As everyone was celebrating, Zetsu, who had been watching the battle from afar, mused over how someone as powerful as Pain could be defeated, and then left in order to inform Tobi about the battle's outcome.

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Once the festivities died down, everyone got to their first order of business: trying to rebuild the village.

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"Such devastation." Iruka muttered "I guess I'll be teaching outside for awhile. Let's see if we can salvage anything, something for the class."

"Hey Iruka, over here!" Tatsu called "Come check this out!"

Iruka made his way over to where Tatsu was calling him "This tree… it survived…"

"Yeah, the same with the mark." Tatsu pointed to a mark on the tree "Remember when this was put in?"

"Yeah."

"You want me to be honest about something?"

"What?"

"You were a real dick back then."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

(Back then)

The Third stared out the window, watching as Naruto graffitied the Hokage Monument "He's incorrigible."

"He's on a sugar high." Tatsu said dryly "I mean come on, if he's gonna pull pranks then they might as well be good pranks. These are just tasteless."

"And they're becoming more and more troublesome each and every day, and every single person in the village is irked by these pranks. That raises the question. Why are you so insistent on being in the same class as Naruto in the academy?"

Tatsu let out a sigh "We're alike, him and I. We're both loners, loners whose parents died when the Kyuubi attacked. We have a connection thanks to that, and I think that that's the first step to bonding with him."

The Third nodded in approval "Excellent, that's very good to hear. You have no idea how much good this will do Naruto."

"I think it's gonna do a lot of good for me too." then he stood "Well I've gotta get going, I'm supposed to meet Hayate-sensei for training. He's finally gonna teach me the Crescent Moon Dance."

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Morning came.

Naruto got up and got ready for the academy "Oh yeah that's right, I almost forgot we're getting some new transfer from another class today. Well you never get a second chance to make a good first impression. I've gotta give this guy the greeting that he deserves."

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Tatsu met up with Sasuke outside of the academy "Hey."

"So you volunteered specifically in the same class as Naruto?" asked Sasuke.

"The Third mentioned that my teacher was having some kind of personal issues so I saw it as a good opportunity."

"Most people would probably think you got the short end of the stick."

"Well frankly I think I got the long end."

"Only you would."

"And yet you still train with me."

"Because it's undeniable that you're by far stronger than anyone in the academy, even stronger than me."

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Later, Tatsu was waiting outside the class until he would be called in 'The question is, what will Naruto try on me?'

"Alright, come on in!" Iruka called.

'Alright, go time.' Tatsu opened the door, causing an eraser to fall in front of him, and he found Naruto standing in front of him 'Well that was fast. Alright, who?"

Naruto just snickered.

Tatsu looked down 'Grease on the floor. So the eraser was just a decoy to distract me and get me to let my guard down.' he formed a hand seal and stepped onto the grease, and he didn't even flinch "Not bad, not good but not bad."

Naruto could only blink "Huh?"

"Face it blondie, when it comes to pranks you're an ameteur on a sugar high."

"You little-!" now Naruto was foaming at the mouth 'Of all the things to call me, an ameteur prankster?! This son of a-!'

"That's enough." Iruka finally cut in, eerily calm "Naruto, just go and take your seat."

"Whatever." Naruto sat down, still grumbling "This place is so boring."

"Okay everyone, we've got a new student joining us today from another class. Tatsu, come up and introduce yourself."

"Alright." Tatsu stepped up and faced the class "My name is Tatsu Kamikaze, I like Ichiraku ramen, swords and a certain book. I dislike slackers who don't take their training seriously and just pick on others to make themselves feel better, and I despise prejudice of any kind. My hobbies are training and reading. I don't really have any goals for the future. And just a warning, you don't want to make an enemy out of me." and he sat down next to Sasuke, much to the fury of the army of fangirls.

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About an hour passed, and Iruka was in the middle of a lecture "Therefore, a person's chakra is greatly influenced by that person's mental energy." then he noticed Naruto sleeping and stormed up, but stopped.

"I've got it." Tatsu knelt down beside Naruto and formed a hand seal "GET UP!"

Naruto looked up, only to see the face of Might Guy, and immediately screamed and fell out of his chair "Hey!"

"You see? Now that is a prank."

Naruto growled, then blinked "Oh hey, sensei isn't it already time for class to be over? Just look, see for yourself."

Iruka looked at the clock "I didn't realize that it was so late. Well then that's everything for today, I'll see you tomorrow." and he walked out of the classroom.

Naruto snickered and went up to the clock, then winded it back to its original time "I knew that sucker would fall for that old trick, that makes prank #3!"

"Just one word of advice for the future." said Tatsu.

"What?"

"When you reveal your prank, wait until the teacher isn't right outside the door." he pointed to where Iruka came back in, looking annoyed.

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Later, Iruka brought everyone outside "Alright everyone, instead of just introducing yourselves I want each of you to demonstrate your skills with ninjutsu. Don't worry, you're not going to be graded on this. It's merely so I can assess where you are on your studies and plan how to proceed with our lesson."

"Like a pretest." Sasuke summarized.

"Exactly. Okay, we'll start off with a basic Clone Jutsu then. First up is Sasuke Uchiha, you wanna give it a shot?"

"Fine by me." Tatsu stepped up "Time to show you clowns what a real ninja is capable of."

Naruto was practically foaming at the mouth "Why do you have to act so smug all the time? I swear, you're just as bad as Sasuke!"

"Do you mind? I'm trying to concentrate." then he turned to Iruka "For the record, I'm not doing the basic Clone Jutsu. I've got something better."

Iruka blinked "Fine by me I guess, go ahead."

"That's the plan." Tatsu formed a certain hand seal "Shadow Clone Jutsu." 6 identical copies appeared.

"Solid clones? But that's a jonin level technique, how do you know it?"

"I train with jonin on a daily basis, one of them taught me this."

"I see. Very impressive. I can't even tell which one is the real one."

"That's the idea."

"Oh please!" Naruto burst in front of him "It's totally obvious to me, this one!" he kicked that Tatsu in the head, only for him to disappear in a puff of smoke.

"Wrong."

"Well then this one!" this process repeated itself "This one!" again "This one!" and again "This one!" again "This one!" he destroyed the last clone.

"How did you pick wrong 6 times in a row?" Tatsu, the real one, dropped down from atop one of the trees "I used the smoke from the jutsu as a cover and hid myself in the tree."'

"Amazing." Iruka muttered "6 clones at once while the real one moved away unseen."

"That's the idea."

"So what? I can do Clone Jutsu too!" Naruto formed a hand seal "Clone Jutsu!" he summoned a very crappy looking clone, and everyone burst out laughing.

"...Is it dead?"

"Shut up!"

"Man that kid can't do anything right!" Hibachi mocked.

"Shut up!"

"All you're doing is interrupting our lesson." Shino pointed out "You're wasting the time of everyone here and becoming an annoyance." this earned him a dirty look from Hinata.

"What?"

"He's right." Hibachi kept mocking him "But you're not just becoming an annoyance, that's all you've ever been and all you ever will be."

"Shut up!"

"Hey Hibachi that's pretty cruel of you." Unagi pointed out "But sometimes the truth hurts."

"What? Why you-"

"That's enough." Tatsu got in between Naruto and Hibachi "Naruto, a shinobi shouldn't lose control of their emotions like that."

Naruto growled.

"If you go charging in like an angry rhino then you're guaranteed to die out there."

Hibachi smirked "See? Even the new guy gets how worthless you are, but then again if you do die out there then you'd be doing us a favor-"

Tatsu cut him off with a sharp kick to the face, sending him crashing to the ground "Like you have any room to talk, you're the most pathetic one here. At least Naruto tries, all you do is pick on others and you don't even bother to train. If you think you're so much better than Naruto then go ahead and show us, make a clone for us right now."

"Fine, I will." after rubbing his sore jaw, Hibachi formed a hand seal "Clone Jutsu!" nothing happened "Uh…"

"See? You're pathetic, you have absolutely no right to belittle others."

"Tatsu, that's enough." Iruka finally intervened.

"I'm only telling the truth, and frankly you have no right to speak. You're just like the rest of the bigots in this village, you look at Naruto like he's the plague when he's done absolutely nothing wrong. What gives you the right to treat him like that?"

Iruka said nothing.

"I'll be back when you're not a prejudiced asshole." Tatsu then hopped over the railing and took off.

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Ayame shot Tatsu an incredulous look "You just ditched class just like that?"

"You know how I feel about people like him." Tatsu told her, his voice having a clear edge "I don't care if he was my brother's teammate, he has no right to treat the kid like that."

"I completely agree."

Tatsu looked to see Mizuki sit down beside him "And here comes another one, well at least I know you're not a prejudiced asshole."

"Look Tatsu we all know that Iruka isn't like that."

"I don't care what he's like, if he keeps treating Naruto like this then I'll hit him with the Thousand Years of Death."

"Just give it time, he'll learn."

"He better."

"He will."

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Next morning, Iruka lined the class up outside "Alright kids, today we're hands on with shuriken jutsu. First, let's have someone demonstrate for us. Let's see…" he tried to ignore Naruto and Kiba barking "Shino, you go ahead."

Shino shook his head, bugs emerging from his coat "Iruka-sensei, I'm afraid you've chosen the wrong person for this. The shuriken jutsu is not something practiced by the Aburame clan, for all forms of warfare we rely specifically on parasitic insects. We house them inside our-"

"Okay Shino, that's enough! Tatsu, will you please just show us the basics."

"Alright." Tatsu stepped up "And word of advice guys, there's a reason acting stuck up makes you popular."

"And what would that reason be exactly?" asked Kiba.

"Simple, women want what they can't have so if you act like you don't want them then it makes them want you." Tatsu held up four shuriken in each hand "And just for fun." he turned around and threw them behind him, each one hitting the target directly in the center.

Iruka nodded in approval "Well done Tatsu, very impressive."

Kiba snorted "Stuck up and a showoff, I can do that too if I wanted too."

"Alright then Kiba, I guess you're up next."

"Fine by me." Kiba stepped up and threw all of the shuriken at once, only one hitting the target and the rest scattering, one of them missing Iruka's head by a few millimeters "...Oops."

"...Next."

"Dibs!" Naruto shot up.

Tatsu walked up and leaned over to Naruto's ear "Don't do what the fleabag just did, keep a clear head and do one at a time."

"What? Why? I can do it in one shot."

"No you can't, don't bite off more than you can chew. Just follow my lead. First, close your eyes."

Naruto did so.

"Now, visualize the target."

"Huh?"

"Picture the target in your head without opening your eyes."

Naruto did so.

"Now throw them one at a time."

Naruto did so.

"Now open your eyes."

Naruto opened his eyes "Alright!"

Iruka looked at the shuriken and wrote down the results "3 out of 6, not bad. Okay, which one of you wants to give it a shot next?"

Naruto followed Tatsu to the back "Hey Tatsu."

"What's up?" Tatsu raised an eyebrow.

"Well, about yesterday… thanks."

"...No problem. Hey, you wanna hit Ichiraku after class? My treat."

"Alright!" Naruto gave a huge shit eating grin "You know I'm actually really in with the people from Ichiraku."

"Same, my brother and the owner's daughter had a thing going on."

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A few more days went by without incident.

Tatsu was walking with Sasuke discussing a certain topic "For the last time no, I can't teach you the Crimson Dragon."

"But why?" Sasuke whined uncharacteristically.

"I've told you before, it's specifically my Kamikaze clan chakra that makes the dragon turn red. Just use your Dragon Flame Jutsu and-"

"What the hell is your problem?!"

"Hold on." Tatsu motioned for Sasuke to get to the side of the road while he himself got closer to see what was going on 'Oh great, Naruto just had to piss off that guy of all people.'

That guy was just an angry old man in his 40's that barked at everyone and everything that pissed him off, and Naruto was pretty high on his list "What the hell are you doing here?! You're a curse on all of us you filthy beast! You're nothing but a-" the old prick was cut off when a shuriken hit nicked his ear, cutting a small piece of it clean off.

Next thing anyone knew, an equally pissed off Tatsu was in front of him "The way I see it, the only freak here is someone who'd keep that filthy creature on their lip, and the only curse here is someone like you, someone so desperate for a hobby he'd stoop to picking on a little kid who's done nothing wrong."

"Done nothing wrong?! Listen you little brat, this little freak here is the-" he did the smart thing and cut himself short when he felt metal pressed against his throat, and subtly looked back to see one of Tatsu's Shadow Clones holding a kunai to his neck.

"You know by all rights I could execute you for your little slip of the tongue, but I think it's about time for Ibiki to get a new playmate."

"No please, I'll do anything! Anything!" for once the dumbass was fearing for his life.

"Gee, let me think… take him away!"

"Yes sir!" the Shadow Clone then took the screaming asshole away.

"Goodbye and good riddance." then he went over and helped Naruto to his feet "You alright?"

"Yeah…" Naruto muttered awkwardly, then picked up the mask hurled at him.

"So what were you gonna do with that?"

"Dress up like a demon fox spirit and scare a bunch of pricks."

"...That's so tasteless it hurts."

"So what, you think I shouldn't go through with it?"

"That depends, who are you gonna scare?"

"Hibachi and his friends."

"Oh then I say go for it, that little prick has it coming."

"Finally, someone who gets the art of pranking! Wanna come help?"

"No thanks, I'm meeting someone. Oh, hold on a second." Tatsu turned to the crowd that had watched the scene with the old guy "And consider this a warning, from now on if you pick a fight with this kid then you pick a fight with me, and if that little scene is something to go by then you don't wanna pick a fight with me." and he threw down a smoke bomb and disappeared.

"...How does he do that?"

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Morning came.

Iruka came in and found a pissed off Tatsu waiting for him "Um… good morning."

"Don't give me that you prick!" Tatsu promptly kicked Iruka in the shin.

"You know, I should give you detention for that but knowing you there's probably a good reason."

"Why the f*ck did Naruto show up outside my apartment crying tears of anger at 2:00 in the morning?"

Iruka flinched.

"He said you gave him the stink eye like everyone else in the village and now he refuses to come to the academy."

Iruka flinched even worse that time.

"We're talking about this after class, and be ready to guard your sins." and he went inside.

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Iruka sat on the bench on the roof of the academy 'What am I gonna do?'

"Naruto told me everything that happened." Tatsu climbed up and sat down beside him "Now where did you rush off to after class? And be honest, I'll know if you're lying."

"...I went to ask the Third Hokage to relieve me of my duties as Naruto's teacher, but he refused to see me."

"Uh-huh."

"The truth is that I don't have any clue how to deal with that boy, nothing works."

"All you've done is act like an emotionally distant asshole."

"I don't know why the Hokage thought I was the right person for this, I'm just not qualified to teach a kid like Naruto. Hayate-sensei told me something about being a teacher. You cannot open the mind of another if you can't open your own mind, or maybe there's something else you're trying to forget. And don't worry, I already know."

"...The Kyuubi sealed inside Naruto is responsible for the deaths of my parents, I'm fully aware that Naruto isn't to blame for what occurred back then but whenever I look at him I can't stop thinking about what's hiding deep inside of him and about what the Kyuubi did. I don't think someone like me can make Naruto open up."

"Actually I think the Hokage thinks that you're the only person who can reach Naruto's heart, and that's your personal ordeal."

"My ordeal?"

"Yeah. The Hokage has presented you with a personal ordeal, I think that if you can just hang in there a little longer then you can find a way to reach him. Rise up to meet the high expectations set by the Hokage." then he took a breath "Now then, time for me to give a little touch of me. Iruka, look at me."

"Look Tatsu, I-"

Tatsu cut him off with a slap to the face "In case you've forgotten, I lost my parents to the Kyuubi too."

Iruka's comeback died in his throat.

"I'm only a student and I can look past it, you're a full fledged chunin and a teacher so why can't you? Think about that." and he walked away.

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Morning came.

Shikamaru found Tatsu on his way to school "Oh hey."

"What's up?" asked Tatsu.

"Can I ask you something? About Naruto, you seem to know a lot about him."

"More than most do."

"Why does everybody avoid him and treat him like the plague? Did he do something wrong?"

"...Tell me something Shika, how exactly do you feel about Naruto?"

"You wanna know how I feel about him? Well I never really thought about it until my dad asked me the same thing this morning. Well he's not the sharpest knife in the drawer but he's pretty funny, I don't know if we'll ever be buddies or anything but it's not like I wanna avoid him."

"...I see. Anything else?"

"Yeah, Choji and I saw Hibachi pulling one of his pranks on Naruto. He sent him to the back hills to get a souvenir from an enemy corpse, and there still might be enemy ninja out there."

"...We've gotta let Iruka know about this, and hopefully get that little shit Hibachi in some long overdue trouble."

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Iruka looked around the classroom 'I don't blame him for the first day, but this is one step too far. Alright guys, has anyone seen Naruto?"

"Nope, haven't seen him." Hibachi lied.

Tatsu stood first, with Shikamaru following "We saw him this morning, he was heading into the back hills."

"Pipe down you guys, what the hell are you doing?"

"Hibachi tricked him into going there to look for enemy corpses."

"Shut up!"

"Why should I? Your pranks are annoying and pathetic, and so are you."

"Stay here and study." Iruka frantically rushed out of the room.

'I guess Iruka made his decision.'

Hibachi was quick to round on Tatsu "What the hell is your problem?"

"My problem? What the hell is your problem? You tried to send Naruto off to get himself killed out of pure spite. You're pathetic and frankly, you don't deserve to be a shinobi."

"You son of a-" Hibachi stomped on the desk "Let's settle this outside, right now!"

"Fine by me, it's about time someone knocked you down a couple pegs. Or ten."

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"Kakashi!"

Hearing his name, Kakashi looked up from his book to see Tatsu running towards him, looking serious "Aren't you supposed to be in class right now?"

"Nevermind that right now, we've got more serious issues right now. And for the record, I'm just a Shadow Clone and I've got a free period. Naruto got tricked into going into the back hills to look for enemy corpses, Iruka went after him."

"I see." Kakashi snapped closed his book "You did the right thing by coming to me instead of going by yourself. You didn't go by yourself did you?"

"I'm ballsy not stupid Kakashi, cut me some slack."

"Where's the real you?" note the skepticism in his voice.

"Back at the academy."

Still skeptical.

"Okay fine, the kid who tricked Naruto rounded on me for ratting him out and picked a fight with me, and being me I couldn't back down."

"...Only you." and Kakashi quickly took off for the back hills.

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Tatsu found himself faced off with Hibachi outside the academy, with all of the other students as spectators 'Just my luck.'

Hibachi stepped up with a cocky smirk "It's about time someone took you down a peg, you'll regret acting so cool when I'm done with you."

"Just keep thinking that, maybe when I'm done you'll learn not to belittle others just to make yourself feel good."

Shikamaru stepped up, acting as the ref "Ready? Start!"

It was over in less than 10 seconds when Tatsu pinned Hibachi to the ground "You really think you can tangle with someone like me?"

"Shut up!" refusing to accept defeat, Hibachi pulled something out of his bag.

'A paper bomb.'

He pulled several more things out.

'2 dozen paper bombs? Is he nuts? That'll kill both of us and everyone here could get caught in the crossfire.'

"You'll regret talking down to me!" then he pulled out a lighter and lit the chain of paper bombs.

'Dammit, there's no time! Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Tatsu summoned 30 clones to shield himself and the students.

Hibachi leapt back a safe distance once the explosion went off "See? That's why you don't talk down to me! Nobody will talk down to me!"

"Is that so?"

'Crap.' Hibachi looked back.

Kakashi was standing over him, and he looked pissed "Is this how you are? You don't like when people call you out so you try to blow them and the entire class to bits? That's not how a shinobi should act, that's not how a human being should act."

"Don't worry Kakashi." Tatsu quickly put out the flames, revealing both him and the entire class unharmed "We're alright."

"Good, well done Tatsu." then Kakashi looked back at Hibachi "You're coming with me, we're gonna have a little chat with your teacher." and they both disappeared.

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Sarutobi frowned at what he heard "I see."

Tatsu sighed "I know I shouldn't have been so eager to jump into a fight but I didn't think he'd go all Mad Bomber like that."

"Indeed, we should've been more careful with that."

"So what's gonna happen to him now?"

"He tried to kill you and completely disregarded the safety of his classmates, he'll be expelled at the very least."

"I see. By the way, how are Naruto and Iruka doing?"

"They'll be just fine, but I think you'll be interested in what you see."

"What do you mean?"

"Just go see for yourself."

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Tatsu met Naruto and Iruka outside the academy "Hey guys, what's up?"

Naruto was throwing a tantrum "Oh come on sensei, give me a break! How could you have lost that kunai?!"

"YOU IDIOT!" Iruka exploded, taking Naruto by surprise "Are you kidding? You almost lost your life today because of that thing."

"Yeah that's true but…"

"You seem quiet today."

"That's because this is the first time you've ever yelled at me sensei, I'm just surprised."

"Yelled at you? Yeah I guess I did. That's because I decided that I'm going to be more honest and upfront with you from now on, starting tomorrow I'm going to be harder on you than ever."

"Huh? Well if that's how it's gonna be then I'm never going back to the academy." then he looked at Tatsu "Oh hey Tatsu when did you get here?"

"Oh for the love of-" Tatsu let out a sigh "Tell me something Naruto, do you have the Will of Fire in you?"

"The Will of Fire? What the hell is that?"

"It's the strong will to do whatever it takes to protect the Hidden Leaf Village and all the people in it no matter what it takes, if you have it then you can become as strong as the Hokage."

"The Hokage? Is he really as strong as they say?"

"He could kill me just by blinking if he wanted to. But the Hokage has more than just strength, he has the respect and admiration of everyone in the village because he's such a great leader. The Fourth Hokage was a hero who protected us all from the Kyuubi 10 years ago."

"A hero?"

"One of the greatest in history."

"That's it then, I'm gonna be an even stronger Hokage than the Fourth Hokage and then everyone in the village will have to acknowledge how great I am!"

"Alright then, your goal is set. Only one thing left to do now." Tatsu then took out a kunai and marked a certain spot on the tree "I personally guarantee that by the time you're that tall you'll be able to become the Hokage."

"Alright, then I'll work just as hard as I can until that day comes!"

(And that's how it happened)

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Iruka smiled fondly "You're right, I was a dick back then."

"Yeah you were." Tatsu said dryly "So what do you think now?"

"I think he really might become Hokage one day."

"No might or maybe about it, I know for a fact that he will become Hokage."

"You always have, and you've never wavered even for a second. Naruto's come far, Sasuke and Lee too. You had a big hand in their development."

"Get real, everything they've accomplished they did on their own power."

"Don't be so modest, you've had a major role in the growth of almost all of your classmates and comrades. Naruto, Sasuke, Lee, Kiba, Shikamaru, Dosu, Kin, Zaku, Ino. The only ones left are Choji and Shino. Well there's Sakura but-"

"Don't mention her name, not after what she did."

"Speaking of which, do Naruto and Sasuke know? About that certain thing I mean."

"No they don't and I have no intention of telling them unless I have to, especially not after such a huge battle."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

At the same time, the pink haired Akatsuki was making her way to the Leaf Village, unaware of the attack and only one thing on her mind 'It won't be long now, just a little longer and I will have my revenge on all of those who wronged me.' she tightly gripped the scrolls she had hidden in her robe 'And I'll use those jutsu to carry it out, and those bastards shall regret ever betraying me.'

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Zetsu was explaining to Madara and Kisame about what happened in the Hidden Leaf and how Pain was defeated by Naruto and Lee "And that's it."

"I never imagined Pain would be defeated." Madara noted.

Kisame nodded "This is most unexpected."

"And Konan isn't coming back here either. What should we do?" asked Zetsu "So many of our members are gone."

Madara pondered for a moment "We need more pawns to synchronize with the Gedo Statue again. Kisame, you go track down the Eight-Tails."

"What about you?" asked Kisame.

"I have some other business to attend do."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Yamato stared at the destruction of the Hidden Leaf Village "This is… much much worse than I had imagined."

Then Shikaku came up to him "You're late."

"Did Naruto do all of this?"

"No, it was all Pain's doing."

"What? Pain?"

"Yeah but Naruto and Lee handled him, they defeated Pain all by themselves."

"They did? What about the Kyuubi?"

"Naruto was able to control it all on his own."

Yamato breathed a sigh of relief "Oh that's good news- Wait hold on, Naruto controlled the Kyuubi on his own?!"

"There's no time to worry about that now, right now we have to focus on rebuilding the village. It's gonna be hard work, Yamato we're gonna need all the help you can give us."

"Right."

"Good."

Then an ANBU appeared "Sir."

"What is it?"

"An emergency council has been called, as jonin squad leader you're required to be there Lord Shikaku." then he disappeared.

"Already? Alright then."

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An emergency meeting had been called with the Daimyo of the Land of Fire and his council, now consisting of Danzo, Shikaku, Asuma and Kazuma on the Leaf side, seeing how Koharu and Homura had been stripped of their positions after the truth about Itachi and the Uchiha coup had been revealed.

Danzo got straight down to business "We fully intend to continue pursuing the Akatsuki with assistance from our various allies including the Land of Snow, the Hidden Sand and the Hidden Waterfall. But firstly, our top priority is rebuilding the Hidden Leaf."

"With everything that's happened to your village, those of us from the Land of Fire shall provide full support in your rebuilding efforts." one minister told him.

"You have our thanks. But at the moment, there is a more pressing matter at hand that we must focus on."

Shikaku's eyes narrowed 'Here it comes, I knew it.'

Kazuma clasped a hand on Shikaku's shoulder, his eyes saying 'Don't interfere, it will all work out.'

"We must choose someone to take over in Tsunade's absence and lead in the village's rebuilding efforts." Danzo told them.

"Would it not be possible for us to simply bide our time until Tsunade recovers?" asked the Daimyo.

Kazuma shook his head and pushed up his glasses "With all due respect my lord, I'm afraid that would be impossible as well as impractical. Lady Hokage is currently in a comatose state, and even with Lady Shizune at her side there is no telling when she will regain consciousness, let alone resume her duties as Hokage. As it currently stands, without someone at the head we cannot steer the village forward."

"I'd really hoped that Jiraiya would follow us as the next Hokage, I liked him very much and it saddens me that he's no longer with us. So who else is up for consideration?"

"Again with all due respect my lord, I don't mean a new Hokage. Lady Tsunade has done a fine job running the village, I merely mean someone who can take over for her until she recovers."

"But you just said you don't know how long it will be until then."

"That is true, but I have faith that she will recover regardless of how long."

"So who do you suggest then?"

Kazuma looked over at Danzo 'Try anything and I will personally annihilate you. I believe that Lord Danzo would fill the position well until she recovers."

"Is that so? It makes sense, he was a fellow pupil of the Second Hokage after all alongside the Third Hokage."

"I mean no disrespect to the Third, but he did make a few poor decisions during his reign, the most notable being when he let Orochimaru escape that day. Anyway, I simply feel that Lord Danzo should at least be given a chance, at least for now."

The Daimyo pondered for a minute, before conceding "Very well, I don't see why now. Danzo, I appoint you acting Sixth Hokage. Temporarily, depending on how this turns out."

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Naruto came in with Lee, Tatsu, Kakashi and Sasuke to check on Tsunade "How is she?"

Ino shook her head "She used Lady Katsuyu's jutsu to protect everyone in the village from Pain's attack, and she's been unconscious ever since. We don't know when she will wake up, if she will at all."

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"Hey guys, over here!" Zaku called "Do you think we can still use this timber?"

Dosu nodded "Looks like it, but still…"

"What's wrong?"

"Just look around you Zaku, there's nothing left of what was built by the previous generations of Hokage. Everything's been reduced to rubble, who could've imagined that something like this would happen."

"Yeah but don't forget Dosu, the legacy of the Hokage isn't just the buildings."

"That's right!" Yamato called from down below "All of us are still here after all!" he formed a hand seal "Wood Style: Row Houses Jutsu!" he slammed his hand into the ground, causing multiple wooden houses to spring up.

"Alright!" the surrounding shinobi cheered "At this rate the village will be rebuilt in no time at all!"

Yamato on the other hand was left wheezing from exhaustion and lack of chakra "Oh sure, easy for you to say."

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Naruto was still saddened about Tsunade "I just- There are so many things I never got a chance to say to her."

"Don't worry about it too much, I'm sure she'll wake up in no time." Sasuke assured him "She's one of the Sannin for crying out loud, not to mention she embodies the strength of the women of the village."

"That reminds me, how are you working out with Kin?"

Sasuke let out a long sigh "She hasn't spoken a word to me since I came back."

"Oh you're screwed."

"Hey there, super long time no see Naruto, Sasuke."

Naruto looked up to see Tazuna and Inari standing before them 'No way, is that?'

"It's so great to see our heroes again, what's up guys?"

"Inari and old man Tazuna?"

Inari grinned "Yep."

"Boy you sure have grown up, and you're even older old man."

Tazuna grunted "Shut it."

"Never. So what are you guys up to?"

"I'm working as a carpenter now." Inari told him "I accepted the Hidden Leaf's commission and here we are to help rebuild. I figure we'd at least say hello to you guys while we're here."

"How long has it been? 2 years? 3 years?"

"More like 4."

"And to think that kid is all grown up."

"And all my old friends are carpenters just like me. They're all working right over there." he pointed to where a bunch of kids his age were working.

"Well isn't that a surprise."

"We're grateful that you helped us that day, with Gato I mean." Tazuna bowed his head and made Inari do the same "Because of you guys the Land of Waves has become very prosperous."

"I noticed." Sasuke told him "I actually went to the Land of Waves awhile back, I heard you were off in the Land of Lightning."

"Now we're gonna return the favor." Inari told them "The first thing we're gonna build is Ichiraku, just you watch and I'll build you an awesome noodle house!"

"Inari…" Naruto gave his classic sheepish grin "Thank you, that'd be great."

"You've really grown Naruto, I think you've grown up to be a super young man."

"Oh go on you really think so?"

"Yeah absolutely."

"Yeah you're right-"

"Oh for crying out loud!" Sasuke comically smacked him on the head "You're such a sucker for compliments, stop fishing for more."

"I'll go along with it 100%." Inari told them "In our land you guys are heroes now."

"Yeah but let's be real, we were just naive little kids back then and I still didn't know my life had been a lie."

"What are you talking about?"

"You know how my brother slaughtered my clan?"

"Yeah."

"Well it turns out that my clan was plotting a coup against the village and by killing those involved he actually became a hero who single handedly prevented the start of the Fourth Great Ninja War."

"Hold on, you're the only one out of your entire clan who didn't know?"

"No most of the older ones knew, the only reason the rest of the clan got wiped out was because of the guy leading the one responsible for this attack."

"Damn."

"How do you think I felt?"

Then Tatsu showed up with Kakashi "Well look who it is, I didn't think you guys would get here so soon."

"Hey there Tatsu, Kakashi, good to see you guys." Tazuna waved "We heard the Hidden Leaf was in trouble so we came as soon as we could."

"I see, well we really appreciate the help. So what were you guys talking about?"

"Just reminiscing about how you guys became heroes in our land. Hey by the way, what happened to Sakura?"

"She abandoned us in a fight with Orochimaru, tried to lie about it, and then got arrested for attempted murder."

"Wow, it's really gone down hill."

"It's alright, Sasuke got a girlfriend out of it." then he looked to where Sasuke was huddled on the ground anime-depressed "They're going through a rough patch."

"I can see that. Well we'd better get to work, see you guys later." and they both went on their way.

"I see the carpenters from the Land of Waves have arrived."

Tatsu looked back to see Danzo and Kazuma approach them "Yep, and apparently the Land of Waves has been prospering well since that mission."

"I see."

"So what brings you two out here?"

Kazuma stepped forward "Sasuke, Naruto, Kakashi, there was something I had neglected to tell you back when I told you guys about Itachi."

"And what would that be?" asked Sasuke skeptically.

"...Shisui Uchiha is still alive."

"...What?!"

"Well you guys seem pretty lively all things considered."

Naruto and the rest looked back, and his eyes bulged out of his head when he saw who was standing there "Yahiko! Konan!"

"Get back Naruto!" Kakashi drew a kunai.

"Calm youself Kakashi, they're not our enemies." Danzo stepped forward.

"I take it you received my prior message?" Yahiko bowed, with Konan following.

"Yes I did, your offer is appreciated and accepted." Danzo returned the gesture "On behalf of the Leaf, you have my thanks."

"Hold on, what's going on?" asked Tatsu.

"Yahiko here wished to make amends for what the Akatsuki, originally his organization, had done to our village, so he's offering the assistance of the Hidden Rain Village in rebuilding the Leaf."

"...Neat." then he turned back to Kazuma "So anyway, about Shisui, spill."

Kazuma sighed "Well it all started about 8 years ago, about 3 months before the Uchiha Massacre…"

A/N:

Just to be clear, next chapter will be mostly a flashback about the Land of Snow movie, because that was one of my favorites.