A/N - Okay, figured I'd work on this one next. I was eager to FINALLY finish up in the world of Time & Eternity, and so this chapter felt like a good idea to me.

First thing I should note is that this chapter is shorter than my usual, but I figured that the place I ended it was pretty much the perfect place to end the chapter.

Anyways, I'm glad to finally be finished with the Time & Eternity arc. It took far longer than I thought it would, but I think it turned out pretty darn well.

And with that, let's begin the chapter! Enjoy!

Chapter 11 - Draquoise's Test

Naruto groaned as he and his team left Draquoise's Garden. "What the hell am I going to do? I don't know how to bake anything, let alone a cake! I can barely cook myself something to eat back home!" It was at this point that something clicked in Naruto's head and he looked at Towa. "Wait! Do you think Ricardo would teach me how to bake a cake?"

The blonde princess frowned as she thought about it. After a brief while, she shrugged her shoulders and said, "It's worth a shot. I just hope he's improved…"

Yamato nodded and said, "It's our best bet. If Ricardo can't help us, we'll just have to think of something else. Either way, you're going to need to get in a lot of practice, Naruto. There's a chance this could take weeks to complete the test, but it'll be worth it in the end."

"Agreed." Naruto said. "Let's go everyone. We're going to pay Ricardo and his buddies a visit."

With that being said, the party began making their way back towards the city of Kamza. As they walked, Sakura couldn't help but glance at her beloved and wonder just how he was going to pass this test. Poor Naruto-kun. So close, and yet so far from getting Something Blue and being rid of the Kyuubi once and for all.

Ricardo's Bakery

Upon arriving at the bakery, the group couldn't help but smile at the wonderful aroma they could smell, even standing outside as they were. "That smells amazing. I can't wait to try some of his cakes!" Rikku exclaimed giddily.

Walking inside, they really got a good whiff of the various scents inside and, if they were a bit more uncivilized, they would have started drooling. Taking a look around, they eyed the various baked goods in the store before their eyes settled on the cakes. Seeing how good they looked, they figured they'd purchase a couple of cakes and try them first before asking Ricardo if he could help Naruto.

While the majority of their party went to place their orders with a man by the name of Linus, who just so happened to be one of Ricardo's two friends/followers (the other being a woman by the name of Lucy), Towa hung back and stared at the cakes suspiciously. Sure, they look good, but are they really? I swear that if I nearly die from eating one of these cakes again, I'll really kill him this time…

Temari frowned as she noticed Towa's hesitation. Walking up to her, she tapped her fellow blonde on the shoulder to get her attention. "Towa? What's the matter? Are you not hungry or something?"

The amber-eyed woman frowned and shook her head. "No, that's not it. I haven't told you guys this, yet, but the fact is that, in the past I'm from, Ricardo's cakes were so bad that if you ate even a single bite, you'd nearly die. In fact, after eating one of his cakes and nearly dying, Zack, Toki, and I began seeing dead people."

Temari's face blanched and she looked back at the cakes. "They...they don't look bad at all. Do you think he's better now…?"

Towa shrugged her shoulders and said, "Only one way to find out. We'll just have to try his cakes for ourselves." Both girls nodded as one before stepping up to the counter to order a few slices of cake for themselves.

Once they were all seated together, Towa slowly used her fork to take a portion of her cake and brought it to her mouth, where it hung suspended for a time as she debated on if she really wanted to risk taking a bite. However, after a moment's pause, she closed her mouth around the small piece of cake on her fork and took it into her mouth. Chewing it and allowing herself to truly taste it, Towa was pleasantly surprised to see that it tasted amazing!

Swallowing, she soon looked down at the slice of cake on her plate and began to giggle to herself. "Wow. This is nothing like the cakes he used to make back in my time."

Everyone else nodded their heads in agreement, despite not knowing just how bad Ricardo's cakes were. "It's amazing! Do you think that maybe, just maybe, Draquoise has cakes from here delivered to him?" Rikku questioned curiously.

"It wouldn't surprise me." Yamato said. "Which makes this test of yours, Naruto, all that much harder. If you want to make the best cake he's ever tasted, you'll have to become even better than this Ricardo person. You've really got your work cut out for you."

Naruto began to cry crocodile tears. "I'm seriously screwed."

"Oh, you are not. We all believe in you, Foxy" Yang said, giving him a broad smile. "Just believe in yourself. Study under Ricardo for a while and then get to work making the perfect cake once you've learned enough from him. I'm sure if you worked with your Shadow Clones, you could decrease the time needed drastically."

"That's actually a good idea." Blake said, nodding her agreement. "Take everything Ricardo teaches you and your clones and put it to good use. However, rather than make a cake exactly like his, put your own original spin on it. Trust your instincts sweetie. They'll see you through this for sure."

It was at this moment that Ricardo, himself, approached the group with a friendly smile on his face. "So, how are you all enjoying your cakes? If there's anything not to your liking, please feel free to let me know and I'll work to improve on that particular recipe until it's perfection."

Yamato offered Ricardo a smile and said, "Everything is delicious. I don't think any one of us has any complaints. Though we do have a request to make of you. Before I ask it though, tell me: do you know Draquoise by any chance?"

Ricardo nodded his head in the affirmative. "Why yes, I most certainly do. He frequently orders a whole helping of cakes from my shop. I like to deliver them to him personally as we've become fast friends, bonding over our love of such delectable sweets."

The leader of Team Yamato closed his eyes and released a sigh. "I was afraid of that. Ricardo-san, Draquoise has presented my companion here, Naruto Uzumaki, with quite the challenge. We're seeking to attain Something Blue, and Draquoise wants Naruto to bake him the most delicious cake he's ever tasted. So, here is our request: please teach Naruto everything you know about baking cakes. It's very important that we get Something Blue and we cannot leave without it."

The master baker looked Naruto over for a moment before saying, "He looks like he hasn't cooked more than simple meals before. Are you sure he can do this?"

Naruto nodded his head and said, "Of course I can! And to make things easier…" Bringing his hands up into a familiar hand seal, he created six clones and said, "You can teach us the steps and, when one of us gets it down, he'll dispel and the rest of us will get the information from that clone. So that should make getting all of this down a whole lot easier."

Ricardo looked at each of the clones for a moment before looking back at the real one. "Alright, if you insist, I'll teach you all I know. It could take some time though before you're even at an acceptable level, let alone before you reach my level of expertise. Are you willing to put in the effort it requires to become a master baker?"

"Of course I am! There's something really important that I have to do with the Something Four, so I can't afford to slack off. Now, when do we begin Ricardo-sensei?"

"Sensei, huh? I kind of like that. Alright, we'll begin right away. Follow me and do try to keep up." Ricardo said before leading the way back into the kitchen so they could begin getting Naruto up to snuff in his baking skills.

Temari looked at Yamato a little worriedly. "Do you think Naruto-kun can pull it off? The most he's ever been able to do is cook little meals for himself, and even then he usually only heats up ramen or has a bowl of cereal or something. It's usually one of us that cooks meals for him…"

Yamato nodded his head once. "Yes, I really do believe that Naruto will be successful in his endeavors. Once he puts his mind to something, I've found that he tends to get things done. One such instance is when it came to his battle with your brother, Gaara. Sasuke failed to take him down and, despite feeling a bit inferior to his teammate at times, Naruto challenged Gaara and, through sheer determination and ingenuity, was able to pull off a miraculous victory when others had failed."

Looking hard into Temari's eyes, he continued. "Naruto saw how far Rock Lee pushed himself to fight against Gaara and he still lost. Lee was so much stronger and faster than Naruto was at the time, and any other person would have begun to lose faith in themselves after seeing such a thing. Instead, Naruto became more determined to get stronger and prove himself once again. In the end, Naruto, rather than Sasuke, was the one to save Konohagakure from a rampaging jinchuriki, your brother."

Sakura blushed a bit as she looked downwards. "He fought so hard to save me. I think that's part of what gave Naruto-kun such strength in that situation. Gaara was slowly killing me, so Naru-kun had no choice but to push himself harder than ever to defeat his opponent and save my life."

Temari looked a bit saddened as she said, "I'm sorry for my brother and the way he was back then. If...if he hadn't had to live such a horrible life up until that point, I'm sure he would've been just as kind and sweet as Naruto-kun is. But Father? Ugh. I can't even begin to imagine how Gaara felt growing up."

"Well, from what Naru told us during our time away from Konoha, he didn't have the easiest time growing up either. I think that's part of what helps him to understand Gaara so well and why they bonded as easily as they did." Rikku said with a shrug.

"Perhaps so." Yamato said before finishing the rest of his snack. "Either way, it's all in the past now. They've both become much better people over the years and are to be respected. Things are still a little rough for Naruto in Konoha, unfortunately, but if he remains persistent and continues on the path he's chosen, I'm sure things will change for the better soon enough. At least...I hope they will."

"If they don't shape up soon and keep treating my man like garbage, then we'll just have to torture them a bit more." Meru said with a wicked little grin on her face.

Yamato looked around at the girls and released a heavy sigh. "You're planning to prank the village again, aren't you?"

"You can't prove that we did anything, Yamato-sensei." Rikku said. "Besides, you have to admit that they kinda deserve it. Those people think they're so much better than everyone, even though they're just civilians living in a shinobi village. Heck, with all those D-ranks they hire people for, they're really just annoyances if you ask me. Chores that they could do themselves, but are too lazy to. Only a few of those D-rank missions I've heard about have any practical value in teaching not just teamwork but other important things like how to identify what plants are used for what and stuff like that. The rest are just stupid people being lazy."

Before Yamato could say anything in response to this, Sakura nodded and said, "She has a point, sensei. The civilians tend to treat us like we're there to serve them rather than to protect them. They've grown bigheaded and should really have their egos taken down a few notches. If Tsunade-shishou doesn't do something about them soon, then pranking them seems like a good option to try and keep them in line. Then again, it's usually the poor Genin that have to clean up the mess, rather than the civilians doing it themselves. Maybe I should have a chat with Tsunade-shishou and ask her to make it a requirement for the civilians to do their own chores and cleaning for a few weeks."

Yamato sighed, but reluctantly nodded his head. "I understand your points, so I'll concede this one to you girls. However, do try to keep the pranks to a minimum, please? It's a pain having to clean up all the time. Besides that, it was hell trying to deal with just Naruto when he was younger. Then again, it provided good training for the Anbu, so I guess I can't really complain in the long run." he said with a shrug.

"See? There ya go, you're thinking on the bright side now!" Meru exclaimed. "Besides that, it was good training for Naru-Naru. Trap-making skills, enhancing his speed and evasion capabilities, and more! He wasn't doing it just to be a pain in the butt, though that is an added bonus." she said with a giggle.

For a while, the members of Team Yamato just chatted and giggled away while enjoying their chosen snacks. When dusk finally rolled around, they turned to see an exhausted Naruto covered in flour and frosting come walking their way. "What in the world happened to you, Naruto?!" Rikku exclaimed, asking the question that was on everyone's mind.

Naruto chuckled weakly and said, "It's...harder than I thought it was going to be. But Ricardo says I'm making good progress, so he instructed me to leave a handful of clones behind while I get some rest. On another note...I think that bag of flour had it out for me. Damn thing."

"Come on Naru-kun, let's get you back to the castle so you can get washed up, okay?" Sakura suggested before taking his hand and leading him back towards the castle. The others soon caught up and they began making their journey back to the castle where Toki, Anna, and Child Towa would be waiting for them.

Two Weeks Later

"Woohoo! I think I've finally got it right this time!" Naruto exclaimed as he looked at the cake he had just finished putting the finishing touches on.

Over the past few weeks, Naruto had somehow caused not just one, but two explosions in Ricardo's kitchen. They had to use the castle's kitchen to continue with their lessons while the kitchen at Ricardo's bakery was being repaired. Even now, nobody was sure how Naruto had managed to cause said explosions. Ricardo had naturally been upset when it happened the first time. When the second time came around, Ricardo was furious enough that he tried to strangle Naruto to death. Needless to say, he had to be restrained for a while until he had calmed down enough to resume teaching Naruto the art of baking.

Ricardo stepped over to the cake and looked it over appraisingly. "Hmm, it certainly looks delectable enough. I'd give it a taste, but I don't want to ruin it before you give it to Draquoise. I'll prep it for delivery and then you can be on your way. Just make sure to come back and inform me if your cake did the trick. If so, I'd love to learn what you did to surpass my level of cooking."

Naruto smiled at Ricardo and nodded his head. "Of course! It'd be the least I could do to repay you for all of your help. And for putting up with my mistakes…"

The baker waved his hand dismissively. "Think nothing of it, my friend. Go and give Draquoise your cake. I'm sure he'll be most impressed."

"Thank you sensei. I'll see you around!" Naruto exclaimed before he hurried out with the cake in hand (packed neatly in a carry-out box) and met up with his team. "Alright everyone, let's head back to Draquoise. I think I've got the perfect cake for him to try."

Everyone nodded once before they each took off out of Kamza and back towards Draquoise's Garden. They were all eager to see if Naruto's cake would be good enough to earn him the Something Blue.

Draquoise's Garden

Standing before the mighty dragon, Naruto bowed his head respectfully to him before looking into his eyes. "Draquoise-sama? I have brought the cake you requested the last time we spoke. I'm sorry that it took me so long to get back to you, but I had never baked a cake before in my life. I needed time to study under a master and learn the ins and outs of cooking. Thanks to his help, I'm confident that this cake I made for you will be more than sufficient to win the Something Blue."

"Very good. I fully expected you to seek out help, and Ricardo is the best there is. If you truly believe that this cake is good enough to impress me, then I will gladly have a bite. Give it here."

Naruto nodded and removed the cake from the box it was in and presented it to Draquoise who gladly snatched it up and took a large bite from it. Taking a moment to test the taste, Draquoise's eyes soon widened and he immediately ate the rest of the cake, not letting a single piece go to waste.

As soon as he was finished, Draquoise could feel tears welling up in his eyes. "That...was most assuredly the best cake I have ever tasted. You have earned yourself the Something Blue. Just...close your eyes, alright?"

Doing as he instructed, the members of Team Yamato closed their eyes and waited as they heard the great dragon grunting and groaning as he tried to push out the Something Blue. As with the others, it sounded like he was having trouble with a bowel movement rather than trying to give them a powerful item of some kind.

Once he finished, Draquoise instructed them to open their eyes and gladly handed over Something Blue. "Now that you have the entire set, I must ask you, Naruto Uzumaki. Have you truly made your decision regarding what to do with the Something Four? Or do you still have doubts?"

Naruto shook his head as he stared at the Something Blue. "No, I no longer have any doubts. I know what I have to do, though it pains me that the Kyuubi refused to accept me as a friend and work together with me. Oh well."

Watching as Naruto shrugged and looked him in the eyes, Draquoise motioned towards the entrance of his Garden. "I suggest you return to Kamza and create a portal back to your world. Anchor the portal and stand near it as you use the Something Four. Being near the portal to your world will allow the Something Four to work quite a bit faster than simply using them here would."

"Makes sense. Thank you again, Draqouise-sama. You have my gratitude." Naruto said, being as respectful as he could be. "Take care."

With their task done, the party began their trek back towards Kamza once again. Naruto had a promise to keep first before he would return to the castle. After all, Ricardo could certainly use Naruto's new recipe to enhance his abilities as a master baker.

Kamza Castle

After paying Ricardo a visit and informing him that he had passed Draquoise's test, they had proceeded straight to Kamza Castle so they could speak with Toki and Anna about the best place to anchor the portal at that would connect their two worlds.

"Hm, considering most places are infested by monsters, it would be best to put it somewhere here in Kamza, or more specifically, in the castle. We've got a few rooms here in the castle that would be suitable for such a thing. Nobody enters those rooms because they're completely empty. So if you anchor the portal down in one of those rooms, we can declare the room off limits to everyone but your group, Toki, Towa, and me." Anna explained.

Yamato nodded his head in acceptance of that. "Can you show us to one of these rooms, Anna-san? We would like to anchor the portal and make use of the Something Four as soon as possible."

"Of course. Toki, Towa, follow Grandma now, okay? It's important that you two know where the portal is located, just in case." There was a hidden undertone to what Anna said, and Toki understood immediately. The members of Team Yamato also caught the hidden message as well, but none of them said anything about it.

Toki shot a quick glance at Naruto before glancing away with a slight blush on her face. Grandma, you need to mind your own business sometimes. The redhead thought to herself with a sigh.

Upon reaching the room, they found that it was in a rather secluded part of the castle and understood immediately why she took them to this particular room. Stepping inside, Naruto looked around and admired the size of the room. "This will be perfect. You all might want to step back while I do this. Never know if I'll succeed or screw up like I have in the past." he said with a nervous chuckle.

Once everyone had backed out of the room, he nodded once to them (as they had chosen to peek into the room, despite the danger) before turning and drawing on his magic power. Focusing as hard as he could, he soon created a large portal that seemed a bit unstable at first, but it quickly took a solid form and looked to be far more peaceful than the one he had originally created to bring them to this world.

After taking a moment to try and catch his breath, Naruto focused on his magic again and proceeded to create a type of anchor that pinned the portal in place on both sides. Once he was finished, he collapsed backwards, losing consciousness.

Yang quickly caught her fiance and looked him over. "Guys! He's looking really pale! I think he pushed himself too hard this time!"

Team Yamato quickly gathered around their unconscious companion and looked him over, seeing just how pale he was and how shallow his breathing had become. "Damn it." Yamato said, adoring a rather serious look. "Sakura! Perform a scan. Now! We need to know how bad it is."

Sakura nodded and immediately got to work scanning her beloved's body with a simple diagnostic technique. Once she was finished, she shook her head and looked up into Yamato's eyes. "I detected what I assume to be his magical core. It's almost completely depleted. The core appears to be deeply connected with both his heart and his brain. I don't know quite how to describe it, but based on what little we know and understand about magic, it makes sense that it would be connected deeply with his brain. Magic comes from willpower and the power of the mind. As for why it's connected to his heart, I can't imagine."

Rikku frowned deeply and said, "I'm...not entirely sure why it would be connected with his heart. Perhaps the Uzumaki's were special and their magic was not only powered with the mind, but with the heart as well. After all, in order to use magic, you need to have the strength of will, but also the power of your heart and soul. Magic-users put their soul and willpower into every spell that they cast. I think the Uzumaki's took it a bit further, however. Think of the heart as another, alternate power source."

Meru took over at this point as she looked worriedly at her fiance. "It would seem that, by pushing himself so hard, he not just depleted his magical reserves, but he's done damage to his heart and brain in the process. Tell me, Sakura, when you scanned his heart and brain, did anything seem off to you besides the magic core being linked to those two places?"

Just to be sure, Sakura did another, more thorough scan this time, specifically of his heart and brain. "His heart has slowed drastically and his brain seems to have swollen slightly. The pressure and swelling should go down soon, but I'll need to do something to try and fix the problem with his heart."

Meru nodded and adopted a serious frown. "I'll help. Yamato, I have an idea that I'd like to discuss with you and Naruto, after he awakens. I'd like your opinion on it once we get the chance to speak."

Nodding his head in understanding, Yamato watched as Meru and Sakura did their best to help Naruto get through this ordeal. Frowning deeply, he shook his head. Naruto...I didn't realize your magic could be such a burden. I wonder if you knew about this or not? I'm sure if you did, you wouldn't have pushed yourself so hard. Then again, knowing you… Sighing to himself, the sensei of Team Yamato chose to watch on silently, losing himself to his thoughts.

Three hours later

When Naruto finally regained consciousness, he slowly opened his eyes and tried to sit up, only to find that he couldn't move his body. Glancing down at himself, he didn't see any kind of restraints on him, so he figured that it had something to do with why he was waking up in a bed that he wasn't familiar with. Then, taking a brief moment to look around again, he realized that he was in the room Toki had let him borrow during his time here. What the heck happened? Did I succeed? I can't remember…

When Rikku entered the room after a moment and noticed that he was awake, she turned and shouted out, "He's awake!" Rushing over to his bedside, the perky thief grabbed his hand with hers and asked, "How do you feel, sweetheart?"

Closing his eyes, as he was still feeling rather exhausted, he said, "I can't even move right now. I feel like I was beaten on by Guy-sensei for 12 hours straight."

Sakura frowned as she heard this upon her way in. "That's not good. Let me do a quick scan, Naruto-kun." she said as she began to do another diagnostic scan. When she was finished, she said, "Everything seems fine. I think you'll feel better soon, we just need to wait a bit is all."

Nodding his head slowly in thanks, he said, "Thanks sweetie. What...what happened?"

Towa stepped up to the foot of his bed and looked at his face. "After you created the portal and anchored it, you passed out. You were so pale and you were barely breathing! We were scared we were going to lose you!"

Before Naruto could say anything, Yamato spoke up. "I'm glad you're alright now, Naruto-kun. Meru and I talked about it, and we have another idea we'd like to present to you about what to do with the Something Four. Are you willing to hear us out?"

When Naruto nodded and replied in the affirmative, Meru stepped up next to Yamato and began to explain. "Naru, your mana core is tightly intertwined with your brain and your heart. If you push yourself too hard in an attempt to use your magic...you could end up killing yourself. Do you understand what I'm saying, Naru?"

The whiskered teen frowned at this, but nodded his head in understanding. "I do. I assume your idea has to do with the Kyuubi?"

Meru nodded and began to explain. "Rather than simply wipe the Kyuubi from existence, use the Something Four to gather all parts of the Kyuubi together and transform the Kyuubi in its entirety into an extra source of power, more specifically mana. When you make the wish, think real hard on what you want and it should work."

"So...kill the Kyuubi, but take its power as my own and transform it into an extra mana core, essentially? Did I get that right?"

Meru nodded. "Yes. I know you'd probably rather just be rid of the Kyuubi in its entirety, but with this idea, you can keep all the benefits without any risk involved. On top of this, the Akatsuki will have no way to get their hands on the Kyuubi and therefore their plan will fail no matter what they try."

Naruto slowly sat up in bed, groaning a bit at the amount of exertion he had to put into it. "That sounds like a good idea. I don't want to go through this again." he said before chuckling dryly. "I just hope it works."

Anna stepped into the room at this point and said, "It will. The Something Four possess an immense amount of power. I guarantee that they'll come through for you."

Toki walked in and stood beside her grandmother with little Towa at her side. "I'm glad you're feeling better, Naruto. Towa and I were worried about you when we saw you like that."

Naruto offered Toki a smile and said, "Sorry to have worried you. Sorry to have worried all of you. I'm feeling better now, though. Did I at least succeed in anchoring the portal?"

"Heck yeah you did!" Moebius' voice could be heard saying. When she appeared a moment later, Towa groaned a bit, but remained silent. "Glad to see you've succeeded in what you were trying to do, Naruto. Now, go make use of the Something Four so we can go back to Konoha, will ya?"

Naruto frowned at this and shook his head. "I'm sorry, Moebius-chan. So long as Towa-hime is uncomfortable with you even being around us, I can't really bring you along against her wishes. Please understand."

The time goddess looked at Towa and frowned for a bit before offering Naruto a disarming smile. "Don't worry, I understand quite well. However, I am returning with you to your world. I'm eager to see what it's like there and I plan to help you on these missions of yours. Can't let my entertainment die now, can I?"

Towa scowled and said, "Why do you care so much anyways? Naruto's not some show that you can watch for your own amusement. I don't want you bothering him!"

Moebius quirked a brow as she looked into Towa's eyes. "Bothering him? Or bothering you? I'm offering to come along and keep him, and by extension you, safe. On top of that, I'm willing to teach Naruto a little as a means to whet his appetite for knowledge. Is that so wrong?"

The blonde princess sighed and shook her head. "No. It's not. But…"

Naruto walked over and hugged Towa tight, just as he had done the last time Moebius appeared before them. "It'll be okay, Towa-chan. If she comes with us, I promise I won't push things too far, and I won't accept her advances either...if she makes any. If it helps, I do think we can trust that her intentions are good."

"I know. I'm aware that we can trust her...but that doesn't mean it doesn't bother me." Towa said as she buried her face in her fiance's chest.

Hugging her a bit closer, Naruto planted a kiss atop her head and ran his fingers through her hair gently. "I understand, sweetheart. She seems pretty intent on coming with us though, so we'll just have to get used to her company. I'll try to make sure you two don't have to be alone together, okay? I don't want you to be hurt because of this."

Towa shook her head before looking up into her love's eyes. "I'll...try to accept this, Naru. It's not going to be easy, but I'll try my best to get used to her presence."

"'Atta girl." Naruto said, giving her a sweet kiss on the lips. "I promise everything will be okay. I love you sweetheart, and I refuse to let anything or anyone hurt you in any way. I know this will be hard on you, but we'll just have to deal with it together as a team and as a couple."

"Yeah, yeah. This touchy-feely crap's all nice and cute and everything, but I'm eager to see you use the Something Four. It's been forever since I saw the Something Four in action, so I'm looking forward to this!" Moebius said, grinning at the group.

The whiskered teen chuckled a bit before he led the group back towards the portal room. Once inside, he sat down before the portal and asked his team for the Something Four. Once he had them, he closed his eyes and began to focus on their power. Please, let this work.

Focusing intently upon the Something Four, he made his wish, which was more akin to a plea for help. When the seal on his stomach began to glow brightly and light began pouring into him from the portal, Naruto could feel a strange warmth spreading throughout his body. When it was finally over, he looked down at his stomach to see that the seal was gone. He could no longer feel the Kyuubi inside of him. Instead, he felt an immense amount of power inside of him that caused him to smile. "Wow." he said. "This feels amazing!"

When Yamato went to speak, he was shocked to see Naruto fall backwards, his eyes going blank. Quickly kneeling next to him and checking him over, he frowned and asked, "Now what's going on?"

Rikku frowned and quickly spherechanged into her Psychic dressphere. "I'll check. I think something weird is happening in his mind…"

The group nodded as they watched their friend delve into Naruto's mind. "I hope they'll be okay…" Temari said, sounding genuinely worried.

Naruto's Mindscape

Naruto was shocked to find himself in the middle of a beautiful meadow with beautiful scenery all around in every direction he looked. The scenery didn't catch his attention, however, as he was looking at the two people standing in front of him. One was a blond-haired man wearing the cloak of the Hokage. The other was a beautiful redheaded woman with violet eyes. He immediately recognized them as Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki, his parents.

"Dad? Mom? What happened? Where are we?"

Minato and Kushina smiled at their son before stepping up to him and hugging him tight. "We're in your mindscape, son. You see, your mother and I put fragments of our souls into the seal that held back the Kyuubi. When you used the Something Four to get rid of the Kyuubi, the seal broke and we knew we wouldn't have much time to spend with you. So we worked together to pull you into your mindscape. We have important things we need to speak with you about."

"First, however, we should invite your little girlfriend to listen in as well." Kushina said as she looked directly at Rikku, who had attempted to hide behind a nearby tree.

Spinning around, Naruto looked at Rikku and said, "Rikku-chan. It's okay, come and meet my parents."

Rikku blushed a bit as she stepped up beside her beloved and looked at his parents. "It's nice to meet you both. Um...if you put fragments of your souls into the seal...what's going to happen to you now?"

Minato sighed and said, "We don't have much time left, I'm afraid. We want to take this time to tell Naruto-kun about what really happened on the night of his birth. He needs to be prepared for when that fake Madara makes his appearance again."

Naruto and Rikku listened as Minato and Kushina proceeded to tell them the details of the night that ruined so many lives and took so much more. When they were finally finished with their explanation, Naruto asked, "So...you really think he'll come back for the Kyuubi?"

"Yes, we do. He'll be back someday to try and take the Kyuubi from you. It's a good thing that you acted when you did, because I have a feeling the Akatsuki will come after you sooner rather than later." Minato said, sounding genuinely worried for his son.

Kushina hugged her child close and kissed his cheek. "We love you very much, Naruto-kun. I'm sorry that we can't stay longer, but…"

"It's alright Mom. I understand. I'll see you both in the afterlife. I love you both."

It was at this point that Kushina looked at Rikku and said, "Please look after our son. You and the other girls are good for him, so please continue to treat him right."

Rikku nodded and gave his parents a bright smile. "Of course. I promise we'll always be here for him and nothing will come between us."

"Good. I'm glad to hear it." Minato said as he began to fade. "Looks like our time is up. Goodbye son."

"Goodbye Dad. Mom. I'll miss you both." Naruto said sadly.

After they finally faded, Naruto looked at his fiance and took her hand in his. "Let's go sweetheart."

Portal Room - Kamza Castle

As Naruto and Rikku came to, the others quickly surrounded them and asked what had happened. After they calmed down, Naruto said, "I met my parents. They left fragments of their souls in the seal, and with it gone, they couldn't stay much longer. They're truly gone now. And…" Looking into Yamato's eyes, he said, "They told me that someone claiming to be Madara Uchiha attacked the village that night and unleashed the Kyuubi. He's the one that controlled the Kyuubi and made him attack the village. It's his fault that my parents are dead, and it's his fault that so many people lost their loved ones that night."

Yamato's eyes widened fractionally before he nodded in understanding. "That...makes a lot of sense. Do you think he'll try again?"

Naruto shook his head. "No. I doubt he'll try to destroy the village again. I'm pretty sure he's with the Akatsuki though, and he'll be back for the Kyuubi sooner or later."

"Damn. We're going to need to be careful. Sure the Kyuubi is gone now, but they won't know that. We're going to have to up your training. All of us will."

"Agreed." Towa said. "We'll help you kill this Madara Uchiha, whomever he might be. He needs to pay for his crimes."

"Thanks. Um, we should probably return the Something Four to the Great Spirits, huh?" he asked, looking at the Something Four lying on the ground in front of him.

Toki smiled and shook her head. "Grandma and I can take care of that. You and your friends have been here for quite a while now. I'm sure you'd like to return home. Just...just know that you're always welcome here. We'll miss you. All of you. Thank you again for all your help."

Towa walked up to Toki and hugged her tight. "It's been great seeing you again, Toki. You have no idea how much I've missed you and the others. I promise I'll come visit whenever I can."

Naruto offered Toki a grin and a thumbs up. "I'll definitely be coming back. I want to spend time with little Towa and make sure she has a positive male role model around."

"I'm sure she'd really appreciate that, Naruto. Thank you." the redhead said, smiling sweetly at him. I'd appreciate it too, but I can't just come out and say that.

Naruto slowly rose to his feet and looked at the portal. "Well guys, you ready to go? I'm sure Tsunade-sama's probably tired of waiting for us by now. At least I know of the perfect place to anchor the portal on the other side."

Rikku, immediately realizing what he meant, smiled at him and asked, "You're planning to anchor whatever portals you create on the Uzumaki compound, aren't you sweetie?"

Turning slightly to glance over his shoulder at her, Naruto nodded with a smile on his face. "But of course. It's the safest place in the village to place them. Nobody can come onto our compound uninvited, after all. Keeps it safe from people like Danzo and the civilians. Danzo and the Elders might have been dealt with, but there are plenty of people who think like them."

Yamato nodded and released a heavy sigh. "I hate to admit it, but you're absolutely right, Naruto. Anyways, let's get going. We've put this off long enough."

Everyone nodded in agreement before bidding the queen and her grandmother goodbye. Afterwards, they stepped through the portal, one by one until they were all gone.

Once they were gone, Toki smiled and said, "I'm going to miss them."

Anna nodded her head and patted her granddaughter on the shoulder gently. "As will I, dear. Now, let's go check on little Towa, shall we?"

"Of course."

Elemental Nations - Uzumaki Compound

As soon as they stepped through the portal, Naruto looked around and smiled to himself. "Exactly where I wanted us to be. Good." he said before turning to the portal and focusing his magic as he did before. It, thankfully, didn't drain him of so much of his magic this time as he anchored the portal where it was.

Once Naruto was finished, Gaige said, "Well that was awesome. I wonder what it's like in other worlds?"

"We can think about that later. Right now we need to go report in with Hokage-sama." Yamato said as he turned and began walking off. "She'll be wanting to know about our little adventure. We'll also need to inform her about the fate of the Kyuubi."

"Right!" Everyone exclaimed as one before they followed Yamato out of the Uzumaki compound and towards the Hokage Tower.

Hokage's Office

"What the hell were you doing away for so long?! You've been gone an entire MONTH!" Tsunade exclaimed as she glared at the members of Team Yamato. "You'd better have a good reason for that! And who the heck is this? Another new member for the team?"

Moebius gave a mock salute and said, "The name's Moebius! Time goddess extraordinaire and quite the beauty, if I do say so myself."

Quirking a brow in curiosity, Tsunade turned to Naruto and asked, "Why is someone proclaiming to be a time goddess here with you?"

As Moebius squawked in disbelief at Tsunade's incredulity, Naruto chuckled a bit and rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Y'see Tsunade-sama, Moebius is an actual goddess that rules over time and space and all that. She decided to follow us because I'm 'entertainment' apparently."

"Hey! That's not the only reason! I do still want to take you as my husband, you know? Still, so long as Towa's unhappy with the idea, it's not gonna happen. So I'll just have to settle for teaching you a bit in the meantime."

Tsunade looked between the two of them before settling her eyes on Towa. "You're unhappy about this because…?"

Towa sighed and said, "Moebius caused me so much grief and pain when I first met her. She started erasing my memories of my time with Toki and Zack, and she just generally wasn't the greatest person. Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful to her for opening my eyes about Zack and I'm not unhappy with her pushing me through the portal into this world, but it's hard to just forgive and forget, you know?"

"I see." Tsunade replied, nodding her head in understanding. "Well, it looks like you're going to be stuck with her for a while. Best get used to her being around."

Looking around at the team, she soon settled her eyes on Yamato. "Tell me what you experienced in Towa's world. I want to know everything."

"Of course, Tsunade-sama. We first…"

Some time later

"So let me get this straight...you humiliated and castrated Toki-hime's asshole of a husband and chased him off for good. Then you went and collected these things known as the Something Four, which took you two whole WEEKS to do? And the Kyuubi has been wiped from existence? It seems you've been busy." Tsunade said, sounding genuinely surprised.

"That is correct, Hokage-sama." Yamato said. "I was worried about the possible repercussions of wiping the Kyuubi from existence, but after having some time to think on it, I came to the realization that it was a safe bet to stop the Akatsuki from achieving whatever their goal is, or rather was at this point."

Sakura looked into her master's eyes and posed a question to her. "Can't we inform the villagers that Naru-kun's no longer the Kyuubi jinchuriki? Let them know that the Kyuubi is gone for good?"

Tsunade shook her head in the negative. "No. The Akatsuki likely have spies within our very village, just as they had in Suna. We don't need them finding out that the Kyuubi no longer exists until we can work this to our advantage. We want them to come out of hiding so we can exterminate them, one by one."

Everyone nodded in understanding. "Alright. So what do you want us to do now, Hokage-sama?" Temari questioned.

"Take a few days to rest and relax. Afterwards, I'll start sending you out on missions again. There's still a lot that we need to do, especially if we're going to combat the Akatsuki."

Naruto decided to ask something at this point. "Tsunade-sama? Do you think it's possible to save the other jinchuriki before the Akatsuki can get their hands on them?"

Tsunade frowned at this question and shook her head. "I don't know, Naruto-kun. Though that does give me an idea. Come see me in a couple of days and we'll figure something out then. Alright?"

Nodding once, Naruto soon bowed to her and left her office with his teammates following after him. Once she was alone in the office, she turned to her window and asked, "Jiraiya? Get in here. We need to have a chat."

Stepping inside her office, Jiraiya sat down opposite her and said, "I'm pretty sure I know what you want, Tsunade-hime. I'll tell you what I can."

"Very good. Why don't we start with Kumo and we can work our way from there?"

Team Yamato

As they walked along, the team (minus Yamato, who had left to go do his own thing) chatted about whatever they thought of. However, they were soon stopped by three familiar faces from Team Kurenai.

"Kiba? Shino? Hinata? Man, it's been forever since I've seen you guys! How've you been?" Naruto asked, happy to see his friends again.

Kiba looked around at all the girls with Naruto and went goggle-eyed in shock. "Dude, Naruto? How the hell'd you bag so many hot chicks?! I haven't seen you for three years and you come back some kind of babe magnet?! What the hell man?!"

Naruto facepalmed as his girls glared at Kiba, sending the feeling of icy cold death down the dog boy's spine. "Might want to word what you say a bit more carefully Kiba. Or better yet, try not to say things that'll get you in trouble with members of the opposite sex."

"Y-Yeah...sorry." Kiba said, sounding quite nervous under the glares of the girls.

"We make up a team of our own, for your information. It helps that most of them are my fiances…" Naruto explained somewhat nervously.

Hinata went from feeling shy to jealous and angry in an instant. "B-But…!"

Sakura sighed and shook her head, feeling a tad sorry for the Hyuga heiress. "Sorry Hinata, but you took a bit too long to act on your feelings for him."

Naruto looked into Hinata's eyes and frowned for a moment. "I met most of these lovely ladies while I was away on my training trip with Jiraiya. Gaige-chan I met on my mission to rescue Gaara. And Moebius here, I just met her on my most recent mission. I'm not with Gaige-chan and Moebius, however. The rest, however? I love my beautiful fiances. I know...believe me, I've known for some time, that you've had a crush on me. But...at the time, I was an idiot who didn't truly understand the concept of love, nor could I recognize the signs of when someone was crushing on me or someone else. I wasn't the brightest bulb in the bunch."

Sighing softly, he looked back at Rikku and the others and smiled at them before turning back to Hinata. "They helped me become a better person and I both respect and love them for that and more. However…" Rubbing at the back of his head as he tried to figure out how to word what he wanted to say, he eventually just shrugged and said 'to hell with it'. "Hinata-chan, I barely know you. Yeah, I care for you as a friend, but I've never seen you in a romantic light. Besides that, from what I understand, you've admired me for some time, but…"

Sighing again, Naruto closed his eyes and shook his head. "You...you never came forward to talk to me or to help me with anything. I understand that you were shy and didn't have a lot of confidence, but just having someone there that understood me and cared about me would have done wonders for my self-image and self-confidence. I wasn't as unflappable as you made me out to be. I was insecure, lonely...and miserable. I put on a false image of goofiness and happiness because I was hurting so bad inside. If...if you had just put in the little amount of effort it would take to just say hi to me and let me know not everyone hated me, it would have helped a great deal. But...you never did. You were always content to just watch from a distance."

Shrugging his shoulders, he looked at the sky and said, "Hinata-chan...I care for you as a friend, but I doubt I could ever see you in a romantic light. Besides that, you've got someone very close to you that would return your feelings if you only turned to him instead of me. Take some time to think on it." With that, Naruto left a quietly sobbing Hinata and rejoined his team as they walked off, leaving Team Kurenai behind.

As soon as they were out of sight, Rikku turned to her beloved and asked, "Are you okay, Naru? That can't have been easy for you."

Naruto shrugged his shoulders again before offering Rikku and the others a smile. "I'm fine. It felt good to get that off my chest, though I hate hurting her like that. Still, it needed to be said. Now, who's up for some lunch, hm?"

"Sounds good to me." Meru said. "Then...I say we work on something 'special' for the villagers. What do you think?"

Naruto chuckled a bit and nodded in agreement. "Sounds like a good plan to me."

As they walked along, they began to giggle conspiratorially, eager to get to work on their next big prank. Oh, the poor villagers. They knew not what awaited them in the following days.

A/N - Okey dokey, that's the end of the chapter! Some of you might be upset at what I did to Hinata there at the end, but I felt it needed to be said. They'd need to talk at some point, and well, there it is!

Anywho, I bet you're happy to finally be done with the Time & Eternity arc. As you can see, Moebius decided to tag along with the group after all. It'll be tough on Towa, for sure, but Moebius can be a pain sometimes, sooo...yeah. lol

Hopefully you enjoyed this chapter. I dunno what I'll work on next, but hopefully you enjoy whatever it is. lol