Dawn's Sage

Epilogue

"So are you awake yet? I know you're not dead." said Kisame, Samehada slung over his back, more tired than he had ever been.

The young Uchiha leaning up against a tree opened his black eyes sluggishly. "I'm not entirely sure why I'm not. Didn't you say you wanted to avenge your partner? I was the one who killed Itachi."

Kisame's shoulder's shook as he chuckled. "Itachi was a man of secrets, but I was around him often enough to learn a few. Let me share two of them with you. One, Itachi was dying. Not many could notice it, but I saw the blood and heard the coughs when he thought no one was around."

The information shocked Sasuke, but the lack of chakra beyond maintaining life prevented him from moving. "There's no way Itachi was-" began Sasuke, but then he thought back to the final moments of his fight with Itachi. He had been a little too distracted to notice properly at the time, but the Susanoo had been having some adverse effect on Itachi. Sasuke had written it off as some kind of side effect of the Sharingan's ultimate technique, but now that he thought about it, he had never coughed up blood due to using the Susanoo.

Seeing the look of understanding dawn on Sasuke's face, Kisame continued. "The second thing I knew about Itachi is that there was no way he could lose against you then if it came down to raw skill and power. Itachi let you win that fight, god knows why. And I'll pay you back blow for blow, but Itachi's blood isn't on your hands. It's on his own. So I'll let you live this time, don't waste it. We'll meet again."

With that, Kisame walked away, leaving Sasuke to struggle to his feet. The last Uchiha managed to stand upright, and headed towards the site where the Three Wolves Mountains had been. As he staggered towards the site, it became apparent that that land had gone from high mountains to a large crater in the ground. Sasuke's half closed eyes fought off exhaustion to widen at the sight of eight massive clumps of chakra slowly taking shape into various beasts. Akatsuki was long gone, and Sasuke began to limp over to the wreckage to look for any survivors of whatever had happened here.

"Hah! Found it!" Sasuke whirled around at the shout, wincing at the pain and realizing that he was incapable of producing enough fire to light a candle in his current state. The Uchiha grimaced as he pulled a kunai out of his leg pouch, hoping surprise would be enough to give him an easy victory.

Unfortunately, Suigetsu wasn't a complete idiot, and reacted to the familiar sound of a drawn kunai as any half decent academy student would; with violence. "Let's test this baby out!" shouted Suigetsu as his new sword was wreathed in a blue aura. The blade was encased in a massive blade of pure chakra that swung horizontally at Sasuke, who barely managed to duck under the swing, though it was more like a controlled collapse. The legendary sword sliced through the rocks behind Sasuke with worrying ease, and the Uchiha was scared for a moment that he had survived Kisame only to be killed by some random swordsman.

"Note to self: that uses a lot of chakra." mumbled Suigetsu as he staggered around like the town drunk before collapsing across from Sasuke. "Who are you anyway?"

"Someone who's lucky to have survived this. Who are you, and what are you doing here?" countered Sasuke, hoping that his chakra would recover faster than his opponent's.

"Suigetsu Hozuki, future leader of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Hidden Mist! I came back to get this sword, though… I don't exactly know how to use it all that well." the white haired teen admitted sheepishly. "Whatever, I don't have time to waste here, there are Tailed Beasts!"

"Hold on a second, do you know what happened here?" asked Sasuke as Suigetsu got up to his feet unsteadily and started to walk away.

"From what Master Oro- I mean Mistress Orochimaru." corrected Suigetsu, giggling to himself at some joke Sasuke didn't get. "Anyway, Orochimaru just said Akatsuki had a falling out with their leader. This is what's left when ten S-Rankers go at it full force. And it won't be getting any prettier once those beasts come to their senses."

Almost as if Suigetsu's words were the cue it had been waiting for, the nearest lump of malevolent chakra swung out an elongated chunk of what Sasuke imagined would become a tail eventually. The two ninja easily dodged the haphazard swipe even in their depleted state.

"Alright, this is getting dangerous." said a pale Suigetsu. "I don't know who you are, I don't care who you are. I'm getting out while the getting's good."

"Wait a second!" shouted Sasuke. Suigetsu turned around, obviously annoyed at being held up again. "You said you work for Orochimaru. What is Akatsuki doing now?"

"I'd imagine their eating dinner." replies Suigetsu sarcastically before dropping his sharpened smile. "Seriously though, you're thinking too highly of me. All I've heard is we're going somewhere wet, whatever that means. Personally, I look forward to a little moisture, and not getting killed by a half formed slug. See ya."

With that Suigetsu placed the large sword on his back and took off. Sasuke grimaced as he began the long limp back to the Hidden Leaf Village.

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The ninja world had been shaken to its very core by the death of the Five Kage and the desolation of the Land of Iron. The place had become synonymous with suicide, as venturing there risked angering the eight demons that had taken up residence in the land. Thanks to the Tailed Beasts, climates ranged from active volcanoes to deep forests to vast deserts where once there had only been harsh snow and fierce winds.

The remaining villages were dealt another blow when only months later, the Village Hidden in the Rain fell, not to any of the other villages seeking to fill the power vacuum as was expected, but a group of six powerful S-Ranked ninjas in black and red cloaks. Oddly enough though, Akatsuki didn't stop there. The former terrorist group continued to push their own agenda by sweeping across the land and decimating the armies of the other villages that were preparing for war.

Leaderless, there was little resistance from the major villages, who were glad that a long and painful war had been averted, even if half the world was under the control of Akatsuki. But Akatsuki did not stop there.

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"Sir! You'll never guess who it is!" said the ninja as he burst into Ao's office. The man left to guard the Hidden Mist Village was serving as interim Mizukage, a post he wished everyday he didn't have. Though he was grateful to Akatsuki on some level for either destroying the armies of the more minor villages or scaring them back into the woodworks, it was nothing compared to his rage over the death of the former Mizukage. Mei Terumi had led the rebellion for years against the oppression of Yagura, and by the end of those hard years she had been like a mother to most of the ninja that followed her. Not being able to protect her and Chojuro would haunt him to the grave.

"This had better not be some kind of game!" shouted Ao, looking up from the mountain of paperwork with barely contained anger over his subordinate's casual tone.

The ninja backpedalled both mentally and physically at his leader's tone. "It's Lord Kisame! He's requested an audience and is outside now." Ao was even more frustrated at Kisame's title being used when he was a member of Akatsuki. Then again, the Hidden Mist had few allies in the world, and losing their jinchuriki, a tyrant and a traitor, hadn't hit them nearly as hard as the other villages. Kisame was the leader of one of the first and most successful attempts on the Mizukage's life, making him some kind of celebrity among the former rebellion.

Ao had been one of the many admirers that the Monster of the Hidden Mist had, but that admiration had forever been destroyed by his part in the Mizukage's death. Ao looked out his office's windows to see that the blue skinned swordsman was indeed standing outside the building, clad in the black and red cloak of Akatsuki and smiling with the sharpened teeth of a member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen. By the time Ao had stormed down to the entrance of the building, a small crowd had gathered around Kisame, full of excitable young people who had heard of his exploits and respectful elderly who remembered watching him grow up.

Ao shocked them all out of the past with his harsh tone. "What are you doing here, Akatsuki?"

"Business I'm afraid, though I may treat myself to some crabs later. Local delicacy you know." said Kisame as his grin grew a bit more before fading as he grew serious. "Really though, I just need a little promise from the Hidden Mist. You guys don't go to war… ever, and Akatsuki doesn't end any attempts to go to war. Simple, huh? Just think of Akatsuki as… the army that stops armies."

The deal seemed good to the older folks in the crowd. Akatsuki had demonstrated what they could do, and those who had lived through wars had no wish to repeat it. The younger members of the crowd were too caught up in actually seeing a living legend right in front of them to grasp the changing of the world order. Ao's skepticism and hate made him the only one to object. "A Hidden Village's strength is based off of its performance in war. You wish to take that away and expect us to give all our power to the Akatsuki?"

Kisame chuckled. "Not at all. Every other village is being offered the same thing. You should feel lucky I volunteered to come. We could have sent Kakuzu." This was followed by another laugh, which drew in the crowd, despite them not really knowing what they were laughing at. "This will bring peace. My job is to get you to agree to that… or make sure nobody is left to disagree. This is still my home though, so I'm trying to be lenient here, but there is a line. Don't cross it for your own pride."

Ao's scowl deepened. "We will never bow down to traitors like you, who allies himself with those who killed the Mizukage."

Kisame had the gall to throw back his head in laughter. "I thought the whole goal of your movement for years was to kill the Mizukage. Don't hate me just because I did what you couldn't."

"Yagura was a tyrant, but Mei Terumi was a fantastic leader, killed before her time by Akatsuki." Ao pulled out a scroll with seven seals, though all but two were empty. "I'll die before I surrender the future to scum like you."

Kisame's laughter stopped abruptly. "Does anyone else agree with him?" Any supporters were silenced by Samehada breaking the ground as Kisame hefted it off his back. Noticing the lack of supporters, Kisame grunted in satisfaction. "But you'd all be fine if things stayed the same, wouldn't you? How about this then? If you can beat me Ao, Akatsuki will back off for good. The Hidden Mist will be beyond our influence. If I win, the village falls into line peacefully and embraces the way the world will be. Deal?"

There was a puff of smoke, and Ao was wielding a long needle with a length of wire thread at the base. Kisame smirked at the sight. "To beat a legendary blade you need to use a legendary blade, eh? Sorry, but Kushimaru was never able to beat me." Ao silently made a handseal, and a deep mist began to settle over the area. "And now you want to beat me at Silent Killing? I'm no Zabuza, but you just keep digging your grave deeper." Kisame trailed off slowly as he faded into silence and began to reach out with his other senses to find Ao and kill him, knowing that Ao would be doing the same.

Unfortunately, their chosen field of battle was right next to the village proper, and the ambient noise was distracting. Still, Kisame was alert enough to lean his head to the side as the Nuibari whisked by. A slight gash appeared on his arm as the sword shot right back almost immediately from behind. Kisame listened even more, and began to dodge an alarming number of strikes, considering that Ao was only one person throwing this sword.

Ao meanwhile, was patting himself on the back for creating so many water clones to pass the sword between. He knew he had no hope against Kisame in a fair fight, which was why hadn't used the Blastsword Shibuki. A sword that used chakra was useless against Samehada. Kisame's attempts at hiding in the mist were commendable, but ultimately useless to the stolen Byakugan that resided under his eye patch.

Kisame growled to himself at how rusty he had become with the signature technique of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, and his home village even. He hadn't used it against a serious opponent since he had gotten Samehada. Looking down at his sword with a brilliant idea, Kisame grinned and rose his sword into the air.

Ao almost gasped and gave away his position as the Hidden Mist technique began to drain his chakra incredibly quickly compared to usual as the mist began to swirl. His Byakugan saw the chakra flow out of the mist into Samehada, and he grunted in frustration as he ended the technique. Kisame grinned as Ao came into view. "Now I remember why I never got as good as Zabuza at Silent Killing. I never needed to. Clever use of the clones by the way."

"Longsword Ninja Art: Razor Ensnarement!" shouted Ao as he pulled suddenly on the wire attached to his sword. Kisame became aware of the razor sharp, almost invisible wire that had been trailing the sword all this time and was now all around him. A sharper sword like the Thunderswords Kiba or the Seversword Kubokiribocho would have been able to cut through the thread of the Nuibari, but Samehada was probably the sword least aimed at actually cutting through things. Kisame knew that the razor wire would slice through him easily, he had seen Kushimaru stitch together enough 'necklaces' as he had called them to know that Nuibari treated the human body like an arts and crafts project.

Thinking quickly, Kisame jammed Samehada point first into the ground and holding himself up with a one handed handstand that kept him above the threads as they dug into Samehada. The shark sword held up admirably, but it was now completely trapped. Kisame lowered himself on the other side of the threads and sprinted towards one of Ao's water clones. He grabbed the one eyed clone before it could react. One tenth of Ao's speed wasn't nearly enough to keep up with Kisame. The Akatsuki member slammed the clone into the ground where he exploded in a burst of water, which Kisame reformed into his own water clone with a simple seal.

Kisame could have ended the fight even without Samehada in a heartbeat, but his pride as a swordsman was on the line, something Ao had likely been counting on when he brought out Nuibari. The clone raced back to try and free Samehada as Kisame covered it. His unarmed combat wasn't fantastic, and using a water technique was a bad idea when he was trying to keep collateral damage to a minimum, but his taijutsu was enough to fend off the water clones until the clone managed to weasel Samehada free, aided by the sword itself.

Grabbing his sword, Kisame sliced the remaining clones in half with one fell swing. He then turned his attention to the real Ao, who had been the only one able to dodge his attack. Ao then took advantage of Kisame's follow through to dash forward and strike out. "Gentle Blade!" Chakra raced down the needle and Kisame just smirked as he spun his hungry blade around to intercept. Instead of eating the chakra right up like it usually did, Samehada began to writhe in pain when the smaller blade stabbed it.

Kisame jumped back, suddenly wary of the needle. The blade was sharp, but it shouldn't have been able to pierce Samehada's scales. "What the hell did you do?" asked Kisame.

Ao couldn't hold back a smirk. "I may not be a Hyuga, but the concept of the Gentle Fist is simple enough. Use the Byakugan to target the chakra system. And every living thing has a chakra system, even living swords." Kisame began to laugh maniacally at that, using Samehada as a crutch to keep himself upright. "What's so funny?" demanded Ao.

"You've been waiting for me to eat your chakra or turn the battlefield into an ocean, and you've prepared all these countermeasures. But you forgot the basics. Water Prison!" Ao's eye widened at the technique's name, since it required the user to be right next to the target. Then he felt the water flowing over him, trapping him in an orb. Turning around, Ao saw what Kisame had meant. Smiling back at him, hands converted to the water for the technique, was Kisame's water clone.

Kisame walked up to his captive and raised Samehada aloft. "Game, set, match. This is Akatsuki territory now." Samehada came down, and the water prison was dyed red by the time it hit the ground.

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"I must say, your security is shockingly lacking. Not nearly as tight as when I killed the Eight Tails jinchuriki." said Orochimaru as he rose up out of the floor. "Ah, but where are my manners? I'm Orochimaru of the Legendary Sannin, here to secure your Village's future as a core member of Akatsuki."

Shi whirled around at the sound, turning away from the paperwork that he had to deal with as the new Raikage after the deaths of both A and Bee. "And how would Akatsuki secure our village's future?" he asked, voice laced with sarcasm and loathing. "By not finishing the job you started? You've already doomed our village."

"Harsh words." chastised Orochimaru. "But true. We did kill the Raikage, though that was under our old leader. Akatsuki has new management. All we'll do now is destroy any armies that are mobilized. You won't even have to stop taking missions. Protection from every other army as long as you don't raise your own. Akatsuki will enforce peace. I'm interested to see where this goes, aren't you?"

Shi responded with a flurry of hand seals. "Lightning Illusion: Flash of Lightning Pillar!" A bright light emanated from his body, blinding Orochimaru. Shi acted quickly, drawing a kunai and extending its reach with Lightning chakra and chopping off Orochimaru's head. Shi held his breath for a brief moment until the body didn't turn into a log or collapse into mud before smiling at the success of the element of surprise.

"Or not. Perhaps your successor will be more understanding." Shi whirled around to see the body of the Sannin jerkily getting up, a long snake extended out of its neck. Following the serpent along, Shi saw it attached to Orochimaru's head, which was wearing a victorious smirk and joining the body once more. "Really now, don't look so surprised. Did you think I could be on the same team as the best medic in the world, strive for immortality, create hundreds of forbidden techniques, and be done in by a kunai and the element of surprise?"

Shi brought his hands together in another seal, but Orochimaru's hand shot out like a snake and grabbed him by the fingers, holding him in the seal. "That's the other thing. We'll be around for about… forever." said Orochimaru after faking a moment to think about it. "One last chance to agree before this office explodes."

Shi grimaced once before spitting in Orochimaru's face. "The Hidden Cloud will never follow Akatsuki."

"Shame you won't live to see how wrong you are. Lava Style: Volcanic Creation!" Forming one handed seals and slamming his palm on the ground, Orochimaru quickly ejected another body from his mouth out of the window as the ground beneath the office fractured, letting in a red light from below. Before Shi could even move, the lava burst upwards immolating everything inside the mountain. It would have likely continued upwards, but the weaker glass structure of the Raikage's office let the lava pour out down the side of the mountain.

Orochimaru looked onward at his handiwork, interested to see whether the artificial volcano would last long and see whether the next Raikage would be more accepting of Akatsuki's terms.

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Kakuzu had once been a man of subtlety. After all, flat out overpowering the First Hokage would have been impossible, but Kakuzu's wit and planning had impressed the man enough to get his village a Tailed Beast. After that fight though, things had changed. Leaving the village by blowing up the jail cell and ripping out the hearts of the village leaders could hardly be called finesse. But this new method suited Kakuzu just fine, and he wasn't about to change now.

Restocked on hearts from Sasori's army that allowed him to fight, unlike Orochimaru's old heart that was barely enough to keep him alive, Kakuzu once more used his favorite Earth Style Technique. The Earth Spear made his hand so hard that he hardly felt the gates of the Village Hidden in the Rocks as he punched them down with nothing but his fist. Walking directly towards the Tsuchikage's office in the middle of the day in full Akatsuki regalia after literally punching down their door was about as far from subtle as you could get.

He attracted a lot of attention from the ninja that the Hidden Rock had been preparing for war. The boulders came down on him like rain, but they did little to slow him down as they broke against his skin. The dominant chakra nature was Earth, but several Fire and even an odd Water technique were thrown at him. By the time he reached the office of the Tsuchikage his mask and cloak were in tatters, but the attacks had mostly stopped as the ninja had slowly realized they were just wasting chakra.

Kakuzu was greeted by the Tsuchikage's son, Kitsuchi. A jonin worth over 50 million on the black market, dead or alive, and proficient in large scale Earth Style techniques. The information jumped to Kakuzu through force of habit as Kitsuchi approached him. "Give me one good reason not to leave you six feet under." threatened Kitsuchi.

"You can disband your army, or I can disband it for you. Akatsuki will be the only peacekeepers in the world now." said Kakuzu simply, ignoring the threat. Seeing Kitsuchi begin the seals for a technique, he continued. "I wouldn't if I were you."

"Earth Style: Sandwich!" The Rock ninja scurried to get out of the way as two massive hemispheres rose out of the ground and flew towards Kakuzu. Two masks rose out of his back, one firing off a concentrated bolt of lightning while the other shot razor blades of wind to slice and dice the incoming walls of rock before they could reach him. Kitsuchi seemed undeterred though. "The proud ninja of the Hidden Rock Village will never kneel to Akatsuki!"

"I'm not sure you have a choice." said Kakuzu menacingly from behind his mask. His right hand turned a darker shade as it became as hard as diamond and segmented from his body halfway up his forearm. As the open hand flew through the air, Kitsuchi flew through hand seals.

"Earth Style: Rock Shelter!" The reason Water Style techniques were usually weak to Earth Style ones was their inability to pierce through the numerous defensive techniques the style was famed for. The Rock Shelter was one of the most basic, yet remained the most usable as the strength of the barrier increased with the skill of the user, making a Rock Shelter used by a master like Kitsuchi almost impregnable.

Kakuzu's Earth Spear was a step above that though. It was a high level Earth Style technique used by a heart with a strong Earth affinity by a ninja with over a hundred years of experience. Kakuzu's hardened fist punched through the wall Kitsuchi raised with little effort, though the barrier did slow down the attack enough for Kitsuchi to dodge it.

"Earth Dragon Bullet!" An earthen dragon head rose out of the rocks in front of Kitsuchi and fired of several boulders that broke upon impact with the Akatsuki member's rock hard skin, though the force did make Kakuzu grunt in exertion. His hand shot back and stitched itself back to the rest of his body, and Kakuzu slammed his hands together in a single hand seal designed to focus chakra.

Kitsuchi wasn't waiting to see what technique was though, raising another Rock Shelter, this time leaving a slit to see Kakuzu through. Kitsuchi was surprised however that Kakuzu was simply standing there, glaring at him. It didn't make sense until he felt the sharp pain in the back of his knee. Quickly looking over his shoulder to find the source, Kitsuchi saw a creature made of black threads and a white mask close its mouth and soar over him.

Looking back to Kakuzu, Kitsuchi's eyes widened to see the ex-Waterfall ninja not two feet in front of him. Kakuzu picked Kitsuchi up by the throat before the Rock ninja could react and raised his other hand menacingly as the thread creature reentered his back. "I'd love to continue our fight, but I'm a bit pressed for time at the moment, so kneel already." Kakuzu delivered a powerful, rock hard chop to Kitsuchi's kneecap, eliciting a suppressed yell of pain as the bone shattered.

Kakuzu dropped Kitsuchi on the ground, where his broken legs refused to hold him up any longer, and he fell to his hands and knees, gasping in pain. Kakuzu disregarded him and turned to face the horrified ninja of the Rock Village. "You can kneel willingly, or I can break more of you. Which will it be?" There were a few more broken legs in the village by the time Kakuzu left, but the nation fell in line quickly.

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Sasori had not been to the village of his birth in years. Just because he had never been there though didn't mean he didn't have an expansive network running through the entire village. In fact, more attention had been focused on the Hidden Sand Village at any given time than anywhere else. One simple seal, and half the Sand's population would follow him unquestioningly.

Which is why it came as little surprise that the gates were already open for him, the two guards turned on each other in a heartbeat. The remaining one stood ramrod straight, saluting Sasori and covered in the blood of his former friend. Sasori smirked within his Hiruko puppet at the success of his coup. The hunched over armored puppet slowly made its way through the village towards the Kazekage's home.

The Akatsuki member didn't go unnoticed by the Sand ninja in the village though. Those who weren't secretly his subordinates paused in their fights with their former colleagues to try and strike him, who they could attack without hesitation, but most were stopped by his loyal spies. The few that got through every now and then were effortlessly slapped aside by the large metal tail that slid out from under his Akatsuki cloak, leaving them groaning on the ground as the deadly poison seeped through their veins.

Sasori worked his way up the Kazekage mansion, breaking down the door to the roof. Before him were several bodies of his subordinates in pools of their own blood, with one lone man standing before in the middle, clearly exhausted. The eye not covered up widened as Baki saw the signature red clouds of Akatsuki. "What is this, Akatsuki? What have you done?"

Sasori chuckled, though it was closer to a giggle before Hiruko altered it. "This is the result of years of planning. Spies and undercover subordinates, mind seals and meticulous planning. I've been planning my revenge for a long time, but I never thought I would use it for others, let alone in the name of peace." said Sasori as two more of his Sand ninja landed on the roof on either side of him.

Wind flared around Baki's hands once more. "Who are you? Why would you want revenge on this village? And what's this talk of peace?"

"Simple really. All nations united under Akatsuki. No more wars, since there will be only one side. It has the future taken into account too. Half of us are practically immortal. As for why I had all this planned out… stand down." explained Sasori calmly, addressing his two subordinates with the last words.

"Yes, Lord Sasori." the two responded in tandem as they took a knee. Baki gasped in shock at the name of the legendary puppeteer. Sasori ignored them and faced the man who had been leading his village since the disastrous summit of the five Kage.

"So I hope that explains why I've been planning this for years. Now on to my current proposition. Akatsuki simply wants to warn you that any attempts to raise an army will be met with a blow that makes this look like child's play." droned Sasori as he slowly approached a wary Baki. "Order your forces to stand down, and all of mine will do the same. Or I can kill you and give the order myself. Make your choice quickly. I hate to be kept waiting."

Sasori emphasized his point by bringing up his poisoned tail, holding it next to his face, prepared to strike. Baki looked around at the village from the roof of the Kazekage's mansion, situated to have an unparalleled view of the village. He could hear the distant screams of ninja fighting to the death, see the smoke curling up into the sky from the beginnings of fires. Gritting his teeth, Baki turned back to Sasori. 'Gods forgive me.' "STAND DOWN!" he shouted out, his voice piercing through the night sky.

"Good choice." said Sasori as he turned around to leave. "We'll be in touch."

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Jiraiya walked up to the black clad blonde, eyes narrowed. "What happened in the Land of Iron?" he asked, wasting no time.

"We discovered why Akatsuki was capturing the Tailed Beasts. Nagato fused them into the Ten Tails." Naruto heard Jiraiya's sharp intake of breath, and held up his hand to stem the flow of questions. "Then he sealed the Ten Tails into himself. His plan was to kill all the Kage with Akatsuki, then kill Akatsuki and rule the world as some kind of god. Akatsuki fought him, and we won." finished Naruto simply.

"And now?" asked Jiraiya skeptically. "I hear word of Akatsuki taking over villages by force. As far as I can tell, our plan is the same as Nagato's."

"For better or worse, I'm not a god." said Naruto simply with a shrug. "If you have a better plan, I'm all ears. The difference between us and Nagato is that we can be stopped by each other if need be. Other than that, I'm not even sure if there is a difference."

An awkward silence fell over the two sages as Jiraiya struggled to come to terms with what had happened. "So… I suppose you expect the Hidden Leaf to do the same. I've heard what happened in the Hidden Sand. Can we expect the same?"

Naruto shook his head solemnly. "I called you here to talk in hopes of avoiding that. Sasori was a little heavy handed, but if people are going to respect Akatsuki's terms, they do need to be shown that we have the strength to back up our words. Now that Sasori has done that, we can reach a more peaceful accord."

Jiraiya nodded sagely, also hoping to avoid having Akatsuki attack the Hidden Leaf. One member could be defeated, but the damage would be considerable. Two members, and the Hidden Leaf would lose. They simply didn't have as many strong ninja as they did even a year ago, and Jiraiya could only do so much by himself. "I've heard rumors, but what are your terms? I want to hear them from you."

"The Hidden Villages cease all military actions. If a village raises an army, Akatsuki deals with it. Regular missions can continue with no interference." explained Naruto simply, before a sad grin spread across his face. "We create two sides, and our side has no one else. As long as we win, the cycle of war and hate stops moving forward. If we lose, the cycle breaks apart."

Jiraiya was shocked that Naruto was prepared to go that far for the goal of peace, but one thing still bothered him. "And are the other members of Akatsuki aware of this plan?"

Naruto smirked knowingly. "Do they need to be? Once this plan is in motion, those are the only two outcomes. Peace brought about by Akatsuki, or peace brought about by their downfall."

"So this is your plan? It's good, but I'm not sure if I'm willing to entrust the future to a group of murdering criminals." said Jiraiya as he began to absorb natural chakra.

Naruto turned around slowly, eyes closed. "Then feel free to test my resolve. Deidara knows the plan. I'm not needed. If my death will stop the cycle for the generation needed for Akatsuki to be the only enemy the world knows, then so be it."

"I might just take you up on that." said Jiraiya as blue chakra began to whirl into existence in his right hand. Forming an orb, the Rasengan then began to take a reddish tint and give of wisps of flames as it warped the air around it. "Sage Art: Hellfire Rasengan!" Jiraiya shouted as he thrust the flaming ball of death towards Naruto's head. The Akatsuki member opened his blue eyes to look at Jiraiya as the Rasengan got ever closer, and time seemed to slow down for the older sage.

The Hellfire Rasengan dispersed centimeters from Naruto's face, preventing the technique from incinerating his body and the surrounding hundred feet, though Jiraiya's momentum kept him moving forward to deliver a powerful and heated slap to the middle of Naruto's face. Being in Sage Mode as he was, Jiraiya's slap still sent Naruto flying and left a red palm print across his face that would have been comical in any other circumstance. If Naruto hadn't been using as much Natural chakra as he could without showing signs of it, the slap would have broken his spine and crushed his skull.

"You weren't in Sage Mode, and you weren't going to dodge that…" said Jiraiya. "You were legitimately prepared to die there. Why?"

Naruto slowly got to his feet, staggering a bit before catching himself, subconsciously taking in some natural chakra to speed up the healing process. "The plan is in motion already, and you're the only ninja still alive who could stop it before the cycle of Akatsuki's rule is established. If my death is what it takes to insure that Pain doesn't happen again, I'm more than willing to give my life."

Jiraiya smiled sadly. "So it seems this is what the old toad was talking about… I can see your logic, and I was never destined to come up with the answer myself. I'll trust the future to you… for now."

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A/N: Epilogue up! Wooo! Sorry I'm late, I got lost on the road of life. I finally mustered up the inspiration and hobbled together enough time to finish this story and the prologue to my next one, which should be up if all has gone well. So check it out! I'd recommend following it if it interests you, since a regular update schedule is not happening.

Moving on from my shameless self-promotion, I hope you enjoyed this fic. I know I did. Drop a review if you feel like it. One last thing, I find it funny how Akatsuki's plan in this epilogue is basically Sasuke's plan in the manga at the moment. I swear I had this idea before those chapters came out. Anyway, hope you enjoyed, and reviews are always appreciated. See ya!