What if Naruto hadn't been able to convince Nagato and Konan of his method for peace, and instead they both survived their encounter with him? I explore in what I think is an in-universe continuity if such a thing had happened in which the remaining Ame orphans sought to restore peace to the world through their own means. But just as Naruto would face problems far greater than Pain in the future, so must our new anti-heroes face those same threats to accomplish their ultimate desire.

Yes, I'm back from the dead, long story. If you're a fan of the Akatsuki like I am and like scenario's like these, I'd suggest checking out my stories on Hidan/Kakuzu and Deidara/Sasori. Otherwise, sit back and enjoy this little story I've created. Reviews on your thoughts always appreciated!

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Nagato

The time had come, was passing, and would continue to pass no matter what happened to him.

The issue was, he couldn't let it pass without him.

The Paths we're defeated. Somehow- someway, impossible to fathom. His last image from the Deva Path- Yahiko- was one most unsettling. The Nine Tails jiinchuriki, returned from his beast state and able to take down the Deva?

He moved restlessly inside his container, feeling uncertain again; his prison, thanks to the damage to his legs sustained from that Day.

From the corner of his eye, he noticed Konan watching him. Blessed Konan, never leaving his side. She was the only one that he perhaps saw as a friend, though such things were far behind and beyond him now. Concern filled her amber eyes, and she took a hesitant step towards his still body.

Exhaling deeply, he finally said, "He's coming."

Immediately she raised her hand, and the paper tree she had created as camoflouge began to crumble. "I'll move you myself, just let me-"

"No. I want to face him, here."

"Nagato, that's-"

"Insane? Stupid?" He licked his bloodless lips. "Possibly. But I won't fail and run away, Konan. Not now. Now when I'm so close."

Her arms did not lower, but he could feel the tree's collapse freeze. "He's coming to kill you, you know that?" she said. "You just destroyed his village. A lot of his friends are dead, and his chakra reserves are unknown right now-"

"He will come but he won't attack first. He will want to speak." He closed his eyes and relaxed in his prison, trying to recuperate as much chakra as he could. She was right- his chakra was immense, and it would take everything he had to overwhelm his in this final, desperate stage.

Finally, Konan lowered her arms. "The moment he moves to harm you, I'll stop him."

I highly doubt you could ever match him. "If it soothes you," he said instead, eyes still closed.

And they waited. As he did, he thought of Yakiho's corpse, strewn out helplessly on foreign lands. When the jiinchuriki was caught, he would make it his priority to recover it. The very thought of Yakiho out there...

I haven't failed you yet, my friend. Just wait.

His body was in pain, constant and unceasing. Twice his recovery broke off because of the stabbing feeligs that came from the damaged nerves in his legs. At the same time it pushed him on. Pain was unstoppable... he smiled at the analogy.

Footsteps from the outside, and there was no more time. Taking a deep breath, he finally opened his eyes as the sound of ripping paper echoed into their enclosure.

The jinchuuriki stood there, just as he had in the eyes of the Deva Path. Tall, blonde, battered but alive. In his body, the valuable essence of the Nine Tails lied like a sweet prize from a carnival stand-

Konan rushed forward, and he bit back a curse. "Konan, stay out of this," he said commandingly.

"But Nagato-"

I told you already- "It's alright," he said, more for the sake of keeping her held back. This was between them, the students of Jiraiya. Two great beings of power-

But one difference. The jiinchuriki was a mortal.

He was God.

"Are you him?" The jinchuuriki looked at him with a sort of wide, terrorized curiosity. No doubt he had been expecting some clever, powerful being waiting in the shadows as a final battle. Not... not what he had become. "Are you the real Pain?"

It irked him. "So the peacemaker comes stumbling in at last."

The jincuuriki stared at him still, but Nagato could feel the hatred starting to swell up. He had seen it, all too many times. The acts of a God often seemed incomprehensible to those lesser than him. Still... the boy had defeated all Six Paths. He was worthy of consideration, at least for the moment. In the back of his mind, he delegated a small path of himself to keep recovering chakra. Patience is my weapon- use it well.

But the boy continued to stare at him, and Nagato wondered if he would make the same move many others had done in the past. "Tell me," Nagato taunted. "Do you hate me now? Do you wish to exact revenge on me?"

The jiinchuriki's mouth worked itself into a tightly controlled snarl, and he braced himself for the moment.

"Killing Nagato and achieving vengeance will give you nothing but give you personal satisfaction." Konan stepped forward, almost pleading- for him! He looked at her while the jiinchuriki continued to stare, lost in his own thoughts.

He can't even make the choice whether he wants to kill me or not. This is over. Once again bracing himself, he said, "If you cannot find the answer, then there is nothing more you can do. So simply do the just thing and simply sacrifice yourself to me! And the peace I shall soon construct!"

Now. He focused his chakra into his legs and activated the prison in which he resided in for it's one weapon- the chakra receiver spear it could eject. It shot forward and Jiraiya's last student took it full to the chest.

Konan's eyes widened, looking between the boy and Nagato. He breathed a sigh of relief as he heard the first droplets of blood hit the floor, and his own chakra began to filter through the boy, taking over nerves, infiltrating him down to the last cell. There could be no more failure with this jinchuuriki- no more.

But he was resisting, the shock of the blow fading. "From this distance, I can control every move of yours with my chakra," he called out. "But don't worry, I've avoiding anything vital... because you're invaluable to me, jinchuuriki."

A hurricane of power. It was so sudden he almost didn't have time to react, and he poured all his chakra into a barrier, but the wild ferocity of the Nine-Tails chakra broke his barrier as if it were the paper surrounding them. The power- the raw power-

NO. I CONTROL-

"I came here to talk to you-" the jinchuuriki began, his voice rough with the air of a beast. Nagato gasped, thrashing about in his prison as if he had been crucified to it. The chakra surge was frying every inch of his body, heating him up like an oven. Fireworks danced beneath his eyes. The power-

A shadow moved beneath him.

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Konan

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She had warned, why didn't he want to listen? He rarely listened to her these days, sometimes she felt he kept her around like some lost family heirloom, to remind himself that he was still human and not the God he made himself out to be-

But she wasn't going to stand by and collect dust. She wouldn't stand by... not like that Day.

Her wings snapped behind her like the feathers of a real bird, and she shot across the room towards the jinchuuriki, bowling him over with enough force to completely cut off the rest of his sentence. No doubt her interference had been the last thing on his mind, probably on Nagato's too. Did he expect her to ignore his thrashing about like a wounded animal?

She carried the boy high into the air, and his hands gripped her shoulders. His fury was intense; she could practically feel it digging into her skin-

No, he was digging into her cloak. His nails had sharpened into that of a beasts, and she looked into his eyes. A blood-red, a cross made of the fox's slanted vertical shape and the Sage Mode's horizontal bar. It only heightened the need to end this quickly: if she carried this on for any longer than it had to, he was liable to kill her.

Leaving Nagato alone-

Not like that Day. She folded the wings, enclosing both of them. The metal chakra receiver coming from Naruto's stomach awkwardly pushed against her stomach as they began to fall. His hands went from her arms to her chest, ripping apart the cloak, seeking the skin beneath-

She put them into a spin, and she made the mistake of looking up. The ground was not paper; it was hard earth, and it spun closer like some sort of vortex. "Nagato!" she cried, not in fear but in hoping he would make the move once her part was done-

They struck the earth, and to her great surprise she found herself to still be conscious, not a bone broken. She clawed herself out of the earth, and looked over at Naruto. He was collapsed, face up, eyes closed. The earth to his left was dented as if a giant hammer had swung into it. His hair was brownish and red; blood leaked from the direct wound, and she thought his head, likewise, bore the same dent as the earth.

"I cushioned your fall." She turned around; Nagato looked at her, eyes gaunt and slightly angry. Vomit trailed down the front of his metal position. "You shouldn't have intervened, I had it under control."

"Under control?" She gestured to the unconscious boy. "Don't act like he wasn't using the Nine Tails' power to overwhelm you. Any longer and he could have very well been controlling your every movements."

He gave a snort. "He never would have stood a chance." His stable began to roll forward, the chakra receiver shooter closing. "Your attack's cracked his skull. He's not going anywhere ever again. Throw him onto me and we will return to the hideout."

I'm not a pack mule, she wanted to say, but she did as he said anyways. He rarely treated her this bad anyways; the shock of near defeat had no doubt upset him slightly.

She could deal with that. They were closer to the Goal. As she tossed Naruto's body onto him, their eyes met, and something more peaceful entered his.

Peaceful, in the eyes of the Rinnegan, eyes built for seeing war and yet they looked at her just as they had long ago. She smiled at him, and he did, and for a moment they were back in the orphan house, Yahiko and Jiraiya standing with them...

The moment was gone, and the reality of the Rinnegan's purpose settled in. "You can take down the tree now," he said hoarsely. "We'll move as soon as you're finished. We have a long week of extracting the Nine Tails ahead of us. I'll contact the others."

"Of course." In minutes they were away, the future more open to them than ever before.