Date written: 28/01/11 – 14/03/11

Posted on FanFiction: 27/03/11

A/N: I did a Da Vinci, I admit it. It's just so hard having the time to write, more so when I have to start getting into the zone before I even think of writing the next chapter. It's been a busy few months for me—just take a look at how long it took me to write this chapter.

And in case anyone feel as if they should know it from somewhere, I got the chapter title from my favorite Shippuden theme song, Sign, by FLOW.

It's been a long time coming. Enjoy, everyone.

–– CHAPTER 9 ––

Pain is Always Protecting You

The Kyuubi's rumored second coming took the gossip scene by storm just a day after the whole event. And right next to the gossip scene was the group of intelligence gatherers, picking out each and every form of the same story so as to remove the superficial to the cold, hard facts of the event. But there were elements that had been left out that it would take inquiring to the village in question to have the full story. As it stood, nobody was actually hurt when the event occurred, but that was only in the physical sense. Mental injuries, however, were another matter entirely. When news this hot spread throughout the continent, the other ninja villages took it like the usual intel they pick up from time to time, and a few were also hoping that this was the edge they needed to render Konoha even weaker. Every ninja village knew of the Kyuubi's attack five years prior, which devastated not only Konoha's superior forces but also its economy. Now five years after Konoha had slowly regained its former glory, the Kyuubi returned with vengeance, therefore it should not come as a surprise that Konoha was weakened once more.

That didn't happen.

Yes, the Kyuubi devastated Konoha. Yes, it terrorized the villagers (though not in the sense outsiders would think). But the only property damage it had done was demolishing three or four inconsequential buildings not even reaching eight stories. The fight barely even started when it ended prematurely, courtesy of a mindscape battle that no one would ever know about. And the ninja forces? There were a total of eighteen cases of intolerance of the Kyuubi's malevolent presence, a pure mental problem. The only bloodsheds were the death of an Uchiha officer in the market (the one who was caught in the explosion along with Aka-Naruto), the injuries from getting hit by a Kyuubi tail or building debris, and a child being admitted to the hospital in critical condition.

That child had been Naruto. I refer to that child as 'had been' because with the current predicament, no one was sure whether it was still Naruto or not. The Naruto Uzumaki they knew had red hair and dark gray eyes, both traits that cemented his inclusion in the nearly extinct Uzumaki clan, seeing that to the ninja world, the clan was known for its redheaded members and for being direct descendants of the famed Rikudou Sennin, wielder of the Rinnegan, the dojutsu with a gray-colored motif. But the new Naruto Uzumaki had sun-kissed blond hair and cerulean blue eyes.

It left Hiruzen Sarutobi in a very compromising position while opening up a window of opportunity for him to exploit. In the aftermath of the Second Coming—as it would slowly be referred to in time—the Konoha Council and Clan leaders were summoned by the Fire daimyo to settle the pandemonium that came along with the supposed peace. A naïve person would've thought that the Kyuubi's disappearance and the safety of Konoha villagers were signals of the bright and shining sky after a disastrous typhoon that thrashed the land. It didn't work that way. There was a radiant sunshine after the storm, but the people still had to come out of their shelters and pick up the pieces of their broken homes.

When there was a cause, there would undoubtedly be an effect. The villagers needed a scapegoat and most agreed that it was because of Naruto. They also accounted Mizuki part of the blame, but he was more or less the one who 'opened' their eyes to the truth. What if someone else tried to kill Naruto? What if Konoha's enemies used him as the instrument of their doom? While they did not actually blame Naruto for the damages and for holding the Kyuubi, they were more wary of him than ever before.

Naruto was a ticking time bomb. And there was no telling if the seals would remain as stable as they were now. Jiraiya had assured that the seals were working much more efficiently than before, but how did that come about? How was it possible? The paranoid ones thought of it as a ploy to lower their guards around Naruto, and if he were to succeed then BAM! here comes the Third Coming. The theory was taken into consideration during the meeting, but it was ignored by the majority.

Hiruzen really wished that he had brought some sake with him; the meeting with the daimyo was escalating into dangerous territory. Not for him, but for Naruto. And his hands were undoubtedly tied. On one hand, he could speak up for Naruto's safety, pushing off the threats and political backlash this decision would surely bring about, and put the village's ire on to him and his family. A revolt would occur, pandemonium that would result in making the village defenseless to its enemies. On the other hand, however, there was a more tempting offer, where he kept quiet and let the matter proceed to Naruto's banishment or imprisonment or execution. There would be no political backlash, no civil riot, no defenselessness of Konoha. The fate of one boy against the fate of the village and its inhabitants.

A lesser man would've chosen the latter option, but surprisingly Hiruzen chose neither. He was known in his time as the man who took the unprecedented path. And in this case, he took the third choice, that window of opportunity he discovered. Naruto's new appearance could be used to this advantage. The only people who knew of Naruto's metamorphosis were him, the doctor and nurse assigned to Naruto, Tsunade, and Jiraiya. As far as anybody else, they would be expecting the same redheaded chibi-Uzumaki. It would be much easier to forge Naruto a new identity and backstory, and set about forming a clean slate for his future. No more prejudice. No more stares. No more hatred. To the masses, they would believe the tale of Naruto's death.

But this idea did not come without its flaws and risks. Hiruzen would have to meet a few acquaintances who live their lives inside this shadier business he was plotting. Naruto would need the whole package: medical records, birth certificate, citizen registration, all forged. There was also the matter of the whisker marks—they were a dead giveaway—and his likeness of the late Yondaime Hokage. Blond-haired villagers are a rarity inside Konoha; Hiruzen could even count them with just two hands. This matter would require cleverer planning. Jiraiya's and Tsunade's input wouldn't hurt. Naruto was family to them, too.

Family . . .

That's it!

He created no outward action for his "Eureka!" moment; causing a scene while in the middle of an important meeting would send disapproving signals to everyone present. He'd need the political backup to make everything smooth sailing if what he had in mind flourished.

Right now, though, Hiruzen should alleviate the situation concerning the restless agitation of the public. Konoha would be in tough times for the next week or so.

While Hiruzen was busying himself in preparing the stage for whatever he had planned, the Naruto inside the mindscape was in the middle of grudgingly accepting his new look. The hair, he could understand, because he had always wondered what he'd look like if he had his mother's straight, red hair. The eyes, however . . . they were a harder thing to get used to. Whenever he woke up in the morning, he always stared into a pair of cerulean blue orbs when he faced his bathroom mirror. Even in this new 'life' that habit never ceased. Having to start looking into ash gray orbs instead would take a lot of getting used to, especially if, in his half-asleep state, he started punching the mirror because he thought his reflection was an intruder.

And it may very well be described an intruder, because it was intruding on Naruto's identity. Changing into this would be like he had been subjected with a permanent Henge no jutsu (tr. "Transformation technique"). He was at a loss on what to do, except, of course, to accept it and make the most of the situation.

His thoughts then moved to Aka-Naruto. Hoping that the kid (would he be called Kiiro-Naruto now?) was unaffected by the metamorphosis was no doubt futile. This could only have occurred because of the seal and his unexpected presence inside this mindscape. He had no idea if his father had anything to do with this, seeing that the guy already left for the afterlife.

. . . wait, his soul was eaten by the shinigami.

"I don't see what's so bad about it," Rambo said earnestly, prompting a questioning look from the redheaded Naruto. "When you use your Oiroke no jutsu (tr. "Sexy technique"), you'd probably end up looking like your mom with two side-ponytails."

"And how did that old jutsu got involved in this?"

"Similarities, I guess. You changed appearance from an unknown side effect. You change gender from bastardizing the Henge no jutsu."

That got Naruto thinking. Essentially he was a god inside this mindscape, so maybe he could revert back into his old form just by willing it. He once transformed into his father when Inoichi came to visit, so this should work as well.

Naruto formed the necessary handseal for the basic ninjutsu and shouted, "Henge!" A puff of smoke erupted from the base of his feet, rising up till it covered him whole. "Did it work?"

Rambo waited for the smoke to fade before giving his honest answer: "No."

Here was red hair, gray eyes, and three whisker marks. Down below was a completely yellow jacket instead of the orange and black color motif. Further down was a pair of cerulean blue jeans instead of the orange track pants that were meant to match with the jacket. Even his black sandals were changed into blue, like his old pair when he was a student and a greenhorn.

"Areh?"

"The new seal must've tampered a lot more than you thought, Junko."

Another puff of smoke burst out, and Naruto's clothes reverted back to their normal colors. "That's weird. I was sure I willed for a hair and eye color change . . ."

"Doing it again would give you the same results," Rambo replied.

"It must've been a fluke. I'll try it again."

"Hey, man, I'm speaking here."

The sheep's words were ignored. "Henge!" Cue the smoke. Naruto was now sporting a pure blue jacket and bright yellow pants. It didn't look good on him.

"I'm not giving up yet," Naruto said. "Henge!" This time, only his jacket had changed. The left side was blue, and the other side was yellow. And again, his hair and eyes remained unchanged. "Henge! Henge! Henge!"

He kept on trying and trying, changing and changing, until his voice turned hoarse from the constant shouting. No matter how much he tried, the transformations proved worthless because his physical features never once returned to his old self.

"I don't get it," Naruto complained. "There's got to be a way."

"As much as I like seeing you struggle until you're at your last leg, your constant use of that jutsu is accumulating a lot of smoke. Bad for our health."

"It's only chakra smoke. It's harmless," Naruto said with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"It's only a hair and eye color change. It's harmless," Rambo shot back.

It took every fiber of Naruto's patience not to strangle the sheep then and there.

"How is she?"

"The same as always." Tsunade flipped to the second page of the clipboard she was holding and perused it. "Her vitals are okay, so nothing's amiss. The problem is up here." She tapped her forehead.

Inoichi sighed through his nose, hands in his pockets. "Diagnosis?"

"There's no actual term for this illness, seeing that it's rare even for survivors of bijuu attacks."

"How so?"

"The way her brainwave patterns get stimulated in sporadic moments and how she just keeps on staring at that photograph every waking hour, I think it might be too late for us to save Kushina."

Inoichi didn't reply.

"We could've conducted a Mind Scan—I'm sure you've already thought of this, Yamanaka-san—but the thing is, I don't think Kushina's mind can take any more stress at the moment. You are, of course, aware of what will happen when a Mind-walker enters when the victim is in the worst state of mind."

Inoichi nodded reluctantly, his gaze solely on the glass window, where on the other side, a woman with long crimson hair sat on a hospital bed, a serene smile on her face as she stared at the picture frame in her hands.

"She's been through a lot; it was only a matter of time before she snapped. She's been traumatized too many times."

"I can't even begin to understand the pain Uzumaki-san went through," he said. He then thought of his daughter and how he would feel if she had died during the Second Coming. He reacted by clenching his hands. Still, how one felt in a hypothetical situation was different from how one felt in a real situation. The pain, Inoichi knew, would be a lot worse, a lot more profound and potent.

"The loss of her village, the loss of her clan, the loss of her old friends and family. Kushina acted strong when she had been young, but even I can see the cracks forming in her spirit. If not for Minato, she would've never coped with it so well. And now . . ."

"Now with Minato dead, and her believing Naruto dead, she finally lost the ability to cope."

"Yes." Tsunade looked down and pinched the bridge of her nose. She had been running on adrenaline and caffeine for the past five days, and not even makeup or genjutsu could hide that she was on her last leg. But there was still much work to do; she couldn't afford to rest right now.

"But if Naruto—"

"Naruto is still in ICU," she retorted crisply. There was something about her tone that Inoichi didn't understand, as if she didn't want mother and son to reunite. At least not yet. "It's out of the question."

Inoichi sighed through his nose once more. "Then what are we to do?"

"The only thing we can do is probably the hardest step anybody outside these hospital rooms has to do: wait . . . and hope."

Ignoring everything that was around her, Kushina rubbed her fingers on the glass of the picture, tracing the faces of the people she lost.

"And hope," Inoichi repeated.

While news spread fast between the hidden villages, it would take a long while before people living in remote villages could catch a whiff of them. Even with such a troubling predicament, despite already being resolved, wasn't spared from temporary obscurity to the isolated masses. It was just the way how this world worked. If it weren't so urgent, then ninjas who were stationed in a remote outpost might be lagging a month or two behind in either the gossip loop or the obituary section.

The Kuro Quarry is one prime example of an outpost founded far, far away from known civilization and even its home village, Konohagakure. Surrounded by tall, thick trees and heavy-duty shrubbery, the outpost was as isolated as anyone could be, despite it being a humongous hole in the ground that only a blind man could miss. So here was the question that had to be asked: Why make a quarry so far away from Konoha?

Most would answer it was for the minerals, which were abundant in this region, but that was an elusive answer with a well hidden lie. The Kuro Quarry is just one of three quarries located within the country, and the other two couldn't even compare in distance with Kuro in the gap between it and Konoha even when they combine their respective distances. Rocks and minerals were essential not only for trade but also for construction and fortification if there were ever another Shinobi World War. But the biggest disadvantage for stationing a quarry very far from civilization and the home village would have to be transportation. And the workers transport them in bulk rather than stone by stone. The investment to transportation alone was out of the question. So the question had to be asked again: Why so far away from Konoha?

Simple. The quarry was a front. That part of the region was not rich with demanded rocks and minerals, but Konoha made sure to keep the official logbooks saying that it was reeling in a small but steady supply. The needed secrecy for all this—it being isolated was more of a coincidence than on purpose—was due to what the real digging was about. Most people in Fire Country had already heard of the rumors going about, that the diggers were finding ruins of an ancient civilization buried beneath all the earth and rock, which explained why there was a sudden inclusion of archaeologists in the digs. But the majority disregarded them as nothing more than silly rumors; if their government had something to hide, then they would've been more secretive about it. The quarry was, after all, owned by a ninja village. Discretion was needed, if not necessary. These people like to think that the body that governs and protects them was invincible.

But it wasn't as simple as that. In recent years, the excavations undergone by the diggers and archaeologists alike started to go deeper and deeper until they reach the bedrock, although that was only in the center of the quarry. Sights of ruins were becoming rarer, and keeping all of this under wraps was taking its toll. Konoha and the government might have the financial backing—and still have plenty left to spare for other matters—they somehow made a mistake in choosing the leader for this little project. A razor sharp knife is next to useless if it is wielded by an incompetent assassin.

In today's society, the demand for ancient artifacts originating from a time way beyond the oldest history books had tripled from last year. There was no actual experiment to the sudden interest, but with what the nobles wanted, the ones who wish to please—and get a nice monetary bonus for their troubles—would give. This was nothing new.

The Kuro Quarry and its occupiers were very much low key, staying well away from the radar as best they could. There were the usual bandit attacks but nothing that the usual ninja security couldn't handle. It seemed relatively mundane despite its secrecy, and it might have stayed mundane if not for the sudden breakthrough which was found two weeks before the Second Coming.

No one was told of this, not even the Hokage. The leader of the excavation crew, Saki Ichinose, didn't want this discovery to reach too many ears, so she informed only the daimyo and requested a team of five jounins for help, explaining nothing until the team got there. She doubted that the Sandaime would allow his men to take this mission with such little information on hand, but she had the daimyo's backing on this, so that left Sarutobi with little to no choice. Secrets were secrets, and in the Kuro Quarry they must stay in the dark no matter what.

Shizune liked to think that she had a good grasp of the situation she and her team found themselves in. That didn't stop the migraine from escalating to very painful levels, though. A week into her job at the quarry seemed like she was waiting for a time bomb to blow up right in front of her face, and the worst thing about it all was that she could do nothing to defuse it or get out of the blast radius when the timer inevitably reaches zero. Her team verbally spoke similar sentiments and misgivings to what their mission entailed, but a mission was a mission and Konoha had instilled to every one of its shinobi that a job started must be finished.

Now I see why it was determined B-rank when it's more of an S-rank, she thought scathingly as she sat on her cot inside the room she had been checked-in for the past week. The one loophole in the system and these bastards capitalized on it. This isn't exactly how I pictured my quasi-vacation to be like.

The mission ranking system went through many revisions ever since it was first created by the Shodai Hokage. There were missions that require a more specific description for it to be ranked accordingly; a lot of ninjas died in the line of service due to this system's rough categorizing, but at least they learned from their mistakes and bettered the ranks. It would seem, however, that the system might have to be revised again pretty soon. B-rank missions include the security and guarding missions, and these come frequently from the Kuro Quarry, so nobody would be suspicious about it. But the odd thing about the latest request was the lack of information given to the Hokage. The mysterious rumors circling about were bad enough; it didn't bode well for either Shizune and her team or the Hokage about this. Nevertheless she took the mission as head jounin of the team, the rest smiling their approval after she was handed the scroll. That smile turned to assorted expressions of the same feeling after learning more of their mission: indignation.

Once they arrived in the quarry and ushered into the tent of Saki Ichinose, famed archaeologist and unofficial leader of the digging crew, the façade was removed. Ichinose told them everything they needed to know about what they were guarding, and while most of Shizune's team openly complained that such a task was unthinkable, they were otherwise left with no choice but to comply. It wasn't about the old Konoha oath ("A job started must be finished"), but more on the consequences if Shizune and her team were to refuse and then leave. The Fire daimyo invested tens of thousands of ryou for this excavation and its secrecy; he made it perfectly clear that anyone found squealing to the outside will face nothing short of hell. By inviting the five-man jounin team to Ichinose's tent and telling them staggering amounts of classified information, the archaeologist had knowingly endangered their lives.

Guarding a person, Shizune could live with that. However, if Shizune and her team were supposed to guard a handful of diggers who were frankly going on a suicide job, annoyance might as well be an understatement for the stress these diggers were putting the ninjas through. It was all for a good cause, Ichinose might have assured, but she didn't see just how much risk this excavation could bring. The extent of the information she gave them was too much for one sitting, more so when parts of it came close to breaching the boundaries of believability. Despite that, Shizune was known to be an "intel sponge," a nickname her former mentor, Tsunade Senju, came up with. Dictate a boring and lengthy essay to her that could last for twenty minutes nonstop, she'd be reciting it back, complete with the first speaker's accents and emphases. It wasn't photographic memory, since that kind of memorization centered more on the visual aspects of recalling. Her special ability was more on sound and information relayed verbally. Tsunade Senju spent more time reciting passages on textbooks than let her apprentice study on her own, not when such a unique but powerful gift remained untapped.

Shizune didn't know if Ichinose knew about this ability, but she was at least thankful that the woman with the ponytailed brown hair was telling them rather than making them read their notes. Information was vital, especially in Shizune's line of work. The information Ichinose shared to them, however, put more of a sense of unease than assurance. It seemed like alien territory for Shizune, who was used to information giving her and her team an edge to subsequent obstacles and battles.

"Shizune-san."

Her attention shifted to the open door of her room and the man standing beside it. "Akira-kun," she said, "what is it?"

He lifted the hand not holding the doorknob and stuck out his thumb, pointing to something over his shoulder. "Ichinose-san just gave the signal. We're moving out."

Shizune sighed through her nose, the only reaction she gave to the message, and stood up from her cot. Adjusting her jounin vest and rolling back the sleeves of her shirt, she gave a nod to her subordinate and together they exited the barracks.

For the past week, her team was more or less in standby mode, keeping tabs on the overall wellbeing of the diggers while simultaneously sensing anything . . . malevolent in the air. Whatever they were supposed to find was given just one description—volatile. While Shizune might not have any inkling as to what this could mean or what kind of object could actually be described as such, the migraine she was having just worsened when she and Akira arrived at the dig site, where everyone in the quarry was abandoning their posts to help carry out the debris blocking the entrance to a place where no one had seen for thousands of years. For right under the quarry, scribers of old maps and documents discovered the existence of an underground complex housing what could be the most powerful weapon created by the world's ancestors, the People Who Came Before.

And like what Kakashi had felt when he and Shizune spoke their goodbyes a week before, seeing for the first time the sight of the rusted steel doors towering over twenty-five feet, its red, faded letterings on its right side written in a language long forgotten—RESTRICTED ACCESS, it might've read if she had just known the language—Shizune couldn't shake the ominous feeling off.

"Where are you going?"

"What else? See if the new seal is as strong as Dad says it is." Naruto didn't really have time to stop and examine it when he first woke, so now was a good time as any to see if there weren't any flaws. If the new seal had anything to do with the freaky identity switch between him and his young counterpart, it would be best to see if there wouldn't be any other side effects. He gave a shudder when he thought of suddenly growing tits and losing his manhood.

"I'll come and tag along."

"Don't," Naruto retorted with a stop gesture. "Figuring out the mechanics of the seal is taxing enough. Listening to your commentary while I work would be too much to bear for my concentration."

"You've worked better in noisier environments," Rambo replied. "I don't see how my presence next to you, shouting right next to your ear about all the conspiracies this world is keeping to us lowly common men—"

"You're an imaginary sheep, not a man."

"—and about the fact that I still think Charlie Sheen was treated unfairly by the higher-ups would disturb your examinations."

"I could care less about this Charoly Sheep of yours, and even lesser about your insane views of things I cannot understand. So why don't you shut up, stay here, and leave me in peace for just this once, do I make myself clear?"

"It's Charlie Sheen! Get it right!"

"DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?"

Rambo yelped and took a step back. "Yes, sir," he said in a weak voice, head bowed low. "Sorry, sir."

Naruto knew that he was being a little too hard on the guy, but at the moment he didn't seem to care. He lost a part of his identity, getting Aka-Naruto (or rather, Kiiro-Naruto now) involved in the process, and now he was stuck to repair the rest of the aftermath. He had no doubt that outside, the Sandaime was having his hands full in placating everyone and sweeping mostly everything under the rug. The villagers wouldn't let this little slip be the end. He was at least thankful that nothing dangerous had occurred to his counterpart while he was asleep. His help wouldn't be much use to a dead kid.

Shifting his presence towards the sector that housed the Kyuubi's new prison, Naruto quickly noted the decreased water level. What was once ankle-deep was now as shallow as the thickness of the soles of his sandals, as if he were stepping on a giant, accumulated puddle of water. This was strange, because he clearly remembered the water levels were higher than this when he woke up here last time. His curiosity piqued, he ventured towards the new gates, whose grill bars were thicker and have less of a gap in between. Placed in the center was the seal, but it was protected behind a circular glass dome with two reinforced bars keeping it in place as they extended to each end of the gates, welding into the edges as if they were meant to be there. At first glance, it didn't seem like a good fortification—at least to Naruto—but that opinion could change once he found out the extent of the seal work. When it came to fuinjutsu, the old saying rings true every time: Never judge a book by its cover.

Fortunately for Naruto, his father positioned the intricate structure of the whole seal in an easy to reach manner. All he had to do was place his palm on any part of the gate, close his eyes, and let his inner mind upload and decode the encryptions placed there. He saw the basic requirements of the Shiki Fuuin, so far so good. The modifications in the new seal were outstanding, more so when he processed the subroutines under the "Chakra Filter" program. They seem to be—

His eyes shot open, widening even further when the whole brunt of the matter sank in. "Dad didn't just improve the filter."

The original seal was programmed to absorb the Kyuubi's chakra little by little, adding it all into Naruto's system, thereby increasing his already monstrous reserves. What this new subroutine entailed, however, was something he—and every seal master in existence—thought was impossible. With a beast as strong and powerful as the Kyuubi, the construct of the filter's modified subroutine should've overrode and the seal's defense system would kick into gear to keep the incoming damages at a minimum. Not only had the subroutine remained strong and sturdy—barely even reaching 60% of its total functioning capabilities—it was going through its task without interruption.

Naruto glanced at the hulking figure behind the prison and saw that it was asleep and looked almost as weak as the fox from his own world, minus the gray fur. One of its eyes opened and concentrated on his position where his hand was physically touching one of the bars of its cage. It released a low growl before shifting its head to face away from the prison doors.

"Hey, fox!" he shouted before his mind could keep it shut. The fox didn't give any response; it seemed to have fallen back asleep. Naruto called it a few more times before giving up. This was a strange predicament in itself already. The fox never ignored him outright, especially when he was as close to the gates as this. After his first encounter with it (that time when Jiraiya threw him off that ravine), he took steps to not get too close to the gate lest the fox take another grab at him. Part of him believed that it could be because of the new seal that the fox immediately gave up, but that held little merit when he had already studied most of the fox's behavior. The Kyuubi didn't know when to give up, if ever. It would always stand back up and march forward, never looking back, never thinking of the consequences. Its actions sprang more on the instinctual side of animals, and though it had some cunning like a fox, it never thought of tactical retreats when faced with an opponent stronger than it. Then again, the only beast that could probably rival the fox in terms power would be the Juubi.

Maybe, Naruto thought, the seal does have a hand in this behavior, but I'm looking at it the wrong way. It didn't seem to make sense inside his own head, but what other explanation should there be? He might as well keep the question open and hope that it would be answered sometime in the future. Time, however, was not a given luxury, especially for his current predicament, and whether this course action was for the best or the worst, Naruto decided to dive even deeper into the seal matrix. He needed to get to the bottom of this.

His search started at the Chakra Filter's new subroutine. This little addition might as well be a new milestone for aspiring fuinjutsu specialists, seeing that it could revolutionize the containment of the tailed beasts. In every other seal before this, there was always a small fragment of demonic chakra passing through and from the filter. This gave the bijuu and the jinchuuriki a sort of symbiotic relationship, wherein the former was granted a higher level of intelligence (it made sense because whenever a bijuu was out of their seals, their dialogue reverted to that of animals) and the latter was given more access to demonic chakra. It was a give-give situation, though it could be a little biased depending on the seal work used. There was always that symbiotic bond, a bridge between human and demon that would forever remain until the death of the container or the release of the demon—whichever came first, anyway—but with this new subroutine, every expert who learned all they could absorb about jinchuuriki were given a great big slap, because the accursed bond was now gone.

The Fourth Hokage was rightfully called the unrivalled genius of his time, because even in his death he was able to sever the bond between demon and container . . . without killing the container.

Naruto could barely believe it, but a thorough study of the new branches of the seal array was enough evidence to put away his doubts. Pride swelled within him, knowing that his father was even greater than he had envisioned him before. With this new and finer filter in place, the chakra from the fox transferred over to Kiiro-Naruto's system no longer held any trace of malevolence, thereby assuring that he wouldn't die from overexposure to demonic chakra.

"You're screwed, furball," Naruto murmured, forming a lopsided smile. "Totally screwed."

It seemed a time to celebrate, but this news didn't give him answers. Why did he and his counterpart change appearances? This subroutine certainly had nothing to do with it, he was sure of that. So it was back to studying more of the seal work, noting some differences and improvements along the way, but nothing that could imply an anomaly as strange as what the two Narutos experienced.

It would take another hour before Naruto found something of interest. The weird thing about it was the way it was weaved into the array, as if his father had done it in a rush. It wasn't a subroutine or even an add-on program, its objectives lost even to Naruto despite trying to decipher its encryptions. The best he could make of it was that it was made to be a doorway, but to where that doorway would lead was unknown. He tried opening it, but it was locked. It couldn't be a backdoor for the prison—no way Minato would even think of doing something stupid and cliché—so then, why was it here? What was the purpose of a door that neither gave exit nor entry to anyone?

"Look underneath the underneath," Naruto said out loud, drawing comfort from that one quote alone. Whenever he came into a snag in his fuinjutsu training, that one little phrase was like a switch for his inner mind to up the stakes, in a matter of speaking. He didn't know how, but saying those words always left him with a clear and open mind, casting light to possibilities he might not have considered before.

Naruto tracked back to the first layer of the seal's design, tracing each and every tiny line for a break or a change. When he came to the layer underneath, he found what he was looking for. A small stroke that was deliberately arced upwards to form a teardrop-like curve. It all seemed to come together now. Maybe his father made this a rushed job on purpose, predicting that Naruto would want to get some answers. But that would mean . . . Minato knew about what could happen to both Narutos.

Then why didn't he tell me? Naruto thought, but then recalled a moment in his last talk with Minato. He couldn't remember what was said, only that it was something of importance. Well, the hair and eye change seem to be something important.

So then why make a door? Why tell him about the identity change seconds before he disappears when he could've told him at any time before that? Would he and Kiiro-Naruto turn back to normal after he unlocked and opened that door?

With questions unanswered, Naruto made his choice. Despite the gut feeling that this was something dangerous, he was going through with it. He would open that door and find the answers himself. To start with, he needed to unlock the door, but that was already solved after he found the curve. It acted as a secure lock, but fuinjutsu specialists rarely use this type because it was easy to break and there was no code embedded into its matrix. Definitely not something Minato would've placed if the door was meant to stay locked. With a practiced sway of his hands and fingers, the teardrop-shaped curve was rearranged to mix with the main stroke of the Program Code.

There was an audible click; he struck pay dirt.

Now it was only a simple matter of summoning the door to the mindscape . . . a little projection . . . done.

Naruto stepped away from the Kyuubi's prison and neared the simple-looking door. It was shorter than any door he had come across before, barely any gap between the top of his head and the top frame. If Jiraiya had been here, he would have to bow low to avoid bumping his face. The more Naruto thought of it, the more he thought that this door was probably specifically created for him. It was even colored in orange, its knob and hinges painted a deep blue, like his eyes (his original eyes, anyway). The colors and the simplicity of its veneer made him a little cautious, although he could practically hear himself wanting to open it, as if he was under a mind-control genjutsu.

No use turning back now, though.

He looked at the Kyuubi behind its cage, at the seal protected in the dome, at the floor where, as he had guessed, it was clear of any water. Not a puddle to be found. It was quiet, not even the low snoring of the sleeping fox could be considered a breaker of the silence. Naruto wanted this, wanted a good long look at the last place he was in before venturing into parts unknown. He thought of the kid Naruto, his mother, and, strangely enough, Rambo. He had people to get back to, and it strengthened his resolve.

"Ready to take on the world."

Naruto twisted the knob and pushed the door open.

Chapter Afterword:

I don't want to hear shit about my viewpoint on the symbiotic relationship of bijuu and jinchuuriki. As far as I know, this holds true, because I have not heard the Kyuubi say anything more than roars and grunts when it was razing Konoha on October 10th, 12 years before the start of Naruto (Please refer to Chapter 500 onwards). And while you might argue that with Shukaku, the Ichibi no Tanuki, who was actually speaking coherently when it was let out, you also have to remember that Shukaku wasn't out of the seal completely. It was only a matter of headbutting Gaara for the demon to return to its prison. No sacrifices or anything.

I'm sure most of you have already forgotten about Shizune and her little team. Maybe Kakashi's feelings of forebode weren't strong enough. Just maybe. I wasn't about to let Shizune become an unimportant character, not with the goals I have in mind. Her inclusion into the narrative didn't fit during the events of the Second Coming; she had to be pushed quite a while back until the aftermath of the whole mess. It remains to be seen whether I speak more about her in later chapters or wait for a while until the narrative reveals a window of opportunity.