Unshackled: A Naruto Fanfiction

Chapter 11: Reborn Ice

Nagato Uzumaki, otherwise known as Pain, sat on his stone throne, his eyes closed as he thought quietly as he waited for his chakra to refill, the fight with the Shinigami having caused the alarmingly-skinny Uzumaki to lose almost every bit of his chakra. It troubled him that someone this strong existed, especially since they were able to escape his divine justice. 

They were causing too much trouble, his name leaving the lips of hundreds of people who lived in the area he had been seen wreaking havoc, which is why Pain had decided to visit the Shinigami personally. 

He was interrupted from his thoughts as he sensed a foreign chakra entering the hidden room and opened his Rinnegan eyes, seeing Madara Uchiha standing just a few feet away from him, his arms hanging loosely by his hips as Nagato could make out a glowing Sharingan. 

Madara surveyed the room before looking back at Nagato. "You were given quite a bit of trouble." He stated. "If your Deva Path was that beaten up, as well as three of your other Paths being destroyed," Madara mocked casually. "Who did God try and strike down?" 

"The devil," Nagato answered. "He was strong, but in the end, I emerged the victor."

"Of course," Madara spoke smoothly. "You are a god, after all. Surely you could never lose." Nagato remained silent, his Rinnegan never leaving Madara's form. "Who were they?"

"You've probably heard of them, the Shinigami is what he calls himself. He is a very dangerous opponent, you, no, all of the Akatsuki must watch out for them." Nagato spoke, his ragged voice holding a slight bitterness in them. He wouldn't voice it aloud, but if the Shinigami figured out just exactly how the Rinnegan works, he would have lost the fight.  

"The Shinigami, eh?" Madara spoke, amusement lacing his tone. "What an interesting choice." He spoke before he disappearing in a swirling vortex. Nagato looked at the empty space where Madara had stood just seconds before for a moment before closing his eyes, his mind focused on his fight with the man who claimed to be the devil himself. 

Obito surveyed the Hidden Rain from atop the tallest tower in the village, the pattering of the rain hitting the top of his woolen hood echoed in his ears, the orange mask on his face only amplifying the sound of the crying clouds.

A deep rumble shook the air around the Sharingan user, thunder coming from the heavens as lightning stretched across the sky, painting it a bright white color that reflected off of the clouds and lighting up the sky. 

"A promise to the man who has been my father figure?" Naruto whispered to himself as he thought. His sentence alone had shocked Obito. Was he truly this boy's father figure? As if Naruto heard his thoughts, the boy spoke. "You took care of me and provided me with the tools and skills that I need to survive, no matter how cruel the methods of myself gaining them were. Without you, I doubt I'd be here now, strong and alive. Without you, I would not be able to achieve and find my own goals. So yes, I will promise to come back once I have succeeded."

Those were the last words spoken to him from the blond Uzumaki he had kidnapped from the Hidden Leaf before he returned to the Hidden Leaf, undoing perhaps his most devastating hit to the village. 

When Naruto was taken, the elders of the Hidden Leaf bluffed their way through a variety of things by claiming to have the power of the Kyuubi at their call. Obviously a lie, but a lie that nobody could prove. Konoha had always been secretive over their Jinchuuriki, not a single one having been known besides the First Hokage's wife, Mito Uzumaki, who had sealed the Kyuubi within herself after the First had distributed the rest of the Tailed Beasts among the Shinobi Nations that were being built.