Dawn was just barely breaking in the sky on the first day of the war, and Gaara was already feeling the strain under a stream of messengers and reports.

These were the facts. Suna had been attacked by Orochimaru, who had been impersonating the Wind Daimyo, most likely since before he left the capital. The attack damaged several buildings, but overall the structural damage was small. There had been a dozen casualties: three dead and nine wounded, and none of the deaths had been civilians. It really seemed Orochimaru was more intent on covering his escape than harming the village.

The other Kage kept asking if he intended on sending troops back to Suna, but all the Suna shinobi he talked to, while worried for their home, insisted on staying. Baki was also adamant about Suna remaining in the war, since it seemed Orochimaru wouldn't be coming back after getting what he wanted.

Opinions were mixed about the younger Naruto seeking shelter in Ame. The Raikage was, in fact, vehemently opposed to it. But there wasn't much they could do about it now, short of sending someone after Naruto. And if they did, where else could they put him?

Then there was the situation on their side.

Sensors had discovered an army of plant-like clones moving beneath the ground that were similar in composition to the one they faced at the Five Kage Summit. It did not take much speculation to figure out why Yamato had been taken.

To make things worse, they were sensing the presence of ever-increasing numbers of Edo Tensei zombies. Only a few had been identified so far, as they were still so far away, but it seemed certain that they were all powerful shinobi from throughout history.

The Company Captains had been roused from their beds not long ago. The Kage had been awake before that. Now the entire Allied Shinobi Force was gathering into their companies for a final address before heading off to start the war.

"Gaara-sama." Mabui poked her head into the room. "The troops have lined up. The Captains are all heading down there, too."

"Understood." Gaara got up and followed her, running over what he wanted to say in his mind.

It was finally beginning.

16-year-old Naruto lay spread-eagle on his back in the blank room full of swirling colors, looking up at nothing with a grumpy look on his face.

"Naruto, lazing around, so slow. Face looking like my Bruzza's at a enka show. What's the matter?"

"You know, Bee-occhan… something's been bothering me for a while." Naruto sat up cross-legged with a huff and frowned thoughtfully, his head tilted to one side.

"What?"

"Hmm... I'm not sure how to describe it," Naruto said slowly. "A while back, I thought I sensed the Kyuubi. Outside of me, I mean. It wasn't for very long, though, so I thought maybe I just imagined it."

Shit, did he sense his other self? Gyuuki muttered to Bee.

"You probably did imagine it," Bee said. "Keep focused on your training and you'll stay on track. Ain't no one out there with the Kyuubi but you, that's a fact."

Technically, that's true, Gyuuki commented dryly.

"I know, but..." Naruto scratched his head. "I can't stop thinking about it for some reason. It felt like… something familiar. Or something that would be, if I could just think of it." he paused. "Are you sure there's nothing out there I could be feeling the Kyuubi's chakra from?"

"Not these days. Long ago, there was Kumo's Kinkaku and Ginkaku. They had its chakra too, that is true, but not like you. They're a special case, they got ate and ended up as waste."

"Huh?"

"Ah... nevermind." Bee took out his notebook and scribbled in it, muttering to himself in displeasure.

Naruto shrugged. "Anyway, I'm going to take a break for a while. I've pretty much got the hang of Kyuubi Chakra Mode, so I'm going to see if the others have gotten here yet." He stood and tapped the floor in the spot to open the door. He left without waiting for an answer. Bee was still writing in his notebook.

Bee!

"Hm?"

Naruto's about to go outside!

"He's right though, there's not much else I can teach 'im."

That's not the problem…

"No." Bee closed his notebook and frowned. "It is. He's ready, okay?"

Naruto walked through the statue room, eyeing the two Akimichi guards standing at the waterfall exit. When they saw him, they tensed and glanced at each other nervously.

That was strange. And why were they guarding the exit, anyway?

"Have Iruka-sensei and the others gotten here yet?"

"Um," the guard on the right said, biting his lip and glancing at his brother.

"W-we're not sure," the other said. "We haven't looked."

"Well, that's fine. I'll just go look for myself."

"No, you can't!" the first Akimichi blurted.

"Why?" Naruto crossed his arms stubbornly.

"You don't have to bother with that. I'll—I'll go check."

"Oh, it's fine, really. I wanted to get some fresh air, anyway."

Naruto started walking between them and they both lowered their sticks, barring his path.

They stared at each other for several seconds. Naruto narrowed his eyes at them. Now he knew something was going on.

"Let me through."

"We can't."

"Why not?"

"We can't tell you."

"Idiot! Don't say that!" the left Akimichi hissed at his brother.

"This is getting us nowhere!" Naruto shifted into a battle-ready stance. "I don't have anything against you guys, but I'm going outside right now. If you don't move, then I'm gonna have to move you."

With every person suddenly living in fear of their closest neighbors and comrades, something was going to have to give, very soon.

They expected the fight against Madara and Orochimaru to be a tough one, but no one could have predicted that the eerie plant clones would start transforming themselves into allies, sneaking into their ranks and killing unsuspecting shinobi when their backs were turned.

Sakura was currently elbow-deep in the stomach of one of the strange white things, sweat beading on her brow under the harsh overhead light in the medical tent. At least, she was digging around the area where the thing's stomach would be—but its anatomy was proving to be nothing like a human's at all. It was made up of a dense, white, slightly pliable tissue and not much else.

Nevertheless, she cut out a small portion of the inner tissue for examining, just in case it turned out to be different in any way from what they'd scraped from the surface of the creature's skin.

After setting that aside, Sakura gave an exhausted sigh and peeled off her gloves, tossing them in a bin before slumping into a chair at her desk. She took a few gulps of water from her canteen. She blinked tiredly around room, eyes strained after staring at the washed-out looking body for many fruitless hours.

"Sakura," Shizune said softly, sitting down with her and spreading out several charts and notes. "I finished the rest of the scans. The cells are absolutely identical. The one difference is the chakra reading, and we know they can steal and imitate anyone's chakra perfectly—"

"These white creatures don't bleed," Sakura said quietly, an edge to her voice. "They don't have flesh, blood, organs, brains, anything inside of them. They don't have the ability to remember things only that person would know."

"Just because they haven't shown the ability to do that, it doesn't mean they can't. You have to accept the possibility that—"

The empty canteen in Sakura's hand crumpled and folded as if it was nothing but a thin soda can.

Shizune stared at it for several moments.

"Let's get back to work learning this thing's secrets, so maybe we can get back to treating our actual patients." Sakura stood and tossed the canteen in the bin alongside the used gloves.

Naruto sped across an open field, body aflame with the fox's chakra. Bee wasn't far behind him.

He could tell they were nearing one of the battlefields. He could sense a lot of negative energy nearby. But the thing that felt like the Kyuubi's chakra outside of him didn't seem to be there.

Can you sense that thing that felt like you out here? Is it close by?

Somewhat. It is far away.

Naruto frowned. It was odd: he'd felt it somewhat while meditating, but now that he was out, he couldn't feel it at all. But there was a lot of interference out here.

When he had first muscled his way past the Akimichi guards using Sage Mode, not only had he been able to sense the war, he had been able to sense that energy, proving it existed somewhere outside of himself.

"I have to meet up with some of the others and see if anyone knows," he said aloud. "Right after I finish this!"

They had found the first cluster of Zetsu clones disguised as shinobi. Naruto held up his hand, chakra cloak extending into a claw, and summoned a small orbit of Rasengans with a wild grin.

"Is that..." one of the real shinobi gasped.

Naruto jumped into the air and slammed each of the swirling balls of energy into one of the impostors with chakra hands. He reveled in the power and the satisfying feeling of tearing through the enemy's strategy.

He would make a difference in this war, starting right now.

When the younger Naruto woke to a slight chill in the air and the rush of rainfall out his window, he blinked, then settled back in relief. He'd already been in Ame for a few days, but he still wasn't used to it.

He took a deep, slow breath, breathing in the rain's atmospheric smell. He hadn't even realized how accustomed he had gotten to the dryness of the desert, until he ended up in a place that was its opposite.

Something cold and wet nudged his chin, and Naruto's eyes flew open. There was a calico cat staring him right in the face. When it saw he was awake, it started purring very loudly and rolled over, splaying its body lengthwise across his face.

"Oi," Naruto said flatly, his voice muffled by the fluffy weight. The cat sniffed at his hair, then batted playfully at the spiky yellow locks.

"OI." He sat up and pried the furry thing off his face, and it bounded off the bed. Naruto saw that the sliding paper door of his room was open just enough for the cat to slip in.

"What the hell?" Naruto yawned, not fully awake yet. Why was there a cat in his room? When he got out of bed, it paced back and forth, looking up at him and mewling insistently. "What do you want? I don't have any food for you, if that's what you're looking for."

He padded toward the door and the cat trotted eagerly in front of him, tail held high, bent at the end in a question mark. Naruto followed after it, thinking vaguely that if the cat lived here, someone probably kept food for it somewhere. Besides, breakfast didn't seem like a bad prospect for himself, either.

Hanzo's old home was dark and mostly empty. A tower built to accommodate who-knew-how many people was currently inhabited by only four—and a cat, apparently.

Despite the gloomy surroundings, Naruto felt his spirits lift as he walked toward the kitchen. He never preferred solitude, not at all, but this new freedom was refreshing. Thanks to Nagato's jutsu, which could alert him the instant any outsiders entered the village, there was no need for anyone to guard Naruto in Amegakure. He could go anywhere or do anything he wanted. To make things even better, his new hosts never hesitated to answer any of his questions.

Of course, he still missed and worried for his friends. Things between them had not been completely patched up before they left for the war, but thinking about them fighting and dying out there made him feel sick.

Last night, Itachi and Nagato had gotten him up to speed about their side of things: how they had suddenly regained their consciousness, free from Kabuto's control. They'd made their way to Ame, all the while gathering information on Tobi and Orochimaru's activities, and those of the Five Great Shinobi Countries. When Naruto was captured by Tobi, they came up with a plan to bring him to Ame. Realizing that Orochimaru would come after him soon, they sought to prevent that—and barely made it in time.

Naruto still had a lot of questions about their plans for Orochimaru and Tobi, but for the first time, he felt confident about his progress getting back to the past.

When Naruto stepped into the spacious kitchen, he froze at the sight of Itachi standing across the room with his back turned. The cat immediately bounded forward and started rubbing against Itachi's legs, meowing plaintively. Naruto noticed Itachi had a square carton of cat food in his hand and was just about to refill the bowl sitting on the floor.

"There you are," Itachi said warmly, crouching down to scratch the cat behind the ears. He filled the cat's bowl and gave it a few pets before standing up to put the carton on a shelf. "She acts like we don't feed her. Did she wake you? She's learned how to open the sliding doors." Itachi turned and gave a small smile, but didn't move any further. Like Nagato, he never make any sudden movements around Naruto, to make him more at ease in this odd situation.

Naruto had been around him a few times, but that had been with Nagato and Konan around, and they hadn't really talked directly. Catching Itachi alone was slightly awkward and unnerving. At least he didn't have his Sharingan activated.

Naruto downplayed his momentary paralysis with a laugh. "You like cats? Somehow that doesn't fit your image."

"Yes, but this one isn't mine. It adopted this place and survived on mice and scraps until Konan moved in here."

"What's its name?" Naruto walked over and pet the cat's soft fur, stubbornly ignoring the way his instincts railed at him for showing his back to Itachi.

"Nibbles."

"What? That's it?" Naruto laughed.

"Don't look at me. It was Konan's doing."

Naruto felt some of the tension leave him as Nibbles purred under his touch, though she kept chowing down on the food like there was no tomorrow. The poor thing probably had gone hungry a time or two before Konan moved in.

"So!" Naruto said matter-of-factly, standing up and pulling a chair for himself at the kitchen table. "What's the big plan? Are we gonna help out in the war? Go after Orochimaru? Defeat Madara and save the world? You guys will let me fight, right?"

Itachi tilted his head slightly. "I thought going back to the past was your top priority."

"It is, in a way," Naruto admitted. "But we have to beat Orochimaru to do that, right?"

"Hm..."

"Or—Konan said you guys might be able to figure out the seals. Do you think you can?"

"Maybe, but there may be yet another way. The others brought this up last night, and I agree." Itachi sat down at the table across from him.

"Ehhh? Really?"

Itachi nodded. "Since the jutsu is essentially a Summoning Contract between you and Nagato, it is possible that if anything happened to him, the jutsu would automatically come undone. He can't die, but he can be sealed. It wouldn't be that difficult."

Naruto was taken aback at the suggestion. Logically, he knew Nagato was already dead. He also knew, even from the small amount of time they'd spent together, he would willingly give up the small semblance of life he had now without a second thought.

Did the Edo Tensei make Nagato's life less valuable? No. Not to him. It was the same feeling he'd gotten from Konan when they first met in Suna. A feeling of connection, even though they'd never met before.

"Nagato already sacrificed himself once. Why not seal me instead? Wouldn't that work?"

"It might." Itachi gave him a serious look. "The problem is, we know Edo Tensei souls return to the Pure World when they are sealed, but there is no way to be sure you would go back where you came from. Sealing you might trap your soul in this plane instead. Since we know so little about it, sealing Nagato is safer."

"I guess…"

"He does not regret it, Naruto. He and I will have to go back sooner or later. Ultimately, it is your decision. We can try sealing you instead, or we can wait and force Orochimaru to tell us how to undo it."

"You mean I get to choose?"

"It's your timeline. Your life."

Naruto thought for a long moment. "I… want to help fight in the war, and against Orochimaru. Even if there's not much I can do. If I can go back home whenever, will you guys let me help you? I pretty much can't be hurt with physical attacks, and if it looks like Orochimaru or Madara is going to capture me again, you can send me back by sealing Nagato. Just… as a last resort, okay?"

"Alright."

"Oh yeah, do you think there's anything you can do about this mind-control-tag thing Orochimaru put in my head?" Naruto pointed at his head with a scowl.

"I'm not sure we could remove it without splitting your head open. But... I might be able to negate its control over you using my Sharingan," Itachi said hesitantly. "It would require using my genjutsu on you."

"Oh. Yeah. That totally makes sense." Naruto tried to sound casual, until the slight squeaky tremor at the end.

"It doesn't have to be right now," Itachi was quick to assure him. "You won't be able to hurt us even if Orochimaru tries something. And there's no way for you to leave the city without us knowing, so he can't make you run away, either. I understand if you… don't quite trust me yet."

"I trust you," Naruto said stubbornly. "I've already seen too many weird things in this time to doubt you. Everything's been pretty much turned upside down from what I knew. If not for the fact everyone here remembers the same things I do…"

Itachi lowered his head slightly. "I'm sorry I was unable to stop Kabuto from making me use the Tsukuyomi on you. I tried to fight his control inside the illusion, but I'm not sure if it worked. I don't remember it very well."

"Thanks, but you didn't hit me with it… my friend Sai jumped in front of me and got caught in it instead."

"Ah." Itachi paused. "No wonder you can tolerate being around me so easily. But I am sorry about your friend."

"Why? What was it? Sai wouldn't tell me."

Itachi's dark eyes glazed over and he looked away. "You're better off not knowing the details. It was a vision of what Sasuke could be if he continues the path that he is currently on. I imagine your friends didn't tell you because they didn't want to remind you what he has become in this time."

"I didn't even know what happened to Sasuke back then," Naruto said, hitting his palm down on the table. Bringing up Sasuke brought back feelings he hadn't completely resolved yet. "I didn't know anything until that guy Madara-Tobi whatever kidnapped me and tricked Sasuke into stabbing me with his Chidori—"

"What?" Itachi barely raised his voice, but temperature in the room suddenly seemed to drop by several degrees.

Naruto winced reflexively."I thought you guys already knew what happened. Madara started talking about you and Sasuke got upset and just struck out—his eyes were bandaged up. It turned out alright because my body healed, but he—that's how I found out about him. What Madara did was really messed up. Then he took me right back, making everyone think I had to be some kind of trap planted by Orochimaru. And they weren't even wrong, were they?" Naruto buried his face in his hands. "That's exactly what I am, whether I want to be or not."

"What did Madara tell you?" Itachi eyes narrowed, but the chill around him was gone.

Naruto lowered his hands. "A lot of things. I don't like to think about it. I haven't even told anyone else about it. It's just really hard to accept that—" His voice got stuck in his throat. "I mean, I'm afraid if I talk or think about it, I'll hear his voice in my memory again, and… I don't agree with what he's doing at all, but it's just… confusing, I guess." He rubbed his hands through his hair with an irritated groan.

"I understand," Itachi said slowly. "But if we knew what he told you, we might be able to figure out more about his motivations. Like what he has to do with Orochimaru, or why he decided to contact you in the first place. Besides… maybe it would help you."

Naruto gave a half-shrug. "He said he was helping Orochimaru in exchange for help in the war. I don't know why they're working together, but Madara acted like he couldn't care less about me unless I was willing to join his side. He even told me I could go home if Nagato undid the jutsu."

"Did he tell you anything else about the jutsu?"

Naruto scrunched his face. Honestly, he had been too distracted to care much about that. But he was relieved Itachi was steering away from more uncomfortable topics, so he did his best to remember.

"Let's see… Madara told me Orochimaru summoned me here into some kind of fake body. He didn't know why, but Orochimaru said it was to… see how living people change? It sounded like a bunch of crap to me." Naruto scratched his head. "The only thing I really understand is he summoned me in a body that would make it impossible for the Kyuubi to be pulled out of me for Madara's plan. I don't get why Orochimaru wants to help Madara at all. They don't really seem to be on the same side."

"He must have something to gain from participating in the war. But I doubt he wishes to see Madara's plan succeed."

"So…"

Itachi thought for a long moment, before finally shaking his head. "We don't have enough information to make a good guess. What we do have is this: our enemies most likely have conflicting goals. Do you see how this can help us, Naruto?"

"Of course!" Naruto said confidently. "It's like… er? And..."

"They will eventually turn on one another. If we have the opportunity, we can use their mutual distrust to our advantage."

"I know that!" Naruto said loudly, crossing his arms. "I was going to say that, but you didn't give me enough time!" Then he remembered who he was yelling at and rubbed the back of his head, laughing nervously.

"My mistake. Sorry, Naruto," Itachi smiled.

Naruto mumbled awkwardly. "So are we gonna go directly after them, or wait until they're going against each other?"

"Madara will be occupied for a while by the missing Rinnegan, so we should focus on Orochimaru first," Itachi said. "He is the one truly leading the war right now, and we have to get to him in order to send you back—and stop his Edo Tensei from being used against the Allied Shinobi Force."

"Okay." Naruto took a deep breath. "Then do what you have to do to cancel out his control tag thing. If we're going after Orochimaru, I don't want you guys to have to worry about me."

"Are you sure?"

Naruto nodded firmly.

"Alright," Itachi said softly. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again they were Sharingan red, with three tomoe marks that spun briefly before stopping.

Naruto gripped the edges of his chair, pushing down the impending anxiety. What was wrong with him? He'd seen it plenty of times on Kakashi-sensei, and Sasuke, too—though that last thought was not exactly comforting when he associated it with this time's Sasuke, his eyes all bandaged up.

He had decided to trust this Itachi. It would be pointless to go back on that now.

"Okay, go for it. Get that snake bastard outta my head," Naruto said with more bravado than he felt. He forced himself to meet the gaze of the Sharingan and not look away. He had a brief, crazy thought—the expression his time's Sasuke would have if he could see all of this—before the darkness consumed him.

Itachi opened his eyes and looked around, frowning. He was standing in a large, dimly-lit room with deep shadows obscuring the ceiling, suggesting its great height. It smelled damp and musky here, and a malevolent energy drifted through the air. With his Sharingan still activated, he could see the tendrils of overwhelming red chakra swirling around.

"Uchiha."

Itachi turned and studied the large gold gates, the intricate carvings around the frame, the slip of paper reading 'seal' locking it all in place… and, of course, the beast behind the bars.

"It figures you would be able to come here. Damn you and your godforsaken clan," the Kyuubi growled, leaning his head down near the bars, face level where Itachi stood.

Itachi just looked up at him interestedly, taking in his massive form radiating with energy.

"Kyuubi," Itachi stated simply. "I would recognize this energy anywhere, though I was very young the last time I felt it. I'm surprised I ended up here. I thought you were sealed away from anyone's reach, thanks to this body."

The great fox bared its teeth at him. "Get out. Now."

"As you may have seen, I am only trying to help. Do you know where I can find Orochimaru's seal?"

"No, I don't." The Kyuubi snorted. "It isn't here. But since the snake bastard put it in the boy's head, I suggest you check there."

Itachi hesitated. "That was what I tried to do, but I came here. I'm not sure how I should try finding it."

The faint tinge of blue chakra lurking behind the gate's seal pulsed, catching Itachi's attention. It grew brighter for just a second, the energy inside it growing stronger in that moment. It was different from the energy a normal seal held. It seemed almost self-aware. Alive. And it was familiar.

"Yondaime Hokage-sama?" Itachi murmured, staring up at it in slight awe. If he had included part of his own consciousness in the seal, even after being claimed by the Shinigami, that was truly amazing.

The seal glowed softly when Itachi spoke, an action that would be undetectable with a normal eye. Did the part of Minato encased in the seal know that he was here, somehow?

"Are you able to see everything that is going on?" Itachi asked the seal directly. The Kyuubi narrowed its eyes at him suspiciously, but chose not to comment. The energy emanating from the seal grew the brightest it had been yet in response.

Itachi's eyes widened. Most likely, he would not be able to speak with the fragment of Minato without breaking the seal—which he couldn't do, even if he wanted to—but that little bit of consciousness was definitely alive and aware.

"So that is what it looks like when someone stores a piece of themselves in someone else," Itachi mused. "I understand. Thank you, Hokage-sama. I know what to look for now."

He turned and examined the seemingly endless black shadow that occupied the back of the room. There was no way to tell where it ended. Itachi started walking toward it.

"And where do you think you're going?"

"I don't know," Itachi said simply, without turning around.