Chapter 1

Prologue

Somewhere in Land of Earth:

The sound of panting and stumbling footsteps echoed throughout the underground hallways, bouncing off of the cracked walls. Engulfed in darkness with only a scant few rays of light illuminating them through the cracks in the ceiling above, the hallways felt suffocating and grim.

Taking a few more unbalanced steps towards the direction of the exit, the figure started leaning against a wall and without further ado, slumped against it, sliding downwards till it was sitting on the cold hard stone that made up the floor of this damned place. A place of nightmares where the lives of unsuspecting people were ruined, their wills shackled and their bodies becoming mere possessions of a madman with an obsession for immortality. Deep breaths soon followed in an attempt to regain some sort of focus. Pulling up both knees, the figure rested it's forehead against them. A mark on it's neck, not unlike the tomoes in a Sharingan eye, was glowing with dark purple chakra coursing through it. The poisonous and vile chakra was spreading through the stranger's chakra coils inch by inch.

Guilty...

There was complete pin drop silence in the hallways for several moments, however, it was not to last. The concrete that the ceiling was made of started to crack soon enough under the weight of the earth. The noise that came with it was starting to aggravate the figure who's nerves were already frayed. Rest had become a foreign concept for the panting intruder. As long as the snake lived, there would be no rest.

The cracks in the ceiling were starting to spread out, signaling the imminent collapse. Yet, it did nothing to dissuade the figure from sitting still. Shorty after that the ceiling caved in, debris and dirt flooding in. Dust and smoke filled the surrounding air causing the stationary shadow to cough. With the hallway now blocked by the debris, there would be no going back. Thankfully, everything in the hidden base that was of any value was already stored inside a scroll that the figure carried.

Traitor...

Blinding sunlight soon followed the collapse, illuminating the rest of the hallway. The figure hissed and covered her eyes. Long hair, delicate eyebrows, a slim and feminine figure, and two lumps of fat on her chest clearly identified the figure as a female. Her jaws tightened, yet she remained completely still. Despite the fact that the ceiling had came crashing down just a few inches away from her and could have possibly crushed her underneath, the woman remained unperturbed and continued to stare blankly at the wall in front of her.

Freedom is an illusion...

The pesky voice in the back of her mind continued to antagonize her. Her eyebrows twitched in annoyance. It was the voice of one of her lifelong tormentors who wouldn't just stay dead. Like the slimy and slippery snakes that he was always associated with, he just kept slithering back into her daily life from whichever dark nest or burrow that he hid inside. Such an obsessive creep.

The world will always fear you...

The pain in her neck intensified as the cursed mark acted up once more. Suppressing a groan of discomfort, she ignored the painful itching in her neck. It would be so easy to just rip this little piece of flesh apart and be rid of the vile mark that showed that she was no more than a possession of the snake, and if there was one thing that she hated above all else, it was being seen as someone inferior to weaklings like the Snake Sannin. The cursed mark was more of a hindrance and an annoyance now rather than a tool for power like in the past.

You belong to me now... Our souls are intertwined forever, apprentice...

She hoped that the snake burned in hell for what he did to her. A soul fragment of his had latched onto her own soul and like a leech it wouldn't let go. It didn't know when to give up, still hoping that it could take control over her body with it's meagre influence. How could it have escaped Itachi's notice during their battle?

Your fool of a brother could never separate me from you, kukuku...

It baffled her of how persistent the snake was, just like a certain blond idiot. Of course he would have a backup plan in case his, not so hidden, cursed mark got removed. The real problem was that little piece of Orochimaru that had been hidden away in the depths of her darkened soul. Another fragment of his soul. The cursed mark had reappeared not long after the Fourth Shinobi War. That is why she didn't stay at Konoha like she had planned to and instead traveled around the nations to find a way to permanently be rid of it. Well, more like find Orochimaru and force him to remove it.

You came to me as a child in pursuit of power...

No matter if she had killed Orochimaru just thirty minutes ago, burned him alive in the flames of Amaterasu, he just kept coming back. Nonetheless, he was done for. All that remained of him in this world was this little piece of slime that was whispering in her minds. It was a good thing that all it could do was whisper and make the curse mark act up. The Yin chakra of the Sage made sure of that. She would need a Yamanaka to remove this little shit from her mindscape. She loathed the idea, having never allowed anyone to even get close to her except for her past teammates.

I trained you, I gave you power... Power to avenge your family...

The pain returned and this time it was amplified tenfold. Gritting her teeth, Sayuri, the ex-rogue ninja could only hold her neck in pain while she stopped herself from writhing in agony.

Now, all I ask is for you to pay your debts... Sooner or later, you'll cave and I'll be waiting to strike, kukuku...

With a final taunt and his trademark creepy laughter, the presence of Orochimaru in her mind retreated. Leaving a disorientated and pained Uchiha. Her once shining and smooth black hair was now a tangled mess filled with knots and dirt. Face covered in dirt and grime, droplets of blood flowed down her cheeks like waterfalls. The blood was from her recent kill. Seems like Orochimaru still had some experiments to complete.

It was easy to kill Orochimaru's body. It would be a pain in the ass to get rid of his soul. In spite of this, she had to give him some grudging respect. There was no other shinobi present in this time that was as slippery, resourceful, and cunning as Orochimaru.

Realizing that sitting here would not be productive, Sayuri stood up and looked towards the sun while covering her eyes. It was probably midday outside. An ideal time to get out of here before any scouting teams from Iwagakure arrived at the sight. The massive battle that had taken place above would have surely attracted the attention of the Tsuchikage.

Leaping up from her position, Sayuri used the debris as an impromptu set of stairs and easily made her way above the ground. The mountain range in which the hidden base was located had been torn asunder by her. A destroyed mountain here, a new canyon there, it was nothing new for powerhouses like her.

After admiring the scenery, which she had a part in creating, the Uchiha casually started walking away. Her current destination in mind was Konoha. There was one person that would have a lot of experience when it came to dealing with pesky entities in one's own mindscape. She even had a payment of sorts prepared for him. Fixing location in her mind, Sayuri vanished from the underground.

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Hokage Tower, Konohagakure No Sato:

Currently picking his ear, Naruto gave a sigh of boredom at having been forced to go through all this paperwork. He wish he could have some delicious and mouth-watering ramen to eat but alas it was not to be. With half-lidded eyes, the blond Hokage candidate started skimming through the daily reports and requests, and signing them. Why'd he have to be one to get stuck with this never ending paperwork! Naruto knew he was acting like a petulant child, but he was well within his rights to act like this. Damn Kakashi-sensei, damn this no Shadow Clone rule.

'C'mon... I'm one of the savior of the world, can't I get some leeway with this?' Stomping his foot and pouting like a child, the blond craned his neck backwards and groaned.

"Not fair..."

'Stop crying, it's irritating me. Weren't you always the one blabbering about getting this stupid job.' Kurama quipped in, nonchalantly.

The Child of Prophecy snorted at that. The furball was no better than himself when it came to running his mouth.

'Like you were any better in the past, Mr. I'm-gonna-rip-you-to-shreds. I swear all you did was nag about destroying everything back then.' Immediately after that Naruto closed his eyes while rubbing his temples to alleviate the sudden headache which was, no doubt, Kurama's doing.

'You were saying something, brat? Now stop whining and get to work. The paperwork's not gonna finish itself...' The chakra entity chuckled darkly at his partner's irritation.

'I'm really starting to dislike you right about now.'

'Welcome to my world.'

Rolling his eyes towards the heavens, the shinobi sighed in resignation and looked out of the window. Taking hold of a kunai from his pouch he started moving it in the air almost lazily with Magnet Manipulation. This was getting utterly boring. He hoped something interesting would come up. The world was so peaceful right now. After Toneri had been defeated there wasn't much that could threaten the nations except for the occasional bandits and criminals. If Naruto was being honest with himself he felt useless in a time like this. He'd grown up battling foes left and right with little to no rest. It was his lifestyle, his job as a shinobi. Now that most threats were taken care of he didn't know what to do.

He felt lost. It was plain and simple. No action, no exhilarating battles, no rush of adrenaline, Absolutely nothing. Except for this damned paperwork that is, couldn't ordinary civilian matters go to the respective district heads that he'd appointed? They were there for a reason. Denying another request to build a commercial plaza in the middle of the residential district, Naruto clicked his tongue. These type of request should be handled by officials of appropriate rank and standing. At least the paperwork would lessen and he'd get the chance to travel. Hey, if his legendary luck worked this time around, he could possible find himself in yet another glorious battle. He wasn't much for bloodshed, mind you, but what was he supposed to do now? The blond was a hundred percent sure that there were many more shinobis out there that thought the same.

That was not to say that he hadn't done anything productive by himself in the time being though. His repertoire of jutsus and skills had been widened after he had skimmed through the memories of his past incarnations with the help of Kurama. Accessing his sub-conscious was like second nature to him now. The chakra of all bijuus had awakened his reservoirs of Yin Chakra. The Yin chakra had increased drastically also, as a result of the experiences gained through those memories. Sub-elements were now natural for him to form, though he wouldn't say that he had absolute mastery over them. Having a deeper link with nature also helped, he could feel the lifeforces, and not just chakra, around him such as the trees, plants and generally everything living. He could now truly really become one with nature. Even Fukasaku sensei said that the epitome of Senjutsu was becoming aware of whole planet at once.

Fuinjutsu had also been one of the more enjoyable shinobi arts that he had decided pursue in his free time. He had little to no difficulty in drawing up various kinds of seals. That could be chalked up to his Uzumaki heritage and even his father was Grandmaster before his death. His ideas were mostly out of the box that helped him stay unpredictable. He was secretly glad for it. At least there was one thing that he could continue being. In addition to that, he had finally taken up to maintaining Jiraya's spy network as his successor and writing the next volume of Icha Icha. Having been trained and nurtured by perverted senseis throughout his career did wonders for him. He had a healthy appreciation of the female body and never wasted a chance to witness it in all it's glory.

Annoyance surged through Naruto as he looked at the clock. It was already evening and Kakashi-sensei had yet to return. It looked like the Rokudaime was ditching his duties once again and piling up all the work onto his future successor's shoulders. He was probably off somewhere reading his precious Icha Icha. Damn the Cyclops and his tardiness.

His eyes went to the door upon hearing the knocking. Giving permission to enter, the blond was greeted with the sight of Shikamaru in all his lazy glory. Dragging his feet across the floor, the Nara quietly entered the office after closing the door behind him. His demeanor told Naruto that he didn't want to be here.

"Fancy seeing you here, Shika. Couldn't get any sleep?" Deciding that it would be best to try and tackle the menace that was known as paperwork while chatting up his friend, Naruto picked up a pen and got back to signing the reports that were spread out across the desk in an unorganized manner.

"It wasn't my first plan of action to come here, this is all such a drag.." drawled out the Nara.

"Is there something me or Kakashi-sensei need to know about? It would have to be something important if it managed to make you of all people come here." With curiosity evident in his voice, he focused all of his attention on Shikamaru while dropping everything else.

Letting himself fall on the couch present in the room, Shikamaru sighed in bliss at the comfy feeling and stared at the ceiling above. Deciding to be blunt about the matter at hand, he spoke up.

"As a matter of fact, Hokage-sama himself sent me here. The council wants to know about the progress you've made with your teleporting seal."

"Eh, the council?" He grimaced. Not those old coots again. All they thought about was how to advance Konoha's interest all the time. They should lay back for a while. It would do a world of good for them and their creaking backs.

"Don't tell me that you're unaware that there's a meeting going on right about now."

Sheepishly scratching the back of his head and giving an uneasy smile towards the shadow user, the blond shinobi averted his gaze from his friend's eyes all the while mumbling about how his lazy sensei could've at least told him where he was going. He would've ordered a dozen bowls of ramen if he was gonna be stuck here this long!

Shaking his head at the blond's antics, Shikamaru looked expectantly towards Naruto. Sighing in silent contemplation, Naruto spoke up "Well, you can say that it's coming along fine. I've tested it on a smaller scale with a Shadow Clone."

"You know as well as me that that's not the answer the council wants." A stare that pinned the blond to his seat followed soon afterwards.

"I know, I know. Can't the old crones slow down a bit? There's no way that the other nations have something like this hidden up their sleeves. Kumo is the only village that comes to mind which has this type of teleportation. Though they aren't in any position to introduce such techniques and exclusive abilities to the international market." Naruto slumped down in his seat.

It was true. Ever since the war, the Elemental Nations had decided to one up their rivals through diplomacy, using their tongues as weapons, along with introducing and selling unique techniques and abilities to get ahead of the competition. Resources and money went into research for technology and medicine rather than weapons and military assets.

"It's troublesome, but the council doesn't care about Kumo. What they want to know is how we've progressed."

With a sigh, Naruto stood up and started making towards the door. However, his sensory abilities went into overdrive as an intruding presence was felt in the office. Spinning around with reflexes honed by years of combat, the blond placed the kunai that he had procured against the intruder's neck.

"Is this how you welcome your old teammate?" Hearing a very soft and familiar voice brought the stupefied shinobi back to the real world.

"Huh? Sayuri? Err... good to see you... I guess." An awkward silence fell across the office as the three ninjas looked towards each other in hopes that one of them would have something to say.

"Get this Kunai away from my throat, dobe..." Seeing the small amused smile on the Uchiha's face, Naruto relaxed and sagged in relief. Pulling the kunai away from his teammate's neck, he took a step back and gazed appreciatively at her figure. Just as his inner-pervert was about to come out, Shikamaru decided to butt in. Coughing in his hand, he continued,

"As I was saying before..."

Waving the Nara's concerns away distractedly, Naruto mumbled, all the while still shamelessly appreciating Sayuri's figure "Yeah yeah... No need to worry. Follow me, I'll just have to show you my masterpiece. I've put a lot of hard work in it, it'll definitely pay off, 'ttebayo." However, his thoughts were on another subject entirely.

'Perfection I say. All those curves in all the right places. She totally trumps Sakura..'

While Naruto was lost in his own thoughts, the Uchiha herself was musing about what had just been muttered by the blond. 'Masterpiece, huh?' Whatever the blond had cooked up was sure to be something worth inspecting. Her request could come later, right now she was interested in what new idea the blond had hashed up. She payed no mind to Naruto's shameless ogling. Truthfully, she didn't feel any shame or embarrassment if someone gave her a once over. In fact, she took pride when Naruto couldn't keep her eyes off of her. Certain feelings surfaced in mind of the Last Uchiha, but she entrenched them in back of mind. 'No, time right now for such thoughts.'

With a shake of his head, Naruto averted his gaze and walked towards the door. He could get all the inspiration for the next Icha Icha later. Poor Shikamaru was still looking warily at the Uchiha in the room. She had that effect on people.

"C'mon, I gotta show you the seal that will finally allow me to surpass my dad. Bet I'll be the biggest badass around!" Excitement filled the blond hero as he took a hold of the Nara's forearm and dragged him out.

Snapping out of his thoughts, Shikamaru hurriedly followed the blond. He could feel the woman's stare on his back, watching him like he was her prey, but what he didn't notice was the smirk on her lips. Suppressing a shudder, the Nara forced himself to look towards Naruto's back.

'Women... What a troublesome bunch.'

Leaving the office, the trio walked towards the Hokage's personal training ground at a sedate pace while taking in the scenery around them. Konoha had flourished after the war. The damages that had been wrought upon the village during Pain's Attack had been repaired. New districts had sprang up in the years after the war. Since there was no longer any danger of any invasion from rival villages, trade and economics had taken on a much more important and noticeable role.

Making up his mind, Naruto decided to strike up a conversation with the Uchiha. He was curious as to what she was up to in her travels. "Sooo... you got any cool stories to tell us about your travels?"

Raising an eyebrow at the question, Sayuri considered telling Naruto about her latest escapade in Land of Earth but thought better of it. No need to tell him about that right now with the Nara still here. It was still a sensitive topic for her. If she still couldn't completely be rid of Orochimaru despite all her powers then how could she consider herself truly free and away from his clutches. She still felt guilty for a lot of things that she had done in her past.

"No...nothing that would catch your attention really." She shook her head while her lips pursed. He was still gazing at her with an expression that clearly conveyed his message. I don't believe you.

"Somehow I doubt that..." Looking directly into the woman's onyx eyes, the blond softened his expression and spoke again "We're friends Sayuri, you know you can tell me about whatever it is that's bothering you. I'm here to help and so will the others if you just let us." His Negative Emotion Sensing told him that there was something that was disturbing his teammate big time. He couldn't just let his friend wallow in her miseries. She was trying to lock her emotions in her own person just like earlier, and that spelled trouble for them all. A pent up and emotionally unstable Sayuri would definitely be a cause of worry for everyone.

With an almost inaudible sigh, Sayuri stared forward towards the pavement of the road. Was it that obvious that she was bothered? Or maybe it was just Naruto and his innate ability to sense other's problems. Frowning, she hesitantly mumbled out "I'll...tell you later. Just not now."

Giving a comforting squeeze to her shoulders, Naruto got a grateful smile in return. Shikamaru just quietly observed the interaction with a small smile.

'If someone would've asked me if these two would be this close back in the academy days, I would've just continued sleeping without even giving a response.'

Deciding to leave Sayuri alone, Naruto changed the subject of their conversation "Did you hear about Sakura? She's gotten a promotion in the hospital. I got informed that she's on her way to becoming the Head Medic. Tsunade is leaving all responsibilities of hospital to her."

"Hn" She didn't care about Sakura all that much. No matter how sad that was. While she was on talking terms with Sakura, there was always built up tension between them that was just waiting to be released when any topic regarding Naruto came into their conversations.

"Hey! Don't diss Sakura. It's not nice to ignore her hardwork. She put a lot of effort in order to get where she is today." His lips quirked downwards, expressing his slight displeasure at her dismissal.

"You say like she's the only one who put some sweat and tears in her work." 'You've done a lot more than she ever could' She pointedly stared at him to make it clear what she was pointing at. In spite of this, the blond seemed oblivious to the fact that the topic of the conversation was shifting towards him.

"Well, I guess there are other shinobis and kunoichis out there who have done the same." He shrugged.

A suffering sigh followed as the Uchiha hid her irritation, "You just don't get it... do you Naruto?" With a confused expression on his face, Naruto closed his pair of azure blue orbs in contemplation, "Get what? I don't really see what I'm missing here."

"Just drop it Naruto, before it becomes too much of a drag..." Shikamaru spoke up. He rolled his eyes at the blond's obliviousness to the fact that the Uchiha was talking about him. Typical Naruto..

"Fine I gue- Hey look, we're finally here!" They had reached their destination while chatting away. The blond quickened his pace in his excitement. Entering the training ground of the Hokage, the blond guided the other two towards the clearing that he had drawn the seal in. Once the clearing could be seen through the treeline, the blond couldn't hold in his excitement and sprinted towards the treeline. The other two ninjas had no option but to follow.

Entering the clearing, the trio could see a giant seal drawn onto the ground. The shape of it resembled a whirlpool with the symbols and Kanjis merging together in the center. Carefully making his way to the center as to not step over and ruin any of the drawn symbols, Naruto addressed his companions "The seal has already been tested and tried on a smaller scale with a shadow clone. It's one hundred percent functional. This will be the last test before I introduce this baby to the public."

Speculatively looking at the giant seal on the ground that unnerved him, Shikamaru spoke up "Are you sure? As in absolutely sure that it won't malfunction?"

"As long as you don't mess it up, it won't. Trust me on this. Anyway, behold my ingenuity!"

'I have a feeling this ain't gonna end well, brat..'

'Your just worrying too much, fox.'

'Hmph. Fine, if you wanna continue with your idiocy then be my guest. But don't whine later about me not telling you so because I did tell you so!'

'The seal WILL work, 'ttebayo! Just you wait and see!'

With that exclamation, Naruto poured his chakra into the control matrix of the seal. The symbols in the center started to glow a bright blinding white and slowly but steadily, the rest of the seal started glowing. However, neither Naruto nor Sayuri noticed Shikamaru take a step back and as a result completely erase a Kanji.

With a grin that spread from ear to ear, Naruto looked down at the seal gleefully and giggled, effectively creeping out Sayuri who had a worried expression on her face. A few seconds after glowing the air around them started to distort. Soon enough, a bright flash of light blinded all three of the ninjas and a loud explosion.

After the dust had settled down, there was nothing left in the clearing that would indicate that someone was even there except for the scorch marks on the ground where the seal used to be.

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Somewhere North of the Wall:

In a cold and snowy clearing surrounded by numerous tall and thick trees, three figures were laying on the ground, face first. After a while one of them moved and jumped up, gasping for air. Looking around wildly, Naruto tried to remember what happened. All of a sudden memories came rushing back to him. Conversing with Shikamaru and Sayuri, his undoubtedly impulsive decision to test the seal right away, the bright flash and then nothing. He could feel the growing pit of dread in his stomach. His body automatically tensed up and got ready for any dangers that may be lurking in this creepy forest. There was a certain chill to the air and atmosphere around them that should not be there under normal circumstances. With his danger senses acting up, he decided to create four shadow clones to set up a perimeter around the clearing before he settled a little bit away from the two unconscious shinobi.

'I've got three words for you, dumbass! Told. You. So.' Roared Kurama in his mind.

Frowning at the snide remark and huffing in annoyance the blond started looking around the clearing. He couldn't identify the type of trees that were present around the clearing. Having traveled to a lot of different places and studied about a lot more about the different plant life that grew in various shinobi nations, he was certain that he hadn't seen these type of trees before. Which would mean that this was an unknown and uncharted region they had landed in.

Already feeling the headache that was to come, Naruto just sat down on the snow and put his head in his hand while contemplating on what to do next. Turning around and looking at the two other shinobis, he decided to let them wake up first before proceeding. All he could think about was if there was even a way to get out of this mess and get back to Konoha as soon as possible.

"Well, shit..." Just as Naruto was looking around, his stomach made its presence known. With being so caught up in finalizing his seal, he had forgotten to actually eat. No longer wanting to wait around, Naruto went to shake the other two companions of his out of unconsciousness.