Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Weirdly enough, I'm probably going to end up taking inspiration from Final Fantasy XVI for tailed beast fights in the future. The scale of their boss fights with the Eikons felt appropriately big each time.

Chapter 35: Running the Razor

'This was a dead end,' Naruto couldn't help but complain to himself as he found himself escorted out of Senju Clan territory by Nawaki.

It had been a long shot that he would have ever managed to get any information on jinchuuriki and tailed beasts from Tsunade, but he figured it had been worth a try. That still didn't make the lack of progress sting any less, especially since he had wound up arguing with the woman. He hadn't intended to get into an ideological debate with her, but she went and insulted his father and his life's work.

No. That wouldn't have worked. Tsunade probably would have seen a lack of response to obvious slights as a sign of weakness. Then again, she definitely took his reaction to her attempts to rile him up as a sign of weakness. It was more likely that she just perceived everyone around her as weak or inconsequential. She seemed to be the type.

Either way, it was back to the drawing board. Naruto didn't think he had time to innovate a method to better work with Kurama. Not with the Alpha Clan and their two jinchuuriki encroaching ever farther south.

After thinking to himself and to Kurama for much of the trip, Naruto noticed that they were in an area that he didn't recognize, "This isn't the route we took on the way down," He pointed out.

Nawaki looked back with a smile, "Yeah. I figured since you didn't get what you were after from sis, we might as well take a little detour. Field trip!" He exclaimed, waving his hands excitedly.

Naruto simply stared at the man before squinting his eyes, "...Are you gonna kill me?"

"What?" Nawaki exclaimed, nearly missing a step on the next branch ahead of him out of shock, "No! Why would you even ask me something like that?"

Naruto looked around at their surroundings, "Because this is the middle of nowhere, which seems perfect for getting rid of my body... or making sure nothing important gets destroyed when I fight back," He said, with a leading tone, making it clear that if a fight occurred, he would not make it easy.

"Well, that's not why we're here," Nawaki insisted. Naruto, however, waited for the verdict from his tailed beast partner.

"He's telling the truth," Kurama confirmed for his jinchuuriki's benefit, "Still, be cautious. There's something about this place..."

Kurama didn't need to finish his thought for Naruto to feel his apprehension, "Where is this?" He asked Nawaki.

Nawaki had taken them to a massive waterfall that seemed more carved into the landscape than naturally occurring. It definitely had the familiar trappings of an old battlefield. There was also a latent feeling of malice hanging in the air that was palpable for Naruto, due to his connection with Kurama.

Nawaki let Naruto get a good look around and soak in the atmosphere before answering his previous question, "Welcome to the Valley of the End," He eventually said, "This is damn near sacred land as far as the Senju and Uchiha clans are concerned. This is the site of the final battle between Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara."

Upon the uttering of those names, and the familiarity of the location, something rattled loose in Kurama's mind, "That's what it is!" The titanic chakra monster bellowed inside of Naruto's head, "Here! This place! I remember now!"

Naruto was quick to solicit Nawaki on his partner's reaction, "Kurama remembers something. He's kinda freaking out."

Nawaki nodded a hummed as he stared out and surveyed the valley, "Makes sense. Madara and grandpa went all out, you know," At that, he gazed at Naruto from the corner of his eye, "Madara even got the Nine-Tails to fight alongside him."

'You fought Hashirama Senju!?' Naruto thought loudly to Kurama, 'That would have been a handy piece of information to have before I decided to ask his grandkids for help on how to use your fucking power!'

For a meeting with Tsunade, the only thing worse than being a jinchuuriki could have been being a jinchuuriki of the tailed beast that had played a part in the most notorious battle of the greatest Senju Clan shinobi's life. He'd never had a chance of walking into that parlay and getting anything out of it.

"I didn't remember at the time!" Kurama shouted back, "And it wasn't my choice! It was that accursed Sharingan! And that damnable woman! Yes, I remember everything now!"

Naruto frowned as Kurama continued to rant inside of his head, "He's saying something about a woman."

"My grandma," Nawaki remarked, familiar with who Kurama was likely referring to, "Uzumaki Mito."

Naruto let out a heavy breath through his nose. He knew the Senju and Uzumaki clans were closely tied together throughout history; it was something that was common knowledge to every Uzumaki Clan child brought up in Uzu no Kuni. The reminder of such was merely an annoyance to him. Some family. Clan affiliation had never done much for him.

"My prison!" Kurama snapped in return.

Nawaki studied the obvious change of Naruto's facial expression, reading what he was likely learning from listening to the biju within him, "Granny Mito was jinchuuriki of the Nine-Tails before you were. Before I was born, even."

He then stood and waited, watching as the information sank in for Naruto. It seemed to move through the boy's entire body before spilling out volatilely, "WHAT THE FUCK!?"

Naruto's booming shout sent birds scattering for miles around. Yet another reason that Nawaki had taken him far away from civilization to have this conversation with him. He had expected nothing less. Naruto was an incredibly expressive young man, to say the least.

As Nawaki waited him out, Naruto paced around, letting his anger move his feet. The biggest incident that had colored the direction of his life, the thing that had followed him around since he was a child, and the more he learned, the more he realized that he was less of an anomaly in the shinobi world than everyone would have painted him as.

"If your grandmother was a jinchuuriki..." Naruto seethed, "...If she was just like me, then why did Tsunade-? Why would she-?"

"-I know," Nawaki said, "Believe me, kid. I know," He sighed, "She's just handling things the way grandma would have wanted. She was the one that pushed the perception of jinchuuriki to what it is now."

"But she was one."

"And she hated it."

Uzumaki Mito, had been a stalwart of the old ways. A kunoichi of the old time Uzumaki Clan, to whom sealing techniques were the pinnacle of her clan's contributions to the shinobi world, sealing a tailed beast away within a person had been the sort of thing that had always been intriguing, yet reproachful in practice. Only when the Nine-Tails had been set upon her husband in the midst of a life-and-death battle did she find a good enough excuse to put long-studied techniques into practice – to try and push her personal knowledge of fuuinjutsu forward.

Tailed beasts had tended to stay away from humans since time immemorial. There had been little opportunity to so much as study them, as most turned hostile when they discovered people nearby.

Nawaki seemed contrite for the actions of his predecessor, "Grandma regretted that decision every day afterwards. Living beings were not meant to be imprisoned within other living beings. It was an abomination in her eyes. She herself was an abomination in her own eyes."

Every ounce of Kurama's enmity, his sadness, his fear for his future, she was privy to it all. She was the only one who could have been. She felt every negative emotion through their bond, almost as though they were her own feelings. Those feelings never left her, even when she adjusted her seals, fortified them, hardened her heart as she knowingly locked down a living creature tighter and tighter – a creature whose only crime was falling under the thrall of Sharingan eyes.

Nawaki continued, "She didn't talk about being a jinchuuriki much. Grandpa never asked her to use it, so she never did," Not that she ever would have wanted to, "Most people didn't even know. Definitely no one I can think of outside of the clan. But everyone read her writings."

Uzumaki Mito's writings denigrated the practice of creating jinchuuriki. It fit with the existing narrative of tailed beasts being living disasters and monsters. She wrote these works that spread across the Elemental Nations for the rest of her life; her exceptionally long life.

"This sounds like serious clan secret stuff," The kind of information that people didn't come off of easily. The kind of information people didn't just get to walk away after learning about, "...Are you sure you're not gonna try to kill me?"

Nawaki shrugged in response, "Like I said, it wasn't ever a secret. It just... never came up."

Without being privy to particular details and never seeing it for oneself, who would think that the number one voice against the creation of jinchuuriki actually had been one? Only the most major conspiracy theorists of the time. While Hashirama never saw anything wrong with his wife's jinchuuriki status, she herself was ashamed of it.

But all of this new information merely posed new questions for Naruto.

"So... if Kurama was sealed in Mito, how did he get out?" Naruto couldn't help but ask.

Nawaki took a moment to consider how best to answer, "...How much do you know about the Alpha Wars?"

Not much, honestly. Naruto had never been a historian. Anything he knew of the Alpha Clan had been learned after recent dealings with them, "Decades ago, the Alpha Clan tried to invade from the north. The Senju Clan stopped them," Naruto said, trying to give a summary of what little he was privy to.

At that, Nawaki let out a bitter laugh, "No. We couldn't stop them," He said, running a hand through his hair as he reminisced, "I was just a kid back then, nowhere near the front lines. But... do you know what makes our clan so strong? Diversity in technique."

This, Naruto did know, "The clan of a thousand skills."

Nawaki seemed pleased that Naruto was aware of the origin of their clan name, "We're considered masters of all forms of the ninja arts. We don't tend to specialize as a whole, not the way other clans do. That's how we can go up against just about any clan and come out on top. It doesn't work as well when you're basically fighting against dozens of clans with skills spread out across every discipline. Means whatever weakness we try to exploit with our skills, they bring in someone to cover for it. That was how they neutralized our advantage and wore on us with numbers."

Naruto couldn't help but notice that Nawaki seemed to be stalling, but he was the only one talking, as Kurama had gone silent.

Nawaki shook his head as he continued to tell the tale, "We were losing. Hashirama died years before, Tobirama was stuck carrying the lion's share of the war effort, and the Alphas were coming. So, Mito... she slipped behind their lines by herself and... undid the seal."

She released the Nine-Tails behind Alpha Clan lines, a move that almost undoubtedly killed her. Nawaki didn't say as much, but just as much could be gleaned from what he hadn't said. Naruto couldn't even imagine what had to have been going through her head to do such a thing, nor the level of chaos such a thing would have caused.

"The Nine-Tails getting free flipped everything onto its head," Nawaki said, "The Alpha Clan's lines shattered. They panicked and tried to fight it, it took out a ton of them, but it didn't rampage so much as it just ran away. By then, we'd launched our own attack against them. We pushed until the Alpha Clan routed, and the rest was history."

The Alpha Clan fled back north, more concerned with consolidating their own strength in Kaminari no Kuni than expanding beyond after their crushing defeat. Subsequently, there were no recorded sightings of the Nine-Tails for years. Not until it wound up being sealed inside of Naruto.

"There's more to most stories than just what everyone is told, kid," Nawaki said.

"Yeah..." Naruto replied, "Tell me about it."

XxX

(Northwestern Mountain Range - Sarutobi Clan Archives)

When Sarutobi Asuma managed to pull out of the attack against Namikaze Minato's unified village in one piece, he figured that would be the end of it. The rest of the Guardian Ninja, except for his friend Chiriku, had all been obliterated. He and Chiriku though, slipped away and went their separate ways, with the promise of staying in touch down the line.

What followed had been something of a vacation. Being a monk, Chiriku returned to the place of his training, the Fire Temple, while Asuma returned to his own birthplace. Asuma hadn't been home in years, plus, having your entire team wiped out and losing a steady source of income was as good an excuse to take a break as far as he was concerned.

The turmoil and troubles of the Elemental Nations seemed so far away within the confines of the Sarutobi Clan Archives. But the reality was that those troubles could reach them just as easily as anyone else, even locked away in the mountains as they were.

Given the current scenario Asuma found himself in, that might have been a little dramatic. Still, having affiliates of the organization that wiped out yours come to find you on your own home turf seemed a decent enough reason to feel that way.

When Hatake Kakashi came to find him, he almost expected a fight. Whether there were rules against fighting between enemy shinobi while on Sarutobi grounds or not, one didn't see Namikaze Minato's most loyal follower and expect to exchange simple pleasantries with him.

"You didn't come all the way here to finish the job, did you?" Asuma asked, lighting up a cigarette as he leaned on a railing overlooking the mountain expanse.

Kakashi let out a hum of contemplation, "While a part of me is curious as to what a fight with you would be like... I'm not quite that bloodthirsty. I also don't feel like fighting your entire clan over a battle that was already resolved."

At that, Asuma scoffed, "I'm pretty sure other than me, the only other person here who could deal with you is my old man."

"Like I said, I'm not quite that bloodthirsty," Kakashi reiterated.

Fair enough, Asuma figured, "So, why are you here then?"

"Why do most people come here? Information of course," Kakashi said, trying to play things cagily at first.

"You know how to use our archives," Asuma replied, trying to get Kakashi to move along.

"Ah, but this information is the sort that can only come from you."

Asuma bristled at that, though he tried not to outwardly show it, "Even if the Guardian Ninja have been destroyed, I still have my pride, Hatake-san," He said coolly, "You're not getting any sensitive information on the Fire Daimyo's court out of me."

"That's fine," Kakashi said, "The man I want information on isn't part of the Fire Daimyo's court. He's more of an advisor."

Realization hit Asuma quickly, "Danzo," The name came out distastefully. Because of that man whispering in the Fire Daimyo's ear, his entire team wound up in the ground, "About what happened at your village? Nothing personal. Just orders from the tippity-top. Not like it matters now though."

"Guess not," Kakashi was quick to accept, "So why? Why did the Fire Daimyo have you attack? We were set up outside of his realm. We didn't step on any toes getting everything together. Minato-sama made sure of it. We didn't threaten any of his interests. What did Danzo say to him that made him think we needed to be destroyed?"

Asuma didn't answer quickly, taking the time to consider his response, "...I've known of Shimura Danzo for almost as long as I've been alive. That man has a way of getting into every inner circle he's ever aimed for," He said before taking a long drag from his cigarette, "I'd been working as a Guardian Ninja for two years before I ever saw him there. It was surprising, but then again it wasn't."

Danzo's entire existence seemed somewhat paradoxical. His reputation as a shady individual preceded him, but never seemed to hinder him in any of his partnerships. He seemed to survive his numerous dubious dealings by balancing his enemies and allies and shifting those allegiances at a whim. It was a practice that in several decades may have cost him an arm and an eye... but had yet to cost him his life.

That a crippled old man could navigate the treacherous shinobi world, operating the way that he did, it was beyond Asuma's understanding as to how.

"I don't know how he does it," Asuma continued, "A way with words, I guess? But that feels like I'm grossly underselling it. He wraps himself around powerful people, Hatake-san. Offers them something they want, or threatens something they need. He binds himself to them. Binds them together, without them even knowing it most of the time. And the worst part is? I can't figure out what he fucking wants."

Power, obviously. But for what? Danzo didn't desire land, wealth, or anything material for that matter. Whatever drove him seemed to be deeper than that. An ideology, perhaps. But if that were the case, it wasn't one that Asuma was privy to.

"You're going to kill him," It wasn't a question so much as a statement on Asuma's end.

"Is that a problem?"

Asuma shrugged, "Not for me," He said, "Just... well, I would be careful if I were you, Hatake-san."

"Thank you for your consideration," Kakashi said. He had a mission. No matter how dangerous it would likely be, no matter what the consequences might have been down the line, he had been entrusted with a task.

Hatake Kakashi did not back down from missions. As much as their conversation gave Kakashi to think about, it still left his most important question unanswered.

"Do you know how to find him?" Kakashi asked.

"No," Asuma said, shaking his head, "But... he had an interest in your people already. He knew where to find you, he knew when to strike when you and the Yellow Flash weren't around," He pointed out, "If I were you, I'd look a little closer to home. The thread that will lead you to Danzo is probably right in your own backyard."

XxX

(With Naruto – Yu no Kuni – Unnamed Allied Shinobi Village)

Naruto's trip home went without incident. He almost would have preferred a spot of trouble, however. The peace and quiet gave him too much time to mull over everything he had learned during his sojourn to and from the Senju Clan's territory. He didn't even have Kurama to converse with, as the tailed beast had gone radio silent for the rest of the journey.

What exactly was he supposed to do with what he knew now? Nawaki wouldn't have told him those things for nothing, but far be it for Naruto to figure out how to effectively utilize the information. Perhaps it would come to him with a good meal, some sleep, and taking the info to someone better equipped to process it than he was.

There was little rest for the weary, however. Naruto had hardly taken a deep breath of relief upon walking through the door of the place his family was staying when he found himself set upon.

"Yes! Golden Boy!"

That was the only warning Naruto got before being met with Tayuya throwing herself at him. The force of the impact required Naruto to stumble back a step to remain on his feet.

Tayuya collided against Naruto's chest. Instead of grabbing him for a friendly gesture like a hug, however, she gripped his shirt tightly, as though looking to him for sanctuary, "Oh, thank fuck you're back!" She pointed an accusing finger at Tenten, "Get. Her."

Naruto didn't know how to react at first, keeping his hands clear of touching the girl, "Uh... hey there, Tay," He said before looking up at his OG teammate, "Hey, Tenten."

"Welcome back," Tenten greeted with a wry grin, mostly due to Tayuya's antics, "Nice to see Senju Tsunade didn't murder you."

Naruto couldn't help but sigh. And here he had been hoping a moment of reunions would let him stop thinking about his recent trip for a moment, "Yeah... that was a thing. I'll tell you later," He gestured down to the girl still clinging to him, "What's her problem?"

"Oi! I'm right fucking here, Golden Boy," Tayuya said, pinching him under his ribs.

Naruto grimaced and started grappling with Tayuya's hands to keep her from accosting him, "Alright, fine. What's your problem then?" He challenged.

Tayuya glared over her shoulder at Tenten, "This one wants me to... socialize," She nearly hissed the last word with disdain, "I had lunch with Ghost Eyes, and I'm cool with adding Shino to my circle. Isn't that enough?"

"You said you were fine with going," Tenten argued.

"I planned to drink all your drinks and eat all your food, and chill in the corner and talk shit about everybody," Tayuya said, "I never said I was going to let you make me into a pillar of the community."

Naruto's brain, meanwhile, was still processing Tayuya's nicknames and eventually translated that 'Ghost Eyes' probably meant a Hyuuga, more than likely Hinata, "...Why is Shino the only one you'll call by his name?" He asked once his brain caught up.

"Because he's cool," Tayuya replied, "The rest of you are lame as fuck. Which is why I want no part of Buns' little party."

"Party?" Naruto repeated questioningly to Tenten.

Tenten smiled, very pleased to share her idea, "The adults may have been the ones to come together to create the village, but we're the ones who are going to have to keep it going down the line," She shrugged, "I figured, why not try to get the ball of good relations rolling sooner rather than later?"

"Politics, eh?" Naruto was quick to tease, "Trying to find another passion project besides ninja tools?"

Tenten momentarily gave him a distasteful look, put off at the thought of enjoying politics, "More like out of necessity," She replied, "We all have to do our part, you know? If we really want to make this work, I mean."

Naruto thought back to the talk he and Minato had shortly before fighting A and Killer B. Minato had been trying to coax Naruto into accepting more administrative work instead of constantly running across the Elemental Nations tending to whatever missions needed doing. He hadn't exactly been hot on the idea, feeling his strengths resided more on the battlefield than on the homefront.

It wasn't all about action and daring do, even if that was where he specialized. There was only so much good he could do through that avenue. That Tenten recognized this on her own before Naruto did was telling, and a credit to her. She was smart, and Naruto had always trusted her judgment. If she and his dad were both saying the same thing, there had to be something to it.

They were all shinobi. But fighting by itself wouldn't build a lasting home for everyone. Everyone would need to do more. He needed to do more.

"Yeah, alright," Naruto eventually agreed, "I'm down. Let's rub some elbows."

"Yes/Traitor!" Tenten cheered as Tayuya jeered.

XxX

(Tsuchi no Kuni – Water Screen Cave)

There was little reason for the Uchiha Clan to have any interest in a location as remote as the one Itachi and Sasuke found themselves dispatched to.

Tsuchi no Kuni had its share of shinobi activity, but the land was so far removed from where the Uchiha Clan had found itself deeply intertwined, that it was nowhere near being on their radar. It seemed odd to both brothers, their being there. It was especially odd when they received their orders, directly from their father, the head of the clan, Uchiha Fugaku.

They were meant to ascertain the location of the Four-Tails and do whatever was necessary to prevent its strength from being utilized by potentially hostile entities.

Entities that had already shown a predisposition to using tailed beasts – like the Alpha Clan, or Namikaze Minato's group.

"I don't like this," Sasuke muttered as they traversed the rough, mountainous terrain that had been designated as their search area.

"Nor should you," Itachi calmly remarked, "You and I are preparing to meddle with forces better left to themselves."

"No, that's not what I'm talking about. I'd slap around the Kyuubi's jinchuuriki every day of the week if I had the chance," Sasuke said, "You know we're only here doing this because of whatever Danzo had you hand off to father."

They had never bothered with trying to do anything regarding tailed beasts or jinchuuriki in the past; not without being forced to by circumstance. A matter of days after receiving Danzo's message, their father makes the sudden decision to send them on a hunt of sorts.

The timing was suspect, to say the least.

"I cannot say with certainty that you are wrong about that, little brother," Itachi admitted.

Waiting in vain on Itachi to elaborate further, Sasuke quickly lost his patience, "So, what was it? Did you look?"

"You know better than that," Itachi said, making it clear that the matter was to be left at that.

The brothers' journey took them to a well-hidden network of complex, underwater caves. Any entrances were difficult to reach for any civilian humans, and difficult to locate even for shinobi. The only reason Itachi and Sasuke were able to find it was by secretly tailing a small contingent of monkeys that eventually took them where they needed to go.

It was a hunch that led them to try this approach really, given that they found little signs of the monkeys living outside and the Four-Tails itself was a titanic monkey. The deeper they ventured inside, the warmer the cave system felt.

They also learned that they weren't the only humans trespassing.

Both Itachi and Sasuke paused and made sure they were hidden upon hearing the voices of two men idly conversing.

"What's the Four-Tails even doing all the way down here?" A young man asked. He had dark eyes and short blond hair that was parted in the front. He wore black elbow-length arm guards and white shin guards over his black trousers, and a black shirt loose enough on one side to hang below the waist, almost like a sash, "Wasn't there supposed to be a temple dedicated to this thing? Why isn't it there?"

He was joined by a tall, dark-skinned man with shaggy white hair covering one eye. He wore bandages on his wrists, a sleeveless, high-collared shirt, and loose, baggy pants that covered most of his sandals. His right and left shoulders were adorned with tattoos – the kanji characters for 'water' and 'lightning' respectively, "Probably because if you know about it, how many others do too?"

The blond man frowned, seemingly taking offense, "You say that like I'm uninformed, Darui. I did my research when we were sent on this mission."

The white-haired, dark-skinned man cut an easygoing figure, despite the dangerous location that they were willingly walking deeper into, "I'm not saying it like you're uninformed, C. I'm saying it like you don't live here. Which you don't. We're a long way from home. And it isn't like tailed beast lore is common knowledge anyway."

As the two men continued to talk amongst themselves, Sasuke and Itachi had an impromptu conference of their own, "You've got to be kidding," Sasuke said, barely audible enough for Itachi to hear, "Alpha Clan? What are they even doing here?"

"The pursuit of power will send men to any corner of the world," Itachi replied, unsurprised by their presence, "I did tell you to anticipate resistance."

Sasuke looked down at himself, armed to the teeth and carrying sealing scrolls holding more weaponry than camping gear by five-to-one margin, "And I did; from the Four-Tails," He emphasized, "Not Alpha goons."

"I wouldn't class these men as 'goons' so readily, Sasuke. Take them seriously," Itachi directed. The taller, darker skinned of the two gave him vibes of strength especially.

Sasuke fought the urge to roll his eyes. Of course, he would take them seriously. Anyone sent to deal with the Four-Tails couldn't possibly be considered a pushover by anyone with a brain, "Fine. Whatever. So, how are we taking them?"

Itachi fixed his younger brother with an inquisitive look, "What makes you think these are the only ones?"

"You think there are more?" Sasuke asked.

Itachi nodded, "The Alpha Clan tends to employ overwhelming numbers in their strategies. At least, that is what I have come to understand through my research. So, what would you suggest?"

Sasuke knew what Itachi was doing. He was testing Sasuke, trying to see if he would choose what could be considered a correct course of action, "...Well, they beat us here by who knows how long, so they have a better lay of these caves than we do. If they have more people working with them, they're probably spread out searching for the Four-Tails."

"Yes? And?"

Having not been admonished yet, Sasuke felt comfortable in continuing with his thought, "We wait. We hang back and tail them until we can't sit back any longer. No point in forcing a fight, with them or the Four-Tails. Not until we have to," With any luck, the two of them could swoop in and pick the bones of whatever was left of whoever won.

"Then that, dear brother, is just what we will do," Itachi said, leading the way once again, "Stay sharp. I'm certain there are more. How many more, I cannot say."

They would find out soon enough. For a force put together to deal with one of the tailed beasts though, it was unlikely that an entity such as the Alpha Clan would go for anything less than overwhelming force.

XxX

(Ta no Kuni – The Deep – Orochimaru's Laboratory)

Orochimaru rarely tended to concern himself with the goings-on of the outside world. Why would he? After all, on the rare occasions he decided to venture out from his preferred underground hideaways, he always found that nothing really ever changed.

People made their plans. People fought. People suffered. The names and faces may have changed, and even that was rare, but the overall theme remained the same. It was of no interest to him. The Elemental Nations at large only had use to him as an active testing ground for his creations.

His pursuit of power, his pursuit of immortality, his pursuit of understanding everything. These were the only things that mattered to Orochimaru. Anything beyond that was simply a distraction.

Speaking of distractions...

The door to Orochimaru's inner sanctum flew open. It took every ounce of restrain in Orochimaru's being to keep from killing the insolent underling that burst into his chambers. Besides, from the panic evident in the man and the smell of blood in the air, Orochimaru doubted he would have to dirty his hands in such a manner.

...Someone else would likely do it for him soon enough.

"Orochimaru-sama!" The wounded underling exclaimed, falling down onto his hands and knees as he ran in, "The Alpha Clan is attacking! They've managed to breach the main entrance!"

"I see," Orochimaru responded, seemingly nonplussed as he continued reviewing notes of his own research by candlelight, "That is most unfortunate. I did enjoy this location."

That it had been compromised didn't really come as a surprise though. The Ta no Kuni hideout probably boasted the poorest quality of bodyguards he had at his disposal strength-wise, done intentionally to make it more enticing for potential test subjects to willingly venture inside. That didn't really do a lot to make it defensible, but then The Deep had never been intended to serve as a fortress, even if its primary draw to civilians had been as a haven from the turmoil of the outside world.

Orochimaru calmly stood and looked around his chambers. The laboratory had served him well for his duration there. Plenty of good work had been done in various fields of his interest. All good things had to come to an end, however.

The Alpha Clan weren't attacking to procure any aspect of his research in particular. If there was something they wanted, they could simply buy it from him as any other client would. They were attacking because they wanted him. They wanted his services for their own, exclusively, and felt they could force him into their fold the way they had with countless others.

They were not the first to try and force Orochimaru into using his knowledge to serve them. Several times over the decades, clans with hopes of gaining a scientific edge over their competition would attempt to press him into their employ. Much like all the others, they would also fail.

If the Alpha Clan wanted his services, they would have to pay fairly like everyone else... that is, if Orochimaru chose to bless them with his intellect. Rash, brutish actions, such as attacking his refuge, would gain them nothing.

"Leaving so soon, Orochimaru?"

The man in question froze in place, slowly turning back to the underling he had left kneeling on the floor, now dead. Standing over him was a man with spiky, black hair, wearing a dark cloak and a full mask patterned with an orange swirl.

He certainly didn't look like a member of the Alpha Clan. Not from what Orochimaru knew of them, at least.

Orochimaru chuckled to himself, "Leaving?" He repeated, making sure to keep this stranger well within his full field of vision, even as he slowly moved around his chambers, "You think I have a way out? And how would you propose I do that?"

The masked man shook his head, "Let's not pretend you don't have an escape route accessible to only you. We both know better than that."

"I'm sorry. I don't believe I've made your acquaintance before, mister..."

"Please. Names are so unimportant in the grand scheme of things," The masked man said, poking at the dead man on the floor with his foot, "After all, did you know his name? Of the 319 souls sequestered within The Deep, how many of their names did you know?"

"I remember the names of those who matter," Orochimaru replied.

"Exactly. And I don't matter," The masked man said, as though Orochimaru's statement proved the point he was trying to make, "Heads up."

With that instant of warning, Orochimaru moved to avoid a jet of flame that blasted through the doorway at him. A man in sleeveless black outfit with neck-length blond hair cut into an uneven bowl rushed through, sword drawn, blade on fire. By the time he spotted Orochimaru, the man was unnaturally squeezing his body through a previously concealed, impossibly small hole in the wall at the back end of the room.

"Hey!" The blond man rushed over and drove his sword into the hole, only to pull it back out with nothing on the end of it, "Damn. And we were hot on his heels too."

"We were also meant to bring him to A-sama alive, Atsui," A fair-skinned woman with blonde hair cut similarly to the man said as she entered at a more sedated pace. She wore a low-cut grey outfit revealing mesh armor covering her sizeable chest, a white girdle with a tanto strapped horizontally to the back, and red hand guards, "Be cool."

"You're too cool, Samui. We missed him," Atsui admonished the woman before turning to the masked man, "And you could have tried to stop him, you know."

"The only reason I'm here is by request of my esteemed client," The masked man said, hardly sparing a glance Atsui's way. There was a red glow slightly visible through the eyeholes in his mask, "I am an advisor. I advise. I won't fight your battles for you. And I certainly don't take orders from you," At that, he turned to leave the room

Atsui glared and tightened his grip on his sword, "Why you-," Samui put a hand on him and silently shook her head.

The entire hideout seemed to shake, independent of any remaining fighting that seemed to be taking place elsewhere.

"I suggest you take what useful things you can find in a hurry," The masked man said from down the hall as another ominous tremor rocked The Deep, "That is, unless you didn't believe a man a shrewd as Orochimaru would have a failsafe in place for unwelcome guests."

Samui and Atsui looked at each other before beginning to do just that. Neither of them fancied being buried underground in a concrete tomb.

XxX

(With Naruto – Yu no Kuni – Unnamed Allied Shinobi Village)

Kurama could smell fear. More specifically, Kurama could sense negative emotions, of which fear was one. At the moment, fear was the most prominent one.

And since Kurama could sense negative emotions, Naruto could sense negative emotions. And he knew he was the reason for them.

As it turned out, Tenten had done most of the organizational work in getting the party together already. She had chosen the venue and made sure that everyone around their age interested in attending knew where to go and when to be there.

Being that most everyone involved were new to the idea of being around so many others not of their clan, it had been important to choose a place that was public, where everyone paranoid of their contemporaries would feel safe enough that no chicanery would occur that they could unwind a bit. That place wound up being a tavern that had recently expanded near the middle of the village. It had apparently been quite difficult to convince them to host such an event, what with the possibility of rowdy ninja teens ruining the place. Tenten had assured them that there would be measures in place to prevent such a thing.

...Naruto turned out to be those measures.

As it turned out, people were less likely to start problems based on feuds from generations ago when there was a walking deterrent hanging out, walking around the place making sure he got a chance to speak with everyone. That hadn't been the intention, but it wound up being the reality.

Naruto could feel it when people chose to make a wider berth around him than necessary. When they would make eye contact with him and smile, there was an edge to it that they couldn't hide, one that he didn't need Kurama to recognize.

Thankfully, there were people there who were happy to be around him.

Approaching Hinata and Neji, Naruto felt like he had found a bit of an oasis in the desert.

"Naruto-kun," Hinata gently greeted with a beautiful smile, a touch of red to her cheeks.

Neji nodded his way respectfully, "Uzumaki-san."

"Hey, guys," Naruto said, settling in near a pair of his friends, "How have things been going so far?"

"Land has been cleared and work has already started on our clan home," Neji told him, "It's not much to look at now, but our hopes are quite high."

"Father sent away for architects and workers from the same families that designed and built our original clan grounds. Do you remember our old home?"

Naruto did remember, especially how grandiose and ornate it was. He had visited the Hyuuga Clan grounds many times over the years and had always enjoyed it whenever he got to stay there. It was rare for him to experience the kind of luxury they lived in every day, "Ooh, are you guys going to build another huge castle like the one you had?" He asked.

Neji chuckled, "The plans are a clan secret, Uzumaki-san," He said, "Though I'm certain Hinata-sama wouldn't mind taking you on a bit of a tour once the work reaches a certain point."

Hinata's expression immediately shifted to one of horrified embarrassment, "Neji-niisan!" The girl admonished her cousin, face completely flushed. She shyly gazed over at Naruto, demurely pressing her index fingers together, "W-Well... I mean, I would love to. O-Only if you would like to, Naruto-kun!"

Neji rolled his eyes, "It's not as if it's something anyone needs to worry about tomorrow, Hinata-sama," Neji said.

Those words seemed to calm her down, as she had previously seemed a matter of seconds away from passing out. Naruto merely squinted Hinata's way in interest. There had always been moments like that, where she would stammer when addressing him and find herself unable to look him in the eye. She even had fainted around him. It wasn't based on fear, however, and while that only confused him further, it was still something he was more than fine with.

Naruto liked Hinata. He liked Neji. Even Hiashi seemed to respect him. The Hyuuga Clan as a whole seemed fine with him. He could have done without the whole branch family aspect of their culture (notably how many of them were treated by main family members), but that wasn't the kind of thing he was equipped to deal with. Especially not with the alliance between everyone in the village as tenuous as it was.

The tenuous bonds between the village's denizens stuck in Naruto's mind when he heard part of a conversation elsewhere in the tavern.

"So, when this whole allied village gets up and running, who's supposed to be in charge? Someone has to lead it, right?"

"Maybe a council of clan heads or something? But then what about everyone who isn't in a clan? I dunno. That's for the old people to work out, isn't it?"

"No way. My dad says Namikaze is just going to use the Nine-Tails as leverage to bully everyone into letting him be in charge."

"If that's what you think, why'd you guys even come then?"

"Are you kidding? Do you really think the 'Yellow Flash' and 'Red Scar' were asking when they came to anyone about joining them? We aren't Senju or Uchiha. We aren't even as big and strong as the Hyuuga Clan."

"Yeah, now that you mention it, Namikaze and his walking weapon could probably wipe out my whole clan by themselves. It'd probably only take them one night too."

The thought made Naruto's blood boil. What they had said about him was whatever. He had dealt with people seeing him in that kind of light for years. But what they believed about has father, even as they shook his hand and smiled in his face, was infuriating.

Even after years trying to foster positive relations with clans and enclaves of shinobi across the Elemental Nations, none of them knew the first thing about Minato's ambitions or motivations at all. Or maybe they didn't care to know. Just like so many didn't care to see Naruto as anything but Minato's trump card.

He wasn't the only one who had heard it either. Tenten had been well within earshot and Naruto caught her storming her way over from where she'd previously been conversing with Kabuto and a few others. Before she could get close enough for anyone involved in the conversation to notice her, Naruto stepped in her way and redirected her with an arm around her waist, "Uh-un," He hummed as he guided her off-course in a different direction.

Tenten looked at him incredulously, "Did you hear what they said?" She hissed under her breath, wishing to defend Naruto, her best friend, and Minato, a man she idolized, "If they think you're here to bully anyone, I'll show them what a real bully-."

"-Kicking ass because somebody said something I don't like won't change anything," Naruto interrupted, "It'll just make it worse," If anything, it would prove them right.

"So what? They don't trust you anyway."

"Then we gotta earn it. That's part of what this whole party is for, right?"

Tenten pouted. It was indeed the entire idea behind putting the gathering together in the first place, after all. And it wouldn't do to ruin her own party, "Fine. But I'm not forgetting this."

"Oh, neither am I," Naruto readily assured her. He was certain there was something petty he could come up with later after the village was good to go... if he still cared. Priorities, though.

Saying that, however, he was still tired of attempting to mingle with his peers. It wasn't that he was antisocial, it was just difficult to try and be friendly all the time to people who weren't keen on rolling with it. He created a chance to slip away and stepped outside for a moment to himself. Even then, he could sense the discomfort from others who had also gone outside for some fresh air or some privacy.

To that end, Naruto began to walk a little bit farther away when he first heard the faint sounds of some kind of wind instrument. He quickly recognized it as a sound he had become quite familiar with – Tayuya's flute. Unlike the first time he heard it, all subsequent times listening weren't accompanied by a debilitating genjutsu, thus he was able to appreciate the melody.

In fact, Naruto wasn't certain if they had come across an instrument yet that Tayuya couldn't play. For as much as she rightfully despised her own background, he could appreciate the musical education she had undergone as a result.

Following the sound of the music to its source, he found Tayuya sitting in a tree a block away from the tavern, focused deeply on producing the hauntingly beautiful sounds emanating from her flute. She was unaware of his approach until he reached the same branch that she sat upon.

"You know, if you played that inside, everybody would have loved it," Naruto said, startling the red-haired girl, "Probably would have gotten paid for it too."

Tayuya cursed herself for dropping her guard enough to let Naruto sneak up on her. It was all this cursed village's fault. Despite her best efforts to keep from truly relaxing herself, the entire place put her at ease. She had been keeping an eye on the party, having slipped away at the earliest opportunity. Come to think of it, that brought up another issue.

Tayuya looked at Naruto and knew she had just seen him, "Wait. You're supposed to be-," She looked over at where the party was still taking place to see that, yes, Naruto was still over there also, just about to go back inside from where he had been standing outside, "-Are you a fucking clone? Or did you substitute with a fucking clone to ditch?"

Naruto winked at Tayuya as he settled in next to her, "I've got one babysitting Kanako too."

Tayuya hummed. The power of solid clones. "That is one hell of a jutsu you've got..." She remarked, idly running her fingers over her flute, "So, why are you over here wasting time with me? You've got a whole party full of your little village's best and brightest to hang out with."

"You act like you're not included in that," Naruto said.

Tayuya hesitated for a moment, "I... I'm not one of them, Golden Boy. I'm not one of you."

"Why aren't you?" Naruto asked, "You're staying here. You plan on working here."

"-For now," Tayuya clarified.

Naruto didn't react to that. An idea like joining organized ranks was probably something so foreign to her, she couldn't comprehend the life change. A lot of freelancers probably thought along the same lines. He also recognized that Tayuya wasn't keen on taking orders or conforming. Independent by nature, she had a deep antisocial streak in her, and the more people around her, the less comfortable she was.

"Well, what if I said I just feel like hanging out with you?" Naruto said, getting an incredulous look from the girl, "Yeah. What if I said I'd rather sit over here with you than do anything else?"

Tayuya scoffed, "I'd say you're a fucking psycho. But I kind of knew that you were cray-cray already, so I shouldn't be surprised you'd say some unhinged shit like that," She remarked, "Give me a break. You're probably gonna be the prince of this whole outfit. Why would you rather spend time with me?"

Naruto leaned against the railing, staring straight ahead at the party off in the near distance, "The rest of them are scared of me. Even the ones that aren't trying to avoid me, and actually are talking to me, they're scared," He let out a tired sigh, "Kurama can... he can tell. So, I can tell."

Tayuya still found the whole thing utterly foolish. She had been around Naruto a lot; had seen how he went about his days when he was in the village. He was friendly and helpful to, in her opinion, a nearly nauseating degree. He was accommodating to everyone who was supposed to be an ally. For someone who could conceivably throw around a considerable amount of power, both politically and in combat, he seemed to do everything he could to keep from doing so.

"You've gotta start being more selfish," Tayuya said, "When was the last time you actually did something for yourself?"

"When I went to Mizu no Kuni."

"Yeah, and that got you a whole lot of nothing."

"I dunno. It got me you-," Naruto said before thinking of the ramifications of such words. He quickly realized his mistake in the same breath and attempted to fix it, "-As a friend."

As well as he covered his slip, Tayuya still caught it and didn't let him off the hook, "Oh? As opposed to what, Golden Boy?" She grinned, leaning in, "What else would we be, hmm?"

Naruto sighed, resigning himself to the fate of being made fun of, "Alright, alright."

Tayuya relented in her teasing with a laugh, "You made it sound like I'm some kind of prize. Like I'm valuable or something."

"You are though," Naruto said, entirely serious. Tayuya's amused expression faded at his tone, "You are to me."

Tayuya scoffed, more to herself than anything, "Bullshit," She whispered, looking straight ahead as she pulled her knees to her chin, "I'm fucking nobody, Golden Boy. Always have been, always will be."

In the grand scheme of things, she didn't matter. She wasn't an important part of a team or a cause. She wasn't some legendary shinobi of strength and renown. She wasn't someone's beloved daughter or significant other. She was just Tayuya – nothing more.

Naruto frowned, but didn't say anything at first. He just sat there while Tayuya busied herself with running through a few more tunes on her flute.

He couldn't leave it alone however. He wasn't a wordsmith. All he could do was say the things he felt, so that was what he did.

Once Tayuya took a break from playing, Naruto took the opportunity the lull provided to try his luck, "…I already told you that back in Uzu no Kuni, no one in the Uzumaki Clan wanted me there. I'm talking before Kurama got sealed in me," He said, "I wasn't one of them, because my dad was the Yellow Flash... because I didn't look like them... because the clan leader didn't like me. All kinds of reasons."

Tayuya didn't look his way again, but it was obvious that she was listening and didn't plan on interrupting, so he continued.

"Other than my mom, I didn't find anyone who cared about me until I left. The first person who actually cared about me was Tenten," Naruto smiled at the memory, "She was just some nameless village kid. She was a girl that most shinobi wouldn't have looked at twice, because she didn't come from anything – wasn't anybody. But she's my first friend – my best friend. I'd do anything for her."

And he knew the feeling was mutual. They had been through everything together, and were family in every sense but name and blood. Were it not for Naruto's father and his goal to bring shinobi of all sorts together, there could have been a reality where they may have never been as close as they were now, or maybe never met at all.

They could have even been enemies. And it wasn't just Tenten that applied to either. It applied to Shino, to the Hyuuga Clan, to so many. It applied to Tayuya.

"I have a lot of people I'd call friends now. People I've met all over the world. People from all kinds of clans. People who don't belong to a clan at all. People who aren't even shinobi," Naruto said, his eyes hardening in resolve, "That's why I want dad's idea to work. I want this village to be a thing, so people like me... like Tenten, like you, everybody, can have a place we can feel like we belong. A place where we matter. Because you do matter. You aren't nobody. Not to me."

Somewhere along the line, Tayuya looked up at Naruto, her mouth slightly agape. The more she tried not to like Naruto, the more he kept growing on her.

She didn't want to. She didn't want to believe in someone. She had gone her entire life only able to count on herself, only able to trust herself. It wasn't great, but it had kept her alive.

Naruto looked her way and offered a smile, "You got a dream?"

Tayuya was caught off-guard by the question, "Huh?"

"If you could do whatever you wanted, what would it be?" Naruto asked, "What does winning at life look like to Tayuya?"

In all honesty, Tayuya had never stopped to consider such a question before. From the moment her parents sold her, her entire life had just been doing what was necessary to see the next day, and she became good at that. She learned, and she lived. None of the things she had to do ever made her happy though. Just surviving wasn't a fulfilling existence.

"I… don't know. I never really thought about it," Tayuya admitted, "All I ever worried about before was not ending up dead in a ditch, you know? Watching my back to make sure some fucker didn't plant a knife in it."

Naruto nodded in understanding. It wasn't a foreign sentiment for shinobi to have, it seemed, "You don't have to worry about that here. That's the whole idea. It's what dad wanted. He wanted to give people the chance to stop surviving and start living."

Tayuya shook her head in disbelief. The more she heard about the village, the more it sounded like a pipedream. But they were actually doing it, "You all really think you can change the world, don't you?"

"Not really," Naruto said, looking away to take in their moonlit surroundings, "More like we're just trying to make a place in it."

They certainly didn't do things halfway, Tayuya could admit. Not for the first time, she wondered just what she had gotten herself into. She kind of liked it though. The more she heard, the more she saw, the more she liked. For the first time in a long time, she felt, dare she say, positive.

Positivity was not a feeling that Tayuya could say she was much accustomed to. It was kind of scary. Scary, but nice. And a big source of that positivity was within arms' reach.

Tayuya peered over at Naruto from the corner of her eye and blew a stray bang of red hair out of her face, trying to appear as nonchalant as possible for what she planned to say next, "Do you... ahem..." she cleared her throat, wishing to try again more confidently, "Do you wanna get out of here, Golden Boy?"

Naruto looked at Tayuya in surprise, "Wha-? Seriously?"

"Yeah," Tayuya licked her lips. The more she spoke, the more she found of her usual confidence, "You've already got your clone pulling face duty at Buns' little shindig, so it's not like you need to go back. We can just head over to my place and chill. Unless you actually want to go back-."

"Hell no. I'm in," Naruto decided before Tayuya could try to remove the offer from the table. One of those things sounded much preferable to the other.

Tayuya grinned, "Killer."

Despite what she said about not belonging, she didn't want to leave. If Naruto was serious about the village serving as somewhere for people to find their place, why couldn't she find a place for herself?

Why couldn't she find something for herself? And who was to say that something couldn't be someone?

Well, that's the chapter, ladies and gentlemen.

The timeline in the Naruto series is so vague, dude. It's really rough when you're trying to pin down when things happened in context to other things. Doing research is next to useless for certain canon events, no matter how hard you try to dig in and cross examine. They rarely use any time frame reference for anything happening in the moment, and it's rare to hear anyone actually specify a certain number of years an historic event happened away from whatever the current chapter/episode is.

That has nothing to do with anything involving this story in particular. It's just a longstanding issue I've stewed over for well over twelve or thirteen years at this point.

God, I'm old. I definitely feel it in my knees. The left one especially.