Chapter Twenty Six

Heyo! Welcome back! It's been awhile, sorry about that. Anyway, let's jump right in.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto Masashi Kishimoto does. If I did, I probably would have bought an even cooler computer.

A few weeks had passed since the massive attack on the village. An attack that Naruto had almost single handedly stopped. He and Sasuke were now widely regarded by the village as heroes.

Konohagakure was now under reconstruction, the village having taken massive amounts of damage during the battle. Had it not been for the last Namikaze's intervention, it would have likely been leveled. The village had lost over two thousand shinobi. The losses composed of five hundred and eighty jounin, one hundred and fifty ANBU black ops members, and thirteen hundred and fourteen chunin. The village had luckily lost very few genin, thanks to the quick actions of many brave shinobi, they had managed to evacuate most of the genin from the battleground.

The newest development in the shinobi world however; was not sitting right with the ninja of Konohagakure. Multiple foreign spies had witnessed the battle between the Akatsuki and Konohagakure, and they had seen the huge blow that had been struck against Konoha's military might. They had also bore witness to the rise of the second Yellow Flash.

Word had spread quickly across the shinobi world. The news that another Konohagakure shinobi had learned the famed jutsu of the Fourth Hokage was troubling to Kumo and Iwa. But the weakening blow dealt to Konoha by Pain was something the other nations could afford not to take advantage of. The borders of Konohagakure's minor allies had been tested time and again by the other nations since the Pain assault. Tensions between the three villages had risen to the point that Sunagakure had publicly come forward and announced they were set in stone allies of Konohagakure, and would support them in any sort of conflict.

Kumo and Iwa had quickly taken this as a threat however; and had let their shinobi even farther off of the leash they had kept them on. With the leash loosened, border lines blurred, and conflict quickly burned out of control. It seemed the shinobi world now sat on the possibility of another world war.

"We need a new Hokage." Said one of the elders to the Daimyo.

"No, Hatake was appointed by Tsunade to lead in her stead. There's no need for this." Shikaku countered.

"We need someone strong enough to show the world that our village is far from weak. We may go to war now! We can not afford this!" Shouted the elder. "At the very least we should swear in Kakashi as the new Hokage."

"And when Tsunade wakes? What then?" Countered the Nara.

Before the elder could respond, the door to the meeting room was thrown open, shocking the Daimyo. "Sorry it took me so long Dad." Spoke Nara Shikamaru.

"It's fine, I trust you brought him?"

"Yeah." When the younger Nara replied, a tall man stepped into the room. He was immediately recognized by everyone there, as they had all seen his skill in battle.

"Commander Nara sir. Lord Daimyo sir." The man greeted with a bow.

"Thank you for coming." The eldest Nara replied before turning to the Feudal Lord. "Lord Daimyo, I trust you know who this is?"

"Ohhh. Yes, yes I do! Quite the marvelous young man!" The leader of Fire Country replied in a sing song voice. "You've done incredible things! You even look some much like the other one, it's a wonder your not a clone."

"He looks like that for a reason my Lord, he is the son of the Fourth Hokage, and the student of not only Hatake Kakashi, but also a student of Jiraiya of the Sannin." The Nara spoke.

"Ohhh, is that so? Yes yes he would do nicely."

"I believe that if you insist upon having a new Hokage, he should be it."

"You broke and S-Rank secret just now Nara! You should be executed!" Shouted the female elder.

"Ma'am, I knew of my father at the age of fifteen, long before now. Your Lordship, will you lend me your ear for a moment?" Naruto asked.

"Oh yes my boy, you may have them both. I am listening." The royalty responded.

"All my life I have dreamt of the position of Hokage. It is my ultimate goal, and I intend to take the position."

"Perfect! Then it's settled-"

Naruto quickly cut the Feudal Lord off. "However; now is not the time. I'm nowhere near experienced enough, and Tsunade will soon enough be capable again. In due time, I shall one day take the hat, but for now, I am one of Konohagakure's greatest battlefield assets. To remove that advantage is ridiculous. Our best show of force we can give right now, is to announce my real heritage to the village and the world. And if the village must go to war again, I will end it for us."

The elder's and the Feudal Lord stared at the blond in astonishment. After a minute of silence, the male elder spoke. "Are you so arrogant as to think you can win a war on your own?"

"Of course not. But I know I will be the deciding factor, as my father was before me. I won't lose. I've got something important to protect, and my will of fire burns hot. I will protect those I love, the village, and my country. Kakashi will do fine as a temporary placeholder for Lady Tsunade. I belong on the battlefield for now. I will take the high rank missions that previously would have been taken on by those killed by Pain. Between Commander Nara, his son, and myself, we'll hold down the military side of Konohagakure. You, the elder's and your Lordship, must attend to the political and diplomatic side of things along side Kakashi. I ask you Lord Daimyo, I know you were a friend to my father, so please leave this to me, and put your faith in Tsunade's recovery."

"Hmmm." The old leader thought aloud.

"Lord Daimyo, you can't seriously be consider-.."

"Enough elders. The man has spoken, and we will appease him. Let us put our faith in him, as we did once with his father."

"Yes my Lord.." The two elders replied.

"Thank you, Lord Ichigawa."

"You're welcome my boy, now please return to your duties, and do contact me sometime. I'd love to know more about his son."

"Of course." Naruto replied while he and Shikamaru bowed.

"Well, let us mark this meeting as complete. Tsunade will keep her place as Hokage, and Kakashi will hold the position temporarily in her stead."

"God I'm tired." Naruto said, stepping into his new home. His parents' home had been destroyed in the attack, but the builders who had come from neighboring villages had found the original floor plans for it, and reconstructed it to the best of their ability. Specifically, it was Inari and Tazuna who had rebuilt his home. He couldn't have thanked them enough.

He was happy he had sealed away the important pictures and notes he had found in the home originally. It had saved him from losing many of the important items the home had held. He was disappointed to see the sealing formula and the door itself to his father's pocket dimension had also been destroyed. He may never be able to reverse engineer the formula now. He figured however; that this was an acceptable loss.

Rikka now lived with him, and he had turned twenty in the last week. He hadn't gone on many missions since the battle, but demand was building, and with tensions with Kumo and Iwa rising, he knew he'd be back in action soon. He had begun cooking a meal, he planned for Rikka to be able to eat when she arrived home, as she had been working long hours helping out at the hospital. Unfortunately, his cooking was cut short when an ANBU arrived. It was fairly early in the morning, and the meeting hadn't taken all that long.

"Naruto, Kakashi has requested your presence. It's important."

"Alright, let me change and I'll be there." With this the ANBU disappeared, leaving Naruto alone in his home. "Damn, I wonder what's going on." He thought to himself. The blond jotted down a quick note telling Rikka what he was doing, and flashed to the tower.

"Ready Naruto?" Asked the acting Hokage.

"No time like the present." Replied the blond man.

"That's the spirit!" The masked man replied with an eye smile. "Now let's go." With that the two walked up the steps, and atop the tower. Below them, was the gathered mass of Konohagakure and their shinobi, along with many merchants and travelers. "People of Konohagakure, it is time for an announcement long overdue. Twenty years ago, Konohagakure was attacked by the Nine Tailed Fox. Our very own Fourth Hokage gave his life to save the village. Now, twenty years later, Konohagakure has yet again been attacked by an unimaginable foe. This time, we were saved by a different blond haired man. This is Uzumaki Naruto." He said as Naruto stepped forward. "The man responsible for defeating Pain and the Akatsuki. I'm sure you all know him. Now, today I am releasing a S-Rank secret hidden from all of Konohagakure. This, is none other than Namikaze Minato's own son. I present to you; Namikaze Naruto."

Naruto smiled lightly down at the massive crowd. He was happy, because he knew that the villagers and shinobi had accepted him awhile ago, and on their own. He knew that his heritage wouldn't be the deciding reason behind the village accepting him, it would be because of his own actions.

The large crowd stood in shocked silence for a few seconds, before some people began to laugh, whistle, and cheer. It spread through the crowd like fire, and soon, Naruto smiled brightly at his large family. He couldn't help but hear the words of the Third Hokage in his mind. Long ago when he was young he had said something that would stick with the blond throughout his life.

Flashback

The elderly Hokage sat with a small blond boy, both silently eating ramen late at night. Outside the ramen shop the rain poured, and light thunder could be heard in the distance. "Hey Old Man…. why do you take care of me like this, why do you watch over the village like you do?"

"Why? Hmmm…. because to me, you are family Naruto… Teuchi is my family… Ayame, and every single person in the village is my family. As Hokage, I will watch over and protect them." Naruto stared back at the old Kage in awe.

End Flashback

As he smiled, he felt a set of arms wrap around him. His grin grew, having sensed his blue haired lover long ago. "Hey there Rikka."

Kakashi then broke through the cheering with his loudest voice. "Everyone thank you for coming, that will be all today!"

Two weeks had passed, and Naruto could now be found in his home. Himself and Rikka lay on the couch, as Naruto had just an hour before met with the Hokage. "The Daimyo requested you?" She asked.

"Yeah, some big group of mercenaries made up of missing nin is terrorizing one of the larger villages on the edge of Fire country. Thing is, the Daimyo's nephew and his wife live there. But making matters worse is that they've kidnapped the wife, and are trying to ransom her off."

"They know that the Daimyo would bring down Konoha's top shinobi for this though? There's no way they can think that they can hold off people like you, Kakashi, or Gai right?"

"That's what Kakashi, the Daimyo, and myself think. It must be some sort of trap or lure. But the question is, for what or who." With a sigh, he continued, "this might be a pretty long mission…"

"Why do you have to go alone?"

"We can't afford to move a force of shinobi to the border. It could make Iwa think we're preparing for war."

"Naruto… this sounds dangerous." She said propping herself up off his chest.

"Everything we do is dangerous darling." He replied grinning back down at her. "I defeated Pain, so I'm confident in my abilities, but I know I can't afford to get over confident. But you are the one that keeps me grounded. I know that no matter what, I have to come back to you, and that's a promise. I don't go back on my word."

"Naruto…"

"If a man hasn't discovered something that he will die for, he isn't fit to live." He continued, moving his face closer to hers. "I have something to return to, so I can't lose. I love you Rikka, and I'll be damned if anyone will stop me from coming back to you every time." His nose was now lightly touching hers, and he could feel her breath on his lips.

"Are you stupid?" She asked with a smile. "I love you too." And with that she pressed her lips against his. The two quickly found themselves in a passionate embrace, and Naruto was quickly glad that he no longer lived in an apartment, as they could be rather loud.

A week later, the jounin found himself in Amatsu village. It was a rather large settlement in the Land of Fire. It was one of the few to come anywhere close to Konohagakure in size. The seemingly only downside to the location was its proximity to the border. It was the first settlement that one would come across after crossing through Kusagakure. It was along the actual road that had contained the Kanabi bridge in Kusa. A bridge his father had participated in destroying in the Third World War. "So you are Namikaze Naruto?"

"That's me."

"Thank you for coming, Uncle has had many great things to say about your father, and he holds you in high regard already."

"So….how long ago was your wife taken? And do you have any idea how large this group is?"

"Two weeks ago, they took my dear wife. I don't know what I'll do without her….I contacted Uncle because when they sent me the ransom, it was extremely high, I myself couldn't afford it. Uncle then replied telling me he would sent you. My Samurai guard that was killed when they took her… his last words was that a team of four shinobi were responsible, he barely got a good look."

"I see, how do you know it's a group?"

"A few fishermen had reported seeing a camp a couple of miles out by the river."

"Hmm. Something feels off." Thought the blond. "Alright, I'm going to go try to investigate… I'll be back by night."

"Right. Good luck Mister Namikaze."

"Thirty…. five jounin...fifteen chunin...ten genin ...most are missing nin from Iwa and Kumo… just a few from Konoha and Suna." Naruto sat perched atop a tall tree overlooking the tiny clearing that the camp was set up in.

"Hmmm, I don't recognize any of them… wait… that guy is Hashimaru ... one of the guys that attacked me alongside Han when I was on my trip with sensei… strange. Maybe he was in tons of trouble for trying to capture me and almost causing a war? Still… that's doesn't sound right either. Oh well, I need to get back." With that the blond quickly flashed away, appearing in the room he had been given to stay in.

The last Namikaze would spend the next week scouting the enemy encampment, and gathering intel on each shinobi.

"Alright. I have a plan Naota." Naruto said. He sat across the table from the Daimyo's nephew.

"You do?"

"I did some scouting. The Daimyo gave you the money for the ransom even though I was coming correct?"

"Yes sir, he did."

"Arrange for a trade off. Money for the woman. Tell them they can pick the spot."

"What? We're going to pay them?"

"No, I'll mark the case with my jutsu formula. I'll make sure we don't lose the money nor your wife. Trust in me."

"Y-Yes Mister Namikaze."

"Thank you."

A cool breeze blew over the stream in the middle of the clearing. On one side, stood over thirty shinobi, all of them were missing nin. Opposite of them stood Naota, and Naruto. The Daimyo's nephew held a large case in his hands, filled with the money the enemy so desired. It had taken a whole three days for them to set up a meeting place to complete the exchange.

"Alright. Hand over the lady, and I'll give you the case." Naruto said with a commanding tone.

"Heh, listen here, we've got the leverage right now tree hugger."

"Fine. I'll give you the case first, but I'm warning you, don't test me."

"Yeah yeah, give it here."

A clone burst to life beside the blond, and he passed the case to it. The clone took careful steps toward the enemy, the case outstretched in front of him. He then stood before the man holding the woman, and took hold of her with one hand, while passing the case off in the other. A light sound was made as the man beside them drew a kunai, and all hell broke loose.

The Iwa nin swung the kunai at the clone, who ripped the woman away from the man holding onto her. He flashed away with her in hand, and appeared where his original had just stood. As some of the nin stared in awe at his speed, the original Naruto appeared with both feet on the case, and a firm grip on the handle. The nin were stunned as the man who had held the case fell dead, and Naruto appeared where he had been moments before. He quickly passed off the case, and formed three more shadow clones to escort the couple and the money back to their village.

As the group made its retreat, Naruto turned his focus to the missing nin. "Tell you what, if you all surrender right now, no one else has to die."

In truth, Naruto had expected either a full surrender, or an extremely violent response. He did get a violent response, but not in any form that he had expected. In a cruel and brutal flash of blades, all of the missing nin from Iwa turned on their allies. As the nin fell dead, Naruto's eyes widened as he felt over a platoon of chakra signatures enter his sensory range.

The man took his fighting stance, and reached into his kunai pouch. His hand stopped as it gripped a kunai, his focus being ripped away to the two massive chakra signatures he felt enter the area. "Shit." He mumbled under his breath. "This isn't good."

The missing nin from Iwa all stood staring him down with grins on their faces. The blond now deduced that the missing nin status was a cover. Soon, the platoon of back up nin sent from Iwa arrived, and Naruto was struggling to come up with a strategy. The odds were overwhelming. A platoon he could handle, but back that up with two jinchuriki… he wasn't so sure. To top it off, he couldn't run. They would level the village if he did. "How did you get through Kusa?" He asked with narrowed eyes.

"It's simple really." Said Roshi as he appeared on a tree branch.

"We didn't." Said Han as he sped into place behind Naruto. The massive tank of a man launched a brutal kick at the Konoha jounin. The blond dodged the blow, and slammed his palm into the jinchuriki's leg armor. The massive man spun backwards and quickly landed on his feet. His eyes narrowed as he faced down the blond. "We went around."

"That means you either went through Amegakure... or through Takigakure…" The blond once again reached for his kunai pouch only to be quickly blitzed by Roshi. Lava hit where he had stood, and he was forced to dodge when the man brought a lava covered fist mere inches from his face. The Jinchuriki of the Four Tails brought his leg around for a brutal impact, only to hit nothing but air.

Naruto appeared beside Han and made to ram a newly palmed kunai into his neck. Just before he made contact, Hans body erupted with steam, protecting him by burning anything that it touched.

Naruto leapt back, and palmed a second kunai in his off hand. "Fuck, he never showed that before…..the steam is working almost like Gaara's sand…." The last Namikaze flashed behind the massive jinchuriki, to the mark he had placed on his leg, and landed a brutal spin kick to the man's neck. It cost him however; by burning his foot and ankle badly. He landed on his left foot, favoring his now wounded extremity. He was forced to move when Roshi launched multiple globs of lava at his position.

Leaping back, he landed on his right foot, sending shocks of pain through his body. He threw both kunai he held behind him, knowing he needed an escape option. However; he was forced to use it immediately when Han bull rushed him from the side. The blond sped through hand seals, before flashing further back to his other kunai. As he landed he slammed his hand into the ground and completed his technique. "Uzumaki Fuinjutsu: Turtle Shell Dome!" A fairly large dome of chakra rose and surrounded him, giving him a defensive option that would allow him to gather himself.

The enemy jinchuriki stopped short of the dome, knowing full well that any Uzumaki fuinjutsu could prove deadly to the opponent. They had been trying to keep Naruto from even drawing a kunai, but that was no longer an option. The blond took the time the jutsu had bought him as an opportunity to litter the area within the dome with kunai. He looked up as he felt the dome shake, and was met with the sight of Roshi bombarding the dome with lava. He knew if he didn't act quickly the enemy could easily burn his way through the dome. He sensed his other kunai, and realized that it had been covered and melted away by lava. "Damn, their paying attention."

"Oi, are you trying to start a war?!" He yelled at the enemy.

"You're a fool boy, the war has already begun!"

"What?!"

"This whole situation was created to keep you away from the front line."

Naruto growled, if what this man was saying was the truth, then Konohagakure was now in all out war. "Shit…" The blond could see his barrier being stressed by the heat of the lava that now fully encased it. He knew that in the enemy's eyes he was trapped. But they must have either forgot or not noticed that he could place a marker without a kunai.

He drew two of his blades and focused in on the mark he'd left on Han's leg, before flashing behind him. Showing his ability to be completely ambidextrous, he slammed a kunai into the back of the hulking jinchuriki's thigh, while also throwing a kunai with pinpoint accuracy between the eyes of one of the Iwa shinobi on the sidelines.

He immediately flashed to the thrown weapon, and palmed a kunai in one hand, while drawing four in the other. He struck out with his foot first, impacting the head of one of the shinobi with deadly force. Ignoring the pain that shot up his leg, he hurled the four other blades into the crowd.

Appearing amongst them, he cut down the two nearest combatants before launching a knife into the air. He flashed to it, and in seconds formed a large Rasengan. He came down with force and slammed it into the ground around the crowd. As it burrowed, he tossed another kunai out into the forest before intentionally letting the Rasengan distablize and implode. He flashed away, and watched the destruction and death he caused with a single move. Knowing he was capable of such things weighed on him in the back of his mind, but he didn't let it shake his focus. "I can't flash back to the briefcase, I can't let a battle between jinchuriki take place in a populated area. I might have to draw them away. This fuckin leg is slowing me down."

The blond acted quickly and launched six kunai at Roshi. The enemy jinchuriki smiled and simply melted them to nothing by spewing globs of lava to intercept each blade. "So that's how it's gonna be." The jounin thought. "Thanks for this Sasuke." He mumbled with a smirk.

He launched another set at the man and watched as he shot the lava to intercept them. Just as the lava was about to impact the blades, Naruto yanked hard on the ninja wire he had connected to two of them. The two blades veered from their original trajectory and ran into two of the others. The nudge sent them off course and they rocketed to each side of Roshi. As soon as the blades had ricocheted off one another, Naruto had formed two clones. Said doppelgangers flashed to the kunai and launched a hail of them at the lava wielding ninja. Simultaneously they threw a set behind him.

The original Naruto appeared at the kunai behind Roshi, and took a second to throw a handful of tri-prong at the now recovered Han. As soon as they left his hand, he leapt into the air. The two clones flashed close to Roshi, a Rasengan roaring to life in each one's hand. In a defensive move, the old man blasted super heated chakra from his body, courtesy of the Four Tails. Before the heat could disperse the clones, they both flashed away, appearing with their momentum carrying them forward and Rasengans bared. Han's eyes widened as he was blasted with a Rasengan on both sides of his body. The bulky jinchuriki managed to live however; by using his steam once again, and destroying the clones before they could do fatal damage.

At Han's shout of pain, Roshi's attention was pulled away for a split second. It cost him dearly, when Naruto landed kunai first into his shoulder. Before he could counter, the blond formed a large Rasengan, and proceeded to blast the old red haired man's arm clean off.

In defense of its host, the Four Tailed Monkey took over the now unconscious man's body, and his chakra quickly began to emerge. At this, Naruto leapt back off of Roshi, and was impacted in the side by the heavy boot of the severely wounded Han. As Naruto rolled to a stop from the blow, he saw the bulky man land next to the newly made amputee. Han spawned a large amount of scalding hot steam around his hand, and then grabbed hold of Roshi's stump. The beast/man screamed in pain as it's bleeding limb was cauterized. He caught a glimpse of Han slamming the most crudely and badly made suppression seal Naruto had ever seen into the back of Roshi's head. The massive jinchuriki leveled a glare at the second Yellow Flash, and picked up Roshi, before quietly retreating.

"Alright Naota, please retreat to your uncle's city and stay there. Have this village evacuated as well. We can't afford to leave it open for attack, it's going to take a while before I can get shinobi deployed out here."

"It will be done, please take care Mister Namikaze. Thank you for saving my wife."

"Gladly Naota, and please just call me Naruto. I've got to get going, but I'm going to leave some shadow clones to overwatch your village's evacuation."

"Thank you Naruto, I seriously cannot thank you enough." At this Naruto smiled and. sprinted away, leaping into the trees and making his way toward Konohagakure.

"I've got to find out what the situation is and see what our next course of action will be." He thought to himself seriously. His brain was in overdrive wondering what kind of situations could be happening at the village, and he wanted to be at his home to help them prepare for war.

"What do you mean Konohamaru is missing!?"

"Settle down!" The Hokage yelled, watching as the man before her let his anger get the best of him.

"Tsunade, we're at war and the brat is missing? On the front no less?" He yelled back, his Sharingan blazing to life.

"Need I remind you that there isn't a war on yet? No official declarations have been made, and I've called for a Kage summit."

"Taki is a fuckin battleground! Naruto will kill me if he knew that I just stood by and didn't search."

Both people stopped speaking as they heard the door handle turn and click before it swung open. "Search for what?" Naruto asked as he stepped into the office. "Lady Tsunade, it's good to see you back at it."

"Thank you Naruto, and Team Twelve has gone missing."

"Team Twelve…" That number still left a bad taste in his mouth, after all, the members of the team from his graduating class had been wiped out right in front of him. "Who are the new members? I was kind of busy during the last graduation."

"Sarutobi Konohamaru, Hyuga Hanabi, and Inuzuka Sakumo, lead by Ebisu."

"Kono...is missing?" The blond asked, as if testing the waters.

"Yes." She answered simply. She did like the child, and was worried, but she currently needed to be in full Hokage mode.

"I see, we'll address that soon. I have to report."

"Yes?"

Naruto proceeded to explain the events that took place over the course of his week and a half long mission, and the speedy escalation that took place the day before.

"So you're telling my you killed over a platoons worth of Iwa nin, and took on two jinchuriki to a stand still?"

"Yes ma'am."

"My god you're just like Minato." She grumbled aloud. "You didn't chase them down correct?"

"No ma'am, they said the war was already on, I felt the need to come back immediately. Alongside that fact I also would prefer not to battle two jinchuriki without backup, had Roshi been able to transform, I may have been put into a very bad spot. Honestly I got lucky."

"At least he's humble." Thought Sasuke.

"Understandable. Well they must have said the war was on to try to throw you off. What has happened, is Iwa launched a full invasion into waterfall country. Takigakure shinobi held them back, but were forced into retreat after their jinchuuriki was removed from the equation."

"Removed from the equation?" He interrupted.

"She was beaten down by a few members of Onoki's family. They are known for their strong earth techniques, and they had plenty of shinobi to focus solely on her. Add to that the fact that she didn't nearly have mastery over her tailed beast, and she was eventually captured. Now anyway, if you'll let me finish." She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes ma'am."

"Taki nin now hold a defensive line spanning a good chunk of Waterfall Country right at their border with us. I've called the Five Kage Summit to try to get this resolved without a war, and get Iwa to pull their forces out of Taki." She said, the stress of the looming war obvious on her face.

"There's no way it's gonna work Lady Hokage, Iwa isn't just gonna back down."

"The only reason we haven't gone straight to war over this, is because I'm hoping I can get Iwa to back down anyway. Takigakure is our ally, and I won't allow them to get beaten down like this. Now, the Kage summit is in two weeks. You and Sasuke will be my bodyguards. You've made names for yourself and it will be a blatant show of force."

"If we have two weeks, then I request a mission to find Konohamaru. I'd like to know the details behind his disappearance as well." Naruto couldn't just leave the boy he saw as a brother out there to die.

"Alright, you have a week and a half. Find that silly brat and bring him back, he is Sarutobi-Sensei's grandson after all, and I do like the kid." She finished with a sigh.

"Can I bring Sasuke?" Naruto requested.

"Considering where you're going, yes you can." She said with a solemn look. "Team Twelve was undergoing an escort mission to Takigakure."

"Why did they need our nin to do the escort?" He questioned, curious as to why genin would be needed to help Taki out.

"Taki has been on a downhill slide as a ninja village for a while now, and they had been running low on manpower. It's a shame this all happened, because they were just now really starting to recover from the last two wars, and things had been finally looking up for them. Now, when the invasion started, Ebisu managed to get a message out to us informing us of the situation. We sent a force to our border immediately, but Taki had been pushed back quickly, their village fell in two days. Once our shinobi mobilized and set out, they were already pushed to the border. You will be going behind enemy lines to find a needle in a haystack. This will be highly dangerous, and there is a high chance Team Twelve may have been killed already."

"I'm gonna go see Rikka, get a shower, and we can head out tomorrow. That work for you Sasuke?"

"Hn." The Uchiha grunted in response.

"Also, I'd like a copy of Ebisu's report ma'am."

"I'll have one delivered to you, go see your girlfriend."

"Will do ma'am."

Hey guys! That's this chapter. Sorry it took so long, hit a bit of writer's block and had to decide where to go from here. Should be able to go full steam ahead now, but no promises on speedy updates. I post things about the story and am ready to answer questions on twitter, and on deviantart. My deviantart is darlinginthefox There is an awesome piece of art on there done by wilczyca117 please go check it out! And give the artist support!

wilczyca117/art/C-Naruto-redesign-809015021

Anyway, next chapter we begin a search for Konohamaru.