Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto (unfortunately). I do own all of my own characters.
Thank you to all my reviewers!!! you ppl r so nice :-)
"blah" speech
'blah' thoughts
blazer-6 - wow, ur the first person that doesnt want a happy ending; i think you won't be disappointed.
AkiaBinZaid - that is just too flattering, but thank you. :-)
bLack - dude, I couldn't agree more. Your review is a nice and very welcome change from 'those' people.
Peter Kim - No dude, not how it's gonna happen.
Shadow - ... if I shoot myself, the story would just end right there :-/
Kirara351 - appreciate the grammar help, I'm not really big on it.
Snowy Yuki - yes, and I will explain it in this chapter (or at least my version).
blaboy - you remembered, I'm pleased :-), anyway not next chapter maybe the one after, if not then the second to last chapter. You're right on track for the "Rookie 9" except Sasuke you're only a bit off, but don't worry I'll all be in this chapter.
Kawaii34girl - don't worry, I get worse threats...
khinei - glad you like my story! yaoi -shudders- I'm not gonna be writing that. Dangerous tensions? Damn right! "The major characters surrounding the main character" are important, but sometimes their death is also important. I'm up to the latest manga chapter.
narutofan - y did Naruto run low on chakra, b/c well kinjutsus use up A LOT of chakra; the lightning one for example uses up about 25 of Naruto's chakra. Everything has a limit... to the regular shinobi, Kyuubi's chakra is so big that it seems unlimited.
Masaki - in a good or bad way?
ShadowGoddessInc - thank you, it means a lot!
Keizka - I am not a perfectionist when it comes to grammar, as long as it makes sense I'm perfectly fine w/ it.
Sorry for the late update, but some of us have essays to write and midterms to study for.... and game addictions to satisfy...
Chapter 17 – The Meeting
"Don't look so amazed," said Naruto, "I was trained to detect ANBU and Hunter-nin... it was essential for my survival." Tsunade could understand that he would detect Sasuke, Sakura and Hinata, but for him to detect Jiraiya that was really surprising. "Well, come on out!" yelled Naruto looking at four distinct places in the forest behind Tsunade.
Tsunade gave a silent signal and the four named nins walked out and stood behind her. Naruto's eyes glistened, "so we meet once more," he said cheerfully. Sasuke scowled, Sakura and Hinata tensed, and Tsunade and Jiraiya remained completely calm.
Silence passed in the group.
Naruto's eyes slowly shifted from one Leaf-nin to another, examining them closely. Tsunade looked practically the same perhaps, though somewhat older. 'Age catches everyone.' Jiraiya was definitely older and seemed to be fighting hard not to slouch. 'He has definitely weakened...' Sasuke was wearing ANBU combat gear through which one could easily see that he was more muscularly developed, Naruto also noted that his chakra was larger. 'So he's grown since our last meeting.' Sakura and Hinata were both wearing jounin vests that were noticeably stocked with weapons and scrolls, they both held an aura of self-confidence and much greater chakra reserve than last he saw them. 'They seem to be ready for battle... not a bad precaution.'
"What's up with the mask?" asked Sasuke breaking the silence, "you think you're fooling anyone, dobe?"
Naruto simply ignored the nickname and chuckled, "I thought you'd recognize me better by the image you saw three years ago versus eight years ago," he simply stated, "among other reasons."
"We all know it's you," yelled Sakura with slight hatred.
"Fine..." Naruto slowly took off his mask to reveal much thicker whisker marks, but most shocking of all, two fangs protruding between him lips. "You like what you see?" asked Naruto sarcastically; all five Leaf-nin gaped at him.
"Naruto, why?" asked Tsunade in a caring tone.
"Why what?" asked Naruto, "Why did I run away? Why did I join the Akatsuki?" Tsunade and Sakura gasped, "Why did I come back three years ago and raise hell?"
Tsunade nodded dumbly, still shocked at the Akatsuki comment.
"Well let's start off, I'm pretty damn sure you know exactly why I ran away," said Naruto sternly.
Tsunade and Jiraiya both got a saddened look on their faces, 'seems what Itachi said was true...' thought Jiraiya.
"Then why join with the Akatsuki?" said Sasuke in obvious anger.
Naruto shifted his eyes to meet the Uchiha's, "you mean, why did I ally with your brother?" Sasuke's anger flared up and his sharingan activated. Naruto laughed, "I'll take that as a yes."
"You damned traitor!" yelled Sasuke.
"Much like you," countered Naruto and Sasuke scowled.
"I changed... I'll never be like Itachi," said Sasuke forcefully.
'Damn right you'll never be like Itachi-nii-chan!'
Naruto shrugged, "anyway I joined them because they were strong; they could train me," explained Naruto. Jiraiya was about to interrupt but was cut off, "and also because He recommended it..." Naruto gently tapped his stomach and smirked at the shock on Tsunade and Jiraiya's faces, the rest just looked around confused.
"Naruto, are you still in the Akatsuki?" asked Sakura in a much more timid voice than before.
Naruto sighed, "The Akatsuki was destroyed six months after the Hyuga assassination," said Naruto slightly annoyed.
"I know that!" she yelled, "But are you still with them?"
"Alright, you're asking whether or not I still travel with the former Akatsuki members?" Sakura nodded, "I will not answer that," Naruto concluded simply.
"What!?" yelled Sakura.
"I will not tell you where they are."
"That's not what I'm asking..." she started saying, but was cut off by Jiraiya.
"He knows that if he answers, he'll be giving out information about them, which may possibly lead Hunter-nin to them," explained Jiraiya and Naruto nodded. "But what are your relations to these former members?"
Naruto smirked, "they are good friends of mine."
"They should watch out," said Sasuke, "with how you treat your friends..."
"Ah, you're talking about the Jounin Exam," said Naruto. "Well... who ever said Kiba and Ino were my friends?" he asked in a cold tone visibly shocking Sakura and Hinata.
"Naruto, this isn't like you," said Tsunade, "what did the Akatsuki do to you?"
"Not like me, huh?" he thought a moment, "you mean, it's not unlike my happiness mask, to hate most everyone in Konoha?" he said with absolutely cold eyes, which startled the younger nins.
"I thought so," mumbled Tsunade, 'I'm sorry I wasn't able to help you, Naruto.'
'That one time when he was able to do the Rasengan, he felt like another person,' thought Jiraiya, 'my instincts were right...'
"While training in the Akatsuki, I was able to drop my mask and I guess you could say, I became cold-hearted," said Naruto with absolute calmness.
"Naruto, did you ever kill anyone from Konoha?" asked Tsunade.
Naruto laughed, "I didn't discriminate, I killed everyone," answered Naruto. "Any ANBU of Hunter-nin that crossed my path, from any country. Survival was the only thing that mattered in those times."
"You're a murderer!" accused Sasuke.
"I'm survivor!" countered Naruto, "Can you take on a team of ANBU or Hunter-nin by yourself? Huh?" questioned Naruto forcefully. "You, with your fancy ANBU gear, can you take on your whole squad and win? Especially if you're fighting to the death!" Naruto started raising voice.
"You're still that seven year old kid trying to impress his parents!" said Naruto in a loud, but cold voice; Sasuke's eyes instantly went into his fully developed sharingan. "What's with the eyes!? You think just because you have Mangekyou I'm gonna be scared of you?" all the Leaf-nin looked over at Sasuke in surprise.
Sasuke was shocked, "H-How did you know?" he asked.
Naruto scoffed, "I spent five years with the best user of the Mangekyou, you think I can't tell?"
"Best user... I'll show you!" yelled Sasuke as he started activating his Mangekyou.
"Yes, show me, Sasuke-kun," said Naruto while calmly activating his Demon's Eyes preparing to use Hell.
Sasuke had activated Mangekyou and was trying to use Tsukuyomi, but found that Naruto wasn't even budging. Sasuke got angry and pumped more chakra into his eyes attempting to increase the effects, but Naruto was still calmly looking at him with those red eyes. Just when he thought he was getting somewhere, his world suddenly started getting blurry and become slightly reddish. He soon lost his balance and fell to one knee, deactivating the sharingan.
Everyone looked on in amazement as Naruto chuckled after somehow surviving a Mangekyou attack, 'Naruto, how did you...? I can't even do that,' wondered Jiraiya.
'He has grown quite a bit,' concluded Tsunade, 'the scariest part being that he's most likely not even showing a quarter...'
'Naruto, you hurt Sasuke-kun again, but you're definitely not the same person I remember...'
'Naruto... strong as ever... but why did you use power like that?' Hinata thought, caught between admiration and hatred.
"Not bad, Sasuke," said Naruto. "A level two Mangekyou from a non-existent, in three years."
"Level two? What the hell are you talking about?" asked Sasuke still recovering.
"There are several levels for the Mangekyou," explained Naruto, "you have the second, your brother had the fifth."
Sasuke got a thoughtful look for a second, "but how were you able to resist it?" he proceeded to ask.
Naruto chuckled and met Sasuke's non-sharingan eyes with his Demon's Eyes and used only a second's worth of Hell Level 1 on Sasuke, causing him to become dizzy again and fall onto his side.
"My own jutsu can resist Mangekyou up to level four," he said calmly. "Demons are helpful beings you know?" he said with a smile that made a shiver run up Tsunade and Jiraiya's spine.
Sakura was instantly by Sasuke's side trying to find out what was wrong, "Sasuke-kun, are you alright? What happened? You're not hurt, are you?" she asked in a quick series of questions, which almost blended into one.
Naruto deactivated his Demon Eyes and shook his head in disapproval, "still the same old Sakura I see," he said, "Sasuke-kun this, Sasuke-kun that. You know how much that drove me up the wall!?" he growled.
Sakura looked up at his with angry eyes, "at least I care for my friends!" she half-yelled.
"Humph, so I suppose I wasn't your friend, is that right?"
Sakura immediately adopted a sad, regretful look when she remembered how she treated him. 'Who am I to talk about caring for friends...' she thought sadly.
She then remembered something, 'But he shouldn't be talking like that either,' she thought angrily. "What about Hinata? She was your friend and look what you did to her!?" she yelled at Naruto.
Naruto looked over at Hinata with slight regret in his eyes, 'I used her and ruined her life for a selfish reason...' he mused, but then remembered something. "Humph, her family was a bunch of assholes anyway..."
"They were still my family!" yelled Hinata. "I would never have wished death upon them!"
"Then, I am sorry," he bowed, "but it was my mission... orders... I'm sure you understand how that works."
"Orders!? You did it all just to complete a mission?" asked Hinata frantically; he nodded. "Even... even..." she looked down at the ground and her voice lost its intensity, "I didn't really mean anything to you, did I?"
Naruto sighed, "If you're referring to some of the things I said before the assassination, then no, I did not mean half of what I said..." he answered bluntly, confirming her worst fears. "The truth is, I overheard you on talking on the wall and decided to seize the opportunity and end the mission. I felt bad for my actions, so once I was inside the Hyuga Manor, I spared your life by knocking you out instead of killing you."
Hinata shook; her worst nightmares were coming true right in front of her. He did not love her; she had been used, just like the surviving Hyuga had told her. After all this time of believing that Naruto-kun was still the same kind-hearted, loving genin in her memories, she was proven wrong.
Love turned to anger, fury and hatred... "Naruto," she growled, "you truly are a demon like I've heard people say in the village. I didn't want to believe it, I loved you!" Hinata was yelling now. "I never believed anything the villagers said about you, but it looks like they were right... in the end..." she looked up at him with angry eyes, from which poured tears of heartbreak.
Sakura suddenly realized that Hinata was right; she had also heard the villagers call Naruto a demon, "Why did they call you that, Naruto? How did they know you were so cold-hearted?"
Naruto looked at Tsunade incredulously, "you mean you didn't tell the children that favorite bedtime story that I grew up with?"
Sasuke, Sakura and Hinata looked at Tsunade questioningly; she simply answered no.
"Well then I'm going to have to remedy that," Naruto said calmly.
"Naruto, are you sure you want to do this?" asked Jiraiya concerned that the current level of tension would get even worse.
"Of course, Jiraiya, I'm completely comfortable with it..." replied Naruto.
'He's actually going to tell them The Secret...' thought Tsunade in amazement.
"Well then, once upon a time there lived the great Yondaime Hokage..." started Naruto.
Sakura blinked, 'Why is he starting the story there? Could he...?'
"He lived a nice peaceful village called Konoha, that is, until a great fox demon appeared; The Kyuubi. Now truth be told, Kyuubi had just awoken from a thousand-year sleep and what does he find right in the middle of his territory? A village. Full of people that attempt to control some of the elements and attack him as soon as they see him."
Naruto paused to judge the reactions. 'Sasuke, Sakura and Hinata are shocked of course... soon they'll be even more shocked... Tsunade and Jiraiya seem kind of interested in the Kyuubi's perspective on this fine tale, but disbelief is also apparent.'
"So he did the same thing you would do if you found a stranger in your house; he attacked. Now, several days of battle passed; the body count kept rising, so finally the Yondaime Hokage appeared on top of Gamabunta and engaged the Kyuubi. After quite a struggle, the Yondaime started the sealing technique: Shiki Fuujin. He ended up ripping the Kyuubi's soul out of its body and sealing it into a new born child... any guesses on who that might be?" asked Naruto upon finishing his story.
Shock, disbelief, and anger mixed with jealousy were on Sakura, Hinata and Sasuke's faces, respectively.
"Naruto, you...?" Sakura couldn't formulate a proper question. Naruto nodded in response. "No way..." she trailed off.
"Naruto, so this is where you got all you power," Sasuke stated. "And you told me never to rely on my cursed seal, you goddamn hypocrite!" he yelled.
Naruto sighed sadly, "those were different times, Sasuke, I was still trying to live in an ideal world, which didn't hate me..." explained Naruto.
"Naruto, we never hated you," said Tsunade.
"By 'we' you mean: you, Jiraiya, Iruka and Hinata," he stated. "No, sorry, those odds are too small for me to like the village as a whole." Tsunade sighed regretfully.
"So that is how you were able to beat me eight years ago," said Sasuke, "and you used the same power three years ago..." Naruto nodded slowly not really understanding where the Uchiha was getting with this. "I will kill you!" he yelled.
Tsunade gave Sasuke a very harsh look, "what the hell do you think you're saying!?"
"He's a traitor and a murderer," replied Sasuke, "I will get my revenge..."
"Are you stupid?" yelled Jiraiya, "Do you want to turn him into an enemy?"
"He already is," countered Sasuke.
"Ku-ku-ku, for who are you doing it, Sasuke?" asked Naruto, completely calm. "I know you didn't care for any of the Hyuga, so for who? Kiba? Ino? Or just because?"
"For Lee," he answered.
"What?" inquired Naruto completely confused, "Just because I beat him?"
"He's dead because of you!" yelled Sasuke.
Naruto looked over at the others in confusion; their expressions only confirmed Sasuke's words.
"No... That's impossible..." said Naruto slowly, "that attack doesn't kill..."
"How do you figure?" asked Tsunade.
"Well the technique just knocks the person out," explained Naruto. "Well for Lee, it was combined with a paralysis technique that took out his lower back... I don't see how those two would have killed him."
"Sasuke does not lie," said Tsunade, "Lee is dead."
"He did have other wounds... if they were to..." mused Naruto in a whisper. "Is it possible that he was treated using chakra healing?" Naruto asked Tsunade.
"That is how almost all healing is done now," answered Tsunade, "especially post-battle treatments."
"Well that could have done it..." said Naruto.
"How do figure on healing techniques killing people?" asked Sakura.
"Hinata, what happens if a tenketsu is closed, but chakra is constantly getting pumped to it?" asked Naruto.
"It ruptures," she answered somewhat coldly.
"The pressure point that I used to knockout Lee is in the same place as the cerebellum tenketsu," Naruto explained further.
"So you're saying that when the medic-nins used chakra to heal him, they were actually overloading that particular tenketsu?" asked Sakura.
"Yes, I remember injuring his back and chakra travels very well up the backbone..."
"So are you trying to shirt the blame now?" asked Sasuke fiercely.
"Shift the blame?" wondered Naruto, "I am merely proposing a logical explanation for what happened."
"By saying that it's not your fault?" countered Sasuke.
"It isn't!" shouted Naruto, "How the hell was I to know they would use chakra to heal him? His wounds weren't that bad anyway, and he would have become conscious within two days."
"It is still your fault!" yelled Sasuke.
"You're hopeless," said Naruto, "maybe I should have used the Kyuubi's instincts instead of listening to your brother when it came to killing you..."
Jiraiya's jerked up, "you can talk to it!?" he asked disbelievingly.
"Yes, I could..."
Tsunade tilted her head slightly, "you could?"
"Yes, he's gone."
Jiraiya's eyes widened, "what do you mean 'he's gone'?"
"Doesn't anyone know how that seal was designed?" Naruto received completely confused looks. 'It's in their own Scroll of Seals and they are completely oblivious...' he sighed. "The seal was designed to absorb the Kyuubi after a period of time," explained Naruto.
"And exactly when did this happen?" inquired Tsunade.
"Several months before the jounin exam," replied Naruto calmly.
"But during the Hyuga assassination I felt its chakra," said Jiraiya.
"I can use his powers as if they were my own," explained Naruto; Tsunade and Jiraiya gasped. "They come in handy for hunting purposes," he smiled coyly.
"Oh yes, that reminds me, do you know what happened to Orochimaru?" asked Naruto.
"He's gone into hiding," answered Jiraiya, "even I can't find him."
"Really?" asked Naruto slyly.
Tsunade instantly caught on to his tone, "Naruto, what do you know about that snake?"
"Uh-uh-uh, not so easy, Tsunade," said Naruto with a fox grin, "I'm not just going to tell you."
"Then what do you want?" she asked, hoping for some sort of compromise.
"A certain scroll you have."
"A scroll?" asked Tsunade. "What scroll would you want?" 'Is he really going to ask for the Scroll of Seals?' thought Tsunade.
"The scroll belongs to me..." said Naruto cryptically.
Jiraiya started to catch on, "are you referring to your father's scroll?" he asked skeptically.
"Yes, and it belongs to me."
Tsunade's eyes narrowed, "it is the property of the village... but how is it that you know about it?"
Naruto smirked, "I have my ways of finding these things out and property of the village my ass! It has my name on it!" he said forcefully. "You know, from: the Yondaime, to: Uzumaki Naruto."
"WHAT!?" yelled Sakura and Hinata; Sasuke was just taken back.
"You heard correctly," said Naruto.
"How did you know?" asked Jiraiya.
"Someone had the decency to tell me," said Naruto with his eyes narrowed in resentment.
"You weren't ready for that kind of information eight years ago," replied Jiraiya.
"Oh yea, and believing that my parents were absolutely insignificant was much better," countered Naruto sarcastically.
"Back then you'd brag about everything, so we couldn't trust you with that kind of information," responded Jiraiya.
"No! I would have taken it to heart. I was a lot more mature than anyone here will ever know."
"Look, Naruto, I'm sorry that I did not tell you, and that I underestimated you," said Tsunade.
Naruto sighed, "That doesn't really matter," he said. Then after a pause, "how about a trade?"
"Trade?" wondered Tsunade.
"Yes, the scroll for information about the Snake Sannin," offered Naruto.
"How can we be sure you won't lie to us?" questioned Sakura.
"You'll have to trust my word."
"Humph, your word isn't good anymore," scoffed Sasuke.
"He's right," said Jiraiya, "you've broken a couple of your promises already."
"Yea, like protecting your friends," added Hinata.
"I haven't killed you yet, have I? Plus the only people, from the Leaf, that I truly consider my friends are: Iruka, Tsunade, and maybe Jiraiya and Hinata."
"What do you mean 'maybe'?" asked Jiraiya.
"You did kill Itachi-nii-chan, so my friendship with you is a bit unstable," explained Naruto. Jiraiya scowled at the 'nii-chan' part and Sasuke glared at Naruto.
Tsunade tried to change the subject and break the arising tension, "You give us the information and then I'll give you the scroll," offered Tsunade.
"You're actually going to bargain with a traitor?" questioned Sakura.
Tsunade noticed the disrespectful look on Sasuke's face, "DO NOT question the Hokage!" she glared at Sasuke and Sakura, who cowered back in fear.
Naruto smirked at the display of power while contemplating Tsunade's offer, 'I trust the old hag, but if they hear that he's dead more questions will arise... and worst case scenario they'll figure it out, and it'll be like trading with the enemy... but if worst comes to worst, I do have something to fall back on...'
"Alright, I'll tell you," responded Naruto, "but first I need to see that you actually have the scroll."
'He's definitely wised up,' though Tsunade, 'good thing I brought the scroll...'
"Fine," she pulled the scroll out of her pocket and showed it to Naruto, who activated his enhanced sight to make sure it was the right one. After briefly activating his Demon Eyes and not finding any genjutsu around the scroll he nodded in approval.
"You may think that Orochimaru disappeared off the face of the earth two years ago," Naruto paused a little, "and you are absolutely right."
"What the hell do you mean by that!?" yelled Jiraiya.
"Isn't it obvious?" seeing the confusion on their faces, "He's dead."
"Impossible!" said Sasuke matter-of-factly.
"Why? Because you can't kill him?" asked Naruto coldly.
"Because only another Sannin could match him in power," replied Sakura.
"Itachi outmatched him in power," stated Naruto.
"He had the sharingan to his advantage," countered Sakura.
"So you don't believe me?" asked Naruto.
"Hell no!" answered Sasuke and Sakura at the same time.
"I wasn't asking you," said Naruto looking at Tsunade.
"Do you have proof?" Tsunade finally asked.
Naruto sighed regretfully, "no I don't have any evidence," he noticed Sasuke was going to say something and decided to continue, "his lair was burned down soon after his death... and his head disposed of several months later."
Sasuke's eyes narrowed, "you know too much," he said in a low voice.
"True, Naruto, how do you know all the details?" asked Jiraiya suspiciously.
Naruto shifted his eyes away from the Leaf-nin and sighed, "is it not obvious?" he asked quietly. He heard a 'huh?' from someone, and grew out his claws holding his right hand in front of his face, "foxes hunt snakes, don't you know?"
Sakura and Hinata gasped while the others were just taken aback, "Y-You k-k-killed him?" asked Sasuke uncertainly.
Naruto continued to stare off into space while answering, "he was supposed to be just a test..."
Tsunade's eyebrows shot up, 'Taking on that snake as a test!?'
"My real objective, at the time, was Jiraiya," Jiraiya twitched slightly. "At the time, I wanted revenge... revenge for Itachi, but I doubted my powers since Itachi had always been able to best me... so I needed a trial run, someone with as much strength as Jiraiya. One of the Sannin was an immediate choice. However, since attacking Tsunade was the same as war on the Leaf, I went after the last remaining Sannin."
"What I don't understand, is why you didn't come after me two years ago?" asked Jiraiya.
"I was... pre-occupied..." replied Naruto with a slight smile.
"Killing people, I suppose," said Sasuke.
"Only you can be so blinded by rage and revenge that you don't see anything around you," countered Naruto.
"What the hell do you know!?" yelled Sasuke.
"I know quite a bit... I know that your brother didn't want you dead," Sasuke was taken aback. "Rather he wanted you to be able to see through the image..."
"Image? What image? That he's a bloody murderer!?" yelled Sasuke.
Naruto sighed, 'so stupid for a genius...' he thought. "It is your duty to figure it out, I can't give you all the answers," he said in a calm tone.
Sasuke growled, "You talk like you know everything. You know nothing!"
"Your brother told me everything, Sasuke-kun," said Naruto with a cold demeanor, "more than you than you see in your worst nightmares."
At that point Sasuke couldn't handle it anymore and charged at Naruto with his sharingan blaring. He went to punch Naruto, but Naruto dodged, however Sasuke's sharingan predicted where Naruto was going to go and Sasuke instantly sent a kick at that place. Unfortunately for Sasuke, Naruto was used to this, so before the kick could connect Sasuke felt a sharp in his kidney and immediately felt that he was being thrown back by a kick to the stomach.
Tsunade had watched as Naruto countered Sasuke's sharingan by creating a clone behind Sasuke, without using any hand seals and thus fooling the sharingan. 'Not surprising for someone that trained under a sharingan master?' she thought.
Sasuke was pissed off, but was now being held firmly by Jiraiya. "You idiot, don't you see that he can easily kill you?" yelled Jiraiya right in Sasuke's ear.
Naruto glared at Sasuke for a moment then returned his gaze to Tsunade, "My scroll, if you will," he requested in a calm tone.
"Don't give it to him!" yelled Sakura running up to Tsunade, "Not after what he did to Sasuke-kun!"
"That bastard attacked me, I merely defended myself," said Naruto while glaring at the pink haired girl.
"You provoked him," said Hinata coldly.
"By telling him the truth... perhaps," he said calmly, "but as a shinobi he needs to keep his feeling in check."
"You did it on purpose and you know it," said Tsunade, making a move to put the scroll back in her pocket.
Naruto's eyes narrowed, "my half of the deal is done," he said in a half-growl, "now pay up!"
Naruto's eyes glimmered red when Tsunade completely removed the scroll from view, "what the hell do you think you're doing, Hokage!?" asked Naruto enraged.
"You are not the Naruto I once knew... and certainly not one worthy of any kind of sympathy from me," asked Tsunade coldly.
"Sympathy!? Sympathy!?" Naruto spat out. "Who the hell asked for your sympathy?"
Naruto had to calm himself a little bit, "I came here for a simple talk of neutrality and to get back my belonging," he paused to study Tsunade, who still had her cold demeanor on. "We made a deal... are you as the Hokage of the Hidden Leaf going to disrespect your word?" he asked, trying to play the honor issue.
Tsunade smirked coldly, "I am not obliged to anything when dealing with traitorous scum."
Jiraiya had always been optimistic that Naruto was not evil and could be made into a friend of the village once more, so he was shocked that Tsunade had turned her back on Naruto. Sasuke, on the other hand, saw this as an opportunity to escape and broke free of Jiraiya's hold. He jumped to the side and started going through the hand seals for the Chidori.
Naruto's eyes darkened when he noticed that Tsunade was doing nothing to stop Sasuke. He looked at the Hokage with a slight glimmer of hope, "if he goes through with this I will take it as an act of war," he gave his ultimatum.
"I never should have agreed to this meeting in the first place," uttered Tsunade just before the deafening screech of the Chidori overrode all other sounds in the region.
As Sasuke was rushing towards him, everyone clearly saw Naruto's eyes almost completely drain of color. Just as the Chidori was about to make contact, Sasuke was thrown back halfway across the clearing, and a large dust cloud appeared on either side of Naruto.
When it cleared Leaf-nins saw three Sound-nins and a former Akatsuki member and Missing-nin from the Mist, Hoshigaki Kisame.
"It sounded like you were in trouble, Naruto," said Kisame.
"Well, they did basically declare war..." replied Naruto.
"What ever happened to coming alone?" questioned Sakura, sounding betrayed.
"You didn't follow the rules either, so don't question me, bitch!" Naruto said coldly; pissing off Sakura.
Naruto drew his sword and pointed it at Jiraiya, "looks like we are well matched..."
If even after this chapter somebody asks me for NaruHina... it's not gonna be pretty!
Next chapter may be out quicker, or it may be not... it all depends... but I find an action chapter easier to write.
Let's make this official: this story will have 21 chapters