Takashi let the throb of the bass dictate the beat of his heart as people moved to it in the dance pit below him. The beer bottle on the round table before him was sweating, but somehow it glistened less than all the skin on display down below, visible in the flashing lights.
He was the fly in the spider's web, and he knew it.
Away on a mission. That's where people thought he was, he was sure.
Hah.
Could he even be paid for this? Drinking on the job? Enjoying himself, if only because he couldn't not enjoy himself?
Of course, people didn't understand how Takashi could grow to love playing the roles, to love the people his role loved, and to be friends with the people his role considered friends.
His roles had always swallowed him until it came time for the curtain to fall, until it came time to step back and see the end goal again.
Mamoru had ingested him for almost thirteen years.
Mamoru's stomach acids had left some pretty telling scars.
As he grasped the wet, cold bottle and took a pull of the bitter, hoppy brew, he couldn't help but flick his eyes around and feel a smidgeon of pride.
The things they all kept learning… Even at their age.
And then an agent in the Horse mask snapped into existence next to him. Struggling not to react in a way that would draw attention to the cloaked and hooded ANBU, he casually set the bottle down.
"Hokage-sama summons you, Rat-san," Horse-san whispered.
Grimacing, Takashi picked up his beer to finish it off and let Horse disappear. When he set it down again, enough ryou to cover his tab and a generous tip besides was beneath it. He ignored how the proprietor noticed him on his way out. When he exited the club and peered west, shading his eyes against the glare of the early evening sun, a chill shot through him.
Smoke was rising above the forest, and plenty more had obviously dispersed into a haze over time.
Konoha had been burning for a while and he hadn't known.
This unflushing teleportation jutsu of Orange Mask's was a fucking pain in the ass.
It was worse than any horror story about the Yondaime Hokage's Flying Thunder God jutsu Yuji had ever heard.
Much worse, because that needed tags to mark targets according to the tales.
Orange Mask's jutsu was impossible to escape—the asshole simply unflushed right in front of them despite the trees that should have blocked them from his sight, from knowing where they were headed, negating any value of the ANBU and Uchiha Sasuke.
And then he flushed them despite the small, incomplete bijuudama Kurama spat right through the incorporeal bastard as he charged them. Kurama's jaws clamped down on Orange Mask's arm, and they were being sucked into the whirlpool that had its focal point at Orange Mask's strange Sharingan eye.
Kurama was still roaring protests when the vortex spat them out into the dark land of rectangular prisms of various dimensions. He rampaged through the environment, blasting the landscape out of its perfectly mathematical planes.
And Yuji just sat in the lobby and shook, his eyes wide with disbelief.
They had just been caught. By Orange Mask. Who had sent them to some alternate dimension whose only exit was via the Sharingan toilet according to current evidence.
Shock numbed him, and he could only let Kurama express his violent refusal to accept the situation. If he had been in charge of his body, he would have been hyperventilating.
Three squads of ANBU.
An Uchiha.
And this was the result.
Shit.
With a low, wheezing groan, he pushed Kurama back and fell to his human knees amidst the glowing rubble—the blocks were apparently the only source of illumination on this plane.
He sucked in a deep breath and slowly, very slowly, hissed it out between his clenched teeth.
"Calm," he said, both mentally and audibly.
Kurama's reply was an incoherent snarl.
"Calm!" Yuji stressed, imposing his will upon both body and consciousness. It wasn't terribly effective—his hands were still shaking—but it shut Kyuubi up for a moment. "Okay, we are royally fucked at first glance. I know shit about teleportation. Given how fucking empty this place is, it's obviously not one of the primary dimensions used to store whatever has been sealed away. It probably has no specifying seal marks in the entire symbol and pattern dictionary accumulated over thousands of years or there would be all sorts of useless shit scattered around here.
"Self summoning yourself to another location is impossible without an anchor according to the minuscule amount I know about instantaneous transportation, which I did not create because I'm such a moral guy, but obviously I should have expected this kind of bullshit from a guy that managed to take you on. However, I freely admit that I was foolish and did not partake in the forbidden art of self summoning anchor creation, which, duh, requires the use of another soul as an anchor for the summon call. Human sacrifice isn't my thing."
He knew he was rambling, but it was a relief. Thinking aloud felt right. Brother Hikmat had always required it when he had been struggling with a problem. Sand tables were not big enough to fully hash everything out in many cases, and paper was only made so big, so Hikmat had made him blabber on, forcing his mind to key in on the words spewing out of his mouth.
"An anchor requires a soul and intelligence, so it requires the binding of an intelligent spirit. Humans are the most common, considering we're everywhere, but other intelligent species, like summons, have been used in the past by arrogant motherfuckers without an ounce of decency… Oh. Ooooh."
You've had a third thought for the day.
"I know. I'm on a roll." Glad to have you back. You coherent now? Got all your marbles back?
I am myself again.
"Ah, so only halfway there."
Do not make me show you how I can take control of just one of your arms to smack you.
"There you are. But shush—you're gonna make me lose my thought." Yuji narrowed his eyes and bit his thumb open. It had been years since he had done this and had had the means to do this, but he had to remember. This had to work. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu," he whispered, pressing his palm to the ground.
It pulled more chakra from him than it ever had back in the day (probably a result of being in a pocket dimension), so much that Kurama had to back him up, but the smoke rose, dispersed, and revealed a toad about the size of a pair of rooftop cisterns. The toad was orange with dark blue markings, and something about it (he?) struck Yuji as slightly immature despite its ridiculous size.
"Who're you?" the toad demanded.
Yuji's mouth opened, and he hesitated for a moment before cursing softly and pulling up his shirt to drag a chakra-infused finger through the mark of his body modification seal, deactivating it. He gritted his teeth for a moment as his skin tone changed before the toad's wide eyes and said, "Uzumaki Naruto at your service. You might recognize me as the son of Namikaze Minato, who also had a contract with your folk. I am Jiraiya's last apprentice."
"You've got the yellow mop and the pool eyes, so, yeah, I guess I see the resemblance. Gamakichi." The toad huffed. "Not so much at your service, but whatever. Why'd you call? Where the hell are we?"
"You could say we're nowhere, Gamakichi-san. We're somewhere that, as far as I can tell from the last few minutes, can only be accessed by one bitchy Uchiha. He's stuffed me in here against my will, and I would very much like to leave. Could you have me reverse summoned out of here? I have news about Jiraiya's death to report to the toad who told the Hokage."
"That would be Kashira. Sure, I can get you to the Mountain."
Yuji nodded. "Thanks. Much appreciated. I'll return you quick." He released the summoning, and Gamakichi disappeared in as much smoke as he had brought in with him.
And then something else flushed into existence nearby.
Dragon–1 was used to fury. It was nothing new. He had been ANBU for decades. He expected to be betrayed, abandoned, and for plans to fail. He was used to failure.
Worse, he was used to failing on home ground.
He had failed Sarutobi-sama twice, after all. First, with Suna's poisoning. Second, with that Serpent's attack on Konoha.
That his third failure was Kyuubi was oddly fitting.
He had always expected the fox to bring ruin. He just hadn't expected to get off so leniently.
That had been odd, he mused as rage made his fingers twitch even as he barked out orders to get Earth users to handling the Shodaime's rubble and figuring out how the civilians hiding in the passages in the Monument had fared. All those crushed buildings had to be excavated as well. He could only hope that the Academy had truly been emptied in time, since several large boulders had made holes in the roof he could see from his perch. Not that Admin was unscathed either, but the ANBU here had managed to create various barriers to save them from the worst of it.
Tsunade was grinding her teeth, but she was focusing upon working with her slug summon, keeping those she could alive at the expense of vast amounts of chakra. Every so often, her seething would manifest in a growled out swear and a fist pounding carefully lightly against the roof.
Her careful control was vaguely terrifying given how well he knew her.
Control… Yes, Kyuubi had been controlled in his attack. Just the Monument. Definitely a message. If Dragon–1 recalled correctly, Kyuubi had aimed for the Monument during that long ago attack as well. The Yondaime had sent the bijuudama elsewhere though.
And that ball had been so much larger than this one.
Had the boy tempered Kyuubi somehow? Had the boy triggered this? Dragon–1 could see it going either way given what little contact he'd had with the boy over the years. His words today had been bitter and the sentiment about not caring about Konoha had been very clear. It could have been too pointed, a jab, but it could have been his honest feelings as well. Difficult to say. But not caring was very different from wanting to attack.
Attack was clearly Kyuubi's normal way of doing things. History showed that. But boy and demon were too closely tied in his mind. Did it matter if only one was the instigator?
In the end, the attack clearly made them foe. Untrustworthy.
Worse, it was public. There was no way they would be able to hide Kyuubi's second betrayal of the village he was supposed to belong to.
Konoha couldn't afford to look weak. It had sued for peace too many times, been responsible through Danzou and others for too many things. They weren't trusted by anyone. Fire was too ripe a target.
That so many other bijuu had been taken out of the game made this less of a disaster, but it was still bad. Very bad.
He knelt next to his Hokage. "My lady, we will need to control the rumours. Misdirection is a must."
She pressed her lips together, light brown eyes narrowed. "Not enough people saw him face down Akatsuki, huh?"
"We can spread that tale, twist this attack into being part of his defence."
She nodded. "Do what you have to."
At that moment, a Tiger appeared in a cloud of smoke onto the roof at a polite distance from them. He quickly dropped into a crouch, his movements jerky with what Dragon–1 knew was panic. It didn't help that this Tiger was from one of the squads that had gone with the boy.
"My leader ordered me to escape to report just in case. The boy has been taken by the one with the orange mask. Sucked up in a vortex. No trace of where the exit point might be. Agents are attempting to keep Inoichi-san from being taken or killed as well with decoys. He managed to extract information, and the orange-masked man must recognize him for what he is. His teleportation abilities are potentially more advanced than the Yondaime Hokage's, and we cannot touch him—objects pass right through him. Worse, he seems to possess Mokuton abilities: he created and manipulated branches. He definitely has a Sharingan, though it is odd looking."
Mangekyou. Dragon–1 grimaced. This was much worse than he had feared.
"Uchiha Sasuke noted it. He reports that the form is identical to the one Kakashi's takes on when performing his Kamui technique."
Icy shock punched Dragon–1 in the gut. Kami-sama!
He had a very bad feeling about this. He prayed what he thought he knew about Mangekyou Sharingan was wrong.
Please let my guess be wrong.
And then Rat–67 showed up. Pity surged briefly in his gut. He had been going to assign the man to hunt the boy down when he inevitably disappeared. Now he might have to tell him the mission had changed to recovering his son before he was killed.
He chose to avoid the situation for the moment. He signed that the summons would be delayed and that Rat–67 was to make himself useful elsewhere. Once the man disappeared, Dragon–1 relaxed only slightly.
Priorities. Inoichi had to be protected.
"What happened with the Akatsuki Pain?"
Tiger stiffened. "They managed to extract information from him, summoned a very large, mobile statue, and Kyuubi pulled Nibi from it. The attacker appeared shortly afterwards. The jinchuuriki sealed away Pain and fled as the fox and was taken. Nibi ignored us all and fled, but I think it has been taken as well."
Yuji cursed when he recognized the flaming cat. "We just set you free and you're already captured again!" he shouted at the creepy beast.
The two-tone eyes blinked at him in surprise as a voice echoed in the lobby. Kurama? Is that brat yours still? I thought you would have killed him by now.
I know for a fact you were stuck in that kunoichi for far longer than I've been in this boy.
Yes, but your seal is unlocked.
As was yours when we met you in the Red City. Your chakra had been claimed! Do not speak to me of failure.
Matatabi showed off his fangs.
And then the pocket dimension disappeared in a burst of smoke. As it cleared and Yuji coughed, he had to squint in the bright light of day after the darkness of the other plane. It was also very humid here, wherever the "here" the toads had called him to was.
"Welcome to Mount Myouboku!" wheezed a small reddish toad with his hands pressed together, visibly drained. Nearby, Gamakichi grunted welcome as well.
Shit, Matatabi is stuck there! Yuji groaned and dropped his head into his hands. It was a small victory that they had escaped with Nagato: at least the vessel couldn't be used to seal the cat away again. Yuji had hoped having the demon cat running around in the world would make things more interesting, at the very least.
Something very strange was happening.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes, but there was no mistaking it. Their opponent had flinched when his shuriken had passed through the man's chest. There was a smoking hole in the enemy's clothes exactly where the shuriken slipped through him. The skin behind it was raw and blistered.
The opponent Uchiha (it was unnerving to face one of his kin as an enemy) acted pretty nonplussed, touching the wound with his head cocked.
Sasuke realized immediately that something else had to be attacking him whenever he dematerialized because he stopped doing it. More branches attacked. More flames. More distance.
This was vital.
As the last Inoichi was revealed to be a clone wearing a henge, the Akatsuki Uchiha flushed himself away angrily.
Sasuke swayed, drained by so many ineffectual and powerful Katon attacks, and tried to make sense of everything he had seen. He didn't know enough about Mangekyou Sharingan to be sure—only Shisui currently had those eyes, and Kakashi, if his bequeathed Sharingan counted—but there was too much evidence of the connection to discard.
His teacher had never spoken of Uchiha Obito, and his clan rarely mentioned his heroics because of the shame of giving his eye to someone outside the clan, but that his other eye had survived being crushed by boulders and was in the head of someone with Akatsuki was definitely going to be one of the rare things that made his sensei truly angry.
Sasuke would bet on it.
Yuji considered going back for Matatabi for all of one second before dismissing it as impossible for the same reasons escaping the pocket dimension without the assistance of the toads would have been impossible. Matatabi was not bound to him by a summoning contract, so there was no way for the ghost cat to call him back there that he knew of. He had no intention of showing his hand and getting Orange Mask to suck him up again just to rescue the cat.
Nibi, unfortunately, was lost to Orange Mask.
Damn but that was annoying, especially on the heels of their victory in getting him loose.
Worse, if the dimension hadn't been so much under Orange Mask's control and thus required his immediate departure, it would have been the perfect place to unleash the contents of the Shinigami's stomach: minimal impact of vengeful spirits upon the inhabitants (none), minimal chance of infesting the rest of the world with something terrible, and, best of all, apparently only Orange Mask would have been confronted by whatever horrors were let loose (unless some other poor sot got flushed).
On the heels of that thought came a brief flicker of worry for the ANBU, the Yamanaka, and the little Uchiha (it didn't matter that they were the same age: the Uchiha was young in some innocent way that Yuji knew he was not). It felt odd to have positive worry for ANBU, but these weren't Root agents.
The next thing to consider was how he was going to get away: he had broken his initial contract with the toads for a very good reason. These toads were loose allies of Konoha. They had apparently been in contact with Konoha after Jiraiya's death, which could mean a couple things: one, that there was another summoner in Konoha, or two, that the toads corresponded with Konoha via some other method.
Yuji had this vague feeling that Konoha wasn't too pleased with him and that avoidance was a good idea. He wasn't quite sure where it was coming from—though, sure, he had been less than polite to Tsunade and he had been avoiding Konoha forever.
This feeling was a heavier cloud in his psyche. There was guilt. Much more nebulous guilt than his usual amount associated with killing Root agents to protect himself.
Where was it coming from? What had he done?
"You said you had information for Kashira?" asked Gamakichi, narrowing his bulbous eyes at him.
Yuji nodded sharply. "There's been some progress in the last couple hours. He needs to hear this."
The young toad nodded and jerked his head in a "follow me" way before hopping off down a narrow lane with sharp rocky walls to frame it. They passed various stark mountain formations, lush vegetation, and murky pools that were probably the reason Yuji was quickly becoming sticky in the heat. This was a sharp change from the North Sea climate, and Konoha hadn't been humid enough to make this transition smooth. They came to a humble hut, where Gamakichi croaked at the door. "Kashira, Uzumaki Naruto is here to see you."
The creaky bickering that had been taking place indoors cut off, and there were a couple slaps of flesh on stone before the door was pulled open. An olive green toad with bushy white eyebrows raised them at his visitors. "Uzumaki Naruto? Jiraiya-chan's godson?"
Yuji grimaced slightly and bowed. "Yes, sir. I was hoping to speak with you. I have just escaped from Akatsuki with the help of Gamakichi."
"Akatsuki? You have had a busy day. You're just in time for lunch. Come, join us for a meal. Ma! Do we have enough for one more?"
"Who?"
"Lunch really isn't necessary—" Yuji tried to interject.
"Jiraiya-chan's godson."
"Ah! Bring him in!" called "Ma".
"Really, thanks, but I really shouldn't eat—" Kashira shot Yuji a look, and he stopped with a sigh. Yuji thanked Gamakichi before slipping inside, letting the old toad send off his escort. He found another small toad with a vibrant purple fringe on her head, rather like a mop of curls. She ushered him impatiently over to the table and settled him on a cushion, fluttering and scolding him for never having taken the time to meet them before and for being the one to cause Jiraiya-chan so much trouble. "He always believed in you though," she grumbled as Kashira took his seat at the table.
Yuji grimaced. It was awkward to not have real names to address these toads by. He could not call her "Ma". It was just too weird. "I'm sorry, I didn't get your name. You can call me Naruto, but I prefer Yuji."
"Yuji…" Kashira frowned. "Jiraiya-chan never mentioned that name."
"It was the name I was known by when I was living in Kirigishi Village. The old perv never liked it. He felt using it was disloyal to my blood parents."
"Ah, I see. I am Fukasaku and this is Shima. We taught Jiraiya-chan the ways of the Sage. We were with him at the end."
Yuji took a deep breath, hoping it would somehow loosen the knot binding his chest. "I just heard he died a few hours ago. I didn't have time to ask questions, but I heard that he got his soul pulled out of him by Nagato's corpse puppets."
Shima and Fukasaku traded sorrowful looks. "Nagato is Pain?"
"The guy behind the six, yeah. He's the one with the Rinnegan."
"Jiraiya-chan was trying to discover the truth of Akatsuki. He was familiar with the Rinnegan. One of his students from just after the Second Ninja War, a Rain orphan, had it, he told me."
A student… Boy, that old toad prophecy…
Oh yeah… This complicates things.
"You look troubled," said Fukasaku.
"The old perv asked me to fulfill a prophecy in Minato's place, the one about the fate of the ninja world. He said it mentioned a student of Jiraiya's. If he knew Nagato was still around and had the Rinnegan, why on earth did he think that the actor in the prophecy was me?"
"Jiraiya-chan wasn't certain that his old students were around anymore. Another of the three was definitely killed years ago. Jiraiya-chan wasn't sure the other two had survived the fallout in Rain after Hanzou's fall and the closing of the borders."
"Nagato attacked Konoha today, hoping to draw me in," Yuji explained. "He tore through the streets, trying to find my family, the people that raised me undercover in the south. In particular, they were looking for my mother. Jiraiya didn't know exactly where she was—I'm not sure why, but I'm grateful—so there was a lot of collateral damage."
The old couple was appropriately aghast at his blunt revelation. "We should go help them!" Shima cried.
Yuji shook his head and explained what he and Kurama had done.
"You freed Nibi?" Shima looked apoplectic.
He frowned at her. "Of course. Matatabi works with the Shinigami. Apparently, he was captured by two creeps who—if he had been free—he would have been responsible for eliminating because they're basically zombies. Of course, that didn't stop the damn cat from getting caught minutes later."
"Caught?"
And so Yuji rounded off his tale by explaining about Orange Mask and getting flushed. By the time everything had been laid out, Fukasaku and Shima were silent.
"So, you have Nagato and his Rinnegan sealed away?"
Yuji nodded.
"Why come to us, Yuji-chan?"
Yuji looked the old toad square in the eye and quirked up one corner of his mouth. "Not entirely sure. I just wanted someone to know what went down from our perspective. I can't go back to Konoha. Orange Mask will get us if we do. Sure, we can escape the flushing with your help, but he'll get wise to that pretty quick. I don't want to know what he'll do to us instead."
Fukasaku nodded and considered as a subdued Shima began setting out bowls full of bugs and worms. "Please, eat," she urged, setting a pair of chopsticks before him.
Yuji hid a grimace. This wouldn't be the first time he had eaten bugs, but worms were a new thing. That they were all still wriggling in their various sauces was another level of gross. "Ma'am, I apologize, but you realize I am human, yes?"
She frowned at him. "Yes, boy, I'm not blind!"
"I'm sorry, but my diet is quite different from yours. I'm going to be cutting open my gut shortly if I can find a safe place, and I'd rather the worms not make a break for it. I thank you for your hospitality, but I must refrain from taking part." He was not eating worms. Not unless he got far more desperate, hang guest protocol!
"You don't like my cooking?" she growled.
"I'm sure the sauces are wonderful, but I need my food to be slightly more dead. My thanks for offering though."
She huffed, obviously offended, but he considered it a victory that she took his bowl away.
Fukasaku was watching with a frown that had a twinkle to it. If the toad was old enough to have eyebrows like those, Yuji figured he knew well enough what humans did eat and these two were simply seeing what he would do.
"Cutting open your gut?"
"Not seppuku, I promise. Another plan. Part of a particular jutsu I'd rather not explain. Kurama will patch me up when we're done."
The toad narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Are you certain you don't want our assistance with this, Yuji-chan? In my centuries, I have seen many strange rituals and jutsu."
Centuries, plural. Yuji considered carefully.
No. No more toad involvement.
Backup in case you're being overconfident would be nice.
I'm not going to argue with you further. No toads. I will heal you. Kushina will be our witness.
Fine.
We should leave soon. They will send toads to Konoha shortly. It is better that we not be here when they tell them we escaped.
True. "Fukasaku-sama, can I ask where we are on the continent? I must depart soon and would rather head towards the Treatise Sea."
"The eastern sea? Hmm, it is a much farther journey than to the southern seas, but you have a ninja's speed, I suppose. Weeks of travel, perhaps. It would be faster to return you to Konoha and to depart from there. Are you sure you do not wish to assure yourself of your family's safety?"
He shook his head. "I'm not sure where my mother is and I don't want to talk to my brother or father right now. My brother was fine the last time I saw him, and my father was supposed to be out of the village. I'd really like to leave."
"Jiraiya-chan asked us to watch over you, you know. In his place."
Yuji narrowed his eyes. "Really? I wouldn't have thought he would have had time to ask that."
"He knew what danger we were going into, you ungrateful boy," hissed Shima. "He asked us as we began to confront Pain. Jiraiya-chan suspected he wouldn't survive."
"We never agreed on anything about who I was, really," Yuji said carefully. "I respected him for his ideas about the ninja world's current trends though. He was my fool sensei for a while. We wanted to end the international tensions, to erase the need for the villages to be armed. We wanted openness about how the jutsu could benefit everyone, not just ninja." Yuji had nearly forgotten that, dredging these positive things out from beneath the sea of his resentment with some difficulty. "He fed me information over the last year. I didn't know until recently. I'm sorry he's gone. He didn't deserve what he got."
Shima did not look appeased in the slightest.
Yuji wasn't sure he cared.
Her husband sighed. "I would feel better if I knew that you were not going to attempt to void your contract with us the moment you have a chance."
Yuji smirked. "That would require me knowing where that contract scroll is. The old perv was the one who carried it last time I pulled that stunt."
Fukasaku somehow managed to look down his stubby face at him (since his nose wasn't really separated from his mouth). "You have opened your seal to release Kyuubi within your body, as Jiraiya always hoped for you, but you did not take the chakra as he wished. You and Kyuubi mingle now, your souls blending within your vessel. I am no longer certain what your limits are. If you do break the contract, please release Gerotora so he may return to us."
"How can the key be erased from his scroll? I would not put that power back in the hands of anyone else again."
"Gerotora can instruct you. The scroll is his special skill."
Yuji nodded sharply. "Got it. I promise to send him back to you once he's no longer a danger to us. I'd release him now, but I've really got to get going and I might yet get flushed again. Thank you for hearing me out."
"We will be telling Konoha that you escaped safely."
"I know. That's why I'm heading out. Will you promise not to reverse summon me unless I ask for it first?"
Fukasaku eyed him for a long moment. "That is a very disrespectful promise to ask of us. Summoning always works both ways when you sign a contract with us. I deny your request."
We cannot afford to wait to break it. Konoha will be coming after us right away.
Even with all they have to worry about on their home soil? And if Orange Mask does nab us again, we won't have an out.
We can make an out. And Konoha will not be busy enough to ignore that we have Nagato.
Something about Kurama's tone made Yuji's eyes widen. What the fuck did you do? You did something. I can tell. You don't sound quite smug enough, but you've lost that "blah, blah, ants, pitiful" tone of yours.
I do not answer to you.
Like fuck you don't! We're sharing my fucking body! What did you do that would piss Konoha off enough that they'd come after us right this minute?
I did not cause any real damage. Not nearly as much as they deserve.
I don't give a fuck! What did you do?
I destroyed their statue of the Shodaime.
Yuji blinked. You vandalized some artwork? He had expected something so much worse. Sure, the Shodaime's bust was carved into a mountain face, but this was Kurama he was considering here. He had expected the fox to have levelled a quarter of the village at the very least.
Some ants might have been crushed.
He grimaced. Okay, now he knew where that guilty feeling had come from. More deaths on his conscience. Great. Just great. Did you even consider what a pain in the ass this is going to be? Sure, we've defied Konoha, but never attacked it, you moron! There was no point in asking if Kurama had considered the lives that had been lost. That would be so out of character for him that Yuji would have suspected mind control.
It needed to be done.
Yuji shut his eyes and drew in a pained breath. So much revenge was going to be hot on his trail, but escaping would do no good until the toads couldn't nab him any time Konoha asked. "How do I bring Gerotora forth?"
Fukasaku showed him the proper seals while Shima muttered disapprovingly in the background. Once Gerotora clambered out Yuji's throat, stamping all over his gag reflex in the process, he dry heaved a few times before he regained his composure, being sure not to look at the creature that had just exited his mouth.
The scroll toad looked miffed when the situation was explained to him. "You want me to erase the last work of the Yondaime Hokage?"
Yuji grimaced in the face of his outrage. "Terrible, I know, but I'm his legacy"—it was so weird to be saying that without a load of undirected fury roiling in his gut… Where had his anger gone?—"and I need it gone for my safety. Selfish, but it was made for me."
"It was made for Konoha, boy!"
"It was done to me. I am the subject of that seal. If I want it gone, it will be gone." He narrowed his eyes at the belligerent amphibian and let Kurama make them red and slitted.
"It's a mistake."
"I don't care. Do it. The seal is already unlocked. The key is a weakness I can't allow."
"It's for your benefit! So you can lock up that demon again! You were already supposed to have done that!"
Yuji stepped right in front of Gerotora and let Kurama's aura roil around his body. "Erase it."
None of the toads looked impressed now, but Gerotora unfurled his torso scroll and ran through a long string of handseals. The writing faded as he neared the end.
Yuji nodded his thanks. "Good job. Sorry you don't agree with the necessity. I'll try to prove that you did the right thing." He turned to Fukasaku. "The contract scroll?"
Grimacing, Fukasaku hopped out of the room. Yuji ignored Shima's glare and studied their decor. Simple and plain. These toads weren't ones for much in the way of possessions.
When Fukasaku unfurled the contract scroll on the floor, Yuji felt a pang at the sight of his renewed signature and handprint, so much bigger than the ashen one he had made when Jiraiya had first had him sign the contract right after his family had first been broken. Ku-man?
Done. The dark brown of dried blood darkened to charcoal.
The ghost of two signatures now occupied the slot.
"Thanks, and, again, I'm sorry. I'll see myself out."
Fukasaku followed him to the door. "Yuji-chan, that's twice you've broken with us. Maybe someday, when you have settled yourself and understand just who you are, you will come to us again. Three is a fortuitous number."
Yuji quirked a half smile. "Seems like a crappy deal for you folks. I've only ever seriously summoned one toad in years."
"It is about partnership, Yuji-chan. You are all alone in the world by choice, but everyone needs connections, people that can be trusted, a home to return to. For Jiraiya-chan's sake, and for yours, I offer that again when you are ready. We will be waiting and watching to see you hold to that promise to make us proud."
He blinked at the toad, his eyes suddenly burning with tears. Internally flailing with horror, he felt his face crumple around a wrenching sob.
Fukasaku patted his knee as he raised a hand to the wreck of his expression and the wetness heading for his cheeks. "What is your mother's name, boy?"
"Mae. She was called Hiromi, but that was like my dad's name, Mamoru—just a mask. My dad is Shimura Takashi; I think he's the one keeping her hidden."
"If we hear news of her whereabouts, we will leave it at Fire's main temple."
Yuji fell to his knees before the small old toad and pressed his forehead to the dirt. "Thank you," he whispered.
Fukasaku patted his head with a webbed hand. "Be well, Yuji. Find your peace and find peace for all the ninja world."
Yuji nodded and let Kurama take over with a surge of chakra.
Rat–67 absorbed every word the old toad said as he stood with his team before his Hokage's desk under her watchful eyes, relief flowing into him even as dread for the coming assignment cast ripples through it. Yuji had escaped. Yuji was mostly alright, if having the fox unbound within him was alright. The boy was cutting ties that threatened his flight, just like he had taught him. That it might leave him no escape from the biggest threat was worrying though.
Did Yuji weigh Konoha as a bigger threat than the holder of Uchiha Obito's eye?
Or, hopefully, did he have some new way of escaping the pocket dimension?
"You will go to Mount Myouboku with Fukasaku-sama and begin the hunt from there," Tsunade-sama ordered, slapping her palm on her desk for emphasis. "You will restrain him and bring him back for judgement. Fukasaku says the key to the seal can be retrieved easily and used to lock Kyuubi back inside Naruto. Get going."
The toad mountain turned out to be in the southwestern corner of Earth Country, near the Land of Birds' border. At least, that was what Yuji was guessing, because they came across the familiar mountains that fed Lake Eisa in Wind Country after Kurama zipped them across the scrubby plains that comprised western Wind. It made sense why that area was the home of so many nomadic tribes. Horses, camels, and various bovines were herded by the locals there, living off the meagre offerings of the land. Kurama eventually parked them on a likely looking mountain, a nice lonely spot on a flattish crown of a ridge, hours before dawn on the second day.
Ku-man melted back into his skin, leaving him human again. Yuji was starving and weary, but best to do this on an empty stomach. They could sneak into Silicon City later for some food. He still had some cash from his wages on the Yellowfin. They would have to find a way to safely feed and water Nagato as well really soon. If they wanted the rest of the bijuu back, they needed to keep the emaciated man alive.
Ready?
I need to create wards and binding circles. I really don't want to let something out only for it to run off and flatten Circuit City.
True. That place is not as murky as most.
Hope? Purpose? Even the poorer parts of the city are kept up well because of taxes.
They do not hate very strongly. There is greed, but that is not evil. Selfishness is not evil in itself. Life must be selfish to continue on the individual level. The species must be selfless to perpetuate itself.
… That was pretty deep, man. I wouldn't think you'd think about the species level, given you're a unique entity.
I have had a long time to come to these conclusions. And while I am alone, I was made in the image of a species. I have limited insight into its characteristics.
If you say so. I've never seen a fox with hands instead of paws.
Get to work, brat.
Aye aye, asshole vandal. What did statues ever do to you?
It was made in the image of that fool Hashirama. You would not have liked him. He was difficult to grasp: hopeful one moment and depressed and morose the next. Mito was in turns amused and annoyed by his rapid mood swings. She was the steadying hand behind his rule of Konoha. So powerful, and yet so small-minded—he was a disappointment.
Yuji got his powdered chalk supplies out and began smearing it onto the ground in the correct seal patterns. Why a disappointment? What did you expect of him?
I know you have heard of reincarnation.
Yeah. You saying he was someone before?
There are only so many souls to spark within life. Some go through more rounds than others, coming back in different forms in attempts to make good on mistakes made in previous lives. I have always waited for the Sage to return, though I think he may have found another path to travel the river of time. His sons, so much less than their sire, have come again and again.
How do you recognize them?
There are things bijuu see that normal life forms cannot. It is part of our nature. I have lost my ability currently, since I am severed from my Yin chakra, but back then, I had it and I could see. The Uchiha are a very direct and old bloodline. They share the eyes of the Sage's older son. The Senju share the strength of the younger son, who failed his father more than even the older son, who was passed over to inherit the Sage's will. Senju's forefather failed utterly, making war with his older brother when he would not bow to the younger's leadership. Pride. Greed. Shortsightedness. Uchiha and Senju are both guilty of them all.
Hashirama and Madara…
Oh shit, don't tell me… But they weren't brothers!
They were of the right bloodlines and repeated the mistakes of their old incarnations, but it was almost worse. The ninja were what arose from the warring of the Sage's sons. The clans rose as the ninja split into family groups, specializing in different jutsu as different powers began to manifest among offshoot bloodlines. That Hashirama reunited clans was a step forward, but the direction was wrong: they were still focused on battle when chakra is for peace, for understanding, for ending wars through compassion.
That mark doesn't look right.
I know. Yuji scrubbed the dirt until the chalk had blended into the soil and started again on the modifier. Keep going?
What more is there to say? Madara sought domination and to destroy Hashirama with almost fanatical joy. Hashirama sought to build and defend his village to the point where he intended to slay Madara when they had once been as close as blood brothers. Hashirama acquired me from Madara's control, and Mito locked me away.
Will the brothers come again?
They will never escape this world until they right their wrongs.
You'd think they'd have figured it out by now.
No memory is left when the soul is born again except in very rare circumstances. You must not be allowed unfair advantage. The point is to want to change to the depth of the soul, to rise above old sins. Experience cannot be the guide. Rebirth is not about carrot and stick, as humans like to put it. There is no reward save moving on to the next world and no punishment except being permitted to enter this world again, all unknowing. Or so Matatabi told me once. The world's circles aren't in my scope.
Speaking of circles, are you done yet?
"Impatient much? Look, this is the Shinigami we're dealing with. I really think being thorough is a much better idea than going into this half-assedly. I've got enough guilt for one lifetime. Let me do this right and be quiet for a bit unless you spot a mistake." He went into a fugue state where only the chalky smears and the flow of chakra and intent mattered. He was by no means a master, but he understood enough to be a journeyman in the craft, at least in some areas. His study of wards had been mostly from the angle of how to break them open, but the understanding of their formation was the same, and his knowledge of certain structures' weaknesses was more in-depth than that of those who simply crafted them.
He circled his layered creation a couple times after he finished, staring at the patterns, markings, and positions. Not his best work, considering the roughness of his medium and canvas, but not bad. The circles were strong.
He crossed them and settled in the centre. Summoning the mask, he began to form a large amount of chakra. He couldn't use Ku-man's for this. He didn't want to create an opening, just in case Yin Kurama was less than happy about what was happening and tried to escape. He wondered briefly if that would really be a bad thing—that Kurama would be free—but he dismissed the idea. Kurama needed to be whole, and Yuji couldn't let Kurama be whole with him not being part of that equation if he wanted to live.
"Okay, let's do this." He pressed his palm to the activator mark, pushing in chakra, and his wards flared to life, radiant as beacon fires to those who could sense the energy. That was the problem with really strong wards: they weren't subtle.
Clenching his teeth, Yuji wandered the halls of the lobby, calling out for the closed up passage to where Kushina lay dormant. It had just started opening up when Kurama bellowed.
"Stop! That Zetsu presence is approaching!"
"What? Seriously?"
"They must be a sensor, a good trait in spies. They must know your chakra signature now. Break down the wards! They must be sensing them. We need to run!"
Yuji snapped out of his mindscape, sent the mask away, and pulled the chakra back from the wards. Kurama burst forth from his skin and charred them before pushing the fox form on him and taking him racing south again.
"If they've got my signature, they can find us anywhere," Yuji wailed in the lobby, pacing. "How far away are they? What the hell is their range?"
"I detected their ill intent near Wind Temple soon after the wards came up. They must have thought we would return there eventually."
"That's hours away! Crap! We're definitely going to need to get off the continent, never mind out of the area!"
"That will do us no good if they can follow our progress. You will need to mask our chakra again."
"When you get us to the outskirts of Silicon, I'll paint us in the chakra of the dead again." He could only morbidly hope he had collected enough to last long enough to find some corner of the earth to hide in until he figured out what the hell he was going to do.