Chapter 40.

Danzou sat in his usual zone of operation, located in an undisclosed location. He was going over another failed attempt to have Tsunade removed, especially since Minato return was imminent but if all else failed he still had an ace or two he could play to prolong the yellow flash absence. He had managed to do a lot; even under the strict eyes of Minato. Granted, not as much as he could when his idiot of a teammate was in office but enough to make this setback nothing but a small bump in the road. A root nin appeared before him. He tried to hide his displeasure at being so informally interrupted, but seeing as it was one of his information gathering Shinobi he let such disrespect past, even if it was just this one time. The key to having a successful organization is making it clear who was in charge and continuously reminding them. The man walked forward and placed a scroll on his deck, Danzou gave a small nod and the root member disappeared. He filed away a punishment for him later before picking up the bundle, Danzou inspected the scroll for any seals, after all he wouldn't want to waste an eye on something as silly as an exploding scroll. Satisfied with his inspection he continued to open it. He read through the scroll thoroughly before setting it on fire as he finished reading it.

"Fu." The Yamanaka servant quickly appeared before his leader. "I have a mission for you." The nin didn't bother replying. "Yesterday a new village that goes by the name of Asguard announced its status as a new village, it has ties with both the land of snow, and Gestsugakure. You could see how that could be a problem" The man gave no outer reaction, as expected of a root higher up.

The Yamanaka nodded. "You're mission is to infiltrate the village find out who is in charge and if presented with the opportunity eliminate him or her. Take two others with you, each of you will visit every village they are aligned too. Their orders are the same as yours, move out I expect a positive outcome." The Nin quickly vanished.

Danzou cursed as he thought it over, this explains why the land of wave had been so hard to reach. He had warned Minato that the land of wave was up to something but he had refused to listen, and now they had a sword less than a day's trip away. They also had Getsugakure to worry about another land only a small days travel away, and with snow country being located just off shore if they managed to send troops through boats and made them enter the land of fire through either of those ports Konoha would be hard pressed to defend itself. Once again the weakness displayed by the Hokage was putting the village in harm's way, but he wasn't completely surprised that this happened no; he was just waiting for it to happen. The fact that the Kyuubi child and the Uchiha both ran out was the only thing he didn't expect. After all, he arraigned for Orochimaru to take Sasuke, before the snake betrayed his trust by having the village attacked. Ignoring the headache that came along with dealing with criminals he thought over the blonde Uzumaki that jumped ship. In reality he was hoping the friendship he had formed with the younger generation and being under the care of Kushina will cause the blonde to chase after the Uchiha in hopes of retuning him home. Now that burden fell on Nami, and her being the Jinchuriki of the nine tails made dealing with the Uchiha that much harder especially with them.

Danzou sighed a small one unnoticeable to the guards in the room. Losing Minato son was a blow to Konoha, he had talent and the way he did things was the way a Shinobi was supposed to do, even blowing up the stadium in order to try and kill Gaara in one hit was correct, but he also knew the kid was now a bigger threat then Itachi.

Brining his hands to his chin, he sat in thought before he picked up an empty scroll and began to jot down some information, usually he wouldn't be so forward in his attempts at power but the threat that these three village formed even if none of them together could take down Konoha they were still a threat, and threats were supposed to be dealt with, so he finished writing and stamped it before placing a small seal array at the bottom of the page and writing a check for several million Ryos he signed it and attached it to a bird, who took the message and flew away.

The land of keys will have answers and when they answer, I will use every single ounce of information to destroy who ever dared create a village so close to my land.

Minato woke up, his eyes were out of focus, it took a couple of minutes but after awhile they came into focused. He took note of the fact he could see in greater detail, it must've been a side effect of becoming a jinchuriki. Looking to his left he saw a cup of water laid out for him but along with that he saw all the machines that he guessed were used to stabilize him. He struggled to sit up straight, using every ounce of power he could he brought the cup to his mouth and finished it, the feeling of being full quickly overwhelmed him and he threw up right on the sheets.

"You're awake." Minato head shot to the left where Shizune was standing looking at her clipboard as she checked off things. "Most people will sip their water after being out for a week, you managed to chug it all down in one gulp." She said giggling. Minato didn't share her sentiments as he laid back down in his bed the room now spinning.

"Here take this." Shizune said bringing her hand to his mouth and forcing a couple of pills down. "They should help with the headaches, Tsunade made them. During the operation you were losing a lot of blood and in order to maintain you alive she was forced to use a lot of blood to replace you're already lost supply, which was a lot, for lack of better words you're basically have a whole new blood supply and you're body is still getting used to it, not to mention the excess chakra you now have thanks to the one tails." Shizune said offhandedly, like the thought of losing almost all your blood and having a whole new supply wasn't a big deal.

"Gee, thanks." Minato replied, Shizune giggled at that too.

"Now wait here while I go and grab Tsunade." she promptly walked out not letting Minato respond.

Minato sighed as the pills kicked in and he immediately felt better, the soreness was gone, his stomach didn't feel as tight, and the scent of vomit almost made him throw up again. Tossing the sheets off of him, he noticed he was in a hospital gown, getting up he took note that it was a lot easier to do so, doing a mental note to have Tsunade give him a bottle of those pills he walked over to a closet; he found his clothes, he promptly put them on before looking out the window and noticed it was pouring rain.

"Enjoying the view?" Minato paled as he heard the dangerous tone in Tsunade voice. Minato scratched the back of his head, before looking at Tsunade who didn't come alone in fact she came with both Shizune and Jiraiya. Noticing that the sage refused to make eye contact with him made him uneasy but he shook it off. Tsunade frowned thinking she was being ignored before walking over to the fourth and began a full body scan. It took a little more chakra since Minato decided to put his clothes on but it only took her a couple of minutes to finished. Nodding she went over to the board and read over what Shizune wrote.

"Said's here you woke up feeling dizzy, and that you through up?" Tsunade said taking a small look at Minato.

"Yes but the pills you made cleared all of that and I feel good as new." Tsunade nodded, grateful her pills worked. She continued to read over the clipboard before stopping when it got to the surgery details as she already knew them being the one to perform the procedure. Taking a deep breath, she looked over at Minato.

"A lot has happened since you've been sleeping." Tsunade started the fourth frowned already not liking her tone. Jiraiya stepped up.

"I would like to explain it to him Hime, is the least I could do." Tsunade nodded, not really use to this serious side to Jiraiya.

"Shizune if you could-"

"Understood." Shizune said already leaving the room. Jiraiya waited till he heard the door click before looking back at the man that he thought of as a son.

"You're not going to like this." Jiraiya then proceeded to tell him everything that had happened. He didn't hold anything back every single detail including the warrant for Naruto arrest that was filed by Konoha civil police for the killing of 300 plus civilians, that cost the village millions in settlement checks as the killing took place at a village event; where the only ones that were supposed to die were shinobi, not to mention Naruto killed more people than the whole invasion, where Konoha had only lost a total of 96 shinobi he had killed 300 civilians, and zero enemies. He then told them about the bounty placed on Naruto and then he continued to tell them about the news of the new wave village, which he had a suspicion Naruto was a part of. By the end Minato was sitting down on his bed, with his hands running through his hair.

Minato took a moment to think it over before looking at Tsunade. "What moves have you made towards capturing Sasuke and Naruto?" Tsunade frowned before telling him about the team she had sent out, since they were short on jounin. Understanding Minato got up. Jiraiya frowned.

"You aren't planning to interfere right? After all you are still recovering from having a Biju sealed in you, for all you know you're a teleportation away from blowing up and killing yourself; while letting the beast free." Jiraiya argued.

"I have to risk it." Minato said getting up, Tsunade frowned before helping Jiraiya out.

"There are bigger problems then Sasuke, not to mention you don't even know where Naruto is." Minato wanted to argue with that but it was true he could feel Nami beacon nice and clear it was far away but it was there but Naruto's was all but gone, the last place his signal went off was at the Hokage monument.

"What do you mean there are bigger problems?" Minato said accepting his sensei advice. Jiraiya cut in.

"This new village, they call themselves Asguard, they are aligned with Getsugakure and have signed a treaty and alliance with the Land of Snow, not only did they help the snow country get rid of their tyrant leader, they installed a new queen who is rumored to be engage to the leader of Asgard. You could see how this could be a problem." Minato nodded. During the previous damiyo reign they were getting reports of large amounts of metal, and rare minerals being transported to the land of snow. They also knew that the man was planning to take over or at least attack one of the main village and with the amount of weapons they had been producing it didn't seem like a far stretch. But all of the hidden village ignored them just because of the fact the land of snow had no allies and were alone. Now that has changed, their threat level was just boosted from let them do as they please, too we have to shut it down. But now that they were partnered with two other villages; one of which came out of nowhere and the other cutting ties with them years ago, it made shutting it down three times as hard. Not one to be overwhelmed he thought of all the necessary hokage protocols before looking at Jiraiya.

"What are they're GFP, and PWRINDX." Jiraiya thought it over. GFP stands for Global Fire Power, this was determined to see how threatening they were, and the PWRINDX was the power index. In order the top dogs were Kumo, Konoha, Iwa, Mist and then Suna. Doing the numbers he frowned.

"Individually none of them stand a chance, but together they're GFP stands around a six on a one to ten scale, and they're power index falls just short of passing Suna .With a rational of .3076 but these numbers could change in three years." Minato frowned again, it was almost too convenient that all of these things were happening now. Whoever was behind this was counting on them being too weak, or too tied up in internal affairs to handle something as global as them. Then he went over what Jiraiya said which was his son was in a way connected to them. It made sense, all of Uzu fortune left by Kushina father was gone. Gato shipping company all of their funds also gone right after the wave mission, Kushina complaining that Naruto was spending more time out the house. All the mission extension Naruto had asked for during his time in SPEAK. But narrowing it down too just a kid was laughable, Naruto may be involved but he had help. Lots of it. Naruto escaping, killing the civilians. All out of character for someone as docile as Naruto unless he was playing them the whole time. Balling his hand into a fist he cursed. Another problem was Sasuke defecting, Orochimaru retreating, Danzou trying to get rid of Tsunade, Asguard declaring themselves a global village. Usually these request could be denied if they didn't reach the necessary GFP and PWRINDX but they had just enough of both to be unquestionable. It was almost like they didn't want to do too much to catch the 'Bad' attention but just enough to be 'viewed'. They were basically sticking their toe in hot water, and only letting the fish see a fragment of what they really had, and they were the fish.

Keeping such thoughts to himself he changed the topic.

"What of the mist village? Mei was hurt right?"Tsunade frowned.

"Yes, she was. She has accepted our bail out which was a large sum of money, building them an academy also forking over a couple of the islands we owned near their village." Minato groaned. "She also asked to place Naruto as a missing nin in her Bingo book with a catch on sight order, with a considerable amount of money on his head, but just the fact that he shares your last name..." Tsunade let that linger. Minato frowned he almost wished he didn't wake up.

"That sounds fair enough, who would be the ambassador?" Tsunade frowned.

"Danzou, I sent him along with Shikaku and Kakashi." Minato looked at her quizzically.

"Sending that war hawk to negotiate peace? That wasn't smart lady Tsunade." Minato said a little peeved Tsuande would make such a bargain. Tsunade growled.

"It was the only way to shut him up about you still being Hokage and having Konoha attacked knowing the attack was coming, not to mention the fact he was using Naruto and Sasuke as another one of your mishaps. Plus he has Shikaku backing him who is a loud voice in those chambers." Seeing Minato flinch she used a softer voice.

"I didn't want to make that decision as much as you do but all papers are already written all he has to do is hand them to the Mizukage, and even he isn't dumb enough to do something to a Kage, not to mention doing anything that could reflect badly on Konoha as an ambassador, is a crime which could lead to considerable jail time. With all the shit we have on him he'll think twice before doing anything silly." Tsunade barked, a little peeved that Minato would second guess her decision after forcing her to become his fill in and not saying thank you instead.

Minato frowned but nodded. "I'm sorry for second guessing you Tsunade-sama. But I do have another request, this one a little more permanent." Tsunade frowned already not liking it.

"What?" She regretted asking the minute it came out.

"I would like you to become the official fifth Hokage, I am resigning as the fourth." Right as he finished that sentence Homura and Koharu walked in with two police men behind them. Homura spoke first.

"Resignation accepted. Lord Fourth you are a wanted criminal for the murder of Hiruzen Sarutobi." Jiraiya and Tsunade leveled Minato with a glare.

Koyuki was angry you could see it in her face as the boat that was supposed to fetch her fiancé came back empty. In all reality she didn't know why she was so angry they had only met once for a small amount of time but the thought of seeing Naruto made her stomach turn, there was no way she liked him but every single day she thought about him her emotions in the form of butterflies fluttered. She kept remembering the night they spent in the hotel, remembering the night she couldn't help but blush.

Flashback

Koyuki frowned as they arrived in the room they shared it was in the best hotel the wave village had to offer, with a panoramic view of the city and the oceans as boats came and left, the design was more modern with heated flooring and lights that were dimmed but could be brighten with just sliding your finger up or down any wall. there was a giant couch in the living room that was beautifully decorated the floor was black tiles and velvet leather couches that faced the giant screen, something she despised watching since she spent so much time in it. There was a balcony that let you see over the city and it was located so high that you could see other village's lights at night. It was amazing and if she realized something was that Naruto didn't care for none of it.

"You don't seem awed, look at the view." Koyuki said walking over to one of the huge couches and sat down looking over the water, the waves splashing against the sand relaxed her, she was so caught up on luxury she didn't notice Naruto never answered her. There was a static before music started playing across the room it was a classic almost melancholic opera sound, and the lady singing had a beauty sweet but strong voice. Looking over at her fake fiancé too be she couldn't believe it was Naruto who played it. He was leaning against a wall with his shirt off, showing off his toned physique, his tattoo giving him almost a dark look his red hair falling freely down his back, she looked away realizing she was staring. Hiding her blush she got off, and fanned her face hoping to cool her heating cheeks.

She decided to tour the house alone since Naruto didn't offer too. She smirked when the first door she opened brought her to a wine room, there was wine on either side, she realized none of them were touched all perfect with the labels aligned and she grabbed a gold bottle the only brand she recognized which was hard since she was so use to the cheap bar wines, she uncorked it, looking around she was amazed to find a couple of wine glasses all decorating the wall, picking the widest one, she began to pour it. Exiting the room she continued her trek. One she noticed this wasn't a regular condo as there were personal pictures of Naruto with Zabuza and Haku. In some of them they were fishing or cutting the band to a new restaurant or just Naruto smiling looking goofy which she found hard to accept as real. She continued down the hall and realized it was a photo gallery, each moment being a key part in the construction of the village he looked happy in most but in others he maintained his usual careless face, usually when he was in a picture with people besides Haku or Zabuza.

'They must mean a lot to him' she said out loud.

"They do." Naruto said appearing behind her, she jumped up tossing the wine and the bottle in the air time seem to stop before it sped up and the next moment Naruto was holding a bottle of wine in his hand with the wine in the glass all over his torso. But the glass did not hit the floor as Naruto managed to catch it in-between his toes. All in all it was a comical sight and Koyuki couldn't help giggling.

"You should be more cautious." Naruto said handing her the bottle and the glass as he walked out of the room no doubt to clean himself off.

Koyuki blushed as she saw him walk away, his muscular back flexing with each swing of an arm. She watched him walk out before turning her attention back to the photo, she saw many pictures some of Naruto just alone looking over the ocean, then there was a picture of when the Asgard building was built Naruto was standing on top of if looking over the unfinished village. But she also noticed that the more time passed the less he smiled until the last picture. Which must've been taken recently as Naruto was wearing the clothes she was accustomed to him wearing. He was standing next to a man, you Couldn't make out his face due to his hood covering most of it but she noticed that Naruto although calm his eyes showed a lot more, something short of accomplishment.

Looking closer she could see that he was, she couldn't quite put her finger on it as she searched for the proper words before she heard the door open. It was a simple maid no doubt sent by Naruto too clean up the mess on the floor. She apologized for the floor and the maid waived it off saying it's nothing, that the whole village owed Naruto so much more. Nodding although she didn't quite understand how a 14 year old could be owed anything, she left the room.

The other rooms were just guess rooms with your regular bed and drawer, she did notice that all of these beds had one thing in common they were dusty almost untouched like no one had ever slept there. Reaching what she guess was the master bedroom she was surprised to find Naruto playing the piano, his room just like the living room allowed you to see over the village. Looking over the village she recognized the sound it was the melody to the song that was playing through the sound system.

He was still shirtless and she couldn't help feeling like she was watching a god play for her, as the sun was setting and the ray of light was glistening off his chest. The melody was coming to an end as its pace climax he proceeded to move his fingers and arms across the keys before with one last touch the song ended. Another song began but Naruto closed the piano shut.

"You have developed the bad habit of staring at me. Do I look like a puzzle to you? Have I caught your attention in the better part of a day to the point that you will drool over me so quickly?" Naruto asked his face indifferent but the cocky smile he sported made Koyuki feel like he already felt he had nailed it. Not willing to allow him such pleasures, she huffed.

"You're a couple inches to young and short for me." The child inside of her did a back flip and congratulated her on such a good comeback that will knock down that arrogant sexy bastard. Ignoring the sexy part she nodded.

Naruto for the most part looked unfazed. "I thought such crude jokes were beneath a queen?'

Koyuki blushed, she didn't know if he was being serious or not as he was looking at her waiting for a reply.

"Well I-" Naruto cut in.

"It doesn't matter. Come, walk with me." Koyuki face turned bright red at being so easily dismissed. She didn't realize she was in the room alone till the door clicked. Growling and running after him to give him a piece of her mind she was stopped in her tracks when she found him in the kitchen sitting down on the table with a maid cooking dinner.

"Take a seat." He said pointing to the seat across from him, his tone sent a chill through her body, trying to act like she only did as she wanted. Koyuki took the seat next to him ignoring the small stare Naruto gave her.

The maid laid out the table, she made Naruto favorite which was the usual a bowl of fruits with chicken's pieces inside it and a bowl of ramen. For Koyuki the woman made a classic Japanese dish that was common for people in the land of snow and she almost smiled before remembering her father and said thank you before, she was served and she dug in.

Naruto ate in silence and finished all of his food. Looking over at Koyuki he noticed that she was gorgeous and he really never looked at another girl like that since Hinata.

"Look who's staring now." She said, smirking when Naruto nodded.

"I was admiring your beauty. My sensei told me that woman from the land of snow were gorgeous tenacious creatures. So far you have proven his claims accurate." Naruto answered truthfully taking a little pleasure in Koyuki blush.

"Did your mom not tell you it's impolite to insult a woman?" She asked, a little peeved she was called a creature.

"I was not aware I had insulted you." Naruto said, Koyuki smirked.

"So you're finally talking. I was beginning to think you were different." Naruto smirked ignoring the small jab at his sexuality.

"Aren't you a little too friendly with someone that could potentially end your life." Naruto said staring into Koyuki eyes. He saw no fear which was rare.

"You wouldn't kill me." The next moment she was softly pinned to the wall by Naruto who managed to spread her legs for they hugged around his waist. Naruto brought his mouth to her ears before softly whispering.

"I think you're to trusting princess." With that Naruto walked to the living room. And laid down on the couch, staring over the village.

Koyuki stood shock that she was so easily man handled, she had also never been more turned on in her life. she also went to sit down on the couch. They sat in silence, before Koyuki talked.

"You promised me in the contract that you will never hurt me." Naruto didn't reply immediately instead opting to look over the village until the sun was fully set and the city lights came on lighting up each district little by little. Koyuki rolled her eyes at Naruto, she thought she was making progress. It was obvious she would be nothing but a stress reliever for him. The thought alone pained her, although she wasn't pure anymore the thought of being used in such a way didn't sit well in her conscious. Bitting her lips she decides to just wait it out, he'll respond sooner or later. letting that sit in the air, she was only slightly surprised when Naruto took his eyes of the village and stared at her.

"I did not realized I had hurt you." Their was little remorse in his voice, obviously there was no physical pain, he made sure of that but mentally it was a whole different story. In fact he knew he didn't hurt her, but he also didn't know what type of pain she was talking about. Koyuki frowned, none of them believed that bullshit.

Koyuki walked over to him, before she straddled him, smirking as his body tensed and so did something else. Before lowering her head till it hovered just above his, her hair covering everything around them.

"I think you're too trusting Emperor." She said revealing a knife she was hiding in her dress and brought it to his neck. Naruto stared into her eyes, he saw no fear.

Koyuki heart was beating fast as she now held all the power, with one slide she could end it and it will all be over but looking into his eyes made her stop. There was no fear.

she leaned in about to kiss him but found herself under Naruto with his body pressed against her and him keeping true to his promise, gently removed the knife from her hand.

"I'm sleepy." With that Naruto got up and walked out. Leaving a very disappointed and blushing Koyuki on the couch to think over why she didn't kill him.

Flashback end

"That bastard!" Koyuki yelled before slumping into her seat. Looking over the book on her table the urge to kill Naruto increased. The book held different pictures of different wedding dresses, or Kimono. She wanted a more modern traditional wedding getting the feeling that it was something Naruto would prefer but doing everything alone, while also sending out invitations and making sure her bridesmaids dresses fit eveyone and picking out the groomsmen apparel, which she wasn't even sure Naruto wanted groomsmen. Which led to more problems, like what was Naruto favorite color and does it compliment hers. What did Naruto consider to be the perfect song to wrap up the night? She had a feeling, his reply to all of that would be.

"Do as you wish." She said out loud using a cold tone, giggling to herself at being so spot on in Naruto impressions. She sighed again. Even if she was just going to be a figure head slash sex slave she still wanted her first wedding to be amazing. After all it was every girls dream. It was unfortunate that both of their parent wouldn't be there. That thought alone brought her to another conclusion. Naruto didn't keep any pictures of his family; but he also never bad mouthed them. Every time Zabuza will bring them up he wouldn't really seem bothered but you could tell he wanted the conversation to be over and done with.

Flipping a couple of the pages she came to a beautiful strapless white dress, it was completely western but the way it pop out made her eyes turn to hearts. This was the one, of course she didn't want it to be that fluffy or be that round at the bottom but she could custom it to better fix her style.

Looking up at the woman that was supposed to help her pick out the dress she pointed to the dress before sliding the book over and letting the old lady inspect it. The woman was the best wedding planner in the land of snow. She looked to be in her early Eighties and the fact she had to wear glasses almost as big as her head, and still had to bring the book up to her face didn't give Koyuki any piece of mind.

"Such a wonderful dress, ironic that you will pick the dress your mother wore." The lady said, Koyuki raised an eyebrow that was new.

"You planned my mother's wedding?" The old lady managed to pull out measuring tape from who knows where and immediately started to measure Koyuki. A little annoyed the old lady was having her way with her she cleared her throat and continued.

"So did you?" Koyuki asked, raising both her arms in the air as instructed while holding her breath and staying still.

"Yes, she was a gorgeous woman, looked exactly like you although more voluptuous." Koyuki shot the old lady a glare. "What? It's true. And apparently you both have a taste for men that could care less what happens in the wedding. I remember your mother going crazy while the Damiyo slept like a baby." The old lady chuckled to herself as she finished measuring the queen and proceeded to write the measurements down.

Koyuki had a hard time picturing her father as one to let others do all the work but figured it was just a guy thing. They just didn't care as much as they did. Naruto hasn't even sent a letter to ask if it was really still going to happen in a months' time. Which further aggravated her, he wouldn't even talk to her. He thinks he could just show up the day of the wedding, say I do and then have his way with her! She'll show him how to treat a lady properly! The lady seeing Koyuki turning red out of nowhere decided it was best to leave and order the materials to make the dress. After all she only had a month to sow a dress, plan a wedding get the seating right and most of all get the fucking machine to work.

Koyuki sighed as she slumped back into her chair. She no longer jumped when random people appeared in front of her, in fact she was starting to sense them even if it was just a little.

"What brings you hear Yukimi?" Koyuki asked looking at one of her most loyal guards, she had started to view her as more of a friend then a person that will die for her but the seriousness the girl always carried herself kept getting in the way of their bonding. Sometimes she just wanted to get a pedicure, and then walk the town with a friend visit some of the hot springs the land of snow was famous for but Yukimi found all of that to be unprofessional of a shinobi tasked with protecting her life. Yay me.

Yukimi noticed the scowl on Koyuki faced but didn't comment on it as she was still in uniform later on when she was not, she'll have her fill in all the juicy deets. Ignoring the pout on Koyuki face when she closed the book in front of her she reached into her pockets and produced three scrolls.

"From Naruto." With that she vanished again. Taking her spot outside of her door, she would usually stay closer to the queen but since it was something directly from the emperor she figured it'll be better to give the queen some privacy.

Koyuki grabbed one of the scrolls and opened them.

It started with.

"My favorite color is blue." Koyuki smiled a small one, as she finished the whole letter. Again she couldn't believe how much of an enigma Naruto was, even from this distance he still managed to read her like a book. Reading all of the scrolls she was surprised that Naruto would willingly tell her everything that has happen. Nanami getting her own village, Konoha placing him in the bingo book, the amount of pushups he's been doing every morning. Little things that most people would over look but not her. He gave her just enough and talked about enough people to realize Naruto was telling her who he wanted as best man. Which was Zabuza, and the mysterious man. Also he didn't outright say it but he wanted her to take into consideration adding both Nanami and Haku to her bridesmaid. Which wasn't a problem since the only one she had in mind was her head of security. Smirking she looked over her village.

"So he has a heart, a frozen one with cracks in it but its there." She whispered to the wind.

"Yes, I guess you could say that. In fact that is a perfect definition of his heart. I'll be sure to tell him you said that. He'll find the jab... Amusing."

Turning around in an instant she was surprised to see the hooded man from the pictures. Looking at him in amazement she didn't even get angry when he took a seat without permission.

"I guess Naruto already told you about your staring problem." The man said nonchalantly. Koyuki frowned.

"I could see where he got his humor from." If the man was insulted he didn't show it, as his reply was spoken in a happy go lucky tone that she could tell just didn't go with him.

"You're a smart one!" He said staring into the cold eyes of Koyuki a small grin spreading across his face but she couldn't see it.

"Why are you here? Naruto didn't mention your visit in his letters." The man looked shock.

"If he did I would kill him. Just the fact that he wrote you makes me want to kill him as he was supposed to... Collect something for me. Yeah that works." Koyuki was confused.

"What do you mean, suppose too? If he's not doing what you asked then where is he?" The man shrugged.

"Who knows probably on his way here, probably on his way to Suna, maybe on his way to meet someone else? Lord knows." The man said honestly, not that Koyuki would know he was being honest since all three of those things were a possibility.

"Why are you here and not looking for him? He said in his letters a lot of people were looking for him. Bad people. That wanted to do bad things to him." The man broke into full blown laughter. Koyuki grew angry slamming her fist on her desk.

"What's so funny?" the sound of the bang on the desk caused all the security detail to appear in her office, weapons drawn pointing at the intruder while Koyuki was forced against the wall with three ninjas placed in front of her. The man looked around.

"Smart girl, you knew by slamming your fist onto the table your security would come to your aid." Koyuki didn't confirm nor deny it, but the man wasn't looking for confirmation.

"The reason I was laughing was because I just couldn't picture Naruto saying any of that, in that order or ever. Maybe you have brought something out of him, in what one day you spent with him? Must've been a good time then." Letting the innuendo linger in the air he smiled again.

"Awaiting orders your highness." One of the guards said. Koyuki frown.

"He's Naruto mentor. As much as I want to kill him, explaining to Naruto why his mentor was attacked wouldn't be fun. Plus death before a wedding is a bad omen." Koyuki said taking her seat: the guard forming a protective circle around her forming a form of barricade.

"Why are you here?" Koyuki ask this time with a more direct tone. The man giggled.

"I came to make sure my Tuxedo went well with my hood or have it customized to make it look good with my hood, I don't really like showing my face." Koyuki grilled the man for any deception, but Naruto did mention his mentor didn't like showing his face.

"Fine. I will have Lady Fiji help you. You'll be staying at the Crystal hotel, tell them the queen sent you." Giggling at such a rude dismissal he walked out.

"You should make more regular friends." One of the security added. Nodding she turned back to her books as they returned to their post.

'I wonder what shade of blue he likes the most. Melancholy? Maybe a sky blue or navy." Koyuki thought over before shaking her head. "No those are all too casual. Dammit Naruto, you did this on purpose!' slamming her head onto her desk she thought if Naruto was having a better time than her.

Catching an incoming rock in hand Naruto crushed it as he continued to watch his sister and Sasuke duke it out. For the most part it was a lot of talking, then they'll clash then some more talking but things were heating up as he watched Sasuke channel more of that strange chakra while Nami was already in her Kekkei genkai level one and was starting to mix it with the Kyuubi chakra which must've taken a lot of practice as to not give in to her kekkei genkai already primal instincts. Taking a seat again he sat down, releasing the crumbs of rock to the floor. They were fighting serious now.

Nami cursed when she came to the realization that Sasuke was no longer listening to words and she will have to beat him up and drag him back, not just for her but for Sakura something about her tone when she asked for Sasuke to be brought back alive resonated with her. It made her realize something about her dream of being Hokage, everyone in the village was precious even those that weren't seeing the light, a hokage had to protect all of them at the cost of her happiness and she might be handicap as Sasuke was obviously aiming to kill her. How could she be hokage when she can't even save a friend from himself?

She noticed Sasuke was beginning to channel more of the curse mark energy and frowned. She was already using her Kekkei Genkai and to be honest she was just keeping up, Sasuke was on equal par with Naruto who she always lagged slightly behind deciding that losing to Sasuke would be like losing to her treacherous brother she found her resolved and started to channel the Kyuubi chakra. The beast was more than willing to comply. The chakra formed a shroud around her before she activated her stage two taking on lizard skin and her eyes went slit before going from green to red. She looked over at Sasuke and noticed that he looked more like a witch with wings, her primal instinct fueled by the Kyuubi blood lust, she charged.

The next second a sonic boom went across the valley as two fist clashed, the water around them exploding. They fought for dominance before Nami overwhelmed Sasuke and pushed his fist back using the Uchiha surprise she attempted a devastating high leg sweep, which Sasuke wing managed to block but the force was enough to send Sasuke flying into the statue of the first sinking him into the marble a couple of inches. Not letting up she formed a Rasengan before shooting forward and smashed the Rasengan into the hole, there was a bright light before the statue exploded. Nami jumped out of the way as Sasuke threw a couple of Shuriken at her, she didn't notice the ninja wire till it was too late before they wrapped around her tightly. Sasuke frowned as he one of his wings was torn to pieces wincing as it regrew he went through hand signs.

Katon: Dragon fire technique

The flame followed the wire trail before engulfing Nami, Sasuke didn't seem surprise when all he burned was a log. Looking around he was caught off guard when Nami flashed in front of him.

'No way she learned-' His thought process was cut off as Nami delivered a nasty hook to his face sending him crashing across the water, she didn't let up teleporting to him again this time delivering a leg drop right to the head. Sasuke blacked out for a second as his body was rocketed several feet into the river. Looking up he saw Nami jump high into the air before there was a red glow.

'Is this it?' Sasuke thought as sunk deeper into the water. Choking as water went into his nose he didn't fight it as he sank deeper. 'Is this IT!' before black chakra exploded out of him, using all his speed he dodged a Kyuubi chakra covered rasengan grabbing Nami wrist he flipped her sending her flying onto the semi destroyed first statue. The ball smashed into the statue before completely obliterating the first head. Cursing that Nami had such a strong technique. He jumped away just on time as the Nami he sent flying exploded into smoke revealing it was a clone, another Nami broke out from the water and attempted an uppercut. Sasuke smirk his sharingan helping him predict such a move he did a back flip making sure to give Nami a hard kick to the chin which sent her skidding away from him.

Nami cursed as she came to a halt and struggled to get up. Her eyes faltered for a second turning to their regular green before turning back.

'Dammit! Almost reaching the limit! That training with Kasaan wore me out.' Sasuke smirked when he saw the Kyuubi chakra start to recede.

"It seems your reaching you're limit!" Nami didn't respond instead opting to reveal a small scroll.

"I don't need the Kyuubi to beat you." Sasuke smirked but didn't reply instead he shot forward at twice the speed as earlier, grabbing Nami by the neck with one hand and lifting her off her feet.

"Shut up." Before charging his Chidori with the other and stabbing it threw the neck. Getting a small pleasure at the blood that dripped from his hand, he easily tossed the log away Nami used to replace herself with, looking at the blood he smiled.

'I got her.'

Nami breathed deeply at the small hole in her chest cavity, it was more of a dent as her armor managed to hold but it wasn't at its strongest and she paid for it. Placing her hand on her chest she cursed at turning Tsunade help down. She didn't get to curse herself out some more as Sasuke punched her in the mouth loosening up a couple of teeth, she couldn't dwell on that either as Sasuke continued his assault before she yelled in pain as her back smashed into the side of the mountain noticing she was printed into the wall she curled up as Sasuke delivered a vicious punch to her stomach sinking her deeper into the mountain side.

"You" He punched her face.

"Are" He placed his hand behind her neck before pushing her head down and kneeing her in the forehead busting her open.

"Pathetic." Seeing Nami go limp he delivered another kick to the back of her head and let her smash into the rocks at the bottom. Jumping down he charged up a Chidori.

Nami gaped for air, the hole in her chest leaking blood and her mouth busted, she could almost hear the Kyuubi raging in her mindscape. Her kekkei genkai deactivated showing off all the black and blue and bruises she was handled including the ones from Kushina. Realizing that everything was going black she sighed.

'I wonder if my dad would be proud of me.' With that she let consciousness leave her as she turned her head to look at Sasuke who was walking slowly towards her with a Chidori in hand, giving him a smile she mouthed something stopping him in his tracks.

"That's enough Sasuke." Kabuto said as he appeared from the Forrest. Sasuke looked at the glasses wearing man before ignoring him and continuing his trek, standing over Nami he looked over her broken body before raising his hand and brought it down the black lighting chirping loudly but it never reached its target as his hand was held.

"Let go of me." Sasuke said as his grey sharingan pierced the eyes of Kabuto. The man for his part just smirked.

"As fun as letting you kill Nami would be, Kakashi will be here any second now. And I have no desire to return to Orochimaru with news of your death, so let's go don' forget who your real goal is." Those words seemed to resonate with Sasuke as his chidori disappeared and the marks receded. It was never a fair fight to begin with but he took some pride in seeing Nami broken body. Smirking he nodded and turned around.

"I'll follow you." Kabuto nodded before jumping away not before looking up at the top of Madara head where he saw a red headed man looking down on them. Taking the man lack of action as a sign that he didn't care he and Sasuke jumped away.

Naruto looked at Nami body and frowned he could already feel Kakashi approaching so he didn't bother trying to help even from here he could already see the hole close up and some of the bruises disappear. Turning around he took one last look in the direction Sasuke left, mission failure. Sasuke Uchiha was not an ally. With that the clone dispersed to tell the original what transpired.

Naruto scuffed at the memory he got from the clone. The person sitting in front of him eyeing him suspiciously his sharingan glowing in the dimly lit room.

"It seems your brother succeeded in leaving the village and is on his way to Orichimaru." Naruto said he didn't bother looking at the man, instead opting to look at a red head sitting in a stool by the Bar.

"Is she a friend of yours?" Naruto shook his head.

"No, but she wants to become." The man didn't bother asking him to elaborate.

"Why have you called me here?" Naruto lost interest in the girl as she left with another man and he set his eyes on the man in front of him.

"I was asked to recruit an Uchiha and I felt your brother was not up to the task at hand." Naruto said as he watched the man in front of him frown. He decided to ignore that 'mans' advice, going after Sasuke was a lost cause. Not to mention he had no desire in working with anyone that still held bonds with the village he departed, not to mention Sasuke was not trust worthy, something Orochimaru would learn.

"I am in no position to leave my post, doing so would paint a larger, more deadly bullseye on me then killing of the entire Uchiha clan." The man said taking a sip of his tea.

Naruto nodded. "We could offer you the necessary protection if it came to that."

The man nodded before he got up.

"We'll see." Naruto watched the man walk out before he caught up with him and passed him a scroll.

"Those are the coordinates to our next meeting point, be there in a week. I will wait for 5 minutes before I leave. Tie up any loose ends before you come, Itachi." With that Naruto walked out the same door the red head from earlier did.

Itachi tucked the scroll into his pocket. Walking out the cavern, not at all surprised when an explosion went off on the other side.

Walking over to Kisame who was waiting for him outside he nodded. The shark man pierced him with a questioning glare.

"It is not our fight." Itachi replied continuing his trek as another explosion went off this time destroying half of the cavern. Kisame pouted at not being able to join in on the fun and followed Itachi.

"So what exactly did he talk to you about?" Kisame asked eyeing his teammate suspiciously. Reading through Kisame threat he answered.

"An opportunity to hunt down both the host of the Kyuubi no Yoko."

...

On the other side of the cavern. Naruto rubbed the dust of his clothes as some of the debris from his last Jutsu landed on him. Hearing a person gasping for air under him he released the pressure he had on his leg, which was currently squeezing the neck of said woman from earlier. The man she left with lying in a pool of blood in the middle of the cavern, his body the obvious cause of the hole in the wall.

Naruto looked down at the girl her red eyes made him frown, that wasn't a regular eye color. It was common in his old home, but if anyone from there was alive and managed to become a shinobi he would've found them or at least heard of them. The girl struggled against his foot and he pressed harder to make sure she wouldn't escape. He had half a mind to kill her but killing off another Uzumaki just didn't sit right with him. But he needed questions answered, obviously hiding someone like her the way they did meant she was valuable. He had ripped a portion of her shirt earlier during the scuffle, the bite marks littered across her upper body was prominent. She must've been part or related to a special breed of Uzumaki that were in charge of not only the IT but also the hospital due to their spiritual chakra. Some of them could even unlock his family chakra chains if they were talented enough.

"Is this how you treat a lady? You jerk!" The girl said as she clamped her hands on Naruto leg in hopes to remove it, she grunted when she felt him press harder on her chest.

"No, this is how I treat girls that spy on me and bring wannabe assassins in hopes of killing me." Naruto said his Sekai activated his killing intent flaring. The girl eyes went wide as his chakra spiked; she could feel him channeling chakra too his feet and slowly letting it leak into her. She waited for the worst but surprisingly all she felt was a warm tingly feeling as her body began to react to the chakra.

It took a minute for her to notice what he was doing until she raised her head but he quickly pressed down harder.

"Don't move." The chakra burned momentarily before she just accepted her fate and laid her head on the floor. The tingly sensation continued for a couple of more minutes before the pressure on her chest was lifted and the man was already walking away from her.

Quickly getting to her feet she looked down at her body, before she gasped. Her shirt was burned open no doubt from man's chakra her abdomen was smooth. Her arms and even legs not a mark. Too most it didn't mean anything but too her.

'Not one... He healed me.' Looking over at the man she looked over at her partner who was lying in a pool of blood, clearly about to die if she didn't help. Looking at her arm again she sighed before running to catch up with the kid.

It didn't take long for her to reach him, he was walking casually obviously didn't believe her to be a threat. Walking till she was beside him she couldn't help but blush when she saw his face up close. He was handsome, almost as cute as the kid she saw in the Chunin exam in Konoha.

"Why are you following me?" Naruto asked his patience running low especially since he was already late and explaining to the person he was going to meet next why he was late was always a drag.

"Jeez, I wanted to thank you for what you did but now I'm second guessing being nice to someone like you." Naruto nodded.

"You're welcome." Naruto said, getting a small smile from the red head. "Now leave." And just like that it was gone. Easily ducking the hand from hitting his head he was a little surprised when she changed hands at the last second and socked him in the forehead with the other. That Naruto puffin into smoke before she felt a small pinch to her mid-back.

"Don't do that again." The voice was cold and she couldn't suppress the shiver from going down her back.

'He's fast.' Not backing down she frowned when she felt her partners chakra dwindle to the point that there was no way he could sustain his body.

"You don't look like the type to stab people in the back." The girl said before gasping as she felt the knife pierce her skin.

"And you don't look like the type to be a stalker." Naruto said removing the blade from her back watching the blood leak down her back until the wound slowly closed.

"I was on a mission." The girl admitted. Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"Who sent you?" The girl did some fidgeting like she was trying to think it over before she shrugged.

"What the hell, no matter what I'm dead. I was sent by Orochimaru. During the Chunin exams to spy on you." Naruto recognized the name as one of the sanin who turned traitor and recently fought Minato.

"The Chunin exams are over." The girl nodded.

"yes but I haven't heard from him since, two weeks ago this guy over here came and found me and told me my new orders which were to try and take you out." Naruto frowned. He's been in three countries, and moving at high speeds especially with the trains how was she capable of keeping track of him.

The girl seemed to read his mind as she proceeded to explain.

"I don't mean to brag but you're a pretty easy target especially to high caliber sensor like me. You're chakra is different, it doesn't move like it belongs to you but it doesn't dance like flames like the others it circulates around your body before sinking in and out almost like its alive and its breathing slowly exhaling before being inhaled. Also the trains you ride on emit a tone of Chakra, when I mean a tone I mean a tone! I was probably a hundred feet above ground and I could follow you with my eyes closed!" The girl bragged.

'Koyuki has to fix that.' Looking over at the girl he nodded.

"What are your plans now?" Naruto asked looking into her red eyes. The girl shrugged.

"I don't know. This is my first failed mission, if I go back is either I will be branded or killed." The girl said shrugging her shoulders like if having her life taken away was no big deal.

"What village did he get you from?" Naruto asked deactivating his eyes already feeling his reserves taking a hit. The girl nodded.

"Kusa." The girl replied. Naruto nodded it made sense how an Uzumaki would make it there considering how most of them went in that direction before Iwa interfered.

"Any family?" The girl shook her head.

"My dad was killed during the war and my mom's was killed because of her special power." She didn't elaborate but Naruto already had an idea of what she was talking about.

"I'm Naruto." With that he continued his walk. The girl watched him go before catching up to him.

"My name is Karin." Naruto nodded. Karin looked at her arms one more time before smiling.

"So where are we going?" Naruto looked at her strangely.

"We?" Karin nodded.

"Since you were nice enough to do something for me, I am pledging my allegiance to you and only you. To be used in any way you like. Just be gentle." Karin said the last part blushing. But got furious when she heard laughing. "What's so funny idiot! Most men would kill to hear that from a beautiful woman like me!"

Naruto scuffed. "I'm sure you have armies of admirers falling at your feet." Karin glared but still feeling the sting from the wound earlier didn't try to hit him. Before she followed him in silence.

"So where are we going?" Naruto looked at her from the corner of his eye.

"To visit someone I hold very dear." The girl nodded before looking down from the mountain they were walking on, at the bottom was a small village. The cavern they were in was located at the top of the mountain it was used for missing-nin to trade information. It was located right in the middle in neutral land between the land of fire and the land of rice patties.

Blushing she scratched her head.

"Before we go where ever you're going, could I go buy a shirt this one is well... You know." Naruto took note of her attire well lack of since she was only wearing a shirt and it was burned in the middle and cut in others, and she didn't appear to be wearing a bra.

"Okay." Karin sighed at the dry reply.

"Are you always this boring or is small talk just not your thing?" She didn't get a reply.

"Great I pledged my allegiance to a guy that doesn't even talk. I hope we aren't traveling for too long, how long is the trip to this person house?" Karin asked.

"4 weeks." Karin paled.

"4 weeks?! I can just get a shirt I need to buy a whole bunch of them. Not to mentions pants and many other things girls need to stay pretty. And why do I feel like the place we are going is going to be very cold?" Naruto sighed in his mind as he listened to Karin.

'Hopefully she doesn't become too much of a hindrance, I will hate to kill her she shows potential. Plus I don't think telling Grandma I killed one of her sisters relative would be fun.'

Hinata groaned as she had to hide from another guard; getting to the east gate had been almost impossible since Naruto defected. Leave it to Konoha to kick up security to a popular exit after someone's leaves and not before. Waiting a couple more seconds she nodded before jumping on top of the wall and dashing upwards. Reaching the top she frowned when an alarm went off, ignoring the siren she jumped on to a tree before she was caught mid step. Horrified that she got caught by a guard she struggled against the person.

"Calm down, you'll get us both killed." Hinata stop what she was doing opening her eyes to notice that she was pressed on Naruto.

"N-Naruto-kun?" Naruto growled.

"Keep your voice down, you tripped the sensor barrier, this place will be flooded with Anbu soon." They waited in silence for a couple of seconds before two jounins arrived.

"Must've been a rodent or something, area clear." They over heard one of the jounin say. There was a pause before the other one agreed with him, making there leave. Hinata frowned, how were they not found? They were only 3 feet away from them, jounin should be able to find them in a heartbeat.

"I covered us in a small layer of my chakra, then activated my transparent Jutsu. As much as they know, this area was cleared." Naruto explained as he got up letting go of Hinata taking note of her flat jacket.

"You were promoted?" Hinata nodded.

"After you left I asked the Hokage for a different way too be promoted giving the unforeseen circumstances that happened to me during the exams." Naruto ignored the jab.

"You could do that now?" Naruto asked. Hinata blushed.

"And some help from the very influential Hyuga clan." She said smiling before she frowned. "Why?"

"Small talks over huh?" He didn't get a reply. "Listen Hinata I wish I could've told you, I really did but I needed everything to go as planned. Plus, I always thought I'll be able to-"

"Convince me to go with you?" Taking note of the hurt in her voice he nodded. Hinata sculled.

"You think I would up and abandon my family? My friends? And the village that has given me everything because you asked?" Naruto frowned.

"When you put it that way-"

"No." Naruto scowled.

"No what?"

"No, to that."

"That what?" Hinata sighed.

"Stop playing dumb. I know you more than you think." Hinata stated.

"A lot of people could say that." Naruto added, Hinata shook her head before she pulled out a scroll from her pocket. The scroll appeared to be in terrible condition as it was faded in many places. Taking note of the scroll Naruto frowned.

"Where did you get that?" Hinata handed it to him.

"I took it from your pocket three years ago. You overworked yourself training and passed out. You left your clothes by the elk tree like always the same one I always hide behind. I was going to place your Jacket over you for you wouldn't catch a cold and it fell out." Hinata said looking away from him at admitting she would indeed stalk him.

"I was going to place it back but when it fell it rolled open and I read the first couple of words."

"You can stop." Naruto stated burning the scroll in his hand.

"Why?" Hinata asked.

"Why what?" Hinata frowned.

"Stop being an ass and answer!" Smiling at Hinata new found bravery he nodded.

"Why did I leave? Why did I not tell you?"

"I already know why you left, I read the scroll remember." Naruto smirked.

"I didn't leave you, I left the village." Hinata heart sank.

"That's the same thing." Naruto frowned.

"Are you sure?" Hinata nodded before reaching into her pocket this time bringing out a small blue rose frozen in glass.

Naruto looked at the rose. "You still have it?" Hinata nodded.

"Remember what you said about this rose?" Naruto looked into her eyes.

"Yeah but that was years ago." Hinata nodded a sad smile on her face.

"Just like our love." Naruto frowned.

"There's a reason I came here today." Hinata shook her head.

"No." Naruto nodded before his eyes went wide as Hinata shot forward and pressed her lips to his. He didn't get to return it before Hinata broke it.

"Promise me you'll remember me." Hinata asked before she turned around and began walking away.

Naruto wanted to follow her but the pain in his stomach quelled such thoughts. Looking down she saw the rose he gave her stabbed into his stomach. Smiling he shouted.

"I'm getting married in a month." That stopped her in her tracks. Smiling when she walked back to him. She stopped when her face was only a couple of Inches away from his.

"You're-" she was cut off as Naruto pressed his lips against hers and wrapped his hands around her and pulled her closer the rose sinking deeper into him. Hinata tried to fight it but it proved fruitless as she melted into him. This was the second time she had ever kissed Naruto. The kiss was broken a little earlier then she wanted before she felt Naruto place something warm in her hand.

"You keep it. I love you." With that Naruto disappeared right on time as Shikamaru with Kiba and Shino arrived.

"Where is he?! I could smell his treacherous scent from a mile away!" Kiba yelled as he looked around before his notice the bleeding rose in Hinata hand. Looking her over he didn't smiled when he didn't see have marks on her witch meant.

"You tried to kill him yourself? I thought you showed us the letter to let us help you." Shikamaru snorted.

"No, she showed us the letter for that we don't run off after him like we did Sasuke. She wanted to give him a head start, and this meeting was always supposed to be about her needing to ask Naruto why he didn't include her in his plans. He probably chose the wrong answer and she stabbed him with the rose as a sign that danger is coming. Isn't that right Hinata?" The Hyuga heiress for her part didn't respond instead she walked passed them with the rose still in hand the thorns poking into her skin and mixing hers and Naruto blood.

Stopped just a small distance from the wall she looked back at them. Her eyes glowing a light blue.

"No I did it because unlike you he knows that the only one that could kill him is me."

Orochimaru smirked as Sasuke entered the cave and came face to face with the snake.

"I'm here for the power you promised."

Naruto frowned as he dashed through the trees trying to make it back to the border before his clone did anything stupid or worse ran out of chakra.

He winced as the pain that went through his body, before the wound began to bleed even more. Pressing his hand harder into the gaping hole in stomach he pressed on. He was only about 15 minutes away from reaching the village he last felt his clone at.

With the last amount of power her had he dashed forward, the tress becoming nothing but a blur to him. Avoiding all distractions he managed to make it to the village before he sensed for his own KI which was easily picked up. He'll have to work on that, if the only way he can't get notice was using his transparency Jutsu then he might as well retire from the life of shinobi right now.

He walked up to a hotel where he felt his clone and walked up stairs, getting the key from the receptionist who looked confused. Ignoring her question as to how he left without her noticing he took the elevator up. Using the railing as support he stumbled across the hall into his room. When he opened, he was a little more annoyed then angry at seeing a woman lying on the couch eating ramen. His clone next to her downing the food as fast as possible. Walking over to his clone he smacked it over the head with enough force to dispel it. Getting all of its memory he fought the sigh from escaping his mouth.

Karin shot up when the guy beside her exploded, looking back she was surprised to find another Naruto standing there looking straight at her while blood continued to pour from the wound in his stomach.

Raising a finger she pointed at the red head before pointing to where he was before.

"He was a clone the whole time?" Naruto nodded before taking a seat and laying his head back as he was beginning to get dizzy.

Karin looked at the blonde who was bleeding furiously and she considered killing him as he was laying perfectly his neck wide open. Looking at her arms she sighed before straddling him, and pinned him down when she felt him try to push her off.

"You must've lost a lot of blood if you can't even push me off of you. Where were you?"

Karin said as she finally managed to hit a pressure point on Naruto neck to relax his body leaving him unable to move.

"Konoha." Karin eyes widen. Before she smirked.

"That's a day's travel away, you've been bleeding this whole time?" Naruto gave her the the fuck does it look like look. Karin nodded before ripping the sleeve off her new shirt. And bringing the forearm to Naruto mouth.

"Bite." Naruto shook his head. Karin growled.

"Stop being an idiot and bite if not you'll bleed out and I'll have no one to spend the rest of my life with! Now bite!" Naruto scowled before biting into her arm, he immediately felt it begin to heal him. Ignoring Karin whimpering he continued till he felt a small pop in his neck and he could feel his body. Unclenching his teeth from her skin, he frowned at the mark he left.

"Thank you." Naruto said bringing his hand to her forearm, Karin having an idea of what he was about to do she stopped him.

"Don't. I want to keep this one." Naruto stared into her eyes for a minute before nodding.

"You could get off me now." Karin blushed as she realized the position she was in, jumping off him she rubbed the back of her head and apologized.

"Is there anything to eat here besides Ramen?" Karin shook her head.

"You're clone was adamant we only get ramen, he said you loved the stuff."

"When I was younger maybe." Naruto said before sighing and picked up her bowl of ramen and started downing it. Before Karin appeared next to him and sat down.

"It's been a long day Naruto." She said before she laid her head on the armrest of the couch. Naruto looked over at her, and couldn't help how much she reminded him of home. Fighting the nostalgia he got up after he finished her bowl.

"It has." He walked into the kitchen and rummaged through everything finding everything he needed to make a real meal. He even found some wine in a cabinet, he took that too but it was for other pleasures.

"I wouldn't trust that Itachi guy." Naruto stopped mid step.

"Huh?" He asked looking over at the couch.

"That Itachi guy. The one you was talking to at the bar." Karin said a little louder, Naruto walked over to her his hair hanging off his head as he stared at her.

"Why? He is a powerful ninja that I could potentially recruit towards my cause." Karin nodded before she shrugged.

"I don't know much about him but I do know that Orochimaru tried taking his body once and failed. I also know that the guy you was talking too chakra was off, it was hectic almost like if he was angry." Karin said staring into Naruto blue eyes, she didn't bother hiding her blush.

"Plus, if what you told me today was true adding an Uchiha to your village wasn't your plan, in fact the way you said it kind of tells me you don't trust him either. What kind of emperor are you if all it takes is an order and you go against all you stand for?" Karin explained, trying to pick her words carefully as Naruto continued to look at her before he smiled, this smile was different from the others it was a lot more gentle and sincere.

"Okay then, we won't go meet up with him and my grandma could wait." Naruto said as he went back to the kitchen. Karin shot up.

"Then where are we going?" Naruto smirked.

"I got a lot of training to do, and I got three years to become the most powerful man in the world." Naruto said as his mind flashed through three faces.

'Nami, Sasuke, Hinata.'

Karin nodded.

"Where do we start?" Naruto smirked.

"I need to go talk with some toads. They owe my grandfather a big favor and I think I'm going to go collect.

Nami thought in silence and she laid in the hospital after the beating she was given by Sasuke. She wasn't mad at him; if anything it helped her understand him better. Sasuke wasn't stupid, he knew. He knew the whole time just how dangerous Naruto was, he knew and that's why he tried to desperately to catch up with him and still fell short.

It was a scary thing to think about, that the person that gave her a wakeup call would be the person that she less expected to get one from. It was simple really. She was weak, and so was Sasuke. But she was weaker then Sasuke and she even used the Kyuubi, her Kekkei Genkai and every single limiter on her body.

And here she laid, how she could become the greatest Hokage when she wasn't even stronger then the village greatest traitors. Naruto and Sasuke stood as a reminder to her weakness, as long as they were still out there and not in the protective circle of the village she was weak. And she was done being weak 3 years ago. That's why she took the first trip with her father to the land of dragons. Now she needed to go back and finish her training.

Nodding to herself she laid her head back down.

"I wonder when she is going to realize we're here." Nami eyes shot open and looked to the left where both Kushina and Jiraiya were standing.

"What are you guys doing here?" Nami asked settling back down. Both of the adults in the room shared a look before looking at the Nami.

"We're here to train you, Tsunade has just approved a small leave of absence for both me and Jiraiya. We will be taking you on a training trip that will last 3 years. But first we got to bust your father out of jail."

"Huh?!"

Danzou smirked along with his former teammates as he watched the boat leave. The boat was packed with more than 50 guards, all of them complements of his root foundation. It currently held the most dangerous man in the world known as Minato Namikaze.

"How do you think his trip to the blood prison will go?" Homura asked. Danzou walked away.

"Everything will be fine, after all Danzou was the one to inform us about Sarutobi death." Homura looked at his longtime friend and fiancée and nodded.

"I guess you're right." With that they followed the war hawk missing the smirk on said guys face.

So its over. The first part is over.

It's funny how back in 2012 when I started this story I said it wont pass forty chapters and it took me 40 chapters to end part one. Well, I guess procrastination is my weakness.

Anyways, there will be a small time skip next chapter and I do a couple flashbacks to fill out some big events. Also with Minato getting arrested, what you think a Hokage could just kill as influential as the third and get a way with it?

Also I didn't forget about Akaktusi as you could obviously tell by the Kisame and Itachi interaction but I just didn't believe they fit anywhere in this chapter.

Thank you and tune in next time, for another installment of : FROM LOVE TO HATE: CROSS ROAD.