Still don't own Naruto
Chapter 81 Dealing With Betrayal
Two days after Sakura betrayed Konoha, Naruto and the team's that went to the Land of Iron arrived back in Konoha.
"We need to tell everyone about what happened, Hokage-sama if you don't need us for anything I think we should gather the rest of our old classmates, they need to know about Sakura's betrayal" Shikamaru said.
"You can go, but I need you and Naruto ready to meet with the rest of the jonnin shortly" Tsunade said.
"Thank you Tsunade-sama" Shikamaru replied before he left along with the remaining members of his team and Naruto.
"You know I was expecting Tsunade to be a lot angrier at you guys than she was" Naruto said once they were out of ear shot.
"I know, I am still expecting us to get some really boring mission as punishment. Remember what happened to Izumo and Kotetsu, we could spend the next fifteen years guarding the front gate" Kiba said shaking from the thought.
"It wouldn't be so bad, lot's of time to watch clouds. An easy life, that was what I wanted. I never expected to be a jonnin already" Shikamaru said.
"Just like you Shikamaru, always being lazy" Naruto said.
"Our flame's of youth will be dampened indeed if we are given that job, how can I prove to everyone that I am a splendid ninja, if I am stuck on guard duty. Sakura's betrayal was a most unyouthful event, if she has joined the Akatsuki then it seems she must be dealt with as well" Lee said loudly.
Lee's outburst seemed to have been loud enough to get the attention of the people who were still working on the rebuilding efforts and soon they were joined by Choji. "Hey guys, I thought I heard Lee's voice. So how did everything go?" the young Akimichi asked.
"Not well, but we can talk about that later, we need to find everyone. I don't want to have to repeat this many times" Shikamaru said.
"Well I think Tenten, and Ino are helping Yugito and Jiraiya-sama over at Naruto's compound. Neji and Hinata are just finishing off the repairs to the Hyuuga compound and Shino is taking care of the Aburame Hives until they can be placed somewhere safe, but he should be done by now" Choji informed the group.
"Alright Kiba can you go get Shino and Lee go round up Hinata and Neji. Tell them to come to Naruto's place. There are things we need to talk about" Shikamaru said.
"Alright it's a plan. Also I would like to see how my place is coming along, I didn't really have much time to ask Yugi-chan about it when we met before the summit" Naruto added.
"But you had time to get engaged, or maybe you were just busy celebrating and forgot to ask" Choji said with a smirk.
"Aw man, has Yugi-chan told everyone already?" Naruto moaned.
"Nah, she told Hinata, but unfortunately for them Ino had heard as well, and you know her. If there is a bigger gossip in Konoha I would like to meet them and then make sure they never meet Ino" Choji said.
"Troublesome, you sure picked a bad time to ask her to marry you" Shikamaru said.
"Well I didn't know things would turn out the way they had, besides it's not like we have set a date or anything" Naruto said.
"Well, it might not take that long, Ino hasn't left Yugito alone since she found out, she wants to be involved in every decision that is made" Choji said.
"Oh kami, if Ino get's her way we will be having the whole village attend. I think I need a drink" Naruto said fearing the worst.
"Look we have bigger things to deal with right now, I say we go wait for the others at at Naruto's place. Then he can see how his new house is coming along" Shikamaru said.
With a nod of agreement everyone left in the direction of Naruto's still incomplete clan house.
(With Tsunade)
Tsunade and Kakashi were walking slowly through the village. Karin was still being carried by the copy ninja, but she didn't care, she was looking around in interest at the villagers, who were happily going about there business rebuilding the village or coming up to greet Tsunade and Kakashi. 'I don't get it, everything I have ever heard from Orochimaru-sama was that this place was horrible and treated everyone badly. I didn't even care when I heard Sasuke-kun wanted to destroy it, but now I look around and this is such a happy place despite there troubles, why would anyone want to kill these people' she thought and couldn't help but smile at several children who appeared to be pretending they were ninja and throwing paper shuriken.
"Well I have to go hand this one over to Ibiki for questioning. You probably have to go inform the elders and the counsel that the fourth great ninja war is upon us. Just call to tell me the time of the war counsel meeting" Kakashi said.
"Knowing you I will tell you to show up a couple of hours early, then you might actually make it" Tsunade said with a smirk.
"Then I guess I will just have to remember that I will have some extra time to waste" Kakashi said with an eye smile before they pair went there separate ways.
"Um excuse me Kakashi-san, but what will happen to me?" Karin asked.
"Well if you cooperate you will not be harmed, and if you are not seen as a threat to the village or to others you will be given the chance to live in Konoha. It is our way of making captives more cooperative. don't worry you wont be harmed unless you refuse to give us any information" Kakashi said.
"I see, well that is a relief" Karin sighed.
"Oh a word of advice, if you are questioned by a lady who wears her hair up in a pony tail, and wears rather provocative clothing... don't make her mad, it would not end well for you" Kakashi said unable to control a small shiver of fear remembering the last time he had upset Anko.
"I will remember to make a note of it. Uhm I'm sorry about the girl... Sakura? Was it. She doesn't know what she is getting herself into. Sasuke has been changing ever since he killed his brother" Karin said.
"Really, how so?" Kakashi asked.
"I am a rather talented sensory type ninja. In that I can almost see what type of person someone is by the feel of there chakra" Karin explained.
"So out of curiosity, what does my chakra feel like?" Kakashi asked.
"Um well, it seems to be laid back and carefree on the surface but deeper down it is serious" Karin said.
"Well what do you know, that does sound like me" Kakashi said with an eye smile.
"Yes I have been told I am rather accurate, most of the time however I have only been able to deal with people who are unhappy or have a dark Aura about them. So being in Konoha is like having the sun shine for the first time in years, everyone's chakra is so happy" Karin said.
"So tell me what did you see in Sasuke that makes you say he has changed so much?" Kakashi queried.
"Ever since we met Madara Sasuke's chakra has become fouler and darker with every passing day, I mean he was no saint before but he sill had his moments of niceness and still cared about his team mates and friends. But now it got to the point where he willingly abandoned Suigetsu and Juugo because he thought they would slow him down, and he almost killed me just to land a blow on that old man Danzo" Karin said.
"The first lesson I taught him, was that those who do not follow the rules are trash, and those who abandon their friends are worse than trash. It seems I failed to even teach him that" Kakashi said solemnly.
They were quiet for awhile until Karin remembered a question she wanted to ask. "Naruto is the Kyuubi jinchuuriki isn't he?"
"Yes, who told you that?" Kakashi asked.
"Well Sasuke mentioned something about it in passing. But it was something that I felt when I was looking at his chakra. At first I was shocked, I had sensed him before but that was always when he was serious and I wasn't paying any attention to what color or feel his chakra had. His chakra seem to shine like the sun so happy and full of life. But when I went deeper there was something else it seemed evil and uncontrollable, I couldn't stand it so I had to end my jutsu" Karin explained.
"That does sound like the Kyuubi" Kakashi said.
"Then why didn't the Hachibi feel like that? It's chakra was much calmer" Karin asked.
"Well the Bijuu may not actually be alive, but they all have there own personalities, or so I am told. The Kyuubi is a mass of malice and hatred. But others are almost friendly. Yugito-chan has told me that Nibi is friendly but is mostly a pervert" Kakashi explained.
Karin couldn't help herself and burst out into laughter. "A perverted Bijuu, that is classic. How does something like that happen?" she chuckled.
"I don't know, if what Madara told everyone at the Kage summit is accurate, and all of the Bijuu came from a single creature, the Juubi. Then perhaps when the Rikudou Sennin split the Juubi into different parts it also split parts of the creatures personality. The Kyuubi was the most powerful because it retained the Juubi's rage, while the Ichibi was the weakest but according to Garra was nothing but insane. It is just a theory of course, but it might explain why there is such a massive difference in the power levels of the Bijuu" Kakashi said.
They walked the rest of the way to the rebuilt Anbu HQ talking quietly between each other while they walked.
"Well here we are, you will be interrogated by Ibiki before we assess what level of threat you may be to the village and your likelihood of rejoining Sasuke and the Akatsuki" Kakashi informed Karin before entering and heading to the Torture and Interrogation department.
(Hokage Tower)
Tsunade walked into her office and immediately sat behind her desk and opened a bottle of Sake before pouring herself a cup full.
She took her first sip and began counting down from ten. Sure enough the second she hit zero her door opened and Shizune walked in with a stack of paperwork followed by the village elders.
"Ah Tsunade-Hime it is good to see you have returned safely" Koharu said.
"How did the summit turn out?" Homura asked.
"We need to call the Jonnin counsel to meet. We are at war!" the busty Hokage said.
"So badly then?" Homura concluded.
"We have formed an alliance between all five villages, then the Akatsuki leader declared war on us all" Tsunade explained.
"War with the Akatsuki? How is that possible?" Koharu asked.
"I don't know, but if Madara Uchiha says something like this it is no doubt a serious issue. He does after all have the power of six Bijuu to back his claim" Tsunade said.
"Madara Uchiha? Surely not!" Koharu said shocked.
"I find it hard to believe as well, but it is almost certainly him, I don't know how, but it is" Tsunade said.
"So we are at war with Madara Uchiha. A truly fearsome opponent, when the Uchiha were under his rule they were nearly an unstoppable military force" Homura said.
"Yes it will certainly be a difficult challenge and his true power is an unknown. But we also have an unknown quantity on our side. Never before have the five major shinobi villages been unified. But we need to become organized quickly and plan for war. So I need to call all the jonnin to a war counsel to discuss battle strength" Tsunade explained.
"Very well, we can help, but may we suggest not informing the lower ranking ninja just yet, they still need to be focused on the repairs to the village and we do not need fear of the impending war to run though the civilians and younger shinobi" Homura suggested.
"Agreed, I have already informed Naruto, Kakashi and Sai not to talk about the up coming war" Tsunade assured the elders.
"A night time meeting would work best, that way there is no disturbance to the operations in the village" Koharu added.
"Agreed, set it up for tonight, we do not have enough time to mess around. The longer we wait, the more time the Akatsuki have to organize there own forces" Tsunade said.
(Uzumaki Namikaze Compound)
"Wow would you look at this place, it's huge!" Naruto said after he vaulted over the compound wall.
"You're right there kid, it is the same as the Uzumaki compound in Uzu in almost every way" came the voice of Jiraiya who appeared out of nowhere the moment Naruto arrived.
"Hey sensei! Lot's of stuff to tell you about the Kage summit" Naruto said eagerly.
"I'm sure there is, so did you get Danzo?" the elder sage asked.
"Nah Sasuke-teme got him" Naruto said.
"What? Why was he there?" Jiraiya asked.
"Well mostly he wanted to kill Danzo in some twisted search for revenge" Naruto explained.
That was when three other people arrived to see the new arrivals. "Naru-kun, you're back! Thank Kami, Ino is driving me insane" Yugito called when she saw Naruto before running over to greet Naruto properly with a kiss that he happily returned.
"Glad to be back, but I must say the Kage summit was eventful, I am not allowed to say too much until after the jonnin meeting tonight, but there are some other things we need to tell everyone" Naruto said after he broke their kiss.
"Hey Shika, why are you guys back, did Tsunade-sama catch you guys on there way back from the summit and order you back here?" Ino asked.
"Not exactly the truth is far more Troublesome" Shikamaru answered.
"Hey where is Sakura?" Tenten asked making her presence known.
"Heh knowing her she has probably run off to the hospital to check on her patients" Ino guessed ignoring the looks of guilt and regret on the face of Shikamaru,
"We need to talk to everyone once Lee and Kiba get back with Hinata, Neji, and Shino" Naruto said.
"Huh what about this time? don't tell me we have decided against killing Sasuke now" Tenten said.
"No he has to be stopped, more so than ever now" Naruto stated.
It did not take long before everyone had assembled around a large stack of wood that Yamato had left to help with the build.
"So what is this about now? I hope you are going to tell me Sasuke has been taken care of" Neji said
"No such luck I am afraid, although I probably would be able to tell you that if it wasn't for Sakura" Naruto said.
"What?" was the reply from most of the people who were not there in the Land of Iron. The exceptions were Jiraiya who remained impassive. And Yugito who seemed to almost expect something like this to happen.
"So, what happened?" Jiraiya asked keeping his head while the others seemed to look lost.
"Se betrayed us, and in the end joined Sasuke, and the Akatsuki" Sai said impassively.
"Their is no way! Sure she was upset about Sasuke being marked as a Criminal but she would never do something like that" Ino said shocked.
"I am not surprised, she has always thought the sun shone out of that Uchiha's ass, it was foolish to allow her on a mission like that in the first place" Yugito said.
"I believe she would have left in search of him in her own time anyway, but we gave her the perfect opportunity to find him with our help. This is my fault, I should have never fallen for such a simple trap" Shikamaru said down heartedly.
"It's nobody's fault, she was Baa-chan's apprentice, one of the most trusted ninja in the village, not even I expected her to betray us like that" Naruto said.
"What makes the betrayal worse is she knew what Sasuke's goal was" Sai added.
"What do you mean? What is Sasuke's goal?" Neji questioned.
"To destroy Konoha" Naruto said flatly.
"You can't be serious! Is that really what he wants to do?" Tenten said in shock.
"It is most unfortunately true. Sasuke's flames of youth have been extinguished. His unyouthful actions must be stopped at any cost" Lee said loudly confirming Naruto's story.
"Sasuke has become one of the greatest threats to the village in may years, his goals are now the same as the master he killed. It would be logical to include the jonnin commanders in any plan involving the Uchiha from now on" Shino said.
"I agree, but Tsunade already knows about it so I am sure she will not let the issue simply become forgotten" Shikamaru added.
(Unknown Location)
Sakura was given a room in a underground base and was given a Akatsuki robe along with several more changes of clothes, she had not brought that many. She was just unpacking her last set of clothes when Sasuke walked in the room.
"So, why did you decide to join me?" Sasuke asked.
"I couldn't let them kill you, I told you years ago that I would go with you, and that I loved you" Sakura said.
"But you know my plan's, that means I will kill your friends and family" Sasuke said.
"I don't care, I couldn't help it, when I thought you were going to die I made up my mind and I am not going to go back on my decision" Sakura said determined.
"Tell me about Naruto, what are his weakness's? I need to know if I am going to crush him" Sasuke said.
"Naruto's weakness's? I uh don't know... I have never seen him loose a fight, he is faster than Gai sensei and stronger than Tsunade when he uses his senjutsu. I have not seen him weakened. But I know that he recharges his senjutsu with four seals on his arms that look like demon shuriken. And he is a Fuuton user with Suiton as his second element" Sakura said hoping to help in any way possible.
"Well, I cant use genjutsu, I already tried. Nothing worked on him!" Sasuke seethed.
"You will beat him, I know you will, and I will help, I am not helpless like I used to be, I can hold my own in a fight" the pink haired kunoichi assured her long time crush.
"Well if that is the case you might just prove to be useful after all. But don't slow me down or get in my way, if you become a liability I don't want you around" Sasuke said expressionlessly.
"Don't worry, I can keep up" she assured the Uchiha.
"Good see that it stays that way" Sasuke said before turning and leaving the room.
'So the Dobe has a set amount of time he can use that special chakra of his huh, well it's not much but it is something' he thought as he went in search of Madara.
(Konoha That Night)
Naruto arrived at a large hall where tables had been set up around a large three dimensional map of the Elemental nations.
'Looks like this is going to be the war counsel, better find a seat before Baa-chan gets cranky' Naruto thought, and he made his way over to sit next to Shikamaru and Neji.
"Shikamaru, do you know what this is about?" Neji asked as Naruto took his seat.
"I have a fairly good idea, but it is rather too troublesome to think about" the lazy Nara replied.
"Looks like almost every Jonnin in the village is here" Neji said looking around.
"Not quite I can't see Kakashi sensei" Shikamaru replied.
"Baa-chan is going to be mad if he is late this time, but I am sure she has a plan to get him here before he's to late" Naruto assured them.
As if on cue the doors swung open to reveal Tenzo and Yugao enter dragging a rather disappointed looking Kakashi behind them. "This is no way to treat your sempai you know" Kakashi moaned as they dumped him unceremoniously in the seat next to Naruto.
"I'm sorry sempai but it was Tsunade-sama's orders to make sure you attended this meeting" Yugao said firmly.
Kakashi pouted under his mask while the two former members of his Anbu unit left.
"So where did they eventually find you? Don't tell me they got you at the memorial stone, that would have been the first place they would have checked" Naruto asked.
"No I was hiding in a tree overlooking the the waterfall in training ground two" Kakashi admitted.
"So you were using one of Jiraiya sensei's favorite locations to hide. Might have worked if Baa-chan didn't send Yugao. She is the one that is always sent to fetch Jiraiya sensei when Baa-chan needs him" Naruto said offhandedly.
"I knew I should have gone to the library. I will have to keep that in mind in the future" Kakashi said resting his head on the table.
"This surely cant be that bad can it? I mean it's just a meeting of the Jonnin's" Neji queried.
"See for yourself. Last meeting I was forced to attend I almost accepted one of Gai's stupid challenges just for something to do" Kakashi moped.
"Is everyone here? Or are we waiting on more people?" Naruto asked.
"Yeah, Anko isn't here, knowing here the Anbu members are still trying to find her in the forest of death. Man I wish I had a good hiding place like that" Kakashi said.
"Anko? isn't she just a tokubetsu jonnin?" Naruto asked.
"Yes she is, but because she was trusted so much by the Sandaime she was granted full Jonnin privileges, Ebisu is here as well" Kakashi explained.
Sure enough ten minutes later two severely beaten Anbu entered dragging a tied up and thoroughly annoyed Anko who was still kicking and screaming despite being unable to escape from her confines.
"Oh please, surely this can't be that bad?" Naruto said as he watched Anko placed into a chair and get one last bite in, on one of the Anbu that were sent to locate her.
The next several hours were by far the most boring and painful of Naruto's life. "This is worse than all of Iruka sensei's lectures put together!" Naruto cried quietly so only Shikamaru who was asleep and Kakashi who was slowly banging his head on the table could hear him.
The meeting started interestingly enough, Tsunade entered with Jiraiya and the elders and declared that Konoha was going to war and informed the room of what happened at the Kage summit. But after that it was all just long lists of supply's and ninja who are either available for battle or not. In the third hour of the meeting when they started to ask about supply's of even the most trivial items like kunai holders Naruto started contemplating escape. And by the fifth hour he contemplated suicide.
In the end the meeting lasted six hours, and Naruto could now understand Kakashi, and Anko's attempts to avoid the meeting. "Next time, I am going to ask Fukusaku to let me hide at Myobokuzan" Naruto said when they finally left the hall.
"Should have just done what I did kid, you are after all the master of the jutsu" came the voice of Jiraiya from a tree behind him.
"Sensei? aren't you with Baa-chan?" Naruto questioned.
"Nope, shadow clone... do you really think a bunch of Anbu could really catch me, I learned not to go to those things after the second shinobi war, that's just a shadow clone" Jiraiya explained.
"You could have warned me about how bad these things were you know" Naruto said angrily.
"It is a part of being a jonnin of this village, the only people who willingly attend these things are the ninja who have never been before, and the Hyuuga's as they don't want anything to reflect badly on them as a clan" Jiraiya said.
"So why bother sending a clone at all?" Neji asked.
"Need to keep up appearance's, and I don't want to give Tsunade a reason to get mad" Jiraiya said.
"Well there is no way in hell I am going to another one of those" Naruto said.
"I like your plan of hiding in Myobokuzan, next time can you take me?" Kakashi asked.
"No get Pakun to help you" Naruto joked.
"Have you been to the land of the summoned dog's... No thanks. There is nobody to clean up after them" Kakashi said with a shiver.
End Chapter!
Ok bit of a nothing chapter, just to finish the Kage Summit Arc. I hope you all enjoyed it.