A/N - Okey dokey. I wanted to update this fic since it's been so long since the last update.

A few different things happen in this chapter, and I'm sure many of you are pretty sure what will take place in the beginning of this chapter. Some stuff might be unexpected, but I hope you enjoy it regardless.

Also, you'll find out, if you haven't already, that I've changed a few of the personalities. Some I felt didn't really fit all that well, so I changed them. :P

Anywho, read on and enjoy!

Chapter 3 – Heroes

Naruto stared curiously at the building Haku had led him to. After a moment, he looked at Kiyomi before pointing at the building. "Make explosions now?"

Kiyomi frowned and shook her head. "No, Naruto-kun. There might be innocents inside that need rescuing. Haku, you're the one who has had the most contact with this slimeball. What do you think?"

The Ice Mistress frowned in thought for a time before saying, "We'll need to be careful about how we approach this. He keeps women as sex slaves and children to be 'groomed', so to speak. The women could be anywhere, knowing how Gato and his goons are. The children he keeps locked up in the basement. Explosions wouldn't work in this kind of situation. Fire is too dangerous. What do you think?"

Kiyomi frowned for a moment as she looked at her beloved. "Naruto-kun, use Radiation in here. I know he may be a bit of a psychopath, but Naraku would be our best bet in this situation."

Naruto nodded and closed his eyes. After a moment, his eyes opened and it was obvious that Naraku was now in charge. He had a cold look in his eyes as he said, "It's time to play. I rarely get the chance to stretch my limbs. Come, let us proceed."

Haku nodded and said, "Of course, Naruto-sama. Let's go." And with that, the party of three split up to enter the building from three different spots. Haku's goal was to go and rescue the children while Kiyomi would head straight for Gato. Naruto, on the other hand, walked casually towards the front doors, smiling cruelly as he looked at the goons standing guard outside.

"Who the hell are you?! What are you doing here?!" one of the goons demanded to know.

"Who I am is unimportant. You won't be alive much longer anyways." Naruto said as he pointed his finger at a nearby goon and activated his unique ability. When he and everyone around him began to groan in agony, Naraku cackled and said, "Ahhh, music to my ears. Farewell you fools."

The first goon to talk collapsed to his knees and asked, "W-What the hell…did you do…to us?"

Deciding to humor the man, Naruto said, "Radiation. Not only does it slowly kill the person afflicted with it, but it kills all those around my target as well. A bit overpowered, I suppose, but it's certainly effective." The goon groaned as he collapsed on his face, the life slowly leaving his eyes. Looking around at the deceased goons, Naruto shrugged and said, "And that takes care of that. In I go."

Entering the building, Naruto casually afflicted a single goon in each group with Radiation, watching as they slowly perished. His main goal was to find and free all the women. While Radiation might be a dangerous ability, Naruto could control his ability to affect only his enemies, leaving innocents alive.

After a while, Naruto freed a number of women only to frown slightly as he looked them over. Some of them appeared to be… "Broken. It would be a mercy to end your lives and free you from your torment. I may not be the nicest person around, but even I would not be so cruel as to force you to live like this."

As he prepared to end the lives of the few women whose eyes were unfocused and appeared to be catatonic, he felt a hand land on his shoulder. Looking to see who dared to touch him, his eyes softened slightly as he saw Haku. "Haku, why are you stopping me? Can you not see them?"

Haku frowned and shook her head sadly. "It is not up to us to decide what happens to them now. Like us, they may be broken, but there might be a chance that they could recover. Still, as much as it pains us to leave them like this, we should leave their fate in the hands of Asuma-san and Tazuna-san."

Naruto looked calmly into her eyes for a time before he turned back to the women. Frowning slightly, he turned and left the room, but not before saying, "Take them out of here. Get them back to town and to Asuma-sensei. I'm going to find Kiyomi-chan and that rotten scumbag that's responsible for this."

"As you wish, Naruto-sama." Haku said before she began to lead the women outside to where the children were now waiting. Poor Naruto-sama. He should never have to do something like this or see people like this.

When he found Gato, Naruto watched as Kiyomi tortured the little bastard. Holding up a hand, he commanded her to stop. "Naruto-kun?" she questioned.

Approaching the evil midget, Naruto looked him in the eyes before asking, "Do you feel even the slightest bit of remorse for what you have done to those poor women? Some of them looked so…so broken. Resigned to their fate with damn near no chance of making a true recovery. What you have done is something even I would never do. So tell me: do you feel the slightest bit of shame or remorse for what you have done to them?"

Gato chuckled darkly before spitting some blood from his mouth, hitting Naruto's foot. "Why should I feel ashamed of what I did to them? They made wonderful cock sleeves. It was my job to break them in before selling them off to the highest bidder. Money makes the world go 'round, and I earned a lot of it. Was what I did illegal? Sure, but who the fuck cares? You dare to judge my actions when you shinobi do things just as despicable?"

Nodding slowly as if in understanding, Naruto soon backhanded Gato, knocking him to the floor. "You see Gato, that's where you're wrong. Shinobi do as their mission demands. Missing nin might do something on this magnitude, but even then, they've got a strict code of honor as well, in a sense. No, Gato, shinobi wouldn't stoop to these lows. Now, I think it's time to show people that they needn't fear you any longer. I'm going to kill you in front of all of them. Will it scar them? Perhaps. But they deserve to see you suffer for your crimes."

Gato's eyes widened in horror and he prostrated himself before Naruto. "Please have mercy! I'll do whatever you want! Do you want women? I can get you women! Or money! I've got plenty of it! I can give you whatever you want and then some! Just don't kill me!"

Naruto scoffed before he looked at Kiyomi. "Break his legs and then bring him into the center of town. I'll inform Haku to guide the women and children back to town. I'll send a clone to collect Asuma and the others."

Kiyomi nodded and said, "Of course, Naruto-kun."

Naruto watched as Kiyomi dragged Gato off. Afterwards, he looked around the room with a frown. Summoning forth a clone, he waved dismissively and watched as it disappeared to go and collect his teammates. Afterwards, he went about collecting everything of value in the room, sealing it away into storage scrolls. Once he was finished, he summoned a number of clones and nodded at them. "Search this place from top to bottom. Find everything of value and bring it into town when you're done. Make sure you look for hidden rooms, safes, whatever you can think of. Don't leave a single stone unturned. I've got a midget to kill."

"Right! Have fun Boss!" the clones said as they watched Naruto leave.

Center of Town

Naruto waited patiently for everyone to arrive. When his teammates and the living members of Team 7 arrived, he watched as Sasuke seethed in anger. Shrugging it off, Naruto turned to address the people of Wave. "Everyone, I want you to take a good look at this miniscule individual. This is the man that put you through hell. I was given the mission to kill this fat pig and free all of you from his tyranny."

Sighing softly, Naruto looked around at the people of Wave and said, "This man took women and children and did horrible things to all of them. They have been returned to you, and my clones will soon begin distributing your belongings and money back to you. However, some of the women have been broken to such a degree that they may never recover. I considered putting them out of their misery, but I was convinced by a friend that I should let you try and help them to heal. Now, I think it's only fair that you get to see Gato suffer for his crimes. I warn you that if you're squeamish, you might want to look away and cover your ears. Do not let your children watch what I am about to do."

Waiting for everyone to take his advice, Naruto turned to Gato and proceeded to begin carving into his body, relishing in the screams coming from his victim. When he was finally finished, he prepared to end Gato's life, only for Sasuke to rush up and ram his kunai straight through Gato's eye and into his brain.

Scowling, Naruto turned to Sasuke with a glare, angry at the smug look on the Uchiha's face. "You stole my kill boy. I don't take kindly to people crossing me in any way."

Sasuke simply smirked at Naruto and said, "These people will see me as a hero. You failed in your mission. I'm the one whose praises they will sing!"

Kiyomi snarled and gripped Sasuke by the head painfully. Squeezing tight, she listened with glee as Sasuke screamed out in pain. "We'll be informing the Hokage of your actions here little boy. Try something like that again and I will kill you."

Sasuke scoffed and said, "In your dreams. You can't and won't kill me, because if you do, the people will blame this freak of nature and take it out on him. You don't want that, do you?"

The red-haired Siren squeezed his head tighter and said, "You know, you should really think before you speak. Especially when someone has your life in the palm of their hand. I won't hesitate to kill you if you push your luck."

Naruto sighed and said, "Kiyomi-chan, as much as I hate it, he's got a point. Might want to let him go." Seeing the smug look on Sasuke's face as Kiyomi let him go, Naruto shook his head before pointing his finger at him. "Drop the smirk or I really will kill you. Go back to your little cocksucker of a girlfriend and behave like the good little runt you are."

Sasuke scowled at him and went to punch him for daring to disrespect him, only to collapse, gasping for breath. "W-What…the fuck…?"

"I warned you. Behave or I'll give you a stronger dose of Radiation. If you keep pushing it, you will die from this." Naruto said.

When Naruto let up on the attack, Sasuke gasped for breath for a short while longer. Before he could say anything, Asuma stepped up to him and said, "You're getting off lucky. Don't push your luck any farther. Hokage-sama will be hearing about your behavior on this mission and I'll be extra sure to inform him about your insubordination."

Rather than saying anything, Sasuke stood up and walked off. His legs were shaking and, after a few brief moments, he collapsed to his knees and vomited the contents of his stomach. Seeing this, Naruto shrugged before looking back at Gato. "I do not appreciate him taking my kill from me."

Asuma nodded and said, "Pops will be hearing about this. And if these people begin to worship that little punk for what he's done…"

Kiyomi snarled and said, "If they know what's good for them, they won't show him any amount of respect. Naruto-kun's the one that saved them, not that rotten Uchiha brat."

The Jonin sensei shook his head and looked back at the people of Wave. "Knowing how people think, that might be wishful thinking."

"Oh, I know." Kiyomi said, watching as people tried to aid their new 'hero'. "He'll pay for this."

Naruto nodded in agreement. "Let them do as they wish. I don't care. Mr. Explosion might be a little upset, but he'll get over it quickly enough."

Haku walked up to him and asked, "Are you going to be okay, Naruto-sama? You had to kill a lot of people today, and now that stupid boy has stolen your mission at the last second. What will happen now?"

Asuma frowned and said, "Chances are, the people here will be immensely thankful to Sasuke for killing Gato for them. They are stupid enough that they'll overlook everything that you three have done for them in favor of thanking the boy that killed their oppressor. It's wrong, but people are like sheep in a way."

"Oh well. Like I said before, let them do as they please. Tazuna-san's opinion is the only one that really matters here. Still, I wouldn't be at all surprised if they decide to name the bridge after their 'savior'." Naruto said before he began walking away. Fuck you Sasuke. Just…fuck you.

Two Weeks Later

Sure enough, just as they had expected, the people were singing Sasuke's praises for his hand in ending Gato's life. However, a surprisingly large amount of people were thankful to Naruto instead for what he had done for them. Tazuna and his family were amongst that number.

Naruto had spent quite a bit of time with Ino during their stay in the Land of Waves. She had grown quite attached to him and even admitted that she was proud of him for the good things he had done. They hadn't started dating or anything yet, but they had grown much closer.

Unfortunately for everyone, Sasuke's ego had inflated even further with all the praise he was getting from the villagers. He obviously hadn't learned his lesson, as he pretty much flaunted his superiority and how special he was in the eyes of the people.

Now here they were, standing on the completed bridge. The people were cheering for their hero, Sasuke Uchiha. However, Tazuna smiled at Naruto and shook his hand. "Thank you again for everything you have done for us, Naruto. You will always be welcome here, no matter what. Try and take care of yourself, okay?"

Naruto smiled at the man and said, "You too. Explosions forever!"

Tazuna chuckled a bit and said, "I know I'll certainly be remembering your explosions for sure. If…if things ever get too bad for you back in Konoha, feel free to come live here. We'll take care of you."

Kiyomi smiled at the man and said, "Thank you. Tell me, what do you plan to name the bridge?"

The old bridge builder frowned as he looked back at his people. "I'd prefer to name it after our hero, Naruto Uzumaki. But the people are so stupid that they'll insist we name is after the Uchiha runt. If I have my way, it will be named after Naruto. But there's no guarantees."

Asuma frowned at him and said, "It's your bridge, Tazuna-san. Name it whatever you want."

Tazuna nodded and said, "That it is. If they don't like me naming it after Naruto, tough molasses. Now go on, you lot need to get back home. Just let me know if you ever need anything."

"We will. Come Naruto-sama, let's return home." Haku said before she took his hand and began walking across the bridge with him. Kiyomi and Ino immediately followed suit, not wanting to stay and see Sasuke getting praised. The smug smirk on his face was absolutely insufferable and they didn't want to deal with him anymore.

As the rest of the team turned and took off after Naruto and the others, Tazuna looked at his daughter and grandson. "Are you two all right with naming the bridge after Naruto?"

Tsunami smiled at her father and nodded his head. "Of course. How about you Inari?"

Inari frowned in confusion for a moment before asking, "Wasn't Sasuke the one that killed Gato and saved all of us?"

Tazuna scowled at his grandson and said, "That runt may have dealt the finishing blow, but Naruto is the one that saved everyone. He killed Gato's men, he freed our people, he even dragged Gato's broken form before us and showed us true courage. Sasuke just stole the kill. The people are being stupid, praising that arrogant little bastard for stealing Naruto's kill."

Inari frowned and looked at Naruto's retreating figure. "I don't get it. Isn't that guy just an insane weirdo?"

Tsunami bonked Inari lightly on the head. "That's not very nice of you, Inari. You should show more respect to this country's hero. Besides, if you were listening before, you'd realize that Naruto-kun has truly suffered. He's broken and may never be whole again. He's not insane, and he's not a weirdo. He's just been through far too much in his fifteen years of life."

"If you say so. I still don't get it." Inari said. "I still say we should name it The Great Sasuke Bridge."

Tazuna scowled deeper at his grandson before saying, "We're naming it The Great Naruto Bridge and that's final. If you want to worship that spoiled little brat, go right on ahead. But I'm disappointed in you Inari."

Inari frowned, but didn't say anything. Sasuke's our hero, not that crazy idiot.

Days Later – Konohagakure

Hiruzen scowled as he looked at Sasuke Uchiha. "I see." He said quietly. Asuma had taken the time to explain absolutely everything to his father. "So, they're calling you the 'Hero of Wave', are they? How does it feel?"

Sasuke, figuring the Hokage was praising him for a job well done, smirked smugly and said, "It's what I rightfully deserve. Besides…" Sasuke was suddenly struck with a powerful blast of killing intent, forcing him to his knees. Gasping for breath, he looked into the Hokage's eyes fearfully, wondering just what he had done wrong.

Looking from Sasuke to Naruto, Hiruzen sighed sadly and said, "For what it's worth, Naruto-kun, I'm sorry for what you've had to go through. I do not blame you for what happened with Kakashi and Zabuza. I won't reveal what you did to anyone. It will be simplest to tell the people that Kakashi died on his mission, defeated by a rogue ninja. A C-rank mission turned S-rank, and he died trying to protect his Genin."

When Sasuke went to say something, Hiruzen hit him with another burst of killing intent. "As for your mission, I do apologize that Sasuke stole your kill and received the praise of the villagers. If it helps any, I received word that they've named the bridge after you, Naruto-kun. You are the true hero of the Land of Waves. You should be proud."

Sakura frowned angrily and exclaimed, "But Sasuke-kun saved everyone! Naruto-baka didn't do anything worthy of such praise!"

"Wrong. I gave Naruto-kun the mission to kill Gato. Not Sasuke. Naruto-kun freed the captive women and children, and he returned what was taken from them back to the people. Sasuke took advantage of a momentary distraction to kill Gato himself. Sasuke, you will be punished for your actions. Sadly, there isn't much I can do in this case, despite the fact you were an insubordinate little shit." Hiruzen said, shaking his head in exasperation.

Slowly rising to his feet, Sasuke smirked slightly and said, "Even if you try to punish me, the councils will protect me. Besides, I didn't do anything wrong. I took advantage of the situation to do what needed to be done."

"You really think you can hide behind the councils? Tch, of course you do." Grumbling irritably to himself, the Third Hokage rose to his feet and said, "I'll explain your actions to the council and we will decide your punishment then. Naruto-kun, I want you to see Inoichi Yamanaka and discuss what happened on the mission. For now, however, I want you to return home and get some rest. Asuma, follow me. Kiyomi, please create a clone and have it drag Sasuke before the council. The rest of you are dismissed. Go home, do whatever you please, I don't care." And with that, Hiruzen set off to go to the council chambers. I swear that they'd better not try to help you, Uchiha. If they do…

Naruto

Naruto hummed to himself as he skipped along down the street. He knew Haku and the others were following him, but he didn't really focus on that right now. No, he wanted to get home and maybe play for a while before getting some wonderful food and rest. However, as he rounded a corner on his way home, he came across Hinata Hyuga. Smiling at her, he glomped her to the ground and nuzzled his cheek against hers. "Hina-chan! Missed you."

Hinata giggled and gently pried her love off of her before the two of them stood up together. Looking into his eyes, she saw something that worried her. "What happened sweetheart? Did somebody hurt you?"

Naruto blinked before shaking his head no. "Hokage-sama said kill bad guys. I killed lots of bad people on my mission. I…umm… Am I bad now?"

The Hyuga heiress hugged him tight and kissed his forehead. "No Naruto-kun. You aren't a bad person. You did what you had to do to help people. If you were bad, I wouldn't love you so much. Come, let's get you home. We'll talk there."

Naruto smiled and took Hinata's hand in hers. He completely ignored the fact that she was currently in the company of her teammates, Kiba Inuzuka and Shikamaru Nara. Instead, he began skipping off with Hinata towards his compound.

Before they could get very far, Kiba shouted, "Hey! Get back here with my woman!"

Stopping for a moment, he turned and looked into Kiba's eyes, tilting his head in confusion. "Hina-chan's with me. Big explooosions together. Happy together. When did she make explosions with you?"

Hinata sighed and shook her head in annoyance. "Kiba and I have never been together, sweetheart. He doesn't seem to get the picture though. So maybe this will help him pull his head out of his ass." Placing her hands on Naruto's cheeks, she pressed her lips to his. As they kissed, everyone else watched in shock. After a moment though, Kiba scowled and began to approach, fully intent on making Naruto pay.

When they parted, Naruto was blushing and couldn't formulate a single sentence. He was caught off guard when Kiba threw a fist at his face, only for it to stop short. Haku was there, her hand wrapped tightly around Kiba's wrist. "Let me go bitch."

Hinata sighed and flicked Kiba in the forehead. "Stop thinking with your tiny dick for a second and look around you. Do you really want to piss off this many people? We can all destroy you, and I won't hesitate to neuter you. Now be a good dog and run along home. We may be teammates, but I won't hesitate to kill you if you push your luck with me."

Kiba's eyes were wide in horror as he looked into her eyes. "Y-You wouldn't really do that…right? We're going to be together! You're mine! Not this freak's!"

Narrowing her eyes on him, Hinata pulled out a kunai and twirled it around her finger a few times. Afterwards, she grabbed the hem of Kiba's pants and tugged them down until they were around his ankles. "Huh, it's tinier than I thought. Oh well."

Seeing what she was about to do to him, Kiba began to struggle in an effort to get free from Haku's grip. Before he could attack her in an effort to free himself, he felt someone pinning him in place. "Please Hinata-chan! Don't do it! I need my man parts!"

Hinata simply looked into his eyes apathetically. "So? If you don't stop badmouthing Naruto-kun and treating him like dirt, I might as well do something to teach you a lesson. If not this, then I suppose I could cut out your tongue. I'm fine either way. Now that I think on it though, I could just remove your hands. Decisions, decisions."

Kiba felt tears trickling down his cheeks. "I'm sorry! It won't happen again! Just please don't hurt me!"

Hinata smiled sweetly at him and said, "There, that wasn't so hard now, was it?" Standing up, she nodded at Kiyomi to let him go. Looking hard into Kiba's eyes, she kneed him hard in his package, watching with glee as he collapsed to the ground in the fetal position, clutching his privates. "Let this be a lesson to you Muttface. Now come along Naruto-kun, let's get you home."

Naruto smiled happily at her, either uncaring about what had just happened or not understanding it for what it was. It didn't really matter either way. Right now, he was just happy to be spending time with what he viewed as his girlfriend.

As if sensing his thoughts, Hinata looked at her love and said, "I love you so much, Naruto-kun. We'll always be together. I promise." And with that, she pressed her lips to his cheek.

Ino and the others simply stared at Kiba for a time before taking off in pursuit of the happy couple. And once again, I have realized that pissing Hinata off would be very, very bad for my health.

Council Chambers

Hiruzen looked around at the various council members, including his old friends and his nemesis: Danzo Shimura. Oh how he hated that man.

Once everyone had settled down, Hiruzen looked down at Sasuke before saying, "I have called you all here to discuss the punishment for Sasuke Uchiha. During his last mission, a C-rank that took Team 7 to the Land of Waves, Sasuke was insubordinate and caused more problems that nobody needed." Sighing, the old man looked around at everyone once more. "Perhaps it would be best for me to start at the very beginning…"

"Just a few weeks after becoming a Genin, Sasuke Uchiha got fed up with doing D-rank missions and demanded that I give him a mission that was truly worthy of the great Uchiha. When I went to reprimand him for his attitude, Kakashi vouched for Sasuke and the rest of his team, claiming that they were more than ready for a C-rank. As I expected upon assigning Kakashi to that team, he focused solely on the Uchiha and neglected his other Genin. Rather than working to correct their various issues and curb Sasuke and Sakura's attitudes and their unruly behavior, Kakashi trained Sasuke exclusively, pampering the little brat and doing everything he could to suck up to Sasuke Uchiha."

"Anyways, I gave them what was supposed to be a simple escort mission. However, shortly after leaving Konoha, they were attacked by the Demon Brothers of Kirigakure. Upon extracting information on the truth behind the mission, Kakashi informed me of the danger his team was in. I decided to send Team 10, consisting of Asuma Sarutobi, Naruto Uzumaki, Ino Yamanaka, and Shino Aburame as backup for Team 7. I also gave an extra mission to Naruto Uzumaki to complete upon his arrival in the Land of Waves. I'll touch more on that later." Hiruzen said.

"Team 7 did NOT wait for backup to arrive and instead continued on with their mission as if nothing was wrong. Upon catching up to them, they assessed the threat posed to Team 7. Zabuza Momochi had intercepted Team 7 on their way to their client's house. Team 10 found out that Zabuza had an accomplice waiting nearby to rescue him should things turn sour." Here, he looked into Inoichi's eyes. "Ino Yamanaka used her jutsu to take control of Zabuza temporarily to force him to release his hold on the water sphere holding Kakashi Hatake prisoner. The very moment he was free, despite knowing what was happening, Kakashi stabbed Zabuza, therefore wounding Ino in the process."

Inoichi scowled at this and asked, "And what happened to Kakashi afterwards? I assume there's a good reason he isn't standing among us to face punishment for his actions?"

Hiruzen nodded, but before he could say anything, Sasuke shouted out, "That insane idiot, Naruto Uzumaki, killed Kakashi and Zabuza! The one man that was helping me to gain the power I need and that freakshow killed him!"

Naturally, the civilian council went into an uproar about what they had just learned. However, Danzo was the one that Hiruzen was currently concerned with. "It would seem our weapon is out of control. You should have given him to me before things got to this point, Hiruzen."

"It's Hokage-sama to you, asshole! And Naruto-kun has been through more than enough without you breaking him emotionally and psychologically! Now I suggest you sit down and shut the hell up Shimura! Push your luck again and I'll destroy you. Is that understood maggot?!" Hiruzen exclaimed furiously.

Danzo scowled at this, furious that Hiruzen would dare to insult him in such a way. However, rather than saying or doing anything, he turned his gaze on the civilian council. A small, almost unnoticeable smirk tugged at his lips. I can always make use of them to undermine your authority, Hiruzen.

Flaring his killing intent, Hiruzen waited for everyone to shut the hell up before he turned his gaze on Sasuke. "You rotten little shit. That was information I did NOT want spread. As far as this council is concerned, Kakashi died in the line of duty at the hands of an enemy. If anyone dares to say otherwise, I'll find out who spilled the beans and I'll execute you myself. You've already broken the law I put in place to protect Naruto Uzumaki and I let you get away with it! That's going to change NOW. If anyone here dares to reveal what Naruto did in a moment of anger, you WILL be killed. That goes double for you, Danzo Shimura. I know you. I know what you're capable of. In fact, in order to protect him, I think a little message needs to be taught to everyone here."

Before Danzo could react, Hiruzen dashed towards him and thrusted a hidden kunai into Danzo's skull through his bandaged eye. When Danzo reappeared off to the side a moment later, looking perfectly healthy once again, Hiruzen scowled. The only sign that he had been wounded was the blood soaking the bandages around his supposedly empty eye socket. "Remove your bandages, Danzo. Show everyone here exactly what you're hiding."

Danzo scoffed and said, "So, you're making your move after all this time? I miscalculated, but no matter. I will deal with you later."

As Hiruzen moved to strike down his nemesis, a number of Anbu lookalikes appeared before Danzo, protecting him from the Hokage. Seeing them, Hiruzen grew more furious than he already was. "You rotten bastard! I should have known you wouldn't obey my orders!"

"Of course not. Everything I have ever done was…"

Before Danzo could finish, Kiyomi's clone appeared behind him. Danzo's bandaged arm fell to the floor, severed neatly at the shoulder. Then a clawed hand was thrust through the old fossil's skull. When he dropped to the ground dead, she flicked the blood off of her hand before staring coldly at the Root members. Before they could react, she leapt above them before slamming down onto the ground, her fist impacting the ground first. All around her, fists of an unknown energy shot up from the floor and gripped the Root members tight before slamming them into the floor hard enough to break each of them. As blood sprayed from their broken bodies, she turned to face the civilian council. "Do you understand the lesson? Cross us and you'll really wish you hadn't."

"B-But…" a fat councilman started to say, only for Kiyomi to appear in his face with a claw mere millimeters from his eye.

"Uh-uh-uh, no buts. From now on, you obey and do as you're told. Tell anyone about Naruto's hand in Kakashi's death and it won't matter which of you spilled the beans. I'll simply kill all of you. I won't lose a wink of sleep over it either. So do be good little boys and girls, will you?"

Each of the civilian council members nodded rapidly with the exception of the fat one Kiyomi was so close to blinding with her claw. He didn't want to lose his eye, so he said, "G-Got it. I won't tell a soul. None of us will."

Retracting her clawed hand, she patted the man atop his head before she rejoined Sasuke on the floor. Without a word, she slammed her fist into the back of his head and made him eat tile for a moment. "You're lucky that's all I'm doing to you, runt. Selling Naruto-kun out like that is quite the crime in my book."

Hiruzen took his seat once again before glaring down at Sasuke. "Now, as I was saying before Sasuke so rudely interrupted me…" Sighing, Hiruzen closed his eyes and shook his head in disappointment. "Haku, Zabuza's accomplice, asked who it was that killed her master. Sasuke immediately answered, telling her it was the work of Naruto Uzumaki. He sold out a comrade without a moment's hesitation. This shows me that he holds no loyalty to the village or its people. There is no camaraderie. The only thing that matters in his life is himself."

"Anyways, as per my instructions, Naruto went with Haku and Kiyomi to Gato's base of operations to carry out the mission I gave to Naruto. The mission I gave him was to assassinate Gato. However, Naruto went above and beyond the call of duty and proceeded to rescue the women and children being held there. He also gathered everything of value and everything that was taken from the people of Wave and returned it all and then some to the people. However…here's where things take a turn."

"Naruto dragged Gato into the center of the town and tortured him for his crimes against the people of Wave. He wanted to do for the people what they wished they could do. Gato deserved to suffer for his crimes before dying. However, Sasuke rushed in and took the kill, therefore earning the praise of the villagers. They declared him a hero and practically worshipped him after that. I had ordered Naruto to kill Gato, but this little shit wanted to take the credit for his kill and get the admiration of everyone, all to feed his goddamn ego."

"Despite Sasuke's attempts, Tazuna named the bridge after Naruto-kun, despite the fact a great number of people, even his own grandson, wanted to name it after Sasuke." Hiruzen said. After a moment, he shook his head and said, "For his insubordination, for ratting out a comrade, and for the various other crimes he committed during his latest mission, a punishment must be decided. I am open to suggestions."

Inoichi was the first to speak. "If Kakashi were still alive, I'd want him punished for hurting my baby girl. However, we are here to discuss Sasuke's punishment. For his actions on the mission, I suggest he not be allowed to enter the upcoming Chunin Exams. Aside from that, I think a temporary suspension of his ninja license would be a fitting punishment."

When Sasuke went to protest, Kiyomi stomped on his head, pinning it to the floor. "Be quiet runt. Adults are talking."

Hiruzen smirked when the other clan heads agreed with the suggested punishment. Turning his gaze onto the civilians, he asked, "And you? What do you have to say?"

One of the women on the civilian council looked sadly down at Sasuke. "As much as it pains me to admit it…Sasuke-kun did commit crimes against a fellow ninja on this mission. I'll agree with the chosen punishment, just as I'm sure my colleagues will." The other civilians nodded, mostly out of fear of what the Hokage and Kiyomi would do to them. Still, it was enough for them.

"Very well. Sasuke Uchiha, you and your teammates are forbidden from participating in the upcoming Chunin Exams. On top of that, you will hand in your headband and live your days as a civilian for two months. Depending on your behavior during that time, you may or may not get it back. Finally, I suggest you see a Yamanaka for counseling. You've got some serious problems that need correcting, and some therapy might do you a world of good." Hiruzen declared.

Growling, Sasuke stood up once Kiyomi freed him. Ripping off his headband, he slammed it down on the table and turned around, storming out of the room. It was something of a miracle that he didn't lash out at them in any way.

Once he was gone, Kiyomi turned to face Hiruzen and asked, "Will Naruto-kun be permitted to enter the Chunin Exams? We both know he and his team are more than ready for them."

Humming in thought for a time, Hiruzen nodded his head and said, "It is really up to Asuma-kun, but I don't see why he should be declined entry. Naruto-kun may be broken, in a sense, but he's still an exceptionally skilled and incredibly powerful shinobi. He would be just fine."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama." Kiyomi said before she turned to face Inoichi. "Inoichi-san, can you come home with me? I want you to talk with Naruto-kun and try to help him come to terms with what he had to do and what he saw during our mission. While some of his personalities are born killers, Naruto is still an innocent person and is likely having a difficult time coming to terms with what he had to do."

The Yamanaka clan head nodded and said, "Of course. Let's go. I want to talk to him as soon as possible and thank him for what he did for my little girl. But more than that, if he doesn't get some counseling from somebody soon, there's no telling how it may affect him." And with that, he and Kiyomi's clone left the room.

Once they were gone, Hiruzen looked around at everyone else and asked, "Anyone else have anything they'd like to discuss?" When nobody said anything, Hiruzen concluded the meeting and made his way back to his office. I'm seriously getting too old for this…

A/N - And that's the chapter! I'm sure you've all noticed that I'm writing shorter chapters now. Part of the reason for this is because I don't want to cause my thumb further harm. It hasn't really been hurting all too bad for a while now, but there are times where it'll start to hurt again, so I'm not too incredibly worried about it, but I'd rather not risk it. Another reason is because it's just easier to write shorter chapters than trying to make them super long just for the hell of it.

Anywho, the personality list is as follows:

Flame - Natsu Dragneel (Fairy Tail)

Shock - Denki Kaminari (My Hero Academia)

Corrosive - Mina Ashido (My Hero Academia)

Explosion - Mr. Torgue (Borderlands series)

Slag - Nao Sadatsuka (Food Wars!)

Cryo - Esdeath (Akame ga Kill)

Radiation - Naraku (InuYasha)

Anyways, not really sure what else to say. lol. I dunno what I'll work on next, but we shall see. Bye bye peopleheads!