[Author-Notes: It's time for the time-skip. Quick note, every named character in this chapter has shown up in the Naruto-Anime.]

November 3rd 2004:

Small grains of severe sunlight glared down at an isolated section of the Land-Of-Earth. Massive mountains reached for the clouds. Extensive cracks stretched across the rugged terrain.

Gentle footfalls reverberated around the secluded area. Numerous masked individuals leaped from boulder to boulder. They each wore an Iwagakure head-band that had a slash etched upon its metal.

For the last ten minutes, they had been in pursuit of Ryomen Sukuna. The Bingo-Book entry of this Rogue-Ninja stated that he had been a Shinobi from the Hidden-Leaf and had defected from it without reason.

During the last two and a half years after his defection from Konoha, Sukuna had earned himself a few titles from his actions—one of these titles was the Imaginary-Demon. It had also been confirmed that he had a team.

These five masked men soon touched their foot down on the uneven surface beneath them, scanning the area where they had cornered him. All around them was dense shrubbery—a rare sight in this land.

The enormous trees above them blocked off any form of sunlight. According to his entry in the Bingo-Book, it was impossible for Sukuna to be detected even by Sensory-Ninja. On guard, they looked around.

From these shadows, four crimson eyes glowed. Sukuna stepped into their immediate line of sight, hands tucked into his pockets. The masked men tensed their muscles, preparing themselves for combat.

Sukuna tilted his head to the side in obvious amusement. Maintaining their impassive demeanours, the masked men pulled out their Kunai. A mere moment later, Sukuna appeared in front of them and grinned.

Compact molecules of blood erupted in their faces, shattering their masks and hurtling them into the bushes in the blink of an eye. The five of them returned to their feet, casting hand-seals in tandem.

Unworried about the clusters of rocks being thrown at his body to restrain him, Sukuna took his hand out of his pocket and slashed two of his fingers in a downward motion. The rocks were sliced into nothing.

"I'm impressed you tracked me down." He spoke for the first time. "I only came to the Land-Of-Earth for a vacation, not to cause trouble."

Keeping themselves silent, the five men slammed their hands onto the soil, combined their chakra, and created a massive golem. It lumbered towards Sukuna, each aggressive step shaking the surface.

"It looks like these five don't engage their targets in any Taijutsu." Sukuna let the golem approach him, then touched its chest. "Cleave."

In an instant, the golem was slashed to dust and crumbled apart. Sukuna kicked at some of the chunks of stone that the golem had left behind until the five men tossed their chakra-enhanced Kunai at him.

Sukuna walked towards them in a casual gait and the ten Kunai that had been launched at him disintegrated in a hurricane of metal. One second passed and Sukuna materialized next to the five of them.

They repositioned themselves, pulling out more Kunai from their sleeves and pointing them in his direction in caution. None of their attacks or Ninjutsu had even managed to faze the red-eyed boy.

Not willing to lose a single chance of claiming Sukuna's bounty, three of the masked men got behind him and lashed their Kunai out. Sukuna turned around, stretched his hand out, and they erupted into blood.

"Dismantle." Sukuna looked bored, looking over at the last two members of this masked team. "I think I've wasted enough time."

Two more Dismantles scattered the rest of them into blood. Sukuna yawned into his palm, tucked his hands into his pockets, and vanished into the shadows of this forest. "I should head back to the others."

(-)

Sukuna pushed himself through the thick tree-branches and thorny bushes ahead of him. Entering a small isolated spot in the woodland, he approached a log-cabin and shoved its wooden entrance open.

There were several carpets laid across the surface to make it more comfortable for their feet. Some kind of fabric was threaded into the cabin's wall to improve its insulation. There was also a fireplace.

Suigetsu Hozuki was splayed on a couch set up in the corner of the wide room, eaten yogurt pots scattered on the table. Kimimaro Kaguya was seated on a stool, a fantasy-genre novel in his hands.

"Hey." Suigetsu raised his hand from his position on the couch. "Did you manage to find out who the hell was following us around?"

"Some type of bounty hunters, like usual." Sukuna shrugged, four eyes searching the place. "Where'd Utakata go?"

"He went to one of the close by towns for more supplies." Kimimaro said, turning the page of his novel. "Since Suigetsu is such a glutton."

"Whatever." Suigetsu stuck his tongue out, wiping his sleeve on the yogurt coated over his mouth. "Hey, Sukuna? What's our next move?"

"I'm curious myself." Kimimaro had lowered his book onto his lap. "We did fight against Han and his entourage just a couple of weeks ago."

"That was fun." Sukuna made himself comfortable on a different sofa, kicking his feet up on the table. "Like I said, this is a vacation for you three."

"For us 'three'?" Kimimaro raised an eye-brow. "I'm assuming you have other plans instead of joining us on this supposed vacation of ours?"

"Yeah." Sukuna responded, grabbing a can of orange juice and popping it open. "I think it's about time that you three got a little break."

Interrupting them, Suigetsu grinned. "I'll take you up on that offer, you four-eyed maniac! I could use a break from all of this crazy crap!"

Sukuna gestured his can of orange juice at Suigetsu. "He gets it. Besides, I've been planning on going off on my own for a while."

"I didn't disagree to the idea of a vacation." Kimimaro shook his head. "But how long will this vacation be? And when do we meet up again?"

"Two months." Sukuna sipped some of his orange juice. "It sounds kinda long, but who the heck cares? Let me just hash out the details."

The entrance to the log-cabin was opened. Utakata walked into the room, holding two shopping bags in his hands. Sukuna leaned back on the sofa, waving his can around. "You should hear this too."

Utakata placed the shopping-bags on a table and folded his arms. "Hear what?"

"Take a seat." Sukuna watched Utakata settle himself down onto a stool next to Kimimaro. "I'm giving all of you a small vacation."

"And by 'vacation', I mean I'll be leaving this team for a while." Sukuna sipped his orange juice. "So you three can do whatever you want."

"And how long will you be leaving?" Utakata replied. "I'm also guessing you have a meeting spot for when we have to reunite?"

"I told these two earlier." Sukuna pointed at Kimimaro and Suigetsu—who was eating his yogurt. "But it'll be around two months."

Sukuna crushed the can in his hand, then tossed it into a bin to his left side. "We'll meet up in the western cabin located in the Land-Of-Fire."

"The Land-Of-Fire?" Suigetsu threw the cup of yogurt in his hand aside. "That's where Konoha is. Don't tell me you're feeling homesick!"

"Yeah, sure." Sukuna scoffed at him. "This isn't the first time the three of us have gone off on our own, so it shouldn't be much of a big deal."

"Now that I think about it." Suigetsu got into an upright position on the couch. "Is Pakura still trying to track down where old snake-face is?"

Taking a book from the shelf, Utakata spoke. "Can you blame her? Orochimaru did drag her out of the afterlife and resurrect her."

"Moving on." Suigetsu hopped off of the couch he was on. "When does this vacation start?! I'm thinking of going to the Land-Of-Iron!"

"The vacation starts right now." Sukuna grinned at them, rising from his sofa. "I'll see you all in two months. I have some places to visit."

(-)

November 10th 2004:

It had been a week since Sukuna and his team had gone their separate ways for the time being. At the moment, he had reached a cozy little village on the southern outskirts of the Land-Of-Wind.

This village sustained its livelihood by digging out many types of ores and minerals from their mines and selling them to neighboring towns. He had paid a visit to this village around his first year as a Rogue-Ninja.

Seated in a booth of a popular tavern, Sukuna drank the orange juice that the owner of the tavern had made for him. Sukuna heard the sound of shuffling—a hooded person had sat down next to him.

"You're pretty crap at sneaking around." Sukuna brought the goblet in his hand to his mouth, grunting. "What the hell do you want, Gaara?"

"Ryomen Sukuna." Gaara pulled down his hood, not desiring to draw attention to Sukuna and himself. "It has been some time, has it not?"

"What does the Kazekage want from me?" Sukuna sipped his orange juice. "Don't tell me you're here to capture me for some reason?"

"I haven't seen you since the Chunin-Exams." Gaara ignored his questions. "You know, I'm quite grateful Naruto Uzumaki beat me."

"Naruto, huh?" Sukuna glanced at Gaara, impassive. "I haven't seen that moron in over two years. Just be blunt, why did you track me down?"

"Simple curiosity, that is all." Gaara spoke in a bland tone. "Your defection from Konoha resulted in quite the commotion, did you hear?"

Snorting, Sukuna shook the goblet in his hand. "I haven't kept myself in the know about what's been going on in the Hidden-Leaf."

"That's obvious enough." Gaara pulled out a scroll, laying it on the table. "There's information on each village contained in that scroll."

"Is there?" Sukuna grabbed the scroll, dropped it, and felt it sink into his shadow. "Why give me this scroll? We're pretty much strangers."

"The scroll is from Sasuke Uchiha."

"Sasuke?" Sukuna pondered out loud. "Like Naruto, I haven't seen him in over two years either. How did the two of you get into contact?"

"I have encountered Orochimaru a couple of times." The Kazekage said. "That deranged fool has hideouts all around the Land-Of-Wind."

"Sasuke and I have even fought on several occasions." Gaara admitted. "But most of our battles end in ties and no clear winner."

"At the end of one of our fights, he asked me to give you the scroll." Gaara shrugged. "I cannot say why he entrusted that task to me."

"But it also granted me the opportunity to talk to you." He intertwined his fingers, eyes devoid of emotion. "What are your goals, Sukuna?"

Gaara spoke when Sukuna sipped his drink and stayed silent. "For the last two and a half years since you left Konoha, you've been getting into fights."

"You've even fought the Raikage and his brother, albeit the fight only lasted a few minutes." Gaara remarked. "And battled the Tsuchikage."

"I wouldn't call any of those fights." Sukuna commented. "You said it yourself, Gaara, those fights only lasted a few minutes at best."

"I've heard you encountered the Akatsuki." He paused, letting the silence span out. "How powerful are their members, I wonder?"

"It doesn't qualify as an encounter." Sukuna lowered his goblet. "I've never fought a member of the Akatsuki, but I've met a few of them."

"Is that so?" Gaara's eye-brow arched up. "You went into the Land-Of-Iron six months ago and sparred it out against Mifune."

"That was Suigetsu's idea." Sukuna snorted. "Samurai and Shinobi don't tend to get along, but Mifune was pretty accommodating to us."

"Hell—Suigetsu left my team for a month to train under Mifune." Sukuna smirked. "What's the point of telling me all of this?"

"What are your goals?" Gaara repeated his earlier question. "It says in your Bingo-Book entry that you left Konoha without any reasons."

"My goal is to get strong." Sukuna finished his drink, sliding the goblet aside. "I challenged powerful people to further myself, that's about it."

"My presence has changed a lot in this timeline." Sukuna mused. "Kimimaro was never supposed to be there at the Konoha-Crush."

"Suigetsu would have joined Sasuke's team Taka/Hebi." He scratched his hair. "And Pakura would have been reanimated much more later."

"You asked me earlier how powerful the Akatsuki was." Sukuna grinned. "Are you nervous about them taking the one-tails from you?"

"I would not say I am nervous about that." Gaara shook his head. "I'm cautious, so that is why I've been trying to gather intel on them myself."

"Is it okay for a Kage to be leaving their village like this?"

"I am the Kazekage. My councillors can offer me advice." Gaara looked amused. "But it is up to me whether or not I heed their advice."

"About the Akatsuki." Sukuna said. "I have a Jinchuriki on my team. Sooner or later, the Akatsuki will come knocking on my door for him."

"And what about Naruto Uzumaki?" Gaara asked him. "I was under the impression that the two of you are friends. Has that changed?"

"He's still my friend." Sukuna answered. "But—like I said—I haven't seen the dumbass in over two years. I've got no clue on what he's up to."

"I understand." Gaara pulled his hood over his head. "I've gotten my answers. Thank you for indulging me in a conversation, Sukuna."

"I fear I must return to my village." Gaara stood up, disappearing in a miniature hurricane of sand. "I hope we can talk like this once again."

"See you later." Sukuna listened to the shocked cries of the tavern's customers at the sudden appearance of sand. "What a damn exit."

(-)

Sukuna had paid for his drink at the tavern and had resumed his journey to the Land-Of-Fire—he intended to visit the Land-Of-Whirlpools to see what the old home of the infamous Uzumaki-Clan was like.

Uzushiogakure was the village located in the Land-Of-Whirlpools—the island itself was located off of the coast of the Land-Of-Fire. Sukuna sighed. It was going to be awkward if he ran into any people he knew.

Despite his notoriety of being one of Konoha's best sources of outside information, Jiraiya hadn't managed to catch him yet. Most of the intel on Sukuna's Bingo-Book entry came from opponents he had fought.

He would have to cross the Land-Of-Rivers to get to the Land-Of-Fire. The Land-Of-Rivers had a weak military presence in the Elemental-Nations, but it was enough that no-one attacked them.

The Land-Of-Wind itself was more or less an enormous desert. If one ventured out far enough, there would be a few spots without too much sand. Though, the majority of this nation was covered in heaps of sand.

Sukuna walked through the weak sandstorm in the area he had travelled to. Weathered boulders were scattered all around him. Gales of aggressive wind rustled the red cloak fitted over his muscled frame.

Once in his travels across the Elemental-Nations, Sukuna had stumbled on the ruins of the destroyed city of Roran—the city from one of the movies in the official Naruto-Franchise from his old life.

This version of the city had no Ley-line like in the movie. For Sukuna, it was nothing more than an interesting landmark to pay a visit to. Sukuna scowled at the particles of sand in his four eyes, annoyed.

Reaching into his shadow, Sukuna pulled out a red porcelain mask from it. It was similar to the masks those in the Anbu organization wore. Sukuna put it on, feeling the sand slam against his mask.

"That's better." Sukuna groused to himself, cloak fluttering from the presence of warm wind. "I should really invest in more hiking gear."

One of the main benefits of being a wanderer in the Land-Of-Wind was the lack of people on paths separate from the main ones. Shinobi, Rogue-Ninja, bandits, criminals, and civilians were rare to come upon.

The main paths in the Land-Of-Wind had been carved out by what Sukuna assumed to be Shinobi to make journeys simpler for civilians, travelling merchants, and people in general.

Sukuna could have used Nue to fly him across the nation to get to the Land-Of-Rivers faster, but he liked journeying to these places. Traversing the dunes beneath his feet, Sukuna walked further out.

Ten minutes into his small adventure, Sukuna found himself being confronted by a multitude of mean-looking Shinobi. Even though he took a more isolated path, encountering people was not impossible.

"Just hand over any valuables." The bearded man held a blood-smirched dagger in a muscled hand. "And we'll let you live."

"Rogue-Ninja from Shimogakure?" Sukuna blinked at them. "Why the hell are you out in the Land-Of-Wind instead of the Land-Of-Frost?"

"Whatever." Sukuna watched them lunge at him, then extended his hand out. "Man, I haven't been to the Land-Of-Frost in ages."

Dismantle cut off the hand of the bearded man who wielded a dagger. Sukuna embedded a roundhouse kick into his chest and knocked him into his two henchmen. All three of them were hurtled backwards.

Sukuna caught the dagger from the hand, activated Cleave on it, and reduced it into chunks of scrapped metal. The bearded man clutched his wound, but otherwise looked more aggravated than pained.

"But really." Sukuna pondered to himself, curious. "From what I've heard, Shimogakure has the lowest percentage of Rogue-Shinobi."

Two Dismantles evaporated the three of them into blood. Sukuna slicked his pink hair back, adjusted his crimson mask, and recommenced his walk to the one of the Land-Of-Rivers' entry-points.

Sukuna had visited the Takumi-Village/the Village-Of-Artisans in the Land-Of-Rivers. It was a village that specialized in the creation of different tiers of weaponry.

They made a profit by selling their weapons to a high number of hidden villages.

Tanigakure was the main Shinobi village in the Land-Of-Rivers. Sukuna had been there twice, but hadn't gotten a real chance to explore the place. Snapping out of his thoughts, Sukuna looked up at the radiant sun.

It took him three hours of walking before he had arrived at an entry-point to the Land-Of-Rivers. Sukuna had removed his crimson porcelain mask from his face, dropping it into his shadow.

Sukuna entered the Land-Of-Rivers—streams of water stretched out like no tomorrow, thin forests were visible in the distance, small mountains hit the horizons, and grassland extended across the nation.

Pulling his cloak off, Sukuna watched it sink into his shadow. Ruffling his pink hair, he trekked through the dirt path ahead of him. His destination at the moment was Takumi-Village to stock up on tools.

Despite his specialization in hand-to-hand combat, Sukuna had learned basic swordsmanship from Utakata and Pakura over his two and a half year status as a former Shinobi from the Hidden-Leaf.

Sukuna's main blade in battle had been damaged a while ago. Since he seldom used a sword in fights, Sukuna hadn't made it a top priority to have his blade fixed.

Stepping into the territory of Takumi-Village, Sukuna swept his two lower eyes around to scope out the hired guards from Tanigakure — they had noticed his presence, but opted to observe him instead and not attack.

In the Naruto-Anime, Takumi-Village had been on the brink of collapse. In this timeline, however, Takumi-Village was one of the most renowned places to purchase weapons and all kinds of different gear.

Sukuna made his way to the southern entrance to the village. The village itself was a neutral place—like the Land-Of-Iron. Registering himself into its catalogue, Sukuna set foot into the town.

There were a number of people present in the village, either there to buy a weapon, trade one weapon for another, or to sell their weapons. Sukuna reached the end of the district to a somewhat secluded shop.

Pushing open its door, Sukuna heard its three bells chime to signal his arrival. Ryugan—the owner of the store—looked up from his work-station, furrowing his brows at Sukuna in a bout of short surprise.

"Sukuna." Ryugan placed the handle of a dagger in his hand onto a table. "I haven't seen you in a few months. What can I do for you?"

"Hey, Ryugan." Sukuna nodded at him, reaching into his shadow and bringing out his damaged blade. "How much would it be to fix this?"

Catching the blade after Sukuna had tossed it at him, Ryugan inspected its charred base and hummed. "This is pretty broken."

"I'd recommend buying a new one instead." Ryugan said. "But, if you really want to keep this, repairs would cost over nine-hundred ryo."

"I'll just buy a replacement." Sukuna checked the blades on the shelf. "I'm not good at this kind of crap. What one do you recommend?"

"One second, please." Ryugan stepped out of view for a moment, carrying a slick tenebrous blade. "I crafted this one two weeks ago."

"I'll take it." Sukuna pulled his wallet from his pocket, looking at the blade's price-tag and paying the right amount. "It's still pretty pricey."

"I do have a business to run here." Ryugan snorted, counting the money and handing the blade to Sukuna. "Is there anything else?"

Sukuna took some Kunai off of the shelves next to him, dropping a multitude of pennies onto the counter. "I'll take these Kunai too."

"Thanks for your patronage." Ryugan grinned, pocketing the pennies. "Do you have any other business in the Land-Of-Rivers, Sukuna?"

"I'm heading off to the Land-Of-Fire." Sukuna responded, feeling his weapons sink into his shadow. "I'm going there for some sightseeing."

"You are a Rogue-Ninja from the Land-Of-Fire, right?" Ryugan asked him, curious. "How long has it been since you've even been there?"

"Two years." Sukuna grunted in response. "I've been wandering around the Elemental-Nations for the last two and a half years."

"And you've earned quite the reputation." Ryugan mumbled. "You've fought Kage and Jinchuriki and somehow survived. It's unbelievable."

"It's more of a skirmish than a fight." Sukuna rolled his four eyes. "Besides, I've got an entire team to help me out in those situations."

"Right." Ryugan bit back. "You've got the six-tails Jinchuriki and people from the Kaguya-Clan and Hozuki-Clan in your little squad."

"Moving on from that topic." Ryugan sighed, shaking his head to himself. "Have you checked the latest edition of the Bingo-Books?"

"I let my teammates handle that information." Sukuna shrugged. "Why? Has there been some kind of massive change I should hear?"

"Here." Ryugan withdrew a Bingo-Book from a drawer, opening up onto its fifth page. "Orochimaru was sighted in the Land-Of-Fire."

"Oh, also." Ryugan pointed at an entry from a spectator. "Three people have claimed to have seen Pakura-Of-The-Scorch-Style fighting him."

"She passed ages ago, so I doubt it." Ryugan said. "But there's a clear picture of her taken by a witness, even if she is wearing sun-glasses in it."

"I'm just telling you for your safety." Ryugan closed the book. "I know you tend to get into fights, but you shouldn't challenge Orochimaru."

"I appreciate the concern." Sukuna slid his hands into his pockets. "But I'll be fine. I fought Orochimaru back when I was a Leaf-Shinobi."

"I wouldn't doubt that. It fits your reputation." Ryugan placed the book into a drawer. "I'll see you then, Sukuna. Have fun travelling around."

"See you later." Sukuna stepped out of the shop, listening to the three bells chime once again. "I wonder if I should visit Konoha."

Not once in the last two and a half years had Sukuna visited his old village, nor had he encountered any of his pastime 'comrades' either. Sukuna walked across the streets of the village, reaching its exit.

He resumed his journey to the Land-Of-Fire. Sukuna glanced at the rivers and trees around him, keeping himself on the path and trekking forward.

Sukuna sighed.

A/N: Thanks for reading.