D1: this is the longest chapter I've EVER written, but I though I'd do something massive for the last chapter. I never expected the last chapter to end up double my normal chapter length.

D1: cookies for anyone who spots the double meaning of the chapter title.

Chapter 13 – Snake eyes

Muffled sounds were the first to breach the darkness surrounding the blonde fox-vessel. To Naruto, it sounded like he had his head underwater while everyone else was on the shore. Next came the unwelcome sense of pain throughout his body, fire though his veins and ice covering his skin. It felt like an eternity before the pain ebbed away, leaving a pleasant numbness in its place. Naruto's senses managed to penetrate the dark wall around him, telling him that someone was holding onto his hand. Another eternity passed before the noises around him became clear enough to hear snatches of individual voices.

"…only Naruto…dense enough…"

Sasuke?

"…number one knuckle head…"

Kakashi?

"…troublesome…"

Shikamaru without question.

Naruto felt the hand grasping his tighten his grip and fought to return the squeeze but failed. The sounds from the outside world gave him some idea of day and night but the hand never left his.

Eventually the cycle of night and day managed to pierce the void, the world becoming a repeating series of light and shadow. His eyes seemed to be glued shut but he managed to force them open just enough to see though the cage of his eyelashes. The world seemed to be out of focus to Naruto as he caught glimpses of the outside world, guessing who the blurs were from their voices. As with the sounds, the images sharpened and blob-like silhouettes became people shaped silhouettes. Naruto managed to turn his eyes, staring though his eyelashes at the figure sitting at his bedside. He knew it was Hinata, even without seeing her face.

Naruto's first contact with the world was a groan. His limited field of vision was instantly obscured by the silhouettes of anyone in earshot. Naruto felt his eyelid pulled back and a bright light was shone into his eye, prompting another groan.

"Welcome back to the land of the living," Tsunade told him as she helped him sit up.

"How do you feel?" Hinata asked.

"Like Akamaru's chew toy," Naruto replied.

Tsunade started checking Naruto's vitals as the others continued talking.

"Any idea what happened to me?"

Sakura's face hardened, "Danzo used a rare plant to poison you."

"I'm going to flatten him," Naruto growled.

"You're a little late for that," Sakura told him, "Tsunade and Sasuke got there first."

"What did you do to Danzo?" Naruto asked then wished he hadn't as Sasuke and Tsunade's faces morphed into sinister grins.

"Tsunade beat the hell out of him…" Sasuke said.

"…followed by three days of torture by Sasuke," Tsunade added, "which left him somewhat mentally handicapped."

"In the end we made him stand and told him to start walking until his feet bled, then keep walking."

Naruto failed to suppress a shudder.

"I dare say he'll turn up somewhere…eventually," Tsunade said evilly.

Tsunade and Sasuke's expressions went back to normal and the air in the tent lightened.

"But here's something that you'll find interesting," Sasuke said, "your banishment in null and void."

Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"Turns out that Danzo either blackmailed or threatened most of the council members to get them to vote for your banishment."

"Why am I not surprised?" Naruto growled, "If he ever reappears again, I'll set the fox on him."

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Tsunade finished checking Naruto over before making him lie down in the bed again. He tried to protest but Tsunade wasn't having any of it.

"Naruto, your body is still recovering. That poison is a death sentence under normal situations so just relax and let yourself recover."

"I feel fine," Naruto insisted, trying to get out of bed again.

"You may feel fine but your circulatory system is still weak and if you push yourself you will start to bleed again."

"But you know I heal…"

"I don't want to hear it, you'll be up and around in two days at the most. Now lie down before I tie you to the bed."

Naruto reluctantly lay back in the bed, staring up at the canvas ceiling.

"Don't blame me if I go mad from boredom," he muttered as Tsunade started tending to the other patients.

Naruto managed to lie still, staring at the ceiling or dozing for almost an hour before he had a much welcomed distraction.

The tent flap was pushed aside and Himeka appeared, Hinata following close behind carrying a tray with three cups and a small teapot. Naruto raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Seeing as you were unable to come to me, I decided to bring the tea here," Himeka smiled as she sat down next to Naruto's bed.

Hinata served the tea, first to her grandmother then to Naruto. Naruto raised an eyebrow again as he looked at the tea in his cup. It was a pale green with strange things floating near the surface.

"That is a medicinal tea that'll do you the world of good. The recipe has been handed down through the Hyuuga clan from the time of my grandmother," Himeka told him as she watched his face.

Naruto took one sip and choked.

"It is a bit on the bitter side," Himeka agreed.

Naruto reluctantly took another sip and pulled a face making Hinata giggle into her own cup.

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No less that a day later Naruto was back on his feet. He leaned on Hinata's shoulder as he made his way to the Hokage's tent. The blonde wasn't sure what had happened during his loss of consciousness but Shikamaru had called an urgent meeting to discuss tactics for the coming battle with Orochimaru.

As the last ninja squeezed into the Hokage's tent, a deathly silence fell as the crowd waited for Shikamaru to tell them why he'd assembled them.

"I think I've figured out why Orochimaru's attacks are becoming more frantic," Shikamaru told the hushed tent, "if you check the timeframe, he should be ready to switch bodies about now."

"How can you be sure he hasn't already switched bodies?" Sakura asked.

"The way I see it, Orochimaru is still fixated on Sasuke's body as a replacement," Shikamaru replied.

"That's an unpleasant though," Sasuke muttered.

"But I've been thinking, Orochimaru is too powerful for anyone to defeat, even Tsunade and Jiraiya together couldn't beat him," Shikamaru said.

"So we should just give up and run," Sasuke spat.

"Listen to what I'm saying," Shikamaru retorted, "he's to powerful for any one to defeat."

Shikamaru's emphasis on the word one wasn't missed by any of his audience.

Tsunade was the first to realise what he was saying.

"A tag-team assault?" she asked.

"Right," Shikamaru confirmed, "two paired ninja attack then retreat to recover as another two take their place. Let one team recover while Orochimaru is busy with another, maintaining an almost constant full, strength attack."

"But what if he switches bodies," Naruto objected.

"I have a plan for that outcome as well," Shikamaru smirked.

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The cashing of trees was the fist warning of something heading towards the hidden leaf. The village wall shook and trebled as a massive tail slammed into it. Stone cracked and sections fell as Manda rose over the wall, Orochimaru and Kabuto perched on his head. The giant snake's tail lashed out again, shattering another part of the wall. Manda slithered through the hole in the wall only to be met with a barrage of fireballs. The flame assault didn't hurt the summoned creature, but did surprise him. Manda reared up, tossing his head from side to side. Orochimaru managed to keep his footing but Kabuto was thrown into space. He landed on the remains of a building before rocketing away from the summoned snake. Kabuto's retreat didn't go unnoticed by Naruto, who gave chase. As Naruto flickered away, Sasuke slowly marched towards the snake, eyes becoming red and black.

"Foolish boy," Orochimaru muttered, sending a swarm of snakes at him.

Sasuke glared at the approaching reptiles but refused to move. There was a sickening crunch as the wave of snakes slammed into something invisible between them and Sasuke. Sasuke's hands blurred as he made a set of well-known signs.

"Fire style: Fireball jutsu!"

Sasuke let fly an enormous fireball that swallowed the still stunned snake wave. The snakes were incinerated in seconds by Sasuke's fireball causing Orochimaru to growl. As the smoke cleared, the air in front of Sasuke rippled and a large circular shield appeared. A skeletal arm appeared behind the shield growing upwards until a shoulder appeared. A ribcage appeared above Sasuke's head and more astral bones growing out from it. Muscles and skin appeared over the skeleton then clothes and armour, completing the titan of Susano. Manda lunged again only to be caught by Susano. Susano was about to throw the snake away when Manda's tail wrapped around Susano, attempting to crush the life from the giant.

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Naruto launched himself at Kabuto, planting both feet in his back. Kabuto stumbled forward only to be knocked backwards again by Naruto's foot colliding with his face. Naruto backed away from Kabuto as he tried to stop the blood flowing from his nose. Kabuto's chakra flowed out and covered his hand, forming his usual chakra scalpel.

"I can do that too," Naruto grunted, chakra blades appearing at his hands.

Both Shinobi stood facing each other, neither moving for what seemed an eternity. Naruto moved first, launching a chakra shockwave at Kabuto. He dodged the blast and charged at Naruto. Naruto ducked low and kicked Kabuto in the chin before he flickered. Kabuto aimed a swipe at Naruto as he appeared beside him and slashed his arm but only his sand. Naruto materialised again, catching a cloud of sand with his foot and kicking it into Kabuto's face. Kabuto's glasses kept the sand from his eyes but he still couldn't see Naruto lunging at him, blades first. Kabuto managed to block the first blade with his scalpel but the other cut deep into his forearm. He managed to dislodge Naruto and retreat into a thick patch of forest.

"I haven't forgotten about your regeneration ability," Naruto called as he ricocheted off a tree, creating a Rasengan in his hand.

Naruto tore through the bushes, reducing them to shreds until he found Kabuto. Naruto landed a kick in Kabuto's chest before backing away and forming another Rasengan in his other hand. Kabuto's arm recovered a second before Naruto charged and he recreated his chakra scalpels. Naruto just managed to dodge the first chakra scalpel, the second cut into his arm but it was too late to stop Naruto slamming the Rasengan into Kabuto.

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Susano struggled against the snake's grip as Manda bared his fangs. Susano managed to get its arm free and grabbed Manda's head in a vice-like grip. The graple was brief and both titans broke away. Susano ducked out of the path of Manda's next lunge, one hand catching the snake's lower jaw as the summoned creature passed but did nothing to stop the summoned creature. There was a split-second where both giants stood with their backs to each other, then Manda howled in agony. Susano dropped Manda's severed jaw to the ground with a crash as it turned around to see the now writhing Manda.

"Time to finish this," Sasuke muttered, eyes blazing crimson.

Susano launched itself at the still writhing snake and brought both fists down on Manda's head, slamming him into the ground. Sasuke's eyes glinted as he made Susano draw its leg back then kick Manda into the cliff face behind Konoha. As the snake rose up again, blood pouring from its ruined mouth, Susano uncorked the sake bottle at its elbow. The astral titan swept his arm in a wide arc, forming the Sakenagi Longsword. Manda lashed out with his tail, only to have it pinned to the ground. Without missing a beat, Susano pulled the blade from the ground and rammed it upwards through the snake's head. Manda's eyes still showed absolute contempt for his enemy even after they dulled and the summoned creature crashed to the ground. Susano's sword retreated back into its gourd as the titan started to fade. First armour and skin, then the muscles and finally the bones of Susano faded away. Sasuke's eyes changed with the fading giant. Mangekyou Sharingan changed back to a normal Sharingan then back to onyx.

Sasuke's ears pricked and he reacted before he could think, just managing to dodge a swing of Orochimaru's sword. Sasuke launched himself backwards, away from the snake as he placed two fingers into his mouth and let out a short high whistle followed by a longer one. The whistle echoed around the village, over the battle. Sasuke landed away from the snake ready to fight as Orochimaru grinned sinisterly.

"Now Sasuke, I'll take what should have been mine a long time ago," he hissed.

"Over my dead body," Sasuke growled.

"I do hope we can avoid that,"

Sasuke's ears pricked again and he smirked as Neji and Hinata appeared. Sasuke charged a Chidori in his hand and charged at Orochimaru. Sasuke ducked the first swipe of Orochimaru's sword but was caught off guard by a large snake appearing from the sanin's sleeve. As the snake wrapped itself around Sasuke's neck and his Chidori faded, Orochimaru leaned in close to Sasuke.

"I'm disappointed, Sasuke," the snake hissed as Sasuke choked, "I thought you were better than this."

Sasuke clawed at his thought, gasping for air.

"Now to take your body."

Orochimaru's grin became a frown as he felt something wasn't right. Sasuke's eyes met Orochimaru's and he smirked before exploding in a cloud of thick white smoke.

"Damn shadow clones!" Orochimaru roared.

Hinata appeared through the smoke in front of Orochimaru as Neji circled around behind him. Both Hyuuga's assumed the same stance of their clan.

"Eight Trigrams, one hundred twenty-eight palms," they versed, voices in complete unison.

Neji and Hinata hammered their finger tips into Orochimaru, each careful to hit the same chakra point as the other at the same time. All Orochimaru could do was endure as the Hyuuga taijutsu sealed his chakra pathways. Neji bounded around to stand next to Hinata and deliver their final blow. They both planted their open palms in the middle of Orochimaru's chest, their chakra ripping through bone and muscle with ease. As Orochimaru stumbled backwards, Hinata and Neji parted, making way for the next wave Choji.

"Partial expansion Jutsu!" Choji yelled as made his now huge hand into a fist and slammed it down onto Orochimaru. Choji hammered his fists into Orochimaru, driving him into the ground, Orochimaru tried to block but the weight of Choji's hands alone was too great. Choji grabbed Orochimaru's leg and pulled him off his feet, swinging him around his head before throwing him into the air. Two green blurs launched themselves from the ground, rocketing towards Orochimaru. Lee and Gai rapidly kicked and punched Orochimaru in the distinct pattern of the reverse lotus but doubled. As Gai slammed his foot into Orochimaru, sending him flying towards the ground, Lee appeared to knock him back upwards. A spinning Gai finished their part by impacting, feet first, into Orochimaru and drilling him into the ground. The dust cleared as the snake forced himself to stand, just in time to see Tsunade and Sakura's fists heading for his face. Tsunade and Sakura's first punch landed in the centre of Orochimaru's face, followed by a flurry of blows to his chest and stomach. Both Kunoichi acted as a mirror image of the other, each hitting the same point on either side of Orochimaru's body. They took care to land their punches on vital points on the snake's body made sure each of their blows broke something. Their last blow was a double punch to the jaw, sending him staggering backwards. Orochimaru wobbled but didn't fall. He's vision focused again in time to see Sasuke and Kakashi charging at him, each with one hand shrouded in lightning. The snake screamed as they punched through his shoulders. Blood poured from the holes in Orochimaru's shoulders as Kakashi and Sasuke backed away. Jiraiya and Naruto, mimicking Kakashi and Sasuke's attack run, charged at the snake, but this time there was a spinning Rasengan in each of their palms. They rammed the spheres into Orochimaru's chest, there was a brief second where Orochimaru was pummelled by the pure chakra then sent crashing through several barely standing walls. Naruto flickered to a better vantage point, chakra blades ready as Gaara readied his sand to finish Orochimaru. But as the dust cleared, the snake-sanin was nowhere to be seen.

"Find him!" Tsunade ordered and the ninja scattered.

Naruto found a trail of blood on the ground and started off in hot pursuit but scowled as the blood drops vanished. Naruto looked around but couldn't see any sign of the snake. Naruto swore and flickered in a swirl of sand.

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Orochimaru stumbled away from the perusing ninja. The snake froze as a Shinobi appeared at the end of the street and caught sight of him. Orochimaru couldn't make out the face of the Shinobi but he appeared to be injured, then the snake saw the large circular glasses.

"Lord Orochimaru!" Kabuto yelled as he rushed to his master.

"Kabuto, your body…" the snake choked, spitting blood over the ground.

"Take my body lord Orochimaru!"

Orochimaru seemed to shed his skin, his body falling apart to reveal his true self. His face was the last to drop to the ground as the massive white snake lunged at Kabuto. The snake wrapped itself around Kabuto and sank its fangs into it's his neck. Kabuto opened his mouth in a silent scream as the snake sank into Kabuto's body. Kabuto threw his glasses away before covering his eyes with both hands. After a brief convulsion, he looked up with green slit-pupil eyes as he knelt down and picked up Orochimaru's face before pulling it across his own. Orochimaru flexed his fingers and rolled his shoulders before heading back towards the battlefield. Tsunade was still coordinating the search when she saw the snake sanin appear from the shadows. An Anbu squad materialised around Tsunade, each armed to the teeth. Orochimaru stood over his former arms and picked up his sword again. The Anbu charged at Orochimaru, but were cut down by a single sword swipe.

"Now where did we leave off?" the snake asked himself, "Oh, I remember."

Without waning Orochimaru lunged at Tsunade, sword held high. Tsunade made no move to dodged, just stared defiantly at Orochimaru. The snakes charge seemed to slow and his pace became uneven as he advanced on the Hokage. Orochimaru's legs gave way and he crashed to the ground, he tried to stand but fell back to the ground again. He looked down at his legs and his eyes went wide in shock as he saw dead tissue spreading up his legs. The snake snarled as he felt a burning pain spreading with the black shadow. The pain suddenly appeared in his hands, making Orochimaru shift his attention to them. He stared in horror as his hands blackened, becoming necrotic. The death spread up his arms bringing searing pain with it. The crowd of Konoha ninja surrounded Orochimaru as the snake fell to his knees, the flesh of his legs also rotting.

"What trickery is this?!" the snake demanded.

"Orochimaru, Kabuto has been dead for over an hour," Tsunade said, "we used the dead soul jutsu to move his body."

Orochimaru's eyes narrowed, he hissed and tried to hurl his sword at Tsunade but found he couldn't. The deathly shadow was still spreading up his legs and arms and the snake screamed as it reached his torso.

"Rot in hell," Jiraiya told his one time friend as the snake choked and spat blood across the ground.

Orochimaru let out a final blood curdling scream as death reached his neck. Even Orochimaru's voice seemed to die along with him as his eyes went dull and lifeless. There was a long second where Orochimaru's corpse knelt frozen; silently screaming at the sky before it fell forward, hitting the ground with a solid thump. Tsunade flipped the body over, seeing the twisted face of Orochimaru. She sighed as she turned away from the body, heading back to the Hokage tent.

"Its over," she breathed.

Tsunade froze as a choking sound filled the air and she turned. The still rotting corpse or Orochimaru twitched and rose to its feet with eyes blazing.

"I'll drag this whole village to hell with me!" he screamed.

Orochimaru body seemed to fall apart, revealing his snake self again. Orochimaru surged upwards, soon towering over the village. The snake froze before its skin split and the single head became two. The snake heads continued to spilt until eight heads loomed over the leaf and sand Shinobi.

"Oh shi…" Naruto started but was interrupted by a snake head slamming into the ground where he'd been standing a second ago.

"Retreat!" Tsunade screamed, "Get away from it!"

The Konoha and Suna Shinobi didn't need to be told twice, they wasted no time in running from the hydra monster, all except Naruto and Sasuke.

"Sasuke, we need a Sharingan trump card!" Naruto shouted at Sasuke as he flickered.

"I don't have the chakra!" Sasuke bellowed back, "how about you summon the boss toad."

"That thing won't let me stand still long enough to summon him," Naruto replied dodging another lunge of the hydra's heads.

Naruto launched a chakra shockwave at nearest snake head, smirking as it was severed. The head was already breaking apart before it hit the ground it as the stump writhed in pain. Naruto's smirk vanished as the wound closed up before another head burst forth to replace the severed one. The blonde flickered out of range of the snake heads, landing next to Sasuke.

"Any bright ideas?"

"Who do I look like? Shikamaru?" Sasuke replied.

"I thought you were supposed to be a genius!" Naruto yelled, ducking to avoid a wave of debris thrown by the hydra.

The building the two Shinobi were standing on was smashed by one of the hydra's tail and they rocketed away, trying to find another vantage point.

"Naruto, sever the heads, I'll seal the wounds with Amaterasu. That should at least buy us some time."

Naruto nodded before he and Sasuke took off as one. Naruto targeted the nearest head as they came in range, he and Sasuke split to dodge a lunging head. Naruto fired a shockwave and cut the head clean off. Sasuke's eyes locked on the neck and black flames surged, sealing the wound. Naruto moved onto the next head, Sasuke hot on his heels. Naruto dodged a tail swipe and cleaved another head. Sasuke fulfilled his part with another patch of black fire. The pair continued around the hydra, severing and sealing the heads until only one remained.

"Last one!" Naruto screamed as he landed on the last head and drove both chakra blades into the snake.

He forced his chakra through the snake then swung his arms, decapitating the snake. Sasuke coated the last stump in flames as Naruto leaped away and landed next to him. they looked at the writhing mass of necks and tails with grim expressions.

"It's still not dead," Naruto cursed

"Summon the toad," Sasuke told him, "we need more firepower."

Naruto nodded as he cut his thumb with his teeth.

"Summoning!" Naruto cried and he and Sasuke vanished in a cloud of white smoke.

As the smoke cleared, Sasuke realised they were standing on Gamabunta's head.

"Been a while brat," Gamabunta started but his voice faded as he saw the thrashing hydra.

"What the hell is that?"

"Long story for another time," Naruto told the toad, "right now we need to kill it."

"Ready when you are," Gamabunta replied, drawing his sword.

"Hang on," Naruto told Sasuke.

On of the burnt stumps stopped writhing and a new head burst forth, only to be severed again by Gamabunta's blade.

"This is pointless," Naruto yelled.

"We need to destroy this thing on one go!" Sasuke yelled back, burning another neck stump.

An idea popped into Naruto's head.

"Boss toad, stop this thing moving!

Gamabunta launched himself into the air, avoiding the writing mass of tails and necks before coming back down on the centre of the hydra and driving his sword through the core of the hydra, pinning it to the ground. Gamabunta leaped away again, landing out of the reach of the hydra monster.

"Boss toad, let's hit it with the oil! Try and make it a mist if you can!"

"I hope you've learned some fire techniques," Gamabunta replied, massing the requested oil in his throat pouch.

Naruto turned to Sasuke, "Ignite the oil and I'll fan the flames with this."

The blonde summoned a Rasengan laden with his wind chakra then slid down to Gamabunta's nose. Sasuke summoned the last of his chakra as he readied himself.

"Fire style: toad flame hurricane!"

Gamabunta let fly a heavy spray of oil as Sasuke followed with a jet of fire and Naruto hurled his Rasengan into the flames. The result was spectacular. The oil spray became a massive fireball that was whipped up into a tornado of white hot flame. The hydra was caught in the centre of firestorm and its screams could be heard over the roar of the flames. The hydra was incinerated in seconds and the raging winds of the firestorm scattered the ashes over the forest before dying away to noting, leaving only scorched ground.

"I think we went a bit overboard," Naruto muttered.

"Just a bit," Sasuke agreed.

A sudden realization hit Naruto and Sasuke like a ton of bricks each.

"Its over," Naruto whispered, "we've won."

The two ninja turned as a cheer filled the air. The leaf and Suna Shinobi were all standing on top of Konoha wall, cheering, applauding and jumping around. Naruto held out his fist to Sasuke, who responded by tapping his own against Naruto's. Naruto turned back to the other Shinobi and abandoned all dignity as he started dancing around as well.

"Idiot," Sasuke and Gamabunta groaned together.

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The morning sun bathed Konoha in a golden light as it peered over the top and through the cracks of Konoha's hastily rebuilt wall. It was just a temporary measure until there was more time for rebuilding. Naruto was with the remaining Suna ninja, preparing to leave the village when Shizune appeared.

"Tsunade wants to see you," she told him.

Naruto nodded and headed towards the Hokage's tent. He pushed the flap aside as he entered, meeting the stern gaze of Tsunade and Jiraiya.

"You're going back to Suna," Tsunade said, "even after the banishment order is gone."

"It's not as simple as you think," Naruto said, "Gaara, Temari and Kankuro are my family, they took me in when I had nowhere to go."

"We were your family before Suna," Jiraiya reminded Naruto.

"It's not like I'll be gone forever," Naruto objected, "I'll spend a few months in Suna then a few in Konoha and so on."

Tsunade sighed, "There's nothing we can say that'll change your mind."

Naruto shook his head.

"I belong to both villages," he said, tapping the Konoha headband around his arm then the Suna one around his forehead

Tsunade sighed again

"Well when you get back, you'll have a load of paperwork waiting for you, Rokudaime."

Naruto's jaw hit the floor with a loud thud.

"What?" he asked quietly.

"You heard me right brat, you are going to be the Rokudaime Hokage."

Naruto was too stunned to react for almost a minute. When he regained the function in his limbs, he grabbed Tsunade in a hug.

"What's that for?" she asked, "You've proven yourself more than capable of the role during the past months."

Naruto released Tsunade as a sudden thought struck him and his face fell, "if I'm Hokage, then I can't bounce between Suna and Konoha as I want to."

"I dare say I could be persuaded to look after things while you're gone," Tsunade said offhandedly.

Naruto's face brightened again and he grabbed Tsunade again.

"Alright, alright," Tsunade muttered, trying to brush Naruto off.

Naruto finally released Tsunade again and she stepped out of arms length.

"Now if we're done here, I need to arrange a few things before I go. Later Granny Tsunade, Pervy sage."

Naruto didn't wait for a reply before slipping out of the tent.

"What does he mean, 'arrange a few things'?" Tsunade asked as she looked at Jiraiya?

"Don't look at me," Jiraiya replied.

Tsunade rubbed the bridge of her nose, "why do I suddenly feel a headache coming on?"

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Naruto looked back over his shoulder at Konoha, the sounds of rebuilding works drifting around him. Temari and Kankuro were sitting against a pile of rubble while Gaara stood beside Naruto. Naruto looked around at the sound of footsteps. Sasuke and Sakura, each with a packed rucksack on their back, approached.

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "and what are you planning?"

"There's nothing left in this village except bad memories. I figure I'll start over somewhere new." Sasuke told him, "and Suna seems as good a place as any."

Naruto looked to Sakura.

"Knowing you, you'll end up half dead and needing someone to patch you up," Sakura told him, "and who better than me."

"Mind if they tag along?" Naruto asked Gaara, who shrugged.

"Their choice."

"We're going to need a bigger tower," Temari muttered.

"Shall we get going?" Sasuke asked, moving towards the gates.

"We're still waiting for one more person."

As Naruto finished speaking he looked around again saw Hinata and Himeka walking towards them. Hinata took hold of Naruto's arm as the pair reached him.

"What took so long?" he asked.

"We had to wait until Hiashi was distracted," Himeka told him, "now you look after my granddaughter Naruto."

"Don't worry," Naruto reassured her, "I'll take good care of her."

All heads turned as an angry shout filled the air.

"Hinata!" Hiashi roared as he came into view, looking extremely angry with other Hyuuga Shinobi on his tail.

Naruto paled, "I think we'd best be making tracks," he muttered before he and Hinata vanished in a swirl of sand.

"Wait for us!" Temari called and also vanished, followed by Gaara, Kankuro, Sakura and Sasuke.

"Hinata!" Hiashi yelled into the morning, but she was already way out of earshot.

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D1: Now go directly to the epilogue, I'll see you there.