In the end, Naruto, way more exhausted than he had thought he was, ended up recovering from his impromptu trip to hell over the next few days.
His distorted sense of time might have had something to do with it. Mortals were not supposed to remember anything about Naraka.
And the thought of Ino actually trying to kill him this time might have been a little part of it, too.
The first thing he did, of course, was try to reach Karin and Sakura.
Umi.
Uchiha Toru blinked.
"Hmpf." Hanabi scoffed, with a small, confident smile pulling at her lips. "I knew you would love it. It's good, isn't it…?"
"No, no it's not that." Toru shook his head. "The animated comic book is great stuff, for sure — I didn't even think it could work that way on actual paper… But I thought I… felt something…?"
"It is not that emotional." Hanabi frowned. "I mean, I know you're pretty sensitive, but—"
"Not like this." Toru grunted. "And I'm not sensitive."
"Ah." Hanabi pretended to look worried about him. "Did you take your pills this morning…?"
"Fuck you."
"Not interested. I have much better taste in men." She said wistfully.
Toru was not sure what she was talking about, as he had never seen her with anyone. As far as he could tell, she had impossible standards. Typical Hyūga behavior, really.
Hinata had found Sasuke, and Toru could grudgingly admit it was hard to do better. The strongest man in the world, one who was going to be a great dad.
He was pretty good-looking too, in a very Uchiha way. A bit like Itachi.
Nothing like Toru and Shisui, of course. Their cousins only had straight, bland, lifeless hair. With a strange blue sheen to it. Not anything like Toru and Shisui, whose curls were deliciously messy, shiny, and full of life. And dark as ebony, too. It was no wonder women all across the world couldn't resist either of them, really. Men were lucky that they were committed, now.
…What was he thinking about, again…?
Oh, yeah. That thing he felt.
"Ino is busy, right…?" Toru asked. With his bond ability, he could track her easily if needed, but she was in several places at the same time.
With her training both Umi's new generation of sensors, mind readers… heading the psychological unit and all of the other shit she had on her plate, it was no wonder.
Shadow Clones helped a lot, but she still was not that great at having them absorb chakra to maintain themselves over long periods. Especially since they were relying on a grand total of one Rinnegan.
Having all four users doing the same at the same time was stretching it a bit.
Then again, if his nickname was Soul Reaper Toru, or something like it… he would probably try to build a different sort of legacy, too.
…Or maybe not, it had some punch to it.
"Yeah. She is." Hanabi nodded, still trying to make sense of Toru's latest harebrained ideas for the newspapers.
"Okay. I have something to do." Toru cut her off, standing up.
"Yeah, yeah." Hanabi waved him off, uninterested. "Try not to cause any international scandal again. We've got enough shit coming our way."
Little asshole.
Toru decided on something else. He stood still and channeled his chakra. Hanabi watched on, curiously.
The same way, he had reforged his own Mirage Blade. Just in case, of course.
Clouds built up, high in the sky above him. He was chakra. He was life.
He could do it. He was Yin. And he was Yang.
Toru tasted an awe-inspiring power. Stability and chaos, at the same time.
Was he even supposed to be using such a thing…?
(Hell yeah.)
In between the two opposite forces, he was reminded once more of his own mortality.
(Hell yeah.)
He heard himself say.
(Why shouldn't I use it?)
Toru took hold of the powers. The twin forces felt as though they were ready to tear each other, and him as well, until nothing was left. But used together, they could create.
And for a moment, he thought he might really have become a god. He was not stupid enough to actually believe it, of course.
He thought he understood much more in this instant, suspended in time.
The power felt endless.
Toru focused on the task at hand, visualizing what to do and how to do it.
He knew that he did not make things too complicated. Toru focused on what he wanted to do.
Toru slammed his hands together.
"Yin-Yang Release: Creation of All Things!"
The chakra within him reached even higher and he directed the power of Creation.
This was something else.
The clouds flew free, once more.
Hanabi sighed. "Is this going to be something we could just have done with seals, like your Infinity Pen…?"
Toru was pretty sure the Sage himself had used the power very freely. Because why wouldn't he…? Nothing was sacred.
"Nah. Besides, you're still using it. All of you."
"…Sometimes." Hanabi admitted.
Toru held something out to Hanabi.
"…A stick…?" She asked dubiously.
"Yeah." He nodded.
"You really outdid yourself this time, huh." She jeered.
"I figured that the one you had up your ass for so long might give you splinters, by now. You can replace it with this one. It's perfectly smooth… and will stay this way, I made sure of it."
"You fucking—" Hanabi stood up briskly, taking hold of the Ever-Smooth Stick, likely to bash him over the head with.
"Shukuchi." Toru called, grinning. His Sharingan was spinning, twisting in its ultimate form.
Threads of air began wrapping around him with a whistling sound.
"Don't do it in the fucking living roo—" Hanabi screamed.
Toru was already gone, passing through the open window at a high speed.
"Man, is it supposed to be so cramped in here…?"
"'Time doesn't pass here,' my ass! And if your fat one wasn't in the way, maybe we'd have more room!"
"You take it back. I am finely muscled — You wish you had my genes, you skinny thing."
"Your genes…? As if!"
"Anything beats salmon-ass hair."
"My hair is not salmon-colored! You — ginger!"
"It's red, actually. I'm not going to play your games, though, I'm not—"
"Wait. Did I feel something…?"
"I can't feel anything."
"Well, no. You're right. Of course we don't. We're not even in the same realm as him, even here."
"Continue trying to make some noise. Maybe he'll feel something."
"What do you think I'm doing…?"
"Yapping, mostly. You call this punching…? Let me show you how to— Whoa!"
The King of Hell's mouth opened, and both Karin and Sakura dropped gracelessly onto the floor.
Grass. Karin noticed first. The sun was so bright, too.
Their bodies had reformed a while ago already, closer to the surface of the physical world, which was the only reason the two of them were currently not rendered useless.
Karin laughed as she stumbled again, still not so used to having a body in the physical world again.
"Man, it really took you forever to get us out, Naruto!" She said laughing.
"…What…? Naruto…?" A man's voice said, sounding as though he could not believe a single part of what was happening. "What… What the fuck is happening here…?"
Karin's head snapped up so quickly that she almost got whiplash. She knew both the voice and the chakra.
"What — Toru…?" Karin blinked incredulously. "What — So Naruto got you, then. And why do you have a Rinnegan hidden behind—"
Sakura made a confused sound. Her left eye was just as blank as she had said it would be.
Well, if they had all the spare Sharingan Naruto had said they had… Karin could find a way to fix that. Or she could take Obito's eyes, anyway. Or just restore Sakura's own.
Whatever.
"Toru?!" Karin gaped again.
"Toru?!" Sakura gaped.
"Karin?! Sakura…?!" Toru's hands went up to his hair, which he tousled, looking lost… and on the verge of panicking. "And… Naruto you said?!" He began pacing. "What the fuck is happening…?"
"Uh…" Karin looked at Sakura.
Any idea…?
None. Sounds like Naruto's usual brand of fuckery to me.
Indeed…
"He lived… again?! After we spend months looking into—" Toru let out an almost exasperated sigh. Relief and anger warred inside him. "Where the fuck is he, then…?"
They looked at each other.
"You don't know either?! Man, he never stops stirring shit, does he…?" Toru cursed.
"He was dead, actually." Sakura corrected.
"What…?"
"He got better."
"What…?" Toru squinted his eyes, both of them.
"Brought himself back."
"But how…?! Is there another Rinnegan floating around…? This makes no—"
Both women jumped on him, messing his hair up, and trapping him into a bone-crushing hug.
"You're back!"
"Let go of me at once, women!" Toru whined, but didn't try too hard to get out of it. And there was definitely something shiny in his eye.
It felt pretty surreal.
"I'm so sorry—" Karin began, wringing her hands.
In the background, Sakura was limbering up. What she was doing it for, he couldn't say.
Toru frowned.
"What are you sorry for?" He asked Karin.
"For… back then. When you died. For not noticing, for not realizing that you—" Karin's voice was thick with sorrow.
Sakura kicked, punched the air until she was satisfied. She was fast, Toru noticed.
"Oh… that shit. I'll tell you the same thing I told Ino and Hanabi when they pulled the same shit on me." Toru rolled his eyes. "It's on me. Danzō. And some fucked up mind art, too."
"But—" Karin began.
"Come on, you even got the guys who did it, killed Danzō and all that. Whatever."
"But—"
"Okay okay. You win." Toru sighed, throwing his hands up in the air. "You're forgiven, whatever you did. Let's move on."
"Toru—" Karin sniffled a bit.
"He said to move on, Karin." Sakura finally intervened. She looked relieved as well, though. "So let's do that."
Karin's lips were pinched, still.
"I'm all good and alive, now." Toru brushed off. "And you too — Apparently."
"…Yeah, so Ino taught me her nifty clone-memory trick." Toru nodded, once they had gone through his memories of the last six months.
He went through their own, too, but their time in Naraka was very blurry. They had forgotten most of it already, aside from the moment Naruto came for them. The rest felt like a weird nightmare, one that was fading away quickly. Maybe it was for the best.
"Sorry if there were some… unwanted details in there." Toru finished.
"I expected worse." Sakura said dryly. "Just uh… You could have changed your clothes… after this morning."
"They're self-washing." Toru shrugged. Karin nodded proudly. Not everyone was as squeamish as Sakura could be.
"I guess we'll be going back to Umi, then." Karin grinned.
"What about… Naruto?" Toru asked. There was obviously more he wanted to say, but he refrained from doing so.
"Either we look for him… or we let him come to us." Sakura smiled. "He probably won't be too long."
Sakura's eyes sharpened.
"Now… I've seen you had a little problem that needed fixing…?"
Toru brightened up. "Ah, you mean the opening of Akemi's second tea shop? Don't sweat it, I know you have zero business acumen anyway—"
"Not this." Sakura growled.
"Oh."
"Let me replace your eye first, at least." Karin sighed.
"I won't need it, this is just a… courtesy visit." Sakura scoffed.
"I'd rather not have you risk dying right away." Karin said dryly.
"It's only a Village…" Sakura sighed, but she relented.
"Now…" Karin began. "I assume you want the right eye, so let's get your left Sharingan out of the way first, so that we can recover your original eye - I'll figure out how to make a right eye a left eye another day. Good thing that Ino never took Obito's body out of the King of Hell — if she can use it on her own now. If his Sharingan's off… I'll force it back on. The body's soulless… but there's still a brain to use."
Sasori, still living, had also been trapped in it — conscious or outside of time entirely, she was unsure about — since the day Karin had fought him, too, then. They would have to reach out to Suna later.
"It was pretty pointless." Toru shrugged. "My own ability is similar enough. There was not much fighting going on… and we figured the body would stay intact that way, if we ever needed it."
"You could have fixed your little problem easily with it, though." Sakura shrugged.
"We tried to solve things peacefully, first. At the very least." Toru grunted.
"For all the good it did you." Sakura laughed.
Toru suddenly had a bad feeling about things.
Later that evening. Iwa.
Ōnoki of Iwa was a man well aware of his own vices and weaknesses.
The war had ended, certainly, but these Umi bastards' plan would have Iwa relegated on the same level as every other village — not even the Five Great. After all the efforts, all the sacrifices his predecessors had made to keep the place strong, in both its traditions and positions.
Besides, he knew that they were just waiting for a reason to get rid of him. Namikaze the second might be dead — and there was not a single day he didn't thank the Gods for that — but not all of his friends were.
Mitarashi.
They were hard to reach, too, and the assassins he had sent at Uchiha Sasuke's wedding had never come back. But they couldn't be traced to him either. He had learned this the hard way.
Chigusa was young, but she could be convinced that Namikaze's way — Umi's way — was not the right way. And so could the smaller villages, once she accepted it. All he needed was time. He was well protected, hidden behind his defenses.
A flicker caught his eye.
His guards fell upon the shadow.
Their weapons went through.
There was a shimmer of blue and they disappeared entirely.
Ōnoki saw the shadow's eyes; his own hands were already gleaming with light.
Green and red. Rippling.
And his Dust Release got absorbed the next second.
A water whip shot out, bound him, and drained his chakra steadily.
"What kind of leader hides in a safe location and talks about sacrifice…?"
At the moment, Ōnoki was bitterly regretting ever thinking defenses and guards he could trust would have been enough.
"Did you really think this shit would fly, you decrepit bastard?" Ghost Hand asked. "Not with me alive, it won't."
"You can't threaten me—"
"What do you think I'm doing, exactly?"
"Iwa won't bend, won't brea—"
Haruno Sakura smashed his head through his desk. It didn't bend, it broke.
"Speak up when you talk to me or you'll have to figure out how to do so without your teeth." She threatened. "I'm not as soft as Toru."
"Fine! I'll put a stop to the talks with Chigu—" Ōnoki tried, reaching for the weapon hidden in his sleeve.
"Too late!" Sakura laughed. "Too fucking late!"
They went through the portal.
"I thought we were doing this peacefully!" Toru accused her, once they were done sealing Ōnoki up.
Around him were the unconscious guards he had taken care of.
Sakura blinked.
"But I did." Sakura chuckled. "The fucker's still alive, isn't he?" She jeered at the fuming Tsuchikage.
'For now' went unsaid. Once Ino ripped his soul out…
"Sakura…" Toru groaned.
"You told me to play to my strengths back when we were kids, right?" Sakura shrugged. Toru pinched his lips. That was a pep talk he regretted - but she had seemed so insecure back then. "Any other people you need to be… talked some sense into?"
Toru sighed.
The worst part was that Karin, the reasonable one, was approving. What the hell had happened to the two of them in the time he had been gone…?
And how bad would Naruto be, once he came back…?
"…Yeah. We have a few." Toru admitted. "Let's… go, then."
"Well, let's spread peace, then." Sakura cackled.
"Man, are we the villains…?" Toru palmed his face nervously.
"Of course not. You're the comic writer, you should know." She rolled her eyes. "Bad guys never win."
"…What is this?" Toru asked.
Sakura had pocketed — not even bothering to seal it away — a small book. She chuckled.
"You know exactly what it is. Found it on Ōnoki's desk."
It was pretty much the same as a bingo book, if a secret one. Or supposedly secret, in this case.
"Something for his assassination squads, then…?" Toru asked.
"Yup." Sakura seemed to think about it. "Look at this."
She quickly browsed through it and opened it in front of him.
"Some of it is a bit outdated, of course… But I don't think Ōnoki was entirely convinced all of us were dead - maybe."
Toru read the page Sakura had found.
"Haruno Sakura. 'Ghost Hand.' Age: 20. Rank: Jōnin…? Jōnin?" Toru blinked.
"Not that. And I had Naruto promote me, of course."
"Talk about nepotism."
"What about you?" Karin piped in.
"I was a Jōnin before I left, actually."
"…The guy you called Hokage was basically your uncle." Sakura retorted.
"Uncle Fugaku was a fair man." Toru nodded, very humbly. "Naruto, on the other hand…"
"Whatever, continue reading."
"Classification: S-Rank. Bounty: 80 million ryō. So…?"
"Don't you see?" Sakura grinned. "S-rank."
"…What of it?"
"Naruto kept telling me that I wasn't—" Sakura began, petulantly.
Toru ignored her and flipped through the book himself.
"Yamanaka Ino. 'Soul Harvester.' Age: 21. Rank: Jōnin. Classification: S-Rank. Bounty: 120 million ryō. Avoid being around, whether alive or dead." He read.
"Whatever." Sakura waved off. "I was dead for the last months, and I didn't get to show off. That's why my bounty is lower."
"Hyūga Hanabi. 'Thousand Eyes.' Age: 20. Rank: Jōnin. Classification: S-Rank. Bounty: 100 million ryō."
"I had no time." Sakura repeated, looking at Karin for support.
Karin nodded politely.
"That's fair, that's fair." Toru said evenly. "Let's take a look at this one, then… It hasn't been updated since he died. Uzumaki Naruto. "Faded Thunder." Age: 20. Rank: Jōnin. Classification: SS-Rank. Bounty: 300 million ryō. Flee on sight." Toru looked up. "And that was before killing Nagato."
"That's different!" Sakura roared.
"How so…?" Toru asked politely.
"It's — It — It was after the Kage Summit —" Sakura raged. Then she realized something and smiled. "Oh, I know. Why don't you take a look at your page?" She asked gleefully.
"Mine…?" Toru frowned.
"Yes."
He read it slowly, eyes widening.
"Uchiha Toru. …'Cyclops.' Age: 19. Rank: Jōnin. Classification: A-Rank. Bounty: 40 million ryō."
Toru paused. Sakura began to chuckle.
"This can't be right." He said at last. "…Cyclops?! A-rank…? That's not…"
"You're worse than all of us." Sakura cackled.
"What…?" He blinked. "Which rank are you, Karin?"
"S-rank apparently. Don't know how that came to be, though." She shrugged. "Now I am, sure, but back then — It's pretty funny how most of the strongest people in the world are gathered in Umi, though. We still have the lowest shinobi population, among the Villages." She mused.
"…And Yugito?" Toru tried.
"S-rank too, for much longer than us." Sakura quipped.
"Anko?"
"Same thing."
Toru racked his brains.
Sakura smiled pleasantly.
Toru opened his mouth.
"Toru, I don't think you should reveal the Rinnegan to the world just to prove a point." Karin said firmly.
He closed his mouth.
'Naruto had done it, though.'
Sakura appeared in Suna, right after.
The Kazekage's black chakra threads shimmered into life. Uchiha Toru dodged them casually. There was a flash and a blade was pulled.
Chigusa froze.
Toru sheathed his blade again.
Ōnoki, wrapped in binding tags, was carried by Toru, who really didn't look as though he wanted to be here. The old man's angry eyes were visible. He couldn't produce a sound, though.
"See… uh?" Sakura began. She looked at Toru expectantly.
'What's her name again? I know who she is, but...'
"Chigusa." He said dryly.
"Yes, thank you. See, Chigusa…? This is what we call a bad move, usually. It gets people in trouble. I'd suggest you go along with the initial plan, but of course that's up to you."
"You said you wouldn't threaten her." Toru sighed.
"I'm not." Sakura said. "Now if she calls her guards, though…"
"What do you want, exactly…?" Chigusa finally asked.
"Not much, really. We are basically family, after all."
"…What?" Chigusa asked, frowning.
"What…?" Toru asked.
"Siblings-in-training. Kiyoshi taught both of us, didn't he…?" Sakura revealed her chakra hand, twirling it in a way a hand definitely wasn't supposed to twirl. Chigusa paled. "Now there's just one person missing — besides the man himself, of course, he's dead."
"…" Chigusa breathed out, trying to keep her temper under control. If they had gotten Ōnoki…
"We're not asking for much. Just… don't listen to people like Ōnoki in the future. You already got yourself a decent deal with us, didn't you…?"
Chigusa gritted her teeth.
"Didn't you..?" Sakura repeated, frowning.
Toru pulled Sasori's equally sealbound body out of the King of Hell before Sakura managed to actually force either of them to kill the Kage. Maybe she was doing it on purpose, too.
"What…?" The Kazekage blinked. "You… had him? This entire time…?" She growled.
Sakura stared at her, unblinking, the same way a desert cat would stare at a roosting bird.
Chigusa shut up.
"We restored his body a while ago. Well… a body. Dunno if it's an exact match for the original, but it's definitely him inside. He's all yours." Toru said with distaste for the man, whose eyes jumped all over the room.
"See? Now that's what I call a heartwarming family reunion." Sakura said, in mock cheer.
The last thing Sasori remembered was likely getting his face caved in by Karin's tender hands.
"Spit it out. …What is that you really want..?" Chigusa asked.
Sakura smiled coldly.
"Peace. So play nice."
Toru and Sakura's journey took them to a few other stops.
The next day. Yoisen's Island.
Naruto woke up at sunrise.
He spent most of the morning walking around. Picking fruits to eat, swimming and meditation made up for the rest of it.
It was a slow day. Something that he had grown pretty estranged from. Something that he had missed.
Something that of course… didn't last for long.
He was sitting in midair, at around noon, when he saw something appear in the far distance.
Extremely fast at first, it slowed down once it came closer to the island.
It was growing bigger and bigger, coming toward him.
Naruto blinked.
"Well, I'll be damned." Naruto muttered.
The teal-colored Perfect Susanoo landed ungracefully on the hill, breaking the earth and rolling to catch itself. Then it faded away.
"Yeah, laugh!" The man called, dusting himself. "I only got it today, and Karin had to tell me the Rinnegan could pull it off in the first place!"
Naruto shook his head in disbelief.
Uchiha Toru, looking stronger and a bit broader around the shoulders, came down the hill.
"It really is you." Naruto breathed out.
He was here, alive, and whole.
With one eye that shone bright red. And something powerful, something that Naruto knew very well, hidden behind that eyepatch.
Alive.
The original plan had been to grab his soul in Naraka… but he had been gone already. Enma had never told him where, of course. Naruto had guessed right, then. It was either this or the Pure Lands.
Uchiha Toru stepped forward with the same cheesy grin as always. Naruto stifled a choked laugh, because he knew the Uchiha would never let him forget about it otherwise.
They walked toward each other, in equal states of disbelief.
"They managed, then?" Naruto asked, shaking his head. "Incredi—"
Toru punched Naruto in the chin, this time.
It was a perfect uppercut. Naruto flipped through the air and landed on his ass.
'Where the fuck did he pick up Karin's rock fist jutsu?'
"You fell for the grin again, dumbass." Toru growled.
"Again?" Naruto grunted in disbelief. "…AGAIN?!"
"That's for crippling my brother, and fucking Sasuke up!" Toru growled.
"We fixed them up!" Naruto groaned.
"Oh yeah! How could I forget…?!" Toru slapped his forehead. "That makes it completely alright, then! And this one's for almost fucking the rest of the world up, too!"
This time, Naruto blocked the incoming kick. He twisted and Toru flew, before managing to catch himself.
"…Yeah, I think I get it." Naruto grunted, his chin still feeling sore. "How did you even find me…?"
"I was taught tracking by Kakashi." Toru gritted out. "You may remember the man."
Naruto winced.
The day had started so nicely, too.
"But mostly, it was thanks to the bond." Toru explained, in between clenched teeth.
They had never discovered their shared ability before Toru… died, but Naruto had a feeling that a remnant of it had helped him find Toru's… body, back then.
"Pretty easy to follow you with it. Now… I sure hope there's more to our link, because a fucking compass is a bit… underwhelming compared to things like the Gates… Soulforging and — whatever." Toru cut himself off.
Well, link tracing or not… that was likely a bit of an exaggeration. It must have been harder than Toru let on. As usual.
Toru kept glaring at Naruto.
…Did he want to fight again?
"Speaking of Kakashi. Not exactly your best moment." Toru said in clipped tones.
"…You can say that again." Naruto muttered. "I am so—"
"I know you're fucking sorry. They showed me everything." Toru said, staring at Naruto flatly.
Silence stretched.
Toru clenched… unclenched his fist.
Then Toru sighed. "I think I get it. Mostly. Perhaps." He sighed. "Maybe not. Fuck — I don't know. But I had half a year to think about it, anyway."
Toru pulled him up.
He stared at Naruto, a very conflicted mix of emotions in his visible eye. He let out a long, frustrated sigh.
Once more, he looked like he wanted to break his nose.
Toru then brought him in a tight embrace. He held him tight.
"And that's… for not fucking everything up. I was afraid I would have to fight Konoha — You… sorta did well, man. Overall. And… I'm sorry for all the shit you had to endure. You died, too, I heard."
"…It was not all that bad." Naruto muttered. "I'm sorry. I really am."
Naruto could swear he heard him sniffle.
"…My allergies, I swear." Toru muttered.
"Yeah…" Naruto nodded wisely, wiping his own eyes discreetly. "It's the season, I think. Mine are flaring up too."
"See…?" Toru sniffled.
They sat down in the grass, looking at the ocean.
There were plenty of things to say.
Plenty of things they'd rather not say.
"Man, did you grow some more…?" Toru asked instead.
"Nah, I don't think so." Naruto checked himself. "Maybe some more muscle? We trained a lot."
"Getting into meathead territory there, careful."
"Alright, twig, I'll make sure to keep your advice in mind." Naruto nodded sagely.
"Fuck off. Isn't it time for you to drink some more milk… eat more meat… or your fourth meal of the day?"
"I'm pretty surprised that you managed to fly all the way here, in such a strong breeze." Naruto mimed a kite getting blown away.
Toru snorted. "I had a decent shield."
"…How come you do, actually?" Naruto asked. Seeing Toru about to give him a stupid answer, he finished. "The Susanoo, I mean. You don't have a—"
Well, it was the Rinnegan, Naruto realized. Maybe Sasuke had been right, and his own jutsu was closer to a Susanoo than he had thought.
Toru looked at him, sobering up.
"You know… how the Mangekyō awakens out of strong emotion and all that?" Toru asked.
"Yeah." Naruto nodded. Better than most, really.
"And how it is usually hate, or anger… or something like it?"
"Sure."
Toru gave him a deep look. Then he stared at the sea, in deep contemplation.
"Well, mine is different." He said with a wistful expression. "Mine was born out of… love."
"What…? Really?" Naruto gaped.
In all of his lifetimes, he had never heard of anything like that. To think that love could—
"Nah, I'm just fucking with you." Toru laughed, slapping his back. "Love, really?! You're too gullible. Typical, when all that muscle takes most of your brainpower."
Naruto growled.
"I awakened it some months ago, probably when I was planning to bring you back to life to kill you myself before figuring out it wouldn't work — Shisui and I swapped eyes, too. And yesterday… Karin did some complicated stuff, made me step into the King of Hell, did some more weird stuff, then I traded the blind one for the purple one again. I think? She said she could fix the blind one, maybe — or you could, if you… plugged it in? I don't know, man, ask her. She may need more time, though. Besides, I like this one — the purple one, had it for a little while, now. I don't show it much in public, for obvious reasons and —"
Naruto tried to follow this nonsense.
"The… purple one…?"
"Yeah, that Rinnegan thing." Toru shrugged. "Akemi was pretty impressed, you know. We made some very fancy decorations with it. Furniture, too. The perfect rocking chair, which adjusts to fit the person who steps in it—"
Naruto felt nervous laughter bubble up inside him. That Rinnegan thing? Men had died for it. He himself had almost died for it, too. Then he had actually died for it. And now... Toru had picked it up and… plugged it in.
"Well?" Toru asked, once he was done babbling.
"Well what…?"
"Ready to go, or are you going to play hermit for a longer while…? I'm not going to lie to Ino and Hanabi to cover up your shady dealings. Akemi beat that out of me — but she's a civilian, they don't really get this secrecy stuff. If you stay here, I'm telling them." Toru shrugged.
Naruto looked up to the skies in consternation.
"Yeah…" He muttered. "I think it's about time we all head home."
"Yeah, maybe you can also stop Sakura before she decides to kill the remaining Kage. Itachi's my cousin and all, you may remember…" Toru said dryly.
"Sure… sure… I'll see what I can do."
"I'm glad you finally trust my judgment." Toru nodded wisely.
"I really don't, but…" Naruto snorted.
"Say it." Toru said with a conspiratorial grin. "Say the words."
"Let's… Let's say I do… just this once."
They left together.