Archive of Our Own

“This…,” Tsunade stares at the gathered figures…figures of legend as well as family.

Kakashi is with her. This is a bit much even for him. Two Gods of Shinobi, a genius who single handedly revolutionized the shinobi arts, the fastest man alive, one of the greatest seal masters known to the shinobi world and a Jinchuuriki known for her wrath as well as her strength. It’s like the Snake Sannin decided to pluck the greatest shinobi to live in Konoha’s history and bring them to this tent.

“Really Tsunade, you act like this is beyond my abilities,” Orochimaru hisses out with a mocking laugh.

“The last time you used this technique, four of these people were sealed away forever. How are they here now?” she demands waspishly, not tearing her eyes away from the six figures.

“Really now. Do you think the Uzumaki who created that seal didn’t also create a way to reverse it? I will admit that it’s not…easy, to reverse the seal, but not impossible,” Orochimaru admits with a shrug.

“Hime,” Hashirama says with a bright grin, taking a slow step forward, hands outstretched. “Look at you, all grown up,” he murmurs with delight.

“Read the room, Hashirama,” Tobirama mutters, reaching out to grip his brother’s arm to keep him from rushing his granddaughter to wrap her in a hug despite her obvious distrust.

“Tsunade, it is so good to see you,” Sarutobi says with a look of relief on his face.

“Kakashi,” Kushina whispers softly, craning her head around Minato to see Kakashi off to the side. “Minato,” she jerks her husband around to look at the jounin.

Kakashi smiles with a partially hidden wince. “Hello Kushina, Sensei,” he greets.

“Kakashi, where is Naruto and Iruka?” Kushina demands, ignoring the argument going on nearby as Hashirama argues with Tobirama about something.

“Elsewhere right now,” Kakashi assures her.

“Perhaps we should hold off on the reunions and you can tell us what is going on,” Mito speaks up finally, looking over everyone. “From what I can sense, things are not going according to plan.”

“Yes, I can sense it too,” Tobirama agrees. “Saru’s student filled us in partially, but perhaps an in-depth overview will help us know what we’re all here for,” he adds.

Tsunade rubs at her eyes, ignoring the murmurs of the few other shinobi in the room as well as A who is eyeing the Yondaime with a heavy frown. “I better get an explanation later, Orochimaru,” she growls out before they start to fill the six figures in on just what has been happening over the last few weeks as well as the last few years.

~*~

Iruka pulls them up short as he senses the lone figure approaching. “Iruka-nii,” Naruto murmurs also sensing what he does as well and looking confused.

From the shadow of the trees ahead, a rail thin figure slowly stumbles their way into view. Even without the black rods he once had piercing his body, Iruka recognizes Nagato from this distance. “Who is this fool?” B grumbles out.

“Someone who should be dead,” Iruka murmurs with a frown. It feels like Nagato, down to the chakra. Dragging in a slow breath, he senses out deeper, feeling for that spark of life and finds…something wrong. The spark is there, but it’s not right. Something about it screams wrong in his mind, an abomination to the balance of life and death.

A memory surfaces, something he read, some notes he once looked at…of a technique created by the Nidaime that were quickly marked forbidden and locked away. “Edo Tensei,” he whispers.

Nagato comes to a stop ten feet from them. “What is Edo Tensei?” Naruto asks softly.

“A forbidden technique. The caster sacrifices a living person, and with a piece of a once deceased person, can summon their soul back from the Pure Lands. It returns them to the living, somewhat. The body can’t feel or taste or anything normal, nor can it truly die. They also retain all memories of their life, their chakra, you name it. The only way I know how to reverse this is to have the one who summoned them let them go,” he admits.

“That’s a nasty bit of work, yo,” B mutters.

“Then how do we stop him?” Naruto asks.

“Bind him, seal him away. If he can’t move, he can’t attack. Until we know who summoned him, there’s no way to get rid of him,” Iruka mutters. Reaching back, he pulls his blade free, feeling the Kyuubi’s chakra hum through his body. “Remember his techniques and try not to get killed,” Iruka reminds them before surging forward.

~*~

“Kakashi,” Kushina demands with a frown after she had dragged him and Minato to a quieter corner of the tent to talk. “Talk,” she adds.

“About what?” Kakashi asks, though he can guess.

“You know what about,” Kushina huffs out, ignoring Minato’s placating. “What happened after…after…,” she trails off.

“After you died,” Kakashi supplies heavily.

“Yes,” Kushina says with a nod.

“That’s a very vague question, Kushina,” Minato speaks up. “We don’t have time for this,” he adds.

Kushina clinches her fists before nodding. “Did they grow up well? Were they happy?” she asks softly, brokenly.

“They did and they are now,” Kakashi admits with a nod. “Things weren’t the greatest at the start, but they got better.”

“I…that’s good to know,” Kushina says huskily, wiping at eyes that can’t tear up, a reflex more than anything.

Minato puts a hand on her shoulder, sending Kakashi a grateful look. “We’ll catch up when we can,” he says simply and Kakashi nods, ignoring the stabbing ache in his chest seeing them has reopened. They all look towards the front of the tent as they hear someone come rushing up.

“Hokage-sama, Raikage-sama, we have a problem,” a voice shouts, rushing in before skidding to a stop at the sight of the figures gathered around the strategy table where a map of the surrounding lands is laid out.

“What is it?” Tsunade snaps, stomping forward, holding her hand out demandingly.

“Oh,” he murmurs before handing her the scroll he carries.

Tsunade breaks the seal and reads. “How many so far?” she demands.

“A couple dozen, but with each hour that passes, more will be killed. Everyone’s jumping at shadows, not sure who is who. We’ve found a few ways to ensure someone is who they say they are, but nothing it fool proof,” the messenger says.

“Go,” she orders and he bows before rushing back out.

“What is it?” Tobirama demands.

“The enemy has found a way to infiltrate our ranks. Our med corps figured out how, but that still doesn’t give us a solution as to getting around this,” she grumbles, tossing the scroll onto the table for them to read.

“Perfect clones…down to the chakra,” Sarutobi murmurs.

“Sensors won’t be able to sense them,” Minato mutters.

“Mito-sama, wouldn’t you be able to tell the difference? I know you’re sensing was always…more,” Kushina says softly.

Mito nods. “Perhaps, but I am still only one person. I can’t be everywhere at once,” Mito huffs out.

Everyone in the tent suddenly looks to the east at a sudden blooming of chakra in the distance. “Was that…?” Kushina whispers.

Tsunade sighs in annoyance. “It would seem they’re closer than last reported,” Tsunade says with a glance at A. The man frowns in annoyance. “Right now, we have more important issues. These scare tactics are hobbling our people. If we don’t find a way to pick out the infiltrators, we won’t have an army to fight with, let alone one to protect those three idiots,” she growls in annoyance.

“Then we better think quickly,” Hashirama says with a grim smile.

~*~

“How are you being controlled? Who summoned you?” Iruka asks as he ducks under the stabbing beak of a large bird summons. He can see Naruto and B further away, dealing with their own summons as well as dodging Nagato’s attacks.

Nagato, no longer frail and withered after absorbing much of their chakra based attacks, jerks his hand and a wave of gravity tosses him aside and only a quick flip keeps Iruka on his feet. “I was summoned by Kabuto,” he explains simply, even as he rushes Iruka at the same time as the summons.

“Wait…Kabuto? How did he get Edo Tensei?” Iruka demands, dodging the bird, but not able to dodge Nagato and hisses as a blade carves into his side, though it starts to heal almost as soon as the blade cuts him.

“One would presume from Orochimaru. That snake was always looking for rare and forbidden techniques. As to how he’s controlling me…he placed a control seal in my head after summoning me back,” he explains.

“That…,” Iruka frowns, thinking. He pushes chakra into his legs to spring back, fighting the pull of a new wave of gravity that tries to pull at him to yank him closer. “That makes sense,” he murmurs. If Edo Tensei brings everything back, including their thoughts and memories, it also brings back their loyalties. You can’t make someone go against their conscience…not without something more.

There aren’t many seals like that and even then, the ones out there are rather limited in how much control they can have over a person without having to make sacrifices. Judging by how much information Nagato is giving him even as he attacks, this is only partial control. Full control, while preferable, would take too much concentration, especially if Kabuto has summoned more than just Nagato. It’s easier to take control of the physical and ignore the mental, even if it does run the risk of information being leaked.

Now he just needs to figure out a way to counter the control seal.

The next wave of gravity takes him too quickly and before he can brace or move, it grabs him and yanks him off his feet, headed right for the blade in Nagato’s hand. He nearly gets impaled before a tentacle curls around his waist and yanks him back.

“Thanks,” Iruka says to B, straightening once he’s set down.

“Get your head in the game and stop being lame,” B snaps, a tentacle lashing out to slam into the summons coming at them.

“Naruto, think you and B can distract him long enough for me to come up with something?” Iruka calls out.

“You got it, Iruka-nii,” Naruto says with a grin, nodding to B before they rush in.

Iruka hangs back, mind rushing quickly over every seal he knows and how he can stop Nagato. He can certainly seal him away, bind his body and stop this fight, but maybe there’s another option. He just needs the right seal…inspiration hits in the strangest of times.

Plan in mind, Iruka grips his blade and rushes in. As Naruto and B harry and attack, Iruka comes in close. He only needs one touch. He waits until the man is hemmed in and lashes out. He almost misses, but a twist and finger tips skim his shoulder. A small burst of chakra and then gravity is sweeping them all off their feet, tossing them away to land on their feet.

“Well?” B demands.

“Give it time,” Iruka hisses and charges forward again. Naruto nods and B just charges in alongside them, blades drawn as they fight.

“I can’t stop it,” Nagato warns before his hands fly through a flurry of seals before he unleashes his attack. It takes a second for Iruka to recognize it. The Paths he had fought hadn’t used it on him, but he recalls it being used on Naruto in the attack on Konoha.

Iruka braces as the gravity becomes intense, pulling them up and up. He stabs his blade into the ground to hold onto, but eventually, the ground crumbles and buckles before is breaks apart and starts to get dragged up with them.

“Aim for that black sphere,” Naruto yells out and Iruka nods, grabbing a seal and sending it wrapped around a kunai at the sphere even as B changes into the Hachibi to unleash a Bijuudama. Naruto’s Rasenshuriken goes screaming after as well.

They all strike with an explosion of concussive force as they’re scattered across the ground, small boulders raining down around them. With a groan, Iruka slowly picks himself up off the ground. He’d forgotten just how annoying the Rinnegan can be.

He can just make out Naruto and B, no longer in his Hachibi form, also getting up from where they landed. Iruka looks back to where Nagato was last and can just make out the crouched figure among the dust that explosion kicked up.

Iruka braces for the next attack, but when nothing happens, he frowns. Slowly, Nagato stands and as the dust clears, still he doesn’t attack. “Nagato?” Iruka calls out.

“The compulsion is gone,” Nagato says slowly, limbs moving sluggishly for a moment before he moves with greater confidence. “How?” he asks.

Iruka breathes a sigh of relief, wiping the sweat from his brow. “It’s a simple alteration seal. It only works on paper seals which he would have sealed into you. It took time for the seal to penetrate and reach the control seal. Then it tweaked the seal just enough to change it. Rather than take control, it repels control,” Iruka explains as he sheathes his sword.

“He will notice when I stop following his commands,” Nagato reminds him.

“There’s nothing Kabuto can do about it. He can’t dismiss you without canceling Edo Tensei on everyone,” Iruka says, “well, hopefully. It’s possible he’s somehow found a work around for that, but either way, he would still lose a major game piece with you.”

“Well, until that happens, I will come with you,” Nagato says with a nod.

Iruka frowns before nodding. “I won’t turn away help freely given, despite how things ended between us,” he says finally.

“Thank you,” Nagato says with a nod.

“Come on. We need to keep moving,” Iruka says and they surge forward towards where they can sense the mass of chakra that is the war currently raging.

~*~

Screams and yells are all around them as more White Zetsu surge from the ground. With a curse, Kakashi kills another before he flicks white ichor off his kunai. They hadn’t had time to come up with a solution to their infiltration problem before the enemy had attacked again, many disguised as fellow shinobi.

It isn’t just here, but in all the division. Reports have come in of not only more Edo Tensei summoned shinobi, but copies attacking their people. It’s a mad house and a mess. Kakashi feels the surge of familiar chakra behind him and ducks in time for Kushina’s chakra chains to snake over him and stab through five different clones before tossing them into the air.

There’s a lull in the waves of enemy attacking and Kakashi takes a moment to catch his breath. It’s almost surreal to look around and see not only all the nations fighting together, but to see shinobi from the past here as well. Not just the six Orochimaru summoned, but the enemy dead as well. If they survive this battle, later generations won’t believe them when they tell the tales of this war.

Someone lands near him and he looks over to see Minato crouched nearby, one of his kunai embedded in the ground. Kushina is not far behind, a savage grin on her face as her chakra chains whips around her. He can’t help the curl of nostalgia and long familiar grief that wells up in his chest.

Kakashi doesn’t get long to dwell on the familiar feeling before a fresh surge of white clones erupts from the ground around them. With a silent curse, Kakashi darts forward to bisect one before it can stab another shinobi in the back, the woman giving him a brief nod of thanks before she disappears into the chaos.

In the chaos of the fighting, it takes him a moment to notice the approaching chakra signatures, limited sensing ability swamped by so many shinobi fighting around him. Even then, they shine like beacons in the darkness to his sensing.

Like a comet streaking through the sky, a figure blurs into the fighting, weaving and dodging around everyone. It’s only thanks to his uncovered Sharingan that allows Kakashi to see that it’s Iruka, glowing with so much chakra he’s lighting up the night around them. He also sees the man’s hands lashing out and where they land, specks of golden chakra are left in his wake.

Kakashi notices the others starting to notice the new entity in the battle, stopping momentarily to watch them weave through the battle field. In an instant, Iruka come to a standstill in the center of the battlefield, hands blurring through a slew of signs before he throws a kunai straight up into the air.

When it reaches the peak of its throw, his hands shift into the ram sign and like bits of metal to a magnet, all he touched are pulled off their feet towards the kunai. Kakashi stares in shock at the casual display of power before he hears the screaming, whine of an incoming attack and looks over just in time to see Naruto emerging from the trees to throw his Rasenshuriken at the now writhing mass of enemy shinobi and clones.

With a scream of wind and bodies being shredded, the world goes silent as everyone looks to the two who shine like the sun in their midst. He hears Kushina’s soft gasp as she sees just who they are. Naruto is grinning so bright it hurts to look at as he bounds up to land beside Iruka.

The ground bursts forth beneath their feet and with a swift motion, Iruka unsheathes his blade and slams it point first into the ground. There’s a surge of chakra and a glowing seal unfurls from the blade to encompass nearly a third of the battle field. More parts of the ground erupt as more white clones burst forth, screaming as they burn from the seal’s influence before they fall silent and dead.

~*~

Iruka drags in a shaky breath, feeling the sudden drain those two seals did on his chakra reserves. Naruto is next to him grim faced at the damage around them. They can see medics rushing onto the field to start gathering the injured first.

Iruka scans the crowd, looking for any familiar faces. He can see a few clumps of shinobi finishing up binding some more Edo Tensei shinobi, cursing as the dead fight the bindings before the last part closes and they stop struggling.

It’s eerily quiet after the chaos he had entered into moments before. He keeps turning and he stops as his gaze lands on Kakashi. There’s a slash across his flack vest, but there’s no visible injuries and what blood is on him is not his considering it’s the white ichor from those clones.

He’s about to call out to Kakashi, glad to see him alive and in one piece when a flash of red and yellow to the left of Kakashi draws his gaze and he instinctively looks to assess the threat. It takes a moment to realize who he’s looking at. When he does, he feels his control on the Kyuubi’s chakra fail and the glow he gives off flickers out until he’s left standing there as he normally looks, staring at two people who he watched die almost seventeen years ago.

“Iruka-nii, should we go find Tsunade-baa?” Naruto asks from his right and Iruka finally stirs, heartbeat picking up. He glances at Kakashi to see understanding on his face and that alone means that Kabuto didn’t summon them…which means Orochimaru did, the Snake Sannin somewhere around here. Iruka’s in too much shock to try and sense for him.

Reaching out blindly, Iruka grabs at Naruto’s arm, tugging him around until he’s facing the way Iruka is. “Iruka-nii, what…, oh there’s Kakashi-sensei and…,” Naruto trails off as he finally realizes who is standing there. “Iruka-nii,” Naruto whispers, his own form returning to normal has he loses his grip on the Kyuubi’s chakra.

“It’s them,” Iruka whispers, hand squeezing Naruto’s arm where he’s still gripping it.

“Naruto,” Kushina whispers, heard even from this distance.

Heart in his throat, Iruka pulls Naruto forward, the teen taking a stumbling step forward. “Go on,” Iruka encourages, even as he feels his own heart squeezing. Naruto looks back him with uncertainty. “Go on,” Iruka encourages with a smile.

Naruto looks back, eyes wide before he starts taking steps closer, Iruka letting him go. The last few feet, Naruto surges forward as the two pull him into their arms, Kushina crying without tears as she holds her son. They pull back, looking over him, exclaiming at the changes.

Iruka starts to turn and give them some privacy. This isn’t his reunion and he should check on the rest of the battlefield, see if Naruto’s clones got rid of the rest of the clones before Naruto lost his grip on his chakra.

A crackle of chakra catches his attention as glowing chains suddenly wrap around his torso and drag him back. “Don’t even think about it,” Kushina hisses, arms wrapping around Iruka tight enough to suffocate. “You’re family too,” she reminds him.

“What,” Iruka whispers, blinking burning eyes even as he doesn’t fight the hug.

“I claimed you as mine that night, so no take backs,” Kushina says with a laugh. She pulls back. “Look at you, all grown up and a Jounin too,” she says with pride.

“Thank you,” Minato whispers, squeezing Iruka’s shoulder. “You did more than I ever could have hoped for. I’m sorry we weren’t there to help either of you. I’m proud of you both. You’ve become fine shinobi even without us there to watch over you,” he adds with a grin.

“I might have picked up some sealing theory along the way,” Iruka admits with a bitter huff, recalling that night too clearly.

Minato’s eyes darken with a shared understanding of his words before he nods. “So it would seem. I take it Jiraiya taught you?” he asks.

“He gave me his library and left me to teach myself,” Iruka admits. “There were extenuating circumstances that required him to stay away from the village for a few years, so we corresponded a lot,” Iruka admits. “Thankfully I already had a solid base of learning from having to teach it,” Iruka admits with a grin.

“You’re a teacher?” Kushina asks excitedly. “Did you teach Naruto?” she asks.

“Perhaps you can have this conversation later when we are not in the middle of a war?” a voice says with a faint hint of annoyance.

Iruka glances towards it and has to blink a second time to confirm that he is indeed seeing the Nidaime, Senju Tobirama. He glances around to see other long dead figures and gulps slightly. “I see Orochimaru has been busy then,” Iruka whispers, glancing at Kushina and Minato.

“He has indeed. The Godaime is regrouping now that the main threat has been neutralized. If you’ll head to the tent, we can get your report,” Tobirama says, piercing red eyes glancing over the five of them, Kakashi coming closer now that the threat of hugs and tears are passed.

“Of course, Nidaime-sama,” Minato says with a serious nod.

~*~

Tsunade glares at the three Jinchuuriki as they stand in the middle of the tent surrounded by current legends and those of old as well. Iruka can’t help, but want to twitch with so many powerful eyes upon him. It reminds him too much of old when the council liked to summon him to that room and stare disapprovingly at him for his lack.

“Well brats, you’re here, despite our orders to stay on that turtle,” Tsunade grouses.

“Tsunade-sama, if I may be frank, that was always a temporary solution and you know it. We were infiltrated from the get go and even moving the creature as you did, we would have been found eventually. We simply took matters into our own hands,” Iruka says with a faint bow to her.

Tsunade huffs, but waves her hand dismissively at his impertinence. “Well, from that display, you both were successful in gaining control of the Kyuubi’s chakra, so at least we got that much out of this,” she says with a nod.

“So it is true then, two halves of the Kyuubi sealed into two different hosts,” Mito says with an arched brow. “That was quite a feat. I would like to discuss how you did that at a later date,” she adds, sharing a look with Tobirama.

“Naruto,” Tsunade says, drawing everyone back to her. “Your clones were sent to the other divisions to aid in killing off the rest of the infiltrators. We’re either of you able to sense anything about them?”

Naruto shrugs, “They’re just incredibly sneaky. I can only sense them when I’m glowing, since I can sense their evilness and all,” Naruto says with a frown as he tries to articulate what he felt.

“They’re a strange mix of some sort of plant matter and something else,” Iruka says with a frown. “They also don’t have any chakra to sense. They’re not alive, not how we are alive. They have no life spark, they’re constructed. What they are or where they came from is unknown. I can say Kabuto is behind the Edo Tensei. We ran into Nagato on the way here. I managed to use an alteration seal on him to alter the control seal in his head. It takes very precise chakra control and time, but it’s possible to alter the seal tag to instead repel control rather than create it,” Iruka explains.

Tobirama hums and nods. “A good option. Too bad there are so few sealers currently. We could at least take out the biggest threats that way. How long did it take for the seal to be altered?” he demands.

“A few minutes, so they’ll need to be held off until it can go through,” Iruka explains.

“Where is Nagato now?” Tsunade demands.

“We split ways,” Iruka informs her. “He felt he was better off going after Kabuto. Last I saw, he was heading to the North West following his connection to Kabuto.”

“The Mountain Graveyard was correct then,” A huffs out. “He’ll find some help there from a group we sent to investigate.”

“We should be preparing for a more frontal assault here,” Tobirama speaks up while tapping the map where their marker is currently set. “This war, as you informed us, was to draw out the remaining Jinchuuriki and here they are. We should expect the enemy’s efforts to increase tenfold as they try to get to them. It might be best to start consolidating forces, creating a more defendable place while we hunt down this Tobi and Kabuto.”

“My old assistant will not be so easily baited. He will remain in hiding, pulling the strings from afar,” Orochimaru speaks up from the shadows of the back of the tent.”

“And Tobi, if that is his name, will come to us. Defenses mean nothing to his space-time abilities. We need to prepare for a surprise attack,” Minato adds with a grimace. “A man who can appear anywhere he wants has no need to fear any defense we put up,” he adds. “The only way to beat his space-time is to be faster than it.”

They fall into discussing the next step in the war and Iruka steps back, letting them do so. He’s got no head for war tactics and strategies. He’s a soldier, not a general. Instead, he walks further into the tent until he comes within speaking distance of the Snake Sannin.

“I see you used my seal,” Iruka murmurs. “Was it helpful?” he asks.

Orochimaru smirks, waving a hand at the controlled chaos behind him. “You tell me?”

“I think you would have come here even had you not used it. Survival has always been your strong suit and even you know when to back the right side,” Iruka points out.

“I see your mind has not dulled while you’ve been away.” Orchimaru holds out his hand and looks down at it. “It has been some time since I was last in this body. I fear nostalgia has griped me and I find myself reluctant to change form again so soon. Perhaps I will wear this a while before I change once more.”

“Or maybe you realized how much sharper your mind is in its original body,” Iruka points out with an arched brow. “Nothing quite like the original and all,” he adds before he turns away from the Sannin and starts to head back towards where Naruto and B are standing near Kakashi, listening to the planning.

Iruka pauses as a shiver goes down his spine and a new presence enters his range of sensing, a powerful presence. He notices Tobirama pause as well, red eyes flicking towards the eastern wall of the tent they’re in, brow furrowing. “What is it?” Minato asks, noticing the sudden change in the Nidaime.

“Tobi?”  Hashirama asks softly.

“He’s here,” Tobirama murmurs, expression going grim.

“Who?” Mito asks softly in the sudden silence.

“Madara,” Tobirama says, locking eyes with his brother, Hashirama’s expression going grim.

~*~

“Iruka-nii, why aren’t we going with them?” Naruto demands as they head in a different direction.

“They can handle Madara,” Iruka says with a huff, glancing back at Naruto and the two others trailing behind him and B. Mito and Kushina had been instant to come along and Iruka hadn’t been able to say no. Backup is always nice, especially two former Jinchuuriki. “We need to find Tobi.”

“I thought Tobi was Madara, yo,” B says with grunt as he lands on a branch and pushes off.

“No, he’s not,” Iruka murmurs. “I’ve felt him twice now. His anger, his malice, has its own unique flavor. I could sense Madara’s arrival even from our position. That was not Tobi. Which means Tobi is someone else. We need to find him and stop him while they focus on Madara.”

“Then where are we heading?” Kushina calls out.

“He’s there,” Iruka says simply, pointing ahead. “I’m sure if you focused enough, you’ll be able to sense him. He’s not alone,” Iruka adds with a grimace.

“We are not alone either,” Mito speaks up. “Five Jinchuuriki, former or otherwise, are a formidable force.”

“Let’s hope so. They’re here,” Iruka says as they crest a cluster of trees and come to a sharp halt as they take in the seven figure arranged across the clearing they just entered. Two women and four men are arranged on either side of Tobi.

“That bastard’s cruel, bring back friends, yo,” B mutters with glare at Tobi. Iruka takes note of the new mask with two holes now instead of one, and the heavy gunbai strapped to his back.

“You know these people?” Iruka asks.

“Previous Jinchuuriki,” Kushina says with a grimace. “I’d recognize the Yondaime Mizukage anywhere and I ran into the tall one in armor once some years before my death,” Kushina admits with a huff. “I bet these are all the previous hosts they ripped the Jinchuuriki from,” she adds.

Iruka nods and looks back towards Tobi, avoiding making eye contact. “Be wary. He has a Sharingan in his right eye. His left was covered, so there’s no telling what he was hiding before now.”

“Noted,” Mito murmurs.

“Isn’t this a surprise,” Tobi speaks up. “Here I was expecting an easy fight and I find you’ve also been dabbling in forbidden techniques. It’s amazing what the villages will resort to just to win. How easy they justify such atrocities.”

“Get off your fucking high horse, asshole,” Kushina growls out. “You’ve got no room for the moral high ground. You took my life from me, my son, my home and my husband. I’m going to grind your fucking face in the ground before I rip you limb from limb,” Kushina shouts out.

“A small sacrifice to cleanse the world of all its lies and impurities,” Tobi says with a shrug, shifting to face the threat, the rest shifting with him. Iruka frowns at how closely they mirror his movement.

“The only lies and impurities I have seen so far are those created by you. You make high claims for someone who is so willing to stain the world red to reach their goals,” Mito says easily.

“You grew up in war, Mito-sama. Surely you can recall the bloodshed it took to reach a more peaceful time,” Tobi says, cocking his head slightly.

“I also recall Madara fighting that peace every step of the way, despite his desire for peace,” Mito says with an arched brow.

“You think I am not Madara?” Tobi asks.

“I have met Madara, boy. I have fought him. I know his chakra and his presence. You are not him, especially considering the other Madara, the real Madara, is currently fighting the five Kage,” Mito adds.

“Other Madara…Kabuto, damn it,” Tobi huffs out. “So it would seem my ruse is up. Oh well. It was only a temporary place holder. I guess you can call me by Tobi, if you need too.”

“Who are you?” Kushina demands.

“I’m no one and who I was before now is not important. What is important is getting ahold of the rest of the Jinchuuriki. So I think now is a good time to continue my plans. Sorry for keeping you waiting for so long,” Tobi says and rushes forward, pulling his gunbai from his back while the six Jinchuuriki flanking him surge forward.

~*~

With a curse, Iruka dodges the heated fist aimed at his head and rebounds in the opposite direction, using the tree behind him to do so. He hears a nearby one crack and fall as the heated fist comes in contact with it. “This isn’t working,” he shouts out toward the others. “It’s fucking Pain all over again, only with the Sharingan and the Bijuu added on top,” he points out.

“Who is Pain?” Mito asks as she lands beside him.

“He had the Rinnegan and had reanimated six corpses that he controlled. They have a shared field of vision so nothing’s getting through to them unless we can cut off the vision for all of them,” Iruka explains.

“How did Pain control them?” Kushina asks as B pulls her down beside him after a tentacle pulled her from the path of a stream of explosive bubbles.

“Chakra control rods embedded in the body,” Iruka explains as Naruto lands nearby with a growl of annoyance. Claw marks are already healing on his face where one of them managed to get in a hit.

“This was so annoying last time, but it wasn’t this hard before,” Naruto grouses.

Iruka eyes them before glancing around. “It’s the trees,” Iruka explains. “When we fought Pain, the ground had been leveled from their attack. Nowhere to hide for anyone and clear lines of sight, which made it easier to obscure their sight.”

“If that’s all, then I’ll just blow the forest away,” B growls before suddenly growing as he shifts into the Hachibi. “Best hold on or you’ll be flown away yo,” he adds before he starts to spin. It takes everything to hold on as the world goes topsy-turvy.

It only last a few seconds, but it feels like forever before the world calms down around them. As the dust clears, a flat expense surrounds them for a good chunk of distance, completely obliterated by the Hachibi. “A bit excessive, but it’ll do,” Mito says softly and Kushina snorts loudly nearby.

“Like Hashirama didn’t do worse damage when he was fighting,” she points out and Mito smiles faintly at the truth in her words. She turns to Iruka. “You think he’s controlling this bunch the same as the other guy?” she asks.

Iruka nods. “If we can hold them still long enough, we can pull the rods out,” Iruka says.

“Leave that to me. My chains can hold the Kyuubi. I think I can hold these weaklings,” Kushina says with a savage grin and Naruto cheers, popping out a couple dozen clones to run towards the group of controlled Jinchuuriki.

Pulling out a couple of paralysis seals, Iruka nods with Mito and B, each to try and subdue one or two of them. It takes a moment for him to land the seal on the woman from Kumo, but eventually she is prone on the ground while nearby, B has the man in armor and the one who wielded fire, while Mito has the bubble blower, Naruto has the Mizu Kage and Kushina has the young teen that spit glitter everywhere.

“We got all of them, yeah,” Naruto shouts excitedly.

A hum in the air seems to suddenly vibrate out and Iruka feels a familiar surge of malice and rage as Tobi slips out from underground. Iruka’s too far to hear what he says, but he feels it as the six Jinchuuriki suddenly surge with chakra, changing into their second forms. His paralysis seal is shredded under the surge of chakra, the others blown away. Even Kushina’s chains are disrupted momentarily in the sudden upsurge of chakra and the girl is able to slip free in Kushina’s momentary lapse of control.

“Shit, I’m getting very tired of this,” Kushina snaps out.

“We underestimated them. We won’t next time,” Mito says simply.

“Would the suppression seals work on them?” Iruka asks with a frown. “They’re meant to work on the Kyuubi up to six tails and none of these have near the power of the Kyuubi or the Hachibi.”

“It’s worth a try. How many do you have on you?” Kushina snaps out as they regroup.

“Four, but I can recreate the seal with chakra so I can get the other two if needed,” Iruka admits with a wince. That’s going to be a stretch, even for him.

“No need, I can do so as well,” Mito assures him as he holds out the seal for her to study. “Sealing with chakra was considered a fine art in Uzushio, one which I excelled at.”

Nodding, Iruka hands out the seals to Naruto and Kushina. “B, Hachibi-san, think you can keep them occupied and held while we seal them?” he asks the towering figure nearby.

“No problem, yo,” B calls out with a nod.

The giant creature turns to attack as the six puppets surge forward and chaos breaks out as they have to suddenly readjust how they attack the now even stronger and faster Jinchuuriki. He tries to keep an eye out for Tobi, the man having disappeared again, but he’s soon too distracted by the sudden emergence of the Gobi as he and B tried to place the seal on the armored Jinchuuriki.

A huge fist curls around him as the two behemoths collide in a resounding crash of muscle and force. Iruka feels his teeth rattle as the force travels through the Hachibi and leaves him dazed momentarily as he tries to regroup.

He feels the surge of malice too late as he looks up to see Tobi towering over him, eyes glowing beneath his mask faintly and Iruka looks away to avoid his gaze even as he tries to roll out of the way. Not quickly enough as Tobi gets in close, voice barely heard over the chaos around them.

“Umino Iruka, it is time to do your part. Bring me your other half,” Tobi orders and before Iruka can stab his blade into his side the man goes intangible as two new bodies land beside Iruka. Tobi just dips back below ground and Iruka is left staring up at Kakashi and Gai.

“You’re too late,” Tobi calls out. “You being here will change nothing. I will get the Kyuubi and Hachibi. This fighting is futile.”

Before either can respond to his words, Tobi dips back underground only to pop back up further away atop some strange giant statue as the six Jinchuuriki come closer. As he watches, the Gobi for a moment shudders, eyes wild with rage and starts to turn towards Tobi before a chain appears around its neck, pulling it to the ground and forcing it back into its second stage form.

Iruka’s mind is tumbling over the last few moments of interaction, recalling the last few times he interacted with Tobi. A desperate and stupid plan starts to take form, but if he can pull it off, then perhaps he can get the drop on Tobi. Tobi is thankfully too far away to see as Iruka shifts his hand ever so slightly.

Kakashi is already turning to check on him as Gai watches his back and Iruka flash the ANBU sign for ‘trust me’ before starting to stand. Pale brows furrow slightly before Kakashi turns away. “It’s Pain all over again,” Iruka explains simply and the two jounin nod in understanding.

Iruka tracks where everyone is at. Kushina and Mito are working together against the Nanabi as the girl darts around over them. Naruto has a gaggle of clones attempting to take down the Nibi as she flits around him. The Gobi is still pinned and struggling against the chain Tobi used. The others are arranged around Tobi, waiting for the new arrivals to make a move. B and the Hachibi are still down, the Bijuu still hurt after that frontal assault from the Gobi and its horns.

“They have chakra rods somewhere on their person. It’s how he’s controlling them. Take them out and he can’t control them anymore,” Iruka explains.

“Got it. They won’t be able to withstand the Green Noble Beast of Konoha,” Gai says and surges forward. Kakashi flicks one last glance towards Iruka and then follows. Iruka is mostly sure Kakashi has already figured out his plan, but he can’t rely on mostly.

Gathering the Kyuubi’s chakra around himself, he readies to surge forward. ‘You really are a fool,’ the Kyuubi mutters in his head.

“Yeah, well, takes one to know one. I don’t hear you coming up with a better plan,” Iruka mutters. The Kyuubi just snorts and Iruka feels a small upsurge in chakra. “That’s what I thought. This could go really badly,” he adds. When all he hears is growl, he decides to drop it.

Darting forward, Iruka aims for Naruto. He doesn’t need the physical seal when he has it memorized. Naruto doesn’t react to his arrival except to grin as his clones surge around them, harrying the Nibi. It’s too easy to get under his guard, which was Tobi’s plan all along so many years ago. Who would suspect Iruka of turning or being controlled?

A finger at the base of Naruto’s neck is all the contract Iruka needs for a seal to bloom into existence. The glow around Naruto flickers out as his eyes slide closed, sleep taking over and Iruka catches him with his chakra, pulling him close as his clones burst, smoke obscuring them for a moment.

Iruka eyes the Nibi, but Tobi’s control is absolute and she simply turns away to go after Gai and Kakashi. With Naruto in his hold, Iruka starts to aim towards Tobi, the man not even turning to look his way as he focuses on controlling the others.

He’s only got one shot at this. ‘I’m going to need some extra juice if we’re to pull this off,’ Iruka points out and the Kyuubi growl in anticipation of the kill as more chakra builds in his chest.

Fifty feet, twenty, ten…five…he’s right beside Tobi as the others have finally noticed Iruka holding Naruto while standing near Tobi. Iruka ignores the shouts of alarm as he waits patiently; slowly building the chakra ratio he needs to unveil this seal. It will only last for a few seconds, but that will have to be enough.

He can’t do it until Tobi goes tangible again. He waits, primed and ready for the moment he feels that familiar rage. Tobi shifts, reaching back to pull off his gunbai and Iruka feels his rage surface as he goes tangible and he unleashes the chakra he had been holding back.

Like a flower unfurling to the sun, the seal blooms around them and everything goes still…except for Iruka, as time stands still within the range of the seal. The clone he’d created of Naruto poofs out as he loses control of it, all his chakra focused on the seal. His blade goes white hot as he channels the Kyuubi’s chakra into it and he lunges forward.

He can’t see Tobi’s expression, but he doesn’t need to as the chakra blade sinks into his chest right as the seal flickers out of existence. Before Iruka can yank his blade out, Tobi goes intangible and Iruka stumbles, catching his footing as Tobi backs away clutching his shoulder.

“You removed the compulsion,” he states simply.

“Not long after you laid it,” Iruka informs him with a snarl. The Kyuubi is pressing at the seal, demanding to be let out so it can rend Tobi into shreds. “You underestimated me,” Iruka says lowly. “That will be your undoing.”

“A minor setback. Where is your other half?” Tobi demands. Iruka doesn’t turn, but he’s sure Kakashi has already found Naruto and broken the sleep seal Iruka placed on him. “It’s time to stop playing around. You will be captured, one way or another,” Tobi growls out as around them, the Jinchuuriki suddenly grow into their Bijuu forms. “I won’t underestimate you again,” he adds before the group surges forward.

~*~

It takes everything in Iruka to not strangle Naruto for scaring him like that. Instead, he does a quick glance over to make sure he’s alright after having been swallowed by the Yonbi. He can’t help it as his gaze is drawn to the corpse of the Jinchuuriki that was being puppeted.

He has no name to know him by, but at least he’s no longer being used. He looks back up to see Tobi circling the other five Bijuu for something that he’s sure is not good. Naruto steps up beside him. “He said his name was Son Gokū,” he admits softly.

“Who?” Iruka asks with a frown.

“The ape dude…who swallowed me. I…I went somewhere else, like where we go when we speak with the Kyuubi. He told me his name and we spoke about stuff,” he explains with a few hand gestures. Then his hand drifts down to his stomach. “He said the Kyuubi’s name is Kurama,” he adds softly with a small grin.

‘Kurama, huh?’ Iruka asks silently.

‘Shut it, fool,’ Kurama snaps at him, but Iruka doesn’t feel any true heat behind its words.

“That doesn’t look good,” Kakashi says as the Bijuu finish circling them and crouch, mouths opening.

“That’s definitely not good,” Iruka admits. ‘Well Kurama, looks like we’re up. What do you say we show this asshole what real power is?’ Iruka asks, opening his eyes to see the fox perched on the outcropping of the mountain he’d created in his mind.

“This doesn’t mean anything,” Kurama growls out, even as it extends a clawed paw towards Iruka.

“I think it does,” Iruka says with a smile. “After all, friends help friends, and I’d like to think that at least by now, we’re sort of friends,” he adds with a huff.

“You’re soft in the head,” Kurama growls out, but doesn’t refute him.

“Shall we?” Iruka asks, reaching down towards the seal and unlocks it, the mark on the stone disappearing from between them.

“Let’s show this asshole what true power is,” Kurama growls out his words from earlier and Iruka can’t help, but grin as he opens his eyes and sees the bijuudama starting to form.

He can feel the surge of chakra from Naruto in his gut and looks to see his other half has also unlocked his seal. A flicker of eye contact between the two of them, a shared grin, and then they move. The change in power is staggering. Their power before was like a stream compared to this river that he can feel flowing from Kurama to him. Without the seal, there is no dam to hold back the flood of chakra and for a moment his coils strain under the flow before they steady.

They move in tandem, neither needing to speak to know what to do and it’s too easy to knock the bijuudama off course, the condensed balls of chakra flying off to explode in the distance. Seeing Tobi in the distance readying for another attack as he regroups the remaining five, Iruka reaches for that river of chakra and lets it unfurl around him.

In moments, two glowing Kyuubi made of pure chakra are standing facing the other five. “Iruka-nii, we need to get the rods out. That’ll force him to reseal them since he can’t control them,” Naruto says, somehow heard even across the distance separating them.

“I know. I’ll play distraction, you find the rods and remove them. Don’t die,” he adds.

“Same to you,” Naruto adds and then they both surge forward. It’s hard going against the five of them at once. Even with Kurama helping, he’s only one person and it’s only thanks to a quick save from the Hachibi and Naruto that keeps him from getting a bijuudama to the face.

He can feel Naruto working on something and right as he’s got three of them penned, the teen surges forward with his half of Kurama, tails shooting out to grab at them only for the five to dart back, maws opening as they group up to create one giant bijuudama.

“Shit,” Iruka hisses out, surging forward, recalling the ratio for making the bijuudama even if he’s not made one yet. Naruto is a step behind him and they unleash theirs at the same time as the giant one is released. The two smaller ones strike it from below and all three go surging up into the sky to explode mostly harmlessly, though even from here Iruka can feel the force behind it.

With a roar, Naruto surges forward, and in the blink of an eye, has all five pinned as clones grab at the rods, pulling…pulling and with a final yank, pulls them out one by one in quick succession. The chains around the bijuu yank tight and pull them back into the giant statue that Tobi is standing on.

Iruka blinks and the battlefield is gone. Instead, he’s standing in that inner world that he usually speaks to Kurama…only, there’s not just the fox there. The other bijuu stand before them, towering over them even in this strange space. “Kurama?” Iruka asks, looking around and sees Naruto standing next to him looking just as confused. Strangely, there is only one Kurama here, despite being split.

“This is like our shared space, only deeper. When you two linked with me completely, it allowed you to access this shared space. Not even that asshole Tobi can come here. Here, you can talk with the other bijuu and their Jinchuuriki,” Kurama explains.

“Like how I talked with the ape dude, Son?” Naruto asks and Kurama nods.

“We were waiting for you,” the Rokubi says aloud and they focus back on the others. He can see their Jinchuuriki on top of them. “Son and Roshi explained what happened between you and them. We gathered here at their request. We want to help you, in whatever way we can.” Iruka watches as they give off their names.

They hold out their paws and Naruto bounds forward excitedly, already ready to do what they need to. “You’re not going to?” Kurama asks lowly.

“This isn’t my destiny and you know it,” Iruka reminds Kurama, looking up at them. “You’ve known it for a while now.”

Kurama snorts, “The old man apparently was told about this moment…vaguely. He warned us. I didn’t believe him,” Kurama admits.

“I don’t blame you. I’m sorry things turned out this way…with this war and being bound together. I’d have liked to have met you before all this happened,” Iruka admits softly and Kurama huffs, turning away as the world whites out and they’re back on the battlefield.

~*~

Shisui lands with a flicker of chakra on a thick tree branch and surveys the world below him. He’s been following the Hiraishin seal he place on Tenzo for a while now and it’s led him here…to the Mountain’s Graveyard. They’d passed a small group of shinobi fighting a couple of resurrected shinobi like the ones they’d already seen on the battle field, but they seemed to have help from another red haired individual that had looked like Pain…only healthy and not crippled. They’d decided to let them continue fighting and had continued on.

It’s too quiet and as he shares a glance with Itachi, he can see his cousin is of the same mindset. Something isn’t right here. They can’t sense anything, but the air here feels…wrong. Some miasma is being released that has some part of their minds reacting subconsciously, like prey with a predator nearby.

“How do you want to do this?” Shisui asks. “He’s down there, I can sense him. I could Hiraishin us right into his location, but there’s no knowing what will be waiting for us,” he admits.

“How deep?” Itachi asks, Sharingan swirling as he tracks everything around them, Shisui doing so from the other direction covering each other’s backs.

“A hundred feet maybe? It’s hard to tell distance precisely with this seal. Close enough that it wouldn’t require much chakra, even taking you with me,” he adds for clarification. “It’s not straight down though, more of an angle,” he points the vague direction he knows Tenzo to be in.

“We don’t have time to scout like we normally would,” Itachi admits with a faint grimace. “There’s a war happening right now. Take us in and be prepared for the worst,” Itachi decides and Shisui nods. He feels his cousin’s hand on his arm and takes a steadying breath. Shifting his eyes to their Mangekyō form, he reaches for the Hiraishin seal he can sense…and jumps.

He feels the distortion before it hits and barely manages to land them safely without ending up in a wall. Looking ahead, he can only stare up at the huge, ugly statue before them. It’s got nine eyes, most of which are open and staring sightlessly ahead. The air around it hums with chakra and the unsettling miasma that they felt from above. He’d guess that chakra surrounding it is what distorted his connection to the seal and forced them to land further away.

Either way, he can see Tenzo from here and his heart skips a beat at what they’ve done to him. He’s been bodily pressed into the side of the statue, only his head and chest sticking out and multiple vine-like protrusions are connected to his chest and neck, pulsing with a beat similar to a heartbeat.

A glance around shows no one nearby, but with this massive chakra source in here, he doubts he’d be able to sense them properly. Eyes flicking around the room, he doesn’t see anyone physically and the chakra radiating from the statue nearly blinds him with how much of it there is.

“Any clue as to what that is?” Shisui whispers to Itachi.

“Something integral to their plan if they’ve hooked him up to it,” Itachi murmurs. “There’s another face next to him,” he adds, pointing and as Shisui looks closer, he sees it hidden under the vines.

“Any idea how to get him out of that thing without killing him?” he asks.

Itachi eyes it for a long minute, taking in every detail, the younger man better at seeing chakra details than him. “I think the statue is made of some sort of wood. It’s wrapped around him, but it’s not fused to him. Only the points where it connects to his chest and neck seem to have some sort of fusion and even then, the color is different from the main wood, so I would guess it’s been modified to integrate with him,” Itachi supplies.

“So carve him out and cut the vines,” Shisui supplies.

“Exactly,” Itachi says and they step forward only to watch as multiple white things rise from the ground, grinning at them.

“I knew this was too easy,” Shisui mutters and they both rush forward. “They’re trying to delay us, not stop us. Can you hold them off long enough for me to extract Tenzo?” Shisui asks after a few seconds of fighting.

“I can,” Itachi assures and dissolves into a cloud of crows as multiple clones hold off the seemingly endless stream of white…things.

With a grimace, Shisui darts forward and pulls out a kunai. It cuts through the wood, but not enough to be fast. Tucking the kunai away, he pulls out the small dagger he had commissioned and starts to channel chakra into it, the blade heating up. It presses into the wood easier and he carves in deeper.

He can hear Itachi still going, adding a few of his own clones from time to time to augment his cousin’s strength, but most of his focus is on cutting Tenzo free. Tenzo, despite the ruckus, doesn’t waken, and neither does the face next to him.

He’s nearly freed him, only an arm still in there and the tubes connected to him when he feels the chakra around them fluctuate. “Shit,” Shisui mutters and cuts the tubes before slashing rapidly at the wood as he pulls Tenzo and with one last heave of strength, manages to pull him free right before the air around the statue whirls and it disappears from the chamber.

Reaching blindly for Itachi, a hand grabs his and holding onto Tenzo for dear life, he reaches for the closest Hiraishin marker he laid and brings them to it.

They land in a heap on the forest floor before they quickly regroup, Itachi helping him turn Tenzo over. He’s bleeding from the spots the tubes connected, but not profusely and they do quick field dressings to keep him from bleeding out.

“Well, that went better than expected,” he huffs out.

“Do you have enough chakra to get us back to the others?” Itachi asks, eyes scanning for attack. Considering how those things seemed to move so easily through the stone of that cavern, he’s doubts it will take them long to reach them.

Feeling out, he finds the Hiraishin he left in the main camp with Tsunade. There are three others between them and camp. “If I break it into shorter jump, yeah, though I’m going to be pretty tired afterwards,” he admits.

“We can rest then. We need to get him to the medics,” Itachi warns and Shisui agrees, not liking how still and pale their friend is.

Holding out his hand, he grips Itachi’s while holding onto Tenzo and jumps again.

~*~

“We’re not getting anywhere at this rate,” Iruka huffs out after another failed attempt to get at Tobi. “How do you combat this technique?” he asks, mainly rhetorically, out of frustration.

“It’s got to have a weakness,” Kushina mutters from beside him.

“There’s a crack on his mask,” Mito points out and all eyes turn to look, seeing that there is indeed a line carved into Tobi’s mask.

“When did that happen? I thought Naruto’s attack missed?” Iruka asks.

Mito hums softly, considering the issue as they all brace for the next attack. “Kakashi-san, how exactly does your Mangekyō work?” she asks.

“It sends something I’m looking at to another dimension, though I’ve never been there myself. It doesn’t lose momentum and if I return it to the world, I can have it come out from anywhere else I can see, though the timing is tricky,” he explains evenly.

“Your kunai you just sent through your eye…we already know he has the pair to your eye. Thus, they are connected,” she states simply.

“He’s using the technique himself and so we have a weakness,” Iruka surmises.

“Yes,” Kushina shouts with a grin.

“Don’t celebrate too early. How many more times can you do this, Kakashi-san? I can already tell just that once took a toll on you,” Mito points out.

“As many times as needed to,” Kakashi states simply.

“Very well, then let us plan. Naruto-kun, Iruka-kun, we’ll need you both for this,” she states as she lays out a plan.

“Your understanding of the space-time jutsus is great indeed, my lady,” Gai speaks up.

“Yes, well, I helped Tobirama refine the Hiraishin to the jutsu you have today, so I needed to study extensively to not make any mistakes,” she admits with a smile. She looks at Iruka. “That seal earlier, I take it that was a one-time deal?” she asks.

Iruka nods. “It takes too much chakra and it has to be at a precise ratio. Along with how long it takes to release it, it’s just not feasible unless we can hold him in place and tangible for the time it takes to use it,” Iruka explains.

“Very well, then here is what we’ll do,” Mito says and starts to lay out a plan.

~*~

Itachi stares impassively at the man in front of him. He’d left Shisui and Tenzo in the capable hands of the medics here, but the war is still raging and if he wants to end it quickly, he needs to find the one who raised all the dead.

“You assume I need you help,” Itachi states bluntly as Orochimaru regards him cold golden eyes. The purple clan markings around his eyes make his face even more inhuman in the shadows of the deepening evening.

“I’m sure you are quite capable. I mere expressed a desire to…be reunited with me old ally,” Orochimaru says with a faint grimace.

“Revenge?” Itachi asks.

“Something of the sort. I am partially responsible for this mess, considering I allowed him access to my work, though not willingly. He was always good a ferreting out information unseen. My best spy, I must admit, even when turned on me,” Orochimaru admits.

“Do you know where he might have gone?” Itachi asks rather than turn the Sannin away. He won’t turn away help.

“Indeed, there is one place he  seek out to hide while he moves his pieces across the board,” Orochimaru admits and Itachi simply nods faintly, letting the older shinobi take point to lead the way. With a smirk, Orochimaru turns and takes to the trees with Itachi right on his heels.

~*~

Silence hangs over the battlefield as the shards of shattered mask clatter to the ground. Iruka stares at the face of the man that has haunted his dreams, waking and sleeping and feels anger tempered with sadness even as he hears Kakashi’s small indrawn breath of hurt.

He’s seen the photo Kakashi keeps of his old team, was told the story of how he lost his friend and gained his eye. They’d already suspected Tobi had something to do with Obito, but there’s suspecting and knowing.

To have it confirmed that not only was it one of Kakashi’s team, but a once loyal member of the village doing all this, it hurts. And if he is who he thinks he is, he is also responsible for that night he lost his parents, the night Kushina and Minato gave their lives and sealed Kurama into him and Naruto.

“Obito?” Kushina whispers. “You…you were the one…,” Kushina can’t continue her sentence, too shocked by this new twist.

“If you wish to call me by that name then go ahead, but it holds no meaning to me anymore,” Obito says simply.

“You survived then?” Kakashi asks and Iruka can sense how many walls the man is throwing up to keep from crumbling under the truth.

“I did, no thanks to you,” Obito says evenly, expression closed off, giving nothing away.

“Why did you never come back?” Kakashi demands, a thread of hurt starting to show in his words.

“My survival is irrelevant, but if you must know…,” Obito pauses before his expression turns harsh and sharp. “You let Rin die.”

Iruka eyes Kakashi, waiting to see what he’ll do, but for the moment, he seems frozen to the spot. “What the fuck are you talking about, Obito?” Kushina demands. “Rin’s death was no one’s fault, but the Kiri Nin that took her,” Kushina tries to reason.

“Lies,” Obito hisses. “Kakashi knows the truth. I was there; I saw her fall, his hand through her chest. You killed her. Her blood is on your hands,” Obito says icily.

“We don’t have time for this,” Mito says coolly, taking a step forward. “We need to stop him before he finishes what he started. Learning his true identity does not change our goals.”

Kushina lets out a frustrated growl. “She’s right. I hate that it’s Obito, but we need to stop him.”

“Kakashi?” Iruka asks lowly.

“He needs to be stopped,” Kakashi says simply, falling into a ready stance, though Iruka can see how it hurts him to say so. He can’t comfort him though, not now in the middle of a war for the world and the right to live. Letting out a sigh of frustration, Iruka nods and faces forward.

~*~

“I must say, the Sharingan is a wholly unique Doujutsu. It’s almost like it is meant for something…greater,” Orochimaru murmurs as they watch Kabuto continue through the loop in his mind. “I’ve held many theories on it for years, but to see it used to such an extent has already proved many of them.”

Itachi ignores him, grimacing at how his head aches. Even with the seal Iruka finished to ease the draw the Sharingan causes for him, it can’t stop everything and Izanami is one of the few techniques that draws the most on the eye.

“It seems it came at a price though,” Orochimaru points out and Itachi still ignores him, quickly adjusting to seeing out of one eye. A price he is more than willing to pay if it means ending this war once and for all.

Itachi shifts closer to Kabuto. “You are sure he can end it?” Itachi asks.

“More than sure, though he is the only one living that can end the technique,” Orochimaru points out. “Unless he taught it to someone dead to let them release themselves, then any he brought back will return from whence they came,” the Sannin sums up.

Nodding Itachi shifts forward and starts to manipulate Kabuto until the man’s hands shift slowly through the three seals to release the bound souls…such a deceptively easy ending, but at great cost. There’s a faint burst of chakra and then nothing.

“Well, I do believe we just stopped a war,” Orochimaru says with a smirk. “If only they could all be stopped so quickly,” he murmurs as they turn, leaving Kabuto where he remains stuck in his mind.