Opening - Alones by Aqua Timez

Kimimaro breathed in, and opened his eyes.

For a brief moment before he opened them, he expected he would see an empty, sterile white room with a locked door, perhaps even a completely hidden one. No way out, nowhere to hide a weapon, nothing to use as cover against an enemy jutsu.

What he saw, however, was very much a livable room. He was stretched out on his back, on a soft bed that certainly wasn't a hospital cot. The blankets were charcoal grey with thin blue stripes, and the two pillows beneath his head were white.

He sat up, and noted that his shirt had been changed, replaced with a slim grey long-sleeved one with mesh armor sewn in. He noticed then that his shirt from Oto hadn't actually been taken away, instead it was hanging from his waist since he'd unwrapped his torso to use the Shikotsumyaku.

He pulled the shirt up and slid the sleeves on over his new shirt, then stood and looked around. ...Where am I? I must have been captured by Konoha, since Kabuto intended for me to die. He certainly would never nurse me back to health- Kimimaro froze. Wait. I'm... I feel... healthy! My sickness is gone... does that mean I'm dead? Is this the afterlife?

He glanced at the window letting light into the room, perplexed. No... I'm definitely alive. But why hasn't Konoha put me under some kind of surveillance? He hesitantly made his way to the door of the bedroom, and turned the doorknob, gently pushing it open. The door isn't even locked...

"Hey, he's awake!" Naruto called from the floor below.

Kimimaro blinked. How could he... "Where am I?" he called, and extended a blade of bone from his right palm. "What's going on?"

"You're in my house," Naruto admitted as he rounded the corner of the hallway ahead, shortly followed by Hinata and Sasuke. "You're in Konoha."

Kimimaro paused, and hesitantly retracted the bone into his arm. "Why haven't you locked me up?"

"You already know you're not going anywhere," Sasuke replied bluntly. "It's not like you can get away."

"Teme, I'm supposed to do the talking," Naruto muttered. "What he means is... we could use your help, and I was able to convince Hokage-sama that the best way to get it would be to earn your trust. Besides, once you know the situation, you'll probably want to help us anyway."

"What about my sickness? What happened to me?"

"Hokage-sama cured your disease," Hinata replied with a faint smile.

Kimimaro's eyes widened. Cured? After a few moments of silence, he spoke up again. "I just have one more question. What happened to Kabuto?"

"He ran away after you passed out," Naruto answered.

"That means he's still alive... and Orochimaru-sama is still under his control." Kimimaro scowled, and clenched his fists. "Fine. You don't have to convince me; I'll help you fight Oto. But in exchange, I have two conditions."

"None of us here can make any promises, but go on," Naruto prodded.

"The first is that Orochimaru-sama will be spared. If he's ever sent to attack Konoha, we'll capture him alive. After Kabuto is killed, we set him free."

"That's... a little much," Naruto admitted.

Kimimaro ignored this. "The second condition is that we make a move to capture one of Orochimaru-sama's subjects, my friend Juugo of the Scales, as soon as possible."

"Do you know where this guy Juugo is?"

"Yes," Kimimaro answered promptly. "I know exactly where he is."

"Then I'll talk to Hokage-sama about this myself, but I can't promise anything," Naruto replied. "Find something to do here, to keep yourself busy, but if you try to leave the house the ANBU will capture you and put you in a properly secure room. See ya." he turned and left.

"...Hn." Sasuke watched the Jinchuuriki vanish from sight, then turned back to Kimimaro. "There's something I have to do, which means you'll be left alone with her." he nodded to Hinata. "Here's my advice. If you raise a hand against her, Naruto will destroy you so thoroughly that it'll be almost like you never existed. Assuming she doesn't do it herself. So behave, and wait for him to get back."

"I see. Go on, then. I'll stay here and keep myself busy."

"Hn." Sasuke turned and left, vanishing around the corner of the hallway and quickly heading for the front door of Naruto's house. Once he was outside, his Cursed Seal of Heaven spread a black flame pattern over his skin that eventually covered his whole body, continuing directly into the second stage of his transformation. He stretched his bladed wings, then swept them downward to take off and fly toward the Hokage Monument.

As expected, Jiraiya was waiting exactly where he said he would, beneath the stern gaze of the immortalized Third Hokage's likeness. What was unexpected was the presence of that same crow as before, this time resting on his shoulder.

Sasuke landed before Jiraiya in a crouching position, and withdrew the power of his Cursed Seal. The crow blinked down at him, then cawed loudly. As he rose to his feet, he noted with suspicion that the crow never took its eyes off him for even a moment. Its attention was focused completely on him for some reason.

"...I don't know what's really going on with that crow, and right now I won't bother to ask," Sasuke began. "All I want to know is why you've called me out here. I would've had a date if not for this."

Jiraiya chuckled quietly. "Don't worry; it's definitely worth your time." He shrugged his shoulders suddenly, and the crow unfurled its wings with another caw before taking off. "That's right, find someone else to follow around all day," Jiraiya told it, and it promptly landed on Sasuke's shoulder.

The last Uchiha looked down at the bird on his shoulder with evident disdain. "So this is a crow summon... so, were you there when my brother killed our clan?" To his surprise, the bird looked away and down toward the ground. "Hn. It can understand me, then. I'll take this as a yes." he turned back to Jiraiya with a faint scowl. "What do you want?"

"I want to train you over the next few years. It's a favor to a friend of mine."

Sasuke blinked. He wants... to train me? This could be promising, but I need to know more. "Who was it?"

"Naruto. I was originally going to train him to fight the Akatsuki, but then he joined the ANBU, and something even more important is going to happen in two years. He needs to be in the village then."

"In the village?" Sasuke questioned. "So that means you want to take me away from this place."

"...If you're up for it, we'll be heading to the border between the Lands of Fire, Rice, and Iron."

"The Land of Rice... that's where Oto is," Sasuke noted. "You want us to move against Oroc... Kabuto."

"Exactly. We'll have to make our first move quickly, because Oto will probably be a mess for a short while after Kabuto reveals he's taken power. Our goal isn't to assassinate him, though, it's to steal what we can from Oto. They took our Scroll of Seals; so we're gonna take stuff back. Steal Orochimaru's experiments, free his test subjects, maybe wreck some buildings... that sort of thing."

"Hn." Sasuke allowed himself to smirk. I think Kimimaro is going to like this. "So what's our interest in the Land of Iron, then?"

"...Did you know that each clan of ninja animals that we summon has what you might call a Hidden Village?" Jiraiya asked. "My toads live in a jungle far away on Mount Myouboku, and no one's ever found the Shikkotsu Forest or the Ryuuchi Cave, where Katsuyu and the Snake Clan live, respectively. I believe that there's an animal clan living in the Land of Iron, but I don't know which one. If we were to find it and bring a copy of its contract back to Konoha..."

"I see," Sasuke said simply. "Well, I've made my choice. I'll go with you, but only if my team is okay with it." The Uchiha noted with interest that this suddenly drew the crow's attention, and its gaze turned back to him in an instant. "I'm sure Kakashi-sensei will understand, and Lee would want me to do it, but I'll ask them anyway. As for Sakura... well... I'll just have to go ask her."

Sasuke turned to leave, and the crow fluttered from his shoulder back to Jiraiya's. The Toad Sage watched his potential apprentice leave, then turned and addressed the crow. "Dumbass. If you keep this up, the kid's gonna get suspicious."

"I'm well aware of that," Itachi replied. "I had to see him; you should understand that."

"So what do you think?"

"He's getting strong... no, that's not quite right." Itachi paused and ruffled his wings thoughtfully. "It's more like he's finally developing into someone who can become strong... he didn't have this potential the last time I saw him, in Tanzaku. Take good care of my foolish little brother, Jiraiya."

"For now," Jiraiya replied, just before the crow took off. He watched it fly away, and grumbled, "Sooner or later, you'll have to do it yourself."

X

"So, um... like this?" Sakura reluctantly held up her right hand, which was wreathed in a soft blue glow.

"That's it," Shizune nodded approvingly. "That's a chakra scalpel. Now, it really isn't of much use to you without proper medic-nin training, but once Tsunade-sama gets over her hemophobia, you can really start learning to do incredible things with medical ninjutsu. Now, I'm going to show you the Mystical Palm, or the Healing Jutsu as it's called these days. Again, it's simple to just do it, but to do it with enough skill to use it is much harder. Watch..."

Sasuke pushed open the doors of the Hokage's office, immediately drawing Sakura's attention. The pinkette grinned. "Sasuke-kun!" she called cheerfully.

"Sakura, listen, I-"

"Wait, I-"

"-have something to tell you..." both of them fell silent, then continued, "You first." After another awkward pause at that, they went on.

"Jiraiya-"

"Tsunade-sama-"

"-offered to train me-"

"-over the next three years..."

"Whoa, hold on," Shizune stepped in. "Slow down, and take turns when you talk. Sakura, why don't you go first?"

"Right. Well, um... Tsunade-sama wants to train me to be a medic-nin. But that's not all!" she grinned. "She says I have enough chakra control to have super strength like she does! Three years from now, I'll be just as strong as you and Lee, maybe even Kakashi-sensei too!"

"That's great, Sakura," the Uchiha said honestly. He continued, "I got a similar offer from Jiraiya, but the catch is that he isn't staying in the village." Sakura blinked. "If I go with him to train, I'll be gone for three years. I couldn't just accept that offer without talking to you first, and so soon after what happened with Oto... I haven't even mentioned it to Kakashi-sensei or Lee yet; I came looking for you as soon as Jiraiya told me about it. I..."

Sasuke blinked as he found himself wrapped in a hug from Sakura. "How long until you leave?" she asked quietly.

"I haven't said I will yet. I won't, if you're not okay with it."

"D-Don't try and joke about this, Sasuke-kun," Sakura briefly stammered, shocked at that statement. "This is Jiraiya of the Sannin we're talking about. You have to train under him." she paused then, and blushed as a thought occured to her. "Just promise me that when you come back, you won't be a goofy pervert like him."

Sasuke snorted. "As if he could corrupt me. You don't have to worry about that."

"Good. Then go, and remember not to fall behind me," she grinned. "I've spent years idolizing you, and I can't even imagine a world where I could beat you in a fight, so don't let me get ahead of you."

"Hn."

X

"Hey, Hinata-chan! Kimimaro!" Naruto called as he stepped through the front door of his home, "Great news!"

Kimimaro dropped down out of nowhere in front of Naruto. "What is it?"

"Uh..." Naruto looked up, and noted the solid, smooth roof above. "How'd you do that?"

"Chakra control, obviously."

"But I didn't see you," the future Hokage insisted. "I should have easily seen you hanging from the ceiling with chakra control. And what the hell were you doing up there, anyway?"

"I was training," Kimimaro replied. "So what's this good news?"

"Baa-chan... eh... Hokage-sama says she's okay with your terms. We can capture Orochimaru alive and let him go once Kabuto's dead, but there were a few conditions..."

"Conditions?" Kimimaro's eyes narrowed.

"The biggest one is that he'll have to tell us about all of Oto's jutsu before we let him go."

"I... see..." Kimimaro scowled. "I should make it clear that I'm opposed to it, but I really don't have any better options. What about Juugo?"

"The Pervy Sage is gonna lead some raids against Oto over the next few years, apparently. You could go with him and retrieve Juugo. If you go with him, you'll be heading out of the village in less than a week." Naruto paused. "Wait. Where's Hinata-chan?"

"She's over there," Kimimaro pointed his thumb over his shoulder, aiming it down one of the hallways. Naruto nodded and headed in that direction, noting the faint sounds of splashing water coming from the swimming pool. She's swimming? He opened the door to the pool, and saw Hinata standing on the surface of the water in a Gentle Fist stance, facing away from him and panting. She was wearing her barrier armor, which was dripping with pool water.

Naruto blushed. "...Hina-chan?"

Hinata glanced over her shoulder, but her attention then immediately snapped back to her opponent, which turned out to be... another Hinata. And another. Naruto's blush darkened as each water clone appeared, wearing the same skintight, drenched barrier armor, until finally there were a total of six Hinatas. His eye twitched for a moment, then a torrent of blood spurted out of his nose. Hinata saw it coming with her Byakugan, and dodged. The blood then struck one of Hinata's clones with all the force of an elemental bullet, dispelling it.

The five remaining Hinatas all stopped sparring and turned to Naruto with wide eyes. "N-Naruto-kun, are you okay!?" They sprinted to his side and crouched around him, and the real Hinata gently shook his shoulder. "Naruto, say something!"

"...My girlfriend knows how to make solid clones..." Naruto giggled dreamily, staring off into space with a thin line of blood still trickling from his nose. "And that outfit..."

"Um... Hinata?" one of the clones spoke up, and the other four turned to her and noted her crimson blush. "I think Naruto-kun is... thinking perverted thoughts..."

The real Hinata, along with the other three clones, then turned bright red. She dispelled her clones with a wave of her hand, and they splashed apart. She took a moment to glance down at her soaked barrier armor, and she evaporated the water away before gently slapping Naruto's cheek a few times. "Naruto, snap out of it. I dispelled them."

"Eh?" Naruto groaned and opened his eyes. "Wha'happened?" he slurred. "Wha... Oh." A blush to rival Hinata's own appeared on his cheeks. "S-Sorry about that."

"It... it's fine," Hinata replied hesitantly. "Are you okay now?"

"Yeah," Naruto replied, and rubbed the sides of his nose. "I'm okay. So, uh, those were water clones, right?"

"Mhm." Hinata nodded, and helped Naruto to his feet. "I've been using them to practice my taijutsu against multiple opponents, and it's working. My reflexes are getting better."

"Cool." There was another awkward silence before Naruto went on, "I really am sorry, ya know."

"Don't be." Hinata giggled even though she was still flushed bright red. "In a way, it was actually kind of funny."

Naruto chuckled sheepishly, then blinked as a thought occured to him. "Oh, right, I almost forgot!" he pulled a scroll of his coat pocket, handing it to Hinata. "Check it out!"

Hinata unfurled the scroll to find a list of names. With the exception of Naruto's name at the top, each had a small storage seal next to it. Hinata opened the one next to her own name, and a bronze ring similar to the one she already wore popped free. "This is..." her eyes widened as she read the engraving on the outside. "So, all of these names are..." she trailed off as she read down the list, noting that there were a total of ten.

"Yeah. Awesome, huh?"

Hinata nodded. "Mhm. Awesome. Do they all know about this?"

"I told Gaara and Tenten on the way here, and Shikamaru probably deduced it this morning," Naruto replied.

"You saw Shikamaru this morning?"

"Nope."

Hinata paused, then giggled again. "But... this last name here... do you really think he'll..."

"Why wouldn't he? It's not like he'd have a problem with it."

"I guess so." Hinata blinked, hearing a knock on the door. "Hm?" she rolled up the scroll and tucked it into her pouch, following Naruto toward the front door.

Sasuke stood there with his hands stuffed into his pockets, striking his usual pretentious 'I really don't care' pose. "I'm going to attack Oto with Jiraiya over the next three years. You'll have to come along and help us find your friend."

X

"It's time."

Nagato Uzumaki clasped a hand over his bleeding left eye socket, panting. With his remaining right Rinnegan eye, he flicked his gaze between the other three Akatsuki members in the room. Kisame Hoshigaki seemed openly pleased with this turn of events, and Tobi's expression was unreadable behind his swirling orange mask, as usual.

Zetsu, on the other hand, whose white half now bore the left Rinnegan eye, seemed terrified. "I... I don't want to," White Zetsu spoke up timidly. "Make Nagato do it! That was the plan, wasn't it?"

Silence, you idiot, Black Zetsu growled. Nagato is useful to Madara-sama. You aren't. How dare you question your orders?

White Zetsu whimpered, and shakily brought his hand up to meet Black Zetsu's in a seal. "O-Outer Path... no please, don't make me-"

Rinne Tensei, Black Zetsu finished, and detached himself from his white half.

Nagato's remaining eye widened as White Zetsu hunched over and was engulfed in an otherworldly green light. Before him, a similar surge of light appeared and began to take shape.

White Zetsu groaned helplessly as his life force was drained by the jutsu, and the light around him faded while the one in front of him grew far more intense, filling the room and forcing the others to look away.

In a single instant, that light winked out, and the room was silent for several seconds.

Then the clinking of ancient plate armor echoed throughout the room.

Welcome back, Black Zetsu knelt before the resurrected ninja. Madara-sama.

"...Zetsu." Madara gently reached up to touch his eyelids. "I've been brought back without my eyes... that's disappointing."

I have one of them right here, Madara-sama. Black Zetsu rolled his white half's corpse onto its back, and pulled the left Rinnegan eye free before reaching out to hand it to Madara.

The first missing-nin took the eye and fitted it into his left eye socket. "Ah... much better. My vision is a little blurry, but I can fix that easily enough." the Rinnegan pattern shifted away and was replaced by a swirling, red and black Eternal Mangekyou, which then reverted to the basic Sharingan. "Yes. There we go."

"Madara-sama," Tobi inclined his head in a slight bow, "We brought you back early."

"Hn?" Madara glanced around, noting the presence of Nagato and Kisame. "How early?" he turned his gaze to the Gedo Statue behind Nagato, and his eye widened slightly. All nine of the statue's eyes were closed. "That's... you haven't caught a single one yet, Tobi. I'm disappointed. So what exactly prompted you to bring me back so early?"

"There's someone else with the Rinnegan," Tobi said shortly, and Madara's eyebrows slid up to signify his interest. "The Nine-Tails Jinchuuriki, Naruto Uzumaki. Right now, he might be Jounin-level at best, but when we're ready to make our first move in three years..." he trailed off meaningfully.

"...He might be fun to dance with," Madara decided. "A Jinchuuriki with the Rinnegan... there hasn't been anyone like that since Mito Uzumaki. I'm sure he'll never hold a candle to Hashirama, but still... we're going to leave the Nine-Tails until the very end, as I planned. By that time, he might be able to keep me entertained for a while. What Path does he have?"

"...Actually, Madara-sama," Kisame spoke up, "We don't know how many he has. When I fought him he used Shinra Tensei, and he also summoned a few other ninjas with the Animal Path. He summoned the Nine-Tails too, but we thought that it was a normal summon since he only summoned part of its chakra in a one-tailed form."

"Hn. Anything else?"

"We fought him a second time, and he used some kind of Asura Path jutsu that throws giant curved blades."

"Three or more Paths, then," Madara mused. "Maybe... could he be...?"

"What is it?" Nagato questioned, still panting.

"The Uzumaki Clan's Rinnegan normally doesn't have all seven Paths... Mito had the most of anyone I know of. She had six of them, but the Outer Path always eluded her. It's more normal for an Uzumaki to be born with a maximum of two Paths, and the Deva Path in particular is rare. This boy... something gives me the feeling that he might have all seven."

"But what about my eyes?" Nagato continued. "I have all seven Paths."

"That's because these eyes aren't an Uzumaki Rinnegan," Madara replied. "I evolved my Sharingan into these by combining my Uchiha DNA with Hashirama's own. I fused the two bloodlines of the Sage of Six Paths to awaken these. They're perfect, exactly like the Sage's own Rinnegan." Madara stepped toward Nagato, reaching for his remaining eye. "Which reminds me, I'll be needing that."

"Wait," Tobi spoke up in a voice that sounded almost bored. "Nagato is still useful to us, after all we went to the trouble of sparing him and using Zetsu to bring you back instead. He's gotten quite skilled with those eyes you left behind."

Madara lowered his hand from where it had been inches away from Nagato's remaining eye. "...Hn... I suppose I could make do with this eye."

"Oh, that won't be necessary either," Tobi continued. "We have spare Sharingan eyes in storage; it's a simple matter to transplant one of them into your remaining socket. Now I have to ask, how does it feel to be back from the dead?"

"It feels good to breathe again," Madara smirked, "to taste the air. I can feel my blood pumping through my veins, and I have an insatiable urge to wield my chakra again after so long..."

An aura of blue light and fog began to surge upward around Madara, taking the form of a human ribcage built from transparent blue chakra. After a few moments, the Susanoo grew into a full skeleton around Madara, whose upper body stood about fifteen feet tall. flesh and skin wove itself together over the bones, and a suit of armor grew into place to complete the Uchiha's ultimate defense.

"...This next step was always difficult," Madara grumbled, but after a moment the armor of the Susanoo changed shape again, and it grew to a height of around thirty feet. The armor became much smoother and flowing, almost like a loose, hooded robe. "Now, settle down," he added, and clenched his right hand into a fist. The Susanoo then completely stabilized, taking the form of a giant ethereal samurai holding a sheathed katana in two of its four hands.

"Yes... I've missed that feeling," Madara remarked, and his Susanoo crumbled away after a moment. "I can only imagine how much fun it'll be, to show the world that I've returned!"

X

Meanwhile in Konoha, Naruto shivered.

He was moving through a particularly dense section of the forest outside of Konoha, occasionally using his Empty Wind for a short burst of extra speed. Damn, what was that cold wind just now? he asked himself silently, but he kept moving. That felt like a bad omen of some kind, but it's not like I can back out of this. Baa-chan's waiting for me.

He shook his head slightly, then used an Empty Wind to cross the rest of the distance between himself and the meeting place Tsunade had chosen. He found her there, seated and leaning her back against a tree.

"...Naruto," she spoke up shakily, "What if... are we doing the right thing here? What if they don't want to come back?"

Naruto closed his eyes, and his hands fidgeted gradually into loose fists in his coat pockets. "...I don't know. There's no guarantee this is even gonna work, but either way, they're not here to tell us whether they want it to happen or not. There's only one way to know for sure, but if you don't want to go through with this..."

"No," Tsunade replied quickly. "I do. I'm just scared to think of how they might react, but... I'm ready to do this whenever you are."

Naruto nodded. "So where are they?"

"They're here," The Hokage's voice cracked as she pulled a scroll out of her pocket.

Naruto took it gently, and unrolled it to reveal two storage seals, each with a name above it. Nawaki. Dan. "Okay. Here we go." he laid the scroll on the ground and unsealed the two skeletons within, one of which was clearly a child's body. He closed his eyes for a moment, then called, "Naraka Path."

The King of Hell emerged from the ground behind Naruto, and opened its mouth. "What brings you to summon Enma-sama?" it rumbled.

"I need you to try and restore these two bodies," Naruto replied as he stepped out of the way.

The King of Hell narrowed its eyes."Enma-sama will take them in, and it will be done."

Naruto's eyes widened as a thought occured to him. This thing isn't Enma at all! All along, it hasn't been talking in third-person, it's been referring to someone else!

Arms of skinless flesh reached out of the King's mouth, pulling in each piece of both skeletons. The demon began to chew them, and after several seconds it opened its mouth to let two human bodies tumble free. Both of them wore the clothes they'd had on when they died.

Tsunade gasped, and made her way to Nawaki and Dan. "K-Kami! It's like they're just sleeping!" she breathed, suddenly filled with hope.

"Alright, now it's time for the next step," Naruto replied, pointing to the great swirling fuinjutsu laid out on the ground north of them. "The Edo Tensei ritual. You have to be the one to do it; I don't know the jutsu."

"R-Right." Tsunade gently scooped Nawaki's body into her arms, and carried him to the center of the ritual seal before starting to shape the first of the hand seals. "Tiger... Snake... Dog, Dragon..." she clapped her hands together, and called, "Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation!"

Nawaki breathed.

Tsunade lost all sense of calm, and ran to her little brother's side with a sob. "N-Nawaki! It's really you!" weeping, she crouched next to the disoriented boy and cradled him in a hug.

"...Tsunade-neechan?" he asked numbly. "How'd I get here? Everything feels so cold..." he blinked and looked up at her. "You grew up, neechan."

Tsunade smiled weakly, and sniffled. "Y-Yeah, I grew up."

Nawaki looked over his sister's shoulder, spotting Naruto and the King of Hell. "Eh... who's that, neechan?"

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki," he waved and flashed a cheery, vulpine grin. "Nice to meetcha."

"Come here, Nawaki, we have to get out of the way," Tsunade picked up her brother and cradled him close to her chest. "Naruto, can you...?"

"Yeah," he said simply, and tapped into his purple chakra for the strength to pick up Dan's body and lay him where Nawaki had been. "You're up."

"I know..." she formed the hand seals again, quicker this time. Nawaki watched with interest and confusion. "Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation!"

Dan gasped and sat up, wide-eyed. "Where am I!?" he called immediately. "...Wait... Tsunade, is that you?"

"Yes, it's me," she smiled, and stroked Nawaki's hair softly. "We're trying to bring you two back, Dan."

"You're..." he glanced to Nawaki, then to Naruto. "What have you done, Tsunade? I've heard stories of this jutsu, the Edo Tensei... you've gone so far as to use human sacrifices for this?"

She closed her eyes and shook her head, still smiling even as the tears rolled down her cheeks. "No, I didn't. I knew you'd hate me if I did that. I'd even hate myself for it... that's why I waited until I found a way around that loophole."

"Tsunade, I could never hate you," he answered, and stood to make his way toward her. "But you must understand, this jutsu violates reality itself. I'm not alive right now, Tsunade. My whole body is cold... I'm just controlling a corpse."

"So that's what this feeling is," Nawaki murmured.

"Normally that would be true," Naruto spoke up, drawing everyone's attention, "and that's what I'm here for. You haven't actually been brought back to life yet, and I'm hoping I can complete the process."

"It is a simple task for Enma-sama," the demon behind Naruto remarked. "Your souls are bound very near to where they should be in your bodies. All it takes is a simple adjustment, to fit it into place completely, and then you will live again."

"Who are you?" Dan addressed the Jinchuuriki.

"I'm Naru-"

"He's the next Hokage," Tsunade told him, "and the new Sage of Six Paths. He can do this, trust him. Trust us."

Dan closed his eyes for a moment, then sighed. "You've brought us this far... what's a little further?" he approached Naruto wearing a sad expression. "Do what you must, Fifth Hokage-sama."

"Eh... actually I'm not gonna be the Fifth," Naruto admitted. "baa-chan already is. I'm gonna be the Sixth."

"...baa-chan?"

"Tsunade," Naruto clarified.

"...I see..." Dan turned to Tsunade, who looked up at him with tears still glistening in her eyes. "So we've been dead for a very long time, then. And Tsunade, you became the Hokage... our dream lived on through you..."

Nawaki chuckled softly. "You actually let him call you baa-chan?"

"It's not like I can stop the brat," Tsunade grumbled. "But that doesn't matter right now. Nawaki, I need you to trust Naruto, and do what he tells you to finish the reincarnation. Then you won't be cold anymore."

"Just step inside the King's mouth," Naruto gestured to the demon, "and when you come out you'll be alive again."

"...But neechan... that's a monster... some kind of demon." he hugged her tightly.

"I understand that you're scared, Nawaki," Tsunade smiled softly, "so I'll go in with you. I'll keep you safe."

"...Okay. I trust you."

"Mhm." Tsunade stood easily, despite holding Nawaki close to her chest.

"Neechan... you're really strong."

"Maybe I am, but you're not very heavy, otouto." She strode into the mouth of the King of Hell without hesitation. "Dan, come this way."

"Right." he followed her into the demon's mouth, and it closed around them.

Naruto waited with held breath, until several seconds later the King of Hell opened its mouth again. Tsunade stepped out with Nawaki in her arms, and Dan followed her. All three were very much alive.

"It worked."

X

"So much has happened..." Hinata smiled up at the sun rising over Konoha. "Ever since we became Genin, so many things have happened to us... It's like all of it was waiting for us."

"That's a scary thought," Naruto smiled as well. The two of them were standing in front of the gates of the village, side by side.

"How so?" she turned to him, curious.

"Imagine what kind of trouble's waiting for us once I'm the Hokage, and you're the Hyuuga Clan Head." she blinked. "I mean, sure we can handle it, ya know, but by that time we'll be in charge of the village. We'll have to clean up the mess after all the crazy stuff goes down."

"It's like you said, though." she slipped her arm around his waist. "We can definitely handle it."

"Hn." Sasuke stepped past them and through the gates. "Don't get so emotional. It's not like this is the end of something. It's only the beginning."

"Maybe so," Naruto admitted, "But this is still an important moment either way."

Sasuke heard footsteps behind him, and he glanced over his shoulder to see Gaara, Tenten, Haku, Kiba, Shikamaru, Chouji, and Sakura approaching him in a group. While the rest of them stopped and stood next to Naruto and Hinata, Sakura continued toward Sasuke and pulled him into a passionate kiss. His practiced and prized poker face completely fell apart, and he blushed deeply. "Sakura..."

"Go kick some ass, Sasuke-kun," she told him bluntly.

"Ah, young love," Jiraiya remarked as he walked past the two. "Come on, Sasuke, it's almost time to go."

"Kimimaro isn't here yet," Sasuke countered, and returned the kiss. "So there's no rush."

After a few seconds of uninterrupted kissing, Sakura's blush began to darken. "Sa...Sasuke, maybe we should stop now..."

He broke off the kiss to point out, "We won't be able to do this again for another three years."

She remained silent for a moment, considering this, then shrugged. "Good point; come here."

The other young shinobi began to blush faintly and find something else to look at, until Kimimaro showed up a short while later with a Konoha headband on. "Jiraiya-san, Sasuke-san, it's time to go."

"Hold on a moment!" Tsunade called sternly, and all eyes turned to her. The Hokage was smiling, flanked by Dan in a full Jounin uniform, and Nawaki who was borrowing the Hokage's hat at the moment. "Sasuke, Jiraiya, Kimimaro. Your mission is to infiltrate the Village Hidden in Sound, and take from them whatever you can. This is a declaration of war."

"Yes, Hokage-sama," the three answered in stereo.

"Go forth, and show the world that Konoha hasn't grown soft. Oto has made us their enemy, and we will make them pay. Furthermore, the 'Otokage' Kabuto Yakushi has allied himself with the missing-nin organisation called Akatsuki. They are now our enemies as well. Make them quiver with fear!"

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

"And now, I believe Naruto has something to say before you head out."

Naruto stepped forward, and tossed a small glinting object to Sasuke, who caught it. "Welcome to the team, teme."

"Hn?" he glanced first to Sakura, who smirked and held up her right fist to display an identical bronze ring on her middle finger. "What is...?"

"Look around, Sasuke-kun," she grinned.

"We all have one," Gaara displayed his own ring. Tenten, Hinata, Haku, Shikamaru, Kiba, Chouji and Naruto all followed suit. "This makes ten of us, now."

Sasuke turned over the bronze ring in his hand, and a smirk appeared on his face as he read the engraving. "...Tch. Fine, I'm in. It's not like I can say no."

"What does that engraving say?" Jiraiya asked curiously, although he already had a guess.

"Let's just go," Sasuke replied in a low voice, and began walking away from the village as he slipped the ring onto his finger. "See you in three years, everyone."

"Hold on," Jiraiya caught up in an instant. "I'm serious, what does it say?"

Sasuke lazily lifted his right hand to display the engraving to Jiraiya, who took a moment to read it since it was written in a foreign alphabet. When he translated the phonetic writing silently, he couldn't help but laugh. "What's so funny?" Sasuke questioned, irritated.

"Oh, nothing," he chuckled. "It's just... I can't believe he really went through with this."

"Hn. So you've heard this name before." Sasuke read the inscription again, letting the morning sun glint off the writing set into the bronze. "Does it mean something to you?"

"Oh, yeah. I definitely remember the first time I heard that name."

NINKEN.

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