AN: I am amazed at how well this story is liked; I got over 400 followers and favs with three communities. The last chapter got really good remarks and for those who shed a tear or two at the end, don't feel bad as I try to get into my characters mind and emotions; if you thought you were tearing up, I was ten times worse. Anyway, here is the next chapter for yah…enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto; I am doing this for the shits and giggles.

ITALICS – thinking

BOLD – demon speak/jutsu

Chapter 10: Akatsuki Revealed

After Sasuke and Itachi reunited, both went back to the Uchiha district to catch up on what was missed. It was also during this reunion that the Sandaime sent off his letter to the Kazekage, Mizukage, and Uzukage saying they are to arrive for an emergency summons for a potential threat to the Elemental Nations. Hiruzen received a response later in the day from each saying that it would take a couple days for them to arrive with their body guards. This of course made the Hokage extremely nervous as he did not know if the Akatsuki would strike in that time; luckily that did not happen.

As Sasuke and Itachi were making up for lost time, two seal masters were currently in the Senju Estates discussing and experimenting with a way to get their old friend and sensei back to his younger years. Both Naruto and Jiraiya were in the same room where the seal mistake Mito made those many years ago; the room was never touched and never opened since Naruto disappeared.

Naruto opened the door and smiled sadly while looking around the room which paper and books were strewn about; Naruto subconsciously put a hand over the seal on his stomach and shed a few tears. Jiraiya saw this and voiced his concerns.

"You OK Naruto?"

Said person nods "I will be fine Jiraiya-sama, just reminiscing is all about the last time I was in this room." Naruto takes a breath and smiles then claps his hands "Well, enough about the past; we have a seal to make!"

"Right."

So for the next three hours, both seal masters went over countless books and notes which were scribbled on pages; each made notes of their own and would discuss their possibilities at the end. Just as both were about to call it quits, Naruto remembers something that Tsunade said to him when he first came back.

"Aging jutsu." Naruto whispers which Jiraiya hears.

"Aging what now?"

Naruto looks at the Toad Sage and laughs "Tsunade threatened me with an aging jutsu when I first returned so I could look like the old monkey; I may only be eighteen in body but in mind I am 68."

Jiraiya chuckles at the thought of a wrinkly and liver spotted Naruto, but he soon clears his mind and thinks on the jutsu.

"Do you think it's possible to take a jutsu and turn it into a seal then reverse engineer it to do the complete opposite?"

Naruto shrugs "I suppose. The seal on the front of my hand is a summoning seal I designed to link up with the seal on my stomach; with your spy network I am sure you got the report of what I did."

The Sanin shivers "Yah, don't remind me. Anyway, how can we make an aging seal?"

Naruto hums in thought "Well, we have stasis seals which can paralyze a person and can possibly be used to make a person not age. We can always start there."

Jiraiya nods "Well, we might need to see Tsunade-hime's jutsu in action to get an idea on how to make the aging seal before tweaking the stasis seal."

Naruto chuckles "Yah, the last thing I need is another screw up and me seeing the future again."

Both get up and pat each other on the back to head to see Tsunade and try to get this project figured out as fast as possible. Both hoped it would be ready by the Chunin Exams.

Uchiha District

Itachi and Sasuke were currently outside in the training grounds as Sasuke brought up the question about the Mangekyou Sharingan; Itachi had a solution to how to get it without killing someone but it would not be a pleasant experience.

"Sasuke, in order to get the Mangekyou Sharingan you have to kill your closest friend or see them perish by someone else's hands but there is a way around this." Itachi coolly stated making Sasuke quirk an eyebrow.

"How so?"

Itachi sighs, the word said maid Sasuke pale "Tsukuyomi."

"Naruto-sensei told me about that, it can lead to coma, mental instability and other nasty things." Sasuke paused in thought then continued. "If you can assure no lasting effects will happen to me, I will go through with it."

Itachi smiles "I will do my best, now look into my eyes."

Sasuke watches as his brother's eyes first turn into the three tomoed Sharingan then spin to form the MS; afterwards his vision went black for a brief moment before finding himself tied to a wooden cross in a red world with a red moon and clouds. In front of him stands Itachi and to his right was the Konoha 11.

"Welcome to the world of Tsukuyomi little brother. For 72 hours you will watch me kill your friends over and over again." States a monotone Itachi who looks at a wide eyed Sasuke.

"This isn't real, calm down Sasuke…calm down."

Itachi senses Sasuke trying to dispel the technique.

"There is no escape brother, now watch as your friends are killed by my hands."

Itachi calmly pulls out his tanto and proceeds to mutilate them which brings memories of the Uchiha Massacre back into Sasuke's mind; Inoichi's mind wipe started to fail and memories of the time in ROOT and how he acted before came to the surface.

"Stop…don't kill them! Itachi!"

Itachi flicks the blood off his sword and looks at Sasuke as his friends come back to life.

"71 hours, 59 minutes, 59 seconds left to go."

Again and again Sasuke watches his friends fall as well as relieving the memories that were wiped. At first Sasuke was angry that Konoha would do such a thing but as the memories progressed he knew why the wipe was necessary. He closes his eyes and tries to drown out the sounds of metal meeting flesh as well as focus on the streaming memories. Soon, Itachi feels an immense pressure in the Tsukuyomi world and turns to Sasuke who opens his eyes to see the biohazard symbol in each as well as a stern look much like Madara had; Sasuke had awakened his Mangekyou Sharingan.

A name came to Sasuke's mind and when spoke, black flames rushed toward Itachi.

"Amaterasu!"

Itachi widens his eyes and quickly cancels the technique. Back in the real world, Sasuke collapses to the ground with blood tears coming from his eyes and him holding his head while screaming in pain. This was not how it was supposed to go.

Through his pain, Sasuke grunts out two names "Naruto…Inoichi."

Itachi didn't hesitate and quickly Shunshined to get them both; within two minutes all three arrived back at the estate to see Sasuke in extreme pain. Naruto rushed up to console him while screaming at Itachi.

"What the hell did you do?!"

Itachi sighs "I used Tsukyuomi to awaken Sasuke's MS and before you yell any further, he agreed to it."

Inoichi became worried and asked a simple question. "What did you show him to awaken it?"

"Killing off his friends…why is there a problem?"

"Shit." Naruto and Inoichi deadpan.

Itachi was confused and Inoichi explained the mind wipe they had to do to change Sasuke's path; it was one thing that Jiraiya forgot to bring up when they met the day before. After hearing this, Itachi grew worried and fell to his knees while tears were spilling out of his eyes.

"What have I done, if I would have known-?"

"Don't beat yourself over it; now, let me have a look inside." Inoichi states and uses his clan jutsu to enter Sasuke's mindscape as Naruto continues to comfort him.

Sasuke's Mindscape

Once Inoichi gains access he appears right in the middle of a massive fight between the Yami Sasuke and the real Sasuke. Both are bloodied and giving it their all in trying to banish one side or the other.

"Ah, so a mind-walker attempts to help…how quaint!" Yami Sasuke snarls and attempts to kill Inoichi but Sasuke would have none of it.

Just before Yami guts the Yamanka with a kunai, Sasuke appears and roundhouse kicks his dark half away.

"Dammit Inoichi, get out of here! I don't blame you for what you had to do if that was your main concern; I can handle my dark side by myself."

"Sasuke…" Inoichi starts but soon stares at a glowing MS and is kicked from the mindscape.

"Now where were we, ah yes, BURN IN HELL YAMI! Great Fire Annihilation!"

Yami pales at the sight of the large swath of flames coming his way then laughs as he does the same jutsu which makes both start fighting for control. Still laughing, evilly mind you, he tries to degrade Sasuke into quitting.

"C'mon Sasuke, join me, merge with me to become whole once again; we will show these Konoha bastards not to mess with an Uchiha Elite."

Sasuke grunts as he pours more chakra into the technique "NEVER! I have Itachi back as well as a good group of friends, Naruto-sensei is outside comforting me; I can feel his soothing chakra coursing through my veins!"

Yami adds more chakra making the massive sheets of fire fight each other; it was currently at a stalemate.

"You have no chance…NO CHANCE!" Yami's dark chakra explodes making his jutsu rush towards Sasuke.

"Shit…not this way, I don't want to die this way."

The midscape flashes white and two images appear in front of Sasuke; its Mikoto and Fugaku, his parents.

"Hello son." Mikoto starts. "Aw, look how much you have grown, only if we had more time together."

"Mom, dad, how are you here?"

Fugaku smiles and places a hand on Sasuke's shoulder "Look son, we don't have much time so I will cut to the chase. When you were born, both Mikoto and I placed some of our chakra inside you knowing that Danzo was after our clan. We feared one of us would be controlled."

Mikoto continues. "Your father and Shisui were targets and thus put in a genjutsu to make the coup look plausible. I sense you know the rest so I will dally no further my son."

Sasuke tears up and engulfs both of them in a hug "My dark side, how can I hope to defeat him; I have friends now, Itachi is back in my life, I feel complete already."

Both parents smile and ruffle Sasuke's hair then bend low to look into their son's eyes.

"There is one thing your dark side has never felt before, I have a feeling you know what that is." Mikoto starts but then notices she and Fugaku are turning transparent.

"Mom, Dad…please don't go!"

Fugaku smiles sadly and places his hand on Sasuke's heart. "We will never leave son, we will always be there in your heart; go now, defeat your dark half. All of us will be waiting for you when you pass from this world…"

Sasuke watches both about to disappear when they say their final words.

"We love you…stay strong our son."

The mindscape flashes white again and Sasuke finds himself back fighting but notices no time has passed. All of a sudden, he feels a surge of chakra entering his body and recognizes the signatures.

"Mother, Father, thank you."

With that, Sasuke screams out and blasts his mindscape with an intense amount of chakra catching Yami off guard which led to Sasuke's attack overpowering his dark sides and thus banishing him from existence. Sasuke watches as his mindscape starts to crumble away into a lush forest with chirping birds, the sun high into the blue sky. To his right he sees two headstones denoting graves; Fugaku Uchiha and Mikoto Uchiha each read. Sasuke again smiles and takes a deep breath of the spring time air then fades from his mindscape.

Uchiha Compound

Sasuke wakes with a gasp and looks around to see a worried Itachi, Inoichi, and Naruto.

"Which Sasuke are you?" Inoichi asks with a stern voice.

"My dark side is gone thanks to the help of my parents, Itachi, we have training to do; Naruto-sensei, would you like to join?"

Naruto smiles "I would love to."

Inoichi smiles and breathes in relief at how Sasuke handled the situation; for a while, all three thought he would resort back to his old self. Knowing he was not needed any longer, he shunshined out of the area to go back home.

Two Days Later: Konoha Council Chambers

Jiraiya, Tsunade, Hiruzen, Naruto, Kushina, the Yondaime Kazekage, and Mei were all present in the Council Chambers ready to discuss the Akatsuki. Mei, Kushina, and the Kazekage's bodyguards were all roaming about Konoah taking in the sights. After they greet each other, some being surprised that the son of Hashirama was still living, everyone sat down and began.

"I thank you for taking the time to convene like this; shall we get the meeting started?" Hiruzen asks which everyone nods in approval. "Good, Uzukage-sama you have the floor."

Kushina nods and pulls out copies of the list of Akatsuki members and their skill sets; these get passed around for everyone to skim over.

"The lists I just passed out to you are what my two spies, Nagato and Konan, have been able to gather over the years on the Akatsuki organization. As you can tell, everyone on this list is S-rank or above with impressive skill sets."

The Kazekage started to read off the list of ten names. "So the Akatsuki consists of, and I still cannot believe this man's name is on the list, Madara Uchiha who goes by the alias Tobi, Zetsu, Hidan, Kakuzu, Hanzo the Salamander, Orochimaru, Sasori, Deidara, Kisame, and Jinpachi Munashi."

Mei blinks and does a double take at the last two names. "Kisame and Jinpachi, two of the seven swordsman, but I thought Jinpachi was dead!"

"Apparently not, and my spy network has confirmed this list; I still don't know what exactly their plan is, Kushina, any idea?" Jiraiya responds with wonder in his voice.

Kushina nods "Again, my spies are the second in command in the Akatsuki and know the leader quite well. In fact, and I am ashamed to admit this, that is how Madara is alive in the first place; sorry Naruto."

Naruto clenches his fists and growls out "How, tell me how!"

"Maybe for another time my surrogate brother." Tsunade starts but is interrupted by the Kazekage.

"Actually, I would not mind hearing the story; Uzukage-sama, if you will?"

Kushina sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose. "OK, first off Madara did not die at the Valley of the End; he hid himself away for a very long time so that he could recover. Anyways, I ordered Nagato and Konan with a group of Jounin to head out to follow up on reports of mysterious chakra pulses in the cliff face in the Valley of the End. According to reports, the team made it there but the chakra suddenly died out; hours later they found a hidden cave entrance and found a dead body inside."

Naruto turns to Kushina "Why do I have a bad feeling where this story is heading?"

Kushina gives an apologetic look to Naruto then continues. "Nagato was curious about his Rinnegan powers, and used a rebirth jutsu to bring the man back to life and thus Madara was born again."

"They eyes of the Sage…impossible!" The Kazekage and Mei blurt out in disbelief but Naruto reassures them it is truth.

"The eyes of the Sage are not myth; supposedly Madara got them near the end of his life. According to legend, the Sage of Six Paths had two children which formed the Senju and Uchiha clans we know today and it takes both for someone to gain the legendary dojutsu."

"Then how did Madara get it then when he is only part Uchiha?" Hiruzen ponders aloud.

Naruto shrugs "I have no clue on that one unless some asshole managed to get my father's genes again. Heck, the most viable candidate for gaining a Rinnegan is Sasuke as Danzo injected him with my father's DNA."

Jiraiya clears his throat "This is nice and all but back to the topic at hand please."

Everyone chuckles and Hiruzen looks at the paper in front of him and starts to read off the skills on a member.

"Jinpachi, stands six foot five, has long brown hair, a long beard which he wears in strands adorned with beads. The top of his head is wrapped in bandages, and he has an eye-patch covering his left eye. Skill set is Silent Killing, very skilled in kenjutsu, high strength capabilities, can use long range explosive techniques due to Shibuki, his blastsword."

Jiraiya reads the next on the list; Kisame.

"Kisame, also known as the Tailless-Tailed Beast, stands six foot four, has a shark like appearance, blue-grey skin, and small white eyes with gill markings underneath. Skill set is insane chakra reserves, superhuman strength, highly skilled in kenjutsu with Samehada, his sword. His sword can steal chakra and merge with Kisame if need be."

Tsuande goes next with Deidara.

"Deidara has blond hair in a pony-tail with some of it covering the right half of his face. He has blue eyes and stands at five foot four. He has the Explosion Release and uses clay in combination with the mouths on his hands to create explosives. Deidara is highly intelligent but lacks in the knowledge of short range skills."

Mei looks at the list and picks out Hanzo the Salamander.

"Well this is an interesting fellow, Hanzo the Salamander stands at five foot eight and has a mask over his mouth to keep his poison breath at bay. He has long blond hair and is fairly muscular. Skills are the salamander summoning contract, fire release, and skilled with a kusarigama. Why does this name sound familiar?"

Tsuande and Jiraiya growl and simultaneously reply "Defeated us in the second Shinobi War."

Naruto rose an eyebrow "Wait, he took on the Sannin all at once?"

Jiraiya scoffs "How do you think we got the name the Legendary Sannin; we should have died that day Naruto but he honored our strength and let us live."

"Hmm, sounds like a challenge; I actually am looking forward to fighting that guy." Naruto replies back which earns him stares of confusion and slightly dumbfounded.

For the next thirty minutes, each read off the members of the Akatsuki and started to form plans on how to defeat each one of them as everyone knew it was only a matter of time before they struck. As the chatting went on, everyone had their opinions on what the Akatsuki's goal actually was.

"My spies do not know the truth of what Madara actually wants but my guess it would have to do with his past. Naruto, did your father say anything about Madara, you know obsessions and what not?"

Naruto sighs and nods "Yes, he was fascinated at how he could control the bijuu as well as how he could summon the Kyuubi at will. Before his banishment from the village, my father described Madara as power hungry and frowned upon when the bijuu were split between the villages."

The Kazekage hums in thought and gasps as an idea comes to mind. "Do you think he was mad at Hashirama for splitting the bijuu due to the possibility that he wanted them all to himself?"

The room goes silent for five minutes as everyone digested the possibility. Everyone, even the Kazekage himself, wanted to deny that fact but no matter how much they looked at it, it was the only plausible answer.

Naruto decides to break the silence with a question to the Kazekage. "How is your jinchuriki doing if I may ask Kazkage-sama?"

Said man gives a heated glare "Planning on stealing it Senju!"

Naruto stays calm much to everyone's amazement "Not at all, I am just wondering how a person like myself is doing; Jiraiya told me how jinchuriki are usually treated in this day in age."

"Wait, one like yourself…HOW WAS I SO BLIND!" The Kazekage yells then shakes his head. "Of course you would be the viable candidate for the Kyuubi, Naruto-sama, many apologies and if would like I can set up a meeting between you two."

Naruto nods "That would be lovely and I am sure it has gone around at what I managed to accomplish at Kiri."

Jiraiya gapes at Naruto and waves his hands in front of him "Whoa now Naruto, are you actually thinking of giving Gaara THAT seal?"

Naruto nods while everyone else wonders what the heck the two seal masters are talking about; Naruto puts up his right hand and shows the seal array on the back of the hand.

"This is a summoning seal I personally made but it is not complete as of yet, again, word has probably got out at what I did at Kiri."

The Kazekage sputters as everyone else's eyes, minus Naruto and Jiraiya, bulge as they connected the dots.

"You mean to tell me you can summon the Kyuubi like Madara did all those years ago!" The Kazekage starts clutching his sides and laughing "Oh man, you got me there kid; I highly doubt that."

Naruto looks at Hiruzen for confirmation and nods.

"Fine, you want confirmation; Summoning Jutsu: Kurama!"

A small puff of red smoke appears on the table which clears to show a small dog sized Kurama.

"Aw, dammit Kit you woke me from my nap!"

"KAWAII!" Mei, Tsuande, and Kushina yell and quickly hug the small fox in front of them.

"Kit, get them off me!"

Everyone starts laughing at the greatest of all bijuu's whining and even more so when Kurama goes back in the seal making the girls pout. After calming down, the Kazekage looks at Naruto and apologizes yet again which he waves off.

"I trust all of you with this information as you are allies of Konoha but be warned, I will know when you slip. There is a side of the Senju of old which we keep bottled up in fear of destroying everything in our path, friend or foe. One slip up and I will show you how powerful a Senju truly could be."

The dark tone set everyone who had not heard Naruto speak this way before for a loop, it did get the point across as the reports from what he did to Yagura already travelled around the Elemental Nation.

Before anything else could be said, a messenger bursts in panting for breath.

"Sorry for the interruption but intel says that Iwa and Kumo are amassing forces for some reason. It's almost like the Second Shinobi War all over again."

Kushina pales at hearing this and quickly stands "I must dismiss myself as I fear my village is in danger; if I ask, will you all help me in defending my home?"

"We shall." The simultaneous voices of Mei, the Kazekage, and Hiruzen are heard.

"Thank you all, and to you messenger-san, I thank you. Good day and I will report to you with an update on Kumo and Iwa's movements."

Hiruzen watches Kushina head out then dismisses everyone knowing that they would be needed incase war broke out again.

Oto: Kage Tower

Kabuto was currently in the office talking to Orochimaru about his latest task; with the help of the man Orochimaru talked to earlier, everything was set to bring Konoha down.

Kabuto bows "It has been done Orochimaru-sama, Kumo and Iwa have joined us in taking down Uzugakure but may I ask a question."

"You may Kabuto."

"Are Iwa, Kumo, and our village going to be enough?"

Orochimaru smirked "Ku, ku, ku, very good observation Kabuto; I have enlisted the help of some special people thanks to a certain organization I am in. Don't worry dear Kabuto, Konoha will fall soon enough."

Kabuto bows once again "I will be off Orochimaru-sama and update you with Konoha's movements on a daily basis."

Orochimaru dismisses Kabuto then looks to the corner of the room where out of the shadows, the same man he talked to appears.

"I take it your job was successful?"

"Very much so Orochimaru, all I had to do was kill a couple prominent council members and place a forged note and Uzu headband next to their corpse. This and Kabuto's words made them bend to our will."

"Fu, Fu, Fu, good, very good; I wonder though, how will they react to your return?"

"It matters not, with the help that we have I assure you that even with the Senju brat victory will be ours."

Ame: Akatsuki Base

Madara was in a current bind; he had two choices; help with Orochimaru's predicament or use this distraction to start with his plan. As he sat in his room for what seemed like hours, he eventually came to a decision. Standing and walking to the main room where everyone was at currently, he pulled three people aside.

"Hanzo, Jinpachi, Kisame, I have a certain task for you to do?"

Senju Estates: Nighttime

A knock is heard at the door which Tsuande answers. Standing there is a boy with auburn hair, green eyes, and a massive gourd on his back with the usual sand nin attire.

"Hello, you must be Gaara."

Gaara bows "Hai, may I come in Senju-sama?"

"Tsunade is fine and you may." After he is lead inside, Gaara is motioned into the family room where he takes a seat. "Can I get you tea or anything to drink?"

Gaara smiles "Tea would be lovely, thank you Tsuande."

As she went back to get that ready, Naruto came downstairs to take a break from trying to learn the anti-aging seal; Jiraiya and Naruto worked at it after the meeting and they managed to make an aging seal but reversing it was more difficult than they first thought. Naruto pause his walk to the kitchen when he spots Gaara sitting on the couch.

"You must be Gaara." Naruto introduces himself and both shake hands.

"Hai, Naruto-sama; it is an honor to meet you."

"Naruto is fine. Now, I bet you are wondering why the Kazekage invited you over correct?"

"My father said you were like me in a ways? Plus, sorry for asking but mother says you should be older than 18."

"Mother?"

Kurama laughs in Naruto's mind "He means Shukaku Kit, and yes all of us bijuu have a gender even though we are chakra constructs mainly."

Gaara notices the glazed look in Naruto's eyes and knows he is conversing with his tenant so he waits calmly and thanks Tsuande when she brings out the tea.

"Sorry about that Gaara, now to your question. I will give you the simple answer, I sealed myself away for a period of time; that is all you need to know."

Gaara nods and sips his tea making him smile at the minty taste; he then notices the seal on Naruto's hand.

"Um Naruto, may I ask about the seal on your right hand?"

Naruto chuckles and sets his tea down on the saucer "That is actually what the topic of discussion is about; how would you like to summon Shukaku out of the seal without killing yourself."

"Fresh air…the smell of blood…let me out Gaara, please!"

Gaara shakes his head and responds back "I would love to but I fear that my bijuu is unstable; she talks about blood mostly which unnerves me."

Naruto taps his chin "Now that is a problem, can I see your seal for a moment?"

Gaara gives a stern glare and sand starts to rotate around his form making Naruto put his hands up in defense.

"Stand down Gaara, I have had over fifty years of fuinijutsu practice and I promise that I will not harm it. I just want to see if my hunches are correct."

It took a couple minutes but Gaara complied and showed his seal which Naruto took a look at. It was as he feared; the seal was weak and thus made the bijuu slightly unstable. After spending five minutes looking at it, Naruto tells Gaara to wait as he goes to get his sealing supplies. A minute later, he is back and over the next ten minutes a better seal was made then activated. Gaara immediately noticed a difference as he heard Shukaku muttering thank you over and over again as the seal in place brought pain to her. Of course, Gaara explained this to Naruto whom nodded back. As the two conversed over tea, Naruto eventually trusted Gaara enough to talk about a potential project of his.

"Gaara, if it came to it, would you join me on the quest of gathering all the jinchuriki incase certain things I foresaw come to light?"

Gaara was shocked at first but then nodded "I would love to meet the other jinchuriki if possible, I always wondered how others were treated. Father was kind enough to teach the villagers at home what the basics of fuinjustu were so I grew up loved and cared for."

Naruto sighs "Jiraiya-san tells me most jinchuriki today are hated and shunned as people tend to fear what they don't understand; your father, the Kazekage is a good man. He raised you well and I see Hokage material in you, maybe one day you will achieve that."

Gaara smiles and nods "About the summoning seal? I take it there are complications of using it?"

"Astute as ever Gaara and yes there are. One is that the jinchuriki has to earn the complete trust of their bijuu, and two is the seal has a set time limit which I am working on improving. This is one of the reasons as to why I am not handing it out just yet."

Gaara nods then stands "It is getting late, I must return to the hotel as we are leaving first thing tomorrow morning. I enjoyed talking to you Naruto; I hope we meet again someday."

Naruto stands and escorted Gaara to the door and both give a handshake before parting ways. After Naruto closed the door he sighed and had doubts on whether he was strong enough to bring Madara down if the moment arrived. Naruto knew that he was nowhere close to his father's level even though he had many years to train. With Madara back alive, who knows what new tricks he learned and what counters to all of Naruto's skills the Uchiha had found. He decided that it would be best to get some sleep and think about it in the morning; little did he know that the events to come would start the clock on the Elemental Nation's downfall. However, one person would rise to become the key in ensuring that the Elemental Nation stood tall forever and always.

AN: More of an informational chapter and introduction of some characters but it needed to be done; I will give a virtual cookie to anyone who can guess the mystery man. Please PM me with your answer and I will tell you if you are correct or not. If nobody guesses correctly, you will see soon who that man is. Until next time, Ja Ne!