Introverted

Chapter Fifty-Two

The Land of Iron was, in a single word, cold. An incessant blizzard of freezing ice twirled in front of his eyes, as he moved a hand to swipe away the falling snowflakes from the porcelain of his mask. He carefully inched forward, eying the third set of bridges they still had to pass.

The Land of Iron was a strange geographical mystery. At its heart, was the three-Wolf mountain surrounded by an eternal snowstorm that never seemed to end. To reach it, three concentric checkpoints surrounded by deep crevices and running water had to be passed using bridges. Samurai platoons patrolled the land and everywhere outposts made of wood or stone stood filled to the brim with more men able for war. Rickety towers of wood had archers standing guard at every mile, making the Land of Iron one of the most nightmarish places to infiltrate.

There was a moment of quiet contemplation as he gazed past the checkpoint, at the tower ahead and the mountain pass that dug deeply at the base of the Three Wolf Heads Mountain. The Toad Sage was holding himself pretty well, considering he was wearing his usual robes with but a beige overcoat. The Godaime was holding a smirk as her documents were processed.

She probably wanted to buy more sake, overall. Naruto sighed beneath his mask. Some Samurai were eying him pretty badly. He had yet to ask what the deal with the mask was, but it wasn't important. He wondered if they had Ramen... maybe an ice-cream version.

He wrapped the beige Anbu coat over his frame, refraining from shuddering. It did warm him, but the cold breeze seemed to find every nook and cranny available to enter. Five armed guards, up to the point where they reached the start of the dug tunnel, escorted them. There the five samurai left their escort to another one, who was wearing an air of dignity and stood without a helmet.

"Mifune," Tsunade said with a polite bow of the head. "It's been a while."

"Tsunade," Mifune replied. "I hope you are ready for some heavy politics. The other Kage are all fired up," the man remarked quietly as he guided them through the tunnel, grabbing one of the lit torches from the start of the passageway. "The Tsuchikage in particular…he all but demanded the meeting to start as soon as possible."

"I cannot wait," Tsunade muttered. She turned to gaze at Jiraiya. "You really don't want the hat?"

"Never," Jiraiya said with a knowing nod. Their feet trudged upon the thin patina of crushed snow until it soon gave way to simple rock, as they went deeper into the tunnel.

Mifune chuckled, before making a serious expression as he gruffly narrowed his eyes. "I will show you to your rooms, and then a meeting will be called within the hour."

"No time for a drink then," Tsunade grumbled.

"It is precisely because I know you would like one, that I fret the first day of discussion," Mifune answered. "I fear nothing less than the Slug Sannin wreaking havoc while drunk."

"It was one time," Tsunade said, raising her right hand with the index upwards. "Only one!"

"And we had to rebuild two bridges because of that," Mifune retorted. They stepped out of the tunnel then, and into a massive entrance hall that seemed to separate into long hallways with torches lighting the way around them.

Mifune handed the torch over to another Samurai, who proceeded to walk back in the dark tunnel with it —probably to put it back where it belonged.

"I paid for them!" Tsunade exclaimed.

"The check bounced back," Mifune drawled. "We samurai forgive…but we never forget the debts owed, Tsunade."

Naruto remained quiet as they were ushered into a spacious circular room, past a hallway filled with decorated drawings of battles fought between samurai. The room had four doors, plus the one they had stepped through, and the wood used was black...probably ebony. "There is a communal bath," Mifune pointed to the fourth door, "And three rooms. The most spacious is the one on the left," the samurai added.

"The other two are generally for the bodyguards of the ambassadors in question," Mifune said. "Please be ready within the hour."

Naruto tapped with his foot on the ground. It was solid rock, smooth and black. There were a few chairs circling a marble table in the middle of the circular waiting room, but nothing appeared overly luxurious. It looked simple, seemingly centred not towards luscious amenities, but humbleness and modesty.

"Now, I want you to remain as quiet as possible during the procedures," Tsunade said, pointing a finger to Jiraiya who merely scoffed and rolled his eyes, as if he was a child being punished. "Same goes for you, but I'm sure you won't need the warning," she added then, looking towards Naruto.

He nodded back, not trusting his voice to speak. This place was new, and strange. He had seen quite the number of Samurai and patrols, as if they always expected an assault to come from somewhere. It was furthermore strange because…

Because he hadn't seen a single farmer or merchant along the way.

"You have five minutes to make yourself presentable in turns," she gestured towards the bathroom. "Just wash away the filth, no need to use perfume…Jiraiya," the toad sage chuckled and then went first.

Naruto remained quiet even after his turn was long done, and as the Samurai escort called them, his eyes travelled from their equipment to their masks. He could understand why the Yoroi Toshi needed to be thick, to pass through plates of metal as strong as those. There were weaknesses in the junctures however, which he was sure he could exploit in a pinch.

He was sure Danzo-sensei would be proud of him, if he ever told him the first thing he did while meeting an unknown threat was to assess the best ways to destroy it.

The circular room they entered last was filled to the brim with samurai, all standing guard to a circular table that held on one of the sides Mifune, and on the other the rest of the Kage and their escorts —who stood behind their respective village leaders.

Even though it was meant to be circular, the form it ended up having was more of an oval, which meant that every Kage ended up having to slightly tilt their head to the right or to the left to fully view the ones opposite of them.

Naruto took his place and stiffly stood to attention, his eyes gazing upon the rest of the participants. Tsunade's seat was to the left of Mifune, while just next to her was the Kazekage. On the right of Mifune was the Raikage, who then had the Mizukage soon after. The Tsuchikage instead sat directly in front of Mifune, smiling brightly.

A white haired and dark-skinned shinobi with a sword strapped to its back, and another equally dark-skinned woman with green eyes and a massive wrack —that seemingly rivalled that of Tsunade— guarded the burly and muscle-bound looking Kage from Kumogakure.

Somehow, the lecherous gazes Jiraiya sent that way were understandable —unneeded, but understandable as Naruto too gave his own quick peak of the cleavage. Sunagakure had the Kazekage, whose entire body save the dark eyes hid behind the Kage's white clothes. His two guards were his oldest daughter —Temari, that was her name— and Kankuro —the other brother.

A female Kage wearing the symbol of the Land of Water, the newly appointed Mizukage apparently, was standing stiffly with her one-piece blue dress showing her forms. Her lips were full and in a pout, while behind her stood Zabuza of the Hidden Mist and another man wearing an eye-patch over one of his eyes.

Naruto knew the man from the Bingo Book; he was unmistakeable with his face covered by bandages and the giant sword strapped to his back. He wouldn't admit he had studied the man due to his morbid curiosity on the mission that had claimed Ino Yamanaka's life, but that was probably the only reason he knew that shinobi's name…and one he would not forget so soon.

The Iwagakure Kage was instead an old man, who was actually chuckling as his gaze went towards Tsunade. Naruto silently sweat dropped. Was the man a pervert like Jiraiya? Then again, cleavage for cleavage…he was a man too, he supposed. Behind him, his two guards both belonged to the same team he had met during the Exams.

One was Kurotsuchi, the granddaughter of the Tsuchikage. The other was Akatsuchi…and he knew nothing else of him.

A few ambassadors from the minor countries were also present, but they all stood on a table nearby, their gazes low as if they were merely onlookers granted some great privilege.

The major Kage assembled, Mifune cleared his throat. "The Kage Summit may now begin in this impartial ground. I will remind each of you that the Summit bans the usage of Chakra Techniques on other Kage, or their shinobi bodyguards. Usage of techniques upon the neutral members of the Land of Iron will incur into harsh fines. As the Summit was called by the Konohagakure no Sato Hokage, it is to him who goes the word first."

Tsunade cleared her throat and stood, her eyes looking from one Kage to the other.

"As you all know, Orochimaru of the Sannin built a sufficiently strong force of shinobi in the land of Rice Fields, and from there proceeded to launch assaults through Kusagakure and Takigakure. When we tried to meet with them at the border with Amegakure, they revealed the Land of the Sky, back to its full potential. Our army managed to evade it, but the threat is clear —like once in the past, we must band together to defeat it."

"Why should we bother?" the Raikage grumbled. "He's after your blood, not ours."

"There are things we might convene upon, like the unauthorized presence of foreign shinobi on our territory…unless you wish to claim them Missing-Nin, Raikage?" Tsunade fluttered her eyelids for a moment, making a small smile. "Because if that is the case, then we will proceed with the recovery of the Two-Tailed Bijuu from its host…since a Missing-Nin Jinchuuriki is a grave danger to everyone."

The Raikage's composure didn't waver for a single instant —he just frowned for barely a second.

"She acted without my approval," the man shrugged. "You may extract the Bijuu and deliver it back to us at your leisure."

"Oh? No, I don't think so at all," she smiled. "I'll have you know, the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki was the one who battled her, and he was pretty straightforward. Then again, with his ability to read the minds of his fellow Bijuu…"

Naruto thanked Kami for the mask. He hadn't said that! He had told Tsunade about talking the Kyuubi talking with the Nibi, not that he had read the mind of the Cat Demon!

So this was what they meant with lying through your teeth? Yet it had come out so naturally…he didn't know whether to be in awe or not. The woman was bluffing hard —maybe that was the reason for the green jacket with the 'gambler' Kanji written on her back?

The Raikage scoffed. "As if that were possible."

"You can always ask your precious Guardian of Kumo, can't you?" Tsunade smiled. "About whether or not it is true, and about what cost you're willing to pay to let it be false."

The Raikage said nothing else, lost in thoughts.

"Kirigakure," the Mizukage began, "Is still undergoing repairs after the end of the Mizukage's reign of madness. We cannot provide assistance at the moment."

"Oh? But you can provide assistance to foreign countries in infiltrating ours, can you not?" Tsunade smiled, drumming her fingers on the table. The Mizukage harboured no outwards reaction, merely scoffing. Naruto's eyes moved past her, to where…

Why was Oonoki looking at him with such an intense glare?

Moreover, the gaze of the Kazekage…he did look bored, but he couldn't comprehend why the man was smiling at him every now and then or chuckling to himself. Was there something on his mask, or on his cloak?

"The old treaties concerned but the old Kirigakure, we are a new village, one which welcomes Bloodlines rather than fear them."

Tsunade smiled. "Then you won't mind if we reclaim a few islands that belonged to Uzushiogakure, and which then were gifted to Kirigakure in exchange for other things which the 'old treaties' entailed."

The Mizukage looked as if she had swallowed a toad. "Of course, we would be willing to rehash them out…"

"And I'm sure we will agree on making them perfectly the same as the old ones," Tsunade pointed out.

"Ah, amusing as this is," Oonoki interrupted, standing up, "But I think I'll better take my word now before any of you die of old age."

Tsunade and the Mizukage both sported a tick mark.

Oonoki cleared his throat. "I would like to propose an alliance between Iwagakure and Konohagakure, one cemented through the marriage of my granddaughter to Minato Namikaze's only son."

The silence that stretched through the room was something unbearable.

Breaths were held, people's eyes widened like saucers —even the Kage themselves barely held up their control, and by keeping their control, it meant they actually sputtered or had their mouth hanging open.

"That…That's a joke, isn't it!?"Tsunade exclaimed. "You can't be serious! Come on! Oonoki, have you gone senile finally!?" the Hokage exclaimed as she stared numbly at the Tsuchikage.

Oonoki merely chuckled at that.

"WHAT THE HELL!?" Kurotsuchi screamed, "What the frigging hell are you talking of gramps!? Me, married!? To the Yondaime Hokage's son!? Are you nuts!? Are you out of your frigging mind!?"

"What? No one sees the potential in this?" the Tsuchikage smiled as he carefully began to fondle his beard. "I'd think you'd be jumping on the occasion to finally end the hatred between our nations, Tsunade. I have the approval of the Daimyo of the land of Earth to boot! Of course, the boy would have to come and stay in the Land of Stone, but that's something we can negotiate on."

Tsunade's eyes narrowed. "Ah…I see…so this has nothing to do with his condition, is it?"

"Condition?" Kurotsuchi grimaced. "What is he like? Gross? Old? Lost a limb somewhere?"

Naruto felt his throat constrict. What were they talking of, with him in the room!? And why was Tsunade actually considering the offer?

He didn't know what the situation between Iwagakure and his father was, more than the fact that his father had been the reason it had ended —it was in all history books after all— but he supposed…it had to be bad, judging by the level of shock everyone else was sporting for the mere proposal of the offer.

"In part," Oonoki nodded. "After all it's only fair…you do have quite the selection of Jinchuuriki, do you not? Takigakure's is in your village, you captured the Nibi, and the three tails is roaming free in the sea… I'd say, one would think hoarding all that power for oneself would mean preparing to wage a war of…domination."

"And why would I give up on the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki then? Even more if he's the Yondaime's son? Why should I deliver him to your village, where I'm sure you'd need but an instant to make a 'training accident' happen and make the Kyuubi disappear into the guts of one of your shinobi?"

Oonoki just smiled, "Well, now you're just wounding me, Tsunade. There can only be an Uzumaki, to control the Kyuubi. It has always been like that. Of course to accept a proposal such as mine would be stupid of you without reassurance." He looked towards the Toad Sage. "He can come too if the boy needs a bodyguard."

"Oonoki," Jiraiya was the one who spoke next, his eyes hard. "What's the real deal? I've only seen few act as mad as you are being right now…where's the catch? You can't expect us to believe you'd suddenly invite me to your village like that, nor that you'd be merely doing a marriage to strengthen an alliance between two countries who hate each other so much…"

"Because youngsters, when you reach my age…you start seeing patterns," Oonoki smiled. "And this is the perfect way to ensure an alliance. I will send a few choice members of the second Tsuchikage's clan as collateral. Your Aburame clan would enjoy a talk with them I'm sure…and furthermore concerning training accidents…"

Here the man's eyes glinted. "I will be personally teaching the boy since… after all…he will succeed me as Tsuchikage."

"Gramps?" Kurotsuchi muttered with her voice filled with fright. "What are you…saying? Isn't father…supposed to?"

"What I'm saying," the old Tsuchikage continued, ignoring his daughter's cracked voice, "Is that if there is one person I will approve of as my successor, it is the son of the Yondaime Hokage."

"But the Yondaime killed my aunt! He killed your daughter, Gramps!" Kurotsuchi exclaimed. "He killed hundreds!"

"I know," Oonoki nodded. "And his son…I hope he is even a fragment of what his father is… Because his son…oh, his son was kind enough to sell the legacy of the Yondaime to the highest bidder."

Naruto froze.

Silence, which had been out of shock, did not lift from the room, but it changed. It felt far heavier than before. The implications of the Tsuchikage's words were far, far stronger than what they appeared at first sight…and Tsunade knew that even if they were false, to claim such a thing…

"He was kind enough to show that his love for Konoha did not extend past money itself," the Tsuchikage slowly added. "He was also smart enough to display that he, the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, the son of the Yondaime…did not love his village at all…"

There was a feral smirk on Oonoki's face. "This is why…I think he would become my most prized student and one of the most loved Tsuchikage ever, after me of course..."

"The legacy of the Yondaime?" Tsunade asked slowly. "The Hiraishin?"

"Of course," Oonoki smiled back.

Naruto stilled. No, it was the Rasengan. He had delivered the Rasengan. Yet Oonoki was lying, but if he said the truth…if he didn't, he could still deny. If he did…he'd have to admit having taken the Rasengan scroll from the cache his father had placed in the Konoha cemetery.

"You'll pardon me if I find your lack of proof…" soon after Tsunade said that, the scroll that Naruto knew contained the Rasengan popped out from within the Tsuchikage's robes.

"Let us say…he gave me a bonus to begin with," the smile gracing the lips of Oonoki was positively wicked and feral, like that of a wolf who has just found its prey. "The intermediary of our exchange, by the way…sends his regards."

The way the Tsuchikage looked at him then…there was no doubt. The old man knew he was there, beneath the mask. Naruto began to sweat.

Kakuzu had sold the Rasengan to Iwagakure. Oonoki was lying about possessing the Hiraishin, but the Rasengan? Oh, he had that down: he was sure of it.

The Mizukage giggled then, a harmonious chuckle that escaped her full lips. "How amusing! To see such a thing," she looked towards Tsunade, who was standing flabbergasted at such a revelation. "I might be new to this Kage business…but are all summits as interesting as this one?"

"Quiet," the Kazekage said smoothly, silencing the Mizukage. "This is an interesting conundrum," the leader of Suna flexed his fingers together. "On one side, we have a seemingly excellent offer, but on the other…I wonder if the true extent of Oonoki is not simply to grab for him the entire legacy of the Yondaime and turn it against Konoha. How difficult would it be, I assume, to offer protection from Konoha's assassins to the betrayer that is Naruto Namikaze?"

At the mention of the word 'betrayer' Naruto had to hold back his tongue from screaming that he wasn't a traitor…because in the end…he was one. Sure, he had acted out of fear and because he hadn't wanted to leave Fu in the hands of Kakuzu but…but it was unmistakeable what he was.

He was a traitor.

The Kazekage smiled towards Tsunade. "Of course I know his name, the ground whispered it to my ear, shall we put it like that," he carefully tapped on the table's surface. "As I see it, Oonoki's offer is actually quite clear-cut and fair. On one side, he will try to bring Naruto to his side. On the other, he will have to allow the Toad sage within his country, but the man will be limited to following Naruto around twenty-four hours a day, preventing him from spying. The Rasengan technique is clearly proven to be in the possession of Iwagakure, but for the Hiraishin…we are still in doubt over that," the Kazekage hummed.

"Why would I accept the offer then? If Naruto really betrayed Konoha, then I should place him into custody rather than let him go into an enemy village." Tsunade remarked, her right index creating a sharp crack on the surface of the table —where she had begun drumming her fingers on. "If not outright extract the Kyuubi from him."

"Ah, my dear Godaime Hokage," the Kazekage remarked. "But if you do let him go, would it not be a show of goodwill for the other nations? You do possess far more Jinchuuriki than the other countries…and power begets trouble most of the time."

There was a quiet moment of contemplation, once more, in the room. It lasted only a heartbeat, but Naruto's throat felt constricted and his tongue dry. He needed to get outside, to get some fresh air or drink some water…he'd go through a blizzard too, if only to cool his head.

"I need time to think this through," Tsunade grumbled. "And this isn't the reason I called the summit in the first place!"

"No, but it is the reason Iwagakure will accept to help you," Oonoki remarked calmly. "And you can tell your 'Wolf' to come visit me as soon as possible…my proposals, after all, are not limited to having you as my spokesperson. If he actually wishes to betray, he will find that Iwagakure can be…extremely accommodating."

Then Oonoki smiled, and in that moment Tsunade knew —she just knew— that something was terribly wrong with the entire affair.

"Then I suppose we will advance our own," the Raikage remarked. "You can either hand back the Nibi Jinchuuriki, or we'll just let the Land of the Sky work its way through Konoha."

"My," the Kazekage said then. "It seems like treaties are really made of ink and paper, rather than honour and promises." The man cocked his head to the side, "Then again, to assume Honour would mean to be dealing with Samurai, not Shinobi."

"Is there a point you're trying to make?" the Raikage huffed.

"Yes," the Kazekage nodded. "I say…you are surprisingly close to Otogakure are you not? I wonder…if certain transactions of weaponry were to become public…who would suffer? If certain key documents made their way elsewhere…in the wrong hands…"

"Call your hand Kazekage," A growled. "I'm not one to tolerate bluffing, especially one as bad as yours!"

"You sold weapons to the Mizukage's loyalist forces and to the rebels…which is fine, for an arms' dealer. Yet…you also sold the rebels' locations to the Loyalist themselves. Then again, you did not know that the Mizukage would soon receive money from the Gatou Corporation, nor reinforcements from Amegakure did you?"

"How do you know that, Kazekage?" it was the Mizukage who spoke softly then.

"I had one of Amegakure's caravans intercepted," the Kazekage smiled. "From there the ledgers told me the entire story…infiltrating a civilian corporation was easy work afterwards. It was trickier to find the trail of weapons and information exchange of Kumogakure…but I still managed it in the end."

A few documents and pictures appeared from the man's sleeves, sliding across the table until they reached their intended targets.

"It's not over yet," he admitted with a smile. "From Iwagakure, we have a request for minerals that the Land of Claws was happy to oblige, which brings us to the next point: military production of Iwagakure's forges has increased. They're actually preparing ships, to launch an attack upon the neutral countries of the Land of Tea and Moon, but Kumo has its eyes on them too, of course."

Here Orochimaru smiled, showing the bright white teeth that belonged to the Kazekage's skin.

"Which is why the deal sounds rotten to the core, Tsunade," the Kazekage stood. "He needs a Nine to defeat an Eight, and he doesn't plan on letting the boy live further than when he becomes useless, but if he manages to get his little Granddaughter pregnant anyway, he gets bonus points when he later will try to tear apart Konoha and install a puppet-Hokage."

The Kazekage made a mock bow. "I applaud you, I applaud you all for your sickening idiocy in planning ways to backstab and tear apart each other. Ranging from the Mizukage's ploy of trying to get Uzushiogakure's main land back with a fake Uzumaki heir, to the Kusagakure's ambassador who is waiting for his chance to ask for the usage of the Gokuraku no Hakō which has returned into his hands after an Anbu delivered two sharingan eyes where they were needed…"

Slowly, the Kazekage began to clap.

"You never fail to amaze me, with your incessant need to backstab, betray, and achieve a greed so high it is a wonder any of you can still be civil to one another," the man shook his head. "Then again, you are but a minuscule speck of the true devastation that rings around the world. Anyone has ever been south, beyond the Elemental Countries? There's an entire region devastated by war…which isn't even something to bother with," Orochimaru rolled his eyes. "Considering what lies hidden in the so called 'industries' of Iwagakure."

"Kazekage…" Oonoki's voice was a low growl.

"Oh, shut your mouth you old relic," Orochimaru shot back. "Diplomacy? Diplomacy between shinobi? Let the Daimyo have their courts and their ambassadors…we are Shinobi. Our diplomacy lies in the gold, doesn't it, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto's breath hitched behind the mask. He took a step back.

Suddenly, he felt observed by everyone else and cursed his stupidity beneath the mask.

"Ah Naruto-kun…I had such high hopes for you," the Kazekage shook his head. "I hoped you would not fall…your world of peace, Naruto…but then again, you are not Hokage yet are you? So tell me, Naruto-kun…can a traitor believe in a dream that requires trust to work?"

Naruto swallowed, but did not talk as the Toad Sage beat him in answering.

"Orochimaru?" Jiraiya spoke then. "Was it Orochimaru who told you that? How? Not even my spy network could reach into Iwagakure's foundries and we suspected a lot but…"

"I would be a horrible spy if I were to reveal my agents," the Kazekage chuckled. "You think you possess a spy network, Jiraiya? You possess a bunch of imbeciles who drink themselves to a stupor every day and every night, of whores that spend more time with their legs open then with their ears on the ground…"

The Kazekage hummed once more.

"Then again, you didn't know that the Sandaime personally ordered Orochimaru to infiltrate Kumogakure and make the previous Gyuki Jinchuuriki lose control of its tailed beast, did you?"

The Raikage jumped to his feet, slamming his hands against the table as he yelled a powerful 'WHAT!?'

"We have an alliance, Kazekage!" Tsunade exclaimed.

"No, Tsunade," the Kazekage smiled as he shook his head. "You had one with the Kazekage."

The man's hand went to his face and slowly, in front of everyone else, the flesh was twisted and pulled out like it were nothing more than a mask.

Orochimaru of the Sannin watched with a smirk on his face the looks of shock and wonder of the rest of the Kage assembled, and he laughed at their expressions that soon morphed into understanding and then ire.

"The Kazekage was no saint either —mark my words— and he did make many deals with me to boot…but that is no longer important. One should not talk ill of the deceased now, should he?"

The next moment, he became intangible as attack after attack washed over him in the form of wind blades, kunai, random bursts of explosions —even Oonoki tried to pulverize the spot he was on…

When their attacks all failed, he walked forward and slowly began to clap in the middle of the destroyed room.

"Very well," he commented. "Very, very well," he drawled out.

"O-Orochimaru!? W-What have you done?" Jiraiya's voice came out then as he watched his traitorous teammate smirk at the assembled Kage. Completely unscathed, Orochimaru of the Sannin was smiling at them. It was a nightmare. It had to be a dream, a horrible one. There was no other explanation for it.

"Let me tell you," he said showing his Sharingan blazing with amusement, "that while your actions are endearing, they cannot stop me. I am Immortal. I am Invincible…" he made a mocking gesture of bowing towards Mifune. "And I'm the most honourable person among this bunch of thieves and liars."

"The sharingan, uh?" the Raikage muttered. "Well, if I get your head it just means I'll keep it for posterity mounted on my wall!"

"Unfortunate as it is, I'm not really here to talk more," Orochimaru shrugged. "I just wanted to tell you all, a word of warning if so you wish to consider this…" he clasped his hands together. "I know everything. In our world, Knowledge is power. I know all there is to know about all of you, by tomorrow if I so wish I could plant a kunai in the heart of anyone present in this room…and you would be unable to stop me."

The snake sannin shook his head. "Yet my destruction would be limited, surgical even. I dislike having to face rubble and chaos…I prefer tidy order. This is thus my word of warning towards you all: fight each other, kill each other…but you will always be beneath me! Amusing, is it not? You are all but pathetic excuses, born to breed hatred and violence in the world…and finally, the world has answered back your calls!"

He spun around, "One year from now, I will claim what is my due."

His sharingan eyes shone as he began to disappear. "Kill each other before then, and I will enjoy watching your senseless slaughtering ensure!"

Before anyone could react, Orochimaru of the Sannin was gone.

Naruto closed his eyes. The actions of the snake sannin made no sense. He had brought forth distrust, but then again nothing excessively worth angering…

It was then, that the smell of fire and the sharp sound of ground cracking ensued. Everyone jumped away as the floor gave way to dark flames that burned through the ground itself in their devouring hunger. Naruto's feet slid across the smooth surface all the way to the above wall, where he unleashed a Rasengan to create a safe passage for the Hokage and Jiraiya to follow through.

As they ran up, towards the rooftop of the tower that held the Kage Summit, Naruto's breathing grew ragged. What was he going to do now?

"Boy," Tsunade's voice came stern and demanding. "We will talk more about this later."

He shivered. That voice…it didn't promise anything good at all.

He stilled and lowered his body down on the ground just as a giant shuriken enflamed with black flames soared through the air slightly above him. Had he remained standing, he'd have been sliced in half.

Jiraiya stopped, looking towards the figure clad in the Akatsuki cloak. Itachi stood there, his eyes narrowed. "Amaterasu." The moment those words were whispered through the blearing snowy wind, the same black flames erupted once more.

The aim of his eyes however…

It was not Tsunade, or he the target.

Naruto was soon engulfed within a circle of them, unable to move or jump as they formed a veritable barrier surrounding him. "Brat! Get back in!" Jiraiya yelled, hoping the boy would be smart enough.

"I asked one thing to the Hokage," Itachi accused, pointing his finger towards Tsunade. "For my brother to be safe I exterminated my clan…well, this is me, evening the scale…a Jinchuuriki for a dead clan."

Then, Itachi closed his right hand in a fist as his Mangekyou sharingan bled.

The Uchiha then jumped backwards, as Tsunade's punch came barrelling down on the side of the tower his feet were on. Large cracks appeared on the point of impact, cracking and destroying good chunks of the tower's walls as they fell downwards. The Toad Sage swallowed in nervousness. That wasn't good.

Jiraiya hadn't seen Naruto enter the tower, but he hadn't heard anyone scream so he sincerely hoped the boy had survived. He went quickly through hand seals, extracting a scroll from his vest as he charged ahead. When the eyes of Itachi went over to him, he brought the scroll up just in time to absorb the Amaterasu flames.

He ground his teeth as he felt the heat wash over the paper. If even a single tongue of fire passed by, it would burn him for seven days and seven nights…and he'd have to amputate the limb to avoid a horrible death. Behind him, Tsunade pushed forward from his right side, forcing Itachi to stop gazing at him and dodge the incoming blow by quietly pushing his body to the side.

Jiraiya jumped forward, ignoring the feeling of gravity trying to get him to smash against the ground as he flung a volley of shurikens to distract Itachi, while Tsunade kept the pressure on the traitorous Uchiha with her fists.

"Tsunade! You're going to bring down the tower!"

"I'll pay for it later!" the slug sannin screamed back.

"That's not the problem!" Jiraiya grumbled as summoned a stone sword from the holy mount of toads, before slamming it in a long arch against Itachi's own blade —that the boy had brought forth from his cloak's sleeve. The Mangekyou Sharingan of Itachi bled as Jiraiya kept his gaze firmly on the shinobi's cloak. The problem arrived when Itachi unclasped it and let gravity bring it down —as he burned the cloth with Amaterasu and then sliced ti into hundreds of fragments that were scattered by the wind and the gravity.

Jiraiya brought both hands together, summoning a wall just in the nick of time.

A wall made of the stomach of a Mount Toad.

He was sure whoever's stomach he had used would certainly have a word with him within the next day, but it was an emergency! The flames burned through the flesh as he deftly circled around the tower while Tsunade pressed on undaunted. The Amaterasu fragments pulverized before they could touch her as lightning sparked through the pores of her skin.

"Why are you doing this, Itachi!? You're going to start a war!" Tsunade barked out. "Orochimaru's the one who took your brother's eyes!"

"He is also the one who told me the truth! He told me the real reason the massacre happened! The Uchiha clan wasn't slaughtered because of a coup, but because with our sharingan, we could control the Bijuu…AND EXTRACT THEM FROM THEIR JINCHUURIKI!"

Tsunade gritted her teeth. "That's a myth!"

"It isn't, when you prove it true!" Itachi yelled back, "But it matters not! Everything will wash away in the flames of purification! The world of the shinobi ends with this incoming war! May you suffer and die," both eyes of Itachi shone as a giant construct of chakra materialized to shield him from Jiraiya's attempt to attack him from his sides with two Kage Bunshin. "For the sins you have committed."

"Weren't you the pacifist, Itachi?" Jiraiya ground out as his clones disappeared in puff of smoke. The real Toad Sage was at the top of the tower, drawing upon a scroll. "What happened to you!?"

"As my eyes lost their light," the traitorous Uchiha commented, "they opened to the truth," and in that instant, the S-rank missing ninja jumped to the side, avoiding the crumbling tower that the latest kick from Tsunade had broken beyond repair.

Jiraiya cursed under his breath as he jumped too, letting go of the scroll as he summoned a Toad to cushion the fall.

Gamabunta answered the call. Tsunade flickered to land atop the Toad Boss too, but by then it was too late…Itachi was long gone. Jiraiya began to curse loudly.

He just hoped Naruto was fine.

Zabuza of the Hidden Mist was a master of the Kirigakure No Jutsu, and he was not stupid. In the middle of a fire however, using that technique came with quite the difficulty. Still, when he had seen the boy responsible for the probable death of Haku —there had been no requests from Konoha in exchange for the girl, so he had no doubt she was dead— he had taken his chance the moment he had watched him leave.

The boy was Naruto Namikaze, the son of the Yondaime, the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki. He was the one who had nearly killed Haku the first time…and he had no doubt that in the end, he had done the deal.

The Mizukage probably knew what he was up to, but she hadn't yet stopped him so everything was fine.

He watched the boy fall from the ceiling as black flames consumed all around him, and just as the brat was dusting off and stumbling back up…he struck as fast as he could with a vicious stab.

The blade pierced the Anbu Operative straight through the back, snapping away three ribs as it tore a lung and emerged from the other side.

Stabbing with a giant broadsword was lethal, no questions asked.

"This is for Haku, bastard," he grumbled as he kicked the corpse off the blade. The cleaver, who shone brightly as it fed upon the iron of it to regenerate its sharpness, drank the blood avidly. "Rot in hell."

He turned to leave.

The body twitched.

Zabuza spun around and brought up his sword just in time as a chakra laced claw slammed into him and sent him flying out of the tower before it collapsed. Zabuza landed upon the hard snow as a blizzard began to pick up in intensity, eying the opponent in front of him.

The boy was still standing, pale blue flames burning through his wounds and closing them one after the other. With a sickening noise of cracking bones, the ribs regrew and returned to their rightful position. The lung repaired, his eyes narrow, Naruto touched the wound he had suffered and chuckled.

"This is new," he acquiesced. "But I like it."

In the middle of the blizzard, Zabuza spun and sliced ahead just as Naruto jumped up in the air to avoid the swiping motion of ice needles that formed alongside the blade —and then had been thrown by the motion. Zabuza closed in, making an arch as his enemy parried with a frigging Tanto.

Wind chakra flew through the blade of Naruto, holding down against one of the seven swordsmen of the mist own blade.

It wouldn't last, but it would be enough to get some distance.

Five Kage Bunshin popped into existence as Naruto pushed his body away from the Kirigakure shinobi. The five tried to stab the man, only for him to push them in mid-air —exploding in puffs of smoke when Zabuza's cleaver spun to slice through them all.

"Running, are we?" Zabuza growled.

"A shinobi who doesn't run isn't worthy of being a shinobi," Naruto quipped back as the blade sliced through his neck. There was a puff of smoke, and the Kage Bunshin disappeared.

"Damn Jinchuuriki," Zabuza snarled. He knew he should retreat. The boy —if he was smart— had probably retreated already.

The snow increased in intensity, before a snarl forced Zabuza to twist and avoid a slash from…claws?

His chest sprayed out five thin lines, like a cat paw scratching him —yet it was so deep the blood was pouring out and spraying on the snow itself. At the same time, the Demon of the Hidden Mist flung his fist against the enemy's face, the punch connecting with the Anbu mask of the Wolf and splintering it into fragments that fell on the ground, while the owner of the mask retreated in the shadows once more.

Zabuza exhaled slowly, readying his blade. He had seen the brat's face now. He had haunted cerulean eyes, gaunt cheeks, and pale blond hair. He looked more like a living dead, rather than a breathing shinobi. The strength behind his attacks however…it was all there.

"Zabuza-sama," Haku's voice called to him from the middle of the snow. "Come…"

"Genjutsu won't work on me, boy," Zabuza muttered, his eyes looking elsewhere.

"When you saved me from hunger…in that corner…I was glad…Zabuza-sama, please…I am real."

He shook his head and then thrust his blade behind him, just in time to stab once more through the Jinchuuriki's midsection who had tried to silently creep behind him.

This time, he plunged the sword down on the snow with the boy.

The Jinchuuriki was hissing, his eyes shining blue, as he seemed to be growling and grabbing at his blade with both hands. As if he could lift the Butcher's Cleaver with his bare hands, or stop him from plunging it down to the hilt in the monster.

"You should have left when you had the chance," Zabuza growled. "And this Genjutsu? It just made me angrier."

The blade of the swordsman of the mist met with the bare hands of the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, who stilled the sword and gripped tightly onto it —actually stopping its descent. Zabuza's eyes narrowed. "What the hell are you, kid?"

"You can call me," Naruto growled, blood burning brightly down his lips and evaporating, "Your death."

Naruto slammed his fist forward, light blue flames erupting from his hand as they punched the Demon Hidden in the Mist, sending him to fly in the air. The Kirigakure shinobi left behind a trail of torn apart rock and snow as he flew, but he did not let go of the Kubikiribōchō, bringing it away with him in the air as a rivulet of blood fell from the blade's side. With an inhuman roar, Naruto slowly got back up on all four as blue flames burned his wound to a close.

"Your sins," he growled. "The deaths you caused," he snarled. "I will purify you from them!"

A light sheen of blue chakra erupted and morphed into flames, as a tail made of pale blue began to shimmer on his back. Zabuza stumbled back on his feet just as the light sheen of a ghost trudged in front of him. No, to be more correct…a horde of them.

He had killed many.

He had killed far too many to count. There wasn't just a few dozens, no…there were hundreds. Thousands of ghosts, of people killed both by order of Yagura and for his own entertainment or gain. People killed…students of the Mist Academy he had killed…

And they were all watching him.

"Why?" one of his childhood friends asked him, eying with empty eyes his blade, "Was that worth it, Za-chan?"

His mother looked at him with scorn. "Out of all the choices…a lap dog always, uh?"

"You are bound to serve me, not some monster with a bloodline!" Yagura's own ghost showed up, snarling at him as if he was still alive.

Zabuza's eyes shone with fury as the ghost of Haku appeared next. He gritted his teeth and grasped tightly on the handle of Kubikiribōchō with both his hands, as a thick purple miasma left his shoulders forming a demonic shroud on his back.

"You know, brat," he whispered as his intense glare turned murderous. "If you wanted to piss me off…"

"YOU. MANAGED. IT!"

With a terrifying roar, Zabuza swept ahead his blade as he twisted his entire frame, creating a devastating typhoon of ice as water chakra flowed in the sword. Naruto's arms went up as he roared back, the blue flames burning through the unleashed wave of ice that slammed into him. The sizzling sound of ice melting into water and then of the water itself boiling reached Zabuza's ears, as the swordsman jumped in mid-air to land a devastating downward swipe on the brat's head.

The tail made of cerulean chakra came up to parry it, and Zabuza ground his teeth as he roared and pushed through it, slicing it in half and continuing the Kubikiribōchō movement all the way till it hit the flesh of the boy's chest. Blood sprayed for but an instant, before the wound healed and the Kirigakure shinobi had to bring up his blade in a parry position, holding his ground against a punch thrown by the Jinchuuriki.

"If this is the extent of your power," Zabuza growled, "Then let me show you how a real demon fights!" the purple shroud that had slowly surrounded Zabuza's back morphed into a diabolic-looking face, and as the wave of murderous desire rampaged through the ground…

Naruto remained unaffected.

If anything, a throaty chuckle escaped his lips.

"Only this?" Naruto growled. "Let me show you…what death is all about."

The wind died down. The snow stilled. The colours lost their vibrancy. The white snow became grey, dirty, as waves of chill and cold that far surpassed normality poured through Zabuza's entire body as a set of bright cerulean eyes locked with his.

In that instant, Zabuza flung a kunai at the brat. A small floating patch of sand rose to block it, and Naruto simply smiled. The sand floated around him, grinding and twirling against the snow and itself.

"Well," Naruto exhaled. "Do you really wish to continue?"

Zabuza's eyes narrowed. "You're reaching the end of the rope, aren't you?" the Demon growled. "I can see it." The flames that surrounded Naruto's body were flickering with far less intensity than before, the tail swishing behind him reducing itself of length like the fuse of a candle.

Naruto ground his teeth in frustration. He didn't know where the power came from, but he had used it. It would be stupid not to: especially with such an enemy.

Carefully, he lowered his body down as he prepared to charge ahead on the melted snow. A few snowflakes fell between the two, as Zabuza readied his blade again.

"You know," the demon Hidden of the Mist remarked. "I take back what I said…you truly are a demon," Zabuza muttered. "Only a Demon would have those eyes, after all."

"I was an Anbu back in my days," Zabuza added as the silence stretched on, both shinobi waiting for their chance to strike. "I have not lost my touch and I fought against Wolf once too. Wearing a mask doesn't make you as strong as its previous wielder. Calling yourself an Anbu doesn't make you one…" Zabuza's teeth bit tightly on the bandages around his mouth, tearing them apart as he revealed his face.

"So, from a Demon to another…I'll let you see my face before I kill you," and then Zabuza disappeared as a thick cold fog sprouted from the very ground.

"Larynx," Zabuza whispered from the right side, as Naruto hastily ducked downwards. A kunai sliced through his neck all the same, forcing him to choke on his blood as he quickly removed it with a wet lurching noise. He gagged as looked around frantically.

"Spine," a sharp crack resonated as the Kubikiribōchō pierced Naruto's spine, making the boy scream in pain as the fires of his chakra proceeded to heal the wound all the same, leaving him trembling on the ground.

"Lungs," a sharp pain passed through him, as twin elongated kunais pierced his lungs and made his breathing ragged. Those, they were not removed.

"Liver," another kunai pierced his body. "Jugular vein," another kunai, passing through his neck and letting him bleed out, "Collarbone," one more, painfully inserted in his neck. "Kidney…" more pain flared through him, agonizing and horrendous, "And finally…"

Naruto was no longer breathing by that point.

"Heart."

The Kubikiribōchō fell down sharply against the boy's chest, impaling him there, as blood began to pool on the ground all around him.

The snow began to fall once more as the fog lifted, as Zabuza looked up, to the greyish sky. "There…" he exhaled. "Haku…I've avenged you."

A single snowflake fell on the Kirigakure's shinobi face, melting into a tear that slid down his cheek.

He never heard the sharp rock spear pierce through his heart and smash him on the ground, tearing him savagely apart.

Naruto was in complete darkness.

Around him, he could see nothing but a thin light away in the distance. It was then that he heard a pulse. It was a heartbeat, but it was enormous. The titanic heart —wherever it was— thumped again. He looked around, but could not find it in the middle of the darkness that surrounded him.

The place was supposed to be quiet. It was supposed to be a place to relax.

It wasn't.

Darkness had crept through the room. He could imagine it, as it once was, filled with lights, candles, and warmth. He could remember it, the laughter that ensued and echoed as she played with her brothers and sisters. There was only happiness back then, and while there was sadness, it never lasted long.

Then slowly her brothers and sisters began to disappear.

She felt alone.

Her father no longer was there.

She was alone.

There was no one to play with, no one to console her when she cried.

She was alone.

She felt it then. People died, she knew it. She felt it then…people died…because she had to do her job. Purification…of the soul, was it?

To…reincarnate, better?

She could not remember her purpose, but she was there and she lived and breathed for as long as there would be death.

The screams of the dying…their pain…agonizing…wasn't it?

There was another thump sound; the giant heartbeat noisily pulsed again.

She was but a fragment…

But a fragment of infinity was still infinity, wasn't it?

We need but a single piece…the world will provide the rest.

Then she felt pain.

"Am I dead?" Naruto muttered, as he looked around. His voice echoed in the inky black darkness…

"Course not." A voice quipped back. "If you were, you'd be…you know, dead."

He spun around as fast as he could, bringing up his fists as if expecting an attack. He blinked. There was a…

There was a pale blue cat looking back at him, with twin tails swishing around.

The cat's voice was childish and petulant as it stretched its back and purred happily. "I'm Matatabi. What's your name?"

"You're the Nibi?" Naruto muttered back.

"A piece of it, really," Matatabi remarked. "Then again, a piece of water is still water and taking fire from a fire gives you two fires rather than one, right?"

He closed his eyes and shook his head. "I'm … where am I then?"

"Oh, your body went into shock. Nasty thing, just inches away from dying…he stabbed you through your heart to boot."

"Ah...wait, what!?" his eyes widened, "How am I still alive with my heart stabbed!?"

"Really?" the Nibi raised an eyebrow. "You have three different Bijuu's chakras into you brat. You think you're going to die any time soon?"

"So I'm immortal?"

"No, but then again the guy who reduced you like this doesn't know what we know," Matatabi shrugged. "He could cup out your heart with a tea spoon, and you'd still be alive afterwards. You know what chakra is, right?"

"Are you going to give me a chakra lesson, or are you going to tell me how I'm going to leave?"

"How rude," the Nekomata scoffed. "I'm all here, trying to be helpful…"

"Never trust a Bijuu."

"Oh my, thank you," the two-tailed cat rolled her eyes. "Your trust is of the uttermost importance for me. While you're at it, do you want a cup of 'I don't care' or a nice biscuit made with 'You are a worthless stain and a waste of my time, kindly shut your mouth'?"

He gawked at the cat.

"Very well," Matatabi drawled. "Now, if I have your attention…" she spun on herself, her cat-like appearance becoming surprisingly human as she morphed into a perfect replica of Naruto himself.

If not for the cat ears.

He shuddered looking at them twitch.

"Well," the Nekomata muttered. "Chakra is in every living creature. That's as easy as it sounds, but the complete definition of it is that…as long as there's chakra, a creature is alive," she raised a hand, as if to shush him from interrupting. "Chakra permeates every living cell. When someone is wounded, chakra moves to close the wound. When someone is grievously wounded, more chakra is used and so forth, until there is no more chakra to use. That's the basic principle of Chakra Healing after all: you use chakra from an outside source to enhance the healing properties of your own chakra."

"So…I'm still alive?"

"Oh yes, and into a world of pain as soon as you wake up," the Neko-rendition of him nodded. "You see, you have three Bijuu inside you. Three enormous chakra batteries of which two are tightly sealed into you even beyond your death, and one —myself that is— who is outside."

He paled.

"Ah, don't make a fuss about it," Matatabi rolled her eyes. "It's not like I care…I'm just a fragment. Sure, I'm real and all, but I'd need decades to go back to the power I'd be being 'whole'."

"I'll still have you sealed," Naruto deadpanned. "One was enough."

"I don't care," Matatabi remarked. "Sealed, not sealed…doesn't matter. I'm not my 'whole' self. I don't care…eventually, I'll return to the Earth and from there to my whole self if you don't seal me, or if you do seal me I'll just hang around."

"You are taking this…strangely," Naruto sweat dropped as he nervously chuckled.

"I'm a Nekomata. Technically, we're used in being parasites of other people's skin, until the moment we rip ourselves out of their bodies in a shower of blood and gore," there was a dreamy look on Matatabi's face then. "You have no idea how nice it feels, to shower in blood."

"Now that's more normal," Naruto grumbled under his breath.

A sharp spike of pain erupted through his chest then, forcing him down on one knee as he gripped his jacket. The Matatabi just looked at him with a bright smile, and waved. "See you later!"

He trembled and gagged as he opened his eyes to the cold surface of the Land of Iron's ground. A light sheen of frost and snow covered him, as his skin was a pale blue. He could see tiny plumes of smoke rise from his wounds, as they all slowly closed. He breathed in pain as his torn lungs mended and stitched back together.

Around him, there was silence.

Slowly, the ice cracked as he stood up. He looked around for a moment, and then stilled. The Kubikiribōchō was there, piercing the ground near the destroyed body of Zabuza of the Hidden Mist. The man was dead. Carefully, he trudged forward.

Whoever had killed him had left behind the blade. His hand slowly went for it, clasping around the handle as he pulled it up.

It felt light in his hand.

He gave one last look at Zabuza's torn apart body, and then closed his eyes.

He bowed his head once. "I'm sorry."

Then he left.

The question was…

Where was he going to go?

Author's notes

This chapter took me a while. The discussion between Kage had me stumped for a bit. (Couldn't reveal everything, yet had to reveal quite a bit)

If anyone can find out how Orochimaru Knows Things (Mind you, it's a canon element 'utilized' well) you earn a digital cookie.