Hey, guys, how's it going? I hope you don't mind but this chapter is probably going to be a biggie. It's going to showcase all of the different team members' perspectives on their individual missions. Therefore, it is probably going to be a bit bigger than the usual, just so I don't lose any momentum in the action. Now for the reviews!

Ouroboros: Forgive me if this is wrong, I'm using google translate, but let me give this a try. Muito obrigado! Eu agradeço!

Ruberforumfree: Wow, that's a lot from one person at one time, lol. From the earliest review to the latest: He's still in the village because he wants Sarutobi to watch as he destroys everything he ever cared about right out from under him. Hiruzen doesn't think Naruto became the Kyuubi. Hiruzen has got it in his little mind that the Kyuubi is just a battery for the vessel to use to become the greatest weapon. He calls Naruto a demon because that's who he is supposed to be, a "demon" to his enemies. Someone who will embody the Kyuubi's power as their own and use it for Sarutobi's needs. Pretty much everyone else in the village believes that the Kyuubi has taken over the vessel's body, as it has been shown to do in the anime by filling the vessel with rage. Everyone else doesn't know that that's still the Jinchuuriki, they just assume the beast is trying to take over their body, and the people of Konoha are assuming Naruto lost that fight. I'm not sure when I'm going to write lemons. It's just something that will happen naturally, I guess.

Gammagyro: Thank you for the correction, I really appreciate it. As for Yakumo, yes, I will try and add as much detail as I can but please forgive me if it slips my mind from time to time. Details like that that aren't obvious are what I need to work on most, as I am a very straightforward guy.

588963-B: XD It's better for her sanity if she just rolls with it. Plus, she hasn't even seen half of what he can do, so maybe I'll add in a little mid-life crisis moment for our favorite little runaway. And as for your other review, I think that perfectly sums up Naruto's personality in this story. He wouldn't do anything bad unless it was justified or they were assholes, whichever comes first.

XenoLucifer: I know your review was technically on Chp. 2 but I wanted to address it anyway. I completely understand your point and I hope you still read this story despite that, because I'm sure you will be surprised in the next chapter or two.

Thunderofdeath97: Yeah, I know she was, but I figure what the hell, if she's gonna be revived, might as well not make her a bitch, ya know? And about Yugito, I didn't feel right sticking with the whole Jinchuriki x Jinchuriki trope. I understand why, don't get me wrong, but I feel like a little change is good. And I figure with how her attack style relies on great speed, they would probably get along from that. Not at first, mind you, but maybe eventually. Maybe I should make them race when they meet.

There was a review about how Naruto shouldn't know about Danzo and Root, but I can't seem to find it so I assume they deleted it or something. Still, I would like to address that he does have Shisui who had to fight off Danzo and his Root shinobi before the Uchiha Coup. He also regularly leaves clones in Sarutobi's office that are completely untraceable. I think I mentioned them in a previous chapter but I'm not sure, I'll have to look back at them to confirm. But yeah, the Shisui thing should be enough to alert Naruto and if you don't think he would immediately learn everything he could about anyone who had even a minute chance of being a danger to either him or his loved ones, then you must not be reading the same fic I'm writing.

Thank you all for your reviews and support, I appreciate all of you! Forewarning, there isn't going to be a whole lot of action in this chapter until the end, so if you're not much of a fan of non-action scenes, you can just skip most of this and not miss anything super important.

This Chapter was Beta'd by SolaceHollow

Anyway, I'll talk more at the bottom, bye!

Chapter 13: The Mission

"You're doing what now?" Sarutobi growled out as he snapped the pen he was holding as he glared at the blond in front of him.

"I'm heading to Kiri to help out with the Bloodline Purge going on there." Naruto explains as he cleans his ear out with his pinky.

"Yeah, I heard that part. Why do you think you would be allowed to go to Kiri?" Sarutobi asks, only then cursing the words he chose.

A glare from the blond sent silence throughout the room, even the hidden ANBU were too scared to move. "I think you've got something confused, Old Timer. Do you think I keep you around as Hokage because of some respect I still have for how you used to act like you liked me back in the day?"

Not seeing the old man respond, Naruto couldn't help but laugh. "You truly are senile, aren't you? I keep you around so that when I burn Konoha to the ground, you can sit there and watch, knowing you won't be able to do a damn thing. And when I build it back up to be a proper village, you get to watch as everything you worked for means nothing now." After a short pause of thinking, Naruto had an idea. "Though, I guess you don't actually need to be Hokage to watch your home burn, do you?"

Sarutobi's eyes grew wide as he feared what the blond would say next. "No, please, I won't question you again. You can do whatever you want, just don't disgrace the Sarutobi name."

CRACK

The Hokage desk split in two as Naruto slammed his hand down. "You disgraced your own name by abusing and manipulating a child! Do not push your sins onto me you senile piece of shit. You've got until the end of the Chunin Exams to find, notify, and promote your successor. Oh, and before you get any bright ideas, I'll have a clone bring you a list of suitable replacements of my choosing. Wouldn't want you choosing anyone like… oh I don't know… Hatake?" Naruto finished with a sinister smile before vanishing in a crack of thunder.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, Sandaime Hokage and pronounced God of Shinobi, could only sit there, frozen, as the realization of where one of his best shinobi has been all this time.

Time for saké.

"Ahh, that felt good. Now that that's settled, I can go ahead and make sure everyone else is packed and ready to leave. I don't want to leave any later than noon tomorrow, seeing as how I want to make it to Wave by nightfall to say hello to everyone and see how they're doing. I could also check in and see how my clones are doing with rebuilding Uzushio." Naruto thought as he appeared in his living room without so much as a creak of the wooden floor.

"Is everyone ready?" Even though he didn't shout, the room was instantly filled with people.

"Hai!" Kushina and Mikoto called out in unison, both wearing simple day clothes.

"Sure thing!" Yelled Shiro with a big thumbs up to her friend.

"Yep, all packed." Shisui and Touka said calmly, trying to be at least a little professional.

"Yeah." Was all Madara said as he cleaned his nails out.

"Ok, awesome. You can leave whenever you want, but everyone needs to be gone by noon tomorrow. I will see each of you off so that I can send a clone with you to talk with the Biju. If you're all sure of your missions, then I bid you all goodnight. Get a good night's sleep, you'll need all the energy you can muster." With that said, Naruto walked to his room where he would need to pack for his own trip, and leading struggles.

"As long as there aren't any surprises, they should be fine. Plus, with my clones going with them to mitigate damage, everything should go smoothly." He thought with confidence before going ahead and making a couple clones to pack for him so he could sleep.

Timeskip

"Good luck." Naruto called out as he watched Kushina's red hair bounce up and down as she jumped from tree limb to tree limb.

"Well, I guess it's my turn." Naruto thought before disappearing in a silver flash, courtesy of his version of Hiraishin.

In the next moment, the blond "genin" was standing in what looked like a bustling business center with customers and shopkeepers alike hustling through the busy streets. He was about to continue on his way when he noticed many people stopping in their tracks and instead just staring at the newcomer.

The blonde was confused until he turned around and saw what looked like a statue of him and the Momochi duo. There was a plaque at the base that read: "Guardians of Wave – Commissioned by Tazuna".

Smirking a little, Naruto made his way to where Tazuna's house was…only to be met with what looked like a mansion in place of the shabby hut he was living in before.

With a shrug, the blond went ahead and knocked on the door, only for it to be opened a moment later by the pretty face of Tazuna's daughter, Tsunami, whose face brightened up immediately when she recognized who was at the door.

"Oh my, Naruto! It's so nice to see you again. Dad, Inari, get down here! Please come in." she called to her family before bringing the blond inside.

"Thank you, and it's great to see you as well." Naruto greeted before hearing some grumbling coming from the stairs. Turning, he was met with "The Great Bridge Builder" Tazuna and a slightly older Inari, the latter of whom had a short blade on his hip.

"What's so important that you had to interrupt my- oh, Naruto! How are you? What brings you here?" Tazuna greeted with a large smile and a hug to the young man.

Inari, though, had a different approach. "Naruto-nii!" he screamed as he slammed into the blond like a bullet.

"Haha, hey Inari, Tazuna. I've been well, I was just passing through, but I wanted to drop in to see how you all were doing." Naruto replied as he gave Inari a big hug before putting him back on the ground.

"Well, we've been great ever since you saved our town. Business is booming and I even got elected mayor." Tazuna replied with a puff of his chest.

"I'm glad to hear it, I know you'll do well to keep everything in order. I saw the statue on my way in and honestly I'm flattered." The blond said with a chuckle and scratch of his head.

"It was the least we could do for what you did for us. You and those two Momochi ninja. They were a great help in dealing with some of Gato's thugs who lost their payment when their boss was killed, and his assets taken from him. They tried to gather a group of them to take the town hostage but Zabuza and Haku-chan were more than enough for them." Tazuna explained as he led Naruto on a tour of the mansion.

"That's great to hear. Where are they now?" Naruto asked as he took in the large house in front of him.

"Oh, they went traveling after they finished everything from your training scroll. So, after we hired some security of our own, they didn't see any reason to stay and left. They even helped train Inari when he wouldn't stop bugging them about getting stronger to protect everyone." Tsunami cut in with a chuckle remembering how Inari kept bugging the easily angered missing-nin.

"Yeah! And I've gotten really strong too!" Inari shouted with a large smile as he laid a hand on his sword.

"I'll be the judge of that." Naruto replied with a challenging smile.

After Lunch

"Well, you certainly are strong for your age. Keep up the good work and you might even get as strong as me one day. And to help with that, I made you a personalized training scroll so that you can keep up your progress." The blond jinchuriki laughed as the boy took the scroll with awe in his eyes.

"Thank you so much, Naruto-nii! I won't let you down!" with a big hug, the younger boy stepped back to admire the scroll and see what was in store for him, only to blanch as he read the first exercise.

"You really can't stay any longer?" Tsunami asked as she gave their savior a tight hug.

"Unfortunately, I can't. The quicker I get to Kiri, the quicker I can end the war going on there and stop the needless bloodshed." Naruto replied with a frown, wishing he could spend some more time here and truly tour the new and improved Wave.

"Well, I can't blame you for wanting to help people. Just be careful, I don't want Wave to lose its savior just because they thought they were so hot shit that they could stop a war by themselves." Tazuna laughed as he too gave the blond a farewell hug.

"Whoever said I was alone?" Naruto said with a smirk as he snapped his fingers… only for a few seconds to pass of nothing happening. Snapping a few more times, Naruto sighed in exasperation. "C'mon guys, you completely ruined the mood."

Just then, two figures appeared on either side of the blond, one was trying to hide her chuckling behind her hand while the other was openly laughing.

"Hah! I told you it would be funny, didn't I Haku?" Zabuza bellowed as he had to clutch his stomach. He hadn't changed much since the last time Naruto had seen him, other than filling in a bit more muscle and got rid of his headband completely.

"Yes, I suppose you did. Sorry Naruto-kun, but we couldn't help it." Haku chuckled seeing the defeated look on the blond's face.

"It's fine, I would've done the same thing." Naruto resigned with another sigh before looking at the family of three with a smile. "Don't worry, I have help in this endeavor."

"Zabuza-sensei, Haku-sensei, how are you guys here?" Inari asked as he hugged Haku, but just smiled at the ex-Seven Swordsman.

"We got word from the gaki to come back, so we did. We figured it was important so we hurried back as fast as we could. Turns out that I was right, as usual." Zabuza replied as he was fully prepared to head back to his home to finish what he started, more or less.

"But how? Naruto-nii only got here earlier today, there's no way he could've slipped away, sent you a letter, and have you guys receive it and get here all in a couple of hours." Inari got out before taking in a large breath.

"I had them apply a seal from the training scroll to themselves that is linked to this one on my arm…" Naruto explained as he rolled up his sleeve to show a seal design identical to the ones on Zabuza and Haku's arms. "… then all I had to do was push chakra through the seal and that alerts these two of my location so that they can know where to find me. It was originally used as a distress signal seal, but it works just as well when I need to have a meeting with someone."

Understanding looks passed over the trio's faces as he got done with his explanation.

"Well, we'd better get going. It was great seeing you all again, and maybe if I have enough time after this trip I can come back around and visit a bit more." Naruto said his farewells as he opened the door and turned to go out, only to be stopped by the sight of a little girl at the door, appearing to have just been about to knock on the door when it was opened.

"Oh, hello. Is Inari ho– eh!" the girl stepped back in shock at the sight of their savior just casually answering the door.

"Oh, hey you're the girl I danced with last time. Asano, right?" Naruto remembered with a smile.

"You– you remember me?!" Asano asked in shock as she figured the Savior of Wave would have better things to remember than little old her.

"Of course, I remember you. You said you wanted to instill hope in people, just like me, right?" The blond laughed seeing the girl's disbelief.

"Yes! And I've even been training with Inari-kun to try and get stronger to follow my dream." Asano replied with conviction in her voice, as well as a smile and a thankful nod to Inari.

"That's awesome, keep up the great work. I can't wait to see how strong both of you become. I'll see you guys later!" with that, Naruto and his team dashed into the forest towards their next stop, Uzushiogakure.

It took a good couple of hours, but just as day was turning to night, they had seen the lights of Uzushiogakure.

While he could've just teleported using his clones stationed there as an anchor point, he had wanted to catch up with his two employees. He could tell that both of them had gotten quite a bit stronger since the last time he had seen them, but he wanted to get a detailed report of it from them.

"So, you've created a few new Ice jutsu, have you Haku? You'll have to show me when we get a chance. And you said you found a new way to use your sword, Zabuza?" Naruto asked as he landed at the newly rebuilt front gate. It even had the symbol for "West" on the doors.

It was easily as large as Konoha's but with the added upgrade of having pure metal gates instead of regular wood. The walls were made with a special mixture of chakra inducing concrete and numerous seals that reinforced its already capable defenses. The walls seemed to span for miles in either direction, none of them being able to see the end of them. Plus, because the chakra and seals only answered to his chakra, he would be the only one able to use his little trump card in case anyone or anything was actually able to get through. But that's for a later time.

"Yeah, I actually got the idea from watching you use your clones in battle. People can get pretty overwhelmed when multiple people are jumping them from all directions, but if those people all had swords, well, most shinobi wouldn't stand a chance." Zabuza laughed as he explained his technique.

"Yes, well, I haven't mastered them yet, but I feel they should do wonders in battle once I have." Haku reassured after letting Zabuza speak. "Also, you didn't tell us you were rebuilding Uzushiogakure. Is this where the clones went after they left us?"

"Yes and no. I had left a few clones here after visiting on my first mission to Wave. But, the clones that were with you did come here to lend a hand with what chakra they had left." Naruto nodded before wiping some of his blood on the gate, letting the large steel doors swing open without any squeaking or grinding, despite the size and subsequent weight of the doors.

"These are really impressive defenses, brat, but how the hell did you get this giant wall built in such little time? I mean, you've only been gone a couple of months. Though, I guess it is smart to make the walls first." Zabuza asked with utter confusion before gaping at what was held behind the walls.

"I completely agree. That's why I built the walls before getting started on the rest of the village." Naruto laughed before setting his eyes on his very own village for the first time. He had made the clones so that when they dispelled, they wouldn't send the memories back to him, wanting this moment to be the first time he set eyes on his new home. He could just follow along with their progress by them sending back thoughts, rather than visual memories.

In front of them sat a village far larger than any of the other Great Five villages combined. I mean, he had a whole island to work with, why not use everything you got, right?

There seemed to be a spot for everything a village would need: multiple hospitals, academies, shopping districts, and even spaces for parks and playgrounds. And in the very middle sat the largest building any of them had ever seen (much to the ire of an orange haired man in Rain).

It was like a spire shooting straight up into the sky, though it didn't look unstable or wobbly in the slightest. At the very top the symbol on the doors they had just walked through glowed a dark blue in their direction. A dull thud resounded behind them, signaling that the doors had shut, and with them, the symbol on the tower died down.

In front of the tower was a very large tree (though it had nothing on the building behind it), and seemed to be emanating chakra like a beacon to anyone who could sense it. His clones had found the seed for it in the cave, though it was heavily protected and preserved by seals.

"Wow…" Naruto let out, not daring to try and hide the wonder on his face and the excitement in his eyes. "Well, what can I say except…welcome to the new and improved Uzushiogakure!

As the very first visitors of New Uzu, you get to have the very first tour anyone has ever gotten of such a grand village."

"Well, it's not really a village yet, right?" Haku asked with a slight frown, not wanting to dampen the mood.

"Hmm, what do you mean?" Naruto asked in concern, racking his brain to try and think of what he was missing.

"I mean, can it really be called a full-fledged village if it doesn't have any residents?" she asked, though she would admit she wasn't sure what fully constituted a village in the first place.

BN:You right, you right.

"Well… I guess you're right. But, we can still take a tour anyway. We'll worry about the villagers later. I assume many of them will come from other villages once we offer them solitude." Naruto grinned before walking ahead with Haku hurrying to catch up, though Zabuza was walking at his own pace with a confused look on his face.

"Solitude? From what?"

Later

"And this is my office." Naruto announced as they all stepped into the Uzukage's office. Naruto tried to keep it as close to the old one as possible, even keeping the Kage's portraits in the same spots.

"Woah, this is really high up." Haku commented as she looked out the window of the skyscraper. Seeing the buildings from up here made them look like toy blocks.

Meanwhile, Zabuza had taken one look out the window before hightailing it to the inside wall and staying as close to the floor as possible.

"Wha-what's wrong Zabuza? Scared of heights?" Naruto asked with a mischievous grin plastered on his face.

"No, I just know when I'm not in my element. People were not meant to be this high up." Zabuza said firmly from his place on the floor.

"Hmm, well you'll have to get used to it. As my head of Torture and Investigation you will be reporting to me pretty often." The blond said casually, knowing he would get the reaction he expected.

Zabuza looked up in shock, standing up to the best of his ability as he looked confused at Naruto. "Not that I'm not flattered, but I thought I was going to be your spy for outside of the village?"

"Well, I figured Haku could handle herself well as the head of the Spy Network. Though if you guys don't want to be split up, then I can find someone else for the job. I just thought that those positions would suit each of you well." Naruto thought aloud with a shrug. It didn't really matter to him, seeing as they would both excel in any position he put them in.

After a seemingly telepathic conversation between the two, Zabuza finally nodded and spoke. "Thank you Naruto, I will gladly take you up on your offer. I guess it's time Haku made a name for herself outside of just my daughter and partner."

Seeing Haku nod as well, Naruto grinned and handed each of them new headbands. Zabuza's was a deep blue and had the symbol of Uzu engraved in the metal plate, while Haku's was light blue with the same symbol.

"Thank you both, and congratulations on being the first shinobi of the Village Hidden in the Whirlpools! Why don't we all turn in for the night and get back on our journey to Mist in the morning? I'll show you both to where you can stay until we find you a house to live in."

And so, after showing the two the living quarters within the Kage Tower, Naruto headed down to the ground floor via the Flying Thunder God seals he had placed in certain tubes that allowed people to get to any floor they wanted in seconds. After making sure he was alone, the blonde walked up to the hidden door to the basement and walked down calmly.

When he got to the basement, he smiled seeing so many clones carefully studying and organizing everything of value they had found in their reparations of the village. There was the black sand looking stuff he had seen in his first visit here in the far right corner, though there seemed to be a lot more of it now and it was held in a large cylindrical tube and had somehow been activated, given that it was swirling all around its confines.

BN: … This will be interesting …

There were weapons aplenty with many of them having been cleaned and refurbished by his clones so that they were good as new. There were probably enough to arm a small army, given that there were a bunch of other, more standard weapons in sealing scrolls that lined one of the walls.

A bunch of his clones were busy studying the few vials they weren't able to get done before he got back at the counters that lined the left walls. Judging by what the clones had gathered, most of this stuff was taken/won when the Uzumaki were still alive and fighting the other clans, before they unified into proper villages. There were poisons that he doubted even Tsunade would be able to make an antidote to. In one vial, he was sure whatever it was, was actually alive, or at least sentient enough to notice someone looking at it, considering it stuck itself to the side of the jar as soon as Naruto approached.

Anyway, the blonde tried to ignore all that for the moment as he made his way to the large computer at the end of the rather large basement. He had updated everything about it so that whenever he placed his hand on the designated space, like so, the computer would react and turn on, rather than having an on/off button. It ran completely on his chakra so there was no chance of it ever dying or shorting out.

Pulling up the files, he noted that everything was updated and organized, especially the lists that were already on the computer. He didn't know how Pain could be so stupid as to write down even basic information on his little team of missing-nin, regardless of how secure the place was. He could have a clone do all this menial work, but he didn't want anything to go unnoticed or done incorrectly. It was in those files that the blond saw something that caught his eye.

He smiled before looking over at where the seed was found behind the fake wall to his left. "Who would've thought Uzu had such wonderful gifts locked away. They must have known they were going to get raided and locked everything in here so no one could get their hands on it."

Deciding to call it a night and leave his clones to their work, the blond went up the tower to his personal room and fell into a dreamless sleep.

The Next Day-Noon- 2 miles away from Kiri

Naruto and his two accomplices landed on one of the many spires of rock surrounding the Village Hidden in the Mist, which, he had to concede, really did live up to its name. Nearly the entire surrounding area was filled with mist so thick, it was a wonder how anyone could see two feet in front of them without a dojutsu.

Regardless, the war happening around the village didn't seem to be affected much by the mist. There were two main groups: a large army made up of people in traditional Kiri-shinobi garb while the other wore light blue kimonos with bits and pieces of armor around their bodies. He assumed the smaller army with incomplete armor had to be the rebels, seeing as how the other army definitely seemed to have the money behind them.

"There. That's Isobu's Jinchuuriki." Kurama pointed out, forcing Naruto to focus on one shinobi near the back that was observing the fight going on with apathy.

While one could easily mistake him for a child, the blond could see that he held himself with the experience and tension of a man. He activated his Tenseigan and saw the chakra that acted like a cloud around the Kage's head, showing that he was under a very powerful genjutsu.

"Well, I guess that's how we know who to fight. Let's get down there and let the rebels know we're on their side before getting in the middle of all that." Naruto commented before all three disappeared and reappeared before a woman in a dark blue kimono with fishnet leggings below that.

It was near the back of the battle so that they could make a retreat if the need should arise so there was less chance of them being interrupted by a rogue shinobi.

Immediately, a man with an eyepatch over his right eye and a teen with a large blue sword appeared before them with the intent to strike them down. Naruto, with a bored wave of his right hand, knocked them back by an invisible force.

"We mean no harm. In fact, we're here to help the rebels in their fight against the current Mizukage." Naruto called out, holding his hands out in a placating gesture.

"You approach the leader of the rebels, with a convicted missing-nin, and attack two of my shinobi. If you don't mean to fight, you aren't doing a very good job of showing it." Mei Terumi narrowed her eyes as she tensed her body, getting ready for anything.

"First of all, I know that I sent a message here saying that Zabuza was now under my employment and is no longer to be pursued. It's not my fault you didn't get to read it. Secondly, they're the ones who attacked first." Naruto explained with a casual shrug, as if he hadn't just interrupted a full-on civil war.

"Hmm, you say you're here to help, but what could you possibly offer us that a thousand bloodline users can't? And… what would you want in return?" Mei asked, sounding a tad desperate at the end despite her initial suspicions.

"I am here to fight Yagura. And I assure you, by the time I'm done, we will have put an end to this pointless war. I am sure your own soldiers will be able to hold off the actual army while I deal with the leader, correct?" Naruto asked, ignoring everyone's disbelieving looks.

Mei pondered for a moment with a stern eye, not missing the fact he had ignored her second question. "If you want to go to your death then by all means do as you wish, but when you realize that you're in over your head, don't look to me to get you out of it. I can't afford to waste my men trying to save a fool from his own demise."

"I'll take that as a yes." With a clap that made everyone tense once again, Naruto spun on his heel to address his two employees as he walked past them. "Zabuza, Haku, you guys help the army and see if you can't show the soon-to-be Mizukage what Uzu shinobi can do."

The blonde's two shinobi both grinned so wide it looked like their faces had split in two before disappearing on the spot. Meanwhile, their leader just took a casual stroll through the bloodshed on his way to the offending leader.

"Do you really think they can help at all, Mei-sama?" Chojiro asked hesitantly, still kind of dizzy from the force that knocked him back.

"We will see…" she trailed off as a thought struck her and she looked around wildly.

"What is it, Mei-sama?" Aoi asked cautiously, using his stolen Byakugan to try and see any danger. "I don't see any threats, what's the problem?"

Mei breathed in deeply before releasing a rather large sigh. "That's the point, Aoi. There are no threats."

Both her guards' eyes widened as they realized the enemy shinobi closest to them were all down for the count, almost making a perfect circle around where they were standing.

"Who the hell are you, brat?" Mei thought to herself as she witnessed the blonde casually walking through the battlefield until he made it all the way to the enemy leader. Meanwhile, his two accomplices were absolutely wrecking any enemy they came across with no hesitation.

"Hey, Babyface!" that got the reaction he was expecting. The current Mizukage turned around with a snarl at the person who would dare mock him. His eyes narrowed though as his eyes landed on the unfamiliar face. "Yeah, I'm talking to you. Listen, I'm here to help you out."

"You wish to help me crush the rebels?" Yagura questioned as he stuck his coral staff into the ground as he addressed the stranger.

"No, not with that. I see you're not yourself so I'm here to knock some sense into you. Well, you and the Sanbi both, actually." He immediately had to jump to avoid a stream of coral that the Mizukage shot from his staff with a glare at the newcomer.

"Then you will die with the rest of them!"

With a quick series of handseals, Naruto shot off a thin stream of razor-sharp air that sliced through the coral like butter before just nicking the Mizukage's cheek. Naruto smirked at the baby-faced Mizukage's shocked and angry expression.

"Just try and make this a bit fun for me, will ya?" Naruto asked before launching into the air again.

With Kushina and Mikoto

It shocked both women how they were able to arrive in Kumo the next day. While they could've made it within the day, they didn't want to put so much effort into getting there and then need that energy for a fight. It really was surprising, since during their first life it would've taken them a few days just to get here. They're bodies seemed to have been improved to the point where not only were their chakra stores larger and more potent, it also seems like they didn't need to eat, drink or even sleep as much as they needed to when they were alive the first time.

"The first time…" she could still barely believe it. She had been ready to give up everything to save her only son from the Kyuubi, and yet she had been given a second chance by none-other than her baby.

Kushina wasn't sure how she could ever thank him for something like this. It didn't help that anytime she brought it up with him, he would just shrug it off and say they were even. Except, that's not how it felt to her. She had done what she needed to and what any good mother would, but Naruto hadn't needed to bring her back. He didn't need to keep her around or even offer her a second chance, and yet he did anyway.

BN: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

She had talked with Minato before he had gone back to the Shinigami, but what he thought up was surely mad. It's not surprising though… he never let his own emotions get in the way of the most logical choice. Still, she doubted Naruto would be ok with what they had come up with. I mean, there's no way he would want to be with someone like her, right?

"You ok there, Kushi?" Mikoto asked with a smirk hidden by her Raven mask. She knew exactly what she was thinking about, seeing as how they were best friends and told each other everything.

With a huff, the red head took the lead to keep the ravenette from seeing her blush, forgetting that she wore her usual Fox Anbu mask. "I'm fine. How much further to Kumo?"

"Shouldn't be too much further if we keep this pace." Mikoto chucked, it wasn't too often she had something that actually got her friend's feathers ruffled. "Just remember, they know us only as mercenaries, so we're probably going to get some resistance."

"Yeah, I know. Plus, if the Raikage makes the connection with my hair, he may attack on sight." Kushina sighed in annoyance. From what she had seen from the man, he wasn't the dumbest person around, he just favored to punch first, ask questions later. She still felt uneasy seeing as how Kumo was one of the villages that helped destroy her clan even if it was under the previous Raikage's rule.

They were stopped at the front gate, just as they knew they would be, seeing as how it is protocol for any village that had half-decent security.

So, after telling them their code names and why they were there, they were escorted at kunai-point all the way to the Raikage's office, who had so graciously made a spot in his schedule to meet with them.

"Be quick with it, why are two mercenaries entering my village to speak with me unannounced?" the man questioned in a rough voice, his face doing nothing to soften the suspicion in his voice, especially when he laid eyes on the vibrant red hair of one of them.

"We apologize for intruding; we give our word that we mean no harm to you or your people. We merely were sent here by our leader to see about negotiating a treaty." Kushina spoke up, figuring that if she just kept silent the whole time that would be even more suspicious.

"Really? And what village are you with? I was under the impression that mercenaries worked outside of the village system?" the man asked while leveling a glare at the masked faces.

"With all honesty, we are both former Leaf shinobi. Though when we learned of the corruption plaguing the land, we immediately defected." Mikoto answered, drawing Ay's attention to her.

"I see, so you do not have a village then. If that's the case then I see no benefit to me to align myself with you." He said gruffly, annoyed at having wasted his time here.

"Oh, I apologize for the misunderstanding, but we do have a village. It's just finished construction and was built right where old Uzushiogakure was. That way, no one needs to change the maps." Kushina joked, hoping to lessen the blow of the Uzumaki Clan coming back would have on the man.

As expected, Ay growled when he heard that name. "How can that be? We would've heard about someone building an entire village. In the time it would take, someone would have noticed it and soon after the entire shinobi world would know about it."

"Actually, from what I know, it only took about a month or two from start to finish. Our Kage is very powerful and used a very liberal use of solid clones to build the entire village, as well as reinforce its defenses tenfold of what Old Uzu used to have." Mikoto replied, shocking the lightning-user, seeing as how it took quite a few villages of both major and minor status a full month just to break through their defenses.

"And who is this Kage of yours? Must be a very well-known shinobi if they have that much power at their disposal." Ay leaned forward into his hands, intent on learning all he could about this new village and possible threat.

With Shisui and Shiro

Shisui and Shiro shared an uneasy glance as the Tsuchikage asked them that same question. "Maybe he should tell you that himself."

After an inquisitive eyebrow from the old man, Shisui rolled out a scroll and pushed chakra into the seal, sending out a cloud of smoke. What met the old man's eyes was a very curious sight indeed.

Naruto appeared from the scroll in a peculiar attire. Keeping with his suit and tie shtick, he wore a dark red button-up shirt under a black vest with a matching red handkerchief in the breast pocket. He also wore black dress pants with matching dress shoes. Over all of it, he wore a black trench-coat with a large collar. To finish off his ensemble, he wore a white mask over his face with two eye holes and the kanji for 9 on the forehead. He had also changed his hair color to red so as to not draw on the wrath for looking like the Yellow Flash.

This was his mercenary alias, who would've been known as "9" had he let anyone who saw him live to tell the tale. Though, they were mostly bad guys so he was sure no one would miss them.

"So, the stories are true. And you are a Kage nonetheless, how surprising." The old man narrowed his eyes as he leaned back in his chair, appraising the figure in front of him.

"Stories? I was under the impression that anyone who saw me was in a condition that would make it very hard to tell of their fates." He spoke through the voice modifier in his mask.

"Hence why they are just stories. To most you are just a myth, though we Kages know better seeing as how someone had to have cashed those bounties. The only reason you aren't in the Bingo book is because no-one has been able to get an accurate depiction of your skills." Onoki explained as he stared into the abyss that was the mask's eyeholes.

"I see. I should have known the other Kage would take note of any potential threats. Anyway, why don't we talk alliances?" 9 offered as he crossed his arms.

"I don't see how allying with such an infant village would benefit Iwa. I understand that you have to be powerful to be a Kage, but that alone does not warrant any benefits to my village or its people."

"Your concerns are entirely warranted, but I am far from the only powerful shinobi in our village. These two behind me, as well as the other members of their squad, are easily as powerful as a fully trained Jinchuriki. Maybe not with the help of their biju, but their potential is great and I am sure they will reach it in no time." 9 smirked as he sent out the bait.

"I find that hard to believe, but I know a way we can test that little boast of yours, with some wagers, if you're interested." Onoki smirked as a plan formulated in his mind.

"Hook line and sinker." "Sounds interesting, what did you have in mind?"

With Madara

"I'm gonna kill this kid." Madara thought to himself as he had asked around about the Jinchuriki he was supposed to find. He had last been spotted in Tea Country, and yet as he asked around, apparently no one knew anything about him.

They were liars. He could spot a liar from a mile away and civilians were especially easy due to their lack of training.

And so, with a little Sharingan shenanigans, he was able to force the truth out of a store owner that was particularly annoying. Apparently the kid he was looking for had indeed passed through here and was friendly enough to buy the residents' loyalty.

The nuke-nin had come to tea country for a refill of… bubble solution? ...before heading east to Degarashi Port, presumably to take a leisurely boat ride back north. Just his luck. Since there were mostly just cargo ships, they wouldn't be going very fast, so all he would need to do is get to Degarashi Port, find out where he's going to dock, and speed there on land. With his increased reserves and improved physique, he was sure to get there before the ship.

"And then I'll kill the kid." He thought with a smirk as his Sharingan faded to black as he started on his way.

With Touka

Touka probably had the easiest mission out of the bunch, seeing as how the leader of the village had sent her, or rather her mercenary persona, a summons to talk about joining their ranks due to her unique skill set. Using that information, she was let in without much trouble, and she could make an educated guess and say that the jinchuriki was inside of that big tree everyone was avoiding like the plague.

"So, you are already a shinobi of a village then. That's a shame, though not anything that couldn't be sent in a message. Knowing this, why did you come all the way out here just to tell me?" Shibuki, the village leader, questioned as he raised his eyebrow at the Rabbit-masked kunoichi.

"Because my Kage thought this would be a good opportunity to talk to you about an alliance." She answered as she pulled out a small scroll. "The details of the proposed alliance are in this scroll."

Nodding, Shibuki took the scroll and read through the information with a speculative eye. It was interesting, and if these claims were true, then it would be very beneficial to ally himself to this "New Uzushiogakure". Though, it was the section stating what they wanted in return that made him narrow his eyes.

"You want us to just give you some of our prized Hero Water? You realize how big of an ask that is, don't you?" he asked with an accusatory glare at the woman.

"I understand your hesitance, but I assure you, we do not mean to consume any of it. If you read further, it will tell you that we merely wish to study its properties in order to make new and improved soldier pills. We would be more than happy to perform said research inside of your village, as well as provide your shinobi with any of the finished products as you like." The ghoul explained, hoping the man would accept and make her life easier.

"I see, so you wish to create miniature versions of the Water for battle-worn shinobi in need of a last resort? The only problem with that is that we have been trying to do the exact same thing for millennia. What could you or your Kage possibly try that we have not?" he asked skeptically.

Although he couldn't see it, Shibuki could almost feel the smug smirk that split across her face. "Our Kage is the best Seal Master in all of the Elemental Nations, trained by the late Yondaime Hokage. He is also working with the Land of Snow in developing more intricate technology, which you would also have access to, at a discount of course." "Ok, so maybe that last part is a bit exaggerated, but it's in the plans, so I'm sure Naruto will head there when he has the chance."

"Hmm, I see." Shibuki hummed thoughtfully as he read through the rest of the alliance details. Everything really was very thought out, every question he might have had was answered in the next line or two. "Let me talk this over with the council and I will get back with you. Can you stay in the village for a few days or do you need to be somewhere?" he asked after much deliberation.

Touka smirked as the plan was going smoothly. "Thank you for your consideration. I can stay in a hotel for as long as is needed."

The man nodded with a small smile as he pulled out a piece of paper before starting to write. After he was done, he held it out to the masked kunoichi. "Take this to the Sleepy Shinobi Inn and he will let you stay there rent free. Seeing as how you are an ambassador, it would be rude of me to make you pay while we deliberate. I will send someone to get you when we have an answer for you and your Kage, is that alright?"

"That sounds great, thank you Shibuki-sama. Would it be alright if I explored the village a bit during my stay?"

"Of course, make yourself at home. Just know your limitations, seeing as how we are not allied yet." He replied with a warning smile.

"Of course, sir." Touka bowed her head as she was escorted out of the office and towards where her hotel would be, sending one more glance towards the giant tree in the center of the village where a large amount of power was sitting restlessly.

Naruto

He had to admit, with how much he was holding back, this fight was actually kind of fun. "Then again, I doubt he would feel the same."

The moist air surrounded him as he felt the condensation from the mist force his clothes to stick to his skin. He was thankful that the mist itself was fairly cool, rather than a humid atmosphere. At least with the cool air he wouldn't have to fight while uncomfortable in his own clothes.

Across from the blond, the green-haired Kage was currently panting as a blood-red cloak of malevolent chakra surrounded his form. It seemed as if Kurama's chakra wasn't able to hold off the Genjutsu for as long as they thought.

"You have proven your strength, that much is true, but prepare to breathe your last breath. Take pride in pushing me this far, but this is where it ends." With that, the man's form began to grow until instead of a human, there now stood a massive shrimp-turtle thing that was the three-tails, Isobu.

"It's about time you brought him out, I was starting to forget why I came all the way out here. Now, why don't you take a nap?" Having had his fun, Naruto decided to end the fight now, rather than draw it out even more considering the circumstances.

Inside Tsukuyomi

"What is this?! How have you imprisoned me so?!" Yagura yelled out, confused as to how he appeared in this inverted world when the last thing he remembered was going full Biju-mode. Now he was chained to two posts with his limbs spread out and the three-tails nowhere to be seen.

"You're here because you are being controlled by a man-child with a hard-on for a dead girl." (BN: … uh … I … well, when you right, you right.) A voice brought his attention to the blonde man he had been fighting moments earlier. "Not to worry though, because I can help you out. But first…"

Naruto walked forward until he reached the captive and put a hand on his stomach. "…since neither of you will remember this part, I'm gonna skip the subtlety and just take what I need now."

With that, an orb of pale-green chakra was sucked out before being quickly absorbed into the blonde with a slight grimace. "There, now we can get to business."

Real world

The small war going on behind the battling powerhouses was put to a sudden stop as a quarter of the forces were crushed under the newly-appeared Biju. Though that only lasted a few seconds as just as suddenly as it appeared, the massive being was gone, leaving only their current Kage on the ground with the blonde newcomer standing above him.

"Ok everybody, listen up!" Naruto yelled as he amplified his voice with chakra. "Your Kage is defeated. Even with his Biju's help he was no match for me. Unless you wish to throw away your lives for no reason, put down your arms and head back into the village to the stadium and await instructions!"

Naruto narrowed his eyes as many of the enemy force started to smirk in his direction. Sending a kunai into his hand with unmatched speed, Naruto thrust his weapon behind him, the point stopping a mere inch from the Jinchuriki Kage's face. "You ok there Yagura?"

"Yes, thank you Naruto. Please put your weapon down." The man smiled slightly as he stumbled forward with a hand on his stomach while the other sought support from the blonde's shoulder.

That sight shook the thoughts of continuing to fight from any shinobi's mind as they all filed back into the village.

"Did you really have to let it go on that long? Even for a Jinchuriki, my body is hurting in places it really shouldn't." The man asked with a playful groan of pain.

"Yeah well, it's easier to do when the person's exhausted, as well as when the Biju is out of the seal like when you go full Biju-mode. That and I wanted a good fight." Naruto smirked as he helped the Kage walk towards the village… until they were stopped by Mei and her posse.

"Can we help you?" The blonde asked innocently.

"I would ask that you hand the traitor over so that he can be tried and executed for his crimes against his village and peoples." Mei responded with the coldness of a diplomat with a fiery rage burning beneath the surface.

"I'm afraid I can't do that. You see, any blame you place on this man is misplaced as he was under the control of a madman with exceptional Genjutsu capabilities. He has been under that man's control for quite some time and was forced to enact a civil war against the bloodline users." The blonde sighed as he scratched his scalp, feeling the presence of Haku and Zabuza as they took their places to his sides.

"And where is your proof?" Aoi demanded as he narrowed his eyes at the weakened Kage.

"How am I supposed to prove the existence of a Genjutsu that's already been broken?" Naruto asked with a quirked eyebrow.

Though, before anyone could answer, Yagura limped towards the rebel leader with a face of stone, only to be stopped by the woman's guards.

"I apologize for my actions against you and all of my people. While I may have been controlled, I was still your Kage and betrayed everyone's trust in me." He started, looking the red-head straight in the eye. "Due to my transgressions, I will be stepping down as Mizukage, appointing Mei Terumi as the Godaime Mizukage. I will also willingly accept any punishment you have in mind."

"I'm afraid that won't be necessary." A voice called from all around them, seemingly without form.

"I wondered when you would show up…" a black spiral appeared in midair, slowly expanding until a man could be seen with a long black cloak with red clouds designing it, and an orange spiral mask with a single eyehole in the middle. "…Obito."

The man staggered as his name was revealed by the blonde enigma. The man glared at the group of shinobi as they got into battle stances.

"Well aren't you an interesting one. I assume you're the one that took out Pain." He spoke, his deep voice sending shivers down the new Mizukage's guards.

"Yeah, that was me, and he still owes me a better fight." The others, seeing Naruto's relaxed stance, started to relax as well, until the blonde's voice called out once more. "Don't let down your guard! He'll kill you where you stand if you let him."

A deep chuckle sent them straight back into battle mode. "I am not here for them. You have already ruined this particular avenue, but I have plenty more to replace it. I am actually here for you, if we could speak without unwanted witnesses."

Naruto raised his eyebrow at that. That was certainly unexpected. "I guess that's not so bad. Why don't you all head back to the village and I'll catch up."

While the new Mizukage and her guards left without much trouble, Zabuza, Haku, and Yagura required an assuring nod before they started their trek back into village limits.

"So, now that we're alone, are you really going to keep wearing that mask Obito?" the blonde asked, getting straight to business. Could you blame him? He wasn't expecting to confront Obito for a while now, and yet here he is wanting to talk of all things.

"That is something I would like to discuss, actually. How do you know that name?" he asked, wording it so that he didn't really answer the question.

"I'm not sure how up-to-date your information is about me, but I know quite a bit about you and your plans for the Jinchuriki." Naruto narrowed his eyes at that while Obito staggered at that declaration. "You see, I was blessed with the ability to revive the dead, and seeing as how he's a living legend, I decided that one of the first people I would revive would be the real Madara Uchiha."

Obito had seen and heard a lot of things during his long life, but the ability to revive the dead? He knew the Rinnegan could revive the recently deceased, but someone as old as Madara was impossible. Right?

"You expect me to believe something like that? If there really was a jutsu like that, I would have heard about it by now."

Naruto sighed, having expected this response. "Yeah, well, it's not really a jutsu per say. But I did revive him, and he's working with me to revolutionize the shinobi world. He told me all about your plans with the Ten-Tails and Infinite Tsukuyomi."

"Ok, there's no way he would have known that unless he's telling the truth, but both instances are equally impossible. And even if Madara really were alive, would he not have come straight to me to finish our plans?" Obito thought to himself as he studied the blond in front of him. He was about to ask another question when the picture of a young girl with purple marks on her face came to mind.

"What would the requirements for this ability be, if you're really telling the truth?"

"None that I know of. I was able to revive multiple people on the spot with no knowledge other than their name and a vague description of them. They all seemed to be the exact same age as when they died." Naruto smirked. "Why? Got someone you want back?"

Obito growled as he felt his hopes rising against his wishes. "Rin Nohara. She was a genin of Konoha who was killed by someone I thought was a friend at the time."

Naruto nodded as he took it all in stride. "Could you cast a small genjutsu to show me what she looked like? Oh, and if I sense any malicious intent, you will die before ever noticing the genjutsu was broken." He said with an innocent smile.

Obito nodded with a glare as he focused on the mental picture of his one-time crush before casting the small genjutsu.

Naruto studied the girl as much as he could, noticing that this was most likely a snippet from a memory, given the forestry surrounding them. Focusing back on his task, the blond memorized her appearance and broke the genjutsu with but a thought. Though, before he did, he caught a glimpse of stark silver hair in the background.

"Hey, Kyuubi, seems he had the hots for this chick with how well he could visualize her appearance. As an added incentive for him to join us, is there a way to make her his age?"

"Of course it's possible, you just need to incorporate your time manipulation with your Reincarnation technique to age her about a decade or two from her original age. Since this is your first time combining techniques, I will assist with the reanimation while you handle the aging."

"Thank you, furball. Let's get this done so we can finish up here and hopefully head back to Konoha."

And so, as he placed his hands on the ground, Naruto focused his time manipulation as he felt Kurama knead his reanimation technique for him. All the while, Obito stood back, gaping at the amount of chakra being put out by this boy. He was tempted to try and kill him now, in the chance that he was lying and was actually charging up an attack, but that picture in his mind held him back.

Suddenly, as he was about to lose his patience and end this charade here and now, a large plume of smoke rose up from the ground in front of the blond, forcing the Uchiha to squint as he tried to make out the form of his former friend.

Unable to see anything, even with his Sharingan, Obito tentatively called out, wincing when the smoke caused him to cough. "Ri-… *cough*… Rin, are you there?"

The silence dragged on for what seemed like an eternity. It wasn't even a full 30 seconds after his query that he was silently kicking himself for falling for something as stupid as this. He couldn't revive people, he just wanted to use the smoke as a distraction so he could get away.

"When I get my hands on that brat, I will skin him alive before extracting his biju from him in the most painful way possible! I will extract it by myself to make the process as long as possible for that no-good, two-timing, back-stabb- "Obito?"

The man in question's eyes widened enormously as he looked back up to see the smoke mostly gone, and, standing right in front of his presumed deceiver, was what could only be described as a goddess.

Her brown hair, cut the same way he remembered and loved. The purple rectangles on each cheek. Her old outfit made to fit her new, grown body. Everything was perfect. And those beautiful brown eyes bore into him with surprise and concern.

Somehow, his orange, spiral mask slipped from its place on his face, revealing a face that she could recognize, despite half of it being deformed.

"I hear you've been causing trouble, Tobi." She smirked.

Chapter End

Hello everyone, I am so sorry that this story took so long to update. I wanted to get more done in this chapter but it was already super late and getting pretty long, so I figured I would just end it there. Anyway, YAY! Rin's back! I always like the stories that either bring her back or the AU's of where she never dies in the first place. Something about Obito finally getting his crush just makes me smile. Probably me just projecting my own desires and wishes onto them…

ANYWAY, MOVING ON. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and how things are progressing. Just a forewarning, this will be the last chapter where everything is all hunky dory. I know that things have been kind of perfect for Naruto since he got his powers, but that will end in the next couple of chapters. Also, I just like the idea of Obito using the alias "Tobi" because it was Rin's nickname for him. Even though we all know that's not true, I just like the idea.

Anyway (I use this word a lot, don't I?), like I said, I hope you all enjoyed and I will try to get the next chapter out before a whole year has passed like this one did, but man that year just flew by so I didn't notice. If you have any questions or comments, just leave a review and I will try and answer it in one of the next few chapters if not the next one.

I hope you all have a great [insert amount of time here] and I will see you next time!

P.S.- Stay safe and don't do anything stupid with this disease going around. Even if you believe it's not a big deal, stay hygienic and wash your hands. Ok, bye!

Indeed. May all of you wonderful people stay healthy! If you happen to be anything like me, you shouldn't have any issues with social distancing. Have a wonderful rest of your day!

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Oh, yeah

This is SolaceHollow, btw.

= )