Hey all readers! I'm ready to start day 4. This chapter is more plot again. Sorry that the plot is taking a lot of room but I want it to unfold nice and slowly. I don't want to rush. I found a story disturbingly similar to mine. It's pretty good but hard to read. It's called The Rise of the New Whirlpool: Ascension. Anyways, on to day 4!

Somewhere

Naruto opened his eyes and looked around. He jumped up and reached for a kunai, but it wasn't there. He was in an unfamiliar room. The walls were waving back and forth. It looked like the walls were waves of an ocean, but everything was blurred. He took a few steps and found that he could keep his balance. "Is anyone there?" Naruto asked as he cautiously walked forward. *Am I under a genjutsu?*

Naruto shook his head. "No, this must be a dream. I've never heard of a genjutsu that can do this." Naruto walked around and the room started to become clearer. He was in the Uchiha Hideout, in the main room. Naruto's eyes grew big as he saw someone in the hideout. He looked like Itachi! But this Itachi was wearing an Akatsuki cloak. Naruto tried to say something, but no words came out.

All he was able to do was watch. Itachi had Naruto's blood scroll in his hand. He laid it on the floor and took out a smalled scroll. Itachi made a few handsigns and placed one hand on the small scroll and one on the big scroll. The small scroll disappeared. *I think I'm watching the past. Itachi just put his instructions inside my scroll. But why is he wearing that cloak? I thought he refused the Akatsuki's offer.* Naruto waited to see what else Itachi would do.

Itachi took off the cloak and set it on the great obsidian chair. He then removed the picture that was on the wall to reveal a secret storage hole. Itachi then put the cloak into the hole and replaced the picture. *There is no way…It must be my mind playing tricks on me." Naruto wanted to see more but everything started to get blurry again and he fainted.

Uchiha Hideout.

Naruto rolled out of bed, but instead of going to the kitchen as he usually does, he walked over to the great obsidian chair in the main hall. *I had a dream about this chair.* Naruto looked all around it and noticed a picture on the wall behind the chair. It was just low enough that he could touch the bottom of it.

He lifted the picture and it almost fell to the ground. He caught it and leaned it against the wall. Naruto looked up and stumbled backwards. His back hit the chair as his eyes widened. Inside the little hole behind the picture, was an Akatsuki cloak.

Naruto was speechless. *Why is an Akatsuki cloak behind this picture?Why does it look like it would fit Itachi-sensei?* His head was being flooded by questions but Naruto stayed calm and thought for a few minutes. *There is no reason to panic. All I know is that this cloak was hidden in the hideout. I don't know when or why.* Naruto took a deep breath and lifted the picture. He put it back to cover the cloak that he had found.

"Now I remember." Naruto said to himself. "In my dream, Itachi-sensei put that cloak there. But why did he have it?" Naruto was fighting emotions inside of him when he heard a voice. "Naruto, it's good to see that you are up already." Naruto turned around to see Shino, who was helping himself to some fruit. "Oh, Shino." Naruto laughed nervously. "I forgot you were staying here." Shino shook his head. "Honestly Naruto, I think that you would forget your head if it wasn't attached." Both Naruto and Shino laughed.

Now that Naruto thought about it, Shino had been his best friend for as long as he can remember. Even back in the academy he could remember Shino being one of the few that didn't fear him or hate him. Naruto smiled. "I'm glad you decided to stick with me Shino. You didn't have to."

Shino smiled tilted his head to both sides, popping his neck. "Yeah well, someone has got to look out for you." Naruto laughed. Shino was not the same boy that Naruto met a few years ago. He no longer kept to himself. He was happier, more outgoing. Naruto liked that. "Shino, I found something behind that picture on the wall."

Shino looked up at the picture. "What did you find?" Naruto didn't hesitate. "I found an Akatsuki cloak." Shino was stunned. He took a minute to find what he wanted to say. "Who's do you think it is?" Naruto shrugged. "The only person it could belong to is Itachi-sensei, but he turned down their offer a long time ago."

Shino nodded and stretched his limbs. "Do you think the cloak came with the offer?" Naruto stopped looking at the picture and got some fruit from the kitchen. "It's possible, but there's only one way to know for sure."

"Actually, there are two ways." Naruto and Shino both froze. To Naruto, it was an all too familiar voice. In one swift motion, he turned and brought out two kunai, one in each hand. Shino took the hint and had insects swarm his body. They hovered around him, waiting to strike. Naruto spoke first. "What do you want, Yugao?"

Hokage Mansion

The Third was sitting in his chair sorting through papers. He sighed and stood up to look out the window. There was a knock at the door. "Come in." The Hokage said. He heard pairs of footsteps enter the room and then he heard the door shut. He looked at his assistant. "Put a barrier around this room. I want it to be sound-proof and unpenetrable by both sight and sensory jutsus. Anything extra you can think of should be added as well."

His assistant nodded and quickly walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him. Within moments a sheet of what looked like blue glass covered the room. "I'm glad you could all make it." The Third turned around to see the ninja he invited to this conference. "I assure you, this meeting requires the utmost security and secrecy. Should anything discussed here leave this room before the proper time, the entire Hidden Leaf Village will suffer."

This caught everyone's attention. A few of them shifted uncomfortably. "You have our attention." Kakashi said as he spoke for everyone. The Hokage nodded. "Good, I assume you all know eachother, but just in case let us start with formal introductions. The Copy Ninja, Kakashi Hatake, son of the White Fang and leader of Team 7." Kakashi stepped forward.

"The Blue Beast of the Leaf ,Might Guy, a taijutsu expert and leader of Team Guy." Guy stepped forward with a serious look on his face. "My son, Asuma Sarutobi, leader of Team 10." Asuma stepped forward and took out a cigarrete, but he decided not to light it. "The genjutsu expert, Kurenai Yuuhi, leader of Team 8." Kurenai stepped forward. She knew what this meeting was about, and could not believe that the Third Hokage would take things this far. The Head of the Hyuuga Clan, Hiashi Hyuuga." Hiashi stepped forward and nodded. "Lastly, one of the legendary Sannin, Jiraiya, sensei of the Fourth Hokage." Jiraiya stepped forward. He seemed impatient but was curious about this meeting.

"I have called you all here to discuss the future of the Hidden Leaf. You are the top shinobi I trust and I am entrusting you with very sensative information. Understood?" All of them nodded and stood ready. "Excuse me Sarutobi-sensei, what exactly is this meeting about." Jiraiya spoke so casually that it put the others on edge. The Third ealked out from behind his desk and stood in front of the ninja he had gathered.

"It appears that the peace that lies within the Hidden Leaf will not last much longer. There is someone conspiring to take over as the new Hokage, and he is willing to use force." Kurenai frowned and Hiashi stepped forward. "Lord Hokage, what do you mean? Who would have motivation to overthrow you?"

Jiraiya knew where this was going. "It's Danzo isn't it?" All of the shinobi that gathered looked at him, with the exception of Kurenai. The Third nodded. "Yes, it seems that he has been planning for awhile now, hiding in shadows and waiting for the opportunity to strike." Kakashi spoke now. "Lord Hokage, are you sure of this? I find it hard to believe that the head of the orginazation created to protect the village would want to remove its leader."

"It's true." Everyone turned to Kurenai. "If you think about what has happened in the past few years, specifically when dealing with Naruto Uzumaki and Itachi Uchiha, then it is not hard to see that everything looks like it was setup to be this way." Asuma flipped the cigarrette from finger to finger. "Kurenai, can you please explain?"

Kurenai was getting ready to speak when the Hokage stopped her. "My actions leading up to this day are being questioned by the ANBU, and they have spread rumors to the rest of the village. They think I was too soft on Itachi because I didn't enlist a large force to capture him. They believe that I am no longer able to rule because they cannot see the reasons behind my actions. I let Itachi walk away after it was discovered that he had been training Naruto in secret. I didn't make any attempt to keep Naruto in the village and away from Itachi. I even pardoned Itachi for his involvement in the massacre, however that was directed towards him specifically, not those who were listening. All of my actions can be twisted to make me seem to be putting the village in danger"

"That is crazy!" Guy started. "You are the Third Hokage, you have been with this village longer than most of us have been allive. How can people believe that you are not fit to be the Hokage?" Hiashi interuppted. "Now hold on, let's here more about what happened with Itachi and Naruto. Why did you do what you did Lord Hokage?" The Third sighed and sat at his desk.

"The night of the Uchiha Massacre, Itachi Uchiha was under my orders." This shocked everyone except Jiraiya, who had already heard his share of this story. "What do you mean Lord Hokage? You ordered Itachi to kill his clan?!" Hiashi was in an uproar but was able to calm himself down so he could get an answer.

"I did not order the massacre. In fact, it was a simple recon mission. But I am still responsible for the lives lost that day. Itachi was to go with his partner and investegate the disappearence of the scroll that contained the secrets to the shadow clone jutsu. His partner was sick that day, so he decided to go alone. But he found something much worse. Upon entering the Uchiha compund, he discovered that his father was the one that stole the scroll. His plan was simple. He was going to kill his father and take the scroll back, that was, until he found out what the real plan was."

Kakashi couldn't believe what he was hearing. "What was the real plan?" Jiraiya walked forward and put his hand on the Third's shoulder. The Hokage had been holding on to this secret for as long as he could, and that was too long. "The plan," Jiraiya continued, "was to take over the Hidden Leaf Village. Itachi's father thought that the strongest clan in the village should rule. So he decided that only one thing was stronger than an Uchiha's eyes, and that was multiple sets of Uchiha eyes. The Uchiha clan only accounted for less than a sixth of the total population of the village. So he wanted to teach all of them shadow clone jutsu."

Hiashi interuppted. "How can that be? It is common knowledge that no one with doujutsu can learn the shadow clone technique because it will destroy their eyes. The Hyuuga clan tried that a decade ago." Jiraiya nodded. "That is true, once a ninja with a doujutsu such as the sharingan or the byakugan uses the shadow clone jutsu, their eyes are destroyed. However, Itachi's father discovered that the eyes can only be destroyed once. Knowing that, he decided to make an elite killing team. They were to kill Uchiha members in secret and steal their eyes. Once an Uchiha used the shadow clone technique, their eyes would be replaced by those of a fellow clan member. It was despicable."

Everyone in the room was silent. No one knew what to say, until Guy spoke. "So, the massacre of the Uchiha clan was actually a successful attempt to protect the village?" The Third nodded. "Well I'm not buying it." Everyone looked to Hiashi waiting for him to continue. "If Itachi was innocent of the crime, why didn't you defend him at the time it happened Lord Hokage?" Jiraiya moved towards Hiashi but the Hokage stopped him and shook his head.

"If you were in my place on that day Hiashi, what would you have said to the village? Would you tell them that Itachi Uchiha, who just killed his entire clan with the exception of his younger brother, is a good guy and saved the village? Would you say that he was under your orders when he murdered dozens of his own clansmen?" The Third started to get angry. "Would you say that their lives did not matter as long as you were safe?!"

Hiashi flinched as the Hokage stood up. He was regretting his words now. "What would you say, Hiashi Hyuuga?" Jiraiya could sense that the Hokage was on the edge of insanity and tried to calm him down, but the Hokage smacked his hand away. "What. Would. You. Say?" Hiashi was paralyzed. He didn't know. How could he know how hard it was to be Hokage during a disaster.

The Hokage took a deep breath and sat back down. "I don't know what I would do." Hiashi said, dissapointed in himself. The Third nodded and spoke with his normal voice again. "I did what I thought was right. Now, it is coming back to haunt me. All of our decisions will effect the future. I truly believe that I saved the Hidden Leaf from civil war that day."

The Hokage sighed. "But now, we are on the verge of an overthrow. Danzo will take my place as Hokage, forcefully if he has to." All of the shinobi were silent for awhile. It was the deathly silence that came before a storm. "However, we have hope." All of the ninja looked at him with wide eyes.

"Lady Kurenai has already heard this part, but I am entrusting you all with what I have to say. This plan of mine will keep the Hidden Leaf from civil war and stop the tyranny of Danzo. It involves a certain young boy who dreams of being Hokage. Naruto Uzumaki is our hope. If there is anyone in this room who would like to back out now, you are welcome to leave. We will think no less of you."

Everyone looked at eachother. Jiraiya stepped forward first. "I'm in no matter what. I will not see the village fall to ruin." Kurenai stepped forward next. "I have already agreed to do this, and I will happily stick with my decision." Asuma and Guy both stepped forward at the same time. "We are in." The Third nodded and started to smile as Kakashi stepped up. "If Naruto holds the fate of the village in his hands, I will gladly die to help him succeed."

Everyone looked towards Hiashi now. He hesitated and closed his eyes. When he opened them, he stepped forward. "I will protect Naruto. Not only because he must save the village, but also because he is precious to my daughter." The Third nodded and took out his pipe. "Good, now listen carefully as I can only saw this once."

Uchiha Hideout

Naruto and Shino were glaring at Yugao. Yugao put her hands up showing that she had no weapons. "I'm not here to fight Naruto. I'm just here to talk." Naruto kept his kunai out and ready. "Why don't I believe you?" Yugao then put her hands back to her sides and took out a kunai. She threw it to the ground in front of her. She did this with all of her weapons until the ground before her was littered with steel.

"There, I have no weapons left. You may kill me if you want, but please hear me out." Naruto hesitated and lowered his kunai, but kept them out. "You've got ten minutes, which is more time than I should give you." Yugao nodded and took off her mask. She was beautiful. Her hair hung loose around her face and her bangs were just low enough to touch the top of her eyes.

Naruto noticed that she was tense. Her muscles moved like they were rocks grinding against eachother. "Naruto, I have come to ask you a favor." Naruto stared at her and gripped his kunai a little tighter. "You ask a favor of a ninja whose sensei you hunted?" Naruto grunted in disgust.

Yugao didn't approach, nor did she fall to her knees. "Naruto, please save Itachi." Naruto was caught off guard and almost dropped his kunai. Shino let his insects fall to the floor and they scurried back into his coat. Naruto looked at her with a confused look. "You want me to save the man you captured?" Yugao looked down at the floor. "Please Naruto. He is very important to me. You have to understand that I was under orders."

Naruto turned around and walked towards the great obsidian chair. He sat in it for the first time and folded his hands in his lap, just like Itachi would. He felt a strange power coming from the chair, but he ignored it. "I will save Itachi-sensei." Yugao looked up with surprise. "But, you havn't convinced me to save him for you."

Yugao frowned and noticed how powerful this boy looked when sitting on a black throne. Even for a 13-year old, Naruto had an aura around him that suggested that he knew what he was doing, and that he could do it no matter who got in the way. "Naruto, I love Itachi Uchiha." Naruto flinched in his seat and had to struggle to keep his mouth closed. He had to look powerful right now, not weak.

Shino felt out of place. This wasn't his fight. Not unless Yugao attacked. Naruto sat still and thought about what Yugao could be planning. *What could she gain by lying to me? Is she telling the truth? Was she being manipulated, or was she the one pulling the strings here?* Naruto took a deap breath. "Yugao, why does Itachi mean so much to you?"

Yugao shifted uncomfortably. She had never had to explain her relationship with Itachi to anyone before. "He was one of my only friends in the ANBU. Itachi threw himself in the line of fire to save me multiple times. He wasn't like the other ANBU who cared only about following orders. He cared about his friends." Yugao started to tremble. She felt so vulnerable, and yet she was talking to a 13-year old boy about her relationships.

"Itachi went out of his way to protect me. Once I saw that, I approached him about it. Being protected annoyed me so much. I don't like relying on others to help me do something. And yet, when I told this to Itachi, he laughed. It wasn't mocking, and he wasn't laughing at me. He said: 'a true ninja relies on his teammates more than anything else. No matter what anyone else says, orders or not, your teammates should be more important to you than your life.' That's what he said to me that day."

Naruto trembled. *That sounds like Itachi alright.* He thought he saw a tear in Yugao's eye. "And yet, I can't follow his words. Danzo had all members of the Black Ops put under a seal when they took the oath. He started this on the same night that Itachi left. I didn't know where he went or what he did." Yugao started crying openly now. She couldn't hold them back anymore. Naruto was touched.

Yugao pulled herself together before continuing. "The seal does two things. It prevents members of the ANBU from speaking of any secrets of the organization to anyone except other members. The other thing it does is prevent us from acting against the will of the caster of the jutsu." Naruto clenched his fists. He had heard enough. "Yugao…" She looked up and stared at Naruto.

"I will rescue Itachi. But you have to promise me something." Yugao nodded. "I'll try." Naruto blinked and thought he noticed something. A scene played through his mind. *"Can you scan the wall of the barrier and isolate any points that look weaker Hinata?" Hinata nodded. "I'll try." She looked over the outside of the wall, but was having no luck. "I don't see anything that looks like a distortion in the chakra." Suddenly, Hinata felt something touch her hand. She looked over and saw that it was Naruto.*

Naruto blinked again. "What do I have to promise Naruto?" Yugao looked at him expectantly. Naruto shook his head. "Promise me that you will find a way to break the seal that Danzo has put on you." Yugao bowed. "Thank you, Naruto. I wish you luck." Naruto nodded and Yugao put back on her mask. She left the hideout and both Naruto and Shino could hear the boulder being moved back into place.

Naruto sighed. "What do you think Shino?" Shino shrugged. "I think you are helping fellow shinobi keep their loved one safe." Naruto nodded. "This chair, it makes me feel older, wiser, it helps me think clearly." Shino nodded. "I wonder what Itachi put in it. Normal obsidian would not have that effect. Maybe it is a type of jutsu."

Naruto hrugged. "It doesn't matter." He tried to stand up but as soon as he stopped touching the chair, he felt dizzy and fell back down. "Naruto!" Naruto waved his hand. "I'm fine. It seems as though this chair has strange powers inside of it. But like I said, we will have to worry about it later. I believe the next item on Itachi's list is to improve my shadow clone jutsu."

Shino nodded. "Naruto, it doesn't say to work on the shadow clone jutsu specifically. It just says 'clone'." Naruto nodded and was able to stand up this time. He stretched his legs and popped his neck. "I guess all we can do is look around for a clue. He must have left something here that would make it clearer." Shino nodded his head in agreement.

Shino and Naruto started walking around the hideout looking for a clue that would give away the meaning of the scroll. Naruto checked both his room and the weapon room but found nothing. Shino searched the kitchen and the chakra room. "Find anything Shino?" Shino shook his head. "Nothing, maybe he really did mean 'shadow clone jutsu'." Naruto shook his head. No, there has got to be another meaning. Can I see the scroll?"

Shino handed Naruto the scroll and Naruto looked at it closely. Naruto laughed. "I will never understand how Itachi-sensei comes up with these brilliant hiding places." Naruto pointed to the 'o' in the word 'clone'. "See that? That is a seal." Shino was unamused. "Seriously?" Naruto nodded and unsealed it with one finger. "He purposely made it so that it can only be unsealed with one finger. That sneaky bastard."

A scroll popped out of the scroll. It was written by Itachi.

Naruto,

I'm surprised you found this. Well, not really. I knew you would find it eventually. These are the instructions to the improved jutsu I want you to learn. You won't be able to perfect it right away, but once you reach a certain rank, this jutsu combination will be almost unblockable.

Itachi

Naruto nodded. "So he wants me to use shadow clones as well as shadow shurikens. I've already done that though. It's how I beat Sasuke in the finals." Shino sighed. "So do we just skip this step?" Naruto shook his head. "No, he wants me to learn something specific. Maybe Hinata can help." Shino agreed and they left the hideout to go find Hinata.

Hyuuga Mansion

Hinata was worried. She had not heard from Shino or Naruto and the day was half over. She sighed and walked into her back yard and looked around. She decided that his would be a good time to think over what would happen in the next few days. The plan was to break into the ANBU Headquarters through the passage by the Hokage Mountain.

There would be only two guards and as long as they were careful, they could sneak in. She would not be able to use her Byakugan because any sensory-type ninjas would find her very quickly. After wandering through the passage with the help of Shino's bugs, they would find the entrance. Hinata and Shino would stay behind to wait for Naruto's escape. Naruto will then go into the headquarters, find Itachi, and bring him back to where Hinata and Shino would be waiting,

Depending on Itachi's condition, they will either fight their way out of the village or sneak their way out. All of this would happen in less than three hours. That was the plan anyway. Hinata wasn't sure how well the plan would turn out, but she had to hope for the best. Hinata thought she heard something coming from the house.

She activated her Byakuga and scanned her house. "Naruto is here!" She frowned as she saw her dad talking to him at the front door. She deactivated her Byakugan and ran through the house. "Hello Mr. Hyuuga. Is Hinata home?' Hinata came around the corner as Naruto finished his sentence. "Hi Naruto." Hinata smiled and Naruto smiled back.

"Can Hinata come train with us for awhile?" Hiashi frowned and shook his head. "I'm sorry Naruto. Today is family day. Maybe tomorrow." Naruto frowned. "Can I ask her a question then?" Hiashi nodded and Naruto stepped inside. Shino decided to stay outside. It was his own choice, but he also knew that Hiashi would not approve of him going inside.

"Make it quick. We have things to do." Naruto noticed that Hiashi was being unusually pleasant, but he decided not to say anything. "I'm sorry, I didn't know that today was family day, Naruto. What is your question?" She smiled and Naruto started to feel dizzy. *Am I really getting lightheaded from talking to my girlfriend? We have been dating for almost a year.* Naruto brushed aside the thought.

"I was wondering if you could help me solve this puzzle. Itachi wants me to train my shadow clone jutsu and shadow shuriken jutsu at the same time. He said that I will get better at it once I reach a certain rank. Do you know what that means?" Hinata thought for a minute and shrugged. "Maybe by rank he means when you become a jounin."

Naruto shook his head. "No, he meant for me to be able to learn this by myself. I guess I'm not that smart though." Naruto laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head. Hinata caught him off guard by kissing him. It surprised him so much that he almost fell down. Hinata giggled. "You are smart Naruto. You just havn't reached his heights yet."

Something clicked in Naruto's head. "Heights…That's it Hinata! Thank you so much!" Naruto kissed her and ran out the door. She blushed and waved goodbye. Hiashi appeared from upstairs and looked toward his daughter, then at Naruto. *Maybe he does love her. But for now at least, she is my daughter first and your girlfriend second.* Hiashi smiled as Hinata shut the door.

Training Ground 4

Naruto and Shino ran out to the open area in the training ground. "Shino, I think I know what to do now. Can you create an insect clone?' Shino nodded and in seconds, an insect clone appeared before Naruto. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Fifty clones appeared around Naruto as he smirked. His clones surrounded the clone Shino and made a weird formation. His clones formed several circles around Shino. From the sky, Shino looked like the center of a target. A few clones jumped off of eachother and flew high into the air. The real Naruto run in and hit Shino with an uppercut, which threw him up into the air as well. As one machine, all of the clones of Naruto started jumping into the air until Shino was in a cloud of the clones. Each one threw a single shuriken. "Shadow Shuriken Jutsu!" As always, one shuriken multiplied several times until Shino was impaled from every direction.

The clones disappeared leaving only the real Naruto on the ground. Shino was still in the dome. Naruto took out a kunai with a paper bomb and threw it at the dome. "Secret Art: Dome of Spikes!" The Kunai exploded on impact, causing the ball to explode and send shrapnel everywhere. Naruto dodged and barely escaped his own jutsu. Shino also had to hide behind a tree to avoid being cut in half.

When it was done, the field was littled with steel. Shino shook his head. "You know it didn't have to be that flashy?" Naruto scratched the back of his head and laughed.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter. The jutsu at the end is a little flashy but I wanted to end this chapter with a bang. I have an ultimate jutsu in mind for Naruto. It is very unique and very powerful, but I can't say what it is without spoiling a few surprises. So I would like you guys to come up with some side-effects to an "Ultimate Jutsu" for Naruto so he isn't over-powered. Things like giving it a recharge time, maybe he can only use it at one time of the day, maybe it hurts him as well. Please be creative. Thank you for reading and please review!