Chapter 17 – The Truth

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[Hokage Tower, Konoha]

Current Time...

Naruto was speaking with the Third Hokage about something that surprised even the old Sarutobi clansman; he had seen and heard many things in his long life but what Naruto was explaining to him easily topped all of his experiences. What Naruto had asked of him was also a bit of a surprise.

"Are you sure you want to do that, Naruto? What if it has the opposite effect of what you want; he could very well-" Hiruzen said before Naruto interrupted him.

"If that happens then I'll do what has to be done; if he is not told now, however, that man will tell him the truth... or at least part of it. If he's told now maybe he'll follow the path he had wanted him to follow," Naruto said, to which Sarutobi nodded in reply.

"Very well then, Naruto; if you think that is the best course of action then I'll allow it. You will, however, tell him, and only him, in my office and under my watch. Now go find him," Sarutobi said to which Naruto nodded before he set out to find "him".

[Konoha Training Grounds]

A few moments later...

Sasuke, having obtained his MS during his battle with Gaara, was now training with Kakashi to control the dojutsu; it was very difficult since Sasuke, like any other MS wielder, had to be carefully when using the. It would've been more difficult, however, had Kakashi not revealed that he had the dojutsu and knew of its special jutsus; Sasuke was surprised by this but, despite his curiosity, had decided not to ask his sensei how he had aquired the dojutsu yet for various reasons.

As Sasuke was attempting to master the Tsukuyomi, the MS jutsu that he had the greatest difficulty using, he noticed that Kakashi had turned his attention elsewhere; an irritated Sasuke was about to question Kakashi until he saw Naruto walk up to their team leader and whisper something into his ear. Kakashi nodded and turned turned his attention to Sasuke once Naruto left.

"We're done for today, Sasuke; the Saindaime needs you see him in his office ASAP," Kakashi said; while Sasuke was undoubtedly annoyed by this he that if the Third was requesting his prescence he must have something important that he needs to discuss with him. He deactivated his MS before he walked to the office.

[Hokage's Office]

Five Minutes Later...

Sasuke arrived at the Academy complex and, upon approaching the office of the Hokage, was surprised to see that Naruto was standing outside the door; the blonde-haired shinobi, who had his arms crossed and had had his back lying on the wall, turned his to face Sasuke.

"You took your sweet time getting here," Naruto said rather bluntly.

"Not everyone can move at the speeds you're reaching, Naruto. Anyways... I take it this about my cl-"Sasuke said before Naruto held his hand up to his teammates face.

"Yes it is; I am only allowed to tell you, however, in this office and under the Old Man's watch. So let's take this conversation in there," Naruto said as he opened the door to the office and entered, motioning Sasuke to follow him. The Uchiha entered the room and saw the Sandaime seated behind his desk, while Naruto had taken a seat on a chair facing the desk. Sasuke waved off an offer to take an empty seat; the Uchiha had a sinking he would be standing the entire time anyways.

"I'm pretty sure you know why you have been called here?" Sarutobi asked to which Sasuke nodded.

After reminding Sasuke that whatever was said in this room stayed in this room Hiruzen had Naruto begin his story. He first told him about the truth of Kurama's attack, specifically the fact that a Uchiha had taken control of the Tailed Beast and used him to attack Konoha; Naruto had found some records about the events before the attack in the Namikaze Estate and, by piecing that together with the records at Las Noches, had a more complete picture of what happened that night than anyone else alive.

This story's importance was, not surprisingly, completely lost on Sasuke.

"What does that have to do with the death of my clan, Naruto?" Sasuke asked bluntly; Naruto was, not surprisingly, annoyed by Sasuke's impatience, even if he didn't.

"I'm getting there, Sasuke, so just hear me out..." Naruto said before he realized that he had just lost his train of thought.

"Now then, I was about to talk the masked man, right?" Naruto said as he turned to face Hiruzen who nodded in the affirmative. Naruto sighed before he continued his story; Sasuke, after spending enough time with Naruto as well as Sakura and Kakashi, knew that this meant that the part of the story Naruto was about to tell him was something would probably be hard for him to believe.

"The Masked Man has a lot to do with the massacre of your clan, Sasuke; you see Itachi may have been the one who did the dirty work... but, just like with Kurama's attack on Konoha, the Masked Man, who himself is a Uchiha, was the one truly responsible for the events that would lead to, and those during, the massacre," Naruto said before he stopped talking; it was only temporary, however, as Naruto only wanted to give his teammate enough time to register what he just said... since the things that he was going to reveal Sasuke would undoubtedly shock the Uchiha to the core.

It took a minute or so for Sasuke to actually respond to Naruto's statement.

"Wh-what are you talking about, Naruto?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto looked at the Uchiha dead in the eye before he continued his story; as he did Sasuke felt his stomach turn in upside-down and inside-out with each new part of the story.

The whole story was just so completely different from what he had been led to believe for the past five years; a masked man manipulating the evidence of Kurama's attack to implicate his clan... the clan's subsequent segregation... the manipulation of his clan, especially his father, by the hands of the Masked Man to attempt a coup d'etat against Konoha... Itachi being a double agent for the Konoha against his clan... the Sandaime's failed negotiations... and the details of the massacre itself. The fact that the death of his clan was a result of this mystery man's actions was enough of a shock Sasuke; even more unbelievable for Sasuke was that Itachi's true motivations for his actions was to protect both him, his beloved little brother, and Konoha, and to prevent another war from breaking out. Even what Itachi had told Sasuke before he left, to get stronger and to kill him, was to absolve the clan of its crimes; the idea that his brother had made himself as the villain mortified Sasuke.

The fact that Sasuke had managed to listen to everything Naruto had told him was nothing short of miraculous; the fact Sasuke said something only a few minutes after Naruto had finished his story was even more surprising.

"So does this mean... my brother-?" Sasuke asked before he was interrupted by Naruto.

"Yes," Naruto calmly replied; the Uzumaki's expression, which had been set in a serious tone, softened when he saw that his teammate was crying, having been shaken up by what he has just heard. After he stopped crying Sasuke faced Naruto and Hiruzen.

"I... I... I need some time to collect my thoughts," Sasuke said before he walked out of the office; Naruto was about to do the same until Hiruzen stopped him.

"Wait, Naruto; I have an important mission for you that'll require you to work with Jiraiya. I need to discuss it with," the Sandaime said.

"Really? And what would that be, Old Man?" Naruto asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"Um... Yes, about that... have a seat, Naruto," Sarutobi said, knowing that even Naruto would get taken aback by what he was about to say...

[Jinchuriki Crater, 50 Miles Outside of Konoha]

A Week Later...

The site of Naruto's battle with Gaara, more specifically the crater created by the collsion between Shukaku's Tailed Beast Ball and Naruto's release-enhanced Cero Oscuras had occured over a layer of solid bedrock 100 yards under the forest that once stood; because the crater was 4 miles at its deepest point it was fair to say that, just like with the Valley of the End, this battle had left a scar on the earth itself. Small wonder that the place already was a named landmark, of sorts, and that the place already had an almost sacred reverence to it.

A lot of people visited the crater, mostly out of curiousity, including two figures who were standing on the south side of the crater; their curiousity, however, was for much more ominous reasons.

"So this is the battlefield between the Ichibi and Kyubi's Jinchuriki, huh? Very scary stuff there; imagine the devastation that would've been if this was Konoha," one of the figures said, to which simply glared at him, though his eyes were hidden bt the round straw-hats that both men were wearing.

"You should be more concerned about our mission, Kisame; our objective managed to defeat Orochimaru, the Ichibi, and your fellow Swordsmen," the other man warned.

"Ah, yes, poor Zabuza; he never knew what he was dealing with until it was too late," Kisame chided until he noted the tone of his companion's voice.

"Are you sure you won't be getting too sentimental on this mission, Itachi?" the former member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist asked.

"...Absolutely," Itachi replied as they both set off for Konoha to find their target.

They were unaware that a certain green-haired girl was following them from a distance...

Next Time - Standoff: Akatsuki vs. Fracciones

A/N: For those of you who are wondering why did I end the previous poll earlier than I had claimed (the one about whether or not this story would continue into Part 2) it is because you readers, by a unanimous tally of 40-0 votes, the story will be going into Shippuden... eventually.