Author Notes- Hello fellow readers! Well, I don't know what to say about the delay in uploading the chapter this time. But, just that I may end updating the story either two to three days before the date I specified or four to five days after the specified date.

So, this chapter mainly shows what really happened with the main characters after the short war ended. I know, I haven't showed much of the Konoha 11 as of now, but they will be brought into the story at a later time when it's time for Naruto to interact with them more. Right now, Naruto in this story needs a way figure things out with his life, what he wants to do with the power he has, how he wants to do it. This chapter shows how Naruto really feels about his life a little and the decision he makes which will come to shape his life as a shinobi later on.

[Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.]

Anyway, let's continue with the story

Chapter 8: Decisions

Next Morning, Naruto's room in Namikaze Compound

A being of unimaginable size.

A sentient being, who kept watch over the humans and one who was regarded as a god by everyone else.

A name that had been lost to mankind in the last two or three thousand years.

Naruto stirred slightly as more and more visions flowed through his mind.

Three people wearing white clothes, standing atop the sentient being and looking down at him with maniacal expressions.

Each one of them having chakra that either matched or surpassed his own.

As the three released their chakra, the blond looked around himself with solemn eyes. So much death and destruction.

The very earth itself was being torn apart. The wind howled and the sky itself turned blood red in accordance to the chakra being released.

Almost instantly, Naruto jolted awake with deep breaths and found himself sitting on a bed.

'What were those… visions?' Naruto thought, somewhat warily. He looked around himself and saw that he was in his own room. Briefly confused as to how he got there, Naruto stiffened up the next second as the memories of the night before came rushing back to his mind.

His eyes widened as he remembered the last thing he saw before falling unconscious last night. Closing his eyes and focusing on Hinata's chakra, Naruto sighed in relief as he found her to be okay in the Hyuuga Compound. Despite knowing what he did was to protect his village, Naruto closed his eyes for a few seconds and prayed for all those who died last night. Even though killing was not something Naruto enjoyed, he understood that it was something necessary if he wished to protect those close to him.

As he tried to move from the bed, Naruto realized his body still felt a little sore from last night. Willing himself out of the bed, the young Namikaze walked in front of the mirror.

Naruto stared at the nine tomoes in the concentric rings of his right eye, simply too stupefied to do or say anything. He sent chakra to his left eye, turning his usual violet eyes into the sharingan with three tomoes. Sending furthermore chakra into his left eye, it turned completely red with a black spiral originating from the pupil.

"Kurama… is that the Mangekyō sharingan and Rinn…Rinnegan?" Naruto whispered in disbelief as he remembered about those eyes from the memories Kurama once shared with him and his tou-chan.

"They are. The Mangekyō is different for every person. Your father could tell you more about it. He has a Mangekyō sharingan as well…"

"I see." Naruto replied calmly as he observed both his eyes more.

"But the Rinnegan in your right eye is different from what I remember seeing in Rikudo Sennin's eyes. I don't know why that is." Kurama replied gravely.

Cutting off the chakra in his left eye, Naruto walked back to his bed and allowed his body to fall on it tiredly. He couldn't understand why he felt so tired right now. He normally felt refreshed after getting a few hours of sleep and his chakra healed him quite quickly every time as well.

"Tck… you can be stupid sometimes too." Kurama said with a light chuckle.

"What was that?" Naruto asked in a deadpan manner.

"The Rinnegan is not a doujutsu that can be used by just anyone. You are probably the closest who comes to Rikudo Sennin to be able to utilize the Rinnegan's true power. You feel tired because the cells in your body have been constantly adapting to your change in chakra and your chakra coils have increased in size immensely since you awakened the doujutsu." Kurama explained.

Naruto mentally nodded as he made sense of what Kurama just explained. He moved around in his bed and faced towards the window.

'Oh, good. I didn't sleep for too long.' Naruto thought as he saw the sun just about rising in the sky. The blond sat upright on his bed a few seconds later as he heard the approaching footsteps of his father.

"Naruto?" Minato called out as he entered the room. He had left a Kage Bunshin in the Hokage's office to take care of work for a little while. It was a few minutes past seven in the morning and he was a tad bit worried about how Naruto was feeling. Also, with Naruto awakening the Mangekyō sharingan, Minato wished to be more watchful of his son's eyesight. However, he abruptly stopped as his eyes landed on Naruto.

"Good morning tou-chan." Naruto greeted his father with an awkward chuckle as he saw him stop midway.

"Are you feeling any better, Naru?" Minato questioned as he got over his momentary shock. He pulled up a chair from the side and sat on it nearby Naruto's bed.

"I… I did what had to be done, to protect those I cared for. I'm okay father." Naruto said plainly as he looked up at the ceiling. Minato saw the tiny flash of sadness that appeared in Naruto's eyes but decided to keep quiet for the moment. He was certain that when the time was right, Naruto would talk to him.

Minato's eyes then lingered to Naruto's right eye. The Rinnegan. He himself had only heard myths about the capabilities of the exalted doujutsu. Minato remembered Jiraiya telling him about a boy whom he had trained at the end of the Second Shinobi War, who too had the rinnegan. However, he also felt somewhat scared about what laid in the future. It is said that the Rinnegan appears in the world during times of great disaster and turmoil.

"Don't worry tou-chan. Everything and everyone will be fine." Naruto said comfortingly as he sensed the cloud of uncertainties in his father's mind. Naruto knew his father worried a lot about him, and he couldn't blame him for it. They both only had each other in this world on whom they could rely on blindly and whom they loved endlessly. Naruto got down from the bed and moved closer to Minato and hugged him tightly. The Father and son stayed in that position for a few seconds before Minato let go of Naruto's hold.

"Is… is she alright, tou-chan?" Naruto asked as he looked seriously into his father's eyes.

"Hai. Her father came and picked her up at night." Minato replied sincerely, knowing well enough who his son was talking about.

"You should get downstairs and eat something, alright? I should probably get back to work too. A lot of things I must to take care of." Minato said as he bent to Naruto's eye level. Naruto nodded his head as he realized he hadn't eaten anything in quite a while.

"We'll talk about that eye of yours tonight okay? I got a message from Jiraiya-sensei, saying he will probably return by tonight. He had requested the Toads to send a message to Tsunade-sama through the slugs. So, she will be here by tonight as well." Minato said.

Naruto merely nodded as he heard his father's words. He was a little excited about meeting another Sannin, who was also his godmother. But at the same time, Naruto felt slightly ticked off that his godmother never visited him in ten years of his life.

After he saw his father disappear back to the Hokage's office, Naruto stood near his bed and he stretched his arms and legs a little. Closing his eyes, he felt the chakra flowing in himself and gasped. If earlier his chakra was like a gigantic lake, now it felt like a never-ending ocean. Naruto was even more surprised to find the level of control he could feel over his chakra. He knew he had ridiculously great chakra control earlier, but now it felt flawless. He could feel the chakra passing through each cell of his body. With his eyes still closed, Naruto held up his right hand and extended his index and middle finger, forming the seal of confrontation. Concentrating on his medical chakra, a green chakra enveloped Naruto's body and gently moved all around him. A few seconds later, the blond opened his eyes and released a content sigh as he felt perfectly rejuvenated now.

'This feels great…' Naruto thought, wide eyed.

Downstairs at the Namikaze Compound

Itachi and Shisui sat on the sofa in the main hall of the Namikaze household while Mikoto sat across them expressionlessly and her face covered up in tear stains. She had woken up a few hours ago next to Sasuke and frantically looked for anyone from her family. She had calmed down a little when she saw Itachi and Shisui downstairs but couldn't stop from crying herself out when she learned about last night from her elder son.

"Forgive me kaa-san." Itachi whispered again in a shaky voice as he put his face down on the palm of his hands. He couldn't sleep properly the entire night. Even though he was glad his mother and brother were safe from the massacre that took place last night, the guilt of killing his own father weighed heavily on his heart.

"I understand, Itachi." Mikoto replied as she wiped the tears off her face. She held Itachi's hand gently as she saw him shake slightly.

"It was not your fault Itachi. Our clan was too persistent in getting people to respect them, that they made themselves vulnerable by colluding with the wrong people. I tried talking your father out of his decision earlier, but he wouldn't budge. But I'm sure he respected your decision in choosing the village." Mikoto said in a motherly tone. Shisui, who was sitting beside Itachi, smiled a little on seeing this side of Itachi. In all the years, he had known the Uchiha prodigy, it was rare to see Itachi so fragile or open about his feelings.

All three of them were so lost in their thoughts that they did not notice the approaching blond Namikaze. As Naruto quietly walked down the stairs, he heard some of the words Itachi said to his mother. A few tears rolled down Naruto's face as he felt how hurt his brother was feeling. He couldn't fathom the burden on Itachi and Mikoto's heart, knowing they would never get to see their family ever again. However, Naruto also felt an intense amount of hatred for the one person who was mainly responsible for all of this.

'Even the Shinigami won't save you from me, Danzo…' Naruto thought darkly.

With the stairs being just behind the sofa Itachi and Shisui were sitting on, none of the two had noticed when the blond walked past them. Naruto quietly walked towards Mikoto and stopped in front of her. Both stared at each other intently but both had different feelings in their heart. While one felt sadness and grief, the other felt shock and slight anger.

"I'm sorry, Mikoto oba-chan." Naruto said in a low voice as he bowed. Itachi and Shisui stared at the young Namikaze's back sadly, yet proud of how he protected the village bravely.

Everyone in the room was astounded when Mikoto slapped Naruto in the face. Naruto looked up at Mikoto immediately but was surprised to see the sea of sadness and worry in her eyes. At that moment, Naruto understood her unspoken words. He understood the love a woman has for her child. Itachi and Shisui opened their mouths to say something but stopped when Mikoto looked at Naruto sternly.

"What were you thinking, fighting so many shinobi all alone!?" Mikoto yelled.

"I helped raise you when you were just a baby. I lost most of my family last night. I couldn't lose you too Naru-chan." Mikoto said sadly. Naruto felt his heart break a little at the amount of concern he felt radiating off her. Moving closer to her, Naruto wrapped his arms around her neck in a hug.

"I'm sorry oba-chan. I just wanted to protect…" Naruto whispered in her ears.

"You won't be doing anything so reckless like that again. You understand me?" Mikoto said curtly, as she cut off Naruto's words.

"Hai." Was all Naruto could say earnestly as he rested his head gently on her shoulder. It really warmed his heart to know how much she cared for him. For a few seconds, everyone in the room remained quiet, immersing themselves in the warmth that could be felt in the room right now.

"Naruto?" Shisui called out as a few more seconds passed by. Naruto let go of Mikoto and the moment he turned to face his two brother like figures, both Itachi and Shisui became wide eyed on seeing Naruto's right eye.

Naruto chuckled awkwardly again, expecting the same reaction from them. The two older Uchiha got out of their stupor as they heard Naruto chuckle lightly.

"What happened to your right eye Naruto?" Shisui asked dumbly. While Shisui had heard about the Rikudo Sennin and his eyes, he did not know what it looked like. Meanwhile, Mikoto listened in to the conversation, as she too wondered about Naruto's right eye when she saw it first.

"So, you awakened the Sage's eyes?" Itachi asked. Naruto nodded, not at all surprised to know that Itachi had figured it out. He had always been the smarter one and was prone to know a lot about history. Both Mikoto and Shisui looked at Itachi and Naruto in disbelief.

"How do you know about that Itachi?" Shisui asked as he turned towards him.

"I have read some of the older journals that were kept in the Uchiha Clan library relating to the founder of our clan. It states only someone with Sage's blood could have the possibility of awakening his doujutsu. There was more written in the journal, but I couldn't read it with my sharingan." Itachi said as an idea came to his mind.

"You could read more with your Mangekyō sharingan Itachi nii-san, Shisui nii-san. But I'm guessing, to read the entire thing, one may require the rinnegan." Naruto stated before Itachi could say another word.

"I suppose that is correct." Itachi replied thoughtfully. Everyone in the room became silent for the next few minutes until Naruto's stomach started to grumble loudly. The blond rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"You should have told me you were hungry Naru-chan." Mikoto said with a small giggle. Naruto pouted when he heard Shisui and even Itachi laughing lightly.

"I will go make something to eat okay? You better stay over here." Mikoto ordered as she got up and walked over to the kitchen.

Once Naruto was sure Mikoto was out of hearing range, he looked at both Shisui and Itachi seriously.

"What will you be telling Sasuke?" Naruto directed the question to Itachi.

"I don't think it's time to tell him the truth about father's or the Uchiha Clan's actions. He still has a lot to learn about the importance of village." Itachi said tiredly. He was thankful Naruto waited until his mother left to talk about Sasuke. He was worried about Sasuke too. Last night, he pondered a few hours whether to tell Sasuke the truth or not. His brother took an excessive amount of pride in the Uchiha name. There were a lot of times when Itachi tried to show Sasuke the value of the village, that no one clan is solely important in the standing of the village, but sadly, his brother's ethics that the Clan comes before anything took after his father's.

"You can't be serious Itachi? I'm sure he will understand. He's your brother. He deserves to know the truth." Shisui argued. Shisui had always believed in being honest with family unless the circumstances are crucial and unavoidable. Even though he did not know Sasuke too well, he believed Sasuke deserved to know the truth about his father's death.

"I'm afraid I have to agree with Itachi on this, Shisui." Naruto commented.

"Sasuke… he's still too immature. He's too impulsive. I'm sure there will come a time in the future that he will be ready to know what actually happened to Fugaku-sama and the reasons behind the Uchiha Clan's actions. But right now, he has a lot to learn. Our main problem right now is Danzo. He was the one who instigated Fugaku-sama to start the coup. He supported Fugaku-sama's idea and provided him with soldiers to keep the plan operable. Until Danzo is either gone for good or Sasuke is ready to know about the truth, he needs to stay in the dark about all of this." Naruto said honestly.

Itachi nodded his head, knowing well the truth behind what Naruto said. Now, he just needed to explain this to his mother. He knew his mother would understand his reasoning behind keeping Sasuke in the dark. Shisui sighed as he looked at the two stubborn Uchiha.

'Both are too adamant on their own believes at times…' Shisui thought as he got up from the sofa.

"Okay. Okay. We'll do it your way. I doubt Hokage-sama is going to tell the elders or the council about the truth of last night… I got to go talk to Hokage-sama about a matter now anyway. So, I will see you guys later." Shisui said as he walked out the front door and shunshined to the Hokage's Tower.

Ten or fifteen after Shisui left the house, Mikoto called Naruto and Itachi for breakfast. In the short amount of time, she had cooked up scrambled eggs, toast and orange juice to go along with it. Naruto and Itachi ate the breakfast on the dining table quietly while Mikoto sat on beside her son. After having breakfast, Naruto glanced at Itachi and excused himself to spend some time alone so Itachi could talk to Mikoto about Sasuke.

With Naruto

After leaving his house, Naruto shunshined to one of his most favorite spots within the village, the Hokage's Monument on top of his father's head. Whenever he had a lot on his mind, the blond often came here to clear his mind of troubled thoughts. The clear view of the horizon and the aesthetic view of the village reminded Naruto why he loved the village so much and to what lengths to would go to keep his home safe.

As he appeared on top of the Yondaime's head, Naruto walked to the edge and sat down. He inhaled deeply, taking in the freshness of the day. The reddish-orange hue of the sky, the chirping of the birds and the light breeze that was flowing in the area made him feel somewhat peaceful. As peaceful as one could feel after slaughtering an entire army the night before and losing almost their entire clan.

Gazing up at the illuminating sun, Naruto outstretched his arm towards it and realized how tiny he was compared to the very universe in which his world resided. He plopped down on the ground a few seconds later and released a tired sigh. He was honestly tired of all the violence he had seen in his short time of life. Closing his eyes, Naruto entered his mindscape.

Kurama has always been the one constant in his life. From the moment he was born, the fox was the one being who always stayed with him, knew him, understood him in a way not even his father understood him at times. He entered the cage and sat beside his big furry friend. Kurama opened one of his eyes stared at Naruto.

"There was no victory last night. Only death and suffering." Whispered the blond tiredly.

"That is the cost of every war. Whether be it long or short. It has brought nothing but death and suffering." Kurama stated.

"Hmm…" Naruto replied absently as he closed his eyes.

"How are you really feeling, Naruto?" Kurama asked with concern. He could feel the blond wasn't being honest about his feelings to Minato.

"I… I don't really know. I want to feel sad… I want to feel terrible… but… I just don't know what to think..." Naruto started off but paused in between while Kurama patiently waited for his friend to finish.

"…I killed so many people last night, Kurama. They… they tried to hurt Hinata and I killed them all in an instant." Naruto said as tears rolled down his face.

"There is far too many bad people in this world and very few good. You are not a bad person Naruto. The fact that you feel bad after killing so many proves you are not bad." Kurama said as he tried to make Naruto see sense in what he did last night. One of Kurama's tails took hold of Naruto and put him on top of his own paw. The blond rested his back against Kurama's soft and furry paw and released a content sigh which made Kurama chuckle slightly.

"Do you think peace can ever be possible in this world? Rikudo Sennin was able to create peace when he was alive. Do you think I can do it?" Naruto asked.

"You have to get a lot stronger Naruto, if you ever hope of accomplishing true peace."

"Huh?" Naruto asked, not understanding what the fox meant.

"You wouldn't hold a candle to Rikudo Sennin, as you are now. You may surpass his raw strength in a few years, but he had strength apart from his raw power too. His ability in the use of Yin-Yang release and his mastery over senjutsu was the most terrifying thing that I knew of. He could defeat you with just one hand. Rikudo Sennin was a true god in every sense." Kurama explained honestly. Apart from Naruto, the Rikudo Sennin was the only other being who Kurama loved and held in high regards.

Naruto gulped a little on thinking of how strong the Sage was but at time same time, he was slightly annoyed that he was so far outmatched.

"You have the potential to surpass him, Naruto. You are his descendant, you are the only one other than him to befriend me, to gain my respect. There will come a day when I know you will get to your dream." Kurama said in a rare moment of immense respect for the blond. Naruto turned around and stared into Kurama's red slit eyes. A lone tear dropped from his already tear stained eye as he witnessed the unconditional love and blind faith Kurama had in him. Naruto did not say anything but simply pressed his little body against Kurama's paw and tried to hug him tightly, earning yet another chuckle from the giant fox.

"I think I will ask tou-chan about me joining the ANBU." Naruto said after a few minutes of comfortable silence.

"Are you sure Naruto? You will witness a lot more death and chaos in the ANBU." Kurama replied.

"I want to understand the world. Know the pain the people are going through outside this village. I believe if I can understand other people's needs and pain, I could better help them. I could better help protect my own village." Naruto answered.

'But… I also wish to protect Hinata. Whenever she is around me, she always gets hurt. Maybe… just maybe, if I stay away from her… then she will be safe… She would be better off...' Naruto thought to himself. Naruto knew it would hurt him, to stay away from her, to not see her. He did not know what made him think of her so much, but he wished to protect her, even if it meant going through pain himself. The blond looked at his friend and saw Kurama looking at him gravely. A few seconds passed as he saw Kurama nod his head ever so slightly.

"I wouldn't stop you Naruto. But be careful of the decision you make. It could hurt you a lot more than you may think."

After all the years, they had spent with each other, Naruto was not even surprised of the fact that his friend realized his thoughts without him saying anything. There was no use denying what Kurama had just said and he never lied to his friend about his feelings. Soon enough, Naruto simply closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

It was a few hours later that Kurama shook awake the blonde as he sensed someone unknown approaching the blonde.

"Someone's coming Naruto." Kurama said.

"I know… I know." Naruto replied as he yawned. Getting off from Kurama's paw, Naruto exited his mindscape just as he saw an ANBU wearing a Neko mask approach him. He couldn't see her face, but he found her purple hair to be very pretty.

"Hokage-sama wishes you to be in the council meeting, Naruto-kun." Said Neko gently. It had been years since Neko had last seen Naruto. Neko was her ANBU codename, while her real name was Yugao Uzuki, a student of Naruto's mother, Kushina Uzumaki Namikaze. She often took care of Naruto when he was around one year old, along with her friend Kurenai Yuhi.

"Uhm… okay." Naruto said as he jumped off the cliff to a nearby building and started to make his way towards the Hokage Tower, along with Neko.

For a few seconds, Naruto wondered if he knew her, but he couldn't seem to remember it.

"Do I know you miss?" Naruto asked in confusion. He heard Neko giggle a bit and wondered if he had asked something stupid.

"No, I don't think you know me. But I did look after you when you were just a year old." Neko replied with a smile behind her mask.

"Oh." Naruto said. He honestly did not know what to say. So, he decided to stay quiet until they reached the Council Room.

Council Room, Hokage Tower

It was around ten in the morning now and all the clan heads of the clans residing in Konoha had been informed of the council meeting that would be taking place. The news of the Uchiha massacre had spread across the whole village by this time and a lot of people in the village grieved over this sudden incident. The information about the perpetrator was that it was Danzo Shimura, one of the elders, that had killed off majority of the Uchiha Clan with the help of his secret ANBU forces called ROOT and fled the village. After discussing the matter with Shikaku, Minato had updated the bingo book, listing Danzo Shimura as a S-Rank missing ninja from Konoha.

It was only the ANBU forces commanded by Kakashi Hatake- the ANBU Commander, Shikaku Nara- the Jounin Commander, Naruto, Itachi, Shisui and Minato who knew about the truth behind last night's incident. The Jounin were not given the entire details pertaining to their orders last night, just that they had to get the civilians to safety as soon as possible. Minato preferred to keep the truth of this incident to be known to as few number of people as possible due to its delicate nature. The Uchiha Clan has always been a major part of Konohagakure no Sato. So, for the village to know that they were planning a coup to take over the village would be a major blow. Minato knew the main man to be at fault behind all this mess was Danzo and he wouldn't let one man sully his clan's reputation.

Currently, Minato sat on the Hokage's seat with the civilian council members sitting to his left while the shinobi council members sat to his right and Kakashi, being the ANBU Commander, stood to Minato's right, behind him. Itachi, Shisui and Sai, who were also involved in last night's incident, stood near the doors of the Council Room.

Most of the members of the Civilian council included the wealthy civilians of the village who were either property owners, business dealers and shop owners, while the shinobi council included the clan heads of all the major clans in Konoha, Shikaku Nara- head of the Nara Clan, Choja Akimichi- head of the Akimichi Clan, Inoichi Yamanaka- head of the Yamanaka Clan, Shibi Aburame- head of the Aburame Clan, Tsume Inuzuka- head of the Inuzuka Clan, Hiashi Hyuuga- head of the Hyuuga Clan and Unaki Kurama- head of the Kurama Clan.

The atmosphere in the room was tense and most of the people were quiet, waiting for their Hokage to speak. Minato sat up right on his seat as he felt Naruto near the Council Room. A few seconds later, the door to the council room opened and in walked the youngest Namikaze. Several members of the civilian council started to whisper among themselves as they saw the boy who they knew to be a demon in disguise. Most people in the room stared at Naruto's right eye and shuddered a little. Even though majority of the population had come to accept Naruto as a normal boy, there were still those who couldn't let go the roots of their hatred.

"Hokage-sama." Naruto greeted his father curtly. He knew when to call his father informally and formally. He felt the prying eyes of many of the civilian council members on him when he entered the room and found it disrespectful that they would be whispering among themselves in the presence of the Hokage. He looked around and was surprised to see Sai over here too. He had completely forgotten about the boy. He too was curious as to why one of his classmates was here. However, Naruto merely walked to Kakashi's side and stood patiently beside him. Kakashi glanced towards Naruto and was intrigued about the blonde's right eye, but decided to ask him later about it.

Minato nodded his head as he looked around the council room once before starting the session.

"As I suppose everyone knows by now, the Uchiha Clan was massacred last night by one of the elders of Konoha, Danzo Shimura, along with his secret ANBU forces which he calls ROOT." Minato stated.

"Hokage-sama, do we know the reason behind his traitorous actions?" Tsume asked angrily. Tsume belonged to the Inuzuka Clan and thus largely believed in unity among the pack, which she views as family. And everyone within Konoha was like a family to her. So, it was devastating for her to know that one of Konoha's influential people would do something so drastic.

"I'm afraid we still haven't found anything consequential that would help us to get a foothold on Danzo's plan by doing this. But one his shinobi, Sai…" Minato said as he pointed towards the pale looking boy. Minato had taken Sai to the Hokage's office early in the morning and questioned him personally to know any details he could find regarding Danzo.

"… was able to give us some useful information regarding Danzo and his works in and out of the village. The information acquired is critical to the security of the village, hence, I won't be sharing it." Minato briefed. Minato heard many people concluding Sai being a traitor and raised his hand to put a stop to further discussion. Meanwhile, Naruto was highly surprised to know that his friend used to work for the man responsible for his clan's fate and hurting Hinata. He felt a slight anger rising inside himself, but calmed himself down knowing Sai had no part in what happened last night.

"You do not need to worry about his loyalty. He has sworn to protect this village and I believe him. His involvement in the Root was a tragic incident which was not under his control. Thus, it would be wrong to blame him for the doings of another man." Said the Hokage.

"Were there any casualties, Hokage-sama?" Inoichi voiced his concerns.

"Fortunately, there weren't. Shisui worked undercover in Danzo's Root Anbu and informed me beforehand of Danzo's plan. So, I was able to formulate a quick plan with some help to counter Danzo's attack." Minato replied.

"…and what of any survivors from the Uchiha Clan?" Choja asked.

"Mikoto Uchiha, Sasuke Uchiha, Itachi Uchiha and Shishui Uchiha are the only survivors that we know of as of now." Minato stated somewhat sadly. Everyone among the shinobi council knew that Minato was an Uchiha and for him to lose his clan must have been tragic too.

"Hokage-sama, if I may ask, why is that boy here? And where are the elders Homura-sama and Koharu-sama?" asked one of the civilian councilman accusingly. He was Bensa Ushimara, a wealthy property dealer in Konoha. He lost his wife and parents during the Kyubi attack a decade ago and had hated Naruto ever since.

Before Minato could reply, Hiashi stood up from his seat and released a fair bit of his chakra to ascertain his position.

"That boy, whom you so call disrespectfully, has saved my daughter, heiress of the Hyuuga Clan, twice from imminent danger and is the son of your Yondaime Hokage. He does more for this village than you people could ever hope to achieve." Hiashi stated furiously. He had seen how many of the villagers treated young Naruto in his early life and it infuriated him. Hiashi had seen with his own eyes the bodies of hundreds of Root Anbu lying on the ground last night when he went to pick up Hinata and was astonished by the boy's battle prowess. Even though the boy had proved himself to the village on two important occasions, he couldn't understand these civilians' simpleton minds. Naruto looked towards the Hyuuga Clan head gratefully and nodded his head as a sign of thanks. The councilman who had spoken and the others warily looked among themselves and decided to keep quiet unless they were asked to speak. Some of them knew, they were mainly called here as a courtesy because the matter being discussed right now fell entirely under the shinobi council.

As Hiashi sat down, Minato cleared his throat to gain everyone's attention.

"As for Homura and Koharu, I believe they were involved in many of the crimes committed by Danzo earlier and such have been detained for further questioning. Also, due to this unfortunate incident, I have decided to put the village under Martial Law. Therefore, the civilian council will not be needed anymore." Minato said firmly.

"WHAT!?"

"You can't do that! The Nidaime Hokage created the civilian council!" Said many of the outraged civilian council members.

"During times of emergency, it is within my power to make that decision. Now, I believe there is no further use of your council. Thus, you may excuse yourselves from the council room." Minato said professionally.

While some of the civilian council members left without uttering another word, some were not so willing to leave without an argument. However, they were forcibly removed thereafter by the ANBU. Many of the clan heads smirked, looking at the civilian council members. It was known to most that the shinobi and civilian council members never got along with each other, mainly due to civilian council always using underhanded tactics to usurp more power for themselves. Now that Danzo, Koharu and Homura were probably gone for good, the shinobi council believed that the village would be able to function on better terms without any major conflicts among the authorities.

With the civilian council out of the room, Shibi Aburame voiced his thoughts.

"Would you tell us what really was young Naruto's role in last night's attack from Danzo, Hokage-sama?"

Minato chuckled a little, expecting a question like that from Shibi. He had always been too good to catch on to hidden tactics.

"Danzo had sent around two hundred of his men to the Namikaze Compound to kill me. Since my presence was required elsewhere, Naruto decided to take care of them on my behalf." Minato said proudly.

Literally every clan head in the room apart from Shikaku and Hiashi gasped on hearing that bit of information. Their eyes turned to Naruto who was calmly standing beside the Hokage. They couldn't believe that a mere ten year old could do that amount of damage. Moreover, they wondered what Minato had been teaching to his child.

"You must be joking Hokage-sama…? It does not seem logical…" Shibi sputtered out.

"It's true. I saw the bodies of the dead Root Anbus myself." Kakashi spoke for the first time.

"He may look young, but he is far stronger than me or even the Sannins for that matter. Only Hokage-sama could go up against Naruto here, I believe." Kakashi said with pride evident in his voice. He had helped nurture Naruto when he was young and he was proud to have been a part of it.

Seeing as everything he intended to discuss was over, Minato adjourned the council until next the session. Most of the shinobi council members glanced towards Naruto before they left the council room, some proudly for his service towards the village while some wary of the young boy's immense power.

As Naruto saw everyone leave the room, he walked towards Hiashi and stood before him politely.

"Hiashi-sama, if I may ask something of you?" Naruto asked.

"Of course, Naruto-kun. What could I do for you?" Hiashi questioned.

"I would like to visit Hinata-chan for a few minutes. I realize she must be resting right now. But only for a few minutes, if possible…?" Naruto asked somewhat childishly.

Hiashi stared into the young blonde's eyes as if searching for something. When all he saw was pure concern, he nodded his head.

Naruto smiled for being given the permission, knowing Hinata's father could be rather strict at times. He bid goodbye to his father, Kakashi, Itachi and Shisui and walked out the Hokage Tower, following Hiashi.

Hyuuga Compound

Even though Naruto had visited the Hyuuga Compound earlier on many occasions, he was still mesmerized by how beautiful it looked. As he walked through the halls of the Main House, he saw the beautiful garden to his right with an aesthetic looking koi pond in it. The garden looked simply astonishing with the different kinds and colors of flowers that were there. It showed the touch of a woman, Naruto often felt. In the Namikaze Compound, it was mainly his father and himself. So, no one really took a lot of time to look after the flowers or the pond in their garden.

As he reached outside of Hinata's room, Naruto calmed himself, for this would be the last time he would see Hinata for a while. He had made up his mind in joining the ANBU and he knew his father couldn't refute his decision. His talents would only be wasted in the academy and in the normal shinobi forces. He had the strength to go toe to toe with Kage level shinobis, so he knew he could take care of himself. He wanted to experience the world outside, get to know how different shinobi villages worked and looked like. Moreover, he wanted to protect those he loved.

'A shinobi lives and protects in the shadows. To be a shinobi means to sacrifice and endure everything.' Naruto thought to himself.

Naruto steadied himself and knocked on her door. A few seconds later, he smiled a little as he heard her gentle voice.

"Who is it?" asked Hinata.

"It's me, Hinata-chan." Naruto replied happily.

Hinata weakly got out of her bed walked towards the door slowly to open it, all the while having a smile on her face. Naruto saw the door open and his smile became even wider the moment he saw those white eyes and dark blue colored hair. Hinata immediately hugged him tightly but loosened her grip the next second when her wound started to hurt again a little. Even though her stomach wound was healed entirely, it still hurt her a lot at times.

"You shouldn't move too much, Hinata-chan." Naruto advised. He chuckled when he saw her pout a little.

"I'm okay Naruto-kun. Thank you for asking." Hinata said in mock anger as she walked back to sit on her bed. As Naruto went inside her room, he thought of sitting on a chair beside her bed but ended up sitting beside her when she pulled him.

Hinata's smile turned sad when she saw his right eye. The ghastly images of those shinobi holding a tantō to her stomach, Naruto clutching to her tightly as he bled and the darkness she felt from Naruto when he killed all those shinobis. She gently moved her right hand over his right eye.

"What happened to your eye Naruto-kun?" asked Hinata a bit sadly.

"Nothing you need to concern yourself with. You know how my sharingan normally evolves yes? I suppose it's probably the next stage of my eyes. It's a special eye, since not everyone can awaken it." Naruto explained without giving her much information about his rinnegan.

"Are you feeling okay? I'm sorry I came to visit you last night. I hadn't seen you in a few days and I had gotten a bit worried. That's why I had decided to go to your house." Hinata said with a shaky voice.

Naruto lifted his left arm and gently poked her on the forehead with his index and middle finger, earning a yelp from Hinata.

"None of it was your fault silly. I should be asking you if you're feeling okay, not the other way around, you know." Naruto said with a smile.

"But… those shinobi… they tried to… kill you and… you had to kill them all… because of me…" Hinata whispered as a few tears rolled down her cheeks. Naruto's face hardened as he remembered the shinobis who tried to hurt her but calmed down immediately. He put both his hands on her shoulders and made her look at his face.

"I promise, no one will ever try to hurt you again. I will always be there to protect you, you know? So, don't worry. You should just focus on getting more rest and getting better soon." Naruto said with care.

Hinata nodded her head as she moved closer to him and hugged again, albeit a bit loosely this time. As a few seconds passed, Naruto got out of her hands and moved off the bed.

"I have to leave now, Hinata-chan. Jiraiya oji-chan will be coming anytime now. So, I should go meet him. I only came to check up on you today…" Naruto said apologetically, trying to make it sound as believable as possible.

"Will you come visit me tomorrow?" Hinata asked gently. Naruto's feelings started to trouble him greatly with each passing second and he didn't know if he could hold on to his decision much longer if he were to stay for a few more minutes.

"Of course, I will… You just rest okay?" Naruto whispered as he turned around to leave the room.

"I will wait for you Naruto-kun." Hinata said in a voice, just above a whisper. Naruto left the room as a lone tear dropped from his eye. He shut his eyes as he felt the guilt inside him become larger. He had to remember that he was doing this for her… but why did it have to hurt so bad?

'Forgive me Hinata… I'm so sorry...'

As he shunshined out of the Hyuuga Compound, he did not notice a pair of white eyes belonging to a grown woman that were sadly looking at the entire scene.

'I hope whatever you are thinking Naruto-kun, does not end up changing the people around you.' Hitomi thought.

Evening, Namikaze Compound

After Naruto had left the Hyuuga Compound, he went straight to the Hokage Monument and spent the next few hours sitting on top of the Yondaime's head just staring at the setting sun. He spent most of his time reconsidering his decision to join the ANBU. He knew, if he did, he would be spending little to no time in the village and would rarely get time to spend either with his father, Jiraiya or others he cared for. But, he knew if he became an ANBU, he could always protect his loved ones and even Hinata from the shadows until the time she was ready to defend herself.

"I guess, it's time for you to come out of the cage my friend…" Naruto whispered.

"So, you're really doing it?" Kurama asked surprised. Even though the fox knew Naruto wasn't lying, it was still somewhat hard for him to believe this.

"I would never lie to you Kurama." Naruto replied.

Without saying another word, Naruto shunshined to the Namikaze Compound, intent on asking his father about unlocking the cage and his request to join the ANBU. Just as he was about to enter the doors, he felt three chakra signatures, with the two of them being extremely large. He knew whose one of them belonged to, while he could only guess the other two.

Naruto turned around and waited a few minutes until he saw three people walk in through the main gates of the Namikaze Compound. His eyes began to water a bit as the larger of the three hastily walked right up to him and engulfed him in a hug. It had been so long since he had hugged his precious godfather.

"Jiraiya oji-chan…" Naruto whispered somberly as he wrapped his arms around the Toad Sannin's torso.

A few seconds later, Naruto looked behind Jiraiya and saw a blond lady along with a young black haired girl carrying a pig. With his rinnegan, he could see the blond lady had a henge jutsu around herself to hide her actual appearance.

Naruto walked up to the blonde haired lady and stopped in front of her. Tsunade warily looked at Naruto for a few seconds but averted her eyes, feeling guilty of never having visited him earlier in her life. Jiraiya often sent her letters from time to time writing about Naruto along with pictures of him, but she could never muster up enough courage to come back to Konoha.

Naruto felt the different emotions that were flowing through her heart and he understood that she didn't leave him willingly, rather the choices that made her unable to step foot in her own home.

"Okasan…" Naruto greeted her with a little smile.

So, that's a wrap for this chapter. Next chapter for this story will be mostly out by May 3, 2017.

I know, I did not show Sasuke's reaction to the Uchiha Massacre in this chapter, but that will be definitely shown in the next one along with the relation between Sasuke and Naruto. He also met his godmother, Tsunade for the first time, so how their relationship spans out will also be shown along with Kurama being finally freed from the cage and Naruto requesting his father to join the ANBU Black ops. I may or may not include a short time skip next chapter to show the beginning of Naruto's time in the ANBU. What Danzo did after leaving the village and who meets up with, will also be shown in the coming chapter.

I do intend to keep at least three to four chapters for solely during Naruto's time in the ANBU. I will be including a lot of events that happen to him, the experiences he goes through, the people he meets and few glimpses of how Konoha 11 will progress during the time Naruto was away.

I'm really glad to see so many positive reviews about this story and it makes me want to write this story even more. So, a big thank you from me to all those who read and those who took time to review the story.

Again, do follow and favorite the story if you come to like it! And please take some time to review it, to let me know how you feel about it and how I may improve upon it.

Until next time!