Shade's Realm.
So this was Sasuke's brother.
Naruto had seen him a few times before. They still did look alike, even though such a blank expression would have looked entirely out of place on Sasuke's face.
He seemed to be at ease, even seated on the floor, surrounded by people he likely thought of as enemies. In a place with green skies. Considering where he had been for… a while now, maybe it wasn't that surprising. What was more surprising was how well he handled the increased gravity, with only a slight bending of his neck giving away his struggle.
"Did you make sure Obito won't be able to follow you here?" Naruto asked.
Sakura nodded. "Erased all traces. Not that I'm sure if Kamui even leaves one in the first place."
"So." Uchiha Itachi began conversationally. "Are you planning to take my eyes?"
Silence.
"No." Naruto answered. "The one Sakura has has been given to us by Kakashi."
"I have trouble believing that." Itachi said dryly.
"Oh, I expected that." Naruto answered. "Ino?"
She came forward, sitting herself next to both of them.
"Of course, I don't have to warn you not to try anything here." Naruto looked at Itachi slowly. His Sharingan was off, but that likely didn't mean much. Itachi said nothing, and his eyes were still fixed on his own. He didn't know much about the Rinnegan, so he waited.
Ino placed her hand on Naruto's forehead, and with only the slightest hesitation, she came closer to Itachi.
He gave her an unreadable look, his eyes locked on hers.
"You do realize you are some of Konoha's worst enemies…?" He asked evenly.
"Not exactly, now." Ino said, staring back. "We are… allies. And we can prove it to you."
His eyes flashed red for a second, staring at her hand.
In the end, he trusted his instincts, refined over two decades as a shinobi. He let Ino put her hand on his forehead.
All of the Paths were connected, in a way that they still had not managed to make sense out of entirely. It was especially true for the Naraka and Human Paths, who both were linked to the King of Hell.
Both Naruto and Itachi stood frozen.
"Don't worry." Ino began, keeping her focus on the Path. "Your souls will be linked together temporarily. You won't be able to lie — it won't kill you to try, though. You just won't be able to say it."
"I won't die, then…?" Itachi began a sentence, looking very unimpressed. His mouth continued to move, but no words came out.
"I assume you wanted to see if it were true. Or you tried sarcasm, maybe." Naruto guessed.
Or maybe he was concerned about the gigantic, leering spectral face that had appeared behind Ino. Both Naruto and Itachi were linked to it.
Itachi's mouth continued to move, but nothing happened. The only thing Naruto was sure of was the surprise in his eyes.
"Yes. It affects both of us the same. No lie can be spoken." Naruto said.
Normally, Itachi was supposed to feel the truth of his words. His Sharingan still flashed on. Naruto wasn't entirely sure how much it could tell him here.
The original Naraka path jutsu, the deadly one, was simply too impractical. He could agree with Ino on that. Both Karin and her had been working on understanding it. And this was the result.
"I am Uzumaki Naruto."
"I am Uchiha Itachi." He answered, just as blandly. "Did you bring me here to steal my eyes?"
"No. We brought you here because Karin made a deal with Sasuke to save you."
"...What sort of deal?" Itachi frowned.
"An unspecified favor, in exchange for saving you."
Itachi didn't seem to like that. At all.
"Unspecified...?"
"Yes."
"Do you plan on using that later?"
"Of course."
"...Why did Sasuke come to you?"
"Because he knew that we had Kakashi's Sharingan, the one thing that he thought was connected to Uchiha Obito's."
"Did you steal the Sharingan in question?"
"No. Hatake Kakashi gave it to me."
"Why…?"
"I believe he thought that compared to Uchiha Obito… I was the lesser evil."
Itachi was starting to really look displeased. He probably thought that Naruto was lying somehow, at this point.
"Did you kill Hatake Kakashi?"
"I did. And I wish I didn't." Naruto sounded surprised by his own words. He hadn't really intended to say it out loud. Ino gave him a sorry shrug.
Itachi paused.
"Why is that…?"
"Because I still cared for him, deep down. And I wish we could have found common ground."
"Why didn't you?"
"Because we killed Danzō and several Konoha shinobi."
Itachi's eyes were hard.
"Why did you?"
"The first few were killed when I rescued Yamanaka Ino — wrongly accused of killing Uchiha Fugaku."
"…Then you really didn't kill our father?"
"No. We believe Yakushi Kabuto did it."
"…"
He would bring the topic of the Konoha shinobi back up later, Naruto knew.
"Why did you kill Shimura Danzō?"
"Because he ordered Toru's death."
Itachi nodded slowly, his eyes hard. He had expected it, then.
"And because he was the sort of man who would oppose our plans." Naruto admitted, as well.
"…What are your plans?"
"We aim for world peace. For a more equal word. Hopefully with minimal amounts of bloodshed."
Itachi stayed silent.
"Through which means?"
"Unification through a show of supreme power. Defeating a man that is widely considered a god would go a long way in that direction."
Itachi lifted an eyebrow. He looked pretty sarcastic. "You would lead this new world, of course?"
"Technically, I lead the Five Village's alliance, right now."
"…What?"
"You missed a few things."
"…I see. And you mean to go on with this forever?" Itachi asked. "Accumulating power for your own sake?"
Naruto laughed.
"Hopefully not. We hope to set it up, make sure it runs on its own… and move on to other things."
"Such as…?"
"Learning more about the world and its mysteries." Naruto shrugged.
"…Why go through all the trouble, then?"
"Well, if it doesn't hold on its own, we're more than willing to replace the problematic Kage, and to destroy the entire village system to place ourselves as unquestioned rulers of the world… Reigning over humanity with an iron fist to ensure world peace for as long as it is needed for people to get used to the idea."
Itachi blinked.
"If it comes to that." Naruto shrugged. "I don't want this. We're tired of the bloodshed and war."
Naruto, in particular. It had been centuries now. Itachi took a long look at him.
"I think… I understand. Now… What makes you think you can succeed?"
"I have allied with a few villages. I have these eyes now… and I am the Uchiha ancestor's reincarnation. I don't mean Madara. Well, not just him."
Itachi stared. He blinked, completely at a loss.
"Well." He muttered. "I… see."
"Do you?" Naruto asked, now amused.
"No. Not really." Itachi watched him perplexedly.
"Your brother is Asura's reincarnation, if it helps."
"…It doesn't."
"I imagine. I can tell you all about this later."
"Is there something more important…?"
"Yes. Will you help us stop Nagato?" Naruto asked.
"Are you planning to destroy Konoha?"
"No."
"Are you planning on ruining Konoha?"
"No."
"Do you have any ill intention against Konoha?"
"Define ill intentions."
"Are you planning to kill more Konoha shinobi?"
"Not really. Depends."
Itachi gritted his teeth. "What do you mean?"
"I can't say that I'm just going to kill people with too much blood on their hands, anymore." Naruto smiled slightly. "If anyone proves to be against an egalitarian peace… I might have to intervene."
"Will you kill them?"
"If needed. Wouldn't you if you were in my place…?"
A long silence.
"What will you do if I refuse to help you?" Itachi asked.
"Nothing. We'll bring you back to Sasuke." Naruto shrugged.
"And if I accept?"
"Then we go kill Nagato together. Easy as that."
"Why do you want me to accept?"
"…There's no easy way around that." Naruto sighed. "I went to find your brother, a little while ago."
Something flashed across Itachi's eyes.
"Uchiha Shisui was with him. He attacked me… and I killed several more shinobi."
"You…" Itachi's eyes were cold.
Naruto let out a mirthless chuckle. "I crippled Uchiha Shisui and stole Sasuke's chakra by stabbing him."
He could almost see Itachi's blood freeze in his veins. His eyes bled into red. His voice rose, and Naruto had to cut him off.
"It is nothing permanent. I want you to come with us when we fix Shisui's injuries... To smooth things over. And same later — Sasuke is fine!"
Nothing permanent to the Rinnegan. Itachi was still furious.
"Do you plan on attacking us?" Naruto asked.
Itachi thought about it for a while.
"…No. Probably not."
"Good. Eat and rest then, we will go tomorrow morning."
Negotiations were so much easier when you had power… and the certainty of speaking with no lies in the way.
"We won't have much time to waste, tomorrow." Naruto told his friends. "Every hour spent outside is four days wasted. Maybe all of us shouldn't go."
The women all groaned.
"No fucking way anybody's staying if the others get to go out. We've been trapped in this hellhole for so long." Anko declared.
"Yeah, I want to see Konoha, even if it's quickly, too." Ino folded her arms.
The rest agreed.
Naruto sighed. "Alright, fair enough. Let's be very efficient about it, then. I'll send a few clones to scout ahead."
Uchiha Itachi walked through the streets of Konohagakure.
It had been close to a month. Being the Uchiha clan head, he was a very recognizable face. If he tried, he could be almost invisible to most people, slipping between them like another face in the crowd, though.
Not today. Not with the kind of company he was in.
Uzumaki Naruto and his entourage walked the streets of Konoha with him. Plenty of people were staring, muttering — pulling their children away. The ANBU on the rooftops didn't seem at ease, either.
Itachi could see the group's eyes roaming over the village. No wonder, as most of them had been from here, originally. Maybe Iwa's claim that Konoha tended to produce some very problematic missing ninja held some truth.
The Hokage-elect had come to meet them out in the open. The man had been tense, despite his escort of shinobi, even as he thanked the Umi shinobi for rescuing Itachi.
Still, it didn't seem like the first time the Hokage met with Uzumaki Naruto around here.
They were headed to the clan compound, now.
To meet Shisui.
The group passed the clan's gate. Itachi was surprised to see how relieved his clan members were to see him. They came to greet him, as was custom, but the warmth in their eyes was real.
He blinked. He had thought that he was respected, at most.
But this sort of response…? Itachi felt a bit overwhelmed, honestly. Well, it was a bit tempered once they realized just who he was walking with.
They continued to walk along the stone path. Alongside it, on the walls, hung Uchiha clan crests.
Itachi paused in front of Shisui's house.
He was having doubts, now. About what he should expect.
About what this meant for the future.
About what Uzumaki and his group were going to do.
He pushed them aside and walked in.
"Mikoto?" Shisui's voice called.
Itachi froze when he saw Shisui. He was sitting in a long chair, wearing a loose shirt.
It did nothing to hide the patchwork of scars and burn marks that littered his body. The one across his face was so deep and jagged it looked as though someone had dragged a hook from his jaw to his hairline.
And his right arm ended in a rough looking stump. Both of his eyes were closed.
Itachi stilled.
"…You didn't say you left him like this." Itachi's voice was cold, but his spirit wasn't. Tongues of red chakra fluttered around him.
"…Itachi?" Shisui whispered, standing up a bit clumsily. "You're…?"
"It's me." Itachi answered, his voice tight. "It's really me, Shisui."
"What— How…?" Shisui asked, disbelieving.
Some of the Umi women were giving Naruto harsh looks. The man himself did seem a bit paler than usual, too.
"Anything to say…?" Karin muttered.
"I didn't think that…" Naruto began. He shook his head. "We will fix it anyway."
Shisui froze.
"That voice…? You? YOU?!"
"Shisui, wait." Itachi called.
He was furious. "You bastard! I will—" He shot forward blindly. Itachi grabbed him and held him in place. "What are you doing, Itachi?! Don't you know that—"
"Yes." Itachi muttered. "It's… Circumstances have changed. Please, Shisui."
"I'm not here to fight." Naruto said. "Besides… Konoha and Umi… are allies, for the time being."
Shisui gritted his teeth. He had heard, then.
"Do you think I give a shit about what Shikaku says right now..?!"
"I guess not."
"Then you know that as soon as I get the chance—"
"Yes, absolutely."
"We came here to heal you." Karin said.
"Heal me?" Shisui laughed. "Heal me?! He's the one who did it!"
"…I know." She said. "That's exactly why we came."
"He left Sasuke half-dead!"
Itachi turned to stare at Naruto. Before he had looked cold, even in his anger. Not anymore.
"What?" Itachi hissed.
"I told you he is fine now." Naruto said placidly, meeting his eyes head-on. "We need to find him, too. Where is he?"
Itachi felt outrage and practicality fighting in his mind.
Shisui laughed. It didn't sound particularly amused. "I won't tell you."
"I'm afraid we don't have much time." Naruto said. "I have clones looking for him, but I'd rather we get it done quickly."
"I'm afraid I don't think I care." Shisui said coldly.
"Ino?" Naruto asked.
"Yes." She nodded.
Naruto created a clone. Ino reached for the clone's soul — or what passed as a clone's soul — and pulled it out of its body. Itachi didn't know it, but it had taken them a lot of practice to extract and show memories to someone else this way… and just as much to manage to only show some memories, instead of all of them.
Ino held the purple man-shaped… thing in the air, where it shaped itself in a ball, motioning for Shisui to take it.
"Take them." Ino said.
"Take what?" He didn't see it.
"These memories — Take the chakra."
"Why should I do anything to help you?" Shisui spat.
"Because otherwise I'm going to force this thing inside you, and it's going to be even less pleasant." Ino grunted.
"Don't." Itachi warned flatly.
Ino glared at him and the tension was palpable.
"Itachi." Naruto began. "Maybe he will listen to you."
"Are these...?" Itachi asked. They had showed him the jutsu already.
"Yes. A bunch of memories." Naruto just said. "The important parts, at least. What we're trying to make him see the whole picture."
Itachi thought about it for a long while.
"…Take them, Shisui."
"What?!"
"Please."
"No!" He shot back.
"It's about more than just us, Shisui."
"Why would I listen to anything he says…?!"
"Because he's telling the truth."
Shisui scoffed.
"About Toru, too."
Shisui stilled.
"…You trust him?" He asked in disbelief.
Itachi sighed. "When it comes to him telling the truth… I'm afraid I do."
Ino put her hand on Shisui's forehead and Naruto's memories — of this life only, and the more important aspects only — came to Shisui like they would have if he had been the one to create the clone.
The chakra-based, incomplete copy of Uzumaki Naruto's soul told Shisui the whole story. And his intentions.
Shisui's face was turned down to the floor.
"…Is this the truth…?" He asked softly. "All of this?"
"Yes." Itachi nodded. "As far as I could tell."
"They are my memories, yes." Naruto nodded.
"…Do you think that's enough?" Shisui asked, quiet as a whisper. "Do you think I'm suddenly going to forgive your actions, just because—"
"No." Naruto shook his head. "I don't expect that at all."
Silence stretched.
"But you've seen exactly what I have the intention of doing, haven't you?"
"…Yeah." Shisui rasped out.
"All of it." He gave Shisui a pointed look. "Even—"
"Yes. I saw it." Shisui gritted his teeth. "That's probably the only part I agree with."
Tears came to his eyes. Shisui wiped them away quickly.
"We'll need you for that, too. Are you in?" Naruto asked.
"…"
"If your answer is yes, swear not to use your illusions on Umi ninja. Ino will… make sure you're telling the truth."
"No. That's too broad." Itachi said flatly.
Naruto sighed. "True. Let's work on the wording together, then."
The woman — Karin, Shisui knew — summoned a hellish-looking creature.
Its face was leering at him, with ringed eyes. Not that Shisui saw it.
The only thing he felt was a strange chakra.
"Step inside its mouth." Uzumaki Karin said.
"…And this will heal him?" Itachi asked dubiously.
"Yeah." Her tone left room for no compromise.
Well, it felt similar enough to the thing that had linked them beforehand. And Uzumaki Naruto had been telling the truth. Or rather, he couldn't lie when linked to it. What did Shisui have to lose anyway, at this point…?
Shisui stepped in.
He fell into a never-ending hole. His body was fading away. Fast.
Oh, fuck.
He should never have trusted the Umi ninja.
He continued to fall, and Shisui thought that his very mind was being torn apart. Pain. Pain. Pain.
It lasted for no time at all.
It lasted for an eternity.
Was this death, or…?
It felt a bit like slipping into a dream. Everything felt bright and colorful. Later, once he came back to himself, he wouldn't be able to remember anything about this.
He knew the dream had made sense, except that it had felt peaceful, and almost uplifting.
And then suddenly Shisui was back in the room with the others.
His vision came back in a flash, the sensation almost painful. He felt disoriented.
He could see. Only from one eye, but he could see.
Shisui's mouth was very dry.
"Wha — What the hell was this?" Shisui breathed out. His body was whole, and every scar and burn mark and pain was gone.
He had two hands again.
Karin was breathing hard, and one of the other women — Toru's former teammate, Haruno Sakura — began to… guide chakra into her?
Karin's red, ringed eyes were fixed on his own eye.
"A Rinnegan ability." She breathed out. "Couldn't do anything about the other eye, I assume it's something you did."
"Ah… I… Yes… Probably." Shisui let out. Unsure what to do, he bowed. "I… Thank you."
It was likely something to do with Izanagi being a fully Yin-based technique. Maybe there was a way to fix it, but he didn't care too much about that at the moment.
Uzumaki Naruto stood in front of him, and Shisui tensed. No matter what the man had done... or not done, he felt very wary around him. No wonder.
Uzumaki held a jar out. An orb floated within. Shisui froze.
A Sharingan.
"No…" He breathed out. "Did…?"
"Danzō stole Toru's eye. But you saw this already." Uzumaki Naruto said in clipped tones. "We're returning this to you."
"I don't want it." Shisui shook.
"Neither do we." Uzumaki Naruto said, with the ghost of a sad smile on his lips.
"He would have wanted you to." Itachi said quietly. "Don't do it if you don't wish to, still."
And it was the truth.
Shisui felt like crying, really.
And when he finally let Karin transplant it, his face gleamed with tears.
Land of Fire.
This particular part of the Land of Fire was pretty barren. Lifeless, almost a wasteland, really.
With less than four days before Nagato started tearing the world up, Sasuke wanted to stay relatively close to his base of operation. Not too close, or Nagato would realize he was there. Not too far, in case anything happened.
Sasuke still wasn't sure what he would do exactly. Shisui sent him the important news through their shared summons, so he had heard about the latest developments, when it came to global politics. Honestly, knowing that Naruto was once more stirring trouble just made him furious.
Not really surprised, though.
Sasuke kept his chakra presence hidden.
Which was why he was very unpleasantly surprised to have visitors.
Especially the one whose chakra burned so bright it might as well have been a raging fire.
Especially the man he had been talking about.
"You!" Sasuke snarled. His hand was on his sword. He—
"Hello, Sasuke." Naruto greeted him evenly.
His blood was on fire, and his sword—
Sasuke froze. Behind him were Naruto's kunoichi… and…
Itachi.
Shisui. Whole.
Neither looked entirely at ease, despite their relief at seeing him.
"Wha— Release." Sasuke called. His Sharingan saw no illusion either. He gritted his teeth. "Is this one of the Rinnegan's powers?!"
"No." Itachi greeted with a slight smile. "It really is us, as you eyes can tell. Hello, Sasuke."
"I don't — I don't fucking trust him." Sasuke shot back. Especially with something so outlandish. "Stay where you are."
"We got him out of the Kamui realm." Karin said. "As we agreed."
Bullshit.
"What about Shisui?! He was crippled last time. When Naruto came! When he killed our men and did this to him!"
"…We healed him." Karin said quietly.
"Prove it! Prove that it's real."
Itachi's eyes met Sasuke's. They twisted into their Mangekyo form. So did Shisui's. A small black flame burst out of nowhere, close enough to Sasuke that he could feel its heat. Then it flickered away
Sasuke's mouth was dry.
Naruto summoned a clone without any seals. Ino grabbed something from the clone, dispelling it. She held her hand out to Sasuke, the purple thing in her hand feeling as though it were staring at him.
"…What the fuck do you want now…?"
A brainwashing jutsu...?
Itachi nodded at him seriously. "Take it. It's harmless."
"Define harmless." Shisui said in clipped tones.
Ino came closer…
Sasuke wondered why he even bothered to listen to Itachi, right now.
…and shoved it against his forehead.
Something that felt like a lifetime of Naruto's memories — secrets excluded —, up to the last minutes, came to him suddenly. Among many, many memories, Sasuke saw him kill Akatsuki members, Danzō... Kakashi. Madness. Indra.
He saw Toru and their friendship.
He saw Sakura rescue Itachi.
He saw Karin heal Shisui.
He saw all of it, from Naruto's own eyes.
Sasuke fell forward, putting a hand to his face as his mind strained.
"What the fuck was — Why did you — I…" Sasuke muttered.
Was this… real?
Naruto just shook his head at Sasuke's relatives. "He'll be fine, just like you were. He has the Sharingan to help him."
He turned to face Sasuke.
"Are you in?" Naruto asked bluntly. "You probably saw everything relevant. And I figured you still wouldn't believe it if I didn't bring both of them here."
Sasuke stood up. Naruto looked at him expectantly.
He didn't give any answer.
"So…?"
"-enough…" Sasuke mumbled.
"What did you say?"
"I've had enough." Sasuke gritted out. "Of your shit. Of you acting like you're so far above us. Of your secrets."
Sasuke stiffened.
"Of the horrible things you've done…"
And gods, did he want to bash Naruto's head against a wall until both he and the Beast inside him were entirely satisfied.
"Of you always picking the option that's bad for everyone… you included. How many times… how many people do you think could have saved if you had just trusted anyone with the full picture?"
Naruto lifted an eyebrow. "I don't think you really remember what things were like, just a few weeks ago, still. There was no one I could have spoken to."
"There was me!" Sasuke roared. "You never even tried! If Toru was willing to listen, why do you think I wouldn't have?"
Naruto shut up.
"Why do you try to do everything by yourself?" Sasuke raged. "Do you think I'm so blind that I can't see that not everything is perfect in Konoha? That this world is terrible?!"
Naruto was taken aback.
"I thought that—"
"Fuck you! That's the problem with you! You always think you know better than everybody else! Guess what. You don't!"
Naruto had no answer to give.
"You've been so fucking short-sighted!" Sasuke spat. "There are many people you've killed that could still be living, now!"
"You're right." Naruto admitted.
"You—… What?" Sasuke was at a loss for words. "You're no supposed to—"
"But you're right. I've made plenty of mistakes. And most of them are entirely on me, I can admit that."
"That's not…"
Naruto shrugged. "Well, I'm agreeing with you. But just because I make excuses won't bring all these people back."
"You don't care, do you?!"
"I do." Naruto nodded, looking somber. "But regrets won't change anything. I can only look forward and not do the same things again."
Silence stretched.
"And even then..." Naruto continued. "There are some things that take precedence over that." He pointed at the sky.
More tense silence.
"You piss me off, you know that?!" Sasuke raged.
"I kinda had the feeling, yes."
"…Fight me."
"Why would I?" Naruto leaned back.
"Fight me! You want me to help you, right? You need someone strong. Well, come on and try me!" Sasuke repeated, with more countenance. "You healed Shisui and brought Itachi back. For this, I am grateful. But that's not enough! You killed our ninja. You caused Shisui to need healing in the first place! And that's not it—"
His voice rose again.
"I am fucking pissed! If you think apologies will cut it, you're wrong! All I want is to knock some sense into your head!" Sasuke was glaring at Naruto, still. "You're right about Nagato, though. Fight me. That's the only way I'm going to listen. Once I beat you up… or you beat me up. Then we'll see."
Naruto looked around. The two Uchiha didn't look surprised… or to be disagreeing. Nor did the Umi women.
"I'm not sure how that's supposed to help anything." Naruto sighed.
"I — don't — care." Sasuke spat. "And I don't give a fuck about your eyes either! You could be the Sage reborn and I'd still want to bash your head in!"
Naruto sighed, sounding like he really had better things to do—
"All right. You all go home and resume training. I'll be back…"
Naruto and the women exchanged long looks, and they were undoubtedly talking through telepathy. They decided on something, because aside from Sasuke's relatives, the others left.
He looked toward Sasuke, who was still pretty angry.
"Once we settle this, then."