DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything from the Naruto universe and I'm sorry for the wait. A/N at end of chapter.

Thinking (+ flashbacks, "Naruto speaking to Kurama in her mindscape," etc.)

Emphasis

Bijuu, etc. speaking

Bijuu, etc. thinking

Neji glared at Tsume-sama - his stepmother, may the gods help him - fiercely. "I will not allow you to tattoo my little brother's cheeks!"

"Relax," the Inuzuka clan head drawled, totally blowing him off. "Yokoito-chan won't get his fangs until he's four. Well. He'll get his real fangs sooner, of course, but that's more my problem than yours, eh, pup?"

Neji wanted to groan but his father looked so peaceful and happy as he thoughtfully gazed at all of them. And he supposed that it was quite fair since Tsume-sama had to deal with fangs while she was nursing his greatly cherished little brother. He only wished that Yokoito-chan would've come earlier in his life. He glanced over at the Hokage who had come to visit them and then jerked a little, quickly looking back at him again.

The man was radiating excitement.

"May I hold him, Neji-san?" Minato asked eagerly. He'd been dying to hold the babe again for the last fifteen minutes. Neji carefully passed him little Yokoito and Minato sat down, cooing at him. The corners of his lips pulled up involuntarily: Jiraiya-sensei had been right!

Now that the baby was a little older, it was clear that Yokoito-chan had quite a lot of (in the future rather straight, Minato guessed) dark brown hair and dusky purple eyes with elongated pupils. Oh, they were hard to see but they were definitely there. He smiled up at the happy couple and at the babe's aggravated older brother. Neji had been on extended, back-to-back missions (he'd have to talk to Kakashi about why that was) and hadn't seen him before today - but Minato's duties had also left him unable to meet his two good friends and their new baby for quite some time now. He winked at Neji and chuckled. "It's good to be Hokage, ne?"

Neji couldn't help but smirk until his Tsume called Minato-sama a brat. He clicked his tongue and shook his head at her audaciousness.

"Maa, Tsume," Minato said, giving her a hard time, "you can't call the Hokage a brat." -Even "back in the day," the woman had only been a few years older than him. He supposed that now it was different.

"Shut up, Minato. Ohhhhh, how I long for the days when you called me senpai…"

"Really?" Minato asked.

"Fuck no, I'm too old for that and am GLAD you're my Hokage."

Minato smiled up at the couple before winking at Hizashi. "She can be quite charming when she wants to be!"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?! I'm charming every fucking second, you yellow-haired…"

"Tsume-sama," Neji groaned, interrupting her, "please refrain from cursing in front of my little brother. Oh, and in front of Hokage-sama, of course."

Hizashi raised an eyebrow at his oldest. "Lighten up, Neji."

Neji groaned and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

.

Nagato grimaced and pushed his hair back. "So now there is no doubt that Uchiha Obito is a traitor as much as Uchiha Madara was once to Konoha." Konan had just returned from outside of the country. Her report included details of the Uchiha's kidnapping of Uzumaki Naruto, the nine-tails jinchuuriki.

Uzumaki… My clan. Even the idea of having blood-related family out there made Nagato feel something he hadn't felt in many years: fear. And hope? –No, he'd previously hoped for peace. He had worked for peace! Now he feared (and hoped) that he might really have a family. If he had a family, that brought the fear he'd both known as a child and on that horrible day when they'd lost Yahiko: the fear of losing them.

Konan nodded. While disgusted that the man posing as Madara, Obito, had betrayed their cause, Konan was glad that Nagato had finally used the shinobi's real name. "Will you tell me your thoughts?"

Nagato smiled and nodded, shaking his hair back again so that he could look her directly in the eyes. "Of course; you don't have to ask." He reached his senses out to ensure that they were alone. "We will sign the peace treaty." Konan's grin was a blinding response. If I had known I could make her smile like that, I would've done something like this a long time ago. He laughed at himself and hid behind his hair again. -Not that he'd admit that.

"Oh, Nagato: this is so exciting! That treaty will help Ame in so many ways!"

Nagato slowly bobbed his head once, agreeing with that but lost in his thoughts.

"And will you allow Tsunade-hime to heal you?"

Nagato blew out a breath he must've been holding. "Look at me, Konan. It's impossible!" He raised his hand to make her understand - although she, of all people, should really know better than to think he could be made whole. "I haven't been able to use my legs in decades and these rods," he continued, idly gesturing toward his back, "allow me to control my six Paths. These paths assist me in my daily needs, following your wise advice, while also providing intelligence on and security to the village. I cannot control them without these blasted things. I cannot summon the statue…"

"You won't need to! And surely you're not saying that I'm incapable of helping you! Or that just because you can't use your legs you can't be useful!"

Nagato figured that he'd better choose his next words carefully. Konan looked like she was going to blow a gasket. She normally wasn't like this but he did remember the fiery girl that she used to be: that side of her was usually only seen in battle. "Konan, I am a shinobi. Surely you can agree that a shinobi who can't use his legs isn't an effective shinobi."

"Anyone can become disabled, Nagato. Millions of shinobis and civilians have lost limbs or their mobility; the ability to use a limb; there's mental instability: the list goes on and on. You can adapt. Isn't that what you've done ever since this happened?"

"But how can I protect Ame? How can I do this and strive for peace?"

Konan huffed as her mind raced with possibilities. She had been so excited by Tsunade's willingness to help him. "Become the daimyo."

Nagato stared at her blankly. "What?"

"Become the daimyo! It's a different way to protect the entire country and we've been without leadership since long before Hanzo's demise."

Nagato crossed his arms over his chest, deeply wanting to resist this idea, almost on a cellular level. "Daimyo," he huffed in amusement. "Ha. I suppose I should mourn Kakazu's death, considering the financial considerations such a position would require. Most daimyos are in power only because of money or political influence, often handed down through the generations."

"You have immense influence, Nagato!"

Nagato supposed that was true, however, "I've never shown my true self. Yahiko is the face of the God of Ame. I doubt that anyone would follow… this," he said, gesturing to his emaciated form.

Konan's face soured. "Yahiko is dead." It hurt to say but it was far past time to. "It is time to let him rest. And I never knew you to be so self-conscious."

Nagato couldn't help but smile. "So even you have things to learn about me, ne?" Konan blinked at him several times and obviously wasn't going to let this rest; he could tell by the jut of her jaw. When did she get so stubborn? "Alright. DON'T get too excited! I'm only agreeing to allow Senju Tsunade-hime to examine me. –I suppose we can go forward from there." He shook his head, wondering if this was the right thing to do. He didn't particularly like questioning what had, for years, been his unwavering ideology and decisions. "And if she threatens me, I will kill her, Konan."

Konan sucked in a breath, then another, and then another! "YOU!" She raised her fist and shook it at him. "She's trying to help you and… Damnit, Nagato! As soon as you're healed, I'm going to kick your butt!" She stormed out in near tears that he didn't see.

Nagato stared after her, stunned and almost speechless. "What a woman."

.

Training with the toads was going well, Naruto thought. She'd finally managed the Toad Binding technique and had enjoyed trapping Jiraiya in it.

It was odd because the real toad the gigantic esophagus and stuff came from was definitely sentient. He didn't talk but if Naruto summoned him, he'd trap anyone she wanted him to, even Jiraiya or her father (the other toad summoners.) It could also simply hold whoever she told him to while digesting her prey. She guessed that's why she and Sasuke had been safe in her first life while Itachi and Kisame had been forced to run for their lives. –Had Itachi not had Amaterasu back then, they would've been digested. The technique took a very specific amount of chakra to pull off when not in Sage Mode; if Naru channeled any more or less, she always seemed to summon another big toad instead.

Now she had it, though. And now, apparently, it was genjutsu time. Oh, the horror!

Ma and Pa still couldn't fully fuse with her but Jiraiya had another technique up his sleeve: one that was supposedly the strongest genjutsu technique there was anywhere!

"Behold," a saged-out, big-nosed Jiraiya bellowed as Naru began to flip out inside a barrier she wasn't expecting, "this is the Demonic Illusion: Toad Confrontation Chant!"

"You stuck me in a barrier!" It was terrifying and she couldn't move. She was in a transparent box between four samurai-armored, massive toads.

"Yo, Naruto," they all said at the same time inside of her head.

Great: more voices in my head. "Yo! Please don't squish me! Um… I thought we were doing genjutsu. Wait! Is this a genjutsu?" All four toads looked at each other. Their mouths were moving. She tried to rub the back of her head, embarrassed that she hadn't introduced herself yet. "You seem to know me but I haven't had the pleasure of getting your names and meeting you!"

"Naruto," Jiraiya scolded hotly (still in his show-off kabuki pose on top of one of the huge toads,) "pay attention!"

"You do realize that you're in a water barrier, don't you?" Naruto sucked in a breath full of water and then began choking like crazy. Kurama chuckled before closing his eyes again - and went back to sleep so that he didn't further suffer the indignity of toads. Honestly, if she wants genjutsu help, she should ask the foxes.

Jiraiya released the jutsu and waited for his granddaughter to catch a breath. "Could you hear the toad song at least?"

"Kinda? I mean, I certainly heard Ma and Pa singing earlier. I… Wait a minute! How can a genjutsu be a physical barrier?"

Jiraiya shrugged. "The toads have created a multitude of techniques that many can't imagine, Naruto."

"That is not helpful." Jiraiya clicked his tongue at her as he had a seat on the ground with her. "Why could I speak before but then I suddenly choked on the barrier?"

"Your mind and nerves were paralyzed inside the jutsu."

Naruto tilted her head sassily. She had talked while in the barrier, so how was that possible? Unless she only thought she had spoken? Was it the genjutsu that made her think she had? "Were they, though?"

Jiraiya gave her a deadpan look. "Yes, you cute little idiot. We should try it when you're in sage mode, though - to see if you can break out of it like that. …Naruto, you've mastered Wind and you're well on your way to mastering water. By the time I'm finished with you, you'll be able to nearly breathe water." He frowned when he saw the way her expression fell. If he didn't know better, he'd think that she was afraid. "What is it?"

"I don't exactly remember," she whispered as she began to close in on herself, "but I think I drowned once. I know Itachi pulled me out and um… gave me mouth-to-mouth." Jiraiya grasped her shoulder and looked miserable. "I'm sorry. Hey! That was in another life probably, yeah? So what do I need to do?"

It didn't go well. Naruto had hope, though...

There seemed to be no hope when it came to the foxes. Every week - every single damn week - she spent at least an hour in their forest, and every week the big ones would just mess with her, refusing to train with her. They KNEW how much Naruto needed their help. They didn't seem to have a hard time believing that she was the toad's "Child of Prophecy" but felt that was "Toad Business" that didn't concern them

"You shouldn't put so much stock in a prophecy, summoner," Lei said wisely. Naruto looked pensive about it as she led her toward her skulk's tunnel to Fire Country. "The prophecy is causing you anxiety…"

"What's causing me anxiety is that I've been reincarnated and haven't finished off the organization in the current life I'm lucky to have - the organization that may have once killed all life on this planet."

What's also causing me anxiety is that I'm not pregnant yet and my husband's gained a breeding kink. –Her summons (or anyone else for that matter) didn't need to know that, though. "I need your help to fight them!"

"We know," Lei said, looking her up and down. "Agreeing to work with you doesn't mean more training for you, summoner. If you call on us in a dire situation, some of us will be there. It is as simple as that."

Naruto blinked up at the fox, wondering why she hadn't said so before. "It doesn't feel right to just expect you to show up if I haven't been doing my part."

Lei raised an eyebrow at her and then pointed toward a cave. "That leads back to the village. Go see."

Naruto frowned at the cave. This was definitely a setup. "Fine." She took a few steps in and leaned her hand against the wet cave wall. "I should still come by and see you, though, right?"

"Please don't," Lei said before smirking. "Go on." She waited until the human was well into the cave before setting off her trap. She heard the human scream as her end of the cave closed. "Stupid human."

Naruto crawled out of the little fox hole 15 minutes later, hating them so much. Lei hadn't been lying, though. Unlike the Toad's Mountain, the Fox's Forest was connected in at least one place to just outside the village. It made Naru nervous, making her feel as if Konoha and the foxes weren't safe.

She got out of the hole and watched it close back up somewhat. Now it just looked like a normal animal lived there. The blonde reached out her senses and figured that she'd better get back before people started wondering where she was. Her father and Kakashi teleported right in front of her. "So the new sensor barriers work, huh?"

Minato looked into the treeline, blowing out a stream of air. "What are you doing out here, Naruto?" He waited for Kakashi to stop checking her for injuries and smelling her, finally whacking him with his glove when he began getting fairly handsy right in front of him. "Take it back to your place, you two." Naruto shrieked as his student disappeared with her. "Why did I have to say that?"

"So," Kakashi said as he unzipped her jacket. Naru let it drop down her arms, making him suck in a deep breath. She was driving him crazy lately: almost all he could think about was sex or cuddling! "Why were you outside of the village by yourself?"

"Fox stuff," Naru grinned. "And maybe checking the barriers. OW! Kash!" He'd bitten her again. She turned on her heel, (slapping him with her long hair,) and walked toward the kitchen to grab some water. "Are you hungry?" Kakashi nodded, wanting to go into details about that but he'd let her nibble on something first.

He trotted over to be closer to her. Cradling her cheek, he asked what he hoped she'd say no to. "Are you tired of me?"

"No way! Why would you even think that?"

"I've been… kind of an animal lately. Or at least... needy"

Naru grinned, thinking it was cute the way that seemed to embarrass him so much. "Yeah, you have." She put an arm around him while she snacked on sliced apples. "That's fine. I don't want you to be any way other than yourself with me."

"Even if things get… weird?"

Naru giggled: it came out more like a snort. Kakashi wasn't all that weird or truly perverted although he thought he was - or maybe they just equaled each other in their kinks/ideas. He didn't ask her to do anything too weird or that she didn't want to do and never forced her to do anything. He liked a certain degree of bondage because he was so damn bossy, she figured - and liked different positions, mostly. "Are you holding back on me?"

"How?" Kakashi asked genuinely.

"I don't know," she replied, enjoying how he had her pinned to the countertop he liked the height of so much. His kisses were very distracting. "I just don't want you holding back in the fantasies you might have."

Kakashi kissed her deeply after licking all around her mouth and making her gasp. "We can explore if you'd like! But I don't seem to be able to properly plan around you. Or I forget my plans: it's very irritating sometimes, really."

Naruto's nose wrinkled up. "How about a spar then?"

Kakashi pretended to think about it. "Maa, I guess I can do that. Let me go change." Naruto didn't get it; he had his uniform on.

He soon came back downstairs shirtless and what he told her was some kind of fisherman pants. To Naruto, they looked like those awesome, fancy samurai-type things he wore whenever he dressed up but were a little see-through.

"You've got a nosebleed," Kakashi teased. "Does that mean I win?!"

Naruto blew out her cheeks. "Not yet it doesn't!"

Days later just outside of the summons' Foxhole -

Nagato and his paths followed Konan back to Konoha to sign the peace treaty. He was scheduled to have an examination from Tsunade-hime - he had no hope of being healed but decided to go along with it for Konan's sake. Thankfully, his eyes made him a powerful enough threat that Minato-sama should take him quite seriously.

If Konoha reneged on the treaty, Nagato would go back to his original plans.

He disappeared into the cocoon Konan had made for him when he sensed a very familiar chakra signature.

"Halt. State your name and your intentions for entering this territory."

Nagato answered through Yahiko's body. "My associate is in Konoha to sign a peace treaty with Minato-sama. What are YOU doing here, Uchiha Itachi?"

Itachi sighed behind his ANBU mask, guessing that he might have to fight to save his own life if not try to save the village from this megalomaniac. Shisui should be escorting the Suna ambassadors back to Konoha from their meeting place and boy, did he wish he was here. "My understanding is that Konan-sama is with Hokage-sama as we speak. Konoha wasn't expecting you, Nagato-sama." He and Nagato's puppet jumped when a vortex opened behind them.

"Maa, maa," Obito began as he released his associates that he brought to the party, "what do we have here? Traitors everywhere! If you'll allow me, I need to retrieve someone." He disappeared again.

"Yo, Itachi-san," Kisame grinned as he watched a little fox bury itself underground. "So this is where you disappeared to."

"Kisame, don't do this."

A/N: Sorry for the wait! While I was ready to continue writing this chapter or another one almost a month ago, I simply couldn't make up my mind about which plot point I wanted to hit next. I lazily thought about it for so damn long that I came up with a new idea for this point in the story which was totally unhelpful to the process. I suppose that only time will tell if I made the right or wrong choice. Let me know if you absolutely hate it (oh I bet there are more than a few people that are excited to do exactly THAT: haha) because I really do value your input. ESPECIALLY this late in the story believe it or not!