Hello guys here is a new chapter of the story. Now before we begin I would like to say a few words to you. I know that you want the updates to be quick but guys I am a post grad student and I am currently writing my thesis work so it's a little difficult to update quickly. However I will try my best. Also if some of you find the timeline a bit skewed as compared to canon please don't be angry I have tried to adjust it accordingly to fit in various elements.

Disclaimer: Of course I don't own Naruto or any of its original characters, Kishimoto does duh!.

Blah….normal narration/ character talking

Blah….normal narration/ character thinking

Blah…. Kyubi/summon talking

Blah…. Kyubi/summon thinking and Jutsus

Chapter 12

"So what did you have in mind?" Mikoto asked as they neared the border of Rain country.

"There is a small village near the border of the fire country. We will stay there for today while I will send a few shadow clones for scouting." Naruto replied.

"You mean under disguise?" Mikoto clarified.

"Yes, we will be posing as travellers going to the Wind country who want to spend a night in the village for rest." With that they jumped down from the trees and onto the main road entering the village.

They quickly applied disguises using Henge no Jutsu and entered a small inn.

"Can I have lodging for the night please?" Naruto spoke to the receptionist who was a middle aged man.

"You are in luck pal, we got a room left though it's the last one. I don't know for what reason but business has been good now a days, a lot of travellers coming from the fire country." The man spoke causing surprise to Naruto and Mikoto.

Naruto gave a meaningful look to Mikoto before they both went up to their room. The room was a modest one with a simple double bed, a couch, a small table with an attached washroom and balcony.

"Well you take the bed I will be on the couch." Naruto told Mikoto who was a little red in the face.

"What are you going to do now?" Mikoto asked.

"I will be sending the kagebunshins for scouting as well I will try to gather some information regarding those travellers. What did you have in mind?" Naruto enquired.

"Well not everyone has your stamina." Mikoto mentally kicked herself to how that sounded but she hurriedly continued. "I mean we made the distance in half time and I am really exhausted, so I will take a bath and retire to bed."

"Fine you do that. I will let you know what I find out." With that Naruto went out of the room.

Meanwhile Mikoto was going over the last conversation she had with her father.

Flashback…..

Mikoto had just entered her home when she spotted her father asking one of the servants to clean up the meeting area.

"What's up dad, did you have a meeting with one of the elders? Don't tell me they are badgering you to get me married." Mikoto was scowling by the time she had finished speaking.

"Mah mah Miko-chan nothing of that sort. In fact I just had a conversation with an intriguing young man." Kagami smiled at his daughter.

"WHAT? I mean what for surely you can't…." Kagami halted Mikoto's rant by placing a calming and on her shoulder.

"Nothing of that sort. Do you really think I would marry you off to anyone without your consent?" Kagami chided her in a light tone.

"Umm no." Mikoto replied in a mumble.

Kagami chuckled slightly before speaking "If you must know it was Naruto I was speaking to."

"Naruto? You mean Uzumaki Naruto? What did you want to talk to him about?" she questioned.

"Awww is my baby girl worried that I might have spilled some of her secrets to her crush?" Kagami teased.

"WHAT! I DON'T HAVE A CRUSH ON THAT BLONDE BAKA" Mikoto was now red faced and blushing.

"Hmm anymore loud and I think he might hear it, he just went out ya know." Kagami calmly watched as Mikoto face underwent a plethora of emotions before setting to a calm demeanour.

She took a deep calming breath and spoke "Those things aside what did you and Naruto talk about?"

"That my dear Miko chan is between me and Naruto." Kagami was now being outright teasing.

"Ugh don't tell me fine. I will finally find out by myself, hmph" She almost whined out.

"Hahahaha…anyways I find him a most charming young man. If he continues on his path I think he will be a powerful ninja. We might even see him in important roles." This left Mikoto wide eyed. Her father rarely praised someone and that too just after meeting them for the first time

"Also if you were to pursue this young man you might even have my backing." Kagami winked at Mikoto as she stood there with a bewildered look on her face, her mouth wide open.

Flashback end….

'Just who are you Uzumaki Naruto and what did you do that impressed my dad so much' Mikoto mused as she clutched her pillow tightly to her chest to remove a giddy feeling she felt.

################################the lost soul############################

Meanwhile one of Naruto's kagebunshin had dispelled and given him some good information.

'So they have a camp about 3 kilometres from here, I better check it out before planning out my next move' Naruto thought as he silently moved towards his recent destination.

He soon reached the outskirts of the camp. 'Well better make myself invisible, lucky I found out this little trick. From what Shi told me it makes me completely invisible to sensors.' He mused as he remembered the cloud Jonin who he had a brief meeting on turtle island. He closed his eyes and concentrated. Standing completely still and letting his breathing calm down, he focused on nature, and called its energy to him, and let it surround him like a warm blanket. It was just enough to coat him slightly, but not enough to give him his full range of Sage powers. He took out his binoculars and watched from the shadows the movements of the enemy. What he saw infuriated him to a great deal. The ninjas of the camp indeed wore Konoha headband along with standard ANBU uniforms, the only thing distinguishing them from normal ANBU their masks marked with kanji for ROOT.

'Damn that Danzo, the old fossil is using underhanded tactics to incite more war. I swear once the war is over I will kill that damn mummy.' Naruto's thoughts were rapidly shifting as he came upon several strategies to infiltrate the enemy base. He also noticed that a particular tent was being guarded continuously. He decided to trace the enemy movements for some more time. After half an hour when he was certain about the pattern of guards around the tent he shifted to a new location and continued his observation. 'I have got about two hours of light after which I can finally infiltrate under the canopy of night.' Suddenly Naruto stiffened as he got the shock of his life from the memories of another dispelled clone 'Well, shit has hit the fan.'

################################the lost soul############################

Before with the dispelled Kagebunshin…..

The clone cautiously crossed the border to the rain country keeping his eyes open for any enemy lookouts. 'It's a good thing that boss gave us enough chakra to last quite a while and even throw a jutsu or two.' He carefully made his way forward before he sensed a presence coming from the opposite direction. He quickly suppressed his chakra and waited in a shadow. The person soon came over and stood at some distance from him. He was a medium built person with red hair that shadowed his eyes. But the feature that distinguished him instantly was the cloak that he wore for it was black adorned with red clouds.

'Akatsuki.' Naruto realised with a jolt and there was only one person in Akatsuki that had hair like that.

"Come out. I know you are there even if you are suppressing your chakra." The red haired Akatsuki member called out as he took a defensive stance.

Naruto slowly moved out from his hiding place, his hands in the air in a surrendering gesture. With a grim look at the person standing in front of him he spoke, "Hello Nagato."

To say Nagato was surprised would be an understatement. He took in the stature of the blonde in front of him and spoke, "Who are you? What is a konoha ninja doing here inside Ame's borders and most importantly how do you know my name?"

"I know many things about you Nagato. I know you were a student of Jiraiya of the sannin along with Yahiko and Konan. I know that you are the actual leader of Akatsuki. I also know that you want to achieve peace and that is why you and Yahiko created this organisation in the first place."

With each of the blonde's statement Nagato's eyes widened in surprise. "H-Ho-How?" He stammered.

"I also know that you possess the rinnegan and that you lost your parents to Konoha shinobi." Naruto continued speaking keeping alert for any detrimental action on Nagato's part while the red head was now shaking.

"But those, how is this possible? I never told any of these things to anyone not even to Yahiko and Konan so how do you know all this? ANSWER ME DAMMIT!" Nagato was almost hyperventilating by the end of his questioning.

"It's a long story. Its better if we sit down for this. I never meant to tell anyone about this but I am trusting you with my biggest secret because I don't want to fight you again Nagato. I know that you have a good heart and I would hate to see you walk down that road again." Naruto was now looking Nagato directly in the eyes.

"What are you talking about? I have never seen you before in my life." Nagato replied.

"Yes you haven't not yet at least but you will in future." Naruto let out a deep sigh as Nagato looked at him flabbergasted.

"Are you really saying what I think you are saying?" Nagato narrowed his eyes slightly in suspicion.

"Yes Nagato, I am from the future. I was or will be a student of Jiraiya too." Naruto smiled sadly as he remembered the last meeting with his fellow student. "I know that it is hard to believe but I think I know something that would be able to prove what I am saying is indeed the truth."

Nagato simply nodded as Naruto continued to speak. "Let me first tell you how we met in the future."

He then went on to explain to Nagato all about Akatsuki, him being the leader after Yahiko's death, the invasion of Konoha and his subsequent defeat at Naruto's hands. Naruto became quite as he pondered how to put his next words carefully.

"I guess it's not the end is it? I mean I would be ashamed if my ending was like that." Nagato spoke with a rueful smile on his face.

"Heh, naah. You might not have been a hero but you redeemed yourself by reviving everyone you killed at the cost of your own life." Naruto smiled as he took in the surprised look in Nagato's eyes.

"I see…I see, so I did that. I am honestly relieved. What did you say to me that made me change?" Nagato asked.

Naruto shook his head slightly as asked in an amused tone "How did you know it was me who changed you? For all you know it could have been Konan who gave you a bonk on your head."

Nagato gave a grim smile. "I can tell because I know Konan very well. She would have supported me even if I went on the wrong path. And from what you have told me I see only one other person that could have impacted me to sway me away from the dark path."

"You told me that there was no such thing as true peace, as long we live in this cursed world peace can't exist." Naruto gave him a meaningful glance at this.

Nagato's eyes widened in surprise before sudden realisation struck him as lightening. "I see now. So that was it huh."

"Someday I will beak this curse, if there is such thing as peace I will seize it. I will never give up." Naruto spoke solemnly. "It was after that you decide to redeem yourself. But that wasn't the last I saw of you."

"What do you mean? You just said I died and I know that there is no way I could survive after reviving those many people and running low on chakra." Nagato speculated.

"You weren't exactly alive per say. There was a man who used a jutsu called Edo Tensei. It is a horrible jutsu that summons the soul of the dead in a temporary body. The person revived using Edo Tensei can't be killed as such. Their body will ultimately be reformed, they have to be sealed away." The grave tone in which Naruto spoke chilled Nagato for a moment.

"Umm so what happened then?" Nagato asked.

"You tried to suck out my soul using one of your paths. Uchiha Itachi who was your edo partner saved me. But amongst that chaos he separated a part of my soul that came in this world. I won't go into details as I am not sure myself but I know for sure this is a different world than mine and thus changing history for better wouldn't create a paradox." Naruto explained as he put his hands behind his head into a relaxed posture.

"That's one heck of a story to tell your kids." Nagato smirked but his expression turned serious. "So what are you doing here? I mean you couldn't have come here to meet me?"

"You are right. I came here to investigate the rumours that Konoha shinobi were pillaging the adjoining villages. There has been no such orders from hokage so we came to check it out." Answered Naruto.

"There have been attacks on the villages no doubt about it. That's why I brought along Akatsuki to see if things can be settled peacefully. There has been a meeting scheduled between Hanzo the salamander, the leader of Amegakure and I think someone called Danzo from konoha." Hearing these words Naruto's soul was shocked.

"Nagato you can't go to that meeting." Naruto's tone was bone chilling.

"What? But if we don't the dispute will not be settled." Nagato retorted.

"Nagato, I am pretty sure this is the meeting in which Yahiko was killed." There was a pin drop silence at these words.

"Explain"

"You told me that you were betrayed by Danzo and Hanzo which lead to Yahiko's death after which you donned the Pein persona. Tell me have you seen Konan recently? Naruto enquired.

"Umm no. She went on a recon mission 2 days ago." Nagato's voice was filled with desperation as he realised the situation. "So you are saying they already got her?"

"Yes. I am not sure but I think there might be some moles in Akatsuki. Don't worry about Konan.." Before Naruto could say any further Nagato interrupted him.

"DON'T WORRY! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN DON'T WORRY?" He shouted out.

Naruto silenced him with a look. "What I meant was that I think I have already found out her location. One of my fellow Kagebunshin dispelled recently and boss will be scouting the area as soon as I dispel."

"You are a clone too?" Nagato was surprised. "But you have much more chakra than a clone."

"I am a reinforced Kagebunshin and boss's chakra levels ae higher than a kage. I promise you that I will rescue Konan. You worry about tackling problems at your end. Weed out the moles before they take down your organisation. Proceed with meeting only after I have rescued Konan, till then stall for time." Naruto seeing Nagato was about to interrupt him raised his hand to stop him and continued. "I will send you a message using messenger fox. It will come only to you."

"Fine I will do as you say. The plan seems alright but if you mess up I will…" Nagato's threat was stopped as he saw the determined look on Naruto's face.

"I will not let my comrades die Nagato. And one more thing, in this meeting we are taking down Hanzo." Naruto said determinedly.

"Are you sure it will be wise to take on a kage level ninja?" Nagato questioned.

"I am sure we can manage. Can you use all your paths?"

"Yes but I still can't use Deva and human path properly."

"Hmm well we will manage. Here is what we will do…" With that Naruto quickly explained the strategy he had come up with. When they both were satisfied with the results they quickly nodded to each other before Naruto dispelled and Nagato went back to his camp.

################################the lost soul################################

With original Naruto…

'Well things could have been worse, now let's begin the infiltration' He quickly Henged himself into a ROOT agent and quietly slinked along the outskirts closer to the camp. He soon grabbed the opportunity when one of the ROOT ninja came near his position for a regular patrol. He jumped out from his position and with a quick slice from Wind chakra laced kunai he decapitated the ninja. He sealed the head in a storage scroll and checked the body for any relevant information. Not finding anything other than a slip of paper with the kanji for 'ripple' he removed the tanto from the body and put it on his back to complete his disguise. Forming a kagebunshin he ordered it to dispose of the body once he was far enough. He proceeded forwards till he came upon a tent. He checked for guards and not finding anyone guarding it he ducked into the flap.

'Well well just my luck'. To his good graces he had stumbled upon the supply tent. 'This will do perfectly for my distraction.' He then took out a number of explosive tags from a seal on his arm and planted them all over the place. 'Okay onto the next part now.'

He quickly moved out and proceeded to patrol memorising the camp layout. 'From what I have seen the camp consists of around 40-50 shinobi. Shit, I will be hard pressed to get away along with a prisoner if I am detected.' He found a secluded corner and pulled out his fuinjutsu supplies. 'I am damn lucky that mom taught me to prepare containment seals. I will make sure to thank her for this.' Once he had completed 5 seals he started moving again when suddenly a voice stopped him.

"Hamon (ripple), what are you doing here? You were supposed to be at guard duty by now. Didn't Tora relieve you from the patrol?" The shinobi asked him to which he simply shook his head in negative. "Well get going I will call Tora here."

As soon as Naruto turned around the ROOT ninja stopped him again, "Aren't you forgetting something?" Naruto gave him a blank look although it couldn't be seen with his mask on.

"Your ID, you have to show it to me before you are dismissed." This had Naruto sweating bullets but on a gamble he pulled out the same slip he had relieved from the now dead ROOT ninja and handed it over to the officer. "Hmmm this seems to be in order. Now get going." With a short curt bow Naruto left thanking his lucky stars that he had avoided detection by the skin of his teeth.

He looked around to see if anyone was watching him. Seeing that he was alone he created two kagebunshins and had them transformed into rats which he slipped into his pocket. As he neared the tent where Konan was supposed to be kept, he pulled out the transformed clones and let them go. While he himself neared entrance the clones entered the tent from other side. One of the clones went up to check if the prisoner was Konan not someone else. She was bound gagged and unconscious, with a few bruises marring her beautiful face. The clone quickly checked her for seals and found a chakra suppressing seal on the nape. Once he was sure he dispelled transferring the information to the original. Naruto stood on the entrance with another ROOT ninja, probably Tora according to the earlier officer. He counted the minutes when the second clone created a noise by tumbling the bucket kept for Konan.

"You hear that." Tora spoke to Naruto.

"Hai. Let's check it out." Naruto spoke in a low hushed voice keeping it as bland and emotionless as possible." Tora stiffened slightly but took in the lead and went inside the tent. As soon as he entered the tent..

SQUELCH

Tora gurgled out the blood as a tanto pierced his neck from behind.

"That was too close" Naruto whispered out and heaved in a deep breath. He stepped closer towards Konan and gently removed her restraints. He also removed her cloak while covering her in his own. He then put on a stasis seal on her and put her in the containment seal.

Naruto then formed a familiar cross seal to create a reinforced Kagebunshin. "Henge into Konan, keep in mind the seal on your neck. Play along and don't do anything suspicious"

"Hai boss." The clone replied as it changed into Konan and wrapped the cloak around him. Naruto then proceeded to apply the restraints and gags on the clone.

When he got some distance away from the camp he made a ram sign and the supply camp blew up.

################################the lost soul################################

When he returned to his room he saw that Mikoto was not there. With a sigh he brought out Konan from the containment seal and removed the stasis seal he had placed on her. He then gently laid her down on the bed and poured some water down her throat. He pulled up a chair to sit beside the bed. Slowly her eyes flickered and she awoke from slumber to find herself staring into bright azure eyes.

"Hello." Naruto greeted her with a small smile as he sat beside her.

"Where am I? Who are you?" Konan was panicked.

"Please calm down. You are safe now. My name is Uzumaki Naruto and I am a friend of Nagato." He gently helped her to sit by providing support using the pillows.

"How can I be sure that it's not a trick?" She looked at him with suspicion.

"Well you are laying in a comfortable bed and you are well free." Naruto grinned at her. Konan then realised that she was not in the tent but in a modest room of an inn. She blushed at her folly.

"Thank you." She said in a small voice. "I am Konan."

"I know." Naruto smiled at her. "I had a rather long conversation with Nagato before I went to rescue you."

"You are a konoha shinobi." She stated to which Naruto simply nodded. "Why are you helping me, I mean those were konoha ninja too who captured me in the first place."

"Let's just say those were the sum of Konoha who don't work under Hokage." Naruto casually replied. "They work for a pest named Danzo and he wanted to sell you guys out. I mean the Akatsuki and since you are one of the leaders so they wanted to manipulate you for their own goals."

"Thank you. It seems I owe you a lot more than I had imagined." Konan softly replied.

"Umm no problem there. There is nothing about owing and all, after all I was just doing my duty." Naruto sheepishly scratched the back of his head.

"You know, you are a lot like my friend Yahiko." Konan smiled at the blonde.

"Well once this situation is solved I would sure like to meet him." Naruto spoke.

"I would be glad to introduce you two. Who knows our friendship might be the bridge to the good future of both out villages." Konan bowed her head slightly.

"If only a beautiful lady like you were to extend the offer of friendship, half of the disputes between various villages will be solved automatically." Naruto replied in a cheeky tone and Konan's cheek were tinged with pink. "Well I will go out and bring you something to eat. Till then you can take a bath. I will ask my teammate Mikoto to get you something to wear other than those dirty clothes."

"Umm this is.." She looked down and saw the cloak she was wrapped in.

"Yeah that's my cloak. I had to remove yours as I needed it for a decoy." He then noted a glint in Konan's eyes and quickly added, "I swear I did not do anything ungentlemanly to you."

"You don't seem like a pervert to me but still I had to be sure." Konan giggled a little finding herself surprised that she was feeling at ease with this foreign ninja.

"Anything special you would like to eat?" Naruto asked her.

"No thank you. I wouldn't like to abuse the hospitality." She replied.

"It's no biggie, I am partial to ramen myself."

"Naruto-san anything will do, please don't be bothered."

"Okay if you say so." He began to get up when at the same time Konan too got up. However she was too woozy and swayed on standing suddenly. She flung out her arm to grab a support and in the process grabbed Naruto who stumbled from the unexpected contact. He caught her safely but the momentum caused them both to fall down. They ended up in a rather compromising position with their limbs entangled and Konan straddling Naruto.

"Oww.." Naruto mumbled as he opened his eyes to find himself staring into a pair of bright amber orbs. His face flushed upon noticing their compromising position. Konan too blushed heavily at their intimate position. It was at this moment when the door of the room opened and Uchiha Mikoto came in.

"Ah Uzumaki you are….." Mikoto began but whatever she was going to say went out of her mind as she took in the scene before her.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING UZUMAKI? She bellowed out.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Well here we are people, how was the chapter guys?.I made this one extra long as compared to the chapters till now and I will try to increase the lengths of future chapters as per requirements. What do you guys think about this one?So any suggestions or questions for me just send a pm or put in the review.

I would like to tell you all that this story is nearing 25K views mark. With 300 followers and 200 favourites I am quite glad to see the response. I know compared to others it is a little low but then I am not amongst the best of the writers but still I will try my best

I would also like to extend my regards to all the dedicated readers who show their support. Thank you so much guys it really means a lot. I would also like to apologize for not replying to recent reviews as I was busy writing this chapter so I will be replying to all the reviewers real soon….CHEERS

Justsu List

Henge no Jutsu : Transformation technique

Edo Tensei : Impure world resurrection