A/N: This is my first try as an author so bear with me. English isn't my first language so don't hesitate to pm me with any fault you find, I am always eager to learn.


Well, I'm glad no one expected dear old Danzo to be the one providing Sasuke with the eyes he needed in order to reach the EMS activation. Obviously, the Kotoamatsukami, was included in the pack. Now I know it isn't "exactly" like the one from canon manga, in my defense I did warn you that things would deviate from the classic manga material, not that it prevented some criticism about it.

Yes, EMS is the catalyst that I used to modify the specs for the Kotoamatsukami. No, there's no Shodaime cells implanted on Sasuke, and yes he got both eyes from Shisui, one from Danzo and one from Itachi. Both were exposed to Kabuto's drug, forcing the truth out of them and like I said, better take those eyes from a "stranger" responsible for the massacre of his clansmen than pluck out those from his own brother. Specifics about the jutsu range, power, duration, cooldown and so on will be revealed later by reading the story.

Another point is Sasuke's powers, yes I've made him stronger over the last chapters. I think I wrote in a different author note that I would be powering up the opposition for the final fights, in order to finish this story with an acceptable challenge for Naruto and his friends. Seriously, do you want to read a Godlike Naruto takes out an jonin level Sasuke, yeah didn't so. I do hate that character, the bashing never really ended on him, once an ass always an ass. Well, I may hate that character but I can still remain fair skill wise, try to not misunderstand the concept.

Finally, congratulations to 'bartimaeus shubit' for being the first to have correctly guessed where the modified version of the Kotoamatsukami was inspired from. The answer is indeed Code Geass, that I sadly don't possess either. You got your cookie alright, enjoy :)

Anyway, welcome to the next chapter of Kaze No Kami.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any other manga for that matter.


Chapter 53 : Discretion and Secrets


Sunagakure Desert – Borders with Amegakure

It had been two days since Naruto had that meeting with Gaara and Kurotsuchi in Sunagakure. As scheduled, Naruto with his escort, Kurenai and Konan, were slowly approaching the borders of Amegakure.

The group was hiding behind one of Kurenai's genjutsu, to avoid detection. They were running in a line with Kurenai in the middle, Naruto covered the back while Konan was leading them, as she knew the way to her former home. Looking at the two kunoichi, Naruto couldn't help but smirk, remembering the discussion they had just before they left Sunagakure.

It was right after the meeting, they had to wait for Gaara and Kurotsuchi to send out their troops for the diversion attacks. Since Konan couldn't wear the Akatsuki clothes anymore, she had decided to use the short break they had to go buy some new kunoichi clothes. Hearing her plan, Naruto offered to make her some customized equipment, just like the one he was wearing. It didn't take him very long as he was used to make or repair his own stuff. The only tricky part was the seals he was including in the clothes, like gravity or storage seals. Konan looked so great in those clothes that Kurenai asked for Naruto to make another set for her as well. (A/N : Picture the clothes Orihime is wearing when Aizen kidnapped her in Hueco Mundo.) Once done and fully equipped, the trio looked like they were members of some kind of an elite unit, with their matching clothes.

Back to the mission, Naruto was still running behind the two women but Konan suddenly stopped in her track, lifting her right hand in a fist, silently signaling them to stop their advance too.

"From now on we're crossing inside Amegakure's lands, reduce your chakra output to the limit and stay focused at all times." Said Konan, barely whispering to her team members.

Naruto nodded while Kurenai took out a soldier's pill and ate it, trying to recover the chakra she lost with the concealment jutsu she had used to cover their tracks ever since they started the mission.

"To get to the city, it would normally take us about one hour, but since we want to avoid detection and the patrols, we will have to take a small detour, extending the trip for another two hours to reach our destination." Konan added before taking off again, closely followed by Naruto and Kurenai.

True to her words, Naruto could feel the several ninja patrolling in the area. No one of note though, most likely those patrol squads were composed by chunin or special jonin at most but nothing higher than that so far.

After another two hours of constant running they finally arrived at their destination, just right outside the great city of Amegakure. It was still raining, in fact, ever since they left the borders of Wind Country, it never really stopped raining. Before going inside, Naruto took out a Hiraishin kunai and firmly planted it into the ground.

"Just a precaution, if we need to get the hell out of there, should they discover us." He said with a reassuring smile to the two women, before taking out two more of those kunai and giving them to his partners. They made no difficulty to accept the "gift", no harm done, if it reassures both them and Naruto.

"So how do we do this, any idea for the best entry point in the city Konan ?" Kurenai asked.

"We will have to go through the sewer of the village, that's the best way to avoid detection. The tunnels run deep under the city, I can guide us through them. They can really lead us pretty much everywhere we want to in the city, provided that the Uchiha didn't change things too much." Konan replied.

"Okay, that's a solid plan Konan. Lead the way, we'll be just right behind you." Naruto said.

They were about to move out of their hiding spot when they heard the loud sound of the city's gates slowly opening themselves. Two complete battalions of shinobi came out, all wearing Otogakure's headbands and fully equipped to go to war. Naruto could feel their chakra levels, they were stronger than those they came upon earlier, all jonin level. Soon after that, one battalion took the direction of the North while the second one went South.

"Seems like Gaara and Kurotsuchi are doing their part, those men are most likely sent out to support their defense lines. Everything is going as planned so far, we should move out as soon as possible too." Kurenai said.

"Looks like we hit the jackpot too, judging by the level and numbers of those men, this is most likely the new center of command for Otogakure." Naruto added with a smirk.

Once the shinobi left and the gates were closed again, Naruto's group took the direction of the city, going through the sewers.


Underneath Amegakure


When they first entered the sewers, the stench was unbearable. Naruto had to use his wind abilities in order to create a small air bubble for them that would filter the foul smell that reigned all over the place. He was astonished that Konan knew her way through this whole maze, meaning that she had already been there in the past. He knew this was tied to her past, to the rough childhood that she, Nagato and Yahiko had, before they met the pervert and his team. He stopped himself from asking questions about it, since it might have been a sensitive subject for her. After another turn Konan suddenly stopped, facing a strange wall.

"What is it, Konan ? Are we lost ?" Naruto asked her from behind.

"No, we're not. It's just that I know those tunnels like the back of my hand but this wall shouldn't be here." Konan replied with a frown.

"Then this means this is something new, most likely Sasuke build it after he took command of the city." Kurenai analyzed out loud.

"That's worth investigating then, if duck ass felt the need to build something new in this city that was already empty." Naruto said as he started to channel chakra to his legs in order to climb the wall. Once they reached the top, they found a small hatch that gave them access to the basement of the building.


Research Facility


They arrived in what looked like a storage room, with lots of boxes and medical equipment.

"This is definitely a new building, its design doesn't match what is usually done here in Ame." Konan spoke first.

"Judging by the familiar smell, we must be in some kind of hospital." Naruto added.

"Well they do have Sakura and Kabuto in their ranks, two highly qualified medic ninja, so that's not so surprising they would build some kind of research center, maybe to continue some of Orochimaru's projects." Kurenai concluded, remembering her friend Anko and the experiments she was subjected to when she was still the snake's apprentice.

"This is precisely what we've come here for, to find out what they've been hiding to us the whole time when we've been solely focusing our attention on Akatsuki." Naruto said, as he motioned for them to follow him outside the room.

Once they got out of the room, Naruto spoke again.

"Kurenai, you can drop the genjutsu on Konan and me for now. We'll split here, since we need to cover a lot of ground and there's only the three of us. You will remain here and search this place while Konan will go through the city since she knows it better than any of us. I will find what Sasuke is up to since I'm the only one with a genjutsu he can't see through, even with his Sharingan." Naruto said to his two partners.

"Alright, but please be careful Naruto. I know you are strong, but do not let it get to you. You may be an elite jonin just like me but I'll always see you as my student, so don't do anything crazy out there." Kurenai said to him.

"Copy that, Kurenai-sensei. The same goes for you two, if you come across something you can't deal with on your own, do not hesitate to use the kunai." Naruto replied with a smile, happy to know that Kurenai was worried for him.

The team members nodded to each other and then went their own way. Kurenai went further inside the research facility, cloaked behind her genjutsu. Konan turned her body into countless pieces of papers and flew them away, out of the building and throughout the city. Naruto used his wind genjutsu field and simply vanished from his spot.


Kage Tower


Naruto more or less knew his way around the city, having already been there once when Sasuke and Tobi attacked Konan. He decided to check the Kage Tower, seeing that Sasuke was now the leader of the city, this would most likely be the place to find him.

He easily entered inside the tower, taking advantage of the permanent traffic with the many shinobi going in and out. He just used his stealth to go along a squad that went in, that way he didn't need to touch any doors or window.

Going further inside the hall, he came across the meeting room and to his surprise, the Otokage himself was there. Sitting smugly on a throne, he was facing a group of approximately fifty jonin, hailing from every country he had conquered.

The door to the room was suddenly closed as Kabuto walked in and went to stand beside Sasuke. Naruto was alerted as soon as Sasuke activated his EMS, he immediately saw the difference in the eye pattern.

The same scene where Sasuke used the Kotoamatsukami on the people inside the room was played in front of Naruto's eyes. He saw the change in behavior in them before and after the jutsu was used. They were now nothing but soulless drones, void of any free will and bound to serve the tyrant that Uchiha Sasuke is. This made his blood boil, thinking about Sasuke using this jutsu against his friends. He also remembered the Sandaime Tsuchikage and how Kurotsuchi described the sudden change in attitude her grandfather went through. He doubted Sasuke was the one behind that, he would have never been able to foul the old man. This was most likely the work of that Tobi or Uchiha Madara, whatever his name is.


Amegakure's Streets


Konan managed to deploy her paper spies all over the city. They were small enough and did not emit enough chakra to be detected by anyone. The houses were now occupied by soldiers and every store had been sacked by the invaders.

While her spies were exploring the city, Konan went to verify something she could not see for herself before today, the grave she had built for Nagato and Yahiko. True to her fears, Madara had found the tomb and he took Nagato's body. Fortunately, he wasn't interested in Yahiko so he left the former Deva Path's corpse alone. It brought tears to her beautiful eyes to see the tomb of her friends desecrated by that monster.

She was pulled out of her thoughts when one of her spies came across a strange gathering of Otogakure's shinobi. Konan left the graveyard and made her way to the spot where the spy was.

Konan arrived to see a pink haired kunoichi, seated behind a stand in the middle of the street with a full battalion of shinobi in front of her. Each of them went to the stand where the kunoichi was, to retrieve a small glass of blue water and then drink it.

She was no sensor ninja but Konan could feel the difference in power, from before and after each of the men drank the strange water that the kunoichi was distributing. They went from chunin to jonin chakra level almost instantly. One thing that struck her was the strange mood around them, one would expect at least some of them to discuss among themselves. The strange thing was that none of them spoke, everyone was silent and did nothing more than the others. They eyes were empty, she had the impression to watch puppets moving.


Research Center


Kurenai was also going through her spying mission, inside the building that served as either a medical or research center. The rooms were all empty so far and she didn't see any staff working there either. She had expected to see Sakura, considering her training with Tsunade but so far she had the impression to be the only one there. She knew that the only reason why Sasuke took the young girl with him was for her medical knowledge, seeing how he never gave her any attention when they were younger.

She continued her way through the building when something finally caught her attention. Not quite sure of what she was listening to, she made her way towards the room where she heard noise from. Aside from the continuous sound coming from inside the room she didn't hear anything else, so she decided to look inside. Taking out a kunai she slowly opened the door and stepped inside.

Her eyes widened at what or more accurately who she saw inside that room. In a large room, with lots of electronic devices were the bodies of Itachi, Danzo and a young boy she didn't recognize. What surprised her even more was that Itachi was still alive, apparently kept alive by all those machines around his bed. She couldn't understand why Sasuke kept either of them here, alive.

Kurenai went closer to the beds and started to look through the medical charts that were pined to each bed. Inside them were written the basic information of what each of them had been exposed to, which drug and the precise dosage. Comparing the notes, she found the presence of a certain "truth serum" in both case. She immediately understood what was really going on inside this room, at least for Itachi and Danzo.

Looking at the third bed, she tried to get information about the boy they were also keeping in that room by checking out his chart. Unfortunately, there was no name mentioned, the only thing she saw and understood was that he was artificially kept in an induced coma. Seeing no report about any kind of injury or illness, she knew that the boy was kept there against his will, but for what reason she didn't know.

Seeing that she couldn't take neither Itachi nor Danzo with her, not that she particularly wanted to save either of them, she decided to free the unnamed younger boy and bring him with her.


Basement – Sewer


Kurenai made her way to the same place that they had entered the city through, only to find that Konan was already waiting for her there. The group had decided to gather there once the mission was over.

Konan, quite surprised to see Kurenai with an extra luggage, asked the Genjutsu Mistress about the young boy on her back.

"I'll explain later, we have to get out of this place as soon as possible Konan." Kurenai stopped her before she could speak.

"Well, I have nothing against it but we still miss one person ..." Konan replied with a chuckle.

"Naruto ..." Kurenai sighed.


Meeting Room


The blond was still in the meeting room, calmly listening to a conversation between Kabuto and Sasuke. He had to use all his will to not laugh at what he was hearing. Apparently, Kurotsuchi and Gaara did their job well, so well in fact in Gaara's case that the Kazekage managed to break through their lines in River Country.

Naruto remembered their meeting, Gaara and Kurotsuchi were to lead their respective troops in order to create a diversion for Naruto and his group to get inside Ame. They were supposed to use hit and run attacks but Gaara seemingly saw an opening and pushed through.

Sasuke was mad, they were about to lose River Country. He stood up from his throne, went through hand signs and then summoned two creatures, a hawk and a snake.

"Fly to the north and deliver this to the commander of the troops there. Swim downstream and give this message to the commander of our troops in the south." He ordered his two summons.

The hawk flew away immediately but the snake strangely stood back, apparently looking into an open space of the meeting room. Sasuke was about to give him a piece of his mind for not listening to his orders when he saw the snake extend his tail, still in the same direction.

Naruto's and Sasuke's eyes widened when they both understood what was going on.

"There's someone there !"

"Shit I forgot to mask my heat signature, that snake can feel my presence !"


Basement – Sewer


"BOOM !" A large explosion was heard, all the way to Konan's and Kurenai's current position.

"Looks like Naruto failed to mask his presence ..." Konan said while Kurenai sighed.


A/N : What do you think ?

Well, mission complete … or not. Naruto's group managed to disclose lots of the secrets inside Amegakure's walls. What will they do from now on ?

Looks like Naruto is found by the enemy, will he try to fight them or will he flee ?

Read the next issue to find out.

As usual please read and review.