Chapter One:

Where it all begins

My excuses for this EXTREMELY long absence and explanations at bottom.

I do not own Naruto.

XXX

A small smile graced the utterly exhausted visage of the leader of Akatsuki. He had seen many things in his life, things that would make an ordinary person heave their lunch onto the floor before them. From witnessing the supposedly accidental death of his parents at the hands of Konoha-nin, to the death of his best friend at his own hand. He had gone toe to toe with some of the strongest men and women in the entire land and come out on top. Hell Nagato was one of the only people in the world who could claim to have lived through multiple encounters with Biju and/or their Jinchuriki. But this boy...this young irksome boy...was unlike anything he had ever encountered. Not even his mythical Rinnegan eyes could get a reading on the young blond who stood before him. Despite the fact that he was basically fated to capture, or die trying, the Jinchuriki he couldn't help but feel as though there was something much deeper to it all. The words of his deceased teacher echoed through his head.

The child of prophecy is you Nagato.

"No..." Nagato whispered, barely loud enough to be audible. It was enough as Naruto's deep blue eyes fixated on Nagato's own grayish-purple. "I am not. You are the Child of Prophecy Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto's eyes widened as he recalled the words of his deceased teacher and the toads during his sage training. Konan recoiled in shock as she looked at Nagato quizzically.

"Nagato..."

Her words fell on deaf ears however as Nagato continued his speach. "I believe in you Uzumaki Naruto. You will save this world from the never-ending spell of hatred. You will dry out the overflowing river of war. This is your destiny, not mine. I realize now that my part has been played." Nagato spoke as his pale lips turned into a thin smile.

Naruto flashed a grin as he laughed sheepishly. His eyes grew cloudy as he remembered the events of the day. "But the village...my friends are gone." Tears threatened to spill as the days events finally hit him.

Nagato's eyes narrowed as he brought his right hand to his chin thoughtfully. He seemed to be contemplating something. 'There is always the outer path...'

"This world is doomed." Nagato announced after minutes of silence.

A hoarse growl rumbled from Naruto's throat as he glared at the Rinnegan wielder. "What do you mean? There's no hope at all?"

Konan looked shocked at her lifelong friend's words as she turned to him, silently demanding an explanation.

"Yes as we are now, Madara is to powerful." Nagato took a breath to let the words sink in. "Right now he has the other eight tailed beasts, including the Hachibi. Now add the fact that Konoha's military force is almost completely depleted. Even if I was to give life back to those who died today, I doubt it would be enough..."

Naruto and Konan's eyes widened for what seemed like the hundredth time today. "You could do that?" The blond sage asked doubtfully.

Nagato merely nodded as he continued to sort through his thoughts.

"But Nagato, there has to be a way! You've seen what Naruto can do! He will be able to-" Konan was silenced as Nagato simply raised his right hand in the air, signaling he was about to speak.

"No, Madara is to powerful. He will undoubtedly move as soon as the word of my failure reaches him. With the way Naruto is now...there is no doubt he would be defeated." Nagato reasoned as Naruto's normally cheerful eyes darkened considerably.

"But there may be a way." The former Akatsuki member announced as Naruto's head snapped upwards. "There is an ability of the Rinnegan that I've never used before..."

Now this got Konan's attention. Aside from Nagato and perhaps Madara she knew the abilities of the Rinnegan better than anyone in the nation. She racked her brain for any ability she could think of that would help the situation. She found none.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked as a look of uncertainty flashed into existence.

"I've never used this ability before..." Nagato took a deep breath as he carefully picked his choice of word, "Because doing so would indefinitely result in my death."

To say Naruto was confused now would be like saying Lee was mildly interested in exercise. "I don't understand...why would you do something that you know would kill you?"

Nagato smirked as his all knowing eyes seemed to glow in foresight. "Because it is the only way. This ability of mine can manipulate time and space to the degree that I can effectively send one or two people back through the time-space continuum."

A knowing look etched itself onto Konan's visage. "You don't mean...?"

"Yes. I can send you two into the past, in hopes that you'll be able to change this future." Nagato explained. Konan didn't look satisfied as she pressed forward.

"What is a couple of years going to do? There is no guarantee this is going to work!" The oddly colored haired woman argued. "If we do this and it doesn't work you will die for nothing!"

"No." Nagato stated simply. "Doing nothing and living would be worse than attempting and failing. The way I see it we can try this or we will all be killed by Uchiha Madara."

Naruto gazed intently at the ground, obviously deep in thought. A whole minute of complete and utter silence went by before the teenager made even the slightest bodily movement. After exactly one minute twelve seconds Naruto's head snapped upwards as a look of renewed vigor and determination shone through the grimy and smut ridden face of the young Jinchuriki.

"I'll do it."

Nagato nodded as his gaze turned to his blue haired companion. "Konan?"

The lone female member of Akatsuki sighed in frustration as she reluctantly gave in.

"Excellent!" Nagato seemingly chirped with new found energy. A low mechanical humm echoed throughout the hollowed out tree as Nagato stepped out of his machine. He blinked rapidly as he tried to regain his bearings. Being cooped up in a machine so long was definitely not good for oneself. "Get comfortable, this may take awhile." Nagato said as he begun a long and intricate set of hand seals. His fingers moved in an unrecognizable blur as his chakra flared violently.

Naruto slowly approached the paper-wielder with a nervous look present on his youthful face. "If we are going to make this work, we should probably start over huh?" He asked sheepishly as he shot one of his famous grins to his former enemy.

Konan couldn't help sprouting a small grin of her own at the younger boy's attitude. "I suppose."

"Hehe. I'm Uzumaki Naruto. I'm almost sixteen years old and my favorite food is ramen! I like training, my friends and meeting new people. I hate the idea of revenge, idiot villagers who don't let people into their shops, and the three minutes it takes for ramen to cook!" Naruto finished with small pout. Konan giggled at the boy's childish antics. It was strange to her that he was able to shift his demeanor from an overpowered teen-aged maelstrom to a childish fool in a matter of seconds.

"Well..." Konan started as she took a deep breath to clear her thoughts, "I'm Konan and, much like you, I am an orphan. I like origami, flowers and my childhood friends." Naruto frowned as he noticed her brief glance towards the relentlessly sealing redhead. "I dislike anyone who stands against Nagato or I. I also dislike mummified and/or masked men who insist on only showing one eye."

Naruto's brow crunched in thought at this. The only people he could think of with those qualities were Kakashi-sensei and that weird Akatsuki member Tobi.

Konan, as if reading his thoughts assured Naruto she wasn't talking about Kakashi, and that she would tell him in good time.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to break up this little get together." Nagato spoke up as his hands slammed into a ram seal. As soon as he noticed he had the groups' full attention he continued. "This may seem a little crazy but I'm going to have to ask you both to trust me."

Konan nodded immediately before looking expectantly towards her new time travelling partner. Naruto looked skeptically at the Rinnegan user as he seemed to weigh the risks.

"...How crazy are we talking here?"

Nagato sighed as he seemed to decide on his word choice. "Well. I'm afraid that in order for this to work, I'm going to have to kill you both..."

Naruto's eyes widened as he pointed a finger accusingly towards the missing-nin. "What do you mean 'kill us'?"

"I mean exactly as I say. In order for this procedure to work properly, you both need to be dead." Nagato explained in a voice far too calm for Naruto's liking.

"Oi! Why should I believe you? You did destroy my entire village afterall." Naruto reasoned as he brought a hand to his chin in thought.

"You idiot!" Konan hissed impatiently as she turned to the blond. "Even if he was tricking you, what good would a dead Jinchuriki be for Akatsuki?"

Naruto's eyes widened in shock as he thought about her words.

Nagato looked deeply into the shorter boy's eyes. "It's now or never Uzumaki."

Naruto looked down at the floor in thought. On one hand it wasn't out of the question for the former enemy to be tricking him. Although it wouldn't make sense for the man to willingly kill his childhood friend as well. Naruto couldn't detect any sort of deceit in the man's words. Although he honestly wasn't well versed in lie detection, that was more up his chronically late sensei's alley. After a few moments Naruto looked into Nagato's eyes with a renewed sense of confidence.

"As long as you don't plunge an overcharged battery into my lung I'm good." Naruto shivered remembering his unique experience at the valley of the end. He couldn't help but shake his head at the strange looks the other ninja were giving him. "Long story."

Nagato nodded as he pulled out two of his sharpened chakra rods. They seemed to glow eerily with a violet hue. "Uzumaki lay here," He motioned to a spot on the ground, "Konan, you lay here."

They both quickly did as he instructed, lying their backs on the cold ground. Naruto closed his eyes as he felt the self proclaimed god itch closer and closer to him. He couldn't quite shake the feeling that something inconceivably wrong was going to occur in the near future, ermm, past. The blond quickly expelled such thoughts as he forcefully braced himself for what was to come. His eyes snapped open as he felt the unmistakable feeling of cold steel passing through his throat. The Jinchuriki's mouth gasped for air as he began to thrash wildly. Soon he felt a rush of chakra that froze him in his tracks. While normal chakra usually gave the feeling of the user, whether that be the calm, embracing feeling that frequently radiated from the late sandaime, or the sinister sensation that Orochimaru seemed to leak from his very core. This chakra, however, felt different. He couldn't explain it clearly, no he only knew one word that could fulling explain feeling. Emptiness... complete and total emptiness. He couldn't feel anything coming from this chakra. It was...unsettling to say the least. These were the last thoughts of Uzumaki Naruto before he closed his eyes for the final time.

X.X.X.X

Naruto's eyes fluttered open as he let lose a groan of discomfort. He grabbed his head in pain as the genin's eyes flicked back and forth, trying to get some sense of surrounding. A look of confusion etched itself onto Naruto's face as he found himself laying in a field, sparsely populated with medium sized trees.

"So you're finally awake?" A soft voice called. Although the answer was obvious, the woman knew no better way to start a conversation with such a stranger.

"What...where are we...?" Naruto groaned as he turned to the blue haired woman.

"Isn't it obvious?" Konan asked with a raised eyebrow.

Naruto frowned in confusion as the events of the day flooded his mind. All of a sudden the blond leaped to his feet as he desperately tried to make sense of the situation.

"It actually worked!" Naruto shouted with no hidden shock.

"Of course. You expect less from Nagato?"

Naruto chuckled as he marveled at what exactly had happened. He had traveled back in time! The blond had done a feat long thought impossible. He still had one question though. "Where the hell are we?"

Konan smirked. "I would have thought you'd recognize your own village..."

Naruto's eyes widened in shock. "What do you mean...there's no village..." The ramen loving ninja strained his eyes to see as far possible, yet nothing but fields were to be found anywhere.

"That's right," Konan agreed, "not yet anyways."

"You don't mean...?" Naruto asked with a knowing look.

"Nagato sent us back before the village of Konoha was created."

X.X.X.X.

"WHAT!" Naruto shouted before Konan quickly slapped he hand over his mouth.

"Quiet! You don't know if anyone is around!" The former akatsuki member hissed in a low whisper.

"Actually..." Naruto smirked as pressed his hands into a unique seal. He closed his eyes as Konan stared expectantly. After about ten seconds Naruto's eyes opened. Gone were the light blue eyes Konan had grown used to seeing. Instead Naruto's irises were now a goldish yellow hue with horizontally slit pupils. Reddish orange marks surrounded the outer halves of his eyes. "I do."

'So this is what a true sage looks like? To think this boy has surpassed Jiraiya's Sage abilities already...'

Naruto closed his eyes as he extended his senses around him. After a few minutes of this the boy's lips curled into a shallow frown.

"We're not alone."

Konan's eyes widened as she began to plan battle strategies. "Potential enemies?"

"They both have really high chakra levels...definitely higher than Kakashi-sensei's..." He mused as he seemed to be uncharacteristically in deep thought.

"What is it?" Konan asked as she started to assay the situation. 'Kakashi-san has considerable levels of chakra...this may be bad...'

"I got it!" Naruto announced abruptly. "That means their both at least elite jonin level!"

Konan's eye twitched as she watched the young boy before her dance in triumph. "You really are an idiot..."

"Huh?" Naruto immediately ceased his dancing and turned toward the former Akatsuki member.

"Nothing..." Konan sighed as she rubbed her temple. This was going to be a long journey.

X.X.X.X

"What do you mean he's gone!" Fukasaku croaked as he was brought back to the land of the living.

"I'm sorry Fukasaku-sama!" The no-name chunin bowed as he continued his explanation. "As soon as we started to report the dead we noticed that neither Naruto nor the two Akatsuki members were anywhere to be found. It was reported that the boy went after the real Nagato, but as far as we know that's the last place anyone has seen him."

"This is bad! Alert the Hokage at once!" The elder toad shouted with as much authority his measly frame could carry. Of course the chunin's nervous frown didn't settle his nerves.

"I'm sorry but...that isn't possibly at this moment." he gulped as he ran a hand through his short brown hair.

"Don't tell me...the Hokage's dead?" Fukasaku felt the massive headache forming already.

"N-no! It's not that." The Chunin blinked his green eyes as he seemed to be pondering something. "Tsunade-sama is merely in a comatose state, the length of which is currently undetermined."

The vertically challenged toad croaked in annoyance. While it was good news to hear that the slug-user was still alive, it was still far from ideal.

"Fine...report it to Kakashi-san then!"

"Well, you see..." The chunin mumbled as he silently recited his will.

"For crying out loud!" Fukasaku screamed as he fell backwards in defeat. "Is there anyone in this god forsaken village that's still alive?"

The chunin seemed to have trouble choosing his next words, the last thing he wanted was to piss off an already irritated sage. "Well...I could report it to Yamato-san? As far as I know he's still alive..."

"Yes do that! In the meantime I need to find something for myself..." The aged toad mumbled the last part to himself as he began a set of seals. As soon as he concluded the hand seals the toad slammed his webbed hands onto the ground before instantly dissappearing in a puff of smoke.

X.X.X.X

"O-ojiji-sama!" Fukasaku called through pants as he rushed into the throne room of the eldest toad in existence. "N-Naruto's gone missing!"

The elder toad merely smiled lightly at his younger (Note the 'er') companion. "I know this already child."

Fukasaku gazed at the giant toad skeptically. "You know what happened? And you're not worried that Akatsuki has captured him?"

The great sage merely chuckled at the significantly smaller toad's antics. "Do not worry...Akatsuki has not obtained young Naruto."

The toad's face morphed into one of confusion at this point. "If not them, who?"

"The answer is simple," The Great Toad Sage explained, for the lack of a better word, sagely. "Here take a look..."

Fukasaku peered into the large crystal ball for what seemed like hours. His eyes were glued to the purple orb as he watched what it had to show. Just as the images dispersed a frantic toad rushed into the scene.

"Fukasaku-sama!"

Said toad merely sighed as he looked expectantly to the horse sized toad that was currently trying to regain it's bearings. "What is it? Can't you see I'm in the middle of something..."

"Gerotora is gone!"

Neither toad missed the knowing smirk that slowly formed on the face of the great elder.

X.X.X.X

"These people..." Konan started, "Where are they?"

Naruto frowned as he closed his eyes again. "North-east, probably around 6 kilometers away..."

Konan clicked her tongue in irritation. "If we know they are there, there's a chance they know of us as well."

"Umm...Konan," the younger blond interrupted the Akatsuki member's musings, "They're coming our way."

Said woman's amber eyes widened in shock. She quickly began to form strategies in her mind for any possible outcome. Well she may not be able to think 200 moves ahead like some of Konoha's elite Nara members were said to be able to, Konan was definitely no slacker in the planning department. Ninja, let alone nuke-nin, rarely make it to S-rank without having at least moderately high planning capabilities.

"When will they arrive?" She asked as she turned to her blond haired companion. Naruto quickly expelled the remaining sage chakra from his system, causing his eyes to revert to their original sky blue pigment.

"Now." A bored voice called as two similar looking men appeared in front of the two time travellers. They were both momentarily stunned from the impressive showings of speed and stealth. In all honesty if Naruto didn't have his Sage training they would have had no idea the two were even in the area, let alone traveling towards them at such a pace.

The two were obviously related, if their looks were any indication. They both had spiky black hair with a faint blue tint. However Konan noted that while the man on the right kept his hair at about shoulder length, the other man opted instead to tie his hair back into a ponytail extending to his mid back. They both had black high collared shirts and blue pants, taped at the ankles. The two time travelers shared a hidden glance at the sight of a red and white fan that adorned the backs of the two.

It was the one on the right who spoke first. "Who are you and why are you trespassing in Uchiha land?"

That pretty much sealed the deal for the two 'foreign' ninja. All doubts they had of their time travel were erased with that one measly sentence.

"We are merely travellers of the land Uchiha-sama. I promise you that neither my friend or I wish you any harm." Konan explained quickly.

The two men exchanged a glance before their eyes swirled into a familiar blood red. They were obviously taking any potential threat seriously. This was evident by the fact that they activated their heavily chakra consuming dojutsu.

It was the second man who spoke this time. "Travelers you say. How is it you posses ninja training then? It is obvious your partner there is a well accomplished sensor."

Naruto went to speak but was cut off as Konan held a single hand in the air. "I can explain that. We were trained by a traveling hermit."

'Oh she's good...' Naruto mentally praised the girl who was technically telling the truth.

"A hermit you say?" The first asked disbelievingly.

Konan nodded. "Yes, much to perverted for my tastes..."

"-But!" Naruto cut in abruptly. "He was also a great teacher and one of the strongest people I've ever met."

The Uchiha who had spoken looked at Konan expectantly. She nodded in agreement. "This hermit...where is he now?" He didn't fail to catch the depression that seemed to be radiating off the two at this point - particularly the blond.

"H-he passed away recently." Konan muttered in a depressed, and somewhat apologetic manner. This obviously confused the two Uchiha.

"I see. I'm sorry for your loss." The shorter haired Uchiha nodded his head respectfully. "My sharingan hasn't detected any forms of deception. What are your names?"

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto, and this is Konan." The blond answered with a grin.

"Just Konan." The S-rank nin answered the immediate question on the Uchiha's mind. "I was an orphan - we both were."

"I see. My name is Madara. This," he pointed to the longer haired boy, "Is my brother Izuna."

Naruto and Konan's eyes widened at this information. Uchiha Madara. This name had haunted them each for years in their past, in ways known and unknown to the two. This, of course, did not go unnoticed with the Uchiha brothers.

"You seem suprised?" Izuna spoke slowly, allowing his words to sink in. "Have you heard of us?"

"Of course we've heard of the heir to the Uchiha throne! You are one of the most famous men in the land!" Konan exclaimed as she mentally breathed a sigh of relief. That had been a close call. She thanked several different gods that she had payed attention to her sensei's lessons of history.

Madara nodded in understanding. "That is fair." He paused. "However...You said your name was Uzumaki, no?"

"Yeah Uzumaki Naruto." Naruto nodded slowly, not understanding where the future pain in his ass was taking the conversation.

"You wouldn't, by any chance, happen to be related to a certain Uzumaki Clan, cousin clan to the Senju?" Madara asked with no hidden malice. It was no secret he loathed the only clan that was on equal grounds with his own.

Naruto frowned. "Not that I'm aware of. I am an orphan and no one ever really told me about my parents..." Technically it wasn't a complete lie. His father's appearance was only a safety precaution of the seal, not a real person.

Madara nodded. "I see. I apologize for my probing, but you see my clan isn't exactly on friendly terms with the Senju." Naruto nodded. It was one of the few things Iruka-sensei had managed to teach him regarding history.

"It's fine. I'm not really that sour about the whole orphan thing anymore." Naruto explained.

The future leader of Akatsuki nodded. "I can tell you haven't been lying. Now...Just one more question. Do you swear on your life that you in no way, shape, or form intend to steal, harm or in anyway mutilate anything owned by the Uchiha clan?"

Naruto sweat dropped. "Man you guys really take this stuff seriously... Yes. I swear I will not do any of those things."

"I concur." Konan nodded lightly.

Madara's gaze momentarily shifted to the blue haired woman. It was unnerving, to say the least, for the woman to be staring into the eyes of the man who had played her friends like pawns. If the man was impressed by her calm demeanor or the fact that she was able to stare down one of the strongest men on the planet, he didn't show it. Konan couldn't help but feel a tad bit apprehensive as the man flashed a cocky smirk.

"Your cloak..." he paused as he eyed the collared cloak, "I like it."

Naruto couldn't help but sprout a small grin at the irony of the current situation.

"Thank you. It was designed by an...acquaintance of mine." Konan replied as she mirrored the smirk.

"Hey!" Izuna spoke up in a loud, by Uchiha standard, tone. "Why don't you two stay with us? If you don't have any pressing matters to attend to, I mean..."

"Izuna." Madara whispered in a deadly tone. Something about these people seemed off to him. It was like he should know them from somewhere, although he was certain he'd never met the two before.

Izuna merely shot his older brother a goofy smile. "Come on Madara! We hardly ever get visitors. I'm sure father would like to meet these two as well."

Madara looked at his brother skeptically. 'I don't trust these guys, it'd be best to test their story before father.' Was the hidden message he'd interpreted from his brother's words. He eventually sighed in apparent defeat.

"I suppose it couldn't hurt," He mused as he turned to the time travelers, "What do you say?"

Konan knew something was up from the moment Madara had agreed to his brother's proposal. Why would two members of one of the must high strung clans in the word invite complete strangers into their home. She weighed her options and decided accepting the invitation would pose less of a future annoyance than making an potential enemy of the Uchiha by declining the 'generous' invitation. She bowed to the two brothers. "I thank you for your generous offer. We would be honored to stay in your home, if you should allow it."

Naruto, while not nearly as experienced as Konan in foreseeing traps, was also skeptical of the Uchiha's apparent hospitality. 'I hope you know what you're doing...'

"Yeah! That would be great!" The blond flashed the two his trademark grin.

"Great!" Izuna smiled. "Follow me." He instructed as he took off at a leisurely pace, by shinobi standards at least. He was confident in his companions' ability to keep up. The two nodded as they quickly caught up with the brothers.

The four ran in silence for a time. The dull sound of feet hitting ground was the only noise that disturbed the tranquility of the sparsely populated plain. It was Naruto who first spoke up.

"So Izuna-san...How far is your house?" The anxious blond asked. It was obvious he was tired. The day's events had taken their toll on the teenage blond. It wasn't everyday your village was destroyed by the heir to the creator of known jutsu. Then there was the fact that said man had gone on to switch sides at the last moment and send him back through time. 'And Sakura said that having my therapy speeches registered as a legal ninjutsu was pointless...'

The man let out a dry chuckle. "Who said anything about a house?" True to his word the three soon arrived at the gates of what could only be described as a small village.

"This is where you live?" Naruto asked in disbelief.

Madara nodded. "Welcome to the Uchiha clan's main establishment."

Naruto looked on in awe as they entered the clan ground. Everywhere he looked he saw identical buildings. It was obvious the architecture of Konoha was influenced by the Uchiha village. Much like Konoha, the general structure of the buildings were cylindrical and rectangular with flat tops. They were all various hues of brown or maroon with distinctive red and white fans showing up at least once on every building. Of course there was one building that stood out form its surroundings. The building was at least two or three times the size of its neighboring structures. It also seemed to be made from a higher level material and had a peculiar polished finish that screamed conceited to the blond. In fact it seemed they were getting closer and closer to said building.

"Here we are." Madara spoke, momentarily interrupting Naruto from his thoughts. "This is the main house building. I hope you enjoy your stay at our humble abode."

Naruto looked at the man in shock. "D-did you just make a joke?"

Izuna seemed to be in a similar state of shock as he pointed a finger at his brother accusingly. "Madara...how many times has Soeki been caught peeping on the women's hot spring?"

"47." Madara sighed, "The one time I try to make a joke I got called out by a complete stranger and my own brother thinks I'm a fake..."

Izuna clapped a hand on his brothers shoulder apologetically. "Hehe I was just joking! I knew it was you...sort of." This caused Madara to glare at his brother. "I had my suspicions!"

The two visitors both sweat dropped as they watched the family interaction.

"Well anyways," Izuna spoke as he opened the door and led the two through a series of hallways, "You two must be tired. I'll show you to your room."

The two nodded as the events of the past day caught up to them. To say it was interesting would be like saying saying Hinata was just a semi-reclusive person when it came to Naruto. They had both, in all senses of the word, died.

"Here we are!" Izuna announced as he slid a door open to reveal a moderately sized room populated with two queen sized beds.

"Finally...sleep..." Naruto droned as he walked zombie like over to the nearest bed. If he had been of more able mind he may have noticed that the guest room alone was nearly half the size of his apartment, and was complete with its own bathroom and fireplace.

"I apologize for my friend's antics. We're both very tired." Konan explained.

"It's fine!" Izuna assured with a grin. "We don't get very interesting characters around here often. In fact, most of my clan are personality duplicates of Madara. You may want to get some sleep though, my father will undoubtedly want to meet you tomorrow."

Konan nodded appreciatively as the younger Uchiha slid the door closed. She soon approached the Jinchuriki. "You're not worried at all that they might try something as we sleep?"

Naruto mumbled some barely coherent words as he lazily positioned his fingers into a familiar cross seal. "Shadow Clone..." He mumbled as a single doopelganger burst to life.

The clone didn't look to pleased as it discovered its master's intent. "Why do I have to sit here all night while you get to sleep?"

Naruto's head slowly rose from the pillow as he glared at the clone. "You're a clone," was his simple reply as he immediately fell back into the world of sleep.

Konan sighed as she heard the clone grumble in agreement. She soon followed suit as she drifted into a dreamless sleep, completely unaware of the events the near future was going to uphold.

X.X.X.X

"Finally...It's done." Nagato whispered as he wiped the bead of sweat off his forehead. "I'm lucky we're related, or this would have been much more complicated..."

The Rinnegan wielder finished his final stroke as he took a step back to marvel at his work. On the ground the corpse of Uzumaki Naruto was positioned directly in the center of a complicated series of seals. Nagato collapsed on the ground as he crawled over to the young man.

"Naruto...I know you can change the world. Let this be just another tool to aid you in your journey." Nagato spoke quietly as he grabbed the cold wrist of the corpse. He scrunched in eyes in concentration as the little remaining chakra he had flowed into the Jinchuriki. When it was over the red headed man's eyes snapped open to reveal a set of sky blue orbs. He looked onto the body of his distant cousin sadly before Uzumaki Nagato finally succumbed to the will of death.

X.X.X.X

Well this concluded the first chapter of my newest story! Some of you may be thinking 'Where the hell have you been?' 'Why are you starting a new story' or 'Will you continue your other stories?'. My answer to the first question is I've been dealing with my depression acting up again...pretty badly. I don't want to bore you with details but it's left me 100% unmotivated to write. Oh well it's not the end of the world. The reason I started this story is simple. I feel my writing level has gone down with my absence and I'm using this to bring it back to standard. Once I feel I'm back up to where I'd like to be I'll continue with the yellow flash of kiri. Also the manga chapters have been significantly better recently. :)

-Narutofan401