Author's Notes: Hey guys, thank you so much for reviewing and telling me what you think! It's really encouraged me to continue writing this story. The pairing poll went very well! Some of you guys might be disappointed, but I'd love you to continue reading my story even if you don't get the pairing you like. BUT, as of now it looks like It's gonna be NARUSAKU! Which I am EXTREMELY relieved! That was the original pairing that I was going to have in my story and besides, I think that will be the most likely pairing in this situation. It also adds such a twist in the plot, having to deal with betrayal and all the other emotions that come in the package.

Anyway… This story is moving along great! But I still want your input on plot changes and any other things you guys want. And some of you want a Sakura bashing too eh? Maybe if I hear more of it in the reviews, I'll add that in the story. And tell me if my writing skips around some, cuz when I'm writing it and editing, I can't tell. I'm trying not to put too much of the plot line in this story but that's going to be hard because there is also going to be a fight scene I think. Actually, probably not. I'm trying not to make this story move along to quickly, as in not rush it. But thank you so much for taking the time to read and as always… READ & REVIEW!!!

MAIN PAIRING IS OFFICIALLY NARUSAKU! (Those who don't like it. Too Bad)

I'm really sorry. I had this chapter done a while ago but I wanted a bit of space between updates. I like to keep my audience in suspense!

Summary: Naruto, heartbroken, leaves Konoha at 16. Five years later he returns, but not as everyone expected. Now, a leader of Akatsuki and their village, Naruto must make peace with Konoha or be forced to destroy it. NaruSaku ShikaTem, HinaKiba, NejiTen, ChouIno, SasuOC:)

'Thoughts'

"Dialogue"

Kyubbi – Inner Sakura – Whatever the hell I want

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, but damn, that would be hella tight if I did! On with the story already!


Demon's Return

Chapter 2

In the Hokage tower council room.

"I have called this meeting today in order to discuss the situation with this new Hidden Village that has formed called Sanatogakure." Tsunade stated to everyone in the room.

The meeting comprised of Tsunade, Jiraya, Danzo, Koharu, and Homura, along with the rest of the clan heads.

"Hmm. They are becoming a threat, aren't they?" Danzo sneered. "We should neutralize them then. Dispose of them before they become an even bigger threat."

"I'm afraid they already are. As of now they have the strongest and biggest military force this world has ever seen." Tsunade said.

"Impossible!" Koharu scoffed. "They've been around for what, three years? They couldn't have comprised a military that big so soon."

"Actually, it's very simple." Jiraya explained. "The leader of Sanatogakure made an invitation to all the missing ninjas in the world. ALL of them. He got many people to gather by pledging amnesty and freedom from the Hunter-nins after them."

"Well, it'd sure take someone powerful to fend of all the hunter-nins after the nuke-nins." Homura added with sarcasm dripping from his lips.

"It is." Tsunade replied. "Apparently, Jiraya informed me that it's Akatsuki leading the village."

"Does that mea-"

"Yes." Jiraya finished. "We think that they've finally acquired all the Bijuu."

"So the Kyubbi?"

"We have to assume they have it."

'Naruto' Jiraya and Tsunade thought, 'Please be alright…'

"Jiraya! What else has your agent told you about the organization?" Tsunade inquired.

"Lots. They are located in Wave country and apparently they have a new leader."

"What?! No one could have defeated Pein! He was practically as good as the Yondaime!" Danzo exclaimed.

"Well, whoever it is, they did. My agent told me that he knocked out all of the members in multiple battles. After that, he took a soldier pill and proceeded to fight Pein one on one. He barely came out alive. He took the ring off Pein's finger and put it on his thumb, supposedly this makes you the new leader. The only other thing I know is that he has Akatsuki's full allegiance and everyone in it would gladly give their life for this guy." Jiraya explained.

"Why?" Homura said.

"It appeared that Pein controlled all of the members with that ring that he has. After Pein was defeated and the new guy put the ring on, he had the ability to control everything the rest of the members did. The worst part was that the other members were conscious the whole time they were being controlled, they saw everything that they did, everybody that they killed."

"But why do the give him their allegiance?"

"Well, the new leader got all of the Akatsuki members in a room and released the curse from them, abruptly ending the control of them." Jiraya finished.

"What kind of person would give up that kind of power out of kindness?" Danzo questioned. "He had some of the most powerful ninjas in the world at his mercy and he let them go because of kindness?"

"Yes. And because of this, they're eternally grateful. They've dedicated the rest of their lives to following this leader. I also heard that they are all companions and that Itachi is best friends with the leader."

"Do you think that he was controlled by Pein during the Uchiha massacre?" Tsunade asked hopefully.

Jiraya contemplated, "We have no idea to tell for sure, but my guess would be yes."

"That's good news, but what about the Bijuu?" Tsunade said.

"Well, we know that they have one through eight, which that by itself is more than enough reason to be frightened, but now that they have started a village, I can only guess that they have the Nine Tails also."

"But what would they do with them?" Koharu questioned, "If they sealed them into the members then it would kill them! Do you think that they're planning to put the Bijuu into newborns like the Yondaime?"

"No, no." Jiraya answered. "I already know what they did with them, and it's actually quite brilliant."

"Jiraya!" Tsunade snapped, "Don't compliment the enemy!"

"Yea sure. Anyways, they didn't seal them into someone, but someTHING. You know those rings that they have?"

"So that's why they value those rings so much." Danzo muttered.

"Exactly. With the Bijuu sealed into rings it won't kill the person carrying it and it will be easy to hand off the rings if somebody dies. It may not have the same benefits as having the two chakra sources mix with each other like in a Jinchuriki, but it is still an incredible destructive force!"

"That IS brilliant. So what Akatsuki members carry the rings now?" Tsunade asked.

"Well there's Itachi with the eight tailed, Kisame with the seven tailed, Zetsu with the six tailed, this blue haired girl who is rumored to have the Byakugan, named Kanaki, has the five taile-"

"WHAT?! How could someone outside of they Hyugga clan have that doujutsu? It's impossible." Hiashi yelled.

"No, it's not. She took the eyes from a member of the main family after she killed her."

"No main member of the Hyugga household has been killed except…"

Jiraya hung his head down.

Hiashi finished, "My… wife."

"I'm really sorry Hiashi. But don't go looking for revenge yet, don't make the same mistake I did." Sasuke said while walking in the room.

"I'm glad you could finally make it Sasuke." Tsunade said glaring.

"Don't worry I didn't miss anything. I was actually outside the door listening in."

"Well good."

"Any way, Kanaki has the five-tailed, Deidara has the four tailed, Tobi has the three tailed, Kakuzu has the two tailed, and Hidan has the one tailed."

"The nine tailed?" Sasuke asked.

"Well, the leader of course!" Danzo said.

"Damn it!" Sasuke cursed, "So Naruto?"

"We don't know that they have it for sure Sasuke. Don't make any brash moves you might regret. But if you want to know what I think, I think that he's alive." Tsunade said.

"You're right," Sasuke agreed, "That dobe would never go back on his promises."

"That's real touching and all, but can't we get back to the matter at hand?" Koharu added.

"Yes, I'm sorry."

"So how big exactly do you think their military power is?" Danzo said curiously.

"My agent informs me that they would win if they fought with us, the cloud, rock, and sand. And more ninjas arrive everyday." Jiraya said.

"But we'd have way more ninjas than them!"

"Maybe, but there caliber of ninjas are much stronger"

"What do you mean, Jiraya?" Tsunade questioned.

"Well first of all, what's the reason why missing-nins are chased after by hunter-nins?"

"So that the secret techniques and bloodlines of the village don't fall into- Oh my god!!"

"Precisely. They've been training with other ninjas in the village for the past three years. The leader of Sanatogakure and Akatsuki has emphasized how important it is to show everyone the secret techniques from their former village."

"So you're saying…"

"Yea. I'm guessing everyone will know everybody else's techniques."

"That's amazing!" Sasuke gasped.

"And that's without adding to the fact they probably have tons of Bloodline limits. If that village flourishes, think of all the clans that they'll have! The leader is trying to get everyone to breed and start clans of their own."

"Just think," Danzo said, "In fifty years or so, that village will be literally unstoppable! We need to stop them now."

"I agree with Danzo" Koharu stated, "We need to get all of the Hidden Villages together and discuss a way to destroy that village!"

"Are you kidding?!" Tsunade yelled, "No village would agree to that! With all the tension between the villages, you think that they would risk putting all of the village leaders in the same place at the same time! Be realistic. And even if we did, it'd take time and I'm not so sure that fight would be a pushover. Akatsuki by itself could probably take this village!"

"So what are we going to do?" Homura asked.

"I think the best action would be to wait it out while sending out messenger birds to all the other hidden villages telling them what's going on." Tsunade said.

"NO!" Danzo said while pounding his fist on the table, "We need to take action now or we'll be crushed!"

"You'll do as I SAY!" Tsunade yelled back.

Danzo sat down; 'I need to get those rings! With all of their rings in my sole possession, I'll be the strongest shinobi in the world!'

"So, what is the government structure of this village," Sasuke said, "Is it dictatorship, is there a bunch of people leading it…?"

"Actually," Jiraya said, "It's not a dictatorship like you'd think. They have the normal Genin, Chunnin and Jounin, but they also have elite forces similar to our ANBU. One of them is called NEO, which is the assassination apartment of the village. I've heard that they are very highly skilled. Then they have the run of the mill medic-nins, one of them I heard is extremely talented medic as well as fighter. She's actually from Konoha and she'd rival Sakura or Tsunade. Kakashi might be familiar with her. Rin."

'Hmmm. At least Kakashi will be happy to know that she's alive.' Sasuke thought.

"Then they have a group called OMNI, which is a group dedicated to protecting the missing-nins in the village and protecting the border. They've been doing a very good job at it too. No hunter-nins so far have killed a single nuke-nin."

"You'd think that with all the hunter-nins from all the villages that they would at least kill one!" Koharu exclaimed.

"Yea, but the leader puts his ninjas and the citizens of his village safety before anything else so he has his most skilled ninjas protecting them." Jiraya said.

"What is the leader and Akatsuki's role in the village?" Homura asked.

"Akatsuki is the top of the heap there. They act like a council and they take on the toughest missions if they need them." Jiraya said.

"They already get missions?!" Tsunade said.

"Yes. And they get more missions than any other Hidden Village in the world. LOTS more." He replied.

"That explains the drop in missions over the past year or two" she muttered, "Who is their Kage?"

"Their Kage is the leader of Akatsuki and the village. He is the supreme commander of the village. The second in command is Itachi and the rest of the members report to him also. There economy is also booming. Because of the mission applications, they have more money than they know what to do with."

"We know what a Kage is. Tell us more about him." Sasuke ordered.

"Not much is known about him. All I know is that he is very young, around 21, very strong, and… that he is a former Konoha ninja."

"…"

'21? Former Konoha shinobi? Could it be…? No. He couldn't have gotten that powerful so quick. It's impossible.'

"Thank you Jiraya, This meeting is adjourned; we'll meet again tommo-"

"Hokage-sama!" Konohomaru burst into the room rather clumsily.

"What is it! Whatever it is better be good or I'll-"

"Akatsuki is at the gate!"

Tsunade stared blankly at him. 'Speak of the devil.'

"All of them are there, including their leader. They wish to come in peace and they want your most skilled ninjas to come with you along with anybody else you wish."

"You talked to them?!" Tsunade yelled half-heartedly not believing her ears.

"No. I was there with Kakashi and he told me to tell you."

Tsunade looked back at everyone still in the room.

"Let's go. And Sasuke, I want you to gather the entire Rookie nine and all of our strongest shinobi and meet us at the gate."

"Yes Hokage-sama." He swiftly exited the room.

She nodded.

They all disappeared towards the gate.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Ah, the great copy ninja, Hatake Kakashi! I'm honored!" Naruto said. 'What a coincidence.' He thought.

"Akatsuki…" Kakashi muttered under his breath. 'I'm in for it this time.'

Akatsuki stood right at the gates entrance. All nine of them making somewhat of a triangle formation, with Itachi and Naruto at the front. They were about to enter the village when Kakashi moved right in front of them, preventing from advancing.

"Kakashi, I do not want to fight you, now, will you move aside?" Naruto asked.

"I'm very sorry. Although, I'm pretty sure I don't want to fight the leader of Akatsuki either, but I can't allow you to pass."

"Well," Itachi said, "Did you send someone to tell Lady Hokage that we're here?"

"Yea, and you better prepare yourselves because she's bringing our most powerful shinobi with her." Kakashi said.

"Hahahah." Everybody in Akatsuki laughed.

"As much as we'd love to annihilate Konoha Shinobi Kakashi, we're not here to fight. But if you want us to, I guess we can't disagree. That wouldn't be proper for a guest!" Kisame sneered.

The rest of Akatsuki snickered.

"That's enough Kisame. We don't want to start a fight… yet." Naruto said.

Kakashi tensed up. 'So they might fight after all. I hope I'm not the one facing them'

Kakashi stood his ground, hoping that Tsunade would hurry up soon. If she didn't, he might be finished. 'Why would they just waltz in here if they were trying to invade? It doesn't make any sense? Maybe they don't want to fight after all.'

Akatsuki started walking towards Kakashi. Kakashi slipped into a fighting stance, expecting them to stop walking. Surprisingly, they didn't. They just walked right past him ignoring him.

"Tell Hokage to meet me us in the middle of town. Kakashi, till later." Naruto said.

Kakashi just turned around and watched them as they walked into the distance.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"HAHAHA! Did you see his face? He looked like he was about to shit himself." Hidan said.

"Yea," Deidara agreed, "I didn't know that we were that intimidating. I bet you we could waltz into the Hokage tower and ask her for her hat and she'd give it to us!"

"Yes," Kakuzu added, "we do seem to have some sort of a reputation."

"You think?" Naruto said sarcastically.

"Yes, I do. Wanna say that again to my face?!"

"Ohh Noooo! I'm sooo afraid!"

"Grrrrrrr."

"Hahaha." Kanaki laughed. "Not so tough anymore are you?"

"I wouldn't be talking, Kanaki," Tobi laughed. "You got beaten by ME!"

"You shouldn't be talking either, Tobi" Itachi retorted, "I beat all y'all!"

"Not me!"

"Yea, that was a given Naruto" Zetsu said.

"Yea! I'm so good!"

"I still want another rematch, Naruto." Itachi said.

"Yea sure, I'll just win agai- OH MY GOD!"

"What! What is it!" the other eight said.

"I-It's, I-It's…" He stuttered as he pointed his finger.

They slowly followed his finger until there vision rested on Ichiraku's Ramen.

"I'ts just-" Kanaki started.

"RAMEN! RAMEN! RAMEN!" Naruto shouted as he sprinted to the now much bigger restaurant.

"Wow! They've really done something with this!" He ran inside and sat down at a table big enough for all nine of them. He started snapping his fingers in the air, signaling a waitress to come.

The rest of them just sweat dropped.

"Did he just-"

"Yep" Itachi said. "We'd best follow him before he gets angry."

They skeptically looked at him for a second before shrugging and going into the restaurant. 'Last time he was angry was NOT fun!' Itachi thought.

They sat down next to him and were silent for a few moments while Naruto was rubbing his hands in anticipation. They were looking at each other before Tobi said, "Uhhhhhh, won't the Hokage be mad that you ditched an important meeting for some ramen?"

"Nah!" Naruto said while waving his hands, "She can wait a couple minutes, or 45."

Everyone chuckled. Just then Ino came up and was about to ask them what they'd like.

"Hello, welcome to Ichiraku's ramen. What would you like to or-AHHHHHHHH! Akatsuki!! What are YOU doing here?!" Ino Yelled right in Tobi's ear.

"Ouch woman!" Tobi said while putting his finger in his ear.

"Is that a trick question? We were about to order before you started yelling." Zetsu said sarcastically.

"Now may we order our food?" Naruto asked.

"ummmmmmmmm…"

"Alrite! I'll have ten bowls of Miso Ramen and everybody else will just have one." Naruto said. "O yea, I almost forgot. LOTS of sake!"

Everyone murmured there agreement.

"…alright… be right out…" Ino said. 'This is TOTALLY weird!'

Naruto started day dreaming about ramen with a little bit of drool hanging out of his mouth. 'mmmmm raaammmeeen'

"Naruto!" Itachi snapped, "It's polite to take your hat off in a restaurant."

Naruto looked around at all the others, noticing that all their hats were off. Except Zetsu, he can't really put a hat on to begin with.

"Ahhh, that's not fair. Since I'm the leader I say I don't take my hat off and you have to train with Lee tomorrow! HA!" Naruto said.

"fine…" Itachi mumbled. 'Hopefully he'll forget what he said after he gets his ramen.'

They all talked about random stuff for about fifteen minutes, except for Naruto, he was too busy day dreaming about ramen. It was until Itachi said…

"So how about it, Naruto?"

"Huh?" he said turning his head.

"We were going to go drinking after tonight's meeting and we're all wondering if that's alright with you?"

"Alright?! When is it ever NOT alright?!"

"Then it's settled. We gonna go drinking!" he said enthusiastically.

"Hurrah!" They all chanted and clanked their glasses together.

"ummm…" Ino said looking a bit confused.

"Oh, hey shut up guys, our ramen is here!"

"Just take it." she thrust the ramen at them.

She turned around and was about to walk away when the only guy with his hat on said, "We're done."

"WHAT?!" she said and looked back.

ALL the ramen was gone.

'Amazing!'

"We'll take the bill now."

"No. We don't want any trouble. It's on the house."

'Wow! If I was a lesser person I'd surely take advantage of that, but, sadly I'm not.' Naruto thought.

"No I insist. We'll also leave in a pretty nice tip for a girl as beautiful as you." Naruto said.

Ino face turned cherry red as she heard what he said.

Naruto put the money down on the table and tipped his hat too her, then promptly walked out with the rest of Akatsuki at his heels.

Ino stood there, perplexed. Also, that guy left way too much ryou on the table. About twice as much needed. 'Since when have they been so nice she thought? Oh well.' She grinned evily, then stuck the money in her pocket and went to get a rag and clean up.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Where the hell are they!" Tsunade yelled.

"Kakashi, are you sure they said they'd meet you here?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama, I'm positive."

"Well they better be here soon, it's been almost thirty minutes."

'I hope they get here soon, for my sake.' Kakashi gulped.

"They'll come. And besides, what would you do if they didn't, declare war?" Jiraya taunted.

She punched Jiraya in the face and he flew back into and outdoors restaurant making tables and chairs fly everywhere. "Nobody asked you, idiot."

"Tsunade, there was something familiar about the leader of Akatsuki." Kakashi said.

"Oh really, and what was that?" Tsunade asked.

"It was his voice. I don't know, it just sounds familiar."

"Well I thought something might, he was from Konoha." Jiraya said, standing up from the rubble and brushing himself off.

"Are you serious?! So that wasn't me just going crazy?" Kakashi said surprised.

"Did you see his face?" Jiraya said excited.

"No," he answered, "No, I didn't. They all had their hats and cloaks on when they were with me."

"Oh," Jiraya said disappointed. "They say that no one has seen his face outside of the Akatsuki members. The only reason we knew the old one was because of Sasuke's and Sakura's infiltration four years ago."

Just then Sasuke showed up along with the Rookie Nine, Sai, Yamato, Konohomaru, Hanabi, and the clan heads.

"About time you showed up Uchiha!" Tsunade stated.

"Ahh, I got lost on the path of life."

"H-h-hey! That's my excuse!" Kakashi accused while pointing his finger at Sasuke.

Sasuke just casually looked at him and said, "Hmmm? You say something?"

Kakashi sweat dropped. "That was mine too…" he mumbled.

"Enough of that nonsense, get into your stances, they're coming." Tsunade whispered.

All nine came walking up the street towards the large group of Konoha shinobi. They had their arms around each other and were yelling profane words at one another.

'These sure don't look like our biggest threat, Hell they don't even look like shinobi. Actually they look like they're…'

"Drunk?!" Tsunade screamed, "What the HELL is going on?!"

'OOO boy she's pissed. Get out now!'

"HA!" Deidara yelled, "That still wasn't as bad as when we caught Itachi playing make believe with Sasori's old puppets! That was priceless!"

"I thought we weren't going to bring that up again! You guys suck!"

"Haha, those were good tim- Hey! Compose yourselves, we're here!" Naruto said.

All the Akatsuki members got back into a triangle formation and stopped in front of Tsunade. Everybody had there hats off except for Naruto. He wanted to keep his identity concealed for as long as possible. Hopefully, get the treaty signed before they found out who he was.

"Good morning, Lady Hokage." Naruto politely said.

"Actually, more afternoon than morning seeing how late you are!"

"Ahh, yea. I got lost on the road of life." He replied.

They all looked at him like he was crazy. 'What the Hell! Is that coincidence or was he listening in?'

"Anyways, on to business. What's the reason for coming to our village? You should be happy that our shinobi didn't attack you on sight." She said staring at the Leader.

"Yea, you're right; otherwise Ino-san wouldn't have been very capable of serving us ramen now would she?"

"You served the enemy?! How could you?" Tsunade glared at Ino.

"Wellll… they had a REALLY big tip."

"I don't care about your tip; just let me bash that guy's head in for killing Naruto!" Sakura yelled.

"Naruto? You must mean the container of the Nine Tails? Were you two friends?" Naruto said.

"Sort of…" she sheepishly replied, thinking of her last words to him.

"Well, then I'm glad to say that he's alive. I abandoned what the old leader's goals were after I killed him. In fact, I even know where he is right now!"

"Please tell me!" Sakura pleaded.

"He's closer than you think." Then Naruto looked at Jiraya and winked at him.

Jiraya's eyes widened as he realized exactly who it was that was standing before him. He was about to say something but Naruto put a finger to his lips, silencing him. Then, after Jiraya got over the shock, he smiled. Finally at peace now that he had found his long lost pupil.

Tsunade looked at Naruto, then at Jiraya. 'He knows something and I'm gonna find out'

"But…" Naruto looked back at Sakura, "I don't think you deserve to know."

Sakura gasped, and then looked down at her feet. 'Naruto. He's right. I don't deserve to know.'

Then he walked past her and straight up to Tsunade and said, "You probably want to know why I'm here, yes? Well it's fortunate that you sent no ninjas to attack me because I wanted to come in peace. You most likely know all about our village and its workings. I hear Jiraya is an excellent information gatherer. Well that doesn't matter. Do you plan on attacking us, Lady Hokage?"

"If we didn't know your military power then most likely yes, but as of now I'm undecided. I think that I'll wait it out. I bet you're glad, not having to attack your former village." Tsunade answered.

Naruto tensed up immediately at this. 'How much do you know?' he thought.

He looked over at the two Uchihas who were intensely glaring at each other. 'I really hope Sasuke believes that Itachi was under control during the massacre.'

"Itachi, Sasuke! Stop glaring!" He yelled. They both looked at him then looked away.

"How do you know my name?" Sasuke inquired cautiously.

"Ha. Who doesn't know your name? The last Uchiha in Konoha, Sharingan user Sasuke. You're also Itachi's brother, dumbass. It's not like he didn't tell me about you, but… I'd love to fight you." Naruto said smirking.

"I'd love to kick your ass." Sasuke retorted.

"Maybe if you took that stick out of your ass then you'd stand a chance." Naruto snapped back.

Sasuke looked flustered but replied with a usual, "Hnn."

"Ha. You act just like your brother" Naruto said, "Anyway, on with business. I want an alliance."

"You want an alliance?" Tsunade said in disbelief. "What makes you think we'd agree to an alliance with a bunch of missing shinobi?"

"Because if you don't, I'll have to destroy your village" he said without hesitation.

"Hmmm. You make a good point."

"Indeed. I'll give you the terms. I want a complete ceasefire. No attacks of any kind. Even if you're provoked. There are too many excuses to start a war, and right now, I don't think that you WANT to be in a war with Sanatogakure. Second travel through your lands without harassment. Also I want amnesty with my Nins. I want to be assured that they won't be attacked by hunter-nins."

"Ahh, I see. You need passage without conflict because you need to go through the Fire country from Wave in order to get anywhere." Tsunade explained.

"That's not the only reason. You're the second strongest village out there. With you as our ally, I'm sure other villages would be less likely to attack. They'd also have to go through you to get to us, so it's kind of like a major defense for us, and the less casualties the better."

"But, there's a catch," he said, "You have to pick your best team and make them fight against me. All four of them against me. If I feel that if they do a good enough job against me, then I'll uphold the treaty. But if I feel that their display is less than satisfactory, I'll know that you're a weak village and more than likely declare war."

"And, believe it, even though I was part of Konoha, that was my past, and I will do all in my power to protect my village and insure its success."

Tsunade gulped. 'He's serious.' She looked to her right and met eye contact with Jiraya. He nodded at her then she turned back to Naruto.

"I accept your offer, but, I also want to add something to the treaty."

Naruto nodded his head, already knowing what she was going to say.

"If we're ever in need of your assistance, then you'll send the appropriate amount of shinobi to come to our aid." She said hopefully.

"And vice versa, consider it done!" Naruto said, "Now let's hurry up and sign before we reconsider."

Naruto tossed a scroll to Tsunade who proceeded to open it and read it. She took her time because she was checking for any trick on words that might have been in there. But surprisingly, she found it to be pretty straightforward. She looked at Naruto, then Jiraya, then back at Naruto. She signed.

"Wooh! Now I need a bottle of sake!" She reached inside her shirt and pulled out a hidden flask of sake inside her bust (couldn't resist!). She took a huge sip.

"Just curious," Tsunade started, "Why the sudden change of mood? What happened with the Cold Killers of Akatsuki? Not to be offensive, but when you're walking down the street with your arms around each other, drunk and talking about puppets shows," she looked at Itachi and giggled, "you don't give off a very terrorizing vibe."

"Let's just say that with me as their leader, a whole lot has changed." He grabbed her sake, took a giant gulp, and gave it back to her,"And also, it's a lot more fun being friends than staring each other down all time, not that we don't do that anyway." He chuckled.

"Hmmm. I guess."

"Now that it's over, I think I'll take my leave and tour Konoha for a bit." Naruto said. He turned around and was about to walk away when…

"Wait!" Tsunade said.

'Oh Boy. Here it comes.' he thought.

"I want to see the face of the person who I'm going to be in an alliance with."

"Umm… no?"

"Oh, I insist!" she said gleefully.

He sighed. "Very well then…"

He turned around slowly and faced everybody. All eyes were glued on him. He sighed again and put his hand on his hat. Very slowly, he started taking it off, then let it fall off to his side. He looked up at Tsunade.

CRASH. The sake bottle fell to the floor and the liquid flowed freely over the pavement.

"Naruto…" She said through teary eyes.


Author's Notes: O MY GOD! What will everyone think of Naruto? Will he and Sakura get back together? Eventually. But not without some heavy drama hehe. I'm such a jerk. Sorry to all you voters who didn't get there way. DEAL WITH IT. IT'S GONNA BE NARUSAKU!! That's the way I originally had it and that's the way it's gonna be. I really think that this chapter wasn't as good as my last. If you didn't notice, I tried to add a bit of humor to the story. DON"T WORRY! It's still gonna be angsty. Next chapter is gonna be saweet. Lunch with the old friends and catching up, then the fight! I'll probably be starting it tonight also. But most importantly…

READ AND REVIEW! (I wanna know what you think! Not as much drama as last chapter. But still alrite I thought. Tell me what you though of this chapter compared to my last, puhleese!)

Next chapter is gonna be HOT AND JUICY DRAMA!