A/N: Shorter chapter, but an update's an update, right?
XXX
Sasuke sat on the side of his bed, black eyes glued down to his wood floor as a typhoon of thoughts swirled in his head.
It'd been a week since the boy had fought his brother, the elder Uchiha having shown himself in Konoha for the first time in years, as far as Sasuke knew. The younger Uchiha wouldn't learn this, but Itachi had taken the time and risk to sneak into the Leaf and watch over his little brother several times a year.
But naturally, Sasuke didn't know that. The boy had dedicated his life to vengeance, as his brother instructed, and his opportunity to avenge the death of his parents and his clan had just slipped right through his fingers.
The raven haired teenager ignored his bleeding knuckles, the blood dripping from the cuts down to the floor. A very small puddle had formed under him. The cause of his damaged knuckles came from the boy's bathroom mirror, Sasuke having punched the glass and shattered it. He'd been unable to bear the feeling of disgrace that came with looking at his own reflection.
Even with the extraordinary boost in power he'd received, he'd only been able to wound Itachi. Sure, there weren't many on the planet that had been able to pull that off, but Sasuke Uchiha's pride, wouldn't allow himself to see that accomplishment. He needed that man dead, for nothing less would satisfy the boy.
A knocking at the door jerked Sasuke from his thoughts.
His immediate reaction was to open his mouth, prepared to tell the visitor to piss off. But then, he got a feel for their ki.
The survivor immediately got up from his bed and opened the door.
"Danzo…" Sasuke grunted, eyeing the elder who stood before him.
"May I enter?" the War Hawk asked. Though Sasuke knew it wasn't so much a question of if he could.
After a slight pause, the boy said, "Yeah." And walked away from the door, "What do you need?" the boy asked as the old man entered his room.
"I understand your frustration." the bandaged man said to Sasuke, the boy taking a seat back on his bed.
"Do you?" Sasuke asked sarcastically. Sasuke had no personal grievances with Danzo (that he'd know of), but he'd never had much respect for higher authority.
Especially when in a bad mood.
"I absolutely do." the Elder said as he stood before Sasuke, "You have a goal, an ambition of surpassing someone, besting them. But, before you could that opportunity was stripped from you."
Sasuke glared up at the man for a second, before looking off to his side.
Danzo continued, "Itachi has wronged not only you, but the rest of this village through his actions." The man continued gazing at Sasuke, "You, are the one most worthy of killing him. And I'm willing to help you."
"And how could you 'help' me?" Sasuke asked, not quite buying it.
Danzo stared the boy down, before his free hand set his cane to the side, leaning it on Sasuke's dresser. That same hand came up to the bandages around his eye, unbinding them. The act caused Sasuke's eyes to widen.
He didn't know if he'd wanna see what was under those bandages.
And he was right, Sasuke's face twisted in fury as he saw what made up Danzo's right eye.
A sharingan.
Sasuke stood up, barely able to control his anger. How did this man get a sharingan? The dojutsu was sacred to the Uchiha. No one was to have it. The boy practically roared at the man, "How… how the hell did you-!"
"Like your sensei, an old friend gave it to me before his death." the Elder said, calming the angered teenager, "His request was that I use it to protect the Leaf, as I have."
Sasuke pouted, unable to take his eyes away from the man's sharingan.
Danzo continued, "Among other techniques, I know a few tricks with just this one Sharingan that you don't." the man covered the eye back up with his bandages, "Allow me to train you, Sasuke, and you will know these techniques as well." the man grabbed his cane, "Or not, your choice."
Sasuke stared down Danzo, "Yeah, I'll do it." he said.
The Elder turned and walked towards the door, "Perfect. I'll send for you when I'm ready."
Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he watched Danzo leave, 'This training better be worth it, old man.' his fists clenched, 'Or I'll rip that eye right out of your head.'
XXX
A spinning sphere of chakra was held in Naruto's hand, "RASENGAN!" the Jinchuriki roared as he slammed the sphere into a tree, the force of the jutsu creating a sonic boom on impact that not only obliterated the tree, but blew away every tree for over 80 yards. One wouldn't notice it, but even the morning clouds above dissipated slightly from the techniques force.
"Hell yeah!" Naruto cheered as he jumped up and down. A pair of arms wrapped around his neck, Fu jumping with him
"I knew you could do it!" cheered Fu.
The sannin stood, eyes wide in disbelief as wood chips and leaves rained down around him. The boy had successfully learned the Rasengan in a week, a technique that took the Fourth Hokage three years. Jiraiya remembered the boys declaration,
(Five days ago)
Naruto slammed a loose ball of wind into a large boulder, the incomplete Rasengan tearing away chips of the hard stone.
The teen breathed heavily as he slumped to the grass, feeling winded after his 20th failed attempt. He stared at the swirl engraving he'd left in the boulder. There were twenty others just like it left in various trees and other rocks in the training area.
"Damn!" the hot-head cursed in frustration as he slammed his fist to the ground.
Jiraiya and Fu approached the boy, the sannin shaking his head as he said, "Will you relax, kid? It's not that serious."
"Not that serious!?" Naruto asked the sage in disbelief, "People are dying from Androids, and now there's a bunch of Akatsuki creeps tryin' to kidnap me and Fu; and you're telling me to 'relax' and it's no big deal?!"
The sannin held up a hand, "I mean relax, as in you're not gonna just learn this as easy as you learned Air Bullets and Shadow Clone Jutsu. This is a technique that took the Fourth Hokage three years to develop and even he himself couldn't use it to its full potential."
"Whatever," Fu waved off, "Naruto's better than the Fourth Hokage, he could master that stupid jutsu in a week!" she declared. Naruto's eyes widened and his cheeks went red, a new fire now lit in his gut.
'Oh God…' Jiraiya thought as he rolled his eyes. He turned to Fu, "Look little one, I know you believe in Naruto but-"
"You heard the girl Jiraiya-sensei!" Naruto shouted with a determined grin, "I'll learn that jutsu in a week, believe it!" he raised his fist.
The sannin threw up his hands in defeat.
(Back to present)
"Well I'll be damned Naruto, you goddamned did it." Jiraiya congratulated, looking over the destruction left behind by Naruto's Rasengan. The original Rasengan was capable of leaving some pretty nasty wreckage, but a Rasengan with ki added to its formula was capable of destruction on a Trunks-level scale.
"You're gonna stop doubting me old man!" Naruto joked. "I'd love to run into those Akatsuki bastards now!" he said cockily.
"Don't get cocky." Jiraiya said as he turned around. He turned back to Naruto and Fu, cheesing hard, "Anyone want Ice Cream!?"
Fu gasped in excitement as Naruto quirked an eyebrow, "I'm supposed to be training. I can't just be taking ice cream breaks."
Jiraiya started walking, "All work and no play makes a dull shinobi." he said.
The blonde huffed before he saw the hopeful expression on Fu's face. He slumped in defeat, and followed after the sannin.
XXX
"I gotta come clean to you kids." Jiraiya told Naruto and Fu, the three sitting at an Ice Cream parlour in the Leaf. Jiraiya had chocolate, Naruto had strawberry, and Fu mint-chocolate chip.
"I've already found your stash Jiraiya-sensei." Naruto said casually.
"Yeah," Fu added in, "Me, Naruto, Sakura, and Trunks already watched them all."
The sannin's face went red, "Wait, what?! No! I mean, I wasn't talking about that!" for a second he'd wondered how those kids managed to find his "stash", and how they'd been so comfortable after having watched them. He quickly cleared his throat, "I'm talking about me leaving the village for a while."
"What? Why!?" Naruto asked as Fu ate her ice cream.
"Well, you know I've been looking for someone." Jiraiya said.
Spoon of Ice Cream in his mouth, Naruto garbled out, "That Tsunade broad."
"Yeah," Jiraiya said with a slight chuckle, "that 'Tsunade broad'." he got a bit more serious, "I was hoping I could get to Tsunade before Danzo could become Hokage… but it looks like that's not gonna happen."
Naruto shrugged, "That Danzo guy isn't too bad. I mean, no one can replace the Third but-"
"He doesn't seem too bad because you don't know him." Jiraiya said with a steel in his voice. "Danzo is not a nice guy, he's not even what you'd call a good guy." Naruto's eyes hardened. "You follow me?"
"Yeah." Naruto said, "What do we do about him?"
"Not a damn thing." Jiraiya said, "sometimes bad things happen in life and you can't stop it." he leaned back, "That's something you gotta accept."
"Doing nothing's not really my style." Naruto said with folded arms.
"Well it's gonna be." Jiraiya said, "Unless you're gonna take on the Hokage on your own and turn the entire village's ninja force against you."
Naruto frowned and looked to his side.
"Anyways," Jiraiya said, "it's still necessary I bring Tsunade back. Those senzu plants still have a minute to grow, so Tsunade could fill in for them."
"Can I go?" Naruto asked.
"No." Jiraiya said, "If you go she's gonna go."
"You know me." Fu said with a shrug.
"And you've got Androids that'll kill you and Akatsuki that'll be after you both." Jiraiya said, "Too much risk. I'd rather have you here where #16 can defend you if need be."
Naruto slapped his hand down on the table, "What are the odds we'll bump into the Androids! And I'm not afraid of the Akatsuki, I'm strong enough to-"
"No, Naruto!" Jiraiya thundered, "I'm putting my foot down. You'll stay here and continue your training." his eyes narrowed at the boy, "You won't fight me on this."
A grunt came from Naruto's throat, "Fine."
"When ya' goin?" Fu asked.
"The night after tomorrow." The sannin said, "According to Bulma, the Androids aren't too active at nightfall."
The teen nodded in acceptance. "You better be careful." he said.
"We'll miss you!" the seven-tailed jinchuuriki said, "Naruto won't admit it, but I will!"
The sannin smirked as he got up from his chair, "I know." he patted the two teens on the head. "I'll see ya' round!" he said as he left the parlour.
Fu turned to Naruto, her smile dropping as she saw the downcast expression on Naruto's face.
"You okay?" she asked.
A smile instantly formed on Naruto's lips, "Yeah, I'm good!" he stood up from his chair, "I still got some training to do, you should catch up with the others!"
"Oh, okay!" Fu said, though she could tell Naruto was hiding his disappointment. She knew when one needed to be left alone, so she'd honor his wishes.
XXX
Within' the Leaf's Third Training Ground; Sakura, Ino, Lee, Tenten, and Shinhan all continued their surface ki training.
Shinhan and Lee sparred up in the sky, the two martial artists clashing fists together.
Ino and Sakura powered up together, the two friends enshrouded in their own aura's of ki. Sakura launched herself at Ino, the pinkette throwing a series of punches her friend had to weave and dodge.
As far as pure fighting ability went, Sakura always held an edge over Ino. The Yamanaka was completely on the defensive.
Tenten settled on target practice, her kunai thrown being powerful enough to tear through thick stone boulders and multiple trees. The bun-haired kunoichi twirled a kunai in her finger before throwing it behind her.
The kunai struck the tree right next to Fu, the green-haired teen shrieking in surprise. What did she do wrong? She just showed up there!
"You're with me Fu!" Tenten said with a smirk as she twirled a red bo staff. Fu looked to the bun haired girl, and grinned before flying at the girl.
Sakura let out a battle cry as she threw a punch that Ino blocked, the Yamanaka grinding her teeth and grunting loudly as the force of the punch pushed her back. Ino jumped and swung a roundhouse kick that caught Sakura in the shoulder, knocking her to the side.
Haruno got up, before she heaved deeply. Her lips quivered and she dropped to her knees.
"Sakura? What's wrong?!" Ino asked her friend as she got to her knees to comfort her.
The others came over as well, noticing the commotion.
"What's wrong Sakura?" Lee asked.
The pinkette took a moment before she spoke, "It's like… no matter how hard I try I'll always be weak. I'm not strong enough to help anyone." she began trembling, "When Trunks was getting tortured by the Androids, all I could do... was watch." she trembled harder, "I couldn't do anything…"
"Sakura," Tenten took a knee and put a hand on the girls shoulder, "It's okay. I'm sure there's nothing any of us could've done in your place."
"Stop lying to me." Sakura said, "You're just trying to make me feel better." she got to her feet. "I suck."
"Well, maybe you did suck that time." Shinhan started, all eyes aimed at her, "But," she quickly added, "what's happened in the past is the past. It's only when you repeat your failure's should you beat yourself up."
"At the rate I'm going, I'm bound to." Sakura said with a self deprecating smile.
"Well," Shinhan said as she tapped her chin, "how much is getting stronger worth to you?"
"What are you talking about?" Sakura asked the bluenette, the others just as confused.
"Well, I'm thinking," the daughter of Tien started, "about teaching you the Kaioken… if I can."
This elicited gasps of shock from everyone except Fu, who hadn't yet seen the technique.
"Wait, you can do that?!" Sakura asked, "I mean, I've seen what it does to you."
"Yeah, I know." the blue haired teen said as she fumbled with the red ribbon in her hair, "If you're willing to tear your body to shreds to get stronger, I'll teach you it."
Sakura thought about it, "I… I don't know if I'm ready for that."
Shinhan shrugged, "If you say so. But that mentality is probably why you're not progressing like you should."
Sakura's green eyes lit up, "Okay, I'll learn it!"
XXX
Danzo stood before the Fire Daimyo, the rest of the Konoha Council and major clan heads being present during this meeting as well.
"So," the Fire Daimyo said, "taking into consideration that we have no other viable candidates," he looked to Danzo, "Shimura Danzo, you are the official godaime."
A round of applause came from those in the meeting, though Asuma and Gai were among the handful of those present who would give no applause.
The Elder picked up the Hokage hat, and put it atop his head. "Thank you." the Elder said, "My first act will be to deal with this threat of Artificial Humans. My second act, to banish those responsible for drawing these enemies into the Land of Fire, Trunks and Bulma Brief."
There were nods that came from those in the room, though Gai, Yugao, and Hayate's eyes widened in alarm.
Choza Akimichi asked what was on everyone else's mind, "These Androids, how would they be dealt with?"
The one eyed elder spoke up, "I have my own team of fuinjutsu shinobi that I've assembled. These machines will be completely sealed away until the end of time."
Those in the room seemed to be satisfied with that course of action.
"And the Brief's" Gai spoke up, "when were they to be banished?"
"Trunks is still in a coma." Danzo admitted, "He is to be banished two weeks after he awakens."
Another series of claps came from those in the room…
XXX
(Within Tanzaku Town)
#17 opened the curtains to the patio of the apartment he and #18 stayed in, "Damn I love this view!" he said as he eyed the outside. The two cyborgs had a penthouse apartment, the height of the apartment allowing a view of the entirety of the town and the forest's beyond. Lucky for the townspeople, #17 and #18 decided not to hit this town.
Yet.
A pile of ashes by the front door were all that was left of the apartments previous owners.
"It's not bad at all." #18 agreed, the blonde cyborg laying on the couch.
The ebony haired cyborg opened the patio door to allow the outside breeze to circle through the apartment room.
Immediately after #17 turned his back, the sound of feet landing on the patio made him swing around with a ki blast ready in his hand.
The young adult's face softened once he saw the visitor. He canceled the ki blast, "Well look who came to visit, #18."
The blonde cyborg sat up from the couch and looked to the patio, the young woman smiling, "#16, how's it going big bro!"
#16 didn't share the two cyborgs expressions of congeniality, and the two murderers didn't expect him to. They knew #16 couldn't harm them, so they'd take to trolling him whenever possible.
"Got over your little girl fetish yet?" #17 asked.
"I always thought he had a thing for birds and fuzzy creatures." #18 said.
The bigger Android could never understand what they were alluding to, and he didn't want to. He immediately said, "You both need to stop what you're doing." he said.
#17 looked to #18, feigning confusion. "And what are we doing exactly?" #17 asked.
#18 added, "Yeah, we're minding our own business."
The hulking Android walked into the apartment, "You know what I am referring to." he said, "You need to stop the destruction, the killing."
#18 rolled her eyes as she turned away from him, 'Not this again.'
#17 shook his head with a smile, "Look, #16, I like you. But this is like the 10th time you've come to us about this." he cocked his head and smirked, "You sound like a broken record player."
"Maybe that's what Gero wanted him to be and he never got fixed." #18 said.
"You should get that checked out bro." #17 joked.
The mohawked behemoth's eyes hardened at the two teens. With his red vision, he targeted the two teens from his Heads-Up Display. When he tried to lock on, the message 'Selected Targets: Restricted' shined in his vision.
Frowning, the Android continued talking, accepting that was all he could do for now, "Innocent people are suffering,"
"Blah Blah Blah!" #17 said as he turned, waving off the larger Android, "People get hurt all the time. It's not our fault they can't save themselves."
"Yeah," #18 agreed, "if we didn't kill people, somebody else would."
"So try preachin to someone who cares." #17 said.
#16 glanced over the two teens, accepting that he'd failed to reach them. "You will meet your match one day." He turned around and headed back to the patio, "Someone will bring you to justice."
"When you meet the guy, let us know." #17 said as he flopped down on a recliner.
"I'd love to meet'em." #18 finished.
XXX
Kabuto entered the Leaf, the spy wearing his Leaf village headband.
He had a mission to do, and he knew he had to do it fast. The Sound Four and Kimimaro could be happening upon Sasuke at any moment, which could potentially make his task more difficult.
As the spectacled man traversed the village, he quickly noticed how most-to-all shinobi had exhibited the ability to fly. This meant, Trunks had somehow managed to pass on his ki techniques to those around him. Kabuto noticed some of the genin aged shinobi had exhibited flight, meaning the technique couldn't have been too hard to master.
And if they were teaching this to genin, then that means the best bet of learning this ki would be to head to the ninja academy.
Kabuto quickly made his way to said Academy, and hid up in the trees to overwatch the students being taught outside. Iruka stood before them all, giving instruction.
"Remember to pull from your center mass," the scarred Chunin said, "if you're doing it right you'll feel your body getting warmer. Those with good chakra control will have an easier time with this than those that don't."
Kabuto smirked as he took in this information, 'Excellent.'
XXX
"So this is what ki does for a person." Kidomaru said, the six-armed nin and his team watching Lee, Sakura, Ino, Fu, Tenten, and Shinhan train. The Sound four and Kimimaro kept close to the village's outer rim, which was where this particular training ground was located.
Kimimaro watched as the bowl-cut taijutsu specialist did battle with a girl with a red-ribbon in her hair, the two genin a barely noticeable blur flashing across the battlefield, skillfully avoiding the others training.
"How are we gonna get to Sasuke?" Jirobo asked, watching as Fu sparred with Tenten, the weapons specialist using her bo staff to keep the jinchuriki at bay.
Tayuya growled out, "Didn't we go over this you fat retard. Sasuke's a genin, so we're gonna catch one of these genin after they're done training and interrogate'em for Sasuke's whereabouts." she glared angrily at the heavy set boy. "That complicated or are you too fuckin slow to get it?"
"Go eat shit Tayuya." Jirobo said angrily, most angry that the girl called him fat.
"Go fuck yourself Jirobo!" Tayuya hissed out.
"Quiet!" Sakon ordered.
"Both of you." Kimimaro added, not taking his eyes off the spar
Ino blocked a kick from Sakura, flipping the pink haired girl who caught herself in the air. Before Sakura could launch herself back at Ino, Lee went crashing into the ground between them.
The green-beast quickly got to his feet, his guard instantly going up as he could feel Shinhan coming at him. But in his senses, he could feel something else.
"Wait!" the bushy browed teenager said, Tavi stopping herself mid-flight and just a few feet from him. Ino, Sakura, Fu, and Tenten looked to the taijutsu specialist as well.
"What's going on Lee?" Tenten asked as she and Fu walked up to him.
Lee looked down, "We're…" his eyes instantly hardened, "we're being watched!" his head instantly turned to the trees. The others could now feel multiple evil ki signatures within' the trees.
Shinhan instantly formed ki blasts in her hands as everyone else took fighting stances.
"You better come out or I blast the forests to kingdom come!" the daughter of Tien warned, the yellow ki in her palms growing bigger.
The five teenagers of Sound appeared before the Leaf nin, Tayuya already wielding her flute.
Kidomaru shook his head in contempt, "You two just couldn't help yourselves, could you?" he asked in reference to Tayuya and Jirobo.
"Shut the fuck up Kidomaru." Tayuya grunted.
Appearance's aside, once seeing the Otogakure headband on Kidomaro's forehead, Team 7 knew that these kids were the enemy, but in case there was anyone else to watch for, the genin needed to know what these pricks wanted,
"What do you want?" Lee asked, "What are you doing here?"
Kimimaro was the one to speak, acting as the leader of the team, "Sasuke Uchiha… where is he?"
Sakura, Ino, and Lee glared at the young man.
"Piss off." Sakura said.
"Actually, don't." Ino added with a dangerous glare in her eyes, "For being dumb enough to step into our village, we're gonna wreck you."
In a disgusting display, two sharp bones slid out of Kimimaro's wrists and into his palms.
'Gross!' the Leaf genin thought with wide eyes.
Kimimaro wielded the bones like any knife, slowly shaking his head as he said, "How unfortunate," Before the Sound nin clashed with the Leaf nin.
XXX
A/N: And that's the end of this chapter, review please!