This chapter and the next will be the continuation from the end of chapter 22, do read it again to create a link from that chapter.
Xxx In Konoha, 3 days after had Naruto left for the Peace Summitt xxX
3 days had passed since Naruto left for Tetsu no Kuni, It was already evening when Mikoto woke up from her daily afternoon naps, she had snuggled up with one of the three clones Naruto had left behind, the clone had unfortunately popped during her sleep as it had become quite a week after 3 days, it only took a particularly tight hug from Mikoto to pop it.
The other clone had also popped when he was playing around with team Kakashi and the others. Now, there was only 1 clone left, though he was still quite strong as Naruto had put a lot of chakra into this one than the other two, he was currently preparing dinner for everyone.
Hearing Mikoto wake up, Kakashi immediately left the game they were playing to help her up, this had been his routine for the last three days since he and the other started living here to keep Mikoto company.
Tsunade had just left the house after checking up on Mikoto and the baby, she had informed them to call her if they needed any help.
"How are you feeling Nee-san?" Kakashi inquired as he helped her towards the bathroom.
"I am fine, just a bit tired" she replied.
Kakashi wanted to ask how did she get tired when she had just woken up from her nap but decided to just go along with it.
"Do you want me to massage your feet?, Sensei told me it helps with fatigue in pregnant women."
Mikoto stopped mid-step and suddenly pulled Kakashi closer and started to cry, "Waaahh!, You are so sweet Kakashi, I wish my son also grows up to be kind like up. You will guide him, won't you Kakashi? he will be like your younger brother after all".
Kakashi didn't know how to reply to her sudden outburst of emotion, so he just stood still and let Mikoto hold him until Rin and Anko arrived to take Mikoto to the dining table.
"I will", Kakashi muttered softly with a smile as he stood alone in the darkroom, "he will be my younger brother after all."
After the diner was over there was a sudden knock on the front door, Obito being the nearest to the entrance decided to check who it was and was surprised to see a squad of Anbu at the door.
"We are sent by the Sandaime" One of the several Anbu at the door informed, "He has requested Mikoto-sama's urgent presence, we are to escort her to him".
"The Sandaime, you say" Naruto's clone repeated as he stood protectively in front of Mikoto, "Doesn't he know not to stress a pregnant lady with such lengthy walks and at such late hours no less?" when the Anbu didn't reply Naruto continued, "If he has anything to say he can come here and say it, she is not going anywhere, You are dismissed" Naruto's clone ordered.
"Sorry, but we can't do that" The Anbu replied as the others present with him slowly reached for their tanto.
"Are you refusing to follow a direct order from your Hokage?"
"We have our orders", with that the Anbu nearest to Obito immediately thrust his tanto at Obito's neck but he missed his target as Kakashi, who had also immediately understood the situation and moved to stand behind Obito, had pulled him away just in the nick of time.
"Protect Mikoto-nee-san!" Kakashi ordered as he, Obito, Anko, Rin and Nawaki formed a defensive formation around her.
Naruto's clone stepped ahead, "Quite daring of you to attack my student in my very presence."
"You are just a clone" the Anbu replied, "We have no reason to fear you, not after 3 days since your creation, it will only take us a single strike to finish you off and since we have concrete information that the original you is busy with the battle in Tetsu no Kuni, he won't be able to flash here and save them", Naruto sighed as he took out a kunai from his pocket, "Obito, take Anko and go get Tsunade-sama, don't stop for anyone on the way", one of the Anbu tried to chase after them but as he took a single step forward, his head unexpectedly fell off his shoulder as Naruto suddenly appeared behind him with his kunai already stuck in another Anbu's throat.
"It was a big oversight on your part to assume I would be weaken after only 3 days, I still have enough chakra to go on for a week" Naruto informed, "Now to get to the matter at hand, Who sent you?" Naruto asked in a menacing tone as he flicked the blood off of his kunai, even though he was standing in the centre of their formation, none of the Anbu dared to even move a muscle after learning the new information.
"Was it Danzo?" Naruto asked, at the mention of his name, one of the Anbu finally gathered enough courage to swing his tanto at Naruto, he lost that arm before he could even complete the swing. Though, this inspired the others to move as well as they all began to attack Naruto.
"Should we help him?" Nawaki asked, he had formed a wooden dome surrounding Mikoto to keep her safe from any stray attacks.
"No need, We will only get in his way" Kakashi replied, though he still kept himself alert for any surprise attacks, "Go inside the dome and stay with Mikoto-nee-san, I don't want her to be alone"
"Relax" Nawaki replied, "I doubt these Anbu's will get past Naruto-sensei's clone"
"Still.." Kakashi wanted to argue but Nawaki cut him off, "Don't worry, she's safe in there. It will be fine, I promise".
Within a few minutes, all 15 of the Anbu were dead, though Naruto had kept one of them alive for interrogation purposes.
"We can do this the easy way or the hard way" Naruto started as he picked up a Tanto from the nearby body, "I would personally prefer it if you choose the hard way".
When the kneeling Anbu didn't reply, Naruto roughly remove his mask, only to see him smirking at him.
"You are the leaves that bath in the sun. We are the roots that grow in the dark." The root Anbu recited as he motioned to the seal burning on his chest.
Realising what was about to happen, the clone quickly yelled "Get back!" and slammed his hands on the floor.
An enormous wall erected itself in front of Kakashi and Nawaki and a second later, every dead body on the ground were engulfed in a fiery explosion.
"Sensei!" Kakashi yelled in horror, even though it was only a clone, Kakashi was deeply affected by its sacrifice.
As the explosion died down, some figures suddenly jumped towards them. Expecting the worse Kakashi immediately prepared himself for a fight but lowered his tanto a little when he realised it was Tsunade along with several other ninjas.
"What happened here?" Tsunade questioned as she approached them.
"Root" Was the only answer Kakashi gave.
"Is Mikoto safe?" Tsunade asked, fearing the worst.
"She is safe" Nawaki answered, "I created a wooden dome around her as soon as the fight started".
Tsunade smiled in relief but it immediately turned into horror when the wooden dome was lowered and Mikoto was nowhere to be found.
"Where is she!?" Kakashi yelled in anger and panic as he grabbed Nawaki by his collar, "Where is my sister!" he yelled again, his eyes wide with anger and fear.
"I...I" Nawaki couldn't come up with a reply as he was as surprised as Kakashi.
"Calm down Kakashi" Tsunade intervened, "We'll find her".
Kakashi did not calm down "If anything happens to her or the baby, I swear you will not see another sunrise! consequences be damned!" with his threat issued, Kakashi jumped onto a nearby tree and leapt away leaving behind a stunned audience.
Xxx With Mikoto xxX
As soon as the fighting began and she was covered by the wooden dome, the ground beneath her feet gave away and she fell right into Orochimaru's hands, she tried to struggle a bit but he injected something into her neck causing her to lose her consciousness.
"Sleep tight.." Orochimaru whispered with a sinister smile on his face.
When she regained consciousness, she found herself bound to a bed with several lights shining over her head.
"What is the meaning of this?" She exclaimed.
"Finally awake I see" Orochimaru replied, his vile smile still in place, "I was getting worried that I may have messed up the solution and accidentally killed you".
"You won't get away with this!" Mikoto exclaimed in anger, "Naruto will skin you alive when he finds out about this".
"I don't think so" Orochimaru's creepy smile widened, "Not when I'll hold the life of his newborn son in my hands".
Mikoto widened her eyes in fear as she saw him pick up scapula from a nearby table.
"I am going to enjoy this very much... a child born from two of the worlds most fearsome clans, he will be my perfect vessel".
"That is enough, start with the procedure" a voice from the shadow called out, Mikoto strained her neck to see who it was.
"Danzo?!" She exclaimed in anger, "Why are you doing this?".
"Since you are going to die anyway, there is no harm in explaining you my reasons", Danzo explained as he stepped into the light, "Your husband is a very powerful man and like every power men he is very hard to control, but, even powerful men have weaknesses and I'll hold his weakness into my palm in a few minutes. Leveraging the life of his son, I'll take the position of Hokage from him and make him become my attack dog. With him as my weapon, I'll push Konoha to new heights and conquer every other nation."
Mikoto looked at him in shock and disgust, "You are insane".
"Enough chitchat" Danzou spoke, "Get to work".
"Why in such a hurry?" Orochimaru asked, his vile smile widening again, "I have already destroyed the Hiraishin seal on her body, we have all the time in the world".
"Just get to work already" Danzou snapped.
"Fine, fine" Orochimaru relented, as he was about to make an incision on Mikoto's abdomen a black wolf suddenly jumped out from Orochimaru's shadow and tore his arm off while swatting him away from Mikoto.
"I apologise for the wait, it took us a while to track you down" The wolf spoke as it ripped off the cuffs holding Kushina in place, "Don't worry, Naruto has been informed of the incident, he will be here any second".
Orochimaru immediately bolted at the mention of Naruto, he wasn't insane enough to face him without having strong leverage.
"Fool" Danzo cursed at Orochimaru's immediate betrayal.
Regaining his composure, Danzo continued "I have more than 200 root ninjas positioned in this base, she will never make it out alive if you harm me" he warned.
"You had more than 200 ninjas here" the wolf corrected and no sooner he finished several other wolves emerged from the shadows, with the mangled dead bodies of the root ninjas in their jaws, "You should have bolted out like that snake, though it wouldn't have done you any good since we already have your scent, you wouldn't have gotten away from us anyway".
"Since it has come to this, I have no other choice!" Danzo exclaimed as he executed a handseal when several seconds passed and nothing happened, fear began to creep into Danzo's eyes.
"We are apex hunters, did you really think your traps would impede us" the wolf boasted as it laid down near Mikoto, "We already took care of the explosion tags you had rigged this place with".
" So what, I have other- aaaah!" Danzo suddenly screamed as two wolves appeared from his shadow and bit off several of his fingers
"Your subordinates already showed us that trick, no way we are allowing you to kill yourself that easily. Unlike them, your death will be slow and painful".