New year, a new story. I wanted to write this story for a long time now. If you are a regular reader then you may remember that I once mentioned it in author's note of my other story 'The Invincible Eyes of the Sennin'. I just thought I should at least give it a go and see what to expect from it in the future.

Disclaimer: I don't own a shit, and I definitely don't make any money from these random thoughts of my brain, because if I did, you all will be my employees now in my multinational company of shinobi manufacturing. Hahahaaaaa. (poker face) I am serious.

THE RETURN OF PEIN

\\CHAPTER-1/

^^^STARTING OF A LEGEND's STORY^^^

"FUCK…!"

Moaned one blond ninja known as Uzumaki Naruto, as he tried to lift his hand to cover his eyes from the damn light coming from the window of the room he was currently lying in.

Opening his right eye a little to peek at his surroundings, he immediately regretted it as the light falling in his pupil intensified.

Some would think why he would open his right eye only. Well, the reason for that would be the swelling of his left eye. The very same eye his so-called Brother kicked.

Yes, he, Uzumaki Naruto had failed to knock some sense in Uchiha Sasuke's brain.

Adjusting his head so that the light source in room, that is the window, was no longer in his line of sight, Naruto scanned the surroundings of the room.

'Never thought the Heaven was built to look like an inn, or the hell for that matter' he thought rolling his eyes, an action which made him wince again due to the pain in his left eye.

Suddenly the gate of the room opened and a tall figure walked in. The figure lacked any curves, which indicated that the person standing by Naruto's bedside was definitely a male.

His jet-black hairs were back in a low ponytail, disappearing back in the back of his high collar shirt. Two strands were falling in front of his face from either side of his eyes, slightly shadowing them. Two lines were clearly visible on his cheeks.

The figure was staring at a still Naruto who was doing a very bad job at looking unconscious.

His breathing was shallow and his fists were clenched. Eyes squeezed shut and a bead of sweat on his brow was quite easy to spot.

"I know you are conscious, so stop pretending otherwise," stated the figure.

Naruto suddenly jumped at this but quickly fell back on his back due to the condition of his body. Still he turned his head to look at the face of the figure standing on his bedside.

Naruto immediately recognized those lines on the person's cheeks. The stoic look on this persons face was a dead giveaway of who he was anyway.

Naruto's eyes widened when realization dawned on him. He was not dead and he definitely was not in heaven.

"U-Uchiha I-Itachi?"

Gasped Naruto, suddenly feeling his throat go dry.

'SHIT, SHIT, SHIT'

Naruto quickly knew that he was done for. Out of all the people to have found him, it has to be this person, Uchiha Itachi.

His eyes quickly darted around the room to find possible escape routes, all the while scanning for his weapons with his hands in his kunai pouch.

Much to his horror, his pouch was missing.

Itachi observed all this with keen interest shining in his black eyes. Uzumaki Naruto was quite an interesting specimen indeed.

"Don't bother, I already removed anything you may need to escape and if it is you weapons pouch you are trying to find, wrong leg," said Itachi coolly.

"The hell…" said Naruto but quickly found his pouch on his right thigh, full of his weapons.

Before Naruto could use any weapon from his pouch, Itachi moved swiftly and was in front of him, holding his right wrist from reaching into the weapon holder.

"Even if I left it there as a show of non hostility, it doesn't mean you are allowed to use it," said infamous Uchiha.

"What do you want, I thought you guys would have extracted the Kyuubi from my gut when I was knocked out," said Naruto with barely contained rage.

"First of all, you were unconscious for a week. Second, no, the Kyuubi still resides in the seal on your abdomen, otherwise you won't be alive right now" said Itachi, slowly letting go of Naruto's wrist.

Itachi was confident that after telling Naruto about the Kyuubi being still inside him, he would become somewhat less hostile.

From the look on Naruto's face, he was right.

"Where am I?" asked Naruto while sitting back in the bed.

"We are in an inn outside Amegakure, south of Hi no Kuni," answered Itachi while taking a seat in a nearby chair. Naruto just nodded before his eyes went wide with realization.

"What happened to Sasuke?" he asked jumping to his feet.

"Calm down Naruto, I won't lie to you. Your mission to retrieve Sasuke was, a failure," said Itachi while looking down at the floor with some guilt in his eyes if Naruto was seeing correct.

"I must go back to Konoha, everyone will be worried about me," said Naruto before he started to reach for the door.

"I never said you were allowed to leave the room," said Itachi, stopping Naruto in his track.

Naruto turned towards Itachi and stared at him in confusion

"What the fuck do you want from me then? And I know it's not the Kyuubi, otherwise I would be dead by now," he asked irritated.

Itachi looked at him for a minute as if contemplating with himself regarding what he must say next. Finally, he sighed and motioned Naruto to take his previous position on the bed.

Shrugging and grumbling about secretive adults, Naruto walked back to the bed and plopped down on it.

"What now?" asked Naruto clearing out of patience. Itachi noted that Naruto was already looking better.

'There are some perks of being a Jinchuriki as well after all, no matter how less they may be.'

"Naruto, you can't go back to Konoha," stated Itachi making Naruto give a confused expression.

"And why is that?" asked Naruto.

"Because Konoha thinks you are dead," answered Itachi.

"THE FUCK…" screamed Naruto as he jumped in Itachi's face.

"Let me explain Naruto," said Itachi in a calm tone.

Naruto paused for a second, staring at his former best friends elder brother.

"Then explain!" he said sternly as he sat back on the bed.

"After the two of you, you and Sasuke that is, finished your fight at the valley of End, Kabuto was sent there by Orochimaru to collect Sasuke's defeated body. You had lost a lot of blood otherwise I am sure he would have taken you as well. "

"Jinchuriki or not, no one can survive that much blood loss, but you, you are a special. I must say Kyuubi's Jinchuriki status and the Uzumaki blood in your veins makes your one tough bird to kill," said Itachi with a barely noticeable smirk.

At this Naruto puffed out his chest with a fist placed near his heart.

"That I am, Dattebayo!" exclaimed Naruto with his head high, pounding a fist on his chest. Regretting the action eventually.

Itachi just gave an amused raise of eyebrow at that and continued.

"After that I reached the Valley to investigate the vast chakra usage. By the time I reached your body, you were already dead-"

"WHAT!, but I am alive!" exclaimed Naruto while jumping out of his bed.

"Yes I am sure you are, but your heart stopped there for a whole minute or so. You are lucky I had another Akatsuki with me instead of Kisame. He saved you using some of his unique abilities.

Still I am sure your contract with Toads is void. Konoha never sent a search party for you. From what our Akatsuki spy told us, they didn't even know you were missing before they checked the roster for your next mission, three days later."

"You are lying, there is no way Konoha will forget me!" said Naruto, getting a little angry with the older Uchiha.

"I have nothing to gain by lying Naruto. From what I know, it was Jiraiya who told them that you were a KIA(killed in action) case.

Moreover, those councilors with the backing of the hokage, said that someone like you doesn't deserve his name on the memorial stone. They never made a grave for you stating that without a body, a grave was meaningless. Even if it was a plain excuse."

Naruto was now shocked, his Baa-chan, Kakashi-sensei, Sakura-chan, his friends, everyone just suddenly decided that he was not needed in their lives.

All his emotions were now coming to the surface in the form of tears from the corner of his eyes.

"Even if they had made a grave, those damn villagers would have taken out their anger on that tomb stone," whispered Naruto under his breath.

"I am sorry you had to hear it, I really am" said Itachi, trying to comfort the clearly broken ninja.

"Its okay, its not like I am surprised by the council's actions, its just that even those I considered friends forgot me" mumbled Naruto with teary eyes.

Itachi only nodded and continued to observe Naruto closely. Suddenly red chakra started to seep out of Naruto's hands around his clenched fists, transforming them into claws.

"Naruto, stop! Don't draw on Kyuubi's chakra," said Itachi in an alarmed tone.

Naruto snapped out of his stupor and turned towards Itachi with teary eyes.

"What am I supposed to do now Boar nii-san" asked Naruto.

Itachi's eyes grew wide at hearing Naruto call him by his ANBU code name.

"How did you…." stuttered Itachi.

"I know you were the ANBU with the boar mask who always protected me from mobs. I still remember when you took a kunai in your shoulder to save me from a Jonin.

I asked Kakashi-sensei for your identity once but he refused. Then I asked Hokage Jii-san and he told your identity. Actually, he told me a lot about you."

This changed the situation now as Itachi quickly kneeled in front of Naruto and placed both of his hands on his shoulders.

"Naruto-kun, you must understand that whatever I did to you and the Uchiha clan, I did it for the safety of our village." He said in a brotherly tone.

"I understand nii-san" said Naruto before quickly lunging forward and taking Itachi in a hug.

Itachi was surprised at first by the sudden physical contact of affection from the blond, but relaxed in the hug.

Breaking the hug Naruto looked at Itachi's face and asked

"So what am I supposed to do now nii-san?"

At this Itachi got a solemn look on his face.

"Well first, we must make sure you do not die from your condition" he replied.

"What do you mean my condition?" asked a worried Naruto.

"When you fought Sasuke at the valley of End, he was using his curse mark right?" asked Itachi.

"Well yeah and he drove that chidori of his in my left shoulder. It still hurts like a bitch," answered Naruto, holding his left side of chest.

"Yes well, when he was using that chakra and drove that chidori in your chest, that tainted chakra of curse seal entered your system. Right now it is fighting the Kyuubi's chakra for dominance, resulting in destruction of YOUR chakra along with your chakra network."

"How, I thought Kyuubi's chakra was the most powerful chakra there is?" asked a worried Naruto.

"well that's right, Kyuubi's chakra really is the most powerful chakra in the world but you must know Naruto kun, even the best can be bested" replied Itachi.

On seeing a confused look on Naruto's face, he decided to elaborate.

"Kyuubi's chakra is not that much powerful when inside you. The most it can do is healing and defending your body from poisons and diseases. Its treating the foreign chakra as a virus right now, battling it for dominance. Corroding your blood vessels as well as chakra system"

"So how much damage is already done?" asked a fearful Naruto.

"Quite a lot, from what I can tell using my sharingan. However, there is a way to save you. When I brought you here, I injected you with my blood to give you a little boost in energy to stay alive."

"And that means?" asked Naruto again.

"We are going to need a new body for you, that's all," stated Itachi in a matter of fact-ly tone.

"And how am I going to get this new body of mine, please do tell," asked Naruto rolling his eyes.

"Now that's where other Akatsuki members come in," said Itachi while turning to point towards the door of the room.

The door opened and in walked two Akatsuki members. Naruto quickly observed their appearances.

The first one to walk inside was definitely female as her body was filled at all the right places. Her pale blue hairs were tucked neatly in a high bun behind her head with a paper flower in it.

She had a piercing under her lower lip and was wearing a light blue eye shade. Her amber eyes were firmly gazing at him as if she was judging him with her gaze only. Naruto was fine with her gaze as it was better than the glares he regularly received in Konoha.

The other guy, or rather being, was what confused and to some extent, scared him. Naruto couldn't tell if this member was a male or a female thus he went with the male guess.

His right side of the face was completely black with a round yellow thing as his eye. His left side of the face was nearly white and had green colored eye. His teeth were sharp if what Naruto saw was any indication.

A mop of green hairs sat on his head. The weirdest thing in his appearance was a pitcher plant like structure surrounding his upper torso. The plant like thing easily reached a foot higher than his head, adding a lot to his height.

"So this is the kid you told me about?" asked the female.

"Yes, this is Naruto kun, Naruto kun, meet Konan san and Zetsu," introduced Itachi, motioning towards the named individuals.

"N-Nice to meet you," replied Naruto meekly.

'The kid is quite fragile and his aura is that of a joker yet the power radiating from him is that of a Jonin. His chakra is even more than that of an elite Jonin bordering Kage level. He may be the most suitable candidate for our job' thought an expressionless Konan before realizing that she never greeted him for his greetings.

"Nice to meet you as well, Uzumaki Naruto," she greeted back nodding her head, though still emotionless.

"Ohayo, Naruto!" chimed white Zetsu from behind her.

"Naruto-kun, it was Zetsu who saved you at the valley of End, like I mentioned before, using his unique abilities. As for Konan-san, she will be the one providing the body," explained Itachi.

"Arigato, Zetsu-san for saving my life," said Naruto bowing.

"It was no problem Uzumaki," replied the Black Zetsu.

Suddenly Konan turned towards the door but before opening it, she turned her head back towards Itachi,

"Get him ready, Pein will be meeting him soon. Make sure to get him to Ame before Pein gets upset." With that, she left.

White Zetsu chuckled and turned towards Naruto

"See ya at Ame, later" and started to sink in the floor of the room, much to the shock of Naruto.

"Don't worry, you'll get used to that. He always travels that way. Even I was a little surprised back there when he came walking in the room" said Itachi after the departure of said Akatsuki member.

"Huh?" was Naruto's bright response.

Itachi just shook his head at the blond In front of him and was about to say something when a clone of White Zetsu popped out of the floor

"Almost forgot to give these, Naruto. Konan san gave me these for you" said the clone and threw a packet at Naruto, which was caught by Itachi. The clone just shrugged and disappeared.

Itachi opened the packet and inspected the contents, before giving it to Naruto.

"Go and get changed, Zetsu will be here to help you when we leave. I am going to get you something to eat. Any preferences?" stated/asked Itachi.

"RAMEN!" Naruto was quick to reply.

Itachi just gave a smile that was easily to consider as a rare twitch of his lips.

"Why am I not surprised?" Itachi asked himself before nodding and leaving the room.

Naruto quickly, though with a lot of pain and struggle, went to the bathroom to change.

WITH ITACHI

Itachi was walking in the dining area of the inn.

'After all this time, Naruto-kun still remembers my Boar persona. It shows how less contact he had had with other Konoha shinobi,' thought Itachi.

Strolling towards the counter for orders, he motioned the waiter at the desk.

"Yes Sir, what can I get you?" asked the waiter politely.

"Ah, five bowls of miso ramen and a vegetable salad"

Itachi gave his order, all the while looking in the eyes of the waiter with his sharingan. He was in no mood of dealing with any questions regarding the large amount of ramen he ordered.

"Right away Sir" replied a glazed eyed waiter before turning around and heading inside the kitchen.

Itachi just sighed and turned towards one of the empty tables nearby. Taking a seat, he started to reflect on the recent incidents in his Akatsuki profession.

FLASHBACK-six months ago

Ame, Itachi was sitting in his room in Pein's tower. In front of him on the desk was an unfinished Intel report for Jiraiya, or rather, Konoha.

He was contemplating on whether he should continue supporting a village like what Konoha had became in past several years. Especially after the death of Sandaime Hokage- Sarutobi Hiruzen.

Thought he was ashamed to admit that the village started to corrupt just after the death of Yondaime sama-Namikaze Minato. Still he had faith in his village and accepted the Uchiha clan-massacre.

He never wanted to kill his own clan, much less his own parents. He loved his mother, Uchiha Mikoto. Whenever he came back from a tiring day, his father always asked," Did something of importance happen?"

It was his mother who always asked," How was your day Sochi?" or "Should I bring something for you to eat?"

He had to kill them all just because a man planned to start a coup d'état and kill the Hokage along with wiping the Uchiha clan.

Shimura Danzo.

That old war hawk used some of his Uchiha goons to spark the idea of coup d'état in the clan. Then he went after Uchiha Shishui, his best friend, to take his eyes.

Itachi found out about all this after he joined the Akatsuki and squeezed it out of a Zetsu clone. Apparently, memories of a Zetsu clone are not transferred back to original, something that came in handy.

Itachi was about to reach a decision that could change the fate of Konoha and Akatsuki when there was a knock on the door.

He knew that it wasn't Kisame because the walking sushi always conversed with his sword when walking. This one was silent. Sasori and Zetsu, along with pein and Tobi will never knock for obvious reasons of their own. Remaining male members were not used to the light knocking he just heard.

That leaves her. Turning back towards his desk and hiding the report in his cloak, he activated his sharingan and toned

"You may come in, Konan-san."

The door opened and the blue haired beauty walked in. her expression was the same, emotionless, but Itachi's sharingan caught the trails of mascara on her cheeks.

She had been crying.

"What is it?" he asked cautiously.

"I need your help."

FLASHBACK ENDS

The waiter took Itachi out of his memory road

"Your order, Sir" said the waiter with a large tray in hand.

Five bowls of ramen and one of salad.

"Please deliver the ramen at room number 17, my little brother will receive it," said Itachi while taking his salad.

"As you wish, Sir" said the waiter before motioning a room service woman to take the order to Itachi's room.

Itachi again started to think about that day all the while chewing on his salad.

FLASHBACK

"What for?" Itachi asked back.

"Tobi or should I say, Uchiha Madara, attacked Nagato last night."

Itachi's eyes widened after hearing this. He was the only one Nagato trusted to know about the secrets of Akatsuki, he knew about Nagato being behind Pein and Uchiha Madara's fake A.K.A. Tobi.

That's why some of his recent missions were paired up with Zetsu, Tobi's lap dog.

"What?, Why?, how?" asked Itachi clearly over confused with what he just heard.

Konan struggled to maintain her composure and replied

"He said that Nagato was no longer fit to leader Akatsuki, said that he needed to kill him to take over Akatsuki, to complete his Mugen Taskyoumi, he needs his rinnegan."

Itachi suddenly became aware of the danger the world was in. If someone like Tobi got control over top S-ranked shinobis, it would be a massacre.

"Where is he?" asked Itachi in a sense of dread.

"Who?" asked Konan to confirm whom Itachi was talking about.

"Nagato, I don't have time to care for what Tobi is planning with Akatsuki."

"He was profusely bleeding when I reached him, I did what I could but he is still dying."

"Let's go, I want to meet him now."

With that, both of them left to reach the top floor of the tower.

On reaching the top floor, Konan went to a wall trigger in Pein's office and pulled it down. The wall separated to reveal a secret room behind it.

Lying in the middle of the room, on a futon, was the former leader of Akatsuki and the wielder of rinnegan. Nagato was wrapped in bandages from his shoulders to his lower abdomen. Patches of red could be seen on the bandages indicating recent bleeding.

Konan quickly moved to his side and started to check the bandages for any too tight fits. Itachi slowly walked towards him and stood at the foot of the bed.

Nagato cracked open an eye to look at the Uchiha heir. Even with his Mangekyou, Itachi always felt weak in front of those legendary orbs. God's eyes (not from Fast n Furious 7) as they were called by ancient societies and people at certain temples.

"Itachi" crocked Nagato.

"Nagato" replied Itachi.

"I am dying"

"I can see that, same case as mine"

"Tell me, do you remember your brother, the one you encounter in Konoha?" asked Nagato while turning his head a little to facilitate Konan's check up.

"What does it have to do with Sasuke?" asked a confused Itachi.

Nagato chuckled and ended up coughing up some blood. After Konan helped him to get rid of the coughing fit by sitting him up, he said

"Not him, the other one"

Itachi gave a confused look before realization dawned on him.

'Not him' thought Itachi, giving a wide-eyed look.

Nagato saw this is barely controlled himself from laughing in his face.

"I can see that you know whom I am talking about. Konoha no Uzumaki Naruto, Kyuubi no Jinchuriki."

"What do you need from him?" asked Itachi, feeling a little over protectiveness.

In reality, Itachi never intended on capturing Naruto, he only visited Konoha to get to know about Sasuke's and Naruto's level of power. Though he only managed to engage Sasuke in combat, which was disappointing, he knew that Naruto was more powerful than Sasuke.

Itachi knew why Naruto had a bridge named after him in wave. He was a powerful shinobi for his age and a powerful asset for future of Konoha.

If Kisame had captured Naruto, he would have ordered a tactical retreat to save the blond.

"I am not going after him again, Nagato" stated Itachi with a glare.

Nagato just smiled and raised a hand to stop Konan from shuffling on his side. Konan quickly backed away and stood intently to hear what her friend had to say.

"What makes you think that I want him captured Itachi?" asked Nagato.

When Itachi and Konan just continued to stare at him, expecting an answer, he continued

"I timed your visit in such a way that you will face maximum obstacles, Asuma Sarutobi, Maito Gai AND Sharingan no Kakashi being there to name a few. However, most of all, Jiraiya sensei was there with him.

You see, I never wanted to capture the little Uzumaki, after all, he is my last known kin."

Itachi and Konan were now shocked. What was Nagato babbling about?

"What do you mean last known kin?" asked a shocked Konan.

"My real name is, or rather, full name is Uzumaki Nagato," replied Nagato.

That answered most of the upcoming questions together. Now Itachi thought that it was Nagato who was secretly helping him, NOT Tobi.

Itachi always thought that it was Tobi helping him after the night of massacre.

"You mean to say that you are a relative of the Kyuubi's Jinchuriki?" asked Konan.

"You can say that" smiled Nagato.

"So what do you need him for?" asked Itachi.

"You know how he is treated in Konoha, I won't be surprised if they assign him suicide missions in future, to get rid of him and their enemies of course."

Itachi nodded at this. He knew exactly what Naruto suffered at hands of Konoha villagers and shinobi alike. He was there to save him most of the times after all.

"I want him to take my place as Pein. I want him to start acting like an Uzumaki. I am dying but Madara must be stopped AT ALL COSTS. I intended to collect all the Bijuus and hide them from the world. Without them, without their special weapons, villages will think twice before starting a war."

"Akatsuki must fulfill that agenda. Madara's eye of the moon plan is too risky and dangerous. Only the wielder of Kyuubi's immense power can defeat him."

"I want you to bring him to me, train him with me, make him the pein I failed to become…make him the god, I failed to become"

Itachi and Konan were silent for a while. This sounded a lot like a dying man's last wish. They will fulfill it for this friend.

FLASHBACK ENDS

Itachi sighed again, they had fulfilled Nagato's wish. From what he could tell, the chakra drug/poison Madara used on Nagato will kill him in another six months.

Something about the matter of Rinnegan.

It is said on the Uchiha tablets that rinnegan can only be transferred from one host to other in two ways.

Either the first host willingly donates the eyes or the host dies a natural death, not killed. At least that was what Nagato told him about after reading the tablets himself with those orbs.

Madara was using the second way, once Nagato died he will take the rinnegan from the corpse.

Naruto must change bodies before both him and Nagato die. The tainted chakra from the curse seal and Kyuubi's chakra were battling for dominance in his body, corroding it from inside.

Nagato may be able to help with the body problem but Zetsu will definitely inform Madara about Naruto.

'Damn it, why everyone close to me has to go and fall in dangerous situations. First the clan, then Sasuke and now…. Naruto-kun' thought Itachi, cursing inwards.

'Whatever happens, I will protect Naruto with my life'

With that, Itachi stood up and walked away.

NEXT DAY

AMEGAKURE

PEIN'S TOWER

Naruto and Itachi, along with Konan were standing in front of a set of large gates, gates leading to Pein's office to be more specific.

"Let's go" said Konan before knocking at the door. Naruto gulped and clutched Itachi's cloak firmly in his fists.

"Come in" came a hollow voice from the other side, and they quickly entered the office.

There in front of them was the reason for their visit, Nagato.

He was sitting in his seat behind his desk with his back towards them, his eyes gazing outside the office window.

"Uzumaki Naruto, I was informed that you were in need of some serious training as well as …. a new body" stated Nagato.

Naruto again gulped and just nodded dumbly. Somehow, he knew that this guy could see him nod even with his back facing them.

"Good, your new body is in that container at the side, go take a look."

All three of them turned and approached the container. Naruto was nervous; after all, how many could say that they chose which body they wanted.

Itachi quickly pushed a button on the side of the container and its cover moved to the side.

The cover revealed the body of a man roughly the age of Itachi or Kakashi. Orange hair, angular and lean face. Three piercings on either side of the nose, piercings under the lower lip with some on both ears.

This was the body of Yahiko.

Konan gasped and turned towards Nagato

"Why his body? You know how much he meant to us, to me!" she asked, almost crying.

"Yahiko was my best friend Konan. I am going to die soon. Akatsuki do not need me, they need the founder, Yahiko. He must live on. I am sure he would have wanted that as well," replied Nagato, now turning to face the three of them.

"From your words, it seems he is of your age, then why does he look so young?" asked a confused Naruto.

"Because he died a long time ago," answered Itachi, observing the body in front of him.

This was the face of Pein for other Akatsuki members.

"Now Naruto, your training will start from tomorrow, all three of us will be training you, now go and rest. Konan, show him his room, as for you Itachi, I have some matters to discuss with you," said Nagato, before sitting back in his seat.

Naruto only had one thought

'This is going to be one hell of a training.'

THE END

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