Chapter 22

The Fire Country was very different from other countries. It was much more nature friendly. It felt natural. Perhaps it was because of the trees that were all over the country. It was certainly greener than any other country. Nature here had more life than any other country. One that loved to be one with nature would never feel lonely once he/she lands on the country. Shinobi who have learned senjutsu would find it a more of a home ground. Natural energy would be a lot easier to collect in these parts of the world.

Just because the country itself was nice on the outside, did not mean that inside it was healthy. In fact, it was anything but that. The Fire Country was huge, and was unlike the wind country that was not friendly. The Fire country was welcoming to anyone who wanted to visit. Its weather was pleasant. People could hide within the large forests of the country. One could hide rather easily without anyone finding out. It was simple to just disappear into the forest and appear when you felt like it.

Anyone could hide. This made it easier for bandits to make their camps without detention. They could actually make their camps and live within for some time before they are finally discovered. But they are only discovered because of their activities. Once people start to go missing around near villages, villagers will start to talk and it won't be long before someone sends a mission request to a shinobi village to help investigate the matter.

The large forest is where evil dwelled. Within the forests, there were truly despicable things that not even he would ever think of doing. Perhaps his morals were somewhat...but he had his own set of standards. There were things that he did not think of doing or could never do. There were things that he refrained from even thinking about. Humans at times were vile creatures. It was surprising when they called bijuus demons when they were the true demons. A finger never pointed at itself. It always points at the other.

Naruto set on a tree branch observing the bandit camp he was supposed to ''clean''. It was not that big of a camp. It had around 10 tents and a large one in the middle. The tents surrounded the large one on the middle. It was obvious that the bigger one held the captives. They captives stayed together while they consoled each other in their pain, wishing that someone would help them. Some even lose hope while inside the camps. Once captured and made to experience horror, few still have hope for a better tomorrow.

Such was the world he lived in. The weak were captured and devoured by the strong. Men raided small villages hunting for women. They were the entertainers, the main feast. Because they were weak and could not protect themselves, they were subject to torment. The stronger were always the ones who laughed while the weak cried in pain. The shinobi world was truly evil and corrupt to the core. It was not a safe place. But at major villages the situation was a lot better. It was not every day that bandits would play there to capture women for their pleasure. They could only do so if they were working with someone from the village.

People were willing to do anything for money and power. Given a large sum of money even a good man would sell his daughter to worthless trash. Such men deserved to be killed, brutally. If he cared enough for that judgment, he would surely deliver it without wavering. But he had his own life and things to do. Money in the shinobi world was everything. Many have betrayed friends and family because of it. As long as there is light there will always be darkness, as long as there is a winner there will be a loser, Naruto could remember Madara's words well.

The winners here in this scene were the bandits. Their captives pleasured them in every way they wanted. Whether they liked it or not, they always did what they were told. Even if they refused, they would still be forced to do so. It was also apparent that trash that made such camps enjoyed pleasuring themselves on the women by force. They felt more alive when women screamed in fear, when they saw the hopelessness and despair in their eyes. It was disgusting that a men would do such a thing to women.

He held a certain respect to a woman, to know that some things were just wrong. He could very well define what was wrong and what was wrong.

This was much different for when he feasted on a good dance. He enjoyed a good dance, sometimes he could become sadistic while in the ''zone''. But things were different. When he danced, it was against his enemies, shinobis that were about to be killed. He did not enjoy murdering innocent people. He did not enjoy tearing apart defenseless women. Only a man without morals would take pleasure in tormenting the weak. Only weak fools feasted on the weak.

He had trained Karin and ensured that she continued training because of this. The world was much evil, and he did not want her to suffer the same fate as the women in this camp. But of course if something like that were to happen to Karin, the landscape would need to be redrawn. He would never waste time in reshaping the land hunting for whoever would be responsible. Those with power were likely to be unaffected by trash. Trash only went for the weak, because even it was weak.

Those with power will always be on top, the weak at the bottom, kissing the asses of trash. He had power, but he was not about to subject anyone to his will forcefully. Everybody had his or her choices. All had their minds and hearts to make rational choices about themselves and their futures. One could not decide what was best for someone. But of course, there would be instances when he would have to make choices for someone. Some people were stupid and could not make decisions that were smart. Such people needed guidance.

Uchiha Madara had seen it all. He had seen the nature of the world. That was why he had longed to change it through the infinite Tsukuyomi. In the eternal genjutsu, he would unite the world under one dream. He may disagree with the plan but the man had good intentions. The world needed to be reshaped, but he was not about to do that. He had other things to do.

Sighing, Naruto jumped down from the tree and walked towards the tents. There were not too many of them. He had only surveyed the camp for a hour or so. He wanted to get into the next town quickly so that by tomorrow night, he would be reaching Konoha. He was going to clean the trash quickly and walk away.

Two men who were patrolling around the camp noticed his appearance. He had not tried to hide himself. These were mere bandits; there was no need to go that far. A strategy was not even needed. They were only organized when they had someone clever amongst them. In most cases, that someone lacked.

''Hey! Who are you and what do you want?'' one of the guards patrolling yelled at him. He was holding nothing but a katana on his right hand. Naruto guessed the blade was not even used properly. It was probably robbed from a store somewhere.

''It does not matter who he is,'' the other stated in a whisper. However, Naruto could still hear it. ''There boss said to kill anyone who comes around here uninvited to avoid being discovered.''

The other looked at Naruto. It was no doubt that he was a shinobi. Not a weak one, that much was obvious from the look he was giving them and his general appearance. ''Fine!''

Naruto simply walked towards the two calmly. He kept his calm expression as his eyes narrowed at them. He looked at them for a moment as his eyes spun around for a second. They all froze under the effects of his genjutsu. The blond then looked up at the clear sky. ''I hate dealing with weak fools. But it must be done,'' he mumbled to himself before walking towards the two guards.

He walked in between the two bandits and took a Katana from the one on the left. Without wasting much time, he snapped their necks and they fell down, dead. He looked at the Katana. It was a nice piece of steel. But it was wielded by trash who could not use it right. A weapon was dangerous depending on who was using it. If you could not handle a weapon well, then it would prove useless. He could do so much damage with this weapon, but fools like these could never use it perfectly.

''I should probably finish this quickly before I grow annoyed and burn this whole camp down along with the victims,'' Naruto said to himself in a low tone. Certainly, if he stayed much longer in here, he would grow annoyed by the weak-minded fools and use a high-powered jutsu that would destroy the whole camp along with the camp. It was best to move on to the next group.

Another tent was slightly big. It was not bigger than the one in the middle though. There was a lot of noise coming from the camp. A large group of men where within the tent making a lot of noise. It seemed that they were drinking and making a lot jokes. Trash should never laugh like that.

Naruto stopped at the entrance of the tent. The bandits quickly noticed him. ''Bastard who are you? Where are Tenshi and Sai?'' one yelled loudly at him. So Tenshi and Sai where the only guards on patrol. He had already killed those two.

''Let's see,'' Naruto started in a smooth, yet cold tone. ''They are no longer with us,'' he answered.

The bandits began cursing him as they prepared to deal with him. Naruto ignored it all. He had thoughtful look on his face. It was indeed true, he was thinking. 'How should I end this? A quick fire jutsu would toast them all in a seconds. Using a sword would need me to waste my energy in making the effort to deal with them,' he thought dimly.

''Tch, bastard!'' another cursed at being ignored by the blond. About 15 of them charged at Naruto with intent to kill him quickly.

''It does not matter anyone,'' Naruto said answering his own thoughts. He left go of the katana he had picked up. ''A Fire jutsu should light up some fireworks,'' he said to himself and then quickly went through hand seals while the bandits were charging towards him.

''Katon: Goka Mekkyaku,'' the blond said as he released enough majestic flames that could annihilate the bandits along with the tent. If he had released the jutsu in its original size, it would cause much more damage than anticipated. The one he released was enough to do what he intended. However, just because he had toned it down did not meant that it was less dangerous.

The jutsu caught the bandits off guard. They were unable to do anything against shinobi technique. They tried running, but the jutsu proved inescapable. In the end, their laughter's were turned into anguish screams. When the flames died down, there was nothing left of the tent or the bandits. Everything had turned to ash.

''Two m...'' he trailed off as he sensed something from behind him. A bandit swung his blade across his neck. Naruto ducked under the swipe and picked the katana he had dropped. The bandit then attempted another swing to cut him, but Naruto was fast. He caught the man's hand and cut it off with his katana.

''Urg,'' the man yelled in pain as he watched his hand fall down on the ground. Naruto did not waste any time to finish off the trash. In a swift movement, the man's head was on the ground with wide lifeless eyes.

Naruto paid no mind to it. The remaining 7 looked fearful now. They were starting to back away from him. ''Now then, come at him and I will gift you a quick end,'' the blond stated in an impassive tone.

It was indeed a quick death. They were dead quickly and Naruto only sighed in their pathetic death's. It was nothing interesting. He was tempted to test one of the jutsu of the men. Perhaps he would test his jutsu on the leader of this camp. The leader had yet to show himself up to him. If he was right, the man should be holding the women hostage. They thought like that.

Naruto walked towards the bigger tent slowly. This was his last stop and after this, he would return to Konoha and deal with other matters. It should prove interesting at how the scene would play out.

''Drop the weapon!'' Naruto was greeted as soon as he entered the tent. The man he presumed as the leader was holding a young woman with a knife pressing against the woman's neck.

The blond raised a curious eye brow. He felt compelled to ask. ''Are you stupid?''

''Huh?''

Naruto ignored the question for a moment and looked at women around the tent. Their faces were filled with dread, nothing pleasant. There were about 27 all in their beds. Naruto did not look at them twice, he looked back at the remaining trash. His eyes widened for a moment as he caught the fool in a genjutsu. The man dropped the woman and fell on his knees.

Naruto walked towards the man. He stopped for a moment. His jutsu were too high powered for this weak fool. He could not get the perfect results. He sighed, perhaps he should try Kakashi's assassination jutsu. He broke the man out of the genjutsu.

''What the-.'' the man was cut of by a sound of a thousand chirping birds. His eyes widened as Naruto drove the jutsu through his chest. His scream was accompanied by the women inside the tent. It did not take long for him to die. Naruto allowed him to fall on the ground. The blond figured that the women had yet to see someone killed before their eyes.

He was done cleaning. He turned around to leave but someone held his leg stopping him from walking away. He turned around to look at the culprit. She was staring at him with a pained expression on her face. This forced Naruto to sigh deeply.

''What is it?''

''Umm, I...'' she seemed hesitant, still fearful of what his intentions might be. He once held that expression when life was a horror show in Konoha. It was not pleasant.

He bended down slightly and grabbed her hand as gently as he could, and he helped her stand up. She cringed physically at his touch. ''Have no fears,'' he said. ''I have killed everyone one of them. You are free to return home.''

The woman stared at him for a moment as if trying to figure out something. After a few minutes she spoke, ''T-thank you,'' she said. The relief was clear in face.

Naruto said nothing. He turned around to leave. The woman spoke again. ''W-ho are y-you?''

''Uchiha Naruto,'' a swirl of flames surrounded him and he was gone.

Konoha

The way back to the village was quiet and peaceful. There was nothing much annoying along the way. He had travelled well back towards Konoha. After disposing the trash, he had taken the way back to Konoha. The way was not that long. He had already covered some distance when he travelled to the camp of the bandits he had to clean. Konoha was now within his reach. He could see the village well with his eyes from where he stood. Sighing, Naruto walked towards the gates.

He did not waste time with the gatekeepers. He calmly walked passed them in silence. Once passed the gate he disappeared in a swirl of red flames. That would do well to announce his return to Tsunade. He was in no mood to see the woman now. He wanted to rest his body for the day. Everything else would be dealt with tomorrow.

As soon as he entered the house, he was welcomed by the presence of Sasuke and Kakashi, along with Jiraiya. The man had pressed to Konoha faster than him. That figured, he after their encounter, he must have returned to the village quickly. Obito had derailed him. Even after he had spoken with the masked Uchiha, he still stayed around the Valley of End. He had stayed there for a few hours, which meant that he has prolonged his journey back to the village.

But before that, he still had to do cleaning up duties. He had not taken much time. He had spent about an hour or more doing cleaning duties. After that, he had travelled back to the village. He was not using his fastest speed to arrive back to the village. The speed was fair. Still, it faster than what normal shinobi could do.

He did not have to push his all out. His body pained him when he used much more chakra or pushed himself hard, physically. He was not afraid of death, but rather he did not want to lose his life while running. It would have been pathetic and damning to his pride. He would surely kill anyone who reminded of him of something like that. Madara would probably laugh at him.

Still, he was not expecting to see Jiraiya at this place. Then it hit him, the three had been together for some time during Sasuke's training trip. Kakashi and Jiraiya had a close relationship. Sasuke was the student of Kakashi and Jiraiya had helped train the Uchiha.

''I was expecting that you would return yesterday,'' Sasuke stated as Naruto walked towards the kitchen were the men were sitting. They seemed to have been having a good time.

''I was derailed by some unexpected circumstances,'' Naruto answered as he withdrew his Gunbai from his back. He placed it beside him as he sat down.

''How did the ''cleaning'' go?'' the Uchiha asked quietly. The rest of the room occupants were quietly watching the two.

''It was annoying,'' Naruto answered with a small shrug of his shoulder. He then poured himself some tea so that he could drink some before going to take his sleep. It was much needed.

''Well at least you did some good,'' Kakashi commented. He knew what Naruto's mission was about. The women that were freed were to be happy about their freedom. That was something good done.

Naruto did not comment. He sipped his tea slowly as silence greeted the table. After a few minutes, Naruto stood up after having finished his tea. He looked at Sasuke, ''If anybody comes looking for me; I am not available. It does not matter who it is,'' he said and grabbed his Gunbai and walked away.

Once his footsteps had quieted down, Kakashi spoke, ''He seems tired,'' the famed Sharingan user stated with a thoughtful look on his face. It was a little difficult to notice that the blond seemed tired. No wonder he wanted no one to disturb him. He was surely going to rest for some time.

Jiraiya nodded. ''He does well to hide it though. If it was not for the fact that he only gives us a single expression, we would not have noticed,'' the sannin added.

''Well, he is always on the training ground. Even though he no longer does hard physically activities, he does a lot of work mentally. That would explain why he is tired. His mind is always at work,'' Sasuke stated in a calm tone. He was not defending Naruto or anything. He was merely stating the facts.

''Too much mental work will tire out anyone. I know that,'' Jiraiya stated. ''It should be no surprise, though, he rarely speaks to anyone about anything important. And hime tells me that he has become quite this days.''

''I have noticed,'' Sasuke stated with a nod. However, Naruto's appearance had interrupted another matter. ''So what have you found?''

Jiraiya sighed. The brat really wanted to face of with his brother. ''I have gathered information that five days ago; he was seen crossing the Earth country border. I have not picked up his trail after that. Nevertheless, I know that he is still in Earth country,'' the Sannin responded.

Sasuke nodded. ''I should get to him soon,'' the Uchiha stated quietly. ''If he ever comes to the Fire country you have to take me to him. I will have to settle things with him before anything else,'' it was not a dark tone he used. But still, he was using a rather serious tone. The elders simply nodded.

The following day

A good sleep was all that Naruto needed to recharge himself. He was already in a top condition. He just had to take his medicine before doing anything. He moved his right hand on a drawer on the nightstand and opened. He took out a small bottle before consuming everything that was inside it. Sighing at the bitter taste, Naruto sat on the bed and looked around the room. It was past the time he usually woke up. But it was of no consequence.

Today he would continue to work on the Flying Thunder God Technique. He was nearly there with the jutsu, he just needed a few touches before taking things practical. He first studied the theory behind the jutsu before practicing it. It was good for the understanding of the jutsu. To be able to execute a jutsu perfectly, it required extensive knowledge of the jutsu and the ability to manipulate chakra to make the jutsu.

Once he was able to use the jutsu practically, things would be a little easy for him. He could go places to places in a matter of seconds. He would be effective in getting things done over places in far away distances in between. For now, he just had to focus on applying the theory into a more practical activity. Once he gave himself into something, he could not fail. Success was guaranteed when he spent his time to learn something. So far, he had not known failure in learning a jutsu. He was able to do every jutsu Madara taught him. A jutsu was not an immovable object to him.

The blond was brought out of his thoughts when the door to his room opened. There was no knock. Who has the audacity to enter his room without knocking? The answer was received when purple hair entered his room. Yugao entered with a tray on her hands. She smiled at Naruto and walked over to him. She placed the tray beside him. There was bread and tea. Breakfast?

''What is this?'' Naruto asked with a raised brow. It was obvious what it was, but he was curious why she would do it.

''No good morning? How are you?'' Yugao questioned before sighing deeply. ''It is your breakfast. Sasuke told me that you did not eat anything when you came back yesterday. I thought you would be hungry,'' she explained as she sat on the bed. She sat across the blond, facing him.

''Why bring it here? I could have gone downstairs any time I wanted,'' Naruto stated. Surely, if he had been hungry, he would have gone down to take his meal. Perhaps he was merely questioning because he was not used to the kind of treatment he was receiving from Yugao.

The purple head merely smiled warmly. ''This is what girlfriends do for their boyfriend,'' she said motioning for Naruto to eat the food she had brought him.

Naruto picked up the food and started to eat. ''Did you do this in your past relationship?''

''No,'' Yugao answered honestly. ''My ex-boyfriend brought me breakfast sometimes. With you, I just don't see you doing it.''

Naruto ate his breakfast while Yugao watched him like a hawk. It became unbearable that he put away the tray and looked straight at her, ''What is it?''

''The night I spent in your bed as your girlfriend, you woke up in the morning and left without telling me anything,'' Yugao stated in a tone that was dangerously close to her Anbu tone.

Naruto raised a curious eyebrow at her words. ''...And this does not please you,'' he said earning a nod from Yugao. ''When I left, you were still sleeping. I thought it was best not to wake you up just to tell you I was leaving for a few days. Sasuke was here, he could inform you that I had left.''

Yugao shook her head adopting a slight serious look on her face. ''That is not how things are done in a relationship. Whatever you do and say, you have to mind for my feelings. Unlike you,'' Yugao got closer to Naruto and poke his chest, ''I still allow my heart to move me, not that I make my choices based on my emotions. But you have to develop a heart for us to work. There is a lot I don't expect from you, but I expect you to do a few things that will make things pleasant for both of us.''

Naruto closed his eyes and opened them again. A heart for the relationship to work? That seemed bothersome, but ''I will see what I can do.''

Yugao smiled at his words. Well, at least he was trying to meet her halfway. It would have been a rocky road if he were not going to attempt to meet her halfway to make their relationship a success. ''I know it will be hard for you to adapt considering that you have not had any relationship that deals with love, as far as I am concerned. But I want you to know that I love you as you are.''

Naruto smiled, slightly. It was the biggest smile Yugao had ever seen from him, even though it was slight. It filled her with joy to see him smile like that. The blond motioned for her to come closer to him. He whispered a few words to her that made her the happiest girl in the world. Of course, she nearly frowned when Naruto's expression went back to being impassive, but a bit soft than usual.

''How was Oto?''

''Well,'' Naruto gave a short reply before standing up from the bed.

''Where are you going now?'' Yugao asked looking straight at his eyes.

''I need to take a bath,'' Naruto replied walking towards his bathroom.

''Can I join?'' Yugao asked, a little flustered by her own question. She had already taken a bath before she came to the compound, but she would not mind taking a bath with Naruto. She could help him with his hair. It had to take him much time to dry and wash.

Naruto said nothing. He did not even stop to look at the woman to see if she was serious. His mind was focused on taking his bath, she could do as she pleased. Yugao took his silence as a yes and followed him. She was not going to dip into the water with him. She would take care of his hair and back.

Later that day

The Rinnegan had many abilities, and some were quite deadly. With the Doujutsu, one was capable of learning every chakra element that existed. It did not matter if the element was special to a bloodline or not. As long as one possessed the Rinnegan, every jutsu was possible to be learned. The doujutsu of the Sage manipulated chakra like no other bloodline. With the Rinnegan, you could easily manipulate Yin and Yang chakra.

Life and death was at your hands. Perhaps those who had the doujutsu were worthy of being called Gods. The Rinnegan was capable of doing many godly things. It could do things that not even the smartest could do; things that would leave the whole world in silence. Bringing the dead back to life without a drawback was something unassailable. Many great medics have looked for ways to bring the dead back to life, but the only close they have become is a sacrificial jutsu. The sacrificial jutsu was good in keeping balance in the world. But it was just not good enough. Naruto would never use such a jutsu that would sacrifice his own life.

With the Rinnegan, it was a matter of knowing the magic hand signs and the King of Hell would appear and restore everyone back to life. It was just like that. But restoring someone's life took much chakra from a person. It was so much that if one was too restore many people at once, he or she could die from using the ability. The power of the Rinnegan needed a perfect vessel, someone who would be worthy to hold its power.

Neither Nagato nor Obito were worthy of that power. The former was worthy before his synchronization with the Gedo Mazo. The statue did a number on him and there was Hanzou's jutsu that left hindered his mobility. Mobility was essential for a shinobi. Without mobility, you were as good as dead. His own body was conditioned physical to withstand the toughest of challenges and pain. He could move perfectly well. Nagato might have powerful eyes, but if he could not move all that well, then he could never use the Rinnegan's abilities to their full potential.

As far as the living concerned, he was more than capable containing the power of the Rinnegan and use it to its full potential. The only other person who could do that was Madara. His body might not be perfect as his, but it could still do wonders with the Rinnegan and the Sharingan. But Madara was dead now, there was no one who could surpass him in terms of power, that is when his Rinnegan awakened. But for now, he was not worried about when it would awaken. It would awaken soon.

Still, that did not stop him from learning all the hand signs for its jutsus. Who knew? It would awaken in a time of need. When that happens, he would have to use it. How could he use its powers if he did not know the hand signs? He had been learning the Rinnegan's abilities, studying them thoroughly for the past 4 years. He wanted to be ready for when it awakened. He could not wait for it to awaken then begin to learn how to control it.

Even when he could not put everything into practice because of the eyes, lack of rather. He could still learn much about the powerful doujutsu. Knowledge always had its uses. He was going to hold on to the knowledge of the doujutsu.

''I figured I would find you here,'' Jiraiya stated cutting Naruto's train of thoughts. He leaned against a tree that Naruto was under and looked at the blond. The Uchiha head clan then folded his scroll before releasing a sigh.

''What is it?'' he asked the Sannin in a blank tone. Jiraiya had to have something he wanted to say. That would explain why he was even before him. They had no relationship to speak of and he had made it clear that he cared not for the Sannin.

It was Jiraiya's time to sigh. ''Always straight to business,'' he mumbled to himself. He then grinned. ''The lovely Mizukage, and Yugao, you are going to give me great research material, Gaki,'' the Sannin said still grinning. He was thinking of making a series bases of Naruto's life along with his relationships. But of course, he would make the Naruto in his book fun. He still had not yet find a title yet.

''What do you want Jiraiya?'' Naruto asked not even dwelling on Jiraiya's words. He had no time to be thinking about the Sannins perverted imaginations. He would hate it if the man used him on his books though.

''I am sure you are aware of this; your fiancé was at Otogakure the day you arrived. I was not able to find out why, but I think it was about an alliance with the village. I have also never been able to find anything about who is really calling the shots. My contacts have been unable to get into that palace that woman, Guren, lives in. No one has been able to get in. Its security is tight,'' Jiraiya stated, a bit disappointed at his contacts failure. Even he had gone inside the village, he looked at the crystal palace, there was just no way one could sneak without. That was unless you used the door to enter. It was not that there were Anbu patrolling around the Palace, it was just that the design of the palace made it nearly impossible to sneak. The crystal was a hard as steel, you could not break through it. The windows were also crystallized, you could not enter through them but could only take a peek through them. Whoever designed it made it like a prison, but at the same time, it was made beautifully, a palace worthy a king.

Naruto would have been grinning at his design, but he did no such thing. He already knew about it. He had designed it with such things in mind. He did not want anyone unwanted entering his palace. It may look like one cannot escape the palace once locked inside, but he had also fitted escape routes in the design of the building. So the palace was a state of the art. It had all the security and comfort one could need.

''I am aware of that,'' he said. He was aware of Mei's visit to Otogakure and the fact that the crystal palace seemed impenetrable.

''Were you ever able to get what she wanted?''

''An alliance as you thought. I don't know the details, but I do know that Otogakure is now allied with Kirigakure,'' Naruto answered. With the alliance, it would ensure that Konoha would not attempt anything at Oto as they would be attacking an ally of their ally which would be a breach of their alliance contract. Konoha would be now forced to play well with Otogakure whether it liked it or not.

''This is going to prove too troublesome,'' Jiraiya stated. ''Personally, I have nothing against Oto, but will see if your fellow council members will like it,'' he stated.

''Everything is quite. There are no feuds between the villages,'' Naruto stated. That was indeed true. The villages were not fighting at the moment. The little invasion that was planned by Orochimaru, though not forgotten was long ago. Both villagers had moved past that. Perhaps if Orochimaru had been alive, then they would certainly have problems with the village.

''That may be true, but Konoha does not easily forget. You have experienced that yourself,'' Jiraiya said calmly. ''These people won't just forget about the invasion that occurred. But what do I know? They seemed to have changed, slightly. I mean, they forgave Suna even though it took part of the invasion. You could say that Orochimaru tricked them, but the old Konoha's villagers would not have cared about that.''

''It really does not matter what they think about the issue now does it?''

''That may be true, but they can always cause a riot within the village to have their message heard,'' Jiraiya stated evenly.

''A strong leader would ensure to make it rain so that the rain drops could light off any fire that might have started,'' Naruto countered calmly. ''If such a thing occurred, the Hokage has to have the authority and power to get her people under control,'' the blond explained his words. Tsunade was the leader of this village, she had to be able to get her people in order if they started...misbehaving. If she could not, then she did not possess the necessary authority to get the job done.

Jiraiya had thought that at the end, Naruto would say that if Tsunade could not do it then she should be replaced. But was surprised when the blond did not say anything. ''I just hope your future wife knows what she is doing,'' the Sannin thought loudly. Doing what she had done would upset the council. But it was a little better now. Danzou was executed already and the remaining fools where always reminded of their place in Konoha. They would not make much noise about it.

''Is that all you wanted?'' Naruto questioned the Sannin. He wanted the man to state his business and leave him alone.

''Akatsuki have been active all over the Elemental Nations. My spy network has been able to detect some of their members crossing borders of different countries,'' Jiraiya stated getting down to his other business.

''I would have imagined that they would try to capture Gaara again after their failed attempt,'' Naruto said. They could not move on to the next Bijuu without having Shukaku sealed within the Gedo Mazo first. What was Obito thinking? Zetsu had not informed of this also. What was he thinking leaving him in the dark about this piece of information?

''It seems that they are planning to strike soon. It will be either in Earth country or in lightning. Both Iwa and Kumo have two Jinchuriki's.''

''That seems logical. With two Jinchurikis, those villages pose a higher threat than any other village,'' Naruto stated. It mattered little to him. He had ways to subdue a Jinchuriki.

''You said you would handle the leader. When are you going to do that? If we deal with him soon then Akatsuki will disperse. We will be left with dealing the rest of the pieces once the head is dealt with,'' the longer they waited, the more damage the Akatsuki did. The best solution was to remove the leader of the organization soon rather later.

''All the pieces are still moving, they have not settled down,'' Naruto gave a vague response.

''Huh? If you don't do something soon, I will.''

''If you are in a hurry to die suite yourself. Perhaps Tsunade will cry for you.''

At this moment, Jiraiya thought of hitting Naruto. However, considering that it did not go well last time, he chose to do nothing. He decided to do say something else, ''The Raikage feels threatened by you. You have the Mangekyou Sharingan, the Kyuubi and anybody can suspect that you can use the Hiraishin since Minato used it. You should stay away from Kumo to avoid unnecessary tensions between Kumo and Konoha,'' That was all Jiraiya said before he went away.

This gave Naruto a thought. Why hadn't Zetsu told him about this, yet? Perhaps he saw that he already had much to deal with. Nevertheless, that was no good reason to keep some valuable Intel from him. He always had Zetsu tell him everything. He was not some child that needed to be kept in the dark about certain things.

Just after Jiraiya had left

''Akatsuki are on the move,'' Zetsu stated after the Sannin, Jiraiya, had left Naruto's company.

''Who are they targeting?''

''The Two-tails.''

Naruto stood and stretched out a bit. This was interesting. He would see what the Raikage would do after he had saved his Jinchuriki. He also needed a good warm up. This was also a good chance to test Sasuke's strength against S-rank criminals. He had also encountered Itachi coming back to the village. This was good opportunity for Sasuke to settle things with his brother. ''This is good,'' he said. ''I will get Sasuke and we will be on our way. Follow us to give us directions, as to where the entertainment is.''

''Are you sure it is a good idea for you to go? The zombie brothers will bring on the entertainment. They are quite persistent and just do not die easily.''

''It is alright,'' Naruto said. ''As long as you keep your end, there should be nothing to worry about. All you have to do is, make sure I wake up again. Death should not be the barrier, when there are means to beat it.''

''What about Tsunade? She will want to be informed about something like this. If she is informed, it will save you from having to listen to her when you return,'' Zetsu stated knowing that Tsunade would not be happy if Naruto were to just leave the village. He had done it before, but sometimes it was better to do things the wise way.

''You deal with it,'' Naruto responded walking away from his 'friend'. He had to find Sasuke first and then they would be on their way before it was night. ''Go to the hideout and get me the sword of Kusanagi, I would like to give it a test run.''

Uchiha compound

Sasuke had packed up everything he would need. He had not battle gear, but he now he was carrying a sword over his back. It was nothing special, but it was designed with a material that would allow it to conduct lightning chakra. He was attuned to the affinity. It was to his advantage to use the his lightning affinity as best as he could.

He looked at the stairs as he watched Naruto come down. He was wearing his armour and the Gunbai was on his back. Just like last time when he left. Still, seeing those eyes of Naruto, the Mangekyou, made him feel a bit jealous for the blond. He had not even awakened his own, but Naruto had and it had been for a long time now. The blond never shared his secrets though. Still, he envied the blond.

A thought hit Naruto as he was about to tell Sasuke that they should leave. Yugao. Sighing, he made a wood clone to inform her of his departure. A wood clone would not give him back the memories it gained. That was what he wanted. A Kage bunshin would give him back the memories. He did not want anything unwanted to enter his mind while he was busy with his entertainment.

''Have you taken everything you will need? It might be gone for at most two weeks,'' After dealing with Hidan and Kakuzu, they would have to wait for Itachi to appear. It would take a few days for Sasuke to recover after battling his brother. There was also going to be mental problems that would have to be solved before returning to the village.

Sasuke nodded, oblivious to Naruto's thoughts. But he was curious. They were only going to stop Akatsuki from taking a Jinchuriki. It should not take much time for the battle to end. After that, they would be returning to the village. But since, Naruto has said they would be away for a few days, it means that they would take a detour upon completion of their mission.

''Are we going to go somewhere after fighting the Akatsuki members?'' he asked curiously.

Naruto merely gave Sasuke a blank look before walking towards the exit of the house. ''Let us go. We don't have much time to waste,'' he said. The other Uchiha followed quickly and they made their way out of their house. They were not using slow speeds as they left. They left the village in jounin-level speed.

The following day

It was just past noon and they still travelling towards the lightning country. They had left Konoha at noon the previous and had been travelling ever since. They ran for most of the nights and only stopped for breaks. Sasuke confirmed what he had always thought, Naruto was a stamina freak. Between both of them, he was the one who was quick to tire. Naruto had a Gunbai strapped on his back and metal armour was worn. The armour had to add more weight to his body. But the blond ran like it was nothing. Well, he was have been used to the weight.

They were already past the lightning country borders. Perhaps it was why Naruto had said they should rest for some time. It also appeared that the blond was waiting for someone. He did not ask who it was though.

''Did you ever get to this part of the Elemental nations during your travels with Kakashi?'' Naruto asked as he sat down.

''No,'' Sasuke answered.

Shrugging off what he wanted to say, Naruto unsealed a bottle of water from a storage seal on his left hand. He was going into a fight very soon. It was best that his pained body was in the right condition for the battle. ''You should eat something. We will reach our targets shortly. When we do that, you will face off S-rank criminals. You have not done that before,'' the blond said to his fellow Uchiha.

Sasuke nodded and unsealed his own things. Naruto had not eaten anything ever since they left Konoha. He had only seen him drink water. It got him curious. Surely, he would be hungry if he did not eat anything for the day. He did not ask why the blond was not eating though. He must have had good reasons to abandon food. He would not question that.

Something of a plant-like man appeared. Sasuke was quickly on alert as he had never sensed the man before. But Naruto did not seem concerned by the new appearance. This got him to relax a bit.

''We have a problem, Naruto,'' Zetsu stated on a deep tone.

''What is it?'' Naruto asked turning to face his companion. He was curious as what the problem was. From Zetsu's tone, it had to be slightly serious.

''Akatsuki; they are on the move on the same time. Pain has gone after the Six-tails; Itachi and Kisame have gone after the Four and Five-tails. Tobi and his partner have gone after the Seven-tails. Here, you are going after Hidan and Kakuzu who have recently captured the Two-tails,'' Zetsu reported surprising Sasuke at what the criminal organization had planned.

''That leaves only the Kyuubi, and Gyuki, and Shukaku,'' Naruto said not the least alarmed by what Zetsu had informed him.

''What are you going to do now?''

Naruto sighed, ''It can't be helped. We will have to continue with what we are set for. I had thought that Tobi would push for something like this to happen.''

''So the other Jinchuriki are going to be captured then. Neither of the Jinchuriki can fight their pursuers,'' Zetsu stated. That much was obvious. The targeted Jinchuriki also had no backup. The Raikage's brother was fairly hidden and was a strong one. Perhaps he could stand against his wannabe captures.

''How can you be calm about this all?'' Sasuke asked calmly. ''The Jinchuriki are going to be captured. I would think that you would not be too happy about it. Who knows what they are planning?''

''I am not happy about it,'' Naruto answered Sasuke's question. ''Being calm helps you make decisions without rush. And there is nothing that can be done in a situation like this,'' he paused and looked at back at Zetsu. ''Did you bring it?''

''Yes,'' Zetsu responded as he took out the sword Naruto had requested be brought to him. The blond held the blade for a short moment before putting it on a sash across his waist.

''Where are Hidan and Kakuzu?''

''Not too far from here. They are walking at a leisurely pace,'' Zetsu stated.

''Sasuke get your things ready. We will move out in three minutes,'' Naruto stated as he got up. Sasuke sighed, and finished his meal quickly.

Later

''Why do I have to carry this bitch?!'' Hidan yelled to his partner while holding an unconscious Yugito over his shoulder. He always had to be the one to carry the goods every time.

''Just shut up, Hidan! The leader told us to hurry up with this and quickly return to the hideout,'' Kakuzu replied seemingly annoyed by his partners bickering.

''But why do I have to carry her? How long is it going to take for us to get to the damn hideout anyway?''

''If you stop whining we will be there shortly. However, if you continue with this nonsense, we will not get there in time. And you know how the leader is about not being on time,'' Kakuzu reminded in a stern tone. Seriously, why did he have to be stuck with this lunatic? His partner was loud and crazy.

''You are the one who always-'' Hidan was cut off by Kakuzu.

''Shut up! Someone is coming!'' the 'immortal' man stated in a calm tone. Hidan quickly shut up but not before cursing Kakuzu.

It was then that in a boom crashing down the ground, Naruto and Sasuke hit the ground. Their dramatic entrance caused the ground to shatter under their feet. But Sasuke's landing was more dignified other than Naruto's. He landed carefully and did not burrow much on the ground unlike Naruto. The blond was like a meteor crashing down on earth as he hit the ground.

''Who the fuck are you?'' Hidan yelled. The two Uchihas were surrounded by debris caused by their landing. When the debris cleared, Naruto and Sasuke could be clearly seen. The former had his hands folded across his chest while the latter stood calmly beside his fellow Uchiha.

''What do we have here?'' Kakuzu asked with a smirk on his face. ''Two Uchihas, the last remaining in Konoha.''

Naruto ignored the two in front of him for a moment as Zetsu came towards him. He narrowed his eyes the artificial human. ''What is it?''

''Itachi is coming close. If Sasuke gets into a fight here now, he won't fight Itachi at his full potential. With that, he cannot defeat his brother,'' Zetsu whispered just enough for Naruto to hear.

''This is unexpected. I did not think he would come to us now. Well it matters not,'' Naruto said. He had been expecting to see Sasuke battle against S-rank criminals. However, it looks like he would have to wait. If Itachi was here, Sasuke had to preserve his strength for the fight with his brother. Itachi would surely not take it easy on him. He would go all out. That would only be fair to his younger brother.

''What are you going to do?'' Zetsu asked.

''Oi, Are you fucking ignoring us?!'' Hidan yelled clearly annoyed by the fact that the two teens had the audacity to stand before them and go on to ignored them.

Again, Naruto ignored the people in front of him. ''I guess I have no choice but to fight them myself,'' he said.

Zetsu was not going to question that. If Naruto was going to fight them, then he would simply step back and watch. He was not going to stand in the way of Naruto and a chance to have a good dance. He had been missing those lately. It was better to allow him to fight regardless of his current condition. If would have been worrying if they did not have a solution to it, but they do have a solution. So there was no need to worry.

''Sasuke,'' Naruto said looking at the other Uchiha on his left. ''You will have to sit this one out.''

''What? Why?'' now was a little surprised and a bit more angry at Naruto's words. He had him come with him just so he could watch him fight? That was unacceptable.

''I guess there is no point in keeping it from you,'' Naruto stated. ''You will be fighting Itachi soon. For that, you have to preserve your energy because Itachi will not take it easy on you.''

Sasuke was speechless and motionless for a few seconds. ''Did he tell you he was going to come?''

Naruto nodded. ''Go sit back. He will find us. And don't think about going after him now. He will come to you,'' the blond stated in a firm tone.

Sasuke did not know how to feel. Should he be happy that he was going to meet his brother and settle things? What should he do? Sit back in anticipation waiting for his traitorous brother to show up? What could he do. Slowly, he retreated away from Naruto without saying another word.

Naruto walked towards the two Akatsuki members. ''Now then...'' he trailed off looking at Hidan. That man was annoying. He would not be drawn a prolonged battle with a zombie.

''Are you going to fight us alone?'' Kakuzu asked quietly. There was no mistake that this was Uchiha Naruto. He had heard of the blond. They did discuss the blond in their meetings. He was still skeptics about the blonds strength. He was but a brat before his eyes. But the Sharingan would prove to be a problem.

''Settle down,'' Naruto said looking towards at Kakuzu. ''I will not fight with you both; I will only fight with you. I just have to incapacitate the nuisance first,'' the blond stated, with his eyes now at Hidan.

''Are you calling me a nuisance?'' Hidan yelled. He cursed loudly and then dropped Yugito off to the ground. Kakuzu quickly walked over to get her because there was still Sasuke who was close by and that other thing. One of them could quickly grab the Jinchuriki while he was occupied with something.

''I am looking at you,'' Naruto said and then withdrew his blade, the Sword of Kusanagi. He did not waste time and charging towards Hidan.

The immortal Akatsuki member also rushed towards Naruto, holding his tri-blade scythe. The blond reached him and swung his blade across Hidan's chest. The man held his scythe in front of him and blocked Naruto's strike. The weapons clashed and causing a bit of sparks to fly. Hidan attempted to overpower Naruto with power. But he realized that the blond was not that weak.

He pushed back with all his power though and pushed Naruto back. He swung his scythe towards Naruto's head in attempt to half his head. Naruto positioned his blade horizontal to block the attack. While still holding back. He could see that Hidan was full of openings. The man did not have any defined fighting style. He was a brawler. It was annoying to fight against such a person.

The good thing was that they were unpredictable. But his Sharingan quickly nullified that because it could predict the movements of his opponent. It was no fun. Added to the fact he had enough speed to react should anything unexpected happen, he found no joy in fighting a person like Hidan. That is why he had said he was not going to fight him but to simply incapacitate him.

The fool was also looking straight at his eyes. It was so annoying to fight someone who could look straight into his eyes. Genjutsu was easy to use given a situation like that. He had previously avoided using genjutsu while fighting. It made things a lot easy. And there was no avoiding it as long as he had direct contact with an opponent.

His eyes spun slowly for a moment as he caught Hidan in his Genjutsu. It would only last for a few seconds. But that was what he wanted. While the Akatsuki member was inside his genjutsu, his grip over his scythe weakened causing Naruto to push back and make Hidan lose his balance. He jumped up and performed a round house kick hitting his opponent.

The man was sent sailing backwards along with his scythe that was firmly on his hand. Naruto disappeared in a burst of speed and appeared behind Hidan. He kicked the man on the back while he was still carried by the momentum of being kick first by him. The kick sent the man crashing down the ground a small boom.

Kakuzu shook his head. He knew that Hidan had been temporarily caught in a genjutsu. He doubted that the man even noticed it. Knowing the fool, he might not have been aware of it. He would only show surprise upon being told about it.

''Fuck!'' Hidan cursed as he got up from the ground. He was unhurt by Naruto's attack. He dusted the debris of his cloak and then glared at Naruto.

He threw his scythe at the blond - the scythe had a chain locked on the grip. He held it by its chain as he threw it at his opponent. The scythe went fast towards Naruto, but the blond was ready for it. He jumped up to the other side dodging the thrown scythe. Hidan retrieved it and then threw it at him again. But the results was the same, Naruto dodged it skillfully.

When the scythe was on the ground after missing him, but stabbed his blade on the ground through one of the holes on the Scythe. When Hidan tried to retrieve it, it was stuck as Naruto's blade was holding it. The man cursed loudly as he tried pulling it towards him.

Naruto smiled slightly. The man was occupied with trying to retrieve his scythe and forgetting about him. It was all right, just what he wanted. He held a tiger seal, ''Katon: Goukakyu no Jutsu,'' he said releasing a fireball. The intense fireball glared dangerously Hidan and sped towards him. The man had no speed to dodge it. Or it seemed that he did not even try to dodge it.

The fireball hit Hidan dead on. Curses could be heard when the flames seemed to be consuming him before they finally died down. The man was left burned, but his was still standing. ''Fuck! That hurt!''

''Ho? Your skin is tough,'' Naruto stated. He knew then man had a tough skin. He expected something like that to happen. Hidan finally pulled back his scythe but not before Naruto could retrieve the Sword of Kusanagi.

He charged at Naruto foolishly and attempted so many fast swings at Naruto. All of which Naruto dodged and blocked skillfully. But Hidan was relentless in his strikes. He was not going to give time to rest not that Naruto needed it.

Finally growing tired, Naruto leaped away from Hidan. While still in flight, he put his blade back on its sash; and then he went through hand seals. ''Fûton: Daitoppa,'' he released gusts of winds that sped towards Hidan. He had put just enough power behind the jutsu to do what he wanted. The wind jutsu hit the Akatsuki member dead on and sent him sailing.

Just as Naruto was about the land on the ground, he disappeared in a blur on some impressive speed. Normal eyes could not have caught his movements clearly unless trained. He sped past Hidan who was still being carried by the momentum on his wind jutsu. The man was not fast enough to get his balance to face him, hence Naruto was able to kick him hard on his back. Hidan was sent flying away and crashed to the ground.

Naruto landed on the ground nicely and held out his right hand as Hidan was standing up. ''Son of a bitch!'' the foul mouthed immortal yelled.

''Katon: Rasengan,'' Naruto said as a small ball of swirling flames formed on his right palm. It was time to test his jutsu. Without wasting time, he rushed towards Hidan who too charged towards him.

Naruto made it important to time everything just right. If not, he would be cut. Hidan pressed his scythe towards Naruto's head. The blond tilted his head slightly to avoid the weapon before ducking under it. This gave him the opening he wanted. He hit Hidan on the gut with the newly created jutsu. The jutsu sent Hidan flying away.

Naruto reclaimed his posture quickly. And was able to hear Kakuzu, ''That idiot. He is slow,'' he paused for a moment. ''I guess I have no choice but to get involved.''

Hidan also heard this. ''No, you are not! He is mine, I want to sacrifice him!'' the man yelled getting up quickly like nothing had happened. There was a gaping hole on his stomach. It was not big, but a hole nonetheless. Naruto's jutsu had burned through his flesh.

''Look at you! Now I will have to patch you up!'' Kakuzu yelled back at his partner. ''If you don't want me to get involved become a bit serious. I don't want to keep the leader waiting!''

''Fine! I will take this serious. But you will not be taking away my sacrifice!''

''Serious?'' Naruto muttered loud enough for both Kakuzu and Hidan to hear him. ''It does not matter whether he is serious or not. He is incompetent. A mere child can process things better than he can. He has the fighting skills of a genin. The only reason he is labeled S-rank is because of his immortality,'' Naruto said going through hand seals. Both Hidan and Kakuzu were in target. But Hidan was his located target. The other immortal could escape his jutsu's range.

''Fire release: Majestic flame Destroyer!'' the sea of flames washed over towards Hidan who simply stood still. It was impossible to escape for someone like him. He could not escape the range of the jutsu. Kurusu's yells for him to get out of the way fell into deaf ears. Even Kakuzu himself could not bring himself to try save his partner. It would be suicide on his part.