AN: Today's a double chapter, and this is the second one - in case you missed it lol
Clarifying a few mysteries... opening another can of worms!
Happy holidays :)
World #01 - On the Moon.
The nameless being fell upon them in a rush of twisted limbs.
Orochimaru threw himself to the right, narrowly avoiding getting crushed under it. The ground shook under its weight; the beast let out a piercing wail. Something hideous, so high pitched that he thought his eardrums might burst.
In a blur of movement, Yoisen crashed against it, a sword that seemed almost as long as Orochimaru himself dragging across the thing's back, burning it with a searing glow.
Skin burst apart, cracking, in frayed edges that seemed to be tinged with pus already.
Wind.
Orochimaru's strongest elemental affinity howled around the sword of Kusanagi, blurring the very air around it. He slashed-
And… he was too weak physically to do much with it.
Orochimaru threw his sword right away, with a snap of his wrist. It went through the thing. Limited as it was, his Sage Mode still allowed him to redirect the weapon upward, where Yoisen caught it.
Wind in one hand; Fire in the other. She made to stab down…
And was thrown off entirely when the beast twisted in a way that simply was not supposed to be possible. Tendrils became cartilage, cartilage became sharp blades; the beast fell upon her.
'Ah. That was bad.' And his former disciple would undoubtedly be unhappy if something happened to her, too.
Orochimaru's fingers weaved through hand seals with the practiced ease of someone who had been a shinobi for more than half a century. He didn't require them, but he still found them useful, when it came to actually controlling jutsu.
"Wind Release: Air Evocation."
There was a flash of something and a high-pitched sound.
A perfect sphere stretched out around him for an instant. And then it was gone, along with anything that had been in range. Which meant part of the creature.
A loud shriek burst from its throat.
From the other side, Yoisen returned the gesture, taking out chunks of the thing's muzzle with blindingly fast sweeps — dragging through flesh and bone as though it were water.
It was strange, Orochimaru mused. The way every instinct told him to look away from the thing, as though this were something he was not supposed to see.
He ignored it, of course. And the Rinnegan didn't seem to care for such notions as what was forbidden to the human mind.
Bones — if they could be called that — shifted in place, sinew and tissue and tendrils reshaping the Moon Presence's body in a different way.
The air turned colder around it as its head split in two to stare at both, flesh rippling as the creature began to moan. Ice crackled on the room's floor, flowing like waves.
Yoisen lifted both swords up in the air before stabbing them through the floor. A circle of flame erupted around her. Orochimaru's hand conjured a similar weave around him. Yoisen moved forward.
One of the beast's heads fell upon Orochimaru with a hideous thing that couldn't be called a grin, fleshy teeth twisting into hooks.
Orochimaru's hand lifted up, and flesh gave way to something else. Wind gathered in a small metallic protrusion that burst from his palm; the additional arm that sprouted from his left shoulder weaved hand seals. His regular left arm sprouted a bone-pole with flat ends.
(Truly, Anko was a godsend when it came to teaching him about the Asura Path and its many applications.)
The Wind Cannon on his hand shot a thin, compressed stream of air through the back of the Beast's head, and when Orochimaru extended his arms to the right, it cleaved through its face, rotten pus pouring down from its ruined muzzle.
It didn't stop its rush, but he hadn't really counted on that.
The jaws clamped around him.
His bone-pole extended in both directions with a clicking sound. The jaws didn't manage to close around it. Even if they had, he had reinforced his body - the same way a Kaguya would have done - through the Asura Path.
Lightning, Fire and Wind screeched with a sudden heat. It might be overkill, but the sooner they were done with this, the better.
The monster's head evaporated with a sizzling sound.
Yoisen gave him a nod. Her sword cleaved through the neck, separating the head from the body.
Another head reformed. Then another.
Orochimaru sighed.
…
Yoisen didn't give the creature a chance to blink — not that it could, it had no eyes. An orb of shimmering fire exploded from her hand, finding its way into the beast's mouth, pouring molten rage down its throat.
She grunted as tendrils sprouted from the stone floor, wrapping around her ankles. She jumped out of their way with haste, a heavy slash sending a crescent of flame flying to the spot she had been just one moment ago.
The man in a child's body was managing pretty well, too. It was easy to see that he had been a strong shinobi. What he had lost in this shifting, he more than made up for using the eye's power.
High up in the air, the other white-haired woman still stood motionlessly. Yoisen had some idea of what/who she could be, but this was something they could verify later.
She twirled around, cutting through a massive hand before its teeth could manage to rip through her shoulder.
There was no time to think that much.
Her arm raised again, the sword of Kusanagi extending, hacking through sinew, bone and muscle altogether.
That… was going to take forever.
She saw Orochimaru channel Wind; she channeled Fire.
There was a flash of light and power, bright enough to be seen from far, far below.
Down on Earth.
Hotaru stared at the Moon, frowning.
Tayuya glared at him. "The shit are you doing? Spacing out in the middle of band practice, really?"
He shrugged. "Yeah… sorry."
Tayuya groaned. "We're so fucked—"
"We're fine, let me find us a buyer or two, I'll just make a few… I don't know, Self-Confidence Necklaces to sell or something."
"…Why don't you just craft something that will make you a decent musician or something?" She jeered.
"What's the fun in that?" He blinked. "It's the same reason I don't craft something to make myself smarter—"
"It would take a miracle."
"—Or something to make you polite." Hotaru laughed.
"What was that, shithead…?"
"Hm? I said that you're a delight."
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Sasuke stared at the moon.
Then he stared back at things that actually mattered. He had no time to really think too hard about what he thought he had felt up there.
Some idiot — Sasuke was too polite to specifically think of Uchiha Nobuyuki, his cousin twice-removed, of course — had thought that raising twins would be so… fun.
He was not having a good time.
How many times had he heard things like "Oh gods, twins?! — I so want twins, too! — You're so lucky! — Matching outfits!"…?
They were humans.
They came with a higher risk during pregnancy — well, mostly for non chakra-users, but still.
Then once they were here…?
Twice the diapers, twice the beds, twice the clothing, twice the space. Twice the daycare if both he and Hinata were busy — they were lucky enough to have a big family they could rely on.
Sure… they were adorable—
Jiraiya grabbed Hitoshi's hair without a sound. Hinata's hand flashed and she gently removed it before the little devil-child—…
Before his sweet little boy could swing it down.
They were hard work, just like most babies. They weren't constantly adorable… they sure didn't shit glitter.
And the screaming… Gods, the screaming.
Hinata rocked Hitoshi back to sleep, and Sasuke tried to stay awake as well.
Not that little Jiraiya would ever let him get some peace of mind.
Itachi stared at the Moon.
Sarutobi Konohamaru — who might well become his successor one day — brought him more paperwork with a compassionate nod.
"…Where is this coming from?" Itachi asked.
"Umi. Naruto sent it himself — well, his clone or whatever he calls the main guy he left behind." Konohamaru said.
To Itachi's left, a Shadow Clone was buried in reports. To his right, another. Konohamaru shadowed him.
The trouble with being great at something... was that people would take notice of it. Naruto certainly had noticed that Itachi was great at this administrative business.
Itachi sighed and got back to work.
...At least Mei understood the struggle.
World #07 - Konoha.
The night before.
"—You are my student, after all." Sasuke nodded proudly at Boruto.
Boruto frowned. The man had insisted on him learning the Rasengan, so he was working through its first steps.
"…I guess." He said dubiously.
They were sitting around a campfire, which Sasuke had insisted was an important part of training. Which Boruto found strange, as the guy was not really the talkative type, normally.
"Do you want to hear about your father?" Sasuke asked.
"Not really — he tells me a lot of stories, so I'm good—"
"I knew you would want to." Sasuke smiled fondly. "These are not stories that he would tell you."
"I said that—"
Sasuke ignored him. "Once… He was a loud-mouthed idiot who insisted that he was going to be Hokage."
"I know this already…"
Sasuke continued, staring into the roaring flames. "He was a bumbling fool — we all were, in a way, back then."
Sasuke then looked up at the bright stars with a small, honest smile.
"He was a quintessential loser… full of weaknesses."
"Old man Sasuke, can you just—"
"But he pulled himself up with his own strength. And became the Hokage." Sasuke said. "You know… We both wanted to lead the village, back when we were young."
"…"
"Naruto became… pretty incredible — I have to say." Sasuke said. "He did things that no one else could have done — and he changed people that didn't even seem like they could be changed in the first place. Including me."
Clouds lazily rolled by in the midnight sky.
"I finally saw why I could never truly beat him." Sasuke chuckled. "I thought it was because he was special, in a way. I thought that his power came from the unfathomable beast sealed within him. Then… I obtained incredible power myself — more than just a few swords and the Rinnegan, mind you. And yet…"
Sasuke's eyes shone bright.
"That wasn't it." Sasuke said. "I was fighting for all the wrong reasons." He shook his head. "Not him. Never him. He had people to protect. That's why he fought. Why he refused to kill me. As though he knew all along that I could learn the same lessons he had. That I could change." Sasuke paused. "And he was right, in the end. That's why…"
Sasuke took a long breath. He was ready to admit it out loud.
"He is my best friend." He said, full of emotion.
The words hung with weight in the air.
They really hung.
Silence.
Sasuke turned slowly — that was a bit too long, he liked dramatic silences, but that was pushing it. He stared.
Boruto was fast asleep.
Sasuke pursed his lips.
In the morning.
"Got it!" Boruto grinned.
Sasuke nodded. "Very good. Now that you have mastered this step of the Rasengan, it's time we move on to the next."
"All right."
"First, you're going to have to channel Lightning chakra to your hand, as much of it as you can." Sasuke said. "It's going to look something like this."
Blue chakra gathered into Sasuke's hand. Whirring at first, then crackling.
Boruto stared.
"…Isn't that Chidori?" He squinted.
"…" Sasuke looked away. "No."
"Are you sure?"
"They are very similar in nature. I think Naruto created the Rasengan because he was envious of my Chidori in the first place."
Boruto frowned. That was definitely Chidori. "I kinda like it — your… lightning Rasengan I mean. But my uncles said that—"
"…I know what your uncles said." Sasuke scowled.
"Well, I don't have a Sharingan." Boruto folded his arms. "And I think they might have been right. And this is Chidori."
Sasuke stared at him. Boruto stared back — he looked so much like his father that Sasuke felt a smile pulling at his lips.
"You are right, of course, Boruto. You don't have a Sharingan." He said.
"No shi—… duh!"
"Yet." Sasuke finished.
"…I'm sorry?"
"…Do you want one?" Sasuke asked.
It was the greatest form of honor that he could bestow upon a non-Uchiha. Something that the old clan would have frowned upon severely — and had done so, as Kakashi could attest.
There had been plenty of whispers and rumors that he had killed Obito himself, back then.
The timing had just been too convenient, the clansmen had said.
The future Hokage and his prized student went away on a mission with a very average Uchiha… and the moment his eyes awakened… he died and gave his eye out to the prodigy who just happened to be missing an eye…? They didn't even like each other!
How... convenient.
But Sasuke was the head of the new clan, and he made the rules.
Besides, between Uchiha Obito's secret stash and that Shin guy… there were plenty of eyes laying around.
He would have given Boruto his own old pair, making him an honorary clan member… but Sarada might need these at some point. An Uchiha that needed glasses before even abusing the Mangekyō was unheard of — probably Sakura's side of the family, really-
"Nah, no thanks." Boruto said.
Sasuke nodded. Of course he would accept this honor—
"…Did you say no?" He blinked.
"Well, yeah." Boruto shrugged. "Uncle Toru said he'd give me a Rinnegan when I was done growing up."
Sasuke's nostrils opened a little bit wider.
"That's like a Sharingan and a half, right? Old man?"
"…No, they are entirely different things." Sasuke said.
"But Uncle Toru said that the Rinnegan was evolved from—"
"They are — not — the same thing." Sasuke grunted.
"Fine, fine. Be like that." Boruto muttered. "Anyway, I can't learn Chidori."
"…"
"Let's get back to the Rasengan? The real one?"
"Of course." Sasuke nodded. "It will serve you well in the exams—"
There was a flash of dark light.
Sasuke closed his eyes in consternation.
…
Six people emerged, five of them with massive chakra signatures.
"Why don't we just get one more?" Toru asked.
"Why don't you just fuck off—" Naruto groaned.
"Superb repartee, as usual." Toru nodded politely. "So?"
"We already have enough boats stashed away, Toru."
"What about just one more?"
"Why don't we make it a flying one?" Hanabi piped in.
"When you say 'we', who do you mean, exactly…?" Naruto frowned.
"Well, you." She laughed. "You just are…" Naruto glared at her. "More experienced at creating things."
"Oh..? I wonder why that is." Naruto mused. "Could it be because you keep asking for the impossible?"
"It clearly was not, since we managed." She shrugged.
"I managed." Naruto stressed.
"No. Me too, I'm pretty good at this by now—" Hanabi began.
"Except for that werehuman transformation thing."
"…Except for that one." Hanabi admitted with a wince.
"We don't talk about this one." Ino frowned.
"It was pretty traumatic." Toru nodded. "Created creature or not, it didn't deserve that…"
"I consider it a partial victory — or progress at least. Now we know to take it step by step." Hanabi shrugged.
"You should have done something more realistic, like crafting something to fill the big void in Sakura's soul." Ino offered.
Hanabi chuckled. "I'm not quite there yet."
"So, for the boat?" Toru asked again. Akemi sighed.
"Nah." Naruto frowned. "Or craft it yourself."
"It's too big for me, you're better when no precision, finesse or ethics are required." Toru admitted.
"…Start with a smaller one — and insulting him so freely is why Naruto keeps doing it, too." Akemi said.
"I need a boat." Toru said, quite petulantly.
"Well, make it." Akemi said. "I will read up on it — gods know what kind of horror you would craft on your own."
Toru slipped an arm around Naruto's shoulders.
"How mad would you be if I came back with a flying boat?" He grinned easily.
"Don't touch me — I don't care." Naruto grunted.
Boruto came running after them, tailed by a more subdued Sasuke.
"Uncle… and Uncle!" Boruto grinned.
"Voruto." Hanabi smiled. Yugito kicked her shin.
"…Hello."
"How have you been?" Toru grinned.
"Pretty good! Old man Sasuke has been teaching me—"
"Oh, you poor thing." Naruto said dramatically. "You must have been so terribly bored — and I'm sure he insisted on teaching you that… Electric Hand jutsu again…?
Boruto laughed. "It was fine — but yes, he tried."
"How about I teach you how to make exploding clones instead?" Naruto offered. "Our own Sasuke beat me with that, back in the Chūnin exams — I think."
"What?" Boruto exclaimed. "No way! You have to teach me this — and tell me about the fight!"
"Sure, sure." Naruto smiled. "Let's go somewhere nice, first."
"I could eat." Yugito offered.
"…We just did." Ino said evenly.
"Are you pregnant and I never realized?" Yugito asked.
Hanabi's eyes flashed white for an instant. "She is not."
"Thank you very much, Hanabi." Yugito nodded.
"You're welcome." She smiled easily. Ino rolled her eyes - but she had lost this battle already.
"Let's go to a cafe instead." Akemi said. "I'm feeling too full."
Yugito frowned. Naruto saw it. "I know one where they serve good food, too." He said.
"Sure." She beamed.
(Perhaps she truly was about to give birth to an actual demon, Naruto wondered.)
"Are you coming too, Sasuke?" Toru asked.
"Who?" Naruto laughed. "Sasuke is still staying in our homeworld."
"…" Sasuke scowled.
Then he grunted. As a fellow Uchiha, Toru understood what he was communicating exactly.
"The Chūnin exams will start soon, and Boruto should train, you say…? He's ready." Toru nodded. "Besides, the kid's exhausted — and perhaps he shouldn't have gotten in the exams so soon after graduating. Well, at least it's not a death-match anymore."
Sasuke grunted. Toru nodded.
"Yeah, I'm glad for peace, too. I guess Kage — sorry, your Naruto I mean — did a fine job, too. Some people." He said, side-eying Naruto. "…should probably take some inspiration. No mass murder is needed for peace, after all—"
Sasuke made a snorting sound.
"Yeah, I agree with you. But I'm not as much of a smooth-talker as your Kage guy." He laughed. "Also, I was dead — you should have seen how affected Naruto was, he can pretend he doesn't care at all, but he tried to destroy the world and stuff…"
Sasuke grunted again.
Toru chuckled and punched his shoulder. "Of course, of course." He nodded. "But do come with us, alright…? You're Boruto's precious sensei — one of them, at least — and I'm sure it's going to be fun. I'll tell Naruto not to bully you — Sorry, I didn't mean bully, don't look at me like this. Where… is the rest of Boruto's team, by the way?"
Sasuke came with them. He grunted something else.
"Ah." Toru nodded. "Sarada has found a sensei, then. You're right, she must be very persuasive to have found a teacher on her own so quickly — I really wonder who this mystery person is, though. That Sarada wants to learn how to move ahead by her own means speaks well of her character. You have raised — Ah, no. Sakura has raised a fine daughter."
Sasuke grunted fondly.
"Yes, she is a very different woman from our Sakura." Toru laughed. "I trust her with many things, but a child, a teenager…? Never."
Land of Fire - The city of Shazu.
"To win a fight, don't waste your time on theatrics - don't listen to Toru on this especially." Sakura said. "Just go for dirty, underhanded tricks."
"Such as what…?" Sarada asked, scanning through the crowd with red eyes. She was crouching on a pole.
(Very Uchiha of her, Sakura thought amusedly.)
"It's a fight." Sakura shrugged. "Anything goes."
"Be more specific, please." She muttered.
"I've taught you well." Sakura laughed. "Balls, eyes, loved ones. Uh, nevermind. Alright, let's go for an interactive story!"
Sarada groaned.
"Don't be like that, kid." Sakura chuckled. "I know you loved the last one."
"It was not exactly a good bedtime story." Sarada muttered.
"Ah, there are some decent romance books if you want less gory — not my thing, I mean. But I know some people like reading them." Sakura blinked. "Ah, yeah. The story."
"Uh huh."
"Picture it." Sakura made a grand gesture with her hand. "There are some fanatical murderers out there in the wild. You are hired to take care of the problem. What do you do?"
"Depends. Is there a clear leader?" Sarada asked.
"We don't know."
"…What do they do?"
"They kidnap people, murder them in bloody rituals."
"…What sort of people do they kidnap?"
"Anyone — to appease the blood gods."
"That's not very realistic." Sarada frowned.
"You'd be surprised." Sakura smiled blandly.
"Are the people all kidnapped in the same region?"
"They are."
"Are they sacrificed in the same place?"
"Nope."
"Are they sacrificed in the same area?"
"Yes, but it's a wide area."
"What do the victims have in common?"
"Not much."
"Is there a pattern?"
Sakura smiled. "Not any discernible one."
Sarada thought about it. "Did anyone ever see the kidnappers?"
"Nope."
"Did more than one person ever disappear at the same time?"
"Yes." Sakura grinned.
"…That could suggest that they just want sacrifices, and who they are doesn't matter at all, in the end."
"I told you — It could, yes. Are you willing to go on a hunch?"
"I'd say so. Have people disappeared in two different places at the same time?"
"Yes."
"That means several people are in charge of taking them. Alive, likely."
"Likely."
"Then the easiest way to find out more about it would be to play victim, right?" Sarada asked.
"Is this a question?"
"…No." Sarada decided. "Pretending to be helpless would be the easiest, I think. Preferably one that would get them to lower their guard."
"Very good." Sakura nodded encouragingly. "And then?"
"…And then what?"
"Well, what happens next?"
"How should I know?"
"Well, let me tell you." Sakura smiled. "First, you locate possible hiding spots. Figure out whether or not the "ceremony" is a long-winded one. If it is… Then you wrap yourself up in a very convincing transformation jutsu — a filthy orphan beggar is a very helpful disguise. You stay in town for a day or two — these people work fast. You wait for the would-be-kidnapper to come to you. Wait for them to lead you away — gullibility is your best friend here. When you just know that's the ritual place… pounce. They won't expect a sudden dagger strike to the heart. Then you mask your smell, take over their clothes, take over their appearance — even better if you can identify some of their mannerisms beforehand. Disguise their corpse as the orphan you impersonated, make it look alive — it's going to be easier, because a corpse doesn't have a working chakra system, just pretend the orphan's a civilian. They're going to be happy that you got a sacrifice at all. Some forensics experience is preferred, of course. But you're a vagrant, so hopefully you took care of that already. Give the orphan away, wait for them to start the ritual. Identify the strongest one. Strike when they least expect it — even better when they're lost in the throes of ecstasy, right in between the moment they share the pain and the terrible, terrible realization that nothing is happening, and oh… there's a trusty, razor-sharp steel-wire sliding around their neck and they can't feel their body anymore… You just got lucky because shit would have gone south fast had you just gone for a trusty stabbing — some people have weird abilities. Now… the other cult members are trying to leave through the door because they're not really fighters which is why most of them were looking for weak victims but you already put explosive tags around the entrance and half of the cultists are in pieces already. Now the headless leader is cursing, realizing he is fucked and someone will pay good money for his head and perhaps he really should have blamed everything on the Ōtsutsuki cult." Sakura laughed. "But it's too late already. Too damn late."
Sarada stared.
"You have a very active imagination, sensei." Sarada nodded, somewhat impressed. "I guess you really want to write that book."
Sakura grinned mirthlessly. "Thank you, I try."
…
"Also, what's an Ōtsutsuki cult?" Sarada asked a bit later.
"They're mostly weirdos, really."
"What sort?"
"The sort who venerates the Sage of Six Paths or worse… his sons — well, one of them, especially."
"The Sage had sons?"
"Sure thing. One was named Asura… the other, Indra."
"Why did I never hear of this?"
Sakura shrugged. "Asura's sons later gave birth to the Uzumaki and Senju clans. Indra's your ancestor."
Sarada shut up right away.
"…You don't want to hear about him?" Sakura asked curiously.
"Not really."
"Why not? I thought Uchiha were all about their clan and their eyes." Sakura frowned.
"After all the things you said?" Sarada asked. "The more I learn about the Uchiha—"
"Indra was not Uchiha, technically."
"…Did he or did he not go mad with power?"
"Well, he did but—"
"I don't want to hear it, then." Sarada decided.
"Well, your call. He was pretty dickish, I have to say. Murdered his brother and wife and—"
"Please stop." Sarada muttered.
"All right, all right." Sakura shrugged. "Now, how to apply this to find your auntie…? Do you know anything that could do the trick?"
Sarada nodded.
World #323 - The Cruise
"Why is it so dark suddenly?" Gama asked.
He was staring out in the depths of the sea. The others were very silent, too.
"We're deep." Karin shrugged. "Don't worry, we're close to the lava zone, it's going to be pretty nice."
Gama felt less and less like going for an adventure, honestly. And he could admit he was starting to freak out — a little bit only.
They were deep underwater, close to rocky hills that seemed to stretch forever.
The lights flickered for a second and the sub moved a bit…
Almost like something had nudged them.
It was pitch black outside.
Gama and Hebi shared a look. So did Orochimaru and Jiraiya.
"…Karin?" Hebi asked slowly.
"Don't worry, really." She smiled. "Nothing can hurt us — I promise."
Hebi pointed at the window behind Karin with a gasp.
"Karin!" She said shrilly. There was movement in the water, clear even in the darkness.
Something was outside.
Six gigantic glowing eyes stared from the outside of the sub.
Hebi froze entirely and Gama let out a shriek.
"What—" Orochimaru began, still as a statue. "What is this…?"
Karin shrugged. "Well, that's the creature we were talking about before. Don't worry about it, it can't do much to us. It's not even staring at us."
"What…?" Hebi hissed, panic slowly creeping into her voice. "It clearly is."
"It just looks like it." Karin reassured. "It won't be able to break the hull of this sub. Besides, our presence is hidden, and it only goes after live beings."
It did nothing to assuage the pit of dread in Gama's stomach.
And the thing was definitely staring at him. It let out a blood-curdling scream. Gama barely avoided doing the same.
Karin chuckled. "Ignore it, really. It's angry because its senses are thrown off. There's nothing it can do to us." She repeated again. "You can observe it."
He found he didn't care — or trust her words.
The horrible thing was staring at him — he just knew it. Its leering eyes were full of malice. He couldn't wait until Karin was proven wrong. He… He…
Enough.
Gama had had enough.
Of Naruto.
Of Orochimaru.
Of everything.
Of this day, of being treated like… like he was an idiot. He just wanted to go home, with Jiraiya. Or away from here.
And soon…
Gama was reaching for the pyramid structure he was carrying inside a scroll.
Karin felt him release it. She turned around.
"Don't touch it now, Gama." Karin ordered. "You barely know—"
"My name is not fucking Gama —"
The creature moved and its sheer weight displaced enough water to force the sub to move. "Oh god it's coming right for us!" Gama screamed.
"It can't do anything!" Karin roared. "You're panicking! Put this down before you actually manage to—"
Gama forced his chakra into it.
Hebi reached for him, trying to stop him.
There was a flash of dark light.
Karin reacted inhumanely fast. Her chains sprang out of her palms, and they pushed both Jiraiya and Orochimaru out of the way.
The dark rift was already opening around Gama. Hebi grabbed his hand, and tried to pull him out of the rift.
The two of them disappeared.
"Oh, for the gods' sake—" Karin muttered. She took a look at the two others…
(They'd be safe.)
With a hand motion, she sent the sub upward again.
She went in the rift after them before it closed entirely, hoping — but not really counting on it — that it would bring her to the same place as them.
Both Jiraiya and Orochimaru stared at the suddenly empty room.
"…Did that fool just warp them away?" Orochimaru hissed.
Jiraiya continued to stare. "It… seems like it."
"If that imbecile managed to cost me my daughter—" His anger rose blindingly fast.
"No." Jiraiya said, steel in his voice. "I… am sure they will be fine — and Karin has gone after them, too."
"I do not care—"
"Look, the best thing we can do is wait for her to come back before—"
There was another flicker of dark light, and something otherworldly was suddenly in the depths with them.
Orochimaru stiffened, thinking it was the creature itself.
But that one... was backing off.
Uzumaki Naruto stared at them from outside of the sub, unbothered by the water's pressure, his eyes gleaming with power.
Both men froze at the sight.
Naruto passed through the sub's barrier seamlessly.
"Karin just sent me a message." He said evenly.
His footsteps seemed to echo through the room.
"…Two hours." Naruto muttered. "I left you alone for two hours." His chakra cracked around him, but his tone was even.
Both Orochimaru and Jiraiya shivered. They still couldn't move.
Naruto stared at them once more. He sighed and the pressure diminished.
…
"This one is on me." Naruto said. The two others seemed to breathe again. "Telling Gama not to do something… We should have seen it coming, really."
"So… what do we do…?" Jiraiya asked. "If you're here… I'm going after them — but I don't know how."
Orochimaru was waiting for his answer, too. Which was somewhat amusing to see — or it would have been, if Naruto wasn't already mildly annoyed. The Orochimaru he knew would never look up to him — well, technically, he had to now, but that was more of a literal thing. An equal, yes.
"…I will find them." Naruto said. "They are likely not in danger — well, not more than in any other world, at least."
"We are coming with you." Orochimaru said. "My daughter can handle herself, but this fool—"
"Now is not the time." Jiraiya shook his head. "…He is foolish, though. Probably got it from me — Minato was a fair bit smarter."
"Aside from a few lapses of judgment like getting the… war deterrent pregnant." Naruto said dryly.
"…I don't have much room to speak here." Orochimaru offered.
Jiraiya chuckled painfully. "I told Minato to be careful around Uzumaki — but of course… nobody listens."
"…Please do not bring this back on the table." Orochimaru muttered. "I heard it enough times from you — or the Jiraiya I knew, rather."
"You guys can bicker later." Naruto said.
"How do we join them…?" Jiraiya asked.
"You may have noticed my Rinnegan." Naruto said evenly.
Two hesitant nods.
"Each naturally-awakened Rinnegan comes with a particular, supposedly unique power."
Orochimaru groaned. "Of course it would. More Dōjutsu—"
"Bullshit, yes. I know; I don't make the rules — and I've been on the other side of the curtain." Naruto said dryly. "My power is a pretty simple thing — and perhaps I should have expected its nature, I had a few brushes with… different realities before I awakened it."
"So… the ability to access and travel to any number of alternate worlds… universes and dimensions…?" Jiraiya asked.
"Exactly that." Naruto nodded. "It's not something any Rinnegan could do, despite what we used to believe. I think that we — all the realms, really — would have gotten more trouble with the Otsutsuki otherwise—"
"The who…?" Jiraiya asked.
"Oh boy." Naruto winced. "Yeah, I'll explain that one later."
Orochimaru stared at him.
"So yes…" Naruto said. "That's my ability. I was able to superimpose it on other Rinnegan eyes, forcefully replacing their original ability with my own."
"…Can you do that?" Orochimaru frowned.
"Obviously." Naruto shrugged. "That's what we did with plenty of Rinnegan eyes, and we made sure that every one of us had access to a backup eye or two. So that they could move through the realms on their own."
Figuring out how to bind eyes to the others' souls and making sure they could actually still use the abilities that came with them had been a bit of a pain, but more than worth it.
Of course, that was on top of a backup Rinnegan or two burrowed deeper within their souls, that were not currently in use… just in case.
(Sakura kept an active Sharingan because she was a bit extra, she didn't really need it - the two versions of Kamui, really...? That was overkill. The others hadn't bothered with the added strain of using more than one spare eye. Toru had sealed Shisui's eye the same way, instead of the Rinnegan — that he held in his right eye already.)
Naruto exited the sub and went deeper. The monster down in the depths was still pulling away from him, but that didn't matter much.
He stared at the maelstrom of churning energy in the ocean's depths.
He wasn't worried about Karin, because they could locate her through Toru's ability easily — and she could come back on her own easily enough anyway.
Also, she was… Karin. She could handle whatever came at her.
The two others… were a different thing altogether.
Naruto sighed. Somehow, he was sure it was all Gama's fault.
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