The Land of Eternal Rain…

Hinata: Ano, why is it always raining?

Pain: They say the land is crying for the dead. It's just the way it is.

Chapter 9,

Amegakure no Sato, the City of Eternal Rain

-

The wetlands surrounding Amegakure was a living nightmare to travel through. Hinata would personally attest to that. The rain was constant, sitting at an uncomfortably cold temperature that was almost at the freezing point. It wasn't just the temperature, though. The land was barren, completely bare of any plantation or foliage. No trees, no plants, nothing but cliffs and uncomfortably sharp rocks. Everything was bleak and grey, even her hand in front of her face.

Then there was the rain. Oh, god, there was the rain.

It fell in sheets, a constant barrage of wet projectiles that simply couldn't be escaped or defended against. Lightning occasionally crackled in the distance, without care or consistency.

What was worse was that, according to Jiraiya, they were still a day away from Ame.

"I'm not sure how much longer I can take this." Sasuke muttered softly, barely audible over the rain. Hinata was inclined to agree with him, but Jiraiya simply shook his head.

"Ame has always been the city of rain eternal for as long as anyone can remember. They say that the Ame civil war has scared even the very land itself, that the skies actively weep for the countless lives lost in this place." Sasuke frowned, although from the cold or from Jiraiya's statement, Hinata couldn't tell.

"The Ame civil war ended a decade ago." He grumbled softly. Jiraiya didn't answer for several moments as he carefully rounded a small cliff, testing the ground.

"The Ame civil war is always ongoing, Sasuke." Jiraiya answered. "It doesn't end, it temporarily ceases. Still, this Pain may yet make the cease permanent."

"And Naruto-kun was taken by them?" Hinata viced softly. Jiraiya nodded, leading the group off the cliff and onto the wetlands proper, a large plain with nothing but dull, grey dirt for miles in every direction.

"Apparently. Why, I have no idea." Jiraiya's reply was crisp. It was obvious he didn't want to talk anymore.

-

Finally arriving at Ame was almost a dream come true for Hinata. She couldn't wait to be finally dry again.

From what she could see on the outside of Ame, the city was less a hidden village and more of a fortress. Unlike Konoha, who's single wall was symbolic of the protection granted by the ninja, Ame was surrounded by a grey steel wall that looked to be over a hundred metres tall. The gates were massive, if still the dull grey of the rest of the city, with seven shinobi wearing black mantles with a single red cloud on the right breast standing guard. There was no doubt in her mind that they had long since seen them coming, for there was no protection in the flood plains they had travelled through.

Even stranger, though, was when a person garbed in a black mantle and a straw hat walked right past the Konoha trio, his mantle adorned with a multitude of red clouds, and, with a single look, entered the gate without a sound.

"The red clouds must be an symbol of rank here." Sasuke muttered. Jiraiya nodded.

"It seems that way. Remember, if you are captured, you are to go out with a bang. Take your time." He stated. Hinata flinched at the reminder of her orders.

"Take our time? We have two days." She replied softly. Jiraiya smiled.

"I doubt anyone will care if you go a day or two overtime. Your mission is to have obtained Naruto's body in two days, not have left Ame in two days. Always read your orders for loopholes, Hyuuga-san, especially when your superiors are out to kill you. Do you have the letter?" Hinata nodded, withdrawing the scroll, which, unsurprisingly, was waterproof. "Good. I'll be back in two days." With that, Jiraiya turned and walked back out towards the flood plains, not once looking back.

"Well, I suppose this is it." Sasuke said softly, eyeing Hinata with a single eye, the other trained on Ame's gate. "Shall we?"

"Hai." Hinata replied shortly, walking towards the gate with confidence she didn't really feel. The shinobi seemed unconcerned with her approach, ignoring the soaked teens in favour of the flood plain.

"Go right on in." One stated before Hinata could even open her mouth. "Pain-sama is expecting you." Hinata could only nod dumbly as a shinobi opened the gate by several degrees, creating a gap large enough to fit two Chouji's in at once, let alone Hinata's petite form. Sasuke took the lead, his Sharingan whirling into existence as he walked through the gap. Steeling herself, Hinata followed at a sedate pace.

Ame was nothing like what she expected.

Grey skyscrapers that rose almost as high as the wall that encased them were packed tightly together, as far as the eye could see. Grey arcs extended from every skyscraper at varying heights, some connecting buildings, others offering vantage points over any attackers. Shinobi litters the upper city and its arcs, going about their business separately from the civilians below. There was no cover from the rain, for everyone quickly stole from one building to the next, rarely ever staying in the rain for more then a few moments. It was all surreal, beyond even her wildest imagination. It was alien.

-

While Hinata was shocked at the differences between Konoha and Ame, Sasuke was shocked by how alike they were. He could see the civilians in the streets giving pause to help their fellows, regardless of familiarity. He could see the ninja giving pointers to their younger counterparts, the older generation guiding the younger. He could see the same kindness, same generosity that had made Konoha so peaceful.

But he couldn't see the ugly underside that had been so clearly visible in Konoha. There was no shadow giving away a rookie Ne agent, he couldn't see the obvious bias towards the upper class, no fear of shinobi, particularly of certain individuals. Everything was everyday here, the idea of not helping your neighbour as foreign as the clear sky was here. Ame was so… improbable, a perfect village that seemed like a faraway dream.

"It's nowhere near as perfect as it looks." A soft, female voice said from behind the pair. Both Sasuke and Hinata spun, entering combat stances, but the speaker merely raised both hands in the universal gesture of peace. Just like the man they had seen walking into Ame, she wore a black mantle adorned with clouds, a straw hat atop her head. Unlike the man, though, several strands of blue hair were clearly visible, a stark contrast to the grey that seemed to infect everything else.

"Who are you?" Sasuke asked, his stance not relaxing an inch. The women simply giggled, walking straight past the Chunin and Genin.

"Pain is expecting you. Please follow me." She stated, walking down the street. Hinata and Sasuke glanced at each other, before following her without a word.

-

"My name is Konan." The women said as they walked. "Welcome to Amegakure no Sato."

"You said this place isn't as perfect as it looks." Sasuke retorted. "What did you mean?"

"My, you don't waste time, do you?" Konan replied with a small giggle. "Amegakure no Sato was built upon the suffering of the people. A decade of peace is not enough to break the curse that still haunts it to this day."

"Curse?" Hinata spoke up, as the trio dodged through a small crowd of merchants. Konan nodded visibly.

"Indeed. Look around you, child. The grey, the rain, the seething pain beneath everyone's exteriors. A decade of peace does not make up for centuries of war. Still, we fight on, hoping for the day when we are free from the curse of the rain." Konan explained, her voice melancholy and oddly depressed. "Some of the greatest heroes and greatest monsters of shinobi history have, at one point, learned the ways of rain. Your Yondaime Hokage received a portion of his instruction here under Jiraiya, who in turn was taught by one Ame-Sennin during one of his many trips from Konoha. Uchiha Madara is said to have learned the ways of the ninja in these very flood plains, and Pain… suffered his greatest tragedy here."

"What of Orocimaru?" Sasuke asked. Konan giggled again.

"I'm afraid he's one hundred percent Konoha made. Be thankful for that, for if he had been trained in the ways of rain, he'd be many times more deadly." She replied. Sasuke snorted.

"He's dead." He replied. Konan shook her head.

"Far from it. Orochimaru is an eldritch abomination. The Yondaime was already devoured by the Shinigami, so what makes you think the Shinigami would accept his soul in payment for another death?" Konan asked ruefully. "No, the Yondaime only separated Orochimaru from his body. It will not be long before Orochimaru is back. He is, after all, almost immortal."

"Then how can he be killed?" Hinata asked. "If he can survive the Shiki Fuuin, a S-rank Jutsu, what chance do other shinobi have?"

"Orochimaru is immortal, not invincible." Konan stated. "But I have said enough. Orochimaru is not your concern to deal with, Hyuuga-san. We're here." Konan suddenly stopped before a large mass of arcs, forming a building that was far taller then any Hinata had ever seen, the Hokage tower included. "Only shinobi are permitted to enter the spire, not that civilians could move about it, anyway. Certain applications of chakra are needed to move about."

"Chakra? Wall walking?" Hinata asked. Konan nodded, entering the building.

"Indeed."

-

The interior of the mass of arcs was as strange as the outside. The bottom floor was a circular room, the walls lined with water. To go anywhere within the building, chakra control was obviously needed. The nearest door was almost twenty metres up a wall. Konan paid none of the shinobi that ran about their business any heed, walking straight over the water and up the wall at a rather casual pace. Sasuke and Hinata followed her, albeit at a short distance.

"Amegakure has known war for so long that the very architecture of the city has changed to accommodate it. The arcs and bridges between buildings are designed for shinobi use, either as vantage points or supply routes. Buildings are designed so that all the cover is on the higher floors, and the larger buildings contain several mazes that are designed to decimate opposing forces. Confusion and misdirection are tools that the way of rain has long since mastered. Ame-nin are dependent on the use of misdirection in our own city because of the conflict in ideals that constantly occurs around us. We all want peace. At every Ame citizen's heart is a dream of peace. The problem is, we have different methods of obtaining and keeping that peace." Konan explained softly.

"A conflict of ideals." Sasuke muttered. Konan nodded.

"That's right. We have no council, only a single leader. This stops other ideals from polluting the village. Ame is a small city in the middle of no-mans land. We have no Daimyo, we aren't recognized as a legitimate shinobi village, and we have no farmland. We have to make a living somehow. We can't afford to wage a war of ideals while our people starve. It's a sad state of affairs, but we make the best of it."

"You seem well off." Hinata said. "No poverty, or homeless…"

"We don't have individual ownership of property here. All living area is provided in dorms. Not ideal, but better then having countless homeless. Much of Ame's business is taxed away to feed the city. Profits are small, and our ninja bring in the majority of money, despite keeping very little of the profit."

"Then why does no one just leave?" Sasuke asked. Konan smiled, although neither saw it.

"Many do." She answered. "Those of us that are left try our hardest to be recognized as a shinobi nation. If we could just gain the support of a nearby Daimyo, we would solve all our problems. Unfortunately, the nearby lands are either incapable of supporting a shinobi village or already possess their own." Konan stepped straight over a ledge and into a doorway, turning around and helping the two Konoha-nin up. "Go right on in, Pain-sama is expecting you." With that, she vanished in a puff of smoke. Hinata glanced at Sasuke, before opening the door and walking in. Sasuke followed, barely five steps behind.

-

Hinata was surprised at the sight she saw within. Six men, all of varying statures and builds, sat in an array of desks by the wall, signing paperwork or performing a mass of other mundane things that the Hokage was expected to do. Only one man was not at a desk, instead looking out a window, his hair black and shaggy. All seven were garbed in the black mantle with red clouds, the other six all sporting orange hair. Hinata's breath caught in her throat when she recognized one of the six deskmen.

"Yahiko." She whispered.

"Actually, we generally refer to him as Deva." The black haired man spoke up softly, not looking away from his window. "Yahiko was the name of that body when it still lived."

"Who are you?" Sasuke growled, drawing a kunai. The man glanced over at them, his hair covering his left eye as he grinned lopsidedly at them. In the other eye were six concentric grey circles. His mouth was a straight line, barely upturned, but his single revealed eye spoke of amusement.

"My name… I am Pain." He stated. "More then that, this particular me is called Nagato."

"Gomen, I don't understand." Hinata muttered, her eyes flickering from one man to another. Nagato shook his head softly.

"Don't even try to understand. Even I don't understand the exacts of the technique. Just know that I, along with every other man in this room, am collectively known as Pain." His words did little to ease the confusion the teens felt, but they accepted it. "I believe you are here to discuss Uzumaki Naruto." Nagato continued, returning to his window.

"We are prepared to offer certain con…" Hinata began, something that sounded awfully like a rehearsed speech. Nagato waved a hand absently.

"We don't have him anymore." He stated. Hinata flinched.

"Excuse me?" She asked softly. Nagato turned to face the pair, both eyes covered by his hair.

"I didn't stutter. We don't have Naruto anymore. Naruto wasn't one of our shinobi to begin with, so we didn't stop his departure…" Nagato trailed off as the door opened once more, another robed figure entering.

"So they are already here." A male voice muttered, strangely familiar to Hinata. "I was expecting to get here first."

"So you came back. Have you considered our offer?" Nagato replied, cutting both Hinata and Sasuke out of the conversation. The figure cocked his head to the side for several moments.

"Sorry, I need to talk to my kage before I give an answer." He finally said. "This choice is too big, affects too many other people."

"You joined Akatsuki without a second thought." Nagato countered. Hinata could feel the amusement coming from the newcomer.

"Only so long as my loyalties aren't divided. Besides, I think Konoha is starting to miss me." With that, the robed shinobi turned around. "I'll take them to their accommodations. Don't bother sending for a guide."

"As you wish." Nagato replied. "Stay safe."

"You too, Nagato-san." The robed one stated. "Come with me." Hinata and Sasuke glanced at each other, before reluctantly following. They couldn't help but feel like they were being led around by their noses.

-

"Sorry for that. You must feel terribly lost." The Akatsuki member stated as he led the Konoha-nin even higher up the spire. Sasuke, however, wasn't going to play along.

"We were trying to…" He started, but the Akatsuki member cut them off.

"Uzumaki Naruto will join you soon. He's currently busy." The Akatsuki member retorted, amusement obvious in his voice. Hinata sighed.

"Naruto-kun, that's enough." She stated. The Akatsuki member sighed, removing the straw hat to reveal a shaggy man of white hair.

"What gave me away?" He asked. Hinata smiled softly.

"Your talk of loyalties to Nagato-sama. Why would a Ame-nin be divided on loyalties, when the only ninja with loyalties to Konoha in Ame is Naruto-kun." Hinata explained. Sasuke frowned.

"How did I miss that?" He wondered aloud. Naruto chuckled.

"You didn't miss it. You just didn't look underneath the underneath. Every word in a conversation has a meaning. A ninja must extract the meaning from each word, then look for what wasn't said." Naruto replied, clambering over a ledge. "Come on, the rain's lightened up. I don't want to be out there when it gets heavy again." With that, he secured his hat and walked straight out of the tower, and onto the bridge outside.

-

The scenery of Ame took a very different light upon the bridges and arcs that lay several dozen metres above the ground. Hinata could see almost everything for at least several kilometres with ease, as if the rain meant nothing in impairing visibility. Naruto glanced back at her, a small smile on his barely visible face.

"It's much nicer from up here, isn't it?" He asked, as Sasuke walked past her, admiring the view almost as much as she did. "Ame has seen so many wars that combat in the rain is second nature to them. The dreariness of the ground is actually carefully made to make it difficult to distinguish shinobi weapons from the background. It makes it harder to invade without getting murdered in a storm of weapons you can't see."

"You're more knowledgeable then you used to be." Sasuke noted. Naruto chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

"I had a week were I did nothing but read while I was recovering from my bout with Kimmimaro. You'd be amazed what information Ame has on other villages." Naruto explained. "Anyway, I read up mostly on Ame's history…"

"What's Akatsuki?" Hinata asked. Naruto sighed, leading the way across a bridge.

"Akatsuki is a ninja organization dedicated to world peace." He stated softly. "It's primarily made up of S-ranked missing nin, although some members are as low as B-rank. There are 10 main members and god knows how many associates spread throughout the lands." Naruto trailed off as he leapt down onto an arc, before leaping up onto another bridge, Hinata and Sasuke following him effortlessly. Leading them into a building, Naruto walked down the hall, before going up a stairwell.

"Naruto-kun, what did you find out after the Preliminaries?" Hinata asked softly. Naruto stopped.

"That I'm dying." He replied. "I take it that you need to check for disguises."

"Hai." Sasuke replied, withdrawing a scroll. "Some blood on this scroll." Naruto shook his head.

"I can't prove anything. This isn't my body." Naruto replied. "Come on, just a little further."

"Wait, isn't your body?" Sasuke questioned. Naruto chuckled.

"I've always been a chakra monster, Sasuke. This body was preferable to my natural one because it was uninjured, although it can't handle the strain of my more… unique Jutsu. Only a few of my bone techniques work." Naruto explained. "I'm actually still recovering."

"Meaning…" Sasuke continued. Naruto smirked.

"There are ways to transplant someone's physical characteristics and mind into another body for a time. It's a variation of the Shoten no Jutsu, although it has several drawbacks in exchange for using an artificial body. I can't control this one indefinitely, for example." Naruto broke off there. "I'd rather keep the specifics to myself if you don't mind. It's the only way I can move around right now."

"Why?" Hinata asked finally. Naruto smiled sadly.

"Because I lost my leg." Naruto replied.

-

Naruto's declaration killed all conversation until they reached his room, were a bandaged Naruto was sleeping in a small cot, his left leg missing at the knee. Hinata clasped a hand firmly over her mouth at the sight, although Naruto was used to it, walking straight on into the room.

"They preserved the leg, all we need is a proper medical ninja to fix me up. Ame doesn't have a skilled enough medic to do it." Naruto explained.

"And Konoha does?" Sasuke asked, dreading the answer. Naruto frowned.

"Not right now." He replied. "According to Itachi, I need either Tsunade the slug sennin or one of her apprentices. None of them are still within the boundaries of Hi no Kuni."

"Itachi?" Sasuke exploded. "He's here?" Naruto shook his head.

"He left yesterday. Calm down, Sasuke. There are things about Itachi you need to know, and it would be best if he were the one to tell them to you." Naruto replied. "Everything is changing so fast… if only things could have stayed the same a little longer."

"Naruto-kun." Hinata muttered, swiping some blood from the teens still slightly bleeding leg and testing it on the scroll, her face taking on a definitive green hew. The scroll didn't react, to her relief. Naruto smiled.

"Hinata's room is two doors to the left. Sasuke, your next door, on the left." Naruto explained. "Take your time, get settled in. Explore if you want. Really, I don't care. I just need… to rest… a while…" Naruto went limp, his extra body collapsing on the ground and turning into a white marionette in the vague shape of a human, the black mantle of Akatsuki surrounding the fallen doll. Hinata bent over and shifted the doll until it sat against Naruto's cot, covering it with the robe, when a silver glint caught her eye. Around Naruto's right index finger was a silver ring with the character 'Aoi' on it. Resolving to ask latter, the two Konoha-nin left the room to explore Ame.

-

"Are you sure it was wise to induct Uzumaki into our organization, considering his… disadvantages?" Nagato turned to regard the three newcomers to his room, all garbed in the Akatsuki robe.

"Naruto-san will not be hampered for long." Nagato replied, gazing back out of the window. "What word of Orochimaru?"

"He has reacquired a body." An odd, almost flat voice muttered. "It will not be long before he marches on Konoha once more."

"I see." Nagato muttered, raising an arm absently. Barely a moment passed before a black bird landed on his arm. "What of the Mugentsuki?"

"No sign."

"I see. You are dismissed." Nagato sighed, taking a scroll from Yahiko's outstretched hand. "The leaves dance in the wind, dodging the burning earth beneath…"

-

"Sasuke-san, are you okay?" Hinata asked as the pair traversed the city of arcs above Ame's ground, the rain pelting on their backs. Sasuke shook his head, as if ridding himself of an annoying headache.

"It's… weird, seeing Naruto so vulnerable." He muttered. "It's as if the strength he gained in the Chunin Exams has vanished just as fast." Hinata nodded softly.

"I know. He'll be okay, right?" She seemed so weak at that moment; Sasuke couldn't help but pity her.

"Hopefully. It really depends on the medics in Konoha." Sasuke replied. "It could be much worse."

"Naruto-kun's like this rain." Hinata suddenly said, stopping. "He's burdened by the sins of those around him, but it doesn't stop him from trying as hard as he can." Sasuke sighed, glancing away.

'If only you knew, Hinata.' He thought, well aware that even Naruto didn't know he knew that particular secret. 'If you knew, Hinata, I'm not sure you would stay loyal to Konoha.'

It wasn't a comforting thought.

Jutsu Glossary

Shoten no Jutsu (Shapeshifting Technique)

Un-ranked Supplementary, range unknown

A technique that allows the user to transplant ones personality and characteristics to another body. The new body only acquires a portion of the controllers chakra supply, as given at the time of copying. The only known user of this Jutsu is Nagato.

-

Shoten Kugutsu no Jutsu (Shapeshifting Puppet Master Technique)

A-ranked Supplementary, range unknown

Possibly the most chakra intensive Jutsu to ever exist, although the required chakra control is so negligible that even a civilian with the appropriate reserves could perform it. The Shoten Kugutsu no Jutsu allows the user to transplant his mind and physical characteristics into a specially crafted marionette. Unlike the Shoten no Jutsu, the copy has access to the majority of the users chakra reserves, but suffers physical limitations, particularly in regards to bloodline limits.

-

I'm back! That's the next chapter for you. I'm almost certain to get slammed for the Shoten Kugutsu no Jutsu, but I liked the concept behind it. Naruto's injury actually does play a role in the story – now they have a proper reason to track down Tsunade (remember, Hiruzen's still alive. Konoha currently has no reason to waste resources tracking her down. Naruto, personally, does).

Sorry it's been a while since I updated. I would have done it sooner, but my computer was rather abruptly murdered by a spilled cup of coke. Actually, it's rather amusing, now that I think about it. Anyway, I'll get right to the next chapter. I've got spare time.

Oh, that reminds me, on the subject of the Jyuubi, disregard it. I can't conceivably involve him in the story at this point and have later plot points survive. It probably helps that, from what I can tell, the Jyuubi is a major retcon, anyway. Then again, I found the revelation that Madara was the leader of Akatsuki back when that was revealed to be a major ass pull. It doesn't help that, as a villain, Nagato's far easier to understand and relate to. Madara, well, his motivations are at best petty. Who gives a damn about something that happened almost a century ago, especially when it has no real bearing on the current events? Way to hold a grudge. I don't believe that he desires world peace for even a second. When he said he wanted peace at the Kage Council, I wanted to bloody strangle him

Right, next chapter.