The Hidden Truth

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or it's characters, if I did, Sakura will be dead and Naruto would be the ultimate Uke.

"So what's this mission that none of the Suna elites could take care of?" Sai questioned, taking his mask off and placing it on the bed. "I'm interested into finding out what sort of mission will have the Kazekage asking another village for assistance, especially since it's no secret that he isn't fond of Konoha."

Naruto hummed, stripping off his mask, watching as Shin and Sasuke did the same, before focusing their attention on him. "Alright let's see." Flipping the folder open, Naruto scanned the information, "Demon terrorizing the citizen. Ranked S. Killed 20 ANBU's, 40 Jounin's, 30 Chunin's, 15 genin's and countless citizens." Shin whistled at the numbers, impressed. "Let's see, blah blah blah." Naruto flipped the pages, ignoring all the unimportant blabber that the Kazekage chose to add for unknown reason. About to close the folder, he paused at the last page, "10 years old. Red hair, teal green eyes. Pale skinned with black circles around each one. He suffers from insomnia. Controls sand instinctively, Container of the Ichibi no Shukaku." At the last word, Naruto slammed the folder closed with a snap. "How fucking dare that old shit bag ask us to do something like this for him. No wonder so much people were killed; he was stupid enough to send his own people to their deaths. What did he think he'd accomplish by trying to assassinate a jinchuriki?" Sai and Shin glanced towards Sasuke, wondering if he knew what Naruto was, and at the nod they were given, they knew he did and had to wonder when Naruto told Sasuke about his status.

"So what's the plan, Naruto?" Shin asked.

Naruto grinned, "Oh we'll accomplish the mission alright." At the looks his team was giving him, his grin widened to a full blown smile as he told them the plan.

-00-

They had completed the mission, received the pay promised and were hightailing it back to Konoha as if the hounds of hell were snapping at their heels. When a significant amount of distance were placed between Suna and them. Naruto halted his team, "Alright, I believe we're far enough away to risk a break." he turned, removing his hood. He glanced at his team which were three people more then what he started off with.

An older male with dirty blond hair removed his face mask to stare at the child leader, "I can't thank you enough for sparring Gaara's life. I knew there was something wrong the moment I saw you four at the gates." The man wrapped his arms around the small redhead, whose only reaction was to blink in confusion.

"What's going on Uncle Yashamaru, why did we leave Suna?" The ten year old questioned, looking from his uncle, to his older brother, then to the four other boys, curious. "Are we going to go back?" Green eyes wondered towards the unknown kids again.

Yashamaru shook his head, glancing towards his oldest nephew in apology, "I'm sorry for dragging you into this mess Kankuro, but I had to get Gaara away from there. I should never have made you come as well, but I couldn't bare the thought of what could happen to you since Gaara wasn't there for him to abuse any more."

Kankuro shook his head. "That's okay Uncle Yashamaru. I would've wanted to go with Gaara anyways. And besides, I've never liked the way the villagers treated Otouto-chan." The ten year old replied.

Yashamaru smiled and hugged Kankuro as well. "I'm glad."

"We're going to make a stop at Tanigakure, in a small village. I have something I want the blacksmith to commission for me, and while we are there, you guys can get something as well." The group nodded their heads in agreement, seeing no reason to object. "Takumi village is small, and very jovial. And their weapons are the best around. It's actually where I got your weapons from." he directed the last bit towards Sai and Shin who looked surprised by that. "I also want to get something for Taka as well, a sort of welcome to the team present." At that Taka turned his head nad stared at the smaller boy in surprised. "Let's get going. The last thing we want is to be attacked by bandits."

-00-

After arriving at Takumi village, dressed as civilians, Naruto separated from the others, telling them to meet at the entrance in two hours before heading towards 'Kyoumaru's weapons.'

Entering the store, a man in his early twenties greeted the nine year old "Hey, well if it isn't little Naruto-chan, what brings you here today?" Naruto shot a look at the speaker. Tall, broad shoulders with short, spiky blue hair and eyes. "So scary." came the teasing response to the glare.

"You're an idiot, Kyosuke. Is your father in? I need him to make me a weapon for someone." The man known as Kyosuke, nodded his head, muttering something about him being out back and that he can go see him. "Thanks. I'll be out in a bit. I should also get some specially made armor for him as well." The comment was more for himself then to Kyosuke, who shot the younger boy an intrigue look, wondering who this person was.

Walking towards the backroom, Naruto peeked inside and smiled at the man sitting behind a desk, head lowered. "Kyoumaru." at the sound of his name, the man jerked up, and upon seeing who it was, a wide smile blossomed across his face.

"Naruto-chan." Blue eyes crinkled in happiness, "How are you? What brings you all the way here to Takumi village?" The man's once pure blue hair now had streaks of white, but despite his age, he had a young appearance. "Need another weapon made?"

Naruto smiled, answering each of the questions as he walked towards the desk. "...and yes, I do need weapons made. Two to be exact." Reaching into his holster, Naruto pulled out a scroll, unrolling it, he laid it on the desk and motioned for Kyoumaru to take a look at the design, while telling him the details of what he want done, and what they need to be able to withstand.

Kyoumaru nodded his head, a wide smile on his face. "Those sound really interesting and I know my boy would want to be in on this. I'll be sure to start these as soon as possible." Taking on last look at the scroll, Kyoumaru couldn't keep the excitement off his face even if he tried. "I'll be sure to finish this in two weeks, so feel free to come by and pick it up then."

Nodding his head, the nine year old, stood up, hugging the older man and thanking him for his time before leaving the man to his thoughts while he headed out to the shop to look for some things for himself and Sasuke.

-00-

A few days later find the group nearing the borders of fire country where Naruto came to a stop. The group halted abruptly, turning to glance at the blond wondering what was going on. "Naruto?" Sai questioned, confused. "Why are you stopping? A few more hours and we'll be in Konoha."

Naruto nodded his head. "I know. You three head towards Konoha. You'll have a clear path straight to the village. I can't take these three to Konoha, knowing the Sandaime, he'll do the right thing and notify Suna to let them know we have one of their shinobi's and since Gaara and Kankuro are both civilians, there isn't much the Kazekage can do to them, but since it was our mission to kill Gaara, let's just say, the consequences for knowingly deceiving a Kage of another village, will be quite severe. At least if I take these three somewhere else, we can play it off like it was Yashamaru who got them away by using that explosion as a divergence."

At that, Yashamaru grinned, "Genius." the former Suna ANBU looked generally astonished at the blond's plan. "And if we do it this way, no consequences will come to your village." Gaining a curious look, Yashamaru shot the younger one a look, "I've been wondering, how did you make the Kazekage believe we were dead? He might be a foolish man, but stupid he isn't."

Naruto smiled. "Ketsueki bushin. Blood clones. They act just like their master, easy to fool anyone who knows the person well; they even bleed like a real person. Using these clones, it made fooling the Kazekage quite easy. In regards to you though, well, you killed yourself."

Yashamaru blinked his eyes in confusion, "Ketsueki bushin? I haven't heard about that technique. Wait a minute, I killed myself?" he raised an eyebrow at that, wondering how the small boy could of pulled off something like that in the time he had been given.

"I told the Sandaime Kazekage that you saw Gaara's dead body and after a fit of tears, you blew yourself up. And as proof, we showed him your mutilated corpse. Or what we believed to be your body." The blond grinned while Sai and Shin snickered and Sasuke smirked, of course all of this was hidden behind the mask that covered their faces.

Yashamaru sweat dropped at what Naruto just said. "Oh I see." he replied, before shrugging his shoulder, "That should be believable. I'm known to favor explosives within the village, so no one will question the way I supposedly killed myself."

"I know which is why I used that method, after all you're known as Bakuhatsu no Yashamaru. But in the future, I think you should go into another field to specialize in, one that won't draw so much attention to yourself as a blast expert. For you sake as well as Gaara and Kankuro's." At the reasoning, Yashamaru could only agree to Naruto's suggestions. "Perhaps you can take up being a medic?"

"I'll think about it." Yashamaru replied. "Being a Medic sounds like it'd be fun. Learning the anatomy and ways to kill a person with less hassle." the blond grinned, imagining the different ways he could dissect his brother-in-law. Causing multiple sweat drops to appear all around.

Naruto motioned for Sai, Shin and Sasuke to go. "Leave now before Yashamaru succeeds in scarring you guys." The three didn't need to be told twice as they turned and ran through the forest, towards Konoha. "Alright you three let's go. We have a three day travel to reach our destination." He knew just where to take these three.

-00-

Naruto stood in front of the Hokage two weeks after dropping his teammates off at Konoha. "Hyou-taishou." the Sandaime nodded his head. "May I inquire as to where you've been. Your team reported in two weeks ago and the only thing they would tell me when asked about your whereabouts, was that you had to take care of something and would be back as soon as you could."

"That's right Hokage-sama. I had some unexpected packages I had to take to Karasu right away, I couldn't take the time needed to check in with you; every second counted. On the way, I ran into some unforeseen trouble, and after taking care of it. I rested for a while before making my way back here."

Sighing, the Sandaime gave a nod, knowing he won't be getting anything more from Naruto, nor did he push for an answer, he knew the blond wouldn't bring harm towards Konoha, no matter what it has done to him in the past. "Your team already reported what the mission was and I wanted to express my sincere regret in what you had to do. I know this must have been hard for you." Naruto lowered his head. "Go home and rest, you have a long day at the academy tomorrow, don't want to be tired." With a bow, and a 'yes Hokage-sama' Naruto vanished from the room.