Empty

by zzzgnas

There is nothing worse in the world than the feeling of complete and utter helplessness. That empty feeling you get when you've lost everything and you know there's absolutely nothing you can do about it. Uzumaki Naruto was four when he experienced this feeling for the first time. And from then on... nothing had gone right... Strong! Naruto. Third Ninja War Timeline.

11. Chapter 11 - Chain Reaction

Chapter - 11

Chain Reaction

"If there's one thing that you can always be sure of, it's that I love you. More than anything."

Konoha, Tunnels behind the Hokage Monument.

The tremors had finally stopped. There was still some occasional shaking but it had settled down for the most part. The whole room was in a state of panic. Everyone was bustling about trying to get answers, but it was obvious that no one had any. How would they? Who could know what was happening outside when they were underground?

Hayate wasn't concerned about any of that even though his mom was. Whatever it was, there wasn't any way he or his civilian mother could help. So, why stress out about it? He had a mission of his own. One that his awesome neighbor had assigned him. Taking care of Yugao.

Looking at the girl in question seated on the rocky floor drawing in her coloring book, he realized that she too had come to the same conclusion. If you can't handle the stress, just let it go and chill out. He'd gotten the expression 'chill out' from Naruto-nii when he took them out for ice-cream one day. It was so cool. It was the same as saying 'Relax' but it had a whole other layer of badass associated with it. Hayate was sure that no one who said 'chill out' on a regular basis would ever be categorized as uncool. It drove his mom crazy, but why should he stop just because of that. She needed to chill out. Hayate grinned.

Yugao looked up at her friend. "What's so funny?" She was trying to distract herself by doing something interesting. So far, she was failing spectacularly. She was wearing the clothes that Naruto bought her, drawing with pencils that Naruto gave her and drawing on the coloring book that Naruto gave Hayate. Everything reminded her about oniichan. Any distraction was a good distraction. However, before Hayate could reply, another distraction presented itself. She heard some sniffing from behind her. It sounded like someone was crying.

Making eye-contact with Hayate, they both decided to investigate. They stuck to the wall so that they could find their way back. Soon, they reached the crying person. The boy had his legs held against his chest as he cried onto his knees.

Yugao looked uncertainly at Hayate. She was good at cheering people up. But only if she knew them. This was a brand-new area. "Onii-san, what's wrong?"

The boy looked up at the two of them for only a moment. He wiped his nose and put on a neutral face. "Go away."

Yugao didn't relent. "Onii-san. We're all sad. If we tell each other our stories, we'll feel better."

Hayate nodded along, completely agreeing. "My name is Hayate and this is Yugao. What's yours?" he asked politely.

The boy looked around uncertainly, as if looking for a way to escape. But he gave in soon enough. "Idate. Morino Idate."

Yugao nodded and smiled. "It's nice to meet you, Idate-nii. Now tell Yugao what's bothering you and she'll fix you up."

Idate looked at the little girl beside him uncomfortably. She was like 5 years younger than him, but she was talking down to him. "I can't talk about it with strangers."

Yugao looked saddened. Hayate jumped in. "But we're not strangers. You know our names."

Yugao immediately brightened up. "That's right. We're not strangers. So, go on. Tell us."

Idate looked between the two children and considered just getting up and walking away to find a new spot. Their small legs would undoubtedly make it difficult to follow him. But he didn't do it. It might feel good to talk about it like the girl said. "Alright. Fine. I think my brother doesn't like me anymore."

Yugao gasped. "Oh no. Why do you say that?"

Idate hesitated. "It's just… He tells me that he cares about me and then abandons me and goes away. It's frustrating."

Yugao brightened up at his reply. "Oh, is that all? My brother does it all the time. That's how he makes enough money for the both of us. He doesn't want to leave me, he has to. Your brother is probably the same way."

Idate looked at the young girl in surprise. "Of course. I know that. But he's always going back on his word."

Yugao smiled. She understood the reason he was sad. "Do you know what my brother told me? He told me that he's my star and I'm his. Every night, if you look at the sky you can see stars. But some nights, when it's too dark, you won't be able to. But sooner or later, the stars always come back. Our brothers are the same. They'll definitely come back. So, don't worry so much. It'll all be fine."

Idate's gaze softened. Damn, the girl was good with words. She was right. His brother would always come back home, no matter how late it got. Idate wasn't stupid. He knew that his brother was much older than him. Other people his age were always out drinking, but not Ibiki. He was with him… Always.

Suddenly, there was some disturbance in the front and both Yugao and Hayate got up. "It's probably mum looking for us. We should go back."

Yugao nodded seriously. "Yep. Feel better, Idate-nii. Bye.", she said, while waving her hand.

Idate smiled and returned the wave. What a nice girl.

Hayate and Yugao made it back to where Hayate's mom was to see a crowd had gathered.

"A retired medic? Someone from the hospital? A nurse? Hell, even a receptionist?" The old man was looking around the room in panic.

A grey-haired woman covered head to toe in bandages stood up. "I have some experience in medical ninjutsu, but I was never certified."

"Irene-san?" The old man asked in surprise before snapping out of it and huffing impatiently. "That doesn't matter. Just heal Koharu."

"Hey, ojiisan. Is everything ok? Do you know what's going on outside?"

The old man nodded. "Everything's under control. We were attacked by unknown people, but Koharu here managed to put up a barrier to prevent further damage. It's thanks to her that this place is still standing."

Yugao stared at Hayate in surprise. They both came to the same conclusion. "That's so cool."

Hayate's mom shushed them angrily. "Shhhhh."

Hayate wasn't fazed by the stern look. "Chill out, mom."

"I'll kill you Hayate, if you say that to me one more time."

Kusa Border.

Minato ducked under another punch and tried to hit him under his arm. But even such an inaccessible point was rock hard. The result was a bone crushing hit to his sternum that sent him flying back, a movement that he was quickly becoming used to. The towering hulk of a man was one of the fiercest warriors in Iwa. Midori, the Steel Guardian of Iwa, was definitely worthy of the title S-rank. Minato had never before felt so outmatched.

His team had arrived just in time to save the only survivor from the team in Konoha. Fugaku Uchiha was running on fumes when they arrived. Rumia led him away so that the rest of them could fight. That was an insult to the warrior Midori. You don't interrupt his fights if you know what's good for you.

Rumia was dead. Her whole head caved in by a simple squeeze of his right hand. Midori called it punishment for interfering with his hunt. That was when Minato knew they couldn't win. But they had to fight. It was all they could do now. Survive until the reinforcements come. And that was what he was doing. Midori was forced to jump away when Minato came at him with a lightning-charged sword slash. Minato made use of the brief distraction to seal both Fugaku and the remains of Rumia into a body scroll. That somehow made the berserk Iwa nin angrier.

Even when outnumbered 5 to 1, the Konoha nin were holding on using a combination of running, evading and retaliating. The numbers weren't as staggering as it had been when the battle began. But it made no difference to Minato. His allies who had tried to help him were already dead. Minato had to command his subordinates to stay away to prevent further loss of life. Midori was not… forgiving toward anyone who tried to interfere with his 'hunt' as he called it.

Minato gripped his 3-pronged kunai tightly. If only he had taken the time to perfect his teleportation jutsu. This would have been a walk in the park. The problem with fighting Midori was that he was much too fast for his size. Although his nickname mentioned steel, in reality, his skin was only rock. That rock was probably harder than steel, but it was still just an earth technique. Minato knew his lightning techniques could pierce through it, but Midori was a man possessed. Minato was simply not getting the time needed to mold lightning chakra.

"You're better than the Uchiha. You're such a good fight." Midori told him as they met in another taijutsu exchange. "The Uchiha was such a pussy. Even with his sharingan slowing things down, he could barely keep up. At least you're fast enough to match me. Hell, you're faster than me. But you're lacking both offense and defense. You have only agility."

Minato grit his teeth hearing Midori make fun of his abilities. "You won't be talking so much when my agility puts you 6 feet under."

Midori grinned. "Ooh. 6 feet under, you say? Kind of like the blond I just popped like a melon, huh?"

The vision of Rumia's eyes widening in shock as Midori broke open her skull played in his mind. He snapped out of it quickly, but the opportunity had been both created and utilized. This time, it was his foot that hit his sternum. Minato jumped back trying to absorb the hit, but the damage was done. That hit had broken some ribs.

Midori looked like a glorified brawler and fought like one too. But that was just deception. In the past hour of fighting, Midori had only ever landed a hit on his chest. He wasn't fighting hard. He was fighting smart. Using a series of fast feints and blocks, Midori would almost lure his arms away from his body. Then he would strike. In taijutsu, there was no contest.

Midori was the toughest person he'd ever faced. And taijutsu was the most important in a war like this one. Minato was confident that given enough time, he would be able to wear him down with ninjutsu, but ninjutsu was a double-edged sword in war. Both Minato and Midori knew it. In a one-on-one fight they would be somewhat evenly matched. In a battle like this one, Minato had no chance. Only his lightning quick reflexes had enabled him to stay alive. Now that Midori had landed a good hit, it was over. He was done.

"Don't try to trash talk someone if you're the kind whose feelings get hurt when I talk shit back at you." Midori yelled as he kicked him while he was on the floor, sending him crashing into a tree, cracking another rib.

Minato spat up some blood. This was not how it would end. He had to make it right with Kushina before dying. He wouldn't let it end like this. Midori picked him up by his long blond hair and punched him across the face so hard that his nose broke. Pain flooded his mind as he found himself unable to even lift an arm against the second punch that hit him.

"You were entertaining, blondie. But this is where it ends. Nothing personal." Midori grinned as he lifted his fist for a third and final hit. Minato would just have to wait in the afterlife to make things up to her. He closed his eyes waiting for the end. But the hit never came. Dazed and confused, he slowly opened his eyes to see that Midori was no longer in front of him. In fact, he was flying away through the air. It was so satisfying to see that for once, it wasn't him flying away.

The third Hokage stood in front of him in full battle gear, with one hand at his side and the other on his famous adamantine staff. Lightheaded and dizzy, Minato grinned at the crashing noise created by Midori's fall into the fighting shinobi. Staying conscious to see that happen was worth it.

"Konoha-nin. Shinobi… Fall back. Reinforcements have arrived."

Cheers were heard all around the battlefield as the tired shinobi passed the torch to their allies. Midori looked torn between continuing the fight with him and retreating. Finally, when Jiraiya also arrived on his summoned toad flattening a good number of Iwa-nin, he decided to opt for the smart way out.

"Iwa shinobi. Retreat. I repeat, retreat. We'll deal with them later."

"I don't think so." A new voice spoke from behind Minato, which made him flinch. Shimura Danzo was fired up and ready to go. Minato saw him jump over his head and run into the battlefield. He was simply running through them, the invisible wind blades at his back doing their job. Minato suddenly remembered why the old shinobi was always held in such high regard. He was a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield. The Konoha-nin started following him in pursuit of the Iwa shinobi.

Hiruzen turned around to address him. "You've done well, Minato. I didn't think you were strong enough to go head to head with the Tsuchikage's son and survive. I've overlooked your skill. Forgive me for that." Hiruzen turned around and barked out an order. "MEDICS. Here."

Minato reached inside his jacket and retrieved a scroll. "Them first, Hokage-sama. Them first."

Hiruzen took the scroll from him and nodded, accepting his request. He wasn't quite ready for the gruesome image that greeted him once he unsealed the scroll. At least one of them was still alive and he was even more thankful that it was one of the Uchiha. He wasn't quite ready for the news about Kagami's son Tenzen. Hiruzen turned around again, not wanting to look upon the mutilated body of one of his most promising shinobi.

Minato was on the ground, staring into the distance at Danzo and Jiraiya pursuing the retreating Iwa shinobi. "Why are they still pursuing them?" he asked softly.

Hiruzen looked down at Minato sharply. "Did you forget? Fighting them was never the mission. Amegakure is the mission."

Minato smiled as he started to lose consciousness. "Yes, Amegakure is the mission."

Hiruzen shook his head at the unconscious jonin. He pointed at a random medic. "You there. Yes you. After you heal them up, make sure they're sent to Amegakure. They'll be needed there.", he said pointing at Fugaku and Minato.

"Hai, Hokage-sama."

Hiruzen turned around and took a deep breath. "It's been a while, hasn't it… Enma?"

An eye opened up at the end of his staff. "Indeed, it has. Let's go get some blood."

Hiruzen grinned as he rushed after his oldest friend and rival. He couldn't allow him to hog all the fun now, could he?

With Kushina.

They were running through open ground. So, when the first explosion happened, they were hit by the brunt of the gale that came from it. The wind came from the direction Konoha was in. Kushina was certain that she wasn't the only one who picked up on it. But no one said anything. They had to operate under the assumption that everything at home was fine. If they didn't have that, everything would fall apart. They would have no reason to fight.

So, they pressed on. Although it wasn't for long. As soon as Shikaku held up his hand, they all stopped. They weren't quite prepared for the wave of demonic killing intent that passed over them. Kushina's stomach started hurting a little bit. The fox was awake which couldn't possibly mean anything good.

Kushina looked sideways at Mikoto who nodded back at her. After a questioning glance toward Shikaku, who simply nodded in reply, their mission was set. They were the only two people equipped for the task. So, they took to the trees, hoping against hope that they would reach there in time.

Mikoto's palms began to sweat. She had been friends with Kushina for a very long time, and part of the reason for that was her sharingan. She had shown sufficient capability in genjutsu and that was the reason she had been selected. An Uchiha in the ANBU was her instructor. The Hokage and his advisors made sure that in the event the kyuubi escaped, they would be equipped to deal with it on the spot. Hitomi was a skilled fuinjutsu user and Akira was strong enough to deal with a rampaging jinchuriki if it came to that. Mikoto was taught how to subdue a beast with her sharingan.

But it had only been theory. She never got to test out her skills because Kushina never lost control. Never.

This would be her first time trying. And failure wasn't an option. Kushina looked sideways at her and smiled. That was enough to assure Mikoto that everything would turn out fine.

That was when the second explosion hit.

Shimogamo Forest.

The force of the explosion had knocked many of them backwards, but not him. He stood directly behind the last of the Rashomon gates, completely still. His brow was furrowed in concentration. The blast was blinding, he could feel how intense the light was despite his closed eyes.

He heard the crash of the first Rashomon gate falling. It didn't worry him in the slightest. He trusted Orochimaru and Orochimaru trusted him. The second one fell apart but he still wasn't worried. It was starting to come to him slowly. The biggest difficulty of senjutsu was detecting the nature chakra. Once he found it and segregated it, it was only a matter of time before he had enough.

CRASH.

The third one gave way and the beam met the wide red barrier which Dan had made. It didn't give way in the slightest. But then, the ox did the unexpected. It tilted his head toward the two corners where the barrier was weakest. It didn't take long for it to give way and the person who was behind it was sent flying into the forest. The powerful beam continued in that direction until the Hachibi decided to turn its head back.

He heard Tsunade's blood curdling scream. "DAAANNNN!" Damn it. He couldn't lose focus. The fate of over 300 villagers lay in his hands.

CRASH.

The beam was at the last gate. Just a little bit more. Just a little bit more. THERE. He had it.

Red markings formed around his eyes and his sclerae turned black. Black markings appeared all over his face and an aura of power wafted off of him. He opened his eyes. He was ready.

CRASH.

The last gate fell away, but the beam didn't travel any farther. A steady stream of fire met the remnants of the tailed beast bomb and actually started pushing it back. Akira Senju let out a bestial roar that rivalled the tailed beast itself as his flame technique clashed against the supreme technique of the tailed beast and actually held its own.

Both techniques were canceled out and smoke erupted all over. Akira panted and gasped as the last of the nature chakra escaped his body. It had served him well, but the time to rest was not yet upon him. This was far from over. He closed his eyes again as he tried to get his breathing under control. Damn it. He was out of practice.

Naruto looked at what happened, stunned. Akira Senju… The man he had threatened to kill yesterday. He had just matched the power of a fucking tailed beast. Unreal. This was not real. When the tailed beast bomb had been unleashed on the gates, Naruto felt that there was no need to worry. After all, the largest explosion he had ever seen hadn't made a dent on it.

Then, the first gate gave way, much to his alarm. The second one went not long after. He sent a worried glance at Orochimaru who returned the look, just as worried. When the third one gave way, he looked around at his teammates. He yelled at Yuna to use her earth release to dig a hole for them all. Orochimaru nodded at him for his quick thinking. But it was of no use. Yuna was frozen on her knees. Naruto didn't think she even registered his words. Sighing, he directed his gaze in front of him again.

He was surprised to see that the red colored barrier was yet to give. Almost in reply to his thoughts, the tailed beast turned his head, aiming at the weakest point in the barrier… the node. The barrier gave way and the blast sent Dan flying through the air into the forest.

"DAAANNNN!" Tsunade screamed in anguish as his flying body crashed against some trees and disappeared from view. Orochimaru tried to call out, but he fell forward. Summoning so many gates back to back had taken a lot out of him. Tsunade ran after her lover and disappeared into the trees.

Naruto also wanted to go after her. He was most likely already dead. She shouldn't be alone when she found him. But Anko was still on top of him pinning him down. Plus, the Hachibi was still firing its technique in that direction until it turned back to the Rashomon gates.

The fourth gate gave way and everyone beside him started panicking. It was at that moment that Naruto noticed the bright source of chakra standing directly behind the 5th gate. Since his attention had been on the tailed beast and its attack, he had overlooked this particular development. With a start, he realized that it was Akira. His mind drifted back to the incident that occurred three months ago when the same old man caught him and his friends mooching off his house. This was the same old man. His chakra was through the roof. It was beyond anything that Naruto had ever seen before.

Then the fifth gate broke away and suddenly, Naruto was face to face with the most dangerous technique that he'd ever seen in action. Naruto never expected his sensei's ultimate defense to fail. It only proved even further that every technique could be beaten. Although not being able to withstand tailed beast technique couldn't exactly be categorized as a disadvantage, it at least proved that the gates could be broken.

That was when Senju Akira exploded. The huge reserve of chakra that he'd seen was being drained out of him rapidly as it was converted to a fire technique. Naruto watched flabbergasted as the technique actually managed to push the tailed beast bomb back. A bright flash filled his eyes right before the techniques cancelled each other, sending huge waves of smoke in all directions. Knowing Anko had nothing to hold on to, Naruto turned quickly and pinned her under him while he used his chakra to stick to the tree.

BOOOOOMMMMM!

It turned out that his half-assed attempt to stick to the tree hadn't been enough, but Orochimaru caught him as soon as his foot was dragged off the surface.

The huge blast eventually died down and smoke erupted all around them. Orochimaru grabbed him and placed him back on the tree. "Listen, Naruto. I want you to gather whoever's still conscious and make your way toward where Dan fell. Go in that general direction until you see her tracks. Use it to get close to her. If she's in a broken state, protect her and take her safely back to the village. If she's still responding, get her to investigate what happened at the village."

Naruto nodded and tried to turn around to see what condition his teammates were in. But Orochimaru didn't let go. Naruto looked into his eyes questioningly.

Orochimaru stared at him more serious than he'd ever seen him. "Protect her." He reiterated making Naruto's eyes widen.

He nodded, determination burning in his eyes. This time, Orochimaru was already nearing Akira Senju's position by the time he turned around. He looked at his friends on the ground. Anko was vomiting her guts out. Rin, Yuna and Obito were already passed out. Finally, his eyes landed on Kakashi. For his part, Naruto didn't hold any ill will towards him.

"Kakashi, we have a mission." Naruto spoke urgently.

Kakashi met his eyes. "Yeah, I heard."

"Let's go then."

"Hold on… I'm coming too." Anko sat up from her spot on the branch.

Naruto shook his head before Anko even got to her feet. "If you come with us, who's going to watch over our unconscious teammates?"

Anko hesitated slightly, but she nodded nevertheless. Naruto and Kakashi took to the trees. Naruto looked over at Kakashi who was effortlessly keeping up with him. He had to remind himself that despite the results of their stupid spar, Kakashi was a very resourceful shinobi.

"Are you any good at tracking?" Naruto asked silently as they sped through the trees. Kakashi nodded in reply. "Good. You take the lead. I'll cover the flanks."

Kakashi did as he was asked without hesitation. Orochimaru had given him the mission. He obviously thought Naruto to be the more capable leader and he was probably right as well.

Naruto remained quiet. His sharingan was spinning around in its sockets wildly, darting left and right, making sure that the coast was clear and there weren't any surprises heading their way. It was then that he noticed that the smoke was starting to clear. Unable to sate his curiosity, Naruto stopped to stare at the enemy army.

The man with the goatee, the one Naruto assumed to be the leader, stepped forward. "Bee… Again."

The words were spoken in such a low whisper, but somehow every single Konoha shinobi heard it. Kakashi also came to a stop beside him, stunned at what he had just heard. They exchanged a glance and they realized that if the second one got through, every single one of the 300 other shinobi in their group would die. Him, Kakashi and a heartbroken Tsunade would be the last line of defense against the Kumo army, at least until the reinforcements from Taki arrived.

But Naruto was brought out of his thoughts when the eight-tailed ox opened its mouth again. Just like before, dense chakra gathered into a massive black orb and it started growing larger and larger.

Naruto snapped out of it and nudged Kakashi. They had a mission and it was to protect Tsunade. They couldn't afford to dally around like this. They pressed on.

It didn't take Kakashi long to get a hold of her tracks. In fact, Naruto was now of the opinion that Kakashi wasn't needed to track someone who bursts through trees while running through the forest.

Naruto saw her first, kneeling over what he assumed to be Dan's dead body. He signaled Kakashi and they both dropped down to the ground. Approaching through the trees would only make her more suspicious. As soon as their feet touched the ground, Tsunade turned around. Naruto flinched as she saw her red eyes. It was bringing back his memories of Shinzo and Shizuka's funeral.

Naruto cautiously approached with Kakashi following him from behind. Naruto decided to ask the obvious question. "Is he-"

"Yes." Tsunade replied immediately. Naruto let out a sigh of sadness. But there was more coming. "But he wasn't when he landed. He was still alive. I could've saved him. I could've saved him. I could've…"

Naruto watched the blabbering woman in sadness. No matter how she had acted, she didn't deserve what was happening to her. Naruto would usually be the first to say that he was undoubtedly the unluckiest person in Konoha. Looking at the warm tears flowing down Tsunade's face as she helplessly looked at her blood-covered hands and clutched the green crystal necklace close to her chest… he wasn't so sure anymore.

He decided to start moving. This was no place for her to be. He unsealed a body scroll and sealed Dan's body inside. Gently he touched Tsunade's shoulders. "Tsunade-sama, we have to move."

Tsunade stood up hesitantly, tears still flowing down her face. "What's happening back there?"

Naruto shook his head signaling that he did not know. His eyes met Kakashi's as they tried to decide what to do. They couldn't go back to the others without knowing that they'd be safe. Kakashi signaled him to get a look.

Naruto did just that and jumped up onto a tree. His sharingan enabled him to see farther than most people. He was able to see Orochimaru and Akira standing directly in the line of fire. Akira was still glowing brightly, but not with anywhere near the same amount of chakra as before. It wouldn't be enough.

The Hachibi had almost completely swallowed the orb of chakra. Idly, he realized that if the Hachibi so much as turned his head while the technique was active, he was pretty much done for. He looked on in anticipation at what would happen next. Akira was not ready. Orochimaru wasn't either. Who else was there? Tsunade was a medic. He doubted that she had any purely defensive techniques that would suit their current requirement.

The Hachibi's mouth started glowing as it started unleashing the devastating move. Suddenly, the glow was shut off. Naruto's eyes morphed into its pentagonal shape as he honed in on the Hachibi's mouth. Was that a chain?

The Hachibi started bloating up as the technique sought release from its confines. But the only outlet was firmly closed off. Naruto grinned. Was the technique going to go off inside the Hachibi? Again, he didn't have to wait long for his question to be answered.

BOOOOOOMMMMMM!

With Akira

Orochimaru dropped down next to Akira. He knew that Akira wouldn't be able to move while he was gathering nature chakra. He assumed that it included his mouth as well.

"Orochimaru. What are you doing here? Get back."

Orochimaru looked at him in shock. "How are you able to talk? I heard that it's not possible to move anything while collecting nature chakra."

Akira snorted. "There's a reason the Senju clan has always practiced senjutsu. We have a stronger affinity towards it than most. Now, answer my question."

Orochimaru shrugged. "I thought I'd come protect you while we wait. You know, since you're unable to move and all."

Akira didn't reply but Orochimaru sensed that the older ninja was annoyed with him.

"Do you think you'll make it?" Orochimaru asked as he saw the ball of chakra completely enter into the Hachibi's throat.

Akira scoffed. "Of course not." Orochimaru turned towards him in shock. The Hachibi's mouth was starting to glow. "I don't need to. They're here."

As soon as the words left Akira's mouth, Orochimaru saw the two speeding blurs coming from the west. One red and one black. Kushina Uzumaki unleashed the adamantine chains that she was famous for. The first and fastest one wrapped around the Hachibi's mouth and held it shut making the glow of the technique disappear. A second one reached the mouth and formed a knot with the first chain. Eight more chains came out of Kushina's back and pinned the Hachibi's eight tails to the ground.

The leader of the Kumo army couldn't believe what he was seeing. The Hachibi started bloating up as the technique started losing its form and rapidly expanded inside its body. For the first time since the battle started, Ay felt afraid for his brother. Not knowing what else to do, Ay's lightning armor came to life as he went straight at the red-haired woman holding his brother down. He made a grave error in judgement because the redhead was not alone. He came face to face with the sharingan and suddenly, he was in his worst nightmare.

However, one didn't get to be the next in line to being Raikage without knowing how to get out of a little genjutsu. But the damage was done. As soon as the pain from his kunai brought him out of the genjutsu, an explosion rocked the battlefield.

BOOOOMMMMM!

The chains released his brother and the explosion sent him flying into his own army, flattening many good men and women on his way. Ay watched in horror as the Hachibi slowly decreased in size and all the tails collapsed in on itself, finally revealing his unconscious brother in the middle of a giant crater.

As his eyes followed his brother, he realized that he had made yet another error in judgement. He had forgotten that he was still in battle. He jumped away just in time to limit the sword slash that would have taken his head to just a deep gash on his torso. He retreated quickly. "Men. On guard."

Kushina glared at the man who had been fast enough to evade her. "Tch." She was this close. She wasn't disappointed for long though. Her sensei called out to her.

"Kushina! Water." Akira yelled out.

Kushina was confused for a moment but it turned into a lopsided grin when she saw the lightning-covered body of the third Raikage's older son. "Gee hee."

"Water Release: Great Water Exploding Wave!"

Mikoto jumped out of the way when Kushina expelled a huge wave of water in the direction of the Kumo army. Ay's eyes widened in fright and he dropped his armor immediately, not wanting to unintentionally electrocute everyone in his army. This also meant that the full brunt of the turbulent water wave hit him and pushed him and his army back. It had all gone wrong so quickly.

Akira was now fully charged with nature chakra. As soon as he saw Kushina's technique hit its mark, Akira looked sideways at Orochimaru and grinned. "Orochimaru, Wind!"

Orochimaru's eyes widened as he realized what the older shinobi had in mind. They both started running through hand seals as Kushina and Mikoto landed beside them. Akira smirked proudly at them both. They had done a good job. But now it was time to finish them off.

"FIRE RELEASE: GREAT FIRE ANNIHILATION!"

"WIND RELEASE: GREAT WIND BREAKTHROUGH!"

The huge fire technique spread out in front of them and was immediately fanned by the intense wind that had been created by Orochimaru, resulting in a raging inferno that traveled swiftly toward the still recovering Kumo army.

Ay stared around desperately. "Shinobi. Those who can use water or earth techniques shield yourselves and others. The rest of you… Retreat. I repeat… The rest of you, run…"

Ay knew defeat when he saw it. This had been unexpected from Konoha with the intense battles they were fighting at numerous other fronts at Kusa and at Taki, this definitely was not expected. That's when it hit him. The reinforcements had come from Taki… which meant that either the Kumo group had been dragged into Iwa country or the fight was already over in which case his father and the 3000 shinobi that accompanied him were dead.

They were beaten. Fair and square. Bee was incapacitated, his lightning armor was useless when he had his subordinates to worry about (idly, he wondered if that was the reason why his father always wanted to rush into battle alone), and above all, over half their numbers wouldn't survive the fire technique that was rapidly coming down on them. A humiliating defeat. He would remember this for decades to come.

The fire rained down on them and the screams broke out. Akira stopped his fire technique when he heard the first scream. Orochimaru stopped his technique as well, moments later. Akira turned around to see every single conscious Konoha shinobi looking at the four of them in awe.

Akira barked out a laugh. "Shinobi… Operation fuck'em all is a huge success. Get out your party hats people. We're going home."

With Naruto.

Naruto always knew that war was a very messy business. Death and destruction… That's what Orochimaru called it. Without Orochimaru and Dan, all 300 of them would have died in that single attack. Kumo would have won with most of them not having to do anything. Orochimaru had told him that wars lasted years. The first ninja war lasted 14 years. The second one lasted 8. So, Naruto didn't expect a battle like this one to end so soon. Maybe that was what war was. Key battles like this one spread out over a long time?

The eight tails' technique had finally reached its peak and he popped like one of Yugao's balloons. The huge body of the Hachibi was sent flying back at its allies, squashing a good number of them under it. That's when Naruto realized. One chain. A single chain made… made of steel? had completely reversed their positions. Now, Kumo was forced on the defensive by their own technique. Incredible.

At the sound of the explosion, Kakashi and Tsunade appeared beside him atop the tree. "What happened?", Kakashi asked, his eyes wide at what he saw in the distance. Like Naruto, he wasn't expecting their comrades to survive. He believed that it was now his responsibility to reach Konoha as fast as possible and warn them of the incoming danger. It seemed that that was no longer necessary.

Tsunade, on the other hand, was indifferent to it. Now that the shock had worn off, her position had become abundantly clear to her. It simply didn't matter anymore. If Kumo won, her uncle would be dead and she would likely be used like a whore to produce strong Senju heirs. If Konoha won, she would return to her life as a medic and jonin of Konoha… Either way, one thing remained the same. She had nothing to live for. Whether as a whore or as a medic, she had no purpose.

Nawaki was the reason she lived, why she tried so hard. When he died, she held onto the last thing that gave her purpose. Her job. The Hokage destroyed that as well. With nothing and no one except Akira with her, she had started falling into darkness. But just as she thought she had completely fallen in, a hand grabbed hers and dragged her out. It was Dan… and now, he was dead and she was alone once more.

In the back of her mind, she knew that there were people who had suffered more than her and still kept trying. They were strong. She was weak. She noticed a large fire jutsu heading towards the Kumo army. Under normal circumstances, any Konoha shinobi seeing it would have smiled. But Tsunade simply averted her gaze. She looked down at her blood covered hands, completely stained red. She hated it. She hated her arms that couldn't stop shaking when it mattered the most. She hated the green crystal necklace that had taken the lives of two of the most important people in her life. She hated the blood on her arms.

Her eyes sharply met Naruto's gaze. She got the feeling that someone was watching her and instinctively looked up at Naruto. He had a worried look on his face.

"Tsunade-sama. You should head back to the village. Something's happened there. It might need your immediate attention." Naruto spoke quietly.

Tsunade didn't reply, instead looking at her blood-covered hands again, completely numb to her surroundings.

"Take her back to the village. I'll report to Orochimaru." Naruto told Kakashi who nodded his acceptance at him. He turned to the still unresponsive jounin.

"Tsunade-sama, let's go."

With Naruto.

Naruto jumping from branch to branch, couldn't help the thoughts that entered his mind. Akira Senju had access to a new form of chakra that made him as fearsome as any tailed beast. He wanted to know what power that was. But in his mind, he felt that somehow it was out of his reach.

What surprised him more was the big burly man from Kumo. When his eyes were in its Mangekyou state, very little escaped his sight. In fact, when he utilized it against Orochimaru for the first time, he found that he could keep up with him. Rather, his eyes could keep up with him. His body was still too slow to deal with people like Orochimaru.

That's what had him stunned. The Kumo-nin shouldn't be that much faster than Orochimaru. He had been so fast that Naruto's eyes didn't catch his movement at all. He only saw him beside the Hachibi for one moment and then 50 meters away the next. It was almost like the substitution jutsu. But that didn't make sense either. Nothing to substitute with and no hand seal made… At least as far as he saw.

What was it then? The only thing left to consider was the lightning. But how would lightning help his speed?

But something good had come off the recent exchange. He'd unlocked another piece of himself. Wind ninjutsu. He had never seen his sensei use that technique before and he knew why. The technique was roughly executed with not enough of Orochimaru's built-up chakra getting converted into the technique. He realized instinctively that it was because Orochimaru didn't have an affinity for wind.

But he didn't need it. He only needed to know how to mold it. And staring at his sensei with his new eyes made sure that he knew.

He stopped on a random tree branch in his path. Naruto knew he shouldn't try it… Not this far away from home anyway without supervision. But suddenly, he knew he wanted to try it. He wanted to try and do the same thing the Kumo leader did except with wind instead of lightning.

Almost instinctively, he felt his chakra being compressed and honed into the sharpest blade he could imagine. He built up chakra in every inch of his chakra system and he felt every tenketsu in his body burn with the excess chakra.

He didn't know what was going to happen, but if he could observe even a little increase in his speed, it would prove at least that the wind chakra would have a similar effect as lightning chakra.

Closing his eyes, he imagined his chakra expanding outward like every shinobi is taught to do in the early stages of the academy. He felt strangely excited. Like the feeling you get when you're falling freely through air. A sense of danger, but also excitement.

He jumped off the tree while also releasing the technique.

With Akira.

"It seemed like you were in one hell of a bind there, jiji." Kushina smirked. "Just admit it this time. Without me, you'd be dead."

Akira laughed at her taunt. "Ha, as if. Have you ever heard of the phrase, 'Hiding like a mole technique'?" Akira smirked at her faltering smile. "You may have saved the rest of them, but you didn't do shit for me."

Kushina frowned. "You'll never admit it, will you? You selfish old prick?"

Mikoto just looked embarrassed between the two. "Cut it out, both of you. People are watching."

"Let them. They should all be on their knees worshiping me, for saving them from a very gruesome death." Kushina spoke loudly, making every person watching sweat-drop.

"Oh yeah. Fuck that. They should be praising me. Because after all, you'd have gotten here to see a big ol' pile of ash if it weren't for me." Akira retorted.

Yuna woke up to the sound of raised voices. Her mouth tasted disgusting with the taste of bile still persisting. She sat up quickly because it suddenly dawned on her that she shouldn't have been asleep in the first place. She felt a hand on her shoulders.

"Gently." It was Anko. She had this sick look on her face as she stared out over the battlefield. That was when the smell hit her. What was that? "Are you wondering about the smell?"

Yuna nodded, dumbfounded at the faint voice of Anko. Anko was never this timid. "Yeah. What is it?"

"Human flesh burning."

"What?", Yuna stood up quickly and looked out at the place where she had last seen the eight-tailed beast. Her eyes caught the two grown shinobi bickering like kids, but she wisely chose to ignore them. Her eyes travelled further and saw what Anko meant. Human flesh burning. There were burning corpses littered around the bare earth. She wondered how many of them there were, but soon realized that it was too many to count. "What happened?"

Anko was silent for a few long moments. "We won… That's what happened."

Yuna couldn't decipher her expression. Was she happy or sad? She stayed silent trying to guess how the scene before her had gone from the raging eight-tails to a burning graveyard.

Some more raised voices from the bickering shinobi brought her eyes back to them. Her eyes widened. "Anko? Isn't that…"

Anko nodded. "Yeah. It is."

Yuna frowned at her tone. It was supposed to be great news. But then, she noticed it. "Where's Naruto?"

"Gone."

"G- Gone?" Yuna exclaimed. "Where?"

"He was sent on a mission."

Yuna's eyes widened. "Why?"

Anko looked up from her knees for the first time since she woke up. "Because he didn't freeze like I did. Because he didn't vomit and fall unconscious like the rest of us. He was competent."

"That's right." A new voice spoke and both of them looked up to see Orochimaru standing tall above them. "He was competent. You two weren't."

Anko bit her lips as she looked away. "I know."

Yuna just looked confused. Was Naruto not scared at all by the huge tailed beast that was only a few 100 yards away?

Orochimaru didn't let up. "It's doubly bad when you think about the fact that killing intent is supposed to be your strong suit, Anko. And you too, Yuna. You have been subjected to my killing intent and your father's. You both should have been able to stay conscious at least."

Yuna and Anko looked at each other sadly. He was right. They were incompetent. They had been nothing more than civilians in their most recent fight. She thought they were ready. She thought she was. But it was clear, now more than ever. They weren't ready.

Orochimaru took a deep breath. "That being said, look around you." At their confused stares, he let out a small smile. "Look around you."

Yuna acquiesced first and turned around to look at the nearby chunin and jonin. There were many people on the ground covered in their own drool and vomit. Nearest to them was Rin and Obito. Two trees away on her left three unconscious chunin and one jonin. A few more on her right. Even more confused now, she looked up sharply at Orochimaru who was now smiling at her.

"You guys weren't the only ones who vomited and passed out. People a lot older than you and a lot more experienced than you suffered the same fate. Don't beat yourself up over it."

Anko grit her teeth. "You don't understand. I didn't pass out. I… froze. I could've gone with them. You didn't see the look on Naruto's face when I asked to go with him. He thought I'd be a liability." She punched the tree trunk hard, bloodying them. "I froze."

Orochimaru's eyes softened upon hearing that. He realized that his genin had never really lost a battle before. Really lost. As in, stood helpless as fire rained all around them. "Anko, Yuna. I haven't told you about how me and my teammates got the name 'Sannin'."

Yuna shook her head. "You didn't have to. Everyone knows that it was a show of admiration from the leader of Amegakure."

Orochimaru chuckled lightly. "Is that what they're teaching you all at the academy? That's bull shit. We received the name 'Sannin' as a mockery. We survived longer than he expected us to. Nothing more. At his overwhelming power, something died in all of us that day. As we lay there, unable to move because of the fear and the pain from the poison coursing through us, Sanshou no Hanzo laughed at us. He told us that we weren't worth his time. That even the three most competent ninja he had seen from Konoha were now cowering in fear at his strength. He made us feel like we were still children just starting at the academy. He told us that we'd forever be known as the Sannin, not the three who survived, the three who weren't worth his time."

Both his genin stared at him with wide eyes. "But… it's a title of respect, isn't it?"

"No. The villagers think so, but it's not. Every time we hear it, we are brought back to the battle all those years ago. The battle in which I froze in fear for the first time, Tsunade cried in helplessness for the first time and Jiraiya… gave up… for the first time."

Orochimaru looked at his genin calmly. "Do you know why I'm telling you this?" They shook their heads. "It's because it made us stronger. I haven't frozen in fear since then. Because of him, I am now more confident than I ever was before that. I can stare at the face of death and laugh at it, because I know I can get away." At their questioning gaze, he continued. "Defeat is a wonderful thing if you manage to get away alive. Everyone who you call 'strong', has experienced defeat at least once and were lucky enough to get away alive. For me it was Hanzo. For my sensei, it was the Kinkaku-Ginkaku assault."

Orochimaru paused to take a breath. His genin were now paying full attention to him. "You were defeated today. Both of you. But don't repress this memory. Don't seal it up in your mind. Embrace it. Learn from it. Let it help you and this will never happen to you again."

Yuna nodded in determination but Anko still didn't seem convinced. "Naruto… He did it."

Orochimaru raised an eyebrow. "Did what?"

Anko replied in a low voice. "He stared at the face of death and laughed at it. He was looking directly at that monstrous attack with no fear at all. Kakashi was also conscious but you could see that he was fucking terrified. Naruto wasn't like that."

Orochimaru nodded. "Naruto's a special case. He's not like us. He's not normal. But it will happen all the same. He will experience defeat one day. He will continue to be like this until it does. Reckless, no care for his safety, no thought into the consequences of his actions… But when he's defeated for the first time, it'll change. He'll grow stronger."

Anko looked at her sensei and then at Yuna. She knew Yuna had more reason to feel ashamed than her. After all, she had managed to stay conscious. But seeing the determination in her eyes, Anko couldn't help but admire her for it. She knew Orochimaru was right. He was always right. Even Naruto would fall one day. It was her duty to be there for him when he did. As for her state… She wouldn't allow this to happen. Never again.

Orochimaru smiled at the determination in both genin's eyes. They wouldn't freeze ever again. Now, all that was left for him to do was find Naruto and Tsunade.

CRAASSSHHHH

As if in reply to his thoughts, the sound of a crash nearby reached him. Orochimaru's eyes flicked to the direction it came from. The same one he had sent Naruto in. Fearing the worst, he leapt in that direction. In the back of his mind, he was aware of Akira, Kushina and Mikoto close behind him. What was going on?

He jumped into the clearing, unsure of why four trees were falling to the ground on either side, almost as if someone cut them in two. It was a few more moments before he finally spotted Naruto, leaning against a tree clutching his arm. He ran towards him.

"Naruto. What happened? Is someone else here?"

Naruto shook his head. His right hand glowed green and started healing his broken arm. "No. No one's here."

"Then what happened?"

Naruto looked away in… shame? "I'd rather not say."

Orochimaru frowned. "Naruto. Now."

Naruto stayed silent for a few moments. But he could sense more people approaching and they would undoubtedly press him for answers. Naruto sighed. He was gonna be yelled at by at least 4 people. "I saw the lightning armor thingy that the Kumo nin was using and thought I'd try it out with wind."

Orochimaru's eyes widened. That was the most powerful technique of Kumogakure. "Did you succeed?"

"Hell no." Naruto exclaimed. "I have no idea how to control it. I tried releasing the chakra from all over my body but the moment I released the built up chakra, it changed direction and converged at the middle of my body. When I crashed, the chakra just cut through like 5 trees before I could stop."

Orochimaru's eyes widened at the implications. This was his first time using wind chakra and he'd almost succeeded in copying one of the most fearsome techniques of their enemies. If he could learn to control it, then…

But first… SMACK.

"Ow."

"Do you know how fucking stupid that was? Trying out new techniques should always be under supervision. And you should definitely not do it in enemy territory."

It was then that Akira Senju dropped down beside Orochimaru. After seeing who was on the ground, he let out an exasperated sigh. The kid was trouble. But somehow, he couldn't stop the smirk forming on his face.

Naruto reached into his pocket and withdrew a scroll and tossed it to Orochimaru. Seeing his raised eyebrow, Naruto continued. "Dan's dead body."

Orochimaru was surprised. With the events that led up to this, he had completely forgotten about the mission that he'd given his student. But before he could ask the obvious question, Akira spoke out. He too had realized the implications of what Naruto just said.

"Where is she?"

Naruto sighed. This wasn't going to be good either. "She's on her way back to the village. Kakashi's with her."

Orochimaru nodded but before he could say anything else, someone else started speaking.

"Akira-sensei, the others from Taki are close. We'll regroup with them shortly. Shikaku sent the-"

Kushina froze mid-step. Red hair, a darker shade than hers. One visible purple eye, the same as hers. The eyes she never thought she'd see again outside her nightmares. Even when she realized that he was still alive, she still felt that something would happen and he would be taken from her again. But here he was. Right in front of her.

"Naruto?" She asked, her voice soft. Her lips were quivering slightly as she struggled to hold in her tears.

For his part, Naruto immediately recognized her from the bingo book. She was taller than he expected. Her hair was longer than in the picture, her face narrower, her eyes sharper. But one thing was irrefutable. She was familiar. "Kushina-nee?". It rang through his mind. Just like how his instincts tell him to do something, his mind was telling him to call her that.

He didn't realize what he'd done wrong because tears started falling freely down his sister's face. He was about to apologize when she leapt forward and wrapped him in a tight hug. His arm was still broken, so his mind registered pain. But somehow, it didn't matter. He felt his right shoulder region get wet with her tears. But it didn't matter.

"I'm scared, Kushina-nee. I don't want to stay at home." The young boy's voice pierced the air. "He's so mean."

The girl, who seemed to be about 12 or 13 years old, smiled at him. "Don't worry, Naruto-chan. You won't be here. You'll be with Hayami-chan next door. Just be brave for today and have fun. I'll be back before you know it and when I am, we can go for ice cream.

The young red haired boy smiled at that despite his obvious desire to stay with his sister.

The scene shifted as Naruto blinked rapidly.

"Happy 4th birthday, Naruto. Do you know what this means?" Kushina asked him cheerfully.

Naruto shook his head. "No? What does it mean?"

Kushina laughed. A melodious sound that persisted in his ears. "It means you're a big boy. You have to get stronger now so that you can protect me and Hayami better."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Mm-hmm. I want to protect you both. Hayami's parents too."

"You're so sweet, Naruto." Kushina reached into a pouch she tied to her knee. "Here, I bought you something."

A beautiful silver locket was placed into his hands. Naruto looked at the shiny ornament in awe. "What is it?"

Kushina laughed at the question. "It's a necklace, Naruto."

"But those are for girls." Naruto replied in obvious confusion.

Kushina smiled calmly at her brother. "Open it."

Naruto decided to follow her instructions and opened it. Inside was an inscription. "Happy 4th birthday, Naruto Uzumaki. Your sister loves you."

He looked up to see his sister smiling at him. "Still think that it's not for you?"

He shook his head desperately. He didn't want his sister to be sad. "No. I want it. I love it."

Kushina laughed again as she picked him up. "Happy 4th birthday, Naruto-chan. I love you."

Naruto hugged her with the locket clutched tightly in his right hand. "I love you too."

Naruto's vision became blurred as the rich coppery taste of blood entered his mouth. He realized that his nose was bleeding. The visions he just had were his memories. Things that had happened in the past, which was why it was hurting him. But it didn't matter.

All that mattered was that, for the first time in a long while, he felt warm. He couldn't recall the last time he felt this way. Even as his mind shut down, he felt safe and comfortable. He felt like there was nothing that could hurt him in that moment, even though the moment itself was hurting him. Orochimaru and Akira looked at him in concern as they ran forward to separate them. Mikoto, who'd just arrived, wasn't aware of what was happening. But she could see the blood falling down Naruto's face and was panicking.

But for him, it was pure and utter bliss.

With Minato

The first person he saw when he woke up was Yoshino Nara. She was the medic assigned to him. He sat up quickly, his eyes searching for Midori, the steel guardian of Iwa. Their fight wasn't finished yet. As Yoshino's hand touched his shoulders, he immediately started calming down. It was all coming back to him. Reinforcements had arrived. Midori had been beaten back by the Hokage and his troops. He had seen Jiraiya, Danzo and Hiruzen charging into battle. But if so, most of the strong shinobi were here, who was protecting the village?

His questions faded away when he heard the sound of Uchiha Fugaku. "So, you're finally awake?"

Minato looked to his left to see another medic nin tending to Fugaku. "Yeah. I guess I am. How long was I out?"

"Not long, considering what happened to you." Yoshino stated. "You had three cracked ribs and 4 broken ones. You were bleeding internally and had a punctured diaphragm. It's a wonder you were still fighting after all of that happened to you."

Minato shook his head. "I wasn't fighting with all those injuries. It was because of those injuries that I had to stop."

Yoshino's eyes widened, but Fugaku remained stoic. After all, he had been on the receiving end of one of those punches. "Are you telling me that one hit from him did all this damage?"

Minato nodded his answer. One clean hit and this was the result. 3 cracked ribs, 4 broken ones, internal bleeding and a punctured diaphragm. If only they had crossed paths on a mission or something. He felt that he could take him if he didn't have to worry about his fellow Konoha nin. But that was naïve of him. There was no way for him to know. After all, Midori had also not revealed his own ninjutsu arsenal. There was a good chance that Midori would overpower him there as well.

Fugaku saw the wave of emotions that passed over Minato's face. He knew what he was thinking. Would he have won if they had met one on one instead? He had asked himself the same thing earlier. Except he was asking if he would have survived. The answer was no, of course. The only reason he'd survived long enough for reinforcements to arrive was that Midori was toying with him. Nothing else.

"Minato, get up. We have a job to do." Fugaku spoke softly as he got off the makeshift bed.

Minato didn't get a chance to reply because Yoshino cut him off. "Absolutely not. He's too injured."

Fugaku scoffed. "Grow up, Yoshino. He can take care of himself."

Yoshino glared at him. Minato was confused, but he had heard the Hokage's words before unconsciousness had fully claimed him. We'll need them at Amegakure. It was his job. It was his duty. He got up from his bed and jumped two or three times to make sure everything was working as they should. "He's right Yoshino, I have to go…"

Yoshino was conflicted. She didn't want any more of her friends to die. Was that too much to ask? Rumia was her best friend. They had known each other long before they signed up to be ninja. They had grown up together. Talked about anything and everything. She was dead now. Killed by the brute that did this to Minato. She didn't know what she would tell Inoichi.

"Yoshino. I understand how you feel. I really do. But we have to go. We have to fight." Minato said gently as he put his jacket back on.

"Why?" The lone word resounded in their ears. Why was it necessary that they fight?

Minato paused at the entrance to the medical tent. "We fight to prevent people younger than us from feeling as we feel now." He left, leaving Yoshino alone in the tent. He was right. Yoshino knew that. It was the reason they fought. To save the younger generation. She knew it was for that. It didn't mean that she had to like it.

With Akira, 3 Hours Later.

"So, what do you recommend we do now?" Akira asked the Nara clan heir. "Are you saying we should head home instead of Amegakure?"

Shikaku Nara shook his head calmly. "No. I'm not suggesting that. I'm saying some of us, the absolute minimum, should head back home. You all see the smoke coming right? It's bad if we can see it from this much distance. We need a capable force to investigate it." He scratched his beard in thought. "Based on what I understand, Koharu and Homura are the only two shinobi in Konoha. If they're overcome-"

"They're strong, Shikaku, despite how they look."

Shikaku smiled gently. "Be that as it may, there are an infinite number of ways it could've gone wrong. The attack might have been too fast to enable the barrier before it hit, there could have been too many small attacks scattered all over the village simultaneously."

Akira frowned. The Nara was right. "Well then, what do you propose we do?"

Shikaku smiled again. Akira Senju would make a great leader. Not because of his prowess, but because of his willingness to listen to lesser shinobi. "I think you should lead somewhere between 30 and 50 percent of our forces back to the village while Orochimaru-sama or myself leads the rest to battle at Amegakure."

Akira nodded. "Why not me at Amegakure and you to the village?"

Shikaku smiled again. All the right questions. "Because, if indeed something has happened at Konoha, your presence would be felt. You will empower the people, strengthen their minds and resolve. They will be brave if it's you while I am not as well-known and Orochimaru-sama is not as well-received…" Shikaku hesitantly looked sideways at Orochimaru. He quickly added. "No offense."

Orochimaru turned to him indifferently. "None taken."

Akira nodded to himself as the path to follow became evident to him. This particular Nara was going places. He didn't like sending the rest to Amegakure because no matter what had happened at home, Sanshou no Hanzo would be the bigger danger, no question about it. He didn't feel comfortable letting the others take on the more difficult task.

"Alright. We'll follow your plan. 30% was the amount you recommended, right? That's what I'll take."

Shikaku nodded. He had thought as much. "Shall I start making preparations then?"

Akira nodded to which Shikaku gave a small bow and jumped away. Night was falling. They'd been resting long enough. The only people who needed rest were Akira and Orochimaru, but many of the others had fallen unconscious. The brat as well. He had been concerned when he saw his nose bleeding. For a second, he almost thought that it was because Kushina was hugging him too tight.

The three of them then had to explain what they knew to an angry and tearful Kushina.

Flashback

"What happened?" Kushina asked as tears continued to stream down her face. "Is he injured?"

Mikoto looked at her friend regretfully. "Didn't Akira tell you when you talked? He has amnesia."

Kushina nodded. "Yeah. He told me about that."

"What he didn't tell you was that it isn't actually amnesia." Kushina raised an eyebrow at that.

"What is it then?"

Mikoto looked around helplessly as if waiting for someone else to explain. Orochimaru was the one who took up the role. "It's a double ended memory knot tied with his pain receptors as well."

Kushina gasped. "Does that mean what I think it means?"

Orochimaru nodded. "It means that whenever Naruto here remembers something, the 'knot' tightens on his pain receptors making him feel pain beyond anything we can imagine. Enough to make him black out within seconds disabling him from continuing his delve into his subconsciousness."

Kushina didn't know what to say. She ran her hands over Naruto's hair. Just what had he gone through between all those years ago and now?

Akira was the one who asked the next question. "How did you come to know of all this?"

Orochimaru smiled at the question. "The brat used the hell-viewing technique on himself. It showed him memories of his life before he ended up in Konoha, making the memory knot activate and shutting down his neural system. Based on the symptoms, I identified it as the rarely used memory seal. We need a skilled mind walker to delve into his mind, if we want any more answers."

Kushina stayed silent throughout Orochimaru's talk. "Who did this to him?"

All eyes turned to Orochimaru because Mikoto also didn't have any idea about that. Orochimaru sighed. "He has a list of people he suspects…"

Akira's eyes widened. He was undoubtedly on that list. How would Kushina react?

Kushina narrowed her eyes at what Orochimaru just told her. "Tell me.", she commanded softly.

Sweat formed on Orochimaru's brow at the intense look he was receiving. "We can do this another-".

"Tell me." This time was even quieter than before which somehow made it more frightening.

"At the very top of his list, there is the Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, followed by Shimura Danzo, Koharu Utatane, Homura Mitokado, Kosuke Maruboshi and Akira Senju." Kushina's red slitted eyes found Akira's immediately. "Then there's Jiraiya, Tsunade and me. Then there's Minato Namikaze and Biwako Sarutobi."

As he finished the list, Kushina's eyes hardened. "Why?"

Orochimaru didn't hesitate this time. "These are all the people who could have interacted with both of you. Minus of course, Minato's three genin and Mikoto here."

Kushina started shaking her head. "That's not what I meant. Why is his list composed only of Konoha ninja? Why is he sure that someone from another village didn't do it?" This time, Orochimaru was hesitant and his reluctance was too evident. "TELL ME."

Orochimaru was stunned by the change in her voice. He was feeling something he hadn't felt in a really long time. Something he hadn't felt moments ago when he was staring down a tailed beast. Fear. There was something about the kneeling woman that made him want to scream in fear. He gulped.

"It's because it was a Kiri-nin who told him about you."

"WHAAT?!" The three people exclaimed simultaneously.

Orochimaru continued. "Based on what I understand, after the Uzushio massacre, he was caught by some Kiri ninja. He spent some time there and was, I think, a shinobi there before he was injured in a mission and a Konoha-nin found him and took him home."

Akira stared at him in confusion. The Kiri part had been left out by the Hokage and Jiraiya. He would have to talk with him about that.

Kushina was breathing heavily. "Who found him?"

Orochimaru did not want to answer that one. "Kushina, I don't think-"

"ANSWER ME."

"Jiraiya. Jiraiya brought him to Konoha."

Kushina's mouth dropped open. Wheels turned in her mind and it clicked. Suddenly, it all came together. "Four years ago… Mikoto, do you remember guard duty from four years ago."

Mikoto frowned. "Yeah. That was the day we saw Jiraiya-sama come back to the village, wasn't it?"

Kushina nodded. "I told you that he flinched when he looked at me. He knew when he brought him back. He knew right from the start. He kept me from my brother for four years. Four years."

Flashback End.

Akira could still remember the killing intent that rolled off his student. He had never felt so much concentrated chakra in one person before. This was coming from the person who had just faced a tailed beast a few hours before. He said it once. He would say it again. Hiruzen and Jiraiya would pay for what they did. Naruto would remember one day and Kushina would support him no matter what he chose. Konoha would burn. One way or the other. In his mind, he imagined Naruto and Kushina running into the village, wreaking havoc. His mind automatically formed the connection. Madara Uchiha and the kyuubi. A shiver traveled down his spine at the thought.

As he looked out over the group of shinobi, he saw Kushina with Naruto still on her lap, surrounded by people who knew Naruto. Mikoto, Rin, Yuna, and two other genin whose names he didn't know. She was no doubt asking for details. How Naruto acted around them, what they knew about him… She would have heard how his two best friends had died in front of him. It would make her angry. So angry.

Konoha would burn. That's what Naruto promised Jiraiya all those years ago. Akira got the feeling that Naruto wouldn't have to wait that long to fulfill his promise.

With Kakashi.

No. No. No. No. No.

Kakashi looked around frantically as they entered the village. They had realized that the smoke was coming from the village a long time ago. What they didn't realize was the extent of the damage. When Kakashi first saw the village from an aerial view point, he thought that the entire village was on fire. He wanted to run in to help the people, but Tsunade told him that they had been evacuated and that there was nothing to worry about. Kakashi didn't have to even look at Tsunade to know that she was worried, despite her advice to the contrary.

As they got closer, they realized that it wasn't smoke. It was dust. The village had been completely leveled. There was nothing left. The buildings were now only a pile of wood. The walls surrounding the village had all been broken down. There was nothing left.

Kakashi and Tsunade continued onward to the one place they knew was still standing. The Hokage monument. On the way, they passed by many places. Kakashi saw the place where his house once stood. It was the only thing he had inherited from his father other than the tanto. At Tsunade's hands on his shoulder, he turned away, continuing toward their destination.

"What do you think happened here?" Kakashi asked the only person around.

Tsunade shrugged. "Don't know. Those two dungeon bats sure did a great job protecting this place." She said sarcastically.

They pressed forward. Suddenly, they felt a presence heading toward them. Tsunade was instantly on alert, Kakashi tensing up a few moments later. Soon she relaxed when she recognized him.

Homura Mitokado was now standing in front of them. "Tsunade, thank god. You have to come with me. Koharu… She's…"

"Out with it." Tsunade yelled at the disgruntled old man.

"She's stable, but she's fading. Come quick… Please." Homura replied.

Kakashi started moving forward but Tsunade stopped him with a stretched hand. "Tch, the old bitch can croak for all I care. I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what happened here."

Homura opened and closed his mouth like he couldn't believe what had just happened. "How dare you? I am an honorable elder of this village. You have to listen to my orders. Now get moving. I'll follow behind you. Do you-"

He was abruptly cut off when Tsunade grabbed him by his throat and lifted him up. Kakashi had his tanto out, but not pointed at anyone in particular. He didn't understand what was happening.

"You… brat. H- h- help me."

Kakashi stared helplessly at Tsunade. He had no choice. What was happening was wrong. The rules clearly stated that there would be no violence between villagers. He had to put a stop to it.

"If you're gonna do it, you should do it now, because pretty soon, you won't have a choice." Tsunade yelled at him. Kakashi pointed his sword at the two of them. Something wasn't right. Why was Tsunade so calm? Why was she trying to kill one of Hokage's advisors? His sword dropped slightly and Tsunade smirked. "It seems you're a bit more observant than I gave you credit for."

Tsunade lifted him higher into the air. "Next time you decide to infiltrate the village, put a little more effort into it… Not that you'll get another chance. You got so much wrong. Homura Mitokado is the most anal individual I've ever met. He does not call anyone by their first name, not even his former teammates." Kakashi's eyes widened as she bashed him into the ground.

CRASH.

"Koharu is Utatane-san."

CRASH.

"Tsunade is Senju-san."

CRASH.

"And lastly, perhaps the biggest giveaway, Homura Mitokado does not say 'please'."

CRAAAASSSSHHHH.

Tsunade finally let the bloodied body fall to the ground. The genjutsu dropped and the Iwa headband and standard Iwa attire was revealed.

Tsunade looked back at the genin with her. "Secure him. Tie him up and store him in a body scroll. You carry ninja wire, don't you?"

Kakashi nodded dumbly. A few moments passed where Kakashi simply stared at the older shinobi. Then, as if a switch had been flipped, Kakashi went about doing the task he had been given.

Tsunade supervised the rather thorough job that the genin was doing. She was smirking outwardly, but on the inside, she was worried for the villagers. But the fact that the Iwa-nin had asked her to lead the way meant that he had not yet found where the people were. That gave her some hope, although not much.

With Hiruzen, 2 Hours Later.

Their mission had been completed. At least the original mission they had undertaken was complete. But this came with problems of its own. Kumo had been fighting Iwa at the other end of Amegakure. Their battle had also entered into the Land of Rain. Hanzo did not intervene… Which meant that the battle had gone around the actual village/city called Amegakure.

This was not good news for them. This meant that Hanzo would not intervene unless his village was directly attacked. Hiruzen looked around at his shinobi. They were tired. Very tired. The only one still going with the passion they had at the beginning was Danzo. The man was berserk. There was no stopping him. The rain that came down hard on them only served to make his wind blades harder to see. He probably killed more than the rest of his entire army combined. He was the reason why the mission had gone smoothly till now.

The bad news did not stop because the Iwa ninja they were pursuing got their second wind at that moment. Sunagakure was here. That made them face the same problem their enemies had been facing till now. Wind techniques were less visible in the rain. To make matters worse, he saw who was leading the Suna army. Much like himself, the third Kazekage had seen fit to lead by example. The Wielder of the Iron Sand, Suna's strongest Kazekage, was here.

To make matters worse, Danzo's wind techniques weren't doing shit to Midori's strong armor. It was completely impenetrable. Even from a distance, Hiruzen could see that his rival was getting annoyed. But he was doing his job. He was fighting dirty. His focus was on keeping Midori engaged while killing off many of the other unsuspecting shinobi. Every blade Midori was forced to dodge was an Iwa life taken and Midori knew it. So, he started tanking hits for the others which unfortunately was working for him.

The only option left to him was to power through both the Suna and Iwa army and head straight toward the city hidden deep within the Land of Rain. But that would be a suicide move. It would mean that Hanzo's attention would fall on Konoha first. If that very dangerous fact wasn't enough, the fight between Iwa and Kumo would soon reach them if he was judging the smoke and the sound of battle correctly. In that case, they would have to power through Suna, Iwa and Kumo to reach Amegakure at which point they would have to fight their way back into their country to get away from Hanzo.

There was only one option left. As the third Kazekage's eyes met his from across the battlefield, he realized that he wouldn't be the one to face Hanzo. He would be locked in a death battle against the third Kazekage. Danzo would be fighting Midori while dealing as many blows as he could to the Iwa army. This left Jiraiya. But Jiraiya was soft. If Hiruzen asked this from Jiraiya, it would break him. As an added bonus, he would have no one in command of his forces. But there was no choice. He would put someone else in command. Maybe Suzaku Nara, the Nara clan head, would be a good choice. Perhaps even Minato Namikaze or Fugaku Uchiha who had rejoined the battle. There was no choice. What he saw in front of him was the only way that could ever result in victory.

"JIRAIYA!" He called out over the rain. Jiraiya didn't waste any time in appearing next to him. "I have a mission for you."

Jiraiya looked sideways at his sensei. Seeing his grim face and locked jaw, he knew. "This is something bad." Hiruzen nodded. Jiraiya looked around the battleground, he realized that there was no way everyone was reaching home safely. Something had to be done. Quickly. "What do you need me to do?"

Hiruzen looked his student directly in the eye. "You are going to fight your way past this group of shinobi and go to the city in Amegakure." Jiraiya's eyes widened when he realized what exactly his sensei was asking him to do. "Then, you will do whatever is necessary to make Sanshou no Hanzo angry. When I say angry, I mean really angry. Angry enough to jump headfirst into this war. Do that and escape anyway you can. Then your mission will be done."

Jiraiya stared at his sensei in shock. "Are you seriously asking me to do this?"

Hiruzen winced at the blunt question. "Yes. It is the only way."

Jiraiya frowned. "What will you be doing?"

Hiruzen didn't turn around to answer. Instead, he started walking forward. "Whatever is required of me."

Jiraiya stared out at the battlefield. It would be hard enough getting past the ninja ahead of him. After that, he would have to attack a village and then escape an angry Hanzo? Hiruzen wasn't asking him to fight for the village. He was asking him to die for it. And there was no choice for him because the alternative would be watching as everyone he strived to protect is killed off by the raging battle.

With Naruto

Naruto slowly opened his eyes. He was on the forest floor, but his head was resting on something soft. With a start, he realized that he was resting his head on his sister's lap. He could hear the bustle of people moving about. Whatever had happened, it was nearing the time for the entire group to move out. But strangely, he felt no sense of urgency. He just felt calm. Kushina ran her fingers through his hair. Just that one simple action soothed him and he closed his eyes again.

"You're awake." Her soft voice reached his ears, making his eyes open again.

"Yes. I am." He said softly.

"You don't want to get up?" She asked just as softly.

"No. Do you want me to?"

"No…" Kushina hesitated. "I'm sorry about what happened, Naruto." Her voice broke a little when she spoke his name. "I'm sorry I hurt you."

Naruto opened his eyes in panic. He didn't want his sister to cry and for some unknown reason, it became the most important thing in the world to prevent that from happening. "I'm not. I'm not sorry you did it."

"You're not?"

"No. I saw a vision of my 4th birthday." Naruto stated. "It was a much happier memory than the one I saw before, so thank you for that."

Kushina sniffed back her tears and smiled. Her hand moved to her neck and she took off the locket Akira had given her. "I believe this is yours."

Naruto reached for it. "You're the one who gave it to me in the first place… On my 4th birthday."

Kushina nodded. "Do you… Do you remember what it said?"

Naruto nodded. "Happy 4th birthday, Naruto Uzumaki. Your sister loves you."

Kushina brushed a tear out of her right eye. "I'm sorry I didn't find you in the four years you've been in Konoha."

"That's ok. I was happy for the majority of those three years, so there's nothing to worry about."

"I heard about your two friends. Shinzo and Shizuka."

"Who told you? Mikoto-sensei?"

Kushina nodded. "I'm sorry I wasn't there to comfort you."

Naruto frowned. "Did you feel sad when Uzushio was destroyed?"

Kushina's eyes opened wide at the sudden topic change. But she answered nevertheless. "Yes. I did. More than any other time in my life."

"I wasn't there to comfort you then, was I?" Naruto asked.

"No, but…"

"I'm saying the past doesn't matter. I wasn't there for you and you weren't there for me. It wasn't in our control and it doesn't matter how sorry we are."

Kushina looked at him, her eyes wide in astonishment. A few moments passed where they just stared at each other. Finally, Kushina broke eye contact as she started giggling.

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the strange behavior. "What's so funny?"

Kushina shook her head as if trying to refute the fact that she was laughing. "It's just that the last time I saw you, you could barely string a sentence together and now, you're saying things with so much meaning."

Naruto's eyes softened upon hearing that. "Have I changed a lot from before?", he asked after some time.

Kushina stopped laughing when the serious question came. "Physically, you've changed a lot. You're taller and stronger. Your hair is longer and that scar on your cheek is new."

Naruto accepted the answer. "I wasn't asking about my appearance though."

Kushina looked him in the eye. "You have changed Naruto, for the better. You're a lot less naïve and much less innocent."

Naruto frowned. "Is that good or bad?"

"Whatever way you changed, it let you survive against all odds. Anything that made that possible is good in my books."

The silence between them stretched until finally Naruto voiced his next question. "What were our parents like? What were their names?"

It was a loaded question. One that Kushina had dreaded answering. "Our home life wasn't the best, Naruto. They were always fighting among each other. Our mother's name is Tara Uzumaki and my father's name is Hisame Uzumaki."

"My?" Naruto noticed that she was not using the pronoun he expected.

"Yes, Naruto. Your mother is Tara Uzumaki, just like mine." Dread flashed through Naruto's face. "But I don't know who your father is. Our mother never talked about it but that's how you have the sharingan and I don't. Our mother had an affair with someone from outside the village. She returned from a mission pregnant with you."

"That means that we're only half siblings."

"Yes. But that doesn't matter to me. I'm your sister; and your sister loves you."

Naruto frowned. "How can you say that so easily? You don't really know me now."

"Naruto, if there's one thing that you can always be sure of, it's that I love you. More than anything."

Naruto didn't reply. He just looked away. "What if I became a threat to Konoha?"

Kushina didn't even blink at the controversial question. "I heard about your little list of Konoha shinobi you want to interrogate." Naruto's eyes widened.

"Did you hear everything?" Naruto asked.

Kushina nodded. "I talked to your friends while you were asleep. You've suffered a lot, Naruto."

"What do you think about it? Do you think Konoha did this to me?" Naruto asked, clutching his head.

Kushina didn't waste a second. "Yes. Konoha is involved without a doubt."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Why do you say that?"

"They told you that Inuzuka Sanae brought you here. But Akira told you from his investigations that Inuzuka Sanae doesn't exist."

Naruto nodded.

"It was actually Jiraiya-sama who brought you home. At the very least, he knew you were an Uzumaki and he didn't tell me. That's the bare minimum of the crimes he has committed. He could've done a lot more, but I don't know."

Naruto's visible eye widened. A new avenue of investigation had opened up. But he didn't feel happy about it. He just felt tired. Sighing, he fell back into his sister's lap.

Kushina smiled. "Why are you still on my lap?" she asked mockingly.

"I'm looking at the stars." Naruto said, looking straight up. "I've always looked at the stars at night."

Kushina held in a gasp. "Why do you do it?"

Like a well-oiled machine, his answer came forward. "Stars are the one constant in the world. No matter where you are, you can always see the stars. If not-"

"If not today, the next day. But they're always there. Even when you can't see them." Kushina finished, tears now streaming down her face. "You remember it. You remember it."

Naruto stared at his sister, stunned. "How do you know it?"

Kushina looked down at Naruto with a smile, tears still flowing down her face. "Our home life was not perfect, Naruto. Hisame Uzumaki abused us a lot; and our mother was never there to stop it. We went to bed scared of him. Woke up scared of him. When you were two, he did something unspeakable to you. He gave you that scar on your back."

Naruto stared at her in astonishment. His scars were always a sore topic for him. Being an orphan with no memory, he was constantly asked about his scars and he hated that he couldn't answer. But now that he knew how he got it; he wasn't sure if it was any better.

"Since then, you always had trouble falling asleep. I tried everything to get you to sleep. I tried singing to you, reading stories… Genjutsu… Nothing worked. Until finally something did. I found this little poem in a book in the library.

'Look at the stars, little child.
They are beautiful.
They are the one constant in the world.
No matter where you are,
you can always see the stars.
If not today, the next day.
But they're always there.
Even when you can't see them.'"

Naruto was now sitting up, paying rapt attention to his sister.

"That would put you to sleep every day. Our nation didn't have rain for very long periods of time. So, every day, we slept on the roof, looking at the stars."

Kushina looked at Naruto with joy on her face. "You remember this. Even when your memory got sealed, you didn't forget. You're my star and I'm yours. Even when you can't see me, I'm always right there next to you. So… That's why… No matter what happens, no matter where life takes us, I will always love you. More than anything."

With Jiraiya, 1 Hour Later.

The familiarity of the landscape was not lost on him. Not at all. In fact, it only made his task that much harder. He wondered why he was doing this. It was because his teacher asked him to. Then he wondered why he did what he did all those years ago. Why did he stay back after the second war to teach those brats? Was it just to come back later on and destroy their home? Their dream?

Yahiko, Konan and Nagato. Their dream was to protect their nation from foreigners. Jiraiya thought it was a worthy dream. He praised them for it. Now he was back with an army at his back, here to destroy their dream. Just how low could a person go? It had been recently revealed to Jiraiya how horrible a person he was. How his actions had destroyed more lives than he could count. Then, the only thing keeping him going was the four lives he helped. Minato, Yahiko, Konan and Nagato. Now he was going to remove three people from that list.

Jiraiya knew that he had no say in this. If he had refused, it would be someone else in his place. Refusing would be the coward's way and whatever else he was, he was not a coward. His sensei's number one priority was to protect the village. His instincts had gotten them through the past two wars, it would get them through this one. He was right. This had to be done.

He bit his thumb and ran through hand seals. "Summoning Technique!" In a cloud of smoke, his familiar appeared. Gamakitsu.

As soon as he appeared, he flinched. The place held far too many traumatic memories for him.

"Jiraiya. Why have you summoned me here?"

Jiraiya winced at the tone. He remembered what happened last time far too clearly but it didn't matter now. "Gamakitsu. Oil."

"Jiraiya. Tell me why you-"

"OIL." He reiterated putting more force on his words.

As Gamakitsu went through hand seals, Jiraiya spoke out. "Here's what's going to happen. We are going to burn that city down and when we hear the salamanders coming, you will jump towards the war behind us as far as you can and you will dispel. No harm to you, no harm to me."

Gamakitsu was reluctant to accept. Such a simple thing would never work out. He knew it and Jiraiya did too.

Seeing that Gamakitsu was ready, Jiraiya went through hand seals of his own.

"COLLABORATION TECHNIQUE: TOAD OIL FLAME BULLET!"

The widespread technique fell over the city and the destruction started. They had no time to watch their technique take effect because Hanzo was already approaching.

Out of the ground, a salamander popped out in front of them both. And out of his mouth, Hanzo stepped out. He looked just like Jiraiya remembered. The gas mask firm on his face and the scythe on his right hand. Even atop his huge summoned creature, Jiraiya could see the liquid poison dripping down the scythe.

"Jiraiya, was it? How nice to see you again."

Jiraiya remained silent. He wanted to speak. He wanted to make a joke to lighten the intensity of the situation. But he couldn't. He couldn't move because he still remembered what happened last time when he tried to fight. He still had nightmares about it. So, he remained silent. Looking for the best possible moment to jump away.

"You won't even greet me? I'm hurt, little Jiraiya-chan." Still no reaction. Hanzo was getting bored. This… boy had the audacity to disturb him and his people and not keep him entertained? He could sense his subordinate ninja approaching from behind. He would have to be made an example of. The matter was out of his hand. "You should have run away when you could, little Jiraiya. You should never have come back."

Jiraiya gulped. This was it. Any moment now. Gamakitsu would jump away. He surveyed the approaching Ame nin. Good. Good. There was a respectable number of them. He realized that he was looking for the three young faces in the crowd, but for better or for worse, he didn't find them. As he saw Hanzo look up at him, he realized that the time for action was now.

"IBUZE!"

"NOW!" Jiraiya yelled. But Gamakitsu did not jump. He didn't even try to. As Jiraiya fell through the smoke, he realized why. Gamakitsu had returned to his home. He had dispelled against Jiraiya's will and returned to Mt. Myoboku. This all but sealed his fate. He was dead. By being ripped into shreds or by agonizing poison. In whatever way it would happen, it was here.

Jiraiya landed on the ground hard. Mainly because he didn't try to soften the landing. It was already over. There was no use fighting it. When he was younger, he always dreamt of a hero's death. He would die fighting for his country. This was certainly that, but he didn't look like a hero at all. Tears filled his eyes as he stared up at the first thing he saw in his nightmares. Hanzo atop his salamander.

He had talked with his teammates about their encounter with Hanzo multiple times. The outcome of said discussions were always the same. Tsunade hadn't hesitated to take a life since. Orochimaru hadn't frozen in fear since and Jiraiya had never given up. They promised each other that they wouldn't repeat their mistakes. Jiraiya had promised that he would never give up. But he just did. For the second time against the same foe. He was done. It wasn't because Hanzo was too strong. It was because Jiraiya was too weak.

Hanzo watched in rapt attention as the smoke cleared to reveal the white-haired man on his knees and in tears. He had only one thing to say to that. "Pathetic!"

Jiraiya looked up at the older shinobi wanting to protest, but then he saw the salamander looking at him like a piece of meat, ready to pounce. His protest died in his throat. He was pathetic.

Hanzo scoffed. He didn't even refute it. What a waste of time. "Ibuze. Go." But just as he started to move, Jiraiya disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Hanzo was surprised only for a moment before it came to him.

'Reverse Summoning.'

He roared in anger. "Shinobi! Are we going to let them walk over us again?"

NOOO.

"Are we going to let them live?"

NOOO.

"Are we going to leave even one of them alive?"

NOOO.

Hanzo grinned although the onlookers didn't know it because of the respirator. "Well, what are we waiting for?"

"Kill them. Kill them all. Leave no one alive."

With Naruto.

"Naruto, are you sure about this?" Orochimaru asked for what seemed like the 1000th time that day.

"For the last time, yes." Naruto said exasperated. "Why are you so butthurt about this?"

Orochimaru didn't reply immediately. He just looked at his two other students who nodded in understanding. "Naruto, I've never told you about how I got the name 'Sannin'. Hanzo the Salamander gave us the name after we lasted 3 long days against him. People think it was out of respect. It was not. It was to mock us. It went on for three days not because he couldn't end it but because it took us that long to realize how futile our resistance was. He didn't kill us because we gave up… and that made us not worth his time. 'Sannin' is a title to mock us. Not the three who survived. The three who quit."

Naruto listened closely. Orochimaru never displayed emotion like this or talked about his past. Whatever he was leading up to, he wanted Naruto to listen to it before making a decision.

"I've made my position clear. I don't want you coming with us. Because Hanzo is what awaits us all at Amegakure."

Naruto shook his head. "I'm not staying back."

Orochimaru sighed in exasperation. "Naruto, you don't understand." Silence followed his statement. Naruto stared defiantly back at him. "Tell me, Naruto. Do you think one person can conquer the world?"

Naruto blinked in surprise. "Conquer the world?"

"Yes. Tear down the kage position. Break down all forms of democracy and unify the entire elemental nations and rule over them in fear. Complete and total world domination. Do you think one person could accomplish that?"

Yuna and Anko looked between the two of them, stunned at the direction the discussion was going in. But Naruto was already shaking his head. "No. Not one person."

Orochimaru looked away into the distance toward Amegakure. "If someone can, it's Hanzo. Since the dawn of the age of the shinobi, no one person or group has gone against the non-aggression treaties put in place by the Samurai country. Hanzo violated them all. A couple of years before the second ninja war reached its climax, he invaded the iron country with no one else as backup. Like I said earlier, world domination was his goal. He nearly succeeded too. The iron country came close to destruction. Until… something made Hanzo stop. He returned to Ame and hasn't gone out of the Land of Rain since. No one knows why he stopped. If he had continued, he would have succeeded. There is no doubt in my mind that he would have."

Naruto's mouth was open in surprise. He had heard stories about the samurai. The class of people that were above even the shinobi. The reason why they weren't running things was because the people were pacifists. For one person to stand against them, it was unbelievable.

"In the second ninja war, the people of Amegakure were so frightened to even fight for their home. It was being overrun. Hanzo alone stood up against the foreign trespassers. Konoha, Suna and Iwa. He fought them all, killing man, woman and child, Konoha, Iwa and Suna. He fought for days on end until ultimately all the armies withdrew. My team stayed back to cover Konoha's retreat, so Konoha escaped relatively unscathed. The other nations weren't so lucky. Hanzo is part of the reason why Konoha is said to have come out on top in the 2nd shinobi war. He wrecked the other nations so bad that they didn't have the people or the resources to continue fighting."

Naruto's eyes dropped down as he stared at the ground. Such a person couldn't possibly exist. If he did, then why hadn't he heard of him before. What was stopping him from "world domination" as his sensei so nicely put it. But it didn't matter to him. All this meant was that Naruto and his team would stay away from the man. It didn't change his decision. "I won't let her out of my sight." He said.

Orochimaru stared at his youngest genin for a long time. "You do realize that she's the one who asked me to send you home, right?"

Naruto nodded. He'd thought as much. "Somehow, I lost her once. I'm not going to let her go to a possible death trap and lose her again. Not when I just found her."

"I know." Orochimaru turned around as he spoke. "Which is why I want you to promise me something."

Naruto tilted his head. "What?"

"Promise me that if you see Hanzo even point a finger in your direction, you'll run. You'll take your teammates and you'll run. He won't chase children down, but if you're in his way, he won't hesitate. He will never hesitate."

Naruto was silent.

"Promise me you'll run."

Naruto looked his sensei directly in the eye. "I promise."

The Land of Rain

The red-haired man watched in awe as his leader tore through the shinobi unlucky enough to be in his way. It was horrifying? Yes. Frightening? Very much so. There were many ways a bystander would describe the massacre that ensued. Terrible? Sickening? He wouldn't use any of those words. He would call it… beautiful. The dance of death. Looking at Hanzo now, he knew that he wasn't even breaking a sweat. But most of the people that became a victim of his long scythe, didn't even realize he was upon them until their heads were separated from their bodies.

Never before had Nagato felt so… outmatched. Not when his parents were brutally murdered, not when he faced off against Jiraiya in the past and not at any time since he left. And Hanzo was on the same side as him.

The thought of his sensei brought a frown to his face. The man was despicable. He stood there lecturing him on peace, telling him that he would be the one to bring forth an age of peace and prosperity… and he was the one who broke the peace. Nagato realized that he was probably under orders and Konoha was the one his anger should point at. But did that mean Nagato would forgive him? Hell no. The two Konoha chunin that killed his parents were also probably under orders. He'd killed them, right? He'd kill his sensei too.

The thing that drove Nagato to such anger wasn't that it was his sensei who attacked his home. It was that he was on his knees. He remembered the lessons. 'As long as a ninja doesn't give up, he's unbeaten', 'The fight doesn't end until one of you is on your knees.', 'A real man doesn't give up.', 'Nagato. I believe you are the child of prophecy. I believe you will be the one to bring forth peace and prosperity like no one else. I believe you can do it. You will face many dangers and suffer many losses, but just remember this Nagato. Never give up and you can achieve anything.'

What a fucking joke. Nagato decided then and there, the next time he saw Jiraiya of the Sannin, he would end him. Rip him in two. Feed him to his summons. Whatever other brutal way was possible, he would do it.

Or at least, so he thought. These feelings of betrayal and hate went away immediately when he saw the faces of his two teammates. They were both crying, staring wide-eyed at the spot Jiraiya had been at a few minutes ago. They felt betrayed, angry, sad, everything that Nagato was supposed to feel in the place of his hatred. More than anything, they felt helpless.

Yahiko punched his fist on the wet ground as his tears fell with the rain. "WHY?" he yelled as if expecting Jiraiya to answer him.

Konan exchanged a worried glance with him. They both knew how Yahiko's dream had been a product of his talks with Jiraiya and how he admired the man more than anyone else. Right now, he was probably questioning everything the man had ever taught him. Everything he'd done for him. Why did he even stay back in the first place, all those years ago, if this was his intention all along?

Nagato put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "It doesn't matter, Yahiko." Yahiko looked questioningly up at his friend. "He was doing his mission. Just like we will do ours. To a ninja, his mission always comes first. After this is done, we will think about what our goals for the future are. For now, we have a rather important job to do."

Konan stared at the rage-filled eyes of her red-haired friend. "What is it?"

Nagato smirked which caught both his friends off-guard. "We are going to burn every single dead body on the battlefield. We will erase their dead from this world before they get a chance to retrieve them. They don't deserve to mourn their dead. They don't deserve a proper burial. They deserve what Hanzo-sama is giving them. Death. And pain."

Nagato jumped off the building they were using as a vantage point. Yahiko turned to Konan anxiously. "What should we do?"

Konan moved forward without hesitating. "We have to follow him. Whatever else happens today, we are still a team. We have each other's backs."

Yahiko watched as Konan also jumped off, forming paper wings as she fell. She was right. They were still a team even though the person who formed it was a fraud. They had to support each other, now more than ever.

8 Hours Later.

Aburame Shinji liked to fight. With the way he was brought up, the spars he had with his fellow… 'experiments' were the only times he actually felt something. He was an Aburame, through and through. His insects lived within him just like any other Aburame. But his skill with his insects wasn't what made him deadly.

Shimura Danzo firmly believed that a shinobi skilled in only one technique is not a shinobi at all. It was a big coincidence that his affinity was wind. No matter how much he hated the man, Shinji still admired his strength. He didn't think anyone else in the elemental nations could match Danzo's skill with wind. He was brutal and deadly and oftentimes excessive. His clan techniques were only increased in strength by his wind.

He loved experimenting with his wind chakra. Over the last few years, improving that had been his sole focus. While still not up to Danzo's level, he was still proficient enough to make wind blades like Danzo that followed him around. The only downside was that it drained him fast. Too fast.

He felt a hand slide into his. Kaguya was right beside him. Despite her sweet nature in their private life, she was also a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield. She had to be, being the Tsuchikage's granddaughter. Her ability to produce quicklime which rapidly hardened, was an amazing skill to have in a war. She would trap them and he would kill them. They made a good team.

They were part of the shinobi unit sent by the Tsuchikage as reinforcements to the call for help from Kaguya's father, Midori. Kaguya had convinced the Tsuchikage to let him come with her. Kitsuchi, her uncle, would keep an eye on him and judge his trustworthiness. He looked sideways at her and smiled. He couldn't tell her how thankful he was though. His severed tongue made sure of that. She returned the smile, her beautiful pink eyes looking directly into his.

Shinji would be questioning his decision for the many months to come. Why did he look away from those beautiful pink eyes, so full of love and warmth? He should never have looked away. He should have grabbed her by the waist, leaned into her and kissed her, not caring even a little bit about the battle raging on around them. That was what he should have done. But he looked away.

If he hadn't looked away, he never would have seen Midori. He wouldn't have seen the trouble he was in. How he was one of the only people left standing in his group of more than a 1000 strong Iwa jounin. And he never would have seen the grinning maniac relentlessly attacking him. Because, no matter how much he admired his skills, Shinji hated him. He hated him with everything he had.

Shinji's smile fell as he brushed past his lover, breaking into a run, heading straight toward Danzo. He must not have been as silent in his approach as he thought he was, because Danzo turned around immediately. A look of confusion formed on his face, followed by one of recognition. Then it twisted into a vicious smirk as he held up a one-handed ram seal.

There was a pang of familiar terror that passed through Shinji's mind, reminding him of the pain that the seal signified. But it quickly gave way to a vicious smirk of his own as he felt no pain because the seal was no more. His wind blades twirled around violently as he sped towards his target.

That was Danzo's mistake. The only one he'd made since the start of the battle. He should have known that his seal had been neutralized when he saw his first ROOT agent running towards him. He shouldn't have given in to the temptation of watching the boy writhe on the ground in pain. It became clear when Shinzo opened his mouth widely to show the absence of a tongue inside.

Danzo had no time to direct his own wind blades to attack by the time he realized that his seal was not working as intended. The boy was almost upon him. All he could do was jump back hoping against hope that something would stop him.

SLAASHH.

Blood flowed freely down the side of Danzo's body. He closed his eye and bit his tongue to bite back from screaming. Nobody moved. Nobody blinked. Until Danzo's severed right hand crashed into a tree and fell on the ground. Then it happened instantaneously.

"FUGAKU!" Danzo roared, his eyes blazing with anger.

"YAGURA! JUMP TO THE SIDE!" This was a shout from Midori warning his subordinate, who he thought still went by the name Yagura, to jump out of the way of the technique that had claimed many good men under his command.

"YAGURA!" This one was a worried shout from Kaguya. She didn't know what was about to happen, but she knew that it was nothing good.

"AMATERASU!" Another voice spoke, just as soon as Shinji jumped away.

In the adrenaline rush that made him attack Danzo, Shinji hadn't even noticed the presence of other Konoha shinobi. He felt the intense heat of the technique as it passed by him. He couldn't afford to be hit by that. He would die in a minute. Maybe less. It was astonishing how close to death he had just been. It had just missed him by an inch. Shinji rolled over on the ground to see the black flames pass by him. That was when he saw where it was headed.

Time seemed to slow down for him as the black flames raced toward Kaguya. He scrambled about, trying to get back on his feet, trying in vain to keep up with the technique. The last thing he saw was one beautiful pink eye before it too became obscured by the black flames.

He let out a cry, as loudly as he could, hoping that somehow the sound of his protest would dissipate the flames. It didn't. He felt the two shinobi behind him, Danzo and Fugaku, jump away, but he didn't care. He heard Midori yell at him to stop, to not get closer, to not touch it, but he didn't do that. He continued running towards the only person that meant anything to him.

Until one thing did.

The blood-curdling scream that came from Kaguya forced him to fall on his knees and hold his ears shut. But with both hands on his ears, there was nothing stopping his eyes from seeing the kunoichi fall to the ground, rolling and writhing in agony, screaming in pain, screaming for help. The rain came down on them stronger than ever, but didn't do anything to quell the flames.

'Move', he told himself.

'Move, she needs your help.' He stayed in place, tears flowing down his face, unable to say anything, unable to call out.

'MOVE', he got to his feet as another unearthly scream rose from his lover. He had to reach her. He had to save her.

CRASH.

He was tackled to the ground by none other than Midori himself, Kaguya's father. Was he going to keep him here? Was he not going to help his daughter?

"Shhh. She's gone. She's gone. Nothing can save her now. She's gone. She's gone."

Midori's silent whispers entered his ear forcing him to accept reality. His struggling started to die down as Kaguya stopped moving. Midori got up, giving back his ability to move. But he didn't move. Midori walked past his daughter's still burning corpse, only pausing for a little while next to it. Then, he continued walking.

Shinji stared at his dead girlfriend. Where her eyes used to be, there was nothing now. Her hand was outstretched towards him trying to reach him.

Sniffing, Shinji lifted his face off the ground, but forced it immediately back down as the smell of burning flesh entered his nose. He started shaking and trembling as the tears started flowing down. He bawled like a baby, wailed as he cried. This was it. This was what Danzo promised. 'Without me, you're nothing.'

He had nothing. He owned nothing. He had no one. He had lost everything in the span of a few months. Shinzo was dead and along with him, his purpose. Kaguya was the only reason he kept going after that. Now, she too, was gone. He turned around on his back, lying on his face doing nothing to hold the smell at bay.

And he laughed. He laughed and laughed and the rain continued to come down on him. He didn't know how long he lay there cackling with laughter. He didn't recognize the sound that his laughter produced. It was the first time he was laughing without a tongue after all. Why was it him? Why was it always him that lost something? Why?

He stood up slowly, his feet shaking. He looked at the unrecognizable body of Kaguya, the only one who had faith in him. It was clear to him then. He knew what he had to do. His shaky legs were having trouble carrying his weight. He decided to take the burden off of them.

His legs bent forward and he fell through the air, straight into the burning corpse of the once beautiful Kaguya of Iwagakure. "This is… fate."

---

Hi again! Sorry for the late upload, just couldn't find the time to get back to this. Anyways, hope you liked this chapter.

AN0: Naruto and Kushina have finally reconnected, a supposedly happy situation turned bittersweet because of Kushina finding out about his memory seal.

AN1: Akira finally shows why he's called something as extravagant as "Konoha's Golden Flame". Honestly, I didn't want to mention senjutsu here, but making him strong enough to match the power of a tailed beast without senjutsu didn't seem right to me. Hopefully, his strength has matched everyone's expectations.

AN2: For some reason, I don't want Tsunade to freeze at the sight of blood for this story. I'm leaning toward a different direction for her character.

AN3: I don't know if canon shows how Danzo loses his hand, and I've made it so that Shinji rips it off, without thoroughly checking the internet. So, if anyone knows how it happens in canon, just PM me or something.

AN4: This chapter also introduces Midori, the steel guardian of Iwa, arriving on the scene. And of course, I have big plans for him in the coming chapters. He is the older son of the Tsuchikage and has already proven himself strong enough to go toe-to-toe with excellent shinobi like Fugaku, Minato and Danzo.

See you next time guys, hope you liked this chapter. And just so you won't be left with nothing till I upload the next chapter, it is going to be titled 'I Really Hate the Summoning Technique!". Feel free to theorize on what's going to happen :).