"Welcome to the Akatsuki, Uchiha Sasuke and Taka," said the Deva Path, or Yahiko's body.
Sasuke stared in shock at the assembled members of the Akatsuki.
He did not have such a grand welcome before.
On Pain's (Sasuke decided to call Nagato's puppets that for simplicity) left was Konan, and on his right was Uchiha Akihiko. Sasuke was... relatively sure that the Sharingan-bearing brunet was Naruto's clone. These three donned Amegakure hitai-ate -- indicating that none of them was a missing-nin. Sasuke numbly wondered, which of the major hidden villages did Naruto not have citizenship status in? He had seen Naruto's Kiri and Suna headbands before. Did that mean there were only Kumo and Iwa left?
At either side were the rest of the Akatsuki distributed. Konan's left had Deidara, Zetsu and Tobi. Akihiko's right had Itachi, Kisame and Hidan. From what Sasuke knew, Konan was Pain's partner, Akihiko had gotten Tobi, so Zetsu and Deidara had to be partners, Itachi was with Kisame, and Hidan... Well, his information stopped there. Was he to be paired with Hidan? That was a scary thought. Sasuke wondered why he kept being stuck with psychos -- first a research maniac and now a religious zealot.
As for the three remaining members of Taka, Sasuke did not consider them. After all, they were just a separate organisation (if four people could be regarded as an organisation) temporarily allied with the Akatsuki. He had no idea why Pain bothered to include Taka in his greeting. In the previous timeline, no one cared about Taka much -- other than Sasuke himself.
Sure enough, Pain's following words supported his assumption.
"Uchiha Sasuke, your partner is Hidan. Take this seal."
A ring with a seal identical to Kakuzu's old one was tossed over.
Sasuke was tempted to not catch it, allowing it to tumble to the ground, but he still had some semblance of a reputation to uphold here.
"Understood," said Sasuke, grabbing the dark-green ring and wearing it on his left middle finger.
Hidan looked askance at him with some disdain, and Sasuke was sorely tempted to stick the said finger up at him.
He took a deep breath.
He had to stay sober. His brother was here. Even if Sasuke did not care how others viewed him, Itachi's opinion of him would always matter.
"Bro-con."
When Sasuke heard Naruto's voice, he almost looked behind him -- he was certain that the blond had to be watching this scene. Or at least he was until he noticed the slight curve of Akihiko's lips. That proved that his sneaky teammate arranged this whole situation, going as far as hijacking an identity established by his clone for a first-class view of the show.
Looking at Akihiko directly also meant noticing the expression of disappointment on Itachi's face, seeing as his brother stood next to the fake Uchiha.
Sasuke winced.
"Should we give Uchiha Sasuke some time for his long-awaited reunion with Uchiha Itachi?" suggested Akihiko, prompting the whole group to disperse.
They were gone before Sasuke could count to ten.
Sasuke could not help but feel that this whole gig was orchestrated in advance...
"My foolish little otōto, why have you come to this dangerous place?" asked Itachi, pretences of evil discarded -- he knew that Naruto would have told his companion everything even if Sasuke failed to learn the truth in the previous timeline.
Sasuke looked down, scuffing the sole of his sandal on the roughly hewn stone floor.
He felt like a chastised boy as he replied, "I missed you, nii-san."
Itachi poked his forehead, as he always used to do.
"Baka," Itachi said affectionately.
"You're the idiot, Itachi," groused Sasuke. "Did you think shouldering the sins of the entire clan would make my life in Konoha easier? Didn't you think of other methods? Why would you have ever painted such a big target on your back? I hate you, nii-san. You are such a self-sacrificial dumbass. I... I've never wanted the honour of being born into the Uchiha clan. Instead of that sort of thing, I would've preferred having my respected older brother by my side. I was so lonely growing up. Your encouragement to take revenge on you made me push other people away. I couldn't keep my friends since Academy because I thought I would have to kill them. That was so mean of you."
Itachi chuckled, accepting Sasuke's every complaint, "Yes, I was wrong."
Sasuke glared at his brother, who acted like he was placating a petulant child.
"You think I'm just whining, don't you?" Sasuke accused.
"You are whining," Itachi replied smilingly, "but it's nice to feel loved again."
"The Uchiha clan lives, so don't feel too guilty," Sasuke sighed.
Sasuke did not have a chance to hear Itachi's response to that huge revelation, for an outsider (if the person in question could be considered such) interrupted the touching moment right then.
"Sasuke," drawled a green-eyed brunet, "if I lacked the foresight to isolate this space, you would have revealed all of your cards to Shiro."
Sasuke paled. For all of his war experience and secrecy, everything seemed to dissolve in front of his brother. He forgot that they were not in private and that White Zetsu's prying ears were never far away.
"And will your presence here not alert Zetsu, Naruto-kun?" Itachi calmly returned, surprisingly quick to accept the disclosure of game-changing information.
"Aki is on a break. I have been accompanying Sa'ri lately, so I've been going missing regularly anyway. Nonetheless, a blood clone is teaching my disciple in the open for Shiro's clone to see," Naruto explained, lying on an invisible air cushion in a show of absurd chakra control. "I've been thinking -- perhaps I should take some time to master using my dōjutsu. I have the Rinnegan and Tenseigan, but I can't use either well. Frankly, I'm so bad at it that I'm better off using my innate chakra sense."
Sasuke pursed his lips. "I still don't see how you and Sakura can do that. I can burn through my chakra trying and still fail to walk a single step."
Naruto rolled his forest-green eyes and stretched out his long limbs -- the form of Akihiko was a fair bit taller than his usual self. "Just adjust gravity to levitate. You have the Rinnegan too. Don't be like me and learn to use it properly."
Sasuke's eye twitched. "That still needs peak-level chakra control, which is difficult with these constantly-expanding chakra reserves. The free chakra boost from Orochimaru isn't helping my case, even if the meditation techniques you taught us can tame my chakra."
Naruto shrugged. "I wouldn't know. I've never liked using the Rinnegan to do stuff I can do with my seals. I enjoyed relying on it to see colours, but it didn't turn out well for me due to its absurd synergy with Tenseigan. Then again, I have no reason to use either dōjutsu alone."
"Speaking of which, you can do space-time ninjutsu with seals alone?" Sasuke remembered to bring it up at last.
"Isn't that basic for recreating the Hiraishin?" Naruto asked, uncomprehending.
"I meant stuff like turning back time," Sasuke emphasised the last word.
Naruto blinked. "I mean, yeah. I can do that, but it's a bad idea. The world can only be rewound so many times before all the causal branches collapse."
Sasuke gave him an odd look. "Didn't we..."
"Yes, we did it -- or at least something similar. And I never knew there would be such drastic consequences to such an act," replied Naruto. "And there is a big difference between reverting things to their previous state and jumping to another world line. I believe that the kinjutsu we used did the latter. Truly turning back time is complicated -- it wouldn't have been enough even if we sacrificed the existences of all ten bijū without knowing the essence of the law of time."
"Then, what happened to our original timeline?" Sasuke was unsure if he truly wanted the answer, but sick curiosity forced the question from his mouth.
Naruto was painfully honest. "Barren, destroyed, uninhabited -- exactly how we left it."
Sasuke went silent, the words sinking in with the heaviness of lead.
"Well," Sasuke forced the words out, "let's save our friends in this world. At least it gave us a second chance to be with everyone again."
Naruto sighed. "Don't overthink, Sasuke. It's still your world. They're still your friends. This might be what you may call a parallel world, but its root is the same as the world we travelled from."
Although Sasuke did not quite understand what Naruto meant, hearing the latter's assurance did assuage his hidden fears.
"So you have given Maru to Kimimaro," Naruto mused. "I was planning to wait until after the war, but I suppose no harm was done..."
Sasuke's eye twitched in irritation. "'Ruto, that child flew into Kimimaro's hands regardless of my will."
"As his guardian, you could have stopped him," Naruto absently corrected, running his fingers over several necklaces of varying lengths around his neck.
The shortest was a simple crystal on a braided leather cord. It was an orange-hued amber etched with a stylistic scarlet three-dimensional communication matrix that resembled the nine-tailed fox that he was publicly the jinchūriki of -- as if a miniature Kurama was encased within the amber. The shape and colour resembled a flame on a burning candle wick. It was a choker, the charm resting on the base of his throat.
The next was a platinum chain necklace of standard length that rested between his collarbones. The chain had such narrow links that it seemed like a single glittering strand of metal wire. Three prongs made up the centrepiece, a long cylindrical piece of polished gem silica with a loop of gold and silver through which it was strung to the necklace in the middle. Identical shorter pieces of amethyst of equal width hung on either side of the rare gem, swirls of gold attaching it to the fine platinum chain.
The two aforementioned necklaces were hidden from human perception, though one with the ability to sense chakra in some shape or form might have been able to detect them.
The longest was a matinee necklace, hanging below his collarbone -- the Shodai Hokage's necklace he had received from Tsunade. It was the only piece among the three accessories that were neither worn for utility nor crafted by his own hands. The black string was somewhat elastic. It seemed to be made from a strange tree sap and was surprisingly durable. Two beads, which Naruto assumed to be made with chakra-conductive steel, were placed on either side of a polished piece of rare blue jade.
He remembered that Tsunade called the jade "Kesshōseki (結晶石)", which was fundamentally wrong. The term was used to refer to rock crystal quartz. The stone that was the centrepiece of this necklace was an uncommon variety of naturally blue jadeite. She was not wrong, however, in saying that this necklace could be sold for a high price. For such high-quality jade, skilled gem appraisers would be willing to fork out a hefty sum to obtain it -- not to mention its origin. The shinobi world would pay any price for an artefact belonging to the late Shodai Hokage -- the necklace was effectively priceless.
"Oh."
Itachi and Sasuke looked at Naruto questioningly.
"Jiraiya is here," Naruto replied in lieu of an explanation, summoning Akihiko and returning to his usual appearance. "Aki, Kuro should have instructions for you soon. Do help me wrap up this conversation and clear the evidence before Shiro comes to fetch you."
The blond promptly disappeared, running off without another word.
He trusted Akihiko would update him if the Uchiha brothers said anything of significance.
ʕ•ﻌ•ʔ
"I'm short on time here, Inari," Naruto sighed, using a foot to shift the fox out of his path.
Inari was indignant. "This is serious, Naruto-sama. Dei-chan blew up my crops!"
Naruto face-palmed. "And I told you I couldn't help you with that."
The white fox transformed into a beautiful young woman and, again, blocked his way.
Her arms crossed, lips pouted, Inari complained, "That kid you dumped on me is too destructive."
"You don't get brownie points for being coquettish," Naruto replied flatly, pushing Inari aside and continuing his journey toward the borders of Amegakure.
Inari was undeterred by Naruto's lack of sympathy, trailing after the blond. "All I'm asking for is a way to protect my crops."
It was hard to believe that this was the same deity that resembled an old man during the solstice banquets, but Naruto did not have the patience to deal with Inari at the moment.
"Take this and leave," Naruto huffed, tossing a sword he made on the spot backwards.
It had fūinjutsu engraved on its blade and hilt, essentially a talisman in the form of a sword.
Inari caught the sword effortlessly, weighing the sword and inspecting the etchings.
"Protective talisman. Stick it in the ground in the middle of a fertile field, and your land will be protected from harmful elements," Naruto stated before vanishing on the spot with a Hiraishin -- he really should have done so sooner.
It would have certainly prevented him from being impeded by an agricultural deity.
Naruto concealed his presence before appearing invisibly in the pipes next to Jiraiya.
He stared at the toads attached to each of Jiraiya's shoulders.
This look was new to Naruto.
It was no wonder Jiraiya never saw fit to demonstrate his Sage Mode -- it was too uncool for him to show to his youngest student.
An unpleasant croaking chorus echoed throughout the drainage system, every sound in the toads' song charged with a little too much chakra -- it was hardly a refined form of genjutsu, only serving to entrap and immobilise. Naruto frowned. It might have been less uncomfortable if the genjutsu had been more polished. As it was, Naruto found the technique rather disgusting.
With no offence to the toads singing the duet, of course.
Naruto would not block his senses to avoid the muddy swamp of toad art genjutsu, even if he wholly disliked the sensation he experienced due to his chakra sensitivity -- this was not enough to disorient him.
Of course, the same could not be said for the three Paths of Pain that Nagato had sent to repel the invader. The toad song was sufficient to create a large opening in the formation. Jiraiya took advantage of the narrow space to restrict the vision of two Paths and leapt to kick the third down.
With little effort, the three Paths of Pain present were sealed in a cubic sealing formation secured by four summonses -- stone sword-wielding toad warriors of Mount Myōboku. Each of the animated corpses was stabbed through the front with an oversized stone greatsword and placed on the ground. Naruto nodded to himself. So Jiraiya had put up a decent fight against Pain.
Naruto was not worried about Nagato.
All the fellow Uzumaki shared with the Six Paths of Pain that he controlled via chakra conductive (or inhibiting -- they were versatile) rods was their vision and hearing. Any injury inflicted on the Paths did not affect the controller. This was an application of the puppetry technique, in fact, and did not require the black rods unique to a Rinnegan-wielder to be used.
Of course, having those very chakra rods lowered the threshold by reducing the skill requirement for the controller while increasing the range of movement for the puppets.
Naruto knew, from experience, that sealing these puppets was all it took to rid Pain of his arms and legs.
Sure enough, another puppet crept up behind Jiraiya right then.
"Weren't you just reminding me never to underestimate my enemies, Jiraiya-sensei?"
Jiraiya reacted in a millisecond, but that was enough time for the Asura Path to obliterate his forearm -- leaving a large hole in the wall in the process.
Naruto, witnessing this scene, was reminded of the state in which he found Jiraiya's body during the previous timeline.
Perhaps he would have to use Jiraiya's cloned copy after this battle to restore his teacher to an optimal state...
The Naraka Path swiftly recovered the three fallen puppets while the two old toads on Jiraiya's shoulders were making a fuss, allowing the Six Paths of Pain to be gathered to face off against Jiraiya.
"We share the name 'Pain'," said the Deva Path with whom Sasuke had just been in the same room. "What you have been graced with is the honour of facing the Six Paths of Pain."
Jiraiya immediately recognised Yahiko's body despite the chakra rod piercings studded all over the puppet.
"Y-You are..." Jiraiya stammered. " That face is... Yahiko?!"
Naruto idly wondered if Sakura would be able to heal this extent of damage. If he stopped the fight now, would Jiraiya not need to get his vessel replaced? It had some merits worth considering... He shook his head.
Having a student interfere for his sake would be a massive blow to Jiraiya's pride as a teacher.
Doing anything right now meant disrespecting Jiraiya as a soldier, a fellow warrior fighting for the same cause.
Jiraiya's confusion was evident. "But how? He just said you were dead... And your eyes..."
Nagato laughed, finding some irony in this odd reunion.
"So you still see Yahiko in me," said the Deva Path, failing to betray Nagato's wry amusement. "I suppose that's only to be expected of Jiraiya-sensei. Do not be mistaken, sensei. Yahiko is dead. The man who stands before you is Pain and no other."
Nagato still treasured his dead friend's corpse, not daring to let it rot and return to the earth though he knew Yahiko's soul had long passed. It was almost ridiculous now. The Path he made with Yahiko's corpse was a constant reminder of his absence, yet it did not allow him to fool himself into thinking that his friend still lived.
"What a joke," Nagato whispered hoarsely, not to be heard by Jiraiya.
He saw his teacher right in front of him, but they were so far apart in reality.
Jiraiya stood in the fringes of Amegakure, facing off against his Six Paths of Pain, while Nagato was trapped in a cage of his own making, sitting on a hateful throne at the highest point of the hidden village of rain.
Nagato barely noticed Naruto's entry.
The concealed Naruto observing Jiraiya had been replaced by a shadow clone, and the original now stepped into the control room and stopped in front of his clansman.
Jiraiya was still deeply shaken by the arrival of the Deva Path.
His emotions swayed his judgement as he interrogated the puppet wildly, "Are you Nagato or Yahiko? Who are you?! Tell me!"
Jiraiya was completely preoccupied with the puzzling appearance of the Deva Path.
Nagato, his frail body tense as it leaned forward on his chair, was equally absorbed in the exchange.
"We are Pain!" declared the Six Paths in unison, jumping towards the Toad Sage.
"Nagato-ani," Naruto called out, somewhat impulsively.
Nagato did not react.
At the edge of Amegakure, Jiraiya was stabbed by a chakra rod and realised its function. He recognised the Animal Path as a shinobi he had fought before, and he was coaxing the elderly toad couple that was on his shoulders. Fukasaku refused to abandon Jiraiya, knowing that he was likely aiming to make his final stand here to buy time for Shima to return to Konohagakure with the corpse of the Animal Path that they managed to defeat.
One toad less, Jiraiya could no longer maintain his Sage form. Without being able to use senjutsu, Jiraiya was much weaker than before. He barely put up a fight against the remaining five Paths of Pain.
He struggled valiantly with pure taijutsu but failed to deal further damage against Nagato's puppets.
"Nagato-ani!" Naruto shouted, trying again to get the other's attention.
Jiraiya was pinned to the ground, skewered with numerous chakra rods that prevented him from mustering up a single drop of chakra.
However, Naruto's distraction caused the Deva Path to hesitate.
The black rod aimed at Jiraiya's throat missed its course, glancing off the man's neck.
Nagato mechanically lifted his head, finally taking note of the blond standing before him.
"Na..." the first syllable was accidentally transmitted to the Deva Path in his state of immersion, but Nagato managed to catch himself in time. "Naruto-kun?"
"Spare Jiraiya for me, would you? As a member of the same clan, if nothing else," Naruto calmly put his request across.
The redhead before him was unresistant.
"If you wish," Nagato agreed with ease.
Naruto's shadow clone immediately transported Jiraiya to the control room.
Jiraiya had a brief glimpse of his emaciated former student and lively current student standing face-to-face.
Not giving their teacher any time to kick up a fuss, Naruto stuffed Jiraiya into his pocket dimension with his shadow clone.
"I am the jinchūriki of the Kyūbi no Kitsune," announced Naruto, holding Nagato's gaze. "I'm the last piece you need to complete the Jūbi."
Nagato chuckled. "I expected something like that. Any other mind-blowing revelations?"
Naruto blinked a few times.
He knew that he had Nagato on his side, but this went more smoothly than he expected it to...
"Not going to catch me?" Naruto probed, spreading his arms out -- this defied his promises to Gaara and Kaien to never unnecessarily place himself in harm's way, but what else would he do?
Anyway, he trusted Nagato.
"No, I will not capture you," quietly replied Nagato. "How can I bear to see you suffer? I don't want to see the ones dear to me in pain ever again."
Naruto was admittedly surprised.
He has since dispelled his Amegakure clone and assimilated the associated memories, but he never thought he had gained a position of such importance in Nagato's heart.
Before Naruto could voice his thoughts, Nagato continued, "I will rebel against the self-proclaimed Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Akihiko."
Naruto tilted his head to the side, perplexed. "Isn't Aki your friend?"
"Yes, but he stands for collecting bijū. I won't allow him to hurt you..." explained Nagato before he belatedly realised that Naruto was using an unlikely nickname.
Naruto grinned at Nagato.
The physically older Uzumaki looked up at Naruto, feeling a bit lost.
"And that was all part of my plan," Naruto cheerfully replied. "Tobi-kun would forever stand below Aki, and Akihiko is my clone. The mastermind behind the scenes all along was Kuro, and the revival of the Jūbi is merely a means to resurrect Kaguya, a figure once known as the Usagi no Megami. I planned to allow this scheme to proceed, allowing all radical factors to be removed and for the people of this world to obtain the skills to protect it."
Nagato accepted Naruto's words with surprising ease.
Instead, he seemed more focused on one implicitly stated detail.
"Which means you'll have the Kyūbi extracted and die in the process like eight jinchūriki before you," grumbled Nagato.
Naruto snorted at the bizarreness of the situation.
As they said, the truth was stranger than fiction.
"I won't die," Naruto assured Nagato, only to receive an unimpressed look.
There was an awkward pause as the two Uzumaki stared at each other.
Naruto thought it over a little more before proposing seriously, "Then, how about I summon the Shinigami and give Aki Yin Kurama?"
Nagato's eyes hardened further, turning practically frosty.
"I won't give up my soul!" Naruto hurriedly added. "I'll just give the Shinigami a pseudo-soul placed in a puppet core. I tried that the last time I summoned it. I would be fine. I'm just going to get my father out of its belly and extract the half of the Kyūbi he sealed in himself."
Nagato sighed, finally relenting, "As long as you're safe, Naruto-kun."
Naruto averted his eyes, but Nagato thankfully did not notice.
Although Naruto was sure that his soul could not be taken by force, he did not know if it would be so easy to offset the value of the deceased Yondaime Hokage who was also a jinchūriki with the Yin half of Kurama intact. Summoning the true Shinigami was hardly a safe affair, though he was better off than others who endeavoured to do the same. There would be risks, and Naruto knew he would have to prepare more tributes for the Shinigami.
Nagato, finally willing to return to the matter at hand, next inquired, "Why was our Akatsuki chosen to be the base of Zetsu's operations and the centre of this convoluted ruse?"
Naruto pointed at Nagato's eyes.
"Those Rinnegan of yours. They were specially cultivated by the late Uchiha Madara under Kuro's guidance. Shiro was also developed by Uchiha Madara to support his goal of attaining Senju cells," he explained simply. "He was under the mistaken assumption that Kuro had been made using his own cells and believed in him wholeheartedly, trusting that Kuro would fulfil his wishes as an extension of his own will and never suspecting that he was being manipulated."
Nagato dug his fingers into the edge of his lower eyelids as he felt the realisation dawn upon him.
He laughed, sounding slightly unhinged. "So I'm just a vessel for this pair of eyes! A container to store these cursed Rinnegan, no different from the jinchūriki we captured."
"I've come from a future where the ending Zetsu envisioned was largely accomplished," Naruto elaborated. "In that world, humanity was left on the brink of extinction. Please live this time, Nagato-ani. Even if you are but the holder of the Rinnegan to everyone else, you're still family to me."
They were members of the same clan, and Naruto genuinely felt a sense of kinship with Nagato.
"Akatsuki, the dawn of a new world. That has been the motto we've lived by for the past several years. Before that, Akatsuki referred to the coming of dawn -- the light that came after the dark war. Yahiko wanted everyone to be happy," Nagato murmured, looking down at his body.
Different from the disgust that he viewed his crippled self with ever since Yahiko's demise, there was now a sense of wonder -- as if it was miraculous in itself that he still had an identity that he could fall back on despite his reliance on his Six Paths of Pain.
Nagato has always been attached to the Akatsuki even though the core figure, their leader, was no more. It was Yahiko's legacy, a crystallisation of the beliefs they held in their childhood. Even if their path diverged and the organisation lost its meaning, Nagato could not let go. Although he had long accepted Yahiko's passing, he was still tied down by sentiment -- feelings that lingered still from their old bond. Now, he finally felt as if he could give all of this up.
Besides, the current Akatsuki... needed neither Uzumaki Nagato nor the "God" Pain.
"I will leave Akatsuki," Nagato declared with a note of finality. "Konan, too... It would endanger her to remain here, right? I'll explain the situation to her and bring her with me. Please take care of this place until the end in my stead, Akihiko-san."
Naruto scratched his cheek. "It almost seems like you've caught onto the fact that I was Akihiko before."
Nagato accepted everything too readily, and he was adjusting his attitude with too much ease.
Nagato shook his head slightly, but the action elicited a harrowing cough. "I... I would believe... anything you told me, Naruto-kun. You have a... a certain sort of charm," he spoke, breathlessly. Rattling breaths peppered his sentences, his lungs lacking the capacity to sustain sentences for much longer. "Huh... I'm sorry. My old... illness is acting up... again."
Naruto winced as Nagato coughed up blood.
It was a fairly common sight to Akihiko, but Nagato tried to avoid looking so sickly in front of Naruto.
Naruto's gaze roved over the chakra rods on Nagato's back that have turned the man into a grotesque human pincushion.
It did not seem like a regular problem that could be patched up using medical ninjutsu -- Nagato was in a much worse state than Jiraiya. It was quite mystifying that he was still breathing despite looking like a shrivelled corpse already. Naruto always knew Nagato had trouble eating, but had never been so critical in his scrutiny of his fellow Uzumaki.
"As..." Another painful cough. "I was saying... I thought that you bore... a distinct... resemblance to one... another. If you told me that... the sky is green... I might just... believe you."
Naruto was beginning to feel quite distressed by Nagato's struggle to speak, even if his life was far from being in immediate danger.
"Stop talking. Do you need water, Nagato-ani? I'll bring you to..." Naruto's gaze lingered on the scarlet blood staining the papery-thin skin of Nagato's hand, shining brighter than his head of dull red hair. "I will bring you back up to full health." He would have to skip Sakura's diagnosis on this one.
"I'm fine, Naruto-kun," Nagato assured unconvincingly, smiling weakly at the blond. "I'll call..." A painful coughing fit swallowed his next words.
"Telling Konan comes later. I'm going to put you in a rejuvenated body," Naruto announced with no heed to Nagato's opinion.
Naruto drew a three-dimensional sealing matrix on a chunk of amethyst on the spot, completing the array in less than a minute and placing the violet quartz on Nagato's head.
"Transfer," Naruto whispered, causing seals glowing with chakra to emerge from the stone and wind around Nagato.
The Uzumaki could not marvel at the impeccable sealing technique for long before his consciousness was successfully transferred, the so-called God of Amegakure collapsing in his throne as a puppet with its strings cut would -- an ironic contrast, considering how the man was the controller of the Six Paths of Pain.
"Nagato-ani." Naruto clutched the semiprecious stone close, practically hugging it. "Why didn't you tell me that you were suffering?"
He did not wish to hear Nagato's answer -- Naruto did not even intend for his complaint to be heard. His relationship with Nagato was everything that he was envious of Sasuke for in their previous lifetime. Their blood ties were thinner, of course, but Naruto was satisfied by simply having Nagato's concern for his wellbeing. Agewise, Naruto knew that he was much older than the one he called older brother. However, the care he enjoyed was undoubtedly that of an older brother towards his younger sibling.
Naruto had known that Nagato was unwell and had willfully averted his eyes to this fact.
It was partly because he did not want to alter too many variables but also because he feared doing anything to Nagato would impede the brotherly connection between them that was so similar to Itachi's love for Sasuke.
Upon recognising these feelings, Naruto felt shame wash over him.
He thought he had gotten over his childish desire for the affection of others, but Naruto subconsciously continued to seek it all the same. This pursuit of emotional attachments even came with the neglect of the welfare of those he cared for. Naruto tried to be rational and cool-headed, yet he continued to be swayed by emotions time and time again.
Naruto should have known that Nagato was unwell -- it was obvious.
Naruto should have prioritised Nagato's health -- this was someone he cared about.
Naruto should have never played on Nagato's desire for belonging, his longing for his clan, to obtain a brother figure.
He was selfish.
So unbelievably selfish.
He has done it again, even after promising himself not to manipulate another's feelings ever again -- not since Iruka died in vain trying to protect the next generation of shinobi while grinning at Naruto, believing in him until the bitter end. He did not deserve the care of such a kind individual. He never did.
A clear voice cut through his thoughts. "Naruto?"
Naruto's rumination came to an abrupt halt at the arrival of a sudden visitor.
There were still telltale fluctuations from the execution of the Hiraishin.
The person's chakra tickled his senses, a familiar signature that he would visually classify as green -- like an emerald.
It took him a long beat to identify, "...Sakura?"
His eyes wandered around, taking in his surroundings.
He stood in a laboratory in their hideout -- a clean and pristine room outfitted with assorted experimental equipment. This was not the treatment room that Sakura had designed or the personal laboratory where she spent most of her free time either. It was not the hidden room filled with specimens or the chamber that held the genetically-cloned bodies of every human whose life bore significance to Naruto. It was another disused laboratory, prepared in case he ever decided to run some chemical experiments. There was no reason for either of them to be here, but Sakura must have sought his presence if she appeared here using Hiraishin.
Naruto's gaze finally rested on the pink-haired young woman.
"What are you doing here?" he asked hoarsely.
Sakura was staring at him blankly.
Her eyes were unfocused, searchingly roving over his form.
"They are missing," noted Sakura, equally mystified and horrified.
Naruto blinked a few times.
He did not understand what she meant.
"Threads," she elaborated. "Your soul is pure white, like a thick mist or an ocean... perhaps a compressed galaxy of stars, but I don't see any... relationship threads."
Naruto's confusion cleared, and he smiled thinly. "I don't have anything connecting me to this world or its inhabitants -- I've never had them. You don't have to worry. Nothing is missing."
Sakura wanted to ask, but she was too timid to broach the subject.
"So you have unlocked the power of sight of the Phoenix race," Naruto mused. "You can even see through relationships. It's good that you found your place as the Ice Saintess, though I am unsure... Could one of our peers become the Fire Saint? The Dark clan has never sought such a figure. Maybe Sakura will have to shoulder this role alone for a bit longer..."
Sakura was reminded by Naruto's contemplation of her position as the Ice Saintess -- she had a Fire counterpart. She has long since forgotten that Oswald mentioned this detail during their first meeting. There was indeed no mention of a Dark Saint or Saintess, though she was unaware that such a position did not exist. Maybe the Dark Phoenixes had a different role and did not require a saint.
"Do you plan to give anyone else a mythical summoning contract?" Sakura inquired, unable to rein her curiosity in.
Naruto nodded unthinkingly. "I've distributed a few, but our Konoha group hasn't received summonses yet."
Sakura frowned at the revelation that Naruto had once again done things behind her back.
Then again, it would be overstepping for her to nag him about the mythical contracts. That had nothing to do with her, after all. Sakura herself was a beneficiary of Naruto's magnanimity, and she had no place to prevent others from obtaining mythical summonses as well.
"Did you need something from me?" Naruto rephrased his earlier question -- it was obvious that Sakura had used the seal to Hiraishin to his position.
Sakura shook her head mutely.
She came to check if Naruto's proclamation that he was no longer human had affected his soul and take a peek at how their relationships were reflected concretely, never anticipating that they would not share any such connections despite the depth of their trust in each other. She did not doubt the emotions that they shared. She knew Naruto cared about everyone, so the absence of these threads had to be related to the oddities in Naruto's identity that even Ostara had hinted at.
Aoi stepped forward and bowed with the highest formality -- a dogeza.
"Master, please tell me about the arch-humans. I want to know what happened to them," Aoi entreated.
Naruto tilted his head to the side.
"I have no clue about this," he admitted readily.
Aoi looked completely crestfallen.
"But I know. Those sunken ruins are the remains of the former human civilisation ruled by arch-humans. They predated the bijū and thrived ten thousand years ago, boasting superior technology that modern humans cannot match. You found traces of the fūinjutsu used then and the dragon egg that heralded their demise," said Mugetsu. "They were around when the seed of the Shinju fell, and their intervention was how I became absorbed as an extension of the world's consciousness rather than a mere parasite of this planet."
'And when did they fall?' Naruto wondered.
"Two thousand years ago. A short millennium before Ōtsutsuki Kaguya descended and ate the chakra fruit. In that time, the peaceful world arch-humans built and ruled over became embroiled in war as the surviving humanity repopulated the continent," divulged Mugetsu.
Naruto rubbed his chin. 'So there are no other traces besides the sunken kingdom?'
"Their influence on the continent was eradicated by the sole survivor, who travelled and mingled with the ordinary folk. The remnant bloodline of the arch-humans was thus fully assimilated into the surviving humanity. Not even you could trace how much of the arch-human's genetics has survived to this day, Naruto," Mugetsu was quick to dissuade.
'So they messed with the weird egg and were exterminated in the backlash?' Naruto summarised in amazement.
Mugetsu was tactful. "The arch-human civilisation was flooded. It was a disaster that very few survived. The leadership tried to save as many as possible, but most perished in the process."
Naruto was reluctantly impressed by the arch-humans he only just learned about. 'They cared about their people. They were good rulers.'
"The surviving arch-human must have been quite paranoid, but his choice to destroy their technology was the correct one. The immature civilisation born in the destruction was not ready for such advanced toys and might have destroyed themselves in the conflict, even if they did not discover the egg and repeat their predecessors' mistake," Mugetsu explained.
'And it's one hundred per cent safe for me to have that dangerous egg?' Naruto confirmed.
Naruto had a feeling that Mugetsu was rolling his eyes at him. "Of course. It chose to bond with you on contact."
Naruto nodded. 'One other thing, it isn't a dragon.'
"That's what we call it, for simplicity," Mugetsu ground out, refusing to admit his mistake.
Naruto chuckled. "Well, dear child, Mugetsu knows what happened, even if I didn't."
Aoi perked up visibly.
"Once upon a time," Naruto began to retell the story as a fairy tale, "there was a race of humans who reigned supreme over the world..."
ʕ•ﻌ•ʔ
Naruto stood between Konan and Akihiko as a glass casket that contained Nagato's discarded shell was lowered into the earth. The Rinnegan was hidden behind the corpse's closed eyelids, and the Akatsuki robe was wrapped around Nagato's gaunt and skeletal frame. The coffin was filled with unwithering paper flowers folded by Amegakure's grieving populace, and a realistic paper rose made by Konan was placed in the corpse's hands on its chest. Naruto had folded an Uzumaki scarlet rose and added it to the pile of white origami flowers, a splash of colour contrasting with the white of mourning that covered even the Akatsuki's red cloud on the robe.
Seeing this, Konan giggled despite the sombre mood.
"Thank you, Naruto-kun, for bringing colour to our lives."
There was a soft crunch of popcorn being chewed -- Shiro.
Or one of the white Zetsu beings that had been "converted".
Naruto closed his eyes briefly and, upon confirming that it was not Shiro or one of his connected clones, deleted the featureless white being.
Naruto turned to look at Konan. "Not at all. Thank you for being on my side, Konan."
Still smiling, Konan handed Akihiko her folded Akatsuki robe with an envelope on it -- her resignation letter.
"We would always choose you, Naruto-kun," she promised. "From today, neither Nagato nor myself is a member of the Akatsuki."
The glass coffin was thus buried in a hidden corner on Amegakure soil in an unmarked grave as the supposedly dead Uzumaki Nagato watched from afar.
ʕ•ﻌ•ʔ
"I am now your leader, and you will address me as such," Akihiko announced gravely, his Sharingan sweeping over the projections of the seven missing-nin assembled before him.
Only Sasuke did not wear a scratched hitai-ate, but no one cared enough to point that out.
"Prove yourself, Uchiha Sasuke. You might have shown your strength by slaying Orochimaru, but that says nothing of your capabilities. Bring back the Hachibi Jinchūriki," commanded Akihiko.
Sasuke answered readily -- there was no reason to be apprehensive when this was Naruto's clone, "Understood. I will bring back the Hachibi."
"Hidan." Akihiko glanced at the grey-haired Jashin worshipper.
Hidan bowed his head. "Understood, Leader-sama. I'll follow Uchiha Sasuke and report on his performance."
ʕ•ﻌ•ʔ
"Aki-chan~" sang Shiro, slinging an arm over Akihiko's shoulder. "You did great!"
Tobi, or Uchiha Obito, was uncharacteristically quiet as he watched Kuro ruffle Akihiko's hair.
Kuro, too, was cheerful. "Just two more bijū, and we can commence the Eye of the Moon plan."
Akihiko ducked to escape Zetsu's grip and replied, "One. Uchiha Sasuke will bring back the Hachibi."
Zetsu nodded. "The Kyūbi is in your hands, Aki-chan," Shiro reminded merrily. Kuro looked at Obito, finally acknowledging his presence. "Obito, you are to follow as Akihiko's official partner." Shiro added, "Don't get in his way." Kuro stated, "Remember that Akihiko represents Madara-sama's will."
Obito glowered at Akihiko through his one remaining eye and gritted out, "Got it."
Was he not Uchiha Madara's sole handpicked apprentice? The younger, more talented Uchiha only appeared in recent years -- he could not be ranked higher than him. Even so, he had no reason to doubt Zetsu. He knew Kuro was Madara's clone. There was no way Zetsu, who was more loyal than Obito, could betray his respected "creator".
"If you slip up and your senpai here has to pick up the slack, you'll give up and allow me to lead Akatsuki," Obito challenged.
Akihiko was dismissive. "Do as you will."
The haughty attitude of the younger Uchiha caused Obito's eye to twitch, but there was nothing he could do about it.
"The Kyūbi Jinchūriki won't be easy even for you," griped Obito, crossing his arms.
Akihiko raised an eyebrow. "So you'll do better?"
Obito spluttered as he pointed at Akhiko accusingly, "You... to your senpai...!"
"Tobi-chan," Shiro drawled, "in which way do you think you are Aki-chan's better?"
"I joined the organisation first!" Obito said indignantly. "I was also with Madara-sensei while this guy was still a snotty brat!"
"You're only three years older," Akihiko corrected, ignoring Obito's furious glare.
Shiro frowned at Obito. "I thought Tobi-chan was a good boy." Kuro blandly replied, "We raised Akihiko, but Obito was picked up later."
Obito was left dumbfounded.
Of course, the insinuation was that Akihiko was an exclusive pawn they developed from a blank slate while Obito was Madara's proxy who had a personality of his own -- even if Obito was quite malleable. However, the other reading of those words, albeit false, refuted Obito's claim to seniority. Kuro was nonetheless sure of his ability to make even Uchiha Madara believe that lie.
In fact, Kuro was confident that the whole world was his chessboard.
He never realised that only one piece remained under his control now.
And hence, Uchiha Obito became the only living adversary of humanity.
ʕ•ﻌ•ʔ
"We have come for you, Hachibi Jinchūriki," said Sasuke.
B looked up from polishing his swords and grinned at Sasuke and Hidan.
"Uninvited guests, no better than pests," he rapped lamely.
Hidan pulled a face. "Do your thing, Uchiha."
Sasuke jumped into a fast-paced kenjutsu battle -- never had he been so glad that Naruto was a kenjutsu master with no equal. If not for his experience in sparring with Naruto, Sasuke would have never been able to counter B's ridiculously swift and unpredictable assault. Unlike Naruto, who had no limit to the number of swords he could control simultaneously with chakra strings, B could only wield seven. B's bijū chakra also took some effort for Sasuke to manoeuvre around, but it was still doable by only the reinforcement of Kusanagi with Raiton chakra.
"If Jashin-sama didn't want the jinchūriki delivered intact," muttered Hidan, "they would have made excellent sacrifices."
Unfortunately, they were "neighbours" -- people Hidan was never to kill.
A clone of Shiro Zetsu was munching on popcorn nearby, enjoying the show.
"Zetsu is watching the action."
Sasuke tensed, almost getting hit by the eighth appendage of the chakra cloak.
"B, I'll need you to go all out. Sasuke will be able to handle it," B, too, heard Naruto's voice.
"Kyū-san," B reasoned, "your friend is struggling with Gyūki's chakra. The man would die if I brought out Tailed Beast Mode, yeah."
Considering the situation, Naruto refrained from commenting on B's poor rhyming sense. "It doesn't seem like he's going all out either. He hasn't activated his Sharingan."
B looked at Sasuke and jumped back.
"It's time for number eight. Disillusionment and destruction await. When I transform into my true form, a beast you must meet, yeah," B rapped seriously.
Unlike Naruto, Sasuke kindly expressed, "That doesn't even rhyme."
B looked somewhat abashed, but that did not prevent his transformation into the Hachibi.
A massive eight-tailed Ushi-oni appeared, dwarfing the Uchiha in size.
At the same time, the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan spun into life in the previously onyx eyes of the last officially-recognised progeny of the Uchiha clan.
Sasuke recalled his unrefined usage of Amaterasu during the previous timeline... It was embarrassing to remember that dark history. Not only had he been unable to control the spread of the black flames, but it also impeded his vision. All the flames served to do was provide their target with a chance to flee -- which later turned out to be beneficial as this facilitated Naruto's later meeting with B.
While his current abilities would not allow a repeat of such a failure, Sasuke no longer felt that a victory won through his cheat code -- the inextinguishable flames of Amaterasu -- was worthwhile. He had seen Naruto's matches during the Chūnin Exams and felt inspired by them. Even when one was on a higher skill level than others, there could be an honourable form of combat that allowed both sides to show their respective skills.
That scenario might not be wholly applicable here, but Sasuke could think of at least five methods through which he could triumph over B on the spot -- the latter's escape was no longer an issue due to Naruto's influence.
As such, Sasuke could safely engage in a physical wrestling match -- or the closest equivalent available to him -- with the Hachibi itself.
Sasuke wreathed himself in solidified chakra, forming a suit of armour to effectively match the size of the bijū -- the legendary Complete Body Susanoo. The avatar of amethyst-purple was so densely packed with chakra that it almost seemed opaque, towering over the land like the bijū before it. It was unlike the Susanoo that Sasuke had manifested in his past life. It once took the form of a proud Tengu warrior donning traditional Warring States-era armour with a long nose and feathered wings on its back, but it now more closely resembled a human. It wore Kirin-style armour, lacked wings, was covered in amethyst flames and had a long electric mane. It wore a single-horned Kirin-shaped helmet reminiscent of Ruì's intimidating adult form, and a magatama necklace hung on its neck.
The shape of this Susanoo was designed by none other than Sasuke's contracted familiar, who was annoyed that Sasuke was advertising another mythical clan as the Sage of the Kirin clan.
It took quite some effort to make it work, but it was something to pass the time in the secret realm.
Sasuke was suspended somewhere within the massive Kirin-inspired avatar, even if B could not tell where his opponent was -- even a skilled sensor-nin would have been hard-pressed to locate Sasuke due to the density of chakra in the construct.
Sasuke's perfect form of the Susanoo bulldozed through a hill and tackled B, clad in Gyūki's form. He wrestled with B, rolling around dizzyingly and flattening the surrounding terrain as they tried to pin each other's chakra construct down. Sasuke avoided a headbutt from those dangerous horns and tried to skewer the other party's thick neck with his own single horn. His attempt was thwarted as an octopus tentacle-like tail tried to grab the horn, and Sasuke retreated into medium-range -- though this distance was much vaster due to their respective sizes. Sasuke shot a few chakra arrows from a crossbow attached to his forearm, but the swift projectiles did minimal damage to B, blocked by the eight tails of the Ushi-oni.
B took advantage of the distance to charge up a bijūdama, quickly shooting it at the Susanoo-clad Uchiha.
Muttering a curse under his breath, Sasuke quickly took to the skies.
He was so swift that the explosion below did not even scratch him.
Naruto, who observed the battle from afar (like Hidan and Shiro), raised an eyebrow.
If he was already capable of such a feat, why was Sasuke still whining about how his (debatably) poor chakra control did not allow him to walk on air? Sasuke's new Susanoo form lacked wings, and he likely followed the same principle with which the Kirin dominated the skies. With that in mind, Sasuke certainly was not disadvantaged in aerial combat compared to his teammates.
Naruto sighed, telling himself that Sasuke probably forgot and was not being petty -- it was hard to know with certainty with the moody Uchiha. It could have been worse if Sasuke were born female -- this guy could have been more difficult with hormone-induced periodic mood swings, though puberty and teenage blues could have contributed to his current state nonetheless. Naruto would count his blessings, few as they were.
Though he knew Sasuke found it unfair that Naruto did not suffer through the characteristically chaotic chakra from the trip through time and space, he found it reasonable -- Naruto had to put up with that for the entirety of his childhood in the previous timeline already, having struggled with his abnormally large chakra reserves and Kurama's chakra leaking from the seal.
There was that, but Naruto's chakra had been simply disobedient, like a playful child that would not listen to their older sibling -- perhaps an overly precise euphemism, but accurate anyhow. It was something he had to work against to be able to use even the most basic of jutsu. Naruto only succeeded in taming it when he reached double digits in age, six years after an exceptionally intense annual beating where Kurama was forced to heal him with its chakra -- an event that triggered his discovery of his own chakra core. Oddly, that was also when he discovered his talents in fūinjutsu in an abandoned temple in the forest on Konoha's outskirts.
A sealed scroll containing the blood clone technique was enshrined in that very temple. He quickly learned the basics of the sealing arts, unlocking the seal within ten tries despite having no prior knowledge of fūinjutsu (even a genius would not understand seals as soon as they saw it when they did not know how fūinjutsu worked beforehand). Thereafter, Naruto absorbed the scroll's contents and learned the Chi no Bunshin -- his younger self had found it strange that the technique did not end with the classic "no Jutsu" (even if he never considered the danger of learning an unidentified technique). Naruto did not know when it was, during that long day, that his chakra smoothened out and ceased its rebellion against him.
The words on the scroll disappeared after he learned them, imprinting themselves into his mind -- something he chalked up to the mysterious powers of fūinjutsu then.
Since that day, his chakra had been easy to control.
Well, it was easily controlled for his (low) standards. He was still an Uzumaki Jinchūriki, and he won Kurama over early on -- that meant more chakra trickled through the Eight Trigrams Seal on his abdomen. His chakra capacity was immense, even by jinchūriki standards.
"You can fly in the air? Now that's just unfair!" yelled B, trying to swat at the airborne Susanoo to no avail.
Sasuke dived down while wielding a pair of swords, one wakizashi and the other a katana, the latter poised to carve into the transformed jinchūriki's neck -- or at least that of the Ushi-oni. It was too fast for B to react, and the blade charged with electricity hacked half off the Ushi-oni's thick neck. The hidden wakizashi darted in, slicing through the foreleg and dismembering the bijū lookalike.
It was B's turn to curse under his breath. "What's with that weird lightning, yo?! You can't get such a big sword just for your powerup!"
Sasuke cackled, no longer paying attention to the weird tempo of B's speech. "Naruto made this," he was quick to brag. "It's usually a chokutō, but it turns into a katana when I activate this seal. And it even changes sizes!"
Even though he was talking, Sasuke quickly turned the Ushi-oni into sashimi from the octopus end up -- it was surprisingly easy to apply his newly honed craft to an ox-octopus hybrid. It might have been due to the lack of bones in a chakra construct. Anyway, Sasuke was not complaining. He eventually found B, who was dangerously close to the sword paths -- it could only be said that both of them were extremely lucky. B was lucky to escape with his life intact, and Sasuke judged that Naruto would murder him personally for making such a mistake... if Zetsu did not kill him first.
"Gotcha," Sasuke sighed in relief as he grabbed B with one hand from the disintegrating chakra construct.
Sasuke released his Susanoo, leaving it partially manifested to hold onto B.
"Hidan! Let's go back!" Sasuke yelled.
Thus the two members of the Akatsuki departed, leaving B's personal training ground a dilapidated mess.
ʕ•ﻌ•ʔ
"I don't understand why you have to use this place," Sasori said glumly, frowning at the unwelcome occupants who have semi-permanently holed up in his Workshop.
Sasuke, Hidan, Itachi, Kisame, Konan and Nagato.
Of these six, two have faked their deaths, one has disappeared from the public eye, and two were planning to "die" similarly. It appeared, to Zetsu, that Sasuke killed Itachi during their heartfelt conversation (Naruto's decision). Nagato's fall was evident from his disappearance, allowing Akihiko to step up as the organisation's leader. Konan vanished after turning in her resignation letter following the former leader's demise, and Kisame was planning to do the same after losing his partner. Hidan was readying himself for his "death", which would be a... painful experience where he would be beheaded and buried alive after a battle. Naruto would not let him die, of course -- he was planning to drop a clone of Hidan in the hole after digging the Jashin worshipper up. He would animate the head of the genetic clone with seals to realistically bite at the soil and struggle for life -- somewhat gruesome but necessary in case Shiro was too curious and decided to dig Hidan back up one day.
Maybe it was overkill -- these supposedly-dead shinobi would be walking around as soon as the war climaxed anyway, but Naruto did not like doing things half-heartedly.
Deidara and Naruto were also present, but Sasori did not mind having them around. The former spent almost as much time in the space as Sasori did, and the latter visited whenever he needed a quiet place away from seals and friends -- however much he loved both of those. Naruto also dropped by every night, standing quietly next to him while they each did their own thing at some times and chatting the night away about unimportant matters at others.
The two blonds were neither intrusive nor obstructive to his everyday life -- even if this was due to being habituated in Deidara's case -- but the same could not be said about the other Akatsuki members.
Deidara was oblivious, as always. "Are you all homeless or something?"
Nagato tapped his fingers on the desk. "Pretty much."
Sasori massaged his temples, feeling phantom pains -- even though there was no way for him to get a headache now.
Now he understood why Konan and Nagato camped on the floor in one corner of his Workshop, but that did not explain why everyone else had to show up.
"Deidara," Sasori uttered.
Deidara squeaked, "Yes, Sasori-danna?"
Sasori spoke slowly, "Why did you let everyone in?"
"Uh." Deidara's eyes darted around, searching the crowd, but no one stepped up to help him.
"I'll expand this place for the rest of the members. Is that okay with you, Sa'ri?" Naruto defused the situation, sympathetic to Deidara's plight.
Deidara hugged Naruto, tearing up. "You're the only one who loves me, Naruto!"
Sasori rolled his eyes. "I'm okay with anything as long as no one touches my stuff. And I'm talking about you three, Itachi, Kisame and Hidan."
Itachi quickly retracted his hand, and the only evidence of his misbehaviour was the swaying of a nearby puppet. Kisame looked like a chastised child, putting Hiruko 2 (Naruto's wooden craft) back onto its shelf. Hidan unapologetically peered through a pair of puppet eyes.
"Why do puppet makers bother to give their dolls these things?" Hidan asked, genuinely curious.
"We imitate life as closely as possible," Sasori answered.
Hidan scratched his head. "I don't understand. Doesn't that mean that your human puppets are weird?"
Sasori smiled subconsciously. "No, it's the same. I try to breathe life back into my creations."
Hidan shrugged, rolling the puppet parts back into a box. "I still don't understand, but I don't care anymore."
The atmosphere was surprisingly harmonious for a room full of S-rank shinobi.
The peaceful mood was broken by none other than Naruto.
"The war will begin soon."
The Akatsuki now stood against Zetsu and his machinations, and the said being fancied himself the great mastermind and above personal intervention in the conflict -- leaving Uchiha Obito to face off against the world alone.
ʕ•ﻌ•ʔ
"Poor Tobi," said Akihiko.
Obito gave him a weird look.
"Did you eat something weird?"
Akihiko ignored Obito.
"To Konoha."