Naruto walked into the large building with as much confidence as she could muster. A samurai stepped forward. "We've been waiting for you."
Naruto was led to a room which held the other four Kage. Naruto took her seat in the middle of the curved table; in front of the cloth with the kanji Hi on it. Mifune, the leader of the samurai, entered with his guards.
"Place your hats on the table. You are here because the Raikage has called this Kage summit. I will serve as the mediator." Mifune said as he took his seat. Silence reigned for some time.
"Well, since nobody is willing to say anything at this time; I guess I should go first."
"Things are changing quite quickly if one as young as you has become a Kage. I guess your father taught you well, but then again, he appears to have forgotten to instill any manners in you."
"That is the exact reason I made Kage so young."
"Tsuchikage-dono, please stop starting fights." The Mizukage reproached. The Tsuchikage smirked.
"I used to be a host, but the Akatsuki managed to capture me. I requested aid from many the other Kage many times, but only the former Hokage responded. Though, at this point with so many hosts captured, it's too late for aid."
"If a country that has lost its host, it has no business giving other countries orders. It's an embarrassment. A country should attempt to recover its host in secret." The Tsuchikage said.
"Appearance...honor...I don't have time for such old fashioned thinking." Gaara replied.
"If we had put our differences aside, the Akatsuki would not have the power of eight Bijuu backing them." Naruto finally spoke up.
"Just because the beasts have been stolen is no reason to be worried. It takes time and knowledge for one to begin to even have some level of control over them." The Mizukage spoke up.
"The hosts need to grow with the beast. Even then, control is not easy and it won't happen immediately."
Naruto spoke up. "There have only been approximately four people in history that could control the Bijuu. Foremost, the Shodaime Hokage and Uchiha Madara; the Yondaime Mizukage to some extent and Kirabi, the Raikage's brother. But..."
A crash sounded and the other Kage's guards and Kakashi with Danzou leapt out and stood alert. "Quit your yapping!" The Kage turned their heads to look at the Raikage.
"We are here to talk. Please refrain from such displays of rudeness." The guards were dismissed.
"Konoha. Iwa. Suna. Kiri. Akatsuki is made up shinobi from your villages. I also know that some Kage in the past have used Akatsuki. I called all of you here to find out where your true loyalties lie." The Raikage ranted.
"What do you mean used?" Gaara asked blankly.
"Ask your elders! Suna used Akatsuki in their war." The Raikage carried on. The Tsuchikage explained the situation to warrant the use of Akatsuki.
"I don't want to hear it Tsuchikage!"
"Hmph."
"Suna used Akatsuki to try and destroy Konoha. It's still unclear whether Orochimaru was still a part of Akatsuki at that time. Both the former Hokage and Kazekage ended up dying. I can't help but feel that it was a part of somebody else's plot." The Raikage's eyes wondered behind the Hi curtain. Naruto kept up a calm façade. The only reason she brought Danzou with her was to keep him away from Tsunade's prone body.
"Kirigakure, you are the most suspicious! There are rumors that Akatsuki started in your village." The Raikage accused.
The Mizukage seemed to contemplate something. "There were some suspicions that the Yondaime Mizukage was being controlled by somebody. It could have been Akatsuki, but I didn't want to make a big deal out of it."
"You all...!"
"Before this delves any deeper, I have to tell you something." Everybody's eyes turned to Naruto. "The leader of Akatsuki is definitely an Uchiha who has a strong connection to Uchiha Madara." The room got quiet.
"I must say, the leader of Akatsuki read the signs of the times perfectly." Mifune interjected. "He used the suspicion of the nation to increase his own power. It is very rare for all the Kage to meet like this. How about, until the Akatsuki is dealt with, you form a shinobi alliance. The chain of command should be uniform so as to avoid further confusion."
The Tsuchikage spoke up. "So the question is; who will have authority over this new army?"
"You will only fight among yourselves. So I'd like you to respect my position as a neutral party. I will decide who will be in charge." Mifune looked around. "The only host left is Konoha's, will you let the Hokage lead?" The conference room erupted into chaos.
"She is far too young!" The Raikage's booming voice echoed.
"Then who would you suggest?"
"Me. My village has no involvement with Akatsuki. We are the most trustworthy-"
"I disagree. A leader who lets his emotion get the best of him will destroy the alliance as surely as you destroyed that table. I don't know what Akatsuki is planning, but I do know that they need the Kyuubi and the Kyuubi belongs to Konoha so it's only right they lead." Suddenly Ao, the Mizukage's guard appeared in front of them all.
"Stop, Danzou is manipulating you with a genjutsu, Mifune." Everybody turned to look at Naruto.
"I had nothing to do with this. Danzou!" Danzou appeared before Naruto.
"Yes, Hokage-sama?" Danzou asked complacently.
"You were controlling Mifune; I recognize Uchiha Shisui's chakra within your body. I once fought him so I know what his chakra looks like. Shisui had a powerful eye technique which could control his opponents without them realizing they were being controlled in the first place."
"Teme!" The Raikage shouted.
Mifune looked at Danzou. "What do you have to say for yourself Danzou?"
A white figure, that looked like a Venus fly trap mutant, sprouted from the ground; halting further conversation. "Helloooo." He sang.
"What does the Akatsuki want in this place?" Naruto asked.
"Uchiha Sasuke is here somewhere? Where could he possibly be?" Naruto froze as the she felt the fury come off of the Raikage at the figure's taunts.
"Let's all search for Sasuke, come on!" He said in his annoyingly cheerful voice.
"What?!" The Raikage glared at the figure. Sasuke, you make it so hard to protect you. Naruto sighed. She activated her sensory abilities and discovered C was also a sensor. He looked over at her with narrowed eyes. Naruto soon located Sasuke and the samurai's chakra signatures were being wiped out. She sensed Suigetsu, Karin and Juugo. Naruto was familiar with their chakra so she found it a lot faster. In this time the Raikage had caught Zetsu and broken his neck.
"C, begin." The Raikage turned around and punched the wall. "You, Kirigakure-nin," He pointed at Ao. "Watch Danzou and make sure he doesn't try anything."
"There was no need to kill him. We could have tortured him for information." The Mizukage admonished.
"Nobody in the Akatsuki talks. They are all extremely loyal." Gaara said passively.
"I'll be coming along as well." Naruto stood up.
"No, he is your charge. You are responsible for his actions."
"In all the time I trained under B, Raikage, have I ever displayed traits of deceit?" Naruto had the pleasure of seeing the Raikage squirm.
"Hmph, fine." A turned around and ran through the hole he'd created.
"Sorry about the table and wall." Darui scratched his head sheepishly.
"Darui, we don't have time for this. Let's go." C said and they left.
"Kakashi-sensei." Kakashi appeared next to her. "We'll head to Sasuke's location as back up for the Raikage." Kakashi looked concernedly at her. Naruto left her face blank. She felt Gaara's gaze on her back as she swept out, placing her hat on her head with it shadowing her eyes.
She began walking. Hearing a loud boom some distance ahead, Naruto assumed the Raikage had found Sasuke. Turning a corner she was met with the sight of Tobi at the end of the hallway.
"Yo, Naruto. I was hoping we could talk for a while." He waved. Naruto ran through some hand seals and wooden restraints exploded out of the ground and wrapped around him. Kakashi appeared behind him with a Raikiri charged up.
Tobi looked between them. "You're fast, I never expected this of you but I'm not here to fight. I have come to explain to you why Sasuke has chosen the path he walks upon." His arm phased through the restraints and pulled his mask to the side; revealing his Sharingan. Naruto activated her Sharingan and their eyes met for what appeared to be a few seconds.
"You're lying! There is no way that the Sandaime would order such a thing."
"Whether you believe me or not doesn't matter. What matters is that Sasuke now knows the truth about Itachi. Ja ne." Tobi faded away. Naruto clenched her fist before she started running. Kakashi matched her pace.
"Naruto, what did he show you?"
"That doesn't matter now sensei. We need to find Sasuke so that we can keep him away from Danzou."
"Why?" Naruto didn't respond. Naruto felt Sasuke's chakra become vile and cold. She held back the tears that stung her eyes. She steeled herself because she would have to kill Karin to avoid her finding Danzou. Naruto sensed the Raikage's chakra flare and Juugo's diminish. Naruto noticed Karin's chakra had disappeared.
Naruto arrived at a hole in the floor and jumped down; stomping down hard to separate both sides. The crater which had been there now pushed rock to the sides of the room. Naruto looked around and noticed Sasuke with an imperfect Susano'o on one side. She looked at the Raikage whose left arm was burning. Naruto activated her Sharingan and absorbed the flames before leaping over to him. She absorbed the flames from a burning samurai.
"Hokage-dono, why have you interfered?"
"You would have lost your arm and that samurai could have died." Naruto pulled the Raikage's arm. "Now hold still while I heal it."
The Raikage merely huffed at her. Naruto began healing the badly burnt arm. She turned to look at Sasuke. "I'm going to say this once, come home and we'll give you a fair trial."
"Where is home for me? I lost everybody I once cared for. Don't speak crap to me." Naruto looked away. She increased the healing of the Raikage's arm. Gaara appeared through one of the passages and blocked shots of Amaterasu fired at him using his sand.
"Subaku no Gaara." Sasuke intoned.
"Looks like we weren't needed, Temari." Kankurou looked at his sister.
"Actually, it's only you who is not needed." Temari said dismissively.
"Why you-"
Gaara decided to stop their arguments. "That's enough, you two." Gaara looked at the samurai who had Sasuke surrounded. "You samurai stand down. This is shinobi business. There is no need for any of you to be killed."
Gaara turned his gaze to Sasuke. "I would like to speak with you." Sasuke didn't respond. "You still have the same eyes. I've realized that it is useless to live your life for revenge. Don't disappear into your own world filled with hatred-you will not return."
"And if I return, what is there for me?"
Kankurou turned to Gaara. "Gaara don't bother. If he could be convinced, Naruto would not have failed."
"Besides, he joined Akatsuki; the Raikage and others who have suffered because if Akatsuki will not let him go. He attacked the summit; after this he'll be an internationally wanted criminal. He has no future." Temari interjected.
"Don't make this personal. You are the Kazekage." Kankurou finished. Sand began spooling out of Gaara's gourd as he and Naruto shed their tears. Naruto froze as she sensed Karin had found Danzou. Naruto finished healing the Raikage's arm before heading for Karin's location at top speeds. Sasuke managed to intercept her but she steeled her resolve. Naruto launched a punch at Sasuke's incomplete construct, impacting with all the strength she could muster. He flew across the room and into the wall.
Naruto appeared in front of Karin who crouched further away from her. "Forgive me." Naruto reached a hand toward Karin and touched her on the back of her neck; making her keel over.
"Naruto!" Naruto looked toward Sasuke who now had a full Susano'o, but it was still in its skeletal phase. It swung its large blade at Naruto. Acting on instinct, Naruto launched chains at it and managed to halt the swing by wrapping the chains around its arm. Susano'o started tugging, but Naruto's chains held.
Naruto ran through some hand seals, and wooden pillars grew around Sasuke. She held her palm up and Sasuke's Susano'o started melting. She had practiced this technique with Yamato. Naruto used this to suppress chakra.
Sasuke looked around panicked when he became exposed. Naruto formed the ram seal and the heads of the pillars launched themselves at Sasuke with their mouths gaping wide. Naruto observed dust rise up and when she retracted the heads, Sasuke as well as Karin were gone.
Their chakra appeared again in the Kage's room. The Kage present looked around and noticed explosive tags on the pillars.
"Take care of this, I'll get Sasuke." Naruto vanished to the marker she had left on the table; only to jump to the ceiling as lava came pouring in the area. Naruto glimpsed Danzou turn the corner down the passageway. The Mizukage kicked Sasuke through the congealing mass of molten rock. She ran down the passage with Ao, who later separated to track Danzou.
Naruto was about to open to kick a hole in the wall when she decided against it. After all, she didn't know what kind of jutsu the Mizukage used. When Naruto felt Sasuke's chakra levels go low, white spores started growing on her body. They twisted and formed a cocoon with the face of Zetsu on it. Naruto realized they were sucking her chakra out of her. Since she was still, Naruto collected Senjutsu chakra. She had the pleasure of seeing Zetsu's surprised face turn to stone.
Naruto broke free of it just as the arm of Susano'o broke through the wall. The Tsuchikage floated down before clapping his hands together in front Sasuke. He opened them and launched a cube which encased Sasuke. In a moment, all that was left was dust floating around in the air.
"Sasuke!" The scream ripped itself out of Naruto before she could stop it. She jumped down and fell to her knees before crying. The Tsuchikage turned to look at Naruto.
"You are a Kage. You must get used to making difficult decisions for the good of your village." Naruto lifted her tear streaked face before striking out. She flew past the Tsuchikage and her fist landed in the wall after phasing through Tobi.
(Same Conversation. Too lazy to write it.)
When Tobi disappeared, Mifune turned to Naruto. "So Hokage, what is your answer?"
"You still want me to lead?"
"Yes."
"I can't, I don't have much experience in leading armies. Tsunade-dono should awaken before I return home."
"Very well, the Godaime Hokage shall lead with the Yondaime Raikage serving as the high commander of the army. What shall we do about the Jinchuuriki?" Everybody turned to look at Naruto.
"No," Naruto stood her ground as they continued staring at her. "I will not run. I'll fight alongside my men and besides, if I get into a sticky situation I can simply return to headquarters in less than a second." The Raikage contemplated this for a while.
"Fine, but my brother has to be sent away. He'll wreak havoc on the battlefield."
"Raikage, I completely disagree. Surely-"
"My decision is final." Naruto conceded by nodding her head. Kakashi joined Naruto's side. "We shall all head back and we will prepare our villages for the fourth great shinobi war." The leaders of the villages departed. Naruto walked out into the snow and found the day to be very calm.
"Kaka-sensei, it seems like the world is waiting."
"Yes; that it is. And when it stops waiting, Kami help us all." They ran past the samurai and headed into the nearby town. They would find a place to rest before returning home. Finally they stopped outside a gate and walked through calmly.
"Darn it." Naruto said out loud. She placed a glowing green hand on her arm. It seemed that Sasuke's Susano'o had done more damage than she had first thought. Kakashi threw a brief concerned look at her.
They stopped outside a small inn and were about to enter when Sakura, Sai and Kiba landed near her. Sakura walked with a determined expression on her face. "Naruto, I have come to tell you that we have decided to hunt Sasuke." It was as if those words were the trigger to her heart breaking. She had not realized her act had gone that far. "We cannot allow him to threaten you any-" Naruto blacked out into the blisteringly cold wintery landscape.
I know it's short. I sort of just began losing steam for this story but beyond that you can expect longer chapters in the future.
