Author's note: I'm back everyone with the latest installment. I'm not gonna lie, I'm still trying to figure out how to carefully write this chapter but I'm hoping to have this done in about a week or so because I have a lot more juicy stuff to follow en suit. Anyways I won't steal your reading time away, go on now. Enjoy…
The entire village was in a state of dismay, as the rumor of what happened to Naruto spread like wildfire. The ones who seemed most affected though were Hinata, Jiriaya and Kakashi. All three didn't know how to respond to the news of what happened. Hinata refused to believe it was true, and an uncanny anger arose inside of her as she threw herself into intense training pushing her body further than it ever has been. All she could think of was the worst and she didn't want to believe it to be true so she tried to ignore it.
Kakashi was another story, he could understand how it could be true, he saw the memories for himself first hand from Naruto, he knows that the boy overestimated himself fighting against Obito and that's most likely why he lost. The best way for him to have fought the man would have been with himself, Kakashi knows he could have used his mangekyou to negate Obito's and turned the tide in his fight. Kakashi was beating himself up for not being there, and as always someone near and dear to him is gone, probably forever. It had only been a few days, but everyone was taking a toll and Kakashi was really beating himself up.
Jiraiya could be found outside the village, he refused to let Naruto be alone wherever he was. Jiraiya was pulling in every favor he had to try and find his boy, following up on any lead he could, and questioning every man in his network to see if they knew anything. He couldn't bear to know that Naruto had actually lost and was going to do anything he could to get him back. Something wasn't right and he needed to figure it out, for the last few years everything had been going more than perfect and now things were suddenly changing fast and he was worried. Naruto had used that jutsu to bring him back to fix things, to start over and have a second chance at everything, but something was wrong. The only person who could give them answers had been dead for a very long time. He just hoped he could find something about the jutsu, but there probably wasn't anything that old. Even sealing jutsu hadn't been created yet so the chance of him finding anything was slim to none. Jiraiya didn't care though he needed to find something out, and his best bet is to start talking with Bijuu… if that was even possible.
"I thought I was going to capture the Kyuubi jinchuuriki" Pein stated as he saw that boy in half a dozen different chakra bindings and seals making him unable to move, or even stay conscious.
"Yea well he tried to stop another fucking sealing process, and he mastered the Kyuubi's chakra so he needed to be stopped and I got there first. Stop acting like a child, you can get the 8 tails if you really want to go destroy a major village that bad. Kumo is nice this time of year I hear anyways." Obito was already really annoyed if not for this damned brat he would already be done he got lucky being able to control both the boy and the Kyuubi with his Mangekyou, it took a lot more effort than he wanted but it all worked out. Now he just needed to finish sealing the last couple bijuu away and then he can be done with this brat. He also needed to bring back Madara soon, but he's really not looking forward to that.
"Watch your tone with me, Madara or not I'm not going to sit back and let you treat me like trash" Nagato stated surprising Obito with the man's tone, he was usually so obedient.
"You better remember why you're so powerful to begin with, those are my rinnegan in your head child" Obito spat out, in reality they were about the same age, but Nagato didn't need to know the full truth.
"If you want to keep me on your side then stop being such a shit or else we will have to see who truly is stronger, you or I, and Kisame is loyal to me so you'll have your hands full with just the two of us." The two stared each other down for a minute before Obito sighed, fighting would get him nowhere he still had Bijuu to seal.
"I'm sorry, better?" The man's gaze didn't change any, but his apology was half hearted at best, "Everything has been stressful lately let's collect the last of the Bijuu and then everything will be fine."
"I'll send Zetsu to check out Kumo, if the Hachibi is there I'll go myself, if not I'll wait" Nagato said, Obito nodded before walking away from the man.
Things were getting tense and Nagato was getting hard to control, and even he had to admit that he would be tough to fight. He had no doubt that he would win, but if Konan and Kisame joined the fight… even he didn't want to push things too far, 3 S-SS rank shinobi wouldn't be an easy fight.
Nagato didn't like this, things were off and the more he found himself listening to Obito, the more his words aggravated him. For some reason he kept feeling like this was all wrong, the more they captured the jinchuuriki, the more destruction he saw being caused, he wondered if they were actually doing good. All he saw was people becoming more and more hurt, Nagato grabbed his head as he felt a headache coming on. All he could think about was Yahiko, he didn't know why but he saw his old friend sitting there with himself and Konan laughing and enjoying life. Nowadays, he couldn't even think of the last time he smiled, or even saw Konan smile, let alone laugh. He named himself Pein to show the world the pain they caused him and his friend, to show that war and piligaing only brought hurt, he took in Obito because his plan sounded real and that it could help, but now all he can think about is those he's hurting.
How could what he's doing be right if all it leads to is more pain, Nagato looked down at Naruto lying there all alone, he knew Obito had disappeared and wouldn't return for some time. This boy, he had heard, had a way with words, maybe he should talk with him, as it is they are both Uzumakis. Nagato moved towards the boy with Yahiko's body (seeing as how his main body was too frail to walk on its own) until he was above the boy before sitting on the ground in front of him. "It's time we talked 9 tails." Naruto didn't respond, Nagato slapped the boy on the head hard, Naruto groaned, and tried to open his eyes, but he felt so weak that he couldn't even do that.
"Of course all of these damned seals are making you so weak you can't even talk, fine I'll get rid of this one" Nagato being an Uzumaki, who was trained by Jiraiya had actually picked up fuinjutsu years ago, he re wrote one of the weaker seals on Naruto's body so that he could at least stay conscious, he was confident enough that Naruto wouldn't be able to convert enough chakra to actually fight, not like it would even matter.
Once more Nagato hit Naruto, the boy slowly came to, once he got his bearings he realized what was going on, "So this is really it huh? After fucking everything, I lost track of what I was supposed to do and got caught by fucking Obito. What do you want Nagato? Going to seal me up now? Revive the Jūbi and destroy the world? Just get it done with" Naruto said, surprisingly looking defeated, a look no one has ever truly seen on his face.
"I want to talk with you, Uzumaki, to Uzumaki'' Naruto frowned upon hearing this, but decided to see where it could go. "Why do you fight against us? What drives you so hard, I want to understand. Why not give in and help us with our goals."
Naruto scoffed at hearing this, "Are you serious? After how much trouble the sage of sixth paths went to splitting the Jūbi up and sealing the husk into the goddamn moon, you want to know why I'd stop you? Reviving the Jūbi will do nothing for you, even if you could control its power enough for one of you to become its jinchuuriki, then what? Just oppress the entire world, and kill anyone who doesn't listen to you? That's not a world of peace, but a world of fear. No one would be happy again, children wouldn't play, families wouldn't be whole, the world would be bleak and grey, and that's if things go to plan. Let's say you can't control the beast, then you have the goddamn Jūbi rampaging and destroying everything and everyone, undoing everything the sage did." Naruto looked up at Nagato with hate in his eyes, "I don't like feeling like this, I don't like to hate, but your group makes me so mad because you just destroy and kill needlessly, instead of finding a real kind of peace like Yahiko wanted you chose this route, it's like shitting all over your the dead friend whose body you use" Naruto spat out, Pein visibly flinched hearing this.
"We have done a lot wrong, but how do you know so much? How do you know about me? Yahiko, our plans with the Jūbi? There's no way you should have knowledge of any of that"
Naruto laughed, "Oh why does it even fucking matter anymore, it's not like you'll believe me, I'm from the fucking future, I know how this is all supposed to turn out, in my future, you lost. You attacked my village killing almost everyone I know and leveling the place almost to the ground after killing Jiraiya-sensei, and then after I beat all 6 paths and talking to the real you, did you use your soul resurrection jutsu to revive everyone you killed. After that happened a summit was called because Sasuke Uchiha was allied with Akatsuki, and captured Octopops, or so he thought. The fourth great ninja war was started, Akatsuki versus the five great ninja villages plus the samurai. Is that enough or do you want more?" Naruto asked
Pein stared at Naruto for a minute deep in thought thinking about a correct response, "How can I know you're not making this all up"
"Seriously? Do you not see how strong I am even though I'm so young? How almost all the jinchuuriki have had an upper hand. How we have all been more easily avoiding your group and fighting back?" Naruto was making strong points here, Pein wasn't sure how to argue it. "Explain how we got Itachi back on our side, or how I beat Kisame."
"So let's say this is all true, if you truly are from the future, why come back? If you won the war and beat Obito why come back at all? What happened" It wasn;t hard to miss, Naruto's entire demeanor changed.
It was something he could never forget though, Naruto hated to remember what happened that night, even though he came to terms with what happened, it still haunted him. "Sasuke was warped, his mind wasn't his, after the war he left to try and find himself. I beat him and we set the world free, years went by and I scarcely saw him. I had just been appointed Hokage and my son was born. One night Sasuke came by the village, I was in bed asleep when something felt off, I went to go check… Sasuke was a shinobi only on par with myself, no one stood a chance against him, he slaughtered the people of my village and killed my wife and son in front of me. I lost it and we fought, it lasted hours, if not days I can't even remember anymore. By the time it was finished the land of fire was just another battlefield, we leveled half the country in our battle, but I finally killed him." Naruto stopped talking for a moment to catch his breath and calm himself down, he hated thinking about it because his Sasuke here and now was no longer that person.
"You found a way back and decided to fix everything huh?" Pein stated, Naruto shook his head yes. "Well you haven't done such a great job at it, I guess some things are just destined to happen" The man stood up and Naruto knew it was time, he tried his best and in the end it wasn't even close to being enough. They were going to lose and Kaguya was going to return and take over the world. Naruto lowered his head awiting for whatever to happen. A few moments went by and all of a sudden he felt his strength returning to him, he looked up at Pein wondering what had changed, but also ready to fight. "You've given me more than enough, come were going to get my main body and Konan. From now on we are no longer apart of Akatsuki"
…
"WHAT?" Naruto was more than confused by this, he was glad of course, but very confused.
"We don't have too much time to talk about it, just be quiet and follow me" Naruto closed his mouth getting serious, though he couldn't help smirking. This may be enough for things to change. The two quickly moved through the building, Pein was leading of course seeing as he knew the facility better. It didn't take long to get to their desired location.
Konan turned around to greet her friend, only shocked to see Naruto with him. She quickly jumped to action getting ready to attack before Pein stopped her. "Konana stop, it's okay I set him free."
The woman's eyes grew as her shock became more than obvious, "Does that mean we're finally leaving?" Pein nodded and Konan fell to the ground, her shoulders settling down as she relaxed, "You've finally returned Nagato, I was so worried the good in you would never come back, it's why I never left you because I couldn't leave you alone."
Pein picked up the woman letting her hug the body of their dead friend, and with Yahiko's body he hugged her back and spoke, "It's going to be okay, but it's time for me to stop using these puppets, It's time for me to be whole again, say your goodbyes to Yahiko because he won't be coming with us."
Konan smirked, "I said goodbye a long time ago, I'll take control from here and meet you in your room" Pein smirked and all of a sudden Yahiko's body went limp and fell onto the ground. Konan walked over to the body and sealed it up, she couldn't leave the corpse of her friend here, it was time he was given a proper burial. Naruto meanwhile was ecstatic, he couldn't believe this was finally happening, something right, and not something small either, without the rinnegan, they can't seal any of the jinchuuriki. Hell Maybe Nagato can help unseal the Bijuu they already sealed up.
Konan gave Naruto a look and the two left, going to where the real body of Nagato was, it was time to leave. "So this is really happening, you guys are just joining us like that?" Naruto asked, he was still skeptical, but he's seen crazier happen.
"I know how odd it seems, but yes. I never wanted Akatsuki to go the way it did, it was supposed to help bring peace, not cause pain, but after Yahiko died, Nagato lost himself in vengeance. Madara used Nagato, and I couldn't leave him. I kept trying to push him to do the right thing, but I also played a part. Unfortunately, I did anything he asked of me. I'm glad to see Nagato doing the right thing for the first time in a long time. We'll have to be careful leaving, we have some safe places set up we can hide out in for a while though" Naruto cut her off.
"No you guys are coming with me to the leaf village where you'll meet with Tsuande-baachan and Jiraiya-sensei" Naruto said firmly. Konan nearly tripped over herself as she felt her throat get choked up.
She hadn't seen or thought about her sensei in a very long time, she knew one day she may even have to fight him if Nagato asked, but she didn't think she would have to face him and ask for forgiveness, that somehow seemed harder. "He won't accept us, they'll probably just banish us and lock us in a dungeon and take away Nagato's eyes" Konan could only think of the worst but Naruto put a hand on her shoulder, somehow just his presence reminded her of Yahiko, it shocked her how much that simple gesture calmed her down before the boy spoke.
"You must not remember our sensei then, Ero-sennin might be a tough guy, but he loves you guys. He didn't even know you guys were alive until recently, he learned during the war that all three of you had died and it broke him for a long time, if anything he'll be beyond relieved to see you and Nagato. Just apologize and help us beat Obito, do the right thing and i promise it will be alright, it may take time to get his trust back, but Jiraiya is a forgiving man." Naruto gave her a smile and Konan placed her hand upon Naruto's.
She didn't even know what to say or how to act. This boy that just a few days ago, hell a few hours ago she was ready to kill him if it meant peace, and now here he is talking to her like they're old friends. It amazed her how much he reminded her of Yahiko, it made her eyes water thinking about her old friend, she knew the two of them would have been best friends if they had ever met. Naruto opened his eyes, still grinning and looking cheerful but a seriousness to him that amazed her. "You're something else, Naruto Uzumaki," Konana said before she kissed the boy's cheek leaving him freaking out and stuttering. He was trying to get something out about having a girlfriend and not wanting to date older women but she laughed before telling him to shut up.
The two continued onward through the building for another minute before coming to a dead end. Konan pushed through showing that her paper was making a fake wall that was hiding Nagato's real body. Nagato opened his eyes, his rinnegan glowing in the dark room, "I'm glad you're here, now let us hurry and leave before Obito returns" The two nodded and came over to the man to help him out of his chair. Nagato put his hand on Naruto's shoulder though and before Naruto could stop him, Nagato pulled out a serious amount of chakra and life force, rejuvenating himself. Naruto quickly jumped back and pulled out a kunai, "What the hell!"
Nagato put up his hand, "I'm sorry but I figured it would be best if I could move on my own, and you're one of the few people I could do that to and not have to worry about killing." Meanwhile Konan was surprised to see her old friend look like his old self. Just a minute ago he looked like a frail, dying old man, now he was young, the red in his hair returned, his body no longer malnourished.
"Just ask next time jeez, I was ready to fight you, and that is not something I want to do if I can help it" Naruto stated.
Nagato laughed, for the first time in years he laughed, "He reminds me of Yahiko, doesn't he Konan" The woman smiled and replied in kind. Nagato got out of the chair on his own, walking for the first time in a decade, if not longer. Without another word spoke the three of them left Ame, not knowing what would come next, but hoping it would be enough.
It would be another day and a half before Obito realized what happened and that Nagato left and he brought Naruto with them. He was glad he had the man seal the two tailed Bijuu before all of this happened, but he was beyond enraged. He had contingency plans for just about anything, even if he had died somehow, but not for this. He believed in his ability to beat Nagato in a one on one fight, maybe even two on one if he had Konan or someone else, but without the rinnegan in his own eye he didn't know how well he would hold up. He needed to go and find some people, plans were changing and he needed to get his hands on the rinnegan if he was going to seal the rest of the bijuu.
Nagato, Konana and Naruto in that day and a half had made a lot of progress towards the leaf village. Naruto had thought about using the toad's to get a message to Jiraiya, but didn't want to risk Obito finding them out in the open, they all three agreed it was best to avoid a fight, even if the odds were on their side. They were going to travel by foot, and camp out in the forest as need be. They were making really good progress, but were still on high alert, until they got back to the leaf, everyone was an enemy.
Naruto couldn't help but ask the two all kinds of questions, he never really learned much about the group, Jiraiya told him a little bit this time around, but he was curious to know things from their side now that they had more time. He remembered most of the story from Nagato that he heard before, but now there were more details, and he learned more things. Konan cheerped in constantly too, it was nice seeing them like this, he could tell that they were happier just telling the stories, and for once being free to make their own decisions without being tricked by anyone.
The travel back thankfully was safe, it was night time when they came upon the village, and not early either. Naruto knew there was going to be a lot of shit given, and that he would have a lot to explain he just hoped that Jiraiya was around.
Naruto led the trio around the gate guards and headed to the Hokage's office as quickly as possible, it took only a few minutes to get there. Naruto looked at the clock outside the Hokage's door, and saw that it read 2:00 am. He sighed before knocking hard on the door, after hearing an "Enter" He opened the door showing himself with Nagato and Konan, he saw tears start swelling up in Tsunade's eyes.
"Hey Baachan" Naruto said with worry in his voice, it wasn't that long ago he came to terms with the fact he was actually going to lose and die. Now here he was in front of someone he considered family.
Before Naruto knew it Tsunade had jumped the desk and had her arms around Naruto trying not to let her tears drop. "You fucking idiot, you could have died. Who would have taken over for me than if that happened huh? Itachi doesn't want this fucking job, and Kakashi would sooner high tail it out of here than become Hokage." She was trying to joke her way out of the situation, Naruto just smiled and hugged the women back.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to worry I wasn't in the right headspace, but I'm back now, and I brought some friends. Is Jiraiya around? He needs to see this for himself, both of you need to be around for this, but him more than you" Naruto said. It was then that Tsunade looked up and saw the guests standing behind her godson. She then saw the rinnegan and she stumbled backwards realising who it was.
"You're those kids Jiraiya stayed back to protect, I'd never forget those eyes of yours." Tsunade gave Naruto a look before sighing, "You are a very fucking weird kid. I don't know anyone who causes as many problems as you do and also manages to bring people to our village who could cause more harm than good if they chose to. Jiraiya isn't in the village but I can call him back soon. As for these two, since they are Akatsuki, they will have to be in T&I chained and locked until Jiraiya gets here and we can all talk." Tsunade didn't sound like she wanted to budge on this issue.
"That's not a good Idea, Please let them stay with me, we'll be at my dad's house and we won't leave. I don't want anyone knowing I'm home yet anyways, not until we talk with Jiraiya because I have some plans but I need everyone around to fully explain it" Tsunade gave the boy a look.
"I don't know If I can okay this Naruto, I get wanting to keep secrecy, but this is a whole different level, him there with those eyes gives him the power just to level our entire village, I'm half tempted to take those eyes of his out just for safety" Tsunade stated with worry in her voice.
"If it makes everyone easier you can take my eyes, all I ask is for a new set, and if everything gets cleared that I may be able to get them back. If I can't be trusted though I understand, I've caused a lot of pain to a lot of people and it's time to right my wrongs." Everyone, including Naruto was surprised by this. Konan started to protest but Nagato stopped her. "Don't worry Konana, everything will be alright, all I ask is that Naruto here gets to be the protector of my eyes. As another Uzumaki, I trust him. After we talked… I know he's the child of prophecy Jiraiya told me about years ago. I thought that i may be that child due to the eyes I have, but I realize with all I have done, that it can't be me. Naruto is the savior we need, so I want him to protect them, whether it's in his head or a jar in a seal. I don't care, I trust he'll do good by me."
"Don't worry, I won't wear your eyes. I'll put them in a protective seal that'll stop any kind of decay or damage to them" Naruto said as he pulled out paper and ink, and started writing Kanji.
"You'll have to go without sight for a few days, then while I find a set of eyes for you, eyes aren't really something that's easy to come by." Tsunade said.
"It's fine, with my Uzumaki blood/lineage, I can accept anything you put into my head, my body will acclimate to it no matter what. Us Uzumaki's aren't just fast healers, we're the best healers." Nagato said, Tsunade nodded, feeling off about this. The entire situation was just weird, but she walked over to the boy and activated her jutsu. Her hands glowed green as she numbed the nerves around his eyes and started to carefully sever all the nerves so as to properly remove the eyes without damaging anything, she didn't want to take any risks.
After about ten minutes had gone by she finally finished and handed the eyes to Naruto very carefully who sealed away the eyes. She then called in Anbu who came in with Chakra cuffs and took away the two leaders of Akatsuki. "It's always something with you, why do you always have to cause so much trouble? So many problems for everyone? I love you Gaki, but seriously you need to get your shit together" Tsunade said in a very serious voice.
Naruto lowered his head sighing, "You're right, I just want to protect everyone, I hold the weight of the world on my shoulders and keep disregarding the people around me, because I know how strong I am, how not that many people truly are on my level. I know how I can make a real difference, so I hate sitting still, I forget I can't do everything" Naruto said, being honest with the women.
"Just get out of here, plenty of your friends including your girlfriend are out of the village right now trying to find you." Tsunade said, making Naruto flinch at the harshness of her words. "When Jiraiya gets back is when you'll be allowed to leave your home, until then go wait for me to call you back. If Hinata gets back just know I'll have to tell her you're home, she's living there anyways and will find out." Naruto nodded and turned around to leave, upset at himself for causing so much trouble over the last few weeks.
"I love you Gaki, please be safe I don't want to lose you too" Naruto nodded his head as he left, tears rolling down his cheek.
Naruto silently made his way back to his home, when a thought struck him. Something Hiruzen told him years ago that he forgot about, he knew it was late but he needed answers and that's what he was gonna get. Naruto quickly made his way over to the Sarutobi compound. All the lights were off, he knew Asuma wasn't here due to his relationship with Kurenai, and he could easily get around Konohamaru. Naruto broke into the home easily enough and quickly figured out which room belonged to the late kage before knocking on the door.
"Whose there" Hiruzen was a lot of things, but he knew Konohamaru was too old to be wanting his grandpa. At the same time an assassin wouldn't knock and Anbu would just come into his room.
"It's me jiji" Naruto's voice, he couldn't believe he was hearing it. It seemed like it had been years since he last heard that boy's voice. Hiruzen quickly put a robe on and opened the door.
"Naruto boy, what are you doing here so late at night? I was ready to fight. If one thing, retirement has given me the chance to get back into fighting shape, and I doubt you would have won. But what do you need? When did you come home? Last I heard you had been kidnapped by akatsuki, everyone's been worried."
"Jiji I don't know why I am just now remembering this, but years ago when I was getting ready for the chunin exams I asked you about an Uzumaki compound, you said I would get it once I was made chunin. I never received the key to that compound, not only that but Arashi was never even offered it when he had the CRA enacted on him, thankfully Sasuke shared some of his old homes. What happened? Why is this a memory I'm struggling to remember" Naruto was at a loss for answers.
Hiruzen stood for a moment trying to remember, but he couldn't and he knows this isn't because of age. "I can't seem to recall ever having this conversation with you, but I know for a fact there is an Uzumaki compound here on the outskirts of the village. I will consult with Tsuande in the morning to find out more, but this isn't good. Me forgetting things at my age is normal, but you shouldn't be fighting to remember this conversation someone's altering with our memories, and if that's true what else are they changing."
Naruto quickly threw back the kage as he jumped out of the way as a couple of senbon lodged into the floor almost hitting them. Naruto could see that they were laced with poison, they may not have killed him, but the old man would have definitely been done for. Naruto saw someone running away and quickly took chase, with the old Hokage quickly following behind him.
"Root" Hiruzen yelled and that told Naruto everything he needed to know.
Naruto stopped chasing the agent and Hiruzen landed next to him, "If this is root, then we should find Danzo. It looks like he was trying to put you to sleep." Naruto stated, the hokage nodded and with a hand seal both of them Shushined to the hokage's office.
"Oh god now what?" Tsunade said looking at the two men who appeared in her office.
Author's note: I'm sorry for the delay in this chapter. I had some writers block and it took me longer than usual to get over it, but here I am now. I hope you all come to enjoy this chapter and the plot twists I have put in. What's going to happen next though? We haven't seen Danzo do anything since Kira attacked, and now he's making moves again. I have some special things in store for all of you! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!