Disclaimer:Nothing excpet some odd ideas here and there are mine.

AN: First off, thank you all for being so wonderful. I loved the reveiws (I got twice as many as my usual number) and thank you also to any readers outh there, your just terrific. Secondly, just a little warning for this chapter. It is way off base. If you thought that I wasn't following the Managa and Anime before, then here is a major break with Cannon. You have been warned. So otherwise, you know that you've waited anxiously for it, so without further ado...

The Lessons a Hokage needs to know

Chapter Seven Part One-Radical ideas come forth

A hard klaxon rang throughout the village as Naruto hurriedly made his way to the Hokage's tower. He shoved his way forcefully in between people with practiced ease, and sidestepped the slow moving population. All civilians. All trained to evacuate at a moments notice.

After running into a group of kindergarteners, and stepping on a person's foot what seemed like the twentieth time, Naruto found himself squeezed between some panicking housewives and hastily directed them to the closest shelter before finally deciding to jump onto a rooftop to save time. It was his luck that the first Shinobi that he ran into was his girlfriend's team leader.

"Kurenai-Sensei!" Kurenai stopped looking at the controlled chaos on the ground and focused her attention on Naruto.

"Yes?"

"Do you know what's going on? What was that shockwave?"

The Kunoichi turned her attention back to the civilians on the ground and gestured for him to continue on his way. "Nobody has the slightest idea. All active shinobi have been ordered to proceed straight to their appointed rally points and await further orders."

Naruto took off without another look back.

"Naruto!"

Naruto, who had been hopping along rooftops, paused for a minute as he was joined by four more Ninja. Ino, Shikamaru, Chouji, and Temari.

He continued his pace and was easily matched by the others who had united with him.

Ino shouted above the din of the stampede of feet moving below. "Do you know what's going on?"

Naruto shook his head, but didn't answer. That was all the others needed to know as they continued on their trek.

The first to depart was Chouji. About half-way to the tower he took a right onto the rooftop of the Kohona Ninja Academy. Then Ino stopped at a local hospital, and Shikamaru followed suit at the local Shinobi headquarters. At this point only Temari was still with him. Naruto thought back to how these places became so precious to the village hidden in the leaves.

----FLASHBACK----

"All right people! I need some suggestions, and I need them now!" Tsunade stood at the head of her office in front of the leaders of the military force in Kohona. All of them were currently cowering in fear of her wrath.

Naruto, looking around at the bruised, battered, and shell-shocked soldiers couldn't blame them one bit. In the past two weeks alone the number of attacks from the opposing Akatsuki force and their gathered army had increased significantly.

From one attack six months before, to a massing of almost every enemy-nin that had ever had any grudge against Kohonagakure or the country of fire, to an almost continual bombardment of attacks at random times throughout the day.

As hard as it was to say, Kohona was under siege. They were currently under-gunned, under-manned and out-classed in every way that counted.

At the moment those assembled were trying to figure out what to do with the non-combatants of the village. There was no way in or out of Kohona at this point. And everyone was suffering because of this crippling fact.

"We could arm them." Said a cool voice from the back of the assembly. People's heads whipped around to see who had voiced this heretical thought.

Tsunade's reaction was instantaneous. "Absolutely not!" She barked harshly, her golden eyes burrowing into random people heads.

"Well, really now, why not?" This time it was a distinctly different person who threw their life into the crowd's hands. "You asked for some viable options. At the moment this is it. Arm the civilians. Let them fight for the village that they claim to give their loyalty to."

Before Tsunade could cut into the man, still another voice broke into people's heads. One that Naruto was very familiar with.

"They don't necessarily have to fight you know." Ino stood with Shikamaru and Sakura in a little group to one side of the crowd. "We could have them do other things. They could be given the means of survival in different ways. There's so much that could be done by them that the Shinobi of this village just can't do as well."

One of the ANBU captains turned to look at Ino and said in a challenging tone, "Like what?"

Ino just ignored the person completely. "There's medical attention that they could give, and meals to prepare, and clothing to make, and…"

"All right, we get the point. But will they want to help? Could we even ask that of them?" Murmurs ran around the room like wildfire at these questions.

Ino just shrugged before searching the people in the office with her eyes. "If they want to help then I think that they should be given the chance. This is their village too. They love it as much, if not more then we all do. It's not doing anybody any good just sequestering them away in the caves. If the Akatsuki army gets into Kohona, then I for one don't want to be one of those responsible for leaving them completely helpless."

Renewed muttering echoed around the room again. This time tinged by plans being thrown randomly between people.

Tsunade looked at the three Shinobi with a hard stare. "And do you have a way to keep them safe in the meantime? Their safety is our number one priority."

Ino and Sakura exchanged a look over Shikakmaru's head. "Well, actually…"

-----END FLASHBACK--------

Naruto shook himself as the Hokage tower's doors came into view. The only people left outside were those shinobi who were assigned to be the village lookouts. He saw them getting into their positions on the edge of his vision and sighed. It always creeped him out slightly at how empty the village could get when people put their minds to it. It also saddened him greatly at how the mandatory civilian evacuation was a necessity even now in these so called 'peaceful' times.

He hopped off the last rooftop and took the steps to the Hokage's office two at a time, followed by Temari and a few other stragglers.

When Naruto entered the office the first thing he noticed was all the glass that littered the usually spotless white tile floor. The second thing he noticed was his pink haired teammate sitting up against one of the walls (with cuts all over the visible parts of her body) being tended by a rattled looking Shizune.

Tsunade, who was frowning mournfully at a random spot on the wall, turned to the assembled crowd and promptly addressed them. "Well I don't think I need to recount what happened to cause the village wide evacuation, so all I need to know is what caused it, who started it, and how it will affect the village long-term."

She scanned the office again before snapping out her instructions. She turned to a unit of authoritative looking ANBU. "Contact Team Kurenai. I want her team to scout the surrounding areas. Also round up some Hyuuga, Inuzuka and Aburame to help them, see if some of them can't pinpoint the cause of this disturbance." A few of the masked Ninja quickly departed to carry out her orders. "As for the rest of you, please make sure that the streets are clear, check in with the shelter leaders and do what you can to reassure everyone that the situation is under control. Also inform them that we will try to make this move along as quickly as possible."

With that everyone in the office started exiting, intent on following the Hokage's commands, until the only people left in the room were the Hokage herself, her assistant and the former Team Seven.

Tsunade looked at Kakashi, who was probing the horizon intently through one of the shattered windows.

"Any ideas about what could have caused that explosion?"

Kakashi didn't turn to look at her as he answered. "That was not an explosion caused by a combustible device or substance. There is no visible smoke, and the shockwave that it produced was way too precise."

Shizune walked up to the duo and joined the conversation. "How do you mean Kakashi?"

Kakashi's eye landed on the floor where the broken pieces of glass had settled. "Traveling through the village the only visible signs of damage that I saw besides the initial tremor seems to be broken glass."

"Really?" Shizune joined him at the opening and started studying the nearby buildings intently. "You're right!" Shizune turned to Tsunade. "I don't see any other damage anywhere! How is that possible for such a large, concussive force? What in the world could have caused it?" She finished in a wondering tone.

Tsunade stepped up to the window too, and then turned to look at Naruto and Sakura. "I don't know, but there may be somebody who does." She faced away from the window. "Naruto, Sakura. Could you please track down Tenten and bring her to my office immediately?"

Naruto could remember the first time that he had set foot in the underground tunnel network. He was just as disturbed by it now as he was then. The dark stone walls were lit dimly by artificial lights, and the shadows they cast along with the haunted feel of the rock around him always seemed like a crypt to him no matter how many times he rationalized in his that their construction had been a necessity to survival. He thought back to the day that Ino had proposed their formation.

----FLASHBACK----

Ino stood on the side of the Hokage's desk usually reserved only for the Hokage and addressed the group spread out in front of her.

"See here and here?" Ino lifted a manicured finger and pointed to different spots on a map of Kohona that was currently spread out on the wooden desk.

"And here?" She traced a line with her finger through a couple different districts. "These sectors have very permeable and soft ground material and there are already naturally occurring caves in several areas that can be widened and turned into underground tunnel networks and shelters."

A voice immediately rose up in protest. "But we already have shelters like that!"

Ino turned her icy blue stare on the person who had dared to contradict her. "Behind the Hokage's monument and around a few select sections in the village, yes. There are some natural caves and a few man-made underground bunkers and passageways." Ino conceded. "That's exactly where we got the idea to do this. In fact the only difference between what we already have existing in Kohona and this plan is that we," She indicated Sakura and Shikamaru, "were thinking that if we outfit these tunnels right, refurbish, extend, and defend them right, then people could stay in them full time." Exclamations broke out in the ranks. Ino raised her voice to counter it.

"Let's face it!" She brought her hand down in the middle of the map to produce a satisfying WHAP. "The shelters that we have now just aren't equipped to be lived in. They were never built with a siege in mind. They are small, cramped and have almost no supplies to feed a whole population for any length of time. What were proposing could change that completely." Tsunade looked down at the map, then looked back up to the three jounin with what they could equate to as an awed look on her face.

"So what you're proposing is…" Ino nodded so forcefully that it sent her blond hair flying.

"Yes. Basically we want to build an entire underground city."

----END FLASHBACK----

"Naruto."

The blond was jolted out of his revelry by a hand shaking his shoulder. "Naruto!"

He turned his head to see three sets of eyes looking back at him. One pair unmistakably his teammates, the other two belonged to fellow shinobi of the leaf, two Chunin by the looks of them. They had made it to their first checkpoint.

The taller one held out his palm. "Identification please."

The two jounin handed over the requested documentation and Naruto took the opportunity to study the layout of the tunnels that stretched out before him. They were in what were commonly nicknamed the 'Outer' tunnels. They were shaped almost like a diamond. There were four interconnected and enlarged tunnel sections that housed the initial checkpoints that people had to pass through, and then there were two side tunnels that headed even further into the ground, ending in the 'Inner' tunnels.

The inner tunnels were the ones that had been mined specifically to hold everything that Kohona would need should it ever find itself in the position of needing to relocate the entire village in a hurry. They had a constant supply of water, food stocks, and electricity, and there were rooms for sleeping, a couple of cafeterias and even restrooms. In fact, some people had complained that the tunnels were more luxurious than their own houses had been.

"Here." Sakura and he were handed back their ID's. The shorter of the two Chunin pointed to the tunnel on their immediate right.

"The Jounin Tenten is currently assigned as a guard in the weapons bunker." Naruto and Sakura nodded and quickly walked through the metal gate-way that acted as the door for checkpoint twos second auxiliary tunnel. Naruto shivered as he passed through the imposing, chakra-activated portal.

----FLASHBACK----

Sakura pulled out another scroll and spread it over the map. On it were very detailed blueprints. She pushed Ino aside slightly as everyone turned their attention to her. "We have been meeting with several miners and architects over the last couple of days and think that we've finally been able to come up with a plan that will not only be relatively fast to implement, but will also be relatively inexpensive considering the work involved." She handed the paper to her mentor, who studied it for a minute before passing it on. "If we have a team of laborers working on the construction of these structures all day and night, the project should be completed in about a month or two."

Tsunade nodded as the scroll made its way back to her again. She examined the blueprints once more before rolling it up and nodding decisively. "It sounds like a plan. Good job." The three young adults blushed lightly at the praise.

----END FLASHBACK----

"I think we've arrived." Sakura said out loud.

And indeed they had. Having passed through one final checkpoint and climbed down three flights of stairs, Naruto was beginning to hear the faint strains of the hustle and bustle that indicated people moving about around him.

Sakura pointed at a grey door and said. "Through here." Naruto followed after her and blinked as his eyes adjusted to the sudden influx of movement and light.

"It sure is lively." Sakura commented as she looked around, and Naruto found himself agreeing with his pink-haired teammate's statement completely.

There was a veritable circus of activity happening in every corner. Children playing marbles, their parents sitting against the wall and gossiping about common neighbors, older grandparent type people walking around and passing out snacks and beverages and scattered here and there was a Shinobi who was standing watch. If not for the fact that they were fifty feet underground and that there was no clear daylight, this could have been just another day in Kohona.

As they waded into the room several people called out to them. "Haruno-San, Uzumaki-San!" Some children came up and started running around them and giggling slightly as they chanted in singsong voices. "Sakura, Naruto, the Sannin duo! Sakura, Naruto, the Sannin duo!!"

People smiled at the kids rhyme. It was something that had started randomly in the latter months of the war, and it seemed unusually appropriate when applied to these two.

A ninja walked up to them out of the crowd. "Hey boss!" Naruto looked over his shoulder and nodded at the approaching Chunin.

"Konohamaru."

Two more people walked up. "Hey, what about us boss?!" Moegi scolded in a teasing voice.

Naruto laughed lightly. "Hello Moegi-Chan, Udon-Kun."

Sakura tugged impatiently at Naruto's jacket and looked at the three Chunin. "I'm sorry to steal away your great 'boss" She said sarcastically, "But we are here on official business." That said she waved at the three and started dragging Naruto through the crowd, fielding more greetings that were thrown at the two from random places.

Sakura yelled in recognition as she and her male teammate passed by a couple people and they finally spotted their fellow Jounin hunched over a table that was littered with sharp instruments.

"Tenten!" The brown haired Kunoichi put down the sword that she was sharpening and turned to the approaching pair. She raised a questioning eyebrow. The two weren't usually assigned to guard duty in the tunnels.

"Sakura, Naruto. What are you doing down here? Is it okay to go back up to the village?"

Sakura stopped examining the various weapons that were hung on the walls and shook her head. "No, not yet. Actually, we were sent to fetch you. Tsunade-sensei wishes to speak to you."

"To me? Right now?"

Sakura nodded and threw one hand up to the stone ceiling. "As soon as possible is what she said."

Teten picked up her sword and examined the edge of her discarded blade before sheathing it and leaving the weapons room with the other two right on her heels.

"So what do you think?"

Tenten was looking out of one of the broken panes of glass with a frown. It was a difficult riddle. A device of some kind that could set of a great shockwave, leaving almost no visible traces of destruction or detonation.

Tenten paced the room once before stopping in front of the others. "From what you have described, and what I have observed first hand, the explosive device sounds like it has to be chakra activated at the very least."

Shizune appeared to ponder that for a minute before responding. "Well that doesn't sound so bad. I mean we already have explosive tags that are set off like that. So you think this might just be something like that, only on a bigger scale?" She turned to the weapons master for confirmation.

Sakura joined the discussion. "Do you think that the shockwave could have been caused by some kind of jutsu and not an explosive device at all?"

Tenten just continued to frown. "I'm not sure. It very well could be that. However, I didn't feel any chakra spikes at all. Did anyone else? You would need a lot of power to fuel a jutsu like that. It might be possible though. It would explain the lack of smoke and how specific the damage was." She closed her liquid black eyes in thought before continuing.

"Supposing the shockwave was caused by an explosive device however, then to make a force that big, you would need the equivalent of almost one thousand explosive tags. And even they set off some smoke. That's what they are designed for after all. They are made purposefully to sidetrack you, if not harm you, and cause loud noises and lots of smoke, rubble and debris to get in your way. They are basically a distraction technique to let the user gain some time." Tenten re-opened her eyes and examined the windows again.

"I heard no visible explosion, and as you yourselves pointed out, there is no smoke. Which you would think would be considerable if you calculate how big an explosive substance you'd need to affect an entire village." She turned in a circle and ended up facing Kakashi.

"You could just be right Sakura; it just might be jutsu of some kind. That's about the only thing that makes sense in this situation."

"Well, that is more worrying." Shizune injected into the silence that followed Tenten's lecture.

Tenten turned to the Hokage. "Lady-Tsunade, does anyone know where the explosion originated from?"

Tsunade shook her head. "Not yet, we have teams scouting out the village and the forest now."

Tenten leaned against a wall. "To tell you what it was specifically I'll need to see whatever remains of the device it originated from. Or," She amended thoughtfully, "The person who generated whatever this was."

Tsunade gestured to the wooden double doors that led to her office. "Well then. It sounds like you three have a new mission to complete."

The first people that the trio ran into was a huddle of Inuzuka and their animal familiars that were gathered in the middle of the town square collaborating with some Hyuuga. They ignored the looks being sent their way and walked up to what looked like the organizer of the Shinobi that were in the square.

"Captain." Tenten nodded to the commanding looking man. "Any luck on finding whatever caused that big jolt?"

The owl-masked man directed two more ANBU to a nearby building and looked at the three.

"Jounin Tenten, Uzumaki, Haruno." The man directed two more people down the street. "No, our reconnaissance teams have had no luck in finding the sight." His wireless radio buzzed and he listened for a second before he looked back to where they were. "Correction, the site has been found…."

Sakura looked at him inquiringly. "But…"

The ANBU captain looked the three under his gaze. "The way they described it… It is a 'bit' unusual."

"So where is the site?" Sakura tossed out impatiently.

The captain nodded towards the fence line. "In the center of the forest."

"And just what is so unusual about it?" The ANBU captain tried several times to formulate an answer before giving up and waving them on their way.

"I do believe that you'll have to go and examine it for yourselves."

The Hokage was waiting along with Shizune, kakashi and Team Kurenai when they entered the area that they had been directed to. Unusual didn't even begin to describe the phenomenon that they were staring at. Correction. Standing in the middle of.

What appeared to be a giant Fire Country leaf symbol was spread out on the forest ground in all directions. It had to be at least twenty-five feet in diameter and it was made out of what appeared to be lines of fire, except that this fire wasn't burning anything and wasn't generating heat.

"This is strange." Murmured Tsunade crouching down to examine the nearest glowing line of red light. She reached to touch it but her hand was pulled back hastily by a scowling Shizune. Meanwhile Sakura and kakashi appeared to be quietly arguing among themselves, and Tenten and the former Team Eight were examining the strange sight and the surrounding perimeter with a more professional eye.

The first that anybody knew about Naruto collapsing was when they heard a strangled sob followed by a muffled thud.

Well...I was going to leave the chapter here since i reached a stopping point, but then i was like. Nah. I can't be that mean so enjoy Part two!