Naruto lay on the top floor of the two story house he, Yamato, and Kakashi were staying in. He was trying to go back to sleep, but he didn't know how that was going to be possible after everything that had happened. He had caught up with the Raikage and begged him to spare Sasuke, but he had called him a sentimental fool and refused him. Naruto was sure Karui would've beaten him up again if the Raikage had given her permission. When they got back to the place they were staying, Sakura was there with Kiba and Sai. He had been surprised when he saw her, but he had been even more surprised when she hugged him and told him she was in love with him. That made no sense. He knew she was still in love with Sasuke, and he told her so. After she angrily left, Sai had made him understand that she had done it because she had blamed herself for him getting hurt trying to rescue Sasuke. Naruto felt bad for her. He would've gone after their best friend whether he had made her the promise or not. He just hoped she wouldn't do anything to dangerous. (1)
On top of all this, he was paranoid since Madara had come busting through the window earlier. He dropped a bomb on everyone when he revealed the truth behind the Uchiha Massacre. It was a shock to them all that their village would actually force Itachi to kill his clan just so they could prevent another war. He still had a hard time believing it even now. It made him incredibly sad to think about what Itachi and Sasuke had both been through. Naruto could almost understand why Sasuke was still after revenge. Poor Itachi. Poor Sasuke. Poor Lori. Naruto frowned at the last one. He still couldn't believe he had finally found the identity of the girl in his visions only to learn she was dead.
Then, that creepy girl Yore told him she wanted Alien or Tallah he guessed dead. He had looked for a file on Lori, but hers was the only one he couldn't find. It was like someone had erased her from existence or something. He wished he could remember more about her. Before he knew it he was actually falling asleep, and he gladly welcomed it.
All of the sudden Naruto opened his eyes again when a familiar chakra signature seemed to jerk him away from himself. He looked around in surprise. He was in the dream sequence again. Naruto smiled as he surveyed the broken wall in front of him.
"So you're finally back?" he questioned Alien. Her voice came out of nowhere as usual.
"Of course," she said. "You didn't really think you were done yet did you?"
Naruto looked at the path laid out before him. "Before I make it to the end of the maze I have one more question."
The air around him stilled as if she was waiting. "Why is Lori so important?" he asked.
She had a hint of humor in her voice. "You'll know soon enough. Don't defeat the purpose of the alchemy circles. If you want the truth you'll have to find it yourself."
Naruto looked up slightly annoyed as he remembered their last encounter. "Speaking of telling the truth, you mind telling me what happened last time you were here?"
"Don't get ticky with me just because you're frustrated." She said.
Naruto rolled his eyes. She chuckled at him. Naruto looked at the walls. "So Tallah, mind telling me what your part in all this is?"
The air stilled for a moment. "Yore's getting antsy."
Naruto cocked his head. "She said a lot of things about you. She wants to kill your vessel, whatever that means."
She dismissed his statement. "If you still want the truth then follow the alchemy circles to the end of the maze. You'll have to go through the door at the end of the path to find what you seek. This is as far as I can guide you. When you enter the door you will see Truth. I wish you luck, and that he'll be kind. Although," she laughed mockingly. "I suppose that's a little much to ask of him. Now go."
Naruto looked down the long pathway. He didn't need any more coaxing. He ran down the path as fast as his legs could carry him. He saw the door before he ever approached it in the distance. As he got closer he slowed down as a sudden wave of nausea hit him. He looked at the door analyzing every detail. It was a massive thing that seemed to be suspended in the air. It was etched with many symbols that were familiar to him. He saw trees, the Rinnegan, the sealing symbol used on Jinchurikis, a sky, and a sun whose rays cascaded in grey down the door connecting everything. In the center of the door was a circle with the word Yaweh in the center. (2) Naruto felt heavy as he walked closer to the door. The energy the door was emitting felt wrong and sinister.
Naruto was surprised when the door slowly opened in front of him. He felt sick. All he could see was a deep darkness in every direction. Suddenly a wicked looking red eye opened in the blackness, and several black, eerie looking arms were coming out of the door straight for him. He tried to run, but they grabbed a hold of him and dragged him toward the door. He kicked and screamed not wanting to go wherever they were taking him. Then the arms started taking his body apart. He screamed louder than he ever had before watching as his body disintegrated in their grasp. Tallah's voice suddenly came to him. "Naruto, relax." She said. "You will be fine." So he let them drag him through the door in absolute terror as they dragged him into the darkness, and the door shut behind him with a wicked thud.
Lori and the others ran through the forest. She was in her panic state. She could feel the threads cracking and unraveling faster and faster. Tallah needed to hurry. She rolled her eyes remembering the dragon Bijuu's puffy attitude when she left. So she had stolen a bit of her chakra for the memory suppression and cut her off from Naruto early. Might as well be payback for Tallah stealing her chakra to break into his mind in the first place. She'd almost gotten Riyu killed.
Meanwhile, they were traveling to the Land of Iron. The Summit would convene tomorrow and they needed the lack of guards in order to pull this off. While she was planning how to get past what security would remain around the gem she suddenly felt the threads tremble and shake around her. They kept shaking and trembling as if something was tearing a hole through the world. She stopped and looked behind her knowing it meant the gate was opening somewhere. She looked up when Airi suddenly landed beside her on the branch she had stopped on. She looked at Lori with a smile. "Won't be long now. Maybe Truth'll finally stop making us watch our counterparts get bled dry." she said nonchalantly. Lori nodded remembering her most recent dream she had last night of one of her counterparts being whipped.
Riyu, Ryu, and Tia were far ahead of them, but Al stopped a short distance away and turned back to them. "What's the matter you guys? We have to keep moving or we won't make it in time." Lori and Airi shared a look and continued forward. They had been having nightmares like that since Naruto had lost his memories. Just one more way the gate was telling them they were running out of time. Lori sighed. The gate opening meant Naruto was going to see Truth, and find a way to retrieve the memories. The nightmare was almost over, so why wasn't she happy?
Naruto didn't know how long he had been in the darkness, but the next thing he knew he was abruptly rematerialized and thrown out of the door onto the ground. He hopped up on his feet pointing at the door angrily. "What was that all about?!" he yelled hoping Tallah could hear him. "I thought you were supposed to help me find out what I needed to know, not let a freaking door rip my body apart!" In response the door abruptly shut in his face. After he had collected himself, Naruto looked around trying to figure out where he was. The area looked similar to his dream state except it was white. The space seemed to stretch on forever and never end. As he tried to find some clue to indicate what came next, he realized that there were five other doors besides the one he had been thrown out of.
The doors were all similar, but unique in their own way. They were all lined around him like a circular stage, though they were spaced fairly far apart. He faced two of them from the door he had come out of. Another door was positioned to the left of his door, and the other two doors were positioned on each end facing towards the inside of the circle. Those two doors were vastly larger than the other four and gave Naruto an unsettling feeling. "Are you done sightseeing shinobi?" said a mocking voice out of nowhere. Naruto turned around abruptly and was faced with the strangest looking being he had ever seen.
It had the shape of a human, but it was completely white with a black hue tingeing it's outline. He had no face except for a creepy grin that made Naruto uneasy. (3) "Who are you?" he asked the creature warily. The creature's grin widened and lifted up his arms in what Naruto assumed was a gesture of glee. "Oh I'm so glad you asked!" he exclaimed. Naruto was just assuming it was a he. "I am called many names." The creature said. "I am the world. I am the universe. I am god. I am everything. I am one. I am you. (4) People tend to call me Truth." Naruto remembered what Tallah had said. "When you enter the door you will see Truth. I wish you luck, and that he'll be kind. Although, I suppose that's a little much to ask of him."
Naruto looked the being in front of him curiously. So that's what she had meant by her statement. "My name's Naruto." He said to the creature. "I was sent here by a girl named Tallah. I lost some of my memories that are important, and she said you would be able to help." The creature kept on grinning at him. "I already know who you are, and why you're here shinobi. And trust me I am very aware of Tallah's hand in it. Though, the fact that you insist on calling her a girl like she's some human is amusing."Truth said. Naruto blinked and yelped when the being appeared behind him. "This is exciting I must say." Truth said getting all up in his face. "I haven't had the pleasure of dealing in equivalent exchange with your kind in a while. Not since the Sage of Six Paths paid the price to grant you all the ability to seal away the tailed beasts." Naruto balked. This thing was connected to the Jinchuriki? "What do you mean the Sage of Six Paths paid the price?" Naruto demanded Truth. "You don't even know what you're dealing with here do you Shinobi? I suppose it makes sense that the ol' foxy wouldn't have told you." Naruto glared. "Why can't any of you people ever give me a straight answer?" he muttered.
Truth was suddenly in front of him almost knocking him over. "What I'm talking about little Shinobi is the law of equivalent exchange." Naruto blinked. The term sounded vaguely familiar. "Of what?" "The Law of Equivalent Exchange." The being said again grinning maniacally. "It's the principle that the universe follows flawlessly. You cannot exchange one thing for another unless something of equal value is given in return. They use it relentlessly in the West Gate. In other words there's a price for everything." Naruto looked at Truth warily. "If there's a price for everything, then what's my price for being here?" Truth laughed at him. "Not to worry young Shinobi. Your friend Tallah already paid half the price for you. Her counterpart in the West Gate paid the other half. She had to considering all this trouble is partly her fault for letting Victoria through." Naruto cocked his head confused. "Who's Victoria?"
Truth suddenly stopped laughing and looked at him seriously. It was creeping Naruto out. "As much as I enjoy toying with you," he said. "You came here seeking the truth, and that is what I will show you." He ginned widely as the space around Naruto seemed to tense and shake. When Naruto looked up again he was surrounded by several colorful threads weaving in every direction like a gigantic spider web. Truth began speaking.
"As you may have figured out by now, all the doors except for the two on the end are gates to a different universe. These threads you are seeing are the life threads that flow through each universe. Now don't mistake the meaning of that. Each world has a different principle network that they survive by. There are four different principles that correspond with the four different universes. This is why there are four different colored threads. The purple thread is Alchemy(5) which corresponds to the West Gate, the gate across from yours. The blue thread is Chakra, which corresponds with your world, or as I call it, the East Gate. The green thread is, believe it or not, song. It corresponds with the Northeast Gate, the one to your right. Finally, the red thread is Nox Nyctores, which goes to the Northwest Gate, the one on my right."
"What about the black and yellow threads?" questioned Naruto. Truth glared. "I was getting to that. You see the two gates at the end of the other four doors?" Naruto nodded. "The one on the left is the Gate of Light, and the one on the right is the Gate of Darkness. The yellow thread comes from the Gate of Light, and the black thread, obviously, comes from the Gate of Darkness. The space that you and I are currently in is called the Bridge. It is where all the threads converge in the center of the Universe." Naruto was confused. "Ok." He said. "I think I follow what you're saying, but what does all of this have to do with my missing memories? Why is it so important I recover them? And who is Victoria? You still haven't answered that." Truth motioned to the doors around them.
"These threads aren't just for show. There must be a specific balance of light and darkness in each world, and the other colors can never intersect into a different gate. The universes are so close in proximity to each other that if even one thread were to cross over into a dimension other than its own the universe could collapse on itself. That, however, is worst case scenario. More likely the universe would just be consumed by whatever thread is off balance bringing it to ruin." Naruto frowned. "That's still pretty bad." Truth was eerily silent. That's when it hit Naruto. "That's what's happening, isn't it?" Truth nodded. "There are other precautions that were set up to prevent this. You will understand more when I explain it." Naruto sweat dropped. "I'm barely following you as it is, but ok."
"Each universe has four guardians set up to monitor the threads, and make sure they never cross or that someone does not rupture them somehow. There is the Bridge Builder who uncovers the path to the world you are aiming to reach, the Key Keeper who bars or opens the gate for use, the Keeper of the Gate of Darkness who monitors the black threads of their universe, and the Keeper of the Gate of Light who monitors the yellow threads of their universe. The problem, however, is the guardians are as unbalanced as the threads. There must always be four of them, and if one dies in one universe then her counterparts must also die and be replaced to keep the worlds in balance." Naruto raised an eyebrow. "So basically if one dies they all die?" "Such is the way of the universe. This also leads to the root of your world's current problem."
Truth gestured his hand to Naruto's gate. "Yore, the Keeper of the Gate of Light for your world, died three years ago in one of Orochimaru's underground slave camps. Coincidentally, it was one that Goto supplied children for so Orochimaru wouldn't take over his areas of business." He pointed to the Northwest gate with the Nox Nyoctores running through it. "Saya, her counterpart of this universe, thought her life had been too short and did not want to honor the laws of the universe. She forced the bridge builder, Tsubaki Yayoi, to open the gate and crossed into the west gate dragging the red threads from her dimension with her. She somehow convinced her counterpart in that universe, Victoria, to rebel as well. Saya crossed into the Northeast Gate as well, and stole a gem from one of the guardians there. In her world this gem grants her the power to mind control others. She's caused quite a stir that is being dealt with by the other guardians in that dimension presently. Your problem is Victoria also forced her world's bridge builder to transport her to your world dragging the purple and yellow threads with her. "
Naruto let it all sink in for a moment. Now that he was paying more attention to the threads he could see all the yellow threads over powering the black and blue ones in his dimension. He could also see them fraying. Now he understood the other reason why Tallah had kept telling him to hurry. They probably only had weeks if even that long before they snapped. He frowned. "I still don't understand." He said. "What do my memories have to do with any of this?"
Truth glanced at him. "The Sage of Sixth Paths ensured with his price that the Bijuu he had taken charge of could be contained, but he also made sure no one could open the gate or enter it except for two separate beings: The Keeper of the Gate of Darkness and The Kyuubi. The memories that were stolen from you hold the key he left to opening the gate in your world. Opening it would be simple if you were in the west gate since they use alchemy religiously, but your world has a whole different set of laws and the prices are much higher even for a simple transmutation. In that universe they have a red gem they call the philosopher's stone that can bypass the Law of Equivalent Exchange. Your world has something similar to it called the Gem of Aatos. However, because of the Sage's payment, the only one who can use it without paying a price is you, the Kyuubi's container."
Naruto balked at the information he was just given. "So basically what you're saying is that I'm the only one who can open the gate to stop my world from dying?" Truth crossed his arms. "Yes, essentially that is what I'm saying." Naruto put his face in his hands. "Wow, ok." He lifted his head and looked at truth. "So all I have to do is get back my memories, and then I can just find the Guardian of the Gate of Darkness, and everything will be ok right?" Truth smiled. "The trick, Shinobi, is that it won't work unless you can find that idiotic story teller Lori. You can't open the gate without her. Plus you'll have to lure Victoria into the gate too, or it won't work." "Wait a second! Lori's the Keeper of the Gate of Darkness?!" Naruto yelled. "I thought she was dead! Besides you just said she couldn't open the gate without me, and how the heck am I going to get Victoria into the gate?! I don't even know what she looks like!" Truth had his hands over his ears. "Believe me, if Victoria is motivated she will be the one finding you. As for Lori, she's crushed under her own self-loathing. It might as well be a suicide mission in the state she's in now."
Naruto cocked his head. "Why do you say that?" Truth scoffed. "The Key Keeper for your world is a Bijuu. To be specific she's Lori's Bijuu. If she dies, the Key Keeper dies. The gap left by the two guardians would not only leave the gate exposed, but also unbalance the threads even more causing your universe to collapse on itself. If she keeps running away from her responsibility and tries to open the gate herself, Victoria will win."
Naruto was dumbfounded. "Ok so let me get this straight. Basically what's happening is that Victoria came from the West Gate all mad because she doesn't want to die and brought more threads with her. Lori's trying to stop her by opening the gate and doing I don't know what, but she can't without causing major destruction because for some reason I'm to only one who can use the gem without paying the price, but I can't remember how to use it right now and if I don't get those memories back Lori's going to open the gate and accidently collapse this universe?" Truth cackled with glee. "Now you're getting it!"
Naruto's blood ran cold. Victoria had threatened him by the school. The one she wanted to kill was Lori, and if Lori died Tallah would die with her. He just stared at him for a moment then finally said. "Well obviously I need my memories back before I can do anything. Where are they?" Truth pointed at the west gate. "Tallah paid the price to leave this door open to you so you could talk me, and to send your memories to the bridge builder, the one who placed the maze in your mind, in Victoria's world. However, you cannot recover the memories until what was exchanged for them is returned. When that happens you will be returned here and she will give them back to you." Naruto blinked in outrage. "Well what the heck am I supposed to do until then?! I don't even know what the price was!" he yelled. Truth put a hand on his shoulder and gripped it tightly once again grinning like normal. "What you will do, young Shinobi, is find the guardians who haven't gone completely insane and make sure your dear friend Lori doesn't screw everything up! Don't worry about the price. That's resolving I have no idea what the replacement Keeper of the Gate of Light is, so you're at a dead end there. Aside from Victoria the other three tend to stay in close proximity to one another so they should be simple to find. Look for the dragon tattoo on some part of their body. It's what marks them as guardians."
Dragon tattoo? Naruto flashed back to the images of Lori that had plagued him. She had had a dragon tattoo on her arm. He also flashed back to Airi with Sakura slung over her back. The way Sakura had been positioned it had pulled down one of Airi's sleeves revealing a dragon tattoo on her shoulder. Naruto balked. "No way!" Naruto freaked. "You're telling me the source of all these stupid dreams has been those stupid thieves we've been chasing for over a month!? I'm gonna find that Airi and drag her on her face!" Truth grinned. "Ah! So you've met the Bridge Builder for your world already. That should make your job ten times easier!" "How in the heck does that going to make my job easier!?" yelled Naruto. Truth sighed. "I've told you what you need to know. Now go find Airi! Lori won't be far behind."
Naruto rolled his eyes and looked around. "Fine. Now how do I get out of this place?" Truth gave another evil grin. "Same way you got here." Naruto felt himself get paler. He faced the gate with a gulp. The door opened repeating the same process as before. It took all his strength not to scream aloud. "See you next time Shinobi." He heard Truth leer from behind him. "Be sure to thank Tallah for paying your price for you." He heard him comment before he was consumed by the blackness once more.
I refuse to write a play by play of all the fights and extra stuff that happens in the manga/anime. If you haven't gotten that far in the series yet you'll just have to look it up.
I was going for something similar in design to the gate in FMAB
In case some of you haven't read Full Metal Alchemist or seen FMAB, Truth is what they call the figure they meet in the gate.
This is word for word what Truth says in Brotherhood
The idea is that I'm using four different anime/video game verses. The West Gate is Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood with the exception of the different universes concept coming from Full Metal Alchemist. The East Gate is Naruto. The Northeast Gate is Elemental Gelade. The Northwest Gate is a video game called Blazeblue.