Chapter 73

Title: Title at the End

...

General POV

In a Dark Room cloaked in shadows and perpetually shrouded in an atmosphere of profound melancholy. A dim illumination struggles to penetrate the heavy air, revealing a space devoid of vibrancy.

"Deidara and Sasori are in a bit of a pickle." One of the occupants suddenly opened his closed eye as he gazed at the three others. His voice, deep and calm as though unaffected by the predicaments of the two aforementioned.

He was a pale skinned man with messy red hair and the Rinnegan eyes. He had a rather frail and thin build, reflecting the toll that the use of his powerful abilities had taken on his body.

"And the Jinchuriki?" Another voice asked. A woman, as she locked gaze with the man, unafraid of the power held within.

"He seemed to have exceeded our expectations. He's...a bit stronger than we expected." The man replied and closed his eyes back due to fatigue.

"Send for Itachi and Kisame. They should both be free." He said and then kept mute without bothering to address the other two in the room.

Konan, with her striking blue hair, styled in a manner resembling paper with a unique paper flower in her hair nodded and looked at the other two who also nodded.

One of them, Yahiko sighed moments later and looked towards the only masked occupant of the room. "How much longer does he have, Risa?"

The masked girl, Risa, looked at the man for a good while before shaking his head. "Not much time."

"And you can't do anything about it?" Yahiko asked, his voice laced with frustration and unwillingness.

"I'm afraid not. Not even Tsunade or Hanagakure can do anything about this." She sighed to herself.

"Are you serious? Aren't you more capable than even Tsunade? Ria-san left you her books which according to you, is more improved than what the world has." Konan added after having sent a message via her ring.

Risa, hearing this, shook her head at the duo and said. "It's not something that has to do with medication. I've said this over and over again but he just won't listen. That eye is damaging his body."

"And yet, without this eye, our dreams won't be achieved. How do you expect me to simply give it up? I need this." The previously sleeping Nagato said tiredly without opening his eyes. "Soon...soon. All will be over very soon."

Watching him lose consciousness once again, Risa sighed with a shake of her head. There was nothing she or anyone could do for Nagato.

Due to her understanding of the Human body in relationship with the chakra and various bloodlines, she knew that the only reason Nagato was still alive was due to his Uzumaki clan trait.

Remove that and just one of those eyes would simply kill him due to Chakra exhaustion.

That was one of the most painful ways to die. Having all your chakra; Physical (stamina) and mental energy drained to nill.

She knew he wasn't the owner of the eye. Yahiko and Konan too, but so what? Since the eye appeared on him, it was his burden to bear.

'I wonder how the Famed Sage of Six Paths managed to sustain this level of Power. Not even Obito's Sharingan has reached this level.' Risa(Rin) mused to herself in worry.

She knew that Obito, with the name of Madara, was manipulating the trio, yet she was forbidden from saying anything. Just being a bystander who can only watch the person she cares about plot the end of the world.

If a battle should break out between the two, she didn't know which side she would pick. The trio she had come to grow up with for close to two decades or Obito, her childhood friend.

"God why do you have to do this to me?" She muttered as she looked out, into the cold dreary and rainy skies of Amegakure.

"Did you say something?" Konan asked but Risa shook her head calmly. She knew that person observing them could hear her and also knew he wouldn't do anything other than watching

While deep in thought, she suddenly felt an immense chakra emanating from Nagato, much to her shock and confusion.

"Nagato!!" She yelled and made to approach him, but a hand obstructed her. Looking up, she saw Konan shaking her head at her.

"He's shortening his lifespan by doing this." Risa tried to reason but Konan still held her ground.

She didn't have a ring and wasn't an inner member of the Akatsuki, so she didn't know of the conversation that just went on in their little secret dimension.

"He knows what he's doing." Hearing the same words from Konan, Risa sighed and looked at Nagato sadness while internally mocking herself.

The more she spends with these trio, the more she wondered how stupid she must have been to think that being a Shinobi was just that.

The zeal, the passion, determination and dedication she had seen from these trio, right from their founding till this very moment...It was so otherworldly to her that she always felt she didn't belong.

Unlike them, she didn't really have a grand goal or desire. She was just the kunoichi who always needed saving, and due to that, her teammates' lives were all torn apart.

Looking one last time at the visibly paling Nagato, she firmed her resolve to delve deeper into the realms of Medical Jutsus.

Since his problem was his body, she just had to find out how to make his body adapt to the strain and chakra consumption rate of the Rinnegan.

And so, it happened Nohara Rin, the Shinobi that discovered the loophole behind the Body's unlimited and near infinite amount of energy began her journey...

Of course, the person who first discovered it would always whisper ideas into her mind to enlighten her during her moments of confusion.

...

Nagato's POV

I could feel it. A year... that's how much time I think my body can hold out for before it finally gives up.

I wasn't averse to the thought of death. Surprisingly, since the day Ria died, I hadn't felt burdened by what will come after this life.

I just felt like everything would be okay...She did say she would be watching me from above. Perhaps it's an illusion, but I always felt this caring protectiveness around me at times...the kind of protectiveness one would receive in the presence of one's mother.

I loved my mother dearly. I still remember her last act of protecting me from the hands of those two Konoha nin scums. For that, I'll always love her.

Ria-san however was the mother I never had growing up. She was just...too good for this world. She knew everything, was super strong and Godly that in her Presence, I could use the Rinnegan without feeling a single strain on my body.

She always said it's due to the food and bathing solutions she gave us, but something told me there was something else.

She had that aura that made whatever she said happen. Whether coincidence or not, I wouldn't know since she was taken away from me...from us.

And despite her strengths, she still died. The rationale behind it was still mind boggling but somehow, it made sense.

'Sigh, what a world we live in.' I couldn't help but think as I projected my chakra over Itachi's and Kisame's projection.

They were the only duo nearby and capable enough to help with the retrieval of the Ichibi and possibly, the Kyuubi. It's weird how they managed to reach there in an instant, but I wouldn't put it past them, afterall, the yellow flash was capable of that, and so is the Ghost.

With this bit of chakra they would be able to use the Shapeshifting technique on two Akatsuki recruits sleeper agents in Sunagakure.

With this, I can only hope that they could bring in one of the Jinchurikis. Although I want the Kyuubi for last, there wouldn't be any harm in capturing it now.

From what I got observing their battles, Gaara should be at the end of his ropes, so even with reinforcement, he would still be captured.

...

On a sand dune a couple distance outside Sunagakure's border, two Shinobi sat cross-legged with their eyes tightly shut as invisible streams of chakra swirled around their body.

Moments later, their body began to contort as their bones creaked, snapping and rearranging itself to form a new body structure. The flesh on the body also underwent several changes as their facial structure changed as well.

Moments later, the swirl of chakra receded as two new individuals sat where the former two were. One Itachi Uchiha, the other Kisame Hoshigaki.

Opening his eyes, Itachi immediately activated his Sharingan on reflex as he observed his surroundings before taking any other action.

"We should leave." He said as soon as he was done examining his body.

"Yeah yeah, sure." Kisame said as he stood and stretched. "But I must say, I do feel much, much weaker than I've ever been."

"Strength is relative." Itachi stated, and without giving the man an opportunity to say more he began walking towards his mission objective.

"Tch, what a killjoy." Kisame clicked his tongue in annoyance and mild amusement as he followed. "But seriously, Pain-sama only gave us enough chakra for 50% of our strength. How much did you transfer?"

"..." Itachi didn't bother replying as his speed increased. "We should make haste."

"Humph, so you do know how to say more than three words." Kisame scoffed with a small smile tugging on his lips. "Anyways, I did transfer 50% and more."

Itachi spared the man a glance as he observed him with his Sharingan only to raise an eyebrow in intrigue.

"30%" Itachi said.

"What!? Only that much? Are you sure about this? We'll be facing off against the Kazekage, who's also the Jinchuriki, not to mention his reinforcement." Kisame asked, looking at his partner with shock, evident on his face.

"It's enough." Itachi replied. 'I doubt there'll be a need for me to even go all out.' he thought internally. 'Hm, I wonder how much Sasuke has grown with Shun watching over him.'

"Oi, Oi! Are you listening?"

"Hn."

"..."

"Tch. There's no way to have some fun with you around." Kisame gave up trying to entertain Itachi.

And so the duo increased their pace.

...

"You bastard! What are you doing here?" Naruto asked in anger as he grabbed Sasuke by the collar of his shirt.

Sasuke, not bothered by it, simply looked around as he tried to make sense of his environment. One moment he was chilling in his room, and the next, he was in a desert.

Unlike Naruto who was quick to respond emotionally, he was more critical in thinking.

"I could ask the same thing of you, Naruto." Sasuke said calmly as he gripped Naruto by the wrist and twisted it, effectively making him release him.

"Sakura, Kakashi... it's been some time." He said with a nod towards his former teammates.

Sakura nodded in greeting while Kakashi merely leveled a stern glare at the Uchiha with his one eye.

Sasuke inwardly sighed seeing Kakashi's reaction but kept silent. It wasn't time to tell the full story, and according to Shun, that time probably won't come as the full story will be exposed soon enough.

"Oi teme! You wanna pretend I'm not here or something?" Naruto, who had been ignored by Sasuke, cried while pointing at him.

"I don't believe I'm obligated to greet you in any manner or form, Naruto." Sasuke replied and then looked at the familiar yet unfamiliar lady with them.

"I take it we're in the Country of Wind. Care to tell me how?" He asked, but Temari looked at Kakashi instead, causing Sasuke to look at him too.

"We're running late, it doesn't matter how we got here, although it does matter a little bit since we don't know how to go from here," Kakashi said as he looked at the large expanse of sand stretching as far as their eyes could see.

BOOM.

At that moment, the sound of an explosion rang out from a certain direction, causing the group to look over.

"I guess we have our direction." As he said that, he turned to the group and nodded before they all began running towards the location.

"Tch, I'm not finished with you Sasuke, but at least team Seven is back, so I'll let you off this one time." Naruto said to the Uchiha with an irritated expression.

"Whatever..." Came Sasuke's reply to him.

"Now now you two. Let's just take care of this mission as teak Seven once again. It's been sometime since we were together," Sakura quickly came to the rescue as she ran in-between them.

"Humph." X2

Naruto and Sasuke both snorted but kept silent, however, if anyone saw their faces, they would notice a small smile tugging at the corner of their lips.

...

Title: Team Seven Reunited

A/N: Nagato is able to see or sense what's happening anywhere those Akatsuki rings are. It's a perk I gave him in this novel. It's not applicable in the original.

Also, yes, Yahiko is not dead, and Nagato still has puppet bodies. Just stay tuned to know more