The Conduit

by Dorlath

Naruto was born hundreds of years before canon, living that entire duration due to a tie to the biju that runs deeper than any jinchuriki. AU with an, obviously, quite strong Naruto.

12. Chapter 12

"I'd like for your to arrange a meeting for me with Naruto."

Minato had not been prepared for such a request from Orochimaru. Even now, Minato couldn't figure out what he hoped to gain from it, or why he would even bother to ask in the first place. Even so, the fact that he did made Minato inclined to refuse him.

"You must realize that nothing you've done has won my trust," Minato replied. "The only favor you're likely to get for your help is for you and your men to be allowed to leave unharmed. Push your luck too far and you may not even get that much. They've already overstayed their welcome, so I suggest you worry more about your exit plan than arranging meetings with my relatives."

"I feel I should take offense at your lack of civility," Orochimaru told him. "Yet I can't help but feel a certain respect for you. As long as my own forces remain here as a risk to your people, you can't seem to focus on anything else. I only hope that someday I might have half as much concern for my men as you do for yours."

Minato tightened his fist at that, resisting the urge to attack him. He could easily read between the lines and see the implied threat. Orochimaru didn't care what happened to the Oto forces. Even knowing he couldn't win, Minato believed him that he wouldn't hesitate to order an attack. Such an attack may be doomed to failure, but the casualties would not be insignificant, and could easily extend to civilians. But why was he making such a big deal over what seemed a small issue?

"Orochimaru loves his mind games," Sarutobi told him, obviously seeing his distress. "He may not even care about the meeting in the first place."

The Sandaime did know Orochimaru better than he did, and it seemed he thought Minato should agree to the terms. Then again, the fact he didn't go so far as to actually suggest it wasn't very comforting. He was leaving the ultimate decision in Minato's lap. Still, Orochimaru had them backed into a neat little corner on this issue. No matter how he looked at it, it simply wasn't worth the risk of denying him.

"Very well," Minato answered. "Remove your forces from city. Once they're gone, I'll see about fulfilling your request."

"Of course," Orochimaru agreed, smiling openly. "I'm glad we could work things out."

---

Naruto hadn't been back home for long when he got a visitor he hadn't been expecting. He'd assumed it would only be a matter of time before Minato got in touch with him, but the Hokage had always had Naruto dragged to him rather than visiting himself. He just hoped that wasn't a bad sign.

"I know things have been crazy, but Jiraiya did meet up with you and tell you why we're back, right?" Naruto queried.

"Yes," Minato answered, "and we will discuss that eventually, but that's not what I'm here for. I'm here because Orochimaru has requested to speak with you, and I'd like to know why."

"I don't know," Naruto answered honestly, surprised to hear that. "He didn't give any indication of that himself?"

"Not that I would trust his word even if he did," Minato told him. "Nevertheless, I have agreed to his request."

"Excuse me?" Naruto said in confusion. It was clear from Minato's whole demeanor that he didn't trust Naruto. Orochimaru must have more than ruined whatever goodwill Jiraiya's report may have earned him. So why was he allowing this to go through at all?

"We've already arranged for everything," Minato continued. "I should warn you, however, that it's in your own best interest not to believe a word he has to say. When you're finished, I expect a report of everything he had to say."

"Whatever you think may be going on, I have no connection to the man," Naruto assured him. "I'm as interested as you are to hear what he has to say, and I don't see any reason I won't be able to repeat it."

Hopefully he wouldn't catch the lie in that last part. Naruto could actually think of quite a few things he wouldn't reveal to the Yondaime if Orochimaru had somehow become of aware of them. If Minato had caught on, though, he kept that knowledge to himself.

"Very well," Minato responded. "Follow me."

Leaving the building, he saw that the sun had just finished setting, and it was nearly full dark by the time his guide led him to a small building in central Konoha. The facility wouldn't have looked at all suspicious it weren't for the half a dozen masked men guarding the perimeter. No, they wouldn't let a man like Orochimaru go unsupervised.

"He's already inside," Minato told him. "And whether you're working with him or not, I suggest you be careful. He's a very dangerous man."

Naruto nodded politely. At least Minato was kind enough to offer him the warning despite his lack of trust for Naruto. Nevertheless, his safety wasn't Naruto's primary concern at the moment. That much at least he believed he could take care of. So he opened the door and entered, feeling himself pass through some sort of barrier just a couple of feet inside. That was most likely to prevent eavesdropping, a fact that would surely displease those outside. The only furnishing in the the one-room building was a small round table with two chairs next to it. One of them was already occupied by Orochimaru.

"It's nice to see you again," the pale man greeted him. "Please do take a seat. As much fun as our last encounter was, I was hoping to limit any sparring to the verbal variety this time."

Naruto complied with his request, eager to find out what this was about. "You're the one who started this," Naruto declared when he was seated, "so why don't you tell me what you want?"

"Well, you do recall I had some interest in the Red Demon of legend," he answered. "It seems my source for Minato's DNA was off in that regard. I guess my mistake was looking in graves in the first place. I hadn't considered he could still be alive. Perhaps even ... right in front of my eyes."

Naruto had to work hard to suppress how annoyed he was at hearing that claim. How did everyone seem to find out so much about him? "You think I'm a figure right out of a centuries old fairy tale?" Naruto asked. "Even if something as ridiculous as that is true, what's your motivation for calling me here? Just fulfilling a childhood goal?"

"I know for certain that you're much older than you appear," Orochimaru replied. "And you're very closely related to the body I dug up in his old home. It seems obvious what that means. Regardless, I hardly care whether you're him or not. I'm more interested in what you've learned in all that time. Especially how you lived so long in the first place."

Simple lust for immortality, huh? Naruto wasn't terribly surprised. He'd met very spiritual men who nonetheless gained an almost obsessive interested in how Naruto stayed young while they continued to age. Most of them were fairly elderly to begin with, and seeing their lives nearing their end had driven more than one person to rather extreme methods of trying to learn his secret. Naruto could tell Orochimaru exactly what he had them. Living this long was hardly the blessing it might seem, and he couldn't duplicate his eternal youth even if he wanted to. That said, he doubted the man would believe it any more than they had.

"And why exactly would I want to teach you anything?" Naruto asked, giving up on trying to deny who he was.

"Because I'd be willing to offer much in exchange," Orochimaru answered. "I have extensive knowledge of my own I'd be willing to share. In fact, I already have my own way to extend my life indefinitely. There are just some rather unpleasant side effects at the moment. I'm hoping your method might be somewhat better. I'd also like to think we could continue to work together beyond the initial exchange. I'm certain you can see the benefit in that."

"You shouldn't be so sure," Naruto countered. "You're not the first person to request I work with them. Akatsuki has been after me as well, and I've been turning them down."

For the first time since they met, Orochimaru's smile faltered, the news about Akatsuki seeming to have caught him off guard. However, he quickly recovered, now trying twice as hard to appear charming as before. Although Naruto wasn't sure charming was even possible coming from the man in front of him. Predatory, calculating, and even just plain creepy he could do, but charming was a bit of a stretch.

"You're wise to have turned them down," he told Naruto. "I was actually in Akatsuki for some time myself. Their leader is a man named Uchiha Madara. He's another person to have dipped into the secrets of immortality. He was happy to dangle promises of the knowledge in front of me while he made use of my skills, but they always came up dry in the end. If you trust the man you'll likely end up the same. Giving much and getting nothing in return."

So, Uchiha Madara was in charge? The man who had been trying to subvert the Kyubi to his will? At the very least he'd just gotten some useful information out of this. He was right not trust Akatsuki. Of course he didn't have any more trust for the man in front of him.

"Even so, why should I expect you'd be any better?" Naruto asked harshly.

"Perhaps because I've already done you a rather large favor," Orochimaru suggested. "Before I'd learned of your existence, I'd planned to aid Suna in conquering Konoha. I threw away years of planning and my personal feelings on the matter just because I reasoned it might interfere with whatever plan brings you here. I believe that's proof of how far I'm willing to go to make this work."

"And yet you then chose to publicly ask to see me," Naruto fired back, voicing something that had been bothering him for a while now. "A ninja of your caliber could have easily met with me in secret. Yet you chose this path, casting a great deal of suspicion on me in the process. The only reason I can think of for doing that is if that's exactly the result you wanted. It's going to be much harder to continue on as I was, which you would hope would make me more inclined to accept your offer."

"You can't blame me for wanting to stack the deck in my favor," Orochimaru responded unapologetically. "If there's something you really hope to accomplish, I'm sure you can still smooth things over. I just think I have more to offer you anyway. I'll even give you the basics of my side of the exchange first as a good will gesture."

"What exactly is it you were going to offer?" Naruto asked. He wasn't planning to accept the trade, but he was still curious as to what jutsu Orochimaru thought would entice him.

"Almost anything you'd like," Orochimaru answered. "I have extensive knowledge ranging from barriers to cursed seals and even raising the dead."

Hardly realizing he'd done so, Naruto stood up, wide eyed at the last one.

"Ah yes," Orochimaru said, clearly pleased at the reaction he'd received, "it's only to be expected that someone who's lived as long as you have would have people he'd like to see again."

Forcing himself to sit back down, Naruto tried futilely to calm himself. "You can really bring back the dead?" Naruto asked unable to completely hide the hopefulness in his voice.

"As good as new," Orochimaru insisted. "All their memories and personality intact and looking exactly as you remember them. So, I take it you're interested?"

"I ... I'll think about it," Naruto said weakly, still almost in shock from the proposition.

He didn't trust Orochimaru, and he didn't want to work with him, but if this was true it was simply too much. How much work had he been putting in just hoping for scraps and ideas that he might be able to modify to some day be together again with Hanabi. Now here was someone offering an ability that would do exactly that? As much as his pride was forcing him to claim he hadn't made up his mind, he was already certain what his decision would be. Nor did it look like the other man had any trouble figuring that out.

"Well, if you've reached a decision by then, you can meet me here at noon tomorrow," Orochimaru said, showing him a map of Konoha and the area immediately around it with an X drawn on it a short distance from the village. After he'd given Naruto time to memorize it, the map vanished as quickly as it had appeared. "I hope to see you then."

With that the barrier fell and Orochimaru walked out the door. Minato was already looking in on him mere moments after the man had left.

"What did he have to say?" he demanded from Naruto.

"I'm afraid I'll be no more help to you than I was to him," Naruto answered, coming up with a story on the fly. "He mostly asked questions about you. What I knew about you. What our relationship was like. Honestly, I knew little and told him less. I'm not sure what he hoped to accomplish though, he didn't seem terribly interested in the questions himself."

"That was all he talked about?" Minato asked suspiciously. "There was nothing else?"

"Look," Naruto responded. "I don't like the man. Even ignoring his criminal history and other things, he just rubs me the wrong way. If you want to go after him and arrest him or worse, I wouldn't stop you. Now if you insist, I can write you up exactly what he said to the best of my memory, but I assure you, none of it would be of any use to you."

"Very well," Minato nodded. "I actually would like a transcript if you could oblige. Please include anything you remember that's at all noteworthy about his behavior or reactions. You might be surprised by what we'd find useful."

"That shouldn't be a problem," Naruto assured him, as he turned to leave, grateful that no one tried to stop him. And he was right that is shouldn't be a problem. If all went well tomorrow, he'd have no need to come up with a phony report at all. It bothered Naruto a little that in a way he'd be proving Minato had been right all along to mistrust him. That said, it's not as if he planned to do anything that would really be harmful to Konoha, and he should be out of his hair soon enough. No, this turn of events was too good to be worrying over such things.

He really did try to dampen his hopes in case he was being deceived, but it was a lost cause from the start. Just think, it might be less than a day until he was reunited with Hanabi.

---

Naruko certainly hadn't expected the day to be anywhere near as eventful as it had turned out to be. There had actually been a full scale, if brief, invasion attempt right in the middle of Konoha. She hadn't personally gotten to do much. Given two Hokages and who knew how many jonin were in the area, not to mention Orochimaru and his forces helping for some reason, the fighting around her had stopped almost instantly.

She had mixed feelings about that. On the one hand, she'd wanted to help. On the other, she wasn't exactly in the best condition for it after fighting Sasuke. Also, since all her friends had either been participating or spectating, they'd been in about the safest part of the city. As such, she'd been quickly able to confirm they were all fine.

She'd heard there'd been minimal casualties in Konoha, which was great, considering. And to top it off, Naruto was supposed to be back in town. She'd really been beginning to worry. Her memories from Naruto had faded so much that it was difficult for her to make any progress on her problem. She'd saved as much of knowledge that would help her as she could before it faded away, but even that was now more like something she'd just read once in a book rather than the deep understanding of the topic she knew Naruto would still have.

Anyway, he was back, and she had all her notes ready to give him. Now if he would just show up. She'd already been waiting in his place for over half an hour. Was he actually back in the village or not? Thankfully, she didn't have to wait much longer before Naruto arrived, looking almost freakishly happy about something.

"Finally," she said upon him entering. "I have something important to discuss with you."

"I think you'll forget all about it when I tell you my news," Naruto quickly replied. "I believe I've actually found a way to bring Hanabi back to life."

"What?" Naruko cried out in shock, her annoyance at Naruto's dismissal vanishing instantly. "Where did you find something like that?"

"From a very unlikely source," Naruto answered. "Orochimaru is going to be teaching me how at noon tomorrow."

Naruko's own excitement quickly froze at response. "Oh really," she said icily. "Out of the goodness of his heart?"

"No, he wants a trade of course," Naruto answered. "What he's really interested in is how I stay young. Of course I can't help him with that since it's simply a side effect of my connection to the Biju. But he offered to show me his ability first, so I can cross that bridge when it comes."

"As much as I like the idea of Orochimaru being the one backstabbed, what's to say he doesn't change his mind?" Naruko asked. "If he demands payment first do you have it in you to refuse to give him anything?"

"And why should I?" Naruto answered, actually looking confused by the question. "I can't give him what he wants, but I'm sure there's something I could come up with he'd accept as payment. He even expressed interest in learning what else I knew."

"You should refuse because he's a murderer and a madman," Naruko snapped back, angered but his response despite having anticipated it. "Anything you teach him, he's sure to put to use, and nothing good will come from that."

"You worry too much," Naruto said dismissively. "He's one man. Also, once I get what I want, there won't be any need for me to hide anything. I can give Konoha all the same information and more. That should more than make up for it."

"And it would be even better if you did all that and yet didn't tell Orochimaru a thing," Naruko insisted. "That's something you should probably should have done some time ago."

"What? I should have broken my cover?" Naruto queried. "You were the one who complained about the book."

"Only because you didn't think it through," Naruko told him in exasperation. "If we thought it out together, we could come up with a way to leave them the information such that it couldn't be traced back to you."

"I'm beginning to think you would prefer I ignore this opportunity completely," Naruto exclaimed, clearly having trouble believing that would be the case.

"Oh, you realized that?" Naruko said sarcastically. "Your powers of perception are truly awe inspiring today."

"You know, perhaps you're starting to get a little too attached to Konoha," Naruto accused her. "I believe it's clouding your judgment."

Naruto had been aggravating her pretty much since the start of the conversation, but that last comment had left her in a fury. "I'm the one with clouded judgment?" she asked. "Just because I've actually moved on, made friends, and found people I care about again? Instead of living your life, you've spent half a millennium obsessing over Hanabi. You want clouded judgment? Whenever she's in the picture you're the very epitome of clouded judgment."

"Now see here ..." Naruto growled out, his face quickly taking on an anger that matched Naruko's own. But Naruko cut him off before he could finish his thought.

"No, you see here," she shouted. "You think Hanabi would be happy to know you're willing to help men like Orochimaru just to see her again? And for all you know she might not even want to come back. Maybe unlike you, she's moved on and is happy right where she is."

Naruko knew she'd gone too far even before Naruto's eyes turned to ice. That last bit had been uncalled for, but she was still too ticked off to take any of it back.

"If she is happy where she is that I won't stop her from returning," Naruto said coldly, although Naruko could easily see the pain that thought caused him. "However, since I have no way of communicating with her where she is, I'm going to have to bring her back to give her that choice. Now unless you know someone else who can teach me the same ability, I am going to Orochimaru and nothing you say will convince me otherwise."

"I don't need to convince you," Naruko fired back. "I can just tell Minato-sensei what you're planning and he'll put a stop to it."

"There are two things I'd consider carefully before I did that," Naruto said, his face looking as if he were seriously considering ending her existence right there. "First, I'm determined to meet with Orochimaru, and even if he can delay me, it's unlikely he can stop me from doing so completely. Second, if you even try I'll reveal your origins. We can see how much the people you care about reciprocate those feelings when they realize you've been playing them for fools all this time."

Naruko gasped at that. Naruto wouldn't actually carry out that threat would he? He was bluffing, or simply lashing out because he was angry. Although as furious as he obviously was, maybe he would actually do it out of spite. Naruko wished her memories were clearer on the subject, but she couldn't say for certain one way or the other. And the thought of him going through with it terrified her. It wouldn't matter if she lived or not if all her friends hated her. As the thought ran through her mind she visibly wilted, which Naruto must have taken to mean he'd won.

"I'll give Orochimaru as little aid as possible," he said, not having completely cleared the anger from his voice despite the kinder words. "But that's all I can promise."

Naruko sent him one more glare to show what she thought of that before running out of the building. She realized she'd never gotten around to discussing trying to save her life, but she actually did had something she considered more important at the moment. How exactly did she want to live it? Naruko didn't have an answer to that yet, and with the noon deadline, she had less than a day to come up with one.

---

Sasuke had woken in his own home, apparently having been carried there by another clan member. Thankfully his mother was fine, and appeared to be recovering well from whatever bug she'd had. The rest had certainly been good for her, and Sasuke probably felt worse than she did thanks to his match in the finals. Admitting to his mother that he'd lost had been humiliating, but there were larger concerns. He'd been able to get some answers to what had happened and had been able to piece together much of the rest, but he didn't like any of it.

Officially some of the Uchiha had aided Suna in their attack on Konoha, with others remaining loyal. Nearly one in ten members of the clan had perished in the fighting and more than a third were currently imprisoned for their role in the treachery. Not many of them were likely to be cleared of charges, and when all was said and done, the number of living, free Uchiha looked like it would be cut in half.

Still sticking to the official report, it was Itachi who had lead the anti-Konoha Uchiha. Sasuke, however, knew better than that. Itachi was taking the fall to save the clan. He'd defeated some clan members and trapped them in genjutsu to provide 'proof' of them fighting for Konoha. Sasuke was sure there were plenty of others who were latching onto that excuse now that they'd failed simply because there were no witnesses to their treacherous acts. In fact Sasuke was convinced now that Itachi's actions were much the same as they'd been when his father died.

Sasuke hadn't wanted to admit it, but Itachi really had killed him. Still, it was his father that had been the traitor, not Itachi. Now his brother was sacrificing himself again to save a clan that didn't deserve it. But what could Sasuke do about it? He was under no illusion that his words alone would get Itachi pardoned, although they might get more of his clan arrested. Really, as good as that petty act might feel, what would it accomplish? It'd be undoing everything Itachi had worked for.

No, Sasuke may not be able to bring himself to move against his own clan, but there was one person he wouldn't hesitate to harm in any way he could. Orochimaru. Hearing the way the name was cursed throughout the compound was all he needed to see the truth through the official story. It was Orochimaru who had convinced the clan to rebel in the first place only to stab them in the back. If it weren't for him, none of this would have happened, and Itachi might still have some hope of a pardon.

The more he thought about it, the more he loathed the man. Yes, if Sasuke couldn't have his brother back, the next best thing would be to see Orochimaru pay for his crimes.

---

Naruko saw the sun rising through her apartment window, but despite a sleepless night she still didn't know what to do. If anything she was more confused then ever. One of the things Naruto had said had really struck her. She had been deceiving her friends for years. Thanks to her night of introspection, she knew she really did consider them friends now, and as such wanted to stop lying to them. But how would they react? Thoughts of that had been whirling through her head all night, but she knew that she was down to just a few hours to answer the more urgent question. Was she going to try to stop Naruto?

When it came right down to it, that question could be rephrased as 'did she want to pretend to be a ninja of Konoha or actually be one?' After all that had happened recently she knew the answer to that to be the latter. And a real ninja of Konoha would put the good of the village ahead of their own personal good. So some way or another she had to stop Naruto. That decided, she still wondered if there were an easier way than telling Minato-sensei of his plans.

Despite their heated argument, she didn't really wish him ill. Not to mention that she pretty much needed his help to live. So getting him chased out of the village or worse wasn't the way she wanted to go about it. And given that Minato-sensei was the Hokage, she knew he would feel obliged to try to stop Naruto for the good of Konoha. Also, she doubted Minato would even be able to prevent Naruto and Orochimaru from meeting up. In addition, Naruto might go through with his threat to out her, and she didn't know how to prepare for that.

Still, she had no idea what else she could do. She'd already failed to talk him out of his plan once, and saw no chance of a second attempt succeeding. What she really needed right now was some advice, but most of the people she would normally go to were out. Minato-sensei and Naruto for obvious reasons. She might be able to convince Kushina-sensei or one of her friends to help her try to talk Naruto down, but she couldn't see any of them having a real chance to do so. Not to mention that telling them she was worried about Naruto revealing one of her secrets would give away the fact that she was hiding something in the first place.

Actually, Naruko suddenly realized there was one person that might be able to give her some good advice. He wasn't the type of person she would normally go to for such matters, but he might be just what she needed for this unique situation. She only hoped she could find him in time.

---

Shikamaru was lounging around on the couch. He'd been hoping for a way to get out of fighting yesterday, but the manner in which it had happened had been even worse than the fight would have been. At least it had turned out pretty well for Konoha. Still, he didn't feel much like doing anything today.

As such, he groaned when there was a loud knock on the door. Glancing at the clock he realized he was only a couple minutes late for morning training with his team. He had let himself lose track of the time, but did Ino really have to come banging on his door this quickly? Maybe if he ignored it she would think he'd already left and give up.

"Shikamaru, I know you're in there," a voice he hadn't been expecting called out. "You can either let me in or I'll let myself in."

Shikamaru had no clue what Naruko was doing here, but this blonde may prove even more troublesome than Ino would have. Sighing he got up and slowly made his way to the door, as he didn't think Naruko was bluffing about letting herself in. When he did open the door he quickly noticed how distraught his former classmate looked. Despite himself, Shikamaru was beginning to become a bit concerned himself.

"What's this about, Naruko?" he asked, motioning her inside as she had frozen in place once the door actually opened.

"It's about Naruto," she began after entering his house.

Ah, had he finally talked to her as Shikamaru had recommended? That could certainly explain her current behavior.

"He plans to trade Orochimaru some of his knowledge and I couldn't talk him out of it," she continued, disproving his theory.

"Let me guess, you still hope to stop him without actually getting him in trouble?" Shikamaru asked, rubbing his forehead as if to ward off a headache he was sure would soon be forming.

"He really is a good person," Naruko assured him. "It's just that Orochimaru claims to be able to bring back the dead."

If that's what Orochimaru had reeled him in with, Shikamaru didn't know how Naruko expected anyone to talk him out of it. Nor would he even consider trying until he had a few questions answered.

"So what else is going on?" Shikamaru inquired. "We hardly know each other. If this was all there was to it, you wouldn't have come to me."

Just saying the words seemed to make her even more miserable than before. This whole situation was starting to pique even his normally elusive curiosity.

"It's just that Naruto knows a secret about me he threatened to reveal if I told anyone what he was planning," Naruko explained. "And you already know part of the story so ..."

Shikamaru tried to wait for her to continue. It was obvious she intended to tell him what that secret was, but she was having difficulty working up the courage. As the silence dragged on though, his patience began to wear thin and he decided to give her a little push.

"There's only so much help I can give you if you don't explain what that secret is," he said dryly. His words had the desired effect as her face tightened into a look of resolve.

"It's just that Naruto isn't my father like you thought, he actually created me with a jutsu," Naruko blurted out quickly, hardly pausing as she continued "Officially I was four when I was brought into Konoha, but the day before that I didn't even exist. My mission has always been to learn whatever jutsu I can from Konoha and pass it on to Naruto."

Shikamaru was about as shellshocked as he'd ever been. When she said he had a secret about her, he didn't expect anything of this magnitude. If that were true, the work was nothing short of astonishing. Sure Naruko had always been a bit odd, but he wouldn't even have considered her the strangest of his classmates.

And Shikamaru knew medical exams were required for all ninja, so she must have passed them somehow. Even knowing Naruto could count his life in centuries, it was hard to imagine anyone actually creating another human like that. Maybe he'd just placed some girl under a very strong genjutsu to make her believe that instead. Either way, it was a frightening thought.

"So, you're a spy?" Shikamaru asked, watching her much more warily than before, now unsure of how she would react. His mind was already going through plans of how to deal with her if things got violent, but after seeing what she was capable of just yesterday, none of his plans instilled him with much confidence. His best bet was to hope to make enough noise to attract some attention.

"I wasn't really a spy," she insisted. "Naruto isn't affiliated with anyone and neither of us ever meant Konoha any harm. He was just eager to learn, and Konoha doesn't exactly make all their knowledge open to the public."

Shikamaru may have become more than a little frightened of Naruko since her revelation, but looking her over, it was clear she was absolutely terrified of him. Or more accurately, of how he would react. Realizing this caused him to relax, silently berating himself for being foolish. There was no way the girl in front of him meant him any harm. Even if he considered the possibility of some genjutsu buried in her subconscious that would take over, if it was willing kill him to keep this secret from getting out, why would it let her tell him in the first place? No, he should be focusing on helping her with her dilemma right now.

"So, you want to stop Naruto without killing or imprisoning him," Shikamaru began to summarize. "And you don't want this secret of yours to become public knowledge."

"Yes," she confirmed. "My friends, Konoha, and my life here, they all mean a lot to me now, and I don't want to lose them."

"Well, I can try to help you with Naruto, but I don't know how successful that will be," Shikamaru explained, not wanting to raise her hopes too high. "On the other hand, I think you're worrying too much about your secret getting out. You'll have to tell the Hokage of course, but I'm confident he'll support you. The fact you chose Konoha over Naruto like this should erase any doubts he might have. Even if a few people hear it from Naruto, he'll be able to keep it from spreading to your friends."

"That's just it, I'm not sure that's what I want," Naruko declared, almost falling in on herself in her depression. "I don't want them to find out, but I don't want to keep deceiving them either. What should I do?"

"I would suggest you don't tell them," Shikamaru told her, barely needing a moment's thought to answer that one.

"What?" she said in surprise, even seeming to snap out of her despondency. "Aren't you supposed to tell me to do the right thing or something?"

"If you just want to be able to pat yourself on the back for having stuck to some moral code, you don't need my advice in the first place," he answered. "But you'll have to make that decision yourself. I'm not going to give you the push you want. And if you want to know why, then tell me, all that stuff you did with your friends all these years, was it just an act to further your goals?"

"Hey," Naruko replied in annoyance. "I wasn't going around calculating every little move I made to see how it would benefit me."

"Maybe not, but for the big picture did you hang out with them because you wanted to?" Shikamaru questioned her, not letting up on his interrogation. "Did you really look forward to being with them or did you do it because you felt you had to? How much of it was actually real?"

"I ... I don't know," Naruko admitted. "I really do care about them now, but there was some acting involved in the past. I just can't say how real it all was."

"I figured as much," he muttered. "Look you don't think your friends are going to ask these questions and worse if you try to explain this to them? If that's the best you do in response, you certainly won't be able to satisfy my harpy of a teammate. There will be hard feelings, and it might end up as bad as you fear. Which is why I recommend you wait to tell them."

"Wait to tell them?" Naruko repeated slowly as if tasting the words.

"You say you actually care about them," Shikamaru explained, "so stop acting. Be a real friend, so when you do tell them, you can say that even if it started as an act, it had been real for some time."

"That might work," Naruko said, cheering up noticeably, "but how long should I wait?"

"Who knows?" Shikamaru said noncommittally, "Months, maybe even years. In some ways the longer the better. You probably want a number of important memories you can point to and say there was nothing false about them."

"Months?" Naruko parroted, falling quickly back into depression. In fact, she suddenly looked more upset then he'd seen her their entire meeting. He wanted to ask what that was about when she turned and ran, opening the door, sprinting out, and disappearing without a word.

Shikamaru hadn't the slightest clue what that last outburst had been about. It just went to show that no matter how they came into being, girls were impossible to understand and far too much trouble if you even tried.

---

Ino was heading for Shikamaru's house along with Choji and Asuma-sensei. She thought she'd taught that slacker it was more trouble than it was worth to hold them up like this, but it appeared he was in need of a refresher. They had almost reached the door when it flew open and Naruko blurred past. She was certain her friend had been crying, and Ino had never seen Naruko cry.

"Naruko," she called out to the retreating form, but the other girl didn't so much as slow.

"What's wrong with her?" Choji asked, sounding a little concerned.

Ino's mind, however, was already hard at work trying to figure out just that. A crying Naruko running out of Shikamaru's house. It left a number of possibilities, but all them warranted the same reaction. Marching up to the door that had shut itself behind Naruko, she ripped it back open and stormed inside without invitation or warning. Immediately she locked her sights on Shikamaru who was already backing away from her.

"What did you do to Naruko?" she demanded of him.

"Calm down, Ino," he told her irritably. "She was like that when she got here."

"What was she even doing here in the first place?" Ino asked, still suspicious of her teammates actions.

"That's something I need to discuss with Asuma-sensei," Shikamaru answered, looking over her shoulder to where the man in question stood. "So I'm glad he's here."

"Okay, I'm listening," Asuma answered. "What's this about?"

"It seems Orochimaru tempted her brother with the promise of resurrecting someone for him," Shikamaru explained. "He's planning to agree to whatever terms were offered and Naruko's hoping someone can convince him otherwise."

Her brother wanted to betray the village? No wonder she was so upset. Ino figured she knew Naruko better than anyone, but she hadn't quite been able to figure out exactly what the relationship was between those siblings. Nevertheless, even before current events it had been obvious Naruto was very important to her. Having to turn in her own brother must have been killing her.

"I know loyal ninja who would be tempted by a promise like that," Asuma mused out loud, drawing her attention back to the real issue.

"You can handle this quietly, right, Asuma-sensei?" Ino pleaded. "There's no need to get Naruto in trouble."

"This isn't something that can be dealt with quietly," Asuma replied sternly. "The Hokage has to be informed."

"Can't you at least try talking with him first?" Ino all but begged.

"The Hokage might not be willing to risk simply talking him out of it," Shikamaru added. "But if you were able to convince him to change his mind, it would almost certainly improve his chances of being dealt with leniently."

"Yeah," Choji chimed in. "He hasn't even done anything yet. Why don't you at least see if you can work things out?"

Ino really was grateful that her teammates were backing her up despite not really knowing Naruko. Asuma looked to be having trouble holding up against their combined assault. Finally, he held up his hands in defeat.

"All right, I'll try, but if he won't listen to reason, I will stop him by whatever means necessary," he told them sternly. "I don't know what Orochimaru wants, but the fact that he wants it is reason enough to stop him."

"You shouldn't go alone in case it does get ugly," Shikamaru recommended. "I have reason to believe Naruto is more dangerous than he appears. I know where our fathers are supposed to be meeting right now. I suggest you get them to help you."

Shikamaru was worried that Asuma wasn't strong enough to handle Naruto on his own? And he wanted all three of their fathers to help? Just how dangerous was Naruto? Regardless, Ino doubted their sensei would let them go along if he was that strong, and she might be more help elsewhere, anyway.

"I'm going to go find Naruko," Ino announced. "I'm worried about how she's taking all this."

Barely waiting for the nod, she hurried out, heading first to Naruko's apartment. When even picking the lock and letting herself in showed no sign of the girl, she was left with a bit of a quandary. She had no idea where else Naruko would go when she was upset. This really was new territory for her. Maybe she could at least enlist help in her search.

If she checked the training grounds in the area, she might be able to find Sakura or Hinata. Setting out to do just that, she got lucky in that the second one she visited was occupied by one of the teams she was looking for. Ino didn't see the Sandaime anywhere, but Sasuke, Sakura, and Shino were all present.

"Sakura!" she called out to her friend. The pink-haired kunoichi hurried over to her, clearly noticing something was up. "I need you to help me find Naruko."

"What's wrong?" Sakura asked in concern.

"I can explain more later, but she's upset because she had to turn in her brother," Ino informed her. "It turns out Orochimaru bribed him into helping with something or another."

"Did you say Orochimaru?" Sasuke demanded of her, venom clear in his voice. "Naruto is going over to Orochimaru?"

He'd apparently been eavesdropping. It figured he would pay such close attention to her the one time she hadn't actually wanted him involved.

"Yes, but please keep this a secret for now," Ino pleaded. "We're still trying to get him to change his mind peacefully."

Not promising anything, or even giving word of where he was going, Sasuke raced off. She didn't think Sasuke would do anything like report this to the Hokage, but Ino still hoped she wouldn't end up regretting her carelessness.

---

It was less than an hour until Naruto planned to leave for his appointment with Orochimaru when four ninja walked into his house, Asuma, Inoichi, Choza, and Shikaku, if his memory served. All of them he'd met before, either when he was giving lessons, at his restaurant, or both in two of their cases. Of course the real question was what the four of them were doing here. Actually, make that five of them. There was one more person using some type of jutsu to eavesdrop through the wall, according to the warnings his wards were sending him.

"Please relax," Asuma said placatingly. "We're hoping this won't come to any trouble, but we have reason to believe Orochimaru may have made certain proposals to you."

"And if he has, we want to make sure you're not foolish enough to accept them," Shikaku added.

Had Naruko actually betrayed him? He didn't think that likely. Even if they'd both gotten a little worked up last night and said more than they should, it was hard to believe that was case. They might not even have anything but suspicion in the first place, so it was best not to give them anything solid.

"I'd be happy to put to rest any concerns you might have," Naruto told them amicably. "I have no intention of helping the man in any way."

"I'd be careful," Asuma warned him. "We already know you were planning to accept, and lying to us about it isn't the best way to keep things friendly."

Naruto was beginning to think they had found out, somehow. Regardless, even if he did up falling for a ploy, perhaps it was time to try a different approach. Maybe just a bit of the truth.

"I don't think you understand," Naruto explained. "He has proposed a trade, but what he thinks I have to offer, I couldn't give him if I wanted to. Even so, his side of the offer is so tempting I'd like to see if I can get it from him before he figures that out. The person I plan to trick is Orochimaru, not you."

"A dangerous plot if true," Inoichi commented. "My daughter is friends with your sister, so I've seen her around a lot. I'd hate to see her lose the only family she has because you thought it was a good idea to betray one of the most dangerous criminals to ever come from Konoha."

The conversation was interrupted when Sasuke burst into the room. These unannounced guests were really starting to get to him, but the older ninja seemed no more happy to see the boy than he was.

"What are you doing here, Sasuke?" Asuma asked. "This is a private meeting, so I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"Not just yet," Sasuke insisted, turning on Naruto and marching closer to him. "You do realize that if you so much as go to Orochimaru you'll be branded a traitor and never allowed back in Konoha. They might even hunt you down and kill you."

Sasuke really seemed to be worked up over this and he was completely ignoring the glare he was getting Asuma for disobeying an order.

"Even if everything did go exactly as you hoped, do you plan to abandon your own sister?" Sasuke demanded of him. "You have no idea how much you might ruin her life and you would be doing it just for your own selfish desires."

"Everyone seems determined to use Naruko against me," Naruto replied with a nonchalance that didn't look to sit well with Sasuke. "Still, you're probably right."

Sasuke looked startled, but then calmed slightly at the statement. Naruto smirked at the reaction. He probably shouldn't have so much fun toying with him, but even the chance of what might happen today left him in too cheerful a mood to pass up the opportunity.

"They're never going to let me back in here anyway," he continued, "so I suppose it doesn't matter if I leave on good terms or not."

"As if I'd let you!" Sasuke roared, his anger fully reigniting as he reacted to Naruto's words before anyone else.

Sasuke charged Naruto at a speed that was impressive for his age, but nowhere near what would be required to threaten him. So it was a simple matter to duck under the incoming punch, grab the boy, and toss him bodily into the kitchen where there was a satisfying clatter as he scattered pots and pans in every which direction.

Naruto made to run for the door, but felt something restricting his movements. Quickly extending his senses he saw that Shikaku's chakra was running through the man's own shadow and was now wrapping itself around Naruto. It also had a bit of an odd feel to it that was probably responsible for it sticking to his own chakra like it was.

Naruto had little doubt he could force his way free, but he was intrigued enough by the ability that he wanted to try something else first. So he shifted his own chakra in a way that was difficult to put to words, but was something like changing the color or pitch of it if you wanted to compare it to other senses.

It had just been an educated guess, but he was thrilled that it worked exactly as he hoped. Whatever Shikaku had done made his chakra able to physically interact with normal chakra, but in the unusual state Naruto's was in, it passed right through it. The man could contort his shadow as much as he liked, but it would be no more dangerous than an ordinary shadow to Naruto.

The look of shock on Shikaku's face only added to his mirth. As simple as he'd made it look, changing the nature of your own chakra was not something just anyone could do, and he'd probably never once had that tried on him.

Although now wasn't the time to be patting himself on the back; he still had other concerns. Most pressing of which was Choza sending a fist, one that had somehow enlarged to several times its previous size, straight at him. It was faster than Sasuke's attack, but Naruto was still able to dodge around it and grab an arm that was nearly as enlarged at the fist.

Of course the man probably hadn't expected him to be free from Shikaku's ability. Either way, he twisted around and flipped the large man, sending him flying directly at Inoichi. The two of them handled the collision much more gracefully than Sasuke had, with Choza righting himself mid-flight and the blond ninja bracing himself and stopping his friend's momentum.

Still, it forced him to stop whatever jutsu he'd been forming the hand seals for, leaving Naruto free to focus on the rapidly approaching Asuma. The bearded man had positioned himself between Naruto and the door and was now taking a swing at him with a strange looking knife he was holding. Naruto leaned back in order to make the attack fall short, but widened his eyes when he realized what his opponent was doing.

With a burst of speed, Naruto bent over backward until he nearly made a right angle, having avoided being decapitated by much less than he'd like. Looking at the chakra extending the blade of the knife, Naruto had to give his respect for such a deadly technique. He shouldn't have been taking this fight so lightly.

As his momentum was already carrying him that way, Naruto continued to lean backward, planting his hands on the ground and lifting his feet to kick off of Asuma's chest. He didn't have much leverage in that position, so he barely forced his opponent to take a step back, but it did stall Asuma's charge while simultaneously springing Naruto toward a window that he promptly smashed through.

He hadn't even landed outside when he heard a series of small explosions, and smoke poured up from all around completely engulfing him and blocking everything from sight. The final participant had made her appearance.

"Follow me," Anko ordered him.

Not sensing any hostile intent, he let her grab his wrist and drag him off as they sprinted through the streets. Perhaps he shouldn't be trusting her, but he could feel that the two men the Hokage had left to spy on him were out cold, and he couldn't think of anyone but Anko who might have done that.

Two things amazed him as they continued running. The first was that they were still surrounded by smoke. Just how many smoke bombs had she used? The second was the fact that despite essentially zero visibility Anko was leading him at a dead sprint through twists and turns without running into anything. He didn't know if she had a way to see through it or if she'd memorized the layout that well, but either way he was impressed.

Before he got to find out just how far the smoke went, Anko came to a sudden stop. He heard a door open and was then pulled inside as it was shut behind them. Although it was quite clouded from the smoke that had made it inside, at least now Naruto could see the woman who had come to his aid.

"You're the last person I would have expected to side with me considering just who I'm going to meet," he told her.

"Yeah, well, I know something they don't," Anko replied.

"And what's that?" Naruto queried, unable to resist the bait.

"You're going to help me kill my old master," she said with a vicious smile.

"It might be foolish of me to tell you this, but I never really had any plans to kill him," Naruto admitted.

"Of course you don't yet," she replied. "I can see that Orochimaru has gotten to you. He has a way with offering people exactly what they most desire. Dangling it in front of them until they can't resist it."

Naruto kept quite, not wanting to admit just how close to home that was for him.

"But I figure you're bright enough to see the truth," she continued. "That being that no one ever comes out ahead in a deal with scum like him. Just ask me, Konoha, the Uchiha, or anyone else whose had dealings with him. They all fall into one of two groups. Those who have been betrayed by him, and those who soon will be. And just so you know, the former group is the much larger of the two."

"It's not like I ever trusted him," Naruto insisted, "but he has something I want."

"Yeah, so you're going to go see him about it," Anko said knowingly. "His claws are in too deep for me to stop you from doing that. Just watch him closely and remember everything he's done. Try to see him for who he really is and it shouldn't take long for you to realize he needs to die. When that time comes, make some excuse to duck out and come get me. Together, we can put an end to his miserable existence."

"Just make an excuse?" Naruto asked dubiously. "Don't you think he'll find that suspicious? I kind of think he'll be expecting betrayal at that point."

"He always expects betrayal," Anko replied. "Believe me, wherever you're meeting him, he's already loaded it up with more traps than you could believe in case things go sour."

Naruto did sympathize with her, but even though he disliked the man, Naruto had given up on the notion of killing people he felt deserved it back when he wasn't even the oldest human alive. Still, it sounded like she was going to let him go regardless. He just didn't fully understand her motivation yet.

"Why are you doing this?" Naruto asked. "For all you know, Orochimaru might convince me to work for him. Even if he doesn't, I could still decide to just stab you in the back. You're just going to let me go off and trust me to come back and help you?

"No," Anko said. "I'll let you go, but I'm certainly not going to trust you. There's a very good chance you'll be wrapped up in his web of lies. You'd hardly be the first. The reason I'm doing this is because, as much as I hate to admit it, I'm no match for Orochimaru by myself. And the Hokage is too afraid of a war to aid me. So that leaves you. You might betray me, and I might wind up dead. But you're the only hope I have, so I'm going to bet my life on you and hope the wager pays off."

Naruto had never heard the full story of Orochimaru and Anko's history, but he had to wonder just what the man had done to her to earn this much hatred.

"Well, if I don't get going soon, Orochimaru might leave and spoil both our plans," Naruto told her, making his way to the door.

"Wait," Anko called out. "At least tell me the general direction you'll be going. You probably don't want to come back to village, so I'll need to know where to meet you."

"I'll be heading east," Naruto answered truthfully, against his better judgment. "If I do look for you, it will be shortly outside the village walls in that direction."

"Just remember to hold something back," Anko warned him. "If he feels you're no more use to him, he won't hesitate to kill you."

Leaving the building, Naruto saw that most of the smoke had cleared. As quickly as he could he slipped through the village, working his way to the East. Whether through skill or luck he avoided any confrontation and quickly found himself over the wall and heading to his destination.

As he drew nearer, he found himself traveling through ever thicker forest and began to worry he wouldn't be able to find the spot. All he had was the memory of an 'X' he'd briefly seen on a map to guide him, and that had been devoid of any real landmarks he could use for reference.

He was just starting to wonder if he'd gone too far already when he came to a clearing and saw the man in question waiting for him. Remembering Anko's warning about traps, he scanned the surrounding area as well as he could. There was something pretty complex under the ground near the man, and his senses also brushed past a very well hidden presence he wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't been looking so closely.

If there was anyone else hiding, they were even better at stealth than the first guy, and Naruto didn't think that terribly likely. He wondered if he should keep his knowledge of the man's presence to himself, but decided against it. Orochimaru might be less likely to try something if he wasn't confident he had the upper hand.

"I know we didn't actually agree to come alone, but I might have been more comfortable if you had," Naruto announced as he walked toward Orochimaru, nodding in the direction of the hidden figure."

"Impressive," Orochimaru replied. "I doubt I could have found Kabuto that quickly myself. As for why he's here, for all I knew you could have brought half of Konoha with you. I think a single subordinate is quite reasonable. Anyway, I'm sure you're as eager as I am to get started, so I won't delay the demonstration."

Orochimaru begin going through a series of hand seals, and Naruto focused his entire attention on them, burning the sequence deeply into his memory. The object beneath the ground began to react to whatever he was doing, and Naruto realized bitterly that he wasn't seeing the full technique. Something had already been done to whatever was down there, and without knowing what, he doubted the hand seals would be enough to duplicate it.

That didn't stop him from continuing to devote himself fully to learning those seals, but it seemed Naruko's concerns were well founded. He wasn't just going to hand him the ability and let him run off. As the object began to give off even more energy, it started to rise up, revealing some kind of box as it came up through the grass.

Once it had completely emerged, the box opened, and a black haired man in armor stepped out. Naruto couldn't shake the feeling he looked familiar, but couldn't place just who it was. It was hardly a very effective demonstration when he didn't know if the guy had even been dead to begin with.

"What exactly is this supposed to prove?" Naruto asked suspiciously.

"You mean you don't recognize the Shodai Hokage?" Orochimaru queried in amusement.

At his words, Naruto realized exactly why he looked familiar. It was the same face carved into the side of a mountain back in Konoha. His hopes soared even though he knew this could easily still be a trick.

"How do I know this is really him brought back from the dead?" Naruto asked.

"You used a forbidden jutsu to bring me back just for some sort of demonstration?" the man asked, not looking at all happy.

"You were alive back then," he told Naruto. "Just talk about old times or something. Ask him questions only he would know the answer to, or just complain about kids these days. Surely you can think of something to alleviate your concerns."

Naruto actually had a more direct approach he was planning to take. Even while he was talking he'd already started sending his senses deep into the man in front of him, looking for some clue as to how he'd come into being. He soon found just what he was looking for, and his heart fell.

He now had a basic idea of what was happening and the dead weren't being brought back to life. Instead, chakra from the deceased was being wrapped around another person's soul, warping it to take on the shape of the dead person's. It was somewhat related to the ability he'd used to copy his memories into Naruko, only instead of implanting it onto a blank slate it overrode a soul that was already there.

Yes, part of the technique would have been a way to summon the chakra left behind at the moment of death. The passing of the soul always left a special kind of chakra that lingered for a long time. For those especially powerful or who still had a strong attachment to the world, it could even manifest visibly at times. Naruto knew for a fact this was the origin of many a ghost story.

Still, while this could create a very strong mimicry of a someone, it didn't change the fact that that's all it was. Although even in his sudden depression, a thought began to worm its way through Naruto's mind. He hadn't fallen in love Hanabi's soul. He couldn't even sense them back then. No, it was her personality and their shared memories that he loved, and those could be duplicated.

Even if the soul was different, would it matter? Of course there still were issues. Even if he used the jutsu, it wouldn't solve the original problem. He couldn't take her with him to the realm of the biju. He doubted very strongly the soul manipulation would survive the transfer. Even so, continuing his quest with Hanabi would be a world of difference from what it was like now.

There was still one fear, however. The chakra formed at death lasted for quite a while, but Hanabi had been dead for a long time. What if there wasn't enough left for the jutsu to use? For that matter, how long did the jutsu last? And if he had to use it again, would she keep any of the memories she'd made, or would she reset each time?

His mind reeling, Naruto spared just a moment for self reflection and was startled by what he saw. He was eagerly looking for a way to twist someone else's soul into a reflection of Hanabi's. What's more, he was even considering doing it over and over again, if necessary. Was he going to go around and start judging criminals as deserving of not just death, but to have the very fabric of who they were toyed with?

Whatever copy he created of Hanabi, the first thing she'd do was tear into him for committing such a heinous act, and he would deserve it completely. And to think, just a moment ago he'd been determined to go through with it. Forget whatever promises he'd made, if this jutsu had really worked as advertized, he'd have been begging the man to let him teach him everything he knew just to learn the rest of the jutsu.

And just what type of man would he have been helping? How many times had Orochimaru already used this ability? He didn't look the least bit guilty for it, and he'd wager he hadn't even limited himself to criminals. The whole jutsu was an abomination, and Naruto wasn't even convinced it was greater of two evils between it and its user. He still might not like the idea of killing, but Anko was right that he needed to be stopped.

"There's no need to question him, I'm convinced," Naruto finally spoke. Even as quickly as his introspection had actually gone, he was aware the silence had been dragging on to unusual length. "Teach me the rest of the ability and I'll happily give you what you want."

"I'll teach you, but not quite in that order," Orochimaru replied. "I promised you I would be first to show the basics of the ability, and I did. Given enough time, you might even be able to work out the rest yourself. However, I won't have this as a repeat of my time with Akatsuki. I will have something in return for my efforts. Give me at least the basics of how your immortality works, and we can discuss who goes into more detail first after that."

Good, his act seemed to be working for the moment. Although perhaps he should simply try to stop the man now. Anko wouldn't be able to keep a level head, and she didn't even claim to be anywhere close to as strong as Orochimaru to begin with. On the other hand, she did know him better than Naruto did, and her knowledge could be useful. Especially as he'd be outnumbered even if that Shodai Hokage he'd created wasn't in fighting form.

"Very well," he responded putting as much reluctance into his voice as possible. "However, there are certain ingredients that are necessary in the process which I deliberately didn't bring. You're not the only one who was lacking in trust. If you'd simply decided to kill me, I didn't want such a big hint as to how it works left on my body as a clue."

"If you tell me what they are, I'll be happy to help you obtain them," Orochimaru offered greedily.

"That won't be necessary," he answered. "I already have them gathered, I simply need to pick them up. We should meet again in half an hour. I suggest at a different location as well. That ability of yours wasn't exactly subtle, and I'd hate to have company if someone sensed it."

"Very well," the other man agreed. "There's another clearing a slightly over a mile from here, just a little west of due north."

"I'll see you then," Naruto agreed, quickly hurrying off to where Anko would be waiting. His last fight with Orochimaru had gone well, but he suspected the man hadn't been completely serious. Hopefully he hadn't been holding back too much.

---

Enough time had passed that whatever happened with Naruto must be over by now. So Naruko couldn't use that as excuse to delay anymore as she neared Minato's office.

"What are you doing here, Naruko?" Kushina asked from where she'd snuck up behind her. Then, getting a good look at Naruko's state, her concern quickly became apparent. "Is everything all right?"

"I was hoping to talk to Minato-sensei about that," she replied.

"He had to go deal with a bit of a disturbance," Kushina informed her. "But you know you can talk to me about anything, right?"

Naruko didn't like the sound of that. It was probably too much to hope that it was unrelated to Naruto, and any sort of trouble probably meant things had gone poorly.

"Sure," Naruko answered weakly. She wasn't really any more reluctant to talk to Kushina than Minato.

"Why don't you come inside where we can get some privacy?" Kushina asked, opening the door to Minato's office and leading her inside.

When it had shut behind them Naruko found herself struggling to work up the courage to talk. This was even worse than with Shikamaru, as she actually cared what Kushina thought of her. Still, she had to do this, so she might as well get it over with. Firming her resolve she began to rapidly explain herself, hardly stopping for breath so as to get it over with as quickly as possible.

She revealed how Naruto was really much older than he appeared. She explained how she had been created by Naruto. She admitted he had been the one breaking into Konoha and skirmishing with Minato. She even went into Naruto's plans regarding Orochimaru. Naruko did hold a few things back. She wasn't quite ready to admit that she'd had all of Naruto's memories originally and didn't go into much detail of Naruto's life before creating her, as that wasn't terribly relevant. Nor did she reveal her own limited time remaining.

Throughout the whole process, Kushina listened quietly, although that might have something to do with Naruko not giving much opportunity for her to get a word in edgewise. Still, Naruko could clearly see shock and surprise in response to her words. With how fast she'd been talking it didn't take long for her to run out of things to say. Falling silent she waited for Kushina's response, dreading what it would be.

"I'm impressed you told me all this," Kushina told her, surprising Naruko with how warm her response was. "As I see it, you've basically spent your entire life in Konoha. It's not surprising you'd have come to care for it as much as any other native."

"Aren't you worried this might just be a trick?" Naruko asked, not letting herself fully believe it could go this well.

"You might have got a big head from your win against Sasuke," she answered with a smirk, "but don't think you could spend so much time around ninja as capable as Minato and I without us getting a sense of your true character. Basically, I trust you. If you say you're loyal to the village, then that's good enough for me."

"I am," Naruko assured her quickly, "but what if Minato-sensei doesn't agree? Even if he personally trusts me, he is the Hokage. Can he afford to take that chance with me?"

"The way I see it he can't afford not to take that chance," Kushina said confidently. "He'd have to deal with me otherwise. Isn't that right, dear?"

In response to the question, Minato himself opened the door and sheepishly slid inside.

"How long have you been there?" Naruko asked, not having noticed his presence at all.

"For almost the entire thing, I believe," he answered. "And I agree with my wife. I trust you completely. It would be hypocritical for me to do otherwise. It seems both of us came to be in a rather unnatural way, and even if I don't trust Naruto, that's only a drop in the bucket compared to my feelings about Orochimaru. Speaking of which, I believe this proves neither Naruto nor Naruko are my children."

Kushina looked embarrassed by his words before quickly trying to deflect the barb. "Hey now, it was an honest mistake. You aren't really going latch onto it are you? I thought you were better than that."

Naruko couldn't help but laugh a little at that. To think she'd been so depressed before she came in here. She really was lucky to be surrounded by such wonderful people. Minato for his part, sighed at Kushina's antics and turned his attention back to Naruko.

"Just so you know, Naruto did manage to escape," he told her. "There was quite a bit of chaos, but no one was injured. I've questioned those involved, and I know you were trying to resolve the matter peacefully. Who knows, maybe it would have even worked if they weren't interrupted."

Naruko actually found herself a little relieved by that. She really didn't wish Naruto any ill will. In fact, she hoped this all worked out for him, even if she disagreed with his decision. If nothing else, she owed him for pushing her to reveal so much to Minato and Kushina. He deserved a little bit of happiness too.

---

Anko bounded up to Naruto almost the moment he came in sight. "Does this mean you've come to your senses?"

"If by that you mean I'm going to help you fight Orochimaru, then yes," Naruto answered, a little disturbed by the look of glee that response elicited.

"Great, let's get going," she ordered eagerly.

"Before we do, there's one thing I want to look into," Naruto told her. "I've noticed there's some strong chakra on your neck that feels a lot like Orochimaru's."

"You must mean my cursed seal," she replied, snarling as the words left her mouth. "Anyway, we put another seal around it to keep it quiet. It won't be a problem."

"So you say," Naruto said, "but I'd like to at least take a look at it. Otherwise he may be able to use it against you."

"Fine, if it will make you happy," she agreed, turning so he could get a good look at the seal. "But be quick about it."

He'd barely had to glance at it to see what nasty piece of work it was. The seal appeared to be designed to drain Anko's own chakra and self-repair if it came under attack. And it was tied so deeply into important parts of her chakra path that it would be all but impossible to take it out quickly without killing Anko. Any attack would require a surgical touch.

Nor could you simply wait for it to run out of chakra; it would drain Anko do death before it stopped repairing itself. Still, he was running the puzzle through his mind and he thought he saw a solution. One that he wanted to try since he wasn't fully convinced the seal around it was up to the job of holding it back.

"Yeah, you'd better let me do something about this," he told Anko.

"Not a chance," she replied, pulling away from him. "I've had some of the best seal masters in Konoha look at it, and not one of them could remove it. If you even tried I'd likely end up in no shape to fight."

"I'm just going to strengthen the seal around it a bit," he lied, confident he could remove it safely, but not so sure he could convince her of that fact. "I'm not letting you come with otherwise. I wouldn't trust it not to activate."

She glared at him threateningly for even suggesting that much, and Naruto was glad he hadn't admitted his real plan. Still, if she thought he was going to back down just because she was giving him a nasty look, she was going to be disappointed. Her frustration looked to be growing as he stood his ground.

"You're impossible!" she said angrily, but turned to let him have access to the seal again. "But I've already decided to put my life on the line for this. What's a little more risk?"

Pulling out some ink from a pocket, Naruto set to work. The seal would react to any attack, but he wasn't going to attack it just yet, he was actually going to add to it.

"You're drawing on me?" Anko asked in surprise. "No hand seals? Isn't that a bit old-fashioned?"

"It's how I learned to do it," he told her with a shrug, and she didn't press the matter further.

Anyway, the seal had numerous roots extending from it to allow it to draw chakra from Anko if it needed it. Naruto simply added a few more looping right back to itself, tying to the parts responsible for the self-repair. It would start to feed on it's own chakra when it needed to repair.

That wouldn't be enough to stop it by itself, as it would still get plenty of chakra from Anko as well. So his next step was to examine her chakra flows and use some juken tricks to block off the flow to as many of the roots as he could. He couldn't completely block all of them. Stopping certain ones would kill her after all, but this should greatly reduce how much it could pull from her.

Double checking his work, he figured it was time to start, before Anko realized anything something was off. Not even relying on seals now, he simply went to work with his own chakra, focusing on the roots tied to still active chakra flows and cutting them free as quickly as he could without risking damage to Anko. The cursed seal sprung to life almost instantly and began to repair itself.

"What are you doing?" Anko demanded of him, obviously noticing something was up now.

Still, Naruto pressed on quickly. At first the seal was repairing the roots as quickly as Naruto could remove them, and Naruto was beginning to worry he'd been a bit overconfident. But then his first little trick came into play. The part of the construct that responsible for self-repair was being eaten away as it tried to pull in more chakra. This damage was being repaired as well, but between it have to split its focus on two areas to repair, and being a little less efficient at it, Naruto was beginning to make headway.

And the more roots he removed, the more the seal was relying on self-cannibalism to get chakra for repairs. Really, once he started making progress it had been all but over. The more damage he did, the faster her was able to damage it. It actually only took about ten seconds from when Anko had first protested until the whole seal fell apart from simply having more structural damage than it could deal with. He then quickly reopened her tenketsu to finish the process.

"It's … it's gone," Anko said in shock. With a seal that vile Naruto wasn't surprised she could just tell that without even looking at it.

"Sorry about lying to you," Naruto said. "But I didn't want to waste time trying to convince you I could actually do that."

Given her personality, Naruto had expected her to be furious at the deception, but she actually looked overjoyed. It might be the first smile he'd ever seen on her face that didn't seem to promise suffering for someone else. Although Naruto was caught completely by surprise in just how she chose to express her joy, as she pulled him down and pressed her lips firmly against his before he even realized what was happening. He was briefly stunned, but jumped back the instant she released him.

"Now don't read too much into that," she said wagging a finger him. "That was just a thank you. Although, if you enjoyed it, I suggest you work really hard to make sure Orochimaru doesn't slip away. There's another taste of that for you if he dies."

"Yes, well, I think we should focus more on the fight than what to do when it's over," he told her, eager to change the subject. That kind of thanks was not something he needed right now. "I suggest we get moving."

She was even more eager than he was to do so, and Naruto quickly found himself leading the way through the forest while warning her about a couple things along the way. Most noticeably about Kabuto and the Shodai Hokage creation. She grimaced upon that news, but seemed no less determined to do this.

At the pace they set, it didn't take long to come upon their targets. Naruto had been sensing ahead to the best of his ability and located Orochimaru when they were still some distance away. Easy enough when he wasn't even trying to hide himself. With a few quick words, he split up from Anko, hoping to get the drop on them.

As stealthily as he could, he circled around the edge of the clearing, finding himself behind Orochimaru and the former Hokage. Pulling out his sword, Naruto leaped in with all the speed he could muster, hoping to take out the abomination before the fight even started. His plan worked beautifully, as his sword sliced right through the waist of the Shodai, splitting him cleanly in two.

"I'd hoped you would be more reasonable than this," Orochimaru told him as he turned to face Naruto. He then weaved to the side as a hail of kunai passed through where his head had been. "However, it appears my wayward student has gotten to you."

Rather than Orochimaru, Naruto was actually focused on what was going on with the man he'd just cut in two. Legs had dissolved, but now were reforming around on the torso. As soon as he was whole again, the man jumped back to his feet. That was not good. It didn't look as if he'd be so easy to kill.

"Look out!" Anko cried out just as his own senses were warning him of a new threat.

Naruto jumped to the side, just in time to avoid an blow from a gray-haired man wearing armor similar to the Shodai Hokage. It was easy enough to make the connection and recognize him as the second face from the mountain. Great, on top of Orochimaru, he now had two former Hokage that were all but invincible to deal with. And judging from the ferocity of that attack, they were quite capable in this form.

"I'm actually very forgiving," Orochimaru said confidently. "I would still be willing to forget this happened if you give me what I want."

"The only thing we're giving you is a quick death," Anko said, sprinting at him. "Which is more than you deserve."

Her charge was brought up short when a fourth opponent landed in front of her. Judging by the feel of his chakra, this was the man who had been hiding at the previous site, Kabuto.

"I'm afraid Orochimaru is busy at the moment," he told her. "But if you're bored I'll be more than happy to occupy your time."

Okay, this situation still wasn't so bad. Naruto was almost the perfect opponent for dealing with these doppelgangers. If there was one thing he'd been training harder in than anything else, it was separating the soul from outside influences. He'd gotten a look at the Shodai's before, and it was nowhere near as closely bound as Naruto's was with the Biju.

Sit him down with one of them, and he was confident he could break them free from the ability in under half a minute. So all he needed to do was convince them to sit still for that long and let him work. Easy, right? Well, he could always slice them to pieces and go to work while they were regenerating.

Intending to do just that, he attacked the Shodai a second time, hoping to again divide him in two. This wasn't to be, as without the element of surprise, the man caused a large tree to sprout between them, quickly growing to where it was too large to cut through. Well, it served to separate them, so he would just go for the other one. Turning around he dodged a stream of steaming water sent from Nidaime and dashed in, slashing at his target.

The man knocked his blade aside with his arm. Naruto's sword cut through the armor and deep into the flesh, but the wound was already healing when it had been pulled free. Still, taking whatever opportunity he had, he reached out with his senses, digging in and finding the construct that was warping the original soul.

Starting to tear away at it, he was pleased to see that even doing so looked to have the effect of immobilizing the Nidaime. His pleasure was brought short as he'd barely even started working when he was forced to dodge a fresh eruption from the ground, as what looked to be half a dozen wooden spears with very sharp points came up from all around him.

He weaved through an opening between two and was forced to slice off the ends of several that gave pursuit. He should be grateful Orochimaru was so far content to stand on the sideline and watch, but these two alone were proving dangerous to fight even if he gave them his full attention. It was going to be difficult to get one to leave him alone long enough to stop the other.

"I don't suppose you could hurry up with your fight?" he called out to Anko. "Some kind of distraction would really come in handy about now."

"I'm kind of busy," she yelled back. "But I'll see what I can do."

Actually, sparing a glance at Anko's fight, it looked as if she having trouble even holding her own. Kabuto was faster than she was, and might even be toying with her. He considered trying to come to her aid instead, but his momentary distraction cost him, as a dragon of water slammed into him, pushing him straight into a swarm of wooden spikes created by the Shodai.

His best efforts to avoid damage could only go so far, and one of them went straight through his left bicep. Finally freeing himself from the dragon, he cut free one end of the spike and pulled the rest out, ignoring the pain. The wound quickly healed up behind itself. Those two weren't the only ones with regenerative powers.

Naruto immediately leaped back into the fight, finding himself hard-pressed to do more than superficial damage that healed in moments without even slowing them. He even got a few more cuts himself from attacks he didn't dodge quite fast enough. He was beginning to grow worried. Even if Orochimaru didn't interfere at all, he might lose this.

"One distraction coming right up!" Anko yelled out, drawing his attention to where numerous snakes were growing out of her sleeves and pursuing a dodging a Nidaime. This could be just what he needed to take out the other Hokage.

He was already heading toward him to do just that when Naruto realized that Anko hadn't at all finished her fight. Kabuto was quickly coming up behind her and all her attention was on her attack. If he didn't do something, Anko would be killed.

Changing direction, he sprinted over to Anko, hoping to rescue her. However, Kabuto was fast, and had been closer to start with. Even going all out, it was clear Naruto wouldn't reach him in time. Seeing no other choice, Naruto Swung his sword, slamming the flat of into Anko and pushing her out of the way just in time to avoid the glowing blade coming from Kabuto's fingers.

Then pivoting, Naruto turned the blade and thrust it right through Kabuto's chest. He felt a moment of regret for having done so, not having wanted to kill anyone. But it was becoming more and more apparent that if he held back anything, it would likely be Anko who died. Pulling his sword free, and letting Kabuto fall he turned his attention back to his other opponents.

"You should have taken out Hashirama instead," Anko complained. "He's the bigger threat, and I gave you the perfect opening. Or did you ask for a distraction when you don't even have a plan to take him out?"

"I'm perfectly capable of eliminating him," Naruto assured her, a bit tersely due to the lack of gratitude. "I just thought saving your life was more important."

"As if I'd let a kid like him kill me," Anko snapped back. "You need to stay focused on your own fights."

"I don't know why you're mad," Naruto argued. "You're alive and Kabuto's dead. You're free to make as many distractions as you want now."

"Fine, I will," she replied crossly.

Both of them dodged to either side of more of those annoying spikes of the Shodai's and Anko ran up to the Nidaime and began viciously assaulting him. None of her attacks got through as she was clearly outclassed. Naruto was tempted to help her again, but he really did need to take one of the two out, and he was half afraid she would turn on him if he wasted another opportunity. He'd just have to trust she could hold out long enough for him to finish with his own target.

With that in mind, Naruto made for black-haired Hokage taking as straight a course as he could. He cut through as many attacks as he could rather than go around them, and even allowed a few minor wounds for the sake of finishing as quickly as possible. Arriving at his target, he again began reaching his chakra toward the man's soul.

Once he started attacking the construct around it, he was grateful it still had the effect of paralyzing the body. Working as quickly as he could, Naruto tore and cut at it, pulling it away from the soul it was influencing. The progress was fairly quick, but still was far too slow for his tastes, considering time was his enemy. He was so determined to complete his task as quickly as possible, that he couldn't avoid letting out a small whoop of joy when the construct came loose.

Naruto barely even took time to notice the body began to disintegrate before turning his attention back to Anko. He saw her take a vicious kick to her side that sent her tumbling along the ground before she was finally able to get herself under some semblance of control. The Nidaime gave pursuit, but Naruto had already crossed the distance and placed himself between them before the man could attack again.

Reaching out, he intended to finish the Nidaime off in the same manner he just had his brother, but was forced instead to block a swing Orochimaru made with a sword the man gotten from somewhere. He cursed himself for all but forgetting about their actual target. He'd barely brought his defense up in time, and if the man had gone for Anko instead, he wasn't sure he'd have noticed quick enough to stop him.

"I tire of this," Orochimaru said, no longer sounding like he was enjoying himself. "This is your last chance to stop this foolishness before I put an end to you myself."

"I think I'll pass," Naruto answered sternly.

"Half your forces are already dead," Anko pointed out smugly. "We'll finish the rest off soon enough."

"Pity," he told them. "Oh well. Perhaps your corpse will have some answers."

The fight that followed started off slightly better than his original battle with the two Hokages. As long as they stuck close to Orochimaru, the Nidaime couldn't use a lot of his big attacks without hitting him as well. Nor did the two of them work together nearly as well as the brothers had. And finally, Anko was proving to be quite helpful.

Despite being the least powerful of the four of them, she was good enough to take a little pressure off Naruto. He was still worried she was going to get herself killed, and had to constantly be on guard to make sure that didn't happen, but even so, it was a net positive. Of course she was focusing nearly all her attacks on Orochimaru, but considering they wouldn't do much good against the Nidaime, that was probably wise even if it wasn't the reason she was doing so.

Although that sense of control might prove to be a problem after all. The brothers had been acting like puppets, but Orochimaru had his full wits about him. He wasn't giving Naruto so much as a moment alone with the Nidaime, so he had no opening to eliminate him from the fight. And worse still, his sword was actually collecting a large number of nicks from Orochimaru's blade. What was that thing made out of anyway?

That once again made an enemy of time, as the weapon would crack and break before too long. So, he couldn't go after the Nidaime, and he couldn't continue as things were going. That left only one possibility. He had to take out Orochimaru quickly.

"Anko, Nidaime," he ordered, relieved to see she listened and went for the man.

If she could just buy him a few seconds, he might be able to do something. Orochimaru swung his blade at Naruto again, but rather than a full strength block, he held his own sword in his left hand, using only its strength. It proved to not be quite adequate, as he was unable to stop the momentum, and even ducking down to his knees as he pressed forward, it still forced his own sword to dig deeply into his left shoulder.

Naruto ignored the pain of it as best he could, not being able to let his attention waver as he used his chakra sense to seek out the tenketsu in Orochimaru's legs. Blurring into motion with his right hand, he sealed off more then a dozen of them before his opponent jumped back.

That allowed Naruto to remove his sword from its rather awkward position, and relieve the pain as the wound closed itself up. Orochimaru was eying him more warily than ever. Having so many tenketsu shut off while seeing Naruto still unharmed after a wound a major as that couldn't be doing much for his confidence.

Naruto took the opportunity to rush back to where Anko was trying to hold off the Nidaime. Maybe his more cautious attitude would give Naruto the time he needed here. Catching up and starting the process, he moved even faster this time, now that he had some experience with it. Quickly enough he'd destroyed the construct as thoroughly as he had the first.

"I thought I told you not to let him get away!" Anko cried out, drawing Naruto's attention to the fact that the final remaining opponent was in the process of fleeing. That was how he'd gotten all the time he needed.

Anko on the other hand, hadn't been distracted, and looked as if she'd been giving pursuit almost as soon as he'd started his flight. Snakes flew out from her sleeves again, much as they had when she'd first tried a distraction, but in even greater numbers. She was probably pouring everything she had into this.

Orochimaru did an impressive job of dodging around them while slashing away at those that got too close, and probably would have been completely successful if he weren't slowed by the tenketsu Naruto had sealed. However, once the first one caught him and latched onto his arm, it further slowed him allowing more to catch up until half his body was covered by the snakes that were biting into him.

"That much venom should be a problem even for you," Anko mocked him as Naruto drew closer.

"I won't forgive you two for this!" Orochimaru yelled out, and what happened next was the most surprising part of the fight yet.

Seeming to burst out of skin, came a monstrous white snake somehow larger than the man himself had been. It had a human like face that still bore some resemblance to Orochimaru's own and the entire body looked as if it was made up of smaller snakes.

The creature coiled and then struck at Naruto, but unless he was just trying to make Naruto underestimate him, he was much slower than he'd been in his human form. Naruto had no difficulty avoiding it, and Anko used the opportunity to grab the sword he'd left behind and slice off his back third. She actually looked surprised by something after she had.

"He's spreading poison into the air," she warned him. "It's not enough to effect me, but I wouldn't breathe it if I were you."

With his healing Naruto probably had less to worry about than she did regarding the poison, but nonetheless used the same trick he had against Kisame to create a constant supply of fresh air with his chakra.

Naruto should have known better than to think the fight was all but over, as Orochimaru's amputated tail had actually slithered over to the rest of the body and fused back together. It figured he could heal whatever wounds they dealt him too. He'd better get to work finding a solution to this problem as well. Running over to where Orochimaru had just regenerated, he sliced clean through him in almost exactly the same place.

"It won't do you any good no matter how many times you do that," Orochimaru taunted. "I am immortal, and my poison will over even you eventually."

Naruto would just see about that. This time, he was paying very close attention to what was going on. It looked as if the severed tail wasn't completely autonomous. It was reacting to chakra from Orochimaru's main body and moving toward it. Perhaps it was even being directly controlled by the body. Regardless, Naruto believed he could do something about that.

"We'll see if you survive when you're cut into pieces too small to do anything," Anko yelled out, going to work at doing just that.

Naruto let her do her thing for a moment as he worked out the details in his mind. Believing he had it down, he moved over to a piece of Orochimaru resting on a large patch of dirt and pulled out his ink. Drawing seals onto the ground, he activating them, forming a barrier that would keep the chakra from passing in either direction. The piece he was experimenting with immediately ceased all movement. Kicking the piece out of the barrier, it resumed squirming back to the rest of the body.

Smiling Naruto went past where Anko was futilely trying to cut up the rest of the snake faster than it could reform, dodged a strike from the head, and cut it clean off at the neck. He then batted the head into the center of the barrier he'd already formed. Immediately all the other pieces of the body went limp, catching Anko by surprise. Naruto approached the disembodied head, having quite a few frustrations he'd like to work out on it.

"You can't kill me!" Orochimaru cried out, worry clear in his voice. "I have an army. Think of how many will die as a result of the retaliation. Are you willing to have that on your conscience?"

Naruto came up short at that. He hadn't really wanted to kill the man to begin with, and he was right that Naruto didn't want to cause a war. Still, he wasn't about to let him go free either, so Naruto had to figure out how to get the living head back to Konoha when leaving the barrier would cause the body to become active again.

He'd hardly had any time to think it over, when it no longer became an issue, as Anko skewered the head with Orochimaru's own sword. She then brought it back up and continued stabbing over and over again, creating a sight Naruto had to look away from, despite a normally hardy stomach.

"Anko!" Naruto berated her. "Why did you do that?"

"One thing that he never did well was inspire loyalty," Anko explained. "His men will be too busy killing each other over who gets to be the new boss to even think of starting a war."

Even if she was right, it didn't sit entirely well with Naruto. Although he found he couldn't bring himself to care much that she'd killed the man, it was more that she was risking war over what she thought she knew about his subordinates.

While he'd been lost in introspection, Anko had become satisfied with how finely she chopped the head and switched over to burning what remained to ash with a fire jutsu. When she'd finished with the head she made her way to pieces of the body and repeated the process.

"Must you do that?" he asked in annoyance.

"You saw what that freak could do," she answered. "I won't be satisfied that he's really dead until every last cell of his is burned to a crisp."

Naruto supposed he couldn't really argue with that and waited as she continued the process.

"I really wish you hadn't done that," Kabuto declared as he slowly stood up, surprising Naruto in the fact he'd been capable of it in the first place.

"Didn't I put a sword through your chest?" Naruto asked him, wondering what kind of trick it was.

"Yes, that's why it took me so long to heal it," he responded.

"Was there anyone in this fight who couldn't heal themselves from wounds that should be fatal?" Naruto asked no one in particular.

"I don't think I can," Anko answered. "But I'm so good I've never had the chance to see. Now help me finish this lackey off."

"You'd be wiser to let me go," Kabuto argued. "Anko is right about most of Orochimaru's men. However, he wasn't completely devoid of those who were truly loyal. There's no telling what they might do in their grief. In return for my life, however, I would gladly see to it that they don't turn to Konoha for revenge."

"Or you might just help them do it," Anko pointed out.

"I'm too practical for that," he insisted. "I'm not going to get myself killed over revenge. I have my own goals. I'll even promise to never raise arm against Konoha if it will make you feel better."

"As if your word meant anything in the first place," Anko spat, brandishing her recently acquired sword."

"Let him go," Naruto said simply, putting a hand on her shoulder to prevent her from doing anything rash. "If he breaks his vow, I'll even help you hunt him down myself."

"Fine," she agreed reluctantly. "But get out of here before I change my mind."

"A wise decision," Kabuto said, bowing before he turned and scurried off.

Watching him go, Naruto had to wonder if it really was all that wise.

---

Searching the area one last time, Anko was finally satisfied that there was nothing left of Orochimaru. He was well and truly dead. For a moment she actually felt a pang a sorrow, but she quashed that down the instant it showed up. It had to just be the poison getting to her a little despite her built up resistances. Or perhaps she simply regretted that he hadn't suffered nearly enough.

Orochimaru was finally dead. Everything she'd worked so hard for had paid off. Yes, now she was feeling it. She was thrilled. This was everything she'd ever hoped for. She didn't even care that they let Kabuto go. All that mattered was that the snake himself was dead. She actually burst out into maniacal laughter she was so happy. This did get her strange looks from Naruto, but what did she care?

"We did it!" she cried out. "We killed him."

Rushing up to him she went to grab him to give him another helping of the thanks she'd promised earlier, but he dodged nimbly out of the way leaving her grasping at air. And there he was having the nerve to look as relieved as if he'd just dodged an kunai. This of course did not sit will with her in the least.

"What, too good for me, mister 'having my shoulder almost cut off is only a minor inconvenience?'" Anko asked threateningly.

"It's not that," Naruto said, trying vainly to placate her. "It's just that I used to be married. What Orochimaru promised me in the first place was help bringing my wife back from the dead. It just doesn't feel right kissing another woman."

Great, how was she supposed to respond to that without coming off as an inconsiderate jerk. Not that she worried all that much about such things, but she owed the guy big time, so she should probably go easy on him for a while.

"Whatever," she said dismissively, "let's just get back to Konoha."

"Well, you can head back, I think my journey will be taking me elsewhere," he responded.

"What?" she asked in surprise. "Why?"

The first interesting guy to come around in a while and he was just going to wander off? She had more questions than ever before after some of the stuff she'd seen him pull. She'd been looking forward to dragging those answers out of him.

"It's just that I don't think I'll exactly be welcome back there after the exit I made," he told her a bit sheepishly.

"Oh is that all?" she asked, relieved if it was. "Don't worry about it. You only did that because I talked you into it. The fact I helped you escape is proof enough of that."

"You don't think they'd actually buy that, do you?" Naruto asked.

"It doesn't matter if they do," she insisted. "We went and killed Orochimaru, so you obviously weren't collaborating with him. What do they really have on you anyway? We'll be heroes for cleansing the world of a villain like him."

"Well …," Naruto said thoughtfully. "I don't really have anything better to do. I suppose I could see how it goes. But I won't be happy if I have to leave as quickly this time as I did last time."

"Meh, I got you out once, I can do it again," she boasted. "Now come on. I can't wait to see peoples' faces when we're getting medals pinned on us by the Hokage himself."

---

Author's Notes: Now this is more like the pace I wanted to set. Given how long this chapter was I'm completely satisfied with the time it took me to get it out. Oh, and don't think everything's going to go quiet next chapter just because I resolved so much here. Don't forget that Akatsuki is still nosing around and hasn't gotten majorly involved. I could give more examples, but let's just say I have plenty to work with to make the next chapter exciting with building back up, should I so choose.

You probably noticed I took a lot of liberties regarding how Edo Tensei works. Not that canon ever really went into much of the religious aspects, and I suppose it could explain why none of them seem to have any memory of the afterlife. Regardless, I just didn't want it to work that way. No easy happy ending for Naruto yet.

Oh, and I completely underestimated how long that big fight would take. At the halfway point of the chapter, I thought I was over two-thirds of the way done. Nearly all of the discrepancy was the fight. Hopefully I at least made it entertaining for all that work, as I just spent most of my Saturday writing it.