the unnoticeable one, and impossible to counter. Once it gets you, it gets you."

Naruto let out a long sigh.

"Basically… If you don't make eye contact, you're probably fucked anyway. Unless somebody
notices it. Hell, even you yourself, even though I doubt that it's going to happen. Now… If you
make eye contact… you're worse than dead. Because you'll be doing whatever he gave you the
order to do."

That had given Naruto a lot to think about.

Well, there weren't many ways for him to protect himself, it seemed… But he would try. He could
extrapolate a few things from what Toru had said.

Toru, who had seemed conflicted during the whole time… and had ended up saying he needed to
be somewhere, before leaving abruptly. Probably to be alone for a while.

Naruto used the time alone to prepare.

Karin had taught Naruto how the chakra-hiding matrix she had come up with worked, in more
detail.

They would take the next few days to layer it around the village, instead of the rougher version
they had been using all along.
Some of the principles used could likely be used to hide a person entirely, apparently, but as it was
now, none of them were willing to use it anywhere close to the enemy. What good was having your
chakra be invisible if you could barely use it in the meantime…?

Karin and he would have to work on it.

Over two days, Naruto also finished crafting her three other rings. As well as the others' battle
armor.

And a replica of Toru's sword, in case Sasuke decided it was finally time to pull his weapon back.
You could never be too ready. Not that Toru seemed to be too happy about the gift.

Orochimaru stood in front of Naruto.

"It really pains me to admit…" He started with a slight smile. "As of now, you are stronger than
Anko. You taking on Kakuzu on your own cemented it."

Naruto lifted an eyebrow. "I'm… surprised that you're willing to admit it at all."

It was a pleasant feeling, though. He could still remember trying to play catch up for years, with
figures like Anko, Orochimaru himself, standing so far beyond him. And everybody had become
so much stronger while he had just… disappeared.

"With more time, I believe you have the potential to become stronger than I." Orochimaru said.

"…What? Really?" Naruto blinked. To him, Orochimaru stood head and shoulders above the rest
of the shinobi world. Maybe he was biased, but…

And to hear him say it so casually, too.

Well. He didn't know if he felt afraid or excited, right now. Because with it came the pressure of
expectations.

Orochimaru continued. "Unfortunately, time is something we don't have much of."

"Yeah." Naruto nodded.

"I am certain that Nagato took Konan's death… hard."

Again with that.

"Were they that close?"

"They were." Orochimaru left it at that. He continued.

"Here's the good thing. You have speed and stamina… Your strength and close-range ninjutsu
make you hard... even impossible to deal with for most ninja." Orochimaru said.

Naruto just nodded. This was the truth. It wasn't a perfect solution, though, because…

"The problem is that we're not facing most ninja. Which means that while we will build upon
this… You will need a way to deal with the people we are likely to be facing. All of them."

"Yeah."
"The remaining Akatsuki members that we know about are…"

Naruto cut him off.

"Yuki Haku, Kisu Akane, Hoshio Yasuhiro, Sasori, Uzumaki Ryūjin, Hyūga Neji, Momochi Zabuza,
Hoshigaki Kisame… Tobi. Uzumaki Nagato. Did I forget someone?"

"No." Orochimaru looked amused. "No. These are all them members that we know of."

He nodded.

"Though if you want to be… thorough about it…"

"In case the worst happens?"

"Yes. You might want to prepare to face the Kage currently in power… and their possible
successors. Luckily for you, I know most of their fighting styles. I shall help you prepare."
Orochimaru finished.

"…Thank you."

"But of course!" Orochimaru laughed. "Who else would get rid of our enemies for me, otherwise?"

Training… was brutal.

There was no other word for it.

Well, it was the same for all of them, likely, since Orochimaru had sent clones to each member of
the group.

Orochimaru was a perfectionist. Which meant that he was an excellent teacher… one who
expected the best out of his students.

"Unfortunately." Orochimaru's disembodied voice called. "I can't use Ice Release."

Chakra moved. Naruto's Lightning Cloak crackled on, and he moved just in time to dodge the
man's strike.

He could feel the man's horribly large chakra presence, and saw the glimmer of a horn. Sage
Mode, then.

"So bear with me, and I shall simply use Water and Wind at the same time. Hopefully, my speed
shall be sufficient to emulate the Yuki's."

Orochimaru laughed, and disappeared again. Water and Wind mixed together with natural energy.
The entire training grounds seemed to freeze over.

'No Ice Release, huh. It's close enough to me.'

"You know, sensei…" Naruto started, sitting down in full lotus.

"Yes?" The man asked.

"If I didn't know any better, I would say you're trying to teach me something, right now."
'He is.' The voice said, amused, and Naruto ignored it.

Orochimaru lifted an eyebrow. "Why would you say anything like this, now?"

"There have been suspicious amounts of sitting still, right after training. And it's not really like you
to talk about things like the world's pulse in such esoteric words."

Naruto stared at him, one eye open.

"I'm not sure what you're implying." Orochimaru shrugged. "And please remember that
I can't teach you how to use natural energy. My contract with the Snakes forbids it."

"Of course, sensei." He nodded.

"Luckily for you, the Hiding in the Mist jutsu is something I… picked up over the years."

The voice echoed.

Naruto closed his eyes. The only way to really anticipate an attack here was to rely on his instincts,
feeling the slightest changes in the air. It was hard.

"…Does the poor man even know that you stole his techniques?"

"Woman." Orochimaru corrected, the sound coming from every direction. "And I don't think she
cares very much, from where she is now."

There.

An upward slash, starting low.

Naruto barely managed to dodge, with a yelp. His sensei laughed.

Of course, the constant rush of adrenaline coursing through their bodies that came from the ever-
increasing training intensity played on their minds.

A good fuck was a nice way to relieve the tension that came with people's baser instincts. Luckily,
there were three of them in the same situation, only too happy to comply.

Their roommate usually gave them a bit more space, right after training, no matter who came home
first.

"Damn." Toru grunted.

"What is it?" Naruto asked, somewhat tiredly. Scratch the somewhat.

The constant training against Orochimaru, the physical conditioning, his time forging items and
working on jutsu… His intimate life. He was back to sleeping as much as anybody else, just to
manage.

"I realized I didn't manage to get anyone's bounty, last time." The Uchiha whined.

Naruto lifted an eyebrow. "Of course you did. We got two Akatsuki."

"I didn't kill them." Toru stressed.

"So what…? We're splitting evenly." Naruto shrugged.

"Really…? That's not the way we used to do things, in the Hunting corps." Well… He and his
squad had been pretty strange, even for the Hunting corps.

"We're not in the hunting corps." Naruto frowned.

"…Nice." Toru finally whispered. "Kakuzu is worth a shitton."

Naruto mulled it over. "But I don't know if we're getting rid of them right away. Especially
Kakuzu's head."

Ino was still working on that one, keeping it sealed tightly when she was not scouring his mind in
order to prevent the brain's degradation.

"Why not? What's the point?"

"The man used to stash money away for decades."

Toru blinked.

"…Oh shit, you're right."

Naruto nodded. "And considering how much of a bastard that guy was… I don't exactly have any
qualms about taking it away."

Toru whistled.

"Ino gave me an estimation." Naruto continued. "We're going to have to find how to get the money
itself, but she's working on it."

Among other things. There was still the whole refugee situation to oversee.

"Is it a lot of money?"

Naruto just chuckled. "You could say that."

Zabuza's sword was lying in a scroll, useless to Naruto.

He couldn't figure out a good use for it. He understood the properties it had been imbued with, and
not for the first time, he wondered how Kiri had forged these weapons. But then again… the fact
that there were only seven of them, all of them revered as tools of an age foregone…

Well, it made him think the art had been lost a long time ago. The notion that something was more
powerful just because it was older was a pretty simplistic one, and one that didn't really hold.

It could be true, when it came to chakra quality… But that was about it.

What was true was that many techniques had been lost through time. Sometimes, because
a better way was discovered.

Sometimes, just through sheer circumstance.

Well… That still didn't give him a good reason to keep it. It was decent steel, and now he knew
how to make a similar weapon… but why would he?
What use did he have for a weapon that drank blood…?

He snorted. The man who had made this weapon either had awful taste — but great skill — or a
very peculiar sense of humor.

"Ryūjin has some devastating ninjutsu, it is true." Orochimaru admitted, deep into his monologue.

Naruto's world caught on fire. Well, it was Lightning and Wind, technically, but the way the earth
was scorched… Was this how his own opponents felt...?

"And he has the chakra reserves to throw such things around."

Naruto's Lightning Cloak shielded him from the worst of it. His eardrums still blew out, his arms
looked like they had been roasted.

"I would say he's the most dangerous one after the Uchiha and Nagato." Orochimaru paused, still in
Sage Mode. "He or Sasori."

Naruto panted, standing up with some trouble. His wounds were already healing. And it was no
wonder, as he was expanding massive amounts of chakra to do so.

"Maybe I should take care of him myself. We fought in the War, but that was long ago. I would
love to see how far along he has come, as a fellow ninjutsu specialist."

"No." Naruto shook his head. "You can leave him to Sakura, Toru and I."

"Oh?" Orochimaru smiled. "Something personal?"

"…You could say that." Naruto said with a dark grin.

"Very well, then."

A wall of Water slammed into Naruto.

"But you'd better learn how to fight this, then."

That was worse than Kakuzu. Three elements, instead of five, sure… but the intensity of them
more than made up for it. Idly, he wondered if the Uzumaki himself even was this powerful.

"Because compared to Nagato…"

Wind rose in a hurricane.

"Even Ryūjin's prized ninjutsu seems like a child's attempt at playing ninja."

Naruto barely escaped it, coiling his chakra upon himself and leaping through. He had not
even known he could run this fast.

The whole training ground was ruined.

"Huh." Orochimaru mused. "I should really have Karin get started on building actual training
grounds."

The old man had been right.

Having an outlet was needed for a shinobi. Naruto hadn't even realized the amount of stress he had
been dealing with recently.

Besides the time he spent with his friends, — all of them in half-dazed exhaustion, just as he was
— playing the koto was his only solace. He played and he played the songs he remembered from
his childhood. When he had them committed to his memory entirely, he got started with those that
he could not remember fully.

Toru sometimes stared, and Naruto knew he was likely learning to play these songs on the koto just
by doing so. How convenient.

Naruto started making up songs, some with lyrics — Hanabi was a good singer, which she said was
a Hyūga thing, too, shrugging — and some were more abstract. Closer to an emotion than anything
else.

Konoha on a Winter Night. Lessons With an Old Monkey. Thunder on the Horizon.

He often played in the evenings, when his friends and he gathered in their home. If any of them
minded…

Well, they didn't say so.

Naruto also set out to master what seemed to be untameable.

The mysterious purple lightning, that he had tentatively dubbed storm. Wind and lightning;
transformed.

Kakashi's hand went through the man's heart.

Like he had done for what felt like a thousand times already, to shinobi and kunoichi from all over
the world. Even now, he hated this squelching sound. But to him, that was his way of asking for
penance, as well. Turning the weapon he had created…

The one he had used on the girl who had loved him.

Turning it against Konoha's enemies was the only way he knew to repent. For if he had to be a
weapon… He might as well be Konoha's sharpest. Only in this could he find meaning. Or
justification.

He pushed the man off his arm with a grunt. He was exhausted… but he had managed. Now he
still had to leave this god-forsaken place, which might prove to be even harder than entering.

Kakashi steeled his heart. He would manage, because he had to. Because there was no one else.
Besides…

A change in leadership could only hurt Suna. No matter how good Chigusa was on the battlefield.
Or rather, because of it.

It wasn't every day a Kazekage died, after all.

Now... to make it look like Explosion Release - Iwa's trademark - instead of his too recognizable
handiwork...
In Umi, too focused on Nagato's plans, a few people forgot they had other enemies.
 A Terrible Mistake

Economic Downturns - Wind's Reasons for Fighting a Losing War

by Takeda Hisao, Umishinbun

Days turned into weeks.

A wave of wind-enhanced fire rushed at Naruto.

He pulled out a scroll from his personal void — Ino still insisted that Spirit Room was
an offensively bad name.

His chakra senses told him what the attack was.

'It's wind and fire, woven together at about a ratio of about one to three.'

He put a seal down on the empty paper, with a single touch.

"Seal." He called, extending it in front of him.

It worked. The wall of flame curved around him, leaving him untouched.

He breathed in.

"Very nice." Orochimaru called. "Now, I don't quite think this is usable in battle as it is now."

"No." Naruto admitted. "Probably not."

"But it will be, soon. At least for fire."

Naruto nodded.

"Back to stealth training, then." Orochimaru called.

"Sure."

Naruto approached Hanabi silently.

He could pretend to be doing it for training reasons, hiding his chakra and all that, but to be fair, he
was mostly doing it for fun.

He raised an eyebrow. The Hyūga was engrossed in a book. That she couldn't tell he was coming
was surprising enough. Curiosity rising, he took a look.

'-Saburo returned her kiss, his hands sliding down Yumiko's back, holding her flush against him,
against Takayuki... and in between their strong chests. Takayuki couldn't believe how much
he wanted this, astonished by the depth of his desire, the intensity of his longing. Leaning in, he slid
a hand into Yumiko's hair. She broke the kiss with a gasp at the sudden touch, looking over at
Takayuki with wide eyes. Saburo, in front of her, smiled. Like he'd done in her bedroom, Takayuki
carefully closed his hand into a fist, pulling just enough so she would know he was here. With her
held in place between the two of them, he asked, "Do you want mor-
Naruto carefully stepped away.

"You know…" Ino started, her head on his chest.

Considering Naruto and she slept together with Karin, — and were not quite at the point where Ino
felt comfortable having sex with someone else in the room, even though it was Karin — they
usually found some privacy during the day.

Well, whenever both of them were free at the same time, which was pretty rare.

"Yeah?" Naruto asked.

"I'm starting to think the bond might be influencing me. All of us." She said, pretty calmly,
considering the way it made Naruto's heart sink.

"…I have been afraid of it."

"You told me, before we bonded." Ino said. "So I'm not blaming you, either way."

"…"

"I didn't know what I got myself into, sure, but I still decided to do it." She smiled at him.

"…Thanks." Naruto said, his voice rough.

"Besides, I feel fine." She shrugged, trying to sound casual. "But that's not it. The effect of it is
stronger since we started making love, too."

"How strong?" He asked tersely.

She gave him a small smile. "I can't say how much, exactly. But it seems that some of your
emotions… some of your desires are blending with our own."

"…Fuck." Naruto cursed. He thought about it quickly."I will find a way to break it-"

Ino shook her head. "Nah."

"…No? Why…?"

"I don't want to." Ino shrugged.

"But-"

"I like what we have, honestly. With Karin, too."

"Me too, but I-"

Ino cut him off.

"Also, it's just too useful to be discarded." Ino shrugged. "And I think it goes both ways, to some
degree. Our hopes, dreams also influence you."

"So we've been…"

"Yeah. Changing each other slightly." Ino gave him a wry smile. "So be careful who you people in
the loop, huh? Huh?"
He winced. "…Yugito was an accident."

Ino just nodded, somewhat amused.

"Besides…" Ino began, a bit more somberly. "It feels... like a permanent thing. I don't think we can
break it in the first place. Or what would happen then."

Naruto stayed silent.

"Ino, I'm-"

"Don't apologize." Ino shrugged. "I've made my peace with it."

"Do you think it's the reason I'm…" Naruto searched for words.

"More in tune with your emotions?" She laughed. "Maybe, yeah."

She then hesitated. "Is it the only reason you…?"

"No." He cut her off. "I loved you before."

"Good." She said, relieved. "Good."

"What about you?"

"The same goes for me." Then Ino paused. "Well, I can't tell for sure how I would have felt about
the whole… multiple lovers thing, especially at first." She laughed.

"…Wait, do you mean…?" He asked, a bit horrified.

"Hold your horses. I don't think this can create feelings out of nowhere. Maybe it helped…
smoothen the transition, but that's it." She insisted.

"Are you saying you would have been fine being with me and Karin…?"

She reddened a bit. "…Yeah, maybe."

"Ah." He said, somewhat dumbly. Relieved, too.

"Anyway. To me, all of this is mostly positive." Ino shrugged. "These are my emotions, mine."

"You're taking this surprisingly well."

"I'm Yamanaka." Ino smiled. "This is not so bad, compared to some of the shit we see on a daily
basis."

"…" He didn't really want to ask.

"We'll still need to explain it to the others, though."

Naruto winced. "Yeah."

"…So what?" Karin asked.

"Well-"
"It's not as though you did it on purpose… or like it's changed me in a bad way. Ino said it
can't create any emotions either. There's nothing unwilling about this, as far as I'm concerned."

"…It's still influencing you. Even this could be part of it."

"Sure. But that goes for you, too." Karin grinned. "Did we actually give you some humanity, by
accident?"

Naruto chuckled a bit. "Nah, no worries on that side."

"I don't mind if our… souls get a bit entwined." Karin shrugged. "It's like... evening things out.
Taking the best out of everyone, downplaying the bad parts… Besides, I think the effect is pretty
negligible, aside from lovers."

Naruto gave her an inquisitive look.

"Sakura had it for years, and she had some radically different ideas about morality, compared to
yours. Well... Back then, at least. And Toru…" Karin pointed at him. The Uchiha was listening
carefully, not saying much, for once.

"What about Toru?" Toru asked.

"You don't seem to be falling in love with Naruto or anything like that… are you?" Karin asked
with a grin.

"Nope. Should I be?"

"What do you feel when you look at him?"

"Vague irritation and a clear desire to beat him up." Toru nodded.

Naruto sighed.

"See?" Karin asked. "No big deal, here.

"…Now that you mention it." Toru started. "I feel a wave of… Something."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, somewhat worried.

"Ah." Toru moaned. "What is this overwhelming lust taking over me...?"

"…" Naruto grunted.

"My. You're so big… and blond." Toru breathed out, coming closer.

"Alright, get away from me, please." Naruto grabbed his face in his hand, blocking him.

"Come on, man. I need this."

Karin's hysterical laughter echoed in the room. Naruto gave up on trying to make his point.
Lunatics, all of them.

The next day.

Naruto reached for Yugito through the bond.

He started to explain.

'…and yeah, that's about it.' He finished.

'Well.' Yugito began. 'I knew this.'

'…What?'

'Kinda. I noticed when our chakra met. We joined souls there. That's probably where you picked it
up.'

Naruto paused. He had assumed it was on him, through his connection with Magatama.

'I never really encountered somebody also linked to Souls, and I assume you didn't either.' Yugito
said.

'That's right.'

'So it kinda took me by surprise, back then. But… It's not something that will change you in a way
you really don't want, though.

'…No?'

'Nah. It's closer to understanding. Like Ninshū, I'd say.'

'What's that?'

'Connecting people's souls, allowing people to understand each other without communication.'

'I've never heard of this.'

'I'm not surprised.' She laughed. 'It existed a thousand of years ago, according to Matatabi. It is
what became Ninjutsu.'

'How..?'

'It was weaponized by your… ancestor. Indra'

'…Of course it was.' He said with distaste. Half the world's shit seemed to be link to the man, in a
way. And the other...? Maybe his brother, then.

'That's not on you, though.'

'Guess not.'

It was pretty strange, feeling responsible for the actions of a man who had lived a thousand years
before himself.

'So… this bond thing?'

'I might be biased, what with Matatabi's opinion and all... But as far as I see it, it's a good thing.
Of course, it could be dangerous if put in the wrong hands… but I don't think you're quite there.'

'But… Isn't it brainwashing, in a way…?'

Yugito laughed.
'Why would you call true understanding brainwashing…? The thing goes both ways.'

He relayed the information to the others and actually managed to sleep again that night.

"You've made some progress with your ability, you said. Let's see it." Orochimaru said.

Naruto closed his eyes.

The Storm seemed to answer him more readily when he gave in to his emotions. Which was
something he was not really used to.

He thought of finding Ino in Konoha's underground.

He thought of Taki burning, of the same thing happening to Umi.

He thought of his fear of failing. Letting all of his loved ones down. Of failing, and getting them all
killed.

Of his need to become stronger. Of feeling helpless.

He needed it.

The power was so close, surging into his veins, making his body burn. His heart roared into his
chest, his muscles shook, and his chakra seemed to turn to pure power.

He let out a primal scream, as both Ryu and Tengu ignited.

His emotions were going haywire, the whispers of anger and wrath and fear and destruction filled
his mind.

The Storm. He was-

Purple chakra flickered around him, and he tried to control it.

It flickered away and he was left gasping for breath.

"…Not quite there, yet." Orochimaru mused. "Again."

A few days later. Konoha.

Danzō hadn't heard much about Umi for a while.

They were likely keeping a low profile, then. And unfortunately, Orochimaru was great at doing
just this.

If only Fugaku had done what needed to be done… Well, no matter. The man was dead, anyway.

Now… What was the best way to go about things? Umi was an island, he knew as much, by now.
And to think he had believed the name to be a misdirection…

Try as he might, Danzō hadn't found any way to pinpoint the island's location yet. Either most of its
people stayed on the island full-time… or they simply didn't know.

Considering Orochimaru was involved, it was likely to be a mix of both.

There were a few workable ideas on how to address the problem. It would only require two people,
possibly with one of them unaware of the second person — who would only be there as a
contingency.

He sighed.

The war was going well, at least. He had known that Kumo and Konoha's might together would be
more than enough. Now the world knew it too.

In just a matter of weeks, he expected Suna or Kiri to admit defeat. And then, they would have to
crush both Ame and Iwa together.

Which would likely be another full scale war.

Then, he would have to weaken Kumo as well.

For this was the price of victory.

A few days later, at night. Near the Land of Earth and Fire's border.

The air was thick with the smell of smoke.

Fūma Sasame hurried.

It was her habit to wander away from the rest of the Umi recon team she was part of, in the
evenings. She usually found a few things to do, while Satoru took over.

Not tonight.

Tonight, she simply hoped that Satoru, Ginji, and Kosuke spent their last few hours happily. That
they didn't waste them squabbling, as they could sometimes do. She wished it was so, at least.

Because the truth was it didn't matter either way. They were dead already.

Behind her, the city of Moimogō was burning. And the Bijū was raging.

Once she was sure she was out of danger, she Leaped to Umi.

When Sasame arrived on the island in a rush, Naruto knew it was going to be bad news.

When she asked to speak to Orochimaru or to him… He knew it was likely worse than he had
thought.

"The Five-Tails! It's free!" She wailed desperately. "Satoru, Ginji… Kosuke! They're all... They're
all… dead." She started to sob.

Naruto's blood froze. Toru, next to him, was already standing up.

"…Is there anyone still there?" Naruto asked, unmoving. His friend saw it.

"There's no time to waste!" Toru said.

"No." Naruto shook his head. "But heading out blindly is risky."
"Haru." Sasame said. "Haru is still alive."

"Is Akatsuki there…?"

"I-I don't know." Sasame continued, looking troubled.

"We can't leave her there." Toru insisted.

Naruto looked conflicted. More people meant more time wasted. He was the fastest of them all. If
anybody could get Haru out… it was likely him. And Toru was not going to let him go alone. If
things got bad, Naruto would send him to warn the others.

He cursed, but summoned his battle armor, and saw Toru do the same, a resolute expression upon
his face, also throwing his hood on.

"Let's go, then. Which way?"

Sasame led them there.

The very moment Naruto arrived, he knew it had been a trap.

There was no fire.

There was no Bijū, either.

And they had made a terrible mistake.

Toru activated his Sharingan. Naruto extended his chakra senses in a flash, ignoring the rising
panic in his chest. And the dread he had been fighting, the feeling that something was completely
wrong.

Only then did he notice. There was a very slight foreign touch to Sasame's chakra. Which meant
she had been tricked. There were intent barriers around Umi, this much was true. But they didn't
work if the person didn't believe they were going to do something to harm Umi.

A flash of movement, something so fast that Naruto's first reflex was to turn on his Lightning
Cloak.

A blade appeared in his hand. He had become fast enough to meet the incoming tantō strike.

Toru screamed something. It felt as though Naruto were seeing, and hearing, in slow-motion.

"Avoid his e-"

Naruto blocked the strike, but he had already met his opponent's eyes.

It turned out to be the last component of the trap.

Naruto saw red eyes, and a pattern he recognized. Toru had shown them all to him, around a month
ago, after all.

If time seemed as though it had slowed down before… Now, it stopped flowing entirely.

Whether it was from the amount of Lightning chakra crackling through him, bolstering all of
him…
Or the sheer dread, the sense of danger, making his brain form short-terms memories at a
drastically increased rate.

No matter what, he was acutely aware of his surroundings.

And who the person he was facing was. Why Toru's shout had seemed so desperate. Toru, who
could sometimes be a bit overemotional. He couldn't blame him, here. Naruto would be feeling
emotional too, if he were in his shoes right now.

He felt the chakra he had already built up in his left Mangekyō Sharingan. He felt the way it
connected to his own eyes as quickly as Toru had said it would be. Almost as fast as the brain's
electrical impulses.

But just a touch slower. He felt all of this in what seemed like the world's shortest and longest
moment.

Hopefully, the Nine-Tails' healing would prove to be enough.

Naruto heard the words Shisui was saying, even though he didn't say them out loud.

'Kotoamatsu-'

Naruto let his control over Lightning slip away. In one place only. Well, two, technically.

He screamed in pain as he let his eyes turn to fire and his vision suddenly became nothing.

But the jutsu didn't take.

 Leaves, Crumbling

Close one eye.

Instead of blackness like when closing both of them, what you see instead is nothing. Nothing, out
of the closed eye.

That's what a blind person sees.

And that's what Naruto was seeing, suddenly. Temporarily, he hoped. If Kimimaro had managed to
heal his own eye mid-fight, there was no reason that he shouldn't be able to do the exact same
thing.

…Except for one small fact. Naruto didn't know how to do it.

And they still had to get out of here.

Toru roared.

He attacked his brother, pushing Sasame out of the way… and putting himself in front of the
suddenly vulnerable Naruto.

"What the hell did you just-" He screamed.

His brother recognized him right away, too, despite the hood.

"Toru…?!" Uchiha Shisui's breath caught.

Anger made it hard for Toru to even speak.

"You… You! Fuck-" Toru cursed. "Why…? Why?!"

"Toru… You… joined him?" Shisui asked, his hand so tight around his weapon that his knuckles
were turning white.

Shisui had been a shinobi for years; Konoha's youngest Jōnin. He had seen terrible things over the
last two decades, Toru knew. Betrayal, too. Still… This took him by surprise. This much was
obviousin his disbeliving eyes.

"Why…?" His older brother asked, his red eyes widening.

"Why?! I should ask you this!" Toru raged, feeling fury blossom in his chest. "How can you even
ask this? Konoha would have killed both Hanabi and I!"

He tried to kick Shisui, who was simply too fast for him, as ever. His elder brother dodged the
attack and moved away, in a movement that reminded Toru just how outmatched he was.

"There was no way in hell I was going to just lay down and wait for death. Or leave Hanabi to die,
either!" Toru continued, taking a long breath.

"Itachi and I… And Sasuke." Shisui said, uncomprehending. "We would have helped you."

Help him…?
None of them had quite this kind of pull.

"Where were you, then?! I had no choice but to leave. It was this or death." Toru shook his head,
feeling smaller than he had in years. "...I even had hopes of coming back, someday. Once this was
settled! But this… What were you doing?! Kotoamatsukami, really?!"

"He is too dangerous to be left roaming free." Shisui said quietly. "And he killed the Hokage."

"He didn't!" Toru roared.

"What about the dozen of ROOT ninja?" Shisui shot back. "I saw what he did. And his chakra, the
same I can feel right now. It was all over the place! Like the people he left there, in pieces!"

"…"

Shisui shook his head. Whether Toru seemed convinced by the veracity of what he was saying or
not… didn't matter. Not when Uzumaki Naruto was known to work with a Yamanaka as powerful
as Ino. What his brother believed was something that she could change easily. Shisui would know
all about it.

"And what about Taki? Did he or did he not steal the Seven-Tails…?" Shisui asked, eyes hard.
Both of them knew there had been enough different sources for this to be indisputable.

Toru froze. It had been his idea. Just like coming here tonight. Why was he always fucking things
up…?

Why wasn't he more like —

"…There are reasons why we did it." Toru whispered. "To prevent Akatsuki from getting it."

His brother's face fell.

"So you were involved, too. And there are always reasons, aren't there?" Shisui said, looking
pained. "I don't like the idea of hurting you, in any way… So I will implore you to step aside."

"Hurt me…? What do you think you're about to do to my friend…? Don't." Toru warned, vaguely
aware that he was trembling. "Don't come any closer."

"I am the Hokage's man." Shisui closed his eyes for a short instant. "I am a member of Konoha,
first and foremost. Even the clan comes second to that. I would give my life for the village if
commanded to do so… whether I like Danzō or not. How I feel about him is of no consequence."

"Please…" Toru felt as though he wanted to cry. "Is this Danzō's will…? Why would you listen
to him?!"

Shisui shook his head. "It is the village's will, not just his. Step aside, little brother."

Toru knew Naruto was too rattled to even bother with explaining anything. Which was why he was
surprised when his friend spoke for the first time. His voice was raspy.

"One man is not the village, no matter what that man may believe."

"Don't speak of things you don't understand, Uzumaki Naruto." Shisui said, his tone hard.

"His underhanded ways are not the village's voice." Naruto hissed.
Shisui's eyes were unreadable, even to Toru. How he hated when his brother became like this.
Sharp, cold and far-away. Something closer to how Itachi could often be. An island.

"No. You're right on that. But…" Shisui shook his head. "Everybody on the council approved his
idea of… converting you."

"Everybody…?" Naruto asked, breathless. His anger had guttered out, and his blood ran cold.

"Everybody." Shisui confirmed.

Naruto knew what this meant. And the worst part was that he believed him.

For one… Sarutobi Biwako might have been the clan head, but she never voted on any big issue
without consulting Hiruzen. And right now, the matter of Uzumaki Naruto's fate was a big issue.
They knew exactly who he was, too.

Whether it was because they usually made big decisions together, or because she trusted Hiruzen's
judgment in these matters, Naruto didn't know. They had never let him in close enough to say.

Naruto could only focus on one thing.

Both of them had been willing to brainwash him.

Despite all of Sarutobi's pretty words, his true colors really came through. Anything for Konoha.

How could the Sarutobi even believe they were even responsible for the Fifth…? He had known
Ino, too. Biwako as well.

The only other person on the council whose opinion of him still mattered to him - if only a little bit
- was Hatake Kakashi. Kakashi, who likely didn't know who he was in the first place, but still.
Him, too.

It hurt.

Naruto felt dizzy, lightheaded.

His hopes of one day meeting them again, once this whole mess, this whole war, this whole
Akatsuki problem had been sorted out…

They were crushed. The disappointment that had stopped hurting a while ago now was on the
forefront of his mind. How could he trust a village full of people like these taking decisions…? On
one man's word, likely, on top of it?

How could a village that prided itself on virtue choose a man like Danzō to lead it…?

Naruto shook his head. One thing was clear.

Konoha would never let him live on his own terms.

Nine-Tails or not… this wouldn't change. Namikaze's son or not. He was something to be used, to
be controlled… or to be disposed of.

To him, this was the final proof.

There was none of his usual composure to be seen. And while there was ice in his veins, there was
fire too.

"This is a lie." Toru shook his head, unwilling to believe it.

Itachi would see through it. He always did. And so did Shisui, for that matter.

"Have I ever lied to you…?" Shisui asked.

"…"

"Move aside, Toru. Please."

The now familiar rage was bubbling in Toru again. "Haru! Where is she? Did you kill Ginji,
Satoru and Kosuke for this..?"

"No." Shisui shook his head. "I came here alone. And the Umi ninja are alive, all of them. I wanted
to avoid unnecessary bloodshed."

"…"

"I hypnotized your friend with my Sharingan. I told her to bring Uzumaki to me." Shisui continued,
with a wry smile. "You can imagine my surprise when she disappeared, only to come back with
both of you a few hundred meters away. And I still don't know how your teleportation jutsu
works." He admitted.

There was a mark close by. Which meant that Shisui hadn't seen it.

Toru didn't realize it, but Naruto knew part of what Shisui was saying was likely a lie. Or maybe
Toru's brother simply didn't even know it… but he wasn't as alone as he thought he was. There was
someone far away in the mountains. But then again, this was too far for him to attack.

"Bloodshed...? What do you think is going to happen when Danzō makes me his weapon…?"
Naruto gritted out.

"If it ends this war, then so be it. The bloodshed will be on us." Shisui said with finality.

"Konoha started this war!" Naruto roared.

"You started this war when you killed Fugaku-sama." Shisui countered, trying to keep his own
anger down.

Naruto's rage was reaching a breaking point, apparently.

"We didn't. We don't know who did it either!" He shot back. His fury was making it hard to talk.
Why did his canines look as though they were a bit bigger than usual, Toru wondered…?

Toru could hear his friends' thoughts through the link. Naruto's blood thundered. It felt like the
Storm, but it didn't, at the same time.

A link. They had a link with the others. Couldn't they- Toru lost the thought.

"As you say, then." Shisui pushed Toru out of the way, not believing a single word of what Naruto
had just said. It didn't matter any way, there was a mission to be completed.

When Toru tried to retaliate with a swift kick, Shisui easily countered his strike, tripping him.
"You're too emotional, little brother. You can't fight, right now. Please stay out of it."

"Leave him!" He still tried. But Toru did not manage to stop Shisui. The gap between them had
always been too wide, and half of it was because of the way Toru himself perceived it. He
compared it to climbing.

If Toru was on his way to the summit, he saw Shisui as already on top of the mountain. If not the
mountain itself.

And tonight, Toru felt as though he were somewhere on the bottom.

Nothing had chang-

What the hell was he thinking…? Shisui was coming for Naruto. There was no way Toru could
stand still. With a grunt and a fireball, he managed to make Shisui focus on him again.

The ghost of a smile touched his older brother's lips, and he turned to face him.

Shisui barely dodged Naruto's charge.

Blue and purple chakra was swirling around him, crackling. He had no eyes to see, but he still had
aimed perfectly. His chakra sensing ability, likely.

Shisui pursed his lips.

Contrary to what Shisui believed…

He had not come here alone. And Kazuhiro thought, with some trepidation, that the Uzumaki
might have noticed him.

Danzō had been worried of the potential pitfalls that Uchiha Toru — if he really were the masked
man, which had just been confirmed — would bring.

Uchiha Shisui's power was dangerous. Which meant they had to make sure he was pointed at their
enemies.

Far away, too far for the Uzumaki to consider him a threat, Yamanaka Kazuhiro waited.

Kazuhiro had not been picked for ROOT for his skill with the more typical Yamanaka arts. Unlike
his cousin Fū, who was the more high-profile one between the two of them.

He could not make any use of a curse puppet like him, either. He was not as good as Ino had been
as a generalist, either. He was not as well-liked as Toshio… or not as good at reading corpses'
brains as Kaede.

What he was good at… were two things. One was hiding his presence almost entirely.

And the second thing was his skill with dream prying. Or rather, nightmare-weaving.

Tonight, Kazuhiro waited for an opening. But first of all, he waited to hear Shisui's decision.

"Let us go." Toru said again.

"No." Shisui repeated.

"If you don't-" Toru's voice was cold.

"Then what?" Shisui asked, his voice just as flat.

"If you bring me to Konoha... they will kill me. It's a promise."

Shisui paused. "We won't let that happen. I already told you." He was getting somewhat frustrated,
this much was obvious.

Toru chuckled. "They will make it look like an accident, but it will happen. Do you
think Danzō will take the risk of the Hyūga turning against him? Because that's what's going to
happen whenever someone, anyone learns about me being back in the village. Alive, and with the
knowledge of how to remove their seal."

It was a bluff, and Naruto knew it too, likely. With what little Toru had read of the scroll about the
Caged Bird Seal, he had about half the knowledge required to do… anything at all about it. It was
too much for the Hyūga, already, likely.

And Shisui didn't know the extent of his knowledge.

This much was enough for a talented enough seal-master to possibly piece the rest together. Naruto
had done so, after all.

Shisui had no answer to this. He really hadn't counted on seeing his brother anytime soon.

"Besides…" Toru continued. "Even with Naruto blind, you won't be able to take both of us at the
same time. Most of your genjutsu won't work. Not on me, not on him. Do you really think you can
control the Nine-Tails' power… with no way to use your strongest techniques…? Are you willing
to use your Kotoamatsukami on me?"

This was a bluff. Which might or might not be true. Toru knew Naruto was good at fighting blind,
but this was Shisui. He could feel Shisui's presence, sure, but there were tons of things he could not
hear or feel before they came too close.

And when it came to how much of the Nine-Tails' power Naruto could actually use, the less said,
the better.

Still, Toru knew Naruto was extending his senses, all of the remaining ones. Preparing for a fight.
Shisui might be able to use Kotoamatsukami still, since the attempt had failed before.

It was a terrible feeling, having to wonder if Shisui might use it on him. It used to be the both of
them, against the world. Now… Everything was so fucked.

"...I will take my chances." Shisui said coldly.

"Are you willing to let me go?" Toru asked. He could feel Naruto's head whipping toward him,
even though he could not see anything.

"…" Shisui paused.

"Because if not, you might as well kill me directly. I will die if you bring me there. One way or the
other. Someone will get rid of me."

"Toru..." His brother looked pained.

"And If you're willing to let me go… Well, I'm not leaving without him." Toru pointed at Naruto.
"And the rest of them. Wherever you left them. This is the only way I'm going to live."

"You understand nothing!" Shisui finally roared. "What do you think I'm doing right now…? I'm
trying to protect you! Itachi and I will shield you from Danzō. We won't let you be killed! No
matter what!"

"Do you — Do you really thing Danzō will LISTEN?!" Toru shouted back. "He wil KILL me! And
that's a certainty! What you're doing…"

Toru pointed his own sword at his stomach.

"…I might as well do it myself!"

"Wha-"

"This will be less painful than whatever is awaiting me there." Toru growled. And honestly, he
believed it fully. Shisui realized it.

"Don't." Shisui said, his eyes wide.

"This is no different! Why don't you see it?!" His grip on his sword was sure.

"Don't!" Shisui called again. Desperately.

Toru repeated, his lips entirely dry. "Let us go."

"I can't." Shisui breathed out.

"Let. Us. Go."

"He will destroy everything!" Shisui roared, pointing at Naruto, who was still expecting a fight to
erupt.

"He won't." Toru said. "You're wrong about him. Being with them is the only place I am safe. Far
away from Danzō's machinations, from the Hyūga."

To think he was safer hunting the strongest people in the world than in his own home village.

Toru and Shisui stared at each other.

"Let us go."

"No."

"Then you know what I'm going to do." Toru repeated.

"You won't." Shisui said sadly. He looked as though he were trying to convince himself, rather than
Toru.

Toru just gave him a grim smile. Naruto likely didn't understand what was happening fully.

Shisui's Sharingan caught it before it happened.

He blurred forward, and Naruto blurred away, just as fast, thinking he had decided to attack him.

But Shisui had not been aiming at Naruto. Instead, he stopped Toru's blade from splitting his
abdomen open.
"Toru…"

"I told you I would." He whispered.

"…Why? For him?" Shisui repeated, uncomprehending. A touch of hysterical laughter bubbled in
his voice. "This madman?!"

Toru shook his head, grimly amused. "For all of them. Umi is my home now. I'm sorry."

Shisui gave him a long, searching look.

Then he clenched his fists. And sheathed his sword away, with the most conflicted expression Toru
had ever seen upon his face.

"Next time." Shisui finally spat, looking at Naruto. This was a foolish decision, and Shisui knew it.
But Toru was his only family. He could not bring himself to… No. This was Shisui's only choice
here.

Toru… didn't dare hope.

"Next time, I won't stop before you're bound to Konoha. Shackles or not." Shisui growled.
"Whether you have eyes or not."

This was not a threat. This was just the way it was going to be.

Shisui disappeared in a blur.

Only then, did the first Genjutsu he had cast, preventing the two of them from even thinking about
calling for backup, fade away.

Naruto cursed, and let his chakra senses fall away.

A decision had been reached. The wrong one.

He knew that Uchiha Shisui would not report Toru's presence here. Just that the Uzumaki had
found a way to prevent his ultimate jutsu from working.

Yamanaka Kazuhiro followed Danzō's orders.

He made sure to have a clear line of sight and weaved the hand seals. The one secret art that he had
perfected over the years. His victim just shivered briefly, confused, before resuming what he was
doing.

That was a first step. A link had been established. He knew they would not notice it.

Now, Kazuhiro would wait until sleep came to the man. His own body sat there, mostly slumped.

Naruto and Toru gathered the unconscious Umi ninja.

Just as Shisui had said, all of them were alive.

"Were you really going to do it…?" Naruto asked, once Shisui had gone away. So he had
realized something, at least.
Toru didn't answer. Shisui…

He felt empty. He dispelled the genjutsu on a thoroughly lost Sasame. They knew that they
would have to modify the barriers around Umi, as soon as possible.

"…Are you okay…?" Naruto asked. Dumb question. Of course he wasn't.

"I really don't feel like talking, right now." Toru said, not bothering to look at him.

"I understand. Well… No. I can't even say that. Not fully. But I wish I could help you." Naruto
said. "Take all the time you need. We'll be here, if you want to talk."

"…Thanks." Toru said, his voice rough.

Ino, who was the only one awake when they came, almost shrieked when she realized Naruto
had burned his eyes out.

"Wha…" She started, worry rising her voice an octave. "What happened to you…?"

He didn't seem too bothered by his lack of sight, moving mostly smoothly around the room. Aside
from hitting a few items and walls.

"We got trapped, Toru and I." Naruto simply said. "It was a stupid mistake. It won't happen again."

Toru was entirely quiet.

"But-"

Naruto waved it off. "These are just eyes. I hold part of the Nine-Tails within me. I'll remove
what's left of them, in case. They will regrow."

Ino just closed her eyes in half-despair, half-consternation.

Just as Naruto had said, in just one day, with some very careful manipulation and Karin's help, his
eyes grew anew.

Toru sat there with his tired, bloodshot eye. Staring off at something only he could see. This was
apparently so out of character for him that even Hanabi asked what had happened.

But no matter how subtly, how gently they did so…

He kept his distance from them. And made sure that nobody came close to his thoughts. The bond,
he kept firmly closed.

Ino had checked his mind superficially, just to make sure Shisui's illusions had left nothing
behind... but she had seen nothing. And without Toru's permission to dig deeper, way deeper, there
was nothing more she could do. Karin felt nothing there. Hanabi didn't, either.

"Please. Go see Ino." Naruto begged. "Your chakra looks fine, so nothing should be out of the
ordinary, but… Just a quick checkup, at least. You look completely out of it."

"No need for that. It's just about my fucking brother."

What could a therapy session even be useful for, right now…? His world had just been turned upon
its head. That was it. He just needed some time to process it.

"Ino will just check if everything-"

"I'm fine." Toru repeated, his voice low and angry.

"You're really not." Naruto seemed to think that it might be worse than he had thought.

"You said you would give me some room." Toru glared at him. "Was that a lie…? I want to be
alone."

"Toru…"

"Leave me! LEAVE!"

Naruto seemed to hesitate. Toru continued to push.

"Please, leave. Tomorrow…" Toru looked away. "Tomorrow we can talk."

"…"

"I promise. I just need… to think."

"Are you sure that's it…?"

"Yeah. Please leave."

"…Alright." Naruto would not push him further. He had promised. And invading his friend's mind
was too terrible of an option for him to consider, Toru knew.

"I'm fine, really." Toru gave him a weak smile. "Just had some trouble sleeping."
 Anatomy of a Disaster II

There was one thing Toru had lied about to Naruto.

The Uchiha clan had never played a part in his father's death.

"It has to be done, Toru." Shisui informed his younger brother.

But in truth, he was mostly saying it for himself. And he was shaking. Their father, smiling
an empty smile, just went along with Shisui, who helped him along. Toru just saw his
mother's murderer.

"…Are you sure?" Toru asked again.

"…Yes. What if he turns against you, next time? He… He's already gone, anyway." Shisui
muttered. "And rotting in a jail for the rest of his life is going to be so much worse. It's… It's
the least I can do for him. Despite…"

"How long will it take?" Toru just asked. His world already felt as though it had ended,
anyway. What did it matter if his brother wanted to offer their mad father a mercy killing?
Toru couldn't even see his face anymore, he just saw blood.

"I will be back… in just a few hours. His suffering will be over, then." Shisui said, closing his
eyes.

"I… I want to come."

"There is no way."

"He is my father as much as he is yours. I have to come." Toru insisted.

"Don't."

"Please…" Toru begged. "He was my father, too. I… I need to come."

Shisui ended up relenting. They brought their father, Uchiha Shūhei, to the forests away
from the village. Everybody knew there was nothing left of his mind, and nobody dared
asking any questions.

Shisui slit their father's throat and they remained by his side as he faded away. Toward the
end, Toru could almost swear he saw some flash of clarity come back into his eyes.
Something that tasted like regret.

They burned the body, and the smell of scorched meat filled the air, until there was nothing
left. And they never told anyone.

Shisui returned from the forest with the Mangekyō Sharingan, and the will to do what was
needed to protect their village and family..

Toru wondered if he himself hadn't loved their father enough.

Toru panted.

He woke up covered in sweat, and feeling as low as he ever had.

The dreams had been particularly bad, tonight. Worse than those that had always plagued him.
Worse than those from the night before, when they had met Shisui, even. Nightmares about things
he'd rather forget or not think about. His deepest fears, and his darkest thoughts. Friends dying in a
senseless war. The smell of burning flesh, fat clinging stubbornly to the bodies, the flames guided
by his own hands.

His father's unseeing eyes, nothing of his revered skill and intelligence holding up to the inevitable
passing of time. The flash of pain at the end.

His mother's death throes, cursing him in her last moments. Blood on his hands.

The very real possibility that with Konoha refusing to acknowledge the truth... he would have to
fight and kill former comrades. He saw his sword going through their throats, their betrayed
expression when they met his eye.

Shisui lying dead at his feet, a sword-sized hole in his chest. Himself, bending down to pick his
eyes, taking the strength he had always been so envious of, deep down.

His brother's blood on his hands.

Whispers about the constant danger that hovered over Sasuke, Itachi, Shisui himself… Naruto and
the rest of them.

Shisui's place in all of this.

He remembered his mother again. Her, cursing him with her dying breath, as he sat there covered
in her blood, waiting for someone, anyone to tell him it was going to be fine. Shisui did, but he was
just another child, back then. Their father, just watching, not understanding. Blood on his hands.

Red. The color of her blood, of the burning Sharingan. Of the memories he would never forget. Her
perfume, mixed with iron.

The smell of burning meat.

'You shouldn't have been born at all.'

Toru really should have died in her place.

He heard a nagging voice in the back of his mind, telling him everything would be fine if he just…

Toru ignored it. Or he thought he did, at least. He left Umi silently, appearing in the mainland,
heading to the forest he had seen in his dreams. Instinct drove him.

He had to be there.

Why?

Toru couldn't say.

But something was calling him there. He would explain to the others tomorrow. Yes, tomorrow
sounded nice...
He wandered deeper and deeper into the woods, his body beyond his control.

The voice seemed more and more alluring.

Telling him where to go.

Naruto heard the sound of shattering glass.

Or rather, it had felt like he himself had gone through a windowpane. His breath caught in his
throat.

He couldn't say what happened exactly, but it felt as though the world collapsed around him.

Absently, as if he were seeing the world through a cracked, muddied window, he noticed that the
three women had a similar reaction.

"No…" Sakura whispered, her lone eye misty.

Ino was rooted on the spot.

With a sinking feeling, he tried to reach for the bond with Toru, which had flared for a second,
before it suddenly turned silent entirely.

There was none of the awareness he usually felt; even in the last day and a half, since Toru had
closed the direct communication link.

The last thing he saw through it was the sights, the sounds, the smells of a misty forest.

'Toru?' He called, but got no answer. Of course he didn't, he had kept the bond shut.

Naruto stood up in a flash, his cloak appearing around his shoulders.

"I'm going after him. Wherever he is." He said to the three women. And he needed to send a few
clones out to warn the rest of them. This took precedence over something like training.

"We'll split, then." Karin said, her eyes wide.

"It will be easier to find him this way." Sakura said, getting ready to leave as well.

Naruto hoped he was wrong, and that the Uchiha had just been captured.

For the time being, he ignored Yugito, whom he felt stir through their bond.

They scoured the entire Elemental Nations.

A few days later, in the Land of Fire's Mountain Range

The mists closed around Naruto.

Failure after failure. That was all he had experienced over the last few days.

Naruto had tried every single misty forest he could think of, no matter how risky, or how stupid it
seemed.
He knew he was probably a terrifying sight, by now. There was something wild in his soul, and he
was certain his eyes reflected it. Naruto put on his mask.

Now, he was deep in the mountains, passing through the small village of Kaofuke. Some of the
locals were giving him a strange look. Was it because of his mask, or because he was an obvious
foreigner in a village that didn't seem like it got too much tourism?

An old man stopped him.

"Let me extend Kaofuke's thanks for coming so quickly." He said, looking entirely too relieved,
bowing low.

Naruto said nothing. It seemed to be the best way to learn more about what was going on here. His
own chakra was pulsing, reaching out. It was sparking across his skin.

"Our contact… in Konoha told us not to touch anything… you have my word. We did not." The
man seemed afraid, now. Naruto felt his own chakra shift in answer. "And we… ah. That's how…
How it was. We don't know who… You have my word."

Naruto's heart sank.

"Where is the place…?" He asked, his voice sounding more dangerous than he intended it to be.
His chakra flared angrily around him, like a snake coiled to strike.

The man pointed at the forest behind the village.

Without asking for more explanation, or a guide, or anything else that would just slow him down…
Naruto headed there.

He wandered deeper and deeper into the woods.

It was a seemingly endless cloud of trees and fog and silence. And worse, the mist was hot and
humid, heavy.

Naruto walked, his chakra lifting the mist where he went. The terrible feeling of dread inside his
stomach, on the other hand, didn't lift at all.

He walked under tall shadows.

The forest didn't change. It didn't get darker. The fog didn't get denser. It was all the same.

Naruto came to a stop. He thought he could smell something sweet… in a way that made him sick
to his stomach.

He extended his senses, until he saw it. A flash of the most terrible-

For a heart-stopping moment, Naruto thought it was just his imagination. Or an illusion. Anything
but-…

Hanging from the poplar tree branch was a strange fruit.

Decay, helped along by the moisture in the air and heat, had ravaged the body so much that it was
almost unrecognizable.

His heart seized. Cold horror and realization spread through his body.
A distant part of his brain, the cold, pragmatic, shinobi part told him a few things.

Too much time had passed. Too much to even scour his brain. Not that he'd ever subject Ino to
this.

Too much time for Konoha not to know just what was here.

His left eye had been removed messily. Gouged out. There had been some resistance there. The
multiple puncture wounds had turned everything into a pulpy mess, and the body was bloated,
close to rupture, in a way that wasn't…

That wasn't supposed to happen.

No matter how soaked crimson the collar of his beige Umi fatigues was…

No matter how puffed, purple and blue and bloated the face was…

That wasn't supposed to happen.

Especially not to Toru. For this was him, — had been him — there was no doubt about it.

For a moment, his mind went blank.

'This is the shinobi world.' Naruto thought he heard a distant voice say.

Something roared inside him; something snapped inside him.

His chakra exploded out of him, consuming the forest in a searing blast of lightning. Toru's corpse
remained untouched by his wrath.

Naruto had a moment of startling clarity, of purpose. As if he had lived his entire life in a hazy
mist, and only now could he see.

That he needed to kill everyone involved in this. He needed to kill anyone who was ready to do
something like this. Anyone who got in his way, too.

And deep down, Naruto knew exactly where to start.

Because who else would make sure to leave Toru out here in the open, just for them to see? To see
what happened when you stood in the way of a village's… a man's ambition?

Naruto stood there, hot fury and cold rage warring inside him, purple chakra burning his skin.

The Moon's eye was upon him.

His stomach was on fire. Magatama was changing. He didn't notice it right away, but blue
markings appeared under his eyes. He felt a wall within him fade away.

Naruto howled his pain, his rage.

The air around him turned blazingly hot, and the heat itself became light.

His chakra exploded upwards, like a bolt of thunder returning to the heavens, splitting the clouds; a
purple thunderstorm ravaged the land.

He knew who to blame.

Now he just had to figure out how to reach them.

Sanity came back to him slowly. No, first he had to make sure.

Only then did his voice break.

"How could this happen…?"

One tree remained standing, untouched by his wrath. A familiar figure still hung from it, the rope
still wrapped around his neck, which was covered in ligature marks.

He didn't have it in him to touch him. Hands shaking, he bade Toru a final goodbye.

So… Konoha was coming for the body, then?

Let them have it.

And let the people responsible for this have what was coming to them.

The third spark was set.

 Ashes/The Gathering Storm

A few days later. Konoha.

Toru would have hated his own funeral.

It was raining in Konoha. Only a few people showed up. It was considered in bad taste to be
mourning one of Konoha's traitors - and the word sounded ridiculous to Sasuke. It didn't stop his
family.

Sasuke had to use all of his influence, all the goodwill he had earned himself, just to get back to the
village in time. Next to him, Hinata stood, sobbing into his shoulder. And Sasuke had no doubt she
also worried about what this would mean for her sister.

Itachi was there, too, his eyes closed, a forlorn expression upon his face.

There were several of their friends, and some people that he barely knew. That was unusual, for the
Uchiha clan rarely let anyone else in to pay their respects to the dead.

Kakashi was here, too, a far-away look in his eyes. He looked like a ghost. And he probably felt
like one, too.

Toru rested in a sea of flowers. They would set fire to it in a few hours.

There was an unbearable empty space in Sasuke's heart. Ever since the moment he had realized,
when Toru's half of the daishō returned to him. He had seen his brother in all but blood die once,
but this time…

This was it.

No more memories to be made.

No more sneaking away from the village and their responsibilities. No more watermelon seeds
spitting contests. No more running away from an angry, amused Shisui.

No more Toru.

He felt hot tears run down his face.

And Sasuke knew that no matter if the blow came from him or from his cousin… Someone would
pay for this. Shisui, Itachi and he knew there could be only two people behind this.

Danzō himself, or Uzumaki Naruto. They wouldn't be fooled. There were Yamanaka involved,
likely - unless this was a red herring - and they would find who it was.

They would find their answers. This was a certainty.

And speaking of Shisui…

Sasuke's mother was with Shisui, pushing her own grief down, standing strong. As she always did.

Shisui…

Sasuke's breath hitched in his throat.

Shisui's eyes scared him.

Umi.

'Toru… Toru would have liked this.'

That's what Naruto thought, at least.

'He is dead, he doesn't like anything, anymore. That's what-' A voice said in his mind. Naruto
ignored it.

It was a pretty informal affair, if a well-attended one. Toru had been loved around Umi… usually.
He rubbed some people up the wrong way.

There was no body to bury. Not that it mattered much, since in Umi, people cremated their dead, -
all two of them - before spreading their ashes at sea. All of the attendees were standing on a grassy
field overlooking the ocean.

Toru had explicitly asked for one song to be played, in case he were to die. Even now, Naruto still
didn't know if he had been joking or not.

Nobody else had wanted to sing it, so Naruto ended up playing, with Hanabi singing it.

Of course, a cheery song with heavy themes of murder, foul, foul language and alcohol, opium
abuse might have been too much for a funeral, anywhere else.

But this was Umi. And this had been Toru.

Some people still left, feeling offended, of course. He didn't care about them.

There Naruto was, on a sunny afternoon, dressed in a wizard costume, from one of Hot Water's
strangest comics — Toru's favorite, he used to insist a funeral was the best time for it.

So were the rest of their friends. And so was Toru's not-girlfriend, Akemi, who looked devastated.

They looked absolutely ridiculous, despite their red eyes.

After the second song — a much more sober one — there wasn't a single dry eye to be seen, but
Naruto saw many smiles as well.

Naruto passed Orochimaru — who was wearing a wizard's costume, as well — and the man gave
him a wise nod.

Laughter and a fresh wave of grief bubbled inside Naruto's throat, and his shoulders started shaking
uncontrollably.

Yeah. Toru would have loved this.

For a moment, Naruto thought he saw a woman with white hair, floating high above the sea.
Looking at him... sadly? Then he blinked and she was gone.

He already knew something was probably wrong with him, by now.

Naruto stood on the cliff overlooking the ocean.

The girls were was here as well, next to him.

The sun was setting, bathing their world in an orange light.

Before, they all had been too distraught to talk about the elephant in the room. The fact that this
was it. Toru was dead. The shattered bond, and the ever-echoing pain of it.

It was time.

"What do you think?" He asked them.

Hanabi stayed silent. She looked very thin, Naruto realized.

"…I suspect foul play." Ino began. "And I should have known something was up. But he… he
closed his mind off. I… I didn't dare force him to… any of us, really — I… I didn't think…"

"It's not your fault, Ino." Naruto said flatly. There was no room for discussion, because this would
never end. He wanted to blame himself, for one.

He had believed Toru, and true to what he had said, Shisui had not trapped him — or either of the
Umi ninja — using Kotoamatsukami's most potent version. There simply had been no moment
where he could have done so. Naruto had kept an eye on his chakra the whole time. And he and
Toru had double-checked the others.

But he should have kept watch on him, no matter how many times Toru had pushed him away.
Whatever had been done to him had made him leave in the middle of the night, Naruto was almost
sure of it. He knew he couldn't have guessed — and considering how stubborn Toru was anyway,
he probably would have found a way — what was going to happen, but still…

Hindsight was perfect, but hell… Could he have prevented this…?

Naruto knew he'd have to live with this on his conscience.

Why had he listened to him…?

He had thought that Toru was just shaken because of the confrontation with his brother. How could
he have…?

The tears didn't come now; he had spilled enough of them. But what he felt… It was selfish of him,
but he would do anything not to have to feel this way anymore.

And there were plenty of things they needed to do for the island's safety, too. This much had been
made clear. Starting by erasing their own memories of the island's exact location. There were only
three people who knew, but this was a security risk already.

"…We already know he's been killed, though." Karin muttered. If the marks left on the body hadn't
been enough, they all knew he wouldn't have killed himself.

"That's not what Ino means by foul play." Sakura shook her head.

"It's… It's..." Ino hesitated. Naruto's eyes found hers. His own were hard. To Ino, it was difficult to
see the boy she had known in Konoha. When had his face grown so hard, his eyes so sharp…? He
seemed like a statue.
"Death… by hanging." Ino started. Then she winced. "Well… Suffocation, in this case. It... used to
be the way Yamanaka got rid of their enemies, long before the clan joined Konoha. Some people
kept the tradition up."

Ino paused.

"That was a long time ago, when they lived high up in the mountains, almost unreachable,
protected by the mists. Before the clan even got their name. Mountain men. What was done to
Toru… was a clear way to send a message. That a Yamanaka did it."

Naruto noticed she used they, rather than we.

"You mean…?" Karin breathed out.

"Yes." Ino nodded. "It's almost certainly a Yamanaka's handiwork. Or made to look like it, at the
very least. Whose… That's impossible to say. It had been days… when Naruto… found him. That's
too much time for me to tell, even if we had… brought him here."

"So it is Konoha." Naruto gritted out. "I... There was a man, there. Too far away, I thought - I
should have brought the body, still."

He really hadn't wanted to, at the time.

""Maybe." Ino winced. "...Long ago, the clan made sure they didn't have any rivals, when it came
to the mind arts. There are a few mind readers left in Kumo, I believe, though. Things used to be
even more brutal, back then. They wiped out almost all of them, with the help of the Nara, Sarutobi
and Akimichi clans."

She paused. "And if whoever Danzō... or Konoha sent did it this way… They likely want to
make us look like we did it. That would fit, at least."

Naruto tried to keep his cool. He really tried. It would make sense, from a purely practical point of
view. But killing Toru…? And pinning the blame on them?

He breathed out. The air smelled like ozone.

"Naruto…" Sakura began, looking at him squarely. "It's nothing but a theory, for now. Even
though... Yeah, that fits."

"…I won't do anything rash before I know for sure." He said. "But… Once I find the people
responsible for this… If it's truly him. I'm going to kill Danzō."

"We know." Karin said simply. "…I'll help."

"Are you sure..?" Naruto asked.

"Yes."

Naruto hesitated. Then he continued.

"I… don't think I'm going to stop there either." He shook his head. "I'm willing to kill anyone like
them. If it takes purging half the villages' higher-ups to reshape them… I will. But I know that you
usually don't-"

"I said I will help." Karin said sharply, shaking her head. "I've seen what happens when we just try
to stay away. I'd rather dirty my hands. And you're going to need someone to prevent you from
actually going too far."

"…Alright." Naruto nodded, all too easily. At this point, it felt as though he were just looking for a
reason. Anything.

He looked at the others.

Sakura just nodded her assent, as he had expected, really.

Ino was more hesitant, which he could understand. Out of all them, she was the one with the most
ties with the ninja side of the village.

"…Only the people responsible for it. And those that would do the same." She finally decided. Ino
spoke quietly. "As long as we're talking about Konoha, at least."

"Of course." Naruto nodded grimly. "Only the worst people. As always."

For a moment, Naruto felt startled. The words had been his… but…? Ino just gave him a strange
look.

"Let's plan how to get to them, then." Karin said.

"How are we going to find who's responsible?" Sakura asked.

Karin didn't have an answer.

"Only Toru would know." Ino said.

There was something haunted in Naruto's eyes. There was no way to ask anything from the dead.

"Only Toru..." Naruto repeated.

There was no way.

'Only Toru.' He thought, closing his eyes.

There was a way.

Yahiko Tower's rooftop. Amegakure.

"Ah. It is only you, Zetsu." Uzumaki Nagato said coldly, noticing the unwanted visitor.

The rain continued to drench him, from head to toe. Why would it matter, right now…? There were
plenty of other things on his mind. Zetsu. How many times did he have to tell the rest of them not
to bother him, these days…?

Especially this power-hungry faker.

"…Do you have information you wish to relay to me?" Nagato finally asked, keeping his anger
from showing. It was more dangerous to let his emotions get the better of him, these days.

"I don't." Black Zetsu spoke.

Nagato scowled. The pressure in the air intensified.

"Leave, then."
Black Zetzu didn't.

"...I came here to talk about your plans. You're about to make a terrible mistake. This is not what
we decided—"

"I have changed my terms. Be glad I do not change them any further."

"What…?" Black Zetsu gritted out. "Don't you forget-"

Nagato stood still.

No. Maybe it was a good thing that Zetsu had come.

Then there was a flash of golden light. His chakra gathered, quick as lightning, and his hand rose
up. So did Zetsu, who only understood too late. He was already in midair, being pulled up.

"Chibaku Tensei"

The small black orb hung over Zetsu, who strained to free himself.

"How dare you, Nagato?!" The black half roared.

"Why why why…?" The white half whined.

A thin smile, closer to a rictus than any real amusement, stretched upon Nagato's face.

"I have no more need for you and your plots."

The gravitational pull he exerted was a very precise one. Short-ranged, but extremely strong. There
was no way either Zetsu would manage to escape it. No matter how smart the man-creature
thought it was.

"Did you really think I would never notice…?" Nagato asked. "That these eyes have not
been mine since birth…?"

It didn't matter. They were his, now.

"Wha-"

"That you are not who… what you say you are…?" Nagato continued. "You are ancient. Almost as
ancient as the Sage, it seems to me. Who… or what you really are… Well, I do not care to know, I
have to admit."

There was true panic in Zetsu's eyes. Nagato relished in it.

"Nagato! Release me! You have no idea what a foolish mistake you're committing!" Black Zetsu
roared.

"Hmpf." Nagato let out a low chuckle. "I do not care to hear your delusional ramblings. Be gone."

With a grunt of exertion, and his golden chakra flaring around him, Nagato sent the small moon
hurtling. With all his might. Aimed at the sun.

Black Zetsu was never heard from again.

 Ashes/Chasing the Wind

THE HOKAGE'S WAR

by Yamanaka Ino, Umishinbun

"Focus."

Orochimaru's sharp words brought Naruto's mind back to the task at hand.

Naruto just nodded. His frustration was reaching a boiling point, though.

"You're not focusing."

"I am." He growled out.

Naruto continued to sit there, trying to feel whatever the world's pulse meant. But he had never felt
so far away from it. What was meditation supposed to do when-

Orochimaru sighed.

"I know how you are feeling. But we have no time to waste. Let it out."

Naruto's teeth clenched. 'Show him.' He pushed the whisper aside.

"Let it out…? You know how I'm feeling…?" Burning anger coursed through him. " You..?
Everything is a joke to you."

"You're wrong about that." Orochimaru said calmly. "And it's normal for you to feel that way."

"You have no idea…" Naruto's voice shook. He clammed up. "I don't want to talk about it."

"It's especially bad when you feel as though it's your fault. And you do." Orochimaru's eyes were
penetrating. "You think that if you had pushed harder. If you had gotten Ino to check him
thoroughly…"

"Shut up." Naruto whispered.

"It would not have happened." Orochimaru crushed the thought. "In this, Toru was very Uchiha.
He would never have submitted himself to the sort of jutsu needed to root out this possession. Even
if he had been in his usual state of mind."

"I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT FROM YOU!" Naruto roared.

"You want to kill them."

"ENOUGH!"

"You want to kill the people responsible so badly that you feel your blood turning to fire."

"YOU HAVE NO FUCKING IDEA!" Naruto screamed, feeling his throat strain.

Orochimaru's expression was calm. Belying the true emotion that Naruto could read in his eyes.
That, more than anything, stopped Naruto from attacking him, no matter how bad of an idea this
would have been.

"I have been a shinobi for half a century. I have lost many, many people. Most of them were killed
brutally. I know exactly what it's like." He smiled; it was a cruel one. "And I won't pretend I didn't
enjoy paying them back. Iwa… Kumo… Suna. Kiri. Taki. Ame."

Naruto quieted down.

Orochimaru continued. "Nagare, Sora, Kusa. Kaknketsusen. Kesshō. Kawaga."

Some of these villages had been destroyed, Naruto knew. Now he wondered by whom.

"It would be hypocritical of me to stop you, for this exact reason."

"…"

"I am a killer." Orochimaru shrugged. "One of the best in the world. If that is what you wish to
become, I can make you the sharpest sword in the world."

Naruto barely breathed.

"And it won't take long. You are strong already, and now you have the will. But first, make sure
this is truly what you want." Orochimaru said. Killing without a purpose…"

Orochimaru paused, laughing.

"To think I would be the one saying these words. Killing without a purpose… is senseless. The
things I have destroyed… Their disappearance changed nothing."

"…"

"So if you're going to go this way…" Orochimaru's eyes glinted. "Make sure that you become
strong enough to change things, make them anew once you destroy them. I wasn't."

The casual admission took the wind out of Naruto's sails. He stayed silent, deep in thought.

"Now… You want to kill Danzō first. Possibly his entourage, if needed." Orochimaru said.

Naruto stopped breathing. "How…?"

The man gave him a wry look. "It is obvious, there is murder all over your face. You're going to
need to work on your expression."

Naruto felt anger rise once more.

"Are you going to stop me?"

Orochimaru chuckled darkly. "Certainly not."

Naruto blinked.

"Now, maybe it's a bad idea, considering your mental state." Orochimaru ignored Naruto's
incoming retort. "But the man has been a thorn in my foot for too long… And you have to
start somewhere. Suit yourself."
"…"

"But don't forget our goal. Akatsuki."

"I definitely won't." Naruto shot back. "And I'm ready for them. Except Nagato."

The older man nodded.

"Now remember Danzō might want you to come to him." Orochimaru warned. "Caution will be
needed. Sakura knows how to make it work."

"I understand that."

"There is one more thing." Orochimaru said.

"What is it…?"

"I will ask you not to touch Sarutobi-sensei." Orochimaru said, his golden eyes fixed upon him.

Naruto kept his anger down.

"...I am still not sure what I'm going to do about him."

"Good. Leave him, then."

"Why?" Naruto asked, slowly getting angry again. "Is it mere sentimentality…?" He spat
Orochimaru's words back at him.

The man chuckled. "Partly. There is something else, though."

"What?"

"There is one of Lord Second's jutsu that he hid from us, still."

"…He hid it? Which one…?"

"The one called Edo Tensei."

"Edo Tensei…?" Naruto frowned. "What is it?"

"It is a reanimation jutsu."

"…Reanimation…?" Naruto asked, his lips dry. This might work better than what he had planned-

"It won't work." Orochimaru crushed his hopes. "It is not a perfect one, far from it. Some call it an
abomination, even. You probably don't want to bring him back like this, I would say."

"…" If Orochimaru said so, he believed him.

"But it is one that might prove to be useful." Orochimaru said. "Sarutobi knows it too. Which is
why he must have hidden it. This… and mistrust for us."

"…"

"But the closer that jutsu remains in Konoha, the closer it is to Danzō. And this is bad. Which is
why we will need to find him."
"…Alright."

"I'm very glad we mostly settled this matter, then." Orochimaru said, somewhat amused. He stood
up.

"What about the training?"

Orochimaru laughed. "It is meditation. I think you can manage this much on your own. Don't lose
your focus, this time."

"Where are you going…?"

"Well, I still have to speak with the four of your friends as well, do I not?" Orochimaru shrugged.

Naruto blinked. Orochimaru just shot him a mysterious smile.

"You're not the only one engaging in self-flagellation. We can ill afford that right now, can we
not…?"

Naruto didn't accept Toru's death. How could he, with a broken bond taunting him forever?

But some of the madness, the howling grief receded. He could function again.

"Are you sure you want to keep living here?"

Naruto asked Hanabi, as they were sorting through Toru's belongings, with the rest of them.

"It is my house as much as it was his." She just said.

"Won't it be lonely…?" Ino asked.

Hanabi lifted an eyebrow. "I'm not going to join you in your haven of sin."

Karin chuckled. "I don't think this was quite what she was asking."

"I'm good here either way." Hanabi shook her head. "But you shouldn't worry that much about me.
Akemi, on the other hand…"

Naruto winced. Akemi, Toru's not-girlfriend, had definitely looked very somber these last few
days. Well, all of them had.

"…It's not a matter of who's suffering the most." Naruto said.

"…I'll be fine."

That's what Toru had said, too. Back before…

"I know you were friends, despite how much you… squabbled."

"…"

"I'll miss him, too. Always." Naruto said. Not just because the bond would make sure of it.

Hanabi's shoulders shook slightly, and she wasn't looking at him. Naruto wasn't sure whether to
stop here or to continue.
"This is… so unfair." She said, low and angry.

"Yes."

"If I had never listened to Neji that day — Why did he have to throw his life away…?" Hanabi
asked. Ugly, hot tears ran down her face. "For me…?!"

Ino took her in a hug, and Hanabi stiffened.

"Not for you, not because of you, either." Ino said. "He was murdered."

"…"

"And we won't just stand idly, will we?"

"No… Not at all." Hanabi sniffed.

Naruto continued to go through Toru's belongings.

He noticed a few things. First he got rid of Toru's hidden stash of erotic magazines, silently. Yeah,
there was no need for anyone to see what he really liked. There were more stats sheets, of people
Naruto didn't know. But more importantly…

"…He hid more comics in there." Naruto said out loud, a sad little laugh escaping him.

"For real..?" Ino asked. "…Well. Let's continue publishing them, then. For whomever is actually
reading our papers."

And there were a few people, apparently. Whether they believed what they read or not was another
question. Naruto agreed with her, it would be a nice tribute to Toru, anyway.

Hanabi whispered something.

"Hmm? What was that…?" Sakura asked.

"I said I'll take over the comics. I'll draw them for the newspapers."

"…Those are mostly funny comics." Sakura said.

"So what?" Hanabi retorted.

'She has about as much humor as a dead bird.' Naruto thought. Not that he was going to say this
out loud. Ino apparently caught the thought, because she stifled a laugh.

"Uh… Okay. Great, then." Sakura looked dubious, at best.

"Do you even know how to draw…?" Naruto asked.

Hanabi shrugged, wiping the last of her tears away. "…I'm Hyūga."

'…'

"But if you want to help me with something else…" Hanabi began. "I've got an idea for my
cousin."

Over the next few days, new security measures were put in place.
The… Shisui incident stayed on Naruto's mind the whole time.

The most important being putting someone in charge of the archipelago's security, full-time. If
Shisui could sneak someone in… then so could anybody else, if they were talented enough with
Genjutsu.

The second measure was removing all of the marks around the island, except a central one, that led
to a seal-protected building, where three people, all of them instructed by Ino in the mind arts,
would do a customary check on people's minds, for possible influence — nothing invasive. No
matter if they were entering or leaving.

But then again… was this problem true for all Hidden Villages…? Naruto wondered. Because this
was a glaring weakness. Could they just do the same…? Sneak in someone under a Genjutsu this
easily…?

He knew most villages had a sensing barrier, but he doubted that it would detect anything
burrowed deeper.

Naruto realized that what had been wrong with him before… was only getting worse.

He could make all the claims of sanity he wanted, but something was clearly off. And he could not
tell what it was, exactly.

Was he going insane, finally…?

He hadn't always been like this, he knew it. But whatever was happening, he would shield the
others from it.

Even if he had to push them away.

"…Are you trying to push us away…?" Ino asked, arms folded, the very next day.

Naruto sighed. So much for that.

"It's for the best-"

"Look, if you want to brood somewhere in a dark corner, please feel free to do so." Ino said. "But I
know you. You're worried, right now."

And she knew it was not just about Toru. Naruto pursed his lips. Maybe that was the trouble with
having a psychic lover. She didn't even have to read his mind to tell when he was being dramatic.

"…It's nothing." He scowled.

Ino glared at him. There was fire in his eyes, the same way as always, when she was truly angry.

"I stood by when Toru said the same." Ino came closer to him. "It won't happen again. Ever. Not
on my watch."

She punctuated every word with a finger poke.

"And I know you. If it's not about you feeling responsible for everything that ever happened…" Her
voice rose. "It's about your thrice damned ancestor. Hearing his voice. Confront him, then. The
way you always do. Tell him it's about time for him to go back to his grave."
"…" Naruto just stood there, mouth parted.

"And if you get any stupid ideas about trying to protect us…" She said, nostrils flaring. "By hiding
us away in a nice little corner of this island… Well think again!" She finished.

Ino pushed past him. Then she continued to speak, without turning to face him.

"If it's about Toru… about his death… Or fearing that we might die, too…"

Naruto winced.

"Well, I'm sorry to say it, but you're going to have to suck it up. I am a shinobi, not a trophy wife.
I'm sure Karin and Sakura feel the same."

Once more, he stood silent.

"Besides…" Ino laughed. "This bond thing is quite permanent. And it goes both ways. We won't let
you risk your life while we sit on our asses."

Fair point.

"So… No. You won't get rid of us so easily. Not after all the shit you put us through."

Ino chuckled darkly as she left.

Naruto let out a long-suffering sigh. Maybe he should have stayed in Konoha, become a nice little
lapdog and married a civilian… or something.

Still, his lips twitched, and he couldn't help but smile.

"Did Ino slap some sense into you?" Karin asked, smiling lightly. "Good. She's better than me at it,
I can admit this much."

"What makes you say that?"

"…The fact you don't look like you're still thinking about the best way to disappear from the
world?"

He winced.

Karin chuckled. "You mostly look like you're in need of a hug."

Naruto said nothing. She snuggled close to him. He didn't object.

She needed it, too, he knew.

Very early in the morning, Naruto usually was found going through the same routine.

Dissociating his ever more volatile emotions from the calm he needed in battle.

It wasn't perfect in any way, and sometimes he wondered if he was about to give himself yet
another problem in doing so.

But to some degree, it was working. The meditation, the stillness of the mind, the sureness it
brought him.
His chakra felt stronger, his jutsu became powerful enough to change the very air around him.

Lightning was his; Wind was his.

And sometimes he dreamed that he was the Storm.

And then he wasn't. Naruto steeled himself. Right now, he wasn't much.

There were two things he needed to do. Besides training — which was a particular brand of hellish,
these days.

He opened his bond, focusing on one specific person.

'Hello, Yugito.'

No answer came. He tried again. For a second, he feared the worst.

Instead… he welcomed the anger that he received through the link, gladly.

'What the hell was this?!' Yugito sent, hissing. 'And why didn't you say anything for days on end?'

'I'm sorry'. Naruto said, insincerely. 'My friend died. What you felt through the bond was the
consequence, I assume.'

Yugito paused. She sighed.

'No. I'm sorry, then. I shouldn't have assumed…'

'It's on me. I explained nothing last time.' He sighed. 'But yeah, I don't know if I would still call this
bond a good thing.'

'…Why not?'

He gestured at… nothing. She somehow got the message, still.

'Well, yes.' She admitted. 'It is more painful. But would you really trade the sort of understanding I
think you have built with your friends… for less pain…?'

Naruto hesitated.

'…No. I don't think I would.'

'There you go.' Yugito smiled.

He smiled, too.

'But that's not what I wanted to ask you.'

'What was it, then?'

'Is there somewhere we can meet…? Far from your troops…?'

Naruto stood in front of a mirror.

He had avoided this for too long. Afraid.

He stared. A man that was not himself stared back. Then it flickered and he was back to staring at
himself again.

He stared at his reflection. He thought he saw an arrogant smile that wasn't his, pulling at his lips.

This time, his fist smashed through the mirror.

Ino had been right. Her words made sense to him.

The voice, the one that he had started to hear more and more clearly since he had found Toru…
This one, he couldn't get rid of.

'This is but a mirror. It only shows you what there is to see, Uzumaki.' The voice said, amused.

These thoughts weren't his own. Ino had gotten this part right.

She had simply been a little off the mark.

Because the thoughts, the voice… they were Indra's. But not all of the unwanted memories that
blurred with his own were that man's, either.

And now, he was sure that Tobi was not Madara.

 Ashes/An Ideal

The next day. Land of Hot Water.

'Why did you simply not ask me, then, Uzumaki?'

Naruto ignored the voice. As he did, most of the time.

"Are you… well? You didn't react when I called your name." A woman's voice asked.

His focus turned to Yugito, who had accepted to meet him on neutral ground. She looked even
more tired than last time, and weariness was obviously eating at her.

"…Gods." Yugito breathed out. "You sure about this?"

"Absolutely." Naruto nodded.

"And you think it is a wise idea…?" She asked. "It is frowned upon for a reason."

"Not for a good one." Was all that Naruto said in response.

Yugito remained quiet for a long while, obviously thinking.

"…Perhaps you're right." Yugito said noncommittally.

"Can you ask, then?"

"…You really have become demanding, aren't you…?" Yugito frowned.

"My bad." He shrugged. "I find myself in a bit of a hurry.

Yugito gave him a long, searching look before she entered a trance-like state. She still trusted him,
then. 'For now.'

Her eyes opened again soon.

"Matatabi doesn't want to... 'hear anything about that man.'" Yugito repeated.

Naruto let out a long sigh. Was it about something he himself had done… or his Father's creations
being spiteful again…?

Naruto blinked. He shook it off and focused again.

"Then let me talk to it." Naruto ventured.

"…To her."

"Huh…?"

"Matatabi is a she." Yugito sighed. She looked at him carefully. "And again, she really doesn't
want to talk to you."

Naruto closed his eyes.

"Tell her I don't come on behalf of my …ancestor. Neither of them."

The term was a simplification he didn't like. As far as he knew, they were not even blood-related.
Not that it changed much here.

"…You're going to owe me one for this." Yugito groaned.

Yugito's mind was a very different place from his own.

For one, they were not in a sewer. Which he was not going to complain about, as he much
preferred the mountains he could see around them. And maybe it said something about both of
their mental states, too.

The second thing… There was no cage, either. The seal was more or less open. A gigantic
nekomata, made out of pure blue flame stared at him. Its… Her distaste for him was pretty
obvious.

Next to him, Yugito gave him a wry look. 'I told you so', her eyes seemed to say.

"You reek of them."

"…I beg your pardon..?"

"The worst of them. Indra. Raijin."

"Ah." Yeah, that. "Not much I can do about it." He said dryly.

Compared to the Nine-Tails, she seemed somewhat less impressive, he thought.

"The same twisted ambitions, as well." Matatabi snarled in disgust.

'Not as easy as you thought…?' The voice whispered in his head. 'You can blame the Little Senju
for this, not us.'

"Matatabi-" The cat hissed at Naruto using her name. He paused. Bad idea, then. "I do possess
their chakra. It is true. But I am neither of them. Not Indra. Not Raijin, either."

"Lies! Your soul! The same soul!" The Beast hissed. "You will destroy the world, should you
live enough."

"Fate is but one thing." Naruto shook his head. "The only ambition I have is to stop these endless
wars. And live my life in peace."

The cat snorted. "Yes… But of course… You only mean to help."

Naruto let himself hope for a second.

The Two-Tails jumped forward, mouth open, gleaming fangs out; a void of ethereal flame opening
in its mouth. Naruto let Lightning come to him - so it worked, even here…?

"Matatabi! Please!" Yugito put herself in between the two of them.

The Beast halted in front of her.

"Yugito. You would defend this wretch?"

"I brought him here." She said wryly. "The least I could do is get him out safely."
"Then do so at once. Remove him from my presence." The cat growled. "I have heard similar
words before… Before my freedom was taken from me. By his soul-brother."

'See…?' The voice laughed. 'This is not on me.'

Naruto ignored him.

"I have come here to ask for your help." He repeated.

The cat hissed.

"…You dare."

"I dare."

"Yugito is the only reason I'm not burning you alive."

"I know." Naruto nodded. The Beasts had very valid reasons for being so misanthropic, of course,
but still… It made them a pain to deal with.

Yugito, who shot him a very unimpressed look.

"In return, I will offer you something."

"You…?" The Beast laughed; a completely unnatural sound. Cats didn't laugh, and the Beast was
no exception. It was something she had learned from humans. "You think you have something to
offer me?"

"You don't have to like me. I will give you the same thing I promised your older brother, the Nine-
Tails."

The Two-Bails stopped laughing. Sharply.

The name of the strongest Beast still held weight, then.

Naruto took this as his opportunity to continue.

"After Yugito's death…" Two pairs of eyes fixed on his own. One pair wide in displeased surprise,
the other curious. He continued.

"-Which I will do everything in my power to prevent… Upon her death, I will make sure that the
world becomes a place that allows for your freedom." Naruto paused. "That is… if I'm not around,
myself, anymore. If I am… I will free you myself. On the condition that you harm no humans."

Complete silence fell over the mindscape.

"What…?" Yugito hissed. "You didn't say anything about this."

"I didn't." Naruto said.

"This is not your choice to make." Yugito said, angrily.

"It is not."

"You've been taking a lot of… liberties recently. Capturing the Seven-Tails was not enough…?"
She spat.

The Two-Tails' inhuman eyes were upon him again, displeased. Had she not known?

"It is the truth." Naruto admitted. "An unpleasant one, too. I have isolated the Seven-Tails and his
container. And when I was younger, I was the one who sealed the One-Tails into Uchiha Sasuke."

"…What?"

"Back when I was thirteen, he and I… and our friend. We were faced with immediate danger and
made a rash decision. It was a mistake, one that I only realized much later. It is a mistake I aim to
fix, in time."

Yugito gave him a long look. She didn't like what she saw.

"But as much as it is not my choice… It isn't Kumo's choice, either. The Beasts are not weapons."

The Two-Tails scrutinized him, now. Unmoving.

He knew he had put Yugito in a bind. She cared for the Beast that she called by her name. But she
cared for her home, too. She felt that it wasn't her right to decide on it.

In all honesty, Naruto found it pretty weak of her.

"…Kumo will be left vulnerable without Matatabi's strength." Yugito growled.

"It should still be up to her to decide whether she wants to lend it her strength or not." Naruto
shrugged. "Besides, the balance of power will soon be broken entirely. What's left of it, anyway."

'I will make sure of it' went unsaid. He would do what was needed, but preferred omission to actual
lying, still.

"…You've never asked her what she wanted, did you?" Naruto continued. Maybe she had been
afraid of the answer, of crossing over a boundary drawn in sand.

Yugito glared at him.

"…What do you want, Matatabi?" Yugito asked, turning toward her.

The Beast said nothing for a long while.

"…Freedom." Matatabi hissed. "Upon your death."

Yugito's face fell.

"I don't want to be used anymore. Not by humans, not by anyone."

"I… see." And what more could Yugito say, considering the spot it put her in…?

"I am tired of this world. Of people's cruelty. Of being caught in their wars."

Yugito just nodded. Slowly.

"But you…" Matatabi continued, facing Naruto.

He waited.
"You're not any better. You are planning on committing terrible things. How many people
will die in your quest for power…?"

"The people who deserve it." Naruto simply answered. Yugito looked at him as though she had
never seen him before.

"Foolish words." The Beast purred dangerously.

"Maybe." Naruto shook his head. "I won't hide from my actions. Not my past ones… Not the ones I
will take. Put the blame where it rightfully belongs. On me."

A long silence stretched.

"Because I don't want to be anyone's tool, either. I will free all of the Bijū once the Akatsuki is
dealt with. And if that is even possible…"

He was still living on borrowed time, he felt, had been since most of the Nine-Tails had been
extracted. But that was a start.

"…If that is even possible…" He continued. "I will find a way to free the remaining ones from
their jinchūriki without killing them. You, too, if you wish."

More silence. Both Yugito and the Beast were staring at him. Unreadable.

Naruto waited.

The cat rumbled. Yugito's feelings obviously conflicted between what the village wanted, and what
her life-partner wanted. And the fact that Naruto had gone over her head entirely with this.
It had been underhanded of him, honestly.

"Maybe I was wrong about you, before." The Two-Tails said. "You won't destroy the world.
You will just ruin yourself."

"If so… Then so be it." Naruto said with complete confidence. "Better me than the world."

"Hmpf." Matatabi snorted. "The way I see it, I don't have much to lose here."

Yugito whipped around.

"Are you… taking him up on his offer…?"

"That will quite depend on what he asks of me." The Beast's mismatched eyes fixed upon him.

"I need to speak to the dead."

"Of course you do." Matatabi hissed.

"It is my only request." Naruto bowed.

Yugito still stood silent, arms folded. Matatabi observes him.

"You cannot commune with the dead." Matatabi shook her head.

Naruto's stomach fell. He had thought…

"…I see." He let out a long sigh. That complicated things… a lot.

Matatabi stared at him. Naruto prepared to leave, bowing to a now angry Yugito in thanks, and
preparing to leave.

"But I can. Speak their name and your question."

Naruto took a long breath.

"There are two people. Uchiha Toru… and Namikaze Minato. And as for the questions…"

Matatabi rises, and with her, so do the whispers of the dead and the dying.

"My daughter… where is my daughter?"

"-Do none of you Kumo bastards have any shame, have any honor?!"

"Let my blood taint your dreams…"

"I will wait for you there-"

"-Father! Mother!…"

The whispers blend into a roar louder than the ocean that Matatabi always runs from, to make her
home in the mountains.

Matatabi rises, and listens to the echoes.

"Uchiha Toru…" Matatabi began.

Naruto had a feeling it wasn't going to be pretty. Well, if the only cost to this was what was left of
his peace of mind… he'd take it.

"Uchiha Toru's soul is restless. He is full of regrets, tormented. He was taken brutally. "

Naruto felt his heart clench. He wasn't surprised, of course, but to hear it…

"He blames no one but himself and his murderers. It will pass, in time. The Pure Lands
beckon."

It would...? That was… something.

"What about…?"

"Your question…?" Matatabi asked, her voice rumbling with something just as old, ancient as the
Nine-Tails. "He was killed by two Tōshiteki men, sent by the one called Hokage."

Naruto accepted the answer. And the cold fury that mounted within him. He had known. They all
had. One question.

"Tōshiteki…?"

"I believe they call themselves Yamanaka, now. The dead's patterns can be quite confusing."
"…I see." Naruto nodded slowly. Ino had been right. Yamanaka working under Danzo, then. They
shouldn't be too hard to find. Worst case, he could kill all of them.

…Was this his thought or not?

"…And the other one..?" Naruto asked.

"Namikaze Minato is unreachable."

Naruto frowned. "Because his soul is trapped inside the Reaper's belly?"

"That is not what I said. His soul does not lie with the Shinigami."

"What…?" Naruto felt as though his stomach was knotting.

"He has been there, with half of Kurama's soul."

"…Not anymore, then…?"

She was telling the truth, then, if she knew this much. Matababi sounded displeased.

"No. He has been taken away from there. Recently, and somewhere I cannot see. And so was
Kurama."

"I shall expect you to hold up your end of the bargain, Stormbringer. And I hope not to meet
you again… but only fate will tell."

When Naruto got out of Yugito's mindscape, reeling, her slap took him by surprise.

"What was this all about?!" She roared.

Naruto took some time to compose himself.

"I needed answers." He simply said.

"You used me." Yugito growled.

It was the truth, as much as Naruto disliked it.

It was a simple truth, too. He had put his desires above hers, as he had known she would not have
accepted his request if she had known what he had planned to offer to Matatabi.

"…You have changed." Yugito said. And the way she had said it… she definitely didn't mean this
in a good way.

"…I have used you." Naruto nodded. "And I am sorry for it."

A truth, too, Yugito saw. How she hated him, at this moment.

"Uchiha Toru was your friend, wasn't he…?" She let out. Naruto didn't answer, and so she
continued. "The one who died."

"…That was him." Naruto confirmed.

"What do you intend to do with the knowledge?"

Naruto just stared at her.

She repeated her question.

"You may not want to know." He answered.

"What are you going to do?" Yugito almost begged.

"The same thing I used to be too weak to do. I will bring change."

"What — are you — going — to do?!" She roared.

"I am going to murder the Hokage. I will kill Danzō." Naruto admitted, his eyes dark. "And the
people he sent. And the people who agreed to it, likely. Whoever that is."

A truth, Yugito knew. Naruto saw it in her eyes. She took a step back.

Then she steeled herself.

"…I won't let you do this." Yugito growled. "I may not like it, but Konoha is Kumo's ally."

Naruto smiled slightly.

"I wasn't asking for your permission."

"I know things about Umi you don't want Konoha to know. I can warn them. Right now. Are you
going to kill me too… Or imprison me?" She spat.

'Silence her.'

Naruto paused. "That is true." He searched for something in her eyes. "But… you won't tell them.
Not when both you and I know that Danzō is a cancer to be removed. Not when I'm the only
person you can talk about your Raikage problem with. At least, the only one not bound to your
village."

"…"

"And the same goes for me with Konoha. There are many that would want revenge on Danzō's
actions…" He thought of the love for Toru he had seen in Shisui, he thought of Sasuke, too. "But
they won't. Even if they knew. Because they're shackled to Konoha. Me…"

He chuckled. "I'm not."

"Don't." She warned. "Don't do it. You will-"

"You won't be able to stop me." Naruto shook his head. There was no way she could reach Konoha
before they could. He had just been waiting for confirmation. "Everything is already in motion."

"YOU-"

"Shimura Danzō has some of the dirtiest hands on the planet." Naruto simply said. "I doubt many
will be terribly sad to see him go. The world he aims to bring will be nothing but backstabbing and
shadows."
"…And yours won't be?" Yugito raged. "After this…? You're well on your way to becoming more
of the same, Uzumaki Naruto."

He shook his head. "It might seem that way now. But I am not. I haven't lost my way, either. I
simply know where I'm going... And how to get there."

"You're insane. What makes you think you're so different from people like Danzō? From
Akatsuki?!"

"I have people to center me. People like you." He said with a slight smile.

"…You dare?… You dare?!" Yugito looked ready to attack him. Her claws extended.

She was shaking her head, and Naruto could feel her feelings of betrayal-disbelief-pain.

"Maybe I have changed some." Naruto conceded. "I won't blame it on anyone but me. Not on the
world, either. But it still needs to change."

'Not even on me… on us…?' The voice asked, amused.

Naruto ignored him. "And I'm not insane. You know it too, deep down. I can feel your emotions.
You're afraid, but not of me. And you're afraid I might be right, too."

"Leave this place." Yugito said, baring her fangs.

He just nodded.

"Don't come back."

Naruto shook his head, somewhat sadly. "I will, if you're in danger. Call for me."

"I won't. Leave before I kill you myself!"

'This one has character.' The voice said.

Naruto ignored it. He still didn't know if it was real.

And he was sad to see Yugito go. But it was part of the price to pay, to remake the world.

Naruto knew that the path ahead would be full of blood, and that he would likely not be
understood… and maybe he was following an impossible ideal.

He would do it anyway. If he failed… then so be it.

That was what he was ready to put his life on the line for.

Because if something was wrong here, it was not him. It was the world.
 Fire, Wind, Lightning

Konoha

"There you are." Jiraiya's loud voice called.

Sasuke's head whirled around. "And here I thought I could have a nice day." He said with a long-
suffering sigh. Truth be told, he was happy to see him again. He had been in a funk ever since…
Well, a while.

Jiraiya had found Hinata and he, sitting next to the Uchiha compound's lake.

"Ah, come on, now." Jiraiya smiled lightly. "Don't be like that, Sasuke-chan."

Hinata giggled. "Hello, Jiraiya-sama."

"Hello, Hinata. See? She's polite." Jiraiya nudged Sasuke. "What she sees in you… I could never
tell. You're so… bland."

"That's strange. I do not recall asking for your opinion, sensei." Sasuke said dryly.

"Well, I'm a pretty giving man. I'm offering anyway." The Sanin smiled.

He then turned somber. A gigantic hand slapped Sasuke on his shoulder. "I've heard about your
cousin." Jiraiya said. "I liked him, and I'm sorry to hear that—"

"Why are you sorry?" Sasuke mumbled. "You didn't kill him."

Jiraiya winced. "Ah, you're in this sort of mood."

"Sorry." Sasuke shook his head. "It's been… a long week."

"Yeah. I know the feeling pretty well." The man nodded soberly.

They didn't say anything for a while.

"Are you back in the village for a while, Jiraiya-sama?" Hinata asked, cutting through it. "It's been
a while since we last saw you. We could have dinner together, before Sasuke leaves again."

"Ah." He scratched his head. "I'd love to, but I'm only passing by, really."

"Really…?" Sasuke asked. "Where are you headed to, then?"

"This…" Jiraiya began softly, in a conspiratorial tone. Hinata leaned in. "…is a secret!" He
grinned.

"Jiraiya-sama!" She protested.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "It's not like you made the same joke a thousand times, by now."

"My… You're still as fun as ever." Jiraiya said, with a twinkle in his eyes. "If it works, it works—"

"Sorry to spoil your fun." Sasuke said. Despite himself, he was amused.

Sasuke stared at him, unsure where to start. As usual, Hinata saved him, in her demure tones.
"There's something Sasuke wants to say to you." She said with a smile. "He's just bad with words."

"Oooh…?" Jiraiya laughed. "What is it? Have you finally decided to read my books, the both of
you?"

"…No." Sasuke shook his head. Hinata hid a chuckle behind her hand. "Hinata is pregnant."

Jiraiya froze. For a second, it was like he was staring at something else.

Then, he smiled softly.

"Congratulations, then. Sasuke. Hinata."

"Thank you, Jiraiya-sama." Hinata smiled.

"Yeah." Sasuke nodded. "But that's not it. There's something else I want to ask."

The same faraway look upon the Sanin's face.

"Itachi is going to be our firstborn's naming parent. Well, only technically, anyway, since his name
was already picked before that."

"Ah." Jiraiya sounded relieved.

"But we're going to have at least one more child, I know." Hinata laughed.

"…For real?" Jiraiya blinked. "Are you planning so far ahead already?"

Sasuke laughed openly. "No. Not exactly. We're going to have twins."

"…Twins?" Jiraiya repeated. "For real?"

"It's a Hyūga thing, apparently." Sasuke shrugged, trying not to show his worry at the idea. Two
kids. He was going to be a father.

"It is a good thing." Hinata said, caressing her belly, with a sad smile. "I wouldn't want our son…
or our daughter to be lonely."

Sasuke winced. He hoped Hanabi was alright, wherever she was now. Likely Umi, as well. He
shook the thought away.

"And when that happens, would you do us the honor of naming the second?" Sasuke asked, with a
slight smile.

Jiraiya said nothing for a long while. He closed his eyes.

"I… Are you… sure?" His voice was rough.

"Absolutely."

"…"

"You don't have to accept." Hinata said with an easy smile.

"No… That's fine." Jiraiya mumbled. "Yeah. I think I'd like that. Naming your second-born, I
mean."
"Great!" Sasuke grinned. "Don't give him a goofy name, though, he's going to have to bear it."

"…You're not going to pull a Minato, right?" Jiraiya asked, looking him squarely in the eye.

Sasuke smiled softly.

"No. I promise."

They sat there comfortably.

"I'm surprised, though, I have to say." The man chuckled.

"Because of the pregnancy…? Or… the twins?" Hinata asked.

"…I thought Sasuke was ace, frankly. No interest for women, men, all that." Jiraiya admitted.
"Nothing wrong with it, though."

"He does seem that way, doesn't he?" Hinata laughed.

Sasuke groaned.

Uchiha Sasuke walked the streets of Konoha, alone this time.

He relaxed under the afternoon sun. Well, he tried. There were many things on his mind. His
impending return to the frontline. Toru.

Ah, Toru.

There was no way around it, he couldn't find it in himself to relax. The most he could do was to
avoid the One-Tail from waking up.

"Sasuke-senpai! Sasuke-senpai!" He snapped back to attention.

A young boy was chasing after him. Sasuke recognized him. Takano Yuudai, the latest Academy
rising star. A child prodigy from a civilian family, praised by his teachers as the best of his
generation.

Sasuke stopped in place, and waited. Yuudai stopped in his tracks and gave him a big grin. He
noticed a few teeth were missing. Here was someone who had the potential to become truly
powerful in the future… Apparently.

"Will you teach me jutsu?" The boy asked, eyes wide.

Sasuke supposed this happened to most shinobi at some point. Somebody younger would look up
to them, ask them for training, jutsu, advice…

Frankly, Sasuke didn't really feel like it.

But he remembered a few more things. That the boy had no family… and how he had felt
whenever Itachi would skip on training him. He withheld a small sigh. Well, it's not like he was
planning on doing anything, other than brooding.

"Sure."

"Thank you senpai!" The boy cheered.

There had been plenty of people who didn't understand, back then.

Why Uchiha Fugaku's second son had decided to date the Hyūga heiress. Or why the Hyūga
heiress had chosen Uchiha Fugaku's second son.

It was hard to tell which part got them so confused. Because to Sasuke, it was pretty simple.

Hinata was full of compassion, understanding… and could be hard, when needed. And he had been
impressed.

And she had always seen him for who he was. Not the Hokage's son. Not Itachi's supposedly less
talented brother. The same way he hadn't seen her as the Hyūga clan heiress. Not Hanabi's slightly
less talented sister, older than her by a year.

They had been very young, back then. They became friends, and then more.

It had been difficult, too, in the beginning. Neither clan was willing to concede much to the other.
But they had managed. It didn't matter much to Sasuke that he would likely become part of the
Hyūga clan in the future. And soon, they would have twins.

Sasuke had barely believed it.

Of course, considering the clan they would be born in, there would be complications. But Sasuke
wasn't willing to budge on this, he would not let either be marked.

He idly wondered if they would take after her, — he hoped so, at least — after him… What they
would be like.

And he hoped that they could grow up in peace. He would do anything for it.

"Do you have any hobbies, Sasuke?" Itachi asked, out of the blue.

Sasuke frowned. He thought about it. "…Not really, now."

"You used to love gardening." His brother frowned.

Sasuke felt his ears redden. "I was a kid, back then."

"So…?" Itachi's brows furrowed.

"Why are you asking, all of a sudden…?" Sasuke asked, somewhat suspicious. Was this about
Toru… their father… or something else?

Itachi shrugged. "It's important for a shinobi. Especially during… and after war."

"…It's not like I can start planting things on the front lines."

"That is true." Itachi chuckled. "But you could find something else to do, as well."

"You don't even have hobbies yourself." Sasuke complained.

"But I do." Itachi smiled.

"…What? Training? If so, I can say the same."

"No. I enjoy playing shogi — I play with your friend Shikamaru's father. Cooking is something I
like, as well. And I collect antiques."

"Hinata gardens already, anyway." Sasuke almost grunted. Itachi laughed. "And she's better than
me at it, too."

"So…? My point is—"

"Alright, alright. I'll find something." Sasuke sighed. He hated being roped into something.

"Good."

Itachi ran so fast that it looked like he was flying.

He was chuckling, too. Sasuke took it as a challenge and used wind to bolster himself. He wasn't
that great with it, but it provided some lift.

It felt like childhood again.

The war with Suna wasn't over, far from it — and Iwa didn't seem to want to back up at all — and
he would have to return to fight soon, but there was no express need for him to be there right now.

"We will miss the sunset if you continue to drag your feet, little brother. Your beloved is already
waiting, too."

"I'm trying!" Sasuke retorted.

The sky was already turning to soft pink, red and gold above them.

"It's on you!" Sasuke continued. "With all your bluster and… talk and…"

"Foolish, little brother, foolish." Itachi laughed. "We're almost there, anyway."

"If Hinata guilt trips me, I'm going to say it was you." Sasuke warned. "I'm not dealing with the sad
eyes."

"I think I'll survive."

Uchiha Shisui knew who to kill, of course.

Anyone involved in Toru's death. That likely meant Uzumaki Naruto, his pet Yamanaka and Umi's
higher ups. Hyūga Neji, too, just for starting all of this. Then the two ROOT members who had
been responsible for warning Danzō in the first place. Then, if it really were Danzō, he would kill
the men he had sent. And later, when the war was over, he would kill Danzō, for creating this mess
in the first place. And then maybe himself, depending.

But that could wait. He would need to get the truth, first.

He knew he looked bad, to the outside world. Even Itachi looked worried about him.

Whispers of yet another shinobi prodigy having lost it, whatever it was. Something about the
Uchiha Curse. It was a concept that came from the Second Hokage, apparently, spread by who
could only be their current one. Danzō could be a shrewd, cruel man, particularly toward the clans
he despised. His loathing against the Uchiha seemed even more personal.
He seemed to trust a few of them — to some degree — though. And he knew the importance of
keeping Sasuke on his good side. But Sasuke was too nice, Shisui knew. He still wanted to believe
that Konoha was a less dark place than the rest of the world.

People once spoke of Shisui as the future of the Uchiha clan. He wondered where these people
were now. They were always so quick to turn on others.

In the end, people did what people did. They spoke, and Shisui found that he didn't care about it
enough to really listen, right now. Because he knew that in just a few days, they might be back to
loving him.

Funny, how that worked.

Shimura Danzō stood on top of the Hokage Monument, overlooking the village.

"Danzō-sama. Sarutobi-sama has returned. He is here to see you." A masked ROOT member
kneeled.

So he had come back, already? Good.

"Let him go through." Danzō simply said. He wouldn't, if it were anyone else.

"Are you feeling nostalgic this evening, perhaps?" An amused voice said.

Sarutobi Hiruzen walked closer then, wearing casual clothes.

"Hello, old friend." The man said lightly. "It is good to see you."

"Good evening, Hiruzen." The Hokage greeted him. "It is good to see you, as well."

It was simply a formality. No matter how many times they disagreed, they squabbled and they
fought, he did consider Hiruzen his only true friend. And—

Danzō waited for him to join him.

"It is a beautiful view, isn't it?" Hiruzen chuckled, coming next to him.

"It is. Everything I do, I do to protect this." Danzo's voice rumbled.

Hiruzen smiled, somewhat thinly.

"Do you mind terribly if I smoke?" He asked.

Danzō waved his concern away.

"It is a disgusting habit. One that you would do well to get rid of. But I'll let you indulge tonight."

The Third chuckled. "Oh, you have told me before, yes." He pulled his pipe out, packed it. Then he
looked at him expectantly.

"Aren't you forgetting something?"

Danzō sighed and motioned for one of his ANBU to light his pipe. The man had never grown out
of this stupid ritual. If it weren't for the fact he was his oldest friend…
Hiruzen grinned.

"That's… good." He breathed the smoke out, slowly.

"You're not the Hokage anymore, Hiruzen." Danzō said dryly.

"Ah." He chuckled. "Let an old man have his vices."

"Let's cut to the chase. What have you found?" Danzō asked.

Hiruzen sighed. "Can you at least pretend this is just a friendly meeting? Why don't you send
my… your ANBU further away so that we can discuss this properly?"

Danzō gave him a long look. He gestured for them to leave. All of them. Hiruzen had been cleared
by security, which included a Hyūga, anyway. And considering how hard it was to get into
Konoha these days...

"Go ahead."

Hiruzen ignored him, looking at the village, wistfully. "Konoha at sunset. To me at least, it is one
of the most beautiful scenes I remember. And this is a particularly nice place to see it, isn't it?"

Danzō grunted. "The Monument overlooks the village and its surroundings, yes. Hashirama-sama
made a good choice, in this at least. It's a strategic place. A symbolic one, as well."

Hiruzen looked at him, amused.

"Of course you'd say that. But don't you find it… a bit too much, at times? It feels isolating, in a
way. As though the Hokage stands far away from his own people."

"The Hokage must be an island unto himself."

"Well… Among all the opinions I have heard… this is definitely one of them." Hiruzen chuckled.

Danzō rolled his good eye.

"…We've wasted enough time, Hiruzen. Talk. What of Ame?" Danzō asked.

Another long sigh.

Hiruzen looked at the horizon, instead of answering. A contented expression was upon his face,
and he seemed to bask in the sunset.

Danzō turned to face it as well, with a grunt. "What is it with you, this time? If you're intent on
wasting my time tonight, you might as well come back tomorrow."

He had other things to plan for. With Rasa gone, courtesy of Hatake Kakashi, there were several
ways things could go. He would need to…

Hiruzen spoke, in the same rambling tones that meant he would say nothing of value.

"It's just strange, how-"

Which meant Danzō wasn't really looking.

A flash of movement. Danzō whirled around, not as fast as he had been when he was young, but
more than fast enough to counter the attack. And the motion had not triggered his senses. There
had been no killing intent.

He managed to grip Hiruzen's wrist, tightly. There were no weapons in his hand. The Sarutobi's
eyes locked into his, with a smile that held a dangerous promise.

Danzō had no fear. A Hokage that had to be protected by his guards would be a terrible one.
Besides, he himself had made sure Sarutobi was always ready to spring into action, when they had
been young. Assassination drills, they had called it, back then.

Danzō lifted an eyebrow—

Before he had time to react, something opened under their feet and took both of them away. Danzō
tried to release the man, but it was too late. That was not a training exercise.

"-careless you can be, for someone so paranoid. A branch member, really?"

They were not on the Monument anymore. Before an entire second passed, he heard a rattling
sound and his body froze entirely, his chakra out of his control.

"What is the meaning of this…? Have you lost your mind?!" Danzō growled. Had he finally
snapped?

Both he and Hiruzen appeared on top of a snowy mountain.

There were some people scattered around them. Danzō had no time to focus on them, though.

"Well, you didn't notice anything was off." Hiruzen said, his entire body language switching to
someone else's. "I had a pretty good coach, when it comes to the Third's mannerisms. And a lot of
practice. Enough to fool even you, and you knew him for even longer than Orochimaru did."

Of course.

The transformation technique faded away, a minor chakra binding seal was broken, and a woman
with pink hair — that Danzō could swear he had seen before — stood in front of him, the pipe still
hanging from her lips. The clothes she had been wearing rippled, shifting into a thick cloak, one
that covered battle armor.

And suddenly, all Danzō could feel was a monstrously large chakra exploding into life, to his right.
He turned to face it.

Purple eyes, gleaming with power, surrounded by blue markings. Blond hair that stood lightly on
end from the amount of Lightning chakra in the air.

"Uzumaki Naruto." Danzō spat.

How had the woman passed the security…? He kept a Hyūga around, specifically for this! And for
that matter, how did she get inside the village? How did she bring them here?

"Hello, Danzō." Uzumaki Naruto greeted, a small smile upon his lips.

Another woman came close to them.

"It is good to see you…" Yamanaka Ino said, her voice as cold as her eyes. "Danzō. Unfortunately,
I think this might be our shortest meeting to date."
 The Shadow of Konoha

Danzō couldn't sleep.

He hated nights like these, where Konoha's summer heat made his skin stick to the sheets. He
shook his head. He was a shinobi in training.

Father always said that shinobi didn't show their pain. It was unbecoming, especially for a
member of the Shimura warrior clan. And someday, Father said, someday he would show the
world that with or without Konoha, the Shimura were a force to be reckoned with.

Not through the strength of the individual, no. But through pure dedication to an objective.

This, he said, was what made the Shimura shinobi one of the first clans Senju Hashirama -
said to be the strongest man of his era - approached with a proposal. One that had seemed
preposterous, at the time.

Sure, he had asked the Sarutobi at around the same time, — Hiruzen's clan — but that was
mostly for convenience.

Danzō let out a long sigh. Father was right, likely, but it didn't make the heat any less
unbearable.

Or sleep any easier to find.

Danzō rolled out of bed, splashed some cold water upon his face. He looked through the
window. Huh, strange.

The sky almost looked orange, in the distance.

Suddenly, Danzō was floating through the air, uncomprehending. Out of instinct, — he was
going to be a shinobi, soon enough — he caught himself on his palms. He winced. That hurt.

…Not that much. Pain was nothing to a shinobi.

Was there an earthquake…? He thought there weren't supposed to be any, in this part of the
Land of Fire.

Someone screamed, outside. The alarm started ringing, through the village.

Father was here, all of a sudden, pushing him along.

"Go. GO!" He roared. Danzō thought he looked afraid, but he knew better.

"Where?" Danzō asked, as a loud roar echoed through the village. He almost lost control of
his bladder, right here.

"To the shelters! Hurry!" Father roared. "There's no time."

"What's happening?!"
"Uchiha Madara happened!" Father spat the name like a curse. "He came back with the
Nine-Tails! To destroy us!"

Danzō gasped.

"Go!" He roared again. Father pushed him into the arms of a shinobi Danzō didn't know,
and disappeared through the smoke.

In the distance, he saw the cause of this chaos. One man, standing proud on the head of the
most ferocious Beast Danzō had ever seen.

Like a warlord of legend.

And at this moment, Danzō couldn't tell which one he feared most; Beast or Man.

Looking at the young man in front of him, there was honestly not much of Madara in him.

So why was he remembering this, now…? Was it for the Nine-Tails, that he knew a part of, at
least, resided within the Uzumaki?

"So we finally meet." Danzō said placidly. His eye roamed over the summit.

No wonder the woman had reached him. He could see that several of the Hokage Monument's
guards had been brought here — likely the same way he had been — and knocked out by the rest
of them.

Uzumaki Naruto put a finger to Danzō's forehead with a frown, and did something to him.

Naruto shook his head. "No, we have met before. And I think you know it." His eyes were fixed
upon him. "You came by once — or was it twice, now? — at the Sarutobi compound. Enough for
me to remember the way you looked at me. And you didn't even know who I was, back then."

Danzō said nothing.

Naruto chuckled. "I know Sarutobi. Well, both Hiruzen and Biwako. If you decided to send Uchiha
Shisui after me, and they agreed… That means the alternative was probably worse for them. What
did they negotiate, then?"

"…Very well. If you're willing to speak openly of it, so shall I."

Danzō's eye met the Uzumaki's, fearlessly. Whatever it was the Uzumaki intended to do to him…
he would not waver in his resolve.

"I know you are Sarutobi Naruto, yes. And I know that part of the Nine-Tails, at least, still is
sealed within you."

"Great. Since when have you known?" Naruto asked.

"A while ago."

Ino sighed.

"Did Sarutobi tell you, then?" Naruto asked again.

"He didn't have to."

Naruto lifted an eyebrow.

"…He's telling the truth." A woman's voice said.

Danzō twisted in his bindings enough to finally notice an Uzumaki woman, the chains extending
from her hand.

"So you have found some relatives." Danzō simply said.

The Uzumaki woman winced. "Don't make it sound weird."

Naruto snorted. "A clan doesn't make a family, anyway. I'd know."

Danzō stayed silent.

"So, I assume the old man and Biwako accepted your bargain because…?" Naruto thought about it.
"You threatened to reveal their involvement in the whole debacle of losing the Nine-Tails…?"

He wouldn't say a word.

"Ah. So you figured that by saying nothing, Karin here wouldn't be able to tell if you were telling
the truth." Naruto chuckled. "Fair enough."

Ino put her hand on his forehead. Danzō tried to shake her off.

"It was this… and because they would prefer you to stay alive." Ino confirmed.

"Alive… but mind-controlled. A loyal weapon to the village. Yeah, of course they would." Naruto
sighed. "I didn't expect anything else, frankly."

"…"

"You know… now that I have you in front of me… I realize I don't have that much to ask you.
Besides where Sarutobi is, right now. But that's for later. And I don't care that much about your
precious village secrets." Naruto shrugged, sitting back down in the snow.

Before he even touched it, wind blew around him, clearing the snow and humidity under him. He
sat there, waiting.

"So what is it that you want from me…?" Danzō spat. "Are you aiming at weakening the Leaf?
Konoha will survive, with or without me."

"Good." Naruto nodded. He frowned. "I don't want to see Konoha crumble, far from it. I'm just
glad you're not in it anymore. Hopefully they replace you with someone who's a bit less…
terrible."

Yamanaka Ino came to stand in front of him.

"Nothing you can do to me changes anything." Danzō said.

Ino's kick took Danzō in the face. He winced in pain, but just stared back, impassibly.

He could see her blood was boiling. She punched him again.
"Stop, Ino." Naruto called.

Ino punched him again. And again, until her fist was bloody, and his nose broken. Danzō spat out a
tooth.

The Yamanaka took a long calming breath.

"You're right. Sorry. Something about… everything about him pisses me right off."

"I know." Naruto said. "Nothing to apologize for."

Ino turned back to face Danzō.

"Why did you have me thrown in the prison? Was it just because I was easy pickings?"

"…"

"…You know what?" Ino asked. "I know it's not going to help, but… It feels damn good."

She punched Danzō's face again.

The Yamanaka then put her hand to his forehead. She could likely feel his emotions on the matter,
then.

"Huh." She sounded surprised. "You thought you… brought justice? Are you… sane?"

Naruto frowned.

"Was it because of the scrolls Sarutobi gave to us?" She asked.

Danzō frowned.

"Which scrolls are you talking about…?" He asked.

"Truth." The Uzumaki… Karin said, with some surprise in her voice. "He didn't know."

"…What?" Ino glared at him. "This can't be true. Did you really believe I was the one to kill the
Fifth?"

"Yes." Danzō finally said. "And so I did what was best for the village. You were the only one who
could have done it. And you clearly had something to hide, on top of it."

"Truth."

"Are you for real…?" Ino raged. "Something to hide? That's my mind. That's why you tortured me?
That's something we do to enemies. Not mere suspects!"

"How hypocritical of you." Danzō spat. "You would have done the torture yourself, if given the
order."

The Yamanaka gritted her teeth. "…I would have."

She took a long breath.

"Did you give the order to kill Uchiha Toru?"

"Yes."
"Truth."

Ino paused. Taking a long breath.

"Did you kill Uchiha Fugaku? Did you have anything to do with his death?" Ino finally asked.

"No."

"…Truth."

The Umi ninja stayed there, without saying anything. Not verbally, at least, Danzō knew.

"Who did, then?" The pink-haired woman, who Danzō now was pretty sure had been a Konoha
shinobi for some months, years ago, asked.

Haruki…? No. Haruno Sakura, he was sure of it. This formerly unremarkable shinobi had
somehow managed to pull the wool over him, using the simplest trick in the book. And picking the
right disguise for the job.

"Suna did." Danzō said with conviction.

"He doesn't know this for sure." Karin said.

"We didn't ask you who you think did it." Haruno Sakura continued.

"…A Suna poison was used." Danzō gritted out. "One that can only be made by someone
with very specific knowledge."

"Truth."

Uzumaki Naruto interrupted, suddenly looking very serious.

"…Is it the one that kills on chakra use?" He asked, eyes hard.

"…It is." Danzō nodded.

Naruto closed his eyes.

"Would Sasori of the Red Sand be able to prepare it?" He asked again.

"…Is he your contact?" Danzō asked.

"No." Sakura said. "Would he be able to prepare it?"

"…Yes."

"Truth. Or he thinks so, at least."

The Umi ninja shared a look.

Uzumaki Naruto's purple eyes were fixed into his again. Danzō refused to flinch.

"I won't tell you anything more." Danzō said.

"I don't care. That's enough for me." Naruto retorted.

He looked at Danzō again, and something in his expression turned wild.

"Wait."

His chakra turned heavier, more suffocation. "There's something here that I really… really don't
like."

He stood up, walking to Danzō so silently he might as well have been gliding.

"No." Uzumaki said, speaking softly. Still, his fury and his impatience were now obvious. Now he
reminded him of Madara. "Where did you get it…?"

"…"

"What are you talking about?" Haruno Sakura asked, uncomprehending.

"He took a… souvenir." Karin said. From her tone, she had known. The chains still tightened
around Danzō.

"What..?" Ino asked.

"Where. Did you get this?" Naruto asked again, his voice barely louder than a whisper.

"…I think you know already, don't you?" Danzō asked evenly.

The Uzumaki ripped the bandages around his head, revealing Uchiha Toru's sealed sharingan.

Uzumaki Naruto said nothing for a while.

Had Danzō been able to use his chakra, he would have broken the seals he wore around his eye and
gone for a genjutsu. Even though his inexperience with the Sharingan meant it likely would have
failed anyway.

"Oh, gods…" Ino paled. She was white as a sheet, her eyes filled with numb disgust. She took a
step back.

Haruno Sakura looked furious.

Uzumaki Naruto was simply silent. Until he wasn't.

"Stand up." He said shortly.

Danzō made no move to do so.

"…Or don't. Your choice."

Uzumaki's hand flashed.

The Sharingan was ripped cleanly from Danzō's right eye socket. Danzō let out a terrible scream.
Uzumaki held the eye out to the Haruno woman.

"Store it, please." Uzumaki said, voice clipped.

She just nodded quietly, and disappeared in a flash of thunder.

"…You just couldn't stop there, could you?" Naruto asked coldly. There was no sadness, no
remorse in him. It was one of the last things Danzō saw. "At simply killing him."

"…To protect Konoha, I'm willing to do anything." Danzō managed.

"Including killing... stealing from an innocent man you consider dangerous to the order you
enforce, we know." A new voice said. "Order... based on others' sacrifice. Just like the Hyūga."

Danzō turned around, and a finger strike reduced his vision to nothing. Danzō howled; he was
blind.

"An eye for an eye, right?" She asked.

Danzō's screams cut off. Hyūga Hanabi said nothing else.

"…This is my answer." Danzō spat. "There is nothing else I will tell you."

"Answers…?" Yamanaka Ino asked, sounding amused. "We didn't bring you here for answers, not
really. We can get these from you later. No, we brought you here to kill you, Danzō."

Once that much was confirmed, Danzō reached inwards. He would take them with him, like any
real shinobi would. He would protect the Leaf, in his last breaths, taking away a few dangerous
elements.

'Goodbye, old friend.'

Nothing happened.

He felt real fear pool in his gut.

"Yeah… I disabled that, before. It looked kinda dangerous." Uzumaki Naruto chuckled.

"…It wouldn't have worked anyway, with the chains." Uzumaki Karin muttered.

No.

"Well…" The same woman continued. "I guess it's time to kill you, then."

She didn't seem to really enjoy the idea. That wouldn't stop her, either.

The chains tightened, ready to crush him.

"Let me do it." Yamanaka Ino said.

Nobody opposed her.

"You won't get anything else from me." Danzō repeated. "Your threats won't change anything."

"Oh, but we will. Talking to you about this was the best way to bring the few pieces of information
we still want from you to the forefront of your mind." Ino said.

She came closer to Danzō.

"Anybody here would love to kill you, I'm sure." She began. "Me… I'm angry for the stay in your
torture chambers… But that's not it."

"…"
"Everything you did, Danzō. Every single decision you took was based on a flawed ideology." Ino
continued. "Did you think you were so much smarter than anybody else…? All the people you
killed, all the convoluted plans you made… Well, we will undo that. Your memories will be
a precious help. And then, we'll reveal your actions to the world. The good, the bad. Your fears,
your shames…"

"…" Danzō grunted, but there was something shaky in his voice.

"Oh, didn't I tell you?" Ino asked. "I could also see a little of what once was your hopes. Becoming
a greater Hokage than even the Second…? Proving that you were just as good… better than
dear Hiruzen?" Ino scoffed. "Your legacy will be nothing but that of a failure. A man who started a
useless war… and plunged his very own village into a pool of shit."

"Don't worry. We'll put your name right next to the other traitors, as a cautionary tale." Uzumaki
Naruto assured him, sounding amused. "And we'll take good care of Konoha for you, once we take
over."

"You will never—" Danzō roared.

"We will. Or rather, we'll make sure it is remade in our image. Not the outdated visions of violence
and backstabbing that are yours. Something better."

To hear this.

Uzumaki Naruto seemed to think aloud. "…Maybe as a small part of something bigger, more
encompassing?"

Was he serious or just mocking him?

How Danzō wished he could kill the Uzumaki himself. This was no Uchiha Madara… it
was worse. Madara at least… had been alone. This one had a village behind him, and people who
actually supported his madness.

"Congratulations, Danzō." Ino clapped. "You've made it. For such a bitter, insecure, and deeply
jealous man… You've come pretty far, haven't you?"

She came closer.

"You will be remembered as the man who ruined Konoha."

Him…? Him…?! They were about to ruin everything. Over what… revenge?

And Danzō felt as helpless as a baby.

She pulled something out.

"This one is for Toru, then." Yamanaka Ino said.

Her blade went through his throat and he choked upon his own blood, slowly.

That was it. The end of the road. He had failed.

After all these sacrifices…

'…What was I, to you? What do you think of someone like me…?'

Danzō wasn't afraid. Being afraid was unbecoming of a shinobi. He wasn't afraid—

Maybe he was.

He wondered if Hiruzen would…

The illusion broke.

He was still there, kneeling in the snow. There was no wound on his throat. Still, he gasped for air.

"Oh. Before…?" Yamanaka Ino asked. "I lied. You're not going to go so easily. Not you. Now…
I'm not a big fan of it, but I'm sure I can pull off the torture act, one last time."

Danzō was stripped of everything he wore. The few plates of armor he had been wearing under his
garments fell away too.

The humiliation made him seethe.

Ino kicked him, and he fell down with a grunt. Only then, she really dove into his mind.

By the time Ino stopped, Danzō didn't care what happened to him anymore.

What could be worse than this…? Physical pain would have been much easier. Much easier. Many
of the things he kept so jealously were exposed to these beasts. And he knew that what few were
left, she would take care of later.

He had no more will. Every shame, every pain, every regret.

All of this was brought back to the surface again. And the wounds felt rawer.

Failing to find his courage in front of the only man he had ever looked up to, leading to being
passed over for Hiruzen. His unrequited feelings for the man, the ones he would never admit. His
jealousy, too.

The plans he had made for Konoha in the future. What little flickers of hope he still had left.

She had scraped every inch of his brain, it felt. All the ugly parts, it seemed as though she knew
them. He knew that even if he had been left alive, sleep would have eluded him for a long while.

Danzō was incoherent, babbling aimlessly. He had lost control over himself, in more ways than just
this. It was something ugly to see, and raw too.

The Yamanaka removed her hand from him. She was breathing hard.

Uzumaki Naruto came close to his ear. His words brought clarity back to Danzō, like an unwanted
dive in icy water.

"Are you still afraid of me, Danzō…?" He laughed. "After all this time? Don't worry. The Nine-
Tails' and I… have an agreement, this time around."

The words were the last he heard, and he would never know if Uzumaki was telling the truth or
not. If he truly were Madara in the flesh. In this moment, no matter how impossible it seemed, he
could believe it.

Tears ran freely down his face.

When they finally pulled the rope around his neck, and slowly pulled him up in the air, where he
choked, in a mockery of what he himself had ordered…

It almost came as a relief.

They wiped the guard's memories, and Naruto dropped them off somewhere close to Konoha,
unconscious.

Danzō's corpse was kept as pristine as it could be, and Ino started ripping his memories right away.

Ino had some news for them.

"There are a few things." She said. "Well, plenty, but I will spare you the atrocities such as the
failed attempts to bring back Mokuton through the use of orphans and the like."

"…Go on." Sakura encouraged her. She then held her pipe out expectantly. Ino growled, but she
complied and lit her pipe. Sakura muttered a vague, ungrateful 'thanks.'

Ino took a steadying breath. "Yamanaka Fū and Yamanaka Kazuhiro carried the act."

"I see." Naruto said evenly.

The way his fingers were drumming on the table betrayed his apparent calm, though. And so did
the feeling of static in the air. There was always an animal-like stillness to him after a battle… or a
murder, like tonight had been. It usually took him a little while to regain his usual warmth. For the
storm in his eyes to recede. It was probably true of all of them, tonight.

Naruto's cool purple eyes were demanding, and he looked absolutely certain of himself.

"According to the report they gave…" Ino continued, feeling the horror in her own voice. "Toru
tried to fight the nightmare possession… and the last jutsu. He… really wished to live. They…
removed his eye and he managed to fight back, even then. Then they tried to hang him, and we
know how that ended."

The silence in the room was thick.

"…Are they in the village, right now?" Sakura asked, cutting her off.

"Yes." Ino confirmed. "They are."

"…Will you prevent me from going?" Sakura continued. "They are from your clan, still."

"…No. No, I won't." Ino said, her eyes dark. "Go ahead."

"Thank you." Sakura said, standing up. "I'll go entirely alone this time, Hanabi. Now is probably
the last time to get into Konoha. Once they realize Danzō is gone, they will increase security.
Especially once they figure out how I got there in the first place."

This would likely be the last time they could make use of the Mark in Naruto's basement. Had
Danzō realized the place wasn't as untouched as he had believed, he would probably have lived.
Well, Naruto had made sure that it would look the exact same as before, once he had gone to look
for Ino, last time.

Ino had not planned on seeing her mother anytime soon, but the possibility still seemed to become
a little more remote.

There was one more thing to say.

"So… I suspect Danzō might have been fooled by one particular guy. He definitely got some
incomplete intel from him, at least. And that was on purpose, I think."

"Who are we talking about?" Karin asked.

"Does the name Yakushi Kabuto ring any bells to anyone…?" Ino asked, frowning.

Because it didn't to her. But they would find him.

Tonight.
 Night of the Long Knives

Apparently, as Haruno Sakura realized, you didn't feel any different after murdering a Kage.

Oh, sure, there was a vague sense of dread at the back of her mind, telling her that things could
go very wrong, very fast with the whole situation.

But she was not feeling much in regard to Danzō being dead. She just felt the same as she had
earlier, when she had been in the village.

Which meant she was terrified.

She knew she needed to hurry up, so that she could leave the village as soon as possible. But of
course, she couldn't do that. Sakura had to find out where the three targets were, before that.

Yamanaka Kazuhiro.

Yamanaka Fū.

Yakushi Kabuto.

Patience had worked to get Danzō alone, after all. And she likely had a few more hours before the
ROOT agents realized that Danzō had not gone off with his oldest friend.

…No, probably less. Danzō was supposed to be paranoid.

He might have some contingencies in place. Better to hurry, then.

Well, if he frequently did things as baffling as keeping a branch house Hyūga around as a way to
check if people truly were who they seemed… Then maybe he wasn't half as shrewd as he thought
he was.

Hanabi had told her a lot about the best ways to avoid getting caught by a Hyūga. The Byakugan
could see through transformations, of course, but only if they paid close attention to a specific
person. And masking her chakra was something Sakura did most of the time, anyway. But she had
done so with much more care, tonight.

Not that it had really been needed.

The man in Danzō's service, Hyūga Shin, had been disgustingly easy to convince to leave Konoha.
To think she had believed she would need to somehow get the drop on him. It made Sakura wonder
how many of the Hyūga in service were coerced into it, under the penalty of death.

(They'd have to do something about this, too.)

And as for the other guards… well she just warped them away once she was sure no one was
looking. The Hyūga had been very helpful on that front.

She walked through Konoha's streets at night, her chakra mostly hidden from sight.

Sakura felt something prodding at her mind. She opened the bond.

'Stay in touch with us, so we know what's happening at least.'

'We'll be staying around the portal, so that when you send them in, — or in case you need to escape
urgently, but let's hope it doesn't come to it — we can take care of them. Like before.' Ino said.

Sakura sent her a mental picture of rolling her eyes.

'…Do you expect me to forget the plan on my way there…?' Sakura deadpanned.

'…'

'Hopefully, there are no Hyūga keeping watch this time. Finding a reason to get close to one to
warp them away might be hard.' Sakura continued.

A big part of why she could maybe manage was that her face was still not too familiar to most
Konoha ninja. For now.

She doubted this would still be true by the time she was done, tonight.

Night had fallen, now.

Sakura was unprepared for how bright Konoha would be on a summer night. It had been… long.
She wouldn't say too long, because she hadn't really missed the place. She did wonder how her
parents were, and she did feel the traitorous impulse to pay them a visit.

But she also knew how stupidly risky this would be, so she put it aside.

Konoha… hadn't changed much, overall.

Sakura continued to walk forward, trying to swallow her discomfort.

Ino repeated the address of the place she was supposed to go to, first — ripped straight from
Danzō's mind. This would be the easiest one of the three, for sure. Sakura had thought most ROOT
operatives lived in one place, but this turned out to be untrue for both of the Yamanaka men she
was to find.

'119 Oshimacho, Komezakicho Ward' Ino repeated.

'Got it.'

Like most ninja villages, — even during wartime, or maybe even more during wartime, despite the
additional number of shinobi patrolling the streets — Konoha relied too much on their barriers. It
was no wonder, because the number of chakra sensors required to keep track of every single
shinobi in town would be colossal.

Which meant that Sakura, with an impeccable Transformation technique, a little added help from
Ino's skill with disguises, and her Cloak of Shifting… Was basically roaming free through the
village.

And if anyone came too close to figuring out the truth, she would slip in a back alley, open a portal,
and either slip away… or push the person in it. That was the plan, at least.

So far, it had worked pretty well.

Her feet carried her to the place. She breathed in… out. She was Water. The tension began to
retreat, and so did her anxiety.
It seemed like a pretty… normal apartment building. Sakura guessed there were no alarm seals
anywhere close. Well, even if there were, it would be way riskier to climb up to his third floor
window.

She made sure that nobody was around, and weaved three hand seals. A thin tendril of water
shaped itself around her finger. It snaked under the door, and she fumbled a bit, trying to figure out
what kind of lock she was dealing with.

A basic one, apparently.

The door opened, and Sakura slipped in.

Instead of taking the wooden stairs that would undoubtedly creak under her weight, she jumped
against the wall and slowly started to walk up Silently. She could have used water to dampen her
footsteps, but it was harder not to leave tracks… and it just took much more focus, too. Nobody
was around at this hour, and she went up the staircase smoothly.

She was on the third floor, now. Sakura walked upside down, having a bit of trouble reading the
nameplates.

Nakama Yumi; Okura Kiku; Arima Hideaki… and Yamanaka Kazuhiro.

Alright, she had it. Without moving from her spot on the ceiling, — the blood rush was definitely
starting to become unpleasant, though — Sakura sent a water probe above the door.

Hm. A trickier lock right here.

She focused, and wrapped a second layer of water around the lock itself, in order to dampen the
noise. Any shinobi was likely to wake up, if he heard the rattle of it, otherwise.

Click.

Now she moved the layer of water to cover the door's hinges. She crawled down the wall on all
fours, like the world's strangest spider, and then closed it behind her. She crawled in.

So… This was where one of the guys responsible for Toru lived…? It seemed like the guy had a
pretty messy life, if the trash and litter that were found everywhere through his apartment were any
sign.

She continued to walk on the ceiling…

And then she froze.

The man was wide awake. He was sitting at his kitchen table, reading through a scroll. Sakura had
to muffle a noise she made in surprise. It still escaped her, though. Yamanaka Kazuhiro turned to
her, his eyes opening wide in alarm.

Sakura jumped before he could finish his series of hand-seals. She kicked him in his Adam's apple,
and he let out a choked sound. Sakura tapped the floor, and the man fell into the gateway.

'Got the first one!' She almost screamed through the link.

She waited a bit.

'…Warn us a bit earlier, next time please.' Naruto said dryly. 'We were about as surprised as he
was.'
'Yeah, sorry.' She cut the communication again.

Sakura breathed out.

That was one. Two more to go.

Now…

Haruno Sakura pondered upon the following philosophical question:

'How the fuck am I supposed to sneak in a compound full of mind-readers…?!'

'You can't.' Ino said. 'There's no real secrets in the Yamanaka clan compound. Everybody knows
what everybody thinks. And most are good chakra sensors. Some of them, even when they don't
extend their chakra.'

'…I wasn't asking this to you, in particular.' Sakura laughed. 'But that doesn't exactly help me,
here.'

'I know.' Ino smiled. But I know how to get him out, instead.'

'I'm all ears.'

'Hide away first. We'll send you the other one's mask.'

'I'm still in the apartment. Here should be fine.'

'Okay, then. Take the mask. Copy his clothes. I know how Danzō sends orders, now, and his codes.
Here's what you're going to do…'

'Don't meet their eyes. At any costs.' Ino had said.

So that's what Sakura did, when she arrived at the Yamanaka clan compound's gate. She changed
her voice with a quick application of chakra. Low and rough, one of the few she felt confident
using.

"Orders from the Hokage." She grunted, handing a scroll to one of the men guarding the entrance.
Kazuhiro's mask hid her face away.

"For whom?"

"That's not for you to busy yourself with." Sakura answered.

"…I'm not going to give this to anyone until you tell who it is for, exactly."

"Give it to Fū and stop asking questions." She growled.

"This mask… Kazuhiro?" The other guard asked.

Sakura panicked. She still went on.

"I have no time for this. Danzō-sama awaits him."

Sakura ignored the man's grumblings about what a rude asshole Danzō's training had made him.
She left, feeling her heart thundering in her chest.
Yamanka Fū was to meet her in a small clearing.

Hiding from him would be difficult, even with a disguise, according to Ino, so she didn't bother
with one, past the the little adjustments she had made on her face. Anything else, and the man was
good enough to tell. And going as a fellow ROOT would never work, because Sakura had no
experience with them, at all.

"…Are you the one Danzō-sama instructed me to meet, then?" The man asked as he came closer.

"Yes." Sakura nodded.

"…You feel familiar." He said, and Sakura's heart dropped.

'I'm going to send him through, right now.' She warned the others.

"I don't think we have met before." Sakura shrugged, coming closer.

"Stay where you are." He said. "Danzō-sama's orders or not, you are an unknown, right now. I
don't even know if you are who you say you are."

"Fair enough." Sakura shrugged. "I could be-"

She attacked.

Sakura's water whip caught the man's ankle and she pulled. Hard.

Fū was sent tumbling to the floor, and Sakura stomped on his balls, with violence. A grimace of
pain spread over his face, and Sakura used this moment to send him away.

She took a few seconds to breathe.

'…Why is he puking…?' Ino asked.

'He… lost our fight. Badly.'

'Oh. And here I thought he saw your face.'

'Hilarious.'

'Any information about the Yakushi guy?' She asked.

'Ino and Karin are working on both of the guys. We're not in the same room, either.' Naruto said.
'I'll take over, for now. They'll tell us if there's anything.'

'Alright. Where to go?'

'The hospital, apparently. That's where he works. Or… Pretends to work, if Ino's right about this.'

'Ino can be right, on occasion.'

He laughed. 'Well, she thinks he's a spy. Well, a triple agent. Posing as Danzō's spy, by posing as a
medic-nin. She's not sure for whom he really is spying, though.'

'…Oh. That's pretty bad.'

'It is.'
'So… you mean… I should go to the hospital, right now?'

'Yeah. He often works late nights, according to Ino.' Naruto shrugged.

'Very well. Thank you. I'm heading there.'

'I have another question for you, though.'

'Yeah?'

'…It's about the fridge, down in Orochimaru's tower.'

'…Yeaaah?' Sakura asked, hesitantly.

'…'

'Is there something missing?'

'Yeah, all of my food.' He retorted.

'Damn, did someone take it…?'

'You did.'

'It wasn't me!' Sakura protested.

'Who else? Nobody else even wants to touch anko dumplings!'

'Well… Uh. It must have been somebody else. Anko, maybe?'

'…That's the best excuse you could find?' Naruto asked, dryly.

'…'

'Sakura…' His voice grumbled.

'I was hungry, okay!? Give me a break… It's just dumplings anyway. I really have to go, so uh…
Keep the link up, though.'

'…' He growled.

'…Sakura. We might not come back here again, right?'

'True.'

'…There's something you might want to do before leaving, then.'

'How important…?'

'You tell me. It's just two messages to pass along, if you're willing. I have them ready already, you'll
just have to pull them out of the Spirit Room if you're willing.'

'To give to whom…?'

He told her.
'Are you sure about this…?'

'Don't you want to?'

'Of course I do bu-'

'Then it's settled.'

'…Thanks.'

Getting inside the hospital was easier than Sakura thought it would be.

She silently walked through the place, assuming the disguise of a nurse.

'It's one floor above you.' Naruto guided her.

Sakura followed his directions.

One room was noisy. Then suddenly, no more sound came from there anymore. Sakura continued
to walk.

'Okay, stop right here.' Naruto called. 'His office should be on this floor. Anyone in?'

'Yeah, the light is on.' Sakura replied. She had come here silently, whoever was in seemed to have
heard her coming, from the sudden silence. 'And there is someone in, right now'

'…'

'I'm still going. This might be our best opportunity. If he finds out about Danzō, he'll probably
escape the village, to whoever it is he is working for.'

'…Sakura. It sounds pretty dangerous. We don't know what he is capable of.'

'I have to. We won't be able to come back to Konoha so easily afterwards.'

There was a long pause.

'…Alright. Be careful. I'll be waiting to subdue him.' Naruto answered.

'I know you are.' Sakura grinned.

She cleared her throat, before knocking at the door. Three short raps, full of confidence she didn't
feel. "Doctor Yakushi? It's Tachibana… Yoko!"

A random name she had stolen on the way here.

The silence that stretched was long, and heavy too.

"Come in." A deep voice said.

Sakura put a portal down against the wall. Then she opened the link fully, so that in case the man
managed to escape, the others — well, Naruto, right now — might be able to get a good read on
his face.

'I'm going in, then.' Sakura said with some trepidation.

Naruto didn't answer. She would need her focus.

She opened the door.

"Hello." She called, grinning. "I'm sorry to be this late-"

Sakura froze.

A scarred man with jet-black hair and blood red eyes was whirling away, carrying another. He
laughed. There were pieces of a broken mask on the floor.

"And there is our last actress. Our little Hokage killer. Why don't you ask her, Bakashi?"

Naruto was screaming through the link.

'-AWAY GET AWAY FROM THEM-'

Another man was left in the room, his expression thunderous. The only thing Sakura saw was red.

"…I have had enough lies." The last man breathed out, his Sharingan whirring, peering into
Sakura's eye. "With whom did you kill Shimura Danzō?"

That's what Naruto saw through the link, as well.

His blood froze. But his body didn't. The second he felt Sakura's world be consumed by an all-
powering Eye, he was flying toward the gateway.

Karin and Ino were on another floor entirely, working on the ROOT agents, and he tried to warn
them of where he was going. It was probably more confusing than anything, because right now, his
entire world was awash in fear.

Uzumaki Naruto appeared in Konoha's hospital.

"-as well as Uzumaki Naruto. The one you knew as Sarutobi." Sakura's voice droned on, devoid of
any emotion.

His Cloak of Lightning was already layering his body, and the very moment he appeared there, he
kicked at the wall, destroying it entirely. And dispelling the portal, as well.

Naruto took in the entirety of the room with a lightning quick chakra scan.

A man he knew very well was standing, his eyes locked into Sakura's, whose own looked vacant.
Sakura's chakra was twisted. And outside the windows, Naruto felt another chakra signature
arriving toward them, at his full speed.

The whole process took less than a second. Considering who was in front of him, — and Naruto
made sure not to meet his eyes — it was already too much time.

Hatake Kakashi broke eye contact with Sakura, who stood on shaky feet.

Naruto felt the man's eyes on him, full of disbelief-horror-shame-agony-hopelessness-disillusion-

guilt-despair.

A broken man.
"Naruto." Sakura rasped out. He snapped to attention. "He knows."

Naruto felt his heart stop for a second, and he was afraid he would be rooted to the spot. But he
wasn't. He took in Sakura's physical and mental state… and decided that they would need to leave
right now. No matter what this meant for the future. And the trouble it would bring.

'Open a portal. We're leaving. Now!'

She didn't have the strength to contest it.

Two things happened, and Naruto saw it happen in slow motion.

Sakura set up a new gateway immediately and started fading through it.

Hatake Kakashi's sword flashed, leaving a white trail in the air. The steel bit Sakura's throat, and
her control over her chakra went haywire. She barely managed to keep the portal from slamming
shut before she herself went through it. It disappeared.

Naruto was left alone.

Sakura had to be alive. She had to.

If he lost anyone else, right now…

Something is raging through Naruto. He can't say what it is.

He can't bring himself to care. Naruto roars through the bond.

'DON'T COME — HEAL HER'

His thought rings, echoes through his bond with Karin and Ino, aimlessly. Yugito and
Sakura herself probably feel it, as well. He shuts the link, putting his entire focus on the coming
fight.

Kakashi spoke, his eyes filled with raw fury.

"I came here to unmask a spy…" He spat. "And what do I find instead? The person who gave me
his gift, years ago… is the one behind half the mess we are in."

Naruto didn't know who he was talking about. He didn't care.

"…And now." Kakashi continued, his knuckles turning white around his sword. "I face the one
behind the other half. One of my two surviving students… Has killed the Hokage."

Naruto didn't deny it.

Naruto spat. "Danzō is the one who killed Toru."

Kakashi didn't react.

Either he didn't believe him… or he knew already and found it less important than the fact they had
gone after Konoha itself, several times now. And there were a fair amount of things that the
man could blame him for.

Not that Naruto cared about the man's opinion much right now. His blade had ripped through
Sakura's throat and was still dripping with her blood right now.

"What do they call you now…? Indra?" Kakashi spat.

"No." Naruto tried to keep from showing anger. He was not that man. The tension in the room still
rose by a notch. "I go by my given name. Uzumaki Naruto."

"As you wish, then. Naruto. It's my fault we've come this far anyway." Kakashi said. "Both you
and… him. You are my mistakes."

Lightning crackled to life around him.

Naruto had was not entirely sure who the hell he was talking about. Likely the man behind the
mask, then. The one he knew was not Madara.

"Tonight, I'm correcting one of them." Kakashi finished.

"I think." Naruto began. "That you will soon find that the only mistake you can still correct tonight
is staying here."

Lightning crackled to life around him.

It was time to face one of Konoha's most prolific killers. Naruto only considered himself a beginner
in the art.

Ah. And there came one more of them.

Uchiha Shisui appeared, crashing through the window.

His anger mirrored Kakashi's.

And it mirrored Naruto's.

 The Furthest Place From Understanding

In a moment suspended in time, Naruto understood Shisui's heart.

If Hatake Kakashi's fury was a cold thing, directed at himself as much as it was to the outside
world…

Uchiha Shisui's rage was another thing entirely. It was a burning hot rage, enough to turn anything
on its path to ash.

There was no fear, no patience in him. No worries about the future and no concern for the path he
was taking. Here was a man here for a precise task: get his answers; kill Uzumaki Naruto. Not
necessarily in this order.

Whether he was directly responsible for Toru's death or not. To Shisui, blinded by grief, joining
Umi had led to Toru's death. It was enough. Then he would see about the rest, people like Danzō,
whom he suspected. That Naruto was a wanted criminal was something that seemed to come as an
afterthought.

"Uzumaki."

Naruto could more or less figure out what was going through Shisui's mind, just from the pool of
raging emotions he was the source of.

'You caused his death.' Shisui's soul seemed to say. And Naruto couldn't find it in him to
disagree. 'For this, you will answer.'

'I'd like to see you try.' Naruto thought.

"He is Sarutobi Naruto." Kakashi said quietly. "Your brother's former teammate. And Uchiha Obito
is the masked man."

The Uchiha took it in stride.

"…That would explain a few things." Shisui grunted. "Doesn't change much, though. I will bind
him, get my answers and then..."

Shisui didn't waste any time. Naruto felt his chakra build up in his eyes. The long distance
Kotoamatsukami. One illusion he knew he would have trouble dispelling. If he could at all.

He made an immediate decision and used a Lightning flash to force them to blink. He started
channeling chakra to warp away at the same time he was running.

Naruto broke Shisui's line of sight, dashing through the shattered wall and disappearing in the
hospital's corridor.

Kakashi was upon him immediately, a white flash of murdering motion. He couldn't focus on the
Leap, so he let that go. Naruto closed his eyes entirely, relying on his other senses.

A sword appeared in his hand, steel clanging as he parried Kakashi's strike. Shisui was behind him,
the same chakra building up in his eyes again. With a single motion of his left hand and a burst of
focused Lightning chakra, Naruto created a clone, and summoned a sword in midair for his
doppelganger.
It was not a shadow clone, and not a lightning clone either. Rather, it was a shadow clone infused
with lightning. One only able to use elemental techniques of its element, one that would revert to
lightning once struck.

Shisui canceled his genjutsu. The clone drew the sword back, and lightning shaped itself around it.

"Lightning Style: Abrupt Fang"

It thrust its sword forward in a two-handed stabbing motion, and its chakra extended, shaping itself
into a beast's jaws, rushing toward Shisui through the narrow hallway.

The real Naruto and Kakashi crossed swords again. His confidence was rapidly diminishing, and
soon, he was strictly on the defensive. Fighting for his life.

They said they were aiming at capturing him, yet they were taking no chances.

Every blow each of them struck was meant to be a fatal one. Straightforward attacks with a single
purpose behind it: kill the other. The two of them were equally fast, it seemed, Naruto's more
power-based cloak matched Kakashi's more efficiency-based one.

And Kakashi's swordsmanship was still slightly better. It was no wonder, as the man had had more
time to practice. On top of this, they were fighting in a hospital. All of them kept their attacks'
potency down, focusing on fast, lethal strikes.

Behind him, Shisui dodged under the lightning dragon, which flickered into non-existence again,
rather than damage the building and endanger people.

Kakashi and Naruto were extremely fast. So how could Shisui manage to keep up — no, it was
more than keeping up, he was as swift as they were — without even using Lightning release...?

Shisui's tanto strike bit the clone in the neck. Like Kakashi's had bitten Sakura's throat-

Sakura's throat, ripped open; her blood, spilling.

The clone dispelled in a flash of blinding light, forcing Shisui to take a step away, until his vision
returned. Kakashi closed his Sharingan eye for a second, too, Naruto assumed. But he always
fought with one eye closed, anyway. And that's what he did then, relying on his regular one.

It did nothing to dampen his prowess in battle, as scary as the thought was.

Unlike Shisui, Toru and most Uchiha, — Naruto assumed — Kakashi spent about half his time
fighting without his Sharingan.

Kakashi's hands blurred, and a column of earth spikes rose through the corridor. At the same time,
blades made out of water slashed at him, coming down from the ceiling. Naruto weaved through
them in a show of agility that belied his size.

Kakashi's other hand, the one wrapped around his sword, released a beam of cutting electricity that
Naruto jumped over.

Shisui shot small, focused fireballs at his back, making Naruto jump again, when he was already
midair. He did so by pushing himself into a backflip with a burst of air.

Kakashi caught Shisui's fireballs with his left hand, added Wind to them, and threw them again.

Naruto gathered chakra to his hand and dispelled them by sealing them away, right into the
window, with a single touch.

Kakashi recognized the technique and something like revolt entered his eyes. He knew where it
came from, then. Shisui just grunted, realizing fire would be a bad idea, here, anyway.

Cloaked in his ever-shifting blue cloak of thunder, Kakashi looked like a warrior god again. Just
like he did, years ago, when Naruto had first met him. The White Chakra Sabre flew through the
air with precision, guided by a lean arm, strong by virtue of its corded muscle.

Naruto could almost feel the same terrified awe, admiration.

He pushed it aside.

What he couldn't push aside was his desire to win. To overcome someone this strong. Defeating an
opponent like him meant everything to him, right now. His pride was burning, or maybe it was his
soul.

And Uchiha Shisui would have to wait for his turn.

Toru had taught him how to layer techniques before. And he had practiced with him until he got it
down. Hopefully, the lesson stuck, because he would likely only get one chance at this.

Naruto started focusing.

He retreated into his mind, dodging under a flurry of sword strikes. It felt as though he were about
to do the impossible. Maybe he was, because this sort of thing… he would not consider attempting
in normal circumstances.

And then he split his attention in two.

It felt like looking left and right at the same time, except he could not use a Shadow Clone, this
time. How did Kurenai manage to do this...? According to Toru, she could do this two more times.

Naruto triggered the seal in which he had sealed the flames away, kicking them around him in a
circle. Both Shisui and Kakashi dodged, but it bought him something more precious. Time.

Half of Naruto's awareness was dedicated to one specific task, and he barely managed to crouch
under Shisui's tanto strike.

Naruto didn't let his focus waver.

'Rising Dragon.' Naruto spun in an anti-clockwise kick, thunder buzzing around him.

Shisui's eyes were upon him again. Naruto created a shadow clone, and pushed off from it,
shattering the ceiling in a mighty kick. The clone slammed down, summoning a shower of wind
blades as he did.

Then he whirled around with a kick. Whirlwind Snap.

Kakashi's hands moved again, too fast for Naruto to read the seals he was preparing.

"Water Style: Severing Wave"

Naruto threw himself aside, and the high-pressured Water jet that Kakashi had just created — the
one that cut right through stone like butter — didn't manage to cut his leg off.
Naruto didn't let his focus waver.

Both Kakashi and Shisui had expected him to run off through the opening to the upper floor. So
Naruto didn't. His hand moved clockwise, and he summoned four swords.

He threw one at Shisui, and one at Kakashi.

For the third one… He gathered his chakra. With a grunt of exertion, he threw it upward, enhanced
by Lightning. It cut its way through the building, aiming for the sky.

"Revolving Thunder: Grounding."

Instead of following to the upper floors, Naruto pulled himself to the sword embedded next to
Shisui.

Shisui parried Naruto's heavy sword strike with a grunt. Physically, he didn't have the Uzumaki's
constitution. He retaliated with a swift kick to Naruto's face.

Naruto stepped back, ignoring the pain in his cheekbone, shaping his fingers in a one-handed seal
around his weapon. A Lightning Shadow Clone appeared in front of him, and he whirled around to
deflect Kakashi's strike into the wall.

They were too strong for him, together. But Naruto had known this since the very beginning.

Naruto didn't let his focus waver.

Shisui made short work of the clone, of course, and this time… He didn't let himself get blinded.
The clone exploded in a shower of lightning.

Naruto pulled at it, sending a show of sparks around them.

Kakashi's blade came at him, striking from above, cold fury moving him like the lightning god's
hammer.

Shisui's blade was set aflame, coming from down with such swiftness and precision that Naruto
could understand why Toru had always felt as though he couldn't measure up to him.

"Swallow Fury"

The Uchiha's blade made a chain of several wide slashes, and he moved forward with every strike,
flames trailing him.

They had fought together before, this much was obvious.

The Hatake moved in between them, sword flashing white, in the leaf's prized style.

"Setting Sun, Rising Moon"

Naruto wove through the blades, wind and instinct guiding his every step.

Kakashi was a hound of thunder; Shisui was a ghost of flame.

Naruto had to anticipate both trajectories. If he missed, there was no doubt that the fight was as
good as over.

Neither of them was aiming to disable, or even to maim.

Cold fury; burning rage. The reason behind why they swung their swords might have been
different in its expression, but the end result would be the same. Naruto strained.

Naruto felt his mind on the edge of tearing, the effort of having his focus split in between two very
different tasks… while trying to keep up with two of Konoha's monsters was too much.

But he couldn't — wouldn't — let his focus waver.

Their swords flew at the same time.

For a moment, he managed to let his heightened emotions flow away, dissociating them from the
fires of battle. Naruto let go of himself, and the clarity that came was startling.

There was the sound of steel finding steel. He hadn't missed, and their weapons had made contact
with his own. Naruto called to the sword high up in the sky. The one he had sent with only one
objective. Gathering the storm.

"Revolving Thunder: Heavenly Light."

Kakashi felt something change, but he was magnetized to Naruto's weapon already. The sparks
from before.

A beam of focused lightning struck down from the heavens with a roar, aimed at Naruto's twin
blades. The floor ruptured under them, and it was all Naruto could do to keep its power focused on
the three of them, rather than the building.

The pain that Naruto felt was indescribable. He screamed, just as he heard both Kakashi and
Shisui scream.

But he couldn't — wouldn't — let his focus waver.

Even with his eyes closed, he could see it. White flashes, stars, colors that made no sense.
Concentric wavelengths that no human was supposed to be seeing in the first place.

There was only pain on his mind… and his destination.

Something green shaped itself into existence around Shisui, and Naruto knew, from memories that
were not his, that it would shield him from the worst of it. But… this changed nothing.

'There's only one way out.' Naruto thought, through the maddening haze of agony. 'Through.'

Naruto burst into motion, detaching himself from Shisui.

His chakra and Kakashi's were still wrestled together, and he couldn't tell which one of them was
responsible for this tug of war in the first place. Him… Kakashi… or both.

His focus hadn't wavered.

Kakashi and he disappeared in a crack of thunder.

Behind them, Uchiha Shisui, clad in Susanoo green, howled his rage.

Uzumaki Naruto and Hatake Kakashi fell in the snow in a tumble.

They were back on the mountaintop where Danzo had been killed. They pushed off each other and
stood up once more.

Snow was still falling around them, blanketing the earth.

They were both breathing hard, not from exhaustion, but from the sheer pain of becoming lightning
rods.

Kakashi saw the still flashing mark and he understood right away.

His Sharingan morphed into a shape Naruto had never seen before, and he moved away from
Kakashi's line of sight. But the man had not been aiming at him. There was a whirring sound, and
the mark disappeared, along some of the earth.

"Hiraishin…? No. That's something else. But no matter what it is… You won't call your friends
here." Kakashi said, to his surprise. "You need some time to put down a mark, as well, don't you?"

Naruto said nothing.

"I won't give you any time to do that, then." Kakashi finished.

"…I wasn't planning on doing that in the first place." Naruto admitted.

Kakashi's eyes were upon him, and Naruto knew exactly how dangerous this was, now.

"No." Naruto shook his head. "It might be foolish. No. It is foolish. But when I defeat you… I want
this to be on my terms."

And he closed down on the bond even tighter. He could not afford any distractions, for this.

Kakashi's left hand released shuriken, all of them linked together by wire. Naruto ducked under,
blasting the ones hidden in their shadows away, rather than face the exploding tags wrapped
around them.

"Earth Release: Underground Gate"

The ground burst open around Naruto entirely, but he dashed away with a push of wind.

Kakashi, who had been ready to summon his dogs, realized it would be a waste. Just like most
conventional jutsu would be.

"…When you defeat me?" Kakashi chuckled, low and dangerous.

Naruto knew how bad of an idea it was, facing a shinobi like Hatake Kakashi. And how truly bad it
was, to do so alone. Instead of fear, what he felt was pure eagerness.

"Yes." Naruto nodded, slipping back into his fighting stance. "By overcoming you... I can
overcome any foe."

His blood was singing.

Kakashi let out a rumbling sound, that was probably supposed to be a chuckle. "Fine by me."

"This will be our last training session, then… Sensei."

"Bring it on, then. Come at me with the intent to kill! ...Because I will." Kakashi finished.
"Does it ever become easier to deal with…? The guilt, I mean." Toru asked him.

"…Not really."

"Ah." Toru sighed. "You know… Sometimes, I wonder what he would think."

It was only the two of them, most of the time. Sasuke was off wandering the world with
Jiraiya-sama, and… Naruto had been dead for a while.

"What about?" Kakashi asked.

"…I" Toru's brow furrowed in thought. "I don't know. Everything."

The looming war, the hardships of shinobi life, then.

Kakashi shrugged. "I think Naruto would mostly complain, frankly. About everything."

Toru chuckled. "Yeah. He probably would. But he'd still be there, fighting with us, at least.
Maybe he'd be a smart-ass about it, too. He could really be, sometimes."

"Oftentimes." Kakashi smiled.

He had failed him.

"Why did you pick me for the team, Kakashi-sensei?" Sarutobi Naruto asked, looking at him
dubiously.

Kakashi blinked. "Why would I not…?"

Truth was, by now, Naruto reminded him of himself a bit. Less… abrasive than he had been
at his age, but still.

"There are plenty of other genin who would love to study under you." Naruto retorted.

"Oh…?" Kakashi eye-smiled. "And you don't?"

"It's not that." Naruto laughed. He then turned serious. "But many of them are more
suitable for our… line of work." He said with some distaste.

"Because of your aversion to killing?"

"Also this, yes. But… I don't think I have what it takes to be a shinobi. Not a good one, at
least. I… still think of just leaving, most days."

"I think I understand that." Kakashi said.

"You… do?" Naruto asked.

"Of course." Kakashi laughed. "You'd be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn't have
some sort of doubt about the lives we lead."

"Isn't there… another way?"

"Maybe. Maybe not." Kakashi shrugged. "I don't think it is possible to change the entire
world. Not anymore."

"That's… sad."

"I guess so." Kakashi admitted. "I prefer to focus on what I can do."

"What is it?"

Kakashi smiled at him. "Protect the people I hold dear… and take care of Konoha's enemies,
so that we live to see another day."

"…I see." Naruto said, not looking entirely satisfied by the answer.

"You're still young, Naruto." Kakashi ruffled his hair. He had no doubt that he would
become a strong shinobi, someday, despite his reservations. "And this is just my answer. You
will be able to find your own, someday."

"I guess so." Naruto muttered.

"A …son?" Kakashi muttered.

Minato-sensei and Kushina were about to become parents. The idea was as foreign as it was
scary. He never voiced it out loud, but he had come to see both of them as something between
siblings and parents. But… a baby?

Where did Kakashi fit in this, exactly…?

He pushed the feelings away. Congratulations were in order, not jealousy. The baby would
grow up in a loving home, the son of the Hokage and his terrifying, strong, kind wife.

"Yes." Minato-sensei grinned. "Would you do us the honor of keeping watch over Kushina
during her pregnancy?"

"Of course!" Kakashi accepted right away. This was the least he could do for them. He could
watch from the shadows, and make sure everything went perfectly well-

"It will be good preparation for the future!" Minato-sensei continued, ruffling his hair.
"You're going to be a big brother, after all, Kakashi."

Hatake Kakashi was a jōnin, starting today.

And now, he understood what being a shinobi meant. Being willing to put your life, your
feelings aside, in order to protect the whole.

One life could not matter more than a thousand. No matter who it was. No matter what
stupid Obito kept on saying.

No matter that his father, who had been too weak to do what was needed, wouldn't be here to
witness his son's triumphs. He had Minato-sensei, anyway.
Hatake Kakashi was a jōnin, now. And he would defend Konoha at all costs.

Unseen, a tear trickled down Hatake Kakashi's face.

He had tried doing things Obito's way. It had brought him nothing but pain.

Orders were easier to follow.

Besides, Obito was nothing more than a traitor. The man who had killed Minato-sensei and
Kushina. Then again, Obito had said he had overheard him talking to his grave.

Something like this was the reason Minato-sensei died…? This was on him, too, then. One more
mistake.

He had made so many. Including Naruto. Another traitor. One who had killed the Hokage during
wartime, along with more than a dozen Konoha ninja... and had no plans of stopping. Anyone he
deemed guilty, he would kill. And he had made this obvious.

Before, he would have tried to find another way. Now, broken, with nothing left to live for but the
objectives…

He was nothing at all.

It wouldn't stop him from doing what was needed. Not now, not anymore.
 Faded Lightning

Kakashi's swordsmanship was incredible.

There was no other word for it. He handled his weapon like an extension of his body, each
movement a strike meant to debilitate or kill. It was a dance of death, each step bringing them
closer to the precipice.

Each step made Naruto feel stronger in his own ability. That was how he learned best, by seeing,
understanding, improving.

So Naruto moved, dodged, parried, deflected and struck back.

It was like fighting himself, in a way, as their fighting styles, although different by now, had
started on a similar foundation. He had been Kakashi's student, after all, after having trained under
the Third, and before Orochimaru.

The Cloak of Lightning allowed both of them to push beyond their limits. Their increased speed
was only part of it. The perception it gave them both was its real boon.

Naruto's consumed more chakra, but allowed his already greater strength to soar even higher.

Kakashi's was more of a subtle thing, flickering on and off, depending on the situation, something
that was only possible due to his Sharingan.

They met again with a thunderous clash.

Hatake Kakashi, master of a thousand jutsu, didn't have enough time to use even one. Their swords
flashed, striking mighty blows that would have shattered any man. Stone cracked and splintered,
turning to nothing more than broken rock.

The uneven terrain did nothing to slow them down, and it felt as though they were flying.

Their chakra were wild, unrestrained and bright. What felt like hundreds of strikes were
exchanged, none of them bringing either of them any closer to winning.

Twin swords against one. The fact that the White Chakra Sabre wasn't showing any signs of
breaking, even now, was testament to the quality of its build.

The fact that Naruto could fight on even grounds with a man that was undoubtedly one of the
strongest in the entire world was testament to his will and strength.

Steel hit steel. Sparks flew. Their forearms were tight from fatigue, their fingers bruised. Their
thighs, screaming.

There. An opening.

With a roar, Naruto pushed his advantage, his twin swords pressing down on Kakashi, who barely
managed to keep his own up against them. His hands shook from the exertion.

One of the swords struck true, biting through Kakashi's torso in a downward strike. Naruto
followed through, and his kick sent the man flying.

He discarded one of his swords, and summoned his bow. The other sword turned into an arrow.
Lightning and Wind pooled through him, gathering in both arrow and bow.

Naruto anticipated Kakashi's trajectory, and let loose the blinding streak of light.

It inched forward inexorably, and its deadly elements would go through even Kakashi's Cloak.

Except… It didn't.

Naruto saw something purple flash in the background.

The next instant, a sword strike that had been meant to take off his neck was barely deflected
downward. It cut through his own torso diagonally, instead.

Kakashi's next strike took him in the gut.

The following one opened a bloody gash along his arm's length.

Kakashi was upon him again, like an unrelenting devil, his body covered in a purple aura. Naruto
managed to tumble away from him.

He started to heal himself, but Kakashi was upon him again.

"What is this…?" Naruto asked him. "A more advanced form of Lightning mastery? Or...?"

Kakashi didn't answer, and with a blindingly fast pivot, his sword cut through Naruto's torso again,
leaving a cross-marked, bleeding wound. He struck back with a wind blade that missed the man
entirely.

Naruto's chakra senses were upon him. At the same time, he started channeling chakra, more and
more of it.

Kakashi blurred into movement again, and Naruto summoned a wind clone into his path. The
blades it out once it dispelled did nothing to slow him down, and suddenly, Naruto found a blade
buried into his gut.

Naruto grabbed a hold of it with his hand.

The chakra around Kakashi dispelled. He looked exhausted. Both physically… and mentally, too.

Up close, Kakashi confirmed what Naruto had been thinking.

"I wish it didn't come to this, Naruto." Kakashi said, recovering his breath.

Naruto let out a bloody chuckle. "You sure have a strange way of showing it. But a wound like this
won't kill me."

"I know." Kakashi said, with a forlorn look upon his face. "But this will. It was the only way I
could keep you locked in place."

Purple Lightning buzzed through Kakashi's sword, holding Naruto in place. The Sharingan swirled
into something else, and suddenly there was a whirring sound.

"Kamui." He called, aiming at Naruto's head.

"Too slow!" Naruto grinned, pooling the chakra he had gathered into his sword.
It exploded in a raging dome of wind and lightning that cut deep into both of their bodies, before
sending them hurtling through the snow.

Now, Naruto accelerated his healing process, starting with his stiff hand. Kakashi stood up shakily,
and started to use fire to cauterize his wounds. Naruto let him do so.

"That's what I thought." Naruto began.

Kakashi stared at him, silently.

"Your jutsu. Your Purple Lightning." Naruto smiled. "No wonder it feels so familiar."

He paused.

"Yours is Lightning and Yin, isn't it…? With a touch of Yang, too."

"…How do you know this?" Kakashi asked, gritting his teeth.

"I have learned to sense chakra." Naruto shrugged, the motion pulling at his healing wounds. He
winced. "But relying so much on Yin leaves you vulnerable, doesn't it?"

He had a pet theory, one that he could not really prove… That Indra's line usually tended to rely on
Yin energy. Which left him, as an Uzumaki, in a weird spot.

His soul wanted to lean towards Yin. But his body was almost purely geared for Yang.

Too much Yin compared to Yang apparently could lead to more mental... vulnerability, even to
insanity. What did too much Yang bring…? And where did he stand…?

"What would you know about it?" Kakashi asked, his eyes locked into his. But he made no move
to use his Sharingan, as they had silently, mutually agreed to take the time to heal their wounds.

"What do you think?" Naruto grinned.

"I think that's a lot of bravado, personally." Kakashi said dryly.

"It's not." Naruto shook his head. "The Yin-Yang ratio is not the same at all, and I have to use
Wind as well, but… I'm saying that I can do the same damn thing."

Kakashi just stared at him, his eyes hard.

"But this doesn't matter. There's something I've been meaning to ask." Naruto continued.

"Ask ahead." Kakashi said dryly.

"You're wasting your talents."

"…What?"

"Why serve a village with people like Danzō?" Naruto said, in a mockery of their first meeting.
"You've got... potential. Why not join us?"

A single chuckle escaped Kakashi, despite himself. "You're still a smart-ass, aren't you…?"

"I guess so."

"For my comrades. To protect the leaf itself."

"Why Konoha…? The world-"

Kakashi scoffed.

"That's too naive. The words of someone who hasn't experienced enough about the nature of
shinobi. It is impossible to change the entire world. Konoha is the best option."

"…So you gave up?"

"Don't talk to me about giving up." Kakashi retorted. "It is the lesser evil, between this and the
bloodbath your methods will bring."

"A bloodbath…? Like the war that is going on because of the village system…?" Naruto almost
laughed.

"Yes. A worse one." Kakashi nodded. "Aiming at weakening the villages can only result in more
strife."

"I don't think it can get worse than what we have now. I'll take my chances." Naruto said.

"What do you think is going to happen to Konoha, with Danzō gone? People from Konoha will die.
A change in power during a war can only harm a village."

"How is this any different from what Konoha is doing to the land of Wind… and Earth? As far as
I'm concerned, there's no difference between the two. No more value to a life because it so happens
to exist in the Land of Fire. And I don't think changing leaders will do more harm to the world than
having people like Danzō lead."

They healed the worst of their wounds in silence.

"…Are the rumors any true?" Naruto finally asked. There were more than a few floating around, in
Iwa newspapers, and the theory made more sense to him than what Konoha was saying about the
matter. "Did you kill the Kazekage…? How is this any different, then?"

Kakashi gritted his teeth. "For my village."

It was Naruto's turn to scoff.

"What do you think I did it for…? Danzō killed a citizen of my own." Naruto retorted. "So we
agree, then. You can't change the world without getting your hands dirty. I see it, now, just like you
always tried to tell me, back then."

"This is the furthest answer from what I wanted you to understand." Kakashi spat.

"And what was your answer…?"

"To protect the people you care about. Your village."

"That's exactly what I'm doing. And I won't stop at this, just because of my own weakness."

"Funny that you'd say this, when you're about to join the list of the worst criminals in the entire
shinobi world." Kakashi said. "People like Uchiha Madara."

Naruto stilled. "I am nothing like Uchiha Madara." His tone was cold. He had seen some of the
man's memories.
Never.

"Sensitive point…?"

"He was mad. And to me... your actions are senseless. All of this killing... for something so short-
sighted? For Konoha... people like Danzō?!"

"I am the Hokage's man." Kakashi echoed the statement Naruto had already heard from Shisui
before.

"So is it just about patriotism…? That's it…? That's the driving cause for most of these wars…?
Just government propaganda…?" Naruto asked in disbelief.

"I'll do whatever is needed. That is what it's about. Just like — I'm assuming here — you'd do a
great many things, for Umi, wouldn't you?" Kakashi asked dryly.

"…Yeah, I can't deny that." Naruto admitted.

"It's really not so complicated. I'm a proud Konoha ninja. And I'm willing to take steps to defend
and support it. I believe in the Will of Fire. Not just because I was raised there, but because I
believe that Konoha is the lesser evil. The quality of life I wish for the newer generations to enjoy
will only be possible if the generations that came before them are willing to do the dirty work. I'm
willing to do it, and I can stomach it. Does this sound stupid to you?"

"…No." Naruto shook his head lightly. "It doesn't sound stupid to me at all, right now." Naruto
said with a small smile.

A long silence stretched.

"…Maybe there is still a way." Kakashi offered, his eyes almost pleading for a second.

"There is." Naruto nodded. "Join us."

"I won't." Kakashi shook his head. "If you come with me right now, I will do everything in my
power in order to ensure that justice is served. Fairly."

Naruto laughed. "As in a trial? Sorry, but I'm going to pass. I have other things I want to, rather
than being thrown in jail for life — or rather, being used as a weapon of war, since I am who I am."

"Then you shouldn't have killed the Kage." Kakashi said slowly. "Most of the other things… we
could have found a way."

"Again… He killed Toru." Naruto spat. Some of his fury returned. "To me, that's unforgivable."

"…It is, for me too." Kakashi said, his tone hard.

What?

"But you're willing to work for someone like this, still?" Naruto asked in disbelief.

"…I would never have forgiven Danzō." Kakashi admitted. "But… Toru did break one of the
village's laws. Danzō applied the village's law, no matter how I feel about it."

"The law…?" Naruto started to laugh. "The one that justifies slavery…? And Danzō only used this
as an excuse to kill him, make no mistake about it."
"That is just a possibility." Kakashi shook his head.

"What happened to your morals…? Naruto asked.

"…I haven't changed on that."

"Those who break the rules are scum." Naruto began. "But those who abandon their friends are
worse than scum. Hah."

Kakashi looked as though he had been slapped.

Naruto continued. "How do you think Toru would have felt, seeing you justify his murder?"

"That is not what I'm doing!" Kakashi roared. "His death is an unforgivable sin! One that I
would gladly have killed Danzō for, myself. And if I could have saved Toru, I would
have damned myself for it!"

Then, his voice became more subdued. "But Toru is dead already, nothing will change this. And
the life of one doesn't justify the death of thousands, no matter what I feel about them."

"That's good." Naruto said, with a flat smile. "Because I'm not going to kill thousands. Just the
people that are ready to do so."

"How is it any different?! One man cannot rule the entire world by himself!"

I'm not going to be by myself.

"And one man should not follow the order in place blindly, just because there is always a risk of
losing people! I thought you knew this! What happened to you?!" Naruto roared in return. "You let
your fears get the better of you! You are worse in every way than the man I knew!"

"…You're blinded by your delusions." Kakashi shook his head. "And you're dangerous, when it
comes to Konoha. You know too much, have gotten too strong. And your intentions… your
actions…"

"The only difference between our actions… is that I'm willing to take the hard decisions without
waiting to be given the order. Without anyone telling me what to do like a good lapdog!"

"You're just another Madara… another Obito in the making!" Kakashi retorted.

Obito?

He had said that was the masked man…? The one he had thought was Madara until a few
memories had made him realize Madara was dead?

Naruto saw a blurry memory. Something that didn't belong to him. An old man ordering the death
of a young girl. Rin.

He couldn't understand much about this.

"Is this about… Rin…?" Naruto asked, aloud. His heart was confused. What was this…?

"Rin…?" Kakashi growled. "I don't know who told you this — there can only be one person. Obito.
Don't you dare say her name."

"Is this what this is about…? You've lost too much… and now you're willing to do anything for the
village they died for…? My father, my mother… this Rin?"

"Don't you dare say their names!" Kakashi roared. "You understand nothing."

Naruto scoffed. "Maybe I don't."

"Draw your weapon. Sensei's son or not, I won't have any mercy for you. I won't hold back."

"I know. I won't either."

Kakashi had recovered a lot of chakra.

Purple lightning shrouded him, the power coming from him almost suffocating.

Lightning; Yin — and some Yang too, although lesser.

Naruto reached deep inside himself.

The Storm answered when he gave in to his emotions, he had thought. But he had been wrong.

It was not about emotion, it was about letting go. The reason it had never held for long before, was
that emotion was the trigger, one that he had misunderstood.

Naruto thought of his fear of failure, of losing everyone.

The deepest fears too. That he might be in the wrong. That his actions were those of a madman,
who'd only bring about a bloodbath; of a genocidal maniac in becoming.

He thought of his need. And he remembered Toru.

The power surged into his veins, making his body burn. His heart roared into his chest, his muscles
shook, and his chakra seemed to turn to pure power.

Just like before.

He let out a primal scream, and three carvings ignited.

Naruto had thought they were the source of this power. He had been wrong. It was him, all along,
guiding the storm.

His emotions were going haywire, the whispers of anger and wrath and fear and destruction filled
his mind. He wanted to control them. To bear down on them, until they submitted.

Instead…

He let go.

For a moment at least, he relinquished all of this.

This was what he was born for. This moment, suspended in time, where nothing but your skill
mattered. His soul was soaring; his heart was thrumming. He was chakra, he was strength. He was
the Storm.

And this too, he let go.

Lightning and Wind; Yin and Yang.

Was this the secret..? Balance?

In front of him, meters away, Kakashi looked on in disbelief. His eyes were wide, both of them.

"No way…" He began. "You were telling the truth."

In the middle of the raging storm, Naruto drew in more and more of his own chakra. Power surged
through him like the ocean's waves. He was alive.

Naruto could feel the air, thick with their combined chakra.

Above them, far up, lightning cracked through the skies, and a veritable thunderstorm raged. The
snow continued to fall, still, during all this.

Kakashi's hands joined together, weaving through hand seals at a speed so far above what Naruto
had ever seen.

Naruto did the same. It was Storm, Wind and Lightning combined. It had the properties of both.

He would manage.

"Purple Lightning: Raijū"

"Storm Release: Faded Lightning"

A large hound made out of violet light formed, starting from Kakashi's hand. A cord of lightning
connected to it, and the hound was upon Naruto.

Naruto, who brought his left hand up, and focused the chakra through his extended middle finger.
A point of light shone in front of it before disappearing.

With a terrible tearing sound, a beam of violet electricity shot forward, going through the hound in
a moment both shorter and longer than Naruto could ever remember experiencing.

Kakashi was gone. And then suddenly, he was behind him, low, aiming to cut through his heel.

But Naruto was able to follow his movements, now.

He parried the blow. And then countered with a snake-style kick, straight to Kakashi's gut. The
man growled and disappeared again.

Naruto blurred away, too.

For an instant, he knew that Kakashi lost sight of him. He couldn't react. Naruto's sword bit
through his shoulder. He cauterized the wound with a curse.

Kakashi's cloak disappeared for a short moment and flames exploded from behind Naruto, forcing
him to dodge under. Enhanced by Kakashi's Yin chakra, he knew they could hurt him badly. The
cloak came back on.

He struck with a downward strike, but was parried by Kakashi's sword.

Naruto disappeared again, moving behind him.

Kakashi parried again, and then flipped over him, weaving through hand seals again.
"Purple Lightning: Hundred Blades"

Tiny shards, fragments of light formed around Naruto, almost innumerable, swirling around him
like a cloud of cherry tree petals, before going after him from every possible angle.

Naruto weaved hand signs of his own, before slapping his hand on the floor.

"Storm Release: Cloud Clearer."

A dome of lightning bolts and wind blades built around him, before exploding in every direction,
clearing the blades away.

Kakashi was weaving through more signs. Naruto dashed, with all of his speed, and his blade
almost speared through Kakashi's midsection. The man had managed to grab his blade with his
hand to redirect it, though.

Kakashi twisted around Naruto's blade, until it was held in place between his back and the crook of
both of his elbows. He flexed and the blade shattered like glass.

His retaliating strike grazed Naruto's chin.

They took some distance.

Kakashi was having more trouble maintaining his jutsu than Naruto did. And he had noticed it.

"You can't afford to stay in this form for long." Naruto said, summoning another sword to his right
hand.

"It is the truth. I will kill you as soon as I can."

"I feel special." Naruto showed his teeth in a bloody grin.

They stepped off the broken earth again, their swords clashing with enough strength to shatter them
both.

The swords held.

Faster.

Each step brought them to a higher level of fighting.

Faster.

The swords rang, sending sparks and spreading destruction around the two shinobi.

Faster.

Naruto's body was screaming, unused to speeds such as the ones they were reaching.

Faster.

His heart was beating out of his chest, the taste of blood was deep down his throat, and he knew
that if he stopped for a single second, he would not get up.

Faster.
Both of them had blood running down their faces, and down their bodies as well, soaking their
clothes crimson.

FASTER.

How long had they been at it? A thousand strikes; a thousand moments.

FASTER!

To say Kakashi was swift, that he was quick, was akin to saying that a severed arm was a mere
flesh wound.

It was the most exhilarating battle Naruto had fought in his life. If he were to die here, he would
die happy.

But he wouldn't. He had things to do, still.

They slashed at each other at the same time.

Both strikes landed. They mirrored each other, cutting through the other's torso diagonally.

They roared, and struck again.

Another slash wound on both of them.

Then another.

Another.

Only chakra was keeping them going, at this point.

They had become demons. Tomorrow didn't matter, they only lived for this moment, despite what
they wanted to believe.

They stepped off, coming to stand at a distance from each other.

Kakashi was standing straight, which in itself, was abnormal, considering the terrible wounds that
covered him from head to toe. Naruto could hardly believe that the human body could endure this
much.

Have I done this? Naruto thought with some trepidation. He had.

But he had no regrets.

In front of him, Kakashi didn't either. He was standing still.

For the first time Naruto could remember, he looked at peace.

Naruto only realized that his mask was nowhere to be seen, and that it was the first time he ever
saw his face.

"Neither of us has much strength left." Kakashi said. "Shinobi are not meant to fight drawn out
battles." Nor lives.

Naruto was faring a bit better, but not much.

"…Let's end it, then. Kakashi-sensei."

They grinned at each other, something savage and so primal, full of spirit, that anybody who would
have seen them would have fled.

Kakashi weaved no signs, but all of his remaining chakra pooled in his arm.

Purple lightning crackled, dancing in Kakashi's hand.

This was his masterpiece, his Raikiri, refined even further.

"Purple Lightning: Lightning Cutter"

"So you have made up your mind." Naruto said. "I was afraid you'd hesitate."

"I won't. If I need to kill you for Konoha to live, then I will." Kakashi said simply. "No matter who
you are."

"Good." Naruto smiled.

Because somehow, Naruto was hit by a wave of nostalgia, and suddenly he was a smart-ass twelve
years old again, one who thought he knew everything there was to know.

"Don't you remember…?" Naruto asked.

Kakashi said nothing, his eyes still fixed upon Naruto.

"…Nothing has changed, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto chuckled. "And this is still a terrible
assassination technique."

Kakashi let out a weak chuckle. "Yeah. It's… loud and flashy. More of a combat technique, really."
He said, repeating Naruto's words from years ago, that he did remember.

Naruto smiled a sad, true smile. "And the name doesn't even fit. Lightning Cutter…?"

Purple Wind swirled, mixing with blood. It screeched, dancing around Naruto's hand and wrist.

"This would be it. Tonight, I'm cutting through Lightning itself." Naruto said with grim
resolve. "Storm Release: Lightning Cutter"

"In that case… Make sure you are able to back up your claim." Kakashi simply said.

They blurred.

Purple struck purple, and a dome of lightning exploded around them, ravaging the
mountaintop.

Later, some would say this summit was where two Raijin had fought.

And their might had pierced the very heavens.

In the end, for all of Kakashi's speed, the Sharingan, and his determination to kill…

He was too slow, and his jutsu was simply weaker than Naruto's.
Naruto's wind blade sliced through, carved its way into Kakashi's chest, and his entire arm went
through him.

Kakashi's purple lightning blade halted once he was struck, barely managing to penetrate Naruto's
chest.

The White Light Chakra Sabre, in his other hand, clattered to the ground.

"Fast." Kakashi muttered. "You've gotten… so fast."

The chakra around Kakashi faded to nothing but wispy remnants.

His hand raised to touch Naruto's face, leaving bloody smears along his face. They mixed with
Naruto's tears. Why was he crying…?

He had needed to do this.

"In this… at least…" Kakashi began, the ghost of a smile upon his face. "In this… you are… your
father's son."

Naruto wanted to close his eyes. He really did. But he would not do his former teacher this
disservice.

The least he could do after killing him would be watching the consequences of his actions.

"I'm… sorry… Naruto."

Narutot's eyes were burning, fat tears rolling down his face. "Don't be. If anything, I should be.
You taught me well."

Kakashi smiled gratefully. Naruto felt his own heart clench.

"It… was… nice…" He chuckled, blood staining his mask. "Too… bad… we don't… see eye… to
eye…"

A sad chuckle escaped Naruto as well.

"In another life, maybe we do." Naruto said.

For an instant, he remembers all of the lives where Kakashi became his lifelong mentor. A trusted
friend, and an advisor.

For a moment, they peer into each other's hearts. Ninshū, as they called it.

For two uncompromising men, both unwilling to concede anything tonight.

And even if they don't agree with the other, at this moment, they understand.

"…Yeah. I'm sure we do." Naruto smiled, his voice thick with emotion.

"That's… something…"

"Rest, Kakashi. It is more than time." He said softly.

Kakashi's hand went to his left eye. There, his fingers halted.

Naruto understood he was about to crush the Sharingan. He let him do so.
Then, Kakashi looked into his eyes. He seemed to reach a decision.

Lesser evils.

"Take… it…" Kakashi whispered. "Stop… him… Stop… Obito. He… would… destroy…"

The man's pulse was slowing, Naruto knew. He had no more time.

With rising horror, Naruto understood what he was about to do.

"Don't you dare-"

The fingers pressed in.

Kakashi held his hand out, pressing something into his hand. His hand was covered in thick red and
black blood. He knew exactly what the thing he barely managed to hold in it was. Kakashi fell
back, slowly. His remaining eye was losing clarity with every passing second.

"If… this is how… it must be."

"Why?!"

"Don't… let… the world… down."

Hatake Kakashi died.

 To Kill a Shadow II

Kakashi's blood was all over Naruto's hand, up to his wrist.

The rest of the blood covering him was his. But not this, this was his teacher's. The man was lying
on the broken earth, staring sightlessly at the falling snow. The muddy earth, half dirt and half
melted snow, slowly turned red.

Kakashi's chest had been blown clean open. By his hand. The one that was still covered in his
blood.

That would have been a Hokage's heart.

His hands were shaking, both of them. Was this really what he wanted?

I killed him. I murdered Kakashi-sensei.

Kakashi's eye… The eye that he had entrusted to him was still firmly in his grip.

Naruto took a long breath, steeling his resolve.

That was the path he had taken. Kakashi had died for it. He would do all of them a disservice by
abandoning it just because his heart felt as though it had broken in a thousand pieces.

You couldn't have peace without removing men of war. If Kakashi chose to defend them…

It was needed. It was needed.

For a moment, though, Naruto just stood there. He stared far in the distance, where he could not
see, south and west. To the place where he had grown up. And he remembered a young boy named
Sarutobi Naruto.

The tremors stopped.

He left the body here. Kakashi was a Konoha ninja through and through. In days, they would find
him. The least he could do for him was let him be buried in his home.

If Konoha went through the man's brain, as they likely would try, then so be it. They still wouldn't
find the Marks when they were not in use. And maybe they would take the Akatsuki threat a bit
more seriously.

Naruto gathered his chakra once more, and disappeared with a sharp sound.

He ignored the sad eyes and the white hair he thought he saw for a fraction of a moment.

The first thing he did when he arrived in Umi, after passing the security check — and they had
looked worried when he came in, covered in blood…

Was to throw up.

'Maybe this is going to be harder than I thought.' Naruto thought grimly.

'I could make it easier.'

He washed his face, his mouth and the tears mixed with the cold water that he splashed upon his
face.

Naruto walked back home.

"Naruto…?" He heard Ino's voice ask urgently, as she opened the door. "…Is it you? What the
fuck happened-"

Then she took in his state. He was drenched in blood. She paled.

"NARUTO! Are you-"

"Yeah…" Came his subdued response. "I'm… I'm fine. I'll be fine."

She came closer to him, and the utter worry in his eyes made him tears prick at his eyes.

"Are you injured or…?"

"I was but I healed, mostly. It's… not my blood. Not really."

She lunged forward, unable to hold back. "I thought you rand into - You're here!"

He returned the embrace, still feeling the pull of the void. "Yeah… Yeah, I am."

"What happened…? You cut the link — Sakura came back-"

"Sakura!" Naruto snapped out of it. "Is she alright…? Please tell me that-"

Ino nodded against him. "Yes, she is. Karin is still tending to her."

Naruto felt his shoulders drop in relief, and the ice that had still been in his stomach melted away.

Then he started to shake, uncontrollably.

"…Am I crying..?" He felt the hot emotion, unbearably strong.

"…There's nothing wrong with it. Let it out." Ino said softly, embracing him. She brought both of
them to a sitting position.

There he sobbed for a while.

"…I killed him." Naruto said roughly.

"…Who…?" Ino asked, breathlessly.

Naruto's lips moved, but he found it hard to talk.

"Sensei." He rasped out. "I killed Kakashi."

"Let's get you cleaned up. Then we can talk with the others." Ino finally said, leading him into the
house.

"…and in his last moments, he gave me his Sharingan." Naruto finished, slouched into a pile of
covers, staring anywhere but into their eyes.
He had shown them the memories of most of the night, as well, to their horror.

Sakura looked at him, looking less like a cold-blooded murderer and more like a lost young man.
She didn't care about Kakashi dying, at all, she had barely known the man. And he had
almost decapitated her. The wound would leave a nasty scar, even after Karin used her healing
chain on her. And the Uzumaki woman could fix wounds that most medic ninja wouldn't even
bother with.

But she understood that it had been his sensei. She couldn't even imagine how she would have felt
if she had had to kill Kurenai.

"…Thanks." She said simply, her voice more raspy than usual. Hopefully this would only be
temporary.

"What for…?" Naruto asked her, shaking his head.

"For doing it. I know it must have been terrible. But you saved me." She said, rubbing her wound
gingerly. "I'd be dead if you hadn't."

"Only because we let you go there alone-"

She rolled her eyes. "We're not damsels in distress. We help each other."

"…"

"Things worked out decently, anyway." Sakura rasped out.

"Decently..?!"

"Sure." She shrugged. "We killed the target, captured the two others… and got rid of the Hokage's
hound. Isn't it good?"

Naruto's hands went to his hair. "…I don't know."

"Of course you won't feel any good after killing a man you used to care about." Karin said, glaring
at Saukra.

"…" Naruto sighed.

"Now…" Sakura continued. "I don't mean to be insensitive —"

Ino rolled her eyes. "You would never."

Sakura ignored her. "What are we going to do with the eyes? Both of them, I mean. Toru's…"

Naruto winced.

"…Nothing." He finally said.

"You sure…?" Karin asked dubiously. "The nations would give up on fortunes for a chance to get
their hands on it."

"Maybe it is so." Naruto shrugged. "…Do what you want with it. Me… I'm not touching them."

"Why not?" Sakura asked. "Kakashi gave it to you. And Toru would not have mind—"
"Stop it." Naruto said, looking as though he were in pain. "Please."

"…I think I understand your feelings on this." Sakura said. "Is this what it's about?"

Naruto closed his eyes before he spoke.

"Okay." Naruto growled. "How about… the voices in my head are insisting — trying to make it
sound like the most logical course of action — I take one, either of them, both... and put them into
my eye sockets?"

There was a long silence.

"…Yeah. That does sound kinda like a bad omen." Sakura admitted.

"Voices…? Several of them?" Ino asked, her worry now showing.

Naruto didn't look at her. "…It's Indra. And some memories, that's it."

Ino looked at him for a long time. "…We're going to have to see about this."

He snorted. "Yeah. It's bad, anyway I see it."

Sakura decided.

"If none of you mind…" She began. "I'll take over Kakashi's eye."

A long silence stretched.

"…What? Why?" Karin asked.

"It's a huge chakra drain and you have the smallest reserves—" Ino continued.

"I know, I know. I have the best control over my chakra, though." Sakura waved off. "And I don't
plan on keeping it on most of the time."

"…Are you sure it's a good idea?" Ino asked.

"Nope."

"Then why…?"

"Kakashi said something about the masked man — Obito, right?" Sakura asked. "That means
there's something we can do with this eye to counter him. I'm decent at killing people... and
fleeing."

"He can become intangible, Orochimaru said." Naruto finally said, just wishing to be done with it.
"Kakashi was able to make things… disappear. Maybe it would work on that man, too."

"Only one way to know this for sure." Sakura shrugged. "Any objections?"

…There were none.

"Aight, you can call me Sharingan Sakura… or something."

Everybody else frowned.

"Too early…?"
Naruto couldn't sleep, as he had imagined.

He stood on the roof of their house, looking toward the lake. Karin was next to him, huddled
against him. They just had a few tentative plans for the future, but he really didn't feel in any sort of
thinking mood, right now.

He would have asked Orochimaru, but the man was gone entirely again. Even Anko didn't know
where he had gone this time. Only that he had left a few training instructions behind, for the time
he would be gone.

Which probably wouldn't be that long. Naruto and Karin had other things on their minds right now.

Still, the sun rose.

They had executed the two ROOT members, once they figured they had gotten everything they
would get from them.

There was no satisfaction to be found there.

Including most of their secrets. Which frankly… disgusted him to his core. Naruto knew every
village had their own dirty secrets, but knowing just a bit about how much inner violence,
backstabbing, wariness, suspicion and lies Konoha was built on…

It only redoubled his resolve to break things up.

Still, Naruto mourned and grieved openly for Toru and Kakashi.

The fact that he had killed one of them himself didn't change that.

"Huh." Sakura made a surprised sound.

"What is it?" Karin asked.

"I thought the Sharingan was supposed to come with… a lot of clarity. Or good vision, at least."

Toru had sent them a few battle memories through the link, and each of them came with the sort of
clarity that made their own normal sight look like a very inadequate thing… as though they were
looking at the world through a smudged glass, when compared to his Sharingan.

"…It doesn't?" Karin frowned.

"Not really… everything is kinda… blurry."

"Really?" Karin asked. "Did I fuck something up when transferring it?"

"…I don't know, really. It does show me chakra and all so… Maybe the eye is damaged?" Sakura
tried. "I mean… it's not horrible, but I'd say it's a bit worse than my regular eye."

Karin's brows scrunched in thought. "I have no idea."

Naruto came by, looking white as a sheet. He quickly got to the gist of it.

"…Toru told me that its Mangekyo form makes the user go blind. Kakashi had it — he used it
during our fight. I think this could be it. He probably used it a lot before."

Sakura groaned. "For real…? So now I get to have this half-blind eye…? It's already disorienting
enough as is!"

"Nobody forced you to… plug it in." Naruto said dryly. "It's you who insisted on having the eye of
a dead man."

"…It sounded like a good idea." Sakura muttered. She took a long pull on her pipe, letting the
smoke blow with a satisfied sigh.

The fact that she had called Ino just so she could light it was not exactly winning her points with
the Yamanaka.

"Really?" Naruto asked in disbelief.

"What?"

"You barely got healed."

"So…?"

"…Do you have to smoke this indoors?" Naruto asked with an expression of distaste. "It reminds
me of the old man."

Sakura shrugged. "I picked it because of him, so… Can't you make up some… sealing thing or… I
don't know? Do your thing."

He sighed. "Yeah. I can."

"See, no big deal then." She laughed. "There won't even be any smell, that way."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "That would be something else entirely. It clings to clothes, as well."

"…Can't you put something like this on the pipe directly…? Some sort of scentless smoke thing…
I don't know."

"It's a waste of time. What about your lungs…?"

"Karin can heal me in a blink… Right, Karin?"

"…It's a waste of chakra." Naruto contested.

"I don't mind." Karin shrugged.

"…Alright. If it doesn't smell or cling… that's your problem." Naruto sighed. "Give me your pipe
for a second, I'll do something about it."

He left with it.

"Are you sure you strong-arming him into it is a good idea?" Karin asked. "He might uh… pay you
back somehow."

"Of course not." Sakura laughed. "Why would he?"

"…And doing it now, especially." Karin admonished her.

Sakura turned a bit more serious. "I think he prefers to do something, anything, right now."

They paused.

"…As you say." Karin shrugged. It was the truth.

She went back to examining Sakura's new eye.

Naruto would figure out a way to slip in a nicotine destroying property in the pipe.

It would keep his mind away from more pressing concerns, such as the emotions he wanted to run
away from. Maybe keeping busy was not the best way to deal with grief, but he didn't have a much
better outlet, right now.

But mostly, it was about pettiness.

They'd see how much Sakura enjoyed smoking her tobacco-free herbs. That would teach her to
strong-arm him into doing something for her. Ungrateful rat.

It would be a while before she caught on, and realized she had been duped, of course.

Naruto idly noticed his hands were shaking a bit.

Why was that...? He wasn't even thinking about-

"What are you working on?" Hanabi asked, slipping behind him.

Naruto almost jumped. He really had been distracted, then. He hid the pipe behind his back, as if
she could tell what he had done to it.

"…Not much."

"Are you hiding something important?" She frowned.

"Nah."

Her eyes were upon him, pupilless white, with a hint of lilac. She had a great poker face, honestly.
He could not tell if she was being serious about this or just fucking with him.

"Okay…" She said. He noticed that she was wearing a sleeveless, emerald green dress today.
She really changed clothes often. Well, if the cloak was useful to her… great.

Naruto also realized she was entirely out of the loop. They really didn't see that much of her these
last days. Not since Toru's funeral.

"…Are you busy with the comics?" He asked her, trying to go for a topic that was harmless.

"The comics? No. It's actually really easy to write." Hanabi shrugged.

Now I have to see this.

Honestly, Naruto expected something pretty… Huh. There was no polite way for him to even
express what he thought about it.

"…Really?" He said instead.

"…Why are you looking at me like this?" Hanabi frowned.

"It's just… I thought you'd have some trouble with it."

"Because you think I'm not funny?" She glared at him.

"I would never-"

"I know, I know. I'm only joking." Hanabi rolled her eyes.

"..."

"To asnwer your question... Nah, I don't have any trouble. Not at all. I can crank a few of them a
day in a similar style as Toru's, and keep up with my training at the same time." She shrugged.
"The bracer you made seems to work, by the way, so thank you."

"…A few comics a day? How do you do it? Toru was somewhat slow… with the comics, I mean."
Naruto finished, noticing a small grin pulling at the corners of Hanabi's mouth.

"How do I… what?"

"How do you write comics in his style?"

"It's easy. I put myself in his shoes."

"…How?"

"I think of being me… and then I take away reason, emotional control and wisdom."

Naruto paused. "…Gods."

Yeah, there was definitely a smile forming on her lips.

Then despite himself, he chuckled. Then Naruto was laughing.

So hard that tears blurred his eyes. Surprisingly enough, she joined him in his half-manic laughter.
And soon they were close to crying, not sure what this was about anymore.

"…Sorry for that." Naruto finally said, a last chuckle trailing off.

They lapsed into comfortable silence, and he returned to what he was doing with the pipe.

"Why don't you come over for dinner anymore?" Naruto asked.

Hanabi simply shrugged.

"Are you very busy or…?" Naruto asked.

"No, not really."

Naruto also knew she didn't really have any friends besides them here.

"Well." She frowned. "Toru is not here anymore, so…"

"You thought we… put up with you because of him?" Naruto asked in disbelief.

Hanabi just shrugged again, not looking so confident, right now.

"Well, this won't do." Naruto decided, shaking his head. "You're our friend too." He almost slipped
a "believe it" at the end of the sentence.

She lifted a perfect eyebrow. "Am I?"

"Yup. So be here for dinner tonight."

"…It's not some weird persuasion thing to make me join your...?" Hanabi asked, with some
suspicion.

"…" Naruto sighed. "There's no sex cult. Plus, considering the shit you're reading…"

"I don't know what you're talking about." She denied. Great poker face.

"…Uh huh."

"…Alright. I'll come for dinner, then."

He liked her, for some reason he could not understand. And it really wouldn't do to leave her alone
to wallow in her own grief too much.

…Not that he was one to talk. His hands were shaking a bit, still.

During the night, Karin's eyes opened, but she remained frozen.

Bathed in the moonlight that passed through the window, a woman sat against the wall. Karin tried
to scream, but nothing happened. The woman with snow-white hair said nothing, and did nothing
either. She simply stared at Naruto's sleeping body, seeing something that simply wasn't there.

Then Karin woke up. She extended her chakra senses, but no one had been around, besides them.

A bad dream, then.

"The other villages are starting to talk about what happened in Konoha." Ino said.

"Which part?" Naruto asked, watching Sakura trying to make sense of how the Sharingan worked
with Hanabi's help. It was better than -

"Well… All of it."

"Danzō, then. Did they find Kakashi already…?"

"Yes. As well as the two gone ROOT members, the ones we… kidnapped earlier on… fighting
Uchiha Shisui in a public hospital-"

"I got you." Naruto winced. "Yeah, I mean it does sound pretty bad when you put it like this."

"…You think this is bad…?" Ino looked at him in disbelief. "Have you seen the headlines?"

"Nah. I don't really care about the news."

"You should." Ino insisted.

"Anko used to show me the worst of it." Naruto grunted in answer. "I got all I ever needed to know
about it."

"Well, take a look at this, then!"

Of Sea and Flames: Land of Fire Under Attack

by Higashi Ayumi

The Herald of the End of Times

by Inouye Takahiro

Who Is Uzumaki Naruto?

by Enomoto Yori

KONOHA'S SHADOW ASSASSINATED

by Okuma Haru

"I see." Naruto said dryly.

"You… see?" Ino asked, shrilly. "That's it?"

"Well it's the truth." He shrugged.

"How can you be so casual about it?" Ino repeated, not understanding his attitude.

"They're going to publish this shit anyway. It just so happens to be true, this time. I assume they
had proof, too."

"Some of them had a few conclusive elements." Ino nodded.

"Alright."

"…I'm not sure what to do, honestly." Ino sighed. "Any ideas?"

Naruto smiled. "They already believe we're unrepentant murderers, right?

"Yes."

"There's only one thing we can really do at this point, isn't there?"

"…What do you mean?"

"Eh. Just… Let's go with what Sakura wanted to write, honestly. But… wait a few days, until your
parents are out of the village — if they agree, alright…?"

"You warned… my mother?"

"Sakura did. And her parents, as well. If they want to come live here… before shit hits the storm…
that's their choice." Naruto shrugged. "Now of course, Konoha might set up a trap for us when we
go and get them, so…"

"…I love you, you know?"

"I know." Naruto smiled slightly, like sunshine after rain. "Me too."

Konoha

The Hokage's room was eerily silent.

Two men flanked the Fire Shadow, and his face was hidden under the heavy hat.

In truth, Nara Shikaku was just a placeholder, before someone else stepped up. He was a strategist
first and foremost, but lacked the strength the role needed. The man was aware of it, and knowing
him, was probably glad for it.

Uchiha Sasuke stood in front of him, his eyes red with the Sharingan. And his tears, as well.

Still, he kept his face carefully blank.

The One-Tail was laughing, inside of him. He'd have to do something about that, too. Later.

Nara Shikaku stared at him.

"You've heard the news, I presume?" He simply asked.

'Why? Why did you do it?'

Shisui had told him personally. Of their brief clash in the hospital, and Naruto disappearing with
Kakashi, presumably using the Hiraishin. About the fact that he knew how to fight the
Kotoamatsukami.

Sasuke felt that the bad news didn't stop coming. If Jiraiya wasn't who he was, an indomitable
madman, he would be afraid for him, now.

They had found Kakashi's body, far away from here, a hole in his chest. As well as innumerable
blade wounds littering his body. Of course, his eye was missing, too.

Naruto and he had been friends once. And he had been Toru's friend, too. How could he have done
this…? Why did he kill their former teacher?

Still, Sasuke nodded, not showing his inner turmoil.

"Then, you know what must be done." Shikaku continued, a little bit of sympathy showing through
his eyes.

It changed nothing. Sasuke understood what he needed to do. He would do it, if it meant protecting
his new family.

"For the murder of Hatake Kakashi, as well as the theft of his Sharingan eye, Uzumaki Naruto,
now an S-rank missing-nin, must die. Will you do the job…?"

Uchiha Sasuke nodded.

And then things became a little bit more complicated, in the very same evening.

Killing a Shadow (and the Next)

 Haruno Sakura, Umishinbun

"My name is Haruno Sakura. I used to be a Konoha kunoichi.

It might come to you as a surprise, or maybe it won't, but a few days ago, I was a conspirator in the
plot to assassinate the Sixth Hokage of Konohagakure, Shimura Danzō.

Of course, we succeeded.

For obvious reasons, we won't get into the details about how we did so in the first place. What we
will tell you, instead, are the full circumstances.

Because apparently, we are talking about a crime. Now, before we delve into the ethics of what
makes a crime, and what doesn't, — to my biased eyes, of course — let us have an impromptu
history lesson.

Nothing truly great, considering the matter and the person at hand. But let us begin with a few of
the reasons why a rotten bastard like Danzō needed to go. Of course, you are free to make your
own opinion, I shall simply be providing the facts — the one we do have, at least.

Well. Let us get started with it, then.

Because then... there is the matter of Hatake Kakashi's death to address, as well."
 Everything but the Rain

A few days ago. Ame.

The city of Ame was a peculiar one, Orochimaru thought.

He had been here before, during the Second War, of course, for... different reasons. In Ame, the
rain and fog rarely abated, if it ever did. Orange lights came from the towers' windows.

Some of the buildings seemed to pierce even the clouds. During his life, he had seen many cities,
but none quite like this. It was something that stood in its own category, high towers of steel
surrounded by a vast lake. And the tower's shadows slanted sharply toward the east.

High up, in the highest building in the city, lived a mortal God. Ever-watching.

Orochimaru walked through the crowded streets.

Ame was dense with people, although not as much as Konoha. He was headed to the center of the
city, walking with a civilian's demeanor, and it took him a long while to get there.

Rain evaporated from his face almost as soon as it touched it. He did not bother with a hood, as he
was under a disguise anyway. But if the rumors were true, it wouldn't change much. He would
have avoided coming here at all, if he could, but it was more than time to take a stand.

The more they waited… the worse the outcome would be.

Orochimaru entered the hotel's lobby. It was nothing too fancy, just a wide communal space
divided by a few pillars, with a large window that faced the street. Not the most conspicuous of
places.

Which was why they had picked it, of course. Disguises went a long way.

The man at the reception gave him a long, searching look, and Orochimaru just nodded, as blandly
as he could make it.

There were a few people scattered across the lobby, a few merchants, and some workmen, too.
Rough-clothed men, with hard eyes.

There was a table of three people who gave him a look so short that anyone that wasn't Orochimaru
would have thought they had imagined it.

Orochimaru ordered a cup of tea, and went to seat himself somewhat close to them.

He sat there, staring at the people walking through the rainy streets, enjoying a hot drink.

"You. Hey, you." One of the men at the table called him.

"…Me?" He asked slowly, not bothering to turn.

"Yeah, you. Fancy a game of cards? We're missing a fourth player."

"I'm sorry, but I don't play cards." Orochimaru waved off.

"Let's make today an exception, then." The only woman of the group laughed. "Come on,
handsome."

Orochimaru sighed and went to sit at the table. He felt the man at the reception slowly lose interest
in him.

"Hello." Orochimaru called, seating himself next to them. "I hope you will be patient with me, I
haven't played with other people in a while."

For good measure, he weaved a light illusion around them, one that the second man, the one who
had stayed silent all along, reinforced.

"Now, now… Cards aside… Does Danzō know about this, sensei?" Orochimaru asked, now
openly amused. He could see through their disguises as easily as if they hadn't worn any, today.

"Danzō doesn't know." Sarutobi Hiruzen said flatly. "He believes I'm here in Ame, yes, but for
information gathering purposes."

"Who cares about what that old bastard thinks anyway…?" Senju Tsunade growled. Hiruzen
glanced at her but didn't say anything.

"Hey, now." Jiraiya chuckled. "Danzō might be… the unpleasant, slimy, problematic sort of
bastard, but we don't say it out loud, do we?"

"No." Orochimaru smiled. "We don't."

"Your student has been causing quite the trouble, Orochimaru." Tsunade said, taking a long swish
of her drink. Non-alcoholic, Orochimaru smelled.

"He has, hasn't he?" He asked with an amused grin, eyes glinting.

"For your sake, I hope most of the rumors are unfounded." Hiruzen said, eyes hard.

"That would depend on which ones we are talking about." He smiled.

"Did he help kill the Fifth Hokage?" Jiraiya asked, his face entirely still. "Did Uzumaki Naruto
have anything to do with Fugaku's death?"

"No." Orochimaru said simply. "And neither did I."

Jiraiya deflated. "Good… good. I had feared that Minato's son…"

Orochimaru raised an eyebrow. Something here didn't quite add up. Hiruzen gave Orochimaru a
brief look.

"That Minato's son…?" Orochimaru asked.

"What do you think…?" Jiraiya shook his head, anger written all across his face. "Taken in by that
masked Uchiha. It's a wonder he didn't grow up to be worse."

So, Jiraiya didn't know. Orochimaru pursed his lips in displeasure. This was one of Jiraiya's faults.
Loyalty. And sensei's tendency to keep secrets, even worse than his own.

Once they got out of Ame, he would tell him the truth - now was the worst time. Hiruzen was
giving him a long look, too. He likely knew what he was thinking.
"How was he…?" Jiraiya asked. "Naruto. When you took him under your wing?"

"Talented. Like his father. Angry, too. More than his mother." Orochimaru continued, pointedly
not looking at Sensei. "He has grown up being fed… lies."

Jiraiya shook his head sadly. "I'd like to meet him."

"I shall tell him this, then." Orochimaru shrugged. "But I don't think that he'll be interested solely
on the virtue of you having been his father's teacher."

"…I can imagine." Jiraiya grumbled. "Does he… harbor ill will against Konoha?"

Yes. Especially some of its higher-ups. He aims to kill the Hokage.

"Against Danzō and… some people." Orochimaru simply said. "For killing his friend."

"…Uchiha Toru, you mean? Sasuke's cousin?" Jiraiya asked, with a pained expression. No matter
how much he personally disliked Danzō, he wouldn't go against him unless he did something
terrible. Orochimaru knew this.

"Yes."

"…Do you think he might try something?"

"He might, yes." Orochimaru shrugged. "Can't say I care."

"Don't." Jiraiya growled. "This is still your home village. Talk some sense into him."

"I fear this might be a bit too late for this." Orochimaru said dryly. "Whatever happens to Danzō,
he brought upon himself."

Hiruzen looked away. "Danzō is careful. Nothing will befall him in this way, Jiraiya."

"That's not—" The man continued to grumble. "Just the fact that he's willing to try is too much."

Orochimaru shrugged. "What can I say?"

"…You're such a bastard." Jiraiya spat. "As if you didn't have anything to do with the situation.
How long have you been whispering poison in his ear—"

"Stop." Tsunade called, giving each of them a hard look. "We're not here to discuss Minato's son.
No matter how much justified anger he has against people like Danzō."

"But—" Jiraiya began.

"Shut up." Tsunade growled. "You can do this later. We have more pressing concerns. Or did you
pull me out of my peaceful retirement for nothing…?"

"No." Orochimaru shook his head. "And I thank you for coming. All of you."

"The only reason I am here at all is because Uzumaki Nagato is a greater threat than even you
could be." Sensei said quietly. "And Danzō is willing to let him be, as long as he takes care of our
enemies. I humbly disagree."

Jiraiya grinned a sharp grin. "Why would I miss the family reunion…? It's been years." Then he
turned harder. "Besides, Nagato is… my responsibility."
Orochimaru said nothing.

"Make sure Naruto doesn't become anything like how he turned out, Orochimaru. That is the only
thing I can really ask of you." Jiraiya almost pleaded. "Not Minato's son."

He's different.

Still…

"…You're assuming he listens to me. But…" Orochimaru sighed. "I'll try to make sure he doesn't
completely lose it, then. Or that his anger is focused."

"…Thanks." Jiraiya was still somber. "I'm sort of looking forward to meeting him. I don't think
he's irredeemable yet. He might not have anything against Konoha itself." He glared again. "But
you're going to have to explain why you stole a Bijū so brazenly and why-"

Tsunade scoffed. "I said… move. On."

"It was your home too, Tsunade! If you still cared—"

"Jiraiya." Hiruzen spoke. "I have my part of responsibility in this mess too."

A big part.

Jiraiya paused. "What do you mean…?"

"This is a conversation for later." The Third Hokage continued. "I will tell you… everything. Then
you're free to make your own decision. We will talk to Naruto together."

"…There's clearly something important you're not telling me here." Jiraiya growled.

"Yes." Hiruzen admitted. "But as Tsunade said, now is not the moment."

Jiraiya grunted, looking as though he wanted nothing more than continuing. He still abated,
slouching back into his chair.

"By the way, Sensei." Orochimaru asked him quietly. "Whatever did you do with Lord Second's
Edo Tensei…?"

Hiruzen gave him a long, hard look. "I got rid of it entirely. I think the world will be better off for
it."

Orochimaru sighed. There went a few plans.

"Now that everyone is good — fucking finally…" Tsunade grunted. "…What's the plan?"

Orochimaru gave her a searching look.

"Did you get over your hemophobia?"

She gave him a wry look. Without blinking, her hand shaped itself into a chakra scalpel, cutting
into the skin of Orochimaru's hand, which bled freely.

Just like he did, she remained unfazed.

"Good." He smiled, and she healed him in the blink of an eye. "It wouldn't do to go into battle with
a liability."

"Don't you think I know this much? I am the medic." She shot back. "Now, will someone answer
my question? What's the plan?"

Jiraiya bared his teeth in something that couldn't be called a grin. "We find Nagato. And we stop
him."

"Nagato is in the tower." Hiruzen said, drumming his fingers on the table. "And the rain is
saturated in his chakra. He knows we're here."

"Indeed." Orochimaru continued. "We might as well discard subtlety altogether. Let us hope our...
escape plans will prove to be sufficient if things take a turn for the worse."

"Well, in that case." Tsunade muttered. "Let's get going, then. Not that I'm not enjoying this little
get-together… but time is of the essence."

"It is, isn't it?" A man's voice said.

Time stilled.

Nagato Uzumaki sat at their table.

Jiraiya could only stare, baffled.

After he had left the three of them, Jiraiya had only heard of their names in passing for years. As
mercenaries, hiring themselves out to fight in several different conflicts.

And then, he had heard they had died, all three of them.

Finally he learned that two of them had survived. But without Yahiko's vision, they had gotten
misguided. Just like he feared Minato's son—

Later. One problem at a time.

Nagato looked well. He was dressed in fine clothing, nothing suitable for battle. He was healthy
and… strong. Terrifyingly so. Jiraiya didn't need to be a sensor to figure out that his student was so
far above either of them that the gap in between them might as well be a canyon.

"Nagato." He breathed out.

"Jiraiya-sensei." Nagato nodded politely. "It is good to see you, even though the circumstances
might not be the most pleasant."

Jiraiya gave him a humorless grin. "Funny how things work, eh? Most of the circumstances you
are talking about are from your own doing."

Nagato gave him his own mirthless smile. "Maybe it is so."

"Where is Konan?"

Nagato's face turned carefully blank again. "Why don't you ask your friend?"

Ah. He knew right away who Nagato was talking about. Orochimaru had killed her, then. Maybe
Naruto, even.
Nagato managed to keep himself grounded. Even then, the air filled with a sense of pressure. His
purple eyes gleamed with power, and Jiraiya almost felt his shoulders bow from the pressure he
was exerting.

Nagato breathed out. The pressure abated.

Jiraiya was very worried. If this was simply a fraction of Nagato's power…

They were screwed.

"You seem angry. I didn't kill Konan myself." Orochimaru managed to shrug.

"You might as well have handled the blade that cut her." Nagato replied evenly. "Well. You came
here today for a reason."

"Tch. Don't be so impatient." Tsunade chided, but Jiraiya could see through her facade. She was
just as concerned as he was.

Nagato almost smiled. "You came into my village, didn't you? Why should we waste any more
time?"

"Ah." Orochimaru sighed. "I really should have killed you back then and saved us all a whole lot of
trouble."

"Maybe you should have." Nagato gave him a dangerous smile.

Jiraiya barely held back a wince. Why was he provoking him?

"Part of this is my fault." Jiraiya said. "I should never have left you."

"Hm." Nagato chuckled. "I disagree, you did much more than you should have. And I don't think it
is your fault. People are to blame. In the war-riddled world we live in, there will be plenty more of
this. Becoming strong is not enough."

"…Is that what you're planning by gathering the Beasts?"

Nagato shrugged. "They might be a solution, yes. Creating a super-weapon and handing them to
other countries. Until fear stops conflicts."

"These are the words of a traumatized child." Hiruzen said harshly.

Nagato lifted an eyebrow. "Oh? Pray tell, what is your solution? Doing nothing? You and Uchiha
Fugaku letting Danzō roam free directly led to the ongoing war. As well as Yahiko-"

He cut himself off.

"Akatsuki's meddling led to this war." Hiruzen retorted. "How many of the Kage are under your
thrall, right now?"

Nagato smiled. "That is fair enough. I won't hide the hypocrisy here. I will simply ensure that what
needs to be done is accomplished."

Jiraiya gritted his teeth. "What happened to you…?"

"Nothing so special. I grew up, that's it."

"You've gotten even crazier over time." Orochimaru shook his head, bemused. "And here I thought
the delusions would stop at some point."

"That is quite amusing, coming from you." Nagato said. "Now, before anything else. Let me ask
you one question."

A heavy silence stretched.

"Would you be willing to join me?" Nagato asked.

"…Is this your idea of a joke?" Jiraiya shot back.

Nagato shrugged. "Valuable ninja are something of a rare prize. If your goal is peace as well, I
don't see why you wouldn't join me while you still can."

"My answer has not changed." Orochimaru said.

"Good." Nagato smiled, showing teeth. "It will be my pleasure to tear you apart."

Orochimaru tried for a bland smile.

"…No."

"Never."

"No thanks."

"Are you sure?" Nagato asked again. "I would really prefer to avoid this."

The only answer he got were dry stares.

"Suit yourself." Nagato shrugged. "I didn't really expect anything else. I still had to ask."

He stood up.

"Well… Shall we get started, then?" Nagato asked, almost pleasantly. The eagerness in his eyes
belied his voice.

"We are in the middle of the city." Tsunade glared at him, the weight of her hand on the table
almost breaking it.

"This is true." Nagato said with a small smile. "And I would prefer to avoid fighting here."

Sarutobi released two jutsu simultaneously. He had been weaving them entirely silently.

"Wind Release: Air Thrust"

"Fire Release: Dragon Flame Bullet"

A roaring flame came into existence in the middle of the restaurant. People started screaming.

Nagato casually batted the jutsu away, forcing Orochimaru to leap away from the table. Jiraiya
was already in motion, a Rasengan aimed at Nagato's head. Tsunade was behind him, falling
toward him with her leg extended, ready to blow the entire place to nothing but rubble, despite her
reservations.

Orochimaru came from the other side, his legendary sword swishing through the air, enhanced by
Wind.

"As I said." Nagato continued, unimpeded. "Let us go somewhere else."

He extended his left hand, and something pulled the four of them toward him. Up so close, they
couldn't dodge, and they had to cancel their attacks. Using the momentary distraction, Nagato
grabbed Tsunade, so much faster than they had thought he was.

A rift in space opened in front of Nagato, and he pulled both himself and Tsunade into it.

"Well." Nagato said, as he was fading into it. "Follow me, then."

"Don't-" Orochimaru began, but Jiraiya was already jumping in. After a long look at him, so did
Sarutobi.

Orochimaru cursed their names, the brilliant idea of taking care of things himself, Uzumaki
Nagato… and followed.
 The Tale of the Four Ninja

Tsunade kicked Nagato away the instant they touched the earth.

The man flew to the skies, despite the mechanized armor that appeared over his arms to protect him
from the impact.

Orochimaru looked around briefly. They were still in the Land of Rain, and far away in the
distance, he thought he could see Amegakure. But other than this, there was nothing around them,
except for a vast, rocky expanse.

Without wasting any time, Orochimaru started standing still, gathering natural energy. Jiraiya
summoned the elder toads. According to what little they knew about the Rinnegan's ability, using
Natural energy was their best bet.

They had tried more covert operations over the last weeks, but Nagato was nearly impossible to
reach, for most people. He played God, certainly, but he did it well. Meaning they had to come
themselves, as some of the world's only Sages.

There was a rumor floating around Ame. And if it held any truth, combined with the fact that
Nagato knew who had killed Konan, and the fact that he knew most of their abilities…

They had to go now. More directly than Orochimaru preferred.

Smoke rose and once it dispelled, Monkey King Enma, Hiruzen and Tsunade stood on top of
Katsuyu's head. Acidic mucus flew at Nagato.

A massive, multi-headed dog appeared out of thin air, falling on top of Katsuyu, who split into
hundreds of smaller slugs.

Sarutobi was already on top of the dog, the Monkey King following him, turning into the legendary
Adamantine Staff. He spun through the air, with a grace, agility and speed that belied his old age.
A mechanical blade formed itself out of Nagato's arm, and the next moment they were exchanging
strikes.

Sarutobi was much more efficient, not wasting any movement. But Nagato was much faster. After
deflecting the staff, his hand touched Sarutobi's chest.

He pulled. Something purple started to come out of Sarutobi, who stood there, frozen.

In a blink, Tsunade was here, and the seal over her forehead had spread to cover most of her body.
A precise, electrical strike to the base of Nagato's spine cut off whatever it was he was going to do.

To her surprise, he recovered right away. A mass of flesh extended itself from his right shoulder,
and it turned into a… cannon?

A blast of pure blue energy exploded, carrying Tsunade far away. She was sent soaring, flipping
head over heels. Sarutobi had been weaving jutsu. Three of them, on top of each other.

'Earth Release: Great Mudslide.'

'Wind Release: Cyclone Shot.'
'Fire Release: Great Fireball.'
Mud formed itself out of nothing, coming down in an avalanche on top of the summoned creature.
The two other elemental chakra types the Third had channeled blended together, in a giant stream
of fire.

The resulting attack melded with the muddy river, turning into a veritable hellstorm.

Jiraiya and Orochimaru were away one moment, and then they were right here, in midair.

The toads and Jiraiya sent a combined blast of toad oil, wind and fire.

On the other side, Orochimaru cast a mixed Wind and Lightning jutsu.

"Wind Release: Great Vacuum Cannon."

"Lightning Release: Hands of Torture."

It was not the first time they had worked this combination together, but they never had to do so in
Sage mode before.

'Ninpo: Raging Drive.'

Such an attack was powerful enough to get rid of almost any man.

But Nagato was pretty far from being any man.

One hand was extended in front of him, sucking in the Third's jutsu, while the other
simply stopped Orochimaru and Jiraiya's. It was like there was an invisible wall of pressure in
between the firestorm and him.

Undeterred, Jiraiya and Orochimaru threw themselves on top of him, engaging him in melee range.
Nagato weaved through the strikes, his eyes moving from person to person so swiftly that it looked
as though he were reading their every move. Which he might be.

Hiruzen weaved three illusions on top of each other, but the only reaction that got was the ringed
eyes turning toward him for a short instant.

Nagato spun through the attacks, metallic blades escaping his sleeves in unpredictable patterns.
One of them buried itself into Hiruzen's shoulder.

And then Tsunade came back again, spinning through the air like a top. Her mighty, lightning-
enhanced punch sent Nagato through his dog summon's head, splattering gore and brain.

The dog disappeared... and reappeared.

Nagato stopped falling in midair, and he still looked pristine.

"Is he… flying?" Jiraiya asked in disbelief. "Out of all things…"

Nagato waved a hand lazily and the summon the Konoha ninja had all been standing on suddenly
vanished.

"Gamaken!" Jiraiya called, summoning the gigantic toad in midair.

Nagato was already flying toward them, dropping like a rock on top of the summoned animal, in
the middle of them. Jiraiya's hair extended like a living thing toward him. Nagato extended one
hand.
"Shinra Tensei."

Something pushed all of them off from Gamaken's head. Gamaken himself was pushed down by the
force of it. Nagato extended his hand toward the airborne Sarutobi. Once more, it shaped itself into
a cannon.

The beam of focused chakra exploded out of him.

Sarutobi weaved signs and… stopped it…?

No doubt. His hands were smoking, his palms burned, but he was alive and wincing. And still
falling

Orochimaru weaved hand seals.

"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands: Twisted Coil."

Snakes shot out of his sleeves, twisted in a double helix shaped thing that wrapped itself around
Nagato. They were not a fully physical thing, as half of their chakra was composed of natural
energy.

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

A crushing gust of wind flew from Orochimaru's mouth, enhanced by his Sage Mode. Jiraiya got
the message.

"Toad Art: Majestic Flame!"

The oil spat by the toads combined with Jiraiya's fire release again, transforming into a blaze of
bright light.

The Third used a Wind jutsu to slow his fall, watching what was happening very carefully.

Both attacks were absorbed by Nagato as well, despite the Senjutsu energy coursing through them.

Orochimaru saw it happen, with something unreadable in his eyes. To see his precious ninjutsu
techniques, the ones he had worked so hard for years, simply be dismissed this easily by someone
who was born with mystic eyes…

He was feeling somewhat frustrated. Was this the ceiling…? The difference between a mere
prodigy and someone who was touched by the something otherworldly?

"I think…" Nagato began, amused. "That you may have misunderstood. I can absorb Senjutsu."

"Absorb this!" Tsunade roared.

Her fist sent him soaring to the ground again. Nagato slowed his fall down, landing on the earth
slowly. Even in the distance, Orochimaru could tell that he was already starting to heal from the
wounds they had inflicted upon him.

The rest of them landed as well, at various speeds. Jiraiya, for one, smashed into the earth, trusting
his Sage Mode to protect him from the worst of it. The Third slowed his fall.

Nagato was a terrible opponent. His summons were basically immortal, he could absorb Ninjutsu,
Senjutsu. And he had oceans to call upon, ones that he called chakra reserves. What he sucked
from their jutsu didn't matter at all.
Fighting him head-on seemed to be even more dangerous, if Orochimaru's guess about that soul
jutsu he had used before was right.

It was also their best option, it seemed. Only Tsunade's attacks had done anything to him.

The four of them surrounded Nagato, giving him a wide berth. He just stood there, in the midst of
what might be the most dangerous team in the world, a dark smile upon his lips. Hiruzen
summoned three clones.

The Elder Toads, upon Jiraiya's shoulders, started weaving their most powerful illusion.

"Demonic Illusion: Toad Confrontation Chant."

Nagato apparently understood that he could not let them finish.

"Useless!" Nagato called, bringing a hand forward to shoot a beam of blue light toward Jiraiya. "I'll
stop it, as many times as it takes."

Nagato blurred forward, aiming at Tsunade first. Whether it was because she was a legendary
healer or because she was the most dangerous to him was unclear.

She blocked his attack, sending three electrical finger strikes into his arm, in a crude Gentle Fist
imitation.

Nagato didn't relent, and it was clear he was trying to grab her. But Tsunade was not one of the
deadliest Taijutsu fighters in the entire world for nothing.

With a palm strike to his gut, she disturbed Nagato's control over his body, as short-lived as that
was. Yellow lightning crackled around her leg.

"Inazuma Kick!"

Nagato summoned more of the mechanical armor from before. The strength of the impact shattered
it and he was sent flying through a nearby expanse of rock.

Orochimaru and Jiraiya were upon him. Frog style kata blended in with Orochimaru's Snake style
kenjutsu.

Nagato was more than holding his own. It was as though he could sense… or see the natural
energy buildup in their every move, and dodge the backlash.

The man deflected Jiraiya's crushing haymaker toward Orochimaru, who barely managed to dodge
it. The impact shattered a small cliff.

The Kusanagi whistled through the air, and Nagato grabbed Orochimaru's hand, forcing him to
overextend, until the sword found itself buried into the earth. Orochimaru flashed, helped along
with his wind mastery, slipping behind Nagato and palming a simple kunai that he shrouded in
wind as well.

Nagato kicked him away. His small, almost fragile looking frame, belied the strength that he
packed into every attack. Orochimaru hit the rock, spitting blood.

The Rinnegan user was upon him again, his palm reaching for his soul. Jiraiya's Giant Rasengan
forced him to focus back on him.

Both of them knew what was coming, and they leaped away, propelled by Orochimaru's wind
jutsu.

The next moment, Sarutobi's three clones called their attack at the same time.

"Multi-Size Expansion Technique: Adamantine Crush!"

"Multi-Size Expansion Technique: Adamantine Crush!"
"Multi-Size Expansion Technique: Adamantine Crush!"

The now gigantic staves smashed into Nagato, breaking the earth.

When the smoke cleared, he remained untouched, shielded by the same wall of gravitational force.

Nagato's hands both opened to reveal cannons, glowing with chakra.

He shot ten times. Destroying every single clone and the cliffs preventing him from seeing them
clearly. Once he was done, the entire area was flat.

Orochimaru didn't wait. Neither did his allies.

"Multiple Striking Shadow Snakes".

"Needle Jizō: Wild Lion's Mane!"

"Lightning Release: Raiden's Fury."

"Fire Release: Lance of the Fire God."

It was pure destruction, a mix of physical attacks and ninjutsu.

Which meant that Nagato couldn't simply absorb them.

"Shinra Tensei." He called, and all of the attacks stopped.

Which they had counted on. Orochimaru was sure that all of them had realized there was a delay in
between his uses of this technique in particular. Why would he bother with avoiding attacks
otherwise, if he could also just absorb whatever chakra he needed to power it?

The four of them closed the distance.

Fire wreathed Jiraiya's hand. Lightning surrounded Tsunade's leg. Wind covered Orochimaru's
sword. Sarutobi's Monkey King staff's length was elongating with incredible force, its end
shrouded by a serrated water blade, and the man had turned the earth under Nagato's feet to mud.

The four of them moved as a single man, covering every angle.

Additional arms shot out of Nagato, blocking each of them, and deflecting the staff strike.

The Monkey King's upper body shot out of the weapon, and a black spike erupted, shooting
through his chest. The staff disappeared and Enma just stood there, looking frozen.

Sarutobi dispelled him, before anything else happened.

And Orochimaru realized something terrifying. For all of the strange techniques Nagato had pulled
out, he had barely used his greatest strength. His ninjutsu.

As if on cue, Nagato spoke. "You're not the only ones able to chain several elements together."
Orochimaru saw it happen in slow motion.

He almost saw the chakra build up within Nagato.

Water came first.

"-away!" Tsunade roared, trying to break the arm holding her. With Nagato absorbing her chakra,
the task was much harder. If she could just get a single moment-

Fire came second.

Jiraiya tried to summon a sealing matrix. It flickered into nothing.

Wind came third.

Hiruzen's cloned weapons flew at Nagato.

Lightning came fourth.

Orochimaru let his most poisonous viper go forth.

Earth came fifth.

Tsunade summoned something in desperation.

"Ancient Catastrophe."

The world flashed white.

The first thing that returned to Orochimaru was his sense of pain.

He picked himself up with a groan, looking at the destruction Nagato had wrought. The five of
them were in the middle of a glassed crater. There were pieces of Katsuyu everywhere.

Tsunade had protected them, then.

Orochimaru could see her in the distance. The illusion she normally kept up at all times had faded,
revealing her true face. No matter how frail she might have looked to anyone who didn't know her,
all Orochimaru could see was the strongest woman in the world.

And she was gathering natural energy, now.

The same fiery kunoichi who was ready to put everything on the line, when it mattered. And he
knew Jiraiya thought the exact same.

Sarutobi was slowly standing up. He was the one having the most trouble, there was no doubt
about it.

"I will use… the Reaper Death Seal." He groaned in pain.

Orochimaru scoffed. "He would never have let you get close enough before. What makes you think
now is going to work…?"

"It probably won't, but I have to try. Otherwise, Jiraiya…"

Orochimaru turned to look.

Jiraiya…

Jiraiya was still fighting. How?

He was losing. Badly, too. His blood covered his haori, and one of his arms was dangling
uselessly.

But he didn't relent. Something about the sight made Orochimaru feel as though the man had
achieved his own dream. That Jiraiya had become more than a man.

'That old fool doesn't know when to give up, does he…?'

Despite himself, something inside him was stirred by the display. And for a moment, he could
remember what it felt like to grow up with them, to protect the place he had once cared about more
than he had cared about himself.

Orochimaru sighed and leaped forward, calling to the rest of them.

"Come on, Sensei, Tsunade!" He shouted. "One more time!"

Orochimaru flew through the air and he could hear Tsunade scoff, but she dashed forward as well.
And so did Sarutobi.

The Three Sages and their teacher.

"To think you would fight with us again, once more." The man said, shaking his head. There was a
fond smile upon his lips, despite his words.

Orochimaru simply laughed.

"Jiraiya!" He called, throwing something at him, guiding it with the ability that his Snake Sage
Mode granted him.

"On it!" The Toad sage grinned back. He grabbed the sword of Kusanagi in midair, and a flame
born out of natural energy danced along its edge.

Nagato weaved around it, dodging every strike with preternatural agility.

And he managed to stab Jiraiya. Where… Orochimaru couldn't say. But despite his own Toad Sage
Mode's increased durability… that looked like a lot of blood.

"Jiraiya!" Tsunade roared.

Orochimaru could see the red markings under her own eyes, the way he had only seen very few
times. She was Hashirama's granddaughter, in every way. But she had never managed to hold it for
long, though, and it was rarely worth the effort and risk, when her own fists could crush mountains
already.

"I'll… be fine. Don't worry." He grunted back, cauterizing the wound shut. Orochimaru could see
he wasn't, not at all. But they had to continue.

Tsunade's kick broke Nagato's elbow entirely. With a grunt, he moved away… right into Sarutobi's
Shadow Bind. He absorbed it, taking the Third's own shadow with it.

The real Hiruzen, hidden in it, came out with a perfect rising kick that would have broken any
man's neck. Not Nagato's, though.
Tsunade kicked him away again. Orochimaru recovered his sword.

Four clones of the Third appeared. All of them were weaving hand signs.

"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet."

"Fire Release: Great Fireball."
"Lightning Release: Lightning Strike."
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough."
"Earth Release: Earth Flow Mudslide."

It was a true cataclysm.

Nagato almost sighed. He extended his hands, ready to absorb the jutsu.

"Now. One last time!" Jiraiya roared. The two others started weaving hand signs, just as he did.

"Fire Release: Garuda!"

"Lightning Release: Six Pillar Bind!"

"Wind Release: Vacuum Serial Waves."

A majestic dragon made out of fire roared, pillars of light came crashing into the redhead, and the
last one shredded everything on its way.

All of these three techniques were powered by Senjutsu. Even Nagato himself couldn't absorb that
much of it.

"Shinra Tensei." Nagato had to call, grunting in exertion, his coils too full of natural energy.

Perfect.

They understood each other without even speaking, after so long. Orochimaru had feared that too
much time had passed, maybe, but it turned out he had worried over nothing.

Only physical attacks worked. Well, Orochimaru wasn't really one for brute force, but here was a
man who absorbed and canceled everything else.

"Tsunade! Orochimaru!" Jiraiya called with a wild grin. "Let's go for the Legendary Threeway!"

"Don't call it that!" Tsunade roared. But a traitorous smile pulled at her lips. "You — You
perverted geezer!"

Orochimaru just hissed his laughter.

Jiraiya gathered all of the energy the Toads had gathered for him into his right hand, bathed in an
orange light. Then he dismissed both of them, over their cries of protest. His tightened fist was
almost brimming with power.

Tsunade, on the other side, did the same. All that she had left, she focused into her left leg, with a
golden flash.

Orochimaru did so too, his Sage Mode fading away, as the greenish energy pooled into his sword.

Hiruzen kept up the assault, forcing Nagato to continue absorbing the jutsu, staying immobile.
The Sannin blurred. They roared.

It was a flash of lightning, wind and fire, and they used the elements to propel themselves.

At the last moment, they simply discarded their elemental nature transformations. All that was left
was pure physical power.

The Legendary Three collided with Nagato.

The resulting crash looked like the havoc brought by ninjutsu, a thing of pure power, it rose high
up; close to the skies, and it ravaged the earth as well.

Then they had to leap away, to avoid getting swallowed into the crumbling hole, themselves. Their
Sage Modes faded away.

Sarutobi pulled them away from it, using Wind to carry them along.

They watched on, from their vantage point.

"That… was good, wasn't it? Like… the good old times." Jiraiya muttered, sitting down to rest. "I
wouldn't have had it… any other way."

He let out a long, weary sigh.

Orochimaru panted, as he swallowed a soldier pill.

Sweat was running down his face, and he didn't have anything left. Close to him, the three others
weren't faring much better.

Sarutobi looked like the fight had aged him ten years, and Tsunade's legs shook.

"If this didn't do the trick…" Orochimaru began. "I can't do much more, I think. Even summoning
us out of here will take me some time."

Sarutobi frowned. "There is… something wrong with the summons, too. I don't know when… but
somebody — Nagato, hopefully, because if he's not alone… — must have put a contract seal down,
to disrupt our ability to summon anything. I tried to call Sarujirou, after the flash… To no avail."

Orochimaru hadn't noticed. That meant they couldn't use reverse summoning either. He would need
to recover a bit before breaking the seal, if that was what it was.

If Nagato was alive… hopefully he was too hurt to do much.

Tsunade froze. Her eyes were wide with terror, and for a second Orochimaru thought the Uzumaki
had returned. But she was not looking there, and so he followed her eyes.

Orochimaru looked at Jiraiya.

He was sitting down, with a smile on his face. Blood was dripping down his face. He could well
have been resting.

But there was no mistake about it. Jiraiya of the Sannin had given everything he had into this last
attack. And he was already dead.

"…No way." Orochimaru breathed out, feeling something icy form inside his stomach. "How…?"
Sarutobi looked on in disbelief. And how could he not…? He had expected himself to die during
this battle. Not the sturdiest of them all. "…Jiraiya?"

Tsunade stayed silent. She fell to her knees. Orochimaru knew she would never fight again after
this.

If he himself had been the mind of the Sannin, and Tsunade the trio's body; Jiraiya had been its
soul.

"Jiraiya…? Jiraiya. Jiraiya!"

Then she started howling. The way he had heard her twice already. Too many times.

He himself felt something build up behind his eyes.

"Not you… You fool…" He shook his head. "I…"

There was a terrible sound. Like the fabric of reality tearing itself open.

Then the air rippled with power. Nagato came out of the hole and landed upon the earth. Then he
was walking toward them again. There was something golden around him. A shimmer in the air.

And something familiar about the power.

This was exactly what his informants had warned him about. They had been too late already. He
had already learned how to use it.

"No…" Orochimaru realized just how outmatched they had been. No wonder the man hadn't
seemed to take this so seriously.

Orochimaru tried to warn Anko to reverse summon him. He couldn't summon anything.

As Sensei had said, it didn't work.

Fortunately, he knew better than to rely on one single escape.

Orochimaru was no Namikaze Minato, but he had studied the man's scrolls. And he had prepared,
in the last moments.

His chakra spread and wrapped around them — Jiraiya included, for mere sentiment.

"Ninja Art: Dimension Door."

They disappeared, leaving Nagato behind.

They reappeared close to a small cave, dozens of kilometers away, on the other side of Ame.

A place he had marked before coming here. It was as far as he could go with this jutsu.

Orochimaru breathed hard. He was running on fumes.

Jiraiya was still dead.

They had been wrong to come here. The urgency of the situation had forced their hand, but maybe
firebombing the entire city, as he had thought, might have been their best solution. In spite of the
casualties. What were the lives of Ame's citizens worth, compared to Jiraiya's…?
They stood silent, all three… all four of them. He gathered the last of his chakra, summoning the
Snake's Maw. They still needed to get out of here entirely.

There was a sound like a tear and in a blink, Uzumaki Nagato was in their midst. The summon
disappeared, forced away.

"My rain covers not only Ame itself." Nagato began, his face carved out of stone. "Now, the entire
nation of Rain is my domain."

Orochimaru hissed in a specific pattern.

And the chakra and flesh-eating bacteria that he had put on the four of them — without their
knowledge — sprang out. It began to consume them and everything around them that was flesh and
chakra.

Orochimaru used the last of his chakra to halt the process in his allies and himself.

He fell to a knee.

And so did Nagato.

Purple, green and yellow blooms of disease spread across Nagato's body, and he looked on in
horror.

His arm started to fall off. The bacteria had him.

Orochimaru hissed again, softly.

The disease spread even faster. Nagato had no more voice to speak.

Tsunade and Hiruzen watched on in fascinated horror, and he motioned for them not to do
anything. Tiredly. If they touched him now, or used their chakra…

"…rotten." Nagato managed to growl out.

He still had vocal chords, then.

This was the end for him.

The leering face of a demon appeared from nothing behind Nagato's back. It bore the Rinnegan.
Nagato disappeared inside.

What…?

It lasted for only an instant.

And then Nagato was back. Alive and entirely healed.

"You really haven't changed." Uzumaki Nagato spat. "The same cruel methods as ever."

"…I aim to please." Orochimaru said, his voice sounding distant even to himself.

How many secrets did the Rinnegan hold?

"Do not bother trying this again." Nagato warned. "I will heal again."

Orochimaru had no chakra, no contingency plans, this time.

Someone moved.

Sarutobi stood protectively in front of them, weaving hand seals, but Tsunade remained frozen,
staring at Jiraiya's cooling corpse, and she was facing old demons again. Ones that she thought she
had left behind her.

"…You fought well. I will meet you on the other side, once everything is settled. Hopefully, we
can leave this conflict in the mortal realm." Nagato said.

Sarutobi grabbed Nagato, and Orochimaru knew what he was doing.

"Sensei, don't!" His voice rasped out, weakly.

Nagato didn't seem to fear the Shinigami.

Or maybe he just knew what Sarutobi was doing. How to counter it. And that they had no way of
pinning him down.

His chakra exploded out of him and blades erupted from his arms, forcing Sarutobi away. The jutsu
would never have worked on him, Orochimaru knew. Not when he could separate himself from
Sarutobi by summoning layers upon layers of metal.

These eyes would have—

The three of them were frozen in place by some unseen force.

Nagato slammed his hands together. Light formed between his hands, turning into a black sphere
that came to a stop above them, obscuring the sun.

"Chibaku Tensei!"

The earth broke under them, above them. Everything was pulled toward the heavens. They didn't
have any much chakra left, but against this, Orochimaru wasn't sure if they could have done
anything, anyway.

The world seemed to be ripped apart and pulled to the now gigantic sphere of broken stone,
hanging in the sky.

They were pulled to the heavens as well.

Nagato roared. In this moment when the ground slipped under their feet, when up became down
and down up… Orochimaru thought Nagato might have been a god, after all.

As darkness closed around them, Tsunade gave him a wry, sad smile.

"...There are worse ways to go, aren't there… Orochimaru, Sensei?"

The Third smiled lightly. "Yes… Yes. Maybe there are."

Orochimaru thought of all of his unfulfilled ambitions, the dream he had never reached. One year
or two and he could have…

Well. There was nothing he could do at this point.

"Hmpf." He chortled. "I should have known not to risk my own hide. But well… I guess I'll have to
take it."
Orochimaru paused. Hiruzen's eyes gleamed, and so did Tsunade's. He wondered about his own.

"Farewell to you all. Tsunade, Sensei… Jiraiya." He bade them, solemnly.

They huddled together as the earth slammed around them, muttering among themselves until
everything went dark and freezing. Except for the fact that Jiraiya was entirely too still, it was like
some of their old memories.

'Anko… Naruto. It's up to you now-'

Thus did the legendary team meet its end.

Amegakure's new moon soared past the heavens, disappearing into the cold void of space.
 The Ever-Moving Dawn

Modern-Day Slavery and Assorted Archaic Traditions

by Hyūga Hanabi, Umishinbun

Present Day, Umi.

"Sensei…" Anko began, not looking at Naruto.

He had nothing to say, no pretty words, no comfort to offer, nothing to change what had apparently
happened.

The scroll that had once belonged to Orochimaru had been given to her wordlessly by a small
snake, incapable of speech. And Orochimaru's name had disappeared from it, which could only
mean one thing.

"He's not coming back this time, is he…?"

Now she was looking at him. She seemed lost, which was something terrible to see on the normally
impossibly confident woman.

"…I don't think so." Naruto let out slowly. He didn't know how he felt, himself.

Just as lost, likely. The man had been something of a beacon to them, despite his eccentricities.
You could always ask him… anything, really. To think that the strongest man he knew had
simply… vanished.

"He didn't even tell me where he was going." Anko muttered. "What am I supposed to do, now…?"

Naruto had no answer to give her, despite how much he wished he did.

"…What are you going to do?" She asked.

He thought about it. This, he had an answer to.

"Nothing changes." He shook his head. Everything had, in truth. "I'm still going after Akatsuki.
And after this… I'm still planning on shaking things up."

Anko said nothing for a long while. Naruto saw her shoulders shake. He knew just how proud she
was, so he waited. A hug would likely not be welcome here. Not now.

"…I'm still in." She finally said.

What did you even say to this? She was grief-stricken, as he was. But the man had been…
everything to her, in a way. A brotherly, paternal figure at the same time.

"As long as I don't have to lead." Anko finished, looking at him.

"I will do it." Naruto nodded. Well, most of it.

"Then I'll be your blade. Point me… and I'll strike. This is what I know best, anyway."

Naruto's lips were dry.

"You're not a weapon, Anko. Don't throw yourself away."

'She is. She could be used.' A whisper of madness.

She just laughed, and it sent shivers down Naruto's spine.

Orochimaru wasn't going to have a funeral, apparently.

Mostly because Anko had insisted he really wouldn't want one. Naruto had asked why. She had
chuckled a bit, cleared her throat and imitated the man's voice.

"The idea of caring about what happens to your dead body is quite narrow-minded, dare I say
absurd, and the logic behind it is flawed. What difference does it make? A dead person is… dead.
What is a funeral supposed to accomplish? For that matter, what is the point of offering fake
condolences that change nothing?"

"…That does sound like something he would say." Naruto almost rolled his eyes. "Can't we at
least… I don't know, honor him, in a way? A small memorial, or whatever?

Anko chuckled a bit. "Why does it matter?"

"…Huh. I don't know." Naruto admitted, shrugging slowly. "I guess it doesn't. But we cared about
him."

Anko stopped laughing.

"It doesn't matter." She insisted.

"Maybe not. Even so."

"It… doesn't." Anko repeated.

Her face fell, and tears started pouring again. "Why does it still feel like this?"

To hell with the beating she'd try to give him later. He wrapped his arms around her. At least she
wouldn't notice his own tears.

Hell, if anyone realized he actually cared about Orochimaru…

Nishihara Atsuko, Umi's immigration one and only immigration officer — to think they had one,
now — came to Naruto with some news.

"We have a few new applicants." She began.

Naruto, covered in sweat and halfway through his morning training, just stared blankly. Naruto's
eyes were bloodshot, partly from crying, but mostly from staying awake for a long while, because
there were lots of things that needed to be done, especially now that Orochimaru was gone.

This was one of them. Usually, Orochimaru told Atsuko to handle these matters herself. Why was
she coming to him, now?

Ah, yeah. Right.

"Uh, okay." He said, wisely. "Do tell, then."

"The southern Land of Fire beacon has been triggered, as well as the one in western Earth country,
northern Wind country, Water's Hikatori Gate. We expect more to —"

"Wait, wait, wait." He interrupted. In front of him, Hanabi loosened her stance. "What's this
about?"

"We have put beacons through the land so that people can send a message to us—" Hanabi began.

"No. Not this." Naruto groaned. "I'm well aware of the existence of the beacons. Hell, Karin and
I made them."

"Trying to help." Hanabi shrugged.

"I mean… What's the influx of asylum seekers about, Atsuko…?"

"Most likely the latest articles, if you want my opinion." The woman nodded. "I guess more and
more people are tired of the war."

"…You mean the one about…" Naruto paused. "Killing Danzō and… Kakashi, or the one that
came after — What was it again?"

"The Hyūga affair." Hanabi supplied.

"Yeah, that's the one."

"Both, I would say." Atsuko tilted her head. "We have a dozen Hyūga waiting, for one."

"…For real?" Hanabi asked. Branch house, no doubt. They had managed to get out…?

Naruto looked half-surprised, half… not so much.

"Well, I guess I'll have to go and get them, then. Sakura's busy." He sighed.

He'd warp there and send a clone to meet them first, of course.

At the very least, the intent-barriers, which they were still in the process of refining, prevented a lot
of the complications that came with bringing strangers in.

Funnily enough, he could remember the amount of time he had noted that villages were too reliant
on barriers… Only to end up doing the same himself. Well, they had the advantage of not having to
feed them chakra constantly, which meant the entire inside of the dome worked the exact same as
the outer layer of it.

In most villages, once you got in... you were in. Not in Umi.

Still, they would have to see for possible security breaches too. No system was perfect, as long as
people were involved.

Ino had started training more people in the mind arts, as well, because there simply was no way
she'd spend half her time making sure they were not about to shoot themselves in the foot. Most
people didn't really have an affinity for the arts, but enough people could at least use them well
enough to look for a few specific things.

A few hours later. Umi.

"Ino… can you deal with your mother…?" Naruto let out a long-suffering sigh.

Yamanaka Ino froze. Because the woman in the doorway, trying to push her way in — held back
casually by Naruto — was definitely her mother.

She felt tears come to her face, unbidden. It had been so long. She had been thinking about seeing
her for so long and had started to run out of excuses to justify delaying it. It was hard, too.

Ino had missed her so—

"What is this…?!" The woman grunted. "Joining a well-known criminal! Assassinating a Kage and
Konoha shinobi?!"

Ino sighed. Nevermind.

Yamanaka Noriko — Yamanaka by marriage only, and she was a civilian, not a shinobi —
continued. "And this?!"

"This… what?" Ino asked, trying not to roll her eyes already.

"Joining a… a… harem!"

"…What…? Where did you even hear about this?"

"In town!" The woman exclaimed.

"It's not a harem." Ino muttered. She really didn't want to talk about it, honestly. Not now, not ever,
if she could.

"If at least he was a nice man — He is mad! I can tell as much!"

"Hey now." Naruto cut in, feeling somewhat offended.

"That's Naruto from school, don't you remember him? Haven't you read the articles…?" Ino
deflected.

Her mother blinked. "…Sarutobi Naruto? The short, stocky, stiff one? Him?!" She pointed —
pretty rudely at him.

"That's me, yes." He said wryly. "Hello, Noriko. I do remember you."

Then Ino's mother looked him up and down, the head and a half he had over her, the muscular arms
covered in what to her, probably looked like irezumi tattoos.

"This… hoodlum… with dyed hair…? And a weird look in his eyes?" Noriko shook her head, and
Naruto mumbled something about it being his natural color. "…Well at least, he's pretty
handsome."

Her mother continued to monologue, and Ino was already rubbing her temples.

"I'm starting to see where you got… everything from." Naruto said dryly, still preventing the
woman from entering.

"Don't say this." Ino groaned.

"Hey, look at the bright side, though." Naruto said.

"…What is it?"

"Sakura is going through the exact same thing, right now." He chuckled.

"Ah." Ino started to smile. "That's something, at least."

"I really hate you, Naruto, just so you know." Sakura muttered, passing by.

"Is it about your parents?"

"Of course it is." Sakura rolled one eye. She still was not used to the foreign eye's presence,
apparently. "They're back to thinking they can tell me what I'm supposed to be doing. I'm an S-rank
ninja!"

"A-rank." Naruto corrected her. "You just happened to kill an S-rank or two."

She glared at him.

Naruto snorted. "Big bad… Sharingan Sakura has a curfew again?"

"Fuck you." She retorted. "I should have left them in Konoha, for all the shit they're giving me."

"Shouldn't have tried to bully me into making you a pipe."

Sakura gave him the middle finger.

Still, there was something more relaxed in the way she carried herself. And considering they had
just lost the threat of one of the most dangerous men in the world, that was saying something.

"Wanna come up on the rooftop?" She asked, a bit later. "Everybody's here."

"Sure." He simply answered, jumping up to join them. Hanabi was here too, and he was glad for it.
Apparently, she had just needed a small nudge, then.

Naruto blinked as something flashed into the sky.

"…Who launched fireworks?" He asked, slipping in between Karin and Hanabi.

"I think you can guess." Karin grinned. She pointed at Orochimaru's spire, where he could see the
fireworks originated from.

"…Anko, of course. So much for not celebrating."

A moment of silence, a glare of light and then a loud bang, then the salute. After a flurry of them,
the flowering began.

They blew for close to ten minutes. Some scattered in the air after a loud hissing noise, some were
ribbons of fire, trailing to the sky.

Their colors were different, and their shapes went from fireballs to like chrysanthemums; some
closer to unopened parachutes. They were red, green, and golden, too; colorful and dazzling.

One looked like a waterfall, glowing gold. It sounded like water hitting the stone, and the sound of
it was deafening. And it looked like a stream, flowing and smooth.
So many of them rose up to the skies that it looked like rain, falling in reverse.

There were countless trails of fire in the sky, as if they were fighting each other, and it was like a
tapestry of people's ever-changing lives. Naruto thought he could hear some laughter in the
background and the screams of children.

Everything Naruto had been holding in until then finally broke past the floodgates. Grief, worry
and self-doubt were the major emotions. He wasn't the only one crying, he knew.

The five of them were huddled up on the rooftops, and even Hanabi held tightly onto him.

Naruto had the feeling this would be the last time he could afford to be weak, so he relished in it.
He let it all out. Better than holding it in. His arm pulled Hanabi in on one side, and he got closer to
Karin, feeling her arm around him.

Naruto walked through a huge field, going through the snowstorm.

The cold made his teeth chatter, and talking was basically impossible, the way his mouth seemed
stuck in place. He continued to walk, and the path became darker and darker.

There were people lying down, and he ignored them. He continued to walk.

Some of them grabbed his leg, and he had to trample over them to move forward. There were
whispers, and he ignored them too. He ignored the smell of stale blood, of guts and other
unpleasant stenches that he still wished he didn't know the human body could produce.

There was something in the back of his throat too, something that tasted like metal. He continued
to walk.

It was hard to breathe, and when he looked down at his feet, he understood why. There was a hole
in his lung… or maybe it was his heart, it was hard to say. And suddenly there was an entire arm
there.

He saw a blond man. Himself, through the eyes of another. Except it could not be him.

The eyes, although purple, gleamed with power, and they seemed so cold.

Then he saw himself reach out and remove his eye by force.

As he fell back, the other man started to laugh, louder and louder, as he was choking on his own
blood.

The world burned.

Naruto woke with a sharp inhale, but not much more.

It was not the first time he had made this sort of dream, and likely not the last, either. He rolled
over in their bed, absently noticing that Ino was drooling over the pillow again.

He could smell something delicate; light and flowery. He saw red, red, red and for a moment his
breath caught.

But it was simply Karin's long hair, and the smell of her shampoo. Compared to Ino, who drooled
and snored, she tended not to move at all.
It was still very early. Normally, he would be up and training already. Well, he figured out, Hanabi
probably got started without him. With Sakura, maybe, since Orochimaru was… gone.

He let out a long sigh. He felt so weary, some days.

More and more often.

Naruto silently pushed himself out of bed, using Wind pretty frivolously. As he tended to do,
nowadays. The twin elements came to him almost easier than his non-transformed chakra,
sometimes.

While he didn't dare say so loudly, he was getting really worried about his sanity. Most of the time,
he probably looked… alright. He was pretty good at hiding his true thoughts. But there were
moments where…

Where… what?

Maybe there were just too many things on his plate.

(The assassins, sent after him by other nations, that he had had the pleasure of meeting on the
mainland on different occasions were definitely not helping his paranoia.)

Training, for one, as the scrolls Orochimaru had left him contained a lot of useful information
about… everything. If he didn't know the man any better, Naruto could almost believe that he had
known he would die. But that was Orochimaru, and there was no way that he would go into
something with that mindset.

Danzō had had some useful techniques buried down in his mind, and his particular brand of sealing
secrets away, while distasteful, opened new possibilities. Not in the way the man himself used it,
of course, because that was something he would never stoop low enough to do.

Then there were the ones that came from the Fourth Hokage — his father, he reminded himself.
No matter how hard he tried, there was something preventing him from understanding a key aspect
of the Hiraishin.

The Time component.

Anko apparently had some news.

Naruto went to meet her in Orochimaru's overly grandiose spire.

"Tanabe Mai reported something important happening in Amegakure." She said.

Tanabe Mai was their head of intelligence gathering. A woman that had worked for Orochimaru
for years, in different roles.

"Tell me." Naruto glanced up to her, from where he was sitting, seiza style.

"It appears that a fight took place near Ame, recently." Anko said, eyes dark. "A very high-level
one."

"…Akatsuki involved, then?" Naruto asked.

"Yes." She nodded. "And so was Katsuyu — the strongest Slug summon — which meant that
Tsunade was there."
"Orochimaru's former teammate?" Naruto frowned.

There was something icy inside his stomach.

Anko pursed her lips. "Yes."

"…What happened?"

"I asked the snakes. They asked the slugs in return." Anko continued.

And knowing that the relationship between the two summon clans could be a bit tense… It had
likely taken a lot of unpleasantness.

"What did they say…?" Naruto asked, after a long moment of silence.

Anko stayed silent. She lowered her head, brow furrowed.

"Anko. What happened?"

"Sarutobi Hiruzen, Jiraiya… Tsunade. And Sensei." She began.

'Oh hell no.'

"They fought against Uzumaki Nagato. He killed them all."

Sarutobi was dead.

While he still had many questions that he needed to ask him… His feelings on the issue were
complicated. Very complicated, even.

But this wasn't what thrummed through his mind.

It was the circumstances of Orochimaru's death.

Orochimaru had died fighting Nagato.

Akatsuki. He had died against fucking Akatsuki. The one thing that he had trained Naruto for. That
was his cross to bear, and he had failed. He was supposed to protect the people he loved, just like
they protected him. Not be a burden to them.

Orochimaru had died protecting him.

Orochimaru had died protecting him.

Orochimaru had died protecting him.

And the more he waited, the more people would die. Because of him. The path ahead was already
full of violence. Wasn't this enough?

He felt something split inside him. Something cold slipped inside the cracks.

"Naruto? Anko asked, somewhat hesitant now. Why? "I'm sorry. Maybe I shouldn't have
mentioned it so abruptly."

For a second, Naruto lost control over his raging emotions and the table in front of him broke.
Wind raged through the room, and the windows shattered.
The rage boiled inside his belly, and he tried to force it away.

"Nagato…" Naruto muttered. Because who else could have done this?

"Ah!" Anko was screaming, but he barely heard her.

The world was so distant. Lightning and Wind coursed through his veins, empowering him.

Inside his head, the voice… the voices. They were echoing his rage. Spurring it on. Control…?
What use did he have for control? This was much more, so much more.

Purple light came to life behind his eyes and he stood up. He saw Anko's terrified face. She was
saying something.

That was… his name?

'…What…? Anko… scared…? Is she scared of… me?'

Naruto only realized that the storm cloak had covered him then. It faded away rapidly, because he
was in no state to keep it manifested.

'What… What am I doing? This is Anko, not the enemy.'

Naruto stumbled back, horror on his face. He needed to get out.

"Where is he?" He asked, not daring to meet Anko in the eyes.

"…Nagato?" She asked weakly. "You can't fight him. If Sensei… If Sensei couldn't manage, then
you can't either."

Naruto knew her words were true. He didn't care. He would go to Ame if he had to.

He would find Nagato and then he-

Naruto took a long breath. And then he'd die.

"…Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!"

Was there nothing he could do? All of this training…? All the strength he thought he had
acquired…

Was this all for nothing?

"I…" Anko began. "I get how you feel. I really do."

Naruto finally relented. "I'm… sorry. For right now. For losing control."

She let out a weak chuckle. "I get it. I think." Anko said hesitantly.

"Someone's coming." Naruto realized.

Tanabe Mai slammed the door open. She was breathless. Shinobi or not, she had come here as fast
as she could, and it had clearly taken a lot from her.

"…What is it?"

Mai barely took the time to form a coherent sentence.

"Akatsuki… They're moving!" She said, breathlessly.

"On the Bijū?" Anko asked. She stood up, gathering her equipment in a whirlwind of motion.
Naruto sent a clone to fetch Hanabi. The others, he would warn directly through their shared bond.

"Yes!" Mai almost yelled. The urgency was obvious in her voice.

That… was not her usual reaction. Naruto felt the fear return, and he pushed it aside.

Naruto stood up. He looked through the window.

For a moment, Naruto thought he saw a spider-like entity, hanging high up in the sky, one with
many eyes. He blinked and it was gone. His hand was trembling.

"…Which Bijū are they going after?" Naruto rasped out.

Her panicked answer took both Anko and him by surprise. It was a very unpleasant one.

"All of them!"
 Of Ghosts and Sharks

Naruto's first instinct was to rush in.

He ignored it. He had come so close to doing something stupid, right before. But he knew better
than anyone that this sort of thing might well get all of them killed.

It had happened with Toru, after all.

The others came to the spire right away. They didn't have much time, so they rushed the meeting.
Naruto relayed the latest information, all of it, as quickly as possible.

"So there are four jinchūriki left, discounting Fū." Naruto finished. "And at least ten Akatsuki
members left."

"We don't know who they sent and where exactly." Tanabe Mai said. "Just that a few of them were
spotted in the Land of Fire, the Land of Earth and Lightning. Meaning they might well have sent
all of the remaining members after them."

"…How strong are the remaining jinchūriki?" Sakura asked.

"Kage-level, all of them." Mai continued. "They are Uchiha Sasuke, Nii Yugito, Fume Titan Han,
and Kumo's Killer Bee."

"Which one is the strongest?" Karin asked.

"It should help with guessing how they're going to play this one out." Sakura continued, nodding.

"…Killer Bee, likely. And he is staying within Kumo's perimeter. Which means he is the safest, by
far." Mai said.

"No." Ino said, shaking her head. "That just means they're going to send the strongest members
after him."

Sakura nodded, motioning for Mai to continue.

"…It is a risk." The woman admitted. "Second most protected one is Han… who is staying close to
Iwa. Then Uchiha Sasuke. Despite the… death of the previous Hokage." She carefully worded the
statement. "He is within Konoha's walls, as well, and the village still has plenty of strong ninja. It
is hard to tell if Konoha will do better than Iwa, right now."

Naruto drummed his fingers on the table.

"…And Yugito is almost completely exposed." Karin finished.

"Yes." Mai nodded. "Out of all of them, she is the one in the open. A thousand shinobi doesn't
mean much if they have people who can just weave in and out. Akatsuki probably won't mobilize
too many of their forces there."

"…Because it won't be needed." Karin winced.

"There's no time to waste." Naruto said sharply. "I will go to Konoha—"

"No." Sakura shook her head.

"…No?" He repeated, irritation bleeding in his voice.

"No. You're too recognizable."

"And the rest of us aren't…?"

"They have the advantage of not becoming a beacon of blue light during a fight." Sakura said
dryly. "Konoha shinobi are likely to attack you, even if you're helping them. It's too risky for me
too, for the same reason. Neither of us can go there, even masked. They know too much about the
way we fight now."

Naruto's fists tightened. He breathed out.

"Maybe you're right." Naruto relented. "What do you suggest, then?"

"You go to Iwa, that's where they expect you least."

"…Why would I go to Iwa?" He asked, furrowing his brows.

"See?" Sakura chuckled. "Me… I'll go to Yugito, she's the most exposed, and I'll be able to take her
out from there if needed."

Naruto mulled it over. He nodded slowly.

"…Sounds good? What about the two others?" Sakura asked.

"You guys decide among yourselves. Kumo is probably the most dangerous place out of the two,
but well… the rest will be pretty bad, too."

They quickly decided.

"I'll go to Konoha." Hanabi decided. Seeing the others about to speak. "I'm going to be mostly
hidden, anyway. And there might be Hyūga. I'm the best suited to counter them."

Naruto knew who she thought she was likely to face there. He looked at Ino.

"I'll come with you." Ino said. Hanabi nodded.

"Guess that leaves us two." Anko grinned toward Karin. "Like good ol' times."

"Better this way, Naruto can track the Five-Tails, and I'll find the Eight-Tails. The two others, we
know how to find." Karin smiled lightly. "Let's get going."

There was a slight pause.

"There's probably no coming back from this." Ino remarked. "If Akatsuki moves this openly…"

"There's no need to come back." Naruto shook his head. "We're going to defeat as many of them as
we can… So that we can put an end to everything."

"Hmpf." Ino chuckled. "You make it sound so simple."

"It's simple, not easy." Naruto shrugged. "…Survive, all of you."

The more he thought of the scope of this, the more worried he was. But he couldn't afford to show
it. Not now.
Mai relayed which gateways were closest to each jinchūriki, and where the enemy was likely to be.
They might have to cover a lot of ground, depending on how Akatsuki went about this.

Sakura arrived in the Land of Water, close to the Kumo stronghold, and shivered.

That was definitely not the regular weather in this part of the world. Which probably meant a battle
was on. She let out a long breath.

What had come over her, acting so tough, back there…?

Did she have a death wish? While it might be true that Akatsuki would send less of their men
here… This was still Akatsuki.

"Don't worry about it." She muttered to herself. Worst case, she could always leave. The others
didn't have this.

Sakura started to run, as fast as she could, headed for the area where she could feel the most
chakra-saturated water in the air. Coincidently, that was also the place she could feel the cold
come from.

In the meantime, she started warming her fingers. She would need to be in her best fighting shape.
She willed the Cloak of Shifting to become a fur-like material, and after a moment, it did. The cold
abated some.

After minutes of running, she could see something in the background. Steam and…?

'Is this… a water dome?'

Its size was closer to a lake than anything else. And to Kakashi's… No. To her Sharingan, it
was full of chakra. Was this the work of Kiri ninja…?

The structure was moving, too.

As Sakura got closer, she realized the source of the steam was the Two-Tails, currently trying to
outrun it. It was going badly. Yugito was fully transformed, and it looked as though she was
fighting alone.

And at the center of the dome, a humanoid shark-like creature was swimming at full speed, the
dome seemingly following his will. And there was someone riding along the dome's outer layer, on
top of an ice platform.

So the Yuki guy was alive, then. There was another man down there, wearing the nondescript
black Akatsuki robes, weaving Wind jutsu efficiently against Kumo ninja. Sakura ignored him. If
he got himself killed, all the better, but Yugito took priority here.

She tried to reach for her through the bond, hoping that maybe she would finally open the
communication line again.

Yugito didn't and Sakura winced. She needed to get closer then. The closer she got, the more
corpses she passed. And she realized that the shark-man seemed to become stronger with each
passing second.

The Two-Tails, on the other hand, was getting weaker.

Was this the sort of monster the last remaining men of the Akatsuki were…? Because as far as she
could remember, Hoshigaki Kisame — and this had to be him — wasn't even the strongest
member around.

Sakura took another breath. If she couldn't kill at least one of these fuckers today, it either meant
death… or that she had trained for nothing. What was her best weapon…?

Subterfuge was. Well, she'd manage to come up with… something. In the next few minutes.

This Kisame guy was apparently the perfect counter to Yugito and the Yuki was probably here as a
contingency, while the last of them, who she couldn't recognize, probably kept Kumo busy.

Yugito's usually terrifying fireballs only created some steam here, and the shark danced between
her claw attacks.

He was much, much faster than her underwater. Since the dome seemed to follow him, she would
need to drag the man's attention away. There was no way he could make that dome even bigger,
right…?

But no. Scratch that. Bad idea. There was no way the man would follow her in the first place.

Which meant it was time for an even worse idea. Sakura dashed forward, and started to run along
the dome's surface. It was a strange sensation, climbing up on something that had both the
properties of water and a wall.

Fortunately, she always had great chakra control.

Kisame noticed her, but as she had thought, he continued to go after Yugito, intent on either
suffocating her or draining all of her chakra.

Haku noticed Sakura too, and he came after her, a mirror forming along the surface of the dome.

Sakura's mask hid not only her face, but also her Sharingan from both of them. And Haku didn't
realize who he was facing. Sakura dodged his attack, pretending that she barely did so. All in order
to bait a second attack that would come with a speed lesser than she knew Haku could output when
he really tried. She would turn his misplaced hesitation during fights against him.

She continued to run.

Sakura dodged the second and the third attacks, just as narrowly as the first one. She was on top of
the dome. Haku came out, ice claws extended.

She stopped pretending to be slower than she really was. Sakura crouched under the claw attack,
and her spectral hand formed in a blink, carrying razor sharp water blades on its fingertips.

Haku might have been faster than her, but not by that much. And he didn't account for her having
gotten her hands on the Sharingan.

Sakura stabbed forward, anticipating his trajectory. Up this close, even the blurry vision the eye
offered her was more than enough.

She had aimed to stab through his brain, but he was still fast enough to react. Sakura didn't change
targets.

Her fingers went right into Haku's eyes, and as he screamed, she threw herself to the ground,
kicking him into the chin. Combined with his forward momentum, he flew away from the dome,
blind.

He might have a way around this, so she wasn't willing to wait.

Steadying her feet against the top of the water dome with chakra, Sakura threw her spectral hand at
Kisame, who was within her reach. He reacted in time, grabbing her spectral hand, and she felt the
chakra wither away.

He didn't manage to prevent the carbon wire the hand had carried from knotting itself around his
foot.

Sakura pulled up with a mighty scream, coiling and releasing her chakra to bolster her strength for
an instant.

Kisame was pulled up. The dome didn't lift off the floor, — as she had thought might have
happened — elongating up instead. Sakura stayed on top of it, as it became closer to a water pillar
than a dome.

Kisame started to pull back, and he was much stronger than she was. A vein almost burst on her
forehead from the exertion. But she had gotten what she wanted, as Yugito had gotten out of the
dome.

Noxious chakra built up in the air, courtesy of the Two-Tails. It was blue and purple.

Something buzzed, buzzed… sang and whined… and complained. Laments, cries of pain, of rage,
and anger. Something shaped itself out of thin air; ghosts. Like a crack in a dam, they poured
through the rift the Two-Tails had opened, and flooded Kisame's waters.

Sakura remembered that as friendly as Yugito was, there was something like this housed in her
soul. How… scary.

"Wraithfire!"

The violet spectral fire contaminated the dome. Sakura leaped away, catching herself painfully on a
tree's branches.

Kisame roared, trying to bat away the creatures. He couldn't, apparently. He was writhing,
screaming, and trying to keep the spirits off of him. They swarmed him, ignoring his rage, and
wrapping around him. The dome fell away, inundating the whole area.

Sakura thought this was it for him.

Then Yugito's Two-Tailed form dissipated, and she was on the ground, breathless. Sakura's heart
dropped in her stomach. She rushed to join them.

Around Kisame, the ghosts stopped screeching, slowly fading away. With a look between fear and
glee, Kisame weaved hand seals.

A handful of water sharks shot toward Yugito. Sakura arrived there first, shaping a vertical water
platform in front of her. Then she opened a gateway on this side. The other was already linked to
one of Umi's empty islands, far from anything. The jutsu disappeared in it.

Kisame's eyebrows rose in a quizzing expression. Then he shrugged and engaged her in hand-to-
hand combat.
His punch took her in the nose and she saw stars. Sakura gritted her teeth and pulled a dagger out.

Kisame slid around it effortlessly, tripping her with a low kick. The heavy sword swing almost
took her remaining arm.

What it did take was some of her chakra.

A pommel strike broke some teeth. Sakura spat one of them out and tried to put some distance
between the two of them.

There, in melee range, there was nothing she could do. Her techniques depended on chakra too
much, and she knew it. Whatever water blade she could conjure just got absorbed, this close. The
man started toying with her, opening small wounds over her arm, and ripping a bit of her chakra
with each swing.

Another wide swing that she had to throw herself against the floor to dodge. It hurt.

She managed to stab his foot. He roared and stomped on her hand.

This was going badly. Sakura could barely manage to hold her dagger now.

Kisame was angry. This much was obvious. And he looked somewhat afraid, too. What had these
ghosts done to him?

The game of cat and mouse continued for a few more minutes. Sakura hoped that Yugito was at
least recovering some chakra. She had no idea where the Haku guy was, either. She needed to find
a—

Kisame kicked her in the face. Hard. Sakura flew away.

She hit a tree with a grunt. Groaning, she slowly rose to a sitting position. Yugito would need to
take the fight for a while, likely. Except… Kisame was laughing, now amused. Instead of heading
toward Yugito, as his objective would have normally required him to do…

He came closer to Sakura.

"Well, this was a nice, refreshing change of pace." Kisame chuckled.

He continued to walk toward her. Sakura removed her mask. Combined with the blood she felt
running down her face, she felt suffocated by it. She took a hesitant look to her left. Yugito was
still not ready to fight, apparently.

Kisame laughed, taking a good look at her.

"I recognize you." He grinned. "You're that woman from Umi, then. One of the people who killed
Danzō."

"…That's right." She said dryly.

"What a shame we're on opposite sides." He sighed, almost sounding… honest? "I kinda like what
you're doing. The whole admitting what you've done. Bold move considering everything."

"…Thanks, I guess?" She breathed out.

"No need to be modest." Kisame laughed. "Honesty is something rare. And something I can
appreciate."
"Nice." She tried a bland smile. "Let us go, then."

"I'm afraid I can't do that." Kisame shook his head, laughing. "The boss wouldn't be too happy
about that. You alone… Would be problematic enough."

"I'm not exactly in any shape to do much, right now." She gestured at her broken body vaguely.

He pretended to wince. "Yeah, sorry. But we'll be needing the jinchūriki anyway. Annoying one,
that cat."

"Then I can't leave either." Sakura grunted.

"I figured as much." Kisame shrugged. "But I can respect your commitment to the objective, too."

Something changed into his eyes. He was moving in for the kill, then.

"Got any last words, pinky?"

"Sure…" Sakura groaned in pain. "Sure."

Kisame's blade was healing him, apparently. He would be as good as fresh in a few more moments
of this. Her only advantage was that he entirely underestimated her. Sakura kept her eye on him.
He was standing far away from her, convinced there was nothing she could really do to him, his
guard lowered. Hopefully she'd get this right.

"Just… one." She breathed out.

She looked weaker than she really was. Her injury bled a lot, but this really wasn't that bad,
compared to the amount of shit she usually found herself in.

"…Care to hear it?"

"Sure." The man laughed, readying his sword.

Sakura's bloodshot left eye opened wide, and blood was running down her face. Blood that didn't
entirely come from her wound. The chakra she had silently pooled into her Sharingan was given a
direction.

With her right eye, she aimed; with her left eye, she shot.

"Kamui!"

Kisame's face was worth a thousand pictures — she'd have to show the memory of it to the others.
Halfway between surprise, panic and disbelief. There was recognition, too. He probably would
have let out a curse.

And then he was missing most of his head. The blade he had been holding fell behind him.

Sharingan Sakura, indeed. She thought.

Oh shit — Where did my chakra go?

And the vision in her left eye became a little bit worse. It burned. Naruto had warned her, when he
showed her the memories of Kakashi using it… but still. And the man could use
this several times… and fight?
She had aimed for Kisame's head, sure. But also his upper torso. How did she miss…? Well, no
matter. She would pretend she had done it on purpose.

Sakura stood up, and sealed the rest of the body and the sword away. Then she dragged herself to
Yugito, feeling dizzy… and about to puke. Her whole body burned with the effort.

"You… Sakura." Yugito finally acknowledged her. She didn't seem to know whether to be happy
or not, it seemed. She chose grumpy, instead. "I told your friend-"

"Oh, shut the fuck up." Sakura gritted out. "I don't give a shit what you're angry at him for, that's
between you and him."

Yugito just blinked, unused to this sort of treatment. Sakura crawled toward her.

"They're not done." She said, breathing hard.

"…I know." Yugito winced.

"Can you go on?"

The older woman gave no answer. Which was an answer too, just not the one Sakura had been
hoping for.

Sakura heard footsteps in the distance, drawing closer and closer. And they seemed to be coming
from both directions. Except the Kumo shinobi were the other way.

There were two Akatsuki members roaming free, even though one was blinded. And there were
Kiri shinobi around, she was sure of it. They would not hesitate to take the opportunity to kill the
fearsome jinchūriki while she was nothing more than an exhausted leader who needed some rest.

"How many?" Sakura still asked.

"At least thirty for this unit. More behind. And… Akatsuki on the other hand." Yugito declared.

"Yeah…" Sakura winced. "This is too much."

"We have no choice, though." Yugito growled, dredging up whatever chakra she could still reach.

Sakura shook her head. Well, it seemed as though Sakura would give Yugito a good reason to be
angry at her very soon.

"No." Sakura said, looking sorry. "We do have one."

"What do you m-"

Sakura grabbed her hand and they disappeared from the Land of Water, as the enemy shinobi
closed in.

They left the Land of Water entirely. As well as Yugito's troops, suddenly alone with Kiri shinobi
and the two Akatsuki men.

Near Iwa.

Naruto streaked through the air, like a comet made out of blue electricity.
"Thunderball!"

He came down with a crash, slamming into the earth, sending sparks and beams of lightning
everywhere around him. The fighting halted.

The Five-Tails jinchūriki took a long look at him. That was Han, then.

Momochi Zabuza was here too, looking enraged. Still pissed about his cleaver, then.

There was a woman that he didn't know, so this was likely Kisu Akane.

And Uzumaki Ryūjin. Naruto grinned.

"I would have preferred for Sakura… Toru — hell, even Sasuke — to be here today, but well…"
He said.

Surrounded by three enemies, and a powerful man that didn't know what to make out of him,
Naruto was utterly confident. And his emotions were so easy to reach today. It was going to be
harder to let go.

Naruto noticed that the man looked way less amused than he had been when they had first met.
Good. He saw him as a credible threat, then.

"Time to die." Naruto said, pleasantly.

Naruto dove deep inside and unleashed his full power. The ground exploded around him.

The Lightning around him combined with Wind, flickering from blue to purple periodically.

Uzumaki Ryūjin winced. Naruto's chakra was heavy and powerful, and looking into his eyes,
Ryūjin knew he had no chance of getting out of here.

Because Uzumaki Naruto would stop at nothing in order to ensure it.

Near Kumo.

To Kumo, Akatsuki sent only a single man. Or rather, he sent himself.

To Anko and Karin's eyes, the man in question appeared suddenly, falling down through a cloud.

Karin noticed the redhead high up in the sky with a frown.

Then her eyes flew open, as she noticed the sheer amount of chakra he was gathering within
himself. Anko did too.

Both of them moved toward each other, and they reached inward.

"Shinra Tensei"

A wall of pressure.
 Family Matters

"Can you take on the two of them?" Naruto asked Han.

There was no question who he was talking about. Han probably realized that no matter what it was
exactly that was going on between him and the redhead… was probably best left alone. And he'd
stay far away from it, too.

"I'm not sure." Han's muffled voice replied. He had accepted that Naruto was no enemy. "We
already fought for a while, before they came. They're strong. Two might be pushing it."

"I see." Naruto simply said.

He turned to face Zabuza, who stood rooted to the ground. Naruto gathered his chakra. Ever since
Kakashi's death, gathering the Storm had become easier.

What had become much harder though… was actually keeping the energy manifested. His ability
to clear his mind had been shot, ever since he… Ever since he had killed the man—

Now was not the moment.

'When is, then...?'

He coiled his chakra upon itself. The pressure in the air abated.

Momochi Zabuza stood there, still wary. But he spoke.

"Where is Kubikiribōchō?" He asked, his voice rattling.

"This big lump of iron…?" Naruto asked. "…I might have it on me."

"In… a scroll…?" Zabuza seemed as though he couldn't believe his ears. "Kubikiribōchō?"

Naruto shrugged.

"It's useless to me, really. Do you want it back?" He asked.

"…What?"

"Do you want your sword back?"

"What sort of question is this…?" Zabuza growled.

"Then take it."

Naruto got a scroll out, and released the blade from its depths.

"It's a heavy thing." Naruto said absentmindedly, trying out its weight again.

Uzumaki Ryūjin and his companion — the Kisu woman, then — waited close by, ready to defend
themselves from whatever he was going to throw at them. Expecting something to happen. Behind
him, Naruto could feel Han become antsy as well.

Naruto waved the sword around.

"Yeah. This is not exactly a good fit for me." Naruto said, shaking his head.

"…It is a broadsword." Zabuza gritted out. "It is not meant to be used with a single hand."

Naruto's eyes were fixed into Zabuza's again.

"Take it back, then." Naruto threw the sword at him, underhanded, as though it was nothing more
than a paperweight. "There's no trap here."

'But it could have been a good one.'

Zabuza caught it, and bent a bit when he did so. The others tensed.

"…I don't understand you." The man growled.

"You're unlucky enough as is. To come all the way here just to die." Naruto said.

"What's with you…? Talking so big, now. Months ago, you had to flee, Nine-Tails."

"As you said… This was months ago." He smiled.

Naruto coiled his chakra a second time.

"...And my name is Uzumaki Naruto." He finished. "Prepare to die."

The battle began.

Zabuza leaped to the right, weaving hand seals.

"Water Release: Hiding in Mist Technique."

Naruto coiled his chakra a third time. For an instant, it became purple.

"Zabuza!" Someone roared in warning. "Don't-"

Zabuza got ready to disappear.

Naruto released the chakra he had been compressing, homing on Zabuza's chakra signature, still
noticeable to his senses.

Naruto moved like a demon.

Zabuza fell to the ground with a gurgling sound, his throat cut clean through. Then Naruto's control
over the storm, still frayed, made the aura return to its usual Lightning Cloak state.

Naruto let out a long breath as the chakra left him, before steadying himself. Maybe the whole
thing had been a trap for Zabuza, in a way.

He sealed the body and the sword in a scroll.

"Will that do?" He asked Han again.

"…Yeah. I think it will. Thanks." The man muttered.

Uzumaki Ryūjin cursed. Next to him, Kisu Akane paled.

A deserted island. Somewhat close to Umi.

"No. No no, no… no no no!"

Yugito raged. Some of the blue Bijuu chakra built up around her —

And then it petered out like a candle in the wind. Just as Sakura had thought it would. Sakura, who
was just as weary and exhausted as she was.

She opened the mental link, reaching for the others.

'I escaped with Yugito. We're safe. Killed Hoshigaki Kisame.'

'That's great news!' Ino thought back, relieved.

Naruto took more time. 'Good.' Then it cut off. Definitely fighting.

Karin didn't answer. She was probably busy.

'I'm going to get her to safety once she calms down.'

Then she cut it off.

"Why…? WHY?" Yugito whirled around to look at her, her anger clear to her. "Why did you take
me with you?!"

"…"

"They will die." Yugito continued, teeth clenched. "My troops."

"…They will back off once they realize you're gone." Sakura muttered. "And so will Akatsuki."

"What if they don't…? And if I'm not there…"

"Kiri doesn't have a jinchuuriki either." Sakura continued. "They will manage."

"You don't understand!" Yugito roared. "I am their leader."

"…Look. I don't think you get it either." Sakura retorted, starting to feel irritated. "I saved your
ass."

"Maybe you shouldn't have!" Yugito growled.

Sakura scoffed. "What's done is done. I'm not bringing you there anyway. You're not in fighting
shape. And you definitely can't lead anyone right now."

Yugito gritted her teeth. Sakura knew she had her.

"I don't think you understand how bad shit will become if you get captured." Sakura muttered.

"My troops—"

"Please, shut up for a second." Sakura said, rubbing her temples. "I have a bad headache."

Yugito's fists tightened.

"…What are your troops supposed to do if you die?" Sakura asked.

"…The second-in-command takes over."

"Do you trust them, whoever they are?"

"…Yeah. I picked them."

"Then it's settled." Sakura shrugged. "Besides, we can't go back right now, anyway. I closed the
portal off, and I have no more chakra to use anyway."

"Still—"

"There is nothing. We. Can. Do." Sakura repeated. "Trust in them, instead."

"Did Naruto make you do this…?" Yugito spat.

"Nah. Nobody made me. It was just the better option. Otherwise I'd be dead… and you would be in
a short time."

Yugito clearly wanted to say something more, but she likely realized it would be useless.

"…Where are we anyway?" She asked, looking around.

There was nothing to see. They were on a medium-sized island, with no vegetation, surrounded by
the sea on all sides.

Sakura shrugged. "It's a… liminal space, I guess. Rest, now. Once everything is settled, I'll bring
you back."

Or maybe she wouldn't. That depended on what the situation was like.

Sakura waited for the others.

Ino and Hanabi arrived close to Konoha.

There was… no fighting going on.

"Hanabi-"

"I know, I know." She muttered, already scanning the area they were in.

Her eyes processed the entirety of the world around them. She wasn't looking for people hiding
under a Transformation. The Byakugan could see through them, of course, but it took more focus
than she could afford at this range. From here, it would look like a layer of chakra above a person's
network. And she didn't have that much time.

She was looking for large chakra signatures. A person could mask theirs, but in a fight, this was
next to impossible. So if they were fighting, they wouldn't be too difficult to find—

"Ah. Shit." Hanabi cursed.

"What is it…?"

"…Neji's here, and he saw us for sure."

Ino froze.
"How do you know…?"

"…He waved at me." Hanabi gritted out. "He is waiting near Konoha with the man you told me
was Sasori of the Red Sand."

"…Fuck." Ino groaned. "He's not taking us very seriously, is he…?"

"Not in the slightest." Hanabi said tightly. "I... I can't take either in a straight fight."

"Me neither." Ino shook her head.

"But well… If it's Neji…" Hanabi began with a dangerous smile. "I have made some preparations.
What do we do?"

Ino thought about it.

"Find Sasuke first." She decided, putting her hand on Hanabi's forehead. "I'll try to warn him of
what's coming."

"…Alright."

They both saw Neji quickly say something to Sasori — not amused anymore — before dashing
toward them at full speed.

"Be quick about it!"

"I'm trying." Hanabi hissed. Focus. Focus. Don't think of Neji hurtling toward us. Focus.

He was fast, damn it.

There. Connected to Hanabi's thoughts, Sasuke's chakra shone like a beacon to Ino as well.

'There.'

With a grunt of exertion, caused by creating a link over such a great distance, through obstacles,
Ino reached out to him.

'AKATSUKI COMES'

She relayed as much information about them as she could in the next moment. She could almost
feel Sasuke's confusion.

Neji was there already, lightning concentrated into his finger-tips. And he was headed straight
toward Ino, almost flying.

Hanabi interposed herself in between them.

She glowed blue with chakra, and instead of spinning like Neji had thought she would, she simply
deflected his strike to her right.

Neji stepped back, his eyes carefully blank, staring at both of them without blinking. He didn't
want to kill Hanabi, as far as she knew, so he would try to knock her out, likely. Ino, though… She
was fair game.

Then he darted forward, closing the distance between them in a blink. He kept his silence, and
attacked directly. No motion was wasted.
One of his hands shot forward, aimed at Hanabi's gut. Her own came up, barely fast enough to
knock it aside. He followed up with a rising knee strike, and Ino felt that even from this joint, he
could use some form of the debilitating gentle fist abilities.

Hanabi threw herself backward, and the moment she did so, Ino aimed over her, trying to lock his
body in place with a Mind Body Disturbance technique. Yellow lightning erupted around Neji, and
he blurred in, ducking and aiming to strike at Ino instead.

But she hadn't sparred so much against Naruto in the last weeks for nothing. She fell through the
earth, deep enough for Neji not to be able to reach her, coming out meters away.

By the time she came up again, Hanabi had already reengaged in the fight. It wasn't going too well,
honestly.

Neji's style wasn't pure gentle fist anymore. There were elements of other Taijutsu styles in it. He
clearly didn't feel restrained by the need to adhere to the traditional Hyūga ways. No wonder.

Ino knew that Hanabi didn't, either, but it was more of a recent thing, compared to him.

Hopefully, Neji wasn't paying too much attention to his own chakra network, right now. Ino
weaved hand signs. There were only a few auditory genjutsu Ino could really make use of, but she
would try her best.

She held it. Waiting.

Hanabi took a mean palm strike to the thigh, slowing her down. Neji was only making sporadic use
of his Lightning-enhanced speed. Even without it, he was still a bit faster than Hanabi was.

Hanabi understood that Ino was doing something, and kept her assault up. She was a bit less mobile
after the strike to her leg, so she focused on deflecting and trapping his strikes by staying close.

Ino tied the genjutsu to a flashbang, when she was sure Neji wasn't paying attention. He would
notice the flashbang itself for sure, but that was the point.

Hanabi blocked and dodged with an otherworldly grace, even with only one good leg. Ino
considered herself deft, but she had nothing on the Hyūga. Neither of them, really.

Holding the technique with her left hand, Ino made signs with her right, and she stoked Neji's
emotions.

His pride was the first one that she managed to reach, of course.

Why would he need to try so hard against a less-talented, angrier version of himself…?
Why did he have to cower…? Just to make someone else look good…? He had worked so hard for
everything he had.
Why did he have to submit to anyone else…? Couldn't someone else just take his place instead?

Their movements created small chakra shock-waves. Their hands met sometimes, deflecting,
pushing, prodding for weakness. Hanabi fought like Ino had never seen her fight before.

They were grasping for an opening, with each sweeping kick, each flashing hand strike, each flip in
midair, every weapon thrown out of a sleeve.

Ino reached for Neji's disappointment.

Why did his Father let him be marked…?
Why did his family brand him in the first place…?
Why was there a need for this obsolete practice to go on?

Hanabi was still keeping up, switching seamlessly between the gentle fist and what little she could
use of the snake style. She landed a strike close to one of Neji's shoulder tenketsu.

She didn't stop there, pressing on, striking so fast that Ino had trouble keeping up.

Neji could, though. Shrouded in yellow lightning, he was beginning to recover his advantage.

Ino reached for Neji's rage.

Why did he never feel angry…? Sure, maybe he overdid it with the sarcasm and cynicism
sometimes, but…?
Why did he feel slightly angry, at times..? Sure, maybe he was a bit bitter and envious sometimes,
but…?
Why did he feel guilty, ashamed… the few times he got angry…? Sure, maybe the Hyūga had an
unhealthy way of processing their emotions, preferring to bottle everything up, but…?
Why was he feeling so angry, right now…? Sure, maybe he was facing someone who was just born
in the right place, but even then, fate had caught up to her, didn't it…?
Why was everything so fucking hard…? Why couldn't somebody else see..?

He stiffened, with something burning across his face, an anger that took even him by surprise. He
was distracted.

Ino threw the flashbang. She made contact with Hanabi, transmitting only two thoughts.

'Auditory illusion. Dispel effects on you.'

Hanabi would understand, Ino hoped. Her face showed nothing, which she hoped was on purpose.

The flashbang detonated. Both Hanabi and Neji had closed their eyes already. The illusion,
triggered by the detonation, caught both of them. Except Hanabi was prepared.

'Genjutsu: Inner Rupture.'

Balance mostly uses three main senses.

The first one is vision. The body sees what is going on and can detect changes.

The second is the 'vestibular system', also called the inner ear. There is a set of fluid filled
structures in there, in which the fluid moves around. The body detects these movements and adjusts
things when needed.

The third is based on sensors within muscles that basically tell the brain where parts of the body
are at any given point. If this position changes, this feeds back to the brain and it can adjust things
appropriately.

This illusion of course, played on the second one. Meaning that Neji's body believed it was
moving, in a way it definitely was not.

And then suddenly, he was stumbling. The expression of dumb incomprehension on his face was
something Hanabi would likely relish in, in normal circumstances.
Instead, she jumped on the opportunity.

Wind shaped itself around her hand. She produced a sword out of it, in between her bare hands.
Neji's eyes widened, shock obvious on his face. Hanabi was just a bit slower than him. In a fight
like this, though, the slightest misstep could be fatal.

Ino was here to create these missteps.

Hanabi lunged toward him, her sword penetrated Neji's defenses as well as his gut. He howled in
pain. Hanabi fell forward with him.

"That's what you get for underestimating us again!" Hanabi roared. She stabbed down again.

Neji grunted, and pushed Hanabi off of him with a kick. He stood back up again, with a long groan.

"Hmpf." He gritted out, with reluctant pride. "So you have improved."

Yellow electricity started to gather around his right arm.

"Thunder Emperor's Lightning Claw."

Three floating claws made out of pure yellow electricity appeared around his arm.

And then lightning flooded the whole area. He pushed it through his every tenketsu. It was a
display of chakra control that would be possible only to the Hyūga clan, Ino thought.

It was a beautiful show.

Such precision.

Naruto had shown her the memories of his fight against Kakashi, who relied on finesse as well. The
man had nothing on Neji.

Neji…

Disappeared. His strike sent Ino flying, the lightning coursing through her body almost disabling
her altogether.

She saw stars.

Then he went for Hanabi.

Neji's thoughts had been open. Not that Hanabi would have needed to read them to know what he
was going to do. He could be predictable, sometimes. Hanabi's wrist shot up, as fast as she could
make it, barely intercepting Neji's gentle fist strike with her bracer.

Neji was stronger, faster, better. That went for either of them.

But they were shinobi.

"…Idiot." Hanabi muttered.

There was a flash of blinding light — Neji's own ability turned against him — and both Neji and
Hanabi screamed at the pain it wrought upon their eyes. But more importantly…

Neji's lightning shroud was gone, absorbed by the metal bracer that Hanabi was wearing on her
wrist, specifically made for absorbing and releasing Lightning chakra in a flash.

They only had one moment. It would be enough.

"Mind Body Switch."

And then suddenly Ino was inside Neji's body. With a grunt Ino reached, within her Mindspace, for
reinforced steel-wire.

She let Hanabi bind her hands with it, so tightly that she knew her real body was going to feel
echoes of it. The gut wound, even though it would only transfer partially because it had already
been inflicted, was going to be bad enough.

Then she applied the chakra suppressing seals on Neji's body, before returning to her own.
Meanwhile, Hanabi slowly unlocked her own tenketsu.

With a grunt, Ino cauterized the light wound on her own gut. It was not a very pretty job, but she'd
see about this later. She closed Neji's, still unsure what to do about him. He glared at her now, but
he was basically useless right now. Even if he managed to free himself, with his chakra bound,
there was not much he could do against the two of them.

"…Did you really think I wouldn't prepare against you, Neji…?" Hanabi asked, trying not to
sound too mocking. She failed.

"…" He looked frustrated. Very much so, in fact.

"To think that you still went for a gentle fist strike…" Hanabi shook her head. "After all the shit
you've said."

If it were up to Ino only, she would slit his throat and call it a day, likely. But despite Hanabi's
anger… it didn't feel as though she were ready to do this right now. There were probably a few
things she wanted to ask him.

"Hanabi."

"Yes…?" She asked.

"If we're taking him, remove his ring."

"It's not something you can remove so easily." Neji spat.

"Oh…?" Ino asked, amused. "Why not? Is this how they keep track of you?"

"No. I wouldn't stand for this."

"Then what is it for…?" Ino asked.

Neji stayed silent. With a sigh, Ino put her hand to his forehead.

"How dare you—"

"Oh please." She rolled her eyes. "So it's for communication purposes, as well as sealing the Bijū.
And it doesn't allow them to track you, huh."

Neji grunted.
"Look, I get that you're a bit unhappy with us right now. Maybe you should have taken this more
seriously, then." Ino frowned. How weak did he remember her to be, exactly…? "And I think I'm
going to give you another reason."

She grabbed his finger.

"What are you—"

"You said you couldn't remove it, right…? Sorry in advance."

"Don't you—"

"Hanabi?"

"Yes."

Hanabi cut the finger off with a wind blade, trying not to look too vindictive. Neji screamed, as Ino
cauterized this wound as well.

For good measure, Ino made sure no chakra streamed from the ring, double-checked it, triple-
checked it. Then she put it inside a sealed off scroll.

Neji glared at her still.

"I think we're ready to—"

An explosion. Fire, and something else. Both of them looked away for a moment.

Neji did something.

She couldn't tell whether or not it was some sort of Hyūga inner chakra manipulation thing, but
whatever it was that he did… the steel-wire fell off, and the binding tags burned away.

They should have known that after growing up in the branch house, he would take measures
against the sealing arts.

That he would not be caged again.

He was shrouded in yellow lightning, and the aura was starting to look more and more like a tiger.
Hanabi jumped to her feet, and her face could have been carved out of stone. Ino did the same.

Their chances were pretty low, now that he knew about their trap for him.

Neji gave them a long look, especially Hanabi. He picked the scroll that contained the ring and his
severed finger.

Without another word, he blurred away.

Hanabi… kicked a tree down in her rage.

She howled her frustration.

In the distance, a pink Tengu-like creature rose, close to where the Uchiha district was, wreathed in
flames.

And close to the barrier… Sasori had revealed a veritable army of puppets. Effectively splitting the
village's attention in two—

Hanabi took a long breath. Veins pulsed around her eyes.

"…There is a third Akatsuki man in the compound. It's Tobi… Uchiha Obito, then." Hanabi said.

Ino groaned in consternation. It really felt as though more and more problems were arising.

Hanabi brought out a heavy bow. With a grunt, she focused her Byakugan and waited, an arrow in
hand.

Who she was aiming for at this distance, Ino didn't know for sure.

Close to Kumo.

Karin could barely see.

Her vision was spotted white. Blood was running down her face and she was lying on the ground.
She let her golden chains, the ones she had wrapped around them both, fall away.

The crushing wave of pressure had hit her and Anko head on, and the gates that the latter had
summoned had bent like cardboard.

But they had survived.

"Anko…? You okay…?" She asked.

Karin looked at her. She looked very pale. Fear took over Karin.

"Anko…?"

No answer came.

"Anko."

A groan.

Karin felt the most intense relief she had felt in a while. She started healing her with her chain,
watching as the red-haired man came down to the earth again. Away from Kumo.

Well… what was left of Kumo. It was not much more than a crater, right now.

Uzumaki Nagato waited.

After destroying arguably the most powerful military in the world, he came down to face the
monstrous ox-like creature that was rushing toward him in a frenzy, away from the hole that had
been Kumo.

The Beast let out a roar of pain, anger and loss. A blue blur of electricity came out of the crater,
headed toward Nagato as well, echoing the Eight-Tails' pain. They both had the same target.

Something golden emerged around Nagato, like a shroud.

A shroud that had a terrifyingly large chakra presence…

A shroud that looked like a fox.

 The World's Problem

Nagato's attack hadn't killed everyone in Kumo, far from it.

That's what Karin realized, as she finished healing Anko. The Raikage — for this could only be
him — was fighting against Nagato, along with the Eight-Tails. Nagato, who was still shrouded in
the golden cloak, exuded a power that made her knees shake.

"…This guy killed sensei." Anko muttered. Her rage was obvious.

He was too strong for her to fight, of this… there was no doubt. But Karin knew Anko. She would
go anyway. And she would die for nothing.

"Don't." Karin said. "Don't go."

"…What…?" Anko turned to face her.

"I… There's nothing we can do right now. If he killed Orochimaru—"

"Then I will do my best to kill him in return! That's the least I can do." Anko shot back.

"You won't be able to do anything." Karin said, more harshly. "Can't you feel how strong he is…?"

"I don't give a shit about this!" Anko dashed —

Only to find herself restrained by Karin's chains.

"…What is the meaning of this…?!" Anko growled.

"I won't let you throw your life away." Karin shook her head.

"…How dare you?!" Anko raged. "We trained you. Do you think you know better?"

"No. But I know that you will die here, without changing anything. I can't let you do that."

"I won't be alone! These Kumo ninja are fighting, too!"

"Do you really think Orochimaru went alone?" Karin retorted. "I may not have been with him as
long as you were, but I know he would never risk his life if he wasn't convinced he could win. And
against Nagato, there's no doubt that even he had some doubts."

"Let me go!" Anko roared.

"I won't." Karin shook her head. "No matter what it takes, I won't let you die. We lost Toru already.
And Orochimaru."

"LET ME GO!"

"No!"

"You don't understand!"

"He will kill you. Like he killed Orochimaru!"

"AND I SHOULD HAVE DIED!" Anko roared. "WITH HIM!"

Karin just held her with her chains silently.

"…Is this really what you think?" She asked.

"What good is a student… What good is a sword… If it can't be of use…?" Anko asked, covering
her face.

"…He didn't see you as a sword." Karin said with finality.

"…"

"Why do you think he was ready to risk his own life…?"

"…Stop."

"Why do you think he didn't involve you in this…?"

"…Please, stop."

"He wanted you to live. Not for his sake. For your own."

Anko turned back toward her, crying.

"…I have nothing to live for."

"There's plenty of time for you to figure out a reason." Karin said, releasing her chains. She had,
and Anko could do the same.

"…"

"We can't fight Nagato."

"…I know." Anko admitted, clenching her fists. "Not now, at least."

"But… Kumo's people still live." Karin continued. "Will you help me save them?"

She had known Anko's answer, of course. Karin reached out for Sakura, telling her to pop a
soldier's pill or two, because there were things to be done.

Land of Earth.

Uzumaki Ryūjin had made one mistake.

Or rather, he had miscalculated.

"Raging Typhoon!"

Ryūjin roared, his voice muffled by the ripple of energy that exploded from him, sending wind and
water chakra flying around him in a destructive shockwave. The forest was torn apart. Nothing was
left. Except...

Uzumaki Naruto used a substitution. Out of all things.

A sword clattered where he had been a fraction of a second ago.

The younger man was both amazingly fast… and aggressive. So fucking aggressive. He kept the
pressure on him, and made it look quite casual, too. And Ryūjin found himself quite angry.

He simply couldn't catch him. No matter what he threw at him. And he was pretty sure this
was Kumo's famed Lightning Cloak, that cursed thing he was using. Something that was not
supposed to get out of the village. Who had taught him…?

He really should have made sure the brat was dead, years ago. His mistake had cost him his twin
brother already. Wasn't this enough…?

Although… How that had happened was still a complete mystery to him. There was simply no way
a genin… or chunin at the time, he wasn't sure. There was no way he could have killed Suijin, back
then, no matter how talented.

Right now, sure. There was a way.

Which was why Ryūjin was taking this fight very seriously.

He had tried many different methods to crush the brat, already.

Sealing barriers to restrict him didn't work. He just blurred out of them before they formed… or
dispelled them altogether.

He had a preternatural sense for catching traps before Ryūjin finished putting them down.

The seals to slow him down had seemed like a great idea.

Until Uzumaki Naruto had turned them against him.

He knew how to fight without his sight.

His taijutsu was leagues ahead of his own.

Ryūjin was forced to rely solely on his Ninjutsu.

A layer of wind covered his own body. And a layer of water covered the layer of wind.

His chakra cycled.

The entire area seemed to explode. Blades of wind and water turn the earth to ribbons around him.

There was no way—

"…What are you hoping to do here?" Uzumaki Naruto asked him, blurring into existence in a flash
of blue again. He was mocking him. Throwing his own words, from years ago, against him.

Ryūjin growled as he came face-to-face with a fist shrouded in blue lightning. Naruto's
knuckles slammed into his face, and he was sent flying. Ryūjin flew back up, not managing to
dodge the following kick to his gut.

It was a terrible feeling. He could not remember being so outmatched in years. And he
was sure the younger man was doing it on purpose. Humiliating him.

Uzumaki Naruto stared at him, cool-headed. His stance was firm, and there was nothing of the
terrified child he remembered. Just a man with cold purple eyes, who reminded him all too much of
some of several people he really didn't want to think about.
Namikaze. Orochimaru.

Ryūjin had been told that he fought using weapons… And he had seen so when he had executed
Zabuza.

Except he was not even bothering to draw a sword.

With a roar, Ryūjin brought his arm down in a vertical chop. Water and Wind followed in a raging
gale, a maelstrom of power.

Ryūjin saw a flash of purple.

Uzumaki Naruto slapped his jutsu away.

Seeing him after just over six years reminded Ryūjin of some of his worst fears. Of simply being
surpassed by the next generation. And of dangerous, crazy little fuckers, like that kid, Deidara.

Because Uzumaki Naruto was crazy, he could see that much in his eyes. Not just the sort of crazy
that bred strong shinobi.

Rather, it was the sort of crazy that bred genocidal maniacs. Nagato himself had the same glint in
his eyes.

Ryūjin had a gash on his face, courtesy of the younger Uzumaki's wind-infused left hook. How
could he even use wind at the same time as this level of lightning manipulation…?

The older man wasn't done, though. He jerked like a cornered animal when Naruto arrived upon
him, his teeth set in an angry snarl.

"Water Release: Great Waterfall!"

To create this much water from nothing required a large amount of chakra. The volume of it
cascaded down onto the entire area, like a natural disaster.

The redhead waited. Naruto had disappeared entirely.

No attack was coming.

His patience was straining. What was he waiting for…?

There was a flash of movement, and Ryūjin summoned a shield made out of water to catch
whatever was coming at him.

It was a blade. Finally. He was taking this seriously.

"Oh no… You caught it." Uzumaki Naruto sounded bored.

The blade exploded in Ryūjin's face.

"I can't believe I had to prepare for this." Naruto shook his head, bemused. "And you're supposed
to be one of the strongest…? I've seen stronger versions of your techniques dozens of time during
the Hundred Years—"

Then he shook his head.

"What?" Ryūjin's head straightened up.

"I used to fear you, back then." Naruto said, discarding the previous thought entirely. "So I
prepared. Everything I remembered you using—"

A flash of wind exploded from Ryūjin's hands. Sharp blades surged, each of them enough to gut a
man.

Naruto dodged through them all.

"…As I said. Everything you did, I prepared for. But what good is your ninjutsu if none of your
attacks can even reach me in the first place…?"

Ryūjin gritted his teeth.

"I've seen what you had to offer. You're not much better than Kakuzu, for one." Naruto said. "And
I'm disappointed. I can't believe I used to believe you were so strong."

"You—"

Naruto blurred forward.

His fist smashed into Ryūjin's belly, almost distending it.

The redhead bent over, ready to throw up.

"What did you say back then… again?" Naruto asked. "Oh. That was it. You want to live?"

Ryūjin took two fumbing steps away from him, reeling from the impact.

"Kill your friend, and I'll let you go." Naruto finished, with a slight smile. "Kill the Kisu woman,
and I'll consider letting you go."

There was something strange about him, something that made Ryūjin wonder if he was actually
being serious, right now.

Ryūjin tried to retaliate with a kick, but ate an uppercut to the chin instead. He flipped over,
landing on his back with a gasp.

Using his seal, he disappeared right through the ground, reappearing under the younger Uzumaki, a
water edge in hand, rising. Naruto dodged at the last moment.

Another slash. Another dodge.

Left. Naruto went right.

Right. Naruto went under.

Downwards. There was no one in front of him anymore.

Naruto's every move left an after-image behind him. He twisted and a crushing heel strike sent the
older Uzumaki soaring.

Ryūjin continued to attack, wind blades and water whips mixing with every strike. Naruto grabbed
his head and slammed him into the ground.

Then a heel strike followed, burying him deeper. He was in pain. A world of pain.
There was a way he could keep up. Ryūjin layered wind around his body in a shell. He coiled it
upon itself. There was a flash of light as a cloak made out of Wind made him lighter, faster.

Naruto chuckled. "…You think this will change anything?"

To his surprise, he let his lightning armor fall away. In a flurry of sharp gusts, Wind came to cover
him as well.

"I can do this, too. And sure, it's not too bad on its own—"

He still moved faster than Ryūjin. Ryūjin, who channeled Earth chakra through his arms, hitting
him straight on with a rock-enhanced punch. He got him, and a small smile began to form on his
face.

Naruto's head was bent back a bit. He turned to look at him again, wiped the small trace of blood
on his chin.

"…That was it?" Naruto asked, dumbfounded. "…I guess there's really no point in dragging this
any longer. Your jutsu are too slow to reach me… and even when they do…"

Ryūjin's heart was thrumming angrily in his chest.

"They don't do much, do they?"

Ryūjin roared. Wind-Water-Earth.

Naruto grabbed his throat tightly, cutting him off. He sealed his chakra network off with a single
touch.

"I would gladly kill you now, but I'm afraid I have a few questions first." Naruto began. "You can
answer now… or we'll get the answers from your brain, once you're dead."

Ryūjin just spat.

Naruto pulled his sleeves back. Revealing intricate… tattoos…?

"Was this supposed to happen?" He asked, entirely too casual.

"…I have no idea what you're talking about." Ryūjin grunted.

"You're lying." Naruto said.

His hand moved, and a blade of wind followed. Ryūjin realized, with a scream, that three of his
fingers had been shorn off, including his ring finger.

"I don't know shit!" Ryūjin roared, enraged by the pain he was in. "What are you even talking
about?!"

Naruto snorted. "Of course you do! Look at this. Where do you think I learned your fancy
Uzumaki carving style?"

"What the fuck do you mean…?!" Ryūjin roared. "This has nothing to do with the Uzumaki arts."

Naruto stopped moving altogether.

"What do you mean?" He asked dangerously.

Ryūjin peeled back his own sleeve, revealing a couple raised scars that looked like Suijin's had.

Ryūjin didn't know this, of course, but they looked like Naruto's had, for the first few hours. Before
they had disappeared. Before they had changed altogether.

"I have no idea what you've done to yourself exactly, but you're lucky to even be alive!" Ryūjin
screamed.

"Why do you say this…?"

"Because of the Nine-Tails!" Ryūjin howled. How could he have lost against this lunatic? "Which
part of mixing a piece of divinity with another sounded like a good idea?! It's entirely unstable,
even riskier than if you had known what the hell you were doing in the first place! The Beast's
chakra has a will of its own — What do you think happens when your will, gods... and that thing
collide?! No sane Uzumaki would attempt this in the first place!"

"Yes." Naruto almost smiled. "I kinda realized all of this afterwards. So you have nothing more to
offer about the topic?"

"What more could I say?!" He growled.

"Hm." Naruto chuckled. "Not much, it's true."

He turned serious.

"What is Nagato planning? Is he still coming after me?"

"What…? For the tiny piece of the Nine-Tails you hold…?" Ryūjin asked, now confused. He let
out a short barking laugh. "Why would Nagato care about the equivalent of one tail of the Beast's
full power, when he has the rest of it already…?"

Naruto froze.

Ryūjin used that opportunity to undo the seals that had been placed upon him.

Kumo.

Karin had not been there when Taki was destroyed.

She was lucky enough to get the once-in-a-lifetime chance to experience the wide-spread
destruction of Kumo, instead.

Karin didn't fancy herself a medic nin, far from it. But today, considering the amount of wounded,
soon to be dead people… she might as well channel her inner Tsunade.

There had been people who recognized them. And some of them had been ready to attack them on
sight.

But she guessed — distantly — that seeing her walk around, carrying wounded and dead alike with
a vacant expression had assuaged their fears.

Karin dug under buildings, summoning clones to help her, a reflection of what Naruto had felt,
more than a month ago.

What awaited them, in the future…?

But she knew one thing. Naruto would never do something on this scale. And she would always
pick the lesser evil. Because there were no good options to pick from.

So if it took breaking the current system entirely… and the people responsible for it, and by proxy
responsible for people like Nagato coming to life in the first place…

Well, she really wouldn't mind dirtying her own hands too much.

Or maybe something of her, something precious was lost today. It was hard to say.

In the meantime, she healed people, dirty hands or not. Metaphorically dirty, of course.

The world could wait.

Sakura arrived, with no fanfare.

"I've seen the fighting on my way here." She said tiredly. Now that Karin could see, Sakura looked
as though she were barely standing.

Karin extended her chain to her.

"Take some of my chakra."

"…Do I look that bad?"

"Worse." Seeing Sakura's hesitant look. "Take it. I'm tired too, but I also have… a lot more chakra
than you."

"Maybe you should have taken the damn eye." Sakura mumbled. She finally held on to the chain,
letting it wrap around her own wrist.

"…No thanks, I think I'm good with my own." Karin retorted.

She began the chakra transfer.

"I warned the guys at the island." Sakura began. "They're ready… for whoever decides to leave
this smoking wreck."

Karin winced. "…Maybe we'll ask the people if they actually want to leave... later. And… Uh…
Maybe you shouldn't do the introductions."

Sakura lifted an eyebrow but didn't contest it. She started moving, helping the people that were
trapped.

"…I didn't bring Yugito." Sakura said, as she did so. "For obvious reasons."

Like the fact she would do something stupid like try to kill Nagato and die in the process.

And seeing the crumbled remnants of what was probably the strongest place on earth, just a few
hours ago… Yugito's own village. Nobody could blame her.

"…Me, I'll try to help the people who are left." Sakura finished.

Huh. So Sakura had a soul…?

Land of Earth.
"Be as it may, Beast." The woman spat, in her dying throes. "But Aka—"

A jet of chakra and steam exploded from the back of Han's elbow. He grunted with a satisfied
expression when his fist crushed the Kisu woman's skull.

Combination Bloodline? Nice.

Too bad she had been fighting alone, then.

Gods. He was alive, somehow. When the three Akatsuki ninja had come, he had thought that was
it.

Hell, he was beginning to think that this Umi news thing might have been telling the truth. He had
thought it was mere ramblings in the beginning, but if two or three people at around this strength
level really had come for Rōshi, even the crafty old ape would have found it tricky to escape.

Especially if had been fighting that young Uchiha beforeheand. Rōshi could be a hothead
sometimes, despite what his age — he was old, for a shinobi, and basically ancient for a jinchuuriki
— tended to make people believe.

And he had managed to leave Han as Iwa's sole jinchuuriki, which neither of them would have
wished on the other. He was no beast of burden, and only his grudging respect for Ōnoki kept him
doing his job. Though the man didn't seem like himself recently, ever since Kurotsuchi died.
Which had been Umi too, according to what they wrote.

That made no sense to him… or to Iwa, honestly. What kind of nation… No, it was a village. What
kind of village would willingly admit this? This cemented two things in Han's mind.

One: They were lunatics. Because it would take feeling above retribution to do something like this
and admit it. And Umi definitely wasn't. Or at least, not yet. Killing a Kage, and telling the world
you did it…? Gods.

Two: Maybe they were telling the truth about the rest. Sure, it could be a layered plan of admitting
a lesser fault in order to hide a bigger one, too. But their version of the events that happened made
more sense than whatever shit was currently being pushed by Iwa itself.

...And speaking of lunatics.

The Uzumaki man — the blond one — stood there, looking deep in thought. The older redhead
was nowhere to be seen.

"Did you kill him?" Han asked, coming closer.

The Uzumaki did not turn to face him.

"I have dealt with him." He said softly.

Han had expected something… else. Rage, maybe…? Not just this sort of emptiness.

"What does that mean?"

He turned to look at him and Han regretted it. He almost took a step back, without knowing why.
The Uzumaki was shorter than him, and younger too. His eyes stared into his own.

"It means that he won't be a problem anymore, don't concern yourself with the details of it."
Uzumaki Naruto's quiet voice said.
"He was after me." Han said hotly. "I think I—"

"And they were after me too." Uzumaki said, cutting right through him. "Which is why I'll be
taking him with me."

"It is —"

"Not going to be much better than being dead." Uzumaki said. "He might still be of some use."

Han kept quiet.

"I think we're done here." Uzumaki said, giving him a small nod of respect. Han hesitantly returned
it.

"…I thank you for the help, then." Han said.

A pause.

"Go home and hide." The blond smiled.

"…What?"

"They will come for you again." Uzumaki said in that same soft voice. "Hide, survive. Don't get
caught."

"I won't be able to do that, even if I wanted to." Han gritted out. Who did he think he was...?
"There's a war raging."

Uzumaki Naruto continued to look at him. These were the eyes of a cat, and they gleamed in a
similar way. It was a bit unsettling.

"Then find another way." He said quietly. "Don't go to the front. Not even Iwa itself is that safe,
really."

"Do you think I'm going to have a choice?" Han spat. "And leaving…? I—"

"You have a choice."

"Iwa is my home, still. I won't let them fight a war against Konoha without me."

"I was unaware that Iwa's border skirmishes were more important than the fate of the world."
Uzumaki said, something tight in his expression.

Han shrugged, a bit hesitantly. "...It is what it is."

"Are you willing to leave your village entirely while we settle this Akatsuki matter?"

What.

Han scoffed. "No."

Uzumaki smiled slightly. "I thought so."

The air around him seemed to bend, and there was a strange light coming from him, something that
crackled hungrily.

Han tensed. "Are you going to attack me?"

"…Do you believe that I could kill you? If I needed to do it, right now. If it seemed to me as
though it were the best choice. Do you think I would kill you?"

Looking into his eyes, Han believed that he would. And Five-Tails or not, he didn't really feel like
taking his chances against a man who had felled two S-ranked ninja and looked none the worse for
it.

So despite his pride, hating himself for it, Han nodded slowly.

"Good." Naruto said, and the pressure abated. "I'm sure you can find a way to convince the old
Tsuchikage that you staying hidden, somewhere outside of Iwa is better for everyone. Do what you
need."

Lightning crackled around Uzumaki and Han tensed again, ready for the hardest fight he could
conceive… and then he was gone.

Han leaned against a tree, his heart thumping.

Maybe he had been wrong.

Lunatic or not, — and there definitely was something there — this guy definitely felt above
retribution. And maybe he was right, in a way.

Han still wasn't sure what to do. He knew that if he ever met the Uzumaki again…

He would...

Nah. Fuck that.

This was too far above Han, at least. Let the world deal with it.
 A Cold Alliance

Konoha.

"If you think your flames will prevent me from taking you away, you're making a grave mistake."
Uchiha Obito said, not bothering to hide his face anymore.

In front of him, Uchiha Sasuke growled. He had barely managed to not get sucked in that man's
void thing until now. And if Ino — out of all people — hadn't warned him, he would have been
caught already.

Obito reached forward, through the flames.

His hand grabbed Sasuke and his intent was clear, even as his arm was burning. He would take
him and drop him wherever he wanted him to be. Sasuke was roaring, and the intensity of the
flames increased around him, carried by the half-sized Susanoo he was now using. Anything bigger
was too unwieldy in the middle of the compound.

There was a whirring sound and he realized that he might be in trouble.

Sasuke saw something flash in the corner of his vision.

What…? An arrow?

That's what it was, a wind-enhanced arrow struck the ground they were standing on, piercing
through a building entirely. Luckily, there was no one in.

Obito faded away to avoid it, with a frustrated grunt.

"What the hell is Neji doing?" He growled, looking at the direction the arrow had come from.

Sasuke couldn't tell who had shot it over this distance, with this sort of precision. It wasn't the kind
of shot he could make, and his eyes were better than almost any Uchiha in the clan.

He didn't waste any time, and swung his sword vertically. A wall of fire roared into existence,
aimed at the distant relative he had never known.

The man was fast, and dangerous too, even without taking his Mangekyō in account. That was
Kamui, Shisui had said, days ago. Now, if only Sasuke knew how the ability worked exactly in this
case.

When Obito became corporeal again, Sasuke used Kōjin to increase the fire's destructive power on
Obito's arm. With a grunt, the man—

Cut his own arm off.

Another arrow flew, forcing Obito to dodge again. Who was this…?

Obito was next to Sasuke again, ready to grab him. It happened so fast that he nearly missed it,
even with his Sharingan.

Suddenly, Itachi was there, a sword of black flame held in between his hands, a red-eyed
shadow. It was a perfect attack, with the perfect bait. Itachi's sword burned through Obito's brain,
consuming it in less than a second.
And there he stood, his elder brother. Over the burning body of a man who had pretended to be
someone he was not.

Itachi looked almost surprised that it had been so easy. But there was no illusion here. Then he
stiffened.

The body vanished.

Sasuke's flames extended in every direction. Seeking. And Itachi's eyes scanned the area in a zone,
making sure Sasuke was safe.

But this was the ultimate Sharingan technique.

Uchiha Shisui appeared around the block, blurring into motion.

Uchiha Obito rewrote reality, and when he reappeared, he noticed the newcomer. He went for
another option. His remaining hand wrapped itself around Itachi's wrist. Itachi's Susanoo exploded
to life and black flames covered him —

"You're dangerous. I'll take you out first." Obito muttered lowly.

And then they were gone, both of them.

Sasuke roared. But there was no way he could reach them.

Kamui Realm.

Itachi was dropped unceremoniously into a cold, endless plane of cubes of varying sizes.

As far as his eyes could see, there was nothing else… besides…

Part of a man's head…? Well it didn't look entirely human, but that's what it was. Brains and gore,
and a pair of beady eyes.

Obito froze.

"What?" He growled. "…How?"

Itachi didn't wait. The Sword of Totsuka extended, forcing Obito to move back.

"…No matter." The man grunted to himself. "It changes nothing. I need to extract Sasori."

Obito's eye turned to his only remaining hand, covered in black flames. His Sharingan flashed, and
the entire hand disappeared.

Then he disappeared from this realm entirely. Leaving Itachi alone.

He let his Susanoo fade away. There was no point, if the man could just wait for him to waste —

Waiting…?

Was this Uchiha Obito's plan? Leave him here to die? Because if so… if this really were an
isolated realm… Well, Itachi couldn't really think of a way to escape. And he hadn't been prepared
to be dropped in the middle of… this. He had no rations, no water.
No.

The plan was likely to bait Sasuke into coming to Obito himself. And knowing his younger
brother...

That was bad.

Well… He had nothing but time to think. Drawing himself into a sitting position, Itachi conserved
his energy and waited.

Orochimaru's spire. Umi.

"Is this really important?" Naruto asked when Hanabi came in. "I still have to go to Kumo,
apparently."

Hanabi turned to face Naruto. The fighting had been over for a while, and most of them were
taking care of the Kumo citizens on site.

The wounds from battle had faded from his body already, and his eyes were watchful. He had
come into the holding room — of course Orochimaru had a prison — just before her. Well, she had
run after him.

"So you almost got Neji, then? Ino didn't say much." Naruto asked. He barely seemed to react to
Neji's name.

"Yes, we captured him. He escaped" Hanabi said between clenched teeth. She didn't even know it
was possible in the first place. "Didn't Ino relay the message?"

"Maybe she did." Naruto said. "I had other things on my mind, at the time."

He seemed thoughtful.

"Good job, then, Hanabi." Naruto nodded. "Even if he escaped in the end, you still managed to
trick him. Maybe I should go after Neji myself." He mused.

A chill went up Hanabi's spine.

"…Naruto?"

"I get that he's a clan member." Naruto nodded. "And that although he is part of Akatsuki, you
might still care about him some." He sighed.

"…" Hanabi wasn't sure what she wanted here, exactly.

"I've killed Momochi Zabuza and — I almost forgot that I came here to drop him." Naruto said.

A scroll came out of his sleeve, and with it, he unsealed Uzumaki Ryūjin's ruined form.

Hanabi wanted to throw up. The man was alive, sure, and his wounds were closed… But he had no
more limbs.

They had been hacked off and the stumps cauterized roughly with either fire or... lightning.

"…What — Why?" She asked.

Naruto sighed again. "I'm sorry you had to see it."

"See it?… That's not what this is about." She said hotly.

"What is it about, then?" Naruto frowned. "He is too dangerous to keep around, otherwise. I just
made sure he couldn't hurt any of us. He's not a good man, believe me."

"…Still."

"He's the one who Neji left Konoha with, too. Maybe it's for the best that you didn't capture him. If
he had to see him like this…"

"…Is this what you intend to do to Neji?" Hanabi asked, with rising horror.

Naruto smiled slightly. "I do hope I won't need to."

Hanabi couldn't find any words.

"Tell me about Kumo, then." Naruto finished. "I couldn't really focus."

Naruto decided a few things concerning Kumo and Kiri matters.

Shortly after. Close to Umi.

Naruto appeared on the island where Sakura had told him she had left Yugito.

"You!" She almost roared.

"Stop." He said offhandedly. "We have no time for this, now."

"What?" She said incredulously. Her anger was boiling. "You think-"

"Akatsuki didn't only attack you." He said softly. "Kumo has been destroyed."

"What?!"

Time stood still. To Yugito, it was like the wind has stopped blowing, that the waves had stopped
rumbling. Naruto remained there, distant, almost unaffected.

It seemed as though this had knocked the breath out of her. She fell to her knees.

"…You're lying." She whispered.

"You already know I'm not. For what it's worth, I'm sorry."

"Take me there!"

"I don't think it is wise, right away."

"Take me there!" She growled.

Naruto took a long look at her. He decided something.

"Take my hand." Naruto simply said.

One moment they were close to Umi, the next they were on the cliff overlooking Kumo.

"No." Yugito breathed out at last. "There's no..."

The late-afternoon sun was hidden by a a few clouds. There were a few scattered people walking
the streets, putting out the last of the fires. Smoke and ash made the whole place look grey.

And the entire city was nothing more than a crater.

"No. No. NO. NO"

Yugito howled.

"What… Do I do?"

Naruto knew she wasn't talking to him, not really. He wished he could have helped her somehow,
but right now…

"…Where is the Raikage?" Yugito asked him. Naruto pursed his lips.

"…Dying. Poisoned by the Nine-Tails' chakra."

"No… And... B? Where is B?!"

Naruto wasn't going to say anything about it, of course. But he really didn't feel much about this
particular issue. He continued.

"Killer Bee has been captured. And according to what Karin told me, the Raikage wants to see
you."

"I should have been there — I could've-" Yugito began.

"You have no idea what Nagato can do." Naruto shook his head. "You being here would have
changed nothing."

"How can you say this?!" She whirled around.

Naruto sighed.

"Because me being there would have changed nothing either. Because he possesses both the
Rinnegan and the Nine-Tails. Even if I had been there… I'd just be dead right now."

To Yugito, the Raikage looked as though he were dead already.

He was covered head to toe in bandages that barely managed to sponge the thick, bloody mucous
that soaked them. The only thing that made Yugito believe that it really was him was his size… as
well as his eyes. You couldn't mistake them, Matatabi inside you or not.

Because they had just opened and were staring at her, half-blindly. Everything was going fast, way
too fast. Her world had just been turned upside down.

"…Yugito." He croaked. "How did you get… here so fast? I just... sent for you."

Before she even had the time to give him an explanation he would not have liked about a man he
liked even less, he started coughing and choking on his breath.
"No matter." The man coughed. That sounded bad.

"I don't think you're in the shape for this." Yugito said. "I'll call for a heal—"

The man scoffed. They could not do anything for him, he probably thought. That was why he had
dismissed them altogether. Or maybe it was that to a man like the Raikage, one who prided himself
on his strength, the idea of prolonging this state of weakness was unbearable.

"I do… not have the time… to wait."

It set off another wet cough, with phlegm escaping his body. Yugito could hear his lungs rattling.

"Keep your strength." She muttered.

The Raikage realized he didn't have much time, then. Yugito did as well. Swallowing her fears, she
asked him.

"What do you require of me?"

"Protect the people… who are left." The Raikage began. "There is… no one else… who can.
Everybody... is... dead."

Yugito bowed her head, with a tight stomach.

"Starting… now… you are… the Fifth Raikage. Yugito… I'm… leaving Kumo's people… to you."

"…Yes."

"Save… my brother." He cried. Yugito felt her own heart clench painfully. "And… if you can't…
if he is already… — Make sure… this Rinnegan bastard… dies."

"Yes."

The Raikage died soon after passing the role onto her.

He probably had been holding on to the last of his strength for this. Would she have reached in
time if she had still been in Water...? Probably not.

Why her?

The Fourth was the first to express how risky it was to have your jinchuuriki and you Kage be the
same person — and he didn't say it just because it would have been a complete disaster to have
Killer B at the helm. The loss of either was terrible enough on its own. But now, if she were to die
or get captured…

Why her…?

There were plenty of strong Kumo ninja left in the village… Outside of it. Were there not…?

Many had died today. And many had died during the war already. The list of people strong
enough and qualified to lead was a pretty short one, now. And he had been desperate.

The metaphorical Raikage's hat hung heavy.

She was the leader of a pile of ruins, as well as several thousand men. She suddenly
felt very cynical. And very alone, too.

Which didn't mean that she wanted any sort of company. Someone didn't get the memo. And it had
to be him.

Uzumaki Naruto hung close to the village's crater, seemingly unwilling to enter it.

"He named you Fifth Raikage, didn't he?" Naruto asked her, without a preamble.

"That's got nothing to do with you." She snapped. "I'm not going to waste my breath on you
anymore. There are too many things to do, right now."

He lifted an eyebrow. "I think this might have a lot to do with me, actually. Kumo has lost
thousands. Dozens of thousands. My friends have come here to help minimize the death toll. And I
would have come myself if I could have."

It was the truth, she had heard the rumors in town already. She was pretty sure there were some
that started to believe that maybe the 'rumors' and 'nonsense' that came from Umishinbun… carried
some truth, at least.

"Be as it may." Yugito clenched her fists. She took a long breath. "...I thank you on behalf of
Kumo. You may now leave."

If she had thought this was going to be enough…

"Kumo has never been weaker." Naruto said flatly. "The village itself has no more defenses, has
just lost its Kage, its strongest jinchuuriki, and the last one has become their leader… and so will
be out of combat for the foreseeable future. That's without mentioning the thousands and thousands
of dead shinobi."

She whirled around, claws extended. He didn't flinch.

"What the fuck do—"

"I am not saying this to provoke you. But I've seen what this leads to, centuries—" Naruto marked
a pause. "I know what this leads to. Your enemies will pounce on Kumo."

And there were plenty.

"Don't you think I know this already?" She gritted her teeth.

"That's not it. You're also going to have people who disagree with your nomination, considering
how far from protocol it is."

There was a succession line in Kumo usually, based on the A-B team. Considering the
circumstances, Yugito had thought that—

Wait. How does he even know this?

"…What are you suggesting?" She growled. What had happened to him these last few months? "If
you're talking about silencing them—"

"That's not what I meant." Naruto frowned. "Though I am ready to use my reputation if it helps.
And I wouldn't shy away from getting rid of a few... problematic people for you."

"Don't feel the need." Yugito said, coldly. "…What do you mean, then?"
He turned to face her entirely.

"Right now, I come here to offer you a chance to build toward peace together. I have come without
any intention of using force. I believe we need each other."

He extended his hand.

Need…? This fucking bastard.

Yugito saw his hand and she felt the need to tear it apart, for a moment.

"…Out of my sight." Yugito growled.

"No." Naruto shook his head.

"Leave!"

"We could use your help. And you could use ours." He said quietly.

"Leave. Do not come back."

"I am sorry for deceiving you last time." He continued, unimpeded. "I won't do that to you
anymore."

She shook her head, bemused. The balls, on that one. "You are the biggest bastard I know of. This
won't be the last—"

Naruto chuckled. "We both know that's not true. It just hurt because you thought I was better than
this. Which I am not. I am a shinobi, through and through."

She gritted her teeth.

"And I may be a bastard." Naruto admitted. "I've been one, in every li—"

Yugito frowned when he cut himself off. He continued.

"The thing I want more than anything is to stop this endless cycle of war, to break this oppressive
system that breeds people like Nagato… or me, in a way."

"…You expect me to believe you're still going after peace…?" Yugito scoffed.

His voice grew soft. "Yes."

Truth, in his soul.

"And do you think your peace will last?" She spat.

"I hope so. For a long, long time." There was something sure in his eyes.

"…"

"I can't guarantee you eternity, but I'm sure a few hundred years is a start." Naruto said easily.
"And I can protect your people. All of the civilians, at the very least."

Yugito scoffed. "It's not the time for jokes, far from it."

"I am not. Who else could offer you that?"

He looked absolutely serious.

Yugito didn't know if she wanted to laugh or cry. Had he completely lost it or… did he really
believe it was possible?

She couldn't help it. Yugito started to chuckle.

He didn't mind.

"…Allying with you means renouncing Konoha." Yugito began.

"Temporarily." He admitted. "I won't stop until all of the villages are assembled under one banner.
Konoha will come around. They won't be able to attack you either way."

Well, considering the alliance with Konoha had devolved into nothing more than just focusing on
their own enemies, there was not that much there.

"Under your banner…?" She spat. "You're a terrible option. There is something… dark in you."

"I know." He admitted easily, taking the wind out of her sails. "Or it might just be my soul, who
knows." He chuckled.

She growled.

"But it doesn't matter if it's my banner or someone else's, really." Naruto shook his head. "It just so
happens that I am more likely to manage than others."

"What makes you sure?"

He gave her a wry look. "I know of a few ways that won't work, by now."

She had no idea what he meant. Naruto continued.

"You're going to need a stable base in the meantime. Kumo won't do… for obvious reasons." He
pointed at the crater.

If that man, Nagato, had done it once…

"…Are you going where I think you're going?" She said, glaring at him, almost manic. "After all
—"

"Umi can offer you a stable, safe place, for all the people willing to leave this place."

"Kumo ninja won't renounce their culture." Yugito gritted out.

He laughed.

"And I'm not asking them to. But a place isn't a culture. The people will take their hearts with
them."

She would at least listen to his terms.

"What are you asking, then?"

He smiled at last; sunshine after rain.

"All I'm asking you is to become part of something bigger. Something built on lasting foundations
for peace. Just like Umi will be part of it… Just like Taki's culture still lives on… Kumo's people
will live on."

Gods. Was she actually willing to listen…? Even Matatabi was strangely silent, ever since he had
come.

"This is your chance to stop this senseless war with Kiri. We have something in the works, there
too." Naruto continued. "You can do that. Without fear of retribution."

"Why do you insist so much?" She muttered. "Do you need what's left of our troops that much?"

"No." He said simply. "I'm not even sure if the troops are worth the hassle. I'd prefer to deal with
the civilians only, honestly."

"Then what could be so important? It's not about me, is it?" She asked, unsure why she still found
that she cared, if only a little bit.

"Fuck no." He said flatly, and she felt the sudden desire to make him eat these words.

"Then what?"

"This is about the future. The fate of the world hangs on this."

Naruto looked at her, and for a moment she could almost forget just how close to the edge he had
seemed, just minutes ago. That was the traitorous part. These moments of utter clarity.

"I know what you're thinking." Naruto smiled. "I don't need you to open the bond for this. And I
get that right now, you don't trust me. I probably wouldn't, either."

"…You manipulative bastard." Yugito gritted out.

"As for me… If I can't convince someone I trust to do the right thing… How could I possibly
change the world?"
 The Shape of Water

Now, how to go about Kiri…? There were a few specifics to plan out.

A few days later. Umi.

Despite Yugito's initial objections, she had ended up realizing the truth.

There was no real place for Kumo's civilians to go. Konoha barely cared, and even then, they had a
war to manage. If they took the people in, it would be as Konoha citizens... or with Kumo itself as
a vassal state.

The Daimyo and the Raikage had had a tense relationship for as long as Kumo had existed. How
could it not, when the village had the strength to topple the imperial city… and the imperial city
had the fundings to allow the village to exist in the first place…?

So relying more on the man was out of the question. There would be no moving to the imperial
city. The fact that Kumo had fallen so quickly was likely not going to help convince the Daimyo
that shinobi were truly worth the cost.

And while ninja could live in a fortress for extended periods, that wasn't the case for civilians. Or
rather, they simply wouldn't want to.

So Yugito and Naruto had agreed on something.

In exchange for Umi's help with bringing the war with Kiri to an end… and to avoid something like
Nagato happening again, most of Kumo's civilian population would move to the islands.

The ninja would mostly remain on the mainland, to hold the land. And Naruto knew that most of
them would end up realizing the usefulness of being able to travel around so easily, so it was only a
matter of time before more of them joined Umi's Kumo branch. Yugito probably did, too.

Kumo's official headquarters were based in the islands, as well.

It was a first, tentative step toward peace.

Red Island, between Water and Lightning, one of the main reasons the war had started between
Kumo and Kiri in the first place, would be conceded to the Land of Water. It would help, as their
shinobi were just as weary.

That was an opening.

There was the problem of Kiri's higher-ups still being Akatsuki puppets. Naruto had sent Anko and
Sakura there to sort it out.

First, to figure out if they were dealing with mind control or not.

Second… to deal with them if needed.

And then… It wouldn't be that hard to find someone who had the skills to lead and was willing to
work toward peace.

At this point, handling an influx of several thousand people was something Umi could more or less
manage without Naruto micromanaging the whole thing. He had something else on his mind, so he
departed from the island after leaving a few clones behind to handle the day-to-day operations.

Orochimaru had left him a scroll containing contact information for several of his informants
throughout the world. Some of them, Naruto had already met in person with him.

He had only skimmed through the scroll before, but he had a need to find someone, right now.
Maybe the informants could help with that.

Naruto wasn't sure why he suddenly knew he had to see her now. Just that he had to.

His mind was all over the place today, and his thought process was usually so jumbled it was a
miracle he got anything done at all. The memories blending in with his own almost seamlessly
were not helping matters at all.

Since Orochimaru was gone now, and he didn't have the answers he was looking for anyway, he
would need to find somebody more… ancient.

And there was one of the informants that could be of use, when it came to Kiri. Well, if she truly
was who he thought she might be.

The first few informants were a complete waste of time, and they seemed to realize Naruto wasn't
too pleased.

He wasn't entirely sure why they looked so terrified, though.

Well, he didn't really have the patience to play their usual games, so maybe he had been a bit too
blunt.

For the next one, though, he might need to be a bit more tactful.

Miyamachi is the former merchant district of Miya, where several traditional residential buildings
and warehouses stand.

Boutiques, shops, cafes, restaurants, as well as other commodities line the district's narrow lanes.

The city of Miya itself is a castle town, also called Jōkamachi, meaning that the city surrounds a
feudal lord's castle. This being in the Land of Tea, the current Daimyō didn't stay here, but rather in
the imperial capital.

Many of Miyamachi's buildings were machiya, long, narrow "townhouses" that served both as
shops and as the living quarters of the local merchants.

The store fronts of machiya were often kept narrow in order to save money on taxes, which tended
to be calculated on a house's street access, rather than total area.

Before its development into a merchant district a few centuries ago, the area that is Miyamachi
today used to be occupied almost entirely by the once-spacious grounds of a temple.

The name of which… Naruto couldn't remember, frankly. Ino was better at this sort of thing
anyway, which was why he brought her along. That, and her ability to read minds, of course.
Which might always come in handy when talking with informants. He had brought her along for a
few promising leads, the day before.
"Are you sure it's here?" Ino asked again. He had asked her if she could join him for this particular
meeting only, as there was still the matter of safety-checking Kumo's people. It would be a
welcome break for her.

"It seems like it." Naruto nodded. Then he squinted.

What was that…? He thought he saw something long and spindly walk among the people, and a
shiver crawled up his spine. There was nothing there. He focused again.

He knew this sort of building and had no particular fondness for it. Opium was a very addictive
narcotic, made from dried poppies seeds. It offered relief from pain, aches, and reality altogether.

Which meant that for shinobi, it was a very tempting, dangerous thing. It had been brought to the
Land of Tea by Earth, and some insisted that it had been done on purpose, in order to destabilize its
economy.

The Land of Tea was currently trying to get it labeled as a dangerous drug, but considering the
amount of people who used it medicinally, it was an ongoing effort.

And opium dens such as this one, were commonly frequented by both men and women, from all
social classes. Stopping by for a session of euphoric numbness… or an entire day of it.

Naruto sighed, and they went in.

The inside of the place was a bit better than what he had expected. A pretty dark place, sure, but
not as much as he had expected. People were sitting at tables, on long couch-like seats. It if weren't
for the unmistakable smell in the air, and their dazed expressions, it would be easy to believe it was
just a smoking bar.

Naruto extended his chakra senses. He didn't notice anything in particular.

"I don't like this place." Ino murmured.

"Neither do I. Well, opium consumption used to be much worse, a few decades ago, I saw— No
matter. The other informants had nothing, let us hope this one does."

Naruto walked around. He knew the woman would call for him. And she did once he passed her
by.

"Good evening." She greeted; she was a woman in her thirties, sitting on velvety cushions, pulling
on a kizaru. Green eyes; long blond hair. Irezumi tattoos covered her right arm. "You must be
Orochimaru's apprentice."

She was who he thought she was. Up close, her chakra presence could only belong to Katashi's
line.

'Aren't you thankful for this?'

Naruto didn't react to the voice. He smiled lightly and sat down close to the woman, setting a
privacy seal with a simple touch. "Are my clothes this conspicuous… or do I also look like a raging
psychopath?"

After some hesitation, Ino sat as well.

"That..." The woman exhaled with a small laugh. "And the way you glide around the floor,
scanning for threats. It's not so obvious, of course… but it is easy to see where you got it from."

"Maybe." He nodded.

"So why did you come here yourself? I don't think we have met yet." She gave him a curious look.

"Orochimaru is dead." Naruto said bluntly.

"…Oh." She let out slowly. "I have wondered where… No matter. Thank you for warning me. I
may have to move, without his protection."

Naruto lifted an eyebrow. He might not be as good of a sensor as Karin was, but he could tell.

She was a shinobi, and a powerful one at that. And she wasn't nearly as good as Sakura was, when
it came to hiding her presence.

Naruto just nodded outwardly.

"Although…" The woman said slowly. "That's not why you're here, is it?"

"I have use for your services."

She raised an eyebrow. "…Really? And what makes you think it works this way? What do you
have to offer me?"

'She's after power. I have trouble telling what sort.' Ino said.

'Of course she is.' Naruto almost smiled. 'That's what we're here for.'

If Orochimaru's notes on her had been right, it might prove to be a bit more than simple craving for
power, though.

"I'll tear down the current shinobi system. And then we'll need people to rebuild. People who are
better than the previous generation."

"Hmpf. Just that?" The woman huffed. "How presumptuous."

"Not that much, really. I will need you."

"Unless you can change the past, I think it's a bit too late for that."

"I aim to change the course of history." Naruto said. "That should be good enough for you."

"Huh." She inhaled more smoke, looking derisive. "Nothing more? And you say it without
blinking, too. Just how do you plan to do that?"

"I will start by replacing the Kage and their entourage by people more… amenable to peace."

"…That's a bit too blunt to say like this." Ino chided.

"So you mean…" The woman started, somewhat amused. "You're going to kill all of the people
that won't agree to stop their wars?"

"In other words." Naruto shrugged. Ino frowned.

"So that's what's been happening…?"

"Could be." Naruto said curtly.

"That's still going to leave a few warmongers, murderers in power, just like before… I see two of
them right now, in fact. Nothing so different."

Ino gave her a dark look, but Naruto just smiled blandly.

"People who are ready to kill should be ready to die, too. That goes for us, too." Ino said.

"As long as the people in charge are willing to accept long-lasting peace and the structural changes
that come with it, I don't really care who they are. If they change their minds afterwards… we'll
deal with that when it comes to it." Naruto continued.

The woman scoffed. "And your dubious morality aside… What makes you think that you will
be able to do something like this in the first place?"

I've done it times and times again, before you were born.

"…You've heard of me, haven't you?"

The woman made a face.

"Who hasn't… by now? But I have to admit… I have trouble making sense of the way you are…
sowing chaos."

"It is more controlled than it might seem." Ino said, arms folded.

"Of course, of course." The other woman nodded. "It always is. Until it's not anymore."

"You know better than most what it takes to shake things up… don't you?" Naruto asked, cutting
through the chase. He looked at her pointedly. "And you know what it takes. I will become the
most powerful man in the world, and then we'll unify the mainland. That's the only way to stop
this."

A long silence stretched.

"…I see you're serious about this. Well… All Uzumaki are headstrong, aren't they?" She exhaled.
"Now… I would ask you where you learned about me… but considering who your master was…"

"Indeed." Naruto nodded blandly. That wasn't the full reason, as Orochimaru didn't know all of the
details, but well. It was easier to explain.

"So… What are you offering exactly?" The woman inhaled slowly. "I'm sure you're very strong
and I'm terribly impressed, of course…"

"I need you to become Mizukage." Naruto said. "I know that's what you wanted, once."

The woman choked on her smoke, and started to cough loudly. People were starting to turn toward
them. Naruto waved his hand, and Wind carried it away. He made a come-hither motion, and the
same thing happened with the smoke in her throat; she stopped choking. And she probably realized
just how easy it would be for him to do the opposite thing to a weaker shinobi.

"What was that about…?" The woman asked, dumbfounded.

"What the fuck is this?!" Ino raged. "You didn't say anything about this."
Naruto shrugged. "I had to figure out what kind of person she was first."

"Oh?" Ino looked darkly amused. "And the whole five minutes of obscure conversation in a
fucking opium den convinced you?!"

"No." Naruto shook his head. "More the fact that you didn't have anything to say about her,
compared to the shady people we met yesterday."

"They were terrible, all of them—"

"And she isn't, then." Naruto nodded. "Glad we could agree on this." He smiled.

"Not that I'm very fond of you reading my mind…" The woman said dryly. "But what makes you
think this is a good idea in any way…?"

"According to Orochimaru, you have what it takes to run a huge intel network. If you are who I
think you are, you were already prepared to take the role, once. And more than anyone, I'm sure
you want peace, too." Naruto gave her a long look. "Considering your past."

Ino looked ready to explode. "Okay. Who is she, really? Orochimaru's scroll mentioned Kaya
Chinatsu, originally from Hot Water. She is not her, then."

The woman looked somewhat amused.

"Don't you recognize her?" Naruto asked, pointing at her. "Look at the face shape, the color of her
eyes, too, they are all the trademarks of—"

Ino gave him a bland look. "Of what…?"

…These were not his memories, then. If Ino didn't recognize the face, there was no reason for him
to be able to.

"Of what…?" She repeated. "Who is she?"

"Mei." The woman smiled at last. "Terumi Mei. But he knew this already."

"I thought the Terumi clan was kill— Sorry." Ino said.

Mei frowned.

"We were. I'm the only survivor. I left Mist… and the Land of Water altogether."

"And with these chakra natures, there was only one person you could be. Terumi Katashi's son…
or his granddaughter." The Uzumaki said. "You were a Kiri jonin, aiming for the hat, until
they killed you."

"…Why would you even know of my grandfather?" Mei asked with a strange expression. "He was
well-known, once. But that was before Kiri was even founded."

"It doesn't matter." Uzumaki Naruto waved off. "Would you be willing to return to Kiri?"

She lifted an eyebrow.

"The place that killed my clan, my family?" Mei drawled.

"Most men sent after your clan died in the attack. Yagura is dead."

"I learned of this, yes." She smiled darkly.

"But some of the people who agreed about the decision are still in power. And thriving."

"…I know this, as well." Mei growled.

"You could do something about it." Ino offered. "And help us broker peace with Kumo."

Mei just gritted her teeth.

"Yagura was manipulated by someone else. That is why he changed so suddenly."

Mei frowned.

"…It's in the past, now." She sighed. "I have no interest in the matters of Kiri."

Ino furrowed her brows.

"In that case, we'll find someone else." Naruto said. "It was more of spur of the moment idea.
You're qualified, since Orochimaru kept you around for years, and strong too, if you're anything
like your grandfa—… I believe you want peace, too. And power. It would be an easy sell to Kiri. A
way to move beyond the bloody past."

"…I don't care about Kiri." Mei almost growled.

"This is not true. Far from it. She does care." Ino said.

Mei glared at her. "I don't recall asking for your opinion on this matter. Stop reading into my
mind."

The air became drier around them. Neither of the two reacted.

"Stop broadcasting, then." Ino shrugged.

"There's another Akatsuki puppet behind Kiri's latest actions." Naruto said, almost casually. "Who
knows what they're planning."

"…What?" Mei asked dangerously.

Naruto smiled evenly.

"You never left the shinobi life behind. And you focused your intelligence gathering on Kiri's
enemies, so you missed it." Naruto continued. Seeing she was about to protest. "You can deny it if
you want, but it's clear to both of us that you still care about your home."

"A whole lot, even." Ino finished. "That's established."

'Little bitch.' Mei thought. Now that she had regained some control over the situation, she didn't
seem to care that much about her previous reservations.

"So, the question is…" Naruto continued, leaning forward. "How much do you care?"

They knew they had her.

"…Very well." Mei sighed. "I won't let Kiri continue to rot."

"Oh please." Naruto smiled lightly. "It was what you wanted to do all along. Fix Kiri. We'll just
help you along."

"Tell her to stop reading my mind." Mei growled.

"I can't help it if you send everything out." Ino deadpanned.

"And I didn't need any help for this." Naruto shrugged.

"So…" She drummed her fingers on the table. "Assuming all of this is even possible in the first
place—"

"It is."

"What do you want in return?"

"I have to admit I didn't come here only for this in the first place, but I'm happily surprised."
Naruto grinned.

"...Oh?" Mei lifted an eyebrow.

"Yeah." Naruto leaned back. "As for what I want… I'm looking for information about a woman.
Now… it's going to be a bit vague, but here goes…"

Umi.

"…For real?" Karin asked Tanabe Mai - the head of intel.

"It seems as though he is." The woman nodded, her lips pursed. "Should I wait for Naruto to come
back?"

Karin thought about it. It might be somewhat dangerous, considering they didn't know what he
wanted exactly.

"And he didn't say what he wanted… at all?"

"Just that he needed to speak with Uzumaki Naruto. And it sounded quite urgent, by his tone." Mai
shook her head.

Karin sighed. She drummed her fingers on the table.

Then she stood up.

"…Karin?"

"I'm going to meet him instead. Whatever he needs to say to Naruto, he can say to me. It's the same
thing, really. I'll relay the rest to Naruto later."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course." Karin smiled.

Deep down, she really wasn't too reassured. Still, she left Umi shortly after.
Karin reappeared somewhere close to the meeting place, in the Land of Rice. She sent a shadow
clone in her place, and hid herself further away.

She focused her mind on the clone, ready to dispel it at a moment's notice.

Karin — her clone, technically — didn't have to wait for too long, and the person she was waiting
for stepped out of the shadows.

"…You have no idea how difficult it is to find any of you, when you have multiple security checks
to pass just to reach the people relaying the messages to Umi." The man said.

"I think I do, actually." Karin said with a small smile. "After all, I helped put these measures in
place."

He didn't answer.

"It has been a very long time, hasn't it?" Karin asked.

"…It has." The man agreed. His expression was unreadable. "Hello, Karin."

"Hello, Sasuke."
 A Bargain

Eastern Land of Fire.

Naruto extended his chakra senses, and rolled his shoulders.

Talking with Mei had been unfruitful, when it came to finding the person he was looking for. They
had extended a direct line of contact through connected scrolls, with many plans for the future,
though. Which might be worth more than the information itself.

Talking to the ten next informants had been useless, though.

And in all honesty, he had not exactly expected anything else. Well, he had gotten something good
out of this, at least.

Now… how did you find a ghost? He would ask Hanabi usually, but she seemed tense around him,
now. He could understand, too, so he would do things by himself for a little while.

Naruto didn't mind.

While he loved three of them, and cared deeply for the others, there were some things that he could
only find when he was alone. And keeping up the facade, pretending he was entirely there, was
getting harder and harder.

Not peace of mind, though, far from it, considering how much his mind kept on turning,
remembering, whispering.

But the wind's song, the distant thunderstorms, the fire in his veins. The call of the waxing moon.
The Night, overshadowing it all.

His footsteps guide him, and he knows where to go.

With barely a thought, wind and lightning come to him and he leaps toward the skies.

Land of Rice.

The silence that stretched between Karin and Sasuke was definitely not comfortable.

"…Why did you want to meet Naruto?" She finally asked.

Sasuke's hand tightened around his sword.

"Is he not here, then?" Sasuke asked in clipped tones.

"No."

Sasuke squinted his eyes. "You are a clone."

"Indeed."

Sasuke moved with surprising swiftness. He trapped her clone in a Sharingan genjutsu and
extracted her real location. Karin cursed.
Sasuke blurred forward toward her and jumped over the row of jagged spikes she summoned in a
blink.

'It really couldn't go that smoothly, could it…?'

His chakra was pooling into... his hair?

"Ninja Art: Needle Jizō!"

Sasuke's ponytail whipped around as he flipped through the air, sharp spikes of black hair needling
the entire area around them.

Karin's left hand flew up, and one of the rings on her fingers glinted in the light.

"Seeking Chain!" She called.

A golden chain extended from her fingers, spinning in circles to deflect the sharp needles. All of
them.

Sasuke was closing the distance, now.

There was something blue in his hand, full of whirling energy. Something she knew very well.
Karin retracted her chain.

Chakra gathered to her left hand as well, in a mirror of Sasuke's attack.

The same chain extended again, and carried the orb with it. Better not to let him come close.

She saw the surprise on Sasuke's face.

"Rasengan!"

The attacks collided. They held them there for a while, grunting, before they detonated. The chain
dispelled, and Sasuke was sent flying.

Sasuke landed on his feet, looking uncertain. Karin's chain floated in the air lazily.

"…Where did you learn this…?" He asked.

"What do you think?" She shot back. "This is Naruto's father's technique."

Sasuke pursed his lips. Flames flickered around his form for an instant. Then they died down.

"…I shouldn't have attacked you." He shook his head. "I… I'm not exactly thinking straight. Sorry.
If Naruto's not here, it doesn't matter anyway."

"Whatever it is you want to ask Naruto, you can ask me." She said.

"…No. This is not something I can ask you." He said, starting to walk away.

"Did you come to try to kill him?" She asked, folding her arms. She had no doubt that he
would not manage, no matter how strong he was.

Sasuke paused. "…I am supposed to, but that's not why I'm here. Not today."

"Spit it out. You're not going to find him anywhere else."

"…" Sasuke stopped moving.

"That's what I thought." Karin began. "You're not even looking to fight him, then…?"

Sasuke said nothing.

"Ah. No, it's way more complicated than just this, isn't it?" Karin asked. "You need him."

Sasuke didn't stiffen, only because he was already too still. But something changed in his posture.

"…Believe me, I know how absurd it might sound." Sasuke turned around again, and his face was
hard. "The man I'm supposed to kill, who likely killed my father—"

"We didn't." Karin said stiffly.

"We? You are involved then, Karin."

She lifted an eyebrow. "Did you think my uniform was just for show?"

He let out a small sound that could have been considered a chuckle.

"I find it somewhat hard to believe none of you have anything to do with… my father."

Karin shrugged. "We told everything we knew about it already. We think Danzō was played by
Akatsuki, and it has something to do with a man named Yakushi Kabuto. Or Sasori of the Red
Sand. "

"I've read this already, of course… You don't have any concrete proof. In your… news press, I
mean." Something strange passed through his eyes. "I've read some of the issues."

"So?"

"…That was Toru, wasn't it?" He asked with a grim face. "At least, some of the earlier comics."

"Yes." Karin nodded slowly. "Yes, it was. And you already know what we know about his death,
if you read the rest of them."

"That Danzō did it…?" Sasuke asked, keeping his tone carefully even.

"Yes."

He sighed. "Honestly, I can believe it."

Karin was surprised. Unpleasantly.

Sasuke continued, his face somber. "And if it was the truth, we would have done something about
Danzō ourselves, no matter if he was… technically getting rid of a missing ninja. Toru didn't do
anything wrong." He said angrily.

"We agree, then. What's your issue with us, here?"

"Aside from the issue with my dad… and the people I know you have killed? And what you're
doing through the world? What do you think is going to happen to the war front, with Danzō
gone…?" He asked exasperatedly. "Why did you act now?"

Karin lifted an eyebrow. "So it is about the war…?"

"Don't you understand…? People will die in Konoha—"

"Instead of people in Wind."

Sasuke gave a grim nod. "I know what you're saying, but less people would have died."

"…What of Iwa?" Karin asked pointedly. "They won't back down, that's almost for certain. This
war is barely halfway through."

"…"

"And what of Kumo?" She folded her arms again. "Would Danzō really have trusted them to
remain allies, even if we didn't intervene…? Or would he have sabotaged them?"

Sasuke winced. "I can't guarantee what would have happened."

"…Me neither."

Sasuke's features hardened. "But no matter if you are telling the truth or not about… my father,
Danzō. Kakashi died by Naruto's hand, and to me, this is unforgivable."

His face was stern.

"…I won't deny this." Karin said slowly. "They tried to kill each other. Naruto won."

There was real emotion on Sasuke's face. He pushed it aside.

"So it is true. Then I have to find him." Sasuke repeated.

"What for?" Seeing that he wasn't going to elaborate. "You probably won't get to meet him for a
long while, if I don't warn him."

"I don't have any time to waste." Sasuke growled. "None at all."

"Then tell me. If it's important, I will make sure he knows. As soon as possible."

Uchiha Sasuke looked conflicted. Or maybe that was a bit of an understatement. He looked as
though he was drowning in his own emotions.

"…We may be able to help, Sasuke." Karin tried. "Depending on what this is about. We don't have
to actually be enemies."

"…Itachi."

"Your brother…?" Karin furrowed her brows. "Did something happen to him?"

Sasuke gritted his teeth, but continued.

"He was taken away."

"…Akatsuki?"

"Yes." He said in clipped tones. "By the man that you know as Tobi. Uchiha Obito."

"We know who he is."

"He grabbed him and disappeared with him." Sasuke spat.

"…I still fail to see what this has to do with us."

She could almost see the fire burning in Sasuke's gut.

"The eye — Kakashi's eye! They come from the same person — their ability must be the same!"
Sasuke shouted.

Karin almost slapped her forehead. Sakura. She groaned.

"…Are you sure of this?" Karin asked.

Sasuke shook his head, now looking a tiny bit unsure. He deflated.

"No. Not fully, at least. But… Kakashi… He could make things disappear, just like the man can
make himself disappear. There must be a connection!"

"MIght." Karin stressed.

…So Sasuke knew about it, too.

"And Naruto took the eye!" He roared, and some flames started to escape him. "Where did you
take it?"

"Calm yourself." Karin grunted. "There is no need to throw a tantrum. Attack me if you want, but I
will defend myself."

"I don't want to calm myself." He snapped. "This is—"

"As far as I know, Kakashi gave his eye to Naruto." She said with a stiff voice.

"What— This is ridiculous!" Sasuke roared. "Why would he give—"

"I think it's the only way to counter that Uchiha's ability."

"Why would he give it to—"

"Because..." Karin said dryly. She was not really enjoying this meeting with an old friend. "He
probably thought that Naruto was a… better option than letting the eye rot away. Better than
Uchiha Obito. I don't think we're in the wrong here at all, honestly."

Trying to wipe the heated glare upon his face, Sasuke took a long breath.

"Why should I believe you?"

Karin groaned. "Fuck if I care, do whatever you want."

He looked dumbfounded. "What…?"

"This was useless. I'm leaving." Karin readied herself to do so.

"…Wait."

She lifted an eyebrow.

"Look, I told you what we knew. I don't think either of us is going to get much more from this. You
should be glad it was me, and not Naruto himself. He'd have beaten you senseless."
Or something more unpleasant. He had some pretty... unpredictable moods, some days. Not with
any of them, of course, but outside of Umi…

Sasuke frowned again. "…Is he that strong now?"

She laughed. Sasuke frowned harder.

"…Never mind that." He said. "But that doesn't matter, anyway. I hate everything he has done,
everything he plans to do. If it weren't for… the bind I find myself in…"

Karin regained her countenance.

"You shouldn't meddle with this." She shook her head. "Go back to Konoha."

"I… haven't been to the village in the last few days." Sasuke admitted.

"…What? Are you—"

"I'm not leaving." He said hotly. "I told them why I was going in hiding to protect the village. And
I'm looking for Jiraiya, too — I have to talk with the toads, I've been ignoring their calls for the last
days, while I got this… sorted out."

Karin pursed her lips. It wasn't her role to tell him, but she pitied him, for a moment.

"…It doesn't seem like you're very good at hiding yourself."

Sasuke sounded frustrated. "I can defend myself. If I stay in the village, these bastards will attack
it. And considering what happened to Kumo…"

He let the sentence hang.

"…You're right." Karin admitted.

Sasuke grunted in answer.

"And you were right before. About the eye. We have it, and we used it already."

"Then—"

"But I can assure you, we don't know how to use it to transport a person. And we're not willing to
give you the eye, either."

"…"

"Sorry. The whole situation sucks." She made to leave again.

"…I think Itachi is trapped inside." He added quickly.

"…The hell are you talking about? Inside what?" Karin asked, frowning. "Amegakure? Again,
sorry, but we're not going."

"No." He shook his head, getting frustrated again. "In the Kamui."

"Huh…? The ability…? So it's like a pocket realm…?"

"Yes." He breathed out. "According to what Kakashi said, it is likely to be. Besides, there is no
way that guy could take Itachi in a fair fight. That's probably how he did it."
…He really thinks the world of him, still. What if he simply got dropped close to Nagato…?

Well… Karin didn't really have it in her to dash his hopes. She rubbed her temples in frustration.

"…All right… Assuming your hunch is right… What are we supposed to do? As I said, there's no
way for us to get in. Not that we'd try in the first place."

"Send me then."

Karin snorted. "If you'd seen the control—" She interrupted herself before revealing who had the
eye, just in case. Sasuke understood, because he gritted his teeth. "The control we have over
Kamui, you wouldn't say this."

"I don't care if it's risky."

"…The last time the eye's wielder tried to warp someone's upper torso, only the top half of his face
went away. So granted, they were trying to kill the man… but still."

Sasuke paled.

"Obviously, a clone won't make it for the same reason." Karin continued.

The Uchiha stayed silent for a long while.

"I know the circumstances are… complicated." He sounded pained. "But…"

He went down to his knees and bowed.

"Wha—?"

"Itachi is my only brother." He began. "I ask you to make a bargain with me."

"…A bargain?"

"Yes." Sasuke said.

"You don't have anything we want, I'm afraid. Please stand up." Karin shook her head.

"I ask you to help my brother. He is alive, I know it. Ask the Kamui wielder, they are bound to be
able to peer into the realm somehow."

"…And if your brother is alive?"

"Then I ask you to keep him alive — food, water, Suiton can only do that much — until I can figure
out a way to help him… or he saves himself." He said, with utter faith.

Karin gave him a long glance. "You're asking for quite a lot. The wielder has almost no control
over the jutsu, and you're asking us to use up the eye even more. Because it's a guarantee we're
going to miss several times. Who knows how many tries we have…?"

Sasuke looked to be in pain.

"If he really is trapped in there and you help him… I will owe you a favor. Anything that doesn't
go against my village or my loved ones."

"…That is quite a lot. And quite vague, too. Why should I believe you?"
"I swear on my honor."

Karin scoffed. "We are ninja, not samurai." But she felt sympathy for him.

A chain extended from her hand.

"...Hold on to this and say that again." She said.

He actually did, with no reaction.

She could feel no lie.

What a mess. Maybe I should have let Naruto come here himself.

…Then again, maybe not. Who knew how he'd have reacted. Maybe they'd have killed each other,
if it went particularly wrong.

"…Why are you willing to give up so much? You don't know what we could ask."

"Itachi's worth it."

"…Are you sure of what you're doing?"

"Yes. Will you make this bargain with me, Karin?"

She took a moment to think. It might cause them some problems in the future, if this Uchiha Obito
really was close to invincible without the eye… but there was no certainty that it would be
unusable by then.

And… this was still Sasuke's brother. And a favor from Uchiha Sasuke could really come in
handy. It was not a very difficult choice, in the end. She'd deal with Sakura's pettiness later.

"…Very well. I accept your terms, Sasuke." .

The bargain was set.

The coast leading to Uzushiogakure's supposed location was nothing but ruins.

Naruto had not expected much… and still, he was disappointed.

He was on an island, not too far from the mainland. He hoped that this was not it. Because if this
was Uzu itself… or if Uzu was in a similar shape… There would be no answers.

The weather was unfathomably humid and warm. Just standing there, he felt tired. Umi had really
lucked out, in the weather department.

Naruto was not an expert when it came to ruins, but it was likely that this had been one of
Uzushiogakure's outposts on the mainland. What was left was white stone, that even now, looked
entirely too pristine, considering how damaged it was. Its colors had barely changed, it seemed.

And if this was just an outpost, as he thought, then Uzushiogakure must have been quite a sight.

Something was strange about it, though. It had been close to half a century, and he could not really
see signs of plant life growing on the stone.
Same went for wildlife. It seemed as though the animals steered clear from it, even.

And even stranger…

It didn't really look as though the cause of the destruction had really been an invasion. Naruto
couldn't put his finger on why he thought that way… but he did.

And some of the ruins were partially submerged, too.

Now every ruin was a place where something had been torn apart, human or structure. This tearing
might have been done by human hands, or by nature itself.

Each ruin was a window into a particular moment in history, where things changed; when the
windmill turned.

By themselves, ruins didn't mean anything, of course. People would give them meaning, but what
they did was freeze a moment in time.

They joined the work of man… and the destruction it could bring. Sometimes, it was just nature on
its own, too.

And here… it really looked as though the sea had swallowed the outpost.

Lost in thought, Naruto barely realized his focus was starting to slip.

The sun shone a blinding white, and Madara squinted his eyes.

Sea air had a salty, briny smell to it, one that he didn't really care for.

As the glare of the sun subsided, he saw that the sky was a brilliant blue, with not a single
cloud in sight. Off in the distance, the sky and the sea blended together.

He was sure that most people would have jumped at the chance to come here.

Unfortunately, he wasn't much of a sea man. No Uchiha was, really. And the air was too
heavy too, making him feel as though just walking here was more of an effort than needed.
There were plenty of people strolling down the streets, in light, colorful clothing. Maybe that
was the trick.

This clan of islanders were apparently distantly related to the Senju, and had been their long-
time allies. Which meant that with the newfound alliance between the Uchiha and Senju
clans, they were to become allies with the Uzumaki as well.

Madara didn't want to come, frankly.

They could simply have hosted the meeting in Konoha. Well, what was to become Konoha, it
wasn't much to see, right now. But of course… Hashirama had insisted. And once he got an
idea into that thick head of his…

And he was terrible at painting an objective picture of what they were to expect from the
meeting itself. He just went on and on excitedly, never bothering to make sure if anyone
really followed what he was saying.
Madarara had gotten somewhat decent at extracting meaning from his scatterbrained
explanations, by now. But even then, he didn't know how friendly these Uzumaki truly were.
They were allegedly sealing arts experts, so maybe he would at least find something
interesting to learn.

Izuna had always told him that he needed a hobby. Before Tobi—

He shut down that train of thought.

"Are you coming?" Hashirama's loud voice was embarrassing.

People were staring at the obvious foreigner, standing there cheerfully. Some women were
giggling, too, and Madara let out a sigh.

"Yeah."

"The boat's about to depart!"

A boat…? Weren't they sealing experts?

Couldn't they find a better way—

Naruto blinked and he was back to his own body.

The smell of salt and the sound of rushing waves was the same, even though the city was no more.
The juxtaposition of bustling alleys and empty ruins made something clench within him.

His throat felt somewhat dry, too and water didn't really seem to help.

He shook his head. According to the memories, Uzushiogakure was supposed to be… in this
general direction. If there were even was something left. Naruto didn't have a boat, but he would
manage, dashing over the waves, he knew. Worst case, he would just warp back to Umi. He really
wasn't risking much, here.

And he—

Naruto whirled around, a blade in hand.

"It is a nice evening for a swim, isn't it?"

There was someone, sitting on top of the ruins. A regal woman; her hair was snow-white and her
eyes golden. She was wearing a burgundy overcoat, over dark red clothes, embroidered with red
and gold trims.

Of course, Naruto recognized her right away. From the boat, and from all the times she had seemed
to flash across his vision after that.

"Shachi." He greeted, unsure of her intentions.

"Were you looking for me?" The woman's voice called softly.

He had seen her in several memories. Not only his own.

 Moon Under Water

Naruto had so many questions that he could not remember a single one.

He stared at her, never once releasing his sword. Her golden eyes were fixed into his, not breaking
contact. There was something ethereal about her, something he could not define.

"You have changed since last time. Haven't you?" Shachi asked.

"…Where did you come from?" Naruto asked. "How did you get here?"

"The same way you did, I presume." She said wryly.

This evening, Naruto didn't really feel like dealing with this sort of riddle.

"…Who are you?"

"You know exactly who I am, deep down."

"I don't." Naruto spat. His blood was boiling already. Was this all just another stupid game to
her…?

She frowned slightly but stood up. "Well, I shall tell you, then."

"…"

"But first, there is a place you wanted to go to, didn't you?"

The sword never left Naruto's hand. She came closer, and for a moment, he considered simply
killing her. Then he'd be done with it, with all these games.

It would be so easy, too. He didn't know how strong she was, but there was almost no one in the
Elemental Countries that could match his speed, at this point. Except, of course, a few of the
people he needed to get rid of. Was she one of them?

Her golden eyes roamed over his face, and he was reminded very uncomfortably of Orochimaru.
His worst aspects.

"You can put this sword away." She said. "I am not here to fight."

"Then you mean to manipulate me, instead." Naruto began. "There is no difference, to me. I am no
one's puppet."

"Manipulate you?" She frowned, the expression looking so honest that Naruto almost wanted to
believe it. "I have no intention of doing so."

"And what is that you're doing now?" His voice started to rise. Naruto was more in control of
himself usually, but — No. He used to be more in control. Not now, not anymore.

"The same as always. Helping you."

"Your help brought me nothing but Yasu's death!" Naruto roared.

Shachi froze. Naruto froze. He felt strange. He had said the words, yes. But he did not even
understand who he had been talking about.

Shachi seemed to realize it, too and regained her countenance.

Well, she could pretend to be as composed as she wanted. It was obvious that the words had rattled
her.

"I can help you, if you let me." She repeated.

Naruto snorted. "It's pretty clear to me that you're not somebody whose help I want."

She closed her eyes for a moment, in something that might well have been sadness, on someone
else. Naruto ignored it. He spoke.

"I was looking for you, yes. But now… I'm not sure why I thought I would get anything in the way
of answers from you. I'll ask you one. Where is Uzushio?"

She gave him another long look.

"You won't find it. Not alone." Shachi said at last. "But I can bring you there."

"How convenient." He growled. "What do you intend to do to me?"

Shachi shook her head. "Nothing."

"Do not lie to me."

A wry smile spread on her lips.

"I am not lying to you. And I won't harm you, either."

Naruto could feel no lie. But then again, he was not as good at this as Karin was.

The silence stretched on for a long while.

"…Where are we?" Naruto asked instead. Depending on her answer, he would either leave... or
stay to listen a little bit longer.

"This... is the Isle of Yoisen." She began. "Most of it drowned in the tidal wave that followed the
fall of Uzu."

"…Yoisen?" The name rang somewhat familiar to him, like something he had heard in passing,
long ago.

"It's an island from the Uzu archipelago. It saw a lot of trade back when Uzu still lived." She
smiled lightly, lost into memories.

"You… have lived for too long, haven't you?"

Shachi gave him a slight smile.

"Tell me the truth…" Naruto began. She was about to speak, and he interrupted her. "No. I don't
care about your age. How was this island destroyed?"

"The same way Uzushio was destroyed." She simply said.

"By Iwa and Kiri?"

"In a way." Shachi nodded. "Because rather than let the invaders destroy them and leave, Uzushio
called a tidal wave. It swept everything. Including its own people, the twin cities… and the enemy
forces."

Naruto stood silent for a while.

Nobody had ever bothered to tell him about this, apparently. Not that Uzushio was talked about
much.

"Could a tidal wave have destroyed the town so… completely?"

Shachi gave him a grim smile. "Yes. The Uzumaki, who were most of the island's inhabitants, had
a strong affinity for water. Combine this with their seals and desperation… and well… You're
looking at the results."

Not for the first time, Naruto wondered what it was that made him feel so far removed from the
Water element. She didn't seem to have any intention of attacking him, so he continued.

"…And why do all the buildings look so similar?"

"Uzushio and the surrounding islands were all designed and planned by a single person."

"…Really?"

"Yes. They named the island after her."

"Yoisen?"

"Yes. Of course, there were some that felt the Uzumaki clan was too privileged, considering
Uzushio itself was named after them already. But they were the founders."

"She was an Uzumaki then?"

Shachi nodded. "Yes. But since the emperor of Eastern Fire at the time was struck by the uniform
beauty of the town, there was not much to be done here."

She looked at him, unreadable.

"Shall we go to Uzushio, then?"

"…We?"

"I don't think you will be able to reach much by yourself." She shook her head.

"I will find it on my own, if I have to." He grunted.

"Finding it is not going to be the only trouble." Shachi smiled lightly.

Then without waiting for his answer, she leaped to the ocean. There, she hovered, suspended
slightly above the water, that churned into a spiral under her feet.

"…Again, who are you?"

She smiled lightly, and let her chakra flow freely. The sheer weight of it reminded Naruto that as
strong as he might have become, he still wasn't at the top of the food chain. Her chakra prodded at
him, almost protective in its nature. Naruto didn't let it come too close to him.

"I was one of Indra's companions, long ago. The last living one. I was sent to watch over his
descendants, without interfering with their fate before they are ready."

Something hot and angry churned in Naruto's gut.

"You're… one of his allies?"

"I was." She said. "Indra is long dead. Yet he still lives, through you."

"…Once he takes over my body, you mean." Naruto spat.

"Yes. You will be reborn as him." She said with certainty, as if she were talking about the weather.

Something cold and angry churned inside him.

"You think I'm going to let him… let you both do this?"

"I'm truly sorry for you, but… I don't think you're going to have any choice in the matter." She said
quietly.

"I will oppose it; every step of it. I will fight him."

"It is not a matter of fighting him." Shachi shook her head. "Because it won't be a fight."

Naruto stood still, despite the voice chuckling in his head.

"…Why do you say this?"

"It is unavoidable. And even if you were to try to fight it… To fight him. It would change nothing.
It is still his chakra. And in all previous incarnations, fighting it caused insanity, over time."

"Including Uchiha Madara."

"Of course." She almost smiled. "For all of his strength, power, he lost his mind decades before his
body followed. He spent most of his time alive lost in this madness, hiding in a cave, making up
nonsensical plans."

"…Why does it happen?"

"Indra's chakra has an unusually strong affinity for Yin. And unbalanced Yin leads to the
corruption of the mind. Just like unbalanced Yang leads to corruption of the body. His descendants
inherited part of it, and even in them, the curse runs strong. There was no one whose chakra was
strong enough in Yang to handle it."

He knew where she was going.

"Until you came along."

Naruto closed his eyes.

"I wouldn't say I'm managing." Naruto muttered, finally breaking the long silence.

Shachi lifted an eyebrow. "And why not?"

"…I hear some of their voices. The ancestors. I see their memories, too."

"Several of them, too?" She said softly. "That is a good sign. Well, not for you. But you are strong
enough to carry Indra's will, then."

"…Why…?"

"Indra's touch alone was enough to drive the other descendants irremediably mad. Most, before
they reached your age. And never this long after they started hearing."

That was a deflection, and he knew it.

"No wonder." He muttered.

She smiled. "That is why I'm saying you're managing well."

Naruto said nothing for a while.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I won't let hit happen." He said evenly.

Something like pity passed through her eyes. "I am sorry, but again, there is no other eventuality."

Naruto glared at her.

"What if I simply ended it right now? My life."

"You really are spirited — just like he was."

"Answer me."

"It might work for this life, but now that his soul knows what sort of body makes for a better
host… It is only a matter of time before he comes back. Besides… you and I both know you will
not accept to die."

Naruto gritted his teeth.

"So everything I do is for nothing…?" He spat. "Why should I believe this?"

"With every passing reincarnation, the chakra contained within Indra's soul becomes stronger.
There is no way for you to fight it, as it is now. Once you start hearing the past voices… You're
lost already. If the memories are coming to you during your awake hours, as I believe they do…"

She let the sentence hang.

"It is too late. It won't be a fight, Uzumaki Naruto." She said. "You probably have a few months
left. Weeks, maybe."

Naruto was breathing hard; inside, the voice was taunting him.

"…I will kill them."

"Who shall you kill?" Shachi asked him easily.

When he looked up, there was no hatred on his face. It was something deadlier, instead.
Indifference.

"Every single person descended from Indra, if needed." Naruto said. "And I will make sure
anyone closely or distantly related to the brothers won't be able to have children. That should do it."

Shachi paused. "You won't have the time."

He gave her a grim smile. "I wouldn't bet on it."

"I don't think you quite realize how short your remaining time as yourself is."

"I think I know already." Naruto spat. He had felt it; tried to ignore it.

"Besides… You would still be alive. And if you were not… who knows where the chakra would
go, with no one suitable to reach…?" She let the sentence hang in the air. "Somebody less suitable,
perhaps? It will just be a delay. And you won't be able to find all of the people descended from the
Sage. It is a fool's errand."

It was true. A thousand years was just too much time. Naruto's expression darkened. He looked
into her eyes, searching them.

"…Maybe you're right." Naruto admitted, pushing down on his raging emotions. "But the chakra
can only leave on death, is that right?"

"…" Shachi pursed her lips.

"Is that right?" He asked in clipped tones. It seemed she had no choice but to tell him the truth.

"…It is." She finally said.

Naruto smiled.

"Then it is quite simple. I won't kill myself. I won't die either."

Shachi stayed silent.

"I will find a way to trap myself for all of eternity. Sleeping."

Shachi closed her eyes.

"Let's see what Indra and his machinations can do about this."

There was a long silence.

It stretched on.

"You are just as devious as he was." Shachi said, with a hint of wistfulness. In her, it seemed to be
a genuine emotion.

"…I am his spiritual heir, am I not?" He asked, folding his arms.

"I should trap you and wait until the madness consumes you. Then Indra would take you."

"…But you can't." He lifted an eyebrow.

"…"

"You wouldn't have let me run free for so long if you had any choice in the matter." Naruto said,
now amused.
Another pause.

"Did you take a vow, maybe? Did he force you to?"

Her lack of an answer was an answer in itself.

"…That does sound like the man I've seen in my memories. He doesn't trust anyone, does he?"
Naruto asked.

"…He was different, before." She sounded bitter. "That is the man I want to bring back."

"That man is long dead." Naruto spat. "What is left is a corpse hanging on to life desperately."

"He is not." She denied vehemently. For a moment, something like anger, or maybe despair,
crossed her face.

That was something he could use.

"Then you know it as well." He pressed on. "A man who forced you to obey his commands cannot
be the man you swore your loyalty to."

"You do not understand how it happened!" She called out.

"He bound you to him. And as his shadow, he bound you to me, too."

She said nothing.

"Is this the man you want to bring back?! Or are you forced to?!"

Her chakra flared, pressing down on him. Naruto gritted his teeth, but didn't move.

"Stop it." She said, looking imperious again.

He had lost his momentum. She was guarded again.

"Let us go. To Uzushio." Shachi said, her tone hard. "Isn't this what you wanted?"

His face closed off, as well.

"It is."

She flew away, floating slightly above the sea. Naruto followed, shrouded in lightning.

After what felt like hours of running, dashing and jumping over water, she came to a halt brutally.

"We're here." Shachi said.

They were seemingly in the middle of the ocean. Thunderstorms raged far away, and besides the
rain and the dark, churning waves he was trying to keep his balance on, he could see nothing in
sight.

Naruto thought he understood, now.

She came closer to him and he tensed.

"Stay inside. It will prevent decompression sickness when we come back up, too." She said.
"What?"

A bubble of air and chakra enveloped them. Naruto suddenly got a terrible feeling about this. And
it was confirmed one second later.

They dropped through the water.

Fast. Naruto barely held on to a scream.

His stomach was steadily rising through his body, it seemed. The water turned from light blue to
greenish blue, to dark and muddy to pitch black.

And it must have been near-freezing, because Naruto felt the cold through here, even as he was
shielded by the bubble.

Naruto thought he could see something in the distance, somewhere under them.

And then they slowed down, before he threw up.

His feet touched soft muddy ground and he looked around in darkness. There was no life, nothing
at all. No fish, no sponge, no snake-looking thing whose name he could barely remember right
now.

Shachi's left hand moved and light shone.

What she had said earlier had not been entirely true. A tidal wave had been summoned, yes,
but this was likely the cause of it.

The entire city of Uzushio had been sunken, along with the island it had stood on.

Naruto could only gape.

He could see cliffs in the distance, and pieces of strange wood-like substance that might have trees
once. How had they turned into this…? It gave him shivers, just to see and think about it.

Shachi looked at him, and motioned for him to walk with her.

The city of Uzu itself looked… almost untouched. The buildings were still in the same pristine
white color he had seen in Yoisen. And the architecture was the same, as well. He could now see
how tall the buildings had been, and how elaborate the walkways that spanned throughout the
place were.

Everywhere he looked around was white, and in the darkness of the sea, something about it
terrified him. From the sheer marble walls to the intricately carved arches that loomed over them.
And the attention to detail that was put into anything, from the smallest carvings to the vaulted
ceilings and open chambers let a feeling of stunned awe blossom in his stomach.

It was a beautiful place. Or rather, it must have been, back when there had been life.

And it was a hollow one. Seeing it so empty of life made something in Naruto want to cry.

And there were a few scattered memories, too.

He could remember children running down these streets, narrowly dodging through civilians and
amused shinobi under the bright summer sun.
He could remember the smell of the sea, the city of pristine white that was considered the jewel of
the Eastern Sea.

Friends and families smiling, laughing, living. Different people, different pasts, different
ambitions.

But all he could see now... was a drowned treasure. And the only fate these people had in common
in the end... was this.

Naruto said nothing for a while. He had never felt any real connection to his mother's side before,
but he couldn't deny that the raw longing was painful.

"There used to be gardens around here. They were alight with flowers." Shachi said.

"…I know." His voice was raw. Not by the weight of his longing, but the few memories he had of
the place. "I know."

"Seals were woven through the very stone of this place. It was an ancient, lost art."

Not as lost as she thought.

"…And that's why they still look the same after half a century. And why there are no animals
around." Naruto finished.

She smiled lightly.

They continued to walk along the streets of the underwater city, in complete silence.

After a while of this, Naruto had enough.

"Let's leave here."

"Haven't you found anything of worth?"

"There's nothing waiting for me here, besides regrets that I am not sure are mine." Naruto shook
his head.

"I would at least suggest taking a look at the archives." Shachi offered, way too casually.

Naruto frowned. Was there one…?

"What are you hiding…?"

"I told you." She smiled slightly. "I'm only trying to help. The knowledge might be lost forever,
otherwise."

'Do you want them for yourself, or for Indra…?'

Well, she was quite obviously manipulating him into doing something. But truth be told, he was
now simply too interested in Uzushio's library to pass on the opportunity.

It had been too long since he really had learned something new when it came to the sealing arts,
considering the fact his knowledge had outgrown most shinobi on the planet. And he wanted a big
library, quite simply. He would also need to devise a system to file the books, at some point —

He followed her into the building.

It was very late and the library was a dark, silent and empty place.

Of course, it might mostly be because they were deep underwater and the only people around were
found in the form of skeletons.

The library in Uzushio was impressive. There was no doubt about it. It was hard for Naruto to
decide what to pick first. Obscure tomes on the intricacies of sealing loops...

Books on rituals were a given. He had some unanswered questions.

The woman helped him plunder the library for all its worth, making sure he didn't just end up with
soggy scrolls once he unsealed them from their different sections.

To put it simply, he took everything.

As far as he was concerned, it was his birthright.

"Well… I think that's about it." Naruto nodded in satisfaction.

He looked toward Shachi, who seemed somewhat amused by the whole thing. Somewhat
nostalgic, too. He still didn't trust her at all, but it really seemed as though she had no immediate
intention to act against him. Which really didn't mean much, considering he had willingly gone
underwater with her as his only buffer against the sea.

…Maybe Ino was right, he could be pretty dumb.

"Let us go, then." She nodded. "I'm sure you have plenty more questions. It is the least I can do for
you."

The place started shaking slowly.

Naruto frowned. "Are you doing this…?"

"No." Her face tensed. "Quiet."

He extended his chakra senses, but there was nothing he could feel around them.

"…Did we trigger some ancient protection?"

Gods, he sure hoped there was no divine creature set to guard the library. One sea dragon had been
enough.

"That's not it."

The rumble became louder.

The pressure over them increased, until the bubble of air strained.

"…I think we're... falling? No, rising — No, the city is rising — How?"

"I do not know for sure." Shachi said, with a tight expression. "But that is not good."

"Is the city able to do this?"

"No." She cut him off sharply. "It's not. I would know."
"What is it then?" He asked, holding on to his balance.

"There are not so many things in this world that have power over gravity. The Rinnegan is one of
them." She hissed. "We might have led Nagato straight to the city. Or he simply didn't like us
coming here."

'The Rinnegan, then?' Naruto wondered. She seemed to fear it. He filed the information
somewhere.

"Well, let's leave, then. I'm not about to wait to face Nagato… or whoever's doing that." Naruto
extended his hand to her, unsure why he was doing it in the first place.

She seemed just as surprised as he was.

Ten seconds later, they disappeared in a crack of thunder. They reappeared next to Yoisen, and
watched with bated breath.

Several thousand people saw it.

Far out at sea, something lifted out of the waves.

An extremely large white structure, of which the infrastructure was formed out of intricate looking
pillars and columns of an equally pristine color rose from the sea, where Uzushiogakure used to
rest.

It lifted slowly, smoothly, rising towards the skies. The ascent continued, unimpeded.

And then…

It hung in the heavens.

And from the heavens, one man spoke of the coming end.
 Thirty Days

The demand was made soon after that, and the words would spread like wildfire through the
Elemental Nations.

"I was born as Uzumaki Nagato. I have since then rejected my humanity and ascended to
godhood. I am the one who destroyed Kumogakure, a few days ago. I have the might of six of
the nine Bijū behind me. I will ask of you to hand over the remaining three: One-Tail. Two-
Tails. Seven-Tails. Otherwise, I shall destroy the Elemental Nations. One by one. You have
thirty days."

Naruto cursed.

"This is bad."

Thirty days.

He could feel the aura coming from atop the risen Uzushiogakure. There was no doubt that Nagato
was waiting for them there.

And as he was now, Naruto knew he didn't have a chance.

But gods, he would try.

Now… Why was Nagato willing to wait… and why had he announced it?

Because he has no one to fear, little Uzumaki.

He should have killed Han when he had the chance. That would have been one obstacle in the man
who thought he was a god's way. He should have known Han would not manage to hide himself.

Well, he mused. It's still time to kill Sasuke, Fū or…

No. He would not kill Yugito. Not really out of sentimentality, but as the Raikage, she was more
useful alive than dead.

"He is no god, only a broken man." Shachi said idly. "But a broken man can be especially
dangerous."

Naruto's thoughts were all over the place.

"…How did he get the Sage's eyes? The Uzumaki are distantly related to him, but…"

"The eyes are not his." Shachi hissed.

"Whose eyes are they, then?"

She didn't answer.

"Whose eyes are they? Are you not bound to answer?"

"Not to all of your questions, no." She sneered.

Naruto didn't let his frustration show up on his face. Here was someone who likely had the answers
he was looking for, but wasn't willing to answer more.

"…Why does Indra want me to take a Sharingan for myself?"

Shachi actually laughed.

"I assume you know what would happen already?" She asked, amused.

"…That would be the end of me."

"That is right." She chuckled. "I'm surprised he even bothered trying to—"

"What is the link between the Sharingan and the Rinnegan?" Naruto smiled mirthlessly.

Shachi stopped laughing.

"…So there is one, isn't there?" Naruto folded his arms.

"…"

"You can't lie to me directly when I ask you something, can you?"

"It doesn't mean I have to answer." She stared at him.

"Is there a third clan descended from the Sage, one with the Rinnegan?"

"…"

"That's a no, I think. I thought so. So there are only two real branches to the Sage's line. Indra's…
and Asura's."

"…Yes."

He almost felt giddy with the discovery. She started moving away from him.

"Indra… He bonded you, didn't he?"

She froze.

"But not as an equal. He does not see anyone as an equal but his brother. I know this much. A
subservient bond, then. And he did the same with others. That's the only way he would trust
anyone."

That was why he had talked about followers. He assumed them to be the same.

Oh, but we are.

We aren't.

"…What does it matter?" She asked coldly.

"…This is just a theory, now." He admitted. "But if Indra's line means the heir to the Sharingan, —
beside me — then there's no reason that something stronger than it couldn't break these bonds."

She didn't contest it.

"Help me find the Rinnegan, and I shall free you."

"Do not be foolish." She almost spat. "I don't want to be freed."

"How would you even know what you want at this point?" Naruto became frustrated. "You've been
a slave to his desires for… I don't even know how long!"

"That may be true." Shachi shrugged. "I wouldn't expect you to understand."

Naruto tried another time.

"If part of his bond transferred to me, that means we can try to find a way to alter it, at least."

Shaschi considered it, strolling past the ruins.

"No." She finally said. "Then you'll ask how to attain the Rinnegan."

Naruto gritted his teeth.

"You're going to have to find your own answers. I've already interfered too much. I didn't expect
this man — The Rinnegan wielder is your problem."

Her hand slashed through the air, and something like a rift opened.

"The next time we'll meet, you shall be Indra."

With that said, and a last unreadable look, Shachi vanished.

Naruto cursed. He wasn't sure how he was going to find her again, if she didn't want to be found.

'She said "attain". Which means it is possible, at least theoretically.' Naruto thought.

Probably not for you. You may try, though. See if it brings me closer to life or not.

Up in the sky, Nagato's chakra almost taunted him, daring him to find out what he was truly made
of.

Naruto took a long breath.

It was time to take the gloves off.

He reappeared in Umi.

Umi.

Naruto came home to—

"…What the fuck are you guys doing?" Naruto blinked, looking at Sakura and Karin, who were…

"We're trying to send food and water into the Kamui realm." Sakura deadpanned. She returned to
staring at the scrolls. Intensely.

There was a whirring sound… and half of the scroll was torn apart. Sakura cursed. Then she passed
out from chakra exhaustion. Karin sighed and started feeding her chakra.

It didn't seem like the first time, either.

"…Maybe we should just go for regular food and water instead of scrolls. Something is bound to
get through." Karin mused.

Nothing about what they were saying made any sense. He shook his head, bemused. Was the
insanity spreading…?

"…What happened?" Ino finally asked, moving from the couch where was reading to sit down on
the floor next to them.

"Haven't you heard?" He asked incredulously. Of course most people in Umi — besides intel —
wouldn't realize before tomorrow morning, when the courier came back with the news from the
mainland.

"Heard what…?" She asked.

Sakura slowly woke up again, groaning. Naruto sent a clone to find Anko and Hanabi.

There was only silence.

Then, there was panic.

"What the fuck do we do?!" Someone asked. Naruto couldn't tell who, since everybody was
shouting over the others.

"Well, we have thirty days." He said dryly.

"…Will that be enough?" Anko asked.

"…Probably not." Naruto admitted.

He could see that his casual admission did nothing to help.

'Let me take care of it.' Naruto heard.

"I was… close by when it happened — I'll show you, in a few moments… I think he will be
moving some of his people there, in Uzushio."

"…What does this have to do with Uzushio…?"

"Yeah, let's start by that, then." Naruto amended himself.

He showed them.

"Do you know how idiotic going down with her was?" Ino spat. She clearly remembered the
woman.

"Yes." He nodded. "I'm alive. Back to the topic at hand."

She didn't look as though she were done.

"…If he's ready to become the world's enemy…" Anko began.

"Yeah. He's more than powerful enough. And I'm sure he can put up barriers strong enough to
prevent anything unwanted — like… let's say, a super-weapon — from reaching there. And as for
a conventional army… Well, it's a fortress in the sky. I assume he's really trying to make himself
look omnipotent, this time."

"What happens if he does get the Beasts?" Karin asked.

"Same as before, I assume. He offers the world means of mutually assured destruction. Though this
might have changed, considering… everything."

"…And if the world does nothing?"

Naruto shrugged.

"I assume he will make good on his promise. I would risk it, but he will likely find Umi at some
point."

Karin stared at him. "You would risk it…?"

Very pragmatic of you. The voice said.

Naruto closed his eyes, quieting down the sounds. Sakura and Ino shared a glance at each other,
communicating something he did not understand.

"…I won't, because he will come for us after that. So whether I would or not doesn't matter."

That didn't seem like the answer she wanted to hear. She opened her mouth to say something.

Karin faltered when she met his eyes and looked away.

'…Even to her, I do this.'

What was the difference between him and Indra…? He wondered if he truly was fated to become
him.

Yes.

No. Never that. Rather the eternal sleep.

Of course.

"…No matter." Naruto said softly. "We need to prepare."

A long silence stretched.

"We met Sasuke — well, Karin met him." Sakura finally said.

Naruto's head turned sharply. "Really…?"

"Yes." She nodded. "He believes his brother is trapped in the Kamui realm. We managed to verify
that with Karin. Uchiha Itachi is in there."

Naruto thought about it.

"I see. Why help him…?" He asked.

"…Why wouldn't we?" Sakura asked, not getting his point.

"Leaving Itachi there might remove one strong enemy." Naruto simply said.
"…That's Sasuke's brother." Ino stressed the last word.

"Yes. And Sasuke's death could be useful, too." Naruto said.

There were a few equally disbelieving looks, and some anger, too. Anko, on the other hand, didn't
seem to care either way.

He could understand, somewhat, and he was sure there was a part of him that cared about Sasuke,
still.

But what he cared about most was finally ending all of this.

Naruto knew they were worried.

About him, for him…? He couldn't say. Probably both.

Irony was something that Naruto privately enjoyed.

Years ago, when he had displaced himself through time and space, he had messed up with the time
factor. The fact that the world had gone on while he apparently existed out of time was proof of
something.

Now, he was not exactly a scientist. So he tried to wrap his head around notions he barely
understood, using whatever he could find on the topic.

And Nagato's latest godly feat had awakened something in him.

Time to prepare… was something they didn't have.

Well then, he would get them more time. A simple, graceful solution.

…Hopefully.

After months and months of trying, he still didn't manage to use the Hiraishin properly. And before
he was sure he could use it safely, he wouldn't try it again. Who knew where he'd end up this time?

But there was a silver lining here. His research for the Hiraishin could be repurposed for something
else.

And the answer had been found through some random books he had found in Uzushiogakure.

Not even the shinobi arts related ones.

(Although the ones he had managed to read already had been very informative, and he understood
more about how and why jinchuuriki came to be.)

There were plenty of books and scrolls on science, architecture and philosophy. They would come
in handy for any growing city, and once he was done copying them, he would make the knowledge
public in Umi.

Now…

"Space" was the term for the directions one could move in. He pictured himself on a piece of
paper. There were only two directions one could move: up, down; left, right. These were called
dimensions. But this universe was flat; one couldn't move into or out of the paper.
Now, if he were on that piece of paper, he wouldn't realize right away that his world was limited in
that way, because the paper itself would be invisible.

In the real world, there was a third dimension; the world had depth and was not flat. But no one
could move in a fourth or fifth dimension; the universe existed on a three-dimensional piece of
paper that humans couldn't perceive. This piece of paper, the fabric of the universe, was what was
called "space."

But, considering what his father had done… What he had done…

This wasn't entirely true.

A man could move in a fourth dimension: " time".

Naruto pictured it this way. If he wanted to meet someone in a tall building, it would obviously
make a difference whether he was on the first floor or the tenth. It was not enough for Naruto to be
there at the right time.

If he went to the Valley of the End, he could stand where both Senju Hashirama and Uchiha
Madara had stood. But he wouldn't meet either unless he was there at the right time. That was the
fourth dimension.

Time, though, as it was… Was seen differently. Because people could only navigate it going
forward. Never back. Which was the reason they treated it differently from space. And usually, it
was easy to pretend they were two separate things.

Now…

"Space-time" was what they called the fabric of the universe, the metaphorical piece of paper from
earlier.

According to more recent science, found more on the civilian side of things, objects with a lot of
gravitational pull distorted space.

This was what pulled one toward them even though nothing was pushing on them. Their path
through space was altered because space was being bent in a way that caused them to end up
somewhere else.

An example would be drawing a line on a piece of paper, and then folding the paper.

It didn't stop there.

Objects with gravity also distorted time. Massive objects had a large gravitational pull. It would
mean that time ran a lot slower than it did on earth.

Which meant that there were places where time flowed differently. Because time and space were
part of one fabric, which could be affected by physics at the same time.

…Well. If he had a way to control gravity, that would be a workable way, but he didn't have that.

And Naruto wasn't looking to go back in time anyway, that sounded truly dangerous, for all the
aforementioned reasons.

Which was why Karin and he would spend most of their 'free' time, along with their clones,
working on possibly their most ambitious project.
If it didn't work… Well, they were likely doomed anyway. What would it matter?

They would still go to try and stop Nagato, and die in the process.

"You should sleep." Sakura said, coming up to meet him on the rooftop.

Naruto turned around and gave her a wry look.

"…I did already."

Her eyebrows rose. "It is three in the morning."

"Then shouldn't you get some sleep yourself?" He asked, turning back to facing the lake.

He didn't really feel like seeing more horrific nightmares tonight. If it took staying awake longer
than what was considered wise, then he would do so.

Sakura pulled her pipe out, the one that would never burn nicotine properly, but right now he
couldn't even muster the will to laugh.

"…It's going to eat you from the inside, you know?" She asked.

"Yes." Naruto said softly. "It will."

"…You don't think you're going to live." Sakura realized.

Naruto said nothing. She knew him too well.

"Are you for real…?" She breathed out.

He shrugged. "I'm planning for the worst. We will unite the world, this much I know. We have to.
Once I can influence all of the world, I will make sure to leave something behind, too. Focusing
people's efforts on knowledge, on progress, both for humans... and the world — Rather than war.
So that the world might be a better place some day."

"But you don't plan to be around to see it." Sakura finished, looking at him in disbelief. "What was
all of this for…? We can find a way — Let met take care of Nagato — I don't know how but—"

"Please, stop." He interrupted. "I will try to see if there's a way for me to live. But…"

"But…?"

"I think this is just how it must be, Sakura. It already feels as though there is not that much left of
me, sometimes. And since Nagato might have the whole Nine-Tails anyway… There's only one
way out. Through."

"…You are a fool." Sakura said sadly.

She put her head against his shoulder, and he felt something wet there.

Ino might not have heard the conversation, but she could read Naruto as well as anyone could. And
so could Karin. Which meant they realized soon enough, too.

The next day.

Ino watched Naruto dress.

He had spent the entire morning training, and the afternoon recovering, in order to be ready for
their meeting with Mei. The whole time, he had clones running all over the place, researching and
handling the day-to-day operations. It was almost evening, now.

"You're going to go through with it?" Ino found herself asking.

"Of course." Naruto nodded, summoning and dispelling a sword as if to warm up. "Are you
coming?"

She nodded. "All of us are."

He seemed to consider it for a second, then he nodded.

Naruto strode from the room and away from Umi.

All of them gathered in Orochimaru's spire. That included Yugito, whose face was pulled tight.
And Terumi Mei, who Naruto went away to find.

Her hair was back to its true color, auburn. And she was wearing blue battle fatigues.

"Everything ready?" He asked.

Sakura nodded. "I placed a portal near the village itself. If everything works according to plan, it
should be pretty quick."

Karin snorted. "Since when does something like this look like a simple in and out operation…?"

"The world stopped making sense a long time ago." Ino shrugged.

"I thought that was what today was about. Making things make sense again." Mei said dryly.

And so they went.

Kiri.

Consider the moon.

Oshima Masaaki, Fifth Mizukage, mused.

The moon is a globe of utter peace. No violence. No war. No earthquakes, typhoons, no hurricanes.

Pure silence, pure peace.

Absolute desolation.

Consider the Land of Jungles' rainforest.

Even in the absence of humans, there is slaughter, there is pain, there is maiming.

There is competition for resources; among many creatures who care nothing for the needs of
others, there is life.

And vitality and creation and energy. Movement.

Now…

Of course peace was possible, but peace was, in many ways…

Stagnation. Desolation. A slow death.

Life was supposed to compete. Life was supposed to challenge. Life was supposed to be about the
struggle.

Life wars with life.

The destruction comes from the creation, the creation from the destruction. From the challenges of
survival and raw need and desire and want.

Peace was possible of course, but it was undesirable.

"I do not wish for another war, Masaaki."

That was what Nagato had said.

But war kept a ninja village in business.

What use would the Daimyō of the world have for them, without war…?

People like Danzō, from Konoha, understood it. It usually took ninja many more years than it did
Masaaki to understand this truth.

The Fifth Mizukage of the Great Village of Mist.

That was who Oshima Masaaki was.

Ever since the day of his accession to the seat, replacing that monster in human skin. Maybe
Nagato truly was a god, to arrange something like this. His power notwithstanding, he was the only
one to know what to do to keep the Kumo bastards at bay.

Nagato's honeyed words didn't matter, Masaaki knew another warmonger when he saw one.

And Nagato was one of the highest caliber.

And thanks to him, Masaaki would become known as Kirigakure's greatest Mizukage.

Kumo had finally conceded Red Island, and that meant that soon enough, they would be able to
continue expanding to the mainland.

A flicker through the windows caught his attention.

There was something happening on the streets.

Somebody came running to the door.

"Mizukage-sama, you have to come! I beg of you!"

"What is it? What is happening?!" He asked.

The man hesitated. "You should take a look through the window."

A procession was headed toward the tower. About a dozen people.

Most of them were wearing battle armor and cloaks of the same color. They were young. And still,
they walked proudly, with command. And there was something familiar about the oldest woman
among them. Which was confirmed when she started talking.

"I have come bearing a message for the usurper in the Mizukage's seat!"

Masaaki froze at the window. The woman was addressing the entire village. At the same time, she
was coming closer to the Tower. She walked imperiously, as though the village belonged to her.

"Everything you have heard about the bloodline purges is true! Yagura, manipulated by the very
same people that are currently pulling the strings now… killed almost all of us! But even then,
they missed one!" She roared.

Behind her, far away and close to village gates, more and more shinobi started pouring in. Most of
them wore the standard Kiri battle gear. Some… wore Kumo's colors — How?!. Others wore
Umi's.

"The age of war is over!" Terumi Mei called, her voice booming. "Akatsuki's reign ends, starting
today! Oshima Masaaki is nothing more than Uzumaki Nagato's… The Akatsuki leader's puppet! I,
Terumi Mei, have come back to take back the seat that was rightfully mine. As of today, the war
with Kumo is over!"

Why was nobody stopping her…?

No, it was worse than this. There were people cheering for her.

Not all of them, of course, because…

Behind her stood… the Raikage.

Not A — fourth of the name — but a young woman who Masaaki knew only too well. She had
burned legions of his own shinobi with her thrice-cursed flames. The yellow hat seemed at its
place on her head, and she looked as imperious as Terumi Mei.

There were five other women that he couldn't recognize, around a man…

Masaaki's knees shook.

Now he knew it was over. He could try and fight if he wanted… but there was a man who wouldn't
care too much about killing his way through the tower.

Because shrouded in Kumo's lightning armor, walking casually down Kirigakure's main alleyway
was Uzumaki Naruto.

And he was staring straight at Masaaki, with a small smile. He was looking forward to the fight.

That was… Not a warmonger.

It might be something worse.

Less than an hour later, the former Mizukage kneeled.

Uzumaki Naruto still made sure Oshima Masaaki's head rolled, as well as the last remnants of his
warmonger allies'.
 Rending Thunder

KUMOGAKURE AND KIRIGAKURE SIGN TREATY:

THEIR WAR ENDS!
by Chino Megumi, Umishinbun

The next day. Kiri.

"Will that be it, then?" Naruto asked.

In front of him, sitting in the Mizukage's seat, Terumi Mei gave him a bemused look.

"I get that you don't seem to care very much about Kiri." She said wryly. "But you could at least
pretend to enjoy the fact that everything went off so smoothly."

"Smoothly?" Naruto asked, nonplussed. "Do you know how many ANBU I had to kill to get to
him?"

And the fact that he, Karin and Yugito had hidden many shadow clones disguised as other people
to pad their numbers out had likely helped a lot, too.

She waved it off. "Well, of course. Don't tell me you didn't expect it. These ANBU were loyal to
him, more than the village. I have no need for them. It went well, considering."

Naruto grunted in answer.

"…Well, Kiri citizens were not going to say much about it once Ino showed them who the man the
former Mizukage was colluding with really was." Naruto said dryly. "…And considering who you
are. If anyone is qualified to lead this place, the woman who trained for it might be the best fit—"

"Oh me, oh my." She pretended to fan her face. "Such a flirt—"

"—If she really manages to kick off her opium addiction for good." He countered.

She glared at him.

"As you might have noticed, I quit entirely — what little I was actually smoking, and not simply
pretending to. I owe complete lucidity to the village. But… we still have to do something about the
madman in the sky."

"Yeah."

"And there's something else."

"What is it?"

"I'm still catching up on what my… predecessor did exactly, but apparently Nagato has been
gathering followers, before that whole stunt with the castle in the sky."

Naruto's eyebrow rose.

"What sort of followers?"

"The sort that truly believes him to be a god." Mei continued. "A cult. Fanatics. They're gathering
more people on their own, too. And they're of the mind that the villages should surrender the Bijū."

"Of course." He nodded.

He could already imagine the amount of pressure Umi and Kumo were about to be under, with Iwa
and Suna clamoring for them to give up the remaining jinchūriki.

Konoha would likely keep their mouths shut, considering they still had one.

Well, there wasn't that much they could do about it besides whine and complain. If Nagato
couldn't find the islands, neither could they.

"We will need to do something about it, before it grows too much. The fanatics are not the real
threat... the people they will manage to convince that giving up the jinchūriki is the solution are
the danger. But with the right information about Nagato and his actions being spread, it shouldn't
be too hard to break the movement apart."

Naruto remained silent.

"I've compiled a list of the locations they're gathering at." She slid a scroll along the table.
"Working together, with both Kumo and Umi, it shouldn't be too hard to stop this from spreading."

Naruto nodded.

"It shouldn't be too hard."

Naruto started from the top, with the biggest gatherings.

The first three were worse than he had expected.

Separated from the rest of the world, the people gathered in castles and abandoned places.
Sometimes ruins.

Some of them seemed more or less sane. Those were the ones trying to spread the good word
around. That the jinchūriki should give themselves up in order for the world to reach true peace.

And then there were the others. They didn't seem to eat, sleep, or do much of anything, besides
waiting for… something to happen.

There was something seriously wrong with their minds. A trace of foreign chakra trickled into
them from a spike embedded into their chests, close to their hearts.

And well...

They could speak, still, but it came out confused, as though they would have needed to plan it
beforehand.

He had tried to reverse the effects of it, but had gotten nowhere. And trying to remove the spike
itself would result in death, he was almost sure of it. Naruto knew the chakra it belonged to, on top
of it.

Now, how had Nagato managed to do this, exactly…?

When he reached the fourth largest gathering, he thought he felt a familiar chakra. He went back to
get Karin, in case.

The cool sea breeze washed across Karin as soon as they arrived in the eastern part of the Land of
Earth.

"Where are we headed to?" She asked.

"To a fortress, something called Igarashi castle." Naruto said, walking ahead. "There are some
enemies to take care of. I sent Anko to another, and same for Sakura."

"Enemies?" She frowned.

"Yes. I think Yakushi Kabuto is in there, right now." Naruto said, sounding icy.

He wasn't entirely sure, but the chakra was very similar to the one he had felt in the Konoha
hospital. What was he doing here, though…?

"…For real?"

Naruto handed her the scroll, letting her read through the information as they moved forward.

They quickly reached the place they needed to be.

Like most castles, it was a fortress constructed primarily of wood and stone.

Originally conceived purely as fortresses, their primary purpose being military defense, Earth
castles were originally placed in strategic locations, along trade routes, roads and rivers.

Though they continued to be built with these considerations in mind, they became homes for the
daimyo, as well as other feudal lords. They served as a way to impress and intimidate rivals not
only with the strength of their walls, but with their sheer size… their elegant interiors, architecture
and decorations.

They used moats, to divert mountain streams. The buildings used thatched roofs, or sometimes,
wooden shingles.

The main weakness of this style was that they were vulnerable. Thatch caught fire even more easily
than wood, and weather and soil erosion prevented structures from being particularly large or
heavy.

Eventually, stone bases began to be used, layers of fine pebbles, upon which larger rocks were
layered. This support allowed larger, heavier, and more permanent buildings.

Igarashi castle, on the other hand, hadn't gotten the memo.

"First." Naruto said softly. "First, we need to figure out what the situation is like."

Karin nodded. "Let's get in, then. They can probably be negotiated with."

"I'll send a clone ahead." Naruto countered. "Lock on to Kabuto's signature, please. He shouldn't be
too hard to find."

"…All right."

Naruto summoned his bow and shot something almost invisible to the heavens. To Karin's
querying gaze, he simply answered. "Insurance."

The clone moved through the forest and into the castle, under a disguise.

The two of them waited for a long while. Naruto sometimes seemed far-away, in a place where it
was hard to reach him. And he was like this right now, staring without seeing.

Karin wondered if he was seeing things that weren't really there again. And if there was any truth
to them.

"…Naruto?" She asked, hating how hesitant she sounded right now.

He didn't answer.

The sun was setting behind the mountain. When he was in this sort of mood, Karin knew she
wouldn't get much out of him. Naruto shook his head and started walking. Out of the forest and
toward the castle.

She had a sinking feeling about this.

They walked toward the gates.

Two men blocked them, preventing them from going in.

"Move." Naruto warned.

"Naruto, there's no need to—"

"We know exactly who you are." One of them began. "Once Lord Nagat— Urgh."

He fell to the ground, his throat cut.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Karin hissed.

Naruto's sword flashed and the second guard fell as well.

It was hard to believe he was once a boy who had been hesitant about killing.

"I don't know if they warned Kabuto or worse... Nagato."

"So what?" Karin sounded angry. "We could have knocked them out. They didn't have to die."

"I'd rather not risk it."

Under the dim light of evening, Naruto's eyes looked bright. But his voice wasn't.

"Stay here, Karin." He said. "But go further away... in case anything happens."

"No way."

"If Kabuto escapes, there won't be a point to all this." He said, very softly.

"…All this?" She demanded. "What are we doing here, exactly?"

"Catching Kabuto." He said, so quietly he was almost whispering. "We can't risk him escaping.
Stay outside of the castle but keep track of him, Karin, please."
"Is this an order…?" She asked.

He looked pained. "Please."

"…All right."

Naruto walked inside the castle.

A barrier rose up around the entire place, almost opaque. Likely a Four Flames
Formation. Hashirama had been pretty fond of it. It didn't matter, as it wouldn't prevent Mada—
Naruto from leaving anyway.

Nobody bothered to try to stop him. His footsteps reverberated on the stone floor of the arch he
was crossing. There were no lights around here, and he could not see much more than people
praying to roughly made altars of Nagato.

"Kabuto-sama is waiting upstairs." Someone said.

Naruto ignored them. He could have told as much. He continued to climb up, until he reached the
fortress' highest point.

The chakra was thicker at the top. There was another barrier inside the first layer.

Yakushi Kabuto was waiting for him, sitting seiza-style, in the middle of the second barrier
formation, eight guards around him. He greeted him with an affable smile that Naruto didn't return.
Despite his false manner and the barrier, he seemed tense.

The only thing that kept him there was likely the notion that Naruto would not be able to capture
him. Escape, yes. But without him.

Naruto sat in front of him silently.

There were more men in the room, standing around Naruto. They erected a barrier formation
around him. Naruto felt like laughing.

Kabuto seemed to know it wouldn't prevent Naruto from leaving already.

"Uzumaki Naruto." He greeted genially.

Naruto gave him an unimpressed look. "You are a worm. Why didn't you try to escape?"

Kabuto smiled easily. "I know you. You're much faster than I am and you can track me. It wouldn't
have done much, aside from isolating me."

Naruto smiled lightly.

"…How did you find me?" Kabuto continued.

Naruto shrugged. "I've got ears."

"…"

"So, tell me." Naruto began casually. "Why do all of these people have a piece of Nagato's chakra
close to their hearts…?"
"Ah." Kabuto said. "So you've noticed."

Naruto waited for him to elaborate. Something in his eyes apparently made Kabuto decide to do so.

"These are small chakra receivers. They make people more… receptive to Nagato's suggestions."

"It makes them mindless slaves, then." Naruto said with some distaste. He knew a few things the
receivers could do already.

"I guess you could see it this way." Kabuto shrugged.

Naruto smiled. "I don't think there's another way to see it. Nagato needed eyes throughout the
world. And he also needs people who aren't quite as mindless, because he wants to push the
remaining jinchūriki to give themselves up. Why...? Because he can't find them."

"Basically, yes." Kabuto shrugged, the light glinting off his glasses.

"You're pretty forthcoming with information." Naruto said.

Kabuto smiled a razor sharp smile.

"The way I see it, I have precious, vital intel about Nagato and his methods."

Naruto pursed his lips. This fucking coward.

"I assume you came here to kill me." Kabuto said, shrugging.

"Right." Naruto said dryly. "I don't think there's enough incentive in the world for me to spare
you."

"How about the way to stop Nagato, as well as the full scope of his plans?" Kabuto asked.

Silence stretched.

"You may want to work on your expression." Kabuto said casually. "I can see that you want to
murder me, still."

"Oh?" Naruto asked softly. "Whatever makes you think that way?"

Kabuto smiled. "It doesn't exactly take a genius."

"Apparently not."

"Now… I have been a spy for a long time." Kabuto ignored the barb. "And Nagato helped me put
blocks on my mind. I know what you're thinking, and the Yamanaka won't be able to remove them.
Kill me… and you lose that."

"Hmpf." Naruto grunted.

"Torture won't cut it either."

"Are you so sure about it?" Naruto looked at him pointedly.

"We won't have to find out." Kabuto smiled. "So let's talk about how to stop Nagato."

"…What would you gain out of it?"

"Surviving, for one." Kabuto barked a short laugh. Then he looked Naruto straight in the eye.
"Besides, I know you and your… entourage have plans for the world. I want in."

Bemused, Naruto looked at him.

"You really have a big mouth, for somebody in a losing situation."

"But am I really? Kill me and you lose this fight entirely. You can't fight against Nagato." Kabuto
assured. "Not without my help."

You don't need him. The voice said, promising power and might beyond comprehension.

Kabuto smiled like a shark.

"And I assume you just want some piece of power…?" Naruto asked dryly.

"Why, yes, of course." Kabuto smiled. "Of course, I would require a binding oath from you,
assuring me of my freedom. We will work out the specifics, once I am assured you won't kill me."

Naruto's fingers drummed on the floor.

"Then… I would free these poor people from Nagato's hold, of course. They only listen to him…
and the other members of Akatsuki. Like me. But they only understand direct orders." Kabuto said,
dripping sincerity. Too much of it, and it disgusted Naruto. "And I would give you everything I
know about the Five Nations. Taking over would be child's play."

Naruto sat there, deep in thought.

"What do you say, friend?" Kabuto asked genially. "Shall we save the world?"

"I've met people like you before." Naruto mused, drumming his fingers on the floor.

"Oh… Did you?" Kabuto asked. Everything about him was fake.

A man like you, isn't he…? The mask hides another.

"You know… the only part of this whole thing that sounded truthful…" Naruto began. "Was the
fact that you think we can't win against Nagato."

Kabuto stiffened.

"Not without my help." He said. "If I tell you what I know—"

Naruto snorted. "You don't believe in that either, because you think he's genuinely unbeatable."

For you, he is. But I can…

"You're wrong on that." Kabuto adjusted his glasses.

"Oh please, cut the bullshit." Naruto laughed.

"There is no ruse here, I assure you."

"Kabuto… You forget one thing." Naruto said softly. A shadow fell over his eyes.

"…And what is it…?"

"I can feel your intentions. I can only assume you're either Nagato's man to the end… or simply an
opportunist. You are a treacherous snake, nothing more than this."

Silence.

"The very moment I let your leash slip, you will turn against me. No matter how long it takes you.
Months, years, decades. I don't know how much of you being willing to betray Nagato was real,
but it is clear to me you have no intention of cooperating. It's almost a game to you."

Kabuto scoffed. But he was starting to look nervous.

"You're making a mistake here." He motioned for the people around them to put themselves
between him and Naruto. Kabuto stood up, slowly moving toward the open window. The barrier
around him still shimmered purple.

He was hiding his face from Naruto.

"They won't come back from this." Naruto replied. "Their minds are destroyed already. Removing
the source of the influence won't save them. That's why all they can do is pray to Nagato, now.
And obey your direct orders."

Kabuto stiffened.

"…It is the truth, isn't it? To me at least, killing them is a mercy."

Truth or not... It doesn't matter. A whisper.

Kabuto seemed to see something in Naruto's eyes. He cursed, and started to back away from him.
But he didn't leave his own barrier.

A sword appeared in Naruto's hands.

"Don't you trust your barriers, Kabuto?" Naruto stood up.

The Storm came to Naruto, shielding him. He grabbed his sword with two hands and thrust it into
the ground. A glyph appeared around him.

The sword in the sky, the one that had been accumulating energy steadily, answered his call.
Naruto roared.

"Heavenly Light: Rending Thunder!"

Karin saw a column of light burn through Igarashi castle.

The air seemed to bend around the pillar of energy. It was pure power.

There were close to a hundred presences right before.

Now there were two left.

"Oh no."

The shockwave hit Karin, and she held on using chakra. Behind her, trees rattled and fell. There
was no more castle, only dust and… a crater. Just like Kumo.
Karin dashed in, feeling her insides twist.

She found Naruto standing in the glassed ruins of the castle, over a charred corpse that was… still
crawling away? Yes. Yes, it was. Charred skin peeled away, revealing raw muscle and tendon. It
was bubbling, hissing… and reforming.

Naruto turned to look at her. So many lives, ended in a single instant, and he simply sounded a bit
winded.

"Why… What have you done?" She breathed out, over the horror she was feeling. "There
were people in here. Men, women."

"Mindless slaves." Naruto shook his head. "To break this barrier, subtlety doesn't do. You need
overwhelming strength. I did what I needed to."

"Needed? Which part of this was needed?!" She retorted hotly.

"Nagato had them under his thrall. Worse even, they were under this worm's thrall." He pointed at
Kabuto with his sword, who was still trying to crawl away. "They wouldn't have lived, once we
removed the compulsion and the spike."

"You don't know this!" She roared.

"They would have." He replied softly. "Their minds are gone, at this point. It's not just the spikes,
they've been listening to men like Kabuto's poison since the moment Nagato started this. And who
knows how long it's been."

"We could have done something about this, given enough time!"

"Are you sure about this?" He sounded weary.

Karin realized she felt the same way around him, as of lately. Tired and on edge.

This was not the sort of action he could simply take and never think of again. Naruto needed help,
but she didn't think she was enough for this.

Umi.

"Well. I guess it's time to see if you're still willing to talk, now."

"…Go to hell." Kabuto spat.

"Well, then. Let's see how long you remain unwilling to talk, instead."

Kabuto was currently being suspended in the air by a set of chains shackled to his wrists, his
chakra wrestled away from him. He was entirely whole again.

"It's a really interesting healing ability you have." Naruto remarked absentmindedly. "Too bad it
won't get you out of here."

"Where are we…?"

"This is Orochimaru's old spire. I see the name rings a bell. No wonder, if you were a Konoha spy
— and spying on Konoha — for years. We are in Umi, yes. Your old buddy is in a cell not too far
from here. His legs don't have the advantage of regrowing, though."
"…Old buddy?" Kabuto asked with bleary eyes.

"Yes. Uzumaki Ryujin."

"…He was caught, too? Him?!" Kabuto knew he sounded incredulous. Because he was.

"Sure was. Before you, too. We're keeping him alive for now, too."

"What is the point of keeping him alive if you can just go through his corpse…?"

"I guess empathy really isn't your strong suit, huh." Naruto laughed.

"…You call being trapped like this a mercy?" Kabuto spat. "And empathy? After what you've just
done…? Please!"

Naruto shrugged. "I wouldn't know. This is better than what Kumo offered me. At least, you won't
get the beatings."

A woman with pink hair entered the room. Kabuto knew who she was, of course. Haruno Sakura,
who had—

She opened her left eye, revealing the Sharingan.

Uzumaki Naruto's words started slowing, warbling as the Sharingan spun.

"She's going — to see if we can — get more of you alive — than dead."

There were a few items Naruto needed to forge.

If he really wasn't likely to live through this, Naruto felt no reason to hold anything back.

Power. He needed to attain ultimate power.

He would make himself as strong as possible, get rid of Nagato, and then only…

Naruto would take his leave.

 Knife in the Dark

Twenty four days before the end.

Naruto sat hunched over open scrolls, several of his clones doing the very same thing, close by.

His improved memory worked wonders for this sort of thing, as he only had to read them once to
remember their contents. Assimilating was a different thing, of course, but it would come, too.

This won't be enough. Indra said. Never enough.

Naruto knew it. The only thing that would be enough would be—

Take the Sharingan. There is no way we can win otherwise.

"Shut up." Naruto whispered angrily. He really was ignoring him, most of the time, but sometimes
it just became too much. "Sharingan or not doesn't change a single thing. You just want me to
hurry up and keel over."

If you die, I die. Indra whispered. I'm in no hurry to experience that again. You have been a very
entertaining host, so far.

The scrolls he had gotten from Uzushio were… incredible. There was no other word for it. They
filled holes in his knowledge that he didn't even know were there in the first place.

And if he ever decided to build a gleaming city… well, he knew where to start. Uzumaki Yoisen
had left all of her plans in the library. Uzushio didn't share them with the outside world, but
anybody who lived there was fair game, apparently.

But even them…

None of the scrolls had helped Naruto devise a solution concerning their Nagato problem, though.

He was not certain something like… summoning the Shinigami would be a wise idea, or if it
would even work. Maybe a Rinnegan wielder could do something about it— or maybe Naruto was
starting to buy into the hype of it himself, it was becoming harder and harder to tell.

Besides, his soul and Indra's were linked, and he was not looking forward to spending the rest of
eternity with that man.

"…certainly not." He grumbled.

"Are you okay?" Hanabi asked, looking at him for a while. Beige dress today. Pretty impressive,
too.

"We are fine." Naruto retorted, not looking at her. "Just need some time to think."

She paused at something he said.

"…I think that's the last thing you need." Hanabi snorted.

He turned to look at her. She didn't flinch, which was more than most people did, these days.

"…And what do I need?"

"A few hours off." Hanabi retorted.

He sighed. "We only have twenty-four days left before Nagato goes through with his plans. I don't
think I can afford to waste any time."

"It's going to be more time wasted if you can't focus on anything. I can hear you mumbling to
yourself, you know."

Naruto said nothing. Many people did the same.

"…And why do you keep your Cloak up most of the time?"

"Only partially." Naruto said. He hadn't really thought it was that noticeable, really. His hair stood
up slightly and his eyes were gleaming blue, but that was about it. "It helps with increasing the
brain's processing power. And the more I use it, the easier it becomes to keep it on… To waste less
chakra when using it."

"…Doesn't it increase your aggressivity?"

He shook his head. "It did in the beginning, but I got used to the slight pain, now. It's worth it."

"Well… I guess you know what you're doing." She said, bemused. "Sometimes."

"What did you want?"

"Your… bondmates—"

Naruto frowned. "That's not a word."

She rolled her eyes. "Well. Karin, Ino and Sakura are busy and so is Anko, of course."

Naruto had delegated more of the tasks to her. If anything happened to him, she would be able to
take over the leadership of the islands without much trouble. She didn't want to, likely, but well.

With Kumo and Kiri having joined up, they probably had the strongest alliance still standing. The
three other Great Villages were still out of reach, so he wouldn't bother trying to set anything there
for the time being. After Nagato, likely. If there was such a time.

"So I've taken it upon myself to take you out." Hanabi finished, arms folded.

"Huh…?"

Saheji was a city nestled high north in the Land of Lightning.

The weather was cooler, much cooler than most places in the Elemental Lands — barring the land
of Frost, of course — and so they were wearing heavier clothes than they were used to.

Well, it was still the Cloak of Shifting, technically. It came in handy in so many different situations
he was starting to forget how good they had it. They brought in a decent amount of money, too,
since the Kumo ninja living on the island had started wanting some as well.

Also, very few people seemed to recognize them here. Which was always a nice bonus.

Well, there were still many people staring, but he knew that Hanabi usually attracted attention, no
matter where she went. And he guessed he was not so bad-looking himself.
Saheji's views were very nice. There was a fortress, in which a royal family was said to still be
living, in the middle of the city. If they stared at the horizon, far up north, the green sea gently
spilled onto the shore.

There was a pleasant noise in the air, the hustle and bustle of the city. Lacquered woods made up
most of the buildings, and the roofs almost gleamed under the sunlight.

The city itself was active, and the town square was lined with cafés, shops and restaurants. People
seemed pretty relaxed, overall. Naruto wondered if the news had reached, or if they simply didn't
believe it. People streamed in and out, an ever-transforming mass of different backgrounds.

Was this what the world looked like, far removed from war?

Naruto found he enjoyed it. And maybe Hanabi had been right, they needed a change of pace. All
of them.

Flowers, plants and seeds were being sold on this particular street, spreading a pleasant but almost
overpowering fragrance.

Naruto found he could not name a single one. For someone who wanted to find more to life than
the shinobi arts, he definitely had focused almost exclusively on them.

They walked around for more than an hour, ambling on the walkway along the shore. Hanabi
didn't know anything about the place, but from the way she was making up names and backstories
out of nothing, you could easily be fooled. He had fallen for it a few times, too.

She seemed so carefree here, too, as if she just let go of all the pressure, the frustration and the
helplessness that plagued all of them, now.

They stopped in a small coffee overlooking the sea, observing the people walking by and making
small comments as they did so.

Before he realized it, finally feeling some of the tension falling away, Naruto fell asleep, leaning on
Hanabi.

Izuna might be widely considered a confident, natural-born fighter, but Madara knew better.

He was young, still a teenager, really. One with a chip on his shoulder and something to
prove. And he could be so emotional sometimes. Coming from Madara, who considered
himself short-tempered, that was saying something.

But well, he was his last brother, and if it meant going to greater lengths to protect him, then
Madara would do so gladly.

To never have to feel what he had felt, every time their father had come back from a battle
with one less son, again.

"…What kind of jutsu was that?" He asked Izuna, blinking.

The very earth in front of him appeared to be scorched. Between the two of them, his
younger brother had always been better at using Fire. Lightning seemed to come more
naturally to Madara, but he was Uchiha.
There was no reason he would not master Fire, first.

"This…?" Izuna grinned, the mischievous smile of a child who knew he had something of
interest. "Oh, not much. Just something I practiced — Hey!"

Madara feigned disinterest, looking at his fingernails as if something were stuck underneath
them. Izuna was too easy to trick—

"Oh yeah?!" Izuna raged. "I'm sure you wouldn't be able to use it anyway, what with your
half-baked Fire affinity!"

"…What did you just say, you little…?"

Izuna pulled on his eyelid mockingly, putting his tongue out.

A vein almost bursting on his forehead, Madara dropped down from the tree stump he was
sitting on and started running after him.

Izuna, laughing, was already gone.

Madara wouldn't say this aloud, but he had hopes that one day, the dream he had shared
with Hashirama when they had been younger might still be achieved.

They would join forces. Senju, Uchiha together. And they would be unstoppable. Izuna,
Hashirama — even his manipulative brother — and himself.

But of course, that was just a dream. Madara would be an adult soon, and he knew that the
world was not such a nice place. And there was no time for dreaming in times of war.

Peace was nothing but a nice word.

Izuna was gone, and in his last breath, he had bequeathed him his eyes. And he had made
him promise not to trust the Senju.

Madara's heart felt as though it has shattered in a thousand pieces.

And he had nothing more to lose, after all. Throwing himself into battle was the one thing he
knew how to do.

He had nothing more to lose, besides the lives of his clansmen.

In this sense, he didn't find it so surprising that he ended up taking Senju Hashirama's hand,
despite Izuna's voice screaming in his heart.

"Two polar opposites operating together gives rise to all things in this universe."

The peace Konohagakure was built on was a lie. War was on the horizon again, both civil and
interstate, if things went on like this.

Senju, hungry men like Tobirama, were to rule, accumulating more and more power. Left
unchecked, he would build a dynasty.
Or their teachings would spread to other clans, until it didn't matter who it was that became
Hokage at all.

While the Uchiha were destined to be their guard dogs.

Madara had thrown away their kin's sacrifice for this…?

No more. It was time for the Uchiha to leave.

No one followed.

An old man sat in a dark cave, unsure why he was suddenly remembering this.

Something was rolling down his face.

A tear, then? It had been so long.

It had been so long since…

No matter.

Alone and more than half-mad, Uchiha Madara planned for the world's salvation, driven by
purpose and someone else's machinations.

In his eyes, the limitless power of the Rinnegan burned bright.

Naruto woke up with his head on Hanabi's lap.

It took him a while to remember where he was. Who he was.

But when he did, there was only a sense of purpose inside him. Burning so bright it outshone the
rest of the world.

"Feeling better?" Hanabi asked, with a small smile. She was rubbing his head, almost tenderly. "I
thought we could go to—"

"I need to leave." Naruto said abruptly. He stood up, ready to leave, ignoring her disbelieving
expression.

He gave Hanabi a long look.

"…Thank you for today."

Naruto disappeared.

Twenty three days before the end.

'Have any of you seen Naruto around?' Karin asked worriedly.

He had closed the bond off. Well, mostly. Just open enough for them to know he was alive.
'No.' Ino answered, somewhat worriedly. 'Hanabi told me he all but disappeared yesterday. And
that he's not in Umi right now.'

Yugito took a while longer to do so. '…No. Not much since Kiri.'

'He dropped by to take Samehada away, yesterday night. And some scrolls.' Sakura shrugged.

'Weren't you supposed to give the sword to Mei?' Yugito frowned.

'Yeah, I was… planning on it. It just… never came up.' Sakura tried.

'Uh huh…'

'I swear.'

'You obviously have no honor to swear on.' Yugito sounded vaguely amused. 'Make sure he returns
it, then. Otherwise Mei's going to be on my ass.'

'Sure, sure.'

Twenty one days before the end.

Akamine Jirōbō woke with the feeling of something pressing on his chest.

He tried to turn around, but found that he couldn't. He was entirely bound, in a way that he didn't
really understand. Something moved slowly in the corner of his vision and he inhaled sharply. He
had heard about the disappearing people.

A man came into view, eyes gleaming blue with power.

"You are Jirōbō, aren't you?" He asked, and his voice sent shivers up his spine.

"…Yes."

"Good." He sounded amused. "I would hate to have gotten the wrong person."

"What do you want from me?!"

No answer. Jirōbō stared at the young man angrily. He was strong, he could almost feel the barely
hidden power behind the man's huge frame. Wait… he knew this face.

Jirōbō paled.

"Uzumaki Naruto." He let out fearfully.

"The bogeyman in the flesh, yes." Naruto said dryly.

"I'll talk, whatever it is you want."

"Good."

Jirōbō could see that man's grin.

"What do you want?" Jirōbō asked again.

"Nothing you won't be willing to give." He said softly.

Twenty days before the end.

"Akado Yoroi?" A man asked him.

Yoroi answered hesitantly, palming a kunai silently. "That's me."

The man's smile widened.

Eighteen days before the end.

'Okay, where the hell is he?!' Ino asked though their bond.

No one had an answer. Naruto had cut himself off from all forms of communication days ago.

'I'll go look for him with Hanabi.' Karin decided. 'I'll keep a few clones around Umi anyway.'

'Yeah.' Ino said tightly. 'And maybe ask him if he knows anything about the dozens of people
disappearing without a trace, while you're at it.'

Land of Fire.

Uchiha Sasuke sat under the shade of a tree, close to Konoha's camp, exhausted.

Not from fighting, because this had halted. But from training himself, harder and harder. He was
mostly here because it was less of a risk to Konoha, honestly. He moved a lot between locations,
now.

Even now, he couldn't believe the last few weeks.

Jiraiya. Dead.

The thought of it was almost unbelievable.

Not just dead. Killed by Nagato. The toads had confirmed. Killed, along with the missing ninja
Orochimaru; Tsunade and the Third.

It seemed everybody was dying around him, and it only sounded like a wise idea to isolate himself
until he could make himself strong enough to take down Nagato.

The war was not over, technically, but the battles had died down. Despite Ōnoki's proclamations
that the madman who had threatened the entire world were nothing but empty words and fear-
mongering, he seemed to be taking the situation seriously.

Several squads had been tasked with killing Uzumaki Nagato, but none had come back.

Iwa had apparently sent their Explosive Corps, led by Deidara.

Considering no one had heard anything from this particular madman since then, it was fair to
assume that he too had failed.

Every village had tried their own luck, with no success. Akatsuki seemed prepared for anything.

Now there were rumors of an urgent Five Kage Summit taking place in a week or so. Sasuke was
not privy to it, but if there ever was a time for the countries to push their grudges aside, now would
be it.

The only problem with that, Sasuke knew, was that a common foe would unite the villages for a
while only.

But once that threat was gone, the unity was guaranteed to fade away again. Still, Sasuke held
some hope that his children might grow to become adults without seeing war.

Some hope.

And that was assuming they survived Nagato.

Part of him wondered if giving himself up might lead to a better outcome.

Maybe not. There were too many smaller villages who held deep grudges toward the Great
Villages. And that without even touching the matter of how much the Great Villages hated each
other.

And then again, it didn't seem like Umi and Kumo would give up the remaining jinchūriki.

And Sasuke knew he was not strong enough to fight Nagato. Maybe with Itachi and Shisui…? No,
even then.

Karin had confirmed that he was alive, within the Kamui realm. And that they were helping him.
How they were doing this, he didn't know, but Sasuke would find a way to get him out.

Shisui was in the camp with Sasuke. Considering the threat they were facing, he might be the only
person able to do something if the worst happened, and Akatsuki came to get him.

That was a maybe, though.

Sasuke heard noise coming from the camp.

And then silence. His eyes stared in the dark. Gods, was he exhausted. He hoped it was nothing
dangerous. Iwa…?

Sasuke's men began to shift the moment they saw the person who came out of nowhere.

Uzumaki Naruto glanced at him and then smiled.

He began to walk toward him. A few men tried to prevent him from doing that. In a flash of
motion, they were all thrown away. Effortlessly.

Sasuke's face turned grim.

Shisui appeared from the shadows, coming closer to Sasuke. His eyes were burning.

"Wait." Sasuke called out to his men, with a raspy voice.

"Thank you." Uzumaki Naruto nodded as he stood in front of him.

"…Why have you come here?" Sasuke shook his head tiredly. "You know we will kill you."

"What if I came here to see an old friend?" Naruto said softly.

"We haven't been friends in years." Sasuke said, just as quietly.

"That's fair." Naruto admitted. "I have come here to extend my hand to you in alliance. So that we
may stop Nagato."

And this close to Iwa, Naruto had had the distinct pleasure of having to slash his way through more
assassins.

Sasuke closed his eyes. Shisui gritted his teeth.

"Is this a joke…?" He let out.

"Does it sound like one?" Naruto asked quietly.

"Does it?" Shisui barely choked on his rage. "You murdered dozens of Konoha shinobi by now, as
well as civilians if the rumors are true."

They had been under Nagato's thrall… but he had killed a few of them. He had some trouble
remembering where. It hadn't seemed particularly important at the time.

Shisui continued.

"You caused mass destruction, made loyal shinobi betray their villages, played at terrorist, killed
several Kage. You broke alliances, brought Kumo and Kiri in your fold. You killed Kakashi. And
now…"

Shisui was boiling with rage.

"And now you're proposing an alliance." He spat the last word. "You want us to join you."

"I wasn't asking you." Naruto shrugged, ignoring him. He looked toward Sasuke.

Sasuke stared back in disbelief. Was this really the person he had grown up with…? There was
something barely restrained in his eyes. Something that looked too much like what he had seen in
shinobi before they went off the rails.

"…The answer is no." Sasuke said flatly. "For the reasons he mentioned. Go away."

Naruto grinned.

Some of the ninja surrounded him.

"I was almost hoping you'd say that. Now, let's step away and—"

Shisui's strike took him in the neck.

He had counted on someone attacking him, and this had been the reason he had wrapped explosive
tags around himself. Well, around his clone.

The clone who was just dispelled.

And the tags were powerful ones.

On top of this… The Uzushiogakure scrolls had taught him how to seal chakra itself into
something.
After this, it was simply a matter of putting enough unstable chakra, let's say… Wind and
Lightning, in a precarious state of balance. A state where the least disturbance might prove to be
dangerous.

Shisui did just that.

And the camp exploded. Konoha uniforms burst apart in a spray of blood, flesh and gore. Screams
and moans. It was a slaughter.

Most of the camp had gone up in smoke, and the scattered remains of Konoha shinobi were strewn
across the place. Most had not survived. Some distant part of Naruto wanted to scream. But he
didn't, and kept his eyes firm.

"You shouldn't have done that." The real Naruto shook his head, coming closer.

Shisui, covered in his Susanoo, although not as powerful as Naruto's Perfect one had been—
Not his.

Indra cackled in his head.

Naruto felt like laughing too. Or crying, maybe.

 Spellbound II

The fury in Shisui's eyes was an almost physical thing.

Next to him, Sasuke shook his head in disbelief, hidden by his own pink wall of chakra. The horror
in his eyes surprised Naruto. Was it just about the dead shinobi…?

Shisui had struck the first blow. What did they expect? He wouldn't play nice, if they didn't. But
then again, he had come with a lethal trap set up, so maybe playing nice had never really been in
the cards.

Same thing went for the civilians. They had been under Nagato's thrall… but he had killed a few
more of them. Not so many, and only the ones too far gone. He had some trouble remembering
where. It hadn't seemed particularly important at the time.

It was a mercy.

It really was. A voice whispered in his mind. How he hated it.

Stay quiet. He growled back.

"Why?!" Sasuke screamed. "Why did you come here? Why did you do… this?"

Naruto released a smoke screen. Behind it, he divided his chakra almost evenly, keeping less than
half for himself. He summoned four Shadow Clones, and six Lightning Shadow Clones. They
stepped in between him and the Uchiha. He summoned swords for them.

Naruto shrugged as the smoke faded. He adjusted his chakra levels to match the clones'. One of the
clones spoke for him, and they would alternate in order not to reveal which one was the real one.

"I really came here to propose an alliance. I just didn't expect you to accept, that's it."

"And that's what you call negotiating?" Sasuke roared. "You killed them!"

"Only because your cousin attacked. Really, maybe you should ask him about it." Naruto said
mildly.

Shisui blurred.

Naruto and his clones jumped out of the way, and they closed their eyes. Naruto felt chakra build
up and summoned a flash of lightning with a twitch of his fingers. Just like his clones did.

Naruto pushed his base Lightning cloak to its limit. It would cost more chakra, and the pain would
likely be debilitating later on, but in this sort of fight, there simply was no other option.

His attention remained on his own chakra system, so that he would notice if Shisui caught him in a
Genjutsu.

Some of his clones engaged Sasuke. Sasuke tried to fight back against them using his Susanoo, at
first. The clones were too fast, and he figured he was wasting too much chakra, so he quickly
brought it down. His flames didn't fare much better, as the clones made sure to coordinate their
movements to seal most of them away.

The four shadow clones used the swords around the area to pull themselves into place. They spread
around Sasuke, before he even noticed what they were doing.

"Four Blue Flames Formation!"

A solid chakra barrier was erected around Sasuke, separating him from Shisui.

It was an Uzushio ninjutsu, supposed to dispel most chakra attacks that came in contact with it, but
considering this was Sasuke… It would likely only buy Naruto some time.

Sasuke understood exactly what he was doing, and raged helplessly about it, but the six other
clones were already engaging him. He focused on them.

Naruto had to make it count.

He summoned swords in an impossibly quick motion. Then more of them, that he threw all around
the area in a blur of motion.

Shisui flung three kunai at Naruto, who caught them by their handles.

He enhanced two with Wind, and one with Lightning, before throwing them back. Shisui dodged
them as easily as he had thought he would.

Naruto felt the chakra buildup in Shisui's eye, and he dashed, pulling himself to a discarded sword,
breaking the line of sight.

A clone moved in front of him, and Naruto kept his chakra senses on that clone's network.

"Fire Release: Blooming Flower!"

Blooming tongues of fire erupted from Shisui's mouth, flames hot enough to level a building.

Naruto and his clone blurred to the left, gliding along the floor at extreme speeds.

Shisui fell down on the clone like a bird of prey. Naruto committed the strike to memory.

There was one thing Naruto had to do. As quickly as possible, too. He turned to face him.

Naruto pulled himself to one of the swords he had thrown earlier, dodging Shisui's ensuing fireball
entirely. He let go and used his forward momentum to slide along the earth, rising in a kick that
Shisui countered almost casually.

Naruto tapped the floor with his hand, and the seal for a flashbang wrote itself down. He leaped in
a backflip over Shisui's sweeping strike, and as he was flying upside down, he triggered it, forcing
Shisui to back off.

A clone of Shisui leaped out from somewhere he hadn't seen, swinging for Naruto's head. He
whipped his blade into place, before realizing the chakra signature of it was off.

Naruto dispelled the illusion affecting his chakra senses, and he barely knocked Shisui's sword
away. Flames licked at his elbows, and Shisui's following kick took him in the stomach. Naruto
flew away.

Shisui seemed to flicker for a second.

And then there were two of him closing in on Naruto.

Then four.

Even with his senses extended, he could not tell which one was the real one.

Two of them closed the distance and he got ready to parry their attacks. Their bodies faded away
into nothing.

He could not tell which attack was the feint of the two remaining pairs.

Naruto had prepared for something like this.

Naruto summoned the weapon he had crafted for this, his chakra already ready to surge through it.
A gleaming ōdachi.

He let his armor fade away, focusing all of the electrical energy into enhancing his reflexes.

Time seemed to slow down.

Which Shisui was the real one? Were there physical clones thrown into the mix, as well?

He had used an illusion on Naruto again, this much was obvious. A more complex one, this time,
one that affected more than just his sight. Otherwise, his chakra senses would have been enough to
identify the real one.

If he did dispel it, though… Then Shisui would notice and adjust. This was too good an
opportunity.

Two Shisui in front.

One to his left and back.

One to his right, coming from above.

Faster.

Both his head and his nerves seemed to be on fire, as he pushed himself beyond his limits.

Time seemed to slow down even further. Naruto could not hear sounds anymore, or it felt like it, at
least. His body was not answering him, as though he were encased in ice. Or maybe it was just
going too slow, compared to this instant of clarity.

Something touched his left sleeve. A tanto, a real one, slipping in through a weaker part of his
armor.

Naruto let the chakra flow back through his body.

Time resumed.

Shisui's weapon stabbed through his left bicep, on course for his heart, and Naruto prevented it
from spearing him entirely by lifting his arm out of the way.

Naruto directed his chakra through his ōdachi.

His weapon released the accumulated Lightning chakra in a flash of white.

For a second, Shisui was blinded. Light wreathed the blade, and it seemed as though he were
staring at the sun. Blinded and much too close.

Naruto's blade flashed upward.

Shisui twisted in midair, narrowly avoiding it. A blade made of chakra extended from the weapon,
over a short distance. It was enough here.

The chakra edge cut along Shisui's face messily. And through his right eye.

The Uchiha fell to the earth with a curse.

His right eye was ruined, and blood flowed freely down his face.

He still managed to dodge Naruto's subsequent strike, one that would have taken him in the throat.

Even with his eyes closed, Naruto felt him stare at his weapon, the soulforged ōdachi he held in his
right hand. A long white ribbon flowed from its pommel.

"This…?" He asked him quietly. "Ah. I was inspired by Kakashi's… and by Toru's weapon. This is
my Moonglare. I made it with one specific purpose in mind."

Naruto smiled grimly, as he healed his arm. Shisui gritted his teeth.

"I assume you know exactly what I mean." Naruto continued. "Let us see how good you are
without this."

This being the most problematic eye. The one that didn't require eye contact to ensnare an enemy.

Shisui roared and swung at him again.

They went on like this for a while.

Striking at each other, blocking, stepping back… and in again. There was something wild and
unrestrained in Uzumaki's eyes. And something else. Something that had been there last time, in
the hospital, but was… stronger now. It was hard to describe it, but it reminded Shisui of the
Uchiha's cat summons.

Cats had a strange gleam in their eyes. Something uncaring, like most predators. Something that
only had one question in mind.

Could I eat this?

And despite the fact it was a life-or-death battle... the Uzumaki seemed to be having fun.

And not because he thought he was winning.

Every strike Shisui parried, deflected, dodged…

Uzumaki Naruto seemed to get a clearer picture of his fighting style. Shisui even saw him use some
of his own moves against him.

Shisui scrambled and clawed, bucking under the weight of Naruto's two-handed strikes, strikes that
felt like blocking a mighty hammer blow every time they landed. His hands shook.

The Uchiha stepped back, avoiding yet another sweeping attack.

He stepped back in, aiming for Naruto's face with his tantō. Naruto raised his blade and parried
diagonally. He was only using one hand, right now.

Naruto brought the blade back to his hip. His next attack looked as though he were trying to hit
Shisui's face with the pommel of his weapon.

Then his left hand came up in a flash and pushed against the flat edge of the blade.

Jyuppo.

Shisui dodged the blade that had been aimed at his throat. The chakra edge that extended still
nicked him.

Naruto's moves were strange, right now. He twisted and the pommel came back up again. Shisui
felt fabric touch his wrist.

Only now did he notice that the ribbon that flew from the pommel of Naruto's blade seemed to be
covered in something. His Sharingan focused on it.

Shit.

These were seals. The ribbon wrapped around Shisui's wrist when it touched it. Tightly, like a vice.
Or a snake trying to suffocate its prey.

It was seal-activated, and his Sharingan could not possibly have predicted this particular
movement. Uzumaki Naruto had clearly prepared for this fight.

Naruto pulled Shisui to him using his blade and his own heavier weight. He pulled hard.

A left hook rattled Shisui's jaw, sending him flying. Except… the rope pulled him back again.
Naruto hit him with a spinning Lightning-enhanced kick.

Shisui fought and he scrambled, but he had the feeling it was for nothing. In just a few direct hits,
he felt as though he was ready to pass out.

Naruto delivered a flurry of lightning-fast blows to him. Each one rattled his skull. He was being
bounced around like a yo-yo. Shisui wasn't seeing much of anything, and his numb fingers couldn't
grasp the hilt of his tanto securely enough to do much.

He needed to summon his Susanoo, but his focus was escaping him, crippling blow after crippling
blow.

A ball of roaring hot fire exploded from him. Raw and unfocused, it did more to burn Shisui's
throat than anything else. Naruto cursed and threw Shisui away.

This was going badly.

The Uzumaki had only gotten better since last time, it seemed. This was fast, way too fast. Did he
have help…? Who? If he and Sasuke didn't stop him now… What would he become, given more
time and preparation?

The crux of the problem was that all three of Shisui's biggest advantages were negated, against
him. He was not as fast as Uzumaki Naruto. His Susanoo would be a waste of effort. He used
clones to avoid his illusions… and fought with his eyes closed.

It was not easy on him either, and he could see that he was breathing hard, too. But Shisui knew
that if it came down to stamina, there was no way he was going to win this one.

Shisui's blade started glowing again, with a fiery red flame.

"So, tell me." Uzumaki Naruto began. "At this point… What are you even fighting for? The
shinobi I just killed?"

Shisui gritted his teeth. He didn't answer.

"…Revenge?" Naruto continued. "For Kakashi, maybe?"

"He was a friend." Was all that Shisui said on the matter, his grip around his sword tightening.

"Toru was a friend, too. We killed Danzo, and Kakashi took a stand."

Shisui said nothing. Just hearing his brother's name coming from this man's lips made him
unbearably angry.

"And what about his eye…? Was this also just about fighting back?" He spat.

Uzumaki Naruto spoke quietly. "It wasn't just about fighting back. I enjoyed defeating him. It
doesn't mean I enjoyed his death. And I didn't steal his eye."

Shisui spat. "Speaking with you is a complete waste of time."

"Suit yourself." Naruto shrugged. "I didn't come here to talk."

Purple light shrouded him for an instant, before fading away. Naruto looked somewhat
disappointed, but not particularly surprised.

"I would offer you to move aside, as Toru's brother." Naruto began. "But your remaining eye is still
too dangerous."

"Come take it, then." Shisui gritted out. "You must be pretty good at this, by now."

Naruto frowned.

He stepped forward, his feet moving silently on the burned earth. "I don't think there's anything
you can do to me. But I'd rather not take the chance."

Uzumaki Naruto sounded… tired. No, not tired. Not even exhausted. Weary.

Not physically, but his expression, his mannerisms. He sounded like a man who had been done.
For a while.

Shisui blurred.

They clashed swords. Naruto was simply better than him. Each strike reminded Shisui of how tired
was. He pushed even harder. He struggled to stay alive, to not be crushed. To not suffocate.

Shisui felt a powerful kick move something within him. He slammed into the ground, the blow
nearly knocking him unconscious. He stood up again.

He called his Susanoo forth, even with one eye. Well, half of it. It flickered, and the Uchiha
grabbed his eye, grunting in pain, but it held.
Uzumaki just blurred away, waiting. That was a waste, and they both knew it. The rain of
projectiles didn't reach him.

The blond man shook his head, almost regretfully. He looked so strong, almost invincible at this
moment.

Then he moved forward again, weaving through the Susanoo's swings almost casually. Shisui felt
sluggish in comparison.

The Susanoo fell away and he was forced into melee combat again. Shisui tried to keep track of the
ribbon as well.

Their swords flashed through the air, electric blue and fiery orange.

Naruto kicked Shisui away, following him by flipping forward. Shisui deflected the strike, but
panic was starting to show on his face. He was losing this fight.

Steel found steel.

Again.

And again.

Shisui barely deflected the following strike. Naruto put more strength in the next.

The Uchiha's back bent from the next strike. He had to end this. Right now. The Uzumaki seemed
to only get better as the battle went on.

Shisui read his next strike. He dodged, as narrowly as he could.

Then he thrust his own tanto forward.

Naruto… grinned?

It wasn't a pretty sight, and it reminded Shisui of a cat again. The gleaming eyes, too. Naruto
accelerated. He let go of his Moonglare, and with his left hand, he grabbed Shisui's wrist,
pulling him forward, and making him overextend.

Another copy of the weapon appeared in his right hand, even as the first one still fell. This one
shone bright, enhanced by Lightning. Naruto slashed down with no hesitation.

Like a vengeful Kami.

Moonglare went through Shisui's wrist like butter, and his hand fell to the ground, stiff.

The wound was already cauterized by the supercharged weapon.

Shisui howled in pain. Naruto fell upon him.

"Shisui!" Sasuke roared. The barrier finally exploded under his constant assault.

Sasuke looked exhausted already.

Not just from the fight. He had been tired before.

"Don't move." Naruto said softly. "Either of you."

A clone appeared next to him, and he handed him a sword. The clone kept it pressed against
Shisui's neck.

"Otherwise he dies."

Shisui settled for glaring at him.

"I can feel your chakra. This goes for both of you. And I know your abilities." Naruto said easily.
"If you try anything…"

"What do you want?" Sasuke sounded defeated.

"Come here." Naruto smiled.

Sasuke took one step forward, without thinking, before he caught himself.

"Don't!" Shisui roared.

Sasuke seemed hesitant.

"He really will kill you, Shisui. I can't—"

"Better that I die than whatever he has planned!"

"It won't be quite that bad, I assure you." Naruto said quietly.

"Sasuke! Don't come any closer!" Shisui begged.

"I won't lose you, too." Sasuke growled.

"You will!" Shisui promised. "He won't let me go. But you will lose everything if you give in to his
demands."

"I am. Not. Losing. You." Sasuke gritted out.

Something about his tone made his cousin understand how serious he was about this.

Shisui smiled sadly.

Naruto understood what he was about to do. Shisui was gathering chakra into his eye. And Naruto
knew what he needed to do.

That was Toru's brother.

'What does it matter?'

Was this his thought, or not? He didn't know anymore.

His blade swung right through Shisui's neck and the headless body fell to the ground.

Naruto felt the same weariness return.

Sasuke howled in rage.

The Beast he was holding, the one Naruto had helped seal inside him, released its noxious chakra
through the air.

Sasuke flew at him, covered in flames.

Naruto felt something move next to him and he narrowly dodged a tanto strike. It bit into his neck,
but not too deeply. He started healing it, right away.

Uzumaki Naruto furrowed his brows.

"What." Naruto blinked. "You can do something like this…?"

This was likely how Toru had survived, all these years ago, then.

Uchiha Shisui stood on his feet, still ready to fight, entirely blind.

Without his eyes, though… He wasn't much.

"Don't!" Sasuke roared, pink chakra shaping itself around him. Too slow.

The Bijuu inside Sasuke roared, now awake and wrestling for control.

And Sasuke was blinded by the fear of losing someone, too. Shukaku's chakra rose up. With a
grunt of pain, Sasuke stiffened.

A terrible combination.

A Lightning-enhanced kick struck Shisui and he flew away. His flight was stopped by a tree,
painfully.

He fell to the ground, his remaining hand going limp.

Dead or not…? It didn't matter. Without his eyes, he was of no consequence.

The rest happened extremely quickly.

Demonic chakra exploded.

Sasuke flew at him, covered in a mix of pink and demonic chakra.

Naruto's chakra became entirely purple. It would only last a short while, with his frayed control.

Naruto's bow snapped into his hands, and he released three Storm arrows in a flurry, expending
most of his remaining chakra.

The half-formed Susanoo buckled.

The Bijuu's demonic Wind shrouded Sasuke completely, and it mixed with Fire. The result looked
and felt cursed.

Sasuke's flames concentrated into a powerful offense, wrapping along his blade. He slashed
forward, using his momentum to enhance the wide, sweeping sword strike.

Naruto used what little time he had to dodge the powerful flames.

He knew where Sasuke expected him to move.

Instead of fleeing, as Sasuke had expected him to do, he reached into the flames, burning his right
arm raw despite his reinforced armor and his storm cloak.

Naruto couldn't feel anything but pain from his right hand. He didn't need to.

His hand reached inside Sasuke's collar blindly, landing on his shoulder at the same time his storm
cloak faded away.

"Five Elements Seal!"

Naruto kicked him.

Sasuke fell to the muddy ground. His control over his chakra was going absolutely haywire. And he
suddenly lost most of his remaining strength.

It was no wonder, considering how entwined his chakra was with his Beast. The Beast... that was
now all too silent, and distant as well.

"…Is it the first time someone uses it against you? Really?" Naruto muttered. "Did Jiraiya teach
you nothing about sealing…?"

"Bastard." Sasuke growled. "Of course you know exactly how to counter mine. You made it."

A knee was pressed into his chest. The blond was above him, dead-eyed, looking like a ghoul.
More demon than man.

His right arm…

Sasuke saw that Naruto's right arm was nothing more than mangled flesh, fused together with the
remnants of the cloak he had been wearing. Burnt to a crisp and useless, it dangled from his
shoulder and would cause him untold amounts of pain. There was no way he'd use his damnable
bow ever again. Sasuke felt some satisfaction at the sight. And he knew it wouldn't heal, Nine-
Tails or not. The cursed chakra ran too deep, and even with his Sharigan, he would have trouble
unweaving the threads of it.

Naruto's other hand flashed toward his face.

"That is true." Naruto grunted.

His eyes. He was going to take his eyes—

Sasuke's Sharingan saw it in all too clear detail.

His fingers would press in. There would be a popping sound, he imagined. And then there would
be darkness on one side, the one thing that almost every Uchiha feared. The monster above him
would then do it again to his other eye. And Sasuke would be left blind and useless for the coming
disaster.

It didn't happen, and the Sharingan's prediction flickered away.

The Uzumaki stiffened and did something else instead.

Naruto pressed his index on his forehead and Sasuke's chakra escaped his control entirely. The
Sharingan receded.

"Do not move." The Uzumaki called.

His eyes were still alight with blue lightning… and madness as well.

Naruto extended his left hand and a glass dagger appeared in it.

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry it came to this. But this is needed."

He drove the blade into Sasuke's navel.

Sasuke shouted in helpless rage and pain. Agony swept through him and he screamed some more.

Something cold was spreading through his gut.

No… Something warm was escaping his gut.

"Why?!" Sasuke snarled.

"You will understand soon. Or maybe you won't." Naruto said quietly.

"Get off! Get off of me!"

He was feeling tired, so tired…

Then the dagger was pulled out of his gut. Sasuke screamed again.

Naruto stood up. The dagger disappeared into a scroll.

He seemed to be deep in thought. Or debating with himself. The same ōdachi as before appeared
into his hand, reflecting the moon.

"Are you going to kill me?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto said nothing. Lightning and Wind gathered around his remaining arm.

"Like you killed Shisui?!" Sasuke howled.

"He lives, still." Naruto said quietly. It changed nothing.

"Like you killed Kakashi?!"

"Silence."

It looked as though Naruto was wrestling with himself. With his desire to kill him… and his desire
not to.

"You should—"

"I said SHUT UP!" Naruto screamed, putting the blade right at Sasuke's throat. Sasuke didn't even
know if he was still talking to him.

Naruto unnerved him.

His hand was clenching, unclenching around the ōdachi. His control was frayed, it was obvious.

Purple light gathered around his sword, and Sasuke knew it was the end. The blade pressed into his
neck, drawing blood.

He kept his eyes open, and stared up at Naruto.

Sasuke didn't need the Sharingan to know what the killing blow would look like.

And then…

Naruto began to shake.

"I am Uzumaki Naruto!" He roared. "I won't be controlled! Not by you, not by anyone! Face me,
you coward!"

The Storm faded, and his sword disappeared as well.

He stared at Sasuke, his face obscured by the night.

Naruto's hand reached for his forehead without hesitation and Sasuke felt some of his chakra
become reachable again. His reserves were almost empty.

"Heal your wounds." Naruto rasped out. "After that... we will settle the matter."

Uzumaki Naruto disappeared.

 Mind/A Stronger Man

What is Uzumaki Naruto?

"I will readily admit that part of why I'm steadfast on the madness subject is that I simply
don't believe madness is actually a tangible concept.

Not only because I have personally been accused of madness myself, of course.

I believe it is an antiquated concept that tries to separate others' subjective experience into a
distinct category for the only reason that it departs so significantly from what most would
consider reality. Quite often I feel the concept of madness presupposes there's such a thing as
objective reality, when in fact we each inhabit our own subjective realities which may or may
not overlap. To different extents.

Were we able to inhabit the lived experience of even a severely schizophrenic individual,
within that person's reality, their perceived world; their seemingly erratic behavior would be
understandable."

Orochimaru - 'Meditations'

"I'm running out of time..." Naruto muttered.

No. We'll be just fine.

There is no we.

The time has come.

Then come. I will show you what I think of your endless machinations.

Now that he was out of the fight, he bent over in exhaustion. He could not stop now. That he was
short one arm didn't matter.

The weariness was only partly caused by the fight, he knew.

He had seen the horror in Sasuke's eyes.

What did it matter?

It was Sasuke.

What does it matter? You are not friends. He is nothing but an obstacle now. We should have killed
him.

Naruto stumbled forward.

He didn't return to Umi. He felt too on edge for that. He was entirely too rattled to be near anyone
he cared about. He was afraid that he'd… That he'd do the same thing he had been about to do to
Sasuke.
Naruto was still more than strong enough to get rid of a few problematic people across the world.

So he began doing just that over the course of the day.

A long, bloody day.

It came without warning, and without a trace.

Several people, most of them respected, and all of them wielding great influence and power…
disappeared throughout the Lands, on that particular Thursday.

There would be a lot of finger pointing later, but with no way to prove who had done it, nothing
could be done about it.

He felt like a dead man walking.

And maybe he was, in a way. There was someone else under his skin, inside his soul, waiting for
him to finally fall away. And the way things had been going, he knew it might be very, very soon.

Rest. He needed rest. Sleep simply wouldn't do.

And he was supposed to stop this endless conflict..? He was the worst sort of man. And he had
failed already. So many different times. Naruto continued to walk. Anywhere was fine.

Before he could even think about it, he found himself back in the Mountain's Graveyard, close to
the Ōtsutsuki ruins.

Naruto walked through the broken remains of something he knew he could see whole if he only
closed his eyes; once more.

What do you expect to find here? Indra asked him.

I expect nothing.

You're lying to yourself. Indra said, his voice very soft. Very close, too. You still have hopes of
finding a solution to your little… problem.

Anger welled up inside Naruto. Was this how his whole life, what little was left of it was going to
be like?

Strung along like a puppet, at the whims of people like that bastard?

Dragged into fights that had had nothing to with him at the beginning, until he was the one in the
wrong?

Killing the people he cared about?

Failing, and failing. Again and again.

Naruto was exhausted. And weary, too. If felt as though he had spent most of his short life fighting,
or getting ready to fight.

How long had he been walking…? The day was starting again. Or was it sunset…?
What would Toru think of him…? What would Kakashi, the Third… or Orochimaru think, if they
saw him now…?

All these sacrifices, for what…?

The last weeks, he had felt as though he were walking in a never-ending haze.

Then let me take over. Indra whispered. It will be a mercy, as well.

I refuse.

Whether you accept me or not doesn't matter all that much, in the long run.

There were shadows on the edge of his perception. A blade appeared into his left hand. Who was
there…?

Karin. Hanabi.

Was he really starting to see things, now? When was the last time he had slept…?

It was… good to see them. Grounding, in a way. But right now, being grounded was the last thing
that he wanted. He could not afford to be burdened by such things. Otherwise, he would never…

They looked a bit hesitant, both of them. Because of him, then. How long since he had left Umi,
now…? Days, he thought. And he had kept the bond shut, of course. Like Toru, had, when…

"Hello." His voice sounded distant to himself.

They greeted him, a bit warily. The three of them stared at each other, in the middle of the ruins. It
was windy here, and almost cold, too. Not like home. Not like Umi.

"…What are you doing?" Karin cut to the chase.

"Here, you mean…?" Naruto asked. "How did you find me?"

Karin lifted an eyebrow. "What do you think? You have a very unique chakra signature."

"And there were only so many Marks you were likely to go." Hanabi finished, sounding frustrated.
"We have been checking for days."

"Ah." Naruto muttered. "Did anything happen…?"

"Did anything happen…?" Karin repeated, blinking. "Are you fucking kidding me? Do you know
how erratically you've been acting these last weeks?"

He kinda knew, even though he was certain he was not seeing it objectively. Far from it. Some part
of him felt like screaming.

"…I had things I needed to do." Naruto said.

"Things." Karin said pointedly. "Since when do you hide so much from us?"

"It's not…" Naruto started, frustrated. "I will tell you everything. Later." He finished, weakly.

Hanabi said nothing. But her eyes, as usual, told him more than enough about what she was truly
thinking. Why couldn't they understand…?
"There… are things…" He tried.

"Why don't you come out and say it?" Karin gritted out.

"I am tired, Karin." He switched topics completely. He started pacing about. "Of men like Nagato,
Madara… Indra, pulling me along in whichever direction they want."

"What are you rambling about?" Hanabi asked.

Naruto knew they meant well. But there was no way he could even begin to explain what was
happening.

"My life is not mine, and maybe it never has been. I can't run. I can't fight. The only thing I can do
is—"

"Try to do as much as you can before you go?" Hanabi asked, folding her arms.

"You won't die." Karin interjected. "We will find a way to defeat him. Nagato."

"This is not just about Nagato." Naruto said in frustration. "No matter what I do, Indra will be
waiting at the end. His voice is getting more and more present."

"…How bad?" Karin finally asked. "You never clarified."

Naruto laughed. "I can't tell his thoughts apart from mine, sometimes. And I'm doing my best to
push him away."

Karin looked sad. "Why… why did you never say it got so bad?"

"We could have—" Hanabi continued.

"You could have what…?" He shook his head. "There is nothing to do."

"We will find something." Karin almost pleaded. "So much of what we did already was considered
impossible."

He wanted to believe her. Karin had always been there for him, since the very beginning. And they
shared a bond that—. A bond. What little relief he had started to feel blew away like a candle in
the wind.

"Your arm!" She finally noticed. He had done his best to hide it from her. Why did she sound so
horrified...?

"It's nothing." He muttered. "I considered getting rid of it entirely."

"What — Oh god, why—"

Her voice sounded so distant.

She had always been…

So loyal.

Karin continued to talk, but he could not focus anymore. The only thing he could think about was
Shachi. And her relationship with Indra. Had he done the exact same thing…? Had he made all of
them his loyal followers, by force of his chakra?
Had he manipulated all of them into it…?

Maybe there was nothing to run away from. He was already the same sort of monster, then.

Naruto wanted to be alone. His emotions were getting the best of him again. And he could not
afford to be emotional. He reached inward, trying to find the stillness of mind that he found
through meditation. It didn't come.

"-ruto?"

The woman. Yoisen…? Shachi…? Mito? No, Karin. She was calling someone. Naruto. Naruto.

That was him.

"Let me go. I need to… think." He said softly.

"I don't think you should be left alone, right now." Hanabi cut him off.

"Come with us. Please." Karin pleaded.

His chakra was starting to escape him. Something was shaping into his left hand. A sword. He
needed a sword.

"Let me be!" He roared. "I—"

Why was he holding a sword…?

Why was he channeling his chakra?

Both Karin and Hanabi looked at him in disbelief.

"…What are you doing?" One of them asked.

What are you doing? Indra asked, mockingly.

What was he doing?

Inside, he was screaming.

Wind and Lightning were waiting to be released. His sword raised slowly.

What are you waiting for…? They will betray you, anyway.

More of his chakra gathered around him.

Naruto saw their faces. The fear he read there, even as they took fighting stances.

He had seen this through his memories. The turning point, the moment where some of Indra's
previous incarnations turned irreversibly mad. In the blink of an eye, he could become one of them.

"Enough." Naruto whispered. "Enough!"

Sasuke had been one thing. This… This. This was another. He forced the sword away.

Naruto fled again.

Later. Umi.

"What has been done to him…?" Karin asked breathlessly.

There was fear in her, but worry, most of all. Hanabi, on the other hand, was angry. Not fearful, but
worried for him, too. Sakura and Ino were silent.

"…Do you think he would have tried to kill you?" Ino asked, voice tight. She had tried to see what
it was that was wrong with him. Several times. But she could see nothing. He was one soul. And
therapy could only help so much.

"…No. No." Karin shook her head, not wanting to believe it. "He is… he was such a gentle boy —
He just... I don't think that's something he would have done."

"Karin… He is close to insane. If he's not fully there already." Hanabi muttered. "I don't know
what we should do."

"I know." Karin said with pursed lips. "Do you think I do not know?"

"What should we do about it…?" Sakura asked. Her tone was entirely flat.

Karin fell silent.

"We help him." Ino said. "I'm working on something, but I don't know if…"

"And in the meantime…?" Sakura asked.

Karin looked desperate. "…I don't have the slightest idea."

Naruto walked along the streets of the last city in the Land of Ancestors.

It was a small country that had existed a thousand years ago. The land itself was still home to a few
farming villages, surrounded by small forests. The country also contained a vast lake, which had
acted as the main resource for villagers in the past.

The legends had it that this country was also the location from which the Great Tree had grown
from. But those were just myths, and there was nothing to prove them.

What was true was that the mountains that surrounded this place had become known as the " Peaks
of Demise".

And that was where he was headed. Something called him there, the same way he — and Nagato
too, he assumed — had been pulled toward Uzushio, that night, weeks ago. It felt so long ago,
already. What this force was, he didn't know.

Fate, maybe? But the idea that there was something else, a force guiding his destiny didn't sit well
with him.

He had…

He had been ready to attack… maybe even kill them. Karin. Hanabi. And it hadn't felt like Indra
pushing him to do anything. It hadn't felt like him losing himself into memories. It had been him.
He really was losing it.

If only he were stronger.

Patience. He whispered to himself. We will settle this very soon.

I have all the time in the world.

I'm coming for you. This has lasted for way too long.

I am waiting, little Uzumaki.

Face me. We will end it, once and for all.

Do you think you are ready…?

I don't care about waiting anymore.

There were people on these streets. Nobody recognized him. Here, he was just another face in the
crowd. They just saw a cloaked stranger walking around in a daze. Maybe they thought he was
drunk… drugged. What did he care…?

These people weren't afraid of him.

It seemed as though the list of the people not worried about him was a very short one, by now.

But was it that bad…? He would get rid of Nagato, wouldn't he…? And then…? Then what.
Naruto passed a fragile looking bridge, without any sort of concern about its sturdiness. If it broke,
it broke.

His eyes were open, but his mind was elsewhere. He noticed that it had been a while since he had
last seen people, now. There were a few scattered animals here, with strange appearances.

Before, maybe he would have been curious about them. The same way they were about him,
watching him pass, sniffing him to figure where he stood on the food chain, exactly.

Now, it seemed so unimportant.

…Where was he? He had walked for a long while, again.

It was cold; windy. Freezing, even.

Naruto was high up in the mountains. A vast expanse of nothingness stretched in front of him. A
pristine white mountain slope, with fragile looking trees blanketing the area, while snow fell gently
to the ground. Under his feet, Naruto could feel more of the snow under him, along with the
freezing wind blowing against him.

For a brief moment, as he stood in the wilderness, looking down at the torn chasm of the mountain,
the dark clouds hanging above him, Naruto wondered what he was truly fighting for. And if it were
truly worth it.

He sat down over the mountain ledge, his feet dangling over the precipice, a drop that would kill
any man. His chakra melted the snow away and he sat down to think.

The cold was barely distracting up here.

The whispers were getting louder in his head. To the point where he could not call them whispers
anymore. He breathed in and out, slowly.
Naruto knew the time had come. Earlier than expected. Much earlier. There were so many things
he still wanted to do. He was barely twenty.

He was not ready. Could he ever have been…?

Naruto stared at the bloody glass dagger in his good hand. The one that he had went through so
much trouble to obtain. All this… for what…?

It had been a harebrained idea again, hadn't it been…? Taking Sasuke's chakra and blood.

But it had worked for Madara.

And he had spent days planning this. A dagger capable of absorbing and giving chakra, without
changing its essence. It would be such a waste to have everything he had planned for in front of
him… and to do nothing with it.

Maybe this was his most terrible idea yet. He would soon figure it out.

Worst case, he would die a bit earlier than expected.

With that in mind, Naruto stabbed himself in the gut. The blade he had designed did what it was
conceived for. It released the blood and chakra as close to his origin point as he could make it.

He felt the foreign chakra spread through him.

Then he waited.

To see if there was still a chance.

Naruto sat up there for hours.

Maybe more. The cold didn't seem to reach him. Or maybe he was too numb to care. His breath
was misting over, and a storm was raging. Snow, thunder, and rain.

His chakra was focused, and he lifted his good hand. He released it. For the thousandth time.

Who was he?

The Sage's First Son? Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina's son? Another lamb to the
slaughter? A tool of destruction? Of salvation?

He was afraid. He was angry. He was full of regrets already. And he still held some traitorous
hope.

Maybe he was a monster to many, already. But he wasn't impervious. Every terrible action he
undertook ate at his soul, if not immediately, then later.

The weight of his deeds made him want to bow his shoulders; and his future actions terrified him
already.

It would be so easy to let go. He just had to accept his fate.

He was doomed to fail, anyway. Just like he had, time and time again.

Naruto could stop it all. He could coil all of his chakra upon itself, and release it in a burst of light
that would break the land. Then it would be over. For a while. Someone else would have to deal
with this.

Someone stronger.

Someone who could bear the weight of this. The meaninglessness of this endless loop.

Naruto felt Sasuke's — Asura's, really — chakra coursing through him, blending with his own
almost seamlessly.

But nothing else was happening.

Uchiha Madara had awakened his Rinnegan by mixing his blood and chakra with Hashirama
Senju's. The man was convinced the Sharingan was needed.

Taking a Sharingan for himself was something he could simply not afford to do.

About this at least, he knew that Indra and Shachi had not lied. He felt it in his bones.

Naruto already had done what he could. Or at least he thought so.

What else was there…? There was nothing.

It had taken Madara decades to awaken the eye. Time Naruto didn't have. There was nothing.

What he knew was that the Sharingan evolved through extreme situations.

What he didn't know was if this worked in a similar way.

What he knew was that he was Indra's spiritual ancestor.

What he didn't know was if that would be enough.

There was something.

Madara had awoken his Rinnegan near his death.

Naruto would awaken his Rinnegan near his death.

Could he even heal from that…?

With that in mind, and the certainty that there was nothing more he could lose…

Naruto stabbed himself, close to his heart, and close to the Gate of Death.

His chakra, all three different essences coursing through his body reached out to heal him. Or at
least, to prevent him from dying immediately.

His body might have been there, on the rock overlooking emptiness, sitting silently, but his mind
and soul were elsewhere.

Outside of time, outside of existence.

Naruto was standing on a pool of pure water, one that stretched on forever.
His body was whole. His right arm answered him again. Only now, did Naruto realize now how
constant the numb pain that had come from it had been.

But standing was not an apt description for what he was doing, since it was not really his body
either. Just a representation of it.

Indra stood in front of him, his smaller stature doing nothing to lessen his sheer presence.

They stared at each other.

 Body/Indra

What is Uzumaki Naruto?

Someone that has had his mind toyed with by forces that he had no hopes of understanding for
years.

Somebody that has tried, again and again, to shoulder too much weight.

Something that must already be dead.

"I believe that it is in the nature of man to fight.

Ninjutsu is but a tool; without it, civilians would war with sticks and stones and gunpowder
again. But shinobi go above and beyond that, in the sense that it is in the nature of ninja to
kill.

For what else could be, when we train them for this specific purpose from the moment they
can channel chakra?

We are monsters, creating more monsters.

A good shinobi is one that can kill their emotions. Empathy, compassion, love; these are the
things that we get rid of first, in order to make a more efficient murder machine.

Except for a small fire that must be fanned, of course. Love for your clan; love for your
village; love for your nation.

Love thy clan; love thy village; love thy nation.

Kill the rest. So that your clan's reputation grows. So that your village expands its power. So
that your nation expands its land.

And we call it honor.

But there can be no honor, no ideals. Not for us. Only madness, looming over you like your
loved one's tombstone.

I do not pretend that I am any better.

Under the Uchiha banner, I have killed men, women and children.

Under the Konoha banner, I have killed men, women and children.

I am beginning to resent it; not the killing itself, for this I have resented since the very
beginning. But this world. I am beginning to loathe such a world.

This loathing is all-encompassing and I fear that

Pieces of the letter had been torn away and were never found.
haps they are right. Perhaps I am mad.

Perhaps Hashirama truly will bring peace. I hope for a miracle. And yet I am prepared for
the worst."

Uchiha Madara - Unsent letter to Uchiha Setsuna; Two months before his defection.

"It is time for you to fall away, Little Uzumaki." Indra said, almost gently.

Naruto said nothing in answer. He felt more like himself, here. He dimly remembered the smells of
forests, of the mountains, and then the sea. Perfume — two different ones. His breath was hot, and
his mind was clear.

For the first time in a long, long time.

"Your body might still be holding on, but your will is gone."

Naruto knew it. This game had gone on for far too long, already. He was tired.

"You are nothing more than a walking corpse. Rest." Indra said, as though he were extending a
kindness.

Naruto still stood silent. Although…

The embers of something ignited within him. Something that burned. Something like rage. It was
something that the man in front of him had felt before, too, according to what he had seen through
Indra's memories. Just an echo of a feeling that hadn't been his.

"Defiance…? To the very end, then. Very well." Indra smiled. "Kneel."

Indra extended his hands and a wave of invisible chakra pressure made Naruto drop to a knee. It
was as though his very being was being torn apart. And that he was being crushed at the same
time. The only thing he could do was holding on, trying to keep what it was that Naruto thought
made him him together.

The pain was not only physical, far from it. His mind was on the edge of rupture. Every fear, every
superstition, every shame was turned against him.

He had thought he could defeat this?

The tearing went on seemingly forever.

"I will win this one, too." Indra said.

Something about the familiar words angered Naruto even more. He was starting to get pretty
pissed.

He opened his eyes and anchored himself to reality.

"Win…? Win?!" Naruto gritted out. "Is this all this is about to you? Your conflict with your
brother?"

Indra laughed.
He brought his power against Naruto again. The tearing continued. Naruto held himself together.

The power came from all directions, and he fell to his knees again.

It seemed to last forever. And Naruto knew it might well do so if he continued to fight. Indra had
all the time in the world. Naruto didn't.

"Isn't there any way out…?" Naruto growled. "Is this conflict just going to go on forever…?"

"Until he admits his ideals are wrong." Indra smiled.

"That's it?!" Naruto roared. The pain was blinding. "For something like this?!"

"Aren't you doing the exact same thing?"

Through the haze of pain, Naruto saw it still.

He had done so. Just because Sasuke was not that similar to Asura superficially, he had been too
stupid to see. He was part of the cycle in every way. What would it even matter if Indra took over,
if he was already doing his part?

They were the same, after all.

Naruto felt some of the pain recede, and Indra seemed surprised.

"No." Naruto grunted. "I have made mistakes, but we're not doing the same thing. I won't become
like you."

The man smiled, and the pressure increased again. The pain came back. Naruto felt that he was
being torn apart again.

"I'm still me!" Naruto roared. He attacked.

Indra laughed. "So you want to fight…? Such proud last words, too. Come at me, then!"

The pressure abated.

Naruto didn't have to try to reach for his emotions.

Lightning and Wind; Yin and Yang.

What was harder was letting go.

But with everything on the line, he would have to.

This was what he was born for. This moment, suspended in time, where only the battle mattered.

His soul was soaring; his heart was thrumming. He was chakra, he was strength. He was the
Storm.

The Cloak of Storm held.

Indra grinned. Around him, his chakra shaped itself into weapons. Twin swords. Just like Naruto.

Lightning and Fire; Yin and Yang.

Their blades clashed, mighty blows that reminded Naruto of the old legends; of men facing angry
kami. It was obvious from the very start that Indra was stronger, better.

This had never stopped Uzumaki Naruto before.

They pushed away from each other, almost perfect reflections. Indra took a long breath. The
strength, the quality of the chakra that gathered made Naruto shiver.

"Firestorm Release: Sunlight Flare!"

A wall of crackling white fire, burning so bright that it hurt to look at, covered the entire field,
blooming like the most terrible sort of flower.

Naruto had nothing in his arsenal to counter that. He pushed his chakra to his legs and dashed
around it.

He ran at his fastest speed, something so far above a regular human that he would not even be seen
by most shinobi.

Of course, Naruto rarely, if ever, faced most shinobi. Or maybe he didn't really care enough about
such encounters to really commit them to memory.

Indra extended his hand and chakra — or rather, an unrefined blast of it — slammed into Naruto
like hard pellets of stone, sending him rolling. Before he had recovered, Indra was upon him,
swords flying through the air with a keening sound.

Lightning and Wind made for a better combination, when it came to speed. Which meant Naruto
was almost as fast as Indra was.

He parried the blow, but the strength of it sent him through the water with a booming sound. He
used Wind underwater to twist himself, aiming for the surface again.

He came out with a gasp.

"You may as well give up." Indra said with a small grin. "My power only grew over the
generations."

Naruto stared up at him, defiantly.

He felt the oceans of chakra at the man's disposal. Indra moved.

A rising kick smashed into Naruto's face with thunderous might. He was flying through the air,
and something was coming for him, obscuring the heavens.

It was a sword.

One that displaced the very air around it.

A gigantic purple sword made out of chakra. It came from a Susanoo, Naruto could see. One that
made the ones that Sasuke and Shisui had displayed look like children's toys.

But Uzumaki Naruto was no quitter. With a roar, Naruto focused the Storm in his arms and swords
and prepared to parry the attack.

It kinda worked, because instead of cleaving him in half, the blow just sent him careening toward
the water again.
He smashed into it, and from this height, it might as well have been stone. Everything hurt. The
impact might well have given him whiplash.

Naruto rose above the water again. His hands were shaking.

"You are not lacking in will… or strength. I can admit as much." Indra smiled, and his eyes were
red with the Sharingan. Naruto reacted to the sight by falling on trained instincts. He slapped his
hands together.

"Storm Release: Blinding Flash."

Indra laughed even as he closed his eyes. "I can sense chakra too, you know."

Storm was Wind and Lightning. Naruto focused on that.

"Storm Release: Shadow Clone."

"What would more of you hope to do…?"

The Storm Clones began weaving hand seals, as coordinated as a single unit.

"Storm Release: Vacuum Tear!"

"Storm Release: Vacuum Tear!"
"Storm Release: Dragon Arrow!"

A rift in the air broke the air apart around Indra. Blades sharp enough to cut through lightning
itself came at him from every angle. One Naruto released the latter jutsu. The arrow flew, aimed at
Indra's face.

Indra caught it, almost lazily, protected by his Susanoo and his own elements.

While the clones held their techniques, Naruto weaved two different jutsu. One with each hand.

"Storm Release: Raijū!"

"Storm Release: Faded Lightning!"

A beast made out of purple electricity formed, starting from Naruto's left hand. A cord of lightning
connected to it, and the hound flew toward Indra, getting as close as possible and obscuring his
view of Naruto..

Naruto brought his right hand up, and focused the chakra through his extended middle finger. A
point of light shone in front of it before disappearing.

The beam of light that he shot went through both the hound, detonating it, and Indra. Seemingly.

Indra casually summoned a column of pure flame to shield him. He twisted his hands in signs
Naruto had never seen before, and it exploded into beams of electrical white light that shot toward
Naruto.

By going through his clones.

Naruto began running again. As fast as he could. His body was screaming in pain, but he could not
slow down. Not for a single moment.

His thighs felt as though they were about to give out on him.
"It is such a shame." Indra began, as light a cloud. He wasn't the one fighting for his life, and it
showed.

Naruto didn't bother answering him. He continued to run and dodge, feeling numbness start to
climb through his legs. That was bad.

"Had you been anyone else, we could have been allies."

Naruto jumped and twisted to avoid being split in two. He slid over water, passing in between orbs
of fiery lightning without being consumed in the process.

Still sprinting through the beams that exploded around him, Naruto barely managed to growl out
his answer.

"I could have been your follower, you mean?"

"What difference does it make?" Indra eyed him with some dark amusement. "We could have ruled
the world together. Just the way you wanted."

"That is not what I want!" Naruto bellowed.

"Oh? And what do you want, then?"

The answer came to Naruto unbidden. Something he didn't even think he had wanted, especially
during the last days.

He had thought he didn't, but…

"I want to live!" He shouted.

The words rang true in Naruto's mind, just as they rang through the pure lake.

"So you have changed your mind, then. That…" Indra began, almost sadly. "Is the one thing I
cannot give you."

"Then I don't want to hear anything you have to say!"

Indra's Susanoo faded away. Was he trying to save on chakra…? Did chakra even truly exist here?

Naruto summoned his bow in a blink. He jumped, and the beams continued to follow him. Chakra
tinted the air purple around him as he aimed.

He released five arrows in the time it usually took him to shoot two.

Indra's own hands flashed…

And an ancient-looking bow appeared into his hands.

Fire and Lightning gathered around him. The air crackled with power. Naruto's mouth tightened.

"Are you surprised that we might be similar…? After all that I've said?" The man asked.

The destructive force of the attack was simply superior to Naruto's. The resulting collision and the
deafening blast of burning air that followed sent Naruto tumbling through the air.

Where was up… where was down?

He slammed into the water head-first and almost passed out, here and there. With a groan, he
pulled himself up once more.

Indra stood over him, once he surfaced.

"It's over." Indra said. "You're strong, as strong as it gets. But that's not enough. You won't be able
to defeat me in battle."

His Sharingan was turned off.

The real Naruto burst through the clone lying on top of the water, reaching for Indra. Indra dodged
him easily.

Just as easily, he dodged the second Naruto that rose up from under.

"I invented the Shinobi arts, Uzumaki Naruto." He drawled. He kicked the second one away.

It exploded in a shower of Lightning. He looked up and slashed at the first one.

It dispelled into smoke. The real Naruto, transformed into the clone's earring, fell upon him,
attaching something around Indra's wrist. A sealing tag unfolded itself around his entire body.

"We had a lot of time to perfect them." Naruto smiled grimly.

"…What is this?!" The man asked. He had been tricked. His chakra turned inward, folded upon
itself and detonated in a burst of bright light.

Naruto, half unconscious from being so close to the source of it, slowly stood up.

"…It worked?"

There were no more traces of Indra.

Chakra coalesced into the air again.

"Which part of 'it won't be a fight' do you not get?" Indra's voice called mockingly.

He reformed out of nothing. Pushing his panic down, Naruto rushed in and slapped another seal on
his exposed, reforming hand.

One that would plunge him into a long, long sleep. Unconscious but alive. He had planned to use it
on himself, once he managed to finish it.

"The core concept, I guess." Naruto spat.

Indra shook his head and… ripped the seal apart. As though it was just paper.

Naruto tried to put some distance in between them.

Flames billowed like a beast's open jaws.

Naruto summoned and threw a sword away, and pulled himself to it in the same movement. He
summoned a clone seamlessly.

"Storm Release: Path Clearer!"

The clone was consumed despite his jutsu.

Naruto pushed again, forcing himself back to the water's surface.

With a growing sense of hopelessness, he stood up again. He lost his balance for a second.
Something slammed through his lung.

Naruto started to choke on his blood.

The world seemed to turn dark, to slowly fade away.

No way.

He pulled the arrow out of his ribcage with a horrifying noise and forced the wound shut.

Naruto's sword met Indra's barely a second later, in a resounding clang.

He twisted his body away and dodged under the second one. Naruto kicked, and to his surprise, he
managed to land a solid hit.

Indra looked just as surprised. And then amused. Naruto felt it then.

Power.

Power.

Power.

Indra's hand extended.

"Firestorm Release: Searing Bolts."

Streaks of fire and lightning combined rained on Naruto. His cloak caught fire first, the reinforced
material being made to look like paper. His entire body felt as though he were burning, and his skin
cracked when he threw himself to the side.

He fell heavily to his side. Indra's index and middle finger came down. Twin bolts of burning light
went through his palms, pinning him to the surface of the water. Water that hissed and steamed
around the supercharged rods of flame.

A foot pushed his head underwater.

Time stretched on. Naruto's eyes were open. He could see through the clear water, colors, purer
than they should be… as he desperately tried to breathe.

He swallowed water. It burned like lava.

His body went limp, his mind went blank; he wondered about giving up.

To just let go. It wouldn't be that hard, would it…? His lungs had more or less given out anyway,
and there would be no pain, just comfort—

"Storm Release: Depth Charge!" He called instead.

His chakra engulfed him, and it stunned Indra for a very short moment. Naruto knew better than to
let an opportunity like this pass.

He flashed up, pouring all of his strength into this attack.

All of the Storm, he focused along the edge of his sword. He aimed for the area in between Indra's
chin and throat. He saw the surprise in the man's eyes and relished in it.

"Cloud Piercer!"

Naruto thrust upward.

Indra's eyes opened wide, and his hand pushed the sword away. The Susanoo rose around him,
purple, strong and unyielding.

A long, bleeding wound had opened along his cheek, and his hand, the one that still held Naruto's
sword, was in a bad shape.

There was something serious in Indra's eyes now.

Naruto leaped back, feeling his lungs burn.

White fireballs appeared behind Naruto. He avoided the first three, but had to use his arm to shield
himself from the latest. He summoned a sword and—

Indra grabbed him, his hand wrapping around his throat tightly.

"It was a nice trick, that seal from before. Fitting for a shinobi." Indra admitted. "And so was this."

Naruto growled.

"Open your eyes, now." Indra ordered.

"…So that you can hypnotize me…?"

Indra scoffed. "I can't hypnotize you more than I can hypnotize myself."

"That's a very convenient lie."

"When have I ever lied to you…?" Indra sounded amused.

"I could probably think of a few times… if your hand wasn't wrapped around my throat." Naruto
breathed out.

Indra let him fall to the surface of the water.

The pressure came for Naruto again, a true wave of power. Every single part of him, every part of
his will was focused on pushing the attack back.

Indra showed him a terrible future, forcing visions of death into his mind. Or maybe they were
truly coming from himself.

"They will all die if you live." Indra said. "You will lose them all. But I can prevent that."

Naruto crawled across the floor, spasming from the pain.

There was the temptation. Indra had power. Power beyond measure. He could save them. The pain
would stop. The madness would, too.

No more burdens.

But…
He thought of the people in his life.

"No."

Pain. Even more pain. Oh gods, was he burning, or did it only feel as though he were…?

"Surrender, and it will all stop." Indra offered.

"…No." Naruto muttered.

The true pain began.

Everything was a blur around Naruto, a nonsensical patchwork of colors.

He was starting to forget why he was fighting in the first place.

And there was pain.

Cutting, blunt, electrifying, inescapable pain.

His consciousness seemed to stop at that.

The pain had started — It had started at some point he couldn't define anymore, and it didn't stop.
Naruto howled and raged and screamed in true agony.

The pain went deep, like a fire that seared his bones, or his very soul.

He couldn't see anything; he couldn't hear anything; he couldn't feel anything.

Then it stopped for an instant and he remembered who he was.

"Surrender." Indra demanded.

"No." Naruto gasped.

Naruto continued to howl.

There was something welcoming past the veil of endless pain.

Something welcoming that seems to call to him.

Naruto ignored the call of oblivion.

Indra's attacks persisted.

When mere mind-numbing pain, soul-rending agony began to lose its appeal, Indra began weaving
horrific visions of the future that awaited Naruto.

The death Naruto's selfishness would bring, and the ruined world that Nagato, if left alive, would
usher.

And he made it seem so reasonable, too.

As though giving up would save everyone.

A traitorous part of his mind, the same one that told him there was no need to remain in that much
pain, told him it might be for the best, after all.

But in the end, he was Uzumaki Naruto.

And giving up when something was at stake was not something he did.

"Forgive me for disturbing you, my lord."

A woman, red of hair and beautiful, bowed in front of him.

Only silence answered her. Time stretched on, languid and painful. For her only, as he had
never minded.

The crescendo of tension in the air was continuous.

"What is it?" He muttered back, barely bothering to look at her. The very sight of her face
only brought back memories he had no more use for.

"Kurou's forces have been defeated."

"Kurou was supposed to be the best of you." He said quietly. "Why do you think he was
defeated, Yoisen…?"

"…I do not presume to know, my lord."

Indra's face stood shrouded in shadow, and he only bothered looking at her briefly. His eyes
flashed red for an instant.

"I shall tell you, then." Indra whispered. "Asura's forces are willing to die for him."

"…I see, my lord."

"Do you really…? Kurou wasn't willing to die for me, and that must be why he perished."

No answer came.

"Look at me, Yoisen." Indra said quietly.

"Yes, my lord."

She did so, and his red eyes met hers.

"Would you be willing to die for me to fulfill my ambition?"

"Yes, Indra-sama."

Indra smiled.

"What if I asked you to die now?"

Was this what had happened to the woman who had built Uzushio…?

She was — She looked too much like Karin. And—

"Surrender." Indra demanded again, sounding bored.

"No!" Naruto roared.

How many times…?

Even moments after the pain stopped, Naruto felt as though he were still in the throes of it.

"It is a mercy I'm offering you." Indra waited.

Naruto chuckled painfully, dragging himself back to his knees. "I know of your mercy."

"I will kill the man named Nagato in your stead. You are unable to do so."

"No thanks."

"I will let your friends live if you do so, you have my promise." Indra continued, unimpeded.

"I refuse." Naruto said. "You will die, anyway, without the Nine-Tails."

He didn't know how much time he had left, at this point. Indra shook his head.

"This is false. We will live forever."

"You will live, while I rot in some corner of your mind."

Though it did raise a few questions. How had he planned to do so…? There was a way, then.

"Refuse and you will lose your mind anyway. There won't be a you to speak of."

"So it shall be." Naruto gritted out. "No matter what, I'm leaving here. If it takes trapping myself
forever, I will do it. If it takes becoming as mad as Uchiha Madara… then so it shall be."

Indra shook his head. He looked at him with something like pity.

"It is too late for this. You should have done so earlier, before coming here. But you and I both
know you were not ready to sacrifice yourself in this way when you still could. We are the same,
after all."

"We are not."

Indra smiled.

Is there anything I can do?

Naruto racked his mind, looking for an answer. Looking for a way out.

Think.
 Soul/Uzumaki Naruto

What is Uzumaki Naruto?

Someone that has had his mind toyed with, by forces that he had no hopes of understanding, for
years.

Somebody that has tried, again and again, to shoulder too much weight. Stuck between humanity
and something more.

Something that won't accept dying like this.

"The soul does not lie.

This might sound familiar, and not only if you have grown up in the Yamanaka clan. But if
you did, well, that is a lesson that is more or less hammered into your head from the moment
you are old enough to connect with another's mind.

Because the mind, not the eyes — well, no, that depends, considering how many strange
Dojutsu there are floating around — is the window to the soul.

Now, maybe you know about this already.

But for me, it raised a few important questions.

What made it so that a soul could not lie…?

And to whom? Itself?

What made a soul… a soul? The memories it held?

Was a soul divisible? Could you tear a piece of it and leave it behind…?

For a time, I thought the latter was what had happened to Naruto's ancestor. Well,
what he had done, technically.

It was not what he did. What he did was leave an anchor behind, for his soul to come back
whole.

Well, several of them."

Yamanaka Ino's journal; The one that was not stolen by Haruno Sakura.

Uzumaki Naruto racked his mind, looking for an answer.

Think.

Everything he knew about the Yin-induced madness.

Everything he knew about the reincarnations who had accepted Indra.

Everything he knew about the man who couldn't lie to him directly.

For a reason Naruto could not understand fully, Indra could not tell him something that was
entirely untrue — just like Shachi.

There had to be something.

Naruto dug into his memories.

In the end, you will be consumed. Just like the others. — My power is your power. Your power is
my power. — Several of them, too? That is a good sign. Well, not for you. But you are strong
enough to carry Indra's will, then. — It won't be a fight.

Before he became a shinobi, Naruto used to be an overly worried child, prone to over-thinking. The
worry was more justified now, but the latter part had never changed too much.

"I think I understand part of it now." Naruto began. He needed more time, and hoped that would be
enough to get him talking. "…That I can't live without you."

"Indeed." Indra smiled. If felt as though he saw right through Naruto.

"But…"

"But?"

That goes both ways.

"…You need me to surrender, don't you?" Naruto finally asked.

"Not exactly, but it might make things more pleasant for you." Indra shrugged. It really seemed not
to matter to him. But he was also good at hiding his emotions, Naruto knew. Still worth a try.

Naruto scoffed. "But why would you even care? Because I'm you?"

No answer came. Because Indra was taking a closer look at him, scrutinizing him. Something had
changed into his eyes.

"Now, now." He muttered. "What have you done to our soul?"

There was a bit of disbelief in his tone. Naruto filed it away.

"What do you mean?"

"These… carvings of yours. I never could see them clearly enough, before." Indra grasped his hand
and pulled his arm closer. "Yes, now that I can really see them…"

Indra shook his head.

"You didn't do this to yourself alone, did you?" He asked with something that sounded truly
curious in his tone.

"Why do you ask?"

Indra scoffed. "The Uzumaki, this clan of reckless fools, have been trying to reach spirits and gods
for almost as long as they have been alive. Offerings, sacrifices, prayers… Some in bad taste, of
course… But this…"
"They're not the usual sort, I take it?" Naruto asked, with the faintest trace of amusement.

"Far from it." Indra said quietly. "No Uzumaki was foolish enough to do as many offerings, —
because that's what they are — first of all. And that's telling enough, considering we're talking
about Uzumaki. Reckless is an understatement, when it comes to them. Worse than Asura himself
had ever been."

"Especially with the touch of the divine from the Nine-Tails, right…?" Naruto muttered. He had
heard this from Ryūjin already. "I felt kinda pressed for time." Naruto grunted. "I'm alive,
anyway."

"And you shouldn't be." Indra shook his head. "What do you think happens when divine meets
divine in this way…?"

"I get a fancy tattoo out of it…? Were you afraid that I fried too much of my soul for you to take
over…?" Naruto almost laughed.

Indra's eyes tightened. He didn't seem too happy about it. Which meant it would make his
possession attempt more complicated, likely.

Why?

All the same, he didn't seem too worried either.

"…I see it, now." Indra said quietly, looking at both the carvings and seals. "Who helped you with
these…?"

"Does it matter?" Naruto lifted an eyebrow.

"It does." Indra said flatly.

"Why?"

No answer came.

"Afraid of telling me?" Naruto knew exactly how to get him to talk. Because deep down, he knew
they were — Because he knew the man. "Not so confident in the fact you're going to take over me
anymore?"

Indra glared at him balefully. Naruto felt his stomach knot again, in memory of the pain he had just
gotten out of. It could just as easily resume.

"No, this won't stop me, now that I know about it." He muttered. "But it could have. And whoever
helped you make this is obviously aware of how reincarnation works."

Naruto felt like laughing.

This was definitely the sort of meddling Orochimaru was known for.

And he understood that it raised many other questions. Did this mean that Orochimaru had found
the secret to immortality, in the end…? If Naruto lived long enough, would he someday meet some
child with the same eyes as his late teacher…?

Something twisted in his gut. Would he remember…? Probably not.

A chuckle escaped Naruto.

"Maybe he was aware, yes." He said. "It was always hard to tell, with him."

"You still don't understand what this means, do you?" Indra asked. "You made a pact with things
widely thought of as gods. But they're not gods — That's just the word used in the modern
world. Entities, beings, concepts beyond the physical world."

Indra observed him, seeing through him more than anybody should have any right to.

"And that means something else slipped in, changing you a little. You drew on their power until
your own changed in consequence."

"Doesn't seem like such a bad deal to me." Naruto grunted, trying to process what it could mean.

"Do you still have any affinity left, for elements that are not wind or lightning?"

Naruto chuckled lowly. Ah, there it was. "I don't, no. I guess there won't be any of your fancy fire
techniques, if you manage, then."

"Hmpf. We shall see." Indra smiled. "Do you see things that are not supposed to be there…?"

"…"

Naruto thought of the several times he had. Creatures, beings that seemed to have slipped in
between rifts. Things that didn't belong here.

And he had thought he was just losing it.

"I asked you a question." Indra repeated, his voice even. "Have you peered through the cracks?"

"Sometimes, yes." Naruto admitted. If there ever was someone who could tell him more about it…

"Of course you would." He hissed. "And what you have seen would have been some of the lesser
beings. The stronger ones, the ones that came to be known as gods… They lie someplace else,
where no human eyes can see, no matter how many — But then again, if you already see that
much…"

He paused.

"That person, who I assume to be this Orochimaru. That person tried to elevate you to something a
bit more than human."

"…What do you mean?"

"The carvings are supposed to be an offering to the deities, entities, or what it is that people call
them now."

This part he understood. Indra continued.

"But these. They were designed differently… He planned specifically to use the Nine-Tails' chakra
to do that. What happened is no accident. The Nine-Tails's chakra, used as an offering?"

Blame Orochimaru. As always.

"The Nine-Tails' chakra has interfered in ways we didn't expect, I assume."

That was what Orochimaru had said. No fucking wonder. He had expected it, in the end.

Helping him — hopefully — while screwing with him, leaving him in the dark entirely. As always.

Naruto hesitated. "What does it mean…?"

"The Nine-Tails, as the biggest part of a creature beyond your comprehension, is as close as it gets
to divine, in the physical realm. With more time, your body and mind would have become… more.
Something able to withstand the strength of my imprint… and take it in." Indra stared in disbelief.
"All of the accumulated chakra would have been siphoned by you. It would have changed our very
soul."

Naruto stayed silent.

"He tried to make you strong enough to take me in, instead of the opposite." Indra grunted.

Orochimaru tried to save him, then.

But… That had been so early on.

Before they even built something that resembled a relationship. And there had been some curiosity,
some experimentation there, for sure. Some desire to go beyond what Orochimaru already knew
was possible.

But that wasn't it.

So just on the basis of a promise he had made to a child…

"I will ask for your guidance and training. I need strength, the kind I won't be able to reach
on my own. Make me your apprentice."

A promise to make him strong enough to survive the world… He had done this…?

Naruto felt something prick his eyes. And his resolve redoubled. Or maybe it just came back to
him.

Indra continued.

"And there was a trap overlaid in the initial designs. No, not a trap — A pact with these beings. It I
hadn't noticed…" Indra muttered, shaking his head. "If I had just tried to possess you… I would
have — No, worse than death. The Night would have had me, likely."

Indra breathed out. "I underestimated people's craftiness. There are people to be wary of, even
now."

"…There are." Naruto muttered, blinking something that felt a bit too much like budding tears
away.

Indra stared at him again.

"No matter. I will still take over you, even though the method will have to be different, then."

Something about it made Naruto pause.

Think.
Indra still wanted to, despite the lack of Sharingan and the runes pulling at his soul meant.

Why…? And why had he picked him in the first place…? Was it only an accident?

Naruto understood more.

"You don't want to take over me." Naruto realized.

If he could have chosen anyone, as he let him believe, why didn't he pick someone closer to his
own line…? Sasuke would have been much more suited for the role. Naruto continued.

"You have to. And you can't do that unless you break me, one way or another. Until I give up."

His own surrender would only be part of something bigger.

"There is a reason you were never able to come back to life fully before, isn't there?"

"Yes." Indra said. "Their bodies were too weak to withstand the strength of my Yin chakra. And
thus, the possession was imperfect."

"That is a lie."

"It is not." Indra said curtly. "It is something I intend to fix once I return, for the next few times, if
it comes to that. It won't be too difficult."

"If it's not a lie, then it is a half-truth."

No answer from Indra.

"Why did you choose now to try to take over me? Was it because I really was losing my mind… or
because you were afraid that once I corrected the Yin imbalance, you would have more trouble…?"

Indra smiled lightly.

"So there is a glimmer of intelligence within you."

Naruto ignored the barb.

"Madara was more than strong enough to withstand your essence, wasn't he?" Naruto asked. "And
if not, what about when he took Senju Hashirama's chakra as his own?"

"He would have been strong enough before he completely lost his mind, yes." Indra confirmed.

"But he didn't surrender his mind. He never did." Naruto growled.

"That much is true. And you have seen the result already. Asura's chakra or not." Indra said
placidly. "He was driven entirely mad. He had all of the power he needed to accomplish what he
wanted, but in his madness, he focused all of his efforts on the one thing he could not do."

"That might well be true…" Naruto started. "But you still couldn't take him."

Indra laughed. "Yes. It was true in his case. But it is too late for you. The merging has already
started."

Merging.

That was not the way Indra had wanted to do things, initially. It was no possession. Orochimaru
hadn't planned this far. But he had left him an opening.

Think.

"…I would have found another solution anyway. Losing my mind was never an option." Naruto
said.

There was an avenue he had not considered before.

"Would you have?" Indra smiled softly. "What if there was none?"

"I would have found something." Naruto scoffed. "What is the point of being alive if my brain is
rotting…?"

"If you realize this, you know what to do. Say the words, and your suffering will end. I will offer
you relief."

"…The same way you did to some of them? This half-possession? Why would I want this?" Naruto
spat.

"It will be different for you." Indra said. "And it is the only way your suffering will end. True
relief."

As Indra said the words, Naruto could still feel echoes of the pain the man had made him endure.
His brain sent a pulse of agony, as a reminder. Every part of him wanted to distance himself from
his ancestor.

The same questions went through Naruto's mind again, even as he realized the only way he could
live.

Had he not tried hard enough already…? Had he not become as hard as any shinobi was supposed
to become…? Had he not caused enough pain on his own…? Would he have to give
up everything, without even being given the guarantee of surviving…?

He would fail other people. He couldn't say who yet, but failure was the only certainty the future
held for him. And now… he was supposed to bear the sins of others, on top of it…?

It was unfair, it was unjust. Had he been born as anybody else, everything would have been so
much easier and—

And maybe there was nothing about life that guaranteed fairness. He had drawn some cards,
randomly, and that was all there was to it. Some good, some bad. And maybe the good was worth
all the bad. Naruto stood up.

"What if I don't want that?"

"…What?" Indra asked, now truly surprised.

"I don't want it to end."

"Then you will be driven insane, like Madara was."

"Madara rejected the memories."

Silence.
"He did." Indra finally said.

"I won't." Naruto grunted.

Indra lifted an eyebrow.

"Foolish words." He said softly. "These memories are nothing but a burden, not meant for any
human. You stand to gain nothing but pain."

"I will take on the memories. Besides…" Naruto pointed at his temples, where the two Omoikane
runes were carved. "You said I was slowly becoming something more, didn't you? I might be the
only person alive who can endure such a thing."

Naruto's chakra seemed to return to him; warm, bright and comforting.

"You don't have the strength of will to do it. Unlike me. Aren't you the one who thinks it's all
meaningless?" The man asked, his voice starting to rise slowly. "The one who wants it all to stop?
This endless recursion? Everything you accomplish will fade away to nothing. And I will come
back, again and again."

"Maybe it is so." Naruto whispered. The light returned to his eyes, and he felt more… real, for lack
of a better word.

"Foolish, little Uzumaki." Indra shook his head, but there was a glimmer of interest into his eyes.
"There's nowhere for you to run."

"Then I guess you and I are trapped here. Forever." Naruto gritted out. "I will stay here if I have to.
Until you give up. I will take on the pain."

More memories started to come back to Naruto. In more horrific details than he wished on anyone.
Indra had not exaggerated.

Smoke, madness, agony.

What was once beautiful, broken by his hand. Corpses, that had once been people he loved, made
by his own hand.

Men. Women. Children.

Again and again. The betrayal in their eyes, the incomprehension.

—Why? I did everyth—

SHE WAS OUR DAUGHT—

Father, no! Please—

I love you—

I shall haunt—

—peace?! You call thi—

Naruto almost threw up. Indra looked at him, pity shining clear in his gaze.

"I would be more careful with what you're saying. Our memories are merging, already. You
do not want the rest of what comes with it." Indra warned. "The murders… The people we killed.
The pain, accumulated over hundreds of years, will be back for you."

Here, Naruto was alone.

It hurt to think. Trembling, Naruto took a long breath.

"It has been coming for a while already." Naruto answered, steel in his eyes. What was a bit more
pain, at this point…? "I will take it."

Indra frowned.

"And their memories as well."

Omoikane, the mind-enhancing carving, had made sure he would not forget. And the fact that he
was not a true descendant of Indra probably didn't help. Was he originally supposed to see as much
as he had seen…? Was he supposed to remember…?

Probably not. The others had likely enjoyed a different brand of madness.

"Then you know exactly what that means for you. You will soon become nothing more than one of
them."

"Raijin, Asuka, Shigeo, Tadashi, Ishikari, Asahi, Osamu, Hajime, Goro, Dai, Madara…" Naruto
whispered. And more of them.

Would he become one of them…? A memory?

Maybe it was the truth.

If he played by Indra's rules.

Gods. Why him? Naruto's chakra burned quietly.

It wasn't supposed to be his cross to bear. These were sins he wouldn't wish on anyone. His hands
had been stained before he had even been born. And he could not escape it. If he wanted to, he
could stop it all, end his life here and there.

And then someone else would—

The more he looked into the others' memories… the more he realized they weren't others.

"…Only if I see myself as separate." Naruto finally said in answer.

Indra scoffed. But there was something guarded in his eyes, now.

"And how could you not? Are you going to bear the weight of their actions…? Among all of them,
I am not the worst. Far from it."

"That is true. Except for one part." Naruto said.

"Please. Enlighten me." Indra said dryly.

"That's the part where you see yourself as separate, of course." Naruto smiled a true smile. "I know
the truth. And that means that you know it, too."
"I told you to be careful with your words, didn't I?" Indra asked quietly.

The pressure didn't increase.

"…And why is that?" Naruto asked.

"None of their minds could take the strain of just my presence. And you mean to take on all of
them…? What makes you think you're so different…?"

Naruto thought about it.

"Maybe I am not." He admitted, and meant this in two different ways.

"Now, you see…" Indra started to smile again.

"…Then again, I am you." Naruto finally said. His words echoed in both of their voices.

Indra stiffened. The pressure abated completely.

"We… They tried to fight it, didn't they? Your presence. The others' presence." Naruto continued.
"That's why they failed."

"And why would they not?" Indra chuckled darkly. "Who would want to live with the weight of
other people's sins bearing down on their souls? No man is meant for that. And no man deserves to
be born guilty." He finished, with an unreadable emotion in his voice.

In a just world, maybe this was true.

"They're not other people. Not in the usual way. You know it too, better than anyone. You're just
trying to lead me away from the answer. And that is why you would have preferred to simply
possess me. Break me until I caved in. Because this merging… This goes both ways. Your only
solution now is to bend my will to yours. And this just won't happen!"

Naruto breathed, and only now did he realize how warm he felt. He continued.

"But it's all the same. My will — Your will. I know it now. The only thing that would have
changed was whose consciousness remained at the helm."

Indra didn't answer.

"That is why you always said I was you."

More silence.

"Because it was the truth, and you could not deny it. And so were the others. All of them. We are
the same."

He probably would not have realized it, without Orochimaru's meddling. Or maybe he would have,
in time, because he definitely was not going to submit.

No matter what the answer to that particular question was, he would take his sensei's last gift. And
he would not squander it.

"This is not something you want to do, Uzumaki Naruto." Indra warned.

"You didn't lie to me, then." Naruto half-accepted. "But you sure as hell tried to make me believe
there were only two cards in the deck."

"This will drive you just as mad as holding on to your identity as a separate thing!" Indra roared.
"Surrender and I will free you from this."

"You don't know this. I don't know this."

…And he had fought it, too. With all of his effort.

Trying to convince himself he was not them. Either of them.

But what he had been fighting was not Madara. It was not Indra, either.

He had been fighting himself. He had been fighting true acceptance.

The way Raijin had done, losing himself behind a godly ideal, trying to forget his guilt. No, the
way he had done before. He was both.

The way Asuka had done, killing his father in the hopes of attaining ultimate power. No, the
way he had done before. He was both.

The way Ishikari had done, hiding her true self from the world out of fear of rejection. No, the
way he had done before. He was both.

The way Asahi had done, trying to convince himself he was someone else when he had killed his
wife in a fit of rage. No, the way he had done before. He was both.

The way Madara had done and lost himself in rage and pain, losing sight of both who he was…
and who he had been. No, the way he had done before. He was both.

The way Naruto had done and tried to separate himself from those he saw as tyrants and monsters;
afraid that he was just one more of them. No, the way he had done before. He was both.

The way Indra himself had done and tried to separate himself from the actions he saw as those of a
monster.

Naruto could remember it. The smell of the air, thick with blood. His hands, coated in it. The pain
he had felt, his heart, mind and soul shattering in thousands of pieces.

His wife, Yasu, lying broken, something he knew he could not put back together. Yoisen, close by,
her hair still bright red, looking as horrified as he was. Clarity returning to him slowly. His eyes,
bleeding. Father could have done something, if only I had been—… The true beginning of his
quest for power.

The weight of the horrific mistakes he had made. The people he had then killed to attain greater
strength.

Over and over again.

Fathers. Mothers. Brothers. Sisters. Lovers. Friends.

Why did he have to live again…?

Besides Indra, he was alone here. There was no bond to keep him centered.

Everything hurt. His body, his mind.

His heart.

There was nothing to say, but one thing.

With a raspy but steady voice, Naruto spoke.

"I did it."

Indra glared at him. "…What?"

"Everything I thought you did… I did. Your actions are mine." Naruto breathed in. "Yasu's death…
that's on me. Not Yoisen — not Shachi!"

Words Indra — him, really — could never bring himself to say.

"Naruto—"

This was the first time he called… himself by his given name.

"Kaoru! Arisu! Ichirou!" Naruto's voice broke. "Juro, Sora, Teruko! These are the deaths you and
I regret most, besides Yasu and—"

"Don't you dare!"

"Asura!" Naruto roared.

Indra stepped back, as though he were wounded.

"And it doesn't stop here!"

Naruto began listing the names that came to him, unbidden. Along with memories, each of them
more horrific than the one before it.

"—Every action I thought Madara undertook… That was me, too."

Naruto walked toward Indra, until he was standing right in front of him.

"Raijin, Asuka, Shigeo, Tadashi, Ishikari, Asahi, Osamu, Hajime, Goro, Dai."

"You fool, that is—"

"I killed thousands of people, over the ages. Men, women, children."

"That wasn't you."

"Indra, Raijin, Asuka, Shigeo, Tadashi, Ishikari, Asahi, Osamu, Hajime, Goro, Dai, Madara.
Different names… and a different gender, once. It was me."

Naruto shook his head. "I have killed the women I loved, multiple times over. I have killed
brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, friends, innocents."

"It wasn't YOU—" Indra roared, finally losing control of his temper.

"YOU CAN'T TAKE WHAT IS MINE AWAY FROM ME!" Naruto roared as well, his voice
imperious.

He stepped toward Indra, who frowned. There was no pressure, not anymore.
"It is not yours!" Indra repeated.

"Oh, but it is." Naruto shook his head. "I still can't say with certainty if we are the same person, in
the way most see it. Memories are supposed to make the person. But if I were in your place, and
you in mine… I believe we would have made the same choices. And now… I have part of your
memories. I will bear the weight of all of them. Not just yours!"

Indra's chakra turned the air hot and stifling. Naruto finished.

"What I do know for sure is that—"

"Do not go there." Indra warned.

"We share the same soul! We are one!"

Naruto's eyes met Indra's.

A sword flashed into the man's hand. He raised it above his head, ready to strike Naruto down. He
didn't move, keeping his eyes firmly on Indra's.

"Can you really kill yourself?" Naruto smiled. "You? I?"

"I'll do it for you, then, Father." Indra decided.

His Father looked at him with a strange expression.

"Indra… This is not something to say lightly." He chided gently.

"I'm not saying this lightly." Indra folded his arms. He was old enough to know better.

"Then, are you…?"

"Yes." Indra nodded resolutely. "If there is such a thing as peace, I will find it. Asura will
help me, of course, the little idiot."

Indra grinned.

Indra's arm didn't fall down.

"I will take the blame for what I have done. Just like you intended to do, but never could. And you
can't take this away from me." Naruto repeated. "We are the same soul."

Indra's arm shook.

"If you truly believe you can do better than I can…" Naruto began. "Say the words."

Admit responsibility for the deaths you could never accept.

The one thing Indra could never bring himself to do. And it was not only him, either.

Indra's eyes met Naruto's. Something strange passed through them. Indra scoffed.

"…Out of all of them, you truly are the biggest fool."

Naruto smiled. "Maybe I am."

"Is this your final answer?"

"Yes. You can't have my pain. I will bear it."

The sword was lowered.

Naruto felt more and more there.

Indra's body, on the other hand, started to fade away. There was nothing else he could do. The
same way he would have taken over now, so could Naruto.

"Do you really believe this is a second chance?" Indra asked, shaking his head in consternation.
"You are mistaken."

Naruto smiled. "It is closer to a twentieth, at this point. But… I am pretty thick-headed, Ino says."

"Do you think I will stop?" Indra spat.

"No. I know you can't." Naruto acknowledged.

"I will come back." Indra warned. "In the next life."

Naruto chuckled. "And so will I, then. I think we'll be just fine."

But he would find to break this pointless cycle, anyway.

"…Why do you fight?" Indra finally asked.

"Because someone has to do something about the state of the world."

Their chakra began to entwine. This was Indra's answer, too. Buried under layers of perdition and
generations of hatred.

Lightning. Wind. Storm. Fire.

"…I could have taken it all away. Your pain, Naruto."

"It is not more your burden to carry than it is mine. I'll settle the conflict with Asura, too. It is more
than time."

Indra gave him a long look. One that didn't look entirely disapproving. His body disappeared
entirely.

They became one. As they always should have been.

In the physical world, Naruto's body fell over the ledge.

No more running away.

His chakra and the Nine-Tails finished healing him as he fell.

Naruto finally understood the truth. And he felt ready to live, no matter how long or short it was
going to be.
The realization swept over him like a wave.

He wanted to laugh.

He had thought one of them would die. He had imagined himself facing the First Son of the First
Son and settling things by the sword.

The answer was so simple.

He had lived and died before. What did it matter?

Naruto had another chance at life. Who else could say the same? He could do things right, this
time.

No, he would do things right, this time.

Madara's voice, that had sometimes appeared, and that he had not identified as such before, faded
away.

Indra's voice faded away.

Why would he continue to talk to himself, after all? They were the same. For good and for bad.

Yugito had told him, what felt so long ago. He hadn't wanted to accept it, then.

They were one.

His chakra poured out of him. Lightning and Wind. Storm. Fire, although much weaker.

He felt liquid gold pour through him and knew he was changing.

No, not changing. It felt as though he had been asleep, before.

Naruto awakened.

His chakra rose to the skies, blinding purple.

It pierced the clouds.

 Out of the Shadows

What is Uzumaki Naruto?

Someone that has had his mind toyed with by forces that he had no hopes of understanding for
hundreds of years. Someone that has made peace with that.

Somebody that has had to shoulder too much weight, again and again. Somebody who will do so
again.

Something a bit more than human, and something that won't accept a false god.

"Ever dear Tsugumi,

I was delighted to receive your affectionate letter and to know that I was not quite forgotten.

I should have answered it more speedily; other matters called to me.

At the time your letter reached my home, I was away, and when I returned, I fell sick; so that
I could scarcely read it or do anything at all.

I am happy to say that I am well now and still in Yūgawa, our beautiful imperial city. Yours
is the first letter which I have answered since I was sick. Surely you can forgive me this once!

I suppose that your stay at the palace is near its close, if it has not already closed. You cannot
imagine how much I look forward to seeing you again!

Naotora and I have met the Savior and his sons, as Father wished us to. Their Ninshū truly is
a marvel, and I have hopes that in it I might find a way to rid myself of my sickness. Perhaps
it is a foolish hope. But enough with the sad drivel.

The eldest son is everything he is rumored to be; perhaps more. Perhaps a slight description
of him might be interesting to my dear Tsugumi…

He is tall and rather slender, but strong, has a most witching pair of dark eyes - that look red
under light - delicate complexion, never to have seen the sun's glare. Both sons are
affectionate and lovely, certainly; but truly, Indra is mesmerizing, in a way I cannot fully
understand.

Forgive my glowing description, for you know I am always very wordy when fascinated.

Yet, much as I am happy, it will be lonely and strange without my sister around.

I suppose you know that she is to be married, not to return to Yūgawa for the foreseeable
future. It is indeed true, that she is to wed the youngest brother. In but a few months, she will
be Ōtsutsuki Naotora. Although — do not tell Father I wrote it to you! — there are rumors
that should she have two sons, one would bear our name, Uzumaki, and the other would
carry on their name, Ōtsutsuki.

Perhaps something else even. Only Amaterasu may tell what the future holds!
Are you not astonished? She is to be married the first of next Spring, with the Savior's
blessing. She seems to be very happy and I hope she will realize all her fond hopes.

I am glad Naotora is going to have a home of her own and a kind companion to take life's
journey with her. All the same, I am sad that she is to live so far from us. It is going to be a
long journey, to travel to see her, all three of us.

She will show us many delights when we see her again, I am sure — and you shall meet this
Indra I wrote about, too. Do you ever hear from Natsuko and Rie? I have heard nothing from
either of them in a long time. I sent them an invitation the other day. If they are so busy,
maybe I will visit them, instead.

And so shall I visit you, as well!

Do write me soon — or better yet, meet me in two nights, I will help you find your way out of
the palace!

Ever your friend,

Yoisen"

Uzumaki Yoisen - Letter to Uzumaki Tsugumi

Six days before the end.

The Land of Iron was an icy, snow-covered country located among three mountains called the
Three Wolves.

Unlike other countries of the world, its military was made up of samurai, instead of shinobi.

Due to ideological differences between shinobi and samurai – as well as the fact that the Land of
Iron's samurai were strong enough to make the country a hard place to conquer… There was an
agreement among the shinobi countries not to interfere with the Land of Iron.

But what it was really known for was that it was frequently used as a neural meeting place for
diplomatic discussions.

Such as the Five Kage Summit.

"I am Mifune, and I shall preside over these proceedings. Let the Five Kage summit commence!"

The tension in the air was thick enough to be cut through with a knife.

Only the bodyguards were allowed to bring weapons in here… officially. It didn't prevent any of
the Kage from coming prepared of course, and not all of them relied on traditional means.

"So." Terumi Mei began, cheekily. "All of us in one place. It's been ten minutes already… and
nobody is trying to kill anybody. As far as I'm concerned, this is off to a great start."

She was mostly unknown to Shikaku. She had become Mizukage very recently — even more so
than he himself had become Hokage-Elect. If her relative inexperience bothered her, her amused
smile didn't show it.
But then again, aside from Ōnoki, all of them had become Kage in the last few months. It was a
strange time period, even for a war. The world was changing, but it was hard for Shikaku to tell in
which direction the windmill was turning.

"Do the youth always speak so impulsively?" Ōnoki grunted with a hard expression. He looked old,
and angry too.

"It is the privilege of the youth to do away with outdated concepts such as the ones your reign
boasts, Tsuchikage." Nii Yugito said easily.

She had taken the hat very shortly before Terumi Mei herself had. And Shikaku knew where both
of their loyalties lay. At the same time, Nii Yugito was not unknown to him. There were only three
jinchuuriki left, but even if this hadn't been the case… she had been one of the strongest.

That she dared to come here herself was a message in itself. One that Iwa, as the village who had
lost the latest jinchuuriki to date… didn't really appreciate.

"Should I expect more than bluster from you now, Raikage?" Ōnoki growled. "You were nothing
more than a lapdog for a foolish man, months ago and now you—"

"Times change." Mei interrupted, a bland smile on her lips.

"Do they really?" The Kazekage, Hundred Hands Chigusa showed a brief, sardonic smile. "Last
that I've heard, both Kiri and Kumo answer to Uzumaki Naruto in all but name."

"We are allies." Yugito threw her a dark look, unwilling to elaborate.

"We do know this much." Nara Shikaku said dryly.

It had been the reason the Konoha-Kumo alliance broke entirely. Umi's shinobi claimed the
murder of their previous Hokage. No alliance could be held with people who allied with the
culprits. Konoha could not afford to look this weak, with so many vultures flying low.

Yugito simply nodded at him. There was no apology to be found in the motion.

"I am sure Uzumaki Naruto values your opinions." Chigusa said, as falsely as she could make it.

"Well." Shikaku continued. "Are we here to discuss… or to throw barbed insults at each other?"

Chigusa gave a displeased start at being called out so directly and Ōnoki grumbled something
under his beard.

"Certainly. Let's get right to it. Is he really that strong…?" Chigusa asked, looking tense. "This
Nagato. Could he really do what he says he intends to do…?"

"I think…" Yugito began. Her eyes were dark, but not necessarily because of what the woman had
said. "That what happened to Kumo should be proof enough."

"It means one thing, only. He is strong, sure but… Is he truly the Sage reborn?" The Kazekage
asked, with a fair amount of skepticism. "He claims to be a god, as well. Which is obviously a
fabrication. But his eyes haven't been seen since…"

"Bah." Ōnoki snorted. "Any man is mortal. We just haven't found the right way to kill him yet."

"And how exactly are you supposed to attack a fortress in the sky?" Chigusa asked, as dry as the
deserts she came from.
"We didn't have any sort of trouble moving—" Ōnoki retorted.

"True enough. Getting there was no trouble." Mei smiled genially. "A shame your Demolition
troops never came back."

Ōnoki gritted his teeth.

"Enough of that…" Shikaku sighed. He hated the job. "The only solution to deal with our problem
is to form an alliance."

Ōnoki shook his head. "Iwa won't ally with Konoha and the fight shall resume once this blows
over. But we may join troops for the time being, as long as it is under my leadership."

"Your leadership?" Shikaku lifted an eyebrow. "I don't believe you are unbiased enough to do that.
Who knows what might happen to our best shinobi… once we're done with Nagato…?"

"And you are?" Ōnoki grinned darkly. "How many Iwa ninja did you and your trio kill during the
last war?"

"Many. But I can put my own feelings about Iwa aside." Shikaku said dryly.

"We refuse to ally with Konoha, too." Chigusa said, her arms folded. "But a cease-fire is necessary.
Suna shall lead the strike force."

"Bah." Ōnoki snorted. "And what sort of experience does Suna have with aerial warfare?"

"More than you would expect, I assume."

"Instead of arguing which of you holds the deepest grudge, shall we maybe… work on saving our
villages?" Yugito asked, something hot in her eyes.

"Easy for you to say, when all you have is a ruin." Ōnoki spat.

Yugito's face contorted, and the air became a bit drier. Terumi Mei tried to catch her eye, but to no
avail.

"We won't ally with Kumo either, past this." Shikaku let out. "But it is unimportant, what we need
to focus on—"

Footsteps echoed, coming from the hallway.

The Tsuchikage frowned. "Are we waiting for someone else…?"

"…We are not." Mifune said tightly. "My men should have taken care of this."

Mifune stood up. Then he froze.

"Oh, no." Yugito muttered, putting her face in her hands. Mei lifted an eyebrow at her.

The door opened and six people walked in. It was like opening the door to an oven, hot air rushing
in and making your eyes blur.

Except it wasn't heat, but sheer pressure.

Mifune tried to draw his sword. Something prevented him from doing so.
Shocked, he let them pass.

Is this all that the samurai have to offer…? Shikaku wondered.

"Your prayers, answered." The only man of the group called out sarcastically.

Shikaku's knuckles tightened. He knew most of them. One of the women, in particular, gave him a
long look. Then she steeled herself.

Guarded by five women, one man stood in the middle of the room, facing the Kage.

Yugito watched on.

He didn't feel like a man, though. Wry eyes, that looked much older than the rest of him, now. He
stood tall, and power was exuding from his every pore.

Hairs bristled on Yugito's arms.

He didn't seem to be intent on attacking, which was probably the only reason — beside wariness
— nobody tried anything.

"Waltzing into enemy territory like this…?" Chigusa asked, grinning darkly. "You've got guts, if
not brains."

"Enemies…?" He blinked. "And here I thought this was neutral ground. I just came to talk with
you."

Shikaku squinted his eyes.

"Greetings. You might have heard of me." The man facing them grinned. "I grew up as a Sarutobi,
of course. I've been called a few other names, as well."

He marched on, grim determination obvious on his face.

"However. My name, this time around, is Uzumaki Naruto. Leader of Umigakure. We have much
to do, in order to stop Nagato… and bring forth a lasting peace afterward."

Silence fell and tension rose. He continued.

"Now... I know some of you have other intentions." He shrugged. "If you decide to stand in our
way, no matter who you are… Nation, Village or Individual. We will move you aside."

"Will someone stop this foolishness?!" Ōnoki finally exploded.

According to rumor, Umi was responsible for killing his granddaughter, Yugito knew.

His two guards jumped from the shadows. One of them looked particularly angry. The Kazekage
and the Hokage's soldiers appeared, too.

At the same time, samurai filed into the room.

The five women moved into defensive positions around him. Never in front of him, Yugito noticed.
They protected his back.

"Are you going to attack us…?" Naruto asked curiously.

"And why shouldn't we?" Chigusa asked, the threat in her voice obvious. "You are an
intruder… and an enemy."

"This is the Summit. You are no Kage." Nara Shikaku simply said, keeping his tone measured. His
true feelings were clear. "It would have been wiser for you not to come."

"I am no Kage, it's true." Naruto replied. "But then again, I don't mean to stand with the Kage."

He let the silence hang in the air for a while.

Tension rose. Steadily.

"No, far from it." Naruto laughed, and he pointed to the ceiling. "I am going to place
myself above the Kage."

"Preposterous!" Shikaku shook his head. Next to him, Akimichi Chōza and a Yamanaka woman
Yugito didn't know prepared to attack.

A cube glowed in between Ōnoki's hands, and Chigusa's hands flashed, black threads following. A
shadow stretched, quick as lightning.

They all moved at the same time. Uzumaki Naruto raised his right hand, almost lazily.

"Bow."

The command came simply.

The next instant, all of the people who had been ready to attack found their heads forced down.

Their jutsu blew away like candles in the wind.

"What…is…this?!" Ōnoki roared, trying to lift his head from the desk it had been pressed against.

They were held like this for a long, tense while. Yugito watched, her lips pinched… and Mei
looked as though she was holding back a chuckle.

Uzumaki Naruto released them.

The pressure in the air didn't abate completely. He was obviously ready to do it again. Harder, if
necessary.

"I always found a practical demonstration to be more efficient." He said softly. "You
know exactly what this means, don't you? And now that we are all clear on where we stand…"

Naruto grinned.

"You may call me Shōgun. I've come to unify the land and its people."

"Namikaze… You arrogance knows… no bounds!" Ōnoki raged.

"We never will—" Someone began.

Uzumaki Naruto lifted his head up. The pressure abated.

Silence stretched.

"Oh… no." Yugito muttered again. Mei looked mostly amused. She likely had been warned
already. Or she didn't care.

Yugito could smell the fear in the room, as well as feel the resigned acceptance. Apparently… they
knew how things were going to go already. Yugito thought she heard someone weep, almost
silently.

One more of them.

"Shall we talk, then?" Uzumaki Naruto asked, spreading his arms.

His irises — and only his irises — were a concentric set of spirals. They gleamed purple, and an
otherworldly light came from them.
 Through the Shadows
Chapter Summary

Takes place the day before the Kage Summit.

Earlier on. Seven days before the end. Umi.

Yamanaka Ino floated in nothingness.

She extended her awareness. She could feel the threads of most of Umi's people stretch out into the
night. Dreamweaving was something she considered herself to be pretty average at, but it was one
avenue she really hadn't explored enough. So she practiced sensing them.

And considering what the stakes were, and what could happen if they let Naruto go unchecked, she
wasn't willing to let anything escape her. Toru's death had been a painful lesson.

The visions always changed, turning and twisting. Dreams were such a confusing thing, and it was
sometimes like trying to catch swirling smoke.

Then she came awake abruptly.

Someone was at the door. Ino rose, grabbing her Cloak to cover herself in a swift movement. There
was no need to wake Karin up, she assumed. Ino went down.

"Sorry for waking you up." Tanabe Mai whispered.

"I wasn't sleeping." Ino almost smiled. "What happened?"

"He's back."

"…Naruto?" Ino asked, wishing she didn't feel some trepidation.

"Yes."

Sakura seemed to have some sort of preternatural instinct for when shit was brewing, because she
caught on to Ino immediately.

She landed into the sand with a smooth flip.

"Why do you think he didn't come here right away?" She asked.

"…I don't think I'm able to understand how he thinks, recently." Ino muttered. "Let's go and see."

"At least he's back." Sakura shrugged. "We'll figure out the rest."

"Did you ask him to stay there, Mai?" Ino asked.

"No…" She began. "He decided to do so himself."

Ino stopped.

"Willingly…? Or is it just that he can't pass the second layer of barriers? That would mean—"

"That's not it." Mai shook her head. "There was no ill intent toward Umi — he passed the first
barrier after all — but he said he preferred it that way."

Ino and Sakura exchanged a long look. Did he really lose it? Ever since Toru's death… It had been
an exponential descent into madness. If they didn't find a way to do something about it soon…

Maybe Nagato wouldn't be their only source of worry.

"How… did he look to you?" Ino asked.

"…Well enough. But…" Mai hesitated. "You should see him yourself."

"Very cryptic." Sakura said blandly. Mai cringed.

"Was he angry…? Detached, maybe uncaring…?"

"No."

They entered the building that contained Umi's entrance Gate. There were many people gathered
here, more than usual. They were talking over each other. Loudly.

Some seemed in awe, some were simply speechless.

At the center of the room, almost glowing with power, stood Uzumaki Naruto. He embraced his
full height now, looking almost imperious, without trying to do so. The bond almost snapped back
into place once they got closer, with a rush of heat.

His eyes found hers and Sakura's as soon as they entered.

Hairs bristled on Ino's arms.

The first thing was that the glint of madness, the one that had progressively become more and more
noticeable, until it was impossible to ignore it…

Was entirely gone.

The second thing… was the Rinnegan.

...What?!

No wonder people were staring. A few were crying, even. Ino shook her head, bemused. They
were taking this as something more… godly than it probably was. This was just fucking Naruto.

"Hello, Ino, Sakura." Naruto smiled, and stepped through the crowd.

"…Hi."

"Hey there." Sakura greeted.

"Shall we walk?" He asked.

Something about him seemed different.

It was not just the lucidity that she was sure Sakura could also see in his eyes. He looked… older,
somehow. His face hadn't changed, but there was something hard to define in his eyes. Something
that belonged to a man who had lived way longer than Naruto had. An old shinobi, maybe.

Or older than that.

The contrast of the youthful face and his eyes reminded him of that woman on the boat, months
and months ago.

"Have you been well?" Naruto asked them with a smile.

Ino noticed that he wore a form-fitting, high-collared kimono over a black bodysuit. It was light
colored and held closed at the waist by a black sash.

This mother— While everybody went sick with worry… He took the time to make himself some
fancy clothing!

Sakura shrugged. "Can't complain, things are going decent."

Decent? Which part of it?

"Well?! We worried about you." Ino said, voice rising. "And-"

He smiled softly. "And it's no wonder."

"That's all you have to say?! …What happened exactly? Where the hell have you been?! It's been
days since Karin… and Hanabi— "

"And what's up with the eyes?" Sakura continued.

"I lost my mind." He said casually. "And then I found it again."

"…What about… Indra?"

Naruto laughed. "I am him."

The women both froze. Chakra gathered in the air around them.

"No, sorry, that's terrible wording, considering..." Naruto waved off. "Not in this way. I am
not possessed. I am still me. The trouble began when I tried to separate myself from… me. We are
the same person. Or the same soul, rather."

"…What does that mean exactly?"

"I've accepted who I am. I am Uzumaki Naruto… and I was Indra, before."

A long silence stretched.

"Is this what we can expect from now on...? More mental instability in the future? More insanity?"
Sakura asked bluntly.

"Sakura…" Ino hissed. Mental health was something she likely saw a bit differently.

"What? It's true." She shrugged. "No offense meant."

"None taken." Naruto laughed. "And no. The madness is over. There won't be any voices in my
head, possession, or anything like that. It was closer to a merging, so maybe I'm going to change a
bit over time... but it's an organic thing. I'm still processing the memories — there are lifetimes of
them — but that's about it."

"Good. Good." Sakura nodded.

Then she slapped him. Hard.

"Hey!" Ino growled.

"What? That's for Karin and Hanabi." She retorted. "Because they won't."

"It's well deserved, too." Naruto nodded somberly, his cheek red. "That's why I didn't want to come
there right away. I owe them more than an apology. More than words can convey."

"…Would you really have attacked them?"

Naruto shook his head. "I still don't fully know what was going through my mind at the time.
Although… I fear the worst."

That was a probably.

"Well… If you say it's over over…" Sakura said dubiously.

"It is." He smiled painfully. "I promise."

"…I will do my best to check over you, later." Ino said. There would be nothing like Toru.

"Sure."

"How is it…? The memories thing?" Sakura asked.

"It's… strange, honestly. I remember entire lives, more than a dozen of them. It becomes very clear
when I focus. More than before. It's all part of me. And so is the man you call Indra."

"So you are…?"

"Both, yes. I am still me, but sane. And part of me is also Indra. That's the only way it could ever
work."

"So… How did you get these eyes…?" Sakura asked again.

Naruto winced. "I did some pretty bad things. Not worse than I might have done in the past, but
terrible nonetheless. I will have to find a few people, see what can be done still."

"…What did you do?" Ino asked, her dread singing.

"…I guess there really is no good way of saying it." Naruto mused.

Silence stretched.

"Naruto—"

"I found Sasuke, stole his chakra. I crippled Shisui. I killed several Konoha shinobi, just because
they were in the way, when they attacked me."
Ino shot him a betrayed look.

"…What happened to what you promised me?"

"I'm sorry." Naruto bowed his head. "I'm truly sorry."

"Only the people who deserve it." Ino spat. "That's what you said."

Naruto nodded grimly.

"I remember, yes."

"Are you going to claim madness for this?"

"…Wasn't it?—" Sakura interrupted herself when Ino glared at her.

"No." Naruto said. "It's on me. I fucked up. It won't happen again."

Ino growled.

"That's it?!"

"That's it." Naruto nodded. "If you find you can't accept it, I would understand."

She continued to glare at him.

"I waited until they attacked me, if it's any consolation."

"…No. It's not, no." Ino growled.

"There's more. I killed other people, but this part... I honestly can't remember that much about. Just
that they were the ones we planned on doing something about. And... did Karin tell you about the
people under Nagato's thrall…?"

"Yes." Ino said tightly.

"This was the same. I acted too rashly, in a way I thought made sense, if removed from morals…
ethics. For this, I am sorry. Maybe with enough time, I could have found a way to save them." He
pointed at his eyes. "If I had known… I wouldn't have done it. But what's done is done."

Naruto stopped on the steps of their home, facing them. He didn't seem half as confident, right
now, his face twisted in pain.

He wasn't as uncaring as Ino had began to worry he was - Naruto knew her well, he knew what she
thought.

"But the thing I regret the most.. That's Karin… Hanabi. I almost attacked them."

Ino could feel his shame. His regret. And his fear.

A tear rolled down his face.

Both Madara and Indra seemed to be of the belief that asking for forgiveness was a sign of
weakness. Then again… Naruto had been wrong about so many things in his past lives. That was
just one more of them.

She and Sakura watched, without turning away.

"I'm sorry. For all this—"

He was interrupted.

"You'd better be, you asshole." Karin interrupted, from the upper floor. "But the least you could do
is tell us directly."

Ino pretended she didn't see her wipe a tear of her own. Hanabi, up there with her just watched on,
solemnly.

Karin dropped down.

"Your arm is healed. How?" She blinked. "It seemed—"

"Ah. I just had to… untangle the chakra with the Rinnegan and then—" He began hesitantly.

An awkward silence followed. Naruto looked at both of them, looking at a loss for words.

Or like he was afraid of them.

Karin grabbed him in a tight embrace. He was much taller, and he had to bend down, yet he clung
to her. Hanabi stood close.

"You're so fucking—" Karin sniffed.

The three chakra met, like a gentle embrace, like hands joining.

All of the feelings, the words, the things he wouldn't have been able to express through words
came through.

The others felt it as well. The madness that had been there, the fear, the sorrow, the regret, the
horror, the shame.

I did something unforgivable.

"I'm sorry." He said quietly. "I'm so sorry, Karin. Hanabi."

Karin interrupted. "You stopped yourself, didn't you?"

"…"

"That's the part that matters most to me." She smiled softly. "No matter how many terrible things
you've done, recently. Now… that might make me just as shitty as you."

I'm sorry, Karin.

I think I understand. It's all right.

"Well… I'm not quite this… sappy." Hanabi said, coming closer, with the ghost of a smile on her
lips. "But she has a point. If even… when you were well… losing your mind… you still managed
to not… Well, I guess I can forgive that. You fucked up. Now get up again."

I'm sorry, Hanabi.

I know, I see you. You couldn't have hurt me anyway, and I would have had to beat you up. I feel
bad for Karin, really. That she almost had to see this.
Naruto chuckled through his tears.

There were more than a few bright eyes. Except—

"Trying to kill someone is just the ninja way of saying hello, anyway." Sakura chuckled.

The moment was broken and they groaned.

"Please, not now."

The first few hours were awkward, full of averted glances.

Considering the things he had done, and what he had almost done, Naruto considered this way too
light of a punishment.

But none of them would accept more excuses, so he waited.

It was not any stranger than the sudden silence in his mind, after more than ten years of
feeling something in the background.

The hours after that were awkward too, but slightly better.

"The Kage will meet tomorrow, in the Land of Iron." Anko declared later. It seemed that with
Orochimaru gone, she had taken it upon herself to steal his tea.

"Aren't half of them still at war?" Naruto asked, frowning.

"Yes and no. It already took much too long for them to agree on that much. Still, things have
changed a bit while you were…" Anko began, not sure how to express it.

"Losing my mind." He nodded. "I've gotten better, you can say it out loud."

"…Okay?" Anko looked at him dubiously. "Well, if you're fine with it. Great. Cause you were
crazy as balls, back there. Nobody even dared to say it."

"I know, Anko."

"Frankly, I thought you were about to kill one of us, at some point."

Naruto sounded pained. "I… know, Anko."

She laughed. "I thought it was going to be me, before. And that was before you really went off the
deep end." She closed her fist, extended the index finger and circled it around her temple for
several seconds. "Not just loopy. More like… batshit insane!"

"Thank you, Anko." He said dryly. "Can we get back to the topic, now?"

"Sure, sure. So yeah, anyway…" She seemed lost in thought. "Oh, yeah. Well, the countries are
still at war, officially, but I think they might take a little break to deal with Nagato's shit."

"Isn't this a good thing?" Ino asked. "It could be a first step toward peace."

Naruto winced. "Not really. I've seen this before."

Anko frowned. "Where…?"

"Memories. Visions, whatever." He waved it off. "As soon as this is over and someone sees an
opportunity to grab power, the peace will be over."

Silence stretched.

"Well." Anko shrugged. "You're the one with dead guys inside you."

"…Phrasing."

"What do you suggest, mister Nine-Lives?"

Naruto thought about it.

"We're going to the Summit."

Silence.

"Seriously…?" Sakura asked.

"Yes." He nodded. "Sorry, Sakura, but I will need you to sneak in… Tonight, preferably."

She rubbed her temple.

"Yeah." She breathed out. "No big deal, right."

"I'll come, too." Anko offered.

Naruto continued.

"To keep the Nations at peace with each other, we're going to need to put something above them.
The Kage are likely always going to be warlike, no matter who we put in charge. The role seems to
encourage it, as things are now, so we'll have to change that. And if we can reduce their wars to
mere power grabs between each other… Well that should do, for the time being."

"How? I don't think asking for forgiveness is going to be enough at this point." Anko said dryly.

"Asking for forgiveness…?" Naruto lifted his eyebrows. "I have no intention of doing that."

There were only a few people he felt like apologizing to. The Kage and their villages were none of
them.

"…What do we do, then?" Hanabi asked.

"Well." Naruto smiled. "That's pretty straightforward. We seize power."

"…Care to explain in a bit more detail?" Sakura asked dryly.

"Sure." Naruto nodded. "The fact that the Elemental Nations have been in the grip of almost
incessant wars for more than a thousand of years is important."

"…That much? Are you sure?" Hanabi frowned.

Naruto laughed. "Well, I can't speak in too much detail about how it started exactly before I was…
Indra was first born, but yeah. I know how things were when he was around."
"So?"

"Soldiers, weapons and even entire armies were commonplace and easy to procure. With Ninjutsu
becoming more and more widespread, courtesy of… me. Well, things became even more violent."

"Sure sounds great." Anko deadpanned.

"It's pretty bad. But that offers a way for us to thread the needle. Usually that's done with a
charismatic figure, or so. Now, quite frankly, I'm a pretty terrible messiah."

"Yeah."

"You are."

"Fucking terrible, even."

"I've seen worse…"

"Pretty bad."

"Yes, thank you." Naruto nodded sagely. "But what the world already knows is that our alliance is
strong… and that we — Umi specifically — are ready to stir things up. The only thing that stands
between us and rallying the world to our cause… is Nagato, really."

"…Maybe this is a bit of an oversimplification. How about-" Hanabi began.

"It is. But Nagato pretending to be a godlike figure… and having the strength to back it up… Might
be a boon in disguise. I have the same eyes, and that lends us some credence already. Now… if we
manage to defeat him… Well, I think you get the general idea."

"So… do we promise an end to the fighting… or do we remain in the shadows like bogeymen?"
Ino asked, still looking very doubtful about the entire thing.

"The former one." Naruto nodded. "Since we are strong already, it shouldn't be too hard to rally the
rest of the villages progressively. And once that alliance becomes strong enough, the others
will have to join. There won't be much bloodshed, I will make sure of it."

"Sounds less insane than I thought." Anko finally said. "Not by that much, though."

"Yeah. Otherwise, we can still go and kill the Kage and other leaders over and over again, until
they give up and accept lasting peace."

"…I can't tell if you're serious or not." Anko said, looking at him squarely.

"…Why would I even joke about this?" Naruto asked, blinking.

"…So, what can your legendary eyes do?" Ino asked.

He looked at her, and there was something imperious about his gaze. Naruto pondered his answer,
undoubtedly wondering about the best way to explain his newfound godlike powers. Something
that Nations would pay any amount of money for. Something that was worth more than that.

Ino was mesmerized. So these were they eyes that allowed men to rise—

"…I have no fucking idea, besides the basics." Naruto admitted with a wince. "I didn't go through
everyone's memories yet, it takes a while."

Ino growled. The rest of them sighed.

"Yeah…" Sakura groaned. "I'll be figuring out how to pull the wool on the Five Kage and the Land
of Iron. Seems like less trouble."

"I'm coming!" Anko stood up.

"…I'm not even leaving yet, sit down." Sakura muttered.

"Well… we have one day to figure the basics out." Naruto scratched his head, vaguely
embarrassed.

Naruto dug into Uchiha Madara's memories.

Apparently, he was the only one of Indra's line of successors to have successfully awakened it.
Well, before Naruto.

There were plenty of things to unpack, including his madness-induced plan to resurrect himself by
having… Nagato do the job..? He was glad that the man didn't seem to have any inclination to do
so, frankly. That seemed like a headache and a half.

Not that he was sure it would even work, considering Naruto and he were one soul. And he might
have been something of a dick as Madara — or Madara might have been a dick, things were a bit
confusing… But he wasn't looking forward to splitting himself in two.

The memories that had once come unwanted now mostly blended with his own. There was still
some confusion, of course. Naruto knew exactly which ones were the ones of this particular life,
but as for the rest…

He knew he had been born about twenty years ago in Konoha, but he also remembered being born
in many other places. Sometimes he had to focus to tell where the memories were from exactly,
when they were something he wasn't already aware of.

But—

"Hey there." Somebody called.

Naruto snapped out of his trance.

"Yes?"

It was the four of them — the women he had bonded and Hanabi. It felt as though they didn't know
how to act around him anymore. The initial wariness was slowly lifting already, though.

"Did you get some information about the Rinnegan?" Sakura asked. She wagged her finger in the
air. "By… I don't know… Diving into your mind or some shit."

"Or some shit, yeah." Naruto smiled. "I think I understand the basics of what it can do."

"Really…?" She asked, sitting down, looking excited. "Tell us, then."

"Well." He started gravely. "It gives me many things."

"Like…?" She hung onto his lips.

"Invisibility. Super strength. The ability to fly. Shapeshifting. Super-speed — even more than
before, and I was very fast already. Telepathy. Mind control. Telekinesis. Teleportation. Chakra
absorption. Time travel. Invulnerability. Incredible sexual prowess. Force fields. Immortality.
Cosmic awareness. Charisma in spades."

Silence.

"My god…" Sakura breathed out. "Really?!"

"No." Naruto laughed.

"You blond motherfucker—"

Naruto cackled as she tried to wrap her arm around his neck to choke him.

"I thought you outgrew this shit!" She raged.

"Never!" Naruto laughed. "Besides, half of this is true, to some degree!"

"I don't believe anything that comes from your mouth!"

"…How old are you, by now, even?" Hanabi asked, ignoring the pink menace wrapped around his
neck. Just like he did.

"Huh. Good question." Naruto seemed to think about it. He had never really thought about it. The
life expectancy for most shinobi used to be even lower than now, according to his memories. And
Indra's descendants lived even shorter lives, often.

He could remember nineteen distinct lives, and he was sure that if he focused enough, he could tell
how many added years that was.

"Eh. Let's say in between four to five centuries in total." He shrugged.

"Ew… Creepy." Hanabi shuddered.

"What?" He blinked.

"That makes you a dirty old man."

"Eh?" Naruto frowned. "Those are memories. I am still me!"

"Geezer." Ino supplied.

"It's not like that!" Naruto said hotly, looking his age again. "There are less than three of them who
made it to old age! It's not something you just add up — That was a figure of speech!"

"Should I get your pills, ojisan?" Sakura sneered.

"I was always them! I'm not going to change suddenly! It just so happens that I remember their —
my — their lives, now!"

"Why don't you go date people closer to your… age range?" Ino asked. "Like that elder from Suna?
What's her name…? Chiyo something. Oh. Maybe she's a bit too young for you, now."
"Don't give him ideas." Karin deadpanned.

"…You girls can fuck right off. I just had some extra lifetimes." Naruto growled. "If I say I'm
twenty, I'm twenty!"

"…Is it your back I hear creaking?" Hanabi put a hand to her ear.

"It's probably my teeth, from talking to you." He gritted out.

"…Anyway, here's what I got from my… Madara's memories." Naruto said.

He unfurled a long scroll and hung it to the wall, to act as a blackboard.

"First of all… I'm not sure where the hell the names come from, in the first place. I… Madara
didn't name the abilities, I think. So let's just agree that it's probably some divine thing, too."

The four women were waiting for him to get to the point.

Naruto put his index on the scroll, and writing started to spread across its length.

"First… The Rinnegan gives the user the ability to see chakra… chakra pathways, and all that. Oh,
near perfect chakra control, too — though I'm not so convinced, right now. I can apparently
summon some chakra receivers… and use any elemental nature… in theory. Didn't manage to do
so yet, at least."

"Why would eyes give you the ability to use other natures… or chakra control…?" Sakura
muttered.

"It's a Dōjutsu. I don't expect you to understand." Hanabi huffed.

"…I have a Sharingan."

"Yes."

Naruto shrugged. "I don't know the specifics, honestly."

He continued. He pressed his thumb against the scroll and the writing continued to spread.

"Then we have six paths. First comes the Asura Path: this allows me to create missiles, cannons,
blades, extra arms… Don't interrupt me, Hanabi, let me finish."

"Naraka Path: I can summon the "King of Hell", some… thing that can interrogate people and heal
people completely. Though… I'm not sure it's all that great for interrogation. If I ask someone a
question while they're grabbing this King of Hell's tongue… if they lie, their "tongue" is ripped out
and they die. If they tell the truth, they are spared."

Sakura frowned.

"Hush. Human Path: this one allows me to take out… uh the soul of an opponent by touching
them. Of course… If someone's soul is ripped out, they die. Except if it's Sakura, then she lives for
about eighty years still."

He paused over their laughter and Sakura's jeering.

"Ah, I can also read people's minds through this — it kinda sounds like the same thing, and it uses
the same creature... Ah, people die, though. I wonder if it works with clones…"

Naruto cleared his throat.

"There's the Animal Path: with this, I can summon… a number of different animals that can be
killed and re-summoned. It… works to summon people too… apparently."

The women were beginning to scratch their heads.

"Okay, there's the… Deva Path. It controls gravity. So I could actually fly, in theory. Pushing
things, pulling things. Telekinesis, too, I guess. It's supposedly good for defense." Naruto
continued, a bit bemused himself.

He hoped it wasn't all just some madness-induced fever dream Madara had. Naruto could see the
same skepticism on his friend's faces.

"Then there's the Preta Path: it's good for absorbing ninjutsu and chakra. Helpful for people like
Sakura, who have no chakra reserves." He cackled and dodged the sandal she threw at him.

"I mentioned something about chakra receivers… That's the Outer Path. This path allows its user -
me - to produce chakra receivers which bind movement and allow me to… control the target."

Yeah, that sounded very familiar. He wondered if something could have been done for these
people, back then. Probably too far gone… but that was a probably.

Merging with pretty… cold-hearted bastards had left him somewhere where he could push that sort
of thought aside. He could find atonement later, if he survived.

"It also gives a rinnegan user control over… life and death."

Ino interrupted. "Yeah, I know what you said." She raised her hands. "But did I hear this right?"

"Yeah. You can revive the dead for real." He said, with a bitter taste in his mouth. "It just costs you
your life. You can apparently summon a statue… The one the Bijuu are sealed into. I couldn't
manage, though."

Naruto paused. Nagato's interference, likely.

"Well… I think that's about it. And no… I can't make any sense as to how this works, either."

"You know… If this was a prank, it's really too long-winded." Sakura yawned.

"It's really not." He assured her. "Now… Please help me practice — not you Sakura, Anko, I know
you're going to be busy. I can't use any of these yet."

Six days before the end.

It was the day of the Five Kage Summit.

Naruto had only managed to learn how to use the Deva Path, after going through Madara's
memories. He could use it somewhat well, by now, but still…

He didn't get much sleep. Considering the last few weeks though, it wasn't that bad.

"…I guess this will have to do." Naruto muttered.

They had a meeting to crash.
 Above the Shadows
Chapter Summary

Back to present day.

Six days before the end. Five Kage Summit. Land of Iron.

"Well. Do you mind terribly if I sit down?" Naruto smiled politely. "Sorry for crashing the
meeting, Mifune-san."

Nobody answered, which he took as assent. Naruto sat down on Mifune's desk, facing the Kage.
The women around him made sure there was no angle he could be attacked from.

"As I said. I am Uzumaki Naruto and I will speak for the group. With me are Hyuga Hanabi,
Haruno Sakura, Yamanaka Ino, Mitarashi Anko and Uzumaki Karin."

Silence stretched.

"Now if you would be kind enough to introduce yourselves as well…? Not you, Mei, Yugito."

None of the remaining Kage seemed to have any intention of doing so.

"I'll do the introductions, then." Mei spoke. Yugito definitely wasn't about to. If looks could kill…

Mei stood up. "The Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki of Both Scales."

Naruto nodded politely at the diminutive old man who gave him a furious glare in answer. As he
had imagined.

"I did not kill your granddaughter, nor did I give the order." Naruto cut right to the chase.

"Your word is worth nothing!" Ōnoki spat. "One of your men did it."

It was not a man.

"One of my ninja did, yes." Naruto admitted. "Now… Let's not pretend that the dozen assassins
you sent after me, after us, dressed as Konoha shinobi, were any better."

"Lies!" Ōnoki slammed his palm on the table.

"For real?" Naruto chuckled. "Did you forget we can read corpses' minds…? Ishida Kameko. Sakai
Yuka. Anzai Hitoshi. Do I need to go on?"

Ōnoki stifled a frustrated noise. Nara Shikaku gave Ōnoki a long look, as if the old man was
responsible for the whole mess.

It wasn't like Konoha hadn't done the exact same thing, trying to pin the blame on Suna. But
Naruto kept that for a time it would be needed.

"I'm more than willing to move past it, Tsuchikage."

"Move past it?!" The man stood up, slamming both hands on the table. "You're talking about my
granddaughter! Who could well have become my successor!"

"Yes." Naruto said softly. "I am sorry for your loss. But you're not the only one who has lost
people to other countries' ninja, whose very leaders stand in this room."

"I refuse! And I refuse to listen—" He roared.

"Oh?" Naruto lifted an eyebrow, no hint of amusement on his face. "Were you under the illusion
this was a negotiation?"

The air rippled with power again, and the smell of ozone became stronger.

"Either you join up… or you get replaced by someone more amenable to peace." Naruto said.

"…Is this a threat?!" Ōnoki spat.

"I'm asking you to—" Mifune began, but he was ignored entirely.

"Of course not. It is the way things are going to be." Naruto smiled.

The pressure in the air became unbearable, and most of it was focused on the Tsuchikage, who
paled noticeably.

Naruto smiled blandly.

"Don't worry too much." Naruto said easily. "Even if it comes to that, we won't change your
traditions. Iwa will remain Iwa."

A better Iwa, though.

"You dare—"

Naruto looked at him.

Naruto knew just how much the man was scared of Uchiha Madara. It wasn't too hard to channel
that man, and remind him that there were people who stood above him. Ōnoki shut up.

Naruto probably would have the Tsuchikage killed later, still. The man was likely good for Iwa
itself, but that was the only thing he cared about, this much was obvious. Bad for the world, then,
if left unchecked.

"The Seventh Hokage, Nara—" Mei continued.

"Hokage-Elect." The man corrected. Naruto knew him, of course. He was sending him an
unreadable look.

"The Hokage-Elect, Nara Shikaku." Mei introduced.

"Hello Shikaku. I think we might have met, back when I lived among the Sarutobi."

"We did." The man said curtly.

"Pleasure's mine." Naruto finished.

Mei barely hid a chuckle.

"The Fifth Kazekage, Isa Chigusa."

The woman tried her best to look intimidating, but Naruto could almost see her fear. These eyes
really made things much easier. No wonder Nagato got… carried away.

"Greetings." He offered. "Well, let's talk, then."

"I think this will be a simple matter." Uzumaki Naruto continued. "You want to kill Nagato, and I
want the same thing."

"If you are as strong as you portray yourself to be, why don't you just take care of things yourself?"
Chigusa spat. Naruto stared at her.

"Ah. But there's one problem." Naruto smiled. "Nagato is stronger than me." He admitted easily.

"Then why should we even bother listening to your damnable words?!" Ōnoki finally exploded.

"For the exact same reason. Because I'm stronger than you."

A vein looked fit to burst on the old man's forehead.

"And mostly because I want peace. The egalitarian sort, not the… Nagato sort."

Silence stretched through the room.

"And I don't mean changing things up just for shinobi. Why… In the age of chakra and seals… Do
people who can't use chakra have to work until they can't anymore, just so they don't starve and
freeze to death in winter…? At this point, any scarcity left is intentionally created."

He raised one hand casually.

"The Great Villages and the strong Nations, as they are now, only live off the back of the weaker
ones. Smaller villages starve — that is, if they're not destroyed altogether — for the Great Five's
sake. This growth-focused system, that requires constant expansion… and constant fighting, is not
sustainable."

Naruto continued.

"The Nations spend trillions of ryō on war. Each year. It's time to move on. The money and energy
now devoted to war will be turned to more worthy causes. Technological advances. Ending hunger,
poverty and disease. We have the means to bring forward a golden age of peace. The sort of peace
our ancestors didn't even dare to conceive."

"Peace…?" Ōnoki muttered. "Peace?! Under you? This would be a peace based on fear!"

"Unlike what he have now, of course." Naruto tilted his head. "I do not deny that power will be
needed at first. To maintain order. But it won't be anything quite as bad as the current state of the
world."

More silence.

"Besides, I am no Nagato."

"This makes no difference. Fear is—" Shikaku began.

"I would prefer you call it respect." Naruto humored. "But sure, you can call it fear. That's the only
thing you seem to understand, anyway."

"…You aim to make slaves of the Villages." Chigusa said quietly.

"No. Every village would be equal to the others."

"Bullshit!"

"You're just being rude, now. Troops would be regulated for every village. Missions would be
spread evenly through the land. The borders will be divided again, as well. If not done with
altogether. Wind — and Suna by proxy — won't have to suffer for its location, if that's what you're
worried about, Chigusa."

He paused.

"Many of the conflicts are geopolitical or socioeconomic in nature. If for example, as happened
before… Wind gives more missions to Konoha than Suna, the village will struggle. With less
resource disparity, we won't have that problem. We will move toward an age of knowledge and
equality."

"Equality, huh… But you would stand above the rest, wouldn't you?" Chigusa asked evenly now.

"No." Naruto smiled dryly. "But some people might need a bogeyman around while the world
adapts, won't they? I can provide that."

"You want a world where no one can challenge you." Shikaku shook his head.

Naruto waved his hand, dismissing the thought.

"We're almost there yet, aren't we?" He said, maybe a bit too mockingly.

Ino told him to shut up through thought. Naruto could hear her strain with the other jutsu she was
weaving. The others were here in case things turned particularly ugly. Not Ino.

I get you don't need subtlety, but there's no need to be quite so blunt about it.

Sure, sure.

"My goal is not to rule the world from the shadows." Naruto sighed.

"What is it, then? To do it... overtly, perhaps?" Yugito asked sardonically, speaking for the first
time in a while. Her eyes were fixed on his.

He chuckled. "Not exactly, no. Well, you know already. I want peace… and for us to be left to our
own devices."

"Your actions do not match your words." Ōnoki raged.

"Omelet… eggs. Besides, you can't expect a guy to always be consistent." Naruto smiled blandly.
"I'm trying to make amends, too."

A long silence.

"…Amends…? Recently, you attacked Uchiha Sasuke. You crippled Uchiha Shisui." Nara Shikaku
gritted out. "You killed dozens of our men."
"And I regret doing it, but they attacked me first, if we're being technical about it." Naruto said.

His tone left no room for interpretation.

"You gave them no choice but to!"

"I did. Now… I can't do anything about your men, but about Shisui… If that's the only thing you're
worried about…"

Naruto paused.

"I will heal him."

Once he figured out how.

"…You can't heal this sort of injury!" The man seemed truly angry. He could keep his calm pretty
well, though.

"I can."

In the future.

"Why should I trust anything you say?! You killed the previous Hokage."

"It was Danzo." Naruto said by way of explanation. Someone chuckled. "He is the type of man
that I will continue to kill if needed. You can tell your elders."

Shikaku's fist tightened around the table.

"They're dead." He spat.

"Are they…?"

"They disappeared mysteriously a few days ago." The look Shikaku gave him told him exactly who
he believed to be responsible.

"Oh."

Naruto frowned. He honestly couldn't remember much of the last day before facing Indra. Did
he…?

Well, they were the kind of people he needed gone, so he probably had done it.

"Well then. No matter. We're all ninja anyway. They were ready to die, I assume."

Shikaku scoffed.

Naruto lifted an eyebrow. "The truth is, if you had the power to murder the four other Kage in this
room, — and me, especially — most of you would do so without blinking."

No one bothered to answer.

"We have this power." Naruto said with a flat smile. "And yet I chose to believe there is more value
in all of you being alive."

The pressure in the air intensified.

"Do no mistake this for naivety."

Pinched lips and the smell of fear in the air.

Naruto breathed out, and the pressure receded.

"Now…" Naruto continued, in lighter tones. "We are an alliance of four villages. Two of them,
Great Villages."

Wisely, they didn't make any remark about Kumo's current state.

All the same, none of the other Kage seemed to like where he was going.

"We just need one more to tip the scales entirely. Who wants to join up?" He smiled.

The silence was uncomfortable.

"Is it your intention to put the world under your banner…?" Nara Shikaku asked.

Naruto sighed. It really sounded easier… and so tempting to just force their hands, honestly. How
many S-rank ninja would be left in the world if he did so…?

Not many, he would venture. They had killed most of them, it seemed.

"I thought I made this clear already. Our intention is to put the world under one banner.
Not necessarily mine. One last thing about that, before we go on."

Naruto continued.

"For as long as most shinobi missions continue to be combat-focused, we're going to have trouble.
We will phase that out slowly. Earth jutsu can be used to build housing, infrastructure. Water can
be used together with it for farming, water redirection." He looked at one Kage in particular. "Fire,
Wind and Lightning can be used for energy production, crafting, transportation. Sealing has so
many possible uses for everything that I won't even get into it now. Medical jutsu should have been
widespread for decades. That's the kind of thing that is easily done in an unified world."

There was one of the remaining three Kage who seemed to have more interest in the proposition
than the others. As they had expected.

Still, the blame games began again. Naruto didn't bother to listen.

Are you managing, Ino? Sakura asked.

Fine, just peachy. She retorted.

"That's enough!" Mifune — who Naruto realized was still in the room — cut in. "The meeting will
resume once all of you quiet down."

They didn't really listen.

Naruto shrugged, and waited.

"There are three jinchuuriki left." Yugito said, over the noise. "And I am one of them."

"So what?" Ōnoki spat.

"Your lack of action — all of you — has made Akatsuki's job easy." She said. "I know what you're
about to say. That includes my predecessor — once he was put under Akatsuki's thrall! An excuse
you don't have!"

That shut them up.

"And what did you expect us to do?" Ōnoki asked. The Dodai/Uzumaki affair still rankled him.

That Naruto had cleaned up his mess by getting rid of both twins even more so.

"The same as what we did!" Yugito slammed her fist on the table, flames erupting. "No Kumo
ninja ever joined Akatsuki! Unlike any other Great Village!"

"Kirigakure was colluding with it!" Chigusa spat.

"Yagura was controlled by Akatasuki. Masaaki was a puppet, that much is true. We fixed the
issue!" Mei intervened.

The accusations started flying.

"Iwa employed Akatsuki's service!"

"So did Suna!"

"Konoha stood by and did nothing!"

I fucking hate them. Naruto sighed.

Wanna hear a joke about politicians? Sakura laughed.

…Perhaps later.

"Quiet down, please!" Mifune intervened.

"As far as I'm concerned, Umi's the only village which did something about the problem." Naruto
shrugged. He ignored Sakura's silent chuckling.

"Oh, but of course…" The Tsuchikage grumbled.

"Konoha had Akatsuki moles hidden in their ranks. So did Kumo. Kiri. Suna. And so did your
village, Tsuchikage." Naruto pointed out. "The only one that didn't… is Umi."

"There is no way to prove something like this."

Naruto almost rolled his eyes.

"Yes, there is. They wouldn't pass our barriers. Honestly, you could be under Uchiha Obito's
grasp."

They didn't seem to be, though, according to his eyes. At least, not anymore, if they had been.

The name didn't seem to ring any bells for some of the people here.

Shikaku began to explain.

"…and Sasori of the Red Sand, too." Naruto finished. "You saw him around Konoha recently, I'm
pretty sure."
Chigusa's ears perked up. Her face turned hard.

"So he is still alive?"

"Definitely. And stirring trouble."

She growled. "Sasori is our problem."

"You've been doing a pretty lousy job at managing it, then." Naruto laughed.

She growled.

"Join our alliance, and we'll capture him for you." He shrugged. "Besides, we know Suna — and
Wind — lacks arable land. We'll fix that."

That seemed to make her pause. The Tsuchikage growled.

"I don't expect an answer today." Naruto simply said. "Now… As for what Nagato is planning…
That's a bit unclear. He wants the Beasts, and I assume he still wants to use them as dissuasion
tools, but I can't guarantee it."

He might be going for Madara's Moon's Eye Plan, but it didn't really feel like it.

"All I can say is that he won't manage to gather all of the Beasts, so that's a moot point. The Seven-
Tails is hidden away."

And he'd double down on that, until nobody, not even the people from Umi could find Fu.

Mifune intervened.

"What this summit is meant to accomplish is to plan the destruction of the terrorist threat Uzumaki
Nagato and his Akatsuki poses." He shot Naruto a warning look. "That we allow you to stay here
at all is contingent on that."

Naruto almost smiled. They hadn't allowed anything. And they couldn't manage without him,
which they might or might not want to acknowledge.

"That's why we came here, yes."

Mifune continued. "It is a threat that has already proved to be too much for a single village to
handle, several times over. We, the Land of Iron, shall remain neutral in whatever you decide. But
three countries working together might not be enough either. The Umi-Kiri-Kumo alliance might
not suffice, either."

Naruto acknowledged the point with a nod.

"Iwa and Suna did not manage!" Mifune continued. "And Konoha stands alone, now. Only the Five
Nations — and Umi — working together have a chance!"

"We won't ally with Konoha, nor Umi." The Tsuchikage spat.

"Neither will Konoha." Shikaku shook his head. He was probably trying to get more out of the
deal. Or he really believed in Konoha standing alone, who knew.

"What does Suna have to say about this?" Naruto asked, amused.
Chigusa glared at him. But she said nothing.

"It is a global threat, after all." Naruto smiled. "Why don't we just see how this alliance goes?"

"It will be needed." Mifune nodded shortly. Naruto could tell the man really didn't like the fact that
they had intruded upon the meeting.

Mifune also knew all of them would be needed.

"Kumo stands for it." Yugito declared. She didn't seem to like the idea, either. But she could be
reasoned with.

"So does Kiri." Mei continued.

"Umi's in, of course." Naruto nodded.

The silence was thick.

"The Land of Iron shall provide men, as well." Mifune nodded.

The Tsuchikage's teeth were clenched hard and his face was turning purple. Naruto barely hid a
smile.

"…Suna agrees to join the alliance. At least temporarily." Chigusa finally said, with dark eyes. She
would not give her opinion too early.

Ōnoki growled.

Nara Shikaku sighed. "For the time being, so shall Konoha, too."

Naruto did his best not to look at the Tsuchikage.

"Well?" Mifune asked.

"Iwa refuses." He gritted out.

"Suit yourself." Naruto shrugged. Truth be told, he didn't have much use for Ōnoki. His ninjutsu
was incredible, true, but if half the things he had heard about Nagato were true… It wouldn't
matter. Not that he had planned to take the man with him in the first place. Watching your back
against somebody like Nagato was bad news.

"Today will be remembered as the day Ōnoki finally chose a side." Naruto finished.
"The wrong one."

"You — YOU" Ōnoki's chakra started to escape his control.

"It is only a temporary measure, Tsuchikage-sama." Mifune urged. "The world is at stake!"

Another long silence, only broken by the sound of Ōnoki's teeth gritting.

"…Iwa accepts the temporary alliance." He finally managed.

Naruto smiled a victorious smile.

"Now then. Who shall lead the forces?" Mifune asked.

Nobody jumped at the opportunity.

Nara Shikaku would have made a good choice. Naruto wasn't about to vote for him though, and the
man had no real allies in the room, as of now. Besides, he was only operating in a temporary
position, and everyone knew it.

Mei started speaking, and he knew in which direction the wind was about to blow. From her
disgruntled face, so did Yugito.

"There's only one village that has taken measures to fight Akatsuki and that can ensure that its
leader is under no one's influence."

"No!" The Tsuchikage slammed his fist on the table.

"It takes a man who possesses the same eyes as the one we're fighting." Mei finished. "And he is
the one who will lead the fight against Nagato himself. Uzumaki Naruto can be everywhere at the
same time."

Naruto hid a smile.

"He is way too young." Shikaku retorted. "He doesn't have the experience needed to lead."

This would have been true, normally.

Not now, though. Not anymore. He had more experience leading than anybody here.

"Then you can help me, all of you." Naruto looked him in the eye. "We have the same goal, for the
time being. I don't intend on telling you how to handle smaller conflicts in the coming fights.
Handle the Lands' defense. I will tell you how I intend to do this, exactly."

Nara Shikaku paused to consider it. Ōnoki's rage was rising.

"You and the Raikage are nothing but underlings." The Tsuchikage spat, glaring at Mei.

Before Mei — or worse, Yugito — said something that would just make the man more angry,
Naruto intervened.

Afraid beat angry.

"Ōnoki." Naruto began, in Madara's slow, drawling tones. "Perhaps you remember a certain day,
sixty-nine years ago? There's no Mū, no Hashirama to play nice, this time."

Uchiha Madara really was an arrogant, dramatic man… but it was working.

Ōnoki froze.

"This time, there is an alliance worth upholding. Accept it or… make room for someone else."

"You — How?!" Ōnoki asked, and there was the unmistakable touch of fear into his eyes.

Naruto simply widened his eyes, pooling chakra there in answer. Let the man make of that what he
wanted.

"It would take a monster…" Ōnoki muttered, before slinking back into his seat, pale.

The others watched the interaction with various degrees of incomprehension.

"I…" Yugito began. It seemed to cost her a lot. "I agree with the Mizukage. Uzumaki Naruto will
be our best option here. My personal opinion of him doesn't really matter."

How sweet of you. Naruto said to her, dismissing the insult.

Don't you dare—

There was a long pause.

"…I believe Uzumaki… is a decent choice, overall — If what the Mizukage says is true. A direct,
global line of communication might prove to be vital." The Kazekage said between her teeth. "And
he might well be the only man alive who could match another Rinnegan wielder."

Suna wouldn't have to waste any more troops in an useless assault against Nagato, this way. And
she had a reason to want to be on his good side.

Mifune nodded. "Then… Regardless of the obvious breach of protocol…"

He glared at Naruto who just stared back. Mifune looked away.

"Restricting this meeting to just the Five Great Villages is a mistake I intend to fix. Not just for
Umi's sake."

Mifune did his best to ignore him.

"A majority vote has been reached. Uzumaki Naruto is to become the leader of the armed shinobi
forces."

Naruto stood up and bowed lightly to them.

"I thank you for your trust."

Someone scoffed. Most of them seemed pretty unhappy with the state of things.

Naruto considered winking at Ōnoki, but it seemed that the man was already at his limit. Killing
the Tsuchikage on his first day on the job would be a bad look.

There would be further meetings, of course, but a pause was declared.

The Kage split for the time being.

When nobody was looking, Naruto left a clone behind and he and the rest of the Umi ninja
disappeared.

The fact that he saw through his clone's eyes was a bit disorienting, but pretty handy, right now.

Umi.

"Haaaaah…" Naruto let out the most relieved sigh of his life.

That had been pretty unpleasant. He was terrible at politics, no matter in which life. And the way
he had overexerted himself... Constantly applying pressure on the other Kage to project the
appearance of overwhelming strength had been exhausting.

Naruto felt a migraine building. He definitely wasn't very practiced at using the Rinnegan. He was
pretty sure Nagato didn't have to try this hard.
"That… went well." Anko smiled. "Good performance out there. Worthy of Sensei himself."

"Nah, no way." Naruto snorted. "He would have found a way to convince them that they
actually wanted him to take the lead. I could only force their hand."

Which meant that he would likely have to do a lot of things in the shadows, if… once they
managed to beat Nagato. Nobody liked being forced into subservience. And that was how they
saw the whole thing.

But there was a silver lining to this. The Kazekage, Chigusa's interest in the alliance. It was no
wonder, either.

Considering this was likely how Iwa had gotten them to ally with them. The Land of Wind didn't
have much in the way of arable land. Combine this with Konoha poaching missions away from
them… and it was no wonder the smallest, weakest of the Five was ready to risk war with one of
the strongest.

If they could have the promise of equal repartition of land and missions… Well, there was not that
much reason for them to stay allied with Iwa, was there?

Ino was a bit rattled. It was no wonder, as seeing Shikaku had likely been a very unwanted blast
from the past. And she was exhausted, too. Because she had been dampening and enhancing most
of the people in the room's emotions, in order to make them more agreeable.

She hadn't done so with Shikaku or Chōza. Not out of sentimentality, but because they might have
caught on. She released a tired sigh.

Naruto wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her to him. She looked surprised, but sent him a
fond look. Had he been that bad these last few weeks…?

Yes. Yes, he had been. And worse, even.

He would have to make it up to her. To Karin. Well, to all of them.

Naruto pulled Karin to him with his other arm. She let out a surprised, delighted noise and came
closer, wrapping herself around him.

"Thank you, everyone." Naruto smiled tiredly. "That's a first step."

 A Lesser Godly Feat

Five days before the end. Morning.

Naruto was still in bed.

"How's his fever?" Sakura asked.

"Hasn't gone down for the moment." Ino answered.

"It's been a while already."

And they were supposed to find a way to deal with Nagato in less than five days…? Neither of
them were sure where he found his confidence, this time.

They watched him, lying down in bed, looking sicker than he had been ever since the boat episode
that only Sakura and Karin could remember.

"You think it's the Rinnegan?" Ino asked.

"Maybe. Maybe not." Sakura muttered. "Last time, it was his seals… runes… carvings, whatever
you can call them. I don't know."

This time, it was probably pushing too much chakra out in order to exert pressure. Chakra
exhaustion was not the only risk that came with this sort of thing.

"Better to let him rest or…?"

"Yes." Sakura nodded. "His chakra is close to the usual levels, so it's not anything about that… and
he always recovered in a few days, before. It should be the same."

But a few days was way too long, right now. They had plenty of things to prepare, too.

Like the meetings with the other countries. Naruto had designated Anko as his second-in-
command, but there would undoubtedly be some acerbic comments about the fact that the self-
proclaimed Shogun would not even bother showing up in person.

Sakura stayed behind a little longer, once she assured Ino she should resume her own training.

With the Rinnegan came the possibility for clones to use the Thunder Gates — through improved
chakra control — and the ability to siphon chakra from outside sources.

Which meant Naruto finally knew how to make clones last… seemingly forever.

With the Rinnegan also came the need to learn how to disable the shared vision.

Naruto was still out of commission for a while, so that was something he would take care of later,
though. For the time being, half-conscious, he dove into more of the memories in a dreamlike state.

"Dear Brother,

I am well and hope you are.

Your letter has reached me and has opened my eyes to the folly and wrong of the course I
have pursued of late. All night I have been pacing my home, trying to decide what course it
was my duty to pursue, and I have decided to answer you as frankly as you desire.

Perhaps Father was right in choosing his heir.

And perhaps I am a fool.

I will not attempt to excuse myself for the words I have said before departing, for I deserve
your anger, but I will only say that I was myself deceived in my own feelings.

When Father chose you, I believed that he was mocking me, and all my futile efforts. I was
not you, had never been. But I believed to be sufficient. Closer reflection has proved my
error. My bitterness, even in this very moment, at his choice proves that; for I know you
yourself would not have acted in such an unsightly way.

Again, thank you for your frankness. I have so often pained you by my uneven and sullen
temper. I have heard that you have married Naotora, now.

I foresee a life of joy for both of you.

I have no right to ask you for anything, so I shall tell you of what I believe could be wonderful
news.

The woman I have made mention of, weeks before my abrupt departure, truly is the sort of
person I thought she could be. I find myself utterly entranced.

I do realize I never even told you her name. Do forgive your elder brother.

Her name is Yasu.

I know that as brothers, I am bound to you, and therefore will not ask for forgiveness if you
do not desire it.

I shall await your response, should you so decide to grace me with one.

Leaving your decision entirely in your hands, I am. Ever your brother,
Indra."

Ashes of an unsent letter; Only seen by Uzumaki Naruto.

Five days before the end. Evening.

Karin walked up to their room.

Naruto was standing on the balcony.

"Wha— You're awake?" She asked, blinking.

"Karin." He greeted her with a smile. "Sorry I worried— Oof."

She had launched herself at him like a missile. He laughed, grabbing her and hugging her tight.
"You really make us worry a lot, 'yknow." She mumbled.

"I know." Naruto half-apologized again. He held onto her softly.

"Are you fine, though?" She asked again.

"I am." He assured her again. "But we have no time to waste. I did as much digging as I could,
while I was asleep."

"…You were unconscious." She frowned.

"Exactly. Unconscious, not dead." He laughed. "Anyway, I think I see some of the things these
eyes can do a bit more clearly. The Sage was pretty frivolous with using them, let's say."

Naruto started to dress himself.

"…What the hell are you doing?" Karin asked, her hands on her hips. "You should stay in bed."

"I'm not ready to fight Nagato yet." He said evenly.

"No shit. And you're not ready to get out of bed either! We… we still have around five days to
figure out a way." She frowned.

It sounded pretty optimistic of her.

"But we have a way of preparing." Naruto smiled slightly.

"…What?"

"Come with me, we have a project to finish. Have you continued to work on our temporal
research?"

"Of course I did."

"Then tell me what we still need… and what happened while I was out."

Temporal meddling was not considered a safe or an easy thing to do.

Naruto had researched it enough in the last months to know this with certainty.

And to know what the last thing he needed, the one thing that he hadn't found a way around… the
one that he needed to complete the seemingly impossible project that he and Karin had wasted so
much time on in the last month.

The missing ingredient?

A way to create gravity.

Right now, for them, it was the key to create a pocket universe. The rest, they had learned from
studying Sakura's Kamui ability. He was confident in his ability to emulate it.

Objects with gravity distorted time. Naruto played with the concept once more, but he was already
resolute.

"While you were gone." Karin began. "I got most of it done. There's just the final step to take care
of. The problematic one."
And she had done extremely well on that. Anywhere else, this sort of research would have been a
massive leap forward.

Today, in Umi, it was a beginning.

Naruto grinned. "I expected nothing less from you."

"Ah." Karin blushed slightly, looking away. She was more humble than any one them, really. Had
it been him, Sakura, or Ino… They would definitely have boasted about it. "I worked pretty hard on
this."

"Let me complete it, then."

"Now…? Are you sure?" She asked, somewhat worried.

"We have no better option." He simply said.

Karin gave him a long look. "…Well, let's go, then. Let's create a realm. I guess."

They stood in front of the access seal, on the other side of the lake. Naruto focused on what they
needed. The parameters were set in stone already.

A wrinkle in time.

A pocket realm that had its own time field.

A place where one second became one hundred.

Naruto stood in front of the access seal and channeled his chakra. Karin wrapped her chain around
his wrist and did the same thing.

Lightning cracked above him. He was chakra. He was life.

He could do it. He was Yin. And he was Yang.

Naruto tasted an awe-inspiring power. Stability and chaos, at the same time.

Was he even supposed to be using such a thing…? He was just a man.

In between the two opposite forces, he was reminded once more of his own mortality.

Yes. He heard himself think. A thousand times, if I must.

Naruto took hold of the powers. The twin forces felt as though they were ready to tear each other,
and him as well, until nothing was left. But used together, they could create.

And for a moment, he also understood why Nagato might really have thought himself a god.

He thought he understood much more in this instant, suspended in time.

The power felt endless.

Naruto focused on the task at hand, visualizing what to do and how to do it.

He knew that as he was now, he could not make things too complicated. So Naruto focused on
what he knew he now knew he could do.
Naruto slammed his hands together.

"Yin-Yang Release: Creation of All Things!"

The chakra within him reached even higher and he drove it into the access seal. Would they ever
have managed without the Rinnegan…?

This was something else.

The storm ended.

With most of his chakra gone, and Karin feeding him what was left of her own, he uttered two
more words.

"Chibaku Tensei."

They carved a final seal to stabilize the portal.

Karin helped him in, as he was wobbling a bit more than even she was.

Everything felt much heavier in here. Likely a byproduct of creating a world where time flowed
differently. They had tried to isolate both things as much as possible, but that was a difficult task.

They entered a vast empty space. It looked vaguely like Umi… if everything in Umi was tinted
purple and much more compact.

And it was smaller, of course. She could see water in the distance, and mountains on the other side,
and there were stars shining bright in the sky, but she knew instinctively that it was artificial, that
there was nothing beyond a certain distance, and that she would find herself headed to the center of
this place again.

And again… All of it was false, in a way. No natural energy came from this place.

"It's a globe… in a way." Naruto rasped out. "It doesn't look like it because the perspective is a bit
fucked, but there's nowhere to explore, over there. You'll end up coming back here."

"…Did you create this?"

"Yes… and no?" Naruto mused. "I don't know how to explain it. It's… as if it had always been
there, somewhere, a possibility… and I just brought it life?"

He saw her look around.

"I don't know what happened with the colors, though." He chuckled. "It's probably not the last of
the weird things here. I'll try to do something about it later."

"You look exhausted."

"I am. The gravity is not helping matters." He chuckled. "I would gladly create a bed or
something… but I'm dead."

And it sounded pretty wasteful.

"Sit tight, I'll get you something." Karin's head was still trying to wrap around the concept of them
having created a realm.
"Wait." He called. "There's no rush. Sit with me?"

She smiled, too.

They fell asleep on the floor in less than a minute. Well, at least there was no fever, this time.

Naruto stretched once he woke up. It was hours later, but he had no way of telling, really. A few
minutes outside of here, at most, then.

"Well…" He began. "I think it's time we get on with the program."

"It is. Let us gather the others, then."

"Yes. We're also going to need some supplies. Food, raw materials… beds. We're going to be here
for a while."

Karin stared. She understood what he meant, of course.

"…How do we even exit here?"

"The portal can be summoned… or use a Gate." Naruto shrugged. He would make sure to add a
few more contingencies. It really wouldn't do to end up trapped in here.

They both left.

Naruto stopped by Orochimaru's spire to pick up copies of… whatever he could get his hands on.
He left a few clones around.

Clones cost chakra to maintain, and this drain was much more noticeable than the cost of
summoning them, past a certain point; time flowed faster in the pocket realm… Theoretically, they
could maintain them outside of here easily. Which he would have to tell the others about.

The world wasn't going to stop for them, after all.

Naruto didn't find Anko right away, so he let a clone look for her. He crossed the lake in
a long lightning-enhanced step.

He jumped into the living room, making Sakura choke on her pipe. Served her right. She should
have been training.

"Alright. Time to move again, girls. We're becoming temporary residents in a very exclusive guest
house." He called, as he gathered anything that might be of use.

"…What did you do, now?" Ino asked. Things always became stupid around him. He had been up
for less than an hour.

"I'll show you." He muttered. "Pack for a full year away, we can always come back here, but it's a
big waste of time."

Ino stared at him, squinting her eyes. He had to look away, or she would notice that he was trying
not to laugh.

"…You're insufferable." She bemoaned.

"Yes, yes, quite."

"…Is this your idea of a joke?" Sakura asked.

She was looking at the vast emptiness in front of them.

"Wha— What is this shit…?"

"This… " Naruto laughed. "Is Shade's Realm. It is where we're going to spend a bit more than a
year."

"What…?!"

"Oh, come on. Compared to the boat trip, this is going to be a luxury, even. We have a bit less than
five days left in the outside world… Four…? Which is about… a year and some in here." Naruto
thought about it. "Oh, normally you should be able to reach the Thunder Gates outside, from here.
Careful when getting out, it's a bit… disorienting."

"No…" Sakura felt like crying nervously, it was obvious.

"Consider this payback for all the times you put us through your shit." Naruto cackled.

"Why is it all purple?! And so fucking heavy, too?!" She complained.

Naruto waved it off. "I can't do anything about gravity's intensity, right now. Well, besides
increasing it, I guess. But the light… maybe. We'll see if we can expand, later on."

"This is the worst shit you've done to us." She raged. "By far."

He laughed.

"Help us build a livable home instead of complaining, we'll be spending a lot of time here."

Anko sighed.

"You can go further, of course, but the gravity is going to be a fair bit stronger." Naruto shrugged.

"Ah… Spending that much time in close quarters with a bunch of hormonal young adults… How
exciting." She deadpanned.

"There's an old man, too." Hanabi whispered. Sakura chuckled weakly, but her heart was not in it,
for once.

Naruto glared at the Hyuga. She gave him an innocent smile.

"Still…" Ino muttered. "A full year…"

"Be a bit more enthusiastic about it." Naruto grumbled. "It's the only way to prepare."

He heard several sighs and rolled his eyes.

"Well…" Hanabi slowly nodded. "If it's the only way."

"We need to become more powerful than… anyone, right?" He laughed.

"Do you really think one year is enough to bridge the gap…?" Ino wondered.

"Sure." He nodded, pushing his own doubts aside. "We have this too, after all." Naruto said,
pointing at his eyes.

"You have this." Hanabi corrected him.

"We have this." He insisted.

"Explain?"

"According to Madara's memories… and Orochimaru's meeting with Nagato, long ago, it should be
possible to split the paths between ourselves."

"Really…?"

"Yeah." He nodded. "We're six, and there are technically seven paths, it's almost perfect."

A solemn silence spread. There had been a seventh, once. Then there was the sound of footsteps.

"You want to… share the Rinnegan?" Karin asked, having only caught the tail end of this particular
discussion.

"Sure."

"Are you sure you shouldn't keep it?" Anko asked dubiously.

"Hell, no, I'm not keeping track of all this during battle." Naruto grunted. "I have trouble
remembering my own name, most days."

Besides, they only had a year. If it had taken Nagato his whole life to master the Rinnegan's
abilities, and Madara had only gotten the basic concepts down, he could not afford to spread his
focus that much.

"Your name…? Identity crisis again?" Ino asked, her worry obvious in her voice.

"No…" Naruto groaned. "It was just a joke. That part is over."

"So, do you know how to do this? Split the Paths?" Karin asked.

"Nope."

"Ah."

"Why is so fucking hot in here?" Sakura complained.

She started walking away, and into the vast… nothing.

After a hundred meters or so, she almost fell.

"Yeah." Karin called. "The gravity is a bit worse the further away you go. It's like hitting a sudden
wall."

"I warned you." Naruto shrugged.

After a few tries, Sakura managed to walk meters away. She was covered in sweat.

"Well, this is going to suck. Let's build a… home and let's get started then." Sakura called.

"Who died and made you our leader?" Ino asked, loudly enough to be heard.
"Orochimaru…?" Sakura retorted.

Winces and grunts and hisses all around.

Naruto focused.

His mind strained, and his face grew tight. He came closer, he could almost do it.

There was a ripple of power in the air, and one of the windows cracked from the pressure.

The ground shook, like the surface of a pond disturbed by a pebble.

Naruto lifted his hand, focusing the almighty Rinnegan's power on one specific item.

The cup of tea exploded, spilling near scalding water all over the improvised breakfast table.

Naruto frowned.

"Okay." Sakura began. "That's it!" She bellowed. She had almost been splashed — not that it
would be that painful, for a kunoichi like her.

Naruto leaned backward, with a long-suffering sigh. "How do you want me to practice the
Rinnegan powers if you complain every time I do?"

"Using it to lift a cup of tea to your hand is the biggest waste I can think of!"

"It's not." He pretended to frown. "We both know I'm going to give you some of its powers.
Imagine what a waste that will be…"

"I'm going to—"

"Hard to believe that this could be the secret to Nagato's godly power." Anko mused.

"I'm sure he started pretty low on the totem pole, too." Naruto sniffed disdainfully.

"Oh yeah?" Sakura scoffed. "Maybe he was wise enough not to practice with liquids."

"I doubt it. He was a child. Kids can be pretty dumb." Ino quipped.

"Dumber than y—"

"You sound tense." Ino sneered. "Maybe you should get laid some, forehead."

A vein seemed about to burst on Sakura's forehead. Something about the time in close quarters
in this particular place made her seem to be on the verge of an angry breakdown. Which of course,
made Ino vicariously happy.

They still had to spend more than a year here, so maybe he would have to stop them before it got
out of hand.

Or maybe…

"Why don't you settle your accounts by fighting it out?" Naruto offered. Anko chuckled. "Spar a
bit."

"…Yeah, let's do that."

The two of them left.

"…I'm surprised this worked, honestly." Hanabi muttered.

"I don't think you should encourage this." Karin chided him.

"Why not? They get some practice, and we can have five minutes of peace." Naruto shrugged. It
was about the only restful time of the day. They were not about to take this away from him. So
what if today, he had been the one to trigger Sakura's temper…?

Besides, now that Sakura was gone, he was free to practice with the gravity powers the Rinnegan
offered.

He focused on Hanabi's cup, this time.

It exploded right away. She shot him a look that would have made most men wither with shame.

"…Yeah, sorry." He apologized, not really feeling that contrite.

"Meditation time!"

The purple hell was calling her. Calling her to madness.

The sheer nothingness of it, of this loathsome violet tranquility was like torture to Sakura. She
wanted nothing more than to see some other color.

It felt as though she were in prison, only eating the most bland gruel. Every day. For breakfast. For
lunch. For dinner. Slop.

She tried to look away, but everything was purple. She closed her eyes and everything was pur—

"Don't be a drama queen, Sakura." Ino called. Sakura could see she was struggling at least as much
as she was. She was covered in sweat.

"What makes you say that…?" She grunted, keeping on running around in wide circles above the
water. Despite her near perfect control, her feet sunk in.

There was a lot of practicing basic movement again. Except all of that was done at higher and
higher gravity, further and further away from the center of the room/realm.

Jumping — not that fast.

Kicking — not that strong.

Dodging — not that well.

Strength training — that was plain horrible.

The whole experience was intensely claustrophobic. She couldn't wait for Naruto to expand the
domain, — if he even could — because this…

And there was something very unsettling about the lack of natural energy in this realm. It felt the
same as having trouble breathing — which was something they also had to deal with. And chakra
recovered a bit slower here, it seemed. They were trying to find a workaround for that, too.
"Your dumb face is as easy to read as a book." Ino laughed.

"…You're reading my thoughts, aren't you?"

"I'm not doing it on purpose, if it helps." Ino shrugged.

"I thought you were practicing your control." Sakura frowned.

"Sure. But I've always been better at reading minds than anything else. The rest, I had to practice a
whole lot more. We all have affinities for different things — like you for being soulless and flat."

Sakura rolled her good eye. And her Sharingan, under her eyelid. It was important to practice
having two eyes again. "Like you for being vain and overconfident."

"…You wanna spar again?"

"Bring it on!"

"Strength building!"

Naruto's eyes were on Hanabi.

He didn't really mean to, but they were the only two awake. Close to the house, where the gravity
was only much heavier than Earth, instead of crushing.

They sat on the purple grass, their backs to the fire — and the fact that he actually could use
rudimentary fire release now, when water and earth were still seemingly impossible, despite the
Rinnegan was a surprise. They watched the strange, fake purple clouds roll by.

She was as wide awake as he was, despite the long day of training. Her arms wrapped around her
knees, so close that their shoulders touched.

There were plenty of things he wanted to say to her, to ask her. More apologies, for one, but he had
the feeling that she wouldn't like that too much.

"How are you handling it?" Naruto asked, instead.

"Being in here?" She asked in return. He nodded.

Hanabi smiled lightly, turning her pale eyes to the sky again. Despite the fact that there was no true
day and night cycle in here, it was darker now. Had he imprinted this on this realm
subconsciously?

"It's not too bad. It's been a while since we last had some… time." She said. Naruto understood that
feeling quite well. He hadn't even felt like himself until very recently. "Well, then again, it's only
been one day and a half." She amended herself.

"You seem to… enjoy these strange colors." Naruto said, a bit bemused. "Sakura hates them."

"We all know she has no taste, though."

He chuckled. "Obviously."

"I just like things that you won't find anywhere else, I guess." She shrugged. "It looks a bit like a
fever dream, too."

"…Considering when I made it, it's not too far off." Naruto admitted with a small grin.

"…Wanna go for archery practice?" She asked. "I could use some more."

Naruto grinned. "Sure thing. We're going to have to adjust the trajectories with chakra to
compensate for the higher gravity, though, so it's going to be a bit different than outside."

"Do you ever not use chakra to shoot arrows?" She asked with a laugh.

"…Point taken."

He grasped her hand, pulling her into a run with a small smile. She was suddenly a bit quiet.

"Something wrong?"

"…No. Just spacing out."

"Cute." He grinned.

"Don't call me cute." She grunted. "Help me practice, since you think you're so good with a bow."

"Sure, sure."

"Speed drills!"

"Your defense skills are lacking, Sakura." Hanabi called.

"…I had the feeling, yes." She said very dryly.

"It's not only you, so let's start back from the basics, again."

"The Hyūga basics are not exactly a starting point for most shinobi."

"Well, you're all going to be able to see chakra soon enough, won't you?" Hanabi asked. "That
makes now a good moment to start practicing."

They nodded. The Rinnegan was supposed to help with chakra control — and it probalby did,
considering the fact Naruto, out of all people, was wasting less of it now.

"You know the principle behind enhancing your strength with chakra, right?" Hanabi asked.

"Sure. Focusing and releasing it with the right timing." Sakura answered.

She used it mostly for speed, since it was just easier to slice through something when you were fast
enough… than it was to reach someone with a slow, destructive punch. Smashing things didn't
really seem like her style, either.

"Well, the defensive principle is pretty much the same."

Sakura nodded. "Okay, so…?"

"But you should layer your entire body in chakra if you intend to make any use of it. So that if the
attack stills reaches you… well you don't die right away."
There was a reason only Hyūga really used this. It required extremely precise control. Which they
would possibly attain in the coming months, once they figured out a way to share the Rinnegan.
Getting started now to familiarize all of them with the principles only made sense.

The first thing was to learn how to maintain a protective aura for longer periods.

The second was building much larger chakra reserves to actually be able to use the eye in the first
place.

Naruto had been thinking a lot recently.

Now that he had the time for it, and now that he had seen through some of the most important
memories of his ancestors…

He understood how Indra had anchored his soul to this world.

Well, their soul.

The process was an incomplete one. Naruto would learn what he had to in order to complete it.

Never again. Never anything like Toru.

Because there was no reason to accept anything less than perfection.

 Training for the Job IV

Days went by in the strange realm.

Physical training and building up chakra capacity were pretty boring; there was no way around
that.

Not that meditation to refine the spiritual side of it was much more interesting.

Then there was learning how to project chakra outwardly for those who weren't so adept at it yet.

More physical training. More meditation.

To Sakura, it was no wonder that most shinobi focused on finding new ways to murder people or
the flashier side of it. This was dreadful.

And even recovering chakra felt exhausting, in here.

Naruto knew that the way to share the Rinnegan abilities lay with the rods.

After a few days of practicing, he could form them at will, and shape them, too.

"That's the way? Black sticks?" Ino asked dubiously. "How is this supposed to help us?"

"I think I'm supposed to… stab you with it?" Naruto furrowed his brows.

"…I'm not stabbing myself with your chakra rod." Ino said hotly. Naruto felt a smile twitch on his
lips.

"I guess earrings could work too, or bracelets, bracers, rings… maybe? If it doesn't require
breaking the skin. Better to have a few contingencies in case." Naruto thought. "At least there's no
reason it shouldn't work."

"You owe me real earrings." Ino said, pointedly looking away from him.

He frowned. Did he?

Ino continued.

"So… it's an internal process?"

"Yeah. You'll have to access my chakra through these… receivers." Naruto mused. "Then again,
what we want is to connect our chakra together, not suppress yours with mine, which is what is
likely to happen if I…"

Naruto muttered to himself for a little while.

"Let's try it?" Ino asked, pulling him out of his thoughts.

"Sure."

He closed his eyes, and created a pair of bracelets made of the same black material. Ino held her
hands out. Naruto thought about something.
That was kinda… unefficient.

"Wait a second." He called and thought some more.

The soulflame burned for a few minutes. It felt a bit similar to the Creation of All Things, honestly,
if way narrower in its scope. Used together, that was a lot of potential.

Once he was done, he handed them to her.

"What did you do, exactly?"

"There are tiny thread-like spikes that will pierce your skin, without bothering you much." He said,
breathing out. "So that we won't have to worry about that aspect. It should hold in place, too."

"Should I try, then?"

"Yes."

She put the bracelets on her upper arms.

Naruto could suddenly feel her chakra.

"…This is such a strange feeling." Ino said.

"Same here." He grunted and focused on the bracelets. Some of his chakra was flowing directly
into her body. He knew he could overpower her own network, if he so desired — Which he didn't.
"Connect to my mind."

She did so and he let her read through a few of Madara's memories. A few minutes passed.

"I see a strand of chakra going from me to you." Naruto said.

"That means the chakra is being channeled on the physical plane. What if you channel it through
our bond, instead…?"

It took him a bit of fumbling around, but Naruto thought he got it.

"Do you feel any different?" He asked.

"No, same as before."

"Good. Then distance shouldn't matter either."

It didn't for the bond and the abilities that came with it, so there was no reason this would be any
different. Mind-based jutsu were peculiar in this aspect, when perfected.

"So your chakra is what these abilities are derived from." Ino continued. "Extend it to me, without
trying to suppress mine."

He did. Nothing happened.

"Let's try the reverse?" She offered.

"You extending your own?"

"Yeah."
No real effect.

"I think you might have to blend your own with it, if I'm not replacing yours with mine." Naruto
said.

Ino tried.

"Like this?"

"Apparently not."

"Like this…?"

"Nope."

It was easy to notice when they found the right balance.

Ino's irises shifted to a concentric set of spirals, still in the same greenish blue color.

"I think you managed." He grinned.

"It worked?!" She squealed.

"I'd say so. I'm not so sure about the rest, though. Like a whole Path…?"

"It will come later. Besides, I think you would need to be able to use it yourself in the first place."
She laughed when he grumbled. "How's the chakra consumption?"

"Not bad at all. I assume it's because our chakra are linked. Is it hard to maintain the merging?"

"No." She shook her head. "The improved control helps." It was a true boon, here, a virtuous circle.
"Huh… That's what chakra looks like to these eyes…?."

And maybe the ability to see it played a big role, when it came to the improved control, too.

"That's a start!" Ino grinned.

"Great job."

They raised their arms together in celebration, laughing.

"Now, let's make more of these chakra receivers for everyone else."

Four days before the end. Outside World.

Naruto's clone rarely communicated with the real one.

The temporal displacement would make it a bit too messy, and confusing. For the same reason,
whenever Naruto created clones inside the pocket realm, he made sure the memories didn't reach
the ones outside. It would be a constant bombardment of sensory inputs, otherwise.

Last thing this particular clone had heard, the real Naruto and Ino were working on a way to stop
the clones from giving feedback, selectively.
But there were a few things that the original had tasked the clones outside with doing. Using the
Rinnegan to understand the mysteries of natural energy was one.

Not that what the original wanted was very clear. A few clones were working on it, but well… they
only had four days, and no real hopes about this particular study case.

And there were plenty of other matters to attend to. Such as establishing the shinobi's — possibly
short-lived — alliance's hierarchy.

Naruto somehow had convinced them to put him in charge of the whole thing, sure, but there was
plenty of squabbling, still. Naruto wanted to rub his temples and get rid of the whole thing
altogether.

Frankly, he didn't actually want to handle the matter, but it had seemed like a great way to
assemble the whole forces into one unit. Which was why he was currently speaking with the Kage
and several of their assistants, high-ranking ninja…

"-have the main battle regiment divided into companies as well, and have them run through their
formations." Naruto finished.

"Who shall lead the companies?" Nara Shikaku asked.

"I'll get to that in a minute. The operation will be on the last day." Naruto declared. "At noon."

"Why would we wait this long—" Ōnoki began.

Naruto ignored him. "As for the naval units I mentioned earlier, Kiri will deploy their ships close
to Uzushio's location. They'll take longer to get in position than the main strike force."

"A strike force?" Nara Shikaku asked.

"Yes. The forces gathered are mostly going to be there to allow us to get in in the first place —
Nagato might move the whole fortress around, and if so, we likely won't be able to follow on land
and sea. I will be going myself with a few ninja of my choosing." Naruto said tersely. "There's no
point in bringing anything less than Kage-level shinobi up there. There will be Ame ninja,
undoubtedly, but I'd rather most of the forces stay to defend the villages themselves."

Times like these, Naruto regretted the lack of S-rank ninja around.

"You mean to take us? And to order us around?" Ōnoki laughed. "That's—"

"No." Naruto cut him off.

Silence stretched over the room.

"The Kage will remain in their villages." Naruto finished. "And so will the divisions."

He almost smiled at their expressions.

"What?!" Yugito thumped her fist on the table, looking at him angrily. "Why would we—"

"Not Umi, of course, since no one can reach it." Naruto said. He saw the building outrage. Likely
about putting together a global force… and not even wanting it into his own village. "Nagato can't
reach it, we don't need any more shinobi. We will help with any other villages, of course."

Suspicion rose, but it made enough sense for them not to say anything.
"If Nagato decides to attack a village himself — and he probably will, even if we strike first —, we
will need strong shinobi there to defend them."

Unsaid was the fact that he didn't really think either of them could do much about Nagato
attacking. Which was why he and his friends would try to manage that particular headache.

"And for the same reason." Naruto continued. "Shinobi will be equally allocated to each village
and place that might be a target. Same goes for medical and sensory units — I'll get back to that."

Silence again.

Ōnoki was about to speak, face tight. Naruto continued, a bit harsher.

"You said this was an alliance, although a temporary one. Act like it. Protect the world, not just
your own interests."

He could see that the Tsuchikage didn't know whether his fear of Uchiha Madara or his hatred of
Uzumaki Naruto was more important.

"Besides, we have a force of close to eighty thousand men. I'm sure it's more than doable to split it
in a way that makes sense. I'll let you crunch these numbers."

No wonder Anko hated doing this.

"As for the breaching of Uzushio… The land forces will begin the artillery bombardment as soon
as the rest of the strike force is in place."

Naruto smiled.

"That's the only thing I'm going to require from Iwa, Kiri and Kumo. Support fire during the
assault." He nodded. "We'll neutralize Uzushio's defenses and head directly to Nagato."

The fact they were no protests let Naruto know that some of them — at least — hoped that he or
Nagato — hopefully both — would die in the ensuing fight. He almost laughed.

"Now, I will let you handle the exact assignment of your shinobi to to the unit they fit best in. Nara
Shikaku, for one, is an excellent strategist."

"We have already begun. We shall bring you a list of all shinobi in our villages, then." Nara
Shikaku nodded. "We—"

"Nah. Handle this internally."

The whole point of leading was that he didn't want to bother with things that could be delegated.
Shikaku was angry, sure, but he was not particularly power-hungry.

Besides, against a shinobi like Nagato, the only thing Naruto really needed was a way to get aboard
Uzushiogakure — there was no way around that. The allied forces would provide a helpful
distraction.

"And what…" Ōnoki began, an angry hue to his face. "Did you become the Commander for if—"

"It's Shōgun." Naruto corrected him. "And I thought I made this clear. I want peace, and I can bring
it. It doesn't mean I want to babysit you."

He continued.
"Now… Akatsuki has an army of one hundred thousand human-like soldiers."

"What?!"

"Nagato might not use them at all, in the end, but still. I would suggest you prepare to defend your
villages... and the rest of the world, too. Make sure to mix up your armies and put sensible sensing
protocols in place. Several units, in order to make sure none of the others are compromised.
These… things can change appearances. You might want to rely on all forms of tracking styles at
the same time. Of course, if you're willing to let us into your villages, we could set up a few intent-
based barriers, too. We shall give you a few seal designs that might help, as well. Feel free to use
them."

He had done so for the new Kumo and Kiri, but he already knew the others' answer.

"Akatsuki has an actual army. One that is a hundred thousand men strong. Couldn't you have said
so earlier?" Nara Shikaku growled.

"About the Zetsu thing? I only learned of it recently."

And he really had. It took him a while to go through everybody's memories. This was something
only Madara had known, apparently.

The Rinnegan didn't make him a god. Well, he had to make them continue to believe it did, so…

"But once Nagato is gone…" Naruto said. "I might be able to take control of the army."

Most people in the room paled.

"Don't look at me like this, you already know what I want." Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Peace?" The Tsuchikage spat. "And you will just so happen to take over the largest force in the
world! Who's to say you're not working with them already?"

"Ōnoki." Naruto said, dropping all pretense of respect. "If I wanted to kill you… Do you think I
would have any trouble on my own…?"

Actually, if he survived Nagato, he probably would. Not just because he was annoying. But
someone as old had to be shrewd.

"…"

"Do you think I would have any trouble destroying your village, if it was what I wanted…?"

Now, what did he forget…?

"I'm sure Nagato and his people have plenty of defenses in place, even if they happen not to be
barriers. The strike force — us — will breach Uzushio from below."

He would have to see who, from the villages, could be useful for that — and make sure they were
no liability.

"Now… I know you both know that Nagato and I will be up there." Naruto said, with a bland
smile. "Don't get any strange ideas about trying to shoot us down both, while we're at it."

Naruto grinned. Some people paled.

"I would survive, likely. And I would remember, definitely. Our objective is to kill Uzumaki
Nagato and his Akatsuki. Only them, so let's keep that in mind."

Shade's Realm.

Hot spray poured over her, and Karin inhaled steam.

Standing in the shower, Karin looked down and realized she was getting stronger. Like these
women-warriors, comic characters in Toru's more… peculiar collections.

She snorted. Everything hurt. The bruises on top of her bruises hurt. Her back was scraped raw, and
her right arm looked a bit too swollen to her. Well. She would heal. Karin turned her face up to the
water.

It had been more than three months already.

They had covered a lot of ground, and considering this was mostly uncharted territory, Karin knew
she should feel proud. But there was still so much to do.

Karin stepped out of the shower and Hanabi climbed right in. She was covered in scrapes and
bruises and her fingers looked raw. In the bedroom, Karin saw Sakura, half-passed out on her back.

"How are you doing?" Ino asked her, thumbing through the pages of a large tome.

"Fine, fine." Karin muttered.

Which in here… meant that she would manage. It was hell, but they would pull through.

She sat down on the bed with a groan. Gods, she was only twenty. Shouldn't she be out there, still
growing, drinking on an evening night like a civilian…? Instead they were inside… this.

Trying to play catch up with a god.

Well. Someone had to do it. Might as well be them.

Karin dressed up and went downstairs.

Naruto was sitting seiza style, floating in midair. It had seemed rather frivolous in the beginning.

More and more, they found that he had been onto something. The reduction in the physical, mental
and emotional strain that came with prolonged use meant that he was the one who was most adept
at using his own Path.

He had conditioned himself to remain in the air for extended periods of time, to feel less of the…
heightened emotion he had previously required to use the Deva Path's powers. And he said it
helped with the Storm, as well.

Naruto hoped to become able to maintain this zen-like state almost subconsciously, so that he
could learn to float indefinitely. Trying to sleep in midair had proven to be unsuccessful, to say the
least. And no one had really enjoyed hearing a mass of more than a hundred and seventy kilos fall
onto the floor in the middle of the night.

Naruto noticed her coming, and settled for floating above the ground slightly.

Sometimes, Karin thought he was still worried about that time he almost attacked them. Karin
knew she was a bit too forgiving, but she really couldn't bring herself to care that much about the
incident. Not when he was here with them, alive and well.

It was entirely dark outside, which was something they had adjusted together, once they realized
that the lack of a day night cycle was playing tricks on their minds.

And they had finally figured a way to make everything not purple. Though the green sunrise that
Naruto was currently playing with these days was not that much better, in all honesty.

Karin was pulled out of her thoughts and through the air. She squealed as Naruto caught her and
brought them to the seaside.

The artificial sea had been replaced by real water entirely. Waves could be simulated easily
enough, with seals.

He carried her like a sack of potato, over his shoulder, as he glided above the water and she tried to
free herself.

Karin was glad for the small moments of privacy they could get. Maybe she was a bit of a
romantic deep down, because even now, for Karin, each kiss felt special.

While the others were sleeping, he pulled her close. His lips were already over hers, firm and soft.
She smiled, feeling a bit breathless for a moment.

Right now, to her, Naruto was a bit like the green night sky above. Strange, beautiful and
comforting at the same time.

And for all these reasons and many more, Karin was looking forward to seeing the world with the
rest of them — no matter how much she wanted to choke them, some days.

It was not just him and her anymore, now.

Sakura woke up at dawn.

She spent the first few hours practicing kata, until she was drenched in sweat.

Karin and her had worked on a seal to supplement their own chakra supplies. Well, Sakura's,
mostly, since she was the only one who managed, for the time being. Once Sakura had proven she
was getting pretty decent at using the Preta Path, it had seemed to become superfluous, at first.

Rather, it was the opposite, as it meant Sakura could pull the chakra she had previously stored
much easier. She would likely not have much of a problem with her chakra reserves in the future.
They were still working on a way for everyone else to actually make use of something similar.

Still, today, she didn't want to waste too much chakra.

Everybody was up and gathered around her.

"…You sure you want to go through with it?" Sakura asked Karin, a bit dubiously.

"Yeah. We have a deal." She answered.

Sakura shrugged. "Are you guys ready?"

Nods all around.

"Well, then." She muttered.

Sakura focused, closing her left eye.

"Kamui."

Before any of them could wonder if maybe she should get outside of the realm and its strange time
first…

Sakura disappeared.

Sakura was in a plane of endless floating cubes, stretching as far as the eye could see.

It was pretty cold, too. No one was around.

"The hell…?" She muttered.

Sakura hadn't been sure what to expect — ranging from meeting Uchiha Obito himself to fighting
the man she had sent food to. But nothing at all…? That wasn't on the list.

Well, there was a half-rotten face on one cube, which made her lips twitch in something almost
amused. So Obito hadn't come here in a while… or?

Sakura waited, extending her chakra into what little moisture the air had here. She felt movement
and she whirled around, water blade in hand.

Sasuke's brother had come out of seemingly nowhere.

He wasn't as thin as she had thought he might have become, but then again, she had sent him a fair
amount of rations, once she got the hang of it.

"You're…" Uchiha Itachi rasped out with a cold expression. He probably recognized her, then.
"You're the Kamui user?"

"Expected someone else?" She lifted an eyebrow.

"I didn't expect much of anything, at this point." His voice was rough from lack of use.

"Oh, I'm sure." Sakura said dryly. "You were ready to kill someone. Anyone."

His shoulders moved slightly. The Uchiha equivalent of a shrug.

"You realize that had you killed Obito, you would have been trapped in here."

"It wouldn't have been that long to wait to die." He said ruefully. "Besides, you're here. Either to
take me out… or to finish me. If you can."

She shook her head, bemused. He was strange, that one.

"Yeah. So… Wanna get out of here or do we have to fight it out?"

She wasn't so sure about her chances, but well.

Itachi said nothing. It had been so long since she had to deal with someone from outside their close
circle that she had to remember why he would object.
"We're not trying to capture you. Otherwise I would have come with the others." Sakura began.
"And things have changed a lot outside. We have the same enemy, now. The leader of the
Akatsuki, Uzumaki Nagato and his pet Uchiha. Ah, and the rest of them, too." She added as an
afterthought.

There were plenty of other things she would rather not explain now. She just wanted to leave.

"Your brother asked us to help you."

"…Sasuke did?"

This, more than anything, seemed to influence his decision.

 A Fiery Truce

Shade's Realm.

So this was Sasuke's brother.

Naruto had seen him a few times before. They still did look alike, even though such a blank
expression would have looked entirely out of place on Sasuke's face.

He seemed to be at ease, even seated on the floor, surrounded by people he likely thought of as
enemies. In a place with green skies. Considering where he had been for… a while now, maybe it
wasn't that surprising. What was more surprising was how well he handled the increased gravity,
with only a slight bending of his neck giving away his struggle.

"Did you make sure Obito won't be able to follow you here?" Naruto asked.

Sakura nodded. "Erased all traces. Not that I'm sure if Kamui even leaves one in the first place."

"So." Uchiha Itachi began conversationally. "Are you planning to take my eyes?"

Silence.

"No." Naruto answered. "The one Sakura has has been given to us by Kakashi."

"I have trouble believing that." Itachi said dryly.

"Oh, I expected that." Naruto answered. "Ino?"

She came forward, sitting herself next to both of them.

"Of course, I don't have to warn you not to try anything here." Naruto looked at Itachi slowly. His
Sharingan was off, but that likely didn't mean much. Itachi said nothing, and his eyes were still
fixed on his own. He didn't know much about the Rinnegan, so he waited.

Ino placed her hand on Naruto's forehead, and with only the slightest hesitation, she came closer to
Itachi.

He gave her an unreadable look, his eyes locked on hers.

"You do realize you are some of Konoha's worst enemies…?" He asked evenly.

"Not exactly, now." Ino said, staring back. "We are… allies. And we can prove it to you."

His eyes flashed red for a second, staring at her hand.

In the end, he trusted his instincts, refined over two decades as a shinobi. He let Ino put her hand on
his forehead.

All of the Paths were connected, in a way that they still had not managed to make sense out of
entirely. It was especially true for the Naraka and Human Paths, who both were linked to the King
of Hell.

Both Naruto and Itachi stood frozen.

"Don't worry." Ino began, keeping her focus on the Path. "Your souls will be linked together
temporarily. You won't be able to lie — it won't kill you to try, though. You just won't be able to
say it."

"I won't die, then…?" Itachi began a sentence, looking very unimpressed. His mouth continued to
move, but no words came out.

"I assume you wanted to see if it were true. Or you tried sarcasm, maybe." Naruto guessed.

Or maybe he was concerned about the gigantic, leering spectral face that had appeared behind Ino.
Both Naruto and Itachi were linked to it.

Itachi's mouth continued to move, but nothing happened. The only thing Naruto was sure of was
the surprise in his eyes.

"Yes. It affects both of us the same. No lie can be spoken." Naruto said.

Normally, Itachi was supposed to feel the truth of his words. His Sharingan still flashed on. Naruto
wasn't entirely sure how much it could tell him here.

The original Naraka path jutsu, the deadly one, was simply too impractical. He could agree with
Ino on that. Both Karin and her had been working on understanding it. And this was the result.

"I am Uzumaki Naruto."

"I am Uchiha Itachi." He answered, just as blandly. "Did you bring me here to steal my eyes?"

"No. We brought you here because Karin made a deal with Sasuke to save you."

"...What sort of deal?" Itachi frowned.

"An unspecified favor, in exchange for saving you."

Itachi didn't seem to like that. At all.

"Unspecified...?"

"Yes."

"Do you plan on using that later?"

"Of course."

"...Why did Sasuke come to you?"

"Because he knew that we had Kakashi's Sharingan, the one thing that he thought was connected to
Uchiha Obito's."

"Did you steal the Sharingan in question?"

"No. Hatake Kakashi gave it to me."

"Why…?"

"I believe he thought that compared to Uchiha Obito… I was the lesser evil."

Itachi was starting to really look displeased. He probably thought that Naruto was lying somehow,
at this point.

"Did you kill Hatake Kakashi?"

"I did. And I wish I didn't." Naruto sounded surprised by his own words. He hadn't really intended
to say it out loud. Ino gave him a sorry shrug.

Itachi paused.

"Why is that…?"

"Because I still cared for him, deep down. And I wish we could have found common ground."

"Why didn't you?"

"Because we killed Danzō and several Konoha shinobi."

Itachi's eyes were hard.

"Why did you?"

"The first few were killed when I rescued Yamanaka Ino — wrongly accused of killing Uchiha
Fugaku."

"…Then you really didn't kill our father?"

"No. We believe Yakushi Kabuto did it."

"…"

He would bring the topic of the Konoha shinobi back up later, Naruto knew.

"Why did you kill Shimura Danzō?"

"Because he ordered Toru's death."

Itachi nodded slowly, his eyes hard. He had expected it, then.

"And because he was the sort of man who would oppose our plans." Naruto admitted, as well.

"…What are your plans?"

"We aim for world peace. For a more equal word. Hopefully with minimal amounts of bloodshed."

Itachi stayed silent.

"Through which means?"

"Unification through a show of supreme power. Defeating a man that is widely considered a god
would go a long way in that direction."

Itachi lifted an eyebrow. He looked pretty sarcastic. "You would lead this new world, of course?"

"Technically, I lead the Five Village's alliance, right now."

"…What?"
"You missed a few things."

"…I see. And you mean to go on with this forever?" Itachi asked. "Accumulating power for your
own sake?"

Naruto laughed.

"Hopefully not. We hope to set it up, make sure it runs on its own… and move on to other things."

"Such as…?"

"Learning more about the world and its mysteries." Naruto shrugged.

"…Why go through all the trouble, then?"

"Well, if it doesn't hold on its own, we're more than willing to replace the problematic Kage, and to
destroy the entire village system to place ourselves as unquestioned rulers of the world… Reigning
over humanity with an iron fist to ensure world peace for as long as it is needed for people to get
used to the idea."

Itachi blinked.

"If it comes to that." Naruto shrugged. "I don't want this. We're tired of the bloodshed and war."

Naruto, in particular. It had been centuries now. Itachi took a long look at him.

"I think… I understand. Now… What makes you think you can succeed?"

"I have allied with a few villages. I have these eyes now… and I am the Uchiha ancestor's
reincarnation. I don't mean Madara. Well, not just him."

Itachi stared. He blinked, completely at a loss.

"Well." He muttered. "I… see."

"Do you?" Naruto asked, now amused.

"No. Not really." Itachi watched him perplexedly.

"Your brother is Asura's reincarnation, if it helps."

"…It doesn't."

"I imagine. I can tell you all about this later."

"Is there something more important…?"

"Yes. Will you help us stop Nagato?" Naruto asked.

"Are you planning to destroy Konoha?"

"No."

"Are you planning on ruining Konoha?"

"No."
"Do you have any ill intention against Konoha?"

"Define ill intentions."

"Are you planning to kill more Konoha shinobi?"

"Not really. Depends."

Itachi gritted his teeth. "What do you mean?"

"I can't say that I'm just going to kill people with too much blood on their hands, anymore." Naruto
smiled slightly. "If anyone proves to be against an egalitarian peace… I might have to intervene."

"Will you kill them?"

"If needed. Wouldn't you if you were in my place…?"

A long silence.

"What will you do if I refuse to help you?" Itachi asked.

"Nothing. We'll bring you back to Sasuke." Naruto shrugged.

"And if I accept?"

"Then we go kill Nagato together. Easy as that."

"Why do you want me to accept?"

"…There's no easy way around that." Naruto sighed. "I went to find your brother, a little while
ago."

Something flashed across Itachi's eyes.

"Uchiha Shisui was with him. He attacked me… and I killed several more shinobi."

"You…" Itachi's eyes were cold.

Naruto let out a mirthless chuckle. "I crippled Uchiha Shisui and stole Sasuke's chakra by stabbing
him."

He could almost see Itachi's blood freeze in his veins. His eyes bled into red. His voice rose, and
Naruto had to cut him off.

"It is nothing permanent. I want you to come with us when we fix Shisui's injuries... To smooth
things over. And same later — Sasuke is fine!"

Nothing permanent to the Rinnegan. Itachi was still furious.

"Do you plan on attacking us?" Naruto asked.

Itachi thought about it for a while.

"…No. Probably not."

"Good. Eat and rest then, we will go tomorrow morning."

Negotiations were so much easier when you had power… and the certainty of speaking with no lies
in the way.

"We won't have much time to waste, tomorrow." Naruto told his friends. "Every hour spent outside
is four days wasted. Maybe all of us shouldn't go."

The women all groaned.

"No fucking way anybody's staying if the others get to go out. We've been trapped in this hellhole
for so long." Anko declared.

"Yeah, I want to see Konoha, even if it's quickly, too." Ino folded her arms.

The rest agreed.

Naruto sighed. "Alright, fair enough. Let's be very efficient about it, then. I'll send a few clones to
scout ahead."

Uchiha Itachi walked through the streets of Konohagakure.

It had been close to a month. Being the Uchiha clan head, he was a very recognizable face. If he
tried, he could be almost invisible to most people, slipping between them like another face in the
crowd, though.

Not today. Not with the kind of company he was in.

Uzumaki Naruto and his entourage walked the streets of Konoha with him. Plenty of people were
staring, muttering — pulling their children away. The ANBU on the rooftops didn't seem at ease,
either.

Itachi could see the group's eyes roaming over the village. No wonder, as most of them had been
from here, originally. Maybe Iwa's claim that Konoha tended to produce some very problematic
missing ninja held some truth.

The Hokage-elect had come to meet them out in the open. The man had been tense, despite his
escort of shinobi, even as he thanked the Umi shinobi for rescuing Itachi.

Still, it didn't seem like the first time the Hokage met with Uzumaki Naruto around here.

They were headed to the clan compound, now.

To meet Shisui.

The group passed the clan's gate. Itachi was surprised to see how relieved his clan members were
to see him. They came to greet him, as was custom, but the warmth in their eyes was real.

He blinked. He had thought that he was respected, at most.

But this sort of response…? Itachi felt a bit overwhelmed, honestly. Well, it was a bit tempered
once they realized just who he was walking with.

They continued to walk along the stone path. Alongside it, on the walls, hung Uchiha clan crests.

Itachi paused in front of Shisui's house.

He was having doubts, now. About what he should expect.

About what this meant for the future.

About what Uzumaki and his group were going to do.

He pushed them aside and walked in.

"Mikoto?" Shisui's voice called.

Itachi froze when he saw Shisui. He was sitting in a long chair, wearing a loose shirt.

It did nothing to hide the patchwork of scars and burn marks that littered his body. The one across
his face was so deep and jagged it looked as though someone had dragged a hook from his jaw to
his hairline.

And his right arm ended in a rough looking stump. Both of his eyes were closed.

Itachi stilled.

"…You didn't say you left him like this." Itachi's voice was cold, but his spirit wasn't. Tongues of
red chakra fluttered around him.

"…Itachi?" Shisui whispered, standing up a bit clumsily. "You're…?"

"It's me." Itachi answered, his voice tight. "It's really me, Shisui."

"What— How…?" Shisui asked, disbelieving.

Some of the Umi women were giving Naruto harsh looks. The man himself did seem a bit paler
than usual, too.

"Anything to say…?" Karin muttered.

"I didn't think that…" Naruto began. He shook his head. "We will fix it anyway."

Shisui froze.

"That voice…? You? YOU?!"

"Shisui, wait." Itachi called.

He was furious. "You bastard! I will—" He shot forward blindly. Itachi grabbed him and held him
in place. "What are you doing, Itachi?! Don't you know that—"

"Yes." Itachi muttered. "It's… Circumstances have changed. Please, Shisui."

"I'm not here to fight." Naruto said. "Besides… Konoha and Umi… are allies, for the time being."

Shisui gritted his teeth. He had heard, then.

"Do you think I give a shit about what Shikaku says right now..?!"

"I guess not."

"Then you know that as soon as I get the chance—"

"Yes, absolutely."

"We came here to heal you." Karin said.

"Heal me?" Shisui laughed. "Heal me?! He's the one who did it!"

"…I know." She said. "That's exactly why we came."

"He left Sasuke half-dead!"

Itachi turned to stare at Naruto. Before he had looked cold, even in his anger. Not anymore.

"What?" Itachi hissed.

"I told you he is fine now." Naruto said placidly, meeting his eyes head-on. "We need to find him,
too. Where is he?"

Itachi felt outrage and practicality fighting in his mind.

Shisui laughed. It didn't sound particularly amused. "I won't tell you."

"I'm afraid we don't have much time." Naruto said. "I have clones looking for him, but I'd rather we
get it done quickly."

"I'm afraid I don't think I care." Shisui said coldly.

"Ino?" Naruto asked.

"Yes." She nodded.

Naruto created a clone. Ino reached for the clone's soul — or what passed as a clone's soul — and
pulled it out of its body. Itachi didn't know it, but it had taken them a lot of practice to extract and
show memories to someone else this way… and just as much to manage to only
show some memories, instead of all of them.

Ino held the purple man-shaped… thing in the air, where it shaped itself in a ball, motioning for
Shisui to take it.

"Take them." Ino said.

"Take what?" He didn't see it.

"These memories — Take the chakra."

"Why should I do anything to help you?" Shisui spat.

"Because otherwise I'm going to force this thing inside you, and it's going to be even less pleasant."
Ino grunted.

"Don't." Itachi warned flatly.

Ino glared at him and the tension was palpable.

"Itachi." Naruto began. "Maybe he will listen to you."

"Are these...?" Itachi asked. They had showed him the jutsu already.
"Yes. A bunch of memories." Naruto just said. "The important parts, at least. What we're trying to
make him see the whole picture."

Itachi thought about it for a long while.

"…Take them, Shisui."

"What?!"

"Please."

"No!" He shot back.

"It's about more than just us, Shisui."

"Why would I listen to anything he says…?!"

"Because he's telling the truth."

Shisui scoffed.

"About Toru, too."

Shisui stilled.

"…You trust him?" He asked in disbelief.

Itachi sighed. "When it comes to him telling the truth… I'm afraid I do."

Ino put her hand on Shisui's forehead and Naruto's memories — of this life only, and the more
important aspects only — came to Shisui like they would have if he had been the one to create the
clone.

The chakra-based, incomplete copy of Uzumaki Naruto's soul told Shisui the whole story. And his
intentions.

Shisui's face was turned down to the floor.

"…Is this the truth…?" He asked softly. "All of this?"

"Yes." Itachi nodded. "As far as I could tell."

"They are my memories, yes." Naruto nodded.

"…Do you think that's enough?" Shisui asked, quiet as a whisper. "Do you think I'm suddenly
going to forgive your actions, just because—"

"No." Naruto shook his head. "I don't expect that at all."

Silence stretched.

"But you've seen exactly what I have the intention of doing, haven't you?"

"…Yeah." Shisui rasped out.

"All of it." He gave Shisui a pointed look. "Even—"

"Yes. I saw it." Shisui gritted his teeth. "That's probably the only part I agree with."

Tears came to his eyes. Shisui wiped them away quickly.

"We'll need you for that, too. Are you in?" Naruto asked.

"…"

"If your answer is yes, swear not to use your illusions on Umi ninja. Ino will… make sure you're
telling the truth."

"No. That's too broad." Itachi said flatly.

Naruto sighed. "True. Let's work on the wording together, then."

The woman — Karin, Shisui knew — summoned a hellish-looking creature.

Its face was leering at him, with ringed eyes. Not that Shisui saw it.

The only thing he felt was a strange chakra.

"Step inside its mouth." Uzumaki Karin said.

"…And this will heal him?" Itachi asked dubiously.

"Yeah." Her tone left room for no compromise.

Well, it felt similar enough to the thing that had linked them beforehand. And Uzumaki Naruto had
been telling the truth. Or rather, he couldn't lie when linked to it. What did Shisui have to lose
anyway, at this point…?

Shisui stepped in.

He fell into a never-ending hole. His body was fading away. Fast.

Oh, fuck.

He should never have trusted the Umi ninja.

He continued to fall, and Shisui thought that his very mind was being torn apart. Pain. Pain. Pain.

It lasted for no time at all.

It lasted for an eternity.

Was this death, or…?

It felt a bit like slipping into a dream. Everything felt bright and colorful. Later, once he came back
to himself, he wouldn't be able to remember anything about this.

He knew the dream had made sense, except that it had felt peaceful, and almost uplifting.

And then suddenly Shisui was back in the room with the others.
His vision came back in a flash, the sensation almost painful. He felt disoriented.

He could see. Only from one eye, but he could see.

Shisui's mouth was very dry.

"Wha — What the hell was this?" Shisui breathed out. His body was whole, and every scar and
burn mark and pain was gone.

He had two hands again.

Karin was breathing hard, and one of the other women — Toru's former teammate, Haruno Sakura
— began to… guide chakra into her?

Karin's red, ringed eyes were fixed on his own eye.

"A Rinnegan ability." She breathed out. "Couldn't do anything about the other eye, I assume it's
something you did."

"Ah… I… Yes… Probably." Shisui let out. Unsure what to do, he bowed. "I… Thank you."

It was likely something to do with Izanagi being a fully Yin-based technique. Maybe there was a
way to fix it, but he didn't care too much about that at the moment.

Uzumaki Naruto stood in front of him, and Shisui tensed. No matter what the man had done... or
not done, he felt very wary around him. No wonder.

Uzumaki held a jar out. An orb floated within. Shisui froze.

A Sharingan.

"No…" He breathed out. "Did…?"

"Danzō stole Toru's eye. But you saw this already." Uzumaki Naruto said in clipped tones. "We're
returning this to you."

"I don't want it." Shisui shook.

"Neither do we." Uzumaki Naruto said, with the ghost of a sad smile on his lips.

"He would have wanted you to." Itachi said quietly. "Don't do it if you don't wish to, still."

And it was the truth.

Shisui felt like crying, really.

And when he finally let Karin transplant it, his face gleamed with tears.

Land of Fire.

This particular part of the Land of Fire was pretty barren. Lifeless, almost a wasteland, really.

With less than four days before Nagato started tearing the world up, Sasuke wanted to stay
relatively close to his base of operation. Not too close, or Nagato would realize he was there. Not
too far, in case anything happened.
Sasuke still wasn't sure what he would do exactly. Shisui sent him the important news through their
shared summons, so he had heard about the latest developments, when it came to global politics.
Honestly, knowing that Naruto was once more stirring trouble just made him furious.

Not really surprised, though.

Sasuke kept his chakra presence hidden.

Which was why he was very unpleasantly surprised to have visitors.

Especially the one whose chakra burned so bright it might as well have been a raging fire.

Especially the man he had been talking about.

"You!" Sasuke snarled. His hand was on his sword. He—

"Hello, Sasuke." Naruto greeted him evenly.

His blood was on fire, and his sword—

Sasuke froze. Behind him were Naruto's kunoichi… and…

Itachi.

Shisui. Whole.

Neither looked entirely at ease, despite their relief at seeing him.

"Wha— Release." Sasuke called. His Sharingan saw no illusion either. He gritted his teeth. "Is this
one of the Rinnegan's powers?!"

"No." Itachi greeted with a slight smile. "It really is us, as you eyes can tell. Hello, Sasuke."

"I don't — I don't fucking trust him." Sasuke shot back. Especially with something so outlandish.
"Stay where you are."

"We got him out of the Kamui realm." Karin said. "As we agreed."

Bullshit.

"What about Shisui?! He was crippled last time. When Naruto came! When he killed our men and
did this to him!"

"…We healed him." Karin said quietly.

"Prove it! Prove that it's real."

Itachi's eyes met Sasuke's. They twisted into their Mangekyo form. So did Shisui's. A small black
flame burst out of nowhere, close enough to Sasuke that he could feel its heat. Then it flickered
away

Sasuke's mouth was dry.

Naruto summoned a clone without any seals. Ino grabbed something from the clone, dispelling it.
She held her hand out to Sasuke, the purple thing in her hand feeling as though it were staring at
him.
"…What the fuck do you want now…?"

A brainwashing jutsu...?

Itachi nodded at him seriously. "Take it. It's harmless."

"Define harmless." Shisui said in clipped tones.

Ino came closer…

Sasuke wondered why he even bothered to listen to Itachi, right now.

…and shoved it against his forehead.

Something that felt like a lifetime of Naruto's memories — secrets excluded —, up to the last
minutes, came to him suddenly. Among many, many memories, Sasuke saw him kill Akatsuki
members, Danzō... Kakashi. Madness. Indra.

He saw Toru and their friendship.

He saw Sakura rescue Itachi.

He saw Karin heal Shisui.

He saw all of it, from Naruto's own eyes.

Sasuke fell forward, putting a hand to his face as his mind strained.

"What the fuck was — Why did you — I…" Sasuke muttered.

Was this… real?

Naruto just shook his head at Sasuke's relatives. "He'll be fine, just like you were. He has the
Sharingan to help him."

He turned to face Sasuke.

"Are you in?" Naruto asked bluntly. "You probably saw everything relevant. And I figured
you still wouldn't believe it if I didn't bring both of them here."

Sasuke stood up. Naruto looked at him expectantly.

He didn't give any answer.

"So…?"

"-enough…" Sasuke mumbled.

"What did you say?"

"I've had enough." Sasuke gritted out. "Of your shit. Of you acting like you're so far above us. Of
your secrets."

Sasuke stiffened.

"Of the horrible things you've done…"

And gods, did he want to bash Naruto's head against a wall until both he and the Beast inside him
were entirely satisfied.

"Of you always picking the option that's bad for everyone… you included. How many times…
how many people do you think could have saved if you had just trusted anyone with the full
picture?"

Naruto lifted an eyebrow. "I don't think you really remember what things were like, just a few
weeks ago, still. There was no one I could have spoken to."

"There was me!" Sasuke roared. "You never even tried! If Toru was willing to listen, why do you
think I wouldn't have?"

Naruto shut up.

"Why do you try to do everything by yourself?" Sasuke raged. "Do you think I'm so blind that I
can't see that not everything is perfect in Konoha? That this world is terrible?!"

Naruto was taken aback.

"I thought that—"

"Fuck you! That's the problem with you! You always think you know better than everybody else!
Guess what. You don't!"

Naruto had no answer to give.

"You've been so fucking short-sighted!" Sasuke spat. "There are many people you've killed that
could still be living, now!"

"You're right." Naruto admitted.

"You—… What?" Sasuke was at a loss for words. "You're no supposed to—"

"But you're right. I've made plenty of mistakes. And most of them are entirely on me, I can admit
that."

"That's not…"

Naruto shrugged. "Well, I'm agreeing with you. But just because I make excuses won't bring all
these people back."

"You don't care, do you?!"

"I do." Naruto nodded, looking somber. "But regrets won't change anything. I can only look
forward and not do the same things again."

"You piss me off, you know that?!" Sasuke raged.

"I kinda had the feeling, yes."

"…Fight me."

"Why would I?"

"Fight me! You want me to help you, right? You need someone strong. Well I'll prove my strength
to you." Sasuke repeated, with more countenance. "You healed Shisui and brought Itachi back. For
this, I am grateful — I'm still fucking angry! Fight me. That's the only way I'm going to listen.
Once I beat you up… or you beat me up."

Naruto looked around. The two Uchiha didn't look surprised… or to be disagreeing. Nor did the
Umi women.

"I'm not sure how that's supposed to help anything." Naruto sighed.

"I — don't — care." Sasuke spat. "And I don't give a fuck about your eyes either! You could be the
Sage reborn and I'd still want to bash your head in!"

Naruto sighed, sounding like he really had better things to do—

"All right. You all go home and resume training. I'll be back…"

Naruto and the women exchanged long looks, and they were undoubtedly talking through
telepathy. They decided on something, because aside from Sasuke's relatives, the others left.

He looked toward Sasuke, who was still pretty angry.

"Once we settle this, then."

 Spellbound III

Naruto didn't believe that one fight, one that he was, in all honesty, pretty convinced he would
win... Could really settle things.

"Not here, though." Naruto said. "We're too close to Nagato."

He extended his hand to Sasuke.

"Hmpf. Have it your way." Sasuke retorted, not even stopping to question whether this could be a
trap or not. He apparently decided he knew enough about Naruto after seeing his memories to do
so. "Itachi… Shisui. We'll talk later."

Sasuke took the offered hand before either could protest.

They reappeared somewhere in the land of Earth.

There was nothing here but vast rocky expanses, and no traces of civilization anywhere close.

They wasted no time.

Sasuke pulled his sword out. Then the second one, as well. The shorter one, that had belonged to
Toru, once.

Naruto matched him, summoning twin swords.

Neither of them said anything else. They took their fighting stances.

Sasuke blurred forward with a left hand stab that brought with it a wall of fire.

Naruto grabbed his right-hand sword in a reverse grip and deflected the incoming weapon by
stabbing down. He slashed with his left sword, and Sasuke brought his other weapon up to block it.

Sasuke kicked, flames trailing behind his leg.

Naruto flipped away from it, in a show of agility that would have taken Sasuke by surprise if he
hadn't already known what Naruto was capable of.

A flash, a reflection of light and Sasuke dodged the sword that had been thrown at him with barely
a flick of the wrist.

Sasuke dashed after him. Naruto seemed to disappear entirely for a second. When he came back,
close to the sword and Sasuke whirled around to face him, Naruto smashed a knee into his face.

He was faster than him, even without using his damnable Cloak, Sasuke realized.

Naruto was already slipping behind him again.

One hand seal.

"Fire Release: Shield Flare!"

A dome of flame exploded around him. Naruto interrupted his attack and blurred away.

Steel hit steel.

Sasuke could barely keep the rhythm up. It was obvious that Naruto had more experience fighting
with dual swords than he did. No wonder, considering it had been less than two months for him.

Knowing how fighting against Naruto's twin swords usually went for the people who went for a
single weapon, Sasuke wasn't willing to do that, still.

Half-tiger seal, wrapped around his swords.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball!"

Naruto matched him.

"Lightning Release: Lightning Strike!"

The orb of searing fire hit the bolt of lightning and they canceled each other.

Naruto kicked him in the gut.

"I thought you wanted to fight me." He said, following with a wide sword swing.

Sasuke dodged, clenching his teeth.

"You're not taking this seriously, either." He shot back.

"Oh, I am." Naruto deflected his strike. "But I don't see the point in going all out if you don't."

Naruto twisted, flipping upside down. He knocked him to the ground with a shattering kick.

Then he waited.

"Very well…" Sasuke muttered. "Let's take it a step higher, then."

Sasuke closed his eyes, and gathered his chakra. He let his emotions feed into his strength.

Flames erupted in a pillar around Sasuke.

The inferno raged around him, a wall of almost solid fire, whose heat and anger didn't burn him.
Even when the flames licked him, it was only a comforting glow.

Malevolent wind chakra spread from him, feeding into the flames. There was no one in the world
who wouldn't take him seriously—

Naruto grinned.

"There we are. The Living Flame, right?."

Sasuke's Mangekyo Sharingan was spinning wildly.

"Well." Sasuke said, eyes burning. "Let me show you why they call me that, then."

Searing flames burst in every direction, exploding from him. There was a sound like keening.

Naruto's eyes turned serious. He blurred away before the flames could reach him.
In midair, Naruto drew one of his swords back, and lightning shaped itself around it.

"Lightning Style: Crescent Fang"

He slashed his sword forward in a wide, arching slash, and the chakra extended, shaping itself into
a wave of electricity, rushing toward Sasuke.

He raised his swords, and the wall of fire followed, blocking the attack entirely.

Sasuke's leg rose and an arc of solid flame wrapped around it, shielding him from Naruto, who had
appeared behind him, in a movement he had barely seen coming.

A flash of blue and Naruto was meters away again.

Sasuke thrust one sword forward. The other, he buried into the ground.

More fire exploded from the earth, rising from behind Naruto. It surrounded him entirely.

The wave of fire swallowed him, rushing to the earth again.

With a mighty crash, the landscape turned into molten glass.

"Because even if he didn't kill Toru himself…" Shisui said, tone hard. "And this bastard
Danzō might be the one who had him killed, but Uzumaki Naruto needs to be stopped
anyway."

Sasuke knew how Shisui felt, even though he didn't fully agree.

To his cousin, thanks to these two… Danzō for possibly having given the order, and Uzumaki
Naruto for involving him in this mess…

Toru would never come back home. He had died before even turning twenty. Alone. And all
of Shisui's efforts, the sacrifices he had made, and the weight he had carried… would be all of
naught. He had failed. And he blamed himself for it.

Shisui was not some infallible golden boy, like most of his clan — and the village — used to
see him. Like any shinobi, and worse, any excellent one… he had a closet full of skeletons.
Sasuke could tell as much.

Danzō was dead.

Uzumaki Naruto wasn't.

To Shisui, having someone to share the blame with him was the only way he could manage to
go on, it seemed.

"Yeah." Sasuke sighed. "I know."

Naruto had killed Kakashi.

Maybe if Sasuke focused on that, he could bring himself to actually complete the mission that
he had already accepted to undertake.
But then again, he was not going to miss an opportunity to clash with Asura.

Naruto stood up.

He was not entirely unharmed, but there was no worry on his face. There was a blue glow around
him. Was it pure chakra, or his lightning armor…?

"If that's your best, it won't be enough." Naruto said.

He closed his eyes.

When he opened them again, he was surrounded by an intense, flame-like purple aura. Violet
sparks surrounded him, and the air was crackling with electricity. Naruto was wreathed in it, as
though he had become the thunder itself.

Sasuke could see the amounts of chakra he was outputting. There was no Bijū touch to it, it was
only his own.

The clouds seemed to gather, and for a moment, it looked as though a real thunderstorm was about
to start.

Naruto drew his own chakra in.

The clouds blew away. His Sharingan saw—

Naruto disappeared.

Something smashed into Sasuke, launching him into the air.

He closed his eyes in pain, before he was slammed back into the ground again. He went through it.
Naruto followed.

"Storm Release: Tracking Fang."

Tracking fang…? Wasn't this a minor lightning jutsu…?

Sasuke wasn't sure what happened exactly. He had to close his eyes. But he was screaming.

It felt as though every atom in his body was being rattled. He couldn't move, at all.

He was starting to see strange patterns—

"Susanoo!"

The pink chakra shaped itself around him.

Naruto released another jutsu.

"Storm Release: Storm Blade."

He summoned a large sword of thunder and wind, high up in the sky. Sasuke rose out of the hole
he had been trapped in.

The sky, that had become cloudless again, was filled with turbulent winds. Sasuke could smell
ozone in the air.
Naruto brought his weapons down, and the great sword in the sky followed.

"Shield of Shukaku!"

A deafening crack.

"That's an interesting technique." Naruto said.

The Susanoo had shaped itself into something that looked like the One-Tail itself.

Layers upon layers of dense chakra had shielded Sasuke from Naruto's attack. Instead, he was left
panting, having expanded way more chakra than he had hoped.

"But it took a lot from you, didn't it?" Naruto frowned.

His flames could not reach him, then. A full transformation would be a mistake, too, he was sure of
it. Shukaku was simply too slow.

To think bringing out a Bijū's full might sounded like the worst thing he could do.

That only left one option.

Sasuke stood still.

Naruto watched on with renewed interest, his ringed eyes watching the entire process.

He seemed to know what to expect, and so he waited.

"Maybe you shouldn't show me how Sage Mode works." Naruto said with a small smile.

Of course would know about it already.

"How else am I going to beat the shit out of you?" Sasuke grunted.

"By all means, then."

Natural energy swirled around Sasuke, like an invisible hurricane.

The colors became brighter, filled with colors he didn't perceive usually, even with his Sharingan.
The sounds became clearer, and the smells sharper. He felt the chakra in the air.

And Naruto…

Naruto was surrounded by a true maelstrom of power. He was the eye of the storm.

If Sasuke closed his eyes, the chakra aura almost looked like a dragon. But that was just his
imagination, because it flickered, and he thought he saw a tengu for a short instant. Sasuke barely
held back a shiver.

Sasuke focused, and blended in his own chakra, the natural energy… and Shukaku's.

"So you don't need the toads themselves, then." Naruto cocked his head. "Either Orochimaru's info
was out of date… or you're better than Jiraiya."

"Was that so obvious?" Sasuke shot back, ignoring the ice pit forming in his stomach upon hearing
his late teacher's name.
"I thought that each summoning clan had their own version of it." Naruto shook his head.
"Apparently it's pretty much all the same."

Naruto paused, before grinning.

"Good."

Sasuke opened his eyes and they were golden. The Sharingan's tomoe still swirled inside them, he
knew.

Fire spread around him. Turning from red to orange. From orange to white.

Sasuke's form danced with flames, white tongues of fire flickering up and down across his body.

The fire shaped itself around him, in a humanoid shape that shimmered around him. It flickered. It
covered him entirely, flickering, sometimes hovering a bit above him.

All of his power was focused into that smaller form.

He wouldn't be caught by Naruto's speed. Not like last time.

"White flames… I thought only Yugito…" Naruto muttered. "No matter."

Their chakra coiled inside them.

They blurred forward.

"Kakashi-sensei is a fucking dick." Naruto muttered.

"I thought you wanted to train hard." Sasuke shrugged, bending over the tall grass once
more.

"What is weeding gardens supposed to teach us, exactly?!" Naruto grunted.

"…Patience? I have no idea, really." Sasuke admitted.

"Regret, I'd say." Toru said quietly. He didn't want Kakashi to hear.

Knowing the man, he probably heard them anyway and found it amusing.

"Someday." Naruto muttered dangerously. "Someday I'm going to make him regret this."

"I'm sure you will, Naruto." Sasuke rolled his eyes. "I'm sure you will."

"A bit faster, boys, we're not paid on an hourly basis, this is a fixed-price contract." Kakashi
said from where he was perched, reading through some undoubtedly unrelated scroll.
"Besides, we still have some dogs to walk. Well, I say we but I mean you."

"You know what…?" Sasuke said quietly. "I'm in. Whatever it is you're planning."

"Same here." Toru whispered.

It felt as though it was in their blood, after all.

"Blaze Release: Infernal Torrent!"

Sasuke slashed, his weapon engulfed in flames.

A wave of pale fire followed the swing. The air turned scorching.

"Storm Release: Falling Sky!"

Naruto slammed both of his swords down.

White met Purple.

A mushroom cloud of light blossomed. The two of them bounced away, tumbling.

They were at each other's throat the next moment, engulfed by their elements.

Smoke, fire, and broken earth surrounded them.

They didn't notice.

Steel found steel again. The earth shook and the battlefield progressively disintegrated, as the
destruction that followed each clash chewed through rock and glass altogether.

"You've gotten better!" Naruto called.

He spun, weaved and danced around Sasuke's sword strikes, seamlessly. His movements were
swift, sure and graceful at the same time.

"So did you, asshole!" Sasuke shot back.

"If we had fought earlier on, maybe you would have stood a chance!" Naruto laughed.

He was the one with the Sharingan, but it didn't feel like it, today. Even Naruto's more half-assed
strikes were enough to cleave through a grown man like butter. Where was the Sarutobi boy who
did his best not to crush anyone's skull with his staff…?

"Oh?! Do you think I'm not good enough, now?"

Sasuke ducked to avoid having his head taken off by an offhand blade swing he had barely seen
coming. The air crackled. Naruto was still faster, this much was clear.

"Sure seems like it!" Naruto answered.

Sasuke threw a blaze-enhanced sword at Naruto.

Chakra gathered into his hand. It blended with white tongues of fire.

"Blaze Release: Rasen—"

"Rising Dragon."

Naruto spun and his kick smashed into his chin. The jutsu faded away.

Sasuke weaved hand seals.

"Blaze Release: Multiple Fireballs!"

Three gouts of white fire escaped his mouth, aimed at Naruto. Sasuke saw Naruto go through a
hand seal sequence, chakra held in its focused form — Toru. The process was completed three
times, before the fire balls even reached him.

"Storm Release: Faded Lightning!"

Naruto shot three beams of violet electricity forward. Each was faster than Sasuke could even see.

With a terrible tearing sound, they went through each fireball, detonating them.

Two swords flew at Sasuke, who was forced to dodge them. They released flashes of bright light…
and Naruto pulled himself to them.

There he was, in midair, holding a single ōdachi, from which a ribbon flowed. Sasuke recognized
this weapon. Naruto had carved through Shisui's face with it, after all. And cut through his arm.

He barely noticed the hand seals.

"Storm Release: Vacuum Blades!"

Naruto slashed left, then right, before slamming his sword down with a downward strike that sent
Sasuke hurtling down to the ground.

Then the air seemed to displace itself and he was pulled up again.

What…?

Only a partial Susanoo had saved him.

"Lightning Kick!"

Sasuke still slammed into the earth after this, and Naruto was already upon him.

Naruto twirled his sword in front of him, the ribbon's twist making it look like a full circle.

He darted to Sasuke in a zigzag pattern, leaving only flashes of purple electricity behind him.

A diagonal strike.

Cross slash.

A wide swing from behind.

Upwards.

Left and downward.

From behind.

Falling.

Sasuke lost count.

It was a flurry of slashes, each of them carrying Naruto's dangerous elemental chakra.

Sasuke's Susanoo was breaking. It felt like facing a storm god.

He reached inwards at the same time Naruto brought his sword down one last time.

"Storm Release: Blinding Pillar!"

A large rib cage shaped itself around him, and the white fire turned back to orange again.
Shoulders and arms shaped themselves around the ribcage.

Naruto's blade slammed into him.

The Susanoo held.

Naruto dashed away from it.

"You're fast. Much faster than I am." Sasuke admitted. "But you can't attack from far away."

Naruto just lifted an eyebrow. "This might have been true… in the past."

"I want to see for myself, then." Sasuke said between clenched teeth.

"Is this a fight or a dick-swinging contest?"

"Enough fooling around! Fight seriously."

Naruto shrugged. "Suit yourself."

Sasuke kept throwing his mousy haired classmate strange looks.

He wasn't the only one, as he noticed the Yamanaka girl did the same. Did she also get the
same sense of familiarity Sasuke got whenever they were close…?

"…Why do you keep looking at him like this?" Toru asked, scrunching his eyebrows.

Sasuke almost jumped.

"I don't know. He's… weird." Sasuke replied.

"Weird how? You're the one staring at him." Toru frowned.

"Don't you get this weird feeling when you look at him?"

Silence.

"Are you in love with him or something…?" Toru cocked his head.

"What?! No! Hell no." Sasuke hissed. "But since I beat him… I get this sense of… I don't
know. Like I know him."

"Well… He is our classmate."

"Not like this." Sasuke threw his hands up in frustration.

"Like what, then?" Toru squinted his eyes, trying to look thoughtful. He mostly looked the
exact same way he did when the sun was blinding him.
"…Forget it. What's his name, anyway?"

"You don't know…?" Toru grinned.

"Do you…?"

"Of course." Toru smiled proudly. "Cause I listen."

"Tell me, then."

"Sarutobi Naburo." Toru nodded. "You should pay more attention to what Fugaku-sama
says during our lessons."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Sasuke muttered.

Naburo, then? He would remember the name.

Sasuke's Susanoo extended his hand, and Naruto paid attention.

With a roar, Sasuke began to gather chakra into its hand. He was going for a Rasengan, then.
Naruto had never really felt any affinity for the technique, because his swords usually got the job
done, but it had its uses. Karin liked it much more than he did, really.

Naruto watched the entire process.

Sasuke shaped his chakra into a whirling sphere of violent energy.

Wind.

Fire.

Natural energy.

Naruto saw that his Mangekyō Sharingan strained to hold it together. The large, white orb of pure
destruction. It shone like a sun, and it melted the rocks around him.

Sasuke had made it as strong as he could make it.

"Blaze Release: Spiralling Sun." He called, gritting his teeth.

"Interesting!" Naruto grinned. "My turn, then!"

He summoned his forged bow, the metal gleaming from the light the white flames emitted.

More purple chakra exploded around him, gathering around both of his arms.

In his right hand, the bow was surrounded by a raging violet storm.

In his left hand, he summoned the arrow he had forged for this particular occasion.

Tongues of orange danced around him.

Wind-Lightning-Fire.
Storm-Fire.
Fire was much weaker here, but there was no reason for Naruto not to call upon it. It would still
enhance the arrow's destructive power. Naruto matched Sasuke's chakra levels.

He was the eye of the storm.

Naruto nocked the arrow.

"Storm Arrow!"

They both let go.

The sky exploded in a shower of lightning and flame.

Sasuke's dad was busy at the Hokage tower, likely doing… Hokage things.

What that meant exactly, Sasuke wasn't entirely sure. But his mother brought him to school,
and Itachi came with them, so it was okay, anyway. Toru didn't come, but he would only be
starting school next year anyway. Knowing how competitive he could be, Sasuke knew he
would do everything to skip a grade and join him.

He saw the people that would be his classmates for the next few years. Some he knew already,
like the Hyuga boy and girl, the Akimichi boy and Shino, too.

An older woman — who had to be at least a hundred — brought a reluctant boy with mousy
brown hair to the academy. She had to nudge him forward.

"Come, Naruto." She said sternly.

"I don't think I want to go anymore." He grunted.

She sighed.

Sasuke tried to say hello, but the boy ignored him entirely. He disappeared in the crowd.

Sasuke folded his arms.

"I don't like him." Sasuke muttered.

"Ah." Itachi said with a slight smile. "Maybe he's just shy."

"You would know about this, wouldn't you, Itachi?" Mother laughed.

"Mother!" Itachi reddened. "I'm not—"

"I'm sorry, Itachi." She covered her mouth to hide her smile. "I meant to say that you're an
incredible little shinobi already."

"Yeah… Maybe he's shy." Sasuke muttered.

Mean, rude boy.

There was only the sound of silence and Sasuke's own breathing.

Until Sasuke heard footsteps.

"You're still…" He growled.

Naruto's clothing was in tatters, and blood was running down his face. His wounds were already
healing, though, and he was walking toward Sasuke, without his shroud of lightning. And he was
not showing any signs of slowing down.

"Stand up, then." Naruto called. "If you really insist on having a clear winner."

Sasuke did so. He didn't even have the strength to maintain his Susanoo, and he knew he was in
worse shape than Naruto.

Naruto didn't bother summoning a sword, so Sasuke let his own fall away, too.

Sasuke countered Naruto's punch with a rising kick. The Uzumaki grunted, grabbed Sasuke's ankle
and… threw him away like a ragdoll.

Sasuke fell again with a growl. Naruto ripped away the rest of his tattered clothing. No wonder he
threw him so easily. He looked strong.

Sasuke managed to kick Naruto in the chin.

Naruto countered with a haymaker that made him see stars.

Then a kick.

An uppercut.

Naruto grabbed his collar and headbutted him.

"You fucking ass—" Sasuke grunted, his nose full of blood.

"I thought this was a shinobi fight!" Naruto cackled.

Sasuke deflected the next punch and landed one of his own into Naruto's gut.

Naruto grinned, something that looked eerily similar to Sarutobi Naruto's boyish grin, the one that
had come out from time to time, and more and more often as time passed..

Despite himself, Sasuke couldn't help the rising feeling of nostalgia that rose through him.

"You can't win." Sasuke growled. "Not today!"

"Save that until you win, I'd say." Naruto said evenly.

Naruto crouched, his leg extending behind Sasuke to trip him. Sasuke countered it with a knee
strike to the thigh.

"Not bad!"

"How many years has it been since we fought like this?" Naruto asked, in between two strikes,
looking to be enjoying this.
"There was last time." Sasuke growled. The time Naruto had killed several shinobi, and—

"I did not forget." Naruto muttered. "This wasn't a proper fight."

"And why not?"

"Because you lost…?"

Sasuke shook his head, trying to push down on his rising anger. "You're right on one thing. It feels
different, this time around."

"I wonder why."

"Does it really matter?" Sasuke muttered.

"Not really, since I am going to beat you up anyway!" Naruto suddenly grinned.

"No fucking way." Sasuke growled. The next words came out unbidden. "I will!"

"Oh yeah?"

"It's on!" Sasuke raged.

"I thought it already was." Naruto chuckled. "No wonder you're losing."

Naruto's chakra extended around him, until it felt as though the entire area was permeated in it.

Sasuke threw himself backwards and barely managed to dodge Naruto's flurry of attacks. A fist
shrouded in lightning still smashed into his stomach, sending him flying into a rock spire that had
managed to survive their battle.

His back hit it first, and Sasuke fell to the ground, feeling as though he were on fire. Jinchuuriki or
not, the pain was starting to catch up to him.

"Got enough yet?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke growled, and he slowly pushed off the floor.

"Hell no." Sasuke grunted, standing up again.

"As you wish."

For what seemed like a long, long while, the only sounds that echoed from the devastated
landscape were that of flesh hitting flesh. Something that felt like fate.

Everything was getting blurry.

He could barely think. He—

He fell to his knees.

"…I give up." Sasuke wheezed, every breath taking way too much effort.

"Fucking finally." Naruto was only lightly out of breath, by now. Did he go all out at any point…?
Sasuke didn't know much about his Rinnegan, but he'd wager that he didn't.

...Wait. Had he even used it...?

They didn't say anything for a long, tense while.

His mouth was dry, and his heart was still thumping.

Anger still boiled in his gut, too.

"...I can't even win in a fair fight anymore." Sasuke said in frustration, staring at the sky.

Naruto chuckled lowly. "Guess not."

Silence stretched.

"...You've gotten strong, Naruto." Sasuke admitted, an angry sound.

"You sound like it pains you to admit."

Sasuke gave him a dry look. It rankled.

"You too." Naruto said, sitting down. "By the way… Remember that time in the Chūnin exams?"

"Yeah… I do remember." Sasuke said. "What about it?"

Naruto gave him a wink. "I went easy on you."

Sasuke stared at him for a moment. He turned his head away before Naruto could realize he was
chuckling.

But then again, fate was only a guide. Something that they were doomed to repeat only if they
couldn't learn from their mistakes.

"The villages. They won't change, will they…?" Sasuke asked at last.

"Probably not."

Sasuke stayed silent.

"But…" Naruto continued. "We're both in places where we can do something about it. I can see the
value in that, now."

Naruto took a long breath.

"I'm sorry… for everything."

"I… know." Sasuke said. "That's not enough."

"I know. And I should have trusted you."

Sasuke stood up.

"I don't trust you." He said. "I can't forgive you, either. You… killed—"

"I didn't expect you to." Naruto shook his head.

"Maybe with time…" Sasuke hesitated. "No, even then. I don't know… Uchiha…ish insanity or
not." Sasuke shook his head.

"That's fine."

"But—"

"But what?"

Sasuke schooled his face, pushing his own anger at Naruto down.

"You're not alone." The Uchiha said at last. "You can count on me for this."

And there were more important things at stake.

 The Realm Outside of Time

Days and days; weeks and weeks; months passed inside Shade's Realm.

It was strange, Anko found, how they managed to get used to this place, in the end.

There was even something… less stressful about it, compared to the outside world, right now. But
it had more to do with the dreadful feeling of knowing than in a few days, the world as she knew it
might well end.

The place really wasn't as terrible as she had expected it to be. Well, after the first weeks of
figuring out how to live together. Naruto, Karin and Ino had a… peculiar relationship — she
wouldn't say strange because it clearly worked for them — and Sakura was all too used to it
already.

The daily routine was pretty simple. Wake up, train. Shower, eat, train. Shower, eat,
read/theoretical work. Sleep. The ground rules were about as simple. No walking around naked.
Keeping things tidy — although this was very easy with a few seals — in the living quarters.

Privacy wasn't really a problem, past the first days where they were simply too tired to bother
expanding the house. Not that they were too big on it, at this point. Again, seals
were very convenient.

It had surprised Anko, but it turned out they could get along well for close to a year... and still like
each other.

Despite their occasional bouts of naivety about the world and their… more annoying moments of
thinking with their genitals, they were nice to live with.

They were almost… endearing, really.

And they pushed each other to their limits and beyond every time they trained, which was
something she could respect.

Though all this time spent in isolation was likely also making them rub off each other, not
necessarily in the most optimal ways.

They took some of the other's best and worst traits. And it was likely worse for those who were
bonded. It might allow for a better connection to the Rinnegan itself, sure, but there was no
way Anko was willing to touch that. If it took a few more chakra rods and didn't work as well over
long distances, well… so be it.

Right now, Naruto was training, and Anko, who was more experienced when it came
to actual practical fighting, gave him a few tips, here and there. At this point, though, there was not
that much she could tell him. He was much stronger than she was, and far less wasteful than he had
been in the past.

Gravity control allowed him to move with an otherworldly grace. He could fight in more…
acrobatic ways, thanks to it. Sometimes it was subtle, staying within the realm of plausibility until
you realized that someone this heavy simply was not supposed to twist so easily in midair.

Sometimes it was more in your face, and he seemed to forget that most people didn't sit in midair.
Their plan to focus on a path each — with the exception of Karin and Ino, who were sharing some
aspects with each other — had born fruit.

Anko would never be able to make use of Kusanagi, which was probably lost in space. But with
the Asura path's weaponry, combined with her snakes… She really didn't see the need for it.

Naruto paused after a flurry of kicks, his legs still extended.

"Something up?" Anko asked.

"You could say that." He was still processing something. Undoubtedly some information a clone
had relayed. Things got a bit strange because of relativity.

"Tell me."

Naruto sighed. "There are three Uchiha at the door."

Ino, nearby and in the middle of more — endless — speed training, blinked. "…What?"

He paused. "Well, metaphorical door. They are waiting in the Land of Fire. A clone is talking to
them. I'll tell you when we're done talking. In a day or so, hard to estimate."

Land of Fire.

"So… what do you want, exactly?" Naruto's clone asked Sasuke, who still looked to be a bit tired
from the battle.

Maybe if he hadn't been impulsive enough to go for an actual fight so close to the day of the battle
against Nagato…

Uchiha Shisui was apparently willing to put their differences aside for the time being, but he
definitely was tense. Still angry, too.

Uchiha Itachi looked the same as he always did. Unreadable.

"You have the Rinnegan—" Sasuke began.

"I noticed."

"And Indra's memories. Which means." Sasuke continued, with a glare. "That you can read the
stone tablet in—"

"Yeah. It's been messed with, by the way. Don't know by whom, but I wouldn't trust anything that's
written on it."

"…What?"

"Yeah. At some point between Indra's time and Madara's time. Which narrows it down to… a span
of close to a thousand years."

Sasuke cursed.

"But I can tell you what it says anyway." Naruto shrugged.

"For real…?" Sasuke gaped.

"Of course. Aren't you the one who said no more secrets, or something to that effect…?"

"I never expected you to actually listen."

"That's fair." Naruto nodded. "Let me write it down for you—"

"No need." Sasuke retorted. "Bring us inside your room."

"…You know about it?"

Stupid question.

"What do you think…?" Sasuke shot back with a glare. "Itachi told me… and I saw… more of your
memories than you intended." Sasuke paused, looking away with cheeks that were slightly red. "…
Way too much, by the way."

Naruto shrugged. "Sorry, we're still working on isolating memories, even now."

"We only have two days left." Sasuke said tightly, unwilling to waste any more time. "To prepare
for Nagato not to crush us — We want in. Inside your realm… pocket space… whatever.."

Naruto lifted an eyebrow. He thought about it for a little while.

"I'm fine with it, but… Are you sure it is a good idea, considering… everything?"

"Of course not." Shisui said frostily. That was a different sort of anger about him, now. Not as raw,
not as full of hatred. "But none of us is strong enough. We simply don't have a much better option.
Besides, if we're going to be working together…"

"We'll keep away from you." Itachi simply said. This sort of neutrality had to be cultivated, Naruto
knew as much, now.

"Yeah. I've already seen enough of…" Sasuke shivered. "Yeah. For a lifetime."

Naruto's lips twitched.

"Will you keep your word?" Shisui asked, looking at Naruto with a pointed glare.

"Will you keep yours?" Naruto shot back.

"I don't have much of a choice, do I?" Shisui gritted out. Ino had made sure his covenant would be
binding.

"You accepted." Naruto shrugged. He nodded, more seriously. "And yes. I will. It's a promise."

"Care to make it a binding one with your Yamanaka's help?" Shisui asked.

"If you want me to, I will do so." Naruto nodded.

Shisui went utterly still for a moment.

Sasuke was looking at both of them, trying to figure if it was going to erupt into a fight.

The silence was heavy and thick with tension.

"…Alright." Shisui finally nodded. It wasn't trust, far from it, but a willingness to work with them.
Good enough.

"I'll do so once we arrive." Naruto nodded. It changed nothing, to him.

"That's it…?"

"Yes. I planned on doing so anyway. Besides, if we're going to have to train together too, better if
we can get along. I'm not asking for anything else."

Shisui slowly nodded.

"Itachi? Shisui?" Sasuke asked. They nodded.

"…Yeah."

"Let's go."

Shade's Realm.

Heavy silence.

Tense silence.

The Uchiha were sitting in front of the Umi ninja.

Clearing his throat, Sasuke broke it.

"…This place is quite different from what I saw in your memories." He said, looking around.

"Well, it has been more than a hundred days in here since your brother went in, I think." Naruto
shrugged. If Sasuke was willing to make conversation, he would talk with him.

"Why is everything so…?" Sasuke fumbled for words.

"Cloudy and orange?" Karin smiled.

"Yes."

"It sets a nice mood for evening tea." Naruto said.

"You mean you did this?"

"Sure, it's pretty easy to change." Naruto nodded.

"The room!"

"Ah. I mean, once you get your hands on godly power and other people's memories... Add up a few
months of very focused training in how to use it…" Naruto amended himself, shrugging.

"…"

Silence resumed.

"…Why are we wasting time?" Shisui gritted between his teeth.

"We have plenty of it here." Ino said. "Besides, it is evening. There's only so much training we can
take."

"You'll see when you get outside." Anko continued. "It can be a bit… rough."

"Especially now. We increased the gravity a bit."

"…Why?"

"It helps with the time dilatation." Not much, though, and maybe this would work better by
recreating another realm from scratch. Worth checking out. "Mostly for training, though. It's
not that bad, but it gets worse the further away you get from the entry point."

"Alright."

"I have a question." Naruto began. "If you're here… Who's defending Konoha, exactly…? Aren't
you three together basically a third of the village's strength…?"

"It's only going to be one to two days and most of the allied shinobi troops are already in the
village." Itachi said dryly. "Besides we'd be split up and against Nagato, I don't think there is that
much we could do alone, right now."

"I didn't take you for the betting type." Naruto lifted an eyebrow. "Do you really trust a madman's
word, though…? What if he attacks earlier…?"

Shisui said something rude about madmen. Naruto ignored him.

"Then I guess the world is doomed, either way." Itachi's eyes tightened a bit.

"What does the village think of it…?"

"They can't exactly stop us." Sasuke said evenly.

"Nice time for you to finally realize that."

"What was that?!" Shisui almost jumped to his feet.

"Eh." Naruto shrugged. "Just saying."

Ino glared at him, elbowing him in the ribs.

"Yes, yes… We will be warned if anything happens, hopefully in time. We can warp with you
there, then." Naruto finished.

No answer came.

Well, that killed what little conversation was going on pretty nicely.

"Do you want help with setting up a livable place?" Naruto asked.

"No thanks." Shisui sneered. He stood up to leave.

Itachi did the same and after giving them a slow nod, Sasuke followed, too.

"…Are you sure this is not going to bite us back in the ass?" Anko asked dubiously.

"Mostly sure." Naruto said, staring after them. Pretty annoying bunch, but he couldn't exactly
blame them.
They could use them on their side, though.

The next day.

"Good morning." Naruto greeted Sasuke with an even face. "Come with me."

Sasuke grunted in answer. "I think you're a bit too used to people listening to you."

"Maybe." Naruto admitted. "Are you coming or not?" He left.

Sasuke growled but followed him.

"What did you want?" Sasuke asked, once they were close to the lake.

"Well, to share information." Naruto said. "There are plenty of things that we know and you don't,
and if you're going to fight on our side, that just won't do."

"Indeed." Sasuke said dryly.

"First… How are your eyes?" Naruto asked pointedly.

"My eyes?"

"Are you half-blind by now, or does Shukaku — or your cells — heal you?"

Sasuke paused. "How do you even know about this…?"

"Doesn't really matter. Indra, Madara, pick your poison."

"Shukaku's chakra heals my eyes." He admitted. "Well, I think it's Shukaku. I don't know, really, I
obtained my Mangekyō at the same time we sealed it away, so…"

"What about your brother?"

"You might have noticed he doesn't have a Beast inside him." Sasuke said dryly.

"Yeah, burning anger is more Shisui's type anyway."

"…What?"

"Nothing. I know he has the Mangekyō already." Naruto brushed off. "Toru told me."

"…"

"Swap eyes with your brother."

"What…?"

"The Mangekyō evolves that way."

"Why the fuck would you even know about something like this?"

"Which part of I was Indra and Madara don't you get, exactly?"

Sasuke growled.
"Don't you get anything useful from… Asura, Hashirama and whoever…?"

"No." Sasuke gritted out. "Nothing at all."

"Huh." Naruto nodded slowly. "No wonder you didn't lose your mind, then. Consider it a
blessing."

"…"

"Doesn't matter much. Swap your eyes." Naruto repeated. "Karin will help, and it might take a few
days to recover and adjust. We'll see if there's anything we can do about Shisui, too."

He wouldn't help him if he wasn't certain he could simply not put anybody from Umi — that didn't
explicitly move to attack him — under a genjutsu. If he tried… well he would die, simply.

Toru's eye, which had not become a Mangekyō Sharingan, had remained that way, even after
Shisui got it. The eyes were peculiar that way.

"What do you gain from it…?" Sasuke asked dubiously.

"Well, we get to study the eyes, first of all." Naruto shrugged. "There are plenty of questions we
don't have answers to. Not fully, at least. Like what happens if you take your eyes out and Karin
heals you, using the King of Hell? Do two pairs of the same Sharingan now exist, or can only one
pair stay? We know the eyes regrow from Shisui, but aside from that…"

"…I'm not very comfortable with the topic." Sasuke growled.

"Fair enough." Naruto shrugged. That was the same reason he didn't bother asking Sasuke why
nobody had taken their dead father's eyes. Too… blunt. "But considering it seems to be the Uchiha
brain — a strange term — that activates the eye, it should be possible for Shisui to regain his
Mangekyō. Which… we will need for what we have planned."

"Yeah. I get that." Sasuke nodded tightly. "That's probably the only reason Shisui accepted to
come."

"I know that much."

"You're still going to have to learn to use the other Paths on a basic level, you know that…?"
Sakura asked Naruto.

"Yeah." He nodded. "I do know that much, at least."

"Good."

"But you learning their intricacies will make all of this much easier anyway."

Some things went as planned…

Naruto let Karin take care of the whole transplant thing, since he knew his presence might be…
unwanted.

The process was done pretty smoothly, once Sasuke got over his squeamishness.
Convincing Shisui to let Karin fumble around with his brother's eye had been a bit harder.

"-it's not that complicated if it is what I think it is." Karin insisted.

Shisui only seemed to back away from her. It was no wonder, considering how pushy she could get
when she was convinced she was right. And usually, she was.

"As a matter of fact." She tried to push her glasses up, before remembering it had been years since
she last wore them. "I'm pretty sure that's what it is."

Shisui looked at Itachi, who looked away. Your move, he seemed to say.

Sasuke shrugged and Shisui let out a long-suffering sigh.

"…What would you do exactly…?" He asked with the expression of a man about to get his head
chopped off.

"Not much, really." She waved off. Then she called for Ino to come by. "The sharingan is activated
through intense emotion, right?"

"…Yes?" Shisui nodded slowly. Toru had told them, and he knew this.

"Well, the Mangekyō is similar in that." Ino said.

"Don't take it the wrong way, but I'm not sure I want your hands anywhere near me." Shisui
muttered.

"Tough luck." Ino shot back.

"So… Ino here is going to trigger some specific hormone receptors in your brain and…" Karin
trailed off.

"Maybe we're going to need Sakura, too." Ino finished.

"Yeah."

They called for her to come.

"Okay. What the hell are you doing…?" Shisui muttered. "And if you're communicating
telepathically, I can't hear—"

"It's not much, really." Karin cut him off. "Alright, don't move."

Ino almost slapped her hand on his forehead.

"Sorry." She apologized. "I just came from a higher-gravity area."

Shisui just grumbled. Karin held back a sad chuckle — he really looked like his younger brother.
Sakura put her hand close to Ino's.

"Now… This might be a bit unpleasant." Ino said.

"More than this whole — Oh gods." Shisui sounded shaken.

"Now guide his chakra through the optical nerve, Sakura." Karin muttered. "No — It's a bit higher
— Ino, relay what I feel to Sakura, it's going to be a bit more precise."
A bit of blood was running down Shisui's cheek. The whole process didn't last too long.

The two women released Shisui, who stumbled. "That was fucking unpleasant." He growled.

Ino shrugged. "We warned you."

"Try it, now." Karin said.

Shisui's eyes went from pure black to a three-comma Sharingan.

Then they morphed a step higher, and the chakra became denser. Mangekyō Sharingan, in both
eyes.

His left eye twisted into something else, a complex Eternal Mangekyō.

"Huh." Karin breathed. "That worked…?"

"You mean you weren't even sure of it?" Shisui asked hotly.

"Mostly."

"That's not exactly how I pictured a team reunion." Sasuke muttered to Sakura.

"No?" She lifted an eyebrow, a bit sarcastically.

Sakura had always used sarcasm as a defense mechanism, and he realized how guarded she had
become over the years. Not with her friends, though. There, Sasuke knew it was all in good fun.

The scars that Sakura bears, the ones that used to make her self-conscious, she now carries with
pride.

Sasuke knew that Karin could heal both the scars and her arm, too. It didn't feel like Sakura wanted
to, though.

Sakura had become strong, just like Kurenai-sensei had said she would, if given the chance.
Probably not in the way their late teacher had expected, but strong nonetheless. And Sasuke felt
fierce pride for her, even though he didn't agree with a lot of the things she had done.

They felt a bit unbalanced, when it was just the two of them. Like a picture that was too heavy on
one side.

Two people were missing.

...Some things didn't.

"-who the hell do you think you are?!" Shisui roared.

"Me?!" Anko boomed in return. "Who gives a shit about that old rusty tanto? I did you a favor! It
was not even a gift or anything special, so who cares!"

"A favor?! You call this a favor?! I have half a mind to—"

"Half a mind is all you have, you… messy-haired fuck!" Anko roared.
They stopped to stare at each other.

Both started to smile a bit.

"Oh, hell no." Naruto grunted, palming his face. Why him…?

From what he knew of both of them, it might as well have been love at first sight.

"…Is this how Anko felt when we were dancing around each other?" Ino asked Naruto quietly.

"…Most likely. It's a bit… uh." Naruto shook his head.

"Like seeing your older sister flirt with a guy?" Karin asked, watching the show with a wince.

"Maybe for you." Naruto nodded. It was hard to see Anko as a big sister when he had lived so
much longer. It was not just a sibling thing, though. Watching Izuna fumble had
been endearing. "Maybe it's because it's… Anko."

Sakura frowned.

"Do you think Orochimaru—"

"Stop." Karin raised her hand. "Whatever it is you're going to ask… Don't."

Sakura glared at her.

"Men or women…?" She asked. "For Orochimaru, I mean."

"Stop." Ino shook her head too. "Please."

"Why not both?" Hanabi asked with a slight grin. Naruto hid his own. They shared a quick look.

"Stop." Karin was starting to look pretty green.

"At the same time, you mean?" Naruto piled on, with a carefully blank face.

"I swear, I'm going to puke. There's something seriously wrong with you guys."

Naruto and Shisui never felt too comfortable around each other.

Naruto knew the reason for it, of course. Anybody would. He had killed several people the man
likely cared about.

And Shisui blamed both himself and Naruto for Toru's death. Naruto understood the feeling very
well, because he used to feel the exact same way before.

He got along decently with the others, though. Pretty well, even.

That was fine by Naruto. Their shared purpose would be enough.

He made for a great sparring partner, though.

Shisui's taijutsu was better than his own, and while he was slightly slower than him when he used
the first level of his cloak, — the lightning one — that wasn't saying much. Naruto was faster than
the Raikage had been, which likely made him the fastest man in the world.
It didn't mean he could afford to stop practicing outside of his Cloak — both Lightning and Storm.

Shisui came at him again, even faster, with a horizontal kick. Naruto blocked it with his forearm.
He slipped inside the Uchiha's guard, thrusting with his palm.

Shisui bent backwards, using his hands to push himself into a handspring.

They resumed their dance.

Shisui landed a punch to his skull.

Naruto kicked him away.

A blocked kick.

An elbow strike.

Again and again.

Neither was willing to concede anything to the other. Which was a good thing, in here.

"…Not too bad." Shisui admitted.

"Right?" Naruto shot back. "Imagine what I could do if I didn't restrict myself."

Shisui glared at him. "We're both fighting restricted. If I used my Susanoo—"

"One of your eyes would inevitably go blind, yes." Naruto nodded. "Sounds pretty impressive."

Sakura, watching the whole thing, sighed in frustration.

"You're the one who saved me, aren't you, Hanabi?" Sasuke asked her. "Back when Obito came for
me."

She blinked. "What makes you think that…?"

Sasuke snorted. "The fact that your shot actually hit your intended target…?"

She laughed too. "Naruto's good at it though, even though he doesn't have the… Byakugan
advantage. I'm sure he would have hit Obito as well, even from this distance."

"…Only because he would have hit everything in there." Sasuke deadpanned.

"Sure, but it still counts."

"So are you going to bond with me at some point?" Hanabi asked Naruto.

"…What?" Naruto blinked.

"All my friends are getting bonded and here I am."

Naruto squinted his eyes. Was she… joking or being serious? It was hard to tell with her,
sometimes.

"Anko and I didn't bother. And we're not going to, either."
"That's different." Hanabi waved off. He didn't bother asking how it was different in any way.

"…Why do you even want it…?"

"It's convenient." She shrugged.

He had thought that as a former branch house Hyuga, she would be less interested in the idea of
binding herself to someone, even if it went both ways.

And frankly, after the whole Toru debacle, he had no particular desire to bond anyone anymore. It
just seemed to leave a permanent hole where the link used to be.

"It's…" Naruto began. "It's not as simple as you think it might be."

"Do you need more time to think about it, or is it a no?" She asked with soft eyes.

"I… I will think about it, okay?"

"That's all I ask for." Hanabi nodded, kissing his cheek lightly as she departed.

He was pretty impressed. Back in his time as Uchiha Madara, bachelor supreme, many women had
come after him — some to seduce him; some to convince him to marry them; some to kill him.
None of them could make a persuasion attempt look so effortlessly natural.

Strange comparison, he knew.

...Or maybe Hanabi was being honest, who knew?

 Flight/Nine Swords

"Yes." Naruto nodded. "Bring him in, then."

Kabuto was pulled out of the darkness by the woman he knew to be Uzumaki Karin.

"You know." She said. "If it weren't, well… you. I'd feel a bit bad about this."

"Wha—" Kabuto rasped out weakly. He had been left here alone for a while.

Karin made sure he was bound entirely. Then she threw him over her shoulder like a sack of
potatoes and carried him away, out of the spire. He was blinded by the sunlight.

"You can take a look if you want." She said. "It's probably one of the last things you're going to
see."

Kabuto tried to move, desperately.

She shook her head and continued to walk.

They passed through… something that gave him an odd sense of vertigo. Then he felt pressure. For
his body, weakened by imprisonment, it was almost too much.

"What… is… this?"

"Nothing to concern yourself with."

Kabuto was thrown to the floor unceremoniously. Then somebody flipped him over. There were
about a dozen people around him.

Uzumaki Naruto, he recognized. Haruno Sakura. Mitarashi Anko. Yamanaka Ino. Hyūga Neji's
younger cousin.

Oh, no.

Uchiha Shisui. Uchiha Fugaku's two sons, each of them looking distinctly pissed off.

"Ino-san." Uchiha Itachi asked. "…Could you please ensure he truly is the one who killed our
father, before anything?"

"Of course." She nodded, before putting her hand to his forehead.

The memories of that day came back to Kabuto, unbidden. How did she bypass the defenses
Nagato himself—

"Yes." Ino nodded, linking Itachi and herself together. No lie would be spoken. "He was the one to
do it. And to make it look like the next person who came by the Hokage's room did. Me."

Kabuto was starting to panic.

Ino continued. "Sasori was the one to supply the poison, as we thought previously."

"I see." Uchiha Itachi said slowly. "Any… particular reason?"

"It's pretty straightforward. Uchiha Fugaku could not be controlled by Akatsuki. Killing him would
also weaken one of the strongest villages. Danzo was the likely successor, and that means war was
all but guaranteed to break out. That's what Obito and Sasori decided, at least."

"Thank you, Ino-san." Itachi said, in clipped tones. The Human Path chakra faded away.

"Don't worry about it."

"Will you need his mind to be intact?" He whispered softly.

"No." She said evenly. "Not this time. Only his soul."

"Good."

"We took care of Danzo, so we're going to leave him to your tender care." Naruto said.

Uchiha Itachi forced Kabuto's eyes open. Three pairs of red eyes stared at him, almost hungrily.

"No, please—"

"Tsukuyomi."

None of them, besides Ino, were sure what the three Uchiha did to him exactly, but there was
nothing left of Kabuto, besides an empty husk.

And she didn't bother speaking about it.

"Huh." Naruto said. "I didn't take you three for the vengeful sort."

"We can make exceptions." Shisui said flatly.

...Actually, no. Shisui definitely was.

"Well, I'll spare you the moralistic drivel about vengeance." Naruto shrugged. "It can feel pretty
cathartic."

Sasuke breathed out. "…This will be the only time."

Itachi said nothing at all. He nodded and went away silently.

Ino placed her hand on Kabuto's forehead, and then pulled on his chakra. She wondered if Nagato
would be able to locate Umi if he did the same thing to them, or if the memory wipe would prove
to be enough. The memories came to her as though they were her own.

Kabuto's childhood in Konoha. The orphanage and its matron, every painful and private experience
he ever had. Everything that he knew about the Akatsuki, of Nagato's secrets, Sasori's plans and
where his loyalties really lay. He had been a shy kid, happy to hide in the shadows of people more
powerful than he was. He was a coward and he knew it, and hated himself for it, deep down.

"Man, he really was a bastard, that one." Ino muttered.

"See…?" Naruto whispered to Hanabi. "Now that she has Kabuto's life experience, is she suddenly
forty years old magically?"
Hanabi pretended to think about it. Naruto began to nod slowly.

"I guess she is, then." Hanabi finally decided.

He growled, and she just stuck her tongue out.

"Did you learn anything important?" Naruto asked Ino, instead.

"Not much we didn't know, honestly. Nagato does have an army of… Zetsu that he plans to use to
weaken the villages, as we thought. And he really intends to wait until the last day to attack."

"Why is that? Any particular reason?"

"No." Ino shook her head. "He truly believes himself to be invincible. That's his way of offering
mercy, and a chance for the jinchuuriki to give themselves up."

Naruto shook his head.

"Well, he would have been right, in normal circumstances." He muttered. "But we're here."

"Yes." Ino smiled at him brightly. "We are."

"What else did you get from him?"

"A lot of information about Konoha — at least Danzo's — and Sasori's spy networks. Lots of
medical knowledge, which Karin might find more useful than I. More info about Akatsuki's inner
workings, but Nagato has never been too forthcoming with this guy."

"That's good enough anyway." Naruto nodded.

The sound of steel hitting steel.

Followed by a grunt. And a shout.

Sasuke thrust his sword forward, and Naruto deflected it with his own. There was a grinding sound
and sparks flew.

Naruto slashed up with his left hand, and a pink spectral arm shimmered into existence to stop it.

Behind Naruto, five swords shaped themselves out of chakra and fired off toward Sasuke.

Sasuke dashed away to dodge them. One twisted in midair and grazed him, though.

"And that concludes it." Naruto laughed. "You lose this one."

"What?!" Sasuke growled angrily. "How does this even count?"

"First blood is first blood." Naruto shrugged, sitting down. "You accepted the conditions."

"You—" Sasuke grunted but admitted defeat. This time.

Naruto paused.

"There's something I need to give you." He said.

"Huh…?" Sasuke frowned. "What do you mean?"

Naruto summoned a glass dagger.

Sasuke stiffened immediately, reaching for his sword on instinct. Naruto noticed it.

"I can't blame you, really." Naruto chuckled.

Then he stabbed himself in the gut.

"What the hell?! Are you still fucking insane?!" Sasuke roared.

"No." Naruto grunted. "I awakened the Rinnegan when I used the dagger, full of your chakra and
blood... on myself."

Chakra was pumping into the weapon at a quick pace. There was only so much it could handle,
though, and soon enough, it was full. With a grunt, he pulled it out.

"Are you out of your fucking mind? What's the point of this?!"

"Take it." Naruto breathed out.

"Why the hell would I take it?!"

"You've seen why. Stab yourself. It should make you stronger. Our chakra mixing together is
supposed to bring us closer to the Sage." Naruto explained. "Or something."

"Which part of this makes sense?! Are you all this crazy in Umi?"

"It worked for me."

"I'm not fucking stabbing myself with a dagger covered in your blood."

Naruto frowned. "And why not?"

"Because — Gods…" Sasuke palmed his face and let out a frustrated noise.

"Well… You decide." Naruto stood up, leaving the dagger next to him. "I thought it would even
things out, somewhat."

He couldn't do much about the people he had killed, though.

Sasuke just grunted something rude after him. Well, the rest was up to him.

"Oh, yeah. Aim for the gut, if you choose to do it."

"..."

Once Naruto understood more about natural energy, courtesy of Sasuke, he understood why
Orochimaru had told him it was a risky idea to have clones siphon natural energy.

At some point, knowing himself, he was bound to have ended up as a stone statue.

Even though he could not really use it himself… it gave him an idea. A few of them, really.
Hopefully, it wouldn't come to that, but…

Preparing for the worst, Naruto began drafting plans for nine swords.
He would Create them as soon as they were ready.

"…What are you working on, exactly?" Ino asked Naruto. "A… metal ball?"

Naruto smiled. "That's what it is, basically."

"Is there any point to it, or is it just to throw at the back of Sakura's head?"

"Why not both?"

Ino laughed. "It doesn't feel like anything special, though."

"Because it's not. It's soulforged to be lighter and more supple than metal, but it's mostly for
experimental purposes."

"Give me some space." Ino called, climbing into his lap like a particularly long cat. He chuckled,
burying his head into her neck. "Start from the beginning, then."

"Sure thing." Naruto nodded with a smile that she felt in her hair. "Alright. You know how I can
manipulate gravity now?"

"Yeah. Of all the things that come with the Rinnegan..."

"Well, in simple terms, electromagnetic forces are way stronger than gravity."

"Sure, so…?"

"Well, that's the thing. Technically, gravity doesn't push or pull, not really. To simplify, we say that
gravity's effect is a pull, but it's a bit trickier, really. It does so in one direction only, because that's
where the mass is. Like Earth pulls you toward itself. It doesn't push, though."

"But…"

"Yeah, exactly." Naruto nodded with a grin. "I can push things away. Which likely means the
Rinnegan itself doesn't just influence gravity, likely."

Ino mulled it over.

"Electromagnetic forces, then?"

"I would assume so, yes. But I don't really know, honestly. That's how I picture it, at least. If I think
of my affinity to Lightning during a pull or a push — Let me show you, instead."

Naruto extended his hand and the ball rose above it.

"This is only using the Rinnegan's ability."

He moved it up and down, back and forth.

"If I focus a small amount of force, using Lightning with it…"

There was a spark and suddenly the ball was flying through the air much faster, in a way that
looked entirely too natural... for a steel ball that was hanging in midair. Naruto made it loop
around, twist and turn, as easily as breathing.
"That's… huh." Ino blinked. "So anything metallic…?"

"Yes." Naruto nodded. "Better if it's infused with my chakra… or chakra connected to mine." He
gave her a pointed look.

"Where are you going with this…?" Ino smiled. She thought he could be a bit dramatic, when it
came to revealing things, really.

"Well, right now, I am the only one who can do so. But we should be able to devise a way for all
of you to use it without me being around. Armor would be a good option. So, tell me, Ino…?"
Naruto began.

"You like surprises way too much, now." Ino grinned.

"How do you feel about flying…?" Naruto grinned in answer.

Pretty enthusiastic, apparently.

The soaked sheets underneath her probably cared less for for her enthusiasm, though.

Ino moaned wantonly and —

She stopped when she felt somebody enter the room. She groaned. Who else would even…

"My, my… In the middle of the day. Aren't we supposed to be training?" Karin asked.

"I'm sure we can take a little break." Naruto grinned at her. "Besides, this is part of training, too."

"It is." Karin nodded sagely. "I could hear it did sound pretty enthusiastic."

"Karin…" Ino groaned, pulling the sheets over them.

Karin grinned. "And who told you to stop…?"

Ino blushed a bit, hesitating. She then rolled her eyes.

What does it matter, by now…? We might well be dead in just a few more...

"Why don't you come over here instead of playing voyeur…?" Ino gave her a long look.

"Sure thing."

Karin's clothes were soon on the floor with theirs. Ino found that she really didn't mind the extra
pair of hands and lips, hot on her flesh.

"…That was my bed, you—!" Sakura raged.

"...And that's why I created these self-cleaning beds." Naruto nodded wisely.

"I don't care." Sakura shook her head angrily. "Some sins can't be washed away."

"Then I'll replace it. How many times do you want me to apologize, Sakura?" He wrapped an arm
around her shoulders.

"At least once would be nice!" She shot back.

Naruto cackled.

"Why are you not looking at me?" Naruto asked, entirely too amused. "Are you mad that we didn't
invite you?"

"No!"

"You can join next time."

"Fuck you!"

Naruto nodded. "Sure."

Sakura crashed into the lake.

"…Alright, what are you doing this time?" Sasuke, who was supposed to be training with his
brother and cousin, ended up coming closer. All four women were wearing battle armor.

"We're learning how to fly." Karin explained. "Since we can use all five elements now, — although
not necessarily that well — we're practicing electromagnetic flight."

"…You can do that?"

"Well, Sakura can't, at least."

"Shut up!" Sakura shouted, once she surfaced from the water. "It was my first try!"

It wasn't.

Ino landed on top of the water with only a bit of a stumble.

Hanabi flew with relative ease.

"Yeah." Karin nodded. "She's a natural at this."

"…Sakura has great chakra control, though, doesn't she?"

"Sure, but we all do, by now. And this is Lightning manipulation, more than anything else. Both
Wind and Fire are closer to it than Water."

"I see…"

"Do you want to learn, too?" Karin asked. "I'm sure we could get Naruto to make you some
armor."

"I'm pretty bad at using Lightning style. It's not a very Uchiha thing." Sasuke shrugged. "Besides, I
can use my Susanoo to fly if needed."

"Suit yourself."

"So do you manage to fly?" He finally asked. "I don't see you in the air."

"Not really, no. Not yet." Karin admitted with a grin. "But I'd be missing out on Sakura messing up
if I was up in the air, right now."
"Your form is a bit sloppy." Naruto told Hanabi.

"It works just fine." She retorted.

Naruto chuckled. "Just because it works fine doesn't mean you should stop striving for greater
heights. You could be better than I am at this, with more practice."

Damn. He sounded like Sarutobi, right now. Maybe he was an old man, sometimes. Still, she was
listening.

"Show me how, then." She said.

"Sure."

Naruto came close to her, close enough to reach for her weapon from behind her. Hanabi stiffened
and the bow clattered to the ground.

"My bad." She muttered. "Slippery fingers."

It probably would have fooled him, before, too.

"I'm sure they are." He nodded.

"…What does that mean?" She said flatly. Hanabi likely thought this was some dig at the…
somewhat trashy books she was reading. Which it was.

"That performance anxiety happens to everybody, of course." Naruto deflected. She glared at him.

Hanabi bent over to pick the bow up. And he was pretty sure the way her legs brushed against him
when she did so was not accidental. She was a bit more forward than he had thought.

"Oh, my bad." She muttered. "Care to help me out, then?"

Ah, yes, to help a student in need…

"Sure." He smiled. His hands grabbed hers and he adjusted their position.

"Ah, yes." She breathed out. "I think I can see how that might be better."

"It should help with the draw." Naruto smiled.

Hanabi did not move his hands away.

"So now you're the expert, huh…?"

"Well, I consider myself decent at a few things." Naruto chuckled, close to her ear.

She pressed herself against him lightly. He was pretty impressed at how she managed to make it
look casual. He could see her shudder.

"Such as…?" She asked, a bit more throatily than she would have liked to.

"Sprints, for one." He leaned away from her, hiding a smile. "Time to practice!"

"What!" Hanabi shot him an incredulous, infuriated look.

With a laugh, he started running, without using chakra.

"Hey, wait!" She roared.

Soon after, so did she, shaking her head in befuddled confusion.

He would make her pay for all the old man jokes, one day at a time.

Training with Itachi was pretty much focusing on the few things Naruto still did 'wrong'.

Wasted motions, things that could be more efficient, going for the kill straight away. Shinobi
things. And things Naruto already knew from the memories… but a refresher wouldn't hurt.
Especially considering he didn't have a Sharingan, this time around.

Especially from a man who was as talented as it got in the art of stealth, deception, and surprise.
Things had changed over the centuries. Itachi's sharp eyes and his even sharper mind didn't hurt, of
course.

Why was this guy not Hokage, again…?

Training with Shisui was pretty rare, and straight to the point, usually. Not very fun, and a tense
affair too, but it got the job done.

Well, it was a working relationship, and neither saw any reason to change the dynamic of it.

Training with Sasuke, of course…

Was like rekindling the flames of an age-old rivalry. There was some bad blood there, but nothing
compared to how Shisui felt about him, so it was pretty pleasant, overall.

They had shared trade secrets, and Naruto finally knew how sage mode worked.

Too bad he had no real affinity for it. Sasuke, on the other hand, had apparently taken to it like a
fish to water, back then.

Either it was an Asura thing… or Naruto was just pretty bad at it.

More days passed.

"Are you three going on ahead, then?" Naruto asked.

"Yes." Sasuke nodded. "We all hit a plateau. I don't think more training will help us."

"Too rough in here?" Naruto smiled.

"Also that." Sasuke chuckled a bit. "I feel as though we're having trouble seeing things objectively.
It's already been too long."

"I can understand." Naruto nodded. If they didn't have such a clear objective as learning how each
Path worked…

"And also, I want to spend some time with Hinata; my mother." Sasuke said more somberly. "In
case…"

Naruto had no good answer for him. He just nodded.

"A clone will take you close to Konoha, then. We'll meet very soon — Well, soon for you." Naruto
said. "We will come find you when it's time."

"Sure."

Sasuke hesitated, looking as though he wanted to say more. But he didn't.

They were shinobi. Enemies, friends… that was a shifting notion.

If Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara could find it in them to be friends after they had murdered
each others' family members for years… Maybe with enough time…

Not that Sasuke had any reason to forgive him.

Well, hopefully, it wouldn't end nearly as bad as the two Konoha founders' story.

"Until next time, then."

A few nights later in Shade's Realm.

Naruto walked close to the lake, once the others were asleep.

Then he stepped on it, walking closer to where he could hear the singing come from. Hanabi sang
and danced on top of the pool of water, sending small ripples across it.

She sang softly and she sang firmly. She danced gracefully and she danced violently.

Once he came close enough, she slowed down, progressively. Hanabi watched him.

"Enjoying the show…?" Hanabi asked softly.

"I was, yes. Then it suddenly stopped." Naruto answered easily.

"Hmpf." She smiled. "Maybe if you played something with me…?"

"But of course." Naruto obliged with a grin. He pulled his koto out of nowhere.

It came out of the Mindspace, and as such, he didn't need to bother with tuning it. He played a few
notes by way of warming up. Naruto looked at her briefly. What could he play…?

Well, of course, he cheated. He remembered a few songs he was sure the Hyūga clan members
usually knew, according to Madara's memories.

Naruto started to play "Lullaby of Miyuki."

A song about a man who had fallen in love with the moon. Knowing the origins of the Hyūga clan,
Naruto was not too surprised that even after hundreds of years, this one was still being taught. The
version Madara had heard was very different from the one Indra knew, of course.

Hanabi's eyes were bright, and she began to sing.

The words were not the ones Naruto remembered, not exactly. He just sang the harmony, and
hoped the melody itself hadn't changed in the last fify years.

"Very nice." Hanabi said at the end of it. "I didn't know you knew this one."
"You never asked." Naruto smiled. "What about this…?"

He played "Fire Dance."

"I don't know the lyrics to this one." Hanabi laughed. Naruto gave her a shrug.

She began dancing and clapping in time. Naruto summoned a clone and wordlessly threw him the
instrument. The clone glared at him but resumed playing all the same.

Naruto danced with her, holding her close.

She was lovely, full of joy, her face gleaming in pleasure.

The clone continued playing, but Hanabi was not dancing anymore. She was staring at him, her
lips slightly parted, and her face flushed.

She was waiting for him, he knew.

Naruto didn't move.

"How long are you going to make me wait?" Hanabi finally asked.

"I'm not making you wait." He said, staying where he was with a soft smile.

He saw what she wanted in her eyes, had seen it for a long while, really.

"…Is it about…? Is it about the others?" She asked.

"No." He chuckled. Of course they knew. "It's not this kind of relationship. Besides, if it's you…
Well, they would maybe moan a bit, but they would accept it. They already did, honestly."

Even Ino. Who had told him to "fix this shit with Hanabi, one way or the other."

"Then is it about me? Do you not find me—"

"No. It's definitely not about you." Naruto cut her off. "But don't feel that you have to. We are not
going anywhere without you."

A soft smile spread upon her lips.

"I know."

"Then you know you don't have to do anything you don't want to."

"What if I want to…?" She asked, her eyes fixed on him.

The dress she had been wearing slipped off her shoulders smoothly. It was also the only thing she
had been wearing.

Her body was built lithely. From the arch of her back, to her long, shapely legs. Her firm belly and
the round fullness of her breasts.

"Well… In that case, that's a bit different." Naruto smiled.

Hanabi smiled back.

Under the light of the moon, their joined chakra was warm in the air.
He pulled her close to him, removing his own clothing, as it was only fair. He kissed her softly. She
was a bit shy at first. Then eager.

Bashful, and then brazen.

She writhed under Naruto, lithe and strong. Her legs caressed his own, and her back arched. She
moaned and she panted.

Her long hair spooled under her, and the sounds she made were almost musical.

And then she was astride him, slow and languorous; fast and lively.

They sang a wordless song.

Wind-Lightning-Storm-Fire met Wind.

He saw her and she saw him.

What little they didn't know already.

 Moonlit Nights

The Nine Swords were forged, using the Creation of All Things.

Shade's Realm.

The night sky stretched over him.

It was a mimicry of the sky on Earth, one that was so exact that it was hard to believe it was
something created by a combination of seals and the Rinnegan, and not the true sky itself.

Well, except for the colors of it, on certain nights, where Naruto felt like experimenting.

It had been a long time since Naruto really took the time to appreciate it. The stars shone bright
above his head, and the full moon hung among them. Naruto was sitting on a hill overlooking the
lake, and the light that came from the heavens illuminated it.

They would fight soon. This was the last night, in the outside world. Early in the morning, they
would have to be there.

Well... "Soon" was relative. That was still close to a month for them, if they stayed here until the
last moment.

But there was only so much more training could do, at this point, anyway.

He felt presences before he heard, before he saw them. Three of them, in fact. Naruto couldn't help
the warm smile that spread on his face.

Karin, Sakura, Ino.

"You're late." He said. "You're going to miss out on this."

"Really…?" Karin asked with a smile. "You could simply reset the night."

"It's not the same thing." He huffed.

"Besides, you said to come sometime after dinner." Ino shrugged.

"That's fair."

"Hanabi is not coming tonight…?" Ino asked evenly.

Is this jealousy I feel…?

Hardly. She huffed.

So yes, somewhat. Well, Ino had said she was fine with it, so…

"Nah." Naruto laughed. "She said she'd rather sleep than deal with this sort of cheesy thing."

"Did you want anything?" Sakura asked, sitting down to his right.

"Not really, no." He smiled softly, looking at her. She averted her eyes.
Karin sat down to his left and Ino in between his legs, her back resting against his chest, sinking
into him. Karin snuggled against him and he wrapped an arm around Sakura. She stiffened… but
got closer.

"Tomorrow is the last day." Naruto said. "Outside, I mean."

"Worried…?" Ino asked.

"I think I'll be fine." He said with a smile. "Are you?"

"Yes." Karin answered.

"Sure." Ino nodded.

"…Kinda." Sakura admitted.

"Even you…?" Naruto asked.

She huffed. "Do you think I'm some sort of sociopathic… wall?"

Naruto pretended to think about it and she punched his shoulder with a laugh.

"Well, we don't know what tomorrow brings." She said with a seemingly casual shrug.

"That's true. We don't." Naruto smiled. "It's part of the fun, I guess. Never found a real answer."

"Well, does it matter…?" Karin huffed. "I know what I want from tomorrow, anyway."

"Oh…? Pray tell." Ino grinned.

"Well I want to spend it with all of you, of course."

"Aw. My heart's going to melt." Ino laughed. Her eyes were crinkling up, though.

"What can I say?" Karin grinned too. "I just love you guys."

Ino laughed in delight.

"I love you girls too." Naruto said with a small grin.

Karin and Ino snuggled closer.

"Well, aren't you coming, Forehead?" Ino asked with a frown.

Sakura snorted. "He does not mean this kind of love—"

"He does, though." Karin weighed in.

Sakura froze. Ino continued, with a darkly amused gleam in her eyes. Naruto rolled his eyes,
knowing what was coming.

"You'd rather spend years watching from the sidelines rather than admitting that he loves you."

"…Loves me?" Sakura repeated numbly. "Nah, it's… uh. Not like this."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Ino, don't be so pushy. What would your mother think, if she knew you
were roping people into joining a harem?"
"Don't bring my mother into this. And it's not a harem!" She said hotly.

"Okay, Hanabi, whatever helps you sleep at night." Naruto chuckled.

"It's my harem." Karin contested.

"Mine, if you must insist." Ino shot back.

"Oh yeah...? Didn't really see you act so bossy yesterday—"

"Shut up!"

"…Love?" Sakura repeated.

"And you made Sakura short-circuit, on top of it." Karin chided. "After all this."

"Love?" Sakura mumbled.

"…What else do you call it?" Ino rolled her eyes.

Sakura looked at Naruto for an answer.

"…Is this the truth?" She asked softly.

Naruto shot Ino an exasperated look. Then he turned back to Sakura and his gaze softened.

"I do love you, yes." He said easily, as though he were talking about the weather.

Sakura looked like a deer. One that didn't belong to the Nara, and that found itself in front of a
particularly hungry Akimichi.

"…Does this really come to you as a surprise?" Naruto's brows furrowed.

"…Kinda, yeah." Sakura muttered. "I thought you…"

"You were not the only emotionally stunted person in the group, dear." Ino snorted, looking at
Naruto.

He ignored her, because he had gotten much better at the feeling stuff, anyway. Shit-stirrer.

"What did you think I thought of you — besides being my dear friend, I mean…?" Naruto frowned.

"That I was a good right hand woman… — a trusted lieutenant — A useful weapon — I don't
know?" Sakura muttered.

"Well, perish the thought, then." Naruto grinned. "Though of course, we're just talking about
feelings here. I don't expect anything to change. You're my friend, before anything."

"Oh, poor of you." Sakura deadpanned, regaining some of her bluster. "Only two… three
women…? How will you manage, I wonder?"

"I shall keep a tight hold on my ravenous lusts, of course." Naruto said very seriously.

"Shut your whore mouth." Ino glared at him. "You were definitely not complaining."

"Yeah, what she said." Karin added, rolling her eyes.

"Besides." Ino began. "She loves you too."

"I think you better stop it here." Sakura hissed dangerously. "What did I tell you about reading my
thoughts?"

"Stop broadcasting." Ino deflected. Not that it meant anything at this point, she was basically a
magnet.

"How I feel is none of your—" Sakura continued.

"I knew already." Naruto admitted.

Sakura's mouth slammed shut. She alternated between glaring at him and Ino. Karin hid a chuckle,
out of politeness.

"What?" Naruto asked, throwing his hands in the air. "I'm not half as blind as I was before."

"Prove it, you ass." Sakura grunted.

Naruto gave her a dry look.

"Sure. Now, I can't pretend I'm an expert—

"See?" Sakura jumped on her way out.

"—But I noticed a few things. The way you're asking about the future sometimes, when you used
to not give a single shit about that earlier, past the next contract."

"Hmpf." Sakura scoffed. "This means nothing. I'm just more optimistic."

"I know." Naruto nodded. "But you asked what I thought about kids, too."

"…Out of curiosity. I hate kids."

"Fair enough. You don't just stare at my body anymore. That was earlier on, and more of a tell for
lust, anyway."

"…Yeah, that was just lust." She nodded quickly.

"I meant that you were gazing into my eyes a lot instead, now."

"…"

"You're more selfless, and trying to accommodate more for me specifically."

"Last time I let you pick the dinner spot." Sakura grumbled and Ino laughed. "Besides, you're the
boss. Of course I try—"

"You laugh when I laugh. Even when I'm not particularly funny."

"...I have a very intellectual sense of humor."

"You actually talk about how you feel with me. You share more with me than you do with Ino — I
know because she tells me everything that's not private private."

"Hey!" Ino interrupted. "In the Yamanaka clan, we used to believe in openness! Don't use it against
me!"
"Are we in the Yamanaka clan…?" Karin mused.

"Did I mention that you're more optimistic lately…?" Naruto continued, unimpeded. "And that's
not just a friendship thing in this case, I'm pretty sure."

"All the… good vibes in Umi are getting to me."

"We're not even in Umi. You took care of me when I was feverish, with the others."

Sakura stiffened. "It was a nice thing to do."

"I wasn't as unconscious as you thought I was." Naruto said with a fond smile. "But those were
very sweet words. I wouldn't have expected them from you."

Sakura turned cherry red.

"Aw, fuck…" She muttered.

Sakura avoided looking at Karin's cheery smile and Ino's amused grin.

"Make me some space, then, you lunk." Sakura mumbled, wiggling closer against him.

He could feel her smile against his chest, and the way she wrapped her arm tightly around him.

"...No fucking though, thank you." She said at last.

"I can be patient."

"Asshole."

Konoha.

Sasuke sat with Hinata, on top of the Hokage monument.

They were not the only ones here, far from it. But there was enough room for it to still feel
intimate. He knew that Shisui and Itachi were standing somewhere, talking in low tones, as well.

Hinata was really starting to show, now.

Sasuke looked at Hinata through the glow of the lamps people had brought here. She was smiling
softly, as always, but he could see the worry in her eyes. She didn't voice it, not tonight.

Hinata was looking at the stars through the light of Konoha, but Sasuke couldn't muster the will to
look away from her.

"Do I have something on my face, maybe…?" She asked demurely.

"No." Sasuke said with a small smile.

"I didn't ask before…" Hinata began. "Because you seemed pretty happy to see me. Not that I'm
complaining."

Sasuke chuckled. For Hinata, he had been gone for a day or two. For him, it had been months. Of
course he might have seemed overenthusiastic.

"You want to know about Hanabi, right?"

"Yes." Hinata smiled. "How is she…?"

"Strong." Sasuke laughed. "I don't mean just physically. More like... herself again, I would say.
More mature, though."

"Ah." Hinata breathed out.

"…That's good." She added softly. "Did she look… happy?"

"Yes." Sasuke nodded.

A wide smile stretched upon Hinata's lips. She looked radiant, under the moonlight. He felt
something in his heart clench.

"I was hoping we could meet." Hinata mused. "All three of us. Once this is over."

Once this is over.

Sasuke didn't dare voice his own fears. There was no need for that tonight. She saw it.

"Sasuke, we're all with you. Itachi. Shisui. Hanabi. If I could have come…" She let the words hang
in the air. "Everything will work itself out."

"Yeah. Yeah… You're right."

He embraced her.

Uzushiogakure Coast.

Hyūga Hizashi set off.

The chill of the night didn't really get to him; he walked toward his destination.

The fortress in the sky. His eyes saw through the darkness, for he was Hyūga.

He walked over the sea for a long while; until he was close to Uzushiogakure. For a ninja like him,
it wasn't that hard.

Close enough that he knew he would be seen. He didn't know where Neji was exactly, but he was
sure that he would find him.

Hizashi waited.

Something yanked him up, and soon he was rising through the air.

The next moments were confusing, and he thought he went through a barrier.

He met a man, but had no memory of it.

When Hizashi found himself on his feet again, he was in the middle of a white palace. He was
terrified, even though he wouldn't say it. Every step felt as though he was crawling through water.

Even the sound his footsteps made in the wide, echoing hallways sounded too loud to him. But he
had been brought up.

The entire building was white, covered in intricate markings that he couldn't even begin to guess
the meaning of. The vaulted ceilings were so high that the place felt open, almost.

There was a staircase leading up on one end of the room. It led to a gigantic door. One that he
knew he could not push open, from its sheer weight.

He could barely see through the walls, laden as they were with chakra.

But he didn't have to.

The doors pushed themselves open, silently and smoothly. It was not a human hand guiding them,
this much was clear. Footsteps echoed. Hizashi knew who it was, of course. It might have been
years, but what man couldn't recognize his own son?

"Neji…" He called.

"Father." Neji replied evenly. "Nagato brought you up."

A shiver went down Hizashi's spine.

Neji went down the stairs and stood in front of him. His son had grown strong, he could see that
much. He was standing proud; tall and broad-shouldered.

His forehead was bare.

Would he have had the chance to grow like this had he stayed in Konoha…?

Likely not.

"Why have you come?" Neji asked, shaking his head. "You will die. There was no need for it."

"You know why I came, don't you?"

"I do wish I didn't."

"You're still my son, Neji."

Neji let out a small laugh.

"Of course." He nodded slowly. "Your son."

"You are."

"You always had such a strange way of showing it."

"And I am sorry for it. But you are my son and I love you dearly—"

These were the wrong words to say.

"How could you let your brother do this to someone you love?" Neji pointed at his now bare
forehead.

"…There was no other choice." Hizashi shook his head. Neji was about to retort angrily. "But I
understand your feelings, my son."

"Oh, do you?"

Hizashi gave him a pained smile. "More than anyone."

Neji spat. "Of course. You know what it feels like to be surrounded by people you hate. People
that can kill you with a single seal."

"…Do you hate me, Neji?" Hizashi asked.

"I did." Neji admitted. "For not doing more. For stepping aside and letting your son be branded."

"Not anymore?" Hizashi asked, afraid of the hope he felt blooming in his chest.

"No. Or not really, at least."

Hizashi shook his head. "I can still see the resentment in you."

Neji smiled blandly. "I'm afraid that this won't change."

"I wouldn't expect it to."

"What are you hoping to do here?" Neji asked.

"I wanted to talk to my son."

He moved toward Neji.

"I don't think your son has anything to say to you. If you leave now, perhaps I can convince Nagato
to let you go."

Hizashi held a scroll out to him. Neji's Byakugan activated and his face tightened.

"There won't be any need for that." Hizashi said. "It is a tool to use against Nagato."

It was worthless, and he realized it. If Nagato really had let him go through...

"You came here… hoping I would betray him…?"

"Nagato is a madman. He will destroy everything."

"Maybe he is, and maybe he will. And maybe that's the point. Maybe the current world is not
worth saving, if it breeds things like the Hyūga's traditions."

Silence.

Neji refused the weapon Konoha had created.

"It was naive of you." His son said. "And your pathetic weapon would never have worked against
Nagato, anyway. Maybe against Hyūga or Uchiha, it would have. It that's the best this Shinobi
Alliance has to offer, I'm sorry to say, but you've already lost."

It had just been Konoha.

"Neji… Will you leave here with me?"

A small smile stretched upon Neji's lips.

"Is this your idea of a joke?"

"Neji—"
"It's too late." Neji shook his head. "It has been too late for years."

"Then come with me." Hizashi tried desperately. "We could just leave, together. You and I."

The old, familiar anger came back to life on Neji's face.

"…Why now? Why didn't you ask this sooner?" He spat. "You had more than ten years to do so."

"And it is a mistake I will regret for the rest of my life."

Neji breathed out, centered himself; when he spoke, his tone was even again.

"…If you truly mean this, then join us." He extended his hand. "Nagato will remove your Seal, and
we can bring about a new, better world. He won't care about what you tried to do."

Hizashi looked at Neji's hand.

He thought of what this would mean. Of Akatsuki's plans.

"I'm sorry Neji… But I can't do that."

"Then we are enemies." His face closed off again. "We will see each other when we come for
Konoha, if our demands aren't met. Leave. I will try to—"

"I am not leaving here without you."

Neji froze. His hand was so tight that his knuckles were whitening.

"Why can't you simply understand…?" He muttered. "I won't betray Akatsuki. I won't leave with
you. The entire shinobi system is rotten to the core. I can't stand by and do nothing. Running away
with you would have been a nice dream. Once."

"Neji… I can't let you do this, either." He said.

"So you will fight for Konoha, then…?"

"Yes." Hizashi admitted tightly.

"…You really haven't changed at all."

His fury was obvious.

"Can't you see I'm trying to protect you?" Hizashi gritted out. "You are a criminal, Neji. I shouldn't
even—"

Neji stood silent.

"To protect me…?" He asked. "So you think this is mercy? Like what you said about me learning
my place when I was a kid?"

"That's not—"

"I've heard enough. Stop."

Hizashi shook his head. "I can't. Konoha—"

That was a mistake. He shouldn't have said that, and he knew it.
Neji blurred, wreathed in lightning. His hand struck Hizashi. A perfect heart strike.

He spat blood. He was not entirely surprised.

Hizashi looked at his son's face one last time. Neji was crying.

Hizashi felt the sharp pain in his chest and tasted warm blood. He struggled to breathe.

But he wasn't afraid.

On his forehead, he knew the Caged Bird Seal was fading.

 Fire, Smoke, Water

The Last Day. Uzushiogakure's shores.

The sun rose slowly on the silent coast.

The cities in the Eastern Land of Fire had been evacuated, and the only people here were ninja.
There was no way Nagato didn't see the gathering troops from up there, no matter how far they
were from the flying citadel.

"The operation begins at noon." Naruto confirmed.

Ao, Mei's commander-in-chief, nodded. "Our ships will be deployed in the Eastern Ocean."

"We'll be on standby, then." Naruto nodded.

"The artillery bombing will begin as soon as Kiri is in place." Kitsuchi, from Iwa, confirmed. His
words were clipped, and his eyes were furious. This was a man who hadn't forgiven Umi's role in
his daughter's death.

"Understood. As said, we will fly in from below and disable any barriers or weapons we can."

"So. Tell me." Sasuke asked Naruto.

"Yes…?"

Sasuke hesitated.

"Umi… It's safe, right?"

Naruto shrugged. "We try to make it so, yes."

"…Has anyone ever breached the barrier…?"

Naruto thought about it. Shachi would be able to pass through — possibly had already, according
to Karin's 'dream'. Then again, she had no ill intent against the place. And if he had found a way to
contact her, he would have done so today.

"No." Naruto shook his head. "Nobody with any ill intent did, as of yet."

"I see." Sasuke said slowly. "I have come to believe Konoha is not as safe as I previously thought."

"…It's a pretty dark place, too, I've heard." Naruto said wryly.

The Uchiha let the ghost of a smile appear on his face.

"Then again, if Nagato manages to learn of Umi's location…" Naruto said evenly.

"He won't destroy it." Sasuke shook his head. "Not with both the Raikage and the Seven-Tails'
jinchūriki around."

"I agree." Naruto nodded.

Sasuke then did something that took Naruto by surprise entirely.

"In this case, I implore you. Send a clone to Konoha. Take Hinata to Umi. Keep her safe, until we
manage to get all of this fixed. Protect Hinata and our twins."

Could've told me way earlier. Considering how tight the village's security is going to be today, it's
going to be a pain in the ass.

"Don't implore me." Naruto rolled his eyes. "…She won't be too happy about it, if she's anything
like Hanabi."

"She… She will understand." Sasuke didn't sound too convinced.

"…You explain this shit to her, then. Write something at least. Anybody else…?"

"No. My mother insists on fighting."

The strike team assembled.

All nine of them were wearing identical armors. Clinging tight to their bodies, they were
reinforced, fiber-based suits. They could use chakra to increase protection for the wearers and
absorb part of incoming ninjutsu. Over it, they wore the latest version of the Cloak of Shifting.

"I'm… kind of nervous." Karin admitted.

"You're thinking too hard." Sakura grinned. It was obvious this was bluster though.

"Only because someone is not thinking hard enough." Ino supplied helpfully.

"Leave Naruto out of this." Hanabi frowned.

Naruto shot her an unimpressed look.

"Who do you think coordinated the whole thing…?"

"Nara Shikaku?" Hanabi went for an innocent look.

He chuckled. "Fair enough. But I wasn't going to bother with the actual coordination. That's what
underlings are for."

"Underlings, huh." Sasuke growled. "Is that what you think we are, as well?"

"I would never dare."

"Enough. Don't run yourselves ragged before we are up there." Itachi cut them off.

"Are you talking to anyone in particular…?" Sasuke asked him with a frown.

"…I wouldn't dare." Itachi said. Naruto hid a chuckle.

"The ships are almost in place." Anko said, looking at the horizon. "Are you ready to go?"

"Does it matter?" Karin asked with a grunt. "We're going either way."

"Objective's simple. Get in, find the Gedō Mazō, stop the fortress, kill all remaining Akatsuki
members. Not necessarily in this order."
Anko put her hand in the middle of them.

"…What are you doing?" Sakura asked.

"It's a Sannin thing." Anko answered. "It's a team hand-stack. Good for camaraderie, teamwork…
all that shit."

"So?" Naruto asked.

"If it's good enough for Sensei, it's good enough for you." Anko glared at Naruto.

With a sigh, he put his own hand above hers. Sakura slapped his. Karin put hers above it, followed
by Ino and Hanabi.

Sasuke did so with a shrug; Itachi with a long-suffering sigh.

One man was missing, though. Anko gave Shisui a pressing look and with a sigh, he put his hand
with the rest of them.

Naruto made a whip cracking sound with his tongue. It echoed loudly and Shisui glared at him,
harshly.

Naruto cleared his throat. "Now that you're finally full-fledged, real shinobi, things will only
become more difficult—"

"We're not fucking Umi ninja." Sasuke groaned.

"Today, it's pretty much the same thing." He grinned. "Grow strong and wise, young seashells."

When Naruto's face turned to stone, so did theirs.

"Get ready. Whatever happens, Nagato must die."

They limbered up and got ready.

Nagato's voice boomed across the land.

"I am Uzumaki Nagato. My demands have not been met yet and your… armies stand
gathered below me. The destruction shall begin soon. First here… then the Villages."

Naruto's clones gave the order to fire.

Explosions shook the ground.

The air became alive with light. On the Iwa — mixed with Konoha, Kumo and Suna shinobi —
side, men loaded up the long-range artillery. Chakra was heavy in the air. The weapons were
camouflaged using both seals and illusions.

The roar of cannon fire echoed and the air became acrid with smoke and mist as well. A bitter
smoke, one that painted every face in dark shadows.

It was not fear though; not yet.

In the seas, Kiri's navy began their assault as well. Water jutsu, wind and lightning combined with
shelling.

Faces were not much paler, not much more flushed. They were not more tense… and yet they
looked different.

With the beginning of the fight came a promise.

With the horns of war came a tense watching, a strange sharpening of the senses.

Bodies and minds were bound together; full alertness.

There was a shimmer of ominous light around Uzushiogakure.

"Time to go!" The real Naruto called.

All nine of them shot into the air, spreading.

Three Susanoo shimmered into existence. Pink, red and green giants of light and chakra.

With a burst of power, the spectral shapes scattered, each of them flying upward, thrumming with
power.

The noon clouds began to glow red, yellow and blue, reflecting the enormous fireballs that rose in
the sky, as well as the jutsu that erupted down below.

Putting his eyes firmly forward, and ignoring the knot in his chest, Naruto and his team blurred
forward, rising above the seas. The rushing winds made him squint his eyes, and he knew the
others must have been feeling the same way.

It was not even the middle of the day, but the chakra, the thunder in the air made the air dark and
heavy.

Like a cloudy autumn evening, where the skies shone orange; forlorn.

On the coast.

Tenten tried to keep her mind on the target, even as the heat started to become too much to bear.

Iwa's artillery was powerful. And wasteful, too. Too much chakra was needed to operate them over
such a long distance, and a large amount of it just turned to pure heat.

If she had it her way…

Sweat trickled down her face, and she wiped her eyes with her sleeve. There was nothing she could
do here but load more weapons, ensure they were not jammed, shoot.

Lee and Gai-sensei had been sent elsewhere, along with some of the allied forces.

And she knew that Neji was up there, somewhere. Fighting for the opposite side.

But she couldn't focus on something like this, right now. Now when they had a seemingly
unbreachable fortress to breach.

None of the projectiles seemed to do anything. Whatever barrier ninjutsu the Akatsuki were using,
it was definitely working. Projectiles broke apart once they reached, and jutsu simply faded away,
once close to Uzushiogakure.

Was this something Nagato had done, or was it what the Uzumaki clan had done beforehand…?

All of it, whether talking about Nagato himself, or his now mostly-gone clan, was shrouded in
myth. The only Uzumaki she could say she had known, if barely, was Naruto.

And it was hard to think this polite young boy was the one currently flying straight toward the
danger. The one who was commanding the divisions, with clones in several places at once. The
one that had killed two of Konoha's strongest shinobi.

And—

White creatures began to emerge from the beach.

"What the hell?!" Someone roared.

"They're coming!"

Men started to rush toward them, weapons drawn.

But Tenten could see that this was not it. Some shinobi were fighting among themselves, as well.
They had been warned about the Zetsu, shape-shifting creatures.

"Call for the sensors!" Somebody screamed. "Gather them!"

The air was heavy with tension, and blazing fire from the fighting.

Bodies littered the ground, some from the treacherous white creatures, some from the explosives,
the poisons they were carrying. The sky seemed painted red from here, crackling and burning with
a constant roar.

The smells were something she would unfortunately not forget, she knew.

Tenten saw a man stagger up, face and beard bloody, followed by another of these shape-shifters.
Her blade flew and struck true.

The bearded man died, all the same.

An explosion pushed her away, and when she slowly rose up, her ears were ringing.

Ah.

There were men running toward her, and she had a feeling they were not coming to help her.

Lightning struck, seemingly from the sky.

Tenten could not figure where it was coming from. She could only stare in horrified amazement at
the ongoing chaos.

How did it happen so suddenly?

Something pushed Tenten, and she fell again. Only then did she realize a blade was flying through
the air, where she had been one moment ago.
There was a crackle of thunder, and a man fell dead.

"You're Lee's teammate, aren't you? I remember you." A deep voice said.

Tenten looked up. She met ringed purple eyes, and they were glowing.

"Uzumaki-san…?" She hesitated. "Aren't you supposed to—"

"Hmpf. No need to be so formal. And I'm simply a clone."

A dozen of men turned toward him right away. Tenten understood they were not who they seemed
to be, right away. Naruto's eyes roamed over the battlefield, seemingly ignoring them.

"Uzumaki-san, they are not—"

"I know."

His chakra erupted, lightning flared and they all fell dead. Charred bodies piled up, wherever he
went. Tenten's eyes were fixed on Naruto's back.

A great sense of inadequacy welled up inside Tenten. The amounts of chakra that washed over her
made her heart race with terror. This was a clone?

Naruto's clone continued to scan the beach, lightning flaring at his fingertips and shooting off with
terrifying precision.

Above them, the sky itself seemed to crackle and burn as shinobi continued to hurl their might
against the immovable white city that hung under the clouds.

And then the fortress itself started to fire back.

The coastline became a place of smoke, mayhem and death.

Or rather, even more so.

Lightning broke the air.

Beams of orange and blue light shot forward from Uzushio, destroying the Iwa force's projectiles
before they even reached.

When they reached the coastline, they turned sand and dirt to glass.

Thunder from the sky; rumble from the earth.

The armies switched to chakra-absorbing shells, of which the designs had been supplied by Umi, to
even the odds.

They continued their assault, still, and soon the air was too full of smoke for most shinobi to even
see through.

Clouds of flame shoot up, explosions rose, in the air this time.

The earth burst, splinters flew; more men and women died. The dull thuds mixed with the crashes
of the explosive roars.
There was pain and there was terror; a song of fire, finding flesh as it swept outward.

A man glided out of the fortress.

At least, Ao thought it was a man. He could see the oceans of chakra that swirled around him, too
large to be contained in a mere human body.

The man-shaped end dropped from the sky like a boulder, until he was halfway between Kiri's navy
and the land forces.

Ao saw even more and more chakra gather within him, until looking in his general direction hurt.

A shiver went up his spine, and Ao forgot how to breathe.

Uzumaki Nagato raised both hands.

One felt as though it faced Ao directly.

The other was aimed at the coast.

So, was this how Kumo had ended…?

Chakra coalesced around Nagato like a wave of flame and power. He uttered two words.

"Shinra Tensei!"

A wall of pressure.

Several people had moved the moment Nagato had appeared, quick as lightning.

A blond man came to stand in between the god in the sky and Kiri's navy. The same words came
out of his lips.

"Shinra Tensei!"

The pink, red and green chakra-clad giants fell in front of the land troops.

"Shield of Shukaku!"

"Yata Mirror."

"Deity and Beast Reflection."

Light bloomed, chakra flared. Power that seemed so far beyond human.

The pressure abated.

And the end didn't come.

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