The obligatory disclaimer and warning thingy: Lo and behold, here is another writer of fanfiction who doesn't own Naruto. I do, however, claim ownership over the few original characters, as well as the weird plot I've invented for this story- not that my claims result in me getting paid. Oh well, such is the harsh fate of a fanfic writer. I do happily accept the donation of reviews though, and the help of Illuminated, my beta-ing partner in crime!

Please note that this story is rated 'M', for mature audiences, as it will contain explicit language and adult themes (lemons will be preceded by warnings). Among the adult themes are the untimely deaths of several named characters. I will say this only once: I do not detest any character that I kill in my stories.

"Talk," a character talks.
'Think,' a character thinks.
"Talk," a bijuu talks. Or Black Zetsu, for the sake of distinguishing him from White Zetsu.

Asunder

Chapter One

Resurrection

"What matters in life is not what happens to you but what you remember and how you remember it."

― Gabriel García Márquez

A parody of a human being, that is how one could describe the entity that rose from the ground, with its right half black and left half white, encased in what seemed like two Venus-flytrap-like leaves which emerged from its sides. This entity was called Zetsu. Or rather, its white half was 'Shiro-Zetsu', while the black half was 'Kuro-Zetsu'. The white half was a silly chatterbox, carefree and playfully blundering his way through life, while the black half was serious and knowledgeable. The two were distinctly different entities, yet somehow 'one' at the same time. After all, the parasitic black half needed a host to survive on, and to carry on the will of his 'mother'. The countless clones of the white half were well suited for his plans.

"The way you can just grow from the roots is interesting," a gravelly voice welcomed him. "You sure those white things don't have a heart?"

"How rude," White Zetsu pouted.

"Shut up, fool," Black Zetsu silenced his other half. "You were quite… thorough, Kakuzu."

"You knew that before you hired me," the S-rank missing-nin from Takigakure shrugged. He was probably one of the few people who Zetsu knew who wasn't even fazed at the sight of his strange plant-like body. Then again, Kakuzu was rather peculiar himself as well. A battle had just ended, and the black threads which grew from Kakuzu's body, due to the kinjutsu Jiongu, were still stitching his wounds.

"Seems like you had quite a fight. Of course he did, it was Hatake Kakashi who opposed him."

"He was definitely someone who had earned the right to carry such a bounty," Kakuzu admitted, his voice virtually devoid of any emotion except a slight annoyance. Kakashi had, after all, taken out two of Kakazu's hearts. "Good thing that he had an affinity for raiton. He skewered my lightning-heart, so having a way of replacing it right away is quite convenient. Now, all I need is a water-heart. You don't happen to have an affinity for suiton?"

"No! We told you we don't have a heart. Nor organs. We can't even poop!"

Kakuzu lifted the corpse of a grey-haired shinobi from the ground. The jonin from Konoha had put up quite the fight, but in the end, Kakuzu had been the one who had the greater reserves. It had taken an annoyingly long time before the Hatake had finally run out of chakra, though. The deaths of his 'cute little genin' had sent him into a fury that had cost Kakuzu his first heart. The annoying Chidori had cost him a second.

"Fifty million ryo, thirty without his sharingan," Kakuzu became uncharacteristically happy, or whatever passed for happiness for the miserly man, at the idea of the money he had just earned.

"Keep the eye. We don't need it. Still not sure why we want the boy, though. He's pivotal to our plans."

"The black-haired boy?" Kakuzu wondered. "His abilities with ink were quite unusual, but nothing special. The Yamanaka boy was stronger, but lacked any special ability."

"Naruto-kun is no Yamanaka," the whiter half of Zetsu giggled.

"Blond, wears the clan symbol, and… hmm, now that you mention it, he didn't use their techniques," Kakuzu frowned slightly while putting on his cloak again. "Why him?"

"You killed the pink haired girl instantly, but kept the boys alive like we asked. Good work. But only barely, his body is nearly severed in two. His wounds don't matter. We've regrown Tobi after the Obito disaster, remember? Oh, so you're going to use the new Tobi just like the old one? It's still sad that he and the Uchiha died. Uchiha Itachi was an annoying impediment to our plans."

"The way you two keep arguing with yourselves is annoying. I'm going to cash in this corpse."

"Keep the money for yourself, Kakuzu. Yeah, the other members of Akatsuki don't need to know about this. It's our little secret. It is. We have plans for the boy, and Pein doesn't need to know. Not to mention what Orochimaru would do. Ever since Itachi ended the Uchiha bloodline he has shown a great interest in the bloodlines of old. He might even find out a secret or two. But it will be futile in the end. We trust you, Kakuzu, because you only trust in money and don't care about anything else. We can always locate new prey for you, as long as we can feed on the worthless casualties- like the black hair and that pinky."

Kakuzu grumbled something under his breath, about the foul eating habits that the plant-like shinobi displayed. It wasn't that he really cared about what happened to the boy and the girl. They were unnecessary, not worth a single ryo, and Zetsu only wanted the blond boy.

Leaving his unsavory companion to his 'dinner', Kakuzu stalked off to the nearest bounty station. Fifty million ryo was waiting to be collected, after all. Zetsu truly had his uses, bounty hunting had never gone as smoothly.

A spiral-patterned white man rose from the ground, eerily similar to the way Zetsu had travelled through the earth and roots. Of course, Tobi was just another manifestation grown from the Gedo Mazo (Demonic statue of the outer path). Originally human, he had been a victim of the Infinite Tsukuyomi, absorbed into the Shinju (God Tree), just like white Zetsu. Stored within the Gedo Mazo, 'Tobi' had remained dormant and forgotten for centuries, trapped within the moon along with the statue. That is, until Uchiha Madara awoke the rinnegan and summoned the statue. He was the one who had freed Tobi from his centuries of slumber, enabling him to grow a body from the wood-like tissue of the Gedo Mazo.

Well, Madara had foolishly believed that they had been grown from the tissue of Senju Hashirama, the Shodaime Hokage, but that had been a lie. In truth, Tobi was compelled to be loyal to only one entity. Captured and mutated due to her actions, Tobi was loyal to the 'will' which Otsutsuki Kaguya had left behind: her son, of sorts, Black Zetsu, was the one who secretly commanded all the beings grown from the statue. But they lacked the power to resurrect Kaguya on their own, which led to them submitting their selves, even if it was under false pretenses, to the will of someone far stronger.

Madara had been the first human who had reached a level that approached the perfection of Kaguya. He was the first to strive for power to such a degree that he almost retraced it to its origin. He had even understood the necessity of Hashirama's chakra and tissue, which had led him to the rinnegan. But it had been too late for the man; too old, too feeble, he had only prolonged his life by leeching off the Gedo Mazo.

He was pathetic; too pathetic for the plans of Black Zetsu, which was why they had manipulated Madara into giving the rinnegan to a boy who had inherited the blood of the younger son, hoping that he would prove to be easier to manipulate. Unfortunately, that had proven a mistake. Much like Ashura himself, Nagato was too deluded by the notion of love. Even though loss eventually twisted his love into something darker, Nagato had turned out to be too difficult to control.

As such, Zetsu had been happy when they had stumbled upon a nearly-dead Uchiha boy. Taking him in, Tobi had enveloped the boy, slowly turning him into something greater. They needed a champion. The death of Madara, now devoid of his rinnegan, was merely a matter of time. The boy's sharingan had already evolved into the mangekyo sharingan, granting him the useful abilities of intangibility and what was effectively teleportation.

All had seemed to go according to plan, until Itachi happened. Removing the Uchiha clan had mostly been a desire of Uchiha Obito, the boy that Zetsu had found. But it was also Zetsu's wish that Konoha was weakened. It was easier to operate without being detected during times of war, after all. What had driven the boy to do it was something Zetsu had never discovered, but somewhere along the line, Itachi had snapped… perhaps it was murdering his parents, perhaps it was the death of his girlfriend, or perhaps his little brother. Zetsu didn't know, didn't really care either. All that mattered was that Itachi had taken Obito out of the game. Whatever the sealing technique with that spectral blade had been, not even Obito was able to escape it. Obito, who even had managed to escape the Yondaime Hokage, was gone.

Black Zetsu had spent centuries manipulating the Uchiha, and one boy had undone all those efforts. The bloodline had ended. The only remnants of the entire clan were the few eyes that remained. Zetsu knew that Orochimaru had a few of them, and Hatake Kakashi had also possessed one. But it wasn't enough. A few eyes weren't enough to recreate the bloodline. The eyes, without the bodies, were flawed.

The death of Obito had also meant the death of Tobi, who had merged with the wounded body of the Uchiha. Regrowing Tobi from the Gedo Mazo had been a laborious task, due to Zetsu's limited chakra reserves, but it had eventually been done. The new Tobi entirely lacked any memories from the old one, but at least he had the same abilities.

"Tobi, you're late. I sent a clone but couldn't find him right away."

"Whazzup!" the fully white Tobi exclaimed. If possible, this Tobi was an even greater fool than the old one, a fact which Black Zetsu often reiterated to him. The spiral-pattern that stretched all over his body gave Tobi a completely different appearance from the plant-like Zetsu. The fact that Tobi was literally hollow – perhaps explaining his lack of intelligence – was also unique. While Zetsu was akin to a flytrap that could consume flesh, Tobi was created to encase a human and to sustain it.

"Quit fooling around. The boy is only barely alive. Even that odd chakra is running out. He's a jinchuriki, you idiot. Oh, so that's why he's still alive! What other reason could there be? Kakuzu practically cut him in two. His legs are gone, and his torso is damaged to a degree where no normal human would remain alive for more than a minute. We should thank our old friend, the Kyuubi."

"I thought the Kyuubi hated you?" Tobi tilted his head as a way to show his surprise.

"I was being sarcastic, airhead. Yeah, the Kyuubi always despised mother. He was way too loyal to her son. He is one of Hagoromo's creations. And we were created by mother."

"Should I, you know, merge with him?"

"What other reason could there be for me to call you here?"

"Perhaps you missed me?" Tobi seemed to seriously consider the question, ignoring the deadpan expression on Zetsu. His inability to understand Black Zetsu's sarcasm was rather appalling. "Or perhaps you found me a dinner? You know I don't eat flesh like you do, but a nice-"

"You're an idiot! That even you have the right to say it is rather telling of how dumb Tobi is. Hey! Why are you always picking on me?! Because you're only slightly less of an idiot than Tobi. Quit stalling, envelop the boy!"

"Oki-doki, boss man!"

Yes. Black Zetsu had nearly lost all hope. Without the Uchiha, his schemes seemed to turn into failure. Wandering aimlessly, he had witnessed a battle of two jinchuriki. While he had only gone to Konoha to see how Orochimaru's little scheme to invade Konoha would turn out (it was hilarious to see how Orochimaru had lost his arms), Zetsu had found a strange boy. Or rather, a boy who made him literally feel strange. As if his genetic composition responded to the boy's chakra… such overwhelming Yang chakra.

It was best alternative that Zetsu had. Tobi swallowed the body of the near-dead jinchuriki. Uzumaki Naruto, Zetsu recalled, had been the boy's name. Why he lived within the confines of another clan was something he hadn't figured out, nor why he wore the Yamanaka symbol. Uzumaki usually had red hair, while Naruto was blonde. Perhaps he was part Yamanaka, or perhaps he lived among the Yamanaka in order for the boy to remain unnoticed. His spiky hair was quite unlike the smooth-haired Yamanaka, but at least the color was right.

Tobi opened up, encasing the boy. His white tissue immediately began to grow and contort, stopping the boy from bleeding dry. Like ivy growing into a stone wall, Tobi's plant-like tissue invaded Naruto's flesh. Zetsu had seen it before, although in a different matter. Obito had struggled to control the tissue which Zetsu had given him, after the boy had lost half his body, being crushed underneath the immeasurable weight of stone.

Where Obito had seemed to struggle, almost rejecting the tissues, Naruto seemed to greedily absorb it.

"So much Yang energy, Tobi's flesh is responding immediately. Is this why the boy is so interesting? Just wait and see. Tobi will soon lose the struggle. Lose? What do you mean? You feel the same sensation from the boy's chakra, right? Imagine how Tobi must feel. So much vitality… Poor Tobi."

Black Zetsu couldn't find any pity for Tobi. He had been bred for this task. While Zetsu was able to create as many clones as his chakra tolerated, and had many techniques that specialized in espionage, Tobi was different. Tobi could not create clones. Instead, Tobi had resonated most of all with Hashirama's tissue.

It had been an extremely bad day for Kurama. One almost equaling the day he had been split in half, to be sealed within the son of the woman he had been sealed in previously. That very child was on the border of life and death, and Kurama had to exert himself to keep the boy alive. The death of the boy would, after all, imply that he died as well. And the Kyuubi had no desire for death, not the least because he did not know what would happen if he died.

It was not that a bijuu could actually die, not by the mortal sense of the word. His body could be destroyed, yes, which was as close to death as the Kyuubi could get. What was more worrisome was that he had lost his Yin half when he was sealed within Naruto. While only having Yang energy, Kurama doubted that he could recreate his body.

Yang could breathe life into form, but Yin was needed to create form.

"Stupid brat!" the enormous fox howled. The light within his prison was slowly dimming, at the same rate as the vigor was slipping out of the boy- and then suddenly, everything changed.

Plants, roots from mighty trees, grew through the sewer that led towards Kurama's prison. The walls were slowly being covered, the ground, normally covered with water, dried up as the foliage soaked it up. A foreign chakra invaded Naruto's body, merging with it, and the remnants of Naruto's chakra responded.

Not that he could be blamed for not trying to stop it. Whatever happened to the boy, it was bad news. The man who had attacked them, who had killed the teacher and the kunoichi, and left Naruto for dead, had obviously acted on orders of something else. Kurama cursed the fact that Naruto's sight had failed when he completely lost consciousness. A blur of black and white was the last thing Kurama had seen through Naruto's nearly closed eyes.

It was bad news indeed.

Whatever it was, if the boy was completely taken over, then Kurama would be at their mercy- which was utterly unacceptable. So when the foreign chakra reached out for the boy's unconscious form, which had been resting right in front of Kurama's prison, the might nine-tailed fox lashed out which his claw. The pull of the foreign chakra increased, but Kurama didn't relent. The boy might be an insufferable miscreant, but he at least left Kurama alone, and whoever it was that tried to take over the boy's body would undoubtedly be worse.

The opposing powers struggled for dominance, with Kurama severely handicapped due to the restrictions which the seal imposed on him. Regardless, Kurama was mighty enough to match the power of foreign chakra. It had the same odd quality which reminded Kurama of Senju Hashirama and his mokuton, but this form of the wood release was incomparably weaker.

Naruto's ego was left dangling between the two powers. Unable to endure, it ripped asunder.

In a moment of desperation, Kurama forced all his chakra through the seal. The might of the fox had been cut in half by Namikaze Minato, but ironically, it was only the Yang energy that Kurama needed right now.

The foreign chakra couldn't handle it, and transformed. The result was a genetic rewrite which Kurama couldn't stop. The boy and the invader became one, except for the part of the boy which Kurama still held in his claws. With the ego of the boy torn asunder, Kurama knew he had to act quickly. That shattered part of the boy's entity was perfect to close off the seal. Whatever the other half of the boy had become, it would not be able to reach Kurama- not without Kurama's permission, at least.

Zetsu, both halves, continued watching how Tobi merged with the boy.

"Does this kill Tobi?"

"The boy is nearly dead. Tobi should be the dominant personality. The boy's Yang chakra will only help him gain more power. Tobi's Mokuton would be drastically improved."

"Why is mokuton so important?"

Black Zetsu sighed, annoyed by the ignorance of his whiter half. "Mother's remains, the statue, are composed of wood. So if we can't have a proper Uchiha to control the statue until mother returns, what would be better than someone with the Mokuton kekkei genkai?"

"Oh, so Tobi is going to turn into super-Tobi. But why? We've got Nagato for that, right?"

"Jozetsu, you are a moron," Black Zetsu reminded him of his nickname 'chatterbox'. Pointless chatter was what seemed to define White Zetsu. He'd rather talk than think, unlike his blacker half. "Nagato doesn't trust us, and I don't trust him. Nagato dreams of peace, and why would we tell him about our real goals? All we need is a vessel to control the Juubi, until we can resurrect the Shinju. And once that happens…"

"Mom will be happy to be back!"

"Hush. Tobi is waking up. His chakra just now… it was huge. Yes, it definitely was. Will it be the same old Tobi? It should be. Our loyal yet strong puppet."

Blue eyes fluttered, the swirling mask of Tobi leaving the boy's head free.

"Tobi. How do you feel?"

"Who?" the boy muttered after a pause, seemingly surprised by the question. Tobi's 'flesh' kept shrinking, merging with Naruto's body to a greater degree than Zetsu, both black and white, had anticipated. This was nothing like what they had seen with Obito.

"Stop kidding around, Tobi," Black Zetsu growled.

Pain. The entire body was permeating with a pain that blinded him, that replaced his every thought. Something from outside penetrated his flesh, changing him. Something from within answered, burning and churning, also changing him. He jumbled in between, forgetting who or what he was. A power that was innately his emerged, somehow soothing his pain, comforting him. It replaced the outside force, and subdued the fire from within him. It ended the struggle. Yet at what cost?

A gasp escaped his lips, suddenly aware of the necessity of oxygen. The entire world swirled and shifted, opening up in a way that was foreign to him and yet… 'I see without eyes. I see the roots of the trees. I see the leaves. I see the vines. I sense everything. And yet I am blind.'

"Tobi." A voice spoke to him, it sounded rather flippant, as if they knew each other.

"How do you feel," a second, rougher, voice followed after the other, seamlessly. The first was friendly enough, but the other scared him. He somehow felt like he had to listen to it. But when he considered why, he decided to dismiss the feeling.

"Who?" he muttered. Was he Tobi? No, he didn't feel like the name was familiar. The name felt completely foreign, but he couldn't recall who he really was. A vexing thought encroached upon him, the idea that he was… it was so close, he was about to say it, but the knowledge just kept slipping away. The moment he thought that he remembered it, he forgot again.

"Stop fooling around, Tobi," the ill-tempered voice again. The boy tried to move, but that was about as impossible as remembering. The smell of freshly-served ramen made him drool, the warmth of a blonde comforted him, but that was just about everything he knew. There were vague impressions, including of his legs, which currently felt wrong. He didn't know why his legs were wrong, but he just knew. Not knowing why only led to more frustration. Or was it that sense of anger and loss that suddenly boiled up for no reason?

Again, he tried to move. Whether he was 'Tobi' or not, he didn't know. But he did want to get up and see what was going on. His legs felt soft like warm butter. His stomach felt odd as well, as if every organ was still rearranging itself. It didn't feel painful, it was just… well, the only impression he knew that could be compared to it was an itch.

He tried to lift his arm, and instead his messed up senses extended to something outside his body.

"Why is he manipulating that tree?" The friendlier voice asked in surprise.

"He'll need time to adjust." The other growled.

The strange thing, now that he considered it, was that there were two voices, while he only sensed one body. Realizing he could sense the other, he turned his attention to himself. His body was different from how he remembered, somehow. The vague impressions that he had from the time before waking up told him that something had changed.

"Who am I?" he questioned aloud.

"He seems to have forgotten. Yes, he remembers nothing, pitiful. Should we bring him home? He will be needing time to adjust to the changes. Is he Tobi or Naruto?"

"Naruto?" the nameless boy liked the sound of that name better than 'Tobi'. 'Naruto' gave him impressions of mischief, orange, and… and something else. The frustration grew, and with it his chakra spiked.

Flowers spouted from their bulbs, bloomed, and perished. Trees shed their leaves and grew new ones. Acorns erupted into small trees. In a matter of seconds, the boy's chakra overflowed the nearby nature. The worst aspect was that Zetsu had to struggle not to lose his own cohesion, as if he too was erupting into a tree. White Zetsu was especially suffering.

"We're lucky he passed out," Black Zetsu mumbled, looking down on the exhausted boy. "Mokuton… When I witnessed him engage the Ichibi, I knew he could have the potential, with the overwhelming Yang energy he has. When he used the Kyuubi's chakra, it was as if he was overflowing with life. Yet I never anticipated him to change so fundamentally. So even you don't know everything! Only mother does."

Senju Tsunade regretted the day she had allowed that little blond brat to convince her to go back home. Paperwork was bad, politics were worse, but the absolute worst was when she had sent people on missions and they didn't return. It was over a week, and still no one had heard a thing of Hatake Kakashi and his team. Even Danzo had sworn ignorance of where they were, despite admitting that Sai, one of the genin of team seven, was one of his operatives. Keeping an eye on the jinchuriki of Konoha was something that stood high on the man's agenda. Losing the young Uzumaki would be a harsh blow for the village.

But Tsunade couldn't care all that much about the village right now. Every day that had passed had increased the sense of dread that filled her heart.

'I made a mistake. I should never have given him that necklace. It is cursed… hurry back home, brat.'

But Naruto never listened. Sure, he was the second-most flippant subordinate that Tsunade had, only surpassed by the boy's godfather, but she cared too much about the boy to ever punish him for his lack of respect. No other shinobi would leave her office without at least a broken bone or two if he called her 'Baa-chan', but he could- perhaps it was because he resembled Nawaki so much?

Nawaki… the mere thought of her younger brother made her afraid. Day after day passed, but no message from Karachi came. No smiling blond brat barged into her office, unannounced. No disruptions arose within the village due to one of his successful pranks. It gave her a fearful premonition.

In a way, Tsunade was thankful that there still was so much for her to do. The invasion of the combined forces of Otogakure and Sunagakure had left deep scars in Konoha, and as the Hokage she was the one who had to undo much of the damage that her former teammate had caused. But even thinking about the invasion often made her thoughts wander off to Naruto, as he had been the one who stopped Suna's jinchuriki.

Sabaku no Gaara had returned to Suna, and had truly had a change of heart, to the degree that he had practically scared the elders of his village into surrendering. It ended the foolish conflict that had been started only due to Orochimaru's schemes. Reparations, concessions, and re-negotiating the peace treaty were things that would never have gone as smoothly as they did without Gaara's influence. Tsunade hoped that the boy, who was likely the strongest shinobi of Sunagekure, would end up being the next Kazekage. At least he had good intentions towards Konoha.

'Yes, and when I resign and hand my position to Naruto, he'd have the perfect ally in Gaara.'

Naruto, Naruto, Naruto… Tsunade wondered how he had wiggled his way into her heart so easily. She, who had distanced herself from practically everyone except Shizune and the pet piglet Tonton, had never thought that she could be swayed so easily- especially not after Dan, her lover, had perished. She had seen his life slip through her hands, just like she had been powerless to do anything to avert Nawaki's death.

'The most famous healer in the world. Bah, I've done nothing be fail the people I cared most about. It makes me wonder what kind of idiot ever thought that I was fit for this position.' Naruto had.

Tired and frustrated, Tsunade took the usual way out. Perhaps she would find some solace in that bottle of sake, or one of the others. Somewhere along the line, she had been so drunk that she had fallen asleep, head down on the desk, drooling over all kinds of important documents. Her head felt like it was splitting, the hangover had already set in, and when she saw the cautious first rays of the morning sun, Tsunade wondered why she had woken up. Sleeping was much better. So, she tried to close her eyes again, doing her best to ignore her headache and her churning stomach.

"Tsunade." Something in his voice made her thoughts of sleep vanish. She shivered, and spurred open her eyes.

"Jiraiya?"

He didn't answer immediately, but something in his eyes, before he had quickly averted his eyes, had filled her with fear. He wasn't looking away because she was dressed indecently, which she was, considering how her blouse had sagged open a little during her little dive into the sake reserves, but there was something else. Her intoxicated brain had some trouble recognizing that voice of his, that expression she had seen before… when he told her…

"No," she whispered. "No… no, don't tell me he is…"

He gently laid a necklace on her desk, the crystal gem still partially covered in a dried-up clot of blood and mud. His voice broke, and she could hear the tears he had shed. "It's all I found, hime."

"It can't… not him… not that brat... he swore to me, he swore he'd never… not before he would be Hokage," she whimpered.

"Someone cashed in the bounty on Hatake Kakashi," Jiraiya whispered, and lay down a scroll in which the man's body rested. Jiraiya didn't want to tell how many throats he had cut to get his hands on the body, nor was Tsunade willing to ask. In fact, she wished he hadn't told her. She didn't want him to say it, that Naruto died. She almost hated him for bringing the news. "I retraced where it happened," he put down two more scrolls. "I found the remains of Haruno Sakura and Sai. And… blood… some parts of… so much blood- the toads… his name vanished from the contract…"

She had no idea when she left her chair, but suddenly she realized he had grabbed Jiraiya by the hem of his shirt, lifting the tall man from the ground with just a single hand. "You're lying," she could hear the desperation in her own voice, making her wonder why she acted like this. It was the risk of their profession, it was… it was what happened to all who wore that accursed necklace. "It's not true. I order you to… order him not to… I won't…"

She broke down in tears, only held up by Jiraiya's gentle embrace. Vaguely she heard as the man lost his restraint as well. She knew how he had cared about Minato, how it had devastated him that Minato had died, and now the man's son, his own godson, had perished. He was even closer to the boy than she ever was, and yet here she was… the mighty Hokage who was bawling her eyes out, only remaining on her feet because a man who was hurting even more had the strength to keep her up.

"It's not fair," she repeated several times. "It can't be Naruto."

But no matter how she wished that Jiraiya told her that it wasn't true, he remained silent.

The boy woke up again. His body had been broken and restored, but his new tissue had not been his own, at least, not originally. What once had been the frivolous entity known as Tobi was now completely merged with Naruto. However, the current Naruto was not much like the Naruto Uzumaki he had been before his presumed death. The current Naruto could not remember that Naruto. No, all that this Naruto knew were basic things. He had some skills but lacked the memories of how he got them. He knew the words, but had forgotten the people who taught them to him. It was an infuriating situation, only worsened by his lack of mobility. He had to learn how to control his legs, how to move his arms, how to flex any muscle in his body. It made him wonder how much of his body had been destroyed, but when he asked, Zetsu had only vaguely answered.

Considering the color of his skin, Naruto assumed he lost both his legs and at least one of his arms. Much of his torso was now made out of that white goo as well. What once was Tobi was now his tissue, but it was remarkably hard to control. Other things complicated Naruto's situation even more.

Zetsu had been forced to move Naruto to an underground cave, too cold to be filled with vegetation. The problem was that Naruto somehow could not make the distinction between his own body and everything around him. When he tried to move a finger, a nearby tree could randomly move its branches. Or if he tried to stand up, vines erupted from the ground. It was too confusing for the boy, which had forced Zetsu to move him to a place where there was less greenery.

Surrounded by solid rock, Naruto finally made progress. Moving, instinctively solidifying the parts of his body which had once been Tobi… every little step of progress was only accomplished through hard work.

The second step of his progress was gaining control of his newfound kekkei genkai. Through Tobi, who had inherited the ability either from the Gedo Mazo, or through the cloned tissue of Senju Hashirama, Naruto was genetically altered to the degree that he could influence all plants. 'Influence' was the right word at this point because Naruto still had a long way to go before he would be able to claim that he could 'control' anything.

"Seems like you're getting faster. He's still too slow."

"…"

"It's rude to ignore us. Let him, he should be focusing on his training. But shouldn't he be looking forward to the news we have?"

"What news?" Naruto sighed. He knew that Zetsu wouldn't stop annoying him until he told Naruto what he wanted. Zetsu was the only person – if he could be considered as such – who visited Naruto in this lone cave. And yet, for some reason, Naruto mostly felt annoyed by the plant-like shinobi.

"We found you a teacher! One who had first-hand experience on dealing with your kekkei genkai. Yes, because we don't know how to use it properly. We lack the necessary vitality and chakra," Black Zetsu finished. "Besides, you need to learn how to do more than just mokuton. Other skills are useful to, like suiton or doton, but fire and wind too! Not too big a fan of lightning, though. It tends to give me a splitting headache. Stop whining, it was just a clone that died. But he didn't have to be so uptight! It is your fault for pointing him to that bounty. Or his own fault for not being quick enough. How could we know that someone else was after that idiot as well?"

"You're giving me a headache," Naruto grumbled. "As usual, I'd add. Who is this teacher? And does it mean that I can get out of here? Being restricted to this little valley after you finally let me out of that cave is starting to bore me."

"Kakuzu should be here soon," White Zetsu gave the boy a thumbs-up. "He is not a patient man, so make sure to watch your step. Or you'll die!"

"Stupid piece of mutated lettuce," Naruto growled after the Zetsu duo sank into the ground. Ever since his release from that empty cave, where he had been fully reliant on Zetsu for food and water, Naruto had seen the moon grow full twice. Still he lived in an awkward shed, an amalgamation of several trees, which, as a testament to his shoddy control, almost looked like it had randomly formed a shelter.

Zetsu came and went according to his own wishes, seemingly taking pleasure in Naruto's growing frustrations. Now that the boy could move around, the torment of not-knowing had only grown worse. That-which-had-once-been-Tobi had merged with the boy, acting as a catalyst for the boy's Yang chakra to affect the nature surrounding him. While the Kyuubi had somehow closed off the seal, with only a bare minimum of chakra leaking out, Naruto had spent his first thirteen years while basking in the creature's chakra.

Luckily, Zetsu believed that it was Naruto's mokuton that was suppressing the Kyuubi, or he might have grown suspicious, Black Zetsu, at least. His whiter half was too stupid to ever notice it.

With Zetsu gone, all that was left for Naruto was patience. Days were wasted on waiting, until Naruto felt someone enter 'his' forest. In this vicinity, Naruto felt everything through the roots and bark of the very trees surrounding him. Then again, the one who entered the forest of this hidden valley had simply too much chakra to not notice.

Much to his frustration, Naruto once again felt something gnawing at his memories. Something about this situation was familiar, but what?

'Perhaps I've met this Kakuzu before?' Naruto sighed. 'Oh well, he can't be worse than that creepy piece-of-shit crop of lettuce, can he? But why does his chakra make me feel such anger?'

Author's notes

Someone once asked me "wouldn't the story of Naruto have been a lot better if there had not been any Uchiha around?" While I don't agree, the notion got me thinking. Not from a bias against the Uchiha, but rather with a focus on the implications it would have for the story. The timing would be of the essence, regarding the point at which the Uchiha would vanish. Regardless, there would only be one major loser in any Uchiha-free scenario. Zetsu. Without an Uchiha to manipulate, how would Zetsu control Akatsuki? How would he reach his final goal of resurrecting Otsutsuki Kaguya?

Eventually, I decided that the night of the Uchiha massacre would be the best point to start the deviation from the manga. Nagato would still get the rinnegan from Madara, Madara still aided Hashirama in founding Konoha, and so on. If I would trace back further, for instance by having Hashirama truly kill Madara and wiping out all the Uchiha, the entirety of Konoha would be changed fundamentally; too fundamentally, for my tastes. So, I let Itachi do it, backstabbing Obito with the Totsuka blade. For the sake of being complete, I assumed that the real Madara died when Nagato summoned the Gedo Mazo, So… how would Zetsu try to revive Kaguya now, when Nagato had very different ideals and Zetsu lacked the power to manipulate him?

The other part of what led to this story was my annoyance at how repetitive most of the fics are with regard to Naruto getting the mokuton kekkei genkai. Practically all of these stories have Tsunade as his (grand) mother, and/or Minato secretly being a Senju. Meanwhile, there is a second source of the wood release, Zetsu, being completely ignored. At least, I never encountered a fic with a similar idea before (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong). The manga initially claimed that Zetsu's mokuton was derived from Hashirama, but later on Kishimoto suddenly changed his mind (fickle bastard) and had Zetsu being something far older.

It left me thinking: how could Naruto get the wood release through Zetsu? Well, this chapter is my answer. Much like Obito grew stronger from getting Zetsu's tissue as a replacement for the part of his body that had been crushed, Naruto now got the same thing through 'Tobi'. Please mind that 'Tobi' is just the name of the empty 'swirly Zetsu', and not the alias which Obito used to fool everyone (minus the readers).

This is how 'Asunder' started. I always found the way Naruto could turn the Zetsu clones into trees rather interesting. Well, that and I've got a penchant for weird theories. But those among you who have read my other stories should already be aware of that! As for the name itself was something that came up from a game I played a long time ago, Dragon Age Origins:

The limbs, mere meat.
The torso, but a vessel.
The head, all but unnecessary.
The heart, separate, keeps life.
The heart, safe from the blade, can be restored.
The heart waits, in the Fade.

-Ziltoid-