The Windmill Turns Both Ways

Akatsuki

Sasuke paused in the hallway. Tobi appeared in front of him without a sound, but it was clear he knew someone was nearby.

"What do you want, Tobi?" he said.

Tobi didn't bother with greetings. "I'm going out for a little while. Wait for me to return before you remove the bandages."

"Are you activating the Zetsu?"

"No. There's been a slight change of plans. The leader of Amegakure is in Suna. There is something from that village I need, and getting it will be much easier without her interference."

"That's got nothing to do with me."

"You will wait. I know you're restless, but your task will be much easier once the Allied Shinobi Force is preoccupied. The Kazekage already suspects a spy in Suna, and I believe the presence of Ame's leader will force the matter."

Sasuke snorted. "If you think you have Orochimaru under control, you're a fool. You may regret letting him do whatever he wants."

Tobi glanced up at the ceiling, where Zetsu was waiting quietly. He acknowledged the plant being with a nod.

"Wait," Tobi repeated. "Once it all comes out, we can begin."

#

Tobi knew the only reason Konan appeared away from home was because she wanted him to know. He originally intended to hunt the Rinnegan after setting the Zetsu army loose on the world, but this was too good of an opportunity to pass up.

She was baiting him. And he didn't care.

But now, something didn't seem right. He'd expected a trap. He hadn't expected to reach Nagato's resting place with no resistance whatsoever. It was... far too easy.

Tobi cast his eye warily around the magnificent tomb, scanning the shadows hung all around the graves of the two former Akatsuki leaders.

The perfectly preserved bodies of Nagato and Yahiko lay side-by-side on a vast bed of paper roses, overlooked by angels carved into the marble wall behind them. He scoffed at such an extravagant display of mourning. Because of her misplaced loyalty to these two, Konan had followed Nagato's example in defying him. Why couldn't she understand that assisting with Tsuki no Me would enable her to see them alive again?

Tobi jumped and landed in between the two bodies, tense and alert for any traps. He crouched down beside Nagato and scanned over him carefully. There didn't seem to be anything. No wires, no paper bombs, no illusions, no substitution. It was his real corpse. Tobi moved his hand over Nagato's peacefully smiling face.

Ah. Of course.

The eyes were missing. The sunken eyelids gave the white-haired, skeletal-looking body an even more ghastly appearance.

"You won't find them in Ame," someone said calmly.

Tobi quickly jumped off the shrine and looked around for the speaker. He stepped out from behind a marble pillar and gave Tobi a smile that mimicked the one on the corpse.

Nagato's face was fuller, younger-looking, and his hair was flaming red instead of a dead white. His purple eyes etched with bizarre black rings were an echo of the very eyes Tobi was searching for.

"I knew you would come for them, so I took and hid them somewhere," Nagato continued. "I am the only one who knows where they are now."

Tobi stood stiffly, appraising him. He narrowed his one visible eye. "I suppose I just have to make you tell me, then."

"You can try," Nagato's smile widened slowly. "Genjutsu won't work—even the shadow of a Rinnegan I have now would render it useless. I am Edo Tensei, so you can't kill or hurt me, and even if you could, I still wouldn't tell. You're better off giving up."