Naruto's POV

We stood arguing back and forth for over an hour. Neither of us refused to budge on; Tsunade wanted to state that a term in the alliance would knowing my identity while I told her off by saying that the alliance should be terminated then. By the end we were both absolutely simmering in anger. Suzume had tried to find reasoning in my open stubbornness but refused to get between us knowing full well that all the pent up aggression would be pointed her way.

I sighed, "Why do you need to know so badly who I am? Isn't just having a peaceful relationship between our people satisfying enough for you?" The white hospital room seemed dark somehow. "There's no need to blow all of this our of proportion. Just accept this alliance and we'll be on our way, I won't show my face and you won't have to wonder anymore on who I am."

She glared at me menacingly. Her anger flowed off in waves that crashed all around us. "Tell me or so help me, I will pull myself out of this bed, attack you, and force you to tell me." The threat was real by looking at her hands clenching fistfuls of white blankets. I could tell that she was itching to punch me right in the jaw and I imagined what had happened to Ero-sennin when he peeped on her at the baths once... Imagining the damage he went through I don't think my body will be able to endure the force of a hit that powerful.

My resolve was breaking under the intensity of her gaze because no matter how much time passes and no matter how much I try to forget, I know what Tsunade is like when she doesn't get her way. "Fine... I give..." Nobuo and Suzume glanced at me with wide eyes that questioned my sanity. I shrugged at them, no point in prolonging this. The only way to snap that stubborn fifth hokage is to: one, tell her or two, go back home wrapped in bandages like a mummy. Both choices weren't very appealing. "But I will only tell you, no one else is to know or be present when I reveal myself, do you understand? And no speaking of it either. This is something you will take to the grave." She nodded, eyes intently staring at the mask that covered my face. "Tonight then."

We withdrew from the room as doctors and nurses filed in, evicting us from the premises with a stern look. Nobuo pulled me off to the side of the long hallway corridor staring straight at me. "Why?"

Of course that would be the first thing out of his mouth. Ruffling the back of my head with my right hand I stared at the space beside his face not wanting to look into the dark blue eyes. "It's the only way." That was it, a pathetic excuse that did not bide well with my close comrade. He was about to open his mouth when I stopped him short. "Look, can we just drop it, please? It's been a long day, a lot has happened, and I just want to rest for just a bit before I tell Tsunade..."

"Everything?"

"No, not everything though she probably will demand that information from me too."

"You'll stay strong, right? You won't break, right?" He bombarded me with question after question. Nobuo was the kind of person that when things really came down to it, got really serious and this is one of those moments. "Repeat after me Naruto," his voice was barely a whisper, "I won't crack under the pressure and spill out all the secrets."

I repeated the oath over and over again until Nobuo was satisfied. "Happy now? I won't be doing anything stupid...or stupider than usual. So let's get going before I collapse onto the ground from being so tired."

Later that day as the moon shined down on the peaceful village of Konoha I stood nervously in the Hokage's office. How long have I stood here waiting for her to be cleared from the hospital? Five minutes or maybe ten minutes? I groaned in boredom. There was no one else present in the room though I knew Anbu men were stationed right outside the door and windows. They were starting to get on my nerves. Apparently this little chat will not be as private as I demanded it to be. The clock on the wall read 11:42. Another groan made its way out of my mouth.

When I thought that I would spend another agonizing minute waiting the door swung open. Tsunade wore her usual green coat with a regal sort of air around her. She made eye contact with me before assuming her position behind her desk. Leaning back with hands folded and propped up on the desk top she raised an eyebrow. That was my cue, I guess.

"Before we start actually, can we please remove the Anbu forces? I don't want them listening or witnessing anything between us."

Tsunade stayed still for a moment, probably contemplating whether it would be a good move or not, but with a snap of her fingers the presences disappeared, unwillingly. "There, now we really are alone. So please, Uzukage-sama, tell me. Who are you?" The last three words were a hiss. Someone was still a little testy.

I smiled though she probably couldn't tell. "As always you really like to get straight to the point." When it seemed like her mood would not change, I cleared my throat. "Well... What I am about to show you must stay a secret. Think of it as part of the alliance deal. No one else is to hear about this, unless I allow it."

"Alright."

Gulping, I slowly lifted my hand to the fox mask. Removing it carefully the first thing I revealed was my mouth that had a nervous smile on it. Next were the cheeks and once I showed those, a gasp is what I heard from the old woman. Her hands covered her mouth to keep a scream from escaping. Knowing that if I stopped here she would kill me I continued. The only thing left was my eyes and hair, which I kept hidden under a black headband. When I finished removing everything I felt exposed as if the elements would kill me easily. "Hi...Tsunade-baa-chan."

She didn't move, didn't even make anymore sounds though she was still breathing. Her hands still covered her mouth but when I looked into those eyes, I saw two emotions- happiness and anger. Still she continued to stay silent but never looking away from my face with those eyes burning holes into me. But when words finally formed on her lips they were, "Why?" It wasn't the same why as Nobuo, the word seemed to be more vicious like a wild animal being held back by a single chain.

"Why what?" I was afraid of the answer, afraid of what it meant.

"Why did you do it?"

A nerve twinged and I felt the corner of my left eye twitch. "I didn't do anything." I replied, a little harshly. My mood had taken a full 180 turn. I no longer was happy and nervous, no, I was annoyed and angered. "How could you think I would do something like that?"

Tsunade closed her eyes and turned her head away from me. I felt dejected. Had she just rejected me? Had she just rejected the mere idea that I am innocent, that what had happened a year ago was not my doing but that of the Black Phoenix organization? She didn't turn back, only kept looking at the wall next to her as if trying to imagine the old me... The naive me... The weak me.

Tears stung my eyes but I refused to show them. My fists were clenched tightly to the point that I could feel my nails draw blood. "You don't believe me, do you?"

"No." She whispered and then her voice cracked saying, "You are a traitor."

"How dare you? I am not a traitor. I am innocent. I did nothing wrong but I was accused on insufficient pieces of evidence. There are plenty of shinobi out there that could use a jutsu to look and sound like me." I pointed a shaking finger out the window. "I didn't get a fair trial, no one listened to what I had to say. No matter how much I yelled, thrashed around, I was found guilty. They were going to condemn me to death but not without telling this whole village what I had not done." My face was red and I was huffing.

"Why should I believe you? I was there." Her dark eyes finally turned back to me. "I was the victim, you showed up in my office with a team of rogue shinobi. You attacked Shizune and I. You were the one that injured her, nearly killed her at that, then did the same to me. Shizune was out for a good month before she could even function normally. I was in a coma for a good year. Don't think I don't remember everything because I sure as hell do."

There was no yelling between us, just an intense conversation that barely went above a talking volume. "You've known me long enough, Tsunade-baa-"

"Don't call me that."

"Fine, you've known me long enough Hokage-sama," I emphasized the word, "To know that I would never do something like that. I considered you family so why would I hurt someone that I valued so much... How can you?"

"Monster." That one word ended it all.

I breathed in heavily trying to calm myself before something bad happened. "So that's it, that's the reason." I made my way to the door. "You're no worse than the rest of this god damn village. Consider the alliance deal off because I don't help or protect hypocrites or their village."

"Don't you dare walk out of this room Naruto." When she said my name I froze. "You will not threaten me with the treaty made between our two villages. That is the only thing keeping us from going to war with you. So stop being a child and act like a leader."

Twisting my head around I glared at her. "I am the one being a child? How dare you accuse me of doing something like that. Have you heard anything coming out of your mouth or even thought about it? Because I can tell you this, the only one being anything like a child is you." I jabbed a finger at her direction. "I am being realistic of all of this. No kage would want a treaty if it means being characterized by something they had no control over and for me, that's the Kyuubi. So don't think for one second that you are being the adult around here."

We both crossed our arms in defiance.

"We are not breaking this alliance."

"Why shouldn't I? Give me one good reason, a legitimate reason, for keeping this from turning into a blood bath?" I inquired.

"This is your home Naruto. I know that despite everything you have done so far you would never do anything to harm the people here." There was confidence in her tone that irritated me. Why was she so sure of herself that my feelings for this village are still the same after just a short but eventful year? Uzushiogakure will be more of a home than this place would ever be in a million life times. "And I know that even the acts in the not so distant past will one day be forgiven."

My eye twitched again. Raising my hands up in exasperation I finally gave up. "No, you know what. I would rather gouge out my own eyes and be set on fire than save this village."

Tsunade gasped at the comment.

"Uzushiogakure officially has nothing to do with Konohagakure. Any relations that we have now are worth nothing in our eyes. And if you want to go to war," I leaned in close, "Then war is exactly what you'll get because we aren't going to deal with any of your bull shit." Then I walked out the door, closing it with a quiet click. I could hear my name being screamed out but I paid no attention, as if I were anybody but myself.

POV Tsunade

I slumped back into my chair still repeating what had just happened into my head. Naruto... Of all the people it was him... Nothing stuck to my brain as I got up and paced the room. Not only had the alliance fallen into nothing but so had whatever thin string that connected Naruto and I together. The word I had called him kept bouncing off the inside of my head.

'Monster, Monster, Monster'

What had pushed me to utter out that one word that I knew would end it all? Had there been some sort of undetectable damage to my brain caused my thinking to swerve out of control? I looked out through the window at the sleeping village and leaned my forehead forward onto the cold glass. "What have I done?"

A knock brought me out of my dark thoughts. Shizune walked in with some warm tea looking a little apprehensive of asking what had happened behind the closed door. She set the tray down onto my table and stood back for a bit hands folded in front of her as she looked straight at me. I still remember the first day I had met the girl and of the days following that when I trained her to the best of my abilities. Every day had been a precious gift that helped to alleviate some of the sadness still clouding my present from the past. "Tsunade-sama... I know this may seem rude to ask but why did Naruto leave here in such a hurry?"

"He and I didn't exactly... see eye to eye, that's all I can tell you about it."

"I understand." Shizune pressed no harder for details knowing that I would not reveal anything. "Will you be having your tea now then? It is getting late and you have worked hard today, taking a break wouldn't be so bad."

We smiled at each other. "Thank you Shizune, you always know the right thing to do in these sort of situations." The rest of the night we sat together reminiscing about the past, of our adventures and occasional run ins with some very bitter men who had something against me. Every story we told made us fall into fits of laughter and that was how it went until there was no sound but our voices. It was as if the world had fallen asleep along with the rest of its inhabitants.

When the time came to go our separate ways home I couldn't help but look up at the waning moon. Perhaps tomorrow will be a better day, just maybe there will come some good out of this whole mess that I had helped to create. My footsteps were carried away by the gentle wind as I made my way home to a bed that would offer comfort, if only for those few hours of sleep.

Konoha the next morning, was alive with gossip that streamed through the streets and into homes. Whispers met with whispers at every corner and doorway. The Uzukage had arrived late yesterday evening with the bodies of the leaf shinobis who had been sent to establish a "peaceful" agreement between the two villages. Of course no one except those of S-class knowledge knew the real reason. No one suspected that those select ninja were meant to be sent to create a massacre among innocent lives. No one suspected that it was a mere dozen or so Uzu ninjas who had defeated over fifty highly skilled leaf shinobi. Who could reveal such embarrassing information to the mass public who hailed their ninjas to be powerful enough to deal with such a young and weak village? Those who had partaken in the mission were to stay hospitalized for a minimum of two weeks while others who suffered more serious damage, such as Kakashi Hatake, were to be on bed rest for a good month.

That same morning Tsunade had marched straight into the council room and marched right up to the two elders who sat impassively. There were no words exchanged between the three but eye contact stated everything. Not only had the two done something extremely dangerous, they had also started a near war with a country still full of deadly secrets. Worst part was that the Hokage could not tell anyone of the Uzukage's identity without risking the alliance, or whatever was left of it to salvage. The three continued their silent bickering while the rest of the world went on peacefully.

Naruto had gone to Ichirakus to eat some bowls of their delicious ramen. This had been one part of his life in Konoha that he missed, the savory smell and taste of miso ramen had him drooling even before taking a seat. When Ayame walked up to him with a smile she nearly gasped at seeing that he wore a fox mask. That had been the same reaction that every other villager here had given the blonde who just sat there waiting to have his order taken.

"Wh...What can I get you, Uzukage-sama?" The ramen girl already heard the stories of the visiting kage earlier saying that he wore a white fox mask. Many considered that to be an omen that would ultimately give the village more trouble.

Showing two fingers he answered, "Two of your finest miso ramens, please." Naruto knew that despite how rude the reaction to his appearance was to him it was understandable at a tolerable level but that didn't mean his eye did not twitch a little. "I've heard around here that your father makes the best ramen in the country." He tried to make idle chit chat as Ayame informed her father of the order.

"Yes, we do." Her short reply did nothing to alleviate the awkward atmosphere but made it worse in comparison. "If...If you'll excuse me then, Uzukage-sama. I have to make a delivery. Thank you for choosing to dine here." She gave a bow before practically running out of the store with a large box wrapped in a white cloth in her left hand.

There was a deep throated laugh as Teuchi appeared with two steaming hot bowls of miso ramen. "Sorry about that girl, she is just a little jumpy this morning from all the rumors flying around here about you." Setting the white bowls down in front of Naruto the old man gave him the eye smile. "Majority of the folks around here don't have a real fondness of that fox mask you're wearing, brings back some dark memories that most of them don't really want to remember, makes this town just a little too gloomy."

Naruto chuckled. "The fox mask is the only issue then?"

Teuchi could see where the stranger was going at. "No, I guess the mask isn't the only thing they're trying to deal with." The old man leaned down on the counter as Naruto started to slurp the noodles and chug down the soup. "Another reason is that you supposedly brought back the bodies of our shinobi, dead and bloody, nearly unrecognizable." When he saw that Naruto made no budge at being surprised or anything he said, "There are a lot of people around here that want you dead though they can't do anything about it unless they want to die themselves."

"Do you think I killed your shinobi?"

"No," Dark eyes studied the mask and tried to imagine the face behind it. "I think you didn't do anything of the sort. You seem like someone that wouldn't do something cruel like that, especially to be the one to personally deliver them in that state."

"Thank you. I appreciate the fact that there's at least one person here that isn't about to right out judge me for something someone else overheard." Setting the last empty white bowl down on the counter, Naruto felt satisfied and full. "But I'm guessing you want some of those unanswered questions to be answered now, by me, the person who stands at the center of that tornado of mutating gossip?"

"If you want to."

Naruto knew the old man wouldn't want to press for information if the blonde didn't want to. That was one of the things that Naruto liked about Teuchi; a man that doesn't try to dig the facts out without the other party doing it willingly. "Alright, I'll tell you. First, I did bring back those shinobi who came to my village but none of them are dead, I made sure of that myself. Secondly, I would never kill a shinobi unless fully provoked and those men and women were only under orders from two people that didn't know what to think of us. And lastly, your ramen may be the most delicious of its kind in this whole world." The two laughed at the last statement. "Well, I better get going now, thanks for the food, Teuchi-oji san."

When the Uzukage left the shop, Teuchi turned around with the two empty bowls to wash when a sense of nostalgia hit him. "Teuchi...oji-san?" Whipping around he tried to catch the stranger before he left but was only left to look at the empty seat and entrance of his quiet little shop. Shaking his head to take the thought out of his mind, "Teuchi, you're getting real old to think something like that. Naruto's been gone for over a year, he wouldn't be foolish enough to try and come back here after what happened." But there was still that nagging feeling in the back of his mind that seemed to contradict the theory. "Where's Ayame? We have another delivery to make."

Passing by the old training ground Naruto couldn't help but stop and reminisce over the past. He knew that he could never fully sever ties with the village that had been his home for most of his life thus far and fighting what had happened before would only prove to be a fight he could never win. The familiar smells and sights pulled at old strings in the young man's heart. "It's been a while, huh?"

"Getting sentimental on me?"

A kunai landed at the blonde's feet with a white tag. There was a nearly silent sizzle before an explosion was set off.