"Where the hell is Naruto!" Jiraiya yelled as he killed another enemy ninja by smashing his face.

"How the heck should I know!" Tsunade yelled back, "I am fighting here with you", she then punched the ground with a loud grunt, instantly shattering it and causing many Ame nins to fall in the fissures it created, crushing them.

They had all followed the plan, reach the given location, wait till the enemy arrives then ambush them. It was a simple yet effective plan.

Everything was set by the time the enemy did arrive, the only one missing was Naruto.

According to Kakashi, Naruto had left them at the cave and dissappeared to god knows where.

They had decided to not wait for him and follow through since they won't get another chance like this to catch the enemy unaware.

Initially, the plan worked, they were able to kill off many in their surprise attack. But since the enemy numbers were high, they slowly lost their momentum and were now being slowly overwhelmed.

Halfway through, Tsunade had ordered Hizashi to take Nawaki and his team and retreat since the enemies were way to skilled for them to handle. Nawaki protested and decided not to follow the order. But after a close call where his entire team was bombarded with explosive tags which heavily injured Anko, he decided to follow his sister's order and retreated.

Hanzo, meanwhile, had decided not to enter the fight yet, he was observing everything from his place on top of his trusty salamander. It was easy to deduce what his plan was, let them tire themselves out by killing the fodder nins then pounce on them when they had no energy left.

By now, only Tsunade, Jiraiya and Orichimaru were alive. Most of their platoon had died by the enemy hand, though they were still surrounded by hundreds of enemies, the three of them showed that numbers didn't matter when fighting against someone skilled.

Hanzo too realised this as after an entire hour of observing them, he decided to enter the fight.

The surrounding ninjas quickly retreated as realised that Hanzo entered the battle.

He clapped as he approached them, "You have fought extremely well against my army. Unfortunately, I can't allow any more of my ninjas to die. It is clear to me that quantity against you three is useless so I would be going with quality instead." He then brandished his Kusarigama and walked ahead till he was standing on the head of his salamander.

None of the three replied as they caught their breath and readied themselves.

The salamander suddenly opened its mouth and released purple smoke.

"Move!" Tsunade yelled as she jumped "Thats poisonous, don't let it touch you" The other two soon followed and jumped with her. But Hanzo suddenly appeared infront of her and launched several kunai's loaded with explosive tags.

"Hari Jizō ( Needle Jizō)"

She was saved by Jiraiya's quick thinking as he quickly used his own hair to form a defensive barrier around her which took most of the brunt of the attack and helped them move away from the poisonous cloud below.

"Sen'ei Jashu (Hidden Shadow Snake Hands)"

As soon as Hanzo landed, Orichimaru used his snakes in the sleaves technique and quickly bound him but before Jiraiya and Tsunade could capitalize on it, he dissappeared with a Shunshin and appeared behind Orichimaru, his kusarigama swung at his neck.

"Kebari Senbon (Hair Needle Senbon)"

Jiraiya again came to the rescue as he used his elongated hair like Senbons and fired multiple volley at Hanzo, successfully stopping him from decapitating Orichimaru and created some distance between them.

This continued for half an hour more, with the three of them using every trick in their arsenal to trap and defeat him but everytime he would escape it and launch a counter which would prove fatal if hit, they had only survived so long because of their impeccable teamwork and good timing.

"Our techniques are not working" Orichimaru grunted as he calmed his breathing, "He is faster and more stronger than us".

"Yes" Jiraiya replied "His experience in battle is also proving too hard to overcome, he already anticipates our move before we even make them and is ready to counter them."

"And our chakra reserves are dwindling too, we don't even have enough to use summoning techniques" Tsunade continued.

"Are you all done with your little chit chat" Hanzo intervened as he jumped a top his salamander again, "You three are extremely talented and strong to have lasted this long against me and for that I recognise you all as worthy opponents, therefore I, Hanzo, bestow the title of Sanins of Konoha upon you. Whether you live through this battle or die here, know that you have my respect as a ninja".

He then proceeded to weave through several hand seals and slammed his hands on the head of his salamander.

"Kurodoku Kokyū (Black poison breath)"

The salamander opened its mouth and released a thick black smoke. Everything the smoke touched immediately melted away showing how acidic it was.

The black poisonous cloud quickly surrounded the three and moved in on their position. They thought of jumping high and escaping it but Hanzo had already anticipated that, he had thrown multiple exploding kunais in the sky which were now on their trajectory to bombard them. Hiding in the ground wouldn't have worked either since the black smoke was spreading through it like water.

Trapped, with not enough chakra to use any powerful technique that could help them in this situation, their fate was sealed.

That was the case until the last moment when a figure suddenly blinked into existence.

He appeared in front of the now named Sanins' formation just before they were hit by the explosion tags, the explosions which followed were huge, shaking the very ground itself. During all this, the black acidic cloud continued to ploughed through the shockwaves and debries from the explosions like it had a mind of its own.

When the explosions finally died down, the entire area was covered with thick black smoke, both, from the bombardment as well as the poisonous cloud.

Hanzo kept an impassive expression as he observed the sudden appearance of the two red eyes glowing brightly through the smoke.

There was a sudden motion in the smoke, following which the entire area was visible again, the black smoke seemed to be forcibly pushed away to reveal a black ghostly figure with the size of a small house.

The figure was mainly skeleton in structure, with only its upper body visible, it seemed to be made entirely of chakra. The outstretched skeleton arm, used to clear away the poison, returned to rest at the side of its body, with the black katana seemingly vanishing into thin air as the hand reached its place.

"Looks like I made in it time", the figure remarked with a smirk, "You all look like shit!".

The sanins looked at him in surprise as they released a collective sigh and collapsed on the ground.

"Naruto!" they all acknowledged in relief, "Where the hell were you!?" Tsunade yelled.

"I was-" He was interrupted by Jiraiya, "If you say 'I was lost on the way of life', I'll be seriously pissed" He continued with a spot-on impression of Naruto.

Naruto paused for a few seconds then continued, "I was on my way here but a black cat crossed my path so I had to take the long way around", he replied with a straight face as he turned to face Hanzo. Behind him, Tsunade and Orichimaru were trying their best to stop Jiraiya from strangling him.

"So you must be Hanzo?" Naruto questioned, his susanoo slowly reducing in size till only the ribcage remained.

"And you must be the Infamous Naruto Uchiha Uzumaki, the grandson of Madara Uchiha" Hanzo replied.

"Supposed grandson" Naruto corrected as he looked around a bit.

"You don't have red hair, why did they name you 'Akagami no Naruto' in the bingo book?" Hanzo questioned after observing him for few seconds.

"I know right, I asked the same question when I read my name in there" Naruto replied as he took a strand of his hair and observed them," but I guess it is understandable, I was covered in blood when that photo was taken ".

Silence soon followed as both of them stared each other down. Finally, Hanzo broke the silence as he sealed his kusarigama.

"I surrender".

There was some confusion among the sanins as they pulled themselves up and came to stand beside Naruto, who had deactivated his susanoo by now.

"Just like that" Jiraiya questioned suspicious "You will not even fight him?".

"There will be nothing to gain from fighting now, if what the bingo books say about his strength is even half true then he is surely an formidable opponent and from what I just sensed, I'm inclined to agree, he is way too strong for his age. A fight with him will only end with my death since my pride won't allow him to have mercy on me, but my village still needs me since it won't survive without a proper leadership that is why I am swallowing my pride and surrendering. Besides, I had predicted that Konoha would win this war so I had planned to surrender either way. But now, after witnessing his power with my own eyes, I can safely say that as long as he is fighting, your victory is guaranteed ".

" You flatter me but I am not that strong" Naruto replied as he started healing Tsunade.

"You can fool others with that facade but not me, since the moment you arrived here my instincts have been in overdrive, warning me of the threat you pose and I don't plan to ignore them since they have rarely led me astray".

"When you put it that way, I guess there is no reason to argue" He replied as he continued to heal Jiraiya while Tsunade healed Orichimaru.

"So what now?" Jiraiya questioned awkwardly.

"I propose we kill him, just in case he plans to betray us later" Orichimaru suggested as he took hold of a kunai.

"There is no need for that" Naruto stopped him, "Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life, can you give it to them?," Naruto asked "No? then do not be so eager to deal out death in judgement because someday you will have to face it yourself."

Everyone looked at him in surprise, not expecting such wise things from him.

"You are deceptive wiser than what your physical appearance suggest too" Hanzo comment.

" I just like to read a lot of books" Naruto replied as he motioned everyone to leave, "A messenger from Konoha will meet you soon to discuss the terms of your surrender, don't worry I'll make sure they aren't too bad."

Hanzo nodded " It makes me happy that people like you still exist in a wretched world like this, It give me hope for the future."

"Keep it then, in the end, that's all we truly have, Hope" Naruto replied turning around and followed in the direction the sanins had left.

"Naruto" Hanzo muttered with a smile, "your name has been etched in my memory, you have my respect, not only as a ninja but as a human being."

"Where the hell were you?, we were almost killed because of you! " Tsunade yelled as soon as the entered the cave Hizashi and team Kakashi were hiding at.

"I already told you, a black cat crossed my path so I had to the the long way there, it was for goodluck. Anyway, it all worked out in the end didn't it."

"You mean, Hanzo is.." Hizashi stopped as he looked at the kids, not sure if he should say something like that in front of them, completely forgetting that the 'kids' were killing grown men not even an hour ago.

"No" Naruto replied "He surrendered, so we let him go."

Hizashi looked surprised but didn't comment on it.

"Anyway, who are the kids?" He inquired, pointing to the three kids sitting in the corner even though he already knew who they were.

"We met them when we were sneaking in here" Kakashi replied, "they didn't seem hostile so we didn't take any action."

Naruto slowly approached and sat besides them.

"My name is Naruto" He introduced, "And who might you be?".

The red haired kid whose eyes were covered by his hair, kept quite, while the blued haired girl looked away with a blush, the orange haired boy took charge and spoke, "My name is Yahiko, he is Nagato and she is Konan, we are orphans", He introduced everyone, Jiraiya moved closer to listen in on their conversation while the rest of the team decided to a plan of action.

"Do you have some food?" Yahiko suddenly asked as he held out his hands.

"Here" Jiraiya immediately took out a small wrapped piece of cloth containing some biscuits and offered them.

But before he could give it Naruto intervened "No need for that", he pushed Jiraiya's hand away.

"Naruto, they are hungry little kids, I can manage a few days without food but i can't in good conscious let them be hungry when I can help. "

"That's not what I meant" Naruto replied and quickly unsealed few scrolls and laid them on the ground, by now everyone had stopped their conversation and were looking at Naruto with varying level of intrest.

"I had planned to use this earlier when we were at our previous safe house but I didn't get the chance" He then placed his hands on the open scrolls and transfered some chakra to it.

The effect was immediate, with a popping sound the sealing scroll suddenly produced containers filled with foods of various types. Grabbing plates and spoons from a nearby scroll, he took a large portion from the containers and served each of them.

"Dig in" He replied with a kind smile. The orphans were hesitant at first but following Yahiko's lead they started to eat with gusto.

"Help yourself" Naruto offered everyone " I made this for everyone".

After serving themselves and having a few bites, everyone praised Naruto for his cooking and thanked him for the delicious food.

After everyone had their fill, Tsunade asked "So, what should we do now. Our mission was to kill Hanzo of the salamander but since he surrendered and Naruto decided to spare him, we don't have a definite plan of action anymore."

"I have sent a message to the hokage regarding our situation here, we should get a reply by tomorrow or the day after. Till then we should sit tight" Naruto replied.

"Can't you just teleport to him and report to him yourself" Nawaki asked, "That would be much quicker than waiting for 2 days".

Everyone looked at Naruto expectedly, "Yes, you do know to use hiraishin, why not use it to its fullest potential." Jiraiya remarked.

"Sure, an advanced space-time ninjutsu, which took me months to master, use it to act like a messenger just because it's convenient." Naruto replied sarcastically.

"But it is convenient, isn't it?" Nawaki replied.

Naruto sighed, "Look, there isn't any rush for us here nor is it a life or death situation. If I start using the Hiraishin for menial tasks like this then it really losses its uniqueness. Anyway the bottom line is I won't use it to travel messages, atleast not in this case. "

" Spoil sport" Jiraiya muttered quitely.

Xxx Few days later xxX

The messenger from Konoha had arrived, along with him, there were several platoons of shinobi present to provide reinforcement and protect Ame in case of an attack from the neighbouring nations.

Everyone had moved from the cave to the inner city, while the Ame nins were initially spitefull of the outsiders, A quick threat from Hanzo seemed to have culled any negative feelings they may have had though they still kept their distance from them.

The city was in ruins due to the war, it had become a crosshair for all the surrounding nations to focus on. People lived in broken houses with almost no food to eat, the constant rain didn't help much with the vegetation either.

"Shikaku!" Naruto exclaimed as he approached the 'messenger'.

"Sup" Shikaku gave a lazy reply as he shook hands with Naruto.

"I didn't know the hokage would be sending you" Naruto replied as he introduced him to everyone and guided him to the house they were staying in.

"Truth be told, I didn't want to come here but, since I was the only one free from any missions, the Hokage asked/ordered me to be the messenger and broker an alliance with Ame, Good job on that by the way." Shikaku praised, "With having Amegakure allied to us, this war will be over soon."

After the pleasantries were done, Naruto and others were relieved from their missions and were asked to return back to Konoha.

Jiraiya had decided to stay back and teach the ame orphans the ways of ninja, he said something about a prophecy but he was too vague about it.

It was during this time that they had discovered that Nagato was an Uzumaki.

"He is an Uzumaki!" Jiraiya exclaimed as he stared at Nagato. Naruto had pulled him and Nagato aside so that they could talk privately.

"Don't shout that out!" Naruto hissed as he motioned Jiraiya to lower his voice.

"What is a Uzumaki?" Nagato asked, having never heard of it before.

"It used to be a powerful clan whose islands were surrounded by whirlpools. They were all killed in the war, Infact, their slaughter was what started this war. Infact, they were so powerful that it took the combined might of three nations to put them down." Naruto answered with sadness and respect for his kins.

" So, they are all dead now?" Nagato asked, feeling sad for the loss of family he never knew.

" No" Naruto replied, "I am an Uzumaki too, there is another one in Konoha and I like to believe that there are many others like us who survived but are all scattered throughout the nations. I plan to reunite us all when this war ends".

"So you are like my brother?" Nagato asked hopefully.

"We are cousins, but if it makes you feel better you can consider me as you brother, I won't mind, I always wanted a brother" Naruto replied in nostalgia.

"How did you know he is an Uzumaki?" Jiraiya inquired.

"It was the monstrous chakra he has, when he finally ate and rested enough, his chakra boosted to around the same level as yours. That along with the red hair was a straight give away. We Uzumakis are recognised by our red hair after all.

I initially wanted for you to come stay with me in Konoha but I don't think you would leave your friends, am I right? "

Nagato looked in the direction of Konan and Yahiko, they were happily chatting with Nawaki and Anko, "No, I won't. They have been with me when I needed them the most. I don't plan to abandon them, even for a chance to live with my real relatives."

"I admire your loyalty for your friends, it's hard to find people like you." Naruto replied, "Anyway, don't tell anyone that you are an Uzumaki, Konan and Yahiko are ok but no one else, atleast not until you are strong enough. And most importantly, never show anyone your eyes, Jiraiya will teach you a technique to change their appearance".

"I had thought they were special when I first met him but even I don't know what their true powers are." Jiraiya asked as he stared into the ringed eyes of Nagato "Do you know what they are?".

Naruto nodded, "I do, but it's for the best I don't disclose any details about them. It's for Nagato's safety."

By now everyone had packed their belongings and were ready to move.

"Become strong Nagato, I have high expectations from you and don't be a stranger visit Konoha whenever you want, it's doors are always open for you and your friends." Naruto then removed a piece of paper and gave it to him, "If you ever need me, just hold this paper and flare your chakra 5 times. I'll try to come as soon as I can, but for now farewell. Hope I meet you soon."

With their goodbyes said, Naruto met with the other and left.

"Is Naruto-san strong?" Nagato asked as he watched him leave. "Stronger than you?"

" Yes" Jiraiya replied as he turned around, "He is stronger in many ways."

"I want to be like him when I grow up" Nagato replied.

Jiraiya just smiled and continued back in the city.

It was late evening when Naruto and group reached Konoha, it took them a few extra days to return as they moved at a moderately slow pace.

As they reached the village, Tsunade took charge and ordered the others to return back to their houses while she reported to the hokage, they could give their report after they have rested enough.

Naruto decided to tag along with her since he too had something important to discuss with the hokage.

After the report was over, Tsunade stepped aside to let Naruto speak. He instead moved ahead and sat on the chair, Tsunade immediately tried to berate Naruto for not respecting the hokage as he sat without being told to.

But Naruto motioned her to keep quiet and sit on the chair next to him, not understanding why he was behaving so weirdly she looked at the hokage for permission, he subtly nodded his head, allowing her to sit.

Naruto immediately completed few hand seals and slammed his hand on the table. The effect was immediate, a translucent barrier appeared around the table encompassing all three of them.

"What's this all about Naruto?" Tsunade questioned.

"I think we have a leak in the village" Naruto remarked as studied the hokage's expressions.

"What!" she asked in shock.

"Our entire mission was a setup from the start, the enemy knew exactly where I was going to appear along with that they also knew the route Jiraiya and his team were going to take to enter Ame. When I questioned Hanzo how he knew about it, he said that an mysterious ninja gave him that information, and in exchange for it asked him to kill everyone from Konoha."

Hokage didn't reply, instead he lit his cigar and puffed a few time.

" Sensei, did you know about this? "Tsunade asked, surprised by his lack of reaction.

" I think he did, that was the reason why he added me to the mission as well. Initially, I thought it was strange that he would choose to send you three when there was a higher chance of success if he had sent Sakumo, no offence to you but Sakumo is way stronger than all three of you combined, plus, he would have been better suited to face off against someone like Hanzo. "

Tsunade looked surprised as she again questioned "Is he telling the truth Sensei? ".

He blew the smoke from his mouth and set the pipe aside. "Nothing goes unnoticed by you, does it Naruto?", he replied, confirming Naruto's hypothesis.

"There have been many missions recently where I have been losing a lot of my trusted ninjas. Initially, I dismissed it as a coincidence and bad luck. But after many reports coming in that the enemy had somehow obtained crucial information regarding the missions our ninja were on and ambushed them, I, too, came to the same conclusion as Naruto but he did that without me giving him any clue about it? "He finished, looking extremely impressed by Naruto's analysis.

" So have you figured out who it is?" Tsunade asked.

"I have narrowed it down but I want to hear it from Naruto himself, consider this your test. With the limited amount of info you have, give me the name of the traitor."

"Sensei, I don't think he can gi-" She was interrupted by Naruto.

"Considering that only those whom you trust are being targeted and no one else, I'd say the leak was done by someone who'd stand to gain a lot by reducing your supporters but it also shows that he/she is still somewhat loyal to Konoha as not all the major missions are being leaked, this takes out majority of the young and middle aged ninjas since they wouldn't have that kind of information nor would they gain anything from killing only your supporters. If I have to guess, I'd say it is someone who knows you very well and has many ninjas under his thumb to do his dirty work " Naruto implied.

The Hokage didn't respond, he just kept staring at him.

"Do you want me to spell it out for you?, I know you already know who it is I am going to name", when he still didn't get any response, Naruto sighed and replied, "Fine, the leak probably was done by Shimura Danzo, he is the only one with resources and something to gain by doing this".

"What would he gain by betraying his own nation?" Tsunade asked, not understanding his reasoning.

"I don't now, Money, fame, power, there could be many reasons but with the information I have I can definitely say that Danzo is the traitor".

"Sensei, is he right?"

"Yes, unfortunately he is" He sighed "I too came to the same conclusion but I wasn't willing to believe that Danzo would do something so despecable. By my estimates, the leaks started when I discussed the prospect of my successor with the village elders. My First choice was obviously Naruto, I have been subtly training him for it since I first met him, many in the council agreed with my choice, his show of power against Kumo had impressed everyone, but Danzo didn't think he was the right choice, he tried to elect himself or Orichimaru as the next hokage on the grounds that Naruto was still too young and inexperienced and he was also not born in Konoha, but his supporters were very few. In the end it was unanimously decided that Naruto would take the mantle when the time came."

"Since he wanted to become the hokage, he has been steadily killing off my supporters and trying to kill my next choices for the position too, You, Jiraiya and Sakumo. I had planned this entire mission just to test this theory and prove that Naruto is the best choice for my successor, which I have".

"So, you mean to say this mission wasn't as important as you made it out to be and Hanzo wasn't even trying to ally himself with other villages?" Tsunade asked somewhat pissed off "You sent us on a sham Mission!".

"I hear Kushina and Mikoto calling me" Naruto quickly got up and acted like someone was calling for him "I'll leave her in your care, meet you soon" with that Naruto dissappeared leaving the hokage alone with a raging Tsunade.

'Damn you Naruto!'.