~ Back in the cave ~

You slowly open your eyes as water drops on your face from the cave. You feel weak as you try to sit up and grasp everything that was going on. You saw Kabuto, who looked to be in some sort of trance, beside Itachi and Sasuke.

Itachi was glowing, his reanimation body tearing itself away. You remembered him mentioning he had released the Reanimation Jutsu when you were in the fake world. From what you saw, it seemed like Itachi was saying Goodbye to Sasuke. You watched silently as you saw Itachi reach out to grab the back of Sasuke's head.

"You don't ever have to forgive me." Itachi spoke softly as he watched Sasuke with a smile and put his forehead against his own.

"And no matter what you do from here on out... I will love you always." Itachi lingered for a second as he continued to smile at his brother before his soul left the reanimation body. Sasuke's eyes never left Itachi's, looking up as his older brother's soul disappeared. You smiled as you felt Itachi finally was able to reconcile with Sasuke and pass on in peace.

"I.." Sasuke stood there lost in thought. "What am I..?"

"You're his younger brother..." you spoke as you slowly used your strength to stand up. Sasuke was surprised to see you were up as he made eye contact with you.

Before he could say anything, there was a sudden explosion. Sasuke grabbed you and jumped back. When the smoke cleared, Jugo and Suigetsu were looking down to you both.

"Found you!" Suigetsu yelled as he was grinning at the both of you.

"You guys..?" Sasuke asked, confused to see them. They both jumped down to you and Sasuke.

"What're you doing here?" Suigetsu asked as he looked around the cave.

"Stopping the reanimation."

"Huh? You've always been like that. You never explain things to people. Well, it's been awhile since we saw you so you'd better tell us!" Sasuke pointed in the direction of Kabuto, still in the same position Itachi left him in.

"Kabuto was using the reanimation."
Suigetsu walks over in curiosity, confused on whether whatever was in front of him was Kabuto. He leans forward a bit to get a good look of his face.

"This is Kabuto? He's kind of gross, huh? This thing coming out of his gut looks like a huge-"

"Leave him be." Jugo observes the other body that was unconscious along side you.

"She's alive." You look over and recognize that it was Anko-sensei. You rushed over to see if she was okay.

"Anko-sensei... what on earth are you doing here?" You whispered as you continued to check if she was unharmed.

"What do you want with me at this point? Why'd you go out of your way to look for me?" Sasuke cuts you off as he sits on a rock, waiting to see their response.

"Oh yeah! That's right! You see we found something incredible at one of the hideouts. Now let's see-" Suigetsu spoke excitedly as he was searching for something in his things. You could only watch and observe, you had to assess the current situation and whether or not Sasuke still wanted his revenge.

"Earlier, you said that you and Itachi stopped the reanimation, right? But I don't think it worked on the reanimated Madara" Jugo spoke as he got straight to the point. Sasuke looked surprised and became lost in thought.

"I see. So it hasn't been stopped." Sasuke said with a serious look on his face.

"I'm talking to Sasuke! Don't interrupt me." Suigetsu said angrily, frowning at Jugo in the process.

"Anyways, look" Suigetsu says as he hands Sasuke a scroll. Sasuke's eyes widened as he read it.

"See, amazing right! With this, Taka can rule the Shinobi world!"

"This is it.." Sasuke said as he continued to observe the contents of the scroll.

"Huh" Suigetsu was confused by his response.

"The one who is all-knowing..." Sasuke stood up "I have to meet up with someone. I'm leaving."

"Huh? Who?" Suigetsu questioned, highly confused and worried.

"Orochimaru."

"Huhhh?! What are you talking about?! You killed Orochimaru! I thought you would use this to..." Suigetsu and Jugo were surprised by the mere mention of his name. You were shocked too until you looked at Jugo carrying Anko and noticed her curse mark.

'There's no way... can he really come back to life from the curse mark alone..?' You thought to yourself.

"Are you really surprised someone as tenacious as Orochimaru might not be killed so easily?" Sasuke spoke as he rolled up the scroll and looked at his hands.

"And even if I do find him vile... I need him to do something for me.... The clan... the village... it's time to see the all-knowing." Sasuke clenched his fist and began to stare at you with determination.

'Why is he giving me that look.. do I have something he needs to see them? I'll be damned if he uses me as a sacrifice!' You thought to yourself as you frowned at Sasuke.

"What do you mean, 'see' Orochimaru? Who is this all-knowing person?" Suigetsu started to panic as he continued to ask questions. Sasuke only sighed as he walked past him.

"You don't need to know." Sasuke says as he was walking in your direction. You've been completely still, hoping Sasuke doesn't notice you accumulating Chakra.

"What? I don't get it." Suigetsu rubbed his head.

"In any case, Orochimaru must never be resurrected! You probably want to ask Orochimaru for help in using the power of the scroll, right? Just give it time and you'll figure it out. That's why we looked for you and..." Suigetsu pleaded, trying to reason with Sasuke.

"There are still things only Orochimaru can do." Sasuke says as he jumps and lands in front of Jugo and Anko to close the distance between them.

"Sasuke, tell me.. you were Orochimaru's favorite pupil, right? So why can't you-"

"Suigetsu! Listen. Don't underestimate Orochimaru." Sasuke looked back as he cut Suigetsu off. You continue to watch them as you start feeling the strength in your limbs return to you.

"Idiot! I don't underestimate him! It's the exact opposite! You were able to bring down Orochimaru only because both his arms were useless from the reaper death seal, that's all. You're the one who's underestimating him! Even if he is revived, his arms will probably still be useless. But he'll still be dangerous. He's going to come after your body again! If he finds out about this war, he's going to want to be a part of it. He wants to destroy the Leaf too! And that means that Team Taka will get mixed up in this war! Are you okay with that?" Suigetsu says as Sasuke grabs Anko and sits her up on the ground. He performs a hand seal once he has a clear view of her curse mark.

"We succeeded in beating our superiors. It's our time now! Who'd want to see Orochimaru now? Hasn't he caused us enough trouble?" Suigetsu huffs at Sasuke. You nodded in agreement with Suigetsu, 'who would want Orochimaru alive.'

"Shut up, Suigetsu. Cut out and bring me a piece of Kabuto's flesh." Sasuke directed. Suigetsu looked appalled and disgusted by the request.

"Huh? You don't listen to me, but you expect me to listen to you?" Suigetsu gave him the are you serious look as he sweat dropped.

"I'll do it." Jugo says as he made his way to Kabuto.

"It's always like this... Jugo, are you okay with this? Orochimaru's going to be resurrected, you know..." Suigetsu protested as Jugo jumped passed him.

"I don't care. Sasuke's will is Kimimaro's will. I will abide by it." Jugo says as he stops in front of Kabuto. He transformed his arm into a cursed state and touched Kabuto's chest as he slowly removes his hand with a piece of his flesh. Suigetsu suddenly pops up and watches in amusement.

"You're just the same. What is going on with all of this?" Suigetsu said becoming snarky as a response.

"In my village, we call it Sage Transformation. My transformation originally was the same thing. But in all of my clones, it's called the curse mark transformation." Jugo walks over to Sasuke and Anko as Suigetsu watches nervously from afar. Jugo proceeds to place the piece of flesh on top of Anko's curse mark. Her body absorbs the flesh as a part of her own as her curse mark activates.

In that moment, Sasuke suddenly remembered when Kakashi had sealed his curse mark along with the hand signs he used.

'So the reverse of it is: Curse Unsealing!' Sasuke says as he performs the hand signs in reverse and touches Anko's curse mark. A snake emerges from Anko's body and opens its mouth. Slowly, Orochimaru comes out of the snakes mouth. Suigetsu runs to hide behind Kabuto.

"Who could have imagined that it would be you who would facilitate my return!" Orochimaru says as he pulls the rest of his body out of the snakes mouth. He stood up and looked in the direction of Suigetsu hiding behind Kabuto.

"H-Hello there! Long time no see." Suigetsu smiles nervously. Orochimaru remained silent as he observed Kabuto's new appearance frowning. Sasuke began to approach Orochimaru from behind.

"Orochimaru, there's something I want you to do for me."

"Don't bother explaining. I've been watching from inside Anko this whole time. I secured my Sage Jutsu Chakra into those Curse Marks. They are like pieces of my consciousness." Orochimaru explained as he turned to Sasuke. You remained on guard and silent, remembering the times Orochimaru had sent people to hunt you down. You also noticed that Anko's curse mark had disappeared.

"Then you know about the war too?"

"Of course. I just have one thing to say about that, Suigetsu." Orochimaru says as Suigetsu cowers behind Kabuto.

"I have absolutely no interest in this war."

"Huh?!" Suigetsu gasps in shock.

"It's someone else's war. I am also not worried about you either, (y/n). I only wished to observe the results of what was thought to be a failed procedure." Orochimaru chuckled as he watched your frowning expression from afar.

"The only thing I'm interested in right now... Sasuke... is your young body!" Orochimaru says as he turns to Sasuke smirking.

"Having said that, I don't currently have the power to steal it." Orochimaru chuckled. Sasuke held up the scroll to him, causing Orochimaru to frown.

"What is your intent in meeting them?"

"There's too much that I don't know. So I plan to ask them everything."

"Everything? There's no need to know it all. You're still a child." Orochimaru smirked.

"You're wrong." Sasuke says as he remembers Itachi's words about his regret in not trusting his younger brother's strength to change his clans ways.

"I'm not a child anymore. I can't stay a child." He then remembers Itachi's departing words.

"I want to know what started it all. What I'm supposed to be, what I'm supposed to do."

"Are you questioning your vengeance?" Orochimaru frowns.

"No... not my quest for vengeance itself. Reuniting with Itachi made my hatred towards the Hidden Leaf grow even stronger. It's just... I want to understand how even in death, Itachi could still consider himself a Leaf Shinobi, and care about and try to protect the village that dishonored his name." Sasuke said gazing at the ground.

"Who was Itachi? What is a clan? What is a village? And so, I want to know everything, so I can finally have the answer. I need to see with my own eyes and decide with my own mind what I must do." Everyone watched Sasuke in silence until Orochimaru began to walk towards Kabuto. Suigetsu runs to Sasuke's side, avoiding Orochimaru.

"He's going to absorb all of Kabuto's power, and then kill him! You better stay alert. He might try and catch you off guard too!" Suigetsu whispers to Sasuke as Orochimaru touches Kabuto. Orochimaru began absorbing his Chakra from Kabuto, undoing the Sage transformation he was in.

"The current you, isn't half bad." Orochimaru says while looking at Sasuke.

"Didn't I tell you? He did absorb his power!" Suigetsu yelled in a panic while pointing at Orochimaru.

"No, you're wrong. He undid the Sage transformation. He's taken back his own chakra that was inside Kabuto. He didn't touch Kabuto's chakra." Jugo explains as he walks up behind them. Once Orochimaru finished he turned to the group.

"Fine, I'll help you. Come along." As Orochimaru walks towards them.

"Where are we going?" Sasuke asked insistently.

"Someplace you're very familiar with. Let's be on our way." Orochimaru smirks as he looks up the hole in the roof of the cave.

~ Time Skip ~

The group had landed in the village but felt an uneasy and dark chakra. (Name) felt a burning rage from inside her, noticing that Akira had recognized that chakra from anywhere. Orochimaru smirked as they all glanced at the red moon.

"Let's go. Hurry and lead the way, Orochimaru."

~ Time Skip ~

As they were walking throughout the village, Sasuke suddenly jumps up a building to take in the view of the Leaf. It reminded you of when Naruto first returned to the Leaf after years of training.

"This place sure has changed a lot too." Sasuke says a loud.

"What's up with Sasuke?" Suigetsu asked as he watched Sasuke from above.

'They're both a like in an annoying way' you sighed as you felt like you were watching Naruto through Sasuke.

"He's just like how I was before I wanted to destroy the Leaf." Orochimaru reflected as he smirked at Sasuke.

"How so?"

"Even if both he and the village have changed, this place is still his homeland. He needs some time to reaffirm his decision and resolve, through immersing himself in sentimentality and by retracing the past." Orochimaru smirked as they all watched Sasuke.

"So does that mean you're over it already? The whole immersing yourself in sentimentality to affirm your resolve to destroy the Leaf thing." Suigetsu asked as Orochimaru stared at him. He only smirked in response.

"Hey, come to think of it, we were all cream of the crop subordinates, right? And now... we're inside the Leaf... all the strong ones are gone because they're away fighting. Isn't this a perfect opportunity for you?" Suigetsu asked with curiosity. His question gave you a sudden realization of the fact the village was defenseless and your son was unprotected, giving you a sinking feeling in your stomach.

'I'm outnumbered and don't have enough strength to even get away from these guys. Even so, there's no way in hell I'm gonna let them have their way!' You thought as you clenched you fist. Orochimaru chuckled by the sight of your reaction.

"Perhaps, indeed... except for one thing... you're no longer Hebi." Orochimaru smirked in response. Once Sasuke finished reacquainting himself with the village, they all began to head to the direction of the Uchiha Shrine.

Upon reaching the ruins, Sasuke performed hand signs causing a stone to lift up from the ground, revealing the entrance. Once everyone had entered, Sasuke lit up two torches so the stone tablet may reveal itself.

"Well then, I'm going to get started. It's best if you stand back." Orochimaru says as he removes his cloak, Sasuke walked behind him with the others. Orochimaru proceeds to put on a mask he had retrieved upon entering the village, as an overwhelming amount of chakra began to engulf his body.
A demon had appeared from Orochimaru, and not just any random one. It had been the Jutsu your father used to seal the Kyuubi within Naruto as well as Orochimaru's arms that were sealed by Lord third. Sasuke activates his Sharingan defensively as he continued to watch from afar. He remembers what Orochimaru had informed him.

'In order to perform what is written in the scroll, first, the Death God's Mask is necessary.'

Orochimaru then proceeds to slice open the Demon's abdomen to release everything which had been sealed within in, while also inflicting the injury on himself since he is acting as the sacrifice. Chakra from within the stomach had returned to Orochimaru as he lifted his arms feeling his power return. Four remaining Chakras were floating nearby.

"Jugo, Sasuke, Suigetsu! Get ready!" Orochimaru struggled as he took off the mask. Jugo then touched Sasuke as he activated his Sage Transformation and became younger as white Zetsus emerged from Sasuke's body. Orochimaru had trapped four of the Zetsus in preparation for the reanimation Jutsu while Jugo and Suigetsu pinned the other two. Jugo had absorbed the life from one, returning to his regular appearance, as Suigetsu had opened the mouth of the other.

"Reanimation Jutsu!" Orochimaru yelled as the Jutsu began to activate. The four floating chakras had entered the bodies of the four Zetsus as they struggled to resist the Justus overtaking them. As the bodies start to form, Orochimaru slithers out of his old body and enters the Zetsu Suigetsu had pinned, overtaking his body instantly. Your body shook with disgust just witnessing this entire process, but it must be common to see things that are disgusting, uncomfortable, and unethical when working with Orochimaru.

"They, who are all-knowing... The previous Hokage!" Orochimaru yelled as the reanimation completes, revealing Hashirama, Tobirama, Hiruzen, and none other than your father Minato.

"(N-Name)!"

"Father..."

A/N: AND I FINALLY FINISHED A CHAPTER AFTER SO LONG!!!! LET'S HOPE I CAN KEEP THE BALL ROLLING GUYS! Thank you for waiting for me! 😭😭😭