Naruto 1. Chapter 1

**Sup, the name's Thabane Tha Creator, and this is my first fanfic. I had this idea while I was reading the final Naruto manga…what if Naruto had gained his artificial arm long before the war? **

**I know Mokuton stories haven't been executed greatly, but hopefully mine will be different. **

**Enough rambling, let's get to it…**

Random Disclaimer: Yo, Yo, fuck Bill O'Reilly…that's what Tyler would say. I on the other hand, will simply say I don't own Naruto. If I did I wouldn't be writing Fanfiction, now would I?

Chapter One: Mokuton no Naruto

"Again, Naruto!"

The sun shone brightly on the village of Konoha, and on a particular boy in Konoha. That by was currently sweating buckets while the sun shone its bright rays at him unforgivingly, but it was not the sun that was making him sweat like this. Well it wasn't the main contributing factor. The main factor was his training session. The boy brought his right hand up to his face to wipe away the sweat that had formed there due to the training he was currently undergoing. The hand was bandaged entirely, showing no skin at all.

His entire form was contorted by orange, with just a bit of black on his jacket. His customary headband was currently off his forehead, safely back in his apartment. His feet were adorned in black sandals. This boy was aptly named Uzumaki Naruto.

Naruto looked at the person that stood watch over his progress with slightly tired eyes. The person in front of him wore the standard Konoha shinobi uniform, flak jacket and all, even on this hot day. His forehead protector was more of a face protector than an actual forehead protector and it was similar to that of the Nidaime Hokage's forehead protector. His name was Yamato (at least as far as Naruto knew about the guy).

He was a cool guy in Naruto's books. He was put on his team in order to replace his sensei- who was bedridden because of his last mission. So up stepped Yamato and he took over as the interim leader of his team. While the guy had his quirks, Naruto still found him to be cool.

That is until he started training with the man in his secret style of ninjutsu. It was then that he found the man to be a bit of a slave driver, forcing him to do things that went beyond his own limits…no, he wasn't a slave driver, he was far worse than that…he was a perfectionist.

Yamato looked at Naruto with a serious look in his eyes. He watched as the boy slowly got into his fighting stance, before he went through a few hand seals at a really quick rate, ending off with the ram hand seal and slamming his right hand on the ground before he shouted, "Mokuton: Shichūka no Jutsu (Four-Pillar House Technique)!"

Several wooden pillars sprouted from the ground, before they twisted together to form a house, or to be more precise a two story house that had the symbol of Konoha on one side, in red, and a spiral on the opposing wall, also in red. The wooden house looked like the end product of _many_ hours of manual labour culminating into a beautiful work of art that looked like it could stand the test of time, and not the end result of one jutsu.

"Excellent work, Naruto." Yamato began with a smile on his face, "You have shown a natural aptitude towards Mokuton that has blown even my wildest expectations out of the water. You truly are good at this."

Of course, it also helped that Uzumaki and Senju were so closely related with each other, thus they had a slightly similar chakra build…the operative term being _slightly_. This allowed Naruto's body to naturally accept the DNA that had been implanted within his system rather easily.

Naruto smiled at the man and said, "Well what did you expect…I'm awesome!"

Yamato merely shook his head with a small smile on his face as he said, "Modest, aren't we?"

"There's no need to be modest when you're as awesome as I am." Naruto replied, before he plopped himself on the ground in a cross-legged position, allowing the exhaustion to finally take over his body. He was tired beyond doubt right now. He had been at this training for a few hours now, and he was really feeling the effects of it.

While he knew that this training helped him gain control of his newfound powers, it still made Naruto feel irritable about the fact that until his training was complete, he could not go back to active duty. Truth be told he hated being in this situation, but he was going to make the best of it.

The reason why Naruto was in this situation was because of an incident that happened a little over a month ago.

_Naruto currently stood in front of a man that had one of the weirdest appearances he had ever seen. He had two white mask-like protrusions that were on either side of his face…and his face wasn't much to look at either. The guy literally had black tendrils coming out of his mouth, and they danced a few inches in front of his face like they were some sort of tongue. His grey sleeveless shirt and purple pants and matching colour sandals were the only things that actually seemed normal about his appearance. _

_Next to Naruto were his teammates Sakura, Yamato-taichou and Sai. Joining them were Ino and Choji. Next to Choji was the man he (Naruto) had called 'sensei' ever since he graduated from the Academy, and he looked like he was in shitty condition. This weird looking guy must be pretty strong if he could not only take on the great Sharingan no Kakashi (Kakashi of the Sharingan), but also push him, and whatever help he had, to the limit. The help in this case was Ino and Choji. _

_Naruto studied the man carefully before he eventually decided to unleash the big guns. He brought his hands into his signature cross seal and said, "Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Multiple Shadow Clone Technique)."_

_Three clones that looked exactly like Naruto popped up in front of the blonde boy, and without wasting another second, they went to work. Two clones came up to him while one stood idle. Naruto brought his palm out in front of himself and slowly formed his signature technique, the Rasengan. While he created the Rasengan with the help of one clone, another was busy putting the fruits of his labour into good use by adding his elemental affinity into the mix._

_There was a slow build-up of chakra that resulted in a screech being produced by the technique he was creating. He could hear his friends commenting on what he was doing._

"_What is that?" he heard Ino ask no one in particular._

"_That's some screech…" Choji commented as well from the side lines, "A-and the chakra's incredible!"_

_Naruto heard these comments but paid no heed to them. Right now he only wanted to end this battle before the odds somehow changed, and he knew that his next technique would do this for him. He kept his concentration on the chakra building up in his hands, and as soon as it was done he held it up for the world to see._

"_Fūton: Rasen Shuriken (Wind Style: Rasen Shuriken)!" Naruto shouted. _

_He could see that the man he was facing now looked worried as he saw his technique, and while Naruto would have loved to gloat to the man about how awesome his technique was, the fact was that it was incomplete, and despite being in such a state, it was still powerful enough to damage him even as he held it. _

_The third clone he had created quickly went about carrying the task it knew it had to do. The clone rushed towards the man, drawing a kunai from the holster it had and it threw it at the man, causing him raise his hand and swat it away, but what the man had not seen was that Naruto's other clone had performed the Kage Shuriken no Jutsu (Shadow Shuriken Technique), and thus he did not notice the second kunai until it was nearly upon him._

_The man dodged the Kunai by sidestepping it, but he had not realised that he put himself in an unfavourable position since he had walked into Naruto's trap. Naruto appeared at the man's side, but before he (Kakuzu) knew what was going on he had a Rasen Shuriken shoved into his side…good thing too because Naruto was about to reach his limit on the technique. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on what way you looked at the situation, Naruto was blown back when one of the masks opened its mouth and released a blast of powerful, condensed wind that knocked Naruto back a great distance away._

_While Naruto tumbled back across the ground, his opponent screamed in pain as the Rasen Shuriken slowly but surely grinded its way into him, destroying the two masks that were on either side of his head while also destroying the man's chakra network and most of his cells…that's how powerful Naruto's technique was._

_The last thing Naruto remembered was tumbling across the ground like a rag doll as he blacked out from the combined pain and exhaustion he felt from his attack on Kakuzu. He had come here not even at fifty percent, and thus he quickly succumbed to the darkness._

It was due to that incident that Naruto lost his arm. Apparently the jutsu he was hit with was powerful enough to not only push him away from his Rasen Shuriken, but also strong enough to actually damage his arm to the point where his bones bent into awkward positions while also drilling a hole through his bicep. He was left with an arm that was beyond repair.

When he woke up from the incident in Konoha's hospital feeling a little bit worse for wear. It was here that he was told of how the battle had ended and how he had an irreparable arm. This meant that he had no way of continuing with his shinobi duties from there onwards. Before he could shout and beg them to find a way around this, Tsunade baa-chan walked in, and after getting the _pleasantries_ out of the way, she told Naruto about a theory that she had that could help him regain his lost arm.

It was safe to say that when Naruto was told about the surgery that involved him getting a new arm that he jumped at the opportunity. He did so without care for the risks that were involved with the process. Even after he was told that the process could result in his death, he still did not care. Dying was not something that fazed him…it was dying without achieving his ambitions that scared him. But living a life where he wasn't a shinobi also scared him greatly, so he really had no choice in the matter. He _had_ to have the surgery performed on him.

It was safe to say that the operation was a success, one which resulted in him gaining a new arm, one that wasn't plastic or wood (Kami knows that would have sucked), and he also gained something else thanks to the surgery. He gained the ability to use Senju Hashirama's famed Mokuton ninjutsu.

Naruto honestly knew next to nothing about the man, except that he was powerful enough to be called Hokage, and that his cells were highly coveted. He had no illusions of knowing anything else about the man. The only Hokage he knew a lot about was the Sandaime Hokage. The Yondaime was still someone he had not given any time to research thoroughly. All he knew was that the man was the reason why he had a giant fox in his gut that wanted him dead so that it could live.

Hashirama was someone he had learned about over the past month in great detail thanks to Yamato-taichou. Due to the man's perfectionist nature, he wanted Naruto to learn all that there was about Mokuton, including the history behind its conception, which meant learning about Senju Hashirama. While Naruto found the history lessons to be annoying and dull, he did admit (to himself) that they helped him understand things a bit more clearly. Hashirama, during his time, was the most feared shinobi. The man was even called Kami no Shinobi, a title that Naruto discovered was also given to the Sandaime Hokage. And this was thanks to his Mokuton.

Naruto had great respect for the man now…he was climbing up the ladder and becoming one his favourite Hokage. Right now he was tied with Tsunade no baa-chan, but only because of the awesome things he did. He did help create Konoha after all.

Naruto looked at his right hand and sighed. While the arm had brought about an improvement in some other aspects of his shinobi skills, it served as a reminder of the fact that he could no longer use his newly created technique, the Rasen Shuriken.

Tsunade baa-chan had banned him from using the jutsu ever again, she even went as far as to categorise it as an S-rank Kinjutsu. He seriously wished he hadn't been as reckless as he had been when fighting that Kakuzu guy. But, as they say, every grey cloud has a silver lining, and hopefully his silver lining would come around eventually. He just hoped that it would be soon.

Little did Naruto know that the world had a weird way of working things out.

Hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter of my story. That was just the intro, so the story is going to get better (hopefully).

I want to insist that flames are **not** appreciated here. I've read a few hate filled reviews while viewing other stories, and let's just say that they demoralised me (and I wasn't even writing the story). So imagine if it were my story…just kidding (not about the flames part- about the demoralising part).

Anyway enough about that…read, fav/follow and review.

Thabane has left the building.


	2. Chapter Two: Of mice and men

Chapter Two: Of mice and men

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><p>The rain poured down furiously on Amegakure no Sato, hitting its many steel buildings, and its people who were on the streets, with great ferocity. The rain was something that was a common occurrence within this village. It rained on nearly every day of the week, but there were the few occasions that the rain stopped falling from the skies, but that was mainly due to the fact that 'God' had allowed it to be that way.<p>

At the centre of this village was a tower, one which was taller than any other tower throughout, not only the village, but probably the entire continent. The building was steel clad, like every building in Ame, and it had gigantic faces embedded in its infrastructure. The building was a building that many people in this village had come to respect as 'God's Realm'. You could only enter the building if you were invited. If not, then you were screwed.

Inside this building there was a dark room that was a few stories underground. This room was something that no one, except those that were privy to Ame's secrets, knew about. That meant that no one except the person who lead the village and whoever they chose to brig here knew about the place since Ame is a _very _secretive village.

The room had a few candles mounted on the walls that slowly burned away, illuminating the room a little. The room had dark walls that were made out of metal, just like the exterior of the building, and there was a single oak desk and a leather chair in the room. The room looked like it was barely used.

Suddenly though, there was a distortion of sorts on the floor of the room, and _something_ rose out of it as if it were rising through water and not solid steel. That something turned out to be a plant-like humanoid that was black on one side and white on the other side, and it had a Venus fly trap-like protrusion that surrounded its body from the shoulders and upwards. While the creature did not appear fully, one could tell that this creature wore a black, high collared cloak that had red clouds on it. The creature's fly trap protrusion opened up as soon as it stopped its ascent.

"Ah man," the creature said to no one in particular, "Didn't he say that he wasn't going to be late this time?"

"**It matters little if he is late or not**." replied a different voice, one that was gruff, that seemed to originate from the creature, "**We have all day to talk with him**."

"Yeah, that's true." The softer voice said, "We need to think everything through thoroughly now that we have lost so many members in such a short space of time."

It seemed as if each half of the creature had its own subconscious and they were conversing with each other about something rather important.

"I couldn't agree with you more, Zetsu." said a new voice as there was a swirling pattern that appeared in thin air. The swirling pattern continued to grow for a few seconds, before it spat out someone that was dressed in a similar garb as the creature that had now been aptly identified as Zetsu.

The man that appeared before Zetsu had an ominous presence about him that would make anyone quell in fear if they crossed paths with him. His face was hidden behind an orange mask that had a swirl pattern that seemed to originate from his right eye. No other facet of him could be seen either than his black coloured hair because everything else was covered, including his hands, by a pair of black gloves. His toes were visible and they had purple nail polish on them.

"Tobi, glad to see you weren't that late for our meeting." The white half of Zetsu said, with a small grin plastered on its face.

"You make it sound like there was a time schedule for this meeting…all I said to you was that I wanted you to meet me here…I never mentioned anything about time being a factor." The man named Tobi replied calmly.

"I guess you're right." The white half said in a tone that was slightly displeased about something, before he perked back up as he remembered something, "Oh, oh, Tobi, do we have a juicy scoop for you."

"**You make it sound like we're gossipers**." The black half said in a slightly chiding manner.

"Oh, but we are!" the white half said gleefully.

"**No we are not. Maybe you are, but I certainly am not. I deliver intelligence on the enemy. I am a spy**." Black Zetsu said.

"Don't deny what-"

White Zetsu's comment died in his throat when he was suddenly bombarded by an oppressive feeling courtesy of Tobi, who decided to flare his chakra a little in order to gain some semblance of order before the two halves of Zetsu decided to have a tongue lashing festival. He was here for business; they could have their ridiculous argument on their own time.

"I'm not here to play games…" Tobi said in a deadly manner, before his posture changed into a slightly relaxed one as he continued by saying, "Tell me what you discovered."

"**Well there are some concerns from some of the remaining members of Akatsuki. Losing Sasori, Hidan and Kakuzu, three people that were neigh immortal, has shaken them slightly.**" Black Zetsu said.

"They are S-rank shinobi; tell them to get their act together." Tobi said calmly.

"Pain is already taking care of that, we just wanted you to know as well." White Zetsu said seriously, before his facial expression changed into that of a child as he said, "Now onto what we discovered while doing some digging in Konoha."

"What is it?" Tobi requested, feeling his patience waning a little.

"**Uzumaki Naruto has suffered grave damaged from his battle with Kakuzu, damage that has made it neigh impossible for him to be a shinobi anymore, less he can fight with one arm.**" Black Zetsu said.

"This makes capturing him easier than it would have been before." White Zetsu said with his childish expression still etched onto his face.

"Are you sure of this?" Tobi asked.

"Yeah…we stayed in Konoha for a few days, scouting any information that we could possibly find, and lo and behold,** we found Uzumaki's latest medical files that had been compiled by one of the hospital staff… he's weakened greatly.**" White Zetsu had begun the sentence but Black Zetsu finished it off for him.

Tobi stayed silent for a few moments, thinking this situation through, before he smiled slightly under his mask, not that anyone could see it, and said to no one in particular, "I'm sure he must be crushed…"

Tobi had made it one of his missions to watch Uzumaki Naruto's progress through life. He wanted to see if the boy was anything like he thought he was and if he would allow circumstance to bend him. The boy may be stubborn and resilient, but even he would know that there was no getting out of this situation. He was done for.

Tobi looked at Zetsu and said, "I guess we can begin with the next phase of our plan…_initiating the Fourth Great Ninja War_."

Instead of agreeing with him like he had expected Zetsu to do, Tobi was slightly surprised when he saw Zetsu disagree with him by shaking his head, "No." the white half said, before the black part took over, "**We seem to have hit a snag with the army you want to deploy for the war.**"

"What do you mean?" Tobi asked.

"**The power of the bijū that have been gathered so far is not enough for us to do anything other than create an army…they will however be weak. As weak as an ordinary genin, if truth be told.**"

"Then what do you suggest?" Tobi said.

"We have been thinking…" the white half began, "**why not let someone else fight this war for us?**"

"What do you mean?" Tobi asked.

"There's tension brewing between the villages, especially with Jinchuriki being stripped off their power and left for dead. Even though the hidden villages know of our existence, they still don't consider us to be a threat because of one thing, Konoha. As long as Konoha shinobi are dealing with our shinobi, the other hidden villages will not attack us. **The Cold War that the Hidden Villages have been through over the last few years needs only a small spark to ignite it, and if news about Konoha's Jinchuriki losing his 'might' travels around, then I'm sure someone wouldn't mind doing something daring against Konoha**."

"I see…that would have a ripple effect which would plunge everyone into war…when all is said and done we will simply collect our prizes." Tobi rationalised.

"Precisely. **During the end of the First Shinobi War Konoha lost a lot of man power, including a Hokage, but they still won because Sarutobi Hiruzen stepped up and filled the void in strength left by his comrades and Hokage**. During the Third Shinobi War, Konoha won thanks to their Kiroi Senko, and no one attacked the village because of him, despite its weakened state. **After Orochimaru's attack ended in failure, no one attacked Konoha because their Jinchuriki was powerful enough to stop the Ichibi despite not being in a similar transformed state**. That, and the fact that they got two of the Sannin back in the village, one of which became Hokage."

"Where are you going with this, Zetsu?" Tobi asked.

"**What I'm trying to say is that no single village, or a duo for that matter, can take down Konoha, even if that opposing force has a bijū in their midst.** So what we're suggesting is that we convince some of the hidden villages to work together to end Konoha. **We don't even have to get the Great Five into this plan…in fact I believe this plan will be more profitable if no one from the Great Five is involved in this plan.**"

"So in essence, you want to make the Great Five the enemy, right." Tobi rationalised.

Zetsu just nodded his head at that.

"And if that happens then the war will be all but guaranteed. Everyone will suffer considerable losses." Tobi said.

""**Thus making it easier for us to collect the bijū once the smoke has died out**.

"But to pull off something of this nature, one would require the entirety of the smaller villages, plus some added weapons of mass destruction." Tobi said.

"We have the bijū to help us with that." Zetsu said.

"True." Tobi replied, "But we don't have the main ones like the Hachibi and the Kyūbi, despite Naruto being weakened, he is still a Jinchuriki, and as such he is a threat…one arm or not."

There was silence between the two of them. Zetsu's white part whistled while the black half thought of a plan to help them achieve their goals. Looking at Tobi, White Zetsu was able to deduce that he was doing the same. White Zetsu wasn't much of a thinker when it came to the grand scheme of things, so he just let the smart ones do it while he just employed whatever ideas that they came up with. He was a hands on type of guy.

After a few minutes of silence between the two beings in the room, Tobi broke it when he said, "I think I have something in mind. Something that would help us achieve our quest…I can't believe I never thought of this before."

Both parts of Zetsu smiled greatly at this, although the black part's smile could be barely seen, and then the black part said, "**What is it?**"

"Wait and see…" was all Tobi said as he disappeared into a swirling vortex.

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><p>The rays of the sun shone down on Konoha greatly. It may have only been seven thirty in the morning, but for one Uzumaki Naruto it might as well have been twelve in the afternoon. He had been up since five o'clock, looking to get in some training with his Mokuton. The more training he did, the better it would be for him because he could finally join his friends on missions and also help make a difference to Konoha.<p>

While Naruto had begun the day with the purpose of training in Mokuton, he found himself now facing a tree that was in his training ground, looking at it with the utmost determination, as if it had offended him in some way and it was about to get punished. The 'punishment' came a few seconds later, Naruto held his palm in front of his body and watched as there was a slow build-up of chakra that shaped itself into a ball that was blue and majestic. He ran towards the tree while issuing a battle cry, before he slammed the ball into the tree while also screaming, "Rasengan!"

The technique grinded parts of the tree into saw dust for a few seconds, before it lost its shaped and it instead blew a hole through the tree, a huge one at that. This little act had the unfortunate result of capsizing the tree as if it were a ship. Naruto watched it as it fell to the ground in slow motion, before it made a loud thudding sound that made Naruto flinch.

"Shit…Yamato-taichou is going to kill me." He said to himself, worry evident in his tone.

Naruto had only attacked that tree because it was the only one he thought would be strong enough to handle his technique, but he was sadly mistaken. The technique was more powerful than he thought it would be. It seemed as If Hashirama's cells not only increased his chakra levels and helped with his control, once he gained some measure of control over them, but they also increased the power behind his techniques. So much for just trying to see if he could perform a one handed Rasengan.

Getting his thoughts back to the current situation, Naruto realised that he had to fix things before Yamato-taichou showed up, or else he was done for. He suddenly had an idea as to how he was going to fix the situation, but he would have to employ it quickly, or else he was going to get caught.

Over the last month Naruto had trained extensively using that Shadow clone training technique that Kakashi-sensei had shown him when he taught him how to use his Wind element. He used that method of training to work on, not only elemental manipulation of the two elements that culminate into Mokuton, but also some techniques from each element. According to Yamato-taichou this would help strengthen the power behind his Mokuton, and it worked. Too bad for him it also resulted in him feeling exhausted at the end of each session.

Right now he was about to employ one off the techniques he had learned from Yamato-taichou. He sped through a few hand seals, before he ended on the snake had seal and said, "Doton: Chidokaku (Earth Release: Mobile Earth Core)"

The earth beneath the tree shifted, it slowly descended down into the ground until it wasn't visible.

He then placed both palms on the ground and said, "Doton: Doryuu Taiga (Earth Release: Earth Flow River)."

The ground seemed to obey his will as it turned into a mud slide that quickly went about trying to conceal the giant shift of land Naruto had just wrought. The mud filled the void to the brim, before Naruto stopped the technique, allowing the mud to harden, before he decided to take a look at it. Naruto looked on proudly as he saw the results of his many, _many_ hours of training over the last month.

Quickly putting this small achievement aside, Naruto went to the stump that was left from his earlier assault on the tree. He put his bandaged right hand on it while he held up the ram hand seal with his left hand while also silently imagining the tree growing in size, hoping for it to return to its normal height.

Naruto was employing one of the very first Mokuton specialising chakra control techniques that he had learned from Yamato-taichou. Forcefully growing vegetation that already existed with nothing but your chakra. It was a pretty cool trick in Naruto's book, especially now.

He saw the tree stump change and morph itself into something larger. The stump turned into a fully formed trunk, before the trunk sprouted branches that slowly grew to their full extent, before the branches produced leaves which blossomed beautifully.

Once it was done, Naruto stepped back to admire his handiwork, and he had to say that he was impressed. He did not think that he had the chops to pull of something this awesome, but he did. This was definitely a good day for him…so far. He discovered that Senju Hashirama's cells resulted in him not only gaining finer control of his chakra, but they also increased the power behind his techniques. And now he just employed a perfect, in his book, cover for the destroyed tree.

It was a good day indeed.

"I'm impressed by the skill you have shown so far, Uzumaki Naruto." a voice said behind him, making Naruto turn around quickly, wooden kunai in hand (this was part of his earlier Mokuton jutsu repertoire training, he had to make wooden weapons that were strong enough to go against normal weapons), and stare at the source of the voice.

The person that was responsible for riling him up turned out to be some old geezer that had shaggy black hair, a bandage wrapped around his forehead and one of his eyes, and huge ass nose. The man wore white robes and seemed to be walking around with just one good arm, which was currently used to support him by holding onto the cane he hobbled around with. All in all this guy looked like one of those veteran shinobi that Naruto had heard so much about that seemed to have lost a lot during their years of service to the village. He nearly ended up like this old man.

"Um sorry…who are you?" Naruto asked the man.

"I am Shimura Danzō." the old man answered, "It's an honour to meet you, Uzumaki Naruto."

Yeah…something about the old man didn't strike Naruto the right way. Then he remembered why that was. This guy was the same guy that had trained Sai. He remembered being warned about this guy by Tsunade baa-chan and Kakashi-sensei on separate occasions, and now that he was in front of the man he could see why others told him to stay away from him. Shimura Danzō emitted a presence that reeked of darkness. He didn't have to do anything for you to understand that he was a bad person…one good look was all it took for things to be that way.

"Not to be rude or anything, but what's a village elder doing here talking to little old me." Naruto asked. He had interacted with the Sandaime's previous teammates, elders Koharu and Homura, and he understood that the village's elders didn't think highly of him. He knew that they only saw him as a weapon; the Kyūbi was all that mattered to them, and from previous conversations with Tsunade baa-chan and Kakashi-sensei Naruto knew that the same sentiment held true for Shimura Danzō.

"I'm here because I want to offer my assistance to you." Danzō said.

'Right, says the guy that can barely support himself.' Naruto thought internally.

"Assist me with what?" Naruto asked.

"Your training. I heard that you have been training under Kin- I mean Yamato – now for the last month. I heard that you have acquired new _skills_…skills that I am sure I can help you with." Danzō said.

'Ah, I see…so the old bastard knows about my Mokuton…he knew about it before coming here today, despite it being a closely guarded secret.' Naruto rationalised.

"No offense, but how would you possibly train me in something you can't use?" Naruto asked. There were only two people with Mokuton in Konoha right now, and this old geezer was not one of them.

Danzō let a small smile grace his features, a smile which seemed totally out of place on his face, "Who do you think trained _Yamato_?"

Naruto had a shocked look that appeared on his face. This old geezer was saying that he trained Yamato-taichou…no way. And yet, in some twisted way it sort of did make sense. Yamato-taichou was a perfectionist in everything that he did, and from some of the stories that Naruto had heard about Root, he knew that Shimura Danzō expected less than absolute perfection.

"So you trained Yamato-taichou?" Naruto said disbelievingly.

"Yes…and from what I just saw I can tell that you hold a lot more potential with your newly acquired skill set than he will ever have." Danzō said.

Naruto's features became neutral at Danzō's proclamation. While he was a fan of praise, Naruto did not like it when it came from shady dudes that had ulterior motives. Danzō was such a person.

"Thanks…I guess." Naruto replied.

"Well…" Danzō began, "you are the closest thing we have had to the Shodai Hokage…of that I am sure of."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked confusion evident on his face.

"How much do you know about the Shodai Hokage and his Mokuton?" Danzō asked the blonde Jinchuriki.

"Not much." Naruto admitted.

"I see…" Danzō had heard from his men shadowing the boy that he had been researching upon Hashirama, trying to understand more about his new abilities. He thought that the boy would understand just how great a power he had flowing through his veins, but apparently he still didn't. He would make him understand though. That was what he was here for.

"Every person that has taken command of this village as its leader, its Hokage, was chosen because of their strength. They were better than the rest, and hence why they were given such a title. If you want to reach your dream of being Hokage, then you will have to be the best." Danzō explained, before he added, "Every Hokage is also known for possessing some unique set of traits that no one has. An example of this would be the current Hokage and her unrivalled medical knowledge and her unbridled strength."

Naruto nodded at the old man's explanation, showing that he understood what he was saying so far. But serious, did he have to take the long route when he could just get straight to the point?!

"The Nidaime Hokage was known for his shrewd intellect in both combat and everyday life. He was said to be a genius among geniuses and he was very good at all aspects of being a shinobi." Danzō said.

"What was jiji-I mean the Sandaime- known for?" Naruto asked.

Naruto didn't know if it was just his imagination or not, but he saw Danzō's face darken a bit as he replied to Naruto's query, "He was known as the Professor. Just like the Nidaime, Hiruzen was good at everything, but unlike the Nidaime _he had a heart_."

Naruto could practically feel the disdain that Danzō showed when he talked about Sandaime jii-chan. He wanted to say something, but decided against it.

"Hiruzen had mastery over all five elements, a feat that only he has achieved. It's no wonder that he was also called Shinobi no Kami as well." Danzō said.

Naruto's eyes widened at that. No way…all five elements?! Sandaime jii-chan must have been on steroids or something to be able to achieve such a feat. Not even geniuses like Itachi, Kakashi-sensei or even Sasuke had done such a thing. No wonder the old man was made Hokage. Naruto found himself wanting to ask about the Yondaime Hokage, but before he could that Danzō spoke again.

"We are getting off topic…the point is that out of all the Hokage, extraordinary feats and what not, there is one that stands at the top of them all and that is the Shodai Hokage. The man was exceptionally powerful to the point where even Hiruzen's achievements in the Ninja arts pale in comparison to his. I only met him a few times, but I can tell you that there is no one, absolutely no one that has come close to him in strength. Not Hiruzen, not your hero the Yondaime Hokage, not even Yamato, who has Hashirama's cells coursing through his body."

No way…did Naruto just hear this old man correctly? There was someone more powerful than the Yondaime Hokage, a man that practically ended a war on his own and defeated the Kyūbi? There was someone more powerful than jiji, who mastered all five elements? This was just…

"…unreal." Naruto said in a barely contained whisper.

"That may be so, but it is the truth." Danzō said, "Another truth would be the fact that you are the closest thing to him that has come into this world."

"What do you mean?"

"You are the Kyūbi's Jinchuriki, a stronger Mokuton wielder than Ki-Yamato…" Danzō began, "and if you let me, you will be the student of a man such as me. I could train you to your fullest potential. I could train you to achieve feats more legendary than your heroes, and be the next best thing to the Shodai Hokage."

Naruto looked at the old man and saw that he was absolutely serious about his declaration to help Naruto achieve something that was beyond the state of perfection Naruto even dreamt about. But there was just one flaw with this old man's request…

"Thanks but, I have no interest in joining Ne (Root)." There…he said it. The cat was out of the bag. There was no use dancing around the issue when they both knew about it.

"Who said anything about you joining Ne?" Danzō asked with a straight face, "Although you do have the right amount of motivation (and by that he meant darkness), you are too old to join…sorry."

Yeah, as if he really was sorry.

"All I want is to help make you strong enough to the point where you can be sure that not even Akatsuki can do anything to you." Danzō said.

"Yeah, I'm not buying this crap." Again, he was being upfront and honest, "What do you really want from me?"

Danzō looked at the boy and saw that he seemed to think that he wanted something else. He wanted nothing in return; he just wanted to make sure Konoha's weapon was safe and secure from Akatsuki and everyone else.

"I want to help you because I don't want the likes of Akatsuki to end up getting to you, pure and simple." Danzō replied honestly.

Naruto crossed his arms in front of his chest and said, "Regardless of that wish, I don't think I can accept your help. 1. You have nothing that could help me further my skills that Ero-sennin, Yamato-taichou and Kakashi-sensei haven't done already and 2. You're just outright creepy."

Wow, what was up with today? He was being way too brutally honest.

"I see…" Danzō said, before he let go of his cane, letting it hit the ground, and said, "Let's make a deal…if I impress you, right here, right now, then you accept my offer, and if you aren't impressed then I will leave you alone and never bother you ever again."

Naruto looked at the old man intently for a few moments, and while he knew that the old geezer could not be trusted, he knew that this might be the only way to get him to leave him alone…for good.

"Fine…you got a deal." Naruto said.

Danzō did not show any signs of happiness, but internally he could be grinning from east to west. Danzō brought his hand up to his mouth and said, "Fūton: Shinkūha (Wind Release: Vacuum Wave)."

Danzō drew his head back while drawing a lot of air into his lungs, and then he hunched forward slightly and released the air while making a swinging motion with his head. There was a wave of thinly compressed air that shot from Danzō's mouth and rushed towards the nearby trees of the training ground and sliced through them with ease. The wave was able to cut through several dozen trees with ease, before it finally dissipated into nothingness.

One by one, the trees in the training ground started toppling up until the last one that was cut by the technique. Naruto's eyes had practically bulged out of their sockets. This was truly impressive.

"So…I take it that I will be overseeing your training now?" Danzō said, not feeling, or looking, the least bit winded.

"Wait, I didn't say I was impressed." Naruto said, turning his attention back to the man.

"Are you not?" Danzō said coolly, staring at Naruto with a powerful, emotionless gaze that was practically begging for Naruto to say otherwise.

Naruto lowered his head and said, "I kinda am impressed."

"Then a deal is a deal." Danzō said, before bending down to pick up his cane and start hobbling away, "I will talk to the Godaime Hokage about a new training schedule for you."

And with that the old man was gone, leaving Naruto alone in the clearing…well not all alone. Up in the trees there were two figures that watched, and heard the entire spectacle. They couldn't believe what had just transpired.

"Kakashi-senpai, are you sure we shouldn't have intervened, maybe we could have managed to save Naruto from his current situation." Yamato said.

"Yes, I'm absolutely sure of it." Kakashi said, "There was nothing about Danzō's posture or internal body readings that showed that he lied throughout the entire conversation. He meant what he said to Naruto. He wanted to train him and he expects nothing in return."

If he lied, his Sharingan could have picked it all out as it had flared from the word 'go', when Danzō entered the clearing. If only Kakashi had been perceptive enough to use his eye on Naruto instead.

* * *

><p>Later that evening in an underground base deep within the village of Konoha, Shimura Danzō could be seen sitting down in an office that only had an oak desk, a simple chair and a single burning candle, that was about to burn out, and that was on his desk, which he currently sat behind.<p>

Suddenly there was a person that came and landed in front of him, kneeling down on one knee, with their fist firmly touching the ground. They wore a full black cloak that covered their body and a white porcelain mask. This guy was part of Danzō's 'army'.

"Danzō-sama," the person said in an emotionless tone, "Are you sure we shouldn't have dealt with Hatake Kakashi and Kinoe?"

"No." Danzō said, "I needed Kakashi to be there to verify that I was not lying, and with the special seal I have recently added to my bandages there is no way he would have been able to see through them to notice that I had used _his_ eye on the jinchuriki. To Kakashi and Tsunade, I told the truth, and nothing but the truth, while Naruto agreed out of his own free will."

"It was an ingenious plan sir." The man said.

"Indeed." Danzō said, before he added, "And now I can finally begin my plans to move out from the shadows and become Hokage."

As the candle light burned out, the man behind the porcelain mask saw a red light gleam slightly between the bandages where his master's eye was supposed to be.

* * *

><p>And that's a wrap. I'm a bit saddened by the fact that there was only one review, but hey, I gotta do better I guess. Have anyone of you guys seen <em>The Last<em> yet? If you have tell me if I should pursue it or leave it alone.

And with that said, Thabane has left the building.


	3. Chapter 3: Deals struck by Devils

**Sup guys. Listen, I'm sorry for the wait but I couldn't get anything done. My old man is renovating the house, so I barely have anytime to write. Just know that this chapter was rushed, so it is FAR from perfect. If you encounter any grammatical errors let me know so I can fix them later on when I have the time to do so.**

**Also I want to say BIG LOVE for all the reviews I got from the previous chapter; you don't know how happy they made me. **

**With that said here's the next chapter**.

Random Disclaimer: _I don't own Naruto. if I did I wouldn't have chosen Maile Flanagan to do the English voiceover of my main man Naruto. I tried watching the dubbed version recently and I have to say, her voice truly annoyed me._

Chapter Three: Deals struck by Devils

In the Shinobi world there were many, many secrets that existed that were only known by a select few people. These secrets were kept away from the average person because they could be detrimental to a certain party, or nation, if they were to be revealed. An example of such a secret would be the mission Kumogakure handed to one of their jonin. The man was supposed to kidnap the Hyūga Heiress so that the village of Kumogakure could gain a new bloodline, but unfortunately that was not to be as they were discovered and stopped.

When they were exposed to the world they took the cowardly route and denied all involvement in the incident, and even went as far as 'asking' for their pound of flesh in the form of the head of the person that had taken the life of one of their Jonin. The Hyūga, having being backed into a corner, had tricked Kumogakure by using someone else as the 'offering'. By the time Kumo discovered this, it was already too late. No one had come out of that incident unscathed, but at the same time war had been averted. But more than anything else someone's reputation got hurt.

Another secret that existed in this world was that of a prison, one that was located deep within the isles of Mizu no Kuni. This prison was a prison that was so tough to live in, that anyone who was sent here was deemed dead. It only held the worst of the worst. That meant that people that were homicidal maniacs, serial rapists, war criminals, or those deemed too be too much of a threat to be kept around normal people were sent there.

The prison was hidden from the rest of the world by a never ending mist, and it was surrounded by at least a dozen or so small islands. Those that knew of its existence were limited to just the guards of the prison and the Mizukage of Kirigakure. No one else knew about it. _No one_. At least that was the general perception about the prison, but there were two more people that knew of its existence. One of those people slowly revealed himself to the world through a distortion in space that culminated into him being spat out by this distortion.

He landed on his feet and slowly surveyed the entire prison from the top of the mountain he stood on. His cloak bellowed smoothly in the wind as surveyed everything. The prison was in between two mountains. It was made up of mainly rock and steel, and from his elevated position on the highest point of the prison, Tobi could make out the bustling of prisoners moving through the yard. He could also make out the guards standing in elevated positions keeping their eyes on the prisoners. The inspection of the island continued for a few more seconds before Tobi decided he had seen enough and he simply allowed the distortion that had brought him here to swallow him up once again.

Hiroku Kenshin was a man that was considered to be a genius even by normal standards. He was someone that had graduated from the Kirigakure's Shinobi Academy at a relatively young age; a few years before they started their infamous practise of having friends kill each other. He quickly rose through the ranks and became a Jonin within four years after graduating, but he did the unthinkable and quit soon after making jonin. He left Kirigakure just as the Bloodline purges began, with nothing whatsoever on him besides his clothes and money.

Those that knew Hiroku personally could tell you that Hiroku cared very little about other people. In fact the only thing he did care about was money. Being someone that grew up on the streets, he learned to not only value money, but to also love it as if it were an entity that could love him back. It was intoxicating to him, to the point where he would actually kill all those that thought of defying him if he wanted money from them, only if they owed him.

Hiroku used the Bloodline purges to set himself up as a weapons manufacturer, making weapons for both sides of the war, and making a huge killing out of it. He rose to being a stupidly rich person in just a few years, but when the Yondaime Mizukage was stopped, he sought to make a deal with the Godaime. He would continue to make weapons for her, but in exchange for a huge fee. It was safe to say that was a big mistake on his part. The Mizukage apparently thought that he was too big a target to simply leave alone to roam the world, so she did the only thing she could do, without killing him.

She kicked his ass and then threw him into prison, but not just any prison, she chose The Void, Kiri's, if not the world's, most dangerous and inescapable prison.

Hiroku currently sat in his solitary cell in a lotus position on the floor. He had black hair, matching colour eyes and a rugged beard that had sideburns that were connected to his bushy, messed up hair. He currently wore the prison garbs that all prisoners wore. They were specially made to inhibit chakra usage so the prisoners could not perform ninjutsu in order to escape.

His dark eyes were currently closed as he thought of something. Whatever it was that he thought about, it was evident that it was frustrating to him.

"You know, for someone that's considered a genius weapons manufacturer, I would have thought that you would have escaped by now." said a voice he didn't recognise.

Hiroku immediately opened his eyes and he was greeted by the sight of a man that wore an orange mask that had a swirly pattern on it that converged around his right eye. He was garbed in a black cloak that was adorned in red clouds. The man currently stood in front of him, looking at him through the eye hole in his mask. The light that came through the window was small, but it was enough to give this new individual a presence that radiated power and malice.

"Who are you?" asked Hiroku in a surprisingly soft tone.

"Who I am is of little importance to you, but what I can do for you is of great importance." The masked man replied.

"Really, what is it that you could do for me?" Hiroku asked.

"You want freedom, right?" the masked man asked rhetorically.

Hiroku chose not to say anything at all since he could tell that it was rhetorical.

"Well, I'm willing to offer that to you." The masked man said.

"In exchange for what?" Hiroku asked. There was no way that any one would ever offer something as huge as freedom to a prisoner without expecting something else in return, so the question was _what did this stranger want from him?_

"I want you to work for me…I could use your skills." The masked man declared.

Hiroku stayed silent for a few seconds. He should have expected that from this man. There was no way that someone would spring a prisoner from jail without wanting something in return, and in this case it seemed that this masked man wanted his skills in weapons manufacturing.

"I'll accept only on two conditions." Hiroki said.

"Name them." The masked man said.

"First, I want to be compensated accordingly. So if you sell a weapon I made, I expect fifty percent to come to me." Hiroku stated evenly.

"Done. What else?"

"When all is said and done," Hiroku began, before his face took a dark turn and his voice lost its softness, where it hardened greatly as he said, "I want you to grant me an audience with Mei Terumi. I want to teach her a lesson she'll never forget."

There was a tense silence for a few seconds between the two men, before Hiroku heard a word that made him smile for the first time in years.

"Deal."

Hiroku was then startled when he was suddenly sucked into a swirling vortex that seemed to originate from the masked man's face, before the masked man soon followed as well. They left behind an empty solitary confinement cell.

Konohagakure no Sato

The sun shone brightly on the village hidden in the leaves. The people went about their merry way, doing whatever task they were supposed to do today. They seemed to be in a very good mood. One such person that was in this particular mood was none other than Uzumaki Naruto. He currently had nowhere to be, and nothing to do so he milled the streets of his beloved village like everyone else.

He had his hands hidden behind his head as he walked through Konoha's busy streets. He passed a few people, who bowed their heads towards him in greeting, and he returned this sentiment as well. He was also given looks of discontent, but they no longer affected him as much as they used too. Some of the people in Konoha had accepted him as one of their own, while the majority of the village still saw him as the Kyūbi. But that was okay to him, he would show them all one day when he became Hokage.

Thinking about the great bijū made him realise that ever since he had received Hashirama's cells, he no longer felt the anger that was usually present within him. The Kyūbi was awfully quiet these days, it acted like it did not want to see either hair nor hide of him and its power was somehow dormant. Something strange was going on between his newly acquired powers and the Kyūbi, and he was going to find out what it was exactly.

Just as his thoughts were beginning to get a bit out of order, he heard someone call out his name. He turned to the left, where the sound had originated from, and he was greeted by the sight of Sakura waving her hands in the air madly. This sight brought a smile to his face, and he quickly dropped his hands to the side and then ran up to her.

"Hey Sakura-chan." Naruto said upon reaching her.

"Naruto, I haven't seen you in a while." Sakura replied, smiling at the blonde boy.

"Yeah, I've been kind of busy with some training." Naruto said.

Sakura looked towards his arm as if she was inspecting it for a few seconds, before she said, "I heard about the transplant being a success…sorry I haven't seen you until today."

"No problem Sakura-chan." Naruto said, still smiling like an idiot. He truly didn't mind her not coming to see him. She was someone he would have focused a lot of attention on if he saw her. He did love her after all. It would have disturbed his training over the last month, so it was all good in his book if she did not come to see him.

"Still, I feel like I should have…" Sakura said, despite Naruto saying that it was okay, before she suddenly perked up and said, "I know, let me buy you something to eat as a way of making it up to you."

"Ramen?!" Naruto asked, demanded with an even wider grin than before.

"Urgh, fine." Sakura said, before she quickly added, "But this is completely platonic."

Naruto's face scrunched up as he looked at her as if she was talking a foreign language, "What?"

Sakura shook her head and said, "Never mind."

Sakura wasn't in the mood to teach Naruto the meaning of the word platonic, but she somehow knew that Naruto understood that this was NOT a date. It was just one friend buying another friend some lunch.

The duo slowly made their way through the sea of pedestrians until they were at Ichiraku Ramen, Naruto's favourite restaurant. As soon as they sat down on the red bar stools of the eating establishment, the owner burst of said eating establishment burst through the flap that hid the backroom of the stand.

"Ah, Naruto, something told me that you would be here." The old man said with a beaming smile on his face.

"We both know that that's a lie, Teuchi ojii-san. You just heard the flaps being pushed aside." Naruto replied with his own smile. He honestly missed this old man and the familiar aura of the restaurant he frequented a lot. The company here was second best to none, and the food was godly. It was like someone had given Teuchi ojii-san the recipe of the gods, because the dishes he created are for gods.

"Yeah, you're probably right." The old man said with a small laugh. "So what are you having today?"

"Gimme the super deluxe special!" Naruto proclaimed excitedly.

"What about you, miss?" Teuchi asked Sakura.

"Just some miso ramen." Sakura said.

"Alright, coming right up." Teuchi then turned his back on the two friends and began preparing them some food. While Teuchi prepared the food Sakura decided to ask Naruto a question that has been on her mind.

"So…" she began, "can you use Mokuton like Yamato-taichou?"

Naruto looked at her, and then to his arm, before he looked at her and shook his head and said, "No, I can't use it like Yamato-taichou."

"Oh, I'm sorr-"

"I'm better at it than he is." Naruto proclaimed with a smile etched on his face.

"Huh?" was all Sakura could say.

"I guess I better explain." Naruto said, before he launched into his explanation, "Yamato-taichou tested me a little over a month ago to see if I have the same capabilities as he does with Mokuton. He had me do a series of tests that involved me trying to use the power residing within my right arm. After those tests were all said and done he deemed me to not only have the ability to use this ability, but I also had the ability to use it better than he can."

Sakura had stars in her eyes as she heard Naruto's explanation of his newly acquired powers, "Wow…really?!"

"Yeah…and he wasn't the only one to say so." Naruto said, although his features softened a bit at that proclamation.

"Huh, who else said so?" Sakura asked.

"Sai's former master…Shimura Danzō." Naruto said. "He came to talk to me a few days ago."

"Him?" Sakura said incredulously, "What did he want with you?"

"He said he wanted to train me. He thinks that he can do a better job than Yamato-taichou." Naruto said.

"Ha, as if." Sakura said, in her book only a Mokuton wielder could train a Mokuton wielder, "I'm sure you told him to fuck off, right?"

Naruto averted his eyes from hers when she asked him that question. Sakura saw this and she narrowed her eyes, because she could somehow guess what happened between them if Naruto didn't tell that creep to piss off.

"Naruto," Sakura began evenly, "what did you?"

Naruto mumbled something incoherent, thus prompting Sakura to smack him lightly on his head and say, "Speak up, idiot."

Naruto looked at her with shame filled face and said, "I agreed to it. Now before you throw a fit I want you to know that I tried to send him away, but he somehow convinced me to agree to a deal that involved him impressing me with a really cool wind jutsu, and in the end I agreed because I don't go back on my word."

Sakura looked at her blonde friend with a face that said 'defuq'.

"Look, I explained everything to Tsunade baa-chan, so if you want to know every detail, then go talk to her…besides, our food is here." Naruto said, before he happily used the ramen that was served to them as a welcomed distraction from his conversation with Sakura. He quickly picked up the chopsticks that were laid next to the ramen bowl and clasped his hands together and said, "Itadakimasu." before he dove right in to his meal.

Sakura could tell that her friend didn't want to talk about this, so she simply shook her head and then dug into her own meal. The two of them ate together in silence, with Naruto eating at a relatively slow pace…for him anyway. He was trying to make this silence last as long as possible, so he could get Sakura's mind off the topic.

After a few minutes of silence between them, they were suddenly interrupted by a chunin wearing the standard Konoha shinobi garb. The chunin came by unexpectedly and said, "Uzumaki Naruto?"

"Yes." Naruto said.

"Danzō-sama requires your presence. He told me to say that he is in the training ground you met at." The chunin said, before he disappeared from sight, his message already delivered.

Naruto, whose bowl was nearly empty, quickly garbled down the rest of his food, before he jumped to his feet, took out his favourite frog wallet, and left some money on the table. It seemed as if he had forgotten that Sakura was the one that was supposed to pay. Just as Naruto was about to walk past the flap that led out of the stand Sakura said some last words before he disappeared, "This conversation isn't over."

Looks like his plan to get her mind off of their conversation had failed, but then again he should have expected that. Sakura was a really intelligent individual, so such an obvious tactic was bound to fail when used on someone like her.

Naruto disappeared in a similar manner to the previous ninja, leaving Sakura to her thoughts about the conversation.

Kirigakure no Sato

Terumi Mei, the Godaime Mizukage of Kirigakure no Sato was a beautiful woman that had long, auburn coloured hair, green eyes that could bind most men to her charms, and a stellar body that would make any woman jealous. She was the second female Kage in history, following the appointment of Senju Tsunade into the position of Godaime Hokage. It seemed kind of fitting that the Godaime Mizukage be female since the Godaime Hokage was female as well.

Mei was currently throwing an absurd amount of curses as she furiously signed away on the paper work before her. Her use of language would make even a sailor blanch at her crude words, but to her they were just and fair. She hated paper work greatly, especially now more than ever due to the recent chunin exams that was held in Kumogakure. She was forced to promote three people to chunin, and while some would think of this as something stupid, well they had no idea how much time and effort went into promoting one person, let alone three.

Just as she finished signing off on another document she heard her door being thrown open by someone, prompting her to look up and she caught sight of a shinobi that was strangely out of breath, that stood in the doorway holding a piece of paper. Just as she was about to ask what would prompt someone, a chunin no less, to just burst through the Mizukage's office unannounced, the man said, "Mizukage-sama…Hiroku…escaped."

The man fell down on the floor the next second due to his fatigue, while Mei was startled by the news so much that she was next to the fallen chunin in a split second. She took the paper he had in his hand and read it. Upon reading it she confirmed that what she had heard was not a lie. Hiroku Kenshin, one of the most brilliant, but also one of the most dangerous people on the planet had escaped. This was deduced during the prison count, where they discovered he wasn't there.

Hiroku Kenshin was now the very first person to escape from The Void.

Unknown Location

A figure could be seen sitting in a lotus position in a slightly lit room in an underground base. This figure had black hair that formed two bangs on either side of his face while the back of his hair stood out in sharp spikes. He wore a long sleeved, chest exposing, button-less shirt, a pair of arm warmers underneath the shirt, a pair of dark pants that had a piece of purple cloth over it and a rope belt that had a sword lodged in it. The figure was currently sitting with his eyes closed, just letting the darkness of the room envelope him.

After a while he opened his eyes and revealed them to be deep onyx coloured eyes that barely held any emotion behind them whatsoever. This person was just fifteen years old, but he already had features that spoke of a true warrior that has seen things that many have not. One of those things was currently playing in his mind. He could remember a moment in his childhood when he silently watched his brother train from behind a tree. Thinking back now he was sure that his brother had noticed his presence but chose not to do anything about it.

The figure stood up from the floor and slowly walked to the centre of the room, where a wooden wall was placed there, and hidden behind the many pillar of the base he currently resided in, were targets that he needed to hit.

Thinking back to his memory, his brother had also done a similar training method. As he thought about his brother's movements on that day, he did them himself. He jumped up into the air, just like his brother had done on that day; he twisted in the air while placing eight kunai in each hand as opposed to his brother's four kunai. He threw the kunai in different directions; before he sent the last pair to hit a few that were purposely off course. They hit the other kunai, correcting the wayward kunai's trajectory while also fixing their own direction, before they all embedded themselves into their specific bull's eye markings.

Sixteen throws, and all sixteen hit home.

As soon as he landed on the ground the figure channelled lightning natured chakra to his hands, before he released it all while shouting, "Chidori Nagashi (Chidori Stream)."

Electricity flowed all over the room, hitting and destroying every bull's eye and the wall that was in front of the figure. Once all this was said and done the figure stopped his technique and sighed, "Heh...it's time."

With that the figure slowly made his exit from the room. He was ready to begin his quest for vengeance. He was the sole survivor of the Uchiha Massacre. He was the fifteen year old former Konoha shinobi that was sometimes referred to as _the last Uchiha_. His name was Uchiha Sasuke.

Outside a hidden base – Unknown Location

The sun shone ferociously on the landscape that was already dry and barren. There were barely any trees in sight in this type of environment, but that seemed to matter little to a figure that slowly walked through the scorching sun. The figure could not be seen properly from afar, but as it got closer to its destination, one would have been able to make out that the figure had bright orange hair that was accompanied by pale skin that had piercings all over its facial parts and ears. The two traits that would have stood out to anyone would be the black cloak adorned with red clouds, and the person's eyes.

The person continued to draw closer and closer to his destination until he finally stopped. He looked around the barren waste land, as if he was inspecting it for something irregular that might catch his eye, but sadly there was nothing.

"So this is where Orochimaru's hiding now?" the figure said in a tone that was both deep and also seemed devoid of life.

"Yes." said another voice, prompting the orange haired man to look to his left, where the voice came from. He was greeted by the sight of Zetsu, Akatsuki's master infiltrator, coming out of the ground as if there was nothing wrong with it. As soon as he was fully out of the ground Zetsu turned to the orange haired man and said, "Orochimaru is beyond those doors…**you can finally get your ring back**."

"Indeed." The figure said in reply to Zetsu's statement. Orochimaru had nowhere to go. He had evaded Akatsuki long enough but now was the time for him to pay the price for betraying them. He was going to take the ring from the snake, and then offer him a chance at redemption by fulfilling a specific task for Akatsuki. Failing that then he was as good as dead to him.

"Time to begin." The orange haired man said. He stretched his arms in front of him, palms facing forward and said one word, "Shinra Tensei."

Uchiha Sasuke currently stood in front of the dead form of his master, the Genius Sannin as he was sometimes called, Orochimaru. Sasuke had come into Orochimaru's room while the man was weakened and with the thought of killing him. After telling him that he was something of a failure in front of the Uchiha name, and that he hated how the man experimented on people, Sasuke proceeded to kill him. Although the man had pulled off a few surprises along the way, the end result was as predicted.

Orochimaru currently lay on the ground, dead, in a form that was much different from the one he had before. His body was an encompassment of small, white coloured snakes that combined into one giant hideous white snake.

Just as Sasuke put his shirt on and was about to leave he suddenly heard the sound of an explosion, one that was strong enough to shake the entire base. Dust dropped down from the ceiling and the ground he stood on shook terribly as a result of this explosion. He schooled his features and slowly walked towards the door. He hadn't even taken three steps when he felt a presence near Orochimaru's room. Sasuke was not a sensor type shinobi, but he could somehow tell that the person approaching was not your run-of-the-mill shinobi that barely knew how to fight.

This guy was strong. He was possibly on the same level as his brother.

Sasuke did not have to wait long before he was greeted by the sight of the figure in question. He wore a high collared black cloak with red clouds on it and had bright orange hair that was spiky. The most interesting thing about the man was his eyes. Despite the dead look they projected they also projected power. Sasuke could tell that this was a Doujutsu, but what it was called remained a mystery to him. Out of all the traits that the man carried, the one that stood out for Sasuke was his cloak. It signified that he, the unknown man, belonged to the same group as

"Who are you?" Sasuke asked.

"I am God." The man said. Most would have proclaimed such a thing with arrogance, especially considering this guy's strength, but he just seemed to say it as if it was something he had grown up believing, as if he had known this fact forever, hence why it did not make him gloat whenever he proclaimed it to the world.

"Well 'God', what do you want?" Sasuke asked as his hand went to the chokuto residing on his lower back and his hand stayed on the handle.

The man was quiet for a few seconds; he seemed to be inspecting the room, before his eyes landed on the dead husk of Orochimaru. He seemed to stare at the man for a few more seconds, before he turned his attention to Sasuke and said, "You killed him?"

"What of it." Sasuke asked rudely. There was no time to play nice in this situation.

"I wanted two things from him, but seeing as he is no longer alive I'll just have to ask you for these two things." The man calling himself 'God' replied.

Sasuke decided to play along with the man and asked him, "What is it?"

"Orochimaru is in possession of a ring that belongs to us, and we want it back."

"That's it?" Sasuke asked a bit incredulously.

"No…" the man said as he stepped closer to Sasuke. His eyes seemed to be gleaning between him and Orochimaru, looking at them both in a back and forth manner. "You absorbed him, didn't you?"

This question got Sasuke's eyes to widen a bit.

"My eyes are better than yours." The man proclaimed as he continued moving inside the room, "I can see the chakra that you've syphoned from Orochimaru, and I can also see a larger piece of his soul in you than in those cursed seal experiments of his."

A black rod slowly extended from the orange haired man's sleeve. He seemed to want a fight with Sasuke. And since he was feeling really generous, Sasuke decided to give the guy what he wanted.

"The second thing I want is the Edo Tensei." The man said, "If you've absorbed Orochimaru then you should know about it, including how to use it just like he could.

"Fuck off." Sasuke said. There was no way he was going to give into anyone's demands. He was his own man, and there was no one that could tell him otherwise.

Although something weird did happen at the mention of him knowing the Edo Tensei. He could see images of himself learning the technique from scratch. He saw himself research it for many years before he mastered it. He saw himself use the technique on the Sandaime Hokage, only for the old fool to strip him away of it. It was then that Sasuke realised that he was experiencing Orochimaru's memories and not his own. It seemed as if the stranger was right. He could do the technique, but that didn't mean that he was going to do so for this guy.

"Wrong choice." That was the only warning Sasuke got before the man used some impressive speed to close down the space between them, before he launched his right arm forward, causing the rod that was sticking out of it to meet Sasuke's chokuto.

Sasuke channelled lightning chakra through his blade, hoping to catch this man off guard and electrocute him but the man broke off from his blade just a split second early, causing his strategy to miss. Hoping to compensate for it he channelled lightning into his hands and said, "Chidori Nagashi (Chidori Stream)."

His attack seemed to hit its target, before something happened that Sasuke couldn't explain. His attack and he as well, were blown back by an incredible force. The unexpected attack sent Sasuke back first into the wall. This had the effect of denting the wall and also making him a bit disoriented. Before he could grasp his bearings, he felt something stab through both of his shoulders at the same time.

The sharp pain that came as a result of this caused his mind to be a lot more alert as it searched for the source of it all. The source of Sasuke's pain turned out to be the man he was fighting, or to be more precise the man's rods. He currently had his hands attached to the rods rammed into Sasuke's shoulders, which were bleeding profusely.

"Aargh!" Sasuke cried out in pain.

The man looked at him with cold eyes and said, "I told you that you made the wrong choice."

Sasuke might as well have not heard the man due to the intense pain he was currently feeling. He couldn't really grasp what was going on within his surroundings as he felt unbearable pain from the stab wounds he had. As if things couldn't get any worse for the Uchiha clan member, he felt his chakra getting disrupted by this foreign chakra that just seemed to make things worse.

"I'll ask again," the orange haired male began, "since Orochimaru is inside you, it's safe to assume that you can perform the Edo Tensei? Remember that only one answer will spare your life."

Sasuke managed to get his laboured breathing under control and said, "…yes!"

"Well then, it seems as if you have some use to me after all." The orange haired man said in the dreary tone he had been using since the beginning of their conversation. He then pulled the two rods out of Sasuke's shoulders, letting the Uchiha slump to the ground and said, "I want you to build me an Edo Tensei army strong enough to challenge the Great Five."

Without even waiting for Sasuke's reply, the man simply turned on his heels and walked out of the room, but he did stop when he reached the exit and turned around and looked at Sasuke with a deadly look in his eyes, a look which sent shivers down Sasuke's spine, while he said, "Congratulations are due by the way…you're officially the new leader of Oto."

And with that the man was gone, leaving behind a kneeling, and also very fearful Uchiha Sasuke. Sasuke had previously thought that he was not afraid of anything, not after he had spent three years with Orochimaru, watching the man experiment on people in a manner that would make anyone's skin crawl. But today he discovered that he was still afraid. He was afraid of the orange haired man in Akatsuki robes…

Another chapter done, so hurray to me; and I did it in two nights, or to be more specific, six hours…three hours per night. Again, I would like to apologise if the chapter was cruddy, but trust me things are going to get a whole lot more interesting within the coming chapters.

Also, this isn't a NaruSaku story…so go somewhere else if you thought it was.

Hiroku will play a major part in this story; he isn't someone I conjured up just to fill a spot or something. I have plans for him that are going to make him a major player in the story, although the level of effect he will have is still unknown.

What did you guys think about Sasuke getting totally outclassed by Pain? Early Shippuuden Sasuke was strong, but he wasn't on Pain's level, hence why he got such a beating.

Wonder what's going to happen next? Only time will tell.

Until next time,

Thabane has left the building.


	4. Chapter Four: Changes

This chapter was rushed, so if there are any mistakes, don't shoot me.

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><p>Random Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto. If I did, Kakashi would have kept his Susano'o…and The Last would not be 'the last'.<p>

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><p>Chapter Four: Changes<p>

Naruto appeared within the blink of an eye at the training ground he was supposed to meet his new "sensei" in. As soon as he appeared within the training ground, he saw Danzō turn around and look at him with an unreadable expression in his eyes. The old man stood still, letting his eyes do the searching as he examined the blonde from top to bottom. After a tense few seconds of scrutiny from Danzō, Naruto was beginning to feel a bit unnerved. Thankfully for him though, the man seemed to stop his assessment of him as he said, "If you were wondering about why I was examining you, it is because I want to see which physical portions of you stand out from the rest."

"Physical portions?" Naruto asked, feeling confused by what the old man said.

Danzō, though not really in the mood to explain things, decided to do so anyway. He needed the Kyūbi on his side, and as such he had to be patient. He had to win him over from Tsunade, and as such he needed to be a good mentor to the boy. He needed to be someone the boy could come to for advice, so that was why he proceeded to explain what he meant to Naruto.

"What I meant from my previous statement was that I was checking to see what physical attributes you display the most when in battle, and exactly how good are you in physical combat." Danzō said.

"I still don't get it." Naruto said, scratching his head a little, trying to wrap his mind around what Danzō meant.

Danzō meanwhile, felt like sighing for the first time in a long time, but he held it in as it was very unbefitting of a shinobi, especially of a high calibre one like him.

"When you get to my age, you can tell a lot about someone just from looking at them. I can tell from your entrance that you lack stealth, even though you are supposed to be a shinobi. Your physical capabilities are good but I have not yet seen your taijutsu so that remains to be seen, and from the clothes you wear I can tell that you are brash and very forward." Danzō explained.

Wow, that was the one of the longest sentences Danzō had ever constructed while talking to Naruto. Regardless of that though, Naruto didn't know whether to be insulted by Danzō's assessment of him, or be happy. Insulted because of the brash comment and happy because of the good physic he had apparently. So Naruto chose option C, and that was to just remain neutral about the assessment.

"Okay…but what does this assessment have to do with anything?" Naruto asked.

"Everything." Danzō said in a dreary, "What I deem to be an area where you lack in, I will help cultivate that area until it is up to par."

"Okay…" Naruto said, finally getting the old man before he added, "So what are we going to work on first?"

Naruto hoped that it was ninjutsu, he seriously did. Out of all the ninja arts he excelled at that the most, but something told him that he wouldn't be so lucky.

"As I said before, while you look fit, we don't know if your taijutsu is up to par, so as such I will test you in it first." Danzō said, before he moved his fingers on his cane as if he were flexing them, and suddenly a pair of kunai flew out from Naruto's blind spot, hoping to catch the blonde off guard, but Naruto simply tilted his head as if they weren't there and let them sail past his head harmlessly.

Naruto heard the sound of feet rushing from behind, so he turned and faced the oncoming threat. He saw a person, dressed in standard Konoha shinobi uninform run up to him, with a tanto drawn, ready to slice Naruto into two. Naruto may be an idiot most of the time, but even he could tell that this guy that was attacking him was a Ne agent, as only they would follow Danzō's command. Another clue as to who this guy worked for was his standard issue Ne tanto. Sai said that they were given them from early days in training. Danzō couldn't have his soldier wearing a Ne outfit; it would cause one too many problems for him, so he had him wear the standard Konoha shinobi uniform.

Naruto waited until the man was before him, before he brought his hands up to defend himself. The shinobi attacking Naruto thrust the silver bladed weapon forward, hoping to skewer Naruto, but he deftly deflected the stab with his right hand, before he brought his left hand and used it to try and knock the guy's lights out. Unfortunately for him, this guy wasn't a Ne operative for nothing. He ducked the punch, before he twirled the tanto around and used butt end of if to hit Naruto in the gut.

Saliva flew out of Naruto's mouth as the hit connected, before another two hits followed, courtesy of a kick to the shin, to cause him some mind distracting pain, before it was followed up by a haymaker that sent him reeling backwards.

Naruto gathered his bearings just in time to see another punch aimed at him, but he deftly dodged it before he sent his own punch forward, while also channelling his chakra throughout his body and mentally intoned, 'Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique).'

Two clones came to life next to Naruto. They burst from the white smoke, using it as a cover to try a sneak attack, and they managed to distract the Ne shinobi long enough for Naruto to land two decisive blows, one to the stomach and another to the temple, that sent the Ne shinobi flying away from him out cold.

Naruto couldn't hold back the ear splitting grin that threatened to tear apart his face. He felt like jumping up and shouting "Oh yeah" at the top of his lungs. Turning around, Naruto found Danzō looking at him with a disheartened look. That was not a look Naruto was expecting from his new teacher. Naruto schooled his features and asked "What's wrong?"

Danzō said nothing at first, but he soon replied to Naruto's query by saying, "It seems my earlier judgement of you was quiet inaccurate."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, getting a bad feeling about what Danzō was going to say next.

"What I mean is that your taijutsu is bad. While using your clones as a distraction before you can land a hit is a good tactic, it seems like it's the only way you know how to fight. Am I wrong?"

Naruto wanted to say that Danzō was talking shit, but thinking back to all of the fights he has had since becoming a genin, he has never won a fight where he didn't use the Kage Bunshin. During his fight with Orochimaru in the forest of death he was owned by the Hebi Sannin when he went at it alone, and during his fight against Sasuke, it became abundantly clear that there was a gap between them when it came to taijutsu without clones. All in all, this summed up that Naruto sucked big time when he did not use clones to fight alongside him.

Danzō, meanwhile, took Naruto's silent contemplation as a sign of agreement and continued with his explanation, "Your mastery of the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu is second to none. I don't think that even the Nidaime Hokage has mastered this technique to the point that you have. But the fact remains that you aren't good enough without it…"

Wow, that was a really huge bitter pill to swallow. Ero-sennin had always told him that he was good at taijutsu, and it was even proven when he beat the man in a spar a few weeks before they returned to Konoha. Thinking back now, it could be said that Ero-sennin was holding back against him. He always thought that he was ready to face Akatsuki, but here was someone telling him otherwise…well he didn't say that he couldn't take on Akatsuki, just that he sucked at taijutsu. But that statement could be translated into "you are not ready to face Akatsuki".

"…Fortunately for you I am here to help cultivate you into being the shinobi I know you can be." Danzō continued after a few seconds, "I will work you to the ground until you have mastered everything in your arsenal to the level of your Kage Bunshin."

Naruto looked at the man who had a neutral look in his eyes and shivered slightly. Even though he didn't really emit or say anything bad, Danzō's words still managed to get Naruto to shiver. Something told him that his next few days were going to be a living hell.

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><p><strong>Two days later – Otogakure no Sato<strong>

Uchiha Sasuke sat on the throne that was once occupied by his master, the legendary, yet also quiet infamous, Orochimaru. His elbow rested on the armrest while his palm cupped his face as he rested his head on it. Only those that were the leader of Otogakure no Sato could occupy this throne; and that was what Sasuke was right now, he was the leader of Oto. This all happened because of the orange haired man…the one who worked with Itachi in Akatsuki. The man that frightened him greatly.

No.

He was an Uchiha, he would not be afraid of anything or anyone, including a man that could use unexplainable techniques to fight people. Sasuke's current position was because of that man. He was supposed to just kill Orochimaru and then leave on his quest to avenge his family, but the man said a few words that shocked him greatly.

"_Congratulations are due by the way…you're officially the new leader of Oto."_

That sentence had shocked him greatly. But it wasn't the new position he found himself that shocked him, but rather the underlying threat within the words the man spoke. Recalling one of his former senseis, Kakashi's, lessons he had looked underneath the underneath. He understood that what the man was telling him was that he had to man the helm here at Oto or else…

For some reason he couldn't quite understand Sasuke didn't want to push the 'else' button.

Another thing that the man seemed to spark within him was the ability to recall some of Orochimaru's memories. It seems as though learning the Edo Tensei wasn't the only thing he gained when his and Orochimaru's minds merged together. Or to be more precise, when he subjugated Orochimaru's mind. He also gained access to some of his darkest and most dangerous techniques. Techniques which many would say should never see the light of day.

As Sasuke sat on the throne of Oto, which was located in Oto's biggest base, he heard the large doors that lead in and out of the throne room being opened. He looked up just in time to see a man enter the room. The man had on the standard Otogakure shinobi uniform, which covered every part of their body except for their eyes.

People can say anything they want about Orochimaru, but they can never fault him when it came to how he ran his village. He personified what Hidden Villages should strive for. Always remain hidden, which is what one would expect from a Hidden Village.

"Sasuke-sama." The man greeted respectfully, bowing down to his leader.

"What is it?" Sasuke asked impatiently.

"The team we sent to search for Yakushi Kabuto has returned." The man said.

"And?"

"He's long gone sir." The man said.

Sasuke felt like swearing at that point, but that would not be fitting for an Uchiha, especially one as proud as he. Yakushi Kabuto was the only person that understood Orochimaru. He knew everything that his master thought of, and he loyally served him. Some of the memories that Sasuke received from Orochimaru were confusing, even to a genius like him, and Kabuto was his ticket to understanding what the heck was going on in his head.

"What of the other task that I had assigned you?" Sasuke asked.

"They have all gathered and are waiting for you." The man said.

Sasuke said nothing else. He simply stood up from his throne in a regal manner that would make many think that he was royalty, even if he was in a way, and walked away from his throne. He walked past the kneeling man, before exiting the dark room. He found himself in a hallway that was so long and dark that you couldn't see the end until you got pretty close to it.

He walked for a few minutes in a slow gait. He was the leader of this village, and as such he had the right and the privilege to make people wait for him, and that was what he was going to do with the people that were waiting for him. He was going to make them wait.

Sasuke reached his destination a few minutes later. He stood in a circular dark hall that had a raised platform, which he currently stood on, and below him there were five people, all standing in a single row, looking up at him with varying expressions.

The first person, who stood at the far left, was a girl that had bright red hair that was styled in a manner that made it smooth on one side and spiky on the other side. She wore a pair of red rimmed spectacles, a light purple long sleeved top and a pair of black bike shorts. The look she had in her eyes made Sasuke want to cringe a bit. She brought back memories of his time in Konoha's academy, where he had a horde of adoring fan-girls that followed him everywhere, worshipping him like a god.

Her name, from what Sasuke could remember about her, was Karin.

Standing on Karin's right was a boy that had flattened white hair that had blue streaks in it, a violet top and a pair of light blue pants. His most defining feature was his teeth, which were on full display thanks to the shit eating grin that their owner sported. They were sharpened to such an extreme that he could literally bite off anything he chewed on. He was kind of like a shark. Oh, and his name was Suigetsu.

Next to Suigetsu was an orange haired male that was bulky in terms of body size. He was garbed in ragged prison clothes, which were a pair of grey shorts and a matching colour t-shirt, and he wore nothing on his feet. There was a chain wrapped around his ankle, and there was a huge ball strapped to that chain. He had a very tame look on his face. His name was Jugo.

Next to Jugo was a woman that had blue hair that was tied into a spiky ponytail, and had two bangs framing the sides of her face. Her facial features were schooled into a neutral expression, but Sasuke could tell just by the subtle twitches that his Sharingan picked up that she was royally pissed to be summoned here by him. She wore a long green dress and had a yellow rope belt tied around her waist. She also had on a pair of dark gloves and a pair of matching colour boot-like sandals. She was arguably the most powerful out of all of the people that had gathered before him, her name was Guren.

The last person that was there was a man that had on the standard issue Oto-nin uniform, minus the mask, which allowed everyone to see his face. He had short brown hair that was flat and a pair of matching colour eyes and a matching colour handlebar moustache. He also had on a white trench over his uniform and he seemed to have a clipboard tucked in his armpit. His name was Yoshi Nazumi, he was the fourth best research scientist in Oto, behind Orochimaru, Kabuto and Karin.

Sasuke stared at each one of them, letting his Sharingan pick out all it could from each individual. Once he was sure that he had everything that he needed he said, "I'm sure you're all wondering why you're here."

"Yeah, not really…" Suigetsu said, rubbing the back of his head, "I just wanna get out of the wretched place and go about collecting the blades-"

"No one cares, you bastard!" shouted Karin from his left.

"Shut up you weak bitch!" Suigetsu said, before he received punch to the face. The punch was so powerful that it caused his head to explode into a shower of water, only for it to reform a few seconds later.

"Fuck y-" Karin's tirade was cut short by a presence she never thought she would ever feel again. She had heard the news of how Uchiha Sasuke, her beloved crush, had killed Orochimaru, just like everyone in Oto. So why was she suddenly feeling the Hebi Sannin's presence throughout the room. It weighed down on her- no, not just her, but everyone, as if it were a blanket that could suffocate you to death. Karin could literally feel her knees give out from underneath her, before they hit the ground with a quiet thud.

Just as she though nothing else could scare her she was proven wrong when another presence made itself known. Monstrous amounts of chakra were released by this other person, basically repelling the dark presence cast by Orochimaru. That part was not what scared her. No, what scared her was the blood thirsty maniacal laughter she heard to her right. She willed her head to the right very slowly. This action allowed her to confirm her suspicions that the person that was emitting this new intent was none other than Jugo. His once peaceful face was now being threatened to be split apart by the blood thirsty grin it held as markings appeared on his face, covering half of it.

As if he could sense that Karin was looking at him, Jugo turned his attention to her, before he said four words that rocked her world to the core, "I'm gonna kill you!"

Jugo dashed past Suigetsu and was upon her in a flash, but before anything bad could happen to Karin, her vision was suddenly blocked by a pair of purple pants clad legs that had a sword next to them. As soon as her vision was blocked by this person, the presence of death Jugo emitted was gone. Looking up from the ground very slowly she saw Sasuke standing in front of her, looking Jugo dead in the eyes as if it was a dare for the man to attack, but strangely enough he did not. Karin realised that Sasuke must have put Jugo in a genjutsu of some sort.

Looking at the others that were in the room he saw that Nazumi was in a similar state of mind she was in, which was currently in overdrive from the near death experience, while Suigetsu and Guren were on their feet, with Guren looking more composed than Suigetsu, but Karin could still tell that she was startled by the dark powers they all felt a few moments ago.

Looking back at Sasuke, she saw him walk away from her, with his back turned to her, and he walked back up the podium, very slowly. As soon as he was on top again, his eyes finally rested on her, but she was disheartened by what he said next, "Are you so weak that all it took for you to succumb to my power was for me to unleash a small portion of it?"

Karin said nothing in reply. Instead she chose to stand up and get back in line. It seemed as if she was the last to do so, because even Jugo was standing in his previous position again. She looked at Sasuke, who looked at her disapprovingly for a split second, before he turned his attention back on everyone else and said, "Now that I have your attention I would like to get this meeting out of the way."

No one said anything.

"As you all know I defeated Orochimaru in combat, before I absorbed his power and made it my own. Now I will run Otogakure no Sato as its leader, and you five all have special purposes to fulfil in my version of Oto." Sasuke said in a commanding tone that left no room for questioning.

'That's it.' Karin realised, 'He was able to emit power that resembled Orochimaru because he absorbed his power.'

"Nazumi, I am assigning you with the task of rebuilding all of Oto's weaponry. After the failed invasion of Konoha this village has become a laughing stock to the world. It is time we prove everyone wrong." Sasuke said, before he turned his attention to Suigetsu, "Suigetsu, you are going to pick four other warriors and you will train them in the art of the sword. Your purpose will be told to you once you have completed that part of your duty."

Suigetsu looked at Sasuke with a look of approval on his face. It seemed as if he was actually excited by this Sasuke rationalised. As a matter of fact, he was excited by this. He was excited to have someone to pass on his awesome kenjutsu skills to. He didn't really care much for whatever plans Sasuke had for Oto. There were only two reasons why he was agreeing to this plan. 1. Training someone and 2. Sasuke saved him from a life in a tank by killing Orochimaru and setting him free. That was the only reason why he was still around.

Back with Sasuke, his eyes drifted to Karin and then he said, "Karin, you're our top medical research specialist. I want you to find anything and everything that is a blood sample of someone noteworthy…I know Orochimaru kept those around somewhere. Once you have them bring them to me."

Karin nodded her head at Sasuke's request. She would dutifully follow Sasuke to the ends of time.

Sasuke's eyes then fell on Jugo and he said, "You are going to be my right hand."

Jugo looked at him with a look of contemplation for a few seconds, before he nodded his head and said, "Kimimaro gave up his life to get you here. I can see now that he had made a wise decision. I will gladly stand by your side."

"Argh, enough!" said Guren, speaking for the first time since the 'meeting' began.

"Do you have a problem, Guren." Sasuke asked.

"Of course I do…and before you ask what it is let me save you the time and energy you would have spent asking that question by answering it for you prematurely. My problem is you!" Guren said in a small fit of rage.

Sasuke knew that the woman would have a problem with him. She had been loyally devoted to Orochimaru her entire life, even going as far as to murder innocent people just because the man said so. And she wasn't the only one that thought that way. There were many people in Otogakure that thought that he had to die because of what he did to Orochimaru, but unfortunately for them they were weaker than him. The only person that could cause him any trouble in a fight was Guren. This woman was strong.

"What do you have a problem with? The fact that I am now your leader; or the fact that I killed Orochimaru." Sasuke asked coldly.

"Both!"

"I see…" Sasuke said, before he had an idea pop into his head. While Guren followed Orochimaru greatly, she didn't do it out of fear like most of Oto's shinobi. No, she followed the snake because of his power. He was able to grasp her personality from Orochimaru's memories, and he discovered that she didn't worship Orochimaru per-se, rather she worshipped his power. This little understanding would give Sasuke the tools he needed in order to win her over. He needed her power right now, in order to establish balance in Oto.

"I have an idea…let's fight." Sasuke said.

"What?" Guren said in shock. She wasn't expecting that from Sasuke.

"Let's fight…if I win I get your unyielding loyalty."

Guren looked at Sasuke with wide eyes for a few seconds, not really sure about what this meant for either of them. She understood what Sasuke was trying to do. He thought that just because he absorbed Orochimaru's power that he was the best, but he was far from it. He was nothing compared to the great man that was her leader for many years. Sasuke was just a cheap knock off of him. He was not the rightful ruler of Oto.

In order for this injustice to be quelled Guren understood that she had to kill Sasuke, and he had pretty much just given her the stage necessary to do this without it mounting on treason. While she hate the fact that her village was run by Sasuke, that didn't mean that she was willing to leave it. It was her home, and as such she had to fight for it. She would fight to kill Uchiha Sasuke so that she could restore her home to its once promising glory, and also avenge her fallen master.

"And if I win…" Guren began as she set her own terms, "then you die."

So the terms had been laid down. If Sasuke won then Guren was to serve him unconditionally just like she had done for Orochimaru. If Guren won though, then he was dead.

Sasuke jumped down from the platform and landed on the floor below. The others didn't need to be told to scram because they all did it at the same time. They all appeared on the raised platform a second later, and peered down to see Sasuke just standing on the spot he landed on, with his right hand rested on his chokuto.

"Who do you want to win?" Suigetsu asked, looking at the gathered shinobi that stood beside him.

There was a quiet few seconds, before Jugo openly admitted, "Sasuke."

Suigetsu nodded his head at that answer as if that was the right answer to the question. Nazumi just shook his head at the bluntness of the big man. He also wanted Sasuke to win, but the reason why he had not said anything was because if Sasuke lost, then he was dead. Guren was one of, if not _the_ top enforcer Orochimaru had. That meant that she was loyal to a fault to the man. So if their village fell under her control, then you could kiss your entire earthly possessions goodbye because you were never going to see them again if you chose to side with Sasuke.

But looking at Sasuke right now he could tell that he had some sort of plan, and that was what he respected most about the Uchiha…his cunning mind. You don't just go around challenging Orochimaru and come out on top unless if you had some sort of brilliant strategy. The man had survived battles that would have killed lesser men. Shanshuo no Hanzo (Hanzo of the Salamander), Jiraiya no Gama Sennin (Jiraiya the Toad Sage) and the Sandaime Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen were part of a list of powerful people that failed to kill Orochimaru, and yet Sasuke did it.

That was one of the main reasons why some of the people immediately accepted him as their leader. They all hated Orochimaru, hence why they would be willing to follow a sixteen year old boy that had enough power to kill Orochimaru.

Back with the two on the ground, Sasuke and Guren, the duo just stared each other off as if this would cause the other to spontaneously combust, and if that was what they wished for then they would be sadly mistaken as nothing of that sort would ever happen.

The pressure between the two warriors grew to be palpable, with both slowly flaring their chakra, causing certain reactions from their opponent, before they both settled on one cause of action. The enemy had to go down, and in this case the person that stood across them was the enemy.

The air seemed to rip apart as they both launched themselves at each other at really high speeds, coming together at the centre in an explosion of light and a booming sound.

* * *

><p><strong>Konoha – same time<strong>

Naruto was currently walking through his beloved village with a bit of a dark look on his face. If one saw him they would think that he was pissed, but that wasn't the case. He was just grumpy due to a certain event, and it involved his new sensei Shimura Danzō. The man was a slave driver and an even bigger perfectionist than Yamato-taichou. He had told Naruto two days ago that he pretty much sucked at taijutsu, so that was what he was willing to teach him for now. Until Naruto mastered the art, then only then would he get to the real training he had in mind.

These and other thoughts steamrolled though Naruto's mind as he walked towards the place he had set off to find, the Hokage Tower. After entering the majestic white tower that stood as the pinnacle of Konoha's strength, Naruto made a beeline to the office of the Hokage. Naruto didn't bother with knocking on the door, and instead chose to let himself in uninvited. He was the type of guy that always said "screw decorum, just do things your own way". Well, not really in those words since the guy didn't know the word _decorum_.

Upon entering the office of the legendary Godaime Hokage, Naruto saw the leader of his village sitting behind her desk, furiously scanning through a piece of paper that was in her hands with Shizune standing beside her loyally and dutifully as always. What Naruto didn't expect to find was the heavily pregnant sensei of team eight, standing there with Shikamaru and Ino. Upon him entering, all eyes, except for the Godaime's, fell on him.

"Naruto-kun?" Shizune said, as if she wasn't sure that it was really him, but then again he could not blame her for asking. After all he hadn't seen most of this room's occupants in a while now.

Naruto looked at Shizune, smiled and replied with a casual, "Yo."

"How are you…I haven't seen you in forever!" Shizune asked the blonde boy.

"I've been around." Naruto said smoothly.

"Uh-huh." was all Shizune said as she looked at Naruto from top to bottom. The last time she saw the boy was when he was operated on. She was one of the few people that were privy to see the operation, due to her being the second best medic in Konoha and also the Godaime Hokage's student/personal assistant.

Looking at him now she could tell that a lot had changed in the blonde haired boy, mainly his stature seemed a little less loose, as if he were expecting something to jump out of the shadows and strike him. She wondered what caused the blonde to be like that. She also noticed that he was wearing a pair of different colour pants to the one he used to wear before. Gone was the orange and in was the black. His jacket and headband stayed the same. She could see that he was doing more than just 'being around'.

Shizune wasn't the only person in the room was that was able to point out the minor and major changes in the blonde haired boy. The other occupants of the room could notice them as well. Shikamaru only raised an eyebrow at this as he found it too tiring to even think over, at the moment, Kurenai just looked at him like she was expecting him to jump up and say, "Got you!" as this was clearly a prank of some sort because the Uzumaki Naruto she knew loved wearing orange and exuberated an aura of friendliness, not the one of power that she felt right now, and Ino just looked at him with a small blush on her cheeks, not really understanding what brought it on.

"What brings you here, brat?" Tsunade asked him. Out of all of the room's occupants she had seen him more than anyone else, and as such she wasn't surprised by the changes he had underwent in the last few weeks. She knew he reason why he exuberated a powerful presence, and that was due to his training with Yamato and Danzō. She wasn't happy when Danzō came into the room and had a smug look on his face and told her that he was Naruto's new sensei. She wanted to refute what the man had said, but Kakashi and Yamato came in and told her the story of how Naruto made that stupid bet and lost it. Now he was under Danzō's wing.

As Hokage she could have forbade such a thing from happening, but two things stopped her from doing so. Number 1 was the fact that despite all of his flaws, Danzō was a very powerful shinobi that had trained an entire squad of shinobi to be at ANBU level. Number 2 was the fact that Naruto never backs out of a bet, even if he loses, so she knew that he would honour their agreement and continue with the training behind her back.

So the next best thing that she could do was to keep an eye on it by making a stipulation that made it so that Naruto could only be trained when there was someone over watching them. She did not need Danzō to poison the boy with bad thoughts and ill intent. The man wasn't called the Yami no Shinobi ( The Darkness of Shinobi) for nothing.

Despite looking out for the brat she was still pissed at him. He was being given the cold shoulder by the Hokage in hopes of making him realise that what he did was very, very stupid.

It seemed to work as Naruto had come here nearly every day to try and apologise his way back into her good graces. Too bad Tsunade could be as stubborn as he is.

Tsunade was sure that this visit was another attempt at an apology. She was getting a bit tired of him doing so every day, so she was just going to let him off the hook after one more apology.

"I came here looking for help with something." Naruto began. This was not the apology Tsunade expected to hear. "I came here to find out if it were possible to learn Sarutobi-jiji's taijutsu style?"

That shocked the room's inhabitants greatly because none of them expected to hear that. Tsunade was expecting an apology. Shizune was expecting a mission request because she knew that the blonde boy hadn't taken one in a very long time. The other three didn't know what to expect, but that what they all heard was far from it.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa…let me get this straight." Tsunade began, "You want to learn Sarutobi-sensei's taijutsu style?"

Naruto nodded his head.

"Why?" the question wasn't asked by Tsunade, but rather by Ino, who was still trying to decipher what the heck was going on with Naruto. She was there when his arm was nearly ripped off by that Kakuzu guy, and then suddenly he shows up with it bandaged up, looking like it was perfectly mobile. And now he wanted to learn the Sandaime's personal fighting style….why?

"I want to learn it because I have within me a piece of every Hokage." Naruto said, further confusing his former classmate.

"What do you mean by that?" this time it was Kurenai that spoke.

"What I mean is that I carry a piece of every Hokage within me." Naruto said, before he stuffed his hand in his jacket's collar and pulled out his necklace, which had been given to him by the Godaime Hokage. He then said, "I have baa-chan's necklace, I have the Nidaime's Kage Bunshin, and the Yondaime's Rasengan."

Once he finished with the explanation, Shikamaru was quick to pick up that he excluded the Shodaime and Sandaime Hokages…but why?

"I get that you want to learn the Sandaime's personal fighting style because you want something that was unique to him alone," Shikamaru began, before he asked, "but what about the Shodaime? You didn't say anything about him, so I'm guessing that you already have something that was unique to him alone within you."

'Smart bastard.' Was all Tsunade could think in her head. She had also picked up on the fact that he left out the Shodai, but she knew why. It was because his new abilities had to remain secret for now. Lord knows the world did not need to know about another Mokuton user in Konoha, especially if that Mokuton jutsu user was a jinchuriki.

"Yeah, but I'd prefer to keep it to myself, thank you very much." Naruto rudely replied, feeling a bit peeved that he was found out, sort of.

Shikamaru knew a lost cause when he saw one, but he could also tell that he had struck a nerve when it came to Naruto.

"Sure…whatever." Shikamaru said.

"Okay." Naruto said, feeling a bit relieved that Shikamaru said nothing at all, before he said, "So baa-chan, you got anything to say?"

"Yes I do." Tsunade began after she had stayed quiet long enough, "You have to speak with the leader of the Sarutobi clan."

"Huh?" Naruto said a bit unintelligently.

"Sarutobi-sensei was a member of the Sarutobi clan-"

"Hey, I know that much!" Naruto shouted. He felt insulted by what Tsunade baa-chan was insinuating.

"Alright, and as I was saying, if you want something that belongs to Sarutobi-sensei then you have to speak with his clan. They might have something for you. I on the other hand don't, so if you're done pestering me, leave."

Naruto nodded his head and gave a salute, before he left the office of the Hokage.

* * *

><p><strong>Underneath Konoha – Root Base<strong>

Danzō currently sat in front of a shogi board, moving a piece that was on a board very slowly. His plan was slowly coming along just fine. Hopefully in a few months' time he would finally achieve his lifelong ambition, and all of that would be possible because of one person.

He picked up the shogi piece he just moved and slowly inspected it. It was like any other shogi piece, but this one had one noticeable difference. It had someone's name on it…

_Uzumaki Naruto_

"You'll be mine soon…"

* * *

><p>And that's a wrap folks. This is my last chapter for the year (obviously), and I just want to say thanks for the support you guys have shown me…Happy new year prematurely!<p>

Thabane has left the building.


End file.
