This chapter is choppy because there was a few people I wanted to express the thoughts of.

This chapter is also a flop. My inspiration for this in general has died, and is now being eaten by maggots.

I don't own Naruto or the cover image.


6 Months After Naruto's Disappearance


"So there you are." Gaara intoned, arms crossed over his chest as he peered out over Konoha, watching its citizens rebuild steadily, standing atop the Fourth Hokage's head.

"What are you doing here, Ichibi Jinchuuriki?"

Gaara's pale eyes slid over to the person who had slunk up behind him, now standing with solemn poise at his side.

"You are not Naruto." He stated, before his eyes slid away once more. "I am here on diplomatic business, to discuss a formal treaty with your Hokage."

"And what grounds do you have to do that?" The equally apathetic being asked, long hair swaying in the gentle breeze. "Shouldn't your village's head Jounin be doing the talking while your village council elects a new Kage?"

"Hn," Gaara grunted. "The head Jounin as of now is Baki, and he is here. I was brought along as a peace offering. It is possible that I could be killed, and because I am Suna's trump card, my village would be considerably more weakened if I were to perish. Baki knows that, so he brought me along to persuade the Fourth to believe in Suna's sincerity."

"How tactical of him."

"Indeed."

"Though, it is simultaneously foolish." The being murmured. "Perhaps you will be assassinated, having come for nothing."

"It is a possibility," Gaara agreed, turning away from the busy village he observed, turning to the one who had joined him up above.

The redheaded boy rose a single hairless brow at the pale intruder's face, a jigsaw of intertwining stitches that formed a wide smile he was sure this one would never imitate.

"What are you?" Gaara asked.

"I am Jorōgumo." She intoned, turning to look at the shorter redhead blankly. "A clone of Naruto."

"Hn," Gaara said. "And where exactly is Naruto?"

"Undefined." Jorōgumo stated. "Master will return when Master returns. For now, I will keep order in her home."

"Am I correct to assume that you are unaware of when her return will happen?" Gaara asked.

"Hai," The clone nodded once. "May I ask why you seem concerned?"

"Naruto did something for me." Gaara admitted, tearing his eyes away from the clone's single seafoam blue one. "The silence is… peaceful. In return, I did not participate in the invasion, and because it was ordered to commence by Orochimaru instead of the Kazekage, I was not punished for treasonous acts."

"By the sound of it, you have already thanked Master for helping you by not actively attacking the village." Jorōgumo pointed out. "Do you wish to formally thank her?"

"Perhaps," Gaara uttered quietly, once again staring out at the village, pupiless eyes trying to glimpse what Naruto did when she decided not to hate those who shunned her. "But there is something she said to me. Something about a lonely boy, and a lonely girl."

Jorōgumo remained silent as Gaara blinked slowly.

"She held her hand out to me, and I am still not quite sure why I clung to it so desperately."

"You are much more forthcoming with your emotions than I originally presumed, Gaara-san."

"That's not it." Gaara stated. "It is simply because in a way, you are Naruto."

The redhead looked at the stitched mouthed clone.

"Even if you carry yourself differently, speak differently, and feel on a lesser scale, you are Naruto." Gaara's blank eyes softened, if only a sliver. "I would like to know when she returns though. See to it that I am informed."

With that, the crimson haired boy's form collapsed into sand, swirling in a wispy dance before fading from sight.

Jorōgumo looked out over Konoha, and cocked her head to the side. Perhaps it was only because she had one eye, but she could not see what the redheaded boy had been looking for.

"I will make certain that you know when she returns, Gaara-san." The clone uttered blankly, turning on her heel to walk away.


Anko Mitarashi sat on the edge of the gate that kept all the creatures of the Forest of Death inside.

The purple haired woman snacked on a stick of dango, a full box of the syrupy pastries opened atop her lap.

It was her day off, and she was bored as all hell. She would've hunted down Naruto so they could harass a few people in town, but the little redhead had disappeared after the invasion. And the purple haired woman knew it had to have been around that time because the army of zombies the kid had set on the offending forces began sinking into the ground shortly before it was all over.

Anko couldn't say she was sad the kid was gone, because she didn't really know her, like, at all. But, she could say she was disappointed, because she had wanted to know Naruto. She seemed like a really cool kid, and for some reason, without the redhead's volatile presence, the village seemed… boring.

It was really strange that Anko could feel that way, because she had never come into contact with the kid before the Chunin Exams, but now that she was absent, something just felt amiss.

"That's really weird, 'cause Yondaime-sama used to mutter to Old Man Sarutobi that she was a shut in." Anko mumbled, sighing around her dango before looking up into the afternoon sky. "How can I feel like something's not right when she's gone, but when she's here she's never around?"

The Mitarashi shrugged.

"Whatever. All I know is, the kid's sure got a way about her."

The purple haired woman grinned crookedly.

"There's no way that kid is dead like everybody's sayin'." Anko muttered. "She's probably gonna come waltzing back after an obscene amount of time, and then she'll carve a bloody path through everybody that get's in her way to whatever goal she's got."

Shaking her head, Anko flicked her empty dango stick to the ground below, into the ever growing pile beneath her. She picked up another pastry, and began nibbling on it.

"When she comes back, me and that kid have a lot of catching up to do."


Karin had the day off.

Lady Tsunade was catching up on a stack of paperwork she had been neglecting for Kami knows how long, so she'd pretty much kicked all of her new medical students out of the hospital and told them to "study individually".

So, because Tayuya's body was going through a healing process, and under a medical induced coma, and Harime was snuggled up in Naruto's bedroom doing things Karin knew she probably didn't want to know about, the crimson eyed girl decided she would treat herself.

She was off to the Forest of Death, where she remembered seeing some rare flowers that produced lovely perfumes and poisons.

Karin's hobby, (besides trying to see Naruto naked) was collecting perfume, and lately she hadn't been able to collect many exotic samples, y'know, with all the keeping Tayuya subdued and putting up with Fū's tendency to blow things up. Though, Karin wasn't entirely free, because Harime wanted her to collect a rare sap exclusive to the forest, so that they could finish up the last imperfections on the suit of skin they were going to bond to Tayuya.

It had been six months since Karin and Harime began the process of resurrecting Naruto, and the redhead was a bit stressed out, wondering why Harime was drawing the process out. The way Karin saw it, they should just slip some skin over Tayuya, pull Naruto's complete soul over to their side, and be done with it. But a while back, Jorōgumo informed her that Harime had collected a young genjutsu expert, and had taken her to the Underground for "modifications".

Harime didn't do anyone favors.

The only reason Karin could think for that thing to have recruited a genjutsu expert was because she wanted to hide something. She wanted to have control over someone or some people, and she didn't want anyone to know about it. Not even Naruto, because she was keeping her creator away from the land of the living long enough to complete her desired task. But for what? Who? It had to be something that would benefit Naruto in the long run, because Harime didn't do anything she thought would have ill effects on Naruto.

But if she was keeping Naruto "dead" while she was plotting, then it had to be something Naruto wouldn't entirely agree with. And why wasn't Karin or Jorōgumo informed? They were Naruto's most trusted ones.

There was no question about Karin's loyalty, and if Fū was under suspicion, Harime could handle that without the help of genjutsu. She was a seal master for Gumo's sake.

It just didn't make sense.

'What the hell is that shadow up to?' Karin wondered.

"Hey!"

Karin startled out of her thoughts, looking up, a senbon in either of her hands in 0.3 seconds. The redheaded girl's brows furrowed, looking up at the person who had called out to her.

"You're that chick!" The person blurted, jumping down from the fence they sat upon, flicking an empty stick of dango into the pile below them during their descend.

"What chick?" Karin asked, not lowering her guard for a second as the curvy woman made her way over.

"Don't be a smarty." The woman chided, face cracking into a sharp grin. "I'm talking about the chick that made a scene during the Chunin Exams and made out with Naruto."

Karin's cheeks flushed, but she took a short moment to remember where she'd seen the tall lady from.

"Y-you made out with my Naru!" The redhead blurted, a glimpse of the fishnet clad woman hopping onto Naruto's desk during the end of the first exam flashing behind her eyes.

"Yep! And proud of it!" The woman cackled, hands going to her hips. "The name's Anko Mitarashi kid, the sexiest chick in Konoha."

Karin's mouth twitched humorously, but she had to disagree. Obviously Naruto was the sexiest in Konoha, because Karin had high standards.

"So," Anko began, calming down slightly. "What brings you to my lovely forest?"

"Uh, I was just coming around to pick up a few samples for some perfume I'm trying to make." The redhead admitted. "And I know there's some trees in there that have a special kind of sap that helps healing stubborn scars. It would be nice if I could pick some of that up too."

Anko rose a single purple brow.

"You do know that I can't just let you in, right kid?" The woman asked deliberately. "People die in there. That's why you have to be at least high Chunin to get permission to get in."

"I didn't know I had to ask permission." Karin said, pouting slightly. "Can't you just look the other way or something? What's it matter if I don't die?"

"Mhm, and how can I be sure that you won't die?" Anko shot back. "As far as I know, the last time you were in there was during the Chunin Exams, and you had two other people in there with you to watch your back."

'Don't make me laugh lady, my teammates were a couple of cowards, and the only reason they didn't die was because the only thing they're good at is running away.'

"What if you come in with me?" Karin bargained. "Nobody's gonna know if you don't tell them. We both could leave clones here to keep watch, and I'll hurry up and get what I need and get out."

"Why the hell not? Let's do it!" Anko said cheerfully, completely throwing Karin for a loop at her utter irresponsibility.

'This is the person Yondaime-sama left in charge of a dangerous area?' She thought flatly, not protesting when said purple haired woman threw her arm around her shoulders and hugged her to her side.

"C'mon chickie-doo let's get movin'!"

Karin yelped when Anko leapt into the air, jumping clean over the fence they stood before and into the outskirts of the forest.

"Lead the way girl."

"It's Karin." The redhead corrected, tightening the strap of her lavender colored messenger bag and pushing her glasses higher up her nose. "Karin Uzumaki, Naruto-chan's good friend."

"Friend?" Anko echoed, following after the girl who was already keep a sharp eye out for what she needed, senbon still out and at the ready. "Since when? Oh, and I heard that Yondaime-sama had your citizenship transferred from Kusa, but you're still on probation and can't file to be a ninja."

"I've been Naru's friend since the first day we met." Karin declared. "And yeah, it'd look pretty bad for the Hokage if he allowed anyone to be a ninja in his village just because they're an Uzumaki. Especially right after an invasion with a village that should have been one of his allies."

"You're pretty smart." Anko observed, falling into step beside the crimson haired girl. "So smart I bet you know a lot of interesting things."

"What are you getting at?" Karin asked, pulling out a roll of fabric from her bag, dropping down at the base of a large tree that had a curious gray moss littered with tiny blue flowers sprouting around its borders.

"I'm just wondering why Naruto's best friend doesn't seem concerned about her in the slightest when she's been missing for six months." Anko answered, dropping into a squat next to the kneeling girl, studying her profile as she rolled the fabric open, revealing an assortment of metal tools.

"Of course I'm concerned." Karin huffed, pulling out a small spatula like tool, using it to scrape a bit of moss away, before she set it aside and picked up a pair of tweezers, using them to pluck the little blue flowers out of the collected sample. "But I know Naruto will come back when it's time for her to come back."

"So she's definitely not dead." Anko said, hazel eyes narrowing.

Karin sighed, dropping the little flowers into the open jar she'd set at her side.

"No, she's not dead."

"If you knew something for sure about Naruto, you were supposed to tell the Hokage." Anko said seriously, frowning slightly, "You know if she's alive and not here, she could be labeled a missing nin. She has an obligation to this village, so she can't just up and leave whenever she feels like it, even if I can see why she might have wanted to."

"It's not like that." Karin refuted. "She didn't really have a choice, but she prepared accordingly, so she'll be able to come back."

"What, she's in trouble?" Anko asked quickly. "If she was she should have told someone."

"Can you please stop with all these wild assumptions?" Karin snipped, screwing the jar closed once she filled it with the fragrant blue flowers. "Naruto didn't exactly tell me what was going on. I'm just supposed to look after her place while she's gone."

'And make sure her new body is up to snuff by the time Harime pulls the rest of her soul over to our side. But you don't really need to know all of that.'

"For now I'll take your word for it, but if you're lying to me, I'm reporting you to the Hokage." Anko warned.

'You can watch me like a hawk lady, but as long as I'm in Naruto's home, you can't touch me.'

"I swear I'm not lying." Karin promised. 'It can't be lying if I simply didn't tell you everything.'

The redhead had a feeling Anko knew she was keeping things from her, but that didn't really matter. Anko may be a tokubetsu Jounin, but Harime always got what she wanted.

And Harime did not want anyone but who already knew to know about what happened to Naruto.

'I'll just go find that scar healing sap Harime wanted and be on my way.' Karin thought. 'Though, I do wonder how long it'll be before Harime brings Naruto back.'


Harime sat in a rocking chair, Naruto's bedroom flooded with unnatural shadows, black lace curtains drawn.

The glowing eyed creature had a female body in her hands. Well, it wasn't a body, but the skin meticulously removed from a body. It was everything minus the tissue from the elbows down, the face, and the feet. Those would be sewn on later.

Harime had taken her time to remove the tattoos carved into Naruto's original body, and at the moment, she was sewing them into her creator's new skin. Sort of like a quilt.

Harime rocked back and forth languidly, the blob of skin laid across her lap, and she slowly attached Naruto's intricate angel wings to the back of said flesh. The specter had measured everything accordingly, cutting out shapes from the skin removed from Tayuya so that the tattoos that would replace the cutouts would fit perfectly.

She was using a normal needle, but the threads were retrieved from Tayuya. It just seemed practical to use the threads of Jiongu instead of normal threads. That way, if Naruto wanted to detach her limbs for whatever reason, she wouldn't hurt herself, and she could reel them back in to prevent them from being destroyed.

It had taken Harime an entire month to finish the lower half of Naruto's skin, but the specter was almost finished with her most recent project. The tattoos were slightly discolored, Naruto having been paler than Tayuya, but it didn't look sloppy. Harime was using very tiny stitching, so that the borders of the art looked slightly bold, while the inner workings looked the same.

Karin was off to collect some flower samples and a bit of scar resisting sap. Harime had sent her on her way because she knew Tayuya's body was not scar resistant, and she wanted the new body for her Naruto to be perfect.

"It will be my greatest work of art yet." Harime tittered, pulling the last of the squirming threads taught, before plucking her needle away and tying off the end of the living thread.

Harime held the skin of Naruto's torso up before her grinning face, the legs lying floppily between her own, admiring her handy work.

"It's beautiful." She marveled.

Harime sank into the shadows, appearing before The Gallows, letting herself in, ignoring Jorōgumo, who had come into the hallway when she sensed Harime arrive.

The stitched mouthed clone had a bowl in her hands, flooded with blood Karin "borrowed" from the hospital, a few eyeballs floating about the thick substance, a silver spoon resting on the inside of the porcelain.

"Harime," Jorōgumo greeted, spooning a round fleshy orb into her mouth.

"Blood Bag." Harime returned cheerfully, sweeping into The Gallows and to the center of the room, where she still had the open scroll she'd sealed Naruto's new skin into laid out.

"I see you are still upset that I interfered those few months ago." The clone observed, chewing quietly.

"I hate it when people spoil my fun." Harime said, sealing the skin into the open scroll before rolling it up and taking it over to one of the many shelves lining the walls of Naruto's Gallows.

"Where is Yakumo-san as of now anyway?" Jorōgumo asked.

"Curious these days aren't you." Harime drawled, sauntering over to the white curtains across the room, shielding the lab table Tayuya lied on from the outside world.

"Perhaps," The clone answered vaguely.

Harime scoffed, brushing the curtains aside to peep in at Tayuya, listening to the steady beeping of her heart monitor.

The fourteen year old was still a mass of black threads replacing human muscle and tendons, a giant open wound.

"When will you allow Master to return?" Jorōgumo asked.

Harime's head tilted, turning around to face the one at her back.

"You make it sound like I'm stalling dearest Gumo-chan." The specter smiled.

"I said no such thing." The clone intoned. "I merely request to know when Master will return."

"I don't think I like your tone." Harime giggled.

"I use no specific tone." Jorōgumo said. "When will Master return? Why do you seem weaker? As if part of you is missing? What are you doing that would force you to keep Master gone until you are finished?"

"Shut. Up."

Jorōgumo blinked at the inhuman growl.

Harime's body glided around, so that she was fully facing the stitched mouthed clone.

"It's not like I'm planning anything grand, like world domination or something." The specter began, tone normal, her usual girlish lilt completely absent. "There is no great plan, no horrible hidden motive. I am simply gathering allies for my Naruto in a village full of creatures unwilling to see past the skin."

"You really have no hidden objective?" Jorōgumo said, staring directly into Harime's pit-like eyes. "There is no big conflict you are preparing to face?"

"Well, I dunno if there'll be a big conflict or not." Harime said, shrugging as her face curled into a smile. "I'm just taking measures to insure there are enough meatbags to take a spill instead of my Naru."

Jorōgumo spooned an eye into her mouth, cocking her head to the side slightly.

"Hokage-sama still hasn't located Danzo's ROOT force." The clone intoned. "He's found the base of operations, the one where Danzo moved the force to after giving Master the Underground, but he still hasn't found the ROOT shinobi."

Harime giggled.

"You're kinda sharp when you're not brain dead, Gumo-chan."

"So you really aren't up to much." The clone murmured, chewing as she turned slowly and began walking away. "I do wonder though, why you didn't just inform myself and Karin-san of your intentions."

"I don't see why I should have to tell you both anything." Harime giggled. "I answer to no one."

"Not even Master?" Jorōgumo asked, pulled the door of the Gallows open.

"I'll let you come up with an answer to that."

"That is acceptable." The clone intoned, stepping out of the room, and just before she pulled the door closed, Harime heard, "As long as you never betray or upset Master, I care not for your whims. But should you ever do either, I will take full advantage of you not knowing the location of my kill spot."

Harime's grin curled deeply at the corners.

"My my," She drawled. "That one's getting quite confident."

Her grin stretched to the corners of her pit-like eyes.

"I don't think I like that."


Shion stormed through her family's estate, long platinum blonde hair swishing behind her, pale lavender eyes lit with frustration.

She was furious, her guards refused to allow her out of the house. Sure, it was half past midnight, but she was fourteen and only wanted to go tend to the flowers in her koi garden.

"I'm fourteen!" She huffed, not even acknowledging the maid that opened the door to her personal chambers as she stomped inside. "I can take care of myself!"

She pushed the door closed before the maid could close it after her, slamming it in the frightened woman's face.

Ever since Shion's mother Miroku had sacrificed herself to seal away the demon Mōryō, the people under her command had tightened their security. And even though her mother wasn't around anymore, Shion wasn't taught any ninjutsu by the guards to protect herself.

Her mother had ordered no one teach her in hopes that Shion could live a normal life and not become a threat if she got corrupted. But that stupid order only kept Shion weak, unable to protect herself. Which forced people to be overprotective and anger her when she was not allowed to do as she pleased.

The only thing Shion knew how to do was seal, because she had been trained to seal away Mōryō should he ever be released.

The blonde made the journey across her large room, noticing that the wall sized window facing her village had the curtains drawn, the moonlight seeping through the silky fabric, casting the room in a lavender glow.

The teen fell face first into her large fluffy bed, momentarily screaming into the lavender sheets before she rolled over and stared up at her bed's pale yellow canopy.

Her lips quirked in a smirk.

Well, she had been weak. But six months ago, all of that changed. She was being trained in secret, and the night before she had a vision. The vision showed her a glimpse into the near future, one where she would be taken far away from her mother's stupid Land of Demons. One where she was free to do as she pleased, free of the burden of becoming some priestess ruler who had so many lives in her hands to protect.

She had met her first friend six months ago, the one who was training her. Her friend had summoned a door, and put Shion to sleep. When the teen had come to, she was informed that it had been two weeks, and she now owned a body that could be trained at an accelerated rate, meaning, she could become a ninja if she wanted, and she wouldn't be a weak one.

Her friend was helping her become strong.

Shion giggled to herself and rolled over to her side as she fantasized about a new life as a ninja far away from the oppressing shadow her mother casted even in her death.

"My my, someone's happy~"

Shion's eyes widened and she sat up abruptly, pushing her hair behind her ears as she turned to face the owner of that familiar voice. She blinked, realizing that the floor was entirely black, which was unusual, because her carpet was fluffy, and yellow.

Shion watched as a blob rose from the center of the thick blackness, taking the familiar form of her friend. A specter by the name of Harime.

The specter was just barely two feet tall, a female humanoid shape with wide hips and long arms that ended in black claws. Her feet were tiny, and her head large, drill-like tails sprouting from either side of her head, falling down to her ankles. Her eyes were big, blood red spheres that illuminated her dark face, showing off her razor grin, lighting up the skull and brain tissue beneath her skin.

She was distinctly imp-like in her stature and her malicious yet bubbly manor, and when she shifted closer to Shion's bed, gliding along the pool of shadows she summoned to bathe the floor, the moonlight slid over her, setting her alight, giving the priestess a good look at the milky white bones through her dark glittering form, and the innards colored in varying shades of red.

Shion watched entranced as Harime lifted up off of the floor, suspended in the air before floating over her bed, and lowering herself down to sit before the platinum blonde.

"You can fly now?"

"It's cool, ne?" Harime giggled. "Ever heard of the Chimera Technique? It goes Ox → Horse → Hare~"

"Um, no. Sorry Harime-chan." Shion said, biting the side of her cheek.

"Well, all you need to know is that it basically lets me eat living beings to absorb either their Kekkai Genkai, or their chakra. I absorbed a cute little demon, and now I can fly."

Shion's mouth fell open.

"N-nani?" She stuttered. "Y-you ate a demon?"

"No no, absorbed Shi-chan."

"Well, what did you absorb?" The priestess asked, morbidly curious.

"What's his face? Mario Morini?"

Shion paled.

"M-Mōryō?"

"Yeah! That's it!" Harime exclaimed. "I absorbed all of his power. He was so smarmy too, determined to "crush" me and wipe me from "the face of the earth". It was hilarious actually, because when I told him I was going to destroy his consciousness by stealing all of his demonic powers, he just laughed and crushed me. He was surprised when I just swallowed his tentacle and sucked the rest of him up like ramen."

"H-how… M-Mōryō is g-gone?" Shion stuttered, brain malfunctioning. "The demon that has been terrorizing our lands was basically eaten? Like ramen?"

"Pretty much yeah." Harime shrugged, grin stretching as she cocked her head to the side. "So, whaddyou say we blow up your room to fake your death and then blow this joint?"

Shion was speechless.

But she figured when she got over the initial shock, she'd be stepping right into the future she had predicted for herself.


It had been six months, but finally, finally he'd found an arm that his flesh did not reject. He was old, so he healed much slower than your average shinobi, but so much time had passed since he'd fled his village, Danzo was as healthy as he could be at his age.

And now he could to jutsu.

Mouth pulling into a smirk, the old man completed his chain of hand seals, slamming his new appendage onto the stone floors of one of Orochimaru's underground labs, just seven miles away from his village Sound.

Danzo wasn't a fool, he had not allowed Kimimaro to take refuge in the Snake Sannin's village because he knew that blasted Yondaime had to have sent scouts to the location. Squads who would raid the Sound village, loot out traitors from allying villages, and even people who had gone "missing" in Konoha.

Sealing insignias stretched out from beneath a weathered palm, blue flames flaring up, licking dangerously close to his new flesh.

Stepping back, the old man watched a plain wooden coffin rise from the flames, the rickety lid unhinging and falling open. As the lid landed thunderously with a resounding bang, from the coffin's depths, stepped a boy.

Danzo had found the boy was terribly sick, and to prolong his time until his expiration date, the war hawk had taken a page from his student's book, and sealed him away until he was needed.

"Come along Kimimaro," The old man muttered. "The plan begins now."

The white haired boy stepped out into the torchlight of the underground lab, shirtless and solemn.

"You have practiced the Evil Releasing Method?" Kimimaro intoned, baritone voice tinged with sleep.

"Hai." The old man nodded, once again running through hand seals.

Tiger → Snake → Horse → Ram → Tiger → Hare → Rat

He stepped closer, single slit eye zeroing in on the curse seal engraved in the pale bone user's skin.

From that mark, would be born a new Orochimaru.


This story will be coming to a closing soon. I am losing my mojo for this.