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.

17. Chapter 17 - Wicked Dreams

Chapter 17

Wicked Dreams

What is a nightmare? Is it the horrific dream you have in your sleep? Or is it the terrible reality you find yourself in when you wake?

Flashback, 12 Years Ago

The breaths he took were deep and painful. He didn't know if it was because of the speed at which he'd traveled or the sheer distance he covered. He was tired. Desperate to get some rest.

He didn't know why he was doing this. Going against his Kage's wishes. He snorted…

Kage? He couldn't believe what came out of his friend's mouth.

'They are our pawns. Not our allies. They're not us.'

No. That was simply intolerable. It wasn't something he could agree on. Sometimes… Sometimes his friend thought too much like his own ancestor.

A scream reached him and a few tense moments later, he saw the barrier in the distance come down. He took to the trees immediately.

'Shit! Am I too late?'

---

She stared at her red hands. Hands that were now drenched by the blood from hundreds of shinobi she killed that day. Hands that failed to protect one of the people she cared about the most.

She collapsed to her knees. This was probably not the best thing to do in her situation because it disturbed the shaky balance that held the pile of bodies under her upright. Losing her balance, she tumbled down the pile of bodies. The rain ensured that her entire body was covered with a mix of mud and gore. The tears flowing down her face weren't even visible.

She wanted to scream, scream and scream at the sky. But when she opened her mouth, no sound came.

It was hopeless. She had never felt this way before. She was a fucking shinobi. She was supposed to be used to this. She had been losing people her entire life.

Her entire platoon had died before her sister did. But she was still sane when it was just the others. She was still the S-rank kunoichi feared around the world.

Hoshiko was only 15.

This time when she screamed, the sound did come out frightening her. She sobbed, her entire body thrashed about involuntarily. She had no idea what was happening to her.

She was only 15.

A moment of clarity. She didn't know how or why it came to her. But she knew she wouldn't get one again for a long, long time.

She got up shakily and limped toward the edge of the barrier. When she was close, she held up a hand seal and the barrier came down, the drain on her chakra finally stopping. It was a long walk up the slope, but her mind was focused on her one goal. She continued to walk to where she knew her sister's cold body could be found.

There was only one thought going through her head.

'This is no place for an Uzumaki to die.'

---

It was a well-traveled path. The grass was worn down and a visible trail existed. He walked for about 5 minutes before he came upon the first body. An Iwa ninja. Severed at the waist. A painful way to die. His blood had flowed quite a distance down the slope.

But he found he couldn't comprehend the scene. It was odd. One body producing this much-

…

…

Bodies littered the ground as far up the slope as he could see, the ground completely stained red. He saw dark red footsteps leading away from the pile of bodies. Realizing that there was probably someone still alive in this mess, he was almost tempted to turn back.

…

The first thing he noticed was the red hair. Of the trembling woman and the body she kneeled over.

'Uzumaki'

He had been a shinobi for long enough to recognize this particular shade of red. He slowly walked closer. He didn't want to make any sudden movements given how jumpy he knew a person in this situation could be.

When he was almost halfway, the kneeling woman turned to the side. A lone purple eye snapped open, blood flowing down the other one. She zoned in on one thing in particular. His forehead protector. Even with the pathetic state she was in, shivering despite the heat, he came to a stop. To him, the message was perfectly clear.

'Don't come any closer. If you do, I don't know how I'll react.'

He understood. He was no stranger to the situation. His wife had died on her first mission outside the village after giving birth. And the sight he was seeing now was very similar to the unfortunate incident he himself had been subjected to all those years ago. He kneeled where he stood, settling down into a sitting position.

He watched as the kunoichi nodded at him before closing her only remaining eye. She then turned back toward the body in front of her. He realized one thing at that moment. She was this much of a wreck without even looking at the dead body.

---

Time passed slowly. Every moment seemed like an eternity. And yet, eternity seemed to pass quickly. Her eyes were closed but she knew the person beside her was the Konoha nin that showed up earlier.

She couldn't bring herself to open them. Even here, with someone she didn't know right beside her. Sure, he had a Konoha forehead protector on but that didn't really mean anything anymore. For all she knew, he was an Iwa nin in disguise.

But she knew one thing for sure. She couldn't open her eyes. Or… She wouldn't open them.

Her mind played everything in an endless loop. Everything. From the moment she left the village with her sister accompanied by a dozen Uzushio jonin; to the moment they were ambushed by 100 Iwa shinobi.

The thing that played on her mind relentlessly was the fact that it was her, who convinced their father that Hoshiko was ready. Ready for a mission in the real world. She remembered the smile on her sister's face when she stood up for her, complimenting her skills and convincing their leader. She remembered the smile she gave her when she stepped foot on the elemental nations for the first time in her life.

'It should have been obvious to me then. She was not ready. No one in Uzushio had ever arrived on the mainland and smiled. Everything is… wrong on the mainland. And that persistent smell of death was always there.'

She was not ready. She remembered the look of shock on her face when her sword was snapped in two like a twig. She remembered the confusion in her eyes when a sword went through her lower back and suddenly, her legs became useless. She remembered the look of pain she gave when she was yanked up by her hair.

And finally, she remembered the way her own blade was pressed into her throat and left there halfway.

Then she would hear the weak gurgles Hoshiko let out and struggle to bring her mind back to the start. Before everything went wrong.

"Open your eyes."

…

"The only way to escape that torture of living through it endlessly is by looking at the result. By acknowledging it. And by overcoming it."

…

She didn't know who this was. But she had a feeling she should… His voice was commanding and soothing at the same time. He cut through the haze in her mind and cemented in her mind a very important thing.

Opening her eye was the only way to escape this nightmare. Somehow the voice gave her strength and she opened her only remaining one. To see the mutilated body of her younger sister. Hoshiko's head was nearly separated from the rest of her body. Her legs were sprawled about at unnatural angles. And her eyes were wide open, seemingly staring directly at her.

---

For a moment, there was silence.

And then she screamed in agony, lurching, letting her head fall into her arms.

He wondered if he screamed like this when his wife's body was in his arms. He knew it was wrong to do so, but he wondered if his pain was even comparable to the pain this kunoichi was in.

He wondered if there was any way to help her. To take away her pain and let her rest.

The first answer came to him easily. Kill her. Death is the only solace in an endless war. A life of endless torture. Of increasingly farfetched what-if scenarios playing in your mind on repeat until you've convinced yourself that you were 100% at fault.

But he was more surprised at the second answer he arrived at. Take away her memory. Take away everything in her mind that could possibly be related to the person whose death caused her such pain.

He blinked, disgusted at himself. It was not every day he was able to rationalize the demented actions of Hatsunori Yamanaka.

---

She sniffed before she opened her eyes. The warm intoxicating smell filled the entire cave. She couldn't quite stop her mouth from watering.

When she opened her eyes, she couldn't quite believe what they saw. For days, the only thing she could remember seeing was death and gore. Now, her whole body warm and away from the storm, she couldn't quite believe the sight of the Konoha nin slowly stirring a pot placed atop a fire.

The next thing she noticed was that he was shirtless. Having been a shinobi her whole life, she knew how perfect a human body could look. But even then, she had to admit the older Konoha nin was particularly beautiful. Softly humming to himself, it didn't seem like he'd noticed her waking up.

She took the opportunity to check herself over. This kind of situation was seldom without a catch. She started checking herself over discreetly, for a chakra seal or something of that sort.

She stopped when she realized something. She was wearing his missing shirt… and nothing underneath.

She couldn't quite control the anger that bubbled up. "Why am I wearing your shirt?"

The Konoha nin blinked in surprise. But she noticed that he didn't tense up. Perhaps he'd noticed her waking up after all.

"Your clothes were soaking wet from the rain and the blood. I washed your clothes, but I figured you'd want to wear something while they dry."

The reply didn't do anything to lessen her anger. "And how did I end up out of my clothes and into your shirt?"

Realization dawned in his eyes. "Ah. I think I know what you're asking." He stopped stirring the pot and turned to her. "Your entire body was covered in blood. Stripping you was the quickest way to figure out where your injuries are. And I needed to clean those wounds as well. Speaking of, if you don't know medical ninjutsu, we're going to be here a long time because you're very, very injured."

He turned back to the boiling stew but stopped just before grabbing the wooden spoon. She still looked angry.

"If you're worried about my intentions toward you, please don't be. While I will admit that it was… very stimulating to see your naked body, I'm married. With children. And two grandchildren."

She couldn't believe the nerve of this man. "Stimulating? Did you really just say that?" She snidely put, her arms folded across her chest. "Pervert."

He smiled at her. "Careful now. I might decide to have you forgo dinner."

With an angry frown on her face, she was on her feet in an instant. Or at least, she tried. A stabbing pain shot up both her legs and she collapsed.

"As I said Uzumaki-san, you are very injured. Considering you haven't tried to heal your wounds yet, it's obvious that neither one of us knows medical ninjutsu." He walked toward her with a wooden plate filled to the brim with the stew. "I was only joking. You'll have all you want and more. We're going to be here together for quite a long time. We should try to get along."

She said nothing. She simply settled down on the ground and proceeded to have a spoonful. Her eyes lit up as the taste exploded in her mouth. Perhaps, this wasn't so bad after all.

---

It had been three days since she woke up. Her legs were still healing but she knew it would take time. Her right leg was broken at the knee. Her left one had taken a stab wound through her thigh. These weren't simple injuries. But at least, she had a comfortable secluded resting spot.

A sharp wind blew into the cave at that exact moment almost in response to her thoughts. Brrrr!

"I'm freezing."

"You're wearing my shirt, woman. Guess how I feel."

"I wish I had a blanket."

"We could always cuddle?"

"Fuck you. You're way too old to fuck me."

"Woah! You've got a mouth on you."

"Hmph!"

---

"Hey, could I ask you something that might go against our deal of keeping to ourselves?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Sure, you can ask. If what you're asking is something I can't answer, I just won't answer."

She inhaled deeply. "How did you know where to find me? Or where to find the fight? Or were you just passing by?"

Now, it was his turn to inhale sharply. "I don't know the specifics, but I know there's some way for Uzushio's leader to contact Konoha's leader. I'm just someone who was sent as a potential backup."

She needed only a moment to figure out how Uzushio knew to send backup. Hoshiko's name would've become grayed out in the family tree they maintained. The thought made her very sad but now wasn't the time.

"And one person? Konoha believes you are sufficient as backup?"

He sighed. "You've never even seen me fight. Aren't you being a bit judgmental?"

"Hmph!"

---

"Listen… I'm not supposed to tell you anything, but if I were you, I'd stop being Konoha's weapon to do with as they please."

She frowned. "What do you mean? Konoha and Uzu have been allies since the time of the first Hokage. And the Senju and Uzumaki have been allies for far longer."

He grit his teeth. "I'm aware of that. I'm also aware that the Hokage is no longer a Senju."

She just turned and looked at him. "I get it now… You're an Uchiha, aren't you? That's why you're saying all this. Just simply to drive a-"

"Good Kami! No, well yes, but… No. I'll just finish saying what I want to say and if you don't believe me, that's fine. When the Senju were in power, Uzushio was a weapon that Konoha used against their enemies. Now, I'm not sure you're not an explosive tag that Konoha can just toss at their enemies, regardless of whether you're safe from the explosion or not."

She seemed to be paying attention now. "So, defy the treaty that's been held up for over two centuries over the word of a stranger? Where is Mito-sama? If we are in danger of being used and thrown away, why isn't she the one warning us?"

"I haven't heard a word about Mito-sama since Tobirama-sensei died." He gave her a smile that didn't reach his eyes.

She didn't react to the revelation that he was one of the Nidaime's students. She just filed that information away for later. "And then what? Even if we did stop agreeing to help Konoha when they ask, when Konoha is done with the other villages, wouldn't you just turn your attention to our village?"

"The mere fact that you think that your ally could do that to you is a reason to end that alliance. It's a cruel world that we live in. I'm just trying to prepare you for what I think is going to happen."

"Why the fuck would I trust you?" She snarled. "You're a complete stranger. I don't even know if you're a Konoha ninja. For all I know, you could be wearing a stolen protector."

She regretted saying that when she noticed the hurt look in his eyes, but he hid it quickly enough.

"Fair enough."

He turned the other way and not a word was uttered for days.

---

"Your legs are healing nicely. The wound has almost completely healed." He spoke, examining the stab wound on her thigh. She knew that his touching her on her thigh should bother her, but it didn't. She was still wearing his shirt which was a bit oversized for her. So, she settled for wearing only her panties underneath. It made it easier for him to examine her. "But I suspect this is all I can do for your other leg. A broken bone doesn't heal very easily without proper medical care."

…

"It doesn't help that you're a spoiled brat that doesn't sit still."

"HEY!"

"So you can speak, huh? You've been awfully silent the past few days."

"So have you."

He sighed. "Yes. Perhaps I did react a bit too badly."

The moment he spoke in that tone, her eyes softened. "No. No, you had every right." She mumbled out, not meeting his eyes. "I'm sorry for what I said. I obviously trust you. It's just… It's hard to believe you're real sometimes. There's not a lot of people who would take care of a complete stranger like you've been doing for the past month." She sighed. "And there's even less who would do it for free. I just didn't know what to say. Hoshiko was the one for conspiracy theories."

He smiled. "I get that. I really do. I'm pretty sure I would also be distrustful in your position. It's a cruel world that we live in. When my wife died, I was lost. All my accolades, all my strength… None of it was going to ever bring her back. It made me ponder a lot about why I do the things I do. I had assumed that all that I did would benefit the people. But the only people who benefit from my actions are the ones who were lucky enough to be born in the Land of Fire. What about the others then? Aren't they people too?"

The red-haired kunoichi simply listened intently. She was surprised to find that she was genuinely curious.

"Now, ever since that day, I just try to do what I can for others. Not necessarily just my village, or just my family. Just 'people' in general. I'm aware that just my actions alone will change nothing. And perhaps it's selfish of me to claim to do good after the horrible things I've done in my long shinobi career. But I just… I'm… I'm tired." He let out, his brow furrowed. "Once, I used to think that war was the single most amazing opportunity to let go. To unleash myself. Now, I'm ashamed I ever felt that way. Now, I think how wonderful it would be if I never had to fight again. If no one ever had to fight again."

She stared at him in wonder. She thought about it… and a smile came to her lips. How wonderful would it be, if she never had to fight again? If her daughter never had to fight again…

…

"I just can't fight anymore." He continued with a faraway look in his eyes."I just want to get away from all that. The past two months I spent with you… were one of the best two months of my life. In a cave, in the countryside… Nothing to do but watch on as the days roll by… It's just so serene."

"You know what? I feel the exact same way."

---

"What's this?" He asked, staring at the scroll that had just been pushed into his hand.

"A communication seal. The same mechanism using which my f-... using which Tenji-sama and the Hokage communicate."

Right then, he hesitated because he didn't want to commit to something without knowing exactly what it was.

She understood. "I know. I know. It isn't anything demanding. It's a last resort, let's call it. If you're ever in trouble, reach out and I'll come to your rescue. If I'm able, of course… It's the least I can do."

He stared at it for a while longer before accepting the gift and smiling at her.

---

"The dots, the shimmer
The silver speckled night
In the darkness that engulfs
These dots make it bright"

She woke up to the sound of his voice. Her eyes slowly opened to find him near the fire with an ukulele in his hand.

"So small, and seems insignificant
And the darkness rise
But there's something more to it
Beyond the scope of life
The stars show that there is hope
Even in the darkest of time
No darkness can put out
The powerful speckled light
And when it comes to hope, it always runs
And the stars never play dice"

Tears filled her eyes. Why was he singing about stars? Why not anything else? Hoshiko… It reminded her of Hoshiko. Why stars?

"Stars are the one constant in the world
No matter where you are
You can always see the stars
If not today, the next day
They're always there
Even when you can't see them"

She looked on as he let his hands softly brush through the strings for the final time that night. He sighed when suddenly the sounds stopped and he felt nothing touch his fingers. It was a few more moments before he finally opened his eyes.

He saw the most beautiful purple eye he had ever seen in his life. The flickering flames in the cave made the tears in her eyes glow. The sight filled him with melancholy. He watched as she slowly got up, limping on her broken leg as she slowly inched closer.

This was the first time she tried to walk since her injury. But somehow, it didn't hurt.

This was the first time since her sister died that she found herself void of the guilt she felt. But somehow, it felt right.

When she was close enough, she reached out and cupped his face. She kneeled down in front of him. "What was that song?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. Just something that came to me."

"Hoshiko… The way you sang about stars… It reminded me of Hoshiko."

He winced initially. But then almost immediately, he smiled. "Well, it should. Because just like the stars, she's always going to be there. Watching over you. Even when you can't see her."

Warning: Lemon

Suddenly, she was on him, kissing him softly on the lips. For a moment, he let himself go and kissed her back. It lingered for a moment and it threatened to become something… more, before he grabbed her arms and separated them. "What are you doing? You're married." He spoke, gesturing to the ring on her finger. "And so am I."

She blinked. "I know. The passionate mind is selfish. It is so focused on what it desires, that 'reason' becomes background noise." She slowly started to undo the buttons on her shirt. "But sometimes, we deserve to be selfish."

He seemed to be in a state of shock as she undressed, now wearing only a bra and panties. And as soon as she unhooked her bra, his Sharingan came alive wanting to memorize every single detail. If the eyes bothered her, she didn't show it. It was hardly a surprise given how she'd spouted out that he was an Uchiha almost a week ago when they sort of fought.

"I never really noticed how beautiful you are."

She'd always appreciated his honesty, even if it was often blunt. This time was no different. The surprised compliment only increased her lust for him. She let her body fall into his arms forcing him to lean back until they were lying on the hard ground with her on top of him.

His thoughts drifted to her body and her smile. Her red hair and her purple eye. He couldn't take it anymore. He kissed her back hungrily, embracing her tightly, feeling her nipples against his chest. The hug was not about friendship or even love. It was about desperation and lust and the relief of finally giving in to it.

They stopped kissing. Her eyes were red from the tears, but the look they shared went beyond that. It was filled with feelings that their lack of understanding stopped them from articulating.

This time, he was the one who went back for the kiss. Any chance of them stopping, if it ever existed, had passed. She sucked on his lips before he opened his mouth and their tongues danced with each other's.

He reached up to her back and ran one of his hands forward to cup her breast. She shivered at the touch. He turned her around and placed her lightly on the ground and started to kiss her from her neck to her chest. She tensed when he finally arrived at her pink peaks and took one into his mouth. Her nipple hardened in his mouth.

She moaned as he flicked his tongue, sucking on her nipples, alternating from breast to breast. When he finally stopped, she was breathing heavily, looking down into his eyes.

She took his cock in her hands and held it gently as if trying to get used to the feel of it. She started kissing him again and simultaneously started moving her hand. He groaned.

He reached down to her panties and slid them off her legs. He couldn't stop staring. When he ran his fingers up her legs, he felt the goosebumps form on her legs in their wake. She placed her elbows on the ground, lifting her body up and claiming his lips in another kiss.

When their lips separated, her legs were spread and he took in her true beauty for the first time. His eyes were drawn to her perfectly smooth pussy, open, wet… and inviting. She nodded at him, noticing the hunger in his eyes.

He gently massaged the outside of her pussy noticing how wet she already was. When he pressed on the small bump at the peak of her sex, she let out a loud cry of pleasure.

He captured her lips again and positioned himself. She wrapped her arms around his back and pulled him closer. Her wetness spread over the head of his cock.

…

He pressed in, slowly working his way into her tight pussy. After allowing some time for her to get used to him, he slightly pulled back and brought his hips forward in one full thrust. He kissed her and moved his hips increasingly quicker. Her taut insides gripped him as he moved.

They lost themselves in the pleasure of each other. Every single thrust, in and out, made them moan. She raised her hips to meet his, biting her lip as the sensations rushed through her. Her broken leg hurt, but she didn't care. He thrust faster and heard her cry out, her eyes shut in pleasure, and pain.

Their gasps became shorter. He sped up even more as he felt his climax approaching. They locked eyes with each other and the raw pleasure of the moment finally overtook them. She wrapped her legs around him and pulled him in for one last kiss. His hips didn't stop moving until finally, they both groaned simultaneously. He exploded inside her and her pussy convulsed around his length, gripping his cock and draining every drop he had.

He collapsed beside her, silence reigning in the cave save for the panting and gasping from both of them. He turned to her after an extended silence.

Lemon: End

"What's your name?"

She looked at him in wonder. She remembered the deal they'd made on their first day after she woke up. They were complete strangers and that's exactly how they'd leave this cave.

"Tara. My name is Tara."

He smiled at her. "I guess the song could be about you as well."

The statement did remind her of her sister again but she found herself smiling at the thought of the comforting song being about her. "What's yours?"

Despite everything, he still hesitated before providing his name knowing that his name would undoubtedly be recognized. "Kagami. Uchiha Kagami."

---

3 Weeks Later, Hokage's Office

Minato Namikaze couldn't disobey a direct order from his Hokage in public. So, as much as he hated it, he was forced to leave Naruto alone with him just before they entered the Hokage's office. Although, it didn't mean he was far enough away to not be aware of any sudden movements inside the office.

Naruto looked around the room and found he knew everyone inside. Danzo Shimura and Biwako Sarutobi awaited their return. From the Hokage's face, Naruto realized that only one of them was expected. And from what he knew of the Sarutobi family, the one he expected was definitely Danzo.

He found something else that was interesting. The Sarutobi matriarch was in tears. Then, the news must have been sent ahead.

"Hiruzen, is this true? Only one Konoha shinobi is going to take part in the actual competition?" Danzo asked, despite already knowing the answer.

"Yes." Hiruzen replied flatly. "Where is Tsunade? Is she already at the hospital? Is she ready?" Naruto saw Biwako's lips quiver and frowned.

"No. Tsunade left the village." Danzo replied.

Naruto whirled around to look at the Hokage but for once, all he could see was genuine bewilderment. He hadn't foreseen this.

"She had a letter from the Daimyo, addressed to you." Danzo didn't bother sweetening his words because he knew neither of the newcomers would want him to. "Her official position is 'Court Healer'. She is now free to roam the Land of Fire, provided she answers the Daimyo's summons within a week."

Naruto's fists clenched. His mind reeling at this information and its implications for Yuna, he felt something fundamental change. After a moment of introspection, he found that it was just another name added to the list of people he hated. Right up there with Deidara of Iwa and Akihiro of Kusa, a new name appeared… Tsunade Senju…

He knew it was in truth no fault of Tsunade's. With what she'd gone through over the past few months, why would she continue to stay in the village? His mind tried to rationalize it away. But no… At that moment, he hated her.

"She also took an academy student with her. Shizune Kato. Her dead boyfriend's dead sister's kid."

"Even a perfect stasis seal can't hold a body indefinitely. And I do not want to wait till she decides to come back to the place she hates the most." Naruto turned to the Hokage. "What does this mean for Yuna?"

At the mention of her name, Biwako let out an audible sob. Naruto and Hiruzen turned to her.

"Did you seriously just sob?" His Sharingan narrowed on the Sarutobi Matriarch. He was… disappointed in his teammate's mother. His hands went to his wrist and he unsealed a scroll. The blood on it left no doubt in anyone's mind about what kind of scroll it was. "Your daughter is in this body scroll. My quickly-drawn stasis seal is the only thing keeping her alive. The person who has the best chance at healing her… Is not here. And the person with the second best chance at healing her is in front of me, fucking crying."

Biwako stared at the tiny redhead, bewildered. The look in his eyes stunned her. It was the exact same look of hate that she saw when he first came to Konoha as a captive. She couldn't help but look away.

A big mistake.

"LOOK AT ME!"

Her eyes snapped back to him in surprise.

"What is going through your head right now? Are you afraid? Are you terrified?" Naruto took a few deep breaths to calm himself. But when he opened his eyes, it was in the infamous pentagonal pattern that was gaining more fame each day. "Are you more terrified of me now?"

When he didn't receive a reply, he thrust the body scroll forward, forcing her to look at it. Forcing her to acknowledge that the blood on it was her daughter's.

"If you don't do everything in your power to save her, I will kill you. But not for a very long time. But you'll wish for it every waking moment till I eventually put an end to you. And your husband can't do a damn thing to protect you because he needs me. He fucking needs me…"

…

"So do your fucking job and save your daughter. Show me the reason why you're the only person in the family she ever talked about in a good way. Save her."

…

Tears still flowing down her face, she grabbed the scroll, but Naruto didn't let go. His Mangekyou seemed to stare into her soul.

"Save her!" He reiterated before finally letting go.

6 Hours Later, Konoha General Hospital

On any other day, Naruto would've categorized the sight as beautiful. But today, when he saw the Hidden Leaf Village slowly being lit up by the sun coming up over the Hokage mountain, he felt his jaw clench.

For six hours, he sat there, waiting for news. He would've tried to help, but he knew his rudimentary knowledge of the Mystical Palm technique was not quite appropriate for the kind of medical surgery Yuna required. So, he held himself back. But he didn't sit idly by any means.

The first person he woke up was Rin. When he entered through her room's window, he saw enough of Yuna's things lying around to realize that this was where she had been staying after leaving her home. But that didn't matter. He needed Rin and her knowledge of the hospital staff. After figuring out the names of the best medics in Konoha, he created eight clones, the maximum he'd managed till now. Their task was to find them and bring them to the intensive care unit as soon as possible.

Then, he left to wake up his teammates. Anko was devastated. Orochimaru was indifferent…

After letting them know what happened in the Iron Country, he went to meet the one person he dreaded meeting. This particular bit of information about his teammate's parentage came from Biwako surprisingly.

Naruto tilted his head to look around the room. Rin Nohara leaned against the wall at the other end of the corridor, tapping her foot nervously. Anko sat on the floor with her legs folded into her arms. Orochimaru slowly walked back and forth along the corridor.

And finally, Akira Senju sat on the bench in front of the ICU, his eyes glued to the door.

Naruto took a good, hard look at his mentor/friend and immediately came to one conclusion. If there was anyone more hurt than he was by what happened, it was Akira Senju, the father who didn't know he had a daughter.

He couldn't imagine the amount of self-control Akira held. When Biwako told him the truth about who Yuna's father was, Naruto was convinced Akira didn't know. Because if he did, there was no way Biwako would be alive to tell him all this. If it had been him in Akira's place, Konoha would be burning.

Thinking from Akira's perspective, he could feel his blood start to boil and his heart started to beat faster. His eyes closed and his fists clenched. That simple change in him drew the eyes of everyone other than Akira who continued to stare at the door.

It was a good thing that said door decided to open at that moment and everyone's attention was drawn to the trembling woman who exited. They could all feel her chakra exhaustion. Sarutobi Biwako was running on fumes.

Naruto stood up and the rest of them followed suit.

"She's stable. Her vitals look promising but while her chakra coils are starting to recover, the circulation is abnormally weak." Biwako whispered.

"With time, will she make a full recovery then?"

"No." She whispered looking at the ground, unable to meet Akira's eyes. "No, she won't. The explosion caused a lot of internal damage. But the damage to her vital organs is within our healing capability. The damage to her spine, however… Her brain is unable to send and receive signals from below the site of injury. Her leg has lost all function. She'll never walk again."

Anko and Rin stared at the Sarutobi Matriarch in horror, tears filling their eyes. Akira openly wept, great sobs racking his body. Even Orochimaru reacted visibly, his fists clenched so hard that his entire arm trembled.

Naruto was the only one who didn't seem to react. "Is there anything else?"

Biwako gulped when Naruto addressed her. "Yes… There's something else. We had to perform an oophorectomy." Rin gasped, and Orochimaru's clenched fist drew blood. Naruto's pointed look forced her to continue. "Meaning, we had to remove her ovaries. They were far too damaged and outside of our healing abilities." Akira's face fell and he crumbled into a weeping mess. "She will never have children."

A family… An actual family… That's my dream. That's my mission!

Naruto snarled. His Mangekyou Sharigan came alive and unknowingly his chakra presence tripled. He walked towards Biwako, his face twisted in anger. Orochimaru was about to flare his chakra in warning when he came to a stop right in front of her.

"If Tsunade were here… Could she have healed her?"

Biwako stared at the fury mounting in his eyes and the tears on her old lover's face and felt the tears forming in her own eyes. "These kinds of injuries… I don't know…" Then came the killing intent. He wasn't satisfied with her answer. "Probably yes." She croaked out.

A moment later, Naruto disappeared. The window he had been standing next to was shattered indicating that he'd gone out through that way.

Complete and utter silence reigned over them except for Rin and Anko sobbing and the repeated murmur of "I'm sorry" coming from Konoha's Golden Flame.

Rin closed her eyes, hoping to stem the flow of tears. "Tsunade-sama… Where are you?"

With Kushina

Kushina slowly sat down next to her brother. She didn't know if he knew it or not, but he was in the exact same place she'd found him after Fugaku Uchiha tried to steal his eyes.

"What's on your mind?" She asked, her voice a soft whisper.

"Too much. I have too much on my mind." Naruto didn't turn to look at her. "This… This is new. I don't know how to deal with this."

"Yuna will live… It's good news." At the mention of her name, it all ran through his mind once again. In his mind, he saw her smile confidently when it was his turn to fight. He saw her uncertain smile when it was her turn. And he saw her looking deathly pale and bleeding from the corner of her lips. And finally… He saw her talk. He heard her speak passionately about her dream. Her dream of belonging to an actual family. Of starting one…

…

In the end, Naruto simply nodded.

The older redhead swallowed nervously, not knowing how her next question would be received. "What happened between you two?"

This time he did turn to meet her eyes. "Nothing." He said with such an absolute conviction that she almost believed it. She didn't need anything further to know to stay away from that topic. But she still had to know.

"Just answer this. Are you okay?" A strange look formed in Naruto's eyes. Kushina gulped, struggling to get her words out. "I need to know that you'll be okay."

"I'm… okay…" And even he didn't believe it.

"Bullshit. Please just tell me what you're feeling."

Naruto frowned. "I'm… in pieces. I feel lost. I feel alone. I feel regret. And most importantly, I feel self-doubt, which I can't remember ever feeling."

Naruto's piercing gaze made her want to look away. "Now that we're all caught up on my feelings, tell me this." Naruto leaned up on his elbows prompting her to get up as well. She knew he wasn't happy with her questions, but she never thought the question would evoke such an angry response.

"Why didn't you tell me you're a jinchuuriki?"

Kushina's mouth fell open in surprise. "Wha-? How do you know that?"

"That's just it, nee-san. I had to learn about this from Hiruzen Sarutobi. He also told me about a counter seal that he has access to, that will completely undo the seal holding the Kyuubi back. And he used that as leverage against me, basically saying that if I step one foot out of line, you will die."

Kushina stared at him, completely shaken. "But he can't do that. It'll destroy Konoha. Even if I'm not in the village and there's no collateral damage, the other villages will band together to wipe us out once they see that the village is at its weakest."

"Yes." Naruto nodded. "But me losing in this fucking tournament amounts to the same thing. Konoha would slowly start losing clients. The Daimyo will stop funding the village. The village's economy would collapse. Konoha would be destroyed." He locked eyes with her once again. "So, at the moment at least, until I figure out how to deal with the Kyuubi situation, I'm trapped. I have to go along with what he says."

…

…

"I'm not faulting you for any of this." Naruto's eyes softened. "It's just that I hated getting blindsided by that man. I'm not saying that it would've changed anything, but I would've tried and failed to find a solution instead of being blindsided by something that I wasn't aware of."

Kushina nodded slowly.

"Plus, there's no real loss here. It's not like I don't want to fight in the tournament." His eyes attained a dark glint. "There are people there I want to kill."

…

"In the meantime, we'll figure out how to modify your seal so it becomes very difficult for anyone other than you to open the seal."

Kushina nodded her assent and they both laid back down staring at the stars only starting to appear in the evening sky.

Fire Capital

Shizune looked around the capital city of the Land of Fire. Having lived all her life in Konoha, she was familiar with what a big settlement looked like. And even at 9 years old, she knew that life in Konoha was good, albeit a lonely one.

Now, having seen the capital city, she knew Konoha could never compare. Every single thing she could see around her screamed poshness. The buildings were almost as tall as the Hokage building. Every house had multiple stories and lush green gardens.

And the market? She never even imagined she could get this excited. It was one of the largest markets she had ever seen. They had everything. Clothes, food, toys, souvenirs… From all over the world. She ran ahead, laughing. This was probably the best place in the world. She could stay here forever.

Tsunade followed closely behind her. She was the granddaughter of Hashirama Senju. She had been to the Fire Capital more times than she could count. This was nothing new for her. But she still remembered her first time. It was… overwhelming, to say the least. Shizune was probably feeling the same way. The palace loomed ahead of them, looking just as grand as she remembered.

This was the political capital of the Land of Fire. Located approximately at the center of the country, this was where the ruler of the country lived. The Fire Daimyo.

Konoha was more of a military city. Most of the Land of Fire's military came from the Village Hidden in the Leaves. The Hokage is the military leader of the nation. But Konoha wasn't the only source of shinobi in the Land of Fire, although it was the largest. Even the relatively new Tanzaku Town had its own shinobi.

Both leaders served different purposes and their positions in the hierarchy are often interchanged. In times of war, the Hokage held full autonomy. Whatever he/she says, goes. But he still served as a military leader first. Now that the war was at a standstill and especially given the status of the person asking it, it was within the Daimyo's power to grant Tsunade's request.

"Tsunade-sama! Come faster! We still have a long way to go."

Tsunade looked up, breaking her chain of thought. She smiled once again, seeing the excitable young girl. Perhaps roaming the Land of Fire with her young protege wouldn't be so bad.

Neither of them realized that they had contradicting ideas for the future.

With Naruto

The wind howled around Naruto. Anyone looking for the usual serenity of the night air would have been sorely disappointed today. His hair frayed haphazardly with the wind, falling over his eyes frequently but he didn't seem to mind. On top of the loud wind, an annoying bird was nesting on the roof whose cries pierced his ears.

It had been a long day. With all that happened to Yuna and the disastrous state she found herself in after the chunin exams, he'd found himself constantly thinking about her. Now, with her in a comatose state and with nothing he could do to help her short of leaving the village to find Tsunade and then dragging her back, he suddenly found himself with a lot of time to think. But sadly, even this was meant to get interrupted. He didn't need to look up to know who it was and he also didn't need his eyes to sense the huge smirk on her face.

"What are you doing here, Irene?"

The honorific's absence left no doubt in the elderly woman's mind as to how he felt about her after their last conversation.

"Just wanted to catch up."

…

…

"Do you still not care if the cycle is broken?"

"What cycle?" Naruto snapped back.

"The endless cycle of hatred. Of hate giving way to more hatred. Of pain giving way to even more pain. Of fighting an endless, pointless fight?"

…

"I've had a lot of time to think about it since last time. The cycle… It is exactly the reason Shinzo and Shizuka died."

…

"It is exactly the reason Kirua died."

…

"It is exactly the reason Mikoto Uchiha is a shell of her former self, brainwashed into loving the very man who ruined her."

Naruto tried his best to not react, but at that final statement, he couldn't stop himself as his gaze tore itself from the starry sky and locked onto the eyes of the person whom he knew the longest since arriving in Konoha.

"How do you know about that?"

Irene laughed. "I know lots of things. I know the technique Fugaku and Tenzen Uchiha possess. Or rather, possessed. I know how deeply and irrevocably ruined your dear friend is."

Naruto grit his teeth.

"I also know what kind of man Tenzen Uchiha used to be before he got access to that technique. If ever there was a man more saintly than Uchiha Kagami himself…"

"Oh please don't tell me you're here to spout the same nonsense as Fugaku. Power doesn't corrupt. The technique didn't make him do that despicable act. He used the technique for the despicable act. There's a fucking difference."

"Yes." Irene's smirk stayed in place. "I'm glad you do understand that. What I don't understand is why the 'cycle of hate' didn't continue on its merry way after you found out what happened to Mikoto Uchiha."

"What do you mean?"

"Why is Uchiha Fugaku alive?"

Naruto blinked.

"What?"

"The Naruto I know and remember is someone who'd never let harm come to his friends. And if it did happen, you wouldn't stand idly by. You would get your revenge as soon as possible. And as ruthlessly as possible. "

…

"Where is that Naruto now? When the Hokage put you in my facility and asked me to keep an eye on you, I accepted not because I didn't want to refuse the Hokage. But because I could sense something in you. A barely contained storm of… something. I kept you around and advised you because I was curious. I wanted to see how it would pan out. Now, you're three down… No wait. Four down and you still haven't retaliated. Against anyone. Where is that storm I saw?"

…

"It's disappointing."

"What do you mean I haven't retaliated? I killed the Kusa shinobi responsible for Shinzo and Shizuka. I blinded Fugaku Uchiha for what he did to Mikoto. Admittedly, I haven't done a thing to Deidara yet, but I'm going to fucking kill him soon."

"Great. Bravo." She clapped her hands for him. "And what about the next time?"

…

"What happens when your sister is hurt? Or Yugao Uzuki?" Naruto's lips tightened. "Are you content with just getting revenge after it happens? And what about when it's not clear who hurt them? What will you do then? Will you just blindly charge whoever you think is responsible and be satisfied with that?"

"Why are you telling me this?" Naruto finally asked, exasperated at the way the conversation was going.

Irene's eyes softened. "I'm trying to stop you from making the same mistakes I made. No matter how strong you become, you can never be everywhere at once. Your accumulated enemies will make it their lives' mission to hurt you. And they will draw you toward one place and hurt you in another. You will never be able to protect everyone."

…

For the second time since Irene came up on the roof, Naruto turned to meet her eyes. "What do you suggest I do then? How can I save everyone?"

"If I knew, I wouldn't be here talking to you. I would be with my son and his family, helping them live their lives in peace." Naruto frowned but Irene simply continued. "When we met after Shinzo and Shizuka's death, you asked me if I wanted to say 'I told you so' to you… I didn't want to then, because their deaths were circumstantial. But now, after the tragedy surrounding your teammate, I feel I can… I told you so."

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise, not just because he was hurt that Irene would talk to him like this, but also because it was true. And from the absolute indifference on her face, he knew that she took no pleasure in talking like this. It was simply her expressing her opinion.

"Now that you're in the bingo book, every single person you are seen on a mission with, on an international forum, will become a person of interest. They'll all have targets painted on them."

Naruto said nothing because he knew Irene Kurama's life story. He knew how her family suffered. He knew how her son had been murdered in the war. And he knew that a major part of it had to do with her reputation.

"You will never be happy again. You will be sought out and hunted for the rest of your life. Of course, you will be fine for a while. You will kill and tear your way through whatever adversaries you come across… But then people will come after you for vengeance. And everyone who thinks of revenge will want to hurt the people you're closest to. Your teammates, your sensei, your sister, your sister's associates, hell even people that you've worked with just once… They'll all be in danger."

Naruto stared at her, knowing that what she was saying was completely true. He wanted to know only one thing.

"How do I save them?"

Irene gave him a genuine smile. Her advice was rarely asked for. "Simple." She looked directly into his eyes. "You can never love again."

Almost in response to the blunt declaration, the bird nesting on the hospital roof took flight. It flew too close to the two individuals and neither one was willing to entertain the disruption. It fell lifelessly to the ground after two kunai crashed into it simultaneously.

Hokage's Chambers

"Come in." Hiruzen called out. It wasn't very uncommon for him to get visitors this late at night, but an unannounced one was quite rare. He wasn't surprised to see that it was one of his oldest friends although he still wasn't quite used to seeing his bandaged right arm.

"I wanted to talk to you about Uzumaki Naruto's training." Danzo spoke, not wasting any time. "I can teach him, control him. But I want to know what your expectations are."

Hiruzen slowly went about lighting his pipe. "I expect that he will, at the very least, take care of two villages."

"Which two?"

"Depends." The Hokage smiled at his friend. "On if we get the first pick or not. We'll anyway be fighting first. If we don't get the first pick, any one of the other villages would prefer to face us. The question is who will we pick if we do get it."

"Sunagakure." Danzo's immediate reply came.

"Aren't they our allies?" Hiruzen smirked and his friend matched it.

"Oh, they are. But they're also the weakest team we can fight against. Kirigakure is out of the question. They have a competent three-tails jinchuriki, a jonin turned genin who is also one of the seven ninja swordsmen, two other swordsmen, and a member of the Terumi clan capable of using Boil Release. Kumogakure as well, because they have highly skilled, internationally recognized members in their squad and a jinchuuriki of their own."

"Why not Iwagakure?"

Now that got a curious look from the Hokage's right hand. Nonetheless, he schooled it pretty quickly. "Only because they have Deidara the Bomber and Han, the five tails jinchuuriki. Suna has a 1-handed puppeteer, an unstable jinchuuriki, and a taijutsu specialist with little to no skill in ninjutsu. The choice is obvious."

"But will he make the decision which benefits us the most? That's the question." Hiruzen replied, frowning.

"I'll ensure that he does. I have a few ideas already in place." Danzo replied with a confident smirk.

Hiruzen stared at his friend. "Careful Danzo. He is quite a lot more capable than his age lets on."

Iwagakure

"I trust you have a plan?" The Tsuchikage asked his only son.

Midori replied with a silent nod. Nothing needed to be said anymore. A smaller man might have sought to gloat. He didn't. Anyone can make mistakes. If the mistake is acknowledged when it's pointed out, and steps are taken to deal with the consequences, Midori did not feel the need to assign blame.

It had been one of the first things the Tsuchikage talked about after reaching his office, secured by the complex privacy seals protecting it. He had tried to convince his father numerous times before. But there are some things one has to see to believe.

When Onoki of the Twin Scales saw an eleven-year-old boy perform a version of one of the most destructive techniques known to shinobi, he could no longer ignore his son's view.

Uzumaki Naruto needed to be dealt with. By any means necessary. Now that he had his father's support, it would become much easier to deal with him.

"Yes. I have spies all over the elemental nations actively looking for information. I have a few key individuals with a vendetta that I have already manipulated into serving me. And on top of that, I have convinced one of my friends to act when the time comes."

Onoki frowned. "Are you sure involving other villages is the right approach here?"

"That's the way we dealt with the Uzumaki all those years ago." Midori smirked. "Trust me when I say that's the only way it will work."

Onoki nodded reluctantly. "And what about the upcoming exam? How do we ensure our success there?"

"We cannot ensure our success there. Not with an average long-range specialist, an imperfect jinchuuriki, and an amateur brat who can't control his emotions." Midori laughed at the idea. Ignoring his father's indignant glare, he continued. "We will lose the upcoming fight."

"So, why send in the genin at all? If you're so sure it's pointless?"

"I'm not saying that's set in stone, but barring any miracles, it is the likely outcome. We will plan for the longer term. We will lose the battle, but we will win the war."

Onoki slowly nodded. "Anything else I should know?"

Midori smirked. "Nope. I'll let you know if something pans out with Shinji."

Day 0

Konohagakure

Naruto looked around the huge circular training area with a sheer drop on all sides. There were four narrow paths without railings leading away from the training area into tiny openings in the wall, shrouded in shadows. High up above him, the dim sunlight barely made its way through the Naka River under which the whole establishment had been built. Seals lined the walls for as far as he could see, probably to prevent the water from getting in. He could feel a steady flowing breeze through the clearing whose source he couldn't quite pinpoint. It was one of the weirdest places he'd ever been in, but he could appreciate the sheer audacity of the architecture. And he could also appreciate that he was one of the select few shinobi to ever set foot in this place. He wouldn't be surprised if, at the end of all this, a Yamanaka came to have his memory of the place removed… Yeah, that wasn't happening.

His eyes went back to the seals lining the walls. Although even with the Sharingan, he couldn't see any chakra running through the seals. This probably meant that the seals were remotely activated with the chakra source at another location. Such seals were very hard to destroy because every counter seal fundamentally tries to disrupt the way the chakra is sourced into the seal matrix. He was impressed by it.

Right at the center stood his instructor. Shimura Danzo, the Shinobi of Darkness. After the mission to the 'Kiri Border' months before, Danzo had established his place in Naruto's mind as someone to be wary of. It's a rare sight to see, a person risking war with the strongest naval power in the Elemental Nations, purely based on a hunch. He didn't know how involved he was with the memory tampering done to him, but regardless of whether he was involved or not, he had Naruto's respect.

"Welcome to my humble abode." Danzo greeted, with a surprisingly warm smile. "I hope you're everything you're rumored to be because the coming days will not be easy for you."

Naruto ignored him. "How are you planning to train me?"

"Straight to the point. I like that." Danzo smirked. "I could train you in lots of things. Taijutsu, ninjutsu, tactics, battle strategy, genjutsu, stealth, politics… Whatever you could possibly imagine… Except for maybe fuinjutsu, I suspect you would be better at that particular field than I."

…

"What I will train you in though, is the subtle art of War. How you will come off on top of everyone else, crushing those that find themselves below you, with the least amount of effort." Danzo met his eyes, smiling. "Would that be something you're interested in?"

Naruto continued to stare at him plainly, unimpressed by his lofty declaration.

"I'll take that as a yes. But before we begin, I will ask for a bit of help." Danzo walked towards him calmly. "As I said, you're probably better than me in fuinjutsu. Also, I know you have quite a lot of trust issues with the older shinobi in the Konoha Council. I would ask you to apply a seal on yourself."

"To do what?"

"To prevent chakra from flowing into your eyes."

…

Naruto stared in wonder at what the man was suggesting. Anyone suggesting something like this to an Uchiha had to be at least a little crazy.

"Put a time-lapse on it. I don't care. I just want it so that you cannot use your Sharingan during our spars. Let's see how you fare without it."

"Why would I want to do that?"

"Your Sharingan is nothing but a tool. From my perspective, it's very similar to the explosive creature Deidara of Iwa uses." If Danzo noticed the tightening of Naruto's jaw, he didn't let it show. "If someone finds a way to counter it, it's useless. If you learn to fight without it, it will only help in the long run."

Naruto thought about it for a long time before conceding the point. Over the next few seconds, Naruto spent his time preparing and applying the seal on himself. He ensured that the seal only prevented his chakra from reaching his eyes for as long as he willed it to do so.

…

Danzo's friendly smile disappeared the moment Naruto rose back to his feet, having applied the seal. "You cannot imagine the number of times the village has suffered after accepting a treaty of some sort. If it looks too good to be true, it probably is."

Naruto's eyes widened, alarmed at the abrupt change in tone. His instincts screamed at him to void the seal he had applied just moments before. They screamed at him to activate the Sharingan and fall back. Danzo took a step forward.

"First rule in the book of war… Everyone fights for their benefit. To further their own goals. Their own agenda. In war, there is no such thing as an olive branch."

The seal on Naruto's forehead disappeared.

"Too late." Danzo stated coldly.

Naruto's Sharingan came alive just in time to see the wind chakra shaped into huge scythes spinning in the air. Suddenly, Naruto realized that the overly expansive area was intentional. The subtle breeze in the air was also intentional. The degree of wind manipulation being demonstrated was unbelievable. And he couldn't see a shred of chakra usage in Danzo's body.

It was so far out of the realm of possibility that Naruto did nothing as the scythes tore into his body. Not like he could do much with the sheer number of wind blades spinning in the air. His only real defensive technique, the Water Wall, would amount to nothing. He didn't have enough time to summon and even if he had, he didn't think Hayate was strong enough to repel such a spread-out attack in an instant.

…

And Amaterasu would end disastrously for them both.

So, he simply focussed his senses on the older shinobi. He could sense the chakra usage, but he couldn't for the life of him figure out why the Sharingan hadn't spotted the chakra manipulation before the wind blades were formed. His confusion only increased when he didn't find a single active tenketsu until he collapsed from the amount of blood he lost through the numerous wounds inflicted on him.

His Sharingan remained activated, a look of disbelief in his flickering eyes. Danzo walked forward and kneeled down in front of him. Calmly, he went about reproducing the same seal Naruto had drawn a few moments earlier. Unfortunately for Naruto, there was no back door built into the seal Danzo applied. And the fact that Danzo let a few drops of his blood drip onto the seal matrix before completing it, was definitely not a good sign.

Uzushiogakure

Naruto cursed when he found himself back in the village he was originally from. He didn't have time to deal with this. He didn't waste any time looking around this time. He walked over the dead woman in front of him and ignored the dead man once he got out of the house. Sensing the presence at the top of the hill this time, Naruto directly walked toward the base of the slope, ensuring not to even glance at Hayami Uzumaki's house. He reached the top quickly, uncaring about the blood-red footsteps he left on the ground.

"Welcome back, Naruto-kun!" A four-year-old redhead asked him with a dark smirk on his face.

"Why am I here?" Naruto asked, completely ignoring his comment.

That seemed to take the younger Naruto by surprise. "You're not scared."

…

"I blame him. He doesn't understand the way the mind works. He doesn't understand the heavy disadv-" He cut himself off but Naruto didn't miss the fact that he thought they were somehow 'disadvantaged' now. "I should have never let him face you."

"You said that last time as well."

"Well, I said it because it's true. Here I am trying to do my part for my people, and he continues to get in my way." Young Naruto's eyes twitched. "Somehow, I don't feel like asking you who I am would get me the same answer this time."

"No. No, it would not." The young Naruto sighed. "And I have you to thank for that. You're the one who started talking about the other me in the third person. If not for that, I would probably still think you were both some version of myself from before the memory seal."

"As if I care who is to blame for that."

Naruto's eyes narrowed at him. "You can try to sound dismissive of that, but I'm aware of what a significant realization that is."

"Tch."

"And it does beg the question… If you're not me, or any past version of me, who the fuck are you?"

…

"And why are you in my mind?"

"I don't answer to you, boy. Learn a bit of respect. The only reason you exist is to get revenge on Konoha." The young boy roared, outraged. "Now, BEGONE."

…

When Naruto opened his eyes, he found himself in a dark cell with his hands tied. The absolute darkness in the cell made him instinctively channel chakra to his eyes. The chakra-laden view that he had grown so accustomed to over the past six months refused to come alive.

Kumogakure

Screams. How he hated her screams…

Ay fought hard to prevent his jaw from clenching. His father was still in the room, gulping the water down acting as though what just happened was just a tough workout. Right now, Ay was the angriest he ever remembered feeling. But he couldn't show it.

No. He wouldn't show it. It was his choice. A cowardly choice.

…

His father was possibly the strongest shinobi in the elemental nations. He remembered when he was young and the Hachibi broke out. For a man, any man, to go against the second strongest tailed beast on his own and defeat it without letting much harm come to his village? It was unheard of. Absolutely unheard of.

The name Madara Uchiha rang in his mind. He shook himself. That was because of a kekkei genkai. An unfair advantage. What his father used to defeat the Hachibi was strength. Pure strength. From that day on, Ay had looked at his father as the greatest shinobi in the world. He modeled everything after him. His hair, his workouts… Hell, even his entire fighting style…

His younger brother was much less enamored with his father. Ay knew there was a major difference in opinion there but he never questioned it because his brother never questioned him.

Now, looking at the trembling girl on her knees with blood all around her, he wondered if he should have. The girl held the open wound on her stomach, sobbing as the medics roughly tended to her injuries. She had transformed thrice in the past couple of hours. That alone left her terribly weak and fatigued. Then she was almost completely severed in two.

His brother always knew, he realized. He always knew. Bee had always tried to distance himself from their father. The reason was quite plain to him now…

Now everything about his father made sense to him. His mother, the previous jinchuriki of the Hachibi, failed to keep the beast contained when she gave birth to Bee. On that day, when the beast and the kage collapsed in exhaustion together, his mother was the only casualty. That was the day the Sandaime Raikage became the monster he is now. Now, Ay the Troll chased one simple thing. The success of his village. The excellence of Kumogakure.

And anyone who stood in the way of that deserves to be punished. He remembered all the days when Bee returned from his separate training session with a small limp or sometimes a bleeding lip, despite the amazing resilience his 'condition' offered him. And now, he saw firsthand what his brother had been subjected to for years before he became the Perfect Jinchuriki.

The only difference was that Yugito deserved it. She had aided an enemy of the village and even hurt Darui's hand in the process. Bee had done nothing. He was just a victim of his terrible father and of his undying wrath.

Day 1

Konohagakure

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Naruto's eyes followed the figure slowly moving across one of the perilous walkways leading to the central platform. "You sealed my eyes."

"Yes."

"With a blood seal."

"Of course."

"When will you remove it?"

A laugh echoed around the chamber. "Who says I will?"

Naruto grit his teeth. "You will. I know you will. You can't afford not to. The only real question here is if it will happen before I leave for the Iron Country."

"Well done. You've answered your own question."

…

"And am I your prisoner?"

"You're free to leave any time." Danzo smirked. "But before you do. I can tell you, quite confidently I might add, that your sister is not capable of removing that seal."

"Tch."

…

"So, let's get started." Naruto strained his eyes to look at Danzo's face, trying to pick up the more subtle changes in his facial expression that he never needed to try to catch before. It made the old veteran smile. "What do you think I will be working on with you during the time allotted for you to train under me?"

Naruto was silent only for a few moments. "The subtle art of war."

"No… Well yes, but don't just parrot my words at me. Everything I have to teach has to do with the subtle art of war." The ever-stoic Danzo stated. "Be more specific."

This time, Naruto took time to think. "Based on what you demonstrated yesterday, I think you'll be training my wind affinity."

Danzo smiled. "Wrong. Try again!"

"I don't know. Fuinjutsu? Because you've demonstrated that you know a lot more than you let on given how confident you are that my sister can't break this. Or even I can't break this." He gestured at his own forehead as he spoke.

"Wrong. Put yourself in a different perspective. Say you're the Hokage and you have an impossible situation in your hands. You have an international tournament that you absolutely must win, or at least cannot lose. And say you have an untrustworthy, volatile genin who is the sole shinobi able to participate in this so-called tournament." Danzo met his eyes. "What do you lack that we would absolutely want you to have?"

"At the moment, probably my Sharingan."

Danzo's mouth twisted into a scowl. His demeanor changed from playful to annoyance as quickly as his tone changed the previous day. "I can see that you're not yet ready to take this seriously. Perhaps I shouldn't have taken it easy on you yesterday."

This time, knowing that he had purposely antagonized his temporary mentor, he was prepared for the reaction. This time, he was able to sense the wind chakra being manipulated long before the scythes were formed. And this time, he lasted exactly three seconds longer before the first wind blade tore into his back. Without the Sharingan, he had no way of seeing the wind blades. And even with the Sharingan, he had seen the sheer number of blades Danzo was capable of creating in an instant.

Naruto collapsed to his knees. The tendons behind his kneecap were cut and blood dripped out of the numerous wounds in his body. Danzo walked slowly towards him and looked him in the eyes as he started to drift in and out of consciousness. The eye contact was meant solely to mock him as if to say 'Without the Sharingan, you are nothing'. Naruto was disturbed to see just how true it had become. Against someone as strong and experienced as Danzo, without the Sharingan, he had no chance of competing.

But by the time he finally fell unconscious, his lips had twisted into a smile. He was able to last an extra three seconds. He had sensed the movement patterns of the wind and had predicted where the blades would strike, if only for a short while. 'Tomorrow will be different.'

Sunagakure

Rasa sat next to the other members of the Suna High Council and stared at his leader in disbelief. There was no way people were going along with this. Yet, he could see no sign of protest from the others. Ibushi Shirogane actually smiled at the decision their Kage had taken. Or rather, the decision that he planned to take should it come to that. And why wouldn't he? It reduced the competition. The other two, Chiyo and her brother Ebizo, simply stared indifferently into space.

He frowned. Chiyo and Ebizo were two of the most loyal shinobi Suna had ever produced. It was heartbreaking that despite their loyalty and dedication to their village, they were the ones that were losing everything.

First, it was Chiyo's son and his wife. Killed brutally by the White Fang. The only silver lining there had been that Konoha had returned both bodies intact to them, knowing the importance of the gesture. And soon after, the White Fang himself was dead… Suicide apparently…

Now, in this godforsaken 'Chunin Exam' that Sasori had been forced to take part in, despite winning the match, he came back with one hand. A one-handed puppeteer. His career had also come to an end, and that too was brought about by a Hatake.

It was truly heartbreaking. But he knew that the Sandaime didn't care. And he suspected Chiyo knew it as well. But it was still a lot for her and her brother to deal with, so he would do them the courtesy of forgiving their oversight on this matter.

Just handing over one of their strongest shinobi in exchange for a genin. Preposterous. And completely lackluster for Kiri to even ask.

…

He waited patiently for Ibushi to finish studying the scroll. After a few minutes, he gleefully passed it on… Which was not a good sign. Sighing, he turned his attention to the scroll, aware of the eyes of his kage on him, carefully studying his reactions.

Kazekage-dono,

I hope this letter finds you well, although the subject matter is regrettably on the unpleasant side. Our respective nations have never waged war against each other and that is because we truly respect each other. We alone, among the Great Five, have been so severely disadvantaged by Nature both economically and strategically. We can only ever wage war in their lands because they will never dare come into ours. And if we do not participate in War, we become obsolete. An impossible predicament, I know. But a predicament nonetheless.

This is why I chose to let my village compete in the Chunin Exams despite not having any desire to do so. We can only remain neutral for so long before it starts to affect us.

It is regarding the Chunin Exams that I am forced to write this letter. One of your shinobi, Pakura I believe is her name, injured one of mine during the preliminaries. I am sad to say that the injury is quite serious. After exerting himself again to face his opponent during the preliminaries, the wound resulted in quite a lot of damage. Young Raiga-kun, one of our most promising young swordsmen is unable to even walk properly, let alone fight. At this time, the healers have advised me that it is unlikely that his injuries will be healed before the next stage.

Now, normally I would let such injuries slide. We are shinobi from different villages. This is to be expected. However, this is something that affects Kirigakure on a global scale. It affects Kirigakure's image, on a global scale. This has significantly disadvantaged our dominant position in the next stage and that is something that I cannot, in good faith, overlook.

Should it prove that Raiga Kurosuki is not fit enough to fight in the next stage, I will request that the kunoichi who committed the offense be given to us as recompense. A failure to comply will leave me with no choice but to involve the Iron Country in this matter. I hope you understand.

Mizukage.

Uzushiogakure

When Naruto opened his eyes, he found himself back in Uzushio once again. This time, he could sense the presence at the docks instead of at the top of the hill. Sighing, he stood up.

He didn't know why all of a sudden his visits to the broken Uzushio had become much more frequent, but he was willing to overlook it. They were starting to become very very informative. Somewhere in his mind, he wondered why it no longer hurt his head when he visited Uzushio. A major part of him forced his curiosity down.

If it works, don't touch it.

He made his way toward the docks, across the wrecked ships where he knew the other intruder would be.

"We meet again."

Naruto paused. "I'm just now realizing just how different you both are."

"He is a bit of a sulk, isn't he?" The boy grinned. "What brings you here?"

Naruto gave him a pointed look. "A desire to understand my inner demons."

"Why do you call us 'demons'? For all intents and purposes, we're actually helping you survive."

"Survive? With no memory of my roots? Of my 'intentions and purposes'? Do you truly believe that you're helping me?"

The boy looked conflicted when he heard the underlying bitterness in his tone. "We had nothing to do with your memory getting sealed. And in the long run, it's probably a good thing for you. It greatly decreased our level of influence over you."

There was a sharp intake of breath. "It decreased your influence over me, huh? That probably means that the blood-crazed lunatic I seemed to have been during my time in Kiri was more his influence." His younger body simply nodded his head in acknowledgment. After a few moments of silence, Naruto nodded. "That actually makes a lot of sense. But it begs the question, when have you tried to take over me?"

"I've never tried to do that."

"You don't expect me to believe that, do you?"

"It's true. I've never tried to. The only times I've even tried to surface in your mind is when you were in genuine trouble."

…

"And also during the initial phase after the memory seal, because I couldn't bear to watch you waste time re-learning what you already knew."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Huh. That was you then? Providing me with insights, making me react instinctively, putting information into my head… All that?"

The younger Naruto smiled, pleased with his efforts getting recognized.

"Hmm. It seems you are, by far, the more helpful of the two." His smile widened, but Naruto's eyes narrowed. "However, it doesn't change the fact that you are an intruder in my mind. And as such, you are something I will have to remove."

The smile on the boy's face disappeared slowly.

"After all, it's obvious that your agenda for me is the same. Otherwise, you would always be fighting with each other here when I decide to visit."

"Maybe we decided to give it a rest. Two men can only fight for so long." The boy interjected with a scowl.

"Wrong. Two men can fight for years without resolving anything. And I know you share the same goals. Like a couple of dumb fucks, you recited your goals to me the moment I met you for the first time!"

The younger Naruto blinked, surprised. "What do you mean?"

"Konoha will burn. Konoha will burn just like Uzushio did. The land will flow with the blood of its people and its water will turn red with blood."

"Tch."

"It doesn't take a genius to figure out what your end goal is. It just seems that you're not as willing to proceed without me fully on board with it." Their eyes met. "I, for one, think that makes you weak."

The boy grit his teeth, but after a few moments, inhaled deeply with his eyes closed. "At the risk of sounding just like him… BEGONE!"

Day 2

Konohagakure

"I will ask you the same thing as yesterday." Danzo spoke, calmly walking toward the downed redheaded genin. "What do you think I am here to teach you?"

Naruto twitched. It had gone slightly better today. But for the first time in his life, he didn't know what to do in this situation. He didn't know the answer to his question. He didn't know how to counter his technique. And worst of all, he was questioning every fight he'd ever won.

He was well aware of the significant drop in his battle awareness after the recent conversations with the intruders in his mind. And he was starting to question the validity of the hard-earned victories he'd already managed to obtain. If he couldn't figure out a counter against a single technique, even after multiple exposures to it… Then clearly, something was wrong.

Then there was the significant dip in his power attributed to his lack of a Sharingan. He remembered the initial days of training he had with Mikoto. She had forced it into his brain that while the Sharingan was an excellent tool with many benefits, ultimately it was just that. A tool. A weapon. Something that could definitely end up getting countered. But somewhere down the line, Naruto ended up forgetting this particular bit of information. It also didn't help that this was the first time this was happening.

"You didn't answer my question." A kick landed on his side and he crashed to the ground a few meters away. "And it's obvious you're not competent enough to answer."

…

"Let me ask you another one then…" Danzo kneeled down in front of him, thinking about the recent conversation he'd shared with his friend and rival. "Who will you challenge if you get first pick in the next stage?"

"Iwa." It was instantaneous. Danzo had barely finished asking his question when the answer came. Looking at his eyes, he could see the absolute conviction present in them… Which was good, but it was still the wrong answer.

"Wrong. It seems there are quite a lot of things I have to teach you before sending you to the Iron Country."

Naruto glared at him. No other answer could possibly be right. Iwa had to be dealt with… Ruthlessly, and with finality. There was no other way forward.

"Fine. I will answer the question I first posed to you as well." Danzo spoke with a sigh. "What I am going to teach you is something so elementary that I suspect academy children have more of it than you."

…

"Patriotism." Naruto's eyes widened. "Yes. I will be teaching you patriotism. Something which, I'm ashamed, has to be taught to someone graduating from our academy… Although, you are quite a special case with your past…"

…

"A shinobi serves his village first. Even before his friends, his family… Even before himself. Being a patriot is the most fundamental requirement for a shinobi." Danzo turned his back to him. "A true patriot wants what's best for his village. He/she does not care about satisfying their own personal vendettas. The village comes first."

Naruto continued to glare defiantly at him.

"Now, I'll ask you again." He could feel the wind blades spinning in the air. Danzo was prepared to punish him quite violently if the answer wasn't what he wanted. "Who will you challenge if you get first pick in the next stage?"

Naruto was silent, his mind taking complete stock of the situation. It was obvious to anyone with a brain what Danzo wanted from him. Just taking numbers alone, Kirigakure was out. The other three villages had an equal number of shinobi taking part. And they each also had one jinchuriki among them. Of them, Iwagakure had the strongest bijuu inside the most experienced shinobi. Iwagakure definitely was not the way to go. Kumogakure had two named shinobi in the bingo book and a jinchuriki as well who had a working arrangement with her bijuu.

Who was left? Sunagakure with a taijutsu specialist, an unstable jinchuriki and a one-handed puppeteer… The choice was obvious. And he knew that just by saying the name of the village, he could perhaps enjoy a painless night of sleep.

…

It didn't matter.

"Iwagakure."

For the first time since he began training under him, he saw Danzo's face contort with rage. A raised arm was the last thing Naruto remembered seeing before falling unconscious from the pain.

Sunagakure

Sasame moved her brown hair out of her eyes and took a good look at her teammate. He was sitting at the table with his face in his left hand, his eyes drooping.

She giggled. He was still the same. Despite losing a hand and perhaps also his career, Sasori was simply unfazed. Here, in his grand uncle's library, they were researching possible detachable replacement arms. If somehow he could get a replacement arm retaining the ability for all his motor functions… He could very well fulfill his dream of becoming the best puppeteer in the world.

Her smile slowly disappeared. Sasame, being a fan-user herself, was aware of the rich heritage she'd inherited from their ancestors in Suna. She couldn't, for even a second, imagine not being able to use it. She knew Sasori had it worse. His parents and all four of his grandparents had been some of the most legendary puppeteers Suna had ever produced. This was his legacy. And he'd obviously always wanted to live up to the expectations.

Sighing, she shook herself awake and walked over to her teammate, the only one she had left after Shuji's death in the preliminaries. With a sadistic smirk on her face, she grabbed the largest book she could find and slammed it on the desk, jerking him awake with a loud bang.

"SASAME, WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?"

She just looked around in fright before turning back at him. "Shhhh. You know how angry Ebizo-sensei can get when someone causes a disturbance in his library."

Sasori had the tremendous urge to slap his hand onto his face but the absence of his dominant hand prevented him from doing so. He held his annoyance at bay because his curiosity won over it. Sasame was holding an old run-down book in her hand.

"What is that?" He asked, gesturing to the book. "Did you actually find something in this jungle?"

She scoffed in response. "Well, if anyone did, it would be me. I'm surprised Ebizo-sama isn't here yet with how loud your snores were."

"Pfft."

"And to answer your question, I don't have a clue yet." Sasame said it with so much confidence that Sasori felt the urge to facepalm again. "But I do believe we've been going about this all wrong. There haven't been any recent developments in artificial limbs. If there were, we would've heard about it by now. Instead of going through the recent medical books where all the info is about how to safely amputate an arm and not how to replace it, I think we should be looking at older texts." She held up the book in her hand. "Maybe this contains some technique that's become lost to us over the years."

When she started to speak, Sasori tried to think of some way to debunk her idea and mock her for it, but by the time she finished, he was asking himself why he hadn't thought of it.

"A surprisingly good idea."

CRASH.

"What do you mean, 'surprisingly'?"

"Oi. I'm a cripple. You shouldn't be hitting me like that."

"Oh, shut up." Sasame dismissed his complaint, settling into the seat opposite his. "By the way, my mom is away on a mission this week. I'll probably be staying over today."

*Sigh*

"Oi, what does that mean?"

"For fuck's sake, here we go again."

Uzushiogakure

Naruto squinted at the sun as he reached the summit. This was the first time he'd noticed the weather on one of his expeditions into his mind. The uncomfortable sunniness was not the only thing different about today.

He found the identical intruders sitting at the very edge of the cliff, with their legs over it. They were sitting far apart and did not engage in conversation. Naruto was absolutely fine with that. At least the agreeable one had taken the initiative to be in the same place so that he wouldn't have to talk to them separately.

"I think this is the first time he's seeing us together." One of them said.

The other one sighed. "No. Did you forget our little reunion in the Iron Country?"

Naruto's eyes widened and he clocked the word 'reunion' to his info list. The word meant that they had had threeway confrontations like this before his memory was sealed as well.

…

He had observed the inconvenience that meeting them separately presented to him. This was something he had been meaning to attempt. How he ended up getting both of them here, was beyond him. He would need to look into that later. But first… "Now that we all know we are separate entities here, and just so I won't lose track of who is who… I want some way to identify you separately. Are either of you opposed to wearing differently colored hats while I'm here?"

Naruto wasn't surprised to find one of them amused and the other annoyed. Neither of them replied. But it was okay with Naruto. That alone was enough to identify them.

His mind made up, he snapped his finger. The hair on both of them changed. Now, all of a sudden they looked completely different. The amused one suddenly found himself with blonde hair. The other one now had jet-black hair. And he retained his wavy red strands.

For the first time in all his visits to Uzushio, he saw something truly satisfying in the intruders' expression.

…

They were afraid. And alarmed…

…

They were right to be afraid. This represented something very significant to them that they knew they couldn't ignore.

He was starting to take control of his mind. And it meant that their control and influence on him was slipping.

"Now… Let's talk business." Naruto smirked. He gestured to the blonde-haired one first. "I'll call you Arashi. And I'll call you… Karasu."

The panic in their expressions soared and Naruto's smirk became wider. Suddenly, his misgivings about his performance against Danzo withered away. His mind was as sharp as it always was. Danzo was just stronger than him… At the moment. There was nothing wrong with his intuition.

…

Because his intuition told him that one of the intruders was an Uzumaki. And the other was an Uchiha… Their reaction to the names he gave them, Storm and Crow? It was enough to confirm his theory.

His smirk grew even wider because right then, they weren't just scared… They were fucking terrified.

Day 3

With Hiruzen

The Hokage shook himself out of the daze he was in. It had been a long couple of days since he got back from the Iron Country. On the one hand, he had to run damage control on the disastrous results of the Chunin Exams. He cringed at the thought of the council meeting that had taken place the previous night. If Shikaku hadn't intervened at the appropriate time, he would've lost quite a bit of the support he was used to receiving from the Shinobi Council. The civilians didn't matter anyway.

When the council erupted in outrage at the gruesome results of the preliminaries and at what it meant for Konoha, Shikaku was the single voice of reason telling them they weren't out of it yet. Now, it could have been because he wanted to buy some brownie points with him. It could have been because he genuinely believed it. The Hokage didn't know. But what it did accomplish was that the entire shinobi council had been convinced to put their faith in the tiny redhead who did qualify for the next stage.

That was the real tell of a leader. If you're able to convince your people that one person is enough to possibly go against all four of the remaining nations and come out on top? Against a group of people that collectively included four jinchuriki? It takes skill to convince people of something like that.

Shikaku Nara had that skill. And he used it when Hiruzen desperately needed him to. He hadn't explicitly shown a political agenda till now, but it didn't mean he didn't have one.

He shook himself again to get back to the task at hand. It wouldn't do him any good to get distracted. Ignoring his internal musings, he got back to reading through the summarized reports of all the village events during the time he was away. It was the thirteenth report that finally caught his attention. One signifying chakra usage in the Konoha Correctional Facility.

Apparently, the shinobi on guard duty noticed a small tremble through the walls. After escalating the matter to the ANBU at hand, they proceeded to investigate. And couldn't find a thing.

The ANBU team had a Hyuga and an Inuzuka in the squad and even they came up short. Finally, with all responding soldiers coming up short and no signs of any disturbance anywhere, they had ruled it a minor earthquake.

Upon handing in this report to the acting leader of the village, said leader had taken it upon himself to investigate. Even Shimura Danzo couldn't find anything. Ultimately, this was the state of events described in the piece of paper Hiruzen read.

…

But Hiruzen was aware of something his old friend wasn't. He was aware of the intricately secure prison below the normal correctional facility with state-of-the-art seals made by Mito herself, designed to prevent any doujutsu user from spying inside. He was aware of the blood seals that he was the only one keyed into at present. And he was aware of one prisoner in particular who could destroy Konoha in a moment if he wished so.

So when Hiruzen read the report, the dread and fury mounting on his face was completely understandable.

With Naruto

He was frustrated. Another day. Another failure. Danzo was simply too powerful. He was somehow able to sense the wind blades' presence using his Wind affinity, but there was still a lot of difference between knowing an attack was coming and actually dodging it…

The situation may have played out differently if he had access to his Sharingan, but he didn't. And in the long term, he agreed that this was perhaps one of the best courses to take while training. But it fucking sucked in the short term.

And for some unknown reason, he wasn't able to visit Uzushiogakure during the usual unconscious period that accompanied sparring with Danzo.

Yesterday… Yesterday was very productive. From a purely logical standpoint, perhaps it wasn't the best move to let them know how much he knew. But from his mental standpoint, it was always good to let them know that it wasn't their playground. Once he realized that he had been influenced by them in the past, he took a good, hard look at the various questionable decisions he had taken over the past year. And he didn't like what he found there.

And with the brutal beating that Danzo handed him on a daily basis, he desperately needed a win. Why not against the ones invading his mind?

…

Putting all of his ego aside, he was actually looking forward to meeting them today. 'Figures. When I want to talk to them, they don't fucking show up…'

…

A sudden thought popped into his head and he got into a meditation pose with a smile on his face.

Uzushiogakure

He found both Arashi and Karasu right where he'd left them yesterday, the only difference being the slightly more agitated look on their faces.

"What do you want, boy?"

Naruto's lips twisted at the question. "Honestly?... I need your help."

Arashi tilted his neck. "Don't tell me this is about Danzo. The guy's a weakling."

"Shimura Danzo was the bulk of the Konoha Team 7's offense." It was Karasu who spoke in reply. "He's one of the strongest shinobi Konoha has ever produced. Don't take him lightly or he'll tear through you quite easily."

'Karasu - Personal relationship with Danzo.' Naruto nodded while mentally recording the observation.

"Please. If what he's demonstrating against the brat in the real world is the extent of his abilities, he is nothing." Arashi scoffed before turning to sneer at Karasu. "Although, if I were as weak as you, I'd probably think he was strong as well."

Naruto was surprised to see that Karasu didn't retort to the dig. It gave him something else to add to his internal checklist.

'Arashi believes he is much stronger than the likes of Karasu and Danzo, and also thinks the two of them are almost at the same level… And Karasu also believes Arashi is way above him in terms of power'

…

'So why then does Arashi tolerate Karasu's presence in my mind?'

Naruto shook himself out of the thoughts. "That's quite an interesting stance to take. I do not see an easy way to counter his techniques. Perhaps if I had my Sharingan…"

"Tch. Sharingan? You're a disgrace to your clan. Your true clan. A true Uzumaki wouldn't be whining about the situation. He would be using his head and solving the problem instead." Arashi almost yelled.

"Plus… Having the Sharingan serves no purpose seeing as you're already able to sense the wind blades…" Karasu chimed in. "You wouldn't see any of his tenketsu get activated so there's no way to know an attack is coming without sensing the wind blades."

Naruto frowned. "Why is that though? Why can't I see his chakra getting activated?"

Arashi palmed his face. "Unbelievable. And he calls himself an Uzumaki…"

Naruto stared at them both. They both wore an expression of… embarrassment?

…

Suddenly, it clicked. "Fuinjutsu?"

They nodded simultaneously. Arashi went a step ahead. "They're seals specially designed to prevent doujutsu from seeing the chakra being molded."

"Danzo is a very paranoid shinobi. Despite all the doujutsu users being from his own village, he has applied the seal on every single tenketsu on his body."

Naruto stared at them pensively. "That… That is brilliant…"

"Meh." "Meh."

Both Arashi and Karasu looked at each other and smiled at their shared indifference for Danzo's solution to doujutsu that he probably wouldn't ever face in his life.

Naruto simply frowned, still not having the slightest clue about how to fight Danzo.

Day 4

With Orochimaru

"Jiraiya? It's good to see you again." Orochimaru spoke, a look of genuine concern on his face. Extended periods in your summons lair were a recipe for disaster. The textbook definition of something you should avoid at all costs. Jiraiya had spent close to four months in the Toads' lair.

Since coming back, he had been put to work cleaning up and ridding the village of all the mobile bombs created by Deidara the Bomber. And Orochimaru had been sent to Suna as the Hokage's representative for finalizing the terms of the non-aggression pact. It had been a busy couple of weeks for them both.

"It's good to see you too, Orochimaru." Jiraiya spoke, a tone of relief evident in his voice. "I have a lot to talk to you about."

"Same here… You won't believe the kind of shit that's happening right now." Orochimaru muttered under his breath. "Where do we start?"

Jiraiya sighed and took a sip of his sake. "Anything interesting about the non-aggression pact with Suna?"

"There was a last-minute clause added to the agreement. It says that if either of us get the first pick in the chunin exams, we cannot pick the other as the opponent."

Jiraiya frowned. "But why would they want that? They have three shinobi while we have just one. We're everyone's first pick."

"One word answer? Naruto." Orochimaru also took his first sip of sake despite the dislike he had for the drink. "He scared them pretty good with his makeshift tailed beast bomb and immense affinity for Water Style ninjutsu."

"Damn!"

"Leave all that. The entire chunin exams event is a giant clusterfuck. Regardless of who wins and who loses, war is always just around the corner. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if war breaks out immediately after the exams… Or during." Orochimaru sighed. "Now, tell me about the Toads… Are you okay?"

Jiraiya smiled at the concern his teammate showed on his behalf. People often thought of Orochimaru as one of the least amiable people in Konoha. Having spent close to three decades with the man, he could say very confidently that the Snake Sannin was one of the most loyal, most diligent friends one could ask for.

But knowing the topic of conversation was about his summons… The smile was difficult to maintain.

"The Toads… taught me senjutsu." Orochimaru's cup clattered to the floor drawing the eyes of the people around them.

"Are… Are you serious?" He asked, a look of disbelief on his face.

"I couldn't complete the training. Or rather, I wasn't allowed to. I can use it only with the help of the elder summons." Jiraiya shrugged sheepishly. "And I can't train this on my own. It's an extremely dangerous type of chakra. You can't imagine the number of times I almost turned to stone. It's absolutely ridicu-"

"Why?" Orochimaru interrupted. "Why now? You've asked them to teach you before and they've always refused."

"You see… That's what I wanted to talk to you about." Jiraiya gulped. "You see… They want me to teach it to a different clan's summoner. Apparently, 'Nature' talked to the Great Sage…"

The moment Orochimaru heard the word 'teach', he already knew. "It's Naruto, isn't it?"

Jiraiya gave him a plain nod before allowing the silence to take over.

Uzushiogakure

Today felt a bit different. Arashi was the only one here, but Naruto knew that it was because he wanted that to be the case. There was only so much he could glean from the two of them without both of them becoming tight-lipped. Despite their shared goal, they were very particular about not trusting the other one with information.

"You know, I thought I was fairly advanced in fuinjutsu. For my age at least." Naruto mused.

"Fuinjutsu is not just flashy barriers and explosions. It is so much more." Arashi scoffed. "What you've accomplished in fuinjutsu is absolutely nothing."

Naruto frowned. "You say that, but I saw the looks on all their faces after the silent dispatch. They found it very impressive."

In response, Arashi actually threw his head back and laughed. "A five-year-old is impressed with the flashy Shunshin. Does it mean that the Shunshin demonstrates an extremely high level of ninjutsu?"

…

"And besides, it was a simple barrier. There was no element of fuinjutsu applied there. It's a Kinjutsu because of the chakra capacity it requires. And that too is not a problem considering the Gatherer seal that you copied off the Golden Flame's security seals."

"Yes, that's just it. They were impressed with the fact that I could glean all those seals off a highly intricate seal matrix. Even you have to admit that that takes quite a bit of skill." Naruto retorted, suddenly finding himself desperately defending his skills in Fuinjutsu.

"Pfft." He was not affected by the indignation in his host's tone. "That is what a child is first taught. When he is first able to hold a pen and use chakra." Arashi seemed to take special pleasure in devaluing his skills. "This just puts you at the level of a seven-year-old Uzumaki."

Naruto growled. "Well, what about the security seals I've installed? How about that? A seven-year-old can't do that!"

…

"Can he?" Naruto added, his voice laced with doubt.

"I guess not." Arashi smiled. "But let's talk about the work you did… Proximity seals, all the chakra-related ones - detection, storage, masking and gathering, familiarity seals, barrier seals, and some seals for a custom behavior that was suggested. Fine. The seals individually are solid. And you've done a pretty good job protecting the actual key components like the chakra-gathering seals from being tampered with. What about the others that you believed were safe to leave without protection? Very simply, I could modify your seal matrix to identify you as an imposter. What would you do then? I could also, just as easily, convince your seal system that I am not."

"And how about the way your seals interact? Your proximity seal triggering the alarm seals? The linkage is a single unprotected kanji. I could erase that and your whole alarm system would collapse. And considering the fact that you haven't installed any alerting for tampering. I could collapse the entire structure and you would be none the wiser, living your life with a false sense of security."

…

…

…

"Oi oi. No need to sulk. It's not like you can't fix it." Naruto wasn't prepared for the surprisingly soft tone. It seemed that talking about Fuinjutsu was putting Arashi in a better mood. "I was just trying to put things into perspective. I'm holding you to the same standards I'd expect from people who spent their entire life growing up in Uzushio… You aren't falling short by that much, so you've got nothing to be worried about."

Naruto stared at him, genuinely surprised.

He casually filed this away as another important observation. 'Despite the explicit aggressive nature of the Uzumaki clan member, he does, in some sense, care about me. He just… cares about Konoha's destruction more.'

"If fuinjutsu is so advanced in Uzushio, why did it take the likes of Minato Namikaze to finally crack the secret to space-time techniques? As far back as fuinjutsu has been practiced, it has eluded the art." Naruto thought back to all the mentions of space time techniques in the books he'd read. It was thought of as the most difficult task in both fields, fuinjutsu, and ninjutsu.

Arashi sighed, a hint of anger in his eyes. "Because Minato Namikaze's Hiraishin is not completely a fuinjutsu technique. It is high-level material science combined with fuinjutsu and an extremely high lightning affinity."

Naruto blinked. "What do you mean?"

"He doesn't make his own kunai just so it looks fancy. There's a lot of thought he's put into the material, size, and shape of it." Seeing the blank look on Naruto's face, his eyes twitched. "That's all you'll get out of me brat. Figure the rest out yourself."

A frown formed on his face but he hid it appropriately. He could tell that Arashi was starting to get tired of his presence. Every answer he received from this point on would likely be increasingly less helpful.

So, he decided to go in for the kill and voiced the question he wanted answered the most.

"If the Uzumaki's seals were so extraordinary, what happened to the barrier seals when the Kumo, Kiri, and Iwa attacked? Surely they didn't fail, did they?"

…

He knew he was being intentionally antagonistic, but he never expected the level of hate that manifested in Arashi's face. He wouldn't get any more from him.

And so, he did the obvious thing. He withdrew from his mind leaving Arashi simmering in hate.

Day 6

Kirigakure

Haku looked around at her friends. Despite no external signs of a mental debate, it was obvious to anyone who knew them just how disturbed they were after the discussion they had with their kage.

The Mizukage was, all of a sudden, completely invested in the chunin exams and the war that would undoubtedly follow. He spent nearly an hour questioning them about their relationship with Uzumaki Naruto of Konoha.

At first, no one spoke a word. Obviously…

Then the Sandaime Mizukage casually broke Haku's arm knowing she wouldn't be taking part in the next stage. After that, the threat was clear to them. Speak out or watch her suffer. Potentially even watch her die.

The next hour was spent going into excruciating detail about Naruto's life in Kiri. Everything from Mizumo Kaguya bringing him home to Mizumo Kaguya taking him out on a mission, never to return.

Haku was still kind of miffed about how much they all ended up revealing to their Kage but she understood why her friends had to do it. Now, she was just glad that they didn't suffer any repercussions for following their old friend into battle against each of the other major villages. When the summons to the Mizukage's chambers came, this was her initial thought. But it turned out that he simply needed all the information.

Her lips twisted into a scowl when she thought about that fight, nearly a month ago. Or, more precisely, when she thought about why the fight broke out in the first place.

Yuna Sarutobi? Naruto was fighting for her now? He looked broken… Devastated, once everything settled down and the girl was sealed into the body scroll.

…

And just what was that explosion of chakra from him? Were they truly that close? Haku found the very thought distasteful. She wasn't being jealous… Well, maybe a little but there was also the fact that a shinobi in the elemental nations won't just go against the Iron Country for someone. That was just suicide…

Naruto had jumped into action with absolutely no hesitation. Sure, they followed him, but what did they end up getting for it? A nod of thanks and an absolute declaration from their friend that he was no longer the same and that they should stop holding out for his return. Looking out at her friends, she could see all this playing out in their eyes as well…

What a fucking mess…

Uzushiogakure

"Just how the fuck do I beat him?" Arashi and Karasu both lazily looked on as the redhead continued pacing in front of him. "I can sense his attacks coming now… But only within a certain range. It's never straightforward. How is it that he can change his fighting style just enough so it's new every time I face him."

"…" "…"

"How the fuck can you guys think he's a weakling? How would you have dealt with him?"

Their replies were instantaneous. "I'd cut off his head." "I'd probably go for his head."

Naruto growled. "That isn't what I meant. In my situation, with my abilities, how would you counter his wind blades? My water ninjutsu does nothing to him. My fuinjutsu isn't nearly fast enough and even if it were, I don't have access to any barrier techniques that can help. My Sharingan is blocked off and-"

"There it is again. My Sharingan this. My Sharingan that." Arashi whined mockingly. "Please. I told you to stop asking, didn't I? If we're to accomplish our goals, you will have to learn to do things on your own."

"Hey, if you aren't going to help, I don't really need you to accomplish those goals even if I decided to focus on them." Naruto snarled. "Frankly, I don't think either of you has helped me in any way, in any of the battles I've been in till now. Except for Juugo, it's all been me and we all know it." This little outburst shut them both up and Naruto continued his pacing.

After a few more rounds, Naruto came to a stop when Karasu started to speak. "He's right, you know?" he spoke, drawing the eyes of his counterpart from Uzushiogakure. "Perhaps it would be better if we started to work together more. He would benefit greatly from our guidance and we ultimately share the same goal."

"No chance in hell." To Karasu's surprise, the outburst actually came from Naruto and not Arashi. "I will never… and I mean never work with either of you. Ever…"

"Why not?"

Naruto met Arashi's curious gaze. "Because both of you would've left Yuna to die." Their eyes went wide, remembering their short encounter during the preliminaries where they both warned him to stay put. "And I can't… I won't forgive that."

Silence… Over the past few days, their interactions had transitioned from intimidation to basic threatening, to discussion of a variety of ninja skills, and finally to Naruto's casual venting about Danzo… Suddenly, the atmosphere had turned extremely unwelcoming.

"Nothing to say?"

Both Arashi and Karasu saw it in his eyes. He was telling the absolute truth as he knew it. This was how he felt… And no amount of compelling him was going to change it. They maintained their silence.

"Really? I expected one or both of you to have something against the Hokage for not helping Uzushio out all those years ago. His daughter dying could be something you would take a lot of delight in. But somehow, that doesn't seem to be the case."

Naruto's Sharingan spun in its sockets. He would be damned if he let Danzo's seal take away his greatest tool of intimidation. This was his mind. He deserved to have his spinning Sharingan eyes if he wished for it.

"Then why?" He continued. "If you don't want revenge through the death of his daughter, what other reason could there possibly be?"

…

"The Iron Country…" Arashi finally spoke. "You do not mess with the Iron Country if you know what's good for you."

"Why not?"

"The Samurai are some of the strongest entities in the elemental nat-"

"Are they though?"

Naruto intervened, uncaring of what they were about to say. For the first time since he started being able to visit Uzushio at will, he wasn't out to get information. Usually, he was content with letting them speak to their heart's content. But this was different. This was a mystery he didn't quite understand, and he needed to focus on this first…

"I fought them myself when I broke the rules and tried to save her. They were all a bunch of weaklings. Sure, they're skilled with the swords they wield. But not nearly to the extent that everyone in the elemental nations should be terrified of them." Naruto paused when blood dripped down his clenched fist once again. He ignored it and continued. "And when it had all settled down, they didn't even enforce their own rules. Any violation would result in dire consequence both for the offender and his village? They seemed to forget all about that when they fucking let all of us go despite breaking every single rule they set. Now, if they were so strong, why wouldn't they just kill me and be done with it?"

…

"It seems the history books overlooked some major events in the second shinobi world war. If you don't understand why the Iron Country is to be feared, I won't ask you what you know about the Second Shinobi War. I'll just explain this to you because it's in the interest of all our wellbeings…" Karasu sighed. "The war is believed to have started when Kumo moved against Iwa over a high-profile mission gone wrong. The dispute was limited to those two villages and at the time, it seemed unlikely that the other villages would get dragged into it. Almost half a year later, the fighting stopped for good with neither village being a decisive winner. And for months after, we all believed there was nothing to be worried about."

"The problem here was Amegakure… The war was fought in the Land of Rain and it resulted in the complete destruction of the entire village infrastructure of Ame. Konoha and Iwa tried to help the dying nation, but it was too little, too late. The survivors had already started to move away from the barren area… While regrettable, we all believed it ended there. Cut to a few months later, a huge battle broke out at the Iwa-Taki border. To everyone's surprise, Iwa lost. The Gobi Jinchuriki was killed and a large portion of land was captured by the attackers. To add to the surprise, the attackers weren't from any one village. It was Ame, Taki and Kusa together."

Naruto's eyes widened. "You mean-"

Karasu's eyes hardened. "Yes. The minor villages saw what happened to Amegakure when the two villages decided to have it out over a random petty issue. Iwa and Kumo lost 10, maybe 20, percent of their shinobi. Not even 20 percent of Ame shinobi even survived… This sparked the largest alliance I think the Elemental Nations will ever see. Every single shinobi in the intermediate region between the Land of Fire, Wind, and Earth had banded together. The Land of Stone, the Land of Rain, the Land of Sky, the Land of Grass, the Land of Rivers, the Land of Waterfalls, the Land of Rice Fields, the Land of Snow, the Land of Frost, the Land of Hot Water, the Land of Bears, the Land of Mountains… All except two - the Iron Country and Uzushiogakure. Individually, or even three or four at a time was not a threat to any major village. But all of them together? Each and every single region except for two? Completely devastating for the monopoly the five major villages held."

Naruto frowned when he paused. "What happened? How are the major villages standing then?"

"Despite the initial agenda, these countries had their own fair share of history between them which caused a lot of infighting. By the end of the first year, they had fallen apart. The only nations that remained a member of the alliance were the Land of Rain, the Land of Sky, the Land of Rivers, the Land of Snow, and the Land of Mountains. However, they were also the nations that lost the most shinobi in the year of war against the major villages. Another reason for their collapse was that their force was spread out over a large, expansive area. They didn't have nearly enough resources to protect their villages as well as fight a war on multiple fronts. Only the Land of Rain managed to hold its own considering Amegakure was no more.

The next year went by quickly and silently. While there were battles all over the elemental nations, no one seemed fully committed to the war. Things were almost going back to normal. But despite the low impact of the minor village alliance, the major villages had definitely not forgotten about it. The Land of Bears was the first to go. It happened overnight. Kumo launched a naval attack against them in the dead of night. When the sun rose, the Land of Bears was no more. The next day, the Land of Frost… Seeing Kumo on the move, Iwa also started. But instead of wiping out entire villages and nations of shinobi, Iwa forced them into heavily disadvantageous alliances. The Land of Stone and the Land of Snow were brought under Iwa.

This was the stage where Konoha was forced to step in. The other minor nations were starting to panic and the goodwill shown by the Shodaime Hokage was still fresh on everyone's minds. Four nations reached out for protection. The Land of Rice Fields, the Land of Waterfalls, the Land of Grass, and the Land of Rivers. I still remember the shinobi council meeting. The problem we faced then was this… If we agreed to help the minor villages, we would be moving against two of the other four major villages. And while Suna and Kiri had been mostly neutral till then, it wasn't guaranteed that they'd continue to be so. But also… If we won, we would have taken down or at least weakened two of the major villages in one shot. It was a gamble… One we decided to take.

Sixteen months later… Things were going well. Suna and Kiri had remained neutral. You're probably aware of the hilarious apology your teacher Danzo had to give to Kiri because of his condemning words against them at the end of the First Ninja War. But anyway, things were going well. Iwa had almost completely been pushed back and we were still fighting Kumo in the north near the Land of Frost. But Konoha did not see the threat looming on the horizon, thinking again that the war was almost over.

Sensing the weakened states of the three other major mainland nations, Suna chose that time to enter the war. And they chose to start with Konoha. And funnily enough, Kiri did the exact same thing a month later. So, suddenly, Konoha was on the brink of destruction. It had barely gotten past war against two nations when it was thrust into a war against the other two. Kumo saw this as an opportunity and increased their efforts at the northern front. Kiri joining the war all but cemented Konoha's fate. We needed help and we needed it badly…"

Naruto's eyes were drawn to Arashi's clenched fist and he understood where the story was going. "Konoha went to Uzushio…"

Karasu nodded. "Yes. Mito-sama reached out to her clan for aid. Uzushio joined the war by taking over the war against Kiri. Konoha fought against both Kumo and Suna. This led to a long drawn out war which raged on for more than two years before it died down slowly. A truce was called and all fighting ceased. For the first time in over four years, no one was fighting anyone.

It didn't last. Barely a year later, the remainder of the minor village alliance attacked Iwagakure in order to free the nations Iwa had poached from it. The fuse was lit. War erupted between Suna and Konoha once again. But surprisingly, none of the other major villages responded to the event. But the second wind was here. And this time, the war was accompanied by someone who would go on to strike fear in the hearts of every single person in the elemental nations."

Naruto had the most sudden realization. "Sanshou no Hanzo…"

They smiled back at him. "Yes. Sanshou no Hanzo. He crushed the Iwa resistance and liberated the Land of Snow and the Land of Stone. He then proceeded to wreak havoc along both the nations he liberated. No one knew why he did the things he did… He just did them and we dealt with the consequences. By this time, the fight between Suna and Konoha was once again dragged into the Land of Rain. And simultaneously, Kumo attacked Iwa seeing its weakened state. This also ended up spreading to Amegakure."

"I think I know the rest." Naruto muttered, rubbing his head at the huge amount of information he'd just received.

"Yes. Now, if you've been listening, you know that the war has been going on for over five years at this point. But this does not mean that any of the villages were short-handed. Population was at an all-time high at the time the second shinobi war started. So, our armies, while weakened, were by no means underequipped. Hanzo repelled four of the strongest armies in the entire elemental nations. We were all chased to our borders by Hanzo. But because of the individuals you now know as the Sannin, the damage to Konoha's army was limited. The same could be said for Suna whose Kage sacrificed himself to save his village. The other two villages suffered heavy losses and they retreated to their villages and wouldn't be heard from for quite a while. But Hanzo wasn't done. He was rumored to be the shinobi that spearheaded the minor village alliance. So, his next step was to set his sights on the two minor villages that refused to heed the call to arms."

"Uzushio and the Iron Country."

"Yes. He went after Uzushio first. I don't know the full details but-"

"Hanzo attacked Uzushio by attacking its natural protection." Arashi intervened. Karasu shrugged, knowing he was probably more equipped to tell the story. "He tried to sink the island as a whole using the treacherous whirlpools surrounding it… Tenji Uzumaki intervened and fought him to a standstill… Barely… However, he was forced to retreat when Kirigakure attacked his camped forces on the mainland."

Arashi sighed. "After that, he didn't try to fight Uzushio again. But he went on a rampage against his former allies across the countryside, on his way to the Iron Country. The Land of Sky, the Land of Rice Fields, the Land of Frost, the Land of Hot Water… It was as if he wanted to leave a permanent mark on the land in his wake. He tore through the minor nations, killing everything he came across."

Naruto finally understood. "Until the Iron Country…"

"Yes."

"I remember that time well…" Karasu shuddered. "This was a man who fought off four great armies simultaneously, on his own. He fought Tenji Uzumaki, possibly the strongest shinobi in the elemental nations then, to a standstill. He destroyed six minor villages. I believe they're still rebuilding now, a decade later, because of the damage he caused."

"And the samurai repelled him."

Arashi nodded. "Even during the clan wars era, I remember they were a very passive group. I don't know if anyone has waged war against them, but there was always a kind of dangerous undertone whenever they came up in conversation. We didn't bother them… They didn't bother us… And after they somehow repelled Hanzo, the entire elemental nations realized why we never bother them."

If you believe that an old man with a dull sword and no chakra could actually stop me, I'm wasting my time here.

Naruto frowned, remembering Hanzo's words to him in the Land of Rice Fields. He would need to investigate this further. In the meantime, he had two more observations to add to his list. The first was that Karasu was a part of the decision-making committee during the second world war. He'd talked enough times in the first person about Konoha's actions during the war for Naruto to speculate why.

And the second one was that Arashi was old enough to have lived through the ending stages of the Clan Wars Era.

He saw both Arashi and Karasu looking at him expectantly as if asking for his opinion. He didn't care. He had one more thing he wanted to know. "When was the fall of Uzushio?"

This time, he wasn't quite able to resist when they forcefully ejected him from his mind.

Day 7

Konohagakure

SWOOOSH!

Naruto had come to hate the sound the wind blades made. This was because, more often than not, it was accompanied by an explosion of pain for him. Danzo was relentless in his assault and Naruto knew the only way to make him change this tactic of overpowering him with wind blades… was to first defeat that strategy.

You don't win a war by attacking the enemy. You win it by attacking their strategy. You win by picking it apart, piece by piece, until they are forced to abandon their own plan and run around like headless chickens.

It was Danzo who said this to him and he found it to be quite true. He thought back to his first real fight since the age of six. The survival exercise against Orochimaru. He lied to them, saying that he knew all about their plan. With that simple lie, he had made them panic. Yuna was the first to give in. She abandoned the plan and quickly went on the offensive… Exactly what Danzo meant.

The thought of Yuna brought a frown to his face.

But the thought of the survival exercise brought him something else… It gave him an idea. On the day of the survival exercise, everything started to go wrong when Orochimaru summoned Manda.

…

And he remembered his own first summoning experience.

Boar. Dog. Bird. Monkey. Ram.

"Summoning Technique!"

Danzo let the wind blades stop their assault as the boy finally decided to try something different. Too bad that it probably wouldn't end up working.

High up, just below the layer of artificially contained water, Hayate soared through the air. The wind in his face felt amazing. It felt rejuvenating.

And just like before, he could sense everything. He wondered why just being off the ground enabled him to do this, but maybe he needed to move this fast in the air to appreciate just how intricate the wind's movement pattern was. He could see the wind. Not with his eyes, but with his senses. He could sense every tiny movement of air around him.

Naruto brought his eyes back to his foe. Now, even at this range, he could see the wind blades slowly spinning around him. And that's when he noticed it.

The blades were completely isolated. They were spinning rapidly with a measurable gap between them. Although not enough to dodge by slipping between them, it was a gap nonetheless.

Hayate looked at him with his only remaining eye. He watched as Naruto's expression changed from startled to curious to glee. "What are you thinking, Naruto?"

Naruto smiled at him with a maniacal smirk. "Dispel Hayate. We'll talk later." He stood up on Hayate's back preparing to jump. "I finally know how to defeat him."

Hayate said nothing. He just tilted slightly to ease his summoner's jump off of him. He knew they'd talk later. But he was expecting at least one comment about the eye he lost the previous time he was summoned. But he should've expected this. Life was an endless cycle of using and getting used by other people. His father had treated him like a tool all his life. Now, his summoner was doing the same thing. But he'd be lying if he said he wasn't the least bit disappointed. He dispelled the moment Naruto's feet touched the ground.

"You summoned a creature and dispelled it without doing a thing." Danzo stared at the redhead. "What am I missing?"

He was met with a blind charge straight at him. If he had time to react, he would've sighed and palmed his face at the direct attack. He would have to take care not to injure him too much.

Naruto closed his eyes as he ran, molding wind chakra and compressing it as he ran. For what he intended, he needed short high-speed bursts of highly compressed air pockets. Danzo raised his arm. From his experience over the last few days, Naruto knew what this meant.

Naruto skidded to a complete stop as the wind blades tore through the air. With a mighty effort, he unleashed the built-up wind chakra. "Wind Release: Tearing Wind Bullet Technique!"

Danzo stared wide-eyed as his wind blades lost all shape and turned into a harmless gust of air… Which passed harmlessly by the speeding redhead. It was already too late when he finally snapped out of his surprise.

CRASH.

It was his first taste of the raw power Naruto embodied in his tiny body. And it was his fist crashing into his face and sending him flying.

Blood pooled in his mouth as he flew through the air, landing dangerously close to the edge of the training area. On his knees, Danzo spat up the blood and tried to get back up. Naruto was already on him, wind chakra all around his body increasing his speed by a significant amount.

This close, and with only one arm, Danzo was hard-pressed to avoid all his attacks. Any advantage the absence of the Sharingan afforded him in his taijutsu battle was offset by the raw power in his attacks as well as the wind-aided increase in speed.

And any attempt to slip away was blocked by Naruto almost casually. Danzo was forced to acknowledge the boy's skills for the first time since he started the training.

Naruto had the widest smirk he ever remembered giving. He was enjoying the opportunity to dole out some punishment to the arrogant man he had come to hate. Perhaps it was this emotional high that prevented him from noticing movement in one of his body parts that really shouldn't have been moving.

Danzo's metallic left arm crashed into his stomach and sent him flying. By the time he was back on his feet, Danzo was far, far away. The same trick wouldn't work twice. And it was highly unlikely that Danzo would let him get in close like that again.

The old veteran slowly licked his lips, clearing the blood on them. Naruto focussed his eyes on the metallic hand. And the shoulder it was attached to…

A seal. He had summoned the hand using a seal.

"A ninja must never show emotion. You may be a strong individual shinobi, but I am appalled at how lacking you are in the basic shinobi doctrines. I hope you realize that you could've killed me had you kept your emotions in check."

Naruto grit his teeth. The old veteran was using the prosthetic as a sort of weapon. It had none of the flexibility and dexterity of a normal arm. It was a simple weapon made of metal. Chakra conductive metal, which he now channeled chakra through, forming a visible greenish blade of wind.

"Allow me to educate you."

Naruto took a step back. He had channeled wind chakra through his swords enough to know what it meant for him. There was no way for him to tell how much reach the weapon had. He could sense it now, yes. But up close when that blade was continuously moving, extending and retracting based on the amount of chakra Danzo used on it… Without the sharingan, his attacks were once again invisible. And this time, his wind bullets would do nothing to disrupt the wind tied to the chakra conducting metal.

"COME!"

"Tch!" Naruto discretely slammed a seal on the ground and charged. The plan he'd made was a gamble, and it would probably be painful. But it could end up working.

When he was almost halfway, Danzo held the massive wind blade high up above his head and brought it down in a swift overhead cut. Naruto jumped to the side at the last possible second, already going through hand seals.

"Water Release: Water Prison Technique!"

When the extended wind blade came into contact with Naruto's seal, it went up in flames. These flames exploded outward and rapidly propagated through the wind blade, a huge blaze erupting all around.

Danzo couldn't help but smile when he saw the flames consume the sphere of water completely. He simply held up a single hand seal before they could reach him.

…

…

Naruto dropped the water barrier when he felt the heat subside. Almost as soon as his vision had been cut off, he'd felt the flames explode all around him. What bothered him was that it was accompanied by screaming… Danzo wasn't the kind of person who'd scream when faced with a bit of fire.

He saw a charred body near the edge of the training area and walked across, all his muscles tense and ready to facilitate a retreat. When he got there, he felt sick. This wasn't the body of an old person. The body was of a child. A six, maybe seven-year-old child.

He didn't expect the attack to kill him, but he certainly didn't expect it to do nothing.

The voice came from all around him. And his chakra-sensing abilities weren't enough to pinpoint his location. "The girl's name was Misaki." Naruto's eyes widened at the tone. This was the serious Danzo speaking. The same one he'd used on the first day after tricking him into sealing the Sharingan. "Yes, the very same child. One among those abandoned by you and your peers when the orphanage burned down."

Naruto looked around, eyes darting around angrily.

"You see, boy… I know everything about you. I specifically requested your team when I went to Kirigakure, just to orchestrate a reunion with people from Kirigakure where I suspected you spent two years of your life. Hiruzen may have been happy with just your memory being gone, but I always knew you were a much bigger threat. I have been watching you for far longer than the time you became Genin. I know each and every single thing about you. This is why I am so disappointed in your skills… Your skill in Water Style? A by-product of your time in Kiri. Your skill with Wind? Non-existent in comparison. Fuinjutsu? You have no idea how to use it in battle. And whatever you have accomplished is lackluster when compared with what I've seen other Uzumaki do. Your chains? You probably forgot you even had access to such a versatile kekkei genkai. You've not used it even once against me and I know you haven't even thought about it. If you had, then you would've used a wind chakra chain to disrupt my blades already. Your Sharingan? Something you don't even understand. And something you're overly dependent on as I've demonstrated already."

Naruto's mouth fell open.

"I know every single thing about you. Which is why you cannot win." Naruto turned around a little too late. Danzo's metallic hand slammed into the back of his head.

As he fell, he heard Danzo speak. "If you know, I mean truly know, the enemy… You need not fear the result of the battle."

Day 8

With Akira

Biwako stared at the sight that made her want to just crawl into her arms and cry. Akira Senju sat at their daughter's side, an empty expression in his eyes. She still remembered his reaction when she came out of the surgery room with the devastating news.

'I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm…"

On and on it went. Akira didn't stop crying even after the others decided to go home. Kushina tried to get him to go with her but to no avail. And finally, it was only her and Akira left.

Then, she also collapsed, breaking down. Her daughter… Her beautiful, brilliant daughter… They sat there and cried for what seemed like an eternity.

It made her question the decision she'd made long ago to not tell Akira. He was blaming himself for not being there for his daughter despite knowing it was no fault of his. And her real father? At least on paper? Nowhere to be seen.

…

"Akira…" The old man turned an empty eye towards her. "Go home, Akira. There's nothing you can do for her here."

"Who's going to protect her while she's unconscious?" Akira replied, turning his eyes back to Yuna. "I certainly don't trust you to do it."

Biwako suppressed the impulsive retorts that came from inside, knowing he had every right to say that. "Then are you going to stay here forever?"

"If that's what it takes."

"What if she never wakes up?"

Akira opened his eyes to look at her again. But this time, his eyes were full of determination and righteous anger at the mere suggestion that she might not.

"She will!"

With Sasori

Sasame turned her head towards him, her eyes drooping. 'What is it this time?' she wondered. He was never this silent without a good enough reason. And a good enough reason in their situation would mean only one thing.

'He's found something.'

Sasame prepared to get up from her chair. But at the last second she remembered the last time Sasori had found something. 'Eww. I really don't want to look at sex puppets again.'

But Sasame knew her friend well enough to know that something was different this time. He looked so focussed, not reacting even when her chair groaned when she got up. This was actually serious.

She slowly stood up and went over to the only other book-filled table in the large library, not paying attention to the person sitting at the table. She just started reading, now too curious.

'Soul: The Essence of a Living Creature

The Soul is something that mortals can understand only when they die. Or come as close to death as one can get. It's not a coincidence that most people who try to study the soul aren't alive to tell the tale. The Otsutsuki Clan was once famed for their understanding of the human soul. They were the first of the Chakra Era to die out.

What is the soul? The best definition I've heard is this. It is the thing that makes you you. Without it, you are nothing. The soul is the very essence of a living creature. It is the thing that expresses the impact you have on the world around you. It is your life force.

What's the difference then? Between two "soulful" people? The soul is placed in the body like a rough diamond, and must be polished, or the luster of it will never appear. What is it then? If the soul is just a blank slate, what is this entity that hones and sharpens it?

…

It's the mind. The mind is your greatest weapon. It is the thing that governs your thoughts… Without your thoughts, what are you? A bag of flesh living a monotonic life, moving and working till you die. It is your mind that has led you to accomplish all the things you have.

The mind is also, however, your greatest vice. Because in the end, it is your own mind that lures you to do the despicable things you've done. It is your own mind that will decide the actions you take. And a mind allowed to develop on its own will develop on its own.

But can the mind work tirelessly toward a singular goal? No, of course not. Every single mind is warring with itself. To fight, or not to fight. To kill, or not to kill… The mind asks and answers its own question. And sticks to that decision as the conscious decision you made.

Which is why… It is never a good idea to divide it. Imagine having a disagreement on an issue. Let's say, war. If a part of you thinks it's good and a part of you thinks it's bad, then you will weigh the pros and cons and come to a decision. Simple… Now, imagine your mind knows with absolute conviction that war is good. And at the same time, your own mind knows with absolute conviction that war is bad… It's impossible. The situation cannot and will not resolve itself. This is how people lose their minds.

Now… The only way the situation gets resolved is by actions. If, when this impossible situation or the mindlock first comes into play, you are performing an act of war, you will end up believing with 100% conviction that war is good. And vice versa.

Your mind governs your actions. But in this impossible situation, the action governs your mind.

And that's the final part of an individual… Your soul anchors your mind to your body. Body… Mind… And Soul. When these three aspects of an individual work together toward a common goal… That's when they're unstoppable.

…

If you're still reading this text, it's obvious what you seek, and how determined you are to attain it. I will not stand in your way, nor will I obscure this knowledge from your eyes. I only ask that you read everything from the top and take the time to understand. Truly understand the warning it contains.

The technique you are about to read about, is something I found during my quest to regain the use of my limbs which had atrophied due to a deadly, costly accident. Being the one who discovered it, I took it upon myself to name it. The Dead Wisp Transmigration Pulse.

I named it 'Wisp' because that's all it takes. A wisp of your soul. Soul exists throughout your body. It doesn't mean you cannot survive with just a part of it. In fact, every individual is born with an abundance of Soul. This technique takes some of the extra in one part of your body and seals it to a part that's lacking.

…

You are determined to save yourself… Yes. But are you determined to pay the price…'

Sasame's eyes drew lower and came to rest on a seal. A wicked-looking seal with kanji she had never seen before. Just the sight of it made her nervous. Even in the old, yellow paper, the seal seemed menacing, and even appeared to be moving… Spinning around as if it had a life of its own.

She blinked. And it went away. Until she stared at it long enough and that eerie feeling came back. Her hand left the edge of the table and she started to reach, wanting to touch the seal with no conscious thought of her own.

Moments before her hand came into contact with it, a sound made her turn around.

…

Sasori stood with his mother's puppet hand attached to his shoulder. His own left hand held a ball of flame to the stump, melting his flesh into the resistant wood. He tried. He tried very hard to hold in his screams. Until finally it exploded out of him, tearing through her heart.

…

…

…

Sasame gulped when Sasori finally met her eyes. That's when she noticed it. A piece of paper on the ground next to him. With a perfect copy of the seal that filled her with dread.

Sasori gleamed at her, a look of ecstasy on his face. That's when Sasame realized one very simple fact. This was not the first time he was reading it. This probably wasn't even the same day he discovered it. He had been thinking about this for days now, weighing the pros against the cons. The potential benefits against the potential risks. The warnings contained in the text and how he could counter them… His mind was made up. He was prepared to do this even if it meant his death.

Sasame smiled as Sasori slammed the seal on what remained of his right arm. The legacy of his parents… He would either live up to them, or he would die a failure. It was simple.

…

…

Why else would he choose a puppet arm as the replacement limb?

With Naruto

He walked up the stairs with a singular thought in his mind.

'Fuck Danzo.'

Plain and simple. For the first time in 8 days, Danzo did not lock him in the cell after knocking him unconscious. And with no hesitation, he knew where he needed to go. He needed to see for himself the room he saw in his nightmares.

But as he bounded up the stairs with purpose, something stopped him. The sight was so unexpected that his angry body came to a complete stop. His mouth hung open in surprise and he found he couldn't even return the greeting that came his way.

"Hey!"

…

…

…

Before he could even think of returning Anko's greeting, the purple-haired girl brushed past a stunned Naruto and ran down the stairs, crying…

"Yugao!"

He called after her but she continued to run down the stairs… She was faster than he remembered. For a moment, nobody moved. The three people who'd accompanied Yugao to the hospital to visit Yuna, were as stunned as he was. They failed to move as well.

He wanted nothing more than to chase after her but something stopped him from doing just that. Irene Kurama's words echoed in his mind.

"You will never be happy again. You will be sought out and hunted for the rest of your life. Of course, you will be fine for a while. You will kill and tear your way through whatever adversaries you come across… But then people will come after you for vengeance. And everyone who thinks of revenge will want to hurt the people you're closest to. Your teammates, your sensei, your sister, your sister's associates, hell even people that you've worked with just once… They'll all be in danger."

Despite his mind screaming at him to follow her, despite his desperate desire to hold Yugao in her arms again, he forced himself to stay put. His eyes locked with Hayate's…

There was no need to put it into words. The message was swift and clear. Hayate nodded once before rushing down the stairs, following his friend.

"What was that about?"

Naruto hesitated for a moment, wanting to tell his teammate about the warning Irene had given him. Given what happened to Yuna, he was not keen on ignoring that warning. However, he chose the simple way out. "I don't know."

"As usual then…" Where once, Anko would've thrown a tantrum for not trusting her with how he was feeling, today Anko just looked on sadly. A few moments passed and Anko moved past him. "Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on them till they reach their apartment."

Then it was just him and Kurenai Yuhi left. He wasn't paying complete attention, but her body language told him that she had something to say… Unfortunately, he didn't have all day. He stayed there assimilating his thoughts before deciding to continue up the stairs.

"Thank you for healing me… I know I haven't been the best friend to you and your teammates, but I'm glad for what you did for me…"

Naruto paused. He simply turned around and brought a half-tiger seal to his mouth. "Release!"

To his surprise, Kurenai's appearance did not change. "Where are your burns? I know they're there."

Kurenai's eyes widened in surprise, but it quickly gave way to anger. Naruto said nothing as she stormed off. He stood there for a good few minutes before continuing up the stairs.

Eventually, Naruto slowly walked into the room he saw in his nightmares. He realized he wanted to visit the place himself, just to see if the real-life version of Yuna would be any different from the one he saw in his nightmares… She wasn't.

Yuna lay as still as she did in them. It was haunting, how still she was. Some people drew comfort from watching those close to them sleep and relax. Naruto frowned. 'That's comforting only because they know they'll wake up.'

His eyes adjusted to the darkness in the room and he finally noticed the other person in the room with him. Akira Senju, Konoha's Golden Flame.

"Akira-ojiisan…"

"Naruto…"

The silence continued after that. It wasn't until 15 minutes later when Naruto turned to leave that Akira spoke again.

"Aren't you going to ask me why I'm still here?"

"I already know why you're still here." Naruto shrugged, already at the door. "And I know you'll continue to be here until she wakes up."

…

"And it's pathetic." Naruto turned around. "You're just trying to make up for lost time. As if somehow it could erase the fact that you haven't been there for her for 13 years of her life."

Akira snarled. "That wasn't my fault. I was told-"

"Told? TOLD?" Naruto turned around and walked straight up to the older shinobi towering over him. "Did you actually trust Sarutobi Biwako when she told you she wasn't yours? Did you actually let another person decide if you're a father or not? Did you not see the light-brown hair? The green eyes?"

"How the fuck would you know? You're not a father. You're the one who let this happen to her in the first place." Akira gasped, his chest tightening. "Besides… Even her mother doesn't understand why I'm here. Don't presume to tell me-"

"Why are you here? Why the fuck are you here if not to satiate your own guilt? Why the fuck-"

"I'M HERE BECAUSE I CAN SAVE HER." Akira shouted. He clutched his chest as he sat down, leaving Naruto with a stunned expression on his face. "I can save her."

Naruto's expression slowly went from shock to curiosity. And then to anger. "Then what the fuck are you waiting for? Save her."

Akira turned towards him with a defeated expression on his face. "If I go through with this… It'll kill me. And who's gonna take care of her then?" Akira found he couldn't quite stop the hateful statement from leaving his mouth. "Certainly not you."

Hurt washed over his face but it was quickly replaced by something Akira never expected to see on the young redhead's face. He turned around and left the room before Akira could utter a word. He turned to look at his daughter and sighed. What was happening to the world? He had never seen the boy look so doubtful of himself.

Day 9

Uzushiogakure

Naruto looked sideways at Karasu, who was sitting next to him, staring out at the sea. "If you had total control of me, what would you do?"

The question was sudden, but Karasu took it in stride. He took a few moments to think about it before turning to Naruto. "The first thing I would do… I would help my… I would help one of the people in my clan, who is, unfortunately, suffering, through no fault of her own, one of the greatest punishments I've ever seen someone suffer."

Naruto's eyes widened when he realized who the Uchiha was talking about.

"I would rid her of the monster she is in bed with and take her far away. Perhaps near the sea… She always loved the sea…"

"You mean Mikoto-nee?"

… "Yes."

Naruto frowned. "How would that help? She cannot think for herself. She cannot do a thing on her own. She is truly and utterly dependent on that monster. Why else would I let him live?"

"I know…" Karasu sighed. "I just hope she can learn to live from scratch."

"A hope? A hope isn't enough. If you think she will be able to, then tell me and I'll free her from that man."

For a long time, Karasu just stared at him before shaking his head. "No… I don't think she'll be able to live without him."

"Would a Yamanaka work? Could a mind-walker fix her mind?"

Karasu met his eyes with his only visible one. "… No. The Yamanaka are the most trained among us, in the mental arts. They are the best at information gathering, spying and manipulating their prey into thinking a particular way. But the farthest they have gotten is being able to seal memories. And since he was imprisoned, no one's been able to do that either."

"Then… what was done to Mikoto-nee… It can't be reversed by a Yamanaka."

"No, I'm afraid not. There is one thing I know for sure, and this is also the reason Kotoamatsukami is the ultimate technique. No matter how skilled a Yamanaka becomes, planting false memories will always be out of reach."

Naruto promptly shut up, deep in thought.

Minutes, maybe hours later, Karasu spoke again. "That is not the only thing I would do if I were in total control." Naruto's eyes locked onto his, a glint of danger in them. "I would also pursue revenge on Konoha."

"Why?"

… "Konoha took my wife from me. It drove my only son to wicked madness. It killed my grandson when he was just a boy. My grandd-" Karasu stopped himself. "It abandoned countless allies. You might notice that there aren't many other ninja villages in the Land of Fire. They were overrun long ago, never receiving the kind of support from the primary village in the land that minor villages need to thrive."

…

"Konoha has crushed the downtrodden, the weak, and those without a voice for long before the plot to destroy Uzushio was even hatched. It has to stop. Someone needs to stop them or they'll reduce the entire world to ashes."

Naruto frowned. "Just like any other village would. Why is your judgment only on Konohagakure?"

Karasu smiled. "Because Konoha is the only village I expect better from."

…

"Thanks for telling me. I knew that without a shared goal, you wouldn't have coexisted in my mind with Arashi for this long, but it's good to hear from your mouth what that shared goal is."

Day 10

Konohagakure

If the people of Konoha had to guess who she was meeting with and the only clue they received was that he was one of the strongest shinobi in the village, Kushina would probably end up receiving a handful of very obvious answers.

The Hokage would of course be in the list. And so would his three students.

Akira Senju? Of course.

Some of the smarter residents would guess Shimura Danzo and they would also be right. He was indeed one of the strongest shinobi in the village. The level to which he had developed his Wind affinity was nothing short of astonishing. She realized it the first time she saw him wield the element…

She would never come close…

Many of the other names had unfortunately perished in the recent war. Tenzen Uchiha and Mogaku Inuzuka being just two of them.

Very few would guess the actual name of the person she was meeting. And that was because he had only recently appeared in the same level as the others in the list.

She sat down on the bench next to Minato Namikaze. "Ohayo."

Minato nodded his greeting, his behavior in stark contrast to how he usually acted around her. "Hi."

Neither said anything for a few moments until Kushina chose to break the silence. "I'm sorry."

"What for?" Minato immediately asked.

"For overreacting." Kushina admitted, shocking herself with the ease in which she did it. "I know you had my best interests at heart. With the information you had, you had no way of knowing with certainty that he was actually my brother…"

…

"I'm sorry."

Kushina heard Minato's teeth grind. "You had every right to be angry. I would be angry as well had I been in your position. Hell, I would still be angry. Relationships are built on trust. If I didn't trust you with the fucking truth, then it's my own fault."

Kushina blinked. This was not how she expected him to respond at all. The Minato she knew would have accepted her apology with teary eyes.

"I won't let you pretend otherwise."

…

"You've changed." She had only one thing to ask. "Please don't tell me the anger I feel from you is because of our relationship's condition. What happened to you?"

Minato's reply was instantaneous. "War… I experienced war for the first time."

"You always knew the horror a war would bring. We've experienced it ourselves." Kushina retorted, not buying the vague reply as an excuse. "What's different this time?"

…

…

…

"Naruto…" Minato met her eyes. "He's the difference."

Kushina's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

"The crimes this village has committed against him… I can't even imagine the extent of the anger he is feeling… That same anger and desire for revenge are being manipulated and twisted and pointed at Konoha's enemy." Minato exhaled angrily. "I'm all for protecting the village. But not when it's not done willingly. And especially when it's forced from someone who has been wronged by this village."

…

"I realized the kind of choices the Hokage has to make to protect this village. And I realized how easy it is for him to make them. Do you know about the program that Danzo runs behind the scenes? He adopts the orphans in the village and trains them in secret underground camps to become the deadly emotionless grunts that Konoha needs to do their dirty work. And this is what happens every day behind the scenes… We look all sunny and bright in the eyes of the public and our orphans are being used by the Hokage's right hand to commit the atrocities we say we are against."

Kushina just looked at Minato in shock.

"And this is what Naruto has helped me realize. This village… This world even… Every single person in the elemental nations from civilian to shinobi, from minor village to major village, from genin to kage… They teach and enforce in each and every single one of us, a feeling of false patriotism that makes us believe that everything we do is for the good of the people. That it's for the good of the people. That everything we do is for justice… That every other entity in the elemental nations is a villainous monster and we alone stand for the truth… The truth?"

Kushina's nose twitched at the smell of blood. She found the source to be Minato's clenched fists.

"The truth is… There is something terribly wrong with the elemental nations, isn't there? Cruelty and injustice, intolerance and oppression… And once upon a time, when each person was free to pursue their own wishes, to live and die as they please, now you have this false sense of patriotism coupled with the false ideal called 'the Will of Fire' coercing your conformity and suggesting your submission to the village… To the Hokage… They promise you peace. They promise you freedom. And all they ask for in return is your silent, emotionless obedience…"

…

"How fucking ironic. It makes me sick. It makes me rethink my whole life… The people I've killed… Did they truly deserve to die or did the people in power just wish for it to happen and like a mindless drone, I just completed the mission and happily collected my pay, congratulating myself for a job well done."

"Minato…" Kushina felt tears form in her eyes. She had no idea about the mental battle Minato had been dealing with. Where was the idealistic man who thought every battle he won was for the good of the people? Where was the patriot? Where was the gentle soul she fell in love with?

"And Naruto…" He either did not notice her tears… Or he did not care. "He is the only one… He is the only one who has grown up outside of this forced ideal. Who has been free to form his own thoughts and to live his own life… His ideals are not tainted. The power he exuded during the chunin exams… The agenda he had for even going there in the first place… The anger and pain he demonstrated when Yuna was injured… They were all true and they were all his own. Free of influence from anyone else." A thin smile formed on his face. "He was free…"

Kushina gulped. She was… She couldn't believe what she was hearing. What Kushina had always found attractive about Minato was his ambition. More than his looks, and his compassion and his loveable character, it was his ambition she found the most attractive. But his ambition to become the Hokage and his firm belief in Konoha's teachings, had caused him to develop a very naive mental image of the village.

But… He was tearing down and discarding things he'd believed to be fundamentally true for years upon years… And she loved him for it.

"I know this is not how you used to see me. A lot has changed. Both in me and around me." Minato stood up. "I may not be the same person you loved, but one thing you can say for sure is that I am an ally of Uzumaki Naruto, for showing me exactly what is wrong with this world. He may not care about fixing it, but I do."

He started walking away, not waiting for Kushina's reply.

"Once I become Hokage, I will tear this village down and remake it from scratch. No one… No one in this village will ever have to fight to survive. No orphan will be sold to someone like a piece of meat. If others threaten our peace, I will destroy them. I will fight for our people and I will not be a failure."

Kushina looked up when Minato stopped speaking. His head turned, and he looked at her sideways with one of his piercing blue eyes. "It's time I put my rage to good use."

He disappeared in a yellow flash.

Day 11

Amegakure

Konan looked at her two friends in sadness. They were being childish… stubborn… For reasons that Konan thought were stupid. However, the male mind worked very differently. For her, this was a non-issue. Plain and simple. While it sucked that Nagato had taken it upon himself to suffer through Hanzo's torture all on his own, it would've sucked much more for all of them to get tortured.

"I agree Konan should've been spared the torture, but why would you exclude me? You shouldn't have to handle these things on your own."

"You don't know what you're asking for." Finally, just like Konan expected, Nagato lost his patience. He stood up abruptly, forcing Yahiko to stop ranting. "I did it because it was my fault. Plain and simple. I was the one who forced you guys into gathering up their dead. A fool's errand… I was the one who lost my temper at the first sight of a Konoha headband on a living thing. A foolish choice… If I hadn't we never would've been in that situation."

Konan's eyes softened, hearing the redhead speak. Nagato was always timid about his feelings. In the privacy of their house? Sure, he was much more vocal. But out here in a pub? People were starting to listen in on their conversation.

"If I hadn't lost, Konan would never have been captured by the enemy. You would never have injured your hand to the point that you can't take missions for months… And I never would've been tortured."

Yahiko was silent. Nagato's normally shining purple eyes were hidden under his hair.

"It was my fault. I suffered the consequences. That's all." Nagato looked up, meeting their eyes and they finally saw the fear in them. "Be glad that it happened this way… Because if I had to live through all of it again… I'm not certain I'd volunteer in your place."

Both Yahiko and Konan couldn't believe their ears. But they didn't get the chance to question him on what he meant because they were joined at the table by a stranger.

"Well said, young man. You're a brave soul for saying it out loud." The newcomer spoke.

Yahiko was instantly aggressive in his response. "Who are you?"

"My name is… unimportant. But you should-"

"Sorry, we do not engage with strangers." Nagato spoke firmly, his gleaming eyes leaving no doubt in anyone's mind as to what would happen if he didn't leave.

"For this conversation, you may call me Z." The newcomer gave them a warm smile. "Just answer one question for me, and I'll leave."

Konan glanced around and saw every single person in the establishment looking toward them. "We should leave. So soon after what happened, this attention can't mean anything good."

As she and Yahiko moved to leave, Nagato stayed put, his eyes locked onto the stranger's. It was a few moments later that Yahiko and Konan realized Nagato wasn't following them.

Z grinned. "What do you think about the leader?"

Nagato didn't flinch away. His reply was instantaneous. "He is no leader."

A hush fell over the pub. Yahiko and Konan stared at each other in alarm. Z's smile widened as he motioned for the redhead to continue.

"Everyone knows I was tortured. Yes… But does anyone know why? If I had done something wrong, then sure… You could say that I deserve to be tortured. But what did I do that was so wrong? Did I lose a fight? Yes. But so did a lot of you…" Nagato slowly got up. "Do you want to know why I was tortured?" He addressed the gathered shinobi collectively. "The truth is… I don't know… I have absolutely no clue. The only reason I could come up with is this…

Yahiko and Konan, like the others, continued to stare, shocked.

"I let Uzumaki Naruto escape… It's true. I failed to beat him. But then… so did Hanzo. Why wasn't he tortured?" Murmurs erupted around the pub. "I will tell you this… Sanshouo no Hanzo is no savior to this village. He is a dictator. He does what he wants when he wants to. He hasn't done a single thing to help us. All he has done is that he's settled here. Which is why everyone is too scared to attack us."

Konan cupped a hand to her mouth. This was bad. Scratch that. This was disastrous. As horror mounted in her chest, she realized that this could potentially be the last time she saw Nagato alive.

"But what happens when he dies? Who can fill in his position?" The people looked at each other, the answer obvious to everyone. Nagato smiled. "Yes. No one. And what would that mean for us? We would be trampled once again by the Five Great Villages in a matter of days." Nagato exhaled heavily. Not a single other sound was audible. "Do you know what he has been doing when he was not torturing me? He was planning."

…

"He was giddily planning his next confrontation with the shinobi who humiliated him in the war." Nagato clenched his fist hard enough to draw blood. "Do you know what the samurai are here for? Did any of you even think it was weird? That the people who Hanzo "defeated" are here setting up screens and applying seals? Did any of you think to ask why? It's because he's obsessed. He's fucking obsessed with Uzumaki Naruto. He wants to see the redheaded brat fight. For that, he is spending the village's money without consulting a single other person."

…

"How is that just accepted by everyone? Now, think about the 'Chunin Exams' themselves. Why aren't we invited to take part? Why aren't minor villages given the chance to represent themselves on the international stage? Why doesn't the strongest shinobi in the Elemental Nations react to this insult?"

"HOW?" Nagato roared angrily. "HOW ARE YOU ALL OKAY WITH THIS?"

Yahiko's mind went blank as he suddenly realized what Nagato was doing. This had nothing to do with the torture. All he was doing was making sure the people heard the ideas they'd come up with in countless discussions before this. He was making sure that the situation wasn't a complete waste and that he played the part of the victim to his advantage.

Yahiko slowly turned his head to Z, who had a small smirk tugging at his lips.

…

Z's eyes flashed purple. Yahiko couldn't help the awe he felt. Nagato wasn't venting his anger. Not at all. He was using it to further their shared political agenda.

"We can all agree about something." Nagato fell back into his chair, seemingly tired of the horrible circumstance he had been put into. "We know war. War inflicts death, injury, and pain on everyone involved. The death of someone dear is a very hard thing to accept. We convince ourselves that there's no way they could die. You may try to find meaning in death, but there is only pain. An unbearable hatred and pain that does not heal. That's what war is…"

…

"That is what people like Hanzo yearn for…"

Yahiko brought a hand to his mouth, not for the reason Konan did. He just wanted to hide the largest smile he had ever given. Every single person listening to him was hooked. Completely hooked.

"He is no leader."

Day 12

Uzushiogakure

Arashi frowned at the question. "Why do I hate Konoha so much? Did you really just ask me that?"

Naruto nodded plainly, not in the least affected by his anger.

"It should be obvious, brat. They let my village get destroyed. Imagine how despicable one would have to be to refuse a call for help from the very person who has answered the very same call for help so many times."

"Sounds personal."

Arashi froze. He took the time to regain control of his always-raging emotions. "It is personal, brat. Konoha always sends the Uzumaki to the most dangerous fronts. My younger daughter died fighting for Konoha, almost five years before the Fall. She was just a child. I sent out my poor little star to battle for them. I lost good warriors. Great ones. And the only solace I took in their death was that the world was now a better place for the rest of us. For my elder daughter. For her husband. For her childr-... For her child."

…

"Guess what happened to my elder daughter?"

"She died."

"Yes… She died because Konoha refused to-"

"-to answer the call. I get it. Fine."

"Tch. Kids these days…"

Naruto smiled quickly before turning a bit more somber. "Tell me Arashi… If you had total control of me, what would you do?"

Arashi looked at him from the side. Naruto didn't meet his gaze. "I would burn Konoha to the ground. I would do what we were always meant to do. I would get revenge on the people who brought about our great nation's ruin. I wouldn't sleep until my thirst for vengeance is sated."

"Oh Arashi… How terribly unimaginative. Tenji Uzumaki, said to be the strongest Uzumaki to have ever walked the earth, even stronger than the Shodaime Hokage's wife who had access to the Kyuubi's chakra along with her prowess in fuinjutsu. I read about the Uzumaki clan head once. A true master of fuinjutsu, he was four when he invented his first seal. A master of Water ninjutsu, said to be able to summon giant water vortexes with a simple wave of a hand. He would have fought the first two Hokages together and probably come out on top. What a fucking waste."

Arashi stared at the enraged redhead in surprise.

"Do you really believe Konoha is to blame for what befell your village? The signs were all there. Right in front of you from the start. When your daughter was killed in front of your other one, by the villages Konoha left you to deal with, did you not raise it with this all-powerful Tenji Uzumaki? Didn't you suspect Konoha had a hand in manipulating the war in just their favor, sending Uzushio shinobi to all the dangerous fronts? Or are you telling me that you did raise it and Tenji Uzumaki did nothing in the five years that followed? If you let Konoha do away with your ninja as they pleased, why are you surprised when they end up dead? You would've done the same. And finally, when your continued support of the world's most hated village came to bite you in the ass, can you really blame Konoha for standing aside and letting the last true threat to their position as the strongest in the elemental nations die out? Can you really blame Konoha for doing what any other village, even you, would have done in its position?"

"Wh– What are you saying?"

"You are to blame. You killed your younger daughter when you sent an inexperienced kunoichi into war just to show that you're willing to put your own blood on the front lines. You have no one to blame other than yourself."

Arashi shook, enraged. "Get out of my sight."

Naruto didn't move, just staring at him. He filed away all the observations he'd made during this little trip into his mind. He was almost certain that this was his grandfather. The way he started to say 'children' and then stopped himself? What other reason could he possibly have?

Naruto got up. He looked Arashi dead in the eye. "Pathetic. Truly pathetic."

And then he left, his mind finally having the answer it sought.

Day 13

Sunagakure

"This is so fucking cool."

Sasori sighed as Sasame continued to inspect his new hand with the same level of enthusiasm as the first time she saw it. Well, she was the first one who saw it as well. He conked out the moment he performed the technique after expending that much chakra, so even he saw it after her.

When he regained consciousness, he found himself in a makeshift bed. Then, he got up from his bed. That's when reality hit him and tears started forming in his eyes. He'd gotten up on his right side!

His excitement didn't last long because he soon realized he was in a jail cell. The moment he made his presence known, the guard watching him alerted the Kazekage who was soon in front of him. What followed was a detailed explanation of the situation he found himself in. The Kazekage explained how what he'd done to himself was something considered taboo by puppeteers everywhere and was also very dangerous. For that reason, he would be under observation for a couple of days.

Of course, they didn't find anything because there was nothing to find. He had performed the technique perfectly. Ebizo and Chiyo were very angry with him, but he didn't put too much stock into that. They always found something to nag him with.

But they did make one thing unmistakably clear to him. If something… anything happens that could be considered weird concerning his new limb, he was to notify them both as quickly as possible.

"-Sasori? You listening?"

Sasori blinked. "Huh?"

"Great. You spaced out again." Sasame palmed her face. "That's exactly what I was just saying. You don't even realize how revolutionary this is to Medicine in general, not just for Sunagakure shinobi. Even civilians could benefit from this. Do you know how many strong shinobi are forced to retire because they've lost a limb? If we managed to make this an option in mainstream medicine, the benefits could be unimaginably wide-reaching."

Sasori just let her speak. She was seldom this excited about something. Why not let her go with it for a little while longer? Just until the situation demanded he burst her little bubble. This was considered an S-Rank secret. Only the Kazekage, Ebizo, Chiyo, himself, and Sasame were aware. And they intended for it to stay that way. For whatever reason, the technique was considered dangerous and it was probably never going to be a part of mainstream medicine.

"Oooh! I had another idea." Sasame exclaimed. "Don't look at me like that. This could be revolutionary."

"You say that every time."

A tick mark appeared on her forehead and he could see that she was fighting to prevent whatever vulgarity she wanted to say from spilling out. "Just listen first."

Sasori shrugged and put his face in his new hand, looking at his teammate with the best bored expression he could form, knowing it would annoy her. "What if we replace all our limbs with high-quality puppet counterparts?"

THUMP.

Sasori's jaw dropped in shock. Sasame noticed this and a smile formed on her face. It was a good idea then? She continued to go into detail regarding how something like that would work. Little did she know that the shock on Sasori's face was not because of her brilliant idea, but because of how his hand reacted to it.

The moment the words came out of Sasame's mouth, a pulse of something spread throughout his artificial arm. What was that? He was supposed to have no feeling in his arms. No pain, no sense of touch, nothing… It was just a wooden hand that he could pass chakra through and could listen to his mental commands. This shouldn't be possible.

This was exactly the kind of thing that Chiyo-baasama asked him to be on the lookout for.

…

His mind came back to the real world to catch the tail end of what Sasame was saying.

"-could be the next step in our evolution cycle. If you think about it, we are very fragile beings that one wrong move could put a complete end to. Humans are dull, disgusting creatures… Puppets are the future…"

THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.

The pulses were now stronger and more frequent. It was alarming. Sasori fought to control his expression. It wouldn't do if Sasame thought something was wrong. If she told Chiyo or Ebizo, he could end up losing his new limb just as fast as he obtained it. He would investigate this abnormal behavior on his own before raising it with anyone else.

Konohagakure

It was exactly the same as the last time he was here. The only difference was the amount of light in the room. Which made sense considering that the last time he was here was in the evening.

Today, having blown off training with Danzo, he was here at the break of dawn. Everything was exactly as he remembered. Yuna lay still as a statue, her face pale and her eyes closed. There were a lot of needles and other medical apparatus attached to her.

And at her side, Akira Senju sat in his chair, still with his face in his hand and with his eyes bloodshot. He still hadn't slept…

Which was fine for Naruto. He only needed him awake. "Akira-san… How can you save her?"

Akira's eyes slowly moved to meet his sharingan eyes. "Why do you want to know?"

"You said you could save her… And you said it would kill you…" Akira nodded, his face giving nothing away about what he was thinking. "But you're not sure she'll be safe even after you heal her… Because there's no one to take care of her."

…

…

"Yes."

…

"Then, the answer is obvious." Naruto gave him a bittersweet smile. "I'll perform this technique to save her…"

…

"I'll die in your place…"

…

"I'll save her…"

…

"Please just take care of her after I die…"

…

Akira's mouth fell open. "What are you saying? Why?"

"She is precious to me…" Naruto just closed his eyes and smiled, his eyes reliving a vision that Akira couldn't see. When he opened them, his Sharingan disappeared and his normal purple eyes replaced them. "She gave me the one thing I needed most in my life. Something invaluable… Priceless… And I won't let her life be extinguished if there's something I can do about it."

…

"She still needs to complete her mission…"

Akira could see from his eyes that he absolutely meant what he said. He was ready to die to help Yuna live… What could Yuna have given him that was valuable enough to throw his life away for her?

Akira took his time, but eventually replied. "I'll need to think about it… I need time…"

Naruto's eyes fell but quickly landed on Yuna again. Akira watched as Naruto's slumped shoulders suddenly straightened up and he met his eyes again. "So be it."

…

Without another word, Naruto turned around and walked out of the hospital room. He was forced to pause at the door when he saw Rin looking at him with a hand over her mouth and a horrified look in her eyes.

Naruto lost his emotionless expression for a second, his surprise showing through. But after a moment's pause, he continued on his way. He was down two floors when he was forced to stop again.

"Naruto!" He turned around slowly to see Rin bounding down the stairs. "Did you truly mean what you said? You'd die for her?"

He simply nodded in reply.

"The damage to her uterus… The damage to her spine… They're incurable. Whatever healing technique Akira is planning to use, it cannot heal the damage to her body… The most it can do is wake her up. The technique can't possi-"

"Isn't that worth it?"

The short question stumped her… She found she couldn't even speak. Rin didn't say anything for a few minutes. She just stared at Naruto trying to put what she was thinking into words… Naruto stared back with no expression on his face.

Now, she needed to know… What could Yuna possibly have given him that was valuable enough for him to throw his life away? His life and everything he fought for in exchange for a life of struggle as a cripple…

"What did she give you?" Rin asked, a look of wonder on her face. Naruto started walking.

"Everything."

Day 14

Konohagakure

"Answer me." he spoke calmly. The redhead was on his knees, reeling from the pain and the blood loss. His vision was blurry, his nose bleeding, and he was on his last legs.

"What would you do?"

Despite the milestone he'd achieved the previous day of finally landing a blow on his instructor, today was one of the most brutal defeats he'd ever suffered. He hadn't managed to even come close.

Danzo smirked at him. He wanted it that way. He wanted the boy to feel outmatched. He wanted him to give up. Then, and only then, could he start remaking him from scratch. He hadn't expected him to last this long. It was a testament to the strength he wielded in his 11-year-old body.

"As a shinobi, what is your highest priority?"

Naruto sent an equally happy smirk back at him, intent on not answering his question prepared to take the punishment he doled out.

Danzo sighed. "At least have the courage to reply. Are you so scared of what I will do that you cannot answer?"

…

"Alright. Imagine this. You are sent on a mission of great importance to your village. To confirm the presence/absence of Kumo shinobi in the Land of Frost. Although it is a simple scouting mission, if there are Kumo shinobi present, it is an act of war against our nation." Danzo sat down next to his downed body. "Now imagine you're with your team. You, Mitarashi Anko, Orochimaru… and Sarutobi Yuna. Together on a mission again."

Danzo's smile widened when Naruto's jaw clenched. "Now, let's say you fell prey to an ambush set by the Kumo ninja who somehow sensed your approach. In the confusion, you get separated and you get knocked out momentarily by an attack. You wake up and you have no idea where your teammates are. But your mission is fresh on your mind. Your only job now is to escape and notify Konoha so that they can prepare for the battle ahead. But… As you look around, you see your teammates fighting tooth and nail to stay alive but given the numbers advantage and the presence of the Third Raikage, their defeat is all but assured."

…

"What would you do in this situation?"

…

…

Danzo's smile slowly fell. "Now, imagine you see someone stealthily coming up behind… let's say Yuna. She has no idea. If you want to save her, you have to move now."

…

…

"Well… Yuna Sarutobi just died. Orochimaru is facing off- AARGH!"

Danzo tried to jump away but the redhead's teeth on his hand was too strong. He ended up dragging Naruto along. They scuffled. Danzo tried rolling on the floor. Naruto didn't let go. Danzo kicked at him. Naruto didn't let go.

Something had to give way and it turned out to be Danzo's flesh. A huge chunk of the flesh on his hand was ripped away by Naruto. Danzo immediately jumped as far away from the deranged redhead as he could. What he saw when he looked at his foe again would haunt him for years to come.

Naruto stood at the far end of the circular battle area, his hands holding something to his mouth. His eyes rolled up into the back of his head in ecstasy There was a huge content smile on his face. And he was slowly chewing.

Danzo couldn't move. The sight was overwhelming even to Danzo, someone who was no stranger to the horrific acts committed in the shinobi world. But cannibalism? This was a completely new level of madness that Danzo was not familiar with.

…

Naruto finally gulped down. His eyes came back to normal. He exhaled slowly, the sound of it reaching Danzo even on the far end of the arena.

"It was yours…" Naruto met Danzo's incredulous gaze and Danzo flinched. "It was your hand… I can't believe how rejuvenated I feel."

Danzo watched with increasing discomfort as the redhead threw his head back and laughed. "What do you mean?"

"Why would I tell you? You were right. Knowing something about your enemy that he doesn't is one of the best, most satisfying positions to be in." Naruto slowly stopped laughing and met his eyes again. "If you knew me, you'd know that you've already lost. I've spent every waking minute of the past two weeks looking at the seal you put on me. I know everything about it. I know its weaknesses in and out. There was only one thing I needed to break it."

Danzo's eyes widened as his gaze went to Naruto's hands covered in his blood. He immediately rushed through hand seals. His focus on the wind blades had been broken by the redhead's unexpected attack. He needed to form them again… Immediately.

Naruto spread Danzo's blood on his forehead over the seal. From the storage seal on his wrist, he summoned the counter seal he'd made the day the seal was placed on him. With one final smirk at his visibly panicking 'instructor', Naruto placed the counter on his forehead.

…

It was so sudden. One moment, his eyes were purple. The next, it was the menacing red that Danzo had come to hate. He lost focus on his technique and the wind gathering around him died down.

"I'm thankful for what you've done for me, Danzo-san. You've awakened something in me. This technique… I don't believe I had the ability to use this technique even before my memory got sealed. There's a sense of clarity in me now that I know for sure that I've never experienced before."

Later, once he regained consciousness, he would realize that this was the moment he lost. However small, however weak you believe him to be, it's never a good idea to look in the eyes of an Uchiha.

"Tsukuyomi!"

---

Danzo found himself tied to a cross, hanging. The whole world had suddenly turned black and… red. He could feel his entire body but he could also tell that this was an illusion.

He heard the flapping of wings. He strained his neck to look up. He saw a vulture staring down at him, perched on his cross. The bird had the same spinning Mangekyou Sharingan that Naruto had. This confirmed it. Genjutsu.

"What is a nightmare? Is it the horrific dream you have in your sleep? Or is it the terrible reality you find yourself in when you wake?"

Several birds came in front of him and morphed into Naruto Uzumaki's body.

Naruto looked up at the bird and nodded, signaling something. The bird leaned down to his right ear. It was so close to him that he could hear its breathing. Danzo became increasingly nervous as time went on.

"Do you think this is a nightmare? Or are you awake?"

The moment seemed to last for eternity until… Danzo blinked. When he opened his eyes, his right ear was gone. Pain, more pain than he'd experienced when he lost his hand washed over him. He couldn't speak, he couldn't move, he couldn't think. The pain somehow seemed amplified…

Blink.

The pain was gone. His ear had reformed. But this time, there were two vultures above him and Naruto was right up in his face. "In the Tsukuyomi, I control space. I control time. I control mass. I control everything."

…

For the first time in his entire adult life, Danzo felt something pricking at his mind. Something he remembered feeling for the first time when Kagami Uchiha attacked him during training. Something he thought he overcame after the Second Hokage died putting him in charge of looking after the darker side of things…

"One second in the outside world is 72 hours here."

Naruto took a couple steps back to resume his position and suddenly, the birds attacked. Getting eaten alive, he screamed in pain, and with a start, Danzo realized exactly what it was that he was feeling.

…

Shimura Danzo, the right hand of the Third Hokage and inheritor of the will of the Second, was afraid. He was afraid of the 72 hours of torture that remained. He was afraid of the mental damage he would need to deal with in the coming days. He was afraid of what the boy would do to him after 72 hours of torture.

Three vultures appeared as the damage to Danzo was healed. Naruto could feel the panic and the fear oozing off the older shinobi. It brought a smile to his face.

"How long till I blink?"

---

Danzo's knees buckled and he tumbled to the ground. His eyes were bloodshot, blinking rapidly, still unable to convince himself that what just happened was a genjutsu… He could feel the tears dripping down his face, formed from the immense strain they had been put under.

One second. In the real world, one second was all it took for three days of torture. He could feel the redhead approaching. On instinct, he closed his eyes. He would fight blind and win. That was the only way out.

…

The sound of someone whistling reached them and suddenly, both of them stopped in their tracks. One of them feeling annoyed at the interruption and the other, feeling absolute terror because he recognized the tune.

Danzo opened his eyes. He didn't care that the redhead was near enough to capitalize on it. He simply had to confirm it. It couldn't be true.

The man walked slowly, as if he knew he would not be attacked. His yellow eyes gleamed in the dim light. His beard was long enough to almost touch the floor. His gray hair was dull in the dim light. He wore ancient black armor that seemed incredibly heavy. And finally, he was… clapping his hands.

CLAP. CLAP. CLAP…

Naruto didn't know how to react. But he knew, from how visibly terrified Danzo was, that this couldn't be anything good.

"Bravo. I didn't think it would be this quick but I knew you would beat him eventually." The old man spoke while continuing to clap.

Danzo slowly picked himself up. "Sensei… Is that really you?"

The new arrival completely ignored him. "A dirty victory I suppose, but what was it that the Second always said? If you aren't fighting dirty, you aren't fighting to win." Danzo turned incredibly pale. The old man gleamed in response. "Isn't that right, little Danzo-chan?"

Shimura Danzo was many things. Despicable, dishonorable, dishonest… But a coward is one thing he was not. He raced toward the older shinobi to which he did not react kindly.

"SLEEP!" His voice seemed to echo inside Naruto's mind. He twisted his hands into a one-handed seal, a shape he had never seen before. Danzo toppled over.

…

He passed by Danzo like he was nothing. "Of course, he only had his advantage because you allowed yourself to get limited. Because you didn't have access to your Sharingan. Three seconds after you regained use of it, the great Shimura Danzo is on the floor."

He reached into his sleeves and pulled out a scroll, a body scroll, which was then tossed towards Naruto, landing near his feet. When he didn't try to open it or react in any other way, the older man simply shrugged and formed a hand seal. A puff of smoke later, Naruto almost took a step back in shock and apprehension.

Because when the smoke cleared, Irene Kurama's head sat atop the scroll on the ground… He could hear his inner voices screaming at him, begging him to run away or this would be the end of him. But he wasn't ready to do that. Not now when he'd finally experienced victory again.

"Who are you?"

A playful smile was his only reply. "Why would I tell you? When I can simply show you…" His hands morphed into a different pattern. "Just a friendly warning from an ex-prisoner to an ex-prisoner. Don't resist. As much as Danzo likes to speak, he's right about something. You cannot hope to win against someone who knows everything about you. Irene-chan helped a lot with that."

Naruto didn't react. He could sense the tremendous amount of chakra building within the new arrival. He never even thought to turn back. It was past the time to hesitate. Whatever this was… He would face it head-on.

Uzushiogakure

(Play: Ramin Djawadi - Wicked Games)

This time, Naruto washed up on the shore, near where he usually met with Karasu. His posture was calm. His eyes darted everywhere, though it was not in panic at the most recent monster to show up in his life. He had a calm air of clarity around him. Quietly, he got to his feet, his fist clenching. He gradually started posing the questions he wanted answers to. And he started answering them, one by one.

'Who was that?'

He had no clue. The armor he had on was ancient, the type he'd seen only once before. In the exhibition hall where they held the New Year's party. The Shodaime Hokage's armor. This, coupled with the long silver beard that the man wore, he was sure this was someone from the Clan Wars Era. He already had his hands full dealing with the two he already had in his mind. Why was there suddenly a third?

'What do you know about him?'

He was strong. Maybe even stronger than Hanzo. The way the room changed when he walked in… He had never seen Danzo this afraid. He didn't think the man could feel fear. Sure, he had seemed terrified when he was torturing him, but that was an artificial situation. It's not like Danzo would be at the same level of terrified just at the sight of him. But upon just seeing the older shinobi, Danzo had turned into a terrified mess. Danzo called him 'sensei', which was in itself confusing. The original Team 7 had only two teachers, the First and Second Hokage. At least that had been the case as far as he knew.

It was beside the point anyway. Danzo was strong. Horrifyingly strong. Naruto had spent a fortnight tirelessly striving to get a hit in. At first, maybe it was a half-hearted attempt but after getting his Sharingan sealed and badly losing a couple of times… It had become personal. And then, it became a challenge. One that he craved to overcome. The fact that the same man got conked out with one single hand pattern, after nearly pissing his pants at the mere sight of this man… He was strong. Way too strong.

Strong enough to kill Irene as well. He didn't really know how she measured up against Danzo, but she was strong despite how she made herself seen. To kill her without a sound-the-alarms situation was nothing short of impossible.

'Why did you show up here again? In Uzushio.'

It was supposed to be limited to his mind, and the beings living inside of it. But this strange man managed to bring him here.

'How?'

Yamanaka…

'Only logical option. Name?'

The current clan head was Inoichi Yamanaka. His father was Yukio Yamanaka, who mysteriously disappeared leaving him and his sister to fend for themselves at the tender age of 14 and 9. His maternal grandfather held the position of clan head until he decided to take the mantle up for himself when he turned 18. The grandfather died a few years later, so it couldn't be him.

'Is it Yukio Yamanaka?'

No. Too young. This has to be someone from the Clan Wars Era at least.

'Who then?'

His father. It has to be.

…

He passed the first barrier. His legs moved automatically, not stopping for anything he saw. He had seen the carnage enough times to learn to ignore it.

He sensed them when he passed the last barrier. The chakra masking one. They felt weak. Weaker than they'd ever been. This guy was strong enough to suppress them both at the same time. He wasn't with the other two at least. But he still felt hostile. This brought him to the only question that was still unanswered.

'What did he want with him?'

One thing was for sure. He was intimately familiar with his mind. As far as he understood, this was the deepest part of his mind. The fact that he broke down whatever defenses the other two had set up, and came here faster than he himself could reach when he tried to, was unbelievable. Speculation from here led him to realize something. And once he did, he just knew it had to be the case.

This was undoubtedly the person who sealed his memory.

…

He walked the narrow path up the hill. He knew what awaited him there. Their leader's office, an aerial view of the entire village, and the three intruders in his mind.

He was prepared to face the old man and his two lookalikes. But when he arrived at the top, it was three old men. Not one.

The first one's face was narrow and crooked, twisted in a frown of rage. His hair was completely gray and so was his mustache. He had seals drawn all over his body to the extent that his natural skin was only visible in small patches here and there.

The second one had jet-black hair with tinges of gray in it. One menacing red orb spun in his only visible eye, but there was a look of acceptance on his face. Whatever happened, he seemed to just want it to be over with.

They were both on their stomach on the hard ground, an immense unseen force preventing their movement. And right between the two, the intruder sat on a majestic golden throne, glistening in the sunlight. He looked right at Naruto with his face in his palm, tilted to one side.

"Look who's finally here."

…

"I'll ask you the same thing I've asked the other inhabitants of my mind." Naruto straightened up, letting out an audible sigh. "Who the fuck are you?"

"You tell me. You've already guessed part of my name."

Now that was a surprise… Naruto raised an eyebrow. "You can-"

"Hear your thoughts?" The man laughed. "I am, as you say, an intruder in your mind… What else would I possibly be here for?"

The question forced Naruto to pause and take stock of the situation. He forcefully rid himself of all thoughts, preparing to react only on instinct to whatever came up. And he was able to do so with a surprisingly practiced ease.

The man smirked at him. "There he is. It seems you still remember some of the mental defense techniques you were once so proficient in."

Naruto ignored him and looked at the other two. He pointed at the one with black hair first. "You're Karasu… And you're Arashi."

"Ha. You've already figured out their clans. What a brilliant mind you have." The intruder couldn't control his laughter for a long time. "But you don't know, do you? You don't know why they are in your mind. You don't know who they are. You don't know what they want…"

Naruto was silent, preferring to just look at the panicked eyes of the intruder's captives. If they were this panicked, the new guy was not good news.

"I could tell you if you want. I know everything about you. From your life before you came to Konoha and after. I know things about your very unique situation that you couldn't begin to comprehend."

Naruto grit his teeth. After Danzo repeatedly told him that he knew everything about him, Naruto was understandably annoyed every time he heard something like that. "What do you get out of telling me?" Naruto asked, making his annoyance evident.

Anger flickered in the intruder's expression before he assumed his prior amused look. "No need to be apprehensive. I only want what's best for you. If I intended to harm you, I wouldn't have subdued these two."

"Stop dodging and answer the fucking question. Otherwise, I'm leaving."

This time, there was no pretense. The smile disappeared. The fake amusement disappeared. It almost made Naruto feel scared, how quickly his expression transitioned. It was something he had been experiencing repeatedly with Danzo over the past couple of weeks, but it still unnerved him every time.

"You don't seem to realize what I saved you from, little Naruto-chan. You don't know what these monsters plan to do with your body." His yellow eyes had a dark glint. "And you don't seem to realize the position you're in. Do you truly believe Hatsunori Yamanaka will just let you leave?"

Both Arashi and Karasu flinched when they heard the man voice his name. Naruto would've let out a content sigh if the situation wasn't like this. It was somehow very satisfying to see them so afraid.

Naruto met Arashi's eyes first. Just from his eyes, Naruto knew exactly what Arashi planned to do with his body. He would do exactly as he said he would. He would burn the whole world down for what happened to his people.

When he met Karasu's eyes. And he saw something he didn't quite expect… Guilt. Naruto knew that if Karasu gained control of him one day, even though his first priority would be to get Mikoto away from here, he was still very much interested in revenge against Konoha.

And this realization was swiftly followed by another one which would end up proving to be revolutionary in the elemental nations. This realization would end up becoming the cornerstone of Naruto's actions over the following years and would play a significant role in shaping the world known as the Elemental Nations.

Naruto looked straight at Hatsunori. And echoed his thoughts as loud as he could.

'My enemy… is not Konoha.' All three of them stared in shock at the broadcasted thought. 'At least, it's not Konoha alone. My enemies are Kirigakure, Kumogakure, and Iwagakure for what they did to the place I was born in. My enemy is Uzushiogakure for what they did to me in pursuit of revenge. My enemy is Konohagakure for what they did to my memory.'

…

'However… If Uzushio is my enemy and Kiri, Kumo, and Iwa banded together to destroy the place, aren't they my allies?'

'If Uzushio did this to me to get revenge against the people who destroyed my motherland, aren't they the good guys?'

'If Konoha sealed my memories, which served to finally release me from the people who sought to control me like a puppet, shouldn't I consider them good guys too?

'But if they stood by and watched Uzushio get devastated, I would undoubtedly call them my enemies.'

All three of them looked on in shock as the thoughts resonated around them. Arashi and Karasu were both shocked because they'd never seen Naruto be this transparent. Just what was going through his mind. Was he thinking that just because the Yamanaka could read his mind, it was a good idea to drop all his defenses?

Hatsunori, on the other hand, wasn't shocked because of the complete transparency. He was shocked because by broadcasting his thoughts so loudly, he was hiding his other thoughts from his inspection. Thoughts are like tiny drops of water falling from a leaking pipe. You can only see it as a separate entity till the drop reaches the ground and joins the puddle. After that, good luck trying to retrieve the same drop from the combined mess it became.

A bead of sweat formed on his forehead. What Naruto did just now… was that he opened the pipe completely. Now all Hatsunori was able to focus on was the steady stream of water hitting the ground and not the tiny drops of water that still continued to leak from the pipe handle. This allowed Naruto to make observations, draw conclusions and reach impossible levels of mental activity outside of Hatsunori's view. This was something even trained Yamanaka failed to do under mental invasions.

Naruto seemed to realize just what was going through his mind and sent a smirk his way.

'One thing is tremendously clear to me now. My enemy is not a single person or village or any other entity.'

Naruto's eyes were unblinking, set in complete and absolute determination.

'My enemy is the entirety of the Elemental Nations.'

"What do you mean? You do not know nearly enough to draw the conclusions you have." Hatsunori yelled, starting to panic. "You cannot even imagine the kind of horrors you have withstood."

"Oh, can't I? Here's what I've gathered so far." Naruto smirked. "I know that Kiri, Kumo, and Iwa banded together to destroy Uzushio for the sole reason of being Konoha's ally. I know that Konoha stood by and watched. A single Uchiha shinobi disagreed with the decision and set out to save Konoha's greatest ally. Too little, too late. Uzushio lost the war. Badly. Wanting nothing but revenge against the people who abandoned them in the time of greatest need, the leader of Uzushio put everything they had into a half-assed plan. A last resort. Me. He bound the souls, the life force, of every single remaining Uzumaki into me. The only problem was… the Uchiha warrior didn't quite agree with what the leader did. But it was already out of his hands. He did the only thing he could at that point. Which means he did the same thing. He sacrificed his life to bind his own soul to my body."

Hatsunori opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. This was impossible. How could he?...

"The leader of the Uzumaki is Arashi here. Tenji Uzumaki, the Winter Storm… And also my grandfather. The lone Uchiha is Karasu. The reason I am sane. The sole reason Arashi isn't in total control. The reason I have an Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan. He is Kagami Uchiha… My father."

Hatsunori started hyperventilating. This was utterly impossible. No, the memory seal. The double knot on his nerves… How was this possible? How was he not screaming in pain from the memories?

"In the beginning, the Uzumaki, greater in number and strength, subdued the Uchiha and took control of me. But then, you came along. Hatsunori Yamanaka, the greatest mind-walker to ever walk the earth, is somehow alive despite your recorded death in the First Shinobi World War. You sealed my memory and with it, you sealed the others as well thereby granting me my freedom. For the first time in two years, I was myself. I was in total control of my mind. And my actions."

Arashi and Karasu stared at each other in wonder. It was impossible and quite out of the realm of possibility they had imagined for their host.

"I suppose I ought to be thankful." Naruto snarled at Hatsunori making him flinch. "But I'm not. You sealed my fucking memory and made me the pawn of the very people I hate. And now, for some reason, you come into my mind, posing as my ally. Don't think for one second that I've simply assumed that the timing of all this is a coincidence. You are the reason I started being able to visit my own mind… I suspect the bird."

Hatsunori gasped in shock.

Naruto smirked. "That confirms it. The bird that Irene and I killed. You somehow loosened the seal during the conversation I had with her on the Hospital rooftop. You wanted me to confront these two. You wanted me to fight for control in my mind. Why? This is the only thing I don't understand…"

…

…

…

"What were you even hoping to accomplish?"

"NO. NO. NO. HOW ARE YOU NOT SCREAMING IN PAIN? HOW ARE YOU NOT DYING? MY SEAL IS PERFECT. YOU CANNOT REMEMBER ANY OF THIS WITHOUT DESTROYING YOUR OWN MIND. HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?" Hatsunori panted, the rant taking a lot out of him.

…

For a long time, Naruto didn't respond. But slowly, his lips twisted into a sinister grin.

"Who said I'm remembering? Who said anything about me regaining my memories?"

All three of them, Tenji, Kagami, and Hatsunori blinked in confusion.

"These are not my memories. These are not things I've experienced."

…

"They're dreams."

Hatsunori gasped, an expression of horror mounting on his face.

"Nothing but wicked dreams."

…

…

…

Hatsunori watched Naruto straighten up, sweat rolling down his cheek. It was impossible. Naruto undoubtedly knew everything he said was real. It had happened to him. But somehow he had convinced himself that they weren't his memories… That it didn't happen to him…

How?... For the life of him, Hatsunori couldn't figure that out.

The dark smirk he wore on his face was exceptionally menacing. He wanted to take a step back, but somehow he found himself immobilized.

"We can talk about this. I can help you."

Another step.

"I can get rid of them for you. I can remove them from your mind."

Another step.

"Tch."

He gathered all of his mental might that years upon years of mind-walking experience had given him. And he threw it at the tiny 11-year-old.

…

And watched as he batted it aside effortlessly. Panic tore through his mind and he screamed at his adversary. "WHY CAN'T I STOP YOU? WHY CAN'T I DO A SINGLE FUCKING THING?"

Hatsunori gasped as he was hit with a barrage of thoughts.

Memories are the cornerstone of everything a person is. A Yamanaka can't plant false memories. Nor can he manipulate existing memories. The only way a Yamanaka can affect a person is by changing the way the person infers those memories. By changing the conclusions they draw from it. And by making sure that the person they're manipulating thinks that they're the ones drawing the conclusions.

Hatsunori took a step back. An ungodly amount of chakra exploded around Naruto. A violent wind picked up around them."Because it's mine."Naruto's lips twitched. "THIS IS MY FUCKING MIND."

The moment he heard the most feared words of any Yamanaka, he forced his presence to retreat from this hostile environment.

The sea rose up around Uzushiogakure, completely shrouding the inside from any sunlight. But somehow they were still able to see each other. The humongous circular dome of water stood still high above them with not a drop of water falling from it.

…

He found himself forced to stay back. He found he couldn't feel his own body in the outside world anymore.

"You don't seem to realize what awaits you, Hatsunori Yamanaka. You don't know what I plan to do with you." Naruto's Mangekyou spun slowly, his hair waving in the wind. "And you don't seem to realize the position you're in. Do you truly believe Naruto Uzumaki will just let you leave?" he spoke calmly, throwing the Yamanaka's own words back at him.

Nothing happened for a long time until Naruto decided to take a step forward. And then another and another until he was face to face with the immobilized Yamanaka.

…

…

Hatsunori avoided his eyes for as long as he could because he knew it would be over the moment he looked into those monstrous red eyes. But he was drawn to them, just like he had been drawn to the fearsome red eyes of Madara Uchiha, all those years ago, on the day everything changed.

When he finally gathered the courage to look up, he saw Naruto's cold five-edged Mangekyou Sharingan staring into his eyes in utter disdain. Then Naruto proceeded to speak the name of the technique that led to the creation of Konoha's greatest traitor in the first place.

"TSUKUYOMI!"

---

Hatsunori found himself in a world that was entirely black and red. Unlike the last time he was in a world like this, he was not tied up. But unfortunately, he found he couldn't move.

He blinked and suddenly, the only man alive to have bested him in a mental battle appeared before him.

"Welcome to the world of Tsukuyomi. I control everything here. Time… Space… Matter…"

It started in his legs. They felt… cold. Ice formed on his feet and started crawling up as if it were alive. It was cold. Tremendously cold. Cold enough to burn.

Naruto's eyes slowly spun in their sockets. "In here… I AM A GOD."

The ice consumed him completely. He couldn't hear. He couldn't see. He couldn't think. His entire world was reduced to nothing. Except for the cold. His body, completely frozen in the unnatural ice, couldn't even shiver.

He didn't know how long it lasted but suddenly he could feel the ice melting. He was relieved. More relieved than he'd ever felt in his life.

Apparently within moments, the temperature became pleasantly warm and the ice had almost completely melted off him. He started laughing in relief. He didn't stop laughing when black clouds gathered above him. He didn't stop laughing till the first drop of rain hit him in the face.

…

And he felt as though he was being burned alive. It was suddenly raining fire. He tried to open his eyes, but all he could make out were foggy shapes and blinding lights all around him. It was raining all around him. Scalding hot rain splashed on his body, still in subzero temperatures. Pounding down on his bare skin. He tried desperately to escape. To somehow move. Relief washed over him when he was somehow able to turn around. Only for it to disappear when the ground burned into his skin. He curled into himself tightly, assuming the fetal position, trying to protect himself from the scalding hot liquid falling from above. He tried to crawl away but found he could not. No matter how far he crawled, the rain followed him.

He screamed, unable to take it any longer. "LET ME GO. I'M BURNING. PLEASE LET ME GO."

The rain came down harder. Realizing his current strategy was evidently ineffective, he thrashed around on the floor asking only one question knowing he wouldn't receive an answer. 'When will it be over?'

A part of him questioned that as well. 'What will be over? The pain? Or my life?'

It felt like an eternity, but the pain slowly died down. Panting, struggling, and gasping for breath, Hatsunori managed to sit up. The rain didn't let up, but he realized at that moment that the rain was never scalding hot. It was a normal temperature. But he was subjected to it after being frozen in ice for who knows how long…

He looked around desperately for a way to escape. When he turned around completely, he saw the young redhead sitting on a throne, his head resting on his hand, looking at him, bored…

Hatsunori struggled to regain his breath. It wouldn't do him any good to panic. He had to think of a way out.

Naruto met his pained gaze effortlessly. "Well done. Now there's only 71 hours, 59 minutes, and 59 seconds to go."

Hatsunori blinked. He had been subjected to it once before. He knew it was coming. But knowing it was coming and actually hearing it was completely different. He tried to capitalize on this time when he was face to face with his captor. He had to put an end to this. He wouldn't be able to heal the damage otherwise. But the moment he took a step toward him, Naruto disappeared.

…

And he came to a complete stop, immobilized on the spot.

It started in his legs. They felt… cold. Ice formed on his feet and started crawling up as if it were alive. It was cold. Tremendously cold. Cold enough to burn.

…

The ice consumed him completely. He couldn't hear. He couldn't see. He couldn't think. His entire world was reduced to nothing. Except for the cold. His body, completely frozen in the unnatural ice, couldn't even shiver.

He didn't know how long it lasted but suddenly he could feel the ice melting. He was relieved. More relieved than he'd ever felt in his life.

Apparently within moments, the temperature became pleasantly warm and the ice had almost completely melted off him. He started laughing in relief. He didn't stop laughing when black clouds gathered above him. He didn't stop laughing till the first drop of rain hit him in the face.

…

And he felt as though he was being burned alive. It was suddenly raining fire. He tried to open his eyes, but all he could make out were foggy shapes and blinding lights all around him. It was raining all around him. Scalding hot rain splashed on his body, still in subzero temperatures. Pounding down on his bare skin. He tried desperately to escape. To somehow move. Relief washed over him when he was somehow able to turn around. Only for it to disappear when the ground burned into his skin. He curled into himself tightly, assuming the fetal position, trying to protect himself from the scalding hot liquid falling from above. He tried to crawl away but found he could not. No matter how far he crawled, the rain followed him.

He screamed, unable to take it any longer. "LET ME GO. I'M BURNING. PLEASE LET ME GO."

The rain came down harder. Realizing his current strategy was evidently not effective, he thrashed around on the floor asking only one question knowing he wouldn't receive an answer. 'When will it be over?'

A part of him questioned that as well. 'What will be over? The pain? Or my life?'

It felt like an eternity, but the pain slowly died down. Panting, struggling, gasping for breath, Hatsunori couldn't even manage to sit up. The rain didn't let up, but he realized for a second time that the rain was never scalding hot. It was a normal temperature. But he was subjected to it after being frozen in ice for who knows how long…

He looked around desperately for a way to escape. He couldn't do it anymore. When he turned around completely, he saw the young redhead sitting on a throne, his head resting on his hand, looking at him, bored…

…

…

…

---

Tenji looked at Kagami questioningly. Kagami shrugged in reply, signaling he didn't have the slightest clue. Whatever questions either of them had, they didn't get enough time to voice it.

Because a second later, the elderly Yamanaka buckled, his entire body threatening to fall forward. A hand reached out and grabbed his throat forcing his eyes to once again meet Naruto's spinning red ones.

"TSUKUYOMI!"

---

Hatsunori found himself in a world that was entirely black and red. He found he couldn't move.

Realizing the situation he was in, his eyes filled with tears. He blinked and suddenly, the only man alive to have bested him in a mental battle appeared before him.

"Welcome to the world of Tsukuyomi. I control everything here. Time… Space… Matter…"

"NO!"

It started in his legs. They felt… cold. Ice formed on his feet and started crawling up as if it were alive. It was cold. Tremendously cold. Cold enough to burn.

"NO!"

Naruto's eyes slowly spun in their sockets. "In here… I AM A GOD."

"NO. NO. NOOOOOO!" Hatsunori screamed, tears freely flowing down his face, until they too froze, adding to his discomfort.

…

…

…

---

"What is Tsukuyomi?" the Uzumaki clan head asked, nervous at how Hatsunori reacted to the technique.

Kagami shook his head. "I hope we don't have to find out."

A second passed and this time, Hatsunori actually did fall. He couldn't hear, he couldn't see, he couldn't think. And somehow, the last part terrified him the most. The first time he'd been exposed to this technique, Hatsunori Yamanaka had split his consciousness into two separate entities, a very advanced mental technique that the ancient Yamanaka clan members used to convince themselves of something they knew to be false. This passive part of his mind would continuously work to trick both parts into believing this fallacy. The trick was to ensure both parts knew which one was real. But when Hatsunori twisted in agony at the impossible predicament of being subjected to Tsukuyomi, he saw only one way out.

When he let his inactive second subconscious mind take the brunt of the torture, it did one thing he didn't expect it to do. It validated the second mind's existence. This gave birth to the monster that was Hatsunori Yamanaka… The things he'd done after that… No one could ever forgive…

"TSUKUYOMI!"

---

Hatsunori found himself in a world that was entirely black and red. He found he couldn't move.

Realizing the situation he was in, his eyes filled with tears. He blinked and suddenly, the only man alive to have bested him in a mental battle appeared before him.

"Welcome to the world of Tsukuyomi. I control everything here. Time… Space… Matter…"

"NO!"

It started in his legs. They felt… cold. Ice formed on his feet and started crawling up as if it were alive. It was cold. Tremendously cold. Cold enough to burn.

"NO!"

Naruto's eyes slowly spun in their sockets. "In here… I AM A GOD."

Hatsunori's scream turned into a laugh. And he laughed and laughed and laughed until the cold froze him in place...

…

…

…

---

So, this was how he would die. In the mind of an eleven-year-old, overwhelmed by the very person he freed. In truth, he had hoped that providing him access to his own mind would lead him to confront the monsters who lived within. They would undoubtedly fight for control and when they were all weakened and unable to resist him, he would simply come in and take over, suppressing anyone who remained. Reborn in one of the strongest bodies he could hope to obtain.

"So that's why you did it…"

Hatsunori blinked. In the moment, unable to remember his circumstance, unable to perceive his surroundings, and unable to think straight, he'd forgotten that he was still in the mind of someone whose mental skills he'd vastly underestimated.

Naruto had a maniacal grin on his face. "Ohh, I am going to have fun with you. I will kill you slowly, slower than you could possibly imagine."

Hatsunori almost trembled in fear. The spinning red pattern was etched into his brain. He could sense the chakra building up behind them. He could sense the muscles around Naruto's jaw about to move. He knew the word that would come out of his mouth.

"TSUKU-"

Hatsunori disappeared in a puff of smoke. Naruto blinked. "Hmm. Strange."

Training Area

Hatsunori found he couldn't move. He was completely immobilized. But how? He could sense this was the real world.

He opened his eyes and a new figure came into focus. The man was much shorter than him. He held up a tiger seal. He wore a striking red hat and his eyes stared straight into his.

"Hiruzen?"

The Sandaime Hokage glared at him with barely concealed rage. "Hello, sensei. I've been looking for you for days now. I imagined you would have taken over the mind of some unsuspecting fool and escaped already. Color me surprised… It seems no one can truly resist the brat's charm."

Uzushiogakure

"My time here has come to an end." Naruto spoke to the two shinobi kneeling on the floor in front of him. "I need only one more thing before I leave this wretched place for good."

They listened intently.

"Once I leave here, no one will be able to come even remotely close to touching my mind. I will make sure of that. But to truly do that, I need to know how you sealed your mind in me."

…

"What is the name of the technique you used to seal yourselves inside me?"

Tenji hesitated but nonetheless, gave up the name. "Reaper Death Seal." At his questioning gaze, Tenji continued. "It lets you summon the Shinigami and make a deal for his help in fulfilling any goal we set in exchange for sacrificing your soul to eternal damnation."

"A literal deal with the devil. All for revenge?" Naruto growled. "Pathetic."

Naruto turned his gaze to the Uchiha who'd been so helpful throughout the past few weeks. "Father?" he spat and Kagami flinched. "I regret being unable to free you but truly? Not so much. While you've been helpful, you still tried to take control of your own son. Unforgivable. Absolutely unforgivable. And I have no intention to do anything but torture you for the rest of your days."

…

"Give me the name of the technique you used."

Kagami stared defiantly at his son and shook his head. "No matter what, no matter how long you torture me, I will never give up that technique… It's too dangerous."

…

Naruto nodded suddenly. "I see. That's how you lost your eye." Kagami's mouth fell open, his face flush with alarm at the statement. "A useful technique. Dangerous indeed. Rewrite reality at the price of an eye…"

"You… you can read my mind as well?"

Naruto ignored him. "While I was torturing the man who saved me from you guys, I happened to overhear your interest in the jutsu I used to do it… Let me help satiate your curiosity."

He aimed at his father first. "TSUKUYOMI!"

…

A second later, Kagami Uchiha fell to the ground with bloodshot eyes, twitching rapidly.

Tenji looked at his companion/rival in alarm before looking back at his grandson who wore an evil smirk that would've put his own to shame. Naruto pointed to Kagami. "I torture him for the crime he committed against me. I have nothing against the man. I torture you for the same thing but also your crime against your own clansmen. To think they'll have to spend eternity in the Shinigami's belly, all because of your misguided desire for revenge… I take special pleasure in what I'm about to do to you… Grandfather."

"TSUKUYOMI!"

…

Tenji reacted even worse, collapsing on the ground gasping for breath, and clutching his throbbing head.

Naruto turned away from the pathetic sight. "I don't think I'll be coming back here anymore. I've now learned what I needed to learn. I now know what I wanted to know. And since I don't know how to get rid of you, I will leave you with this. But I don't think either of you will ever try to control me again."

Naruto started walking away.

"You're too fucking scared."

…

"Naruto!"

He was almost to the edge of the cliff when his father called after him.

"You only succeeded in defeating Hatsunori because even he doesn't have the full picture. You were wrong about some of the things you told him."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Like what?"

Kagami struggled to his knees. "You said I bound my soul to your body because I didn't agree with what your grandfather planned for you… That isn't why…"

Naruto just stared at him, waiting for him to continue.

"I did agree with it. Konoha needs to burn for its crimes. I did it because I wanted to protect you... To protect you from him…"

...

"Because you're my son."

Naruto continued to stare at him. After a few moments, Naruto simply turned around and continued to walk. "Pfft!"

Training Area

When Naruto opened his eyes, he saw a very peculiar sight. Hatsunori Yamanaka was frozen mid-step and Hiruzen Sarutobi kneeled a few feet away while holding up a serpent seal. Danzo was flat on his back, showing no signs of getting up.

Hiruzen immediately met his eyes, not in the least frightened by the spinning Mangekyou Sharingan that three of the most legendary shinobi to ever walk the Elemental Nations were now terrified of. He was more wary of the seals covering every inch of his body. That was some new information. Even with the distance between them, he could recognize some of the kanji… He barely put together the word 'sacrifice' when he snapped out of it.

He could investigate that later. For now…

"I see you've met one of Konoha's greatest traitors. Pay close attention. This is where you'll end up if you continue to be difficult."

Naruto scoffed. "Why haven't you killed him yet?"

'Unbelievable…'

"He has his uses." Hiruzen replied. "But I now know that the risks far outweigh the benefits. So, let's just say I was waiting for you. As a show of good faith, I'll give him to you. You can be the one to kill him."

'He isn't even breathing harder…'

Naruto scoffed. "His headband isn't scratched. Is this your master plan? I'll kill him and then you'll get to banish me?"

Hiruzen frowned. "He's the one who sealed your memory. I simply thought you would want to-"

'Unbelievable…' Hatsunori smiled. 'This is my last present to you… Uzumaki Naruto…'

"MIND TRANSFER TECHNIQUE!"

A sudden spike of chakra made them both turn toward Hatsunori. His nose was bleeding and his eyes were rolled back into the back of his head. He slowly fell forward and crashed onto the floor face down.

Both of them spotted it at the same time. His right hand was held in a one-handed serpent seal. Both Naruto and Hiruzen jumped back as quickly as they could but the explosion they expected never came.

Naruto looked at the Hokage in confusion. "Is he dead?"

Hiruzen nodded. "Yes, he's supposed to be. The seal I placed on him all those years ago was directly connected to his heart. If he moves when the seal is active, he will die."

"And he knew about the seal?" Naruto asked.

"He's the one who suggested it." Hiruzen formed a hand seal and created a clone. The clone moved forward quickly and reached the downed Yamanaka. When he lifted his face, they saw the wide smile on it.

Naruto growled. "What do you think that means?"

Hiruzen couldn't help the feeling of dread that crept into his heart but he didn't let it show. "I don't know. But definitely nothing good."

2 Hours Later, Hokage Monument

Naruto did not acknowledge Minato's presence despite the sound he made while walking up to him. He simply looked down at the Hidden Leaf Village. Being so late into the night, the village was serene. Not a sound was heard. But his trained eyes still picked up the movement in the most dimly-lit district of the village…

The red light district was bustling with activity. Naruto clenched his fists to the point they started trembling. Minato chose not to comment.

…

…

"Minato-san… What do you see when you look out at this village?" Naruto asked softly.

Minato looked at him for a moment before returning his eyes to the village. "I see people… Of all shapes and sizes. I see ignorance. Every single one of them is living a life of dreams hoping to achieve them all before they die, not internalizing the fact that they could die the very next day." Minato sighed. "I see pain. I see the barely concealed agony borne by the loss of their loved ones… I see it in you. I see it in me. I see it in every single one of them."

…

…

"What do you see?"

"I see hypocrites."

…

…

Minato fought the urge to palm his face at the short vague reply. "What do you mean?"

"Hypocrites. Plain and simple. Every single shinobi and civilian in this village believes without a doubt in their mind that their actions help keep their loved ones safe. They are cursed by their ancestry. They don't see that they are doing to others what they dread happening to them. There is nothing but darkness and misery in their future."

Naruto turned to face Minato. "You're aware of what was done to me as well… By this very village… Tell me, Minato-san. Irene told me that you believed you could change all this. Do you still believe that? After all the battles you've fought in this war… After everything you've seen and understood about the people in power in the elemental nations… Do you still think that you can make this world a better place?"

Minato's eyes were unwavering. "Yes…"

"How?"

…

…

…

"I don't know yet."

Naruto nodded stoically. "My sister, no matter how much she tries to hide it, loves you very much. You will likely marry her one day. Perhaps even have a child, assuming the war doesn't kill us all… Can you promise me that you will work tirelessly to figure it out? You will make this village inhabitable for everyone, civilian or shinobi, clan or no clan, strong or weak… Can you promise me that?"

Minato was surprised at the statement but was quick to reply nevertheless. "Yes… Without a doubt."

Naruto nodded again. "Good."

As he started to walk away, Minato called after him… "What about you? Don't you want to make this a better place?"

Naruto turned around and shook his head. "I don't care about making this world a better place. I only care about protecting the people I care about." He sighed. "And that is something I have been failing miserably at for the past year. Shinzo and Shizuka died as I watched helplessly… That bastard turned Mikoto-nee into his puppet and I wasn't even here to stop it…"

Minato's eyes widened. What was he talking about?

"Yuna was the last straw. I'm not… I'm never letting this happen to any of them ever again. The last couple of weeks have helped me realize something about myself…" Minato stared unflinchingly into his Sharingan eyes. "There is a monster around every corner, Minato-san, waiting to pounce… I will gladly become that monster if it means protecting the people I love."

"Yuna was truly the last straw." Naruto turned around again. "I've had enough. I won't sit idly by… There will be no hesitation from me. Not anymore…"

Training Area

Danzo opened his eyes and immediately closed them. Even the dim light of his devastated training area was too much for his eyes. He could feel the migraine coming on. There was a small burning sensation pulsing into his head through his eyes…

That technique… It was monstrous. Truly monstrous. If you fell prey to that, there was zero chance of continuing the fight. The mental trauma, the overload… It was impossible to adapt to its effects.

As his eyes slowly came into focus, he saw two distinctive shapes in the training area with him… And suddenly, the memories started to flood into his mind. "Hatsunori-sensei?!"

"Oh… You're awake?" Hiruzen turned around at the shout of alarm. "Don't worry. He's dead."

Danzo's eyes bulged out of their sockets. "Did… Did the boy-..." He trailed off.

Hiruzen barked out a laugh. "No. No, it wasn't the Uzumaki brat. After what happened to his wife, when the real Hatsunori came to me and asked to imprison him, he didn't believe that any Konoha prison would be enough in the long run. He made me apply a few fail safes on the seals I put on him which made it so that I could kill him any time I wanted."

"I just have to be within range… Turned out to be a good decision in the end, given the situation we're in." he added as an afterthought.

Danzo was still anxious. "What about the boy? How can we be sure he didn't do anything to Naruto?"

Hiruzen shrugged as he performed a standard fire jutsu to incinerate Hatsunori's body. "We can't. Considering that Hatsunori ran away screaming from his mind, we needn't be concerned that Hatsunori manipulated him in any way. Whatever Naruto ends up doing… it'll be of his own accord."

Danzo visibly relaxed, but there was still a tinge of anxiety in his demeanor. "That doesn't necessarily mean it won't be anything bad."

"No, it does not." Hiruzen settled down next to his friend. "What do you think about his power levels? Do you think we have a chance of winning?"

"In the Chunin Exams?" Danzo was asked, just to confirm if Hiruzen was talking about them taking him down, or the tournament set to take place three weeks from now. "Depends on when we face Iwagakure. Based on what I have come to know about him, he will not choose Sunagakure if he gets the first pick. And no matter who he has to fight, he will not fail until he's doled out his revenge against Iwa."

"So, you're saying it all depends on the order in which the villages are allowed to pick their opponents and how soon he ends up facing Iwa?"

"Yes."

"Good. That's the best we can hope for at this point." Hiruzen nodded but his expression remained somber. "I noticed another thing about him. When he came out of his mind after repelling Hatsunori-sensei, there were seals all over his body."

Danzo's eyes widened. "What were they for?"

Hiruzen shook his head. "I have no idea. But whatever it was, we should be wary of it. It seemed like a power-up of some sort."

"It could have something to do with this abnormal recovery rate. His faster-than-expected recovery from injuries is something that neither Uzumaki nor Uchiha is known to have."

Hiruzen shrugged. "Could be… All I know is… His aura? He seemed unstoppable at that moment."

Unknown to them both, a former root shinobi crouched high up on the wall, just below the water of the Naka River. Danzo was right in his guess. He'd seen the seals come to life on Naruto's body after Danzo dumped his body into the tiny cell he knew all too well. It was indeed somehow related to his healing ability.

But this left Shinji Aburame feeling a bit conflicted. On the one hand, he needed to get this information to the man who promised him his revenge against Konoha. On the other hand, the Hokage would soon leave. He wouldn't get another chance like this against Danzo, the man responsible for everything…

Uchiha Clan Compound

Mikoto was the first to wake, and therefore, also the first one to fall under the overpowered genjutsu that awaited her. As his eyes ran over her body, he could see that she was almost four months pregnant now. His eyes softened and he made a conscious change in the intensity of the genjutsu he'd put her under. But he made sure it would be enough to keep her under for a very long time. He didn't want her to see what he was going to do to her husband.

Then, his eyes went to the person lying next to her. Immediately his fists clenched and his teeth grinded against each other… Four chains sprouted from behind his back. Slowly, he poured chakra into them as they continued to move toward their targets. When he had finally molded enough wind chakra, he softly called out the name of one of the people he hated most in the world.

"Fugaku?"

The Uchiha clan head's eyes snapped open. Then his mouth was forced open by the scream he let out as something pierced clean through each of his limbs, pinning him to the bed frame.

Naruto let him scream as much as he wanted. After all, hearing it brought a peculiar kind of joy. He had already taken care to place enough privacy seals.

"Naruto?" The man yelled. "I thought we agreed. She needs me alive. She'd be lost without me and you know it."

He remained silent which only served to enrage Fugaku.

"YOU CAN'T KILL ME." he yelled again, trying desperately to escape the chains.

"I know." Naruto finally spoke. "But you don't need all your body parts to live… Do you?"

Naruto waited till understanding dawned on Fugaku's eyes before commanding one of his chains to go forward. The wind-chakra-laced chain tore through the inside of Fugaku's left hand. He screamed again.

As the chain retracted leaving the mangled hand behind, Naruto afforded himself the pleasure of smirking. He was about to continue when he sensed another presence behind him.

Kazane came to an abrupt stop when a gleaming silver blade touched the skin on her throat. She felt the sweat forming on her brow and on the back of her neck. Instinctively, she knew that the only way she would survive was by standing out of his way without protest. The bump in her 6-month pregnant belly wouldn't make him hesitate. She slowly held her hands up and backed away. The sword disappeared immediately.

Naruto turned back to Fugaku, who lay in his bed breathing heavily, bleeding profusely from the stump that was what remained of his left arm. "Now…"

Fugaku's breath caught in his throat when Naruto appeared on top of him in an instant. "You don't really need your eyes either."

Before he could fully understand what he meant, he was already rid of one eye. Taking absolute care not to damage it, Naruto tenderly placed a stasis seal and stashed it away in one of the many storage seals he had on his body.

Fugaku watched in distress as one of his eyes disappeared right in front of his only remaining eye. He was angry… And devastated. For any Uchiha, their Sharingan was one of their most fundamental traits. Their trademark ability. For this obvious reason, Fugaku was devastated.

But through the anger and the pain, he realized something important. And he threw his head back and laughed. Naruto looked at the Uchiha clan head incredulously.

"Why the fuck are you laughing?"

Fugaku never lost the smirk on his face. "Fool! Someone so talented with the Sharingan, I keep forgetting you're not actually an Uchiha. You can't transplant an inactive Sharingan eye and expect it to work if you simply pass chakra through it. The Sharingan needs the original wielder's chakra to activate it…"

Naruto didn't react to the news and that served to put an end to Fugaku's laughter. "Activate it!"

Fugaku's eyes widened. "Why would I do th-"

"Tsukuyomi!"

Not even a second later, Fugaku's remaining eye formed into its distinctive Mangekyou shape and started to bleed. A second after that, before he could even understand the mistake he made, the activated eye was separated from his head. Finally, after weeks of edging in and out of complete blindness, Fugaku finally arrived there.

Kazane watched in confusion as Naruto did away with the red eye in the same way as he did the inactive one. How did he get the Uchiha Clan Head to activate it? It was obvious that Fugaku held the advantage in that situation. How did he end up throwing it away?

Naruto wiped the blood on his hands on Fugaku's shirt. "You know, I am fully prepared to kill you right now. But I still don't know how that would affect Mikoto-nee. It's not because I think she wouldn't be able to handle it. She's a strong kunoichi. She will undoubtedly get over your death. But it's because she's so strong that I'm forced to keep you alive. What if she decides she needs to get revenge for you and she comes after me? I'd be forced to kill her, wouldn't I? And her unborn child…"

Fugaku whimpered when he heard the last part. "You know Fugaku… I'm surprised. I was prepared to do much more to her in the illusion but you decided you had enough quite quickly. You activated your Mangekyou to escape that reality and you were successful. You escaped that hell… That shows me that you actually do care about her… And it also shows me that your will is weak… No wonder you gave into the temptation of using it on your her… You caved way too quickly, you coward."

Kazane opened and closed her mouth, too stunned to say anything. All too soon, Naruto was in front of her, his chains already going back into his body.

"I suggest you help him down to the Uchiha Shrine where he has access to many dead Uchiha's Sharingan eyes." Naruto pushed past her. "It wouldn't do to have a blind Uchiha clan head after all…"

30 Minutes Later, Konoha General Hospital

As he staggered up the stairs of the hospital, he cursed whoever decided to keep the ICU on a higher floor. The incredibly long day was starting to take its toll on him. His reserves were already close to empty by the time he managed to unlock his Sharingan… Then he'd gone on to perform the highly chakra-intensive Tsukuyomi, a total of seven times in the many confrontations he'd had to get through.

"Have you decided yet?" Naruto asked as soon as he was inside the room without waiting for Akira to acknowledge his presence. His eyes were having trouble adjusting to the low light. But he was familiar enough with the room to make it seem that he was simply staring at his teammate's bed. Akira said nothing.

…

"Oi. I don't have all day. Get to i-"

"I'm sorry."

Naruto blinked. "What?"

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for ever suggesting that you won't be enough to look after her. How'd I get so faded?" Akira finally looked up. "You'll be plenty, Naruto. I will trust you to look after her."

…

Akira got up. "I should be thankful. At least I get to do this for her…" He held out his hand. "Make sure she lives a long life."

Naruto didn't take it. He tilted his head to the side. "How are you going to save her?"

"You won't let it go, will you?" Akira sighed. "There is a jutsu called the Transmigration Technique. A Kinjutsu developed by an extinct clan from Sunagakure, it allows you to transfer your life force to another person. I found it in one of the medical journals in the Senju Clan Library. Apparently, long before the Clan Wars Era ended, we received the technique for helping them out of a bind… At some point in the past, this puppeteer clan was doing research for a jutsu that would help bring puppets to life… They succeeded in developing the technique… But they abandoned it deciding that the risks were too great. Every time the technique was used, it resulted in the death of the user, and more often than not, the person they were trying to save as well."

Naruto stared up at the mountainous stature of the Senju Clan Head, stunned. "So, you'll use this technique to save her… But how? I would assume she has enough 'life force' in her. Otherwise… How is she alive?"

Akira laughed. "You have a lot more to understand in this world, Naruto… You have the wrong understanding of how the 'life force' or 'soul' of a person works…"

Naruto fell silent. After minutes upon minutes of thinking, Naruto brought his hand into Akira's outstretched one. "You're sure, right? You're prepared to die for her?"

Akira nodded.

"In that case… I have a request. I might have a way to keep Akira Senju alive…"

…

After many arguments and heated discussions, Naruto and Akira finally came to an agreement. Mentor and mentee once again shook hands, nothing but admiration for the other in both their eyes. After a few minutes, they set out to perform the tasks they'd set out for themselves.

As Akira started to perform the technique that was considered taboo by every single shinobi in the Senju clan who knew about it, Naruto went about strengthening the Privacy Seals and Occlusion Seals that Akira had placed all around the room. When he was done, he created a clone. Then, he sat on the ground and crafted the best Blood Seal he had ever created. He handed it to the clone.

The events that followed would become one of the greatest secrets in the history of, not just the village, but perhaps the entire Elemental Nations. At the time, Naruto and Akira both believed themselves to be the sole keepers of this secret…

But the tear rolling down Yuna's face signaled otherwise… It meant that despite being in a coma, Yuna was aware of every single word being exchanged between the two most important people in her life. And she was completely aware of the sacrifice they were making for her.

Hours later, when Yuna finally opened her eyes, she found an extremely aged version of Konoha's Golden Flame, struggling to stand next to her bed. Tears fell from the old man's eyes and she leaned up to wrap him in a hug. It quickly became evident to her that she couldn't move her legs, but she didn't care… The memory of the conversation she'd heard was still fresh in her mind… But she chose to ignore it.

She was being hugged by her father for the first time in her life. Despite the severely dehydrated feeling she woke up with, tears formed in her eyes and she started bawling like a baby. Akira joined her.

"You're mine…" He brought her tighter into his chest. "And I will never let you out of my sight…"

Training Area

Flashback

When he walked into the clearing, six-year-old Danzo knew it was going to be difficult. Just the fact that he was able to recognize some of the others when none of them were even shinobi… It was kind of frightening. His eyes scanned the clearing.

Kagami Uchiha, the Uchiha prodigy, stood at the far end of the clearing, talking to a raven-haired boy with glasses. A black-haired girl stood near them, obviously listening in on their conversation but not participating in it.

Off at another part of the clearing, he saw a couple of boys with dark and light brown hair. He recognized them as well. Hiruzen Sarutobi and Akira Senju.

Danzo didn't know what to make of the situation. He was an only child and being an orphan, he was often ostracized by the other kids. He did hope things would change when the Shimura Clan joined the Hidden Leaf, but so soon in the alliance, all the clans were hesitant to socialize. This was actually the first opportunity he'd received. But…

He felt so intimidated. These weren't ordinary kids. They were the heirs to entire clans. Hiruzen Sarutobi and Kagami Uchiha were already being primed to inherit the mantle. Akira Senju was a different story but he was also connected to the Senju clan head's family… This wasn't a forum he could afford to make any mistakes on.

…

Someone bumped into him from behind. When Danzo turned around, he saw a diminutive black-haired figure in front of him with his head down. Danzo understood. Surrounded by important people, who would be able to tell if he was important or not.

"Sor… SORRY!"

Danzo smiled. "It's not a problem at all. My name is Shimura Danzo. It's nice to meet you."

Seeing the outstretched hand, the boy beamed at him. "Kosuke!" He yelled. "Kosuke Maruboshi!"

They didn't get much ahead of introductions because their instructors chose to walk in at that exact moment. First came the newly appointed Hokage wearing a welcoming smile and with obvious excitement to be here. Hashirama Senju entered the clearing wearing his signature red armor and Tobirama Senju's blue armor followed.

Danzo truly expected only those two. The exam he'd written mentioned a chance to train with only these two. So, he was surprised when a third figure walked into the clearing. Despite being a new village, and with people from all over the Land of Fire settling into it, some people needed no introductions.

Hatsunori Yamanaka walked into the clearing, a brilliant smile on his face. Danzo did not miss the slight nod that was sent towards Kosuke which resulted in an even wider smile on his face. All of them seemed to realize that this meant there would be an additional instructor for Team 7 as they knew they were going to be called.

Something rustled at the edge of the clearing and a fourth figure walked out. All the excited chatter stopped. All the hopeful smiles went out the window. The man wearing the same red armor as the Shodaime Hokage needed no introduction.

Danzo gulped. He was the only person strong enough to go toe-to-toe with the First and survive. And also the only person who wasn't smiling.

He was… Uchiha Madara.

Flashback End

Danzo sat up in shock. Remembering that man… Was not a good sign. He hadn't thought about Team 7's first day in ages now. It was only a matter of time… There were only five remaining now after all.

…

He frowned. When Kagami didn't return from Uzushio, they all realized what must have happened. They were all depressed for days, except the Hokage who had to set all his sentiments aside to keep Konoha running. But the others? Even Kosuke had come back to the village to spend time together with everyone. But when Koharu died… Nothing? It seemed no one except Homura even cared.

Danzo shook himself to get rid of thoughts about the past. His job was to secure the future. The past had no relevance here. It was now obvious that he wouldn't be training Naruto any longer. The rather large chunk of missing flesh, as well as the fresh memory of getting tortured in the Tsukuyomi, made sure that he wouldn't be offering any lessons any time soon.

Then, he started to gather his thoughts about the situation. He remembered telling Hiruzen that Naruto was ready for the chunin exams, but he was still in awe of the Tsukuyomi at the time. It was time to re-evaluate the situation without any bias in his mind.

…

He couldn't help the smirk that formed on his face. The brat beat Hatsunori fucking Yamanaka in a mental duel. The chunin exams were as good as won. There was no way any other genin could step to power like that.

Danzo started to chuckle, transitioning into full-blown laughter within seconds.

'How ironic!' There was only one thought going through his mind. 'The threat of failing at the Chunin Exams is no more. But Naruto... the weapon I unleashed to deal with the current threat, has in turn become the next greatest threat to Konoha…'

Danzo slowly stopped laughing. He slowly got up on his feet.

'Now… How do I kill Uzumaki Naruto?'

Far away in a tent near the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Rain, Kosuke's eyes snapped open, a frown already formed on his face at the weird but familiar sensation that he was experiencing. 'What is it... sensei?!'

The Next Day, Hospital Roof

Naruto's eyes snapped up at the sound of someone approaching. "Kushina-nee…"

"I heard… About Yuna. I thought I'd find you here." She smiled at him. "You must be glad."

Naruto stayed silent, just settling for a smile. Kushina let the smile stay in place for a few minutes before deciding to get to the point. "Why haven't you gone to see Yugao yet?"

…

"Same reason I haven't gone to see Yuna yet…" She could see the hurt in his eyes. "Because recent events have forced me to reach a painful decision. And I have no choice but to accept it, and live accordingly."

"What do you mean?" Kushina asked, worried.

"The poem about stars that you first recited to me all those years ago… After you mentioned you got it from a book, I went and found it in the library. Every poem in that book was written by the same guy. A famous shinobi, born before the villages were ever founded. Despite the war-torn era he was born into, his mind was creative enough to string words together in a way that affected me deeply when I read them." His sister listened intently. "Izuna Uchiha was a strong shinobi, a great poet, and a beautiful human being. He was an infamous character who made his mark on the world towards the tail end of the clan wars era. Do you know why he was killed?"

Kushina shook her head.

"Most of the books available to the public say he was killed by Tobirama Senju. In a one-on-one fight to the death. The truth, according to Akira-ojiisan, is he was butchered in an ambush by Tobirama and several other Senju clan members. And even then, he only died because after thwarting the ambush, he forced Tobirama to use his last resort. An imperfect technique, but something that was never before seen."

"The Hiraishin." Kushina muttered, already familiar with the history of the technique.

"Yes… The Hiraishin. By then, the elder Senju and Uchiha brothers had reached them, but the damage was done. Madara left with a dying Izuna. And Hashirama ensured that none of his clansmen followed to finish the job. But Izuna's fate was sealed the moment Tobirama's sword almost split him in two."

The silence stretched between them. Naruto broke eye contact and stared straight up at the sky.

"Why are you telling me this? How is all this relevant?"

"Is it not obvious yet? Izuna was killed solely because he was Madara Uchiha's brother. No matter how good a person the younger Uchiha was, there were always people who would stop at nothing to hurt the elder brother. And the best way to hurt someone is to hurt their precious people."

Kushina looked shocked.

Naruto continued. "Hashirama Senju was referred to as the 'God of Shinobi'. The strongest shinobi in the elemental nations. Unstoppable. Now, look at his family. His clan. The only remaining Senju in Konoha is Akira. The only one outside Konoha is Tsunade. Look at the Uzumaki clan, his wife's family. Her clan. You and me. We're all that's left. That's what eventually happens when the villages think you're dangerous. A threat."

"These people you're comparing yourself to. They weren't normal shinobi. You're not nearly dangerous enough for the other villages to see you in such a li-."

"Yet." Naruto interrupted. "Not yet. But what if it's too late to do this when I am? And I'm not far off. When I thrash the other nations two months from now, there's no coming back from that. After that, there won't be a single shinobi in the entire elemental nations that won't want me dead."

Kushina opened her mouth to retort but nothing came out. She finally let out a huge breath. "What does this mean exactly? You'll cut out everyone from your life. How is that going to work?"

Naruto grit his teeth. "I'm not going to cut everyone out. That would serve no purpose anyway. Even if I cut you out now, the connection has already been made. They're going to come after you anyway. You, Anko, Yuna, Orochimaru, Akira, Kakashi, Rin, Obito, Minato-sensei... None of you are safe. Anyone who is remotely connected to me is going to be hunted to the ends of the earth. But I can still save the people who I don't have an established public connection to. That includes Yugao, Mikoto, and her unborn child."

"Do you even realize how arrogant you sound?" Kushina glared at her brother who glared back with an equal intensity. "Then, what about us? Huh? What about the ones you've "doomed" already? Are we just meant to sit and wait for your enemies to hunt us down?"

"No. For you, I'll become the hunter. I'll become the deadliest predator in the elemental nations. Anyone who comes after you will die. I'll kill every last one of them. Then, I'll kill their families and their loved ones and perhaps even cripple their villages. Anyone who even thinks of coming after you, they'll know the hunter's coming for them."

Kushina gulped. "Then why?..."

Naruto gave a sad smile. "Some will slip through the cracks. And some I will be too late to stop. Like with Yuna. I'm only human, after all."

Now, it was Kushina's turn to grit her teeth. "So, you'll just abandon her then. Leave Yugao to fend for herself. You do know this is the same thing I did to you when I left Uzushio right? If you remembered how devastated you were, you'd never suggest doing something like this to her."

"She will be protected. She will be looked after." Then he turned away hoping his sister wouldn't see his glistening eyes. He looked at the sky again. "Just… From afar."

Kushina stared at her brother as if he was crazy. Naruto just smiled. "The mind is a scary thing. It takes a lot to negatively color a decision you make with conviction. I won't tell you to accept this without protest, but I will tell you that a hundred percent of me, believes that this is for the best. My mind is not divided." Naruto shuddered remembering some of the things he saw in Hatsunori's mind while torturing him. "And I can say this for sure. A divided mind is the scariest thing of all."

Sunagakure

Sasori woke up to a creaking noise. He was already alert, the chakra he sent to his brain already clearing the cloud of sleep-addled haziness. He tried to sit up but when he attempted to unconsciously use his right arm to get up, he found he couldn't. His eyes widened as he realized that his new puppet hand was no longer attached to him.

Almost simultaneous with this realization, he heard the clatter of something breaking. He was on his feet in an instant throwing away the bed covers. He ran across the corridor as quickly as he could in the direction the sound came from. In the direction of the room Sasame slept in.

When he arrived the door was locked. But muffled sounds of protest came from within and he was sure that the sounds were made by Sasame. In another instant, the door was kicked down.

…

…

…

For as long as he lived, he would never figure out why he didn't move quicker. Nor would he try to figure it out.

When the door fell down and he saw the spectacle inside, Sasori froze. The hand… His hand was firmly wrapped around Sasame's throat. Her two hands were on his detached arm, trying to force it away from her. Trying to loosen its grip around her neck. To no avail. Sasori stared in horror, the words of his grand uncle echoing in his head.

"The mind is also, however, your greatest vice. Because in the end, it is your own mind that lures you to do the despicable things you've done. It is your own mind that will decide the actions you take. And a mind allowed to develop on its own will develop on its own."

Sasori's foot moved of its own accord. He took a step forward, and then another, and then another, until he was right in front of the struggling Sasame.

"It is never a good idea to divide it. Imagine having a disagreement on an issue. Let's say, war. If a part of you thinks it's good and a part of you thinks it's bad, then you will weigh the pros and cons and come to a decision. Simple… Now, imagine your mind knows with absolute conviction that war is good. And at the same time, your own mind knows with absolute conviction that war is bad… It's impossible. The situation cannot and will not resolve itself. This is how people lose their minds."

Sasori reached his left arm out towards the detached right arm.

"The only way the situation gets resolved is by actions. If, when this impossible situation or the mindlock first comes into play, you are performing an act of war, you will end up believing with 100% conviction that war is good. And vice versa."

His arms touched.

"Your mind governs your actions. But in this impossible situation, the action governs your mind."

Sasori's mouth twisted into a smirk. He let out an involuntary chuckle. Sasame watched horrified as the hand that tried to save her simply left the hand choking her. Sasori climbed on top and straddled her. Smiling throughout, he slowly inched his stump of an arm closer to the artificial hand.

…

The moment they connected, the intensity of the grip on her neck tripled. Terrified at the lack of oxygen and the agony of being suffocated, Sasame thrashed around for as long as her legs had energy but to no avail. The lack of oxygen made it impossible to think. To feel.

When the haze started to settle in, Sasori leaned down next to her, a dark glint in his eyes. Bringing his mouth close to her ears, he whispered the final words that she would ever hear. Ironically, it was also some of the last words she ever spoke.

"Humans are dull, disgusting creatures… Puppets are the future…"

---

Well… It's been far too long. I know that. And no… I'm not even going to try to give an excuse. Let's just all agree that life's a bitch and sometimes you need to take a step back and just observe the chaos. - Everyone please pretend that some famous guy said this even though it's just me.

Anyways, I'm sorry for the delay. It's just been too much to do at work. Then, I had to move apartments. The new place wasn't furnished, so I had to get everything done myself. Then… I started reading a book which kept me occupied for two weeks in between. And finally, I didn't have weed… I think the last part has the most to do with the delay.

But seriously though… This chapter was so fucking difficult to write. So much plot and foreshadowing that I hope I did a good enough job on, because this chapter is like the most important chapter I've written so far. I've put in so many important details in this chapter that it's not even funny.

---

AN0: Soul and all that… I probably shouldn't have touched this concept, but I thought it would be a cool explanation for Sasori. Honestly, my entire understanding of it is all based off of a few events from canon (like Orochimaru losing only the soul in his arms and essentially becoming a cripple; Chiyo healing Gaara after he died) and Narutopedia's wiki page on the Reaper Death Seal.

AN1: I've tried many new things in this chapter (I am referring to the lemon, yes). Hope you guys liked that. Even though the characters aren't really familiar, I think the scene is quite… steamy? : )

AN2: Tsunade and Shizune… They're probably going to take the back seat for a while. I'll give it some time for her to turn into the alcoholic gambler we all know she is. But it's headed for disaster. Shizune wants to live in the Capital city. Tsunade has no interest in being there whatsoever… Well…

AN3: I know Naruto was kind of stupid to get his eyes sealed like that… I just hope I made it believable enough.

AN4: The scenes in Naruto's mind were especially difficult to write, mainly because I didn't want Naruto to realize Karasu and Arashi's true identities before the final scene in Naruto's mind. But that shouldn't have been the case for you guys. You probably were able to guess it. It did seem way too obvious when I read through after writing everything up.

AN5: Irene's dead. This is something that happens when you develop OCs and don't have a clue where to use them. Naruto does not care about her too much after the truth about how she conducted the orphanage is revealed in Chapter 9. I was essentially just using her to dump info when I needed to. I shouldn't be using one of my characters like that. It made me feel kinda heartless? So, I killed her off (and no, that's not heartless after all…) Plus, Hatsunori needed to catch up on what's been going on with Naruto, so…. I guess that's that.

AN6: All the mindscape scenes are like a build up for that last scene in Naruto's mind where Hatsunori gets wrecked. I hope you guys listened to that song I mentioned in the chapter while reading that scene. (Also something I'm trying for the first time). I usually find that kind of stuff annoying when I'm reading fanfics so it probably won't be a regular thing, but this song just fits the situation too well.

So… Ideally, the final epic drop in that song should coincide perfectly with Naruto saying "This is MY FUCKING MIND" and summoning that huge wave of water around the entire island. But I do understand that it probably won't work like that for anyone… Do let me know what you guys think of it though…

AN7: What I intended in this chapter is also a slow build up of Naruto gathering facts, waiting for his chance to do… something. And finally exploding in a very chaotic fashion. Fugaku can attest to how chaotic it actually was. Well… He had it coming.

It's like a slow unveiling of Naruto. And you can tell at the end there, after his talk with Minato, this is Naruto unleashed. Using Tsukuyomi on Danzo and Hatsunori… Stealing Fugaku's eyes… Whatever he did with Akira in the hospital… And of course, there is the decision he explained to Kushina… This is the beginning of a different side to Naruto's character. You can expect him to be a lot more ruthless in the way he goes about doing things.

AN8: To those who are disappointed with how Naruto is handling the Yugao situation… There is a silver lining. You'll just have to wait and see.

AN9: Kosuke Maruboshi is officially in the scene now. I hope you liked the background I gave on the original Team 7. It's going to be important later on and more details to follow as well… But in my version of Team 7, they didn't have two teachers. They had four. Hashirama Senju, Tobirama Senju, Hatsunori Yamanaka… And of course, my boii Madara Uchiha.

AN10: I just love writing Minato. Seriously, I forced myself to write that scene with Naruto last because I knew if I wrote it first, I'd just be re-reading and refining it the entire time.

AN11: And now, the all-important detail… Yuna's alive… Yay! But she can't walk, you say? That's true… She can't have kids? That's true as well… Not a happy note to end on, is it? There's a silver lining here as well. You'll have to wait and see. : ) At least Akira is there to take care of her. Albeit an old near-death version of him…

AN12: I really liked the chapter title: Wicked Dreams. I think it fits a lot. The other titles I was messing around with were Pathways of the Mind and The Book of War. I feel Wicked Dreams is better and it also sounds similar to the song title.

AN13: Hope you liked the torture scenes of Hatsunori and Danzo. I spent a lot of time on those as well. It's not often I get to think of how to torture someone. Tsukuyomi was always my favorite Mangekyou technique. It was the first one revealed in canon, wasn't it? I remember watching Itachi decimate the, at the time, all-powerful Kakashi with a simple look. I saw how he bent time in his alternate reality and used it to convert 1 second into 3 days of torture… I was hooked then. I am hooked now. While I will say that the best Mangekyou technique is probably Kamui (I don't think anyone will disagree here), I think Tsukuyomi fits this Naruto best. Kamui would have been too OP.

AN14: Speaking of… What did Naruto do with Akira in the hospital? How is he still alive? Is there something sinister going on there? You'll just have to wait and see : )

AN15: Hope you liked the sort-of summary I gave of the events of the Second Shinobi War. I might explore these events more at a later point when talking about people who fought in the war.

AN16: You might have noticed during scenes with Hatsunori, that I've dropped many events about his life. Like how Madara Uchiha was the first one to put him under Tsukuyomi, how his second mind was created, him being one of the senseis for Team 7, his imprisonment, his crimes against Konoha… And everything else… I know most events surrounding his character are still a mystery (why is he even considered to be one of Konoha's greatest traitors in the first place?). I don't like that.

As part of writing him, I had to plan out / roadmap his entire life, and it seems (to me at least) like a good story. The reason I didn't put all those details in this chapter is because it would end up bloating this 46.5k word monster into at least 60k words.

So, I was thinking of starting a project on the side. I already had to write like 50% of his story just to write the scenes with his character. So it's not too much more. Each chapter in this new project will probably contain backstories of characters that I've killed off without properly exploring/explaining their past. And they won't be long like the chapters here. Only 10-15 scenes outlining the major events in their life.

Let me know if this is something you guys do want to read. I'm going to write them anyway, so I just thought I'd publish them. Having a deep backstory for each of my characters is something I've come to enjoy.

AN17: What did you guys think of Sasori's story? This is… I think the third Akatsuki character being introduced? I'm hoping to be able to write such backstories for all villains in this story, especially the Akatsuki, because like I said last chap, I hate that canon Deidara is nothing but Sai + Explosive Seals. That… just cannot happen in this story. At least I'm hoping it won't : )

AN18: I watched Schindler's List for the first time recently… What a fucking movie! I didn't watch it for so long because of the three and a half hours it would take me, but my friend forced me to sit and watch it… I do not regret watching it. The story, the direction, the dialogue, the acting, the raw emotion it invokes in you… Woah! Everything about that movie is amazing. It is officially up there in my Top 10 now, and I don't think it's going anywhere.

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Hope you all liked this chapter. As always, let me know what you guys think. I'm still hoping for a 2 month gap between chapters but I've learned the hard way not to make promises I can't keep : )

See you guys next chapter, which will probably deal with the actual Chunin Exams… Are you excited!?