A/N: Chapter 9 has arrived!

I don't own Naruto.


Chapter IX: Along the Paths

A week had passed since Team 7's last day off, a week full of training for Konoha's newest dōjutsu user. Sakura had returned to working with Tsunade, Shizune, and Haku at the hospital. Ino had been splitting her time between there and T&I at the behest of her father. Kakashi was surprised to see his students' choices of ninja attire, but even he had to admit that they looked more like serious shinobi, Naruto especially.

Thanks to a combination of Konan's guidance and shadow clones, Naruto had become about as proficient as Nagato had been with Shinra Tensei. He no longer needed a hand seal and had gotten much faster in channeling his chakra to manipulate the repulsive force. He could now use his ability near-instantaneously, and with varying degrees of strength.

Naruto had also gained considerable ground in refining his control of the shared vision shadow clones. He now had full control over five visually linked clones. The sight of six Narutos was a bit jarring, as it reminded everyone present of Nagato's six corpses he had controlled previously. Naruto's new, more serious look only served to further liken his use of shadow clones to Pain's corpses. Of course, nobody said anything aloud.

Sasuke had taken time to refine his kenjutsu, integrating his Sharingan into his techniques with the help of Kakashi. When asked, Sasuke would also spar with Naruto to test his control over his shadow clones, as well as offer tips for improving his taijutsu to work better with his enhanced perception. The Rinnegan user was sloppy at first, and struggled to coordinate his attacks and defenses. Konan helped to remedy his ineptitude by sparring with him, which mostly consisted of her sending paper shuriken his way, which she also used as an opportunity to teach him to form barriers with his ability. Paper clones accompanied the paper shuriken to train him in engaging multiple opponents at once with his visually linked shadow clones.

The last spar between the two dōjutsu users had ended in a draw, and even then, it was a narrow call. Despite being outnumbered, Sasuke held his own, but Naruto had still made very effective use of his shadow clones. He was no Nara strategist, but his coordination had improved by leaps and bounds.

Sakura had tried to make time to see her two friends more often. She usually went to meet them at the training ground after her shift at the hospital or during her break, if she could. The times she did show up, Naruto was sparring with either Sasuke or Konan, and Sasuke was usually busy with his own training. Despite not getting to talk with them too much, Sakura was happy to be able to watch her friends train like they had in the past.


Naruto still couldn't get used to Kakashi being on time, even after a week of punctuality. He and Sasuke had chalked it up to being responsible for Konan. Still, it was jarring to see their sensei not appearing from thin air two hours later than their agreed meeting time. Kakashi took Sasuke to work with him on kenjutsu, still staying in eyeshot, while Konan stayed with Naruto.

By this point, Konan had done away with her Akatsuki cloak, opting instead for a navy-blue kimono top with baby blue trim. The kimono was secured by a simple amber-colored obi, and she kept her leggings and sandals combo from before. Her periwinkle paper rose remained on its perch in her pale blue hair.

Naruto had just finished a few warm-up exercises: coordinated shadow clone strikes, Shinra Tensei of varying strengths, and holding up a repulsive barrier against paper shuriken. After the last shuriken was thrown and blocked, Konan gave a single nod before walking towards him.

"Very good. Up until now, you've been focusing on the repulsive forces," she began as Naruto listened intently. "We'll start working on the attractive forces." The blond gave a sharp nod, a smile tugging at his mouth. Kakashi and Sasuke appeared a short distance away after noticing Konan speaking to their comrade.

"The primary ability that manipulates attractive forces is called Banshō Ten'in. It allows you to pull one or more targets towards you. From what I remember, it has the same five-second interval between uses. However, unlike Shinra Tensei, the time will always be five seconds between uses." Naruto's face was set in a serious expression as he hung onto every word the blue haired woman spoke.

"So, how do I do it?" He prompted.

A sheet of paper emerged from Konan's sleeve, folding itself into a simple butterfly. "It takes more focus than Shinra Tensei. Nagato told me that instead of focusing on pushing outwards, you reach out with an invisible hand and focus on pulling towards you. Try it with this butterfly." The paper insect fluttered its wings as it hovered in place. Naruto extended his right hand, focusing on the paper. Concentrating his chakra into his hand, he tried to picture the invisible hand grabbing and pulling the butterfly to him. His hand trembled, sweat beading on his brow. He felt a tug; the butterfly barely moved off course.

Naruto dropped his hand, clicking his tongue in annoyance. Konan took notice and gave a sagely nod. "It wasn't terribly easy for Nagato, either. Try again." The blond nodded and raised his hand once more. Sasuke and Kakashi went back to drilling advanced kenjutsu techniques, though the latter still held half of his attention on his other student.

He focused on the butterfly, taking a deep breath before concentrating chakra into his hand again. His brow furrowed as his eyes drilled holes into the paper insect, trying to picture the invisible hand. He felt the tug and latched onto it. "Banshō Ten'in." With that, the butterfly flew towards Naruto's hand, its wings flitting in an attempt to level out. He felt paper crumple against his hand. Turning his palm towards himself, he could see what the butterfly had been reduced to. His mouth hung open at his accomplishment.

The sheet of paper sprang away from his hand and began folding itself back into a butterfly, snapping Naruto out of his stupor. He looked up to see more sheets of paper emerging from Konan's sleeve and folding themselves into butterflies. He turned his attention to the blue-haired woman as she spoke.

"A good start. Now try pulling multiple targets to you. It's the same idea, just focus on creating multiple hands. Once you can pull multiple small targets at once, we'll move on to larger targets." Naruto nodded, smiling as he slapped an open palm over his fist. He watched as the first butterfly flew to join the others.

Like before, the butterflies hovered in place, only adjusting themselves to avoid colliding with one another. Seven targets. Seven hands. Seven grips. Naruto brought his hand up and concentrated. He felt the initial tug and held onto it, raising his voice slightly. "Banshō Ten'in!" This time, the butterflies were immediately yanked towards the blond. Their wings flapped wildly, trying to reorient themselves. Once again, Naruto felt the paper hit his open palm and crumple.

The Rinnegan bearer turned his palm towards himself, his heart threatening to pound its way out of his chest. His face stretched into an ear to ear smile as his breath hitched. An elated laugh escaped his lips as he admired his handiwork. His smile held fast as the crumpled sheets of paper twitched to life, folding themselves back into butterflies. Naruto watched as they flittered back to Konan, unfolding themselves and retreating into her sleeves. A small smile decorated her normally stoic face as she walked towards him.

"Very good. As usual, you catch on quickly. Now we'll move on to larger targets. Starting with a single paper clone." Konan stepped away as more paper appeared, forming itself into a copy of her. Paper wings formed on the clone's back and gave one strong flap, creating some distance between it and the Rinnegan user.

Naruto took a deep breath and brought his hand up, his palm open towards the unmoving paper clone. He felt the tug and grabbed on. "Banshō Ten'in!" The clone appeared to fall forward before it flew off its feet towards the blond ninja. Naruto's eyes widened as he watched the clone hurtle towards him and braced for the inevitable impact. Not a second before the collision, the clone dispersed into the sheets of paper it was made of.

The blond threw a fist in the air, whooping with excitement. Konan quietly marveled at his ability to learn so quickly. She had anticipated that it would take a few days before he was able to pull multiple small targets to him, much less pull a paper clone. She could only wonder how quickly he would hone his abilities with the other paths.

More paper emerged from Konan's sleeves to create another clone as she spoke. "Good. Next, try two paper clo—"

"Actually, I have another idea," Naruto interrupted.

Konan cocked an eyebrow and watched him expectantly. A wry smirk crept its way onto his face as he turned his attention towards Kakashi and Sasuke, who were busy practicing kenjutsu. Before Konan could intervene, Naruto had already raised his hand. "Banshō Ten'in!"

Sasuke was mid-stride towards his sensei when he was lifted off his feet and thrown in what he thought was a random direction. Likewise, Kakashi was just about to dodge Sasuke's move as he felt himself being pulled. An all too familiar sense of dread overcame the jōnin, while Sasuke cursed and wondered what was going on.

The two caught sight of their blond comrade, but not before they heard him cackling. Just before the two would have slammed into Naruto, the Rinnegan user let go of them. Sasuke and Kakashi stopped mid-air before falling to the ground unceremoniously with a thud. Naruto's cackling grew into raucous laughter as he doubled over, holding his sides. Sasuke bolted up and immediately started berating his roommate, his Sharingan blazing. Kakashi and Konan both let out their own exasperated sighs. Kakashi had warned Konan that Naruto was prone to hijinks, but she didn't think she would bear witness to them.

The blue haired woman watched expectantly as Naruto's laughter finally calmed down, though not after Kakashi all but dragged Sasuke back to their spot for more kenjutsu training. Feeling her glare on him, Naruto quickly composed himself to await her next instructions.

"Even though that was a bit…unnecessary, you at least showed that you can pull more than one human target towards you." The blond gave a single nod before she continued. "That said, I think now you should apply your shadow clone training technique. Like with Shinra Tensei, the focus is speed: how quickly you can pull the target or targets to you."

Naruto flashed a toothy smile before creating thirty-six shadow clones. One third moved away to practice pulling single targets, while the other two thirds went to practice pulling multiple targets at once. The blond turned back to Konan, an expectant look on his face.

"There's one more technique that Tendō is capable of using," she began as another sheet of paper floated out of her sleeve, crumpling into a ball. "It's called Chibaku Tensei."

Naruto watched the paper user and the floating ball intently. "Chibaku Tensei?"

"The user creates a small sphere of what is essentially concentrated gravity." More sheets of paper appeared from her sleeve, floating towards the crumpled ball. "It's inert until the user activates it. Once activated, the gravity sphere will pull everything in range towards it, creating a sphere made of rock, trees, plants, buildings, and anything else it grabs onto. Including people." The sheets of paper began layering themselves over the original crumpled ball, creating a sphere about the size of an apple. "Depending upon how much chakra is poured into it, the resulting planetoid can be anywhere from the size of a shinobi village…" a flurry of paper rushed to wrap itself around the small sphere, increasing its size to that of a large melon. "…to something that resembles the moon."

Naruto stared at the floating ball of paper, trying to wrap his head around the idea of being able to create something so massive using just his chakra. He was broken out of his stupor by Konan's voice. "This is a very destructive technique, and is also very taxing on the user. I've only ever seen it used once, and he nearly passed out from exhaustion afterwards." Naruto caught Konan's hidden meaning: she only ever saw Nagato use it, and he had a feeling that he used it during the fight where Naruto nearly lost all control of the Nine-Tailed Fox.

"So, I'm guessing I won't be able to really practice it, huh?"

Konan shook her head as the paper sphere peeled itself apart, each sheet returning into her sleeves. "It's far too destructive, especially this close to the village. If you were to 'practice,' you would need to go somewhere far away from others, to avoid hurting anyone. Even then, it would be difficult to not cause a stir with a large mass of rock floating in the air. I understand your chakra reserves are large, but it still requires a lot of chakra." Naruto's face contorted into a pensive expression as she continued. "While it's not as dangerous for the user as some kinjutsu can be, it's more of a last resort."

Naruto scratched his cheek, considering the potential outcomes of trying to perform Chibaku Tensei, even away from Konohagakure. Despite the apparent wildly destructive nature of the technique, the sheer power of it was tantalizing. He wasn't deaf to Konan's warning of potential chakra exhaustion, but he knew his limits. Plus, if he used the chakra of the Nine-Tails…

A question popped into the Rinnegan user's head, bringing him out of his ruminations. "I know I can't practice it right now, but let's say I could at some point. How would I do it?"

Konan eyed the blond warily before she explained. "As I said earlier, you would create a sphere of concentrated gravity. As for how to create the gravity sphere; it's a combination of both Shinra Tensei and Banshō Ten'in, in a manner of speaking." Naruto cocked his head. Seeing his puzzlement, Konan elaborated. "From what Nagato told me, you focus on collecting a strong attractive force into a sphere outside your body. In this case, between your hands. The strength of the gravity sphere would be dependent on how much chakra you pour into it. Once you release it, it floats its way up on its own and suspends itself until you activate it. Upon activation…"

"Chaos," the blond finished. Konan gave a single nod. Naruto stood and mulled over the blue haired woman's explanation. As much as he wanted to test his mettle and try the technique, he knew it would cause more trouble than it was worth.

"So, what can I do since my shadow clones are training?" Naruto prompted.

Konan brought a hand to her chin. "Well, since you've shown considerable aptitude in the abilities Tendō grants you, I think it would be good to start working on another path."

Naruto's face lit up as he flashed his signature foxy grin.

"The next will be Chikushōdō. It's fairly straightforward, so I have no doubt you'll be able to learn this quickly," she began as the Rinnegan user listened intently. "As I'm sure you're aware, summoning requires a blood contract, and in turn requires blood to summon the creature you've signed a contract with. Chikushōdō allows you to summon various creatures without the need for a blood contract, such as a bird, an ox, a panda, a centipede, and even a multi-headed dog. You might even remember seeing some of these." Naruto silently recalled facing a few of the beasts mentioned as the Ame woman continued. "There are others, but we'll get to those later. One notable difference between Chikushōdō's summoning and regular summoning is that you can also summon people."

"You mean like how the toads can reverse summon me to Mount Myōboku?"

"I'm not sure how reverse summoning works, but I suppose it would be similar. Nagato was able to use Chikushōdō to summon his other paths as well as me. He never fully explained how he was able to summon people, nor was he able to explain where the animals came from."

Naruto cupped his chin, his face contorting once again into a pensive expression. "So, this summoning. How does it work? Is it like a regular summoning jutsu?"

"Well. Yes but no. There are no hand seals involved when summoning creatures, only for when you summon people. But, instead of just slamming your hand down and hoping for the best, you think about the animal you want to summon. You don't have to have an exact mental picture, just a general idea. Try summoning something of your choice. Remember: no hand seals and no blood." Naruto gave a strong nod before Konan jumped back, putting some distance between herself and the blond.

His first instinct was to bite his thumb and run through the necessary hand seals, but he caught himself unconsciously moving his hand towards his mouth. After shaking his head and taking a deep breath, Naruto gathered his chakra and envisioned the animal he wanted to summon. He closed his eyes and pictured the bird that he saw during his fight with Pain. The image as clear as it can get, he snapped his purple rippled eyes open and threw his open palm down onto the ground. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

Sealing script appeared from beneath Naruto's hand as a loud bang echoed through the training ground. A massive plume of smoke cleared to reveal an enormous bird with greyish green feathers sat upon the ground. Kakashi and Sasuke paused their own training to stare at the large and unusual summon. It was nearly as tall as Gamabunta, and had three legs, one of which looked to be on its back near its tailfeathers. Its beak was jagged and was the second most prominent feature of the bird. What drew the attention of the two Sharingan users was the presence of the Rinnegan, along with two of the black piercings that had been present in Pain's bodies.

As the last of the smoke cleared, Naruto stumbled slightly. Just like his shadow clones, he could see what this gargantuan bird could see. It took him a moment to gain his bearings, but his experience with the shadow clones meant that he was used to seeing more than one field of vision at a time.

Konan made her way over to the blond, who was staring at the enormous bird. He noticed that the summon had been motionless thus far, even its purple rippled eyes were unmoving. "Hey, why isn't it moving? Summons usually act on their own, don't they?"

"I was just about to talk to you about that, actually. You've likely noticed that you share a field of vision with this summon just like with your shadow clones, yes?" Naruto turned to the blue haired woman and nodded. "What sets the summons of Chikushōdō apart is this shared field of vision, along with the ability to control them yourself, much like your shadow clones. You just need to think the actions you want the summon to perform, and they will do so."

Naruto scratched his cheek. "So, if I want it to fly, I just think 'fly'?" The moment the word left his mouth, the bird sprang up into the air with a mighty flap of its wings. The Rinnegan user let out a shriek at the sudden movement. Flying was certainly different than walking, running, or throwing a punch, but after a minute or so of gaining his bearings, Naruto was able to at least keep the giant bird level. Kakashi and Sasuke stared slack-jawed at the summon, marveling at the sheer size of it. Naruto had tried to perform more complex maneuvers such as hard turns, dives, and rolls. The two Sharingan users opted to put their training on pause and see just what the blond was up to.

Konan turned to meet Kakashi's half-lidded eye with her amber orbs. The copy ninja fought to keep his cheeks from turning pink before he spoke. "So, what's this ability that Naruto's working on?"

"While his shadow clones are training themselves in Banshō Ten'in, Naruto has started learning to control the summons granted to him by Chikushōdō," she explained to an attentive Kakashi and Sasuke. The former hummed in acknowledgment, turning his eye to the blond on the ground.

"So how does it work?" Sasuke prompted. Konan then proceeded to explain how the summons were unique in that they didn't require blood contracts or hand seals to summon, shared a field of vision with the summoner, and could be controlled like his shadow clones. Sasuke nodded slowly as he absorbed all the information. "If the summons don't require contracts, then where do they come from?"

Konan shrugged. "Nagato never told me specifics. My best guess is he somehow acquired them."

Sasuke hummed in response, turning his attention back to his teammate and the bird. It was rather remarkable that he was able to learn to control a summon like that using only his mind. He seemed to already have the hang of it, and after a few more twists and turns, Naruto set the bird back down to dispel it in another large cloud of smoke.

The Rinnegan user turned back to Konan, watching her for her next instructions, but not before flashing his signature foxy grin. Kakashi simply nodded in approval of his progress, while Sasuke offered a smirk.

"One last thing, and then we'll call it a day," the blue haired woman began. "Just as it's possible to have more than one summon active at a time with a blood contract, it's possible to have more than one summon granted to you through the Rinnegan. Of course, you'll still have the linked vision, along with full control of both summons. Try summoning two at the same time, using both hands."

Naruto nodded as the observing trio backed away a few paces. The blond closed his eyes and gathered his chakra, picturing the two animals he wanted to summon: the two-headed dog and the rhinoceros. He snapped his eyes open, slamming down one palm after the other. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

Two loud booms erupted, one after the other. Their respective clouds of smoke combined into one mass. When it cleared, there stood two beasts: a two-headed dog with brown fur and a black and dark grey rhinoceros, both bearing Rinnegan in place of normal eyes. They were about double the height of Gamakichi.

Each head of the dog had Rinnegan and a black spike driven through the top of its muzzle. Its sharp teeth appeared to be perpetually bared, giving it a menacing appearance. It had only one tail, but had what looked to be vestigial wings on its back. The rhinoceros looked surprisingly normal, save for the Rinnegan it possessed, along with the same black spike driven through its forehead. It also had the same vestigial wings on its back, which gave it a rather curious appearance.

Just like the bird before, the summons sat motionless as Naruto stumbled over himself. His sense of sight was assaulted once more with multiple fields of vision. This time, however, there were three additional sets of eyes to contend with. Curiously, the two heads of the dog seemed to combine into one panoramic field of vision. After gaining his bearings, he turned once again to Konan. "So, I control these, too? Just like the bird?"

"Correct. It should be a little easier for you, since these summons can't fly," she reasoned. Naruto nodded and focused. The two animals tore off in opposite directions while Naruto stood still. The rhino wasn't as agile as the dog, but could build up a considerable amount of speed. Its horn and resilience meant it could ram into opponents, knocking them back or even taking them out in one fell swoop.

The two-headed dog was not only nimble, but its panoramic field of vision thanks to its extra set of eyes meant it could see threats coming more easily and dodge. Its speed meant it could be used to counterattack or deliver quick, debilitating strikes. Naruto's focus was briefly interrupted by Konan's voice.

"One thing to note about the dog: as it takes damage, it grows more heads." The animals skidded to a halt as the blond snapped his head towards the kimono-clad woman. Sasuke and Kakashi slowly turned their gazes towards Konan as well.

"Say what?!" Naruto blurted. The two Sharingan users simply stared at her, trying to hide their curiosity.

Konan nodded. "The most I've seen it grow is ten heads at once." Sasuke and Naruto's jaws went slack, while Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "The dog is one of the more versatile summons that you have access to. It has other capabilities, but we'll touch on those another time. I think this is a good stopping point for today. Kakashi?"

The silver-haired jōnin stepped forward, nodding. "I would agree. You're welcome to train or spar some more, but it looks like your shadow clones are off refining one of the techniques you learned. You've also shown considerable aptitude with your summoning and control of said summons." Kakashi finished with his signature masked smile, which was returned by Naruto's toothy grin. "Right then. Same time tomorrow. See you then." With that, Kakashi vanished in a swirl of leaves, while Konan left a swirl of sheets of paper.

Naruto dispelled his summons, turned to his roommate. "You feel like sparring?"

"Normally I would, but I have to take care of something. You still wanna find out more about your eyes, yeah?" The Rinnegan user nodded before Sasuke continued. "I'm gonna head to the Hokage Tower and see what I can do about accessing the Uchiha archives. I'll meet you at home, just make sure you dispel your clones. Also don't worry about making dinner, there's leftover miso soup."

Naruto nodded before dispelling his clones, one group at a time. He took a moment to process the memories that flooded his mind before flashing a foxy grin to his friend. "I'll see you at home then, Sasuke." With that, Sasuke flickered away towards the Hokage Tower. Naruto made his way out of the training ground and towards the residential district.


Naruto had briefly considered heading to Ichiraku for dinner, but thought better of it when he realized how light his wallet, Gama-chan, had become with his lack of income from missions. His monthly stipend hadn't come in, either, and would likely come later rather than sooner. Sure, he could have some instant ramen, but his stash was running low, and he didn't want to dig into the specialty flavors. At least Sasuke's miso soup was good.

His sage cloak billowed slightly in the gentle breeze. It was a bit warm, but the late afternoon air was refreshing. He had just set foot into the residential district when he heard his name being called by a familiar feminine voice. The blond turned to see a head of bubblegum pink locks making their way towards him.

"Oh, Sakura! What's up?" He called.

It was then that he took notice of what Sakura was wearing. Gone was her apron-like skirt, along with her peach-colored elbow coverings. She instead wore a qipao-style top that was shorter than what she had worn as a genin. It was still sleeveless, but the Haruno crest was on the back instead of on the bottom front. The lower half was cut along the back, front, left, and right to allow for mobility. She wore longer spandex leggings that stopped just below her knees. Sakura had also replaced her knee-high sandals with high-topped ones that looked similar to Naruto's, except hers had higher heels than his. She still wore gloves, but Naruto noticed that they were now fingerless, likely to help with dexterity for medical jutsu. Her medical pouch was fastened to her left hip by a peach-colored belt, while she kept her kunai pouch strapped to her right thigh.

The blond tried to calm the blush that painted his cheeks a rosy color. He always thought Sakura was pretty, but this new outfit of hers made her look like an even more serious kunoichi than before. Naruto wondered if his change of style had the same effect on her the day of the shopping trip.

Sakura's voice broke Naruto out of his stupefied gawking. He winced internally when he realized he had been staring and hoped the pink haired kunoichi hadn't noticed. "I've actually been looking for you. Do you have some time? I wanted to talk to you about something."

Naruto blinked at his teammate. "Uh, yeah, actually, I was just heading home." An idea hatched in his mind as he spoke. "Come to think of it, why don't you come with me and we can talk over some dinner?" As the words left his mouth, he realized how his offer could be misconstrued, and braced himself for a chakra-enhanced right hook, or a smack to the head.

"That sounds great, actually." Sakura surprised even herself with how quick her response was, never mind the fact that Naruto's jaw had gone slack.

"Oh. Great! Let's go, then!" He wasn't sure why, but Sakura agreeing to have dinner with him had filled him with elation. Maybe it was because it would be the first time he's had company other than Sasuke, or maybe he was just glad to finally be able to spend time with his pink haired crush.

The two set off, making small talk about their respective days and how they had gone. As it turned out, Sakura had taken time to train her combat skills with Tsunade, which would explain why she was wearing her new ninja gear as opposed to her usual red top and pencil skirt combo. Tsunade had apparently drilled her in further improving her chakra-enhanced strength, particularly when it came to her kicks. Naruto knew firsthand that she had a killer right hook, and shuddered at the thought of being on the receiving end of one of her chakra-enhanced kicks.


Sasuke being absent was unexpected for Sakura, especially since their gatherings almost always included all three of them. The voice in her head had been whispering incessantly about the fact that she was about to have dinner with Naruto, and only Naruto. As in, alone with Naruto. And not Sasuke. Feeling her old Inner Self beginning to return, she quickly silenced that pesky little voice, trying to focus on the matters at hand.

She sat on the couch, cup of tea in hand, while Naruto fixed dinner for them. He was originally going to have the leftover miso soup that Sasuke left him, but decided to cook since he had a guest. He opted to make something simple: grilled fish. It had been a staple of his before he discovered the ambrosia known as instant ramen, so he knew a thing or two about how to make it taste better than what it was.

Naruto beckoned for Sakura after setting the table. She sat down just as he set down two small plates, each holding three umeboshi. Sakura blinked at the choice of side dish. "Since when do you like umeboshi?"

Naruto shrugged. "I tried them one time and I liked them. The sweet ones with honey are really good, too."

Sakura couldn't help but stare at her teammate, a light blush dusting her cheeks. Had he planned this? Did he somehow know that umeboshi were one of her favorites? Did someone tip him off? She pushed those thoughts down as they both offered their gratitude for the meal.

Naruto was many things: her classmate, her teammate, her friend, a strong shinobi, a dense blockhead, a former prankster, and an all-around goofball. Being a good cook was something that Sakura hadn't expected out of him. The fish was delicious; well-seasoned but not spicy, and perfectly cooked, to boot. She had to admit, he caught her eye after returning from his trip with Jiraiya. His change of wardrobe had certainly highlighted how mature he looked, and even made him look more handsome as a result. She couldn't help but steal a few glances at him now and again, wondering when he had grown into what he was now.

Sakura cleared her throat after taking a sip of tea, refocusing on the reason she was there in the first place. "So, you said you've been training with Konan. What new things have you learned besides what you used for that prank you pulled on Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei?"

Naruto hummed as he chewed. "Well, I summoned a few animals. They weren't toads. One was a huge bird, and then I summoned a rhino and a dog with two heads."

Sakura was about to take another bite when her hand froze, her chopsticks gripping a piece of fish. "A dog with two heads?"

"Yeah! It was weird. I could also control the summons and see what they saw, just like my shadow clones."

The pink haired kunoichi blinked as Naruto ate. She shook her head to snap herself out of her stupor. "So, Naruto."

The blond hummed as he took a sip of tea.

"You're training these abilities, but do you know much about your Rinnegan? Other than what Konan has told you?"

Naruto set his cup down, replaying the events of the night at the Naka Shrine in his head. He met Sakura's gaze after giving a small shrug of his shoulders. "Other than what you guys have told me? Not really."

Sakura nodded as she dug into her rice. "Do you remember what Kakashi-sensei said about who had the Rinnegan before you?"

"I know Nagato was one. The other one was some…guy, right?"

The pink haired kunoichi grimaced at Naruto's consistently shoddy memory. One of these days she would have to help him with that, somehow. "That 'guy' was the Sage of Six Paths."

Naruto snapped his fingers. "Yeah him! He was really strong or something right?"

Sakura giggled. "I mean, I would think so, since he's considered the ancestor of shinobi. Shizune was telling me what she knew, also. It's pretty much the same, though: he lived a really long time ago. Before the First Hokage and even before hidden villages existed, and was one of the strongest people alive. His Rinnegan were part of what made him legendary, at least according to Shizune."

Naruto hummed in acknowledgment as he continued eating. Sakura couldn't help but notice that even his table manners had improved significantly. She hadn't paid much attention during their last outing, being too focused on Sasuke's reaction to Hinata arriving and joining them.

Admonishing herself for getting distracted again, Sakura finally found her voice after a moment of quietly stealing glances between bites of food. "So, Naruto. I think I have an idea that might help you."

Naruto's purple eyes met Sakura's green ones as he cocked his head, an expression of curiosity painted onto his face as he hummed. The pink haired kunoichi couldn't help but lightly blush under his intense but innocent gaze. Admittedly, the appearance of the Rinnegan was a bit unsettling, especially given how small and narrow the pupils are. Yet despite how strange they looked, they could still convey the emotions that his previous sapphire blues could. There was something about their color that made it hard to look away from them. They reminded her of amethysts.

"Well, do you want to know more about your eyes?"

Naruto nodded.

"I was gonna suggest checking the library or the archives to see if you can find anything."

"What would I even look for?"

"My first guess would be stuff about history. Maybe even mythology, since the Sage is considered more of a myth than anything. Though, I'm not sure how much you'll be able to find, since I don't remember seeing many books or scrolls on the Sage. Come to think of it, I don't think we ever talked about the Sage of Six Paths at the academy, either…"

Naruto groaned. "Is it even worth looking through a bunch of books and scrolls if I won't find anything?"

Sakura pointed her chopsticks at him. "You never know unless you try."

The blond grumbled, reluctantly conceding. She had a point, after all. "I guess I can check it out after training. What if I can't find anything even after looking?"

His pink haired teammate shrugged, chewing on an umeboshi. "To be honest, I don't really know. Maybe you could talk to Lady Tsunade and see what she tells you?"

An idea popped into Naruto's head. "Maybe I could ask to look through some of the Forbidden Scrolls!" He flashed his signature toothy grin.

Sakura nearly choked on her tea before glaring at the blond, her left eye twitching. She would have definitely smacked him upside the head for that remark had the table not been between them. "Absolutely not, you knucklehead! They're called the Forbidden Scrolls for a reason!" She barked, causing Naruto to flinch and raise his hands in a placating gesture.

"I didn't say I would just go look at them! I said I would ask to look at them!"

Sakura glowered at her teammate before huffing. "Still, only the Hokage and other high-ranking people are supposed to be able to see those. We're only chūnin, so I doubt we have the clearance."

Naruto shrugged. "True, but I bet if I had permission from Granny, I'd be able to look at one or two, at least. After all, we don't know what kinda info the scrolls have."

The kunoichi let out an exasperated hum as she chewed her last umeboshi. He had a point; special clearance could be granted by the Hokage, and that was more likely to happen than not, given the circumstances. "Maybe check with the library and the archives first, and then ask about the Forbidden Scrolls. If you're going to do research, be thorough."

Another groan escaped the blond. He was never a fan of bookwork, as was evident by his grades as an academy student, not to mention his tendency to fall asleep during Iruka's lectures. However, he knew that if he really wanted to find out what his eyes meant as opposed to what they could do, he would need to hit the books. He managed to put up with Jiraiya's antics for two-and-a-half years, he figured he could manage some relatively light reading.

A familiar thought invaded Naruto's mind. "Hey Sakura?"

"Yeah?"

The blond fidgeted in his chair, picking at his umeboshi with his chopsticks. "Do you think I'll be able to keep my eyes secret?"

Sakura blinked at her teammate and friend. Her mouth opened and closed, as though she were about to say something, but no words came. The pink haired kunoichi sighed. "To be honest? I'm not sure. I mean, secrets don't stay secrets forever. Why do you ask?"

It was Naruto's turn to sigh. "Sasuke said something similar when I asked him. I ask because, well, Haku and Hinata noticed my sunglasses. And, well, ya know— I just—"

She watched him grow more uncomfortable; a frown marred his face, his purple eyes avoided her gaze as he stumbled over his words. "You're worried, aren't you?"

Naruto gave a small nod.

Sakura's gaze softened along with her tone. "Well, what're you worried about?"

"I'm worried about the wrong person finding out about them and going after any of you to get to me. I know Orochimaru is dead, but the way he was after Sasuke's Sharingan…"

The two shuddered at the memory of the serpentine individual and his lackey. The thought of him or someone like him going after Naruto's Rinnegan, or even Sasuke's Sharingan, was not a welcome one.

Sakura took a deep breath. "Well, Naruto. All our friends are pretty trustworthy, I think. So, I don't think it would be the end of the world if any of them found out about your Rinnegan."

Naruto nodded; she was right, as usual. He returned his attention to her as she continued. "You could always ask Lady Tsunade about it. Or, if you'd like, I can try to ask her for you, since you'll be busy training and studying." A smile tugged at Naruto's mouth as he nodded again.

Amethyst met emerald as Sakura spoke sincerely. "Besides, if someone does want to try to hurt any of us, we'll face them like we've faced everyone else: together."

The two exchanged small smiles, both trying to contain the blush that threatened to show on their cheeks.

Sakura excused herself from the table, washing her dishes and setting them to dry before turning to her blond teammate. "Well, I'd better get going, Naruto. Thanks for having me. Dinner was delicious."

A light dusting of pink adorned Naruto's cheeks before he offered her a genuine smile. Not his usual foxy grin, but an honest-to-goodness smile. "You're welcome! It was really nice to talk to you again. Can I walk you home?"

Sakura answered without missing a beat. "Sure, I'd like that." Once again, she had surprised herself with how quickly she accepted his offer. Normally, she'd have walked home by herself after one of their gatherings. For some strange reason, she'd said yes to Naruto walking her home; not Sasuke, Naruto.

Her Inner Self had finally broken free of her restraints, and decided that now was a good time to chime in. 'The hell is wrong with you, woman?! This is Naruto, not Sasuke! Sasuke is the one that's supposed to cook you dinner and walk you home, dammit!'

Inner Sakura was irate, but Sakura kept her wits about her. 'Quiet, you. The dinner was nice, and it was nice to talk to him. Besides, he's walking me home, not asking me to be his girlfriend.'

'Not yet he's not! Before you know it he'll ask you out again and then he'll try to pull a fast one on you!'

'You and I both know Naruto isn't that kind of guy. Even if he did try something, it's not like we wouldn't beat some sense into him for it.'

'Damn straight!'

With that, Inner Sakura retreated back into the depths of Sakura's conscience. The sun was barely beginning to set, painting the sky with strokes of orange, pink, and purple against the blue. Even the clouds yielded to the divine brush of the sun; some remained white, while others had begun to turn grey. Aside from small talk here and there, Naruto and Sakura were comfortably quiet as they walked to her and Ino's apartment. It was in a different part of the residential district, but not too far from Naruto and Sasuke's apartment. The two bade each other goodnight before Naruto headed home once more.


Sasuke had returned while Naruto had walked Sakura home. The blond was greeted by his roommate eating some of the leftover soup.

"I take it you had company over?"

Naruto froze. "How'd you know?"

Sasuke merely shrugged. "The pans were recently cleaned, and there's dishes drying. So, who did you have over?"

The blond rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "I, um…Sakura…was here…"

The Uchiha cocked an eyebrow, eyeing his roommate with an expectant look, silently asking him to continue.

Naruto tried to calm the blush that had crept onto his cheeks. "I, um, well…I, uh, made her dinner, too."

Sasuke nodded slowly. "That would explain the used pans and the dishes, then. Well, how did it go? What did you two talk about?" Truth be told, he was curious. He knew Naruto adored Sakura, and figured it couldn't hurt to see how the bonehead had handled himself.

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief, opting to sit across from his roommate after getting himself a glass of water. "Surprisingly, it went okay. She wanted to ask me about what I've been able to find out about my eyes."

Sasuke cocked his eyebrow again before Naruto continued. "I didn't tell her about the Uchiha shrine just because I didn't know if you wanted anyone to know about that. I just told her that I knew about as much as what I've been told by everyone."

Naruto paused, taking a drink of water while Sasuke ate. A moment passed before Sasuke spoke again. "So, she asked about your Rinnegan."

Naruto nodded. "She actually also suggested that I check the library and the archives to see if there's any books or scrolls on history or mythology, since the Sage of Six Paths was more of a myth than anything, according to her."

Sasuke hummed as he chewed on a grape tomato. "So, are you gonna do it? Or are you gonna say 'screw it' like you did every time we had to read up on history back in the academy?"

The blond frowned. "Of course I'm gonna do it! I wanna know what my eyes mean besides being really powerful. I was actually thinking of asking Granny about looking through the Forbidden Scrolls for anything."

Sasuke nearly choked on his tomato, coughing violently before staring at his roommate like he had sprouted a second head. "The Forbidden Scrolls? Have you lost your mind? Only the Hokage and other select few are allowed to even be in the same room as the Scrolls."

"I know, I know. Sakura already lectured me about it. I'm only saying I'll ask Granny about it. I'm not just going to waltz in and try and look for something without permission."

The Uchiha snorted. "No offense, but I really wouldn't put it past you to do just that."

Naruto groaned. "Aw come on, Sasuke, have a little faith in me."

The raven-haired shinobi chuckled. "I do, but even you have to admit that you can be a bit rash."

The blond pouted and blew a raspberry, crossing his arms with a huff. Sasuke offered him a commiserating smile, which Naruto returned with his own signature grin.

A lightbulb went off in Naruto's head. "Oh yeah, how'd your thing with Granny go?"

"About as well as I expected. The Uchiha archives are sealed, and it'll be at least a few days before I can access them. Something about clans and clan heads, the rights that clan heads have, my situation; it was boring even for me. But, by all rights, I should have full and unrestricted access, but I guess we'll see how that pans out. I'm hoping that I can find something that'll help you."

Naruto rubbed the back of his neck. "Ya know, Sasuke, if it's too much trouble, you don't have to do thi—"

"I know I don't, but I want to." Naruto blinked at Sasuke's interruption. A moment passed before Sasuke continued. "You already know what I'm going to say, but I'll say it anyway. You're my brother and I'm going to help you."

Naruto's mouth hung open before he regarded his brother by bond with a soft smile. "Alright. Thanks, Sasuke. I really do appreciate it."

Sasuke hummed. "Don't expect me to be such a sap all the time, whiskers."

The blond chuckled. "I'd rather you save the sappiness for Hinata, anyways, duckbutt."

Sasuke's face flushed crimson. "K-kiss my ass."

Naruto's raucous laughter filled the apartment.


A/N: Konan is shaping up to be a good sensei, dontcha think? As far as the various creatures that Nagato summoned as Pain? Well, I figured he must have collected them if they weren't just omnipresent for all eternity or whatever. Inner Sakura is a fun character, also. I wish she stuck around later, if only as a source of comic relief. As always, thank you for reading! Fav/follow if you enjoyed, and feel free to leave a review! Chapter 10 in the works!