DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything from the Naruto universe.
Thinking (+ flashbacks, "Naruto speaking to Kurama in her mindscape," etc.)
Emphasis
Bijuu, etc. speaking
Bijuu, etc. thinking
Shikamaru looked around warily. "Your mother's still gone?"
Naruto didn't know what the deal was between her adopted brother and her mother. Kushina had no problem with Shikamaru (although she didn't particularly like Temari) but Shika acted as if her mother was a threat.
Well, Kushina was but so far… so good, right? "Yes. I can't say where I suspect she's gone - and I don't know why she was sent out." Naruto didn't think it was cool at all, and everyone that knew about Kushina knew that she was upset about leaving on a mission.
"Hokage-sama's back." He nodded at his sister who'd gone silent and wide-eyed, her chakra spiking. "Yep."
"Without Kaa-chan?"
"He could be a clone," Shikamaru said reasonably. One couldn't exactly go around asking the Hokage if he was a clone or not.
"They're not telling me something. I don't like it."
"Dad hasn't said anything suspicious. Troublesome… It's the same ol', same ol' drag: day after day."
"Maybe we should stop being so paranoid," Naruto said with an awkward wince, wishing it was so easy. She gazed back at her pups who were already showing themselves to be so advanced and strong. Just last night, she had yelped when Kenji flipped himself up and off the changing table; straight over the bumper guard on it. Naru was right there to catch him, of course, but still. After freaking out about that, she turned toward the crib and found that Kuebiko had also turned himself over and was grinning at her like a happy little loon.
Kawaii chibi maniacs. The pups, whose hair had been growing in a slightly lighter (almost whiter) shade of silver, had also begun teething which was a frightening thing. Hatakes had jaws like bear traps - which is why she'd moved to test how they reacted to bottles and baby formula today. So far, so good, as long as she held them against her bare or nearly bare skin. It was cute how confused they looked but their hungry little piglet senses were winning.
Her father-in-law was the one who warned Naruto that Hatakes had extremely sharp baby teeth as soon as he noticed the way the boys changed from sucking on their fists (or anything else they could shove in their tiny mouths) to suddenly desperately GNAWING on everything. Yeah: call her selfish but Naruto was not putting "the girls" through that.
Yikes.
Kakashi was just going to have to deal with it.
"Owwwww," Shikamaru whined, looking back and forth at his grinning godson and his bleeding finger.
"Shika! You got blood in Kenji's mouth!" Naruto immediately got to work on cleaning her son up before he could catch Lazy or some kind of other less problematic disease. "You've got a tooth! Oh, yes you do, Kenji!"
"I'm bleeding." Shikamaru also thought his index finger might be broken.
"That's what I'm saying," Naruto scolded. "Now I have to brush his little tooth." She had baby toothbrushes around here somewhere…
Shikamaru wrapped up his bleeding digit and slid closer to the swing Biko was in. Pulling his lip down to see if he also had a tooth, he was bit again. "Son of a bitch!"
Naruto laughed evilly. "Now that they've tasted you, they will come for you," she said in a spooky voice.
"I actually don't doubt that," Shika said, suppressing a shiver.
"No cursing, by the way, da-rn it."
Orochimaru sighed heavily as he read the latest intelligence that he had from Konoha. When he first awoke from the other side, having argued, bartered, and fought an angry, vengeful Shinigami, he tried to convince himself that it was all a dream. –That not only had he not died fighting primarily a Genin but that he had not walked at least the latter part of his same, misguided life two different times.
Because he couldn't quite remember ALL of the details of what had happened in the two realities - he decided that was due to how many bodies he had inhabited - The Genius Orochimaru had to push forward with research and ensure he didn't suffer the same fate again. Well, there were already precautions in place: precautions like the mark he'd left on little Anko-chan, Guren-chan, or many others. Then the Shinigami began threatening him, day and night, and he realized that yes, he had made mistakes. Huge mistakes.
Now he regrets those mistakes. He was moving forward but doing so alone.
- Aside from the children and young ninjas he was mentoring, and they would probably turn on and leave him, too.
- Just as they had before.
His spies reported that Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Uchiha Shisui (definitively reported as alive once more) had been announced as the Yondaime Hokage's new advisors: Minato's Elder Council. He wasn't positive that the intel was even correct, considering Jiraiya's role as a spymaster, Tsunade heading up the hospital and filling in for Minato when the Hokage was out doing God Only Knows What, but he felt… jealous.
Jealous of his teammates sticking together and rising to positions of prominence, once again.
Oh, the mistakes he made.
He looked toward his clones and other experiments that were progressing within their chambers and hoped for a better future. WHY couldn't that stubborn bastard, Minato, realize that he could help Konoha (and the shinobi world) if only Minato would let him?
He had done it before. No one would believe it - although that damn Minato should remember - but Orochimaru had saved Tsunade's life and then assisted her in saving all of the other kages during the Fourth Shinobi War. He had raised the previous Hokages from the dead to aid the alliance.) He had raised MINATO from the dead only recently!
Admittedly, when he did it during the Fourth Shinobi War, he did it based on Sasuke's whims, but Orochimaru didn't control them while they fought.
He allowed them to fight, in fact.
…
If Minato wasn't going to be reasonable, then perhaps it was time to find another ally. A strong ally. "Sasuke, Karin: a moment please."
Sasuke turned toward the rogue Sannin but chanced a glance at Karin who - at least this time - didn't look phased at Orochimaru's request for her presence. Karin was training like mad even before he'd explained the details about his past life. That had probably started after she learned that her clansman, Naruto, was in fact an Uzumaki.
Usually, when Orochimaru spoke to Karin, she'd be openly hostile but it seemed that today was different. Jugo had told him that Karin planned to ask Orochimaru, directly, for training. Sue him if that concerned him.
"I think it's time we, once again, test your sensing abilities, Karin-chan," Orochimaru said, his eyes sparkling with a keen interest in something that his minions had learned to fear. "It's time to find White Zetsu. You and your team, Sasuke-kun, will be assisting her in capturing a group of them." In a more derisive tone, he thought he should mention one more thing: "keep that slash-happy Suigetsu-kun from killing any."
Sasuke knew - he remembered - that the White Zetsus weren't combat types. "How many?"
Orochimaru pretended to think about it. "A few hundred should do."
Sasuke tried not to react and wondered how effective he would be in facing them, considering that he was nearly blind.
Karin's scarlet eyes darted back and forth between the two. Orochimaru was, once again, looking at Sasuke with an expression of amusement that she really wanted to wipe off his smug face.
"Something wrong, Sasuke-kun?" Orochimaru asked, having long ago assumed that Sasuke was going blind. He'd freely given Sasuke quite enough of so many vital things, he thought. It was time the young man, who was still such a brat, asked him politely for the help he'd be quite willing to give. How grateful will he be, though, if I were to inform him that I have his parents' eyes? "Is there something you need?" he asked innocently.
Orochimaru looked anything but innocent.
"Do you have a strategy in mind?" Sasuke hated asking the man for anything but it would be better to stay on his good side, for now, he thought.
"Hmm." Orochimaru fingered his jaw, acting again as if he hadn't anticipated this conversation. "Your Sharingan would assist me in replicating seals that we could put on the Zetsus, I suppose. I've been experimenting with it: knocking them out and sealing them for transport would reduce time and potential costs. …Excellent," he smirked.
Sasuke failed to react to a task that would certainly require excellent vision - let alone the copying capabilities of the Sharingan. Karin, however, looked panicked. It was highly amusing, Orochimaru thought.
"Hn." Sasuke turned and closed the door before returning to Karin's side. "I'm going blind," he admitted without emotion.
Karin began muttering curses as she rubbed her forehead, wondering if this madman would have any use for Sasuke (and the rest of them) now. She also wondered again if Sasuke was more insane than he was a supposed genius.
"Aaand?" Orochimaru asked with a demented smile after waiting for Sasuke to say more for several seconds.
Sasuke huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. "Are you aware of the EMS?"
"Yesssssssssss! I am!"
Sasuke glared at the gleeful-sounding man and licked his dry lips. "Then you know I need to have my Sharingan replaced. I need to… trade eyes with Itachi."
"Well, that's impossible," Orochimaru grumbled, sitting back in his chair. "Itachi-kun and your dear cousin, Shisui-kun, have already made that exchange." He ignored Sasuke's very light gasp.
Perhaps he could take Shisui's eyes. Itachi, Orochimaru knew, was too powerful and with Uchiha Shisui's eyes would probably be even more powerful than he had been before. How frightening.
- The idea was impossibly intriguing and stimulating!
- He wasn't sure that it would work but since when did that ever stop him?
"I believe I can get my hands on something we can work with, at least for now, Sasuke-kun," Orochimaru smirked. "Karin will assist me in surgery shortly." He hummed, wondering how long Sasuke's recovery would take. He needed to move on his plan with the White Zetsus ASAP.
Perhaps it was time to get back in touch with that rascal, Kabuto.
.
Naruto held a baby in each arm over her head, each cradled safely within her chakra arms. Kurama rolled his eyes, having heard what Naru was planning to do when she snuck off to Mount Myoboku in the middle of the night. He was only there to hang out with Isobu. Naru was going to do her very best impression of the beginning of the movie based on Kimba The White Lion.
"Nants ingonyama bagithi baba! –Come on, now! Sing for me!"
Most of the toads sweatdropped but a few like Gamachiki and Gamatatsu - as well as all of the messaging toads - sang right back to her: "Sithi uhm ingonyama." They repeated it a few times much to the amusement of Ma and the chakra of the Geezer Sage who was in his hidden lair, while Pa rolled his eyes and waited for Naruto to re-secure her twins in her arms.
Six warm, thick chakra arms REALLY helped with everything twin related. Naruto had been learning to do lots of things with them. Her mother might have said that it was the most "bizarre - I mean INTERESTING, 'ttebane," use of what Kushina was convinced were modified chakra chains but Naruto thought they were fantastic, whatever they were. Tails, probably.
What would she do without them?
"I didn't know you'd seen that White Lion movie: um what's it called? Yeah: The Lion King! When I asked you to sing back to me, I was kind of joking."
Gamakichi was more interested in checking out her sons who were both staring at him with big wide, blue eyes. "They're REALLY small." He tilted his head when he supposed the tadpoles had finished checking him out. Now they both looked as bored as Naruto's husband always did.
One of them even had one eye closed.
"They're babies! And when I first met you, you fit on my head."
Gamakichi sighed and rolled his eyes. "I don't remember."
Naruto sweatdropped. "You don't remember me mistakenly calling on you to fight Gaara and a tailed beast: Shukaku? It was in my last life. I was trying to summon your father."
"Oh, that's right," he drawled, pulling out his pipe from his jacket which Naruto immediately nixed. "I guess I do remember being a little smaller"
Naruto clicked her tongue. "A little smaller," she parroted in her mind. Gamakichi was just as enormous as his father, Gamabunta, now. She accepted the congratulations of the other toads, both giant and small - and chatted them up - for quite some time before taking her pups over to meet Isobu and Kokuo whom, Naruto was pretty sure, were going to make a permanent home here on the toad's mountain. –Or at least stay for a hundred years or so.
Always sweethearts, Isobu and Kokuo told her that her babies were very handsome (for humans.)
Kurama popped out of the seal again as soon as she lay her sons down in the soft grass. Isobu and Kokuo had taken their smaller, adorable forms - Naruto was never sure why or how they did it but she guessed that they may have some kind of agreement with the toads. Isobu and Kokuo already took up enough room here although Mount Myoboku seemed to go on endlessly. Naruto still hadn't explored all of it and wondered if she would ever be able to.
Still bitchy that her mother was alive, Kurama was doing his best to make Naruto's life miserable but she was proud to say that he was failing miserably. She would not rise to his continual baiting; she would not reconsider her love for her precious people, for him and his siblings, or for her circumstances. Not with all of the love that was in her life now: no way.
Kurama (secretly) gazed fondly down at Naruto's kits before he sat down and glared at her. "I'm staying here." He would not feel guilty or be swayed by her big sad eyes. "It's not like you can't talk to me in the seal!"
"I know. Okay." Kurama always left at least a tail behind inside of her.
"Kurama, be nice! She loves you," Kokuo chided.
Kurama rolled his eyes and waved his glorious tails around, reminding his siblings that he was the oldest and greatest of them. "Fine. It's not like I can't get back to you from here, Naruto."
"You're just here to visit?" Naruto asked with a quivering pout.
"Yes, yes; and only for a millennia or so."
"KURAMA!"
"No one said you could stay for millennia, Kurama-sama," Pa said, grinning when the little tadpoles flipped themselves over and tried to reach for him. They were trying to get his flippers into their little jaws, he was sure. "Naruto, the Great Lord Elder would like to see you and the tadpoles."
"Okay," Naruto said - but she hoped the old toad wouldn't have any weird prophecies for her this time. "Ja, guys."
Minutes later, Naruto was holding her twins up in front of the geezer sage because he wanted to really look at them. Naruto wondered how he saw through those cataracts.
"You brought pups onto the mountain."
"I did," Naruto said, not getting it.
"They are not ours."
Naruto looked back and forth, at each of her boys who were grinning their little heads off with closed-eye smiles for some reason, and then back at the old toad in the enormous lily pod. She started to get worried as she thought about his words, not liking them - and hoping she was wrong. Both the boys began to frown and squirm. Naruto was positive that they were sensors. "What do you mean?"
"Your partner summons canines?"
"Yes," Naruto drawled. He was saying what she thought he was, wasn't he? But… But!
"Your pups will also."
No! Naruto thought, groaning. I mean, I guess it would be fine but she had really wanted to share the toads with her babies. "Can't they summon you all, too?"
"Fear not. Your other children will summon us!"
Naruto almost tripped. Oh, she was so mad now. She was a new mother to TWO and it was hard. "Don't get ahead of yourself, Geezer Sage!" Then that old frog laughed at her!
The blonde stomped out of there, ready to go home. What the hell was she even thinking, offering up her pups to crazy prophesying toads?!
She looked down when she felt one boy - and then the other - bite her chakra arms! "Ouch! –Sort of. That feels weird," she said, trying to readjust the little animals and also figure out how they'd managed that. "Please knock it off, you two." The boys started kicking and squealing - all excited again - when they saw Pa jump onto her shoulder.
"I've been meaning to ask you, Naruto: are you not affected by Kurama bounding in and out of your seal?"
"I don't think so. Why? Not all of him leaves me, ya know."
"I assumed. I still think it wise that you do not use sage mode until we know how you react to nature's energy while having less demonic chakra in your system. You'll need to come back for training."
Naruto would swear that the old, white-haired, and tiny toad sage looked like he was eager for that: the sadist! "I think you're a little too late on that, Jiji. Thanks to that ring-eyed floating Sage of Six Paths, I'm using sage chakra every moment of my life."
Lord Fukasaku jumped off of her as if Kurama had just burned him again. He looked horrified. Naruto only shrugged. And just like that, he'd summoned that goddamn stick and whacked her with it. "OW!"
Her twins started crying and Naruto seethed, feeling a welt come up on her back. "Send Me Back. Right NOW."
Pa didn't need to be told twice. "We'll talk about this later, Naruto!"
"I will end you!"
"Don't be hasty!"
"Don't tempt me, old toad. I've always wanted to try frog legs!"
The horrified gasp she heard as she was sent back to Konoha was music to Naruto's ears.
Later -
Naruto sucked in a desperate breath as she woke up from an impromptu nap, shooting forward. She was loud enough - and expelled enough chakra that she woke up everyone also napping in the house.
Sakumo was the first to check on her, prying her eyelids open more and checking her pupils; Shikamaru was right beside him: watching as much as he could; silently guarding her since Kakashi was at work and he was here visiting again.
It was a drag but Shikamaru liked the newbies. (Plus when he was with here, he could get out of work.)
He still didn't feel good about the dead coming back to life (and then those former Edo-tenseis staying with his sister and her infants) even if the formerly deceased were Naru and Kakashi's family members. For some reason, he was able to deal with the Yondaime more easily: maybe that was because he'd seen the reanimated Yondaime Hokage who had aided the Shinobi Alliance in the Fourth Shinobi War.
Kushina and Sakumo? Not so much.
Shikamaru was worried that something big was coming.
"Is she alright?" Gai asked in a quiet voice - for him. Sai had entered the house after feeling Naruto's chakra, no doubt, and looked very worried.
Sakumo snapped his fingers in front of her face. Naruto only blinked and frowned as she continued to see something they couldn't.
"Give her a minute," Shikamaru advised. He raised an eyebrow at the other shinobis, realizing that he was annoyed that they weren't immediately following his orders. That was ridiculous but Shikamaru had nodded off, holding his godson, and was dreaming of the old war. He blew out a breath and sat back, patting an upset Kenji's tummy to help him settle back down. "I've seen her tune out when she's talking to Kurama or one of the others."
"One of the others?" Gai asked.
Shikamaru shrugged and didn't comment. He wasn't sure how much Kakashi or Naruto had told them about how she alone was able to speak with the other tailed beasts and jinchuurikis. –Or she was a central point; something like that. It was all so troublesome.
Naruto blinked a few times rapidly, her eyes darting to everyone around her to ensure they were safe, and rubbed her eyes. "I fell asleep."
"Maa, it's pretty late," Sakumo said. "Are you okay? Ya scared us! You were really zoned out."
"Oh, I'm sorry!" Naruto could tell that Shikamaru was watching her reactions, knowing already that something was up even if she was trying to hide it. "Here. I'll take Biko - and Shika… I think we need to check diapers, huh?"
"Troublesome."
"Yeah, it's troublesome, alright." She gathered Kuebiko up from Gai, thanking him with a grateful smile, and went upstairs, waiting to make sure Shikamaru was right on her heels. As soon as she was in the nursery she put up a silencing seal and put Biko in the crib.
Then she made a clone that took off running, full speed, jumping out through the nursery's patio doors. She winced when she saw Sai following it. "Shi-shoot." Not cursing was so difficult.
"What's going on?"
"You might as well know: Gaara told me in confidence that um… Rasa had come back, reanimated like… like during the Fourth Shinobi War."
Shikamaru slowly licked his dry lips, realizing that his mouth had fallen open. "Temari's going to flip."
Naruto urgently shook her head back and forth. "No. Gaara sealed Rasa before Rasa could say a word. –It sounded fast. I think Gaara's been working with Shukaku on better and more quickly sealing things - maybe since he found out about my father." She had wondered how Shika would react to this. "I don't think he even told Kankuro about their dad."
"This just happened?"
Naruto hummed, looking away guiltily. "Mmmm - that happened last week." Gaara didn't go into it but Naruto bet that he had to fight his father more than he admitted. He'd looked thrashed when he called out to her in her mindscape (Shukaku had been over the moon about their "victory") but said he was fine.
Shikamaru looked at her in disbelief. "I thought we shared everything! This is vital intelligence, Naruto!"
Naruto grimaced. "Would you believe me if I told you I forgot about it?"
"No," Shikamaru drawled, more than a little ticked off. There was one reason that he could imagine that would cause Naru to stay silent about Rasa, however: "I'm assuming Gaara didn't want anyone to know?" Naruto nodded, as she picked Biko back up. He could understand Naruto keeping Gaara's secrets, he guessed. But this was dangerous information. "So what happened when we were downstairs? You were out of it for around half a minute."
I was going to say that you were acting like a zombie but I don't think I'll ever be able to say the word "zombie" without worrying that another edo-tensei will pop up in front of us.
Naruto stretched against the pups' dresser, gripping it almost hard enough to break it. Everyone speaking in her head all at once was driving her crazy, not to mention that it was hard to comprehend what they were telling her. Her eyes widened when she figured out exactly what was going on. "I need to see my father. Immediately." She should've taken off as soon as she started hearing things instead of sending a clone. "A clone's not good enough."
The clone she sent to him hadn't dispelled or reported back yet.
"What's going on?"
"Kabuto's made a move. Can you and Gai watch the boys and um…" She'd never left her boys before.
"Of course; and we'll keep an eye on Sakumo if he doesn't go with you."
Naruto bobbed her head and took off. She had two other clones at home that would stay with the babies. Sakumo somehow knew what she was doing and wound up "escorting" her as they ran through the village, (he was lightly henged,) but wasn't happy when she jumped into the Hokage's window. "Yo."
"Naruto… Sakumo," Minato nodded to them in greeting. "Your clone was just telling me a little of what's going on, Naru-chan. Were you also out and not henged?"
"It's my first time away from the boys and I've been figuring for a while that if this is my home - that its time people started seeing the real me around." Naruto's clone chirped a "peace out" and was gone. "I'd rather people get used to me now or see their reactions before I try it and have the pups with me."
"Good," Minato agreed heartily. "My understanding is that Edo-tenseis have finally shown up around Kumo and only some are obviously being controlled."
"That's what Yugito said - but I'm here because they're elsewhere, too. And… I'm suspicious of Utakata, to tell you the truth. I also haven't heard anything from Roshi in a while."
"Their bijuu?"
"That's the thing," Naru frowned. "Saiken's been jumpy and quiet for about a week now and the last time I spoke with Utakata was about Kiri still wanting Isobu back. Saiken was the one who just told me that told me some reanimated Kiri guys rose from the damn ocean. Additionally, Son Goku has been all pissed off and fired up - but they're all aggravated with Kurama, although I'm hoping that things are finally settling down between them.."
Stupid Kurama, ruining healthy communications and relationships!
"Because of Kurama's reaction to Kushina." Minato's half of Kurama was no better in dealing with his wife's mere presence and was making things so difficult.
Naruto nodded. "Anyway AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, I had to come when I realized that there were Edo-tenseis showing up all over the place. She gasped when her sobbing friend's voice entered her head. "Fu said that her sensei came to Suna, demanding that she return to Taki - but he's dead! –She had no idea that something had even happened to him."
"I'm so sorry, Fu! What did you do?"
"Gaara-kun s-s-sealed him."
Naruto didn't think it was fair.
"I'm sorry to hear that," Minato said honestly. "Her sensei is..?" He tried to remember.
"He was Taki's LEADER, Shibuki-sama." Naruto nodded her head at her father who had paled slightly.
It looked like no one had noticed that Taki's leadership had changed.
"Anyway, um… The Kazekage tried to do her Scorch Release on some reanimated Sand nins but of course, it didn't work. Gaara was able to seal whoever they were without issue."
"Go on."
Naruto frowned: she still had multiple bijuu or people popping in, mentioning this or that in her head. "The numbers aren't huge that I've been informed of but… Can't we please let them show who they are before we go and seal them up?" Naruto winced and tried to explain herself better, for what had to have been the tenth time. "I mean, I have so much happiness in my life from having you three being alive and with me now. Why should Kakashi and I be the only ones to have benefitted from a forbidden - or any - jutsu so much?"
"Naruto," Minato began guiltily. It was time he reminded her of something she hadn't remembered or at least hadn't mentioned to him. "It's not good to have shinobis with great power and unlimited chakra out there running around."
"Maa, not all of them were decent folk in the first place, Naruto," Sakumo said in a gentle voice.
Naru appreciated their words but couldn't they see that… WAIT. "Unlimited chakra?"
Minato nodded. "Don't you remember that during the Fourth Shinobi War, Madara just kept getting up? He was unstoppable."
"But we did stop him," Naruto whispered to herself doubtfully. She may have seen what the other Kurama had shown her but it was like watching a movie rather than experiencing it herself. "Wait. I've seen your chakra reserves go down!"
"Yes, but I don't know how low they will go," Minato said honestly - noticing how thunderstruck Sakumo now looked. "I'm also a jinchuuriki. It may be different for me than it might be for those who aren't holding tailed beasts."
"But you're YOU," Naruto argued, trying to wrap her head around it.
"You didn't tell me this," Sakumo said slowly in probably the most dangerous tone Naruto had ever heard from the kind man.
"I can't be sure. Madara was… something of a freak of nature."
"Aren't we all?" Naruto asked no one, staring ahead of her. She could feel how angry and disappointed her father-in-law was, though. "You really haven't had to push your chakra use, huh?" she asked him.
Sakumo sighed, and staring at the ground, shook his head. He had sparred with his son a few times but never enough to feel a real drain on his reserves. Perhaps this was why.
Naruto patted his hand and then gave him a hug - apparently almost knocking the wind out of him. "Sorry." She didn't let go and grinned up at the tall man. "I was just thinking that I'll kick your ass and we'll see what happens, ne? I'll do it really well! Don't worry!"
Sakumo looked down at her, and then up at Minato in disbelief; an expression of either "is she serious?" or "does she know who I am?" written all over his face. Minato only shrugged. Kakashi knocked and came in, so he pried the clingy blonde off of him. His son was between them instantly. What a silly brat.
"What are you doing here, Naruto?" Kakashi gave his father a dirty look.
"Reporting," she said, smiling and hugging him, too. No one else was in the office and Kakashi's ANBU mask was on his hip so she figured it was fine. "I miss you."
"I'll deal with you later at home," Kakashi whispered into her ear. "Are you done?"
"No," she replied and turned to her father. "What about Kaa-chan? Why are you here when she isn't?"
"He's a clone," Sakumo sighed, trying to figure out what to do - or if he'd EVER have a real choice about things again. This whole thing with having what sounded like renewable, inextinguishable chakra was something other shinobis might dream of but he didn't want to live forever! Or to be somehow undefeatable… Maybe it was just new information he'd have to get used to but for now, it seemed to suck the joy out of life.
"He is?" Naru asked, worried about what she was sensing from him again. "How do you know?"
"He smells like a clone." Kakashi nodded his head in agreement.
"What?!" Naruto wished her clone was here so that she could sniff her although if she smelled bad, Naruto would be horrified. She went over and took a whiff of her father. "I don't get it. He smells okay."
"Thanks for that, Naru-chan," her father said dryly.
"Yep," Sakumo agreed, "but he smells less like him."
"I need to learn this!"
"Go home," Kakashi softly requested. "Use your communication earrings."
"Oh, right," Naruto gasped, gently gripping her sore ear. She'd taken the earrings off again because Biko had grabbed one and yanked on it. "Okay, um… If you need my help, you'll call, right?"
"Of course, Naruto. Go," Minato ordered. Naruto nodded and jumped out the window and onto the Academy roof, running toward their house. He and Kakashi looked at each other, Kakashi gravely concerned even as Minato found it a little humorous that Sakumo looked so put out with Naruto using the window. "It's time to enact Plan 3."
The real Minato flashed back to Konoha with his henged wife moments later. "Has it started?" he asked Shikaku once he was next to him on top of the Hokage Tower.
Plan 3 was in motion. Shinobis from all over the village were running or roof-hopping to their assigned positions outside of the village.
"Haven't seen anything yet," Shikaku drawled. He was looking through binoculars and surveying the area but no one had sighted an Edo-tensei near the village.
"Have our resident Uchihas reported back yet?"
"Troublesome. They have not."
Minato sighed. He'd tried to contact Shisui and Itachi through the communications earrings which SHOULD have worked. He'd added an additional chakra component to Naruto's design so that long distances should not hinder them - so now Minato was more worried than ever.
In the meantime, Shisui and Itachi were worried, too. They were staring at around a dozen Uchiha zombies (who hadn't liked Shisui calling them that) in Frost Country, all of whom looked like they REALLY wanted to fight.
That was probably because Itachi had killed all of them.
"Are you sure you trust her enough to do this?" Shikaku asked under his breath, looking toward Kushina who was chewing on her bottom lip and looked anxious. "I'd like to remind you, Minato, that when you make bad decisions and screw up, you tend to do it on a monumental scale."
"She could really help," Minato reminded his best friend, unfortunately meekly. He put up a light genjutsu to hide their conversation. "She knows the seals."
"They've been updated," Shikaku reminded him before he could say more.
"It'll be my - and Kurama's - chakra that will power the initial jutsu. She'll just be helping guide our chakra. I'll know if she has any ill intent," Minato whispered.
"I'll just say that I can't advise it. Kushina's will may not be completely her own. So if her own intent is not to harm but she's controlled, you may not know what she's done until the seals fail." Minato only nodded at him. Shikaku rolled his eyes. "What a drag."
Five minutes later, Minato's hands flew through the required seals; Kushina's following. His men - and Kushina - were in positions around the seal that he'd earlier placed on the top of the Tower. "Fuuin!"
Lines of chakra flew down, up, across, and above Konoha. Seeing it as a signal, each ninja outside of the village powered their own chakra into the seal. Shikaku stayed out of the way but rolled his eyes and prayed to the gods that Kushina wouldn't be forced to take down the seals protecting the entire village. –Or that she'd ever give them up.
When the jutsu was complete, to anyone else outside of the village, it seemed that Konoha had just disappeared entirely.
Minato was left panting. That had to be a record for the biggest genjutsu ever enacted - without the moon or some kind of alien initializing it as a partial construct. "Can you see outside of the village?"
"Uh-huh," Shikaku affirmed lazily through his binoculars.
Minato smirked and allowed himself to fall forward, grinning at his wife. "That, Naruto-chan once told me, is Ninshu. –I think."
"It's beautiful," Kushina felt. "I could feel everybody! Even the civilians!" She hugged her husband, helping him stand.
Minato grabbed his earring, projecting his voice at the same time. "We did it!"
Cheers rang out but the shinobis outside of the village stayed on alert.
Three hours later, an exhausted but panicked Shisui finally contacted Konoha.
"They got Itachi."
Itachi arched a brow at his brother's captor. If Orochimaru thought he could hold him because he was ill, he had another thing coming. "I cannot say that I am happy to see you, Orochimaru."
"Mou, Itachi-kun! You wound me. I got you out of your 'little situation' did I not?"
"Where is Sasuke?"
"Got me out of my situation," Itachi internally mocked. He'd been grabbed while nearly coughing up a lung after finally giving up and using the black flames of Amaterasu on his reanimated kin!
Shisui - who had been going toe-to-toe with another traitorous dead member of his extended family - both within their Susanoos - when it happened had to be losing his mind right about now!
"Always so direct," Orochimaru's clone pretended to pout: (the effect of which was nauseating.) "My original is currently performing surgery to replace Sasuke-kun's Sharingan. Your 'foolish little brother' was nearly blind."
Itachi swallowed his anger. "What do you want?"
Orochimaru's doppelganger smirked.
- Orochimaru wanted a lot of things.