Now that Naruto was being escorted by the ANBU without a disguise, he attracted looks from many of the people on the street. The destroyed village didn't light up the night sky like it used to, and the glow of lamps and storefronts on the main street cut a bright path through the darkness. Walking through it felt a little like being on display.

But these looks were not the type he was used to. The hostility had already diminished some in his time, but even then, it had mostly been replaced with indifference and the occasional curiosity.

Quite a few people were looking at him curiously now, while some looked concerned. Some people even smiled fondly at him. Naruto wondered how many of them knew what was going on. He felt a little self-conscious and walked closer beside the Cat ANBU.

"So you guys were guarding us the whole time?" he said awkwardly.

"Tsunade-sama told us to stay with you and Sakura-san," Cat said. "Though another attack tonight is unlikely, all our defenses have been demolished. It isn't as safe here as we would like."

"So I guess you heard our conversation? It's true, isn't it? I mean... everyone really knows about me now?"

She didn't have to ask what he meant. "Yes. It was inevitable, once Akatsuki started taking serious action against the world's jinchuuriki. People had to know why you were being hunted, and why it was so important that Akatsuki be stopped."

"How… did they take it? Just tell me. And don't try to say you can't." Naruto looked away from here.

"Don't worry. Everyone accepts you," Cat answered in an uncharacteristically gentle tone for an ANBU. "You're the village hero. I think your old schoolmates barely batted an eye. The older generation already knew, and the younger ones followed the lead of your peers. If someone from Akatsuki came after you in the street right now, they wouldn't have just us ANBU to contend with. They'd have to fight through everyone down to the civilian street sweeper with their broom to get to you."

Naruto felt warmth rising to his cheeks. Okay, that had to be an exaggeration, but it felt good anyway. He turned back toward Cat eagerly. "Can't you tell me something about my older self?"

"It would be difficult to say. We aren't personally acquainted." At his disappointed look, she added, "But from what I have seen, you've grown up admirably. It doesn't always go that way in our line of work, you know. Everyone has a breaking point, where it all becomes too much to take in at once. That's especially true for those given the role of jinchuuriki. Continue living and being yourself. That's my advice."

Cat escorted him all the way back to the hospital. They parted ways at the door to Sai's room, Cat assuring him that they need only call if anything happened.

Sakura looked up from a book she was reading when he came in. She didn't seem angry, like had only half-jokingly suspected, but deeply apprehensive.

"I'm sorry," she said immediately. "I didn't mean to—"

"It's okay, Sakura-chan." He walked over and made to sit across from her again, but paused when he saw a drawstring bag sitting in the chair.

"One of the ANBU went and collected some things from your room," Sakura said. "What was left of it, anyway."

Naruto opened the drawstring bag and saw his Team 7 photograph laying on top. Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi was below that. Was it the only book they could find, or did they know it was his older self's favorite? Below that were a few shirts and a thin, ratty-looking blanket.

"We'll be staying here until Tsunade-sama can figure out what to do with you," Sakura explained. "Most of your older self's clothes would be too big for you, so they didn't bring much. I grabbed a few things for you from supplies donated to the hospital." She pointed at the bed across from Sai's, where a few small piles of folded clothing lay.

"We're sleeping here?" Naruto groaned in dismay as he dragged the bag over to look at what she'd brought. There was a pair of shorts like the ones he was wearing, and a few pairs of shinobi pants and one set of striped pajama bottoms. There were also standard-issue sandals, and a few plain, boring T-shirts closer to his own size.

Sakura smiled wryly. "Sorry about that. They have this room secured now, so you're not going anywhere else tonight. You might as well get comfortable. I'm kind of glad... this way I can look after my patients and you, too."

"I don't need looking after," Naruto muttered, but he twitched the curtains around his bed and started changing from his old bedclothes into new ones. "This is all way overboard, Sakura-chan. I'm a ninja."

"I know," she conceded. "And under normal circumstances, I'm sure everyone would gladly leave a ninja alone to face the murderous S-ranked organization trying to kidnap them. But with you there's more at stake than just yourself."

Naruto murmured an indistinct stream of curses and grumblings as he pulled on the pajama bottoms Sakura had scrounged for him. He set his sandals down below the edge of the curtain and packed the straw tabi carefully in the bag. He would return them to Shinji, if he was ever allowed out of the village ever again.

He put on one of his older self's shirts to sleep in. It felt a lot more comfortable than any of the other clothes from strangers—it was his favorite style and it smelled familiar. It was one of the few tangible connections to someone that seemed like a bizarre abstraction in his mind.

Naruto pulled the curtain back and crawled into bed with his book and turned on the little bedside lamp. He may have to stay here, but he was determined to stay awake until Tsunade came back to tell them what was going on. He would not be left out of hearing any updates she brought to Sakura.

Naruto pulled the covers up to his chest and leaned back against the stack of pillows. "Isn't Tsunade-baachan supposed to go see what Kakashi-sensei found out? And why doesn't he come talk to us?"

"I don't know. I've been out of the loop right beside you, remember? But they were going to the autopsy room. My guess is, wherever Kakashi-sensei went, there was a death that was unusual for some reason. Tsunade-sama said they can't make any conclusions until they figure it out."

"Oh yeah. I remember that." Naruto leaned forward. "Does that mean Akatsuki didn't just attack here today?"

"Maybe," Sakura said cautiously. "We'll just have to wait until they're done."

Naruto gripped the blankets on his lap. "Will I ever actually be told anything, though?"

"Well... I guess it depends."

"Great," Naruto grumbled, flopped onto on his side, and opened his book. "Itachi shows up for me again, my room gets smashed, I have to sleep in the hospital even though I'm not sick, I'm covered in ANBU, and I don't even know if I've screwed up this timeline by getting someone killed that shouldn't have been."

"Whatever happened, or whatever happens, it's not your fault," Sakura said. "Don't forget that. It's someone else doing this, and it's not fair to you."

Naruto didn't answer right away. He stared at the open page without reading it. No matter how many times people told him the future was none of his business, it wouldn't change how he felt. It went beyond just the implications it held for his own reality. No matter where he was, when he was, he couldn't just be indifferent.

Naruto had a lot practice involving himself when others didn't want to include him. He had it down to an art form. They really should have known better.

"Okay," he said. "Tell me one thing, and I promise not to bother you about anything for the rest of the night." He craned his head and peered over the book at Sakura.

"I will if I can, but you know I can't promise that without hearing what it is."

Naruto scowled. "Okay. Um, what you were saying before. About the... jinchuuriki." he forced the word out. It was still hard to comprehend that there was a term for it, like it was an experience that could be reduced to just a few syllables.

Sakura stiffened and looked at him uncertainly.

"First of all, you don't have to apologize, 'cause I already knew that stuff. And I'm not mad you know about it, either," Naruto sat up and draped an elbow over his drawn up knees to look at her seriously. "I'm really... I mean, when I was out there... I don't know how it happened, but I'm really glad that everyone knows now and it's all okay. But what you said before, about all the jinchuuriki in the world being in trouble? There's only one person I've ever known like me, and he didn't have a lot of people willing to stand up for him."

Naruto tried to swallow the heavy lump settling in his throat. He halfway didn't want to ask, because he had a very bad feeling about the answer. After all, she'd said most of them were already taken. A boy whose own people had already tried to dispose of him would have no chance, surely.

"You're talking about Gaara," Sakura said.

Naruto nodded. "What happened to him? Akatsuki went for him too, didn't they?"

"Well..." She glanced away, drumming her fingers in her lap.

"Just tell me if he's safe," Naruto pleaded.

"Hm. Safe? I don't think any of us are really safe." Sakura stopped fidgeting and folded her hands. She flashed an impish smile that was more reminiscent of her younger self. "But he's alive and well. And you're wrong about there being nobody willing to stand up for him. He has plenty of people. His village accepts him now, too."

Naruto stared at her disbelievingly. Then he grinned widely. "Are you serious?"

"Very. He's mellowed out a lot since meeting you. He even has fangirls in his village now. I've seen it!" Sakura laughed.

"You're seriously not just messing with me right now?" Naruto's voice rose suspiciously.

"Nope! I swear."

"Aw, now I feel silly for worrying so much." Naruto laughed and lay back against his pillows, relieved.

"You had good reason to. Well, that's that. Remember what you said: no more pestering me for information tonight."

"Fine," Naruto grumbled. He still wanted to find out what she knew about Itachi's possibly-dead, possibly-not-dead status. Whatever had happened between the Uchiha brothers or how reluctant Sasuke might be to divulge it, somebody had to know.

Kakashi or Tsunade were the other obvious choices, so Naruto resolved to be patient and wait for them to come by. If not, there was always tomorrow. And the next day. And however long he had to be here.

"I'm not going to sleep," he informed Sakura petulantly. "Not 'till Baa-chan comes back, or Kakashi-sensei tells us what they found. Like he said he would."

"Okay, you do that."

"I will."

"Good."

"It is good."

"Right."

Naruto opened his book again and narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously over the edge of it, before shifting his gaze to page one with a resolute air.

He was asleep by the next hour.

The same day the boundaries of time were shattered, near sunset when Kakashi's investigation squad was on its way home, Kabuto raced through the woods like all the demons in hell were after him.

The surrounding area was quiet save for the hollow thunk of the tree branches as he jumped from one to the next, and the blazingly orange horizon made the tree trunks ahead stand out in stark, inky black lines. He wore a voluminous burgundy cloak that had a hood decorated like a snake's head, and the visible lower half of his face was cracked into a manic grin. Though his physical form had gone through a lot of changing and warping recently, his movements were smooth and relaxed.

Kabuto came to a halt as the air shimmered and swirled above a thick branch in front of him, materializing into Tobi. The eerie plant-like one emerged from the tree's trunk.

"Aaah, you found me," Kabuto said with a mock pout. "What gave me away?"

"The spores," the black half of Zetsu said. "They don't just drain chakra. We used them to track you."

"Oh, that would explain it. They're for all kinds of things besides meddling with other people's experiments. I see."

"Zetsu recorded the whole thing," Tobi said, barely contained rage seeping into his voice. "Had I known you intended to betray us from the start, I would have killed you and gotten it over with."

"You misunderstand. It's just a side project. It has nothing to do with you," Kabuto said, giving them a slash of a smile from beneath his hood. His right arm twitched sporadically, and he held it with his other hand. Distantly, he knew something about the transformation hadn't gone right. But it was too late to turn back.

"What did you do?" Tobi snapped. "Zetsu says you made the Kyuubi boy appear using some kind of Summoning technique. To me, it looks like you had every intention of taking the bijuu for yourself."

"And the thing you summoned was just a little brat. Explain," Black Zetsu added.

"It was definitely his chakra, bijuu and all," White Zetsu said interestedly. "So how did you bring him though time, Kabuto-san?"

"I was going to tell you all about it." Kabuto took a step back on the branch, withdrawing deeper into his hood. "You didn't have to interrupt my experiment and ruin everything. Now he's holed up in Konoha, and I'll have to fetch him the old-fashioned way. I'll help you with your war, like I promised. That hasn't changed. Just stay out of my way when it comes to this project."

Tobi's one visible Sharingan eye narrowed behind the mask. "I thought the agreement was that you would help in exchange for Sasuke."

"Things are different now." Kabuto bowed his head, his shoulders shaking in silent laughter.

"How so?"

Kabuto grimaced and squeezed his left arm harder. He gasped and pitched off balance, nearly throwing himself off the tree branch, but then slowly steadied, reaching out and digging his pale, scaly fingers into the tree trunk. When he looked back up, he was calm again.

"I apologize," he said. "I'm not completely well at the moment. I am struggling with the fragment of Orochimaru-sama's consciousness embedded in mine. Let me explain it to you from the beginning, so you can see I have no intention of going back on our agreement. No secrets."

"By all means," Tobi said dryly.

"It was right after I first put the fragment of Orochimaru-sama into my system," Kabuto began. "I found a research journal tucked away among the research that Orochimaru-sama did while trying to improve the Edo Tensei. The journal contained a theory of using a similar method to summon and bind someone here from another time, rather than from the world of the dead. It even came with a hypothetical seal formula for enacting it, though it was incomplete. Originally, I was only interested in it for what it revealed to me about the Edo Tensei. Comparing the formulas helped to increase my understanding of the underlying theory of summoning and binding human life energy, and how to bring it under the caster's personal control."

"I've never heard of such a thing," Black Zetsu rasped.

Kabuto continued on, undeterred. "My mind kept drifting back to that incomplete jutsu. There were two principal problems with it. First, there was a large chance it would destroy the caster, since it requires a cost of life energy to use, the way a true Reanimation does. In addition, the ability to create physical reality from imagination is rare, and it requires a high-level dōjutsu, which I am sadly lacking in."

"You mean the Sharingan or Rinnegan," Tobi said. "But why would that be necessary to summon someone already alive, when Edo Tensei doesn't?"

"It is precisely because they are already alive. With Edo Tensei, it is a matter of moving them from one world to another. Orochimaru-sama's immortality technique was the same: he moved from one vessel to another. Ordinary chakra can also be split among any number of bodies, but one's own life energy is finite. Naruto-kun is already alive in this time. The only way to summon a living earlier version of him, rather than a mere echo or chakra construct, is to get that spark of life elsewhere."

"Then, a living sacrifice?" Tobi guessed. He paused thoughtfully. "You mean it is like Nagato's Shouten no Jutsu? Attaching someone's energy to a living body so it takes on the user's form and abilities?"

"Very close." Kabuto pushed up his glasses. "There's also the aspect of navigating the time stream so that the form you want appears. That part is actually much harder than reaching someone in the world of the dead, you know. There are a few other differences, but I won't bore you with the details right now. More importantly, you should know that I made all of these discoveries gradually, and I am being sincere when I say it wasn't my intention to take it this far." Kabuto held his hands out in front of him. "Around the same time I solved the jutsu, that bit of Orochimaru-sama's consciousness was physically changing my appearance. I didn't think the two things were connected at first. I thought those were my choices alone, but now I believe I've been manipulated into doing all of this, including targeting Naruto-kun specifically. I do not know why."

"You want to get away with it by saying it wasn't really you?" White Zetsu snorted.

Kabuto raised a hand to his head. He felt could feel the muscles of his face trying to move. "I still have every intention of cooperating with you, as agreed. But… this consciousness is a little stronger than I anticipated, and it seems to have other plans."

"This is ridiculous," Tobi said bluntly. "You want us to believe Orochimaru isn't actually dead?"

Kabuto's face pulled itself into a smirk. "Oh, he is very much alive. I am finding that out more and more. But mastering this fragment and winning the fight for my body will make me even stronger. Orochimaru-sama's incredible force of will is truly awe-inspiring. All the more reason to pit myself against it, with my own existence on the line!"

"Good for you, but if we can't rely on you, there's no point joining forces."

"Can't we just kill him?" Black Zetsu deadpanned.

Kabuto stilled himself again, and raised his head to grin at them. "Then how about we make a new arrangement?"

When Naruto awoke in a hospital bed, the first thing that crossed his mind was to wonder how badly he'd been hurt to end up here without remembering why. Then he saw Sai sleeping in the bed across from his, eerie pale skin reflecting the morning sun on his unconscious face, and it all came back.

"Damn it, I fell asleep!" Naruto blurted aloud, throwing his covers off and sitting up. He didn't see anyone around besides Sai. He got up and pulled the curtains around his bed and dressed hurriedly. The clothes he'd been given were boring, but Sakura had done a good job choosing the right sizes, at least. With dismay, he realized that he didn't have any fresh underwear. Should he ask...? No, that was where he wasputting his foot down. He would NOT let Sakura choose his underwear for him. Ignoring the flush of embarrassment he felt rising to his face, Naruto quickly decided that would be a good excuse to leave. Now he just had to escape before anyone realized he was awake.

He had just reached the door before someone opened it from the other side. It was Kakashi, smiling at him in the most irritatingly knowing way imaginable.

"You're in a hurry. Going somewhere?"

"Oh, hi, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto said in an over-bright voice, backpedaling quickly. "I was just going to go find out where they keep the donated clothes and stuff. Sakura-chan got some for me last night, but she forgot to get me any underwear. To be honest, I'm glad. I don't think a girl would be really good at picking underwear for a guy. You gotta have some room to move, you know what I'm saying? Well, I guess I'll see you—"

"Nope." A very unimpressed-looking Tsunade steered him by the shoulders when he tried to sidle into the hall. "You can worry about that later. We have things to do, and we don't have all day. I would have thought you'd appreciate us coming to visit."

"Sure, if you're gonna tell me what's going on." Naruto stopped resisting and looked back and forth between Tsunade and Kakashi.

"Yeah," Kakashi said. "I don't feel like repeating myself, though, so I'm going to wait until Sakura gets back." He settled against a nice comfortable patch of wall and pulled out Icha Icha Tactics. Naruto made a face.

"Sakura's checking on some other patients right now, so don't look so sour," Tsunade said. "I need to give you a look-over, anyway. Have a seat." she indicated Naruto's hastily made bed.

Naruto sat on the edge of the bed, growing uneasy. He hated anything medical. "I don't have to take off my pants, do I? Wait, there's not going to be any needles, right?"

Tsunade sighed. "The main thing is making sure your seal and chakras are okay. We didn't get a good look at the seal last time, so you'll need to take off your shirt. But the pants can stay."

Relieved, Naruto peeled off his shirt and Tsunade pulled a small wheeled cart over to the side of the bed. It had a machine on it that he recognized from the regular checkups that were mandatory for active duty shinobi. It resembled a lie-detector machine, with arms that skated over paper according to what it measured, only it was a device that measured chakra. But they probably could use it to detect lies or test somebody's identity. Good. It would prove once and for all that he wasn't an imposter.

Knowing the drill, Naruto extended his hands and Tsunade put a small, circular sensor on the center of each palm, where chakra was most easily manipulated and could be easily brought to the surface.

"Alright," Tsunade said, straightening up. "Let's see what's going on with you," she flipped the 'on' switch and the sensors began to hum and buzz, making his hands go numb.

Naruto watched as the machine's little arms drifted back and forth in a bunch of squiggly lines that he'd never been able to comprehend. Suddenly, he felt very nervous. If this thing could prove his identity by coming out normal, the opposite was also true. What if there was really something wrong? Immediately he thought of how slippery his chakra had been to control yesterday. What would he do if it said he was an imposter? How could he stand up for his innocence against an impartial machine?

"Don't be so nervous," Tsunade said, frowning over the paper. "This thing is supposed to measure your chakra flow in a state of rest, and you're gearing up like you're ready to jump out of the nearest window again." She raised an eyebrow.

"Sorry." Naruto took a deep breath. "I just remembered something. When I first woke up here, I could hardly feel my chakra. I tried running up a tree, but I just fell off. It started coming back pretty quickly, but I still had a really hard time controlling it. It was like, um..." he tried to think of how to describe it. "It was like when we first started learning how to use chakra at the Academy, and I had to concentrate really hard to get it to do what I wanted it to do. It got better, though."

Tsunade hummed and inspected the report printing out at the end of all the squiggly lines. She turned the machine off and tore the sheet from its perforated edge. Naruto put the sensors on the cart and flexed his hands, trying to get some feeling back into them.

"The seal looks completely normal from here," Kakashi commented. He had drifted over to them. "What does the report say?"

"There does seem to be something disrupting his chakra, but it's very faint."

"Like I said, it has gotten a lot better," Naruto offered. "I barely even notice it now."

"I don't think there's anything surprising about that, all things considered. We have no idea how the time travel may have affected you. I think this is pointless, but everyone wants data on you, so..." Tsunade picked up another sheet from the wheeled cart and held the two side by side.

"Fluctuations aside, your chakra's makeup matches your records at this age perfectly, except..." her eyebrows scrunched together in confusion.

"What? What is it?" Naruto leaned forward.

"There's an extra thread in your chakra's makeup that I've never seen." Tsunade put the two papers down and put her finger on the same line from each sheet. The old one's line was completely flat, but his new report spiked on the corresponding line. "These bottom lines have to do with the chakra's composition. It shows what elements you can use, kekkei genkai, or anything else thrown into the mix, like the chakra you have sealed in you that isn't native to you. There are inhuman elements. See? The Kyuubi's line is right above that, so it proves that its presence is still there. But he doesn't account for this other line."

"Is that bad?" Naruto stared at the paper, but it didn't help him understand it any better.

Tsunade pursed her lips for a moment. "Actually, I've seen this kind of pattern before on someone else." She blinked and her expression suddenly cleared.

"Anything to worry about?" Kakashi asked, trying to sound casual, but watching very attentively.

"Yamato has this same line, except his is much stronger and more refined. More regular. It's the chakra type affiliated with the mokuton kekkei genkai."

"Eh? Last time I checked, I don't have any kekkei genkai."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Kakashi asked. He'd actually fully lowered his book to stare at the report.

"I can only guess," Tsunade said. "I wasn't there to observe it directly, but when Akatsuki attacked at the summit, one of them showed the ability to produce parasite-like spores that could absorb and disrupt chakra, and track someone they were put on. According to the report the Mizukage made, that power did seem to be based on the Shodai's mokuton affinity. Maybe that would explain why it's showing up, and why your chakra was disrupted. Maybe some of those spores were put on you."

"Eh? Track—is that how they found me?"

"I don't know, but I don't like that possibility." Tsunade thought for a moment, tapping her foot against the linoleum. "If the disruption effect was caused by the spores, and it has already mostly worn off, we might assume that the spores are temporary and will soon be completely inert. We'll do another test later tonight to see if there's any change between now and then. In the meantime, you should take a shower. If we're really lucky, it'll be as simple as washing the spores off."

"Aw, I already dressed for the day and everything."

Tsunade ignored him, busying herself with the machine. She rolled it back to its spot and came back with a small capsule with a needle on the end, which Naruto eyed warily.

"No way—"

"I need a blood sample for the lab," she explained. "We'll be able to do some more accurate tests on that. If the spores are in your blood, at least we'll know. And if everything else matches up, I can count it as proof of your identity when I meet with the other Kage."

Naruto gave a puzzled frown. "I'm not trying to agree with that old lady or anything, but why do you have to tell them about me? I thought all the Kage sort of didn't like each other."

"If you want answers, then you'll hold still." Tsunade raised a brow.

Naruto reluctantly held out his arm. He winced and looked away, but didn't realize Tsunade was done until she pressed a square of gauze to his arm. He looked at down, but the small puncture healed itself within seconds.

"At least no one can say you aren't in good health." Tsunade frowned slightly at the vial in her hand. But she must have been satisfied with the amount of blood drawn, because she tucked the vial into her sleeve.

"Tell me about the Kage," Naruto said stubbornly.

"Fine. Since all the world's Jinchuuriki have been threatened, the five Great Hidden Villages have formed an alliance," Tsunade explained. "Part of our agreement sharing anything we know about Akatsuki and what their plans might be. Something like this falls squarely in that category, regardless of what certain people might think. Cooperation is the only way the alliance has meaning."

Naruto grinned. "I like that. Am I gonna get to go with you to the meeting?"

"No," Tsunade said bluntly, wiping the smile off his face. "You're not leaving the village until the Alliance decides what to do with you. Besides, the meeting is going to be held in Kumogakure in the Lightning Country, and it's best if the two versions of you, if there are two, stay far apart from one another. There hasn't been an answer from Gai and the others yet, and I don't like not knowing how things stand. I might go to investigate myself if there still hasn't been an answer by the time I get to Kumo. I'm leaving tomorrow, and I should only be gone a few days, since we will be taking the direct route. Until I get back, you will have to stay here in the hospital with Sai."

"Baa-chan, how could you do this to me?" Naruto was dismayed. "You know I can't stand being cooped up in the hospital—and this time, I'm not hurt or sick or anything!"

"If an injury is all you need to get you to stay here..." Tsunade began threateningly, cracking her knuckles.

"No... no, that's fine," he said hurriedly.

"Good. I promise when I come back, we'll have worked things out. And you won't be alone, either. If you have to be sent somewhere, I'll send you with people that you know." She patted his knee and stood, walking to the door. "The floor's yours, Kakashi. I'll send Sakura along soon."