Kaibunkage

Arc II

Chapter V

"It takes time to make ideals a reality. If you're hasty, you'll lose sight of everything else and make mistakes…"

- Sandaime Tsuchikage, Onoki

It was two day since the village had been ravaged and many people were now stuck with the reconstruction. The village was still without a kage as the jonin council had not placed its votes yet, but for the majority, they took orders from Tsunade.

As for one particular ninja, helping with the reconstruction was… Well, troublesome. So he decided to do the minimal possible and escape into the nearby forest. Though some of the trees blocked his vision of the clouds, the peace was a nice addition.

"Same old Shikamaru," the voice came from Inuzuka Kiba as the man neared Shikamaru's resting spot against a tree. "Always taking the easy way out."

"What are you doing here?" Shikamaru asked.

"We came to talk to you." Shikamaru noticed that Kiba was not alone. No. The entire Konoha Twelve (sans Team 7 of course) was there.

Shikamaru sighed. "This has something to do with that troublesome blond, doesn't it?"

"And Sakura-san." Lee added, gaining a larger sigh from Shikamaru.

"The two of them alone was enough to destroy most of the village." Kiba said. "I say we track them down before they grow a grudge against us."

"Despite your haste," Shino said. "I agree. Their powers have grown since their days here, Naruto a full-pledged kage and Sakura not too far away. They could easily match one of us one on one."

"Do you honestly believe that Uzumaki Naruto would ever attack us?" Shikamaru asked. "This is the same knucklehead from the academy."

"Forget Naruto! Sakura is out there with hundreds of men after her! We-"

"There's not much we can do about that." Tenten quickly cut Ino off. "Sakura, like Sasuke and Naruto, chose to leave."

"She didn't choose to leave! She chose to do something none of us had the guts to do. Stand up to Danzo." Ino proclaimed. "Once Naruto left, she was three steps away from being crazy. You all saw how she acted. It was like nothing else mattered."

"Which is why it's best to find her before she causes anymore harm to us as individuals, the village, or herself." stated Shino.

"And give that bitch a beating for putting us through hell in the first place!" Kiba added. "And Naruto too for making me look-"

"Do you honestly believe that you could beat either of them?" Neji said. "Sakura took on the Mizukage and, albeit with the help of Kakashi-san, she pushed him to his limits. Naruto caused a tsunami with the flick of a tail, something only the Kyubi is rumored to do. You would be nothing more but mere child's play for either of them."

"Oh yeah? Then what do you suggest?" Neji merely closed his eyes at Kiba's remark.

"I suggest we work with Naruto." This gained a small gasp from Hinata. "Kemuri is obviously a well-rounded village, and the few that came are indication to that. Genjutsu, taijutsu, ninjutsu, kenjutsu, fuinjutsu, senjutsu, kinjutsu, the six that represented the village showed it all. At our weakened state, a village like that is exactly what we need."

"If I may, that sounds more like a sign of weakness and incapability on our part." Neji glanced at Shino. "We should be more concerned with the dangers they pose. It is common knowledge that Naruto has no intentions of joining an alliance with us. If we are not cautious, they could-"

"I doubt Naruto would do that." Neji stated.

Lee nodded. "Neji-kun is right. If it was truly Naruto-kun's plan to destroy the Hidden Leaf, he would not have aided us against Orochimaru-san and Mizukage-san."

"There is word that while there was battle here, Wave Country was attacked by the Hidden Stone." Shikamaru announced. Given that he was the only one amongst his friends that was on the war council, this information went by him before it got to the other ninja of the village. "Kemuri took them out. So your theory about the 'threat' Naruto poses is a bit farfetched."

Ino and Choji both looked a bit shocked at this. Shikamaru only used this tone of voice when there was an important meeting going on. He was normally his everyday lazy self when he was around his friends.

"Although you hold a strong point, he killed our Hokage and Sakura aided in his death one way or another. As despicable Danzo was, we are Konoha shinobi and it is our duty to stay loyal to our Hokage." The others looked at Shino as he continued. "We can't all be rebels like the Unspeakable Three…"

"They aren't the Unspeakable Three. They're Squad Seven, Team Kakashi." Ino said.

The group was silent after that was said, each of them rethinking the past two days. With Danzo's funeral and the need for another Hokage, there were split emotions towards Naruto and Kemurigakure. On one side, he had aided Konoha by protecting them from Orochimaru's and Kageno's forces. On the other hand, he had played a leading role in Danzo's death.

"We should get back to the village and help out." Neji said.

"Right." Lee replied.

Shikamaru sighed. And here he thought he had found the perfect escape.

Never in her life has she ever been so nervous. In her lifetime, she has faced three kage, two of the three Sannin (though one was for training), two jinchuriki, her best friend, both of her former teammates, a large poisonous salamander, and many other powerful opponents. Yet, a group of nine men and women seemed to scare her more than anything.

Looking towards her immediate right, she spotted Kazudan standing on guard. He was Naruto's enforcer, Sakura knew that, and would not hesitate to attack her if she got out of line while they waited on the council's decision.

And it has been four hours now.

"Just my luck. Baby-sitting." Sakura's eyes then met Sayuri's. The teen had been slightly annoyed that she was one of the three appointed to watch Sakura while the meeting went on, the other two being Kazudan and Guren. "Why does Marashu get a better mission? Why does Ranmaru get a day off?"

Sakura only smiled. Sayuri was possibly Naruto's favorite to pick on because he found her to be a "bad influence" on Shiori. While he wanted his daughter to be strong, she could do without Sayuri's attitude and prankster mentality.

In other words, Naruto did not want Shiori to be like a younger version of himself.

The door then opened to reveal a woman Sakura knew as Terumi Mei. The woman gave Sakura a tired sigh before motioning the pinkette to enter the room. Sakura stepped in only to see the other councilmen and councilwomen leave. The door closed, the sound echoing off of the walls, as Sakura's eyes landed on the only person left in the room, Naruto.

"Seal." Naruto said quietly. The large round redwood table in-between himself and Sakura vanished in a puff of smoke, along with the seats around it, making the room emptier. "I didn't want to ruin the furniture."

"Okay…" Sakura had a feeling that something went wrong during the meeting.

"You are known to be quite volatile… And when things don't go your way, you can lash out on any and everything." Naruto stated. "I can defend myself. My furniture can't."

"How did it go?" Sakura regretted asking the question with the Shodai's shoulders slumped in defeat.

"Well, they decided that after our 'battle' you never fully repaid your debts for fighting the Kaibunkage, me. Not only that, but your ties with the village was severed when you 'attacked' Sayuri and Yukimaru." Sakura felt her heart rate climb. "While Kurama-san attempted to speak for the good you have done, such as aiding us with rescuing Shiori, the damage has been done."

"I understand…" Sakura said.

Naruto sighed. "I know how much you hate being bossed around and being someone's lapdog, but-"

"I'll leave Naruto. It's alright." Sakura interrupted.

Naruto frowned. "Leave? Why would I want Rin's assistant to leave?" Sakura blinked in astonishment. "Due to your knowledge in the medic field, you would be able to replace Rin at the hospital and academy while she's away doing her research in Yozora Town."

"B-but… Assistant? I'm a-"

"Don't argue with them Sakura. You will never win." Naruto said. "Now, Haruno-san, I need you to go to the academy where you have class. After that, you and I will meet for lunch as promised. Afterwards, you will go to the hospital where you will end your day. I have assigned someone to be your temporary time manager until you can remember your duties without them. Understood?"

Sakura nodded. "Hai, Lord Kaibunkage. But… Who is this time manager?"

The door opened to reveal Ranmaru. The teen, like his counterpart outside the room, looked highly annoyed.

"I figured since Marashu is with a group aiding with the cleaning of Wave Country and Sayuri was now my assistant for the day to give Mei-chan a break, Ranmaru would be the best choice for the job." Sakura heard the teen grumble something after Naruto finished his statement with a cheeky grin. "Maybe my former students will learn to appreciate their sensei instead of joking about when he goofs up."

"Hai Naruto-sensei." Ranmaru said as he smirked. His mind replayed the image of Naruto's face when he had used too much natural energy the first time. Even though the "spar" that the four soon got into was very one-sided, their bruised appearance would never be as funny as Naruto's whiskered-toad appearance.

"I have paper work to get to." Naruto said moving towards the door. "Ranmaru, I'm counting on you to make sure that she meets all of her duties on time."

"Believe me," Ranmaru said. "I do too."

Naruto left the empty room, which prompt Ranmaru to laugh quietly. The images in his head had finally beaten his ninja training in always keeping his emotions hidden.

Sakura frowned slightly. "What's so funny?"

The Smoke jonin only waved her off while laughing.

"It's an embarrassing moment of Naruto-sensei's training. The first time he had produced too much sage chakra." Sakura's frown did not disappear. "I'll show you."

Sakura watched as Ranmaru transformed into the image he had in his head before she burst into a fit of laughter.

Laughter really was the best cure.

"What choice do we have?" said Homura. "Danzo is dead and Kakashi and Jiraiya have both declined the position. The Slug Princess is our only hope."

Tsunade's brow twitched. "Are you calling me the last resort?"

The others in the meeting were quiet before Jiraiya let out a small laughter.

"Are you mad that you were asked after me hime? I thought we went over this, years ago." Jiraiya chuckled.

"Old fool…" Tsunade muttered. "And what do you mean by 'only hope?' What is going on?"

"We received a message from Kumogakure. The Raikage is calling for a meeting with all five kage." Koharu said. "But due to our current situation, we haven't sent word on whether or not we will be there."

"Why the hell not?" Tsunade bellowed.

The room went silent again as Tsunade's eyes gazed at the invidual faces. Finally, Hiashi cleared his throat, being the scapegoat of the council.

"It is because of your personal ties with Lord Kaibunkage." the Hyuga spoke. "We…" Hiashi paused and glanced at the two elders. "They believe that this is harmful to the meeting as Uzumaki-san is a jinchuriki and therefore targeted by the Akatsuki. You would attempt to help him, but the facts remain that his village and ours aren't on friendly terms. You as Senju Tsunade could aid Uzumaki Naruto. The Hokage, however, could not set foot in Kemurigakure without the approval of the Kaibunkage. A rule Uzumaki-san made when we sent our first group there."

"So that's what this is all about? You're afraid that if I become Hokage, my personal feelings for Naruto would somehow alter my rulings on the village, right? That I would go out of my way to help him, right?" asked Tsunade with a small smile. The others nodded stiffly, even Jiraiya. Her smile soon dropped. "Well you're damn right I would!"

"And that's our-"

"Shut up." Tsunade quickly interrupted Homura. "That brat has saved me and the village twice. The very least I could do is attempt to mend things over with him. Not just for my own gains, but the village's as well."

Jiraiya's smile grew at Tsunade's declaration. He knew from the start that Naruto would rub-off on her somewhere down the line. It just pained him that he could not see how many bottles of sake Naruto's pranks could have forced Tsunade to drink if she had been Godaime Hokage. The verbal complaints, added with the paperwork would have been too much for the blonde woman.

"My bond with Naruto is one that none of you dared to create while I wasn't even here." spoke Tsunade. "If any of you would have reached out to him when he was here, maybe he still would be. You all should be thanking me for even considering patching things up with him. A man who could very well kill anyone with the flick of a tail could be a likable ally in my books."

"We tried-"

"Danzo tried. Now it's my turn." Tsunade said. Koharu looked at Homura for support, but the elder staid quiet. "Now that we've come to an understanding… Let's vote."

"Hai." the jonin in the room said in chorus.

Sakura sighed. At first she thought that Naruto, holder of the vilest being known to man and a natural prankster himself, would put Sakura in a room filled with those just entering the academy. She was relieved to know that her class was filled with those in their last year. After talking to Sasame, Sakura learned that she was in charge with the academy level field tests.

How fitting for a former Missing-nin?

"Hey," one of the students said as Sakura prepared for the class. "Aren't you that lady my dad was talking about? The one the Kaibunkage beat without trying?"

Sakura's brow twitched before she smiled.

"My first impression on you guys," Sakura said emulating her former sensei. "I hate you."

This gained many shocked expressions as the wannabe genin knew that they were no match for the pink-haired woman. Sakura then stood in front of the class and crossed her arms, giving them all a stern look.

"My name is Haruno Sakura, former member of Team Kakashi, now referred to as the Unspeakable Three." Sakura announced. "My job here is fairly simple. Teach you how to survive on the field where text books won't save you."

"Um, Sakura-sensei," an amber eyed brunette girl stated. "What exactly are we going to do?"

"This is a class of forty-five students," Sakura said. The short time she spent with Anko allowed her to calculate such things like this as the purple-haired kunoichi was a master at this. "Which means I'm going to break you off in squads of five. Since I don't know anything about you other than the information Sasame and Nar- Lord Kaibunkage has given me, I will pair you up due to your skills and skills alone. You won't necessarily be partnered with your best friend and you can be paired with the person you despise the most. Deal with it."

"Is it true that we're only doing this because of the battle in Wave Country?" a boy who reminded Sakura a lot of an orange-haired Naruto, sans the whiskers of course, said.

"I'm not going to lie to you. Yes." Sakura said. "But, I can't tell you the regime here in Kemuri is like."

Ranmaru saw Sakura's eyes travel to him. Sighing, he rose to speak.

"If war should happen, the job of the genin is to protect the civilians." spoke Ranmaru. "If the enemy should find our village and safehouses, it is the genin that will be there to defend them, as well as a handful of chunin and tokubetsu jonin."

"Ah that'll never happen!"

"Yeah! No one ever fights on our ground!"

Ranmaru sighed once more. "A few weeks ago, Lady Shiori was kidnapped from the Kaibunkage Estate." This gained a collective gasp from the students. "Sakura-san and I, along with the Kaibunkage and others, fought off the would-be kidnappers. Our village has seen Gyaku slain members of his own clan, as three of you here are from the Hirameki Clan."

"But why her?" a boy who was obviously objective in having Sakura as a teacher said.

"Haruno Sakura, or Sakura of the Salamander, is highly qualified to teach you the basic essentials of survival. Being that she has lived on her own for years with several of men and women after her, she would know more techniques that any of us would." Ranmaru said. "She is quite skilled in all of the basics, ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu, she has knowledge in the field of seals and medicine, as well being adapt with poisons and weapons such as senbon and kunai. You should be honored to have her as a sensei."

Ranmaru's words seemed to ease a lot of Sakura's troubles as a smile came onto her face. The smile soon dropped as she addressed her new students.

"Now, let's get started." Sakura said.

Sasuke and Karin walked into Orochimaru's main base, Sasuke still a bit stiff from Sayuri's attack.

"Ah, Sasuke," Sasuke really did not want to hear or see Kabuto right now, so he just ignored him as norm. "We figured that you must have been wiped out by the explosion. Your other teammates were already here."

"Where's Orochimaru?" Sasuke asked.

"He is resting." Sasuke frowned at the statement and went to move for Orochimaru's quarters, only for Kabuto to stop him. "You aren't allowed to disturb him now."

"I need to talk to him." said the Uchiha.

"Before that," Kabuto said. "There is something that Lord Orochimaru has been thinking about. It has something to do with the fate of your clan…"

"I'm not sleeping with any-"

"Your brother." Sasuke was immediately hushed by the statement. "It is time that we finish your training with the Curse Seal and find your brother."

Sasuke saw Karin glance at him out of the corner of his eyes. He figured from her look that she now believed Danzo. Sasuke then looked directly at Kabuto.

"I'll be in my compound." Sasuke stated walking. "We'll talk about Itachi later."

Kabuto watched as Karin followed Sasuke without a word. He frowned when he thought about the possible places Sasuke could have been for the past two days healing. He was not at any of the bases and no one had seen him or Karin. Yet, Kabuto knew that wherever he was, Karin was able to access some medical supplies if the bandage around Sasuke's torso was any indication.

With the thoughts fresh in his mind, he followed after the Uchiha. Something did not feel right about Sasuke's return. He was different.

"I'll find out." Kabuto said to himself as he continued after Sasuke and the redhead medic.

Once Kabuto was out of sight, Sasuke, Karin, and Danzo shimmered into appearance, the combined effort of Danzo's and Sasuke's genjutsu overpowering Kabuto.

"Tokuma, medicine." Danzo wheezed. Sakura's poison was still having its effects on him, and he was determined to beat it with medication instead of using Izanagi once more.

"Sasuke-kun… Are you sure about this?" Karin asked.

Sasuke drew his blade. "As serious as ever."

With nothing else said, Uchiha Sasuke stepped into the room where a recovering Orochimaru rested. The battle would soon determine the fate of the Uchiha Clan.

Sumaru stared at his wife with a frown.

"They want a meeting with Naruto?" Sumaru asked. Since the two were currently in his office alone, using informalities was okay.

Hokuto nodded. "Yes. The Demon Country council will not leave bygones alone. They want Shiori and will do anything to keep her there."

Sumaru sighed. "This isn't what we need now. There is still the Akatsuki threat as well as Orochimaru. With the disaster Naruto caused in the Hidden Leaf, I'm not certain when we'll be able to meet up again and discuss this."

"Shiori is Naruto's daughter. He has the final say." Sumaru only gave a short breath.

"Technically, he does. But Shion was going to begin Shiori's priestess training at six." Sumaru explained. "Facts remain that until they replace her, Uzumaki Shiori's title is High Priestess of Demon Country. It isn't something that we have much of a say on."

"But it's his daughter!" Sumaru knew how passionate Hokuto was and was only glad that he and his wife were from the same village, let alone country. "We have to do something. They can't just take her away from him."

"Not necessarily… But they can began her training and then move her back to Demon Country when she becomes of age." stated the Hoshikage. "It is the legal term."

"The girl is traumatized by the death of her mother! Don't tell me that you're actually going to sit around and let them get away with this." Hokuto said.

Sumaru knew when he was caught between being a good husband and being a good leader. In fact, he once joked with Naruto about not having to put up with this with Shion, who had her own country to run.

"Ultimately, this is Naruto's decision." Sumaru began, choosing his words carefully. "But… If I can somehow get them to focus on the priestess from the Land of Moon or even use the priest from the Land of Fire to produce an heiress that should give them something to be happy about."

"Please, try." Hokuto said. "I don't want to see Naruto lose his daughter."

"Believe me," Sumaru replied. "The last thing I want to do is face the Kyubi."

Naruto sighed as he read another report from Wave Country. Paperwork was always the downside of the job, but this was different. This was about the previous onslaught that Ishi had done to the villages of the country. While Naruto can recompense for the damages that his men and women caused, he could not help them fully recover. Wave Country was still in a coalition with the Hidden Leaf Village.

"Alliances are a pain in the ass…" Naruto muttered to himself.

"Now what would you do if Shiori picked up on that?"questioned an amused Mei as she sat in an armchair.

"I wouldn't allow that to happen. Shion's already came from the grave once. The next time, she might do it on her own… And she might not need the bell either." Mei smiled at the statement. "You here to talk about the Wave predicament or something else?"

"Haruno Sakura was just placed in the academy… I don't think that was part of our plan." Mei said. "In fact, I remember distinctly that the council wanted her in the hospital under surveillance. Why the academy?"

Naruto smirked. "Sakura may be able to take on a lot of things. A bunch of know-it-all kids protected by the law from her rage isn't one of them." Mei raised a brow. "Consider this the beginning of my payback."

"Right. I should've known." Naruto frowned.

"Is there something wrong with my plan? I did put her with the older students." stated the Kaibunkage.

"I'm wondering just what you plan on doing with her. You seemed quiet during the meeting earlier, resting her fate almost completely in the council's hands." replied Mei. "I know you want her here where you can keep an eye on her, so why didn't you just make the ruling and skip the entire thing?"

The young kage sighed. "Mei-chan, I'm at a serious deadlock with myself. Sakura was one of my teammates and one of the most precious people I had… But now she's different. I once trusted her with my life on and off duty. Now I hesitate to eat with her near in fear of poison."

"You don't think she will kill you, do you?" The Shodai only released a heavy sigh.

"I've been betrayed by some of the people closest to me, Sasuke, Gyaku, and Aku. My entire childhood was like it was because of the Sandaime Hokage's decision on not revealing who or what I truly am. Even my squad leader was hesitant about the amount of chakra I could release in fear of somehow tapping into the Kyubi's chakra." Naruto stated. "Sometimes, I don't know who to trust."

"You know you can trust me." Mei said, drawing a smile on Naruto's face. "Honestly Naruto, I don't necessarily like Sakura. She is a powerful kunoichi, but a weak woman. Give her time to grow and then decide whether or not you can trust her."

Sayuri came into the room. "Message from Demon Country."

Naruto frowned as his student placed the scroll on his desk before leaving. He opened it and read the message. Mei watched with curiosity until she felt a flare of his chakra.

"Bastards!" the blond kage hissed in anger. "How could they even think this?"

"What is it?" Mei questioned.

"They want to talk about Shiori's return to complete her training and govern what Shion has left." Mei heard the anger drip from his lips onto each word he spoke. This was deemed as Naruto's "angry kage" voice by Sayuri and the name could not be any closer to the truth.

"Calm down Naruto. We'll find out how to keep Shiori here." Mei reasoned.

"Why? She isn't going back there unless I go with her, and that's on the vacations I can spare." Naruto stated.

Sayuri frowned. "What about the other priests and priestesses? They could replace her, right?"

"It's not that simple." Sayuri turned her attention to Mei as the older woman spoke. "Shiori is heiress by blood. Shion, Miroku, their blood can be traced back to the very first priestess. It isn't like being a kage where one can be elected by the councils of the land. It's more like being the king or queen. Your children are next in line unless otherwise stated."

"Oh…" Sayuri said. "Hmm… That's a tough one."

"I'm going to go down there and settle this." Naruto spoke. "I know how badly Shion would have wanted Shiori to be the next High Priestess, but I can't allow that to happen. My duties as Kaibunkage keeps me away from her too much as it is now."

Mei smiled. "I'm sure Shion already knows that."

"Now, let's search for a replacement." Naruto stated. "Sayuri, as my assistant for the day, get ready to do some work. I need you to go to my archives and find the laws of Demon Country. Find anything you can on replacement."

Sayuri groaned. "I'm on it… This is so not fair."

"I know." Naruto said as Sayuri walked out of the room. "In the meantime, I should-"

"Get ready to meet Sakura for lunch." Naruto frowned before Mei rose. "A promise is a promise, Naruto. Go meet her for lunch as you promised. I'll help Sayuri in the library."

"You're supposed to be on break." Naruto said.

"Think of this as a favor." Mei said walking out of his office.

Naruto sat in his office for a moment, thinking about his earlier conversation. Truthfully, he felt a bit uneasy with Sakura sleeping in the same house as he, even though he was well guarded as well on the opposite side of the estate as she was. She was one of the strongest shinobi he knew and was smarter than she was powerful. She could easily cast a genjutsu on one of the guards and make them slip something into Naruto's food or drink and he would never know. Or worse, she could spray his pillow with Ibuse's poison so when he went to lie down and inhaled, he would be poisoned.

Then again… This was Sakura he was talking about. No matter how badly she has treated him before, she has always put her personal feelings aside for the sake of the mission. Well, sans crying over Sasuke every time the Uchiha got seriously wounded that is. She has even fed him twice when he was unable to do so. And Shiori seemed to trust Sakura as well, so maybe there was hope for her yet.

Rising from his chair, Naruto created a Shadow Clone to remain in the office. He had a lunch to get to.

Sakura saw Ranmaru eat his curry without a worry in the world. The two were seated at a table in a restaurant not too far from the academy, a place Ranmaru was certain Naruto would stop at. Sakura did not order anything yet, waiting on the Kaibunkage.

And just like that, she felt his chakra. It did not grow like he was walking or running towards her, it just popped out of nowhere.

"I told you." Sakura cast Ranmaru a small glare across the table, but he ignored it as he finished his meal. "I have some training to do. I'll be back when your lunch break is over."

Sakura watched Ranmaru rise and then leave, Naruto taking his place.

"I have your forehead protector in my office. Pick it up later today before Ranmaru escorts you to your new home." Naruto spoke.

"Hai, Lord Kaibunkage." Sakura said.

Naruto waved her off. "I'm on break, just as you are. Save the titles for later." Sakura nodded at the statement. "So, how were the little brats? I'm sure they've given you a hard time already."

Sakura sighed. "They are all skilled, but some of them have a real hard time working on squads."

"Everyone wants to shine." the Kaibunkage spoke. "Or at least that's what Sumaru says."

"Since we're off duty," Naruto gave Sakura a questioning look when she paused. "I want to apologize for asking you about your talk with Danzo. You are right. I don't have a right to know."

"You're naturally curious." Naruto sounded as if it was no longer a big deal, though Sakura doubted that he had really forgiven her for prying. "I guess now is a good time to brief you on the entire meeting." Sakura nodded. "The council has found you guilty of several crimes, which is why you're doing community service through your time in the academy. You won't get paid for that."

Sakura's brow twitched annoyingly. She was teaching a group of annoying brats the basics of survival and she was not even getting paid for it?

"However," Naruto stated, recognizing the twitching of the eyebrow. "You will be paid for you job at the hospital as the council found you to be the best suitable replacement for Rin whenever she is not available. As you know, she spends a great deal of her time in her home in Yozora Town. There are herbs that grow naturally around the area which she likes to collect and study."

"Is there anything else I could do?' questioned Sakura. She really did not want to spend her days with academy kids.

Naruto shrugged. "Trade classes with Sasame-chan. But, you'll only be teaching Shiori-chan's class then and that's a worse."

Sakura sighed. She was stuck no matter what.

"There is one more job that I personally want you to have. No one knows this except for me, Mei-chan, Kazudan, Jakken, and Chojuro." Sakura now paid more attention to Naruto. Kazudan and Chojuro were Naruto's and Mei's personal assistants that heard most of the rulings Naruto made with or without the council's knowledge, and Jakken was basically in charge of Shiori's guarding.

"What is it?" Sakura asked.

Naruto seemed to grow serious in a tenth of a blink of an eye.

"I'm promoting you to ANBU." he said in a solemn tone. "You will be stationed in the academy as a cover. Your job is simple. Keep an eye out for anything suspicious around Shiori. If something seems wrong, take care of it quietly. I don't need the village hearing of Shiori's kidnapping or the fact that Akatsuki wants her."

"I understand, but do you think I can do it?" Naruto smiled at her statement.

"Not a doubt in my mind." he told her. "I know for a fact that you would never let anything happen to Shiori, which is good. I need someone of your caliber protecting her. Jakken can only do so much."

"But ANBU seems…"

"This promotion has not been through the council yet. I thought about it on my way here." Naruto told her. "This also keeps you within the village and out of trouble, saving me a load of paper work and time."

Sakura frowned. "Explain."

"Let's say I gave you a simple mission in delivering a birthday card to the Hoshikage," Naruto began his scenario. "You cross into Fire Country and Leaf shinobi attack you. Surviving that, you got ambushed by some renegade Sound jonin who remembers you from the previous fight. Finally, after all of that, you make it into Bear Country, in to Hoshigakure, and they finally put you under arrest for attacking Akahoshi during his temporary reign as leader." Sakura hated that scenario. Even if it was very likely, she knew she could sneak around the countries better than he was making her sound. "I would not only have to send someone to release you, but send a copy of your instatement into Kemuri to both Hoshi and Konoha, as well as asking them for a pardon. Well, Hoshi. I don't really care whether the Hidden Leaf forgives you or not."

"But why would you give me that mission if I weren't an ANBU? I'm clearly better than some carrier mission." Sakura stated.

Naruto smirked. "Because before the promotion, you were just a chunin, and thus that would have been a proper mission to give you, given that we could be at war."

Sakura figured he had a strong point and let the subject drop. If she did her math correctly, the paycheck that being an ANBU gave her, as well as her time in the hospital, should give her enough to survive off of and then some. Plus the promotion gave her access to scrolls within the library that genin and chunin were unable to access.

"Fine. I accept." Sakura said.

"Not like you had much of a choice." Naruto said. Sakura gave a small shrug, thinking about the chances of escaping the village just to prove him wrong. She had a choice. She just chose to stay here. "You need to learn a few things before I let you lose in the village. First thing is first, be prepared for a mixed reception by the people of the village. Some will like you and some will hate you. You are not allowed, under any circumstances, to so much as to raise your hand at a civilian or genin if they should walk up to you after school hours and challenge you. If their rank is chunin or higher, you may defend yourself. Genjutsu, Sakura. No Ibuse and no incurable poisons."

"I don't use incurable poisons. Lethal ones, yes, but I have medicine for every poison I use." Naruto really should not have been surprised at her statement, but for some reason he was. "How else did you expect me to poison you and then drag you back to Konoha alive?"

The question seemed to have slapped the Kaibunkage with a dose of logic. She was crazy, deranged even, but not stupid. She needed him alive and she had the tools to do so.

Too bad for her, she was now stuck in Kemuri.

"Hmm, well that may have been your plans, but it isn't now." the Kaibunkage's words were precise as if he was in a meeting with a leader he did not consider a friend and therefore had to be more proper than he really was. "You are a part of my team, Jakken's team to be more precise. Your duty is-"

"To protect Shiori. I understand." Naruto was not too please about being interrupted, but accepted it anyway. He did not want to take out his frustration with Demon Country out on Sakura. "So… What's good on the menu?"

Sasuke looked around the room. There were several Root members who were determined KIA by the Konoha council, Danzo included. There were a number of Orochimaru's guards as well as Kabuto. And then there was the avenger himself.

"Orochimaru is dead." No one moved as he spoke these words, knowing full well about the plot that Sasuke and Danzo had worked up. "As his successor, I am now leader of Otogakure no Sato."

"You killed him?" asked Suigetsu. Kageno warned him about betrayal amongst Orochimaru's men, but he had never suspected it to be so soon.

"You can say that." said the Uchiha. "Our first order of business is establishing a village."

"That's stupid." Kabuto spoke. It shocked most there to hear him say such a blunt statement. "The Hidden Sound can never be penetrated due to it being a series of labs spread amongst the country. If you centralize it in one particular village then we will be putting ourselves in position for the enemies' attacks."

Danzo snickered. "You're still such an obtuse child. There is more to gain by being recognized by the other hidden villages than by hiding like Orochimaru has had you do for so long."

"No one said to get rid of the labs, Kabuto. We will keep them." Sasuke said. "I won't you to be the overseer of them. Your experiments gave Orochimaru power. Now it's time for you to put them to use for the village."

Kabuto nodded, though he knew that Sasuke was as selfish as Orochimaru, if not more. Sasuke was doing this for himself and no one else. Sooner or later, it would be Kabuto that would probably die by the Uchiha's hands. And that would be the day Sasuke no longer had need for him.

Kabuto smirked. He never thought he'd miss serving Orochimaru so much.

"What do you mean Danzo will be leading us for a while?" Karin asked, bring Kabuto to the current conversation.

"I'm going to take a team out to find someone." Sasuke answered.

"For the village?" this was Jugo who spoke.

"No…" Sasuke said, his Sharingan activating. "I'm finding him for myself." Kabuto frowned in question. "Team Hebi… We are now on the search for Uchiha Itachi."

Kabuto smirked to himself as he glanced at Danzo. Suigetsu only raised his brows as he thought about Kageno's words and how Oto would soon crumble by its own hands. Danzo thought only of using Sasuke to take out Itachi and Nagato before killing Sasuke and ridding the world of the Uchiha Clan once and for all. Yet all three men thought the exact same phrase in their head.

So, it begins.

The blue haired woman stared at her longtime friend and teammate as he studied at the village with a bored stare. The rain that fell around them was quiet and was enhanced with chakra to detect outsiders. But like any normal day, none came to the Village Hidden in the Rain.

"Itachi and Kisame are assigned to the Kyubi," Yahiko, now known as Deva Path, said. "In the wake of their failure, we will go after him next."

Konan nodded. She hardly ever complained about orders, even if she knew for a fact who the container of the Kyubi was. The new child of prophecy… The second Yellow Flash… The Shodai Kaibunkage, Uzumaki Naruto. He had ripped Deidara's arm off, learned how to redirect Gyaku's lightning, and went toe-to-toe with Sasori without so much as breaking a sweat. His power was well-noted by Konan and if he was not the enemy, she would have openly praised him for such.

"Konan, I want you to follow Itachi and Kisame. They are attempting to meet the Kyubi in Demon Country. I want to know just how strong he really is."

Again, Konan nodded. "I understand. Should I help them if they need it?"

"…" The silence alone answered her question, but he still spoke. "No. I doubt that his power could trump their combined force. They, out of all of us, know how to make up for the other's weakness. The Kaibunkage won't be able to defeat them easily, if at all."

Konan went to take her leave. If Nagato believed that Itachi and Kisame could take Naruto and whoever he brought along with him on, then so be it. She would follow his orders dutifully whether she liked them or not.