"Wait, what are you talking about following in the pervy sage's footsteps?" Naruto asked in confusion. "Is he here or something?"

"Naruto boy, it's hard for me to say this but you have to know what happened." Fukasaku said quietly. "He was investigating the leader of the akatsuki when he was engaged in battle. I think you know the outcome."

Upon hearing those words Naruto froze in shock. "No way, you're lying. There's no way the pervy sage is dead, he can't be."

"Naruto listen to yourself, these akatsuki guys are the real deal." Gamakichi said. "Go in unprepared and you're just asking to get yourself killed. We should be glad lord Fukasaku and lady Shima managed to escape with the information on this Pain guy."

"Naruto boy, I understand that losing your friend and mentor is hard but right now the important thing is to…" Fukasaku started to say before Naruto turned and ran.

"Naruto, this training is really important." Gamakichi said. "He's going to get himself killed at this rate."

"No, he just needs time to grieve for Jiraiya boy." Fukasaku said calmly. "We should give him the time he needs, we have time before Pain will get to the leaf village."

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"This is nuts." Kiba said in exasperation. "He isn't at his house, the training field, Ichiraku, or anywhere else in the village."

"Maybe he's talking with lady Tsunade." Sakura suggested.

"Wouldn't she have called him or have Shizune let him know she wanted to talk with him?" Ino asked. "I have a bad feeling about this."

As Ino said that, Sasuke turned and started walking back to his house just as Shizune walked up to the group.

"I'm glad I caught all of you in one place, lady Tsunade wants to see you all right away." Shizune said.

"Hold on, does it have anything to do with where Naruto is?" Kiba asked. "The akatsuki are still around so he could be in danger."

"There's no need to worry about that right now, Naruto is in a very safe place." Tsunade said walking up to the group.

"If he's so safe why isn't he in the village?" Shikamaru asked. "If we want to protect him from the akatsuki we should know what's going on."

"There's a very good chance the leader of the akatsuki himself is going to try and capture Naruto." Tsunade said. "He's training in a location known as Mount Myobõku. The same place that Jiraiya trained in the past."

"If that's true we should train as well in case he attempts to use one of us to draw Naruto into the open." Shino said calmly.

"Exactly, which is why none of your squads will be sent on missions for the foreseeable future. Our top priority is taking down the akatsuki when they arrive." Tsunade said. "We won't let Naruto fall into their hands no matter what."

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"Naruto, I know it's tough losing your master but you can't just sit around moping all day." Gamakichi said.

"You don't get it, I just need to be alone right now Gamakichi." Naruto said.

"Naruto boy, we understand you're upset but Pain isn't going to just wait for you to come to him. There's a very good chance that he's already planning to attack the leaf village." Fukasaku said. "What you need to do now is learn sage jutsu so that when the time comes you can aid your friends."

"You said that pervy sage learned this said jutsu too, but even with that he couldn't beat Pain. What makes you think I'll be any different?" Naruto asked.

"To be honest I don't know if you will be or not, but Jiraiya boy believed you were going to change the world. He believes you'll find the way to real lasting peace, and so I'll believe in you as well Naruto boy." Fukasaku said calmly. "Now then, are you ready to start your training?"

"Yeah, what's the first step?" Naruto asked.

"The first part of your training will be to learn how to sense natural energy from the environment around you. Are you familiar with meditation?" Fukasaku asked.

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"You guys go on ahead, I think I'm going to train on my own for a while." Sasuke said calmly. "I need to take care of a few more things on my own."

"It has to do with what Itachi gave you doesn't it?" Kakashi asked. "Alright, meet us at the training field when you're ready."

"Right." Sasuke said teleporting away.

"Kakashi-sensei, if we're going up against the leader of the akatsuki we should focus on learning how to fight with everyone here, not exclusively our teammates." Shikamaru said calmly.

"I agree, that's why we're heading to the training field as a group." Kakashi said calmly.

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"There's no way, this can't be possible." Sasuke said in shock dropping a letter to the ground. "I need answers, and I know exactly where to find them."

"Sasuke hold on a minute, can you really trust him?" Suigetsu asked. "I mean he's been messing with your head for years."

"This is legitimate, he was dead when he gave it to me." Sasuke said closing his eyes. "The village was the reason the Uchiha clan was massacred. I'm going to find out why and then I'll decide what I'm going to do with my new eyes."

With those words Sasuke opened his eyes revealing a Mangekyõ Sharingan.

"So who are you going to talk to, I doubt the advisors would mention anything like this to you." Karin said calmly.

"What about the hokage, she seems rather trustworthy and if there's anything we don't know she might be able to fill in the details. Plus to be honest she didn't have to accept us as leaf shinobi but she did anyway." Jugo said calmly.

"Exactly that's why we're going to talk to the hokage." Sasuke said. "There's a lot that needs explaining and I fully intend to learn everything that I can about this mission Itachi received and the coup-de-tat that he was supposed to stop."

(Everyone is preparing for the coming battle with Pain, and Sasuke is preparing to learn the truth about the Uchiha. Next chapter Orochimaru will make a move against the leaf village. As always any reviews or critique is appreciated.)