Chapter Three: Admiration and New Avengers

Word of warning, several of the characters in this chapter are unnamed, which might be edited later on as the members of the group that will be appearing after the first half or so has several members that I don't know off the top of my head. I will likely be naming them after looking at Narutopedia. I know that in canon this group was disbanded after a certain someone's death at Sasuke's hands, but for the sake of creating a conflict I thought it could be interesting. Enjoy. This ended up being shorter than the last two chapters but ah well. I'm not big on large chapters these days like in the story I completed nearly a year ago. I may start the redone version of the beginning where Sakura starts loving Naruto early on. If you would like to read something similar I would recommend The Difference a Kiss can Make, the story that inspired me to maybe make my own.

After securing his money in the rebuilt Hidden Leaf Ninja Bank where the shinobi in the village kept their well-earned Ryo from the war, Naruto sat in his chair and let out a sigh. He'd been in that line for a long time, as many others had gotten rewards that they were depositing. But everything was working out for him now. Soon he'd be getting a new arm, he was a Sannin, the war was over, and he'd gotten Sasuke back. Even if Sasuke had left again… he was back on the right path. There was still just one problem left though, and her name was Hinata.

Naruto sighed as he recalled her words when she'd stood against Pain. She'd always been nice to him… but he'd never liked her that way. He'd held her hand after Neji's death and she'd given him the will to continue fighting when he'd been about to lose hope. He cared about her as a friend… she'd been the only girl in the academy to be nice to him. He only hoped that she would understand.

He had to talk with her, he knew. Naruto stood still for a moment and his eyelids turned orange, and his pupils toad like as he entered Sagemode. With it, he could detect the chakra of practically everyone in the hidden leaf village. Locating Hinata, Naruto took off. With his senjutsu enhanced speed he was there in three minutes at the Hyugga compound. The clan members saw him and went inside to inform Hinata.

She emerged a moment later.

"Oh… Naruto," she said, cheeks turning red.

"Hey Hinata," Naruto greeted with a smile.

"So… why are you here?" Hinata asked.

"I… need to talk to you."

"Oh. Alright," she said coming out. "Would you like to take a walk?"

"Yeah," he said.

They walked around the outside of the compound.

"So what do you need to talk about?" Hinata asked, though she had a good idea.

Naruto's face scrunched. "Well… its about you… me… and Sakura."

"Oh."

"Sakura and I are… together now," Naruto went on.

"I know. I saw you two last night," Hinata said with a cracking voice.

Naruto looked at her and saw the tears forming. He hated seeing her cry.

"I'm sorry. Back when Nagato attacked the Leaf… you said you loved me," Naruto said.

She nodded. "Yes."

"Look Hinata, I'm flattered… but my heart belongs to Sakura," Naruto told her.

"I know," Hinata said. "I had a feeling that it might happen sooner or later given how much time you two were spending together. She is special to you."

"Yeah. But Hinata… you're a special person to me as well. Not in the same way, but you always believed in me. Even back in the Academy when I was the dead last," Naruto said. "I hope that we can still friends at least."

"Of course Naruto," she said as she threw her arms around him. "I wish you the best with Sakura!"

He could tell she was crying, he patted her head to try and comfort her.

"Thanks Hinata. I'm sure that there is someone out there for you."

…

Underneath the hidden Leaf Village, a group of shinobi in Anbu uniforms and masks stood assembled. Unlike normal Anbu they carried tantos instead of katanas. They were Root, the organization founded by Danzo. People of the leaf thought that this faction disbanded after Danzo's death, technically it was true as their assignment had been to serve Danzo in his dark ways of 'protecting' the Hidden Leaf Village. Their new leader stood in the shadows.

"You were all part of Danzo's faction, he is gone. But his killer is still at large," the leader said from the shadows. "Sasuke Uchiha has escaped justice thanks to that fool Naruto Uzumaki. We cannot allow him to live. He has turned on the village once, and once a traitor… always a traitor. This peace that has formed between the nations cannot last. The teachings of the Third Hokage have made this village weak and have nearly destroyed us. We must finish what Danzo started."

"Yes sir!" the gathered members of the reborn Root said.

"I assign you two to go and meet with these members of the hidden cloud," the leader stated. "I hear they lost family members there when Sasuke Uchiha attacked."

He handed the two root members a few pieces of paper. Then turned to the next pair.

"And you two will go the Land of Iron, locate any Samurai that might have a grudge against Sasuke. Tell them we are willing to help them eliminate him."

"Sir!"

The Root leader looked at his masked accomplices.

"My lord, if I may advise you? I don't know if we will be able to defeat Sasuke. Now he has not only the Mangekyou Sharingan but the Rinnegan as well in his left eye.

"I'm aware of that. But we may soon have Rinnegan of our own."

…

Tsunade worked intensely in her lab, the body of Madara Uchiha in front of her. Since retiring from the office of Hokage she was now able to devote her time to medical ninjutsu. Soon she would be able to use the cells of her grandfather that Madara had had on his body to create new artificial limbs like the one Danzo had. Nearby in a pair of chemical filled cannisters were Madara's eyes, the eyes that possessed the Rinnegan.

Well I hope you guys like the idea of a resurgent Root out to get Sasuke. Who do you think the leader should be? I have an idea of him being the son or grandson of Danzo, but I thought I'd leave it ambiguous for now. I will probably edit this chapter after looking of members of Root on the Narutopedia, Sai wasn't there because Root would have likely figured out he betrayed Danzo to Naruto by now. This will serve as the first threat for this AU. I will hopefully see you again in two weeks time for the next chapter which I hope will be a little longer, but we'll see. That or keep an eye out for the second Narusaku story.