My Precious People

by xWinorLose

Many years have passed since the end of the Fourth Shinobi War. Now twenty-six, Naruto has returned to Konoha to help someone precious to him. He finds some unexpected changes, among them the son of Hinata whom no one knows who the father is, and a new danger looms on the horizon. Rated M for language and lemons.

28. Ch 27: Bad Decisions

27. Bad Decisions

"Just because someone looks happy doesn't mean they are... because even a white rose has a black shadow." - C.M.H.

Okay, here's chapter 27 and I have to apologize to you, my faithful readers. I know it's been longer than usual between postings, but I had the worst case of writer's block ever on this chapter, plus the foster child in my home killed my creativity every time I tried to get some writing done. I know it's a lame excuse, but it's really all I have.

The bigger problem was that I rewrote the chapter a few times because there was so much I wanted to put into it and every time I tried to make the pieces fit, it just didn't work. I ended up with this and decided to take the rest and put it in the next chapter, which I already have the outline for and hopefully should take a lot less time to write, as well as advance the plot in a much more meaningful way.

And anyone who'd like to rant about the last few issues of the manga - or the fact that it's going to be ending in a few weeks can do so in a review. Naruto was the first manga that I ever read, it's what got me into the genre and I will miss it, flaws and all. Hopefully when The Last Movie comes out it'll help with my withdrawal symptoms.

So as I do every chapter, I'd like to thank Titokhan and my anonymous beta for all their hard work and dedication on this story. You guys help me out more than you can possibly know, and as always it's very much appreciated.

Here's some shout-outs and credit where credit is due for the ideas used in this chapter:

Lord Farsight: Your idea about explaining the reason and purpose behind the Mienai Segi, as well as why they didn't help in the war is used here. Hopefully it helps with future chapters and plotlines going forward. Thank you!

KingKakashi: I used the idea about Gideon miscalculating Saladin's first move, and the consequences because of it. Appreciate it!

xHinaLovex: I put in your thought about Naruto losing another master, and how he might be feeling because of it. I also added a part with your suggestion for Hinata and her 'pregnancy brain'. The entire scene with Hikaru at the academy was based off this one small idea, and I hope you like how I wrote it.

Zafnak: I put a small part about the pain from the tattoos being felt by Gideon and his followers. Thanks!

This chapter is also partially dedicated to Hendrixson and his awesome story, For The Love Of The Hokage. He was kind enough to allow me to beta his latest chapter (as a personal favor) in order to get it released and I have to say it was a real masterpiece. I enjoyed working on it, it's a story I've recommended before and if you haven't checked it out, you need to ASAP. It's a phenomenal piece of work, very well written and the latest chapter was awesome.

And now, the disclaimer! These are becoming harder and harder to dig up, so I thought I'd go for something a bit more obscure for once. Let's see who recognizes this one:

Disclaimer - I don't own Naruto, and you must be Ron. It's nice to meet you.

Ron - Nice to meet you too.

Disclaimer - Come on over here, Ron. Let me show you what I'm doing. I'm taking advantage of some of the time off to uh, add a whole new wing on my house here. Gonna rip these walls out and uh, of course re-wire it.

Ron - Really? You gonna make it all 220?

Disclaimer - Yeah, 220, 221. Whatever it takes.

---

Chapter 27 - Bad Decisions

"Gaara – have you ever heard of the Mienai Segi?"

…While Naruto was having this conversation with his friend and fellow Kage, half a continent away another one was just beginning.

Shikamaru sat in his office, peering over his custom-made Shōgi board. He just finished reviewing five reports that had come in from his spy network in both Iwagakure and Amegakure regarding a large seismic event that occurred almost two weeks ago. While that in and of itself was only somewhat remarkable, every report noted that even though the aftershocks had been quite large, they weren't caused by an earthquake, and the epicenter was somewhere beyond the western border of Earth Country.

Whatever it was that caused tremors must have been monumental in size, and even though Shikamaru had a few theories as to what might have happened, he had received no information to support any of them.

Then there was the matter of several things going on within the village that he was curious about.

The first mystery was Freyja, who had shown up four or five months ago with her daughter in tow. It was obvious that she knew Naruto, and that she'd worked with him during his time away from the village because she and Reira had been living in his house ever since the day they arrived in Konoha. And it was obvious after her fight with Kakashi and her little display last week where she wiped the floor with eight of Sasuke's elite ANBU that she had Kage level skills. But why was she here? And why did she insist on calling him Gabriel, instead of using his real name?

The second mystery was Hiashi Hyūga. For someone who throughout his entire life had been known as cold, harsh and manipulative, he was now making a serious effort to change all that. Furthermore, he'd gotten word that Hiashi had surreptitiously drawn up an agreement naming Neji as his successor – which of course was supposed to be impossible, since Neji was currently branded with the Caged Bird Seal and a member of the branch house. There's no way Hiashi didn't know this, so why go through all the time and effort to not only draw the agreement up, but present it to the Hyūga Clan Elders and convince them to sign it? And why choose Neji, rather than Hanabi?

He was pretty sure that what was going on with the Hyūga clan was tied to the third mystery – and that was Naruto's son, Hikaru. Not many people knew it, but Hikaru was a fūinjutsu prodigy. Shikamaru only knew because every book on the subject - including the most advanced texts the village possessed – had been signed out of the private Konoha archives and given to Hikaru on permanent loan. As dangerous as fūinjutsu could be, even the stupidest, most ignorant person wouldn't give books and scrolls on advanced techniques to someone just learning the basics.

Furthermore, almost every evening at seven o'clock for the past few weeks, Hikaru had been seen entering Tsunade's house and staying for an hour or two. What they were doing was anyone's guess, because immediately afterwards privacy seals went up – ones far more sophisticated than normal. Naruto had also been using them in his office over the last few weeks – including during three visits from Hiashi Hyūga and two with Kakashi, Freyja and Sasuke. Whatever Hikaru was working on, it was important enough to keep hidden from prying eyes, whoever that might be.

So he had a kid that was learning fūinjutsu at a rapid pace, under the veil of extremely advanced and what seemed to be impenetrable privacy seals, and he was visiting Tsunade almost every night – which meant she was helping him out with his little 'project'. And then there was Neji, a branch family member branded with the caged bird seal, who was named in an agreement drawn up by Hiashi Hyūga to become the next head of the clan.

All this could only mean one thing… Hikaru was working on a way to break the caged bird seal, and Naruto had to be the one orchestrating it all behind the scenes. Hiashi couldn't possibly know everything that was going on because the Hyūga elders were sure to question him after he presented an agreement that theoretically couldn't happen, and they'd know right away if he was lying. But Shikamaru was sure that he knew enough, because he wouldn't have made the proposal to the elders at all unless he'd been coaxed to do so under the assumption that a solution might happen sometime in the future.

But that still didn't explain the mystery surrounding Freyja and what she was doing in Konoha in the first place. The whole thing smacked of intrigue, and hinted at a much larger secret hiding just below the surface.

That figures, he thought to himself, With Temari gone for a few days I was hoping to relax and get some serious cloud watching in. Sometimes this job is more trouble than it's worth.

A knock at the door interrupted his thoughts, and Shikamaru told whoever it was to enter. The door swung wide and Freyja walked in with a mischievous smile plastered across her face, which was framed by the exotic braids she always wore.

"Hey there, pineapple head," she chuckled, closing the door behind her. "You look like you haven't slept in a week. Coffee too strong? Or has Temari been keeping you up late trying to knock her up?"

Speak of the devil, Shikamaru thought dryly. "My name is Shikamaru, Freyja. I'd appreciate you calling me that and not 'pineapple head'. And what happens between me and Temari is private, thank you very much."

"Yikes." Freyja replied, giving him a mock flinch. "I was only kidding around, Shikamaru. Geez, can't you take a joke?"

"Not when it comes to my wife, no. If she found out that I was joking around about her – and I have no doubt she would – I'm fairly certain that she'd make my life miserable for weeks on end... not to mention the pounding I'd get."

"Okay, fine… I'm sorry I asked. Anyway, Gabriel told me to come see you once he and your wife were out of the village. There's something important I need to talk to you about."

Shikamaru smiled inwardly. I don't think I could have planned this any better. If I play my cards right, maybe I can get some cloud watching in after all. He cocked an eyebrow and innocently asked, "Gabriel?"

Nice try, Shikamaru, Freyja thought to herself, but I'm not that stupid. You're the head of Konoha's spy network, and you know exactly who I'm talking about. You think that by playing dumb, you'll trick me into giving you the answers you want. Too bad you don't know that's what Gabriel sent me here to do in the first place. But two can play at that game.

"I meant your Hokage, Naruto Uzumaki. Anyway, what I have to talk with you about will probably take up the rest of the morning. You got time now, or should I come back?"

I'll make time if this is what I think it's about. "I've got nothing pressing at the moment," Shikamaru said casually. He gestured to another Shōgi board on the other side of the room. Unlike his custom board, which had the names of prominent political figures inscribed on the pieces, this one was far more commonplace. "Do you play?"

"I've been known to dabble on occasion." Freyja smirked, sitting down across from Shikamaru. "But before we get started, let me just put these up." And she reached into the pocket of her coat, pulling out two seals. She placed them on either side of the Shōgi board and pushed some chakra into them, sending the symbols racing along the floor, walls and ceiling. Shikamaru stared in muted fascination as the symbols overlapped each other and continued, until the entire room was covered.

"Those are the specially modified privacy seals Naruto has been using the last few weeks," Shikamaru said, narrowing his eyes accusingly at Freyja. "I'm guessing what you're about to discuss with me is somehow tied to the meetings between you, Naruto, Kakashi and Sasuke. But that still doesn't explain why you waited until my wife was out of the village to come talk to me."

Freyja grinned smugly; Shikamaru might be a genius, but when someone dangled information in front of his face his curiosity flared like a six-year old kid. The only difference was that he had the skills and the intelligence to back it up. Freyja just needed to make sure that the questions didn't get too…personal in nature. Her background was still mostly off limits to anyone but Kakashi.

"Shikamaru…" she asked coyly, advancing one of her pawns, "…have you ever heard of the Mienai Segi?"

.

.

…And while Shikamaru and Freyja were having this conversation over a 'friendly' game of Shōgi, another conversation was beginning in the office of the acting Hokage.

"There," Tsunade said, wrapping the final bandage around Kakashi's chest. "That's about as good as you're going to get right now. I fixed the scratches on your chest and healed your cracked ribs, but you'll need another round of treatment later. Try not to do… well, whatever the hell you were doing for the next week. You're going to have to come to the hospital for the dislocated hip, though."

Kakashi put his shirt back on, grunting slightly in pain as he did so. "There's no way I'm going to do that." He said, shaking his head. "Is there any way you can fix it here?"

Tsunade crossed her arms underneath her impressive chest, pressing her lips together in a thin line. "There is, but you're not going to like it. It'll hurt. A lot."

"I don't care," Kakashi stated firmly. Naruto asked him to watch over Konoha while he was gone, and with Gideon plotting his next move, he wasn't going to leave anyone in the village unprotected – especially Hikaru and Reira. "I'm staying in this office. Naruto needs me here."

Tsunade raised an inquisitive eyebrow, curious as to why the layabout former Hokage was suddenly so diligent about his job, but she decided to let it slide for now. He was going to be in serious pain in about ten seconds anyway.

"Alright. Your left hip is the one that's dislocated, so I need you to stand on your right leg and lift your left arm up over your head."

Kakashi did as he was told, steadying himself with his right hand on the desk. "There. Now, can you tell me why I'm…"

That was as far as he got. Tsunade lashed out quickly and punched him square in his left hip. The bone made a loud 'pop' as it reset back into the joint and to his credit, Kakashi's scream of pain lasted only about two seconds.

"Did you have to be so rough? That fucking hurt!"

"I told you it would." Tsunade said obviously. "Did you think I was lying? I could've given you an anesthetic at the hospital, but you said and I quote – 'I'm staying in this office. Naruto needs me here.' You were warned and chose otherwise, so suck it up and deal with it."

"You enjoyed that, didn't you?"

"I can't say that I didn't." Tsunade smirked.

"Are you always this heartless?" Kakashi asked, rubbing his hip gingerly.

"Only when people ignore my advice."

Their accusatory banter back and forth was interrupted by a firm knock at the door. "Enter," Kakashi said, and an ANBU wearing an Eagle mask walked into the office.

"Excuse me, Hokage-sama," Eagle said, bowing his head slightly, "but Darui from Kumogakure is at the front gate. He realizes his visit here is unannounced, but he said there's a matter of some urgency he needs to speak with you about."

"Have him brought here at once." Kakashi commanded. The ANBU nodded in agreement, before disappearing in in a cloud of smoke. He turned back to Tsunade and asked bluntly, "Are we done here?"

"Yeah, yeah." Tsunade replied. "Come see me tomorrow and I'll give you that other round of treatment I promised. And remember what I said – don't do anything to aggravate the injury to your ribs."

As he watched Tsunade walk out, Kakashi moved back over to sit behind the desk and wait for Darui to arrive. As he did, his thoughts meandered as he considered the possibilities of what an unannounced visit from Darui could actually mean. Whatever it was, it had to be important because the Raikage wouldn't let his right-hand man out of the village without a damn good reason…

The door opened and Darui walked in. He stopped in front of the desk and bowed slightly in respect. "Good morning, Hokage-sama. I apologize for the impromptu visit."

Kakashi eye-smiled at him. "It's not a problem, really. You actually caught me with some free time to spare. What can I do for you?"

"No offense, but I was actually hoping to talk with the current Hokage, Naruto Uzumaki." He said, his eyes wandering around the room. "Could you tell me where he is?"

"He's currently out of the village. He had to make an emergency trip to Suna to speak with the Kazekage, and he left me in charge until he returns."

Darui closed his eyes and groaned in frustration. "Could you tell me when he'll be back?"

"He should be back on Wednesday, sometime before noon." Kakashi said cautiously, wondering why it was so important for Darui to see Naruto. "Why do you need to see him, exactly?"

Darui heaved a sigh and reached into his belt pouch. "The Raikage asked me to make this a quick trip, but I guess I'm going to have to wait after all." He produced the two scrolls Perun had given them back in Kumo and held them out, with the seals facing forward so that Kakashi could see them.

"Three days ago, a man by the name of Perun showed up in Kumo wearing one of the most ridiculous outfits I've ever seen. He said that his master died the day before, however before he did he tasked him with two items – the first was to make Kumo his home and join our shinobi force." Darui snorted, remembering the events of that day. "The Raikage was more than impressed with his skills, as was I. After destroying one of the walls of his office, the Raikage relented and agreed to his terms."

Kakashi felt his stomach drop. Even if the oddly foreign name 'Perun' hadn't given him away, the fact that he said his master died recently certainly would have.

"The second item was that these two scrolls were to be delivered to 'the man who holds the fox.' Apparently, the seals are coded so that only he can open them. If anyone else tries, they'll explode – I was told that the blast radius would be quite large and for once, the Raikage decided not to test his luck."

Kakashi reached forward hesitantly and took the scrolls, bringing them close so he could examine the seals. "What's in them?" he asked, as his curiosity rose just a bit.

Darui shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. "I have no idea, and neither did Perun. However, when Raikage-sama asked him about his master, the scrolls or how he came to possess Kage-level skills, Perun said that he'd be more than happy to tell us everything… as long as Naruto Uzumaki gave his permission to do so."

After another long pause of silence, Kakashi gingerly placed the scrolls on the desk. "I apologize Darui, but you'll just have to wait. The meeting he's having with the Kazekage is important enough that he won't leave early, unless it's an extreme emergency – and even taking the Raikage's impatient nature into account, I don't believe this situation constitutes an emergency. The best I can offer is accommodations until Naruto returns to the village, at which point he'll open the scrolls and if he decides to, he'll provide you with a letter that you can give to both the Raikage and Perun."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama," Darui replied. "If you don't mind, I'd like to go there now please. I got here as quick as I could, and a hot shower, along with a soft bed would be very welcome right now."

"Of course." Kakashi snapped his fingers and in a cloud of smoke, Eagle reappeared in the office.

"Yes, Hokage-sama?"

"Please take Darui to The Silken Robe and rent him a room there. Inform the front desk that this office will be reimbursing them for the cost, and that they should send the bill here. When he arrives back in the village, I will inform Naruto that Darui is here, and the purpose of his visit." Kakashi stared impassively at Darui and finished, "The Hokage will send for you once he's had a chance to look at the contents of the scrolls."

Eagle followed Darui as he left the office, closing the door behind them. As soon as he did, Kakashi pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed in exasperation.

"One day… I gave up being Hokage so that I wouldn't have to deal with things like this anymore. Naruto hasn't even been gone one day and something like this gets dropped in my lap." He slumped in his chair, deciding he needed a bit of mental relaxation and reached into the pouch tied to his belt…

…and then began to panic when his hand encountered nothing but empty space.

"Hey… Where the hell is my Icha Icha novel?!"

---

…And while Darui was having a conversation with Kakashi about the scrolls and Perun showing up in Kumo, a third conversation was beginning in a cave at the base of the mountains between Iwagakure and Amegakure.

(That's a lot of conversations happening at the same time, isn't it?)

With more than a slight bit of apprehension, Gilgamesh limped down the tunnel towards the alcove where he could sense Gideon waiting for him. The morning was bright, the sun's rays were warming and the tunnel was lined with torches, but none of that did anything to dispel the chill permeating the air.

And Gilgamesh knew that once he gave his report, that chill would seep down into the very core of his bones. He knew that there was no way of escaping this meeting unscathed - Gideon was sure to become enraged over what happened; more than likely adding to his already extensive list of injuries. If he left the meeting standing up and not crawling on the ground, he'd consider it an unbelievable stroke of luck.

As he rounded the last corner, Gideon came into view, sitting behind his desk with his hands steepled in front of him, glaring at Gilgamesh over the tops of his fingers.

"Welcome back." Gideon said, his voice as frosty as the air surrounding them. "Have a seat," he commanded, gesturing to the chair in front of him.

Gilgamesh slowly made his way over to the chair and sat down, staring impassively back at his leader. His left arm hung limply at his side and a large gash ran from his left ear down his cheek, stopping at the base of his neck.

"I take it from your condition that things did not go well."

Gilgamesh shook his head. "No." he said flatly.

Gideon nodded his head towards the injured arm. "What are the extent of your injuries?"

"Broken scapula." Gilgamesh said, pointing at various parts of his body with his right hand. "Dislocated clavicle. Broken ribs. Fractured tibia."

"And the cut on your face?"

"His first attack."

Gideon raised his eyebrows inquisitively. "He didn't collapse the mountain on everyone, as I surmised?"

"No. Blew it up. From underneath us."

"A miscalculation on my part, it appears." Gideon said disapprovingly, pressing his lips into a thin line. "What is the condition of the rest of your associates?"

"All dead. Except for Naberius."

Gideon frowned at the response. "And where is Naberius now?"

"Coma." Gilgamesh stated, his voice still devoid of emotion. He jerked his head towards the east wall. "Nearest town. Getting treatment."

"It seems that Saladin was far stronger than I surmised. It's a shame, really – some of those who decided to follow me have perished due to overconfidence on my part." He scoffed, dismissing the thought and the blame that lied behind it. "It's of little consequence, however. We can train new recruits to replace them by using the scrolls from Saladin's compendium of knowledge."

Gilgamesh swallowed heavily, but otherwise became very still.

"Where are the scrolls, Gilgamesh?" Gideon asked pointedly, his voice dangerously low and menacing.

"Gone." He answered after a short pause.

Immediately, the chakra pressure in the cave skyrocketed, causing the walls and floor to fracture in several places and Gilgamesh clutched his chest, suddenly finding it very hard to breathe. Then a wave of killing intent hit him, one so strong that even he flinched away from it.

And in that brief moment Gilgamesh let his guard down, Gideon saw an opening and pounced, like a hungry tiger on a weak and defenseless antelope. In the blink of an eye he launched himself over the desk and wrapped his hand around Gilgamesh's throat, slamming him into the floor and pinning him there.

Gilgamesh only had one good arm, and he tried using it to pry at the hand slowly constricting his throat but Gideon's grip was like iron. Gilgamesh was basically brute force made real – his strength and size, along with his deadly earth jutsu made even the highest members of the Mienai Segi skittish, and the lower level members had been petrified of him. He was good at his job. He killed without remorse, ruthless and deadly in his precision. Gilgamesh had very little to be afraid of in this world.

But at times like these, Gilgamesh was reminded that Gideon was one of those things.

Somehow, through the course of his training and travels Gideon developed a technique whereby he could use his chakra to augment the density of his skin, making it impervious to all but the strongest attacks. It also multiplied his strength exponentially so that it rivaled even Gilgamesh's own. That, coupled with both wind and fire affinities, and a psyche that tilted on the cusp of insanity made Gideon someone to be feared and reckoned with.

"WHERE ARE MY SCROLLS, GILGAMESH?!"

Gideon's face was mere inches from Gilgamesh's own; his eyes ablaze with anger and madness. Spittle gathered at the edges of his mouth and pieces of it flew at the behemoth of a man, as Gideon spat the enraged words at him.

Due to the damage to his larynx all those years ago, talking was an effort for Gilgamesh, even under normal circumstances. He couldn't answer without drawing a breath, and with Gideon squeezing his throat, right now it was pretty much impossible. He opened his mouth, desperately trying to say something but no words came out. His efforts to remove Gideon's hand from around his throat became weaker and weaker, and darkness began to cloud the edges of his vision as consciousness started to slip away.

Gideon must have noticed this because his eyes suddenly became much sharper and focused, and he loosened his grip on Gilgamesh's throat – but did not release him – in an effort to give his subordinate a chance to give him an answer.

"Where are my scrolls?" Gideon asked again in a much calmer tone of voice, but one that was still dangerously low.

Gasping, Gilgamesh drew in a shaky breath and answered back, "They were gone."

Gideon narrowed his eyes skeptically. "Before you arrived there? Or after?"

"Be…Before."

"How long before? Did Saladin say where he sent them?"

"He said…weeks. Didn't say where. Died first."

Gideon's eyes traveled over Gilgamesh's face, looking for any traces of deceit but despite his careful scrutiny he found none. Satisfied, but no less angry he released Gilgamesh and stood up, walking around his desk and sitting back down.

Gilgamesh remained on the floor for another minute, massaging his throat with his one good hand and taking in several more shaky breaths to get his lightheadedness under control. He sat up, and saw that Gideon had returned to his place behind the desk, with his hands steepled in front of his face as he glared at him over the tops of his fingers.

"What…What now?" Gilgamesh asked tentatively.

"With our ranks decimated, and our ability to train replacements impaired, we have no time to waste. Gabriel and Freyja undoubtedly felt the same pain that we did the night Saladin died and know for a fact that he's dead. From the message we intercepted several months ago, they know I'm the one responsible for it, whether directly or indirectly and if I know Gabriel and his bleeding heart mentality, he'll be alerting the other Kage to our potential threat as soon as possible."

"Rather than an outright assault, we will take our next prize by stealth, in the dead of the night. Tomorrow, you will return to the village where you left Naberius and receive treatment for your injuries, while Nyx and I leave for Iwagakure."

"Why Iwa?" Gilgamesh asked hoarsely.

"Because the Tsuchikage is old and frail, yet still refuses to relinquish his leadership role because there is no one else in the village that can come close to the skills he possesses – not even now, in his dotage." Gideon said matter-of-factly, as if explaining it to a child. "I will have Nyx warp his mind, making him nothing more than a mindless puppet that we can manipulate, pulling the strings behind the scenes. He will remain the face of the village, camouflaging our true purpose while we control things from the shadows. At the current time, the less we make our presence known the better."

"Once Nyx and I are satisfied that we can manipulate the Tsuchikage to our liking, I will send for both you and Naberius and you will assist me in controlling the village. Anyone who gets in our way will be eliminated, swiftly and with extreme prejudice – it is imperative that we make an example of those who do, to quell any thoughts of rebellion or dissent. We will have the Tsuchikage name me as his successor at a later date, when secrecy is no longer an option or it would be beneficial to us. At that point, his usefulness will have ended and we can kill him without incident. His advanced age will deflect any suspicion that might be leveled at us."

Gilgamesh nodded in agreement. "And then?"

"Once we have taken our prize…we will build our army." Gideon said darkly, his voice laced with vitriol and hatred. A flash of the madness from before appeared in his eyes and as he predicted earlier, the chill Gilgamesh felt in the air seeped down to the very core of his bones as he stared with no small amount of trepidation back at his leader.

"When Gabriel came to the Mienai Segi, Saladin favored him, pushing me aside and forgoing my destiny to lead our brethren when he passed to the next life. For that reason, along with Freyja's betrayal of my trust, Konoha and its people will be made the first to suffer. We will kill every living thing, sparing nothing and no one. Men, women, children… they will all fall under the scythe of my wrath. And when that is done, we will make an example of Konoha and raze it to the ground, and then salt the earth afterwards so that nothing will ever grow there again."

---

On Wednesday at noon Naruto, clad in golden flames along with Temari appeared at the front gates of Konoha in a flash of yellow light. As Kotetsu and Izumo had come to expect since Naruto became Hokage, they knew he was using the power of the Kyuubi to transport them back from Suna using the Hiraishin no Jutsu.

"Welcome back to Konoha, Hokage-sama." Kotetsu said respectfully as Naruto powered down. "How was your trip?"

"Good. Things went well." He replied, although on the inside he was still feeling a bit sad. It panged him to leave two of his childhood friends behind in Suna, but it had been their decision, and he needed to respect that. "The Kazekage's daughter is beautiful. Luckily enough she seems to have taken after her mother. No offense, Temari." He said sheepishly.

Temari scoffed at his apology. "None taken. Matsuri certainly has a lot more going on in the looks department than my brother does. Kid's gonna have a lot of boys chasing after her when she grows up. Kami help anyone who's brave enough to ask her out on a date. Gaara will probably scare them so bad they'll wet their pants and never come back."

Naruto chuckled at the thought. If there was anyone who could play the role of scary, overprotective father it was Gaara. "I imagine you'll be heading home. Do you need any help getting there?" he asked, somewhat jokingly.

Temari frowned and placed her hands on her hips. "Do you need a punch in the face?" she snapped at him.

Naruto raised his eyebrows, slightly taken aback at her tone. Realizing what she'd done, Temari sighed and rubbed her eyes wearily.

"Sorry about that. I haven't been sleeping well the last couple of days. Even though Shikamaru and I have been trying over the last month and basically preparing for this, it's still a lot to take in."

"Agreed – and I fully understand, Temari." Naruto said sympathetically. "When I get to the Hokage Tower, I'll send Shikamaru home early today so you can give him the good news as soon as possible. And Temari? Even though I have a tremendous amount of respect for what you're going through, and I know your hormones will make things hard, please just… try to keep your temper under control." He grinned impishly and asked, "You don't want to turn into a carbon copy of Sakura when she was pregnant, do you?"

The frown on Temari's face was quickly replaced by a full-blown scowl. "Okay, that's it! Now I'm punching you in the face!"

Naruto watched calmly as she launched her fist flew towards his nose. When it was about six inches away he smirked, and… disappeared. Temari stumbled forward as she encountered nothing but air.

"If you're really serious about hitting me, you'll have to be faster than that."

Kotetsu, Izumo and Temari looked behind them and saw Naruto standing there with his hands crossed in front of his chest.

"I think you've been slacking off with your training lately and getting a bit soft, Temari. Too bad you won't be able to do anything about it for the next eight months or so." He said mockingly, his sapphire blue eyes twinkling. "I'm off to work. See ya!" And with a wave of his hand, he vanished in a flash of yellow light.

Temari ground her teeth in frustration as she stared at the empty spot where Naruto had been standing only moments before. "Oh, you just wait Naruto Uzumaki. Once I have this baby, I'm going to train my petite ass off and next time, you won't be able to avoid my fist or my fan when I knock that stupid smirk off your face!" She glared at Kotetsu and Izumo, who were eyeing her warily. "What are you two looking at?"

They vigorously shook their heads. "Nothing, Temari-san." Izumo answered innocently. "Nothing at all."

---

Naruto appeared suddenly in front of Mina's desk, causing her to jump slightly and scatter some papers onto the floor.

"I'm sorry about that Mina," Naruto said apologetically as he helped her pick up the papers, "I didn't mean to startle you like that. I just wanted to let you know that I'm back before I went into my office."

"That's quite all right, Hokage-sama," she said, tapping the stack of papers on her desk to align them perfectly. "I was just working on a revision of the academy curriculum that Iruka presented to you last week."

Naruto groaned inwardly, dreading spending another minute on such a boring yet important subject. "Is Kakashi in my office?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama. He's been very diligent in watching the village while you were gone and left the office very rarely, if at all." Mina pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose, and then tilted her head to the side in confusion. "He said not only were you counting on him to protect those precious to both you and him, he also just finished healing his body and had no desire to give the person responsible a chance to repeat the injuries – at least until the end of the week. Whatever that means."

A ghost of a smile played across his lips. Apparently, Freyja's persistent nature extended to more than just fighting. "Thanks. I'll be in my office if you need me."

As soon as Naruto opened the door to his office, Kakashi spotted him and slumped in his chair, letting out a sigh of relief.

"Happy to see you too, Kakashi-sensei. Care to tell me why you look like that? What happened while I was gone?"

"Not much. I handled most of it, but there's something that requires your specific attention." He pulled the two scrolls out of the desk and showed them to Naruto. "Darui showed up here on Monday, about two or so hours after you left. He said that someone named Perun arrived in Kumo three days before, and informed them that his master died recently. Before he did however, he instructed him to do two things – one, make Kumo his home and join their shinobi force, which apparently the Raikage relented and agreed to only after Perun put on a show and destroyed a good portion of his office and two, that these two scrolls were to be delivered to you personally. I've been told that the seals will only allow you to open them and if anyone else tries, they'll explode… rather violently."

Naruto was surprised, yet happy to hear that another one of his Mienai Segi brethren decided to stand against Gideon and his followers, although at the same time he wondered who else had decided to join Gideon. Freyja was right when she hinted that Gilgamesh being Gideon's lap dog was a distinct and very real possibility.

He also realized what Kakashi already knew – that these scrolls were the final message from his master, Saladin. His hands shook a bit as he hesitantly forward and took the scrolls. "Did…Did Perun say what's in them?" he asked, scrutinizing them closely. The only difference he noted was that the kanji symbol for strength was inscribed on one, while the symbol for discipline was inscribed on the other.

Kakashi shook his head. "Darui said he didn't know, but it sounds like the Raikage is very eager to know about Perun and where he came from. Perun said he'd be more than happy to give him all the information he wants – as long as you give him permission to do so. Until then, he'll have to live with an unsatisfied curiosity."

"Knowing the Raikage, that's probably killing him." Naruto studied the scrolls a moment longer, then strode forward purposefully and pressed a button on his desk. Within seconds, an ANBU appeared in a cloud of smoke.

"Welcome back to the village, Hokage-sama. What can I assist you with?"

"Have Freyja and Sasuke brought to my office as soon as possible," he said commandingly. "If they ask, tell them it has to deal with the incident that happened late last Friday night."

---

It wasn't long before Sasuke walked into Naruto's office. "Dobe…" he said, clearly agitated although his face bore the same impassive look he always wore, "…what's going on? You're not even back in the village for one hour and already causing me trouble."

"As fun as that sounds, I was hoping to avoid anything stressful for at least the next few days but that's not gonna happen." Naruto replied blandly, holding up the two scrolls. "I'm guessing you'll want to know about these, since it probably concerns the safety of the village."

"And what are those?"

"Scrolls – apparently from Saladin."

"What's in them?"

"I have no idea. I just found out about them. Darui brought them here while I was in Suna, and I'm the only one who can open them. If anyone else tries, they'll explode. We'll find out what's in them as soon as…"

Freyja barged into the room; a sultry smile on her face and her eyes smouldering with what everyone could only assume was unbridled lust. "Glad to see you back, Gabriel. Now that you're here, Kakashi doesn't have to be acting Hokage anymore, right? There's an empty room down the hall – I don't know if it's soundproof or not, but…"

"Freyja, can you stop thinking about screwing Kakashi until you break him in half and focus for a minute?" Naruto interrupted sharply, raising his chakra pressure just enough to get her attention.

It did the trick. Freyja snapped out of her sexually induced stupor and halted in her tracks. "Sorry Gabriel," she said, looking suitably chastised, "it's just that… Kakashi and I haven't had much 'us' time since you took off for Suna, and well… I'm all kinds of horny…"

"Freyja! Too much information!" Naruto snapped.

"Okay, okay…it's just that he's really…"

"Freyja!"

"Alright!" she shouted irritably, "I get the point! Why'd you need to see me anyway?"

Naruto blinked owlishly at her. "Didn't the ANBU I sent to get you tell you why?"

"Umm, not really…but that's actually my fault." She said, embarrassed. "When he told me you were back in the village, I took off before he could tell me the rest. I just told you the reason why. What's going on?"

Naruto sighed in exasperation, and then held up the scrolls for her to see. "Perun showed up in Kumogakure last week. He said Saladin gave him these, along with specific instructions to deliver them to me personally because they're coded to my chakra, or something like that. I guess if anyone else tries to open them, they'll explode. That's far more security than I've ever seen him use, so whatever's in here has to be the most important thing he's ever sent to anyone."

Freyja closed the door behind her and sat down, her mood suddenly sober. "Now you've got my full attention. Let's open the damn things up and see what our master had to say."

Naruto nodded in agreement, and then placed his hands on the seals on either side of his desk, pushing some chakra into them. While he'd been carrying around paper seals for the past few weeks, he decided to have Hikaru install something much more permanent in his office. They all watched as the seals spread, covering the walls, floor and ceiling.

"Which one should I open first?" he asked while holding the scrolls, one in each hand.

"During our training sessions, Saladin always stressed discipline before strength," Sasuke offered. "Why not start with that one?"

"As good a place as any, I suppose." He placed his thumb underneath the edge of the scroll and slid it up, pausing briefly before he broke the seal. He let out a breath he didn't even know he'd been holding, and then slowly unrolled it.

"It looks like my hunch was right. It's his final words," He said sadly.

*:*:*:*

Gabriel,

Today I have felt an omen. An omen of my approaching death. Although, at the time you are reading this you may already be aware of this fact and if so, please understand that even with the knowledge of what was to come, I chose to face this threat willingly, rather than involve the innocent in this conflict.

However, with an unknown amount of time before I meet my fate and no one else I believe I can trust, I have decided to give you my epitaph.

It seems like an eternity ago when I met the love of my life, but the memories remain as fresh as the day I first saw her. The emotions I felt for her were so strong, it hurt to breathe and as our eyes met, I knew at once that I had found my soul mate. After a short courtship, we were married in a simple ceremony, after which I performed the bonding ritual linking our souls with the amalgamation seal. It may sound a bit egotistical and selfish but from the very beginning, I couldn't imagine anyone being as happy, or in love as the two of us were.

But the love and happiness that we found in each other was taken away just as quickly – by Hidan of the Akatsuki. One day, as he strode through our tiny village, he decided to slaughter everyone on a whim… simply to satisfy his boredom and bloodlust. At the time it happened I was away on a mission for my village, but I knew through the seal placed on our hands that she was dead. Without a second thought I, along with the rest of my team abandoned our mission and returned, but we were far too late. Bodies were strewn across the streets and in open doorways, all of them cold and lifeless, lying in a pool of their own blood. My wife was among them, her eyes frozen in surprise and shock – as if she couldn't believe someone like her, without an ounce of hatred or malice in her heart for anyone or anything could be murdered so callously, for no reason other than sport.

That singular act broke me. I dedicated my life to helping those who couldn't help themselves – to ensure that no one would have to experience the pain and emptiness that I felt. I wanted to make a difference in the world, and the rest of my squad who survived the slaughter decided to join me.

In order to assure that none of us became drunk with power, we trained in earnest to grow stronger, but not enough to become a major threat like the Akatsuki. I began to amass as much knowledge as I could, because power without knowledge can lead to psychosomatic narcissism; a god complex without restraint.

And thus the Mienai Segi was born. But as it always does, I realized far too late that the only way to counter those with power, is with a power equal to their own.

When the fourth shinobi war started, it was my decision not to involve the Mienai Segi, because I believed that at over eighty thousand strong, the Allied Shinobi Force would be more than enough to defeat the threat of the Akatsuki and what I later learned to be Madara Uchiha. I assumed our skills would not be needed, and that we would be nothing more than a hindrance.

I was wrong beyond measure, and thousands of shinobi needlessly died because of my incorrect assumption. Every day since then, I have pondered how many lives could have been saved had we interceded. Even though I never saw them firsthand, the faces of those who fell have haunted me incessantly, reminding me of my failure to act.

It was those faces that drove me in search of more power and the knowledge to accomplish it. Those of us in the Mienai Segi trained harder to achieve this. Some of us survived; most of us did not. Those who did became stronger; in some cases stronger than the five Kage of the elemental nations. However, with only a handful remaining I realized that additional assistance would be required to achieve our redefined goals.

It was my hubris that allowed me to bring others into the Mienai Segi, foolishly thinking that with the proper instruction, they would remain pure, using their power for virtue and honor, rather than immorality and destruction. They trained as my friends and I had done before, with the same results - some of them survived, most of them did not. Less than a handful acquired power to rival that of the Kage. And now, it is that same hubris that will bring about my end.

While I am unsure as to who will be the one to bring about my ultimate demise, I know in my heart that this aspect of my fate cannot be avoided, just as I have always known that destiny has, and always will have a hand in your life, Naruto Uzumaki.

Yes, since the day you first came to the Mienai Segi, I've known who you were. I know of your exploits throughout the elemental nations. I know of how, through your words and actions, you led the coalition to victory in the fourth shinobi war – with some help from your friends, of course. And I know that you carry the nine-tailed fox inside of you.

I have kept this knowledge secret from the rest of your brethren, as it seemed that you wished to remain anonymous… just another lost soul in search of something they were unable to find or attain. You may think that an end to your life was among the paths you could choose from, but I believe otherwise. Just as your battle with Pain and your exploits during the fourth shinobi war have shown, there is a far greater purpose in store for you.

You are the child of prophecy and once again, you are called upon to be the savior of the world. It is beholden upon you to do what I did not do all those years ago, and what I cannot do now, since I will not survive the upcoming battle… save thousands of innocent lives.

Being the one to carry these burdens may seem unfair… and you would be correct, but understand that it did not come without reward. When given the chance to brighten and encourage growth in your own personal life, you purposely ignored what fate had provided for you and pursued someone who brought you nothing but pain, rather than the happiness you so eagerly sought. You unknowingly put yourself into a situation that caused your own emotional devastation, giving someone the opportunity to break you, until nothing but an empty shell of a man remained.

Now, fate has smiled upon you a second time and brought your soul mate, along with the son she sacrificed everything to care for back into your life. I have only seen them through the memories in your mind, yet I know they are the key to your emotional healing. They can mend the rift in your heart, if you give them the time and opportunity to do so. To me, this is as immutable as time itself.

You should know that you have always held a special place with me, Naruto Uzumaki. Despite your past, I know that you are pure of heart and purpose. You have done so much for others, and changed so many lives through simply being who you are that I have pondered on many occasions if I ever had a son, I would have wanted him to be just like you.

As of now, the Mienai Segi is no more. Please pass my story on to the Kage of the five great villages – and let them know how sorry I am. It seems that as it was with Obito Uchiha, good intentions went awry and I inadvertently created another threat similar to the Akatsuki. It pains me to see that I am following in the footsteps of many in my generation, and leaving my problems to the current generation for them to deal with and solve.

As my final act, I charge you with finding any of our brethren that have survived what I can only term as a massacre by this unknown source, and bring them back to Konoha. I wish anyone who so desires to live the remainder of their lives in normalcy. Be the herald, Gabriel – and call them home. Be the shepherd, Naruto Uzumaki – and protect our flock.

I rest in the knowledge that when I leave this world, I will give my last breath to take those responsible with me. And my heart is filled with joy that when I do leave this world, my beloved wife will be waiting for me, and we will finally be reunited after all this time. You know to what I am referring Naruto Uzumaki, when I say that to live so long without part of your soul is an empty existence indeed. I can only hope that my trials, along with the good I have done since the day she was taken from me have made her proud – as I beg for her forgiveness in not being there to protect her when she needed it the most.

Saladin

*:*:*:*

Silence hung heavy in the room as Naruto rolled the scroll back up and placed it on the desk. All he could think about was that he'd lost another master – someone who looked upon him as a son, just like Jiraiya and it left a bad taste in his mouth and a pit in his stomach that Saladin had joined an ever growing list of people in his life that were taken from him, without him being able to lift a finger to prevent it.

Sasuke pondered the fact that even in the depths of his pain and in search of his own death, Naruto somehow managed to inspire more instances of loyalty and friendship with those around him. It was a skill that in recent months, he found himself wanting badly. The more time he spent around his brother, and as head of the ANBU in protection of the villagers, the more he wanted to create those same bonds of friendship with those around him and yet, it still seemed just beyond his reach.

Freyja mourned for the loss of her master, but felt a small sense of gratification that she was well on her way to accomplishing his final wish for both her and Reira, which was to live a normal life. Hearing how Saladin viewed Gabriel as the son he never had now made her think of him as something more akin to a younger brother, rather than just an associate. But only a few years younger, she reminded herself. There's no fucking way I'm that old yet.

Kakashi didn't say a word a word as he digested the final words of a man who, through personal suffering and a hollow existence tried to eliminate some of the greater evils that plagued the world and yet, managed to create one greater than any he had snuffed out. He thought of Saladin's words regarding his childhood friend Obito, who had gone down a similar misguided path and ended up exactly the same way, leaving Naruto and the rest of Team Seven to fix the problems he himself had created.

"It doesn't make any sense," Sasuke said at last.

"What doesn't make any sense, teme?" Naruto asked curtly.

"There's two parts in that message that don't make any sense, dobe. The first is that Saladin said in two separate instances he didn't know who or what was coming for him, but you sent Saladin a message warning him about Gideon, correct?"

Naruto raised his head as the realization hit him. "Yeah…I did."

"And the other item was that he wanted you to find others of the Mienai Segi who hadn't joined Gideon and bring them to Konoha. Freyja told you to tell Saladin she was here in Konoha – did you forget to mention that?"

Naruto shook his head. "No, I didn't. I specifically remember telling him about that in detail." He furrowed his brow in confusion. "You're right. Something doesn't add up. Is the ANBU codenamed Jackal currently in the village?"

"Yes, why?"

"He's the one I sent on that mission to deliver the message to Saladin." Naruto explained, lowering the privacy seals and pressing a button on his desk. Within moments, an ANBU wearing a Tiger mask was standing in the center of his office.

"Yes, Hokage-sama?"

"Have Jackal brought to my office as soon as possible. It's urgent."

Tiger nodded and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"Now, while we're waiting for him to get here…" Naruto said curiously, "…why don't we see what's in the second scroll?" He broke the seal and unrolled it across the top of his desk. His brows knit as he saw what it was.

"It's a storage scroll – a rather large one." He placed his hand in the center and pushed some chakra into it. For a brief moment, the seals began to glow blue, and then several piles of storage scrolls appeared.

Kakashi cocked an eyebrow. "He used a storage scroll to store more storage scrolls? That's actually rather simple and ingenious. It makes me wonder why no one thought of it before now."

"He was our leader for a good reason, Kakashi." Freyja said brusquely. "He was pretty damn smart in addition to being powerful. Shikamaru is the only person I've met that has him beat in that area, and that guy Shino might be at his level. Gideon thought he was, but he was more conniving than anything else – and that doesn't necessarily translate to intelligence."

"And it still doesn't answer our question as to what's in these things." Naruto picked up one of the scrolls and with no more space left on his desk, he unrolled it on the floor and placed his hand in the center, pushing some chakra into it.

Another pile of items appeared – books and scrolls of all sizes, along with several stacks of paper containing handwritten notes and theories. Some of them were yellow and slightly brittle with age, while others appeared to be more recent, tied with ribbons that had intricate designs woven into them. Naruto immediately recognized them for what they were.

"These…These are from Saladin's private library." He said in awe. He quickly picked up another scroll and unrolled it, causing more documents to appear.

Sasuke activated his Sharingan. "Not counting the first scroll, there appears to be seventy storage scrolls that hold various amounts. As an estimate, I'd say there are almost five thousand items in all. Does that account for everything?"

"I…I think so. I mean, he had a lot of stuff sitting on those shelves, and…"

Naruto was interrupted as Tiger and Jackal appeared in his office. "Here is Jackal as you requested, Hokage-sama." Tiger said.

"Yes Jackal," Naruto said, fixing him with a piercing stare, "a few months ago I gave you a mission to deliver to a message to an associate of mine. You told me you completed the mission, correct?"

Jackal nodded his head. "Yes, Hokage-sama. I delivered the message, he gave me his reply and I returned to the village immediately, as you ordered."

"What was the message he gave you?"

Jackal paused, like he was carefully thinking of how to phrase his reply. "He simply thanked me, and then said 'please tell your Hokage that if the need arises, I will contact him.' That's it."

Naruto pressed his lips into a thin line and glanced sideways at Kakashi. "I never said in the message that you made me Hokage." His eyes flicked back to the two ANBU kneeling before him. "Tiger, take Jackal over to I.D. and then find Inoichi – Jackal's mind has been tampered with and I need to know what was altered, who did it and why."

"Inoichi is currently unavailable, Hokage-sama," Tiger informed Naruto, as he grasped Jackal's arm. "He's working with Ibiki Morino on another… ah, project involving several captured rogue ninja from Takigakure."

"Then find Ino instead. She's almost as good as her father, in my opinion. After that, tell Shino I need to see him and at 2 o'clock have Darui brought to my office, please."

Tiger nodded, and then he and Jackal disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"Why Shino?" Sasuke asked once the two ANBU were gone.

"Freyja made a good point when she said Shino was pretty damn smart." Naruto replied as he resealed the items into the storage scrolls and rolled them back up. "Shikamaru has too many other things to worry about…" He privately thought of Temari being pregnant, and that he had promised to send Shikamaru home as soon as he made it to the Hokage tower. "…so I'll have Shino go through and catalog everything that's in these scrolls. It'll take some time, but I know he'll do a good job and he's someone we all thoroughly trust."

"So what do we do now?"

Naruto paused for a moment, and then locked eyes with his brother. "We train," he said grimly. "It stays confined to the people in this room, but we train until our lungs bleed. And then we train some more." He jerked his chin in the direction of Kakashi. "Can you take him out to the ANBU training grounds and start teaching him how to do chakra interlacing?"

"Wait just a minute," Kakashi said, holding up his hand. "You're going awfully fast with all of this, and I have a few questions. Why keep this confined to the people in this room? With the threat we know is coming, wouldn't it be better to train some additional people as well?"

"And why are you having Sasuke train him instead of me?" Freyja demanded.

"Well, the first two answers are easy, Kakashi-sensei. For the training we've gone through – and what you'll be doing – a person needs Kage level chakra reserves. Other than everyone in this room, can you give me the name of someone besides Tsunade that meets that one simple requirement?"

Kakashi mulled that over, before shaking his head. "No, actually I can't."

"As far as your second question, you heard what Saladin just said in his final message. He brought too many people into the Mienai Segi, thinking that when they completed the training, their moral compass would kick in and they'd use their strength to help people. That obviously didn't work out the way he'd hoped." Naruto narrowed his eyes at Kakashi. "Whose life are you willing to bet that won't happen again? Yours? Freyja's?" His voice dropped several octaves as he finished, "Reira's?"

Kakashi glared back at Naruto, pissed off that not only would he say something so crass, but that he failed to think of that distinct possibility. "Fine. You made your point."

"And as for you…" Naruto said, giving Freyja a sidelong glance, "Sasuke is teaching Kakashi how to do chakra interlacing because if I let you do it, you'll be tempted to jump his bones every thirty minutes or so. I want him focused on training, and not Icha Icha re-enactment sex with you."

Freyja growled, clearly unhappy with the answer. "Spoilsport. Sex is a good motivator, you know. Why can't he focus on both?"

Naruto sighed in exasperation. "Because he can't – men aren't built that way. There isn't enough blood in the body to have both your head and groin operating at full capacity at the same time. And besides, I need to have a conversation with you," Naruto deadpanned, his expression serious. "One on one, in private."

"I think that's our cue to leave, Kakashi-sensei." Sasuke stated drolly, the corners of his mouth turning up in a small smirk before he looked back at Naruto. "We should meet back here at five o'clock, when Ino finds out what happened to Jackal."

"Good idea. See you then."

Sasuke turned back to Kakashi. "We've only got about four hours, so let's make them count. We'll use the ANBU training grounds. Use the shunshin and I'll meet you there."

Kakashi nodded, and they both made a sign with their hands, disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

Freyja watched them go then glared at Naruto. "Well, now that you've deprived me of my afternoon meal, what was so important that you needed to talk with me privately?"

"Look, you and I knew Saladin better than anyone else in this village." Naruto said curtly. "We both had a lot of respect for the man, and I think we'd both like to honor his final wish, which is for everyone to live a normal life."

"Yeah, I was thinking along those same lines," Freyja replied, "but I'm pretty much doing that already. What else is there?"

"Just one thing. No more code names. No more aliases. From now on, I want you to call me by my real name. And I think everyone should do the same for you."

Freyja's voice went up several octaves. "You…You want me to tell you – tell everyone what my real name is?" she exclaimed, her eyes wide with shock. "That's private! Why the fuck should I tell anyone, let alone you something like that?"

Naruto pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "You want a list? Fine." he said gruffly. "Ever since you came to my village, you and Reira have lived at my house. You both sleep in one of my bedrooms. Hinata, my wife cooks delicious meals for you every night. You and your daughter are under my protection – the shinobi under my command will give their last breath to keep you both safe. You're currently dating and screwing the brains out of my former sensei. And let's not forget that your six year old daughter is infatuated with my son, and plans on marrying him when they're older. I can keep going if you like, but that should be more than enough."

It galled Freyja to admit it – hell, even just thinking about it pissed her off, but he had a point. She'd gotten far more than she ever thought possible since coming to Konoha. Her life was about as normal as it gets – she finally had a man in her life that treated her with kindness and respect… never mind the fact that he was damn good in the sack.

Reira smiled more, and was generally far happier than she'd ever been. And for a kid who was more optimistic than anyone Freyja had ever met, that was saying something – although she still wondered where the hell Reira got that particular trait from. Freyja knew that her personality was skewed when compared to her daughter.

But even knowing all that, she was having a hard time convincing herself that she should give up the one piece of her life that was still exclusively hers – that being her real identity. Stripping away the last barrier between her former life and her current one meant she didn't have a failsafe left if things started to go badly. Not that she thought they would – but committing herself totally to one idea, after everything she'd been through in her life, was just such a foreign concept that she couldn't bring herself to do it, no matter how wonderful or tempting the situation was.

Naruto watched her for a minute, and saw how she was struggling to come to terms with his request. He imagined the look of uncertainty and indecisiveness on her face was just like what other people saw when he was younger and they asked him about Kurama. It may seem small, but all you can think about is how big an effect it can have on your life, and how other people view you. So he thought it might be best to give her some time, and let her know this request wasn't an ultimatum.

"Listen Freyja, why don't you think about it for a little while? I don't need an answer on this right now, but in the meantime I'm going to lead by example. You need to start calling me Naruto – no more calling me Gabriel. And just so you know, I'll be giving Darui a note, telling Perun the same thing I've told you, and giving him permission to spill anything about the Mienai Segi to the Raikage – within reason, or course. It's one less trip I have to make, so that I only have to worry about Kirigakure and Iwagakure. "

He snapped his fingers as he remembered something. "Oh, and do me one more favor - on your way out, head down the hall and tell Shikamaru that he needs to go home as soon as possible. Make sure he knows it's nothing urgent, but certainly important. After that, why don't you take the rest of the afternoon off until five o'clock when everyone gets back here? You've got a lot to think about between now and then, and I want to make sure there's nothing that will influence your decision."

---

It was one-thirty in the afternoon at the academy, and Hikaru was bored. Scratch that – he was beyond bored, as well as frustrated and exhausted, and the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel that was his salvation was nothing more than a dot against a canvas of pure black.

The subject matter of the class in which is mother was teaching was something he knew already, and he was having a hard time staying awake. Not necessarily because his mother's voice was drab and boring; far from it – she was actually a very dynamic and engaging teacher, but it bothered him that he was so much farther in front of the other students that he had to suffer through this stuff. He'd rather be out at his father's favorite haunt, which was training ground twenty-six, sparring with him or uncle Sasuke.

His father… somehow, even after everything that happened, Hikaru still wondered how he got so lucky. As far back as he could remember, both he and his mother – for lack of a better, non-vulgar word – had lived a difficult life, and it didn't take a genius to figure out why… the answer had a large forehead and mop of pink hair. The muscles in his jaw clenched as the image of the woman who caused them so much pain came to mind.

But for as much as he and his mother had suffered, fate had smiled on them tenfold. The man his mother had married – the Great Hero, her lifelong love and who was also now the Hokage of Konoha, turned out to be his real father. Hikaru could say with complete honesty and immense pride that he – Hikaru Uzumaki Namikaze – was the son of one of the greatest ninja the world had ever known. It was both an amazing feeling and a bit intimidating at the same time.

And because of that, he was given many perks that others in the village didn't have access to. He didn't think it made him better than anyone else, and he never lorded it over anyone's head, but when you were related to two of the greatest ninja in the elemental nations, you got private training sessions that other people would give almost anything for. And today was a prime example of that.

He was broken out of his retrospective by his mother's voice and he perked up, trying to make it look like he'd been paying attention all this time. Luckily enough, he noticed that his mother didn't have her Byakugan activated for once.

"That concludes today's lesson. Now that we've had a few days to go over proper chakra molding for the henge technique, I'd like to see how much of it you remember. Pop quiz time." Hinata picked up a stack of papers off of her desk and extended them towards her son. "Hikaru, could you pass these out to the class?"

Still trying to maintain the illusion that he was interested, Hikaru casually stood up and took the stack of papers from his mother. However, as he went to pass them out he realized something was wrong.

"Sensei, these papers are blank."

Hinata stopped writing on the chalkboard and turned around. "What was that?" she asked, clearly confused.

"These pieces of paper. They're not quizzes, they're blank." Hikaru took the top sheet and held it up, flipping it over several times to show both sides. "See? There's nothing written on them."

Hinata stared at the paper, and then briefly activated her Byakugan to look at the rest. It appeared that Hikaru was right; every single page was blank. She could have sworn she made thirty copies of that quiz yesterday! She remembered it distinctly, but the blank pages in front of her didn't lie. What could have happened? She opened her bag and hurriedly dug through it, looking for… and then she found it. The actual quiz she had created, at the bottom of her bag. She never made copies of it; she accidentally used a blank piece of paper instead.

Hinata chided herself as she realized that what happened. Lady Tsunade called it 'pregnancy brain', somewhat like dementia where her mind wandered or went blank for no reason at all. She had two incidents of this within the last week – one was where she turned the oven on broil instead of bake, ruining dinner and making them go out to Ichiraku Ramen instead. It hadn't been her first choice, but Hikaru and Reira lobbied hard for it and rather than argue, it had been easier to just give in.

The second was where one morning she mistakenly put on Naruto's boxer shorts with frogs printed on them instead of her panties as she got dressed. The worst part was she hadn't even known until later that afternoon when she joined Hanabi for a soak in their private onsen. Hanabi laughed so hard at the sight of it that she actually peed her pants, and Hinata had threatened her with all sorts of bodily harm if word of this ever got out to anyone - especially her husband.

"Well, it looks like I left the stack of quizzes back at my house," she said quickly, making up a story on the spot to defer suspicion. There was no way she was going to tell the class what she really did. She took the stack of blank papers from Hikaru and placed them on her desk. "Instead, tonight I'd like each of you to write a three page essay summarizing what…"

Listening to his mother give another pointless assignment on something he already knew how to do was the last straw and at that point, Hikaru decided he'd had enough. Last night, he and the old lady worked late again and as usual, their efforts hit a dead end. With Uncle Neji's birthday only a few months away and time running out, he'd been working feverishly to find a solution to the caged bird seal, causing him to get less and less sleep. Between exhaustion, frustration and a very short fuse because of it all, he finally snapped.

He groaned loudly, interrupting his mother. "Oh come on, Sensei!" he exclaimed, rolling his eyes and throwing up his hands in exasperation. "You've gotta be kidding me! We should be practicing this, not writing an essay on it!"

An oppressive silence came over the room as the rest of his classmates looked at Hikaru in shock. Visions of horrific punishments filled their heads as they stared at the boy who had the audacity to talk to his mother that way.

"Excuse me?" Hinata asked flatly as she gave her son a hardened stare.

"You heard me! What good are concepts and theories in the middle of a fight? You should be concerned over whether people can actually do it or not! And did you even think to ask if someone already knows how to do it? Huh? Those people are probably bored out of their minds by now!"

Hinata crossed her arms in front of her chest and cocked an eyebrow. "Is that right? And do you think you're one of these people?"

Feeling cocky, Hikaru crossed his arms in front of his chest as well. "You better believe it. As a matter of fact, I'm so good at it that I can even fool your eyes."

"I highly doubt that, Hikaru."

His irritation went up several levels at her dismissive tone. She might be his mother, but she had no idea about everything he could and couldn't do! She didn't even know how good he was at fūinjutsu because he had to keep it a secret!

And in his currently sleep deprived, overly frustrated, addled and fog induced state, he decided to up the ante and prove his mother wrong. Although later on, when he had a chance to think more clearly, he would look back and realize that this might possibly be one of the single worst decisions he ever made.

"Then why not make it interesting, Mom? Let's bet on it. If I can fool your eyes, then you have to let everyone out of class early. Oh, and you don't get to assign any homework for the next week."

Hinata snorted derisively. "Only on the condition that if you fail, your class will have to stay late every day for the next two weeks, and they will have three times the amount of homework assigned for that period as well."

"Well, I'm fine with that because I'm not going to lose. We got a deal?"

"Yes. We have a deal." She said, grinning smugly and activating her Byakugan once again. There's no way a Hyūga can be fooled by a simple henge, she thought to herself. I've got this bet as good as won and when he loses, Hikaru is going to be punished but good for using that tone of voice and talking to me like he just did...

"Oiroke no Jutsu!"

Wait a second, what did he just say? The smug expression vanished from Hinata's face as Hikaru disappeared in a cloud of smoke, only to be replaced by a four foot tall, red-headed, voluptuous and very naked female, with wisps of smoke covering the more private parts.

Hikaru struck a pose and in a sultry female voice asked, "Well, Sensei? Can you see through my transformation? Or do I win the bet?"

Everyone stared at Hikaru in disbelief, their eyes as big as dinner plates. A couple of boys had a trickle of blood coming from their noses, a good portion of the girls were cracking their knuckles at the promise of giving Hikaru a severe beating for doing something like that, and Hinata… well, her look of disbelief quickly transformed into one of intense anger. Her hand shot out and grabbed his ear.

"HIKARU UZUMAKI NAMIKAZE!" she shouted, twisting his ear painfully, "STOP USING THAT DISGUSTING PERVERTED JUTSU RIGHT NOW!"

Another cloud of smoke and Hikaru was back to his normal self, his face scrunched up in pain. "Ow! Ow! Ow! Okay, I changed back! See? Now let go of my…"

"Be quiet!" she exclaimed, interrupting him as she twisted his ear once again. "Where did you learn how to do that?"

Hikaru might be a lot of things, but he was no squealer. He wasn't going to rat out his Uncle Konohamaru, or his father for that matter. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea, after all. "I read how to do it in a book! I swear!"

"My Byakugan is still active, Hikaru! I can tell you're lying!"

"Fine! You caught me! But I'm not telling anyways!"

"Then we'll see what your father has to say about this!" Still grasping him firmly by his ear, she dragged him towards the door. "Class is dismissed early today! Hikaru and I have some business with the Hokage."

They left the room, with Hikaru still protesting loudly at his mother's ruthless attack on his ear, and his voice faded down the hallway until nothing but silence remained. The class remained still until Shiga decided to speak.

"Well, that was fun. But hey – at least Hikaru won the bet! We're getting out of class early, and we don't have to worry about homework for the next week! We should get him to do that more often!"

Every eye in the class turned in his direction, but those from the girls were the ones that sent a shiver down Shiga's spine, because every look of promised pain and cracking knuckles was now being directed towards him.

"Uh, guys? Taysuke? Hiro? Anyone?" he pleaded, backing away from the group of angry girls that were slowly advancing on him. "A little help here?"

He got a sinking feeling in his stomach as he noticed that his friends had abandoned him; finding anything in the room suddenly more interesting than he was. None of them were stupid enough to say anything and share the beating he was about to get.

"Aw, man…" he whined, as he felt the wall at his back and realized the girls had backed him into a corner. They quickly descended on him, their fists flying from what seemed like every direction as they pummeled him mercilessly for suggesting that Hikaru should use that perverted technique more often.

Takamaru yipped in laughter, because his master only had himself to blame, while the other boys thanked Kami that Shiga would be the only one to suffer the girls' wrath – even if they all silently agreed with him.

---

Freyja had been walking around Konoha for the last hour or so, her mind wandering as aimlessly as she was. The day had started out great – a few chūnin who thought they were pretty good requested a sparring session with her, and after kicking their collective asses and humiliating them thoroughly, she thought a soak at the kunoichi bathhouse would be nice.

But then that ANBU had found her and said that Gabriel… scratch that, Naruto was back in the village and needed to see her immediately. Her thoughts changed from the soak to molesting Kakashi in a variety of ways and she took off, planning on dragging her boyfriend and part time sex toy into one of the empty rooms to see if they could do that scene from chapter twenty-two, where he has her back pinned against the wall and her legs propped up high on a piece of furniture while he takes her mercilessly, over and over again.

Then her libido got dashed against the rocks when Gabriel… damn it, that's gonna be a hard habit to break… Naruto said he had two scrolls from Saladin, one of which turned out to be his final words. It had been very sobering to hear the story behind the Mienai Segi, and Saladin had been right – his incessant drive for power to protect those who couldn't protect themselves from the evils of the world spawned another threat as dangerous as the Akatsuki ever was.

Then after reiterating how Saladin wanted them to live normal lives, Naruto dropped that simple yet massive fucking bomb on her, asking her to use her real name from now on. It was one of her biggest secrets; the last vestige she had between her and total surrender to her situation. The worst part was that Naruto had made a pretty convincing argument – she'd put down more roots here in Konoha than anyplace else she'd ever been, and that included the village she was born in.

So why was she so dead set against doing this? What was she afraid of? With everything good that had happened to her, why was it so hard to do something so simple? Maybe it was just the pessimist in her, thinking that something bad was bound to happen to her sooner or later. With the exception of Reira being born, there'd been a pretty definable pattern she'd had to reference from in her life.

And just like that, she knew she needed the opinion of someone else who might understand her situation, and what she was going through. But it had to be a friend; someone she felt she could trust which narrowed the list considerably. Furthermore, it couldn't be anyone close to the situation because she wanted an outside opinion, not one that was already influenced. And that brought the list down to just one name.

Within minutes of her decision she was standing in front of the home of that person, knocking on the front door. Freyja hoped she was home because otherwise it was going to be a real shitty afternoon. But then the door opened, and she heaved a sigh of relief.

"Freyja? Hey, is something wrong? You look like someone just gave you a very bad piece of news."

"Hey, Kurenai…" Freyja replied glumly, giving her a sad smile. "…you're actually not too far off the truth. I've got a problem and I need some advice, woman to woman. Can you spare some time to talk?"

---

A/N: Okay, okay - I know that this chapter may not exactly have been exciting but everything in it needed to be written to keep the story going. I really wanted to put more into it but nothing fit, and it would have delayed releasing this for another couple of weeks and I didn't want to do that to you guys. Please don't hate me for it.

As always, I'm reminding everyone that Mina is the OC of MattWilson83. If you haven't gotten over to his account on DeviantArt and read his NaruHina Chronicles, you're doing yourself a great disservice. It's pure awesomeness. 'Nuff said.

What we did get here was the mystery of the Mienai Segi cleared up, we finally know what's in the scrolls and others are starting to learn of the Mienai Segi as well. I threw some humor with Hikaru in at the end to keep things light - he really should have thought about his decision to use the Sexy Jutsu more but that's what happens when you mix lack of sleep and frustration. There was still a reason for it, though - and it will be revealed next chapter.

So, what's coming? The outline for the next chapter is already done, so here you go! Sasuke is going to teach Kakashi chakra interlacing (what exactly is that? You'll see!) We find out if Freyja starts using her real name, there's some interaction between Ino and Choji and Hikaru makes a breakthrough on the caged bird seal with a little help from an unlikely source. Sakura makes a small appearance and oh, yeah - Hinata gets a MAJOR surprise.

Recommendation time! Once again, I find myself trying to recommend a good story that's small, has been updated in the last month or so and doesn't have a lot of followers and needs some traction, despite some great writing. It's a shame that many of the stories I love to read haven't been updated in quite some time, but I understand (more than anyone) that life can get in the way. (I'm calling you out this chapter, gigiree123! Send me some beta work on A Reluctant Return!)

There's one I've been enjoying for some time by cookiemonsterlover32 called Your Smile Is What Saved Me. Hinata breaks emotionally when Naruto starts dating Sakura and turns into a dark, ruthless uncaring killer. When things don't work out between Naruto and Sakura, he realizes that Hinata is the one he wanted all along and vows to save her, no matter what. Sakura is also an evil, manipulative bitch in this story if you like that sort of thing. It's a great bit of writing and I'm hopeful that with a bit of a nudge the author will release the next chapter (which is pivotal) so if you're curious, head over there and check it out. I urge you to leave a review and put the author, or perhaps his stories on your favorite/follow list. I'm sure he'd appreciate it.

Here's the link, as usual remove the spaces and you know what to replace the stars with:

www. fanfiction . *** / s / 9667656

REVIEWS! Sixty five reviews last chapter, which is really good and I'm closing in on 1,000 favorites. I'm feeling good right now, but that doesn't mean I'm just gonna sit back and relax. I'm still going to plead for reviews because as every writer here on FanFiction knows it's the reviews that drive us... when people tell us how much they love our story it makes us feel better about our creation and keeps us going, even when life makes things difficult.

So with so many people keeping my story on their favorite or following list, let's see how many reviews I can get for this chapter. Good or bad, critique or praise I read them all and take whatever is offered to heart. Don't forget - reviews make the world go round, they help motivate me to write and they help the next chapter get released faster. So even if it's something simple like "good job" or "loved it", it helps to see things like that. So please take ten seconds out of your life and leave me a review to tell me how I'm doing.

That's all for now. Take care and stay safe.

Serious Sam