Out of my mind, pt. 2
My attention finally finds the source of the familiar voice; Dad. He's back after so many years and is finally in Konoha to help save the village again.
My heart immediately sinks when his eyes lock on mine.
Right, he has to save it from me.
Unable to accept the gravity of the truth, I try to avoid my dad's gaze to ease the pain in my chest. As I'm brooding about everything occurring now, my dad starts to save the village.
It's pursued by Konoha's forces, led by the Hokage, prompting it to retaliate with another Tailed Beast Ball. My dad returns to the village in time to stop it by summoning Gamabunta above it, having Gamabunta keep the Nine-Tails restrained while he gathers the chakra to teleport it away.
Sasuke talks to me simultaneously through the fight, hoping to keep my consciousness intact through it all. He can't tell that I'm aware of this, but nonetheless, he's trying. He wants to keep me clinging to my consciousness so I can be saved easier.
So I try to stay awake for everyone, including my dad.
"Naruto!" A loud voice screams into my ear. That's Ino's voice. "Listen carefully..." She sounds like she's trying to calm herself down. "Whatever you do, don't look into Kakashi-sensei's eyes. I have a bad feeling about him right now."
"How... do you know I'm not unconscious?" I ask in my head, but quickly realize we don't have time for questions like that. "What's going on with Kakashi-sensei?"
"Danzo did something to him, Naruto. Something I can't seem to get through with my ability. He's not responding properly, and although he evacuated Konoha as ordered, he seems to have lost himself the moment he finished."
"Did you tell Sasuke?"
"Sasuke can hear us. I told him not to say anything so I can tell you what you need to know."
"Alright, all I have to do is not meet his eyes."
"It's not that simple, Naruto. Yes, you shouldn't meet his eyes, but you have to remember that this is Kakashi-sensei we're talking about. He's capable of doing more than simply putting you into a genjutsu of some sort. He can kill you in this mindset."
"What do you want me to do, Ino? You're not telling me anything that I can do. I'm currently being squished by a toad and my body isn't letting me stay still."
"Control the Nine-Tailed chakra once again. That's all you can do right now. You might be able to fight alongside everyone else if you figure out a way to control it as you did before."
Sasuke agrees with Ino. "I'm right here, Naruto. I won't leave your side for a second."
Just then, a few kunai are thrown at my face. Sasuke uses his sword to help block them, but when a head full of silver hair comes into view, I force myself to close my eyes. My body is fighting to regain control of everything.
I can hear Sasuke fighting Kakashi-sensei and telling me to do what Ino said. I keep my eyes closed and find myself in front of an uncaged Kurama. He looks like he's struggling to stay conscious as well, holding on with everything he has.
"What can we do, Kurama?" I sit down a few yards away from him to be out of reach of his claws. "Sasuke can't use his Sharingain to help us."
"I have an idea, but you won't like it." Kurama struggles to extend his fist to me. "Switch with me completely."
"Are you crazy? My dad is fighting to stop you right now."
"No, Naruto. I want to talk to Minato." Kurama says. "It'll be quick."
I reluctantly agree and watch the scene unfold in front of me. Kurama tells my dad to disguise himself as the Nine-Tailed fox and stand within Kakashi-sensei's reach. Once Kakashi-sensei is about to hit him, switch with Danzo so the attack can hit him instead to deactivate what's controlling me and Kakashi-sensei.
"So... you want to murder Danzo?" I ask Kurama.
"I told you that you wouldn't like it." Kurama says, looking over to see Sasuke walking toward him. "When did you get in here?"
"Just now." Sasuke says, standing in front of Kurama. "What can I do?"
"Get ready to defeat the Akatsuki." Kurama says. "Because, Sasuke, although you don't want to accept this reality, you'll have to fight them. They obey Danzo and when one of their leaders is down, they will avenge them."
"One of them?" Sasuke looks upset, seemingly at the news that he'll have to fight Itachi. The village ordered Itachi to kill Sasuke if he ran into him, and suspiciously, Konoha is allowing Sasuke to wander freely with no supervision.
My gut feeling is back and I don't like how strong it is. I knew there was something wrong back then when the Hokage saw Sasuke alive and did nothing.
I didn't want my gut to tell me that they were planning to imprison Sasuke here in Konoha. I'm one of the strongest in the village, and naturally, Danzo is using me to destroy it. If no one is batting an eye at Sasuke, they're either waiting for him to do something or are staying away from him for my sake.
While, as likely as not, hoping deep down that the Akatsuki will handle Sasuke to keep the village's "record" clean.
I don't want to think that. I'm merely coming up with guesses behind this gut feeling.
"Hiruko utilizes this approach to assume dominion of individuals. It can be triggered long after the technique is implanted beforehand." Kurama says, pulling me out of my thoughts. "I met the human briefly, seeing how I was a weapon for years it shouldn't be surprising."
Sasuke wears a sympathetic expression on his face. "What should I know about them or anything involving them?"
Kurama looks grateful Sasuke didn't question his traumatic past. "The appearance is a red eye with another circle in it looking akin to the pupil, with four lines arising from the upper line of the eye and two big thick lines arising from the side of the eye."
Sasuke nods, furrowing his brows together as if he senses something concerning but doesn't speak about it. "Continue."
"This ability appears to manipulate the mentalities of others as it materialized on Kakashi Hatake's forehead, disappeared, then took possession of his body and mind. While being controlled by this technique, the eyes of the person who is caught turn red." Kurama looks to the side to see something approaching us. "Oh look, more visitors. I didn't know I hosted a party." Kurama says sarcastically.
"You should know better than to call me a visitor." My eyes meet my dad's and he wears a serious face. "Naruto, it looks like we'll have to resort to other defenses if you can't control this."
"You should be saying that to Kurama too, dad. He's apart of me." I say, deeming the gut feeling as concerning when Sasuke holds onto the handle of his sword. Tightly.
My dad strokes Kurama's leg and looks at Sasuke and me. "To finish what Kurama was saying; By using this technique, the user can enter the mind of anyone within their field of vision. They can be tricked into believing false information by the user in this way. In this way, it appears that they are acting of their own free will. The victim is completely unaware that they are being manipulated, making it one of the most powerful genjutsu techniques."
Sasuke swallows thickly. "Does this technique control the Uchiha too?"
My dad shrugs, continuing to pet Kurama. "Who knows? The Uchiha clan has been stripped from their eyes for centuries. I have not read to see if this is true but if it is..." My dad stops petting Kurama, "Sasuke, I suggest you avoid their gaze and Kakashi's."
"And Itachi's." I chime in, tensing when Sasuke turns his head in my direction. He looks doubtful of my response. "Come on, Sasuke. The first thing bad people do is use your biggest weakness against you. If you were trained to accept this early on, it wouldn't affect you later in life. Itachi would be used as a genjutsu to coax you for information or worse, your eyes."
Sasuke scoffs. "Itachi wouldn't be taken advantage of so easily. He's stronger than me, as much as I dislike to admit it out loud, and can fight on his own without help. Why would he give in to such a weak power? He would do anything to protect me."
My dad sighs. "Even the strongest hero can be weakened by their most prominent liability."
"Not if he tries hard enough!" Sasuke shouts, his hand shaking on his sword.
My conversation with Sasuke at the Blood Prison suddenly pops into my mind:
"Didn't you say Kakashi got the Akatsuki outside of the gate? They should be fine for a while―"
"No, I mean, yeah, he got them, but I feel uneasy. I felt uneasy then and I feel uneasy now. Something isn't right. They were defeated too easily, way too easily. A few punches and they were down. Sasuke, you can't tell me that rogue ninja like them were weak enough to be taken down like that?"
"I wasn't there so I can't say how strong or weak they truly were, but the Akatsuki are strong, very strong. Strong enough to defeat an entire nation with their bare hands if they choose to go down that path. But they won't. They can, but they won't. They want power. Some want bloodshed, but a lot just want to overpower the weak. The leader controls the Akatsuki into submission, controlling their decision-making, causing each member to obey. The leader wants to have all five nations to himself and if he died, the entire five nations would be extinct. They're strong enough to take down Konoha if the leader sees the village as a threat, so for Kakashi to take them down all alone, I have a hunch they're just playing shogi. Each one, except Itachi, is like a keima, they're the knight ready to jump over all pieces to get to the endgame."
"So what is Itachi?"
"A pawn. As harsh as it sounds, he is. In this game of shogi, he's the pawn in everything. A narigin could've been him if he chose a different path, but he's a pawn and, for some reason, I think I am a pawn too. The fact I killed because I was ordered to by a man with a desire for power makes me upset, but what's done is done and Konoha deserves a king instead of me. I'm no knight for them, I'm a pawn. That's it."
"If you return with me to save them from the Akatsuki, you'll be a knight in this game of shogi. You won't be seen as weak. You'll be seen as strong."
"Sasuke, as an adult, you should know by now that reality isn't pretty when it comes to love. I..." My dad hesitates for a few seconds, "I learned about what happened while I was absent from Naruto's life and I accepted this occurrence in his life. I don't particularly cheer on for rogue ninjas being so close to shinobi in this sense, but as his father, I wanted to give you a second opinion. I trust you in Naruto's hands and to gain my complete trust, I would prefer if you accept the concept of weakness."
"Is it because rogue ninja are dangerous?" Sasuke asks quietly.
"It's because rogue ninjas has enemies in different nations. If all nations hated you, what do you think would have happened to Naruto?" My dad gestures to Kurama. "It would have happened the same way it did with Kurama. He would've been taken advantage of power-wise and used as a weapon. Maybe even isolated out of fear. Love is idolized but realistically, it's terrifying when the world sees it with a veil over it."
"I'm not putting a veil over it! Itachi is strong!" Sasuke shouts again, not realizing how badly he's trembling. "He wouldn't do that to me! He wouldn't cave in so easily!"
"Then what do you think happened with my son? Did he cave in easily? Was he weak?"
Sasuke can't answer. His voice comes out in a single breath as if he's trying to think of one.
"Kurama is Naruto's biggest weakness. I'm not implying you aren't his weakness either, Sasuke, but if Kurama dies, Naruto will too. You can't pick and choose life occurrences. If you have to accept it before it happens. You should've been taught this in school. There will be a time when you will have to kill your most precious things to save the world. You're not being a murderer in this scenario, you're being brave."
"I don't want Itachi to die." Sasuke rasps, turning his head away. "I don't want Naruto to die either."
"You can save both if you keep this mindset throughout the fight. You can't be hasty and assume they will live in the end. Kakashi accepted his fate so it's time you do the same." My dad turns to look me in the eyes. "Naruto, please believe that you're not a weapon. You're my son. You're not in my shadow or my successor to my hard work, you're Naruto Uzumaki. You earned my life's work using your two hands. There's a difference between inheriting something and earning it." He places his hand on my shoulder. "And you earned it, son."
"There he is! The weapon that is appropriate for this occasion! Naruto Uzumaki!"
I try to inwardly shake off the person's words, wanting to listen to my dad instead. "Am I strong, dad? I mean... without Kurama's chakra to assist my strength?"
"The monster that will give the leader a new era to lead all of this damnation!"
"I believe you are strong enough to defeat this with your raw strength, Naruto. You will stop this madness before they lead us to damnation. I have faith in you."
"WIll mom be okay?"
My dad laughs. "Your mom is still a shinobi at heart and can save the village herself if she wanted to. But she's going to protect the house and everything around it this time. She doesn't want to give hope to any former fans who wants her to be a jonin again. Trust me when I say she prefers to be at home where she can be your mom and my wife. She feels safe there."
"I always thought she was fired."
My dad playfully hits my head. "Not at all, she resigned." He points to where my heart is. "But just like her, have a place you feel happy in."
"Sasuke and you two make me happy," I say.
"Does that mean you forgive me?"
"Slowly, I'm trying to."
"Ahem!" Kurama draws our attention away from the conversation, wearing a pained expression. "I'm still trying my best here. Do you mind lending a hand or something?"
"Is the Tailed Beast asking for help?" I tease Kurama who tries to hit me with his tail, missing by a few inches. "Ah! I got it, I got it! I'm going to help!"
Kurama and I switch consciousness so my dad can start the plan. I struggle to disguise myself as a log while my dad turns into Kurama. As planned, Kakashi-sensei turns his attention to him instead and tries to kill him with his chidori.
A nanosecond before Kakashi-sensei can impale him in the heart, my dad switches places with Danzo in time that Kakashi-sensei's hand goes through Danzo's chest. A loud groan fills the air around us and Sasuke, taking advantage of the attention on the two of them, runs toward the orange-masked stranger who is approaching us quickly.
Sasuke activates his chidori, realizing his attack doesn't work as he's punched in the face when his chidori goes through the body. Sasuke howls, presumably from having a bone broken in that punch, and falls to the ground.
My dad, back to himself, runs to the masked stranger as I turn back into the Nail-Tailed beast. He grabs a kunai and tells me to focus on calming down, throwing the kunai at the mask.
"I remember who he is! His name is Tobi!" Kurama exclaims in my head.
"Oi! Don't scream in my ears!" I shout at him.
But now I know who he is. I knew I recognized him at first.
Immediately after the kunai passes through Tobi's head, he materializes and attempts to grab my dad. My dad, on the other hand, forms his Rasengan and teleports to the kunai's location behind Tobi and successfully marks him. A peeling and falling off of Tobi's left arm indicates the impact of the attack.
My dad snatches off his mask, holds his arm behind his back, and calls out to Kakashi-sensei. "Look at this, Kakashi! Tell me what is more important to you: your destruction of the village or saving your comrade's life?"
Kakashi-sensei slowly turns his attention behind him to see Tobi. No, not Tobi. Obito Uchiha. I recognize his actual face from old reports of a student dying under a rock.
Why is he alive?
Obito laughs. "You killed Rin years ago, Kakashi! It's only fair you see your home destroyed for damnation. This village does more harm than good. Sasuke was forced to murder our clan and you were put to use for Danzo."
Kakashi-sensei blinks and holds his head, glaring at Obito. "I don't know what you're talking about. I didn't kill Rin."
"I saw it, Kakashi!"
"She committed suicide to save everyone, Obito!" Kakashi shouts, falling to his knees. He looks weak and tired. "She used my activated chidori to kill herself and said my name before she died!"
"Why would she do that?"
"Because she had a Tailed-Beast inside of her... she was going to be a weapon for war."
Obito's grin drops and he looks defeated. "What?"
My dad places his other hand on Obito's shoulder. "Don't even think about coming out of Obito. One move from you and you will be killed instantly."
Obito scoffs. "How did you know?"
"Doesn't matter. Free my son or I'm going to find a way to have it be done myself."
Obito meets my gaze and activates his Sharingan. "Whatever. I have no motive anymore. Everything I believed has been a lie."
I feel my body relax and calm down, giving me the chance to turn back into myself. Sasuke runs into my arms, not caring that my skin is still healing. "Sasuke..."
"I'm glad you're alive," Sasuke whispers into my ear.
I'm about to indulge in the relief of his arms when I see someone approaching him from behind. "Sasuke, wait!"
Itachi presses his kunai into the back of Sasuke's neck. His eyes are red, but not from the Sharingan. "It's time for you to go back to the Blood Prison."
Sasuke sucks in a sharp breath. "It has come to this, hasn't it?"
Itachi suddenly turns the kunai to where his heart is. "It has."
Sasuke turns around and his eyes widen. "Itachi, no!"