"Get out of bed, Naruto! Geez, I don't understand how you ever managed to be on time for missions."
Naruto cracked his eyes open for the third time that morning as Sakura came around yet again to wake him up. This time, he pulled himself up from the warm embrace of sleep the best he could, sitting up slowly and blinking at his teammates, who were fully clothed and ready to go.
He wasn't completely awake until he had showered and dressed and they were in Tsunade's temporary office hearing the mission briefing.
Neji was already there, and Tsunade was drinking tea and reading papers. She looked up when they came in.
"Took you all long enough. I have to hear a report on the reconstruction in half an hour, so let's get this over with." She held out a scroll and Neji stepped forward to take it. "The four of you are to rendezvous with the delegation from Suna on the border between the Land of Rivers and the Land of Wind in two days' time. The coordinates are in your scroll. From there, they will escort you across the desert into Suna. If for some reason you aren't able to reach the meeting place on time, have Sai send a message ahead with your ETA."
"Will the Kazekage be there personally, Tsunade-sama?" Neji asked.
"Maybe. That was his intention, but it depends on what comes up for him between now and then. Regardless, whoever they send will be more than qualified. Send word once you arrive in Suna, and wait there for further instructions. I may need everyone except Naruto to come back soon after, since our chuunin and jounin can't be spared for long."
"When do I get to come back?" Naruto asked despondently.
"I don't know." Tsunade rested her elbows on the desk and linked her hands. She sighed. "It's time you're made aware of something. The true leader of Akatsuki, who calls himself Uchiha Madara, has declared all-out war on the Allied Shinobi Force. That's the real reason we teamed up in the first place. We aren't sure how he intends to do it, but knowing how powerful he is, and given the recent evidence that they're using the Edo Tensei... all of us are preparing for war. Where you go will depend on the enemy's movements, and how safe Suna can remain."
"What... war?" Naruto felt himself wake up very suddenly. "How can one guy declare war on entire countries? And who the hell is Uchiha Madara? I thought all the Uchiha were... you know."
"I don't have time to go into the details right now, but your teammates will bring you up to speed about that on the way." Tsunade held up a hand when Sakura looked like she was about to protest. "No. This much is necessary. Suna is in the midst of preparations just like everyone else, and keeping company with the Kazekage will make it impossible to hide the war any longer. Naruto, when you can come back depends entirely on the war. You might not be able to come back even if Suna becomes unsafe. As you've seen, we're hosting many small communities from around the Land of Fire. Our broken-down village is of the least strategic importance right now, and it can only stay that way if you are somewhere else."
Naruto pressed his lips together tightly, fighting down the horror at what he was hearing. The storehouses stocked with supplies, the patrols, the cancellation of all regular missions, the Alliance... it all made sense now. He thought it was a little unusual that regular missions had been stopped when the opposite had been the case after Orochimaru's attack in his time. Now he knew why.
"You are right," he said finally. "It's probably better if I'm not here. But... there has to be something that I can do to help! I can't just hide behind people forever and let them be in danger for me, whether it's Suna or Konoha, or anyone!"
Tsunade chuckled darkly. "You don't have to tell me how you feel about it, Naruto. I know. You forget: I've been dealing with you for far longer than you have been dealing with me. But what do you want me to do? Even if the enemy hadn't specifically targeted you, do you think I'm going to send any 12-year-old genin out to war any sooner than absolutely necessary? Would you have me throw Konohamaru and all the others into it, too?" she looked at him over her clenched hands. Her eyes burned with a fierce fire, and Naruto remembered suddenly that her little brother had been killed in war... the same age as him. He swallowed.
"Well then... will you let... the older me fight, at least?" he said falteringly. "And let me find a way to get back to my own time."
"I'm sure he will end up in the battle sooner or later." Tsunade leaned back in her chair, relaxing. "My money is on that as an eventual outcome. For what it's worth, that is what I wanted to begin with, but I was outvoted by the other Kage. Try not to get into that topic with the Kazekage. He was one of the ones most strongly against it. As for finding your way back... first we have to confirm who did it and how, and then work from there. I don't know how much you will able to do. Your time spent in the Land of Wind will be up to the Kazekage."
Naruto sighed heavily.
"Hey, it might be fun," Tsunade said. "I'm sure he'll put you to work if you want. Being the Kazekage's lackey could be good for you, since you'll be able to see how a Kage works." She grinned suddenly.
"Lackey...?"
"Are there any other pertinent questions about the mission?"
They all shook their heads. Sakura cast Naruto an amused look, and he couldn't help but feel like they were all in on some private joke. He scowled.
Tsunade stood. "Alright then, you're dismissed. Get Naruto some equipment from the armory and set out within the hour."
The armory didn't have much to offer, at least from Naruto's perspective. All they could get for him was standard gear and a typical Konoha uniform, minus the flak vest. He tried to negotiate for a bright orange backpack, but was voted down because they didn't have the time to find one. Instead, he got a boring gray pack, along with the tool pouches and supplies necessary for a three day journey. But at least he could wear Iruka's hitai-ate, and one of his older self's shirts with the iconic crest on the front.
They left as soon as possible, taking the route that started high up on the cliffs. Naruto turned back to give the village one last look.
"A lot's been rebuilt, just since I've been here," he said in awe.
"Yeah." Sakura gave a small smile. "By the time we come back, it will be completely different again."
Naruto didn't know when he would see this Konoha again, or if he ever would. It should be what he wanted—to go home. His true home. But it was a strange thought.
"Someone's running after us." Sai pointed.
"Where?"
"It's Konohamaru." Neji gave a puzzled frown.
Sure enough, moments later Konohamaru skidded to a stop several meters away from them, panting.
"Aha! Thought you could just sneak away, kore?!"
"What are you doing, Konohamaru?" Sakura said. "Go back to the village."
"No!" Konohamaru cried. "As a ninja—no, as a man, there is something that I have to do first!" He pointed at Naruto. "Naruto-niichan! I challenge you right here and now!"
"Hah?" Naruto said. "We're leaving on a mission right now... but we can compare our progress in perverted jutsu when I get back, ok?"
"Not that!" Konohamaru shook his head agitatedly. "I mean I want you to fight me! I don't think you're coming back. This could be my only chance."
"Only chance for what?" Neji said. "Spit it out. We're on a tight schedule here."
"I've always, always looked up to you, niichan," Konohamaru said directly to Naruto, ignoring everyone else. "But the way things are going, I feel like I'm gonna be behind you my entire life. Sometimes I wonder if I could really be your rival, with such a gap between us. But now I have the chance to fight against you when you were the same age as I am now. Don't you see? I can't let a chance like that go for anything!"
"Hah!" Naruto said, shedding his backpack and walking toward him, hands ready near the kunai strapped to his leg. "Now that you mention it, you're right!"
"Now what?" Sakura looked at Neji.
"Should we stand back?" Sai suggested.
Neji sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Neither of them will listen if we say no. Hey!" he called, and Naruto and Konohamaru looked at him. "You have ten minutes, then we're leaving. And try not to break anything, or Tsunade-sama will kill all of us. I can't believe we're already getting delayed and we haven't even started." Neji picked up Naruto's pack and dragged it to the treeline. Sai sat down on a log and Sakura went up into a tree to watch.
Naruto turned to Konohamaru, cracking his knuckles with a grin. "Don't think I'll go easy on you."
"Hah! Pretty soon you'll be begging for me to go easy on you. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Konohamaru yelled, and three copies of himself appeared in formation around him, each wielding a kunai.
"Impressive, but you know all I have to do is cancel it out." Naruto raised his hands into his favorite seal. "Kage–"
His eyes widened as the real Konohamaru Body Flickered out of sight at the same time the three clones ran at him. Naruto dived and rolled out of the way as a fistful of shuriken came from behind, whirling harmlessly through the space where he had been standing.
Dang, he's really serious, Naruto thought, crouching near to the ground after his roll and watching warily. And he can already use the Body Flicker Technique; that's really good.
Konohamaru's three clones were still after him, giving him no more time to think. Naruto dispelled the first one that reached him with an uppercut, and he elbowed the second one in the face after it tackled him around the middle. He jumped back and drew a kunai, facing the last.
"Where did the real you go?" he said, eyes roving all over the area. He spotted Sakura standing beside Sai and threw the kunai at her.
"What the hell, Naruto?" Sakura screeched, barely managing to dodge. "Now you're gonna have to deal with me!" She started stalking toward him.
"Nice try!" Naruto shouted. "But Sakura-chan wasn't standing there a second ago! That's just a disguise to distract me from... this–!" He whirled around and his fist met with a fully solid object—one that did not dispel.
Konohamaru grunted and flew back a small distance, not expecting the hit, and landed hard on the ground. The fake-Sakura poofed into nonexistence and Konohamaru cursed, pushing himself up on his hands and knees.
"Done already?" Naruto said.
"Far from it!" Konohamaru growled. He jumped up and crossed his fingers, producing two more clones.
"Okay, if that's how you want to play it..." Naruto imitated him. "Taijuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
Dozens upon dozens of Naruto clones appeared, fencing in Konohamaru, surrounding him and his clones on every side. The three Konohamarus quickly stood back-to-back with each other, facing the huge mob. The Naruto clones all grinned maliciously.
"Come and get me!"
"Over heeeere."
Naruto was just about to ask him whether he wanted to surrender, when suddenly Konohamaru shouted, "Scatter!" and one of the clones peeled off from the group and came running directly at the real Naruto. The other clone darted in another direction, and Konohamaru himself ran in the direction opposite from his foe.
Naruto drew another kunai and brought it up to defend himself with, until he noticed that the clone racing toward him had a paper bomb stuck to its chest.
Naruto took in a sharp breath, flipped backward, and brought his arms up just as the paper bomb exploded. He squeezed his eyes shut at the bright flash of light and heard the pops of dispelling clones accompanying the explosion. It wasn't enough to dispel them all, though. Naruto wrenched open his eyes and saw his remaining clones already filling in the gaps.
In the meantime, the real Konohamaru climbed, punched, and elbowed his way through a thin spot in the circle. Naruto saw him running up the trunk of a very tall tree. When he reached almost the very top, Konohamaru launched himself off of it, spinning around and forming handsigns.
"Katon: Haisekishou!"
Konohamaru was poised exactly over the chaotic mob when he took a huge breath and spit out a rapidly spreading cloud of gray dust.
Not knowing what the mysterious cloud could do, Naruto scrambled away from the edge of it. It wasn't a moment too soon. Konohamaru bit off the end of the cloud, flinting it with his teeth. The cloud of dust flashed red in an instant and went off with more energy than a paper bomb, incinerating everything contained in it. All the clones clustered below went up in flame and died horrible burning deaths. There was a whoosh of flame and a chorus of popping sounds filled the air. Konohamaru dropped down into the thick smoke left over from the attack.
"Whoa, that was awesome!" Naruto called to him, walking closer while watching the leftover smoke cloud carefully. "I bet you had to use up a lot of chakra to do that, though. And even if you get rid of all of them once, there's always more where that came from!"
Naruto froze in place when he saw a blue glow coming from inside the smoke. The harsh sound of rapidly swirling chakra met his ears.
"What?" Naruto gasped, and Konohamaru burst out of the smoke with his remaining clone by his side, the both of them working together to hold a small Rasengan. Naruto barely had time to register its existence before it was slammed into his abdomen.
Naruto flew back and rolled several times before stopping at the base of a tree. Konohamaru's clone dispelled and he wavered on his feet, before losing the fight against gravity and dropping to the ground. He was panting heavily, but grinning.
"Dang, I never realized what that felt like," Naruto groaned, sitting up. Konohamaru's jaw fell open at his sudden movment.
Naruto pulled back the hand that was covering his abdomen, revealing a hole in his shirt and an angry-red, welted patch of skin underneath. "I'm really glad you didn't hit me with that full-power, or it could have been really bad."
"Awww!" Konohamaru slapped himself in the forehead. "I thought I made it stronger than that!"
"You idiot! What were you thinking?" Sakura jumped out of her tree and stomped over to Konohamaru, pulling him up from the ground by his collar. "What would possess you to use a move like that in a fight against your fellow genin?"
"Oh..." Konohamaru hung his head. "I guess I got carried away, I'm sorry."
"No, it's great!" Naruto stood slowly, grinning and propping himself on Sai's offered arm. "When did you learn how to do that, Konohamaru?"
"Eheh, a little while ago," Konohamaru smiled bashfully and rubbed his head. "You taught it to me."
Sakura let him down with a snort and gave him a cursory look over. "You're not suffering from chakra exhaustion. I guess since you didn't really want to hurt Naruto, your body did not push past its own limits and produce a powerful attack. Which is a good thing, by the way, or we'd be even more delayed, and Tsunade-sama really would kill us." She turned and walked over to examine Naruto.
"I'm fine. Well, my shirt isn't." Naruto looked down at the large hole in it and gasped. "Aw, man! I hope the older me doesn't get mad. I took all the ones from his room."
"It is strange, though... it really does seem like that should have done more damage," Sakura mused, inspecting the injury. "It didn't even draw any blood, though it's pretty swollen."
"Well, it definitely hurts like I got kicked by a horse, or one of Baachan's high heels." He grimaced.
"Time's up. Are you ready to go?" Neji said.
"Yeah, I guess." Naruto walked over to where Konohamaru was standing. "You were really awesome, Konohamaru! You already have a bunch of really neat jutsu. I'm kind of jealous. You know at least one I don't."
"Uhhh," Konohamaru sighed. "Your amount of energy is just too crazy, niichan. How am I ever supposed to beat you if I run out of power before you do?"
"You're pretty good at strategizing already," Sai said. "Sheer power isn't everything. Besides, you are really powerful, too. Many genin cannot use elemental ninjutsu, not to mention the Rasengan."
"Go for more spin next time," Naruto advised. "Not on me, 'cause I don't want a hole put through me, but you know what I mean."
"Thanks guys. Good luck on your mission." Konohamaru held out his hand to Naruto and looked stubbornly down at the ground.
Naruto shook his hand. "I wish I could stay and hang out with you more. It'll be fun when I go home, 'cause I'll be the only one who knows what you can really do."
"You'll definitely make it back." Konohamaru sniffled. He scrubbed at his eyes with his arm and whirled around. "Bye everyone!" he gave a quick wave to the group and turned to jog back to the village.
"Hm." Sakura smiled and put a hand on her hip. "Well, if we're all ready, let's go."
"Yes," Neji said. He tossed Naruto's backpack to him and led the way.
The plan was to reach the Land of Rivers border and stop for the night, making the first leg of the trip the longest. Once they hit foreign territory, allied or not, they would have to move with more caution. They were to meet the group from Suna before sunset the next day, make camp early, and set out across the desert in the wee hours of the morning to miss the worst of the beating sun.
They were focused on covering as much ground as possible, so no one talked much aside from Neji's periodic reports on their surroundings, and Sai's consultations of the map. They kept going for a while past nightfall to reach the edge of the Fire Country before making camp.
When they finally reached the border, one of the many rivers that gave the Land of Rivers its name, everyone was strained and more than ready for a rest.
"How are you feeling?" Sakura asked Sai, handing him a cup of tea. He had settled down on his bedroll almost immediately after they set up camp.
"I'm a little sore, but otherwise fine." He accepted the tea with a smile.
"How is your battle wound, Naruto?" Sakura turned to him.
"Let me see." Naruto pulled up the hole-less shirt he'd changed into. "Oh. Yep. Completely gone."
Sakura gave him a strange look and shook her head. "If it was anyone but you, I'd be freaked out."
Neji was sitting cross-legged in front of the fire, sipping his own cup of tea and looking over their map. Naruto walked over and plopped down next to him.
"How's our progress, Neji-taichou?" he asked cheekily.
Neji gave an amused huff. Sakura came over to look at the map with them.
"We can go at a slightly easier pace tomorrow," Neji said. "But we'll have to be especially alert. In the current climate, we are required to report any of our own major military movements through an allied country. Normally, that would only apply to groups larger than a squad, but both Kage and jinchuuriki fall into that category as well. We had no choice but to inform the local daimyo about our passage through. They weren't told our route or the coordinates of the rendezvous, but it is still more likely that, if anywhere, this is where we'll meet an ambush or enemy pursuit. We cannot be certain there will be no leaks."
Neji looked up at Sai. "If anything happens, we are close enough to request backup from the Kazekage or his representative, since they will already be heading in our direction by tomorrow. Send them an SOS immediately, without waiting to find out the enemy's intentions. Hopefully, there will be enough warning for you to send a message before we make contact, but even if we are taken by surprise, make that your first priority."
"I will write it now, so all I have to do is add the coordinates," Sai said, reaching out to pull his bag toward him.
"Good idea," Neji agreed. "Unfortunately, we know Madara has the ability to appear with no warning at all, using some type of teleportation jutsu. But we think he has to know where he's going. Whether he can teleport or not, he still has to find our location first."
"Right, so," Naruto said suddenly. "He's the leader of Akatsuki, and now I know he can teleport. Baa-chan said you're supposed to tell me more about this guy, right?"
Neji crossed his arms. "Yes. I agree it's for the best. Maybe things would be different if we knew how to send you back right now. But as long as you are staying here, I think you need to know the situation."
"I still don't understand how we could be going to war against a single guy." Naruto glanced at Sakura and Sai. They were looking at him, but they didn't seem upset. Instead, they looked like they were watching his reaction.
"Madara is the leader of Akatsuki," Neji said. "One member of Akatsuki, Pein, was able to destroy Konoha all by himself. The rest of them managed to capture nearly all the world's jinchuuriki, despite the bijuu's power. Just knowing he's the commander of a group like that demands we take him seriously. When this started, the Five Kage met to discuss the jinchuuriki abductions, but then Madara and some of his associates invaded that meeting. His actions show how confident he is. He told the Five Kage what his plan was, and declared war when they did not agree to cooperate."
"And...? What is his plan?"
There was silence for a moment when no one answered, and they all just stared into the campfire. Everyone looked lost in their own thoughts.
"Come oooooon!" Naruto said. "You can't go so far and leave that part out."
"Madara is an Uchiha," Sakura said softly, watching the fire with her arms curled around her legs. "And he possesses the Mangekyo Sharingan, like Itachi. He claims he can use the power of the bijuu to amplify his dōjutsu enough to cast it on the moon, causing it to reflect back down on the world, trapping everyone in the world in an infinite Tsukuyomi. He calls it the Moon's Eye plan, Tsuki no Me."
Naruto stared at her with his mouth agape while what she said slowly sunk in.
Neji nodded. "Capturing all the jinchuuriki and extracting their bijuu was the first step. He appealed to the Kage to give up the last of them and moved into open hostility when they refused. It's clear he's gotten impatient."
"Okay..." Naruto said slowly, struggling to process all this new information. "I think I get what you're saying about his plan and the war and all. But... what the hell does all that have to do with Kabuto, and bringing me to the future? And..." he rubbed his hands through his hair in frustration. "I thought all the Uchiha were gone. Where did this guy come from?"
"Kabuto and Madara have joined forces," Sai said. "I was on the team watching Kabuto's movements initially, but we were swapped out for another group better specialized for tracking. They observed Kabuto and Madara making an agreement with one another."
"Kakashi-sensei said Kabuto gave them the slip the same day I came here," Naruto said quickly. "Plus, Orochimaru was the only one who knew how to use the dead-people move."
"An ineloquent way of putting it, but yes," Neji said. "Whether it was Kabuto or Madara, it amounts to the same thing. One of them did it, and they are actively trying to capture you. We can't let that happen."
Naruto curled his hands into fists. For the first time, the vague concept of Akatsuki chasing after him coalesced into a sharp, fine end point: they would take away the power inside of him and use it to end the world.
And that's when he started to feel afraid. Not the fear of being captured or hurt or even killed, but the fear that something dark and ominous was going to swallow the world, and his lack of strength would cause it to happen. Naruto drew up his knees and rested his forehead on them, trying to force the fear down. He didn't have the strength to go against these monsters, and he didn't have the time to get strong enough, not unless he could escape back in time.
"I have to get out of here," he said through gritted teeth. "The only way I can help is by going home. I can't take just sitting around, and if I can't fight, I'm not doing any good by being here."
"Easier said than done, isn't it?" Sai said in his calm, even way. "We'll have to stop the jutsu caster, or get him to reverse it."
Naruto looked up. "If we could find out who did it and how, that would be something, right? If we run into one of them, we should try to get some information out of them."
"I'd rather not run into them," Neji pointed out.
"I'm just saying."
Sakura put a hand on his shoulder. "We'll get you back where you belong. I don't know how long it will take, but we aren't going to let them win. They'll send you back the easy way or the hard way."
Naruto gave a small grunt of acknowledgement and picked up a small twig from the ground. He absently broke it into smaller pieces.
If it was just Kabuto one-on-one, he could probably hold the medic off, maybe even for long enough to ask some questions. He'd already fought Kabuto before, after all. Naruto threw the twig pieces into the fire and brushed off his hands.
As long as he was here, he would fight. It didn't really matter how hopeless it seemed. There was nothing else to be done. Backing down was not something that he was fond of doing.
Neji stood. "Everyone should turn in. We'll still be leaving early in the morning."
Sakura stood as well. "Shouldn't we take the guard in turns so you don't have to overuse your eyes?"
"Aa," he agreed, rolling up the map. "I'll take first watch. If anyone notices anything suspicious, wake Sai first, so he can send the message."
"But wait, I had more questions about Madara..." Naruto craned his head to watch them walk back and forth, putting away scrolls and unrolling bedrolls.
"Get some sleep for now," Neji said. "We'll have plenty of time for that after we reach Suna."
Naruto shrugged and stood up, dusting off his pants. He settled down at a comfortable distance from the fire and lay with his arms crossed under his head, looking up at the sky. The clearing they were in was very small—a little hollow barely safe to light a fire in—but above was a jagged hole in the canopy of trees where the stars peeked through. Several yards away, the river gurgled quietly.
Naruto closed his eyes and basked in the nostalgic camp feeling. Though they hadn't yet left the Fire Country, and he was among friends, he still felt a bit homesick.
Whatever the Land of Wind had in store for him, it would be another piece to the puzzle that, if they could just see how it fit together, could be the key to undoing this bizarre situation.
Naruto opened his eyes and raised his hand slowly, curling it around the moon like it was a jewel he could pluck out of the sky. It was a waning moon, a sleepy eye on the verge of closing.
Who knew such a peaceful thing could be dangerous? Was this the same moon that hung in his own sky? Was this even the same reality? If not, what was it?
Trying to work that one out made his brain feel like someone was wringing it out, so Naruto lowered his hand and closed his eyes again.
Real or not, he thought, I have to try. I can't stop, or look back and doubt. That's good enough for me.