A/N: The Fourth Chapter is here, enjoy, again, another 2-4 days for another chapter.

"Normal Person Talking"

'Normal Person Thinking'

"Biju/ Boss Summon/ Black Zetsu Talking"

'Biju/ Boss Summon Thinking'

"Flashback/ Mini-Flashback"

Chapter 4: Announcement and Bonding.

The whole population of Konoha was waiting outside the Hokage Mansion for an announcement to be made by their new Hokage, whispers and murmurs of what it could be were there, the only people who knew what it was were the Konoha 11, Elders and Kakashi, even the Clan Heads did not know anything about that.

Naruto stepped out to the edge of the balcony and the whole crowd went silent, he looked at the crowd and said "People of Konoha, today, I have come to tell you that despite all our efforts, Uchiha Sasuke has sunken so much into darkness, no one can help him."

Whispers and murmurs started again but were stopped by Naruto who continued "Uchiha Sasuke has joined the Akatsuki, the same organization responsible for the destruction of our village and death of late Sarutobi Asuma."

The mood went somber when they heard this, they did not expect Sasuke to sink this low and Asuma's death was still fresh in some minds. Naruto saw this and did not like the next 2 news he was going to deliver. "He was also responsible for the capture of the Hachibi Jinchuriki who also happens to be the Raikage's brother."

All Shinobis and civilians widened their eyes on this, it meant that the Akatsuki was even stronger and now they would come for Naruto, he gave them the final piece of information "As of now, he is added to the Bingo Book as an S-Rank missing-nin, dead and dead only, no favouritism will be shown and he to be approached by either a S-Rank ninja themselves or a group of A-Rank ninja."

Naruto saw the somber mood of people and decided to act on this "Uchiha Sasuke never cherished what he had, but we will." Everyone looked at him as he continued "We have bonds with each other, we all are a family, as long as we cherish our bonds and protect them, the Will of Fire will burn brightly and it will give us a reason to fight, to protect and never go down the path of revenge and darkness."

The mood suddenly brightened up as people looked up at him a he continued "The Will of Fire, gave Shodai-sama a reason to fight against Uchiha Madara and it gives me a reason to fight against Uchiha Sasuke, I have bonds here, precious people here and all of you are my family and Uchiha Sasuke has just did the worst thing, he has decided to go against Uzumaki Naruto's family, I will protect all of you as my family, no one messes with my family and gets away with it."

The crowd was cheering harder than usual when they heard Naruto's words and his friends and senseis were smiling as they watched how Naruto again changed the somber mood of people; soon afterwards everybody went back to work.

Naruto then went back to training leaving his clones with the paperwork, today, he decided to finally summon the Phoenixes, he decided to summon the boss so that he could pass their test and become the Phoenix Summoner and possibly train with them in Senjutsu.

He got to the middle of the Training Ground and told Sakura to stay away, the hidden ANBU were also watching curiously as to what the blonde wanted to do, He bit his thumb, drew out blood, gathered 50% of his chakra, did the necessary handsigns and slammed his hand on the ground.

There was a massive puff of smoke which cleared to show 3 Phoenixes standing 60 ft tall, the first one which was in the middle was a beautiful rainbow coloured Phoenix with yellow fire as its eyes.

The second Phoenix which was to the right of the first one had red flames as its body and blue fire as its eyes.

The third and final one had blue fire as its body and green fire as its eyes; they looked around and saw Naruto standing on the ground. The middle one, probably the boss asked in a masculine voice "Where are we child and who has summoned us, the last time we were summoned was 19 years ago. But looking around, it seems like this is Konoha, what happened here?"

Naruto bowed and answered "You are right, you are in Konoha as for what happened here, it's a long story and I was the one who summoned you, you probably knew my Kaa-chan, Uzumaki Kushina."

All of them widened their eyes as the boss answered "Oh! So are the one Fukasaku was talking about, we have been waiting to test you and make you our summoner, my name is Kyoishika, the red one is Kyoinaru and the blue one is Kyoimatsu."

Naruto bowed again and said "Nice to meet you Kyoishika-sama, Kyoinaru-sama and Kyoimatsu-sama, so what is the test for Phoenix summoners?"

Kyoishika picked Naruto up by his claws and set him on his beak and asked "Why did you become a ninja? Why do you fight, train, become strong, sweat and bleed?"

Naruto smiled as he remembered Haku who asked him the exact same thing 4 years ago and that was where Naruto got a purpose in his life "I fight to protect my precious people, I train hard to help those who have lived or are living a life like mine, I feel that 'When someone has something or someone precious to protect, that's when they get strong'."

Everyone there was impressed by this and the Phoenixes could see his pure soul and potent chakra and they also sensed the Kyuubi but what surprised them was that Kyuubi was happy and content and not hostile, they decided to ask him about that later, but for now, he responded to his answer "That is a great purpose in life bit, now for the final test, if you could gain power to protect your comrades and friends but have to give up one thing close to you, what will you give up?"

Naruto remained silent for a few minutes and closed his eyes for thinking, even Kurama wanted to know, what his answer would be as it would show whether or not, he has made the right choiceafter a few more minutes Naruto spoke up "If that's the case, then I will give you …. my hatred."

The three phoenixes smiled and so did Kurama and Sakura, the three phoenixes congratulated him and regarded him as their new summoner afterwards they decided to enlighten Naruto on their Clan but Naruto summoned Gamabunta and Fukasaku and told them everything that happened, he learnt that phoenixes were mostly fire beings, made out of Red, yellow, blue or green flames, the leader was an exception, whenever someone became the boss, they would become the Rainbow phoenix, there were also very few Water phoenixes, Naruto also learnt that there were Phoenix elders who were a pair of Golden and Silver Phoenix. When everything was over, the summons went home, leaving Naruto to do one final job.

Naruto then summoned the leader of the wolves, who was the same size as Akamaru, he looked at Naruto and nearly confused the boy for Minato, the leader was a grey wolf named Takeo who agreed to help Naruto, he then found out that wolves were used for tracking, spying and support in a battle, wolves were associated in Raiton attacks. After that he went back to his training.

Naruto was sitting in his office doing paperwork with his clones and asking advice from Shikamaru from time to time. Today was his resting day as he had the level one Gravity seals for 6 days and today was the day he let his muscles rest and adapt, he then looked at Shikamaru and asked "Hey Shika, do you know any person who can help me today?"

Shikamaru looked at him and asked "Help you with what, today is your resting day, isn't it?"

Naruto sighed and replied "Yes and that's why I am asking you this, there is no one who I can spend the rest of the day with, I want someone to hang out with, think about it, the Shodaime had his family, the Nidaime was too much of an emo and serious guy, Jiji and me and you guys, Yondaime had his friends and family and Kaa-chan had Sake and teaching Sakura-chan, I want something to do when I get bored or someone to hang out with."

Shikamaru smiled and replies "Well, I know a troublesome blonde who can help you."

"Ino-chan?" asked Naruto which earned a raised eyebrow from Shikamaru but he ignored it.

"Yes, Ino, she is the Miss Beauty of Konoha and the Gossip Queen, you can hangout with her and she will be more than happy to help you and I think you should do it because you have never done these things and she is the perfect person to do it with, just make sure you have a heavy wallet, but I'm sure you have that, don't you?" said Shikamaru

Naruto looked at him with a deadpan expression and replied "Of course, my whole inheritance puts the Fire Daimyo to shame."

"Well then that's good, go Naruto; even you deserve a good rest, because you will start to train like a maniac as soon as your rest is over" Naruto grinned as left his office to search for another troublesome blonde. Shikamaru was thinking 'Well, Ino will certainly thank me if she finds out that I was the one who suggested her to Naruto.'

Yamanaka Ino was sitting on a chair and leaning on the counter, she was thinking when Naruto apparently called her cute in a way and confirmed that he meant it, she was brought out of her thoughts when she heard someone enter her store, she looked who he was and immediately she was blushing, she saw him coming towards her and voiced her thoughts "H-hey, Na-Naruto-kun, what brings you here today?"

"Oh hey, Ino-chan, I was just tired from the work today and decided that I should hang out with you, if you are okay with that." answered Naruto.

Ino looked ready to faint, her wish had just come true and she was drooling from the mouth over the things she could do with Naruto, she wiped the drool and answered "Hai Naruto-kun, just give me 2 minutes to change and come back."

Ino went to change and when she came back Naruto was drooling was blushing furiously, she wore black shorts and a white crop top and purple heels and it was showing her figure and curves perfectly, Naruto wiped off his drool and said "You look great Ino-chan."

Ino merely nodded and took off with Naruto for the rest of the day, they first purchased many clothes for Naruto as all he had was Ninja Gear and Formal Kimonos and afterwards, they had a nice lunch and went to do some more shopping for Ino.

After that they brought some ninja gear and went Naruto sealed all of his and Ino's things in different scrolls, watching that Sunset was close, Naruto looked at Ino who was sitting with him on a bench with her head on his shoulders and their fingers were intertwined. He said "Ino-chan, there is one last place which I think we must visit."

Ino looked up at him, smiled and nodded as Naruto shunshined both of them to the top of the Yondaime's Head and when Ino opened her eyes, she was flabbergasted by the beauty of the sunset and said "it's beautiful."

Naruto smiled as he put an arm on her shoulder and replied "Whenever I want to relax, I come here, it's beautiful isn't it."

Ino could merely nod as she was entranced by beauty of the sun setting over a new Konoha, she felt Naruto's arm around her shoulder and bring her closer to him causing her to blush. They sat down with Ino's head on Naruto's shoulder and Naruto's head on Ino's. They sat in silence as they watched the sun going down and the stars coming to view. Naruto glanced at Ino and saw that she was asleep; he shook his head and smiled and picked up Ino bridal style and she snuggled into his chest, he took off from the Hokage's Rock, jumping through the stairs and making his way over the rooftops to the Yamanaka Flower shop with a smiling Ino in his arms.

He stood at the entrance of the Yamanaka Flower shop and made a seal-less Kage Bunshin, his limit was only 5 seal-less clones but he was working on that too, the clone knocked on the door and Inoichi opened the door and frowned upon seeing his princess with Naruto but before he could say anything the clone shushed him and asked the directions for Ino's room, he saw how peacefully Ino was sleeping in Naruto's arms.

Naruto laid Ino on the bed and removed her heels; he then unsealed all her things that they shopped all through the day, he closed the door and found Yamanaka Inoichi waiting for him, he was sweating bullets and said "I-I-Inoichi-san, I can ex-explain."

Inoichi folded his arms and said "Then explain why my princess was with you and why were you carrying her in that style."

"Well, you see, I got tired from the paperwork and today was my resting day, so no training, therefore, I thought it would be best if Ino and I went out today" said Naruto.

Inoichi said "So she is someone to just hang out with."

"No, that's not the case" he straightened up and answered "I know that because of the CRA, I will have to marry a minimum of 2 girls, I already have a girl and I think that Ino would be the best considering that she also has feelings for me and after hanging out today with her and getting to know her, I think that she is the best, but the only problem is that how will I break this news to everyone, I am sure Ino and Sakura will understand but I don't know about the rest of my friends." answered Naruto.

Inoichi mock glared him for a moment and then smiled and answered "You have my blessings, I don't know of any person who will be able to keep her as happy as she was today other than you."

Naruto smiled and replied "Of course, Inoichi-san, I will always keep her happy and I hope that I don't get caught between the two wives, it's just as Nara men would say-Troublesome."

Inoichi and Naruto laughed as Naruto went back to the Hokage Mansion to sleep and wake up for another day.

Akatsuki Base

Madara was walking back to the Akatsuki's base, beside him was a mysterious hooded man, once they arrived back at the base he noticed Zetsu, Team Taka and Kisame all waiting patiently.

Madara grinned underneath his mask as he saw the cold glare Sasuke was giving to the man beside him. The other members also had varying reactions towards the newcomer.

In the back Zetsu and Jugo both appeared to be uninterested, Kisame on the other hand was intrigued at the newest member of their little group. Meanwhile Suigetsu and Karin both shuddered at the sight of the mysterious man, despite him being covered by his cloak and hood all of the members of Akatsuki already knew who he really was, it was no secret that the cloaked man was Orochimaru's right hand man, Yakushi Kabuto.

Sasuke was the first to approach his fellow student; both had trained under Orochimaru for years.

"Kukuku it appears we will be working together again Sasuke-kun" said Kabuto.

"Hn" the Uchiha gave the standard Uchiha Grunt as the answer.

"Oh come now, don't be like that, we've known each other for too long. Don't I at least get a greeting" he said sarcastically.

Sasuke was irritated, he never liked Kabuto to begin with and here he was already mocking him, Sasuke began to unveil his Mangekyo Sharingan to the man in front of him, "Don't play with me Kabuto, you and me are not friends nor are we forced to like each other. You don't like me, and I don't like you, let's just leave it at that. Our relationship is strictly professional" he said with in a threatening tone, Kabuto however remained unaffected despite the young Uchiha's KI.

Before Kabuto could reply Madara decided to stop their conflict before it further escalated, "Calm down Sasuke, Kabuto here is a member of our little group, there will be no infighting in our organization. Do you understand?" he asked while releasing how own KI.

The two students of Orochimaru nodded in understanding, they weren't affected much by the powerful KI being released by Madara.

"Good, as you all know the summit is approaching us, we have roughly twenty days before it begins and I am confident that with the addition of Kabuto we are prepared to take on the five Kages, Kabuto is already aware of our goals and he is more than willing to help us and we have gained another secret ally that will help us take on the Five Kages." explained the elder Uchiha.

Sasuke looked at Kabuto with a disbelieving look, he glared at him threateningly, "What's your aim Kabuto? What do you get from all this?" he asked.

Kabuto merely chuckled, "I'm a simple man Sasuke-kun. I agreed to join in order to flee my pursuers. Here in Akatsuki I am given the opportunity to conduct my research without being disturbed by others, in here morality is no issue when it comes to conducting research and experiments. I am given as much freedom and test subjects I could possible imagine, and my research here is valued just as long as it benefits the organization" he explained.

Sasuke scowled; as much as he hated to admit it Kabuto was quite a powerful recruit for Akatsuki. Even at an early age Kabuto was already able to match up with both Tsunade and Kakashi, and now who knows just how much he's grown since then. Add his intellect and scientific prowess then Akatsuki could benefit greatly with his inclusion, but all of that doesn't mean Sasuke was happy to see him in the same organization as him.

Sasuke was broken off his reverie as Kabuto began to speak once more, "Aside from my experiments I do have another guilty pleasure which led me to joining the Akatsuki" he said sinisterly.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at the hooded Kabuto, "And what is that guilty pleasure of yours?" he asked.

Kabuto smirked but it was hidden by his hood, "My, my quite the curious one you've become Sasuke. I remember when we were still with Orochimaru you wouldn't even utter one word other than your typical 'hn', and now here you are questioning me. I think this may even be our longest conversation yet don't you think?" he said teasingly.

Sasuke clenched his fist, his patience was running thin with Kabuto, "Just shut up and answer the question" he demanded.

"Now, now Sasuke-kun no need to be impatient, you're no better than Naruto-kun when it comes to that" said Kabuto mockingly.

Sasuke's head shot up as he stared at Kabuto with his Mangekyo Sharingan, "Do not ever compare me to him, do you understand?" he said in a threatening manner.

Kabuto chuckled at Sasuke's expense, "No need to be so touchy".

Sasuke attempted to recompose himself, "Hn, now tell me why else did you agree to join?"

Kabuto's grin suddenly turned maniacal as he quickly removed his hooded cloak, once the cloak was removed all of the members of Akatsuki looked at Kabuto with obvious shock in their eyes, only Madara remained unaffected, instead the elder Uchiha was also smiling underneath his own mask.

Karin gasped as she saw Kabuto's new form, Suigetsu shuddered in fear, Jugo attempted to act unfazed but inside he was fearful of what Kabuto has become, even Sasuke was surprised at the man who stood in front of him. This was no longer the Kabuto he knew, the man has grown deranged and insane since the last time they met.

"I agreed to join so that I could watch the world burn" said Kabuto as he laughed hysterically.

"You're a madman! What the hell have are you?" Suigetsu asked while obviously stricken with fear.

"I am no longer a man, I am a dragon" he said.

"A Dragon?" Karin repeated nervously.

Kabuto nodded, "Yes my dear Karin, I am now a dragon. I have evolved to become a dragon" he replied as showed off his new form to his fellow Akatsuki members.

Kabuto's grey haired ponytail remained the same as well as his glasses, he wore brown pants and ninja sandals but he had no form of clothing on his torso. The complexion of his skin was deathly pale, and the texture of his new skin was scaly, it resembled that of a snake. Even his eyes were slit much like an animal's, there was a purple pigmentation around his eyes which were similar to Naruto's orange pigmentation when he was in Sage Mode.

But despite all of those, what shocked everyone the most was the large white snake connected to Kabuto's stomach; it was another living creature which was strangely for some reason attached to the insane madman.

Suigetsu leaned over to Karin, "I didn't think I'd ever find someone who scares or creeps me out as much as Orochimaru, but I think I just found that person" he whispered.

Karin nodded, "I can't believe I'm saying this, but for once I agree with you Suigetsu" she replied.

Sasuke looked at Kabuto with disbelief; even he was creeped out by his fellow student. He knew that he was a madman, but he did not expect for him to go to such lengths.

"What did you do to yourself?" asked the avenger in astonishment.

"It was simple really, all I did was gather our former master Orochimaru-sama's cells and tissues when he was in his true snake form, then I implanted those same cells and tissues".

"You're insane" replied Sasuke.

Kabuto frowned and shook his head disapprovingly, "I'd rather not use the term insane, and I'd like to think of myself as progressive and open-minded rather than being labeled insane. I swear Sasuke-kun; you are too quick to judge". He replied leaving Sasuke speechless.

"As you can see Sasuke-kun I evolved from being a human and know I am not only a dragon, I am a god, I am the perfection personified".

Konoha

The day of the summit drew closer as another week passes Konoha. Throughout that time Naruto was once again training, resting and hanging out with both the Pink-haired and Blond-haired angels.

Each and every day he felt as if he was advancing at an unheard of rate, the amount of knowledge and experience he gains everyday was simply astounding. He also found a library in the head of the Shodaime but it was much smaller as compared to his father's, he looked around and found countless Fuinjutsu scrolls and techniques and some medical research work of Hashirama and Mito.

During the course of the week Naruto also remained substantially busy because of the arrival of the delegates of other nations, people such as Chikara, Toki, Shion, Koyuki and Shibuki all began to arrive in Konoha one by one. All of the nations he sought help from replied, and each of them were more than willing to help Naruto and Konoha's reconstruction, it was the least they could do for everything Naruto had done for them in the past.

The genin teams Naruto sent all returned safely from their missions, the genin teams managed to send the letters he wrote himself and they also escorted the convoys back to Konoha, while the other genin teams sent to Yugakure and Kusagakure also returned brining the required resources and equipment to help with the rebuilding effort.

Even Tazuna's family and their building company arrived in Konoha; they were escorted by Team Ebisu. Upon arrival in Konoha none other than the remaining members of Team Seven greeted them by the Konoha entrance, seeing them brought nostalgia to the team, their mission to Nami no Kuni was their first of many major missions.

It felt like a lifetime ago when they left Konoha for their first C-Rank mission, but with Team Seven's knack for attracting trouble the mission turned into an A-Rank due to the arrival of a missing-nin, Momochi Zabuza. Despite the near-death experience for the team it brought them closer together, and it taught them valuable lessons, it was truly an eye-opening experience for the team.

For the rest of the day Team Seven, Tazuna, Inari and Tsunami caught up with each other while the rest of the building company settled themselves in Konoha, Yamato and Naruto's clones built shelter for the visiting builders using his Mokuton.

Team seven and Tazuna's family informed one another about the events from the past few years, Team Seven were pleasantly surprised to learn that Nami no Kuni was flourishing economically with the construction of the bridge, while Naruto specifically was honoured to learn that the bridge was dedicated and named after him. Even more surprising was the fact that Tazuna himself ran for the Daimyo of Nami no Kuni and won by a landslide, both Naruto and Sakura couldn't believe the fact that the old drunkard they used to know was now a Daimyo.

As for Tazuna and his family they were happy to learn that Naruto really did achieve his dream, but they were also saddened when they were told that Sasuke defected from Konoha, life has truly changed for both sides in some ways for the better and in some ways for the worse.

While the leader and political figures from various lands arrived in Konoha one by one, Naruto used this as an opportunity to strengthen the bonds and economy of his village, with him being relatively close friends with these leaders he managed to complete deals and alliances with each of them.

Naruto dealt with each of these political leaders individually, he managed to form trade agreements, trade routes, and alliances with all these lands.

For lands such as Nami no Kuni, Naruto and Tazuna managed to draw up an alliance which benefitted both sides, Konoha's economy is bolstered in this deal while in return Nami no Kuni's military and ninja system will be helped by Konoha.

Konoha will act as protection for Nami no Kuni, they will send ninjas there to help protect the land and to establish their own ninja academy and ninja system, other lands and nations also benefit from their agreements with Konoha.

For Yukigakure they help Konoha economically and technologically, the Land of Snow is known for their advanced technology and these will be a major boost for Konoha as well. In return for these they are also protected by Konoha.

The deals were quite similar to these, each of these lands signed treaties and agreements with Konoha and the Hi no Kuni, the council and the Fire Daimyo were more than impressed after hearing the good news. Konoha has now allied itself with smaller nations and villages, but despite their size each respective land was thriving in one way or another.

Konoha was quickly gaining allies in the form of Yukigakure, Takigakure, Oni no Kuni, Nami No Kuni, Tori no Kuni and Udon no Kuni, unfortunately despite the arrival of the leaders of these areas, Konan and Gaara were both unable to travel to Konoha, both however did send their own convoy of builders and their own personal representative.

The Amegakure representative gave Naruto a letter personally written by Konan, inside of the letter it told Naruto of the current events in Amegakure, during the past few weeks Konan had in fact successfully become Amekage and Naruto was happy to hear about that. At the moment however Konan was bus adjusting herself into her new role and fixing the problems of the previous regimes, but unfortunately due to her new role and duties she lacked the time to travel to Konoha with the convoy of builders she sent. She expressed her sincerest apologies of being unable to personally go to Konoha herself but she did congratulate Naruto in her letter.

Gaara on the other hand sent his old Jonin sensei Baki as the representative of Suna, Baki explained that Gaara was more than happy to learn that Naruto had achieved his lifelong dream to become Kage, now the both of them shared the same duties as leaders of their own respective village. Unfortunately Gaara also couldn't travel to Konoha because of the upcoming Five Kage Summit; he needed to prioritize that meeting, so instead he sent his builders to help with the rebuilding of Konoha. Gaara was also sorry and regretful that he could not go to Konoha himself to help oversee the reconstruction of the village.

Naruto perfectly understood their reasons; being a Kage himself he was more than aware of just how tiring and time-consuming it is to be a Kage. Instead he decided not to worry about it since he will see Gaara in a few days in the Summit meeting, and so from then on the days flew by quickly.

Konoha quickly learned of their new alliances and their new allies and the citizens and the council was more than pleased with these, Naruto was showing everyone that he was a capable leader and he was proving many doubters wrong once again. His fame was quickly rising among the people and his reputation was vastly improving each and every day.

As those days passed the reconstruction of Konoha was going at an unbelievable rate, with the amount of builders in Konoha at the moment the rebuilding was now much more efficient and less time consuming. Thankfully the Daimyo was also true to his word as he sent his own large group of builders to also help with the current ones already in Konoha. At the moment Yamato was still the official leader of the reconstruction effort, but Tazuna managed to name himself co-leader of the project and with his repertoire for building, there were no complaints whatsoever.

Today however was just another normal day so far for Naruto; he was training when he got the memory of one of the clones calling him back to his office, Naruto left his clones and went to his office and found Shikamaru also waiting for him and an explanation from the clone.

He sat on his chair and asked "Umm what's going on?"

The clone composed himself, he placed the manila folder he held onto the Hokage's desk, "Boss I think you need to read this" he said frantically.

"Why can't you just poof away so that I'll gain the memories?" asked the blonde Hokage curiously.

"Boss I think this is something you need to read for yourself" he said seriously, Naruto was surprised at the seriousness of his clone, he nodded as he opened the manila folder, and upon opening he noticed the title of the document, "The Uchiha Massacre" it said boldly on the front.

Shikamaru walked behind Naruto's seat to read the document alongside him, the two read it slowly and carefully as the clone watched in the background, as the deeper the two read into the article Naruto's eyes were gradually widening in shock, his teeth were also gritting themselves uncontrollably.

Once they reached the end of the folder Naruto looked up to his clone, "Tell Shizune to call the elders to my office, now" he said calmly, Naruto's clone nodded, since he was a part of Naruto he knew that Naruto was only acting calm, inside his emotions were all over the place.

Once the clone left Shikamaru looked over to Naruto, "Do you think that's real? Did all that really happen?" he asked still in an obvious state of shock.

"I don't know Shikamaru, but were going to find out" Naruto replied in a serious tone. He then dismissed his ANBU so that sensitive information does not leak out.

Shikamaru nodded and the two played the waiting game, they waited patiently for a few minutes until there was a knock on the door, Naruto told the person to enter and he scowled as he noticed the elders finally entering his office. They were confused by his expression but as they seated, Naruto held up the folder and shouted "What the hell is this?!"

All three of them were shocked to see that Naruto found out about the truth of the massacre, "Hokage-sama we could explain" said Koharu.

Naruto crossed his arms, "Then explain" he ordered.

"Hokage-sama this was probably one of Konoha's darkest days, the Uchiha were planning a coup and there was no other solution. We were running out of time and we had no other choice, Itachi agreed to carry out this mission" answered Koharu.

Before Koharu could continue on with her story Homura interjected, "I must say I have never met a finer young man that him. His dedication to our village was second to young, had things turned out differently I have no doubt that he would have been the Godaime Hokage. But that being said fate was not so kind to Itachi, he had to kill each and every man, woman and child in his clan to protect Konoha, but he could not kill his little brother" he said.

"Sasuke" Naruto said softly.

Homura nodded, "Yes, Uchiha Sasuke. Itachi only had one request before he completes his mission, it was to protect Sasuke and drive him away from the darkness. Itachi's goal was to help Konoha as a missing-nin and in fact he was Jiraiya and Hiruzen's inside man within the Akatsuki. He was secretly protecting you from being captured; his plan was also to make Sasuke hate him to the point of vengeance. The way he saw it Sasuke will use his hatred for him in order to exact revenge, and once he was killed by his little brother Sasuke will be seen as a hero in Konoha, and the Uchiha Clan's name would be redeemed by Sasuke's heroics. Unfortunately not everything turned out that way as you know" he continued, Naruto nodded as he soaked in all this information.

Naruto's respect for Itachi was growing tremendously; he couldn't believe just how selfless the man was. He had not known that Itachi was his sensei's spy within Akatsuki, it all made sense for him now as to how Jiraiya always managed to acquire top-tier information from the secret organization. His emotions were still wild and rampant after uncovering the dark truth of Konoha.

He looked towards the three elders once more with a hardened gaze, "Did you agree to it?" he asked.

The three elders reluctantly nodded, "Hai" they said simultaneously.

"Why would you agree to this? Do you know how many lives you cost, the three of you and even the old man caused the extinction of a clan, and it's because of you my best friend is currently the way he is" he said with a frustrated tone.

The three elders were usually calm and collected but after the outburst of the young Hokage something in Homura just snapped.

"What do you think we felt? Of course we felt guilty, for years we lived in guilt and grief knowing we ordered the death of hundreds of men and women, even children. Some were not even a year old, how do you think it felt having the blood of hundreds drench your hands. But this was the only way" he replied with the same amount of frustration as Naruto.

The young Hokage glared at the two elders, "Bullshit, there is always a way. You could have talked to them, you could have tried to convince them" he growled.

Koharu also lost her patience with the young Hokage, she slowly walked over to Naruto and slapped him on the face, Naruto was surprised by the actions of the female elder, he turned to face her after the slap and he was surprised to see that the older woman had tears falling down her face, Koharu's tears were a product of the guilt she continued to face up until today.

"Don't you think we tried? We had regular meetings with the Uchiha Clan Head, Sasuke and Itachi's father Uchiha Fugaku. We tried talking to him to stop the coup but it was to no avail, me, Hiruzen and Homura did our best to try and prevent this. The only one who didn't try was Danzo, in the end however there was nothing we could do and time was close at hand, we had to decide" she yelled.

"Tell us what would you have done? We knew that there was no changing the Uchiha Clan's mind, and as much as Hiruzen didn't want to do it, even he realized the situation before him. He is the Hokage as are you, the Hokage is tasked with protecting the people of Konoha above all, and the Uchiha Clan was endangering the livelihood of everyone in Konoha. Even your friend Sasuke is endangering Konoha with his affiliation with the Akatsuki" added Koharu.

"What do you plan on doing about this?" Homura asked curiously.

"I can bring him to the verge of Death but killing him is a burden that will haunt me my whole life." answered Naruto.

Koharu sighed as she interjected in "This isn't the first time we've experienced something such as this, this happened to Hashirama-sama and Hiruzen as well. Shodai-sama felt the same way about Madara as you do for Sasuke, and for most of his life he lived in denial of Madara's evil. But there soon came a time when Shodai-sama had to realize the truth about Madara, he was endangering Konoha and so with a heavy heart Hashirama-sama fought with Madara at the what we now know as the Valley of the End. Hashirama-sama was forced to kill Madara and although he felt great pain in killing the man he considered as a brother, he knew it had to be done to protect Konoha" said Koharu.

Homura nodded, "As for Hiruzen as you know he was the teacher of the Sannin. He taught Jiraiya, Tsunade and Orochimaru. Hiruzen was especially proud of Orochimaru, he was a once in a lifetime genius and although Hiruzen loved his students equally he always had a soft spot for Orochimaru. He trained them all to be the ninjas they are today and for a time he was preparing him to be his successor as Hokage. Unfortunately however Orochimaru quickly descended into the darkness and Hiruzen could not appoint him as Hokage; instead he chose Minato to be the Yondaime Hokage; a position which Orochimaru believed was rightfully his".

"Soon Hiruzen uncovered his dark secret about his experimentations within Konoha; before he could escape Hiruzen had a chance to kill him. But Hiruzen's feelings and relationship with Orochimaru clouded his judgement, he allowed him to leave. Had Hiruzen done the same as Hashirama-sama did don't you think we could have avoided so many tragedies? Maybe Hiruzen may have still been alive; maybe Sasuke may not have left the village. Even Jiraiya felt the same way with Orochimaru, but thankfully he quickly realized his mistakes. Think about this Hokage-sama, you are not the first one to experience this and as history shows us you need to stop him before he continues this dark road he is currently on" he continued.

Naruto stood there absolutely speechless; he couldn't utter a word after he listened to all this. He had to admit both Koharu and Homura made good points, deep down inside he knew what had to be done.

"So do you understand now Hokage-sama? None of us enjoyed doing what we did, but we did it to protect Konoha. Every night since the massacre I've felt responsible for the lives of hundreds, but had I not done that I may have been indirectly responsible for the deaths of thousands. This is what you have to understand Hokage-sama; your duty is to the people of Konoha and nothing more, they should be your top priority. You cannot jeopardize their safety because of a promise you made or because Sasuke was your friend. Hashirama-sama realized this earlier and he managed to stop Madara's evil before it continued, Hiruzen was too late to stop this and in the end he and the rest of Konoha suffered from his hesitation. This is just how being Hokage works, it is a difficult job with difficult decisions, but you have to put your personal feelings aside and focus on the betterment of Konoha and the safety of your people" Koharu said, she sympathized for Naruto, all this was a lot to take in for a man, let alone a 16 year old boy.

Naruto nodded slowly, "I understand, I may not like it but I see the points the both of you make. I love Konoha and I will never do anything to jeopardize its safety and the safety of its people".

Koharu smiled at the resolve of the young man, "So what are you going to do about Sasuke?" she asked.

Naruto looked at her with a fire lit in his eyes, "A part of me still believes there might be good in Sasuke, but I also realize as Hokage I need to change my priorities. As you said I could endanger everyone just because of my beliefs and relationship with Sasuke, and so I have decided to give Sasuke one last chance at redemption. The next time I see him I will give him one final opportunity to repent for his crimes and return to Konoha, but if he refuses I will personally deal with him myself" he answered.

The three elders seemed pleased; they nodded their head in understanding, "Allow me to give you one final piece of advice Hokage-sama. You say you managed to convince Pein to change his ways and so you feel as if you could change anybody, even Sasuke. But you fail to realize the reasons Pein was willing to change" Homura explained wisely.

"What do you mean by that?" Naruto asked curiously.

This time Danzo said for the first time "Pein changed because of his goal, his dream for peace was noble but the way he tried to achieve this goal was reprehensible. What I mean to say is deep inside Pein meant well and because of that you were able to change his views, as for Sasuke his goal was always vengeance and power. There was nothing noble about his views, there will be nothing that will make him want to change and there will be nothing that would open his eyes to see his mistakes. The differences between them are the intentions, and that is how I believe you managed to convince Pein and why I believe convincing Sasuke is futile"

Naruto nodded his head, "I understand what you are saying Danzo, but it is only one last chance for Sasuke. Trust me when if Sasuke decides not to return home I will see to it that the threat to Konoha is neutralized".

"Very good Hokage-sama, I'm sorry for slapping you earlier but I think we managed to help you with your problem. Remember if you ever have any problems or questions do not hesitate to contact us, we will help you the best we can, it is our jobs after all" replied Koharu with a small smile on her face.

Naruto looked at the elders with a serious gaze, "It's no problem Koharu-san and I should apologize to the both of you for screaming a while ago. I know now that my duty as the leader and protector of Konoha should always come first, and I understand why the Uchiha Massacre was done, I personally still don't like it but I understand that you had to do it to protect Konoha. I promise as Hokage that nothing like that will ever happen in my reign, I will find a way to break this hatred among all of us and I will bring peace to the shinobi world".

Homura walked over to Naruto and placed a hand on his shoulder, "We know you will, you will be the greatest Hokage Konoha has ever had and you will surpass all your predecessors. You just need to grow up and mature, but once you fix your flaws we have no doubt that you lead Konoha to an era of peace and prosperity for years to come. But for now we suggest preparing for your summit meeting, it's due to take place in just a few days" he said.

Naruto smiled at his two advisors, "Of course, I'll personally see to it now. Thank you once more for the help you both have given me, as for the Summit, call a council meeting tomorrow regarding that, I will split up the jobs and chose my body guards over there."

The two elders exited the office leaving Naruto and Danzo alone once again, both of them sat down and Naruto again asked "What information do you have?"

Danzo was sitting in his newly reinstated ROOT Base when he felt someone come from behind, without looking at him he said "So, you have finally come, Madara?"

"I see that you have gotten rid of that eye and have a new hand, so what propelled that decision?" asked Madara with his deep voice.

Danzo stoop up and turned around to face him and answered while sneering "That Uzumaki and his Sensory abilities, told me to get rid of that eye and burned it, such a powerful ability gone to waste."

Madara smirked behind his mask, his plans were going in the right direction with this, he was one step closer towards the Kyuubi Jinchuriki. He then said "I want to make you a deal, the Kyuubi Jinchuriki for the position of Hokage and I will then make you my partner in crime."

Danzo inwardly smirked but on the outside he asked "You and your minions attacked and nearly destroyed Konoha 3 times and two times, we lost our Kages, the Shodai because his injuries made him unfit to battle and the Yondaime because of a Self-sacrificing Jutsu, what are your true plans, Madara?"

Madara then said "I will tell you those later on, but for now. You should know that it has nothing to do with Konoha but I want your ROOT ninja to be at Tetsu no Kuni for the Kage Summit, I want to end all of them there, once and for all." And then Madara disappeared with his jutsu.

"He plans to attack on the Kage Summit Hokage-sama; it means that the rest of the Akatsuki will also be there including Sasuke, you will your final chance there, also Sai told me that he found their hideout and was able to fish out some information, he should be coming soon." Answered Danzo.

And just on that time someone knocked on the door and Sai entered with a scroll in his hands, he sat down and said "Hokage-sama, I was able to find out this important piece of information, you should see this" and Sai gave the scroll to Naruto who opened the scroll and Shikamaru and Danzo red the information and widened their eyes.

Naruto looked up at Sai and asked "Is this information accurate Sai?" Sai merely nodded and Naruto looked up at Shikamaru who was in deep thought, Naruto himself calmed down and thought what to do and an idea came to his mind, he motioned for everyone to sit down and said "The information is that the enemy has an army of 100,000 Zetsu made from Hashirama cells and the only possible way he got the chakra to make them is ..."

" The remaining 7 biju" interjected Shikamaru and Naruto nodded as Shikamaru continued "Not only that, but they can change even to the chakra signature, so except you, no one could detect them, even the Byakugan is a failure as well as the Inuzuka's nose and Aburames's bugs."

Naruto then sighed and said "Yes, Shikamaru and there is only one way to defeat them …. A Five-nation Alliance."

Everyone in the room was shocked when they heard this, not in the history, there was a Five-nation alliance but they had to agree that it was the only way to defeat Madara.

Sai then said "Hokage-sama, I planted another of my mouse on Madara, so when he or Zetsu will appear at the Summit, you will get the information."

"Good job Sai, everyone is dismissed" and with that Danzo and Sai left the room leaving Naruto and Shikamaru to think once again.

The summit day was drawing closer and today was a council meeting regarding that, Naruto himself had gotten pretty strong in the one month, he was now at Level 4 of weight seals and he decided not to upgrade them to Level 5 because of the Summit, he had mastered all 3 stages of Katon manipulation and 2 stages of Suiton manipulation, he had learnt various jutsus from scrolls or from Kakashi, he was able to perform lower and middle level Mokuton techniques perfectly but still required Sage Mode to do Higher Techniques such as Mokuton: Kajukai Korin (Wood Style: Deep Forest Bloom). He mastered the Doton element and learnt a few defensive Jutsus and he had also mastered the Futon element and learnt some new jutsus. His Chakra-enhanced punches were as strong as Sakura and he cut the time to enter Sage Mode by a lot.

He was able to enter the Toad Sage Mode in the blink of an eye and the new sage Mode in 3 seconds; he found out that his new Sage Mode was actually the Phoenix Sage Mode that Hashirama used.

Naruto asked the Phoenixes about Senjutsu training and found out that the new Sage Mode he was using was the Phoenix Sage Mode, when he asked Kurama, the fox replied "I battled against that person; of course, I knew what I was teaching you."

Naruto then asked Kyoishika that how Hashirama was able to learn it as he was as Senju. Kyoishika replied "Uzumaki and Senju valued family above anything else, so this contract belonged to both but the owners were the Uzumaki, you can do the same once you marry, your wives will be able to sign the contract but the contract will remain Uzumaki only."

Naruto then developed a powerful combination jutsus with Gamabunta and Kyoishika, where Gamabunta provided Oil, Kyoishika the fire and Naruto the wind, it was truly terrifying and the whole Hokage's Training ground burned down to nothing but ash but luckily, Naruto placed some Restoration seals over the ground so that it would return to its normal state and Naruto grew trees using Mokuton.

Kakashi and Sakura also improved a lot during this time, Kakashi was training in his Sharingan and Mangekyo abilities and he found out that he had a green Susanoo with a drill attached to the right hand and Kamui Shuriken; he was on the stage of Susanoo where he had weapons and the Susanoo was humanoid without its armor.

Naruto practiced his Mokuton jutsus with Kakashi's Susanoo and as Kakashi had nearly unlimited chakra to help him and his eyesight whenever needed. His limit with Susanoo was 15 minutes, Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu two times each and Kamui 4 times.

Sakura had completed her Doton training and was on the second stage of Katon manipulation and was about to complete first stage of Suiton manipulation.

Naruto arrived in the Council Chambers and sat down and motioned for Homura to speak. Homura stood up and spoke "As you know, we received a request from the Raikage for a Five-Kage Summit; Hokage-sama has called this meeting to split up jobs and discuss about his escorts for the Summit."

Naruto then spoke "ANBU, ROOT and Jonin will continue to take all the A and S-ranked missions, Tokubetsu Jonin will lead the B-ranked missions with Chunins as the teammates, Genin will only be permitted to D-ranked and C-ranked and C-ranked will be avoided as much as they can for the Genins.

"Shikaku-san along with Koharu-san and Homura-san will separate the missions; the Elders will complete the important paperwork as I have already sorted civilian matters until the next week.

"Tsunade-sama should wake up in the next 2-4 days and she will have Shizune and Sakura to fill her on the details. As for my bodyguards, I will take Nara Shikamaru and Hatake Kakashi."

Everyone seemed to agree with this and then Naruto looked at Hiashi and said "Hiashi-san, you have not paid for the last 15 years and you know it."

Hiashi frowned and said "Actually, Hokage-sama, I was hoping that you could help eradicate it and this point along with the contract will help me overcome the elders."

Naruto smiled and said "Of course, when I come back, I will do it; I found out Mito-sama's original seal and found out the contract, your elders have violated so many rules that I can disband your clan."

Hiashi paled and every member looked at Naruto in shock and wondered what had happened as Shikaku said "Considering that it involves Uzumaki Clan, Mito-sama and the Hyuga Clan, I think that this is related to the Caged Bird Seal"

Naruto nodded and said "Of course, Shikaku-san, I will reveal everything later, but for now all I can say is that the original seal design was not made to inflict pain upon the user and was made to protect the Dojutsu and the Hyuga Clan Elders changed it overtime."

"There's also one more thing, I plan to go through Uzushiogakure while returning and find out anything that is there." told Naruto to the Council.

Naruto dismissed the Council meeting and got ready for the Kage Summit in 2 days.

Konohagakure

The big day finally came, it was time for the Kages to depart and travel to the summit meeting in Tetsu no Kuni. Naruto, Kakashi and Shikamaru each prepared meticulously for the week long journey ahead of them. They packed their things and prepared their equipment, all three met in the Hokage's office before departing to head to the gates of Konoha.

As the three left the Hokage's tower they noticed all of Konoha seeing them off, once the three were seen by the large crowd they were given their congratulatory greetings, they were told good luck, they were wished for a safe journey and both Shikamaru and Kakashi were told to protect Naruto as best as they could.

While the three walked over to the northern gates of Konoha the people clapped, cheered and saluted their hero's departure. Once the three were at the front of the gates Naruto grinned and looked over at his two bodyguards.

"Are you two ready?" he asked.

Both Kakashi and Shikamaru grinned and Shikamaru answered "Ready as you are."

"I was born ready Naruto" replied Kakashi.

Naruto's grin widened, "That's what I like to hear, to Tetsu no Kuni we go" he declared.

Sunagakure

"You're late Kankuro" said the Godaime Kazekage Sabaku no Gaara.

"Sorry about that, I was working on a new trick" replied the puppet master Kankuro.

"Take care of yourself Kazekage-sama" said one citizen.

"Temari-san, Kankuro-san take care of the young Kazekage" yelled one of the citizens of Suna.

"We will don't worry, it's not like Gaara even needs any bodyguards" said Temari.

"Come on Temari, Kankuro it's time for us to go" Gaara said, the two nodded and the three began their journey.

'I wonder Naruto, was the letter given to me speaking the truth. I hope to see you in the summit my old friend' Gaara thought to himself as a small smile graced the corners of his lips.

Iwagakure

"Akatsuchi, Kurotsuchi take good care of him" yelled one of the bystanders.

"It's a pain going to a meeting at my age" complained Onoki the Sandaime Tsuchikage as he rubbed his aching lower back.

"Why not retire old man?" cheekily asked the Tsuchikage's granddaughter and bodyguard, Kurotsuchi.

"I'll take your luggage Tsuchikage-sama" said the large man known as Akatsuchi.

"No, no Akatsuchi I'll do it. I'm not as fragile as you brats think I am. I don't need your help" he said before placing the bag on his back, a second later a crack was heard and the Tsuchikage screamed in pain.

"Oh Kami my hips are in pain" he yelled.

In the back Kurotsuchi chuckled at the predicament of her grandfather, "So are you going to send someone in your place old man?" she asked.

"Are you kidding? I'm the Tsuchikage, the great and fearsome leader of Iwagakure" declared the Tsuchikage.

"I swear Gramps you're too stubborn for your own good" said Kurotsuchi.

Akatsuchi then lifted the old man and placed him in his shoulders, "Alright carry your own luggage, now let's go" he said.

Onoki the Tsuchikage attempted to rebel but it was to no avail, he wanted to appear powerful and dignified among his people but as he was being carried he simply looked like a child.

Kirigakure

"Take care of yourself now" said an elderly man as handed the Mizukage's hat to a beautiful woman with auburn red hair.

"I will and I swear on my name as Mizukage that I will fulfil my duty" replied Mei Terumi the Godaime Mizukage of Kirigakure.

The elderly man then turned to the Mizukage's bodyguards, "Please take care of her Ao, Chojuro".

"I…I think we'll be fine….thanks" Chojuro replied nervously, Ao looked at Chojuro disappointedly.

"Come now Chojuro, were the Mizukage's bodyguards, you're a member of the Seven Swordsmen, show some backbone" he said.

Mei squatted down to Chojuro's eye level, she smiled at the young man causing him to blush profusely; "I believe in you Chojuro, I feel safe with you guarding me" she said.

'She's so nice' Chojuro thought to himself.

"I swear, you kids nowadays. Just be a man and say yes ma'am, nobody needs to hear your mumbling" said Ao.

The Mizukage's expression quickly turned dark, 'A man…Need a man!?' she thought to herself. Mei then walked over to Ao, "Shut up or I'll kill you" she whispered in a sickly sweet voice causing Ao to shudder in fear.

"Come on let's go Chojuro, Ao" said the Mizukage.

Kumogakure

"Alright everything is set. Let's do this C, Darui" yelled A the Yondaime Raikage as he jumped out of the window in his office.

Darui and C remained behind and both sighed in exasperation, "Here we go again" mumbled Darui.

"Yeah, so it seems" replied C.

Akatsuki Base

The members of Akatsuki all gathered their equipment for their attack of the summit meetings. Once that was all over the eight members of the group headed off to Tetsu no Kuni.

One particular member was more excited than most, 'It's time we finally settle this Naruto. It's time to learn who the stronger brother was' he thought to himself with a maniacal grin.