(Posted 11/4/14)

A/N: Since I know the war timeline can be confusing, especially now that I've meddled with it, bear in mind that everyone still calls Obito 'Madara' at this point.

14: Shinobi World War: Part II

"Oh yeah, and one other thing." The balance of colors in Shisui's eyes started to shift into a different pattern, melding into the shape of his Mangekyo. "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."

Itachi knew what Shisui meant instantly. The enemy was going to threaten their last remaining loved ones, and, failing that, they would simply try to force the truth out of them using Shisui's Kotoamatsukami. Itachi glanced over to the others.

"I know you're probably worried about those guys, but listen to me for a minute while Snake-face is distracted over there," Shisui said seriously.

Meanwhile, Naruto was standing frozen in the rain, staring at Nagato in front of him, and Yahiko and Konan near the edge of the balcony. Everything seemed to have gone completely still except for the falling rain. Naruto had just heard their story the night before. All of the details were still fresh in his mind, including the choice they had been forced to make, and Yahiko's death. The anger at Orochimaru bubbled up to the surface again and Naruto clenched his fists. His fear was slowly receding, making way for fury and determination.

"Taking the worst thing that ever happened to them, and throwing it back in their faces—that is beyond low," Naruto growled, stepping up beside Nagato. The redhead looked down at him quickly, seeming to wake a little from the paralysis that had come over him.

"Naruto—" he started, but Naruto started charging toward Orochimaru-Yahiko, letting out a long battle cry.

"Not so fast," Orochimaru's voice hissed from the orange-haired man. He held the edge of the kunai back up to Konan's throat. "Would you throw this woman's life away so easily? I'm surprised at you, Naruto-kun."

Naruto stopped in his tracks, grimacing, frustrated with the entire situation. He glared fiercely at Orochimaru-Yahiko and then looked back down at Konan. "Oi! Konan-neechan! Wake up!" he shouted. "You're not just gonna let him do this, are you? Yahiko and Nagato need your help right now!"

"Interesting. But I think you've got it backward, brat," Orochimaru-Yahiko chuckled.

Konan's golden eyes opened a little.

"You're the one who's backward—or more like twisted around," Naruto retorted furiously. "You don't even care about the Rinnegan, so why would you go this far? Why are you even helping that guy, when you know what he is trying to do?"

"That is the question, isn't it? But that's not something that really concerns you." Orochimaru looked up at Nagato, who still seemed very tense. "What will it be, then? It isn't as though you need it anymore. Surely it isn't worth more to you than this woman's life—"

"Don't you dare," Konan said quietly, cutting off his words. The unnaturally wide smirk dropped from Yahiko's face.

"Konan!"

"Konan-neechan!"

Yahiko-Orochimaru hissed and made to slice her throat, but the knife only cut into paper. There was a split second when his borrowed eyes widened, before a powerful explosion tore through the small space between them. A wave of light and sound flung sharp raindrops into Nagato and Naruto's faces, and they threw up their hands against it reflexively. The balcony under their feet gave a crack that was nearly loud as the explosion itself.

There were too many sensations to take in at once during that moment, when everything came to a crawl. Naruto felt the skin on his arms burning and peeling away. Turning his face away from the blast, he could see Itachi and Shisui. A large, ghostly skeletal figure hovered around Itachi, and Shisui jumped back, his eyes burning in their sockets with black flame. All sounds became muffled, save for a ringing in his ears. Naruto felt a terrible pain in his head, and he only vaguely noticed the balcony crumbling and shifting under his feet. He felt detached from himself, like in a dream.

Turning his eyes up again, he saw Nagato yelling something, with his hand extended out toward him. Naruto wanted to reach out and take his hand, but it was as if the strings connecting his mind to his body had been cut. He couldn't move. He realized he was falling, but it didn't feel real somehow.

The only thing that stood out from the fuzziness was a feeling like Orochimaru's sharp yellow eyes, staring through him.

Now what? was all he had time to think before blacking out.

Naruto didn't think that he had been unconscious for long. To his mind, it felt like it was only a second ago that he had been there beside everyone else, fighting against Orochimaru. But for some reason, his body felt so heavy, like he had been sleeping for years, or worked his muscles to their limits in a fight. It was also difficult to breathe. The air he pulled in tickled his lungs, and Naruto fought the urge to cough.

He opened his eyes blearily. No wonder—there was some kind of breathing mask over his nose and mouth. Naruto tried to reach up and take it off, but his arms still weren't cooperating. He looked up and around, taking in the surroundings.

It looked like he was back in the hospital again. Naruto's heart sank. Again, he had failed to help when it really mattered. What had happened? Where were Itachi and Nagato, and Konan? Were they able to beat Orochimaru?

He moved his eyes to the side, trying to see more of the room, but blinked in surprise when he saw a pair of light green eyes staring at him.

Sakura-chan! he wanted to shout, but it came out as more of a dry croak. "Sak…"

Sakura screamed, and there was a loud clatter as her chair fell to the floor. Her voice seemed weirdly high-pitched.

"T-Tsunade-sama!" she shouted, turning and running to the door, sandals slapping against the linoleum. She had already made it to the door and out into the hall before Naruto realized what exactly was wrong with this scenario.

Sakura-chan! he tried again, but it didn't work any better than before. Everything was gradually becoming fuzzy and distorted again. Naruto struggled to stay awake—with a great effort, he barely managed to raise one of his hands and curl it around the bed's railing. But it was no use. His consciousness was being pulled back out by some irresistible force.

"…Naruto, can you hear me?"

Naruto blinked in the rain; his eyes were already open when he came to. Nagato and Konan were hovering over him. Konan's hair was unkempt, the paper flower she usually kept in it drooping, and her face was scuffed. She was singed, but alive.

"I went back to the past!" Naruto gasped, jolting up. He looked around wildly and saw that half the balcony was missing. One of them must have caught him while he was unconscious. The clash between the two different realties was disorienting.

"What?" Nagato's one visible eye widened. "Are you sure, Naruto? What did you see?"

"I saw Sakura-chan… I was in the hospital—"

Naruto didn't get the chance to finish. The Edo Tensei body of Yahiko finished re-forming from pieces scattered by the explosion and rushed them in a last-ditch effort. Naruto caught sight of the movement and shouted out, making Nagato and Konan turn around quickly. Yahiko-Orochimaru threw a kunai at Nagato's head that was dodged—Konan stood from where she crouched beside Naruto—Nagato grabbed his best friend's arms, stilling his advance. Strong cables shot out of Nagato's sleeves and wound tightly around the Edo Tensei body. At the same time, Konan's slips of paper rushed around fiercely and lay themselves flat all over him like scales, leaving only the face visible. The Reanimation was effectively trapped in place.

"You surprised me," Orochimaru's voice came chuckling from Yahiko's mouth, the perversely pleased expression looking all wrong on his features. "To think you had the nerve to destroy someone you cherish so deeply. It seems even now I should be careful not to underestimate Akatsuki."

Nagato and Konan glared, a cold, sinister fury radiating off both of them. As Naruto looked up at their backs, he was able for the first time to appreciate—really appreciate—that these were S-class ninjas. They had been so nice to him that it had been hard from the very beginning to think of them as former enemies, no matter what anyone said. But the sense of power and anger they could give off without any effort was chilling. Naruto was glad they were on his side now.

"I'm not the same as I was back then," Konan said coolly. "I'd rather die than be used as a bargaining chip again. We won't forget this, Orochimaru."

"Of course," he said enigmatically, and his gaze flickered past Nagato and Konan, to Naruto. They made eye contact and Orochimaru-Yahiko gave a knowing, self-satisfied smirk. Nagato put a hand on the Edo Tensei summons' chest and pulled back with a shimmery, ghostly-looking form attached. Even as Yahiko's eyes started to shift from white back to brown, they remained fixed on Naruto. That smirk pissed him off. It wasn't the expression of someone who had just lost the fight.

"What did you do?" Naruto demanded, getting up from the ground and stepping between Nagato and Konan. "You know what happened, don't you? Tell me how I can get back home, you bastard!" He reached out to grab Orochimaru-Yahiko by the collar, but Konan laid a hand on his arm.

"He's already gone," she said heavily.

The Edo Tensei was starting to crumble as Nagato pulled Yahiko's soul out of the summon body. But in the brief moment right before it withered away completely, Yahiko was back in control of himself again.

"I knew you could do it—Konan, Nagato…" he rumbled slowly. Nagato and Konan didn't say anything. Or maybe it would be more accurate to say that they couldn't.

"Hey, don't make faces like that," Yahiko said, flashing a pale grin. "You two will have to be tougher than this if you want to win a war against dead-raising psychos. I can't look out for you anymore, you know."

"We—" Nagato started, struggle evident in his voice, "I'm sor—"

"If you think there's something you have to feel guilty for, forget it," Yahiko cut in impatiently. "Damn, it would be just like you to waste your resurrection moping about old things."

"Yahiko," Konan said in a slightly reproachful tone, but she was smiling through the tears gleaming in her eyes.

"Just don't be in a rush to follow after me, alright?" Yahiko added in a more serious tone. "Take care of yourselves. We'll all be home together again before you know it."

"And Jiraiya-sensei will be there, too," Konan said softly.

A silence fell, heavy and sad. The three of them stood huddled together there while Yahiko slowly crumbled and faded away. Nagato seemed reluctant to speed up the process, but in the end it was inevitable. Yahiko's features peeled off and vanished, leaving behind the corpse of a nameless man; probably someone who had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Nagato and Konan released their respective binding jutsus and stood there staring at the corpse left behind by the Edo Tensei. Naruto stepped in between them to look.

"What is going on?" Naruto asked in a low voice, face pulling a disgusted look. "This isn't Yahiko?" it was half question, half statement.

"…No," Nagato said after a while. "The Edo Tensei requires a body to resurrect the deceased person in. The soul is bound to the body with the summoning seal. Breaking the soul's bond with the body seems to be the best way to stop the jutsu."

"Oh, right. That's like with me." At least Naruto knew he wasn't occupying someone else's corpse. That would have made his situation even more disturbing.

Nagato looked to the side and Naruto followed his gaze to Itachi, walking toward them. The red skeletal-looking entity slowly faded away.

"Itachi! What happened to that—that other guy?" Naruto asked hesitantly.

"I tried to seal Shisui, but Orochimaru caught on to what I was doing and called him back," Itachi said, bending down and picking up the kunai that Yahiko-Orochimaru had thrown at Nagato. It had a paper tag attached to it. "It's no wonder, since I used the same method of sealing on Orochimaru before, and he knew what would happen."

"Part of why he came here must have been bring us back under control, after all." Nagato said, noticing the kunai that Itachi held. The paper tag on it was one used to control the Edo Tensei.

"Aa. He must have known that there was no way to win through sheer force, so he probably hoped to create an opening through emotional manipulation. Shisui tried to get me with one as well, though the aim was sloppy. Orochimaru's control seemed to waver for a moment, for some reason."

"Itachi," Naruto said urgently. "That genjutsu you put on me—is there any way at all it would make my soul or whatever leave this body and go back to my real one, in the past?"

"I do not think so," Itachi said, tilting his head to the side slightly. "Why do you ask, Naruto?" The others also turned around to look at him in curiosity and concern.

Naruto shook his head. "I don't know. Something… something weird happened when there was that explosion. I could feel Orochimaru, but then I suddenly couldn't move. At first I thought he had tried to take over me, and your genjutsu stopped him—like you said it would, you know? But then I passed out and woke up again in the past! I was in my real body, I was in the hospital… I saw Sakura-chan—she was my age again." His eyes widened as it gradually sunk in more and more. Up until now, Naruto hadn't really given a lot of thought as to what things were like back at home. He had just sort of assumed that everything would be exactly as it was when he left. That no time would have passed once he finally made it back. But that didn't seem to be the case.

"Are you sure that's what really happened?" Konan asked. "It could have been an illusion, or…"

"No, whatever it was, it wasn't an illusion," Nagato interjected, shaking his head. "I saw. His life energy nearly disappeared. The damage his body sustained from the blast should not have been enough to cause it, either."

Remembering, Naruto looked at his arms. They showed no sign of burns from the explosion, but what had been there definitely wasn't enough to explain his soul leaving his body. He'd already suffered a lot more damage without that happening.

"It was Orochimaru's fault," Naruto said with conviction. He didn't have any proof beyond gut instinct, but he didn't feel less sure for that. "I have no idea how it could have been him, but… I just know it was."

"It makes as much sense as any other possibility," Konan said. "He is always sneaking around, doing something behind the scenes that no one else knows about." She grimaced and put her hand to her throat, where there was a thin line of blood. She had barely managed to escape in time. "I'm alright," she added heavily at their concerned looks. "I should never have allowed that to happen."

"You're the only one of us that's normal, Konan-nee," Naruto pointed out unnecessarily, crossing his arms with a nod. "We gotta remember you're not a zombie."

"What should we do now?" Itachi asked quietly. "Naruto, you said that you woke up in the hospital?"

Naruto's face turned stormy and he slowly uncrossed his arms. "Yeah. And Sakura-chan was there, but she acted shocked that I was awake. She ran to go get Tsunade-baachan."

"Then, it seems that time is still flowing there while you are here."

Naruto frowned and stared down at the ground, fists clenched as his sides. "That means… they're probably worried about me. And if I'm not there, does that mean I've already started changing stuff in the past, without meaning to?"

'The only change will be you. But you will undoubtedly find out how much difference that can make.' That was what Madara had told him.

"What am I supposed to be doing in my time right now?" Naruto asked Itachi. "Will it mess things up if I'm just laying around in the hospital?"

"From what you have told me…" Itachi said slowly, "this is right around the time that Sasuke leaves Konoha to go join Orochimaru. You and a group of other genin go after him, but in the end you fail. You didn't see Sasuke when you were there just now?"

"No, but—that could have just been a coincidence! There might still be enough time to…" to what? Just because he knew what was going to happen, did that mean that he would be able to stop it?

No. The 'how' didn't matter. He would stop it, and that's all there was to it.

"Have you changed your mind about going back later?" Nagato asked. "We can try to send you back now, if you want. If I'm sealed, the contract should be nullified."

"I…" Naruto had no idea what to do. It wouldn't feel right to leave this time now, before he had the chance to meet his older self or help out in the war. But every minute he spent here increased the chance it was too late to stop Sasuke from leaving the village in his own time. Naruto had witnessed first-hand where that path led for his best friend. If it was only his life at stake… that was what made him hesitate. Could he essentially sacrifice what remained of Nagato's life, especially after hearing Yahiko tell him to keep living while he could?

"Think carefully about it," Itachi said. "Right now, you are worried about what you 'should' be doing in your time. But the world doesn't really work that way. In life, there are no right or wrong answers, just different choices. Nothing you do is more or less valid than what the Naruto of this time has done. It is only different. Don't make the mistake of thinking that failing to follow the same path will inevitably lead to disaster."

"…" Naruto was still unsure. This wasn't the kind of choice he wanted to have to make.

"Think about it this way, then. You said you were sure it was Orochimaru's fault that it happened, right?"

"Yeah?" Naruto said hesitantly.

"Then you should be all the more careful about basing your most important decisions off it."

Silence fell for a moment. Naruto was seriously getting a headache from trying to think about all the 'what-ifs' at once. This was why he normally just acted on gut instinct—things usually came out okay, and it was a lot simpler.

"Let's just get in out of the rain for now," Konan said softly. She extended a hand out and paper sheets wrapped around the body left behind by the Edo Tensei. Naruto felt slightly ill again at the sight of the nameless victim of Orochimaru's jutsu.

He was sure it had been Orochimaru, yes… what else could that feeling mean? But that still left the question of why.

Sasuke walked through the deceptively peaceful-looking forest, the sun through the leaves casting dappled light over his clothes and skin. Even though he had only a vague idea of where he was going, he walked with purpose. His intent was to investigate the war he had heard about, and find the rest of Taka—and not necessarily in that order. As far as he was concerned, the war was only a small diversion. More than anything else, what he wanted to see with his new eyes was the destruction of Konoha.

He heard rushing water nearby and, deciding that he had traveled far enough from the ruined lair to stop and decide on the next course of action, stepped out of the tree line. The location was pretty but unremarkable; a small waterfall spilled into a clear, shallow pool with white gravel in the bottom of it. Sasuke barely had time to notice the place's natural beauty, though—he froze in his tracks at the sight of at least fifty people resting casually in the open space, sitting on the grass and the sandy boulders scattered around. His black eyes widened and shifted almost immediately into the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. There was something very off about this scene. The people were of varying ages, and their clothing was a mix of different styles from different time periods. But almost all of them wore the Uchiha crest.

Sasuke put his hand on the hilt of his sword, eyes darting from one face to another, as more and more turned toward him. Their faces were cracked; their eyes entirely black in most cases. The ones that weren't black-on-black were red-on-black—the Sharingan.

"Sasuke!"

A voice called out and a soft weight ran into him, wrapping him up in an embrace. Sasuke's hand slipped off the hilt of the sword and fell to his side numbly. His heart was starting to pound furiously. Confusion, panic—was this real? Her hair pressed into his cheek, and he could swear that it smelled exactly the way that it used to.

"Kaa-san?" Sasuke whispered with the very small amount of breath he had left.

He pushed himself away from her grasp jerkily, eyes wide, almost fearful. Glancing behind her, he saw what he'd already half-expected to see—his father, standing there with his arms crossed and his typical grim expression on. Sasuke, with Itachi's eyes newly implanted, was looking at his parents through the eyes of both sons.

"Orochimaru brought us back," Mikoto said softly, understanding his expression. "…You've gotten so tall."

Anger.

Anger—yes, that was something familiar, comfortable. Sasuke latched onto that burning flame the moment he felt it flicker within him. It kept everything else under control a little better.

"Why did he do this?" he demanded, looking around at all the Uchiha assembled there. The rest of them continued to watch silently, as if waiting to see what would unfold. Now that he understood what was happening, Sasuke was able to pick out a few other faces that he vaguely recognized. But most of them were unfamiliar. "He still wants the Uchiha's power?"

Well, he had it now. Had Orochimaru always been planning to do this? Why now? Was it to get to him, somehow?

"Apparently, there is a war he wants us to fight," Fugaku spoke up with distaste. It was clear that he loathed being under control like this. "We were not told why we had to come here and sit around. We have a very limited control over our own actions."

Sasuke stared at his father. Though angry, the Uchiha clan head was composed and already seemed to be in charge—at least, as much as was possible in these circumstances. That was so much like him, to be standing there in front of the son he hadn't seen in eight years, and stick to making a simple report of their situation. But that—that was easier to handle. It made Sasuke feel less like screaming and crying. He still had a hard time looking at his mother directly, like she was a scorching bright light. The problem was that if he lost his composure now, he wasn't sure he could get it back.

"We heard that Itachi was resurrected, too. But we haven't seen him," Mikoto said hesitantly.

Sasuke did look at her this time. She didn't try to hug him again, but stood there with her hands clasped in front of her patiently.

"He's back, too…?" face darkening, Sasuke clenched his fists down by his sides and narrowed his eyes at his parents. "I heard something about him a little while ago. That he was acting under orders when he killed everyone in the clan. That the Uchiha were plotting a coup d'état. Is that true?"

Mikoto's small smile faded, and her eyebrows drew together in concern. Fugaku stepped forward and put a hand on her shoulder. "How did Itachi die?"

"I'm the one asking questions!" Sasuke said roughly, giving a large, aggravated motion. "Is it true, or not?"

Fugaku closed his eyes and sighed. "You were very young at the time, so you wouldn't understand. Even if we were destined to fail, we had to try. In the same way, Itachi had to be the one to stop it. All of us were following our convictions like true Uchiha. We do not blame Itachi for what he had to do. Going on about it now won't change anything."

Sasuke's throat worked. "Is that all you can say? I was left alone without knowing anything—I spent half of my life believing a lie, and you still want to talk down to me like a child? What am I supposed to do now?" He took a step toward his father. "I should have died along with you."

"The Uchiha are finished," Fugaku said dismissively. "Just live according to your convictions. That is the best way you can honor us now."

Sasuke could only scoff at what, to him, was still a woefully inadequate response. Then again, making up for everything was probably a task far beyond words now. Maybe his father was right, and going on about it now really wouldn't change anything.

"Sasuke-chan," Mikoto said, causing a sharp pain to go through his chest. "I know it's hard, but please, try to live. I know how strong you are. There is still a chance for you."

It was much harder to disagree with her. Sasuke found himself even wishing that he could tell her what she wanted to hear, and let her believe that he grew up with a happy little life in Konoha.

"It's too late for that," he murmured. "They won't accept me anymore, not after all the things I've done. And I wouldn't want them to, anyway. I don't care anything about the future. It ended with all of you! The villages are nothing but a corrupt system that forced the Uchiha to serve or die. And now I know that it's all true… it makes me hate them all the more." He still wanted to talk to Itachi himself, if he really was revived, too. In fact, finding him would now take priority over everything else. He had to hear the truth directly from him. Only then would it be starkly, undeniably real.

"You have the Mangekyo Sharingan," Fugaku commented.

"Eternal Mangekyo," Sasuke amended. "These are Itachi's eyes."

His father turned around and started walking away without a word.

"Tou-san!"

Fugaku continued walking on, and the other Uchiha got to their feet silently and started following after him. Mikoto started following him, as well.

"Where are you going?" Sasuke demanded.

"It seems it's time for us to be put to whatever use Orochimaru brought us here for," Fugaku said without turning around. "Maybe we'll finally get to see what's happening. Waiting around here was getting tiresome, anyway."

Sasuke grit his teeth and stepped in among them, ignoring the looks the others were giving him. It was a strange sensation, fitting in so well among the dead. There were Uchiha symbols everywhere he looked. He wasn't sure what to do. He wasn't finished talking to his parents—but Itachi was out there somewhere.

And his clan was being used like pawns for this war. It burned like acid on his tongue to see them filing away like obedient troops to wherever Orochimaru was sending them. He had gone too far this time. But staying here wasn't going to stop it from happening. Sasuke had to find Orochimaru and make sure that the snake Sannin stayed dead this time.

"You have no idea where Itachi is, at all? What about Orochimaru?" he said, taking several large strides to catch up to his parents.

They didn't answer. Their eyes had gone blank-white, and their expressions showed no indication that they had even heard. Sasuke looked around and saw that all the other Uchiha were in the same state.

Cursing to himself, Sasuke kept up with the group as they entered a wide field and started to run. Wherever they were going, it was probably one of the battlefields of the war, which was exactly where Orochimaru was not likely to be. He doubted that he would find Itachi out there in the middle of everything, either. But he kept on following the group anyway, just because it was impossible to leave them alone. He had no idea where to start looking for Itachi and Orochimaru, anyway.

They had been running for half an hour before suddenly the group started to split. Sasuke noticed it when the Uchihas on either side of him veered away from one another. Halting to watch, he saw the group segment into three different parts, heading off in different directions. For a moment, he stood there uncertainly. But then he spotted both of his parents continuing forward with the middle group, so he started up again with them. The entire time, he kept a sharp look out for whatever enemy they would be facing.

Even after running all this way, he still didn't have a solid plan in mind. What would happen when they got there? He would be dragged into it. He had no desire to fight in the war, especially a war his clansmen were being forced to participate in. No doubt this entire thing would increase the stigma of the Uchiha even more. Damn Orochimaru!

Difficult as it was, he had to leave them if he wanted to stop this. Halting in place, Sasuke watched as the group, taking no notice of him whatsoever, continued running on. His eyes locked on to his father's back as they got further and further away.

Why was Itachi separated from the rest of them? Had he been ordered to do a different task?

"Looks like you finally did the smart thing, ne."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed and he turned around, hand going to his sword hilt once again. He had no idea why the Akatsuki member was following him, but he was glad that the shark-man had finally decided to step forward.

"You again," he growled, leveling his Sharingan at Kisame. "Why are you following me?"

"It's definitely a pain in the ass to have to look after you like this," Kisame said, crossing his arms. Sasuke noticed that he was no longer wearing the black coat of Akatsuki. "But it's been a little bit interesting, anyway… and besides, Itachi-san asked me to."

"Itachi…?" Sasuke took a step forward and spat out, "I know that's a lie. Itachi is trapped by the Edo Tensei, just like the rest of them. And you're with Akatsuki, so that means you're part of all this too."

"Nope, both wrong. Not anymore." Kisame shook his head. "You don't have to believe me if you don't wanna, but I know where Itachi-san is right now, if you're curious."

Sasuke weighed what Kisame was saying. He thought it was much more likely that Tobi had finally caught up to him after he left and destroyed much of the hideout. The masked man had already given him the ominous warning that he wouldn't be allowed to leave Akatsuki until he fulfilled his part of the agreement. Taka's failure to capture the Eight-Tails meant that they weren't off the hook just yet.

Yet, he knew that Kisame was loyal to Itachi, even in situations where that loyalty put him at odds with Akatsuki. The fact that he had stopped anyone from interfering with Itachi and Sasuke's fight was proof of that.

"Fine. I will listen."

"If Orochimaru succeeds in capturing Naruto, or separates him from us for any length of time, he will most likely try to bring him under his control," Itachi said. "The same thing with Madara—if he captures Naruto again, he will not let him go this time. If either of those things happen, we will seal Nagato right away. Do you agree, Naruto?"

"Yeah." Naruto nodded.

He had decided to stay in this time for now, at least until they found out more about the enemy's plans. That was what they agreed. However, for him, it had more to do with the fact that he hated to leave this place while everything was going on. Naruto hoped that nothing would happen to dramatically alter the past while he was gone.

"According to Shisui, Madara and Orochimaru seem to be working independently of one another right now," Itachi continued. "He said that Orochimaru summoned people and made plans to direct them on his own. I'm not even sure how serious Orochimaru was about finding the Rinnegan."

"Meanwhile, we still don't know where Madara is," Konan mused. "And we do not know how much he is involved in the war at this time."

"There is one last loose end on the enemy's side," Nagato said. "Black Zetsu."

"True."

"Can we go now?" Naruto said impatiently with his hands behind his head, his voice just approaching a whine. "I wanna hurry and find older-me and Sasuke and start helping everyone out! We already decided what to do if I get in trouble, so we've got no reason to hold back anymore."

He was excited. Even though he couldn't quite fight on the level of the enemies they were facing, he felt almost immortal. His new body could take an incredible amount of damage, and they even had a contingency plan for if he got separated from the others and captured. To him, there was no reason to wait any longer, especially when he was also worried about what was happening in the past.

"Naruto, it is best if we avoid the main portion of the enemy's forces, as well as the Allied Shinobi Force," Itachi said.

"Whaaaaat? Why?" he wanted to be involved! "Ne, Itachi, you're not trying to shelter me like everyone else, are you?"

"That's not it," Itachi shook his head. "If we get involved with the Allied Shinobi Force, we will no longer be able to work as freely. It would take a lot of explanation just to convince them that we're on their side. If you want to go back to them, of course, you may. But we cannot follow, and it is very likely that they will try to put you into hiding again."

"Oh." Itachi was right. "Then what are we gonna do? And how am I supposed to see aniki?"

"Our main goals are to find Orochimaru to stop the Edo Tensei, and find Madara," Itachi said. "Orochimaru is our priority for now, since he is actively participating in the war. We may also be able to get him to speak about why he's doing this. It is almost certain that he has a motive beyond helping Madara. In fact, that is probably the least of his considerations."

Naruto frowned down at the floor. "…What about Sasuke?"

There was a long pause. All of them were thinking it, but they hadn't said it yet. Shisui had delivered the news that the Uchiha clan was revived, and that they would most likely be confronting Sasuke.

"Kisame is watching over him," Itachi finally said. "I doubt that Orochimaru will actually attack Sasuke with them physically. What is more troubling is the fact that he probably intends to use the clan for war."

"We should go find Sasuke, so you can talk to him!" Naruto said. "The last time I saw him, he was really in trouble. I'm sure that if you just talked to him, everything would be okay!"

Itachi tilted his head with a small smile, getting a strong sense of déjà vu. The older version of Naruto had told him the same thing, mere hours ago. They were both so terribly optimistic. "No, it would not. Someone like me, who only ever lied to Sasuke, could never truly reach him. I leave that task up to your older self—to you, Naruto. The one thing that makes me glad about you being here, is that maybe you will figure out a way to help him sooner."

Naruto felt someone put their hand on his head, and turned to look up at Nagato.

"You and I are connected in more ways than you realize, Naruto," Nagato murmured. "Once we head out, we most likely won't have the chance to talk together like this again. So let me give you my parting words now, in case anything happens."

"Nagato…" Naruto hated goodbyes, especially when they weren't really saying goodbye yet. But Nagato did have a point.

"When you go back home, we will be mortal enemies," Nagato continued. "Do not make the mistake of expecting any mercy from me, just because you are used to the way I am now. I will be trying to capture and kill you with all my being. You need to fight back just as hard."

"But—" Naruto broke in, "there has to be a way to stop you before things get to that point, right? I mean, at home, you're still alive. And Itachi—you're alive, too!" he turned back toward Itachi. "What's the point of knowing what's going to happen in the future if you have to die all over again?"

"If I die, that is fine," Nagato said. "The only thing I would ever ask of you is, if it is possible… stop me from killing Jiraiya-sensei. I know I don't have the right to ask. But don't let him come here. I've already told you how my abilities work, so there is no need for him to give up his life. After his death, I… I became even worse. I tried to smother my own grief, the horror of what I had done. You have to understand; even with everything else I had done up until that point, it took destroying someone I had truly loved to kill the last of my humanity. I never realized that until it was too late. In the end, you were the one to make me realize that, Naruto."

"I'm not gonna let Ero-sennin die," Naruto said firmly, ignoring the stinging at the corners of his eyes that started when Nagato was talking about Jiraiya. "But I don't want you to die, either. I—I don't care if that makes me no better than Madara." The voice of the masked man still haunted Naruto, challenging him to come up with a reason why his desire to change things was any better than Madara's Tsuki no Me project. "I can't let people die in front of me, knowing that it's going to happen. I can't. And that includes you and Itachi, too. I'll find a way. I'll stop you and save Ero-sennin, and everybody else."

"If anyone can do it, it's you," Konan said, looking down at him seriously, tawny eyes lit with an unreadable emotion. "But when it comes down to it, protect your comrades first, and worry about saving us last."

"Sure," Naruto said obstinately. "It makes no difference anyway, since I'll do both."

Itachi was still watching with a faint smile. "We need to avoid facing any other Edo Tensei summons as much as possible; especially once we decide how the group is going to be split up. I think it's best if I go after Orochimaru. Someone else needs to go with Naruto to wherever he wants to go, and we also need to find Madara."

"I will hunt down Madara," Konan said, her expression like steel. If Itachi was going after Orochimaru, she wanted to confront the one that had manipulated Nagato and the rest of Akatsuki, and tried to sneak into Ame when she was away in Suna.

"Konan…" Nagato started. "He wants to find the Rinnegan more than anyone—"

"And he will not be able to learn it from me. You two are the only ones that know where it is. The entire point of keeping its location a secret from me was so that the enemy could not find it out through genjutsu. I will be staying out of the war, but I can at least hunt him from here."

"Both of you can go," Naruto said strongly. "I'll be fine, especially once I meet up with aniki. The two of us should be able to handle anything!"

Itachi sighed. "This will be easier to figure out once we know more about the situation on the ground. The Rinnegan is safe, so we can worry about Madara after Orochimaru, if necessary."

"How are you so sure that it's safe, anyway?" Naruto asked. "I mean—you guys are awesome and everything, and I'm sure you found a good hiding place, but is it really okay to let Madara keep searching around for it?"

"It would be destroyed before he ever had the chance to get his hands on it," Itachi said, with no shade of doubt in his voice. "What's important is to keep him thinking that there's a chance to get it, so that he's too distracted to join in the war. Finishing the enemy off one at a time will be easier than facing them both together. We're just lucky that they don't seem to be all that united to begin with."

The three of them jumped into the void, finally making their way toward the battlefield.

The older Naruto's arrival couldn't have been better timed for the Allied Shinobi Forces, even if some among them would have had a hard time admitting it. With his ability to sense malicious intent and send clones to every front to weed out the impostors, things were starting to take a more positive turn.

That was, until some very disturbing news started to reach the front lines, gradually trickling down to HQ and then back out again—the famous Uchiha clan had been resurrected. Though the ASF had dealt with patches of Edo Tensei soldiers here and there already, this was the first time they were facing them on such a large scale.

The Uchiha first appeared in the forest, creating a wave of backup for the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, who were being dealt with at the time. In a scene that resembled something from the Warring Clans era, a line of Uchiha drove into the battles taking place in the forest, catching the Allied commando units off guard, forcing some to retreat and some to be caught fatally in between two powerful groups of enemies.

When the older Naruto arrived to back up Sai, Kakashi, Lee, and the others, a large number of their people were already killed. Kakashi looked beaten and ragged, Sai looked tense, and Sakura was biting her lip as she struggled to save as many people as she possibly could.

"What is going on here, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto shouted, pushing the two Uchiha that Kakashi was holding back away from him with a clawed, ephemeral hand.

"It's about time you got here," Kakashi said in an attempt at his usual impassive tone, but the tension underlying it was evident. "We were fighting the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. We managed to seal some of them, but then a whole bunch of dead Uchihas showed up. Hey—pay attention!" Kakashi dodged as a huge blade whistled through the air, aiming at decapitating the both of them. Naruto jumped up and kicked the Edo-Zabuza in the head, sending him into the ground.

He was feeling increasingly disturbed by all of this. He had heard that a lot of people had been resurrected, but this was just so wrong. He and Kakashi landed back-to-back. Kakashi had taken the opening Naruto had presented, and took possession of the oversized Executioner's Blade.

"Gai and some of the others were forced in the other direction, into the woods," Kakashi said. "Go find them. We're not doing so well here, but they are even more outnumbered than we are."

"…" Naruto didn't want to leave them here when they were in such an obviously bad state, but if the others were doing even worse, they definitely needed help. "I could send another bunshin here… but I'd have to dispel myself to get the message through to Boss." That wasn't really an acceptable measure at this point. Who knew how long it would take to send two more clones this way?

"We have a radio," Kakashi said. "We can send the message through Headquarters. Now go!"

"I promise, I'll be—" Naruto started, but he and Kakashi were halted in their conversation when the movements of their enemies suddenly completely changed. The Uchiha that were left with their group—there looked to be about half a dozen of them—suddenly backed away from their opponents and fled away.

The other Edo Tensei zombies, however, stayed. Kakashi jumped in front of Naruto and blocked Zabuza's kunai with the sword while Naruto was distracted with watching the Uchiha's retreat.

"Shit! I don't know if they heard what I was saying, or what—but that's the direction the others were heading in!" Kakashi grunted, pushing his opponent back. "You need to follow them, now!"

"R-Right!" Naruto turned and followed after the retreating Uchiha. They were fast, and moved smoothly as a single cohesive unit, but Naruto was still faster. He spotted them ahead, jumping through the treetops, and jumped up in pursuit.

"Ugh!" Naruto went to jump to the next branch, but something grabbed his ankle, causing him to trip. Pitching forward, he flipped over and landed more-or-less gracefully on his feet to avoid getting dispelled. "What the hell?" He looked up at the offending branch, but didn't see anything.

Warily, the bunshin jumped back up into the trees and continued chasing after the Edo-Uchihas, who were further ahead of him now. Something strange was going on, he could sense it. There were plant clones around—in the trees? He looked down at his feet whenever landing to make sure he didn't get snagged again.

Looking back up, he saw that the group of Uchiha had suddenly stopped and were facing him. Caught in midair, Naruto decided to land on a branch right in front of them, but something hit him in the back, followed by many more impacts as he was tackled bodily by a swarm of those white creatures. They reacted instantly to his Kyuubi Chakra Mode, sprouting into trees and entangling him.

"H-hey!" the bunshin shouted, but he only had time to struggle for a moment before gravity took its toll and he hit the ground, vanishing in a puff of smoke, stabbed through with sharp roots.

Naruto blinked as yet another clone's memories hit him. It was a lot like the others. Every time one of them showed up in a battle, they were either lured away and dispelled, or attacked right on the spot. Any of those white-plant-creatures in that area would throw themselves at him as if they had a death wish. The enemy was targeting him first the moment he appeared anywhere. Now that he knew that, it was possible to adjust his strategy and avoid having his clones dispelled, but that meant having to send a completely fresh wave of clones out, and a lot of the places he'd visited were in serious trouble. No doubt Orochimaru was trying to slow him down.

Cursing to himself, Naruto put his fingers in the cross-sign to summon more Kage Bunshin.

"Oi, Naruto. You sure you wanna do that?" Bee commented, seeing what he was about to do. "Remember what I told you 'bout the Kyuubi Chakra Mode, baka yarou."

Naruto knew. While he was in the Kyuubi Chakra Mode and using the fox's chakra, the fox was able to steal his in return. That effect was multiplied whenever he summoned more bunshin.

"Hmph. The Kyuubi stopped taking my chakra a while ago," Naruto said with a determined grin. "He's just taking a nap or something, I guess."

Instead of rambling on like an idiot, maybe you should pay more attention to your surroundings, the fox snapped at him. Don't you sense them, heading this way?

Naruto closed his eyes briefly before they flew open again.

"Nice timing, dattebayo!" he said exuberantly, punching the air. "I bet they might know something about all this crazy stuff going on with the Uchiha clan! Plus, there's one other thing I can clear up for everyone. Bee-occhan," he added, looking over at the Kumo nin, "can you cover for me? I'm gonna go make a quick visit that I don't want anyone to know about just yet." He knew that things would be less complicated if he went by himself. With everyone being suspicious of his younger self and the others, it would be better to talk to them first, before anyone else got involved.

"Eh… sure," Bee said, nonplussed.

"I'll try to hurry. We have to get help to Kakashi-sensei and the others." Naruto turned and launched himself away from the course he and Bee were just on. Putting on an extra burst of speed, he went hurling toward the direction where he could feel that nostalgic energy that was so similar to his.

The three of them had made it out of the Land of Rain, but they were still a good distance from where the fighting was taking place. No enemies had appeared in front of them yet. All they really had to do in the meantime was discuss plans—and so they had been trying to piece together the details as they went along. The biggest hindrance was the fact that they didn't know exactly where Orochimaru or Madara were. Nagato had tried to trace Orochimaru's energy from the Edo Tensei, but it hadn't worked because they were no longer under control, and therefore not receiving any orders that could be traced back to the source.

They had reached a wide, open lake. The rag-tag group halted when a flash of flaming orange appeared up ahead, vaulted over a few tree branches, and landed smoothly down in front of them.

"Yo!" the older Naruto said cheerfully, putting two fingers to his temple and saluting. He had a wide grin on his face.

The younger Naruto stared at his older counterpart for several moments. He could barely recognize himself at first glance. The most obvious difference was that he was glowing, flames licking his entire body, giving off warmth and golden light like the sun. Looking beyond that, there were other differences, too. He was taller, with broader shoulders and a more angular face. His eyes were yellow instead of a clear blue, but it didn't look menacing. Instead, it looked… almost comforting, somehow.

"W-what?" the elder said with a nervous laugh, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"Ahhhh, so coooooooool!" the younger enthused, stepping closer and looking his counterpart up and down eagerly. "How are you on fire? Can you teach me how to do that? How did you find us? Where've you been this whole time? Can you show me a cool jutsu?"

"Eheheh…" the elder scratched his cheek, looking flattered. "Um… let's see… this is what it looks like when I'm in Kyuubi Chakra Mode… I don't know if I could teach you, there's some kind of waterfall test thing you have to pass first. I found you because I can sense you—the Kyuubi says there's some kind of connection with Jinchuurikis, so I guess that includes you, too. Plus, I can find just about anyone I want using Sage Mode. I was in a weird forest on the back of a giant turtle training to use the Kyuubi's chakra. And…"

Something cool? That was an easy one. The older Naruto held out his hand. Little chakra claws came sprouting from the bright aura around him and waved around his hand, molding the chakra that he started releasing from his palm. First it started out as a small, familiar ball of whirling energy—the Rasengan. Still, the younger Naruto watched intently, waiting for something to happen.

It didn't take long. A sharp, metallic whine started up as tendrils of white swirled around the Rasengan, growing larger and larger, swirling around it in the form of spinning white blades. He raised it up above his head and the blades got longer and longer, the spinning generating a wind that picked up dust and tossed his hair around.

"Fuuton: Rasen-Shuriken!"

He turned and launched the Rasen-Shuriken at the lake. It moved with incredible speed—but only for a split second. Before it hit the water, there was a splash as Nagato skidded out over the lake's surface and held up his hands, right in the path of the Rasen-Shuriken. When it hit him, it wobbled, unraveled, and finally dissipated into nothing.

"Ne, Nagatoooo!" the older Naruto complained, waving his arms. "You ruined it! It's not like it was gonna hit anything!"

The younger Naruto wasn't sure which was more amazing—the Rasen-Shuriken, or the fact that Nagato had stopped it with his bare hands. Or the fact that his older self didn't seem the least bit surprised when he did. For the first time ever, he felt like the most ordinary person in a group.

"I'm sorry, Naruto, but we're trying to be inconspicuous right now," Nagato said, walking over the water back to them. "If that had hit the water, there would have been a splash big enough to show over the tops of the trees. And if it missed, you would have cleared out a good number of the trees."

"Aw c'mon, I wasn't going to miss…"

"So coooool!" the younger Naruto shrilled again, hopping from one foot to another in excitement.

"Right? Right?" the elder turned back to him again. "And there's this other thing I've been working on recently—I don't have it completely down yet, 'cause I have to learn how to balance the red and blue energies, or something like that, but it should be really awesome—"

"I know you're both very excited to finally meet," Itachi interjected, not very loudly, but it still caught their attention. "However, we are in the middle of a war right now. We need to find Orochimaru as soon as possible, and stop the Edo Tensei."

Face turning serious, the older Naruto nodded. "There are Edo Tensei zombies everywhere, plus those white things. And—!" remembering suddenly, he turned to give Itachi his full attention. "Itachi, what's going on with the Uchiha clan? They just started showing up all over the place! They've been working together to get rid of any Kage Bunshin that I send to the battlefield. I have to do it, though, because I'm the only one who can tell the white-plant-things apart from real allies when they transform! I think I can dodge them, now that I know they're going after my bunshin, but it's going to take some time to send them back out. I won't be able to hold the Kyuubi Chakra Mode for much longer…"

"The White Zetsu?" Itachi asked, tilting his head slightly. "What you are saying is that they can transform into allies, and only you can tell them apart from the real thing?"

"Yeah, like I said! You mean you didn't know about that?"

"We have been out of the loop somewhat," Itachi said. "Most of our information about the status of the war has come from intercepting messages being sent to Allied Shinobi Forces HQ."

The younger Naruto felt a creeping sense of foreboding at this revelation. It was bad enough that he knew that Orochimaru had intentionally brought him here… for some reason.

"Does that mean I'm a fake, too?" he burst out anxiously, surprising the others. "This body is made out of those plant-things. How do I know I'm not just like them?" He felt real, sure. Most of the time there was no difference. He probably wouldn't even care so much about being real or not, if it wasn't for the fact that the Zetsu were on the enemy's side. It was the same old fear, the fear that he could lose his free will at any time and turn on everyone.

His older self looked at him silently for a moment. Then he crouched down in front of him, making the older's face level lower than the younger's.

"You're not fake," the elder said. "I can tell you have the same soul as me. And tou-chan and kaa-chan, I can feel them watching over you, too. You'll get to meet them someday, you know. And there'll be a lot of really hard and painful things along the way, but you can do it. I believe in you. You're gonna show everyone what we can do."

He held up a golden fist, and the younger looked at it in confusion until he realized the other wanted him to fist bump. A slow smile growing on his face, stretching out the whisker marks etched on his cheeks, the younger Naruto put up his fist and went to bump it against that of his older counterpart. Right before they touched, however, the golden flames surrounding the elder's body dissolved, leaving behind his normal skin tone and clothes. The younger Naruto's eyes widened as their fists met.

"I told ya it wasn't going to last much longer," the elder said. "We should probably try not to touch when I'm in that form, anyway. I don't know if it would happen, but those white Zetsu things turn into trees when I do that." He closed his eyes for a moment, before nodding decisively to himself. "Yep! There's no doubt about it! Ne, Kyuubi?"

You've gotten way too cheerful, brat, the younger heard the voice echo through his head. What happened to all that hatred of yours?

The older Naruto opened his eyes slightly, eyes on his other self, where the seal was. "You'll find out."

Hmph. He's annoying, but he really gets under your skin, this one.

This time, the voice came from without, but also from within, in a way. The younger Naruto realized it was the other Kyuubi he was hearing.

The older Naruto stood and gave a thumbs-up. "Yosh! As soon as I can use the Kyuubi Chakra Mode again, I'll send more bunshin out to the battlefields. In the meantime, I need to meet back up again with Bee-occhan and help out Kakashi-sensei and the others. What are you guys gonna do?"

"I'm going with you, of course!" the younger said excitedly. "But first, we have to think of what people should call us when we're in the same place. It could be confusing if we're in a fight and someone tries to call us." He crossed his arms and nodded his head importantly.

"Ehhhhh," the elder said dubiously. "Well, I'm oldest, so I should be the one to keep my name. You can be, uh… Shorty."

"What?!" the younger Naruto pointed at the other accusingly. "You just called yourself short, you know that?"

"C'mon, gimme a break here…"