Chapter 5 : The Summit and Reunion
It had been a few days since the Hokage along with his bodyguards departed, Sai was in his ROOT Quarters painting, his concentration was disturbed when he saw two of his ink mice come up to him, he picked them up and widened his eyes 'I gave of them to Danzo-sama and this one was planted on Madara, it proves that he came back, but what happened to Danzo-sama' thought a panicked Sai.
He pulled out two scrolls and the mice jumped onto each scroll, Sai read the one related to Danzo and widened his before he read the one related to Madara. He was now shocked when he read all this. He quickly rushed to the elders with this information and there was only one thought in his mind 'How much of a madman are you Madara.'
On his way he saw the Konoha 11, he stopped before them and said "Sakura, Neji, Kiba, Ino, come with me, there is something important" hearing his serious tone, all four followed him.
He busted the door to the Missions office and surprised the Elders and Shikaku; he then said "Elders, Shikaku-san, Hokage-sama and Danzo-sama are in danger."
Each eye widened upon hearing this, they motioned for Sai to sit down and explain, Sai told them about Danzo's mission and his special mice and said "For now, you need to know that Danzo-sama has been captured by Madara and he is planning on using him to attack Hokage-sama and the other Kages with the Akatsuki."
Everyone was dumbfounded but Sai broke the silence and said "I want to take these 4 with me to inform Hokage-sama and protect him as the other ANBU, ROOT and Jonin are away."
They nodded as Shikaku said "Sai along with Yamanaka Ino, Haruno Sakura, Inuzuka Kiba and Hyuga Neji, you are given an S-Rank borderline SS-Rank mission to go and inform the Hokage about this and protect him, you are to leave at once and the people in-charge will be Sai and Neji, GO!"
Everyone nodded and left to pack for the mission.
With Naruto
The Hokage and his two bodyguards were walking at a brisk pace on the way to the Land of Iron for the Five Kage Summit; the journey for the trio had been silent so far.
But their silence was quickly broken by a loud sneeze, courtesy of the Hokage, "Achoo!" he said as he rubbed his sniffling nose.
Shikamaru looked at Naruto with a raised eyebrow, "Hey Naruto, you alright? You weren't sick a while ago" he said.
"I think I'm alright, someone's probably just thinking about me" replied Naruto.
The Hokage's advisor rolled his eyes, "Somehow I really doubt that" he replied nonchalantly as he took another drag from his cigarette.
An annoyed tick quickly formed on Naruto's forehead, "Why is that so hard to believe Shikamaru?" he asked rhetorically, "And by the way if you keep that smoking habit of yours your only killing yourself in the long run".
"You can't really talk Naruto, with the amount of sodium you eat from all your ramen and junk food you probably shouldn't even be alive" replied Shikamaru.
Naruto tried to think of a smart and witty comeback but nothing came to mind, Kakashi smirked behind his book and mask as he watched the two bicker like little children, "He's got you there Naruto" he said.
Naruto glared mockingly at Kakashi and said "Stay out of this Sensei, this is between me and Shikamaru" he told the Sharingan Wielder.
Before Kakashi could reply the trio heard a rustling around the forestation surrounding the road, the three ninjas looked at each and nodded before preparing their individual weapons or jutsus.
"You can come out now, we know you're there" yelled Naruto as the three prepared for whoever may jump out of the trees and bushes around them.
The trio waited patiently for a few seconds, and then just like that around about twelve masked men jumped from the trees and bushes wielded kunai and swords, all of which were targeting Naruto.
As the masked ninjas ran towards the Hokage and his entourage, Naruto quickly went through hand seals, "Don't worry you two, I've got this" he told both Kakashi and Shikamaru.
"Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu" (Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique) yelled Naruto as he exhaled fireballs which blasted upon contact. The twelve ninjas all landed on the ground with a hard thud, and blood was soaking the floor around them, but despite the loss of blood they were experiencing, Naruto made sure not to target any of their vitals. He needed to know why they were attacking him first.
Shikamaru looked on surprised at the new fire technique of Naruto's, it was quite powerful and they could see that Naruto had not been slacking off in his training as of late. With the current progression Naruto was going through in terms of his ninja abilities, the two could only imagine how powerful Naruto would become years from now. Even at the age of sixteen he was already a Kage level ninja.
Meanwhile Naruto was walking over to one of the masked men lying on the floor, he pulled the mask away from his face and noticed that he appeared to be just an ordinary man; he didn't even have a Hitai-ate on.
"You're going to tell who you guys are and what you're doing, or else" Naruto said in a threatening manner.
The ninja gulped as he saw the Hokage, he hadn't expected the young man in front of him instead he and his fellow assailants were led to believe that Danzo would have been chosen as Hokage.
"Who are you? Are you really the Hokage?" he asked fearfully.
"I'm Uzumaki Naruto, the Rokudaime Hokage of Konoha. But the real question is who are you?" answered and asked Naruto in a threatening manner.
The ninja began to sweat from his forehead, he and his group have apparently been misinformed about the choice of Rokudaime Hokage, and now it seems they may pay the price for it.
"I'm s-sorry H-Ho-Hokage-sama, w-we thought the Hokage was g-going to be that snake Danzo. We were p-preparing to attack him" said the ninja as he stuttered out the response, he was both fearful and worried for his safety along with the safety of his comrades.
Naruto sighed and massaged his temples, he should have expected something such as this; "Of course this all leads back to Danzo" he mumbled to himself.
"What did Danzo do to you and your village?" asked Naruto.
The mysterious ninja didn't necessarily want to tell him about their feud with Danzo, but at the moment he had no choice but to do so, the ninja sighed before saying "He destroyed our small village and killed a few of us".
Naruto nodded in understanding, he looked at his assailant who was lying on the ground, "I'm sorry about what Danzo did but I am not Danzo. I am Uzumaki Naruto and I am the Hokage. I will give you all one chance to leave and we will not go after you, just as long as you will not attempt to harm me or anyone from Konoha ever again. Are we clear?"
The mysterious ninja nodded repeatedly, "Hai Hokage-sama, thank you for your mercy" he said before slowly waking up and gathering his fellow villagers. The group of ninjas left in a hurry as to avoid the wrath of the Hokage.
Shikamaru and Kakashi walked closer to Naruto and Shikamaru asked "Are you sure we should let them go? I mean they did attack us" said Shikamaru.
"I think they learnt their lesson, I can assure you they won't be bothering us again." replied Naruto.
"Don't worry Shikamaru, Naruto's right I doubt they'll try something as stupid as this again. We should probably leave now though, we wouldn't want to be late for the Summit" said Kakashi as he took out his book again and started giggling like fangirl and pervert.
The Hokage noticed the setting sun and said "We should probably set up camp in a while, it's getting quite dark" he continued.
Both Kakashi and Shikamaru noticed the same thing, the two bodyguards nodded before walking down the path to find a suitable camping location.
It had been a few days since their encounter with the mysterious group of ninjas, today the trio's journey made a stop by a small village within the Tetsu no Kuni and they were probably a day away from the summit venue.
But unfortunately due to a lack of supplies the trio were forced to stop by the small civilian village to restock with their equipment, food and water. The Hokage and his bodyguards quickly went around the small village purchasing supplies for the rest of their journey to the summit venue and back to Konoha. After they finished their shopping the three ninjas saw the skies darkening, rather than continuing their journey they decided to rent and rest at one of the nearby motels in the area.
They agreed to rest for the day and continue tomorrow as they rented a motel and went to sleep.
They woke up the next day to travel to the Summit and went on their way with only Naruto semi-aware of what is to come.
While Naruto, Kakashi and Shikamaru were making their way to the Summit another group was hoping to catch upto them. Sai, Neji, Kiba, Sakura and Ino were going at their full speed but knew that when they will reach the Summit, the meeting would already be in progress or worse, Akatsuki would be on the attack.
Meanwhile in Konoha
Tsunade, the Godaime Hokage of Konoha laid in a bed with her eyes closed shut, she had been in a coma for approximately a month because of the injuries she sustained from the invasion of Pein. Then out of the blue, her eyes fluttered open, the Hokage stifled a yawn and began to stretch out her old bones as she examined her surroundings. Tsunade cringed at the headache she felt, she began to rub her temples to lessen the migraine she was experiencing.
'Oh Kami this felt worse than any hangover I've ever had' she thought to herself before continuing to observe her current environment, the Godaime's eyes then widened as she recalled her memories before the coma she experienced.
Tsunade frantically stood up to look outside the window from inside the room, and the Sannin was both surprised and extremely happy to see Konoha citizens walking around and interacting with each other, and she was also thankful to see the infrastructure of Konoha having been rebuilt, or being in the process of being rebuilt. A large smile crept up to her face, 'Naruto, you did it' she proudly thought to herself as she began to remember Naruto's return to Konoha, before she suffered her unfortunate coma.
After a moment of admiring Konoha's survival she directed her attention to the room once more, and the first thing she noticed was that she was placed in a private medical room as she saw the charts and medications placed near her bed. The renowned medic-nin walked over to the charts and began to read the records on her well-being and health.
She was pleased to see that nothing too life-threatening happened to her; it was just a case of extreme chakra exhaustion and physical exhaustion causing her body to shut down for a certain amount of time. Having seen enough, the Godaime Hokage decided to head over to her old office to get an update of what has been going on since her coma.
Not wanting to make a scene due to the massive hangover-like migraine she was currently experiencing, Tsunade decided to use the quick and silent way to head over to her old office. The busty blonde woman vanished leaving a plume of smoke as she used the Shunshin to appear right in front of her old office in a matter of seconds.
Before she knocked she heard a couple of voices speaking inside the Hokage's office, Tsunade was began to grow curious, she slowly opened the door, and once the door was opened she stepped inside her office and she was greatly surprised to see her apprentice Shizune handing over a load of the dreaded paperwork to the Elders and Shikaku, who were already working through their own fair share of the mission scrolls.
Everyone quickly ceased their actions as they turned their attention towards the door, Shizune's eyes widened out of shock while the Elders and Shikaku merely looked in surprise at the return of the Godaime. Quickly in a blink of an eye, Shizune began to tear up as she dropped the large pile of paperwork she was carrying and ran up to hug her master. Tsunade was surprised by the sudden contact of her apprentice but it was to be expected, Shizune was like a daughter to her and she had practically raised her since Dan died. The former Hokage returned the affectionate hug while acknowledging the other three with a simple nod between them.
"Now, now Shizune I'm alright now" she whispered to her apprentice.
Shizune smiled and nodded as the two separated their hug, "I know Tsunade-sama but I'm just happy to see that you're back and that you're alright. You gave us all quite a scare when you had your coma" she replied.
Tsunade smiled warmly at Shizune and nodded in understanding, having experienced heart-breaking deaths and losses all throughout her lifetime she more than understood how it felt to lose a loved one.
After the greetings and pleasantries between Tsunade and everyone else, Tsunade smirked as she saw the position and said "So it looks like I've been not replaced that quickly, surprises me though, I mean you old crones never really liked me. But I can't believe you rebuilt Konoha without a leader" she said teasingly, a part of Tsunade loved being Hokage and being the leader of Konoha but even she had to admit that the job was too stressful and time-consuming than she would have preferred.
For Tsunade a part of her wanted to remain as Hokage but she realized early on that it wasn't the job for her, she had always been the Hokage mainly to honour the dreams and legacies left by her Grandfather the Shodai Hokage, her granduncle the Nidaime Hokage, her sensei the Sandaime Hokage, her little brother Nawaki, and her deceased lover Dan. But another reason she continued to hold on to the position was to wait and to help prepare Naruto until the time he was ready to finally take the mantle he was inevitably going to inherit.
Meanwhile the others was surprised by the sudden assumption of Tsunade and smirked and Shizune giggled which confused Tsunade, who looked at them with a confused expression.
Watching Tsunade's expression, Shikaku said "That actually isn't the case Tsunade-sama; we are just doing our jobs given to us by the new Hokage. The current and official Rokudaime Hokage was called to a Five Kage Summit and so he went to the Land or Iron to meet with the Raikage, Kazekage, Tsuchikage and Mizukage. Actually the real Hokage is…" before he could finish Tsunade began to radiate a strong KI as her chakra began to flare uncontrollably. They was slightly scared and confused as to what was happening, sweat began to pour from their forehead as they attempted to diffuse the situation.
On the other hand Tsunade was surprised to hear Shikaku's explanation; she began to ponder on possible Hokage candidates other than Kakashi and only one name really popped into her mind, the name she loathed since she was a genin, the name which caused her to release such intimidating KI.
"Tell me, is it Danzo?" she asked menacingly.
Shikaku sighed as he realized the source of the KI was the possibility of Danzo being Hokage, and not because of something he did. Everyone shook his head as Koharu replied "No Tsunade-sama, Danzo was thankfully not chosen as Hokage" upon hearing this Tsunade began to calm down.
Tsunade sighed profusely, "Sorry about that, it's just that I would rather die than have that man as Hokage. If he were made Hokage then my grandfather, granduncle and sensei would be rolling in their graves. That man is a menace to society" she said with venom laced in her voice.
They nodded in agreement, "Of course Tsunade-sama, I understand and it's no problem but Naruto changed that man's heart too" replied Shikaku.
Now she was confused, did Naruto change Danzo's heart, if yes, then she would smother him in her breasts but she asked another question "So tell me who's the Hokage?" she asked, before could reply Tsunade cringed and shuddered at the other possible candidates which popped into her mind.
The Godaime Hokage was still not fully comfortable with the other possible candidates for Hokage; she realized that most of the talented ninjas of Konoha had at least one screw loose, "Is it Shikaku? Or is it Anko? Oh Kami tell me it isn't Guy" she asked almost pleadingly.
Everyone shuddered at the thought of having Gai as Hokage, they could just see the 'youthful' laws he would place in Konoha, "No Tsunade-sama, thankfully Gai isn't the Hokage" replied Homura.
"Thank Kami, so who is it then? I can't think of any other candidates for the position" asked Tsunade.
"Actually Tsunade-sama, the Rokudaime Hokage is Naruto" replied Homura.
Tsunade blinked profusely clearly feeling confused, "Come again?" she asked.
"The Hokage is Naruto right now, he was chosen to be your successor" replied the advisor.
Tsunade began to laugh, which confused everyone, she then said "Come on you guys seriously, who's the Hokage?" she said while continually laughing.
They sighed and shook their head, it was clear that Tsunade had thought that they were playing a practical joke on her, "I'm not lying to you Tsunade, and it really is Naruto. He is the Rokudaime Hokage" said Koharu in a stern voice.
Tsunade's laughter quickly died down, and her complexion quickly paled, she had known that Naruto would one day be Hokage but she did not expect it to be this early, she looked at them eagerly with a straight face, "You're not lying are you?" she asked.
Everyone shook their heads and Shizune said "We are not lying to you Tsunade-sama; Naruto really was made your successor."
"Oh Kami, I think I need a drink" she said in desperation.
Shikaku gave the old Sannin a smile and said "Lucky for you Tsunade-sama we still have your sake bottles here underneath the desk" he said as he began to pull out a large sake bottle and a cup.
Shizune looked on in disapproval, but she couldn't really do anything about it, "Look you are not going to make a habit out of this, I am only going to make this one time an exception because you just returned from your coma" she scolded.
"Calm down Shizune, don't worry I could handle myself" replied Tsunade.
Shizune rolled her eyes but nodded anyway, then she grabbed the sake bottles and poured some on the cup on the table, she made sure not to put too much in order to moderate her.
Tsunade quickly grabbed her cup and chugged her drink, after the strong tingling sensation she felt in her palate from the alcohol she consumed, she stared at them with a demanding expression.
"All of you are going to tell me what the hell happened while I was in a coma, and you are going to tell me what Naruto has done so far" she ordered as they nodded in understanding.
"Of course Tsunade-sama, have a seat first since this may take a while" said Homura.
Tsunade walked over to the seats in front of the desk and sat comfortably while waiting for their explanation.
"Alright now, spit it out" she said clearly losing her patience.
Shikaku began to recall the events of the past month and said "Well it all started when Naruto…"
"Achoo!"
"Dammit not again" muttered Naruto as he began to rub his nose to cease the sneezing.
"You alright?" asked the Hokage's advisor, Shikamaru.
"Yeah I'm alright don't worry, I might just be getting more popular than I realized" replied the blonde Jinchuriki.
Shikamaru rolled his eyes; he didn't want to have that argument with Naruto again.
Naruto, Shikamaru and Kakashi walked continuously to the summit venue, and even though their nervousness and anxiety were increasing each step they took, they remained confident in their respective roles and abilities. This meeting was vital for all the countries and the three of them have never experienced something like this or something of this magnitude; but after a while they began to see the outline of the summit venue, the three ninjas were amazed at the design and the location of the summit venue.
After admiring the breath-taking landscape before them, Naruto glanced towards his two bodyguards, "You guys ready for this?" he asked.
Both Shikamaru and Kakashi smirked confidently and nodded, Naruto smiled back at the two with a healthy balance of excitement and nervousness; "Well then I guess it's showtime" he said.
Shikamaru and Kakashi were in their Jonin outfit and smiled when they found out that Naruto had actually picked his outfit just to piss off the Tsuchikage and Raikage.
Naruto was wearing the standard Konoha Jonin outfit with his holsters and pouches at the same places; he had a red Haori with black flames at the bottom and Kanji for Sage on the Back in Golden Letters. He had his shoulder plates and Shin Guards as well. He also had the Toad Summoning contract on his lower back and the Phoenix Summoning one on his middle back. He also had his Katanas in the same places; all in all, he looked like true all-rounded Shinobi.
Inside the Venue
C tried to sense the Chakra Signatures outside and fell on his knees heavily panting with a small trail of blood out of his mouth, this alerted everyone. Darui picked him and asked "What happened C?"
C straightened up and said "The Hokage has arrived, there is one with Jonin-Level reserves and one with Kage-Level but one person has Biju-level reserves, probably the Hokage, he dwarfs everyone here."
Everyone was stunned at this revelation except Gaara who just smirked which went unnoticed by everyone because the Tsuchikage and Raikage were in deep thought about this person while the Mizukage wanted to see if this man was handsome or not, if so, then his stamina will be a monstrous one.
Outside the Venue
The three of walked to the summit venue with a newfound confidence and a swagger in their step. The trio from Konoha continued to walk towards the entrance of the summit venue until they someone call out to them.
"Halt, who goes there?" asked one of the approaching samurai, Naruto examined the man and deduced that he was among the security for the summit.
Naruto gave the group of samurai a foxy grin while pointing at his hat, the samurai looked on surprised but his expression was hidden by the masks of their uniform.
"I'm sorry Hokage-sama, it's just that we didn't notice it was you approaching" the samurai said nervously, internally hoping he didn't do anything to annoy one of the Kages.
Naruto shook his head, "No need to apologize, you were just doing your job. So has everyone else arrived or am I the first?" he asked.
The masked samurai breathed out a sigh of relief, "Arigato Hokage-sama. You are actually the last to arrive here in the summit, but the four other Kages just arrived earlier today" he answered.
Naruto nodded in understanding, "That's good, didn't want to make a bad first impression with the other Kages" he said with his confident and classic smile adorning his face.
"Would you like for us to escort you to the meeting room Hokage-sama? Seeing as how it's your first time here" asked the Samurai.
"Thanks that would be great" replied Naruto.
The samurai nodded and the group directed Naruto, Shikamaru and Kakashi to the top floor of the summit venue, as the three Konoha ninjas walked around the summit venue they were in awe of the interior designing of the area.
After climbing up the various stairs within the large building, the group arrived in front of the gates for the summit venue, before entering the samurai all bowed at Naruto before returning to their posts. Naruto guessed that this was their stop, he breathed in and out to calm himself down, and this was his first time meeting with the other Kages aside from Gaara. He could only imagine how the Raikage, Tsuchikage and Mizukage would look and act, this was the gathering of the strongest and most powerful ninjas in the world and now Naruto was a part of that selective group.
Once he was ready Naruto opened the door and walked in the room with Shikamaru at his right side, and Kakashi at his left. Upon entering Naruto noticed that all eyes were on him, from first glance he could see a mixture of reactions from each of the Kages and their bodyguards, the most common reaction seemed to be shock.
The Tsuchikage's eyes were widened as he saw Naruto's appearance; it was as if the man saw a ghost from the past. The similarities from the appearance up until the attire were simply unmistakable, the old man rubbed his eyes and blinked to see if his old age was simply deceiving him. But it appeared to be accurate, Onoki glared at the young Hokage hoping to further examine if whether or not he was related somehow to Iwagakure's greatest enemy, the Yondaime Hokage.
The Raikage was also surprised but not nearly as much as the Tsuchikage; it was likely because of the prior knowledge from the team he sent to Konoha. But he did sense a familiarity when he saw the Hokage arrive, it reminded him of one of his rivals in the past, he shook his head realizing that it was impossible seeing as how it was known that Minato never had a child. For all he knew it was simply coincidental.
The Mizukage was on the other hand seemingly unaffected, but Naruto noticed that the woman licked her lips suggestively. Gaara on the other hand didn't seem surprised at all; instead he looked on proudly as a friend upon seeing Naruto's arrival as the Hokage of Konoha, both he and Naruto kept their promises to each other to become the Kages of their respective homes and villages.
Seeing as how everyone was still slightly pre-occupied with his sudden arrival, Naruto quickly studied the area and the people participating in the meeting.
The first thing Naruto noticed was the layout of the room, there was a U-shaped table in the meeting room and the table was separated into five parts, and behind each part was a banner with the Kanji of a respective element probably to designate where each Kage will sit.
The table had the banner for fire in the middle; this was where Naruto was to sit seeing as how he was the Hokage and the leader of the Land of Fire. To the left of that would be the banner for earth, and with that the Tsuchikage's seat. Then beside the Tsuchikage, further left of the Hokage was the Raikage.
On the right side of Naruto's seat sat Konoha's allies and the man representing the Kaze no Kuni, the Kazekage. Then finally beside the Kazekage's seat was the seat for the Mizukage, the leader of the Mizu no Kuni. But there was one final table in front of the U-shaped table for the Kages, this one unlike the other was a much smaller table and was apparently for the mediator of the summit and the leader of the samurai of the Tetsu no Kuni.
Then Naruto observed the other participants in the room, he first noticed Gaara and his two siblings Kankuro and Temari. Seeing as how both groups were friends they nodded to each other in acknowledgement, and despite Gaara's rather stoic and serious personality, even Naruto could see a sly grin on his fellow Kage's face. While the two Kages and friends greeted one another, Shikamaru and Temari also nodded at each as a form of acknowledgement, and even Shikamaru could see a teasing grin forming on Temari's face.
Shikamaru rolled his eyes at annoyance, 'Women, how troublesome' he thought to himself.
After the quick and subtle greeting between both groups Naruto began to walk over to his seat while studying his contemporaries. At first glance they were all a strange looking bunch to say the least, the Tsuchikage appeared to be a short grumpy old man while the Raikage appeared to be a large muscular man. But as Naruto's eyes glanced towards the Mizukage he instantly blushed at the sight of the slender yet beautiful auburn-haired woman. Naruto quickly tried to break eye contact in order to hide his flushed face, unknown to him the Mizukage caught his lingering eyes and smirked.
'Looks like I still got it' she thought to herself with a grin.
Naruto didn't have enough time to study the bodyguards but as he sat down on his seat he finally managed to get a good luck mediator of the summit, it was an elderly old man who wore a classic samurai outfit. Kakashi and Shikamaru also walked behind Naruto and stood behind him patiently waiting for the summit meeting to finally begin.
Mifune looked around the room and decided it was time to begin and said "Thank you everybody for your presence, I am Mifune and I will be the mediator of this summit. As all of you know this meeting has been called upon by the Raikage, and while you are all at this meeting there will be no violence whatsoever within the borders of Tetsu no Kuni. Are we all clear on that?"
Each of the five Kages nodded and Mifune was pleased with how things were going so far and ordered "Good before we begin could you all please place your hats on the table" each Kage did as they were told. The five symbolic hats were now placed on their table.
"Excellent, now I think it would be best for us to begin our introductions first seeing as how we seem to have newcomers as Kages" he said obviously pointing towards Naruto, Gaara and Mei.
The introductions began with the Raikage, "I am A, the Yondaime Raikage of Kumogakure no Sato" he exclaimed loudly and proudly.
The Tsuchikage scowled at the volume of the Raikage's voice, but before he could complain he suddenly noticed that he was next in the introductions, "I am Onoki of Both Scales and I am the Sandaime Tsuchikage of Iwagakure no Sato" he proclaimed just as proud as A had previously.
Naruto cleared his throat since he was next, he noticed that the elderly man beside him continued to glare and study his features, Naruto had a sneaking suspicion it was due to his resemblance to his father. But not wanting to divulge that information yet he ignored it for now, "I am Uzumaki Naruto and I am the Rokudaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato" he said.
Naruto then looked at his old friend Gaara expecting his introduction, "I am Sabaku no Gaara, the Godaime Kazekage of Sunagakure no Sato" said the former Ichibi Jinchuriki.
The four then directed their attention to the final Kage, "I am Terumi Mei and I am the Godaime Mizukage of Kirigakure no Sato" she declared just as proud as the others did.
Mifune nodded, "Excellent now we were all called here to…" before the samurai mediator could continue there was an interruption coming from the Raikage.
"Before we begin, I would actually want to know how there has been a Rokudaime Hokage in Konoha already, all of us already know of how the new Kazekage and Mizukage came to be but we were all expecting Tsunade-sama to be the Hokage for this meeting" A interjected.
"I think most of us will all agree that we are surprised to see you rather than Tsunade representing Konoha as the Hokage" Onoki added with a small hint of malice which nobody seemed to notice.
Naruto noticed that everyone looked at him in anticipation; he couldn't help but sigh since he didn't want to reveal such information so early during the meeting.
He answered "I would like to focus on the current tasks but if you all want to know, then, it can't be helped. My village was attacked by the Leader of the Akatsuki who destroyed the whole village and forced Godaime-sama Senju Tsunade into a coma. In her stead I battled him and defeated him and was chosen as Tsunade-sama's Successor, he was also the responsible for Jiraiya-sama's death."
Now, everyone was even more interested as someone who not even two of the Sannin could defeat was no joke. The Mizukage then asked "How was he so powerful, you are saying that basically he was more powerful than any Kage here, defeating two and killing a member of the Sannin is no joke."
Naruto groaned which led to the twitching eyebrows of all the Kages and Mifune, even Gaara because he wanted to know the details of the invasion.
Naruto then said "That man held the Rinnegan" which led to gasps of shock all across the room.
The Rinnegan was a power thought to be a myth, at least until now. It was known to have only been wielded by one man throughout the course of time, and that one man was the legendary Sage of the Six Paths. The ninjas looked at Naruto with wide eyes, they couldn't believe what he had just said, a man as young as him defeating a Rinnegan wielder. While the Mizukage, Tsuchikage and Raikage continued to look at him in shock, Gaara deduced that Naruto may have used the Kyuubi's power to defeat such a man.
"Are you sure that this Pein you speak of actually held the Rinnegan? Surely he won't be defeated that easily?" asked the Mizukage.
Naruto nodded confirming her statements, "Yes I am certain it was the Rinnegan, the eyes matched the description, and I never said that my battle was easy. In fact it was anything but easy, it truly took... everything inside of me to defeat him" he said as Gaara's eyes widened fractionally. The Kazekage's suspicions were proven to be correct.
Mei smirked at the young Hokage and winked at him suggestively, Naruto serious demeanour was quickly deteriorating, he continued to try and keep a straight face but it was to no avail as blush suddenly adorned his cheeks. Behind him both his bodyguards shook their heads and Kakashi had a perverted grin despite how pure and dense Naruto may seem to be, deep down inside they knew he had a little perverted side, it was inevitable for it to happen to him seeing as how his main influences throughout his life has been major perverts, aside from Jiraiya there has been himself, the Sandaime Hokage and their academy sensei Iruka.
The Raikage also noticed this but paid no mind to it, 'Stupid Kids' he thought to himself.
"If you truly defeated this Akatsuki member, then you won't mind if we learn how you did it. Please indulge us as to how a kid like you could beat someone like that" Onoki said arrogantly.
Naruto's teeth began to grit at the cheeky and sly insult from the Tsuchikage, "Well old man" Naruto said emphasizing the word old, "A quick word of advice would be not to judge a book by its cover. That is the first rule of being a ninja after all" he replied with a smug and shit-eating grin.
Onoki stared at Naruto in annoyance but before he could reply he heard a small laugh coming from behind him, he checked only to be left in disbelief as he saw his granddaughter, Kurotsuchi laughing at him.
"He sure got you gramps" she said in between chuckles.
Before any of the Kages could continue Mifune grabbed his gavel and banged it on the table, gaining all the attention from the Kages and their respective bodyguards.
"I think we've had enough of this, I believe it's time for us to begin" he said in a serious tone, the five Kages all ceased their petty squabbles and cheap talks as they got back down to business.
Mifune looked around the room and was pleased to see that everyone did in fact settle down, each of them appeared to be finally ready for the meeting.
"Excellent, now who would want to begin?" asked the leader of the samurai.
"I'll go first, so listen up" Gaara blurted out as the room all stared at the Kazekage awaiting for his statement.
Before Gaara could begin his statement Onoki once again interrupted "The makeup of Kages have changed over the years and you must be something special to be named as a Kage at your age" he said in a somewhat condescending tone before further continuing, "Your father must have taught you right, but it seems he may have forgotten to teach you manners".
Gaara flinched at the mention of his father but nobody seemed to notice, Onoki's eyes glanced at Naruto for a second and thought 'Maybe the same thing could apply to that other brat' he thought to himself.
"Tsuchikage-dono I suggest we stop all this nonsense and interruptions, I for one would like to begin the meeting already" Mei said impatiently.
The Tsuchikage huffed in annoyance, "The youth these days and their disrespect" he softly muttered to himself.
Gaara glanced at the Mizukage and nodded as a sign of his appreciation before finally beginning his speech, "I am here as a former host of one of the Biju. I nearly died when Akatsuki captured me and extracted the Ichibi from me, Akatsuki is a criminal group consisting of S-Rank ninjas and they are a danger towards our society" he said in a casual and nonchalant manner while gaining the surprised looks of his Kage contemporaries, except for his fellow Jinchuriki, Naruto.
"I have continually requested from the Kages and lands only to be rejected, the only one to heed my calls for help was the Godaime Hokage. Though at this point it may seem pointless seeing as how most of the tailed beasts have already been captured by the Akatsuki"
The old Tsuchikage snorted indignantly and said "If one country had its host captured it has no right to give other countries orders. It's an embarrassment; you should have tried to recover it secretly. Once it's stolen you can't expect other countries to help you".
"Tch, who the hell cares about all this bullshit about appearance? What kind of stupid old-fashioned mindset is that? All that matters is the safety of our people and nothing else, Jinchuriki included" interjected the Hokage, Naruto was clearly beginning to feel frustrated by the outdated ideas of the Tsuchikage, and even Gaara had to agree with his friend.
"Hmph you two are just brats. You are both too young to fully understand the intricacies of this world, what were Konoha and Suna thinking having two kids rule as their leaders" said the Tsuchikage causing both Naruto and Gaara to glare at him.
Before the situation escalated the Mizukage decided to intervene and diffuse the situation, "Just because the biju have been stolen doesn't mean we should panic. It will take years before Akatsuki could learn how to control them" she said out of the blue.
Onoki adopted a thinking pose as he tried to recall his knowledge on the topic, "If I'm not mistaken the hosts must grow with the beast in order for them to both adapt to one another. And even then control is difficult, it will be a long and difficult process I'll tell you that. In fact I have only known or heard of five people who has held the power to control the tailed beasts. Three of them were former Jinchuriki, Killer Bee the Raikage's brother was one of them, and so was the Yondaime Mizukage Yagura and Nii Yugito of Kumo" he explained.
"But there have been two other people who have managed to control the tailed beasts but none of them were Jinchuriki. To this day they were two of the most powerful ninjas I have ever seen and they could strike fear in any man's hearts. They were the Shodai Hokage Senju Hashirama and his rival Uchiha Madara. I thank Kami that the Shodai never became like Madara. That man is the only one I have ever feared, my fear for him even dates back to when I was just a young lad learning from my master, the Nidaime Tsuchikage" he said as he remembered his encounters with the legendary Uchiha during the days of his youth, the memories were engrained in his brain and he could remember it vividly as if it were yesterday.
The room fell silent at the Tsuchikage's old story, Naruto tried to hold his anxiety inside as he recalled his father telling him that Madara was behind all of this. If Madara was just as strong and frightening as the Tsuchikage said he was, then things were going to be more complicated then he first expected.
The room's silence was quickly destroyed as the Raikage stood up from his seat and punched the table in front of him, quickly destroying it with his hand engulfed with lightning, "Enough with all this mindless rambling" he yelled with fury and rage.
The four other Kages remained silent and unaffected, not one flinched but all the bodyguards raced in front of their respective Kage as a form of protection. In front of the Tsuchikage both Kurotsuchi and Akatsuchi prepared themselves with their respective Taijutsu stances.
Meanwhile Darui unsheathed his sword and stood in front of the Raikage while C was prepared to use his Genjutsu for anyone to possibly harm his leader. As for the Mizukage's bodyguards, Chojuro kneeled in Mifune's table and had his sword, the Hiramekarei directly pointed at the Raikage and his two bodyguards while Ao stood behind Chojuro but ready to form hand seals for his water based ninjutsu at a moment's notice.
Gaara's siblings also stood in front of him protectively, Temari had her trusty fan unleashed while Kankuro unveiled his own modified version of the Sasori Puppet. Both Kakashi and Shikamaru were also quick to act despite this being their first time in such a situation, Kakashi jumped in front of Naruto's table with his Mangekyo unleashed and blazing, Shikamaru on the other hand had both of Asuma's chakra blades ready to protect the Hokage.
Nobody dared move among the bodyguards and Kages, one small infraction could cause an international incident among these five nations. But everyone was surprised when they saw Hatake Kakashi with two Sharingan and the fact that he could deactivate them, it explained to them why he did not have his Hitai-ate over his eye.
"We are here to talk as civilized individuals, please all of you refrain from such barbaric acts" Mifune scolded calmly, but none of the bodyguards seemed to be affected, they waited for their orders from their respective Kages.
"Stand down Sensei, Shikamaru. There's no need for this" said Naruto, both his bodyguards looked at each and nodded before walking behind Naruto to resume their previous positions.
After Naruto's choice to stand down first, one by one the other Kages ordered their bodyguards to follow suit, but before Ao the Mizukage's bodyguard returned he was stopped by the Mizukage herself.
But before she could say anything Naruto beat her to it "I would appreciate that when he passes away, it is returned back to us Mizukage-dono."
The Mizukage along with Ao and Chojuro were shocked when they heard this, the fact that he found out about Ao's Dojutsu said something about his sensory abilities.
Naruto just smirked and answered "Just joking, it is a spoil of war; we can't do anything."
Once all the bodyguards returned the meeting commenced once more, during that whole time the Raikage remained standing up without being intimidated by the bodyguards of the other Kages.
"Konoha! Kiri! Iwa! Suna! Akatsuki is made up of your missing-nin, and that's not all; I know for a fact that there are some of you, including your former Kages who have used Akatsuki for their benefit" he declared as both Naruto and Gaara's eyes widened.
'What the hell does he mean? Who would use Akatsuki?' Naruto frantically thought.
A remained stoic and intimidating as he stood in front of his peers, "I don't trust any of you, but I was forced to call all of you here to determine where all your loyalties lie!"
"What are you talking about? Using Akatsuki? Who would do that?" Gaara asked in a confused tone.
A laughed mirthlessly before pointing at Gaara accusingly, "You should know Kazekage. Go ask your elders, you have used the Akatsuki to help win you wars in the past" he cited loudly.
"This is why both of you are too young for this job" said the old Tsuchikage, "Right now all our countries are enjoying a time of peace and prosperity. We are evolving from a military movement into a disarmament, and as the tensions decrease the possibility of war grows significantly slimmer. But unfortunately militaries and armies drain a country's resources rather quickly, but if a war were to break out said villages cannot rely on unproven and untested ninjas to fight for them during battle. Losing the war will be inevitable".
Naruto's eyes widened and before Onoki could finish he looked at the two oldest Kages in disbelief, "So to counter that you had to use a mercenary or military force for hire. You used the Akatsuki" he said as Onoki nodded with a smirk.
"Correct you are young Hokage, it was too costly and time consuming for a village to produce their own military force. But the Akatsuki were powerful and one of them could account for an army already, not to mention the fact that they go on as pairs. Plus they were always relatively cheap to use and they were always accessible. As for the results, let's just say they never disappointed"
"Enough with this Tsuchikage" yelled A as he began to grow impatient and flustered with the direction of the meeting, "I don't want to hear about any more of this. We all know Suna used Orochimaru to attack Konoha, but we are unsure if Orochimaru was still a member of Akatsuki at the time. But unfortunately because of that attack the Yondaime Kazekage and the Sandaime Hokage died as a result" said the Raikage causing both Naruto and Gaara to flinch at the mention of both former Kages.
For Gaara the memories of his father were still nightmares for him, and the guilt of having a major role in the invasion of Konoha ate away at him, especially seeing as how Konoha always came to his aid as the Kazekage.
Naruto was also feeling gloomy at the mention of the Sandaime Hokage, that man played major role in his life as his first friend and his grandfather figure. Naruto knew the old man died happy because he protected Konoha one last time as its Hokage. But Naruto still wished that the man he dubbed as "Jiji" was alive to at least witness his ascension as the Hokage of Konoha.
Both young Kages were broken off their reverie once A continued his speech, "Kirigakure for me is the most suspicious. It is a known fact that you have no diplomatic relationships with any of the other countries, and rumours even say that Akatsuki were formed there".
Mei sighed at the accusations of the Raikage, as much as he wanted to refute and counter them, the accusations were all unwarranted. Thankfully though Kiri was reforming them after the rebellion was finally over, now that Mei led her homeland as the Mizukage she wanted nothing else but to change the old ways of the Bloody Mist Village and revert it back to simply the Mist Village.
"Truthfully, we have suspicions concerning my predecessor, Yagura. We have reason to believe that Yagura may have been controlled by someone else, someone operating from the darkness. It's possible that Akatsuki may have something to do with this" said the Mizukage gaining shocked looks by her fellow Kages.
Naruto appeared most affected by that statement, it matched with his father's suspicions concerning Madara and he could now understand why the man was so dangerous.
"I think I may know who controlled your former Mizukage" Naruto blurted, the four other Kages all turned to Naruto as they waited for his explanation.
"Well then, tell us" demanded the Raikage.
Naruto sighed as he began to recall his brief conversation with his father, "I cannot tell you my sources but you all have to trust me on this. I have reason to believe that the one responsible for this was the real leader of Akatsuki, a person claiming to be Uchiha Madara" Naruto confessed, he looked at each of his fellow Kages and he could see they all appeared to be in disbelief.
"Impossible, he was killed a longtime ago by the Shodai Hokage" A yelled incredulously.
"Actually Raikage, for some reason I believe him. I've faced Uchiha Madara and nothing seems impossible for him, the man was crafty and sly, I wouldn't be surprised if he managed to trick his way out of death. And I wouldn't be surprised if he learned the secrets of immortality, Madara was just that powerful, Madara was a monster" Onoki said with a sense of fear in his voice.
The room fell deathly silent and the morale of each of the Kages faltered, just the simple mention of Madara devastated the hopes of everyone in the room. Naruto sensed all the negative emotions and low morale around the room; he decided he needed to act now if they would stand a chance of battling Madara and the Akatsuki.
He said "I said that the person was claiming to be Madara not Madara himself."
Each Kage looked at him in disbelief and their faces told him that they were demanding an explanation, he sighed and said " Yagura was a Jinchuriki, so only someone with a Sharingan would have been able to control him, also the Kyuubi attack on Konoha 16 years ago was caused by a person who matched the description, the Yondaime Hokage told the Sandaime about this during his dying breath that someone was controlling the Kyuubi all those years ago, as for where Akatsuki started, Nagato told me that it was in Ame not Kiri."
The Mizukage nodded and winked at Naruto acknowledging his effort, Naruto was still trying to be serious despite all that.
Gaara then asked "Was this member that Tobi?"
Naruto nodded and everyone began thinking and fending off Negative emotions. Naruto sensed this and decided to do something.
The young Hokage quickly stood up from his seat, he looked across the room and grinned once he saw that he now had everybody's attention, it was now or never.
"I know the odds may seem great with this Fake Madara and Akatsuki as our opponents, but we are Kages for a reason and we lead the great hidden villages for a reason. We are the most powerful ninjas across the land and we have control of multiple armies. Akatsuki should be the ones fearing us; it should not be the other way around. This is why I propose an alliance, we need to make a Five Nation Alliance to combat and exterminate this Akatsuki threat once and for all" he said in his usual charismatic and energetic way. This little speech he made quickly brightened the moods of the other Kages; they realized that they were in fact a collection of the strongest powers in the world. If they all joined alongside one another there was nothing that could possibly stop them, not even Akatsuki.
Mifune grinned as he watched Naruto take the meeting over, 'I was going to suggest the same thing. But it seems you beat me to it. You're an interesting person Uzumaki Naruto, I wish to see how your destiny turns out' he thought to himself.
"An Alliance!?" said the Raikage, A was contemplating the pros and cons of such as action and he had to agree with the Hokage's idea, "I am all for this" he exclaimed.
"The chain of command for this alliance should be uniform" added Mifune as all the other Kages nodded in agreement.
Behind Naruto and Gaara, their bodyguards were intrigued with the current decisions of the Kages, both Temari and Kankuro were surprised by Naruto's suggestion and his ability to lead.
'It looks like the brat grew up, now only if that damn lazy bastard could do the same' Temari thought to herself.
'Naruto has really changed since we last saw each other' Kankuro said to himself.
Shikamaru and Kakashi both had grins on their face as they witnessed what Naruto did best, and that was to bring people together. The young Hokage had an uncanny ability to inspire people and he doesn't seem to disappoint.
Back with the Kages, each of them thought of the possible ways to form this alliance, "Who should lead this alliance?" asked Onoki.
Mifune adopted a thinking pose as he pondered on a way in which a leader could be chosen among the five of them and declared "I believe I may have a solution to choose a leader."
"You five will only fight for the right to lead this alliance, as the neutral party I will decide who is best fit to lead this alliance. I hope you respect my position as the neutral party in all of this" said Mifune.
The Five Kages all nodded in agreement, this was the best, most unbiased and efficient way in order to find out who was best for the job.
"This may take me some time so I suggest for all of you to patiently wait here while I assess the situation. I will head over to a private room and there I will begin to evaluate the pros and cons of each of your cases" Mifune explained.
All five Kages once again agreed, it was now time to play the waiting game as they watched Mifune leave the room with his two samurai bodyguards.
Naruto sighed and shook his head once the neutral party was gone, 'This is going to be one long wait' he said to himself.
Outside the Summit Venue
The Akatsuki all stood atop the roof of the summit venue, the group of missing-nin prepared for their upcoming battles with the world's most powerful ninjas. Each of them wore the black Akatsuki robe with the red clouds; it was for them to be recognized as Akatsuki. It was time for the world to know the true extent of their power.
The group of nine ninjas consisted of Uchiha Sasuke, Jugo, Hozuki Suigetsu, Hoshigaki Kisame, Zetsu, Yakushi Kabuto, Uzumaki Karin, a Sharingan-influenced Shimura Danzo and their leader Uchiha Madara.
Madara walked in front of the small group and examined his band of criminals and outlaws and said "Are you all ready? There's no more turning back" he warned.
Nobody seemed unaffected by the warnings of the legendary Uchiha, Madara grinned underneath his mask. The silence of the group showed him that they were ready for anything.
"Well then what are we waiting for? These Five Kages will now learn the true power of the Akatsuki" Madara proudly declared as Kisame, he then said "It's time for Operation Red Moon to commence".
With Sai and the Others
The Team was running towards the summit venue as fast as they can, for the past few hours they had been scouting the perimeter around the summit venue to gain further information towards Madara.
But once he found them they realized that he needed to hastily inform Naruto about the approaching danger, it wasn't necessarily an army but it was more of a case of quality over quantity. Naruto and the other Kages would need prior knowledge of this in order to avoid a surprise attack from the Uchiha.
While they ran for their life, there was only one thought going through his mind 'I've failed Shin before, but I will not fail you Naruto. I swear on my life I will be the one saving you this time. I will not let you die' were the words in Sai's mind as he continued to pick up the pace. His legs were beginning to be a burning sensation but he pushed through.
Right now Sai was a man on a mission, a mission for redemption. The speeds Sai ran with were on par with Lee's, the only problem was that Sai was not accustomed to such speeds and so it was taking quite a toll on his body. The others were trying their best to keep up with him.
But as the summit venue continued to appear closer and closer for Sai, he was beginning to be fearful because he noticed a strange black smoke coming out of the building. The smoke continued to grow thicker and thicker, but it only seemed to erupt from the eastern most side of the building, while the Kages were in the western most side of the summit venue.
Sai began to push his body further to its limits, from his days in ROOT and as a ninja it was common sense that a large amount of black smoke erupting from a building was never good. Sai had a sneaking suspicion that Danzo may not be the only threat right now for the Five Kages.
Meeting Room
The Five Kages remained patiently waiting for the major decision of Mifune; it was a decision which could alter the course of the world as they knew it. They needed to learn who the best possible leader was among them, and it was to lead all five great ninja nations, it was a heavy task, responsibility and even a burden to carry.
After a full hour of waiting the doors of the meeting room opened and the five began to straighten up from their seats, they saw Mifune approaching them with a calm and collected look and each of the Five Kages waited in anticipation for his answer.
Mifune walked over to the front of his back as he stood directly in front of the Five Kages, he cleared his throat before beginning to unveil his decision.
"It took me a long time to make a difficult decision and finally make up my mind, being a leader of a group or alliance of this stature requires various traits and qualities, and quite frankly I only found that in one person in the room. I will have you know each of you had legitimate cases to be the leader and I took all those cases into account, but in the end only one name among all of you stood out. The person I chose to lead the Five Nation Alliance is…." But before Mifune could reveal his final decision a high pitched male voice called out to all of them in an annoying fashion.
"HELLOOOOOO" yelled Zetsu as he rose up from the ground of the meeting room; he was in the middle of the U-shaped table where the Five Kages sat and within a blink of an eye all the bodyguards appeared in front of their Kages once more.
"Dammit what the hell is it this time" A yelled in frustration.
"It's the Akatsuki, from our knowledge this is Zetsu" said Naruto as he glared at the expert spy of the Akatsuki.
"Tch so it seems" Onoki mumbled in annoyance, this intrusion by Akatsuki couldn't come at a worse time.
"This isn't good, I must check on my troops" Mifune said as he ran out of the room with his squad of samurai, their katanas were all unsheathed and they were all prepared to face the missing-nin themselves.
Seeing Mifune leave the room in a hurry, Zetsu stared at Naruto with a grin on his face, "Oh good you remember me Naruto, but I didn't come here for you. In fact Uchiha Sasuke told me to give you his regards, in fact he's here somewhere but the question is where" Zetsu stated cheekily.
"WHAT!" A yelled angrily, "That damn Uchiha is here, he is going to regret the day he ever messed with me".
The Raikage engulfed himself in his lighting armor and vanished in search of the Uchiha, as he ran in high speeds he could sense three distinctly powerful chakra sources among the area, one was in the northern area, another was in the eastern area, and the final one was in the south seeing as how the meeting room was located in the western area.
Sensing the most powerful to be towards the northern end of the summit venue, the Yondaime Raikage decided to take a risk and see if that source of chakra was none other than Sasuke Uchiha.
Darui and C shook their heads as they watched as A run through the walls of the summit venue with his lightning armor, the two looked at each other and sighed before headed out in search of their Raikage.
'Damn him and his Raiton Chakra Mōdo, the speed is unbelievable. How does he expect or us to guard him when he could just outrun us all the time' Darui thought in annoyance.
Back in the meeting room, Naruto was clenching his fist in anger at the utterance of Sasuke's name, 'Dammit you idiot do you have a suicide wish attacking the Five Kages?' he internally asked himself. Naruto had been expecting to face Sasuke soon seeing as how it was inevitable for them, but he had not expected them to meet so quickly, and he would have never expected for Akatsuki to be so bold as to attack five of the strongest ninjas in the world all gathered in one location.
Meanwhile the Sand siblings appeared to be confused, "Sasuke!?" Gaara said in disbelief.
"What the hell is he doing in Akatsuki?!" asked the puppet user as the three siblings looked at Naruto expecting answers from him.
Seeing as how his friends were intently staring at him Naruto sighed in defeat, "I didn't tell you guys this but when I was invited to the summit meeting the group of ninjas the Raikage also asked me for information about Sasuke. They told me he was a new member of Akatsuki and he was responsible for the capture of the Hachibi" explained Naruto.
"I see this is most unfortunate Naruto" said Gaara.
Naruto nodded, "I know but if anyone's dealing with Sasuke it'll be me. I'm not going to let the Raikage steal my fight with the teme" he said in a determined manner.
"It seems you have history with this Uchiha Sasuke?" asked the Mizukage as the Tsuchikage's ears perked, both Kages were clearly interested with the Hokage's relationship with the Akatsuki member.
"Just who is this Uchiha Sasuke?" Kurotsuchi began to ask.
"He's the last Uchiha and it appears he's now also a member of Akatsuki" Onoki informed his granddaughter.
"Isn't he the one who killed Zabuza and Haku?" asked Ao.
Naruto shook his head as he made a trip down memory lane, "No he wasn't the one who killed Zabuza or Haku, it was our sensei Kakashi" he answered.
Mei's eyes widened, "I see so it seems the two of you were teammates a long time ago" she said.
"Former teammates yes, but he was once also my best friend. I will personally handle him myself" said Naruto.
Mei and Onoki both nodded, "Very well I suggest you head over and face him before the Raikage finds him. Knowing that muscled up idiot he'd just charge in and destroy anything that comes within range" advised Onoki.
"But if you can please try and bring him back alive. We might get information out of him" said the auburn haired Mizukage.
"I don't think we could do that, the members of Akatsuki are hardcore and not one of them will give out any information which may harm the organization and its goals" replied Gaara, Mei nodded reluctantly but in understanding.
Naruto stared at his two bodyguards, "You guys come with me. It's time for us to have a little reunion with the bastard".
Kakashi and Shikamaru both nodded, the three Konoha ninjas began to walk outside of the room in search of their former comrade, but before they could leave the room Naruto felt a hand on his shoulder.
He looked back only to find Gaara with a determined look on his face, "We are going with you Naruto" he said in a tone which meant he wouldn't take no for an answer.
Seeing no other way of getting out of this Naruto agreed, "Okay then Gaara but remember I fight Sasuke alone. Nobody will interfere" reminded the Hokage.
"Very well, I'm sure we're all looking forward to see how much you've grown since the last time we saw each other" said Gaara.
Naruto sported a foxy grin, "Well then prepare to be amazed Gaara. The teme won't know what hit him" he declared confidently.
The two Kages and their bodyguards headed out of the room, as they left Naruto was felt the chakra signatures around the area and one chakra source felt familiar to Naruto even though it was surrounded by three other major chakra signatures. It was a chakra source Naruto knew since he was a young academy student, it was Sasuke's chakra.
Naruto noticed that the Raikage's chakra was in another location, this was good for him and now he could finally have his rematch with Sasuke, and so Naruto and his group headed out towards the eastern area of the summit venue in search of Sasuke.
With Mei and Onoki
The two Kages noticed that the groups from Kumo, Konoha and Suna all left and they were the only ones remaining in the room. But they also noticed that Zetsu was still in the room simply watching them with an arrogant grin in his face. He didn't appear to be scared or intimidated at the two of them, "I hope all of you are prepared to die" he said in an overly confident tone which greatly annoyed both the Tsuchikage and the Mizukage.
Seeing and hearing this Mei stood up from her seat and stared directly at the lone Akatsuki member, "Funny that was supposed to be my line" she responded.
"Are you sure about this Mizukage-sama? We could help you" said Ao.
Mei shook her head, "No thanks Ao, I'm certain I could handle him myself and besides it's been a while since I've had a proper battle" she said.
"Very well Mizukage-sama" replied Ao to not to get on the Mizukage's bad side again.
Noticing that they weren't alone in the room Mei looked over at Onoki "Tsuchikage I'm sure you wouldn't mind if I take this Akatsuki member on myself?"
"He's all yours, but I could sense another chakra signature in the southern area of the building, I think I may head over there and deal with that threat myself" said the Tsuchikage.
Mei nodded, "I think that would be best. Let's all show these Akatsuki members the reason why were Kages" she said with a smirk on her face.
Onoki chuckled before also exiting the room with Kurotsuchi and Akatsuchi right behind him.
Once the old Tsuchikage left, Mei stared at Zetsu and began to quickly weave through hand signs.
"Yōton: Yōkai no Jutsu"(Lava Release: Melting Apparition Technique) she yelled as acidic lava flew towards the spy of the Akatsuki.
Zetsu's grin began to vanish as he saw the lava approaching him, seeing that he had no time to properly dodge he submerged himself in the ground to avoid the attack. Once he felt the lava pass through above him, Zetsu stood up once more only to see Mei sporting a cocky grin on her face.
With A
The Raikage arrived in a large lounge, this was where he sensed the powerful chakra signatures and up ahead he noticed samurai all circling one man. A rushed to the battle but as he approached it became obvious to him that the man wasn't Sasuke, instead it was the infamous Tailless Tailed Beast, Hoshigaki Kisame.
Kisame noticed the newest arrival, his excitement levels instantly exploded at the sight of the Raikage; he swung his sword at the surrounding samurai effectively decapitating three of them in one swing. The samurai all began to step back as they realized that Kisame alone had enough power to kill them all without even exerting any true effort.
But as the Raikage approached, the samurai decided that if anyone could stand a chance against that monster it would be the Raikage.
"Finally a challenge, I've gotten bored with these samurai" said Kisame with a cocky grin.
A scowled and increased the amount of lighting surrounding him to intimidate the shark, but it was to no avail seeing as how Kisame countered his KI with his own.
A began to size him up, "You're not the Uchiha but I guess you'll do" he said before lunging towards the Akatsuki member with his signature clothesline.
With Onoki
The Tsuchikage arrived in the southern area of the building and there he saw puddles of blood with dead bodies littered on the floor. On one of the bodies sat a hooded man, Onoki approached closer and he could hear the mysterious figure begin to laugh maniacally.
Kurotsuchi and Akatsuchi were creeped out by the display in front of them, but Onoki had seen it all, he was barely affected by the display in front of him.
"Welcome Tsuchikage-sama, I've been waiting to fight one of the Kages but truthfully I didn't expect to see you" said the person.
"Well now that I'm here I'll show you why you and your groups are bunch of idiots to attack me and the rest of the Kages. Honestly I always pegged you all for being smart individuals, but it seems even I'm prone to mistakes in my old age" said the Tsuchikage.
"You have it all wrong Tsuchikage-sama, it was a mistake for you to head over here" he said before pulling down his hood, the three Iwa ninjas recoiled back in shock. The man in front of them was an abomination; they had not seen something like that before.
"Get ready to die" yelled Kabuto as he ran towards the Tsuchikage with full speed with his Chakura no Mesu (Chakra Scapels) at hand, with the power of his Senjutsu; Kabuto's speed was heightened exponentially. He reached the front of Onoki within a matter of a second and plunged his small chakra blade into the Tsuchikage's gut.
Kurotsuchi's eyes widened in fear, "Gramps" she yelled worriedly.
Kabuto grinned with his hand still piercing the old Kage's stomach, but once he saw Onoki he noticed that the man had a grin on his face. Kabuto was surprised to see the body break apart into a bunch of rocks.
'Dammit this is an 'Iwa Bunshin no Jutsu' (Rock Clone Technique), I just got tricked' Kabuto frantically thought. He then heard a small noise behind him; he quickly glanced that way only to see Onoki with a giant rock covering his right fist.
Before Kabuto could react he was punched through the gut and he was sent flying past the walls and pillars of the area.
"You're way too young to challenge me kid. How to do like my Doton: Kengan no Jutsu (Earth Release: Fist Rock Technique)? It packs quite a punch doesn't it?" said Onoki.
"Gramps you're alright" Kurotsuchi yelled in relief.
"Of course I'm alright, I won't be beaten that easily" said the Tsuchikage with a deadpan expression.
Kabuto stood up from the punch groggily and wiped the blood away from the corners of his mouth, although the attack was powerful thankfully for his Senjutsu he managed to substantially reduce the pain he felt from the attack.
'I better not underestimate him again. I'll be careful this time' thought Kabuto.
Onoki noticed that Kabuto stood up from his attack; he was impressed it was rare for someone to withstand the power and brute force from his hit. This seemed to be more of a challenge than he initially thought.
"Get ready old man, I won't hold back anymore. I'll show you the powers of a dragon" yelled Kabuto.
With Naruto
Naruto was leading the group consisting of Gaara, Temari, Kankuro, Kakashi and Shikamaru. They were relying on Naruto's sensory powers as he led them to Sasuke. After a few hallways they arrived in a courtyard, the sounds of clashing steel could be heard from afar and they realized that Sasuke and the samurai were in battle.
The large group quickened their pace and they finally saw Sasuke with three of this fellow Akatsuki members surrounded by samurai, but around them were the dead bodies of the samurai.
Naruto's eyes widened in anger as he saw the loss of innocent lives, those men probably had families and they were only doing their job, and now they were murdered in cold blood by the hands of Sasuke and Akatsuki. Naruto remembered that he would give Sasuke one final chance at redemption, and he was still going to offer it to him. But if he were to accept it he would still have to answer for his crimes, Naruto was not going to give him the easy road. If he was serious for forgiveness, he would have to earn it, especially after all the death and devastation he caused.
The young Hokage's chakra began to flare wildly as the floor shook, the battle between Team Taka and the samurai ceased as they directed their attention to the source of the chakra.
Sasuke looked closer only to see Naruto steadily walking in front of them, he smirked at the sight of his former best friend and teammate. He finally has the chance to settle the score.
Naruto looked at the surrounding samurai, "Leave us, I will deal with him myself" he ordered in an authoritative tone, the samurai all nodded in fear and ran. Naruto's chakra levels were through the roof and it intimidated almost everybody around them.
Naruto and Sasuke stared at each other with neither blinking; both had a cold glare directed at each other, though Sasuke remained unimpressed with Naruto's flaring chakra. It has been quite some time since they last met and neither could know how either of them changed; they have to be prepared for anything.
Behind Naruto, the Sand Siblings and his two bodyguards watched intriguingly at the reunion between former friends and brothers. Kankuro and Temari couldn't believe the chakra levels from Naruto and they couldn't believe how Sasuke turned out. It seems too many things changed within a small window of time.
Gaara just remained stoic and patient, he was eager to see how powerful Naruto and Sasuke have become, and although he promised for Naruto to solely take on Sasuke 'mano a mano' if things got out of hand and Naruto's life was to be in danger, Gaara would have no regret in stepping in.
Kakashi and Shikamaru stood calmly, both were anticipating the fight between two former friends. But both also noticed Sasuke's comrades in Akatsuki, seeing as how only Naruto was going to fight Sasuke, the two decided to take on the three ninjas alongside Sasuke.
Team Taka watched from behind in amazement, they now finally had a face to the name. Uzumaki Naruto was a name they heard regularly and constantly, and now it seemed the two lifelong rivals stood in front of each other, unmoving and uncaring. But one thing was sure for the three of them; do not interfere in Naruto and Sasuke's battle.
The two former friends, rivals, teammates and comrades were now enemies; this is now a battle between brothers.
"Dobe"
"Teme"
A/N: Another Chapter as said. For now Bye, next one will be in another 2 days.