Story by JustObviousAnswers

The Last Sage

Chapter 6: Chunin Exams Pt. 2 - Before the Finals

"Due to a large amount of passing contestants - we will be holding a preliminary exams right now to narrow down the final contestants for our displayed Final Exam- " a groan was heard throughout the ranked genin all standing in lines side-by-side.

The surviving teams stood in a large spar room complete with viewing stands, a medical watchpoint, and the handsign for ram statued in the front signifying Shinobi power. Naruto rather than listen to his speech was thinking over the past couple of days; even as the first fight was selected on a rotating name board and everyone filed away to the stands he still hadn't snapped out of his thoughts.

Kakashi noticed this walking over to they boy who leaned against the bar; staring down at the fighting genin - but clearly not watching.

"Everything alright Naruto?" he whispered too low for anyone to hear.

The blond finished his thoughts displeased with his evaluations - he looked over at the silver haired jounin; the look on his face clear as day he leaned upwards. "No its not... I can't waste time here - Orochimaru is out there planning against Konoha in some way.. yet, I'm here wasting time with these stupid Exams instead of planning with ANBU and Shikaku on how to stop it" his hand directed at the slow fight happening in the sparing area.

They watchd the Suna-nin throw a shuriken at a Kiri-nin who uses a weak lighting move to dodge; going for a side uppercut against the Suna-nin who couldn't dodge got knocked to the ground.

To most people the fight would be interesting and spectacular but to shinobi at Kakashi and Naruto's level it was like two kids fightings in a alley.

Kakashi looked back at Naruto putting a hand on his shoulder; "Your job right now, while may be boring and not so glamorous; is to show off to these Villages - making them see that attacking Konoha would be a mistake with you around. This IS helping the Village and making it safer.. even if you can't see that" Naruto just looked down still broading.

"Besides; do you think this is the first War we've been in? The Village Hidden in the Leaves is always prepared for this type of conflict.. it's something unfortunately we are VERY good at."

Naruto's face changed at this - remembering his conversation with Hiashi: "Was it different during wartime, is this Village more effective during war rather than during peace?" Hiashi paused - "Well, to be honest the shinobi and the civilians are most accustom to war - we become... restless during peace, like a dragon who can sleep but would rather be flying."

Shaking his head away from the thoughts he lifted off the handrail - looking at Kakashi in the eyes. "I'm sorry.. I can't waste my time here - if war is coming I need to prepare; I'll leave a blood clone in my place but the real me is going to be outside the Village - practicing for..." he let his voice trail off the obvious tension in it.

The ex-ANBU Captain knew the look; he had seen it before in powerful men - more powerful than himself when they were determined to fight for others, to die for others.

"Of course, I'll inform the Sandaime: if you need help from anyone please ask" he eye-smiled, Naruto nodded and flashed away from the room. Kakashi doing a quick move had a clone appear; henging it into the blond - faking a continuation of conversation picked up by none. Then about a minute later; another clone appeared flashing to Kakashi's and killing it disappearing with a poof.

This was noticed by the few Jounin standing around not really paying attention to the fight - a Sungakure-nin walked over. "What's going on over here?"

Kakashi turned to him "Oh just showing this genin what a Kage Bushin is; he was interested in learning it after seeing someone do one in the Forest" lieing smoothly Kakashi watched for the Suna-nin to read the lie.

Instead the guy just turned away shrugging; Kakashi sighed and nodded to the Naruto clone who faked practicing the handsigns for a Kage Bushin but nodded back.

Kakashi disappeared to go inform the old man - who reacted differently than he had expected - "Good, I was wondering when he was gonna stop wasting time here."

Taken aback he gave the Hokage a one-eyed questioning stare; "This Exam was not just a test to show off Naruto, but to examine Naruto himself - while we can attest to his strength in shinobi arts I have yet to see his emotional evaluation of battle and situations. When he finally gave up on trying to protect everyone that's when I would know he would be ready to take up the Hokage position."

"I don't understand what you mean.. Give up on protecting everyone? Isn't that the job of a Hokage?" Kakashi questioned, not knowing how these words could be coming out of the same man who taught everyone to never abandon their comrades.

"Kakashi.. while ANBU are taught to always succeed in their mission even if every team member has to be sacrificed, the general shinobi are taught the opposite - save your comrades; never abandon your friends even if it puts the mission at risk. These two ideas are the two sides of a shinobi force; as Hokage you must be a equilibrium of both - to float above the justifications of your comrades deaths and command your Village. No Hidden Village has a 100% success-rate for missions; nobody even comes close - which means that friends and comrades will die. I want... no need - Naruto to understand his job is not to save every shinobi from death; but to command his comrades to the best of his ability even if he's sending his friends to their death."

Kakashi nodded but still looked confused; "I understand that but what did you mean by you were waiting for him to give up saving his comrades?"

"Since the start of the Exams he's been looking out for all the Konoha genin - helping them cheat, sending clones to assist and provide advice; he's stayed above the Examiners in keeping the help hidden but he let slip his tactic earlier today to me. Normally I wouldn't have a problem with this if Naruto was a normal genin - but he's not.. I need him to understand he will not be able to protect them always and forever. Some of the shinobi need to learn the hard way how tough it is out there, something Naruto already knows and is unconciously trying to avoid his comrades learning."

They both looked back over to the fight happening below; Sakura and Ino finally punched each other to the ground in pathetic exhaustion and the proctor called the match a knockout tie.

Sarutobi sighed; "He's too kind for his own good - but I'm glad he's left to go practice; I'm going to send Shikaku to retrieve him in a few hours so we can council a war meeting."

The ex-ANBU Captain nodded - flashing away back to the stands to continue watching over the matchs.

(Five Hours Later - A Large Clearing Miles from Konoha)

Naruto fell back his chest heaving up and down - in front of him what used to be a large clearing of Forest burned to the ground. Successfully combining multiple A-Rank Jutsu using his clones he destroyed what was his test of an 'invading army' to nothing but ashe.

His eyes returning to his normal blue he chuckled; it was the first time in a long time he had gone all out in his training putting his massive chakra reserves to low. A feat only done once before against a certain Jinchuriki - his exhausted rest didn't last long as he heard someone whistle appreciatively coming into view.

Shikaku appeared at the corner of his eye as Naruto turned his head still laying on the ground; "Can't say I'm surprised - when you said you were holding back you weren't boasting.. " the scar faced man chuckled sitting down next to Naruto.

He didn't respond just closing his eyes letting the breeze flow over his sweating body - the day was starting to fall into night with the sun lowering to the West.

"Your clone won it's match - some Iwagakure kid; you used a lightning jutsu and he couldn't counter. But I'm guessing when your clone dispersed you already learned that.." Shikaku looked at him and Naruto nodded his head a little.

Shikaku looked back at the clearing surveying the damage; "So.. Wind, Fire, Lightning, Water... and I'm assuming you can use Earth - that's all Five Elementals" Naruto said nothing.

"All proficient to a insane degree of A-Ranked Nature Jutsu.. but Jiraiya told me your Fire Manipulation is your go to favorite - I've seen your Fire Release, it equals that of Madara Uchiha's" Naruto continued to stay silent not liking where the conversation was going.

"Yet you supposedly only trained under Jiraiya who only holds three of five Elemental Manipulations and is only proficient in two of them. Of course you said that you learned all across the Elemental Nations but yet we only know of one of your other trainers - one of the Seven Ninja Swordsman."

Naruto sat up now taking a deep breath; "Yeah so?" - he wasn't being rude, just wanted Shikaku to get to his point.

"So, I'm just wondering why they call you the Dragon Sage - I get the whole Fire Manipulation being like a dragon, but I have yet to see why this rumor'd name made its way across the Elemental Nations and nobody fully knows your face to the name" Naruto again said nothing.

The Nara sighed - he was smart enough to know Naruto was going to get pissy in this conversation. "You have to trust someone else Naruto - Jiraiya is away collecting information about the Akatsuki, the War Rumors, Orochimaru's plans, etc. and you need someone here who you can properly strategize with." He looked at the blonde now; boy and man sitting in the destroyed clearing.

"If that person isn't me then fine: pick someone who you can trust and talk with them - someone who can help you with these decisions because no matter how smart and powerful you are you can't do everything by yourself. When we go to War you aren't going to be alone, standing against the world - Konoha is going to be standing beside you. That means me, Hiruzen, Kakashi, Ibiki, Inochi- "

"Okay I get it!" Naruto snapped his anger finally making him talk. "I get it! It's just hard okay - don't think I don't understand what must be done; I know what War looks like. But in the past it wasn't people I knew, people I grew up with, people I ate and sat around and played in the park with. This.. is much harder" tears now flowed down his face.

The Nara smiled; "Yes, in the past it was just you and Jiraiya - you never had to worry about someone getting hurt because you didn't have to hold back with him, I get that. Hokage-sama see's it too, your holding your true self back because your afraid of what the others might think, and you don't want to hurt them. But just because we can get hurt doesn't make us weak; in fact I think it makes us stronger."

Naruto looked up at him now - "It makes us stronger because we do it together - the power of one person can be great; but the power of a Village full of loved ones, family, friends.. can exceed that power. That is the Will of Fire Hashirama Senju envisioned - the power of a Village; a unified unbreakable alliance between families that transcends Clans or Singular goals. I've seen how you push against the Clan Superiority battling against it every chance you get; do not think Sarutobi and I don't see the Will of Fire you carry. Do you think just anyone returns to the Village and is given the Hokage position because their strong?" Shikaku finished chuckling, Naruto chuckled with him wiping his face. They paused for a moment, leaning back staring into the sky - Naruto's breathing slowed.

Shikaku leaned back staring at the clouds taking a deep sigh; "My son beat me in Shogi the other day".

The blond just looked at him confused; "He hasn't beaten me in Shogi in a long time; not because he's not smart enough - no my son has always been much smarter than me. But he knew if he beat me that would mean I would recommend him to be a strategist in the higher command - so he let me win everytime."

"I've known this for a while now but let it be because I knew if he wasn't ready for the responsibility then forcing him wouldn't help. It's a sort of thing you have to come to on your own, at your own pace" he paused. "He beat me the other day because it was his way of letting me know it was time he shape up; take his place - my place in the military."

"My Generation is almost done Naruto - we should of all died a long time ago in the last war; but men like your father, the second hokage, and others sacrificied themselves so we could raise ours sons and daughters. We can all feel that time is coming for us to do the same..-" he raised a hand up as Naruto went to protest.

"I have already talked this over with the Clan Heads; we've always been prepared to put our lives on the line for the Village but we discussed that this next war we would do everything possible to prevent our sons and daughters from being brought down along with it.."

"So.. I want you to talk with Shikamaru - he's the best tactical mind in the Village, he knows how to use manipulation, and strategy better than anyone, and he would follow you - a Namikaze who doesn't bow down to the Clan Superiorty; any day. "

The boy sat for a few moments mauling over his words; "I'll do that - I'll talk to Shikamaru later tonight about everything and we'll come up with what needs to be done.."

Shikaku could only nod while they both sat there; the darkness decending slowly around them as the sun fell to the West - they both felt the precipis that the sun signified to the growing danger.

After a few minutes the battle scarred man sighed; "Well we have to go; there's a War Meeting starting soon and the Hokage asked me to come get you. Shikamaru is going to be there too - right now you and I should just focus on not letting Danzo or Hamura take advantage of the upcoming fight for their own benefit."

"Speak of which - do you think it's weird that Danzo hasn't tried anything against me since coming back from the Village? Is it because he likes my attitude, or just simply is too afraid?" Naruto questioned.

Shikaku just sighed looking up at the sky - "We interrogated that spy you caught sent to go after Sasuke - he finally cracked after many hours of interrogation. The big information was that Danzo is mobilizing his little faction to pack up all his personal items, experiments, etc. so either he's being cautious in-case we lose this war; or he's going to leave the Village with his faction. The attack on Sasuke was his last item on the agenda, getting a sharigan before he goes.. I think either way we'll be glad he's gone, as to why he hasn't attacked you.. well..." he indicated the clearing in front of them.

"By the way, what do you plan to do about the Uchiha? He has the curse mark now - can you remove it? Hopefully he doesn't think it's actually beneficial to himself, he's not going to be satisfied with staying in the Village now that he knows there's more power to be found outside it.."

Naruto sighed; "I can remove the Curse Mark, but it's gonna be very painful because essentially I'm removing chakra directly from his body - which is not a pleasant process; so hopefully nobody notices when I knock him out and do it myself - and if he leaves the Village to get stronger.. so be it. He's been a nuisance ever since I got here, constantly overestimating his abilities; fighting with people outside his skill level - maybe the real world will help him realize to kill Itachi he has to grow up."

"Maybe.. I assume you already know the full story behind Itachi?" Naruto stared at him surprised, but then chuckled - of course he would figure that secret out.

The boy nodded then stood up helping Shikaku up with him - "When the right time comes I'll let Itachi come back home, council or civilians be damned; but for right now.. I have other things to worry about." They both stared out into the clearing for a moment before dashing into the trees taking off back to Konoha.

(Three Hours Later - Konoha Council Room)

Naruto sat back his head resting against the wall; around him people argued over the information packets laid before them - to his right Ibiki sat his arms folded as Takashi (ANBU Special Investigation Commander) yelled at Koharu about the appropriate resources needed to setup scouting perimeters. To his left Shikamaru sat his arms behind his head leaned back staring at the blank ceiling; the two had sat like this for the last three hours listening to the drawn-out round table discussions.

They listened intently on the plans and discussions for a bit but both got bored about twenty minutes in due to the lack of new information; it was actually disappointing that what was considered the most powerful of the Hidden Villages was lacking in proper information. Even with Jiraiya's spy network it seemed as though all sources were not gaining in fruition - whatever this plan was that Orochimaru and Suna or separately had concocted was on a very tight lid.

"I don't care if it costs more money - if you want me to properly checkpoint all the inpoint places a invading army will come from I need the proper funds! If I take away from your dining money then so it will be Koharu!" Takashi fumed, this made Ibiki chuckle while Koharu and Homaru looked aghast.

"Such disgraceful language, accusing your elders of taking away from the military funds for our own benefit; this is an outrage I can't believe you would say such traitorous words!" she screamed back, face turning red from rage or embarrasment they didn't know.

"Oh as if this is the first time! We see you- " The fed up ANBU Commander was cut off, Sarutobi stood up having enough of the pointless back and forth: "ENOUGH!"

Takashi sat back down; "In case you two didn't notice we are trying to propose a plan for the future WAR; not talk about insignificant pointless claims of irresponsible funds transferring" Sarutobi fumed his face cracking in a hard glare.

Shikamaru and Naruto chuckled gaining the attention from the old man; "Oh you two think this is so funny; I have you here to actually attribute to the conversation and yet we have argued pointlessly for a couple hours while you haven't even said a word..." he glared at them.

The two gave a look before leaning forward - "Well if were going to get serious.. we talked briefly and we know the who, when and wheres of the invasion.." Shikamaru responded - all the adults paid attention in interest.

"The main force invading country is Sunagakure.. " a small gasp was heard, but silence reigned.

The Hokage questioned this; "But we haven't propagated an attack, we haven't antagonize them.. why risk- "

"Because they are losing funds and are getting desperate: in the last few months all high ranking, high paying missions have been coming to Konohagakure, not on purpose it just simply has worked out that way. The one thing that keeps Sunagakure afloat in a barren wasteland that contains very few exports, and imports all their necessary goods - is high paying missions. They take these jobs that are dirty, but in valuable need because it supports the baseline of their Village - in exchange they are in good favour of the Wind Daiymo and Fire Daiymo who have a unspoken agreement to back and forth trade."

"So, when their missions started to leak to us due to our influx in economy thanks to Naruto, and the Kirigakure secret trading - they have slowly gone into collapse. This is a breaking point for the Village; with the rumor that their Kazekage has been killed - most likely some entity has taken over the high rankings of the Village and has used their desperation to have the Council turned forward to invasion of the Village running them dry. In this they are most likely looking for a hard, direct strike against us - we believe there are two others Villages are in alliance in this invasion and are looking to completely cripple if not destroy Konoha."

A silence fell throughout the room at the evaluation; nobody had thought about how their economic increase had lead to another Village's economic decrease - balancing out the power like the weight on a scale.

"Who do you two believe is the other two Villages working with Sunagakure in this.. invasion" Asuma questioned at the corner of the long table.

"Otagakure and Iwagakure" Naruto answered for him - a murmur fell through the room, each discussing over the value both Villages would have in attacking.

"It's very possible that my return to the Village has inspired Iwagakure to act with this invasion but I believe they are a limiting factor - maybe sending 10 to 15% of their overall military strength. The Sandaime Tsuchikage Onoki knows that I killed.. one of there more aspiring shinobi many years ago and is afraid to directly face me head on." One of the Jounin went to ask who he killed but Naruto shook his head - "I have to keep some secrets, just take my word at face value that he will not be joining this Invasion in full force - I taught him a lesson he'll never forget."

"However, in a Battle against Three Invading Armies - any help they send will be more of a chance of our loss. Otagakure is the last Village we believe is part of this operation because of the rumors floating around that Orochimaru has direct ties in this invasion and has very direct ties to the Hidden Sound Village as a whole. We have confirmed reports from ANBU that he has placed the modified Kinjutsu Sage Tag on multiple Sound Ninja - they will most likely be commanding officers of the Sound, and as such the invasion."

"I would not be surprised to see more random 'civilians' from the Hidden Sound appear in the Village over the next few days - which brings me to my second point: when. As your all aware the Chunin Exams are wrapping to a close and the Final Exam for the last eight remaining contestants is to be held in one month time. During this final show - all the Kage's, Village Council, High Ranked Shinobi,.. everyone will be in attendance. With security being used mainly for the Exam; the other Villages see this is a opportunity for our weakened defenses around the Village. It's the perfect time for an invading army to make way against our borders quickly and without much resistance then take the Village in a single swoop."

Silence again fell, the Sandaime looked over at Jinuzi Kora his ANBU Commander; "Does this fall in line with little information we have been able to gather?"

Kora nodded - "It makes sense, I haven't calculated the idea our only ally was looking to make a power move against us - if they needed help you would think they would look to negotiate trade deals instead of this aggresive move.. but then again as Naruto said the rumor is their Kazekage has been killed and someone else holds his position."

"With these three Villages; what are their military strength? Let's assume Naruto, and Shikamaru are correct that Iwagakure sends 15% of their strength; what are we looking at?"

Shikaku pulled out a few papers - "Roughly Five Thousand Troops from Sunagakure, Two Thousand from Otagakure, and One Thousand from Iwagakure - Eight Thousand total troops, with the military materials to support such movements. If these numbers are correct we would expect them at our border two days before the Final Exam - giving us three weeks to plan."

While the Hokage thought this over; Naruto took stead - "I believe the best strategy is to pull back all non-essential missions, then slowly pull back border patrols until four days before the Final Exam. This way we are at full power when they arrive, there's no point patroling for something we already know is coming and risk loss of life."

They all nodded agreeing - "It seems hopeless though; even at full strength we have maybe six thousand troops that can safely return - we are heavily outnumbered" Homura stated.

Everyone seemed to maul at this but Naruto quickly quenched the thought; "Yes we may be at a loss in numbers, but Konohagakure is known for quality not quantity - we have some of the best shinobi across all the Elemental Nations, if not the best. It is where things like numbers start to fall by the wayside - I'm even surprised that Iwagakure would even spend troops to attack us after what my father did in the Third War. But alas hatred can cloud over prevailing thoughts, my fear however is not in the numbers but in the Kage's" he looked over at Hiruzen.

"My fear is in battling the Raikage, Tsuchikage, and whoever the Kazekage is.. If the Raikage were to take advantage of the situation to his own benefit this would be troubling - how does council feel about reaching out for help from the Raikage?"

Ibiki surprisingly spoke up; "He is a stoic man that is dedicated to a code of honor, I believe it is in our current interest that we not inform him before hand; instead let him make a battlefield decision - shall he be told before the invasion he will inform his council and will have no choice but to align with the winning side."

'However he may choose to help us in battle; such a stoic man would be privy to the side with the more honorable code - such as us. We can guess his intentions all day; or we can ask the man ourselves a day before the Exam, giving him enough time for the heads up, but not enough time to mobolize an army against us." Shikaku interjected, making Ibiki frown.

Hiruzen took the words and ran with it - "This is the most logical choice - I will sit down with the Raikage myself before the Invasion."

"Now, I believe we need to talk about battle strategy for such a large scale attack - luck would have it, we have a home-field advantage."

The War Council spent many hours into the night detailing out the various strategies they would use for gorilla tactics throughout the Village; but when it came down to it - the win or lose of the battle was based on the individual battles rather than tactics.

When they finally adjorned Shikaku saw his son leaving with Naruto, smiling he headed home for a good night sleep.

(Namikaze Residence - Next Morning)

The door opened letting the chilled air waft inward; Hinata Hyuga stepped into the foyer shutting the door behind her - taking off her shoes, she noticed two sets of shoes and jackets at the door.

She stepped into the living room confused, the warm glow of the rising morning sun shined down on a messy living room; strewn about - mountains of snacks, scrolls, documents, and pencils covered the wood flooring. The first thing that she noticed were the two boys passed out on the couches, covered only by their sweatshirts and small couch blankets - snoring loudly. Giggling at the scene she stepped around the mess sighing at the antics of which the boys had their private war conference.

In between Shikamaru and Naruto a shogi game, and three empty saki bottles sat on the coffee table - a match had been stopped halfway through by some obvious scuffle, indicated by the pieces missing from the board found throughout the room.

Hinata walked up to Naruto; shaking his shoulder lightly to wake him up - being the heavy sleep he is, Naruto didn't even budge at the feeling opting to roll his back to her. She opted for a different tactic: tickingling his exposed belly, getting over the feel of his abs she noticed the immediate effect this had on him. He started pushing away, then rolled onto his stomach, before finally laughing and waking up - looking around at the attacker.

Noticing it was his girlfriend he grabbed at her; pulling her into the couch with him - they both laughed and giggled at this. Shikamaru coughed making them back off - "Good Morning", the Nara yawned loudly sitting up. "What's for breakfast?" he groaned holding his pounding head. Naruto chuckled; knowing he had a heavy hangover - lucky for the Jinchuriki the Kyubi's chakra repelled the effects of Alcohol; never allowing him to get drunk. Hinata got up off the couch blushing and went over to the kitchen, her boyfriend following close behind.

Fifteen minutes later they all sat at the kitchen island eating some cereal and waffles - "So how was the War Meeting last night? I'm assuming you guys got drunk after the meeting and not before" Hinata prodded grinning.

Shikamaru and Naruto gave each other glancing looks over their food; but Naruto's face faked a smile. "Yeah we got pretty into a shogi game, and the bottles were just lying around not being used so.. yeah anyways - what did you do last night, your team just go rest up after the preliminaries?" Kiba and Shino had failed in their matchups in the preliminaries, but weren't badly injured - Naruto remembered from his clone.

"Yeah Kiba went home to rest, and Shino went to the hospital to checkup on Lee.. apparently he's going back into surgery today, most likely the last one" Hinata looked away sadly.

Naruto said nothing, thinking over the Gaara vs Lee matchup his clone observed; in brutal honesty he was glad that the bushy browed boy had some sense knocked into him about trying to compete in a harsh ninja world with only Taijutsu skills and thinking that anything is possible attitude. It was great to have a positive attitude especially in the brutal work life ninja were accustom to, but there was a boundary you toe'd between naive and complacency.

"You should probably stop by and bring him some flowers, or a book to read - I'm sure he will come out of surgery just fine" he said putting a reassuring hand on her arm. Having never comforted a person before he felt out of place, having spent some many years with the tough love Toad Sage, comforting emotions were never really his strong suit.

"Yeah I'll do that, so what are you two going to get up to today?" Hinata innocently questioned, but the looks she saw from the two boys gave a entirely different story as to why they got drunk last night.

"Well uh we'll probably stop by the Hokage office, maybe run a couple errands - but me and Shikamaru have a mission at the moment for planning/training of the Chunin Exam.." Naruto didn't look Hinata in the eye.

She knew he was lieing but didn't push, knowing it was for the better she be out of the loop as to what was currently happening. "Alright, imma go talk to Kurenai-sensei about training me for my match; this Iwagakure guy seems like he's gonna be a hard matchup and I need all the help I can get... maybe you could give me some private lessons Naruto?"

"Oh sure whatever you want hime" he responded but in his mind Naruto was panicking. Shit I forgot that Hinata passed her matchup against Neji - Hinata got up to leave, giving Naruto a kiss on the cheek. "Bye!"

As the front door closed Shikamaru sighed; "You forgot she won her much huh?" he only shook his head. Shikamaru sighed; "Hinata's a shinobi now - a strong one at that, she beat what was considered the 'Hyuga Prodigy' in a one on one match, she'll be fine when the invasion happens."

Naruto made a silent promise that he would train Hinata to the best of his ability before the finals - but for now.. "Speaking of the Invasion... what do you think about a preemptive attack? Hit Otagakure hard silently before the finals, destroy their supply lines, bridges, etc. causing them to think twice before going along with the alliance. We can't touch Iwagakure, and Sunagakure because they would most likely find out instantly who did it and why.. but Otagakure doesn't have the resources to investigate - or the ability to do patrols outside their borders."

Shikamaru shrugged; "I thought about it but the problem is to what end would that do anything? Even if we do that it won't be effective for the whole month - we would need to do is a big hit on their armies.. destroy multiple battalions at once, which we can't do because it would give away our element of surprise; and make it look like we are the antagonizes of the war instead of them."

Naruto's face took a darker look, and Shikamaru had a chill go up his back; "I could always kill them all, leave no survivors.." - Shikamaru really didn't know what to say the previously go-happy boy now talking about slaughtering thousands like they were planning what to eat for lunch.

Last night the real reason they drank so much was because Naruto had finally told Shikamaru about all his abilities; and the history of how he learned them - pretty much all his travels for the past seven years. Halfway through Naruto grabbed the liquid courage to keep both their emotions under check; at the end of it Shikamaru was surprised - but somehow not afraid, more intrigued. And it felt good to the blond to share his story with someone else; even Shikaku didn't know his abilities to their full extent only guessing some of the essential makeup. Shikamaru had spent most of the night asking Naruto questions of strategies he hadn't even thought of over a Shogi game. The whole time Naruto smiled; knowing Shikaku was right - giving someone else the knowledge of his history helped to relieve some of the burdens he had been carrying since coming back to the Village.

However Shikamaru's mind was in a much different world, he was hiding back the panic on his concious knowing what the monster across from him was capable of - so when Naruto threatened to kill thousands of shinobi; he knew he wasn't boasting.

"No.. that would set a bad precedent for other Villages; you have to remember that there are other S-Ranked nuke-nin out there that could potentially wipe out Villages, and you doing it would make it seem okay for them to." Shikamaru responded; knowing his words held the lives of many shinobi in the balance. Even with the fact he knew they intended to invade his Village - he couldn't send Naruto out to slaughter them before they acted.

"Yeah.. I just keep thinking about Hinata, Tenten, Choji.. everyone that may die in the war.. and I just want to go out there and challenge them myself - let me be the sacrifice" Naruto glanced at the door, Hinata had exited from just a few moments ago.

Shikamaru sighed; "We can't protect everyone Naruto - some people may die but we'll do everything we can to prepare: come up with the best strategies, and train everyone stronger so when the time comes everyone is ready. But that does not mean you-" Naruto gave him a sharp look which Shikamaru grinned. "I know you want to help them but there are other people that can teach them during the next month, people who know what their skills are, what their capable of, and how best to prepare their teams for the future. What I need you to do is train; we're going up against strong odds in the invasion and your the only hidden power we have against Sunagakure - luckily they know absolutely nothing about you-"

Naruto looked down in shame; "Actually I told the Suna jinchuriki I'm the Kyubi no Yoko's container."

This made the Nara laugh surprising the blonde; "I wouldn't worry about that, if anything they would of found out from our civilians leaking it out to hopefully let them kill you."

Of course it was an odd thought to laugh at, but this didn't stop the Namikaze from chuckling - they fell silent finishing their breakfast and putting it away. Naruto poured himself some coffee and leaned against the counter; Shikamaru put his jacket and gloves back on.

"What do we do then? Is there any allies we can count on, anyone we can trust - this is a ninja Village for Kami sake we have to have some friends" Naruto looked out the window at the street where people were happily walking by, content with their lives.

"We have burned some bridges - but what few allies we do have won't aide us in a suicide mission. Kirigakure due to your.. influence with them, would be the most inclined but I don't believe we can expect any help from them - their still recovering from their civil war and don't have the manpower to offer support.

And after Whirlpool Country fell, the Sandaime Hokage hasn't reached out to any of the smaller nations to establish a new relationship - the loss of so many Uzumaki blood by traitorous smaller villages has tainted the relationship between Konoha and our border nations. In fact, I'm surprised war hasn't come sooner since the last Great Shinobi War - I'm guessing that the idea we hold the Kyubi no Yoko has kept other nations at bay; but when Orochimaru came knocking they all banded together for this invasion.."

Naruto sipped again; setting his coffee down - "Has anyone been to Whirlpool Country since it's been destroyed? I'm assuming they searched the grounds after it was razed but did anyone check again since?" he was interested in the prospect of finding out more about his family history - maybe finding out who his grandparents were.

"Well I remember a squad of ANBU were sent out a few years ago after a rumor one of the signal traps out there was stepped on - they returned finding nothing but the empty ruins. Why?" Shikamaru stared at Naruto. "Wait have you never been there? You explored all across the Elemental Nations except the place your mother used to belong to?!" he was astonished that Naruto wasn't curious about his deceased mothers old home.

"No, Ero-sennin wouldn't let me visit the place- but he never really gave me a reason why.. I wonder maybe we should take a few days to go visit, I could possible learn something about my Dōjutsu.."

They both gave a look of acknowledgement, so Naruto grabbed his scroll and coat as they dashed out the door to the Hokage tower.

"Are you sure you wanna go visit you past? We have so little time to prepare for a massive invasion, and you wanna leave to go explore the ruins of Uzushiogakure?" Hiruzen questioned the logic to which Naruto nodded.

"I know nothing about my past - whether or not my Dōjutsu is a bloodline of the Uzumaki; or if they have some techniques that could help us turn the tide of this battle.. there's so little I know about my own history, besides I am of little help in preparation; Shikaku can take care of planning, and the commanders are in charge of the troops - I have little to do.."

The Sandaime sighed; "I know - I feel the useless to prepare also.. fine I will grant you this mission, but this will be the last time you leave the Village for exploring - I need you here to take up my mantel, is that understood?"

Naruto grinned; "Yes Hokage-sama" - to which he nodded. "Are you going also Shikamaru?"

"Yes Hokage-sama, I think it would be for the best I also learn about the Uzumaki history so we can better plan Naruto's function in the invasion" Hiruzen smiled; it reminded him so much of Shikaku and Minato's brief time together.

"Alright, I'll give you guys a week- If your not back by then, I'll send an ANBU Squad to search for you; good luck to both of you" the two boys bowed, and Naruto hirashin'd them out of the office.

The old man looked over at the picture on the wall of the Yondaime Hokage; it seemed to stare back at him - "Please tell Kushina about Naruto visting Uzu, I'm sure her father would want to know", maybe it was a trick of light but he could swore he saw the portrait nod. I need to get out of the office every once in a while, ah but Naruto will be Hokage soon - I'll be able to rest then he sighed going back to the mountain of paperwork.

READ AND REVIEW! Naruto's going to visit Uzu! What will he find there? Stay tuned!