Naruto frowned, unable to hide his frustration about the fight he was secretly having from Haku. He knew Kisame going missing would soon be noticed and he prepared to go with Pachi and his other Senpo: Moku Bunshin as well soon.
However, Haku had noticed something wrong and confronted him about it before he could get away, "Naruto-kun what's going on?" he demanded to know with his tone, which combined with his pleading eyes almost broke the will of the young Hokage.
"Nothing." Naruto tried to lie but could tell his lover wasn't buying it, "Just uh, help me make a Hyoton: Rasengan real quick." he requested, "I want to make sure it works for battle." he played it off, trying to act like he was just nervous and needed to train.
Haku didn't look convinced but helped stabilize Naruto's Senpo: Rasengan, marveling at the power behind it with Senjutsu, and added Hyoton chakra. The result was a spiraling orb of crystalized water, light dancing off the frozen mirror-like surface Haku had helped create.
Naruto made the seal of confrontation, Haku noticed and refused to let the young Sennin fight alone. The vassal had suspected as much from his blonde master and held onto their shared Rasengan with his chakra at the moment of Hiraishin.
The young Hokage gave the barest hint of surprise before launching the Hyoton: Rasengan at Tendo Pein as Pachi flashed in and charged Gakido Pein. Shurado Pein moved to intercept Pachi as Naruto crouched and pulled Haku to the ground so Samehada could fly over their heads from the redirected momentum of the Shinra Tensei that happened just before the two lovers arrived.
Gakido Pein had moved to intercept the Rasengan but was shredded from behind as Kisame flashed to a different point, altering where Samehada was swinging. Tendo glanced at the swirling orb of ice in surprise, not having expected Naruto to land a true blow against him.
Naruto frowned as he noticed Obito disappear with Chikushodo as the Hyoton: Rasengan shattered against Tendo Pein and sliced him to shreds with an explosive blizzard of ice shards. The three Rikudo Pein remaining were no longer in fighting form and disappeared with puffs of smoke.
"Naruto-kun," Haku said sternly, "you shouldn't be trying to fight the enemy alone." he tried to scold as the rain went back to falling.
"I'm the Hokage, I have to be the strongest." Naruto responded, "I'll protect everyone precious to me." he declared plainly, glancing towards the fake tree he suspected the Akatsuki was using as a base.
Haku frowned at the simplistic answer Naruto had come up with, although he was proud that the blonde had taken his words about protecting others to heart he was worried about the younger boy. The older of the two knew that Naruto was strong, he knew the blonde was a Sennin and that he had the Rinnegan but he didn't want the boy to fight alone.
"Naruto-kun I don't want you to die for anyone." Haku said firmly, "So let me fight to protect you too." he begged.
Naruto frowned, but he knew Hyoton had powerful defensive capabilities and with Senjutsu he should be able to fight and cover Haku at the same time. Although a lot of that would be thanks to his newly learned Rukido no Jutsu, "Alright, I trust you, Haku-chan." he agreed with a nod.
Haku smiled with relief, glad he could fight beside his Hokage. It was probably considered unprofessional for the guard of the Kage to also be his lover, but the young vassal didn't care, "Lead the way, Hokage-sama." he said with full confidence and the golden eyed blonde flushed, more embarrassed by Haku's tone than the words.
"Ah, right! Can you make a Suiton: Rasengan on your own?" Naruto asked, coming up with a plan.
Haku frowned, "I can't even figure out how to do the Futon: Rasengan you use." he confessed sadly.
"That's okay," Naruto said, "I'll send a Moku Bunshin ahead while this one helps us form two Rasengan. I'll hold the Futon, you hold the Suiton, then we'll combine them with Hiraishin to hit the real Pein as soon as we find him while Pachi and Kisame deal with Gakido Pein." he explained as he made another green eyed Moku Bunshin with enough chakra that his eyes returned to the normal purple of the Rinnegan.
Haku stared after the new green eyed bunshin in surprise, wondering at the power Naruto was throwing around as the boy started gathering natural energy again. The six armed bunshin was gathering natural energy as well as while the corpses of Kisame and Pachi stood nearby on guard.
Naruto could tell he was in trouble from the looks Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Kakashi gave the Moku Bunshin he'd left behind in Konoha, "Naruto I know you're Hokage, but you can't just run off on your own like this." the former Hokage scolded lazily.
Tsunade turned her glare on Kakashi since as far as she was concerned this was his fault too, "What makes you think I ran off? Maybe I'm just doing lewd things with Haku-chan to blow off steam y'know!" the bunshin exclaimed shamelessly. Jiraiya looked impressed and proud and Tsunade turned an exasperated glare on the bunshin.
"Nice try," Kakashi praised, "but your Anbu snitched, you never replaced my personal guard except for having Haku by your side constantly." he explained why they knew with a lazy shrug.
"Didn't you just agree this evening to work together with the Gokage?" Jiraiya asked, "Why run off on your own?" he added, confused by his students actions.
The Moku Bunshin frowned with Naruto's face, "They can't-" he began, hesitating on how to phrase his reasoning, "they have no way of seeing it, but I know they felt it already." he said after a moment, "You felt it too." he told the older Sennin.
"Felt what?" Jiraiya asked, raising an eyebrow and wondering if the boy was talking about some kind of chakra.
"There's a completely different chakra in the Rinnegan." The Moku Bunshin answered, "You've fought Pein with Senjutsu, I know you got thrown around. I know you felt the power of a god." he explained and Jiraiya's eyes widened in surprise.
Kakashi frowned, unsure of what to make of the serious expression on the bunshin. The former Hokage wanted to guide his student but he turned to Jiraiya on this, and was surprised at the expression on the face of the old man.
"You can't be serious?" Tsunade asked before turning to Jiraiya and getting her own surprised expression when she noticed her fellow Sannin looked resigned, "Hey what's the deal Jiraiya? Senjutsu has kept up with him, right?" she asked, remembering he mentioned something like that.
"Naruto," Jiraiya began, "are you certain it's okay for you to say that sort of thing?" he asked, his expression turning stern and serious as he stared down the Moku Bunshin.
"I'm talking to you through a bunshin I created with enough natural energy that it can knead chakra." Naruto answered flatly and the two Sannin honestly still weren't sure how that worked, "Pein doesn't have Senjutsu, only Rikudo. I have Rikudo and Senjutsu." he continued, "If I think for even a second that Pein has a chance of beating me I'll be back with Haku-chan in a flash y'know!" he assured with a grin. Kakashi found it interesting that the bunshin was speaking as if it really was Naruto, but remembered that the boy apparently couldn't spam Kage Bunshin because the shared sight gave him a headache.
The former Hokage was somewhat proud of his student, "You should take more back up than just Haku, Pein isn't fighting alone either." he said, "I'm ready to face Obito." he decided firmly. Proud or not he had to step up to the plate too.
Jiraiya sighed, "Regardless, you're Hokage, but I'd advise you take us with you." he said firmly, "I understand if you think you need to fight the Rinnegan alone, but Pein isn't alone. At least take others to back you up." he requested and Tsunade nodded emphatically in agreement.
Naruto frowned as he gathered natural energy, knowing logically that having back up would be good but still thinking of the Moku Bunshin cornered by Kakashi and two Sannin as being out of the fight anyway. Haku watched him gather natural energy with a concerned look, the older boy couldn't sense natural energy but knew that frowning wasn't part of gathering it.
"What's wrong?" Haku asked, able to tell something was wrong even if he couldn't tell what it was. Naruto didn't answer as the orange pigmentation around his eyes indicating he had gathered Sennin chakra appeared.
The young blonde grabbed Haku quickly and used Hiraishin to move across the clearing to a Kuroikui that was still around as Obito rose out of the ground with a scythe and Uchiwa battle fan. Haku knew a lot of ninja tools were repurposed farming equipment but still thought using an unmodified scythe was a bit much.
The doubts as to the efficacy of an unmodified farming scythe as a weapon of war was quickly ended as the Uchiha blocked Samehada with it before leaping back and unleashing a group of Zetsu bunshin from his Kamui as a regiment of Zetsu charged from the treeline.
Haku knew the masked Uchiha had to be somewhat skilled but seeing him parry Samehada confirmed that Obito was a genuine threat for more than just his eye, "Obito, you were my fathers student right?" Naruto asked angrily and Haku made mental note not to underestimate the masked Uchiha again.
Obito sank into the ground, "You don't know anything, brat, just hand over the Kyubi so we can finally end this rotten world." he demanded as Naruto piloted Kisame and Pachi to deal with the Zetsu bunshin while he stayed still to gather more natural energy.
"Not going to happen!" Naruto shot back as Samehada tore through the Zetsu brought by Kamui while Pachi's corpse used Doton: Domu to take out the arriving Zetsu with nintaijutsu. Haku readied a basic Rasengan, probably his best defense if Obito tried to get in close.
The six armed Moku Bunshin was at the side of Naruto and Haku, swirling Suiton chakra into the Rasengan Haku was holding with two right hands while helping to stabilize and add Futon chakra to Naruto's with the other four arms. The older boy couldn't help but gasp in shock at the sheer weight of chakra wielded by just a bunshin and wondered how powerful Senjutsu really was, he was glad no one in Akatsuki seemed capable of it.
"Alright, new plan, just hit him!" Naruto said suddenly and the Moku Bunshin touched the blonde young Hokage and the dark haired jonin, moving them to the other Senpo: Moku Bunshin that had been sent ahead. Haku could see Gakido Pein was in the way of Tendo Pein in front of the massive fake tree, he realized the Moku Bunshin had moved full speed with shunshin to accomplish getting here so fast.
"Senpo:" Naruto began and Haku thrust the Suiton: Rasengan forward to meet with the Futon: Rasengan, "Namikaze Rasengan!" the Uzumaki declared, grinning as the swirling orbs of chakra exploded, the Suiton chakra exploding outwards and forwards, surging towards Gakido and Tendo Pein as a whirling torrent of water. Haku knew who it was named after, but still found it a very fitting name.
With a Hiraishin the corpse of Kisame dived recklessly into the tail of the jutsu, Naruto smirked as Gakido Pein started absorbing the mass of water only for Kisame to dive through and cut through him to shave off Tendo Pein's left arm with the speed granted by riding the swirling surge into his attack. Gakido Pein fell to the ground in two pieces, bisected by the shaving sword.
"Shinra Tensei!" Pein declared, launching Kisame back with a wave of his hand, Naruto appeared next to him with Hiraishin at the moment of impact and followed up with a kick to his opponents head. Tendo Pein flew back from the Senjutsu empowered kick, "Kuchiyose!" another Pein called from above, landing on a drill beaked bird and dropping a Rinnegan bearing ox at Haku.
The six armed Moku Bunshin weaved hand seals with one set of hands and clasped another into the snake seal, roots rising up out of the ground to grow thick tree trunks that twisted around the ox, "Senpo: Sensatsu Suisho." the bunshin intoned, the falling rain suddenly becoming like senbon and ripping into the ox, bird, and the Chikushodo Pein. Naruto chased Tendo Pein and delivered a devastating left haymaker that the orange haired man narrowly dodged only to be sent flying back by the Senjutsu chakra surrounding him anyway.
Obito rose up from the ground and took the remains of Gakido Pein into his eye before moving to do the same to Chikushodo Pein, Haku moved to intercept him and Shurado Pein lauched out of Kamui to intercept him in turn. Finally Pachi appeared with the darkened skin of Domu over him and the increasingly familiar gold eyes of Senjutsu to intercept Shurado Pein.
Haku dived around the side of Shurado Pein and Pachi, launching a near invisible hyo-shuriken at Obito, the bladed ice only visible and audible due to it slicing through the rain it was formed from. Obito was surprised by the young dark haired shinobi performing what was basically ninjutsu without hand seals using pure chakra control, the masked Uchiha phased through the attack and sunk into the ground however.
"I think I've had enough of your childishness, kohai." Tendo Pein intoned as Shurado Pein suddenly backed off from Pachi's corpse with shunshin as Samehada was swung to try catching the six armed Pein from a short distance thanks to the hilt lengthening, "Bansho Ten'in." Tendo Pein declared, reaching out his remaining right arm for Haku who was lifted up by the power of the Rinnegan.
"Kuchiyose!" Naruto called out, countering the pull by calling Haku directly into his arms as Shurado Pein charged him, an additional face appearing on either side of the thick necked man's original face, each with Rinnegan, and the bladed metal tail slid out from under his cloak.
Tendo Pein rushed Shurado Pein as Kisame and Pachi moved to intercept, "Shinra Tensei!" he seemed to order and gravity obeyed, knocking the corpses of the two nukenin under Naruto's control flying back. Both of the Moku Bunshin were intercepted by Zetsu bunshin hiding underground as the metal bladed tail thrust towards Haku, "You will experience true pain, then maybe you'll grow up." Tendo Pein decided.
Naruto jumped back, holding the older boy in a princess carry only for the segmented tail to wrap around his leg and Shurado Pein to jump up and furiously swing all six arms at the boy in the arms of the young Sennin. For a moment Naruto thought time slowed as he became furious with Pein, he refused to let go of Haku, he refused to let him die after everything he'd done up until this point.
Two left arms of puppets burst out of Naruto's left shoulder and two right arms burst from his right shoulder to block the attacks, the young shinobi twisted and lifted his left leg to kick Shurado Pein away. The kick missed the face of his target by a hairs breadth, which was more than enough for the Senjutsu chakra to send the thick necked corpse flying over the head of Tendo Pein. Naruto was unconcerned by the way his right leg pants had been torn up just under the knee as his Senjutsu enhanced Uzumaki healing quickly shut the shallow cuts.
"Well it seems you no longer merely mimic Shurado." Tendo Pein praised, "I'd comment on it being foolish of you to attack us head on and leave your home undefended, but should either of us attempt to capitalize on it you'd be there to fight us there instead of here." he mused idly as Obito returned with Chikushodo and Gakido Pein, "I think this terrain is more advantageous to us." he decided as swarms of Zetsu bunshin burst from the ground near the fake tree.
Haku knew that Naruto couldn't spam his bunshin anymore due to the Rinnegan splitting his vision among them and even without that splitting his chakra among the number and power of their opponents would be a bad idea anyway. It was bizarre for Naruto to be outnumbered considering his chakra, but he supposed that there was just something strange about Zetsu they still needed to figure out.
Still held in Naruto's original arms Haku performed a single hand seal that neither Obito nor Pein recognized, "Hissatsu Hyoso!" the dark haired teen exclaimed, spears of ice crystalizing out of the rain to spear through the Zetsu bunshin. Obito phased through the attacks and disappeared again as Gakido and Chikushodo Pein moved to Tendo Pein.
Shurado Pein was called to them by Chikushodo Pein as Tendo Pein raised his remaining right arm, "Shinra Tensei!" the spiky haired Pein declared, shattering the surrounding ice with the repulsive force of the jutsu. Haku frowned but noticed Naruto weaving a set of hand seals with one pair of puppet arms while the other pair held the tiger hand seal.
"Suiton: Suiten Hofutsu!" Naruto exclaimed and the rain halted, "Hyoton: Tsubame Fubuki!" he added quickly, birds of ice flying at the group of Rikudo Pein from the halted rain drops. Gakido and Shurado Pein did their best to absorb or deflect the attacks respectively, Shurado Pein managing to cover Tendo and Chikushodo but as Gakido was absorbing a group of the winged ice needles a kunai sunk into his chest, hidden behind the icy cover. Kisame appeared with Hiraishin and carved through Gakido Pein.
"Sensatsu Suisho!" Haku exclaimed again as the two Moku Bunshin used shunshin to get behind the group of Pein and trap them with Mokuton, roots and branches bursting from the wet earth to bind the Rikudo. The needles of water burst out of Naruto's weather controlling jutsu and pierced the bodies to immobilize them, "Hissatsu Hyoso!" the dark haired teen shouted again, pouring his chakra into the attack to force Obito to back off from rescuing the Pein Rikudo with spears of ice that further pinned the corpse puppets.
Naruto followed up with Kisame, swinging Samehada at the Uchiha and noticing he dodged the chakra devouring blade while following up with a right hook from Pachi, even with Senjutsu the masked man phased through the attack and leaping back towards the massive false tree. The young Uzumaki frowned, realizing that the ability to phase through things obviously cost chakra and that Samehada was the perfect weapon for dealing with him but Obito had also dodged a Senjutsu enhanced swing from the shaving sword.
Obito was clearly not to be underestimated. The way the masked man had goofed around at first had left the impression that he was a secondary threat, but Naruto was starting to notice that the entire ferrying of the Rikudo between the real Pein and the battlefield was only happening thanks to the Mangekyo Sharingan the masked Uchiha had.
There was a moment of standing off between the two sides, Naruto still wasn't putting Haku down but due to his Senjutsu and Rinnegan had practically cornered the Rikudo Pein as well as Obito. Then the rain continued falling as the golden glow faded from the real Naruto as well as Kisame and Pachi.
Obito took that as his cue to attack and flowed Futon chakra into the battle fan he held in his right hand, swinging a small but strong gust at Pachi. Kisame lunged and Obito knocked Samehada aside with the edge of the scythe in his left hand before slamming the edge of his Uchiwa fan into Kisame's arm, the follow through of the blow sending the corpse puppet skidding through the mud.
The two Moku Bunshin still had Senjutsu and rushed to deal with Obito, the one with two arms forming a staff with Mokuton chakra and flowing Doton chakra through the wooden stave to petrify it as he swung. Obito phased through the attack and moved to cut through the Moku Bunshin but the six armed bunshin made the snake seal as the scythe caught on the wooden staff.
Obito's visible eye widened as the chakra draining wood of the Gakido Naruto held him in place for the other Moku Bunshin to strike him across the face. Lightning flashed above them as the orange mask with a swirling design was knocked off of the Uchiha's face and sent into a puddle.
Obito scowled openly at Naruto, his left eye empty and the right side of his face heavy with sagging scar tissue, his face angered that he was being overcome by a child even if that child did have Rinnegan. Naruto met his scowl with a glare, annoyed that the two biggest threats to his village were trained by his father and had been on his sensei's team or had been trained by his other sensei.
Naruto felt more obligated to deal with these two more than ever, he was the Hokage so he felt like it was his job to deal with the rogue Uchiha and as the one who awakened the Rinnegan he didn't want anyone else to try fighting Pein.
"Why are you like this?" Naruto asked the unmasked Uchiha, Obito refused to answer as he strained against the wooden bindings draining any chakra he tried to use. Naruto knew remaining still in the middle of a fight was a bad idea, but since he had both opponents held down he wanted to try convincing them that they were wrong, but he was going to gather natural energy in case reinforcements were on the way.
More Zetsu bunshin charged from the direction of the tree and some burst from the ground, Kisame and Pachi's corpses swiftly rushed to halt the bunshin from rescuing the captured and immobilized Pein bodies. The two armed Moku Bunshin with the staff attacked the approaching Zetsu to protect the six armed bunshin holding Obito down.
Naruto frowned as he was forced to jump back as one of the Zetsu burst from the ground at his feet, holding Haku close with his real arms as his two pairs of puppet arms weaved two pairs of hand seals, "Raisuiryudan!" he exclaimed, forming the rain into a dragon of moisture before electrifying it with a Chidori, catching a group of the white bunshin and numbing them for his corpse puppets and bunshin to deal with.
Haku felt guilty for being protected so much, but enjoyed being held and remained ready to form disks of ice to protect Naruto if need be. Another Zetsu attacked the Gakido Moku Bunshin, forcing him to back off from Obito and allowing the Uchiha to escape with Kamui.
A wall of muddy earth rose up between Kisame and the Rikudo Pein captured in leafy branches and further immobilized by massive spikes of ice, Obito rose from the ground between the Rikudo and started to draw them into Kamui. Naruto directed Pachi to get close with shunshin and had Kisame appear next to Pachi with Hiraishin before swinging Samehada at Obito, a spear of earth halted the swing as a cluster of them burst out of the ground to hit Kisame and Pachi.
Doton chakra flowed through Pachi's corpse and the muddy spears shattered against his skin so Naruto had the left fist of Pachi thrust at Obito in a jab as Kisame was knocked back and forced to destroy the earthen spikes with Samehada. The two Doton no Jutsu, whoever had performed them, were enough for Obito to absorb the Rikudo into his Kamui in time to phase through Pachi and disappear into the ground while the Zetsu bunshin continued their all out attack.
Naruto maintained stillness although he wanted to curse, he hadn't figured out how to restore corpses yet so Kisame's ability would be dulled for the rest of the battle. He continued to gather natural energy as the rain fell around him, the rain becoming lighter as his corpse puppets and bunshin fought off the group of Zetsu.
A spear formed out of the root of a tree burst from the ground at Naruto to stop him gathering natural energy, startling the blonde as Haku blocked it with an ice disk and had the disk float horizontally above the ground, "I'll hold it up, get off the ground!" the older boy advised and the young Sennin jumped up onto the crystalized water platform.
"Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu!" Haku declared and a pair of Haku condensed from the rain, leaping up onto their own platforms to rain senbon down on the Zetsu bunshin from above. They leapt between platforms to avoid counter attacks as they assisted Naruto's bunshin with protecting the couple so the blonde Hokage could gather natural energy for his Senjutsu.
"Enough fooling around." Pein said through Tendo as the spiky haired corpse returned with Obito, unleashing a massive Shinra Tensei that destroyed the Mizu Bunshin, slammed the Moku Bunshin into trees, and sent both of Naruto's corpse puppets flying. Haku attempted to use Hyogan Domu to protect the six armed blonde holding him but the jutsu shattered under the pressure of the repulsive forces Pein wielded.
Naruto's eye widened and he twisted on the platform Haku had made as it shattered, catching shards of ice in his back before skidding along the muddy ground on his shoulder. He used his puppet arms to spring to his feet, carving furrows in the ground as he attempted to halt his momentum by sticking to the ground with chakra.
Haku wiped the sweat from his brow and saw blood, realizing only after seeing the blood that a shard of ice had skimmed his head just above his right eye and below his forehead protector. He scowled in annoyance and guilt that his attempted defense had only hurt Naruto more.
Naruto was grinning however, "So that's how it works." he mused quietly, "Thanks Haku-chan, I saw through your ice and into that ability!" he declared with a wide grin.
"You think you understand this power? The power of a god?" Pein asked with narrowed eyes as Obito disappeared and more Zetsu bunshin arrived.
Naruto put Haku down and stepped in front of the older shinobi, "Cut the crap," he said bluntly as his six armed Moku Bunshin appeared by his side with Hiraishin missing an arm and red sap bleeding from where it had been damaged, "it's not divine power, it's just all Godai Kihon Seishitsu as one massive blast." he explained with a smirk.
"You don't consider such a thing divine power?" Pein asked with a raised eyebrow as Pachi appeared in front of the two Naruto with Hiraishin, Doton chakra still flowing through his corpse body. Haku was unfortunately inclined to agree with their opponent on this, although he didn't want to admit it out loud the fight happening felt like it was on another level entirely from what he could keep up with.
"Nope, chakra can do all kinds of things. Rinnegan makes it easier but you aren't on the level of a god." Naruto said before a white cloak of chakra coated his form, black markings indicative of the Fuin containing Kurama decorating the chakra cloak as his Rinnegan turned red, "I'll demontrate!" he declared, rushing Pein with shunshin and engaging the man in taijutsu.
The Moku Bunshin regrew it's damaged arm and gathered natural energy as Pachi charged through a group of Zetsu bunshin with Samehada. Tendo Pein was on the defensive, unable to use Shinra Tensei just yet and his body getting damaged even deflecting the bone jarring blows from Naruto's combination of Shurado with the use of the heavy chakra of the Kyubi.
Obito returned with Chikushodo Pein, "Kuchiyose!" the long haired man declared, calling Shurado and Gakido Pein who both leaped to the defense of Tendo Pein. Pachi charged Gakido Pein with Samehada, the combination of Doton: Domu with Samehada turned him into a juggernaut on the field.
Obito defended Gakido from Samehada, allowing the Rikudo to jump back as Shurado altered course, rushing at Haku. Naruto was beside the dark haired teen in a flash, the enhanced speed and power granted by Kurama's chakra allowing him to overpower Pein with three left arms while his right arms stabilized a Rasengan. Instead of a Rasengan small orbs of black and white chakra condensed and exploded, startling Naruto and forcing his guard to drop.
Shurado Pein took advantage of this to step back and unhook his right wrist from his arm as though it was a puppet arm, revealing clusters of segmented projectiles that split off and launched at Naruto and Haku. The young blonde frowned and resolved to apologize later as Haku disappeared in a puff of smoke before Naruto evaded the explosions with Hiraishin.
Haku blinked owlishly in surprise, Jiraiya and Tsunade glanced at him with surprised expressions too. Kakashi stared at a green eyed Naruto, the green tint to his Rinnegan giving away that it was the Senjutsu enhanced Moku Bunshin that had used Kuchiyose on Haku.
"Naruto I thought I taught you teamwork." Kakashi scolded in an exasperated tone.
The Moku Bunshin looked bashful, "Uh, please don't distract me right now?" he requested, hoping to hold off the scolding for after his battle against Akatsuki. Haku turned a betrayed look on the bunshin, "That look counts as distracting." the wooden blonde said while closing his eyes.
Jiraiya sighed, "Kid, I get wanting to fight a battle on your own, but they've got you outnumbered out there!" he tried to reason, the Moku Bunshin kept his eyes closed and didn't respond.
"Naruto-kun you said you'd let me fight beside you." Haku said sadly, clearly trying to sound annoyed but mostly just pouting. The bunshin started frowning and clenching his eyes shut more so Tsunade decided to leave it to the dark haired teen.
"Damn it," Naruto's bunshin sighed after a moment, "kuchiyose!" he declared and in a puff of smoke Pachi and Kisame's corpses returned with the real Naruto as well as the two Moku Bunshin. The blonde young Kage was panting and no longer had the white chakra cloak of Kurama, "I was almost there." the real Naruto grumbled, his puppet arms retracting into his body.
Jiraiya stared at the torn cloth around Naruto's shoulders in surprise, the flesh seemed completely unharmed despite the clothes of the blonde being torn and covered in a mixture of blood and mud. Tsunade frowned, checking him over herself to see if he was hiding a limp or any internal injuries that she could detect.
"What happened?" Kakashi asked, guessing his student had actually gotten close to the real Pein from his complaining but still in the dark about details.
"The whole damn base is made of kibaku fuda, no wonder that Deidara guy followed them so far." Naruto answered with a sigh, "I was wondering why they all backed off as I got closer." he grumbled, seeming more annoyed than shaken by being almost blown up.
"Why are your bunshin bleeding?" Tsunade asked, frowning at how oddly lifelike the wooden humanoid duplicates seemed.
"Obito had a scythe." The two armed Moku Bunshin answered, pointing at a cut on his arm that was sealing itself shut.
Tsunade's eye twitched, "That's not the issue behind my question." she tried to point out but at the blank expressions every body Naruto had control of she got the impression he had genuinely no clue, and Kisame's face was just annoying her, "How are they bleeding!?" she clarified angrily, irritated by the young Sennin's lack of sense.
Naruto shrugged, "It's sap." the six armed bunshin answered plainly, "Honestly we don't really get it either." he explained with a careless shrug. The sight of two of Naruto shrugging just annoyed the blonde woman more.
Kakashi was just confused by Naruto referring to himself as 'we', although Jiraiya noticed that Pein similarly referred to himself in the plural. Both of the sensei of the current Hokage were worried about the mental state of their young student, Kakashi knowing personally how stressful his job was.
"Naruto-kun you said you trusted me." Haku pressed the point he was more concerned with, glaring at the young Sennin who had sent him back in the middle of an attack. Naruto frowned and averted his gaze guiltily at that, "I wanted to fight beside you to protect you." the older teen continued.
"You're one of the Jinchuriki this war is protecting," Tsunade began, backing up the dark haired boy, "on top of that you're the Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato and the Taiken of the Shinobi Rengogun." she continued in a scolding tone, "You have too many responsibilities to just-"
"I don't need a lecture." Naruto interrupted with surprising calm, "I'm also a Sennin and I bear the Rinnegan, as you said I'm a Jinchuriki." he shot back, "I can be anywhere, even multiple places at once." he continued, "I'm not some genin, I've already lead missions and I kept my team alive every time even when things went awful!" he exclaimed, defending his point.
"You did that by risking yourself and gambling your life!" Tsunade shot back, incensed by the young Hokage, "As a leader you can't be this obsessed with not losing anyone, if you risk yourself to protect everyone else then you'll just-" she tried to reason with him despite her annoyance.
"I'll just be doing what a good leader should!" Naruto interrupted again, angrier this time, "I'll surpass all the Hokage on this matter, and all of the Gokage too!" he declared, "I know when I was a kid I only though about how the hat would make everyone acknowledge me and the rights I'd get as leader, but I'm not a kid anymore y'know!" he exclaimed, "As soon as I took that hat I started to learn that as light as it is it's heavy, I get that being the head of the village makes you the biggest target. A good Kage knows his village safe before he goes to bed, should think multiple times before requesting anything, and needs to view the entire village as his own children." he said emphatically.
Haku was surprised by the young blonde, the resolve of the young Hokage was something else entirely but the way he phrased things about being a Kage seemed wrong. Tsunade was more stunned than anyone, trying to remember if her grandfather had ever hinted at feeling like that.
Jiraiya knew the Sandaime Hokage had been sentimental about protecting the village but the way Naruto worded that wasn't quite the same as his deceased sensei, "Naruto that's not the duty of a Kage," Kakashi spoke up, "no human is capable of all that for certain. We have to rely on our shinobi to be able to fight as well." he tried to explain.
"What you're describing," Jiraiya added with a frown, "is more like a Kami." he finished, his words silencing any further conversation. To the concern of the white haired old man his young student seemed to be taking a while to consider those words.
"Why give Orochimaru permission to resurrect the dead Hokage if you intended to fight Akatsuki alone in the first place?" Tsunade asked, remembering that detail from the meeting. Jiraiya hadn't even thought of that but it did seem odd now that it was brought up.
Naruto averted his gaze again, "I guess I wanted to talk to the Yondaime." he confessed quietly, which explained that well enough. Kakashi felt some sympathy for his student at the confession but knew this was still a serious issue, that being said he hoped Minato would be able to talk some sense into his son better than they were.
"We've got a problem!" Ino interrupted the meeting then blinked owlishly at the collection of people there, including what appeared to be the crippled corpse of Kisame while Pachi held Samehada, "Uh, Kiri and Kumo shinobi are attacking our iryonin corps, Raikage-dono and Mizukage-dono are both trying to deal with the dissenters." she explained quickly after gathering her bearings.
In a flash every Naruto disappeared as he realized Kin and Karin were probably in danger, leaving only Kisame behind, "There was more to report..." Ino grumbled, surprised with the speed Naruto disappeared with.
"I'm still here." Naruto spoke through Kisame, startling the blonde girl who had forgotten that he could speak through the corpse puppets.
"Damn it, you left me here!" Haku snapped, growing annoyed with how protective Naruto was being.
"According to reports," Ino began, finding it odd to be reporting to what was effectively a crippled corpse, "the infiltrators are actually Zetsu bunshin, Mizukage-dono just cut one down to learn that. At first we weren't even sure who was infiltrating, but now nobody trusts each other." she explained, concerned herself with the report she was receiving from her father.
Naruto felt bad for leaving Haku behind but he had no idea what they might be fighting, the fact they were just Zetsu bunshin didn't help matters much because they were apparently able to fool even sensors. He was glad to see Kin and Karin alive, but confused to see Isaribi with them until he saw she was carrying bento boxes.
The hospital itself was in disarray, apparently some Zetsu had infiltrated under the guise of being patients judging from the gowns their corpses wore. Those still standing were mistrusting of each other, refusing to get close or allow anyone else near the healers.
Naruto struggled to think of a way to deal with this situation, he could only sense things when using Senjutsu, and even then he had no guarantee it would help him sense the enemy.