This chapter was rushed, so if there are any mistakes, don't shoot me.

Random Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto. If I did, Kakashi would have kept his Susano'o…and The Last would not be 'the last'.

Chapter Four: Changes

Naruto appeared within the blink of an eye at the training ground he was supposed to meet his new "sensei" in. As soon as he appeared within the training ground, he saw Danzō turn around and look at him with an unreadable expression in his eyes. The old man stood still, letting his eyes do the searching as he examined the blonde from top to bottom. After a tense few seconds of scrutiny from Danzō, Naruto was beginning to feel a bit unnerved. Thankfully for him though, the man seemed to stop his assessment of him as he said, "If you were wondering about why I was examining you, it is because I want to see which physical portions of you stand out from the rest."

"Physical portions?" Naruto asked, feeling confused by what the old man said.

Danzō, though not really in the mood to explain things, decided to do so anyway. He needed the Kyūbi on his side, and as such he had to be patient. He had to win him over from Tsunade, and as such he needed to be a good mentor to the boy. He needed to be someone the boy could come to for advice, so that was why he proceeded to explain what he meant to Naruto.

"What I meant from my previous statement was that I was checking to see what physical attributes you display the most when in battle, and exactly how good are you in physical combat." Danzō said.

"I still don't get it." Naruto said, scratching his head a little, trying to wrap his mind around what Danzō meant.

Danzō meanwhile, felt like sighing for the first time in a long time, but he held it in as it was very unbefitting of a shinobi, especially of a high calibre one like him.

"When you get to my age, you can tell a lot about someone just from looking at them. I can tell from your entrance that you lack stealth, even though you are supposed to be a shinobi. Your physical capabilities are good but I have not yet seen your taijutsu so that remains to be seen, and from the clothes you wear I can tell that you are brash and very forward." Danzō explained.

Wow, that was the one of the longest sentences Danzō had ever constructed while talking to Naruto. Regardless of that though, Naruto didn't know whether to be insulted by Danzō's assessment of him, or be happy. Insulted because of the brash comment and happy because of the good physic he had apparently. So Naruto chose option C, and that was to just remain neutral about the assessment.

"Okay…but what does this assessment have to do with anything?" Naruto asked.

"Everything." Danzō said in a dreary, "What I deem to be an area where you lack in, I will help cultivate that area until it is up to par."

"Okay…" Naruto said, finally getting the old man before he added, "So what are we going to work on first?"

Naruto hoped that it was ninjutsu, he seriously did. Out of all the ninja arts he excelled at that the most, but something told him that he wouldn't be so lucky.

"As I said before, while you look fit, we don't know if your taijutsu is up to par, so as such I will test you in it first." Danzō said, before he moved his fingers on his cane as if he were flexing them, and suddenly a pair of kunai flew out from Naruto's blind spot, hoping to catch the blonde off guard, but Naruto simply tilted his head as if they weren't there and let them sail past his head harmlessly.

Naruto heard the sound of feet rushing from behind, so he turned and faced the oncoming threat. He saw a person, dressed in standard Konoha shinobi uninform run up to him, with a tanto drawn, ready to slice Naruto into two. Naruto may be an idiot most of the time, but even he could tell that this guy that was attacking him was a Ne agent, as only they would follow Danzō's command. Another clue as to who this guy worked for was his standard issue Ne tanto. Sai said that they were given them from early days in training. Danzō couldn't have his soldier wearing a Ne outfit; it would cause one too many problems for him, so he had him wear the standard Konoha shinobi uniform.

Naruto waited until the man was before him, before he brought his hands up to defend himself. The shinobi attacking Naruto thrust the silver bladed weapon forward, hoping to skewer Naruto, but he deftly deflected the stab with his right hand, before he brought his left hand and used it to try and knock the guy's lights out. Unfortunately for him, this guy wasn't a Ne operative for nothing. He ducked the punch, before he twirled the tanto around and used butt end of if to hit Naruto in the gut.

Saliva flew out of Naruto's mouth as the hit connected, before another two hits followed, courtesy of a kick to the shin, to cause him some mind distracting pain, before it was followed up by a haymaker that sent him reeling backwards.

Naruto gathered his bearings just in time to see another punch aimed at him, but he deftly dodged it before he sent his own punch forward, while also channelling his chakra throughout his body and mentally intoned, 'Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique).'

Two clones came to life next to Naruto. They burst from the white smoke, using it as a cover to try a sneak attack, and they managed to distract the Ne shinobi long enough for Naruto to land two decisive blows, one to the stomach and another to the temple, that sent the Ne shinobi flying away from him out cold.

Naruto couldn't hold back the ear splitting grin that threatened to tear apart his face. He felt like jumping up and shouting "Oh yeah" at the top of his lungs. Turning around, Naruto found Danzō looking at him with a disheartened look. That was not a look Naruto was expecting from his new teacher. Naruto schooled his features and asked "What's wrong?"

Danzō said nothing at first, but he soon replied to Naruto's query by saying, "It seems my earlier judgement of you was quiet inaccurate."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, getting a bad feeling about what Danzō was going to say next.

"What I mean is that your taijutsu is bad. While using your clones as a distraction before you can land a hit is a good tactic, it seems like it's the only way you know how to fight. Am I wrong?"

Naruto wanted to say that Danzō was talking shit, but thinking back to all of the fights he has had since becoming a genin, he has never won a fight where he didn't use the Kage Bunshin. During his fight with Orochimaru in the forest of death he was owned by the Hebi Sannin when he went at it alone, and during his fight against Sasuke, it became abundantly clear that there was a gap between them when it came to taijutsu without clones. All in all, this summed up that Naruto sucked big time when he did not use clones to fight alongside him.

Danzō, meanwhile, took Naruto's silent contemplation as a sign of agreement and continued with his explanation, "Your mastery of the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu is second to none. I don't think that even the Nidaime Hokage has mastered this technique to the point that you have. But the fact remains that you aren't good enough without it…"

Wow, that was a really huge bitter pill to swallow. Ero-sennin had always told him that he was good at taijutsu, and it was even proven when he beat the man in a spar a few weeks before they returned to Konoha. Thinking back now, it could be said that Ero-sennin was holding back against him. He always thought that he was ready to face Akatsuki, but here was someone telling him otherwise…well he didn't say that he couldn't take on Akatsuki, just that he sucked at taijutsu. But that statement could be translated into "you are not ready to face Akatsuki".

"…Fortunately for you I am here to help cultivate you into being the shinobi I know you can be." Danzō continued after a few seconds, "I will work you to the ground until you have mastered everything in your arsenal to the level of your Kage Bunshin."

Naruto looked at the man who had a neutral look in his eyes and shivered slightly. Even though he didn't really emit or say anything bad, Danzō's words still managed to get Naruto to shiver. Something told him that his next few days were going to be a living hell.

Two days later – Otogakure no Sato

Uchiha Sasuke sat on the throne that was once occupied by his master, the legendary, yet also quiet infamous, Orochimaru. His elbow rested on the armrest while his palm cupped his face as he rested his head on it. Only those that were the leader of Otogakure no Sato could occupy this throne; and that was what Sasuke was right now, he was the leader of Oto. This all happened because of the orange haired man…the one who worked with Itachi in Akatsuki. The man that frightened him greatly.

No.

He was an Uchiha, he would not be afraid of anything or anyone, including a man that could use unexplainable techniques to fight people. Sasuke's current position was because of that man. He was supposed to just kill Orochimaru and then leave on his quest to avenge his family, but the man said a few words that shocked him greatly.

"Congratulations are due by the way…you're officially the new leader of Oto."

That sentence had shocked him greatly. But it wasn't the new position he found himself that shocked him, but rather the underlying threat within the words the man spoke. Recalling one of his former senseis, Kakashi's, lessons he had looked underneath the underneath. He understood that what the man was telling him was that he had to man the helm here at Oto or else…

For some reason he couldn't quite understand Sasuke didn't want to push the 'else' button.

Another thing that the man seemed to spark within him was the ability to recall some of Orochimaru's memories. It seems as though learning the Edo Tensei wasn't the only thing he gained when his and Orochimaru's minds merged together. Or to be more precise, when he subjugated Orochimaru's mind. He also gained access to some of his darkest and most dangerous techniques. Techniques which many would say should never see the light of day.

As Sasuke sat on the throne of Oto, which was located in Oto's biggest base, he heard the large doors that lead in and out of the throne room being opened. He looked up just in time to see a man enter the room. The man had on the standard Otogakure shinobi uniform, which covered every part of their body except for their eyes.

People can say anything they want about Orochimaru, but they can never fault him when it came to how he ran his village. He personified what Hidden Villages should strive for. Always remain hidden, which is what one would expect from a Hidden Village.

"Sasuke-sama." The man greeted respectfully, bowing down to his leader.

"What is it?" Sasuke asked impatiently.

"The team we sent to search for Yakushi Kabuto has returned." The man said.

"And?"

"He's long gone sir." The man said.

Sasuke felt like swearing at that point, but that would not be fitting for an Uchiha, especially one as proud as he. Yakushi Kabuto was the only person that understood Orochimaru. He knew everything that his master thought of, and he loyally served him. Some of the memories that Sasuke received from Orochimaru were confusing, even to a genius like him, and Kabuto was his ticket to understanding what the heck was going on in his head.

"What of the other task that I had assigned you?" Sasuke asked.

"They have all gathered and are waiting for you." The man said.

Sasuke said nothing else. He simply stood up from his throne in a regal manner that would make many think that he was royalty, even if he was in a way, and walked away from his throne. He walked past the kneeling man, before exiting the dark room. He found himself in a hallway that was so long and dark that you couldn't see the end until you got pretty close to it.

He walked for a few minutes in a slow gait. He was the leader of this village, and as such he had the right and the privilege to make people wait for him, and that was what he was going to do with the people that were waiting for him. He was going to make them wait.

Sasuke reached his destination a few minutes later. He stood in a circular dark hall that had a raised platform, which he currently stood on, and below him there were five people, all standing in a single row, looking up at him with varying expressions.

The first person, who stood at the far left, was a girl that had bright red hair that was styled in a manner that made it smooth on one side and spiky on the other side. She wore a pair of red rimmed spectacles, a light purple long sleeved top and a pair of black bike shorts. The look she had in her eyes made Sasuke want to cringe a bit. She brought back memories of his time in Konoha's academy, where he had a horde of adoring fan-girls that followed him everywhere, worshipping him like a god.

Her name, from what Sasuke could remember about her, was Karin.

Standing on Karin's right was a boy that had flattened white hair that had blue streaks in it, a violet top and a pair of light blue pants. His most defining feature was his teeth, which were on full display thanks to the shit eating grin that their owner sported. They were sharpened to such an extreme that he could literally bite off anything he chewed on. He was kind of like a shark. Oh, and his name was Suigetsu.

Next to Suigetsu was an orange haired male that was bulky in terms of body size. He was garbed in ragged prison clothes, which were a pair of grey shorts and a matching colour t-shirt, and he wore nothing on his feet. There was a chain wrapped around his ankle, and there was a huge ball strapped to that chain. He had a very tame look on his face. His name was Jugo.

Next to Jugo was a woman that had blue hair that was tied into a spiky ponytail, and had two bangs framing the sides of her face. Her facial features were schooled into a neutral expression, but Sasuke could tell just by the subtle twitches that his Sharingan picked up that she was royally pissed to be summoned here by him. She wore a long green dress and had a yellow rope belt tied around her waist. She also had on a pair of dark gloves and a pair of matching colour boot-like sandals. She was arguably the most powerful out of all of the people that had gathered before him, her name was Guren.

The last person that was there was a man that had on the standard issue Oto-nin uniform, minus the mask, which allowed everyone to see his face. He had short brown hair that was flat and a pair of matching colour eyes and a matching colour handlebar moustache. He also had on a white trench over his uniform and he seemed to have a clipboard tucked in his armpit. His name was Yoshi Nazumi, he was the fourth best research scientist in Oto, behind Orochimaru, Kabuto and Karin.

Sasuke stared at each one of them, letting his Sharingan pick out all it could from each individual. Once he was sure that he had everything that he needed he said, "I'm sure you're all wondering why you're here."

"Yeah, not really…" Suigetsu said, rubbing the back of his head, "I just wanna get out of the wretched place and go about collecting the blades-"

"No one cares, you bastard!" shouted Karin from his left.

"Shut up you weak bitch!" Suigetsu said, before he received punch to the face. The punch was so powerful that it caused his head to explode into a shower of water, only for it to reform a few seconds later.

"Fuck y-" Karin's tirade was cut short by a presence she never thought she would ever feel again. She had heard the news of how Uchiha Sasuke, her beloved crush, had killed Orochimaru, just like everyone in Oto. So why was she suddenly feeling the Hebi Sannin's presence throughout the room. It weighed down on her- no, not just her, but everyone, as if it were a blanket that could suffocate you to death. Karin could literally feel her knees give out from underneath her, before they hit the ground with a quiet thud.

Just as she though nothing else could scare her she was proven wrong when another presence made itself known. Monstrous amounts of chakra were released by this other person, basically repelling the dark presence cast by Orochimaru. That part was not what scared her. No, what scared her was the blood thirsty maniacal laughter she heard to her right. She willed her head to the right very slowly. This action allowed her to confirm her suspicions that the person that was emitting this new intent was none other than Jugo. His once peaceful face was now being threatened to be split apart by the blood thirsty grin it held as markings appeared on his face, covering half of it.

As if he could sense that Karin was looking at him, Jugo turned his attention to her, before he said four words that rocked her world to the core, "I'm gonna kill you!"

Jugo dashed past Suigetsu and was upon her in a flash, but before anything bad could happen to Karin, her vision was suddenly blocked by a pair of purple pants clad legs that had a sword next to them. As soon as her vision was blocked by this person, the presence of death Jugo emitted was gone. Looking up from the ground very slowly she saw Sasuke standing in front of her, looking Jugo dead in the eyes as if it was a dare for the man to attack, but strangely enough he did not. Karin realised that Sasuke must have put Jugo in a genjutsu of some sort.

Looking at the others that were in the room he saw that Nazumi was in a similar state of mind she was in, which was currently in overdrive from the near death experience, while Suigetsu and Guren were on their feet, with Guren looking more composed than Suigetsu, but Karin could still tell that she was startled by the dark powers they all felt a few moments ago.

Looking back at Sasuke, she saw him walk away from her, with his back turned to her, and he walked back up the podium, very slowly. As soon as he was on top again, his eyes finally rested on her, but she was disheartened by what he said next, "Are you so weak that all it took for you to succumb to my power was for me to unleash a small portion of it?"

Karin said nothing in reply. Instead she chose to stand up and get back in line. It seemed as if she was the last to do so, because even Jugo was standing in his previous position again. She looked at Sasuke, who looked at her disapprovingly for a split second, before he turned his attention back on everyone else and said, "Now that I have your attention I would like to get this meeting out of the way."

No one said anything.

"As you all know I defeated Orochimaru in combat, before I absorbed his power and made it my own. Now I will run Otogakure no Sato as its leader, and you five all have special purposes to fulfil in my version of Oto." Sasuke said in a commanding tone that left no room for questioning.

'That's it.' Karin realised, 'He was able to emit power that resembled Orochimaru because he absorbed his power.'

"Nazumi, I am assigning you with the task of rebuilding all of Oto's weaponry. After the failed invasion of Konoha this village has become a laughing stock to the world. It is time we prove everyone wrong." Sasuke said, before he turned his attention to Suigetsu, "Suigetsu, you are going to pick four other warriors and you will train them in the art of the sword. Your purpose will be told to you once you have completed that part of your duty."

Suigetsu looked at Sasuke with a look of approval on his face. It seemed as if he was actually excited by this Sasuke rationalised. As a matter of fact, he was excited by this. He was excited to have someone to pass on his awesome kenjutsu skills to. He didn't really care much for whatever plans Sasuke had for Oto. There were only two reasons why he was agreeing to this plan. 1. Training someone and 2. Sasuke saved him from a life in a tank by killing Orochimaru and setting him free. That was the only reason why he was still around.

Back with Sasuke, his eyes drifted to Karin and then he said, "Karin, you're our top medical research specialist. I want you to find anything and everything that is a blood sample of someone noteworthy…I know Orochimaru kept those around somewhere. Once you have them bring them to me."

Karin nodded her head at Sasuke's request. She would dutifully follow Sasuke to the ends of time.

Sasuke's eyes then fell on Jugo and he said, "You are going to be my right hand."

Jugo looked at him with a look of contemplation for a few seconds, before he nodded his head and said, "Kimimaro gave up his life to get you here. I can see now that he had made a wise decision. I will gladly stand by your side."

"Argh, enough!" said Guren, speaking for the first time since the 'meeting' began.

"Do you have a problem, Guren." Sasuke asked.

"Of course I do…and before you ask what it is let me save you the time and energy you would have spent asking that question by answering it for you prematurely. My problem is you!" Guren said in a small fit of rage.

Sasuke knew that the woman would have a problem with him. She had been loyally devoted to Orochimaru her entire life, even going as far as to murder innocent people just because the man said so. And she wasn't the only one that thought that way. There were many people in Otogakure that thought that he had to die because of what he did to Orochimaru, but unfortunately for them they were weaker than him. The only person that could cause him any trouble in a fight was Guren. This woman was strong.

"What do you have a problem with? The fact that I am now your leader; or the fact that I killed Orochimaru." Sasuke asked coldly.

"Both!"

"I see…" Sasuke said, before he had an idea pop into his head. While Guren followed Orochimaru greatly, she didn't do it out of fear like most of Oto's shinobi. No, she followed the snake because of his power. He was able to grasp her personality from Orochimaru's memories, and he discovered that she didn't worship Orochimaru per-se, rather she worshipped his power. This little understanding would give Sasuke the tools he needed in order to win her over. He needed her power right now, in order to establish balance in Oto.

"I have an idea…let's fight." Sasuke said.

"What?" Guren said in shock. She wasn't expecting that from Sasuke.

"Let's fight…if I win I get your unyielding loyalty."

Guren looked at Sasuke with wide eyes for a few seconds, not really sure about what this meant for either of them. She understood what Sasuke was trying to do. He thought that just because he absorbed Orochimaru's power that he was the best, but he was far from it. He was nothing compared to the great man that was her leader for many years. Sasuke was just a cheap knock off of him. He was not the rightful ruler of Oto.

In order for this injustice to be quelled Guren understood that she had to kill Sasuke, and he had pretty much just given her the stage necessary to do this without it mounting on treason. While she hate the fact that her village was run by Sasuke, that didn't mean that she was willing to leave it. It was her home, and as such she had to fight for it. She would fight to kill Uchiha Sasuke so that she could restore her home to its once promising glory, and also avenge her fallen master.

"And if I win…" Guren began as she set her own terms, "then you die."

So the terms had been laid down. If Sasuke won then Guren was to serve him unconditionally just like she had done for Orochimaru. If Guren won though, then he was dead.

Sasuke jumped down from the platform and landed on the floor below. The others didn't need to be told to scram because they all did it at the same time. They all appeared on the raised platform a second later, and peered down to see Sasuke just standing on the spot he landed on, with his right hand rested on his chokuto.

"Who do you want to win?" Suigetsu asked, looking at the gathered shinobi that stood beside him.

There was a quiet few seconds, before Jugo openly admitted, "Sasuke."

Suigetsu nodded his head at that answer as if that was the right answer to the question. Nazumi just shook his head at the bluntness of the big man. He also wanted Sasuke to win, but the reason why he had not said anything was because if Sasuke lost, then he was dead. Guren was one of, if not the top enforcer Orochimaru had. That meant that she was loyal to a fault to the man. So if their village fell under her control, then you could kiss your entire earthly possessions goodbye because you were never going to see them again if you chose to side with Sasuke.

But looking at Sasuke right now he could tell that he had some sort of plan, and that was what he respected most about the Uchiha…his cunning mind. You don't just go around challenging Orochimaru and come out on top unless if you had some sort of brilliant strategy. The man had survived battles that would have killed lesser men. Shanshuo no Hanzo (Hanzo of the Salamander), Jiraiya no Gama Sennin (Jiraiya the Toad Sage) and the Sandaime Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen were part of a list of powerful people that failed to kill Orochimaru, and yet Sasuke did it.

That was one of the main reasons why some of the people immediately accepted him as their leader. They all hated Orochimaru, hence why they would be willing to follow a sixteen year old boy that had enough power to kill Orochimaru.

Back with the two on the ground, Sasuke and Guren, the duo just stared each other off as if this would cause the other to spontaneously combust, and if that was what they wished for then they would be sadly mistaken as nothing of that sort would ever happen.

The pressure between the two warriors grew to be palpable, with both slowly flaring their chakra, causing certain reactions from their opponent, before they both settled on one cause of action. The enemy had to go down, and in this case the person that stood across them was the enemy.

The air seemed to rip apart as they both launched themselves at each other at really high speeds, coming together at the centre in an explosion of light and a booming sound.

Konoha – same time

Naruto was currently walking through his beloved village with a bit of a dark look on his face. If one saw him they would think that he was pissed, but that wasn't the case. He was just grumpy due to a certain event, and it involved his new sensei Shimura Danzō. The man was a slave driver and an even bigger perfectionist than Yamato-taichou. He had told Naruto two days ago that he pretty much sucked at taijutsu, so that was what he was willing to teach him for now. Until Naruto mastered the art, then only then would he get to the real training he had in mind.

These and other thoughts steamrolled though Naruto's mind as he walked towards the place he had set off to find, the Hokage Tower. After entering the majestic white tower that stood as the pinnacle of Konoha's strength, Naruto made a beeline to the office of the Hokage. Naruto didn't bother with knocking on the door, and instead chose to let himself in uninvited. He was the type of guy that always said "screw decorum, just do things your own way". Well, not really in those words since the guy didn't know the word decorum.

Upon entering the office of the legendary Godaime Hokage, Naruto saw the leader of his village sitting behind her desk, furiously scanning through a piece of paper that was in her hands with Shizune standing beside her loyally and dutifully as always. What Naruto didn't expect to find was the heavily pregnant sensei of team eight, standing there with Shikamaru and Ino. Upon him entering, all eyes, except for the Godaime's, fell on him.

"Naruto-kun?" Shizune said, as if she wasn't sure that it was really him, but then again he could not blame her for asking. After all he hadn't seen most of this room's occupants in a while now.

Naruto looked at Shizune, smiled and replied with a casual, "Yo."

"How are you…I haven't seen you in forever!" Shizune asked the blonde boy.

"I've been around." Naruto said smoothly.

"Uh-huh." was all Shizune said as she looked at Naruto from top to bottom. The last time she saw the boy was when he was operated on. She was one of the few people that were privy to see the operation, due to her being the second best medic in Konoha and also the Godaime Hokage's student/personal assistant.

Looking at him now she could tell that a lot had changed in the blonde haired boy, mainly his stature seemed a little less loose, as if he were expecting something to jump out of the shadows and strike him. She wondered what caused the blonde to be like that. She also noticed that he was wearing a pair of different colour pants to the one he used to wear before. Gone was the orange and in was the black. His jacket and headband stayed the same. She could see that he was doing more than just 'being around'.

Shizune wasn't the only person in the room was that was able to point out the minor and major changes in the blonde haired boy. The other occupants of the room could notice them as well. Shikamaru only raised an eyebrow at this as he found it too tiring to even think over, at the moment, Kurenai just looked at him like she was expecting him to jump up and say, "Got you!" as this was clearly a prank of some sort because the Uzumaki Naruto she knew loved wearing orange and exuberated an aura of friendliness, not the one of power that she felt right now, and Ino just looked at him with a small blush on her cheeks, not really understanding what brought it on.

"What brings you here, brat?" Tsunade asked him. Out of all of the room's occupants she had seen him more than anyone else, and as such she wasn't surprised by the changes he had underwent in the last few weeks. She knew he reason why he exuberated a powerful presence, and that was due to his training with Yamato and Danzō. She wasn't happy when Danzō came into the room and had a smug look on his face and told her that he was Naruto's new sensei. She wanted to refute what the man had said, but Kakashi and Yamato came in and told her the story of how Naruto made that stupid bet and lost it. Now he was under Danzō's wing.

As Hokage she could have forbade such a thing from happening, but two things stopped her from doing so. Number 1 was the fact that despite all of his flaws, Danzō was a very powerful shinobi that had trained an entire squad of shinobi to be at ANBU level. Number 2 was the fact that Naruto never backs out of a bet, even if he loses, so she knew that he would honour their agreement and continue with the training behind her back.

So the next best thing that she could do was to keep an eye on it by making a stipulation that made it so that Naruto could only be trained when there was someone over watching them. She did not need Danzō to poison the boy with bad thoughts and ill intent. The man wasn't called the Yami no Shinobi ( The Darkness of Shinobi) for nothing.

Despite looking out for the brat she was still pissed at him. He was being given the cold shoulder by the Hokage in hopes of making him realise that what he did was very, very stupid.

It seemed to work as Naruto had come here nearly every day to try and apologise his way back into her good graces. Too bad Tsunade could be as stubborn as he is.

Tsunade was sure that this visit was another attempt at an apology. She was getting a bit tired of him doing so every day, so she was just going to let him off the hook after one more apology.

"I came here looking for help with something." Naruto began. This was not the apology Tsunade expected to hear. "I came here to find out if it were possible to learn Sarutobi-jiji's taijutsu style?"

That shocked the room's inhabitants greatly because none of them expected to hear that. Tsunade was expecting an apology. Shizune was expecting a mission request because she knew that the blonde boy hadn't taken one in a very long time. The other three didn't know what to expect, but that what they all heard was far from it.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa…let me get this straight." Tsunade began, "You want to learn Sarutobi-sensei's taijutsu style?"

Naruto nodded his head.

"Why?" the question wasn't asked by Tsunade, but rather by Ino, who was still trying to decipher what the heck was going on with Naruto. She was there when his arm was nearly ripped off by that Kakuzu guy, and then suddenly he shows up with it bandaged up, looking like it was perfectly mobile. And now he wanted to learn the Sandaime's personal fighting style….why?

"I want to learn it because I have within me a piece of every Hokage." Naruto said, further confusing his former classmate.

"What do you mean by that?" this time it was Kurenai that spoke.

"What I mean is that I carry a piece of every Hokage within me." Naruto said, before he stuffed his hand in his jacket's collar and pulled out his necklace, which had been given to him by the Godaime Hokage. He then said, "I have baa-chan's necklace, I have the Nidaime's Kage Bunshin, and the Yondaime's Rasengan."

Once he finished with the explanation, Shikamaru was quick to pick up that he excluded the Shodaime and Sandaime Hokages…but why?

"I get that you want to learn the Sandaime's personal fighting style because you want something that was unique to him alone," Shikamaru began, before he asked, "but what about the Shodaime? You didn't say anything about him, so I'm guessing that you already have something that was unique to him alone within you."

'Smart bastard.' Was all Tsunade could think in her head. She had also picked up on the fact that he left out the Shodai, but she knew why. It was because his new abilities had to remain secret for now. Lord knows the world did not need to know about another Mokuton user in Konoha, especially if that Mokuton jutsu user was a jinchuriki.

"Yeah, but I'd prefer to keep it to myself, thank you very much." Naruto rudely replied, feeling a bit peeved that he was found out, sort of.

Shikamaru knew a lost cause when he saw one, but he could also tell that he had struck a nerve when it came to Naruto.

"Sure…whatever." Shikamaru said.

"Okay." Naruto said, feeling a bit relieved that Shikamaru said nothing at all, before he said, "So baa-chan, you got anything to say?"

"Yes I do." Tsunade began after she had stayed quiet long enough, "You have to speak with the leader of the Sarutobi clan."

"Huh?" Naruto said a bit unintelligently.

"Sarutobi-sensei was a member of the Sarutobi clan-"

"Hey, I know that much!" Naruto shouted. He felt insulted by what Tsunade baa-chan was insinuating.

"Alright, and as I was saying, if you want something that belongs to Sarutobi-sensei then you have to speak with his clan. They might have something for you. I on the other hand don't, so if you're done pestering me, leave."

Naruto nodded his head and gave a salute, before he left the office of the Hokage.

Underneath Konoha – Root Base

Danzō currently sat in front of a shogi board, moving a piece that was on a board very slowly. His plan was slowly coming along just fine. Hopefully in a few months' time he would finally achieve his lifelong ambition, and all of that would be possible because of one person.

He picked up the shogi piece he just moved and slowly inspected it. It was like any other shogi piece, but this one had one noticeable difference. It had someone's name on it…

Uzumaki Naruto

"You'll be mine soon…"

And that's a wrap folks. This is my last chapter for the year (obviously), and I just want to say thanks for the support you guys have shown me…Happy new year prematurely!

Thabane has left the building.