The Ninth Sekirei Pillar

by Arthain

The Elemental Nations are in ruins, the villages are destroyed, and the last of the Shinobi are on the run. Naruto's last ditch effort to stop Madara lands him and his last companion in a new world. A world in which a brutal tournament is taking place and the prize could mean the total destruction of both this new world, and his old one.

38. Chapter 37: Shadow of the Past

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor Sekirei, all characters, thoughts and ideas that exist in this story that were taken from the original works belong to their specific creators, Masashi Kishimoto and Sakurako Gokurakuin. Only original thoughts and or characters created in this story are my own.

Author's Notes: Prepare yourself, it's time for a massive info dump, but I think you'll like the information that's being dumped. I'm not sure how you will all take what is being revealed in this chapter, hopefully good. We'll see. All of this has been planned out since the start. I have dribbled hints since the very first chapter, although they were incredibly subtle in the beginning.

Also… I broke 2,000 reviews! Woohoo! To be honest when I started this story I never imagined reaching this mile stone, or having as many followers/favorites as I do now. Thank you everyone for your support and criticism so far! Even the flamers, because your reviews added to my count.

Review Responses: Can I ask that if there are grammar/spelling mistakes, please let me know what they are? If the grammatical mistake is sentence structure, don't bother since I do break the rules a bit to get the flow I desired. If it's something else like punctuation, missing words, wrong words, etc., please let me know. I would actually go back and re-upload the chapter later with the revisions if I knew what the mistakes were, and if the mistake is bad enough I'd re-upload almost instantly. I literally re-read these chapters 2-3 times, but I will miss things so any help is appreciated.

Also, don't bother looking for grammatical mistakes in my A/Ns because I don't check those.

Someone mentioned that Naruto's personality seems to swap every other chapter. It does and it doesn't. He's always treated the people he cares about the same way. He's always been Miya's bitch, Hanabi's too when she puts her foot down. Complex characters don't just act the same way with everyone. They treat and react differently with different people, and my Naruto is the same.

However my Naruto isn't exactly the most 'stable' of individuals. He has been through a lot and his mind isn't in one piece anymore, it hasn't been for a long time. This was actually going to be a subplot I was going to expound upon but decided not to because I already have so many threads running around that I can't reliably juggle any more. Had I wanted to turn my story into a 1,000,000 word behemoth, ya, I'd have time, but it's too late in my story to be introducing anything new.

Oh, and for the record, Hanabi only listens to Naruto unconditionally and without question when it's 'mission' time so to speak. If Naruto gives Hanabi an order with the authority of the Hokage behind it, she will obey without question. When they're at home or just relaxing, it's much different. Plus their relationship has evolved since the start of the story. Naruto has become less her commanding officer, and more her husband. That's reflected in their interactions.

I hear a lot about Kazehana. I'm unsure as to what to do with her, to be honest. I don't like her character, what happened to her during the Civil War was my way of writing her out of the story gently. She's alive, but not participating. That was how I want, and still wish, to leave it. If she came back it would be for no other reason than to be curb-stomped by Naruto's Sekirei. I don't like her, but I don't want to resort to bashing, so I have simply ignored her. After this chapter however, if I decide not to bring her back as one of Minaka's filler Sekirei, you can probably infer what happened to her.

I have no plans to do a sequel/prequel to my story. If you wish to do a sequel after this story, go ahead, with the plans I have in place there really are endless possibilities.

Yes, Minato really is that pathetic that he can't sense when his Sekirei are deactivated. Why do you think I basically had him replaced by Naruto?

Miya sprouted 107 wings because she 'should' have 107 feathers. She originally did as well. Just because Naruto has taken a few from her, doesn't mean she never represented them at all. Consider those other 5 wings as the shadow, or remnants of a connection she once possessed.

Chapter 37: Shadow of the Past

Stumbling his way down the hallway Chad hummed a song to instruments only he could hear. He was making his usual rounds through the high security areas of MBI, pushing the electric auto scrubber with one hand while picking his nose with the other.

This part of MBI saw very little traffic. Whenever someone was out in the hallway it was always to quickly move on to the next area. Chad was a familiar face in this place so no one paid the drugged up reject any attention.

Which was fine with him, the last thing he wanted right now was to be noticed. The drugs he took made sure he always had plenty of company anyways, such as the palm sized angel doing a strip tease on the top of his scrubber and the purple sphinx that flew around him. He even had his own personal devil sitting on his shoulder giving him directions.

Many had asked how someone as stupid as him could make his way around the high security area and not get lost. For Chad it was easy, he just followed the glowing neon signs that bounced along the walls. They hadn't led him astray yet.

At least he didn't remember ever being led astray, anything more than a week out was a giant fuzzy blur.

Pausing at one of the doors he fumbled with his pass as he tried to press it against the keypad. There was a soft beep and with a hiss the door slid open. He quickly pushed his scrubber into the room, the doors here closed quite quickly and with some force.

Taking a quick look he noted that it was the right room. The little devil sitting on his shoulder had asked him to do this room first. There were electronics all along the walls: monitors, keyboards, computers, and many other things he had no clue about. In the very center of it however was the one thing that made his hallucinations appear normal and made him feel vindicated about the things he saw. If something like that could exist, why couldn't the naked angel dancing on his scrubber exist as well?

There was a small container filled with bio-gel that held a pair of eyes with a pentagram for a pupil and iris. The container was held within a small energy field on top of a platform that looked as if it was used to analyze the contents held within.

Setting the auto-scrubber aside Chad turned to the devil on his shoulder. "Here we are little buddy! Freaky-deaky eyes are right over there."

"Thank you," the devil said, and sprayed a canister of gas into Chad's face.

There was a puff of smoke and the devil transformed into a clone of Naruto. He quickly held his arms out and caught Chad before he could hit the floor. Dragging him to the side he laid him down gently against the wall near the auto-scrubber.

The clone glanced over at the pair of eyes and raised a hand to his ear, "target identified," he whispered. He frowned when he heard nothing but static in return. Something was blocking communications. No matter, he had his target in front of him, his boss would find out soon enough. Cautiously he made his way towards the pair of eyes, glancing around the room, looking for any signs of traps. Nothing looked suspicious, which put him on edge even more.

Still he had a job to do.

Two meters away from his target his hands came up in front of him and blurred through a set of hand signs.

"Fūton: Kazeyūdan no Jutsu!" The clone shouted as he breathed out a massive dragon formed of razor sharp wind.

Only for it to instantly dissolve into the incredibly complex seal that lit up beneath him. He cursed himself for being careless; the entire thing had been hidden behind an elaborate Genjutsu he hadn't noticed. All the chakra pumped into the Kazeyūdan had been instantly sucked into the seal.

He had to act fast; the triggering of the seal would no doubt alert everyone to his presence. He whipped out two kunai and threw them with unerring accuracy at the pair of eyes. He didn't bother enhancing them with chakra; it would probably just get sucked out anyways. The kunai flashed across the seal without incident, only to dissolve the moment they reached the analysis platform. There was some form of barrier around the eyes that dissolved all matter. The clone cursed a second time. With the eyes guarded by a barrier that dissolves physical matter, and the seal under him sucking out chakra, there was no way he could destroy the eyes. Not with the tools he brought. He'd need a bomb big enough to take out the entire room. He hadn't brought any explosives on account that this was supposed to be a stealth mission.

The clone cursed again; there was nothing he could do to destroy the eyes. He was about to dispel himself to tell his creator the bad news but paused, something didn't feel right. If the seal under him could absorb chakra, what would it do if he dispelled himself? The only reason he hadn't been immediately absorbed was because of the nature of the Shadow Clone technique creating a physical entity instead of an ethereal or chakra based one. Despite that he could still feel his chakra slowly being drained into the seal.

Chilling laughter echoed around the room.

The clone crouched low and his eyes darted around the room, checking every nook and cranny for the origin of the laughter.

He didn't have to wait long however as a section of the wall dissolved, revealing itself to be a highly advanced Genjutsu, and out walked the one person Naruto did not expect to be here. He had been seen at the Imperial Palace mere minutes before he had begun his infiltration, it was the main reason he had chosen that exact time.

It was Minaka Hiroto himself.

Minaka let out a long drawn out sigh of satisfaction as he gave the clone a bemused smile.

"You were at the palace, what are you doing here?" The clone demanded.

"Oh Naruto-kun, Naruto-kun, you don't honestly believe no one else mastered the Hiraishin no Jutsu in all the time after your… disappearance, do you?" Minaka asked as he strode confidently across the room.

"How do you know about that?" Naruto demanded suspiciously. There was no way Minaka could have known about his disappearance.

"I suppose now that you've played into my hand exactly how I wanted there really isn't any need to let that other clone, Kakashi, run around any longer," Minaka mused as he moved to one of the terminals.

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise, "How do you know about him?"

Minaka glanced at Naruto and blinked in confusion, "What do you mean how do I know? I'm the one that 'leaked' those experiments to Yuzaru-san. Oh, she wasn't the first one I leaked it to, but she was the first one that made contact with you. I knew the day you arrived," he said with a small shrug of his shoulder. His eyes took on a disappointed look as he continued, "I must say Naruto-kun, I am quite disappointed in you. I honestly thought you would have slipped a spy in sooner, those months of complacency really dulled your edge, or perhaps I simply remembered you being better than you actually are."

Naruto ground his teeth in frustration at how badly he had just been played, "What the hell happened to Yuzaru and the others?"

Minaka smiled happily, "Ah! So glad you asked Naruto-kun," Minaka said happily. Changing his original plan his hands blurred over the keyboard and an image popped up. It was of the cafeteria at MBI. Naruto knew about that as he had swapped all the menu items with ramen the day his boss attacked Higa Pharmaceuticals. "I don't believe in wasting valuable material. After 'they' were through with her I had her ground up and fed to my 'employees.' I am quite happy to announce that I have never had to go outside of MBI to find meat products for our cafeteria," he said proudly.

Naruto almost threw up right then and there, "How can you feed your employees to each other!" he demanded, horrified by the revelation.

"Quite easily Naruto-kun, they're much like cattle. We are as far above the humans that infest this world as they are above the cattle they herd. To us they might as well BE cattle. But don't worry, I made sure to make full use of Yuzaru-san before I fed her to the other employees," Minaka said as he tried to placate Naruto.

"What do you mean 'full use'?" Naruto asked, almost dreading the answer.

A second image appeared on the screen. In this one Yuzaru was screaming in agony as she was pelted by laser attacks. "Well, before I had her diced up I had her used as target practice for the new weaponry I'm developing. Nothing like using live targets to test the true effectiveness of the latest technology." Minaka's hands blurred again and a third image popped up, "But like I said, no point in wasting valuable resources. Before I turned her into a target dummy I had her help boost the morale of the company."

The image that appeared this time was quite possibly worse than the other two combined.

Naruto glared at Minaka in rage. "You had her raped!"

"Of course not! She was most willing of course, besides she's part of Human Resources. She's a 'human resource' to be used; I just used her to replenish a resource I was running low on. Well, I may have helped her accept her situation with a few 'suggestions' but it amounts to the same thing," Minaka said with a shrug.

His hands blurred over the keys again. The three images disappeared and a video communication appeared on the screen.

"Yes Ashikabi-sama?" the woman on the screen asked.

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise at who it was he saw on the screen. "No, no, that's not possible, she's dead! Hanabi killed her!"

Minaka smirked at Naruto, "Death, my dear Naruto-kun, is not absolute, it is merely an inconvenience," Minaka said as he turned back to the screen, "The clone 'Kakashi' has run around long enough. Dispose of him, along with anyone else he has associated with since his arrival. Usual procedures of course, waste not, want not after all."

"Yes Ashikabi-sama," The pink hair woman said and the screen went dark.

"You bastard, they're innocent! They have nothing to do with us!" Naruto snarled as he glared at Minaka in anger. He wanted very much to simply tear his throat out but his instincts warned him not to attack. Minaka was dangerous, incredibly so. He didn't appear that way visibly but his aura was almost suffocating.

"Innocent? Are not the cattle they slaughter innocent? Why should I care if they do not?" Minaka asked him as if Naruto was the one that was insane.

"They're not cattle!" Naruto protested.

"Yes, they are, and you feel the same way. How often have you cared about the deaths and suffering of others? The people close to you, the Sekirei and your precious Hanabi-chan, oh yes, you care, but they're not cattle. They are useful and I can understand your desire to care about them," Minaka said as he spread his arms wide and smiled at Naruto, "But the humans of this world? They're insignificant, cattle to be herded as we so desire.

"I have never gone out of my way to hurt and abuse the humans like you have!" Naruto retorted angrily.

"True, but neither have you done anything to help them, or even factored them into your calculations. Your actions are reckless, dangerous, destructive, and ultimately you're responsible for the deaths of tens thousands of innocents whose only crime was simply being near you when you decided to make a move."

"What…"

"Yashima and her Ashikabi: 2."

"They deserved it!"

"Not saying they didn't," Minaka said in amusement, "just pointing out the facts. The explosion that took out your first place of residence: 192."

"Wait… what?" Naruto said in surprise.

"Oh yes, quite magnificently done I might add, destroyed every trace of your presence, I applaud your choice. Unfortunately it had far reaching consequences, many died in the initial explosion, more from their injuries later, and a few more died on the streets later because you robbed them of everything they had."

"I—"

"Let's move on shall we? Your rescue of Akitsu…"

"No one was hurt by that!"

"14."

"I was careful! I made sure no one was hurt—"

"No, you only saw what you wished to see," Minaka interrupted him, "I could show you the casualty reports later but I don't think you'll be around for that. Then there was the little showdown with Kusano in the Arboretum: 31."

"Now I know that's a lie! Only Musubi and Yomi died in that fight!"

"Akitsu destroyed the Mikogami's vehicle, there were bystanders behind that. And the ice she shot at the helicopters? Well, gravity has to exert its control on it sooner or later," Minaka said, his amused expression growing in tandem with Naruto's anger, "But please keep the interruptions to a minimum. After that there was the attack on Mikogami and the war that followed. You were the spark that started it, final death toll: 47,391, that little incident with Kurama: 328, your little attack on Higa Izumi and the subsequent clone rampage: 4,383."

"Wait! My clones did not hurt anyone!" Naruto protested. He would have remembered if they had.

"Not directly, no, but that Barney attack, oh that was deliciously evil of you. Over two thousand people died to that alone because of heart attacks, many others died in the stampedes that followed. The rest of the deaths were caused by incidents related to your actions, car accidents, train accidents, starvation, depression, suicide, looting and murder. Oddly there were two deaths by laughter. All of these deaths occurred because of the pranks done by your clones. Do I need to go on Naruto-kun? Your actions have caused the deaths of over fifty thousand humans, all to satisfy your ego, your pride, your twisted and warped views. You call me evil, but you're no better yourself. You are the greatest threat this city has known since its founding! I have killed many, I will not deny this, but I have ultimately helped elevate humans out of the mud shacks they once lived in to this 'civilization' they have now. I have done MORE for the humans of this world than you ever have! More than you will EVER do."

Naruto's fists were clenched in anger and guilt. He had no idea his actions had caused so much wide spread death and destruction. He wanted to deny it, to yell at Minaka and say he was wrong.

But he knew better. Looking at the various incidents objectively he could see it, the deaths that he had caused, either directly or indirectly. He had been so focused on helping those right in front of his nose that he had completely missed all those around him.

Still, even if he had made all those mistakes, even if he had caused the deaths of tens of thousands, that didn't excuse Minaka for his actions.

"Just because you've done a lot for these humans, that doesn't give you the right to treat them like cattle," Naruto spat out, "to use them as tools as you see fit."

"Yes, it does, because that is all they are. They can't be trusted to guide themselves. Left to their own devices they would simply run off the nearest cliff like a bunch of lemmings, this has been proven time and again by history."

"Are we all tools for you then? Is that why you brought her back? You used the Edo Tensei just to bring her back as a tool?" Naruto asked Minaka as he brought his focus back to the woman that had just been on the screen.

Minaka scoffed at him, "Of course not, I would never use the Edo Tensei. Oh yes, she is a good tool, but I would never stoop to such barbaric measures. I admit I dabbled with the art during my youth but it's such an incomplete and flawed technique." Minaka's grin became positively sadistic, "Sasuke-kun wasn't the only one that 'played' with her body that day. I took quite a few delectable samples from her as well. I recreated her body from scratch, built it up to be exactly as she once was. Then I tore her soul away from the Shinigami, bound her to her new body and transformed her into a slave, oh sorry, I mean Sekirei. I admit there is a bit more effort involved there than with the Edo Tensei, but the results, oh the results are so much greater," Minaka crowed in satisfaction.

"Who the hell are you?" Naruto demanded. He had a sinking feeling he knew who Minaka truly was but he hoped against all hope that he was wrong.

"Tsk, tsk, I really did think better of you Naruto-kun," Minaka said as he moved away from the keyboard to stand near the entrance of the room. "I really would have thought you had it figured out by now."

Minaka reached up and pulled his glasses off. Tossing them to the side he gripped the side of his face.

And tore it off.

Naruto's eyes widened with horror as realization dawned on him. He had been right, it was as he had feared. He stared into the face of a nightmare. He knew who Minaka was now; he could never forget those eyes, "Orochimaru!"

"It's so good to see you again Naruto-kun, you have no idea how long I have waited for this day," Orochimaru practically hissed with pleasure.

"What the hell are you planning now?" Naruto demanded.

Orochimaru laughed, "Oh, I suppose this IS the point in time where the hero unveils his entire plan to the villain, conveniently giving the villain all the information needed to undo the dastardly plan of said hero," Orochimaru said with another laugh, "Well, I might as well conform to the stereotype because unlike those movies, telling you won't help you, and I do so wish to see your face collapse in despair."

That wasn't quite how Naruto remembered the stereotype but Orochimaru was never really sane in the first place.

"Still chasing after immortality?"

Orochimaru laughed, "Of course not my dear Naruto-kun, as you can see, I've already achieved that. I swap which method of immortality I use depending on what's most suitable for the time period. However immortality by itself is useless. No, I desire something much greater, and I must thank you for that."

"What do you mean," Naruto said as he eyed his nemesis suspiciously. He did not like the sound of that in the slightest.

"That day when you and Hanabi-san killed Madara, oh I bore witness to such a glorious sight. The fight itself was pitiful, but that seal you created, it was simply marvelous," Orochimaru said with an almost orgasmic look on his face, "I had never before seen such exquisite work. You reached out and took hold of the very foundation of the universe and bent it to your will! In that singular instant I realized that immortality was not a goal, but a tool used to achieve a goal!" He crowed in delight as he spread his arms wide. His face was absolutely radiant as memories of that day came rushing back.

"You're insane," Naruto noted.

"Insane? Naruto-kun, we are both insane. Only the insane would dare tread were you have tread, and where I wish to. You wielded in that singular instant the power of God, the power to bend the universe to your will. The power to surpass existence itself! I will have that power, I will become GOD and I will remake the ALL of existence!"

"So you'll make everyone dance to your tune, remake all of reality in your image?" Naruto scowled at Orochimaru. The man really was as insane now as he was back then.

Orochimaru gave Naruto a pitying look, "Are you really so short-sighted, Naruto-kun? Where would the fun be in that? No, I will remake the universe because it is dull in its current form. I will turn this boring existence into one filled with excitement! Why settle with merely the physical realm? Why not create multiple planes of existence? Multiple levels of ascension? Oh there is so much potential Naruto-kun, and it's all WASTED because no one is willing to reach out and utilize it! But no more! I will become the Creator of All Existence."

"And just how do you think you're going to do that?" Naruto asked. What Orochimaru desired was a power beyond anything and everything. As far as he knew nothing like that existed. Not even the Jubi had the capability to transcend reality.

Wait a minute; the Jubi did in fact have the capability of granting an individual the ability to bend the universe to their will.

Naruto's eyes widened in realization.

Orochimaru's smile grew wide as he saw understanding dawn in Naruto's eyes, "Yes, I see you understand now Naruto-kun. I was most disappointed when you disappeared after killing Madara. I had hoped Sasuke-kun could have finished you off and then I could take you back with me but he was worthless. And then you had the audacity to get yourself stuck in limbo. You have no idea how much that vexed me Naruto-kun. I tried everything I possibly could to drag you back, but I was blocked at every turn. It seems you reached out and touched a power the Universe did not agree with letting you have so I had to go elsewhere to find you, and so I created this," Orochimaru said as he spread his arms wide, "The Sekirei Plan."

"The entire Sekirei Plan was created for me? You've been planning this Sekirei Plan ever since I disappeared?" Naruto asked in total bewilderment.

"Not entirely but you are the primary reason. It wasn't always called the Sekirei Plan, but 'Operation: Sacrificial Lambs' had just too ominous a sound to it. At first I played with creating an alternate dimension, much like Obito's Sharingan power, to pull you in. That was no success however as the dimension was still connected with the primary universe. However in doing so I discovered entirely different dimensions, entire universes outside of our own. That's when I knew what to do. If I couldn't bring you home, I would just retrieve you elsewhere. The location of my ascension is irrelevant as all of existence will be at my fingertips once I achieve it."

"This whole 'Sekirei Plan' seems rather elaborate for a simple retrieval process," Naruto pointed out. He had been here almost nine months now. The Sekirei Plan had only really started going about seven months ago. Plus there was everything from a thousand years past. Things just didn't add up.

"Of course it is Naruto-kun. Why drag you back home when I can simply bring all the pieces I needed for my ascension here? That's what the Sekirei Plan is all about. Your retrieval is just a step in that process."

"Even if you become the jinchūriki of the Jubi you're still not going to have the power you desire. You may be able to manipulate whatever universe you're in but you're not going to be able to transcend it."

Orochimaru smiled in satisfaction, "Ah, your mind is starting to work. Perhaps your earlier stupidity was simply a by-product of your mind's slow start-up." Naruto grit his teeth but didn't rise to the insult, "You are quite correct in that assumption. But I have no intention of being a jinchūriki. I have no desire to borrow another's power, I will have that power for myself."

"And this has something to do with the trap set within the Sekirei Bond?"

Orochimaru's smile was positively vicious, "You are quite correct. The Jinki, you see, are a vessel, a cocoon if you will. The power the tailed-beasts possessed is chaotic and destructive. Without the will of the bijuu controlling the chakra it would destroy us. Even when combined into one as the Jubi it is in an unusable form. However after long years of meticulous work I was finally able to transform their chakra into a form that is not corrosive to us, and thus was the first Jinki born. The process was slow, painfully slow, but time was not something I was in short supply of. It took me nearly a thousand years to transform all eight. With you, however, I knew I would not have a thousand years to work with. So I began to work on creating a more efficient and portable conversion device."

"The Sekirei."

"You are correct Naruto-kun! The Sekirei! It took a long time to make it work properly. I went through billions of… 'volunteers' before I finally completed my work. The slave nations rose up at a couple points in history but I was able to easily put them down. The Sekirei exist for only two reasons. The first of which is to bond with you and begin the transformation of Kurama's chakra! I had Seo chase Musubi in your vicinity and I 'let escape' a scrapped number for you to find and fix."

"Did you chase Yashima to Hanabi as well?" Naruto demanded, wondering if his wife was also a part of Orochimaru's mad scheme.

He was not prepared for the flash of anger that crossed Orochimaru's face at that mention.

"I'm going to have to rip that core from Hanabi-san's chest soon. That power is an inconvenience that should never have fallen into her hands. I don't know what the possessed that idiot to attack her. If she were to use her power to bring Kouten crashing down…" Orochimaru growled angrily at the thought of that happening. Sure it would probably ruin the city but it would also destroy his ability to ascend as well. The Gaia of this world would viciously attack anything that threatened nature. It ignored him for the moment because he was not of this world but if he were to become a threat she would no longer ignore him and he did not want to deal with the defenses at her disposal. He'd seen what the Primate Murder and the True Ancestors could do, he did not want to have to fight against them. He'd come out victorious, of course, but the aftermath would leave him stranded on a dead world and all his plans ruined.

If he had known she had Yashima's core inside her while she was in the Hospital he would have had her killed before she was released.

Orochimaru's reaction filled Naruto with some hope; it meant that at least not everything was going according to the snake's plan; that there were some counter-measures they could employ.

Provided he found some way of getting this information to his creator.

"What about Blanc and Chime, did you have a hand in their bond with me?" Naruto asked, wondering how much of his life had played into Orochimaru's hands.

"Blanc, that's an interesting one. I had Ayesha-chan and Nio work Mikogami over and transform him into that fine piece of art that he became. I knew word of his treatment of his Sekirei would get to you eventually and then you'd step in and put an end to it. I was concerned when you didn't make a move for months. To force the issue I went ahead and set up a little party for you to join that brought the two of you into direct confrontation. I made the Sekirei sealing array very easy to interpret, well, at least the aspects of it that I wanted you to be aware of anyways. I knew your bleeding heart would cause you to rush to their rescue. I didn't know that you would acquire Blanc in particular, but I was confident that at least one or two of his Sekirei would end up as yours. They're very appreciative of those that show kindness, especially when previously taken by force by someone that is no longer capable of showing any."

Naruto felt cold on the inside. If what Orochimaru said was correct than the entire situation surrounding Kusano was one giant set up to pit him against Mikogami.

"And Chime?"

"That one truly was a surprise. I did not expect that but it certainly pushed my plans along faster than I had anticipated. Miya-chan was supposed to be your last, winging her would have caused an instant conversion of Kurama's chakra due to her connection with Gyuki. I was most put out when she fell in love with Takehito-san. I made sure to deal with that annoyance as quickly as possible."

"So Takehito's death wasn't an accident," Naruto growled.

"Of course not. I arranged the entire thing. The Jinki going 'out of control' was deliberate; it was required to call out to you to draw you to this dimension, this world. There is a strong connection between Shukaku and Kurama, and it was that connection that drew you here. It was very easy to trick Takehito-san into thinking that it was a mistake; Karasuba-san played her role perfectly, exactly as I asked her to. She seemed almost amused at Takehito-san's frantic attempt to save the Sekirei."

It was a pity that Miya wasn't here right now. If she had been here she would have gone ballistic. Naruto could only imagine how many tiny little bits she'd carve Orochimaru into.

"And the other reason?" Naruto asked. Orochimaru had said there were two reasons the Sekirei were created.

"To help address the other problem you so aptly pointed out. They're a power source. By compressing their chakra coils into a small sphere it becomes easier to manipulate. By throwing them into life-and-death combat situations, their Tama grows in strength. They become more powerful. And when they become deactivated, MBI comes in and takes them to Kouten, where their Tama's are removed and stored to be used to fuel the ascension. And I don't have to lift a finger to do it; they'll happily slaughter each other, all because I simply asked them to." Orochimaru said, laughing uproariously at the situation.

Naruto clenched his hands in anger. Everyone had been playing to the tune of this madman. "So that's what Kouten is, a massive structure whose only purpose is to propel you into Godhood by fusing the nine purified Bijuu into a single mass of energy and combine it with the chakra of the Sekirei?"

"Close, but not quite," Orochimaru said, amused at Naruto's attempt to piece everything together.

"Then stop beating around the bush and just say it!" he was frustrated at how Orochimaru seemed to enjoy playing with him.

"Even if all the Sekirei cores were gathered up it wouldn't amount to very much in the grand scheme of things. However they're not intended to fuel me, but the large sealing array I'm building, using Kouten as the center piece," Orochimaru said with a bemused look on his face, "You don't think I became the 'Emperor' because I wanted to? They're already under my control, I don't need to be Emperor to guide them. No, I became emperor because it allowed me to re-arrange Japan."

Oh no, he did not just say what Naruto thought he did. Naruto's eyes began to widen in horror as he thought back to all the odd bits of news where buildings, streets, and landmarks were shifted and moved.

Orochimaru was building a massive Fuinjutsu array that covered the whole of Japan.

"I see you understand, yes, and once the array activates it'll rip this island apart. I'm going to suck Gaia dry! I'm going to devour the planet and consume everything! I will leave this world a lifeless, barren, dead thing. But don't worry, it's only temporary. Because once I achieve my ascension I'll rebuild it and make it something worthwhile. I may even bring you back to life so you can stand in awe of my achievement."

Something suddenly occurred to Naruto, causing a smirk to cross his face, "You appear to have forgotten something Orochimaru."

"Oh, and what might that be Naruto-kun?"

"Kurama and the others, they're all sentient, they're still sentient." They wouldn't respond to their names if they weren't, "How do you intend to control that much power once you've fused them? I can't imagine they'll be too willing to go along with your plan," Naruto pointed out.

"Is that all Naruto-kun? I've had that figured out long ago. Why do you think I lured you here in the first place?" Orochimaru asked.

"To gloat?"

"No, well maybe a little, but no, the real purpose was to take advantage of your judicious use of Shadow Clones. I know you, I've known you your entire life. I knew you wouldn't come here yourself, that you would send a shadow clone. It's the most efficient and safest way to dispose of the eyes, no need to create an escape route. And normally you would be correct, had you been faced off against anyone other than myself. You see over the past ten-thousand years I really have mastered every single technique there is. That includes the Shadow Clone."

"I don't understand," Naruto said in confusion.

"Sure you do, you just don't realize that you do. Despite your age you are a genius when it comes to Fuinjutsu, no don't look at me like that, you truly are. Your mother was an Uzumaki and your father was Minato Namikaze, one of the greatest seal masters of his time. Fuinjutsu is in your blood! And you proved it that day all those years ago when you trapped Uchiha Madara!" Orochimaru hissed as he leaned towards Naruto with his mouth gaping open. He stared at Naruto hungrily as if he wanted to devour every inch of his body. His words began to spill rapidly from his mouth as his excitement threatened to consume him, "You don't understand just how gifted you are! Even after having a glimpse of the seal, even after ten thousand years of painstaking work and research I have never come close to duplicating what you did that day! You have a knack for Fuinjutsu that has NEVER been matched. No one is your equal in that area! Your ability to manipulate reality with Fuinjutsu is beyond mortal capability! You probably don't even 'know' half of what you are doing but you still do it and manage to make it work through sheer instinct! That is something that I can never match, something no one will ever be able to match, and that is the sole thing I lack and what you have finally delivered. This seal you are standing on now, when you dispel, your memories aren't going back to your creator. They're going to be downloaded into this computer! I will have ALL your memories including the secret of that Fuinjutsu you created to defeat Madara! Using that I will bind the purified beasts in reversed causality! I will make their power mine! I will strip it of their will and take it into my body! And since the end result has already been written, reality will act to ensure the proper steps are taken to make it happen no matter what they may try to do!"

Naruto stared at Orochimaru as he finished his rant in absolute horror. This went beyond worst case nightmare scenario. This was a deep dark pit of despair that he didn't know even existed. Orochimaru desired the power to transcend existence and had set into motion all the events necessary to turn that desire a reality.

And he, by coming here to destroy the eyes, had given Orochimaru the last piece of the puzzle that he needed. Naruto was certain now, the only reason Orochimaru kept the eyes, was to use them to bait his creator into sending him here to destroy them.

"Yes… that's the look that I wanted to see. Now do you understand why it doesn't matter if I tell you, Naruto-kun? There's no way for you to inform your creator of this conversation, and I get to enjoy that delectable look of despair on your face," Orochimaru said happily as he drank in the delicious expression on Naruto's face. "But do not fear, I will take good care of your memories. I do not believe in wasting valuable resources. The memories of the nights spent with the women you love will do wonders for boosting morale around the company."

"You are a sick and twisted bastard!" Naruto yelled at him as he desperately thought for a way out of this predicament. There had to be something, ANYTHING that he could do to stop Orochimaru from succeeding.

"There is no way out of this Naruto-kun. I have spent ten thousand years planning for this day. I have covered every possible angle. There may have been some bumps along the way but nothing that has done anything to truly derail my plans. Everything since the moment you stepped foot in Shinto Teito has played out as I have desired."

Suddenly a simple seal flashed across Naruto's mind, there may actually be something he could do to stop this. It was such a small and insignificant thing it was possible that Orochimaru overlooked it, especially since it was ludicrous to want to use it on yourself. Someone like Orochimaru who prized knowledge above all else would never consider it. However, even if it was ludicrous, he needed to lower Orochimaru's guard a little. It would take him half a second to activate it. Despite Orochimaru's boasting he had been watching Naruto like a hawk this entire time. He wouldn't give Naruto that half-second if he made any suspicious moves.

Thankfully he was good at wearing masks.

Naruto let his shoulders slump in defeat, "Your entire plan couldn't have hinged on Sasuke's body arriving with me with his eyes intact," he said. That wouldn't have made any sense, what if they had been damaged or destroyed? Or simply missing entirely? There was too much of a risk of something going wrong for Orochimaru to have bet on something like that.

"Of course not, but it did make things easier, had the eyes not existed I would have taken something else from you, something equally as important. The nature of the bait was irrelevant. All that mattered was that it was succulent enough for you to send a clone after, but not so succulent that you would come yourself."

"Did Minaka Hiroto ever exist?" Naruto asked sadly.

"Of course, It was hard to debate whether to take Minaka or Takami. Both are brilliant individuals, two of the few humans on this planet worth elevating above the label of 'cattle'. Ultimately I chose Minaka because I didn't want to deal with the baggage called children that Takami was dragging around."

That also probably meant that Orochimaru was the one that raised the island that had Miya's ship. If he had been in control from the start that also meant he was the First Sekirei Pillar. The one that took advantage of Ayesha, the one that sabotaged the ships, the one that caused them all so much pain.

Naruto didn't say as much though, he didn't want Orochimaru to know how much he knew.

Naruto eyes took on a defeated look, he raised a hand to scratch his eye, "There is one thing I don't understand, why spread out the Jin-Fuin: Memori Sakujosuru!" Naruto shouted as he quickly transferred the hand that was scratching his eye to the side of his head. A seal instantly wrapped itself around his head and activated.

Orochimaru's eyes widened in surprise and panic as he realized what it was that Naruto was attempting to do. His hands clasped together instantly, "KAI!" Orochimaru shouted hurriedly, using the seal embedded into the floor to forcefully dispel the clone, hoping he wasn't too late.

The clone disappeared in a puff of smoke and the rest of its chakra was absorbed into the machine.

Orochimaru raced over to the terminal and quickly began to sift through what had been downloaded. The memories were there, at least most of them anyways. His smile grew wider and wider when the memories associated with the causality reversal seal appeared on the screen.

"You weren't fast enough Naruto-kun! I have it! I HAVE IT!" Orochimaru cackled gleefully. He had all the pieces he needed to finish the Sekirei Plan. He had the secret to manipulating the very laws of reality. He would have his ascension. Going through all the memories he noticed the final one ended in the middle of a massage Naruto had given Miya.

It was obvious that Naruto had managed to destroy some of his memories, but not all of them, not the important ones. Not the memories that Orochimaru really cared about. He even got some of the intimate moments between Naruto and Hanabi. Those would make some nice videos. Especially the memories of the hot springs, that would be a hit with his employees. He had no use for it personally but that didn't mean the cattle wouldn't enjoy it. Complacent cattle were so much easier to deal with.

"All that's left now, is to lure the real Naruto-kun to Kouten. Then finally, after ten thousand years, I will become Creator of All Existence."

x~X~x

Orochimaru looked around the table in 'almost' total satisfaction. He had called his Sekirei here to give them their orders. They had all arrived, all save one. His eye wanted to twitch in annoyance but he kept himself calm. That man would return eventually. Orochimaru had bound him more tightly than he had Sakura but the damn man just ignored half of the seals like they didn't exist and the other half he only obeyed because he found them amusing.

He did say he would return once everything entered its final stage and now that he had Naruto's memories that final stage was about to begin. The whole Sekirei Plan façade could be tossed away now. The Jinki needed to be doled out, but he could do that in a single match. He would keep one to begin the initial start-up on Kouten. It would also be used as bait to lure Naruto there. He was confident the rest would fall into Naruto's hands, especially since he planned on helping it along with Kamikura Island.

Uzumaki Naruto was not one to let power such as that run free, especially when they were the tailed-beasts, entities he had befriended during his time in the Elemental Nations.

They had been dormant for quite some time now, he had put them to sleep soon after their purifications were completed. There was no reason for him to struggle against all eight of them when he could just put them under. Then Naruto would awaken them. Orochimaru knew that Naruto was a prudent man; he would make sure that the Jinki that fell into his possession were the real thing. He would speak their name, and they would respond. They would reawaken. It had to be Naruto, as only he still possessed one inside him. That link was necessary to reach the consciousness buried deep within the Jinki.

Orochimaru needed them to awaken, to push the sleep from their eyes and be in full control of their faculties. Only then would their complete power be accessible, only then could he rip ever last scrap of it from them.

Using the last Jinki he would lure Naruto to Kouten and then the trap would be sprung. The seals there would rip Kurama from his body, break the shell that contained them, and recombined them into a new entity.

And then, using the reversal causality seal, he would initiate the final seal, the one that would strip their consciousness from their power and funnel it inside him. That was why Naruto's seal was required. Without it, the recombined power of the Bijuu would have enough time to lash out and destroy him before he could complete the transfer. However if the transfer was completed first, and the action came second, then there was nothing the Bijuu could do to stop him.

And then it was as simple as cracking the planet open like an egg and sucking it dry. When taking the world in as a whole there was a lot of natural and human energy to consume. He would take it all. He had heard rumors that the Will of this world, Gaia, was connected to something called the 'Root' or 'Akasha.' He had no idea what it was. However if it was another source of power he'd suck that dry as well, if it was something else he'd find a way to bend it to his will. With the power of the tailed beasts and all the energy of this world, natural and human alike, already at his command it wouldn't be difficult to extend the range and depth at which the seal reached.

Of course that was provided a certain someone didn't ruin the entire damn plan by bringing Kouten crashing to the ground.

Orochimaru focused on the individual at the far side of the large table, "Hiashi-kun, I have a change of orders for you," Orochimaru said, drumming his fingers on the arm of his chair.

"Yes Orochimaru?" Hiashi asked.

Reaching to a touch screen on the table before him Orochimaru punched in a few commands. An image popped up of Hanabi, "The time for observation has come to an end,"

Hiashi glared at Orochimaru, his hands clenched his robe tightly as he struggled against the bond. He could already tell the direction this conversation was going to take.

"Oh don't look at me like that, I'm not asking you to kill her, just tear the Sekirei core out from within her. Oh, and kill her child at the same time, be sure to bring a camera I want to see the delicious expression on her face when her father kills her unborn child," Orochimaru said with a sick grin on his face.

"No," Hiashi said firmly, observing his daughter was one thing, revealing her weaknesses was one thing. Asking him to harm his daughter AND kill his grandchild? He would not do it.

Orochimaru was not amused, "I'm sorry Hiashi-kun, but I could have sworn I just heard you say no," he said, his voice growing dangerously cold.

"I will not harm my daughter!" Hiashi growled back as he struggled against the bond.

Orochimaru leaned back and sighed in disappointment. This was the trouble with restoring original personalities. Sakura had been the first he had brought back; he had put restraints in place to make her unconditionally loyal. That had unfortunately caused her to be less than she was in life.

Hiashi had been his second, he had been a fair bit more lenient with him and as a result Hiashi had not only matched, but surpassed, what he had been in life. It had been a complete success aside from the odd rebellious streak when asked to do something far outside his comfort zone.

Who knew that killing his grandchild and torturing his daughter would constitute something outside his comfort zone? He didn't put any stock on familiar ties. Family only existed as a weakness for others to exploit.

The rest had been placed in what Orochimaru considered a happy middle ground. Enough constraints that their combat potential wasn't hindered but enough control that, while they sometimes questioned him, they at least carried out their orders.

There was one exception but that damn man was an exception to everything. Orochimaru regretted bringing him back sometimes.

"No, Hiashi-kun, you will do this because if you don't, I'll just send Tsu-chan to take care of her in your stead. Keeping Hanabi alive is merely me being whimsical because I wish to see how she lives with the despair of having her father kill her child. All that really matters is that she loses her Sekirei power, I don't care how."

"Oh please send me anyways Orochimaru-sama! I'll tear her to pieces and feed what's left of her body to the homeless people on the street!" Tsukuyomi said with an excited grin on her face. She unsheathed her blade and began to lick its edge, "Oh I wonder how much blood I can squeeze out of an unborn child!"

Orochimaru gave Tsukuyomi a pleasant smile, one that sent chills down the spines most of those in the room, "Thank you Tsu-chan, you're such a good girl," Orochimaru said happily and turned to Hiashi, "You know Hanabi-san can't win against Tsu-chan, I made her immune to chakra based attacks. Hanabi-san's bloodline abilities and her new Sekirei power are both completely useless against Tsu-chan."

Blood leaked between Hiashi's fingers as his nails dug into his palms. He glared at Orochimaru in complete hatred, "As you command Ashikabi-sama," Hiashi bit out, looking as if he had just swallowed poison.

Orochimaru smiled in satisfaction, "Ah, that look on your face, those emotions in your eyes, I love it, I can't wait to see the expression on Hanabi-san's face, do remember to bring a camera."

"Yes Ashikabi-sama," Hiashi growled through clenched teeth.

"Aww, I don't get to cut her up?" Tsukuyomi said, pouting in disappointment.

Orochimaru made calming gestures with his hand, "Don't be sad Tsu-chan, I have something else for you to take care of."

"Oh what is it!?" Tsukuyomi asked as she leaned over the table in excitement.

Orochimaru's grinned at her, "Karasuba-san has been a useful tool, but she's outlived her usefulness. Dispose of her."

"YES! MUWAHAHAHA!" Tsukuyomi jumped onto the table and dashed out the room. Her eyes were filled with bloodlust.

"I have seen Karasuba fight, she's more than a match for Tsukuyomi," A dark skinned man pointed out, "Tsukuyomi won't be able to overcome the god-speed impulse reflexes you gave Karasuba."

Orochimaru grinned, "You are quite right Darui-san, quite right indeed, however…" he glanced over at the pink hair woman, "Would you mind explaining Sakura-chan?"

"Of course Ashikabi-sama," Sakura said in a monotonous voice. She looked at Darui, her eyes devoid of emotion, "Karasuba's meals have been poisoned ever since she defeated Yume. She has been steadily getting weaker ever since, despite her training. As it is right now she doesn't even possess a tenth of the strength she once did."

"Are you sure you no longer need her?" Darui asked his Ashikabi.

"Of course, I'm going to hand out all the Jinki in one more round, then gather everyone together and let Naruto-kun wipe them out. The disciplinary squad is no longer required," Orochimaru said with some satisfaction, he turned to Sakura, "Would you be a dear and reach Karasuba first? I would like that tool to know that she was beaten in such an inglorious way."

"As you wish Ashikabi-sama," Sakura said and disappeared in a whirlwind of sakura petals.

Orochimaru turned to another of his slaves, "Ten-chan, would you be a dear and deal with Ichinomi Natsuo for me? Be cordial of course, thank him for his services and take him to the firing range. I believe you had some new weapons you wanted to test out?"

"I do Orochimaru-sama, do you care if he lives?"

"I certainly hope he doesn't, it would make feeding him to his fellow employees rather difficult."

Tenten bowed, "As you wish Orochimaru-sama," Tenten said and left the room.

"Darui-san, I have a task for you," Orochimaru said as he turned to dark skinned man.

"Yes Orochimaru?"

"Ayesha-chan did a wonderful job of dealing with many of Naruto-kun's allies, but she wasn't able to get rid of them all. Yukari and Minato Sahashi are at the MBI Hospital, take a platoon of my soldiers there with you and finish the job," Orochimaru said. Matsu, Homura and Shiina all had plenty of battle experience by this point in time. The latter two had been in almost constant conflict since their release. Their Tama still had room to grow, but there was no reason to risk leaving them alive when there was no need to.

In any event Naruto would be more inclined to use lethal force to take the Jinki away from complete strangers than he would from friends. Orochimaru's ideal situation would be to lure Naruto to Kouten with few, if any, Sekirei left to aid him, either of his own or allied with individuals loyal to him. Naruto's Sekirei had served their purpose. It was time to plan their culling.

The only Sekirei that he needed alive at the end was Miya due to her control over Kouten.

"Is that necessary? The Sekirei Plan as it is will see to it that they meet their eventual demise. You risk exposing your hand by moving against such high profile players," Darui pointed out.

"Irrelevant, I have what I need now. It's time to turn the unneeded Sekirei nuisances into the power sources they were always meant to be. It's best that only the weak and useless are left to secure the Jinki in the next round, perhaps that last little bit of combat experience will elevate their Tama's to useful levels."

"As you wish Orochimaru-sama, do you want their Ashikabi eliminated as well?" Darui asked.

Orochimaru thought that over for a moment, "Sure, why not," he said on a whim.

"It shall be done," Darui said and moved to leave.

Before Darui was able to leave however Orochimaru addressed him again, "Darui, where is Jack?" He was the only one that didn't show up and the single most problematic of his slaves, no Orochimaru couldn't call him that. He only served because he felt it was amusing.

Darui was the one in charge of most of the information gathering so if anyone knew it would be him. While Hiashi was technically his superior in that area, Darui was more loyal.

The dark-skinned shinobi turned Sekirei paused, "I got a report from him a month back saying he was arm-wrestling with something he called 'ORT-chan' over in South America. He also lamented about the lack of panties. Any further follow-ups have not been possible. Anyone that gets too close seems to be instantly vaporized."

Orochimaru sighed and rubbed his forehead. That sounded like Jack alright. Jack was the primary reason he wasn't particularly afraid of the natural defences this planet could bring to bear.

When Jack had risen to prominence in the old world, Orochimaru had gone to ground and waited things out. It had been safer that way. Without his ascension there was no way he could fight against someone that just ignored the laws of reality through the use of sheer stupidity and was capable of Willing himself back from total annihilation on a whim. He had only stayed dead when he died because he had grown bored of life and wanted to take a nap.

Orochimaru was certain he had only agreed to come back when he had resurrected him because Orochimaru promised him things would be interesting.

"Someone send a message to him, it's time to return home."

x~X~x

Karasuba had a contemplative look on her face as she gazed out over the city. She had felt the winging of No. 01, Miya like everyone else had. This had happened only hours after she had learned that Izumo Inn had been destroyed. At first Karasuba had been disappointed, thinking that Miya had finally grown weak enough to fall in her old age but the winging had fixed that. More than likely the softening of her heart had more to do with the destruction of Izumo Inn than any actual defeat in combat.

She probably just didn't have the heart to end the Green Girl before she got too out of control. If that was the case then she deserved to lose her Inn.

However her winging did worry Karasuba a little bit. Miya had been in an entirely different dimension before, how powerful was she now that she had an Ashikabi to unlock her complete power?

It was Karasuba's desire to be the strongest power in the world. She had stepped out from behind Yume after her victory and had finally felt what it was to stand on her own. However looming high overhead were the shadows of two individuals that far surpassed her own strength.

She had no illusions about her chances against Uzumaki Naruto. She knew he was as strong, if not stronger, than Miya at her best.

Still it gave her a goal to work towards.

She covered her mouth as she let out a rough cough. Pulling her mouth away she frowned at the blood that covered her hand. There wasn't a lot but she should have been healed by now. MBI had the best medical technology in the world. Yume had suffered worse wounds than her and she was already fully recovered.

"Confused?"

Karasuba whirled around at the sound of the unknown voice. She hadn't heard anyone enter the room, she hadn't even felt their presence. She still couldn't feel her presence even when staring directly at her. Karasuba's eyes narrow as she measured the pink haired woman standing calmly on the other side of the room. She wore dark blue pants with open toe shoes and a long-sleeve shirt of the same color. Over the shirt was a green combat vest. She had a pair of combat gloves on her hands, a purple diamond on her forehead and her hair was tied up with a red hair band with a metal plate attached to it.

Karasuba was certain that she had never seen this person in her life, which begged the question of how she managed to get in her room unseen and unheard.

"Who are you? You're good to get in here without me sensing you," Karasuba said with a wicked grin on her face. Whoever this woman is she had some skill, Karasuba could tell just by looking at her.

The woman tilted her head and gave Karasuba a confused look, "Good? I'm not that good, you're just that bad. You're nothing without your swordsmanship," the woman said monotonously as if merely stating facts.

In an instant Karasuba's blade was screaming through the air towards the intruder. Inches before the blade reached the pink haired woman's face it stopped dead, caught between two fingers.

"What?" Karasuba growled in confusion as she tried to put more power behind the attack.

"Karasuba-san, Minaka Hiroto thanks you for your services, but they're no longer required. You have been scheduled for termination. Your executioner should be along shortly," the woman said as she calmly held the blade between two fingers, effortlessly holding Karasuba at bay.

Ripping her sword from the unknown woman's grasp Karasuba jumped back several meters and reanalyzed her opponent. She was apparently far better than Karasuba had anticipated. Another cough wracked her body and Karasuba could taste blood.

"What did you do to me?" Karasuba demanded, spitting the blood from her mouth.

"I poisoned you. I have been poisoning you for the past two weeks. You don't even possess a tenth of the strength you did when you defeated Yume. A pity, because you would have won this next battle if you had. Now you will die an inglorious death. But do not fret, you have served Ashikabi-sama very well. At least you get to die in battle, even if it is a dishonorable one. Your Ashikabi will follow you shortly, the terms of his employment have just recently been terminated as well," the woman said and turned to leave.

"Don't you turn your back on me!" Karasuba roared and charged across the room. Bringing her sword down upon the mysterious woman she hit nothing but air as the pink haired woman disappeared in a swirl of sakura petals.

Karasuba glared impotently at the spot where the woman had once been. She was about to chase her down when she felt it, a bloodlust so strong it drowned out even her own, rapidly approaching. Turning to the door she raised her sword and prepared herself for battle.

She could tell from here that the thing rapidly approaching her was completely insane, she could feel the insanity mixed in with the bloodlust.

It didn't matter if they poisoned her or not, she wasn't going to lie down and die. If her death was inevitable she was going to take her opponent with her, and if that wasn't possible, she would at least draw blood. Her pride would allow nothing less.

x~X~x

There was a worried look on Naruto's face as he stared across the street at the headquarters of MBI. He was in a room on the twentieth floor of a twenty-two story building just across the way from MBI. It was a nice apartment, as far as places went in this part of town. The occupants of the apartment weren't there at the moment. Naruto didn't want to be found or disturbed. Tipping off MBI to his presence here was the last thing he wanted. He had even used a Henge no Jutsu to conceal his looks and a seal to make his chakra network system look like a regular civilian.

You could never be too careful when the other side had a Hyuga.

The last few memories of his undercover clone, Kakashi, had been disturbing. Kakashi had returned to the break room to find everyone that should normally have been there, missing and instead of a nice, neat and tidy area, the room had been completely trashed. The entire place looked as if it had been turned upside down.

And then mere moments later a fist had been rammed through his chest.

The sealing array inside him had kept him alive despite the mortal wound, however before Kakashi had been able to turn around and identify who it had been that had attacked him the array inside had been broken and the clone forcefully dispelled.

Whoever took out Kakashi had known just what exactly he had been and that did not bode well, it meant his cover had been blown. It was possible that Kakashi's cover had been blown when he had smuggled Naruto's other clone inside but somehow he doubted that. He had no proof to back up his suspicions, just a gut feeling. The retaliation had been too swift, too thorough.

What worried him the most however was the clone that had gone inside had yet to dispel itself. That was problematic as the longer the clone stayed inside MBI the greater the likelihood of detection.

Naruto felt a presence materialize beside him, "You shouldn't be here," Naruto said in a calm voice that belied the state of his inner turmoil.

"You left so suddenly this morning, I was worried," Hanabi said as she took up position beside the window.

"Just checking up on things," Naruto replied quietly, he didn't want Hanabi to worry.

Unfortunately he should have known better than to try and hide things from his wife, "Liar, you never come in person just to check up on things unless something has gone terribly wrong, what's going on?" Hanabi asked.

Naruto sighed and rubbed a hand through his hair, "Kakashi was discovered and dispelled. My other clone, the one that went to destroy the eyes, hasn't dispelled yet."

Hanabi frowned in thought, "Has there been any report at all?" she asked in concern.

"No, nothing, and that worries me a great deal."

"When did the clone enter MBI?"

"… Twelve hours ago," Naruto replied.

"Naruto-kun, it doesn't take twelve hours to destroy a pair of eyes," Hanabi pointed out.

"I know."

Hanabi's eyes narrowed suspiciously as she turned back to MBI. Naruto was right to worry in this case. Something was wrong. When a shadow clone dispelled itself the memories returned to their creator. This was one of the key elements that made the Shadow Clone so useful. That Naruto had yet to receive those memories could only mean the clone had yet to complete its mission.

Or something else had happened.

Hanabi glanced around the room and frowned in confusion. "Naruto-kun, did you rent this place without letting me know?" The place looked lived in. There was a great deal of furnishing in the room and everything looked as if it had seen a lot of abuse, and a lot of love, over the years.

"Of course not, I'd never rent something so close to MBI, the owners are at work, I watched them leave this morning," Naruto said.

Naruto re-focused his attention on MBI. He wanted to go in there and finish the job himself, destroy the eyes, but something stopped him. There was a massive sealing array surrounding the entire building. That hadn't been there before this morning, at least not in a detectable form. It didn't prevent entry or bar escape but without figuring out exactly what it did he wasn't about to take any unnecessary risks.

Clones were not an option as Kakashi had been discovered and he still had no word from the other one.

"Why are you being so cautious?" Hanabi asked suddenly. It had been bugging her from the moment she had found Naruto. He had taken so many extra precautions against being seen it was incredible. She herself would never have found him if it were not for the Sekirei bond she shared.

"I just don't want MBI to know that I am here, something strange is going on," Naruto said as he kept his gaze firmly on the front entrance of MBI.

"Hiding here should be enough, the transformation would fool anyone aside from myself, so why the seal to conceal your chakra network?" Hanabi asked in confusion.

Naruto kept silent, he didn't want to tell her the truth. The real reason for this was to guard against Hiashi but he couldn't tell her that. He hadn't found anything else since Yume gave him that photo. It was like the man was a ghost. He was on the verge of assuming it was all some sort of sick joke.

The only reason he didn't was that often times the sickest jokes were the ones that had the most truth.

Unfortunately for him, Hanabi was unusually persistent and very sharp, "Naruto-kun, what are you not telling me?"

There had to be some reason for Naruto to conceal himself like this. He wouldn't go to this extreme length for just because he could. The only reason for the seal was to guard against something that could see inside, something that could differentiate between an individual's chakra levels. She knew it wasn't signature as Naruto could conceal his well enough to pass as an ordinary human.

So that meant there was only one reason why Naruto would go to such lengths to hide himself. The other side had a Byakugan, or something with an equivalent capability.

Naruto averted his gaze, "I can't tell you," he said softly. "You should go."

Now Hanabi was really suspicious, she could hide her presence better than anyone. Her voice was cold as she spun Naruto around to face her, "When did you stop confiding in me?"

It hurt that he felt that he couldn't trust her with this. She could accept the secrets he had kept on Miya's behalf, but she was certain this had nothing to do with Miya or anyone else.

"It's not that, I still confide in you, this is just…" He didn't know how to phrase it properly that would come out right. He couldn't say personal; he shared everything that was personal. And it wasn't really someone else's secret he was keeping, he was simply keeping it because he didn't want to see her hurt.

"And here I thought we were done hiding things from each other," Hanabi said coldly. Naruto flinched as if visibly struck but he kept his silence. It was better this way, better for Hanabi.

"Hanabi I'm sorry, I'll tell you when I can, just… not right now," Naruto pleaded as he tried to reason with his wife.

Hanabi brought his head down so their eyes were level, "Does one of Minaka's Sekirei have the Byakugan?" She watched as Naruto's heart skipped a beat. Bingo.

"Please, Hanabi, just go home, I'll tell you everything when I can," Naruto begged. He wanted to tell her, he really did, but a picture was not a whole lot to go on.

Hanabi pushed Naruto away and turned to MBI, "Byakugan!" Hanabi shouted as she tried to stare into the building. She reeled in surprise, "I can't see into the building! I can't even SEE the building!" she said in bewilderment. She didn't even know that was possible. She deactivated her bloodline, it was useless at the moment.

"So that's what the seal around MBI does, or at least partially anyways," Naruto murmured as he took another glance at the sealing array.

"So there's someone in MBI that knows sealNG!" Hanabi's voice rose suddenly as she noticed something shocking about MBI. Naruto followed her gaze and shock hit him as well.

One of the upper windows had shattered, glass was raining down on the street below and a familiar person was free falling amidst all that: Karasuba.

One of the bars on a bicycle rack in front of MBI disappeared. A blur shot up the side of the building. Four stories up the clone caught Karasuba in his arms. There was a flicker and the clone suddenly appeared beside Naruto and Hanabi.

The clone gently set Karasuba down on the sole couch in the room and stepped back to let Naruto and Hanabi have a closer look. Getting a close up look at the Black Sekirei the two noticed how roughed up she was. What little remained of her clothing was blood stained and shredded, her skin was criss-crossed with hundreds of tiny red lines and blood flowed freely from the wounds. None of the wounds were particularly dangerous, most of them couldn't be considered anything more than mere scratches.

But the sheer number of them was staggering.

Someone had toyed with Karasuba. That was worrying on more than one level. Karasuba was the one that played with others, not the other way around. And for there to be someone capable of beating Karasuba so badly that they could afford to play around like this? That was a disturbing thought.

Karasuba was still alive though, still conscious. That meant it was still possible to get answers to the questions her condition raised.

"Heh, never thought… I'd see you two again… so soon," Karasuba said weakly as she struggled to sit up.

"What happened?" Naruto demanded as he gently pushed Karasuba back down. She should be resting in her condition. With some quick medical attention she should recover.

"I'm going… to kill that bastard… no one… tosses me aside like trash!" Karasuba growled as she struggled weakly against Naruto's iron grip. A chill ran down Naruto's spine as he realized just how bad her condition was. Even with her wounds she should have been able to put more strength into her struggle than that.

Naruto and Hanabi exchanged worried looks. Hanabi didn't like Karasuba, in fact one could say she downright hated her, but this wasn't the time to let personal feelings cloud one's judgement. Karasuba was Minaka's primary enforcement tool. What did it mean if he was throwing her away?

"It was one of Minaka's Sekirei wasn't it?" Naruto asked. There wasn't anyone else that could even remotely challenge Karasuba.

"Fuahahaha!" Karasuba laughed as she held up her clenched hand. It was stained red with blood, but it wasn't her blood. Karasuba opened her hand; inside they could see a pulverized eyeball, "I got the bitch! Now she knows better than to toy with the Black Sekirei!"

"Who? Who was it?" Naruto demanded.

"Got her! Pink haired bitch should have used a stronger poison!" Karasuba was becoming delirious.

"Karasuba! Who attacked you?" Naruto demanded.

"DAMN THEM!" Karasuba gasped out and went limp, her core inactive.

Naruto and Hanabi's blood ran cold. They knew what had just happened. Karasuba's Ashikabi had just been killed.

"Naruto-kun, we need to leave, now," Hanabi said urgently.

Naruto didn't even bother to question her. He had that sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach as well. Naruto turned to the clone that had been standing nearby and quickly barked some orders, "Take Karasuba elsewhere, destroy the tracer, then head to Charlie Point. It's protected against the Byakugan!"

"Yes boss!" The clone said and gathered Karasuba up in his arms. There was a flicker and the clone was gone, along with Karasuba.

Grabbing Hanabi by the arm the two of them flickered and disappeared.

Moments later Hiashi walked out from within MBI, staring sadly up at the apartment building Hanabi and Naruto had been in moments before.

x~X~x

Naruto softly knocked on the door as he peeked into Yuuchi's room. "Yuuchi, you here?" he asked quietly. He was tip toeing around the house quietly right now.

Hanabi had torn strips off his hide for hiding MBI's capability from him. Keeping something like that from her, from all of them, had potentially put them in danger. Hanabi had not been very impressed and more than a little hurt.

And then after Hanabi had torn strips off his hide, Miya had done the same.

But he had survived for now, Hanabi didn't know specifically that it was her father that Minaka had, he wasn't looking forward to revealing that. He would let her cool down a bit before revealing it; preferably somewhere alone and quiet with just the two of them.

Naruto glanced around the room, it was really dark. It made it hard for Naruto to see far into the room until his eyes had adjusted to the dim light. Yuuchi preferred dark rooms and rarely turned on any of the lights unless it was to accommodate a guest. Even when she wanted to read she simply lit a single candle.

"I am here, Naruto-san, is there something I can help you with?" Yuuchi asked.

"Do you mind if I turn the lights on?" Naruto asked as he moved to the light switch.

"Is that what you came here to ask me?" Yuuchi asked in amusement.

"Well, no, but it's hard to see anything in here," Naruto complained as he headed for the light switch.

"I do not mind, you know where the lights are," Yuuchi replied.

"Thanks," Naruto said as he turned on the lights. He took a moment to look around the room; he rarely had reason to come here so it was interesting to see what Yuuchi had done to the place. She seemed to enjoy fabric, red fabric at that, as most of the walls were covered by long red curtains. There were a couple bookcases lining the south wall, the shelves filled with books about history, culture and current events. Beyond that the room hadn't been changed much from the original layout.

"What I actually came here for…" Naruto trailed off as he turned his attention to Yuuchi.

The lights suddenly went out as Naruto hurriedly turned them off.

"I thought you wanted the lights on?" Yuuchi asked curiously.

"I've decided I don't need the lights on right now," Naruto said hurriedly. He coughed uncomfortably, "Why are you naked?"

He had to admit, seeing her naked made him feel more than a little uncomfortable. Even if she was over a hundred and fifty years old and linked to him through an artificially created entity based on his genes, she was still 'technically' his granddaughter. When coupled with her childlike appearance, the sight of her naked flesh evoked a long list of complicated emotions he didn't want to deal with.

Yuuchi gave Naruto an amused look, "I am more comfortable like this, and the breeze coming in from the hallway feels nice upon my bare skin."

Naruto raised his head to the ceiling and said in exasperation, "What is up with Sekirei and their lack of modesty?"

Yuuchi tiled her head, a small smile gracing her lips as her eyes sparkled with amusement, "I was not aware I should be concerned about modesty while within my own room. Have things changed in the past thousand years? I have yet to read up on all the different customs and curiosities of this era."

"The door's open," Naruto pointed out.

Yuuchi glanced over at the door momentarily and then back at Naruto, "Why, yes it is, thank you for pointing that out. I do believe the door needs to be open for a breeze to come through it."

"You're doing this deliberately aren't you?" Naruto accused.

"While I will admit I do derive a certain amount of amusement from all this," Yuuchi conceded, "I will stand by my original reasoning. However to answer your earlier question, the lack of modesty in Sekirei was engineered. We were designed to find our 'Ashikabi,' amongst other things, and the more skin an individual shows the more likely they are to attract the positive attention of opposite gender."

He mulled that over in his head for a few moments. He could see where she was coming from. It especially made sense with what he knew about the trap that the Sekirei were. He was a pervert; he was more than willing to admit that. If whoever designed the Sekirei had him specifically targeted then it would make sense to have beautiful women battle in clothes that easily ripped to shreds and had no qualms about running around in a state of total undress.

"Oh, I suppose that actually makes sense," Naruto said after thinking about it.

A small sweat drop rolled down the back of Yuuchi's head. She hadn't expected Naruto to buy that excuse. That wasn't actually the case but she wasn't going to correct him. The real reason was far more practical. They were all engineered for battle; modesty was a weakness that could be exploited in battle. For that reason alone it had been stripped from them.

Some had re-developed a sense of modesty after the fact but that was beside the point. Most simply adopted modesty because that was what their Ashikabi desired.

"So why have you come to see me?" Yuuchi asked, bringing the conversation back on track.

"Ah, right, um, I want you to teach me," Naruto said as he bowed his head to Yuuchi.

"Fuinjutsu?" Yuuchi asked for confirmation.

"Yes, I know how to create seals but I don't know how to protect them, or break them. My sealing methods also require a medium to work through. I want to eliminate those gaps in my skills," Naruto said.

There were a series of complicated seals around MBI HQ and he ultimately wanted to know how to break them. He had no doubt that there were countless more surprises waiting for him and his Sekirei inside. He wanted to be as prepared as possible for them when the time came to assault MBI HQ.

"I can teach you, but I want something in return," Yuuchi said.

"And what's that?"

"I want to know more about you."

"I thought you already knew about me," Naruto said in confusion. Yuuchi had mentioned before that she had read over the true history extensively, hence why she had so many misgivings about the Sekirei Plan from the start.

"I know what is written in history. It is hardly all encompassing. There is much about you that is unknown," Yuuchi said.

"I guess I have no problem with that," Naruto said slowly. If telling Yuuchi about himself was all he needed to pay to get her to help him improve his abilities than he could do that much. "There's not a whole lot to tell though."

"That is fine, after we are finished with you, you can tell me about what the world was like back then. There are very few records left from before that time," Yuuchi said.

"Alright, when do we start?" Naruto asked.

"Not today, I am… busy with Kouten," Yuuchi said with a small frown on her face. Something was happening on Kouten but she couldn't figure out what it was. It worried her that she didn't know exactly what it was, but it was her worry to work through. It wasn't something to concern Naruto with. "We will start tomorrow morning."

"Thank you."

---

Author's Notes:

Fuin: Memori Sakujosuru (Memory Erasing Seal)

There's something I want to emphasis: NARUTO DOES NOT KNOW WHAT OROCHIMARU SAID TO HIS CLONE!

I won't say it again. I'm going to flip if I get shit all over because someone bitches that Naruto doesn't act like he's omniscient. I would say 99% of you are good, but there's always those select few who just don't get it.

Anyways, a note about the Naruto characters making a reappearance. I guess I can say it now since most of them have been revealed. There is an innumerable amount of characters I could bring back; some would make more logical sense than others if Orochi wanted to go for sheer power. However keep in mind anyone that was totally annihilated, such as Yugao, Hinata, Shino, Shikamaru, anyone that died when Konoha fell, etc., will not be coming back as not enough genetic material was obtained to make an exact replica (although there is still enough to make semi-copies like Miya).

In addition I chose the Naruto characters I felt would make the most sense, given the above stipulation and avoiding those that have already been brought back like a dozen times already. With the exception of Chime and Yume everyone will be facing off against a counter-part from the Elemental Nations in which they have some connection to (except Blanc who faces off against someone from her own game). While I could have Chime face Konan, Konan is hardly a fodder type character… in fact Chime probably can't win against Konan, even with her Norito.

And for Nasuverse Purists, ya, if you know who Jack is, he can match ORT. He's just that stupid, and I mean that in both an awesome way and a literal way.

I was thinking about displaying his stats using the Nasuverse rankings but realized there wasn't any point. Jack IS an EX entity. He's a completely unquantifiable entity, plain and simple. You can't put numbers or limits to him; he just ignores them whenever he feels like it. He's the ultimate walking shounen hero. Ridiculously broken in every way and pulling off power-ups whenever his current level isn't enough.

The manga he's from tried (and I use that word loosely) to put numbers to his overall ability, and it's ridiculous. He's so badly broken people started calling him a hacked character or a walking cheat code. He's broken every rule in the book so often the book might as well not even exist, and that's a quote taken directly from the manga. To give an example, he shattered something akin to a Reality Marble just by flexing his Willpower. He also willed himself back into existence after being totally annihilated.

Twice.

Anyways please review and let me know what you think!