And I'm back with the second chapter of this story. It took a little longer than I would've preferred but I still think I got this done in a decent amount of time.
From what I could tell there were a good amount of you that are at least interested in what this story could become, and as a result I got 13 follows and 9 favorites and 1 review. Shout out to nayod78 for being the only one to review. You're a star. I hope this chapter makes the deal for you. I appreciate all of your guys (and gals) interest in this story and I hope you 'll stay with me to the end. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto the franchise or the person.
Tobi ascended the stairs of the highest tower in Amegakure. He needed to speak with Pein. The trajectory of his plans had been altered with Naruto's capture. He was aware that Itachi was assigned to capture him but he had expected him to fail purposefully. Tobi was not a fool; he knew that Itachi's allegiance still lay with Konoha. Which meant that Itachi had a plan that was even outside of Tobi's knowledge. He knew Itachi was a resourceful shinobi and should never be underestimated, yet it seems he did just that. But it did not matter; Tobi had a way of tipping things back in his favor and to get Naruto willingly to help him. All he had to do was plant a seed in Pein's mind.
Tobi arrived at the door at the tower's pinnacle to see the door already ajar. He stepped through into a dark room. There were two people present. The first was a woman. She wore the cloak signifying her membership in Akatsuki. Her hair was a striking blue, even in the dark. Atop her hair was a blue origami flower. Tobi could feel her amber eyes piercing him; it was clear she did not trust him. Tobi shifted his eyes to the other person in the room, the reason why he was here.
This was the man known as Pein, who calls himself a god. And yet here he was looking like a frail cripple, attached to a machine that he used to control his six Paths of Pein. Pein, or more accurately Nagato, had red hair, a dead giveaway to his heritage, but his most noticeable feature was his eyes. The Rinnegan eyes, the eyes that once belonged to Sage of the Six Paths.
"I knew you were coming, but you have not appeared before this body in quite some time. What is it that you want?" Pein asked.
"Naruto Uzumaki has been captured," Tobi replied.
"I already knew this, and we shall soon extract the Kyuubi from him. And then we will continue to hunt the rest of the tailed beasts," Pein said.
"He is not like the other Jinchuuriki. He will survive the extraction process," Tobi explained.
Pein and Konan's surprise could not be hid. "That's impossible," Konan protested. "The tailed beasts chakra bonds with the hosts upon sealing. That bond increases over time. Having a tailed beast extracted severs that bond and rips the chakra coils apart, which causes chakra to leak into the host's body, until it results in chakra poisoning and the host dies. A person could not survive that."
"Not true. Naruto hails from the Uzumaki clan; a clan known for their mastery of fuinjutsu and exceptional life force. He will survive the process."
"It does not matter, should he survive we will kill him. His purpose will have been served and he will no longer be needed," Pein said without hesitation.
"How cruel. Killing your own clan members. Even I did not think you would do such a thing," Tobi said with slight amusement in his voice.
"Do not play games with me," Pein said with an clear edge in his voice. "I do not come from a shinobi clan."
"You would think that, wouldn't you? It's understandable. But then if you think about it, if you came from nothing then what purpose was there in Konoha killing your parents? Was it just a byproduct of the harshness of war or was it something deeper?"
The silence that followed was thick. Tobi held Pein's curiosity in his hands and they both knew it.
"I'm sure you aware of an individual named Danzo?" Tobi asked.
Pein's eyes flashed. Danzo was the one who teamed with Hanzo and had Yahiko killed. His day of judgment was coming and there would be no forgiveness for him. And if what Tobi was insinuating had any truth to it then he would do more than pass judgment against Danzo, he would crush him with the full wrath of a god.
"When the Uzumaki village was destroyed there were a handful of the clan that was able to escape, your parents were among them and they went into hiding near Amegakure. Because of this Danzo feared that they would aid the enemy in their war effort so he had them killed. You might have joined them if not for the timely activation of your Rinnegan. Whether or not you believe me is of no consequence to me, but that boy will survive the extraction."
Having finished his explanation, Tobi turned and exited the way he came. Konan looked over at her partner. How would Nagato take this information? Would he let the boy live or deny what he heard and have him killed?
"What will you do?" Konan asked.
"The extraction will start tonight, if he does indeed survive then I will bring him before me," Pein stated.
3 Days Later
"Damn it, I thought you knew where she was," Sasuke said his irritation clear.
"I did, but believe it or not people don't always stay in the same place for long," Jiraiya responded his own irritation showing. "If I'm right here trajectory should have her in this town we are coming up to now."
"It better, it's been five days since Naruto was captured. If we don't hurry he could die soon."
The two had run nearly nonstop, stopping only to eat and sleep for a few hours before starting again. So far they had best they had been able to come up with was a few people who said they saw her and the general direction that she was heading in. But at the pace they were going they should overtake her soon. They ran for another hour in silence when Jiraiya suddenly spoke up.
"There's the town. Hopefully she's still here," Jiraiya said.
The town was relatively small. They were not many houses or attractions, however there were quite a few hotels and bars. It was clear that this town was not really geared towards long-term residence. But to its advantage it was strategically placed so that many people stopped to rest on their way to Tanzaku town.
As they always did, when entering a new town, they checked the nearest bar for Tsunade. But unfortunately she was not there. Sasuke leaned against the wall as Jiraiya spoke to the owner. This is how it always went, they would check the bar, she wouldn't be there, and Jiraiya would ask the owner if he'd seen her.
"This is such a waste of time. We should have gone after Itachi and Naruto first. Who knows what may have happened to Naruto. This woman better be worth it," Sasuke thought.
Jiraiya nodded to the owner before walking back over to Sasuke. He beckoned for the Uchiha to follow him. It was on to the next bar. Sasuke followed at a distance, after all this was Jiraiya's area of expertise. As they walked a chill passed down Sasuke's spine. He turned his gaze to his right. Someone was watching them? But this feeling, it felt familiar. Had he experienced it before? He was about to voice his concern when he bumped into a now stopped Jiraiya. A small bird had landed on his arm. Jiraiya pulled a small scroll off the bird's leg then let it fly off. Jiraiya's swept across the scroll before he pocketed it.
"We need to hurry, Itachi has been found," Jiraiya said.
"Where is he? Is Naruto still alive?" Sasuke asked urgently.
"He's not too far. He's only about two days away. And my contact could not confirm if Naruto was alive," Jiraiya said grimly. "Once we finish checking this town we are going after Naruto regardless if we find Tsunade."
Sasuke nodded. The Uchiha hung back slightly as the sage entered the next bar. Sasuke looked over his shoulder and flashed his Sharingan. There was a slight movement just outside of the line of buildings along the street. If he hadn't had his Sharingan activated he would have missed it, but he saw enough to confirm his suspicions. They were being followed. He couldn't tell by whom, but there were definitely strong. Sasuke hurried into the bar.
"Hey Jiraiya, did you find her?" he asked.
Jiraiya was currently staring at a blond woman. Sasuke looked at the woman questioningly. He had no idea what Tsunade looked like. All he knew was that she was a similar age to Jiraiya and was supposedly a strong shinobi who was an unrivaled medic. This was woman looked no older than Kakashi.
"Tsunade!" Jiraiya burst out.
"Jiraiya?!" Tsunade responded with equal volume and confusion.
"It's been a long time, hasn't it? Care to share a drink?" Jiraiya asked taking a seat at the table.
"I thought you said Tsunade was the same age as you? She looks too young," Sasuke said taking a seat next to the sage.
"Maybe I just age a really well," Tsunade said with a smirk.
Sasuke let his dojutsu activate. She had a veil of chakra covering her. She was a transformation technique unlike any he had seen before. It was permanent, but the amount of chakra required was negligible, especially if she was the legendary Sannin they were looking for, but the chakra control needed was unreal.
"An Uchiha," Tsunade observed. "I've met some of you in the past. Bunch of arrogant bastards; it's probably what got them all killed."
Sasuke glared at her. "Well I don't see any of your clan members running around either."
"Now now, let's not argue," Shizune said trying to disarm the situation.
"Yes, we did not come to argue. We actually need your help Tsunade," Jiraiya said.
Tsunade poured herself a drink and waited for his request.
"The village has asked you to be the next Hokage," Jiraiya revealed.
Tsunade raised an eyebrow. Last she heard Sarutobi had been Hokage since there was no one suitable for the job after the Yondaime died.
"Did the old man finally decide to retire?" Tsunade joked.
"No, he's dead, Orochimaru killed him," Jiraiya said.
"What?!" Tsunade and Sasuke said simultaneously.
"It was during the invasion, he trapped Sarutobi-sensei inside a barrier. Orochimaru used a jutsu that resurrected the first two Hokage—"
"Wait, he resurrected my grandfather?" Tsunade asked through barely contained rage.
"It was an imperfect resurrection. He was just an animated corpse with a soul forced into it. HE just looked like him, nothing more," Jiraiya explained.
Tsunade nodded calming down.
"Anyways it was almost too much for Sarutobi-sensei, but he used the Shiki Fujin to counter Orochimaru's resurrection technique. He almost got Orochimaru too, but all he could get was his arms," Jiraiya continued.
"To be able to fight equally with the Hokage; Orochimaru really was toying with me in the Forest of Death that time," Sasuke realized thinking back.
Sasuke reached up to his neck where his curse mark. This action did not go unnoticed by Jiraiya. He was aware of the mark Orochimaru put on those that interested him. This boy would be coming up to a choice soon and all he could do was hope that he would choose correctly.
"That figures," Tsunade said. "He went and threw his life away for the village, just like every other Hokage. Only a fool would want to be Hokage."
Sasuke snorted. Tsunade's last statement reminded him of Naruto.
"What's so funny?" Tsunade demanded.
"My teammate, Naruto, wants to be Hokage. Coincidentally, most people would call him a fool," Sasuke said.
Tsunade turned a questioning look to her former teammate. Jiraiya nodded confirming her suspicions. This was the same Naruto who was the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, and the son of Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki.
"That actually brings me to my second request. Naruto has been captured and I need your help to save him. I don't care if you accept the Hokage position but please help me save Naruto," Jiraiya pleaded.
Tsunade was taken aback. She had never heard Jiraiya beg for anything before. She had never met Naruto before, and she barely knew his parents. Other than Shizune she had no one else she truly cared for, well and Jiraiya (but she would never tell him).
"All right Jiraiya. Since you're so insistent, I'll help you," Tsunade agreed. "But you owe me a favor."
"Thank you. Let's hurry, we don't have much time."
Sasuke and Jiraiya slid out of the booth and left the bar with Tsunade and Shizune quickly following. What was waiting for them was the last thing any of them wanted to see.
"Well isn't this a pleasant surprise? It's been a while since all the Sannin were together like this. It's rather nostalgic," the Snake Sannin chuckled to himself.
White. That was all Naruto could see. But he couldn't tell where he was, or if he was even anywhere at all. Was this what death was like? No, everything hurt too much for him to be dead.
It hurt too much for him to do anything. Even thinking racked his body with pain. Naruto curled into a fetal position hoping to reduce the pain. It didn't work. He opened his mouth trying to scream out, but his voice failed him. He wasn't dead yet, but was this what it felt like to die?
And then he heard it, it was like a whisper on the wind. At first Naruto thought he had gone insane from the intense pain, but then he heard it again only closer this time. It was a voice. Someone was here with him. Naruto looked up. He could see someone running to him, no there was more than one person.
Naruto began to move. He struggled to pull himself up. After much effort and even more pain Naruto staggered to his feet. His success was short-lived as he began to fall back down. But before he could hit the ground someone caught him. Instantly the pain shrank back, whoever this person was they had a soothing touch like he had never experienced. Naruto looked up to see who it was.
"Hello Naruto," the person said with a smile.
Naruto looked up at the person's face. He had never seen this person before but he that this was his mother. Then he felt another hand on his shoulder. It was a man who looked just like him. Naruto knew it was his father. Despite his pain Naruto smiled.
It's kind of a cliffhanger but not really. A lot was set up this chapter but next chapter we start to get into the good stuff. Please review to let me know how I'm doing or if you have any suggestions, otherwise I'll keep doing what I'm doing. Until the next chapter!