Disclaimer: Naruto and all of its characters belong to Shueisha and Masashi Kishimoto. I own nothing but the original characters I create.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 280: Give Me Those Eyes
"Have you said everything you wanted to say? I think I've been generous enough to someone so little deserving of my mercy." Naruto raised his hand.
"No! I won't let you kill him!" Konan stood in his way once more.
"Go ahead, try it." Naruto added.
"Wait, I just have one small request for you," Nagato hurried to say.
"You are not in a position to make requests," Naruto reminded him.
"Just…urgg…" Nagato groaned. He had pushed his powers too far this time and knew that his end was near, even if Naruto did nothing. "I have something to give in exchange…the identity of the real Akatsuki leader."
"I thought you wanted me to figure it out for myself," Naruto responded. "And honestly…I don't really care who they are. Eventually, they will get in my way, I will kill them, and that will be the end of Akatsuki. It will be brief and underwhelming, and in a few years, no one will even remember you existed."
"What about the location of the two Bijuu that are in Akatsuki's possession?" Nagato suggested.
"Now that…is more interesting." Naruto's interest was piqued. "What do you want to request?"
"I just want you to let Konan leave…don't kill her," Nagato said.
Naruto glanced at the girl. He didn't care for her either. "Fine."
"No! I won't leave you here!" Konan shouted.
"You will! Because there is no point in both of us dying here," Nagato told her before turning to Naruto. "North of here, between the borders of the Waterfall Village and the Sound Village, there is a mountain range at the end of a massive forest. It is called the Mountain Graveyard…there is a cave there, at the bottom of the tallest mountain."
"A cave…" Naruto repeated.
"The Bijuu are sealed inside a large statue. It will be well guarded," Nagato added.
Naruto glanced at the girl. "What are you waiting for? Unless you want to stay and watch."
"Konan…go," Nagato ordered her.
"But…" She seemed hesitant.
"Go!" Nagato used what little force he had left to scream.
Giving them one last glance, she took off at full speed.
"Thank you," Nagato told Naruto.
"Now…" Naruto got closer to Nagato.
"My eyes…will you take them?"
"Why do you care? You're not going to miss them," Naruto told him.
"I don't…but He will come for them if you do. He needs them for his plan."
Naruto moved in front of Nagato. "Then 'He'…can try."
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When he returned to Konoha, he found everyone waiting for him near the Hokage building. Even the toads were still there.
"Oh…I forgot to cancel the summoning, didn't I?" He noted that Mount Myōboku could still be seen in the sky. "Hold on, I'll fix that in a moment."
"That can wait, Naruto," Fukasaku said. "Tell us…did you do it?"
"Did you kill Pain?" Shima asked.
Naruto glanced around. The Hokage, Kakashi, the ANBU agents, they were all waiting anxiously for the answer.
"Are you really doubting me? Of course, he's dead. You'll find his body and his partner's in the forest. I'm sure you'll know where to look." He left several miles of burned forest out there. Yamato is going to have to work on restoring that.
"Partner?" Asuma asked. "He didn't come here by himself?"
"There was another Akatsuki member with him. Some girl called…Konan, I believe." He had promised Pain to let her go, but there was no way he would allow an enemy to escape while he killed the other.
That scenario always ended the same way...with the one who escaped returning years later, seeking revenge.
The moment they had exchanged blows, Naruto had left a chakra mark on the girl, and after killing Nagato, all he had to do was send clones after her. She was too exhausted to put up much of a fight.
"Konan…I think I remember meeting a girl with that name," Tsunade muttered. "So she is dead too..."
"We saw a large explosion from here," Kakashi said.
"The Konoha forest will need some replanting," was all Naruto said to that.
"So it's done…Jiraiya has been avenged," Fukasaku said with a sad tone.
"I told you it was just a matter of time. Now it's done," Naruto responded to the toad elder.
"We should return now," Shima looked up at the sky. "The natural energy from Mount Myōboku will begin to affect the village if the connection isn't closed soon."
Naruto looked upward and willed the connection to break. A moment later, the mountain disappeared from the sky, and all the toads that came from it vanished in puffs of smoke.
Tsunade turned to the ANBU agents next to her. "You know what to do. Scout the forest and bring back anything useful you find."
"Don't bother looking for that guy's head. You won't find it," Naruto told them before they could leave. "Speaking of…" He glanced at Tsunade. "I need some alone time with our beloved Hokage."
<><><><><><><><><>
He was lying down in a private room of the hospital. Next to him was Tsunade, fully dressed in her healer attire.
"Are you completely sure about this?" Tsunade glanced at the decapitated head on the table.
Nagato's eyes were wide open, and even in death, she could feel the residual energy of the Rinnegan.
"Of course I am," Naruto said.
"From what you described…it sounds like the Rinnegan consumed Nagato's vitality until he couldn't move from that chair he was attached to. These legendary eyes originated from the Sage of the Six Paths…I don't think they're meant for humans to use," Tsunade said with concern.
"Luckily for me, I'm not a normal human," Naruto responded.
"We still don't know how your body would react. My advice is to try transplanting just one of them and see how that goes," Tsunade advised him.
"You know me, Tsunade. I wouldn't put my life on the line if I wasn't sure I could do this." He didn't truly need the power of these eyes, but he had a feeling that if he didn't use them, someone else would wield them against him. And he hated wasting good resources.
Also, he hadn't forgotten Nagato's comment about a secret leader pulling the strings of Akatsuki from the shadows.
And if he went looking for that cave, he would likely come face-to-face with this person.
"Do it…" Naruto told Tsunade. "I want those eyes."
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