Droplets.
Warm, salty tears traveled down his face, his chest tightening painfully as he stared at his friend's body.
Brain dead, Tsunade had called Sasuke. The mixture of the cursed mark and Itachi's genjutus had shattered Sasuke's mind so soundly that even Tsunade called it a lost cause.
She said it'd be a mercy to put him out of his misery.
Seeing Sasuke like this, the teen's face scrounged in agony as his brain refused to work—Naruto couldn't help but agree.
Sasuke didn't deserve this.
He didn't deserve to die like this—to never revive the Uchiha, to never kill Itachi. It was agony to Naruto, to think of what was lost.
More than just Sasuke would die here. The Uchiha's hopes, their dreams…they had all lived on in Sasuke.
Now? That was lost.
"Naruto?" A comforting voice called from behind him, hand on his shoulder. Naruto didn't look back, still pouring his soul through his tears whilst his chest did its damndest to strangle itself.
"Granny." Naruto barely acknowledged, still staring down at Sasuke's body.
It wasn't fair. Why did Sasuke deserve to die?
Hate burned in Naruto's heart—an emotion he had done his best to squash for years. Hate for the village, hate for Itachi, hate for himself. It roared, singeing his throat and clouding his mind.
It took all of Naruto's effort to not leak the Kyuubi's chakra. It would help no one if the Kyuubi got out, if it destroyed the village.
…it was the Uchiha who made Konoha. The village could not be destroyed.
All that remained of the clan was the village.
"We're gonna pull the plug soon, Naruto." Tsunade told him, gently rubbing Naruto's shoulder. "It might be best if you le—"
"No!" Naruto bit in viciously, his frustration and rage begging for him to let it out. "...no. I want to watch."
He wanted to see Sasuke go. He didn't want him to be alone when he died. Sasuke deserved better than that.
The Uchiha had already lost all of their dreams. They deserved this much.
Naruto's eyes widened.
Their dreams.
He couldn't revive the clan, but he could carry on their will. For Sasuke.
For Sasuke, he'd kill Itachi.
Sasuke's will would live on through him.
The Uchiha would live on through him.
It reminded him of a conversation he had with Sasuke, once. After Wave.
After Sasuke almost died for him.
It was a serious talk; Naruto hated it. He never liked talks like those. But, he listened.
Sasuke had seemed vulnerable.
Probably because he had neared death.
He told Naruto…he told him what to do if he died.
He told him to never let Itachi get his eyes.
His eyes…
"What was that, kid?" Tsunade asked him.
Naruto blinked a few times, still staring at Sasuke's body. Naruto turned back to the Hokage. "His eyes…" Naruto muttered again. "When he dies, what will happen to his eyes?"
"Hm?" Tsunade reflectively said. "They'll be buried with him, like all Uchiha are."
Naruto's eyes widened. "No!" He rapidly shook his head side to side. "If you leave them there, Itachi can get them! Itachi—Sasuke said his brother needed his eyes for something. We can't let Itachi get them!"
Itachi.
His blood boiled at that name. Itachi tortured Sasuke.
For days.
Itachi could not get them. He could not get Sasuke's eyes.
"What, brat, do you say we do with them, then?"
Naruto knew the solution. He hated the solution.
"Sasuke would want to see Itachi die. Itachi will die with my hands and before Sasuke's eyes." Naruto promised, voice full of vitriol
"You want his eyes?" Tsunade rhetorically asked, a look of surprise on her face.
Naruto couldn't help but laugh. "Want?" He shook his head. "No, no! I don't want his eyes, they're his! I want him to have his eyes, I want Sasuke to see the world! To be here! But…Itachi ruined that."
Tsunade stared at him. Worry shone like a spotlight in her eyes. Then, she sighed. "Fine, brat. You'd know your teammate best. Would he think this is best?"
Naruto looked down in consideration, eyeing up Sasuke's face. "He would." Naruto firmly said.
Tsunade just nodded, a sad light to her face.
Sasuke would die here, but he'd never be blind.
Ringed, tomoe-speckled eyes stared into a mirror. They spun, becoming red eyes with a star pattern. Still spinning, they devolved, losing the star and gaining tomoe before eventually going to normal, black eyes.
It hurt Naruto to stare at his eyes—Sasuke's eyes. They were different now that he had taken them. They had more forms than Sasuke had. One was purple with rings and tomoe, something that had given Jiraiya-sensei a heart attack.
Apparently, these eyes were the eyes of god. The only people who ever had them were the Sage of Six Paths, an Uzumaki who Jiraiya-sensei once taught, and, now, Naruto.
It was called the Rinnegan.
Somehow, someway, he had it. No one knew how, but he did now.
Just like he now had the Mangekyou Sharingan. They, too, were rare. The village knew little about them. All they knew about it was that Madara Uchiha and Itachi Uchiha had them.
And they had only gotten them when they murdered their best friend.
It hurt to know that it was his fault Sasuke died. The eyes wouldn't have activated if it wasn't his fault.
It hurt so, so damn bad.
Sasuke's eyes looked away from the mirror. If he had the time to think, he had time to train.
Jiraiya-sensei and Kakashi-sensei promised they'd train him to the bone on this trip.
They'd better.
"Gah!" Naruto hissed in pain, clenching his face. He had used the Shadow Clone Jutsu while having the Rinnegan activated.
Terrible idea.
Hundreds of directions were filtering into his mind, the whole clearing covered by his sight. He could see everything.
He could see in front of himself and behind himself. He could see to his left and to his right. He could see both up and down.
All of this was at the same time. His brain was—brains were—having trouble comprehending all the information.
He wouldn't let up, though. A hundred bodies meant a hundred times the training.
He'd suffer it.
For Sasuke.
Today, they were testing to see what his Mangekyou could do. At first, they thought he would have Amaterasu and Tsukiyomi—just like Itachi had.
He hadn't.
When Kakashi used Kami for the first time, they realized Naruto would have something special.
Something unique, a power that was only his and Sasuke's.
Now, he was channeling chakra into his Mangekyou, begging his eyes—Sasuke's eyes—their eyes—to cooperate. To obey him.
To reveal the power they could use to kill Itachi.
"Kakashi-sensei, how'd you figure out how to use Kamui?"
Kakashi looked up from his erotica. "Hm, Naruto?" The man contemplated. "Maa, I suppose I just put chakra in Obito's eye and I eventually knew what it could do."
Naruto huffed.
Kakashi's advice was terribly unhelpful.
"Hahaha!" Naruto cheered in excitement, eyes glowing bright red.
The power of their eyes was nothing like Itachi's. It was more like Kakashi's, if they were being honest.
The power of Kamununakawamimi sat in their left eye and Tagishimimi sat in their right.
To start with Kamununakawamimi, it was a jutsu that allowed him to teleport anything that had his chakra imbued within it to himself.
Tagishimimi, on the other hand, allowed him to teleport himself to anything that had his chakra in it.
Once he got sealing down, he could start placing seals with his chakra in it, allowing him to teleport to things that he marked.
Now he had one more will to carry.
Minato Namikaze had a similar technique. He'd honor his hero.
Naruto might not have the Flying Thunder God Jutsu, but their abilities were close.
The power of Susano'o, the armor of the god of storms from legend, bridged the name gap well enough.
"Ready to fight, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked his teacher. Jiraiya-sensei was off in town, checking in with his spies.
Kakashi-sensei had been doing training of his own, working on the Eight Gates. Sensei promised to eventually teach him, something that had him excited.
Kakashi hummed, putting a hand to his chin. "Maa, Naruto. I don't know if my old bones can handle a spar. Take it easy on your aging sensei.:
"Stop being lazy, sensei." Naruto said, doing a hitherto motion.
Kakashi did an eye-smile, put his book away, and pulled out a kunai. "Fine, fine. Beat up your poor sensei, will you?"
Naruto rolled their eyes and charged his teacher. Kakashi quickly opened four of the gates and dodged, moving out of Naruto's way at the last moment. Lighting chakra flowed around Kakashi, a bastardized lighting cloak activating.
Naruto swiveled, a forearm raising to block a blistering strike.
Kakashi in this state was much, much faster than him. With the power of their eyes, though, it was balanced out.
Chakra burst out of Naruto in a forceless blast, his energy saturating the area around him and managing to catch Kakashi.
Batting away another punch, Naruto flooded chakra to their eyes. He vanished, a Rasengan slamming into Kakashi's back and going straight through.
A hand wrapped around his own, Kakashi gripping Naruto's wrist which was inside of the silver-haired man.
Kamui was almost more powerful than their Sharingan power.
Almost.
Naruto vanished again, teleporting onto a tree several meters away. A Raikiri barely missed him as he teleported away. Appearing back in the middle of the clearing, he forced Kakashi to appear on a Rasengan.
That was game.
"I win, sensei!" Naruto happily said, adrenaline coursing through his body.
"Hmm…" Kakashi tilted his head. "Your chakra reserves are truly unfair, Naruto."
"Jealous?"
Kakashi gave him a deadpan expression. "Very. Once I get Tsunade-sama's jutsu down, I should be able to use Obito's eye as often as you use Sasuke's."
"We'll see, sensei."
The Rinnegan was a powerful doujutsu.
Very powerful.
With it, he was able to fit years of training within weeks or even days. Parallel processing was helping him advance.
Fast.
But, that wasn't the only power of the Rinnegan. It had more, many more. So far, he had only discovered two.
Universal Pull and Almighty Push were dangerous. The former less so, but it was still very useful.
The latter, though? It was powerful. Scarily so.
The flattened forest in front of him was proof of that. Miles upon miles of land were felled in an instant.
Imagine how that would affect Itachi.
He took pleasure in imagining it.
"Jiriaya-sensei," Naruto began, looking oddly at his teacher. "Why'd you bring me to this place?"
And by this place, he meant a weird jungle. A very weird jungle. Everything was vivid and beautiful, like the gods decided that this place needed extra saturation compared to the outside world.
Still, though, he had no clue as to why he was summoned here.
"You've learned everything I can teach you, brat." Jiraiya said those words like it physically hurt him. "I had two options as to what to have you learn—you either could have learned to wield the Kyuubi's power or you could learn Senjutsu. I picked the latter."
"Senjutsu?" Naruto asked, their eyes scrunched in confusion. "What's that?"
"The greatest power of this world!" Jiraiya exclaimed, being dramatic. "It's the power of the world itself, the power of nature!"
"...are you talking about drugs?" Naruto said, blanching.
The Mighty Toad Sage deflated. "No!" Jiraiya hissed, pouting.
"...if you say so."
"Sit still, brat!" A stick hit him in the back of the neck.
"I'm trying!" Naruto whined, complaining to his teacher. "But it's hard Fukasaku-sensei."
A stick hit him again. "Try harder!"
Naruto tried harder.
"Why do we have to talk to talk to some old toad?"
A stick hit him in the back of his head. "Do not speak of the Great Toad Sage like that, Naruto-boyo!"
"Alright, alright!" Naruto acquiesced, continuing to walk.
He went through some doors and was met with the biggest, oldest toad he had ever seen. It looked ancient, older than mountains and kingdoms.
The toad's half-opened eyes went wide. "Hagoromo-kun?" The toad breathed, looking at Naruto with a weird look. "...no. But close, very close. Show me your eyes, boy."
"...not my eyes." Naruto muttered and activated their Rinnegan.
The Great Toad gasped, reeling back. "So, it is true. His eyes awaken once again…"
The toad went quiet.
It stayed quiet for a long while.
Naruto looked at Fukasaku. "Does he always do this, sensei?"
The Toad elder sighed. "Yes."
Naruto sighed in unison.
It took several boring hours for the Great Toad Sage to talk again. He said very little. "Give him the key." The toad ordered. Then, he went back to sleep.
"The key?" Naruto wondered.
Fukasaku was already summoning Jiraiya. In a puff of smoke, Jiraiya appeared.
"Hey! I was doing something…hehehe." Jiraiya's face momentarily went blank. "Whaddya want me for?"
Fukasaku had a serious look on his face. "The key. The Great Toad Sage said it's time."
Jiraiya paled, growing incredibly serious. "Are you sure?"
The Elder Toad nodded. "Deadly. Naruto-boyo is stronger than Minato-boyo was, have faith in him."
Jiraiya went silent, contemplating. Eventually, he nodded and looked towards Naruto. "Brat, it's time for you to face the Kyuubi."
Their eyes widened. "Are you sure I'm ready?" He breathed out, putting a palm on his stomach.
Jiraiya nodded and a toad came out of his mouth.
Naruto was soon after given the key.
"So, my jailer finally shows up…it has been a long time, Uzumaki."
Naruto just activated his Rinnegan, getting ready to open the seal.
He did not expect the Bijuu's reaction.
The beast recoiled, teeth baring. "You—! Those eyes! How did you get those—no, they are not yours to wield!"
He crossed his arms, glaring. "From a friend. These eyes are the combination of his and my power. You have no right to dictate my usage of them!"
The Kyuubi hissed, furious. "Then I will pluck them from your skull."
A grin crossed his face. "You can try, fox." Naruto tilted his head. "And, out of respect for you, I will not use genjutsu. Give me a good fight, Kyuubi."
The legendary beast flinched at Naruto's words. It stopped speaking.
A golden glow filtered across Naruto's skin. He felt powerful. He could only imagine how powerful he would feel when he combined this with Sage Mode, the Eight Gates, and his Wind and Lightning Cloaks.
Itachi had no chance. He would die like a dog.
For Sasuke. For the clan. For the village.
"Brat, I guess it went well?"
Guess who said that?
Naruto turned towards Jiraiya. "What do you think?" Naruto gave a bright grin, further illuminating the room
Jiraiya snorted. "No need to be annoying."
Naruto rolled his eyes and felt out his power.
It felt different than any of his other forms. It was like he was full of life. If Sage Mode was like feeling an infinite well of energy on the inside, Kyuubi Chakra Mode was feeling that on the inside.
Except, oddly enough…he also felt it on the outside.
In a spot far away, he could feel the Kyuubi's chakra exist there. If he didn't have their eyes, Sage Mode, and the Kyuubi's chakra, he doubted he'd be able to feel it.
But, he did.
And so he focused the Kyuubi's chakra to his eyes. Kamununakawamimi, he thought.
The chakra was pulled into him. It had a straggler, one who could only be seen with their eyes.
In front of him floated the Fourth Hokage. Something in him yearned to reach out to the soul, almost as if it missed home.
He let it.
They had to go back to Konoha. The Fourth Hokage, who apparently was his dad, was not someone they expected to come back.
His eyes made it so.
Somehow.
Except his dad would not wake up. He was unconscious—Naruto refused to lose another person to brain death.
He prayed that his dad wasn't…
…yeah. It hurts to think of it.
"Granny…" Naruto muttered, staring at the sleeping body. "Will he be alright?"
Tsunade patted him on the back. "I don't know how you did it, brat, but he will."
His world lit up.
AN: Naruto doesn't have Sasuke's Sharingan ability because I've always liked the theory that the Mangekyou power is made in relation to the users wishes.
Naruto wants to pull his friends away from any fight and put himself into any fight. Ergo, his power.
He will have his own unique Rinnegan power next chapter.
Anyhow, comment. I'm a schmuck and love attention.