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Greetings! So well, I kinda jacked a little bit more from the manga regarding Paine (Pein/Pain), so you may be a little confused if you haven't read that far. Sorry for that… That's really all there is to say right now besides the customary thanks. Oh, when I said that there were 3-5 chapters left, I may have been one or two chapters off the mark/ Anyway, this whole chapter just kind of happens suddenly…

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The ramen at Ichiraku never disappointed, and the chef and his daughter gladly kept the bowls coming for their most faithful customer. The best part was that since he had fought so hard to protect the village, today's meal was on the house. Delicious, free ramen, There probably wasn't a better thing to be had in all the world.

Suki seemed to be eating contently as well, taking a sip from her green tea. But when she saw Naruto stop eating suddenly and look at her, she knew something was up.

"What?" she asked.

"I just wanted to tell you something…" he said.

"Go ahead."

"Well, um…just…I don't want you to think that you were my second choice. That is…with Sakura-chan. I didn't come to you because my first option was gone, so I had to settle for the next in line. I loved you as much as her; and now, even more…I was just worried that you might think that and…"

Naruto had been looking straight into her eyes, but as he trailed off, his eyes fell as they always did when he showed uncertainty and worry.

"Don't worry about it," Suki laughed, "you were my second choice too, so let's call it even!"

"Uh…what?" came Naruto.

As Suki explained herself, her eyes got bright and she held her hands together on her cheek. "I fell in love with Sasuke at first sight because he was so cool, but unfortunately he was taken by Sakura-san. Since he was gone, I was forced to move on to a baka like you. Too bad I couldn't have someone as cool and popular as Sasuke-"

"Oh, shut it…stupid…" Naruto cut her off, "I was being serious, you know…"

He grabbed his chopsticks angrily and shoved a whole mouthful of noodles down his throat. All Suki had to do was smile, and his bad-tempered face slowly softened into a small grin of his own.

"Oh! So that's how it is!" Ayame proclaimed excitedly, leaning towards them across the counter, "I knew it! You two are a couple!!"

The old chef butted in as well. "So, you've finally found yourself a girl, eh, Naruto? And she's quite a pretty one, too. Nice job. Now if only Ayame could find a decent man, I could leave the shop to them without any worries…"

"Father!" Ayame scolded, "You can't rush such things!"

"But if it's you, you shouldn't have any trouble getting dates, right, Ayame-nee-chan?" Naruto told her.

The ramen girl blushed a little as she waved off his comment.

"Ahaha! You shouldn't say such nice things to other girls when in the presence of your girlfriend, Naruto-kun!"

"I know, right?" Suki agreed with her, "honestly, this guy doesn't really know anything when it comes to that stuff!"

"Gimme a break here, you two!" he cried.

The two girls continued to pick on Naruto, and when he looked to the chef for help, the old man just laughed at him.

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Tsunade sat back and let out a long sigh of relief. The whole Danzou ordeal had finally been settled. She no longer had to worry about his underhanded scheming and corruption in the higher ranks of Konoha. The elders who had conspired with him were punished, and new council members would be elected to take their place. Overall, the damage to the political structure of the village was minimal.

During stressed times, she often felt the urge to drown it all away in a bottle, but she knew that in serious situations, keeping a clear head was the most important thing. But now that it was all over, it was safe to indulge herself in some sake. However, her small victory toast was cut short. Another messenger came bursting into her office: it seemed to be happening a lot lately…

"Tsunade-sama! I have an urgent report!"

"What is it?" the Hokage asked.

"A large group of shinobi from Amegakure has been spotted just beyond the borders of the fire country."

"What!?" Tsunade exploded. They had just averted disaster, and now a new threat was on its way. "How many? And for what purpose?"

"Our scouts report that their numbers are around ninety, though it is not known how many of them are of jounin level. They aren't moving as if to attack, but they are steadily moving forward right towards the Village. If they keep up their current pace, they'll be here just after nightfall. Other than that, we don't have any more information."

Tsunade listened carefully as the situation was explained to her. Before she responded, she downed the drink that she had poured herself. Ninety. Most villages had around thirty jounin, not counting their special operations forces, equivalent to Konoha's Anbu. If this was a full-fledged attack, the majority of them could be jounin. And in Konoha's current state, most of their fighters were going to be chuunin. Tsunade and the rest of Konoha had been so absorbed in what was going on with ROOTS that they let these Rain ninja come this far without being noticed.

"Send out the hawk. I need all my jounin on the roof, now," she ordered.

The ninja nodded and let immediately. Tsunade turned her chair to look out at the city. How could Amegakure's timing be so perfect? Right after Anbu's strength is cut nearly in half, a group of Rain ninja comes marching towards them. But why all of a sudden? As far as Tsunade knew, Konoha had done nothing to provoke an attack from the Rain. With many thoughts running through her head, she headed to the roof.

The jounin (and Jiraiya) of the village responded well to the signal. Within ten minutes they were all there; and she kept her eye on Naruto. He seemed to be back to his usual self, although he looked a little angry at something. Given the time of day, she had probably summoned him while he was in the middle of a meal, and now he was grumpy. He probably deserved a lot more rest, but she needed him now. When Akiko and Sasuke arrived, they too went to check up on him. His smile was all it took to assure them he was back to normal.

With all ears attentive and waiting, she began to fill them in on the situation. She watched as a particular person's face went from grouchy to anxious.

"We must assume that they are here to attack us," Tsunade told the jounin, "It goes without saying that we need to evacuate all citizens immediately in the event that a battle ensues here. It would be unwise to rush out to meet them because that would mean that we'd also have to keep some ninja here in the village as a precaution, therefore separating our forces. And as you all know, we're already short on personnel. It would be better if we made our stand behind the village walls."

The jounin nodded in agreement, and Tsunade continued.

"Listen up. We need to prepare for two situations: the first situation will be if the enemy uses all its strength as a single unit, focusing all of their attacks on one area, and the second is if they decide to split up and surround the village. In either event, I'm breaking you up into groups, with three four-man cells making up one group. There will be one jounin to three chuunin in these cells, and so three jounin and nine chuunin to a group. I will assign two medical support ninjas to each group. All genin will remain on standby; I don't want them involved unless it can't be avoided. Shizune will break you up into groups. Start the evacuation and round up the chuunin. We'll meet again in two hours."

She and Jiraiya went off by themselves to discuss the situation in depth with the council members. The jounin lined up for their group assignments. Naruto, Sasuke, Akiko, and Suki waited to see which group they would be assigned to. The first two stepped forward.

"Sasuke-kun and Naruto-kun, you two will be in a group along with Akiko. Naruto-kun, you will lead chuunin Fugashi Yanagi, Umino Iruka, and Nara Shikamaru. Sasuke-kun, you will be in charge of Rock Lee, Kotetsu Izumo, and Akari Misako. The chuunin will be briefed on the situation and you can meet up with them when we all rendezvous back here in two hours."

"Eh? Iruka-sensei is going to be in my group?" asked Naruto.

"Yes. Is that a problem?" Shizune questioned him.

"No, its just a little weird, is all. I've never actually worked with Iruka-sensei before…"

"Along with Shikamaru-kun, he is one of the chuunin being examined for a promotion. Your team should be a strong one."

Akiko and Suki stepped forward for their assignments after Naruto and Sasuke gave way.

"As you heard, Akiko will be with Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun. Suki will be in a group with Maito Gai and Sarutobi Asuma. Suki, you'll have Yamanaka Ino, Ten-ten, and Hyuuga Hinata. Akiko will have Inuzuka Kiba, Shinjuku Rieko, and Ishigen Kuro."

Akiko perked up at the last name that was called. It seemed familiar to her in some way…

You can go rot in hell with him; that's where he belongs.

The words rang as her memory pinpointed the exact moment. That's right. Ishigen Kuro was the bastard she met at the dango shop, the one who had insulted Naruto.

"Shizune-senpai, I don't think putting me in the same group as Kuro is a good idea," she said.

Shizune could recognize that Akiko was being absolutely serious, so her reasons didn't really matter.

"I see. In that case, I can replace him with someone you're more familiar with: Akimichi Chouji."

"That'll be just fine. Thank you."

Akiko was satisfied with her team and let the next jounin behind her, Yamanaka Inoshi, receive his group assignment.

"How do you know that Kuro guy, Aki-chan?" Naruto asked her.

"I met up with him earlier. He said something very disrespectful to me," she said.

"Hmm…" Naruto pondered, "should I kick his ass?"

"No, its fine. Besides, if I ever hear him say it again, I'd like the pleasure of doing it myself."

For the next hour or so, they helped with the evacuation of the villagers into the many safe zones throughout Konoha. The genin were also rounded up and grouped with the non-combatants, but also acted as guards should any enemies make it to past the front lines. Konohamaru and his squad came to Naruto to complain, but he told them that if they wanted to help protect the village in situations like this then they should hurry up and become chuunin.

With everything happening so fast, Suki and Naruto thought it was best to delay their little announcement. There were other things to worry about right now.

With the city deserted and all ninja on high alert, the jounin and chuunin finally met. The medical squads were also there, with Sakura among them. Tsunade nad Jiraiya stood at the head as always, with Shizune standing further to the side of them.

"By now, you have all received information regarding your team assignments. Scouts from the Aburame clan have confirmed that the Rain ninja have split up into two separate forces. So we too must divide our ranks, right down the middle. Now, after I fill you in on the general plan of attack, you will need to get into your groups and come up with personal team tactics that will enable you to be the most effective."

It seemed that Tsunade and Jiraiya had thought of a good strategy together, and they filled everyone in down to the last detail. It sounded promising, and if all went well, the enemy wouldn't penetrate too far into the village. Of course, there were always unknown variables, and the shinobi of the Rain most likely had a plan of their own. Tsunade said that there were approximately ninety enemy ninja of unknown strength, so Konoha definitely had the advantage in numbers. However, with half of Anbu out of commission, if there were more Rain jounin than Leaf jounin, it might be an even fight.

After the briefing from the two Sannin, everyone was free to get together in their squads. Iruka found Naruto pretty quickly, and Shikamaru approached him right after that. The last member, Fushagi Yanagi, was an older man that Naruto recognized as one of the Academy staff. Together with Sasuke and Akiko's teams, which had more familiar faces than new ones, they got together and talked amongst themselves. There were twelve of them, and together with four other groups of twelve, they were to hold the area around the eastern wall. That came to forty-eight shinobi on both the western and eastern sections. And if their attackers had split their forces in half, that would mean that their numbers would be relatively similar. Tsunade had ordered her remaining Anbu to stay back, and she would dispatch them as the battle dragged on to areas which needed the most reinforcing.

The Aburame clan continued to use their insects as spies throughout the day to relay the exact location of the intruders to the Hokage. They were currently north of Konoha, separated into a group in the east and a group in the west, just as Tsunade had predicted. They were going to come at them from both sides. The ninja of the Leaf had ample time to prepare, and all they could do now was wait for the enemy to show.

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Kisame's laughter roared out underneath the darkening sky. His partner, Itachi, had planned this ahead of time. Always calculating, the Uchiha had really outdone himself this time. He had already anticipated that Danzou would not cause enough damage to Konoha, so he went out and did this! Kisame hadn't even known about it until now, and he had been by Itachi's side most of the time. This was just the distraction they needed. Both Sasuke and Naruto would be easy pickings while the rest of Konoha was fighting desperately to fend off its attackers. Since two Sannin were in the village, Jiraiya would probably do the fighting and Tsunade would focus on the medical side of things and give orders from behind the lines. Once the battle started and they knew where Jiraiya, Sasuke, and Naruto were, they could plan accordingly and avoid the Sannin while abducting the two boys.

"Why are we even letting those Rain guys try to negotiate with Tsunade? If they come to an agreement, then there won't even be any fighting!" argued Kisame.

"It won't do any harm. Tsunade will not agree to their terms. They already know that Konoha knows they're coming, so the element of a surprise attack has already faded." replied Itachi.

"What about the rings? With Kabuto dead, we don't know where they are…"

"You have yours, and I have mine. Those two alone will be enough."

The two of them watched from a distance as the small party of Rain ninja stood outside the Leaf Village gate, where they had requested an audience with the Hokage. She arrived sooner than expected with a small escort of Anbu and Jiraiya at her side. She didn't look very happy.

"What is the meaning of this sudden aggression from the Rain village?" she growled.

"Amegakure has suffered a great loss, Lady Hokage. The ninja of our proud village will not stand for this," the head ninja answered.

"I don't have any idea what you're talking about," Tsunade told him.

"Then allow me to fill you in," said the man. "Our great leader Paine-sama is dead."

"Paine?" came Jiraiya, "he was the Rain's leader?"

"That's right. Paine-sama single-handedly overthrew the former government and its leader, the famed warrior Hanzou, who, if I remember correctly, the three of you Sannin fought to a standstill."

"Hanzou was defeated?" said Jiraiya, astounded.

"Yes," the Rain ninja replied, "It's not surprising that you guys didn't know; we of Ame like to keep things private. But Paine-sama was so powerful that he rose to the status of a god in our village. But then one day out of nowhere, he just disappeared. No one knew where he went, and his partner Konan, called god's angel, was nowhere to be found. We didn't know what to do. A little more than a week later, we heard a rumor that our beloved and all powerful Paine-sama had been defeated in a fluke at the hands of some fifteen-year-old brat from Konoha. There was no way we were going to believe that, but then evidence surfaced that proved those rumors to be true. We can't just let that stand. A teenaged boy from the Leaf took out the strongest ninja in Amegakure's history. If this ever gets out, the name of our village will be put to shame. The only way to confirm our strength as a great power is to crush the Leaf; the village that so easily killed our god leader. However, Lady Hokage, we're willing to strike a deal with you. If you hand the boy over to us, we'll gladly pack up our things and head back home."

"Oh? You're being awfully generous," said Tsunade, "If I hand over a meaningless little brat, we can all avoid bloodshed, right? How thoughtful of you to think of such a peaceful solution! Or is it that you're having second thoughts about this, hmm? This is a pretty rash course of action you're doing here. I don't know what could have possibly convinced you that this was a good idea. Even if you win here, you know you will suffer massive casualties and lose military strength. Suna will retaliate and wipe Amegakure off the map. I've already sent word to my dear friend the Kazekage. Anyway, I'll give you one last chance to leave the fire country. Otherwise, you'd better be prepared to face a total defeat."

"This was the only course of action to take. Eventually, the story will leak out to the rest of the world. A kid killed the so-called god of Amegakure. Our reputation will be dragged through the mud. We must take a stand for the honor of our great village. This is what we have decided. And if we fall here, then perhaps we were never worthy to be called one of the great ninja villages in the first place."

"I see," said Tsunade, shaking her head, "your unwavering resolve has been foolishly placed. Instead of working to re-establish the government in your village, you have chosen to attack us. Some of my ninja here will die for this stupid reason. Because of that, I will show you no mercy. This talk is over."

The Hokage and her entourage were gone, and the head ninja nodded to his men. They took off in either direction, going to send the news to the two groups. Only the ninja in charge of this operation remained, and he made his way back to Itachi's side.

"Signal the attack," Itachi ordered, "make those proud walls crumble under the might of the Hidden Rain Village."

"Yes, Itachi-sama."

The man left their side and returned to his men. Kisame laughed again.

"They're following your orders without question," he observed.

"Of course," said Itachi, "the hearts and minds of men are easily manipulated. They devoted themselves to Paine because they believed he was unbeatable, and they followed his every command. They adored and worshipped his power, and yet they feared it. When I went to their village, they were without leadership: sheep desperate for a shepherd to guide them. All it took was Tsukiyomi and Amaretsu to impress them. I told them I was a companion of Paine, and I was the one who told them of his demise. And of course, it was I who sparked their fire for battle and persuaded them to go through with this. They will follow me."

"You had it planned out before you and I even took down that Tobi guy, huh?" noted Kisame.

"Yes. Who do you think convinced Paine that it would be better to fight Naruto-kun using only one of his bodies?"

"Heh. Do you really think these chumps have a chance against Konoha?" Kisame asked.

"They will put up a decent fight, but no; most likely they will all die," was the cold answer.

"Haha! I'm glad we're on the same side!"

A red flare shot up in the east. That was the signal. The battle was about to start.