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Chapter 23: Thanatos

He put his legs down on the cold wooden floor before standing to go into the kitchen. His mind felt relieved for some reason and he understood it had something to do with Obito's death. One major step in his plan had finally been accomplished. He also understood that ever since he had given his promise to the demon he had been changing. Slowly and almost unhurriedly his personality and what made him essentially human, was being scratched away as if his time among the living was ticking away too.

It had been three weeks since he had gotten married and even through the abundance of visitors and well wishers he couldn't find any solace or peace. The only place he found it anymore was in the sewers of kyuubi's jail. The bijuu was neutral in his change, sometimes approving and sometimes disapproving as his fancied. But death was more than happy to always give his regards and support of his change, filling his head with people he wanted dead.

After the fiasco about Obito's death and Tsunade and Jiraiya thinking he had done it the search was more focused on Sasuke now. He grasped the glass of water tightly, finding the coolness actually eased his mind a bit. The knocking on the door brought him back into awareness. Tightening the hakama around him he opened the door slowly. Four faces of his friends peered at him curiously. Shikamaru, surprisingly, was the first to greet him.

"Get dressed. We need to talk."

The top of the hokage mountain was sunny and windy when they got there. Neji and shikamaru, Naruto knew, wanted answers. He didn't understand why they had to bring Kakashi, Sakura and Sasuke into the mix. If Kakashi knew, then Jiraiya and Tsunade were sure to know too.

"We need to take care of that plant, human. He's the spy."

'What do you think I should do about it then?"

"Since Obito's gone Madara is the next choice. Or do you plan to destroy the whole Uchiha family?"

"Naruto. What happened?" Naruto looked up to shikamaru's dark gaze. He mentally sighed before stretching his leg in front of him and leaning back on his arms.

"What are you talking about exactly?"

"Don't you think if the plant ends up dead that Madara is likely to notice?"

"If we don't take care of that plant it's going to be a pain in the long run! And Madara knows now, no thanks to someone."

"Hey I resent that!"

"Naruto you know what happened when Shikamaru, Shino and I went on that mission. We saw your bunshin." Kakashi's gaze quickly sought Neji before returning to the book in his hands.

"So what's your point?" he was getting tired of all this.

'Most of the Akatsuki is dead. There's only zetsu and madara left now. But those two are interconnected. With one gone the other is sure to hide himself.'

"Then what do you want to do about that?"

"Wouldn't killing them both be fine?"

"Naruto you've changed. You're not the same Naruto we saw when you came back here. You're our teammate and we want to help you. Please just let us." Naruto almost thought Sakura's voice sounded pleading.

"If it's as easy as you say then we wouldn't have to think about it!"

"What are you harping at me for? I'm trying to help here!"

"How would you even know what that is?"

"I am not like you, whelp!"

"Naruto. Who was that man that day? Can you at least tell me that?" Naruto wasn't fooled by the bored tone or look shikamaru was sporting. The group gathered around him was some of the smartest of humans he had encountered.

"Would you believe it if I said I died and was reborn again?"

The shocked expression ranged around the five around him. Sakura was the most expressive and Kakashi was still buried in his book. Naruto couldn't help the laugh that burst out of him.

"When I crossed the border what I found outside was not from this world." Shikamaru's cigarette hadn't been inhaled for at least a minute, the ash slowly gathering on the lightened end. Naruto continued without looking at any of them. "There were creatures there you couldn't even imagine. Every day out there was a day closer to death and I wasn't strong enough to prevent the end coming to me."

Kakashi's bored drawl came after a lengthy silence. "So how did you do it?"

Naruto scuffed his sandals at the rock and bits of earth gathered at his feet. "I made a deal with a demon. And he brought me back and gave me power."

"Why would you need power Naruto? You're one of the strongest in our village." Sakura was still in denial he knew. And she would still too innocent for a world that was filled with death and lies.

"I wanted revenge." He saw Sasuke start at the corner of his eyes. The Uchiha probably remembering what Naruto had told him before about giving up. "I wanted to kill those that killed my parents."

Sakura's green eyes were filled with emotion and he could only identify some of them. Neji was the one who had questions this time. "Why?"

Naruto's laugh, to anyone else looking, would have sounded and looked perfectly happy; but to those gathered around him on top of the mountain, it felt like Kyuubi had overtaken the blond.

"Because the Uchiha deserve it."

Sakura sighed tiredly and stamped the medical report before grabbing another one. She couldn't even read the information written on the sheet, her mind still full of the morning's situation. 'Naruto.. what happened to you?'

After he has said about the Uchiha, Kakashi had grabbed Naruto and teleported away. The rest of them, especially Sasuke, were left to their own bewildered thoughts. But if she had to guess then she would bet that shikamaru and neji knew more than Sasuke and she knew about Naruto. Their team was drifting apart and sakura was left at the sidelines again.

She had promised herself that she wouldn't let it happen again, not after Sasuke. But this time Naruto himself was pulling apart the threads that bound them together, picking at them one by one and pulling himself away. She sighed again before stamping the report and getting another one.

"Do you think this is a good idea? Especially with that hokage woman and frog hermit tracking you?"

'I want this done soon.' He packed the last of the weapons before making a clone of himself. 'Very soon.'

The clone nodded at him and returned to the bedroom. He was to stay with Aiko for the whole night and make sure to love her enough to get a strong alibi for tonight. Aiko, no matter what he thought of her, was a strong enough woman to keep others from accusing him. Since Kakashi took him into the hokage's office he was berated and yelled at about breaking laws about his birth and Kyuubi and then sent off with severe warning against his behavior. But he couldn't care less about rules now than ever, he was running out of time and he needed to get the last two kills done soon.

He shouldered the bag and took out the teleporting seal he had made. It lit up after a moment on the ground and he stepped on to it and was moved to the area the demon had put the responding seal onto. The dark woods were silent except for the animals and the wind blew softly at him. Earth kingdom's forests were sparse and the looming mountains at the horizon signaled his destination. Sealing the pack he turned and started running, he was short on time for this kill.

A/N: Thank you for reading!