Chapter 31

It was a scene that was rarely seen within the village of Konoha, Uchiha Naruto walking about the village. He had used the gates to enter the village. Since he left yesterday morning, he never came back to the village. He had spent his night elsewhere wondering about.

He had visited different villages during night to see what it was like there. Most of the places he had seen were very quite. It was hard to believe that the people he had watched drinking and laughing could turn into cold hearted killers during day. But then again, who was he to judge? The world was like a sleeping beast during the night. There were little of the things that happened during day. But that is not to say that those filled with darkness did not crawl about the night to devour their prey. They were there and did so many things in the dark. He had killed some in the borders of the River country while he was passing by. He could not just watch the vultures continue do as they pleased.

From morning till it was about evening, he had spent his time at the island of Uzushiogakure. It had been a quite day for him. Well, it was a day to be miserable for him. But it was a little less different from the times of before. He had never ventured across the world just to watch over it. Perhaps only Obito could do what he was doing since the man could also teleport to wherever he wanted to with his Kamui. He had his own jutsu to use. But it was a little slow. It was not one he could use for fighting. The Flying Thunder God technique level two was by far the faster jutsu. Although no one could track his movements, the jutsu was still slow. Well it did not matter anway, as long he could use it in a way that was pleasing for him, he could not complain much.

It was still early in the morning, so there were very little people in the streets of the village. That was why he had even bothered to take a walk around the village. The Icharakus would be preparing their meals by now; he would wait there while they prepare something for him to eat. He was a little hungry.

The water around Uzu had plenty of fish, but fish alone did not do it for him. He wanted something that his gut was used to grinding, what better than having some ramen? Ramen had been his special food from young age. Perhaps it was because it was the only place he could eat freely and without having to over pay anything, that is if he was allowed to eat. But the ramen at Icharaku also had a taste about it that he liked.

The villagers who were already awake were sure as hell giving him weird and surprised looks. It seemed like they had seen a ghost. Was it so much of a surprise to see him walking around silently with an expresionless face? The blond did not bother much about though. He just walked towards the ramen stand in peace. Only two or three seemed to wave at him - the others just went about their business. A simple silent nod was all he gave before walking about his way.

Madara used to walk in these very streets after the village had been founded. He walked about the village nodding to some who were nice to him. Sometimes he walked along with Hashirama in these streets. He was not so much bad during those days. But he still had his plans to achieve. Nevertheless, during those days he was able to laugh with Hashirama, with Hashirama only. With other people or even children, he remained impassive. He had seen much of the days of a young Konoha in Madara's genjutsu. But when the man had grown older, you could never see him smile. He did smile when they first met. But when the bonds were formed, he stopped smiling and went back to being a bitter old man with huge dreams.

Well, that came to an end.

Would he follow the same footsteps of his grandfather? Certainly not. There was just no way he would walk the same path. History could not repeat itself. He was the man who defied all odds after all. He was the one to change everything. He would achieve things they thought impossible. Yes, he would go down in history as a man of the impossible. They could call him whatever they wanted. He certainly did not care about titles. But he would see through whatever he wanted. He was Uchiha Naruto, after all.

Naruto shook his head slightly; perhaps Uzumaki Naruto was still alive. He was the only one who could make such proclamations.

Very soon, he had arrived at the Ramen stand. It was opened, but he knew they had yet to prepare any food. They were probably just cleaning around the place as they prepared for another day at work. Surely when he arrived, they were indeed cleaning up the place. He saw Ayame, and guessed her father was in the kicthen cleaning the mess there and preparing everything that needed to be prepared. When the woman saw him, she smiled warmly, like always.

''Good morning Naruto, what are you doing here so early?'' she asked as the blond took a seat.

''I came to get ramen,'' the answer was obvious. But it did not seem like that was what Ayame was asking, but she did not say anything further. Perhaps if she had phrased it in another way, the blond would have answered. Or he could have just given her a nonchalant shrug.

''This early? You don't do that often these days.'' Ayame said trying to recall the last time Naruto was here at this time. When he had been much younger he could come at this time. Perhaps it was because he did not have much to eat in his home. And during those days just after he was kicked off the orphange things were a little hard. The blond was always short on money. But the problem came to stop sometime when he stopped coming here.

''Days are different. I thought I might start this one with ramen. I have not done that in quite some time,'' his tone gave away nothing about what he was thinking or feeling. Ayame had expected nothing less. The blond never gave away his emotions. But she knew that there must have been something to make him come here at this time. Then she remembered, yesterday was his birthday. A sad smile slipped into her face, only for a moment though. She was trying to hide it from Naruto, but he saw it, he just did not say anything about it.

Nodding silently, Ayame responded. ''Well it is good to see you again, Naruto.'' Her tone was a little subdued. Naruto picked it quickly, but again, he did not say a word about it. It would be a bothersome task to ask about it. If there was something she wanted to say, she would.

''Likewise, Ayame,'' he gave her a small smile, which she returned.

''I will tell father to prepare your ramen, but it will take some time. He is still preparing some things at the kitchen,'' it was still early to switch on the stoves. But for Naruto, time did not matter. Her father would even stop doing what he is doing and prepare ramen, specially for the blond.

''I will wait.'' He did not have anywhere to be at this time. He would only go home and rest since it sure was one hell of a night for him.

Ayame nodded. ''I will be right back,'' she quickly disappeared off to the kitchen to talk to her father. The owner of the stand came to greet the blond for a few moments before returning to the kitchen.

Naruto waited patiently for his ramen to come as he chatted a bit with Ayame. The girl left to the kitchen after a few minutes when her father had called her. She came back with a small bowl of ramen had handed it to him.

''Father said this should keep you compony while he finishes the main meal,'' she said before heading back to the kitchen to help her father.

About 35 minutes later...

Sakura was walking at a relatively slow pace towards the hospital. She normally had shifts in the morning to lunch, today was not any different. Being one of the best medic nin in Konoha, she had a few patients at the hosptal since she started working there. Tsunade rarely went to see or heal patients these days since either her or Shizune would handle the matters in the hospital.

The Godaime had trained them well to be what they were. But Tsunade was not the only teacher she had - Shizune had also trained her. The woman was her senpai. She had so much knowledge and experience in medical ninjutsu than she did. And her chakra control was just flawless. She still had a long way to go. So she may one day surpass both Tsunade and Shizune. Yes, that was her goal.

Yesterday had been a rather conflicting day for her; it was not to her only but to her other peers. Well, Sasuke did not seem to be surprised by anything that their senseis were telling them. It seemed like he already knew, so did Shikamaru. But the latter was trully a genius, he could have figured things out long ago. Given that Naruto lived with Sasuke, it would not be surprising if he knew. But Naruto was also a bit secretive about certain things. There are things that he did not mind saying outloud, and there are things he just did not talk about.

She could have never guessed that the blond had been carring a mountain tall bijuu inside his gut when they were still at the academy. It was back then when he was playing to be an idiot. He had really fooled them with that one though. It was a surprise to see him to have changed so drastically. It had also taken her some time to accept that Naruto was not an idiot. Who could have guessed that the loud mouth idiot from the academy was really a Jinchuriki? She certainly did not. But then again, she was pretty much close minded back then. She did not care about anything that had did not have to do with Sasuke. The raven head Uchiha was all she cared about.

She had to respect Naruto now. After all that he went through because of Konoha, he never went crazy and started killing the villagers. Despite turning out cold, he had not lost his sanity. He was reasonable some times but sometimes he was a straightforward rude asshole. That was not all; he could be a heartless bastard sometimes. The Wave had been right all along to call him a hero. She did not see it then, but he was indeed a hero.

Kakashi had been told them that Gaara carried the same burden as Naruto, and he been a blood thirsty Jinchuriki before he changed. Naruto may be heartless some times, but Kakashi did not put him as a bloody thirsty killer. Funny, other villages could see the hero in Naruto and yet they could not.

This village is his home, yet they rejected him. She knew that even now not everyone liked him. She also does not hate him, his attitude just infuriates her. There are so many times that she had thought of going all CHANARO on him! But she knew very well that it would not end well for her. A lot of people felt the same way as she did. If he was a little friendly, he would have more friends, and some people would bother to talk to him. She also knew that some shinobi feared his power and talked much behind his back. Well, the blond was not one to care about that sort of thing. He would not overreact when someone talked nonsense about him. She certainly would kill someone.

Sakura was about to pass through the Ramen stand when she saw Naruto - He was eating Ramen alone. She decided to invite herself. When she arrived, he did not even turn to face her nor even act like he acknowledged her presence. ''Good Morning, Naruto.'' She greeted with a smile, but he still did not look at her.

''Sakura...'' Naruto responded quitely. She could not see his eyes because she was at his right hand - Naruto's right side of his face was covered with his hair. She could not even see his face.

This was a good start, Sakura thought. Still, his tone was just blank as always. She decided to get to the point before the blond sent her away from him. ''Kakashi-sensei and the other jonins told us about your childhood last night. We had gathered for your birthday party.''

If Sakura was expecting some reaction from him, she got nothing. Naruto did not stop eating nor even twitch or flinch. He just continued eating like she had not said anything. ''He did that, huh..?'' His tone was still blank. It did not show anything. Sakura could not tell if he was upset or not.

''He said you would not mind.'' She paused for a moment to see if the blond would say anything, but he said nothing. It was as if he was waiting for her to get to the point. ''I just wanted to say that I am sorry for the way I treated you in the academy. I was very horrible towards you, and I am truly sorry,'' her tone seemed to reflect a bit of regret on her actions.

Naruto turned to face her, she looked into him. He looked somewhat amused by her apology. She did not think it was funny. But she kept her thoughts to herself. ''I was under the impression that you were still that annoying child whose world revolved around Sasuke. But it seems I was wrong. You have grown up a bit,'' with that said, he turned back to his ramen.

Sakura stood up and gave the blond a slight bow. She decided to take his words as a compliment. ''Thank you for listening me while I speak, Naruto.'' With that she ran away towards the hospital with a small smile on her face.

Uchiha compound

It was a bit of a surprise to him that these people had organized a party for him yesterday. He had missed all that. He had not thought they would go as far as to do something like that. He guessed that Yugao must have been involved in the matter. She must have been the master mind behind it all. Sasuke would not think of such a thing, but he could help. Zetsu had not come to him the whole of yesterday. He must have understood that he needed some much alone time.

It was also good for him that Obito had no decided to show up to ruin his day. He would have killed the man right there if he had bothered to show his face before him. Surely the man would have come just to ruin his day. But he was somewhat glad that he did not show up. With his new jutsu, he was also hard to track. It would not be a surprise if even Zetsu had not been able to track him down, especially when he was in Uzu.

A party for him..? Ridiculous. He never even dreamt of having one his life, Perhaps when he was little after watching the others. But that dream had disappeared because in his birthday, all he had wished for was to be free. Being free had been the greatest wish he could make on his birthday. But that also changed over time. He became free, and realized that the need for happy a party was not for him. He stopped making wishes. Making wishes was Childs play. If he wanted something, he would set things up to get what he wanted. On his birthday, it was just one day he allowed himself to feel - The reason being that this revived and strengthened his conviction about redemption.

Naruto got into the house, heading straight to his room. But he stopped when he saw Sasuke already up. The Uchiha was not in the dining table like always. He was sitting down in the living room, alone. The other Uchiha was quick to notice him. ''You missed a great party last night,'' Sasuke stated calmly. His tone was calm, and was not being sarcastic.

''...I was told there had been a party. I don't know about ''great''. It does not matter, anyway, I probably would not have enjoyed it,'' Naruto responded, standing over the stair way with arms crossed over his chest. He was not much of a people's person. He liked doing business not partying.

''You never know unless you try. With older jonins there, and Yugao-san, you may have had a pleasant time. But we may never know,'' the raven head teen seemed to shrug at his last words. It seemed he was not really bothered by the fact that Naruto did not show up at his own party. Perhaps the Uchiha had more worrying matters to deal with.

''I guess you right,'' Naruto responded quietly, still in a blank tone.

''If you don't know already, Kakashi told everyone who was at the party about your childhood, in detail. You might find our peers acting a bit differently towards you. But no one seems to hate you for the Kyuubi, not that you would care if they hated you,'' Sasuke stated, just for Naruto to know what had happened last night. He also knew that the blond did not like talking about his childhood. But he did not know he it was the same when someone was talking about it in his absence.

''Sakura informed me earlier. It must have been one hell of a story Kakashi pulled out,'' Naruto commented on Kakashi telling about his childhood.

''You have no idea. He called it the story of the rejected hero,'' Sasuke said. The man had named Naruto's life that. Well, it was true that Naruto had been the hero that was rejected by Konoha, thus the rejected hero. He would not have thought that Kakashi would name his tale that title though. But it was of little consequence since there was no harm done.

''The Rejected Hero? It does have a nice ring to it,'' Naruto said, clearly amused. Sasuke could tell that the blond was not mad at the fact that Kakashi had told everyone about his childhood. Or even the fact that the man had made a story out of it. Well, he should have expected it. There was little that could get the blond worked up. He was the master of self restraint and keeping his composure. He had never seen the blond worked up about anything.

''It certainly does. A bit sad that it is the hard truth though,'' Sasuke commented looking at Naruto carefully. The blond gave no outward reaction to his words. It sometimes annoyed Sasuke how the blond could stay like that. He would have expected something, but there was nothing from the blond.

''Is there anything else?''

Sasuke was quite for a few moments before he responded. It was so much like Naruto to be like this. ''No,'' he said shaking his head slightly. ''I will talk to you later. I have to get to my trainees before Gai kills them with his ridiculous training methods. I bet Lee will be with him today,'' the Uchiha could imagine the two green beasts killing his trainees with their training. They did not just get tired those two. They could keep his trainees up till night. That is unless they don't lose their consciousness in sheer tiredness.

''It is necessary for them to be trained by someone like Gai in taijutsu. When they are in the Police Force, they will have to learn taking down suspects without having to use ninjutsu. Taijutsu is the most effective way of dealing with suspects without rising too much attention,'' Naruto explained lightly with a wave of his hand. It did not matter to him how hard Gai drove them, as long as they learned something useful at the end of the day, he could not complain about anything.

''I get the logic in that. I do admit that Gai's training also builds up their endurance, speed and ensures that they ate not too dependent on chakra.'' Sasuke responded calmly as he stood up. By this time, Gai would be already at the training grounds. If there was something that the man took seriously, it was training his students.

''You should have no complains then. Gai will force some skills into them that will ensure that they have a good foundation and in a few years, they will be elites. You need competent subordinates to do a good job in handling village security. If your subordinates are incompetent, you will also be incompetent. For Uchiha, that is not acceptable.''

Sasuke sighed inwardly. ''Not everyone can meet your standards Naruto. But I do I agree with you. I will not tolerate incompetent fools in the military force.'' Sasuke paused for a moment. ''After Gai is done with them, they will need to be trained in Kenjutsu. I can get Kakashi to do it, but he is not as good as Yugao. Will you talk to her?''

''No.'' It was a simple "no" the blond gave.

''...''

''Why?''

Naruto showed Sasuke his back as he walked up the stairs. ''Talk to her yourself; I helped you with Gai; I cannot do everything for you. I am sure she will not refuse to help you.''

Again, Sasuke sighed as he walked away from the house. He needed someone to train those kids some Kenjutsu. He was also good with sword play, but he would rather not teach anyone. His methods were only for him. But Yugao and Kakashi could do it. If he got those two to train his future subordinates, they would surely learn something and not be incompetent.

Adding to that, there was the training Gai was giving them, it was just perfect. They were being trained by top shinobi who were elites in the fields. After Kenjutsu, he would get them to learn Katon jutsu. The Fire Ball was good for cleaning up things. Each squad would need to have someone who could use the jutsu. There would be no squad without someone who could use a Katon jutsu.

Naruto's room

The sight that greeted him was not one he had been expecting. He had expected to find his room empty. But that was not what greeted him. He knew that Yugao sometimes slept here when he was not here. But with everything to have happened, he thought she would have slept in her own bed. At this time of the morning, he had expected her to be already awake. She was not the kind of person to over sleep. ANBU were trained well, and given that she had been one for years, he would not expect anything less from her. He really needed to sleep though. He had not rested properly after fighting with Nagato.

Shaking his head, Naruto went towards his wardrobe and took off his cloak before going towards his bed. He then took off his gloves and placed them on the nightstand before slipping into his bed. Yugao had done nothing but to make some space for him. The blond did not face her, he looked the other way, but he knew she was not sleeping.

''I looked everywhere for you yesterday,'' she said after a few moments. Her tone was calm, and unreadable.

''I was not inside the village,'' Naruto responded in an even tone.

''Did Sasuke tell you everything?''

''He did.''

''I thought it would be good if we celebrated your birthday for once. I realized that you never had one before, but since I was here I thought it would be a great change for you to have a new experience,'' her tone was subdued as she spoke.

Naruto was silent for a few moments. ''I had other plans.''

''I understand,'' she said before turning towards him. She then moved on top of him, making him look at her. The action surprised him, but he did not say a word. She gave him a warm smile before kissing him on the lips. ''Happy birthday, Naruto.'' she said smiling. ''I wanted to give you a present last night. But since we have nowhere to go, I guess I can give it to you now.''

'I really wanted to get some rest. But I guess it can't be helped,' Naruto thought silently.

*ahem*

''Naruto,'' Yugao started slowly. ''Can you promise me something?'' Her tone was soft, and she was not looking at him. Even if she had been looking at him, it would not have mattered because the blond had his eyes closed. He had said he wanted to get some rest. She needed to speak to him before that, though.

''What is it, Yugao?'' He was not going to agree to anything until he heard what it was. It would not be a wise thing to agree to something without even hearing what it was. He did not think Yugao would be thinking of anything diabolical, he just did not want to make empty promises to her.

''Next year, on your birthday, if you are going to leave the village, will you take me with you?''

''Sure.'' He will probably be in Otogakure by that time. Konoha would still be having Sasuke, Jiraiya, and Kakashi. Those three can manage the village in his stead. He doubted he would be Hokage during that time. It was no problem since he was not in a hurry. He would rather have the older generation grow old before he could lead.

''Good, perhaps we may do something special,'' she was smiling when she heard him respond. ''Oh, and another thing, I have already packed my things, so I will be moving in later on today. Is there going to be any problem?''

''No.'' It was a simple response. He had been expecting her to say something like that. She already lived in here, so there was nothing that was going to be changed. He did not have to move to another house within the compound since he already had a house in Otogakure.

''This will change some things between us. There is also another issue that we have brought up but never talked much about, and it is very important that we do,'' her tone became firm as she spoke, but she still did not look at Naruto.

''What is it?''

''I am not your only woman. You also have the Mizukage, who is your fiancé, and I am just your girlfriend. And you have yet to take me to her as I have requested.'' By this time, her tone had changed again, it had become blank.

''Is there going to be a problem between you and Mei?'' Naruto asked - his tone had lost its blankness. Perhaps it was because he was close to sleeping.

''No, but for things to work out well, we have to sit down, the three of us and talk, soon.''

''That can be arranged, soon.''

''You said that the last time I told you I wanted to see Mei," Yugao said sighing. It had been a few days since they had the talk and Naruto was no saying anything about it.

Naruto sighed. "I am not looking forward to that kind of conversation," he muttered. ''But I guess it can't be helped."

"Good. I am glad we got that sorted out - It was really bothering me. I am going to take a shower and leave you to your rest,'' Yugao said getting out of the bed nicely so not to shake the blond next to her. It seems like he was just waiting for her to shut up before he could doze off. He must have really been tired, and she took some of his energy again.

''Do that,'' was the blank reply from Naruto.

''You know, I am starting to think that things went smoothly because you wanted to get rid of me,'' Yugao said staring down at the blond. She knew he could feel her stare even though he was not looking at her.

''Maybe...''

''Jackass,'' Yugao muttered walking towards the bathroom. She was certain that he said that on purpose.

Later (Hokage office)

The scene where you have Jiraiya and Tsunade sitting within her office talking peacefully was not a strange one, especially these days. The two Sannins have been spending much time talking together lately; perhaps it is because Jiraiya always has something to report since there was a lot happening within the Shinobi world. Things were turning out badly, and it seems that if things are not handled correctly, there would be another war. Jiraiya certainly did not want to be in another war.

The last two wars he had been in were enough. This younger generation was not ready for war. It would kill them if they saw what war could really do. He just hoped that it could be avoided at all costs. But at the moment it seemed highly likely. The people that could ignite the war were not very much listening to someone. He just hoped that Naruto could turn things differently for the sake of the world.

But that was not what the Sannins were talking about. ''Where were you yesterday, Jiraiya?'' Tsunade asked curiously. She had seen the man in the morning, but after that, he just disappeared without a trace. She did not know where he had gone to. Nobody was able to find him; well she did not look that hard. But it would not have mattered anyway; Jiraiya was like Orochimaru in this regard. He could disappear and no one would know where he was.

''I was outside the village. Not too far from it though. I had much to think about,'' the toad sage responded calmly. It seemed that he had much to think of yesterday given the look on his face. Tsunade was able to see that it had to do with Naruto.

''I see,'' she said. ''It had been his 17th birthday yesterday. Yugao had prepared a special gathering, but he did not show up. He was not anywhere in the village. He only came back early morning. The poor woman looked for him everywhere, but she could not find him. Well at least something beneficial was done last night.''

''What?'' Jiraiya knew that Yugao had prepared a party for Naruto. He had gotten the feeling that the blond would not show up given everything he has suffered on his birthdays. He had been proven right. But he was still not aware that something had been done last night. He had only come back recently and he had not spoken to anyone other than Tsunade.

''Kakashi told Naruto's peers about the Kyuubi, and his childhood. He told them everything that he knew, even things that other jonins did not know about it.'' Tsunade responded with a small smile on her face. She was actually happy that Kakashi had done something like that. It was a bit risky since he did not know how they would react, but the reaction was good.

''He did that, huh?'' ironic, he gave the same response that Naruto gave to Sakura when told about that. ''I had a feeling he may to that one day. It was obvious that Naruto would not say a word about it. I know that Naruto did not keep quite because of fear. This may be a good thing.''

''Yes,'' Tsunade responded with a firm nod. ''If things go well, Naruto may have the respect of his peers. In the long run, they may form some bonds with him. As much as I do hate to admit it, in terms of military power, Naruto is someone we cannot hope to lose. For the safety and future of the village his power is needed. You and I are not going to be able to reach our peak forever, and you as well as I know that Naruto's generation is not strong as our generation, nor Kakashi's.''

Jiraiya nodded in agreement. ''I have to admit you do have a point there. If they were the ones leading this village, I have no doubt the Leaf would not be the strongest,'' the toad sage sighed. ''Perhaps Naruto was right; I may have to start training the younger generation.''

''Minato would probably come back to life just to tell you he was proud if that happened,'' Tsunade snorted. Jiraiya glared. ''I am sorry; I just could not help myself. A few years ago after Minato died, you swore you would never train any students.''

''I said I would never take an apprentice. And I was just saying that because losing Minato hurt. I did not want to suffer the pain of watching another apprentice die. But I will not be taking an apprentice this time, It is just students I will be taking,'' he really seemed like he was going to do it.

''Doing something like that will require much of your time. Who will take charge of your spy network? It seems to be very precious to you,'' Tsunade said. Yes, it was indeed true. The man was proud of his spy network. And mostly he gave his spy network as a reason not to do something.

''I will figure something out. And besides, even if I am taking students, I don't have to be with them each time. There are things that they have to do on their own.''

Tsunade nodded, but said nothing further about the matter. ''What were you thinking about with regards to Naruto?''

Jiraiya was silent for a few moments. ''I failed him, I failed Minato and Kushina. Over the past years I have been trying to understand him. I now understand bits of him. I know there is nothing I can do to make up for my failures. But I don't want to live in regrets. I am going to trust Naruto. I may never be his godfather, but the least I can do is trust and support him. Being hung up on the past won't change anything, but looking ahead for the future will change at least something.''

Tsunade stared, ''Even though I said Naruto is someone we need for military power, if things turn for the worse, we may have to ''that thing'' we discussed.''

A solemn look spread across Jiraiya's face. ''I hope it does not come up to that. If Kushina was still alive, she would kill us if we did something like that.''

Before Tsunade could respond, Naruto appeared in the office. ''Interesting.''

Before anything could happen, Tsunade spoke. ''I wanted to speak with you before the meeting but it appears that we won't have the time. The clan heads are probably waiting for us.''

Council Chambers

As Tsunade had thought, the clan heads were already sitting down in the chambers. They seemed to have been waiting for them to arrive in the chambers. Naruto saw the two advisors of the Hokage and looked at the Godaime as they walked towards the others, ''I thought you would have retired them already. They are useless in these meetings and all they do is to object everything the children say. It was the Sandaime who hired them as his advisors. He is dead, so should their job.''

''Naruto, you do know that they can hear you,'' Tsunade said in the same tone as Naruto. She did not bother to lower her tone so that the said people could not hear her. She did not give a damn if they could hear her.

''That is beside the point,'' Naruto responded coolly. He did not care about it. They knew he did not like them and they did not like him. He had not hidden that fact from anyone.

''He does have a point, you know,'' Jiraiya added, agreeing with Naruto.

''The Sandaime might have hired them. But their experience is useful. I cannot just shrug of their experience as nothing. Aside from their experience, their only use is to give me headaches,'' Tsunade responded. Surely, they used to bother her a lot. But lately they have calmed down a bit. They no longer bother her as they used to, perhaps it was because Danzo was no longer with them.

''Then if that is your believe, you should have them in home and call them when you need them. This meeting is for those who have some power in the village, not advisors. If I find them next time, I will remove them myself,'' Naruto said as he broke away from Tsunade, walking towards his seat.

The Godaime merely shook her head and went to take her own seat. ''Sorry to keep you waiting,'' she said to the others, specifically to the clan heads.

''Children of today,'' Homura said shaking his head. ''No respect for their elders whatsoever,'' Koharu nodded agreeing with him. But sadly, no one commented on what they he had just said.

''Shall we begin with this meeting already. I have other things to do,'' Tsume said with impatience.

Tsunade cleared her throat to get everyone's attention. ''The shinobi world is changing drastically, tensions are high everywhere. If we don't handle things wisely, we may find ourselves caught up in another war.''

''Another war? Are you sure about this Hokage-sama? While I do know that a war can break out of stupid things, I do not believe that we could be heading to another war, especially with the peace treaties we signed with both Iwagakure and Kumogakure.''

''You should know by now that treaties can be disregarded in the blink of an eye, Inoichi-san,'' Naruto responded looking straight at the blond head of the Yamanaka clan. It was a naive way of thinking to believe that villages would not attack because of an alliance struck with the village.

''Naruto is right, Inoichi. Have you forgotten that Sunagakure attacked us even though we were allied with it? The village was the only of the Great Five we had close relations with, and yet they still invaded us,'' Jiraiya spoke in a calm tone while sitting down. He was in the seat that used to host Danzo. Normally, he would be standing behind Tsunade, but since there was an available seat, he took it.

''We do have someone to thank for most of the tensions, and we all know whose stupidity and arrogance it was that has caused the Elemental Nations to become like this,'' Koharu stated, eyes narrowed at someone. Everyone knew who the woman was referring to, but no one voiced it aloud.

''It does not matter,'' Tsunade cut in with a firm tone. ''But I don't see what Naruto has done to provoke other kages. I don't ever recall him killing Iwa or Kumo shinobi. If those two threatened war, it will be because of their own reasons.''

''Are you saying that Iwagakure and Kumo are our enemies, Hokage-sama,'' Shikaku questioned looking straight at the Godaime.

''That is exactly what I am saying. Sunagakure will never attack us, Gaara is honest and loyal. We have established a good relationship with them. They would not dare threaten to attack us again, they do not even have the power to go against us,'' Tsunade stated in confidence that Gaara would never betray her trust. With what she has seen of the Jinchuriki, it was that he was not one to betray. He was not a deceitful person.

''Kirigakure is still weak from the civil war, and we have just signed an alliance with them. Their Kage is also soon to be married to Naruto - he is also a hero of the village. We can rule them out of any attack, picking a fight with us would only mean their destruction,'' Jiraiya added after his former teammate had spoken.

''We only signed a peace treaty with Iwa to end the third shinobi world war, and our relations with them never improved. We have only stayed out of their way while they did the same with us,'' Chouza stated, as he recalled the Third Shinobi world war. They really did make a name for themselves during that war. But many shinobi did lose their lives.

''I have also received from my contacts that Iwa has been amassing its army over the years to recover and strengthen itself after its loses in the Third war. Kumo has been on lockdown over the past days. Things will only heat up when they know of Naruto's latest activities.'' Jiraiya said referring to Naruto's fight with Pein. The landscape had taken a hit, one will be automatically be fearful of whoever made that mess.

''It seems that we have the power to win if a war does breakout. The matter would be to find a way to avoid it since we don't want our children to face the horrors of war,'' Hiashi stated, earning nods from other head clans. ''We know what war is, and you can all agree with me that our children are not ready for it. I would rather we do anything to avoid it. And I mean anything.''

''I was thinking along the same lines with Tsunade. But we may have to take drastic measures to avoid it,'' Jiraiya said looking at Naruto. ''We have told you about Otogakure and some of you do not agree with what Naruto did. But you do see the benefit the village will bring to Konoha. We have already sent a letter to the Daimyo so he could make it official over the extension of the Fire country.''

''It is not that I don't agree with it, it is just that other villages won't like it. But in this case, it seems that only those who don't like us will hate the idea. Kiri, Suna and our other allies will not have a problem with it since it will benefit them,'' Tsume stated.

''The problem will now be our enemies fighting over control the village. Once they know that Oto is in our fold, they will increase their efforts and will most likely fight us too. Isn't it that Oto does not have the military power to protect itself?'' Shikaku questioned looking at Naruto.

''Konoha does not have to worry about Oto. I was not stupid enough to think that something like this will not happen. I have made preparations to deal with enemies. I will not request any help from Konoha, perhaps I may take Sasuke. That should make things acceptable, no?''

''Are you saying that even when Kumo and Iwa attack simultaneously, you will not need Konoha's aid?''

''That is what I am saying,'' Naruto stated.

''It seems to me that the belief that Oto does not have the military power to protect itself is not quite true,'' Shikaku said.

Naruto merely smiled. ''Nothing can be hidden from a Nara,'' he said.

''Despite all the power you can offer this village, we will not allow your actions to get our shinobi killed,'' Koharu stated looking straight at Naruto.

''We will still have to gather the Kazekage, Mizukage and the ''leader'' of Oto to begin talks and see how we will see things through.''

She had already talked with Jiraiya to ensure that if war broke out, they would stay neutral, and so would Sunagakure. But that option was only available if things got worse than they were now.

''That is a good idea, Tsunade-sama. We will be able to know where each village stands should a war breakout." Inoichi stated. ''But I would like it if we did everything to avoid war.''

Jiraiya looked at Naruto curiously. He knew that Iwa's army was charging towards Oto. He would not bring it up now, but he had already told Tsunade about it. He would have to leave the village after this meeting had head towards the borders of Iwa. He had no doubt that Naruto knew about it and would probably not allow them to get close to his village. He was curious to see how the blond would deal with it. He had to watch this happen.

When it does happen, things will surely turn worse. He just hoped that nothing even worse than Naruto destroying Iwa's army happened.

Hokage monument, later that day

The monument of the Hokages was always quiet and peaceful. It was hard to believe that this place has been in existence since and before Konoha was even born - It had been here when Madara and Hashirama were still brats. This place had been the place the two friends made their settlement. And today, the village stood. Madara had named this village. They had just started it without a name, but afterwards, Madara had named this village Konohagakure.

If it had not been for that cursed Tobirama, Madara may have been the first Hokage or the Second. But that fool and his trust issues just did not trust Uchiha. He never liked Madara to begin with. Not that there was much to like, but the fool was the one responsible for most things. His screwed up way of viewing things had turned things into another matter. He wondered how a man like Tobirama could be the younger brother of a free spirited Hashirama.

The day had been well for him, after meeting with the clan heads, he had gone back to the Uchiha compound to do other things. But Sasuke had not been present, so he settled for lying down. He would need to test out his Rinnegan's power a bit soon.

Well, at least he would be dealing with Iwagakure shinobi. He could test some things on them. Yes, they would prove to be wonderful lab rats. Tomorrow would be a good day though.

It was a bit annoying that he would have to sit with both Mei and Yugao to talk. Yugao did not seem to like the idea of sharing him with another woman. He had even noticed when he told her he would be leaving for the night. The first question she had asked was if he was going to sleep in Kirigakure.

He had not been planning to sleep there. He was planning to get some sleep in Otogakure. But anything was possible. He responded to Yugao in that fashion, she did not seem to accept his response very well. Perhaps she knew that Mei was very straight forward with what she wanted and would probably have him sleep in her bed for the night. The very thought seemed to make Yugao a bit irate. But he did not indulge her. He would rather not start things he did not fully understand. If she had problems, she would sort them out with Mei when he took her to meet with the Mizukage.

Sasuke appeared, in a flash and sat down beside the blond. He was quite for a few moments but before he could speak, Naruto started. ''I nearly left this place since you were keeping me from my other plans,'' the blond stated.

''You are planning on going somewhere?'' Sasuke asked with a curious face.

''Yes, I have to talk to Mei about...something before heading out to Oto.''

''Couldn't you have done this during day or tomorrow?'' It was already dark. Who waited till dark to handle some matters? Well, perhaps Naruto was doing it because he had a teleportation jutsu. With his space/time ninjutsu, he could go anywhere he wanted without having to travel much distances. But he knew that opening those portals had to tax the blond a lot in chakra. But given the amounts of chakra Naruto had, it would not seem to be a problem.

''I could have, but it is better this way.'' Sasuke merely shook his head, not wanting to hear anything further. He doubted he would even understand what the blond would say. It was better left unasked. ''Remind me in two weeks to give you 10 Anbu-level shinobi who will help you start your work effectively with the Military Police. For now, while you train those children, you have no military force. But I will hand you the shinobi so that you can work.''

He had removed all of white zetsu's clones in the village. He took them all to the hideout for study. He wanted to study them further because something had picked up his curiosity lately. And it would not do him any good if he kept relying on Zetsu for Intel. He would have to do with other means.

Removing the Zetsu clones would leave space for Sasuke to work on his own. There would be no Zetsu to track down everything within the village - this left Sasuke with all the work to do instead of being fed all the information by Zetsu.

''Where will you get them?''

''They are many men that have been training in secret. The ten I will give to you will be from an elite group. They were supposed to be in Oto's elite force, but I can spare ten,'' Naruto responded coolly.

''Who will they be loyal to? And isn't Tsunade going to ask questions?''

''It does not matter if she asks questions or not. They will be loyal to Uchiha. Do not worry though; they will listen to your orders. They are very obedient children, especially when their leader knows what he is doing,'' Naruto stated eying Sasuke at the corner of his eyes.

Sasuke nodded, and became silent for a few moments. ''You don't suffer from damaged eye sight because of overuse of the Mangekyou Sharingan. I have only been using it for a short time, and I have started seeing that using the Mangekyou damages the eye sight. For someone who uses his Mangekyou often, you should be blind by now, unless you have the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan.''

''What is your question, Sasuke?''

Sasuke shook his head slightly, ''I do not have a question,'' he said. ''The fact that you gained the Mangekyou means you lost someone precious to you. And the Eternal Mangekyou means you had another relative in the Uchiha clan. I just can't figure who you could be related to. I have looked through all records and I still can't find anything.''

''Don't bother looking any further. There is nothing in records that you will find,'' Naruto responded calmly.

''You sound so confident. But I guess I should not be surprised by this.''

''It is not a matter of confidence. The fact is just that there was nothing ever recorded about my relations to the Uchiha clan.'' It appeared that his grandmother had been bent on screwing Madara that she did not even name him in anything after they parted ways.

''Naruto, where do you see our clan in the future? Do you think more Itachis will be born? Do you think that this village will always force us to make sacrifices like with Itachi?''

Naruto was silent for a few moments, but before he could respond, a plague appeared in a swirling vortex. Sasuke remained calm because Naruto did so. The blond merely narrowed his eyes at the plague before looking back into Konoha. Sasuke could read that he knew the person, but did not seem to like him very much. He noticed that the man was wearing an Akatsuki cloak and a spiral mask with a lone Sharingan on his right. The eye raised questions within his head. But he did not voice his thoughts.

''The remaining three Uchihas have all gathered in one place. Isn't this pleasant, Naruto?'' Obito questioned looking at the back of the blond.

'The remaining three..? Does it mean that this guy is also an Uchiha?' Sasuke thought inwardly, looking between Naruto and the masked man.

''What do you want Obito?'' Naruto questioned. Sasuke was sure he had heard that name somewhere. If he was not mistaken he had heard Kakashi say that name. But he was not going to jump into any conclusions. He would play it safe for now.

''Oh? You seem rather hostile today Naruto. Is it because of Sasuke?''

''It is just annoying having to see you again and again, knowing that I want to kill you, soon. But you are indeed right; I don't like your presence before Sasuke. I would have not liked for you appear before him like this,'' Naruto responded with a small shrug of his shoulder. Sasuke was not surprised to hear Naruto tell the man that he wanted to kill him so bluntly. Sasuke had no doubts that the blond wanted to do that, but that raised a question, why?

''You did tell Konan about me, I just thought I would return the favor.''

''How thoughtful of you,'' it sounded sarcastic. ''Well then, introduce yourself to our fellow Uchiha. But do it quick, and know that the next time you appear before me, I will kill you. I have everything prepared for dealing with you.''

Obito ignored most of what the blond had said. ''Who I am does not really matter. But if you are curious, I am Uchiha Obito, the true leader of the Akatsuki. Naruto and I were trained under the same person. I was trained before him, before I left on my own. I guess I should tell you who Naruto really is,'' Obito paused for a moment. ''He is the son of a mistake, a rejected child of Uchiha Madara. That makes him the grandson of Uchiha Madara. His mother is the rejected Uchiha.''

''My mother, a rejected child,'' Naruto was not the least amused. His Rinnegan was already activated. He was still calm, but the atmosphere around him was not. ''By tomorrow this time, you will be dead. Now disappear before I change my mind.''

''Oh? It seems I have struck a nerve. I will see you soon Sasuke,'' with that the man disappeared in another swirling vortex.

Sasuke looked straight at Naruto with an expressionless face. He noticed the new eyes he had not seen. ''What is with your eyes?''

''You know the story of the Sage of Six paths. He had a doujutsu called the Rinnegan, this it. '' Naruto responded, he was not going to give Sasuke a lecture on how it came to be. That would be exposing too much secrets. Sasuke did not need to know how it had happened. He just had to know that he had the doujutsu and that was it.

By the tone Naruto used, Sasuke knew he was not going to get anymore than Naruto wanted, and what the blond had already said was enough. He would have to search for information about the Rinnegan though. But he was sure that Naruto awakened the eyes recently. He had not seen them from the blond before. But this just means more power. ''So added to the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan, and Mokuton, you also have the Rinnegan. When you reach your prime, you will be nothing but a monster.''

''That may be so. But then again, I won't be the only monster to have ever lived. Madara had as much power as I had, yet Hashirama could defeat him,'' Naruto responded, not denying that he may become a monster in power. But if things became peaceful, his power may just become useless.

''So is it true that you are the grandson of one of Konoha's founders and the strongest man in the Uchiha history?'' Sasuke asked, no, rather he demanded with a stern face. He was going to get the answers he needed for the blond. This was big and he ought to be told about it.

''That is true,'' Naruto responded smoothly. ''As Obito has said, I was trained by Madara a few years ago. You may be wondering how come he was alive at that time, to answer your question; he had found a way to cheat death. He is dead now. As for Obito, he is Kakashi's former teammate. He is the one who gave your sensei his Sharingan. He sacrificed himself for Kakashi, and thought to have died. But Madara saved him. He turned out cold when his ''girlfriend'' died and became involved with the Akatsuki. I will tell you about the goal of the Akatsuki some other time.'' He paused as he stood up. ''Obito is the one who caused the Kyuubi to attack the village 17 years ago. He was only seen by Minato who fought him. I will take my leave now.''

He was gone after that.

Sasuke was sure that no one had been listening to them - For if there had been someone eavesdropping, Naruto would not have said anything. But these new discoveries enlightened him on some of the things he had been in the dark about. He was sure Kakashi would have a mental breakdown if he knew what his former friend had been doing recently. To avoid any of that from happening, Sasuke decided that he was not going to tell the jonin about it, for now at least.

But the fact that Naruto was related to Uchiha Madara did not settle well with him. There was nothing good that was ever painted about the legendary Uchiha. He started well with Konoha and then betrayed the village. Who is to say that Naruto won't do the same? He was trained by the man after all. It would also cause much trouble if it got out that Naruto was the grandson of Madara.

But given this, he could understand that why Naruto kept this a secret. However, he had a problem with secretes; they did nothing but cause destruction when they out. This was one that would also cause much destruction. He knew very well how Konoha people thought, if they were not wary of Naruto, they will become wary of him when it comes out and even more to that, they might hate and fear him, like they did before.

This was all becoming such a mess. He just hoped that things did not get worse than this. If they did, there would be some major decisions to be taken.

Kiri

Mei sighed as she threw herself into her couch. She was really tired today. Her days have been ending like these recently. It was very much hard being the Mizukage without much support of terms her job. She had people supporting her, but she did not have the proper assist. This forced her to do almost everything. And for a village that was recovering from a civil war, there was certainly much work to be done.

Well, at least it was not as bad as before when she had just accepted the role of Mizukage. During those days, she could even work the whole night while others slept. The ones who actually stayed awake were her personal guards who were always watching her. But she was the one doing all the hard work. It was tiring. It was also a bit lonely at home when she came back from work.

There was no one waiting for her.

In her younger days, it was not always like this. She had parents who loved her. Every time she came back home, she always found her mother at home. She always had a smile on her face. It was never lonely at home. She grew up well, but then later the civil war started. Her parents were lost, and she was left alone. Life was cruel. She fought for the liberation of her village of those who still had their families, while she had nothing. She had fought for nothing but the love for her home. Some people today are probably with their families enjoying dinner with warm smiles and laughter.

But she was all alone in this huge house.

Her village could rejoice, in safety. She felt no regrets though. She did not resent those who enjoyed their time with their families while she did not. She was happy for them. She had her time with her parents and knew what it was like to be loved. She had experienced it all. It was now time to let the others experience it. As long as this village was safe and enjoyed peace, her heart would never be empty. Her greatest dream was seeing this village become a force to be reckoned with again. She did not want this village to rise again to become powerful only, but to lead a revolution of peace. This was her home; she did not want it to experience any more bloodshed than it had already.

But still, she felt lonely when times came like this.

''That is not a welcoming look,'' a voice she clearly recalled spoke. She snapped out of her thoughts as she looked at Naruto. She had been so lost in her thoughts that she did not sense him. Because it was him, her Anbu did not alert her. She could understand, and the blond might have just teleported here. ''I almost turned away just by seeing the look on your face.''

Mei did not hide her smile. She was happy that he was here. He had shown up at the right time. She sat up and motioned for him to sit next to her. The blond did so without complaining. ''Why would you do something like that? Don't you care about your fiancé?''

Naruto ignored the second question and only answered the first. ''...for fear of having to indulge you on whatever that was bothering you,'' he responded calmly.

''Ah...Well, you are going to have to suck it up because I will force you to talk to me about these issues,'' her sweet tone clearly suggested that she was not kidding. It seemed that she would force the blond into talking about issues he did not wish to talk about. Naruto did not let his mind wonder how she would go around into forcing him to be submissive.

''Perhaps getting into relationships at this time was not the best of choice,'' Naruto muttered with a sigh. He still maintained that they would only hinder him in his plans. Having to focus on emotions and his plans would confuse things and the result of both would not be perfect.

Mei ignored his muttering. ''What brings you here? Not that I am not happy to see you here, but I am curious,'' she smiled. ''Did you just miss your fiancé?''

''Yugao wants to talk to you; I will bring her here in the next days,'' the blond responded blandly, looking straight at Mei.

''I see,'' Mei responded quietly. She did not look too surprised. It seemed that she had been expecting the other woman to make such a request. If it had taken some time, she would have made the request herself.

''You were expecting this,'' Naruto said looking at her carefully.

Mei nodded. ''It is not surprising. If you were more knowledgeable about these things, you would have brought us together so we could talk long ago. There are certain things that are gone have to be said and agreed on. No one will be happy if Yugao and I end up hating each other.''

''Since that is settled, I will take my leave,'' Naruto said standing up, but Mei quickly got hold of his hand.

''Don't go, Stay with me...''