Naruto could see that his mentor wasn't willing to allow Zabuza took take a step away from him, which caused the blond Assassin to move forward instead. "I will handle this!" Naruto informed Zabuza as he pushed his way to the front of their group.

As he made his way past the others that made up his side of the soon to be battlefield, Naruto could see Sasuke and Sakura rush forwards as well. "There is no way in hell that we are allowing you to fight these people by yourself! We just got you back and won't risk losing you again!" Sasuke growled as he unsheathed the sword he had on his hip.

As Naruto was watching his old teammates, Naruto could see that they were quite happy to have him back in their presence. "Maybe they care about me more than I originally thought." Naruto contemplated before turning away from his comrades to face the enemies that were approaching them. "I will gladly take your help though stay behind me for a moment." Naruto responded before rapidly going through the hand signs for one of his favorite Jutsu. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto bellowed into his mind which brought twenty clones into existence.

This however wasn't the only Jutsu that Naruto and his clones decided to use. Once more, Naruto went through hand signs for another of his Jutsu and once complete he called out the Jutsu. "Wind Release: Air Bullets!"

Everyone watched as the air in front of Naruto compressed into the cylindrical objects that he had used once before in their presence. As Naruto was readying his attack, Gato and his mercenaries decided that they had waited long enough and soon started to charge after them though the moment that they got halfway to them; Naruto released his hold on the bullets that were in front of him and his clones.

The bullets flew out and within a few short heartbeats, they were finding residence in the bodies of various mercenaries. That one attack was enough to cause over a quarter of their enemies to fall and once done, Naruto charged forward though not before dispelling his clones since he no longer had a need for them.

Naruto wasn't the only one to charge forward and soon, Sasuke and Sakura were running beside him. Since Naruto's target here was the mobster known as Gato he was searching through the crowd of mercenaries in front of him and when he didn't find his target; Naruto knew that the man must be hiding further back.

Unsheathing his hidden blade, Naruto forced chakra into his legs and before anyone could react, he was leaping into the air. Knowing that landing in the middle of the group could allow him to land a devasting blow against the enemy force; Naruto did just that. Descending through the air, Naruto slammed his blade into the base of one of the enemy's necks and before the others around him could attack him, he was slashing the blade once more.

With a speed that no one would have thought Naruto possessed, the blond Assassin had sent a dozen of the mercenaries to the afterlife. The ferocity that he fights with was enough to cause the remaining mercenaries to decide to go after one of the other two Leaf Ninja that were present within their force. Since Naruto knew that both Sasuke and Sakura could handle themselves, he decided that the best use of his skills would be too send Gato screaming into the void of death itself.

This objective in his mind, Naruto looked through the path that he had cleared to where he assumed his target would be standing and once doing this, he could see that the much shorter male was trying to escape. "Over my dead body!" Naruto snarled before forcing chakra into his legs to help with his speed.

Naruto sprinted after the mobster and was able to make it to the other man just as he dropped into a boat that would allow him to sail away from the bridge that had become a battlefield caked with the corpses of his men.

Jumping on the railing that surrounded the bridge, Naruto looked down at his target before dropping after him. As the blond Assassin fell through the air, he unsheathed his blade and as he landed on Gato; he knocked him down while simultaneously slamming his hidden blade into the man's neck.

For a moment, Naruto sat upon the corpse of the mobster as he waited for his mind to shift to where it went when he had killed Zori but when nothing happened; Naruto assumed that it was because Gato wasn't a Templar but an ally of the organization. Before Naruto made his way from the boat, he pulled out a white cloth that had yet to be marred by Gato's blood and once the cloth was in his hand; Naruto wiped it across the point of entry that his hidden blade had taken through Gato's body.

With his target dead, Naruto scurried up the bridge's siding where he dropped back on the bridge's flat surface. Just as he stepped foot on the bridge, arrows flew across the sky to smash into the bodies of the few remaining mercenaries. Using his eyes to follow where the arrows had come which allowed him to see that Inari as well as other villagers that make up the population of the city that makes up the Land of Waves had finally arrived.

"It looks like Inari is quite skilled with a bow…" Naruto muttered to himself as he made his way back towards the area that his people were standing.

Since it was so late by the time that Naruto had finished assassinating the mobster known as Gato; his old team's client had decided that they were all going to be coming back to his house for the remainder of the night.

This is where Naruto found himself when the members of Team 7 decided to interrogate him on where he has been the three years.

Before Naruto answered any of the questions that were being flung at him, he looked towards his mentor so he could receive permission to reveal information that he may want kept a secret. When Hattori gave Naruto a nod of approval, he gave his old team the information that they were asking for.

"After you three left me buried underneath those rocks, Hattori found me and since I was too weak to travel for a year and a half, I stayed with him…" Naruto started.

Though before he was able to finish his entire sentence, Sasuke interrupted him. "…are you telling us that you could have returned to us over a year ago and didn't? What is the reasoning behind that?" Sasuke inquired of the blond Assassin with anger clearly present within his voice.

Naruto had assumed that the members of his old team would be upset when they found out that he had chosen to stay behind longer but he knew that it was the best thing for him since it allowed him to finish the training that he needed with his mentor. "…Sasuke. You had to have noticed that my abilities and skills have changed since the last time we had seen each other. This is because during my time with Hattori he had trained me to be an Assassin and a year ago my training was still not complete. I had to stay behind longer so I could finish what I started." Naruto explained to the angry Uchiha.

Upon giving Sasuke the answer that he requested, Naruto could see the same confusion that he felt when he had first learned about the Assassin's Brotherhood and since he didn't have the patience to explain it the way Hattori had; Naruto motioned for Hattori to speak.

This shifted his old comrade's attention away from him which allowed Naruto to make his escape and finally find some peace after the day that he has had.

Wanting to be alone and not needing to hear Hattori explain what the basis of their order is, Naruto made his way from Tazuna's living room so he could sit outside in the quiet of the night. Alone in the darkness like this, Naruto felt at peace though this was not meant to last forever and soon the door to the house opened once more. Looking towards the noise, Naruto saw that Tazuna himself had come to visit him.

Before Naruto was able to ask his host for the night what he needed, the elder male started to speak. "I hear that you are the one that is responsible for ensuring that my daughter and grandson were able to survive another day which I would like to thank you for." Tazuna spoke out as he sat down beside Naruto.

"I didn't save them so I could receive your gratitude. They were in danger and I refuse to allow harm to fall upon someone who is innocent." Naruto responded as he averted his gaze back to where it was before Tazuna had interrupted him.

Upon receiving Naruto's response, Tazuna gave out a small humming noise which was fine with Naruto since he didn't wish to be interrupted any further. Though this was something that would happen once again.

"Though Gato has been overthrown, his mercenaries will still be a problem within our land and during that time Tsunami and myself fear for Inari's safety…so we would like it if you would be able to take him back with you to the Leaf Village and watch over him until he is able to return." Tazuna explained to the blond Assassin that sat beside him.

Hearing this caused confusion to run its course through Naruto's mind. "Why would Tazuna ask a stranger to care for his grandson and I wasn't sure if I was going to return home though I guess since Kakashi and the others know of my survival they will bring me back by force if they have to…" Naruto contemplated as he stared at the older man with curiosity in his eyes. When Naruto had enough time to really process what the man was saying to him; he responded. "If you are certain that you wish to trust your grandson with a stranger, I will bring him back with me." Naruto answered before turning away from Tazuna once more.

This time around Tazuna kept quiet which allowed Naruto to enjoy the silence that had fallen around them.

Authors notes: Thank you to everyone who read this chapter. I know I haven't posted in this story for some time, but I haven't given up on it. As always please review with your thoughts on the story and I will see you all next time.