Chapter 3

Naruko barely dodged the kick and threw a sloppy counter. The smile on the teen's face just pissed her off more. She continued to attack but she was not hitting her target.

"That's enough." A voice said. The two stopped and Naruko dropped to her knees in exhaustion. She was breathing hard. She looked at her training partner and gave him a harsh glare due to the fact that he was still smiling. The owner of the voice walked up to the kneeling Naruko and looked at her with his lone eye in disappointment. She refused to look up to him.

"I thought I trained you to hide these emotions? You will only hinder your progress if you allow such trivial things to bother you." He said with a tone.

"Look Danzo-oji (uncle), I'm in no mood for your emotions lecture crap! I'm not in the mood at all!" Naruko exclaimed. The man gave no expression that her attitude bothered her. He looked at her training partner and the pale skinned boy vanished. Danzō turned his attention back to Naruko.

"The only thing that annoys you like this is either your mother or your brother. Seeing your actions, I'm betting that it is the latter. So, Naruto has returned?" Danzō asked.

"Yeah, he's back and he's an even bigger tool than he was before he left. Apparently, he isn't happy with how I've been acting. Someone must have told him something, probably my mom." Naruko complained, muttering her words. Danzō just listened but he was more interested in the returning elder Namikaze. He had his spies keep an eye on the boy and even try to sabotage him but that would end in failure. The boy had developed enough clout that if he even tried to deal with him, he would not get away with it. Danzō could not deal with Naruto by normal means. He would have to plot accordingly.

"You need not concern yourself with Naruto. You are farther ahead of your peers and you do not need the acknowledgment of your brother." Danzō said.

"But I would be invincible with his Oto no Kazeken (Sonic Wind Sword) and the Rasengan! You said yourself, I'm the tip of Konoha's spear! That's the strongest part of the spear! You're the only one who sees that." Danzō was pleased to hear her say these words. Naruko would be Konoha's greatest weapon.

"Perhaps you should master the Rasengan first. Have you convinced your mother to show you the jutsu?" Danzō asked.

"Pftt, no. She told me I'm not ready for such a move. So, I took the scroll for it." Danzō did not say anything and waited for her to continue. However, she did not continue.

"And?"

"Well, I haven't been able to open it. I thought that my blood would open it but it didn't. Then mom caught me." Naruko said with a pout. Danzō again did not show any expression. He figured that Kushina took percussions to stop such a task. Danzō just looked at his charge.

"Take a breath and we will return to your training shortly." Danzō said. Naruko nodded and sat there for a while. Danzō walked away from his protégée with his thoughts. He needed to be prepared for anything that the elder Namikaze strength.

XXX

Naruto awoke the next day a bit more refreshed. He had some people he wanted to reunite with today but he also had some important business that he had to deal with. The first was to see the Hokage and the second was to meet with several clan heads. He quickly ate and got dressed before leaving his home for the Hokage tower. As he made his way through the village, people greeted him and welcomed him back. Naruto greeted them all and kept moving. That's when he heard something that sounded like squealing. He turned to see several young girls giving heart eyes at a boy with a weird haircut.

Naruto looked at the boy they were gushing over and recognized who it was. The last Uchiha had certainly grown up since he last saw him. He hadn't changed that much but he could see that he thought highly of himself. He must have been looking at him too long because Sasuke seem to feel his eyes on him. Sasuke looked at him and he saw that he clearly recognized him if the scowl on his face was any indicator. He watched as the boy turned his nose at him and walked off.

Naruto looked at his retreating from with a smirk and continued on his way to the Hokage tower.

XXX

Hiruzen sat behind his desk and looked at the portraits of all the Hokages, including his own. Lost in his own world, he focused on the portrait of his successor, Namikaze Minato. He truly wished that he was still alive. He knew that with him still in the world of the living, peace would have lasted a bit longer. It would have been a long lasting peace. That wasn't the case anymore and Hiruzen could feel that the conflict would be returning very soon.

His thoughts were interrupted when his secretary called, letting him know that Namikaze Naruto had arrived. Hiruzen told her to let him in and the turned to face the young man who just entered. When he saw him, he could have sworn that he was looking at a copy of his father. He even moved like him a little. He quickly hid his shock and focused. He also prayed for he remembered the last time the two spoke.

"Welcome home Naruto. You have been missed these last two years." Hiruzen said.

"Maybe by you old man but I think your old teammates and the mummy weren't. I'm guessing that they aren't happy that I'm back." Naruto said.

"You don't make it easy on them Naruto and I have to hear about it." The Hokage said with a sigh. He ignored Naruto's attempt to rile him and returned to the topic of conversation. "So, how were things in the capitol? I have gotten reports of your accolades."

"From my mom apparently. There were days that it was hard but mom's letters and Ero-Sennin's (Pervy Sage) visits. So, despite everything that I did, I'm all there. Are you worried about my mentality? It isn't because of our last talk?" Naruto asked.

"I'll be honest, I thought that way. However, you seem to have let that go. Or am I wrong in my thoughts?"

"I'm still not happy. I think you should have waited for me. Still, it happened and it's in the past. I can't do anything about it and just moved forward. So, I'm willing to bury the hatchet if you are."

"I would like that." Hiruzen said with a smile. He then pulled out three scrolls from behind his desk and pushed it forward toward him. Naruto looked at each scroll with curiosity. "The scroll on the right is the deed to the building that you wanted. I'll admit that I'm curious about why you want that building. The scroll in the middle is the funds from the bounties that you have collected during your time abroad. It includes the bounties you collected on Gantetsu of Iwa, Hoki of the Watari and Kagura of Konoha." That name made Naruto think back.

When he came across Kagura, she was in the company of some arms-dealers. He managed to break-up their buy but failed to capture the ring leader. He continued to mess with the deals and that brought out Kagura. He knew her and she knew him. It was a hard battle. He was nearly killed several times due to her knives. He gave as good as he got however and stayed in the fight. The battle lasted almost an hour. It came down to his mastered Oto no Kazeken. Kagura did not survive and he wouldn't have either if the daimyo's soldiers didn't find him.

His attention went back to the Hokage who was about to tell him about the third scroll.

"The scroll of the left is your promotion papers. Congratulations Naruto, you are now a Tokubetsu jonin." Hiruzen said. Naruto grinned at that but he was confused.

"Not full jonin? That'll change real quickly. Well, if that's all, I'm going to take a look at that building I brought. I got meetings with several clan members today." He said. He took his scrolls and walked out of Hiruzen's office. Hiruzen just watched as the blond walked away and couldn't help but feel a little weight come off his shoulders. He looked at Minato.

"Your son might just be the answer I've been thinking about."

XXX

Sasuke just ignored every one of his fan girls and others in the class. Class would be ending soon and then he didn't have to deal with any of them. He'd go back home and do some real training. He was a little annoyed today due to the fact that he saw Naruto again. He never let it go when he refused to train him. He didn't need to grieve. He needed to get justice for his clan, for his family. He would truly grieve for them later. Either way, he didn't need the son of the Yondaime (Fourth) Hokage. He would find the strength on his own.

As he waited for the bell, he heard a commotion at the top of the class room. He recognized the voices as that loud mouth, Inuzuka Kiba, and an equally loud, Namikaze Naruko.

"Why would I care if my brother was at your home?" Naruko demanded loudly.

"I know you don't care stupid. I just wanted to know if you knew why. You're always stalking him because he doesn't pay you any mind. It's mostly your fault but hey, that's for you to deal with." Kiba said mockingly. Naruko shot up in a rage.

"Shut up mutt! I don't care what you think and I don't care why my brother was at your families' home! He's probably getting recruits for the damn military police!" she roared. That statement got everyone's attention, especially Sasuke.

"What are you taking about?" Kiba asked.

"When he was a part of the military police, he always talked about getting your clan and fat boy's clan as members. I didn't care and didn't want to know about it." Naruko argued. However, the fat boy comment, enraged Choji and she was suddenly attacked. Hearing the noise, Iruka came in to break it up. As he did, Sasuke was in deep thought about what was just said. Was Naruto trying to reform the military police? This needed some investigating.

XXX

Naruto entered his backyard, a little exhausted for today's activities. After leaving the Hokage tower, he went to the old building where the Konoha Military Police was. It was in rough shape but he felt that he could get it up and running within the next few months. His other part of this actually went well. He had a meeting with both the Inuzuka and Akimichi clans. He showed them the plan that he was working on with Uchiha Fugaku before his death. The clans were both stunned by the plan and asked for an explanation.

While in the Military Police, Naruto came to Fugaku and his high ranking officers with an idea to heal the rift between the village and their clan. He suggested that they allow some other clan's within the Military Police, showing that the Uchiha were willing to stand together with others. He suggested the Inuzuka and Akimichi for their skills but also for their relationship with the villagers. Fugaku was pleased when he told him that it would also tighten their bonds with those clans. Fugaku agreed with the suggestion and they worked out the details on paper, the paper he showed them today.

The clans were surprised and interested. Each clan head put their stamp on the paper. Naruto was pleased and he couldn't wait to get started. Now, he just wanted to get some food in his stomach and then go and see if he could find his old teammates. However, he would not be getting the chance to do so.

"Naruto!" a familiar voice exclaimed. Naruto let out a sigh before turning around to face his sister. She did not look happy. "Do you have any idea what trouble you caused for me?!"

"Hello sister. And how are you today?" Naruto asked sarcastically. Naruko growled at him but didn't charge at him.

"Next time, speak privately about you plans. I had to deal with the mutt and fat boy asking me questions about why you were at their clans." Naruko ordered.

"I'm so sorry for your troubles." Naruto said mockingly. "I'll be sure to keep my plans secret next time. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to make me some ramen."

"So what, you're not going to talk to your sister? Whatever mom told you about my behavior, she's totally blowing it out of proportion." She said.

"So you want to talk? What do we have to talk about? You never wrote any letters to me and even ask how I was doing. I know I did with you, at least every chance I got. What happened to those letters?" Naruto asked. Naruko looked at her feet and refused to look at him. "That's what I thought. I know that you and I haven't had the best of relationships but at least I tried to heal the rift. There comes a time when it becomes useless to try. It is a two way street Naruko, not one."

Naruko just balled her fist up in frustration. She wanted to shout but she couldn't. Everything Naruto told her, it was the truth. Not wanting him to see her shed tears, Naruko just bolted. Naruto sighed and ran his hand through his hair. He was really hoping to have an easy day today.

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