Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor do I make money off this fanfiction.

Chapter 12

Konoha That Evening

"It's done," Jiraiya told his teacher from the nearby window as he looked out upon the village beyond.

Hiruzen closed his eyes for a moment in recognition of the man's past service to the village before opening them and nodding quietly. Danzo may have been a bastard but he had always been loyal to the village and while he did not condone many of the actions he had taken the old Kage understood their necessity.

Silence permeated the room as the two old shinobi were left to their thoughts. Neither could fully condemn the man. His actions had been for the best in many cases but nor could they truly agree with what he had done in attempting to create his own personal army. Finally, Jiraiya broke the silence, changing the subject to yet another failure of the village.

"So… you put the Uchiha kid under emergency clan restoration. Kinda harsh don't you think sensei?" Jiraiya asked as he looked at the old man. That action had surprised even the gamma sannin. Sure, he expected the kid to get some serious brow beating and maybe a seal to negate the flight risk status or something but not to have him locked up and basically turned into a breeding machine.

While the law did exist Jiraiya couldn't think of a single instance where it had actually been used in the entire history of the village. It was supposed to be a failsafe incase a clan was decimated and the remaining members attempted to turn traitor. No one ever really thought it might happen.

Hiruzen felt the weight of all his years on him at that moment, "When I called him here I pushed him on purpose," he admitted, "I wanted to force a reaction, see the true Uchiha Sasuke. I needed to see what kind of person he was and if the report was accurate. What I saw reminded me too much of the madness I've seen in veteran shinobi who needed to retire or be sent on block box suicide missions. It reminded me of Orochimaru's eyes when I found him that day, he couldn't accept anything beyond his own selfish ambition. And his bloodline is too valuable to the village to risk him running off. Add on the fact that Orochimaru is after him and it's just a recipe for creating a dangerous monster that would come back to haunt us. At least this way the Uchiha clan will receive its fresh start that Itachi wanted."

Jiraiya nodded in acceptance, "And if we get Itachi involved in my spy network we can work on putting the truth of the night out there while branding Danzo as the true evil behind the massacre. That would let Itachi take over as clan leader and possibly Hokage someday.

"In the mean time I am going to attempt to rehabilitate Sasuke. I doubt it will work but if there is a chance the boy can be brought back from that darkness I will take it. I want you to seal his Chakra, Sharingan, and that damned curse seal personally."

Jiraiya nodded his agreement to perform the sealing. It bothered him seeing his teacher make such a decision and even part of him questioned whether it was the right decision but what was done was done and there was nothing to be said about it. The Hokage's word was law even if some people didn't understand that.

Hiruzen however was considering the best way to slowly turn Itachi from the mass murderer to the hero of the village. The idea, despite its obvious difficulties, had merit but before deciding anything the old Kage looked at the clock nearby and internally sighed. It was too late to go into it and shelved the idea for another day.

Suna

Temari glared at the assembled council before speaking, "I wish it to be noted on the record, I will accept to be offered in marriage contract to Uzumaki Naruto and only him as part of the treaty to ensure the future of Sunagakure. Any other such candidates will be refused. Should Uzumaki-san refuse then I will not make a second offer. Is this understood?"

His younger brother stood quietly behind his sister as he leveled his own glare a the Suna council reminding them he would broke no politicking with his sister's life.

One of the elder council members spoke, "Temari-san, we are grateful for your acceptance and understanding of the dire situation our village finds itself in. I won't beat around the bush like some of the younger members, your sacrifice may be the difference between survival and destruction of our home. You have my and the villages deepest thanks."

The council rose and bowed deeply to the girl, much to her shock. Unknown to her Baki had made it expressly clear how Temari's acceptance was to be treated should she agree. And the council, not wishing to anger either Baki or her brother had agreed without resistance to showing the girl respect for her actions.

Baki nodded his own head to his former student before speaking as the council resumed their seats, "We would like you to travel to Konoha to meet personally with the Hokage. I would normally send Gaara with you but due to the current situation it would be unwise to allow him out of the village. However, I will give you a full ANBU escort along with the already prepared escort for the reparations we will be sending with the caravan."

Temari nodded although Gaara frowned, he had wanted to accompany his sister but his former sensei had explained in private why it would be a poor choice. With Suna's weakened state if it was to be learned he was out of the village another may take advantage by sending a swift strike force to assault the village itself or their outposts. His presence made them reconsider and buy the village breathing room. Temari had agreed to the precautions and that was the only reason Gaara was allowing it to take place.

"Should Konoha accept I, along with your brothers, will travel to meet you for the treaty signing and to offer our own congratulations," Baki informed her. Since the signing of a new treaty and the acceptance of her marriage would signal to everyone that Konoha would come to their aid Gaara's presence would not be as necessary to cause their rivals to pause before attacking them. Further the announcement of Uzumaki's marriage with Temari would only further stop many villages from even considering attacking the weakened Suna.

Internally Baki really couldn't believe how much the emergence of a single bloodline could shift the balance of power in the world. But when you consider how much raw power the Yondaime Hokage had shown, decimating over 400 enemy combatants in seconds, it wasn't surprising really. Should the boy grow up to be that skilled with his bloodline the entire world would tremble at the might of him and his clan. Yes, it would be much better to side with him than against such potential.

"Please be prepared to leave day after tomorrow. And thank you again Temari, your village will be safe because of your actions."

Konoha one week later

Naruto was soaked in sweat as he launched himself through yet another Kata his godfather had been teaching him. According to him it was a style developed by the toads that his father had used in conjunction with his Hirashin to devastating effect. For the last week he and Jiraiya had gotten into a good routine. They would wake up early, practice his Kata and perform resistance training usually consisting of stretching, interval running, a multitude of strength and conditioning exercises meant to build endurance, reflexes, power, and strength, followed by chakra control exercises and light sparring.

They hadn't gone too far into his bloodline ability yet. Jiraiya had wanted to focus on basics and fundamentals, which he claimed were absolutely horrendous. He pointed out that without control and a strong base his bloodline could be a complete disaster on a battlefield and even more he shouldn't rely solely on his bloodline. Jiraiya had related story after story of Uchiha and Hyuga who had died from that very mistake.

Following their morning training the two would head to the Hokage tower where they would meet with the Hokage and Naruto would use his clones has runners throughout the village to relay information and messages between the Hokage and other important command centers. Thankfully they had managed to get communication lines back up to all areas of the village so Naruto was going to begin training under Jiraiya full time and once Jiraiya was satisfied he'd start performing missions again with teams that needed some extra muscle.

Naruto had been none too happy when the Hokage had decided to hold off promotions for several more months to give time, even for those he intended to promote, to season a little more. Naruto had wanted to yell at how unfair it was to the old man since he and Nara Shikamaru were the two chosen from his year group for promotion based on their performance during the invasion but after Jiraiya had smacked him into the ground and run through several scenarios where Naruto had gotten his hypothetical team killed multiple times he finally admitted he needed more training before being put in charge. Of course it didn't stop him from sulking much to Jiraiya's amusement.

Jiraiya was monitoring his godson's progress and had been rather impressed. He figured the boy would take to his fathers modified toad sage style but it was like he was born and built just for it. Shrugging, he was just grateful he hadn't asked about his former teammate. Sure he still might see that pink haired girl every now and then but Jiraiya had been working to keep him as busy as possible with training or studying.

The sage sighed to himself as he accepted that eventually he would have to tell Naruto what happened to the Uchiha but hoped he could keep the fallout from the boy down to a minimum. He definitely did not need Naruto barreling into ANBU HQ trying to rescue his supposed 'teammate'. More surprisingly was the fact that Jiraiya had learned Naruto knew where ANBU HQ was. He was still trying to figure out how that had happened.

Just as the Jiraiya called Naruto to a halt and tossed him a water bottle an ANBU appeared and handed the white haired man a message requesting both he and Naruto to meet the Hokage as soon as they could following their training.

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow at that, "Huh, that's strange, I thought sensei didn't need us today for anything. Eh, oh well. Come on, let's grab a shower and get to the tower before he sends some monkeys after us!"

Naruto's eyes widened at the mention of monkeys, "Wha… What? He'd actually do that?!"

Jiaiya chuckled, "Oh yeah, I was trying to do some extra 'research' this one time before a long-term mission and next thing I know am I not only am I running for my life but I have about a dozen chimps flinging feces at me. Not a good experience my godson. Always remember, never make the Monkey's angry."

Naruto nodded slowly since Jiraiya seemed to be 100% serious and considering the guy didn't mind pissing off Gamabunta on a regular basis that said a lot.

Hokage Tower

Naruto sighed as he was ushered through the door to the Hokage's office before coming to a complete stop and blinking, "Uh, hey, your Gaara's sister right?"

Temari, who up to that point had been having a rather pleasant conversation with the old Hokage about rebuilding relations between Konoha and Suna was slightly miffed at the question. How could the boy she had come to marry not even give her enough thought to remember her name from the tournament held less than a month ago? She began to wonder what kind of moron she had agreed to marry.

Glaring at her fellow blonde she responded, keeping her slight anger out of her voice as best she could, "I have a name Uzumaki-san, it's Temari. And yes, Gaara is my is my brother and he sends his greetings to you."

Naruto grinned, "I'm glad to hear it. I hope he's doing well, I consider him a good friend."

That caused Temari to stop for a moment before her mind put the pieces together. Despite her best efforts Gaara had remained silent on his sudden change in attitude but now she was beginning to get a very clear picture.

Gaara gets beaten by Uzumaki. He comes back to Suna in more control and, in his own way, more caring toward herself and Konkuro. Then he says he agrees to her marrying the Uzumaki. Now Naruto claimed friendship with her formerly unstable and psychotic brother. Her eyes widened slightly, somehow Naruto had managed to change her brother. He had given her back her baby brother.

"Uh, he feels the same Uzumaki-san," she told him, no longer sure how to approach the blonde before her.

Hiruzen chuckled at the sight before him before couching politely, "I assume you haven't heard but Naruto has taken his father's clan name as well as his mothers. It's actually Uzumaki-Namikaze now…"

"Yeah but just call me Naruto. You're Gaara's sister after all," he told her with a bright smile.

So he is the Yondaime Hokage's son! She thought to herself, "Thank you. Please call me Temari," she responded. While they had heard rumors that Naruto was the son of the Yondaime Hokage it had never been confirmed until now.

"So, what's up sensei? As entertaining as it is to see the kids flirt like this I'm assuming you have a reason for summoning us?" Jiraiya asked while grinning as the glare both teens sent his way.

"Actually it was Temari-san who requested your presence," Hiruzen told him.

All eyes then turned to the Suna girl who took a deep breath before reaching into the satchel next to her and removing a document. She passed it to the Hokage whose eyes widened slightly at the unexpected piece of information.

"Suna believes that while reparations and apologizes, along with a new treaty, are a wonderful step in the right direction to regain the former trust that we broke with our allies we need to take a more permanent step in both show our willingness to rebuild out alliance and strengthening it for future generations. As such and in order to ensure that future stability of the alliance between our villages Sunagakure and the Subaku clan wish to off a daughter and promising Kunoichi to Konohagakure. To be more specific I, Temari no Subaku offer myself in marriage contract to Namikaze-Uzumaki Naruto, to cement the alliance between our villages."