Naruto Shippuden - part 26

Takemaru was a Jounin in charge of one of Rain Country's border strongholds that kept the small county isolated and prevented any unauthorized entry. He was a man that just over fourty years of age and was therefore already quite old for a shinobi.

Nothing ever really happened in this particular stronghold, due to it being situated at the border of Fire Country, which was the least aggressive and militaristic of the nations surrounding Rain Country.

Takemaru was grateful for this. He had seen enough war in his life and would be quite happy if he never had to fight another battle again. His wife and son were also grateful for it, knowing well how dangerous the life of a shinobi was.

He didn't really buy into the whole god thing that Pain had spread about, but he did admit that the man was monstrously powerful. Either way, Pain was better than Hanzo as a leader, though not by much. If nothing else, he let Konan, known to Amegakure as the Angel of Rain, run the village in his place. She was considerably better than either of the two.

Takemaru made sure to keep his mouth shut about the fact that he knew that Pain's true name was Nagato, having heard of the man before his defeat of Hanzo. That little bit of knowledge was one of the main reasons the he couldn't buy into the god tripe.

"Takemaru-taichou, something is coming from the east!"

He snapped out of his thoughts at the shouted words of his subordinate and focused on the tree line that signified the start of Fire Country. Hanzo had long since ordered that the borders be deforested to deny the leaf shinobi the advantage of familiar territory and to increase visibility. It was raining as it usually did, so it was somewhat hard, but not impossible, to see what was going on.

It didn't seem like much at first, just a large number of birds scattering, which was what had alerted his subordinate. It didn't take long to see that it was more than just that though, as more than just birds were fleeing the forest.

Animals of all sorts were emerging from the forest, both predator and prey type running side by side, clearly fearing for their lives. Moments after that bizzare sight, an immense pressure of rage and murderous intent slammed into the nervously watching border guards with the subtlety of a sledgehammer to the face, causing them all to instinctively take a step back even though they couldn't see the source of it.

The source of the dread feeling revealed itself to be a very big man with long blond hair flowing behind him like a banner. He was running in a reckless sprint, paying no heed to his surroundings or showing any caution.

Snapping out of the surprised daze that the event had put him into, Takemaru hurried to order his subordinates into a defensive formation. He had no idea who this strange berserker was, but they had a duty to not allow him entry into the country and they would carry it out.

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Takemaru lay in a spreading pool of his own blood, not even bothering to press his hand into the ragged wound in his side. There was no point in trying to stem the blood flow when you were missing a large chunk of your body and had your liver, kidney, stomach and probably several other things damaged after all.

He had recognized the charging blond just moments before he had hit their defensive line. Uzumaki Naruto, the newest and most dangerous entry into the bingo book. Not that this knowledge changed anything, since they were still duty bound to prevent him entry, but at least they knew the name of their killer.

Some of his men had actually survived, though it had been because of nothing but pure luck. Those who had been on the outskirts of the defensive formation had escaped death due to the fact that Uzumaki couldn't be bothered to deviate from his mad sprint to kill them. Takemaru had been too close and had experienced the unfortunate novelty of having a clawed hand rip out a chunk of his side.

The blond had run straight through all of their attempts at stopping him without even blinking. Elemental techniques and weapons thrown at him were ignored as if they were no more dangerous than a child's playthings. It couldn't even be called contemptuous, because Uzumaki hadn't even properly registered their existence.

The look he had seen in those burning slitted eyes chilled him even now. Uzumaki hadn't even seen them properly when he had run through them and torn them apart. They might as well have been part of the background setting for all the regard he had given them.

Takemaru could only sigh at his pointless death. He was going to die for no reason, at the hands of a man that probably wouldn't even remember any of those that had died at his hand here. His last sight would be a mane of blood streaked golden hair vanishing into the distance as the pained groaning of his dying comrades rang in his ears.

At the very least, he could rest assured that his wife and son would be safe for now. Uzumaki had only killed them because they had been literally in his way, so he clearly wasn't going to go after any civilians. He could make a wild guess that Pain had done something to provoke the blond to this kind of violent reaction and he knew that the resulting battle was likely going to be making some geographical changes.

He was relieved over the fact that both Pain and Konan weren't in the village right now, having moved closer to the border of earth country for some reason unknown to him. It meant that Amegakure itself was likely to escape becoming collateral damage.

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Naruto continued to sprint with the same urgent speed that he had been going at from the very start. He cut directly through Amegakure with his gaze firmly fixed on the direction where Xanna was directing him, heedless of the shinobi trying to stop him. Any that got in his way he killed , the others he ignored.

His limited sensing ability allowed him to feel the chakra infused into the rain and he knew that the enemy would know he was coming, but that didn't matter. This Rinnegan user whose name he didn't even know could be as prepared as he liked and it wouldn't matter in the slightest.

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Pain moved his six paths some distance out of the cave to await the arrival of Uzumaki Naruto. He knew it would not be much longer before the man reached him at the speeds that he was moving.

The chakra he felt from his soon to be adversary was monstrously huge and powerful, much stronger than his own. It was also behaving like a caged beast that would tear him to pieces at the first opportunity, the emotions of its owner being so powerful that the chakra was reacting to it.

Despite all this, Pain was fully confident that he would be victorious. He was god after all and his vision of peace would not be defeated here. Uzumaki would simply have to realise that he and the Kyuubi were a necessary sacrifice to pave the way for the future.

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Naruto didn't slow his run when he caught sight of the six men in Akatsuki cloaks, despite knowing that these were the Six Paths of Pain. They didn't matter, only saving Xanna mattered.

He could tear them apart after she was safe.

Pain had intended to monologue a bit before the battle started, but his eyes widened slightly when he saw that the charging blond had absolutely no intention of stopping, keeping his gaze fixed firmly in the direction of the cave where Pain's true body was hidden.

The Animal Path quickly summoned a giant rhino to meet Naruto's charge, but once again received unexpected results.

Naruto wasn't intending to take any chances in this situation and he wasn't going to waste time. His strength enhancing seal was already active, so he didn't bother trying to dodge or get around the rhino. Instead, he simply smashed his first into its armored head, sending it flying back at its summoner with its entire skeleton shattered.

Not even sparing a glance at the puppet corpses, he continued his charge towards the cave.

"Banshō Ten'in(Heavenly Attraction of All of Creation)!"

Naruto roared in frustrated rage at having his momentum arrested and then being pulled away from his goal. Turning back, he saw that it was the one that Xanna had identified for him as the Deva Path that was pulling him back. He was familiar enough with gravity thanks to his use of it through Fuinjutsu to identify it for what it was.

Baring his teeth in a ferocious and infuriated snarl, Naruto knew that he would have to destroy at least that one before he could move forward. Not wanting to waste any time, he sent a chain hurtling at it, making use of the pull to give it more momentum.

Before the chain could hit its target, the Preta Path got in the way and started absorbing the chain. Unbothered, Naruto continued his flight forward, preparing to shred both of those bodies with Senjutsu enhanced claws.

Perceiving the attack, the two Paths got out of the way in time to dodge, but were once more surprised as Naruto stabbed a chain into the ground to the side and used it to slingshot around...directly at the Naraka Path, which he knew could revive the others.

His plan was once more foiled, this time by the Animal Path as it used its powers to summon the Naraka Path out of danger.

Snarling in renewed fury, he updated his priority targets.

Naraka

Animal (If he couldn't take Naraka out first)

Deva

The others didn't matter to him at all. He didn't even know what the Asura and Human Paths could do, since Xanna had only known their names and they hadn't done anything special during her battle with them and the Preta Path was completely worthless as anything but a shield against Ninjutsu.

The sense of urgency pounding in his skull forced him to think of a tactic that he would have never used otherwise.

"Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu(Multiple Shadow Clone Technique)!"

The army of shadow clones immediately charged towards the cave where Pain's crippled true body was, intent on turning him into a bloody smear.

Pain's eyes widened slightly, though in truth he was badly shocked at the tactic. His real body wouldn't have the slightest chance of defending himself against that kind of assault and he wasn't sure if Konan and Zetsu could keep all of them at bay without at least one of them getting through.

Feeling that he had no choice in the matter, he sent the Asura Path after the clones, counting on its wide area missile attacks to thin the number of clones that Konan would have to contend with.

Instantly pouncing on the opportunity, Naruto went after the Animal path, knowing that its summoning ability would prevent him from harming the Naraka Path. The Human and Preta Paths moved to block his advance but found themselves brutally overpowered. The Paths were incredibly strong and durable, but Naruto's raw strength was much greater than what they were able to exert.

Unable to disengage without putting the Animal Path in danger, they were forced to stay locked in a Taijutsu battle against Naruto's godlike strength. The two Paths tried to get Naruto into a grapple so that the Human Path could remove his soul, but Naruto wasn't interested in finding out what kind of ability the Human Path had and assaulted it with multiple chains and then ripped its head off with a claw swipe.

The Preta Path moved to absorb the chains, but the blond had predicted that kind of thing and deliberately moved into it and allowed it to grab his arm. The moment that he felt it absorbing his chakra, he pushed a good chunk of raw natural energy towards it and watched in satisfaction as the Preta Path turned to stone.

Inside the cave, the real Pain had sweat pouring down his face due to the effort of concentration he was being forced to exert. Focusing six bodies on a single target was one thing, but being pressed this hard on multiple fronts was a whole other level of difficulty. The clones weren't being stupid and even the Asura Path was having trouble with them, as they were using delaying tactics on it while the main force of clones kept charging at his true body.

With the Preta Path now turned to stone and the Human Path taken out of the battle, Naruto focused his murderous gaze on the Animal Path. As a final act in taking the Human Path out of action, he threw its body as far as he was able to prevent the Naraka Path from reviving it while he was busy hunting the Animal Path.

His headlong chase of the Animal Path was once more interrupted by a most annoying technique.

"Shinra Tensei(Heavenly Subjugation of the Omnipresent God)!"

Naruto crashed against a large boulder and turned it to rubble. Pain took the small opening to summon the remains of the Human Path and then revive it with Naraka.

When Naruto picked himself up, dirty but completely unharmed and saw that the Human Path was on its feet again he sank even deeper into his berserker state of mind. The memories of his clones being destroyed by missiles and paper cuts before they reached the real body did nothing to calm him down. He didn't have time for this! While these stupid insect bite attacks were wasting his time, Xanna was weakening and in ever greater danger of being taken from him!

Roaring his rage, he pulled on the world even more harshly than before, too deep in his anger to even truly understand what he was doing. All he knew was that he needed these pests to be destroyed so that they stopped getting in his way.

Pain watched in apprehension as the ground cracked from the force of the blond's roar and a sudden wind picked up. His Rinnegan allowed him to see the chakra churning chaotically in the air, mixed with the now visibly twisting natural energy, both of them being torn out of place and pulled towards Naruto.

Looking into the those gold-orange irises, Pain couldn't see anything human in them anymore. The only thing he could see in them was an inferno of boiling hate that would never be satisfied or calmed. The reports he had received on Uzumaki's disposition and mental state claimed that he was rather well adjusted(though prone to outbursts of strange behavior), but clearly that was just the surface of it. Underneath that, Uzumaki Naruto's sanity was entirely dependant on some external factor. By what he had learned recently, that would most likely be the Kyuubi. Since the Bijuu was apparently sentient and capable of taking human form, as well as the demon naming itself his wife, this made a sick sort of sense.

If he had time to think about it, Pain would have eventually deduced a fairly accurate estimation of Naruto's life and the reasons for why this was so, but he didn't have any more time, as the previously stiff wind had now become a tornado and nothing that Pain did would stop it. Even using a Shinra Tensei to disperse it only worked for a few moments before it reformed.

Shinobi were always taught that an angry enemy was a reckless enemy and a reckless enemy was a dead enemy. For Pain, this had always been true.

Except for this time. Because this time, an angry enemy was simply one that would heartlessly put the world to the torch if that was what it took. Despite having gone berserk past the point of rational thought, Naruto still knew which ones he needed to destroy to get what he wanted.

The powerful wind picked the Animal Path off the ground and pulled it towards Naruto. Pain knew that he couldn't use a bird summon to get out of this, so he resorted to using a Banshō Ten'in to pull the endangered Path out of the powerful wind.

A chain going towards him forced him to abandon that plan of action or risk losing the Deva Path as well. While the Deva Path managed to escape impalement, Naruto savagely punched through the Animal Path's chest to kill it and then hurled it at the sky with all the strength he was capable of.

The body caught fire due to air friction and eventually broke out of the planet's gravity well, the throw having been strong enough to propel it out of the atmosphere.

"Chibaku Tensei(Heavenly Body Bursting from the Earth)!"

Pain had realised that smaller techniques wouldn't be enough to stop the berserking blond. His incredible durability and healing factor made sure of it. The only thing that would work would be something huge and Chibaku Tensei was more or less the only thing he had that was big enough.

He had already abandoned all the other bodies due to needing all of his concentration and chakra for this technique, leaving them lying around uselessly. The Chibaku Tensei would destroy them as well, but he could always find new bodies to host his Paths.

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"You don't have to go that far." Konan said in worry. She knew how much strain that technique put on him, even if he hadn't used up all that much chakra quite yet. Though summoning the Kyuubi had been somewhat difficult.

"I have no choice, my opponent is more monster than man." Pain intoned firmly.

"Useless, all your effort is useless. He will not be stopped." Xanna added just to rub it in. She was delaying the drain of her chakra as much as possible, but she didn't have much time left.

Aside from that, she still trying to figure out what the familiar-and-yet-unfamiliar feeling that she was getting from this idiot cripple's Rinnegan was.

Black Zetsu stayed silent. He hoped that this technique would be the end of Uzumaki Naruto so that the Eye of the Moon Plan could get back on track without him screwing things up. He was ready to make his move in case things didn't go so well though. Even if Uzumaki won the battle raging outside, Madara's vision would come true, though the original plan had been badly derailed. It would simply be preferrable if the oversized plan wrecking blond could kindly die first. What he was intending would be risky enough without the threat of being torn to pieces.

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Naruto glared furiously at the ever enlarging sphere of rock hanging in the sky, his chains stabbing deep into the earth to keep him from being lifted up as well. His rage wasn't lessened in the least, but he retained enough coherency to know that he wouldn't be able to help Xanna if he got himself crushed here.

So instead of attacking the way that his anger would have him do, he forced himself to turn his back on the annoying bastard and used his chains to pull himself towards the cave that was only barely visible in the distance.

"There will be no escape from this technique Uzumaki, I will crush you into the ground and pave the way to the future." Pain said through the Deva Path, feeling the need to make a portentous statement as a finishing line.

Naruto turned his head to see what the orange haired annoyance was talking about and saw the man-made planetoid falling towards him. It was far too big to dodge and even if he did that, it would force him to make a detour towards the cave and was thus unacceptable.

Snarling bestially in utter frustration, hating this man more than he had ever hated anyone in his life, Naruto threw himself at the giant rock with every intention of turning it into dust.

"Kaimon, Kyūmon, Seimon: Kai(Gate of Opening, Gate of Healing, Gate of Life: Open)!"

His chakra network didn't appreciate the sudden flooding of powerful Yang natured chakra, especially not when it was mixed up with natural energy. There was a distinct lack of Yin nature chakra and it unbalanced things quite badly, but he didn't care. He could feel the natural energy shifting around him violently as it was thrown off balance, but he forced it down. He hadn't been able to do something like that when he had been learning Senjutsu, but now with his life force being so much more powerful and himself being much more skilled at manipulating it, he was able to force it into submission.

Readying his fist, he prepared to throw every bit of strength he had behind his punch and obliterate this stupid rock and then do the same to the Deva Path.

"Wakusei Kudaki(Planet Crusher)!"

His fist hit the planetoid with such force that it truly would have cracked the world open if he had struck the ground with it. As it was, the Rinnegan made ball of rock had no chance of resisting the power behind that punch and was turned into a rain of pebbles and dust that fell harmlessly to the ground.

As soon as Naruto hit the ground, He launched himself at the Deva Path. He saw the body sway and then fall to the ground, making him think that the technique was likely a one shot of some sort, but didn't fuss over it. All he did was kick the body's head off without stopping his run towards the cave where his wife was still weakening.

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"N-Nagato?" Konan choked out in a tone of stunned betrayal, blood dripping from her mouth due to the chakra rod stabbed through her chest. Turning her head, she saw that Zetsu was once more bonded to her life long friend and the hand gripping the black rod impaled in her was completely black.

Nagato's mind all but shut down at the sight, unable to deal with the sight of his last friend being fatally injured by his hand. Having Yahiko die by his hand had broken him and to see the same happen to Konan was more than he could cope with.

This was all exactly as Zetsu had planned. He was pressed for time and didn't have any time to waste on Nagato's attempts to resist his control. He quickly connected himself to the Gedō Mazō via his Mokuton and began siphoning chakra from the statue to power the technique.

"Gedō: Rinne Tensei no Jutsu(Outer Path: Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique)!"

Xanna had been surprised by the sudden betrayal but not nearly as much as what she started sensing as the technique was used. Though it had been long ago and it was changed since then, she could definitely feel a hint of Madara's chakra in those Rinnegan eyes. What really threw her though, was that it also felt vaguely similar to Senju Hashirama's chakra.

Zetsu felt the technique pulling vast amounts of chakra and raw life force from Nagato and himself and knew that it had been wise to think of siphoning chakra away from the Bijuu to power this. Madara had been very powerful and his body old and decayed. Something like that was not easily overcome just because the Rinnegan granted this technique.

"Naruto! Destroy the Rinnegan!" Xanna commanded urgently, hoping to disrupt the technique.

The newly arrived Naruto obeyed without hesitation and threw himself into a claw swipe that would take out both the Rinnegan user and his eyes.

Despite having no time to evade, Zetsu grinned just a moment before his death. They were too late, Madara was restored to his prime and even with the Rinnegan lost, a new set of Mangenkyo Sharingan awaited him that would be able to evolve into a new Rinnegan soon enough. He hadn't been sure if he would be able to restore Madara without the Kyuubi's chakra fully added to the Gedō Mazō, but it seemed to have worked. It had been far too close for comfort, but luck had seemingly favored someone other than Uzumaki for a change.

Naruto turned away from the ruined corpse and faced his wife. Despite never having seen her in her giant fox form, he didn't waste time gawking and instantly made his way to the chains and tried to pull them out of her.

"You can't remove those chains Naruto! Seal me quickly!" Xanna urged, knowing that her time was running out.

"Damnit, hold on a moment! I need to purge the natural energy from the seal!" Naruto said back in frustration at yet another delay, frantically moving to do just that.

"No time!" The demoness snapped back, her tone harsh because she knew that it would be too late any second now.

Not really knowing what else he could do, Naruto grabbed hold of her and pulled on her chakra, trying to draw it into the seal that way. Xanna pushed her chakra towards him as much as she was able, but the pull of the Gedō Mazō was very strong.

Knowing that her life could now be measured in seconds and not double digit ones, she frantically pushed everything that she was into Naruto, reaching out to the small fragment of her chakra that she had entrusted to Naruto.

Naruto stumbled back when the crimson fur that he was pulling on suddenly dispersed into a reddish chakra mist and got drawn into the Gedō Mazō.

Sitting on the ground and staring uncomprehendingly at the Gedō Mazō, Naruto had no idea how to feel.

He had failed and now Xanna was gone.

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A considerable distance to the north, a man without eyes awoke and smiled darkly. His long awaited resurrection had finally happened, which could only mean that the Eye of the Moon plan was nearing completion.

"Zetsu?" He questioned, feeling the chakra of his faithful servant and creation nearby.

"Madara-sama." White Zetsu said just to confirm that he was here and paying attention.

"Where are we and what is the status of the plan?" Madara asked.

"We are in the Mountain's Graveyard. As for the plan...there have been...complications."

Madara frowned. He hadn't expected everything to go perfectly, but this sounded as if the plan had deviated quite badly.

"Tell me everything."

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The bloody, pained cough of the blue haired paper using kunoichi drew Naruto's attention and he made his way over to her.

Uncaring of her condition he kicked her over so that she way lying on her back and stared at her with a completely dead gaze.

"You kept me from saving her. You prevented my clones from reaching the real body and made me waste time fighting those corpses outside." Naruto said.

Konan couldn't help the chill that crawled up her spine at the tone. It was more dead and empty than anything she had ever heard from Nagato. What made it worse was that she now understood that she and Nagato had been used as pawns in someone else's plan. Their desire for peace had been taken advantage of by Madara for whatever purpose the man had and now he was no doubt alive again thanks to Zetsu's treachery.

She didn't really understand the relationship between this man and the Kyuubi, but the tone of his voice told her everything that she needed to know. Their actions had destroyed his life and in the end it had caused nothing but harm for everyone except Madara, whom she hated. Yahiko, Nagato and her had wanted to be heroes and bring peace and happiness to people so that no one would have to suffer the way that they had suffered as children. Now that everything was at last revealed, she knew that Yahiko would have been ashamed of them and the ruin they had caused. Not to mention how appalled he would have been that Nagato had used his body to do it.

She would have apologized if she didn't know how hollow it would be. An apology, no matter how sincere, wouldn't bring back what was lost. Instead she just stared at him silently with eyes full of regret and waited for him to kill her. The wound that Zetsu had inflicted on her would certainly be fatal if not treated immediately, but she was sure that the blond looming over her would end her before that injury could claim her life.

Naruto simply stared down at her silently, noting but not caring about the regret he could see she was feeling. He could kill her or he could not kill her...neither option really felt appealing. Nothing much felt appealing really. There was a feeling of aching emptiness in his chest that was eclipsing everything else. The pain of his damaged(though quickly healing) chakra coils due to his reckless use of the gates seemed distant and insignificant.

There was also guilt that settled heavily on his shoulders. Instead of screwing around and thinking of them as a bunch of stupid nuisances, he should have treated Akatsuki as a legitimate threat. If he had done that, then Xanna would never have been in danger.

His mind wandered aimlessly through memories of the wonderful past two months, finding it impossible to reconcile the fact that he had been enjoying a morning cuddle with his wife less than two hours ago with the situation as it was now. Out of sheer habit he reached towards the piece of her chakra held in a sectioned off part of the Reaper Death Seal and froze.

It was about time, I was starting to think that you were going to just keep moping. Though the words were mocking, they were spoken in a fond tone.

Xanna! You're alright?! He exclaimed in utter relief. It was almost enough to make his legs give out and send him crashing ass first to the ground.

In a manner of speaking. The demoness replied evasively, making a worried frown appear on his face. But we can talk about that later, there are several things you need to take care of first, such as that woman and the Gedō Mazō.

Konan's forehead creased in slight confusion as he just stood over her like a statue for several minutes. At first he had seemed almost dazed, as if he was barely aware of his surroundings, then he suddenly looked hyper focused for a moment and then it almost seemed as if he was about to cry. Now he was focusing back on her and seemed to have regained some control of himself.

"What was the technique that was being used just before I came in here?" Naruto asked the injured woman.

"The Samsara of Heavenly Life, a resurrection technique that allows a Rinnegan user to trade his own life force and chakra in exchange for bringing someone back from the dead." Konan explained, ignoring the pain it caused her. If her last act could be giving away important information to an enemy of Madara then that was at least something that she could do right.

"Who was being brought back?"

"Madara I think."

Naruto nodded as if a suspicion had just been confirmed, not knowing that they were thinking of different Madara's, though it didn't really matter in the end.

"Why?" He asked next, causing her to frown in confusion. Wasn't it obvious why Madara had been resurrected?

"Why were you doing this?" He elaborated.

Konan swallowed the sorrow and regret that blocked her throat at the question and answered. "Nagato and I just wanted to continue Yahiko's dream and create a peaceful world, but Nagato lost his way and I followed him. All we ended up doing was causing more pain." She finished sadly, her mind going over the terrible things that they had done. In the end, all they had done was propagate the hatred that they had been trying to fight against.

Naruto didn't know who Yahiko and Nagato were, but could guess that one of them was the Rinnegan user. Though from what Xanna had told him, that Rinnegan had Madara's chakra in it, so it likely never belonged to the cripple that was now hanging lifelessly with his face clawed off in that strange machine.

"We were Jiraiya's students and we couldn't live up to his vision of peace. I know that he was your teacher as well...do you want to create peace too?" Konan revealed and asked when he didn't pose any further questions of his own.

Naruto ground his teeth together in surprised anger and made a mental note to kick the shit out of Jiraiya for not mentioning that there was a Rinnegan bearer out there.

That would have been PRETTY FUCKING IMPORTANT TO KNOW BEFORE IT WAS TOO LATE! He raged to himself

Agreed. Xanna chimed in, similarly pissed off.

His short mental conversation done, Naruto answered the prone woman. "I don't care about peace or the world or any of that fantasy crap. I came here to save my wife from a pretentious bastard that thought he could do anything he wanted just because he had a fancy pair of eyeballs. Now I'm getting out of this pseudo intellectual rathole and making plans to send Madara to the deepest pit of the abyss that I can find."

Konan just nodded slightly, not really surprised. He hadn't seemed like the type to strive for peace, though he was clearly also not interested in war. All he cared about was the woman he loved and she had to admit to herself that it was certainly a better mindset than what most people had. At the very least he wouldn't do any harm to anyone that didn't try to harm him or his first. That was more than could be said for her or Nagato.

"You said you wanted peace?" The blond prodded, making her nod silently.

"Do you want your friends back too?" He questioned further, making her eyes widen slightly in surprise, though she was in fact very surprised. She nodded hesitantly, not daring to hope that he had some way of bringing them back to her, or that he would be that kind.

"Then go to them and you can have both." He said with his voice suddenly much colder and stabbed one of the chakra rods that had been lying around through her heart, impaling it deep enough that it got stuck in the ground under her.

Konan convulsed once from the pain and then went still, her vision already going dark.

"If you wanted peace then you shouldn't have wasted time fighting in this world." Was the last thing she heard before she expired.

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Naruto appeared in the secret valley that had formerly belonged to the wolf tribe with the Gedō Mazō in tow and then collapsed against a tree right after.

Sitting with his back pressed against it, he tried to calm down his breathing and stop his hands from shaking, but failed spectacularly. He had been holding himself together before with nothing but sheer force of will and the knowledge that there were things he needed to take care of before he could fall apart.

Killing that blue haired woman whose name he had never gotten didn't bother him in the slightest. She had been one of those that had nearly taken Xanna away from him and there was simply no way in hell that he was going to let that go, even if the woman did seem to honestly regret it.

No, it was how terribly close he had been to losing Xanna that was causing him to nearly hyperventilate. She had always seemed so invincible that having her come within a hairsbreadth of being destroyed was more jarring to him than if the death god had come to his door and told him that he'd been fired and was now a door-to-door carpet salesman.

Shhhh beloved, it's alright, I am here. She cooed at him from within and eventually managed to calm him down.

Hang on just a second, let me get you out of there. He said to her, wanting nothing more than to hold her to assure himself that she was really still with him.

NO! She yelled at him frantically, making him freeze just as he was about to open the seal to get her out.

What's wrong? He asked apprehensively. He didn't think that she would simply be scared of something like that happening again, but couldn't think of what else it could be. He had definitely felt a lot of fear from her at the idea of leaving the seal.

She stayed silent for several long seconds and he could clearly feel that she was both very upset and slightly ashamed of something. I...can't leave the seal anymore.

Why not? He asked warily.

The Gedō Mazō took almost all of my chakra, I have barely enough left to match a strong Jounin such as your former sensei. If I left the seal now, I would be nothing but a formless wraith unable to even create a body for myself. As it takes far more chakra to sustain sentience, I would also lose my mind near instantly. After that, this tiny amount of chakra I have remaining would likely get drawn to the Gedō Mazō and I would end up being destroyed anyway, just as I would have been had you not come to save me. She explained in a resigned tone.

But...but how could that happen? He asked in weak protest, having instinctively confirmed her words. He hadn't tried to gauge how much of her chakra was in the seal before, but now that he had he could indeed sense that it was only a tiny fraction of what it used to be.

The pull of the Gedō Mazō was too strong for us to overcome and pull my chakra away without a complex sealing technique. I could feel that my time was almost up so I tried to push myself towards the piece of chakra I had left in your seal when we got married. Unknowingly, I had abandoned the chakra that the statue was absorbing and moved my spirit to this miniscule fragment.

Both of them were silent for a long while, Naruto because he was thinking the situation over and Xanna so that he could think in peace.

But you'll be okay as long as you stay in the seal right?He asked.

I will not be in any immediate danger as long as you don't die, yes. She confirmed. It would be a sorry existence and she didn't know how long she would be able to tolerate it, but it was better than oblivion...for the moment at least. At the very least, she would still be able to experience the world through Naruto, though she couldn't take control of his body with so little chakra, so she was reduced to an observer.

That's alright then. He said in relief, causing her some irritation because she thought that he only cared about the fact that she would be with him and was dismissing what the situation was like for her. As long as you're in no immediate danger, then I have time to find out a way to return your chakra to you.

After hearing that she calmed down and chastised herself slightly for thinking that Naruto would be that callous. Fortunately she hadn't said anything and her husband would never be aware of her uncharitable thoughts.

You think that you can manage it? She asked.

I'll find a way. He affirmed, which more or less let her know that he had no idea how to do it, but was going to find a way even if he had to punch the death god in the crotch.

But first...we need to prevent Madara from causing anymore problems. He said, remembering all too well that Itachi's Mangenkyo was still out there and Xanna had already told him about being able to sense the Shodai Hokage's chakra in those Rinnegan eyes. He might not know exactly what was up with that, but he could draw enough unpleasant conclusions.

There would be no more taking things lightly and thinking that he and Xanna were too tough for anyone to touch them.

Madara most definitely had his undivided attention right now.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The sky was going dark by the time Naruto finished working.

The entire valley was now ringed with Fuinjutsu defenses so fearsome and impregnable that there was absolutely no chance of anything unexpected happening. Never mind the fact that the valley was already near impossible to find if you didn't know where to look.

There were space-time barriers that prevented any and all summoning from being used...or any other space-time technique for that matter. Additionally there was a chakra blocking barrier that would prevent any sensors from feeling through it.

In short, the entire valley was effectively locked off into a parallel dimension that could only be reached with the Hiraishin and even then only if the user had the proper key to pass through the barriers. If they didn't have the key, they would find themselves teleported into a tightly folded area of space where their mass would be compressed into a ball the size of Naruto's fist, which would be painfully fatal.

Naruto exhaled with a gusty sigh at finally being done, feeling oddly tired. Even with shadow clones, it had taken him all day to do this.

I'm afraid you're not tired just because you've been working so hard beloved. Xanna spoke sadly, alarming him.

What's wrong? He asked, feeling a foreboding case of deja vu. The last time he had asked that, he had learned that she couldn't leave the seal anymore.

It would appear that I spoke too soon when I said that there was no immediate danger. Even sealed inside you, this tiny amount of chakra I have is not enough to sustain my continued existence. She spoke with a soft and resigned tone. She hadn't wanted to interrupt him while he was placing the seals, but now she couldn't put it off any longer.

So...what? Are you draining my chakra to keep yourself going? He asked with a thoughtful frown. He didn't care if she was, sure it would reduce his combat capacity somewhat to have a portion of his chakra dedicated to supporting her, but it was no big deal.

Nothing so simple I'm afraid. Your chakra is not usable to me for that kind of thing. She replied, without revealing the reason for her sudden morose mood.

What then? He prodded, wanting a clear answer already.

What chakra I do have has latched onto your life force and is using it to sustain me. The drain is enough that a normal human would be dead somewhere between one and three days, depending on how strong they were. Your life force is much stronger and will hold out for perhaps a month, maybe somewhat longer. She revealed solemnly, knowing that the situation was unsustainable.

Then I'll just keep draining natural energy from the world to keep us going until I can find a way to restore you. Naruto said without concern, thinking nothing of the fact that his wife was literally sucking the life out of him.

It will not be enough. The drain is too much to be countered like that. Only places such as Myobokuzan have natural energy in great enough amounts to give you a significant enough increase in life energy to sustain us for more than a few days. At the most, we will have gained another month or two, likely less. Xanna refuted.

Naruto gnawed on his lower lip in thought and considered any possible alternatives. He had no idea how long it would take him to get her chakra back and working under a time limit like that was mightily inconvenient.

Would it be possible to seal you in such a way that you would be hibernating and not draining me? He asked.

I'm not a bear Naruto. Despite the dire situation, she couldn't help feeling dryly amused at the suggestion. The only workable alteration you could make would be to change the seal in such a way that you would be siphoning off my chakra instead of the other way around.

Naruto frowned. That option was out of the question. I guess we're working on a time limit then.

I guess so... Xanna agreed with a sad sigh. I do have a request to make though.

What kind of request? He asked suspiciously, getting the feeling that he wouldn't like it.

If it turns out to be hopeless, then I want you to save yourself and eject me from the seal.

No. He said stonily, unable to believe that she would even think of something like that.

Naruto, if it turns out to be hopeless then I will meet the same end whether you do so or not. The only difference will be whether I take you with me. The demoness reasoned.

Naruto had never been very reasonable though. No, I won't do it.

Will you just think about it for a second?! I don't want to die as a parasite and drag my husband to the grave alongside me. There is no need to throw your life away like this. This way you would at least be able to remember me.

I don't care, I would die a thousand times if I can keep you with me for just a moment longer. What good is remembering you if you're not there anymore? He retorted, starting to get angry with this conversation.

Naruto...please. She pleaded, shocking him out of his anger. She had never said 'please' to him unless it was sarcastic. There are still people that you care about in the world. You could even try going back to that Tsunami woman in Wave, I know that you are still fond of her. It makes no sense for us to die together. You can end your life at any time if you can't bear to live on without me, but don't deny yourself the chance to live.

Naruto was silent for a full five minutes, finding it hard to believe that after all the effort he had put into becoming immortal, it was she that was in danger of dying. She, who was supposed to be eternal and who had been there for him for as long as he could remember. The thought of leaving her to die in order to save himself was so repugnant that he couldn't even tolerate thinking of it without feeling his guts twisting in self disgust.

You're such a stupid wife. He said scornfully, feeling her confusion and anger at the words and tone, but continued speaking anyway. This is what you get for skipping the wedding vows. If you hadn't done that, then you would have known better. You would have known that dying together is the only kind of dying that makes sense.

Xanna was silent for a short while before she replied. You will not be dissuaded from this course then? Tsunade's words about his priorities going briefly through her mind. Naruto's resolve to keep her with him for as long as possible was unassailable.

Of course not, I love you and I would rather die with you than live without you. He confirmed.

I love you too husband. Xanna replied with her tone being much warmer and stopped trying to convince him otherwise. It was clear that he wouldn't budge on this. It is decided then, we will stay together to whatever end?

To whatever end. He repeated firmly.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

OMAKE: Hokage Naruto at the Five Kage Summit.

"Strangers from distant lands, friends of old, you have been summoned here to answer the threat of Akatsuki." Mifune spoke ominously to the five Kage gathered in the land of iron.

"I'm sorry, but are you quoting someone? Becase that doesn't sound like something that you would normally say." Naruto interrupted, confused by the weird way of talking that the old guy was using.

He had to hand it to him though...that was an awesome Fu Manchu moustache.

Mifune coughed to hide his slight embarrassment. His grandson had insisted that they watch the Lord of the Rings together last night and it had been a surprisingly good movie. "Yes well...moving on."

"Before we begin talking about Akatsuki, I would like to ask Hokage-dono if he would be willing to open diplomatic relations with the Water Country." Terumi Mei spoke up, placing deliberate emphasis on 'relations' to test the young Hokage's reaction. He looked like such an interesting man.

She was also amused to note that he was the only Kage that didn't have the traditional hat with him.

"I would be delighted, I'm sure that relations between Water and Fire would be quite...steamy." Naruto purred back at her.

Up in the spaces reserved for the guards, Sakura facepalmed. Naruto couldn't keep it in his pants even during something this important. The fact that it looked like it would get him an alliance with Kirigakure instead of a war actually kind of pissed her off. Just once, she would have liked to see Naruto's perversions backfire on him.

She wasn't even going to think about the fact that he was married.

Unknown to her, Xanna was present due to sharing her husband's body at the moment and egging Naruto on to nail that delicious looking redhead.

It was good for married people to share some common interests.

His other 'bodyguard', Anko, was struggling to keep her laughter contained. This was just too good.

Why was Anko here you ask? Because she was Anko.

At least, that was how Naruto had explained it when questioned.

Naruto gave a suspicious glance towards the Mizukage's bodyguards, where he sensed a burst of killing intent driven by impotent jealousy.

Mei held her cheek in simulated shyness, making an 'O' shape with her mouth to top it off. "Hokage-dono! You are so bold. Should I fear for my virtue in the face of such beastly desires?" She flirted back, enjoying herself immensely. The men in Kirigakure didn't have the spine to be so forward with her.

"I have no idea what beastly desires you're talking about Mizukage-chan, but if it makes you feel better you can tie me down." Naruto replied, deliberately making his voice throaty and even more growling than usual to contradict his claim of not having any beastly desires. "I'll even provide the chains." He offered and extended several chains from his hand as a demonstration.

Mei blushed at the implication, as well as the brazen '-chan' honorific he used. That was a diminutive suffix that should never, ever be used in a formal setting, even for those of lower rank. That the blond Hokage had enough spine to use it on a foreign dignitary in the middle of a highly tense meeting like this told her that he was utterly confident in his ability to handle any possible negative fallout from it, and confidence she liked.

Not that there was going to be any negative fallout from her side, since she liked it. It made her feel years younger.

"Enough of this! We're here to discuss the threat of Akatsuki, not get hooked up!" A, the Raikage yelled and slammed his palms on the table to emphasise his point.

"Don't be such a cockblock Raikage! Can't you see that me and the sexy Mizukage were talking?!" Naruto yelled back, glaring the Raikage straight in the eye.

"What did you call me you punk?!" A yelled back, his temper unsuited to dealing with any kind of provocation.

"You mad bro?" Naruto asked slyly, sporting a shit eating grin at how riled up the Raikage was getting.

"HELL YEAH I'M MAD! COME AT ME BRO!" A roared back and slammed his fist into the table, breaking it in half.

"FLIP THIS SHIT!" Naruto suddenly roared as well and flipped his table towards the Raikage.

Before the guards could think to get in the way, the two of them hand their hands locked in a contest of strength. The Raikage had his Lightning Armor active, while Naruto was ablaze with a cloak of demonic crimson chakra.

Growling excitedly with a wide grin splitting his face, Naruto soon proved to be the stronger and forced the Raikage to one knee and then kneed him in the face, sending him flying back towards his seat.

"BOO-YAH! Who's the man?!" He exclaimed with his hands raised in the air. When he didn't get any immediate response(everyone being too busy gawking at him to say anything), he asked again. "I repeat, who is the MAN?! Come on girls let me hear you say it!" He finished, turning towards Sakura and Anko.

"You're the man Naruto!" Anko's enthusiastic reply completely drowned out Sakura's reluctant one.

Mifune tried to enforce some order but got beaten to the punch by Onoki.

"This is what Konoha's Hokage acts like? Disgraceful." The Sandaime Tsuchikage scoffed.

"What's really disgraceful is that you haven't retired yet. How about letting that girl with the cute pouty glare up on the balcony take over for you?" Naruto riposted with a grin.

"HA, see gramps! Even the Hokage is telling you to retire." Kurotsuchi said with a smirk, unable to resist the jab at her grandfather, even though she didn't like the Hokage all that much.

"That is enough!" Mifune snapped, fed up with the madhouse that the serious meeting had turned into. "If Hokage-dono is quite done, then maybe we can get to the point of this meeting."

"Just one more thing." Naruto said and turned towards the Kazekage. "How are your mother and sister Gaara?"

Most of those present gave Naruto odd looks at his rather forward question, except for Sakura who had been present for most of his interactions with the sand siblings.

"Mother still teases Temari about having you for a son in law. My sister has been asking me if I could send her on an assassination mission with you as the target after you sent her those daisy patterned panties in the mail."

"DAMNIT GAARA, DON'T TELL HIM THAT!" Temari yelled from the balcony, but was summarily ignored.

"Does Karura get ever get bored, being locked in the seal and all?" Naruto asked, dismissing the knowledge of Gaara's sister trying to kill him.

"Sometimes, though she compensates by playing pranks with my sand." Gaara revealed.

"What kind of pranks are we talking about here?" The blond asked suspiciously.

Onoki's chair took this moment to collapse, causing the man to break his hip due to the fall.

"Ah, I see." Naruto said in realisation, ignoring the screaming of the old man.

Mifune sighed in despair. Why did Tsunade have to appoint this lunatic as her successor?