What If Naruto Was Betrayed By His Family And Became The New Sage Of Darkness ||

What's up everyone? How are you all? Today we are back with another blazing Naruto story. What if Naruto was betrayed by his family and became the new sage of darkness? If you enjoy then please like, share, and do comments. And also check the description box to original creator of this beautiful creation. The sun slowly set over Konohagakure no Sato, one of the five great Shinobi villages. While most businesses were locking their doors for the night, one person was not so lucky. In the tall tower near the center of the village, the fifth Hokage, Tsunade Senju sat behind her desk, a large pile of paperwork next to her. She sighed and ran a hand through her long blonde hair, knowing she had brought this on herself. Despite what many people thought, being Hokage didn't mean day after day of endless paperwork. Even with all the extra paperwork the Suna Auto invasion had created, on top of the paperwork generated by the hospital, she still found time to train her new apprentice Sakura Haruno and still have an hour or two every day. The endless paperwork was just an easy excuse for when she didn't want to have to deal with somebody. However, over the last few days she had slacked off a bit, resulting in her current predicament. She sighed once again as she dated her signature. "Brad, you better hurry up and get back here." She muttered to herself. "I'm getting tired of waiting for you to take this job from me." The reason for her recent slacking was her preparing for the return of the number one hyperactive knucklehead ninja of Konoha. The one who had snapped her out of her decades-long depression following the deaths of her brother and lover in the Second Shinobi World War. The Jinchuriki of the nine-tailed demon fox, the last known member of the Uzumaki clan, and self-proclaimed sixth Hokage, Naruto Uzumaki. "You know, when you put it that way, you'll probably scare the brat away." A voice behind her said. Tsunade looked over her shoulder and saw someone she wasn't expecting for a few more days. It was her teammate, the legendary toad sage Jiraiya. Noticing the glare she was giving him, his dopey grin got bigger. "Come on, Tsunade. I don't see you for 3 years and the first thing you do is glare at me?" Jiraiya pouted. "I thought we had something special." Tsunade rolled her eyes but couldn't herself from smiling. "Welcome back." She said before going back to filling out paperwork. "You should have let me know you were coming back early. Sakura will be disappointed she didn't get to meet Naruto as soon as he got back." Jiraiya moved to sit on the couch, but before he could get comfortable, Tsunade asked the one question he had been hoping to put off. "Speaking of which, where is Naruto?" Trying to figure out how to word it so Tsunade wouldn't kill him, he decided to just rip the band-aid off. Putting on his best smile, he happily declared, "No idea. Honestly, I haven't seen him in over a year." Seeing Tsunade freeze up, he realized that his efforts to sound optimistic made him sound a little too enthusiastic about not knowing Naruto's whereabouts. Before he could start explaining, Tsunade snapped the pen she was writing with and slowly stood up. "Jiraiya." She said in the evilest tone he had ever heard. "You have exactly 3 seconds to start explaining why Naruto isn't with you, or I will unleash a hell that will make Orochimaru's experiments look merciful." She began slowly cracking her knuckles while Jiraiya began panicking. "Wait, wait, wait." He begged. "The toads were watching over him the whole time. He was never in any danger. Look." Jiraiya quickly flew through the hand seals for the summoning technique. In a puff of smoke, a small toad with large eyebrows wearing a dark cape appeared. Before he even realized where he was, Jiraiya grabbed him and held him in front of Tsunade like a shield. "Go on, Fukasaku. Tell Tsunade what Naruto's been up to. Tell her he's fine. Go on." Fukasaku quickly separated himself from Jiraiya and jumped onto Tsunade's shoulder. "Please refrain from using me as a shield in the future." He said as he dusted himself off. "Especially since I told you it was a bad idea to wait this long to tell her." Fukasaku turned and hopped onto Tsunade's desk. "That aside." He said as he began clearing some space. "I have some papers that Naruto wanted me to pass on to you once he got back. I don't see any harm in giving them to you a few days early. And Naruto's fine." Satisfied that Tsunade's desk was cleared enough, he turned back to his summoner and the enraged medic still glaring at him. "I shall return momentarily." He said with a bow before reverse summoning himself. "See?" Jiraiya said nervously. "Naruto's fine. You can stop trying to kill me with your eyes now, right, Tsunade?" The furious Hokage continued glaring for a moment before she turned and walked back to her desk. "Very well." She calmly started. "You've proven that Naruto isn't in any danger. So I can't be mad at you for that." She sat down and pulled a bottle of sake out of one of the drawers. "Now for my next question." Tsunade opened the bottle and swigged as Jiraiya nervously sat in the chair in front of her desk, knowing she probably didn't want him lounging on the couch right now. Tsunade took several deep breaths before looking at her teammate. "Jiraiya, why the hell did you let Naruto go running off in the first place?" "Well, it was right after Naruto's 15th birthday." He began. "Naruto had gone into the woods to train and didn't come back that night. It wouldn't have been the first time he spent all night training, so I didn't think much of it. But the next morning he was back at camp, just staring at the fire with this dead look in his eyes. I tried to get his attention, but he just ignored me. Right as I was getting worried, he suddenly got this really determined look in his eyes and asked if he could spend the last year of the trip training by himself. He said he would have the toads with him if things got too dangerous and he really needed to do this. After seeing that look in his eyes, I agreed but told him that if he wasn't learning anything, the toads would summon him back to me. I didn't hear anything from them, so I assumed everything was going well. Before Tsunade could begin lecturing him on how irresponsible it was to just hope the toads could summon Naruto away from danger, Fukasaku reappeared with a haphazard pile of scrolls and papers. "Last time I get Gamakichi to keep track of paperwork." He muttered to himself. "Sorry about the disorganization, but I think I can find the important ones." He began looking through the papers while Jiraiya and Tsunade wondered what exactly Naruto did to generate this much paperwork. Fukasaku picked up a scroll and gave it to Tsunade. "This details the origins of chakra and the first chakra users." He said. Before Tsunade could ask any questions, Fukasaku held up a small folder with stack of papers inside. "Here's a formal request from the leaders of Amegakure for a political alliance between the two villages." Both Jiraiya and Tsunade stared at Fukasaku with their jaws on the ground. Naruto had somehow convinced one of the most paranoid and isolated hidden villages to open up to outsiders. Sure, there were rumors that Hanzo had been overthrown, but since the borders remained closed, nobody had been able to verify them. "Fukasaku." Tsunade began. "How exactly did Naruto come in contact with the leaders of Amegakure?" "Walking into a hidden village was one thing. Meeting up with the top ninja was another." Fukasaku picked up a stack of papers stapled together and handed it to Tsunade. "He heard a rumor that the leader of Akatsuki was in Amegakure and decided to investigate." Jiraiya and Tsunade's eyes popped out of their heads. "The leader's girlfriend, I'm assuming, approached him and they hit it off. One thing lead to another and him and those two are real good friends now. Speaking of which, Akatsuki has been disbanded and those are the profiles of all its former members." Jiraiya quickly grabbed the papers from Tsunade's hand while she was too stunned to stop him. While Jiraiya was comparing Naruto's notes with the information he had gathered over the last year, Fukasaku grabbed a folder that looked similar to the first, only bigger. "Here's a request by the Mizukage for an alliance between Konoha and Kiri." Once again, Tsunade's jaw hit the floor. "You're telling me the brat who refers to the Hokage as granny somehow managed to convince two of the most isolated hidden villages to open their borders to outsiders?" Tsunade asked. Fukasaku just smiled at her. "You have all people should know of his ability to positively influence people." Tsunade blushed while Jiraiya, who had finished looking over the files of the ex-Akatsuki members, laughed. Before Tsunade could come up with a response, Fukasaku handed her another paper. "Naruto has requested that you make the records of Itachi Uchiha's final mission public." Jiraiya was confused as to why Naruto would ask for that before he noticed Tsunade seemed very nervous. Before he could ask, Fukasaku handed him another stack of papers stapled together. "There's the information on almost all the Jinchuriki, who they are, where they are, their abilities, all that stuff." Jiraiya began flipping through the files and saw that they were all rather thorough. "How exactly did he get this information?" He asked. "The Jinchuriki are some of the most well-guarded secrets in a hidden village. Also, why is there no info on the Sanbi host?" Fukasaku looked up from flipping through papers. "Well, for the most part, he just asked them. Most of the last year was spent meeting with all the other Jinchuriki. Of course, some leaders weren't very happy when they learned a Konoha ninja was befriending their weapons. But for the most part, they all like him." Once again, Jiraiya's jaw hit the floor. "As for the Sanbi, the fourth Mizukage was killed and Naruto wants to keep the new Jinchuriki a secret for now." Fukasaku held up two more sheets of paper, once again cutting off the questions the two Sannin had. These are the last two important things. They're a pair of techniques that Naruto created, or rather he improved existing techniques in ways only he could. Tsunade and Jiraiya raised their eyebrows. The first is a healing technique that uses large amounts on Yang Chakra to generate organs from nothing. The other is a method of using Yang Chakra to complete the Edo Tensei. Jiraiya and Tsunade stared blankly for a few seconds before they exploded into a series of questions. Unable to understand a thing they were saying, Fukasaku took a deep breath. Shut up. The two ninja stopped, if only because they were shocked such a small toad could be so loud. If you two have any questions, you can just ask Naruto yourselves. He should be back tomorrow with his new teammates. Now, if you'll excuse me, Shima will be rather upset with me if I miss dinner. With that, Fukasaku reverse summoned himself back home. Jiraiya and Tsunade still had a million questions, but as they looked at each other, they had the same thought. New teammates? Jiraiya and Tsunade paced restlessly back and forth in front of the main gates of Konoha. Much like Fukasaku had said, most of what was left of the pile had been random junk, mostly receipts that Tsunade really didn't hope he expected her to pay back. A training trip was not a mission. Besides that, there were lots of pamphlets for random tourist destinations around the elemental nations, and what looked like lots of random journal entries, very few of which had anything interesting or important to say. It was slightly worrying that somebody who knew as much classified information as Naruto could still act so ditzy. "Where the hell is he?" she yelled, startling the gate guards who had been nodding off. Wanting to get answers out of Naruto as soon as possible, she had shown up to the gates at dawn. Several hours later, and there was no sign of Naruto or his mysterious new team. "Now, Tsunade," Jiraiya said, ignoring her agitated glare. "He said he'd be back today." "He never gave a time." "Just be patient and you'll get your answers, and hopefully I can get some answers of my own," he thought. Last night when he asked Tsunade why Naruto was interested in Itachi's final mission, she had become very evasive and refused to answer him. He was shocked when he pressed her for answers, and she threatened to have him locked up if he didn't back off. Something big was going on, and he was determined to find out what. The sound of laughter pulled Jiraiya from his thoughts. Looking down the road, he saw three people approaching. Jiraiya pulled out his spyglass and was pleased to see that Naruto was finally back home. Aside from growing a few inches and adding a long red jacket to his outfit, he looked exactly the same as he did when they had parted ways a year ago. Now to get a look at these new teammates of his. Looking to Naruto's right, he saw the source of the laughter. It was a girl about Naruto's age with lopsided red hair and glasses. She was wearing a purple button-up shirt that was barely buttoned, showing a bit of cleavage and her toned stomach. Her long legs were also on display, thanks to the shorts she was wearing. "Not bad, kid," Jiraiya thought with a perverted grin. "Now, let's see the other one." Looking to Naruto's left, he was very pleased to see another girl about Naruto's age, who seemed to be the butt of whatever the redhead was laughing at, judging by the angry blush on her face. She had long black hair and was wearing a sleeveless pink kimono that showed off her strong arms, presumably gained from swinging the massive sword strapped to her back. All in all, she was rather cute in an oddly boyish sort of way. "Hey, pervy sage, Granny Tsunade, I'm back." The two Sannin groaned at hearing their old nicknames again. The three teens stopped in front of the village leader and stood at attention. "Naruto Uzumaki reporting for duty. These are my friends, Haku," the brunette gave a polite wave, "and Karin." The redhead adjusted her glasses and nodded. "So, did you get my letters?" "Yes, I did," Tsunade replied as she grabbed him by the jacket. "And there's the little matter of you running your mouth about classified missions that we need to talk about. My office, now." Before Naruto could respond, she dragged him down the street kicking and screaming. "Well," Jiraiya said, "I doubt that was the welcome he was expecting." He turned and looked at the two newcomers who were laughing at their friends' unpleasant situation. "So," the teens stopped laughing and looked at the sage. "Exactly how close are you ladies with Naruto?" he asked as he pulled out his notepad. Haku's blush returned, as did Karin's laughter. Suddenly, Karin pulled Haku into a tight hug. "I hate to break it to you," she said, "but the two of us are seeing each other exclusively." She punctuated his sentence by kissing Haku on the cheek. Jiraiya began giggling and writing before a depressing thought occurred to him. "So, you're telling me after all this time, Naruto is still completely clueless when it comes to the ladies?" he asked with a sigh. Haku and Karin looked at each other before they exploded into laughter. Jiraiya raised an eyebrow. "What's so funny?" "You'll have to ask Naruto, since it's his story to tell, but let's just say you couldn't be more wrong," Haku said with a laugh. "Come on, Karin. I'm sure Lady Tsunade will have some questions for us as well." With that, the two teens walked after Naruto and Tsunade, while Jiraiya began thinking up ideas for his next book involving two wandering lesbians and the brave ninja warrior who captured both their hearts. "By the way, Jiraiya." Jiraiya looked over his shoulder and saw Haku giving him a grin. It was a grin he had come to fear. It was the same grin Naruto always had right before a prank. "You should know that I'm a boy." The teens then left Jiraiya standing there confused. Finally, his brain pieced together what he just learned and neatly summarized his thoughts. "What the hell? Start talking, brat," Tsunade said as she paced in her office. "How do you know about Itachi's last mission, and why do you want to go announcing it to the whole world?" Despite giving Naruto her best glare, she could tell he had grown as a ninja by the glare he was giving back. "Maybe because he's a hero, and right now the entire world is treating him like a monster for sacrificing everything in his life to keep his home safe, even though there's absolutely nothing left to tie him to it. Does that sound like a good enough reason for you?" Naruto snapped, clearly not pleased with having to try to justify why a ninja shouldn't be punished for following orders. Tsunade sighed as she tried to think of a way to calm Naruto down. Sadly, if there was anyone who could sympathize with Itachi, it was Naruto. "Look, Naruto," she began softly. "How do you think the other villages would react if they found out we were forced to wipe out one of our most powerful clans? Or should we have just let them invade us as we recovered from a civil war?" She hoped that Naruto could understand that leaders were sometimes forced to make unpleasant decisions. Naruto, however, seemed unimpressed with her answer. "Please," he said sarcastically as he sat down. "Kiri isn't as strong as us, and they managed to survive a civil war caused by an Uchiha just fine." Tsunade sat there shocked as Naruto gained a thoughtful look on his face. "Then again, they do have all that water keeping them safe." Tsunade's eye twitched in annoyance. "But there's a lot of land between Konoha and the borders." "But those borders lead straight into enemy territory." "Hm, what do you think, Granny? Were you focused?" She snapped. "Leave it to Naruto to lose focus thinking about borders while talking about a potential war. Now, what's this about an Uchiha starting the civil war in Kiri?" Naruto blinked a few times before he remembered what they were talking about. "Oh, yeah. So, there was this guy, and everyone thought he died in the last war, but he didn't. But he did kind of turn into a complete and total ass," Naruto said with a frown. "He pulled Kurama out of Mom, so he's pretty much responsible for ruining my life. Tsunade had no idea who Kurama was, but hearing Naruto talk about his mother was raising more questions than it was answers. Then he hypnotized the Fourth Mizukage and started the bloodline purges, which lead to the civil war. So, he's pretty much responsible for ruining Haku's life." This caught Tsunade's interest. She had no idea Naruto's new friend had a bloodline. Now that she thought about it, she had just left two completely unknown ninja wandering around Konoha. She should probably do something about that. "Oh, and let's not forget he was the one who turned Akatsuki into a terrorist organization." Tsunade rubbed her temples. Naruto hadn't even been back 5 minutes, and she had a headache. "Naruto, I'm going to ask some questions," she said as she reached for a bottle of sake. "And you are going to give me short and simple answers that aren't going to raise a million more questions. Got it?" Naruto nodded nervously. He could tell she was getting serious. "Now then, who is Kurama? Is this Uchiha still a threat? And what does this have to do with Itachi?" Naruto scratched his head. "Well, there's really no way to answer those simply. But in order, Kurama is the Kyuubi. No, he isn't, and you don't screw with the guy leading a terrorist organization without having to screw with the second-in-command." Suddenly, Naruto's eye widened in terror. "Oh, crap. I forgot to tell the pervy sage that Konan and Nagato said hello." Tsunade slammed her head into her desk. With a sigh, she sat up and looked at Naruto. "All right, fine," she groaned. "We'll get back to all that later." Really, at this point, she was tempted to just kick him out of her office and trust that he knew what he was doing. "Just answer me this. What exactly made you want to leave in the first place?" Naruto's face hardened. "Well, that question's probably the easiest to answer, though it will probably take a while." Looking at the clock, he saw that it was still only 8:00 in the morning. "Well, it started about a year ago." Naruto wiped the sweat off his forehead. He had spent the last few hours sparring with his clones. Ever since that training session where he had blacked out, Jiraiya hadn't been as strong as he had before. Sure, he could still beat Naruto with no effort, but the beatings weren't nearly as bad as they used to be. Naruto sighed and looked down at his hand. Even though Jiraiya hadn't said anything, Naruto was certain that he had lost control of the Kyuubi. He wished he understood why Jiraiya was so determined to have him use the Kyuubi's power. Was there something Jiraiya knew that he didn't? With a sigh, Naruto closed his eyes and began to focus. He didn't want to use the Kyuubi's power, but he also didn't want to accidentally kill someone close to him. Naruto felt the rush of power from the Kyuubi slowly wash over him. He slowly began to increase the power, carefully maintaining focus on his emotions. The more he used, the angrier he got. The angrier he got, the harder it was to control. A vicious cycle, if there ever was one. Naruto opened his eyes and froze with horror, or at least he would have if his body wasn't moving on its own. No. No. No. No. No. He thought since he couldn't scream it out. The veil of blood red chakra surrounded his body, pulling him forward against his will. "Why is this happening?" he thought. Last time he had lost control, the last thing he heard was the Kyuubi laughing and taunting him. Now there was nothing. It was almost like the chakra itself was moving him around. Naruto could only watch as his body crawled into a small cave that was covered up by the roots of an extremely ancient looking tree. "What is this place?" he thought as he crawled deeper and deeper with only the light of Kyuubi's chakra letting him see. Naruto wasn't sure how long he crawled around in there. His body kept moving without rest, only stopping when it needed to dig where the cave was too narrow or blocked. Eventually, he reached an open room. Struggling to see in the extremely dim light, Naruto's blood ran cold when he realized that there was a mummified corpse sitting in the center of the room. To his horror, his body moved forward, reaching out to touch the mummy's head. The mummy's three eyes lit up and Naruto blacked out. "Uh, now where am I?" Naruto mumbled as he sat up. Looking around, he saw he was in what looked like a weird mixture of a sewer and a boiler room. Behind him was a giant cage with a seal holding it closed. "How did I get inside my mind?" he asked as he stood up. Before he could investigate further, a strange bubbling noise caught his attention. Looking down, he saw the water was slowly draining away. A rattling drew his attention to the walls where several pipes began falling down. "Well, this is interesting." A deep voice rumbled behind Naruto. Naruto turned to see his prisoner, the nine-tailed demon fox staring at him from behind the seal with a rather deranged grin on its face. Before Naruto could tell the fox off like usual, it leaned its head back and slammed him into the bars of its prison. To Naruto's horror, the bars, much like the pipes on the walls, fell uselessly to the ground. Naruto slowly backed away as the fox continued to stare at him the same way a predator stares at its prey. But before Naruto could be eaten alive, another unfamiliar voice cut in. "Well, Kurama, you seem to have developed a rather cross personality over the ages." Naruto turned and was shocked to see that most of his mindscape had faded into an endless white void. Floating in the middle was a man that Naruto quickly realized was the same mummy he had seen before he passed out. Though even alive, he still looked incredibly old. And what was with that third eye in the middle of his forehead? "That's impossible." Naruto looked and saw the Kyuubi slowly backing away from them, a look of confusion and fear on its face. "You're supposed to be dead." Naruto looked back at the man with a look of wonder. Who was this guy and how strong was he if the Kyuubi was scared of him? "Um, excuse me." The old man looked down at Naruto, the same peaceful expression on his face. "So, who exactly are you and what are we doing in my mind?" The Kyuubi growled at Naruto's disrespect while the old man simply laughed. "I suppose a proper introduction is in order." He said, "I am Hagoromo Otsutsuki, but I believe you have most likely only heard of me by my my title, the Sage of Six Paths." Naruto nodded several times before he smiled and politely asked, "Who?" "You idiot." Naruto froze, remembering that the giant fox monster that had almost destroyed his home was currently sitting behind him with nothing separating them. "The only reason you can even call yourself a ninja is because of the desecration of the ideals of the man before you. So, show some respect." Naruto stared up at the fox. While there were some big words he didn't quite understand, from what he got, this guy was the very first ninja. And he must have been powerful considering the respect in the Kyuubi's voice. The few times he had heard the Kyuubi talk before, it had always just smugly taunted him before trying to take control of his body. A laugh brought his attention back to the man in front of him. "While Kurama is being overly zealous in coming to my defense, he is correct." he said with a smile. "I am Hagoromo Otsutsuki. I was the one who spread the ideals of Ninshu, which formed the base of Ninjutsu, across the word. It was through my knowledge that humanity learned to access the chakra that lay dormant within everyone. By now, Naruto had little stars in his eyes. Who knew what kind of ninja moves he could learn from this guy? "Wow, that's amazing." he yelled, much to Kurama's annoyance. "So, you're the guy who discovered chakra. How do you do that? Can you teach me to be an awesome ninja like you?" Naruto then noticed that Hagoromo's smile seemed to fall a bit at his questions. "Perhaps Kurama's paranoia was not as unfounded as I originally believed." Before Naruto could question what he meant, the sage continued, "And no, I am neither the discoverer of chakra, nor was I the first human to make extensive use of it. Chakra had long been known of by humanity, though few were able to make use of it. The first human to wield chakra as we do was my mother. Naruto clearly had not been expecting that answer. "So, your mother was the first ninja?" Naruto asked, not noticing Hagoromo's face becoming sadder with each word. "She must have been amazing. What was she like? How did she become a ninja?" Naruto imagined himself as an awesome sage with his mother as a kick-ass ninja cheering him on and supporting him. Before he could continue his fantasy, a sad sigh pulled him from his thoughts. "My mother was named Kaguya Otsutsuki." Hagoromo said, "She was the princess of a great and powerful kingdom. Within that kingdom was a tree known as the Shinju, which bore a fruit overflowing with chakra. According to legend, eating the fruit would gift a person with a godly level of power. The people of the kingdom never ate the fruit out of fear of the potential power they may unleash. Outsiders frequently attempted to invade the kingdom in order to steal the tree's power for themselves. Eventually, my mother grew weary of seeing her home repeatedly be brought to the brink of destruction. She ate the fruit herself and became so powerful that not only was she able to stop the invasions, but she brought an end to all wars everywhere." Naruto's jaw was on the floor with amazement. If they taught stuff like this in history class, maybe he'd pay attention. Then again, maybe they did and he slept through it. "But eating the fruit changed something within her. Those who knew my mother before stated that she was kind-hearted and loving. But my entire life, I knew her to be nothing but cold and distant, even at the best of times. Myself and my brother were both born with incredible power, though nowhere near her level. We began teaching others to use their chakra in order to improve their lives. For some reason, this enraged her and she demanded that we cease spreading the secrets of chakra. When we refused, several disciples of ours disappeared. We eventually discovered that they had been murdered." Naruto gulped in fear. "We were greatly concerned for her rapidly failing mental health, but before we could intervene, tragedy struck. One day, she observed a young man use chakra to climb a wall to deliver a letter to the woman he was smitten with. Seeing what she felt to be her godly power used for such a mundane task caused something within her to break. She hypnotized the entire kingdom and fed them to the Shinju, turning them into abominations neither man nor plant. When we confronted her, she merged herself with the Shinju, turning into a ten-tailed monstrosity that began ravaging the land, draining the latent chakra of every living thing she came across." By now, Hagoromo was struggling to hold back his tears. "How did you stop her?" Hagoromo looked up at Naruto and saw that Naruto was clearly uncomfortable asking, but was still curious. Hagoromo laughed sadly. He supposed if anyone other than him were telling the story, it would sound like a fanciful tale. "I sealed her chakra within myself while her body was locked within a colossal stone prison in the sky. As I neared the end of my life, I felt extra precautions were necessary. So, I split her chakra into nine fragments and gave each of them a life of its own." In amazement, Naruto turned and looked at the giant fox behind him. "I see you understand. The Bijuu are the result of my mother's lust for power. Their continued existence is what keeps the world safe from her wrath." Finally, Naruto asked the question that had been bothering him the entire time he was here. "As interesting as this is, what does all this have to do with me?" Hagoromo smiled and explained that his chakra had brought him here as a result of being his second son's incarnation well as having Kurama's chakra. He then warned Naruto about Zetsu, a veiled creature that Kaguya had created with the last of her power, and taught Naruto of a fuinjutsu that could stop Kaguya should Zetsu's plans come to fruition. During this time he got to know Kurama, who was still a jerk, but the threats of murder and possession stopped. Eventually, Hagoromo bid Naruto farewell, but not before letting Naruto know that he believed if anyone could bring peace to the world, it was him. As the sage faded away and his mindscape rebuilt itself, Naruto heard someone calling his name. Looking up, he saw Jiraiya standing over him. When had he gotten back to camp? How long had he been sitting there? Remembering what Hagoromo had told him, he looked up at his teacher. "Jiraiya, I think I need to spend the next year training myself. And then I spent the next year wandering around training." Tsunade nodded. Hearing that the Sage of Six Paths was real and not just a fairy tale had been very interesting. Tsunade finished her sake before looking at Naruto. "Very well," she began, "we'll need a full up-to-date showing of your skills. Be at training ground seven at three. We'll test you to see just how good you really are." Naruto looked at the clock and smiled. He still had several hours before he'd even need to start getting ready. "Any questions before you leave?" Naruto nervously scratched his head. "Do you think maybe you could drop your henge for me?" he asked. The glare Tsunade sent him told him everything. "Please, I just want to try something. I promise nothing bad will happen." Tsunade gave a groan of irritation and reluctantly dropped her transformation. Naruto did his best not to cringe. She may have been in her early 50s, but without the henge, so looked like she was in her 70s. "So, what is it you're trying to do?" she asked, her tone of voice telling Naruto he was dead if this was some kind of joke. Naruto smiled and held up his hands, which were now covered in a bizarre golden flame. With a flick of his wrists, the flames extended and swallowed Tsunade up. Before she could protest, Naruto started talking. "I'm sure you read all about my young healing technique, right?" Tsunade nodded. "Well, I'm still working on the control part. I can't really do fine healing. I can replace an arm if you lost one, but if you broke your arm, I can't make a small amount of bone to mend it. I could give you a new arm bone, but having one and two halves of a bone really isn't that good for you." Tsunade managed to avoid rolling her eyes at the statement. She was too busy feeling better than she'd felt in years. "So, when I first found I could do this, I read some books on biology. I thought maybe I could revitalize old cells and reverse aging, but nobody I tried it on got younger. They just had some extra chakra that made them all twitchy for a few hours. So, what makes you think it will be any different for me?" Tsunade asked. Of course, she wasn't complaining. She felt amazing. If this helped twitchy people, felt she needed to switch to coffee. "Well, your Creation Rebirth technique heals you by speeding up cell division. I know it's a long shot, but I'm hoping my technique will see the artificial aging as unnatural damage to fix it. Like the difference between a boulder slowly eroding over time and someone with a hammer smashing it to pieces." Naruto lowered his hands and the light around Tsunade began to fade. "Now, let's see how whoa, that worked a little too well." Tsunade's eyes widened in terror as she spun to look at her reflection in the window. If that brat turned her into a kid, she was going to beat him so badly even she wouldn't be able to fix him. "What the hell did you?" Tsunade's complaint died in her throat. She looked more or less the same as her henge normally did. At worst, she looked a few years older. "What do you mean too well? I look amazing." "Well, I figured if it worked, you'd look your actual age, not 20 years younger." Seeing the look of joy on her face, he decided not to question it. "So, training ground seven at three, right?" Tsunade nodded while continuing to check herself out. "All right, see you then." Naruto opened the door to Tsunade's office and saw Haku and Karin waiting outside. "So," Karin asked awkwardly, "do we need to officially be allowed in? Is there something we need to sign? Can we stay here?" Naruto smiled and gave her a thumbs up. "Of course, you can stay here," he said happily, "and we can take care of the paperwork later. For now, let Tsunade enjoy her new look." Ignoring the confused looks on their faces, he grabbed their arms and dragged them away. "Come on, I can't wait to introduce you to my friends." Sakura Haruno gave a bored sigh as she browsed the various shop windows. Last night an Anbu had shown up at her house with a message saying the training was canceled today. She supposed she could meet with Ino, but until she was done with team training, she had nothing to do. She wished Naruto would hurry up and get back. The past three years had been rather boring without him around. "Hey, Sakura." The kunoichi's eyes widened as the blonde she had just been thinking about ran towards her with two others in tow. "Naruto," she asked happily, "when did you get back? And who are those two?" She was slightly annoyed that Tsunade hadn't informed her that Naruto was coming back early. Naruto stopped in front of her and looked her over. "Well, I'm glad to see you look just as beautiful as you did the day I left." Sakura blushed at this. "And these were my teammates while I was gone. You met Haku on our mission to the Land of Waves." The girly boy gave a nervous laugh. "I don't believe we were properly introduced back then, given that I was both your enemy and slightly dead." A look of realization crossed Naruto's face. "And this is my girlfriend, Karin." The redhead next to him waved before holding her hand out to Haku. "And I believe I won the bet," she said. Haku sighed and began digging through his pockets. Seeing Sakura's confused look, Karin smiled. "With how much Naruto talked about you as we traveled, we both knew he would compliment you as soon as he saw you. Haku thought he would say something stupid and make you mad." Naruto shot Haku a look as he handed some money to Karin. "You do tend to make poor word choices," he said. "I was expecting you to say something like, you haven't changed a single bit, but you managed to surprise me. Ha ha ha." Naruto said sarcastically. "I know how to talk to girls. You should know that." Haku and Karin shared a look and a snicker. "So, Sakura, what was it like having the Hokage as a teacher?" Sakura smiled. He may be more mature, but he was still Naruto. "Well, it was really hard, but it was also a lot of fun. To start with," Sakura started telling Naruto about the training she had done for the past three years. But as they talked, they didn't notice the pair of pure white eyes narrowing into a hate-filled glare. "That's so cool," Naruto exclaimed. "Do you think maybe you could teach us some of that cool medical stuff?" he asked. Sakura noticed that all three of them were giving her a hopeful look. This surprised her. Naruto wanting to be a medic? She would have laughed and played it off as a joke if the look he gave her wasn't completely serious. "Seriously?" she asked. "All three of you want to be medics?" Naruto and Karin shared a look before looking at Haku, then back at Sakura. "Well, I think Haku's the only one interested in specializing in it," he responded, "and he already knows a lot about the basics. He's really good with herbs and don't forget he's the one who put Zabuza in a near-death state and helped him recover from it." Sakura nodded with excitement. The 13-year-old Sakura with no medical training couldn't appreciate just how difficult it was to put someone into a near-death state. And Haku had done it in the middle of a battle. Naruto had just brought Konoha a potential gold mine of a medic. "What about you and Karin?" she asked. The Naruto she knew was more a beat the crap out of the bad guys before they hurt someone rather than a healer. Karin looked smart enough to be a healer, but looks didn't count for much in the ninja world. "Look underneath the underneath. We both have chakra with healing properties. Even if we aren't medics, it'd probably still be good to know," Naruto said with a smile while Karin was looking at Haku while pouting and mumbling something about only he can use my chakra. Sakura smiled. Naruto's new friends seemed a little weird, but they also seemed nice. "Come on, Naruto," she said as she grabbed his hand. "I can't wait to tell everyone you're back." She began to pull Naruto along. "And you'll have to tell me all about what happened while you were gone." Naruto sighed happily. It was nice being back in Konoha. He even got to hold Sakura's hand. Sadly, before he could enjoy it, the familiar sensation of death bearing down on him caught his attention. He quickly grabbed Sakura in his arms and jumped backwards, ignoring her startled screams. "Naruto, what the hell do you think you're doing?" she screeched. "Looks like she tried to kill you again," Haku said blankly. Sakura was about to ask what he meant when she saw the road in front of them. It was covered in what looked to be dozens of wires sticking out of the ground like giant darts. "What are those?" she asked as Naruto put her down. "Where did they come from?" She reached out to touch one when Karin grabbed her hand. "Don't touch those," she warned, "they will drain your chakra, potentially fatally. As for where they came from, you can thank the rabbit bitch." "Karin, what did I tell you about being nice?" Naruto asked as he walked past Sakura wearing gloves covered with seals. "Fuck nice," she snapped back. "With how many times she's tried to kill us, I'll call her whatever the [ __ ] I want." Naruto began plucking the wires, causing them to go limp and revealing them to be strands of hair. "Well, technically, she was only trying to kill me," he said. "You and Haku just happened to be in the way." Karin growled, apparently unsatisfied with the answer, while Sakura was more confused than ever. "Who are you talking about? What's going on?" The three ninja pointed to the roof of a nearby building. Sakura followed their fingers and gasped at what she saw. Sitting on the roof was one of the most beautiful women she'd ever seen. She was wearing a kimono similar to the ones she'd seen in paintings of ancient nobility. She had long flowing white hair that apparently served as a weapon. Oddly, besides having pure white eyes, she had what looked like horns plus a large red eye in the middle of her forehead. Sakura could see several seals on her neck and wrists, but what really caught her attention was that her beautiful face was twisted into the foulest scowl she had ever seen. "Who is that?" Naruto finished collecting the hairs and waved to the woman. "Better luck next time, Kaguya." He yelled. If possible, her scowl got even fouler as the space behind him warped into a portal that swallowed her up. Sakura's head was starting to hurt. "Naruto, who is that?" She asked as Naruto finished picking up Kaguya's hair and started pulling his gloves off. "That was Kaguya Otsutsuki." He said, "She was the very first ninja. Unfortunately, all that power drove her insane, so I'm going to fix her." Haku and Karin groaned. Apparently, they didn't feel the same way. "Naruto, she couldn't possibly be the first ninja." Sakura said, "That would make her at least a thousand years old." Naruto laughed and gave her a thumbs-up. "Yeah, I hope I look that good when I'm a thousand." He said completely seriously. Sakura looked at Haku and Karin for support, but apparently they believed Naruto's story. "Now come on. I remember you saying something about catching up with everyone." Naruto began to walk away followed by Haku and Karin with Sakura bringing up the rear. "Will someone please explain what's going on?" Ino Yamanaka gave an annoyed sigh. She loved her team, she really did, but some days they could be so frustrating. Today, all they had done was some warm-ups followed by taijutsu spars. After that, they had practiced several Ino-Shika-Cho formations followed by cool down. Now they were getting lunch at the barbecue place, which was awesome as a sign that they were done for the day. Sure, Shikamaru had some meeting with Temari later, but there was no reason to assume it couldn't keep training he and Choji. She swore that if not for her constant complaining, they would never get anything done. Her attention was drawn to the entrance as her best friend Sakura walked in with two people she didn't recognize and a blonde she was very surprised to see. "Naruto?" She asked, "Is that you?" Choji and Shikamaru were drawn out of their conversation by her question. "When did you get back?" Naruto smiled and waved at them. "Hey guys, what's up?" He walked over followed by Sakura and the two mystery people. "So like I was saying," he said to Sakura, "with all the seals on her, she's about as strong as all five Kage put together." Sakura paled in fear while Team Asuma looked confused. Was he talking about one of the girls with him? They didn't seem that strong. "Troublesome." Shikamaru groaned. "So Naruto, what happened on your trip and who are the girls?" Naruto and the redhead laughed while the brunette got an annoyed smile. "The redhead is Karin." She waved while looking at the menu the waiter had brought over. "And the guy with the sword is her boyfriend, Haku." Everyone stared at Naruto before looking at Haku. He waved at them. "Yes, I'm aware I look like a girl." Naruto and Karin snickered. "And I believe these two have a bet over how many people will make that mistake. I believe we're up to five. So you want to hear about my trip?" Naruto said, "Well, let's see. I think a lot of it needs to be cleared by Tsunade before I talk about it. Hm, oh I know I can tell you about my trip to the Land of Water." His classmates listened with interest while Asuma wondered why Naruto would be in the Land of Water since last he had heard it was in the middle of a civil war. "So it all started when I met this guy named Yutaka. He's a pretty cool guy. I think you guys would like him. So anyways, I'm walking on the beach when I see this guy blowing bubbles. He seems interesting, so I stopped to talk to him. Well, one thing led to another." Naruto spent the next few hours telling them all about his trip to the Land of Water from his first meeting with Yutaka to meeting and training with the rebels. "They thought they could hide in the mist, but they didn't realize the mist was filled with steam. So when they hid too long, their armor started melting. They tried to run, but we caught them and ate everything that wasn't starting to melt." Everyone was listening amazed to hear that the class idiot had already fought in a war. "So with all the extra weapons we had with went Sakura Haruno." Everyone turned to see an Anbu standing behind them. "The Hokage has ordered you to report to training ground seven in an hour." Naruto looked at the clock and saw it was now two. "Sorry guys." He said as he stood up and paid for his lunch. "My evaluation's in an hour. I'll talk to you later." Team Asuma all sadly groaned. "Come on, you can't leave us hanging like that." Ino whined. "What happened next?" Choji and Shikamaru nodded in agreement. Naruto smiled and pointed at the clock. "What happens next is Shikamaru gets in trouble for not meeting Temari on time." Naruto walked away laughing while Shikamaru stared off into space before he bolted out of the restaurant. "Troublesome. Did we really have to leave early?" Sakura asked. Her and Naruto were walking alone since Haku and Karin had gotten directions to Naruto's house and taken off. Though Naruto had invited them to watch his evaluation. "No, but that seemed like a good place to stop." He replied, "Otherwise, I'd still be in the middle of the story when I had to leave." Sakura was curious what happened if that didn't qualify as the middle. Before she could continue that train of thought, her and Naruto saw two more of their classmates walking towards them. "Hey Kiba." Uh uh crap, what was Kiba's teammate's name? Naruto racked his brain of answers before finally remembering. "Shino, what's up, Shino?" Kiba waved while Shino calmly walked behind him. "Yo Naruto, when did you get back?" Kiba asked while the giant dog next to him barked happily. Naruto started petting the dog. "I just got back today. I'm getting ready for my evaluation." He said, "And I'm guessing this little guy is Akamaru?" He asked as he scratched him behind the ears. "Yes, he is. Yes, he is." Kiba laughed at Akamaru knowing he hated people baby talking to him. "Hello, Naruto." Shino said, "I am surprised you remember me. Why? Because the two of us have rarely interacted before this." Naruto scratched the back of his head not wanting Shino to know how right he was. "Come on, Shino." He said nervously, "Who could forget about you?" Naruto couldn't tell what Shino was thinking due to his glasses, but he had the feeling Shino didn't believe him. "Man, it sucks you got back today." Kiba said, "We were just about to leave for a mission. You need to tell us all about your trip, man. So, you have any luck with the ladies?" Sakura was about to tell Kiba to shut up and stop being a pervert while Naruto had a rather pervy grin. Before either could voice their thoughts, everyone was forced to jump away from a giant tiger made of ink. "I've only been home one day and I've already been attacked twice. Seriously, universe, what the hell?" Naruto angrily muttered as he threw a kunai straight into the tiger's head. "Where'd it come from? Up there." Sakura said pointing at a roof down the street. Naruto looked and saw a very pasty kid with short black hair and a bizarre revealing outfit. He opened a scroll and grabbed a brush before drawing faster than anyone could follow. His drawings turned into a pack of tigers and attacked the group of friends. Naruto quickly summoned several clones to deal with them. Soon, the street was filled with ink splotches and smoke. The creepy kid looked around unable to see Naruto anywhere. "You know it's rude to attack people you haven't even met yet." The creepy kid spun around and saw Naruto sitting right behind him. "You know I have this interesting ability to sense emotions. Negative emotions are easier, but I can still feel the positive ones." He stood up and slowly approached the creepy kid. "Usually, when someone's trying to kill me like that, they have a lot of negative emotions. But you, you don't really have any emotions at all. You wouldn't happen to be one of those rude creeps I was warned about, would you?" The creepy kid's eyes shot open before he quickly schooled his features. "Do me a favor." He said as he leaned close. "Tell Danzo his past is about to catch up to him." The creepy kid stared for a few seconds before he burst into ink. Naruto jumped down and rejoined the others. "What the hell was up with that guy?" Kiba asked. Naruto looked at the ink splattered everywhere and decided he better leave before someone made him clean it up. "Just some overly enthusiastic guy who couldn't wait to test me. Speaking of testing me and Sakura, we need to get to training ground seven. Good luck on your mission, guys. Later, Hinata." A loud squeak got Kiba and Shino's attention. Hinata poked her head out from behind the tree she was hiding behind. As she watched Naruto and Sakura walk away, all she could think was, "Why didn't he want to talk to me?" Naruto and Sakura entered training ground seven. Remembering when they first became ninja, they weren't surprised to see Kakashi sitting on the training logs. Kakashi gave them his usual eye smile and closed the book he was reading. "Hello, Naruto, Sakura. It's been a while, hasn't it? You both look like you've done a lot of growing in the past three years." "Hey, Sensei." Naruto said, "Still reading those trashy romance novels?" Kakashi's eye twitched. Trashy romance novel was a step up from porn, but that was still his favorite book being insulted. "Glad to see you're just as loudmouth as you've always been." Now it was Naruto's turn to eye twitch. Kakashi held up a pair of bells. "I don't think I need to remind you how this test works. Come at me with the intent to kill or you'll never win." He attached the bells to his belt. "And go." With that, he vanished. Naruto and Sakura slipped into fighting stances. "Any idea where his is?" Naruto asked. They looked around but saw no sign of their teacher. Sakura thought for a moment before pulling a pair of gloves out of her pocket. "Well, the last time he hid underground." She said as she pulled them on. "Let's see if he thinks we forgot about that." Sakura pulled her fist back and smashed the entire training ground to bits. Naruto and the newly uncovered Kakashi both stared in horror. Note to self, they both thought, never get hit by her. "I see she picked up your strength." Jiraiya said as he and Tsunade watched from a nearby tree. "Bleach her blonde and she'd be a miniature you." "Indeed, she's rather impressive." Karin said as she and Hikaru jumped onto the branch next to them. "I see why Naruto wouldn't shut up about her." "Well, actually she couldn't do that when he left." Tsunade said, noticing that Hikaru had changed into a more combat appropriate outfit. She asked, "What's with the costume change?" "I would assume if Karin and I are going to join Konoha, you'd need to evaluate us to assess our rank." "We figured this would be a good time to do so." "Not if they take too long getting the bells." Jiraiya said, knowing Kakashi they could be out here all night. Hikaru and Karin laughed. "You seriously have no idea just how powerful Naruto is." Karin replied. "Though I'd be amazed if he was forced to reveal his full strength here." "Something bad would have to happen to push him that far." Hundreds of miles away outside of Sunagakure, four figures stood covered with black cloaks with purple music notes on them with a pinwheel eye in the center of them. Several Jonin in Suna uniform stood behind them. "We got all your spies out." The blonde one said to the hunchback. "Can I please start blowing stuff up?" The hunchback growled in annoyance. "Yes, Deidara." He rasped in an extremely gravely voice. "Just make sure you remember to use the special explosives you were given." Deidara laughed and summoned a giant unnaturally white bird. "You got it, Sasori, my man." He said as he flew off. The hunchback turned to look at the Jonin behind him. "Head to Otogakure." He said. "We'll plan our next move once I get back." The ex-Suna Jonin bowed and ran off. "Let's go." Sasori said as the other two cloaked ninja followed him and the first explosions went off over Suna. "Get ready, Kakashi." Naruto said as he charged up a Rasengan. "Because I'm going to a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a Kurama was sitting behind him while eight glowing fireballs sat in a circle around him. One had grown a large tanuki face. "Naruto." It screamed. "It's just like Kakuyou and Choumei warned. Suna's under attack. There's at least four. I'm pretty sure all of them are ex-Akatsuki. Help." Naruto removed his hands from his ears. "Don't worry, Shukaku. I'll be there as soon as possible. Just hold them off for as long as you can." The tanuki nodded and faded away. "Let's do this, Kurama." He said as the fox behind him got an insane grin. "Naruto." Sakura yelled as tried to get his attention. "Are you okay? Naruto." Kakashi stood off to the side. He was worried about Naruto but he wasn't dumb enough to just walk up to him in the middle of a test. Suddenly Naruto jumped up. "Sorry, Kakashi, but I need to end this right now." Kakashi braced for an attack as Naruto held up his hand. Dark rings appeared around Naruto's eyes as he channeled chakra through his hand. Suddenly the bells flew from his belt and into Naruto's hand. Naruto tossed one to Sakura. "We win. Got to go. Hikaru, Karin, let's go." Hikaru and Karin jumped from the tree along with Jiraiya and Tsunade. "Naruto, what's going on?" Tsunade asked. Naruto began channeling the same golden chakra he had healed her with only this time it spread over his entire body. "Suna's under attack." He said. "The three of us will go on ahead. You send back up." Before Sakura or Tsunade could protest, Naruto's chakra exploded. Where a teenage human once stood was now a giant golden nine-tailed fox. A glowing chain shot out of Karin's wrist and wrapped around his neck. She grabbed Hikaru and pulled them onto Naruto's back. The fox turned and jumped away. Tsunade stared in shock before turning to the masked Jonin. "Kakashi, get ready. Team Kakashi and Team Asuma are providing back up to Suna. Now, all right, listen up." Tsunade said as she looked at the ninja assembled before her. "Approximately 15 minutes ago Naruto Uzumaki, along with his two new self-proclaimed teammates, took off for Suna. They claim that Suna's under attack but failed to provide any details. You are to follow after them, provide assistance in the event they were right, and drag them back here so I can remind them that they can't just go running off whenever they want. Any questions?" Sakura stepped forward. "Lady Tsunade." She began. "I believe I saw that creepy Kaguya woman chasing after him." "Do you want us to do something about her, too?" Tsunade thought back and recalled seeing someone in white chasing after them. "Wait, Kaguya?" Tsunade said nervously. "As in Kaguya Otsutsuki?" Sakura nodded, not enjoying the look of fear crossing Tsunade's face. "Is that idiot trying to get us all killed? What the hell is he thinking just letting her wander around? Naruto claims that she has several seals on his body that allows him to somewhat control her." Sakura said. "But even still he claims she could fight all five Kage and win." Tsunade groaned. She was really starting to regret just letting Naruto skim over the details of his trip. "You are to stay as far away from her as possible. Once Naruto gets back I'll have him fill me in. Any more questions?" Nobody spoke up. "Then move out." Team Kakashi and Team Asuma turned to chase after their favorite blonde idiot. The desert sun was beating down as Naruto, still a giant golden fox, ran as fast as he could across the dunes. Riding on his back were his teammates, Hikaru and Karin, and their new passenger, Temari. They had spotted her right at the edge of the land of fire and picked her up after quickly explaining what was happening. "So, do we have any idea who's attacking Suna?" Karin asked Naruto. Luckily, when Naruto went full tailed beast mode, he still appeared on top of Kurama's head so they could still talk to him. "Well, I can't talk to Shukaku when my system is flooded with Kurama's chakra like this." He said. "But from the way you was describing everything blowing up, I'm guessing the Deidara something guy is there." "I believe the name you're looking for is Deidara." Hikaru said. "And if the ex-Akatsuki structure hasn't been changed too much, Sasori of the red sand is most likely with him." Temari paled at that. Having a brother who was interested puppets meant she had heard all the horror stories of what Sasori had done. "Right, those two." Naruto said. "But he didn't say anything about the other two. He said it seemed like they were just keeping the other Suna ninja from interfering." None of the ninja liked the sound of that. "Naruto, do you think this could be a trap?" Temari asked. With four S-class missing-nin attacking and only one actually doing any damage and the other three stalling for time, it looked like a trap. "Most likely." Naruto said. "But Suna's under attack. I'm not about to just let my friends be killed because it's safer for me to run away. I'd be a pretty crappy Hokage if I did stuff like that." Everyone smiled at that. Naruto wasn't letting all his new-found power go to his head. Gaara raised another wall of sand in front of him to shield himself from the latest explosion to be launched at him. So far outside of destroying several buildings surrounding the Kazekage tower and verbally taunting him, the attacker hadn't made any direct moves at him. So, what were they waiting for? Gaara, the Kazekage, looked up and saw a giant golden fox falling towards him. In a flash of light it vanished, leaving behind four teens. "Don't worry. Team Naruto is here to save the day." Before anyone could point out how dumb his intro was, a manic laughter got their attention. "Well, what do you know?" Deidara said with an insane grin. "Just like we planned. Attack the raccoon and the fox will come running. I didn't think it would work but here we are." "Deidara." The blonde looked over his shoulder to see his partner approaching. "A raccoon and a tanuki are two separate creatures. Use your brain before you accidentally blow yourself up." Deidara growled and was about to retort when another voice cut in. "Raccoon? Tanuki? Who gives a flying [ __ ] Let's just kill the [ __ ] [ __ ] already." Naruto tensed at the approaching pair. One was tall and thin with swept back silver hair, carrying a three-bladed scythe. The other was equally tall wearing a black mask over his head with creepy red and green eyes. It was Hidan of Yugakure and Kakuzu of Takigakure, the infamous zombie brothers. "Well, isn't this a nice little reunion?" Naruto said sarcastically. "Where's the two-faced plant creep? He too scared to show up?" Really, he was nervous. Hikaru and Karin had gotten stronger since they started training together but they weren't S-rank. Even with the ninja of Suna backing them up, he wasn't sure if they could take them all. Deidara's laughter got his attention. "Funny you should say that." He said as he went through several hand seals. "I was given a special explosive just for this mission." When he finished the last seal, the residue that coated the area began to glow. Several large blobs clustered together and began to take a familiar shape. Before anyone could react, they were surrounded by an army of Zetsu. "Well, shit." Karin said as everyone took a fighting stance. "Any ideas, Naruto?" Naruto looked at the army surrounding them before giving a sigh of defeat. He really didn't want to do this but he had no choice. He made a seal and spiked his chakra. Sensing an attack, one of the Zetsu charged him, only to stop inches from him as something grabbed the back of its head. Everyone slowly backed away. Standing in front of Naruto was Kaguya, a look of curiosity on her face. "Kaguya," Naruto said slowly. "If you promise to be good and not kill any of our allies, I'll let you keep the seal that blocks your ability to drain chakra off." He sighed again. "Permanently. Do we have a deal?" Kaguya's face slowly twisted into an insane grin. The Zetsu in her grip began to scream as it violently thrashed and clawed at her hand before slowly crumbling into a withered wooden husk. The Zetsu began to shake with fear as Kaguya turned to stare at them, a Cheshire Cat grin splitting her face. Before any of them could react, she pounced on them and began draining them one by one. "Well, that's one problem solved," Karin said. "But what are we going to do about them?" Before anyone replied, a bird made of clay dive-bombed them, exploding on impact. Everyone jumped away from the explosion, but quickly realized it had only served to separate them. "Great," Karin said blankly as Kakuzu stood across from her. "So, I end up fighting the little girl," he said. "I'm very busy, so at least try to make it enter." Kakuzu's heart slept from his body as five glowing chakra chains pierced his chest. He stared at the chains before he slowly pulled his cloak off. "You just destroyed one of my hearts," he calmly stated. "Normally, I'd be upset, but seeing as you're offering something as rare and valuable as an Uzumaki heart to replace it, I suppose I can forgive you." Kakuzu's tentacles lashed out, entangling themselves in Karin's chains. His remaining hearts surrounded her and launched attacks at her. She quickly summoned a shield of chains to surround herself, but was barely able to hold the attacks off. "Shit. [ __ ] [ __ ] [ __ ] [ __ ] Shit." She swore as another barrage of attacks smashed her chains. "I can't beat him in a straight fight, so I'll have to outsmart him." Another barrage nearly broke through her shield. "I hope Hikaru isn't having as much trouble as me." Hikaru stared at his opponent, unsure of what to do. When he found himself faced with Hidan, he quickly summoned his ice mirrors to ensure the insane cultist couldn't get his blood for his ritual. The downside was although he was safe from harm, he couldn't do any real damage to Hidan. The immortal nin shrugged off his senbon like they were nothing, and Hikaru wasn't sure he could maintain his speed and use the Kubikiribocho at the same time. "Hey, sissy," Hidan screamed. "How about you get your little [ __ ] transvestite ass out of your little makeup mirror and fight me like a real ninja? Or are you too busy bleeding like the little [ __ ] you are?" Hikaru ignored the comment and launched another wave of senbon at him. Hidan quickly blocked most of them, and the ones he didn't were easily removed. "Bitch, put down the [ __ ] sewing needles and fight me." Hidan smashed his scythe into one of the mirrors, leaving huge cracks all over it. Seeing an opening, Hikaru refroze the mirror, trapping Hidan's scythe. He quickly moved behind Hidan and swung Kubikiribocho as hard as he could. The massive blade entered the immortal's shoulder before stopping in his chest. Hikaru pulled the blade out and jumped back into the mirrors as Hidan broke loose and smashed several other mirrors. "You [ __ ] [ __ ] [ __ ] I'm going to enjoy ripping you limb from [ __ ] limb." Another mirror was smashed as Hikaru began to struggle repairing them. "I can't maintain my mirrors in this desert environment," he weakly said to himself. "I hope Karin and Naruto are doing better than me. I don't know how much longer I can hold out." Naruto stared down Sasori. He had tried to send some clones to aid Hikaru and Karin, but the puppet in front of him had quickly taken them out. "So," he said as he slowly began to circle his opponent. "It seems like Akatsuki held together pretty well even after Nagato disbanded it. Though none of you ever really seemed to enjoy working together. Kind of odd that you would stick with each other. Unless there's a new puppet master pulling your strings now." Naruto ducked as Sasori's tail lashed out with lightning speed. Naruto summoned a pair of clones to flank him, and the trio launched a barrage of air bullets at him. His tail quickly twisted around his body, taking most of the hit. "I don't know why you bother asking," Sasori rasped out. "You are already well aware of our plans. Though how you learned of them is a mystery I would like to solve." His tail whipped around and destroyed one clone while he spit several senbon at the other. Naruto summoned more clones and continued to try to get into Sasori's blind spots. "Actually, I'm just making a few educated guesses. I have a few concrete facts, but most of your plan eludes me." Naruto began to focus his chakra to his throat, knowing that he had only one shot at this. "And just because somebody is on your side doesn't mean your enemies can't learn from them." Naruto took a deep breath and spat at Sasori. Thinking it was another air bullet, Sasori raised his tail to block it, but was shocked when a glob of lava began melting his tail. Before he could react, a clone with a rasengan smashed into his back. Naruto jumped back to see if he'd done any damage. Sasori's tail was now fully burned off, and the armor on his back was filled with cracks. His body parts were all twitching as he tested their movement. "You damaged my favorite puppet," he said slowly. "I can tell that you're going to become quite the thorn in our sides. Though I'm curious as to when you obtained the ability to use lava release. None of our intel indicated you had this ability." Naruto frowned. He had been hoping that his rasengan would destroy Sasori's armor completely. Now his enemy knew one of his biggest secrets. Thankfully, he hadn't worked out the source of his secret. "No matter," Sasori said as he armed his weapons. "Killing you in the case cage just became higher priority." Naruto summoned more clones. "I thought your plans revolved around capturing the jinchuriki, not killing them. Not that it matters since neither one of us is going down." The clones charged as Sasori fired his arsenal. "Those were the plans of the old Akatsuki that you dismantled," he said. "We no longer need the jinchuriki or the beasts they hold. We simply need them out of our way." The last clone was destroyed, and Naruto and Sasori locked eyes. "And make no mistake, one way or another, two of our enemies will die tonight." Gaara sent several tendrils of sand towards Deidara, who easily dodged and weaved out of the way before launching several explosions his way. Gaara's theory that they had been stalling was proven correct as Deidara was now focusing all of his attacks directly at the village leader. Gaara pulled his sand back and cut Deidara's leg. "Damn it," he hissed. "I should have known fighting you low to the ground was a mistake. I can't believe I had to carry all that [ __ ] to summon all these weaklings. If I had a full supply of explosives, you'd have been dead long ago." He threw several more clay spiders at Gaara, who easily blocked them again. "Then I suppose I should consider myself lucky that you aren't fully armed," he blankly said. "Though it would have been a good plan had Naruto not brought that woman with him." Deidara growled. "Fuck you," he snapped. "I don't need pity from the guy I'm about to kill. Besides, even with that [ __ ] holding off the freaks, that doesn't change the fact that two of your backup are nowhere near our level. They'll be dead soon enough, and then their opponents will come for you." Deidara laughed and set off another round of explosives. "He's right," Gaara thought. "I need to end this quickly." Naruto ducked under another wave of senbon. When Sasori had stopped spitting them, he had assumed the puppet was out of ammo. Sadly, the puppet's body was covered with senbon launchers, which had made creating clones or getting close impossible. But now he noticed something new. "Why isn't he attacking me?" Naruto asked himself. "He has enough puppets that he supposedly destroyed an entire country by himself. So, why is he shooting senbon at me with a broken puppet?" Naruto became very nervous. There were four S-ranked missing nin here, plus an army of Zetsu. If they really wanted to kill him and Gaara, they could have easily teamed up to kill Gaara, then turned on him when he showed up. But instead, they had waited until he showed up, and now they were drawing the fights out, causing lots of damage, but not actually killing anyone. What were they waiting for? A scream got his attention as something crashed in between them. The dust cleared, revealing Kaguya draining another Zetsu as it weakly struggled in her grip. "So, that's how it is," Sasori said, getting Kaguya's attention. "Looks like we're forced to use the fallback plan." A tube extended from Sasori's back and fired a flare as Kaguya raced forward and grabbed him by the head. She attempted to drain his chakra, but quickly found no chakra to drain. Confused, she looked up and saw Naruto running away chasing someone wearing the same cloak as the man she was holding. Looking down, she saw that she was holding an empty suit of armor. With a snarl, she crushed the puppet's head before turning to try and find some more Zetsu to drain. "Hm, so things have gone that badly," Hidan said as he looked at the flare. "Well, at least now I get to kill a bitch." He slashed his hand and began using his blood to draw a symbol on the ground. Hikaru tensed up as he waited to see what Hidan would do. He hadn't been cut, so why was Hidan starting his ritual? Hidan finished drawing his symbol and pulled a vial of blood from his pocket. He drank it, turning his skin into a bizarre black and white, making him look like a skeleton. Hikaru began to panic. "Whose blood was that? Could they have somehow gotten my blood? Or someone else in our group?" Hidan reached into his cloak and pulled out a long thin sword. "Well, this has been fun. See you in hell." Hidan stabbed himself in the heart and Haku reflexively grabbed his chest. After a few seconds, he slowly relaxed. "I'm still alive." He whispered. "He didn't get me. Oh, thank goodness." He looked up to see Hidan grinning sickly as he slowly pulled the sword from his chest. Hidan giggled insanely as he put the sword away and stepped out of the ring. "But who did he kill?" Hidan held up his side and smashed one of the mirrors. "Got to go." He said. "I'm going to need to do a lot of praying to make up for not killing your little [ __ ] ass." He then turned and ran off. Haku stared for a few seconds before chasing after him. "I can't let him hurt anyone else." He thought. "Karin, Naruto, please be safe." Karin panted as sweat ran down her face. She wasn't going to last much longer. Kakuzu's hearts gave off enough chakra that her mind's eye of the Kagura allowed her to predict their movements and dodge their attacks. Unfortunately, beyond using her chains to hold the hearts back, she hadn't been able to do a thing to Kakuzu. Now the greedy bounty hunter was starting to look bored. "Is that all?" He asked after that first attack. "I was expecting something better." "But here it turns out that one of my hearts was destroyed by a lucky shot." He growled angrily. "There's no point in dragging this out any longer." "Now die." Karin sensed an attack from behind, so she spun around and used a chain to smack down a fireball. Feeling the last of her chakra fade, she collapsed and passed out. But not before she saw the heart that attacked her explode in a shower of gore. "What the [ __ ] do you think you're doing?" Kakuzu yelled. "Don't take it personally." Sasori said as he had the third Kazekage withdraw his iron sand. "I bear you no ill will. But the fact of the matter is that at this point you are unneeded for our operation to continue." "In fact, your continued presence is currently holding us back. So now, for the good of the mission, die." Sasori sent another wave of iron sand at Kakuzu, who attempted to counter by firing a pulse of lightning. While Kakuzu's body and lightning heart escaped damage, his earth and wind hearts were destroyed. He quickly pulled his lightning heart back into his body, knowing that he would die if it was destroyed. "And what happens when you're no longer needed for the operation?" He asked. "You seem to believe that since you're the one doing the backstabbing now that somehow makes you immune to it in the future." Sasori sealed the third Kazekage and pulled a katana from his cloak. "If I am no longer needed for the operation, then that means the operation was a success." He replied before charging Kakuzu. The heart stealer dodged, knowing that even he couldn't withstand being poisoned by the deranged puppet master. Focusing his chakra around his fist, he punched as hard as he could and was satisfied as Sasori's head flew from his shoulders. But before he could celebrate, Sasori's headless body swung at him, barely giving him time to dodge. Sasori's head flew back to his body and twisted back on in a sickening manner. "So, those rumors of just how far you've taken your human puppet technique are true." Sasori didn't respond, instead charging him again. Kakuzu expertly avoided his strikes while attempting to put his fist through Sasori's chest. Sadly, having a puppet body meant that Sasori could twist and bend in very inhuman ways and not lose any fighting ability. After several minutes of going nowhere, Kakuzu saw an opening and punched. Sasori turned as the fist gently grazed his chest. Kakuzu prepared to follow up, but found his arm moving very slowly. Too late, he realized that Sasori's free hand had been weaving chakra threads that were now holding his arm in place. Before he could pull free, Sasori stabbed his final heart. Kakuzu spat up blood and glared at his red-headed opponent. "Enjoy your victory for now." He growled as he thought back to the leaders of Takki who had locked him up as punishment for failing to kill the first Hokage. "A leader willing to sacrifice his followers to further his own goals will turn on you sooner or later. Remember that." Sasori simply cut Kakuzu's head off and quickly sealed his body. Sasori then turned and approached Karin. "Now what to do with you?" He asked himself. "You held off Kakuzu, which is impressive, but in the long run I doubt you'll amount to anything impressive." He raised his sword overhead. "Still, I would rather err on the side of caution." He brought his sword down to stab Karin, but was stopped by a kunai. Naruto had once again gotten in his way. "I don't have time for this." He blankly said and made a seal. Another wave of explosions went off, but unlike the others that were centered around the Kazekage tower, these happened all over Suna. "Shit." Naruto jumped over Karin to protect her from an explosion that went off nearby. Looking up, he saw Sasori was gone. He grabbed Karin and ran towards the Kazekage tower. He saw Gaara giving orders while several Jonin were leading squads to contain the fires. Haku was standing next to him looking exhausted. "What happened?" Naruto asked as he landed next to them. "Deidara was preparing to set off a giant bomb that would have caused massive damage to the city." He replied. Suddenly, he grabbed his chest and collapsed. Haku's opponent then came and retrieved the body. Before we could begin pursuit, the explosions went off. "What happened to Karin?" Haku asked nervously as he took her from Naruto. "Is she going to be okay? She isn't hurt, is she?" "She'll be fine." Naruto said. "She's just suffering a mild case of chakra exhaustion. And you know how quickly an Uzumaki can get over that." He and Haku laughed weakly. "Well," Haku said, "I guess I'll just take her to the hospit." Haku passed out as his own chakra exhaustion caught up with him. Naruto created a pair of clones to take them to the hospital while he helped Gaara clean up the mess he had created. A few days later, teams Asuma, Kakashi, and Naruto were finishing with their initial aid to Suna. Ino and Sakura had quickly helped the injured at the hospital. Choji and Shikamaru had helped with the reconstruction. Asuma and Kakashi were helping coordinate the Jonin leading the reconstruction. And Naruto had his clones running around acting as messengers. Thanks to them, most of the minor damage had been fixed, though the Kazekage tower and the area around it was still trashed. Currently, Naruto was helping Ino and Sakura at the hospital. "The explosions were the cause of most of the injuries." Ino said looking over the charts they had. "According to witnesses, these Zetsu guys weren't putting up much of a fight when suddenly out of nowhere they exploded." "Have you ever seen them do something like this?" Naruto shook his head. "No, I've never seen a Zetsu explode." He said. "I've seen them merge together into large monsters, but I've never seen them fuse with explosives like that." "I really hope they don't start doing that regularly." Sakura tried to be optimistic and gave Naruto a smile. "Well, if they do, we'll just have to find a way to stop them." Naruto smiled and nodded, not having the heart to let her know just how bad the situation was going to get. "Not yet at least. Now the only person left to check is Haku. Karin said she was going to get the healing started and I'm curious to see how well it worked." Sakura walked away and Naruto was about to go see if Kakashi needed anything else when what Sakura said caught up to him. "Oh, shit." Naruto said. A loud scream filled the air. Ino and Naruto quickly ran down the hall to find Sakura sailing in a doorway with her eyes bugging out of her head. "Um, Sakura, remember when I said Karin's chakra had healing properties?" She nodded slowly. "Well, her chakra only heals when it's sucked out of her. That's why she wanted to learn regular healing. She doesn't want someone who isn't her boyfriend biting her." Ino and Sakura blushed at the implications. Meanwhile, in the land of rice fields, the citizens of the new Otogakure were going about their business. Right now, it was just a large town, but once all the construction on the outskirts was finished, it would be a small city comparable to other shinobi villages. In the central tower, Sasori is giving a mission report to four people. "The explosive Zetsu did not cause as much damage as we were hoping." A woman in white, matching the description of the Kaguya woman we were told to look out for, drained most of them of their chakra. A growl came from the corner. "But we were successful in removing Deidara and Kakuzu." "Excellent." The man behind the desk said. "We can begin making preparations to move to phase two." Sasori gave a bow and turned to walk away. "And Sasori, please tell Hidan that if he can put off praying long enough to walk back here, he can put off praying long enough to give his own report." Sasori nodded and left. "So, what do you think?" He asked a figure in the corner. "I observed for as long as I could without being detected." Zetsu said. "I have not yet managed to learn how Uzumaki is controlling mother. Or how he turned her against us, her loyal servants." The leader nodded. "Very well. Continue to observe her as frequently as possible. If we can recruit her to our side, it will make things much easier." Zetsu nodded and sank into the floor. The remaining two people stepped in front of the desk. "What are your thoughts?" The tall orange-haired boy spoke up first. "Having Kaguya on our side would be in our best interests." He said calmly. "But based on Zetsu's observations, we cannot hope for her to help us." "I think ensuring that phase two goes off without any hitches is the best course of action at this point." The leader nodded and looked at the pink head next to Jugo. "The [ __ ] you expect me to say?" She snapped. "You're the [ __ ] leader of this shithole." "I'm just here to [ __ ] up that pineapple-headed [ __ ] stain and his weasel [ __ ] [ __ ] dumpster whore." "How's that for a [ __ ] plan?" The boy frowned. "Tuyuya, show some respect." he said. "You are not vital to this plan. You can very easily be replaced by any number of auto nen." She scowled. "Fuck off, Jugo. I'll talk however I [ __ ] want to whoever I [ __ ] want. You [ __ ] got that?" Jugo felt his temper begin to act up, but a spike of killing intent made both of them focus back on the leader. "That's enough, both of you." he said. "Now, leave. I have some documents that need to be finalized." They bowed and left. Tuya bid slower due to her noticeable limp. He turned and stared out the window at his growing city. "Just you wait, Itachi. You, Konoha, and everyone else who ever disrespected the Uchiha clan will pay for your treachery." Sasuke said as his purple ringed eyes pulsed with rage. "Just what in the hell do you think you're doing?" Tsunade yelled as she paced behind her desk. In front of her were teams Asuma, Kakashi, and Naruto. Team Naruto was taking most of the anger. "Just because you went on a 3-year trip doesn't mean you can just go running up to other villages whenever you feel like it. And how did you even know that Suna was under attack in the first place? And who attacked it? "Well," Naruto began, "I knew it was under attack because Shukaku told me. Over my trip, I learned how to communicate with and access the chakra of all the bijuu. As for who attacked, those were the former Akatsuki members who left when the leaders abandoned their whole take over the world scheme." "Some of the other bijuu warned me that something like this could potentially happen. I just didn't think it would be so soon." "Very well." Tsunade said, already feeling another headache coming on. "So, who is this new group? Who are their members? What is their plan? And why would some of the bijuu be aware of them?" "As far as I know, this new group doesn't have a name." Naruto said. "I can answer your other questions, but I don't like repeating myself. So, could I tell you in a few days when everyone gets here?" Tsunade narrowed her eyes. "Naruto, what do you mean by everyone?" she said slowly. Naruto nervously scratched the back of his head. "I mean, I invited the leaders of Kiri, Suna, and Ame here, and they'll be arriving in the next few days." Naruto took a step back at the glare Tsunade shot him. "Are you insane?" she cried. "You can't just invite a bunch of foreign leaders to just waltz on in here. Do you have any idea what kind of message that will send other countries? They might think that we're preparing for something big." "Lady Tsunade." Naruto said so sternly that her triad ended. Before it could regain steam, Naruto continued. "In case it escaped your notice, one of our closest allies has a smoldering crater in the middle of their village, put there by a gang of S-class missing-nin. It seems to me that somebody is already trying to send a message. I have a lot of info that I've been ignoring because I had no proof it was true, and I didn't want to cause any problems. Now, because of that, there are dozens of people in Suna's hospital recovering from being blown up. We need to prepare for something big because something big is already starting, and one way or another, I'm going to do my best to help the people close to me. I can do it with your permission or without it. What's it going to be?" Everyone watched nervously as Naruto and Tsunade stared at each other. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Tsunade sighed and pulled a bottle of sake from her desk. "You're so lucky that I like you, brat." she growled. "Fine. For now, I'll trust your judgment, but I'm warning you. If this goes badly, you will be the one cleaning up your mess." Naruto grinned and gave Aoi a thumbs-up as she poured herself a drink. "Now, there is one thing you need to answer for. How exactly is Kaguya Otsutsuki here, and why are you just letting her wander around completely unsupervised? Isn't this the same woman that nearly wiped out humanity?" Naruto tilted his head in confusion. "Well, her being back is part of the story I wanted to tell everyone." he said, ignoring her agitated groan. "And why would I not let her wander around? She's completely harmless." As he said this, the window behind Tsunade smashed to pieces, and Naruto ducked as a bone flew over his head and embedded itself in the wall. Everyone watched in confusion as Naruto walked over to the broken window and started waving. "Kaguya, please don't break things." he said a little too happily. "When you do, I'm the one who has to pay to fix them." Tsunade looked out the window and saw Kaguya standing on the window across the street. Her hand was extended like she had just finished throwing something. Her fingers were twitching with annoyance if her face was anything to go by. She turned and jumped away as Tsunade stared at Naruto. "How exactly is that harmless?" she asked. "In case you didn't notice, people don't normally try to kill each other." Naruto shrugged. "Maybe." he said, "but this is a huge improvement compared to how she used to be. I placed some seals on her that would paralyze her if she tried to drain the chakra of anyone. At Suna, I removed them and told her they were gone for good. But what I didn't tell her was they will reactivate as soon as she tries to do it again. In the days since the battle, she hasn't tried once. I know she isn't nice or normal, but she also isn't a monster. At least not anymore." Tsunade sighed, knowing she wouldn't be able to talk Naruto out of this. Of course, she doubted she could do anything against Kaguya even if she wanted to. "Very well. For now, you're all dismissed." Everyone saluted and turned to walk away. "Before you go, Naruto, how many days will it take for everyone to get here?" Naruto thought for a moment before holding up three fingers. Tsunade was again stunned. Even ignoring Naruto's apparent ability to instantly communicate across long distances, she didn't see how they could all get here so quickly. Suna was understandable since Naruto could have just told them before he left. If Kiri had its jinchuriki and they could talk with their bijuu like Naruto could, she supposed that he could have told them as they were leaving Suna. But Ame? She couldn't think of any way for Naruto to communicate with them or for them to get here so quickly. She decided to stop asking questions and just let them go. As they walked down the hall, Shizune walked up to Kakashi. "So, Kakashi." she said as she nervously adjusted the papers she was carrying. "My shift ends a little early today, so I was wondering if perhaps you would care to join me for dinner tonight?" She blushed as Kakashi turned and eye-smiled at her. "I'm very flattered, Shizune." he said while Shizune's heart fluttered. "But I'm going to have to decline." Shizune's heart shattered. "It was nice talking to you, though." Later, Kakashi walked away, leaving Shizune disappointed until she felt someone tapping her shoulder. She saw Karin was the one trying to get her attention. "Excuse me, Shizune was it?" she asked. She nodded, so Karin continued. "I don't really think you're his type." Seeing Shizune's confused look, she continued. "Well, we in Suna and um" Blushing slightly, she leaned in and whispered in Shizune's ear. A number of expressions crossed Shizune's face. Most of them some variation of confusion. Finally, she pulled away. "Are you sure?" she asked. "I know that Kakashi isn't exactly the most normal person around, but that seems a bit strange even for him." Karin nodded. "A person's chakra will fluctuate a certain way when they're interested in someone else." she explained. "He was definitely interested." Shizune walked away looking more confused than ever. Everyone else left the Hokage Tower and began to go their own separate ways. "Speaking of dates." Naruto said. "Would you like to go out tonight, Sakura?" Sakura stopped and thought about it. Part of her wanted to instantly reject him like she used to while she waited for Sasuke to finally come around. But another part wanted to say yes. The part that had formed when she saw Naruto bandaged in the hospital after the failure of the Sasuke retrieval mission. The part that had grown louder as she spent 3 years training and remembering her time on Team 7 and all the time she spent with Naruto while Sasuke did his best to distance himself from them as much as he could. As those two fought, the third voice that was exhausted after the mission and wanted to crawl into bed and sleep spoke up. "Not right now, Naruto." she said. "Ask me again some other time." Naruto smiled. That wasn't a no, so he still had a chance. "All right, Sakura. Some other time." he said. "Hey, Ino. Would you like to go out tonight?" Both girls froze and stared at him. Finally, Sakura spoke up. "Naruto, what the hell?" she asked angrily. "You can't just ask out two girls right in front of each other. Do you have any idea how rude that is?" At Naruto's confused look, Ino spoke up. "You're making it seem like you don't care who you're dating." she said. "Asking me right after Sakura makes it seem like you don't actually care what she said. But it's also like you're only interested in me because Sakura said no. Not to mention, if we both said yes, you'd be cheating on us." Naruto began waving his arms in panic. "No. No. No. No. No." he said. "I swear I didn't mean it like that. I'm so sorry. I'm still not used to the whole dating thing. I just kind of fell into my other relationships, and none of them ever minded me seeing other people." Once again, Ino and Sakura were frozen staring at Naruto. "Naruto." Sakura said slowly in a tone that promised trouble. "What exactly do you mean by other relationships?" Naruto, unable to sense the danger, began talking. "I have four girlfriends." he said proudly while holding up four fingers. "Why? Is that not normal?" Sakura's eye twitched. "No [ __ ] that's not normal." she yelled. "How many people do you know who run around in openly polyamorous relationships? And why are you trying to get more? Are they not enough?" Naruto began flailing again. "It's not like that." he said. "Like I said, I just kind of fell into them, and they said I could date other people if they approved, and they're all coming, so I figured I ask you both. I've always liked Sakura, and Ino's pretty and kind, so I figured why not? Sakura was about to start another rant when she was cut off by the last thing she expected to hear. Sure, Naruto. What time should I be ready? Sakura turned and stared dumbly at Ino. Ino laughed at Sakura's expression before shrugging. What? It's just a date. If it works out, great, and if it doesn't, we can still be friends. Plus, there's no guarantee I'll meet the approval of these mystery ladies. Great, Naruto said. I'll pick you up at 6:00. Ino gave a wave and walked away while Naruto did the same, leaving Sakura standing there, more confused than she'd ever been. Naruto started thinking about his plans for Ino. Where should I take her? He asked himself. It needs to be somewhere fancy, but not too fancy. I don't think I can afford some of the places around here. Plus, it is just a first date. Save the fancy stuff for another date, if I get one. Excuse me, Naruto Uzumaki. Naruto looked at who pulled him from his musings and saw the same guy who had jumped him while he was talking to team eight. Hey, it's the creepy art guy, Naruto said with a grin. Not to be rude, but I just got through dealing with one insane artist, so could you make this quick? The artist gave a very creepy grin. My master wishes to have a word with you. Naruto's smile instantly fell, and his face hardened. He fully turned to face the artist. Very well, he said coldly. Lead the way, mister. He left the question hanging, hoping to get something out of the weirdo. For the sake of this mission, you may refer to me as Sai. The now named Sai said. He then turned and walked away with Naruto close behind him. Sai lead Naruto to an abandoned building where he showed him to a secret passage in the basement. What followed was a maze that Naruto couldn't even pretend to keep track of. Eventually, they entered a dark room with a single illuminated table. Sitting at the table was an old man wrapped extensively in bandages. His right arm was sitting in a sling. Seeing the two enter, he made a gesture with his hand, causing Sai to stop walking. Naruto continued up to the table and sat down. So, he said as a cold smile crossed his face. You're the infamous Danzo Shimura? He looked the old man over. Considering all the horror stories I've heard about you, I'm not sure if I should be disappointed or impressed. Danzo's one eye narrowed. And how exactly have you heard about me? He asked. Or about my root agents? Naruto gave a low laugh. I don't even know where to begin, he said. I suppose the first time I saw your name was when I took down Orochimaru. Danzo's eye widened in shock. He talked a lot about you in his notes. Did you know you inspired most of the terrible things he did? Sure, he took them a lot farther than you did, but you were still the one that inspired them. And of course, you still enjoyed the benefits of his work. As he said this, he stared at Danzo's injured arm. Not to mention, he gave full credit for Kabuto to you. Danzo gave a grunt. Orochimaru was the one who turned Kabuto traitor, he insisted. Before that, he was an ideal shinobi for Konoha. Naruto rolled his eyes. I'm sure you believe that, he said blankly. But getting back to your question, most of what I heard about you came from my time in Am. Danzo's eye widened again, and he leaned forward in his seat. I see that got a reaction out of you. Yes, Akatsuki's decent from a band of rebels to an international terrorist cell is your fault. Not purely your fault, but you still have a lot to answer for. Unless I'm mistaken, offering aid to another village in exchange for said village helping you stage a coup is very illegal. I guess we're lucky Nagato accidentally summoned Kaguya to wipe out your forces. Indeed, Danzo said as he subtly activated the stolen sharingan in his right eye. Why don't you tell me more about this Kaguya woman? To Danzo's confusion, Naruto shook his head. No, thanks, he said. She isn't really relevant to this conversation. Instead, let's talk about what a hypocrite you are, trying to stage a coup after exterminating the Uchiha for doing the same thing. Danzo glared at Naruto. Don't look so surprised. In case you forgot, Itachi was a member of Akatsuki. If I knew the history of its leaders, learning about one of the followers shouldn't be that hard. Perhaps, Danzo said as he focused more power to his sharingan. Of course, you can understand why I'll have to ask you to never speak of this again. Yeah, that's not going to happen, Naruto said. And can you do me a favor and stop trying to use that eye on me? Laughing at the confusion and fear on Danzo's face, Naruto decided to explain. Did you know that a pair of sharingan are permanently linked? If a sharingan develops the ability to link to other dimensions, even if you implant those eyes in two separate people, they will still link to the same space. And since it would be bad for someone with unbreakable hypnosis to accidentally hypnotize themselves, anyone with the Kotoamatsukami can't hypnotize themselves. And if those eyes are separated, the two people with the eyes can't hypnotize each other. Naruto slowly opened his mouth as a mass of black chakra flowed out. It took the form of a one-eyed crow with a sharingan in its single eye. The crow cawed a few times before it retreated into his mouth. Where did you get that eye? Danzo asked angrily. He made a hand gesture, and Naruto sensed several root agents surrounding them. Sadly for you, Itachi no longer shares your ideals, Naruto said. While he agrees that sacrifices are necessary for the greater good, he now sees that sitting back and ordering everyone else to make sacrifices for you while you brag about how great you are helps nobody. It wasn't very wise of you to tell me all of this. Danzo said as he slowly stood up, his glare never leaving Naruto. It doesn't matter, Naruto said with an actual grin. In a few days, all those hornets nests you poked are going to explode, and there's nothing you can do to stop it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have other stuff to do. Naruto stood and turned to walk away, but found several root agents blocking his way. You aren't going anywhere, Danzo said. You will remain here until all the problems you have created for Konoha are taken care of. I hate to break it to you, but you are not Konoha. Naruto said. You are a self-centered [ __ ] who believes he can get away with anything by constantly spewing the phrase greater good, even though the greatest good you've ever done has been purely for yourself. And I really can't stick around any longer. I have a date tonight. Naruto then took a deep breath as he channeled chakra to his throat. Stop him, Danzo yelled. But before they could move, the root agents were all blown away by the cloud of steam Naruto exhaled. The steam cleared, revealing Naruto was gone. Find him. Bring him back here at once. The root agents scattered, but Naruto had followed the steam to the nearest exit and was long gone. Ino looked herself over in the mirror. Naruto had left before she remembered to ask what tone the date was. She wasn't expecting anything fancy, but really hoped he had enough sense not to take her to the ramen stand. Well, he must be doing something right if he managed to win over four girls and got them to agree to share, she told herself as she adjusted the purple dress she had settled on. She hadn't done anything with her hair, and the only makeup she used was a bit of lipstick, enough to be without drawing attention. She figured that she looked good enough that she didn't need a ton of makeup. Well, here goes nothing, she said as she left her room and walked downstairs. At exactly 6:00, there was a knock on the door. Opening it, she saw Naruto in a nice black shirt and good-looking black pants. Wow, you look great, he said as he held out his arm for her to take. She closed the door and took his arm while looking him over. Thanks, you don't look so bad yourself, she replied. She had never thought much of Naruto, but he had definitely grown to be handsome. So, where are we going? Nowhere special, he said. Just the Lucky Leaf. Ino smiled. As expected, he was taking her somewhere nice without being too fancy. She wasn't sure what she'd do if he took her somewhere formal with the dress she was in. It didn't take long to reach the Lucky Leaf and get a seat. After placing their orders, Naruto decided to start the conversation. So, what's it like on team Asuma? It's okay, I guess, she sighed. I've been friends with Choji and Shikamaru since I was little, so we get along really well, and it's easy for us to work together. But sometimes I get the feeling Asuma doesn't really want to be a teacher. Really? What makes you think that? Ino spent a few minutes thinking about how to phrase her answer. Finally, she spoke up. Well, I always feel like Shikamaru is his friend, but Choji and I are just his students. She said. Sure, he trains us, but him and Shikamaru always hang out before and after training. Plus, during training, they act like they're best friends. Sometimes I get the feeling he's trying to get Shikamaru to take over our training. She snorted. Good luck with that, I know how that is, Naruto said. Kakashi never played favorites, but he never really taught us anything either. If you want, you can always come train with my team. Ino smiled. Thank you, Naruto. I just might take you up on that, she said as the waiter brought their food. But let's talk about something more positive. Are you enjoying being back in Konoha? Naruto shrugged. I guess so. It's great to be home, but most of my time back has been spent being interrogated by Tsunade. The blonde pair laughed at that. And I've barely even had any time to clean my apartment. Plus, I forgot to ask anyone to take care of my plants, so they all died. Now I have to start my garden all over. Ino instantly perked up. You like gardening? She asked, surprised. When Naruto nodded, she quickly latched onto the shared interest. How come I've never seen you in my family's shop? We're the best flower shop in the village. That's part of the problem, he said. When you're the best, you tend to charge a little extra. I could never afford anything from there. Hey, our shop isn't that expensive, she said with a blush. She knew that wasn't true. There were only a few flower shops in Konoha and her family's had a reputation for quality. Of course, their prices were high compared to other shops. Deciding to move on, she asked Naruto what kind of plants he grow to see if she could help get him started. They talked about their favorite flowers, ideas they had for what flowers would look nice together, and tips and tricks they had for helping plants grow. Before Ino knew it, they had been talking for several hours and Naruto was now walking Ino home. I figured we could do it by taking some white ones, then breed them with something closely related that's blue. What do you think? Ino thought about it. I suppose in theory it could work, she said. But I'm thinking that might produce a lighter shade than what you're looking for. Plus, there's no guarantee the result would be capable of producing offspring. Seeing they had reached her doorstep, she was surprised how disappointed she was that it was over. Does it have to be over? She asked. The night's still young. Sorry, but tomorrow's going to be a long day, he said. The group from Suna is going to be here tomorrow and since I invited them here, it's only right I'm there to greet them. Ino raised an eyebrow. By group from Suna, you just mean Gaara and his siblings, right? Naruto nodded. Come on, they've been here a million times. They don't need you to show them around. Unless Temari is one of these mystery ladies. Naruto laughed. Sorry, but me and Temari? Naruto wiped a tear from his eye. That's never going to happen. Though Temari is the reason I'm showing up early. I promised I'd help set her up with Shikamaru. Temari and Shikamaru? Really? Ino just couldn't see it. Shikamaru wouldn't want to bother with a relationship and Temari was way to outgoing for someone that lazy. Yeah, they'll go great together, Naruto insisted. Shikamaru just needs a few pushes in the right direction. Well, Ino, I had a great time tonight. I'll see you around. Naruto gave a wave and started walking away. Wait. Naruto looked back at Ino, who was blushing. Isn't this the part where you ask me for a kiss? Naruto grinned. Ino, you shouldn't kiss on the first date, he said. I had a great time tonight. I think we really had a connection. Maybe on the second or third date I'll ask you for that kiss. But first I need to get a second date with you. Realizing what he was asking, she smiled and waved. I'd love a second date, she said. But first maybe I should wait and see if these mystery ladies approve of me. But if they don't mind, then sure. See you later. Ino blew Naruto a kiss and headed up to her room. Leaning out the window, she smiled as Naruto walked away. This relationship was going to be far from normal, but it just might be worth it. Ino hummed to herself as she watered the plants in her father's shop. Even since Naruto had dropped the bomb that the leaders of three separate villages were coming to visit, Tsunade had stopped assigning any new missions that weren't D or S rank. S rank missions were too important to ignore, even with foreign ninja running around. While D ranks could be done without sending ninja away. She figured working in her dad's shop for a few hours while he had a meeting with the clan head was easier than a D rank mission and it would pay more, too. She heard the front door open and quickly got behind the counter. Welcome to the Yamanaka flower shop, she greeted. How can I help you today? She barely finished talking before Sakura grabbed her and pulled her close. You can help me by telling me what the hell happened last night. She said. How was it? Did you find out who these other girlfriends are? Why did you even agree in the first place? Are you dating now? Ino quickly slapped her hand over Sakura's mouth. Sakura stopped talking, but her eyes still shown with curiosity. It was nice, Ino said. We had a nice dinner, talked about each other, and he walked me home. And no, his other girlfriends never came up. She laughed at Sakura's confused expression. I agreed to go out with him because I figured what's the worst that could happen. And I suppose technically we're dating given that we scheduled training together and I agreed to help with his gardening. She removed her hand and Sakura instantly began talking again. How do you date a guy with other girlfriends without asking about them? She asked. She didn't get why someone who was just as interested in Sasuke as her would go on a date with someone she barely knew. Then again, she barely knew Sasuke, so maybe she was just chasing anyone good-looking. Because they never came up, Ino said. He wanted to know more about me and I wanted to know more about him. The other girls never came up. Once they get here, I can get to know them. But until then, I'd like to focus on me and Naruto. Seeing that Sakura still looked confused, Ino grinned. If you're so curious about what the appeal is, maybe you should just go on a date with him yourself. Sakura blushed. She wasn't as against the idea as she was 3 years ago, but part of her still held out hope that Sasuke would come to his senses and come back to her. Mm, maybe some other time, she stumbled out. Ino laughed at her friend as someone else came in. Honey, I'm back, Inoichi said as he walked through the door. Hello, Sakura. It's been a while since your last visit. Sakura politely bowed. Hello, Mr. Yamanaka, she said. Training with Tsunade has kept me really busy lately. I just stopped by to ask Ino about her date last night. I'll kill the little bastard, Inoichi said flying into protective father mode. Rationally, he knew Naruto wasn't the type of person who would do something to hurt Ino. But in the eternal war between father and boyfriend, there is no room for rationality. He better keep his hands to himself. Daddy, we've been over this, Ino sighed. He was respectful enough that he didn't even try to kiss me after the date. Inoichi continued muttering while Ino started walking towards the door. Now, I agreed to help greet the representatives from Suna, so if there's nothing else to do here, I need to go. Very well, Inoichi said. Thank you for covering while I was busy. Ino gave him a hug, then left with Sakura right behind her. My little girl's finally growing up. Thinking of the two boys from team seven, he shrugged. She could have done worse. Ino and Sakura made their way to the front gates. Sakura was still trying to fork out Naruto's relationships in her head. The question that Ino hadn't been able to answer was, how exactly did it work in the bedroom? She got that Naruto valued his girlfriends as individuals, but was the bedroom purely one-on-one? Was it open door? Did you have to set something up with the other girl? Were you dating the other girls, too? You're thinking of something perverted, aren't you? Sakura looked up and saw Ino was giving her a large grin. What makes you say that? She asked, knowing that lying to Ino was hard given her Yamanaka training and heritage. You were blushing and muttering to yourself, she replied. I believe I heard you mention something about other girls joining. Sakura's blush grew worse. Is somebody interested in a little threesome action? Shut up, Sakura screeched, hoping that Ino wouldn't notice that she had hit the nail right on the head. Ino laughed and began running with Sakura right behind her. Sadly for Sakura, the gates came into view before she could catch and get revenge on her loudmouth friend. Hello, Naruto, Ino sang as they approached. Jiraiya, Naruto, and Tsunade looked up from their conversation to see the pair of kunoichi approaching. Hello, Lord Jiraiya, Lady Tsunade. Hello, Ino. What brings you here? Tsunade asked. Her and Jiraiya had just finished making hotel arrangements since, according to Naruto, each leader would be bringing two bodyguards each. I agreed to help Naruto get Temari and Shikamaru hooked up, she said. Hopefully a girlfriend will motivate him to get off his lazy ass and train once in a while. Sakura and Tsunade snorted, causing Ino to hang her head. Yeah, you're right, she groaned. So, what's the plan for today? I will be meeting with Gaara to begin setting up the framework of this alliance Naruto apparently threw together. Tsunade said while shooting Naruto a look. Naruto will be escorting his bodyguards around. Speaking of which, Naruto said, here they come. Looking up, everyone saw Gaara approaching with his Kazekage head on. As expected, Kankuro and Temari were right behind him. The Konoha ninja approached and they met right at the gate. It is a pleasure to see you again, Lady Hokage, Gaara said with a formal bow. Tsunade returned the gesture. It's a pleasure to see you as well, Lord Kazekage, she said. I trust you had a pleasant trip. Gaara removed his hat. Indeed, it was. Normally, I wouldn't leave Suna so soon after an attack, but thanks to Naruto, the damage wasn't as severe as it could have been. Thank you. Don't thank me, Tsunade said. Naruto's the one who took off running the second he realized something was wrong. Then he comes back and announces he's throwing a party for other village leaders. Gaara smiled. Naruto tends to not be very clear when explaining things, he said getting laughs from everyone but Naruto, who muttered angrily. I have sent several letters to the other leaders, but I've never had the chance to speak to them in person. I'm hoping this will lead to an alliance that can benefit all our villages. Very well, Tsunade said. Let's head to the Hokage Tower and begin negotiations. Naruto, stay out of trouble. Hey. Gaara, Jiraiya, and Tsunade began walking to the Hokage Tower, leaving everyone else behind. Come on, Temari, Naruto said. We have a lot of work to do if you're going to score with lazy, dull, and scrawny. Naruto, don't call him that, Temari said as she lightly pushed him. The trio of blondes left with Kankuro chasing after Gaara and Sakura once again left by herself. "I wonder if I should have told them about Hinata." Sakura said to herself. Heading back home she shrugged. "What's the worst that could happen?" "So Tamari?" Ino said as they walked through the park. "What exactly is so great about Shikamaru? I mean, I've known him my whole life and he's nice but I don't think I'd ever date him." "Probably for the same reason I won't date Naruto." Tamari replied. "I see all the great things about him but he's like a brother to me and I'm not interested in sleeping with my brother." "I guess." Ino said. "But even if I wasn't that close to him, he's just so boring." Naruto burst out laughing while Tamari glared at Ino. "I can't help it if I like the guy." She said. "You don't seem to mind splitting Naruto with four other girls." Rather than get embarrassed Ino grinned confidently. "What can I say? He's just that amazing. Are you sure you don't want to date your not really brother?" Tamari cringed. "Look." she said. "If someone wants to date a family member, they can go right ahead and do it." "If you're close enough to someone that they're like a family member, then they're like a family member." "But don't say someone's like a family member and then date them." "Because then you're just going out of your way to be weird." "As interesting as this is." Naruto said. "I've located the target." He pointed to a nearby hill where Shikamaru was staring up at the clouds. "Okay, here's the plan." Ino and Tamari leaned in interested to hear what Naruto had thought up. "Tamari, go tell Shikamaru he's taking you out and when to pick you up and where to take you." The girls stared at him. "That's your plan?" Ino asked. "Just go tell him that they're dating?" Naruto nodded and grinned at them. "Well, I couldn't outsmart Shikamaru." He said. "So I figured just tell him he has to do it. He'll agree because arguing will take more effort than just doing what you say." The girls couldn't think of any way to argue with that. "All right, let's do this." Tamari said as she confidently walked over to Shikamaru. Naruto and Ino watched as Tamari stood over Shikamaru and started talking. Shikamaru sat up and seemed to start panicking as the conversation continued. Finally, he fell backwards in defeat as Tamari turned and walked back to them with a big smile on her face. "Well, that was easy. So what are you going to wear?" Ino asked. Seeing Tamari's confusion Ino's jaw dropped. "Oh my god, you've never been on a date before, have you?" Seeing Tamari's blush Ino grabbed her arm and dragged her away. "Don't worry. I have a dress that will look absolutely gorgeous on you." "Um, Naruto." He turned and saw Hinata who looked like she was on the verge of passing out. "Um, Sakura told me that um, you were um, dating openly and um, I was wondering if perhaps you'd be interested in going out with me tonight." Naruto tilted his head in confusion. Hinata was interested in dating him? And weren't there rules for clan heirs and heiresses dating outside their clan? Wouldn't she need to give up being heiress to date him? How was she supposed to unite the main and branch families if she gave up being clan head? But there was one other problem that was a bit more pressing. "Are you sure?" he asked. "You look kind of sick. Maybe we could do it some other time when you're feeling better." "No, I'm fine." she yelled. Blushing at her outburst she continued at a normal volume. "Um, that's just because I'm um, nervous. I'll be much um, better tonight. So what time should I expect you?" "How about 6?" he asked ignoring the fact that she had basically invited herself. She nodded and walked away with the biggest smile he had even seen on her face. "Man, two dates in two days? If I'm not careful, I'm going to run out of places to take them." With that he left to plan his date. Naruto sat across from Hinata trying to think of what to say. He had decided to repeat his date with Ino since that had gone so well. He probably should have told Hinata since she was now a bit overdressed. But it was too late for that. Might as well enjoy it. "So Hinata, what kind of training has your team done while I was gone?" he asked figuring that training was one thing they were guaranteed to have in common. "Nothing special, I guess." she said. True to her word, she was now much calmer than she had been earlier. "Kurenai showed us some genjutsu. Nothing too powerful, just enough to distract the opponent so we can move in and hit them with our taijutsu." "Wow, really?" Naruto asked. "Kiba doesn't really seem like the genjutsu type to me. Or do you cast the genjutsu and Kiba goes in for the attack?" Hinata frowned. "We never really discussed how to use them as a team." She said. "Kiba wasn't that interested in learning them and Shino learned them but he prefers to use his clan jutsu." Now it was Naruto's turn to frown. "Not to be rude but it doesn't really sound like she's taught your teammates all that much." Hinata scowled at him. "You're not exactly one to talk, you know." She said. "I seem to remember Kakashi ditched you for a month during the Chunin exams." "Yeah, and that was the first and only time he did it. Plus it was only for a month while I was a genin." Naruto said ignoring the fact he still was a genin. "It sounds like Kurenai has been focusing on you repeatedly for the past 3 years." "Plus you're Chunin. Shouldn't you be learning something a little more advanced than some basic genjutsu?" "Genjutsu is Kurenai's specialty." Hinata said quickly coming to her teacher's defense. "Besides, Kurenai has always done her best to teach us." "I'm not trying to say anything bad about Kurenai." he said. "I'm just saying if you aren't learning that much under your teacher's best, you might want to consider getting a new teacher." Hinata could see Naruto's point though she still didn't like him talking bad about the woman she thought of as a mother. "So Naruto." she said trying to lighten the mood. "What did you learn over the past 3 years?" Naruto tried to think of something he could tell her that wouldn't reveal things he didn't want revealed yet and lighten the mood. "One very important thing I learned is no matter how much they claim to know about ninja, never get advice from a civilian." Seeing Hinata's confusion he grinned. "I met this guy who insisted that he'd read enough about ninja that he could give me some great advice." "He kept insisting that I was going to be an amazing ninja based on my unique skills." "Like how my henge is an actual transformation instead of an illusion." Hinata tilted her head in confusion. "But the henge already is an actual transformation, not an illusion." she said. "Were civilians really that clueless about ninja?" "I tried telling him that but he wouldn't listen." He said "Between my henge being real and my inability to create a basic bushin, I would never specialize in genjutsu." "Did he think that because bushin aren't solid, they're illusions?" Naruto nodded. "That's so." Hinata trailed off. She didn't want to call a civilian stupid for not understanding how ninjutsu worked. But being surprised that a transformation technique actually involved transforming and thinking that clones, the most basic of ninjutsu, were genjutsu was rather stupid. "So, did you take any interesting missions while I was gone?" Naruto asked. With the tension gone, they began exchanging stories. Hinata talked about some of the missions team 8 had taken. Naruto talked about some of the sites he'd seen on his travels. Eventually, they were walking back to the Hyuga compound. "Tonight was pretty fun." "Yes, it was just as wonderful as I always dreamed it would be." Hinata sighed happily. Naruto raised an eyebrow. Hinata made it sound like she had been planning this for a long time. "Well, whatever. Well, Hinata, I suppose this is the end of our date." She pouted. "I really enjoyed our time together. I hope we can do it again sometime." He turned and began to walk away. "Wait." Hinata yelled. Naruto stopped and looked at her. "This is the part where you're supposed to kiss me." Naruto smiled at her. "I'll tell you the same thing I told Ino. We don't know each other well enough yet. Ask me again on our second or third date." Naruto was about to walk away when Hinata stopped him again. "But I'm not like Ino." Naruto looked back at Hinata with a raised eyebrow. "You don't need to prove yourself to me. Back in the academy when everyone else thought you were an idiotic loser, I noticed you." "There was never a moment when I doubted that you would become Hokage." "No matter how bad things got, you never gave up. You've always inspired me. You make me believe that I can be a better person and accomplish my own dreams." "I love you, Naruto." She stepped forward preparing to kiss Naruto. To her confusion, Naruto took a step back. "Hinata, you couldn't possibly be in love with me." Hinata was fairly certain she heard the sound of her heart shattering into a million pieces. "Before tonight, our longest conversation was just before the Chunin exams. Before that, we almost never spoke to one another. You don't know me well enough to love me." "But I do know you." She desperately said. "I watched you. Whenever somebody said you couldn't do something, you trained yourself as hard as you could." "And I watched and wished that I could be as brave and strong as you so together we could help each other accomplish both our dreams." "Hinata, that's not love." Naruto said. "That's you using me as an emotional crutch." Hinata gasped. "You're a lot stronger than you give yourself credit for. Just have a little more confidence in yourself and there's nothing you can't do." "And I'll be right next to you the whole time as a friend." "So what?" she asked as she glared at him. "You're saying that if I was braver, I wouldn't even want to be with you?" "That you'd just be an acquaintance and nothing more?" "Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying." he replied. "And I can prove it to you." "Come on, please." Naruto said as he crawled on his knees next to Tsunade. "You don't have to make her your next apprentice or anything. Just give her a little extra training so she'll be confident enough to stand on her own." "Naruto, we've been over this. Tsunade said as Naruto stood up. If I'm going to make this alliance you set up work, it's going to take a lot of my time. I won't have time to train Sakura and Hinata. Tsunade, you and I both know that Sakura has essentially finished her training under you. Naruto said, "Anything you haven't taught her at this point, she's either learned it from Shizune or she taught herself in her free time." "Come on, I turned you 30 again. The least you could do is help my friend out." Tsunade sighed and rubbed her forehead. She knew that Naruto was right, both about Sakura and about her owing him. She was just lucky he was asking you for something so mundane. "Fine." She said, "I'll work out a training schedule with her later. Now, who exactly are we going to meet this morning?" "Thank you so much." Naruto said pulling her into a hug. "I promise you won't regret this." Tsunade smiled and returned the hug before they resumed walking to the gates. And today the representatives from Amegakure should be showing up. Tsunade noticed that Naruto seemed slightly nervous. "I really hope you know what you're doing." She said to herself. The last experience she had with Amegakure her team barely managing to escape with their lives from Hanzo near the end of the Second Shinobi World War. She vaguely remembered something about Jiraiya leaving to train some orphans, but shortly after that she had learned of Dan's death and had stopped caring about anything. "Relax." Naruto said as they finally reached the gates. "Everything will be fine. I just need you to trust me like you always have." "I do trust you, Naruto." She said as Jiraiya walked up. "It's the bunch of people from Amegakure I don't know that have me worried." Historically Amegakure didn't have the best relationship with Konoha or any other hidden village. "Speaking of" Jiraiya said as he stared down the road leading to Konoha. "Any idea when our guests are going to get here?" Naruto put a finger on his chin and thought. "They should be here really soon." He said, "I don't think it takes that long to fly here." Jiraiya and Tsunade shared a look. "What exactly do you mean by fly?" She asked hoping this wouldn't turn into another wait-and-see situation. Before Naruto could respond and loud shriek caused everyone to look up. Flying towards them was, without a doubt, the ugliest bird any of them had ever seen. It had three wings and three legs causing its flight to be shaky. Its oversized beak resembled a huge drill more than anything else. The huge creature landed just outside of Konoha's gates. "That's what I meant by fly." Naruto said as a trio of cloaked figures climbed off the bird's back. Spotting the familiar red cloud pattern, Tsunade turned to Naruto. "I thought you said Akatsuki didn't exist anymore." She said, "Why are they here?" Naruto nervously scratched his cheek. "Technically they aren't Akatsuki." He said, "Akatsuki started out as a rebel group trying to overthrow Hanzo. Then some horrible stuff happened that I promised I would help them fix and they became a terrorist organization. Then I met them and we managed to talk things out. They aren't a terrorist organization anymore, but since they rule Amegakure now, they aren't exactly a rebel group. So they aren't really Akatsuki, but the red cloud symbol means a lot to them so they kept it." Suddenly one of the cloaked figures turned away from the giant bird and began charging them. Tsunade was prepared for a fight, but stopped when the figure began waving. "Master Jiraiya." A female voice happily sang out. Tsunade saw Jiraiya freeze, an expression of shock and confusion on his face. "No." He whispered to himself. "It can't be." The figure jumped at Jiraiya and tackled him into a hug. As she did her hood fell down revealing a young woman with blue hair and pale skin. She had a pierced lip and eye shadow that matched her hair. "It's so good to see you again." She said happily. She opened her eyes revealing them to be a steely gray. She let go of Jiraiya who stepped back in confusion. "Konan, how are you here? I thought you were dead." Konan turned and looked at Naruto. They stared at each other for a few seconds before a look of realization crossed his face. "Oh crap, I forgot." He turned to his teacher. "Konan and Nagato say hello." Jiraiya facepalmed while Konan giggled as she approached Naruto. "You know it's a good thing you're cute because you'd never get by with just your brain." Naruto pouted and pulled her into a hug. "Hey, that's not fair." He said, "I've been working on getting smarter. I hate for my stupidity to accidentally get you hurt." Konan laughed again before leaning forward and pulling him into a deep kiss. She pulled back and stared into his eyes. "I missed you." She said before pulling him into another kiss. Jiraiya and Tsunade's jaws hit the ground as Naruto pulled back and kissed her cheek. "I missed you, too." He said while continuing to plant kisses on her cheek. Jiraiya was torn between happiness that Konan was still alive, confusion as to how she knew Naruto, and pride in Naruto for finally opening his eyes to the amazing beauty that is women. Before he could dwell on this, another familiar, but much less welcome voice spoke up. "It's been a while, Jiraiya." The toad sage quickly assumed a fighting stance while turning and coming face to face with a pair of glowing red eyes. "From your reaction, I take it Lady Tsunade has ignored Naruto's request that the truth behind the Uchiha massacre be revealed." Jiraiya raised an eyebrow. He thought Naruto wanted a touch his final mission declassified. What did that have to do with the Uchiha massacre? "Itachi Uchiha." Tsunade said in a voice that promised pain. "Maybe you should consider the fact that discussing S-rank secrets in public is a crime punishable by death." "Lady Tsunade." He said with a polite bow. "I apologize, but one way or another, the truth will be revealed. Whether you choose to reveal it or me and Naruto have to tell everyone ourselves. Either way, you can't stop it." Jiraiya looked back and forth between the two. Just what was happening? "Oh, really?" Tsunade asked. "And even if you did that, just what makes you think you'd be accepted back here?" "Simple." He replied. "I will aid the leader of Amegakure in taking down the traitor Danzo Shimura. Once his crimes are exposed, the general public will be far more accepting of me." Seeing an opportunity to learn more, Jiraiya spoke up. "Just who is the leader of Amegakure?" He asked. "And why would he have such a problem with Danzo?" Itachi gave a smile that reminded Jiraiya a little too much of Naruto. "She is right over there." He said pointed to the third figure who had just dispelled the bird summons that they had rode here. Jiraiya was rather surprised. The girl looked to be about Naruto's age with flaming orange hair and too many piercings in her face. As she approached, she met Jiraiya's eye causing him to freeze. A pair of very familiar purple ringed eyes stared at him. "It's very good to see you again, Master Jiraiya." The girl said. Jiraiya stared blankly. He had seen and heard a lot of crazy things since Naruto came back, but there was no way he was actually seeing what he thought was in front of him. "Nagato, is that you?" The girl blushed and looked away. "What the hell? How did this happen?" She turned and glared at Naruto who was no longer kissing Konan. But was still holding her closely as they talked. "That conversation can be saved for later." She said sounding slightly embarrassed. "For now, there are more pressing matters. Where is Danzo Shimura?" "Look, Nagato." "Whatever happened, I'm sure" He was cut off by her grabbing him and with a strength her small frame shouldn't have possessed, pulled him face to face with her. He stared into her eyes. They were the coldest, cruelest, most hate-filled eyes he'd ever seen. "Where is Danzo Shimura?" That's all for my now. If you enjoyed, then please like, share, and do comments.