Hey. So this is chapter 46. I finished this chapter earlier than I expected, since I had the day off, and I'm currently waiting for classes to start this March.

To Guest, yes Hikari has the Dragon sage mode. To why her whisker marks become darker, why not? Well, it looks cool. And this is not the toad version. I mean, compared to dragons, toads would be more... Tame, don'tcha think? So I thought, how about deepening the whisker marks to make it seem more fierce?

So yeah. Here's the 46th chapter.

Xxx

In Amegakure, Nagato gasped as he felt his connection with Yahiko vanish. Konan asked, worried, "What happened, Nagato?"

The Uzumaki panted, "They did it. They destroyed all my paths. Including Yahiko."

The woman nodded, "I see... What's done is done. We can find replacements."

The man snapped, "NO! I was too arrogant! I underestimated them!"

Konan sighed and looked at her best friend, "Nagato. We are human, we make mistakes. Its FINE to make mistakes."

Nagato gritted his teeth, "I promised... To make Yahiko's dream, our dream..."

Konan felt anger rise in her chest, she knew why he was acting like this. Ever since Yahiko died, Nagato had been depressed.

Then he discovered his powers with the Rinnegan, that he could revive a person. That gave him hope that he could bring Yahiko back. But then he found out it would work only shortly after they died.

The man had snapped, angry that he didn't discover that earlier. Then he found out about his abilities with the paths, and he thought he could bring back their friend. But all that did, was let Nagato take over Yahiko's body.

Konan never blamed Nagato, she understood that he only wanted to bring back their friend. Then Nagato swore that he'd realise their dream, by using Yahiko's body.

So when Hikari defeated all his paths, Nagato snapped. Konan didn't blame him, she couldn't blame him. After all, underneath all that resolve, underneath that hardened warrior with the Rinnegan, underneath the god of Amegakure, was just a lonely man who had lost his family and the closest thing he had to a brother.

In fact, if Konan died, she was sure Nagato would go insane, possibly to the point where he'd either commit suicide, or destroy the world, himself along with it. Konan knew just how much her support meant to him.

But seeing him snap like that was just pathetic. It pained Konan to see him like that. Nagato used to be confident, and yes, he was still confident after Yahiko died, or at least, seemed to be. But Konan knew better. She'd even notice how Nagato used Yahiko's body a lot, to the point that it would seem like he was living in Yahiko's body.

The woman slapped him hard, causing Nagato to look at her in shock, "K-konan? What?"

The bluenette glared at him, "Are you done?"

Nagato blinked, "What are you talking about?"

Konan stared at him, "Are you done feeling miserable about yourself? Sure, you failed, you lost all your paths, but is that the end?"

Nagato looked at the device his body was attached to, "What do you think? All my paths are destroyed. Most of the Akatsuki are killed. All we have, are Itachi, Kisame and Zetsu. We can't even rely on Madara..."

Konan glared at him before slapping him again, "Are you really so lost?!"

Nagato blinked at the woman, "What do you mean?"

The woman clenched her fists, "Our goal is peace. Using the Bijuu isn't our only choice!"

Nagato continued staring at the device attached to his body, "Not anymore. How can I promote peace, with all the things I've done?"

A yellow flash came, and a voice said, "You can, if you don't give up."

The two turned to see Hikari in the room. Konan asked, surprised, "H-how did you get here?"

The blonde Uzumaki grinned, holding up a Hiraishin kunai, "Seals really are a wonderful thing."

Hikari then looked at Nagato, "You, I don't know what you're dealing with now. But, you said your goal was peace, right?"

Nagato looked at his relative and nodded. Hikari then asked, "Why, did you resort to fear?"

Nagato didn't answer, looking at the ground, then he spoke, "The Akatsuki wasn't always gathering the bijuu."

Hikari blinked, "Eh?"

Nagato looked up at the girl, his Rinnegan boring into her eyes, "I've already lost. Let me tell you my story. Then you decide what to do."

Konan wanted to protest, but Nagato sent her a glance, and she stopped. For some reason, seeing his blood relative had changed the look in his eyes. That gave the woman some hope.

Nagato then looked at the girl, "When I was a child, my village was caught in a war, Konoha being one of the villages fighting in that war. A few Konoha ninja came to my house, they mistook them for the enemy. They killed them. That was how I awakened my Rinnegan. I killed those ninja with it."

Hikari stayed silent, letting Nagato continue, "After that, I left home. The war had destroyed everything around my village. No one bothered to help me. Then I met them, Konan, and Yahiko."

The Uzumaki took in a breath, "They helped me. They saved me when I was about to give up. They taught me how to survive. For a while, it was nice, everything went well."

The man's eyes turned dark, and Konan closed her eyes as she remembered, "Then war came again. The place we lived in turned into a warzone again, this time between Konoha and Amegakure."

Nagato looked at Hikari, "That was when we saw them. Three ninja who fought and survived against Hanzo the Salamander."

The blonde's eyes widened, "Jiraiya-sensei?"

Nagato nodded, "Exactly. We met the Sannin. We begged them to help us, teach us how to survive, teach us how to fight. Tsunade didn't want to because she felt that she couldn't do it, and Orochimaru wanted to kill us. But, Jiraiya-sensei stayed back with us."

The elder Uzumaki let out a sigh, "He took care of us. He taught us ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu. He even taught me how to use my Rinnegan."

Nagato closed his eyes, "But, he had to leave. Jiraiya-sensei had his duty as a Konoha ninja, and he couldn't exactly bring us with him. So we trained by ourselves. We trained to stop the wars, to keep everyone safe."

The man then opened his eyes and looked at Hikari, "That's why we formed the Akatsuki. It was to promote peace. In the beginning, our members weren't all that capable of combat. They all wanted peace like we did. And after months, we finally managed to get a meeting with Hanzo."

Anger then burned in Nagato's eyes, "But in the end, it was a trap. Hanzo ambushed us, along with a man from Konoha, Shimura Danzo. He threatened Konan, and wanted me to kill Yahiko instead."

Hikari narrowed her eyes, she knew Danzo was a bastard of a warhawk, but never did she expect for his actions to lead to their current predicament.

Nagato continued, "I couldn't choose, and Yahiko did it for me. He killed himself to save Konan. That's when I snapped, I summoned the Gedo Mazo and destroyed them all. But I couldn't kill Danzo. He alone escaped."

The man then looked at the blonde, "That's when I realised it. Peace could never be achieved normally. There will always be people who waged war. That's why I chose fear. People, with fear of a stronger enemy, would never wage war. That would keep the world in a state of peace. That's why I started gathering the Bijuu."

Nagato then gestured to the woman with him, "This is Konan, and Yahiko, he's the path you destroyed."

Hikari's eyes widened in slight surprise as Konan gave her a short nod. Nagato then said, "So, I've told you my story. What do you want to do? I've sealed around half of the bijuu into the Gedo Mazo. And like you said, what I'm doing is terrorism."

Hikari took in a breath and closed her eyes, taking in everything she heard from the man. A part of her still thought he was the enemy, that he should be eliminated. But the girl knew that Nagato was much more than just the leader of the Akatsuki. She made her decision.

The girl opened her eyes and stared at the man, "This is something I told a kid I knew from a while ago. As long as you don't give up, you've already won, all you need to do, is to finish it."

Konan and Nagato's eyes widened in surprise at those words as Hikari continued, "I suppose I can see where you're coming from. You lost a lot, that's true. But, what you're doing now, it's a shortcut, a bad one. Peace isn't something you can achieve by using something like fear. It is something you achieve by mutually understanding each other."

Nagato shook his head, "I've told you. I've been there. It won't work. In this twisted, this cursed world, peace like that won't be possible."

Hikari closed her eyes before she opened them and said, "Then, I will break that curse. If there is such a thing a true peace, I'll find it, with Jiraiya-sensei, with my family!"

Hearing those words, Nagato's eyes widened, "Those words..."

The blonde nodded, "Yeah, those words are from Jiraiya-sensei's first and only decent book. When I was travelling around the nations with him, he showed it to me."

The girl smiled softly, "Compared to all his other work, that was a really good book. When I looked at the back, I saw your name. That's when he told me about you."

Nagato gaped, "That's..."

Hikari looked at him and grinned, "To be honest, I'm not like you, not like Jiraiya-sensei. I don't have a noble dream like you do. All I want is to be Hokage, and protect my family. That's all."

The elder Uzumaki was speechless, "I see..."

Hikari then looked at Konan before turning back to him, "Also, nothing can excuse you of all your actions. But, I'll ask you anyways, will you join us?"

Nagato and Konan were once again speechless, the older Uzumaki asking, "What do you mean?"

The girl smiled, "If you want to achieve peace, then you should work with Jiraiya-sensei. He may be a super pervert, but if you two work together, you can definitely get there. And if need be, I will be there with you, with our family. You are an Uzumaki like me, right?"

Nagato blinked. He blinked again. Then he laughed. He laughed out loud. That shocked Konan. In all her years with him, she had never heard him laugh, not since Yahiko died.

The man smiled, "I see. If you will have me, then I suppose it wouldn't be so bad to join you."

Konan gaped, "Nagato?!"

The elder Uzumaki smiled at his best friend, "I'm tired, Konan. Besides, don't you want to meet our old teacher again?"

Konan sighed, "I suppose... But... What about Amegakure?"

Nagato blinked, "What about it?"

The woman gaped, before she asked, "Who will take over the village? Without us, there isn't a leader!"

Nagato chuckled and gestured to the village, "To be honest, even without us, the village will continue to grow. I've never really done anything for the village. They just came to me with ideas, and I just told them to go ahead with their plans everytime. They can handle themselves."

Konan sighed and facepalmed, "I suppose you're right."

Hikari giggled, "Then, shall we go?"

Nagato spoke up, "Before that, there are quite a number of ninja I've killed when I was looking for you."

Konan's eyes widened and she snapped her head at him, "No! That will kill you!"

The man shook his head, "No. Not if I have enough chakra, so, Hikari, will you help me?"

Hikari blinked before she heard Kurama speak, "Go ahead. He's talkin about the Rinne Tensei no Jutsu. It's fine."

Hikari nodded and walked to Nagato who started going through a set of handseals. Nagato then looked at her, "Place your hands on the device, it will take your chakra to me."

The blonde nodded and did so. Then, Nagato spoke, "Gedo: Rinne Tensei no jutsu."

The girl instantly felt a huge chunk of her chakra vanish as Nagato glowed green. Then, the glow died out.

Outside the village, the King of Hell appeared on the ground. Then, it opened its mouth, and many green balls of light shot out of the mouth, shooting towards Konoha, bringing back all the ninja that Pein had killed earlier back to life.

Back in Amegakure, Hikari's eyes widened. She had exited sage mode, but the massive increase in chakra signatures could be felt even here. The girl stared at Nagato, "That jutsu..."

The older man grinned tiredly, "Yeah, Rinne Tensei no Jutsu. With the Rinnegan, I can revive people who are dead recently. I did kill a lot of people looking for the Bijuu after all."

Hikari nodded and stepped away from him before she asked, "About the bijuu..."

She was cut off by an annoyed voice, "As expected, you really are a problematic existence, Namikaze Hikari."

The three turned to see Tobi swirling into existense beside them. Nagato narrowed his eyes, "Madara..."

Tobi chuckled, "I go by Tobi now. Of course, Madara is a very good and intimidating name. But, I suppose Tobi suits me better."

Hikari glared at him, "It's over, Tobi."

The masked man chuckled and shook his index finger, "No, its just the beginning. But, I don't know if I should be annoyed, angered or impressed. You even managed to get Nagato to your side."

Nagato glared at him, "I'm disbanding the Akatsuki, and I'm releasing the Bijuu. Hikari showed me, there are other ways to achieve my goal."

Tobi narrowed his eye, "I see. Then I suppose I'll be taking your eyes."

Nagato, Hikari and Konan's eyes widened as Tobi immediately vanished into the swirl. Hikari and Konan both cursed and quickly turned. But they were too late, as Nagato screamed in pain.

Behind the Uzumaki, was Tobi, swirling back into existence, placing two purple eyes into a container. The masked man said, "I suppose I'll have to cleanse these eyes a bit."

Konan growled as Hikari used the Shosen no Jutsu on Nagato, the man still screaming in pain, "Give him back his eyes!"

Tobi chuckled as he held up the container, "You misunderstood. These eyes were never his, they were, and always will be mine."

The man turned, laughing darkly, "I had thought he'd be able to wield the Rinnegan properly, I guess I expected too much. Ciao."

Without waiting for them, Tobi vanished into a swirl.

Hikari gritted her teeth as she tried her best to stop the bleeding. The girl looked at Konan, "We have to go to Konoha, Tsunade-baachan can help."

Konan protested, "What?! No! They'll kill him!"

The blonde growled, "No time! Grab on to my shoulder!"

The elder woman hesitated for a moment before she nodded and placed her hand on Hikari's shoulder. Then they vanished in a yellow flash.

As they vanished, they failed to notice a crow with Sharingan eyes staring at the spot they were standing at. The crow flapped its wings and flew out of the building, heading towards the forest and perched onto a tree branch, right above one Uchiha Itachi.

The kinslayer reached into his robes and pulled out a container, containing two perfect Sharingan eyes. Itachi thought, 'I suppose, I can help them a little.'

The man then burst into a dozen crows, heading for Konoha.

In Konoha, back with Jiraiya and Tsunade, they had gone back to the Hokage tower, planning to discuss how to repair the village. As they talked, a yellow flash interrupted them.

The flash quickly died down, revealing Hikari, Konan and the eye-less Nagato who was holding his face in pain.

Tsunade's eyes widened in surprise, "Hikari? What's going on?"

The younger blonde said urgently, "Help him."

The best medic didn't waste any time as she quickly went to work on Nagato's eyes, not caring who he was as she flared her chakra, summoning Anbu to move him to the hospital.

As Tsunade did her work, Jiraiya walked to Konan and Hikari. The man asked, surprised, "Konan?"

The woman turned and smiled softly at her teacher, "Jiraiya-sensei. It's been a while."

The sage looked at Hikari, "Explain."

The girl nodded, "After I destroyed the last of the paths, I went to Amegakure with the Hiraishin. I met Konan and Nagato there, and we talked."

Jiraiya nodded, "Okay, then?"

Konan decided to take over, "She managed to convince Nagato to stop, and to join her. But then Madara... Tobi came in and took Nagato's eyes."

Jiraiya narrowed his eyes, "Madara? Tobi?"

The younger blonde nodded, "Remember our encounter with Tobi? Apparently he initially posed as Uchiha Madara, but later decided that Tobi was a better name for himself."

Jiraiya nodded, "I see... So, he took Nagato's eyes?"

Konan nodded, "Yes, and Hikari brought us here."

The sage closed his eyes and nodded, "I see. We'll deal with you later. Now we have to see if Tsunade can help Nagato."

The two nodded, relieved that Jiraiya didn't outright attack Konan. Regardless of personal feelings, Jiraiya was still a loyal ninja of Konoha, and Konan and Nagato had attacked Konoha after all.

The three then quickly headed for the hospital, where Tsunade and the Anbu had taken Nagato to.

As they walked, Kakashi and Sasuke noticed them. Sasuke blinked, "Hey... Those robes..."

Kakashi nodded, narrowing his eyes, "She's part of Akatsuki. But, why is she with Hikari and Jiraiya-sama?"

The Uchiha didn't reply, instead walking straight towards them, "Hikari."

The girl turned and greeted, "Sasuke, hey."

The Uchiha nodded and point at Konan, "I see. But, why is she here?"

Hikari glanced at the woman and turned to Sasuke, "Long story short, she's with Pein. I talked with them, they agreed to joining us, but Tobi took Nagato's Rinnegan, and I brought them here, and Tsunade-baachan is healing him now."

Sasuke blinked, "What?"

Hikari growled in annoyance and turned, "Just follow us if you want."

Jiraiya and Konan quickly joined them, following her to the hospital. Sasuke just blinked several times as Kakashi patted his shoulder, "So, shall we follow them?"

Sasuke sighed, "Sure, whatever."

The cyclops chuckled as they followed after the three to the hospital.

A while later, Tsunade had just finished patching Nagato's wounds and moved him to a ward. The Hokage sighed as she motioned to Shizune to take care of the rest as she walked out of the room.

Tsunade then noticed Hikari, Konan, Jiraiya and strangely Sasuke along with Kakashi. Konan immediately asked, "How is he?"

Tsunade sighed, "I've stopped the bleeding and managed to heal most of his nerves. A transplant is required, so he just won't be able to see until we find a suitable pair of eyes for him."

Jiraiya nodded, "So?"

The medic rubbed her temples as she sent a tired glare at Konan, "Problem is, thanks to your recent attack on our village, there are no suitable eyes for him. None of them fits him."

Konan only blinked as turned away. Hikari asked, "Then, he can get the transplant done as soon as we get a set of eyes for him, right?"

Tsunade nodded before she said, "Theoretically, yes. But its not that simple. It seems Nagato already had his eyes transplanted once, and it was done poorly. Right now, his socket is too accustomed to having a doujutsu in it. Even if we did find a suitable pair of eyes, if its not a doujutsu, he'll go blind eventually. But unfortunately, we're fresh out of those too."

Jiraiya rubbed his temples as he sat down. Getting a nice pair of eyes with a doujutsu was not an easy task. Konoha was fresh out of them, and he was sure other villages wouldn't have them laying around for them.

Sure, Nagato had attacked Konoha. But he was still his student, and he still cared for him somewhat.

Then, Sasuke glanced out at the window and noticed a crow, more importantly, a container containing two Sharingan eyes. The young Uchiha said, "What is that?"

Everyone turned as Sasuke walked to the window and picked up the container. The young man blinked, "Sharingan?"

He glanced up as the crow took off, a Sharingan briefly flashing in one of its eyes, and Sasuke's eyes widened as he realised who it was, "Itachi..."

Kakashi spoke up, catching his attention, "Sasuke?"

The Uchiha turned and looked at Tsunade, "Hokage-sama, will these do?"

He showed her the container and her eyes widened, "H-how?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, "Itachi..."

The two of the Sannin instantly understood, albeit in a different way to what Sasuke thought. It meant that Itachi believed that Nagato could be trusted. That spoke volumes of the man.

Tsunade nodded, "I see. Yes, these will work. Thank you, Sasuke."

The Uchiha nodded, not really caring that someone was getting a Sharingan transplanted into them. He had long discarded the mindset that only an Uchiha could use a Sharingan, and all that crap about the Uchiha clan. Of course, he still respected his clan, but nothing extreme.

The medic immediately went to work, leaving the others standing there.

Meanwhile, outside Konoha, Itachi stood on a tree. The man reached into his robes and took out a weasel mask. The Akatsuki was over. It was time to return to his original objective.

Itachi placed the mask back into his robes and dispersed into a dozen crows. It was time to see what Kisame was planning to do, and if he posed a threat to Sasuke and Konoha.

Back in Konoha, after a few hours, Tsunade finished transplanting the eyes into Nagato's sockets. She also managed to fix the problem he had after connecting himself to the Gedo Mazo, which was just totally removing all the black chakra receivers connected to his spine.

The medic figured that in a few months, Nagato would be as healthy as any normal man.

Now, everyone was in Nagato's room. The elder Uzumaki had bandages over his eyes, so he couldn't see yet, but he could feel who was in the room.

Tsunade sighed, "So, now that's over. It's time to figure out what to do with you two."

The Hokage stared at the two, "Truthfully, I don't trust you two. Even if Jiraiya vouched for you, I would have killed you right when I saw you."

The two didn't say anything, knowing she had every right. Jiraiya however felt offended, even more so as Tsunade finished, "But I trust my god-daughter's judgement. If she deems that you two are trustworthy, then I'll give you two a chance."

Konan nodded and bowed her head, "Thank you, Hokage-sama."

Nagato nodded from his bed, "Yes, thank you very much, Hokage-sama."

The Senju grimaced as she heard how they addressed her, but decided to just take it in. The woman then spoke, "Even so, I cannot just leave you two here. So I'll have Anbu following you two wherever you go, got that?"

The two nodded. Tsunade nodded, "Good. Now, if you want to enrol as ninja in this village, well, I won't stop you. But just so we're clear, it's because of Hikari, that you two are even allowed to stay here, got that?"

The woman, and Jiraiya, didn't mention that Itachi also had a part in it, but they didn't need to know.

The two just nodded as Jiraiya and Tsunade left, leaving Kakashi, Sasuke, Hikari, Nagato and Konan in the room. And an uncomfortable silence fell upon them.

After a while, Kakashi broke the silence, "So, you're the one behind the Akatsuki?"

Nagato nodded, "Yes, in a way. The two of us, along with a friend of mine, started the Akatsuki."

Sasuke chuckled, "I knew we'd meet eventually, but not like this. I thought it'd be a grand final battle where everyone fought to death."

Nagato chuckled, "Indeed... Thank you, Uchiha Sasuke."

The young Uchiha blinked, "You know my name?"

Konan smiled, "Well, your brother worked with us. It's because of him, that Orochimaru didn't go after you for so long, until after the Chunnin Exams. I believe the snake is still hiding somewhere."

That was news to Sasuke. The young man was surprised, "What?"

Nagato nodded, "Orochimaru was a member of the Akatsuki once, and even then he was already interested in you. Itachi would threaten him to not target you."

Sasuke was confused, "But... Why?"

The elder Uzumaki shrugged, "I don't know. Hell, after you all killed Sasori, Deidara, Kakuzu and Hidan, I rarely see Itachi and Kisame anymore."

Konan nodded, "Who knows what they're doing now..."

Hikari glanced at Sasuke before she slapped his back, "Hey, we'll find him. Beat the crap out of him, and see what he has to say, got it?"

The Uchiha breathed in and out before he nodded, "Yeah."

Then, Hikari heard Kurama's voice, "Hey, Hikari, bump fists with your cousin, I wanna talk to him, privately."

The girl raised and eyebrow before she glanced at Nagato, "Hey, Nagato. Kurama wants to talk."

Nagato tilted his head, "Kurama?"

Hikari nodded, "The Kyuubi, now bump fists with me."

Nagato was confused, but he did so anyways.

Then all of a sudden, he was standing on a vast green plain, and surprisingly, he could see.

Nagato marvelled at how beautiful and peaceful a simple field could be. He then turned to see the Kyuubi staring at him.

The Uzumaki said, "So, you're the Kyuubi."

Kurama hmph'd, "Exactly. You and I are going to have a talk, fleshbag."

Nagato nodded, "So, what do you want to talk about?"

Kurama pointed at his eyes, which were black, "Your eyes. I saw it in Amegakure. That man, he said your Rinnegan was transplanted."

Nagato nodded, "Yes."

Kurama stroke his chin, "Hmm, that make sense. You are an Uzumaki, that makes you a descendant of the old man. You would have only inherited his chakra and body, not eyes."

Nagato blinked, "What do you mean?"

The bijuu looked at the man, "The Uzumaki are descendants of Otsutsuki Asura, a son of the Rikudo Sennin. The son who inherited his chakra and body. Not his eyes. That means you would not have the Rinnegan."

Kurama leaned in, "Tell me, have you met any Uchiha in your past?"

Nagato frowned as he thought. Wait, there was once he met an old man, a very very old man. The Uzumaki's eyes snapped open, "Yes. I remember, there was an old man. Now I think back, everything blacked out after I met him. And he seemed like an Uchiha."

Kurama nodded, "Then you probably got your eyes from him. Also, I sense Hashirama and Madara's chakra in you. Its faint, but its there."

The Uzumaki blinked, "What?"

The Kyuubi nodded, "Yeah. It means physically, you are the closest thing to the Rikudo Sennin, PHYSICALLY."

Nagato was surprised, well not much, since he did wield the Rinnegan. The Kyuubi then continued, "But, your actions disgust me. Tell me, do you know what would happen if you managed to get all of us?"

Nagato nodded, "Yes. We'd revive the Juubi, and we'd use it to instill fear in everyone, stopping all the wars."

Kurama slammed his hand onto the ground, surprising Nagato, "IDIOT! THE JUUBI IS UNCONTROLLABLE! Once you revive it, it destroy EVERYTHING!"

The bijuu stared at him in the eye, "I'm sure you remember what happened when you summoned the Gedo Mazo."

Nagato's eyes widened, he remembered. He went berserk the first time he used it. And he destroyed everything around him.

Kurama nodded, "That's what would happen when you revive the Juubi. But, you won't be able to stop it. The Gedo Mazo only has a quarter of its original powers. The rest were dispersed into us nine Bijuu. If you can't control the Gedo Mazo on your first try, then you will never control the Juubi. "

Nagato's eyes widened as he realised just how much he'd fuck up if he did succeed.

Kurama sighed, "Whatever. Like Tsunade, I still don't trust you. But I trust in Hikari, who trusts you."

Nagato nodded, "Thank you."

The Kyuubi huffed, "Hmph, don't get used to it. Now, on to the next matter. I can ignite Hashirama and Madara's chakra in you, and you will get the Rinnegan back. But you won't be able to summon the Gedo Mazo, your body won't be able to handle the strain."

Nagato nodded, "I see."

Kurama then asked, "So, do you want it?"

The Uzumaki nodded, "Yeah. This time, I'll use it for my family, and to find true peace."

Kurama smirked, "Good answer, maybe there is hope in you. Now get out, you'll have your Rinnegan when you get out of that bed."

Without waiting for a response, Kurama flicked a boulder at Nagato and sent him out.

Then everything around the elder Uzumaki turned black, and he felt the bandage appear on his head. Then he heard Hikari say, "So, what did he want?"

Nagato replied, "He just wanted to talk about my previous motives. That's all."

Hikari nodded, "I see. Then I'll be going, I still need to find the others. I'll bring them over next time, okay?"

Nagato nodded, to be honest he already knew who she meant, but decided it would be better to meet under better circumstances.

Kakashi and Sasuke also headed for the door, the cyclops said, "Well, I'd say it was a pleasure meeting you, but we still have stuff to do."

Sasuke nodded in agreement before they left.

Then, before Hikari left, the girl turned to the two, "Oh, and Konan-san, if you want to, you can sleep at my place later for the night. I'm sure the others won't mind."

Konan just nodded as she left. After a while, Konan commented, "Quite the cousin you have there."

Nagato chuckled, "I suppose. But, we were lucky, ya know?"

Konan nodded, she knew that technically they were in enemy territory. They had destroyed a huge part of the village, even if Nagato had tried to reduce casualties, hell, he even revived those he killed.

But that didn't excuse their actions. Yet, Hikari had decided to give them a chance, to repent, to do things in a better way.

If Jiraiya, Tsunade, Sasuke, Kakashi and Hikari could accept them. Even after everything they had done, then maybe true peace was possible after all. And Nagato and Konan would help them at every step.

XXX

Done. So, Nagato and Konan officially join Konoha. So, that's the end of the Pein arc. Oh, and I know Nagato was a bit ooc, but unlike canon, he totally lost here. He couldn't even get one Bijuu, after everything he had done. So I think snapping would be perfectly normal.

So, from now on, we'll be focusing more on Kirito, back to the original MC of focus. And we will be going more into the SAO elements.

So the next chapter will be finishing up the loose ends here and there, and then we'll be entering the Aincrad arc.

And just so anyone is wondering, I will kill off Danzo before the Aincrad arc ends.