Chapter 30 Heart of the Rejected Hero

''That was a little disappointing,'' Naruto stated repeating the same words he had said after dispersing his perfect Susano'o. He was even ignoring the fact that Konan was on the ground beside a dead Nagato. The woman also did not seem to be minding too much about him. Her attention was on her long life partner. ''I had expecting to do more damage than this. If things continue like this I may never have that dance of death.'' He had to admit that it was getting boring having to fight opponents he could defeat. He needed someone who could push him to his limits. Where were Hashirama and Madara when you needed them?

Perhaps he may have to revive Madara afterall.

How he could be so indifferent and sound so disappointed about the fact that he did not get the good fight he had hoped for after all the destruction he had done and the fact that Nagato lay dead, baffled Konan. Even she could not be like that in this kind of situation. She felt without words to say to him. What could she say? If he charged that monster of a Susano'o again, he would surely kill her without much trouble. She had watched him battle a man she never thought could be defeated. Yet he did so, even when Nagato had gotten his mobility back and a power boost. He had become even stronger than he was.

''I sense some shinobi coming this way,'' Naruto stated. They were no doubt coming here because of all the commotion that had taken place during his battle with Nagato.

He was looking at the side of the Five-tails. The shinobi were coming by that side. It would take a few more minutes for them to get here.

''I better be leaving then,'' Konan said wrapping Nagato's corpse with her paper jutsu. Naruto had already taken the Rinnegan away from Nagato. She really did not have much of an option in the matter. The blond had said he would take the eyes because they belonged to him. That had been before he drove his sword through Nagato's chest.

She had to leave now though. People did not really take kindly to seeing the Akatsuki cloak. She was in no mood to face shinobi who wanted to do battle with her. She would probably blow everyone up within seconds. After what she had been shown and told, she needed to calm down a bit and relax before re-thinking her objectives.

She still wished for peace, but she had been a fool along with Nagato. That bastard probably knew Nagato would be killed today, he seemed to know much about Naruto that much. But now she knew much about him. He probably won't be expecting her to have been told about him, especially by Naruto. The blond had only bothered to tell them because he was going to kill Nagato. He could tolerate her existence because she still had a purpose his cruel world.

''I will visit you Amegakure soon. And since I believe that news will soon travel fast the ''God of Amegakure'' has fallen in battle, you might be having some more enemies. But I doubt someone with your capabilities will not be able to handle them,'' Naruto stated, still looking towards the Bijuu that was probably unconscious.

It irked her that he could talk so carelessly without even looking at her. Was it not the basic of shinobi to never show your back to the enemy? Yet, here he was standing before her, if was a tempter of fate, she could move to strike him down. Nagato was never this careless. He always had his back watched by more than two years.

Konan did not say a word to him. She simply disappeared with Nagato's body, leaving the blond alone.

''What an odd woman,'' Naruto stated as Konan left silently. He disappeared off to collect his tools before heading to the Bijuus he had subdued.

''What are you going to do with them?'' Zetsu stated as he appeared behind Naruto.

''I will take then to the Dragon Land. They will probably be fighting with the Kyuubi,'' but he did not care about that. It was the best place to keep the Bijuu without having to deal with children trying to capture it for their use. He needed the Bijuu far away. He would do well to avoid meaningless battles with Gakis who can't even lay a hand on him.

''I doubt so. The Kyuubi will probably just ignore them. But the land is huge, they can all exist without causing problems with each other,'' Zetsu responded calmly. ''And the Rinnegan?''

''I have no use for it. But I will keep it at the hideout. It may come in handy one day. It is unlikely though,'' Naruto responded quietly. He handed Zetsu the scroll containing both eyes of Uchiha Madara. ''Take them to the hideout; I will deal with this and the mess that is coming.''

''They are Konoha shinobi, since it is the village that is closest to this place. Jiraiya is also heading here,'' Zetsu reported before he disappeared.

Naruto looked up at the heavens. ''Nothing is ever going to the same from now on,'' he said. This spelled the change of things. He was the fourth Sage of Six paths. Nagato had been the third, and Madara the second. He did what was necessary before the Bijuu that he had captured disappeared in a puff of smoke.

It was best to keep them hidden, for now. He would have to use them later on. He needed to use them, that is why he had even extracted the Kyuubi from himself. He knew where all the Bijuus are located, and a subsitute for the Three Tails was already present. Depending on how his patience can endure, he will wait for the real thing.

He deactivated his eyes. He could now only switch between the Rinnegan and Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan. He could use the powers of both eyes when the Rinnegan is activated but he could not do so with only the EMS. He had no complains though. This just made him powerful. The only sad part was that there was no one to battle him in a good fight. How could he go all out without a worthy opponent?

A few moments later, a group of Konoha shinobi appeared. They all had wide eyes as the saw the battle ground that had been Naruto's dance floor. There were large craters and there were two sides where the earth seemed to have been ripped apart.

Naruto noticed that Sasuke and Kakashi were amongst the group. The distance was not far from Konoha. They had to have felt the chakra output from the village.

''What the hell happened here?!'' one of the jonins suddenly exclaimed looking at the ground before him. Earth had been beat around. She was no doubt in pain over the destruction that had been laid on her. Who could do something like this.

''It seems like Bijuus were wrestling here,'' another one commented.

It was almost amusing that they had yet to take notice of Naruto. The blond had already strapped his gunbai on his back, but he held his scythe with his right hand. He was standing at the remains of the last Mokuton jutsu he had used. The forest he had created had not been completely destroyed by Nagato's Shinra Tensei. It had been fairly large to be destroyed so easily. His Susano'o could walk on it without destroying it. But that did not mean that it could not be destroyed.

Sasuke and Kakashi were first to notice the blond. Sasuke spoke first. ''I told you it was him given that he was nowhere in Konoha,'' the raven head spoke through gritted teeth.

This damage was much more compared to what Naruto had done when they fought in the Forest of Death. He could take comfort in the fact that he had still been learning to use his Mangekyou's power. Naruto had much more power and he had seen those large formations in the sky and the large Susano'o when coming.

The blond had too much power, and what was he doing with it? It was destruction everywhere. Could he not do something for the better of the world they were living in? he shook his head. He just had to be a little more patient.

''I had not disagreed with that. I just said we should not jump to conclusions before we see it ourselves,'' Kakashi responded calmly. He was awed by everything he was seeing around here. There were remains of serious Mokuton jutsu and destruction that was caused by intense flames. He could still feel the remains of the heat in the atmosphere.

''Hey, that's Naruto!'' One of the jonins then noticed the blond.

''Now they notice him,'' Sasuke said with a snort. For jonins they were quite slow. The blond had not been even trying to hide his presence for them to miss it. Perhaps their minds were just so wrapped up in the battle ground to actually notice him.

Jiraiya then appeared next to Naruto, the others did so. The Sannin had a serious expression on his face. ''What happened here, Naruto?''

''Let's see,'' Naruto started bringing his scythe over his right shoulder. The motion seemed to cause the jonins to become stiff thinking he was going to do something. ''There were some fireworks, and explosions. On any other day the dance may have been enjoyable, but I was left rather disappointed as I had expected a bit more challenge than I received.''

''I don't understand how you can say you are disappointed with all these,'' the man who spoke pointed at the battle ground. How can one be disappointed with all that they were seeing? The ground had taken quite the reshaping, and yet the blond did not seem to be fully satisfied.

''Naruto, answer my question? Who were you fighting to cause this much destruction?'' He too was awed with the destruction that had taken place in the land. He had not thought the blond could cause this much destruction. And if he was disappointed, it meant he could do much more than he did now.

''I told you I would take care of the leader of Akatsuki, didn't I? I danced with him for quite some time, he was as I expected.'' The Tailed Beast Bombs that had been thrown his way, had been a little of a surprise, his Susano'o could not have blocked the attack. The perfect Susano'o could have blocked it. But he did not want to bring it out at that time. It could have done some much more damage since he could not escape the bath.

''Pein? You fought him here?'' Naruto nodded. ''How could you have caused this much destruction with him? I heard he was powerful, but this is unbelievable.''

''This is going to bring much trouble,'' Kakashi said with a sigh. Surely, if other heard that Naruto was fighting in this place, they would grow even more wary of him. This would only bring more tension between villages. The tensions with Iwagakure were already high.

Jiraiya nodded. ''I still can't believe that you could do this much with Pein. But that is not the problem. While on my way here, I came across someone who said he saw a colossal bird flying in the air. And those large rocks that formed in the sky. Can you explain that Naruto?''

''Too many questions Jiraiya,'' Naruto stated looking above the sky. The atmosphere has settled down. ''The ''colossal bird'' was my summons. Now then, I will be taking my leave,'' he turned around, and activated his Rinnegan. He snapped his right fingers, and a portal opened up.

''You are just going to leave like that?''

Naruto did not turn around to face the questioner. ''There is nothing left for me to do,'' and then he was gone.

''Well that is new,'' Sasuke stated, not having seen Naruto use a jutsu like he had used to go away. He was also not aware that Naruto had a summon. The blond did not seem like he waited for someone or something to fight his battles. It was a surprise to hear him say he had a summon. Well it was called to be colossal; something big like that had to have attracted the blond. Still, it bothered him that he just shrugged all this damage like it was nothing. This was not good to present standing of the world. He did not want another war.

And he would do anything to stop it from happening, ANYTHING.

''It is a portal to another dimension. It is a bit similar to my Kamui,'' Kakashi spoke having his Sharingan activated. He had studied the portal for a moment when it had been opened by the blond. But unlike hid jutsu, Naruto's did not suck things in. The blond looked to have tore through the fabric of space before stepping inside. He could guess that another portal had opened from where the blond had decided to take his leave.

''It calls for further investigation,'' Jiraiya said nodding to himself. ''Do you know anything about the summon?'' he asked looking straight at Sasuke. Perhaps the Uchiha might know since he seems to get well with the blond.

''No,'' Sasuke said shaking his head. ''But knowing Naruto, he would not have a summon that did not rival a Bijuu in terms of power.''

Jiraiya nodded. ''Kakashi, can you feel it?''

''Yes. It had been definitely been summoned here. I can still a residue of its chakra here. Naruto must have brought all guns out,'' Kakashi responded calmly. ''But with a summon that can fly and is huge, it can attack any village aerially. You know other villages will certainly be threatened by this.''

''But at least we have less problems to worry about,'' Jiraiya said. Naruto had said he was fighting the leader of Akatsuki. This must mean he had dealt with him even though they did not see the body of the other man. He did not worry about Naruto failing to kill someone. It did not seem like the blond was capable of allowing his opponent to escape. Surely, if the man had escape the blond would have moved to hunt him down.

''But another has risen,'' one of the shinobi stated.

''Not, necessarily,'' Sasuke responded. ''The other villages were bound to become even more wary of Naruto as time went on. We already knew this. And Naruto knows this too. He did not seem to be too concerned about it.''

''Nothing seems to concern that bastard. He always acts like he does not care about anything,'' another jonin stated in clear disdain in his voice.

''He really does act high and mighty like he owns everything. I can't stand his attitude, and now he is only bringing us more trouble than he is worth. If we are forced to another war, it will be his fault,'' another added.

So, not everyone likes the blond, Jiraiya thought. Well it was not surprising to know that. Sasuke was the one who raised his thoughts though. ''Not that Naruto does not derseve to be called a bastard, and I am sure he would not care if you said that to his face. However, I do not think that you should be talking about a fellow Konoha shinobi and Head of the Uchiha clan like that. After all that he has done for Konoha and how you people treated him, you still talk shit behind his back. You people disgust me,'' and then he was gone.

Kakashi knew that Sasuke was not talking about Naruto. It was much about his brother, Itachi. He had been told by Sasuke the truth behind the Uchiha massacre. People talked trash about the Uchiha and Sasuke did not take well it. He could understand where Sasuke was coming from. Itachi had been protecting Konoha all his life and yet they still said worse than what the man had just said. It amazed him just how some people's hatred ran.

Jiraiya spoke voicing his thoughts. ''By the looks of things, Pein was on his way towards Konoha and Naruto intercepted him. If he had not done that, destruction like this would have fallen on Konoha. There probably would have been some causality. You should be more grateful that he is not your enemy but your ally. If he had been your enemy, you would have been dead already,'' with that, the sannin left with Kakashi.

The hideout

The world was surely taking a new turn. It seems that there were going to be a lot of battles that would soon take place. He did not want to turn the world into another war zone. Perhaps if there was a worthy opponent he would enjoy it. But for the good of the world that he was living in and for his own sanity, he would rather not have another war breakout if he could help it. But of course if the other villages wanted to fight, he would be forced to destroy their armies. Still, this new cause that the world has taken was because of him. He was shaping the world for what it was going to become tomorrow.

Shinobi had a neck to dislike those who were far too powerful than them. It was the same with the Uzumaki clan; they were annihilated because of their mastery over Fuinjutsu. Other villagers feared them and plotted to get rid of them, and they succeeded.

Uzu had become nothing but ruins.

The troublesome village was Iwagakure though. Ohnoki was too damn stubborn to back down. It was not that he could not deal with the old fool for a Kage, he just preferred not to have a war on his hands. Perhaps if it had been months ago, he would not have cared. But sticking close to other people was affecting him more than he had realized. Nevertheless, it was nothing too bothersome since he was still in his cause. If he had spiraled out of his cause, he would have been alarmed and would probably be looking for solutions to solve the matter.

He already had a date with some of Iwagakure's army. He would show them what true power is. He did not have to be dealing with weaklings all the time if he could help it. Having to fight children would do nothing to him than infuriate him. He did not like having to fight shinobi who could not harm him. He was not invincible though, but there was no one living who could be of a challenge to him. This would surely make the world problem to him. If he could not expect a challenge from someone, how could he remain sane?

Shaking his head, Naruto stopped thinking like that. He still had Kumogakure to deal with. Well he could disarm both villages.

''How long have you had the Rinnegan? I am sure you only awakened it recently and the fight with Nagato had not awakened it. It leads me to believe that you awakened it before the fight. It also had to have happened after you died,'' Zetsu stated as he appeared before the blond. His expression was passive and his tone did not suggest anything but that he knew Naruto had not awakened the Rinnegan during his battle with Nagato. He had only decided to show it during the fight with Nagato.

Naruto was not surprised. He looked at Zetsu for a moment. ''So I can keep some things from you, without you finding out. I had thought I could never keep any secrets from you since your eyes are also watching,'' the blond responded calmly.

''Where are you taking this?'' Zetsu said getting a weird feeling about Naruto's words. The blond had never kept anything from him. He was always honest and always told him everything. He did not think that the blond had ever lied to him. Did this mean that Naruto may have more secrets hidden from him? No that was impossible. He was always watching the blond.

Naruto merely smiled slightly. ''Nowhere,'' he responded with a careless wave of his right hand. ''I was merely stating something I had been curious about. You are very good at tracking and gathering Intel, so I decided to see if you had noticed this one. But it seems you have not, you are just realizing it after you have seen it.''

''Well, I must admit, I am surprised that you managed to keep something like that from my knowledge. Normally, I would have known something like that, but it seems that you have been working with me long enough to be able to hide from me,'' Zetsu responded. It really seemed that the blond was not taking their conversation anywhere. If he had been, he would have been told.

''The Rinnegan appeared while I was trying to get my chakra under control, after my revival. It only appeared once, but I had not been able to activate it after I had deactivated it. It was only with Nagato that I was able to activate it again,'' Naruto responded calmly.

Zetsu nodded. To Naruto, that must have been the same as not having awakened the doujutsu. If he could not activate it, there was no need to say he had it. But now he could say he had it because he had been using it. He had not thought that something like that would happen, though. But, he could now understand why Naruto never even bothered to tell him about it.

''Iwagakure will be soon matching towards the borders of the Sound Country. after that the army will soon reach Otogakure. I have informed Guren about it. But she does not have the army to deal with the enemy, Should I have her recall the Sound army from their training?''

Naruto shook his head slightly. ''No need for that; Let the army continue to train. I don't want them to be recalled before they have reached a satisfactory level of power. Taking them off their training will only force me to become surrounded by incompetent fools.''

''So, you are going to deal with the army yourself,'' it was not a question.

''It seems I have to deal with it myself. The world has to know that I will not tolerate anyone messing with my project. Ohnoki has to know that Otogakure is not a play ground. I have invested much for someone to even think of getting their hands on Oto,'' his tone was sharp. The blond really did mean business. He was not going to allow anyone to think that Otogakure could be taken. He would not even let anyone get closer to the village with the attempt to conquer it.

''You plan of revealing that you are the true leader of Otogakure. More tensions will grow after this. I believe even the Raikage will plan something once he finds out about this,'' Zetsu stated. The man was already threatened by Naruto's power. If the man saw that Naruto was the leader of a village that was growing in power. Despite the lack of military power, as people believe, Otogakure was proving to be powerful.

''It is better to deal with them now before anything happens. If I settle things down with Kumo and Iwagakure, I can see other things quickly and rest,'' Naruto responded calmly. Dealing with the coming problems was better than allowing them to grow even further.

''Rest?'' Zetsu did not say anything on the matter. He looked at Naruto oddly before shaking his head. ''...this leaves Obito.''

''I will handle him soon enough,'' Naruto stated standing. ''There is another project I want to start.''

''What is it?'' He was curious. Naruto had never spoken about another project. By the way he stated it; it seemed that he wanted to do something big like Otogakure. He did not believe it had anything to do with Amegakure, the village was already established on its own. There were no changes needed to be done there. He did not believe it would have to do with Konoha since the village was not under his control.

''I plan to have Karin restore the Uzumaki clan. It would have been better if Nagato had been alive to take part in this. But the man wanted to die. For this to happen, Karin cannot live in Otogakure. She will have to live in Uzushiogakure. Guren has also has a rare blood line, so she too will move there to create her own clan.''

''But Uzu is just ruins. It has not been inhabited in years. Are you planning on having the village rebuilt?'' It was the only logical response he could come up with. For Karin and Guren to live in Uzu, it would have to be rebuilt. Doing something like that would just cause more problems, not that he cared for any of it.

''Yes, I will have it rebuilt,'' it was the little he could do for the Uzumaki clan. Otogakure would be his; Karin could have her family in Uzu. He doubted the girl had already started to think of such things already. But it was never a bad thing to plan for the future.

''With the projects that in the process of being started soon, do you think rebuilding the fallen village is wise. Who will lead the construction?''

''Karin will,'' Naruto responded calmly. ''Some of the projects that I wanted to be started will have to be postponed until Uzushiogakure is rebuilt, some of it the least. Once that is done, I can have the other projects in Oto started.''

Zetsu nodded. ''Should I inform them about it?''

Naruto shook his head. ''I will do it myself. How is the training of the SBC going?'' The SBC was a special group of shinobi like ANBU that were being trained secretly under his orders. He had taken all of Sound Shinobi and the ones who had wondered to Otogakure to be trained. The SBC was not part of the shinobi being trained in Orochimaru's hideouts around the Nations. They were the elites and their training had been rather ridiculous. In total, there were about a 150 of them.

''Well, Out of the 150, 50 should be going to Otogakure in two weeks. You had their HQ build already so they will have no problems. I had checked on them last week, their training regime seems to have paid off really well.''

''Good. I will have them stationed there and then force the current ANBU in duty to a four-month training program. They should return with the others to Otogakure. I am sure everything else will be built after that period.'' Surely, four months were a long time for a shinobi. Rebuilding Uzushiogakure would not take much time, especially since it was not the whole village that was being rebuilt. And everything In Otogakure would have settled down. He would have already dealt with Obito.

''You are really bent on having everyone being trained to have their power increased,'' Zetsu stated. Really, the blond was putting his shinobi under some weight. He had not accepted anyone unless they went through the ridiculous training methods he had drawn. It just showed that Naruto did not like to be surrounded by weak shinobi. If he was commanding an army, he wanted an army that was strong.

''You know it would not do well if I commanded weak fools. I would probably kill them myself if I led them to a battlefield and they performed poorly,'' Naruto stated as if it were obvious. ''...I have been busy lately; I have not even sent a clone to check on them. But it does not matter anyway.''

''I have no doubt you would...'' Zetsu replied casually. Even when Madara was still head of the Uchiha clan, he did not have them train like Naruto did. ''I imagine the other villages will be very surprised when you reveal Oto's military power. You will certainly have a war in your hands.''

''Certainly, But I will move to stop things before they become messy. That will be after I have dealt with Obito,'' Naruto responded. Obito was next. Nothing would put a smile on his face other than seeing the man suffer, physically and emotionally. Yes, he would enjoy putting the man through hell. ''Where did you put Madara's eyes?'' he suddenly asked.

''In the ''safe'', only you and I can access it. Since Obito knows this place, he cannot access it, he does not even know where it is located since you made it,'' Zetsu responded calmly. ''I thought you would have put Itachi's eyes there too,'' he had looked for them in the ''safe'' but they were not there. The ''safe'' was the only place good for hiding something.

''Itachi's eyes are not in this hideout. I put them somewhere. But Sasuke seems to use his Mangekyou more often than not, so I will have to give it to him,'' Naruto responded in a cool tone. He had taken his eyes off Zetsu as he responded. He was looking down at his hands for a moment.

''I figured you would do something like that, soon,'' Zetsu spoke, clearly not surprised by this. He expected Naruto to do something like this since he had never planned to deny Sasuke his brother's power. It was the blonds' intention to give his fellow Uchiha the eyes so he too could gain the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan. "Do you think it is a good idea to give them to him, though? Given the recent changes, I thought you would be taking some precautions."

Naruto was silent for a few moments before responding. "It is a bit unexpected, but then again, he has always had a different sense of purpose. It only needs a little push for him to decide on something. I had imagined that he would change after knowing what his beloved brother was forced to do. After his talk with Kakashi, he probably blames the shinobi world for everything that has happened – to save it, he would have rid of all that is evil."

Zetsu nodded, "and you are not doing anything to improve this flawed world."

"Apparently," Naruto admitted, like he was not aware of it. "Though, it remains to be seen if I am also one of the things that will need to be removed to change the world. If I fostered a war, my death would bring peace hey?"

"That is if you betray everyone and become the enemy of the world. Everyone would surely rejoice if you died," Zetsu added to what Naruto had said. "But it would only last for a short time because sooner or later, another village will try to take advantage of the other. Well that is if they don't change. But if they change, anything is possible. Humans have proved to be surprising creatures."

"That we are," Naruto agreed. "Well, it would truly be pathetic if I died for the sake of this world. Though I find it distasteful to admit, Minato was my father. He already "killed himself" for ungrateful fools. I am not going to follow that path. I would rather initiate Tsuki No Me than get myself killed."

"So what are you going to do?"

"Nothing; I will allow Sasuke to have his thoughts. It is better to allow children to make choices for themselves. When they get it wrong you try to correct them. If they don't listen… well…" Naruto responded calmly.

"I mean about the world. Madara fought to change it, what about you? Don't tell me that you are going to just watch it continue like this? If you are going to do that, you may as well bring back Madara and have him start Tsuki No Me."

Naruto merely smiled. "I have never told anyone of my other dream, have I? I have always spoken about gaining more power in this world; have the Kages dance before me. But I have never said that I wanted to accomplish something that will soothe my cold soul." He paused for a moment. He was not going to tell. ''I will be going now,'' Naruto spoke. A portal opened beneath him. ''Keep an eye on Konan will you...'' the blond was gone after that.

Just then a voice spoke behind Zetsu. "Well that was certainly interesting," there was a pause. ''Despite Naruto telling other people that you are his friend and the fact that he trusts you with everything he owns, I cannot shake the fact that he does not completely trust you, Zetsu.''

Zetsu merely narrowed his eyes. ''That is where you are wrong, Obito. Naruto trusts me more than anyone.''

''Ho? You seem rather confident of that. The end shall be very interesting then.''

The following day

It was early morning, when Naruto came back to the village; he had done nothing but sleep. He kept himself at Minato's house. It was for the first time that he had slept within the house. He always slept at the Uchiha compound or the apartment he had rented. But given that he did not want anyone to disturb him; he chose to sleep in the house. He knew no one would even think of looking at the house since he never slept here.

Everyone needed some alone time every now and then. Given all he has gone through recently, he needed to be alone for some time. Tsunade and Jiraiya would have been bugging him with too many questions. It was somewhat of a good choice to rest at this place. He had slept better than he had expected given that Minato used to own this house.

Perhaps he did not hate his father as much as he hated him before. The man had given a good explanation. Bearing hatred would not do much good. He recognized this fact. But still, a little hatred was not enough to ruin him. Not when there was still some anger lingering within the depths of his cold heart.

Naruto stood on top of Minato's house with a look that was somewhat rare. It was not the kind of expression you would see from him. One could never hope to guess what was going through his head. Naruto had a sad smile on his face. Perhaps Kami would be coming down to visit Konoha. It was something so unfamiliar to see the impassive, emotionless and rarely smiling Uchiha Naruto with a sad smile on his face. There were so many things that one would expect and not expect from the blond these days.

But a sad smile was nothing one would expect from him.

Uchiha Naruto, no rather Uzumaki Naruto. He had a really sad smile on his face. His eyes also reflected nothing but sadness.

Today it was the 10th of October, the day he was born. Today was his 17th birthday. It was a yearly occurrence that he would make up with a sad smile on this day. His mother had died this night; he could say he had been killed by the Kyuubi. It was indeed the Bijuu which had killed her. But that was beside the point. It was this night that Minato had sealed the Kyuubi inside of him and then he was forced to endure a miserable childhood. How could he forget all the loneliness her felt? The bitterness he felt when he looked at the villagers smiling at their children. When they looked at him, they always glared and made him shrink down in size. It was this day that they said anything that they wanted to say and did anything they wanted to do.

He had seen many children celebrating their birthdays. They smiled and rejoice with their parents as they celebrate their birthday. But he never celebrated his birthday. During those days, he only had to find a way to hide himself on his birthday. But now he did not need to hide himself. In fact, ever since he met Madara, he had never had the need to hide himself. But that did not change his memories of this day. From birth he had been cursed. For the first few years, each of his birthdays was hell while the villagers celebrate each year. Yes, it was during this day that the village celebrates the Kyuubi anniversary. Today would be the 17th time they celebrate.

But for Uzumaki Naruto, today was a day to be miserable. He had been Uzumaki Naruto when it all happened. And Uchiha Naruto had no thoughts like this, only Uzumaki Naruto felt like this.

And this was his day.

It was all too amusing how this village treated him, no rather how the villagers treated him - The older generation to be specific. And yet here he was still amongst them. Well, they could die with their bitterness and hatred; he certainly did not care for that. Was it the village itself that he cared for? His grandfather had named it and founded it along with his friend, Hashirama. His mother had also grown here and became a great kunoichi here. But he still held no love for the hypocrites of this village. His concept of viewing things was really odd. One would not speak of a village without villagers. People did say that a village was made a village by its villagers. And yet he did not give a damn about the villagers. At the same time, he could not stand to see the village crumble because of some reasons.

It could not be a mere reason, it had to be reasons. And if it was to crumble, it had to be under his might.

He could say that he had reasons to see the villagers suffer. Yes, no one could blame if he decided to drop a meteorite in this village after what the villagers did to him when he was younger. They loathed his existence as though he was some sort of a purge. They saw the Kyuubi when they looked at him. The villagers of Konoha saw the demon that killed their loved ones when they saw an innocent child who knew nothing. How ridiculous was that?

He hated Obito, and thought of murdering him, slowly. But the people who had made his life hell would be laughing and dancing soon enough. He hated the thought. He would probably lose his calm if he watched them, and burn the village to the ground with a shower of Amaterasu.

But if he did that, it would rob him of his grand plan for Konoha's redemption.

Bottling emotions is not doing me justice, Naruto thought looking over to the heavens. Life was truly becoming unpredictable. He had thought he conquered all his emotions. But yet he could still feel love. He had been disregarding emotions and everything that had to do with them over the past years as trivial. All because it was these emotions that made him suffer. Had he not felt any of them, he may not have suffered as he did. But he did, perhaps that is why he chose to disregard them and come up with a good reason for doing so - they were trivial. He certainly did not like to be reminded of his past.

It was a little better now. He had released much spent up anger during Kiri's civil war. Again with Nagato, he had released some anger. But facing someone who was superior, someone who could actually kill him, then he could find the right person to release all his anger. Perhaps after that, he would be free. It was much annoying now because the shinobi could not take much of his punches and remain standing. How could he release if the punching bag could only stand for two punches?

The black bird flew by the house drawing his attention. He looked at it for a moment before looking away. The birds of the sky could fly around their territory without much worry. They did not have to worry about anyone invading their ''ground'' as they happily paraded themselves within the skies. But they also had a claim on the ground since the food was down here. But when they were full, they went back to the sky. A very interesting life they lived.

The celebrations would begin soon for the villagers. They were probably already up making the preparations for the day that is ahead. He would not be around for that. He was going to spend his time alone. Uzushiogakure seemed to the perfect place for him to be alone. There, he would have no one budging him about anything. He could enjoy the peace and warm temperatures within the island.

Perhaps he may even blow off some steam with the sea. He did not wish to do anything damage to the island itself. It had already seen much. He would go away and be lonely.

The 10th of October was a day to be miserable after all.

He did wonder what Madara did for Izuna when he was still alive. The man that one could say was not capable of loving truly loved his younger brother more than anything. There was no doubt that Madara would do something special for his brother. With him, there was no such a thing as a birthday. It was always training this and that. It was always filling him with all the knowledge he could dish out. The man had been so bent on making him powerful and making him stable, mentally. That man did not seem to care about other things. Well, it had worked out well, he was much powerful than he would have thought he would become when he was still training with Madara.

But it was still not enough. He needed more for the grand redemption.

It was hard to believe that Madara had changed very much after Izuna died. He had seemed to revert back to his old self when he reformed his bond with Hashirama again. The man became very much bitter and hated this reality more than anything. He chose to see it as a dream, and a reality would be achieved through the infinite Tsukuyomi. Despite all his madness, his grandfather really wanted to achieve peace.

Peace huh? ''Perhaps I may find a better solution for achieving the peace you wanted grandfather.'' Naruto then chuckled - It was a bitter laugh. ''Uchiha Naruto, the sage who will find peace. Laughable.

How can I wish happiness for other people, when I have none of it? The world has wronged me; it is only fair that I pay it back. Redemption has not even taken place, but it will be done soon – I have waited long enough, and nothing is happening.

I just need to achieve enough power, when I do, I will punish Konoha for her sins. They think that they can get away from everything. Their past has nothing but unjust and evil. They are hypocrites, liars and will do anything to ensure that Konoha stays the strongest. Konoha thinks she is invincible.

But I will punish her. I will make this village feel what I felt. I will make her live the life I lived. I will strip Konoha naked and parade her all over this world and when I am done with her…she will be redeemed.''

Naruto shook his head slightly, and looked at the heavens again. ''Ignorant fools; they play oblivious to how they treated me. Oh foolish Konoha, I have realized that you will never swallow your pride. That is why I will force you to swallow it, and by this time next year, you will no longer be celebrate this day, but you will be mourn it, you will honor it.''

Later that day (Amegakure)

Amegakure, the village had been her home from the day she was born. Yahiko, Nagato and her, they had always thought of changing this village. They had always thought of making it stop raining. They had started Akatsuki with Yahiko with the thought of liberating Amegakure. They had been doing a good job at first, but then after Yahiko's death, they changed their methods. Being an orphan had made her see what the world really was - It was a cruel place to live. The rich and powerful abused their power to force the weak under their feet. It was truly a cruel world that she was living in.

They had started Akatsuki with the purpose of bringing peace to this crying land, and then perhaps to the whole world. It would have been fruitless if they brought peace to their little land, and leave the rest of the world as it was. They could easily be dragged into the mess of the rest of the world if they did not try to change it. Amegakure was not as a big nation like the Great Villages but it was not a small nation either.

Yahiko had died because of Hanzo and their organization was almost brought to its knees. They had been betrayed by the man into thinking that he wanted to talk to them peacefully. But that had not been the case. Nagato died that day and Pein was born.

She had not known that Hanzo had been tricked by Danzo into believing that they were becoming traitors and killing his shinobi. Naruto had told them that Danzo had tricked Hanzo into believing that they had killed Iwagakure shinobi so that the alliance with Iwa could not be struck. The former leader of Amegakure had truly acknowledged them and their cause. But Danzo had gone and screwed it over. Had it not been for him, Yahiko may have been alive at this time, perhaps even Nagato. If Yahiko had not been killed, Pein would not have been born in the first place.

But she could not excuse Hanzo for his actions. Despite being tricked, he chose to believe Danzo without even asking them about anything. He had chosen to betray them in favor of working with Danzo so that his power could not be threatened. When Naruto was telling them this, Nagato did not seem to be surprised by it. It seemed like he already knew this little detail and did not tell her about it. But it did not matter anyway. Yahiko was dead so was Nagato. As far as she was concerned, Akatsuki was dead. At least she had not died being oblivious to everything.

Because she was alive, she would live wisely. She would live her life to ensure that Amegakure was what was left of Nagato and Yahiko's dream. Nagato had killed Hanzo and everyone who was allied with him to gain control of Amegakure. This was Nagato's legacy. She could not let someone ruin what Nagato had built. She would stay as Amegakure's protector until she died. If she could do that, she could die without any regrets like Yahiko did. He had not regrets when he died so that Nagato and her could live to continue with his dream.

''Odd, it has stopped raining,'' Konan said to herself as she looked out from her tower. The village was always raining, especially when Nagato his jutsu in rain to detect any spies within the village. The jutsu was indeed useful. She should have learned it when Nagato had still been alive.

''You have finally returned,'' a voice spoke from behind her. She heard footsteps walking towards her. But she did not turn around to see who it was. She could never forget the voice that spoke.

''What do you want, Madara, no rather Obito?'' Konan questioned in a tone of indifference. She still did not turn around to face the man. She was always ready for him, but she did not believe that he would attack her.

''Ho? So Naruto told you. I did not think he would do that,'' Obito stated, despite that, his tone did not show any surprise. It was almost as if he was not surprised that Naruto told Konan his real identity. But it did not matter to him. As far as he was concerned, Konan was no longer part of Akatsuki. She was no longer useful to him.

''What do you want?'' Konan questioned, this time she turned to face the man before her.

"You are no longer part of the Akatsuki. But I cannot leave you alone. And the fact that Naruto left you alive means that he has some use for you. It will be amusing to watch his expression when he finds out that you are dead," Obito stated. If Naruto screwed up with his plans, why could he not screw his plans?

"I cannot let you touch the woman," Zetsu stated as he appeared within the room. Obito was surprised that Zetsu would stand in his way. "Naruto will not be happy if he found out that I allowed something to happen to her after he gave me an instruction to watch over her. And Naruto never tells me to watch over something unless he wants it to be protected."

"Ho? So it seems that he predicted that I would come here. That makes me wonder what purpose he has for her. If it was just to allow her to continue leading this village, he would not have minded if she died. But it appears that there is something going on that he is not telling anyone. Everything is not what it appears after all," Obito paused for a moment. "Then why do you stand in my way?"

"You questioned Naruto's trust in me. This is why he trusts me; I never mess with the things he still has use for, nor do I allow anything to happen to them," Zetsu paused for a moment. "And besides, this woman is of no consequence. What you need is the Bijuus and the Rinnegan. You should be working on that before Kabuto decides to revive Madara.

Your mission is to initiate Tsuki No Me, after all. That is why you carried Madara's name. Saying that Naruto is the reason you have not done anything only shows your incompetence and failure. You could have captured all the Bijuu when Naruto was still training. But you waited for him to become strong. You were told that Naruto would stop you from initiating the plan. But you waited. And Naruto has now played his role and he is playing it too well."

To Konan, it was like Zetsu was scolding Obito for his failure to do things in time.

''What do you mean 'too well'?''

''Naruto is powerful, but he still continues to train. He has told me that the power he has is not enough. I told him that if he had remained the Kyuubi's Jinchuriki, he would be having the Bijuu's power under his control. His response was that nine was not enough for him. At this rate, reviving Madara will be the best option before Naruto's patience with Konoha-''

''No!'' Obito said a bit loud. ''There is no need to revive Madara. I can still manage things.''

''If you are thinking of using Karin, Yugao or Mei, forget it. Naruto will find a way to revive Rin and make you miserable.''

Meanwhile, Yugao's apartment

The apartment was quite packed with people. Not to say that there were too many people inside. It was just that ever since Yugao moved in to this place, she had never invited so many people inside her home. The home was usually in the company of her two friends, Kurenai and Anko and that was all. She did not have any other people she befriend closely to invite them inside her home. It was a respected place that she kept away from other people.

Her home was quite nice. The living room was sizeable; that is why it could accommodate the kind of people she had called. She was not the only one who had called some people; she had done this with Sasuke, she invited her peers while Sasuke invited his peers.

The special occasion for the gathering was for Naruto's birthday, his 17th birthday. It occurred to them that Naruto has never celebrated his birthdays as far as they were concerned. They wanted to make this year special for him. They wanted him to feel something special this year. But the blond had not been seen since yesterday.

Sasuke had thought he would have returned home after fighting the leader of Akatsuki. He never did just disappear without a word. Okay, maybe he did. But that was not the case lately. He would not have just disappeared without saying he was gone without even telling Yugao, or him. This was the second night running, and the blond had not been home.

They did not have to worry about his physical health or mental health since this was Naruto. The blond had proved time and time again that he was a force to be reckoned with. However, with all his power, he has proven to be careless sometimes, even in battle. But they did not have to worry about him. If he was in some kind of trouble, Naruto could take care of himself, they knew that. Yugao had spent this whole day searching for him, but she did not find him. Even Jiraiya had no clue where the blond could have disappeared off to, that is if he returned to the village after his battle with Pein. No one had seen him ever since.

There was also no way to contact him. Yugao had to think that Naruto was very much capable of disappearing without a trace. He had done it before. What could stop him from doing it again?

For all the trouble they had went through organizing these all and the blond does not show up. It was also presumptuous for them to even think that the blond would even come here and enjoy the party. But there was a chance that he may do it for Yugao since it was obvious he cared for her - well it was obvious to those who knew him ''too well''.

But the thought that he may disappear from Konoha had not crossed anyone's mind. Yugao would have dragged him here even if he had been refusing to come. But it was not going to be the case. Considering everything that involved this day, Yugao should have expected that he would not be in the mood for speaking with other people.

''He is not going to show up. That bastard! I can't believe I cancelled all my plans for this,'' Kiba spoke, renting out his frustrations. His voice seemed to have everyone leave their thoughts and turn to him.

''I doubt you had any plans,'' Sasuke, surprisingly responded with a snort. It was notable that the Uchiha had been a little irate lately.

''Hey, I had plans. I am not anti-social like that bastard!'' Kiba yelled back at Sasuke. Certainly, he was not anti-social, no one could argue with that. He was very much loud and talkative, unlike the quiet and rude Naruto. But the first statements seemed to be contrary to the belief of everyone in the room. Everyone knew the Inuzuka too well.

''Yeh right Kiba. You had plans with a nice beautiful girl tonight, you had been planning to devour, and you blew her up so you could come here,'' the sarcasm was not lost in the remark. It seemed to echo throughout the room, and it was said in a low quite town. Anyone who did not understand sarcasm had to have understood that too well.

Kiba glared at Ino who had said the previous words. The blonde did not flinch under his gaze though; she merely stared at him back stubbornly. ''I resent that Ino,'' he growled loud enough for her to here that.

Shikamaru yawned. ''This is becoming troublesome,'' he muttered. ''Kiba we all know that you did not have plans today. But you are not the only one who is disappointed that Naruto did not show up. But we are all not blowing up like you.'' The Nara heir spoke in a very bored tone, yet it seemed to have some sharpness.

''Yes, there is no need to say unyouthful things about Naruto-kun, Kiba. Especially since it is his birthday,'' Lee stated, everyone seemed to sigh in relief because Gai had not been present. They certainly did not want to have the strange duo doing their comedic shows at this time.

''As Shikamaru has said, Kiba does have a point, and I don't think he will appear anyway. Not that I would blame him with all that this day represents,'' Asuma stated calmly, he seemed to earn nods from some of the older ones.

''Perhaps we should blow this up and join the others enjoying the Kyuubi festivals,'' Kiba spoke quietly.

''Will you shut up already, Kiba!'' There was no surprise that someone had said those words. But the surprise came when it was apparent as to who said them. It was hard to believe that Hyûga Hinata could explode with such a steel tone. The tone itself seemed to leave the Inuzuka speechless. Hinata turned her attention to Asuma. ''Asuma-sensei,'' she started very calmly, ''you stated that you would not blame Naruto if he did not appear with all the celebrations and what this represents, I believe there is something you are not telling us.''

Kurenai wanted nothing more than to pat her student on the back and give her a proud look. Asuma sighed and looked between Yugao and Kakashi who had been silent; he then looked at Sasuke who seemed to shrug carelessly.

Kakashi sighed before speaking, ''Come on everyone gather around. I am sure Naruto won't mind if I tell you this.'' everyone gathered around the couch while Kakashi and Yugao stood in front of them. ''I am going to tell you a story about Naruto that most of you don't know about. It won't be pretty to hear, but for you to understand why Naruto is not here and why he is the way he is, you have to know this.''

''To make this interesting, you should give your tale a title Kakashi-senpai,'' Yugao said with a small smile.

Kakashi seemed to accept her suggestion. ''I will call this tale, ''The Rejected Hero''. It all starts 17 years ago, the night the Kyuubi attacked the village. You all know what happened 17 years ago. Naruto was born the night the Kyuubi attacked the village to Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina. Before that, I was the one who protected Naruto's mother while she was still carrying him. I remember it well, sensei had been very happy that he was going to have a son. Lady Kushina had been happy too, but a little afraid of childbirth pains.''

''That day was truly dreadful. We were about your age and the senior jonins locked us up within a barrier so that we could not go out and defend the village. We tried to argue so that they could let us go, but they refused to do so,'' Kurenai added, recalling that fateful day - The day of horrors to Konoha.

''Why would they do that to you? I mean, if the Kyuubi had come, would it not have been better to have all the military power available to deal with the Bijuu?'' Sakura asked curiously.

''It was because even the adults could not do harm to the Bijuu. If we had been sent out, we would have been slaughtered. Don't you get why the Kyuubi is called a force of nature? Normal jutsu did not work on it. The Bijuu swatted away shinobi like flies while it destroyed the village,'' he shook his head slightly. ''There is nothing that we could have done even if we went to fight it. We would have just increased the number of causalities. I did not understand why the Sandaime gave the order back then, but I understood it after everything. Regardless of how may have seen it back then, the order saved our lives.''

Asuma nodded. ''The old man wanted the next generation to live. He knew that the younger generation would die easily if they confronted the Kyuubi. We were the future of the village, and the village would have no future if all of us were to be slaughtered by the Bijuu.''

''Where were the sannins? I am sure they could have made some difference if they were there.''

''No they were all not in the village. I don't know about Orochimaru since he was secretive. But Tsunade-sama and Jiraiya were not in the village,'' Yugao responded calmly.

''The Yondaime must have been strong then to kill it,'' Kiba commented.

Kakashi shook his head. ''Your generation was led to believe that. But our generation knew the truth. The Yondaime did not kill the Kyuubi. It was impossible to do so, not even the Shodai Hokage could do it.''

Shikamaru already knew where this was going, but he did not say anything. Ino asked a question though. ''How did he deal with it then?''

''He sealed it inside a new born baby at the cost of his life. You all know that Naruto was an orphan but never knew who his parents were until the chunin exams you all participated in. Naruto lost both his parents the night the Kyuubi attacked. While it is not mentioned anywhere, his mother also died helping the Yondaime seal the Kyuubi. She was the one who held it down while the Yondaime prepared for the sealing.''

''Wait a minute, are you saying that the Yondaime sealed the Kyuubi into his own son, Naruto?'' Sakura questioned a bit loudly.

''That is exactly what I am saying, Sakura. The Yondaime knew that there was no way to deal with the Kyuubi other than sealing it. So he sealed it into his only child. This left Naruto with the burden of containing the strongest Bijuu, while at the same time the death of his parents left him an orphan,'' Kakashi explained keeping his composure. Naruto's childhood was hell; it pained him to even think about it.

''Why then, did you call your tale, the rejected hero if Naruto was basically a hero of Konoha,'' Surprisingly, the question came from Neji. Now he knew that he was not the only one who carried a burden. Naruto's burden was definitely worse than his.

''Ah, good question, Neji,'' Kakashi stated with an eye smile, but he did not respond to the question, Yugao did.

''This is the part where things become messy, for the lack of a better word,'' Yugao stated, in a subdued tone. ''You see the Yondaime wanted Naruto to be seen as a hero of this village. It was he who contained the Bijuu. The Sandaime told everyone that Naruto was the container of the Kyuubi, but instead of seeing him like a hero, the villagers saw the Kyuubi, the beast that took away their loved ones.''

''The villagers did not see Naruto as a hero. They only saw him as the Kyuubi, as the Kyuubi brat, the demon brat. Very few of us saw him as Naruto. But the majority of the villagers hated him, no they loathed him. I am sure that Shikamaru and Hinata noticed the way they used to look at him when he was younger,'' Kakashi added after Yugao had spoken. Those two were not so much oblivious to everything that happened around them.

Hinata nodded. ''I did notice, but I could never really figure out why they used to look at him like he was a breakaway virus.''

''Why were we not told of this?''

''Sakura, Imagine this; everywhere when the villagers celebrate the Kyuubi festival they would hunt down Naruto. All they saw in him was a demon that killed their loved ones. At that age, Naruto could not protect himself from anyone who attacked himself because he was seen as the Kyuubi. Now tell me this, what would you do facing the very thing that slaughtered all your family?''

Kiba winced, knowing very well what he would do. ''If any bastard hurt my Kaa-san or sister, I would tear him apart with my bare hands,'' the teen muttered, loud enough for everyone to hear him.

''Well, I don't have to spell it to you what happened to Naruto when he was just a little boy,'' Kakashi stated, seeing the reactions of the teens as they imagined what may have happened to the blond. ''As to why you were not told, it's pretty much obvious.''

Shino nodded. ''I assume that our generation was not told because the Sandaime Hokage feared that we would treat Naruto-san the same way as your generation.''

''That is correct Shino,'' Kurenai said nodding to her student. ''The Sandaime also passed a law forbidding anyone from speaking about the Kyuubi or Naruto's status.''

''Hold on a minute here, Both Naruto's parents did not carry the name of the Uchiha, how come he is one?'' surprisingly, the question came from Kiba.

''For someone who is often dumb, you did ask a sharp question, Kiba,'' Kakashi said earning a glare from the said teen. ''But unfortunately, only Naruto can answer that question. Before we go on, I want you to know that Naruto was also not told about his status as a container of the Kyuubi nor anything about his parents. So, imagine how hard it must have been for him being hated for no reason and not even knowing where and who his parents were.''

There was silence as the teens absorbed everything. It lasted for a few moments before the door burst open and a loud feminine voice spoke. ''What did I miss?''

Yugao shook her head. ''Nothing you don't already know, Anko. Now let us get some drinks before we tell some of Naruto's stories we were able to witness while we shadowed him for protection..'' Everyone got their drinks and some snacks before sitting down again.

''What do we toast for?''

Yugao held her saucer up, ''To the rejected hero!''

''To the Rejected Hero!''

To some who were no ignorant, there was a question that they asked themselves; why is Naruto still with Konoha after everything?