"Talking"

'Thinking'

Jutsu/ Bijuu/ Summons

Flashbacks, Letters, and Setting

I don't own Naruto

Chapter 11: After a Nightmare

"Tou-san! Kaa-chan! NO!"

He could do nothing as he watched a blonde man stand in front of his redheaded wife to protect her from the sword that meant to pierce through her. The assailant pirouetted on the ball of his foot as he pulled the sword out of the blonde man, and delivered a devastating cut to the blonde man, cutting deeply into his chest. A red line appeared on the blonde's chest, and blood began to spew from the cut like a fountain.

He suddenly looked down at his own chest, which showed a severe cut, revealing cut bones and organs. Strangely, he felt no pain, but he fell on his knees. He looked behind him to see the face of his crying mother, a face he hadn't seen in 7 years.

"Kaa-chan…" he whispered softly.

His mother had tears streaming down her face, and blood slowly began to leak from her mouth and her eyes.

"…Why… Why didn't you protect us? …why did you let us die?" she gurgled out, a river of blood now rushing down her chin to soak the ground the same shade as her hair.

"No… Kaa-chan… I-I tried. There was nothing I could do…" He said in a voice almost too quiet to hear.

His mother began to shrink and de-age, until she morphed into his little sister.

"Nii-chan… I was so scared… I thought you would protect me… I waited for you… but you never came… and now… I'm dead."

"Nooo… Narumi… Not you too…" he began to weep.

Suddenly his little sister rushed forward and stabbed him in the stomach with an ANBU chokuto.

He gasped and looked up in shock at his little sister, who now sported a three-pronged pinwheel pattern in her red eyes. A Mangekyo Sharingan. She suddenly turned into a flock of crows, and started to swarm him. He could do nothing, and felt like he was 7 years old again. He felt so powerless. He began to scream.

"AHHHHH!" Naruto screamed as he jolted up from his bed.

"Nii-chan! You're awake!" Narumi yelled out in relief, her hand holding one of his.

He looked at his hand, and followed it up his arms, to see various IVs inserted into them. He looked around and saw his light-blue blanket and white bedsheets. The room was very bare other than all the medical equipment that was inside. He realized he was in a hospital.

He grunted in pain when he tried to move. Everything was stiff and sore, and sitting up hurt his abdomen and lower back severely. He saw they were bandaged, and decided to lay back down.

"H-how l-long…" The blonde patient tried to speak, but his throat was so dry it was proving difficult. "W-water." He barely croaked out.

Narumi nodded eagerly and rushed to the pitcher and cup that was placed on a small table next to his bed. She came back with the cup of water and helped her brother drink.

"Is that better nii-chan?" Narumi asked her brother, who just motioned her to come closer with his arm. She got on his bed and cuddled next to him, and he hugged her tightly.

"You're alright. Thank Kami you're safe." Naruto whispered.

"I was so scared onii-chan. E-everyone was lying dead all over the place, and the b-blood!" She stammered out as she remembered the events of the night several days earlier.

"It was all so s-scary, but I had to make sure Sasuke was ok. I-I was comforting him, but then I saw you get s-stabbed by Itachi nii-chan! A-all this blood began to pour out… and… and…" her eyes began to water. "I thought you d-died! Nii-chan, you don't know how s-scared I was! You can't leave me! You're all I h-have! What am I gonna do if you d-die?"

Naruto hugged his sister tighter and gave her a kiss on the top of her head. He chuckled.

"Don't worry Narumi-chan, it'll take a lot more than just a stab to kill your nii-chan. I'm not going anywhere. Remember? I promised you I'll always have your back." He told Narumi in a cheerful voice to encourage and assure her.

"Promise?" Narumi asked in an uncharacteristically quiet voice, looking up at him while still in a hug.

"Promise." Naruto replied. "Now how long was I out for?" he asked.

"You were unconscious for 3 days Naruto-san." A doctor replied as she stepped in the room. "You had sustained severe injuries in your abdominal region. The sword had pierced through several organs, and you received deep lacerations on muscles in your abdomen and lower back. We were able to operate on your organs and reattach all your muscles, but you'll have to stay in bed for at least a month before you can start moving again. It'll be at least 2 more months after that until you are fit to do any strenuous activity."

The blonde ANBU groaned. Great. Now he was bedridden for a month. "Do I have to stay here? Or can I be in my own bed at home?" He asked the doctor.

"We'll need to clean your wounds and give you anti-biotics so your wounds don't get infected for about 2 weeks, or 11 days now, since you've been here for 3 days already. After that you're free to go home, but you have to be careful you don't reopen your wounds. Honestly, we suggest just staying here for the whole month, but the choice is up to you." The doctor informed him.

Damn. 2 weeks? That would be a pain in the ass. He sighed, and wished he was like his sister, who seemed to heal from any injury within hours. Guess he can't have everything.

"Alright, I understand. Thank you, sensei." He told the doctor, who nodded, and looked at a couple charts on his bed before turning to leave.

"Wait!" Naruto called out. The doctor stopped and turned around. "Do you know what happened to the Uchiha? What happened to Mikoto-san?"

The doctor took a moment to decide if she should tell him. "Well, I can't tell you too much about what happened to the Uchiha, as I don't know too well myself, but Mikoto-san survived the ordeal."

Naruto let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "Thank Kami. Do you know where she is right now? Is she alright?"

The doctor frowned a little before responding. "Normally I wouldn't tell you, but I've heard about your relationship so I'll let you know. She's not in a good condition. She had received serious injuries, and is currently in a coma. She only survived because of the seal you put on her, well, according to her son at least. All I know is some quick first aid saved her."

Naruto was relieved to hear that she was alive at least. His experimental seal had paid off. "Where is she right now?"

"She's came out of the intensive care unit yesterday, and is in a room in this hospital." The doctor told him.

"Will she be alright?" Naruto asked.

The doctor responded solemnly. "To be honest, we don't know. She somehow avoided death, but her injuries are difficult for us to operate on safely. She had received a stab to the chest, and received a slight nick on her heart. We were able to operate on most of the cut vessels and muscles, but the vessels closest to the heart, and the muscles of the heart itself have a small cut. She's stable enough right now, as she is in a coma and not moving, but unless we can fix those injuries, she won't be able to live a normal life."

"Why can't you operate on those injuries?" Naruto asked the doctor in confusion.

The doctor looked a little ashamed. "It's a very delicate surgery, and the smallest mistake can result in death. We lost a lot of good doctors during the Kyuubi attack, and I'm a little embarrassed to say, but we don't have anyone who's qualified to do heart surgeries. We need to find a more qualified doctor for that kind of operation."

Naruto huffed. "Well, where can we find such a doctor then?"

"I-I'm not sure." The doctor replied. "We're looking, but there aren't that many great medics out there these days. We'll need someone on the level of Tsunade-sama or at least close, but she hasn't been seen since she left the village all those years ago."

"So, we have to wait until we find a good enough doctor or medic? But we don't know how long that'll take either? What happens once she wakes up from her coma? When is she expected to wake up?" Naruto asked.

"We're not sure. You can never be sure with these kinds of things. She suffered massive mental trauma, and we believe her brain is keeping her unconscious to protect her mind from the memories and pain." The doctor explained. "We'll keep her in a medically induced coma if she starts to wake up, to keep her in a stable condition. Until then, we'll do our best to find a qualified doctor."

Naruto cursed under his breath. He hated not being able to do anything to help his precious people, and he hated waiting for something with no definite time frame, or something that might never come along.

"Can't believe there's nothing we can do to help." He muttered under his breath.

"Maybe we can go look for this Tsunade person when you feel better, onii-chan." Narumi told Naruto to cheer him up.

'Yes, that could work. I'll find that damn Sannin, and drag her to Konoha kicking and screaming if I have to.' Naruto thought to himself.

"That's a great idea Narumi-chan." Naruto told his sister with a smile, and ruffled the top of her head, as she was now sitting next to his bed again.

"Guess all there is to do, is to get well quick, huh?" the blonde teen told his sister, who nodded.

Hokage's Office

Sarutobi Hiruzen sat in his chair, as he faced the window. He was smoking from his pipe, trying to clear his head. How could this have happened? Right when he found a peaceful solution, Itachi goes mad and kills everyone in the clan? That was very unlike Itachi. He was a pacifist by nature, only driven to kill due to his shinobi profession. Still, he hated killing, and only killed when he absolutely had to.

Did he decide this was the only way to solve the situation? Didn't Itachi trust him to come up with a better solution? If he only waited a day, he would have become Hokage, and the whole situation could have been averted. That made Hiruzen wonder as well. Itachi wasn't known for being brash and reckless. Why would he decide by himself to kill his whole clan? He would have at least consulted with somebody before carrying out a… mission… of this scale.

This whole situation didn't make any sense, and Hiruzen suspected there was more to it than what met the eye. Both the solution he came up with, and the way he came up with it and carried it out without consulting him was very unlike his modus operandi. He thought about the evidence the ANBU had found, and tried to piece the puzzle together.

There was nothing that stood out blatantly, but there were small details that bothered him. The shinobi and civilians of the Uchiha clan were both killed by blades, which made sense, as it would draw much less attention than jutsu. Most would assume same weapon used for murder meant same killer, but Hiruzen knew better than that.

He knew people had a signature. Not like leaving a handkerchief behind each crime scene as a calling card kind of signature, but more like people's tendencies, habits, and psychology leaving behind their trace in how the murder was done. A vicious killer might strike multiple times, leaving multiple wounds behind. A more conscious killer might leave a single wound. The location of the wound could indicate whether the killer had knowledge of the human body. A scared killer may leave a deeper or shallower wound, depending on if they try to overcompensate for their fear, or let their fear overcome them.

The wounds found on the Uchiha were similar in the fact that they were delivered by a blade, but there were also slight differences. The shinobi were both stabbed and slashed, in locations that would kill quickly, as to make sure the victim didn't suffer as long. The civilians however, were all slashed across the throat. Why the uniformity in one group, and variation in the other?

Hiruzen began to suspect there was more than one killer. Which meant someone else was involved. This explained why none of the incident had Itachi's fingerprints on it, despite him being one of the known killers. He was influenced by a different party to do what he did. Who would be able to influence someone like Itachi to kill his own clan? It had to be someone high up.

Hiruzen's gritted his teeth and his blood began to boil in rage, as a prime suspect came up in his mind. Danzo.

At the Academy

The door slid open, and some faces they hadn't seen in several days walked in. They were glad to see one of the few survivors of the massacre, and the prince of the clan, and their hearts, come back to their class unharmed. At least physically. As for the redhead, some of the colder hearted ones wished she hadn't come back. They hated how close she was to their precious Sasuke.

Narumi came in looking like she hated being there, and Sasuke came in with a blank face. They both looked fine physically, but they hadn't come to class due to the mental trauma of seeing such a bloody scene. Narumi was dealing with it a little better, and some sessions with Yamanka Inoichi had been proving very fruitful. Sasuke was dealing with it terribly though.

The death of his clan was extremely traumatic for the boy, and seeing his father dead and his mother dying, well it nearly broke him. Right now, it seemed his mind was barely hanging on by a thread, the thread being the hope of his mother making a recovery, and he had closed himself from everyone.

"Sasuke-kun, are you alright?" "Do you want to talk about it?" "Do you need a hug?" "Sasuke-kun, do you want to hang out and take your mind off of things?" many of his fangirls tried their best to make him feel better, or get him to open up to them, but he didn't respond to any of them.

This just made him even more desirable to them. A handsome boy with a tragic past? A hurt boy who opens up to and falls in love with the person who helps him heal? A dark boy that only they can change? It was straight out of a story. Their minds were running through the scenarios, as if this was a game for them. A game of love, where they would compete with each other to be the heroine of this love story. His silence only made him more tantalizing. They would get him to open up to them, one way or another.

Even the seven had a tough time getting Sasuke to speak to them. He still would respond with grunts or a nod or shake of the head, but his mouth stayed closed. The only person he would speak to was the girl who had been there for him when he was at his most vulnerable. Narumi. This however, just made his fangirls hate her even more.

At the Hospital, After School

"Onii-chan! I'm here again!" Narumi announced as she slid Naruto's hospital room door open with her foot. Her arms were occupied with the tower of take-away ramen bowls she had brought over. "Brought your favorite!"

Naruto was happy to see his sister, but also happy to see the ramen she brought along with her. He was getting sick of hospital food, and his sister had the good sense to bring his favorite food. She didn't need to bring so many though. He would have 2, maybe 3 bowls tops, and she would eat, more like inhale, the rest. Guess who paid for it all? That's right. His poor wallet. Still, he appreciated the gesture and the company.

Narumi had been visiting the hospital with Sasuke every day after school, and she'd come to see Naruto, while he went to see Mikoto. Sasuke sat at the table near his mother, and would work on his homework, and study there, while waiting for any sign of his mother waking up.

Naruto was conscious, so Narumi was able to do a lot more with Naruto. Due to his injuries, Naruto was taken off the active-duty roster, and had a lot more free time. So, when Narumi came to visit after school, he was able to give her a lot more attention, and help her with her studies and schoolwork.

One day, Narumi came into the room, looking very guilty and embarrassed. She had received her report card, and was scared to show Naruto, who had to sign it. When he saw how terrible her grades were, Naruto became scarily quiet. Narumi knew he was scarier when he became calm like that, and began to grow apprehensive. Narumi thought it was because she had bad grades, and she started to pale.

Naruto knew how useless most of her instructors besides Iruka were. They barely gave her any attention, whether she did well or bad, and gave her the bare minimum of their effort. Just enough to prevent, in their minds, giving Naruto a legitimate reason to unleash his fury on them, but definitely not enough to be helpful to Narumi.

He hadn't expected it to be this bad though. Some of the instructors had gotten carried away in their "subtle" mistreatment of the Kyuubi brat, and some even forgot about Naruto it seemed. They nitpicked and marked her down for anything they could, even on the subjects she did well in, to make sure she had nothing to feel good about. Iruka tried to help her, but as the main teacher, he had too many students to worry about, and could only help so much.

"Narumi." Naruto said in a low voice.

Narumi gulped. 'Here it comes…' She thought to herself. "Y-yes onii-chan?" She replied.

Naruto realized she had mistaken his anger at being directed towards her, and quickly calmed himself down to assure her everything was alright.

"Narumi, I'm not mad at you, so you don't have to be so nervous, ok?" he chuckled.

Narumi let out a breath she was holding in relief. "That's good. I was scared for a sec. So, what's up onii-chan? She asked him.

He asked her how helpful her teachers were, and how her studies were going. She explained how the teachers never really answered her questions, ignored her, and only paid attention when they marked her down. Even when she started to do better in school with Naruto's help, they found some way to mark her down.

"You know what Narumi? Don't worry about your grades anymore." Naruto told her.

Narumi's face began to form a smile. Great! She wouldn't have to pay attention in school anymore! Maybe she didn't even need to go to the Academy! She could stop studying all that boring stuff altogether!

Naruto caught on to her train of thoughts. "Now, now, let's not get ahead of ourselves. This doesn't mean you don't have to pay attention or work hard on your studies anymore. You still have to know everything, its just that I won't worry about how your instructors grade you. I'll test you myself on your skill and knowledge, and give you my own grade.

Narumi's shoulders sagged. "Ok onii-chan." She replied in a soulless voice. Darn it. Guess she still had to study, and still had to go back to that dump after all.

Naruto just laughed at her response. If the school wouldn't teach her properly, he would do it himself. He knew the potential she had. She could possibly be even stronger than him one day. He'd bring out her potential, and prove all her haters wrong.

Hokage's Office

The Sandaime sat his desk, though his back was facing the desk, and he himself was looking at the pictures of the previous Hokages which were hung on the back wall. His secretary knocked on his door, and let him know the person he had summoned had arrived, and was waiting to see him.

"Alright, let him in." Hiruzen told his secretary.

"Hai, Hokage-sama!" The secretary answered back, and the door opened to reveal a heavily bandaged elder who walked with a cane.

"You called for me Hiruzen?" Danzo asked.

The Third slowly spun his chair around to face his old teammate. This was not going to be a friendly conversation. He went through a couple hand seals, and a privacy seal activated in his room.

"You know why I summoned you, don't you, Danzo?" Hiruzen asked.

"I'm not certain, Hiruzen. Would you mind enlightening me as to why?" the bandaged elder replied back.

Hiruzen didn't have the patience for Danzo's games. Not today. "Why don't we stop with the games and get straight to it. Were you involved in the Uchiha massacre or not, Danzo?"

Danzo's face remained unchanged. "I don't know what makes you think I was. There's nothing that connects me to that mess, and Itachi would never listen to my orders to kill his whole clan." He answered vaguely, not really admitting to this or that, but just stating what he considered to be facts.

Hiruzen's face darkened. He hated these word games with Danzo. "Just give me straight answer Danzo. Are you behind this mess?"

"I would say the Uchiha clan was behind their own mess. They were planning bloodshed, and indeed blood was shed." Danzo replied.

The Sandaime decided to be more direct. "I know it was you Danzo. Don't think you can trick me with your vague words."

"What evidence do you have to accuse me, Hiruzen?" Danzo answered back.

Hiruzen said nothing, but pulled out a small scroll.

Flashback

"Which room is Naruto in?" Hiruzen asked the receptionist.

"Hokage-sama! We weren't expecting you. He's in room 403." The receptionist replied in surprise.

The Hokage thanked the receptionist and went to see Naruto. Naruto was one of his top assets in the village, and also a key witness to the massacre. He had been the first shinobi on the scene, and even clashed with the prime suspect.

The Third opened the door to see Naruto reading a book on seals, and Narumi sleeping on a small visitor's bed to the side. He smiled at the sight of the close siblings.

"Hello Naruto-kun. How are you feeling tonight?" Hiruzen asked the injured man.

"I'm doing better. Though the nurses won't let me leave the bed for anything other than going to the bathroom." Hiruzen chuckled at the response.

"Good to see you, but is there a reason for the visit?" Naruto asked.

"I came to check up on you and see how you were doing." Hiruzen told Naruto.

"Well as you can see, I'm having a good time resting. It's nice being waited on hand and foot for once. Narumi brings treats sometimes too." The blonde replied.

Hiruzen chuckled. "That's good to hear." His face grew serious as he continued. "Though there's another reason I visited tonight."

Naruto picked up on the cues. "You want to know what I saw at the massacre?"

Hiruzen nodded.

"When I arrived on the scene most of the Uchiha had been killed already. I sensed several chakra signatures, so I created clones to investigate."

A single eyebrow on Hiruzen's face was raised in question. "So, there were multiple people on that compound that were still alive when you arrived?"

"Hai. When my clones located the chakra signatures and arrived at their location, they saw several ANBU looking shinobi killing the civilians." Naruto replied.

The Third's jaw clenched. "Several ANBU you say?"

"Hai. Though they weren't like any ANBU I'd seen before. I'm pretty familiar with everyone in the ANBU and they didn't match any of them. They didn't follow protocol either." The blonde told the old man.

This confirmed Hiruzen's suspicions. "ROOT. Looks like they got away though. The ANBU who arrived on the scene didn't find any trace of them."

Naruto sat up straighter. "Really? Nothing? But I killed all of them. They should have found at least something."

The Sandaime shook his head. "Looks like Danzo was able to send his agents to clean up the mess."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Danzo? That old mummy? He's the one behind those strange ANBU?"

'Shit.' Hiruzen thought. He forgot Naruto knew nothing about ROOT, and accidentally let it slip. Oh well. The cat was out of the bag now. "Yes. Danzo is the leader of a secret branch of ANBU known as ROOT. They're responsible for doing the dirtier jobs the village doesn't want to be associated with, but are necessary. Officially, they've been shut down, but their service was still necessary, so I've allowed them to operate in secret." Hiruzen admitted regretfully.

Naruto looked shocked. "But why would Danzo order his men to help Itachi kill the Uchiha clan?"

Hiruzen paused for a moment before speaking. "This is an S-rank secret, Naruto. You mustn't tell this to anyone, or act out based on what I tell you." Naruto nodded. "The Uchiha were planning a coup. They had been planning on using the Kyuubi in your sister as well." Naruto narrowed his eyes in anger. "Itachi and Shisui had been acting as my spies, and had been informing me on developments in the plot."

Things finally began clicking in Naruto's mind. The weird behavior from Itachi and Shisui. The last, cryptic message Itachi had left Naruto with before he left. It began to all make sense.

"So Danzo saw the Uchiha as a threat and decided to eliminate them." Naruto concluded, and Hiruzen nodded.

"At least, that's what we can assume based on what we discussed. We can't really be certain until we find any concrete evidence of his involvement." The Third clarified.

"Will the bodies of ROOT ANBU be considered strong enough evidence?" Naruto asked.

"Perhaps not to most people, as they aren't even aware of their existence, but it'll be considered very strong evidence to those who know. Such as myself." The Hokage replied.

Naruto said nothing, and quietly pulled out a small scroll. He handed it over to the Hiruzen.

Flashback end

Danzo looked at the scroll with his one visible eye. "This is your evidence? A scroll?"

Hiruzen shook his head. "Inside the scroll, is evidence that others were also present in the massacre. Evidence that Itachi wasn't acting alone. Evidence that whoever has authority over these other assailants is behind the massacre."

Danzo kept up his stoic façade, but inside he was raging. He could guess what was in that scroll. He thought he had cleaned up all of the evidence. That damn son of the Yondaime must have gotten involved. He was probably the one who killed his agents, preventing them from completing their mission. He hated loose ends.

"I did what had to be done to make sure the village was safe." Danzo told his old teammate.

"We could have kept the village safe without killing an entire clan Danzo! You understand that this is treason as well?!" Hiruzen yelled at Danzo.

"And what was your solution? Handing over the hat to a boy to appease a clan that was prepared to commit treason to get what they want? What kind of precedent would that set for other clans? This is your problem, Hiruzen. Rather than doing what must be done, you would rather roll over on your back to appease everyone. It was the problem for the Hyuuga incident, and it was the problem with the Uchiha as well. Anyone who threatens Konoha must serve as an example to others, why they should never consider making an enemy of Konoha." Danzo replied in his defense.

"You've just eliminated an entire clan in Konoha. One of the founding clans, and one of the most important clans. Who's to say you're not a threat to Konoha?" the Sandaime asked Danzo.

"I suppose you could reveal my actions and have me executed then. Why don't you reveal that I ordered the execution of the clan because they were planning a coup against the village? I'm sure the rest of the village would love to know the true face of the Uchiha. They would love to show their appreciation to the few that remain. I'm sure knowing their governing leaders allowed a coup to be planned behind their backs, and couldn't come up with unified response for months would give them much faith in the leadership. I'm sure the other clan heads would love to know that all they need to do to become Hokage is to plan a coup." Danzo listed off.

Hiruzen gritted his teeth. The truth would cause the villagers to lose faith in the leadership. Konoha was still in a bad position from the Kyuubi attack, but adding political unrest? Showing such a weakness to the other major villages was basically an invitation for an invasion. It was practically a death sentence. As much as he hated it, he would have to let Danzo go with a slap on the wrist.

"This isn't over Danzo. You will not be allowed to act so freely anymore. I'll be watching you closely from now on." Hiruzen warned Danzo.

Danzo merely nodded. "Is that all?"

Hiruzen said nothing, and Danzo hobbled out, the clicking sound of his cane ringing out through the hallway. Hiruzen clenched his fists and slammed them on the table. He hated this job sometimes.

With Izumi

Izumi returned from her mission to settle a dispute in Kusa. It had been almost 2 weeks since she left. It was the first time she had led a mission herself, and she had done a spectacular job. She dismissed her team, and walked down the streets towards the Hokage's office to give her report. She had strengthened the bond between Konoha and Kusa further with this latest mission, and Kusa had sent over some agreements for the Hokage to look over and sign. She was in a good mood, and was excited to tell the Hokage.

She walked down the street with a smile on her face, as she was glad to be back, and glad to see her boyfriend again, who she had missed. He would be Hokage soon! She blushed. She would be the girlfriend of a Hokage! Her mom would be so proud. It wasn't like she was dating him for status, but wow what an honor!

Her good mood was interrupted slowly, as she noticed the strange looks the villages gave her as they whispered to each other. What was that look? Shock? Sadness? Pity? Why would they give her that look? Was… was her mom sick or something? Was someone hurt? Maybe Itachi got hurt on a mission? All these scenarios began popping up in her mind, and her good mood was gone.

She rushed over to the Hokage's office. Not only did she have a report to give, but some answers to get. Surely the Hokage knew what was going on.

At the Hokage's Office

"Uchiha Izumi here to give her report of her latest mission, Hokage-sama!" The Hokage's secretary called out.

Hiruzen sighed. The news would break her heart, after he had filled it with hope not 2 weeks ago. "Send her in."

Izumi walked in with a nervous look. "Uchiha Izumi here with the report of the latest mission, Hokage-sama."

He motioned for her to continue, and Izumi gave her report. Despite the excellent news the Hokage received from the Uchiha Chunin, he was only able to give her a forced smile. He really didn't want to tell her the things he had to.

"Excellent work Izumi-san." The Hokage replied in response to her mission report.

Izumi couldn't hold back her curiosity any longer. "Hokage-sama? Is there something wrong? I've been sensing a weird atmosphere in the village, and the villagers have been giving me the strangest look. It was like they pitied me or saw me as a ghost or something."

Hiruzen sighed. He hated to do this, but he had to. "Mind if I call you Izumi-chan?"

Izumi shook her head. Hiruzen wanted to be more personable so it wouldn't come across so stiff.

"Thank you, Izumi-chan. Now, I'm very sorry to be the one to tell you, but there's been a tragedy while you were on your mission."

Izumi's heart sank. Her mind began to go to the one thing she had hoped the tragedy wasn't related to.

"You see, just after you left, Itachi had a change of heart. Before I could inform of our plan to make him Hokage, he decided to kill the entire Uchiha Clan. It seems he finally cracked under the pressure." He lied reluctantly.

Izumi's world began to fall apart, and she began to feel dizzy. "No…"

Hiruzen got up and got a seat for Izumi. She basically collapsed into it.

"He… he wouldn't. Itachi-kun hated violence. W-why would he kill the whole-" Izumi stopped mid-sentence. "D-did he kill my mother as well? How about his own mom? Sasuke?"

Hiruzen gave her a cup of water to calm her.

"Fortunately, there were some survivors. Mostly civilians. Your mother, Mikoto, and Sasuke all managed to survive."

Izumi's face began to regain some of its color. "Thank Kami." She said quietly. At least not everyone was dead.

"Indeed." Replied the Third. "We were fortunate Naruto was able to arrive at the scene in time. He was able to fight off Itachi, and prevent him from killing everyone."

Izumi would have to thank Naruto. "I have to thank him. Where is he right now?"

"Currently he's in the hospital. He sustained a somewhat serious injury in his fight with Itachi. He's recovering well however." Hiruzen replied.

Hiruzen could see Izumi needed to get out of the room, and wanted to see Naruto immediately. He dismissed her, and Izumi basically sprinted out of the room.

Hiruzen fell back into his seat. Well, that went better than expected. Truthfully, he wasn't quite ready to console a crying teenage girl.

At the Hospital

Naruto was going over a new version of his experimental seal one more time. With the newest additions, he was sure it would be twice as more effective. He put the seal down and looked at Narumi, who was focused on her calligraphy for seals. Naruto chuckled at Narumi's facial expression, with her eyebrows furrowed in concentration, and her tongue showing slightly.

His door to his room suddenly was slammed open. Narumi lost her concentration, and her brush streaked across the page.

Izumi collapsed onto Naruto, sobbing. He realized she had just found out what happened, and knew her emotions were a mess right now. How would you react to finding out the person you loved and trusted, snapped and practically killed everyone you knew? She had no idea what to think about Itachi, and the fact that her whole clan had basically been exterminated was a hard thing to process as well. All she could understand was that she wanted to cry right now, and she had to thank Naruto for saving her mom.

"T-thank you N-Naruto!" Izumi sobbed out, staining Naruto's hospital gown with her tears. Naruto patted her on the back as he hugged her back.

"I'm so sorry Izumi." Was all he could think of to say to the heartbroken girl.

Narumi could feel the sadness and confusion radiating off of Izumi, and gave her a hug as well. They let Izumi cry for a while before she fell asleep, exhausted from crying. Narumi gave up her visitor's bed for Izumi.

"Onii-chan, what can we do for Izumi nee-chan?" Narumi asked in concern.

"She needs time to process everything and come to terms. The best thing we can do for her is to be there for her when she needs us." Naruto told his sister, and she nodded in understanding.

"Now, I want you to stay with Izumi, and be there for her when she wakes up. It's fine if you skip school for a couple days. I'll leave Iruka-san a note. Just make sure Izumi is alright. She won't be able to see the rest of the surviving Uchiha for now, as they are under ANBU guard until they clean up the compound and figure out what to do, so you'll have to be there for her ok?" He told Narumi.

"Sure thing onii-chan, but why do you make it sound like it's just gonna be me? How about you?" Narumi asked.

The blonde gave her a scheming smile. "I'll be gone for a couple weeks."

"Huh? But the doctor said you had to stay in bed for a few more days?" Narumi asked in confusion.

"That's because she doesn't know I'm feeling much better." He replied as he attached his seal over his wound and began to concentrate chakra over it.

"But onii-chan where will you be going?" his redheaded little sister asked.

Naruto turned to look at her as he opened his window. "I've got a missing Sannin to find."

He proceeded to jump out the window.

*Author's Note*

Back with another chapter!

Man it's getting harder to come up with the chapter titles lol. Initially I wanted to call it the Aftermath, but I already had a chapter named that so I had to think harder. Maybe I should have just gone with numbered chapters.

It kind of feels like a filler, but for me fillers can be the difference between a fleshed out story and a list of events that happened. I wanted the world to feel more alive, with consequences and repercussions. Naruto isn't a Jinchuuriki, so he'll heal slower, almost like normal people, though he'll have a slight buff to healing from his Uzumaki blood. Getting stabbed through the stomach and out the back should be almost fatal for most people, so I didn't want him to be in the hospital for 2 days then bounce right back like in canon. Also I'm trying my best to make the antagonists not one dimensional villains, and write them as people who have their own beliefs and rational agendas, but damn Danzo is a conniving bastard lol. I wanna kill him so bad, but he's got a role to play in Konoha, and role to play in my story. For now. He's actually a great character though. They say the scariest people are misguided people with strong beliefs, and that's exactly what he is.

The chapter is also my way of introducing Tsunade, and by extension Shizune, into the story earlier than canon, so I hope you guys don't mind if it feels to fillery. Still tried to drive the plot forward though, and I'm setting up events for the future.

As for votes, I'm sorry but I'll only count votes from users, so I can keep track of the votes. I'm only counting your vote once. Anyway here are the results for the vote as of the time I am posting!

Shizune 94

Samui 62

Izumi 54

Mei 61

Anko 49

Remember to use the format! The format is basically just any clear way to let me know what your preferences are in order.

Example: Shizune/ Samui/ Izumi

A time skip might be coming up soon too, maybe in a 2 or 3 chapters? Not too sure but yeah they're gonna be Genin sometime soon.

Thanks for reading everyone! Hope you're enjoying the story so far! Let me know what you guys think! Please leave a comment or rating!

Until next time!