(Posted 5/15/14)
12: Shinobi World War: Part I
With every person suddenly living in fear of their closest neighbors and comrades, something was going to have to give, very soon.
They had expected the fight against Madara and Orochimaru to be a tough one, but no one could have predicted that the eerie plant clones would start transforming themselves into allies, sneaking into their ranks and killing unsuspecting shinobi when their backs were turned.
Sakura was currently elbow-deep in the stomach of one of the strange white things, sweat beading on her brow under the harsh overhead light in the medical tent. At least, she was digging around the area where the thing's stomach would be—but its anatomy was proving to be nothing like a human's at all. It was made up of a dense, white, slightly pliable tissue and not much else. Nevertheless, she cut out a small portion of the inner tissue for examining, just in case it turned out to be different in any way from what they'd scraped from the surface of the creature's skin.
After setting that aside, Sakura gave an exhausted sigh and peeled off her gloves, tossing them in a bin before slumping down into a chair. She took a few long gulps of water from her canteen, blinking tiredly around at the room after focusing on the washed-out looking body for fruitless hours looking for a clue.
"Sakura," Shizune said softly, sitting down with her and spreading out several charts and notes. "I finished the rest of the scans. Biologically, it's an exact match. The cells are absolutely identical. The one difference is the chakra reading, and we already know that they have the ability to steal and imitate anyone's chakra perfectly—"
"These white creatures don't bleed," Sakura said quietly with an edge to her voice, bangs concealing her eyes. "They don't have flesh, blood, organs, brains, anything inside of them. They don't have the ability to remember things only that person would know."
"Just because they haven't shown the ability to do that yet in this war, it doesn't mean that they can't. You have to accept the possibility that—"
The empty canteen in Sakura's hand crumpled and folded as if it was nothing but a thin soda can. Shizune stared at it for several moments.
"Let's just get back to work learning this thing's secrets, so that maybe we can get back to treating our actual patients," Sakura said roughly, tossing the canteen in the bin alongside the used gloves.
Naruto sped across an open field, body aflame with the fox's chakra. Bee wasn't far behind him. He could tell they were nearing one of the battlefields. He could sense a lot of negative energy nearby. But the thing that felt like the Kyuubi's chakra outside of him didn't seem to be there.
'Kyuubi! Can you sense that thing that felt like you out here? Is it close by?'
"Somewhat. It is far away."
Naruto frowned. It was odd; he had been able to feel it somewhat while meditating, but now that he was out, he couldn't feel it. Though, that probably had a lot to do with the fact that there was a lot of interference out here.
When he had muscled his way past the Akimichi guards using Sage Mode, not only had he been able to sense the war, but he had been able to sense that energy, proving that it existed somewhere outside of himself.
"I'll just have to meet up with some of the others and see if anyone knows," he said aloud. "Right as soon as I finish up with this!"
They had found the first cluster of Zetsu clones disguised as shinobi. Naruto held up his hand, chakra cloak extending into a claw, and summoned a small orbit of Rasengans with a wild grin.
"Is that..." one of the real shinobi gasped.
Naruto jumped into the air and slammed each of the swirling balls of energy into one of the impostors with chakra hands. He reveled in the power and the satisfying feeling of tearing through the enemy's strategy. He would make a difference in this war, starting right now.
When the younger Naruto woke to a slight chill in the air and the rush of rainfall out his window, he was confused for a moment—until he remembered where he was. He took a deep, slow breath, breathing in the rain's atmospheric smell. He hadn't even realized how accustomed he had gotten to the dryness of the desert, until he ended up in a place that was its complete opposite.
Something cold and wet nudged his chin, and Naruto's eyes flew open. There was a calico cat staring him right in the face. When it saw that he was awake, it started purring very loudly and rolled over, splaying its body lengthwise across his face.
"Oi," Naruto said flatly, his voice muffled by the fluffy weight. The cat sniffed at his hair and then started batting playfully at the spiky yellow locks. "OI." He sat up and pried the furry thing off his face, and it bounded off the bed. Naruto saw that the sliding paper door of his room was open just enough for the cat to slip in.
"What the hell?" he yawned, not fully awake yet. Why was there a cat in his room? When he got out of bed, it paced back and forth, looking up at him and mewling insistently. "Argh, what do you want? I don't have any food for you, if that's what you're looking for."
He padded toward the door and the cat trotted eagerly in front of him, its tail held high, bent at the end in a question mark. Naruto followed after it, thinking vaguely that if the cat lived here, someone probably kept food for it in the kitchen or something. Besides, breakfast didn't seem like a bad prospect for himself, either.
Hanzo's old home was dark and mostly empty. A tower built to accommodate who-knew-how-many people was currently inhabited by only four—and a cat, apparently. However, despite the gloomy surroundings, Naruto could feel his spirits lift as he walked toward the kitchen. He never preferred solitude, not at all, but this new freedom was refreshing. Thanks to Nagato's jutsu, that allowed him to know the instant any outsiders entered the village, there was no need for anyone to guard him in Amegakure. He could go anywhere or do anything he wanted. To make things even better, his new hosts seemed to have no qualms about answering any of his questions.
Of course, he still missed and worried for his friends. Things between them had not been completely patched up before they left for the war, but that didn't change the fact that thinking about them fighting and dying out there made him feel sick.
Last night, Itachi and Nagato had gotten him up to speed about their side of things: how they had suddenly regained their consciousness, free from Kabuto's control. They'd made their way to Ame, all the while gathering information on Tobi and Orochimaru's activities, and those of the Five Great Shinobi Countries. After Naruto got captured by Tobi, that was when they had come up with the plan to bring him to Ame. Realizing that Orochimaru would be coming after him soon, they sought to prevent that… and barely made it on time.
At around that time in the conversation, Naruto gave a huge yawn, and all the others ushered him to bed. He still had a lot of questions about what their plans were for Orochimaru and Tobi, and for getting him back to the past, but he went on to sleep. The small delay didn't bother him much. For the first time, Naruto felt really confident about his progress getting back to the past.
When he stepped into the spacious kitchen, he froze at the sight of Itachi standing across the room with his back turned. The cat immediately bounded forward and started rubbing against Itachi's legs, meowing plaintively. That was when Naruto noticed Itachi had a square carton of cat food in his hand and was just about to refill the bowl sitting on the floor.
"There you are," Itachi said warmly, crouching down to pet the cat behind the ears. He gave a soft 'yosh, yosh' as he filled the cat's bowl and gave it a few pets before standing up and putting the carton on a shelf. "She acts like we don't feed her. Did she wake you? She's learned how to open the sliding doors." Itachi turned and gave a small smile, but didn't move any further. Like Nagato, he didn't make any sudden movements around Naruto, to try to make him more at ease in this odd situation. Even though they had seen each other last night, that had been with Nagato and Konan around, and they hadn't really talked directly. Catching Itachi alone was slightly awkward and unnerving. At least he didn't have his Sharingan activated.
Naruto played off his momentary paralysis with a laugh. "You like cats? Somehow that doesn't fit your image."
"Yes, but this one isn't mine," Itachi said. "It either belonged to Hanzo or someone else that lived here, and survived on mice and scraps until Konan moved in here."
"What's her name?" Naruto walked over and pet the cat's soft fur, stubbornly ignoring the way his instincts railed at him for showing his back to Itachi.
"Nibbles."
"What? That's it?" Naruto laughed.
"Don't look at me. It was Konan's doing."
Naruto felt some of the tension leave him as Nibbles started purring under his touch, though she kept chowing down on the food like there was no tomorrow. The poor thing probably had gone hungry a time or two after Hanzo died.
"So!" Naruto said matter-of-factly, standing up and pulling out a chair for himself at the kitchen table. "What's the big plan? Are we gonna help out in the war? Go after Orochimaru? Defeat Madara and save the world? You guys will let me fight, right?"
Itachi tilted his head slightly. "I thought going back to the past would be your top priority."
"Well, it is, in a way," Naruto admitted. "But we have to beat Orochimaru to do that, right?"
"Hm..."
"Or—Konan said you guys might be able to figure out the seals to release the jutsu without Orochimaru's help. Do you think you can?"
"Maybe, but there may be yet another way. We were talking about it last night, after you went to bed," Itachi sat down at the table across from him.
"Ehhh? Really?"
Itachi nodded seriously. "Since the jutsu is essentially a Summoning Contract between you and Nagato, it is possible that if anything happened to him, the jutsu would automatically come undone. He can't die, but he can be sealed. It wouldn't be that difficult."
Naruto was taken aback at the suggestion. Logically, he knew Nagato was already dead. He also knew, even from the small amount of time they'd spent together, that his sibling disciple would willingly give up the small semblance of life he had now without a second thought if it meant giving him a way home. Did that make Nagato's life any less valuable? No. Not to Naruto. It was the same feeling he'd gotten from Konan when they first met in Suna. A feeling like, even though it was his future self that knew them, he still had a connection to them.
"Nagato already sacrificed himself because of me. Why not seal me instead? Wouldn't that work?" he looked at Itachi pleadingly.
"It might," Itachi said, leveling a solemn gaze back at him, letting him know his concern was being taken seriously. "The problem is that while we're fairly sure that Edo Tensei souls go back to the afterlife when they are sealed, there is no way to be sure that you would go back where you came from. Sealing you might just trap your soul in this plane instead. Since we know so little about it, sealing Nagato would be safer."
"I guess…"
"He does not regret it, Naruto. He and I will have to go back to the afterlife sooner or later. But, ultimately, it is your decision. We can try sealing you instead, or we can wait and force Orochimaru to tell us how to undo it."
"You mean I get to choose?" Naruto echoed.
"It's your timeline. Your life."
Naruto thought for a long moment. "I… want to help fight in the war, and against Orochimaru. Even if there's not much I can do. If I can go back whenever, will you guys let me help you? I pretty much can't be hurt with physical attacks, and if it looks like Orochimaru or Madara is going to capture me again, you can send me back by sealing Nagato. Just… as a last resort, okay?"
"Alright."
"Oh yeah, and do you think there's anything you can do about this mind-control-tag thing Orochimaru put in my head?" Naruto pointed at his head with a scowl.
"I'm not sure we could remove it without splitting your head open. But... I can probably negate its control over you using my Sharingan," Itachi said hesitantly.
He had heard of Naruto's predicament from Konan, and already thought of a solution. The problem was that... well... the solution required putting Naruto under a genjutsu, which ran counter to Itachi's attempts to be unalarming as possible. He had obviously noticed the way the boy acted so jumpy around him. Judging by the way Naruto suddenly paled, the thought of willingly being subjected to Itachi's Sharingan was definitely alarming.
"Oh yeah, that totally makes sense," Naruto said in a would-be casual voice, except for the slight squeaky tremor at the end.
"It doesn't have to be right now," Itachi was quick to assure him. "If Orochimaru tries to make you do anything, we will be able to stop you. And there is no way for you to leave the city without us knowing, so he can't make you run away, either. I understand if you… don't quite trust me yet."
"I trust you," Naruto said stubbornly. "I've already seen too many weird things in this time to doubt you. Everything's been pretty much turned upside down from what I knew, after all. If it wasn't for the fact that everyone here seems to remember the same things I do…"
Itachi lowered his head slightly. "I'm sorry that I was unable to stop Kabuto from making me use the Tsukuyomi on you. I tried to fight his control; tried to reach out to you inside the illusion, but I'm not sure if it worked. I don't remember it very well."
"Well… thanks, but you didn't hit me with it… my friend Sai jumped in front of me and got caught in it instead."
"Ah." Itachi paused. "No wonder you can tolerate being around me so easily. But I am sorry about your friend."
"Why? What was it? Sai wouldn't tell me."
Itachi's dark eyes glazed over and he looked away. "I'm sorry, Naruto. You're better off not knowing the details. It was a vision of what Sasuke could be if he continues the path that he is currently on. I imagine your friends didn't tell you because they didn't want to remind you of what he has become in this time."
"I didn't even know what had happened to Sasuke back then," Naruto said, hitting his palm down on the table in anger. Bringing up Sasuke brought back some feelings that he hadn't completely resolved yet. "I didn't know anything until that guy Madara-Tobi whatever kidnapped me and tricked Sasuke into stabbing me with his Chidori—"
"What?" Itachi barely raised his voice, but temperature in the room suddenly seemed to drop by several degrees.
Naruto faltered, wincing reflexively."I thought you guys already knew what happened. Madara started talking about you and Sasuke got upset and just struck out blindly… his eyes were bandaged up. It turned out alright because my body healed, but he… well, that's how I found out about him," Naruto said bluntly. "What Madara did was really messed up. The stuff with Sasuke, and everything else he told me… and then he just takes me back, making everyone think I had to be some kind of trap planted by Orochimaru… and they weren't even wrong, were they?" Naruto buried his face in his hands, shoulders hunched. "That is exactly what I am, whether I want to be or not."
"What did Madara tell you?" Itachi turned to look back at him again, eyes narrowed, but the chill around him was gone.
Naruto lowered his hands, uncovering a hesitant frown. "A lot of things. I don't really like to think about it. I haven't even told anyone else about it. It's just… really hard to accept that—" his voice got stuck in his throat. "I mean, I'm afraid that if I talk or think about it, I'll hear his voice in my memory again, and… I don't agree with what he's doing at all, but it's just… confusing, I guess." He rubbed his hands through his hair with an irritated groan.
"I understand that you don't want to talk about it," Itachi said slowly, trying to decipher Naruto's ramblings. "But if we know what he told you, we might be able to figure out more about his motivations. Things like what he has to do with Orochimaru, or why he decided to contact you in the first place. And besides, it may help you to talk about it."
Naruto gave a half-shrug. "He said he was helping Orochimaru in exchange for help in the war. I don't know why they're working together, but Madara acted like he couldn't care less about me unless I was willing to join his side. He even told me I could go home if Nagato undid the jutsu."
"Did he tell you anything else about the jutsu?"
"Um," Naruto scrunched his face up as he tried to remember. Honestly, he had been too distracted by other things to care much about that. But he was relieved that Itachi was steering away from the more uncomfortable topics, so he did his best to remember. "Well, Madara is the one that first told me Orochimaru summoned me here into some kind of fake body. He didn't know why, but Orochimaru told me it was to… see how living people can change? It sounded like a bunch of crap to me." Naruto scratched his head. "The only thing I really understand is that he purposely summoned me in a body that would make it hard for me to use the Kyuubi, and impossible for it to be pulled out of me for Madara's plan. But I don't get why Orochimaru wants to help Madara at all. They don't really seem to be on the same side."
"Most likely, he has something to gain from participating in the war," Itachi said. "He wouldn't be interested in it for political reasons, and I doubt he wishes to see Madara's plan succeed."
"So…"
Itachi thought for a long moment, before finally shaking his head. "We don't have enough information to make a good guess. What we do have is this: our enemies most likely have conflicting goals. Do you see how this can help us, Naruto?"
"Of course!" Naruto said confidently. "It's like… er? And..."
"They will eventually turn on one another. If we have the opportunity, we can use their mutual distrust to our advantage."
"I know that, duh!" Naruto said loudly, crossing his arms. "I was going to say that, but you didn't give me enough time!" Then he remembered who he was yelling at and rubbed the back of his head, laughing nervously.
"My mistake. Sorry, Naruto," Itachi smiled.
"Well…" Naruto mumbled awkwardly. "So, are we gonna go directly after them, or wait and jump in when they're going against each other?"
"Madara will be occupied for a while by the missing Rinnegan, so we should focus on Orochimaru first," Itachi said. "He is the one truly leading the war right now, and we have to get to him in order to send you back—and stop his Edo Tensei from being used against the Allied Shinobi Force."
"Okay." Naruto took a deep breath. "Then do what you have to do to cancel out his control tag thing. If we're going after Orochimaru, I don't want you guys to have to worry about me."
"Are you sure?"
Naruto nodded firmly.
"Alright," Itachi said softly. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again they were Sharingan red, with three tomoe marks that spun briefly before stopping.
Naruto gripped the edges of his chair, pushing down the impending anxiety. What was wrong with him? He had seen it plenty of times on Kakashi-sensei, and Sasuke, too—though that last thought was not exactly comforting when he associated it with this time's Sasuke, his eyes all bandaged up.
He had decided to trust this Itachi. It would be pointless to go back on that now.
"Okay, go for it. Get that snake bastard outta my head," Naruto said with more bravado than he felt. He forced himself to meet the gaze of the Sharingan and not look away. He had a brief, crazy thought—the expression his time's Sasuke would have if he could see all of this—before the darkness consumed him.
Itachi opened his eyes and looked around, frowning. He was standing in a large, dimly-lit room with deep shadows obscuring the ceiling, suggesting its great height. It smelled damp and musky here, and a malevolent energy drifted through the air. With his Sharingan still activated, he could see the tendrils of overwhelming red chakra swirling around.
"Uchiha."
Itachi turned around and calmly studied the large gold gates, the intricate carvings around the frame, the slip of paper reading 'seal' locking it all in place… and, of course, the beast behind the bars.
"It figures that you would be able to come here. Damn you and your entire godforsaken clan," the Kyuubi growled, leaning his head down near the bars, face level with where Itachi stood.
The Kyuubi was used to people either cowering before him, or (particularly in the case of Uchihas) trying to use him for something, but this particular Uchiha looked neither hostile nor afraid. He just looked up at him interestedly with those accursed eyes, taking in his massive form radiating with energy.
"Kyuubi," Itachi stated simply. "I would recognize this chakra anywhere, though I was very young the last time I felt it. I'm surprised that I ended up here. I thought you were sealed away from anyone's reach, thanks to this body."
The great fox bared its teeth at him. "Get out. Now."
"As you may have seen, I am only trying to help," Itachi said steadily. "Do you know where I can find Orochimaru's seal?"
"No, I don't," Kyuubi snorted. "It isn't here. But since the snake bastard put it in the boy's head, I suggest you check there."
"That was what I tried to do, but I came here instead. I'm not sure how I should try to find it from here."
The faint tinge of blue chakra lurking behind the gate's seal pulsed, catching Itachi's attention. It grew brighter for just a second; the energy inside it growing stronger in intensity in that moment. It was different from the limited amount of chakra a normal seal held. It seemed almost self-aware. Alive. And the energy it held was familiar.
"Yondaime Hokage-sama?" Itachi murmured, staring up at it in slight awe. That he had been able to include part of his own consciousness in the seal, even after being claimed by the Shinigami, was truly amazing. It glowed softly when Itachi spoke, an action that would be undetectable with a normal eye. Did the part of Minato encased in the seal know that he was here, somehow?
"Are you able to see everything that is going on?" Itachi asked the seal directly. The Kyuubi narrowed its eyes at him suspiciously, but chose not to comment. The energy emanating from the seal grew the brightest it had been yet in response.
Itachi's eyes widened. Most likely, he would not be able to speak with the fragment of Minato without breaking the seal—which he could not do in the first place, even if he wanted to—but that little bit of consciousness was definitely alive and aware.
"So that is what it looks like when someone stores a piece of themselves in someone else," Itachi mused. "I understand. Thank you, Hokage-sama. I know what to look for now."
He turned around and examined the seemingly endless black shadow that occupied the back of the room. There was no way to tell where it ended. Itachi started walking toward it.
"And where do you think you're going?"
"I don't know," Itachi said simply, without turning around.
He walked for what felt like a very long time. It was too dark for even his eyes to see anything, but he was able to keep himself oriented by stretching out his arm to touch the wall. He kept his guard up. With all of Orochimaru's interference, there was no way to predict where this would lead, or what the darkness would contain.
The darkness was starting to get dimmer. He still couldn't see anything, but instead of being pitch-black, it was turning brown. Gradually that brown got lighter and had a reddish tinge to it. Itachi was starting to be able to see the walls and floor again.
He stepped out of the shadows and paused. Well, this was odd. He was in the same place as before.
The same darkness concealing the ceiling and passage behind him. The Kyuubi lifted its head to stare at him, its gleaming eyes narrowed.
Yet—one thing was very noticeably different. The cage barring the tailed beast was red, not gold. And there was no paper tag or residual energy covering the gates' lock. Itachi walked closer with caution.
"Where the hell did you come from?" the Kyuubi asked rudely, butting in on his observations. "Don't tell me this has to do with that crow of yours."
This place did feel subtly different. And the beast mentioned his crow… the crow that he left with Naruto, containing Shisui's Sharingan.
"You're the other one," Itachi said. "The one from this time."
The great fox stared at him for several moments. Then it lifted its head and growled, deep and low, "Naruto."
Itachi looked up curiously when he heard Naruto's voice echo around the room. "I told you, I don't have time to talk right now. I'm going to help out the war, and I don't care if you think it's stupid! We can talk later."
"It's not that!" the Kyuubi barked. "We have a guest."
Naruto, the older Naruto, appeared beside Itachi suddenly, his arms crossed and a stubborn look on his face.
"What are you talking abou—eh?! Itachi? What are you doing here? You're—" he must have noticed Itachi's eyes and the fine cracks in his face just then, because he jumped back with his arms thrown up defensively, looking nervous. "You're like those other zombie guys. How the hell did you get in here?"
"Yes, I am an Edo Tensei summon. But do not worry, I am no longer under anyone's control. I'm not sure how I got here," Itachi quickly answered all of his questions. "It seems the two of you are connected somehow. I came from the other side." He motioned toward the expanse of darkness behind him.
"The other side?" Naruto echoed, squinting into the darkness. "I never noticed that there before… what is going on, Itachi?"
"It's the other me," the Kyuubi growled, its tails waving behind it agitatedly. "It is as the Uchiha says—we must be connected. I've been able to feel his power coming from there more strongly than I can feel it outside."
Naruto looked up at the fox in surprise. "I guess that would explain why I was able to feel it more easily when I was meditating, too, but… are you seriously saying you think that there's a whole other you out there?"
"It isn't just the Kyuubi, Naruto," Itachi said, looking at him seriously. "There is another you, as well."
"Another… me?" Naruto said uneasily. He wasn't strictly surprised. He had felt... something. It was a nostalgic kind of feeling, tugging at him somewhere in the back of his mind like a forgotten thought. But he didn't understand what it meant, or how it was even possible.
"Yes. It was part of Orochimaru's plan; though we don't know what, if anything, it has to do with him choosing to participate in this war. He manipulated his subordinate into summoning a version of your soul from four years ago, attaching it to a body that effectively seals the Kyuubi to the point where no one can draw it out."
"Wait! Hold on a minute!" Naruto said, rubbing his hands through his hair in a small fit. "I thought Orochimaru was dead! Not to mention all this other crazy stuff you're saying. And I still don't even understand how you got in here!"
"Sorry, it is a long story," Itachi admitted. "It would take quite a while to explain it all. But as for what I am doing in here—Orochimaru is able to control his Edo Tensei summons using special seals. Apparently, he is able to do the same thing with the younger you, as well. He planted a control tag in him, and I am trying to find and stop it. I was not trying to, nor did I expect to end up in the Kyuubi's seal. From there, I walked to here through the darkness. The two are connected."
"Of course we are," the Kyuubi growled. "All of the beasts and Jinchuuriki are connected on some level. Levels even you wouldn't be able to reach, Uchiha. This may be slightly different, but it doesn't surprise me at all."
"Say... what do you mean by, 'all the Jinchuuriki are connected', Kyuubi?" Naruto asked, putting his hands in a 'time out' motion.
"Hmph... you may have gained more of my power, but you're still an idiot."
"What?! Say that again."
"Nevertheless," Itachi interjected, "the younger you is in Amegakure right now. I suppose you haven't heard anything about it at all, but he was put into hiding, the same as you were. To make a long story very short, Konan has brought him into the protection of Ame for the time being. Nagato and I escaped control, and we are also there."
"Konan, huh?" Naruto said, face softening into a smile. "It's good to know that she and Ame are doing well. And with you and Nagato there, too, I know there won't be anything to worry about. Even though I don't like this Edo Tensei stuff, I'm glad they got to see each other again." Suddenly his head shot up. "Wait... that's right! I have some things I need to ask you, Itachi. Madara told me the truth about what you did. It is true, isn't it?"
"Both of you, then?" Itachi gave a small sigh. "Damn him."
"You're not denying it," Naruto observed, walking over to him and examining his face closely. "Sasuke knows about it, too. You need to go talk to him! He decided to go completely against your will—he wants to destroy Konoha! Maybe you can do something—"
"No," Itachi said abruptly.
"W-What? Why not?" Naruto spluttered.
"I already tried to determine Sasuke's path for him. I failed miserably. I never changed; never learned how to just trust and leave things to him, even right up to the time of my death. I even intended to use you to trigger a certain jutsu against him—the Kotoamatsukami, to make him think how I wanted him to, whether he wanted it or not. The only good thing I can do for Sasuke now is to get the other you back where he belongs. The Sasuke in his time will need him. And I would like to destroy the Sharingan I gave you before you meet up with Sasuke again. Let us meet up in the real world soon." Itachi turned to walk back into the shadowy passage at the back of the room.
"Wait!" Naruto trotted up to the edge of the darkness and squinted into it suspiciously. "You said that the other me is on the other side of this? I want to come along, too."
Itachi stopped and turned to him. "I don't know if that is a good idea. It could be dangerous. There is no telling what Orochimaru has done, or how he may have altered the seal."
"Ha, I'm not afraid of the dark, or Orochimaru," Naruto said, punching one hand with the other. The bright chakra cloak flickered into life around his body, making him glow like a miniature sun. "I can see whether it's safe to go through from right here."
He held up a yellow hand, and a brightly-glowing claw made of chakra shot out and dived into the impenetrable darkness. Naruto watched carefully as the light from the chakra flames illuminated the hallway.
"Man, how far does this thing go?" he wondered aloud, narrowing his eyes in an effort to see farther. "I can't even see the end of it—"
Naruto's eyes widened suddenly and he gasped. Long, sharp-looking vines shot out of the darkness, crawling up the chakra arm and coming right after his main body. He stepped back, but the vines hungrily wrapped around him from his feet up, and around his outstretched arm. The bright flames around his body flickered and snuffed out.
"Gah—! It's... absorbing the Kyuubi Mode!" he shouted, struggling against the vines.
"Get away from there, idiot brat!" the fox called out in warning.
Naruto felt himself being grabbed under the arms and pulled out of the vines' toothy grasp just as they started to wind around his chest. Itachi pulled him as far away from the darkness as possible, setting him down at the base of the fox's red gate. The lingering vines burst into black flames, writhed around as if in agony, and slunk back into the darkness again.
In the outside world, Naruto opened his eyes with a gasp. His Chakra Mode had been extinguished out here, too. He also noticed that he was was now sitting on the ground, when he had been standing a moment ago.
"Naruto-san! Are you alright?" one of the shinobi he'd saved asked urgently.
Naruto shook his head to clear it. "Damn. That was weird." He carefully got to his feet.
"Finished already?" Bee asked, crossing his arms. "We haven't even reached the real fight yet, baka yarou."
"It's nothing. Let's go!" Naruto clapped his hands together and his body was engulfed in the flames of the Kyuubi Chakra Mode once more.
Bee looked at him. It was hard to tell what the Hachibi Jinchuuriki was thinking behind those dark shades. Most likely, he could sense that something unusual had happened, too. But he chose not to comment on it.
"Then, to the battlefield!" he declared, throwing one of his swords up in the air and catching it with ease, holding it up in a dramatic pose. "No piss breaks! And don't pout. We're goin' full throttle from here on out. WHEE!"
"Yossha!" Naruto agreed enthusiastically, and the two blew out of there like the forces of nature they were.
They left the small group of Allied shinobi behind them, staring in their wake amid the new trees that had just sprouted here.
"I'd always heard the stories, but... Jinchuuriki really are eccentric people..."
Naruto and Bee had made their escape from the island too quickly for anyone to really stop them, but news of the breakout got back to Headquarters shortly after the preliminary report from the Medical Corps on the autopsy findings. The confusion, discussion, and outright argument caused by the report delayed their response to the escapees ever so slightly, but nevertheless, it still didn't take long for the Hokage and Raikage to go after their Jinchuuriki to try to stop them.
The two Kage found and confronted them. Ay and Naruto bickered for a while on the necessity of them going to war and how valuable it was for them to go fight, or to stay hidden instead. Neither of them touched on the other recent issue—at least, not until Ay tried appealing to Tsunade to talk some sense into the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki.
"Hokage! You say something, too!" Ay barked, turning to his mostly-silent companion. "It's bad enough we let a spy slip right through our fingers! For all we know, the enemy may have already gotten their hands on some of the Nine-Tails' chakra from that little fake of theirs! The last thing we need is for the real one to go roaming free as well."
"Fake?" Naruto demanded, gesturing. "Wait... are you talking about the other me? Why did you guys keep me in the dark about all of this, and the war? I can help! And what makes you say that that other me is a spy, anyway? Wasn't he brought here by Orochimaru?"
"Exactly!" Ay said, pointing at Naruto forcefully. "You've already seen by now the destruction caused by those plant creatures and their ability to imitate people on our side. We just got the report not long ago that the so-called 'younger version' of you had the same body composition and underlying chakra as those creatures. Everyone, including your Hokage here, the medical genius, was fooled by it—because we had never seen anything like it before. But it was brought to Konoha early on to serve as a distraction and as a spy. Now that we know what those things are capable of, there is no doubt about it."
"What?" Naruto cried. "I just found out that there was another me, and now you're telling me that it was a fake all along?"
"We don't know that for sure," Tsunade said, stepping forward for the first time. "Much of the evidence points that way, it's true, but there are other things about it that just don't add up. All of the other copies imitate the person exactly as they are at the time their chakra is taken—not as years younger. I doubt they would even be capable of that. And their disguise is weak. A good solid hit makes them reveal their true form."
"Naturally!" the Raikage growled scornfully, turning to Tsunade. "When they are produced en masse like this, they are bound to be weaker individually. That brat not only survived, but almost instantly healed after being punched through. That's not normal, even for a Jinchuuriki. If anything, it proves even more that he isn't human. Time-travel! I thought it sounded ridiculous, even the first time I heard about it."
"He had Naruto and the Kyuubi's chakra, exactly as they were at that point in time, not as he is now. How could they do that?" Tsunade argued. "He knew about and remembered things that only the real Naruto would know. The personality was right. He was completely devastated after learning about Sasuke. Why would a spy do that? It would have been easier to pretend he didn't know anything about it."
"Oi!" Naruto said loudly. "When exactly is this other me supposed to be from? What happened with Sasuke?"
"Even if they could have perfectly imitated Naruto's appearance, chakra, and memories from that time," Tsunade continued, ignoring him, "he also had my grandfather's necklace. That may not seem like much to you, but it shouldn't be taken lightly. That crystal would be impossible for anyone to replicate flawlessly."
"And how exactly did you find out about the other you, kid?" Ay asked Naruto with his eyes narrowed in suspicion, ignoring Tsunade in turn.
"Hm..." Naruto crossed his arms and tilted his head. "I don't mind telling you, but it's kind of weird. I guess basically you could say that me and... the other me, we're connected. And somehow, Itachi genjutsu'd himself through that connection and told me about it."
They stared at him. Naruto scratched his cheek. He wasn't all that great at explaining things, especially when he didn't fully understand those things himself.
"Did you say Itachi?" Tsunade stomped up to him with a fierce look that nearly made him flinch. "Are you telling me that Itachi is with the younger you right now? Naruto, he was trying to kidnap your younger self when he first got here! I thought he was supposed to be safe in Amegakure!" She grabbed Naruto by the collar and started shaking him.
"Wait wait wait—! It isn't like that, baachan!" Naruto said, wiggling in her grasp. "Itachi escaped whatever control was over him, so he's helping out now. He and Konan are keeping the little me safe in Ame. Nagato is there, too."
"Naruto..." Tsunade was shaking. Naruto wondered if she was about to explode. "I know that Konan is supposed to have reformed, and Nagato as well before he died, but you do realize this means that your younger self is currently in the hands of some of the most dangerous members Akatsuki ever had?"
"Hmph," Ay said. "See? If you need any further proof that they are actually working together, I don't know what to tell you."
"Look, you're wrong, okay?" Naruto said, frustrated, backing away from Tsunade. "It's stupid to fight about this, anyway! I can sense those white things even when they are disguised. They have something about them that I don't think can be found in any normal test or scan. If the younger me is on the wrong side, I'll be able to tell. I'll just go see for myself! And while I'm at it, I'll sniff out all the other white things pretending to be our shinobi."
"There is a problem with that plan," Ay said, moving in front of him. "You're not getting past here. Not unless you're planning to beat my speed, and I doubt you're up to the task."
Naruto narrowed his eyes as a blue, crackling aura appeared around the Raikage, making the beefy man's hair stand on end. It looked like there was no choice for him to try to make a run for it past the Raikage. No matter how fast he claimed to be, Naruto had plenty of confidence in his own speed. He reached up and tightened his headband with a cocky smile.
All the way back in Ame, the younger Naruto regained consciousness with a start. The first thing he saw was Itachi's Sharingan, but it quickly faded into black, just a shade lighter than the black sclera that marked him as an Edo Tensei zombie.
"What happened?" Naruto asked, feeling woozy.
"I was not able to find the actual seal that Orochimaru planted," Itachi said, standing up and getting Naruto a glass of water. "However, I did set up a genjutsu to trigger should he try to initiate control. It will make you unable to move for a little while—hopefully long enough for us to keep you from running off or doing anything else."
"Ugh," Naruto took a gulp of water and felt marginally refreshed. "I don't understand—why weren't you able to do it, if you and Nagato managed to break control?"
"We didn't break it, we merely escaped," Itachi explained, sitting back down at the table. "It was Kabuto that summoned us, and he's currently being suppressed by Orochimaru. Orochimaru can't control us unless he rewrites our tags, but if Kabuto came back, it's possible he could still control us."
Naruto took an overlarge gulp of water and started coughing. "What? You mean you guys could basically turn back into normal zombies at any time?"
"I don't see Orochimaru giving Kabuto his body back anytime soon. It wouldn't be worth it to him for just us two, especially when he has already started resurrecting people himself for the war. But there is a way that I can break myself out of it for good, at least. For that, we need to go see your older self."
"G-go see aniki?!" Naruto shot up out of his chair, excited. "Are you serious? When are we gonna go?"
"We should go soon," they heard Nagato's deep voice from the doorway and looked up. Nagato and Konan came in, the hems of their coats dripping water onto the stone floor. The cat, which had been napping in some corner of the kitchen, ran up to Konan and rubbed against her leg.
"Apparently, he and the Hachibi's Jinchuuriki have escaped from their hiding place," Konan said. "And also... the war has fully started now. The Zetsu clones have been causing mass chaos. And, as we expected, Orochimaru has already started resurrecting many more people."
"I was able to intercept several messages being sent through the sensor-types at the Force's headquarters," Nagato said solemnly. "I heard them mention the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, as well as several old Kage. There's no telling how many others."
"Have you been able to find out what Madara is doing?" Itachi asked.
Nagato shook his head. "Kisame hasn't seen anything, and we weren't able to find any trace of him, either. We can assume that he will try to make another move soon, though. He won't stay quiet, not when we're the only ones who know where the eyes are."
Itachi nodded. "Right. Well, Naruto has decided to stay here and help with the war for the time being." He smiled, and Naruto grinned back. "We need to go after Orochimaru to stop his Edo Tensei anyway, so we can try to get him to send Naruto back home while we are at it."
"Nagato," Naruto said strongly, holding his fist up in determination. "They need you here. I don't want you to disappear already, just for my sake. If it absolutely comes down to it, do what you have to do, but in the meantime, I don't mind waiting to go home for a little bit longer."
Nagato looked mildly surprised for a moment, but then his lips curled into a smile. "Thank you, Naruto."
"We'll gather a bit more information before leaving Ame," Itachi said. "It would be a good idea to have at least an inkling of where Madara is and what he is doing right now."
"I am heading out again, after I rest for a little while," Konan agreed with a nod.
"Okay then, I'm not just gonna sit around, either," Naruto said determinedly. "Is there somewhere in this place I can train?"
Several hours later, two figures raced through the Rain countryside, creating small splashes as their swift footfalls beat into the sopping ground. They wore identical dark cloaks, and both of them had faces that looked like cracked porcelain. One of them was tall and had spiky orange hair. The other was shorter, with a wild tangle of black hair that fell messily over his face in the wind, for lack of a headband.
"Oi, Carrot-top," he said, pushing his hair out of his face for the hundredth time, even as his legs disobeyed his every order to stop moving. "Do you have any idea where we're going? We've been running for a while now."
"Things are starting to look more familiar around here," the orange-haired man said grimly. "It looks like whoever called us back to this world is leading us right to Amegakure. I have a really bad feeling about this..."
It didn't take long for them to reach the city, running at top speed in their tireless bodies. They didn't make it very far, though, once they got past its outer buildings.
"Stop!" Konan called in a strong, authoritative voice, materializing on a nearby roof. "State your purpose here. Intruders will not be..." she trailed off when the man standing on the street below looked up at her. It felt like all the wind had been knocked out of her body with that one look.
No. They had gone too far this time.
"Ya-Yahiko..." she whispered, horrified.
Yahiko looked up at her with a mixture of surprise and confusion. Recognition gleamed for just a second before his eyes widened in fear.
"Konan, look out!" he shouted in panic.
Konan hadn't even noticed the man beside Yahiko vanishing. His speed was unreal. She whirled around, but all she managed to take in was the sight of a gleaming tanto and red eyes before everything went dark.
Naruto sat in the dojo Hanzo's house had, meditating. He still wasn't making any real progress with the Sage training, but that didn't stop him from trying. No matter how long it took, he was determined to get the hang of it before he went back to the past.
He heard someone slide open the rice-paper door and his concentration wavered instantly. His arms, legs, and face started puffing up at an alarmingly quick rate.
"Ahhh! Help!" he shrieked, waving his webbed hands.
"Naruto!"
Someone hit him in the back, hard, making him fall forward and faceplant into the mat. The hand rested on his back and… felt like it was pulling all the energy out of him?
Naruto sat up and saw that Nagato's arm was turning into stone. He shrieked again.
"Relax, it's alright," Nagato said. He coated his other hand in sharp-looking chakra and cut his arm off before the energy could spread to the rest of his body. The arm fell to the floor and crumbled. Shortly after that, Nagato rolled his shoulder a few times and twitched, and a new hand appeared from his sleeve. He flexed it experimentally and Naruto screeched a third time.
"It looks like that one isn't coming back," Nagato mused. "It's a good thing I have a few spares."
"W-what are you, anyway?" Naruto accused, pointing at him.
"Your anideshi," Nagato patted him on the head with his creepy new hand. "I didn't realize you were doing the Sage training already. It's dangerous, you know. Not even Jiraiya-sensei was able to master it completely. Then again, your older self did, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised." he glanced at the floor suddenly. "What is that?"
Naruto looked down and saw a small black creature near his foot. It looked like a mouse, except that it was completely black and looked oddly two-dimensional. It looked sort of like…
"Oh! It is one of Sai's ink animal things!" Naruto took the scroll Sai had given him out of his tool pouch. "I guess I'm supposed to hold this thing out?" He unrolled the scroll a little bit and held it toward the mouse. It scurried onto the paper and flattened out into a message.
"What is this?" Nagato asked curiously, looking at the scroll.
"It's my friend, Sai. He has the ability to send messages to people like this. I wonder what he wants to tell me…" Naruto bent over the scroll and started to read it.
Naruto,
The idiot older you escaped, and managed to convince everyone to let him fight in the war. He has been asking about you incessantly, so I told him about the scroll I gave you. I hope you still have it. Anyway, he said he wanted to write to you, so expect another message shortly after this one.
Sai
Naruto drew in a sharp breath, his heart thudding all of a sudden. A message… from his older self? He caught motion out of the corner of his eye and saw a black ink snake coming toward him this time. He held the scroll out to it with shaking hands, and the snake flattened itself out on the paper.
He almost felt too nervous to read the message. He still knew almost nothing about his older self, after all. What would he be like? What would he say? Naruto took a deep breath and looked down at it. He felt an odd twinge at the sight of his own sprawling handwriting on the paper, alternated with neat, perfect lines from Sai's hand. Their handwriting was as different as night and day.
'Um… what do I write?'
'I don't know. This was your idea, dickless.'
'Uh... hey little bro, how's it going 'ttebayo?'
'You know he can't answer you back, right?'
'Shut up! I'm trying to think of what to say. This is really strange.'
(There were several unintelligible, crossed out lines.)
'Hey, little bro. I've heard that when you were brought here, it was in some kind of weird body that keeps Madara from trying to use you for his stupid moon plan. I'm glad about that. But some other people don't feel that way. They want to try to argue that just because the enemy brought you here, you must be on their side. I know, it sounds really dumb, right? If I know you as well as I think I do, you're trying to think of a way right now to come and help out the war. I'll be waiting for you. Give 'em hell!
#1 Hokage Candidate, Uzumaki Naruto
P.S. that's my special signature. You're not allowed to use it until you get back to your own time, sorry.'
By the time he finished the message, Naruto was grinning so widely that his face started to hurt, but he didn't care. He hurriedly wiped away the bothersome tears that had somehow crept into his eyes, and started laughing.
"Well?" Nagato said with a smile.
"He said… he's waiting for me to come fight in the war!" Naruto gave Nagato a Nice Guy thumbs-up and laughed again. His older self wasn't like the others at all. He seemed awesome.
"Well, it shouldn't be long now," Nagato said. "We just have to…" he trailed off, frowning suddenly. The way he paused looked like he was trying to hear something.
"What's wrong?"
Nagato stood abruptly and ran out the door. Naruto was caught off guard by the sudden exit, but he quickly collected his things and ran after the redhead. He was a little way ahead, but Naruto still saw when Itachi came running out a side hall and matched Nagato's stride.
"Intruders," Nagato said in a clipped voice. "They got up here so quickly, they must have known exactly where they were going."
"If this place is their target, it must be Madara, or Orochimaru."
"Aa. They're on the balcony at the end of this level. I can feel… Konan. And…"
Nagato stopped suddenly. Naruto ran faster, trying to catch up with them.
"No," Nagato whispered. "No, they wouldn't dare…" his face pulled into an ugly snarl that didn't suit him, but looked no less scary for that fact. He started off running again, much faster than this time, desperation driving him so much that even Itachi had a hard time keeping up with him.
They reached the end of the hall and the balcony in almost no time, and Naruto arrived shortly after, bursting out into the falling rain with a kunai already in his hand, looking around wildly for the danger.
His eyes widened and he stared at the scene in front of him, frozen in place as effectively as his companions were.
First, he saw Konan. She was unconscious, and leaning back against a man with spiky orange hair, held up by one of his arms wrapped around her. His other hand held a kunai that was pressed against her throat.
"Wake up, Konan! You have to save yourself!" the man shouted in a trembling voice. "Please wake up, Konan, please, open your eyes!"
"Yahiko…" Nagato choked out.
The man looked up and noticed them. His eyes latched onto Nagato, his face torn between hope and anxiety.
"Nagato! I can't move—someone is making me do this! Konan was knocked out—please, get her away from me, you can't let me kill her!"
Yahiko stiffened and he cried out, tilting his head back. His eyes changed to a blank white and his emotion-filled face suddenly became blank.
"Now, not so fast," he said, only it wasn't Yahiko's deep, sonorous voice they heard coming from his mouth. "It's troublesome dealing with a group made up almost entirely of people I can't kill, so naturally I would go for the one that I can. All of you were even warned. It's pathetic, really." He tapped the flat edge of the kunai against Konan's neck. "Now then, tell me where you have hidden the Rinnegan, unless you want to see this woman killed by her dear friend."
Nagato didn't seem to take in the words. He was breathing heavily, his eyes even wider than Naruto's. He didn't answer– all he could do was stare. It was like his mind was shutting down.
Itachi saw, and realized that Nagato would not be able to respond in time, nor would he be able to respond the right way. In the worst-case scenario, he would start going on a rampage, and then all of them would be dead. He started toward the pair, but someone dropped down right into his path and slashed at him with a short sword, forcing Itachi to block the strike with a kunai.
"Sorry about this, cousin," the newcomer said, his eyes blazing Sharingan red. "Guess you're gonna have to deal with my company for a little bit."
"Shisui," Itachi breathed, his own eyes activated as they pushed against one another in a standstill.
"This is not the time to be getting sentimental," Shisui said. "These guys have decided to go after Sasuke, as well. He's another one they plan to use if this little stunt doesn't work."
"Sasuke is safe," Itachi said. He knew that his brother was strong. And even though Sasuke didn't know it, he also had Kisame watching after him. Itachi didn't want that information getting back to the enemy, though, so he didn't say it.
"There's more at stake here than his physical well-being, bro," Shisui said. "The rumor mill says that little Sasuke-chan is about two steps away from going off the deep end, and I'm not sure if what these guys are planning is going to help with that very much."
"What do you mean?"
"The clan." Shisui scowled. "That creepy snake-loving bastard somehow got his hands on almost all of them. And I don't think he intends to use them to give Sasuke a happy family reunion. Oh yeah, and one other thing." The balance of colors in his eyes started to shift into a different pattern, melding into the shape of his Mangekyou. "I'm pretty sure he's going to do whatever it takes to get the truth out of you about the Rinnegan, whether you want to cooperate or not."
