Chapter 12: An Unexpected Ally and the Mask

"Normal Person talking"

'Normal Person thinking'

"Biju/ Summons / Inner Sakura/ Black Zetsu talking"

'Biju/ Summons thinking'

"Flashback/ Mini-Flashback/ Letters"

Two months had passed since the incident and Naruto still shivered when he remembered the beating he got from Tsunade, Ino and Sakura; after that, he decided to inform them or set up a barrier whenever he decided to do something reckless.

Over the two months, things had settled and were going easy, but everyone knew that this was just the calm before the storm; Naruto had mastered Katon, Suiton, Doton and Futon manipulation, he was coming along good in Mokuton manipulation and had started on Raiton manipulation, which turned out to be a pain in the ass in the start because his strongest affinity was Futon. But after some time, when the Rinnegan was fully accustomed to his body, he found it easier and read the scroll which informed him about the ability of the Rinnegan of giving an affinity to all elements. He was currently mid-way the 2nd exercise.

His Rinnegan training was also coming along nicely, with Kurama's help; he was able to master the Tendo (Deva Path) and the Chikusodo (Animal Path) and was close to master the Gakido (Preta Path), the others were also coming along nicely.

Leaving his training, he had Sai give him reports of whatever was up with the Akatsuki, whenever he got a report, he sent it to the other Kages through his Toad Summons.

Now, the actual problem was a new seal he had come across, he wanted to try this seal and he would try it tomorrow, but first, he had an order to give.

He called forth all of his ANBU and said "Declare in the village that the War-Time Decree is officially in effect."

He sensed the shock in those 4 ANBU but they recovered and carried out his order.

The Next Day

Naruto stood in a Special Room made for Sealing Purposes (A/N: Where Kakashi sealed Sasuke's Curse Mark), he waited for people to come because it was related to the new seal he discovered the other day.

He saw 2 people, Anko and Tsunade arriving and motioned for them to stand and listen to what he had to say.

"Anko, I discovered a seal that can unseal your Curse Mark" said Naruto shocking both the ladies, in a second Anko was in front of him and said "Can you do it! Please do it, I want to have this piece off my body."

Naruto nodded and said "You will have to sit in the center of the room for that, I need to draw the array for the seal and Kaa-chan, after the unsealing is done, I want you to make sure that Anko is in perfect condition that it did not harm her body."

Tsunade and Anko nodded but before they could go to their respective positions, Naruto spoke up once again "Once the unsealing is mid-way, Orochimaru will try to take control of your body like his other Jutsu, you will have to fight his influence so that you don't turn your body over to him, if you want, you can call anyone to give you mental and emotional support."

Now this shocked both of them, in a way, this would be the revival of Orochimaru, Anko decided to do it on her own as she had withstood it for all the years, she removed her Trench coat and mesh shirt and sat in the middle of the room, Tsunade stood aside one of the pillars, Anko felt something on her shoulders and saw that it was a red bra, she looked back and saw a blushing Naruto turned away from her, she smirked and thought 'Heh, Still got it.'

Naruto drew the sealing array with a mixture of Ink, his blood and Anko's blood, he got up to the mark and whispered "Orochimaru, I know that you are watching everything that is happening inside, I will give you a last chance, if you try to take over Anko's body, you will be killed by me in some of the most brutal ways."

Naruto decided to start the first step of the seal which was the collection of Orochimaru's consciousness and soul from the other Curse Mark users; he put his palm on the seal and said "Atsumaru Hoin" (Evil Collecting Method), Tsunade and Naruto saw vile purple chakra and mysterious white chakra seeping into the seal; after the seal was done, he saw Anko having some problems and suffering a bit but nothing serious, he again put his palm on the seal and said "Kaija Hoin" (Evil Releasing Method).

Anko started sweating and clenched her teeth in pain as Naruto and Tsunade saw vile purple chakra, unlike Naruto potent purple chakra being released into the air along with the sealing array being absorbed into the curse mark, slowly, the 3 Tomoes became two and when they became one, a hand appeared out of the curse mark, slowly Orochimaru appeared out of the Curse Mark as Tsunade went to check on Anko and Naruto pointed his mother's Katana on Orochimaru's Head.

Tsunade checked Anko and said "She's fine, just some Chakra Exhaustion and fatigue, both due to fighting the Curse Mark and it being removed out of her body."

Naruto then said "So tell me, what your motives are Orochimaru, now that you are out."

"Kukukuku Naruto-kun, I have watched everything and watching how I did not fight over Anko-chan's body, you should know them, I will join your side" replied Orochimaru.

Naruto detected no malice from his words or any hidden meaning; he removed his Katana and asked "How the sudden change of heart then?"

Orochimaru smirked and spoke up "When you revived me, you gave me a new body and I can live in this body until 30 years, aside from that, thought over my life decisions while in there, I saw how content Sarutobi-sensei looked when he was on the gate of death and also how Jiraiya died happily."

Naruto nodded and became a little sad on the mention of Jiraiya; he then remembered Jiraiya's last words to him.

"A Shinobi is not measured by his strength but the way he lived his life until he finally dies, and so far, my life has been nothing but a failure, my crush doesn't love me back, I failed to protect my best friend, I let my student and teacher die and I could not so anything about this World's hatred."

Naruto sheathed the sword and teared up and ran to Tsunade to hug her, he cried in her chest as she asked "Naru-chan, what happened?"

Naruto replied "Sensei's last words to me were that his life was a failure as he could not bring you to love him back, he failed to protect his best friend, he let Jiji and Tou-chan die and that he could do nothing about World Peace, if only, if only he would have been alive to see how much you love him, how his best friend is good again and how close the nations are to World Peace."

Tsunade hugged Naruto and shed a few tears of her own while thinking 'The only bet that I never wanted to win, that pervert went off with a smile on his face, just like Sensei, Minato and Dan.'

Akatsuki Hideout (2 Months Ago)

Sasuke held his sword patiently waiting for his opponent to strike, the two swordsmen stood across each other in the room.

"Come on Sasuke, is that all you got. I've fought bandits better than you" his opponent taunted.

The young Uchiha remained calm despite the jab at his skills, "Don't get cocky Suigetsu" he said before lunging at the Kiri missing-nin.

Suigetsu used his Kubikiribocho to block Sasuke's katana; with a smug grin on his face Suigetsu used his blade to push Sasuke. The young Uchiha was sent back flying, but he adjusted in the air to land on his two feet.

But before the two could reengage in their fight, they heard a slow clapping sound. Suigetsu turned around to see Madara just standing there, seemingly watching their small spar.

"I'm quite impressed Sasuke, even with the bandages in your eyes you still held your own" he said.

Sasuke used his sleeve to wipe off the sweat on his forehead, "Why are you here?" he asked in a demanding tone.

"I need to talk to you" he answered before turning to face Suigetsu, "Alone"

Suigetsu got the message; he grabbed his swords hilt and walked to the door. But he refused to leave without a word, "Next time we fight Sasuke, I'm not holding back" he exclaimed.

"What did you want to talk about?" Sasuke asked.

"It's about your eyes"

"What about them?"

"It's time"

Sasuke grinned madly; his hands quickly grabbed the bandages across his eyes and pulled them off. At first Sasuke barely managed to see anything, his eyes had been closed for roughly two months and he needed to readjust. After a couple of minutes, everything suddenly began to clear up for Sasuke.

"How are you feeling?" asked Madara.

Sasuke turned to face Madara, "I feel quite good" he replied.

Madara nodded his head, "That's good" he said before handing Sasuke a handheld mirror, "Take a look at this"

Sasuke grabbed the mirror and examined the new design for his Sharingan; he couldn't help but smile upon seeing his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan for the first time.

"Sasuke I have a few questions for you if you don't mind" Madara interjected. The young Uchiha lowered the mirror to face his elder and asked "What do you want to know?"

Madara shrugged his shoulders and calmly replied "I'm just curious about a few things, I want to know about your view on all this, your thoughts, and you're other goals. I guess you could say I want to learn more about you, that's all."

"Just tell me what you want to know now and let's get it over and done with"

"Why do you follow me Sasuke? Why did you join Akatsuki?" asked Madara.

Sasuke sighed in defeat and replied "I've been thinking about our last conversation, and in a way it helped me clear up things."

"Oh do explain"

"At first I followed you because of your promise for power, and that was it. There was nothing else to it, I wanted power to destroy Konoha and you offered me that power. But since our talk, I've come to a different conclusion, I'm now following you for a different reason" he answered.

Madara nodded his head as he listened intently to Sasuke's words and asked "So what is this new reason?"

"For the past 2 being without my eyesight, I began to think about everything. I thought about Konoha, village politics, our clan's massacre and the Kage system. From all of that I came down to one conclusion, the world needs to be cleansed. It needs a revolution"

Madara's eyes widen in shock as he said "A revolution you say?"

Sasuke nodded and declared "Yes it needs a revolution. Over the past two weeks I've changed my goals, I've thought about this every day and now my goal is carry on Itachi's legacy, and I will fulfil his dream."

"Which dream? The dream to protect Konoha or the dream for peace"

"I will fulfil his dream for peace, and nothing will stop me"

"Sasuke, how exactly do you plan on doing that?"

"The current system is too flawed, to achieve peace the world needs to start over. Naruto's ideas for peace are nothing short of naïve and immature, he cannot face the truth. To create peace in this world, we need to destroy the villages, and we need to kill the Five Kages. This Kage system is the root of all our problems, the world cannot live under numerous factions anymore.

The five villages claim to act as one now, but realistically even if they did deal with us their peace will only be temporary. Soon all of them will all go back to fighting one another, all because of the greed and selfishness of the Kages.

To create peace we first need to destroy the Kage and village system. Once the alliance has been dealt with, the people will have no choice but to submit to us, and with your Mugen Tsukuyomi (Infinite Tsukuyomi) we will finally create a true peace in this world. We will all live in our perfect dream world, away from the terrors and hardships of reality" he explained.

Madara slowly applauded Sasuke and declared "You're beginning to see past your quest for vengeance and I applaud you for that, no longer are you the short-sighted young man I met a few months ago. You've grown since then, I'm quite impressed."

"Akatsuki will be the harbingers of the revolution; the people may fear us and hate us but in the end were doing them a favour. I love my brother and I vowed to carry on his dream, but Itachi was a fool. He was too trusting in Konoha and in the end it cost him his life, if he really wanted to achieve peace then he should have taken an approach similar to yours Madara"

"Indeed but that was what made Itachi unique, your brother may have had a different view to mine but I respected your brother. At least now you carry on his legacy, he can rest easy knowing that peace will be achieve in one way or another" said Madara.

Sasuke nodded in agreement and vowed "I will still avenge Itachi that much I promise. Just because I have this new goal it doesn't mean I'm forsaking my old one. My quest for vengeance will still continue and I will still avenge my clan, the elders of Konoha are just as corrupt as the Kages and they too will die by my hand. They will rue the day they messed with our clan."

Madara chuckled darkly and admitted "I am seeing more and more of myself in you, it's like I'm looking into a mirror from the past. I will support your views and goals Sasuke, you will not only have the backing of the Akatsuki but you will have my backing personally."

"With or without the backing of the Akatsuki, I am going to complete this mission regardless"

The masked Uchiha couldn't help but smile underneath his mask and said "Sasuke I have an offer for you."

Sasuke raised a single eyebrow as he faced his elder counterpart and questioned suspiciously "What kind of offer?"

"Relax Sasuke its nothing like that, after hearing you speak, I've decided to give you an offer you can't refuse. I want you to be my Second in Command"

A dark grin formed on Sasuke's face, "Very well then, I accept" he said.

1 Month Later (1 month until the Unsealing of Orochimaru)

The Akatsuki had all gathered in the conference room within their secret base, all of members were spread out across the large table located in the middle of the room. On the head of the table was obviously their leader, Madara Uchiha.

The eight members were all present in their secretive gathering, Sasuke sat at the opposite end of the table while Kabuto, Zetsu, Kisame, Suigetsu and Jugo all sat in different areas, with none really sitting anywhere near each other.

The room was silent with not one person uttering a single word; Suigetsu was getting tired of this awkward silence so he raised his hand and asked "So why are we here again?"

"Were here to discuss a certain proposition from Kabuto, one I'm actually inclined to agree with"

Kabuto stood up from his seat, all eyes were now on the sage, "Thank you Madara, I've come here with an excellent proposal in mind; I know how we can add yet another member into our group. Another S-Rank missing-nin" he declared.

"Who is this candidate?" Sasuke asked suspiciously.

Kabuto grinned madly as he turned to face Sasuke and answered "I'm so glad you asked Sasuke, it none other than our old master of course, Orochimaru-sama."

Sasuke's eyes widen in shock and Suigetsu instantly went on guard and exclaimed "Impossible. He's dead isn't he? Sasuke killed him, I'm sure of It."

"Nothing is impossible with science my dear, in fact the process is actually quite simple. All we need is a bit of my modified flesh, and of course someone inflicted with the Cursed Seal of Heaven" he explained.

"How we are even going to get someone with the Cursed Seal of Heaven, Sasuke's is gone and there's no one else with the seal" said Jugo.

"That is where you're wrong, Orochimaru-sama had other people inflicted with the Cursed Seal of Heaven, Sasuke and Anko weren't the only ones. He had others for his experiments; their seals may not have evolved and progressed as much as Sasuke's but Orochimaru-sama's life-force is still injected in those seals, and as long as those seals remain on them I can still revive him"

Sasuke quickly stood up from his seat and yelled in anger "There is no way in hell we are reviving that son of a bitch. I will kill him the second you revive that bastard."

Madara watched from the head of the table, he was studying Sasuke and gauging him for his reactions. From what he could see, Sasuke was quite conflicted over this matter and understandably so, Orochimaru had tried to take control of Sasuke's body.

"Sasuke think about this for a second, with Orochimaru here our power is increased considerably. Orochimaru is considered a Kage level ninja, a powerful ally for us. Our organization could benefit greatly from his power and knowledge. Right now Kabuto is on the verge of mastering Edo Tensei and Orochimaru has already mastered this technique. If we manage to resurrect Orochimaru then the Akatsuki will be armed with two Edo Tensei users, we can build an immortal army of loyal followers, no one will be able to stand in our way"

Kabuto nodded his head in agreement and said "I agree Sasuke. This is a great opportunity for Akatsuki. Orochimaru-sama has a lot to offer us; he could also continue to help you train."

Sasuke quickly reared his head to Kabuto, his Sharingan spinning wildly and hissed in contempt "And why would I need him to help me train. If I remember correctly he died fighting me, as far as I'm concerned there is nothing else he could teach me."

Kabuto was unaffected by Sasuke's small outburst and answered "Never be too prideful to ask for help, you may have defeated Orochimaru-sama but at the end of the day he has much more experience than you. He is armed with thousands of Jutsu and he is a master of all five elements, he could easily pass on some of that knowledge to you."

"He's right Sasuke; you can learn a lot from him as well me. You may be powerful now, but you are just at the tip of the iceberg. Do not let your pride stop you from seeking help" advised Madara.

Sasuke sighed in defeat, "Hn fine then. Do it" he said with a scowl on his face. He wasn't happy to agree to this, but he knew they did have a point. Despite his hate for Orochimaru, he had to admit that the Snake Sannin was still a formidable ninja and an invaluable potential ally for the Akatsuki.

Kabuto smirked approvingly, "Very well then, we'll begin the ritual when I get the records of the people experimented on, they could have escaped or died" he said.

1 Month Later (A few days after Revival of Orochimaru)

The whole Akatsuki was gathered in a private room, there was a weak and feeble man kneeling down shirtless in the middle of the room. His Cursed Seal bright as day on the left side of his neck.

"Why am I here? What are you going to do to me?" he asked in fear.

"Kukuku you should be honoured to be here, you will be our sacrifice to revive Orochimaru-sama, you should count yourself lucky" Kabuto answered.

The man's eyes widened, "No please Kami no" he shouted, he tried to run away but he was binded to the spot by a powerful Jutsu.

Kabuto and Jugo approached the man; on Jugo's hand was a handful of Kabuto's modified flesh. Jugo slowly placed the flesh on his Cursed Seal, as Kabuto weaved through a set of hand seals.

"Kaija Hoin" he yelled before placing his hand on the Curse Seal. A few seconds later, the man's eyes widened. Everyone waited for a few seconds for something to happen but nothing happened, Sasuke glared at Kabuto who was trying to analyse what had happened and widened his eyes along with seething and hissing in anger.

Madara was the first to ask anything "So Kabuto, what happened, it looks like you failed or something."

"We were Late Madara, this seal is nothing but a tattoo, and there is no vile chakra in here and no trace of Orochimaru-sama's consciousness or soul, if I have to guess, then somebody already did it."

Everyone's eyes widened as Suigetsu exclaimed "B-but, how, you said that only the Cursed Seal of Heaven could be used to do it, and after searching for one month, we found this man only to be told that someone has already did it."

Kisame then said "Except for Itachi-san's brother, only that Anko lady had this seal if what you told me was correct."

Everyone was quiet for a few seconds before widening their eyes; they never thought of this, Madara yelled "ZETSU! I want you to confirm if Orochimaru has been revived in Konoha or not."

Zetsu simply shook his head and said "It's not possible. They have changed the Barrier System; I am no longer able to enter Konoha without getting caught, the same is there for the other villages, it is better than what I remember Uzushio's Barrier used to be."

Madara clenched his teeth in anger and fury and thought 'Damn it, once again that Kyuubi Jinchuriki has did this to me, Damn you Uzumaki.'

Akatsuki Conference Room

Madara sat on his desk; he was in deep thought towards Akatsuki's next course of action. At the moment they were making massive strides, despite having lost quite a number of their members, they quickly managed to replace them with another one. But now they needed to do much more with the failure of Orochimaru.

"Zetsu"

A plant-like figure emerged from the ground awaiting his master's orders, "What is it you need of me Madara-sama?" he asked.

"I am going to retrieve one of our older members, if anyone asks my whereabouts, just say that."

Zetsu nodded as Madara went to make preparations for retrieving one of the Akatsuki's older members hidden in the Nara Clan Forest.

Days Later

Madara arrived in the designated location of the map, he stood in a forest clearing and he began to search for a Chakra Source. He managed to find one, underneath where he stood. He felt the chakra; it was dark, powerful and familiar.

The Akatsuki Leader stood back from the forest clearing and weaved through hand seals; once he was finished he slammed both his hands onto the land. The ground around the area began to shake slightly and soon it parted like the red sea.

"Fuck this Sun and its glare, son of a bitch my eyes hurt" a raspy voice called out.

Madara approached the hole and looked down, there he found his target. Limbs were scattered all across the area. Soon the limbs began to move, the arms and legs crawled towards the torso and reattached itself onto it. All that's left was the head; the body walked over to the screaming and cussing head and grabbed it.

The body then carefully placed the head onto the neck, and the limbs all connected themselves. The man was ghostly pale and extremely malnourished, he also had his long recognizable white hair extending down to his shoulders.

"It's been a while Hidan" said Madara.

Hidan turned to the source of the voice and to his surprise it was from one of his former companions "Tobi how's it going and what happened to your voice. Leave that, do you have any food I'm fucking starving over here" he said. (A/N: Remember that Hidan got buried before learning Madara's True identity, so for him he is the Tobi who worked with Deidara)

Madara grabbed a small storage scroll from his back pocket and threw it to Hidan, "Here catch it's not much but there's some food inside and some new clothes" he said.

Hidan nodded and caught the scroll; he unsealed the items and saw a new Akatsuki Cloak to replace his current tattered one. Inside there was also a few bottles of water, along with a few loaves of bread. Hidan quickly munched through the food, although he didn't need food or water to survive, he did crave for something to eat. Despite immortality he was still human and he still enjoyed some of the finer things in life.

"So what's up?" he asked whilst eating.

"The Akatsuki have captured seven of the nine tailed beasts, we are close to completing our plan and we need you to help us once more"

Hidan nodded his head, "Yeah I'm in, no problem" he said, "I'm in the business of killing for Jashin and being in Akatsuki is good for my business. I can kill as much as I want without being hassled"

Madara nodded his head, "Good to hear, when your done we'll head back to the old hideout. I'll debrief you about what's happened since you were gone; a lot of things have changed since then"

The Jashin worshipper stood up from the ground and cracked his joints, "Ah that hit the spot" he said before turning to face Madara and said "Before I really join back I only have one request."

"What is it?"

"That Shikamaru kid, he's my kill"

"I think we could arrange that quite easily"

Hidan had a bloodthirsty grin on his face, "Great, count me in" he replied.

"Good to have you aboard again Hidan" said Madara.

Akatsuki Hideout

The new Akatsuki gathered once more in the conference room, this time there were eight members. The members now included Madara, Zetsu, Kisame, Hidan, Kabuto, Sasuke, Suigetsu and Jugo. A massive improvement considering a few months ago they only had three members left, since then they quickly recovered and replaced their lost powers.

Madara stood up from his seat and slowly walked around the conference table, every time he passed by a new member of the group, he left them with a single ring. Hidan, Zetsu and Kisame didn't need any new rings considering how they still had their original ones.

Sasuke was given Itachi's old ring, it was only right that he should take his place in the Akatsuki. Jugo was given Kakuzu's old ring, Suigetsu was given Deidara's ring and finally Kabuto had a replication of Pein's ring.

"Those rings you now hold signify your place in the new Akatsuki, each of us is in possession of one ring. Take care of these rings, these are not just for design, they all hold a special purpose as well"

The new members all nodded in understanding, obviously the older members already knew of this but they listened nonetheless.

"With these new rings, I've also listed new partnerships in the Akatsuki. Our group will return to our standard two man groups, each will also be given a specific mission that best suits their combined skills. The first group will have Kisame and Hidan together" declared the masked Uchiha.

The two Akatsuki members glanced at each other and grinned, both didn't necessarily know each other too well but they both respected their power and skills.

"So what'll we do then boss?" Kisame asked.

"I need the two of you to go and do some bounty missions or mercenary work to gather some funds. At the moment we being hunted by the five nations so I suggest for you both to do your dealings in the lawless zones"

"Even after all this time I'm still stuck with fund gathering, great just great" Hidan mumbled.

Madara paid the immortal no mind, "The second group will be Suigetsu and Jugo, and your task will be to visit Orochimaru's old bases, hideouts and prisons to gather some forces for our cause. In this war we will need foot soldiers and they fit the bill"

Suigetsu sighed, "I can't believe I have to head back to those shitholes again" he said, "Oh well at least this time Karin won't be with us" he muttered softly.

"Group Three will consist of Zetsu and Kabuto, you two will be given two responsibilities. The first one is to gather information, the next objective is to gather as much DNA samples as you can for Edo Tensei"

Kabuto nodded in understanding, "That will be accomplished, I assure you" he hissed in response.

"What about me then?" Sasuke asked.

Madara then turned to his younger counterpart, "Sasuke you and I will be in the final group. We will have our own mission so don't worry about that, first I will have to train you in the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, second will be to try and gather the support of Oto as for all we know, Orochimaru could have already had it" he replied in a sinister tone.

Sasuke nodded his head in understanding, "Okay then" he said.

The masked Uchiha then clapped his hands to gain everyone's attention, "We will all set out tomorrow. We will then meet back here in a month's time, and I'm expecting to hear nothing but good news" he said.

Konoha (Council Chambers)

Naruto was getting ready for the massive headache he was going to receive for when he would announce the return of Orochimaru, Anko literally tried to feed him to her snakes when she heard that Orochimaru was revived and that he was being forgiven. The door opened and the Shinobi Council came inside along with the some Jonins, they consisted of Kakashi, Gai, Anko, Ibiki, Genma and Shikamaru.

Tsunade, who was sitting in the Senju Clan seat, was smirking externally while internally, a Chibi Tsunade was doing a Dance. She was enjoying watching Naruto like this; after all, he was one of the people who always gave her headaches when she was the Hokage, watching someone else suffer was better than any sake for her.

The Jonins stood in the back while the seated Council members again waited for their Hokage to give them some news.

Watching that everyone has settled, he cleared his throat and said "Now that everyone is here, I want to tell you that a certain shinobi has been revived and has joined our forces and no, it is not Edo Tensei."

Naruto motioned for Anko to come forward, who was still mad for letting Orochimaru join the forces but knew that she couldn't do anything, she saw that the whole Council was looking at her and said "I no longer have the Curse Mark, Hokage-sama unsealed it and it resulted in the reviving of the said Shinobi."

For a moment everyone was quiet, but then all hell broke loose, everyone was shouting in disbelief at how the Hokage could let someone like Orochimaru to be revived much less reinstate him in the forces.

Naruto, who wanted nothing more than to get drunk off his ass, shouted "SILENCE!"

"I know that you don't agree but I placed several seals on him to prevent earlier incidents and I detected no malice from him when he was revived. Also, he is a type of prisoner not a Shinobi who is going to be reinstated, for that; he will have to work his ass off to prove his loyalty."

The Council Members also said that Kakashi, Naruto or Tsunade will have to be with Orochimaru whenever he was outside the village, which was agreed without any hesitation.

Some Time Later

10 Squads of ANBU and 10 Squads of ROOT Shinobi stood in front of Naruto in the ANBU Headquarters, on his left side was Orochimaru and on his right was Kakashi. The ANBU and ROOT were kneeled down with their right knee and right hand on the ground and their left hand on their left knee.

Naruto looked at them and spoke up "All of you have been called here because of him" he pointed to Orochimaru at this and continued "All of you will be given scrolls containing information about his hideouts. One ANBU team and one ROOT Team will go to the bases written in your scroll, your mission is to find and retrieve everything you can find, if you come across any prisoners or Shinobi, give them the message about their master and tell them that they will be given refugee in Konoha.

While you are doing all this, me and Orochimaru will go to Otogakure Main Base and try to get everything or everyone we can. I want to meet you all after 3-4 weeks in the ROOT Headquarters with everything you have. Is that understood?"

"HAI, HOKAGE-SAMA!"

Naruto nodded to himself and sent off the ANBU and ROOT to their mission. He turned to Kakashi and said "Sensei, while I am gone, you will be the Temporary Hokage, only Kaa-chan and the Elders know of this mission, so if anyone asks, just tell them that I am not available for the time being."

Kakashi nodded as Naruto and Orochimaru also went off to Oto to gain support and search the Main Base along with retrieving something important which was like a Side-mission.

Akatsuki Hideout

Days later the rest of the groups arrived one by one, with each of them bearing good news. Zetsu and Kabuto were the first team to return back, the two of them managed to estimate Iwagakure's soldier output. They planned on scouting Sunagakure next.

Suigetsu and Jugo were the next to arrive; they were not much successful in their task. They managed to grab a few of Orochimaru's old notes from one hide-out, but everywhere else was a blown up base instead of a hide-out, they figured out that Konoha must have taken everything and bombed the hide-outs.

Third to arrive back were Kisame and Hidan, this pair managed to raise quite a large sum of funds for their operations. The two took up various S-Rank bounty and mercenary missions which paid them quite generously.

The final group arrived a few days later was his and Sasuke's, because they were recovering from a fight they had with Naruto at the Uzumaki Mask Storage Temple.

"So why are we going to get this mask?" asked an irritated Uchiha Sasuke, so far, they were far from success, Oto was no longer there, it was a ghost village and there were no remaining notes of Orochimaru, his eyes needed time to readjust, so he couldn't put much strain on them and now they were going to retrieve some mask which Madara said was very powerful.

"It is, Sasuke, the mask allows someone to summon the Shinigami without any ill effects and we can use it to the release the souls of the Hokages trapped in this Shinigami's belly" answered Madara, who was just as irritated.

When they finally reached their destination, they found out that they could not enter through the gate, they used their Sharingan and saw a faint trail of chakra, but Madara knew that it was a seal; he seethed upon this, the blood seal made it impossible for any of them to enter. Just as they were about to turn away and go back, they heard a voice from the back "You know, Orochi-teme was right to suggest to come here and retrieve this mask. I half-expected someone to be here, but imagine my surprise when I meet a Fake Dead Shinobi along with the Oh So Great Last Uchiha."

They turned back and saw Naruto looking at them with an irritating smirk; Sasuke immediately gripped the hilt of his sword and said "The Dobe is mine Madara."

"No Sasuke, we will have to fight them together, your eyes still need time and who knows how much the Kyuubi Jinchuriki has grown since the last time."

Sasuke activated his Mangekyo Sharingan and glared at Naruto, who was just smirking looking at the riled up Sasuke. Sasuke then summoned forth his Susanoo, which had grown to the level 4 since last time, now it was a full-body Susanoo without the armor but with the weapons.

Naruto just thanked Nagato and thought 'Thank Kami Nagato gave me Mokuton; this Susanoo would have been a Pain in the Ass to counter without it, heh, time to see my creativity. Get ready to stretch your limbs Kurama'

The said Biju wondered what Naruto meant and just watched the show as he knew that Naruto would show those damn Uchihas their place.

Naruto looked at Madara and said "Oye Madara, you fought against Hashirama didn't you."

"Of Course, he the only Senju I ever respected" replied Madara while wondering why Naruto called him Madara when he knew the truth … in a way.

Naruto then smirked and put his hands in a Snake Seal and said "Just so you know; I am more creative than him."

Everyone, including Kurama tensed when they felt the large built-up of Chakra for human standards, Naruto's face grew markings of the Phoenix Sage Mode as he also channelled enough of Kurama's Chakra to his liking, Kurama felt his consciousness slip away from Naruto but not his chakra and wondered what the hell was the blonde Uzumaki doing.

Naruto closed his eyes and said "Senpo: Mokuton: Kuchiyose: Kyuubi no Kitsune" (Sage Art: Wood Release: Summoning: Nine-Tailed Fox). The effect was instantaneous as the ground rumbled and started to break apart.

The ground then broke apart as a wooden clawed limb came out, followed by three others, the ground then fully split as a figure came out that scared the shit out of Sasuke and Madara, but it was quickly replaced with anger.

In front of them, stood the Kyuubi no Yoko, but in a wooden form with circular, red pupil-less irises and the trademark menacing teeth.

Naruto opened his eyes as the wooden Kyuubi growled and roared, making Sasuke and Madara channel their chakra to their feet to stay their ground.

The wooden Kyuubi stretched his legs and said "Naruto, you really are more creative than Hashirama, using your chakra and Senjutsu Chakra to make this body and then using enough of my Chakra to make my consciousness go into this body, heh, I love it, this new body may not be like the original but it's been damn long since I stretched my limbs."

"No problem, but you know that I can't hold it for very long, 20 minutes at best."

The Kyuubi nodded and made his way towards the Susanoo; Sasuke felt that he himself could not hold his own for more than 15 minutes as his eyes were still not accustomed to his body.

The Kyuubi attempted to slash its claws at the Susanoo but was unsuccessful as it dodged the last second.

Sasuke swung the sword at the Kyuubi who was caught them between his fore-limbs, while all of this was going Madara attempted to make way to the Kyuubi's head to knock off the Uzumaki but Naruto sensed this.

Naruto looked at Madara and activated his Rinnegan and held out his hand and said "Shinra Tensei" (Almighty Push).

Madara activated his Kamui the last moment and teleported to Sasuke's side inside the Susanoo.

"Sasuke, it would be better for us to leave"

"NO! I will kill the dobe RIGHT HERE AND RIGHT NOW, even if he has the Mokuton, I will finish HIM!"

Naruto during this time was talking to the Kyuubi about the current Jutsu "I think I should cancel it, it is constantly eating my Chakra but it was a good experiment though."

"Agreed, it was a good experience to be able to stretch my limbs. When we go back, we will have to work on the Biju Modo (Biju Mode) so that we don't tire out in these situations."

With that being said, the Kyuubi returned back into the ground and Kurama's consciousness returned back inside Naruto. Sasuke watched this and grinned, thinking he had won but Naruto was having none of it.

Naruto held the Tiger Hand-seal and inhaled a lot of air while thinking 'Katon: Goka Messhitsu' (Fire Release: Great Fire Destruction)

A concentrated stream of Green Fire exhaled from his mouth and ignited upon reaching the Susanoo. To both Madara's and Sasuke's shock, the Susanoo started melting.

When the Susanoo completely melted, Naruto ran across to Sasuke and kicked him on the torso while a clone of his caught Madara off-guard, kicking him and sending him next to Sasuke.

Sasuke stood up and glared daggers at Naruto, thankfully, his Susanoo saved him from getting burned but he still had a few burn marks here and there.

'Oye Kurama, what was that Green Fire; it … was … AWESOME DATTEBAYO!"

Kurama winced at Naruto's volume but answered anyway "Since you are in Sage Mode, the only explanation is that the green fire was a result of the Senjutsu Chakra. As you know, Nature Chakra appears Green in colour, so it may be the reason for that."

'That Green Fire was way different than normal fire, I wonder if his Sage Mode or the Kyuubi have anything to do with it' thought Madara while looking at Naruto with narrowed eyes.

Naruto and Sasuke then rushed towards each other to engage in a Taijutsu battle, Naruto cocked back his right fist and attempted a punch at Sasuke's chest but Sasuke deflected it with his left hand, Naruto swung his left leg at Sasuke and hit him on the right side of his waist.

Not giving him a chance to recover, Naruto kicked him in shin and launched him upwards, but before he could move to get him, Madara caught Sasuke and used his Jutsu to transport him to somewhere else and went back himself.

Madara asked "What about the DNA samples for our Edo Tensei Project?"

Kabuto chuckled darkly, "Glad you asked that. We found some rather interesting DNA samples and courses over the past month" he hissed, "take this one as an example"

Kabuto formed a single hand-seal and a coffin sprouted from the ground, the lid from the coffin quickly fell to the ground. The whole Akatsuki was in shock as they stared at the corpse, inside was none other than Madara Uchiha. Then they turned to the masked man leading them, if Madara Uchiha was in the coffin, then who was this mysterious man? They knew he was an Uchiha from the Sharingan in his eyes, but he wasn't Madara Uchiha.

He had played them for fools; they actually believed he was Madara Uchiha. The Akatsuki were desperate to learn the truth. Among the Akatsuki members, Sasuke was the most furious among the group. The young Uchiha grabbed his katana and placed the blade near the masked man's neck.

"Who are you really?" Sasuke asked in a sinister and threatening tone.

The Fake Madara paid him no mind; instead he stared at Kabuto. He grinded his teeth in anger and frustrations, "What is the meaning of this?" he asked.

"We should be asking you this" Kabuto said, "Show us who you really are, take off your mask now" he demanded.

The fake Madara had no other choice but to comply with their wishes, he reached up to his mask and slowly began to take it off. Once the mask was gone, Sasuke looked a little bit surprised but recovered.

"Tell me your name now" Sasuke demanded as he grazed his sword along the fake Madara's neck, drawing some blood in the process. The mysterious man did not even flinch from the cut; instead he stood straight and unmoving.

"If you must know, then no I am not Uchiha Madara. My real name is Uchiha Obito"

Some Time Later

All of the Akatsuki were sitting on their conference table glaring daggers at the Uchiha who proclaimed himself to be Madara.

"You tricked us into believing that you were Madara, but you are nothing more than a fake. Tell me why I shouldn't kill you right here and right now" Sasuke said, his voice seething with anger.

Obito's glanced at Sasuke through the corner of his eyes, he scoffed at the young man's threats, "I may not be Madara himself but I assure you that I can match his powers. Retract our blade now Sasuke, trust me when I say this, you are still not match for me" he calmly replied.

The young Uchiha scowled at the man's insult, he lifted his blade slashed across his body, but his blade simply passed through without dealing any damage. Obito chuckled at the failure of Sasuke's attack, "I've already told you, you are still years away from even challenging me" he said.

'Damn I forgot about that stupid technique of his' Sasuke silently thought to himself. Before he could strike a second time, Kabuto quickly appeared behind him and grabbed his wrists.

"Sasuke-kun, do not be so hasty. We must let him explain himself first" he silently hissed in his ear.

Sasuke begrudgingly returned his sword to its hilt and walked back to his seat, "He better give us a damn good reason why we shouldn't kill him for tricking us" he warned.

Obito walked turned his back to stare at the rest of the Akatsuki, "Don't you worry, I will" he cockily answered back.

The elder Uchiha sighed in frustration as he ran his hand across his hair; he didn't want to remember his past. It held too many painful memories, but as much as he wanted to forget about them he just couldn't. They were a part of him; they were what made him the man he was today.

"I was originally a Genin of Konoha; during that time of my life I was alone without any family or friends. I was an orphan. I had to grow up in the streets, and I had to fight for my own survival. I spent a few years in the academy, but soon we had to graduate early due to the Third Shinobi World War. Usually Genin graduate at the age of twelve, but during this war Konoha needed soldiers so they lowered the graduation age into eight. I was the dead last of my class, and I was soon appointed into a team with my class' Rookie of the Year, Kakashi Hatake"

Obito venomously spat out Kakashi's name, "He was my greatest rival and even at one point I considered the bastard a friend. I always wanted to outdo Kakashi in every way possible; back in those days I was disillusioned with the dream to become Hokage. That was my goal that was my dream. I worked hard to improve but Kakashi was always ahead of me, he was gifted with natural talent whereas I had to work hard to gain my strength and power" he explained.

"Kakashi was always a strict hard ass when we were Genin, he was never late and he never gave excuses. I was the exact opposite, I had a tendency to be tardy and I had a tendency to lie. That always managed to annoy Kakashi" he continued.

Sasuke in the back inwardly sighed, 'So he got that habit from him, great … just great' he thought to himself.

"Namikaze Minato was my sensei, the team consisted of me, Minato-sensei, Kakashi, and…" his heart wrenched as his mind drifted to thoughts about her, the woman he loved. He was finding it difficult to utter her name, the pain he felt was excruciating.

The former member of Team Minato could only lower his head to ground, "Then there was her. Nohara Rin" he said lovingly, "The woman I loved for as long as I could remember. I loved her since we were in the academy, but she never loved me back"

He began to clench his fist in anger, and unknowingly his chakra began to flare, "But her sights were always on Kakashi, the son of bitch never deserved her, he never even paid any attention to her" his voice began to rise, as his chakra began to envelope the room.

The room itself began to shake, but none of the Akatsuki members were intimidated. Obito began to slowly breathe in and out in order to calm himself down, "Her attention and affection were always targeted at Kakashi, despite how poorly he treated her. Kakashi was always one step of me, when I was a Genin he quickly became a Chunin, when I became a Chunin he then became a Jonin. It was always like that, and her attention always focused on Kakashi. Of course she congratulated me, and she looked after me, but she always considered me as nothing more of a friend. At the time I accepted it, I placed her happiness above my own. She worked hard to try and gain Kakashi's approval, she was even promoted to a Chunin soon after me, and she was beginning to make a name for herself as a medical ninja" he explained.

Sasuke sat there patiently and listened intently to the man's story, he too was in deep thought. After just listening to the start of his life story, he began to see the similarities and parallels between Team Minato and Team Seven. The young Uchiha thought that from what he had heard from Orochimaru, even the Team of the Sannin was nearly the same.

The young Uchiha simply shook his head and thought 'This is just one cruel and constant trick of fate.'

"Soon time passed, Kakashi and I still had our rivalry and disagreements but we learned to respect and trust each other. We as a team were given a mission, the objective was to destroy Kanabi Bridge, and this was meant to stop Iwagakure from using Kusagakure as a relief point. During this mission, Minato-sensei was not there to lead us; he was called to the front lines. In his stead Kakashi was chosen as our team's leader considering he was already a Jonin at this time" he explained.

"During the mission, Rin was captured by the enemy and abducted. Kakashi refused to help me save her; the son of the bitch prioritized the mission over Rin's life, even after everything she did for him. That when I snapped, I punched the smug bastard in the face and I said to him, those who break the rules are scum …"

Sasuke's eyes widen upon realization that these were the same words he uttered after Team Seven's bell test, "But those who abandon their friends are worse than scum" he said, Obito glanced at his young relative and nodded.

"I'm guessing he taught you that huh"

Sasuke nodded his head, "Yeah in our first team training after we our bell test" he answered.

Obito scoffed in response, "Anyway later on I went ahead without him in search of Rin. During my search I was surprised by an attack from one of the Iwa ninjas, I had no chance in blocking his attack but luckily Kakashi arrived just in time. As much as I hate to say this, he saved me that day. He fought off the Iwa ninja and won, but he lost his left eye in the process. The Iwa ninja managed to land a hit with his Tanto, it left a massive cut on Kakashi's left eye" he explained.

Sasuke nodded in understanding, he was beginning to learn more things about his former sensei. During his time in Team Seven, Kakashi always seemed aloof and distant; despite his calm and perverted façade Sasuke could tell that the masked man carried a burden. He never did tell him about his past, and no one from the team ever asked. At least now he was getting answers for his unasked questions.

"After that small fight, Kakashi and I rushed in to save Rin from her captors. It was a hard fought battle but thankfully we succeeded in the end, we did manage to save Rin. But before we could escape, the Iwa ninjas had a last ditch effort. As we tried to escape the cave where Rin was captured, the Iwa ninja used some earth Jutsu to collapse the cave. We had to run for our lives, but as we reached closer to the end, Kakashi tripped and fell to the floor. I ran to his side and pushed him away before a boulder fell and crushed his body" he said while raising a hand to caress his own disfigured face.

A mirthless chuckle erupted from Obito, "As you can tell I took his place, I was the one crushed by the boulder instead. It crushed half of my body, and it left me disfigured for years. The two tried to save me but there was nothing they could do, they had to flee before reinforcements arrived. Before they left I decided to sacrifice one final thing, I wanted to be useful one final time before I passed away. I gave Kakashi my left Sharingan, to replace the eye he lost earlier. Rin was the one who executed the operation, and once the transplant was complete the two of them had to flee from the incoming Iwa reinforcements"

"What happened next? You claim to have died there and yet you stand here before us" said Kabuto.

"To be honest after that moment everything was a blur, I lost consciousness but after Kami knows how long, I woke up. I didn't know where I was, or how I got there but I woke up in some strange base. On my bedside when I woke up was an old man, he seemed fragile and weak, the man had long white spiky hair. He informed me of the extent of my injuries, apparently it was a miracle I even survived, he said that I just slipped through them, at that time, I didn't think about it much, but now I understand, it was the same ability, I use now that helped me survive, at that time, I activated my Mangekyo Sharingan and slipped through the rubble as to say, so my other half of the body survived until I was saved by that old man."

Sasuke raised a suspicious eyebrow, "And just who is this old man?" he asked.

Obito pointed at the coffin in the room, "It was Uchiha Madara, the real Madara" he answered in a stoic tone.

"He brought me to his base in Mountains' Graveyard, and I spent years there trying recovering and recuperating so that I could one day return to Konoha. Life there wasn't all that bad, I at least had company in the form of Zetsu and Tobi, the real Tobi that is. During that time though, Madara continuously lectured and scolded me for my immaturity and naiveté, me being the rebellious young kid at the time I disregarded everything he said. It wasn't until much later on that I realized that Madara was right, the world we currently live in is plagued with scum and corruption, and something had to be done if true peace was to be a reality"

Obito sighed in frustration, "But then everything changed that one day, Zetsu arrived back in the base and told us that Kirigakure ninjas were attacking my two former teammates. When I heard that all I wanted to do was escape and help them but unfortunately my body wasn't fully recovered just yet, but thankfully Tobi offered to help me. Tobi was one of Otsutsuki Kaguya's first victims, and from his encounter with her he managed to gain strange powers. He was just like Zetsu, he wasn't human, and he had a power that allowed him to be used as armour. Of course I accepted his offer, with his help I actually managed to run and escape. Before leaving I remember telling Madara that I wasn't coming back, but of course that wasn't the case" he explained.

"Once I escaped, I ran as fast as I could in search of Rin and Kakashi. I eventually found them" he said as his voice grew darker and darker, "That was when I saw Kakashi murder Rin"

Sasuke was surprised as shown by his widened eyes, however the rest of the Akatsuki were unaffected by this.

"Kakashi had his Chidori plunged through Rin's heart, then he later collapsed. In that time all I saw was blood, I went into a rampage and I slaughtered all the Kiri ninjas in sight. After that massacre I walked over to Rin's dead body, and I cradled her. That was the first time in a long time that I actually cried, to this day my biggest regret was never telling Rin how I felt about her"

Obito's tone then turned sombre at the thought of his lost love, "I left the two behind afterwards and I returned back to Madara, when I arrived back it was as if he was expecting me. I told him about what happened and he understood everything, he told me that there was a way for me to reverse all of this, there was a way for me to finally be with Rin. I was excited when I heard that, I would have done anything to have my Rin back. Madara told me that the way to do this was through his Eye of the Moon Plan" he said.

"That was when I realized that something had to be done, this cycle of war and violence had to end and the only way to do this was through that plan. I wanted nothing more but to bring back Rin, I wanted a world where Rin never had to suffer again, and Madara promised me that all of that could have been arranged. He took me in as his apprentice, and he trained me to be his successor, he was nearing the end of his days at that time and so he imparted everything he knew and had into me. He gave me orders to carry out the second he passed away; he wanted me to act as Madara Uchiha"

"And now here we all are" he concluded.

Kisame stood up from his seat to face Obito, "Frankly I couldn't care less who you really are, I joined the Akatsuki to make a difference, for a long time I found peace to simply be nothing more but an illusion, but your goals makes me think otherwise. Maybe peace can be attained, so even if you're Uchiha Madara or this Obito, I don't give a fuck. I'm living and dying with the Akatsuki" he declared.

Obito turned to face the shark like man and he nodded at him in appreciation. The room stayed silent for a moment until Hidan stood up from his own seat, "I'm with Kisame on this one, I don't care who you are. I am here through the will of Jashin, nothing less and nothing more. Your identity cannot change that, the only thing that can change my mind will be your plans" he added on.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, unlike the other two he didn't bother standing up, "I'm here to change the world, you promised to help me achieve my goals and so I'm staying. But if you ever try to trick me again, I will kill you" he said.

Obito then turned to the rest of Team Taka, "And you two?" he asked.

Suigetsu grinned at the older Uchiha, "If Sasuke stays then so do us" he answered for the group.

Zetsu then spoke up, "I've been helping you since you came to Mountains' Graveyard, why stop now" he said with a nonchalant shrug.

"What about you?" Obito asked Kabuto.

Kabuto grinned maniacally as he faced Obito, "Much like the others here I have no problem as to whether you are Madara or not, the reason I'm here is because of your ambitions, that and nothing else" he answered.

Obito nodded in understanding, a confident smile now widely plastered on his face, "If all this is settled then there is something I must show you all" he said in a dark and evil tone.

"What is it?" asked Suigetsu.

"I'm currently in the process of assembling an army, and I believe its due time you all see this army for yourself. At the moment we have 100,000" he declared confidently.

"100,000 soldiers" Suigetsu repeated in shock.

Obito nodded his head, "Yes and these soldiers are unlike any other, and they do not require food or water to live. Their sole purpose is to fight for us and nothing else" he exclaimed.

"Kukuku I'm quite intrigued by this army you speak of, where does your army reside?" Kabuto asked.

"They are all in my hideout in Mountain's Graveyard; it's a simple three day journey from here"

Some Other Plane

Otsutsuki Ashura, in his usual outfit sat in front of a bon-fire, watching how his descendants had to fight just because of a small feud he had with his brother, he watched how his current reincarnation was working hard to make peace between the lands and defeat Indra's reincarnation.

He was brought out of his thoughts when he heard footsteps approaching, when they stopped, he saw the two most important people of his life- Otsutsuki Hagoromo, his father and Otsutsuki Indra, his brother.

They both sat down as Indra swallowed his pride and said "So, ototo, you were also watching the slaughter dur to our mistakes."

Asura nodded and felt guilt along with Indra, but Hagoromo suddenly said "It was not your fault Indra, nor yours Ashura, it was my fault, I should have picked both of you to succeed me, instead of just one, I should have known that something like this will surely cause rift between the two of you."

Both of them were surprised but Ashura nodded with his father's logic, but Indra had something else to say "No, I let myself be corrupted by that Zetsu thing, he also corrupted my earlier reincarnation- Madara, and to find out that his plan all along- to revive grandmother, is working, I feel ashamed of myself."

Ashura smiled and said "No nii-san, look." Both of them looked to where Ashura pointed and saw Naruto and life and efforts until now.

When it ended, Hagoromo smiled and said "So, he was also able to befriend Kurama when Kurama himself thought that there was no hope, he is constantly working to make sure that peace returns to these lands and also that plan of Zetsu never works, if needed, I will myself go to the Earth and help him by giving him powers, cause that is the only thing I can do. You can also do it if you wish."

Both of the brothers nodded, determined to stop this fighting once and for all and aid Naruto by giving him powers if necessary.

A/N: Another Chapter, Sorry if you feel like there is less action, but ... get ready, the War will officially begin in the next chapter with fights happening here and there.