It was working. Shikaku's plan was working. Naruto had to keep reminding himself of that as he and his team sat and waited for the signal. Shikaku had told them that once they had sight of the Pein bodies, he would contact them. Naruto wasn't the most patient person in the world. He had eyes on the tower his father was currently residing in, but he wasn't allowed to rush to him like he so desperately wanted to.

He could tell Jiraiya and the Kazekage were getting restless, too. Jiraiya was pacing again while Rasa sharpened his kunai at an unsafe pace. Gaara was as still as a stone as normal while B was off practicing his rhymes. Yamato was hovering nearby like always, making sure the young blonde didn't try to go off on his own.

What if the plan wasn't working? What if Pein didn't take the bait? What if his father hadn't even given them the village's name? What if his father had decided not to? Naruto suddenly stood up.

"I need to make sure my father is alright," he stated.

"No," Rasa shook his head without glancing up from his kunai, "Shikaku strictly informed you to NOT contact Minato. The less contact we have, the more likely Pein will stay in the dark."

"What if he decided not to go through with the plan? What if he's already dead? What if they killed him once they knew the location?" Naruto questioned irrationally.

"There are a lot of 'what ifs' when it comes to plans, especially when it comes to our line of work," Rasa sighed and put away his kunai, then walked over to the young blonde. Rasa placed a hand on the young boy's shoulder, "Look, Shikaku is the best tactician in all five Hidden Villages, and he knows Minato rather well, so trust him. You told your father to trust the Nara, right?"

Naruto nodded.

"Then you need to trust him as well," Rasa stated, "Wait for the signal. Once we have the signal, you can contact Minato in order to find out where he is located within the tower. We will need your ability to scope out the place and find out enemies that are still there, but. Not. Yet."

"Why?" Naruto asked getting impatient.

"Because we can not risk someone sensing the chakra that you are sending out," Rasa nodded, "It is a strong chakra that has a definite identity to it therefore it has a higher chance of being felt by a sensor. We are lucky that they have not felt it yet. We need to remain hidden until the time when Shikaku gives us the signal. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Naruto nodded and pulled away from the Kazekage, "I understand."

It was silent after that. It felt like an eternity for Naruto and the others as they awaited the signal from Shikaku and Naruto was getting more restless by the minute. Flashes of the pain and suffering that his father was going through were traveling through his mind with every moment. His anxiety was growing steadily in his stomach. All he could think about was every moment he spent in the small clearing just outside the lake that surrounded Ame was one more moment that his father would spend inside that horrid place. One more moment his father was suffering.

"Naruto."

The blonde looked up and saw that Jiraiya was motioning him over to the group that had formed in a circle. He had been so involved in his thoughts that he didn't even notice that his team had gathered.

"We need to discuss the plan," Jiraiya explained as he walked up to the semi-circle, "Shikaku should be giving us the signal soon so we need to be prepared."

Naruto nodded indicating for the larger man to continue.

"Now, Ame is surrounded by the large lake as you can see; the easiest way to infiltrate it without the large numbers like we had the last time would be to use the toads," Jiraiya started glancing over at his young student who smiled at him knowingly.

"Toads?" Gaara repeated.

Jiraiya nodded and placed his hands together in a rapid formation of seals he then slammed his hand down on the ground, creating a black seal that snaked out from under his hand, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

A second later, a large puff of smoke revealed a small toad.

Naruto knelt down next to him, "it's good to see you again, Mogama."

"Oh, young Naruto!" the toad turned to see the one who had spoken to him, and then he looked up, noticing the rest of the group that surrounded him.

"Mogama is a diving toad," Jiraiya explained to everyone aside from Naruto, "He is going to help us get into Ame via the lake."

"Wait, how is that possible?" Yamato asked.

"Like this," Naruto smiled at him and motioned for the toad to open up, which he obligingly did. He gently stepped one foot inside the toad's mouth one at a time until he slithered down all the way inside of him.

"Wow," Yamato shook his head, "I guess all things are possible. Are we all going to fit inside one toad?"

"It will be tight, but yes you will all fit!" The toad smiled up at him.

"Very well then," Yamato replied nodding.

Naruto pushed his way back out of the toad so that Jiraiya could finish explaining the plan.

"Once we are inside Ame, we are going to have to be quick. Naruto you will need to find Minato's location as fast as possible," Jiraiya explained glancing over at the blonde who nodded in return, "When we have the location, we are going to have to play it somewhat by ear, but the gist of it will be to find him and extract him with minimal contact with any Ame shinobi. It's kind of self-explanatory but I just want everyone to be on the same page."

"Right," Rasa nodded and pulled out some headset devices, "Gaara, B, Yamato-san I would like you three to stay here if possible. We need you to have a bird's eye view of things. Use these to stay in contact with us. If there is any sign of danger, radio and we will get out of there immediately."

Gaara nodded as he took the headset reluctantly and then handed it on to B and Yamato.

"Naruto, Jiraiya, and I will be the ones going in. Jiraiya and I have been to Ame once before so we are a bit more familiar with it," Rasa continued and pulled out a few more headsets handing them to Naruto and Jiraiya then he put one on himself.

"Last that we know Minato will be located in the center tower," Jiraiya stated then turned to Yamato and the rest of the Jinchuurikis, "You three will need to keep an eye on the entrances to Ame as well as that tower unless we tell you otherwise. Once we have Minato, we will get out as quickly as possible, but like most things in this shinobi world, the plan might not go well as planned. Naruto…"

"Yes?" the blonde replied.

"You will be leading us when we get to Ame since you will be able to track him," Jiraiya said adjusting his headset, "Rasa and I will be backing you up. If it comes to it, get Minato and get out of there."

"You don't mean…" Naruto started.

"Yes I do," Jiraiya nodded towards Rasa, "as of now, it is more important for you and Minato to get out of there than it is me or Rasa."

"I can't just leave you there," Naruto protested.

"If it comes to it, you can and you will," Rasa replied.

"Naruto, your life is more important than mine," Jiraiya explained, "If Minato doesn't get out of there then you won't either which is why the two of you have a higher priority."

"Then what about the Kazekage?" Naruto argued, "What about his life? What about Gaara?"

"Naruto, it is known that my father and I are not as close as you and your father," Gaara spoke up in defense of Jiraiya's plan.

"Then you'd leave him there to die, Gaara?" Naruto asked, a little astonished.

"Of course not," Gaara shook his head, "but unlike you, I won't go and do something reckless to rescue him."

Naruto opened his mouth to reply by the Kazekage cut him off, "Naruto, don't worry about that now. Let's cross that bridge when we get there."

Naruto hesitated a moment, then nodded in reply.

"Good, now that we all know the plan, all we have to do is wait for Shik-" Jiraiya started but then was suddenly cut off.

Can you all hear me?

It was Shikaku.

It's time. GO!

It was dark and wet in the small cell that they had placed him in to await his death. With all the pain he was in, he didn't dare move once he was there. Pein was surely on his way to that village. In some far-off memory, Minato recalled that the Tanzuka Gai was the town where Jiraiya had found Tsunade when Naruto was poisoned. It was ironic that that same town might just save Naruto once more. Hope was the only that was keeping Minato alive at this point. Hope that Naruto would live. Hope that Shikaku's plan-whatever it was- would work. Hope that he would make it out of here alive and back to his son.

Minato laid on the cold hard slab of rock that Konan and a few of the Pein bodies had placed him on a while ago. It was dark in the cell with no windows, only plain walls of steel and a large bolted door. He couldn't tell how long he had been here for. Was his son already dead or is the plan working? Minato couldn't make the questions stop. He tried to let himself be consumed by the darkness, but it was futile.

Every now and then Minato would find himself waking up from sleep to a searing pain his unconscious body had caused by moving.

Minato found himself about to drift back into the darkness when he heard a loud commotion outside of the door. He tried to sit up, but the agonizing pain pushed him back down. All he could do was lay there until something changed, but the commotion was getting louder and louder like it was heading straight for him.

Minato winced at the thought that is might have been Pein returning from his unsuccessful trip to the village. The blonde knew that his son was most likely not there, nor any of the other Jinchuurikis. If Pein found out about Shikaku's plan before Minato was able to get out, he was going to get much worse pain than he had experienced before they would let him die.

Suddenly, the noise stopped, and Minato let out a breath, whatever it was seemed to have come to a complete halt.

Then not a moment later he heard the familiar whirlpool noise of his own creation.

With the flash of blue the large bolted door flew backwards and landed on the back wall with a large bang. Minato tried once more to sit up but was met with a large jolt of excruciating pain that forced him back down.

"Tou-san!" a familiar voice called out to him right before the darkness took him once more.

Naruto. My son.

He was out cold and from what Naruto had witnessed earlier, it would be a lot easier to get his father out of the large tower if he was like this. As soon as the door had come down with ease, thanks to the Rasengan, Naruto rushed over to his father. He was alive but only just. Jiraiya was taking on a few of the Ame shinobi that they had unfortunately run into, but Rasa was there to help him.

"Mogama!" Naruto called for the toad that helped them get to the tower, and when the little grey toad appeared next to him, he motioned for Rasa to help him get his father inside.

The toad opened up as wide as he could to make it easier on Naruto and the Kazekage, but his father was heavy from all the muscle that he carried. Rasa grabbed his feet while Naruto looped his arms underneath his father's shoulders and together, they were able to slide the Hokage into the pit of the toad.

Once he was safely inside, Naruto looked up at Rasa, "Let's go."

Naruto scooped up the little toad and carried him out the door following the Kazekage.

Shikaku had informed them that only three of the Pein bodies had been spotted heading in the direction of the village, which meant that there were only three left in the tower itself. Surprisingly, none of them had encountered any of the remaining Pein bodies. Naruto and Rasa made haste across the same path in which they had come. Luckily for them, Minato had been kept in one of the prisons the lowest floor, three levels down from where from the ground floor where they had entered.

Rasa glanced over to Naruto, "Where is everyone?"

"I don't know," Naruto shook his head as he reached the first set of staircases and made his way up, "Right now, it takes me too much time to locate people. We need to focus on getting out first."

"It's strange that we haven't encountered Pein yet," Rasa called from behind him.

"It is," Naruto replied taking two steps at a time, "I doubt they would just let us take him like this without some alternative reason."

"Ah," Rasa agreed as they reached the first landing and started up the second staircase.

It was quiet the rest of the way up, Naruto noted that Jiraiya must be still on the first floor fighting the few shinobi that were at the entrance of the tower. Finally, the two men were able to reach the ground-level floor, and they continued to weave down the maze of hauls that led to the entrance.

Naruto and Rasa skidded to a halt once they reached the large open area of the entrance. In front of them stood three orange-haired men clad in Akatsuki cloaks and one woman with blue hair. Something white caught his eye, causing Naruto to glance to the side to notice that Jiraiya lay unmoving in a heap.

"Sensei," Naruto swore under his breath.

"He is alive, Naruto," Rasa whispered, "I can see him breathing."

Naruto's eyes flicked back to the center orange-haired man in front of him.

"I can sense the Hokage inside that toad. You may allow your father to leave with that man beside you, young Uzumaki," the man said pointing to him, "but you however must remain here."

"No," Rasa yelled, "I won't allow it."

"Naruto, go," a voice called from where Jiraiya lay.

"Naruto, remember what we said earlier," Rasa said quietly, "whatever happens, you and Minato must get out. Leave us."

"Oh, we can't allow that," Pein stated, "You must remain here, Naruto."

Naruto flicked his gaze towards Jiraiya one more time, then down to the toad he held in his arms. Neither his father nor Jiraiya could go much longer without medical attention. Both would die soon if they went too long and he knew this. He glanced back up at the orange-haired man in front of him after he came to a decision, and then he turned to the Kazekage. He shoved the toad into the man's arms and gave him a look of fury mixed with an apology.

"Naruto!" Rasa yelled, grabbing for the blonde as Naruto walked forward.

"Allow them to leave unharmed, and I will stay here," Naruto told the man.

"You can't!" Rasa yelled lunging forward to grasp at the young blonde, but Naruto roughly shoved him off.

"Very well," Pein nodded and lifted both hands, one in each direction of the two men, "Banshō Ten'in"

Both Jiraiya and Rasa were suddenly yanked forward towards the men. Upon reaching him, Pein grabbed both men by the throat and shoved them towards the door.

Before either of them could react, Pein held both hands up again, "Shinra Tensei."

Jiraiya and Rasa both were shoved out the door and into the pouring rain.

"Naruto!" Jiraiya called out in vain as he tried to stand.

"Damn it!" Rasa yelled, throwing a fist into the ground.

"Tou-san? What is going on?" Gaara radioed through the headset.

"They have him, Gaara," Rasa replied angrily, "They have Naruto."

When Naruto woke, he was in a familiar place, but for a moment he couldn't remember how he got there or even why the place was familiar. However, after a few moments, his mind flooded with memories, and a pang of guilt hit his stomach. Then he felt an even larger pain hit his wrists. He looked up. He was hung from the ceiling with large chains, just as his father was before him. He struggled a bit, but in vain; no matter how strong he was, the chains weren't budging. That is when he heard the door in front of him open.

"You," Naruto swore under his breath.

The orange-haired man walked casually into the room, followed by the blue hair woman.

"Ah, Naruto," the man said stopping just short of the blonde.

Naruto didn't reply but kept his eyes firmly locked on the purple ones.

"Don't worry I'm not going to do anything to you," Pein shook his head, "not yet anyways. I just wanted to talk."

"Talk?" Naruto repeated, unsure.

"Yes, about our sensei," Pein replied.

"What?" Naruto bit out.

"Ah, I guess Jiraiya hasn't mentioned it," Pein nodded, "but I, along with Konan, were once his students, just as you and the Hokage were."

"No," Naruto shook his head, "Jiraiya-sensei wouldn't train anyone like you."

"Oh, but he did," Pein replied, "but I guess we were very different people all those years ago, back when we were very foolish."

"What do you mean?" Naruto found himself asking.

"We were foolish like you, your father, and Jiraiya is now," Pein explained, "his ideas of peace are foolish and unattainable. As well, he is foolish enough to spread them to his students like you and the Hokage."

"They aren't foolish!" Naruto yelled.

"Oh?" Pein shook his head, "how do you suggest we achieve that peace then?"

Naruto didn't know how to reply, so he just stayed quiet.

"I see. That is how I thought you would reply," Pein shook his head and turned to take his leave, "now, I should be expecting the other Jinchuurikis soon so I will need to prepare rooms for them as well. Do not fear, though, I will be back."

And just as quick as he was there, he was gone again.