welcome back, not much to say here, thanks for the great reviews. I'm glad you all enjoyed the war, this chapter will be a bit surprising, so strap in!

Disclaimer - I do NOT own Naruto!

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-Chapter 31: Aftermath-

Naruto, Zaiaku, and Gaara were walking at a leasurely pace, taking their time to get home, "I'm proud of all three of you," stated Zabuza with a grin.

Tsunade nodded, "Promoting you three was the best decision I've made since becoming Hokage, if I do say so myself." Jiraiya let out a cough and quickly revieved an elbow to the ribs, "Shut it!" barked the Godaime

"Naruto," interjected the Toad Sannin, "Who taught you to control the Kyuubi's chakra like that? You've tapped into the powers of the fox itself, not just it's chakra."

The blonde scratched the back of his head and let out a laugh, "Kyuubi did." He picked up on the worried looks of the people around him, "Kyuubi isn't as bad as you think!" he said defensively while waving his hands.

"Our bodies are growing more and more aclimated to the chakra of our entities," interjected Gaara, "as that happens, it allows us learn the unique abilites of our Demons." He raised his arm and revealed his intricate tattoo, "Like the Iron Sand, this seal entraps it with Shukaku's chakra and then seals it in my body, constantly compressing it."

"Who?" questioned a bewildered Hinata

The redhead mentally slapped himself, "Come with me, we have some things to discuss, Hinata."

Zaiaku watched as the two fell back from the group, "That explains your inhuman abilities," interjected Momiji, "it's because they aren't human at all." She watched in amusement as her daughter stepped closer to the Ice-nin and gave a glare, "It doesn't bother me."

Sakura's scowl changed to a smile in a flash, "So, would you like to come to dinner tonight, Zaiaku-kun?"

He was about to accept when he saw Momiji and Shinto shaking their heads ferverently, "Um, I think maybe..." Then it happened, she unleashed the 'Teary Eyed Doujutsu' and Zaiaku found himself saying yes before he relized what happened. "That's not fair!" he exclaimed while pointing an accusing finger. Sakura just gave an innocent smile and laced her fingers with his. 'Are all women manipulative?' he question Shiva

'Why little one, I'm insulted!' replied the Ice-queen in mock indignation

"...and that is who and what I am," finished Gaara as Hinata stared in amazement, "I hope this does not affect our friendship."

Hinata stopped processing the font of information that had just been dumped on her, "This will not affect our RELATIONSHIP, Gaara-kun." She wrapped her arms around his waist, "I don't care what's inside your body, as long as there's room for me in your heart."

"Hinata," he whispered as he leaned down, she responded by tilting her head up. "DOWN!" he cried as he forced his chakra into his coat, creating a shield of sand, "NARUTO! ZAIAKU!" he shouted. His next word sent a shiver of fear down the spines of his fellow vessels, "AKATSUKI!"

"SHIT!" exclaimed Naruto as he dropped low and gripped his sword

Zaiaku released Sakura's hand and gripped Shimotsuki, "we can't fight them like this," he whispered to Naruto, "I barely have seventy percent of my chakra left, and Shimotsuki has none."

"What's going on?" questioned Momiji as she unsheathed her sword, "more enemies?"

Two figures appeared infront of them, the remaining leaf army converging on them, preparing for a fight. "We're only your enemies if you refuse to surrender the two Jinchuuriki and the Elemental," came an eerily calm voice from the shorter of the two, "You are taxed, you've just fought a war, with impressive results. Don't make hasty decisions Hokage-sama."

"I will NOT let you take three Konoha jounin without a fight!" exclaimed the fifth as all the remaining shinobi drew weapons

"STOP!" shouted Naruto, "You don't know what these people are capable of, don't fight them."

Temari frowned and opened her fan, "I'm not just going to give you up to two unidentified people. Hell, I'm not going to give you up to two IDENTIFIED people."

"We CAN take them," came a harsh voice from the taller man, "we just decided to give you the choice of a peaceful comprimise." Reaching to his back he drew a long weapon, covered in bandages.

"Naruto-kun is right," replied the shorter man, "You have no idea what we're capable of and it would be unwise to make new enemies after so recently dispatching old ones. Now what is your decision?"

Naruto reached behind his head and untied his forhead protector. Holding it in his left hand he pulled out a kunai and slashed through the leaf emblem, "That has always been your problem," he stated as he removed his black jacket and jounin vest, "You only see things in your light, you never think outside the box, Uchiha Itachi!"

If the leaf nins were on guard before, their efforts were now doubled, 'I get it,' thought Zaiaku, as he shed his jounin vest. Reaching to his neck he unfastened his choker with the Konoha stamped plating, then slashed the emblem. After refastening it around his neck he smiled, "Hoshigaki Kisame and Samehada, this should be fun."

"What are you doing?" questioned Shinto in bewilderment

Gaara emulated his companions, "Itachi has figured it out," he replid as he resecured his marked forehead protector, "he is the brain of this duo."

"Bothersome," scoffed the eldest Uchiha, "A slash through the emblem signifies you as a missing nin."

Several gasps came from the leaf nins, "By declaring themselves as missing nins of Konoha, they've stopped any retribution that might come to the village," stated Jiraiya grimly, "as long as we don't interfere."

"You will not interfere," stated Naruto as he squared off against Itachi, "it's your responsibility to keep Konoha safe."

Itachi removed his hat and tossed it to the ground, "You're going to fight me?" he questioned with a laugh, "how absurd." His sharingan was flaring as he focused on the Kyuubi vessel's every muscle movement. His laughing ceased as Naruto slid his forehead protector over his eyes, 'what is he doing?' "A bit childish to think if you can't see me then I can't see you," stated the Uchiha, "is it not?" In a flash he vanished and had a kunai closing in on Naruto's neck.

The blonde smirked as he sniffed the air, pivoting his body he gripped Itachi by the wrist, a feral smile creaping over his face, "I can still find you, Uchiha Itachi." The sharingan weilder kicked the kyuubi vessel's hand, relinquishing his grip, "If I can't see you, then you can't use your Tsukiyomi." Drawing his sword he went into his kenjutsu stance, 'That was slow, especially for Itachi,' he sniffed the air.

Kyuubi snarled, 'It's one of those damnable clones, this is only thirty percent of Itachi's power.'

"I've been watching you for a while," stated Kisame as he drew Samehada level with Zaiaku, "You beat four of the seven mist swordsmen, while the brat beat Yajuu. That leaves myself and Momochi Zabuza, the two strongest, do you have the ability to beat us?"

"Zabuza sensei gave up that title a long time ago," replied Zaiaku, "that just leaves you." He channeled Shiva's chakra and vanished, reappearing behind the former mist nin, his blade dug into his back.

"Nice try," cried Kisame as he appeared behind the white-haired teen, his original form exploding into water, "but not good enough!" Drawing Samehada back, he lashed out in a spinebreaking swing. As the shark skinned weapon made to split the ice-nin in half, it slammed into something solid, 'Damnit, I forgot about the other one.'

Gaara let out a harsh breath as he lowered his hand, "There are three of us, versus two of you." He commanded his coat of sand to lash out in a flurry of spikes and blades, keeping Kisame completely off guard and giving him no opportunity to make another clone. "We've been a team for a very long time," he added as he caught the shark man's leg, "at best you are a disfunctional unit."

Naruto lept back as four kunai dug into the earth, "Gotcha," he whispered and sprinted off towards Gaara's snared target. Zaiaku appeared above Itachi's airborn form, and brought down Shimotsuki, severing his arm at the shoulder. As Kisami was attempting to dislodge his leg he turned to see Naruto charging with a whirling sphere of chakra in each hand. Gritting his teeth, the blonde slammed both orbs together, forming a larger one, "Oodama Rasengan!" (Great Spiral Blast) The giant sphere impacted Kisame, grinding away at his faux body, launching the shark-man half a kilometer away.

"Sugoi!" cried an ANBU member

Gai was a bit more exhuberant, "YOSH! THE FLAMES OF YOUTH ARE BURNING BRIGHTLY!"

"What teamwork," commented Shinto, "that wasn't any formation I've ever seen, they just trusted each other to react accordingly."

Meanwhile, the Itachi clone was bleeding profusely from it's severed arm, and currently restricted by sand bindings. "I know that this isn't really you," stated Naruto as he came eye level to the Uchiha, "but I know that you can hear me, so pay attention." He reached up and wrapped a clawed hand around his captives neck, "We're missing nin now, do NOT ever show your face here again," he leaned over to the man's ear, "while you're hunting us, we're going to be hunting you."

After Naruto finished his threat he stood and gave a nod to Zaiaku. "Lights out," stated the ice-nin as he severed the clone's head. "Now what?" he questioned as he resheathed his blade, "looks like they're on the move."

"We have a bigger issue," interjected Gaara as the leaf nins reluctantly surrounded them, "It seems we were a bit hasty in our actions."

Naruto frowned and reached to Kubikiri Houcho, "We didn't have a choice," he replied. "We don't want to fight, but we can't let you put us in prison for treason," he stated as he prepared to attack, "try not to hurt anyone." He locked eyes with Temari, 'Gomen' he mouthed, she gave a weak smile and opened her fan.

Zaiaku looked at Sakura, then Momiji, and shook his head, "I can't," he stated. He got on his knees and gently placed Shimotsuki on the ground, "I won't fight them, Naruto."

"Neither will I," added Gaara as he released his sand and went to his knees. He smiled at Hinata, who was clutching her hands together tightly, praying they wouldn't have to fight.

Naruto inverted his sword and slammed it into the ground, "Me either," he grunted as he sat cross legged on the ground. "I should've thought this through a bit better," he sighed.

Tsunade gave a sorrowful look, "for abandoning konoha," she stated, "You are hereby under arrest. S-Rank criminals Uzumaki Naruto, Sabaku no Gaara, and Rouga Senmetsu are to be held until a sufficiant punishment is agreed upon." She gave a hand sign to the ANBU squads, "Take them aw-"

"THIS IS BULLSHIT!" cried Temari, "they just fought a fucking war with you and then averted another, now you're putting them in jail!"

"TEMARI!" interjected Naruto, he knew argueing would do nothing, Konoha's laws were to be enforced without question. She only gave him a glare and sheathed her fan

Shinto grudginly placed a chakra binding on Zaiaku's hands, and lifted him up, "Gomen, Teicho."

"Wait," stated the Ice-nin as another ANBU went to pick up his sword, "Don't, she might kill you." He turned his eyes on Sakura, and gave a nod, "Take care of Shimotsuki."

The pink haired girl gave a nod and gingerly lifted the weapon and held it close, "Hai." She leaned up and placed a gentle kiss on his cheek, "We'll be waiting."

Hinata had broken her vow of not looking weak and was currently sobbing into Gaara's chest, "Hinata," he said softly. She didn't respond, 'damnit,' he thought. "HINATA!" he shouted, "You have to get control of yourself!" She looked up at him with tear filled eyes, "It will work out," he added with a smile.

"Come Hinata-sama," came the voice of Neji as he placed a soft hand on her shoulder. When they were out of earshot he frowned, "This is not right."

Tsunade knew that the council would jump at the opportunity to expend their resources in hunting the three boys, and death would be the priority if they were found, forcing them to choice either death or killing thier fellow leaf nins, "Jiraiya, seal them." At least this way, they were already captured and as Hokage she would decide their punishment. Jiraiya made his way to the three boys without a word and began making seals.

"What's he doing, Tsunade-sama?" questioned Momiji

The Hokage only frowned deeper, "He's using the five-point elemental seal to constrict their chakra flow, so they can't use their jutsu to escape."

Shikato actually glared at the village leader, "This is disgusting, if they wanted to escape," he paused and scoffed, "shit, if they wanted to kill all of us, there's not a damn thing we could do about it!"

"I don't agree with this either," added Kakashi lazily

Tsunade rounded on them all, "I PERSONALLY DON'T GIVE A SHIT, THIS IS MY ORDER AND IT WILL BE FOLLOWED WITHOUT QUESTION! IS THAT IN ANYWAY UNCLEAR?"

Gaara was the first one, "This might hurt," stated Jiraiya as he slammed his burning fingers into the sand-nin's gut, causing him to let out a grunt of pain before hitting the ground unconcious. Naruto and Zaiaku followed, with the same results, "You can take them now," stated the sannin to the ANBU.

"Tsunade," came Hinata's voice shaky voice, the Hokage frowned at her lack of honorific, "From this point on I am no longer your student, what happened here is enough to show me that I want to be nothing like you."

Sakura followed her friend, "That goes for me as well." She looked back over her shoulder to her former teacher, "It's good to see that Konoha loves it's rules more than three of it's greatest shinobi," she paused and her look turned to a glare, "but then what are three lives compared to rules."

"Oi! Wait up!" shouted Temari and stepped into pace beside them

Jiraiya placed an arm around his lover's shoulders, "Are you going to tell them?"

"No," replied the Hokage, "A decision like this has to be made in the heat of the moment, too long and they will become hesitant, then question themselves to their death beds."

The toad sannin nodded in agreement, "What was the bridge builder's response?"

"He would be most honored," she replied, "They have already begun the extensive measures required, it's quite an undertaking, but the results would prove monumental. Plus it will give Konoha another strong ally."

That night three figures sprinted through the streets of Konoha, every once and a while, throwing a kunai through a window. One of those windows was of the three vessels, however their rooms weren't unoccupied. Temari bolted out of Naruto's room and saw three black kunai embedded in the wall, "Sakura, Hinata!"

"What?" questioned the pink haired girl, from Zaiaku's room. She then noticed the three Kunai each had a scroll attached to it, "What in the hell?" she questioned as she opened the one with her name on it. All three girls went wide-eyed as they took in the meaning of the words written:

Those who break the rules are trash

but those that abandon their friends are worse than trash

At the sentencing of the three, we request that you join us in proclaiming

That we are gladly trash

The three figures landed on the roof of the Hokage tower, "Do you think they'll come?"

"Of course," replied the tallest

The third stood closer to the tallest and let out a laugh, "This is going to be fun!"

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End Chapter 31: Aftermath

Read and Review - Don't be sad about the encounter, the boys were weak and Kisame and Itachi were using that clone jutsu that only allowed 30 percent of their power. The real battles are building, and what's to happen to our three boys!

Preview Chapter 32: Nami no Shinobi