Okay so I know its bad form to give long author's notes. And I know it's been so long since there's been an update for this fic. My apologies.

But I'd like to ask the readers where they want the story to go. I have many ideas and that's my problem with this story. One can say it has a crack feel to it, even as it has very angst feels to it so I want to know what the majority of readers want this story to say as.

I'll put a poll on my profile, please vote.

Also if you have any requests or ideas for the fic, PM or review and I'll take it into consideration to help narrow down my own ideas.

.0.0.0.

Un-betaed

Unwanted Trip

Chapter 12

Naruto leaned on the railing, watching the sun sink lower below the horizon.

"It's really a long kind of story." Naruto stated distantly, wondering where to start. Not once had they ever considered HOW to tell their story. "For a start, you weren't the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade was."

Kakashi wondered if he should interrupt, if he should tell Naruto that he wasn't making any sense but instead he waited. He'd waited so long. Long enough that it was actually too late. Sakura, Sasuke, they weren't coming back were they?

"Ah, maybe I should start with why I don't like the Yondaime." Naruto smiled sadly at the familiar joke, interrupting the silver haired Hokage's thoughts, "I know the Yondaime is my father. I've met him."

"How?" Kakashi couldn't help the interruption, the shock was too much, the words a reflex really. Not once had Naruto indicated that he'd known. Not even when he'd seen Kakashi's team photo or come to ANBU all those years ago. There were a few things Kakashi wanted to do, things that were impossible, and seeing Minato again was one of them and if Naruto knew a way, Kakashi desperately wanted to know how. He dismissed his shock at Naruto knowing who his father was, dismissed the happiness that Naruto knew who his father was, and focused on the desperation because really, it had been so long since he'd seen the people he cared most for. Perhaps, just maybe, there was a way . . .

"Edo Tensei." Naruto shrugged, carrying on with the story despite Kakashi's enlarged gaze and inner turmoil, his simple answer shattering Kakashi's blooming hope. "See Edo Tensei allows a person to do Jutsu they couldn't really do before. Cause of the chakra limits and all that. We were fighting in the war. The four of us. And the Kage where all there. Cept Sasuke-teme had gone and gotten all the past Hokage resurrected as well. And my father asked us if we wanted to try a jutsu that he'd been working on, just never got the chance to try." Naruto grinned, but the way he was talking faster and faster negated its usual joy. "How could we say no? A jutsu of the Yondaime's had to be awesome, right? And we were getting somewhat desperate. We were losing. Not immediately apparent but it was there, lingering on the outskirts. If something awesome didn't happen, we weren't going to win, and the stakes were high. Really high."

"What war?" Kakashi whispered, entranced with the story, but not so much as to not see the glaring holes in reality. Was Naruto mad?

"One that hasn't happened yet." Naruto looked towards the Hokage Monument. "It's roughly three years from now. Well it's supposed to be, if we leave things as they are."

"What are you talking about Naruto?" Kakashi's tone had grown hoarse. He could already guess. Suddenly the notion that Naruto was crazy disappeared from his mind. Why hadn't he seen it before? Why hadn't he thought about it? It was a possibility. He knew that, but it just never had occurred to him and now, well now, it was so obvious it hurt.

"See Minato wanted us to fix things. You were supposed to come with, but you were distracted with – someone else. As a result only, Sasuke, Sakura and I were part of the jutsu." Naruto paused, thinking about Obito, and how Kakashi had ferociously tried to kill him. "In the end it was a time travel jutsu. Who would have thought?"

"So this whole time you've been messing around because you already knew everything?" Kakashi looked devastated all of a sudden. "Everything I've taught you has been for nothing? The chunin exams, the genin exams, the missions, the . . . everything." Kakashi's tone trailed off as he tried to comprehend just what was new and what wasn't to the three 'genin'.

"No no, not at all. You were pretty lazy back then. Heck you didn't teach me anything other than tree walking. You did teach Sasuke the Chidori though." Naruto waved a hand quickly, eyes wide at Kakashi's misconception. "In the end, Tsunade taught Sakura, Sasuke ran off with Orochimaru and I went with Jiraiya on account of the Akatsuki. And you, well you carried on doing whatever it was you did before we came around. So yeah, the chunin exams and the genin exams were pretty much the same."

Kakashi didn't reply, shocked at his own ineptitude. Surely he'd had his reasons? Never mind his ineptitude, he was talking to a man, not a child! Scratch that. He was talking to someone from the future?! This boy in front of him was also an ANBU. A fact that Naruto made all too easy to forget. The nervous smile, devoid of the usual happiness was lingering on Naruto's features as he gave Kakashi a moment to really grasp the fact that Naruto was a time traveller, to really see the man he was and not the 12 year old Kakashi had grown used to.

"And that's basically the start of it all. We were sent back to the past to when I was around five I think, not sure why then but it's probably because it's the first time that jutsu was done so specifics and all that weren't worked out yet. I think that should cover all the oddities that we've displayed." Naruto grinned wider, but it didn't reach his eyes, hadn't the whole conversation. The discussion felt disjointed, out of place. Was Naruto affected this much by Sasuke and Sakura leaving? Would the disjointed nature be fixed with their add-ins and answers?

"Okay, and what about this business with Sasuke and Itachi?" Kakashi was in fact mode, needing answers now more than ever. He could address Naruto's emotional state later. While the time travel did cover a lot of it, it didn't cover all of it. Like why didn't they ever come forward and why didn't they prevent things? They must have known about Orochimaru in the chunin exams yet they let the snake bite Sasuke, again? Then again, if they had been five, no one would have listened to them. Not for a while at least.

"Itachi isn't the bad guy. He killed the clan because they were going to start a civil war." Naruto sighed, thoughts straying to the what ifs, most particularly, what if they'd decided to save the clan. His statement didn't allow for Kakashi to really absorb the words and the silver haired Shinobi was glad that time travel had at least not taken away Naruto's tactlessness. Something familiar to cling to he supposed.

"And with a civil war, another ninja war." Kakashi connected with a growl of understanding. "Oh kami. Things got complicated." Kakashi rubbed at his visible eye.

"Yeah, well the first time Sasuke believed Itachi's lie, the first time he was only seven years old and nowhere near Itachi's level. He was just a kid who was tricked into hating his brother. See Sasuke hated Itachi enough to leave the village and join Orochimaru. He then killed Orochimaru and went after Itachi. He killed Itachi but Itachi was kind of really sick at the same time so Sasuke doesn't think it counts at all. Anyway, after he killed Itachi this other guy told him the truth, that Danzou ordered Itachi to kill the clan and that the Sandaime knew the whole time. It made Sasuke a little psychotic. When I say that he revived the past Hokage, I mean that his intentions were either to help us or destroy us." Naruto's anger at Sasuke's life was one that he couldn't really direct towards anything. All the things that influenced Sasuke's position didn't really exist in this world anymore.

"And this time, Sasuke chose to let the clan die?" Kakashi guessed. "That's what you said at the exams."

"Hai. He did. Said it was best. Cause this time he was looking at things from Itachi's point of view." Naruto frowned, hand moving towards his pouch where he'd put Sasuke, Sakura and Itachi's headbands. Something about that just didn't add up. Sasuke had risked a lot to get that headband. He loved that headband.

"Okay Naruto, tell me everything."

Naruto turned to the now Hokage, gaze sharpening as his thoughts began to organize themselves into something more akin to report mode. "Well, let's start with how I became a genin."

.0.0.0.

"So Sasuke-kun has joined my old organisation." Orochimaru hissed. "Perhaps I underestimated the child."

"I don't know if he's joined them so much as he's followed his brother." Kabuto mused. This certainly was an interesting development. "Which might mean that he's not at their level, but perhaps a pet they've decided to entertain."

"Still, it makes things more complicated than what I'd like them to be." Orochimaru had set his sights on the Uchiha boy, and now he was with Itachi he might not be able to lure him away. "Perhaps it's time to re-join the Akatsuki, after we break out of these cursed confinements."

"Is that the smartest course of action? There are plenty of willing bodies in our grasp back at the hideout. We can continue our research on Danzou, find a way to transplant a sharingan eye successfully. Given Hatake Kakashi's success, it's likely to assume that all we'd really need is a host with a large chakra supply. "

"But then I'd have to do a transfer every time I needed a new body and who's to say I'd manage to get one with a large chakra supply every time." Orochimaru knew that Uzumaki were a sure thing for large chakra supplies. But Uzumaki were increasingly hard to come by these days.

"One thing at a time, Lord Orochimaru. First we have to escape from this prison." Kabuto stated, a look on determination on his features as he turned to face the bars that kept them from leaving.

.0.0.0.

Naruto pushed open the door to his apartment with a heavy sigh. His conversation with Kakashi-sensei has been long and draining. He'd almost forgotten how astute Kakashi really was when he had all the pieces of the puzzle.

He ducked under the bullet of sand, the flying grains imbedding themselves in the wall.

"Really Gaara, I've told you already, it's not going to work." Naruto carried on into the kitchen, ignoring the three glaring pairs of eyes. They were sealed into the apartment in a way that meant although they weren't tied up, they still couldn't leave.

"Who wants ramen for dinner?" Naruto continued towards the kitchen, his first intentions being the refrigerator for some orange juice.

"Is that all you ever eat?" Temari spat in disgust. Naruto shrugged, not bothering with a glass and chugging the remaining orange juice straight from the bottle.

"Well if you want something else, I guess I can make that." Naruto sighed, blinking sleepily at the three sand siblings. The three blank looks he received did not tell him if they would prefer ramen or not, but he respected the fact that not everyone liked ramen all the time.

"Why are you so off guard around us?" Gaara asked suddenly. "I could have killed you already."

"Because you're my friends." Naruto grinned at the Suna nin. "Besides, you haven't killed me yet so yeah, I don't think you will." Naruto added with a shrug, taking out chicken and fresh vegetables from the refrigerator. The blond started chopping the vegetables into small squares, adding them into a pot that was warming up on the stove. "I'm no chef but I've picked up a few things." He hummed.

"When do we get to leave?" Temari asked, keeping in mind how thoughtful Gaara had become. It was no secret that Naruto perplexed Gaara, that the blond shocked him with his casual statements and friendly demeanour.

"Hmmm, I guess you can go home tomorrow if you want. I was just making sure you guys were safe. Things got a bit hairy after the old man died. I mean Suna has it rough at the moment but some people aren't being too welcoming to the 'Orochimaru played them' idea. But I'll beat it into anyone who tries anything funny so yeah. Tomorrow if you want." Naruto's tone was distant as he worked on preparing a simple meal for the four of them. "The Hokage has already pardoned you three. Suna was happy about that. You guys are the Kage family and one of you is supposed to succeed your dad. Would be cool if Gaara was Kazekage. I mean I want to be the Hokage and I think we'd work well together."

There was silence as Naruto finished the cooking, Temari reluctantly setting the table just as it appeared the food was done. Kankuro kept his distance from Naruto, finding the blond a little more than unsettling but somewhat harmless. Which made for a confusing sensation.

Which left Gaara sitting next to Naruto at the small dining table. Naruto yawned before serving himself a portion of the food and digging in somewhat more slowly than before.

"Long day?" Temari asked tentatively when no one else seemed forthcoming with conversation starters.

"Somewhat. I was with the Hokage." Naruto hummed. "We were rather involved for some time. Lost track of how long we'd been busy. Didn't even break for lunch."

"You're more powerful than the Hokage, aren't you?" Gaara suddenly stated, but it didn't feel like he was asking a question. He stared at Naruto expectantly, as though waiting for the blond to confirm it. "You're a jinchuriki like me, so you're more powerful than he is."

"Well, I don't actually know. He is Kakashi of the Sharingan and that's no one to laugh at." Naruto shrugged. "Why do you ask?"

"You put a lot of effort into looking weaker than what you really are. You shouldn't have even been in the chunin exams. It was almost like you knew what Suna and Oto were planning." Temari answered instead of Gaara, narrowing her gaze at Naruto as though daring him to tell her she was wrong.

"Well yeah. We'd been shadowing Kabuto for a while. Once we knew he was a spy it became obvious. Who he was working for and all that was part of surveillance. So when he entered the genin exams again, we were ordered to enter as well." Naruto wasn't sure how much was a fabrication and how much was truth, well short of saying 'well yeah cause I'm from the future and all that'.

"If you knew why did you let it get that far?" Kankuro growled. They'd recently learnt of their father's fate at Orochimaru's hands.

"We had other plans." Naruto stated quietly, looking down at the remaining portions of food on his plate. He sighed and pushed the plate away. "I'm going to bed. I'll clean this up in the morning." He stated even more quietly before getting up and moving towards his room. 'We had other plans', reminded him that those plans had been created with Sasuke and Sakura. So the reminder, after the long day, was not a welcomed one. Not to mention, he could have saved Gaara's father, but selfishly, he hadn't wanted to.

What were Sasuke and Sakura doing now? Were they safe? Did Pein accept them? Or did he deem them useless and try to kill them? No. It didn't matter. They'd chosen their side. And it was time he focused on his. Naruto pulled off his headband and placed it on his bedside table, next to the ANBU mask he no longer wore.

I know your heart is heavy now, but I implore you to remember why Itachi-kun left. I'm sure you and your teammates were able to deduce the truth. The words the Sandaime had whispered to him were still a mystery. He hadn't had much of an opportunity to think on them.

What did the old man mean?

Naruto flopped down on the bed, his breathing light and even before he'd even gotten into his pyjamas.

.0.0.0.

"Alright Shikamaru, Neji, and Shino you're getting promoted to chunin." Kakashi stated quietly, his gaze the most serious the Konoha genin has ever seen it. "Even though you didn't get to fight in the last round, I saw enough in the preliminaries to promote you. The rest of you still have a little ways to go before you can be promoted." Neji was only being promoted because Naruto had told him the genin was fine now. His uncle had told him the truth after Hinata's injuries, and Naruto said that it would make the world of difference.

Naruto stood off to the side, not really interacting with the others. They were ignoring him as well. They were all pissed that Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura hadn't told them the truth of well anything, their power level, the chunin exams, Itachi . . . all of it.

"Since Naruto doesn't have a team right now, I'm going to be placing him on missions with other genin teams until he completes his jonin promotion training." Kakashi continued, much to the shock of everyone in the room. "For now, Naruto, Shikamaru, and Hinata will be receiving the first mission with Shikamaru as the leader."

"I don't want to work with him." Ino stated loudly. She was hurt more than angry because Sakura was supposed to be her best friend and she'd never once showed Ino how powerful she really was.

"Ino-chan, I know Naruto's abilities can be something of a shock but he's still the same shinobi you knew at the academy." Kakashi stated with a soft smile. "Just not as dumb as you think."

"Well if he's so smart, how come he let Sakura-chan leave?" Ino fired back.

"You know why." Naruto stated tonelessly, cutting in before Kakashi could answer. "She'll always choose Sasuke. Always has, always will. As for Sasuke, well, that guy never was very pleased with Konoha." Naruto's gaze hardened. "If you want the truth Ino, then honestly, Sasuke is a dick who doesn't care about anyone but his brother. So if they've left, if Sakura-chan chose him over her own village, then it doesn't matter anymore. Then we should just forget they were ever a part of the Leaf and just put a kill on sight order on them." Naruto was no long reserved, he was angry, and crying. Tears ran down his cheeks as he glared at the other genin. "And if you think for a second that I knew they were going to leave than you're wrong. They didn't tell me anything. Right up till that moment I believed that we were a team. I didn't know they were planning that. They didn't tell me they wanted out. They didn't tell me they wanted to get Itachi back or join him or any of that. All I know is that I had a team. A team I loved with all my heart. And now I have Kakashi-sensei, and this village. So if Kakashi-sensei says I work with you, then I work with you, you got that." Naruto was bawling, shoulder shaking, tears dribbling down his chin and into his jacket kind of bawling.

Kakashi sighed before pulling the pre-teen into a hug. "I guess it's safe to say you're never going to grow up, neh Naruto-kun." Kakashi teased, rubbing small circles on the blond shinobi's back.

"Oh shut up." Was the only muffled reply he got.

"So you guys clear on out, except Shikamaru and Hinata. Congratulations on the promotions. Let's keep working hard to improve ourselves and each other, alright." Kakashi pulled some tissues from the box on his desk. He'd come to find them necessary for when he'd have emotional Shinobi to assign missions to. Coming in and seeing Kakashi rather than the Sandaime seemed to bring out the tears in a lot of Shinobi, more of the higher level ones than the genin. Asuma for one, had been rather hard to console. It made him uncomfortable and he didn't really need nor want an audience.

Naruto pulled away, rubbing at his cheeks vigorously to try and get rid of the tears. "Sorry." He sniffed. "I guess I'm still mad at them." He looked towards Hinata who blushed. Was she still the same as before? How much had she seen? "Shikamaru and Hinata?" he directed the question towards Kakashi who shrugged. "Shikamaru-kun is smart enough to keep up with you, and Hinata-chan likes you."

Naruto rose a brow but left it. He looked towards the two who seemed to be rather uncomfortable. He offered a grin, one only Hinata returned.

"What's the mission?" Shikamaru asked.

"Tsunade-chan. I want you three to go and bring her back. I'd assign Jirayia to the team but he's otherwise occupied." Kakashi tossed a scroll to the teen. Naruto huffed at the irony. Kakashi was probably doing it on purpose. "If you come across any other interesting things along the way, take the initiative to sort it out or leave it as is." Naruto took that to mean any future related issues. Did he go to the land of Rice patties? That could be a mission for a later time? Or what about the Village hidden in the Stars? Sumaru needed the help. Naruto closed his eyes and sighed. Well, he'd have to just see how things played out. Getting Tsunade back seemed to be important to Kakashi at least. "That's all. The rest is in the scroll. Otherwise, Naruto is pretty good at finding people, and with Shikamaru's smarts and Hinata's friendly personality I'm sure you three will get along famously."

Truthfully it felt nice having someone else in charge. Would be nice to have a fourth member, but with how much Naruto was going to have to pretend on the mission, perhaps not having the extra member was better.

"If I may, Hokage-sama, are we not sending a team after Sasuke and Sakura?" Hinata managed to say despite appearing as though she had no breath left in her lungs.

Kakashi frowned, but ultimately looked as though the weight of the world was on his shoulders. "I'd like to Hinata, but currently, where they are, no team in Konoha would be able to pull them out. They'd have to come back on their own." Despite Kakashi's casual earlier statements, Hinata was there because of her usefulness to the team, and not only because she liked Naruto.

"I'll meet you guys at the gates in about an hour. Need to pack a few things. Is an hour okay with you guys?" Naruto looked towards Hinata and Shikamaru who both nodded. Naruto waved slightly before walking towards the door, not wanting to take part in a rescue Sasuke and Sakura conversation.

As he pulled open the door he noticed the end of a turquoise scarf disappearing around a corner. Huh, so Konohamaru still had some growing up to do. To be fair, he'd neglected the boy. In fact he'd barely spared a thought to how the boy was handling the Sandaime's death. Moving towards the disappearing scarf, Naruto decided to fix his error in a rather large, violent way.

He mentally cringed as he grabbed hold of the oblivious' pre-genin's scarf, yanking the Sarutobi towards him. Konohamaru's yelp of surprise choked off as the scarf tightened. He turned to glare at the offending culprit, far too used to people accidently stepping on the scarf. Only, this wasn't done by accident as he'd originally assumed. The black and orange clad genin he now faced was proof enough that perhaps he should swallow his desire to berate the individual. He knew the boy, he'd seem him somewhere before. He'd heard of what had happened during the chunin exams.

When that ninja from Sand had picked him up by the scruff of his scarf he was sure he'd be a goner. Then suddenly a bright orange genin had been there, saving his sorry behind without battling an eye. He'd been fascinated with that ninja, looked forward to seeing him compete in the exams.

That same carefree happiness was absent now, leaving only an angry scowl as said genin yanked the scarf again. "What are you doing sulking around the old man's office for? Don't you have something better to do?" Konohamaru felt an anger rise up, one he hadn't felt since the invasion. Sure he'd been upset that Hatake Kakashi had taken his grandfather's place, but he hadn't been angry, not like he currently felt.

"Oh yeah?" He growled, yanking his scarf out of Naruto's grip. "What's that got to do with you." He was about to spin on his heel and storm away only to find himself lifted off the floor and slammed against the wall. The air whooshed from his lungs as he stared with wide eyes at the angry genin in front of him. "You're a disgrace to the Sarutobi name. Don't think I haven't noticed how you slack off in class, using Ebisu as an excuse. Or when you sulk around the Hokage's office, looking for good opportunities to prank Kakashi-sensei just cause you're sad about the Sandaime. It's disgusting."

Konohamaru tried to shake his head, tried to yell at Naruto to let him go, but he simply could not get the words to move past the lump in his throat.

"The old man used to tell me how you wanted to be Hokage. You still want to?" Naruto's tone was softer now, gentler. He let Konohamaru go, leaving the boy to stare at his shoes as he nodded quietly. "Well first things first, make sure people know that. Make sure that when people look at you, they know, that's the guy who wants to be Hokage." Konohamaru jerked his head up to look at Naruto, his mouth flopping open in surprise. "Second thing, you don't slack off in school. A good Hokage, one like your grandfather, is a respectable shinobi, one worthy of the title God of Shinobi. He didn't get that title by taking shortcuts and slacking off. You got that!" Naruto growled, a fire in his gaze that had Konohamaru nodding vigorously. "And last thing, when I get back from this mission, you and I are rivals for the Hat, so you and I are going to iron out some ground rules." Naruto nodded once, offering his hand to the pre-genin.

Konohamaru stared at his hand for a moment before slowly lifting his own and shaking it. "Rivals?"

"Well yeah, I want to be Hokage too." Naruto grinned. "I'll teach you some things, cause let's face it you need to catch up. A lot." Naruto ruffled the boy's tuft of hair, wondering when he'd stop wearing the stupid helmet. "I don't want to win by default."

Konohamaru was left staring after him as Naruto walked away, not waiting for the boy to respond. He had a mission to prepare for after all. One that was going to take some extra prep.

.0.0.0.

Sasuke walked through the hallways of the Akatsuki hide out, senses strained in case one of the members got bored and decided to 'play' with him. He'd left Sakura with Itachi, not trusting individuals such as Hidan to not try and kill her. Not that they'd succeed but they couldn't afford to blow their cover. Not yet anyway.

They didn't care for the Akatsuki. They were there only for Itachi and Itachi would maybe leave, maybe, just maybe, if they could tell him the truth. He was only there to keep an eye on the organisation but more specifically because of its connection to Tobi and Madara. If he knew the truth, would he still think it necessary to stay with the organisation?

What if they killed Danzou together? Would Itachi want to? Then could they go home?

He didn't bother knocking, knowing what he would see before he walked through the door. Sakura was examining Itachi carefully, checking every part of the older Uchiha thoroughly at Sasuke's request. The only reason Itachi had allowed the examination was to learn more information about his mysterious younger brother. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't shocked at Sakura's level of skill.

"Well?" Sasuke almost didn't want to know the answer.

"He'll need constant treatment. But it's possible to prolong his life with more beneficial means. The medications he's been taking, while not very often, haven't been the best kind." Sasuke could hear the disapproval in Sakura's tone at Itachi's recklessness. "I don't even know where he got some of the stuff he's been taking."

Itachi didn't utter a sound, more interested in what Sakura had discovered than wanting to move away from her probing chakra encased hands. "Also, his eyesight is still decently intact. Far better than your first go at things. Your idea for the Eternal Magekyou should work. Run it past your brother first though. He does know more about the Sharingan than what we do." Sakura continued, hands moving over Itachi's chest while her brows furrowed together. She understood that being an Akatsuki member meant he couldn't get decent medical care.

Their original plan had been to wait it out till the war and then act. However, if they wanted to get Itachi healthy again then they couldn't do that. The illness that inflicted him, whatever it was, it would only get worse. It would be better to start proper treatment right away. "Lady Tsunade would be a great help right now. Heck, even Kabuto might have some insight." Sakura muttered, still focusing on Itachi's chest. "His lungs have a lot of damage, blood pooling happening at a faster rate than what I'd like. I'd love to know what's causing the damage."

"We know Naruto would be aiming to get Tsunade back to the village. He liked her as the Hokage. Sandaime should look at stepping down after that invasion." Sasuke mused, watching Itachi's face as he spoke. "I wonder if he's figured it out yet."

"Either way, Sasuke, he needs to get back to the village. Sandaime will let him come back." Sakura stepped away from Itachi to look at the younger Uchiha. "There's not much we can do here. Well there's plenty we can do here, but we'd be sacrificing Itachi in the process."

"Can we please stop talking about me as though I'm not here?" Itachi stated, sitting up and activating his sharingan. "Why would I go back to Konoha? We just left, not to mention the fact that I am not exactly welcome there."

Sasuke looked to Sakura who held up her hands. "Don't look at me. This is your problem to deal with. I'm going to be over there, seeing if any of the supplies I brought with me can be used to help him." She went over to her bag and pulled out a number of small storage scrolls.

Sasuke sighed, and activated his own sharingan. Genjutsu was perhaps a better place to be having this conversations. Itachi was cautious but not overly so. He was still confident that he could match and beat his younger brother.

"I'm sure you have a number of possibilities running through your mind." Sasuke's drawl crawled over his skin, but the boy himself had not appeared in the setting Sasuke had chosen for the genjutsu.

"Oh, and I don't supposed you'd tell me if I was correct?" Itachi pressed. This might be his chance for answers.

Sasuke ignored the reply, moving along. "I know the truth of that night. That Madara was helping you. I also know that it wasn't Madara but an imposter. I also know who the imposter is, how he relates to Madara and how dangerous he is, regardless of the fact that he is not Madara." That got Itachi's attention. He didn't reply, leaving Sasuke to tell him what he felt Itachi needed to know. "I know about Shisui, I know about Danzou and I have every intention of killing him so don't even try to convince me otherwise. I know how ill you really are. I also know things you don't. I've known this since before I went to the Academy. I could have stopped the coup, but I didn't."

"How?" Itachi was burning with curiosity. One he had not felt in a very long time. There was only one reasonable explanation after hearing all that.

"Do you really need to ask?" Sasuke's voice came from behind him and he spun to see a version of his brother that did not really exist. A man, older than he was, wearing clothing closer to something Orochimaru would have worn. Sasuke sighed and looked away. "I believed you the first time, believed your lie. I hated you and then I killed you. I can't take that back. But I don't want to do it again." Sasuke's words were simple, to the point, and wholly based on the assumption that Itachi understood without his needed to explain. "Just trust me when I say that this Madara imposter is the least of your worries, and I already know everything he plans to do." Sasuke looked at him then, eyes burning with a determination he would have pegged Naruto far more capable of. "Come home."

.0.0.0.

Naruto sat across from Tsunade, giving the Senju a hard glare. "You are hereby ordered by the Godaime Hokage to return to Konoha, and that's the last time I'm telling you."

Tsunade's mouth flopped open in shock. The sheer audacity of this boy! The sheer audacity of this Godaime Hokage! Sending a bunch of children to bring her back to the village. She didn't even stop to consider HOW the three had found her.

As it was the Huuyga girl was trembling in a corner, and the Nara seemed to be calculating his nearest escape route.

Tsunade's shock was short lived as she shot to her feet and slammed a fist on the table. "Just who the hell do you think you are, brat!?"

"I'm the guy that's gonna make you go back to Konoha whether you want to or not!" Naruto yelled right back, despite the splinters flying around his head compliments of Tsunade's temper.

"Why you little-" Tsuande was seething. Never in all her years had she had the pleasure of seeing such disrespect, but Naruto's next action cut her words clean off.

He took a kunai and made a swift swipe from his write to the crook of his elbow.

The cut was deep enough that blood immediately started gushing out, dripping to the floor steadily and freezing the Senju in place. The medic nin part of her knew that the wound needed to be closed, and soon. However, the haemophobic part of her was paralysed, not giving a damn about this boy and his wound.

"Look at yourself. It's pathetic." Naruto spat, curling his lip in disgust. "The great and mighty Senju Tsunade reduced to a whimpering fool at the site of blood. I'll die you know, with this wound as it is and yet you can't do anything. What would Dan think?" Naruto's words were meant to cut deeper than his kunai had. He needed to. Otherwise his gamble wasn't going to end well.

Tsuande flinched, wishing with all her heart that this boy would disappear, and take his blood with him. Where was Shizune? Looking around she saw that the other medic-nin was being held in place by the Nara. Why? At the mention of Dan, images of the last time she saw him came to mind and she was only further lost from the world of reason.

"Nawaki would have been so ashamed of you." Naruto's head was starting to feel feint. He needed to get through to her, and if this last point didn't make it, he was in for some trouble. "But you know what, I'm going to take their dreams, the dream to become Hokage, and I'm going to make it a reality. I'll build a world where there are no wars, where no one has to suffer. Where requests to train medical ninja aren't denied!" He paused, giving Tsunade the most determined look he could. "But I can't do that without you, and I really can't do that if I'm dead." Here he swayed, but managing to stay on his feet. "So please, be the Senju Tsunade the world once feared, and rightly still should."

The world tilted and Naruto found himself being caught by Shikamaru. Without the shadow possession Shizune was free to run over to him and immediately began treating his wound. Naruto's eyes never left Tsunade's and she didn't move.

Not until she saw the very same thing she'd seen in Dan's eyes. That fading light, the lack of life that would sound mean this boy had died.

Naruto couldn't help the smile as his world faded into darkness. Now, it would really suck if he didn't wake up again.

.0.0.0.

A/N, again.

Now as to why this particular chapter took so long, well life and for some reason this particular chapter document kept getting corrupted.