Chapter One: An End

xXx

“I can help you, just release me!”

Tobi struggled with all his might, trying feverishly to break out of the seals that bound him.

The monster in human form grinned at him. “In a sec, in a sec. Now look, Naruto’s clone runs in. Are you following me?”

“I already know all this.” Tobi growled.

“Oh no, you see, this is where it gets good.” The thing said. “So, the clone tosses the jutsu...”

Tobi tried to activate his Kamui. A fiery burst of pain exploded in his right eye. The masked man let out a scream.

“Are you really going to keep doing that?” The thing asked. “Here, maybe you’ll stop if I take that mask off.”

A wave of ice surged through his veins. Tobi tried frantically to will his body into action, but his muscles would not respond to his command. His captor reached out a hand and plucked the mask from his head.

The thing gave an incredulous laugh. “Obito Uchiha? Oh, that’s fantastic! Kakashi is going to have a fit when he learns about this one! I’d give my left arm to know... wait, no, I’m going to know in a couple of minutes anyway! Silly me.”

“I am not Obito Uchiha!” Tobi snarled. “Obito Uchiha died...”

“Yes, yes, blah blah blah.” The thing said. “Anyway, the clone tosses the jutsu, the chakra goes up the statue and boom! There’s a big explosion. And everyone in the room has their souls plucked out of their bodies and sent merrily spiraling back into the past!”

Tobi’s eyes widened as the seals began to take effect. Claws of burning fire reached into his head and began tearing at his mind.

“Except not.” The thing leaned in close, a savage, inhuman smile on its face. “Because that, you see, is where things went wrong.”

xXx

(Namiashi Wastes - Land of Lightning)

It was a cold cloudy day in September, and the human race was doomed.

A vicious wind howled over the landscape towards him, driving sharp flecks of sand into his sensitive eyes. Above, the dark sky promised a thunderstorm, growling angrily as black clouds boiled over. The land around them, once a lush, verdant forest, was now a blasted, broken wasteland. The air around them was thick with the bitter tang of ash and smoke, making Naruto’s nose twitch in irritation. And at the opposite side of that blasted heath stood nearly three-dozen resurrected ninja, and one living one.

As Naruto stared out at the hordes of the dead, his stomach twinged with nausea. He recognized many of the people standing in those still, silent ranks. Haku, Asuma, Zabuza, Nagato, Sasori. All torn from their peaceful oblivions and forced to fight in the cause of Madara Uchiha. If he failed here today, this was what humanity would become. Empty, soulless puppets, slaves to the whims of a madman.

They had already clashed with Madara and his six jinchuriki once. Now, he and Bee had another twenty or so S-rank ninja to deal with. Kakuzu, Deidara, Kimimaro, any one of the shinobi facing them could pose a significant threat on their own. To have to contend with all of them at once appeared an insurmountable challenge. Nevertheless, he would not allow himself to flee.

Iruka had given him his blessing. The world was counting on him. The Fourth Shinobi World War was in his hands. 

"Ready?" He asked, eyes focused on the masked man at the back of the throng.

Bee nodded. "Ready."

Naruto clasped his hands together and a cloak of brilliant yellow light exploded into being around him.

"Then let's begin."

As one, the two jinchuriki began their charge. On the opposite side of the ruined sandy wasteland, the resurrected shinobi with ranged attacks began flashing through hand seals.

A second later, a maelstrom of blades, fireballs, dragons, boulders and missiles flew out of the crowd.

Naruto leapt into the air, narrowly avoiding a swarm of shuriken. A water dragon flew up to meet him, hungry maw threatening to swallow him. Creating an arm of chakra, Naruto met the attack with a Rasengan. The dragon destabilized instantly, exploding into harmless water.

Below, Bee dodged to the side as a titanic boulder nearly took his head off. Morphing his arm into a tentacle, the dark-skinned man grabbed Naruto's leg and flung him high into the air. The distraction cost him; a Raiton-enhanced shuriken took him in the right shoulder. He was knocked back, cursing loudly.

Flying through the air at breathtaking speed, Naruto was propelled right over the storm of attacks below. Before any of the resurrected shinobi could react, the Kyuubi jinchuriki landed directly in their midst. Creating two more limbs of chakra, Naruto drove Rasengan into the chests of the two ninja closest to him; a long-haired Hyuga and the Fourth Kazekage, sending them flying back into the shinobi around them.

Spinning on the ball of his foot, Naruto charged towards Madara. A dozen shinobi moved to block his path. A grinning, red-haired woman with a Mist headband slashed at him with a pair of swords, lightning crackling around her. Naruto slid under the attack, lashing out with an attack of his own that turned her leg into ash.

Zabuza and Kimimaro leapt through the air towards him, weapons raised. Naruto lashed out with yet more chakra limbs and the two were flung backwards.

From behind, a man with a bizarre hammer-like weapon darted towards him. Leaping above the man's swing, Naruto used the man's shoulder as a launching pad and vaulted backwards towards Madara. The Third Raikage leapt to meet him, right hand alight with lightning chakra and drawn back for a strike. In response, Naruto summoned a dozen clones, each surrounded by a chakra cloak. Using the shoulders of his clone as a handhold, Naruto propelled himself even higher into the air, sacrificing the clone to the Raikage's attack. Below, the rest of his clones engaged the resurrected.

Suddenly, a thin, blue strand of chakra wrapped itself around his leg and yanked him violently downwards. Progress arrested mid-flight, Naruto was pulled downwards, straight towards Sasori. From behind the puppeteer, a Suna kunoichi with orange-and-green hair ran out to meet him, hands flashing through seals.

Forming a mini-Rasenshuriken, Naruto flung it towards the woman. The tiny ball of light sliced straight through her neck and expanded, turning both her and Sasori into clouds of ash.

Alerted by the odd sound of steam being exhaled, Naruto turned to see a titanic man in red shell-armor traveling towards him at high speeds. The man's punch drove into his gut like a freight train, propelling him backwards through the air. Naruto landed awkwardly, blood dripping from his mouth. His remaining clones moved to cover him, holding off the rest of the enemy so that he could catch his breath.

How the hell was he supposed to win this? Any damage he dished out, the dead simply regenerated from! Even if he turned them into ash, they just kept coming back!

A short distance away, Bee had recovered and was engaging a swordsman from Mist. Catching the tall, masked man's needle-like sword on Samehada, Bee lashed out with a brutal kick that caught him in the face. The other swordsman fell backwards, laughing madly as he did so.

"Hey yo, Naruto, these zombies are really messing with my flow!" Bee yelled.

Naruto looked at him. "Yeah I kno... Whoa!"

A red-cloaked Deidara somersaulted over the line of clones, flinging small clay birds at Naruto as he did so. The jinchuriki jumped to the side, barely avoiding the resulting explosion.

Deidara landed a short distance from him. "Long time no see, un!"

Naruto launched a tendril of chakra towards him. Deidara dodged it, twirling to the side as he flung more explosives at the jinchuriki. Naruto growled and charged at the man. His hands grasped at empty air, the bomber leapt backwards and summoned a large clay bird to act as a mount.

The bird began to gain height. Deidara laughed. "Can't get me up here, can you? I hope you're ready for my C..."

Deidara's speech was cut off as the lanky swordsman that Bee had been fighting slammed into him at high speeds, knocking him off the bird and sending the two of them plummeting to the ground.

Bee grinned at Naruto, the arm that he'd used to toss the swordsman shrinking back to regular size. "Yo, little bro, figured you'd appreciate the sa..."

A chakra arm launched through the air, slapped the brown-haired shinobi who had been moving to impale Bee out of the sky and sending him right back into the clone-melee.

Bee blinked. "...Thanks."

Naruto smiled. "No problem."

From within the crowd, a creature that Naruto recognized as one of Kakuzu's mask creatures released a torrent of fire. Instantly, another four of his clones were wiped out.

Bee looked to Naruto. "I hope you don't hate, but I'm going to bring out the big eight!"

Spitting a mouthful of blood onto the ground, Naruto nodded. "Go ahead. We won't be able to handle them as we are."

Slicing his finger open with one of his canines, Naruto drove it into the ground "Summoning!"

A titanic cloud of smoke appeared, covering the entire battlefield. The resurrected froze in place, alert for any attempt to use the smoke as a distraction to strike at Akatsuki's leader.

From somewhere in the mist came a cry. "Futon: Great Breakthrough!"

As the smoke began to clear, several forms slowly came into definition.

Gamabunta. Gamahiro. Gamaken. Gyuki.

From his position on top of Gamabunta's head, Naruto smirked.

"The real fight begins now."

xXx

Oh. That could prove a problem.

From his position at the back of the horde, Tobi began issuing orders to a Zetsu. "Have Nagato summon the Dog, the Rhino and the Bird. Keep the rest of his summons in reserve. The Third Raikage and the Dog handle Gamabunta. Kakuzu, Toroi and Mangetsu deal with Gamaken. Deidara and Mu handle Gamahiro. Nagato, the Rhino and the Kazekage take on the Hachibi. Everyone else is to focus on the Kyuubi container."

The Zetsu would instantly relay his instructions to another, who would then pass them onto Kabuto. Tobi couldn't risk having him at the battlefield. Having Sasuke break Kabuto's mind with his Sharingan had had some unfortunate side effects; the medic had been reduced to a drooling shell capable only of obeying orders. It was having an effect on the shinobi resurrected with Edo Tensei, too. While the ones who retained their personalities (like Deidara) were still fighting at close to full strength, the ninja who had to be controlled manually had had their reaction times slowed significantly. As a result, Naruto and Bee were tossing S-Rank ninja around like nine-pins. Still, it was worth it to finally have the smarmy medic completely under his control. All the conditions for victory had been met. Now, all that remained was the acquisition of the final two bijuu.

It shouldn't be long, either. There was no possible way that Naruto and Bee could handle the entirety of his forces. They hadn't even been able to handle him and his six jinchuriki.

Actually, maybe he'd keep those in reserve. His first clash with them had already drained a significant portion of his chakra. Better to let the rest of the resurrected go first.

As per his orders, Nagato's summons materialized in front of his forces. All he had to do now was sit back and watch.

As if waiting for his mental command, Nagato's dog summon ran forward. The rest of his forces did the same, converging on their chosen targets.

Seeing the dog coming at him, Gamabunta slid to the side, swinging at it with his tanto. The giant weapon carved through the monster's head like a knife through butter, sending it crashing to the ground.

Gamaken turned to beat the summon down before it could regenerate. Seizing the opportunity, Mangetsu leapt up onto the magenta toad's head and dealt him a punishing blow with Shibuki. The great toad made a yelp of pain and reflexively lashed out, hitting Gamabunta with his sasumata.

From their positions on the ground, Zabuza, Haku, Fuguki, Jinan and the Second Mizukage each launched off a water dragon. The five dragons combined into one enormous one, speeding like an arrow at Gamabunta. A clone appeared at Naruto's side and leapt into the path of the attack, a Rasenshuriken screeching in its outstretched hand. Both the clone and the dragon were obliterated.

Deidara and Mu flew up into the air, circling Gamahiro. Mu raised his hands, and a Jinton cube formed between them. Sensing danger, Gamahiro leapt backwards just as the attack was launched and the cube landed harmlessly in the dirt below.

The now two-headed dog summon leapt up from where it had fallen, launching itself towards Gamabunta. An enormous tentacle caught it in mid-flight. The Hachibi lifted the creature and tossed it into the air. A dark ball of black energy formed on the Hachibi's mouth.

"Nighty night, motherfucker!" It yelled.

The black ball of energy caught the dog summon in the chest. There was a magnificent explosion of white light. When it dissipated, no trace of the creature remained.

From his position on top of Gamaken's head, Mangetsu continued to pound at Gamaken with his explosive blade. Seeing the toad in distress, Naruto moved to assist, only to be blocked mid-jump by Hanzo, who was mounted on Nagato's bird summon. Dodging the sickle part of Hanzo's kusarigama in mid-air, Naruto grabbed onto the chain and yanked Hanzo off the back of the bird. The two plummeted towards the ground together.

Screaming in pain, Gamaken finally managed to wrap his hands around Mangetsu, only for the man to morph into water. Taking advantage of the toad's distraction, Kakuzu leapt up in front of him and extended his hands. A wave of tendrils shot out of the man's sleeves and began to burrow into Gamaken's skin, anchoring Kakuzu to the toad.

Kakuzu grinned. "Katon: Intelligent Hard Work."

A wind-enhanced fireball emerged from Kakuzu's mouth and hit Gamaken directly in the face. The toad screamed again and fell backwards.

Gamahiro continued to dodge Deidara's and Mu's attacks, taking occasional hits from Deidara's clay bombs. The toad was paying much more attention to Mu than to Deidara, which seemed to be irritating the bomber to no end.

The rhino summon lowered its head and made a charge at Bee, only to be impaled from the side by Gamabunta. The Toad Boss flipped the rhino onto the ground and began stabbing it repeatedly.

Freed from the threat of the summon, Bee turned his attention to Tobi. "You've been going steady, but I hope you're ready!"

As before, a ball of black chakra began forming in the Hachibi's mouth. Suddenly, a tsunami of gold dust flew up from the crowd of resurrected and formed a noose around the bijuu's neck. The noose yanked the creature's head upwards, forcing it to fire the attack harmlessly into the sky.

Landing hard on the ground, Naruto was forced to immediately leap backwards to avoid being split in half by Zabuza's sword. Behind him, Hanzo got to his feet. With Zabuza, Kimimaro, Hanzo, Asuma, Kushimaru, Ameyuri and Jinin all charging at him with weapons raised, Naruto did the only thing he could think of. Thirty clones came into being and immediately engaged the seven kenjutsu experts.

Gamaken lay on his back, still struggling feebly. Kakuzu released the tendrils that were attached to the toad's chest and climbed up onto his head. The Akatsuki member placed his palms flat on the summon's face, just below his right eye. More tendrils emerged from his hands and began burrowing towards the toad's brain. The toad's struggles slowed, and then stopped forever.

After a surprisingly large number of stabs, the rhino summon finally disappeared. Gamabunta turned, only to be struck in the chest by the Third Raikage's Four-Finger Hell Stab. Electricity shot through the toad's body, and he began to convulse involuntarily.

Seizing the chance, Kimimaro broke away from the Naruto clone that it was engaging and leapt into Gamabunta's mouth. An arsenal of razor-sharp bones burst out of the Kaguya's body. Kimimaro began slashing at the toad's mouth and throat, trying to make his way to the summon's brain. Obviously panicked beyond reason, the creature dispelled itself and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

The golden noose around the Hachibi's neck began to tighten. Growling, the creature wrapped its tentacles around the collar and pulled. The noose fell apart, but reformed into a long, thin blade.

Noticing his ally's distress, Naruto turned his attention to the Fourth Kazekage. A translucent fox head formed around Naruto's own, and the jinchuriki fell down onto his hands and knees. A bijudama began to form in the construct’s mouth.

Tobi prepared to activate his intangibility technique.

With a roar, Naruto fired the ball of energy. Right before the black ball hit the Fourth Kazekage, Nagato leapt in the way. The red-haired man caught the ball in his hands, attempting to absorb its power. The attempt was only partially successful. Rather than leveling an entire mountain range, this attack only expanded to about the size of one of Naruto's Rasenshurikens. Nagato, the Fourth Kazekage and several other shinobi were completely obliterated, although they quickly began to reform again.

The gold dust that had been threatening the Hachibi fell to the ground, the controller incapacitated for now. Immediately, Kakuzu, Kimimaro and the Third Raikage moved to fill the gap.

A short distance away, Deidara and Mu still hadn't been able to bring down Gamahiro. It seemed to now be pissing Deidara off to no end.

"Screw it." Deidara growled. "Time to bring out my masterpiece, un!"

Deidara shoved handfuls of clay into his mouth, then turned and vomited it out over the side of his bird. The clay trickled to the ground, then began to take the shape of a gigantic version of Deidara.

Tobi blinked. Then he blinked again, not believing what he was seeing.

C4.

Deidara had used C4.

Deidara had used the technique that disintegrated people on a cellular level. On the people that they absolutely could not allow to be killed.

What in god's name was wrong with the man!?

Tobi span around to face the Zetsu. "Have Nagato use Shinra Tensei. Maximum strength."

"What?" The Zetsu said, confusion clear on its face. "But that will..."

Deidara's construction was beginning to bloat.

Nagato had almost finished reforming.

"I know what it will do!" Tobi said, for the first time since the beginning of the war feeling truly panicked. "Just do it! Now!"

The C4 doll burst open.

The Rinnegan-bearer raised his hands. "Shinra Tensei!"

And the world exploded.

xXx

Peck. Peck peck.

Naruto let out a groan. "Mmmph..."

Where was... what had...

Fourth Shinobi World War. Evil ninja. Wake up.

Right. That.

Naruto opened his eyes.

There was a crow pecking at his leg. Naruto gave the limb a shake and it flew away squawking.

He was lying in a very uncomfortable thorn-bush. Somewhere in the middle of a forest, apparently. There didn't seem to be anyone else around.

He must have been catapulted here when Nagato used that jutsu. It was a miracle that he'd survived the flight.

Still, this was no time to be lying around! He needed to get back to the action!

First of all, though, he should probably try and find a member of the Allied Shinobi Forces. It was weird, he hadn't seen any trace of them anywhere! The only people he'd met since leaving the island were Bee and those weird tree people.

Naruto slowly got to his feet, feeling his muscles groan in protest. To be fair, it had been a very long day.

Forming a couple of clones to gather up nature energy, Naruto slipped out of the clearing.

A few minutes of searching later, the jinchuriki caught a glimpse of something moving in the distance. Stealing his way through the trees, Naruto finally got close enough to identify the characteristic, ponytailed form of one Shikamaru Nara.

The blonde gave a sigh of relief. Finally.

Naruto stepped out from behind the tree. "Shikamaru! Over here!"

His friend turned to face him, and in that moment Naruto realized that something was very, very wrong.

Shikamaru's eyes were jet-black. His skin was cracked and broken.

Edo Tensei.

Upon seeing him, Shikamaru's eyes widened. "Naruto! You have to get out of here!"

"Shikamaru, what the hell happened?" Naruto demanded "Where are..."

"We lost, Naruto! They're dead! They're all dead! You need to run!" Shikamaru yelled, the panic clear in his voice.

Naruto shook his head, unable to comprehend what he was hearing. "Dead? Who? Sakura? Kakashi? Ino? Chouji?"

"Everyone! They're all gone!" Shikamaru shouted, pain clear in his voice. "Now go! They can see through my eyes, Naruto! They know you're here!"

"How? How did it happen?" Naruto yelled.

"I can't stop myself!" Shikamaru yelled. "Just go!"

Suddenly, the sound of chirping birds came from Naruto's rear. Dodging to the side, Naruto avoided Kakashi's Chidori with inches to spare. The copy-nin landed next to Shikamaru and turned to face him.

Just like Shikamaru, Kakashi bore the unmistakable signs of Edo Tensei.

"Kakashi-sensei? You too? How?" Naruto whispered.

"Deidara put C3 bombs into Zetsu constructs disguised as Allied shinobi, which detonated whilst in the midst of our forces. The First and Third divisions were decimated and many of the reanimated shinobi were able to escape due to the blasts. Gaara has been resurrected, most of us are dead." Kakashi said, speaking quickly and with impressive calm. "I think Headquarters might still be operational. Now, you need to go before Madara gets here."

Naruto cocked his head to the side. "Madara? I've already been fighting Madara."

Kakashi shook his head. "The man in the mask isn't Madara. Madara is a thousand times worse. Now for god's sake, go!"

"Actually, I'd prefer if you didn't."

Naruto span around, searching for the speaker. In that instant, Shikamaru's shadow lashed out, latching onto Naruto's own.

"I'm sorry, Naruto." Shikamaru whispered.

Somewhere in the distance, one of Naruto's clones dispelled. Naruto's eyes went orange and he began fighting against Shikamaru's jutsu.

"I don't think that will be necessary." A man dressed in red armour with long, black hair emerged from the forest. "I'd rather end this quickly."

Naruto drew back his fist, ripping free of the shadow jutsu. The other man was faster.

With insane speed, Madara wrapped one hand around Naruto's throat and drove the other into his gut.

Pain like nothing he had ever felt before exploded through Naruto's body. A sharp, red-hot fire began to flow into his chest, making his way through his system. Arms and legs shaking out of sheer agony, Naruto weakly lifted his head.

A weird, black substance was seeping out of Madara's hand, seeping into his skin. Slowly, the pain began to lessen.

This was Madara? Then who was the other guy?

"I just imbibed you with a materialized portion of my will. Apparently, the Kyuubi does not appreciate it." Madara stated. "Still, it should stop you from manifesting any of its chakra for the time being."

"..not...on.." Naruto mumbled.

Madara raised him into the air by his neck. "I didn't quite catch that. What did you say?"

Naruto grinned. "I said... Surprise!"

Naruto yanked his head backwards and drove it into Madara's own.

Out of sheer surprise more than anything, Madara released him and stumbled backwards. Suddenly, the ground beneath Madara burst open and a loud, chiming sound shattered the air.

"What I actually said was... I have another clone!" Naruto yelled.

From beneath Madara's feet appeared his second clone. The man's eyes widened and he tried to activate some sort of jutsu, but he was too late. With sadistic glee, the clone drove the Rasenshuriken into Madara's crotch. There was a burst of blue light, and Madara disappeared. Kakashi and Shikamaru, who had moved to assist, were obliterated too.

For a second, Naruto just stood there, panting. Then, he raised his trembling hands into the clone seal. A single clone appeared.

Naruto nodded to it. The clone saluted, and took off into the trees. Then, spinning around, Naruto took off in the other direction.

If this had been a fair fight, then that would have been the end of Madara. Unfortunately, he wasn't so lucky. He had no means of permanently sealing Madara. The Kyuubi's chakra was sealed. His allies were either dead or gone...

Oh god. Sakura.

No. He couldn't think about that now. There would be time to mourn the dead later, but the living still needed him. And even if he couldn't escape, he could perform one last act.

As he'd thought, it didn't take long before Madara's presence reappeared behind him. Rather than chasing after him immediately, the presence seemed to remain in the same place.

Well, the longer Madara stayed off his trail, the better.

When he looked around half a minute later, he immediately rescinded that thought.

A large portion of the forest was simply gone. In its place stood a glowing red behemoth taller than most mountains. The samurai-thing's glowing white eyes were fixed upon his fleeing figure.

Naruto stared at the thing for a second, then the corners of his mouth quirked up in a rueful smile.

Truly, it was a foe fitting for the great future Hokage Uzumaki Naruto.

The Susanoo drew back one of its swords and swung it in an overhead arc towards him. Unable to get out of the way in time, Naruto instead remained stock still. As the sword drew close, the Kyuubi jinchuriki suddenly raised his hands.

And caught the blade. Centimeters from his head.

"Raaaargh!" Naruto screamed in exertion.

Slowly, arms trembling with the effort, Naruto began to lift the blade away from his face. The Susanoo remained still for a second, as if surprised, then drew its other sword. Raising it high in the air, it came in for a second strike.

Letting go of the first blade with his left hand, Naruto caught the second one too.

The strain was unbelievable! Even with sage mode, his hands felt as if they were on fire!

His feet began to sink into the dirt. Mustering every shred of energy, Naruto pushed with a strength he didn't know he possessed. With every muscle in his body straining under the pressure, the Kyuubi jinchuriki... began to... lift... the blades.

Suddenly, a shadow blocked the sun, blanketing the immediate area in darkness. Steadily making progress with the Susanoo's swords, Naruto looked up to see a dark shadow descending from the heavens. A gigantic ball of rock, half the size of Konoha.

"Oh, come on..." Naruto groaned.

He couldn't move from this spot or those swords would crush him. Even if he could, there was no way he could get out of the way of that meteorite in time. He'd just have to hope that sage mode and his Uzumaki blood would keep him safe.

Three seconds before the meteorite hit the ground, his nature chakra ran out.

"Motherfu..."

Unconsciousness came within an instant.

xXx

(Four Days later - Naruto's Mindscape)

Naruto flew backwards, landing harshly against the walls of the sewer.

The Kyuubi roared. "Fool! After all the gifts you were given! After all the advantages you had! You failed! And to think I almost believed in your Will of Fire crap!"

The Nine-Tailed bijuu continued its advance towards Naruto, stepping out of the open cage doors. Naruto tried vainly to lever himself off the ground, but his muscles simply would not obey.

Reaching its host, the Kyuubi stopped and lowered its head over Naruto, transfixing him with its enormous orange eyes. "All your promises, broken. I give you my chakra, and what do I get in return? Nothing but hollow words!"

"Please... Kurama..." Naruto pleaded.

The Kyuubi roared, and battered him with its paw once again. "You do not get to call me by that name, Uzumaki! I am the nine-tailed Demon Lord Kyuubi! I was a fool to believe that we could ever be anything more than enemies!"

Naruto slumped to the ground, too drained by the events of the last week to even think about resisting. The Nine-tailed fox turned away from him, and stared up towards the roof of the mindscape.

Kurama laughed bitterly. "Listen well, human. You mean nothing to me now. Even if this act destroys you from the inside out, I. Will. Not. Die. Here.

And with those final words, the Kyuubi began preparing a Bijudama.

xXx

(Mountain's Graveyard)

Madara and Sasuke were out mopping up the last of the Allied Shinobi forces.

Kabuto had been put in his place.

Itachi Uchiha was chained to the wall and bound with repressor seals.

And they had just began the final extraction of the Kyuubi.

Tobi allowed himself a sigh of satisfaction. Finally, decades of planning had come to fruition.

Akatsuki had won. Utopia would finally come, and a perfect world would be everyone's to enjoy.

On each of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path's ten fingers stood a shinobi that Tobi considered somehow symbolic to Uzumaki's life. Kakashi, Shikamaru, Zabuza, Gaara, Kimimaro, Sasori, Deidara, Kakuzu, Nagato and, of course, himself. Not usually his style, but he could afford to be a little theatrical now and then.

By the entrance to the cave, Asuma, Haku and Chiyo stood guard. On the floor of the cavern lay the cold body of Killer Bee.

Three more days. Three more days and everything would end.

Tobi was snapped out of his musings by an exclamation from Deidara. "What the hell is that, un?"

Something had gone wrong. Bright strands of red energy, tempered with a strange black hue, were flowing out of Naruto's body into the blue miasma surrounding him.

Tobi swore. "Shut it down! Shut the jutsu down, now!"

The Akatsuki members began making hand seals, moving through the sequence that would end the ritual.

Suddenly, a familiar chiming sound came from the entrance to the cavern. Spinning around, Tobi was greeted to the sight of another Naruto racing through the entrance, straight past his resurrected guards.

Damn useless Kabuto!

"Hey mask-man!" The other Naruto yelled. "Eat this!"

Leaping high into the air, the Naruto flung the Rasenshuriken it was holding straight into the middle of the circle. Tobi was forced to phase out to avoid being killed by the blast. The other resurrected shinobi were not so lucky, dissolving into clouds of ash.

The chakra at the center of the Rasenshuriken, however, seemed to be absorbed into the ritual chakra, turning it into a chaotic maelstrom of blue, black, red and purple hues.

The clone was dispelled by a well-aimed senbon from Haku upon landing, but the damage was done. The chaos began flowing up the chakra streams, towards the statue itself.

Frantically, Tobi tried to dismiss the summoning jutsu. The statue began vibrating violently, but remained in place.

The Kyuubi's chakra hit the statue.

From his bound position, Itachi smirked.

And the world turned white.

xXx

Hey there. This is already on ff.net, but I’m sticking it up here too.

Edit (27/4/2012): Hey, assorted people. If any of you read this story before the time of this edit, you probably know that the first chapter of this story used to be completely different to this one. Unfortunately, however, it was confusing and poorly-constructed. So it has now been replaced by this one.

That said, the original chapter showed how events got to this stage in the first place, which this one doesn’t. As such, I don’t want to get rid of it entirely, so I’ve stuck it into its own one-chapter story under the title ‘Failed Reset: The Fall’. It’s no longer the first chapter of this story for a reason, but it’s still completely canon so feel free to check it out if you want a bit of background on what happened.

Also, combat sequences with 30+ combatants? Pure evil. Seriously.

Naruto with bijuu-cloak? Also evil. And compared to the combat abilities of characters like Sasori, Kakashi or Kakuzu, surprisingly uninteresting to write, may I add. He pretty much just wipes everything out. There are changes coming, though.

Chapter Two: A Beginning

xXx

(Wave Country)

22nd July, 1382 EV:

We're now 14 months into Naruto's training. I've said it before, but goddamn is this kid a mess. Taijutsu, Chakra control, if it's a shinobi skill it either needs to be fixed or re-taught from scratch.

Jiraiya looked up from his journal at the tiny room of the small Wave Country hut the two were currently lodging in. It was a fairly humble affair, with only a living room tastelessly decorated with animal heads and a bedroom, from which the blonde jinchūriki's grating snores could be heard. Making a mental note to buy a new pair of earmuffs the next time they went into town, the Sannin returned to his work.

After all the shit I've put him through in the last few months though, kid needs a break. I'm taking the kid to the Land of Waves' famous Irihi Beach. As an added bonus, seeing that bridge of his should be enough to get him raring to go again. And if I can get a little research done on the side, so much the better. It's a pity that the kid's going to miss the Watanagashi Festival, but unfortunately...

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

Suddenly, an inhuman cry of agony split the air. Accompanying it was a vivid, all-too-familiar orange glow that spilled around the doorframe of Naruto's room.

In less than a second, Jiraiya leapt out of his chair, wrenched the door open, swore and summoned his sealing materials.

As the man had guessed, the glow was coming from Naruto. The boy was thrashing about in his bed, limbs flailing wildly, his entire body covered with an orange aura. In the process, his shirt had bunched up above his stomach, revealing the jinchūriki's glowing seal.

Or what was left of it, anyway.

The seal was beyond damaged. What had previously been an organized and intricately drawn work of art had become a mess of squiggles and meaningless lines. The containment segment of the seal appeared to have vanished completely, and the chakra conversion matrix had twisted back in on itself.

Faster than he had possibly ever moved before, Jiraiya drew up a chakra-suppressing seal on a blank tag and slammed it into the screaming boy's chest. As it touched the seal, there was a bright flash of light and Jiraiya was sent hurtling back through the air, punching straight through the wall. The tag itself was instantly incinerated, having no obvious effect on the boy's condition.

xXx

(? - Ten Minutes Earlier and Three Years in the future)

Purple sound creeps Kurama, hurting pain pain. Void of darkness and light and shadow and stars and utter emptiness. Sense of familiarity true home pain fading.

Distorted clouds swam above come with dark and eldritch things all around come come and hair sticks to the vibrations in deep soul.

All around come come a sense of place utterly incomprehensible come. The place beyond come and beautiful come and terrifying come and unable to be understood come.

Too easy just drift come and be free come and stop trying to be together.

COME!

Through the unknowable void the Kyuubi found itself in came the summons, too strong to be ignored.

Don't want to go back return not the prison all lies and tricks and broken.

A thread of gold wrapped itself around the fox and began slowly reeling it towards the world of shinobi.

Not the pain not the darkness not the cage.

The pull became stronger.

not the cage. not the cage. not the cage.

The Kyuubi reached the material world. As it regained its sense of self, it felt itself hurtling back towards Naruto.

Not the cage!

The beast's chakra began to enter the boy's seal.

Not the cage! Not the cage! NOT THE CAGE! I WILL NOT RETURN!

Halfway between the world and the Void, the Kyuubi began producing the largest Bijadama it had ever attempted. With its power rapidly flowing into the Uzumaki's adolescent body, the great Nine-Tailed Fox swallowed the dark ball of energy. Then, ignoring every instinct it possessed, it did not release it.

Had the fox attempted to detonate a Bijadama inside its own body while caged inside the boy, it is likely that the seal would have prevented any major impact from occurring besides putting Kurama through rather extreme pain. Likewise, if it had tried to do so in the Void then the lack of a genuine physical form would have made it extremely ineffectual.

As a result of doing it on the very precipice between the Void and the real world, the effects were nothing less than glorious.

The Nine-Tailed Fox's form detonated into a fantastic explosion of pure malignant chakra. The parts which had already integrated themselves into Naruto's system were violently wrenched out of the boy's body while the parts inside the Void were sent flying off in all directions, setting the stage for the beast's inevitable reformation.

It was along the edge of the barrier itself. however, that the results were truly spectacular.

Caught on the rim between realms, the dark, malignant chakra had nowhere to go but sideways. Spreading across the border, the semi-sentient energy noticed an incursion of radiant streaks of light entering hundreds of thousands of locations across the material realm. These lines of light seemed to be most densely-packed in four places in particular.

The light was irritating to the inherently-evil chakra.

Therefor, it would put an end to it.

Ignoring the significantly smaller and weaker lines of light around it, the Kyuubi's chakra split itself into four, each cloud heading towards one of the four brightest lights.

xXx

(Wave Country)

"Damn it!"

Leaping up off the hard ground, Jiraiya kawarimi'd back through the now broken wall into Naruto's room. As he did so, he noticed that the sky to the north was lit up with two bright red pillars of light that appeared to be descending from the clouds.

As he stood there, frantically scrawling another chakra-suppressor seal, the bright orange glow that lit up Naruto began fading away. The boy's struggles became less violent, then came to a stop. Whether from the pain or from the dissipation of the Kyuubi's chakra, Naruto was unconscious.

Jiraiya looked to the seal, only for it to fade into invisibility. The Sannin sighed in relief. For the seal to disappear meant that the Kyuubi's chakra was no longer outside its prison. Hopefully, crisis averted. Now to figure out just what the hell was going on.

In this situation, most people would allow the jinchūriki to wake in his own time, or shake him awake. Jiraiya decided to go down a more direct route, and shock him into consciousness with a harmless Raiton jutsu.

Bzzt!

The boy's body jolted, and rejoined the realm of the living with a loud cry.

"Ah! What the hell, Ero- Senni..."

His eyes registered the concerned-looking man leaning over him.

Naruto went as white as a sheet. "J... Jiraiya?"

Jiraiya was tempted to shoot off a sarcastic retort, but something in the boy's tone stopped him. It contained joy, hope, dread and even a hint of terror, all at once.

Jiraiya nodded. "One and only, kid. Now..."

"But you... You were... You were killed!" Naruto stuttered

Jiraiya blinked. "... Come again?"

Naruto's eyes hardened. "They resurrected you too, huh? I'm sorry, Ero-Sennin, but that's not going to stop me!"

Flinging the confused man off him, Naruto leapt to his feet and made the Shadow Clone Seal. And promptly collapsed to his kneed with a scream of pain.

Jiraiya rushed to steady him. "Naruto! I'm not dead and I don't intend to be for a good thirty years yet. Don't try to access your chakra, we don't know what effect the Kyuubi has had on it!"

"But.. you..." Looking down at himself for the first time, Naruto noticed that his limbs were significantly shorter than normal. He brought his hands up in the anti-genjutsu seal. "Kai!"

Only to once more release a scream of agony.

Jiraiya grabbed him by the shoulders and lightly shook him, "Idiot! What did I just say? Now tell me, what happened with the Kyuubi?"

Naruto began hyperventilating. "I'm dead, aren't I? I've died and everyone else is dead and we've failed and Akatsuki has the Kyuubi!"

Jiraiya shook his head in confusion. "What?"

"I'm not going to give up! I'll find a way to return, and I'll..." Naruto gibbered, before being silenced with a stinging slap from Jiraiya.

"Get ahold of yourself, shinobi!" Jiraiya growled. "Now, Naruto, you are going to calmly tell me just what the hell is going on!" The Sannin's eyes flickered to the distant lines of energy that were still illuminating the night sky to the north. "And you are going to do this as we head towards whatever's happening over there. Can you run?"

Naruto nodded shakily.

The Sannin nodded back. "Good."

The two set off towards the light. As they did so, Naruto placed one hand in the other, and with a quick twist subtly broke his left pinky. There was a brief burst of pain, but the world around him did not waver one bit.

Even through all the hell the boy had been in in the past week, his optimism remained intact. If there was even a chance that this reality was real and his mentor was alive, then for now he would accept it. Despite the oddness of the situation, Naruto began to talk.

xXx

As Naruto's story unfolded as they ran through the trees. Jiraiya found himself wanting to interject more than once, but held his tongue until his possibly insane student had finished.

"So let me get this straight." Jiraiya said as Naruto finished. "You're saying that Akatsuki's leader, Pain, is my old student Nagato. You're also saying that I went on a scouting mission to Amegakure and was killed by said student, who then killed and resurrected most of Konoha's population after you defeated him and convinced him to follow your ninja way. Furthermore, the true mastermind behind Akatsuki is a man named Tobi who used Edo Tensei to bring back an army of powerful shinobi, defeated you and then extracted the Kyuubi from you in order to cast an Infinite Tsukuyomi that's going to turn us all into zombies. You also believe that we could both be dead."

Naruto nodded, having calmed down somewhat due to Jiraiya's confident presence. "That's correct, Ero-Sennin."

Jiraiya stopped. "Normally, I'd say that you're insane. I am forced to admit, however, that quite a few parts of your story match up to things I know for a fact to be true. However, to the best of my knowledge I am not dead. Furthermore, Nagato was killed many years ago."

Naruto shook his head. "No, the only one to die was Yahiko. Konan and Nagato survived."

Knowing that his calm facade was the only thing keeping Naruto from having a panic attack, Jiraiya was doing his best to appear composed and unruffled. Inside, however, Naruto's supposed 'revelations' rocked him to his core. His two students were not only alive, but the leaders of the organization hunting his protegee? Itachi Uchiha had committed the Uchiha massacre on the orders of Konoha's elite? He had died? It all seemed utterly surreal, but it held too many elements of truth for a simple fever dream or a hallucination. But his death? He knew for a fact that that had never happened.

Wait.

There was a scroll he had read once. A scroll of theory, written by a man who had been effectively debarred from academic circles for coming up with something so outlandish.

"Naruto. What year did this Fourth Shinobi World War happen in?" Jiraiya said slowly, emphasizing every word.

Naruto looked at him strangely. "Uh, I think it was thirteen eighty-five."

A scroll titled Travel through Time.

Jiraiya's eyes widened.

"Naruto." he whispered. "This is thirteen eighty-two!"

Naruto looked at him. Then looked down, at his adolescent body. Then back up at his very alive mentor.

"Wha... buh... Ero-Sennin." He stuttered, then leapt at Jiraiya, catching him in a bear hug. "Ero-Sennin!"

Jiraiya returned the hug, laughing. "I'm here, brat."

The cynical part of his brain tried to interject, but was beaten down by optimism, hope and joy.

The two stood there for a minute or so, before Jiraiya gently indicated that Naruto should let go. The boy did so, with a slightly awkward laugh.

Turning and setting off again, the two quickly reached the base of the pillars of red energy. Moving out of a patch of forest, Naruto found himself in a very familiar location.

The Konoha shonobi had emerged on a grassy cliffside, overlooking the sea. Right on the edge of the cliff were two small wooden crosses, degraded by wind and water. Behind the crosses was a huge, rusty broadsword as big as a fully grown man, impaled into the dirt. The columns of crimson energy stretched down from the clouds above and appeared to penetrate into the ground itself.

Before the two had time to do anything, the energy suddenly vanished. Seconds later, the silence was broken when a muscular arm forced its way out of the ground, followed by the head and torso of a very irate and very much alive Zabuza Momochi.

"AKATSUKI!"

For someone considered stupid, Naruto could on occasion be very quick to put things together. Zabuza had been present when the Kyuubi had nuked his insides during the extraction. Zabuza was yelling about a group he hadn't encountered in this world. Several other people had also been present at the extraction.

Oh. Oh no.

xXx

Tobi opened his eyes, looking up at the concerned face of a woman who was supposed to be dead.

"...What?"

xXx

Omake - (Inspired by Naruto Shippuden Episode 239)

The Suna-Oto invasion was in full swing. Konoha's buildings blazed furiously as shinobi fought atop them tooth and nail for their respective causes. Below them, civilians fled in all directions, trying desperately to avoid being caught in the cross-fire.

In one particular street, the legendary 67-year-old Eternal Genin Kosuke Maruboshi stood next to the first Ino–Shika–Chō Trio, surrounded by around twenty Konoha shinobi.

One of the chuunin stepped forward. "Shikaku-san, the enemy have entered the Western District. We should..."

Kosuke interrupted him, "Inoichi-san, Shikaku-san, Choza-san. The way you battle has such depth. You overwhelm your opponents while instilling courage in your allies."

The Ino-Shika-Cho trio smiled, as did most of the Konoha shinobi.

Katsuya, the chuunin who had spoken before, did not, "Yes, that's great Kosuke. Now, our people are getting massacred out there, we need to reinforce..."

Kosuke wasn't done, "A splendid formation that transforms your comrades' fears into bravery. The power of your experience, judgement and most of all your faith is magnificent!"

Katsuya looked around. Far from being concerned about the loss of life that had and was occurring all over Konoha, all the other shinobi seemed oblivious to their surroundings, even happy.

Shikaku laughed. "It's nothing like that, Kosuke-san"

Inoichi nodded. "We're just stuck with each other, whether we like it or not."

Katsuya clenched his fists. "There is an invasion going on. This is not the time for this."

Chouza ignored him. "Yeah, yeah, don't tell anyone. We just don't want to look bad in front of our kids, since we live in the same village, right?"

All the gathered shinobi laughed heartily.

"What the hell is wrong with you people? People are dying out there! Stop... Stop talking about yourselves and go help them!" Yelled Katsuya, ignored by all.

Several streets away, the group of Oto shinobi closed in on the three wounded Konoha ninja, kunai glinting.

"For the love of God, where the hell are the reinforcements?" One of them screamed as the first jutsu was launched.

xXx

Silly Filler. Seriously, watch it. The buildings around them are still visibly smoking, and at least twenty Konoha ninja are just standing around talking about how great the Ino-Shika-Cho team is. Even if there weren't any enemies in the immediate area, surely the hordes of wounded would need treating. Oh filler, you do so kill me!

Anyway, Review!

Chapter 3: Realization

xXx

(Yugakure)

Bracing his hands against the wooden wall, Tobi gently levered himself up off the floor where he had been thrashing in agony not a minute before, silently attempting a genjutsu dissipation. 

He was in a small, dimly-lit room. A dark-haired middle-aged woman standing over him, staring at him with concerned eyes.

He recognized this place. It was one of the private rooms of a rather exclusive club in Yugakure, a room set aside for private meetings between clients. The woman’s name was Aisha. She was one of his informants.

She was also a woman who he had executed personally several years ago, after he had discovered that she had been leaking information to Iwagakure.

Just what in god’s name was going on?

Aisha hesitantly moved to steady him, "Are you alright, sir?" She was cut off when his hand wrapped around her neck, pinning her to the wall.

"What sort of trick is this?" Tobi growled. "Where are the jinchuriki?"

"I... don't know... what you're talking about." Aisha gurgled, obviously terrified by his change in disposition.

Tobi laughed bitterly. "That woman has been dead for years. I killed her myself. What game are you trying to play?"

"K... Killed me?" she whispered.

Tobi tightened his hand. "Last chance. Where is Naruto Uzumaki?"

Aisha squirmed. "I don't..."

With a flick of his hand, Tobi broke the woman's neck. Dropping her body to the floor, he cast a stealth genjutsu over himself and slipped out the door into a wooden hallway, locking it behind him. The club's meeting rooms were both securely locked and soundproofed, so it would be a while before the woman's body would be discovered.

Silently slipping down the hallway, Tobi found himself in a the club's main hall. Apparently, it was either extremely late at night or incredibly early in the morning, as the club's usually popular bar was occupied by only slumbering drunks and a single tired-looking bartender. Above the club's karaoke stage, a pair of yawning employees were pulling down a garishly decorated banner, which bore the words ‘Happy Watanagashi Festival 1382!’ in large golden letters.

Wait.

Thirteen eighty-two?

Tobi did a double take.

xXx

(Wave Country)

On the wide Wave Country clifftop, Naruto could only watch in stunned silence as the apparently perfectly healthy Zabuza screamed obscenities at Akatsuki. Unlike shinobi resurrected through Edo Tensei, the swordsman's body appeared absolutely normal, his eyes lacking the trademark Edo Tensei colouring. Naruto couldn’t see any trace of decomposition, or even any scarring.

"Where the hell is that masked fucker?" Zabuza yelled, "I'm gonna..."

Zabuza suddenly seemed to regain some measure of situational awareness. More importantly, he noticed the two shinobi standing in front of him.

The nuke-nin went silent for a second. "...What?"

As Naruto stepped forward to respond, the strength seemed to drain from Zabuza's body. The man's eyes rolled back into his head and he slumped back into unconsciousness.

Jiraiya slowly lowered the kunai he had pulled out and turned to Naruto. "Kid, who is this guy?"

"His name is Zabuza Momochi. He's a nuke-nin from Kiri, and a former member of the Seven Swordsmen." Naruto answered. "He and Haku were there when I was... Wait! Ero-Sennin! There should be a second coffin! Dig it up!"

Not wasting time questioning his time-traveling student, Jiraiya immediately slammed his palm into the ground. "Doton: Moving Earth Core!"

The ground in front of the two parted and a severely degraded wooden coffin emerged from the depths. Naruto ran forward and yanked the lid off the coffin, flinging it aside.

Inside lay a male, raven-haired teenager, arms crossed across his chest. The figure was in their mid-teens, dressed in a highly damaged green turtleneck and large blue coat, along with a pair of baggy black pants which covered their legs. The teen's eyes were closed, but the slow rising and falling of their chest indicated that they were alive.

Naruto breathed out, "Haku..."

Haku. The shinobi whose heartfelt words and actions had been the catalyst in making him understand the true value of his precious people. Haku, one of the greatest influences of his life.

Like Zabuza, Haku appeared to be at the pinnacle of health, with no trace of the wounds he had received at that fateful battle on the bridge years ago. Reaching down, Naruto put his hand on the effeminate-looking boy's shoulder and gently tried to shake him awake. The teen remained as still as a corpse, only his soft breathing indicating that he remained part of the world of the living.

"This is Haku, Zabuza's apprentice." Naruto muttered. "We met on a mission back when I was a fresh genin, on opposite sides. The man who hired Zabuza betrayed the two of them, but not before we killed Haku. They were dead, Ero-Sennin. In this world, they've been dead for several months. But in the future, they were resurrected. They were there when Akatsuki tried to extract the Kyuubi."

"Do they seem like they've been resurrected through Edo Tensei?" Jiraiya asked.

Naruto shook his head, "No, I don't think people resurrected by the Edo Tensei can be knocked unconscious. Besides, Zabuza's eyes look normal. There's something else though. When Zabuza woke up just now, did you notice how he was yelling about Akatsuki and a masked man? It's possible that he encountered the group before without my knowledge, but I can't think of any reason why they would be the first thing to come to his mind instead of Gato or Kakashi-sensei unless he remembers the future. Ero-Sennin, I think that these two came back in time with me."

Naruto could see by the look on Jiraiya's face that the Sannin had immediately grasped the potential implications.

"Naruto, Who else was there when they tried to extract the Kyuubi?", Jiraiya spoke slowly, his voice even and utterly serious. " Who else could have come back?"

Naruto swallowed, "Kakashi-sensei, Gaara, Chiyo of Suna, Shikamaru, Asuma and... just about every member of Akatsuki besides Hidan and Kisame."

Jiraiya's look of horror matched Naruto's own. Akatsuki were already a terrible threat, but an Akatsuki with knowledge of the future? An Akatsuki who knew exactly who was going to be a thorn in their side, knew the abilities and strategies of their most powerful foes and already had information on every single jinchuriki? It was almost too horrible to contemplate.

Jiraiya wasn't known as a world class shinobi for nothing, though.

"Naruto, we need to get back to Konoha, tonight." Jiraiya said. "If what you're saying is correct, Akatsuki won't have any reason to wait anymore. Hell, they could be moving out as we speak. I may be powerful, but I can't hold them all off if they decide to blitzkrieg us. We need to get back and consult with Tsunade."

"What about Zabuza and Haku?" Naruto pointed to the two. "I'm not going to just leave them here."

Jiraiya shook his head. "They're missing-nin, Naruto. Sheltering missing-nin from another nation could seriously damage relations between us and Kiri. Why would you want to take them anyway? From the sounds of it, they tried to kill you."

"They're good people! Their employer is dead, so they don't have a reason to fight us. And they remember the future! The information they could give us is super-important, Ero-Sennin!" Naruto retorted.

"And what if they're still upset about the fact that you killed them? What if they kill Konoha shinobi?" Jiraiya demanded.

"They won't. Trust me." Naruto replied, determination clear on his face.

Jiraiya sighed. "Fine. They can come with us for now, but this is on your head. We can discuss this with Tsunade when we get to Konoha."

"Thanks Ero-Sennin!" Naruto grinned, then scratched the back of his head. "We should probably wake them up, though."

Naruto tried to shake Haku awake again. Jiraiya cautiously dragged Zabuza's body out of his grave and did the same, ready to dodge backwards at the first sign of aggression. Neither shinobi stirred.

Jiraiya turned to Naruto, electricity from the same Raiton jutsu that he had used to wake the Uzumaki crackling between his fingers "Well, desperate situations call for desperate measures, ne?"

Before Naruto could do anything, Jiraiya drove his fingers deep into Zabuza's side. The swordsman's body arched, but he remained unconscious.

Jiraiya stepped back, "Huh. Well, it looks like they won't be waking up anytime soon. Guess we'll just have to carry them."

"On it." Naruto answered, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Once again, the clones failed to materialize and Naruto fell to his knees, letting out a shout of pain.

"Ero-Sennin." Naruto groaned through gritted teeth, "I think something's screwing up my chakra."

"Don't use it until we get to Konoha." Jiraiya replied as he moved to help Naruto up. "We can get Tsunade to have a look at it. In the meantime, let the Great Toad Sage Jiraiya handle this!"

The Sannin sliced his thumb open on his tooth and slammed his hand down onto the ground. "Summoning Jutsu!"

Immediately, a titanic cloud of smoke materialized throughout the surrounding landscape. As it cleared, it revealed a gigantic magenta toad dressed in a large black robe and wielding a spiked sasumata and shield. The toad looked around, weapons at the ready, and noticed the ninja standing under him.

"Jiraiya? Why have you summoned me?" The large toad rumbled.

"Sorry, Gamaken." The Toad Sage replied. "I need you to get Naruto and I back to Konoha as fast as possible, along with two unconscious shinobi. It's an emergency."

Gamaken lowered his weapons. "Wouldn't Gamabunta or Gamahiro be a better choice? I'm fairly clumsy, you see."

"No, I trust you, Gamaken." The Sannin responded soothingly. What Jiraiya left unsaid was that the combat-obsessed Gamahiro would probably just ignore Jiraiya's request, while Gamabunta would likely punt him off the cliff for summoning him to act as a lowly mount.

The great toad sighed. "Very well. Ungraceful as I am, I will do my best."

The toad lowered down onto his front legs. Grabbing Zabuza and Haku, The Konoha ninja climbed up onto Gakaken's head, the Sannin casting a quick adhesive jutsu to make sure that the four would not fall off during the journey. With a great leap, the toad began the journey to Konoha.

xXx

(The Border of Fire and Rice Country)

The Valley of the End was known throughout the Elemental Nations as one of Fire Country's top tourist destinations. An artificial geographical landmark created during the titanic battle between Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha, the valley was breathtaking to behold, particularly the gigantic statues of Konoha's founders,

Recently, however, a location only a few miles away from the entrance to the valley had been developing a tourist reputation of its own. From all around Fire Country, people would come and marvel at the huge forest of razor-sharp bones which seemed to have just sprung up out of nowhere about a year ago. A few souls had attempted to try and clear away some of the bones, but the white material had proved shockingly dense and they could do little but scrape at the sides.

It was perhaps lucky that no one was present at the site during the night of the Watanagashi Festival of 1382. For when the one who had produced the forest opened his eyes for the first time in a year, he was feeling absolutely murderous.

(Kimimaro's Flashback)

Leaping through the trees, carrying the mangled corpse of Kakashi Hatake on his back, Kimimaro found Lord Orochimaru's chakra guiding him into a small clearing. Standing over the unconscious body of a Kiri shinobi was another of his master's servants, Kabuto. To the right of the clearing was the shinobi who he had sacrificed his life for, Sasuke Uchiha. The Sharingan-user was leaning against a tree, impatience clear on his face.

Tossing the body at Kabuto's feet, Kimimaro noticed that something was clearly wrong with Kabuto. The medic's usually intelligent eyes were dull and lacking in life, staring blankly ahead. Kimimaro could see a thin trail of drool leaking out of the man's mouth, which Kabuto was making no attempt to clean up.

As Kabuto began vacantly preparing for Kakashi's resurrection, Kimimaro turned to the Uchiha, who was staring at the corpse with an oddly pensive expression.

"Uchiha-san. What is it that Lord Orochimaru requires of me next?" He asked.

Sasuke looked up at him, a confused expression on his face. "Orochimaru?" His eyes registered just who was standing in front of him. "You're the bone user. Kimimaro wasn't it?"

The Kaguya nodded.

"Orochimaru is dead. He's been dead for several months now." Sasuke said distractedly, eyes returning to Kakashi's body.

Kimimaro started. "What? Lies!" He growled. "I can feel Lord Orochimaru's chakra flowing through my body!"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at the vehemence of Kimimaro's words. A small smirk crossed Sasuke's face as he gave the Kaguya his full attention.

"That's because Kabuto here absorbed some of Orochimaru's body after his death. Orochimaru himself is gone." Sasuke replied. "I should know. I killed him myself."

"Blasphemy!" Kimimaro raged, as he tried to will his body to attack the sacrilegious trash in front of him. "Lord Orochimaru would never fall to the likes of you!"

Sasuke leered at him, "Kabuto, why don't you tell him? Better yet, show him!"

The medic looked up from his preparations for the Edo Tensei, transfixing Kimimaro with his empty, snake-like eyes. As Kabuto lifted his hands into a seal, Kimimaro found his body moving against his will, forcing him down into a submissive crouch.

"What Sasuke says is true. I have absorbed parts of Orochimaru into my system. Orochimaru is dead." Kabuto said dully, voice emotionless and dead.

Kimimaro fell into stunned silence for a second. Serving Lord Orochimaru was his only goal, the only thing that gave him purpose in life. The man had taken him in, had defined the core of who he was. He had given his life to help further Lord Orochimaru's ambitions and goals, and would do so a thousand times over. But Sasuke, the very person he had sacrificed his life for to ensure he reached Lord Orochimaru, had been the one to kill him. Horror, guilt and primal fury washed over him, battling for dominance. Fury won.

The Kaguya began straining against Kabuto's control, pushing every bit of willpower he had into trying to mobilize his body into action. A familiar warmth started flowing across his body as slowly but surely, the marks of his Cursed Seal of Earth began creeping across his chest.

The Kaguya growled. "You will die for this, both of you! I am going to take your heads!"

Sasuke span around to Kabuto, slightly unnerved. "Kabuto, remove his personality! Now!"

Kabuto dully made a hand seal. Instantly, Kimimaro found himself shut inside his own mind, a prisoner within himself. Externally, Kimimaro's body went slack, his cursed seal receding and his eyes becoming dull, emotionless orbs. As a masked man arrived and began directing Kabuto and Sasuke, Kimimaro could do nothing but rage inside his own mind as his body moved against his will.

(End Flashback)

Kimimaro Kaguya's eyes flew open. The bone pillar that he was encased in exploded in a shower of fragments as the shinobi leapt free and flew across the bone forest, jumping from spike to spike. The Kaguya landed in a crouch on the ground next to the impenetrable wall of bone, curse mark receded.

He was in control of his body again! What's more, he could feel the course grains of the dirt beneath him grating into his knee. He lived again, not the non-feeling half-life of the Edo Tensei, but true, independent life! His breathing was easy, he could feel no trace of the deadly respiratory illness which had crippled him for as long as he could remember. Kimimaro felt better than he had felt in a long time.

The reason behind his resurrection did not matter. The mechanism of his resurrection did not matter. He would hunt down Lord Orochimaru's killer, Sasuke Uchiha. He would hunt down Lord Orochimaru's traitorous servant, Kabuto Yakushi. He would make them scream, he would make them suffer, and then he would kill them. After that...

Kimimaro blinked. What happened afterwards was irrelevant. All that mattered right now was taking vengeance for Lord Orochimaru.

The Kaguya ran off into the darkness in the direction of Sound Country, with not a living soul save for birds and rodents noticing his passage.

xXx

(Konoha)

Kakashi Hatake's career had not been a nice one. He had seen sights that would have broken lesser men, done thing that should have left him a gibbering wreck. Life as an elite shinobi tended to be extremely unpleasant, and an unpleasantly large proportion of the time ninja of A-rank or above ended their careers in a mental institution.

In the entirety of his time as a shinobi, however, Kakashi had encountered few things more horrendous, or annoying, than a drunk Guy.

Kakashi groaned as Guy tried and failed to come on to yet another random passerby in the shadowy Konoha street.

The Watanagashi festival was based around two central points. One, it was a time when you were supposed to return to the place you called home, and contemplate the good things in your life. Two, you were obligated to drink until you couldn't walk, then drink some more. Ninja especially held the holiday in reverence, which meant that the Watanagashi festival was one of the few times when the majority of shinobi were actually present in their village rather than out on missions. There were a few exceptions, obviously ninja on deep-cover or year-spanning missions could not simply take a day off, but most shinobi would return to their hidden villages, if just for the day.

Which led to the current situation, a mildly intoxicated Kakashi trying to lead a roaring drunk Guy to his home without the latter breaking too many public decency laws.

"Come on... hic... I am the...hic... the Green Baste of Konoha! Springtime of Love!" Guy roared, leaning heavily on Kakashi. The obviously disturbed object of his affections, a balding middle-aged man in a cheap suit, began walking very quickly in the opposite direction.

Kakashi sighed. "Come on, the sooner you get home, the sooner I can go to sleep."

Guy turned his head towards Kakashi as if noticing him for the first time. 

"Hello there, my... hic... Eternal Rival Kasakhi!" He yelled, his face contorting into a mildly lecherous grin. "You're looking very... hic... handsome tonight."

As Kakashi had learnt very early in their friendship, sober Guy had nothing on drunk Guy. A sober Guy would just yell at you about youth and challenge you to competitions. Drunk Guy was lustful. Drunk Guy would try and seduce just about anything above legal age, be it man, woman or inanimate object. Drunk Guy was, in short, a damn pain in the ass.

Dragging Guy away from his attempts to romance a telegraph pole, Kakashi found that to his great joy, he was only a few doors away from the man's house. Not wanting to deal with Guy trying to convince him to join him in the man's bed, Kakashi quickly swiped the house keys out of Guy's pocket and yanked the door open. Kakashi then shoved Guy inside and shut the door after him. Listening at the door for a few seconds to make sure the man wasn't going to try and seduce his toaster, Kakashi was rewarded with the sound of Guy tumbling into his bed, asleep the moment he hit the pillow.

The copy-nin began the long walk home, refraining from using jutsu or chakra due to his mildly inebriated state. Konoha's dimly-lit paved streets were filled with drunks, both shinobi and civilians, though thankfully few as bad as Guy. Kakashi sighed as he thought the present condition of his life. Naruto was off with Jiraiya at god-knows-where, training for the arrival of Akatsuki. He still trained Sakura occasionally, but Tsunade seemed to have adopted her as an apprentice. Sasuke was better off not being mentioned at all. He had a few friends, but his eccentricities often seemed to turn people away. With his genin team all but gone, he was back on active duty. His 27th birthday was coming up in a few months and Kakashi felt so very, very old.

Suddenly, every muscle in Kakashi's body went taunt as his danger sense, honed through decades of experience, went haywire. Instantly fully alert, the copy-nin pulled out a kunai and shifted back against the wall, eyes searching everywhere for the threat.

But there was nothing. No attack, no visible danger, just inebriated men and women slowly making their way back home.

Suddenly, one of the people near him, a brown-haired Konoha shinobi, let out a scream of primal agony and clutched at his head. Seconds later, another shinobi did the same, falling to her knees in pain. A ethereal dark orange aura of energy began to manifest around them, dark tendrils lashing out towards the horrified onlookers. The copy-nin could identify it instantly, for he had seen it emerge from Naruto in the past. It was the chakra of a bijuu.

As Kakashi moved to get a civilian to safety, a bright red column of light flew down from the heavens, transfixing the copy-nin. Every nerve in his body was instantly set alight, immobilizing him completely. A tendril of the orange energy surrounding the brown-haired man lashed towards him and he felt it scorch his arm before the red power forced it back. As he lost consciousness, Kakashi could do nothing but watch as the sky above Konoha was saturated with the orange energy, a great miasma stretching across the whole village.

xXx

(Yugakure)

Everything was gone.

Tobi had inquired all around the town, picking people to ask at random. All gave the same response, claiming that it was the morning of the 22nd of July, the day after the Watanagashi festival of 1382.

Either he had travelled backwards in time, or he was in a genjutsu too powerful for even him to break. In either case, he was screwed.

If someone was powerful enough to trap him in genjutsu, then such an individual would have no problem picking him off at their leisure. If this were the case, then all his plans would almost certainly come to nothing.

If, on the other hand, this was really the past, then all of the work of the last three years had been erased. All the bijuu that had been painstakingly harvested after this point had almost certainly returned to their hosts. The great White Zetsu Army at this point in time consisted of only a few dozen clones, fuelled by his sole remaining Bijuu, the Yonbi. Years of arduous manipulations from the shadows, constant pandering to Nagato's god-complex and maintaining his exhausting childish facade, all reversed in the blink of an eye. And he would bet on his life that the Kyuubi's jailer was responsible.

Every single time, it always seemed to cycle back to Konoha.

Hashirama Senju, who had defeated the original Madara Uchiha during the battle at the Valley of the End? Konoha.

Minato Namikaze and his wife Kushina, who had prevented his plan of using the Kyuubi to destroy the village from coming to fruition? Konoha.

Itachi Uchiha, who had erased years of carefully breeding enmity between the village and the Uchiha against each other in a single night? Konoha.

The shinobi behind the deaths of almost every one of his Akatsuki? Konoha.

And now Naruto Uzumaki. Son of the Fourth. Descendant of the First. "Future Hokage." Konoha.

Every. Goddamn. Time.

Even with his years of controlling his emotions, Tobi could not stop his fists from shaking from sheer rage. He had wasted decades of his life maneuvering pawns and implementing complex and layered plots. He had tried to show restraint. And yet, time after fucking time, the buffoons of Konoha had blundered in, tossed around a few jutsu and come out on top.

No more. If he really had returned to the past, there would be no more skulking in the shadows, no more intricate, decade-long strategies. He would strike fast, and he would strike hard, and he would obliterate Konoha with all the brute force he possessed. Tonight.

Preparing his space-time jutsu, Tobi began imagining how his imminent assault on the Leaf Village would play out. 

First, Nagato would use his Shinra Tensei to wipe out the village's infrastructure and defenses, as well as kill a large proportion of the village's population. He would then have Nagato send every summon he possessed, while Deidara bombarded any pockets of resistance with his C3 bombs. Hidan, Kakuzu and Sasori would move in to Anbu headquarters, while Kisame would flood Konoha's sewers with water, drowning as many of Danzo's Root as possible. Konan and the Path's of Pain would then move in through the chaos and eliminate the village's leadership. Tobi himself would then join the battle, and use the Statue of the Outer Path to rip the souls out of anyone who proved particularly troublesome. Of course, Itachi would have to be either neutralized or sent on a wild goose chase beforehand in order to prevent his interference. He would have the original Zetsu keep a watch in the trees and make sure no one of importance escaped...

(Amegakure)

Tobi arrived at his destination, his scheming cut short as he began preparing for yet another ego-pandering "God" speech to manipulate Nagato into doing his bidding.

Materializing in the large room containing Nagato's real body, Tobi noted that the Rinnegan bearer appeared to be slumped wearily in his throne, as if fatigued. The man's companion, Konan, stood over him, concern etched on her face.

Tobi walked towards the base of the man's gigantic mechanical chair, coming to a stop and kneeling at the base of the flight of stone steps leading up to it.

"Lord Pain, I have a request for you." Tobi started.

A lightning fast intangibility technique saved Tobi from certain death, as a large beam of pure chakra went straight through his body and tore through most of the room behind him. A huge gaping hole was opened in building, through which most of Amegakure could be seen below.

Rain lashing at his back from the gap behind him, Tobi looked up to see Nagato glaring at him with eyes glittering with unbridled hatred and malice, his Asura Path standing defensively in front of him and a bewildered looking Konan.

It was at this point that Tobi finally realized that he hadn't come back alone.

xXx

AN: You know that whole canon thing? Yeah, that's not going to be happening much in this story.

In case you hadn't guessed, this is going to end badly for Konoha. It means angst, but we'll get there in the end.

Read and Review!

Chapter Four: Tobi's Bad Day

xXx

(Mountain's Graveyard - Three Years in the future)

As the resurrected Akatsuki members began preparing the Hachibi jinchūriki for extraction, Tobi strode over to where the rejuvenated Nagato was standing to attention. The Rinnegan user had had control of his body taken away from him, but Tobi could see a flicker of recognition in the man's otherwise dead eyes as he approached.

"Hello, 'Lord Pain'." Tobi said, bowing mockingly. "I hope that you're finding your current circumstances to be satisfactory."

As expected, Nagato did not respond. From the information he had extracted from Kabuto, however, Tobi knew that the man could still hear him, even if he couldn't show it.

"So, Nagato, that whole trusting the Uzumaki thing didn't really pan out, did it?" Tobi sneered. "Betraying the Akatsuki, wasting your resurrection technique on a village that's just going to die anyway."

Tobi leaned close to Nagato, whispering in his ear. "I was never really going to put that plan of yours into motion, you know. All those years, I was controlling you and you and Konan danced like puppets on a string. I killed her too, you know. She died by my hand, begging for her life. It was pitiful."

Tobi could almost hear Nagato's internal screams of anger. He smiled maliciously behind his mask.

"Let me explain what my true objective has been." He said. Making sure none of the other Akatsuki members still loyal to him could hear, he began explaining the details of his Eye of the Moon Plan to the helpless man in front of him. At a couple of points, he thought he even witnessed Nagato's eyes widen in sheer horror.

Stepping backwards, he made a dismissive motion with his hand. "Off you go, my lord. After all, there's still plenty of work to be done.

As Nagato departed, Tobi noticed that the bound and sealed Itachi was staring at him, an indecipherable look on his face. Tobi laughed softly to himself. Even if the man had somehow overheard, it mattered not. Finally, everything had come together.

xXx

(Amekagure - Present)

"Tobi!" Nagato roared. "I'm going to kill you!"

Asura Path disconnected one of its hands from the wrist, revealing a thick cord covered in small ogive-shaped objects. The strange missiles took flight, homing in on Tobi. The masked man danced out of the way, allowing them to explode harmlessly in the room behind him.

Tobi's mind was working a mile a minute. The only things he could think of that might have engendered Nagato's intense hatred were powerful genjutsu or if the man remembered the future. Tobi decided to test his theory.

"Lord Pain, what are you doing?" He yelled, inserting just the correct amount of betrayal and confusion into his voice.

"No more tricks, Tobi! I know all about your Eye of the Moon Plan!" Nagato yelled back, his Asura Path firing off another wave of the explosive missiles.

Well, that proved it. Turning intangible, Tobi noted that Konan appeared utterly lost. Good, that would suggest that she did not remember her death at his hand.

"I don't know what you're talking about." The masked man retorted. "Lord Pain, you have been deceived!"

Nagato's glare could have frozen a volcano. "Enough talking!"

Hmm. It appeared that diplomacy was no longer an option. Nagato was looking at him with the same loathing and repugnance that he himself had felt towards Minato Namikaze, a hatred that had permeated his entire being. Nagato, the lynch pin in so many of his plans, had irreversibly set himself against him.

Turning his head, Tobi noticed through the gap in the wall the other five Paths of Pain speeding up towards the tower. By the looks of it, the Deva Path would arrive in less than thirty seconds, with the others coming soon after.

In the heat of the moment, Tobi made a split second decision. Nagato was more than a lost cause, he was a liability. The man was absurdly powerful, incredibly determined and could prove just as much of a thorn in his side as Konoha. Tobi would not allow the power of the Rinnegan to be turned against him.

Tobi materialized again, hands flying through a sequence of seals. Nagato's Asura Path fired off yet another wave of projectiles. Tobi allowed himself to take the hit to the shoulder, unwilling to break the sequence by dematerializing. Sucking in a lungful of air, Tobi launched the jutsu, "Katon: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!"

A torrent of fire came pouring out of Tobi's mask, taking the form of a gigantic, vicious-looking dragon. The fire jutsu soared through the air, heading for the two leaders of Amegakure. As it closed in, Tobi extended his hand, and the dragon turned slightly, making a beeline for Konan.

As Tobi had expected, Nagato's Asura Path moved to protect Konan. The reanimated corpse leapt into the path of the jutsu and was engulfed in a fiery conflagration.

Neither Nagato nor Konan noticed Tobi subtly fling a lone kunai into the backdraft of the Katon technique.

The fire dragon faded away to reveal a severely charred but still standing Asura Path. Konan stepped forward, preparing to launch a wave of paper shuriken at the man who had attacked her childhood friend.

Suddenly, the chair-bound Nagato let out a gurgled cry. Reaching up with a shaking hand, the man fingered the kunai that was embedded deep in his neck. In front of him, his Asura Path dropped to the ground like a stone, utterly lifeless.

"Rest assured, unlike last time, your death with not be in vain, Nagato." Tobi said softly, voice echoing around the room. "Now burn in hell, traitor."

Grimacing at his mangled shoulder, Tobi decided against trying to eliminate Konan, who was moving to assist the dying Nagato. In his damaged condition, his victory would not be assured. Once he was back to full strength he would return and erase the loose end on his terms, this time without the loss of a Sharingan.

In front of him, Konan appeared to be trying to use some sort of medical jutsu to close the hole in Nagato's neck, to no avail. Nagato himself had slumped back in his chair, breathing ragged and weak.

Staying long enough to hear Nagato's death rattle, Tobi activated his space-time jutsu and departed, just in time to dodge Konan's final attack.

xXx

(Land of Mountains)

It was an unfortunate facet of ninja life that the more powerful the shinobi, the more eccentric they usually turned out to be. There were many potential theories put forward trying to explain this, ranging from increased stress levels to chakra messing with the brain. As a general rule of thumb however; Genin-levels were usually fairly normal people with an occasional quirk; Chuunin-levels were usually considered eccentric, Jounin-levels would range from plain weirdness to "Power of Youth" bizzarity and Kage-levels and up were often simply insane (although were often very good at hiding it), constantly developing obsessions or coming up with fantastical plans for world domination.

Case in point, Kiri Akuryou. Harkening from an unknown village several decades ago, Kiri had supposedly been hailed as a medical prodigy, only a couple of steps below Tsunade. Growing sick of all the fighting and violence, Kiri had decided to leave his village and set up a medical village of healers who would treat anyone, regardless of allegiance or creed.

For reasons no one had ever been able to deduce, however, Kiri had decided to set up his village in the most inaccessible place on the entire continent, smack bang in the center of the aptly named "Mountains of Death." To reach the village by foot would take about three weeks of walking, through mountains famous for their violent ice storms, constant avalanches and gigantic roving packs of dire wolves. As such, anyone who had been sick at the start of the journey would likely be dead by the end of it.

Unsurprisingly, visitors to the elderly hermit's village were rare, aside from the occasional, extremely resilient apprentice seeking his tutelage. The lack of regular human contact hadn't helped Kiri's already fragile mental state, either.

He was a damn good medic-nin, though, so Tobi found himself willing to bear the old man's ramblings. The wound that he had taken to the arm, while not life-threatening, was definitely serious.

"Tobi, my good friend! How have you been? Kiri and Genno have been so worried!" The old man yelled as Tobi materialized on the plateau of Kiri's "village". The hermit looked to be in his late sixties, with long grey hair, a set slightly disheveled white surgeon clothes that were basically all he wore and pale, almost pupil-less violet eyes. On top of the man's head was a crude approximation of a purple Kage hat, with the words Reikikage written in bright white letters across the brim. Sitting smack-bang in the middle of the hat was Genno, a crudely made stuffed frog that the man always carried with him.

Tobi nodded cordially to the man, deftly sidestepping Kiri's attempts to hug him. "The same to you. I've been wounded in my left shoulder, I need you to treat it."

Kiri laughed. "Yessir! Kiri is just the Kage for the job."

The medic's voice became low and serious. "I should warn you though, the living shadows have been snooping around again. If you don't want the small rodent to free your tail, you'd best be cautious. He's a crafty one!"

Kiri motioned for Tobi to enter his "village", which consisted of a small, three-room hut. Walking through the small door, Tobi sighed. Had anyone else showed such blatant disrespect for his personal space, he would have been tempted to kill them. He really didn't know why he put up with the man. Maybe he simply found it refreshing to deal with someone he didn't have to constantly deceive, manipulate or watch his back around all the time. After all, the man had been the inspiration for his cheerful persona, specifically designed to make people dismiss and lower their guard around him.

Actually, now that he thought about it, the insane man was the closest thing he had to a friend.

...An odd thought. Tobi hadn't contemplated the concept of 'friends' for a long time. It appeared that having all his plans ruined in the space of a single moment was affecting his mental state.

Kiri led him to a long wooden bench, indicating that he should lie down. He complied without comment, feeling the burning sensation immediately fade as bright green energy emerged from the man's palms. Say what you would about the man's mental state, he knew his stuff. Tobi had on numerous occasions been tempted to try and make Kiri Akatsuki's official medic, but had decided against it. Kiri was adamant about being neutral in all affairs, and any attempt to force him to leave his mountain home would likely not end well. Tobi remembered the time when two patients had arrived at the same time, and the Konoha-nin had tried to kill the Iwa-nin during his treatment. Kiri had turned deadly serious, and mercilessly dispatched the Konoha shinobi with a kunai. The man seemed much more threatening when you realized that the only available food sources were the rabid wolf packs which populated the mountains.

True, with enough genjutsu and a little conditioning he could probably brainwash the man into servitude, but that would probably dull his medical skills. Besides, he didn't really see the point. With his space-time jutsu he could travel here whenever he wished and having what amounted to his own personal medic was extremely useful.

"So, Tobi, Una the fox spirit has been asking how that club you're part of is going again. Do you have any good news?" Kiri asked cheerfully, startling Tobi out of his train of thought.

Ah yes, the man also had a number of imaginary friends, who seemed to take an unhealthy interest in his work. Rama the door and Hirama the pillar had mysteriously disappeared a few years ago, but Una and Ito the spinning top still made frequent inquiries.

Tobi decided to humor him. "Tell Una that all isn't lost, but we've hit a pretty major setback."

Kiri nodded sagely, returning to his healing. Tobi grimaced under his mask. "Pretty major" didn't even begin to cover it. Nagato's death and defection would prove disastrous to a huge number of his plans! Not had were his plans for Madara Uchiha's resurrection curtailed once again, but he no longer had the strength to attack Konoha directly. The fact that Nagato had travelled back in time with him was a catastrophe!

Tobi had been trying to distract himself from the utter disaster that had just befallen his plans by focusing his thoughts on the inconsequent mountain medic, but an unpleasant thought occurred to him. Come to think of it, it might not just be limited to him and Nagato. Obviously, not everyone had travelled back, Konan and Yukigure's population proved that much. The reaction of the Kyuubi's chakra with the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path almost certainly had something to do with it, so it was likely limited to the people in or near the cavern. If any of his Akatsuki had come back with him, it could prove a serious boon or a serious threat. Thankfully, he hadn't revealed his true purpose to any of them, save Nagato.

Kisame and Hidan were out. In the other timeline Kisame had met his end on Kumo's floating island, while Hidan had seemingly disappeared off the face of the earth around the same time as Kakuzu's first death. Still, he had the former's utter loyalty, while the latter was an unintelligent, manipulatable brute.

In the future, Zetsu had met his end at the hands of Itachi. The plant-man was the most loyal member of all.

Konan wasn't going to be joining him anytime soon.

If Kakuzu had returned, it would be to his advantage. Kakuzu could be easily controlled by his lust for money, and wasn't likely to fall for the tricks that had led to his death the first time.

Sasori's return would also be fortunate. While the puppeteer didn't have a manipulatable vice like Kakuzu's greed, Sasori had never shown any discontent towards Akatsuki's objective of world domination.

Deidara could be a little more troublesome. The man was extremely unpredictable and often suicidal, and it was eminently possible that Deidara would hold a grudge about being controlled through the Edo Tensei. Still, with enough time he should be able to bring the explosives-user around. Loosing his orange mask again would probably make the task much easier, as Deidara likely associated it with his incredibly irritating facade.

Itachi would... would...

Oh.

Oh fuck.

xXx

(Flashback - The Land of Lightning)

As Tobi sealed the bijuu back into the container, he looked out to where his resurrected shinobi were binding and sealing the two rogue jinchuriki. Both looked like death warmed up, the Hachibi container had had an arm and a leg violently ripped off, while Naruto had had almost every bone in his body broken by Madara Uchiha. Amazingly, the blonde shinobi was still conscious, if only barely.

Suddenly, the upper half Naruto's body began writhing violently, as if something was trying to escape. As Tobi watched, Naruto's mouth was forced open and out flew an ink black crow. Immediately, the Third Raikage snatched it out of the air, crushing it in his hand.

Tobi raised an eyebrow. "That was odd."

As the resurrected moved in to make sure Naruto wasn't going to try some last-resort technique, a violent red flame began manifesting around one of them, taking the form of a gigantic ethereal humanoid.

Itachi Uchiha stepped out of the crowd of resurrected, freed from Kabuto's and Tobi's control through Shusui's Sharingan. A brilliant golden blade of light materialized in his hand, impaling the Third Raikage and the Fourth Kazekage. Immediately, the two flew into the gourd inside the Susanoo, sealed for eternity.

The various resurrected shinobi leapt backwards, launching jutsu at the Uchiha. In response, a wave of black flames flew through the air, igniting most of the surrounding area. A huge number of Tobi's troops were caught in the crossfire, their flesh melting even as it reformed. Among these was the original Zetsu, who was almost instantaneously reduced to a pile of burning ashes.

Itachi moved to try and retrieve the Kyuubi jinchuriki, launching off jutsu after jutsu at his enemies. Yet powerful as Itachi was, he was not stronger than all the other resurrected combined. Under the incredible flurry of attacks, even his Susanoo could not hold. In the end Itachi fell, his chakra sealed and useless. Tobi was kind enough to allow Itachi to keep his consciousness, so that he would be able to witness the Eye of the Moon Plan come to fruition.

xXx

(End Flashback)

Itachi, who he had lied to, betrayed and manipulated. Itachi, who almost certainly knew his true plans for Sasuke. Itachi, who could possibly have heard him gloating to Nagato. Itachi, who if his memory was correct was currently on a mission in the Land of Lightning, a short distance from where he was storing the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.

Tobi flung himself off Kiri's bench and dashed for the door, ignoring the fact that his wound wasn't fully healed yet. Running out onto the plateau, hands flying through seals, Tobi slammed his palm down into the freezing earth. "Summoning!"

He felt his chakra levels drop slightly, and a thick fog appeared around him, obscuring his vision. The alpine wind quickly dispersed the smoke, revealing... statue wasn't there.

Starting to feel panicked, Tobi tried the summoning jutsu again. Once again, it resulted in nothing but smoke and chakra loss.

Kiri walked up beside him. "What's up, Tobi? Having connection problems?"

Tobi felt a wave of dread wash over him. If the statue itself wasn't coming to him but he was still feeling chakra loss, it could only mean one thing. But surely Itachi couldn't have... It had only been a few hours...

Tobi quickly activated his transportation jutsu, leaving a mildly amused-looking Kiri standing alone on the mountaintop.

xXx

(Akatsuki Hideout, Mountain's Graveyard)

Emerging onto in the lotus cavern underneath Mountain's Graveyard, Tobi was confronted with a terrible scene. The entire cave was alight with black flames, burning everything in sight. All around the dungeon Tobi could spot pieces of White Zetsus, obviously slain by some intelligent force. The gigantic flower that had held up the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path had been burnt beyond repair by the flames of Amaterasu, its remains lying at the base of the cavern, still blazing with the black fire. The non-sentient clone of Hashirama Senju, instrumental in the creation of his Zetsu army, had evidently been destroyed. Of the statue itself, all he could see was a single useless tooth.

Itachi had done his work well. He had most certainly come back to the past with Tobi. And he was long gone.

All alone in the cave, Tobi screamed in frustration.

The Uchiha had ruined everything! The Yonbi was gone and wouldn't reform for several years! The vessel for the Juubi, as well as his most powerful weapon, had been obliterated! The clone he had worked so hard to cultivate had been erased, and with it his ability to create an army!

On top of everything else, Tobi realized that all the other people who had been present for Naruto's extraction could have returned to the past with him, including the Kyuubi jinchuriki himself. Fueled by his rage, fire hot enough to melt stone poured out of his mask, burning a huge hole in the already ravaged floor.

Everything was gone.

xXx

(Border of the Land of Fire)

"Karasu Messenger."

In Itachi's hand, a crow-like mass of chakra came into being, staring at him with beady, red eyes. Itachi tied a small scroll around the construct's leg, and gently released it into the air.

"The Hokage." He said softly.

The crow flew off, heading in the direction of Fire Country. It would carry the scroll to a trusted contact, who would deliver it anonymously to the Hokage. The scroll contained details about every member of Akatsuki, revealed Tobi's true objective and explained that they had travelled through time. Itachi could only hope that Tsunade wouldn't dismiss his fantastical story out of hand.

After the red pillar of energy had vanished and the pain had stopped, it hadn't taken Itachi long to work out what had happened. Knocking out the unprepared Kisame with a quick genjutsu, Itachi had headed to Mountain's Graveyard as fast as he could, and obliterated everything he found. For the foreseeable future at least, Akatsuki's plans for the bijuu had been averted.

It was clear from the events that had taken place after his death that Tobi had no intention of keeping his word in regards to Sasuke. His time in Akatsuki, for better or worse, was over.

The information he had for Konoha was too important to be trusted to a jutsu. First, he would travel to Konoha and he would inform the Hokage in person of the crucial information he possessed. Hopefully, she would be willing to listen and wouldn't attack him on sight. Then...

Then he would track down his brother and he would do what he should have done from the beginning. He would tell Sasuke the truth about everything. He would tell him of the Uchiha rebellion, of Danzo, of Tobi. And if his little brother still believed, after all that, that his life should be taken as payment for his sins, then he would give it gladly. The web of lies and deception that he constructed in his last life had brought Sasuke nothing but death and hatred. Now was the time for truth.

The red energy had done more than just take him back to the past. The fatal internal illness that had weakened him for so long had evidently been healed with it. Not only that, but the energy had repaired the damage that the Mangekyo had done to his eyes at the same time. Itachi Uchiha could finally see clearly, both literally and figuratively, for the first time in a very long time.

The Konoha shinobi launched himself into the trees of the Land of Fire, dust trailing in his wake.

xXx

(Amekagure - Earlier that day)

Konan lifted her hands over her head, creating a razor-sharp ring of paper. "Paper Chakram!"

The disc flew through the air, slicing through the already severely damaged wall at the opposite end of the room. It was no use, Tobi was already gone.

Konan numbly fell to the stone floor, oblivious to the rain that was pouring through the gap in the wall. Nagato was dead. The only person she had left, the man she loved despite his remoteness, was gone.

She didn't even know why. That weird red light that had struck Nagato had to have something to do with it, but why would he attack Madara? Her friend had yelled something about an "Eye of the Moon Plan" before the Uchiha killed him. What did it all mean?

Moving to Nagato's corpse, she gently removed him from the cursed chair, wrapping his body in paper. Even in her state of mourning, she noticed that his muscles and skin seemed healthier than they had been since he had first been incapacitated. She was startled out of her thoughts when a very familiar voice spoke from behind her.

"Konan."

Slowly, Konan turned. Standing at the other side of the room was an orange-haired man with six piercings down his nose, a man she knew all too well.

"Y... Yahiko?" She stuttered, unable to comprehend what she was seeing.

The man shook his head sadly. "No. It's me, Konan. Nagato."

Konan registered the purple rings in the man's eye. Oh.

"I'm... I'm sorry my lord. he got away." She said stiffly, tightly controlling the sea of emotions churning about inside her. Nagato had been so remote, so cold these past few years, utterly consumed with his goal. To show emotions would do nothing but make things more uncomfortable than they already were.

Nagato-Yahiko began walking towards her. Konan looked down, waiting for her orders.

Only to stiffen, as the man wrapped his arms around her.

"I'm so sorry, Konan. " The man whispered, voice thick with apology and emotion. "I'm so sorry, for everything."

Nagato-Yahiko tightened his arms around her, continuing to whisper words of atonement in her ear. Konan slowly relaxed into the hug, sliding her arms around him in return.

The two stood there for several minutes, their bodies expressing feelings that words never could. Something had changed within Nagato, something deep. Konan buried her face in his shoulder, tears running down her cheek as she finally allowed the flood of emotions to pour out. Neither had hugged or been hugged like this since Yahiko's death, all those years ago.

Finally, the man released her, stepping backwards. He was smiling, yet another dramatic development from the usually frigid man.

"My soul is bound to this body now." Nagato said. "I'm sorry Konan, it was the only way..."

Konan put a finger over his lips, shushing him. "It's OK. I think it's what Yahiko would have wanted."

The man nodded, then sighed.

"I'm going to have to gather up the members of Akatsuki and inform them of some changes to our primary policy." Nagato said, the corner of his mouth twitching ever so slightly upwards. "First of all though, I need to tell you some things."

Leading Konan over away from the gap in the wall, Nagato motioned to the stone steps. "You might want to sit. This could take a while."

xXx

AN: It's just been one disaster after another for major antagonist Tobi, huh? As it is now, it probably seems like I'm loading the deck too heavily against the antagonists, which would make the story fairly uninteresting. Rest assured, I have a couple of twists in mind to even out the score.

Chapter Five: Petrification

xXx

(Just outside Konoha)

The great magenta toad landed in an explosion of dirt, a couple of miles away from Konoha. Wobbling slightly, Naruto and Jiraya dismounted, carrying the still unconscious Zabuza and Haku with them. It was still dark, but light was just beginning to appear on the horizon.

Gamaken rubbed the back of his head. "I hope that my ungracefulness didn't disturb you." 

Smiling, Jiraya dropped Zabuza into the dirt and walked up to the big toad, patting him reassuringly on the leg.

"You did just fine, Gamaken." The Sannin assured. "You can head back to Myoboki, now."

Nodding happily, the toad dismissed himself in a cloud of smoke. Immediately, Jiraya clutched his stomach and fell to his knees. Naruto did the same, after taking a moment to lower Haku to the ground.

"Oh sweet God." Jiraya gasped. "I'd forgotten why I didn't use toads for transportation more often!"

Naruto glared at him, the overwhelming motion sickness that he was feeling draining his glare of any real threat, "You mean... gak... aside from the massive environmental destruction? You probably crushed an area the size of Konoha!"

Jiraya only groaned in response, fully engaged in trying to keep his stomach's contents in their current location.

One and a half nauseated minutes later, and the two were ready to set off. Jiraya looked down at the two Mist shinobi.

"Geez, kid, if that didn't wake those two up, then there's no telling how long they're going to be out." The Sannin said.

Naruto nodded. "Could you summon another toad to carry them? A smaller one this time."

Jiraya did so, summoning a green, saddled toad the height of a large horse. Jiraya fished into his pockets and tossed the toad a dead snake, which it devoured greedily. The two heaved the unconscious bodies onto the saddle.

Naruto looked at Jiraya in mild disgust. "Do you just keep those things in your pockets?"

The Sannin smirked. "It annoyed Orochimaru to no end." 

His expression turned serious. "We need to get a move on. Tsunade needs to hear your story."

Naruto and Jiraya took off, sprinting up the winding, forested road towards Konoha's front gate with the toad trailing behind them. The road ahead was deserted, but behind them they could see the distant shapes of trade carts traveling up the road towards the Leaf Village.

About two minutes after they started running, the trees parted to reveal the shadowy form of Konoha. It was still dark, and all they could make out of the village was a vague shape.

But even in the darkness, the two could sense that something was wrong.

There was no light coming from Konoha. No street lights, no torches, no fires, nothing. During the Watanagashi Festival, even this early in the morning, Konoha was always lit up like a Christmas tree.

Jiraya and Naruto looked to each other, and doubled their speed. Naruto almost tripped a couple of times due to not being entirely used to his short limbs yet, but was able to keep up.

And then the first rays of light hit Konoha's walls, and the two gasped.

Konoha's walls were completely black. Not damaged, not charred, but a shiny, jet-black that made it look as if the village's walls were crafted of pure obsidian.

Jiraya lifted his hands into the anti-genjutsu seal. Naruto took a more direct route, and drove a kunai into his hand.

The image did not waver.

The two took off again. As they got closer, Jiraya was struck by the realization that they were close enough to Konoha that they should be able to hear sounds of life within the village. Instead, there was silence, broken only by their own breathing and footfalls. Even the birds and insects were silent. It was as if nature was holding its breath.

And then the two turned round a corner, and were confronted with a terrible sight.

Konoha's great gate stood open before them, flanked on either side by trees. Inside, they could see several of the village's buildings, none of which appeared damaged. Lying on the ground near the gate in fetal position was a man, non-moving.

And everything, from the buildings to the trees to the man on the ground, appeared to be made of that same inky-black substance. Even the ground itself appeared to be made of the stuff, light-brown stone metamorphosing into ebony several meters in front of them. The black substance had a very clear border, with one tree located on the circumference bisected down the middle between brown and black.

As Naruto tried to dash forward, Jiraya grabbed his shoulder and yanked him back. The Sannin pointed in through the gate, to where shapes could be seen sprawled across the jet-black street. Naruto's eyes widened in horror as he realized that the forms were people, frozen in positions of agony.

"We don't know if whatever caused this is still active. Don't move until I say so." Jiraya commanded, a hint of a tremble in his otherwise composed voice.

The Sannin tossed a kunai at the black ground. The knife flew through the air and bounced off the black substance with a ping, skidding across the ground. There were no signs of anything out of the ordinary.

The Toad Sage moved into a senjutsu stance, attempting to sense natural energy. A second later he lowered his hands, gasping.

"There's nothing." Jiraya choked. "I can't detect... there's no life! Of any kind! Anywhere!"

A sudden cognizance gripped Jiraya. Ignoring his earlier words, the Sannin flew forward with reckless abandon, leaving a stunned Naruto in his wake.

Jiraya's foot landed on the black substance with a clatter, having no impact on the man. The Sannin didn't pay it a second thought, dashing headlong through the gates of Konoha. Emerging in the wide square that marked the entrance to the city, the man could see that everything in sight was made of the same black stone. Around the square, stone stalls filled with stone goods and foodstuffs lay unattended, their vendors petrified in positions of agony. The metal lights and paper which would usually have lit the square were dark, transformed into stone just like everything else. A petrified dog, obviously in pain, lay chained to fence.

Leaving the lifeless square behind him, Jiraya took off up one of Konoha's streets. All around him shinobi and civilians alike lay frozen in their death throes, feverishly clutching their heads or chests. Ahead of him, the Hokage Residence stretched up to the sky like a black, flabby claw. Behind it, the Hokage Monument stared down at the dead village, the brown stone now the same colour as the rest of the village.

Jiraya took to the rooftops, leaping from building to building. On several occasions he spotted stone ANBU, many with their hands held clasped in final, desperate seals. The further he went, the more the hope in his chest dwindled. The entire village had become stone. He was no stranger to death, but this? Konoha had a population of hundreds of thousands of people. All those families, those men, women and children. Gone.

The Sannin arrived at the Hokage Residence. Tearing through the open front entrance, sweat dripping off his face, Jiraya ran through the dark stone corridors. A number of the crumpled forms he saw were acquaintances, but the man did not stop. All the while Jiraya prayed that his worst fears would not be realized, a naive optimism being the only thing preventing him collapsing.

Jiraya reached the Hokage's office, and with a strength that he didn't know he had broke the stone door off its hinges.

And there she was.

Standing defiantly at the window, her face gritted in pain, was the jet-black form of the Fifth Hokage.

Something broke within Jiraya.

It was clear that Tsunade had gone down fighting. Her hands were clasped in one final seal, her legs steady despite the unbearable pain she must have gone through.

Jiraya stepped forward, raising a trembling hand to stroke her stone face. It felt cold to the touch.

"Hime." He said gently. She looked so beautiful. "Hime, wake up! This isn't funny anymore! Hime!"

Jiraya stepped back, hands lifting into a seal, "Kai. Kai. Kai! Kai! Kai!"

He wouldn't believe it. He couldn't believe it.

"Kai! Kai!"

The hellish vision in front of his did not waver.

"Kai Kai Kai Kai Kai!"

Nothing happened.

Jiraya fell to his knees. She couldn't... It wasn't...

Tsunade, the light of his life. Tsunade, the only woman he had ever truly loved. She couldn't be dead. Naruto had said that she'd survived for another three years, at least!

Wait.

Naruto. Naruto had reversed time!

Time had been reversed once. It could be reversed again!

xXx

Naruto walked aimlessly through the inky-black stone streets of the Konoha. The boy's eyes were dazed and vacant. Around him, he could see the bustle of the crowds, smell the heavenly scent of Ichiraku ramen, hear Sakura's melodious laugh.

Naruto waved to a phantom chuunin, who nodded respectfully in return. Naruto smiled. It was good to be back in his home village. The people were so nice to him now.

Ahead, Naruto noticed a weaponry shop offering half-price on shuriken. Absently, the Uzumaki reached down and patted his weapon pouch. He needed to restock soon. After all, he would need to be at his best if he was going to bring Sasuke back.

A small, black-haired boy appeared from around the corner and dashed towards him, almost colliding with a dozen people during the process. Naruto remembered when he'd been that careless.

The boy stopped in front of him and somehow managed to grab his shoulders.

"Naruto!" It yelled.

Naruto gently tried to brush the boy's arm off his shoulder, only to discover that the kid's grasp was stronger then expected. 

"What's up, kid? Do you want some tips from Konoha's Number One ninja?" He said, expecting the kid to nod happily.

He was extremely surprised when the boy began violently shaking him. "Naruto, wake up!"

Mildly irritated, Naruto was preparing to shake the boy off when the world around him started dissolving. The crowds around him started fading, and the sounds began to grow fainter.

The boy slapped him across the face. "Naruto!"

The shock-induced mirage vanished. Naruto found himself standing in a black stone street, his shoulders gripped by Jiraya. The Sannin himself looked almost deranged, his breathing fervent and his face contorted into a demented snarl.

"Wha... Ero-Sennin?" Naruto started, then fully registered where he was. Where there had been crowds, there were instead piles of stone corpses, contorted into positions of agony. 

"Oh... Oh God! What is this?" Naruto whispered, stomach heaving with nausea. Jiraya's hands tightened around his arms, nails digging into his flesh.

"Time has been reversed once, right? We can do it again! It's not too late, she's not dead, she doesn't have to be dead!" The man raved. shaking Naruto even harder than before. "Naruto, check Kyuubi now!"

For the first time ever, Naruto was frightened of his sensei. The man's eyes were wild, and he appeared deeply unhinged.

Naruto tried to remove the man's hands from his arms. "Ero-Sennin, I don't understand!"

The Sannin snarled and viciously drove his fist into Naruto's gut. "The Kyuubi! Now!"

Coughing, Naruto stumbled back from the unbalanced Jiraya, and slowly lifted his hands to show his cooperation. Lowering himself onto the ice-cold ground, Naruto moved into the meditation position and closed his eyes.

(Naruto's Mindscape)

The Uzumaki materialized in the sewer that contained the Kyuubi. Or used to, anyway. For it was immediately evident to Naruto that Kurama was no longer there.

The sewer looked more like an absurdist painting, Formerly planar walls twisted into themselves, pipes threaded randomly across the various surfaces as if placed by a demented child and parts of the roof had disappeared altogether, revealing an empty, black void.

At the other side of the sewer, the great cage that housed Kurama lay open and completely empty. The fox was gone.

Naruto walked over to the cage, half-expecting the Kyuubi to appear and try and devour him. Instead, there was nothing. No trace of the gigantic chakra fox, just the soft splashing of his feet in the water.

"Kurama!" He yelled feebly, already half-knowing that there would be no response. Silence met his cry. Apparently, the fox hadn't made the journey.

Lowering his head in defeat, Naruto departed.

(Konoha)

Naruto looked up at the expectant Jiraya. "There's nothing. The Kyuubi is gone."

Growling dementedly, the Sannin grabbed Naruto by the scruff of his jacket, lifting him up. 

"What do you mean, gone!?" He yelled, teeth bared in a terrifying grimace.

Naruto didn't meet his gaze. "The Kyuubi is no longer bound within me. I'm no longer a jinchuriki." He muttered slowly.

Jiraya loosened his grip. "But it can't be gone! Without it, I can't..." He dropped Naruto, who fell bonelessly to the ground. His voice grew softer. "She won't..." He let himself tumble backwards, falling to the stone ground. The violence dispersed from the Sannin's frame, replaced by a forlorn hopelessness.

Naruto crawled over to him and wrapped his arms around Jiraya's arm, "I'm sorry, Ero-Sennin."

The man looked up at him with desolate eyes. 

"She's gone, Naruto." Jiraya whispered. "Tsunade is gone."

Naruto said nothing, simply embracing him tighter.

For the first time in over two decades, Jiraya found himself crying. Naruto would have joined him but the last week had drained him of any tears he might of had, so he just sat with the man in the gutter, staring numbly up at the morning sky.

xXx

(The Land of Stones)

"All members of Akatsuki are to travel to Amegakure immediately."

Deidara glared at the shadowy hologram in front of him. "Not until you explain why we're alive again, un!"

Pain's projection stared back impassively. "All will be explained once you arrive. Dismissed."

The Akatsuki leader’s hologram vanished. Deidara turned to the Hiruko-wearing Sasori, face alight with irritation.

"What was that? Who the hell does he think he is?" The explosives user complained.

"Our leader." Sasori replied absently, prompting Deidara to begin a rant about Pain's arrogance. Sasori ignored him, deep in thought.

A couple of hours ago, the two had suddenly found themselves assaulted by strange red pillars of light. Thankfully, they were in the middle of a wide, rocky wasteland at the time, because the indescribable agony the energy had put them through had left even Sasori helpless. When the puppet master had regained consciousness, he was met with the unpleasant surprise of being in his old puppet body again, complete with Hiruko.

Deidara had immediately taken the opportunity to blow up a rock formation, and the two had been heading towards civilization when Pain's message had arrived.

It would be the easiest thing in the world for Sasori to simply head back to Amegakure and fall back into his old Akatsuki role. But something was stopping him. An avid reader of chakra theory, Sasori had correctly deduced that the most likely explanation for his current situation was Sukune's time travel theorem. After all, his destroyed puppets existed once more, Deidara was fully alive and Pain was apparently leading Akatsuki again, rather that Tobi.

Sasori found himself unable, however, to get the conversations he had had with Chiyo out of his head.

During the period when he had been resurrected through the Edo Tensai, Sasori had discovered that he really didn't appreciate being controlled by another. True, Tobi had allowed him to act mostly according to his own desires, but there had always been a sense of powerlessness, as if he himself were but a puppet dancing on strings.

Now he had returned to his puppet body and once more had full control over his actions. The lack of feeling in his wooden body felt somewhat unpleasant, but it time he would learn to cope again.

But a return to Akatsuki? Sasori had his doubts about the organization's true goals. And Sasori was not one who appreciated being deceived.

No. A return to Akatsuki would place him under Pain and Tobi's control once more. Akatsuki's leaders had manipulated him for two lifetimes already. Sasori had no intention of dancing on strings any longer.

Unfortunately, for all his grumbling, Deidara was still loyal to the organization. Ah, well, sacrifices had to be made.

xXx

"I mean, he constantly orders us around! And I've never seen him go on any missions!" Deidara complained as he walked through the empty canyon, Sasori by his side. The puppet master was apparently in a pensive mood, for he hadn't replied once.

Suddenly, Sasori stopped in his tracks. Deidara immediately followed suit, instantly alert to the possibility of danger.

"Sasori?" He queried.

To Deidara's bewilderment, the puppeteer slowly lifted one of Hiruko's hands and placed it on Deidara's left forearm.

'Shink!'

Stunned, Deidara looked down, to where a single needle was now embedded in his flesh. He looked up at the emotionless face of Hiruko.

"Within two minutes, your ability to use chakra will be gone. Within three days, you will be dead." Sasori said softly. " If you survive this, tell Pain and Tobi that I'm finished with Akatsuki."

The puppeteer leapt backwards, narrowly avoiding Deidara's kunai. Shooting the explosive user one last look, the traitor took off at great speed up the other side of the canyon, quickly vanishing from sight.

Deidara swore. Sasori was never one to lie about his poisons. He had only seconds to act before it spread into the rest of his body.

Grabbing a handful of explosive clay from his pouch, Deidara quickly smeared a thin line around his left arm. Jamming the hilt of a kunai between his teeth, the nuke-nin made the explosion seal.

"Katsu!"

The clay around Deidara's arm detonated with an explosion of blood and gore. His teeth biting hard into the kunai's handle, Deidara screamed as his left arm went flying away from his body.

One of the very, very few advantages of the situation was that the wound was cauterized by the explosion. Deidara slumped against the rock wall. This wasn't the first time that he had lost arms, not by a long shot, but unless he was able to get Sasori's poison out of his left arm he wouldn't be able to reattach it.

What had triggered the puppeteer's betrayal? Sasori had never shown any sort of discontent with the organization's goals, even after both of them had died (Deidara still wasn't sure what was going on)! He might have expected something like this from Kisame or that psycho Hidan, but not Sasori!

The explosive-user was in no shape to chase after the puppeteer. Finding that the extreme pain was leaving him feeling light-headed, Deidara decided that he would recuperate for a few hours before continuing on to Ame and reporting to Pain. Creating three clay clones, Deidara directed them to keep watch around him as an extra precaution. If the explosion didn't alert him, he wasn't sure what would. Satisfied, Deidara set about bandaging his wound and retrieving his arm

xXx

Having drifted into a light, slightly-delirious sleep, Deidara was rudely awakened by his fifth-most-hated person in the world, behind Itachi, Sasuke, Sasori (recent addition) and a now deceased Iwa shinobi who had constantly made perverse, off-colour jokes about his hand-mouths.

Standing several meters in front of him, blocked by his clones, was Tobi.

"Oh, joy." Deidara groaned. "Just when I thought today couldn't get any worse."

The masked man tilted his head. "You remember me?" He asked calmly.

"Of course I remember you!" Deidara retorted irritably. "Believe me, if I could erase my memories of our time together I would, un."

Tobi raised his hands placatingly. "Rest assured, I no longer have a need of my childish facade. Tobi is dead, I am Madara Uchiha."

Deidara raised an eyebrow. "No, you're not. I met Madara in the Land of Lightning, when we were fighting those Kage. You were there too, remember."

The masked man seemed to falter slightly. "Is... Is that so?" He stumbled.

Deidara pinched the bridge of his nose with his remaining hand. "Look. I don't care about what your true identity is. As long as I don't have to deal with your retarded alter ego, I'm happy. Although, you seemed much more collected when you wore those purple clothes."

Tobi coughed. "It's been... a bad day."

Deidara laughed incredulously. "You've had a bad day? My partner just tried to kill me and my damn arm got blown off!" Deidara said bitterly. "Sasori says he's finished with Akatsuki, by the way."

Tobi froze. "What? When did this happen!?"

The explosives user rubbed his head. "A couple of hours ago, right after Pain ordered us all back to Amegakure."

"... What?"

xXx

Done! I really should pick a tone for this story and stick to it. Hmm.

And Sasori has decided to forge his own path. Don't forget though, the guy is a mass-murdering headcase who kills people and turns their corpses into marionettes, so he's not going to go help old ladies across the street while hi-fiving his best friend Naruto anytime soon. Or ever. Seriously, much as I love the guy, he's a few steps away from psychopath.

Looks like Tobi is going to need some new members.

Now, obviously Konoha's destruction is going to greatly impact the central characters, but its going to do more than that. Imagine that you're a smaller state in the Naruto world. Imagine if for decades, a nation much larger than yours has had you over a barrel, and has been exploiting it for all it's worth. You've been constantly bullied, forced to make humiliating concessions and treaties, lost huge amounts of revenue. Their shinobi can and have killed yours and gotten away with it, because really, who's going to stand up to a country with over twenty-thousand active ninja?

Chapter Six: Illusion

xXx

(Konoha)

A seasoned merchant of several decades, Matsuro was used to dealing with ninja and their quirks. After all, shinobi bought products just like any other person,.

This, though, this was a little too far.

Konoha's shinobi had apparently decided that it would be a fun idea to cast one of their illusions over their city's front gate. The entire village now appeared inky-black and filled with corpses. Delightful.

 The merchant carts were backed-up just outside the black zone, with the traders unsure whether it was a good idea to continue. A portly, well-dressed man strode out of his wagon.

"What is the meaning of this?" He demanded loudly, to no one in particular. "There could be children here, this is hardly appropriate!"

The other traders let out a cry of agreement. Matsuro couldn't help but feel slightly vindictive himself. He didn't mind getting up at four in the morning in order to make the sunrise delivery, but if Konoha was going to be pulling stunts like this then he'd be better off trading with Iwa or Kumo instead. Illusion or not, cadavers were not a pleasant sight. It was only made worse by the expressions of pain and torment on their faces.

Come to think of it, the "body" near the front gate looked a lot like one of the gate guards he was acquainted with.

Matsuro climbed off his cart and began striding towards the body, ignoring the nervous protests of his fellow traders. As Matsuro walked onto the black ground, the trader frowned. His boot was making an odd sound as it met the ground, as if he was walking on polished marble rather than hardened clay. Deciding to ignore it for now, he continued on.

Kotetsu. That was his name. Matsuro reached the "body". Despite its morbidness, he couldn't help but marvel at the quality of the illusion. The suffering on the thing's face was incredibly realistic, right down to the haunting and tormented light in its eyes. Matsuro could see thick lacerations on "Kotetsu's" arms, as if he had been tearing at his flesh with his nails.

Slowly, he reached out a hand towards it. After all, it was just an illusion. He should be able to pass right through it. His fingers stretched closer, almost within touching distance...

"The Gallant Toad Sage Jiraiya has arrived. Bow before my presence!"

Matsuro snapped his hand back. In front of him, leaning on Konoha's titanic gates as if he didn't have a care in the world, was the great Sannin Jiraiya. The man looked tired, with large black bags under his eyes, but his face was lit up with a huge, jovial grin.

The legendary ninja winked at him, "Do me a favor and don't touch that. Konoha is testing its genjutsu defenses, and messing around with the illusions like that could screw the whole thing up."

Matsuro nodded and stepped back. 

The portly man who had spoken before stepped out of the crowd. "And why, pray tell, has Konoha decided to do their testing here? I can respect the need for village security, most noble Sannin, but why here? Why now?"

Jiraiya laughed lightly. "Well, you may not have heard yet, but..."

A voice interrupted him. "Konoha is in a state of emergency! We have reason to believe that the Kishimo chakra virus may have been introduced to the village! As it is highly dangerous and infectious, we will have to insist that you leave. The village is now in a state of quarantine!"

A blonde Konoha shinobi appeared behind Jiraiya, who appeared momentarily taken aback. The teenager looked deeply unwell, with red, bloodshot eyes and pale skin. Many of the traders shrank back. The Kishimo chakra virus was infamous throughout the Elemental Nations in liu of the fact that it could destroy someone's ability to use chakra. Permanently. It had cropped up a few years ago in a small village, and wiped out their shinobi population before it had been controlled. In a big village like Konoha, the damage could be catastrophic.

Matsuro started backing away from the blonde ninja.

Another merchant spoke up. "Why should we worry about it? We're not ninja, we don't use chakra."

"And you think the virus couldn't affect you too? You might not use chakra, but how do you think you'd manage if it took away, say, your ability to breathe?" Jiraiya retorted. "It's an unknown pathogen. For your own protection, I'm going to have to ask you all to leave. Genin, I'm going to have to ask you to move to quarantine immediately."

The blonde genin saluted and did so, heading back through Konoha's gates and out of sight.

Matsuro spoke up. "What about our goods? Even if Konoha is in a state of emergency, without basics like food you'll starve to death." The merchants around him voiced their agreement.

Jiraiya seemed to think for a moment. "... Fine. Anyone selling food, medicines, toiletries, tents, ninja or survival gear, move your carts to the left of the road. Everyone else, I'm sorry, but you'll have to take your goods elsewhere."

Grumbling, the traders obeyed Jiraiya's words. The carts containing essentials moved to the side, while those that held more luxury goods like jewelry started heading back down the road. A few merchants tried to protest, but were quickly silenced with a firm glare from Jiraiya. The Sannin moved to the remaining carts and unsealed a huge container of money from his coat, ignoring the angry scowls that a number of the rejected traders were shooting him.

None but Matsuro noticed the happy facade crumble into a haunted look of pain and despair when the Sannin thought no one was looking. Matsuro shrugged. A man's business was his own, he had no right to intrude.

xXx

(Yuuyake Plains - Land of Hot Water)

"So let me get this straight. My third day on this job, and you cocksuckers are already having some sort of power struggle?"

Tobi nodded. "That is correct."

Hidan grinned. "I think I'm going to like this organisation!"

Tobi stepped forward, offering a hand to the zealot, who had just finished one of his blood rituals. Levering himself out of the bloody circle and yanking the stake out of his chest, Hidan took the masked man's hand, and attempted to drive the weapon through Tobi's chest. Tobi stepped backwards and effortlessly dodged it, lifting an arm to stop Deidara attacking the Jashinist.

"Now what made you do that, Hidan?" Tobi asked.

Hidan laughed. "If you couldn't even avoid that, there's no fucking way that I'd want to work for you. Keep your hands to yourself, you piece of crap!"

Deidara stepped forward. "Why are we even bothering with this guy? All he cares about is killing people."

The explosives user gestured around at the ruined house the trio were standing in. Several of the walls had large, scythe-sized holes in them. When Tobi and Deidara had materialized at Hidan's location, they had found the slaughtered bodies of a peasant family lying butchered on the floor, with Hidan lying happily in a circle fashioned from their blood. 

"What, and you don't?" Tobi retorted.

"It's art! There's a difference!" Deidara protested, slightly miffed. 

And there was. He wasn't a nice person by any stretch of the imagination, but when Deidara killed it was usually quick and clean, lives snuffed out in the blink of an eye. Hidan, however, preferred the slow route, trying to make his victims suffer as much as possible. Even Deidara, a hardened killer, was slightly put off by the sort of things Hidan would do to his victims.

Tobi, though, Tobi didn't seem ruffled in the least. The masked man’s real personality really was the polar opposite of his happy facade.

"I want you to work directly for me." Tobi said, addressing the zealot.

Hidan raised an eyebrow. "And why would I want to do that, fucker? I've already agreed to work for Pain. Jashin doesn't like it if we break our word without good reason."

"How about this? Am I right in believing that the more powerful the sacrifice, the more it pleases Jashin?" Tobi inquired.

Hidan nodded, "That's right. What about it?"

"Well then, how would you like to sacrifice a god?" Tobi asked silkily.

Hidan tilted his head in confusion, "What the fuck are you talking about?"

"Pain considers himself to be a god in human form.” Tobi said.” He believes that he is equal to Jashin. You've heard him call himself a god before, haven't you Deidara?"

The blonde man nodded, catching on "I have, yeah."

Hidan's face darkened, "That little shit thinks that he's equal to Jashin?"

Tobi nodded, "If anything, he considers himself superior."

Hidan growled and grabbed his scythe, striding purposefully towards the ruined building's front door.

Deidara laughed. "What, you're going to go and sacrifice him right now?"

Hidan span around, stopping his scythe inches from the blonde man's torso. "Don't make me kill you first, little girl." Hidan snarled. Deidara's hand went to his clay pouch.

"Deidara has a point, Hidan." Tobi said softly. "Pain wasn't the leader of Akatsuki for nothing. Trying to kill him by yourself in the village he rules would be suicide, even for you. Work with me and after we're done, you can have him."

Luckily for Deidara, Hidan wasn't totally unintelligent. Slowly, Hidan lowered the scythe.

"You've got yourself a deal, fucker." the zealot leered carnivorously. "I'm going to make that blaspheming bastard scream long and hard."

xXx

(Konoha)

Asuma and his team emerged from the trees at Konoha's front gate to be confronted with a very odd sight.

Chouji gaped. "What the hell?"

Konoha's main square was alive with activity. All around, people wearing white facemasks and clothes were erecting medical tents. Scores of medical-nin were conducting medical techniques on coughing civilians and ninjas, green energy emerging from the hands of the white full-body suits they were wearing. Near the gate itself, a pair of shinobi were apparently practicing genjutsu, turning parts of Konoha's walls an odd jet-black colour.

To the left of the gate, a very familiar blonde shinobi was talking to what appeared to be a middle aged merchant. Naruto looked unnaturally serious and slightly ill. By the looks of it, the merchant did not like what he was saying.

As the trader turned to leave, Ino ran over towards him. 

"Naruto! Finally, some sanity!" She cried.

The blonde turned towards her, shock spreading across his features. "...Ino? What..."

"We were heading back to Konoha, and then this weird red light came down from the sky and hit Shikamaru and Asuma-sensei and Shikamaru slammed headfirst into a tree, so we had to take him to an inn to recover and we missed the Watanagashi festival and now they keep insisting that they've travelled in time! Anyway, how have you been? I haven't seen you in ages!" Ino prattled happily.

As Ino spoke, Asuma frowned. His danger sense was screaming at him that something was wrong. Slowly, he raised his hands into the genjutsu-dispelling seal.

A hand landed on his shoulder. "I wouldn't do that. Not yet, anyway."

Asuma and his three students span around to see the grim-looking figure of Jiraiya standing behind them. Ino went quiet immediately.

The Sannin began speaking, voice solemn as the grave. "Listen very carefully. I'm going to tell you this now, while you're still rational. What you see in front of you is a genjutsu, created by my toad summons."

Chouji, Shikamaru and Ino began moving to dispel. Jiraiya raised a hand, stopping them.

"Don't. Wait until I'm finished. What you get in there, you're going to see something terrible. It's going to be hard, but don't scream or make any loud noises that could be heard out here. No, we don't know what caused it. No, we don't know if it's reversible. We are going to wait five days to see if anyone else is going to show up, and then we are going to make a decision on what our next move is. Konoha has a lot of enemies, and if they learn about this before we're prepared it could mean the death of us all." Jiraiya finished, his voice carrying the unmistakable air of command.

Chouji spoke up. "What are we going to see in there?"

Jiraiya looked to the pudgy boy. Asuma gasped. That brilliant spark of youth that had always been present on the few occasions when he had seen the Sannin was gone, replaced by a terrible sense of age and regret. The change was as marked as it was terrible. The man looked as if he was feeling every one of his fifty-plus years.

After staring for a long moment, the Sannin turned away from him, "Wait until you get inside the main square until you dispel. And for what it's worth, I'm sorry."

Slightly confused but not wanting to disobey the Sannin's orders, Team Ten moved into the square, out of sight of the front gate. Asuma couldn't help but notice Naruto stare sorrowfully at them as they passed, shaking his head sadly. Jiraiya faced the other direction, looking down the road. Once Asuma saw whatever the genjutsu was concealing, he'd report the strange situation that he and Shikamaru found themselves in to the Sannin. If they really had travelled in time, it would provide an unprecedented advantage over Konoha's enemies.

Asuma lifted his hands into the seal and began altering the flow of his chakra. The tents and medical ninja around him began to melt away.

The first thing he noticed was the black colour that seemed to permeate the whole square.

Next came the forms of about twenty people. From what he could see, most appeared to be shinobi and all appeared to be mourning something. Some were sobbing, others were lying curled up on the ground, vacantly rocking from side to side.

Third, he noticed the forms of two small, brown-cloaked toads in the center of the square. They seemed to be singing something.

And then Asuma saw the bodies, and all thoughts of Akatsuki flew from his mind.

xXx

(Amegakure)

Through the village of Amegakure, through twisted streets and titanic skyscrapers, the word spread. People stopped what they were doing, mothers foisted children onto elderly relatives and crowds clustered along the streets.

The cause of this was simple. For the first time in years, God walked the earth.

Konan at his side, the orange-haired Nagato strode down Amegakure's central street. While he was not responding to the excited cries and cheers that were coming from all around him, he was smiling slightly, which considering his usual disposition was the equivalent of him chatting to crowd members while handing out autographs.

Reaching Amegakure's central business district, the orange-haired man walked up onto the central stage reserved for important announcements. Joining him, Konan motioned for silence. The adoring cries of "Lord Pain!" and "Lady Angel!" quickly subsided.

A vast sea of faces stared up at Nagato, ranging from simple tradesmen to hardened Ame shinobi.

Nagato took a deep breath. "Citizens of Amegakure. I come to you with a message."

He paused for a moment. The crowd waited with baited breath.

"My people..." Nagato paused once again. "I have wronged you. I allowed myself to become obsessed with lofty and unobtainable ideas and in doing so I lost touch with the intrinsic value of human life. I lost touch with Amegakure, with you."

Amegakure's citizens stared up at Nagato in confusion, many slack-jawed. Their god was apologizing to them? Why?

"People of Amegakure, you should not think of me as a God." Nagato said. A number of the citizens and shinobi in the audience balked. Had anyone else said those words, their head would have been stuck on a spear!

Nagato continued, voice growing passionate. "Instead, think of me as your protector! A mortal protector, who would give him life in defense of our village. A man, no more and no less significant than any man, woman or child within this village!"

With those words, the Rinnegan user raised his arms to the heavens. Above, the dark, weeping clouds began to part.

"Do not call me by the name Pain any longer! My true name is Nagato! The era of gods has ended! The era of man is began!"

The clouds above Ame parted, revealing a bright, clear blue sky. Below, the crowd stood in silence.

Suddenly, a woman spoke up. "Kami has taken human form!"

A man joined her. "All hail Lord Nagato!"

Throughout the crowd, other voices joined them, shouting words of praise and veneration. Nagato kept himself from raising an eyebrow. That hadn't quite been the effect he was looking for.

Nevertheless, it was a start. Sometime during his journey, he had forgotten the reason that he was seeking peace in the first place. He was doing it so that people like the ones in front of him could live their lives free of strife and conflict. He'd been collecting jinchuriki in order to create a weapon, but Nagato doubted now that a true peace could ever spring from fear and death. There would always be madmen like Tobi willing to use the weapon to further their own ends.

In hindsight, his ultimate objective had been motivated less by peace and more through a petty desire to see the rest of the world suffer pain as he did. It wasn't a pleasant realization. He'd called himself a god, but he'd been blinded by the all-too-human emotions of grief and rage. He had behaved... like a child, taking out his fury on Yahiko's death on thousands, murdering anyone even remotely connected with Hanzo. It had only become worse from there. Yahiko would have been disgusted.

Now was the time to put things right. Nagato didn't know how or why time had been reversed, but he intended to take full advantage of it. To her credit, Konan had accepted his story almost immediately, stopping only momentarily to make sure he wasn't under a genjutsu of some kind.

First thing first, he had to inform his Akatsuki subordinates that the collection of jinchuriki was to be terminated immediately. He would offer them employment within Ame's military forces. Despite their generally morally-bankrupt natures, they were all powerful shinobi and a great potential asset. Perhaps he was being naive in thinking that he could achieve any sort of rehabilitation with the missing-nin, but his encounter with Naruto had reignited an idealism he had long locked away within himself. If they refused, he would allow them to leave peacefully out of gratitude for their years of service. If they showed any hint of animosity or loyalty to Tobi, he would dispatch them swiftly and without mercy.

Hidan was the exception. The man was an uncontrollable psychopath and the world would be a better place without him.

Once that was done, he'd have to get in contact with his old mentor and his blonde student. It was time he moved past Yahiko's death. 

As he stared out at the cheering crowds of Amegakure, Konan by his side, Nagato smiled. Misguided or not, these were his people. They trusted him with their lives, and for that he would die for them.

xXx

No, I'm not going to kill everyone from Konoha. That would be a little extreme. Just... most people.

Any Kotetsu fans, if you are out there, I'm sorry. But in the end, what is mildly convenient for me comes first.

Nagato's personality has taken something of a reversal, but I think it's justified. Hell, he starts making jokes in canon. Also, Nagato and Itachi never had their future canon meeting with Naruto and Bee, should any of you be wondering.

Oh, by the way, this story will not contain any 'Oh that meddling Konoha Council!' or 'Danzo = more evil that Satan' scenes. Sorry.

The chakra disease is actually (sort-of) canon. It's from Shippuden episode 183, where Konoha apparently has laser-sighted sniper blowpipes and massive village defences that are mysteriously absent those times when Konoha is actually invaded. Oh you crazy filler! I made up the name, though.

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