Ah yes, this opportunity was truly too good to pass up. Who would of thunk, an idea that can make an actual NarutoXKonan fic work. Damn!
Anyways, Ninja will be up soon 'I hope' and changes will be made. Hooray for changes! *confetti flies everywhere*… ah, yeah anyways, on with the story
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
XXXXXX
The words reverberated throughout the room, silencing everyone there. A simple five words that surprised one of the most powerful ninja alive.
Nagato was absolutely shocked. He wouldn't kill him! After all he did to his village! There was no way anyone was that forgiving. He still couldn't believe the moment…
Flashback
Nagato watched as Naruto pulled out a raggedy, torn up book from his jacket, and he could see from the corner of his eye the title. 'The Legend of the Gutsy Ninja'. Naruto looked down at the book for a few seconds and became saddened at the memory of Jiraiya. He stayed looking down at the book while he said," … I think you're right."
Nagato was shocked for a bit, before he replied,"… Really?"
Naruto's face took on an angry visage, although he was still looking at the ground, and replied, saying," I understand you. But I still can't forgive you… I still hate you."
Nagato simply replied," Then let's finish this."
"But," he said, surprising Nagato and Konan," That Ero-Sennin believed in me. So I… will believe in what he believed in. That's my answer."
Nagato just stayed in his same spot, not moving, not even breathing along with Konan.
"So… I won't kill you."
Flashback End
Such an answer shook him to the very core, and only reaffirmed the decision he was about to make.
"Is that so?" he said.
"Yeah. I won't kill you. Ero-Sennin wouldn't have wanted me too," Naruto replied, with all the conviction in the world.
"I see. I'm sorry Naruto, but I can't let you," he replied, confusing Naruto and Konan.
"Can't let me what?" Naruto asked.
"Not kill me," he replied, surprising both Konan and Naruto.
"Nagato what are you-," Nagato cut her off, by communicating telepathically.
'Trust me. I have a plan,' he told her.
She calmed down, although she was still wary.
"Come on Naruto, come, and stab me right here. In the heart," he said, motioning to his chest with his head.
Naruto looked down for a few seconds, and seemed to shake after a while, but he finally looked up, with a determination in his eye.
"No way! Killing you isn't the way to peace. It'll only bring more pain!" he said, doing a stabbing motion to his chest, to emphasize his point.
"I'm sorry Naruto, but your wrong, killing me is the only way to bring peace," Nagato said.
"No! I'd be just like the ninja's who killed your parents. Killing you is not the only way to bring peace. It isn't any way to bring it!" Naruto exclaimed, slightly flailing his arms around.
"No Naruto. There is a man. His name is Uchiha Madara. Right now, he is the most powerful man in the world, including me, or you. This man, with his devilish eyes, can control me. Even though my eyes are more powerful than his, he's just so much stronger. He's on an entirely different level than me. That's makes his eyes, which should be inferior to mine, more powerful than mine. I wouldn't be able to stop him," Nagato said, making Naruto's eyes widen at the remark that he was on an entirely different level than Nagato's.
"We'll fight him together, then! With my help, we can defeat Madara, and stop him from taking control!" Naruto yelled in desperation.
Nagato seemed to sigh, before he brought his head down, and started speaking," I'm sorry Naruto, but this," he said, while taking his arms out of his metal gauntlets, showing more chakra receptors, and bringing his hands into a ram seal," Is the only way I see peace…"
Naruto recognized that a Genjutsu was about to be cast, and was about to turn on Sage/Kyuubi mode, but it was too late. He was enraptured by the genjutsu, and his body fell limp, but still stood.
After a few moments, Naruto simply looked up, with an emotionless mask on his face, and then pulled out a kunai. He started walking forward, slowly and methodically, almost like a robot, Naruto's antithesis. He finally got right in front of Nagato, and looked up at his taller, grotesque visage, and with his eyes, tried to pry something out of him. Nagato's face belied nothing. However on the inside, Nagato thought,' It's amazing, his willpower. I have him under a powerful ninjutsu-genjutsu, but is still able to control his thoughts, and some of his body, even though I control most of it.'
Naruto finally crouched down, and jumped up onto a ledge on Nagato's strange machine. He slowly, ever so slowly, pulled back a worn kunai, tattered from months of fighting, and stopped when his arm was against his chest. Naruto seemed to shake again for a few seconds, before he pulled his head up again, and looked at him straight in the eyes. He stayed in that position for an eternity it seemed, before he brought the kunai forward. Even though Naruto was swinging with all his might, the kunai seemed to only inch forward, barely moving. Even though it felt like forever, in less than one second, Naruto brought his kunai forward, and finally, stabbed Nagato straight through the heart. Blood gushed out of the wound, even though there was a kunai embedded in his heart, blood seemed to crack out the seams.
Naruto was just about to jump down, but he suddenly felt an enormous pain shoot through every inch in his body. He felt like screaming, but most of his body, including his vocal cords, was still controlled by Nagato. He looked at Rinnengan master, and saw him with his eyes open, using his… Rinnengan. He was wondering what was going on, but Nagato spoke to him, still not answering his unsaid question.
"I'm sorry, Naruto, but this is necessary. Don't worry, you won't die."
Naruto just stood there, with Konan looking on in wonder, before he started feeling weak. Slowly but surely, he started slipping into unconsciousness. Aftera few more seconds, his arms and legs went slack, and he fell to the ground, sprawling across the floor, also leaving the kunai imbedded in Nagato's chest.
"Nagato!" Konan exclaimed, now that Naruto was unconscious," What the hell are you doing!"
He looked at her for a few seconds, and with the face of a man that knew he was going to die, gave Konan a sad smile.
"I'm erasing his me-," he hacked spitting up some blood," memory. It's necessary for what needs to happen. He can't have ties to Konoha, for now. He's probably the only o-" he coughed again," one that can do this, the thing that I was originally going to do. You know what I'm talking about, Konan," He finished, coughing a few more times at the end, and making Konan's eyes widen in realization.
"You don't mean…?" she asked, leaving the question in the air, but Nagato knew what she was talking about.
"Yes. Now, I only have five more minutes before he wakes up, before I destroy his memory, and alter his appearance."
She looked at him quizzically, then asked," A henge? With his task, he will need ninja skills, and he'll be able to recognize he is under a genjutsu."
He looked at her, before answering," No, it's Kinjutsu. It's one that will drain my life force. It works better when I'm dying, a lot better. I would die anyways from the amount of changes I'm going to do to him. Now go. You should be able to find out where I'll set him. Just try and memorize his chakra signature before you leave."
She looked at him, face emotionless, before looking at Naruto, and then calmly and wordlessly walked out of her paper tree, taking the tree with her.
Nagato looked after her for a few seconds, before turning and looked at Naruto. Then, suddenly he opened his Rinengan enhanced eyes, and got to work on changing his state and memory. Naruto's azure eyes flew open, but it was obvious he was still unconscious, even with his eyes open. Then his eyes started to change, they seemed to become a rainbow of colors, before it settled on one. Gray. Nagato let Naruto's eyes close for a second, before he looked at Naruto's whisker marks, and created a new skin layer above his fox like birthmarks, removing them. Naruto's mouth then opened, and Nagato shortened his teeth, and made them a little duller than before. He now looked exactly like the Yondaime, his father, with the exception of his gray eyes. So he added two permanent scars, one, that stretched across from the left, all the way to the right, and across the bridge of his nose. He added one more on his right side, one that went straight from the middle of his forehead, across the middle of his eye, crossed with the other scar, and went down to right below his nostrils, making it look like, with both scars combined, that he had a large cross, that was laying on it's side.
He was now done with Naruto's new visage. He then searched out for Konan's chakra signature, and with the last of his chakra, teleported Naruto, with an internal message in his mind, to a clearing near her. He then waited. Waited for his death. It would seem that God was merciful that day, because soon, he became numb, allowing him to not feel any… pain. Such an irony.
And on this day, Nagato, Pein, former Destined Child, God, Leader of Akatsuki, Leader of Amegakure, and most importantly, friend of Uzumaki Naruto, died.
XXXXXX
Everything was a haze. He looked down, and his body was blurry, and his entire existence was… faded. He looked around, searching for signs of anybody being there. All he saw was white backdrop. After searching for a few minutes, he heard a voice.
"Hello," the voice said, making him spin around, his vision cleared the second he heard the voice. There, standing in front of him was a grotesque figure. It's skin was gray, and stretched out, revealing the bones within. The body was held up, and stretched out, by a large machine, gray as the figure's skin. There were large mechanical bracers on each arm, reaching up to the figure's… elbows he presumed. It had red hair that reached down to its chin, though the hair was parted, so he could see its eyes, which had a pupil, and several irises. After examining it for a few seconds the figure spoke.
"I bet you are wondering who I am, where are you, what you are doing here. And also, even if you search your memory as hard as you can, you cannot remember anything."
His eyes widened. He had not thought of that. He tried to search his memory banks, but he couldn't remember anything from before this time. He spoke.
"Yes, that's right. Who are you?"
The figure replied," My name is Nagato. And to answer those other questions, you are in your mind, and you are here to be granted information. The reason that you cannot access your memory banks, is because I erased them."
He suddenly became angry, and asked," Why? Why did you erase my memory! And now that I think about it, who am I? What am I?"
"I am afraid I cannot answer that first question," Nagato answered," but I can answer the other two. You are a human. But you are also more than that. You are a ninja. Humans with exceptional powers to change landscapes, run extremely quick, and break the minds of men in mere seconds. I am here to give you information vital to your mission. You will need to be strong to complete this. And also, before you ask, I am dead; there will be no reason to seek me out."
"Why should I do anything for you?" he asked, slightly startled by the last statement.
"Because, if you do, I will tell you your name." Nagato replied.
He suddenly was quiet. He looked at Nagato for a few seconds, before sighing, and
saying," Alright, I'll complete your mission."
Nagato quickly replied," You will find out. Now come over here, and touch my face. I will give you your power back."
He looked at him for a few seconds, before walking over to Nagato, climbing on his machine, and touching his face. After a few seconds, there was a burst of chakra, and he was sent flying back a few feet. He didn't ask any questions, only one not pertaining to what just happened to him.
"Alright," he said," what's my name?"
"Your name…" he said, trailing off. Nagato looked at him for a few seconds, before finally replying," Your name is…"
"Yahiko."
XXXXXX
She was walking through the forest, pondering on what Nagato had done, and why he had passed his duty on to Naruto. Though, Naruto probably had a new name by now. It was probably something like Nanashi, for irony. Her contemplative state didn't last long, as she felt a large chakra expulsion, and then reaching out, she felt an insanely high chakra signature. Feeling a bit more, she recognized it as Naruto's chakra signature. She quickly became paper, and started flying over to his position.
In two minutes, she was there, and she saw him, sprawled out on the ground, as though he was dead. She quickly noticed that he did not have whisker marks anymore, and he had two scars on his face that resembled a cross lying on its side. If he didn't have those scars, he would look exactly on the side. It was also very good at hiding his identity, as the Jinchuuriki didn't get scars.
She walked over to his form and started shaking him, to wake him up. After a few moments of shaking, and that not working, she started handseals for a low level suiton jutsu. After slowly doing her handseals, she whispered the name of her underpowered jutsu.
"Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu," and a miniscule dragon materialized from the air, created from the water molecules in the air, and sent it to crash down on Naruto's face. When the water hit Naruto, there was no visible reaction, however, his eyes soon fluttered open, and she could see his eyes were gray, not blue, as they had been before. She squatted she got down on her knees, and looked at him. After a few moments she asked," Who are you?" feigning wonder.
Yahiko looked at the girl, and searched his minute memory, and remembered that the man called him… Yahiko.
"I am… Yahiko," he said, starting to look down and ponder.
Konan recoiled slightly in surprise. This is what Nagato named him? … A strange predicament. So either Nagato was being sentimental… or he was thinking of making her happy.
Yahiko looked up from the ground, and saw her slightly surprised expression," Why are you surprised? Do you have a brother named Yahiko?" he asked.
She was brought back to her senses by him speaking," Uh… No. I had very good friend named that, however…" she said trailing off, and looking off to the side, and slightly down.
All Yahiko did was grab her shoulder, making her head jerk up towards him," I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up bad memories," he said in a truly remorseful voice.
Konan calmed back down to an impasse, and noticed how even his personality had changed, his spirit had not. And even then, his personality really hadn't changed, except he wasn't loud anymore, which was probably only a defense mechanism to gain attention from the apathetic villagers in his childhood, and had probably ingrained it so much in his personality, he didn't know that it wasn't really him. She looked at Na-Yahiko, she told herself, as to ingrain it in her memory, and decided to ask him if he had a profession.
"It's alright… but I was wondering. Can you remember if you have a job, or some kind of profession?" she asked the unusual question.
He looked at her, wondering why she decided to ask such a strange query. He decided to tell her anyway," Yeah. I'm a Shinobi."
She nodded, knowing it would be a lot easier on her if he still knew how to be a ninja.
"Is that true? What a coincidence. I just so happen to be a Kunoichi. I'm a quite powerful one as well. S-ranked in the bingo books."
"Hmm… can you gauge how strong I am? Have you ever heard of a man named Nagato? He told me he was the one who destroyed my memory. He also said I killed him. Maybe he is a ninja too," he said, partly to himself.
"… No I'm afraid I haven't. Here, I'll take you into town. It's only a few miles away from here. They might have the newest copy of the bingo books. Come on," Konan said, wearing a semi-fake smile, and outstretching her hand. Yahiko looked at her hand for a few seconds, before grabbing it, and pulling himself, using most of his own strength to get up however, as he didn't want to pull the girl down.
After he was helped up, Konan jumped into the air, and Yahiko tracked her jumping into the trees. He looked at her, as if she were crazy, before he remembered his ninja training, and jumped into the trees as well.
Or at least he tried to.
Putting all too much chakra into his jump, he went soaring through the sky. Konan widened her eyes, and turned into her paper form to try and catch up. After a mile, he was still in the air, but he was starting to descend. When he finally lowered down to the canopy, he surprised her by landing on a branch, very near her, and she turned back into her human form, landing his tree branch.
He was about to jump again (with a lot less chakra), before he stopped himself and asked Konan a question.
"Umm… Konan, what's the bingo book?" he asked.
She almost face palmed. He may know how to be a ninja, but he doesn't know about them. Damn Nagato to hell for leaving that out. She answered," It's a book that has a large list of ninja in them, almost every single one. Quite a few of them are missing-ninja's."
He looked at her, for what seemed the thousandth time, and asked," Missing… ninja?"
She sighed again. She gave Yahiko a short lesson on ninja villages, before signaling with her hand to travel ahead.
This would either be hell, or the best time of her life. She definitely hoped… she thought about it for a second.
She definitely hoped it would be the former…
XXXXXX
Yay! I definitely like this idea. Though it may not really be new, I like the way I did it. And a cryptic at the end there, eh? And yes I do mean 'former' there. Not latter.
As you can see, this will make a truly workable NarutoXKonan pairing.
And his mission is kind of easy to guess, but, whatever.
And before you say that Nagato gave his knowledge back, as I said, Nagato only gave him the information on how to be a ninja, not about being a ninja.
So yeah.
