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Chapter Text

Pain bloomed in his body again as the slug bitch buried her fist in his stomach, the same place where the blonde brat's technique had struck just a few minutes before. He had been too slow, Manda had lunged to attack Katsuyu and the slug sannin had taken the opportunity to leap over Manda and strike Orochimaru-sama.

But it turned out that when Orochimaru-sama had fled by leaping to dodge Tsunade's fist, she had redirected her attack at him. She had sent him flying off the battlefield leaving Orochimaru-sama alone. Manda was there, but that was the same as being alone, the old snake was only interested in fighting the summonings of the other sannin and if his life was in danger he would un-summon himself leaving them alone, at the mercy of the sannin even if it meant losing the chance to devour the aforementioned sacrifices.

He tried to rise from the ground he had been buried in when the slug sannin struck him, regretting it the moment his body erupted in pain. Between the sannin and the blonde brat he had taken far too much damage, six limbs, a collarbone, at least three vertebrae in his spine were broken and he could have sworn his tailbone had been reduced to dust when he landed on his arse on the ground. Not to mention the internal damage to his organs from the blond brat's technique.

At least his heart was safe because he had made sure to protect it with an extra layer of chakra, pity he couldn't say the same for his lungs, every breath was like sticking a kunai in them. From this place he could do nothing, as the sannin student and the blonde brat had left for safety, in his current state even a gennin fresh out of the academy could kill him.

But he couldn't stay here, he had to move. Orochimaru-sama was the fastest of the sannin but without his arms and the other two sannin behind him he would be caught sooner rather than later. He concentrated all his chakra yang on the most important areas, he had to heal his lungs first, then stop all the internal bleeding, without forgetting that he could not neglect his heart as he risked being stabbed by one of the broken ribs.

When he finally managed to patch and mend his organs enough so that he would not die the moment he moved, more than five minutes had passed, during which time the Sannin battle had become more like a game of tag.

Taking advantage of his superior speed and a jutsu without hand seals that allowed him to turn his lower body into that of a snake, Orochimaru-sama had managed to outwit his former companions who were following closely on his trail. But every time his master tried to move away from the area that had become the battlefield of the summonings a copy of Katsuyu would appear from the ground and spray acid forcing him back into the fray.

The snakes that Orochimaru-sama had previously summoned and had been left in the swamp of the toad sage had managed to free themselves. But one of them was too reckless to get in the middle of the summoning fight and quickly met its end when Gamabunta leapt up and cut its head off with his sword.

While the other snake was also unlucky as somewhere between trying to dodge the acid from Katsuyu's multiple copies and trying not to get eaten by Manda who didn't care about her fellow snakes, seriously the Ryuchi Cavern snakes needed to go to family therapy, the snake had ended up in the middle of Orochimaru-sama and the other two sannin. The poor snake spat out a bunch of small snakes but these were reduced to ashes by a Katon jutsu from the toad sage while the slug princess had reinforced her body with Doton chakra jumping on the snake's head and piercing its brain killing it quickly.

Not content with that Tsunade had ripped out part of the snake's brains and reinforced them with chakra and threw them at her former partner. It missed him but was a good enough distraction for the toad sage to reach Orochimaru-sama in a burst of speed and hit him with that technique the blonde brat had used on him before.

At least Manda had managed to do a sweep with his tail, forcing Gamabunta to jump and Katsuyu to split, the two sannin also dodged it without taking damage but that was a slight respite for Orochimaru-sama who with the experiments he had performed on his body managed to get back on the move and resume the game of tag with his former teammates.

He had to help Orochimaru-sama but that would be suicide. He had spent most of his chakra to repair his damaged body, he could still do a couple of jutsu but his body was tired. If he threw himself into battle he would die, Katsuyu would melt him with her acid while Gamabunta would crush him, not to mention Manda who might decide to recover his strength with a Kabuto flavoured snack. On the other hand the sannin could kill him with a single finger in his current state.

But he had to do something, he could try to go after Tsunade's apprentice and the blonde brat but Katsuyu's copy would be there along with the two little toads who were only hatchlings but were still toads from Mount Myoboku which meant they must have the strength of three grown men at least, his chances of winning were non-existent.

Something, something, something, what could he do, what would distract the sannin, what would give him an opening? Then he was reminded of the reason they were here. In exchange for Tsunade returning his arms Orochimaru-sama had promised to resurrect the younger brother and lover of the slug sannin.

The Edo Tensei, that was. On their way in search of the sannin, they had collected the dna samples of Nawaki Senju and Dan Kato. He could resurrect them, his master had taught him. He did not know if his master planned to keep his promise but that did not matter. Tsunade may no longer fear blood but how would she react to seeing her brother and lover attacking each other, their bodies breaking and rebuilding. That would guarantee an opening, one that Orochimaru-sama or Manda could take advantage of to finish off the last of the Senju.

He stood up carefully ready to put that plan into action, every move he made hurt but he couldn't waste any more of his chakra on healing, not when he needed it to use Edo Tensei.

Carefully he took out a scroll from the bag he carried in his waist, he unfolded the scroll and took out the different elements to perform the Edo Tensei, the first were the sacrifices, a couple of people from Oto who had a paralysis seal on their body, the second were the dna samples that he placed next to the sacrifices and finally the two scrolls with the Edo Tensei formula that he placed next to the bodies.

Now all that was left was to perform the jutsu, he let a little blood drip on each scroll, the formula glowed for an instant and separated from the scroll surrounding the sacrifices and the dna. He then made the corresponding hand seals, the movement of his hands hurt but he needed to hurry.

Tiger-Serpent-Dog-Dragon. After performing the seals, he clapped his hands and the formula settled on the corpses, the dna sample was absorbed and the particles that formed the body of the revived appeared soon after. In a short time, the revived would be ready to obey his orders. Everything was ready.

But it wasn't, not when he looked at the scroll and realised, he had forgotten something. The control seals, he hadn't put them with the corpses, he hadn't even unsealed them. He had to hurry, he pulled out the control seals, but between the pain in his body and the rush one of them fell off, he could only grab one.

He had to decide which of the almost fully formed revived ones he decided to control. Actually it was easy, Nawaki was only a gennin almost chunnin, Dan was a Jounin. He quickly lunged at the almost fully formed revived Dan Kato to place the seal. But he was stopped by a hand that grabbed his wrist.

It was at that moment when he looked at the face of the revived one that he realised that it was not Dan Kato, they had got the wrong sample, in front of him was not the pale blue haired Jounin he had seen in a picture once.

But a completely unfamiliar person with brown eyes that matched those of the slug sannin and two black marks under them, brown hair on the sides of his head but on top was an explosion of red hair. His skin looked worn and cracked like that of all the revived ones and on his face was an expression of fury just like that of the slug sannin when his master mentioned about reviving her loved ones. But his eyes, Kabuto had seen that look many times, the look of someone who thought that what was in front of him was insignificant and should be exterminated.

For a moment Kabuto's eyes flicked to the other revived and he couldn't help a sigh of relief to see that it was indeed Nawaki Senju, who was too confused by being revived to notice what was going on around him, but that didn't take away from the fact that he was in a terrible situation.

He was trapped by a revived with infinite chakra and amazing strength that was tearing his wrist apart. First he needed to free himself, he summoned his chakra to form a chakra scalpel in his free hand and slashed the revived's arm to free himself.

But before that could happen he felt the pain blossom in his arm and his hand fell to the ground, severed by an invisible force at the wrist. How! The revived one hadn't made a move, not that he had seen.

He had to do something, he needed to free himself... then there was nothing, no thought, no pain, just emptiness...

Chapter Text

Despite being forced to keep moving to preserve his life Orochimaru could not stop his mind from flying in another direction. Normally in a battle of this level that would be a rookie mistake that would end his life, but years of scientific research that led to thinking of new ideas continually led to developing the ability to multitask.

Besides, this battle was a joke and all three knew it. Tsunade was badly out of shape, Jiraiya had been drugged by Tsunade and Orochimaru had no arms. The only ones who were really putting up a good fight were the summons but even they had gone from fighting because their summoners needed their help to fighting because of their own grudges against each other.

More than once Gamabunta had almost been hit by a stream of acid from Katsuyu when the old toad had taunted the slug or he had "missed" an attack on Manda with his tongue and caught one of her copies by "accident" forcing her to un-summon that specific copy. Not to mention Manda who would not shut up at any time, getting under the two's skin causing the battle to become more violent between the three of them almost crushing the Sannin.

This was a disaster.

If Hanzo was here all three, NO, all six would be dead by now. Between Hanzo and Ibuse they would kill them all because right now they were weaker than they were during the Second Ninja World War.

Hanzo was a monster, not Hashirama or Madara type monster, not even a Sensei type monster, he was actually a Sasuke Sarutobi type monster or so he had heard since his Sensei's father had died at the beginning of the First Ninja World War.

He was someone who had no special bloodlines, no crazy eyes, no complex elements. No, he was just a ninja who had taken the skills available to every ninja to the highest level and had taken a risky gamble with the salamander's poison sack.

And then you had Ibuse, the old salamander was strong and experienced, older than Gamabunta and Manda but not Katsuyu. Ibuse had great physical strength, high-level regenerative abilities, the elements Suiton and Doton, a lethal poison that became stronger the older she got and she could fight in water, on land or below it.

The three Sannin had named them, not for defeating him, but for being able to stand up to him.

It was humiliating.

Every time the memory of that battle resurfaced an itch under his skin came with it. And to his misfortune he currently had no arms to scratch that annoying itch. The height of comedy indeed.

Luckily for him, Tsunade-hime had come to his rescue, armed with a Doton stake she lunged at him with it, if he had noticed it earlier he could have dodged it. But at this point all he could do was redirect his body, avoiding a fatal blow and driving the stake through the exact spot where he had that annoying itch.

The good news? He no longer had that itch. The bad news? He had a stone stake through his chest. Ouch. It was a good thing he had used a couple of the non-hand-sealing medical techniques Tsunade had taught him to reposition his organs or  he would be in a bad situation.

Tsunade then dug her fingers into him preventing him from moving and gave him a chakra reinforced headbutt. The nasal, frontal, maxillary and zygomatic bones broke into several pieces, he was glad this wasn't his real body and he could find a new one. But if he didn't start fighting back he'd be in trouble.

He regurgitated the Kusanagi grabbing it by the handle with his tongue and tried to cut off Tsunade's head which forced her to retreat if she didn't want to die. Tsunade's Rebirth Creation technique was a true masterpiece and he'd have to make sure to learn it when his arms were no longer useless.

He took a step forward to chase after Tsunade, he wasn't going to kill her, after all he needed her alive to learn that technique, but he had to incapacitate her if he wanted a chance to survive. But he had to swallow the kusanagi again, backing up and leaping away from Jiraiya's grasp as he came out from under the ground.

In the time he was in the air Tsunade had managed to complete a sequence of hand seals. Doton: Mud Dragon Bullet.

Next to Tsunade a mud dragon appeared and shot mud balls in his direction, the same jutsu that Sensei had used during their fight, to save himself he transformed his lower body back into the body of a snake and came out of range of Tsunade's attack almost unscathed except for a bullet that had managed to impact his shoulder dislocating it.

But Jiraiya with only his upper body sticking out of the ground finished a sequence of seals just as he managed to get out of range of Tsunade's attack. Fūton: Void Balls.

The wind bullets were not so easy to dodge and the technique of repositioning his organs although it managed to save his heart, his pancreas and small bowel were not so lucky being turned into a sieve.

If he only had his arms he wouldn't be here running for his life, he might have a body that wasn't his own and he didn't have to worry about major damage thanks to the fact that he could reform the body with chakra but in the state he was in right now, having taken a lot of damage and with his arms useless he was on his last.

He had to escape, but he didn't have an opening, Katsuyu's copies were hidden beneath the earth and the moment he tried to flee he would be forced to dodge the acid which would give his former comrades a chance to sneak him out. He should have invested more time in learning to use jutsu without hand seals but that would have taken time away from learning new jutsu.

He had no choice, he would have to resort to reverse summoning which would lead to Manda taunting him, calling him a useless coward. Manda had a big mouth and would not hesitate to tell all once they were in the Ryuchi Cavern, after that all the snakes would hesitate to come when he called them.

And he couldn't forget the Great White Snake who had wanted to eat him for several years since he escaped when he failed the Senjutsu test.

But he had no choice, he channeled chakra into his lower half to accelerate his speed and headed towards Manda, Katsuyu's copies came out of the ground and he had to sacrifice some of his hair to keep his face from melting. Why of all things did it have to be the hair?!

But he was almost at Manda's side with only a few metres to go...

¡!¡!¡!¡!¡!

In that moment the battle came to a halt, as everyone present felt a sudden burst of chakra as if it had come out of nowhere, chakra they recognised, belonging to people who had been dead for a long time.

They all turned their gaze towards the place where this chakra came from, they watched in horror as two humanoid forms appeared out of nowhere, as Kabuto tried to approach one of the people and was easily stopped. And they also watched as Kabuto's head was severed by an invisible force separating it from the rest of his body.

It was as if they had been marked by a seal of paralysis, no one dared to move, too shocked to do anything but watch as the taller person approached the smaller one and placed a hand on his shoulder.

If Kabuto didn't just die he would kill him himself, he had promised Tsunade to revive her loved ones in exchange for her healing his arms. But he didn't plan on reviving Nawaki, he would never dare to do that, Dan, on the other hand, was fair game.

But that person, the one who had squatted down to talk to a revived Nawaki, was not Dan. It couldn't be, that person couldn't be here. It was not possible that they had made a mistake with the dna samples.

Tsunade was the first to break the silence, her trembling voice unable to believe her eyes despite knowing well (maybe even better than Orochimaru) how the Edo Tensei worked. "Otōsan, Nawaki!"

Katsuyu was next, all of her copies looked and spoke as one at the same time to see the newly revived. "Sukuna-dono, Nawaki-kun!"

Even Manda let emotion seep into his voice. "Nawaki!"

"Orochimaru!" Jiraiya said behind him but still not moving.

"Tsunade?" "Tsunade-nēsan, Orochimaru-sensei?" The newly revived spoke at the same time, Orochimaru felt as if a kunai had stabbed into his heart as he heard Nawaki call him sensei, how many years had it been since he heard his voice?

But he swallowed the pain that rose in his chest, this was no time to get sentimental. If he was in a bad situation before it was even worse now, he had no chance of survival against Sukuna Senju and he knew that now that Nawaki had been revived Manda would turn on him, as the one who had revived him was one of his subjects.

He needed to escape, to take advantage of this distraction before his former companions reacted and attacked him again. At that moment he remembered that Sukuna Senju hated Jiraiya ever since he dared to claim that he would one day marry Tsunade. If it wasn't for Sensei, Jiraiya's ninja career would have been over long before it began.

"Sukuna-sama!" he shouted, drawing the attention of those present and reminding them that they were supposed to be trying to kill him. "Jiraiya has been flirting with Tsunade, I tried to stop him, but he sealed my arms!" Before he finished speaking he had already started running, Katsuyu's copies didn't even react as he passed her.

"What!" The father and son Senju duo roared in unison, Sukuna's expression went from calm and stoic to absolute fury in less than the blink of an eye something that had earned him the nickname Ryomen Sukuna(Sukuna of the two faces), due to the ease with which he changed his character.

Despite being a Senju, his mother's Uzumaki blood was strong in him and he had inherited that clan's explosive temper, something his children Tsunade and Nawaki could display when they were angry.

Nawaki looked like a miniature version of his father at the moment except for that right eye narrowed in anger that Tsunade also showed when she was angry. If it wasn't because he had to run for his life Orochimaru would point out how adorable Nawaki was right now.

"Orochi-¡" Whatever Jiraiya was going to say was cut off when Sukuna used a shunshin to move at high speed behind him, grab his hair and bury his face in the dirt. It seemed Jiraiya's time had finally come, he would drink in his honor when he was in a safe place.

"OROCHIMARU!" Manda roared behind him his voice charged with anger, he didn't need to look to know that Manda had launched himself in his direction with his eyes burning like two balls of fire of rage.

As he had predicted his summoning had turned against him. Orochimaru concentrated he would need a moment to force the summoning to cancel. Manda's shadow landed on him, he lunged at him with his open mouth baring its fangs to devour him, but before he could devour him, he disappeared in a cloud of smoke thanks to the fact that he had managed to cancel the summoning.

"Otōsan, Orochimaru is a traitor!" Tsunade shouted running after him, he could hear her footsteps shattering the ground beneath her, Tsunade was furious, more furious than she had ever been.

But she was too far away and she couldn't use a shunshin to attack him, the shunshin only worked as a surprise attack and Orochimaru was watching her closely, if she used a shunshin he would be ready to run her through with kusanagi. The only one who had mastered the shunshin to use it all the time in battle was the deceased Shisui Uchiha which had earned him the nickname Shunshin no Shisui.

It was all his years of training as a ninja that prevented him from being hit by a flying kick aimed at the back of his head that came out of nowhere. Who was it, that had been a shunshin. But it wasn't Sukuna who was still on top of Jiraiya, Jiraiya still had his face buried in the ground, Tsunade was still behind him and the summons were too far.

Then who... Orochimaru stopped, that was a mistake but he couldn't help it. Because now in front of him stood Nawaki, on his face an expression of doubt and worry. "Sensei."

He was particularly good at lying to himself, so when he made a decision with adrenaline in his blood and his heartbeat in his ears, he believed his own lie. He regurgitated Kusanagi grabbing it by the handle with his tongue and buried it in Nawaki's chest leaving it there, after that he started to run again.

He lied to himself thinking that losing Kusanagi was far worse than the look of betrayal on Nawaki's ashen, cracked face.

"Nawaki!" Tsunade's shout went through the place, he knew that with Tsunade worrying about Nawaki who wouldn't die since he was after all a revived by the Edo Tensei he would have the perfect opportunity to crawl under the ground and escape ending this whole battle that had been nonsense from the beginning once and for all.

When he felt he had moved far enough away from Nawaki he channelled chakra to his feet and began to sink into the ground. He was about to let out a parting threat when he felt, well he didn't really feel it but he did hear his two useless arms fall to the ground as they were cut off at his shoulders along with the violet coloured rope obi tied around his waist.

The one responsible? Sukuna Senju who was still standing over Jiraiya this time with one foot on his head and a single finger pointed in his direction. Orochimaru decided that his parting threats could be put aside for once, his survival was far more important. So channelling more chakra than necessary he sank to the ground and finally escaped.

Chapter Text

Tsunade watched Orochimaru turn around after stabbing Nawaki's chest with kusanagi, surely her old partner was planning to give some kind of taunt or final threat before saying goodbye. Something along the lines of "We will meet again and next time it will be our last meeting".

But the confidence on his face turned to panic as his two useless arms and his wind-up obi fell to the ground no doubt that had been his father's work. After that his ex-teammate wisely decided it was best to retreat, sank to the ground and fled with his tail between his legs.

With his arms gone, his henchman dead and having lost Manda's trust by reviving Nawaki the image of his old friend was pretty pathetic. But that didn't mean Orochimaru's fangs were any less dangerous, after all an animal was most dangerous when cornered.

If she hadn't focused on Nawaki she might have finally caught him, but she hadn't been able to help it, seeing Nawaki being pierced by Orochimaru with Kusanagi had pushed her to come to his aid despite knowing that her little brother was a revived one at this point so he wouldn't die or come to any harm.

"Nesan, he, sensei, he, he, he..." Nawaki stuttered his voice broken by sadness threatening to burst into tears at any moment and his body refusing to move from the shock of being attacked by his own sensei.

Tsunade knelt behind her brother wrapping her arms around him, hugging him and resting her chin on his shoulder to comfort him, Nawaki's skin was cold and dry to the touch, it felt like sandpaper but she refused to move, her little brother needed her. "I know Nawaki, I'm here for you."

Nawaki tried to cry, but despite the hiccups, and the shaking, despite the ragged breathing her revived body refused to cry, her little brother was unable to let his emotions out, unable to let the tears wash away his pain. Tsunade hugged Nawaki tighter, despite the happiness of seeing him again she knew well that he should never have been revived, as much as the thought pained her.

When Nawaki stopped sobbing quietly it had only been a few minutes but it felt like hours, they had to move. Shizune would be with Naruto not knowing what had happened during the battle that had ended with a bitter outcome for both sides, Not to mention that Jiraiya would still have his face stuck in the dirt, dad would refuse to let him go without a good reason.

"Nawaki, I'm going to pull out the sword" She whispered, her brother's eyes went to his chest from where kusanagi's handle protruded, he frowned his upper lip trembling threatening to start trying to cry again but finally nodded silently.

Tsunade grabbed Kusanagi by the handle and pulled it out of Nawaki's chest tossing it aside. When her brother collapsed dropping his full weight on her, she was already there ready to hug him tighter, they may need to move but she would give her brother all the time in the world.

When Nawaki was finally ready she stood up and helped him up, her little brother held her hand tightly as in the past but now his hands were rough and cold.

His skin had lost some of its colour along with his eternally flushed cheeks, his brown hair was still as tousled as ever but his grey eyes were darkened by the sadness of what had recently happened.

His clothes had also turned a duller colour as he was revived. His aquamarine hoodless sweatshirt was now darker along with the grey almost black turtleneck, his trousers were light brown with multiple pockets, and on his feet he wore blue sandals.

"Nesan" Nawaki said snapping her out of her thoughts, she looked at him but her brother did not look her in the eyes, instead he looked at the abandoned kusanagi, discarded by her owner as if she was trash.

"You don't have to" She said, that was Orochimaru's sword, a treasure obtained by looting it from the corpse of a renegade ninja from Kusagakure. Her little brother didn't have to worry about the things his ex-sensei had left behind.

"But I want to" Nawaki said decisively undoing for a moment the strong grip he had on her hand, his little brother bent down and picked up Kusanagi by the handle with one hand and quickly gripped her hand tightly again.

Tsunade sighed, Orochimaru had lost his way years ago, but for Nawaki his adored sensei had gone from caring about him to remorselessly burying a sword in his chest in seconds. To come back to life to see what his sensei had become must be horrible, if his brother was going to stay here any longer she would have to arrange therapy sessions for him, she hoped the Yamanaka would continue with the therapy.

Silently they walked hand in hand, refusing to separate, heading towards Jiraiya and dad who were waiting for them. Unlike what she had thought Jiraiya had managed to get his face off the ground, but not the rest of his body as dad was still on top of him. Still he kept up a conversation with him and the summonings.

His father looked the same as the last time she had seen him, he was a tall, muscular man, dark brown hair along with an explosion of red hair atop his head. His skin was cracked like all the revived and under each of his brown eyes was a black mark.

He wore a white t-shirt, with one of konoha's ancient ninja waistcoats, along with pieces of red armor on his chest area and over his shoulders with the emblems of the Senju and Uzumaki clan engraved on them. He wore black trousers with a weapon carrier and sandals with black straps.

"Tsunade, Nawaki" Her father said, his voice guilty not sure what to say, Tsunade didn't think she had ever heard that tone of voice in her father. Unsure herself what to do she reached out the hand that wasn't holding Nawaki's hand and her father finally pulled off of Jiraiya and hugged them tightly.

It had been years since Tsunade had hugged so many different people, she hugged Shizune a lot(especially when she was drunk), but today she had already hugged three people that weren't Shizune. She could get used to this.

"Dad, it's been a while" Tsunade said bitterly causing her father to laugh bitterly, Nawaki got between her and her father being crushed in the hug but she didn't complain, she just wanted to be with her father and sister.

"I'm sorry" Her father apologized something he didn't do often. "I got distracted and died. I guess in the end my pride doomed me" Her father said bitterly, for the first time his voice sounded vulnerable.

Nawaki sobbed, or rather tried to still unable to cry. "So, did I. I didn't see the trap. I got complacent. I was so excited because Orochi-...Sensei told me he planned to promote me with a field promotion to chunnin that I didn't pay attention to my surroundings. I'm sorry!"

Tsunade tightened the hug being sure that if it wasn't for the fact that he was already dead she would have broken her father's spine. "I'm not going to lie, it was hard. We never thought you would die. To us you always seemed invincible" Tsunade admitted, when the news came no one believed it not only in the clan but also in the village, they thought it was some kind of enemy strategy to lower morale.

"Where is your mother?" his father asked even though he knew the answer would hurt.

"She died, during the third World War, she died fighting and taking all her enemies with her. All countries continue to fear her reputation and that of the T&I department because of her" She replied, she had buried the memories of her family with alcohol for years, bringing them up again was extremely painful.

"Who?" Her father asked angrily ready to bring down his revenge on his wife's killers.

"That village no longer exists, I made sure of it" She admitted with a grimace, there had been a lot of blood at the time, but that had happened before Dan's death, before his blood phobia began. But the Senju avenged their own, one only had to ask all the clans the Senju had exterminated over the centuries.

"Fine" Her father said with a sad smile, a whimper from Nawaki caught his attention, he didn't know, mother had died after Nawaki. His father placed a hand on the back of Nawaki's neck and pulled him even closer to him if that was even possible.

"Nesan, what happened to sensei, why did you call him a traitor?" Nawaki asked with his lip quivering, undoing the embrace by pulling away and looking into her eyes.

"Maru-chan was your sensei?" her father asked in surprise.

"It's a long story" Tsunade said, Orochimaru's descent into darkness had not been something that had happened in a few days but had lasted for years until it finally culminated.

"But to sum it up" Jiraiya interjected. "He committed several crimes that could not be forgiven by Konoha with his most recent crime being invading the village and murdering Sensei" Jiraiya reported bitterly knowing that Orochimaru's actions could have been avoided.

"Sensei, did he kill Saru?, now that's a surprise" Sukuna said without a hint of pity and ignoring the part about invading Konoha.

"So, you were hunting sensei for assassinating the Sandaime?" Nawaki asked looking at Tsunade.

"Not exactly. You see... I left Konoha several years ago, I'm not a lost ninja, but I no longer cared what happened to Konoha." She explained carefully, she knew her father wouldn't care if she became a lost ninja, but Nawaki might take it badly. "After losing so much I decided to leave and drown my sorrows with alcohol" She admitted embarrassed.

"And what was Sensei doing here?" Nawaki asked pointing a finger at the spot where Orochimaru had disappeared.

"Sensei did something to Orochimaru's arms" Jiraiya said looking down at Orochimaru's two severed arms, they should get them back later.

"And he came to me to heal them, in return he promised to revive my loved ones" Tsunade finished explaining.

Her father and Nawaki looked at each other. "And you cured them, that's why we are here. Or well it doesn't matter I cut off his arms before he left" Her father shrugged not caring that she might have betrayed Konoha.

"No" She refuted before Nawaki could say anything. "I refused to heal him and attacked him, his minion was the one who resurrected you I think he wanted to use you against me" She explained looking at the corpse of Orochimaru's minion, the bespectacled brat wouldn't screw anyone over again, she had to remember to do a dissection.

"Oh" Nawaki said with embarrassment, he had almost accused his sister. He recovered quickly though. "Who is the Yondaime now?" she asked not noticing Jiraiya's hurt expression.

"He's dead" Tsunade replied poking her finger into Jiraiya's still open wound years after Namikaze's death.

"Well, he sure has been short lived" Sukuna sneered. "Sarutobi dies and his successor dies soon after, what a joke. Who's the Godaime then?" his father asked expecting someone as pathetic as the fool who had died right after Sarutobi.

"It's me dad, Jiraiya came looking for me to make me the Godaime Hokage, I accepted it right before I fought Orochimaru" She replied knowing this must be a big surprise to her family.

"Excuse me?!"

"You're the hokage!" Nawaki exclaimed excitedly throwing himself at her, Tsunade caught him in her arms as he jumped on her. It was good to see her brother happy.

"Ahem...Tsunade-hime, Sukuna-dono, Nawaki-kun, sorry to interrupt" Said Katsuyu who had been watching everything silently along with Gamabunta.

"I'd like to get this over with" admitted Gamabunta who had come here to fight and not to see emotional family reunions, plus his children were still around.

"Sorry Kōgō Heika Katsuyu, we were too wrapped up in the family reunion. Good to see you old friend.

" I am also glad to see you Sukuna-dono and young Nawaki-kun, despite the circumstances of our meeting of course" Katsuyu said slowly bringing her huge body closer to where the group of humans were standing as she shot a fond glance at Tsunade and Nawaki who had become embroiled in a conversation about her appointment as Godaime Hokage.

"I'm sorry I haven't called you in a long time Katsuyu" Tsunade apologized taking a break from the conversation with Nawaki about being Hokage.

"Don't worry Tsunade-hime, we have all lost people over time, I understand that sometimes it takes longer to heal" Katsuyu understood well what it was like to lose those you cared about. She had lost many people over the centuries since the moon princess descended to earth.

"I will not neglect you again old friend, I promise," Tsunade vowed. Katsuyu did not smile but nodded at Tsunade's words.

"So, it's official then, right, you will be the Hokage?" Jiraiya asked after all this was what he had come to find her for.

"Yes, it's about time for us Senju to put Konoha in order."

"That's good, Gamabunta, old friend thanks for your help" Jiraiya said to the toad who had started smoking his pipe.

After a long puff on his pipe and blowing out the smoke the toad replied. "Thanks to you for letting me fight that cantankerous snake Manda, it's been years since I stretched some muscles. If you don't need me for anything else I'll be on my way, it's almost time to eat."

"Thanks buddy enjoy your meal" Jiraiya said goodbye.

Gamabunta nodded and looked in the direction where his children had left along with Shizune, Naruto and Katsuyu's copy. "Gamkichi, Gamatatsu, we're leaving!" and with that said Gamabunta disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

As Gamabunta disappeared Jiraiya looked at Tsunade. "I think it's time to go gather Hime."

Tsunade nodded and before pulling Nawaki down from her arms she gave him a small hug, it felt good to hug her brother again. "Alright, we need to go find Shizune and check on Naruto's condition. But we should also take Orochimaru's minion's body and his arms."

Nawaki made a pained grimace at hearing about Orochimaru and tried to hide it by picking Kusanagi up from the ground where he had left it when he jumped into his sister's arms. "Nawaki and I will take care of the minion, dad you and Jiraiya take care of Orochimaru's arms, I want to know what Sensei did to him."

"I can do it without help" His father argued giving Jiraiya a look of disgust which he reciprocated, Jiraiya was no longer a young boy terrified of Tsunade's father, he was an adult and a sage, Tsunade's father was terrifying but he would not be intimidated.

"I know you can do it alone but you don't have any scrolls with you unlike Jiraiya do you?" Tsunade said knowing that her father didn't have any scrolls with him.

Sukuna put his hands behind his back searching for the scroll he always carried with him only to find that he had nothing with him, he pouted but accepted his daughter's words. "Come on then Gaki" He said walking off in the direction of where Orochimaru's arms were.

"I'm fifty years old" Jiraiya complained walking behind Sukuna but not before throwing a scroll and storage at her. Tsunade just hoped they wouldn't kill each other, even though her father was already dead.

"What are you going to do Katsuyu?" she asked her friend.

"A copy of me is with Shizune and young Naruto-kun. I have informed him that the battle is over and an interesting outcome has occurred. I will unsummon this copy of me but leave the one with them." Katsuyu explained to which Tsunade nodded and her old friend disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Come on Nawaki" She said to her brother placing a hand on his back, her brother didn't argue and allowed himself to be guided.

"Who are Shizune and Naruto" Nawaki asked as they walked.

"Shizune is my apprentice though I also see her as my daughter, while Naruto is..." How should she introduce Naruto, she hadn't known him for long, the boy had helped her and she had saved him, plus he was an Uzumaki. After thinking about it she finally answered. "Naruto is family, he is an Uzumaki and he is also my successor, the future Rokudaime Hokage."

For an instant a betrayed expression crossed Nawaki's face before he looked down at his hands, his skin chapped by the Edo Tensei. His expression quickly changed to sadness and he leaned on her for comfort. Dealing with being dead was difficult. Luckily, Naruto had proven to be very good at lifting the spirits of others. He hoped the two of them would become friends.

"So, this guy was Sensei's apprentice?" Nawaki asked glaring hatefully at the headless corpse of Orochimaru's henchman.

"He was his minion, not his apprentice" Tsunade personally doubted Orochimaru had considered anyone his apprentice since he defected from Konoha or even before that, she had heard a story about a girl who had been taught by him.

"'Good" Nawaki said kicking the corpse's shin. Then the corpse's leg moved on its own. Nawaki stepped back in fright fearing it would get up but it did not. "Is it alive, but it has no head?"

"I don't think so" She said kneeling down next to the corpse, she glanced at the severed head frozen in a panicked expression but it didn't move. She placed a hand on the corpse's chest and felt a faint throbbing. This guy must have a powerful Kekkei Genkai of regeneration if despite no longer having his brain connected to his body his heart was still able to beat.

She channelled chakra into her index and middle fingers, gave it the shape of a needle and stuck it into the heart, the beating stopped, but just to make sure she stuck the chakra needle into his lungs. Now she was sure he was dead. She tossed the sealing scroll to Nawaki and gave him a look. "Let's see if you haven't lost practice."

If Nawaki had been alive his face would have turned red with anger. To tell someone who had Uzumaki blood in his veins that he might not be able to do something as simple as sealing a corpse was a great insult. But his brother was dead, so he had to just scowl and pout.

"Now you see, nesan" Nawaki knelt down and unfolded the scroll quickly finding a storage seal already made. He channeled chakra into the seal to see if it already contained anything but there was no response so it was empty so he placed the scroll on the ground next to the corpse. "There is no stasis seal for organic elements only for inorganic, I'm going to have to do that if we don't want the corpse to spoil."

"You can use his blood" She said opening a wound on the corpse's arm to let the blood out, she flinched a little at the sight of the blood but she wouldn't let fear overcome her she wouldn't back away at the sight of blood again. Her brother plunged his fingers into the wound and pulled them out soaked with blood without showing any sign of displeasure. 

Quickly his bloodstained fingers flowed across the scroll adding a seal of organic stasis to the storage seal. If it had been a more complex storage seal it would have been more difficult but Nawaki had been taught Fuinjutsu by the best masters, he would have overcome it quickly. "That's it" Nawaki said her voice full of pride as he finished the seal.

"Now seal it" She said to which Nawaki nodded. Her brother made a short series of hand seals, he placed one hand on the corpse and one on the scroll and the corpse disappeared swallowed by the seal. "Well done" She congratulated her brother messing up her hair which quickly returned to its original position.

"I haven't lost practice."

"No, you haven't, but I wanted to see you do the seal. I'm sorry I made you angry" She explained pulling her brother closer placing her hand on his back. She had taught Shizune Fuinjutsu, so her apprentice was better than anyone else in the Fire Country except for herself and the rest of her fellow Sannin.

"Oh, okay," Nawaki said leaning against her. They said nothing more until they ran into dad and Jiraiya on their way to meet Shizune and Naruto.

"Saru is lucky he's dead" That was the first thing her father said when they met, very clearly angry for all to see. She knew her sensei wasn't perfect and had committed terrible acts, but she had committed them herself. If it was for things like destroying an enemy country her father wouldn't be angry, it had to be something else.

"What did the Sandaime do to sensei?" Nawaki asked with concern for the state of her traitor sensei.

"He may be dead but I can clearly feel the Shinigami's influence in the arms I just sealed" His father explained gritting his teeth.

"He must have gotten it from the forbidden scroll" Jiraiya theorized not realizing he had caught the attention of the three Senju.

"What, now?" The trio of Senju asked with no idea what this forbidden scroll was. Not even Tsunade who had been alive the longest knew what it was.

Jiraiya hesitated, he thought Tsunade would know. "The forbidden scroll, you know. Where a lot of Konoha's forbidden techniques are stored."

"Like for example?" Tsunade asked, it was the first time she had heard of that scroll plus if that scroll contained something about the shinigami then it belonged to the Uzumaki.

"The Shadow Clones" Jiraiya offered and took a step back when he received the combined wrath of the three Senju.

"That belongs to the Senju" Nawaki pointed out.

"Continue Jiraiya" Tsunade ordered.

"Hime."

"Your Godaime Hokage commands you" she said with an authoritative tone using her newly attained title.

Jiraiya flinched but continued. "Some Uzumaki seals, the Hiraishin, the Edo Tensei."

Tsunade clutched the bridge of her nose in an attempt to control her emotions. What the hell was sensei doing with a scroll containing Senju and Uzumaki techniques. He had no right to that. "I guess that's where Orochimaru got the Edo Tensei from."

That, Jiraiya thought, made a lot of sense and from what he had heard Naruto had stolen it, if he had done it who else could.

"If he used the seal I think he used, then he must have been locked inside the Shinigami. That's good. Because I plan to get him out and make him release everything he knows" Sukuna said barely controlling his anger, the ground beneath his feet had cracked and pulses of chakra were steadily leaving him.

"We'll deal with that later" Tsunade said wearily. "I want to introduce you to some people" The discussion about the scroll wasn't over but it was clear from the expression on Jiraiya's face that he didn't know that she didn't know. She would have to talk to the village elders when they arrived in Konoha, but that would be a problem for the Tsunade of the future.

"So who are these two people we're meeting?" Sukuna asked as they made their way towards Shizune and Naruto.

"Naruto is my apprentice, while Shizune is Shizune's apprentice" Jiraiya informed, Nawaki looked at him oddly as that was a very terse explanation compared to the one Tsunade had given.

"Your apprentice?, I feel bad for him for having you as a teacher" Sukuna scoffed.

"For your information I am a great master, I trained the Yondaime Hokage" Jiraiya puffed out his chest with pride but only received a snort from Sukuna.

"The same Yondaime that died right after Saru, yeah he sure was a great ninja."

"Namikaze died thirteen years ago dad, sensei had to take up the mantle again." Tsunade interjected before a fight broke out between her father and Jiraiya. Minato's death was still painful for Jiraiya and she knew he might start fighting to defend his deceased student's honour.

Thankfully that stopped his father's taunts and they walked in silence until they came upon Shizune who was standing next to the unconscious body of Naruto, Tonton and Katsuyu's copy.

"Tsunade-sama, Katsuyu informed me about-" Whatever Shizune was going to say was cut off when she saw who was with her. Shizune had never seen Sukuna before except in some old photos, but she did know what Nawaki looked like and recognized him. "What happened?" she asked urgently.

"Orochimaru's minion revived Nawaki and my father, but my father killed him before he could control them" Tsunade explained to the student she saw as a daughter.

"That bastard..." Shizune said grinding her teeth but shook her head and became serious. "Young Naruto is in a stable state, all he needs now is rest" Then she looked at Sukuna and Nawaki. "It's a pleasure to meet you, my name is Shizune Kato."

"Nice to meet you too" Sukuna and Nawaki reciprocated.

"Tsunade-hime, I'm going to leave a small copy of mine with you, I'm interested in keeping an eye on what happened, if you don't need anything else I'll take my leave" Katsuyu said.

"Alright Katsuyu, thank you very much for your help" Katsuyu nodded at Tsunade's words and disappeared in a burst of smoke, when the cloud dissipated it revealed an arm length copy of a person who crawled towards Shizune and climbed up her body until it reached her shoulders settling there.

"Well now. I promised you a detailed explanation about everything that has happened since you died, how about we go to the inn where we can lay Naruto to rest and I can explain everything quietly?" Tsunade offered, her father and brother shared a look and nodded together. "Fine, then let's go."

Chapter Text

His body felt heavy, as if there was a mountain of blankets on top of him crushing under their combined weight. He tried to move to free himself from that weight but the pain bursting in his chest sent him back to the bed.

"You shouldn't move, Naruto-kun" A voice said from his right. Naruto tried to turn his neck in the direction of the voice but was once again held back by the pain. "Give me a moment" The voice said.

The mattress sagged slightly under the weight of the unknown voice's person, but he still couldn't see the person. The mattress returned to its usual shape and Naruto felt a new weight join the one he felt before.

A warm sensation began to run through his body and the weight on him began to lighten. "You strained your body during your fight and the chakra scalpel you were attacked with didn't help, now you must rest and heal."

"Who?" Naruto wondered, still unable to see the unknown person.

"Oh, excuse me I didn't introduce myself, my name is Katsuyu" The voice said, a weight slipped through his body and a strange being appeared in Naruto's field of vision.

Naruto screamed at the sight of the worm on top of him, he moved frantically in an attempt to get rid of the worm, but the creature continued to attach itself to his body. "Relax Naruto-kun, there is no reason to fear me, I am not your enemy. You should relax, your heart was severely damaged, you shouldn't over demand yourself."

He didn't listen, he wanted to get this thing off of him as soon as possible. "You leave me no choice Naruto-kun" The worm said and Naruto took a moment from his attempt to free himself to see what the worm was doing.

The worm melted over him turning into a warm puddle of mucus. Naruto felt worms crawling up his stomach and resumed his efforts to free himself with even more force. But the heat the thing was emitting increased making him feel tired and drowsy.

"A copy of me is with Tsunade-sama and has already informed her about your awakening, just wait a bit" The worm said in a reassuring tone.

Naruto tried to argue but his mouth felt numb unable to articulate words and he could only wait without being able to move.

Soon footsteps were heard coming up some stairs and the face of the girl who was with grandmother Tsunade, Shizu-something was her name, or something like that.

"We were hoping you would sleep a little longer" The girl said approaching him at the same time the worm reformed again which caused the warmth over his body to disappear making him feel a shiver from the sudden cold.

Naruto tried to get up but the girl put a hand on his shoulder and pushed him back onto the bed. "Just because you woke up doesn't mean you can get up. Your accelerated healing is no excuse either."

"It's not his fault Shizune-chan. The surprise of seeing me must have scared him, I understand that my appearance can surprise those who see me for the first time" The worm explained in a polite tone, jumping on the shoulder of the girl who didn't seem perturbed by the huge worm on top of her.

"I was surprised too when I met Katsuyu-sama, Naruto-kun. But you need not fear, she is our ally and a great friend" Shizune said in an affable tone her hands moving across Naruto's body emitting a green glow. "Your wounds seem to have healed completely but you stay in bed for at least another day. And no arguments are accepted."

Naruto closed his mouth and rolled his eyes in boredom. He always healed fast, he was fine and he wanted to get up and find out what had happened to the snake bastard and that asshole Kabuto. So he burst out looking for answers. "What happened, how is Grandma Tsunade!"

"Grandma Tsunade" Shizune repeated holding back a laugh as she heard him. "Sorry, it's funny" She said seeing Naruto's quizzical face. "I'll sum it up for you Naruto-kun. We're all fine, safe and sound. Orochimaru escaped but his henchman is dead. There were certain surprise circumstances that changed the game board so to speak."

Naruto's eyes widened perplexed Kabuto was dead, had he killed him? Ero-sennin had said that the rasengan was a very powerful jutsu but he hadn't thought it would kill him. He had never killed anyone not even Mizuki even though he had hurt Iruka-sensei.

"Relax Naruto-kun" Shizune said kindly placing a finger on his forehead. "Though I don't doubt that you contributed to his death, Orochimaru's henchman died because of one of those surprise circumstances" She explained as if she could read his mind.

"Oh" Naruto immediately relaxed upon hearing that, Kabuto was a jerk, he had cheated them in the chunin exams and had tried to kill grandmother Tsunade so maybe he did deserve death but he didn't know if he really could have killed him.

"And speaking of special circumstances, looks like one of them wants to meet you" Shizune added looking towards the open door where a boy of his age with dark eyes and cracked skin was waiting.

"May I come in?" the boy asked politely.

Shizune then looked at him. "I don't know. Naruto-kun, can Nawaki come in?, only if you see yourself ready for visitors"

Wait, he had a choice. People always walked in or approached him without asking permission. He couldn't remember the last time someone asked his opinion. But he was curious and he was fine. "Sure."

The boy approached the bed stopping a couple of steps he seemed as curious as he was but didn't invade his space. "Um...hi, it's nice to meet you cousin. I'm Nawaki, Tsunade's brother."

Naruto remembered how Ero-sennin and Granny Tsunade had talked and he was sure they had mentioned that his brother was dead. But the cousin part caught his attention much more. "Cousin?" He asked curiously.

Nawaki looked at him quizzically at the question. "Yes you know. Senju and Uzumaki, cousins" He explained confused sharing a look with Shizune who looked as confused as he was.

"I don't understand" He said honestly, he had no idea what Nawaki meant or what his last name had to do with the Senju. Besides, what the hell was a Senju.

Nawaki turned around and stomped out of the room. "Otosan, you have to kill Jiraiya and-"

"I don't need any more reasons!" An unknown man's voice echoed through the building accompanied by the sound of something breaking.

"No!" Jiraiya shouted in alarm.

But before he could hear anything else Shizune closed the door moving across the room at incredible speed and made a pair of hand seals. Whatever she did all sound from outside the room disappeared.

"I think that's enough strong emotions for today" She said nervously trying to downplay the matter. "You better get some rest Naruto-kun, our return to Konoha will be in two days and you should be able to walk on your own two feet by then."

Naruto wanted to argue and pulled the covers off him wanting to know what was going on but Shizune moved to his side once again at surprising speed putting a finger to his forehead and he fell back on the bed everything around him turning dark.

When he woke up again there was no worm on him or anything to keep him from getting up. So he ran to the bathroom of the room managing to sit on the toilet and perform a much needed 'release'.

When he returned to the room he saw that the worm was there. "Good morning Naruto-kun, how are you feeling?"

"Better now" He said proudly, before going to the bathroom he had felt like he was going to explode.

"That's good. The others are waiting for you downstairs, do you think you can walk by yourself?" The worm asked.

"Of course I can" He said boldly. He didn't need anyone to help him walk.

"That's good" And to Naruto's surprise and disgust the worm jumped from the little table to his head settling there as if this was the most normal thing. "Then I'll guide you."

Naruto froze for a moment, there was a giant worm on top of him but he kept his nerves and walked robotically doing his best to ignore the worm on his hair.

The worm guided him through the inn strangely without finding any customers or employees. They arrived at a room where sitting around a table were Ero-sennin full of bandages and with a swollen eye. Grandma Tsunade, Shizune, Nawaki, the pig Tonton, another giant worm and a mysterious man with a menacing face.

"He's here, Tsunade-sama" Both giant worms spoke as one. The worm on Naruto's head jumped over the other worm and they joined together forming an even bigger worm, a shiver ran down Naruto's back seeing that.

"I take my leave, feel free to call me" The mega worm said and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Was that a summoning, like the toads?

"Sit down Naruto. You must be hungry" Granny Tsunade invited him pointing to a chair between her and Ero-sennin. And Naruto sat there. "Avoid heavy foods but you can eat from all of this" Granny Tsunade said bringing several dishes closer to him which he began to devour no matter what it was.

"Slow down" Shizune warned, Naruto grunted he was hungry but obeyed and ate a little slower. Quickly the others went back to their conversation.

"Tomorrow morning we're going back to Konoha so we have to get everything ready today luckily we don't have much luggage" Granny Tsunade thoughtfully.

"I've already sent a message to Konoha informing them that I've found you so they can go about preparing everything for your appointment as Hokage." Ero-sennin explained grimacing at his injuries. His battle against the snake bastard must have been tough if he had so many injuries.

"As always we Senju have to save Konoha's ass or well we are its creators and owners. Sometimes you have to give your dogs a bone even the ones you would rather get rid of" The man with the menacing face said with a bitter smile which made him look even more menacing.

Ero-sennin growled but the menacing man gave him a look that made him back down.

"Peace dad" Granny Tsunade mediated between the two.

"Dad, aren't you dead, because I'm sure Ero-sennin said Grandma Tsunade's family was dead" Naruto said between mouthfuls.

The menacing man then turned his full attention towards him and Naruto sank back in his chair. This man was scary.

"Ero-sennin?, I already like this kid and not just because he's family" The menacing man said jocularly. There it was again that being family thing but the menacing man spoke once more before he could ask.

"And to answer your question yes. I was and am as well as Nawaki. By the way the name is Sukuna Senju, a pleasure Naruto" Naruto sank further into his chair.

"As for the family thing, it's because Senju and Uzumaki are clans with close blood ties. That's why we are family plus my grandmother was an Uzumaki, you should know her if you've been living in Konoha, Mito Uzumaki" Nawaki interjected making Sukuna look at him releasing Naruto from his attention.

"I think that is best left for when we are inside the walls of Konoha, it will be safer" Ero-sennin advised in a conciliatory tone earning a glare from the Senju family but they didn't argue.

"I was never good in history class or the clan thing" Naruto added, because it was the truth, his grades were terrible in that.

"Jiraiya" Granny Tsunade said in a threatening tone.

"We are in the same boat Tsunade" Ero-sennin said hurriedly making granny Tsunade sigh but dropped that subject. Naruto was sure he was missing something.

"Speaking of clans. is it true that the Uchiha are dead?" Sukuna asked curious but sounded amused.

"That news spread throughout the country quickly. The whole clan was slaughtered in one night by the eldest son of the leader Itachi Uchiha" Shizune explained carefully.

Sukuna laughed. "Oh well that was going to happen late early a pity I wasn't there to see it. The only clan that could pose any sort of challenge but still being inferior to the Senju no longer exists. I guess then-"

"Dad!" Grandma Tsunade cut off flatly with defiance. "Plans for genocide or world domination can be left for another time."

Sukuna shot a critical glance at Grandma Tsunade but then turned his gaze to Jiraiya. "You're right, it's better to get rid of the frog present before that" He said with derision.

"It's toads and you know it" Ero-sennin said between his teeth his eyes flashing with fury.

"Sorry I don't understand frogs croaking" Challenged Sukuna putting his hands on the table he looked ready to flip it over.

Shizune pushed her chair back with Tonton in her arms while Nawaki perked up seeing that there would soon be fighting even so backing away. Naruto took a plate off the table and backed up with his chair saving the food.

But the fight didn't come thanks to granny Tsunade who with a table-crunching fist stopped both of them. "Enough you are acting worse than the children at the academy. Behave like the adults you are."

Sukuna waved his hand inviting Jiraiya to come after him, Ero-sennin looked ready for it but one look at Grandma Tsunade made him reconsider and he sat back in the chair.

"Coward" Sukuna scoffed returning to his chair and putting his arms behind his neck with a smirk.

"No more fighting until we're in Konoha, both of you" Tsunade threatened looking at both adults who nodded less than cordially.

"Well now that that's done we have things to talk about, Shizune can you take Naruto and Nawaki outside?"

"But I want to stay" Nawaki complained giving a pleading look to his father who ruffled his hair but still sent him outside.

"I'm still hungry" Naruto groaned, his stomach felt like a hole and the worst part was that there wasn't any ramen to fill it.

"Nawaki grab some plates for Naruto" Tsunade ordered, Nawaki groaned but obeyed grabbing a couple of plates and escorting Naruto outside along with Shizune. They both wanted to stay but the adults didn't seem willing to agree to argue.

"So how is Konoha now?" Nawaki asked as Naruto finished eating, his stomach felt full and satisfied.

"Um...it's you know how Konoha" Naruto explained not knowing what to say, Nawaki was dead or so it was assumed but yet here he was alive and well.

Nawaki didn't seem satisfied by the answer. "I mean you know, has anything changed since I...died?" he asked with a slight shudder.

"I don't know, hey how come you're alive?" Naruto countered because how was it possible for someone dead to be alive.

Nawaki shuddered. "I'm not alive, I'm still dead. It's thanks to the Edo Tensei" Seeing the confused look on Naruto's face, Nawaki explained.

"The Edo Tensei is a jutsu created by my great-uncle Tobirama, you know the Nidaime Hokage. It serves to bring the soul of a deceased person from the pure lands and lock them in a body just like theirs created thanks to a sacrifice, a and you need a sample of the body of the person you are going to revive."

"And why would you create something like that?" the dead were supposed to be left alone to rest or so Iruka-sensei had said.

"That's a great question. And the answer is curiosity. He wanted to know if it was possible."

"Sounds stupid."

"My uncle was a genius. But geniuses don't usually worry about how others react to their discoveries" Nawaki admitted. "But his jutsu terrified many shinobi, seeing your loved ones and peers being forced to kill you is not a nice thing."

"It still seems stupid to me" Besides reviving the dead made him feel like that was wrong, wrong. He didn't like it.

"Well yes a little bit especially if they figure out a way to use it against you. Like the case with me and my dad, but dad killed the henchman before he could control us so it's all good now."

"I'm glad Kabuto won't show up again, he tried to kill me and tricked me and my team during the chunnin exam" He had thought of Kabuto as a friend but he had just been using them.

"Dad is very good at killing people" Nawaki said proudly. He wished he knew who his parents were, would they be proud of him or he of them? Wait an idea had occurred to him.

"Hey you talked about the Uzumaki clan before, can you tell me more about that, I never thought I belonged to a clan" Finally he could know something more about his parents.

Nawaki's face darkened for a moment but quickly brightened. "Of course, the first thing you should know is..."

"I see you two are getting along well" Granny Tsunade said entering the room. Nawaki and he had moved to the bedroom of the inn to talk privately so he could rest in bed. Everything Nawaki had said was great, why hadn't jiji told him any of this before?

"Yes, I was telling Naruto about the clan" Nawaki recounted which put a smile on Granny's face.

"That's good, we've decided that we'll be leaving tomorrow morning in the direction of Konoha. So it would be better if you went to bed now to be rested tomorrow, Naruto. It's better if you don't overexert yourself, your heart endured a lot of strain" Granny Tsunade approached him.

"But I'm not tired" He replied, he wanted to keep talking to Nawaki.

"If you don't rest you won't recover properly. And if you don't recover there could be after-effects" She explained tucking him in and forcing him to lie down.

Naruto grumbled and tried to argue but Granny gave him a kiss on the forehead and the next thing he knew his eyes were closing from sleep.