Naruto Fan Fiction / Crossover With Non-anime Series Fan Fiction / Mobile Suit Gundam 00 Fan Fiction ❯ The False Apocalypse ❯ Mental Link ( Chapter 16 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Hayate finds himself more clueless than he has ever been in his entire life as he thinks over the realities of his �students.� Meanwhile Nazomishi kicks up a training regimen for team seven which ends with a torturous plan to break the team closer together.

Anime/Manga: Naruto Fan Fiction / Crossover With Non-anime Series Fan Fiction / Mobile Suit Gundam 00 Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Martial Arts / Adventure | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 06.06.2009 | Pages: 6 | Words: 8.8K | Visits: 162 | Status: Completed

The False Apocalypse

The Shinobi Saga

Chapter 16

Mental Link

Disclaimer: See chapter 1

The past two days had taken its toll on everybody. Hayate was struggling to come to terms with the fact that his `students' were who they said they were. Seriously, beings from other dimensions seemed like something restricted to demons. And yet here they were, fighting on. Their `Kill one save a thousand' saying was almost as much of a shocker as the bylaws of the Zate. The thing that struck him as odd was defiantly the bylaws. Rules like `The path of the Zate is the path of the guardian, Your life is to act as a shield, to wield your sword for the people, the innocent, the weak;' and `No soul is completely corrupt. Never leave behind a chance to save one.' Their laws were so complicated, many of them seemed to contradict others and yet they made some sense. Now here they were asking him to join, it was as a Nara would say `very troublesome'.

Apparently Kakashi had already joined and team seven was being prepped to join as well. There was one thing that scared him though. Nazomishi's title, Hitokiri Zansatsu was a title only given to swordsmen who have committed such a horrendous amount of slaughter, such a massacre that even the most hardened warriors would cringe in fear. All seated members of the Zate had such titles. Hitokiri Zansatsu (massacre), Hitokiri Battousai (Master of battojutsu/ the one attack kill), Hitokiri Arashi (Tempest), all names describing the utter chaos they could deliver. They claimed to fight for peace, for justice, and yet they were all capable of such horrible destruction that they could be given titles as Hitokiri. There have been members of the seven swordsmen of the mist who have never achieved the title coveted title `Manslayer.'

In this land of shinobi no man has achieved such a title without having killed at a remarkable rate, a rate that would make most Shinobi puke at the thought of the blood staining the ground. Hayate himself was a swordsman, he had met several `Hitokiri' before and he didn't like any of them. They always stank of blood and death. In his mind there were two kinds of Hitokiri. The first was made up of those who had a purpose, a reason to commit such atrocities and rationalize out their actions. Reasons like war, loyalty, justice or darker reasons. The other kind were complete and utter monsters. Creatures who killed for the shier joy of it. Monsters who simply stank of bloodlust.

There was however a rare bread of Hitokiri. A third kind which he was slowly attaching the Zate's leaders to. A kind who killed because they had to; men who had seen such horrors, such a dramatic amount of bloodshed that their only option was to fight against such atrocities. To destroy those who would create and spawn such evil. This kind of course had their own problems. Their greatest problem was the fact that they were traditionally pure. No pure heart can kill so heartlessly and therein laid their defect. Every kill ate away at their heart, especially when they ended up the cause of an innocent death. This often resulted in them being skitsofrinic. Their minds create an alternative persona capable of handling their lifestyle. The worst part of this kind is its greatest strength. The stronger the user's pure self, the stronger their darker half becomes. Even if they rarely if ever come out the dark half takes on the mental strain of the pure half. This type was so completely rare for one very good reason. Either one side would win over the other and they would become of the other two types or the mental battle between the two would completely shatter their minds, leaving them as a hallow shell, mentally dead.

The explanation of Kenshin Himura, The Battousai solidified this in Hayate's mind. However, there was something about Kenshin that stuck out in his mind. As they explained it, Kenshin had overcome the Battousai within himself thus forging a new him. A complete him capable of handling everything both former personalities could, only better. If this was true then what of the others. Was it just this Battousai? Do the others in fact have this alternate ego? If they do have they conquered it? Was this an organization lead by men who had conquered their own demon? How many true `Hitokiri' could there be?

The questions went on and on in Hayate's mind. His conclusion? He will simply have to trust Kakashi's decision. Perhaps if he were to open up to them he would understand.

“Hayate Dono…Hayate dono….HAYATE!” Aoshi had spent the last few moments in their quarters attempting to gain Hayate's attention. He had been deep in thought for hours after learning about his `students' real lives. At this point Aoshi was getting somewhat angry with Hayate's silence which continued on for hours after their dinner meeting with Gato. This was defiantly a switch for Aoshi but there was defiantly something which made him hate it when people acted out of their normal character. Being this quiet for this long was defiantly out of character for Hayate.

“…” Hayate blinked a few times finally realizing someone was calling his name. “Oh sorry Aoshi, this is a lot of information to take in.”

“You're wrong about us you know. Not all of us are like Kenshin.”

“…What?” The statement surprised Hayate for about the hundredth time that day.

“This alternate personality theory you have only applies to a select few of us. The truth is many of us have been changed by the others. I for one was changed by Kenshin. Once longing to be the strongest and to kill him I was a Hitokiri in my own world. Kenshin changed me and brought me out of my own inner darkness. Kenshin has showed many of us a better way of living. This is why he is one of the leaders of the Zate. He shows compassion at a level most people are incapable of. Compassion capable of forgiving those who once tried to kill him and all he held dear.”

“You tried to kill him?” This came as a shock to Hayate after hearing all the magnificent things Himura had done.

“When we first met… Our current path is not one of self-righteous. We do not claim to be the ultimate source of justice nor peace. We do not care about political power. The only power we wish for is the power to protect those we love, the power to reduce needless bloodshed, the power to better the world. Most of us grew up around war. Kenshin himself was introduced to death at an abnormally young age as were most of us. How do we deal with all of it? We have been doing this too long not to be callus towards it. What has brought us all together? Put simply we are united by the fact that we want to protect the ones who cannot protect themselves. For some of us it is our way of repenting for our own past. For others it is their way of continuing the path they have had since birth. For me it is because it has given me a purpose, a reason to live outside of power. In the Zate we respect each other as equals regardless of our rank within it.

“But, then why do you have ranks?” Another question that made no sense to Hayate, if they were so oblivious to rank then why did they have them?

“We have ranks as a source of order, we are not perfect, no one is. So we have the ones most in control of their emotions, the ones capable of making the hard decisions, in charge. We all have a say, but our three current leaders are the wisest of us. Nazomishi, Kenshin and Yoda have proved their wisdom and skill time and time again. Below our captains the only rank that matters is vice captain as an authority. Besides that we are ranked by our overall strength, which has no purpose aside from assigning missions.

“Absolutely amazing…” The door opened interrupting Hayate with an annoying squeak latch. Nazomishi entered with some interesting news about Zabuza.

“Yo Aoshi, Hayate…It would seem Zabuza is awake and I had a chance to talk with him. As we figured Haku wishes to discuss things with Zabuza before making a decision herself. As for Zabuza, I gave him an option. I would make him a copy of his old sword if he chose to stay his own course. If he decides to join us I will give him the sword I made for him. I think he prefers the sword I made.” Nazomishi said with a grin, proud of his craftsmanship. He knew that blade would come in handy.

“How did he take the news?”

“Rather well actually. I explained to him how the Mizukage is Uchiha Madara and that he was in our goals anyway sooo… yea he didn't take the information on Gato's plans too hard. I am sure he will join us with little convincing. As of now he is more than ready to accept my offer. Granted he was a little shocked about our background but my knowledge about his and Haku's history was rather convincing. Well that and a little demonstration of my skills. Oh and you will never guess who did all that damage to him.”

“What do you mean we can't guess? It had to be Kakashi, he's the only Jounin there, even if the other two are Chuunin level right now.”

“It was Naruto, it would seem he finally unlocked the first stage of my sword's power.”

“Its power, what the hell are you talking about?” Hayate inquired having only recently learned that Nazomishi was the one who created the impressive blade.

“The seals Jiraiya helped me design, they are much more complicated than I originally stated.”

“How much more complicated?” A dark feeling entered Hayate's stomach fearing he had done something strange to the blond kid.

“It was designed to hold back the Kyuubi's energy, yes. However, it was also designed to harness it and absorb the energy should it surpass the gates it sets up. It then purifies the Yokai and makes it easier for Naruto to access and control the next time.”

“Wait how much energy are we talking about here?”

“He only unlocked the no tail form of the Kyuubi so it only purified the equivalent to a Jounin level chakra capacity.”

“So he has free access to that kind of energy?”

“Hardly, but in a dire situation it will set up another barrier to prevent him from absorbing another tail. By giving him purified energy it will deal less damage to his body. Should it eventually absorb all nine tails of chakra, then the Kyuubi will be no more and it will more than likely result in an explosion equivalent to a volcano going off.” `No need to tell them all the real details. That would just be too freaky right now. I just hope I'm able do to the same if Sasuke gets his seal.' Aoshi was impressed and showed it quite visibly on his face. Hayate on the other hand was freaked out, what would happen if it exploded in Konoha!”

“Wait, what happens if it explodes in Konoha!” Hayate was livid. A VOLCANO! Was this kid crazy or something? Ok so he wasn't a kid but still was he CRAZY! Nazomishi soon replied as if it meant little if nothing.

“No different than the option of Naruto becoming the Kyuubi when he absorbs the ninth tail. The major difference is the lengths required for such a thing to happen and the fact that the Kyuubi would be dead and not roaming free to destroy other countries. By that time we will have more than likely have figured out a way to seal the purified energy somewhere else or let it seep out into oblivion thus nullifying the energy and killing the Kyuubi all together. Even a demon cannot come back to life if their soul's energy is destroyed. They are energy.”

“…” Hayate was looking over to Aoshi as if asking for confirmation of the mythic occurrence of a SEAL of all things.

“Hey don't look at me, he made it.” Aoshi stated bluntly before pouring another cup of tea and closing his eyes to enjoy it. Meanwhile Nazomishi seemed to zone out for a moment with his eyes rolling backwards so only white could be seen.

“…N..Na…Nazo…helloooooo” Hayate waved his hand in front of Nazomishi's face wondering what made him space out all of a sudden.

“…Ah good the real ones dispelled the Kage Bushin. Contact with team seven successful.”

“What did you just say…?” This has been a real bad day for Hayate. He was supposed to be a Jounin but at this moment…his brain was in overload.

“Oh sorry, I forgot to mention, the real us made some blood clones this morning…us. As for them, they will be training team seven while Kakashi's out and Rei is healing him. Don't worry about it, we tend to make a lot of those. Actually that's how we were able to achieve our titles in this world while having our real bodies in Konoha. I guess I have about... six in various places right about now.”

“Okeeeey…” Hayate took a moment to shake off yet another oddity unique to these Zate. It was then that he remembered Nazomishi's other statement and became instantly concerned for Kakashi.“How bad was Kakashi's injury? All I heard was his arm was hit by Zabuza's sword.”

“More like nearly ripped off but he will be fine. Rei is doing her best to heal him. Thank God blood clones are almost as good as the real thing. Zabuza would be in some real trouble if they didn't Rei's clone working on him. ”

---With Team Seven---

Naruto Sasuke and Sakura were standing in the midst of a large field surrounded by trees, well concealed from unwanted onlookers. While Rei worked on healing Kakashi's wounds back at Tazuna's house Nazomishi and Aoshi were with team seven preparing their private training session.

“Alright, now I want you to know that the trees over there, there, there, and there are the boundary markers for our training.” Aoshi pointed in the north, south, east, and west directions of the forest as Nazomishi stood firm waiting for Aoshi to finish his instructions. “It is marked with special kunai to hold up a sight and sound barrier. So everything you learn here will remain between us and only us.” He eyed them waiting for some response in acceptance of their sworn secrecy.

“Ano, why are you guys teaching us? I know Kakashi is hurt but where's Hayate sensei, wouldn't he be more… you know… qualified?” This was a question that had Sakura miserably confused. Unfortunately for the others, Naruto and Sasuke were equally as confused. Genin training genin seemed a little…redundant.

“Don't worry, you will understand soon enough. Nazomishi…” He turned towards the blue haired swordsman waiting for him to begin.

“Right, judging by who you have trained with I would say your chakra control is decent. So first things first, I want to see how large your chakra reserves are.” Nazomishi pulled out a fist size scroll and pulled his way through it until he got to a section that read `scouter.' He formed some simple seals and smacked his hand down on the seals revealing a small device with a green screen on it which apparently attached to an ear and covered a single eye.(Any dbz fans know what I'm talking about)

“Alright, this is one of my latest creations and there is only one so far so I hope it doesn't break. Now this device will be watching you and measuring your chakra capacities, muscle capacities, potential speeds, and various other things. It's readings will help me determine what to teach you.

“Wait, that thing can see chakra?” Sasuke was surprised, a machine with the ability of a Doujutsu? It seemed a little fishy to him. Then him building it, it was all a little too farfetched.

“Not quite, but it will give me a reading on how many energy units of chakra you have based on what you use. If your chakra capacities are … well pathetic like I expect Sakura's to be then that is what I will work with you on. Basically it just helps me gage your ability and physical limits.”

“Right… isn't it a little hard to raise your chakra capacities. It takes years of practice just to utilize what your born with.”

“Yes and no.” Aoshi spoke up with a little wince of pain in his voice, obviously from a memory. “Chakra capacities are like muscles, work them and they will grow, Naruto's continues to grow abnormally with his obsessive use of Shadow clones until he passes out. Which I might add would kill normal people.” Naruto simply scratched his head sheepishly as his teammates raised their eyebrows thinking this had something to do with his seemingly endless energy.

“Actually, there are several ways to make your chakra capacities grow. The common way is simply by using it, it usually just happens as you go on missions and use chakra in combat. The next way is forcing its exhaustion, thus placing yourself into chakra depletion much the way Kakashi is right now. Sadly both of these ways take way too long for any immediate results.”

“Wait so your just going to raise our chakra levels!” Sakura screamed having though she was going to do some cool jutsus to impress Sasuke with.

“No, I plan on helping you unlock your full chakra capacity while clones work on various techniques. Look, we have the whole Zabuza thing taken care of. Kakashi agrees with our plan and when the time comes we will all turn the tables on Gato. Right now our focus is training for the Chuunin exams.”

“But…” What the hell did all this have to do with the Chuunin exams. They were supposed to be on a mission weren't they?

“Zabuza is very well peeved with Gato and is going to assist in our taking him down. If you want more, ask me later, for now let me explain a few things. Okay?”

“Fine…” It was rather amazing; Naruto and Sasuke's training with Sarutobi really did pay off. THEY WERE LISTENTING MORE THAN SAKURA!

“Now where was I…Oh yes, as you know you create chakra by molding physical and spiritual energy together. What most Shinobi fail to fully grasp is the concept that our physical and spiritual energies are two separate energies. We tend to think of chakra as a singular pool. This is inherently wrong. In actually there are seven pools of spiritual energy and one pool of physical energy.” Sasuke was about to say something when Nazomishi picked up with the differences.

“I won't go into all the specifics because I have a book for you to read later. Now, will we teach you the forbidden chakra gates? No, those are forbidden and dangerous. What we will teach you is how to gain access to higher levels of energy. You see as I stated earlier chakra is made up of physical and spiritual energy. Increasing either one increases the amount of chakra you can produce. The 8 gates unlock your body's restraints on your physical energy pool. They are dangerous because physical energy has direct physical impacts on your body. The gates are there to keep your body from doing things it isn't designed to bare. So by training your stamina and strength you can increase your chakra and there by letting more physical energy through those gates.

The other way to increase your chakra reserves is by strengthening or accessing more of your spiritual energy. It is divided into seven separate pools. The biggest difference between the seven pools and the eight gates is the fact that the seven pools cannot harm you by simply unlocking them like the eight gates do. So we can increase our chakra capacities by learning to utilize more of our spiritual energy.

Like I said your spiritual energy is divided up into seven different pools. They all flow in a line poring from one into another. Of these divisions most people only have access to the first few aside from the natural leakage from one to the next. Kages rarely have access to less than four. The first governs our physical existence, and our health. This is what most people use and is basically where most Shinobi stop. It is also the smallest of the seven pools. The next level is governed by our emotion and is the reason so many are drawn to hate and revenge as a catalyst to access this chakra pool. Adrenalin is one of many results caused by accessing this chakra level. We will teach you how to focus your emotions on a goal to draw off of this chakra. Once you have mastered this stage you will be able to freely access a spiritual pool slightly larger than your first.

The third is will, driven by desire to attain a goal, driven by our resolve. It is one many people tap into but do so without achieving the second. This disrupts the proper spiritual flow and severally hinders the amount you receive. The fourth is what makes true Kage so amazingly powerful. It is governed by love and the resolve to defend. After achieving this pool you should be able to mold roughly eight to ten times your basic chakra levels.

The sixth and seventh pools are the most difficult to obtain and most who do have access to them can only use them for short periods of time with intense concentration. Great knowledge, wisdom and selflessness is required to obtain these. As far as I've read people who achieve these with full control over them have chakra levels rivaling summons and lower tailed bijuu.

“Wait if it's so powerful …”

“Then why don't Shinobi study them? This is an art that requires clean spiritual pools, and immense concentration. Even people who have access to more than the first pool find themselves with little actual gain because of a polluted spiritual stream. They can be polluted by a great many things ranging from emotional and spiritual problems to health problems and bad diet. As such I don't expect you to achieve any of these without years of meditation and training to fully access them. That is why to achieve these, it requires a powerful will to drive the first few, and unparalleled selflessness to achieve the later pools. Most humans are far too greedy, only wanting the chakra for their own ends. Such thought on its own hinders the flow.

“Right, like you have any of them. This is useless, let's get Kakashi to tell us some better training to do Sasuke.” Sakura got up and started to walk away as Naruto grabbed her arm and pulled her down to the ground.

“Listen…” Naruto was interesting with this concept. His chakra capacities were nearly limitless in comparison to your average shinobi and yet he this meant he hardly had a fraction of his potential.

“Thank you. Now, unlocking them is quite different from unblocking them. Unlocking them takes years of training, unblocking them can be done much quicker. There is a natural flow to these pools. Right now the only one you have full access to is your first if that, but there is a natural leakage from the other six. You cannot unlock a pool until it is first unblocked. Our emotions, and various other things hinder them from flowing properly. For example, you cannot free the love based chakra with hate in mind. On the contrary it bocks it, hindering the flow of chakra from that level up. That is where we can come in handy. With our ability to read your minds and see your auras we know where your pools are blocked. By my best guess most of you will gain around a quarter more to a third of your current chakra levels by freeing up to your willpower to your love pools and releasing more of your true basic energy levels.”

“Now wait a minute, if love is blocked by hate then what blocks the others.” Sakura was finally interested. Her chakra capacities were always abysmally small and this was her chance to increase it by a LOT with no effort.

“The first is hindered by fear. Fear of many things, acceptance, strength, ability…death. In battle if you are suddenly struck by fear of death your chakra levels can drop considerably because of how fundamental it is. The second is by guilt, a Shinobi's first kill often blocks this one, if only for a time. Many people must come to terms with their past to move forward. It goes on and on with such blockages.

Naruto, your first pool is flowing decently, but you have some fear. You fear not being strong enough to protect your friends. Your second is free but your third is blocked by shame. You feel ashamed of what you hold. You must let go of the groundless shame instilled in you by the villagers. Your fourth is free, you love all and will gladly give your life to save another. You are a loyal friend who will do anything for anyone. Your fifth chakra is blocked by the mask of lies you have created to hide the sadness held in your heart. The sadness which brings you your shame.”

`Is that really Naruto, no wonder his has so much chakra with so many free…but what's with this shame and a mask of lies? What could make him that sad? He's always seemed so happy to me…”

“Sasuke, despite coming to terms with your brother and his actions, you fear him. You fear those he works for and what they wish to do to Naruto. You fear what they could do to Itachi should he be discovered. You fear opening up to anybody. Fear that you would be unable to protect them, fear that you would be happy, fear that you don't deserve it. Your second is also blocked by gilt. You feel guilty because of your family's secrets and horrible past. Your third is blocked by your feeling of shame. Shame that you knew so little of your family's dark secrets. You shun friendships feeling that you do not deserve them. This is your shame. Out of your three youare the one with the greatest blockage. Every pool is blocked. This is why you feel so empty. This is why your chakra is average at best. Your chakra is naturally strong and should be higher than Kakashi's by now but is restricted to around a third of its potential.

Then we have Sakura. You are selfish. You…are difficult to read due to a multiple personality disorder. “ Nazomishi closed his eyes to concentrate for a moment when Aoshi spoke up.

“You are a standard fan girl, struggling with your emotions towards everything. Your second personality constantly places your other feelings at odds with its own. This has your chakras in conflict with one another. You are weak minded and are struggling to come to terms with your more caring and intelligent side. You need to free yourself of anger, and lust. You lack purpose. We must find you a purpose.”

“I have a purpose! Its…”

“Sasuke, a boy who could care less about you so long as you chase after him like a ravenous fan girl. Sakura you have no place training with us if you cannot learn to focus on a worthy goal. You have friends but you would gladly throw them under a bridge should it mean achieving `your Sasuke kun.' It is this selfish behavior which inhibits your chakra and throws it into chaos. Ino realized the error in her ways but you still cling to your past. Let go and grow up!” Nazomishi spoke up with authority and a tinge of annoyance, hoping this conversation would finally get through to her. “You chase after the feelings of a boy who you do not understand. He is a boy who does not want anything to do with anyone who cannot strive to achieve something greater than themselves. He shuns love because he fears that he cannot protect it once he has it. It for that reason that he can free his chakra by using those feelings to overpower his hindrance.”

“Sasuke…?”

“You want to understand me, well here's your chance.” Sasuke laced his fingers and went into a thinking position. My brother killed my family, but he did this to avert war. I hate my family's past because they intended on creating a civil war within Konoha. I…I loved my brother, he was always there for me and yet he killed off our family to save the lives of others he loved, to save the peace he loved. Although I know these things it is difficult to come to terms with my past. Looking at it this way…I guess it seems a little strange but…”

“Naruto was his first true friend since the death of his family. Yet you constantly belittle him. In truth the best thing that could happen to any of you is to…hmm… hmm hmm hmm hmm” Nazomishi chuckled raising his hand to his face and drawing his fingers down his chin. “Yes I do believe that would be best. Alright training is on hold till tomorrow.”

“Gaah I hate it when you do this.” Aoshi never liked it when Nazomishi said what he was going to do without saying anything. It was because it made him feel like everyone else when he did it. Because he couldn't read the mind of a mind reader. It was a very naked feeling.

“Sakura tomorrow you're going to learn the shadow clone jutsu so you can train like the others. Rei will train you, Naruto will be with me, and Sasuke will be with Aoshi. For today your going to be placed under a special jutsu I discovered a little while back. It will link your minds for the next few hours. All three of you are going to experience the other's lives from beginning to end. Your thoughts, your feelings, your deepest secrets. Trust me, this will be a most enlightening experience.” Nazomishi smirked thinking of how much he will enjoy their reactions later.

“No…NO! Your not linking my mind with theirs! I like my privacy thank you very much!”

“Sakura, have you ever wanted to know what goes on in Sasuke's mind?”

“I…”

“Oh god no…”

“heh heh heh heh heh, I knew that one would get you Sasuke.”

“Do we really need to link our minds with hers?” Sasuke made one final plea hoping to be spared the horrors likely to be within the mind of a fan girl

“Frankly I'm doing it whether you want it or not.” Sasuke started screaming no and leaped up to run when Nazomishi formed a hand seal similar to the one used in the Nara's neck bind jutsu. A vast number of metal bindings burst from the ground and tied them to self-created chairs. Nazomishi walked up to them forming seals at a pace rivaling Itachi himself. Once he finished the seals he placed his fingers on their foreheads. The three sat there and their eyes rolled up into the back of their heads as their mindscapes became linked and images of the present and past flooded each other's minds. Their love, hate, fear, anger, happiness, joy, and kindness their emotions were all revealed in the most traumatic and joyful moments of their lives.

`For now I will spare them the horrors of my own. At this point all that information would break them. SighWell all things with time I suppose.'

“Was this really such a good idea?”

“As far as I can predict it should do more for Sakura than the other two. At the very least it should give her some respect for Naruto. That and I really don't feel like explaining the whole Kyuubi thing to her. Without seeing the real Naruto and all he has gone through, her mind wouldn't be able to accept him as anything more than the monster. Not for another year or so anyway. “

“Good point…” Aoshi took note of their ever changing expressions. The joyful expressions from happy memories and the thing that impacted them the most, the moments which brought their unconscious bodies to tears. “What will you do about the Kyuubi.”

“When the time is right… I will confront it. I hope it's not as evil as it was made out to be. If things go well then Naruto may be left with a strong mentor.”

“So the exploding story you came up with the other day was a lie.”

“The seal is incomplete. For now nothing will happen should the ninth tail be absorbed. The Kyuubi will be left as a mind within Naruto's, sealed behind the gate. If it is evil I will make it so the mind fades along with the impure chakra. If it turns out good, then I don't know. I may free it in some way. I may leave it in his mind but capable of being summoned by him. It's something to think about.” Their attention was soon drawn to Rei off in the distance making her way to everyone else. With a friendly wave she came closer and closer.

“Hey guys.”

“Yo Rei whats up.” Nazomishi waved two fingers before stretching.

“Well Kakashi's doing well, all that's left is for his chakra to return and I just got a clone message that Zabuza is doing the same.” She smiled knowing things were going according to plan.

“I swear Rei you're better than Tsunade.”

“Oh come on have you seen what she can do? Maybe in another fifty years but now…”

“Your greatest critic is yourself, besides she can't use the force.”

“True!” She perked up with a victory sign and an eye smile.

“That's better.”

They continued talking and planning for nearly five hours before team seven snapped out of their link. Their bodies collapsed from mental exhaustion leaving them to be carried back to Tazuna's house. Despite being in a dead as nails slumber their eyes freely flowed a lake of tears. Team thirteen could only carry them home wondering what horrors and forgotten memories they had witnessed.