Naruto X
AN: By the way, the big changes aren't necessarily in full swing YET.
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It was a week later after the failed attempt of the sound and sand invasion. Many of the ninja captured refused cooperation and were executed, while those who cooperated were given the choice to join the leaf or go back to Suna. Most of them went back to their own village but a couple had stayed.
Nearly all sound ninja refused to cooperate by not talking and those who did talk only spoke to insult the leaf which resulted in them being executed. The most stubborn ones however were the guards that were with Orochimaru. They completely ignored anyone speaking to them.
Zero had gone back to the command center to help out with what he could, but considering the low amount of injured, Paramedic was able to handle the patients and thanks to the amount of deaths, was able to perform autopsies and learn more about human anatomy which had helped him and his crew even more.
With civilians actually coming into contact with the androids, shop keepers began to talk with them about trade which had struck gold between them as the ninja had resources the reploids thought were long lost in their own time, while they had resources and items the ninja had never been introduced to before which was bumping their advancements forward.
While they couldn't make use of everything the reploids had, it was enough to increase their own production and to create new things. There was also the fact that reploids had never heard of chakra and were quite amazed with it, even going so far as to discover that they had a way to actually convert chakra into useable energy which was a huge boon to the reploids and once more to the humans as the reploids shared this technology with them and allowed people to have rechargeable power sources instead of needing to waste other resources like wood, coal and gas.
All in all it was a pretty great tradeoff.
That following day, Sarutobi had called Jiraiya into his office. "Jiraiya, I can't go on like this." He said making the toad sage shake his hands quickly. "Don't worry sensei, the next chapter will be out soon!" he said making the old man blink before shaking his head.
"What? No! Not that, I'm talking about being hokage. I can't go on with this job and I want you to take over." He said making the sennins eyes widen. "Ohhhh no! Not me! I don't want the responsibility of taking care of a village!" he said as the older man chuckled.
"Well unless you know of any other candidates, I don't think you really have a choice." He said. "Tsunade! Tsunade could take over for you!" he said, causing the older man to laugh. "A grand idea. You'll depart in two hours to go look for her to bring her back to Konoha. Be discreet however and try to get her to come back without revealing why she will be coming back." He said making the toad sage blink in shock before narrowing his eyes.
"Okay fine, but I want to take some extra eyes with me." He said making the man nod.
-Meanwhile-
"So I heard they took out the snake. Good on em." A man with blue skin said as the teen with black hair next to him nodded. "Shame we weren't able to reacquire the ring, but at the very least he is out of our hair." The boy said as they began to make their way into the city, putting straw hats on over their heads.
As they got closer to the center of town however, they noticed that there were many strange things going on. The town was very nearly rebuilt in all of its splendor, but there were new devices all around that had both ninja confused as they had never seen these items before.
As they made their way to the outskirts of the village, they were suddenly confronted by four jounin. "So you show your face here again, Itachi Uchiha." Kakashi said before the taller man began to chuckle. "Well that didn't take long." He said as the two of them removed their hats, Itachi looking up at the jounin and Kisame pulling his sword over his shoulder.
-With Naruto and Gaara-
The redhead had an actual smile on his face, he'd have never thought it possible to ever get his burden removed, but Naruto told him that Megaman X had removed the creature from him during his life saving operation and so the redhead brought it up to X who only gave a nod and said that was possible.
Two hours later and he was finally free of the beast that had tortured him for so long. He didn't even care what became of the creature afterwards, although he had heard from Naruto that his own beast was stored inside a battery somewhere.
He still had the control over sand, but it felt weaker and more distant, so he would need to train to get better control, but he felt much better now and had even made advancements with his social interactions as he had actually called Temari and Kankuro by sister and brother.
After the celebration for winning the war had calmed down and the daily life was returning to normal, team 7 and Gaara were called to the Hokage's office. When they arrived however, they were surprised to find Jiraiya in there with him.
It was also at that time that Shikamaru and Shino walked into the office. Team 7 blinked in confusion and the three of them shrugged in response. The hokage smiled before he cleared his throat.
"I have called you six here for a very important reason." He said, catching their attention. "You all performed admirably in the exams at the forest of death, but what you did there pales in comparison to your recent deeds. You all not only played a key point in helping in the sand and sound invasion, but you all risked your lives to come to the aid of your hokage, fighting off numerous high level shinobi and even helping in the defeat of a sennin. For that, I feel you six are more than qualified for the rank of chuunin. Congratulations on your promotion." The hokage said as Jiraiya pulled out some vests and began to hand them out to the flabbergasted teens.
Naruto blinked and spoke up. "But what about Neji and Tenten?" he asked and the old man hummed. "Neji Hyuuga let his hatred of the main branch of his household blind him into anger and nearly killed not only a clansmen but a fellow ninja of the leaf. I cannot in good faith promote someone like that. Tenten Higurashi, while she had performed admirably in the exams after a small nudge in the right direction." He said, making Naruto cough.
"She did not however, take any initiative and only followed Neji Hyuuga around. While their actions of defending the hospital are admirable, the rank needs leaders, not followers." He said, getting nods from the rest. "You are all excused except for team 7." Sarutobi said.
After Shikamaru, Gaara and Shino had left the room, Sarutobi turned his attention to team 7. "I want you to prepare for at least a two month trip." He ordered before turning to Jiraiya. "As you know, I'm getting on in my years and as such I've decided it's time to get a new hokage. You will be accompanying Jiraiya to find my third student Tsunade. She will be the one to take over for me since Jiraiya has refused to accept the post." He said making the toad sage cough.
Naruto blinked in shock. "You're going to retire?" he asked, getting a chuckle from Sarutobi. "Believe it or not, but I was retired once before and only took the job back up because the fourth passed." He said getting a nod from Naruto.
"Alright, we'll find her for ya." He said getting a nod from the hokage before team 7 left the room to get ready. As they were walking however, they saw a swarm of jounin heading for the hospital.
Confusion hit the three of them as they rushed to it and once they arrived, they were in shock to find their sensei Kakashi had been attacked. Suddenly another jounin rushed in. "Is it true that Itachi Uchiha has returned?!" he shouted, making Sasuke tense up and everyone else glared at the guy. "Idiot." Kurenai muttered.
Naruto put a hand on Sasuke's shoulder and drug him out of the room and down the hall as Sakura quickly trailed after them. "Sasuke, remember the forest of death. You stood toe to toe with Orochimaru, you can handle your brother." He said, making the raven haired boy slowly start to nod. "Yeah. Yeah you're right." He said, sounding a bit fired up.
"And you have me and Sakura backing you up so you're guaranteed to win that fight." He said, getting the boy to nod again, he was visibly more pumped than angry now. "Yes, you're absolutely right." He said and Naruto went for the final push.
"You know why he attacked Kakashi and not you? Because he knew you were stronger. You're so strong, you don't even NEED your sharingan to defeat him!" he said and Sasuke slammed his fists together and grunted. "By god you're right!" he said. "I fought the undead, a sennin TWICE, enemies that were at least jounin level. There's absolutely no way Itachi can defeat me!" he said already sporting a confident grin on his face.
Sakura hid her smile behind her hand, Sasuke was just way too easy. While she agreed that they would have Sasuke's back, there was no way of knowing if they could even handle Itachi. Orochimaru was a powerful enemy indeed, but Sakura hadn't actually fought the man himself, save for a mud clone that almost beat her.
Sasuke had fought the man and was destroyed while Naruto had chased him off, although at the time he was holding back. She wasn't sure if Naruto had fought the sennin at full strength, but she was certain he wasn't dumb enough to not fight at the full extent of his power during the war or against the hokage of all people, especially when he was outnumbered.
Although the surprise on the mans face was totally worth it once he realized reinforcements for the hokage had arrived in force and all of his own forces had been disposed of.
Speaking of things that were totally worth it, she idly traced a finger on the sealing scroll in her weapons pouch. Not only had Naruto given her the cleaver that Zabuza was using, but she had also managed to convince the hokage to give her the Kusanagi blade.
While she preferred to fight with the katana Hayate had given her for learning his sword style, she didn't see any issues with knowing (or having) other types of weapons at her disposal.
Now true, she wasn't a full weapons master like Tenten, who used practically every type of weapon under the sun, but she loved swords and she would learn the different styles of fighting and the different types of swords that existed.
Zabuza was only one of seven swordsmen and Orochimaru just happened to have a legendary blade on him. She was pretty pleased with herself for having acquired just one of these swords, she was ready to cry for having two.
Another thing that separated her from Tenten was Tsunade. All kunoichi knew of Tsunade but Sakura was probably the one who didn't idolize the woman. Yes, she had made some great accomplisments and yes she had done much for Konoha, but Sakura knew the woman not only had a fear of blood, but was also a drunk and had a gambling addiction.
She didn't want to idolize someone like that (especially since coming to terms with her other half) and decided to make her own path. She was a fighter, not a medic and the thought of healing just didn't appeal to her.
Naruto was struggling to hold back his laughter at how easy he cheered Sasuke back up and got him ready to take on the world. But there was something that was nagging at him. "Hey Sasuke." He said, making the raven haired boy blink and snap out of his mood. "What?" he replied while glancing over at Naruto.
"What will you do after you get revenge?" the blonde asked, Sasuke opened his mouth but no words came out. He was honestly floored, what WOULD he do? He hadn't made any plans beyond kill Itachi and he wasn't 100% on what he would even do after that.
"Huh. Never really thought about it. I guess I'd probably keep training or something." He said, sounding lost and unsure. Naruto frowned before he finally smirked. "You know, every hokage needs an ANBU captain." He said, making the raven haired boy smirk.
"Still on that wanting to become hokage thing?" he asked which made the blonde nod. "Sorta. I mean, I don't care about gaining respect from it anymore and I was never in it to be famous. But after seeing everything that's been done during this war and the exam made me realize that it's not about being a figurehead, it's about protecting everybody and that's what I plan to do."
Sasuke gave a nod, that was pretty noble and a much better reason to become hokage in his opinion. "So I'm going to need a strong ANBU captain. Unless you and Sakura want to become my advisors." He said which made both of his teammates burst out laughing.
"Hell no. I want to be in ANBU." Sakura said and Sasuke gave a small grunt. "Same. Sitting behind a desk and telling you how to run things isn't my style. Besides, I don't like doing paperwork." He said which made the blonde groan. "Oh yeah no chakra. I can't get clones to do it for me."
He said and his teammates started laughing again. They had each gone to Sasuke's and then Sakura's house to pack their things. Naruto had a backpack that he carried pretty much everything he owned inside. He didn't eat, he didn't sleep and he certainly didn't need to change clothing and because of his new lifestyle, his utility bills were almost nonexistent with rent being the only thing he paid for. So while he did have travel supplies in his backpack, it was more for a teammates benefit in case they forgot something while the rest of his inventory consisted of random entertainment material.
Naruto didn't sleep but that didn't mean boredom didn't happen. As they got to the entrance of town, Jiraiya was already waiting for them. "Alright kids listen up. I've gotten reports that she was headed towards Tanzaku town, one of the biggest gambling spots. She's probably running from debt collectors which is why she's back in Konoha." He said making Sakura stumble.
"Debt collectors?" she asked, making the sennin nod. "Yeah, her nickname is the legendary sucker because of her terrible luck and her bad habit of never calling it quits and she piles up quite the bill and runs away without paying." He explained, making the chuunin sweatdrop.
If Sakura wasn't following Tsunade before, she certainly wasn't following her now. Tsunade was a terrible role model by the sound of it and that's what made Naruto come to a halt. "So wait, you want this terrible sounding person to run the village?" he asked, his teammates nodded in agreement.
Jiraiya scowled however. "She's not terrible, she just has bad habits." He said and Naruto shook his head. "I never said she was terrible, I said she sounded terrible. Now let's go over some facts, this woman is a drunk, a gambler, has an outstanding debt and is avoiding paying it back and you want a person like that to run a village." He said.
Jiraiya paused in his step and frowned, when you put it that way…
"Surely there's someone better qualified to become the hokage?" Sakura said and Jiraiya shook his head. "Sarutobi wanted me or Tsunade to take over and I turned it down. I don't want that kind of responsibility. Besides, I have too many things going that being hokage would take away from my time." He explained, and the chuunin shared a look.
"What sort of things?" Naruto asked and the man shrugged. "Running my spy network, gathering research material and writing the next chapter to my book." He explained which made the chuunin blink in surprise.
"A book?" Sakura asked. "Oh yeah. Nothing for children however. My books are the Make Out Paradise series. You wouldn't believe how many books have sold. There's even talk of turning the series into a movie. I'm working on the fourth book right now but I've hit a bump in the road. Writers block is the worst." He said, the three weren't expecting him to talk so calmly about the books, considering the rating on them.
"So what's the research material?" Naruto asked which made the sennin take on a goofy grin. "Oh you know." He said, but at the blank stares of the three ninja he sighed in exasperation.
"Oh come on, you can't tell me none of you have ever peeked into a bathhouse or gone to a brothel before?" he asked which resulted in a chorus of "Pervy sage." from all three members of team 7 which made the older man fall over in shock.
"Don't call me that!" He yelled, but the shook their head. "You're a lech." Sasuke said. "Who writes erotica." Sakura added. "And you have zero shame about this." Naruto finished.
"Honestly, you're not much better than Tsunade for leader material." Sakura said with a sigh. "Hey now, that's ALL I've ever done. I bet you guys don't even KNOW what Sarutobi sensei does." He said which made the other chuunin shake their heads.
"That's the thing, we don't know and so we can't hold it against him." Sasuke said and Jiraiya just shook his head. "Whatever. We'll stop in this village for the night and continue on in the morning." He said as they walked up to a hotel.
Once Jiraiya bought the room, he gave one of them a key and walked off muttering about finding some research for his book. The three sighed before they went to their room. They hadn't even relaxed for more than ten minutes when they heard a knocking on the door.
Outside of the room stood Itachi and Kisame, just as Itachi was about to knock again they heard a strange humming noise before they quickly split up and jumped away from the door as a giant ball of energy flew past them.
"What the hell was that?" Kisame asked as the three chuunin walked out and stood between the two nuke nin. Sasuke was glaring daggers at Itachi and Sakura was smirking with excitement as she stared down Kisame, Naruto had a serious expression on his face, but he was just standing behind both of his teammates.
"Sakura, you take Jabberjaw. Sasuke, have at him." He said, Kisame was about to object to being called such a degrading name when Sakura rushed him with her katana drawn. He quickly pulled out Samehada and blocked her attack.
Sasuke charged at Itachi and swung at Itachi with all of his might, but the nuke nin stepped back. "Still weak." He said, which made Sasuke growl but he froze once Naruto spoke up.
"Sasuke! Calm down and remember your training! I mean for gods sakes, take your weights off." He said which caused the boy to snap out of his anger long enough to start to remove his weights.
Itachi stared blankly but he was honestly impressed that the blonde had calmed him down enough to make him think rationally. Kisame however was also impressed with the level of skill Sakura was displaying, but she was a god damn joke to him.
"Not bad for a little brat." He said before he swung his sword back at Sakura who almost crumbled under the force of the attack before he swung again. But she opted to start dodging instead of trying to block because she knew she couldn't hold out against his strength.
Sasuke finally under control of his emotions charged Itachi again and the mans eyes widened at how much faster Sasuke was, to the point that the boy was landing hits on Itachi and taking his older brother by complete surprise.
He had never encountered a fighting style quite like this and Sasuke's punches were actually quite powerful that they made his arms sting while trying to block.
Finally Itachi activated his magenkyou sharingan and just as Sasuke froze, Naruto pushed him out of the way and stared back at Itachi who smirked. "Tsukuyomi." He said.
Naruto kicked him right between the legs, which completely caught Itachi off guard. Why hadn't his jutsu worked? The chakra usage was there, but Naruto wasn't affected. And now he was in a world of pain, quite literally as Sasuke smirked at seeing Naruto crotch shot Itachi and had quickly jumped in at the opening the blonde gave him and began to wail on Itachi relentlessly.
Sakura was having trouble, having sliced off her own weights just to keep up the speed advantage was the only thing allowing her to barely dodge any attacks and she felt tired after every attack.
Just as Kisame swung at her, she heard Naruto's buster gun charge and fire before it collided with Kisame's sword, which had sent it flying out of the mans hands and embedded itself in the wall.
Completely caught off by that, Kisame didn't even have time to react to Sakura jumping at him and starting a slashing frenzy. He quickly leapt back, grabbed his sword out of the wall and growled.
Itachi finally regained enough sense to block some of Sasuke's attacks and kicked his little brother back before jumping further away. "Kisame. We leave now." He said, making his partner grumble in annoyance. "You got lucky this time pipsqueak." He said before they quickly ran off.
Sasuke smashed his fist into the ground as Sakura slumped to her knees in exhaustion. "He was way stronger than I expected…" Sakura said as she sheathed her sword white Sasuke just grunted in annoyance.
"But at least you guys got some great hits in. Honestly Sasuke, you had Itachi on the ropes, that was amazing." He said, making the Uchiha puff his chest in pride. "And you Sakura, you stood toe to toe with one of the strongest seven swordsmen of the mist and came out alive, even managing to injure him." He said, and the girl blushed slightly. "Oh stop it." She said.
When Jiraiya had finally shown up, he was amazed at the damage done to the hallway, but was also surprised to find the three of them safe and two of them sleeping when he returned. Naruto was reading a book as he sat at the table with the light off.
When the boy didn't respond to Jiraiya, he just grunted and got into one of the beds himself. It looked like he didn't have much to worry about with these kids which had immediately set his mind at ease.
-Meanwhile-
"HAHAHAHAHA! Look at that shiner your baby brother gave to ya!" Kisame said as Itachi grumbled before turning to Kisame. "And you were almost turned into sushi." He said which made the blue man stop laughing and growl as he looked down at his sliced up robe in his hands and the various cuts around his body.
"That pink haired brat just got lucky is all. If that blonde nuisance hadn't interfered…" he mumbled, which Itachi agreed with, but didn't say. Naruto had acted quickly and saved Sasuke from losing himself to anger and again from one of Itachi's most powerful genjutsu and then saved his pink haired teammate from getting hit by Kisame's sword.
The boy was very different from the reports they had on him and they would need to report to their leader about these changes. However, a rare smirk appeared on his face, his little brother had become very powerful and for that he was happy.