Sasuke moved through the deceptively peaceful-looking forest, dappled light sliding over him as he walked under the leaves. He'd been traveling all night with only a vague idea of where he was going, but he strode forward with relentless determination.

His wanted to investigate the war and find the rest of Taka—not necessarily in that order. The war was a diversion. More than anything else, his new eyes wanted to see the destruction of Konoha.

Sasuke paused at the sound of rushing water nearby. The hideout he'd torched with Amaterasu was a safe distance behind him. Now was a good time to stop and decide on the next course of action.

The place was pleasant, but unremarkable. A small waterfall spilled into a clear, shallow pool with white gravel in the bottom of it. Sasuke barely had time to notice the place's natural beauty, though—he froze in his tracks at the sight of at least fifty people resting casually in the open space, sitting on the grass and the sandy boulders scattered around. His eyes widened and shifted almost immediately into the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.

There was something very off about this scene. The people were of varying ages, and their clothing was a mix of different styles from different time periods. But almost all of them wore the Uchiha crest.

Sasuke put his hand on the hilt of his sword, eyes darting from one face to another, as more and more looked toward him. Their faces were cracked; their eyes entirely black in most cases. The ones that weren't black-on-black were red-on-black—the Sharingan.

"Sasuke!"

A voice called out and a soft weight ran into him, wrapping him in an embrace. Sasuke's hand slipped off the hilt of the sword and fell to his side numbly. His heart was starting to pound furiously. Confusion, panic—was this real? Her hair pressed into his cheek, and he could swear that it smelled exactly the way it used to.

"Kaa-san?" Sasuke whispered with the very small amount of breath he had left.

He pulled himself from her grasp jerkily. Glancing behind her, he saw what he'd already half-expected to see—his father, standing there with arms crossed and his typical grim expression.

"Orochimaru brought us back," Mikoto said softly. "…You've gotten so tall."

Anger.

Anger—yes, that was something familiar, comfortable. Sasuke latched onto that burning flame the moment he felt it flicker within him. It kept everything else under control a little better.

"Why did he do this?" he demanded, looking around at all the Uchiha assembled. The others continued to watch silently, as if waiting to see what would unfold. Now that he understood what was happening, Sasuke was able to pick out a few other faces that he vaguely recognized. But most of them were unfamiliar.

Orochimaru had always wanted the Uchiha's power. Now he had it. Was this the plan all along? Why now?

"Apparently, there is a war he wants us to fight," Fugaku spoke up with distaste. "We were not told why we had to come here and sit around. We have very limited control over our own actions."

Sasuke stared at his father. The Uchiha clan head was composed, and already seemed to be in charge—as much as was possible under the circumstances. It was so like him to stand in front of the son he hadn't seen in eight years and simply report the situation.

But that—that was easier to handle. It made Sasuke feel less like screaming and crying. He still had a hard time looking at his mother directly, like she was a scorching bright light. If he lost his composure now, he didn't think he could get it back.

"We heard Itachi was resurrected, too. But we haven't seen him," Mikoto said hesitantly.

Sasuke forced himself to look at her this time. She didn't try to hug him again, but stood there with her hands clasped.

"He's back, too…?" Sasuke narrowed his eyes at his parents. "I heard something about him a while ago. That he was acting under orders when he killed everyone in the clan. That the Uchiha were plotting a coup. Is that true?"

Mikoto's smile faded, and her eyebrows drew together in concern.

Fugaku stepped forward and put a hand on her shoulder. "How did Itachi die?"

"I'm the one asking questions!" Sasuke said roughly. "Is it true or not?"

Fugaku closed his eyes and sighed. "You were very young at the time, so you wouldn't understand. Even if we were destined to fail, we had to try. In the same way, Itachi had to stop it. All of us were following our convictions like true Uchiha. We do not blame Itachi for what he had to do. Going on about it now won't change anything."

Sasuke's throat worked. "Is that all you can say? I was left alone without knowing anything—I spent half my life believing a lie, and you still want to talk down to me like a child? What am I supposed to do now?" He took a step toward his father. "I should have died along with you."

"The Uchiha are finished," Fugaku said dismissively. "Find a path of your own and live following it. That is the best way you can honor us now."

Sasuke scoffed at such a woefully inadequate response. But what did he expect? Nothing they said would make him feel alright about what happened.

"Sasuke-chan," Mikoto said, sending a sharp pain through his chest. "I know it's hard, but please, try to live. I know how strong you are. There is still a chance for you."

It was much harder to disagree with her. He almost wished he could tell her what she wanted to hear.

"It's too late for that," he murmured. "There's no life for me to go back to. They won't accept me anymore, not after all the things I've done. I don't care about the future. It ended with all of you! The village system is broken. It forced the Uchiha to serve or die. And now I know it's all true… it makes me hate them all the more."

If Itachi was revived too, finding him would now take priority over everything else. That was the only piece of the puzzle still missing. If he heard it directly from Itachi, it would it be starkly, undeniably real.

"You have the Mangekyo Sharingan," Fugaku commented.

"Eternal Mangekyo," Sasuke amended. "These are Itachi's eyes."

His father turned around and started walking away without a word.

"Tou-san!"

Fugaku continued walking on, and the other Uchiha got to their feet silently and started following after him. Mikoto started following him, as well.

"Where are you going?" Sasuke demanded.

"It seems it's time for us to be put to whatever use Orochimaru brought us here for," Fugaku said without turning around. "Maybe we'll finally get to see what's happening. Waiting around here was getting tiresome, anyway."

Sasuke grit his teeth and stepped in among them, ignoring the looks the others were giving him. It was a strange sensation, fitting in so well among the dead. There were Uchiha symbols everywhere he looked.

He wasn't sure what to do. He wasn't finished talking to his parents—but Itachi was out there somewhere.

And the Uchiha were being used like pawns for this war. It burned like acid on his tongue to see them filing away like obedient troops to wherever Orochimaru was sending them. The snake had gone too far this time.

But staying here wouldn't stop it from happening. Sasuke had to find Orochimaru and make sure he stayed dead this time.

He took several large strides to catch up to his parents. "Do you know where Itachi is? Or Orochimaru?"

They didn't answer. Their eyes had gone blank-white, and their expressions showed no indication they'd even heard. Sasuke looked around. All the other Uchiha were in the same state.

Cursing to himself, Sasuke kept pace with the group as they entered a wide field and started to run. They were probably heading for the warfront, exactly where Orochimaru wasn't likely to be. Itachi wouldn't put himself in the middle of everything, either.

But Sasuke kept following the group, because it was impossible to leave them alone. He had no idea where to start looking for Itachi and Orochimaru, anyway.

They'd been running half an hour when the group split. Sasuke saw Uchiha on either side of him veer away. Halting to watch, he saw the group segment into three distinct units, heading in different directions.

He stood uncertain for a moment. But he spotted both his parents continuing forward with the middle group, so he followed them. The entire time, he kept a sharp look out for whatever enemy they were being sent to face.

Sasuke still didn't have a solid plan in mind. What would happen when they got there? He would get dragged into it. He had no desire to fight in the war, especially a war his family was being forced to participate in. It would only drag their name through the mud even more. Damn Orochimaru!

Hard as it was, the only way to stop this was to leave them. Sasuke halted in place and watched as the group continued running on, utterly indifferent. His eyes locked on to his father's back as they got further and further away.

Why was Itachi separated from the rest of them? Had he been ordered to do a different task?

"Looks like you finally did the smart thing, ne."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed and he turned around, hand going to his sword hilt once again. He had no idea why the Akatsuki member was following him, but he was glad the shark-man finally decided to step forward.

"You again," he growled, leveling his Sharingan at Kisame. "Why are you following me?"

"Definitely not because it's fun. In fact, it's a pain in the ass. But maybe a little interesting." Kisame crossed his arms. Sasuke noticed he was no longer wearing the black coat of Akatsuki. "Besides, Itachi-san asked me to."

"Itachi—?" Sasuke snarled. "I know that's a lie. Itachi is trapped by the Edo Tensei, just like the rest of them. And you're with Akatsuki, so that means you're part of this too."

"Nope! Both wrong." Kisame grinned, bearing sharp teeth. "You don't have to believe me if you don't wanna, but I do know where Itachi-san is right now, if you're curious."

Sasuke weighed Kisame's words. It was probably a lie, which meant Tobi had finally caught up to him. The masked man had already warned he wouldn't be allowed to leave Akatsuki until he fulfilled his part of the agreement. Taka's failure to capture the Eight-Tails meant they weren't off the hook just yet.

Yet, Sasuke knew Kisame was loyal to Itachi even in situations where that loyalty put him at odds with Akatsuki. The gamble was whether or not Edo-Itachi had really asked the man for help.

"Fine. I will listen."

It was finally happening. They were leaving Amegakure.

Itachi detailed the plan. "If Orochimaru captures Naruto, or separates him from us for any length of time, we can assume he'll try bringing him under control. The same with Madara—getting captured again will end worse than before. If either of those things happen, we will seal Nagato right away. Do you agree, Naruto?"

"Yeah." Naruto nodded.

He would stay in this time for now, at least until they learned more about the enemy's plans. That was what they agreed.

Truthfully, he just didn't want to leave yet. Maybe it was selfish, or foolish, but running away at the very beginning of the fight didn't sit well. Naruto hoped nothing would happen to dramatically alter the past while he was gone.

"According to Shisui, Madara and Orochimaru are working somewhat independently of one another right now," Itachi continued. "He said Orochimaru summoned people and made plans to direct them on his own. I'm not even sure how serious Orochimaru was about finding the Rinnegan."

"Meanwhile, we still don't know where Madara is," Konan mused. "And we do not know how much he is involved in the war at this time."

"There is another loose end on the enemy's side," Nagato added. "Black Zetsu."

"True."

"Can we go now?" Naruto said impatiently with his hands behind his head. "I wanna hurry and find older-me and Sasuke and start helping everyone out! We already decided what to do if I get in trouble, so we've got no reason to hold back anymore."

Despite everything, he was excited. Maybe he couldn't fight on the level of some the enemies they were facing, but he felt nearly immortal. His plant body could take an incredible amount of damage, and they even had a contingency plan if he got separated from the others. There was no reason to wait, especially when every minute spent was another minute he wasn't home.

"I'm not sure what you're thinking, but it's best if we avoid the main portion of the enemy's forces and the ASF alike," Itachi said.

"Whaaaaat? Why? I thought we were getting involved! You're not trying to shelter me like everyone else, are you?"

"That's not it." Itachi shook his head. "If we meet the Allied Shinobi Force, we won't be able to work as freely. It would take a lot of explanation just to convince them we're on their side. If you want to go back to them, of course, you may. But we cannot follow, and it is very likely they will put you into hiding again."

Naruto scratched his head. Itachi was right. "Then what are we gonna do? And how am I supposed to see aniki?"

"Our main goals are to find Orochimaru to stop the Edo Tensei, and find Madara. Orochimaru is our first priority, since he is actively participating in the war. It's almost certain he has a motive beyond helping Madara. In fact, that is probably the least of his considerations."

Naruto looked down at the floor. "…What about Sasuke?"

There was a long pause. He knew they were all thinking it, but they hadn't said it yet. Shisui had told them about the Uchiha clan's revival.

"Kisame is watching over him," Itachi finally said. "I doubt Orochimaru will use them to attack Sasuke. What is more troubling is he intends to use the clan for war."

Naruto looked up. "We should find Sasuke so you can talk to him! The last time I saw him, he was really in trouble. I'm sure if you just talked to him, everything would work out. More or less."

Itachi tilted his head with a small smile. "No, it would not. Someone like me, who only ever lied to Sasuke, could never truly reach him. I leave that task up to your older self—to you, Naruto. The only thing that makes me glad about your situation is maybe you will figure out a way to help him sooner."

Naruto felt someone put their hand on his head, and turned to look up at Nagato and Konan.

"Take care." Konan gave a smile that reached her amber eyes.

"Whatever happens, our paths are intertwined," Nagato said. "We may not have the chance to talk like this again. So let me give you my parting words now, in case anything happens."

Naruto frowned. He hated goodbyes, especially when they weren't really saying goodbye yet. "Keep them. You've already given me enough."

"It's important. I'm afraid you're too used to the way I am now. When you return, do not make the mistake of holding back. I will be trying to capture and kill you with all my being. You need to fight back just as hard."

"But—there has to be a way to stop you before things get to that point, right? I mean, at home, you're still alive. And Itachi—you're alive, too!" Naruto turned to Itachi. "What's the point of knowing what's going to happen in the future if you have to die all over again?"

"If I die, that is fine," Nagato said. "The only thing I would ever ask of you is, if it is possible… stop me from killing Jiraiya-sensei. I know I don't have the right to ask. But don't let him come here. I've already told you how my abilities work, so there is no need for him to give up his life. After his death, I… I became even worse. I tried to smother my own grief, the horror of what I had done. Even with everything else I had done up until that point, it took destroying someone I truly loved to kill the last of my humanity. I never realized that until it was too late. In the end, you were the one to make me realize that, Naruto."

"I'm not gonna let Ero-sennin die," Naruto said firmly, ignoring the stinging at the corners of his eyes when Nagato started talking about Jiraiya. "But I don't want you to die, either. I—I don't care if that makes me no better than Madara."

The voice of the masked man still haunted Naruto, challenging him to come up with a reason why his desire to change things was better than Madara's Tsuki no Me project.

"I can't let people die in front of me, and knowing it's going to happen. I can't. That includes you and Itachi, too. I'll find a way. I'll stop you and save Ero-sennin, and everybody else."

"If anyone can do it, it's you," Konan said. "But we made our own choices. When it comes down to it, protect your comrades first, and worry about saving us last."

"Sure," Naruto said obstinately. "It makes no difference anyway, since I'll do both."

Itachi was still watching with a faint smile. "We need to avoid facing other Edo Tensei summons as much as possible, especially since we may have to split up. I think it's best if I go after Orochimaru. Someone else needs to go with Naruto to wherever he wants to go, and we also need to find Madara."

"I will search for Madara," Konan said, her expression like steel.

"Konan…" Nagato started. "He wants to find the Rinnegan more than anyone—"

"And he will not be able to learn it from me. You two are the only ones who know where it is. The entire point of keeping its location a secret from me was so the enemy could not discover it through genjutsu. I will be staying out of the war, but I can at least direct the search from here."

"Both of you can go," Naruto said strongly. "I'll be fine, especially once I meet up with aniki. The two of us should be able to handle anything!"

Itachi sighed. "This will be easier to figure out once we know more about the situation on the ground. The Rinnegan is safe, so we can worry about Madara after Orochimaru, if necessary."

"How are you so sure the Rinnegan is safe, anyway?" Naruto asked. "I mean—you guys are awesome and everything, and I'm sure you found a good hiding place, but is it really okay to let Madara keep searching for it?"

"It would be destroyed before he had any chance to get his hands on it," Itachi said with no shade of doubt in his voice. "What's important is to keep him thinking there's a chance, so he's delayed in joining the war. Finishing the enemy off one at a time will be easier than facing them together. We're lucky they aren't all that united to begin with."

"Are we ready?" Nagato asked.

"Ready!" Naruto reached up and tightened his hitai-ate.

The three of them jumped into the void, finally taking the first step toward the battlefield.

The older Naruto's arrival couldn't have been better timed for the Allied Shinobi Force, even if some among them didn't want to admit it. With his ability to sense malicious intent and send clones to every front to find the impostors, the battle was starting to take a more positive turn.

That was, until some very disturbing news started reaching the front lines, gradually trickling down to HQ and then back out again.

The famous Uchiha clan had been resurrected. Though the ASF had dealt with patches of Edo Tensei soldiers here and there already, this was the first time they were facing it on such a large scale.

The Uchiha first appeared in the forest, creating a wave of backup for the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. In a scene that resembled something from the Warring Clans era, a line of Uchiha dove into the battles taking place in the forest, catching the Allied commando units off guard, forcing some to retreat and some to be caught fatally between two powerful groups of enemies.

When one of Naruto's bunshin arrived to back up Sai, Kakashi, Lee, and the others, a large number of their people were already killed. Kakashi looked beaten and ragged, Sai looked tense, and Sakura was biting her lip as she struggled to save as many people as she could.

"I'm a bunshin. What is going on here, Kakashi-sensei?" he shouted, pushing two attacking Uchiha away from Kakashi with a clawed, ephemeral hand.

"It's about time." Kakashi attempted his usual impassive tone, but the tension underneath was evident. "We managed to seal some of the Edo Tensei, but then a whole bunch of Uchihas showed up. Hey—pay attention!" Kakashi dodged as a huge blade whistled through the air, aiming at decapitating the both of them. Naruto jumped up and kicked Edo-Zabuza in the head, sending him into the ground.

The situation was getting more disturbing by the second. He heard a lot of people had been resurrected, but this was just so wrong.

He and Kakashi landed back-to-back. Kakashi had taken the opening Naruto had presented, and took possession of the oversized Executioner's Blade.

"Gai and some of the others were forced in the other direction, into the woods," Kakashi said. "Go find them. We're not doing so well here, but they are even more outnumbered than we are."

The bunshin glanced around the clearing. He didn't want to leave them in such an obviously bad state, but if the others were doing even worse, they definitely needed help. "I could send another bunshin over here… but I'd have to dispel myself to get the message through to Boss."

"We have a radio," Kakashi said. "We can send the message through Headquarters. Now go!"

"I promise, I'll be—" Naruto started, but he and Kakashi were halted in their conversation when the movements of their enemies changed. The Uchiha that were left with their group—there looked to be about half a dozen of them—suddenly backed away from their opponents and retreated.

The Edo Tensei Swordsmen, however, stayed. Kakashi jumped in front of Naruto and blocked Zabuza's kunai with the sword while Naruto was distracted watching the Uchiha's retreat.

"Shit! I don't know if they heard what I was saying, or what—but that's the direction the others were heading in!" Kakashi grunted, pushing his opponent back. "You need to follow them, now!"

"R-Right!" The bunshin turned and followed after the retreating Uchiha. They were fast, and moved smoothly as a single cohesive unit, but Naruto was still faster. He spotted them ahead, jumping through the treetops, and jumped up in pursuit.

"Ugh!" Naruto went to jump to the next branch, but something grabbed his ankle, causing him to trip. Pitching forward, he flipped over and landed more-or-less gracefully on his feet to avoid getting dispelled. "What the hell?" He looked up at the offending branch, but didn't see anything.

Warily, the bunshin jumped back up into the trees and continued chasing after the Edo-Uchiha, who were further ahead now. Something strange was going on, he could sense it. There were plant clones around—in the trees? He looked down at his feet whenever landing to make sure he didn't get snagged again.

Looking up, he saw the Uchiha had suddenly stopped and were facing him. Caught in midair, Naruto decided to land on a branch in front of them.

Something hit him in the back, and that impact was followed by many more as he was tackled bodily by a swarm of those white creatures. They reacted instantly to his Kyuubi Chakra Mode, sprouting into trees and entangling him.

"H-hey!" the bunshin shouted, but he only had time to struggle for a moment before gravity took its toll and he hit the ground, vanishing in a puff of smoke, stabbed through with sharp roots.

Naruto blinked as yet another clone's memories hit him.

A pattern was emerging. Every time a clone showed up at a battle, they were either lured away and dispelled, or attacked right on the spot. Any of those white-plant-creatures in the area would throw themselves at the bunshin as if they had a death wish.

There was no mistaking it. The enemy was targeting him first the moment he appeared anywhere.

Now that he knew that, it was possible to adjust his strategy and avoid having his clones dispelled, but that meant having to send a completely fresh wave out, and a lot of the places he'd visited were in serious trouble now. No doubt Orochimaru was trying to slow him down.

Cursing to himself, Naruto put his fingers in the cross-sign to summon more Kage Bunshin.

"Oi, Naruto. You sure you wanna do that?" Bee commented, seeing what he was about to do. "Remember what I told you 'bout the Kyuubi Chakra Mode, baka yarou."

Naruto knew. While he was in Kyuubi Chakra Mode, using the fox's chakra, the fox was able to steal his in return. That effect was only multiplied when he summoned more bunshin.

"Hmph! The Kyuubi stopped taking my chakra a while ago," Naruto said with a determined grin. "He's just taking a nap or something, I guess."

Instead of rambling on like an idiot, maybe you should pay more attention to your surroundings, the fox snapped at him. Don't you sense them, heading this way?

Naruto closed his eyes briefly before they flew open again.

"Nice timing, dattebayo!" he said exuberantly, punching the air. "I bet they know what's going on with the Uchiha clan! Plus, there's something I can clear up for everyone. Bee-occhan, can you cover for me? I'm gonna make a quick visit I don't want anyone to know about yet."

Things would be less complicated if he went by himself. With everyone's suspicions about his younger self and the others, it would be better to talk to them first.

"Eh… sure," Bee said with a shrug.

"I'll try to hurry. We have to get help to Kakashi-sensei and the others."

Naruto turned and launched himself away from the course he and Bee were on. Putting on an extra burst of speed, he went hurling toward that nostalgic energy that was so similar to his.