Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Chapter 25: What to do

'What's going on? what is this feeling? Where am I? What happened? Am I dead?' Thoughts swirled through Naruto's mind as memories began to flood through his mindscape. He tried to move, to no avail. He tried to open his eyes, nothing. Naruto was trapped in a sea of darkness. 'I must be dead... there's no way I survived that...' Naruto clearly remembered looking down at himself being run through with the mass of twisting bones. 'But what is this feeling?'

His sensory powers were strong to begin with, probably one of the strongest in the elemental nations, but he'd never felt anything so vividly. It was as if he could feel life itself. He felt Itachi's presence, he felt Zabuza and Juzo still within the wood dome. He could feel the life force radiating off the wood dome itself. He could feel the trees breathing in the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and exhaling oxygen for him to breathe. He felt the energy flowing through the atmosphere. It felt exactly as it had in the forest during the chunin exams in Kumo, except it didn't overwhelm him like it did back then.

Naruto could sense himself as well. He felt strong. 'But that's not right... I should be dead. Or at the very least on the brink of death...' There was something different about him though. He'd felt his own chakra his whole life, it was so familiar he rarely even noticed it, but now it felt distinctly different. He could feel the trees, the grass, the atmosphere itself, he could even feel the energy from his comrades and the animals nearby mixed in with his own life force. 'What is this?'

He felt out the flow of the energy around him. It was all flowing towards him. Into him. Just a little bit, unnoticeable to those giving it, from everything around. 'If I'm alive,' Naruto tried to clench his fist, again nothing, 'damn... What's going on?'

Naruto tried to listen for a response, nothing. 'That figures.' An explanation was too good to be true. He was left with no other option than to lay there and try to make sense of what was going on around him. There was no sign of life from the thing that had impaled him, but seeing that Itachi, Zabuza and Juzo were still alive they must have killed him.

Naruto silently meditated for hours until he felt a familiar presence. 'Kabuto?' he wasn't alone. There were a dozen other familiar chakra signatures from the rebellion with him. Naruto couldn't hear what they were saying, or see what they were doing, but he could clearly feel the shock and awe radiating from them, especially as they came closer. In fact the only one who didn't seem surprised was Kabuto. Naruto tried to speak, but the words wouldn't come out.

He sensed the shinobi, directed by his glasses wearing friend, free Zabuza and Juzo from the wood dome. They were having trouble hacking through the tough mokuton wood Naruto focused and drew more of the potent chakra from the wood dome, making it easier for them to hack through the thick weaves of wood. Naruto felt Kabuto get to work on Itachi. He could feel the energy from Kabuto's body being transferred into the Uchiha prodigy. Soon after the shinobi gathered the team and took off towards the rebel base.

(in Konoha)

"Jiraiya-sama, don't you think it's too early to start training them to use it?" Rin asked.

"After speaking to the Yondaime, we've decided that it's for the best that they learn to harness the Kyuubi chakra to some extent as soon as possible." Jiraiya said to the purple cheeked girl before him.

"You know as well as I that their basic shinobi skills aren't nearly advanced enough to make good use of that power! Hell, their chakra control is abysmal, they can't even stick to three leaves on each hand. Ume's chakra control is better and she's three years younger than them." Rin tried to argue.

"I know you mean well." Jiraiya let out a sigh, "you've always has a soft spot for the Namikaze brats, but you have to understand this: they are all in danger. If their shinobi skills aren't up to snuff than they desperately need to have a trump card up their sleeve. Besides, with the Kyuubi chakra at their disposal they'll never have to worry much about chakra control until they get up to very delicate ninjutsu."

"I know... I just... do you think they're ready to meet it?" That was Rin's true concern, they were prepared to handle anything that could physically go wrong in their training, they've been developing the training program along with the contingency plans for eight years now, but the Kyuubi was arguably the most hate filled creature she'd ever encountered.

"They'll have to be." Jiraiya said with finality. He was asserting himself as the senior in this work relationship, telling Rin it was okay to argue for the sake of getting a point across, but he has the final say.

"When do we start?" Rin still had her reservations, but Jiraiya had made his point abundantly clear. 'We'll do it your way for now, the best I can hope to do is prepare them for what to expect.'

"Right about... Now."

"Rin-chan? Jiraiya-san? What are you doing here so early?" Ashina yawned as he came down the stairs for breakfast.

"Rin-chan's here?!" Mito excitedly ran down the stairs, through the living room and into the kitchen. "Good morning Rin-chan!" Mito beamed.

"Good morning Mito-chan," Rin greeted the red head with a warm smile, "Ashina," she greeted with less enthusiasm, but warmly all the same. She didn't dislike Ashina by any means, she just held a special place in her heart for Mito. She was the girl's hero and Mito was like the little sister Rin always wanted.

"Yeah, good morning... so what are you doing here?" Ashina asked as he made his way into the kitchen to pour himself a bowl of cereal. "And where's Kaa-chan?"

"Hey! Watch who you're talking to like that, ginger!" Jiraiya scolded, initiating the back and forth banter with the youngest Namikaze boy.

"Who're you calling ginger you slimy old pervert!" Ashita yelled back. 'Ahhh best part of the day.'

"You girly haired whisker having baka." Jiraiya cracked a small grin. The best way to get under Ashina's skin was to make fun of his hair. "We're here to start your training."

"Training!?" Mito was excited to finally receive training from her idol, while Ashina was fuming from the comment about his hair.

"Yes, we believe it's time you two learned about your powers," Minato walked into the kitchen with Kushina close behind. The beautiful red headded woman looked distraught, in fact she has barely slept in days. They had come to the decision to start their Kyuubi training three days ago, and Kushina hadn't stopped worrying since.

"What power?" Mito asked, catching on to the cryptic answer.

"The power you received the day you were born," Minato answered.

XXXXXXXXXX

(Uchiha compound)

Knock knock knock. The one eyed Uchiha made his way to his front door and opened it. "Hello..." Before him stood a dozen members of the police force. "What can I do for you?"

"You're under arrest," Said the brown haired man leading the pack.

"By whose order?" Obito's eye narrowed. He wasn't wearing his headband or his eyepatch so his empty left eye socket and scar covered, caved in right half of his face gave him the grotesque menacing look of a hardened veteran. Many of the Uchiha men backed away nervously when they saw Obito's expression darken and his voice deepen.

"By the order of the Uchiha clan counsel." the same man responded, albeit with less bravado than before.

"Under what pretense?" Obito growled. He knew where this was going.

"You and Uchiha Shisui are suspected of treason towards the Clan," the man said. Obito's mangekyou sharingan spun causing the man to gulp and begin to sweat.

"I don't think I'll be going anywhere. But you can feel free to try and make me." Obito said in a low voice; low but loud enough for all to clearly make out the threat.

"Please Obito-san!" A young Uchiha woman in the back pleaded, "we've been ordered to bring you in by any means necessary."

"I'll try not to kill you then."

All eyes spun into three tomoe sharingan but nobody attacked, they all stood still, shaking with kunai at the ready.

"Kotoamatsukami! (distinguished heavenly gods)" Shisui flickered into existence between Obito and the police force members. "Go home and forget everything about the masked Uchiha Madara. Don't attack us again." The Uchiha police all turned around and did as they were told. "Six of them were under a genjutsu," Shisui reported, wincing at the throbbing pain in his eye. "Three of them know about Madara and are following him willingly, and the other three are just following orders."

"I figured as much," Obito growled. "I assume they already came after you."

"Yes. They figured that kotoamatsukami wouldn't work against the sharingan. They were wrong." Shisui rubbed at his now coal black eyes. "The genjutsu Madara placed them under has been dispelled, but now we have to assume that he's aware of our our intervention and he'll make his move soon."

"No. He can't win without the full support of the clan. That includes us. He needs it to be the Uchiha vs everyone else, so unless he can get rid of us then his plan cannot continue. He'd much rather have two sets of mangekyou sharingan on his side rather than not, so he's going to try to recruit us. Forcefully." They'd already made it abundantly clear that they wanted nothing to do with Madara's plans, their refusal of the invitation was enough evidence of that, so now Madara's only option was forceful subjugation.

"We have to tell the Hokage," Shisui said.

"Kakashi!" Obito's eyes widened in horror at the thought. 'One Mangekyou sharingan is tremendously powerful on its own, why wouldn't he try to retrieve it from a non-Uchiha.' Obito was sucked into the black vortex centered around his eye.

XXXXXXXXXX

(Namikaze residence)

"So I'm... I mean we're the Kyuubi." Ashina said, he was processing what he just learned. Mito was both depressed that people seemed to hate her because of the monster sealed in her and elated at the fact that she and Rin shared jinjuriki status. "So can you explain to me again how exactly you split the Kyuubi in half again..."

"I simply made a seal that accepted Yang chakra on you and a seal that accepted Yin chakra on Mito, so all the Kyuubi's yang chakra was sealed in you and all of its Yin chakra was sealed in Mito." Minato explained.

"Right... and what does that mean?" Ashina asked with a Naruto like confused expression.

"... you have the Kyuubi's yang-"

"- yeah I get that part. But what is yang chakra and what is yin chakra? What makes them different?"

All the adults in the room shared a dumbfounded look. It was a very vague and abstract concept that evaded all shinobi for generations. "Well Yang release has to do with physical energy and breathing life into the physical world while Yin release has to do with spiritual energy and creating something out of nothing," Jiraiya explained.

"Okay... and what does that mean? Do Mito and I have different powers and abilities then? Did I get all the Kyuubi's physical power and she got all of it's spiritual power?"

"Well... no... not exactly..." Jiraiya scratched his head. You both have half of the Kyuubi's overall chakra but..."

"So you don't know," Ashina deadpanned.

"Well it's all very complicated and difficult to explain," Jiraiya defended.

"Yeah. Like I said, you don't know."

"I think we're getting off topic here," Minato interjected, "the important thing is that you are both the Kyuubi jinjuriki and we have to teach you how to harness the Kyuubi chakra."

"Ok, we'll put a pin in the whole yin yang thing for now, but it seems like whatever god created this world really screwed the pooch on that one." Ashina muttered.

"Actually yin-yang release is it's own thing," Jiraiya said.

"Like I said, we'll put a pin in it for now."

XXXXXXXXXX

(Kakashi's home)

"I'm coming," Kakashi walked to the front of his home to answer the door. "And what can I do for you fine gentlemen? And lady?" Kakashi answered the door to find eight Uchiha police force members.

"You're under arrest Hatake Kakashi." the spiky haired Uchiha in the middle stated.

"And what crime am I suspected to have committed?" Kakashi said in a bored tone.

"You have something that belongs to our clan."

"Interesting... I was under the impression that it was a gift and that the Uchiha would honor the circumstances under which the sharingan was given to me."

"Circumstances change." all the Uchiha police force members adopted ready positions.

Kakashi sighed and lifted his headband, revealing his sharingan, before adopting his own ready stance. A black vortex appeared before him and Obito, still in his pajamas materialized.

"What do you think you're doing Obito?" The oldest Uchiha asked.

"Stopping you from destroying any semblance of peace we have between the clan and the village," Obito's mangekyou sharingan was staring daggers through his clansmen.

"How could we expect anything less from someone like you," the female Uchiha spoke up. "You've always loved the outsiders more than your own clan. Just crawl back into your hole with the Nohara whore. Leave clan matters to the true Uchiha."

"The true Uchiha? You mean Madara?" Obito took note of the faces that reacted to his knowledge of the masked man's dealings lately. "Three of you huh... bingo." Obito sprang forward and from his outstretched hands and foot he shot out three dark green wooden tendrils that embedded themselves in the skulls of Madara's followers. The remaining three Uchiha looked on in shock as their spiky haired leader, the eldest among them, and the lone female dropped to the ground dead. "I will not tolerate those who wish to bring harm to Konoha," Obito growled. "If you three have anything to do with the coup d'etat I promise you your death will not be so quick." The three men stood wide eyed and shaking. They nodded and dropped their kunai. "Now go home and never fuck with my village again." the three men turned tail and dashed off back to the Uchiha compound. "Kakashi... can I borrow a change of clothes?"

"Uhuh." Kakashi was used to Obito's eccentricities by now and as an ANBU captain was fully aware of the state of affairs revolving around the Uchiha clan. Obito walked inside his friends home and Kakashi calmly shut the door behind him. "So what's up with you?" Kakashi asked with an eye smile.

"You're a dick." Obito chuckled.

XXXXXXXXXX

(Hokage training ground, undisclosed location)

"So this is where Tou-san trains," Mito looked around in awe. The training ground was hidden within a deep ravine on the far north edge of the Konoha jurisdiction, several miles outside the village walls.

"Not only him. This is also where Kushina trained me to harness Isobu's chakra," Rin smiled at her little sister figure sweetly. "This is also where Jiraiya-sama comes to train with his toads."

"Only some of them. Most of my toads are pretty mild mannered and I can train with them in the regular training grounds. This place is only for extremely destructive jutsu's and training that could be potentially dangerous for the villagers." Jiraiya looked around the ravine; it was 70 meters in diameter and 50 meters deep with shale walls and rocks of varying shapes and sizes scattered throughout the area. "It was first created by the Shodaime Hokage so he and Uchiha Madara could practice their S-rank techniques far from the village and since then has been used by the Hokage and the most powerful shinobi of Konoha to do the same."

"Wow," Mito breathed out. Even Ashina looked on in wonder. The idea that they would be training on the same grounds that the most powerful shinobi in Konoha's history was awe inspiring.

"I remember training here with Orochimaru when we received the title of Sannin..." Jiraiya looked up at the distant sky remembering his dead friend and rival. "There's nothing quite like training your ass off with your rival," Jiraiya smiled as he remembered the two of them constantly trying to outdo each other. Orochimaru was always one step ahead, that is until Jiraiya showed him sage mode for the first time.

"Are you okay Ero-sensei?" Ashina asked, using the new nickname he came up with earlier that morning. It has a nice ring to it.

"I'm fine. Just thinking about a friend." Jiraiya's expression became hard and serious. "Your training begins now."

XXXXXXXXXX

(Rebel base, Mizu no Kuni)

Naruto's eyes flickered open to find he was surrounded by friendly faces. From left to right is saw Kabuto, Itachi, Yugito, Mei, Juzo, Zabuza, and Samui. Itachi, Juzo, and Zabuza were covered in bandages and Juzo was on crutches. Samui's eyes were red and puffy, long since cried dry.

"Welcome back brat." Juzo smiled at his blonde student.

"So we all made it?" Naruto asked as he did a final head count to make sure.

"Barely. If it weren't for you and Itachi we all would have been gonners," Zabuza said with a hint of praise. "Speaking of which: this belongs to you." Zabuza tossed a bandaged fish shaped blade on Naruto's lap.

"What? No way! This is for you! I couldn't!" Naruto stammered.

"I can't use it. The only way to wield one of the seven swords is to have it given to you by it's previous owner or to defeat its previous owner and take the blade for yourself. When you took the twin blade after you and Itachi defeated Mangetsu it became yours by right of succession," Zabuza explained.

"Well I'm perfectly happy with Odenta. So Zabuza, I would like to give you this sword. The seven swordsmen should all remain with Kiri shinobi."

"Awesome!" Zabuza excitedly snatched the twin blade from Naruto's lap and secured it to his back.

Everyone chuckled except for the tall auburn haired woman standing at the foot of the bed. "When were you going to tell us you were a Mokuton user?" Mei had a gleam of dangerous fury in her eyes.

"I wasn't." Naruto said simply.

"How the hell were you going to keep this from us? With the Mokuton that changes everything! We can finally take on Utakata and start a true offensive against Kiri!"

"I was forbidden to reveal my Mokuton to anyone unless I was in a life or death situation." Naruto explained.

"Well you're going to have a hard time keeping it a secret now," Mei said. "That and Itachi's mangekyou sharingan is all that anyone is talking about."

"Mangekyou... WHAT?!" Naruto shot straight up in the hospital bed, surprising everyone. Barely a day earlier he has a massive basketball sized wound through his stomach.

Itachi smiled and nodded as his friends eyes shot at him. "When you 'died' it was awakened. Speaking of which... How the hell are you alive?"

"I uh..." Naruto scratched his chin as he tried to remember what has happened. Last thing he remembered after blacking out was the feeling of nature chakra. "I think I absorbed the natural chakra in the air to speed up my healing..."

"You absorbed nature energy?" Mei was dumbfounded, "you're a fucking sage too?!" she was getting really tired of having these things kept from her.

"Well not exactly. I've been training in it a little, but I've never been able to control it," Naruto explained. "So I can't go full sage mode, but I guess I can use nature chakra a little...I don't know, it's weird," Naruto shrugged.

"So you're a seal master, a sensor, a mokuton user, and semi-sage..." Nothing would ever surprise Mei again.

"I'm no seal master. I still have a ways to go in that regard, but aside from that yes. Can we please keep the mokuton thing under wraps as much as possible though, I really don't want that target on my head yet." Naruto wasn't nearly powerful enough to survive if that got out.

"Fine," Mei said reluctantly. "The rumors will still circulate but we can try to play it off as just rumors."

"Awesome! Now let's make like a tree and get the fuck out of here!" Naruto sprang to his feet and cracked his back.

Samui, who had been in shock since Naruto and his team were discovered near dead, sprang to her feet and wrapped her fellow blonde into a tight hug.

Naruto could sense the feeling of relief from her chakra signature, despite her dry sobs, was tranquil and calm. Samui's chest was pressed tightly against his back, so Naruto couldn't turn around and return the hug. Naruto lifted his hand up and gently caressed Samui's hand and forearm in a display of affection.

"She hasn't slept in days," Yugito told Naruto.

The gathering of shinobi had cleared out so that the only ones remaining in the hospital room was Naruto, Yugito, Samui and Itachi. "Let me change and we can head home," Naruto said.

Yugito gently removed Samui from Naruto's back, "we'll wait for you outside."

Naruto unsealed a set of his regular shinobi attire from the seal on his wrist. 'Where's my Hitai-ate?' Naruto only had the one that Amaye gave to him two months ago, 'I bet it's back at the house.' Naruto quickly got dressed and walked outside to find an exhausted Samui dozing off on a bench. "Here, I've got you." Naruto gave Samui his back, allowing her to climb on piggy back style so he could carry her back.

The four walked down the unusually busy street back to their house.

"I'm happy you're safe," Samui whispered into Naruto's ear as she nuzzled her head into the crook of his neck.

XXXXXXXXXX

(Mei's office)

"It's just too hard to believe that this happened by coincidence." Mei stood behind her desk looking out the window. "How is it that one of the seven swordsmen and nine hunter nin just so happened to run into our team?" it was a hypothetical question of course, "and on top of that, 50 enemy shinobi were in close enough proximity, and were ready enough to immediately hunt down Juzo's team, organize an attack, and attempt to directly engage them."

"It is clear now that there is a spy among us," Ao said. "Unfortunately it could be anyone. We have no reason to believe that the enemy knew what our plan was, or who was going to be there. All we know is that they knew when to find them there."

"Our departure time wasn't a very tightly kept secret," Juzo added.

"We can't let it get out that Kiri has a spy within our ranks. The rebellion is too fragile right now, if the new recruits knew we were so vulnerable then they might turn tail and leave as fast as they came." Mei said.

"The spy could be among them," Ao said.

"I don't think so." Zabuza spoke up, "it's too soon for one of the new recruits to start spying. They don't have the complete trust of their comrades yet, if they were to start leaking information right away then suspicion would go directly to them right away."

"So it's someone we trust?" Ao said.

"As a former ANBU I know that the most effective spies are those we believe to be beyond suspicion. And the most effective among them are those we trust unconditionally. If this guy's no amature, and I get the feeling that the enemy knew who they were going to encounter, so if I'm right he's not, It's someone we wouldn't expect."

"Okay, the person I least expect is Mei-san." Ao said sarcastically.

"That's taking it too far... Mei-san has been doing too much to harm Kiri. I know that Kiri is full of sick bastards that don't value human life, but those are military assets that we've destroyed on her behalf. It won't be someone who actively participated in devastating operations." Zabuza crossed his arms in thought.

"Could one of the Kumo or Konoha shinobi be the spy?" Ao asked.

"They could be, but I doubt it. There is no political advantage to siding with Kiri in this war, so it's in Kumo and Konoha best interest to hold up their end of the deal. On top of that, a single ally village sending a spy would be treacherous to us as well as the other allied village." Not many people gave Zabuza the credit he deserved in regards to his analytical mind. "Besides, the two of the victims of this fiasco were Konoha shinobi, so that at least puts the Konoha brats in the clear."

"Very well, Zabuza, I am making you the lead investigator to find the spy." Mei said. "You are all dismissed for the time being."

XXXXXXXXXX

(team 5's home, Mizu no Kuni)

Naruto opened the door to Samui's bedroom. Surprisingly it was his first time in there; when the two hung out for their late night talks they did it exclusively in his room or the kitchen. Naruto looked around the room, it was a little messy, Samui seemed to have trouble putting her clothes away after they were washed. At least Naruto hoped they were washed. Her desk next to the bed was bare except for an alarm clock, and the bed was unmade with light blue sheets and a comfortable looking brown blanket strewn on top of it. Naruto found the messiness of the girls room endearing, 'it's nice to see that she has at least one flaw,' he thought.

Naruto entered the room, careful not to bump her against the doorframe, and gently sat down on the bed. Naruto pried her arms from around her neck and laid her down, he took off her sandals and pulled the blanket over her. Naruto smiled as he watched the blonde beauty nuzzle her face into the pillow. Naruto walked to the door and opened it to leave.

"Naruto," Samui said sleepily. Naruto looked back to see the girl looking directly at him with heavy eyelids fluttering open and shut. "Please stay." She said, pulling the blanket up to offer him the spot next to her.

"I... I shouldn't..." Naruto said.

"Please, I don't want to lose you again," Samui said in a small voice.

Naruto knew how difficult it was for her to be sincere like this, or to open up in any way. He was honored that she allowed herself to get so close to him, so when she said she didn't want to lose him Naruto closed the door, took off his sandals and crawled into the spot next to her.

Samui shifted her body close so that she was snugly pressed against him and she draped her arm over Naruto's chest and hooked his leg with her own. "I love you," she whispered before falling asleep with her head on his shoulder.

'Shit...'

XXXXXXXXXX

(Hokage office)

"We have to act now," Minato said.

"Hokage-sama, not every Uchiha is a willing participant in the coup. Can we have a little bit of time to determine those who are being coerced in order to prevent needless deaths?" Shisui requested.

"Thursday night. That is when we make our move. Any Uchiha in the Uchiha clan compound will be considered enemies of Konoha. ANBU will be monitoring the compound at all times until then; if Madara wants to make a move we won't be caught off guard." Minato looked at the three sharingan wielding men before him with pride. Minato took no pleasure in giving the order to exterminate a large portion of the most powerful clan in Konoha, but with men like these under his command he knew Konoha would be fine.

'Three days,' Obito thought. 'Madara... I will kill you.'

XXXXXXXXXX

(Team 5's house, Mizu no Kuni)

'Okay, it's no big deal. So you slept with her... I mean slept next to her. There's nothing wrong with that.' Naruto sat on his bed in his own bedroom staring down at the white hitai-ate in his hands. He was right, Itachi had taken it to the house along with anything else that wasn't either torn to shreds or permanently stained red with blood; that amounted to the hitai-ate and his shinobi sandals. "Just because I like Samui doesn't mean I'm betraying Ayame..." Naruto muttered to himself.

"Yes it does," Naruto looked up to find Itachi standing in the door frame. "And you'd be surprised how much work it took for me to wash all the blood out of that headband." Itachi walked in and took a seat next to Naruto on his bed.

"Thanks... and what do you mean 'yes it does?'"

"Naruto, I've been standing in the doorway for over 5 minutes watching you mull over your thoughts. I've known you long enough to know that if you don't sense something right away it's because something is bothering you. And you literally said, out loud, 'Just because I like Samui doesn't mean I'm betraying Ayame.'" Itachi quoted.

"Oh... well it doesn't... not technically. It's not like I'm going to do anything about it..."

"You already have, dumbass." Itachi scolded.

"What do you mean?"

"So you're going to sit there and tell me that you two sit around in here, cuddling, if what Yugito says is true, and talking about shit all night every night and that doesn't mean anything. You're going to tell me that you two sleeping in the same bed all snuggled up means nothing?" Itachi eyed his best friend who gave a weak nod. "Fine, then I'll tell Yugito that I'm sleeping in your bed tonight, if that's just what friends do."

"What! No way!" Naruto scrambled to his feet and pointed his finger at Itachi accusingly, "I don't know what you're trying to pull baka, but there's no way I'm sleeping with a dude!"

"So it does mean something." Itachi felt a feeling of satisfaction at having made his point. "Just because you and Samui are friends doesn't mean that neither of you feel anything more than friendship for each other. In fact, I'd say it's pretty clear that you both feel more than just friendship."

"I... I don't know what to do..." Naruto took a seat back on the bed, after realizing that Itachi was merely making a point. He did enjoy last night with Samui. Honestly, any reservations he has about it went out the window the second she snuggled up next to him. "I can't do anything physical with her when I'm still with Ayame; and I don't want to send Ayame a letter... besides... I still love her." Naruto stared at the white cloth and metal plate in his hand. He hadn't written the brown eyed ramen chef/ kunoichi in a while, but as soon as he looked at her last gift to him he immediately thought back to the time when they were 7, up on the Hokage monument after his first kill.

"You have to choose." Itachi looked intently at Naruto; he could see the thought bubbling up in his head. "You can't have them both."

"I know..." Naruto looked slightly disappointed that he couldn't take an easy way out.

"I'm serious." Itachi's eyes narrowed slightly. "I'm your friend, and I'll support whatever decision you make; but what you're doing, even if you haven't slept with either of them, isn't fair to anyone."

"I know!" Naruto got to his feet and looked down at Itachi angrily. He'd activated the silencing seal on his thigh as soon as he noticed Itachi in the doorway. "I know I can't have them both! Neither one of them deserve that, and it's beyond selfish of me to think otherwise! I just don't know who to choose! I've known Ayame since we were 6, she's been there for everything when I've needed her, she's the kindest girl I've ever met, and when this is all over we're going back to her in Konoha... But Samui... at first she came off like a bitch, but once she opened up... I felt like, for once, somebody needed me as much as I needed them, y'know? Plus, she's here, and who know's how much longer we're going to be here. Like, what if I reject her and she hates me because of it?"

"You're thinking about it too logically, Naruto." Itachi closed his eyes and tilted his head down. "Just tell me, who do you want to be with?"

"I don't know."

Itachi stood up and walked out of the room, "well until you figure it out, you can't have either of them."

Naruto flopped on his back and stared up at the ceiling. 'Fuck man... Normal 13 year olds don't have to deal with this bullshit.'

XXXXXXXXXX

(Amegakure)

"Are you sure about this Yahiko? I don't trust that guy," asked a beautiful blue haired kunoichi with amber eyes and facial piercing on her bottom lip.

"I don't trust him either," the orange haired man known as Yahiko replied. "But if the Akatsuki really intends to bring about change in this world we're going to have to deal with Madara eventually."

"I agree with Yahiko, Konan," said the thin red haired shinobi standing next to Yahiko. The man's bangs completely covered his eyes and he looked frail and unimposing. He spoke quietly, and sounded meek. "It will be better for us to keep an eye on Madara."

"Besides, we all know why he came to our group," Yahiko said. "I don't know why he want's it, but I get the feeling that he'd do anything his power to take it if we refused."

"No matter what he tries, Nagato could easily defeat him," Konan said confidently.

"I'm afraid that Madara is smart enough to not consider trying to take Nagato on directly. Madara has survived in the shadows since the days of the Shodaime Hokage," Yahiko explained, "he's a master of manipulation and I don't want to see what his plan B is. At least this way we're cooperating on our own terms."

"Okay, so what's our mission this time?" Konan asked their group's leader.

"Recruitment."

XXX END CHAPTER 25 XXX

All right, just gonna get this clear from the start: it's not a harem.

Now that we got that out of the way, moving on. Since they know 'Madara' is behind the Uchiha coup d'etat they don't have much of an option but to react accordingly. After the Kyuubi attack 8 years prior they aren't taking any chances against Uchiha Madara.

Mito and Ashina are starting their training with the Kyuubi chakra, which is going to prove to be... eventful...

Ume and Konohamaru are going to be rivals and friends growing up, but unless I want to make this story massive, I may have to leave them out most of the time.

I also want to point out that characters are much more mature than their ages suggest. I mean if you think about it Naruto and Itachi have been members of the military since they were 7. Child soldiers aren't used in developed countries in the real world, but in 'Naruto' kids are serving in the village military at extremely young ages. Not even taking into account the amount of psychological damage this does to adults in the real world, just think of what actually happens to people during war. 18 year olds go to war looking 18 years old and come back 6 months to a year later looking 25. Plus seeing war makes you mature dramatically. I know Kishimoto made his characters so young so that the shonin target audience would relate to them more, but honestly, even though these kids are 13 years old they're really more like late 20 year olds just because of their life experiences. That being said, it's not crazy to think that they're already in serious relationships at this point, so keep that in mind please.

Chapters will no longer be a consistent length, because I do what I want.