Chapter 4

Kakashi; now.

Kakashi was in a daze as he took one step after another down the stairs. His feet landed on each step with a 'thud' while his right hand remained on the railing so that he could keep his balance. He felt as if he wasn't in control of his body... he felt as if he was just a passenger and that he was letting his body move on instinct alone. He felt the crumbled piece of paper in his left hand as he recalled what was written on it; that Sakura admitted to killing Naruto because Sasuke told her to and that the last supposedly loyal Uchiha had left the village to join Orochimaru.

'I failed,' Kakashi thought as he continued down the stairs, 'I failed Naruto, I failed Sasuke, and I failed Sakura. I failed them all.' He wondered what his Sensei would say if the latter was walking alongside him, 'Minato Sensei would be disappointed… so disappointed.' He didn't want to glance to his left in the event that a ghost of his Sensei was walking next to him with a look that transmitted his disappointment.

As Kakashi reached the landing on the second floor, a part of him felt hopeful that the chakra from both Kushina and Minato would sustain Naruto until Tsunade could return him to the land of the living.

Kakashi then told himself that the chances of that happening were astronomical. Naruto was dead… and the dead remained dead. He continued on down the stairs from the landing, his very sense of self feeling as if it was going lower and lower into a deep dark pit while feeling his body forcing itself onwards.

Taking one breath after another, Kakashi could feel his heart race as he recalled seeing Naruto's dead body on the bed. And then he saw Sakura's face in his mind. He saw himself jerking his arm forward into her throat before a sickening crack could be heard as Sakura's eyes turned blood red and she stopped breathing. In his mind, he saw himself stepping back, his arm coming off Sakura's throat before she crumbled to the floor lifelessly while her mother screamed out in anguish.

In his mind, Kakashi knew if he had followed that particular course of action, then he would feel no regrets.

Stepping down the stairs to the first floor, Kakashi breathed in and out… in and out… in and out. He glanced down at the blood covering his arms, a constant reminder of his own failures. A failure to show Sasuke that the strength he needed was in the village – that having people to protect via the bonds he developed with Team Seven and the other rookies would have aided him in defeating Itachi. Then there was Sakura – Kakashi was going to ask Tsunade to teach the Kunoichi medical jutsu given that she had excellent chakra control. And Naruto – Kakashi stopped walking and tightened his grip around the railing with his trembling hand as he thought about the boy.

'I already decided that… that after the Chuunin exams I would help train him… give him the attention he needed…' Kakashi starting walking on trembling legs, the only thing keeping him from not falling was his grip on the banister to his right, 'I gave Sasuke the Chidori to protect himself and his friends but…' Kakashi stopped walking down the stairs, 'he left… he abandoned the village. He told Sakura to kill… he wanted Naruto killed… he…'

Underneath the mask, Kakashi gritted his teeth as the grip of his fingers around the bannister tightened, 'he wanted Naruto killed. He wanted…'

"Kakashi."

Kakashi shook his head before looking down at Pakkun. He was so out of it that he simply wasn't aware that the nin-dog was next to him. He looked down, grief showing in his eyes as he looked at Pakkun who was looking back up at him. The dog's expression, as far as he could tell, was of sadness and grief as well. Kakashi looked away as Pakkun then continued, "Gai took Sakura away, I thought you'd have left already."

The silver haired ninja just stood there, his head moving away from looking down at Pakkun whose lips were pressed together. Kakashi knew that his nin-dog was right, he needed to leave for the hospital… he needed to get news to Tsunade that their theories were wrong, that it wasn't some stranger who wanted Naruto dead. Instead, it was one of his teammates who wanted him dead before leaving the village, and that person had told their other teammate – one that obsessed over him – to kill Naruto.

'My failure,' Kakashi thought at the fact that he had never touched on Sakura's unhealthy focus on Sasuke – especially at the beginning, when their Team was first formed. Maybe if he had, then this may not have happened.

'It's too late now,' Kakashi thought to himself.

Taking another deep breath, Kakashi once again slowly walked down the steps while his entire body was trembling due to a mixture of emotions. Once he reached the landing on the first floor, he began walking down the stairs towards the ground floor and the street outside the apartment complex. Once he and Pakkun stepped out onto the middle of the street and the warmth from the sun hit their bodies, Kakashi turned and looked up towards Sakura's window from where he could hear muffled sobs from Mebuki.

Looking away, Kakashi sighed and was about to leap up to the nearest roof when another of his nin-dogs landed in front of him. The man stared at the black leather object with patches of grey in the mouth of the dog before he crouched down and reached out with his open hand. The dog dropped what Kakashi discovered was a kunai holster into his palm. He stared at the leather finishing while the dog, Bull, was saying that he tracked the scent of blood up a street and into a construction site where the holster was resting on a table of other tools.

It was then Kakashi focused on the patches of grey on the damp holster and discovered it was partially dried cement, 'Sakura must have tried burying this in the construction site, but the rain must have kept the cement mix wet.' Kakashi shook his head. He didn't want to think about Sakura as he stood up while Pakkun walked over to Bull and whispered about what happened.

Kakashi shifted his eyes towards Bull when the latter yelped out in surprise at who was responsible for death of Naruto. The dog looked up at him… and whined when Kakashi nodded his head. Kakashi then looked back down at the holster, and then taking a deep breath, pulled out the kunai which still had dried blood on the blade.

And his mind immediately went to Naruto's pale lifeless body and the spatter of blood on the window. He thought of the blood pooled on the bed and the floor. "This was what Sakura used to kill him," Kakashi whispered glancing down at Pakkun before his eyes shifted back towards the Kunai in his hand, "after I talk to the Hokage, I'll be calling on you again." Kakashi's eye shifted towards Pakkun, "after I get something with Sasuke's scent…" Kakashi's voice then turned to a growl, "we're going to find him. And dead or alive, I'm bringing him back here."

Pakkun and Bull nodded their heads before vanishing in puffs of smoke. Once they were gone, Kakashi looked back at the Kunai in his hands and then leapt up towards the nearest roof before making his way to the hospital.

It would be many minutes later that he made it to the hospital. And just as he appeared on the roof, so did Neko. The two looked at each other for a few seconds; Kakashi could see that she was in a hurry, and wondered if she had found out anything. He saw her eyes through the slits in the ceramic mask glance at the kunai in his hand before her body tensed.

"Senpai," she whispered, "the kunai…"

"Did you find anything?" Kakashi asked, ignoring the question his former junior in the Anbu was about to ask.

"The possible directions the boy's killers might have taken," she said, her focus back on Kakashi's hardened face, "I have spoken to Bear, and we agree that it is very possible that enemy ninjas could have sneaked into Konoha." Kakashi listened as she continued, "as the boy's identity as the Kyuubi container was classified, we believe that it would have to be someone who knew his identity. We believe it was Oto-nin under the command of Orochimaru who killed him and, given we have yet to find Genin Uchiha Sasuke, we believe he was kidnapped after the murder."

Kakashi ground his teeth as he stared at the Kunai in his hand. He mentally told himself that Neko and Bear's suspicions of what happened made sense. However, Kakashi knew the truth. He gripped the Kunai tight before looking up at Neko, "we need to see the Hokage, not everything is as it seems."

Jiraiya; several minutes before Kakashi's confrontation with Sakura.

Once he was told by the rabbit-masked Anbu that Tsunade needed to talk to him in the morgue and that the subject of their conversation was about Naruto, Jiraiya balked. Until he heard Naruto's name, he was partly ignoring the Anbu while spying on the women in the nearby hot springs. But upon hearing Naruto's name and the location of the meet with Tsunade, Jiraiya dropped the binoculars onto the floor of the roof.

"Why the morgue?" he asked. The man who called himself a super-pervert had a serious look on his face as he spoke with a measured tone, "What happened?" Jiraiya then glanced in the direction of Naruto's home, and then back to the Anbu in front of him before repeating his last question, "What happened?"

"The Hokage will explain, Jiraiya-sama," the masked Anbu said, the male behind the mask doing his best to resist the waves of killer intent that was coming off Jiraiya, "please, you will be told of everything at the morgue."

Jiraiya pulled back on his emotions and looked away from the Anbu. He crossed his arms over his chest before nodding his head. As the Anbu shunshined away, Jiraiya noticed that the gates were shut. Looking away, a stray thought formed in his mind, a thought that made a chill go through his entire body.

'Did something happen to Naruto?' Jiraiya wondered as his eyes glanced at the closed gates once again, and then towards the hospital as he changed direction towards that building, 'was he badly injured during training? What happened? Why the morgue?' He pushed aside any thought that Naruto could have been killed; he knew that the villagers hated Naruto and that they avoided him whenever they could, even handing down their dislike of the blonde to their children. However, he made friends despite everything going against him from the moment he was born. And now, Naruto was spoken of in better terms due to his actions during the Sand-Sound invasion.

'So why the morgue? Why meet there….' Jiraiya glanced at the gates to his left once again as he leapt from one roof to another, 'unless he was attacked. The only reason for the gates to close in the day would be for a drill… and there's been no advanced notice from Tsunade about such a drill.'

Jiraiya's thoughts went back to the reason behind having the meeting in the morgue. He could not comprehend the thought of Naruto dying; instead, he mentally told himself that whoever attacked Naruto must be in the village and that Tsunade wanted to meet in the morgue due to the place being one of the most secure in the village, 'Tsunade must be taking care of Naruto in the hospital. That has to be the reason; maybe he was injured by an unknown party and Tsunade needs to fix him up.'

A chill went up Jiraiya's spine. There was a feeling in the pit of his stomach that he could not explain. He knew that there was something awful he was about to learn; he just hoped it wasn't going to be the loss of his godson.

'It has to be. He has to be okay.'

Jiraiya had only just met his godson, a godson he thought was long dead. And the Toad Sage did not want to lose him. As Jiraiya continued to leap from one roof to another in his rush towards the hospital, Jiraiya's mind went back to the day he was sent a message through one of the Sandaime's monkey summons.

Jiraiya; a week after the Kyuubi attack.

it was a week after the death of both Minato and Kushina and the attack of the Kyuubi. Jiraiya was in Iwa to make sure that the Tsuchikage, Oonoki, wasn't about to build up his war machine once again. Jiraiya was very aware that the short old man found the surrender in the Third Shinobi World War deeply humiliating, especially since said surrender occurred after the Yellow Flash killed a thousand Iwa shinobi in only a few minutes. Ever since then, Jiraiya had been making secret trips to Iwa to ensure that they were following what they agreed to in the surrender document.

On the last day he was in Iwa, Jiraiya was informed of the Kyuubi attack – but nothing about what happened to Minato and Kushina. It was only when the shocked Sannin rushed back to Konoha that he discovered the Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, seated behind the Hokage desk.

"Sensei?" Jiraiya whispered as he leaned against a window sill while standing on the shingles of the roof right outside the Hokage's office. Seeing the old man in his old Hokage robes didn't tell Jiraiya anything, 'Minato could be badly injured… that's what must have happened… he was badly injured. And Kushina… what about Kushina? Did the seal fail? Is she alive? And Naruto…. What about the baby? What about Kushina's baby?'

"Step inside, Jiraiya," the Sandaime said, the old man not even looking over his shoulder at Jiraiya. Jiraiya could hear the weariness in the old man's voice and the tensed body language as the Sandaime remained seated. Jiraiya didn't joke around with the Hokage as he usually would, instead he had an emotionless mask on his face as he stepped into the office and walked around the desk to the front. His arms hung by his sides as the Sandaime looked up at him before leaning back on the high-backed chair.

"I know you have a lot of questions," Sarutobi said, his arms resting on the top of his desk which was covered with paperwork. He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath – Jiraiya knew the old man was steeling himself, and it was because of that he knew the worst had happened.

"Minato's dead, isn't he?"

Sarutobi opened his eyes and breathed out. Nodding his head, the old man then continued, "and so is Kushina."

Jiraiya closed his eyes and shook his head in disbelief.

"I know you have questions about the baby."

Yes, Jiraiya had questions. So many questions were swimming around in his head. But for now, his focus was on his Godson. The baby needed some kind of family in his life, especially with his parent's dead. And there was no way Jiraiya was letting the boy grow up as an orphan; absolutely no way. But before Jiraiya could say anything, Sarutobi's next words – that the baby did not make it - made him feel as if someone kicked him in the chest.

"What?!" Jiraiya exclaimed in shock, "what did you just say?"

"The baby…"

"Naruto," Jiraiya barked, his voice full of emotion at what he was just told by the Sandaime, "his name is Naruto."

"I suppose that would have to be the other baby's name," Sarutobi mumbled as he looked away from a confused Jiraiya. He reached down for the bottom drawer to his left while Jiraiya had his eyes wide open in hope that maybe there was a mistake; that perhaps Kushina and Minato were having twins.

Unknown to Jiraiya, Sarutobi already knew the baby's name from Kakashi… in fact, it was Sarutobi who needed to smoke his pipe so that his hands would stop shaking. He needed to steel himself for the lie that was already prepared, and agreed to, by himself and Kakashi.

Unknown to Jiraiya, a powerful jutsu was used to change the memories of the four Anbu who were by Sarutobi's side at the field where the Yondaime and Kushina died. Only Kakashi knew the truth, and there could not be any more people who were in on the secret. It was to keep Naruto safe; if it had gone out that the Jinchuriki was also the son of the Yondaime, then Konoha would have to deal with possible revenge attacks from Iwa and Kumo.

Sarutobi knew that Jiraiya would insist on taking Naruto with him. However, the boy was now a Jinchuuriki and he was needed to be kept in the village for his own protection. So, as much as it pained him, Sarutobi – the Sandaime Hokage – lied to the face of his former student.

Back in the Hokage office, forcing his hands to remain steady, the Sandaime took in a puff from the burning tobacco in the pipe. He instantly felt calm after breathing in the smoke, and then blowing it out a few seconds later. Looking up at the inpatient Jiraiya, Sarutobi then said, "the child was found dead, Jiraiya."

Jiraiya shook his head as he took a few steps back before turning around and making his way to the left wall. He leaned back against it and started to take in one deep breath after another while the Sandaime, whose heart was breaking at the thought of the lie he was telling his former student, continued, "Kushina used her chakra chains to hold down the Kyuubi and create a barrier around them while Minato called out to me…"

"You were there, Sensei?"

"I was," Sarutobi said before recounting to him the events before, and up to, the point that Minato asked for him to find a child… an infant… and bring him or her to him, "he and Kushina said there wasn't much time." And Sarutobi expanded on the lie, the very same lie he told the village Elders hours after the attack, "he said that he needed to create a new Jinchuriki…"

"What!" Jiraiya exclaimed. Sarutobi held up his left hand as a signal for him to finish his verbal report. A stunned Jiraiya stood still, his body tense as Sarutobi continued to speak.

"He said that Kushina was too weakened… that something had gone very wrong with the birth and the Kyuubi was released."

Jiraiya felt his heart racing while he flexed his hands before rolling them into fists.

"He said that he was going to use the Dead Demon Seal to take away part of the Kyuubi's power," the Sandaime said based on what he had seen – the Kyuubi had become much, much, smaller in size after the seal was used – so what Sarutobi was currently saying was only an educated guess on his part, "I told him that I would use the Dead Demon Seal, that the Village needed the Yondaime and that I was already too old and weary for the position."

Jiraiya heard the emotion in Sarutobi's voice who then took a puff from his pipe and breathed out while his eyes were closed. Sarutobi's arms were shaking now – the old man couldn't help it. But he knew it was just luck that Jiraiya thought the trembling arms were due to the emotions elicited by remembering the final moments of the Yondaime.

"Minato said that Kushina was already running very low on chakra. She was struggling to hold the Kyuubi with her chains," Sarutobi opened his eyes, which were wet with unshed tears. Jiraiya could see that the Sandaime was recalling that fateful night as he continued, "Minato said that she could open the barrier only a tiny fraction... enough for an infant. If she opened the barrier wider, she may not be able to close it again… in fact, she could have used up all her chakra and we would be looking at a destroyed village with the Kyuubi free."

Jiraiya shook his head, "and let me guess, Minato insisted that he couldn't risk it."

"He was your student, and a Hokage of Konoha, until the very end," Sarutobi whispered before saying that the Anbu he sent back to the village returned with an orphaned blonde haired infant, "Kushina opened the barrier… a tiny hole in front of Minato's arms. I gave him the baby and the hole closed up… I saw him weave the seals… I saw…" Jiraiya listened in horror as Sarutobi continued on – the smaller Kyuubi proceeded to attack the baby after a moment of weakness from Kushina. To protect the baby, the two of them jumped in front of the claw aimed towards the infant – the bodies of the two adults stopped its forward motion. Jiraiya froze as Sarutobi recounted the Yondaime sealing the rest of the Kyuubi into the body of the infant, and how the barrier fell as soon as Minato and Kushina fell onto the grass.

Jiraiya was staring through blurred vision as Sarutobi took another puff from his pipe and whispered, "Minato was dead by the time my Anbu and I rushed to their side… but Kushina still had breath in her."

"A hole through her chest and she's still hanging on," Jiraiya choked before releasing a chuckle, "such a stubborn woman." Jiraiya looked away from Hiruzen before asking if Kushina said anything.

"She said that she was going to meet her Naruto…" Jiraiya heard Sarutobi's voice crack before he coughed and then continued, "she whispered that the infant that was sacrificed should be given her clan name as a thanks for holding back the Kyuubi."

'A lie,' Sarutobi thought to himself, 'all a lie. But a necessary lie, Jiraiya.'

"The baby who was killed had Kushina's red hair," Sarutobi said as he got up off his seat, "this Jinchuriki will be given the family name of Uzumaki, as per Kushina's last wish… and I suppose we could honour her, Minato, and their child's sacrifice by naming this new Jinchuriki, Naruto."

Jiraiya still couldn't say anything. He was staring at Sarutobi's face for any deception, but there was none. His own heart was racing, his forehead was covered in sweat, and his body felt numb at the thought of losing the man he thought of as a surrogate son. He watched as Sarutobi walked around his desk and towards him. The old man stopped in front of him, placed a hand on his shoulder, and then asked if he could take a look at Naruto's seal.

Jiraiya nodded his head.

And it would be twenty minutes later, at the bottom of the Hokage tower, that they walked into a room where a nanny was looking after a crying, pale blonde-haired child. For a moment, the boy looked as Minato would have when he was an infant. But Jiraiya trusted his Sensei; the red-haired baby and his parents were dead. As he went on to examine the seal, Jiraiya missed the look of extreme regret on Sarutobi's face.

It would be years later that Jiraiya would return to Konoha. Unless Jiraiya was required to examine the seal, which hadn't happened, usually he would send a toad with messages for Sarutobi; however, this one message was too important to simply send in a scroll. Jiraiya arrived in Konoha a month before the final of the Chuunin exams with news that the Sand were building up their military. He told Sarutobi that the Kazekage had also been corresponding with Orochimaru, and that it was possible the two were planning on a possible attack after the exams were over; after the Sand had seen the capability of the Konoha shinobi. No one expected that the attack would happen during the Chuunin exams.

After the meeting with Sarutobi, Jiraiya went on ahead for some 'research' at the hot springs.

Present Day

As he neared the hospital, Jiraiya recalled the first time he met Naruto. It was during his 'research' mission around the hot springs of Konoha.

A few months ago, a month before the Chuunin Exam finals.

The boy introduced himself as Uzumaki Naruto, the next Hokage. Jiraiya instantly recalled the paled blonde haired infant… and mentally aged him up to the bright blonde haired, blue eyed, orange and blue clad Genin in front of him. The boy was loud, Jiraiya thought as he glanced at the unconscious Ebisu, clad all in black, who Naruto called his 'perverted teacher'.

Jiraiya then shifted his eyes back to Naruto; the boy who had an uncanny resemblance to Minato and Kushina. Outwardly, Jiraiya didn't show off any sign of surprise, inwardly though he knew that Sarutobi had better have answers for the one single question that was forming in his mind.

Present Day

Jiraiya shunshined down to the brightly lit hallway just outside the morgue where there was another Anbu at the entrance. He was soon joined by the other Elders, all of them confused – even Danzo – about why they were needed at the morgue and why the gates were closed.

The Anbu could only say that Tsunade had news to tell them before opening the door to the morgue and asking them to walk inside.

As the four of them walked past the Anbu standing guard outside the door to the morgue, Jiraiya recalled confronting Sarutobi after agreeing to train the annoying blonde who looked so much like his former student.

Few months back, a month before the Chuunin Exam finals.

"You lied to me!" Jiraiya yelled out in rage after the Sandaime activated the privacy seals in his office. Sarutobi was seated on his chair behind the desk staring at his student who was venting his outrage. And Jiraiya was very outraged, "I deserved to know that Naruto… Minato and Kushina's Naruto… was alive! That boy I met today… he was so much a mixture of Minato and Kushina that….." Jiraiya yelled out as he dashed towards a wall and slammed his fist onto it, "aaahhhhhh!"

Jiraiya was so livid that his body was shaking while staring at his fist which was slammed against the wall. He hadn't been back to Konoha for years, unless there was a need to examine the seal – a need that wasn't requested by the Sandaime since that very first night Jiraiya laid eyes on the pale haired baby. He hadn't seen the 'fake' Naruto as he grew up. However, Jiraiya did hear of how the village shunned him and how much they hated him. It was all in the scrolls sent by Sarutobi, but Jiraiya told himself that the boy would grow out of it and that he wasn't concerned.

'But if I knew the truth….' Jiraiya suddenly felt sick at the thought that he could have done so much for the boy.

"Are you done acting like a child?" Sarutobi whispered after smoking his pipe.

Jiraiya turned his head and glared at the Hokage, "I'm acting like a child? I just discovered that the boy you claimed a stranger is my godson! I deserved…"

"Do you believe I enjoyed lying to you?" Sarutobi said as he leaned forward, a chill in his voice, "I sent Tsunade a missive as well, telling her that Minato and Kushina died… as did their child. I… I lied to her as well."

"You…"

"What would you have done if you knew the truth?"

"I would have taken him with me," Jiraiya said as he waved his arms about, "I would have taken him… I would have raised him… I…"

"You are this villages chief spy, what…"

"I could have handled it…" Jiraiya insisted shaking his head in disbelief at this betrayal, "if I had to go on a mission, I could have left Naruto with the Toads. He would have been accepted by them as Minato's son, they would have looked after him. We would have trained him. And I would have brought him back to Konoha when it was time to enter the Academy."

It was then that Jiraiya remembered Sarutobi's letters about how Naruto was lonely and shunned. And it enraged him even more.

"I am his family!" Jiraiya roared out as Sarutobi sighed and closed his eyes, "and… and he was alone. You told me he was shunned… that he lived a lonely existence, only making friends later on in the Academy. You told me that the adults transferred their fear and hate of him to their children, and many of them avoided him too. That's what you told me!"

"I did," Sarutobi admitted.

"Then why didn't you tell me the truth!"

While Jiraiya, his fists clenched, glared at Sarutobi, the latter explained that while he disagreed with the Elders on many things, one thing they agreed on was that Naruto needed to remain in the village. That there was a chance an enemy nation could steal or kill Naruto if the latter had left with Jiraiya as an infant.

The two of them argued for a little bit longer before calming down. Sarutobi admitted that he was going to reveal the truth to Jiraiya after Naruto finished the Chuunin exams, that he hoped that Jiraiya would train him for the next step in his Ninja career. However, he didn't expect that Jiraiya would return so early, or that he would meet Naruto by chance in the village.

"What blind luck, huh," Jiraiya sarcastically said as he glared at Sarutobi.

Present day.

The door to the morgue closed behind Jiraiya as the group walked towards an empty autopsy table. There was a large flat-screen attached to the tiled wall behind it that quickly turned on to reveal a profile of Tsunade in a surgical mask while she was lathering her arms over a large basin. Everyone stared confused as she turned her head towards the screen.

"What all of you are about to hear is a SSS Secret, understood?" Tsunade said, her voice hard as she turned away from the screen and focused on lathering her hands and arms.

"Tsunade," Danzo said, his bandaged body standing straight as his non-bandaged eye focused on the screen, "why are we here?"

"Do you understand? Do you understand me when I say that this is a SSS-class secret?" Tsunade hissed as a nurse helped put on her surgery gown and her gloves. Jiraiya wanted to ask if Naruto was badly injured, but his thoughts were pushed to one side when he heard Tsunade call for him, "Jiraiya, do you understand me?"

"Yes," the Toad Sage answered, "Tsunade…"

"The rest of you… do you understand? Any word leaves that room…. If our enemies find out what I am about to tell you, then I will kill all three of you with my own hands for treason."

A chill ran up and down Jiraiya's spine at the cold stare on Tsunade's face, the mask she was wearing highlighted the ice in her eyes. He glanced at the Elders, and they were confused as well. This was a Tsunade they hadn't seen before, one that was full of pent up rage. However, It was a side that Jiraiya had seen – after the deaths of Nawaki and Dan.

And Jiraiya's heart fell into his stomach as he looked at Tsunade with an expression of disbelief on his face while the Elders answered in the positive; that they would keep whatever they were about to be told a secret.

"As you know, I have ordered the gates to Konoha shut… an emergency security drill…" Tsunade said her voice cracking for a moment as she approached the screen, "last night, someone attacked Uzumaki Naruto."

'No…' Jiraiya thought as he rolled his hands into fists.

"The Jinchuuriki?" Utatane Koharu spoke, "how bad is he hurt?"

"He's dead," Tsunade said. There was silence for a few seconds as everyone tried to process what was just said. That their Jinchuriki/godson was dead. Tsunade continued on, "we do not know who is responsible, or how they knew that Naruto is the container of the Kyuubi. For that reason, it could very well have been an inside job."

"Tsuna…"

"We have not figured out a motivation for Naruto's murder," Tsunade glanced at Jiraiya, and then at the others, "all I know is that there is a slight chance… a very slight chance to revive him."

"How?" Danzo asked while the other Elders looked on, seemingly content to let Danzo ask the questions that need to be asked. However, Jiraiya could sense a sense of worry emanating from all of them when it came to Naruto's status as the Jinchuriki. Jiraiya's feelings were confirmed when Danzo continued, "and is the Kyuubi…"

"The seal is gone," Tsunade said shaking her head before continuing, this time with a voice that mirrored the turmoil she was feeling, "Jiraiya, what does it mean that the seal on Naruto's abdomen is gone?"

"A bijuu, basically a being of pure chakra, dissipates when the host dies," a stunned Jiraiya who continued staring down at the silver coloured table in front of him, the very table where autopsies would be performed, said in a pained voice, "essentially, the Bijuu dies. They then reform once again years later… could be next year, ten, twenty, or even a hundred years before the Kyuubi reforms". Jiraiya finished speaking as he stared at an imaginary image of a pale, lifeless, Naruto lying on the table in front of him; the image vanished while Jiraiya heard Tsunade speaking once again and he raised his head towards the screen.

"When I was examining his body, I discovered a strange Chakra signature," Tsunade said. Jiraiya could feel her eyes on him – their eyes then met - as she continued, "it is a very familiar signature."

"The Kyuubi?" one of the Elders asked while Danzo stood next to Jiraiya staring at the screen. Jiraiya could tell from the look Tsunade gave him before she shifted her eyes towards the others that the Hokage knew the truth about Naruto's parentage.

"Minato," Jiraiya whispered as he glanced at the surprised expressions on the others in the morgue. He still knew that Naruto's real parentage needed to be kept secret with or without the Kyuubi. The boy was an Uzumaki and a Namikaze – it was entirely possible that Danzo could have plans concerning Naruto if he knew the truth.

In addition, it was the Namikaze name alone that, if Iwa discovered Minato had a child, there could be a chance of Naruto being assassinated or kidnapped. With that thought in mind, Jiraiya continued, "think about it, it was Minato that used a powerful seal on the boy to imprison the Kyuubi. So, it is entirely possible that he could have placed some of his chakra in the seal as well…."

Before he could continue, Jiraiya was interrupted thanks to a commotion outside the door.

"Damn it, Rabbit, I need to talk to the Hokage…" Jiraiya turned his head towards the door. He heard a familiar voice saying, "I have urgent news about Naruto."

Jiraiya looked back at Tsunade who nodded her head before Jiraiya looked back towards the door and exclaimed, "Let him in!" The door opened to Kakashi and Neko rushing in, the door closing up once again behind them. Neko and Kakashi walked over to the screen, both stopping next to Jiraiya. Jiraiya could see that Neko was about to say something, but Kakashi grabbed her arm before shaking his head. Before anyone could say anything, Kakashi was the first to speak up.

"Tsunade-sama, I know who killed Naruto and why," Kakashi said before handing the crumbled note in his left hand, as well as the sheathed Kunai, to Jiraiya who took the two items with a look of confusion. After Jiraiya placed the sheathed Kunai on the table, he unfurled the note and read the contents. With trembling hands, he read each word over and over in shock; the Sannin's eyes bulging out and his jaw hanging open in shock.

Jiraiya looked back up at Kakashi before demanding, "the Uchiha told… who is this? Who wrote this letter?"

"Jiraiya" Danzo extended his hand out, signalling that Jiraiya hand him the note. In the meantime, as he handed Danzo the note, Tsunade worriedly asked Jiraiya and Kakashi what was going on. Danzo turned around and read the letter together with the other Elders; and they were shocked as well. The three Elders, Jiraiya, Neko, and Tsunade listened in stunned silence as Kakashi spoke in a cold harsh voice.

"It was Sakura."

"Saku…." Tsunade shook her head, "you mean the girl in your team, she…"

"Are you certain Sasuke is gone?"

"He must be in the village…"

Neko, over the questions from the Elders was surprised at the revelation as well, then explained what it was that she and the other Anbu found outside the walls of the village.

"Orochimaru…" Tsunade growled shaking her head, her eyes narrowed in rage, "to think that man… that snake would make his move so soon."

Before anyone could say anything, Tsunade straightened up, her jaw tightened as she spoke, "where is she? Where is Haruno Sakura?"

"Gai took her to the cells beneath the Hokage Tower."

Tsunade was fuming as she turned her head away from the monitor and towards the body lying in the large room on the other side of the washing area. After a few seconds, she looked back towards the screen, "Neko, inform Bear that the drill is lifted. I want the gates re-opened."

"Understood," Neko said, "Tsunade-sama, I have already sent a squad of Anbu to search for any signs of any ninja that could have kidnapped Uchiha Sasuke. If he indeed escaped the village with them, then we will find him."

"Kakashi," Tsunade said after nodding her head at Neko, "get whoever you need and join up with Neko's team. Find Uchiha Sasuke and bring back his traitorous head."

Tsunade glanced at the Elders. She expected them to say something, anything actually; but they remained silent. They remained watching. She suspected that Danzo could very well use this situation to capture Sasuke for himself and possibly retrain him into his Root Division. However, there was no way that Tsunade was going to allow the old man to have that much power in his hands.

Her eyes shifted back towards Jiraiya, "Go with them, Jiraiya. If Orochimaru is involved…"

Jiraiya nodded his head before growling out, "I'll have the toads sniff him out."

"And until I revise the cover story, no one reveals that Naruto has been killed," Tsunade said, "understood?"

"Understood!"

Tsunade

"Disperse," Tsunade said before Neko, Jiraiya, and Kakashi were gone in swirls of dust and leaves. Only the Elders remained with Tsunade, her face red in rage, staring back at them.

"The girl has to be punished," Koharu said as she stared at the screen, "she has put this village at risk. We do not have a Jinchuuriki and…"

"Kumo and Iwa have two each," Danzo said as he stared at the sheathed Kunai before looking up at Tsunade, "we should capture one of them, and…"

"We do that," Tsunade said, "and the other villages will suspect something happened to Naruto, or at least the would wonder about the Kyuubi being in our hands. Even if we succeed in getting one of the Jinchuuriki, we will have a war, and we lost our biggest trump card." Tsunade hated thinking of Naruto as just a weapon, but that was how the Elders had always seen him; referring to him as a weapon was the best way to connect to them. And Tsunade wasn't stupid, she knew that Naruto was important to the village as its Jinchuuriki, 'and the villagers were beginning to see him as someone more too.'

However, Tsunade was the Hokage… the protector of the village… and there was no way she was going to let it be known to the other villages that their greatest weapon, the Kyuubi's container, was dead.

"The villages are out of balance," Homura said, his hand on the top of his walking stick.

"I will work on Naruto first, it's a long shot, but I think I can revive him," Tsunade said shaking her head, "I'll take care of Sakura as the next step once I've done here. In the meantime, the story…" Tsunade was making mental changes to the cover story she created in her mind the moment they entered the hospital. And now she had to make one small change – she used partial truth as the cover story while making it hidden that Sasuke defected – or rather, planned to defect, "if he lives, then the story would be that Uzumaki Naruto was viciously attacked by his teammate Haruno Sakura in his sleep and..."

From everything that Naruto told her about Sakura and from everything she read on her file, Tsunade knew the pink haired girl was smart, she had really good chakra control but low reserves of Chakra – but that could be worked on over time. However, Naruto would keep on saying, with an angry expression on his face, that Sakura was hyper-focussed on Sasuke, 'she has a deep crush on the boy. But…' Tsunade shook her head in disbelief, 'but to go so far… to be so blind to… my God, she killed her own teammate because her crush told her to, because she wanted to defect too.'

"Tsunade," Homura said. Tsunade realized she trailed off, and that Homura was trying yo gain her attention. So she shook her head again and then spoke.

"Haruno Sakura wanted to impress the Uchiha," Tsunade said, "the cover story would be that Naruto lost a lot of blood and was barely alive after the attack. That is the story. As for Sasuke, we will go after him ourselves."

"The Haruno girl must be punished, Tsunade," Danzo said.

"Sakura will be punished… severely," Tsunade continued before she turned her head to look towards the other side of the glass wall where Naruto lay on a gurney. She then looked back towards the screen and said, "and anything else will be dealt with once I'm finished here."

She stared at the Elders before saying, "dismissed."

Tsunade then turned to Naruto; she was doing everything in her power to not breakdown. It was the ultimate betrayal – Naruto was attacked by his own teammate. And it wasn't because the boy contained the Kyuubi, it was because someone had ordered it; his own teammate ordered it. Tsunade couldn't begin to understand why Sasuke had done it, but she didn't want to ask.

'Death for her is too easy,' Tsunade internally raged as she forced her body forward, 'no… I have something more… I want her to suffer. I want her to suffer every single day!'

"Let's begin," Tsunade said while another nurse closed the door leading into the operating theatre behind her.

Naruto

Naruto was having such a fun dream about standing on the roof of the Hokage Tower with his Hokage robes making his first proclamation, "Tuesdays will be Ramen Day! A holiday!" He was revelling in the cheers of the people standing around him while Sakura was grabbing onto his arm – the two of them standing side by side. He had turned his head, and was about to lean in to kiss Sakura on her forehead when everything turned dark.

Suddenly, there was a sting on the side of his neck. He remembered snapping his bleary eyes open, only to see a shadow in front of him. He a sting across his neck and something warm and wet falling down the side of his neck. He tried to reach out for the shadow – instead he saw his arms flailing about all around him.

And then there was darkness.

Naruto thought he had gone to sleep again and that the sting across his neck and the shadow he saw in his room when he opened his eyes was a dream.

But now he wasn't dreaming. It was just darkness. He was covered in darkness.

Suddenly, while still covered in darkness, Naruto felt as if he was lying on something hard.

'A floor?'

Then there were the sounds of footsteps, the sound of people mumbling, and warmth hitting his face. E slowly opened his eyes to see sunlight streaming through some nearby windows. Naruto thought that maybe he fell onto his floor because of his dream, and that now it was morning.

'Where's the alarm?' Naruto thought wearily as he turned his body on the hard floor, 'I think we don't have training so early in the…' Naruto suddenly snapped open his eyes upon hearing an unfamiliar voice, only to find himself not where he was supposed to be.

"Listen up!"

Naruto quickly got to his feet; the boy was still in his pyjamas and walrus cap, when he came face to face with rows of unfamiliar looking children in a classroom. It looked as if he was in one of the Academy which was impossible since he graduated more than six months ago, 'and because I'm in my apartment sleeping.' However, he noticed that they were not looking at him; instead they were looking to his left.

'Is this a dream?' he thought to himself before hearing the same voice from his left.

"We have a new student from Uzushiogaruke." Naruto turned to find an Academy teacher he didn't recognize with his hand on the shoulder of a red-haired girl.

'She's about my age… or maybe a bit younger,' Naruto thought as he cautiously walked closer before asking the teacher who he was. When Naruto didn't get an answer, he then looked at the other students, his eyes skimming over a young blonde sitting in the corner, before staring at the other students. With a frown on his face at the thought of not recognising anyone in the classroom, Naruto turned back towards the teacher and then at the female student.

"Hey, Sensei, who are you? Where am I?"

However, once again the Sensei didn't answer him. In fact, it seemed as if no one knew he was there.

"It's okay, just introduce yourself," the Sensei gently whispered to the girl while Naruto looked on as he walked closer to her.

As he stood in front of the girl, his eyes locked onto hers, she said, "My name is Uzumaki Kushina," A stunned Naruto who took a few steps back in surprise. He had thought he was the only Uzumaki in Konoha, and now here was a girl… a stranger he had never met claiming to be an Uzumaki.

'There was no Kushina in our graduating class, and…'

Naruto's thoughts were interrupted by heckling from several boys in the back who yelled out, "tomato… look at her, her hair is red and she has a round face, like a tomato!"

Naruto turned to glare at the boys before turning back towards the girl whose face was red in anger and her hands were rolled into fists. He watched her lean forward and yell out… as if she didn't even know he was standing right in front of her, "I am not a tomato. I'm going to be Konoha's first female Hokage." Naruto widened his eyes as the girl slowly grinned at the rows of students while pointing to herself, "remember my name, Uzumaki Kushina, Konoha's future female Hokage!"

TBC.