Interlude I – In attendance: Gakidō!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of it's characters.

"Peace under an illusion is not true peace. It's only meaningful if the real world manages to accomplish it." - Gaara

Tetsu no Kuni – Remote location

The battle for Takigakure had marked the end off the civil-war in Takigakure. The war had been short, lasting not even a full year, but with the battle lost and the heavy casualties on their end, the rebel shinobi had all but lost their will to keep up the fighting. Not to mention the shinobi sent from Amegakure, who was fighting in a foreign land for an unknown cause, it came as no surprise when they high-tailed back to their homeland after the battle was lost and their commanders were slain.

After the battle Suien himself had finally revealed himself. He must have realised how utterly hopeless his situation was, now that he no longer had an army at his back, nevertheless he managed to rally some few of his routed shinobi and rekindle their spirit to join him in making one last stand.

Naruto could not fault the man, Suien knew what would happen to him in the event that he did not win the war and as proud shinobi and former Jōnin of Takigakure he would rather go out quick fighting than face the consequences of his actions, and by extension a life in prison or death.

Thinking back to it now Naruto would go so far as to say that there was something strangely admirable about Suien's death. The man – despite his situation – would rather die standing on his own two feet, fighting for his believes. There was honour in that.

Not that he cared about honour. He was going to restore peace, not chivalry.

Pulling himself away from the reminiscing Naruto opened his eyes to take in the view of the sun rising on a new day. He took a moment to admire it, combined with the feeling of the cool morning haze it painted a beautiful picture to see the sun rising over the tree line.

In a lazy – yet elegant – movement Naruto jumped down from the tree branch he had been resting on and landed silently on the ground, effectively shaking away the remaining sleepiness in his system. Lately he had found that he did not sleep as much as he used to before, he now preferred to spend what little free time he had reading, acquiring more knowledge about history and the different shinobi villages. And when he allowed himself to rest he always kept one eye open, to make sure they where not vulnerable.

Naruto glanced over towards the smouldering remains of yesterdays bonfire where his two companions had been sleeping. It came as no surprise that both off them had woken upon noticing him leaving his branch. Zabuza was already working on sealing away what little equipment they had used the night before while Haku was doing her morning routine off stretching and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"So Pein-sama what is the plan for today?" Zabuza said the 'Pein-sama' part with an overly dramatized bow. "Continue the training at the same spot as yesterday?"

Naruto scowled at the man. "I told you that you can call me by my name when others are not around. Pein is simply an alias used to keep my identity hidden and it works to represent our organisation" Naruto picked up his water canteen and took a greedy swing of it before focusing his attention back to Zabuza. "And to answer you question, no, we have stayed here for too long, we will move to a new area. I don't want to attract unwanted attention"

Zabuza made grunting sound while nodding his head in agreement. "Now that you mention it I guess it's not a half bad idea… Wouldn't do to get the samurai on our case"

Naruto gave Zabuza a curt nod and reached into his cloak, withdrawing a white porcelain mask, similar to the one used by Konoha's Anbu operatives[*]. It was something he had acquired recently to make it easier to keep his identity hidden while travelling, that and it was more practical than the straw hat he had acquired in Amegakure.

"In that case I'll prepare some food before we go. it's not healthy to travel on an empty stomach" Naruto turned around to see Haku smiling up at them as she unpacked the ingredients she needed for the meal.

Kawa no Kuni

In a dimly lit cavern in Kawa no Kuni a young man dressed in a maroon long sleeved cloak knelt before a man dressed in a mostly similar uniform with the most notable difference being that his cloak was in a deep black colour and on his head was an orange mask with a spiral pattern focused around his right eye, the only eye opening on the mask.

The masked man took a moment to study the young man before him, enjoying the slight look off curiosity that ghosted over the normally stoic youths face.

Good. It meant there was no question who was the superior.

He rested his chin on his hand and began talking in a slow, deep voice. "Lately there has been something – or rather someone that has piqued my interest"

The young man kneeling before him raised his head and looked up at him, meeting his gaze eye to eyes. "What would you have me do Madara-sama?"

The masked man – Madara shrugged and continued in a lighter, less serious tone. "At first I had planned for you to capture him, however, due to recant developments I have changed my mind"

An uncharacteristic look off curiosity graced the kneeling youths face. "Madara-sama?"

A dangerous red gleam could be seen through the eye hole in Madara's mask and a dark chuckle echoed through the cavern. "The Kyūbi jinchūriki faked his death and fled Konoha in the aftermath of Orochimaru's failed attempt to destroy it. At first I had planned to capitalize on that and capture him now that he is not under the protection of the village or that damned monkey, Sarutobi"

Madara reached into his cloak and withdrew a cylinder shaped scroll. With a lazy flick of his hand he threw it to the boy kneeling before him. The young man looked at him, still a confused look on his face. "Naruto-kun left the village, why?"

Madara waved his hand in a dismissing manner and gestured towards the scroll in his hand. "See for yourself"

He watched intently as the boy read Zetsu's report on the jinchūriki, enjoying how his eyes widened when he came to the best part even letting out another low chuckle. "So you are familiar with the Rinnegan?"

Former shinobi of Konohagakure no Sato, Uchiha Itachi looked up at the masked face of his leader, once more meeting his gaze. "Vaguely" He confirmed, however, the look he received from his leader forced him to elaborate. "I visited the Naka Shrine shortly after I awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan. I could not decipher the whole text, however it was hinted that only those who possess the same visual prowess of the Rikudō Sennin could decipher the whole text"

Madara nodded sagely. "It is true that only a wielder of the Rinnegan can decipher the true message left by the Rikudō Sennin. But that is not the point, no, this is an excellent opportunity one that I cannot allow to slip away"

"So you want me to recruit him" It was a statement, not a question.

"No. If you approach him and ask him to work for me he will turn us down" Madara stood up and walked up to Itachi. "What I want you to do is to extend a helping hand. I want to see the true extent of his potential, push him in the right direction and make him think he is working with us, anything else and he will feel like he is being pressed into a corner – and react accordingly"

Itachi stood up, standing face to face with the legendary shinobi. "So we are manipulating him then"

"You could say that. But for now I want you to help him in his endeavour to gather followers, and learn more about him and his motives. He has already made the most important step to unlocking the true potential of the Rinnegan when he lost his innocence and for the first time gazed into darkness that is this world. I simply want to see what he can do with it"

Again Madara laughed, he sounded almost happy, giddy even. "As his power grow he will come to see more off the darkness in this world and fall further into it, when that happens he will seek me out on his own"

Itachi hesitated for a moment before addressing his leader, he was not sure what to make of this situation his leader was acting way differently than normal and it was putting the normally stoic Uchiha off. "If that is all I will inform Kisame of our new mission"

Itachi turned to leave but was stopped when Madara spoke up from behind him. "Kisame will not be your partner on this mission. Approaching the boy will require a level of finesse that Kisame does not have. Sasori is waiting for you in our base in Kusagakure, he will be your partner for the time being"

"Understood Madara-sama"

Konohagakure no Sato

Lately Uchiha Sasuke had been spending a lot of time thinking, thinking about his life, the course it was taking and the path he had intended to go down to achieve his goal.

Before it had been so simple, Train and get the power to kill Itachi – actually kill Itachi – Rebuild his clan, simple right? Unfortunately things had not been so simple ever after his encounter with Jiraiya. Despite his harsh words the man was right, by living a life off solitude, relying only on himself and his own power he was doing exactly what Itachi told him to do. Itachi had in other words been playing him like a fiddle.

That he would not allow.

There was other things that had helped him in realizing this beside the toad sage, and one of the most important things was his now deceased team-mate, Naruto… The person he had always believed to be good for nothing, a weakling that only goofed around.

He had been proven wrong.

The one he had always considered weak ended up surpassing him, saving his and Sakura's life not only against Gaara but once more after that when he was carrying their unconscious bodies back to the village, he sacrificed his own life for them to get them back to safety.

Thinking about his friend and team-mate brought a faint smile to his face. 'Naruto… I know how the village shunned and ignored you, yet despite that you have always managed to push throughand follow your dream of one day becoming Hokage, that was a strength I never had. But now… Now that you are gone I realize that you were the one walking in front off me this whole time because you had the strength I did not have, the guts to never give up!'

A genuine smile graced Sasuke's face as he broke free from his thoughts, it had taken many sleepless nights and countless hours of contemplating but in the end he came to see that the path he had intended to walk down would only bring more pain to everyone involved, besides… It would be an insult to Naruto's sacrifice!

With the smile still on his face Sasuke fixed his gaze on the kunai-shaped rock standing before him, the memorial stone, a monument honouring all those whom gave their life in service to Konoha. He quickly found Naruto's name at the bottom of the rock, right beneath that of their former academy sensei, Umino Iruka.

He knelt before the monument and placed the items he had brought with him at it's foot. A pair of green googles and bouquet of orange flowers.

"Naruto… I know you are still out there so your name should not really be here, but they would not listen when I tried to tell them that, guess you'll have to kick their asses for even assuming something like that when you come back, huh?"

Sasuke drew a shaking breath, he might not believe that Naruto was dead, but it was hard not having the idiot – no, his friend – around, especially when he did not know where he was or what happened to him.

"Heh, guess you'd give me some smart-ass remark about being a cry-baby just about now, eh? It doesn't matter, I just wanted to tell you to stay safe, don't try anything foolish! We'll have you back home in no time… We all miss you Naruto, just please… stay safe until we get to you, okay?"

Standing back up Sasuke bowed respectfully before the memorial stone, he was just about to set his course to where he was actually supposed to be when he heard someone call out his name a short distance behind him.

"Sasuke-kun! I finally found you, we're gonna be late you know!"

With an uncharacteristic sheepish look on his face Sasuke turned around to greet his team-mate. "I'm sorry Sakura, I must have lost track of time"

"Just don't make it a habit, all right. We already have Kakashi-sensei showing up late half the time, I don't want you doing that as well" Sakura quipped with a playfully chastising tone.

Sasuke let out an amused snort at the remark, his Sensei's notorious tardiness was the one thing he did not want him to teach him. "If that happens you have my permission to beat me up, I even encourage you to do so if that should happen. Now let's go, if we delay any more Kiba will never let it go"

In one of the more secluded parts of Konoha a group of four shady-looking fellows where arguing in hushed whispers. The three male's where currently cowering slightly under the fierce gaze from a female redhead.

"You gotta be fucking kidding me…" Tayuya bit out through clenched teeth, barely keeping her already short temper in check. "You shitheads honestly thought I'd agree to this shit plan?"

"You know a lady really shouldn't be swearing like that, Tayuya" Jirōbō, the largest and by far most imposing member of the sound four shifted uncomfortably under the murderous gaze she fixed on him.

Tayuya, now visibly shaking with anger took a threatening step towards him, still keeping the murderous gaze on him alone. "Shut. The. Fuck. Up!" For every word she gave him a hard poke in the chest with her index finger.

"Enough of this Tayuya, follow the plan and we'll be done with the mission and home by this time tomorrow" Sakon, the temporary leader of the sound four spoke up with a slightly annoyed look on his face.

A long pause followed where Tayuya glared at all her team-mates in turn. Eventually she realized how terribly outnumbered she was and let loose an exasperated groan. "Fine… But you better tell Orochimaru-sama that I more or less did this mission solo!"

Sasuke and Sakura arrived at Yakiniku Q[*] to find that Asuma, Kurenai and Guy's team's had already arrived together with their own sensei, and the charcoal braziers that all the tables where equipped with was hot at work with preparing their food.

"Shinobi rule: A shinobi must be punctual and on time" Kakashi's lazy voice drawled from his seat next to Yūhi Kurenai, he did not even bother looking up from his book.

Sasuke and Sakura both starred at their Sensei with identically deadpan expressions, the other Jōnin in the room that was familiar with Kakashi's blatant disregard to showing up on time chuckled at the irony.

"You sure you have the right to lecture someone on punctuality, Kakashi-san?" Kurenai had an amused expression on her face. She had known Kakashi for a long time and this must have been the first time since that mission he lectured someone on the shinobi rules..

Kakashi tore himself away from his book for long enough to give Kurenai his trademark eye-smile. There was not really much he could say to defend himself against that.

"So!" The booming voice of one Might Guy ended the awkward pause that had settled. "Sasuke-kun, Sakura-chan please join us! It is long overdue that all of us came together to bask in our shared youth!"

Rock Lee shot to his feet and threw his arms in the air to celebrate his Sensei's 'youthful' words. "Yosh! Sakura-chan, Sasuke-kun, Guy-Sensei is right! Please come and join us!"

From this point Sasuke had to admit that he did have a good time eating with his comrades. He had not talked to the members of team-Guy during the Chūnin-exams, well except for his little run-inn with Lee before the first test and a few nasty looks between him and Neji.

Now that he got to talk to them thought he had to admit that he quite liked them. Yes Guy and Lee both shared some odd mannerisms, but they were refreshingly sincere people and he would admit he enjoyed talking to them. Same could be said for Tenten and Neji, but it did not feel fair to compare them to their team-mates. Tenten was easy enough to have a conversation with, she was also more interested in discussing shinobi related topics than Sakura and Ino had ever been, which for someone like Sasuke was a great relief.

However, Neji had been the most interesting member of team-Guy. During the Chūnin-exams he had made up an opinion on him, but now that he was actually talking to him, he was nothing like had imagined. When he had gotten the impression that Neji had an even bigger superiority complex than he himself used to have he couldn't have been more wrong.

Neji was polite and reserved. When he spoke he did so without wasting any words, and he did not try to show himself and the Hyūga as superior to Sasuke and his clan, nor did he talk down on him as he had semi-expected him to do.

As they talked Sasuke learned that some off the changes in Neji's personality was almost entierly Naruto's credit. Neji told him about what had happened between him and Naruto during their fight and also what his uncle Hiashi had said to him after the fight.

When he talked about his fight with Naruto he spoke with admiration for the person that made him see the faults in his logic, but also sadness over the loss of someone he admired. [*]

He was not the only one suffering.

It was at this moment that Sasuke realized that he was not the only one that had lost someone during the invasion. Everyone in this room grew up with Naruto. With this realization he started noticing the minor differences in behaviour in the people he had gone to school with for so many years. Kiba – while still boisterous – was more subdued than Sasuke remembered seeing him before. Shino and Shikamaru never really made an effort to get attention, but he noticed that both boys had an aura of seriousness about them that he could not remember seeing before, especially Shikamaru.

He could not remember hearing Hinata talk much before, but she was pleasant and happy to just be there when something happened. Now she did not say a word, she just sat there and starred at the now cold food on her plate, quietly accepting Kurenai's hand that was gently resting on her shoulder.

The other's he could not really tell with, perhaps Ino and Chōji was more reserved that they used to be? He cold not say, he never knew them well enough to say. However, he had noticed that Sakura was less prone to blush and flirt with him whenever he showed her any attention that was not relevant for a mission. He also noticed that she had started to give it her all the last couple team exercises they had had since the invasion.

Based on these new observations Sasuke made a decision to try and be more open and supportive off his piers. He was not the only one suffering from the loss of a friend, and he knew better than most the pain of loosing someone, he did not want them to go through it alone like he did.

Besides… It is what Naruto would have done, and what he would have wanted him to do.

From there one out the night went quickly and when the time finally came for the people to go home Sasuke made the decision to hold one final toast.

He cleared his throat and raised his cup. "Most of you probably doesn't know me as a nice guy, to be honest I purposely pushed people away..."

All eyes were on him now. Most where looking at him with curiosity but some – the Jōnin in the room – eyed him with softer looks. "But after what happened during the Chūnin-exams I realised the errors in my logic. There was someone that managed to snake his way past the barriers I constantly put up around myself and befriend me"

At this point he had to pause and draw a long breath to avoid revealing the emotions that was threatening to show. "Naruto is not here any more. But that does not mean that his spirit can not live on through us! I guess… I guess what I'm trying to say is that we are all suffering from this and I want to be there for all of you! I want to get to know you, and be your friend!

'just like you did for me… Naruto' With a genuine smile Sasuke raised his cup and called out the finish to his toast.

"To Naruto!"

"Naruto!"

As the cheering from Guy and Lee after Sasuke's excellent display of 'youth' started to die down Sasuke felt a hand rest on his shoulder. He looked up and saw Kakashi standing behind him with an approving smile, Kakashi gave his shoulder a comforting squeeze before.

After they had all departed from Yakiniku Q that night Sasuke had every intention of going straight home, however, along the way he heard the most beautiful melody being played in the distance. It was sad yet full of joy, he found himself completely infatuated with it.

He did not when he changed course and started following the sound of the music rather than the road that led to his home, but he did not care, all that mattered to him right now was to find the source of the beautiful tune that was being played.

After walking for what felt like an eternity he finally found what he was looking for. In one of the more secluded parts of Konoha he found a girl sitting one of the benches there playing her flute. She was not old, probably only a couple years older than him with stunningly beautiful red hair that fell past her shoulder.

Without thinking he approached her and sat down beside her on the bench. She did not react to his presence, she just continued to play that same beautiful melody for him.

After a while the song came to an end. The girl tilted her head and looked at him with mild curiosity. "I did not think there would be anyone out here this late, who are you?"

It took a moment before Sasuke realized she was speaking to him. He had been to busy staring at her, for some odd reason he found the girl sitting next to him to be the most beautiful thing in the world right now. "U-Uchiha Sasuke… What was that song?"

The girl laughed. A beautiful melodic laugh, Sasuke wanted to know why he was feeling like this for someone he had literally just seen a few minutes ago, but it seemed so unimportant right now, all that mattered was her and the song she played.

"It's a lullaby, my mother used to play it for me" Her right hand reached out and rested softly atop off his. When he looked at her he could see that she had fully turned to face him now, giving him a better look at her face. She had brown eyes with long eyelashes, and her skin was fair skin, she was absolutely beautiful. "Would you like for me to play you an other song?"

Sasuke was not even paying attention to what she was saying, he just nodded dumbly to whatever words came out of her mouth. The girl let out a sweet giggle and raised the flute up to her lips, another melody started playing, unfortunately he did not get to hear much of this one before the world around him went dark.

Tayuya continued to play until she felt Sasuke's head rest on her shoulders, when she looked down she was pleased to see that he was entirely unconscious.

She stood up, letting Sasuke's slumbering form collapse – not so gently – on the bench. Three shadows could be seen moving in the trees inn front of her before the remaining members of the sound four materialised before her.

"That's my part out of the way" She looked at the tallest boy with an annoyed frown. "You can carry him, fatso"

Hi no Kuni

A blazing hot fireball was roaring through the woods, heading straight towards Naruto and his companions. Haku and Zabuza both reacted quickly and jumped out off the way, Naruto did not.

Truth be told he hardly even registered the danger that was rapidly closing on him. If you could see past the porcelain mask hiding his face you would see that it was marred by a look of utter shock and terror.

Memories of his last day as a shinobi of Konohagakure no Sato raged through Naruto's mind, the memory of the fireball that he had thought would end his life many months ago, the memory of his teacher and friend smiling at him moments before he was consumed in the fire meat for him.

"Naruto!" The angry snarl from his tenant made Naruto snap back to attention, the shocked expression morphed into one of anger for allowing himself to be caught of guard like this. Without thinking he activated a protective barrier to form around him and absorb the incoming jutsu.

The fire collided against his barrier, and for a short moment the fire danced around him, completely absorbing him as they tried to find a way past his barrier, it did, however, not take long before the jutsu had been completely absorbed.

Zabuza and Haku reappeared at his side as the fire on the ground around him died out, both had their weapons drawn and ready.

"Reveal yourself" Naruto starred impassively in the direction the attack came from. He could barley make out the chakra from two individuals in the distance, they were strong, probably stronger than Haku and Zabuza.

Their chakra signatures disappeared from the area momentarily before they reappeared in front of them in a soundless Shunshin (Body flicker technique) not even a second later.

There was – as he observed – two of them, both wore identical maroon coloured robes, quite similar to the robes Naruto and his companions used. With a quick observation of them the one that caught Naruto's immediate attention was the hunched over creature sitting – or was he standing? – behind the apparent leader, he wore a cloth that covered the lower part of his face and his skin had a rather unhealthy colour.

When Naruto focused his attention on the young man standing inn front of him he he got the feeling that he knew him from somewhere, there was something strangely familiar about him. His eyes had a familiar onyx colour under which were long, pronounced tear-troughs, his face was framed by two bangs of – also familiar – jet-black hair. Furthermore, he was wearing a Konoha Hitai-ate.

Then it occurred to him who this had to be, there was only one other living person he could imagine to have such a strong resemblance to his former team-mate. "You are Uchiha Itachi… What do you want from me?"

The hunched man behind Itachi grunted in approval to his observation, he had a deep gravelly voice. "His more observant than he is credited for"

"Yes, Naruto-kun has grown quite much since I last saw him, and if Zetsu is correct, it's a very recant development" Itachi's tone held a hint of amusement as he studied the teen standing in front of him. He certainly had changed since the last time they met.

"You did not answer my question" Naruto knew that Itachi was a dangerous man, probably the most dangerous he could imagine running into. "I do not have time to play games with you, say what you came to say or leave. That is the only warning you will get"

To emphasise his point he released his Killing intent, hoping that the power of his Kyūbi-amplified chakra would make them reconsider picking a fight with them. Unfortunately it did not have the effect he was hoping for, the only one that seemed to be slightly put on edge by the Killing intent was Haku, mainly due to the fact that she was less experienced than the three men.

The man behind Itachi chuckled darkly. "My what malicious chakra, you must have learned to control some of the Kyūbi's chakra"

Noticing that the three Akatsuki members shifted slightly and was put even more on edge after the mention of the Kyūbi Itachi decided that it had been enough fun for now, it was time to calm the situation before a fight broke loose.

"I'm sorry Naruto-kun, we are not here to fight you. You were correct in your earlier assessment, I am Uchiha Itachi and this" He gestured to his partner. "Is my partner, Akasuna no Sasori (Sasori of the Red Sand)"

This got a reaction from Haku who remembered reading his entry in Zabuza's bingo book a few years ago. "Akasuna no Sasori… You don't look anything like your picture in the bingo book, how do we know it's really you?"

"I would hope so, you being a long-time companion of Momochi Zabuza should now how troublesome being an international criminal can be. I, however, don't have that problem because no one knows my identity unless they have my approval. So to answer your question: you don't know whether I am Sasori or not, and I would like to keep it that way for now" His tone held a sense of pride when he explained his own 'genius'

Even if he could not see his face Itachi could figuratively feel the impatiens Naruto was giving off, it was time to reveal their purpose. "Naruto-kun, Sasori and I are not here on behalf of ourselves, we are here representing our leader. He has taken an interest in you after your escapades in Takigakure..."

Naruto narrowed his eyes behind his mask, he was not sure where this was going, but he did not appreciate being called reckless by the man who murdered his own clan to 'test the limits of his power'

While he could not see his face Itachi could easily tell Naruto was giving him a dirty look.. "Don't give me that look, yes your involvement in Takigakure proved successful, but it was hardly wise to so recklessly and openly display your power when you were not yet strong enough to properly defend yourself from high ranking opponents… Luckily for you only we learned about the origin of that power"

Naruto's eyes widened slightly, they knew of his power? The Rinnegan? Perhaps caution was the best approach to this situation after all. "Clearly your leader knows a lot about me, whatever you have to say I will listen"

Itachi smiled, an earnest smile it was hard to believe that this man was capable of what he had done. "As I said our leader has taken an interest in you, he wants to see your true potential, test how far you are willing and capable of going…" He turned towards Sasori and made a small gesture with his hand. "Sasori the scrolls if you please"

A 'poof' and a small cloud of white smoke appeared in Sasori's left hand, the next moment he was holding five scrolls. He threw them over to Zabuza before he started to explain their content. "As Itachi already said our leader wants to know how much potential you have. But he would also like to help you reach some off that potential. These scrolls contain information about each member of the group know as 'the sound four' including one on their former leader, Kaguya Kimimaro"

He took a small pause to allow Zabuza to skim through the scrolls before continuing his explanation. "They are all promising shinobi that I believe could be persuaded to your cause, with Kimimaro being the exception, he is far to devoted to that snake Orochimaru"

Zabuza glanced at the scrolls with a sceptical look, he was not sure these were good enough.. "They have promise, but the only one that truly stands out is Kimimaro, which is ironically the one that would most likely not join us"

"It was not our leaders intention that you would recruit all of them, he said the Kaguya would be the best pick the information on the others was included to give you information on their abilities in the event that you would have to fight them. However, I urge you to consider recruiting the girl, Tayuya, she has shown exceptional potential with her genjutsu and judging by what I have seen none of you specialise in the art, it could prove useful"

What Itachi said made sense, neither of them specialised in genjutsu and it was not to shove under a rock that it would be beneficial to have an ally that did. However, he was curious as to what he was supposed to do with this Kimimaro.

"It would certainly be beneficial to have someone specialised in genjutsu as an ally, however, I don't understand what your leader intends for me to do with a devout follower of Orochimaru that is stated in your report to be terminally ill..."

Itachi shrugged. "To be honest our leader left that part out, when I asked him the same question he told me that 'He will know what to do with him, if he can't convince the Kaguya to join him, he will know that with the Rinnegan even a dead man can serve a purpose'. I expected you to know what to do with him"

It took him a moment but soon realization struck him, it was so obvious what their leader meant, and with the Kaguya's bloodline to top it off, it would make a fearsome tool…

"Yes, I understand now"

Itachi smiled. "Good. Well, Naruto-kun it has been a pleasure seeing you but I'm afraid we – or rather you – are running short on time" When he saw the questioning looks on Haku and Zabuza he continued to elaborate on the cryptic message. "The sound four is on a mission to bring my foolsih little brother to Orochimaru, they will travel to Otogakure via The valley of the end, you should hurry if you want to capitalize on this opportunity"

Naruto nodded, they were close to the border, it should be no problem to catch them in a trap. "Before we depart I want to ask you something"

Itachi raised a delicate eyebrow in curiosity. "And what would that be?"

"your leader knows much about my Rinnegan, who exactly is he?"

"Oh I'm afraid we can't tell you that Naruto-kun, before you prove yourself to him he will not reveal anything about himself, when you do, however, we will contact you again. He very much want you to reach your potential, he seems to think you have much in common!"

"How he knows so much about your eyes I cannot tell, prove yourself to him and maybe he will share it with you"

Itachi gave a curt nod to Naruto before he turned and walked away, however, his partner did not. "There is one last thing before you go. My spy in Otogakure has arranged for the Kaguya to travel as back-up for the sound four, despite his illness. If you move quickly you can single him out and make this ordeal less hazardous… Best of luck"

Close to the valley at the end

Tayuya cursed wildly as they made their way through the forest, towards the border to Otogakure. Konoha had found out about Sasuke being abducted faster than they had expected and sent out a team of genin – fucking genin! - to hunt after them, worst part was that they had managed to single them out, it was only her, Sakon and Ukon left now. She had no doubt the others would be fine, but still it was a stain on her pride that they had been pushed so far by a team of green as grass genin!

"Fuck! These leaf-hugger trash is persistent as fucking shit!"

Sakon cursed under his breath. For once he found himself agreeing with her, the genin were annoyingly persistent. He came to a halt on a broad tree-branch, Tayuya landing beside him with a mix of curiosity and anger at his sudden halt.

"The hell are you doing?" Her answer was the casket containing Orochimaru's new vessel being – not so gently – thrown at her.

"I want to play a little with the trash, how about you brother?" A chuckle emitted from the back of his head, and out of his body a second body emerged, it was almost completely identical to himself.

"It's been a long time since last we had the opportunity to play with Konoha trash, let's make this fun! Tayuya go ahead and complete the mission"

Before she could reply the boy with a pineapple on his head and the other boy with that annoying mongrel landed close to them and went into fighting stances. The annoying one with the dog decided to to open his mouth.. "Oi! Give him back!"

Without even bothering to throw a few offensive remarks to the Konoha shinobi she took of with Orochimaru's new toy, they had wasted too much time on the Konoha genin as it was and if there was one thing she liked even less than Orochimaru it was a displeased Orochimaru.

"He is close, there is an open field not far from here, we will confront him there" Haku and Zabuza nodded and followed after him.

They came to a halt on a large open field, not long after they landed a boy around Haku's age landed before them. He looked at them with the same level of disgust as a normal person would when faced with a small army of cockroaches.

"Why are you following me, trash" He held himself with pride and superiority and judging by the way he shifted his feet into a battle-ready stance he was more than likely planning on attacking them regardless of what he answered.

Naturally Naruto ignored the boy's obviously threatening demeanour. "Kaguya Kimimaro you have offered your life and unique bloodline serving a man that would offer you nothing but death in return. I wish to offer you a chance at a better life, a chance become bigger than yourself, denounce your former master and serve me, help me on my path to restore peace and justice to this world"

Naruto was not surprised when Kimimaro's expression morphed into one of rage. A sword made from his own bone spurted out from his arm, he grabbed the blade and pulled it out. He pointed it threateningly at Naruto. "Orochimaru-sama saved my life, he raised me, he trained me, and he gave me purpose! I would never betray him for trash like you!"

Kimimaro crouched down, preparing to jump at them. Unfortunately for him Naruto was well prepared for this and acted faster than him. He raised his hand and pointed it towards Kimimaro, much like he pointed his own sword at him. "Banshō Ten'in! (Universal pull)"

For the first time in a long time complete and utter shock was evident on Kimimaro's face. Before he could even think he was lifted from the ground and pulled towards his opponent at high speed, he could not even control his body.

When Kimimaro came close enough Naruto's hand shot out, using Kimimaro's momentum against him his hand slammed into the boys exposed throat and with his guidance it sent him crashing into the ground, tearing it up and creating a small crater where Kimimaro's body impacted with the ground.

Before the boy had time to recover Naruto flipped him over to lay on his stomach, in the same movement he materialised a black-rod from his left hand and rammed it through his left shoulder, pinning him to the ground, and effectively putting the teen in his mercy.

Kimimaro cursed under his breath, how could this simple piece of trash catch him off guard like this? This was not how it was supposed to end… He was supposed to use the last strength he had in his body to bring the new vessel to Orochimaru, one final sacrifice for his master's dream.

Desperately he tried to move, the stab wound to his shoulder was not fatal and he had endured worse pain before, he could still fight! However, when he tried to move his body tensed and he lost control, the image of a pair off disembodied purple eyes with a ripple pattern that spread over the eyeball appeared looking down on him.

He was completely helpless.

Naruto stood looming over the teen, in his hand another one of his chakra receivers formed, just in case. "There is no point in resisting, this close I have no trouble controlling you"

Zabuza whistled quietly at this new display of power. "That's a pretty fucking useful ability, you only need to nail 'em once… Impressive"

Haku nodded a small smile spreading on her face. "Indeed it is a useful power to have"

Naruto turned towards his companions, disregarding Kimimaro for a short moment. "There are other people close by, go search for this Tayuya. Kill the other member's of the sound four if you encounter them, Orochimaru owes me a great deal of suffering, I want to start collecting on that debt by killing his bodyguards"

After Haku and Zabuza had disappeared into the woods to do his bidding he turned his attention back to Kimimaro. He had stopped struggling against the restraint all he could do now was glare at Naruto and wait and see what would be done with him.

Haku stared down at the chubby boy doing his best to fight off the clearly stronger and more experienced Otogakure shinobi – Jirōbō if she was not mistaken – to protect his friends.

After noticing how the members of the sound four had so conviniently decided to slit up in order to fight the Konoha shinobi Zabuza had decided it was best if they used this oportuity that had been given them and split up to take them out one by one. Haku had been sent to take out the one furthest away.

A look of empathy marred her face, she knew he would more than likely loose and subsequently die unless she intervened in the fight. She wanted to. His death was unnecessary and the need to help people was in her nature.

But would Naruto-kun approve?

She was uncertain. She knew that he held great resentment towards the shinobi nations in general, but even more so to his former home. However, he also did not want to make more enemies than necessary before they where powerful enough to confront them openly.

If she saved this boy it would make them look less like a threat wouldn't it? At least to Konoha..

There was no reason really to try and debate whether or not to leave the boy to his fate. She simply did not have it in her to watch on as innocent people died for nothing. She did was not sure if she liked that part of her self, before she had wanted to kill her heart and become a proper shinobi worthy of being Zabuza's weapon. But now Zabuza had admitted that her 'gentle nature' as he called it was not a weakness, even Naruto had agreed to that.

So with that in mind she prepared three senbon needles in her hand.

It all went off without a hitch. The needle penetrated the soft skin in the large teens neck putting him in a state of near death. In a burst of speed she shot out from the tree she had been hiding in and landed quietly before the downed boy, her back facing the frightened konoha shinobi.

She withdrew a kunai from her pouch and knelt down next to the enemy shinobi, she really hated this part, but this way it was at least painless for him. She rested the kunai on his throat and closed her eyes.

With one quick movement she had dragged over his throat, cutting deep. A disgusted grimace made it's way onto her face as she felt the hot liquid spray onto her face. Without opening her eyes she wiped it away with the hem of her coat.

She was just about to continue onwards to her Zabuza should be when she her movement coming from behind. She turned around to see the Konoha shinobi that she saved getting back on his feet looking at her with uncertain eyes, obviously he was not sure whether or not she was his enemy.

"W-Who are you? D-did Hokage-sama send you?" There was some slight stammering when he tried to speak. Haku couldn't blame the boy for that, he was obviously wounded and probably scared as well, not that she could really blame him for that.

Haku turned towards the frightened boy with a kind smile. He was clutching his right side and holding onto the three – that he had previously been not so carefully thrown into – in order to keep his balance.

"I am neither your friend nor your enemy. That is all you need to know" And with those parting words she cast disappeared back into the forest leaving behind a now severely injured and madly blushing Chōji.

Zabuza looked down on the scene playing out beneath him with mild interest. The Hyūga knew he was there he had no doubt, it did not really matter thought, judging by the situation he had more than enough with his enemy to pay him any heed.

Not that he could do something about it…

It was, however, this sound four member – Kidōmaru was it? - that had his attention. He looked absolutely grotesque, his skin was red – not sort off red, Uzumaki-hair red – and his face had taken the shape that held more of a resemblance to an unholy combination of demon and spider than any human, he even had what appeared to be a third eye on his forehead!

Regardless of his slightly repulsing looks he was still doing a good job considering his opponent was a member of the prestigious Hyūga clan. He was doing a good job at keeping out of range from their crippling taijutsu while showering him with golden arrows that he produced from his own body and spewed out of his mouth by the looks of it.. Much like the spider he looked like.

Still thought, judging by how the fight was going Zabuza thought it was safe to conclude that this boy had somehow managed to find the Byakugan's blind-spot. Every so often one of his attacks would hit it's mark. The Hyūga boy was doing an excellent job of redirecting those attacks he could not doge to at least hit a non-lethal spot, but more and more attacks slipped past his defence and the Hyūga boy grew more and more fatigued. It should only be a matter of time now.

Or so he thought.

The first arrow that had been fired went straight through his shoulder, having caught him in his blind-spot he had no means of escaping it. The golden weapons proved to be more than just a fancy looking set of bow and arrow, when the arrow hit home it travelled straight through his shoulder and impacted with the ground with enough force to leave a small crater.

At this point Zabuza had seen enough. Perhaps he should have intervened soon? Yeah, probably, if not everything he could have shielded the boy from that arrow. He where under no obligations to save the Hyūga but he would consider it his reward to him for the potential he showed, for a genin at least.

When the second arrow was fired he acted.

A loud clang resonated in the clearing, sparks flew from where Zabuza's kunai impacted with the arrow mid-air knocking it of course. It still did not miss it's target completely, however, instead of hitting the Hyūga dead-on it merely left a deep cut in his shoulder.

Kidōmaru barley had time to be surprised by the sudden turn of events. He heard the sound of something approaching fast and barely had time to doge the kunai that would have embedded themselves in his head had he not acted. He allowed his body to fall backwards from the branch, now he was hanging there like a spider hanging from it's thread, desperately looking for the predator that was hunting him.

Zabuza wasted little time and was already moving to deal the finishing blow the moment he threw the kunai. He gripped Kubikiribōchō with both hands he leapt from his branch towards his opponent. He would not have time to doge his attack this time, he could see his eyes widening in surprise as he appeared before him with speed the teen could not compete with, he reared the sword back before swinging it with both his hands.

Kubikiribōchō was not one of the legendary swords wielded by a member of the seven ninja swordsmen of the mist for nothing. It had managed to cut through not only the teen himself but also the Armour of sticky gold that he had coated himself in, nearly decapitating him.

He landed on one of the trees on the opposite side, behind him the sound of Kidōmaru desperately heaving for air could be heard, despite his lounges being flooded with blood. A few seconds later and his body went limp before the thread that had previously kept him hanging from the tree gave up without a source of chakra to support it.

Zabuza chuckled lowly as he landed back on on the ground, he did enjoy practising his trade! Back on the ground he was to his surprise greeted by a not so uncontentious as he had expected Hyūga. His chuckle developed into a laughter when he saw that boy still had some fight left in his eyes.

"Your good I'll give you that" The Hyūga glared at him, fulling the amusement Zabuza found in the situation. "However, this – that you just saw – is how it's supposed to be done. Quick and clean, he did not even get the time to realize he was going to die before it happened"

"I remember you, you were in Takigakure!" On second thought Zabuza knew there was something familiar about this boy, now he knew why. "Tell me your name!"

Zabuza who was by now walking away from the scene tilted his head slightly to stare at the Hyūga. His eyes narrowed ever so slightly at the commanding tone the boy used and to his amusement the boy seemed to shrink ever so slightly under his gaze.

"Watch you tone, wouldn't want anything bad to happen to you right after I so valiantly saved your life would we?" After his not so subtle threat he rolled his eyes and shrugged his shoulder before continuing to where Haku would – hopefully – be waiting for him. As he stalked of he muttered something about 'Ungrateful brat' and 'Who am I? Ha! I'm the Kirigakure no kijin, my reputation precedes me'

"Zabuza-san!" When he returned to the location they had agreed to regroup he was met by a smiling Haku, however, he did notice that she seemed rather queasy. Good, that means she actually went through with their mission. "Everything went well I presume?"

Zabuza waived her of. "What did you expect.. By the looks of you I assume the same for you" It was more of a statement than a question really. Zabuza always could read her like an open book. "This brat I saved had the nerve to ask me who I was! Me! The demon of the hidden mist! Any shinobi from Kiri to Suna knows and fears my name"

A fond smile played on Haku's lips as they made to chase after the redhead that was now travelling alone away from the last fight 'At least his pride is still strong as ever.. I guess it's true that some things never change' they had considered jumping in to end the fight before following in pursuit of Tayuya, but their job was made easier by the surprise arrival of three shinobi from Sunagakure making their job easier as they now only had the redhead to focus on.

Naruto starred at the last Kaguya with a bored expression that only seemed to further infuriate the already beaten Kaguya. He knelt down next to him to come closer to eye level with him, he would offer him one last chance to join him even thought he was fairly certain his answer would be the same.

"I will offer you a second chance to join me. You have seen but a small glimpse off the power I wield, did it make you change your mind?"

Kimimaro's glare only intensified when his enemy addressed him with that same bored tone, aside from the hint of boredom it was completely void of any emotions. It felt as though he was being mocked and it infuriated him to no end! His opponent had not even taken him seriously and now he was talking down on him as if he was just another weak pawn that would collapse to his knees and worship him, he would not, no he would die here, the question was if he would die alone or take this trash with him.

Naruto got his answer in the shape of a razor-sharp blade of bone shooting out from Kimimaro's back, aimed directly between his eyes. It caught him slightly by surprise, it took a significant amount of willpower and devotion to his master to break his control over him if only for half a second.

Unfortunately for Kimimaro, Naruto was fast. He managed to move fast enough for the blade to shoot harmlessly past him. Naruto looked down at the teen, it was a pity, he had so much potential to grow with his own power if he had worked for him.

"So that is your answer, I see…" Behind Naruto a purple rift opened in the ground and from it the king of hell rose up.

Kimimaro starred at the bizarre thing for only a short moment before he closed his eyes and resigned himself to his faith. "It is unfortunate that it had to end like this for you, but you should know that even in death your body will serve a higher purpose in aiding me. Your flesh will help me bring about peace and justice in the shinobi world"

Naruto planted his hand on top of Kimimaro's head. The effect was immediate, his eyes opened and then rolled back, from his mouth a stream of drool poured out. With one hard yank he retracted his hand, connected to it was Kimimaro's soul and with it all wisdom and information he had acquired throughout his life.

With that done Naruto pulled the Black-rod he had used to pin Kimimaro out of his now dead body. He stood back and watched as the king of hell opened his mouth, out of it a long and slimy tongue appeared and grabbed the corpse before pulling it back into it's mouth.

For a good while the king of hell did what could only be described as chewing and when it finally stopped Naruto was hit by a whole new sensation. At first he felt weak, he had expected that, he did after all transfer some of his power into another body.

The most shocking realization though was that he was now controlling a second body. There was no way to describe this sensation, but it felt oddly natural if not a little awkward. He commanded the king of hell to open it's mouth, he wanted to see the results for himself.

When the mouth opened it was awkward at first, he had some trouble adjusting this 'new' set of eyes to the sun. After they got accustomed to the sunlight he tried to make the new body walk to him, it went better than he had feared.

When the body came walking out he finally got a good look at his handy work. Kimimaro's hair was now the same bright yellow colour as his own and his face and torso had chakra-recievers embedded several places to allow him to control it.

It was perfect.

He glanced over his shoulder to see Zabuza and Haku standing there with a terrified Tayuya as hostage. Everything had gone according to plan. With this kind of service he might even consider a cooperation with Itachi's mysterious leader.

Zabuza walked up beside him and admired the body. Wide eyed he starred at it for a good minute before breaking the silence. "He has the same eyes as you… Pein-sama, what is this?"

Both of Naruto's bodies turned to look at Zabuza. "It is me, or rather a puppet. I can channel a fraction of my power into this body and control it like I would my own body. I share my vision with it and I move with it. In other words it's nothing more than an empty shell, it was no will of it's own it's only… me"

"Meeting you… Well let's just say I've seen some bizarre fucked up shit in my life but this… I have never even seen anything close to this" He let out a booming laugh and slapped Naruto's shoulder in a friendly manner. "I'm not a very pious person, but this… This could only be the power of a god!"

Haku too stared in a mix of shock and awe at the body of Kimimaro. "You said you channel a fraction of your power into that body, what does that mean?"

"I gave it my ability to absorb chakra, that is all. The eyes you see are only a reflection of my own, they are not real"

"Fucking hell… You gonna do that to me as well?" Finally Naruto turned his attention to the final piece of business for the day, Tayuya.

"That depends on you. I will offer you a place at my side, I will offer you a chance to become more than you are, to be my ally and aid me in restoring peace and justice to the shinobi world. But most importantly I will offer you what Orochimaru could never give you: Freedom"

Tayuya starred at Naruto for a moment with something akin to admiration hidden well behind the fear and over-all emotional turmoil her mind was going through.

On one hand this guy killed Kimimaro, he was her superior, on the other she always hated that ass-hole. He talked about peace, despite herself she was not opposed to peace, war was the reason she had ended up with Orochimaru in the first place and she would never wish that same fate on anyone else. But more importantly he offered freedom, that was something she could not even remember having it had been so very long since last she could make her own decisions without the fear of being cast aside for it.

"I'll join you, no doubt there… But what are you? No, fuck! I mean who are you" She desperately hoped she had not insulted him too much, he might offer her more than Orochimaru ever did, but she had no doubt in her mind he would kill her without a second thought if she overstepped her boundaries.

Too her surprise a short laugh escaped from underneath his mask. It held little humour and even less emotion, but he was still laughing, that was good right?

"It is quite al right, I will not kill for asking a reasonable question, not after what you saw me do… You can address me as 'Pein-sama' that is all you need to know about me. As for what I am… I am the man that is going to become the god of this world, the one that is going to restore it to what the Rikudō Sennin wanted and with it, peace"

There was less fear in her eyes now. This guy not only freed her from Orochimaru but he offered her a place his side, to help him do something no other shiobi before them had ever done, well except for that Rikudō Sennin guy but not like she knew who that fucker was.

"Before we do anything I will have to remove that curse-seal, and wash Orochimaru's influence out of your body"

A small smile crept onto Tayuya's face despite the fucked up situation. 'Well well… This day just keeps getting better and better, wish I could see the snake bastards face, not only did he loose his chance at getting the Uchiha but he also lost his bodyguards, all in one day'

She felt absolutely no pity for the hell Kabuto would have endure for this failure.

End – Interlude I

[*] 1 – Same mask as Menma is using in Road to ninja: Naruto the Movie.

[*] 2 – Actually a restaurant in Konoha. The one where you often see Asuma and his team eating.

[*] 3 – Admired his willpower and strength to defy his 'fate' that is. Don't know if it's right to say that, but I always thought Neji admired Naruto.

Sorry this chapter took so long to finish, don't really have a good excuse for why it was so delayed other than that Dragon Age Inquisition is extremely time consuming when you first get into it..

Yes the decision to give him a mask was rushed and in all honesty I should have done it sooner. RadioPoisoning pointed it out in the second chapter and I agree that it should have been there all along. (But I'm too lazy to rewrite atm)

What do you prefer: Might Guy or Maito Gai?

I will also remind you that the poll for potential characters joining Akatsuki will be open until the Interlude arc ends!

Anyway I hope this chapter was worth the wait! Please leave a review and tell me if you liked this chapter or if there is a mistake I should correct.

I'll see you in the next chapter :)

Ja né!

Edited 12.04.2017: Added the part where Haku and Zabuza hunts down the other sound four members. Dunno how I did it but I somehow managed to completely forget to write it in before posting this chapter.. So thank you Antex – The legendary zoroark for pointing that out for me!