Hey all! Welcome back to the next chapter of 'Immortalized'! Before I start off for the day, thanks to all you guys who not only read/review. I'm glad to know you all are enjoying the story so far and interested in the outcome. Also, the story has been added to its first Community! That's pretty fuckin' cool. Thanks, guys.


Chapter 11

Passing the Torch


"Boss! Can you play Ninja with me today?"

The small smiling form of Sarutobi Konohamaru, his eyes peeking out from under the goggles that adorned his forehead, the young boy nearly tripping on the absurdly long scarf that he insisted on wearing every day, no matter the weather, or the impracticality of such a long piece of fabric on such a small child. Naruto stopped in his tracks, looking over his shoulder slightly before turning around. He had been taking a small walk through the village, enjoying one of his few and far between off days that he had been granted since being promoted to Captain of the Seventh Division.

Letting a small smirk grace his lips as he walked up to his pseudo-younger brother, the blonde shinobi reached his hand out, ruffling the boys head and watching him scowl up at him as the chocolate haired child grabbed his hand and pushed it away, giggling in the process. "Sure Konohamaru. Now, what should be our mission for the day?" Naruto wondered aloud, before grinning down at the kid, before creating a clone, it seamlessly Henge-ing into an exact replica of the Sandaime Hokage, down to the white robes of office he wore, complete with the smoke billowing out from his signature pipe.

"Uzumaki Naruto! Sarutobi Konohamaru!" Both boys, now standing side by side quickly snapped to attention, saluting as they did so. "Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to recover the artifact of great power from the great Ninja, Hatake Kakashi! The artifact is the sacred book of Icha-Icha, and while it is powerful, it is abused in the hands of that man. Recover the artifact, and swiftly!" The 'Hokage' dispersed soon after, just after watching Naruto hoist the little Sarutobi onto his shoulders, channeling chakra to his legs and taking to the rooftops.

It didn't take the duo long to find the masked Jounin, who was happily walking along one of the many various side streets in the market district of Konoha. The two watched him as he walked along, giggling softly and flipping a page of his book every so often, before Naruto nodded to Konohamaru, both men sneaking down and stealthily as they could, before halting their advance, hiding behind a nearby wall.

As Kakashi turned the corner, he was caught completely unawares as he found himself face to face with a woman, and a very naked woman at that. Her long, blonde hair reaching down to just above her round and bouncing ass, her eyes, a deep midnight blue as she let out a soft giggle that passed between her soft lips, the action causing her toned stomach to contract slightly, raising her large and ample breasts with her laughter, the beautiful woman's hard and erect nipples wiggling ever so slightly. She raised an arm to cover her upper bodies modesty, and though she lowered her other hand to cover her glistening core, it wasn't before the perverted Jounin was able to sneak a peek at the prize between her legs, which he noted with absolute delight were not only long, but smooth. The woman's fragrance filled the air, and though it somehow seemed impossible, blood permeated from the last Hatake's mask, just about the spot where his nose would have been had he not covered his face.

Before the man could speak, or blubber as was his current case, there was a large blast of smoke before something that felt strangely like a foot impacted the man's chest, sending him crashing into the nearby building, not with enough force to break through it, but enough to stun him briefly, as a paper seal was placed on his head and he found himself unable to move. When the smoke cleared, he was aware of two things. The first was that Naruto was standing in front of him, grinning cheekily as he ruffled the head of Konohamaru, who was dancing around and holding something above his head. The second thing he noticed was that the two little shits standing in front of him had his beloved Icha-Icha!

The blonde Captain looked down at his younger charge, smiling at their success. Their plan had been perfectly executed, from their tracking of the Jounin to his distraction and Konohamaru's grabbing of the "Artifact". "Alright, listen. I slapped him with a paralyzing seal tag, and it only lasts five minutes. We've already used up two of those celebrating, so let's hurry and get you some inspiration for your Pervert-Ninjutsu!" The blonde grinned down at his pseudo-brother, and the two laughed together briefly as they skimmed through Kakashi's book, making mental notes here and there before they dropped it ungraciously on the ground, the scarf-clad boy climbing onto the blonde's shoulders before he vanished in a shunshin, just as the seal released and Kakashi leaped forward, a murderous look in his revealed eye.

But the two children were gone, and as he picked up his book and continued on his walk, Kakashi couldn't help but think that it was a well thought out and educated strategy. Meanwhile, the two boys in question were already across the village, walking into the favorite ramen stand of the Uzumaki heir, them both taking a seat at the bar, orders already on the way from the very attentive Ayame. The duo were laughing, discussing their recent victory, and eating their ramen together, Naruto treating the young Sarutobi as a way to celebrate his "Successful Mission."

"Boss…" Konohamaru started, his face turned down from his blonde haired idol, a shadow somehow obscuring his face, even though the stand was very well lit. Naruto looked over, a questioning look in his eye as he slurped noodles noisily into his mouth, the bowl at his lips as he raised an eyebrow, and motioned for the child to continue.

"Why…Why weren't you there?" The boy that had been sitting there in the stand next to him was gone in the blink of an eye. Literally. Naruto blinked, and the happy, optimistic Konohamaru he had known and come to love as his own blood had vanished, replaced with a very different version of the same boy. He was older, by a few years in fact, proudly sporting a Konoha Hitai-Ite, though it was battered, scratched, and dented. The cloth of his scarf was blood stained and ripped, fraying in places and mottled in others. And then, then Naruto dropped his bowl, his mouth hanging open in abject horror as Konohamaru, the small child he had once sworn to protect as his own, turned his head towards him.

His right eye had a senbon extending from the dead center of his eye, poking through the iris as if it were the bullseye of a target, the needle finding its mark, the eye now dead. His mouth was leaking blood from both corners, the boy missing bits and pieces of his teeth. Konohamaru's shirt was tattered and torn, its once vibrant color now completely unrecognizable, a trio of jagged kunai stabbed into the boy's right shoulder. His stomach was still pouring blood, an uncountable amount of senbon littering his stomach, all of them undoubtedly poisoned. Naruto found himself unable to move as his brother moved towards him, getting in his face and screaming at him, his voice and undiscernible shriek, yet somehow Naruto understood every heart-wrenching word. "WHY WEREN'T YOU THERE, NISAN? YOU SWORE! YOU SAID YOU WOULD ALWAYS BE THERE FOR ME. WHY WEREN'T YOU THERE?! I NEEDED YOU AND YOU WEREN'T THERE! How… How can you call yourself my brother when you couldn't even keep one simple promise…?


Naruto sat up in his bed abruptly, a cold, sheen sweat dripping from every pore on his body as he breathed heavily, his chest rising and falling with his deep uncontrolled breaths. The blonde's normally vibrant and blue eyes that were typically so full of confidence, now searched his bedroom in fear and uncertainty, almost as if he didn't recognize his surroundings. He hadn't made any discernable noises, but the sound of his breaths violated the silence, every muscle in his body tensed, as if he was locked in battle, expecting to take a hit at any second, ready to move and counterattack in turn, yet here in his room, sitting in his large bed, there were no enemies in sight, only the blackness that drowned the room in its shadow, typical of the night.

"Naruto?" A soft voice broke the silence, and his head couldn't have snapped faster over to his left, only just able to make out the form of his lover, her scarlet hair having fallen over her shoulders in rolling waves, as if it was a sea or red wine in the pitch darkness of night. Tayuya's eyes shined in the darkness, her chocolate orbs somehow picking up and reflecting the small amount of light that managed to pierce the shadows, shimmering with concern. Naruto blinked, his body slowly relaxing as he felt more than saw her sit up herself, grabbing his head and gently pulling it down to the bed as she laid back down, stroking his hair softly.

The kunoichi didn't show this side of herself often, and she had almost never shown it in public, preferring to 'uphold her reputation' as the fiery and hot blooded ninja that she was. However, in her most private of moments that she chose to share only with her boyfriend, she felt she could let her guard down. But things had changed once Naruto had returned from his mission to Chinbaku, and the once unshakeable and grounded blonde had been shattered by what he had seen. He hadn't talked for a couple days once he returned from the mission, and she had decided to not pry at him, as nearly every night he had woken up like this at some point. Eventually though, he had opened up to her, and even she, with the horrors she had experienced from her time in Oto, was sickened.

She didn't even call him her usual nickname, 'Shithead', such was her concern over the change that had happened in the blonde shinobi. She held him, stroking his moderately long dull blonde hair, sighing softly as she looked down upon his wide open eyes, leaning down and gently kissing his forehead. "You had the dream again." She had phrased it as a question, but it was obvious by the tone in her voice that what she had said was really a statement. The Captain sat himself, sitting alongside his partner and sighing shakily to himself as he brought his hands to bear in front of him, staring at his palms as they shook in the moonlight. He nodded simply, refusing to look away from his hands, the hands that had held his Otōto as he died.

He was pulled from his dark thoughts as a hand was placed on his own, closing around one of them and pulling him to his left, as another soft and delicate, yet strong and storied hand found its way to his cheek, turning his head as he fell in. He couldn't see anything in this low of light, but when he felt Tayuya kiss him tenderly, he no longer cared about what he could see, returning the kiss and squeezing her hand softly in his own. The two broke apart before laying back down in each other's arms, her head resting upon his chest as be breathed, much more calmly now instead of the ragged breaths from before. The red head clutched the arm of the blonde that was over her, pulling it close to her chest and holding it there, against the coarse fabric of the large t-shirt she was wearing underneath the covers.

Naruto broke the silence, his eyes already fluttering closed as he spoke so softly it might have been a whisper, his words just barely reaching the ear of the kunoichi in his arms. "Tayuya?"

She smiled gently to herself, snuggling into her boyfriend's arms, not failing to notice as his arms tightened ever so slightly around her, pulling her closer to him as they settled. "Yeah, Shithead?" She teased, knowing he didn't mind her little pet name for him, as he was the only person she had dubbed with the 'loving' term of endearment.

"Thank you."


The funerals for the four shinobi had been small, with the exception of Sarutobi Konohamaru's, which was attended by far more people, both citizens and shinobi from all over the village come to pay their respects to the fallen eventual heir of the Sarutobi Clan. There had been a short speech from the Hokage about his grandson, and about how his 'Will of Fire' had burned brightly until the very end, the young man defending his comrades and home until the very end, fighting on until the bitter end.

Naruto himself had gone up to give a short speech about the young scarf clad Genin, and though he choked up slightly during it, he made it through. He shared a couple short anecdotes about his time with the boy, and with the 'Konohamaru Corps', as they had come to be dubbed, and even managed to get a few small chuckles from the crowd gathered. He ended his speech, which ended up being the final one for the fallen boy, by asking the small army of people gathered to share a moment with him, taking a small break from mourning, and celebrating the life of Konohamaru, as that is what the kid would have wanted- he had always hated seeing his friends and family in pain.

And they had. For a few solid minutes, the assembled mourners stopped being that, and following the blondes lead as he walked from the podium, they began to clap. Softly at first, but then louder, people breaking out into forced back tears as it became a thunderous applause that shook the trees around them, the noise quickly becoming deafening, before it tapered off back into a respectful silence that was no less calming than it was unnerving, the small sobs here and there before the final act of a Ninja funeral was carried out. One by one, starting with the members of Konohamaru's graduating class, every ninja or former-nin, from the lowest, freshest Genin to the Hokage himself, walked somberly in a line to the small wooden casket at the head of the ceremony. The first person in line was a Genin by the name of Kisuke Abarai, a kid from his graduating class and a close friend of Konohamaru, as well as Udon and Moegi. He paced his way slowly to the coffin, stopping in front of it, before pulling the small silver ceremonial leaf pendant off of his black funeral attire, before carefully placing the tip of it into the wood, beating the pendant into the wood with a hard, closed fist.

One by one, ninja by ninja, the line dwindled as each member followed the member before them, forcing the small charms into the polished wood, the coffin eventually becoming covered in them as it sat upon the pyre. Naruto, having finished with his speech, moved to one of the four corners of the pyre itself, with the Sandaime, and Sarutobi Asuma standing on the other two sides, the open end facing towards the crowd. The three men flashed through a set of hand seals in complete unison, finishing with practiced ease on exactly the same moment, calling out together "Katon: Gōka Mekkyaku! (Fire Release: Majestic Destroying Flame!), exhaling a long, constant stream of white-hot fire, lighting the pyre alight, a flame which would burn fiercely despite the falling rain.

Naruto, the jutsu complete, returned to the crowd of mourning shinobi, standing silently as Tayuya grabbed his arm, holding it firmly in her arms, pressing it gently against her body as she stood with her lover. She stood there with him for hours, and eventually, people started to disperse, soon leaving only the mourning couple, as well as Asuma and Hiruzen. But even they too left, Asuma lighting a cigarette and escorting his father home, the last two members of the Sarutobi clan leaving the long extinguished pyre. It was early the next morning, when the sullen blonde finally turned his eyes from the flame, looking to his tired, but still standing girlfriend, the sudden movement catching her eye as the redhead looked up to him, her grip on his hand tightening ever so slightly.

"Go home, Tayuya. Get some rest, please. I just…there's something that I need to do, and then I promise I'll come home, alright?" The chocolate eyed woman only nodded silently, squeezing his hand softly before she pulled the taller blonde down into a hug, which he eagerly returned, before the couple kissed once, softly, before Tayuya turned to leave, looking over her shoulder at the black clad blonde as she whispered softly, though she knew he could hear her even still.

"I'll be waiting for you, Naruto." He never responded, instead waiting a few more minutes after the woman he had come to cherish so dearly had disappeared, before he pulled one of his signature tri-pronged kunai from his pocket, turning it over slowly in his hands, before he clenched it tightly in his right fist, looking up, before nodding to himself once, and then beginning the long, slow walk towards his destination, he resolve unwavering as he moved from the spot he had diligently stood in for an entire day, his hand never losing its white-knuckled grip on the kunai never faltering as he marched towards Konohagakure's Memorial Stone.

He had four names to add to it.


Lynx was currently in the Hokage's office, going over the mission details that would prevalent to the Seventh Division over the next coming months. He sighed to himself, softly beneath his mask so as not to disturb the other men in the office. This was no normal meeting, like the typical Hokage to Ninja style mission briefing that was the norm. No, this was a war council, and consisted of several of the most influential and strategic men of the village, including Jiraiya, Nara Shikaku, and several of the ANBU Captains.

He idly thought about that last one, for a second. The black ops divisions were especially secretive, and that continued to apply to members of ANBU as well, going all the way from the lowest initiate to the Captain's themselves. Lynx had been the Captain of the Seventh Division, and while he knew the workings of his division inside and out, backwards and forwards, he didn't know anything about the others. Lynx didn't even know how many divisions there were in total, or how many members of ANBU there were. And he had never met the Captain of another division until now, not that this was really a meeting, as none of them talked to one another or even acknowledged each other's presence, standing like silent guardians on the walls of the room.

As he thought about it though, it made sense. If someone were to infiltrate the Corps, no matter how much ground they gained in a division, they would still know only that division, and would have little to no Intel on the others, Lynx mused to himself. Were he to turn traitor right now, he had no doubt that he would fail, the multitude of other divisions raining justice down upon him, killing all members of his division as well, not being able to trust the whole lot of them. He briefly cleared his mind, falling into an almost meditative state as he listened to the councilors of the Hokage's War Council as they discussed their plans for the coming months, attempting to find the best way to end it, quickly and with the least amount of bloodshed. Lynx didn't care. The murder and brutalization of Team Ebisu was still fresh in his mind, and he wanted nothing more than to go to Kusa and raze it to the ground. They were dark thoughts.

But hell, he reasoned with himself, these were dark times, he may as well have the thoughts to match. And indeed things were looking grim, with Konoha declaring full scale war on Kusagakure (Grass), and its allies of Otogakure and Takigakure (Waterfall) as well. It couldn't be avoided, after the blatant assault on Leaf soil, Kusa had sealed its fate, and its only remote chance of survival lie in the forms of its small withstanding allies, Oto and Taki. All three were minor countries, and had any one of them been facing Konoha alone, they would have been crushed. However, with the Ninja of the Leaf facing three separate enemies, they were also fighting a war on three fronts, though with Kusa and Taki sharing a border with each other and with Konoha, it was really only two fronts.

Still though, it was a logistical pain in the ass, since this would split the Konoha forces into two separate forces for defense alone, with them further splitting into three smaller assault forces were they to attack all three nations at once. The whole situation only got worse though, for the leaf also knew of a few very important key factors that would no doubt make very large ripples into the coming battles. Of these things, the first was the heavy hitters of each country, the two largest ones being Orochimaru, the leader and acting 'Kage' of Oto, and the unknown entity that was Taki's Jinchuriki. Intelligence on her was slim, all they knew for sure was that it was a woman with minty green hair. They had nothing else on her, nothing about her abilities, nothing on her control over her Bijuu, absolutely nothing, and that was unsettling, to say the least. Luckily, Kusa's leader was nothing more than an A-Rank at best, and Konoha had plenty of shinobi who could deal with that level of enemy.

This war would be over soon, if they played their cards right, which is why the Captains of the Fourth, Seventh, and Twelfth Divisions were there. Each of them would be leading a scouting party to the border and as far inside as they deemed fit to travel under safe and secure conditions to get a baseline on the enemy and to hold a front until the main force could arrive, when the war would begin in earnest. Lynx himself was leading seven other members of his division to the border that Takigakure and Konohagakure shared, and he was looking forward to it. He had sworn to avenge his Otōto, and the best way to do that was winning this fucking war.

He couldn't wait to remind everyone why the Leaf was the strongest of the Hidden Villages.


Eight shadows danced through the trees like bats in the moonlight, moving from branch to branch, leaving not a leaf out of place as they moved along. The advance party had passed the Taki/Konoha border several hours ago, and had made it many miles into the country in the few hours they had been there, stopping at the edge of the forest and the beginning of the many cave and waterfall complex's that made up the hidden entrance to Taki itself.

Landing on the ground, Lynx held up a hand, before signing his instructions out to his squad, having four of them secure a border while the other four created the grounds for their encampment and the defensive positions required. He himself had already created a mass of Kage Bunshin whose sole purpose was reconnaissance, and they were sent out immediately, heading out in all directions. He didn't have to wait long on his men, they were professionals, after all. The fighting positions and encampment was created with haste, but that didn't mean that they sacrificed quality for speed. Their position was entrenched quite adequately, provide all-around security and several overlapping fields of fire, as well as defensive positions and fallback points, with a command and control center already set up inside the borders of the forward operating base. Lynx was quite pleased with the work his men had done, though he wouldn't praise them, that just wasn't how the Seventh Division flowed.

As his Lieutenant, Badger briefly talked with him and briefed him on the situation, Lynx and his squad settled in for the next several days, ready to watch and wait, and if necessary, fight. He instructed Badger to set the agents into a rotation that always had two men on watch, allowing the others to rest, but made it quite clear that he wanted light and noise discipline, if the ninja of Taki didn't already know that they were there, they soon would, and as much as Lynx was hankering for a fight, he refused to sacrifice his men like that. That was the epitome of a bad commander, and for all of his faults, Lynx was a leader.

He hadn't been a natural born one, like his father had. It had taken him years to cultivate his image for his men, building and building upon their respect for him, and changing from the hot headed initiate he had once started out as, to the cold and calculating form that fit his moniker perfectly as a predator. Lynx was an animal, and he protected his pride viciously. He had earned the respect of his subordinates and superiors alike through his tenacity, determination, and loyalty. From the lowest initiate to even his Lieutenant, every man in Lynx's division knew that he would never ask of them something he wasn't willing to do himself.

It was for that very reason, that when Lynx had assembled his division and asked for eight volunteers, the entire division had stepped forward, their trust was so absolute in their trust of their Captain. He was a god to them, and played judge, jury, and executioner as such, leading his men with distinction and pride. He had ender up picking seven members in a controlled manner, already knowing who he wanted to he could fight a defensive position, and Badger was coming regardless as his second in command. He was required to for a mission like this, for should something happen to indispose of the Captain, he was the one who would take charge.

Such was the trust that was built in the Black Ops Divisions, their conviction in each other so absolute and complete that none of them even knew who the other was under the mask, though every so often they were able to tell by a distinguishing factor what clan they were from. The members of ANBU lived and died by their animal titles, and they would have it no other way. Such was the way of it all. And it only furthered to hammer the point home that when Lynx had battle the deranged Shimura Danzo, his mask being shattered in the process, none of the members of his Division had gazed upon his face, honoring his identity and looking only upon the man's chest as he fought. They were all men and women of honor that trusted, fought for, and would happily die for each other, all without knowing the true name of the man beside him.

Few could be so lucky.

Lynx was pulled from his musings by Badger entering the makeshift Command Centre, a raven on his arm and a letter in his hand. "Taichou, this just arrived." He stated, ever the clear and concise man, as he handed the letter to his Captain, stroking the bird lightly to keep it calm as Lynx first decoded, and then read the letter, his eyes widening, and then immediately narrowing as he read the letter a second time, just to be sure what he had read was accurate. There wasn't any way this could be some sort of sick joke, and it was sickening in every sense of the word. Lynx burned the paper to ash in his hands, the small flicker of fire falling between his fingers as the letter burned.

Lynx looked up, addressing his Lieutenant directly, as he scribbled out a letter and handed it to him. Watching as he attached it to the raven before sending it back the way it came. "Badger. I'm leaving you with operational command. You know the details of this mission, do not let me down. I am to return to Konoha immediately. The Hokage has been killed." And with that, Lynx was off, taking to the trees, determined to make the typically four day trip in less than half the time.

There had been an unsanctioned attack on his village, and in the resulting attack the Hokage himself had fallen. Konoha was in a temporary leadership vacuum, and a war was about to begin. Things just kept getting better and better.


It had taken Lynx two days and three soldier pills to make it back to Konoha, running day and night, not stopping the entire time. It would have been a great testament to his abilities, had the situation not been so dire. He cursed to himself when he saw the gates of his village on the eve of the third day, just as the sun was setting. He had cut the time of his return in half, but it was still too long in his opinion. Lynx made a mental note to spend more time practicing on the Hiraishin: Second Step he had been working on, more specifically the ability to flash to one of his seals over an excessively long distance without killing himself from overconsumption of chakra.

As he was now, the longer the distance of the flash, the more chakra he used up. He had only mastered the technique to the some extent, getting himself to the point than any sort of flash under the distance of one mile didn't barely registered taking from his large lake of a chakra supply, but anything over that distance began to tax on his reserves, the amount required growing exponentially as the distance increased. One day, if he had the time, he'd like to master the ability to the point that he could flash between countries, though he doubted that it would ever happen, especially with the way things were headed.

Lynx had gone straight to the Hokage tower upon his arrival for his debrief, wondering why he had been recalled. Sure, this was horrible news, but it was also somewhat dated he had come to find out. The attack had occurred the day after he had left, once he and two of the other Captains were far enough out of range to not have been any help even had they known of the attack. It had taken the messenger raven a single day to reach his position, having left Konoha a mere three days after the sneak attack that claimed the old Sandaime's life, and then after that it had taken him two days to return, meaning that the attack itself had happened nearly a week ago, and any tracks left had likely gone cold.

Lynx had been initially surprised when he learned what had happened from Jiraiya upon his return to the village, though he guessed he really shouldn't have been when he considered who all was involved in the war. It appeared that a certain snake Sannin had infiltrated the Konohagakure, being let in the metaphorical front door by one Yakushi Kabuto, who lad literally summoned the man himself to the village, along with four of his subordinates, Kabuto fleeing the scene immediately afterwards. The four men and one woman had then assaulted the Hokage Tower itself, Orochimaru's subordinates using the same four flaming pillars technique to blockade the building and all inside, preventing any in the village from assisting in the fight. All the patrons of the tower at the time had been slaughtered mercilessly by the rogue ninja.

And that is where details began to become a little distorted, as stories began to vary. Some of the ANBU that had immediately rushed to the scene claimed they had witnessed the bodies of the Shodai and Niidaime Hokage's appear, and with Orochimaru in toe they had fought the Sandaime until a large forest had grown inside the barrier, blocking all view from the outside. The barrier had fallen sometime later, though all members of the attacking force had gotten away seemingly unscathed, leaving the Hokage to die on the rooftop.

The old man had fought valiantly up until the very last waning moments of his life, but facing not only his wayward student, but the forms of his predecessors had been entirely too much for the wrinkled and brittle Hokage to bear, and it hadn't taken long for the man to fall by their hands. When you considered everything, it unfortunately wasn't surprising. The man was simply past his prime, and no amount of personal pride could have saved him when facing the two legendary Senju brothers.

Lynx sighed to himself as he stood upon his roof, contemplating everything that had happened, before he shrugged. While he was certainly upset over the old man's death, he was finding he wasn't as upset over it as he had been for the Sandaime's grandson. That isn't to say that he didn't care, because he definitely, was upset about it. The kindly Hokage had never shown him anything but kindness as far as he could remember, and he had always appeared to try and run the village with a fair and just hand, his own personal case excluded. However, the two of them had never been particularly close, preferring to live by the superior/subordinate standard set before both of them by their predecessors. This had gone double for him, being in the ANBU Corps, as he would never he his Hokage as anything other than his absolute leader. Of course, it didn't help to ease his heart that he had missed the man's massive funeral, the somber event taking place the day before his arrival.

The following events had been hard, but at the same time, predictable. The village lacked a leader, just like it lad just under twenty years ago, and now, with an inevitable war on the horizon, it was necessary to have one, now more than ever. The obvious choice had been to offer the position to the Toad Sage, seeing as how he was easily the most powerful shinobi in the village, bar none. However, the man had politely refused, stating that he simply didn't have the strategic mindset for it. The next likely choice had been Senju Tsunade, but that idea was quickly shot down, for though she was no doubt powerful, she hadn't set foot in Konoha in decades, and there was no what that the village would allow themselves to be led by someone who had abandoned them, even going to far as to refuse to return home in the wake of the Kyuubi attack, no it simply wouldn't do. So they had gone with the next likely choice.

Hatake Kakashi. The man was an extremely capable shinobi in his own right, and had the experience to match his raw skill. He had been an extremely capable ANBU Captain, leading the Second Division for many years, having additionally fought in the Third Shinobi World War, had taught a team of Genin that contained the prodigy of his year, Uchiha Sasuke, and had been the student of the Yondaime, as well as training with Jiraiya himself from time to time. The man had at first been against it, but after a short talk with Jiraiya, he had relented, reluctantly taking the position the day after the Hokage's funeral, though he refused to have a large ceremony depicting his promotion, and het yet to officially don the robes. What was important was that the village had a strong and capable leader, and really it didn't matter what Lynx had thought of the man. He took his orders directly from the Hokage, be it as a normal ninja or an ANBU. The Hokage's authority was absolute, and this wasn't a democracy.

Lynx stretched briefly, before flashing inside his home, taking his mask off as he cleared his mind. It was a waste of salt crying over things that he couldn't change, so he resolved to deal with it all tomorrow. Naruto had a meeting with the Hokage first thing in the morning concerning the war effort, and he had been advised to get a lot of rest tonight, and he honestly felt really compelled to do just that. He had just run the equivalent of a four to five day's journey in just under two, so he was understandably exhausted.

As Naruto walked into his room, dropping his armor unceremoniously on the floor, he was greeted by the sight of his fiery-redheaded lover, laying on the bed, curled up and latching onto the pillow in a death grip. He smiled sadly to himself. The blonde loved seeing her like this, dressed in nothing but one of his oversized t-shirts and a pair of her panties, which was lucky considering it was her chosen sleepwear. As he changed into his own version of the same, a simple pair of black sweats he made a promise to himself that he would enjoy every moment he could with his sexy little kunoichi, for he knew because of the budding war that he would constantly be pulled away, unable to see or hold her as much as he wanted or needed to. Finished dressing Naruto considered using a rapid substitution to replace himself with her pillow, but opted against it, deciding to instead lift up the covers, and after a small chuckle watching the shorter girl curl up at the change in temperature, he crawled under the covers with her, wrapping his arm over her.

He simled a soft and genuine smile as he felt her push herself back against him, even in her sleep she wanted to be near his warmth, and the blonde captain happily tightened his grip on her, pulling her closer to him. Naruto sighed, taking a long whiff of her scent as he buried his face in the crook of her neck, letting his hot breath roll across her shoulder as he briefly lifted his head to kiss her gently on the cheek, whispering into her ear before he let his head fall to the pillow laid below his head, asleep before his eyes had finished closing.

"I'm home, Red."


For the first time since his mission to Chinbaku, Naruto was having a fully peaceful slumber. The man wasn't even dreaming, sleeping in the blissfulness that was a completely and uneventful sleep. Or at least, he was, until he was woken up by the strange sensation of something pressing down upon his stomach, and a pressure, though pleasant upon his lips. The feeling of pleasure was gone soon though, followed by one of mild, yet enjoyable pain, which finally caused him to waken from his slumber, and as he blinked his eyes slowly, adjusting them to the light of day he was greeted by the red hair of Tayuya cascading around his face, her teeth sticking out in a playful manner as she bit his bottom lip, pulling it out ever so far as he locked eyes with her, cocking an eyebrow at her.

"G' Mornin', Shithead." The foul mouthed woman managed to get out, somehow with his teeth still gently clenched around his lip. Naruto managed to catch her unprepared as he leaned up, reaching an arm around her to pull her head down to him, the two coming together in a searing kiss that left both parties chanced for breath. The blonde shinobi leaned back down, pulling the girl with him as she halfheartedly resisted, though she still ended up with her head on his chest, one of her hands absent mindedly tracing the scars that adorned his upper body as he simply held her ad watched her, nothing but content in that moment.

"I missed you, you know." He said suddenly, closing his eyes and leaning back enjoying the sensations and feelings that once can only get by being close to the one they love. Tayuya looked up at her caretaker, the man who she had come to view as her savior from Oto, despite the way it had happened, and smirked as she crossed one of her legs over his, intertwining them as her left hand trailed along his arm before coming into contact with his hand, which he promptly grasped, latching his hand around hers, rubbing her palm softly with his thumb, causing the teen girl to smile, knowing that he could have no way of knowing just how much he meant to her.

"Shut up. I'm still mad at you for leaving without saying goodbye." Tayuya teased, trying and failing to keep her 'tough' façade around him. There was just something about the blonde that made her feel different. In Oto, she was treated as just another soldier at best, and at worst, a 'toy' to be used and discarded. Horrid things had happened to her it Oto, terrible things that had broken her spirit in more ways than one. But Naruto had taken her in, despite her attitude towards him. He'd shown her, for all intents and purposes an enemy, compassion, grace, and kindness beyond measure. When she had finally broke down and told him about the atrocities committed against her in Oto, about the beatings, the rapes, the torture, he had simply held her, not ever saying a word. All of her troubles melted away around the blonde who'd given her a home, and before she'd known it she had found herself head over heels in love with him, though she'd be damned if she said the words first. It was still a competition, whether her lover knew about it or not.

"Pfft, whatever. You're not mad. You know I'll always come back to you, Red." Naruto cracked an eye at her, giving her a small wink before he quickly rolled them over, grabbing her hands and pinning them above her head, grinning slyly as he noticed her (His) shirt stretching up above her navel, an idea forming in his mind as he looked over her slim waist, his trademarked mischievous twinkle in his eye. Before she could react, Naruto had created a clone that moved above her, grabbing her wrists as the original lowered his head and kissed her deeply on the lips, his tongue probing her mouth as she smirked into it. After than he began trailing kisses down her jawline, then onto her collarbone, before he raised her shirt to just under her breasts, abruptly moving his head to just above her navel as he looked up and grinned at her.

Tayuya's eyes widened in horror, realization dawning across her lightly tanned face as she stammered out a protest and struggled but it was to no avail, for with one Naruto holding her arms and another one sitting on her legs, she was defenseless. "Shithead I swear to Kami if you do what I think you're gonna do I will-"she wasn't able to finish her sentence as the blonde rapidly forced his mouth onto her toned stomach, blow the biggest and most obnoxious raspberry he could muster, his eyes only slightly widening in shock as he felt his clone dispel before he was launched across the room, a blur of red hair following soon after.

As he was getting beaten to within an inch of his life, nursed back to health, and then beaten again by his "loving" girlfriend, Naruto couldn't help but smile. It was nice to be able to finally blow off a little steam, especially with all that was happening and that had already happened recently. They both had desperately needed this, and he had a sinking feeling that things were only going to get harder from here on out.

The Captain of the Seventh Division had no idea how true that thought would be in the months to come.


Lynx stood in front of his new Hokage, Hatake Kakashi, and for a second he couldn't quite believe his ears. The man stood stock still, breaking his usually stoic and calm outside as he looked slightly to his right, at the large broad frame of the Toad Sage leaning against the wall, who merely nodded. Was this really happening? After all he had done? All of his service and just like that, without so much as a warning, this was going on? He wanted to refuse the order so badly, but he held himself back. The Hokage was the supreme order, and if he was ordering him to do it, then it was necessary, but even then he was unable to stop himself from the small outburst that slipped through his lips.

"Can you repeat the order, Hokage-Same?" Kakashi sighed. This was to be expected, really. A lot of ANBU were this way when they were phased out of the program, himself included. He hadn't wanted to leave the way of life he had known for so long either, but he had been ordered out after several years of hard service in the black ops division. It had ultimately been good for him, but at the time he was angry. He had been good at his job and they were making him quit, and if Kakashi was anything, he wasn't a quitter. So he sighed softly to himself, once he explained why this was important, the Captain in front of him would likely be more cooperative, but first he had to get him to take off the mask.

"You heard the order correctly, Lynx. Remove your mask, and place it on the desk. You've done your village proud and served faithfully, but it is time to leave the shadows to serve in the light… Naruto." Lynx began to sweat slightly, the Seventh Division had been his life and blood for over five years, but the Hokage… the Hokage was absolute. He followed orders. He was a shinobi, the sword of his leader, the shield of his people. If he was being ordered to do this, there had to be a reason to it. With that logic in mind, Lynx reached up, grasping his face and pulling it off, unclasping the restraining straps, and speaking for the last time in the clipped metallic tone that was uniform of all ANBU as he placed the face he had come to call his own on the Hokage's desk, the visage of a large, predatory cat staring back up at him. There was no going back now. His identity had been compromised the moment that Kakashi had said his true name aloud.

"Understood, Hokage-Sama. Now that I've been compromised, do you at least mind telling me why you've decided to take me from my men?" Naruto growled out, but managed to keep a respectful tone, he was talking to his new leader, after all. Beside that fact, Kakashi had earned his respect from the few times he had worked with the man, a cold and calculating professional in the field, like himself. Kakashi, actually pretty happy that the phasing out of the ANBU had gone so smoothly, actually let out one of his trademarked eye-smiles as he sat behind the desk that he himself didn't know if he was just to sit at, before beginning his explanation.

"Naruto, as you are very well aware, we are on the eve of war with not one, but three hostile countries. Now, while we have an admirable cause to go to war, to avenge the deaths of our comrades and Hokage, those ideals will only last so long in the eyes of the public, before they begin to lose interest and start to want to pull out before we've finished what they started. You with me so far?" The Godaime Hokage paused, and seeing the blondes nod, he continued.

"In every war that has ever been fought, the winning army had an ideal to rally behind, that ideal often taking the place of a hero on the battlefield. During the founding of Konoha, it was Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara. The second shinobi world war had the Niidaime Hokage up until the time of his sacrifice, when the late Sandaime took over the charge. The third shinobi world war had your father, the Yellow Flash. And this for this war, it's going to be you. Congratulations!" The Godaime finished, flipping open his Icha-Icha book and skimming the pages with his eye-smile never leaving his face.

Naruto was dumbstruck. This…this was a lot to take in. His new Hokage wanted to more or less make him a figurehead to rally behind to win the coming war, and while he wasn't sure he liked it, he would trust in his new Hokage. He had let the man watch his back in the field, and there was no higher trust than sleeping in a foxhole with another man, and laying your life in their hands. He looked over to Jiraiya, who merely nodded, giving the blonde his approval.

"It would be my honor, Hokage-Sama."


Tayuya sat on the couch in Naruto's home, fidgeting with herself. While she was glad to have her blonde goofball back, there was a talk that she needed to have with him that she was positive that he wouldn't be happy with. She sighed to herself, looking down at her hands, the hand of which had been powerless to stop the recent injustice against her home, the hands of a kunoichi who had failed to act in the defense of her village, of the home of the man she was in love with, and struggled to bite back tears. She had to come clean on this.

Kami, what was happening to her? Before she would have had no problem lying to her captors, and after a little over a year in Konoha and a similar timeframe of spending time with Naruto, simply not telling him something killed her on the inside. She didn't have too much time to glower on it, though, as she noticed the trademark blue flash of her boyfriend appearing in the other room. She waited until he walked into the living room, and she immediately noticed something was on his mind, such was their connection, she could see it on his face- that was it! His face! He was still in his ANBU Uniform, but the Lynx mask that had been his moniker was missing.

The redhead steeled herself before she approached the blonde, standing at arm's length, surprise evident on his face that she wasn't greeting him or welcoming him home as she had come to usually do. Tayuya blinked back the small tear that threated to form in her eye as she began to speak, crossing her arms across her chest. Fuck, she hated being like this? Why couldn't she just man up and be herself around him? Why did he make her somehow feel like the most confident woman in the world, but still have the same butterflies in her stomach from the first time they had sex?

"Shithead…We need to talk.


Author's Note:

The War Arc Has Begun! A LOT happened this chapter, but all of it was necessary. I'm trying to illustrate just how quickly things can happen. Take WW1 for example. A fuckin' Archduke of all people was assassinated, and a week later we had a World War. For those of you upset that I've been killing off characters left and right, relax. The death of the Sandaime was necessary for the plot to advance, and there won't be any *major* characters that die for a little while. Now I'm going to apologize for how sad the funeral portion of this chapter was. I just finished watching the last season of the amazing show that is 'How I Met Your Mother' and for those of you that have seen it, the ending makes me tear up like a little bitch, and I used it to help fuel this chapter. Last thing I got for you guys, 'Immortalized' has passed 8K views! Holy shit guys. That's badass. Anyways…

That's all I got. Out.