A/N: I have a feeling I'll be starting every chapter off with an apology. Once again, sorry for the wait. I'll keep trying to update at least once a week. This chapter is a bit longer than normal, if that's any consolation.

Let's see, was there anything else… oh yeah. HOLY SHIT 200 REVIEWS! Seriously, I'm amazed that this story has gotten that much, and I'm also amazed at how happy I am by it. So thank you all, so much.

Well this is unexpected. Hisa thought.

She was talking to the Sage of Six Paths, who was technically dead, in the middle of nowhere. Meanwhile, Obito was probably stabbing her best friend, hopefully the ANBU had almost found the not-so-secret room and Nawaki was probably trying to kill Sasuke.

"Don't worry," the Sage said calmly "No time will pass while we talk in here. We're inside your head."

"You can read my mind?" Hisa asked.

"No, I'm just intuitive."

"Ah, ok. Well, um, sir, what-I mean- why-I-eh…"

Normally, Hisa would simply demand to know how someone was inside her head, and why the hell were they there anyway, but this was the God of Shinobi. Hisa had a feeling that her usual bluntness might offend him slightly, and he was definitely someone she didn't want to piss off. However, fancy wordplay had never been her strong suit, so she was left floundering. She racked her brains for some polite way to ask why he was inside her mind.

"Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, huh. Wow, that's a pretty long name."

Open mouth, insert foot.

"So, why the hell are you here?"

Better and better.

"Because you know, my friend is about to die. So if you could just give me a ton of power so that I can kill Obito that would be great."

At this point, Hisa completely gave up on trying to be polite and started anticipating the Sage frying her into pieces.

The Sage gave an indulgent smile, and although it reminded her of Naruto, it had the opposite effect. While her father's smile normally set her at ease, the Sage's smile made her even more terrified, like he was trying to reassure her before destroying her.

"There is no need to be afraid. I am here to help you, not hurt you."

"Right, right, of course. Sorry, I'm just a little nervous. Actually, I'm really, really nervous. I mean, you're the Sage of Six Paths and you're inside my mind. What the hell? Ok, I should probably stop talking now, since there's a good reason why you're here right? Am I-"

"Child, you are babbling."

"Sorry."

The Sage smiled again, although this time it looked a little forced.

"As I was saying, I'm here to set things right. Although Obito Uchiha truly believes what he's doing is right, and perhaps his dream is, the end does not justify his means. He had become twisted and bitter, believing himself a martyr. It is time for you to fulfil your destiny and defeat him."

"Right, sure. Wait, destiny?"

The Sage stared at her, and Hisa found herself lowering her eyes, although she wasn't sure why. She didn't think that she had anything to feel guilty about, but something about the Sage's gaze made her worry.

"Child, since you developed the Rinnegan, the power of six paths has been at your disposal. Why did you seal most of them away?"

Hisa blinked. She hadn't really been expecting that.

"I suppose it was because… I was scared of losing control? I mean, as I got older, I opened more of them, and in the end I did open them all."

The Sage's brow creased slightly, and with tremendous effort Hisa managed not to flinch.

"Then answer me this. If you did not feel that you needed the Asura, Human and Naraka Path to defeat Nawaki at the Valley of the End, would you ever have activated them?"

Hisa gulped. Where was this going?

"Maybe? I mean, there probably would come a time when I needed them, so maybe in a few more years…"

She trailed off, ignoring the disappointed aura coming from the Sage. He seemed to sigh slightly.

"I see. I suppose I can't blame you. You had no idea that I was calling you, so naturally you were afraid. At least, subconsciously you were."

"What? You were calling me?"

"Ever since you received the Rinnegan, I wanted you to fulfil your destiny. But by sealing your powers, you effectively cut me off. Only when you had over half your paths unsealed could I contact you. After all these years, it took some time for you to let me in."

"Oh, I get it, kind of. But, what exactly do you want me to do?"

The Sage smiled, but Hisa was wary. She still didn't feel comfortable in his presence, despite the fact that he seemed like a decent person.

"Your father, like his Senju ancestor, inherited my life force and energy, but it is you that possesses my eyes, and it is you that has both my chakra and spirit. I made contact with your father once, but you are the one who will be my vessel. Through you, I will return to the world, and reteach shinobi my wisdom: to use their jutsu for peace, not war."

Hisa was starting to get a sinking feeling in her stomach. The Sage seemed pretty calm telling her all this, as if it was something that she had always known, instead of just learning a second ago.

"Wait, what was the part about becoming a vessel? Also, Dad's doing a pretty good job with the whole peace thing. Honestly, there's no real reason for you to return. Once Obito is dead, the world will be peaceful again, like it's been for over twenty years. So, thanks for the offer, but I'm good."

The smile never left the Sage's face, and it was starting to unnerve her.

"I understand that you're afraid, but surely you would have seen this coming? Wasn't it prophesied that the person who developed my eyes would be my reincarnation? I am here to help you Hisa, and to guide you on your journey to becoming the Sage of Six Paths."

Hisa gave a nervous laugh, and in the back of her mind started wondering if she could escape.

"Really? Because it sounds like you were going to pull an Orochimaru and possess my body. True, I wondered would I ever meet you, but I never thought that you would want to become me. I just thought that you would offer me wisdom and maybe when the situation is really bad take over for a bit so I can kick the bad guys' asses. I know I don't go around skipping and hugging people, but I really do like my life. I'd prefer to keep it mine, and if you could just guide me from the wings that would be great."

"I don't know what an Orochimaru is, but I need you to trust me. You and I are one Hisa. I cannot possess you anymore than you could possess me. I am asking you to merge our spirits together. All of my power would be yours, and I will manage it for you so that you don't go out of control."

"By 'manage' you mean control my body, right? You can call it whatever you want, but if merging our spirits together means my identity and consciousness disappear forever, that the answer is no."

The Sage kept that gentle smile on his face, but his chakra became suffocating. It took every inch of her will not to collapse to the ground, but Hisa stood straight and started into the Sage's eyes. She couldn't be sure, but she thought she saw something gleam in them. Pride? Respect? She didn't know.

"I see. But I don't think that you understand what's at stake here. You have a duty as a shinobi, particularly as a shinobi of Konohagakure. Above all that, you have a duty to your family, to Naruto especially, and to the world."

"I know that, but like I said before, I don't really think that the world is in dire need of your return."

The pressure increased. Hisa gritted her teeth.

"Do you doubt my word?"

"No! I just think that you've been out of the loop for a long time. Look, the world is fine. I mean, it has Naruto looking after it. I meanwhile, am pinned to the wall by an insane and powerful shinobi, and would really appreciate if you could let me deal with that."

"I see." said the Sage, his smile replaced by a sorrowful expression. "You will trade your friend's life and the peace of the world for your own selfishness. You are not at all like the successor I imagined."

I guess he doesn't know about Nagato, Hisa thought, before she realised something.

"What friend's life? I can save Oki… can't I?"

"She's a second away from being stabbed through the heart, and she does not have enough chakra to survive that kind of blow. Unless you can break free and stop him, while dizzy from this encounter, all in less than a second… your friend is dead."

Hisa was now struggling to remain standing for an entirely different reason. She had already lost Kawa and her brother, and although he wasn't dead she had lost Nawaki. She wasn't going to lose Oki too.

"Could you save her?" Hisa asked, glad that her voice wasn't shaking.

"In a millisecond I could free myself. In a second I could have Obito a safe distance from Oki. Above all, I am positive that I can defeat him."

Hisa took a deep breath, but this time, her voice shook.

"When you possess me, will I still… exist? I mean, will I still have a consciousness?"

"I'm afraid I don't know." the Sage replied. "The only other soul I merged with was the Ten-tails, but he was just a mass of chakra. With another person, I cannot tell what will happen to your-our- soul."

"What will you do after you defeat Obito? Can you bring my brother and Kawa back to life?"

"The balance between life and death is a delicate thing, something that humans should leave alone. Although it is within my power to bring them back to life, I will not. After I defeat Obito, I will travel the world and make it a better place."

You don't even know what the world is really like! Hisa felt like screaming, but she held it in. She was shaking now, but it wasn't from the Sage's chakra.

"If I let you do this, do you promise to save Oki?"

"I will not allow Obito Uchiha to destroy any more lives. Saving your friend is part of that."

"And giving you my body is the only way to save Oki?"

The Sage finally let some annoyance show. Great work Hisa, she thought to herself, you managed to piss off a god.

"I'm not going to possess your body I'm merge-"

"Do it."

The Sage blinked once, but there had been no hesitation in Hisa's voice. Even so, he stared into her eyes, looking for the slightest hint of reluctance.

There was none.

He smiled again, and this time Hisa felt no fear. She was willingly giving him her life; there was nothing left to be scared of.

"It seems I was not wrong about you and your father. You are indeed worthy successors."

"I said do it." Hisa said. "Just get it over with."

The Sage nodded at her, and suddenly her eyes began to burn. She tried to close them, but the chakra pulsing through her brain made them widen instead. Her vision went black at the edges, and began to grow. The Sage's form blurred, and suddenly she was back in her usual training field. She could see Kawa and her brother lazily sparring nearby, and Nawaki and Oki were waving at her. Konohamaru and her parents were there too, smiling proudly at her.

He's giving me a happy vision to go out on, she realised. Then the blackness completely cloaked her eyes, and she knew no more.

!

The Sage of Six Paths, formerly a man known as Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, opened her eyes.

It took her a sixteenth of a second to adjust to her new body. It took her another sixteenth to figure out how Hisa's teleportation jutsu worked, and how to mark something with it. It took her another to mark the wall she was against and another to use her vast amount of chakra and sensory prowess to locate one of Hisa's special kunai. It was lying unused in the training field Hisa had fought Obito in, and she spared another sixteenth of a second to teleport to that field and then back to the mark she had placed on the wall, a feat that would have normally left Hisa without a single drop of chakra in her body. Obito was starting to look up, but the sword in his hand was still moving down towards the girl on the ground. The Sage teleported behind him, and with a quarter of a second left to spare, grabbed his arm and stopped the sword.

Obito's head spun around, looking completely surprised. Oki too, was staring up at the Sage in shock.

"Hisa?" she whispered.

The Sage spared her a glance, before disappearing with Obito.

The landed back at training ground, but Obito managed to slip out of the Sage's grip. He stumbled backwards, still staring up at the Sage in shock and the beginnings of fear, the sword falling on the ground between them.

"What did you do?" he whispered.

The Sage looked down at her hand curiously and flexed her fingers.

"I apologize." she said calmly. "I forgot what it was like not to have the Ten-tails chakra. It's quite a change; being this weak. Also-" she looked down at her body. "-I'm a lot… smaller than I remember. It took me a while to adjust. Unfortunately-" she stared up at him again. "-this meant that you didn't die instantly, which would have been better for both of us."

"You underestimate me again girl." Obito said, although it was clear that he did not fully understand what she was talking about, "You and I have the same doujutsu, but I am more experienced at using it. You should have learnt by now never to underestimate the Uchiha. You may have your teleportation kunai, but my knowledge of jutsu is far superior to yours."

"I'm sure it was." the Sage agreed, "Up until around a second ago, that is. As it stands now, it should take me between one to ten minutes to kill you, depending on how skilled you are with my stolen doujutsu."

"Your doujutsu?" Obito scoffed "Do you honestly believe that you are the Sage of Six Paths?"

The Sage smiled.

"Yes."

Her right arm turned into a machete, and in a flash she swung it at Obito. He raised his own hand to block it, turning it into a serrated knife. The Sage smiled interestedly, while Obito snarled, forced to use both arms to counter the strength of the Sage's blade.

"So you can use the Asura Path." the Sage commented. "It's such a shame that this body doesn't have the same strength as my old one. Once up on a time that blow would have cut your arm in half, blade or not."

Obito's eyes widened.

"Impossible." he whispered. "You… you can't be the Sage! You're just a little girl! How are you doing this?"

"Keep your focus on the fight." The Sage said calmly, stabbing her other hand through Obito's stomach before he even realised she had moved.

She pulled it out and glanced with interest at the lack of blood.

"I see." she murmured, "It seems that you have developed plenty of interesting new jutsu since last time. Excellent!"

She smiled serenely at him, while he stared at her as if she had lost her mind.

"I look forward to learning from you before I end your pathetic life once and for all."

!

"What's happening now?" Naruto asked, leaping onto another roof.

Hinata landed beside him, still clutching her son's body tightly against his chest. Naruto knew better than to offer to carry it. Hinata had stopped crying, but something had left her eyes. The gentleness that Naruto had fallen in love with had vanished, and all now her eyes were dull, clouded and dead. There would be a time and place for talking, Naruto understood, but now was not it. Now they needed to find their other child before it was too late.

Hinata continued to listen to her headpiece, before turning to Naruto.

"The ANBU found Oki. She's injured but it's not serious. She said Hisa and Obito were in the room. Obito tried to kill her, but somehow Hisa teleported both of them away." She paused and listened. "Oki said that there was something strange about Hisa when she grabbed Obito. Hisa stared at her and her eyes seemed… different. Wilder and more powerful but also shocked."

"Does anyone know where they are now?" Naruto asked.

Hinata repeated the question into her headset. More words came out of the earpiece, and then Hinata shook her head.

"Damn it." Naruto muttered.

He closed his eyes and focused, trying to find his daughter's chakra. He couldn't sense it in the village, but in the training ground…

Then it hit him: Hisa's chakra, only stronger and denser than he had ever felt it before. It almost seemed stronger than his own chakra. He felt Hinata stiffen beside him as the chakra swept through the village. Naruto growled in frustration. It was too dense for him to pinpoint a location.

"Hinata." he said.

"On it." she replied, activation her Byakugan and scanning the area, "It seems that the chakra is heaviest towards the training grounds. I-"

"Got it." Naruto interrupted, changing his direction mid-leap. "Get Obito's body to safety, I'll handle this until you arrive."

"Naruto…"

He turned and gave her a grin.

"Don't worry Hinata, I'll be fine! I won't fall for that bastard's poison trick again. No matter what he does, I'll come back to you with Hisa by my side. That's a promise."

!

Nawaki followed Sasuke, wondering if he actually knew where he was going, or was just heading towards the village centre. He decided that it was best not to ask. Sasuke seemed very tense, tenser than Nawaki had ever seen him.

Suddenly, Sasuke stopped running. Nawaki skidded to a halt next to him, wondering why he had stopped. A second later, he understood.

"What is this?" Sasuke muttered.

"It's Hisa's chakra!" Nawaki gasped. "Except… it's not."

Sasuke shot him a withering glare, before turning and running in another direction.

"Where are we going?" Nawaki called as he chased after him.

"The training grounds." Sasuke replied. "The Ten-tails is… stirring. It recognizes this chakra." He frowned. "This isn't good."

That, Nawaki thought, is the understatement of the century.