Fourth Hokage

[Ryllharu]

Okay, let me try this one...

In the terrible battle fighting the Kyuubi, the 4th, in an effort to seal the Kyuubi into Naruto, fell into a battle of wills with the Kyuubi. The Kyuubi, being a Nine-tailed demon, began to attempt to corrupt the 4th with his evil chakra. Right before he lost their battle of wills, the 4th died sealing the Kyuubi into Naruto...or so we thought!

We all know the healing ability of Naruto is directly connected to the Kyuubi's chakra, after all, if he dies, it dies. It has a reason to protect Naruto. The 4th has perfect control over his chakra, since that's the basis of the Rasengan. What really happened was the 4th appeared to die, and for a time he probably did. But, his will lived on seconds longer than his body, and began to control the Kyuubi's chakra in an effort to heal himself.

However, using the Kyuubi's evil chakra corrupted the 4th further, and its evil will merged with his own. He rose back from near death and ran deep into the forests of the Fire Country. There, he began to hone his skills and began gathering others around him with equal skill. Itachi, smarter than all the other ninjas, had watched the final battle with the Kyuubi from afar, and knew that 4th had not died. Itachi saught out the 4th, looking to perfect his skills at last. The 4th returned to Konoha secretly with some of these new allies and recruited Orochimaru, who he knew to have an ambition as ruthless as his own newfound one. Then he formed a group, Akatsuki with these ten members.

Then one day after Orochimaru had betrayed them for his own ends, the 4th had an epiphany. He had heard that the Hidden Village of the Sand had a young lad who also had one of the many demons sealed within him. The youth was incredibly powerful, and the 4th knew that he and the other members of Akatsuki could take that power for themselves. For the next 6 years, they waited and researched where the Jinchuuriki were and the rest of the demons could be found. Then...they began to strike.

(This scenario has been forged around ideas loosely presented in the manga, Superb and flawless conjecture, logical reasoning, and by the fact that a silhouette can definitively prove someone's identity, especially when drawn with pen and ink.)

(That, and a friend of mine's cousin's teacher's sister's best friend who is living in Japan's husband's best friend's daughter totally overheard Kishimoto talking to a friend at a family restaurant about what is going to happen next.)