Hi everyone, sorry I am late (as usual) but I have been suffering from something so common as a mild writer's block. It didn't stop me to write or get ideas, but it stopped my inspiration. Have I been frustrated? Oh Yes!!!

So, I hope you guys don't complain, because this chapter turned out much shorter than usual.

(goes to kill whoever invented the writer's block)

Anyway, I am still alive, Christmas did not destroy me, though it was a lot of stress to get things done. Now, while I groan over that we have a ton of Christmas food left to be eaten, why don't you guys go on and read this chapter.

Shitza

Ps: This story will now, officially end probably around sometime within the next following chapters. Actually, there is probably less then ten chapters left, sounds much, but it's not. The final act is almost here.

Chapter 35

Danzou's Request

"Let My Son Become the Hokage"

Utatane Koharu sat opposite of her former teammate Mitokado Homura, deeply on the verge of winning her third game of Shogi that morning. Since their deceased third member, Sarutobi had died and that fraud Tsunade had taken over, there was seldom things for them to do. That woman seldom listened to their reasoning and often played her own games, gambling into things that should not be gambled. With a sigh she almost regretted having let the Fourth Hokage take his position, it was back then she believed everything had started, whether for good or bad. The results had ended up to a young teen who in her opinion had too much freedom. Not only was the boy the centre of attention in many of the events that had occurred. He was favoured by Tsunade, Jiraya and many other families had sided with him. She knew he was powerful, and had grown fast within the last coming year, but still. She couldn't help worrying. The fact he was not a Jinchuuriki was at least a little calmer, because for many years that sealed formed most of her nightmares. But now, she worried for other things about him. Just because the Kyuubi was gone, things grew worse. Because Kyuubi was gone, there were worse threats to the village than ever before.

And now that boy had been, through agreements between the Hokage, them and the higher families, selected to be trained to become the new Hokage. Out of all the higher families, the Hyuuga, the Aburame, the Yamanaka, the Nara, the Akimichi, the Inuzuka and many others, over 70 per cent had given their trust to the blond, Tsunade said she trusted him more then she had trusted Jiraya and the Elder Council agreed after some agreements, that Naruto would train without any exceptions, the old way, which meant he would spend nights at the Hokage's Office to learn the differences between a shinobi's work and a Hokage's work.

It came as a surprise though, that he learned things quickly, and in this case, it could take as little as five years before Tsunade could rightfully give up her position and he would be allowed to take over, which would mean, he would be the youngest Hokage in history. Arashi, his uncle, had been around thirty when he claimed the position, and people thought him as young.

Sighing she moved her Knight into a winning position. "I won again." she said. Homura sat back and simply shook his head in defeat.

There was a light knock on the door, and a younger Jounin appeared. "Koharu-sama, Homura-sama. Danzou-sama has asked for a word with you." he said, holding the door for Danzou to walk in. The elder man bowed to the two Council members, before laying down his proposition. Both members listened without comments, however Koharu could feel the cold around this man. He had been inside Ne too long for his own good.

"What I mean with this, let my son take the position of the Hokage once Tsunade retires. He is far more competent than that fox-demon and far safer. My son is a genius beyond words, he will be able to catch up quickly, and take position within a few years, once the council will agree he'll do so. Just think about it, all your nightmares will vanish. He is strong, probably the strongest within the village. Of all his missions none have been failures, he has done what he needed and loads more."

Koharu looked into Homora's eyes, seeing the same thought. This was something strange and uncalled for.

"It is not as if we can do better without him. Of course I admire his strength, but great brutality is not the key for the position he seeks. That boy carries no rational thinking and by unleashing him, it would mean harm both for Konoha and its inhabitants. Please, I am talking about the village's best, I trained my son singlehandedly to think about everyone. He wouldn't let anyone be at harm's way."

Danzou smiled.

"He is a noble man of honour, he..."

"I am afraid we cannot do that, Danzou, seeing the Council, Tsunade and the Heads of the Noble families within Konoha have already accepted Naruto in his position. This is not something any of us can go against, though the boy has given us problems in the past, he is a loyal shinobi to his village." Homura said interrupting him. He had more to think about than this.

"Besides" Koharu said, glad to have her teammate on her side. "We cannot take you for only your words in these matters. When Naruto's case was brought up, people from all clans came to give him support and talk for his position. All from Tsunade and Hyuuga Hiashi to Konohamaru (the Sandaime's grandson) to his friends and a selective amount of villagers. That boy is growing far more popular, and we stand clear on this. It is out of the question."

Danzou bowed. "It was just an idea, but I will bend to the will of the Council. Forgive me, we'll see each other when you see I am correct, like always."

After that he left, slamming the door as he went. Koharu took a deep breath of relief, seeing Danzou only made things and decisions worse.

"What's the matter?" Homura asked. "You shouldn't listen to a word from that man for all I know. His so called organisation, Root, has rooted themselves deeper into the village's business than they are allowed to. And to tell you this, his son is ten times worse then Naruto have ever been to us. All Danzou says is a twisted truth, so don't listen. I would rather give my position to someone else then let that man walk over me."

Koharu chuckled. "Perhaps so. Very well, why shall we not go and visit our dear Hokage, she might need some of this information. With all of these strange events, who knows what is going on."

Smoke rose from the ruined parts of the village. Black clouds that stenched of death rose to the graying sky, the scene was illuminated by faint sunlight that managed to find its way through. On one side three shinobi wearing their head protectors proudly glared at two men, whom both had untangled themselves from their old homes. An evidence of this, shown with the slashed metal, something they were even more proud of.

"Bastards!" Hidan said, making a slashing movement with his scythe, only making them split again. The gray haired Akatsuki made an attempt to chase after them, but his companion stopped him by holding out his hand.

"Be calm Hidan, unless you truly want to kill yourself." Kakuzu warned him.

"Like anything could kill me." Hidan said with confidence.

Sasuke made a few seals, blowing fire at them. Both split, and the fight divided into two parts. Sasuke and Naruto aiming after Kakuzu and Sakura who was dodging Hidan's attempts to stab her with the blades.

"Like any of them would be able to kill someone who has already found the key to immortality." Hidan said with a grin.

No one seemed to care that only minutes ago a storm was brewing outside. The storm had arrived to their doorstep now after all. In form of roots.

"Sai, Sai, Sai... no wonder Danzou is trying to kill you. You are pathetic after all." the masked woman said.

"You traitor! Running into the arms of your girlfriend, eh? No wonder you couldn't keep that Shikamaru bastard down any longer than a few months. You are too nice, you should have killed him right away."

Sai growled, standing between his former companions and Ino, who was standing before the hallway that led to the two Uchiha girls' chamber. The blond woman had put her fingers together for her mind controlling Jutsus, currently trying to manipulate a great deal of their attackers away from the two girls, who were safely kept behind the defenders.

"Give up you too!" the masked woman yelled sending a rain of shuriken at them. Sai stopped them with a rain of his own attack. The ex-Ne member took out a clean scroll, a brush that was tipped with ink before he, in a blink of an eye, had drawn hideous ogre like creatures.

"Ninpou: Choujuu Giga!" (Super Beast Imitation Picture)

The ogre alike pictures suddenly rose from the scroll and attacked the surprised attackers.

'He's good' Ino thought watching the beasts in awe.

"Get them!" Sai said, directing his beasts to attack. The only weakness in his attack however, was that his beasts reverted back to ink when they were damaged to a certain amount. And, his old comrades knew this.

"Katon: Karyuu Endan!" (Fire Technique: Fire Dragon Flame Missile) one of the Ne members said. Missile like flames shot from his mouth.

The fire spread quickly, and soon no one thought about fighting, but instead of getting safely out from the house. As the ne members struggled towards the door, Ino lead the girls and Sai out safely through a back door, which was easier located away from the heat than leading into it.

Safely outside she turned to the two girls and said:

"I want you to hurry the fastest your short legs can carry you to the tower, and say that the Uchiha mansion is under attack. We need reinforcement, quickly!"

The two girls nodded before they hurried away.

"Get ready!" Sai warned her as the members of Ne appeared. Ino was relieved however to see Dango and Pocky hurry away unscathed. She nodded, making a few seals. The best they could do was to fight, and hope that someone would come to help them.

Sakura brushed the sweat from her forehead. Cursing she knew she couldn't waste more chakra than needed. Hidan seemed to enjoy fighting her, not getting close upon starting his ceremony, but it didn't matter. To him, he had more tricks than his believes, and proved it raining down thunder for her to dodge. Many times, the claps ripped her skin, causing small but not completely harmless wounds.

In another part, Sasuke and Naruto tried to seal Kakuzu with the same sealing technique they had managed to kill Kabuto with, however they barely had made the seals before he and his monsters attacked them. Fighting a monster meant fighting a skilled element. The Akatsuki were toying with them, and it was damn embarrassing when you were counted as a high levelled Jounin to become the criminal's toy in battle.

However, help would finally reach them.

Kirigakura did not stand completely useless watching them fight. Shinzo sent his fastest shinobi to gather two of the still loyal Swordsmen Kiri had. Twins, known as Eki (lizard) of the Red Waters and Hebi (snake) of the Deep Sea. Similar to Kisame they had developed skills with swords that went far beyond the simple Katana wielding. The two swords snarled around their enemies, cutting into the skin.

Both wore simple clothes, making them look like normal villagers, their only distinguish was the long thin swords they carried with them. Leading chakra into the swords, it could snake around you. Being twins, they looked identical and the only way people could distinguish them was by the way they fought. Which meant, Eki used his sword to sneak around his opponent, allowing him or her to not see where the attack could be expected. Hebi used the same technique as some snake species, which, whom constricted their preys.

"By orders of our Kage, this fight is decided... we will take over now, shinobi of the Leaf." they said in unison.

Both stepped between the current fighters. Both Sasuke and Naruto nodded, not used to this way of fighting but then again there was no hope in winning if you couldn't fight yourself.

Sakura gave Hebi her thanks before disappearing as well.

The three Konoha shinobi hurried away from the sight. All three hoped that the Mist swordsmen could be able to keep Hidan and Kakuzu away from them, if fortunes where with them, kill them. But, having fought for hours already they knew it wouldn't be that simple.

A few medic nins came to help them. They were taken into the hospital, where they soon fell asleep, out of exhaustion. When you were at war, sleep was something rare. But, no one could keep it up forever.

They wouldn't get to rest for that long, seeing eventually that the twins would meet their fate in this fight. But the Hidden Mist was fighting back with their own power. A few plans were brought up, the shinobi they had were taken in to prepare a turn in the tide.

It was time to fight back.

It was time to act.

In another country, Sai was doing his best to keep their attackers away from him and Ino. Ino had collapsed beside him, now fighting within the minds of Ne. Being a specialist in mind techniques, she had developed a method to plant psychological phenomenas to their brains, which would weaken them, and hopefully keep them away long enough for the reinforcements to come. She was good, he had to admit seeing the shields of his former comrades crash until things they never knew they had hidden deep within their hearts saw light. A woman, who had lost her mask in the fight had tears in her eyes, and was fighting more out of desperation than following her orders. Literally to say, Sai was impressed.

But there were still many attackers left, who stood firm, and Sai had to deal with them. Most of his ink creations had already been destroyed and many were taken down.

A long sharp kunai was suddenly pressed to his neck. Looking to his left he saw another member holding Ino's lifeless form in a likewise position.

'Shit'

However, as soon as the kunai pressed at him, it descended. Sai looked down and saw what was unmistakeable the Kagemane no Jutsu. Ino returned to her body, giving out a cheer seeing Shikamaru, who was escorted by two members of the ANBU.

"Ino, are you okay?" one of the ANBU, with long brown hair, asked. It was Neji, no doubt about that.

"We got the orders that you two were in danger." another familiar voice said, slowly. Shino.

From the bushes close to the house, two small heads popped up. As Ino-neesan had told them, they had hurried to Tsunade, who immediately sent Shimofuri Kikai (Gray Bug, Shino) and Kasshoku Koumori) (brown bat, Neji). Shikamaru had met them as they sneaked back to the mansion, to see how Ino-neesan and the Sai-niisan managed it. Now when their short legs made them return, they arrived just in time to see...

The currents had changed.

In two situations.

TBC

Me: (hides)

Sorry for such a short chapter, promise you won't throw rotten fruit at me, the next chapter has a lot more and better details than this. I will do my best to finish the next chapter, so please don't be mad at me.

Next chapter will hold parts of the last fight between the Hidden Mist, and Akatsuki, it will reveal some secrets (that are mainly spoilers). Sai and Ino finishes their battle against Ne. The strands of this story is being knotted together, finally.

Shitza

Ps: the reason I didn't give up this story so far is because 1, there are still so many who continues reading it, though I haven't gotten to hear much about it.

PPs: I hope to reach 200 reviews before this is done, and notice I said hope.

PPPs: HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!