Disclaimer: I dont own either of the franchises used in the making of this story.

Chapter 19: The Trouble With Siblings. Pt.2

Naruto's mind blazed with what he'd just read as the sound of water crashing down echoed through the cave he sat in. It had been several hours since he'd released the genjutsu on the wall and discovered the scroll within.

'Could it really be true?' he thought, absently tossing a stone in one hand as he stared at the waterfall through the opening of the cave in front of him. Ehecatal, now back in his full size, laid curled up next to him, every now and then a small stream of greenish fire would shoot out of his slightly opened snout. The flames would warm the chilled air for a few moments each time they did.

Admittedly, Naruto was grateful for the warmth, as the air was quickly becoming a nuisance to him as he sat and troubled over his findings. He wasn't sure what to think of what the scroll had told him, and for the first time in years he had no one to talk to in his mind as Helena and Thalia were both still asleep and likely would be for several more hours. It was as unsettling for Naruto as it was peaceful since he was used to there being a voice in his head to make comments of his thoughts or ideas.

But he knew this particular finding was something he had to think over on his own. Even if it held the key to freeing his lovers from their respective prisons.

"Partially, anyway." he muttered, correcting himself mid thought. He dropped the pebble and unwound the scroll to near the end. On it was a diagram for a seal, a large seal at that. His Uzumaki mind went into overdrive as Naruto studied it, just as it did the first time he'd looked it over. By far it was the most complex seal he'd even seen, bar none. The sequences described within were almost too much for Naruto to understand. He'd been able to work out that it was a consciousness transferer, and that was about as much as he could understand at his current level in the art, but further down, past symbols that looked more like the makings of a mad man then seals; the scroll just cut off. As if the writer had been interrupted during their recording of it and leaving it incomplete.

Naruto bit back a curse and closed the scroll again. It stung him to be so close to the answer to freeing the girls and still missing that last piece of the puzzle. To top it off the scroll itself had said little to nothing about why the seal was there in the first place. Just that "it'll come in handy"; Naruto had been close to screaming from frustration by the time he'd put the scroll away and left the room to ponder it.

Since then, he'd sat where he did and thought, wondering how exactly any of what the scroll said could be true. There was so much information about certain gods and goddesses that he'd never known. He suspected not even Chiron or any of the campers knew of the contents of the scroll; if what it said was true, especially about a certain goddess and her relationship with the Sage. "At this point I doubt even the gods know what is true about themselves." Naruto muttered bitterly.

Standing up, Naruto stretched his stiff legs, grunting when his knees popped with a sharp pain. He still wasn't fully healed from his fight with that monster or whatever it was, but he was healed enough to head out. After all, Naruto still had things to do before he could return to the mortal realm, and he could tell it was beginning to get dark outside the cave.

-Meanwhile, outside the cave and at the top of the waterfall.-

"He's here." a figure muttered, kneeling next to the waterfall and focusing on the chakra signature he felt beneath him. A smirk grew at feeling the strength of it, "you've grown, otouto. Impressively so."

The mysterious person's fists clenched as he felt Naruto moving through the rock. "But it's not enough to beat me," as he watched, the teen's ringed eyes narrowed when they spied the blonde walk through the wall of water that had parted to let him pass.

"Let's see how you do." he blurred out of existence.

-With Naruto-

"Kid." Ehecatal warned, his body stiffening on Naruto's shoulder.

Naruto's only reaction was to give the slightest nod. "I feel it."

BOOM!

An explosion rocked the spot Naruto stood on. Spraying both sides of the river with torrents of water before it died, leaving no trace of the blonde where he once stood.

There was the sound of whooshing air as a figure dropped out of the sky and landed on the surface of the water. The person studied the spot Naruto had been standing for a moment before phasing out of existence.

'Shit!' Naruto thought, dropping from his position above the cave entrance but behind the waterfall, from where he had positioned a clone to switch with. An instant later the rock wall exploded, the unidentified figure having driven his fist through the spot Naruto had been.

Landing on the water, Naruto jumped away to gain some distance from the person attacking him.

"Barely home for a minute and someone's already trying to kill me." he muttered, coming to a halt several yards away from where he had stood. He took the chance to look around at where he was at.

He was in a valley carved deep into the ground and on either side of the waterfall was a statue of a man, their headbands having the symbol from Konoha. Naruto's forehead creased at realizing where he was.

"The valley of the end."

This was the place where Konoha's founders had fought to the death when one of them, Madara Uchiha, had abandoned the village. It was also the place Helena had been imprisoned by her first jinchuriki and Naruto's ancestor, Mito Uzumaki when she had come to the aid of the first Hokage and later her husband, Hashirama Senju.

"Uugh." a groan sounded through Naruto's mind from the amulet. "What's with all the racket?" Thalia asked, her voice was thick with sleep, but was becoming more aware.

Naruto didn't respond, preferring to instead grab a kunai from his leg holster and hold it at the ready as the attacker emerged from the same spot Naruto had jumped from.

"Who are you?" Naruto barked, Rinnegan blazing to life as he prepared for a fight.

The stranger stayed quiet with his head down. Naruto went stiff as a feeling washed over him. A feeling of immense power. Power that was similar to his own but yet much stronger.

"You should know," the stranger whispered, his voice held just as much power as the feeling did, but carried it much further. He raised his head revealing a fully formed Rinnegan; Naruto froze at the sight.

'How?' he thought, staring into the purple ringed eyes of his attacker.

"What's going on, Naruto?" Thalia asked, turning her attention to the outside world and freezing.

"Shit!"

The stranger vanished and Naruto raised his arms just in time to block a fist from taking his head off his shoulders. He grunted, feeling the amount of force behind the punch as he skid backward from the hit.

The stranger disappeared again. This time Naruto tried jumping for one of the statues, but the stranger appeared next to him in mid air and buried his fist into the blonde's stomach, sending him crashing into the opposite statue instead.

"Who is this human?" Ehecatal asked, popping his head out of Naruto's jacket pocket where he'd retreated to after giving his warning.

Naruto didn't get a chance to answer as he suddenly found himself flying down toward the man who now had his hand raised.

'Bansho Ten'in', Naruto's eyes widened when he realized the technique being used on him before they creased.

"OH HELL NO!" he roared, his own Rinnegan glowing furiously as he brought his hand up, "I am NOT doing this! Shinra Tensi!"

Suddenly, he stopped falling as the repelling force of his Almighty Push canceled out the attracting force of the enemy's Universal Pull. A second passed and then another as the two jutsu fought against each other, one trying to pull Naruto and the other pushing him back. Finally Naruto's Shinra Tensi seemed to win and he was sent flying back in the direction he'd come but he was able to control his fall this time.

He landed, but his moment of respite was short lived as the stranger was on him again, a chakra rod in his hand and coming down at Naruto. The greenish hue around the rod told him it was laced with wind chakra and that the stranger meant to slice him.

He channeled his lightning affinity into his kunai as he held it up to block the rod. The two weapons met with a clang and it was all Naruto could do to keep up with the man as he was on him again; his speed and the ferocity of his attacks out doing any defense the demigod could put up.

As much as Naruto tried, eventually the stranger began to land more hits to him then he blocked and soon Naruto's body was a bloody mess, littered with cuts and slashes, some of them bone deep.

"Guh!" Naruto grunted when the stranger landed a kick to his chest and threw him off the surface of the water and into a heap on the rocky shore.

The stranger looked at the bloodied heap before him with distaste. "8 years of waiting," he muttered. "You disappoint me, brother." another rod emerged from his sleeve as he began approaching the struggling Naruto. "Your death almost isn't worth it."

Inside the amulet

Thalia was a nervous wreck as she watched everything unfolding outside. For the first time in her life she felt utterly powerless to do anything. She'd always been able to have at least some control in any events of her life, being on the run with Luke and Annabeth, her stand on Half-Blood Hill. Even the fights Naruto had been in since she'd come to reside in the amulet she'd been able to offer him warnings to danger. But now, watching their attacker make his way toward Naruto's downed form, she felt as if there was nothing she could do to help the one she loved. He had completely outclassed Naruto in power, speed and maybe even strength; beating him down until he was struggling to stand.

One thing Thalia knew about herself though was that when she got nervous she got angry. And now, with her nerves and worry as they were, her body unknowingly began to spark with electricity, causing an interesting reaction to the amulet's exterior.

Outside

"Interesting." the stranger said, eyeing the amulet hanging from Naruto's neck. "You have one of her trinkets." He studied the sparks coming off it but decided it was nothing having seen Naruto's display of lightning enhancement.

"No matter," he said, increasing his pace until he was running at the blonde. "It will be mine once you are dead!" He brought the rod down toward Naruto's head, the wind chakra around it slicing through the air.

"NO!" Naruto had felt the power building in the amulet during the fight but had not spared it a thought as he had been defending himself. Until now anyway. The sound of a shotgun rang out and lightning blasted out of the golden amulet, arcing around the stranger's chakra rod and blasting into his chest.

The stranger was lifted off his feet and carried into the air until he hit the chest of one of the statues. The stone cratered and the stranger was left in an indent. He did not reemerge.

Naruto, although surprised at what the amulet had done, knew better than to let the situation get any worse. At best the man was knocked out and would be for a while; at worst he was temporarily stunned. He wasn't going to let the chance to get away slip from him. He struggled to his feet and ripped the sleeve off his right arm.

"Ehecatal, get us out of here." he gasped, doing his best to stem the flow of blood from the deepest cut. He saw bone and thanked Hades it hadn't cut through it.

"On it!" the dragon responded, jumping out of Naruto's pocket and poofing back into his normal size. He didn't wait for the blonde to climb onto his back and instead grabbed him by the back of his jacket with his teeth before using his wings to carry them into the air and away from the valley of the end.

-Olympus-

"You realize the others will never go for it, right?" Poseidon asked, warily eyeing his eldest brother. He knew the level of cooperation needed to do what had just been asked of him would likely never happen; especially after Ares' stunt at the camp.

Hades nodded, he understood it would take a monumental effort to get everyone working together in sync, but it was something that needed to be done, not just for their sake, but for their childrens' as well. "I do, but we have to try. The children need our help. More than we can currently give!"

There was a muffled sound coming from the still bound Zeus who was wiggling around in his throne trying to escape. Most of the powder that had been on his face had been dissipated by a layer of sweat from the god's effort, causing it to stream down onto his robes as if it were wet paint. All in all, it made the situation all that more hilarious.

"MMMMPPPHHHHHPPHHHPH!"

"Leading us to our main concern." Hades sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Aye," Poseidon agreed with a nod. "We can try all we want right now, but until that blasted bolt is found and returned a war will be guaranteed." he said, glaring at Zues who returned it with an accusatory glare of his own; clearly he still didn't believe either of them were innocent. "Question is; what do we do now?"

"For now," Hades began, he had a sudden bad feeling and turned to walk out of the throne room, and find Kushina; hopefully she wasn't causing any trouble. "We have faith in our sons."

Poseidon followed after the god of the underworld; neither of them bothered to free Zues. He'd get himself free.

Eventually.

- Shinobi World-

Naruto grunted as he impacted Ehecatal's scaly back for the second time in as many days. The dragon, after ensuring they were many miles away from the valley, had craned his neck until Naruto was safely over his back and released him; allowing the blonde to lay down and recuperate from his fight.

"Who was that guy?" Naruto asked himself. Miserably he hung onto the dragon and enjoyed the feeling of the air around him as best he could while he let his wounds heal.

"Never mind that!" Thalia exclaimed, pulling Naruto's consciousness into the amulet with her.

Naruto promptly found himself grasped by the shoulders and having his life shaken out of him by the near frantic girl.

"How can he have the Rinnegan?" Thalia asked, unconcerned by how hard she was shaking the boy. "I thought you said only an Uzumaki could have the thing! So how the hell is he able to have it?"

Naruto, barely managing to pry himself loose from Thalia's grip, took a moment to answer. "I don't know," he admitted, "the Uzumaki clan was nearly wiped out after the second Great Shinobi World War. Most of those who survived were hunted down or captured." he explained.

"My best guess is that someone managed to make it to safety and this is either him or their child." Honestly, Naruto still didn't like how his thoughts sounded to him, but it was their best guess at the moment.

Kushina had already been in Konoha when the whirlpool village had been whipped out, so there was no telling how many of her clansmen had survived long enough to start anew somewhere else.

Thalia watched as he pondered with her arms crossed and her eyes wild for answers. She could accept the explanation Naruto came up with but it sounded like even he wasn't so sure of it himself.

Abruptly, Naruto's face lit up with an expression of euphoria and his legs almost gave out beneath him.

"Lena's awake," he gasped, "she just pushed a crap ton of chakra through the seal to speed up my healing." as if to show proof of his claim his voice was stronger than it had been when he'd entered the shared mindscape. A second later Helena appeared next to them. Her arms crossed and all nine of her tails twitching in irritation behind her.

"Explain." it wasn't a request.

The two teens didn't waste any time in doing as told; the fox girl's voice left no room for argument; not that they had planned on hiding what just happened from her in the first place, but fear had a funny way of motivating people.

"I see." Helena's voice was thick with concern after hearing the story of Naruto's fight with the stranger. She was unsure of what to make of the situation or of how it was possible that there was seemingly another Uzumaki out there with an awakened Rinnegan.

"Our best guess is that he's a survivor of the whirlpool's massacre or one of their descendants." Naruto explained, leaning against a tree as the three pondered the situation.

"Likely," Helena agreed with a nod. "But it is surprising that someone else with the same bloodline has managed to go so long without being discovered." she said. Normally Rinnegan wielders would have been big news, even in the world of the gods. Helena would have thought that after Naruto's display of power against Ares that everyone would have been on the lookout for more of them. The war god had broadcast their fight to all the villages in the shinobi world afterall.

"Sorry," Thalia said from her spot atop a boulder, "but what do we do now? We can't exactly go back the way we came. That guys been out a while and at this point he's likely going to wake up soon. So how are we gonna get home?"

"We don't." Naruto said, surprising the daughter of Zues.

"I've still got things to do here other than retrieving Dad's Helm." he reminded her.

Thalia bit back a retort, she knew Naruto was right. He'd told her of the things he needed to do once he inevitably came back to the Shinobi realm.

"Once we get those done I'll send a clone to scout out the area. With any luck, both our mysterious friend and the thing back in the cave will be long gone." he said. He waited just long enough to see Thalia and Helena's nods before leaving the mindscape. He needed a bit more time to himself to figure their current situation out before deciding anything.

Naruto knew the stranger would likely retreat from the Valley to heal once he woke up. However, he wasn't so sure about the monster back in the cave. He had to repress a shiver at the memory of the creature's horribly disfigured body and the many, many human forms on its back.

Naruto had never even heard of a monster with the description, let alone something that could hide its presence as well as it did, and judging by their reactions to the sight of it, neither had the girls.

Fear surged through Naruto; if something like that could exist and still not be known about by demigods and Tailed Beasts alike, he dreaded what else was out there waiting to be stumbled upon by any unfortunate souls.

"Where to first?" Helena asked, breaking Naruto out of his thoughts. He sat up on the dragon's back, securing himself between Ehecatal's wings as his eyes narrowed with unpleasant memories.

'We need to find Jiraiya and ask to sign the toad contract. Konoha is our best chance.' he replied, feeling a strong distaste in his mouth at the mention of his former home.

'Hokage-jiji will know how to find him.' Although the thought of the aged Hokage brought Naruto a small smile it soon flipped at remembering that Jiraiya was supposed to have been his godfather and should have been there to protect the blonde as a child.

"The Toad Sannin has a lot to answer for." Naruto muttered angrily as Helena nodded inside the mindscape.

"Ehecatal," he called for the dragon's attention. "Head for Konoha, I need to take care of some business there."

Ehecatal nodded, a serious look for his expression as he flapped his wings and adjusted their course to head for the direction of the Hidden Leaf.

One thing was for sure, so much had changed in the seven years he was gone that Naruto was in for a shock when he returned to Konoha.

-Hidden Whirlpool-

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose in frustration and stamped the last denied on a retrieve Naruto mission request. He got several of them a day, mostly from Kakashi, Kurenai and Tsunade, and all of them were swiftly denied and tossed away; it was really starting to get on the old man's nerves.

'Damn it,' he groaned as he sat back and turned to stare through the window at Uzugakure, 'when will these people learn that it's pointless to go and search for someone who doesn't want to be found? Just the knowledge that he's alive and well should be enough for them.' He thought, before his eyes gained a misty look.

'Had I known that your treatment was going to be what it was, Naruto, I would have never announced your jinchuriki status to the village. I was such a fool to think the villagers would be able to let go of their hatred.' He thought, shaking his head at his own foolishness.

"Where are you now, Naruto?" Sarutobi asked, glancing up to the starry sky.

"That's what I would like to know." A dark voice sounded before an explosion rocked the building.

Hiruzen jumped up as soon as he heard the voice and leapt for the window. He'd barely cleared the frame of it when the explosion occurred. He found himself standing outside staring up at the now burning building he'd just been in when a shimmer appeared several feet in front of him and a man wearing a swirling mask appeared.

"Who are you?" the aged kage asked, flaring his chakra to signal both that he was alive and that he needed help. He could feel the chakra signatures of several shinobi heading in his direction already including both Tsunade and Jiraiya. He hoped they got here soon; he could tell this person was powerful. Especially so if he managed to sneak past the guards stationed around the Uzukage's building.

The man didn't answer, instead continuing to stare at the Sarutobi.

"Tell me, how did you manage to get past my guards?" Hiruzen tried again, he'd slipped into a fighting stance the longer the stranger stared at him in case he decided to attack. All the stranger did however, was continue to stare.

"Easily," he said. His voice, though muffled by the mask, was surprisingly soft and young. The young man before the aged kage couldn't have been any older than his early twenties.

"What are you after?"

The man finally moved, disappearing from his place and reappearing right before Hiruzen. A kunai raised and ready to strike.

The kunai was met with a clang from one of Hiruzen's own as he had seen the attack coming and had reacted by jumping back and drawing one of his own. He'd also thrown off his blue and white robes to show his battle suit beneath it.

"Kyuubi." The man's answer instilled a sense of fear into Hiruzen. Surely this man didn't think that he knew where Naruto was. It was common knowledge at this point that the kyuubi's jinchuuriki had been missing for several years already and no word of where he was located.

"Sensei!"

BOOM

-CUT-

Hey guys, been a while huh? Let's just say life's been up and down the last couple years. My dad passed, my neice was born and I got married and have gone through a few jobs. I've also had one heck of a block for this story. Each time I tried to write my mind would start on the flow but then it'd disappear and not show back up for several months or even a year at one point.

Right now I'm not sure when I'll update again or if I ever will on this, just know I am trying my best.