Hiya everyone, welcome to my newest story on one of my favorite anime NARUTO! Now I'll be little slow in updating this story in the beginning because I'm approaching the climax of my other story 'The Reason for Existing' also a Naruto fic. So please bear with me for the first few chapters!
It was a fine day at Konoha. The sky was blue; the white clouds swam lazily across it. The streets were filled with busy people. The trees were rustling in the wind. And as usual the Hokage's Tower was echoing with shouts and crashes.
Not even a full month had passed since the Akatsuki's Leader 'Pain' had invaded Konoha and destroyed it from the centre using a jutsu of unimaginable power. Naruto Uzumaki, the jinchurki of the Kyubi had defeated all six bodies of Pain and had sought a private meeting with Nagato, the real body of Pain. What had passed between Nagato and Naruto still remained a mystery because the blonde refused to speak about it. But the final outcome was that Nagato felt the horror of what he had done and had sacrificed his life by performing a life giving jutsu on the village and reviving those who had already been killed.
The village had not completely been built back to it's former grandeur but was making extremely fast progress, all that remained to be fixed were the Training Areas 70 – 100 and a few patches here and there. The Godaime Hokage Tsunade had taxed every ounce of her chakra to protect the villagers and had fallen into a deep coma for the next 25 days. In these 25 days the Leader of the Anbu Root, Shimura Danzo had been elected as the candidate Sixth Hokage by the Fire Daimyo and the Elders, however before his appointment could become official the news had arrived that Tsunade had awoken from her coma and thus the busty Hokage had been re-instated to her former position.
Said Hokage was currently in a furious mood as the village Elders Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado stood before her eyeing her with utter disdain.
"What the hell do you mean? I thought we already discussed this matter a hundred times" cried Tsunade as her assistant Shizune winced at the volume of her mentor's voice.
"Calm down Tsunade, you are not making the situation any better with your rage" said Koharu Utatane, the female Elder calmly as Tsunade glared at her and sat down muttering under her breath.
"It's true we agreed to let you give Uzumaki Naruto missions outside the perimeter of Konoha, we even allowed you to let him go to Mount Myoboku and train, however in light of the past events I feel it is necessary that this freedom be taken away from Naruto, for his own safety of course" said Homura Mitokade.
"You saw what the Akatsuki is capable of, god forbid if they were to attack our village again while it's still in such a fragile condition then who knows what could happen. If Naruto was allowed to go roaming whever he liked it might make the Akatsuki desperate" said Koharu Mitokade getting ready for a fresh outburst from Tsunade.
Instead Tsunade fell back on her chair as her shoulder slumped down. "I don't believe you two" she said in a voice filled with disbelief.
The Elders had not expected this reaction thus their eyebrows turned to frowns.
"What?" asked Homura as Tsunade leaned forward.
"Are you two blind? Or maybe you're deaf? You're certainly not dumb, unfortunately but there must be something vital missing in you, did you not see?" asked Tsunade.
"Stop behaving like a child and state clearly what you want to say Tsunade" barked Koharu Utatane getting irritated.
"Let me ask you a question? Do you think it would be possible for me, or you two, or Danzo to waltz up to one of the most dangerous criminals in the Shinobi world, the person who killed Jiraiya, the person who leads a group of the most savage criminals, is it possible for us to waltz up to him and convinced him to see the wrongs of his ways and then show him the right path too? What do you think would have happened if Naruto had not done what he did? It's shameful I admit but I would probably have failed to protect the village. Konoha would have been obliterated, no…don't interrupt me, don't you people see that Naruto is not a weapon for Konoha to use against anybody Akatsuki or otherwise. Don't you see how people look at Naruto these days? He's a hero in Konoha and the first people who should be thankful to him are the two of you" said Tsunade with surprising calm.
The two seemed slightly taken aback by this however they didn't seem to bring out a suitable comeback.
"You're silent now. It's because you know you can't use the villagers hatred and fear of the Kyubi to your intention and persuade the village into isolating Naruto like you did with Sarutobi-sensei. And let me tell you this, if you two hadn't been his teammates I would have slugged you two and that stuck up Danzo a long time ago" said Tsunade.
"Tsunade!" cried the two Elders as they pushed back their chairs and got up.
"I'm not joking. Now are you going to reclaim your decision of not letting Naruto leave the village or do I have to convince you a little more?" asked Tsunade cracking her wrist when she said 'convincing'.
"Also if Naruto-Kun was kept in the village then Akatsuki might be even more tempted to attack Konoha. The more permanent he becomes the more likely that area is to fall under attack" said Shizune.
The two Elders gulped and glared as they gathered their wits, "Very well, we will comply with you Tsunade, however you must know we don't think much of you as a Hokage, using threats to have your way, if the Daimyo is furious it will be your fault and we'll make sure he knows that" said Homura Mitokade as the two shuffled out of the room with as much dignity as they could muster.
Tsunade let out a sigh of relief as she sat back on her chair, "Those two are really irritating, I wonder when they'll die and let the village have some proper Elders" said Tsunade.
"Tsunade-Sama, please don't say things like that. Anyways you're much too stressed, you ought not to be working so hard right after you woke up" said Shizune.
"I have no say in it, the Five Kage Summit is taking place in two weeks time and there are a hundred things I need to sort out before I can go to that damn meeting" said Tsunade tapping her pen on her table.
"Well isn't it wonderful that there have been so many promotions?" asked Shizune as she poured out some green tea for Tsunade.
Jounin Exams had taken place in Konoha 20 days after Pain's Invasion to raise the standard of the village. Five chunins and one genin had been promoted to the rank of Jounin. The Chunins being Haruno Sakura, Shikamaru Nara, Inuzuka Kiba, Rock Lee and Aburame Shino. Needless to say the entire village had supported the prospect of Naruto skipping the Chunin exams. A feeble protest was put up by the Elders but they had been cried down. Some people even wanted to elect Naruto as the Hokage when Tsunade decided to retire.
"The nerve of that punk, as if I'm anywhere close to retiring, the day I retire is still far off" said Tsunade as her eyes softened, "However Naruto will become Hokage someday, and a great Hokage, maybe even as great as my grandfather"
Just then the door flew open and Haruno Sakura rushed in after a very energetic Uzumaki Naruto.
"Say Granny, I met the geezers on the way up, what did you say to them? They looked like someone put them across their knee and spanked them" said Naruto cheerfully.
"Naruto!" cried Sakura hitting the blonde on the head hard causing him to bow down in front of Tsunade.
"Naruto you're a Jounin now, we can't have you speaking like a little 12- year old" said Kakashi quietly from behind them.
"I was under the impression that Naruto-kun's mind was still that of a 12 year old" said Sai stoically as Naruto turned to him, "What was that? You got something to say jerkface?"
Despite being Jounin team Kakashi had not disbanded. They were all capable of carrying out single missions but when Team missions were concerned Tsunade preffered Naruto to be under Kakashi or Yamato and with Sakura always by his side. She was not very trustful of Sai but was learning to trust him.
Over Naruto's yells and Sai's impertinent replies Sakura walked over to Tsunade and handed her a file.
"This is a report of our missions. We completed the mission sucessfuly but one important thing is that we met an Akatsuki pair on our travel. We don't know exactly what happened, it could have been a genjutsu, but it seemed as if one of them attacked their partner and before we knew it the two had disappeared. They didn't even attempt to fight Naruto" said Sakura.
"Hm, well after the death of Pain and his partner how many members of Akatsuki do you think there are?" asked Tsunade.
"There are Itachi Uchiha and his partner Hoshigaki Kisame" suggested Shizune.
The former's name brought a dark look over Naruto and he stopped yelling at Sai as his bangs cast a shadow over his eyes.
A month or two before Pain's invasion Naruto, Sakura, Sai and Yamato had run into Sasuke and his group of three members which was then called 'Hebi'. Recently renamed as 'Taka' they had followed the four when suddenly Sasuke had turned on them and attacked them viciously before disappearing into thin air. Later they had discovered Sasuke and Itachi's unconscious bodies at an old building. Itachi was about to die of blood loss when suddenly an Akatsuki member with a Venus fly trap over his head and his skin split into Black and White had appeared out of the ground with an Akatsuki member wearing an orange swirly mask. Before they knew it Sasuke and Itachi's bodies had disappeared and after a brief bout with the two Akatsuki members they had lost track of them too. Only three days earlier had news arrived from Kusagakure that Sasuke and his team 'Taka' had been spotted there wearing Akatsuki cloaks. The news had shattered Naruto and he had been depressed for the next two days cheering up only when he got a mission.
"True, they are still there but it wasn't them. We would have recognized Kisame Hoshigaki with his huge sword. Moreover why would one of them wish to attack the other? I was under the impression when they attacked four years ago, that they were a rather smooth team" said Kakashi.
"I suppose so, it's strange, I felt that after their Leader died Akatsuki would cease to operate, but it seems as if someone has stepped forward and become the next Leader. And there is the possibility that they hired new members" said Shizune.
"The thing is we have such little information about them after Jiraiya-Sama's death. If only we knew more then we could have been sure" stated Sai.
Tsunade meanwhile had not been listening to the conversation. Her brown eyes seemed haggard and worried as she began tapping her finger nail upon the wooden surface of her table. This reaction did not go unnoticed by Kakashi.
"I agree it would be better if we had more information on them" said Shizune.
"Information. I suppose if we got a lot of inside information then it would help us a lot?" said Tsunade.
"That's a rather rhetorical question Tsunade-Sama" said Kakashi, "Do you perhaps know anything consequential?"
Suddenly Tsunade slammed her fist onto her table and stood up.
"Okay Kakashi, you, Naruto, Sai and Sakura need not function as a team for a while, you're all dismissed for now. Take some rest, that must have been a very taxing mission even though it was only a day long. Shizune, go to the hospital and spend the rest of the day there, I'd like to be alone for a while" said Tsunade as her assistant and Sakura threw her a concerned look.
"Is…everything all right Tsunade-Sama?" asked Sakura.
"Yes, yes, everything's fine. Now leave quickly all of you" said Tsunade practically pushing them all out of her office and slamming the door shut. They heard the bolt being drawn across as the heard footsteps going back to the desk.
"Well, of all the mad things to do. I tell ya, Granny's going senile" said Naruto looking puzzled as he sauntered off with Sai in the tow.
Shizune and Sakura merely looked confused as they too left. Kakashi stood in front of the Hokage's door for a while staring into space before he too turned and walled out of the hallway.
Meanwhile within the Hokage's room Tsunade sat behind her desk writing feverishly on a large scroll, filling it with her neat, slanting hand writing. After finishing an extremely long letter she rolled it up, put it in a scroll container and then bit her thumb and slammed her fist down onto the floor of her room summoning a small clone of Katsuyu.
"What can do for you today Tsunade-Sama?" asked the slug politely as Tsunade held out the scroll.
"Absorb it Katsuyu. Then ride atop one of my fastest messenger birds and leave this note where she checks for it. Got it?" asked Tsunade.
"Hai, I hope nothing's wrong?" asked Katsuyu as she enveloped herself around the scroll.
"Everything's wrong. And hopefully with her here she'll help me put things right" said Tsunade as she went to her private aviary and opened the cage of a powerful looking messenger eagle.
"Oh dear, he's still a bit scary after all the times I've ridden atop him. Oh well, rest assured Tsunade-Sama I will do my utmost best to get this letter safely to her" said Katsuyu crawling atop the eagle who gave a scream and rose into the air.
"Good luck Katsuyu, don't fail me" muttered Tsunade as the sun ducked behind a storm cloud.
Far away in a temple in the forgotten village of Yumegakure (Village Hidden in Dreams) sat a cloaked figure in front of a statue of a god with four hands and three eyes. The statue was made of stone and was rather poorly carved. The quality of the stone however was excellent because despite being a hundred years old the statue was in perfect condition.
Sitting in Indian style before it the cloaked figure was silent. The silence of the air was suddenly broken when the harsh cry of an eagle pierced the air. Getting up slowly the cloaked figure walked out into the courtyard of the temple when suddenly a scroll came fluttering down into her outstretched hands.
The cloak had red clouds all over it.
Well that's it for this chapter. Hope you guys liked it. I'll try and update as soon as I can. Bye for now!