Welcome back to the chapter number 172 of "Strings Of Destiny".
"Talking"
'Thoughts'
"Demonic Voice"
"Flashback"
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Nimato stared in awe as in front of him was the man renowned for his tactical thinking on the battlefield and also for his immense strength and more importantly this was his father. As Nimato stared at his father he found he could not produce any words or thoughts even, he even questioned whether or not this was real.
"I suppose...this is the first time you've actually seen me face to face" Minato started he didn't know quite what to say to his son since after all the last time the two had been together was when Nimato had been born.
"Yondaime come here, let me rip you apart" The Kyuubi snarled from behind its cage while it glared hatefully at Minato.
"Why would I willingly come near you if you're going to rip me apart?" Minato asked the Kyuubi as he narrowed his eyes at the large fox after all this was the creature that had cost him his family.
The Kyuubi snarled in response preferring to just growl at Minato he had killed this man once so it didn't matter much however just seeing Minato caused the Kyuubi to become infuriated as it reminded him of all the times he had been sealed and used by humans.
"Noisy fellow isn't he? Why don't we change settings for a little bit" Minato suggested snapping his fingers and immediately the once sewer type scenery vanished and all Nimato could see was white nothingness.
"Tou-chan..." Nimato muttered his hair shadowing his eyes before he quickly stood and punched Minato in the stomach making his father gasp in pain.
"How could you seal the Kyuubi in me? Do you know what I've been through?" Nimato shouted as tears trailed down his eyes he was both happy and angry at seeing his father but he still couldn't help but let out the resentment he had been holding back for nearly sixteen years.
Minato looked at his youngest son in sadness...Nimato was right how did he have the right to act like a father when all he had ever caused for his son was pain.
"I'm sorry you're right...I have no right to act like a father to you...how old are you Nimato?" Minato asked while wondering just how old his son was.
"...Sixteen" Nimato answered as he wiped his eyes.
"You've matured quite a bit...it's quite surreal seeing you as a young man considering the last time I saw you I could pick you up in just one of my hands" Minato told Nimato who laughed slightly.
"I'm sorry I couldn't be there for you Nimato...I really did want to be there for both you and Naruto" Minato stated and the mention of Naruto's name shocked Nimato for a moment before he remembered everything.
"Tou-chan...Naruto was killed" Nimato said and Minato frowned before looking away and clenching his fist.
"I know...I saw it through you...I also know about Jiraiya" Minato explained while Nimato just stared in shock.
"Then how am I supposed to beat Pain when Naruto and Ero-Sennin couldn't?" Nimato asked in desperation however Minato had no certain answers to such a question.
"Just remember everything the people who love you have given you...Naruto gave his life for you because he believed in you...as do I" Minato answered making Nimato frustrated that wasn't the answer he was wanting.
"But I can't do it...everyone expects too much...I'm not smart like you...I'm not strong like Naruto...I'm-"Before Nimato could finish his sentence Minato had placed his hand on top of his son's head.
"You're you and you don't have to be like anyone else...that's all that matters" Minato told Nimato who was shocked for a moment before he looked away in embarrassment this was the first time he had a father telling him stuff like this.
"...How are you even here...Tou-chan?" Nimato questioned and Minato smiled at how Nimato addressed him no matter what circumstances having a son that acknowledged you as their father felt incredible.
"On the night I sealed the Kyuubi in you I incorporated my chakra into the seal so that we could meet and if ever the seal was about to be released I would appear" Minato explained and as he said the explanation it became clear to Minato that the explanation had gone into one ear and through the other with Nimato.
"There was also another reason why I did this...it was to warn you of an oncoming threat" Minato stated while Nimato just looked away in shame.
"Konoha...was already destroyed" Nimato said while Minato just narrowed his eyes the threat he was talking about was way larger than just Konoha.
"Konoha can be rebuilt however the night the Kyuubi was sealed into you I battled against a man with extraordinary powers...he was planning on using the Bijuu for something...something terrible" Minato informed and Nimato could only really think of one person that could be.
"Was it Pain?" Nimato asked however Minato shook his head he'd never forget the sight of the person responsible for his and Kushina's death.
"No...it was a masked man with the ability to make things go through him" Minato said and immediately Nimato's eyes widened as he remembered the masked man both he and Naruto had battled with for a little while.
"What is he planning?" Nimato asked wanting to know the reason why everyone was so keen on getting their hands on the Bijuu.
"I have no idea I'm sorry...however it's not for something good...I sealed the Kyuubi into you hoping one day you could master it's power and fight this man and bring peace to this world" Minato explained to Nimato and the young Jinchuriki bit his lip in frustration.
"How do I bring peace to the world?" Nimato questioned as he noticed his father's form begin to disappear.
"That answer...is for you to find and I'm sure you'll do it however my chakra is fading I only have enough time to tighten the seal goodbye...my son" Minato stated as he touched the seal on Nimato's stomach and all the black liquid that had leaked out previously began to appear into the seal.
"...Thank you Tou-chan" Nimato whispered as Minato disappeared and the next thing he knew everything went black.
0°0°0°0°0°0
Pain watched as the large form of the Kyuubi raged from within the large sphere of earth the power of the Kyuubi was unbelievable. However Pain widened his eyes when the Kyuubi disappeared within a large cloud of smoke.
"What?" Pain questioned confused at what was happening but as soon as he saw Nimato standing on the large earth sphere he was in Sage Mode and looking down ready to fight.
"He was able to control it by will?" Pain wondered watching now as the sphere of earth began to crumble and fall.
Nimato landed on the ground as large pieces of rocks fell all around him. Looking around in confusion Nimato was startled when the small slug summon Tsunade had left him appeared from his jacket.
"Did...I do this?" Nimato questioned the slug however Katsuyu shook her head.
"No...it was him Nimato-kun" Katsuyu replied back making Nimato narrow his eyes as Pain got closer he had been lucky that one of his clones had gathered enough nature chakra for him to enter Sage Mode.
"You are stronger than I ever expected...You Namikaze's are truly monsters...unhuman even" Pain stated his breathing was heavy.
"Where is the real you?" Nimato asked he knew the Pain in front of him now wasn't the real body of the head.
"You Konoha shinobi are something else first Jiraiya and now you" Pain muttered amazed at how they could find his secret around his Pain's.
Running at Nimato with one of his chakra rods Pain tried to stab Nimato however thanks to the Sage Mode Nimato was able to avoid the blow and take the chakra rod off of him while kicking Pain away. Looking at the chakra rod in his hand Nimato stabbed it into his shoulder and was able to track the chakra that Nagato was sending to the Pain's.
"This fight is over" Nimato stated putting his hands into a seal and created two shadow clones that immediately began to form a RasenShuriken.
"That's not going to work on me" Pain said in confidence as he watched Nimato launch his attack.
Destroying the RasenShuriken as soon as it came within range Pain was forced to quickly jump out of the way of another RasenShuriken Nimato had created and was surprised to see Nimato descending upon him with a Rasengan in hand his Sage Mode now gone.
Pain smiled in relief as he felt his power become usable and pushed Nimato back however to Pains surprise Nimato created hundreds of shadow clones that were used to stop Nimato from being pushed back time after time.
"Impossible he withstood my attack..." Pain muttered dropping to his knees in exhaustion as the majority of Nimato's shadow clones had now been destroyed.
Noticing Nimato creating a Rasengan Pain was relieved that it wasn't a projectile attack and that Nimato had to get close for this attack to work since it gave Pain the time for his power to return.
"Someone like you with no answer should give up" Pain shouted while two of the shadow clones next to Nimato launched Nimato into the air towards Pain making the orange haired man widen his eyes.
"You should give up on me giving up" Nimato shouted as he struck Pain in his mid-section with a Rasengan launching him away defeated.
0°0°0°0°0°0
Sakura looked upon the unconscious form of her master she had to knock her out as she knew Tsunade wasn't in the best state of mind seeing the death of her love one was too much for her to bare. However Sakura made sure she only knocked her out and she was damn well sure that she knocked her master out from behind as even though she was her student Sakura was sure Tsunade would have flattened her had she tried to move Naruto's body.
"Katsuyu-sama how is the fight going?" Sakura asked the small slug that stayed next to Tsunade's side.
"Nimato...he has defeated the last Pain" Katsuyu answered in a somber tone however Sakura smiled at the news of Nimato defeating Pain.
"That's great where is he we need to heal him straight away" Sakura said knowing Nimato must be hurt from the fight.
"Nimato-kun...is currently on his way to meet the real Pain...he's asked for no one to follow him" Katsuyu responded shocking and angering Sakura at Nimato's recklessness.
0°0°0°0°0°0
Nimato panted slightly as he jumped from branch to branch in the forest just outside of Konoha he was exhausted, beat up and overall just tired. He had managed to convince both Shikamaru's and Ino's fathers into letting him meet up with the original Pain by himself.
He knew how reckless it was, how dangerous it was however he needed to see the real Pain face to face he had so much anger so many conflicting emotions right now that he wasn't sure what he was going to do.
Seeing the large tree he had been able to track Pain's chakra to Nimato took a breath before placing his hand on it and surprisingly instead of wood he could feel paper. Nimato ripped open an entrance in frustration and the moment he stepped into the paper tree he widened his eyes at what he saw.
Hanging there supported by what seemed to be a mechanical device of some kind was a worn out skinny man with red hair and large black chakra rods coming out of his back. Taking a step forward Nimato narrowed his eyes as he noticed a blue haired woman block his path.
"Konan...stop" Nagato stated looking towards Nimato who once he saw the Rinnegan knew this was the real body of Pain.
"So we meet at last..." Nagato stated intrigued in what Nimato was going to do.
Nimato stared at Nagato anger boiling within him this was the man who had killed his master, his sensei, his brother and destroyed his village and he could feel every fibre of his body urging him to go forward and rip this man's throat out however it wasn't in him...he just couldn't he was better than him Nimato knew that killing Pain wouldn't solve anything it would just fan the flames of hatred his master Jiraiya had told him about.
Elsewhere...
A pair of azure colored eyes snapped open and the figure immediately shielded his eyes from the sun that was temporarily blinding him. Sitting up the person was none other than Naruto Namikaze however as he looked around he quickly became confused by his surroundings.
He was in a room with bright blue walls the window next to the bed was open and a gentle breeze blew into the room. Standing up Naruto walked to a mirror in the room and sighed when he noticed nothing about him had changed his scar over his eye still remained however what Naruto did notice was a small picture frame on the cabinet next to the mirror. Picking it up Naruto found a small smile coming to his face as he looked at the picture it was a photo of him, his father and his mother smiling while a birthday cake was in front of them with four candles in the cake.
Thinking back Naruto could actually remember this photo being taken and quickly shaking his head he looked at the small teddy bear that was also on the dresser it was a small brown bear with one black button for an eye and one red button for the other Naruto could remember his mother stitching it when he had accidentally bit it off. Smelling something delicious being cooked and hearing the sound of his stomach grumbling in hunger Naruto wasted no time to rush out of the room and follow the smell.
As he walked around he recognized the building this was the house he had lived in before the Kyuubi attack on the village however from what Naruto knew the house had been destroyed in the attack. It seemed so nostalgic walking through the house again from the big things like pictures on the walls to the little things like markings on the walls from when he could remember his mother throwing stuff at his father when she became angry.
Walking down the stairs Naruto's body froze when he heard voices...voices he hadn't heard for a long time.
"No you just wait Naruto-chan gets the first bowl" Naruto heard the voice of his mother say he hadn't heard her voice in so long he hadn't realized how much he had missed it from the kind tone to the downright scary he had missed all of it.
"But Kushina I'm hungry" Naruto heard his father's voice reply and he almost let out a small laugh at his father's voice he remembered just how whipped his mother had made him.
"I don't care he'll be hungry when he wakes up so ju-"Before Kushina could finish her sentence she noticed Naruto appear at the doorway of the kitchen which made her stare at him in shock as he stood there in a pair of grey sweat pants and a black shirt.
"Naruto-chan..." Kushina whispered as she stared at her son her eyes brimmed with tears immediately and Minato stood up from the chair he had been sitting on that was around a small rectangular wooden table.
"Kaa-chan...Tou-san" Naruto said his legs moved forward on their own and before he knew it he felt something crash into him and looking down he could see his mother hugging him like Izumi he was a whole head taller than Kushina so he could feel his mother's tears soaking his chest.
"Welcome home...Naruto" Minato said placing his hand on his son's shoulder Minato was quite surprised at how tall his son was he was even a little taller than himself.
Naruto felt tears prickle at his eyes and quickly burying his face into his mother's hair Naruto hugged his mother back he had wanted to do this for so many years to meet them again had been his dream. Quickly rationalizing the situation Naruto thought of the last thing he could remember and that was his battle with Pain which led him to the only conclusion he could come up with.
"...I'm dead aren't I?" Naruto questioned making Minato look away sadly and Kushina's sobs became louder.
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Till next time, stay safe and happy !!