Future Plans

A/N: Pushin' on till the end.

Chapter 21: Ignition and Success Rate

XXX

"Naruto."

"Nnngh… p-please… not there… th-that's my—oh God, yes…."

"Naruto."

"Both… no, yeah… use b-both hands… I know, I know it's big but you cannnnngh... ahhh—"

Something blunt struck Naruto upside the head with significant force, enough force to cause his wonderful dream of scantily clad kunoichi to vanish into thin air, being replaced with the blurred image of Crowa. The hybrid was knelt down at his head. Naruto blinked, glancing around his apartment. Darkness still reigned with scarce rays of brilliant sunlight leaking in through the blinds. The ear not mashed into his pillow perked to the noise outside, to the sound of shops just opening and vendors setting up for the morning rush, and came to the conclusion that—

"It's six in the mornin'…." Groggy as hell, Naruto glanced the hybrid over, vision blurry, and ascertained there was nothing that warranted his attention. "The hell, Crowa? We don't have to meet up with Kakashi-sensei for at least another four—"

Crowa cut through the blonde's drowsy rambling with one sentence: "We can do it."

Naruto froze for but an instant, the sleep falling from his face instantly, and he pushed himself up on an elbow. He stared Crowa from top to bottom, scrutinizing silently, before glancing over the hybrid's shoulder towards the only couch within the one-room apartment.

The glowing figure of a boy long gone was in the process of sitting up, his face displaying a moderate amount of shock at what had been said, even more so by who had said it.

With a chuckle, Naruto snatched off his penguin nightcap. "So," he began with a yawn, "what finally brought ya 'round?"

Crowa glanced off to the side, silent. He could feel Sasuke stirring behind him. In fact, after having the soul invite itself into his mind everything about the Uchiha had taken on a surprising amount of detail. If it weren't for the hue of ever-present radiance around him, Crowa would almost swear he were alive. Hair color was there, skin tone, his irises had color as well, and he could even make out the Uchiha's high-end brand of clothing.

"I haven't come around," Crowa uttered through clenched teeth and he fell back on his rear, legs crossed, hands resting on his knees. He stared deeply at Naruto, almost accusingly. "I'm just repaying a debt. Where I'm from, we always give as good as we get…."

"Debt?" Eyebrows quirked, Naruto sat up fully, kicking back the covers and scratching his side. "What debt do you have with me?"

Crowa glanced all around the apartment, one roll of the eyes that ended back on the blonde again. "Room and board for one."

"We're teammates, Crowa," Naruto reminded with a dismissive wave of his hand. "And besides, you were kinda forced to stay here. Not like you had a choice."

Crowa had only opened his mouth to disillusion Naruto when Sasuke sauntered into the section of room that could be labeled 'the sleeping quarters' and leaned against the wall at Naruto's head.

"You say 'we can do this' but also that you haven't come around," he began, folding his arms lightly, "so what's your real reasoning? If free room and board were enough to sway you, you would've been on Naruto's side from the beginning."

Naruto pointed up at the soul. "This is true."

In a move reminiscent of Shikamaru's 'thinking' pose, Crowa joined the tips of his fingers together and leaned forward, his brow furrowing with confusion as if he couldn't quite understand his own actions. "Like you said before... we're teammates. And teammates, I realize, are suppose to assist one another in ways that go beyond mere missions. So that's what I'm going to do. If you both believe in this suicidal plan as strongly as I think you do," and Crowa glanced up, "then I will, too."

There was silence within the apartment. A long silence, broken only by the sharp chirps of birds as they brought in the morning. Ten minutes melted away in that process and still no one stirred, neither living nor dead.

And then Naruto lifted a fist. Wordlessly, Crowa lifted his own and they bumped knuckles.

"Welcome to the SRT, Crowa."

It looked as if Crowa might grin but killed the motion halfway through. "Before we throw the party, I feel, as teammates, I should let you know something. I'm not sure how you might take this but—"

"If it's bout Sakura-chan and her not-so-secret plan to kill me, then you can save your breath," the blonde said, speaking as casually as ever.

Sasuke snorted. Crowa blinked.

"Hm. So you're not as stupid as everyone thinks you are," he concluded bluntly.

Naruto smirked, choosing to ignore that backhanded compliment. "I don't like to repeat myself so much nowadays, gets annoyin'. The future-Hokage should only have to say stuff once after all!" he laughed. "If people want to think I'm still the same nimrod since before Uke died then let 'em think that."

"Claims he's changed but still calls me 'uke'," Sasuke noted aloud.

"Suck it," Naruto responded without missing a beat, his gaze never leaving Crowa. "No matter how much I grow, I'll never not want to knock your teeth out in a sparring match, Sasuke."

"Likewise, dead last."

"So how long have you known about Sakura's... little plan?" Crowa wondered, sincerely perplexed. Where he once had Naruto pegged as a blind, happy-go-lucky doofus, discovering the blonde actually had a brain upstairs was something both astounding and relieving. "I won't lie. I'm good at seeing through acts—I wouldn't be here right now if I weren't—and I never once suspected you might know…."

"Probably because I'm not trying to ignore it," Naruto offered with a carefree shrug. "I think at this point only Sakura herself and whatever little demon she's channeling think that no one knows what she's doing or plotting."

"I'm afraid I don't fully understand….I couldn't see your act because you weren't… trying?"

Naruto nodded. "It's simple, really. Only recently has Sakura been getting more... we'll call it 'crazy'... and she knows this. She's not a stupid kunoichi, her mind's sharp, just cracked. And once she realized how far down she was starting to slip, she started trying to hide it, and when you try to hide something that demented you leave behind clues whether ya want to or not. I picked up on it a while ago, and she thinks I'm in the dark about it but I'm not. I'm just not actively trying to make like it doesn't exist thereby drawin' suspicion to myself. If I did that then she might snap earlier than expected…."

Giving the blonde a little golf clap of sorts, Sasuke straightened up. "Credit where it's due, I suppose. I'm tethered to you in a way and even I thought you were stupid to it."

Looking oddly solemn, Naruto slowly shook his head. His gaze was that of diamonds, hard and sharp. "Kakashi-sensei knows, too, but I begged him not to say or do anything about it."

"Why?" Crowa asked with far more concern than he thought he held for the situation. "She's a literal loose-cannon just waiting to go off. And when she does? I don't think we'll be able to prevent the deaths that follow. Like you said, she's smart, and her skills as a shinobi are up there, Naruto." He narrowed his eyes. "In my opinion, we should just deal with her as soon as pos—"

The rest of Crowa's words died away when Naruto held up two fingers. "What I'm about to say, if you repeat any of it to another soul besides me I can guarantee there will be war between Konoha and the kingdom of Moon-X."

With that threat came a flash of raw anger that bristled the fur on Crowa's tail and it kinked up behind him; his ears fell back flat but he said nothing, the anger subsiding just as quickly as it came, falling into object fear when he caught sight of the glint behind Naruto's usually exuberant pupils.

He could see it. Clearly.

The nine-tailed fox gazed back at him from those human eyes, observing him, noting him, possibly entertaining ways to kill him. A drop of sweat rolled down the side of Crowa's head and he blinked, suddenly aware that his chest was burning due to a lack of air. Just how long ago had he stopped breathing…?

"And if you didn't catch what I meant, I'm basically tellin' you: speak this, you die." Naruto's clarification was spoken calmly, not a threatening shred to be found but Crowa was very much used to that tone of voice and knew the blonde was the farthest thing away from joking.

"Speak then," Crowa said, surprised to hear the steadiness in his own voice, "what could be so important as to start a potential war?"

Of the two fingers raised, Naruto took his pointing digit and stuck it up his nose, digging around idly for a second before flicking it. "Pardon, that was buggin' the hell outta me. Anyway," he wiped the finger on his covers, "because of me two lives were fucked up. Sasuke and Sakura's. You can see what's wrong with Sasuke—"

"That was not your fault," hissed Crowa, his voice blending with Sasuke who said the same thing.

"—and we're all aware of the road Sakura-chan is heading down because of this," Naruto continued as though hearing nothing. "She can be saved. She will be saved. If I save Sasuke, I save her. If not, then whatever she wants to do with me, I've already accepted that side of the coin…."

Staring down at the blonde, Sasuke's mind backpedaled to the night before cell 7 failed their first mission as a new team. Those mangled bodies… the gore….If that's what Sakura did to those who had nothing to do with his murder then thinking what she might subject Naruto himself to was stomach-churning.

"You leave her to me," Naruto finished, jerking a thumb at his chest and giving off his trademark grin. "And really, I have no intention of being killed off by some whacko with repressed love issues so you know I'm gonna come out of this alright," then his voice dropped to barely above a whisper as he added, "I hope…."

After a few seconds hard glaring, Crowa sighed, his head hanging limply. "Fine. As teammates, I'll leave this to you… but…." Attention was drawn to Crowa's right hand and both Naruto and Sasuke watched as veins throbbed to life; the raise in chakra was damn near palpable. "If she shows even the slightest hint of becoming 'uncontainable', then teammate or not…."

He trailed off, leaving his sentence to hang ominously and Naruto nodded.

A growl ripped through the air and Naruto slapped a hand over his gut, wincing. "Ugh...trainin' with bushy brows then goin' to bed without food wasn't the smartest thing ever…."

"I told you so," Sasuke tossed in and Naruto flipped him off.

"I don't wanna hear it, ghost-boy."

"Ghost boy now, eh? And I was just starting to like Ghosuke."

Crowa stood, his knees popping, and extended a hand towards Naruto. "Come, let's get some food and you can tell me how you plan to revive the Uchiha in full. I may be on your side now but if your plan doesn't surpass a ninety percent success rate then we're going to have some problems."

Laughing nervously, Naruto allowed himself to be yanked to his feet, almost into the ceiling. "Ninety percent?" He led the way into the kitchen area where he proceeded to grab some bowls and a few packs of ramen. "Well, uh...how's four suit ya? Maybe even an honest six percent success rate?"

Crowa stared at Naruto. Then he turned to Sasuke who shrugged. "You've known him longer, Uchiha. Is this fool serious?" he asked, pointing at Naruto who laughed as he filled two bowls with boiling hot water.

Sasuke hunched a shoulder. "Like I said, it's his ninja way. It's a stupid way, no doubt about that, but it gets results. And in the life of a shinobi, results are all that matter."

Massaging his temple in an effort to stave off an approaching headache, Crowa pulled out one of the chairs around the battered table and sank into it. "This is going to be an ongoing thing with you, isn't it, Naruto?"

"Hm?" Naruto looked up from the bowls of cooking ramen, his mental three-minute timer at the halfway mark. "What ongoing thing?"

"This. This whole… not… knowing… thing," Crowa got out through clenched teeth, hiding his face in his hand.

"Oh. Yeah. I find it's better for most of my plans if I don't have them securely locked in place."

"Elaborate. Before I flip this table."

"Well, if it's locked in place, with every little detail all nice and planned out... where's the room for maneuverability? A proper shinobi has to be able to adjust to any situation he's thrown into, and that includes seeing an alternate route if the previous one gets blocked. I think that's rule 87 of the shinobi handbook."

"89, dead last," Sasuke corrected.

"Whatever, close enough." Blowing away the steam, Naruto set a bowl down before Crowa before taking a seat opposite the hybrid. He picked up a pair of secondhand looking chopsticks, slammed his palms together, yelled out, "Itadakimasu!" and began eating.

While Naruto plowed through his portion in less than the time it took to cook it, Crowa picked and nibbled, eyes trained incessantly on the blonde, waiting for him to finish and divulge his plan. When Naruto finally set down his utensils a mere minute later, Crowa immediately did the same, his bowl looking almost untouched.

"Whoa, hey, hey, the hell is that, Crowa?" Naruto indicated to the still steaming bowl of ramen. "I don't know how you do things back home, but here? We finish our food, man."

"Oh, right. Pardon. Here, let me finish it."

Pushing out his chair, Crowa stood and began walking backwards towards the sink, eyes locked onto Naruto and his face expressionless even as he chucked the ramen out the overhead window, bowl and all.

"There. Finished," he said staidly.

Sasuke started to laugh.

Naruto opened his mouth but the distant sound of porcelain breaking on cement closed his lips. "You...you realize people have been killed for less, right?" he managed to get out once Crowa had retaken his seat.

"I'm well aware how very little it takes for someone to take another's life, Naruto. Now, I'm done eating. You're done eating. What's your plan?"

"The first time I heard this I nearly died," Sasuke echoed from the corner after subsiding into chuckles, "and I'm already dead so that's saying something. You sure you want to h—"

"Yes. There's bound to be some holes and oversights in it, huge ones considering who's thought of it. At the very least, I can fill in the gapes and try to raise the success rate somewhat."

Sasuke snickered. "Oh, you'll try." He motioned at Naruto. "Go on, then. Tell him just like you told me."

"Gimme a second… I'm tryin' to decide whether or not I want to shank the bastard with a knife for wastin' perfectly good ramen," Naruto said, tapping his finger on the table, his face scrunched up in serious thought.

"You might as well save it. We're more than likely heading towards death anyway," reminded Crowa and Sasuke nodded.

"Oh, yeah you are. Make no mistake."

Passing Crowa's waste of ramen off as a first offense, Naruto exhaled, sighing out his anger, which left him looking oddly somber. "You want the long version or the short version?"

"Long. Please."

"Suit yourself. As you know already, my plan mainly revolves around a notorious ninja by the name of Orochimaru—"

Crowa issued a noise that sounded like a cross between a disbelieving snort and a piteous laugh.

Hospitably, Naruto waited to see if the hybrid would add anything comprehensible, but after a few seconds it seemed as though that were all he intended to 'say'. "Alright, continuing on, we know he's a highly volatile missing nin in almost all the bingo books across the world. But... pushing aside all of that, he also has one jutsu that's forbidden as hell yet it may be the only way to bring Sasuke back. It's a sort of reanimation jutsu—"

"And that would be similar to the one he supposedly used to bring back your first and second rulers, right?" Crowa asked, and Naruto shook his head.

"There's no 'supposedly' about it. He did it. With that jutsu. From what Kakashi-sensei told me about it, the reanimated corpses held onto their memories, their skills, everything—except for the fact that they were under Orochimaru's control, they were themselves. Essentially," Naruto added lowly with a sideways glance. "Anyway, that's what I'm banking on, that the same can work for Sasuke. The side-effects are, of course, unknown variables but hey."

Leaning back more comfortably, Naruto crossed his legs and sighed, throwing his head back. "Basically, we already know that spectral snot here ain't dead. Or 'dead' in the literal sense. Evidence points to him being trapped between realms, like how he can do certain things a soul can do and certain things a soul shouldn't be able to do. Given that, I don't really know what'll happen when we try the forbidden 'reanimation' jutsu on something that's technically not all the way dead, y'know? It might fix him, it might hurt him, or it might do nothing at all. It's a gamble from hell, but it's the best chance we've got."

Naruto glanced down his nose at Crowa. "And there ya have it. My plan at length. What's the success rate now?"

Like a freshly carved statue, Crowa was motionless, hardly breathing—but then his left ear flicked and he sat back looking rawboned as though a bleeding skeleton had just passed through. He worked his jaw for a moment, then, "A success rate implies there's a chance that an operation can succeed. Attaching a percentage to this would be a waste of time."

"That bad, eh?"

"Attaching the word 'bad' would be an even bigger waste."

"I warned you," said Sasuke, glancing out the window.

The ears atop Crowa's head twitched and he sat up, pushing a gust of breath through his pursed lips. "Alright. I said I wanted to hear this plan so I could fill any holes it might have, but honestly, you can't fill a bottomless pit. And that's basically what this plan is so now we move on to the next option: we're going to rely completely on my skills and your ability to work these… 'miracles', Naruto."

So, he's finally coming around, Naruto thought, sporting a feral grin and nodding. "Naturally. If I couldn't work miracles I wouldn't be alive right now."

"I'll believe it. And do we have a team for this suicidal foray, or is it just—" Crowa began.

"Now that you've finally opened your eyes, that'll be you, Kiba, Shikamaru, Choji, Neji, and yours truly," Naruto supplied. "We were the original team that went after Sasuke. And summarily failed," he tacked on lowly with a slight scowl, "so it's only right we see this mission through to the end. But anyway, I think that's a full roster right there, right? The more the merrier as they say."

"More like 'the merrier, the deader'," Crowa said sarcastically, then cleared his throat. "Six people….That's going to be tough to maneuver fluidly but fine."

"In the end, it may not even take all six of us," Naruto said, leaning back on his chairs hind legs. "You haven't had a chance to meet Shika yet. Guy's got a brain the size of two lands put together," he said, extending his arms out to the side for emphasis, "so I consider him the 'brains' in makin' this whole thing come together."

Upon hearing this, Crowa's left brow twitched. "Don't… please, don't use labels like 'brain' on a mission like this. When push comes to shove and your life's on the line even your IQ could boost itself significantly, depending on just how badly you want to survive."

Sasuke had moved to the windowsill now and was peering out into the coming morn, smirking down at the mess of ramen splattered over the lower level apartments. "You sound like you have some experience in the field, Crowa."

"More than I'd like to admit. I can't formulate a 'smart' battle plan to save my soul," he admitted without a shred of chagrin, "so I have to rely on instincts when I'm surrounded by people out to skin me alive or make a game out of gutting me. Maybe I'm confusing intelligence for survival instinct… doesn't really matter either way, I suppose, so long as you live."

With a floor rumbling 'thud', Naruto set his chair down and stood, his spine cracking, a look of relief spreading over his almost feline facial features. "Ooooh yeah, that hit the spot," he cooed with a shudder. "Listen, Crowa, I don't have the slightest clue on how to find Orochimaru. Do you think maybe you could…?"

"What, provide a route to our death?"

"Yes. And quit sayin' that, you jackass. We'll more than likely die after this, not during. Sheesh, lighten up a bit why don't ya."

Crowa stared from Naruto to Sasuke. "And you. I take it you really want to come back?"

"This is the last time I'm going to answer that question," stated Sasuke with an annoyed sniff. "It's clear I'm still here for a reason, even if I don't know what that reason is just yet, and if there are people willing to risk their lives, then no, I don't want to come back. I will come back."

A sort of half-grin broke out over the hybrids face. "The reason the reanimation jutsu is number one on the forbidden jutsu list would be, of course, because life should only flow one way. Any other and you're bringing that person back just to live another life of pain and suffering. Buuuuut," he continued, stretching the word almost playfully, "I suppose… when the death is untimely… it might be okay."

"Alright!" Naruto cheered and he pulled an about face, heading towards the bathroom. "Do your thing while I get dressed!"

When the door slammed, Crowa began laughing. It started as a meager chuckle, but grew into a full-blown roar of laughter within seconds. He was laughing so hard he had to push his chair back and lean over, one hand to his knee, the other to his face. Silent, and wondering whether he ought to leave or stay, Sasuke surveyed the cackling hybrid with mild concern.

"You finally bust a synapse there, Crowa?" he decided to ask after a few minutes.

"N-no, I… I'm just… amazed at this 'friendship' thing, how it's able to make you go along with even the most idiotic reasons," explained Crowa between snorts, shaking his head. "Before coming here I'd have never agreed to this, especially with the subject matter concerning resurrection, but it feels… nice."

Rubbing his nails against his shirt, Sasuke nodded. "I suppose I can agree with you there; though you should thankful that you're seeing this while you're still…." He trailed off, looking down at his luminescent form.

The bathroom door suddenly swung open, bouncing off the adjacent wall, and Naruto staggered out dressed in his usual blue undershirt and fastening the belt to his baggy, iris pants; he aimed a kick behind him, slamming the door shut and looked up with a smirk when he noticed Crowa was already dressed.

"Got a direction in mind?" he asked, taking his chair and swinging it around to sit in it backwards.

"Not a one. Performing a forbidden jutsu is grounds for execution where I'm from so I can only guess the same fate follows here," Crowa began and he paused long enough to gauge an answer, provided when Naruto nodded. "Right. So essentially, if this works, we'll be bringing Sasuke back just to have all those involved seen off this world anyway."

Again, Naruto nodded. That was more than fine where he was concerned. Dying after righting a wrong… better than dying without doing anything.

"Given what awaits us whether we succeed or fail, we can leave at any time we choose," Crowa sighed, hunching his shoulders, bypassing the look of surprise that fell over Naruto's face. Crowa lifted a hand. "Hold your horses, Naruto. Not even I can track someone without at least the slightest bit of a lead."

"Okay… and that means what exactly?"

"We pay a visit to Anko-sama."

It was as if Crowa had cast a genjutsu over the entire earth for the way everything became silent; the birds didn't chirp, the ever-growing noise of the village coming to life vanished, and the pleasant breeze drifting in through the sink window died. Two pairs of eyes found the hybrid, each displaying a different level of disbelief. Surely they hadn't heard right. They couldn't have.

Visit Anko?

The very same woman who had, just a few nights prior, performed a flawless home invasion and beat them unconscious?

And suddenly, Naruto was smiling the widest he'd done in a long while. Going to see the woman who promised to 'end them and not think twice about it' sounded more suicidal than the original plan! And yet… he felt a bolt of anticipation strike him square in the stomach with such force he nearly vomited.

Of course, he'd felt this numbingly cold sensation numerous times before. Being the incubator for the most demonic creature ever to draw breath meant days and nights filled with clumsy assassination attempts, sometimes from drunk civilians, sometimes from a higher-ranking ninja as part of a bet from his peers to see who could draw his blood.

After the hundredth time, he figured the thrill would leave him, or that he'd become so desensitized that it wouldn't matter. But no. He still received the same rush of adrenaline now as he did the other times.

He glanced over to the side, leering at the ghost of the boy he would see whole again. "That cool with you, Ghosuke?"

"Why're you asking me?" Sasuke wondered. "I'm a ghost remember?" and he lifted his arms, hands dangling, and loosed an eerie moan.

"Cut that crap out before I say 'screw it' and get you exorcised—" Naruto began jokingly.

"Like we haven't tried that," cut in Sasuke but Naruto continued as though hearing nothing.

"—and I asked because last time we 'faced' her, if you could call the ass-kickin' we got 'facing', she knocked you out. I think it's pretty obvious that she can banish you permanently so just be on the look out, try not to piss her off."

"I'm—what? Me?" Sasuke repeated incredulously, his eyes widening.

Naruto made to answer when his head snapped to the front door; across from him, Crowa's ears jerked up and his eyes narrowed into slits.

"Expecting company?" he asked, standing.

Getting to his feet as well, Naruto shook his head, his gaze never once shifting. Wordlessly, he led the other two to front door. Unlike with Anko, the chakra signature oozing in from the other side was nothing to fear or be wary of, but it was vast and varied which meant multiple visitors.

Naruto pulled the door open. He blinked, feeling his insides flip. Then smirked. "Well, what have we here…."

XXX