Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and neither do you, so on to the story…

Chapter 20 – In the village, the peaceful village, yeah right…

Naruto stood on the Hokage tower next to both his father and adoptive mother. Even though he actually knew that she was his real grandmother, he really didn't care. The Hokage had decided to have a meeting of the entire village and the three were on top of the tower along with an ANBU guard contingent. Hinata and Haku were waiting in the wings and were keeping a low profile, along with Shikamaru and Shino.

Tsunade took a step forward and then began her address. "People of Konoha no Sato. It has been about a month since we were invaded and were able to repulse our attackers," she said authoritatively. The crowd roared its approval. She waved her hands and then continued when they quieted down, "I'm here to announce the revival of our village and to announce the chuunin from our last chuunin exams. Would these people please come forward: Aburame Shino, Hyuuga Nijiko, Momochi Haku, Uzumaki Hinata and finally Uzumaki-Senju-Namikaze Naruto."

Several gasps were heard within the crowd. Suddenly someone yelled, "He isn't the son of our beloved Hokage!"

Minato stepped forward and glared at the crowed. "I gave my life for this village! I was brought back to life by a despicable traitor, so that I could wreak havoc upon this village. Only because of the seal I put upon MY son when I sealed the Kyuubi inside of him, was I able to fight against that horrifying technique. I'm not sure if I'm angrier at the village or Orochimaru. You disregarded my last request. Many of you couldn't see past your own remorse and see Naruto for who he was, instead you ridiculed and treated him like the monster that he protects you from. This is the reason I didn't retake the mantle of Hokage. Right now the only thing that is worth saving in this village is my family and a few others. I want you to do some soul searching and see if my son is the beast you think he is or if he is the savior of this village," he said angrily, before finally folding his arm across his chest.

The mood seemed somewhat somber after Minato has scolded them, but some people started to chant, "Na-ru-to!" over and over.

Naruto looked at his father and mother, not understanding what was going on. Tsunade motioned him forward with a nod of her head. Naruto cautiously moved forward, both embarrassed and elated by the attention. He raised his hand and the crowd broke into applause. They calmed down when he lowered his hands and said, "I… I don't want you to treat me… treat me like I'm now someone special, because I'm not."

"Yeah, you're a demon," a man in the audience yelled.

Naruto scowled at the man and then presented a fox-like grin. "How do you propose that I prove that I'm not a demon?" he asked.

"Die!" the man yelled and then laughed at his poor taste in jokes.

Naruto looked at the man like he was an idiot, which he was. "How would me dying prove anything? Either way I would be dead or you wouldn't have your answer. Or if I died you would be guilty of murder. If I lived then I would have to rampage across the village to hide the evidence," he said with a chuckle.

"If Naruto-kun were a demon, then he would have long since left this village a burning wasteland," Haku said, as she moved forward and took his left arm.

"Too long has the village been in Senju hands, let someone else take the reins. I suggest we have Uchiha-sama become our Hokage-elect," another man yelled.

Tsunade and Minato laughed. She then said, "Alright, but when the village goes to hell because he can't seem to make it to an appointment on time, don't call me. I'll be elsewhere."

"You would abandon your post as Hokage?" a man asked.

Tsunade shook her head and replied, "No, after giving Uchiha Sasuke the title of Hokage I would retire and leave with my family. I wouldn't expect the village to prosper though, but you would be free to stay."

Most of the crowd began to laugh.

"But seriously, I will pick the best candidate for the position when I retire. If it does become evident that Uchiha Sasuke is the best candidate I will recommend him, but that is a long ways off. Now back to work and celebrate the continued recovery of our village," she said happily.

The crowd happily left to relax the day away and celebrate their recovery.

Sasuke was waiting outside the Hokage's office. He'd been waiting there since the Academy got out and he had skipped training with the weird old guy, Danzo. He'd now been there for four hours and she hadn't let him in yet. He used the exercises he had been taught to try and manage his anger. A woman with dark hair and small figure came out of the door and turned to him. "Uchiha Sasuke? She will see you now," she said in a level voice.

He got up and walked into the office. 'This is Naruto's mother, a big chested woman with blonde hair?' he asked himself mentally.

"Uchiha Sasuke, how are things going at the academy and with Danzo?" she asked with a furrowed brow.

He glared at the woman, but replied, "They are going fine, other than some childish games the students are pulling on me."

She saw his stiff posture and his tense jaw, but wanted more information from the wayward genin. "You do understand why you're there don't you?"

"Yes, Hokage, I'm there to learn how to work with others," he replied in a monotone voice, but then slammed his hands down on the desk and glared the woman in the eyes and said, "I'm not here to talk about that. I really want to talk about is the theft of the money from the Uchiha account. I was told it was done on your orders. Tell me woman, why did you do it?" Sasuke realized he had made a mistake when the air became oppressive and he could hardly breathe. He looked at the woman before him and saw pure rage in her eyes. He knew this felling as killing intent and had felt it before, but not this intense.

Tsunade glared at the boy in front of her and folded her hands in front of herself before she spoke. "You will show respect child. I'm the Hokage and your leader. The monies you claim to have been stolen were given as compensation for yours and your families crimes," she explained.

Sasuke gritted his teeth and asked, "What crimes?"

Tsunade laughed and lowered her killing intent enough for the boy to have to catch his breath. "Your family killed my son's birth mother and his aunt. They then proceeded to cover it up and then proceeded to make his life nearly impossible. If I had known I would have come back and killed your father for his crimes. I know the Senju and Uchiha don't get along, but he killed the mother of my godson. Along with that you assaulted and attempted to murder a fellow shinobi of the leaf. With all that he's gone through, especially because of your family, I'm surprised that he hasn't just killed people outright for what they have done to him. I know your brother killed your family, but you will cease taking it out on my son. That is a warning from his mother, not your Hokage. Your Hokage is ordering you to finish your very light sentence for attacking fellow shinobi and clean up your act or you will be put in a forced clan rebuilding program, where you're both the father and clan head, but in name only, and you'll be forced to teach the children. Do I make myself clear, student?" she asked forcefully.

Sasuke could only nod agreement.

She waved her hand to dismiss the boy and said, "You may leave now. I have work to do and don't have any more time to spend on a delinquent like you."

Sasuke left the room and kept his features guarded. Inside he was fuming. 'How dare that woman steal from my family for that orphan? Who cares that his mother was killed by my family, I had nothing to do with it, so why do I have to suffer? I will still make those girls mine though,' he thought to himself.

Naruto spent the rest of the day in a meeting with the other new chuunin. He found several interesting things about the village and how it worked. They were also told that there were even deeper secrets that were only for those of higher rank and as a chuunin he was to be a leader. They were also told about Naruto's status as a jinchuuriki of the village and that it was their duty to help contain him if he were to lose control of the beast. They were also informed that they would be in charge of genin who were with them on assignments. This did and didn't sit well with Naruto, since he might have to deal with Kakashi's team. He also didn't like how Kakashi had done a one-hundred and eighty degree turn in attitude on him. This bothered him to no end. He was now being treated like he was Uchiha Sasuke and he didn't like it.

Naruto, Hinata and Haku found chuunin duties almost as boring as D ranked assignments, but longer than D ranked. The one duty he didn't mind was working with Iruka as a substitute teacher on occasion, the kids liked him and he was able to be a kid to some extent around them. The real hard part was training with his mother and father. Both were slave drivers and given that they would push all three of them to the edge and over on training days. All three would come home tired, take a relaxing bath together and then crash in minimal clothing.

Minato spent most of his inactive time writing up training schedules and letters to Naruto about the jutsu and sealing, so that if his grandfather and great-uncle failed Naruto would be have the tools ready for him. He worried about what would happen if they also succeeded. How would he live without Kushina? He also worried about the man who had summoned the Kyuubi. He even at his prime couldn't fight against that man. Also it troubled him that the Uchiha had been taken care of in such a harsh way. According to Hiruzen, the elders had taken Itachi aside and had him kill off the entire Uchiha clan with the help of another man. While assassinating a family happened, doing so to a whole clan was rather extreme and to even include the infants was truly barbaric. He would have had the elders hung from the rafters, but it also galled him that Danzo had taken that opportunity to steal several of the eyes of the Uchiha clan and implanted them in himself.

This fight was quick and was over before he knew what happened, but it disturbed him that the village had fallen so far. He also was to meet with the Daimyo soon to discuss what was going to happen to Konoha, since he did have quite a bit of controlling authority over it, but had been lax in using his governing authority. He was rather pissed that the man had over looked the fact that the jinchuuriki of Konoha was treated so badly and worse yet it was his son. The man knew that jinchuuriki were usually selected from the families of the Hokage or important members of the council for a couple of reasons. Yes, he had a lot on his mind.

Hirashima and Tobirama were moving quickly through Rice Field country. They had eliminated several Sound shinobi, but had yet to find a large village like the other villages around the elemental nations. Both shinobi followed the trail that seemed to lead to medical station to medical station. They found prisoners, forced labor, but no Orochimaru. The information they found pointed to him being on the move more often than not. Never being in the same location for more than a month, so they pressed on to find their quarry.

Naruto sighed again for what seemed like the hundredth time. He didn't like school when he was a student and now he was beginning to hate it more, now that he was a part time teacher. He did like the time he got to spend with Konohamaru, but Hinata's sister was starting to grate on his nerves. He rolled his eyes, as the young Hyuuga heiress approached him.

"You are not a very good chuunin," Hanabi said, more of a statement then an observation.

"Is that how you speak to your teacher?" Naruto asked.

"It is how I speak to those of lower status than myself," Hanabi replied.

Naruto growled, but stopped his comeback when the hand of Iruka came upon his shoulder. "You should understand that Naruto is the son of a Hokage, two in fact and thus is of higher status than a clan heir. He also had it harder than you could ever imagine, Hanabi, so be nice or it could affect your grade," Iruka explained.

"I wouldn't do that. I had enough tampering of my own grades when I was here, so I wouldn't do it…. But, that doesn't mean I couldn't give you extra work, Hanabi," Naruto explained with a wry grin that sent a shiver down Hanabi's spine.

Hanabi quickly bowed and said with much remorse, "I'm sorry sensei. It won't happen again."

"I hope not, since I would have to talk to your father about this," Naruto explained.

Naruto sighed heavily when he entered the apartment. Haku noticed his distress and asked, "Had a hard day at the academy?"

Naruto nodded and placed his sandals at the entrance. He then heard footsteps behind him leading up to the door. It opened and Hinata entered the entryway. She followed suit and took off her sandals also. She followed Naruto into the living room and said, "It smells nice Haku-chan. What is the big occasion?"

"Zabuza-sama and Anko-chan are coming over for dinner. He said they had something to tell you. Oh did Sasuke give you any trouble Naruto-kun?" Haku asked from the kitchen.

"No, but of all people, Hinata-chan, your sister is a terror. Teme just brooded in the corner while Hanabi was just full of herself. I don't know what it is, but most of the Hyuuga I know are so stuck up it is ridiculous. Now, let's get this place cleaned up. Shadow Clone technique," he proclaimed and half a dozen clones appeared and began to clean the apartment.

About twenty minutes later they were finished and were dismissed. About thirty minutes later Zabuza and Anko showed up and the five sat down to a meal. Small talk over dinner was across various subjects, but nothing special. When the meal was done all assembled in the living room and Naruto left clones to clean up the dishes.

"Fist off I want to thank you for putting up with Zuzu's and my… extracurricular activities in your apartment and we are going to stop that," Anko explained with a grin.

Naruto knew they were up to something, but not what, so he asked, "What do you mean?"

"I'm moving out," Zabuza explained without any other words.

"That is kind of sudden, isn't it, Zabuza-sensei?" Hinata asked.

"Not really and your all adults, so thanks for the dinner and I will have my stuff out in about a week," Zabuza explained.

"You're going to… aren't you, Zabuza-sama?" Haku asked in an excited tone.

"Maybe…" Zabuza answered cryptically that only Haku seemed to understand.

"So you knocked the crazy lady up, right?" Naruto asked teasingly, only to earn a glare from Anko.

Zabuza looked at Anko and she returned the confused look. They both then laughed heartily. "No gaki, I'm not pregnant, yet, but you might have a little brother or sister sometime soon," Anko said with a blush on her face.

Naruto's face turned serious and he said, "Don't let them treat them like they did me. If you need for me or one of the girls to help you, let us know."

Anko smiled a warm smile at Naruto, something she hadn't seen from her ever. "Thanks, Naruto-kun. We will. If we have kids you might even be the godparents," she said happily.

"Better than my godfather, grandfather… or whatever," Naruto replied in a dejected tone.

There was a banging on the door and a clone stopped doing the dishes and answered it. A chill ran down Naruto's spine when he heard the crackle of sparks and the familiar chirp of a Chidori. Suddenly the memory of having one driven through his chest gave him a cold sweat. He jumped up and ran to his sword. He saw an angry Sasuke entering the apartment and charging up another Chidori. "You do know attacking an instructor could be termed as an attack upon a superior," Naruto jokingly explained.

The seals on Sasuke's shoulder expanded to cover the side of his face and down his left arm. He smiled wildly and replied, "Like you would ever be my superior. Chuunin or not, I'm an Uchiha and you're just a low life peasant boy."

He began charge, only to have his hand caught by a man he didn't recognize immediately. "You know that attacking my son is a violation of your parole?" Minato asked. A quick turn and a broken wrist later Sasuke was laying on the floor in pain. Minato then asked, "So why did you attack my son?"

"He killed my brother, Itachi. It was my job to avenge my clan, not his," Sasuke explained, as he hissed in pain.

"How do you know about Itachi being in or near the village?" Minato asked.

"A chuunin told me that Naruto and his bitches brought Itachi back to the village, dead," Sasuke replied angrily.

Minato shook his head and then placed his hand on Sasuke's shoulder. He then turned to Naruto and said, "Sorry about this Naruto-kun. We'll talk later." He then disappeared in a yellow flash.

Tsunade was livid. Sasuke was in the prisoner ward of the hospital and was demanding to know about Itachi, who was only a few doors down from him recuperating from frostbite. "Were you able to find the chuunin that he described?" she asked in an annoyed tone.

Minato shook his head and replied, "I even had Inoichi look into his mind and it appears that he was under a genjutsu, so he really can't be held responsible for his actions, but we also can't let him know that Itachi is alive and that it was the elders that ordered the culling of the Uchiha."

Tsunade sighed and said, "It is never boring with him around, is it?"

Minato chuckled and replied, "I'm coming to find out that he is a lot like his mother even with seals."

Tsunade shook her head and said, "I knew that girl was trouble when I met her."

Minato smirked and replied, "Yeah, so much trouble that she gave me a son, her life for the village and her one and only son. She would have given it for the village and taken the Kyuubi with her for a time, but I thought it was more prudent to keep the Kyuubi safe and sound in Naruto. We see how well that worked out." Tsunade scowled at the comment, but nodded her agreement. He then continued, "I think that Madara is back and is trying to gather the Bijuu."

"Why would he do that?" Tsunade asked in curiosity.

"Not sure, but he was intent on getting his hands on the Kyuubi. He went so far as to pull it out of Kushina, and worse he threatened Naruto in his first minutes of life," Minato explained.

"So we have a guy who is either my grandfather's nemesis or someone parading around, as Madara. How do we keep Naruto and the other jinchuuriki out of his hands?" Tsunade asked.

"I'm not sure, but we should let them know what we know," Minato explained. He then said, "We should also finish the interrogation of Itachi. Is he out of the woods yet?"

Tsunade nodded and replied, "He should be ready to receive visitors later today."

Both Hokages smiled at this. Tsunade began to write on a scroll.

A/N: Sorry for the long hiatus, but things have been hectic. I know that this chapter is a little short, but it should be okay and heading in the right direction. I'm working on my other stories, so don't worry. I'm also working on a couple new ones.

Current status:

Happyness: Hiatus, until I figure out how to fix all the plot bunnies, they bred while I wasn't looking.

Seventh Seal: Starting a new chapter.

Of the Elves: Working on another chapter, but taking my time since it is a D&D crossover and has two Narutos and two Kyuubi in it.

Priestess: About 1k words for next chapter, but not sure how to deal with interaction between Shion and Hinata. When muse figures it out, will work on it more.

Tales of a war: Hiatus, but might work on it some over time.

Fox: Stuck at the moment, have pushed the story too far too fast, and don't want to deal with Idate…

Missing Hokage: No ideas at the moment for the next chapter, sorry.

Whirlpool: Trying to figure out the chuunin arc, have to totally revamp cannon and this is proving difficult.

Avatar: Don't want to do the 'Great divide', so might do a flashback chapter for it, still not sure.

Unnamed story: Have about 7 chapters written and somewhat flushed out, but want to make sure that it works past the chuunin exams.

Other unnamed story: working on it, but not sure if it will fly or not.

Other, other unnamed story: just started and it might prove interesting, another Avatar crossover, but this time in the Naruto world.