Chidori.
"What…" Naruto didn't know where to begin. He waited for Sakura to explain what was going on.
She stood and put her hand over his. "Hold on a minute. I have to let the others know you are awake. Let the Suna medics take a look at you, okay? Please," she gripped his hand tightly. "Please hold on just a moment."
Naruto looked down at her hand and then back up at her as she gave a final painful smile and pulled the screen open to the rest of the room.
"Uzumaki-san?" one of the Suna medics stepped up. He wasn't acting as strange as Sakura, but his movements were tentative, almost flinching. Naruto felt like he'd woken in a world on the verge of exploding.
"I'm going to check your pulse and listen to your heart and lungs, to make sure that everything is working fine now. Is that alright?"
Naruto wasn't really listening. It was all real. It was real. Somehow, he had missed every single thing that was most important. And they had known. They knew Sasuke was with Akatsuki. That he left Konoha. He was gone. Out there, and no one was doing anything about it.
Sasuke—in Akatsuki. He was part of the group trying to find and kill his older self. He was a traitor. But Tobi had said he just wanted revenge because Itachi acted on orders. That it was the Hokage that had told him to do it. Did they know that too? What the Hokage had done? What the village had done?
And the Yondaime…
Brushing against that thought was like touching a white-hot knife. Naruto whimpered and clutched the sides of his head and curled up, chin on his knees. He tried to shut out the stabbing voice in his memory, but it refused to stop.
The truth is, though, you didn't entirely disagree with Pein's ideals. You must have identified with him on some level.
The only change will be you. But you will find out how much difference that can make.
"Uzumaki-san? What's wrong?" the medic asked urgently.
All of this is reality. Here and now. And you say this is somehow better than what I want?
Do you honestly think that's different from what I am trying to do?
The medic reached out to touch Naruto's arm, but jerked back when a wisp of red flickered over it like a flame. Naruto shuddered. Bubbling, agitated red energy started seeping from his tenketsu. It ran over his spine and spread down his arms to the tips of his fingers, nails lengthening into sharp points.
"What's going on?" a couple of other medics had rushed over.
"It's the Bijuu! It's—he's starting to lose control!"
They only treat you well now because you're important. That doesn't change the fact that they see you as nothing more than a beast.
He dug his long fingernails into the mattress and his back arched as his muscles and bones shifted around into a more animalistic configuration.
"Oh my god!"
"W-What do we do?"
"Someone get Gaara-sama right now!"
Naruto's body burned. His skin cracked and peeled. Everyone was yelling in panic and confusion. Their fear made the hard wedge of grief and anger dig even deeper into his heart. More and more demonic chakra bubbled and frothed around him—and the more of it there was, the stranger his transformation became. Something was happening that had never happened before.
When the second tail of the chakra cloak had almost formed, strange knobs growing along his skeletal structure burst into twisted, lethal-looking spikes along his spine, shoulders, and collarbone. The ever-increasing outpouring of energy only made them grow larger and deadlier. They weren't made of bone. They were made of wood—a dark, almost black wood corrupted by toxic chakra. The more energy that seeped from his tenketsu, the larger they grew.
Something dark streaked across the room and wrapped around Naruto tightly. He looked through hazy eyes to see Sai painting across a scroll with frantic speed. Long ink snakes jumped off the paper and launched themselves at him.
Naruto gave an inhuman roar. The energy swelled and burst the ink constructions holding him down. Snarling, he swiped his hand at Sai and dark vines broke out from under his skin and rushed toward him. Sai's eyes widened.
The vines were knocked to the side by a wave of sand, and before he could grasp what had happened, Naruto saw and felt the sand surround his body. He snarled in frustration and struggled, but every movement he made added another layer around him. It just kept piling on and on until his entire body was encased in it, up to his neck. He couldn't move. Screaming out angrily, he bared his teeth at his assailant—and saw Gaara.
Gaara stared back, hands raised, ready to manipulate his sand at a moment's notice. He knelt in front of Naruto.
Something in his look made Naruto stop.
"You are the last person I ever wanted to see with those eyes," Gaara said.
He put his hand on the sand encasing Naruto. Seal lines appeared from the point of contact and stretched all around. The bubbling started to die down and Naruto cried out in pain as the shards of wood shrank back into his body. The corroded energy retreated. The sand loosened and fell from around him in a softly hissing stream. Drained and weak, Naruto slumped forward and Gaara caught and steadied him.
"Gaara," Naruto choked out weakly, and he gripped the front of Gaara's shirt and dug his face into it. Gaara froze for a moment from the unaccustomed contact, but then put his arms around his friend. As he started sobbing into Gaara's chest, he felt incredibly young, like the weight of trying to hold the world suddenly collapsed.
Tears were also swimming in Sakura's eyes. She climbed up beside them and hugged them too. Sai joined in on the other side. Neji let out a long breath that he had been holding and put his hand comfortingly on top of Naruto's head. Fukasaku was too small to join in the embrace, but he put his webbed hand on Naruto's back.
"Everyone, leave us for a moment," Gaara said, looking over his shoulder at the crowd of medics, ANBU, and random shinobi that had heard the commotion and rushed to investigate.
"But—Kazekage-sama!"
"Leave. I'll be out soon."
"Sir."
They all bowed and left reluctantly, looking back at the huddled group and murmuring amongst themselves.
They stayed like that for a while, Naruto's body shaking and heaving with sobs while his friends clung to him. He cried as he hadn't cried since he was very small. He felt angry at everyone—he wanted to push all of them away. But for the moment, though he hated his own weakness, he couldn't reject the physical comfort of five pairs of hands holding him steady. For the first time, there were people willing to take the pain spilling out of him and hold it close, and he had never needed that so much.
"And that's how it is. He might survive this experiment, he might not. It's between him and Orochimaru now," Tobi said.
Sasuke stood silently at the lab's deep sink, washing his hands and arms. The bloodstained wraps lay in a pile beside the sink.
"Why is Orochimaru still around? Itachi sealed him with the Sword of Totsuka." Sasuke forcefully turned off the spigots and dried his hands on the hanging towel as if he had a grudge against his own hands.
"He has a way of escaping through the smallest opening. Very snake-like, wouldn't you say?"
"And why did you bring him here?" Sasuke said, turning to him angrily. "What is Orochimaru trying to do?"
"Why do you care?"
"I don't," Sasuke said. "I want to know why Orochimaru is trying to interfere. And why you're going along with it. You planned all of this. You wanted us to meet."
"I'm also curious," Black Zetsu said. Both halves were sticking out of the ceiling. "The plan was to separate him from his friends so Orochimaru could get him. Why did you change your mind?"
"I said I would take him back if he listened. Fair is fair."
Sasuke's lip curled in derision. "You tricked me."
Tobi shrugged. "Orochimaru wanted me to tell Naruto the truth, and let him decide whether to leave them or not. I thought seeing you might give him more motivation. After all, leaving of your own will is almost a driving force in itself, wouldn't you agree, Sasuke?"
Sasuke didn't answer.
Tobi gestured. "He didn't seem very happy about it. If he does leave them, what will you do?"
"If it's really him from the past—which I'm not saying I believe—he's just an unimportant weakling," Sasuke said. "If he can distract Konoha, all the better. But I would like to have a talk with Orochimaru."
"You'll have to wait for that," Tobi said. "In exchange for my help, he's carrying out Kabuto's plan for strengthening the Zetsu. The war will be starting very soon. But when the time comes, I'm sure you'll be able to make your mark."
Sasuke clenched his fists. He understood very well Tobi was using him from the moment he first got involved with Akatsuki. But to be used so blatantly—to be complicit in whatever game Orochimaru was playing now—that pissed him off.
Once he could use his eyes, he would make his mark in his own way. Not the way anyone else wanted him to.
"I don't care if you were going along with what Orochimaru wanted, or whatever," Sasuke said. "I won't forget it. I'm sick of dealing with you guys. As soon as I can, I'm going my own way."
"Ohhhh," White Zetsu said in a stage whisper. "Sasuke-kun is mad at us now."
"That is fine," Tobi said. "I'm sure you will think of plenty of things to do on your own. For now, concentrate on taking good care of those eyes of yours." He turned and headed for the door. Zetsu melted into the ceiling and disappeared.
Sasuke bundled the bloodstained bandages and shoved them into the trash can by the sink. He was angrily formulating plans. That was pretty much all he did these days. But now he had a better idea of what was happening outside. He would definitely pay a visit to Orochimaru soon.
Baki was relieved to be back in Suna, even if it was only temporary. He was glad for the alliance and proud to see shinobi of different nationalities working together, but for him, nothing beat the sight of home.
He first realized something was wrong when he went to report to the Kazekage and saw ANBU guards in plain sight.
His concern went up further when he saw samurai wearing green, high-collared desert tunics with red silk sashes embroidered with the kanji for 'kaze': the personal guard of the Wind Daimyo.
As he approached Gaara's office, walking without challenge past the guards, he saw that the door was slightly ajar. Someone was talking.
"It is a curious transformation. Doesn't Konoha have a shinobi who can use the Shodai Hokage's mokuton no jutsu? Perhaps we could get his opinion on it, try to determine if this one can use it too—"
"My lord, I object! We absolutely cannot allow the boy to keep running wild and putting our citizens in danger! It's well enough for Konoha to shove their problems on us—"
"Did you just interrupt me, Ishida?" the first voice said in a steely tone.
"Ah—ah—I-I'm sorry, I spoke out of turn. Please forgive me."
Baki felt something crunch under his feet when he approached the door. He looked down and saw sand lightly scattered in the hallway.
"Come in," he heard Gaara call from in the room. The Kazekage sounded tired.
Baki pushed the door open and walked in. "Excuse the intrustion. I didn't realize you were here, Yamaguchi-sama." He bowed at the Wind Daimyo, who was sitting down on a richly draped couch that had not been there before.
"It's fine. Report," Gaara said.
Baki cleared his throat and looked at Yamaguchi and his cousin Ishida, a lower member of the royal house, and then back at Gaara. He wanted to know what was going on, but he put it to the back of his mind for the moment. "All forces are officially assembling now. Anyone going that hasn't left yet should do so very soon. The Raikage suggests we bring everyone together at least once to get a clear idea of what the divisions will look like. The division commanders will be formally introduced at that time."
"It's finally happening, then," Ishida sniffed. "Everyone is leaving and we'll be stuck with that beast, completely defenseless."
"As pathetic as my cousin's whining sounds," Yamaguchi started, "he does have a point. The jinchuuriki is from Konoha. It's all but confirmed Orochimaru is behind his appearance here. Though he is a missing-nin, he's also from there. As a foreign power and former enemy, can we really be certain Konoha's intentions toward us are pure? Had you not gotten there so quickly, Kazekage-dono, I'm certain the boy would have killed everyone there and continued his rampage until someone put him down. I hear he even lashed out at his own teammate. You of all people should understand why we must seriously reconsider keeping him here with little defense for our people."
"That's exactly what I'm saying," Ishida insisted. "We need to call our best sealing masters to put him up for the duration of the war, then he'll be Konoha's to deal with again. I don't understand why we had to agree to this in the first place."
Gaara rubbed his forehead with one hand. Baki got the feeling that he'd been doing that a lot in the last few hours.
"Getting the mokuton user to come here is a good idea, if it's possible," Gaara said with remarkable steadiness. "He's helping guard the older Naruto currently, but it would be good to get his opinion on this. And if Naruto can use that power, maybe Yamato-san can help him figure out how to use it to suppress or control the Kyuubi."
"Very well," Yamaguchi said. "As long as he stays under control somehow. We absolutely cannot have a repeat of the earlier incident while everyone is gone."
Gaara's frowned lengthened just a fraction. "Yamaguchi-sama, if you're worried about Suna being destroyed by Naruto, why don't you go back home to the capital?"
"Ah, I may," Yamaguchi said breezily. "But traveling across the desert is so tedious. I think I'll wait to see if anything else interesting happens here."
Yamato was enjoying a rare nap. Ever since Naruto learned how to stabilize the Kyuubi Chakra Mode, his job had been relatively easy (though not boring—it was never boring with two loud and enthusiastic jinchuuriki around). The downside to that progress was it would undoubtedly get harder to convince Naruto to stay hidden within the great turtle's shell. Fortunately, for the time being, Killer Bee was keeping him busy with control exercises using the giant clawed hands he could now form out of chakra.
Yamato received a very rude awakening when something slammed hard into the self-made wooden bench he was reclining on. The bench flipped backward, dumping him to the floor and landing over him like a wooden tent. The wood immediately began to sprout and grow, entangling him.
"Ah—! Sorry, Yamato-taichou!" Naruto peered through the triangular hole created by the bench and the floor. "You were behind a thing I was trying to pick up, and… well, I missed."
"It's fine, but turn that off, you're making it worse!" Yamato said exasperatedly as the wood started growing roots into the floor.
"Whoops." Naruto clapped his hands and snuffed out the golden aura surrounding his body. "Are you stuck?"
"I got it," Yamato sighed. He sunk up through the wood and climbed out of the top of it, then hopped down to the floor.
"I think I was about to run out anyway," Naruto said, looking down at his hands with a tinge of disappointment. "I really wanna make it so that the Mode lasts longer… guess I just need to keep practicing with it."
Bee joined them. "If you keep on trying, I'm sure you'll get it. But if you and Kyuubi never get along, you'll never really hit it. Yeah."
"It can't be helped. I'll just make do with what I've got. Yooosh!" Naruto clapped his hands together and the golden aura flared around him again, but only briefly—it sputtered and went out in a second. Naruto leaned with his hands on his knees, winded.
"You've been at it all day. You should rest for a little while, at least," Yamato suggested.
Naruto sighed and flopped on the floor, leaning his back against the overturned bench. "Where did Huge Eyebrows-sensei and those other guys go off too?"
"I'll go see. You just take a breather there. I'll be right back."
"I want to try with the Bijuudama again a little later," Naruto said to Bee as Yamato left. "I still need to figure out the chakra proportion… thing. Whatever."
"It'll take a while to learn it," Bee said, crossing his arms critically. "You gotta feel it for yourself, or your game's weak. But every time you try it, you get beat. Don't worry about the Bijuudama, it'll sink in. You've got other powers to help you win, baka yarou."
"Yeah, but I almost got it last time. It's the ultimate move of a jinchuuriki, I want to be able to do it too." Naruto stifled a yawn.
"Heh. 'Tebayo brat," Bee quirked a smile. "All right! keeping up the momentum is what we do best. Don't fall asleep now, we're not done yet. Enjoy your rest 'cause when you're ready to go, I got another test. YAHOO!"
"Really? What is it?" Naruto asked excitedly.
Yamato walked out of the blank white room, past the headless statues and into the sun. He shielded his eyes against the sudden glare.
"Ah, Yamato-san," Motoi said, trotting up to him. "Nice timing. We were just trying to think of a way to get you that wouldn't look suspicious."
"Why? What's going on?" Yamato looked around and saw a Suna shinobi coming over to them, flanked by Aoba and Tsugi. Yamato vaguely remembered him as the former instructor to Gaara—and someone who currently held a significant position on Suna's council.
"Baki-san, isn't it?" Yamato said, holding out his hand.
Baki shook it. "Aa. Sorry to be so abrupt, but the Kazekage wants you to come to Suna right away. The Hokage has been informed about the situation and she orders it, as well."
"To Suna?" Yamato blinked. "Why?"
"It's the younger Naruto-kun," Aoba said. "Apparently he was sent to Suna in order to be protected, but unfortunately…"
"There has been some kind of problem, of course." Yamato sighed.
"To say the least. I'm not even sure how to explain it all." Baki paused, conflict plain on his face. "No one knows exactly what's going on, but it seems this younger Naruto has at least a portion of Senju Hashirama's power. He lost control of his bijuu a few days ago, and when that happened, it seems he also manifested some form of mokuton—whether it is the real thing or not, we don't know. Everything around his appearance in this time is a mystery."
"What...? Tsunade-sama told me they found some traces in a scan, but actually being able to use it is..."
"We want you to see him and give your opinion on the matter. There's something else you should know, too. If all this wasn't enough, the Wind Daimyo is in Suna at the moment, and he is highly suspicious of this little Naruto. He's making matters worse for the boy by creating a mood where people fear he could lose control at any moment, the way Gaara-sama was when he was that age. Suna supports Naruto-kun in our time, but some are starting to doubt whether the younger version of him is worth the same trust. They just can't forget the way things used to be. The daimyo says he won't consider letting him train or do anything until you arrive, since you're more proficient at suppressing the bijuu's chakra than our own sealers. Not that it matters, with the way he is right now… at any rate, please come quickly."
"The way he is right now? What do you mean by that?"
"I don't—want to go into all the details right now," Baki said hesitantly. "It's best if Gaara-sama and the other Konoha-nin explain it to you."
"What a situation to pop up right as we're about to go to war." Yamato scratched his head, considering. "I think this Naruto can get along without me for now, especially with Bee-san here. But what are we going to tell him?"
"Tell him you've been called back for the reconstruction, since he's learned how to control the bijuu's chakra himself," Aoba suggested.
"Has he shown any sign of awareness there is another version of himself running around?" Baki asked.
Yamato crossed his arms. "None. I've been watching him, but honestly, we'd know if he did. He isn't exactly one for subtlety."
"I wonder what it could mean," Tsugi said. "It doesn't seem his younger self has given him any memories from all of this."
"Maybe he loses his memory of it after the fact," Aoba said. "Or maybe... he isn't really..."
Yamato nodded solemnly. "It's almost certain our version is the real thing. We shouldn't jump to conclusions on anything beyond that."
"I hate to interrupt, but I really need to be going now," Baki said. "I have to report to the Raikage concerning the mobilization of the last of Suna's forces still at home. I won't be able to go with you to Suna this time, but I'll be returning later in order to act as administrator in the Kazekage's absence. Please get to the village as soon as possible. They'll be waiting for you."
"Understood." Yamato returned the slight bow and watched Baki leave, a foreboding feeling creeping over him.
"That aside, what do we do if the older one does figure it out?" Aoba wondered out loud. "At least when it comes to the war, we know we just have to keep him inside. With this, we have no idea if he could remember or sense something at any moment, even if he is under the turtle's shell. This is a completely unprecedented situation."
"Tsunade-sama was going to send Iruka-san and some others as backup soon," Yamato said. "All of you will have to do the best you can. We still have the barrier team as a last resort. We can only hope it doesn't come to that. Has Gai-san found any trace of that shark-summoner from Akatsuki yet?"
"No…" Tsugi said. "No sign he escaped, or that he's even alive, even though Gai keeps insisting something doesn't feel right."
Yamato nodded thoughtfully. They had discovered the Akatsuki spy in their midst the first time Naruto had used his Bijuu Chakra Mode and sensed him hiding inside of Samehada, the sword Bee adopted for his own. After a long and arduous fight, the strange fish-like man had encased himself in a water prison jutsu and proceeded to be torn apart by his own shark summons… or so it appeared. When the jutsu broke, it had all dissolved into water. There was no body, not even a trace of blood. Gai had a 'funny feeling' about it, considering the man had faked his own death once already, and went out to search for any clues.
"We've already changed course," Motoi said. "Just to be on the safe side, we're moving the island to another location."
"Right. Let me know if anything turns up."
Yamato walked back into the cool shade of the cave-like temple, past the headless statues once again, toward the blank white room.
When he stuck his head in the lock in order to open the door, he heard a sudden loud crash from inside. He jumped and hit his head on the inside of the lock and cursed. He backpedaled quickly, rubbing the back of his head and muttering as the door slid open.
"Ha! Did you see that?" Naruto said exuberantly. Yamato walked in to see that his bench had been ripped out of the floor, roots and all, and tossed across the room. It now resembled nothing more than a strange rectangular bush. Little pink flowers were starting to bloom on it.
"Naruto," Yamato called, beckoning. "Come here for a minute."
Naruto stopped his celebrating and looked over to him, turning off the Bijuu Chakra Mode again and trotting over.
"What is it, Yamato-taichou? Are we going to eat soon? I'm starving."
"No. Well, maybe. I mean—that's not it," Yamato shook his head to clear it. "I'm being called back to Konoha. Since you have gotten the hang of the Bijuu Chakra Mode, Tsunade-sama wants me to come back in order to help with the reconstruction. But even though I'm leaving, you should be getting some reinforcements soon for your mission here."
"Oh, right." Naruto scratched his head. "I kinda got distracted from my mission. I guess it's about time I get back to it—"
"No, your training is important too," Yamato interrupted. "There's no rush. This is a big opportunity for you, and don't forget that Konoha will also benefit from having a fully trained jinchuuriki. That's why Tsunade-sama is sending a backup team."
"If you say so," Naruto said doubtfully. "Well, when they get here, I'll definitely lend them a hand! This mission was my responsibility, after all."
Yamato just nodded. He didn't want to press the topic too much. Iruka and the others would have to come up with something on their own.
"Good luck, Naruto. I hope everything turns out well," he said with such sincerity that Naruto gave him a strange look.
"Thanks... you too. Get the village put back together for me," Naruto said with a confident grin and a thumbs-up.
Yamato left as soon as he packed his bag and gave everyone a final farewell. He set out for the Wind Country with trepidation nicking at him. This was definitely not the first time he had been reassigned on short notice with very few details—and he knew it probably wouldn't be the last. But this had to be one of the most bizarre assignments he'd ever received.
He was far more familiar with the current Naruto, though his ANBU duties had occasionally put him near the boy in the past. Most of what he knew was told to him by Kakashi. But there had never been any problems with him the way Suna had with Gaara at that age.
The seal was solid. Unless something had changed, their fears were completely unfounded. That, in itself, was enough to make Yamato want to go.
The kid had been through enough.