Kakashi POV~

When Tenzo reported his near encounter, and the note he found, I was severely tempted to laugh out loud. Dangerously close to doing so.

I wasn't the only one, but I was one of the few who even bothered to hold back. Poor Tenzo.

Tsunade rubbed her temples. "He certainly wasn't lying. The Kyuubi's chakra grants him incredible sensory ability, so I'm sure he knew you were there ages before you even arrived." she sighed, sounding almost amused, "If this is his way of saying 'I told you so,' then I suppose we should give up trying to catch him and just agree to his terms. I'd rather Naruto be on our side than fail his trust once again."

"So are we going through with it? The five kage summit?" I asked. At these words, the tension in the room increased. It was just the Hokage, Shizune, the two elders, Tenzo, and myself, but that was plenty of opinions on this matter. A heavy silence fell over us. 

"I think...we'll wait on that. I've shared the information from the letter with the other kage, but I've yet to hear back. I'll let whatever happens, happen for now." her voice hardened, "But it will happen soon. You should understand why we'd all be uneasy about this, considering how this would be the first five kage summit in years and the other Hidden Villages have been quite vocal about our loss of Jinchuriki."

The stiff atmosphere didn't let up, no one managing to find any relief in those words. It was true, the moment the other villages found out about Naruto's disappearance, they were quick to throw dirt on Konoha. In the beginning, there was constant worry over the other villages possibly taking advantage of this and attempting to take on the Leaf. The disruption in balance was not something the other ninja villages would overlook.

After three years, they didn't try anything and the threat eased off a bit, but they weren't afraid to let us know that one step out of line wouldn't end well.

The worry remained. A five kage summit would be just what we needed to mend these fragile relationships and strengthen the weak peace between us, but the Kage are stubborn and unforgiving. It may make them strong leaders but it was hard to get them to get along. It would be too easy to start a whole goddamn war over an argument. 

"That's it for this meeting." Tsunade closed her eyes and waved us out, "Go."

Everyone left silently. The Hokage was clearly stressed, and none of us wanted to be on the wrong side of her fists.

Naruto POV~

'Will Isobu be okay where he is?'

"The brat will be fine for now. We're lucky, having located some of these Akatsuki guys."

'It's Pain.' I scanned the forest in front of me, 'What is he doing? This is way too close to the Leaf village.'

"I have a good idea of what's going on."

'I don't like it. He'd be crazy to attack the whole village by himself,' I paused, 'Right?'

"I wouldn't put it past him. Between the six of them, they could do a lot of damage. Besides, remember what we found out last time?"

I soured, 'Yeah. The real Pain isn't even among them, so even if some of these Pains got caught the one controlling them would still be out there.'

Kurama growled, the rumbling lower and more bitter than usual. "We're helping the Leaf village."

It was a statement, said with a flat, even voice.

I was silent, unable to argue or find a response because he was right.

'I guess? Well, we have to deal with Pain too. He is after us...'

Kurama didn't answer, but the abrasiveness of his chakra told me all I needed to know. 

"Naruto...I won't try to force you to think like me, but why are you so forgiving?"

'I'm not-'

"You may not forgive them, but when they're in danger you still try to help. You left them, but you still feel obligated to save their lives?"

'No.' I snapped. Kurama fell silent at the sharpness of my tone.

I fumbled for an answer, 'I - I don't like them, I never will. But I don't wish for their deaths. I know they're in trouble, and I, just...'

Kurama still didn't answer, but the sharp spike in his chakra highlighted his unhappiness. I winced.

'Kurama...'

Kurama didn't answer for a moment. Then, in a soft voice almost too quiet for me to hear, he said, "You're too good for this world."

'Huh?'

Kurama huffed a laugh, "They hurt you, yet you will risk your life for them even now. Leaving them was punishment enough, in your eyes. Even though they caused you harm, you wish them no harm in return. All you did was place yourself away from them, so they can't harm you anymore." another soft chuckle, "A kind heart like yours tends to be vulnerable, you know."

I had no words. Tears pricked the backs of my eyes. 'I - Kurama...'

"Don't cry right now, Kit. We still have an evil terrorist organization to defeat."

I rubbed my eyes, a grin plastered on my face. 'Yeah. Let's do this.'

We arrived before long. Over the treetops, I could see the towering gates of Konoha. Below in the clearing was an outpost, where the guards would be. 

Or, where the guards were supposed to be.

The bodies of the shinobi that should've been here lay strewn across the grass. Standing around them were the six Pains, along with a blue-haired woman wearing the Akatsuki cloak. 

The lead Pain, the one who confronted me first last time and, as I recalled, had the thing called 'almighty push,' (quite the problem) turned and looked in my direction. 

"Kyuubi Jinchuriki. It seems you've arrived." he said in a flat voice. Oh well. It wasn't like I was trying to hide. I could never catch this guy by surprise. 

I leapt down from the tree and faced the seven figures. I didn't know anything about the woman, or how strong she was, so getting into a fight with her around would be risky. I didn't know her abilities, either, so the only thing I could do was play it safe until I figured out what she could do.

Pain watched me with a blank expression, the Rinnegan eyeing me evenly. I was still wearing the black cloak, though this time I wore the hood down. Anyone who saw me would probably say that I looked like an older, maybe more mature version of my thirteen year old self, considering how I still bothered to keep my hair trimmed to the same length as it was back then. Just because I was now living by myself in the middle of nowhere didn't mean I planned on looking like a scruffy old man too.

"You have left your village, yet you are still here to protect it." Pain tilted his head, "It would seem we may have gotten the wrong idea of you. Instead of feeling spiteful, you are here to defend Konohagakure. Is it possible that, under the guise of being a rogue, you continue to be a spy and take orders from your old village?"

I spluttered, completely taken aback. Kurama recoiled automatically. 

His words struck a chord in me. Not of realization, or anything hinting that he's right, but of hatred. 

I didn't rage at him, but I said in a calm, even voice, "You're wrong about that. I did leave Konoha, because I am not their weapon. I refuse to be their weapon. I am here to fight you now of my own free will, not because they want me to. And, for your information, no. I don't still harbor affection for my own village. I could care less about them. But I won't let you crush them either way, simply because your way of changing the world is foolish. Your wish for peace was born from whatever bad experiences you had in the past, but your way of coming about it is twisted. Fear is not peace." I narrowed my eyes, anger still simmering within, "It would hardly be a victory at all."

Kurama seemed slightly startled at my monologue. Pain and the blue haired woman did too. 

"Whether or not you agree with my ways doesn't matter to me-"

"It may not matter to you, but it does to me." the slight traitorous twitch of my eye was the only sign of my annoyance, "Your idea of peace is completely off-definition. I don't know what sort of pain you've been through that compelled your mindset, or to literally name yourself Pain, but do you really think that peace is something like this?"

"What-"

"Just because you can prevent wars from happening doesn't mean that you've created peace." I interrupted, "That guy who calls himself Tobi. Who is he? I know he's not as stupid as he acts."

Pain blinked at my sudden change of topic, but I had a theory and I wasn't backing down.

"Tobi has nothing to do with this-"

"Who is he?" I snapped, "I know he was there the night of the Kyuubi's attack on the village 16 years ago. He is an Uchiha. He is not who he claims to be." I narrowed my eyes, "Nevermind, you won't answer that. The least I can do is try to get into your thick skull that no, I'm not a weapon and never will be, and that your plan is stupid and naive in the sense that you believe inciting a terror of wars and giving everyone a taste of pain is the only way you can prevent what's happened to you from happening again. I can see it, too. I know pain. Maybe not your pain, but I've been hurt. So have many people, so many more than people realize." I closed my eyes and forced myself to be composed again. I then fixed him with a glare, "You've felt pain. I get that. And you have the power to make a difference. I get that too. But, letting your emotions and past experiences guide you into this," I gestured widely to all of him, "it's borderline petty."

I thought that, at the very least, his convictions were strong enough that he would be mad at what I said. Both him and the woman were staring at me with wide eyes, the surprise on their faces the first real emotions I'd even seen on them. Kurama was silent, though I could feel him reeling in shock.

I didn't plan on coming here to give Pain a lecture, yet somehow that was exactly what I ended up doing.

It's not like I expected him to just be like 'Well, shit, you're right. Imma be the good guy now.' That was unrealistic. 

But I said my part. It was up to him what he wanted to do now.

"He's not just going to flip a switch and stop everything, you know."

'I know.'

At this, Kurama laughed. It was big, and incredulous. It wasn't his usual soft chuckle. He outright laughed. 

"You sure as hell drilled something into his brain. He may not change everything, but damn it if you didn't give him something to think about."

'Well, yeah.'

"Naruto." Kurama said my name in the most awed voice I'd ever heard from him, "You are the only person I'd ever met who can change an entire person's life and way of thinking with just a few sentences. You're incredible, gaki."

I mulled over this for a minute, the compliment barely registering in my mind. Nothing I said could express my thanks.

Praise like this was not given lightly by Kurama.

Kurama laughed again, almost hysterical. "Careful, now. I think he's getting some of his composure back."

'Um - oh, right. Uh, thanks.' I added, softly, under my breath, "Thank you."

Kurama didn't respond, but he knew what I meant. 

Back to the matter at hand, Pain was still staring at me, but was now shifting back into his stoic expression.

"Peace cannot be obtained through non-violent methods." he spat the words, the bite behind them revealing emotions he'd probably had buried before. Whatever numbness he forced himself into was dissipating. "I've tried, and failed. Nothing will end human cruelty, not unless we show them how we felt."

From there, he went on to talk about his life. How he and Yahiko and Konan (so that was her name) met, how they ran into Jiraiya and the Sannin (that was a surprise), how the Akatsuki was formed, all the way to when Yahiko was killed.

I had a pretty good idea of what happened now.

"Nagato." I tried the name. If Pain were someone else, I was guessing he might of flinched, but he didn't. I didn't miss the slight spike in his chakra though.

"It...it is possible." I said, not quite sure of what I was doing. Then again, this whole day had gone completely off plan. "I can make it possible. Anyone willing can make it possible. Peace...it's something that can only happen through cooperation. A better world...is not the same as a world of fake peace. Peace that only exists through fear. To wish everyone to feel the same pain as you..." I shook my head, "it's not going to work. A world ruled by fear is not a world I would want to live in. On the other hand, a world where everyone, even people like me, can be accepted..." I shook my head. After a moment, I went on.

"As a Jinchuriki, I lived my whole life in fear. What if the villagers finally disobeyed orders and attacked me? What if I did something wrong and ended up behind bars? What if I got kicked out of yet another store just because of what I was? It was only when I left that I was finally happy. It was the first step to letting them know that I wasn't taking their bullshit." I finally looked him dead in the eye, "People can change. Those who were cruel can become kind. Those who hurt others can turn a leaf and start helping. War is something that can be prevented with a combined effort. That's the only way peace can ever truly be effective. Me leaving was the first step. But if you destroy the village, you take away their chance of being better. Faced with pain and loss, people can become bitter and hateful. I don't want a world where everyone is bitter and hateful." I shook my head again, "And, deep down, I don't think you want a world like that either."

Pain stared at me for a few minutes, listening silently. When I finished, he took a good, long look at me and the other Pains, then at Konan. The two stared at each other, communicating silently in a way only old friends could.

He finally turned to me, and said, "Maybe."

AN~

W O W, this chapter was longer than expected. 

Thank you everyone for reading! I don't know how many more chapters I'm going to write until the end, but I'm hoping to wrap it up with the next 8-15 chapters. 

Also: Jiraiya is not dead. This is not canon, and it will not be like canon. Different circumstances and such.

Enjoy :)